What I've Been Watching: The Catch-All Film Thread

I re-watched In the Heat of the Night yesterday, which I'd not viewed in at least twenty years. Man, but how the times have changed, though I do remember growing up in the south in the seventies and things were still in flux. This film is well worth watching, lots of folks you'll remember from other movies are present, and the story is pretty solid.

Ok… now here's a selection I really wasn't expecting to like:

Black Moon Rising (1986) stars Tommy Lee Jones and Linda Hamilton with Robert Vaughn as the bad guy and also notable are appearances from Bubba Smith and Nick Cassavetes. What's this? The screenplay was by John Carpenter! Wow, what a cast list!

It has a 5.5/10 on IMDB from over 4,800 viewers, lol. But really? It's actually not that bad. Well, it's actually really good, nay nearly great, depending on what it is you're watching for.

It's an 80s action film. A cheap 80s action film. But then so was Terminator. And it really does have that same exact era vibe as Terminator, particularly with things like the music, the urban setting, the way people fight and the stunts used.

If you're a connoisseur of that very specific 80s action film aesthetic that only people familiar with this specific genre understand, then this right here is a real hidden gem of that genre. I really enjoyed every minute of it.

I mean, yeah, I can see why it's a 5.5/10 on a scale of every film ever made, but on a scale of video shop 80s action films, this is easily a 7/10, but for me today, with the added weight of all that instant nostalgia that literally drips from every crevice of every scene? Well, I got an 8/10 out of this unexpected wonder.



I then watched:

The Big Brass Ring (1999) which made me chuckle as the title seemed like a sexual euphemism. I then ceased chuckling as the film turned out to be a utter bore from beginning to end. A political intrigue movie where the intrigue wasn't very intriguing at all.

I then at least laughed out loud when it turned out homosexuality was indeed part of the intrigue/potential scandal. However, the brass ring of the title is apparently something politicians wear to signify their status, though I'm sure there's an inside joke going on here somewhere. IMDB has it at 5.3/10, I'd have gone lower at 2/5.

The following day I had another pleasant 80s surprise:

The Brotherhood of Justice (TV Movie, 1986) Starring… wait for it… OMG, a very young Keanu Reeves, with hearty support from a very young Keifer Sutherland, Billy Zane, Lori Loughlin and many more.

And Reeves was great, pure Keanu. It's sort-of a high-school coming of age thing, but also not, as Reeves, the good guy, leads a gang of vigilantes out to right the wrongs of the evil doers, with the grey areas becoming blacker every new scene, resulting in a film that actually has quite a bit of depth to it.

But again, whoa, that 80s factor is again strong with this one. That extra cherry on top. Not quite as dripping as Black Moon Rising, but just in the background here, the main draw is without a doubt being Keanu'd by a very early and youthful Keanu for 90 whole minutes. IMDB has it at… 5.5/10, but, again, I got a good 7.5/10 from this marvellous little tail, though probably not for reasons that would have been in effect when it was released.

Yea, kick me in the balls…

The Brotherhood of Justice was never remastered most probably because of being TV movie. Even in such low quality can be interesting to Reeves or Sutherland fans. But to others? I dare to say no.

There were two types of TV movies back then.
One type were pointless timewasters full of filler and nonsense for housewives who'd peek at TV every 5-10 mins and not caring at all what's the movie about, but something practical is happening. Half of the movie wedding or wedding preparations. Or half of the movie a divorce process and whatever possible irrational emotions can emerge there. Things like that, name it.
Another type were movies with "hot potato" topics major studios would never ever accept to film themselves. TBoJ tried to be one such movie. Due to crimes in the neighborhood, a group of students decides to try fighting crime themselves. At the beginning it looks okay, noone's hurt and people get the message. But very soon, the group loses control and starts picking targets for no rational reason.

Sadly, a very good idea had poor exectution with no real depth. I mean, Reeves plays a rich kid who "doesn't understand" why his gf has to work? Has an urge to rummage through his brother's room? Gimme a break.
Instead of stirring some serious pot, after watching this movie there was no reason to brainstorm or discuss anything there. A wasted potential for both the idea and cast, with a topic luckily later revived in much better movies including ones from different perspective (the purge franchise).

5.5 means mediocre and I tend to agree with imdb in this case.
Or as I'd say - watch only if you have nothing else to do. Or if you loved Huey Lewis hair style in 80s.

Note though that imdb score for this movie is not based by recent votes.
For whatever reason imdb score in past few years became ridiculous in many cases of new releases. I have no idea how and why, but it's not only the 1/10 or 10/10 and nothing in between plague. I'll try to detail it better in some other post.

Puzzle (2018)

Wonderful moody and gorgeous film that is about puzzles as a metaphor for life. Kelly Macdonald in particular is excellent in the lead role, and all of her support cast make their parts work well regardless of size or scope. The cinematography is also very well done, contributing greatly to the narrative.

And of course, a couple of hours after finishing the movie we unwrapped a puzzle we bought last year and spend several hours over the weekend puzzling ourselves

I watched Girl on the Train two nights ago, it was fairly good. The story kept me engaged, and someday I really need to read the book.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
I watched Girl on the Train two nights ago, it was fairly good. The story kept me engaged, and someday I really need to read the book.

My wife and I both read the book first … and were warned to stay away from the movie as a result!

Interesting… There are three movies in past 6 years with a similar title. So… Which one was that train girl of yours? If the same.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2815786/ - thriller
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3631112/ - crime drama mystery
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9799088/ - horror mystery thriller

Warcraft, by accident. I only want to comment on how visible the gamey art becomes in the movie. The big swords, bulky armor, unrealistic torso of the orcs. Of course it's (high) fantasy, but it can be done so much better. Still the movie is okayish.

(Perhaps unfair as final fantasy animes are also like that)

Originally Posted by joxer
Interesting… There are three movies in past 6 years with a similar title. So… Which one was that train girl of yours? If the same.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2815786/ - thriller
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3631112/ - crime drama mystery
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9799088/ - horror mystery thriller

The second one…

We watched Ordeal by Innocence last night, a film based off the book with the same title. It was pretty good, decent murder mystery tale, though I'll say it's one of those flicks where the score doesn't seem to quite match the film content. The cast though, is completely top notch.

1917 - well - what can i say the movie is well made with decent acting but sometime the realism of war just isn't that pleasant. No one i went with really enjoyed the movie (including myself) but there wasn't anything wrong with it and in the end how can we recommend a movie that is not enjoyable and doesn't really provide any redeemable essence ?

Got drunk so didn't watch oscars… Checked now, best picture, what tf?!
How's that possible? If I was betting for real on any nominee, I'd never ever predict this outcome as it just cannot happen. Yet it did.

Oh, thanks for reminding me, I'd already forgotten they were doing those last night, I'll go and have a good laugh at the results right now

Edit: How disappointing, it all looks perfectly good to me it all makes sense for once Can't disagree with any of their picks

Exactly. Which makes it not possible!

EDIT:
https://wccftech.com/taika-waititi-b…o-back-to-pcs/

Director Taika Waititi gave Apple an earful after winning an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. In his backstage interview, he blasted Apple’s keyboards as being “impossible to write on”. Taika even went on to say that they make him “want to go back to PCs”.

Now I'm pretty sure what will his next movie be about. Here's hope mushrooms also get mentioned.

I saw Parasite last weekend and enjoyed it. The acting was good, the story was good as well. It had the plot twist at the right moment where the story kind of ended, to let the movie continue. At that moment it became a bit bizarre, but still enjoyable.

I definitely plan on viewing Parasite just as soon as it's available on dvd, I'll buy or get it from the library when it is available, I've read too many positive reviews to ignore what seems like such a stellar product.

The author (writer&director) isn't just an one hit wonder newb, so until Parasite starts streaming like about everywhere you shouldn't neglect his other movies. Where to watch each one:
https://screenrant.com/bong-joon-ho-…ine-where-how/

That list is quite useful, I've seen three listed there so that only makes me more certain that I'll enjoy this newest release.

Saw a couple over the weekend:
Our Souls at Night - decent enough but uneven ‘romantic drama’ movie featuring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford … and an underused Judy Greer. Fonda and Redford have made a number of films together and have great chemistry and the story of their relationship and families is very well done, the problem is the pacing and focus. They introduce other characters and then go nowhere with them. As a result you are often waiting for the payoff and it never comes, making the film seem slow. It was OK, but just know what you are getting into.

The Spy Who Dumped Me - we had absolutely no expectations for this but the Hallmark Now channel on our Roku TV was acting up so we watched this (free), and were ready to switch it off, but managed to make it all the way through. It was mindlessly stupid and reasonably entertaining and occasionally mildly amusing … still definitely not recommended, but it exceeded our expectations.

Man, stop picking movies randomly, seems you're out of luck.
IIRC you tend to watch movies with kids so let them choose next few ones. Yea they might go for some superheroes junk, but cmon, at least those are not boring.