What’s the last movie you watched?

[askandanswer]

We watched a movie together as a family last night, it was the first time since pre-covid days. It was a spider man movie, something about going home or not going home, I can't remember which. My son tells me it was number 7 in the series and included all the previous bad guys and all the previous good guys from the earlier movies. It had a start and a finish, so presumably it had a middle as well. That's about the best summary I can give, which I suppose says something. 

[Jane_Doe]

On 12/30/2021 at 4:44 PM, Backroads said:

Finally watched it. Quite enjoyed it. Great music. Some of the plot seemed slightly underbaked, but generally two thumbs up from me.

I also finally watched Encanto and LOVED it!!

I actually really liked the very small plot- that this is truly about a family learning to get along better, and address the undertones under the "everything is perfect" exterior.  There's no big dragon to fight, no "we need to save the world", or anything like that. 

(Maybe spoilers ahead?)

Rather the solution to the problem is truly: a hug.   Walking into your sister's room, truly talk to her, and give her a hug (and other family members too).   Mend the cracks in your family by seeing the true worth of very member.  

Edited January 2, 2022 by Jane_Doe

[Suzie]

Yesterday, I finished watching the last season of Cobra Kai. Obsessed is an understatement!

[Fether]

On 1/2/2022 at 4:03 PM, Suzie said:

Yesterday, I finished watching the last season of Cobra Kai. Obsessed is an understatement!

Greatest series I have seen in a LONG time. It’s an original story that doesn’t lean on its origin series. It uses the nostalgia and fan service cards in a very classy manner

[Ironhold]

Finished re-watching "After The Sunset", this time for review purposes. 

The US military periodically relocates people between duty stations as needed, and will pay for their relocation provided that the total weight of their household goods is below a certain amount; they have to pay for anything over it. 

Because of this, it's quite common to see people unloading books, DVDs, CDs, and the like cheaply where I live. When I was in college, I started a plan wherein I would buy what I could find, sell whatever was still brand new or slightly used, and then donate what I didn't want to keep. This backfired spectacularly, leaving me with a large quantity of DVDs I have yet to unload. So, I'm going through them one at a time for purposes of writing "retro" reviews for my column.

This one was awful the first time I watched it, and remained awful thereafter. 

Pierce Brosnan plays a master thief who tries to retire after he's nearly killed during a major caper, only for the FBI agent who nearly killed him to entice him into one last job. 

It's slow, often boring, and deliberately uses female nudity and sexual content to distract from this. 

[Ironhold]

The 355.

Plot contrivance after plot contrivance, followed by pandering and real-life politics. 

There's nothing redeeming about it. 

[NeuroTypical]

Encanto is on Disney+ now!

[Backroads]

The most recent Spiderman. Quite awesome.

[NeuroTypical]

Just finished binging a show on Hulu, 4 years after it's season finale. Nobody around to share the feels on the series finale.

 

[Carborendum]

Just saw Shane.  I've actually heard a lot about it.  It's considered a classic.  My wife and kids just read the book as a family.

As I was watching, I kept thinking "This is the slowest, most pointless, tropy movie I've ever seen."

My wife kept on pointing out the differences between the book and the movie.  It sounds like the book was a lot better than the movie (like I've never heard that before).

The one shining moment in the entire film was when they gave the villain a chance to be more than one-dimensional.  He actually had some valid gripes.  But it could have been handled with diplomacy rather than force.

Apart from that, a wasted 2 hours.

[Vort]

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

As I was watching, I kept thinking "This is the slowest, most pointless, tropy movie I've ever seen."

My children have sometimes had the same thoughts watching old Hitchcock movies. In at least some cases, we decided the movies seemed "tropey" because others imitated Hitchcock's storytelling style, establishing the trope. I wonder if that might not be the case with "Shane" (which I have never seen).

[Carborendum]

1 hour ago, Vort said:

My children have sometimes had the same thoughts watching old Hitchcock movies. In at least some cases, we decided the movies seemed "tropey" because others imitated Hitchcock's storytelling style, establishing the trope. I wonder if that might not be the case with "Shane" (which I have never seen).

It would be interesting to see who first used these tropes in film.  But I believe they came from novels, plays, and history.

Pale Rider was essentially a copy (or re-envisioning) of the plot and several characters.  Even the scene of breaking that rock (Rider) was identical to the uprooting of a large tree (Shane).

• The oppressive Baron.
• The determined homesteader.
• The defending gunslinger faces the hired gunslinger.
• The quiet dangerous man who helps the oppressed. 
• The main homesteader saves the stranger in one fight scene.
• Stranger who rides into town with a mysterious past, but just has an air of danger about him. 
• Then he rides off into the mountains with a child calling after him and echoing through the hills as the final scene.

But Rider was just plain better.  The fight choreography, the cinematography,  Background music, acting, overall storytelling, pacing, character development, dialogue.  ALL of it was better.

So, it wasn't just that it had some tropes.  The problem was that the movie was nothing but tropes.

One of  @Empress's main complaints was that the book focused more on the relationships between the characters.  The movie just expected you to assume things.  There was no character or relationship development.  Rider spent proper time on the relationship building and establishing characters.

Edited February 4, 2023 by Carborendum

[SilentOne]

I went to see Faith of Angels with my mother on Saturday. It's showing in a few places in Utah now and is supposed to open nationally September 27.

IMDb summary: A stranger receives mysterious callings compelling him to search for a boy lost in an abandoned mine.

This is very closely based on a true story. The boy's family moved into the same stake as my family moved to years later, then both he and I moved back again in adulthood. Our parents know each other, Mom worked with his wife for stake stuff, and basically I am not the most unbiased reviewer. Mom and I both found it more emotionally affecting than expected, though.

One shot I find amusing is in a church sacrament meeting. Announcements are made, they start singing the opening hymn, and then the camera shows the hymn board. The correct number for the hymn they are singing is in the first spot, but the second hymn is 301. I Am a Child of God is a pretty unusual choice for a sacrament hymn, I think.

Another amusing-to-me bit features a cameo of the boy (now man) who was lost playing a volunteer rescuer, calling out for himself. He also was sitting on the stand in the church scene. And his real-life wife and mother are shown a few times conversing outside the mine while waiting for news.