the other thread timed out. Didn't see a new thread no here is this one.

Spiderman Far From Home. 7/10

i heard a lot of good things about this one and went into this ready to love it as much as Homecoming, but I still like Homecoming a lot more.

I like the more human moments about the last one, and while this one had that too, the last act was full of the stuff I dislike most about Marvel films, which is the kinetic mindless fluff of special fx where everything is a blur of spectacle. I know that's what the younger kids love, so it's more for that demo I suppose.

still, it's not bad, just like the first one with this Spidey better. I also liked Spiderverse much better too.

spider-man: far from home 4/5 i thought it was an absolutely blast. all the same qualities - fun teenage hi-jinx, tom holland is 100% charming - as homecoming, but better realized. the character moments played better, & seemed to have been given just a bit more room.

and, unlike homecoming, whose action scenes were a bit lacking, i thought the big fights were genuinely fun & exciting & mostly thrilling, though i do think they could have done just a bit more with the mysterio weirdness at the end, gone a bit deeper with those aspects.

the apple (1980) 3.5

this is the third time i've watched the apple.

i acknowledge that this is an awful, incompetent, really atrocious film and a musical completely lacking memorable songs, except for one that is memorable for a bad reason.

but i have an absolute blast every time i see it.

if i'm having fun & i'm not bored while watching a film, then that film is my friend.

AvocadosMax said:

Spooder-Man: Far From Home. 🚨🚨🚨 SPOILERS FOR SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME 🚨🚨🚨 I saw Far From Home and walking out I gave it a solid 7.5/10. After thinking over it, I’m giving it a 6/10. Lot of mixed feelings. Let’s start by comparing this movie to the last Spidey flick: Homecoming. The action is much better than the last movie. Especially the third act. The comedy, while consistently funny and close to perfect in the first film, for the most part falls flat here. Mostly bland comedy. And for a Spider-Man movie, you need good comedy. Drama. If you’ve seen the trailers, that’s basically it. It doesn’t go much anywhere than what os revealed in the trailers. Although I like the interaction between Peter and MJ/Michelle, they could have written a stronger story arc. The kiss at the end was satisfying, but would have been more satisfying if we got to see Peter stand up to that weird guy named Brad. Anyways, lots of dry acting. Tom Holland (Peter/Spidey) did exceptionally well with the material he was given. But the rest were a mixed bag. The end fight, although had pretty good action, fell flat for me. At the end I felt empty, like “what...?” He was mostly fighting drones. Drones. So even though it may make for cool special/sound effects, has no tension at all. And when he does get to the main villain, the fight is over in like 2 seconds because Spider-Man’s spider sense just conveniently and magically seems to work all of a sudden. And OMG the dialogue after Spider-Man beats Mysterio is AWFULLY bland. Seriously that’s all they could think of?? I’m sure Tom and Jake could have improvised something better, that had depth to their relationship in the movie. But nope, the director made them go by the screenplay, and in this particular scene, again it’s just bad. What should have happened in the end fight was more of the Mysterio illusions from earlier in the movie, and a more tense fight scene between the two. Mysterio (the villain) wasn’t very well-executed at all. Why can’t they write a Spider-Man villain who doesn’t have a bad history with Tony Stark? The build up to the Mysterio “twist” was good but then the Beck talking to his crew scene was just bad and cringy. I can’t tell if it was the music or what but it just felt like exposition, lazily giving information to the audience. And Beck’s whole motivation is WEAK. What they COULD have done is make him just as narcissistic, but crazier by writing him as a guy who wants to do good and become the leader of the new Avengers (hence teaming up with Spidey) but completely turn on Peter after Peter finds out about the hologram tech. That would make for a more compelling reason why Beck is doing this, and make for a better conflict between the two that could wrap up nicely after the end fight. Fix those problems and you have a better movie. But the comedy that did work and the relationship between Peter and MJ, and also the action pieces made the film enjoyable. This isn’t the worst Spider-Man movie ever (you have the Marc Webb movies to thank for that) but it also isn’t the greatest. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse was far better imo and that was a PG-rated animated movie. Spider-Man 2 (2004) is still the greatest Spider-Man movie so far. 6/10: too much Iron-Boy, not enough Spider-Man

Agree with the villain problem. Goes nowhere. I mean it's good fun and I liked the movie but the ending was flat mostly because the villain was pedestrian, boring and the exposition unnecessary. Whereas the Michael Keaton villain and arch was perfect all the way around.

.

These are mindless fun popcorn movies that are not the type of movies to nitpick because you're supposed to just go along with, but the moment one of these movies has you start thinking about plot elements, they start to unravel like old Apple ear buds you pull out of your pocket. Not good.

.

i still give it a good 7/10 for the first half and the charm of the entire cast.

[Edited 7/4/19 13:59pm]

Rocket Man.

Didn't care for it. I thought it would be like Bohemian Rhapsody but it reminded me more of a musical.

vox lux (2018) 3/5

[Edited 7/5/19 4:05am]

damosuzuki said:

spider-man: far from home 4/5 i thought it was an absolutely blast. all the same qualities - fun teenage hi-jinx, tom holland is 100% charming - as homecoming, but better realized. the character moments played better, & seemed to have been given just a bit more room.

and, unlike homecoming, whose action scenes were a bit lacking, i thought the big fights were genuinely fun & exciting & mostly thrilling, though i do think they could have done just a bit more with the mysterio weirdness at the end, gone a bit deeper with those aspects.

I watched it last night, and its my fav Spiderman film so far. And to leave it on a cliff hanger like that

PennyPurple said:

Rocket Man.

Didn't care for it. I thought it would be like Bohemian Rhapsody but it reminded me more of a musical.

Rocketman is a musical I liked it more than Bohemian Rhapsody. Taran actually SANG the tunes and his perfomrance as Elton John was wonderful. It was one of the most creative bio pics I've seen in quite a while.

DiminutiveRocker said:

PennyPurple said:

Rocket Man.

Didn't care for it. I thought it would be like Bohemian Rhapsody but it reminded me more of a musical.

Rocketman is a musical I liked it more than Bohemian Rhapsody. Taran actually SANG the tunes and his perfomrance as Elton John was wonderful. It was one of the most creative bio pics I've seen in quite a while.

It was creative alright.

Well, perfect timing!

I said I'd hold off a week on reviewing "Yesterday" and in that ensuing week, we got a new thread. I'll be on page one! Baby, I'm a star!

By the way, I'm giving myself props for using "ensuing". Have you ever noticed "ensuing" used anywhere else except in football broadcasts? And only when talking about a kickoff? <USE NFL FILMS VOICE> "And on the ensuing kickoff, Billy 'White Shoes' Johnson evaded Steeler after Steeler, arriving safely in the enemy endzone untouched by any greasy Pittsburgh hands".

So - "Yesterday".

ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT

SPOILERS AHEAD....................................SPOILERS AHEAD...................................SPOILERS AHEAD

WARNING WARNING WARNING - I will be giving away plot points. Not all of them, but some. I'll try to give you a heads-up at each one, but know that if you read this, you'll find out that Darth Vader is really Luke Skywalker's father. Or something like that.

Jack Malik is the lead character. He's a failed rock star and has given up on his musical dreams after a disappointing show. After his manager drops his off, he hops on his bicycle but on the way home, the entire world goes dark for 12 seconds. During the darkness, Jack is hit by a bus and ends up in the hospital.

Aside from missing a couple teeth, he's going to be OK. But his guitar isn't - it got smashed to bits. His friends gift him with a new guitar when he gets out of the hospital and they ask him to play a song.

He plays "Yesterday".

His friends are astounded.

It's the best song they've ever heard, and they've never heard it before Jack plays it. One thing leads to another and Jack realizes that no one else remembers the Beatles but him. But EVERYONE loves the Beatles songs he plays. Trouble is, he can't remember all the lyrics, so he spends some time re-creating as many songs as he can.

He plays "Let it Be" for his parents. What a great scene! SPOILER ALERT. If you've ever played any song for anyone ever, you will bust a gut at this scene.

And for some reason I cannot unbold text anymore. WTF? Did the world go blank for 12 seconds or something?

The use of the Beatles songs is what is awesome about this movie. Jack opens for Ed Sheeran in Moscow and plays "Back in the USSR". The crowd goes NUTS!

SPOILER ALERT. Sheeran - who is really awesome in this movie - gets a little jealous of Jack's ability and challenges Jack to a song-writing contest. Each guy gets 10 minutes and then has to play their song in front of the crew. Jack plays a song, I won't tell you which, but it's the PERFECT song. I'd give everyone in this scene an Oscar if I could.

There are also some other things that don't exist in this new world. Each one is GREAT! If I could create a world where these things don't exist, I too would have eliminated SPOILER ALERT Oasis.

Jack meets two aging hippies who are the only other people who remember the Beatles. But they are cool with Jack taking the credit, because to them the most important thing is that the world gets to hear the Beatles songs. If not for Jack, those songs would not exist so they say, "Right on, man!"

They also give him the address to one of the Beatles. Which is great, because I was wondering at that exact time, "Hey - the Beatles didn't exist, but what about John, Paul, George and Ringo? Did THEY exist?" They do; at least one of them does because Jack goes to visit him. I'm not going to tell you which one but I will say that everyone in that scene deserves an Oscar, too.

Jack gets signed by Ed Sheeran's agent, Kate McKinnon. She is brilliantly over the top or as far as I know, she plays an agent exactly like agents really are. Could be either way. But it's great.

Even though this is an incredibly imaginative time-travel movie, it's still a boy-meets-girl movie, as all great movies are. Well, I don't think "Predator" is a boy-meets-girl movie, but you get my drift. If you're into love, which the Beatles obviously were, you'll get your Love Quotient before it's all said and done.

"Yesterday" is a tremendously entertaining movie. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. People that don't like "Yesterday" probably also don't like puppies, kittens, babies or movie theater Pinot Noir.

Relax, open your mind, remember how awesome the Beatles were, and enjoy the heck out of this movie. "Yesterday" gets 5 Yellow Submarines out of 5 Yellow Submarines. Have a great summer!

Biggest Little Farm - Four out five stars

Great movie that was both educational and emotional. Basically about a couple who started their own organic farm and the trials and tribulations that came with it. Reading about the details of how they made it made me like it even more. The husband of couple the film is about is a camera man who has experience shooting docs and it really made the movie even better.

MoviePass is "on hiatus". They should be back "in several weeks".

Sure.

Maybe I'll send them my resume. They need some common sense and a workable business plan.

The Last Black Man In San Francisco (2019)

A beautiful film; billed as a story on the effects of gentrification. It was that, but it was something much more. It was, like Moonlight before it, a radical exploration of black masculinity, and like Do The Right Thing before it, a raw, loose-ended meditation on race today.

my summer repertory film fest continues:

Boogie Nights (1997)

Still holds up and still my favorite PTA film. Burt Reynolds and Julianne Moore should taken home Oscars.

.5

Troy (2004)

This film gets a bit of a bad rap. It was actually a decent allegory for the Iraq War with strong action scenes (the Hector-Achilles fight was masterfully staged), and featured one of Peter O'Toole's last great moments in film with Brad Pitt.

.5


Grease 2 (1982)

One of my favorite guilty pleasures.

.5

spider-man: homecoming - 4/5

midsommar (2019) 4.5/5

i probably don't need to divulge this here, but i did a fair bit of acid in my younger days, and i couldn't help but think of all those times while watching parts of midsommar.

there are moments in this film that come closer to capturing very specific psychedelic trip elements than anything i've ever seen in a film.

i think i loved this, & i'm almost certainly going to see it again this week, though i also can't help but feel that it's a bit of an empty exercise, even disappointing in some ways, in that it loses the emotional thread that it set up very effectively in the early going.

maybe a second watch will close the gap that i think exists.
it's too long, almost certainly, yet the first thing i thought as credits rolled was that i wanted to see it again. 24 hours later, it's still rattling around in my head, & i love it when movies have that effect on me.

it's ridiculous & silly, & maybe unintentionally funny at times (but it's also intentionally funny), maybe even a little predictable, but i loved every second of it and i can't wait to see it again.

damosuzuki said:

namepeace said:

my summer repertory film fest continues:

Boogie Nights (1997)

Still holds up and still my favorite PTA film. Burt Reynolds and Julianne Moore should taken home Oscars.

.5

Troy (2004)

This film gets a bit of a bad rap. It was actually a decent allegory for the Iraq War with strong action scenes (the Hector-Achilles fight was masterfully staged), and featured one of Peter O'Toole's last great moments in film with Brad Pitt.

.5


Grease 2 (1982)

One of my favorite guilty pleasures.

.5

guilt was not required until you added the 2 to Grease .

[Edited 7/11/19 7:42am]

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

damosuzuki said:

midsommar (2019) 4.5/5

i probably don't need to divulge this here, but i did a fair bit of acid in my younger days, and i couldn't help but think of all those times while watching parts of midsommar.

there are moments in this film that come closer to capturing very specific psychedelic trip elements than anything i've ever seen in a film.

i think i loved this, & i'm almost certainly going to see it again this week, though i also can't help but feel that it's a bit of an empty exercise, even disappointing in some ways, in that it loses the emotional thread that it set up very effectively in the early going.

maybe a second watch will close the gap that i think exists.
it's too long, almost certainly, yet the first thing i thought as credits rolled was that i wanted to see it again. 24 hours later, it's still rattling around in my head, & i love it when movies have that effect on me.

it's ridiculous & silly, & maybe unintentionally funny at times (but it's also intentionally funny), maybe even a little predictable, but i loved every second of it and i can't wait to see it again.

Lol. I was in the fence about seeing this, now I have to.

Me too!

Plus, after that astonishing review I'm also considering taking some acid.

gandorb said:

Grease 2 (1982)

One of my favorite guilty pleasures.

.5

guilt was not required until you added the 2 to Grease .

[Edited 7/11/19 7:42am]

It's my jam, what can I say?

RodeoSchro said:

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

damosuzuki said: Lol. I was in the fence about seeing this, now I have to.

Me too!

Plus, after that astonishing review I'm also considering taking some acid.

please don't judge me too harshly after you watch it & decide that it's the worst thing you've seen in your life!

damosuzuki said:

RodeoSchro said:

Me too!

Plus, after that astonishing review I'm also considering taking some acid.

please don't judge me too harshly after you watch it & decide that it's the worst thing you've seen in your life!

The movie or the acid?

RodeoSchro said:

damosuzuki said:

please don't judge me too harshly after you watch it & decide that it's the worst thing you've seen in your life!

The movie or the acid?

haha - i'm actually heading out to see midsommar again in about an hour. i slightly wish i had a little something to heighten the experience!

damosuzuki said:

RodeoSchro said:

The movie or the acid?

haha - i'm actually heading out to see midsommar again in about an hour. i slightly wish i had a little something to heighten the experience!

Enjoy!

I'll have to rely on my old stand-by - alcohol.

Crazy Rich - $$$ out of $$$$ - Finally got around to seeing it. Almost stopped watching it after 30 minutes as it just seemed so superficial, but it got better as it went along.

Spiderman: Far From Home - *** (of 4) - Fun movie.