What’s the last movie you watched?

[mirkwood]

Devils Gate.  Not the movie I expected, but I enjoyed it.

[Ironhold]

"Strangeland"

Twisted Sister front man Dee Snider did this one up in 1998 as a pet project, the film being based on a song he wrote for the band. 

Thing is, the film is basically "how far can we push things and still get only an 'R' rating?", leaving very little actual plot to work with and a protagonist who is no hero. 

[Still_Small_Voice]

I just saw the movie Unbroken: Path to Redemption with two of my children.  I really liked the movie and would recommend it to all Latter-Day Saints.  It is the sequel to the Unbroken movie.  Sadly the movie theatre was was empty when we saw it today.  We were the only ones there.

[Guest MormonGator]

Wallis: The Queen that Never Was. A documentary on Wallis Simpson. I didn't like it very much. It portrays Wallis an innocent victim who was caught up in circumstances she couldn't control. I disagreed with it strongly. 

[dahlia]

Doing some batch cooking today and watched the 1945 version of 'And Then There were None.' I'm not a huge Agatha Christie fan, and had seen the 1965 version called 'Ten Little Indians' in the theater, so I wasn't planning on watching it, but darned YT kept recommending it...

I normally watch a lot of documentaries on prime and Netflix, but I forgot I just came off of a Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes binge (which is probably why Agatha Christie was recommended). I enjoy Rathbone; he's my 2nd favorite Holmes after Jeremy Brett and I do like the idea of Sherlock Holmes fighting Nazis during WW2. 

[Lindy]

On 8/4/2018 at 5:29 AM, Sunday21 said:

Do you recommend for adults?

This was for Disney's "Christopher Robin" ..... and it was actually the last big screen movie I saw.

I would recommend it for any adult that liked Pooh and friends..... I loved the movie.

Hubby was a bit miffed that "House at Pooh Corner" wasn't played, but that didn't bother me.

Other than Pooh, I sat and watched Mission Impossible 1, 2 an 3 on DVD.

[anatess2]

Night School

Saw this a bunch of times on trailers and I had the impression that this was one of those you-see-the-trailer,-you-saw-the-movie kind of thing where the trailer is the funny part and there's not much left to see in the movie.  I was pleasantly surprised.  There were several cheesy stuff but for some reason, Hart makes me laugh by just being Hart.  Anyway, I love that the movie had a good message, including a message about being grateful to your father even when he did some stupid mean stuff because he thought that would help you.

[LadyGunnar]

Ghostbusters. My husband likes those kind of shows.

[anatess2]

The Greatest Showman

Zac Efron is now solidly on my short list of favorite actors.  I love this movie but I think the modern pop music doesn't match the movie setting.  Seeing what's billed as a world-renowned opera singer sing "Never Enough" just... nah... can't quite settle it in my head.

[mordorbund]

3 hours ago, anatess2 said:

The Greatest Showman

Zac Efron is now solidly on my short list of favorite actors.  I love this movie but I think the modern pop music doesn't match the movie setting.  Seeing what's billed as a world-renowned opera singer sing "Never Enough" just... nah... can't quite settle it in my head.

I'd like to hear more details of  @The Folk Prophet's opinion.

I recently saw this too and had a similar problem with the opera singer performing a pop number with a pop voice. I don't know that the pop just didn't jive with the period or the setting. I think leads just didn't draw us in. Barnum embraces his low-brow show and customers (as shown in through his treatment of critics), except when he doesn't (as shown with his moving up in housing, leaving his show for the high-brow opera performer, ditching his workers at high-brow parties). After a montage showing how he's distancing himself from his "freak" workers, they come together to support him in the finale - but nothing has been done to resolve the slight! As I'm writing this, I guess the character of Barnum doesn't show any growth, which can be okay as long as his character is intended to be the compass for the others (usually moral, but in this case entrepreneurial), and we see very little of that except when building the show.

Musically, the songs seemed to blend together, but that might be more a reflection on me than the music. As an old man, I am compelled to complain that the opening number is a little lost on me since I could not hear Jackman's part because the chorus was disproportionately loud. And I'm not a fan of listening to people singing in a can. Pandora keeps trying to tell me I would like Glee songs, and I keep telling her that I don't listen to musical autocorrect (Pandora also thinks I'm gay, so take that for what you will). On the plus side, it sounds like they stayed in Jackman's range.

Hiring the cast for the show should have been a musical montage. I was thinking that this practice may be considered old-fashioned since Frozen has this same failure when introducing visitors to the kingdom, but the musical montage is used in Showman to age the leads and show their romance. So there's no reason it couldn't have been employed. "This is Me" is a defiant anthem that would have better fit the "freaks" confronting the locals. It can still be used as a triumphant, but it properly ought to be a reprise in contrast.

A few dance numbers drew the eye, but the circus dance (particularly with "This is Me") is too physically tight. The greatest show should be larger than life and expansive. The dance should reflect this, similar to the panoramic shot of the museum that kept showing one more thing just around the corner. Again, if this song and dance is part of a defiant anthem, then it makes sense to have them step so close together (reflecting a brawling atmosphere), but as a triumph it makes the circus seem small.

[The Folk Prophet]

12 minutes ago, mordorbund said:

I'd like to hear more details of  @The Folk Prophet's opinion.

I can't remember. This implies I already gave my opinion...but I'm too lazy to go look it up. The short of it with The Greatest Showman was that I didn't particularly love the music. It just wasn't that great. I particularly didn't like, "Never, never...blah blah blah...Never never..." But it was the song I disliked more than the singing style. I agree, however, that a bit more pastiche toward the opera style would have worked. I had that problem with everything (once again...not relevant to my distaste for the music...which just wasn't that great, but a separate critique): The whole show needed more pastiche. (noun: an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period.)

I'm not sure what other details to give. I just thought the music was dull. The story wasn't inspiring. The spectacle of it was okay...but a bit.....um... how can I say this without it sounding...... I'll just say it.....  gay.*

* I realize that, from a certain perspective (one I disagree with), all musicals are "gay". But what I mean is there was more of a Rocky Horror Picture Show, Mulan Rouge, A Chorus Line vibe about it than a Les Miz, Fiddler on the Roof, Hamilton one.

Edited October 2, 2018 by The Folk Prophet

[Sunday21]

Their finest hour: Movie set in UK during WWII. Staff of patriotic screen writers. Fantastic! 

[anatess2]

12 hours ago, Sunday21 said:

Their finest hour: Movie set in UK during WWII. Staff of patriotic screen writers. Fantastic! 

You mean that movie with Bill Nighy?  It's called Their Finest.  The novel is titled Their Finest Hour and a Half.  The Finest Hour is a coast guard rescue movie with Chris Pine.

[Barrett Maximus]

the house with a clock in its walls

it was ok but not as good as i was hoping for. i am excited for the Netflix Chronicles of Narnia though 

[Guest MormonGator]

9 minutes ago, Barrett Maximus said:

i am excited for the Netflix Chronicles of Narnia though 

Me too! 

[Barrett Maximus]

On 9/29/2018 at 10:49 PM, Lindy said:

This was for Disney's "Christopher Robin" ..... and it was actually the last big screen movie I saw.

I would recommend it for any adult that liked Pooh and friends..... I loved the movie.

Hubby was a bit miffed that "House at Pooh Corner" wasn't played, but that didn't bother me.

Other than Pooh, I sat and watched Mission Impossible 1, 2 an 3 on DVD.

my wife and i went to see it, we loved it

 

[Sunday21]

I am really looking forward to Mary Poppins! 

[SpiritDragon]

7 hours ago, Sunday21 said:

I am really looking forward to Mary Poppins! 

Do you think a remake can out do Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke?

[Sunday21]

2 minutes ago, SpiritDragon said:

Do you think a remake can out do Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke?

Well no. But let’s give it a try!

[anatess2]

A Star Is Born (rated R)

Skip It.  There's nothing redeeming about it except for the vocal prowess of Lady Gaga and the surprising vocal skills of Bradley Cooper.  You can always just watch both of those people sing off of YouTube.

I watched this R rated movie because I'm a sucker for Love Stories and the trailers looked super sweet.  Seems like Hollywood doesn't know how to write love stories anymore.  Pro-tip Hollywood:  There's nothing good about a love story where one part of the relationship is just a complete loser throughout the story.  You can't empathize with a loser so whatever happens to him you would care zero about so the story doesn't make me cry it just makes me roll my eyes, "yeah yeah, he's a loser, what else?".  And in today's movie business... why does the complete loser have to be the guy, huh?  I wanted to like Bradley Cooper! 

Oh... and here we are in the MeToo era and you're still flashing don't-add-to-the-story female nudity?  So how did that go exactly in the casting couch... "oh hi, Gaga, I know you really want to be an actress so we'll give this role to you.  But you're gonna have to flash your breasts, ok?".  And they grandstand all over the place about how woke they are???

 

[mordorbund]

8 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

Do you think a remake can out do Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke?

Dick Van Dyke is in the remake. And what's really impressive is when you compare the old banker from the original (also played by Van Dyke) with the actor playing an old man in the remake. All the advances in the makeup department have made it so less makeup is required to make him look like an old man!!!!

[anatess2]

Venom

I’m a Tom Hardy fan and in this movie he is his usual great self.  Movie was good enough.  

[anatess2]

Smallfoot

Story about uniting a divide.  Felt uncomfortable with the parallels with stereotypes - like the Yetis parallel to the religious folks and the humans parallel to the environmentalists, etc. etc.  But, they pull through in the end with breaking stereotypes and such.  So, I guess the message was ok even as it is very campy.  I don't know, I didn't like this movie.

[anatess2]

First Man

Hated this movie.  It's like the cameraman went to years of film school to learn how to shoot scenes like a 6-year-old.

[mirkwood]

Malevolent...gave it up, it was boring.

Hostage...decent Bruce Willis movie.

The Cloverfield Paradox...not bad, though it would have been better if they hadn't tied it to the Coverfield storyline.

The Rain...stupid, gave up watching it pretty quickly.