A24 4,338 Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 But drama can be entertaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chen G. 3,949 Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 One of the reasons why I don't like that word... "Entertainment" to me almost has this by-connotation of "amusement" which I think is a wrong term to use anywhere near a good drama. Good drama is poignant, moving and often quite gloomy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,338 Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 8 minutes ago, Chen G. said: One of the reasons why I don't like that word... "Entertainment" to me almost has this by-connotation of "amusement" which I think is a wrong term to use anywhere near a good drama. Good drama is poignant, moving and often quite gloomy. "Entertaining" (which is the word I used) is whatever entertains or amuses the mind. It doesn't automatically means a Disney Theme Park (which isn't my idea of fun). But I'm glad to see you're still well and alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweeping Strings 2,363 Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 2 hours ago, Chen G. said: Drama ain't fun. Yes, but Bond should be. Broadly speaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,338 Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 2 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said: Yes, but Bond should be. Broadly speaking. They weren't fun when Dalton or Brosnan were Bond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweeping Strings 2,363 Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 Dalton was certainly a shift in tone from Moore (and a probably necessary one at that stage ... series needed a shot in the arm). But I'd argue that the one-liners, innuendo etc were still more or less present and correct with Brosnan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,338 Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 But Brosnan's delivery of those one-liners didn't work for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tallguy 3,398 Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 IMHO Brosnan is the only Bond to thread the needle between being a grim assassin and still having the playful tap dancing performance that Connery / Moore had. Flemming's Bond wasn't nearly as witty as his celluloid counterpoint, but he wasn't a grim and bitter man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,369 Posted October 13, 2023 Author Share Posted October 13, 2023 The People We Hate at the Wedding Amusing family drama / romcom mashup that came out last year on Amazon. The stacked cast all does a very good job - Kristen Bell (replacing the originally announced Annie Murphy who I guess had to do Kevin Can Fuck Himself instead, Alison Janney, Ben Platt, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Karan Soni, Jorma Taccone, Lizzy Caplan, D'Arcy Carden, and even Dustin Milligan (Annie Murphy's love interest from Schitt's Creek, what a fun reunion that could have been). The kind of movie that delivers exactly what the trailer promises. It's on Amazon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,369 Posted October 14, 2023 Author Share Posted October 14, 2023 Vengeance Wow! BJ Novak's directorial debut is a winner. He stars as a new york city journalist who flies to Texas to attend the funeral of a former hookup when her brother calls to insist on his presence, since she seemingly had told the family he was more than just a fling. Once there comedy ensues, as a mystery builds about how the girl died and what else is going on in this Texas town. Boyd Holbook, J. Smith-Cameron, Dove Cameron, Issa Rae, and even Ashton Kutcher give good supporting performances. I enjoyed the unpredictable nature of the investigation and how it resolves and look forward to Novak's next film! It's on Amzon Prime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,369 Posted October 16, 2023 Author Share Posted October 16, 2023 Cha Cha Real Smooth Cooper Raiff's followup to the great Shithouse is not nearly as good as its predecessor, but still interesting and worth watching none-the-less. He again stars in his own film, playing a recent college grad without a career path who ends up befriending a single mother (Dakota Johnson) and her autistic daughter while managing his own relationships with his mother Leslie Mann, stepdad Brad Garett, a (much) younger brother, and a girlfriend who is currently in Barcelona and may or may not be seeing someone else. The various character and their stories weave in and out and take some interesting turns. The filmmaking is a step up from Shithouse, but the characters aren't as compelling, and feel more "written" than the more raw and honest portrayals from Shithouse. While not a huge winner here, Raiff is still a talent to watch. It's on Apple TV+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,369 Posted October 22, 2023 Author Share Posted October 22, 2023 Nope Another disappointment from Jordan Peele after he kicked off his feature film directing with such a promising start with Get Out. This one is at least better than Us, with better characters and a less muddy and hole-filled plot. Some of the thrills and scares are well done, but it doesn't all come together in the end to be that satisfying or memorable. It's on Amazon Prime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,338 Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 16 minutes ago, Jay said: Nope Another disappointment from Jordan Peele Yep! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,369 Posted October 22, 2023 Author Share Posted October 22, 2023 She Said Nice film about two New York Times reporters (Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan) who investigate Harvey Weinstein after rumors of him abusing actresses turn up. I didn't know the details of how his abuse was discovered, investigated and revealed and it was nice to learn it this way. The directing isn't flashy but got the job done. Basically it's not as good of a film as Spotlight or Zodiac or anything, but I liked it more than Boston Strangler. It's on Amazon Prime Raiders of the SoundtrArk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,369 Posted October 22, 2023 Author Share Posted October 22, 2023 The Greatest Beer Run Ever Fun film based on a real life story of a guy who flew to Vietnam during the Vietnam War to give beers to friends who were serving. As he travels around trying to find people who he grew up with in New York that are now deployed all over, he gets into all kinds of different dangerous situations he always has to get out of, and learns a lot along the way. Russell Crowe shows up as a war photogapher, and Bill Murray has a small role as a bar-owner back home. It was better than I was expecting! It's on Apple TV+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bollemanneke 3,349 Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 Luck. Words that will trigger unwanted physical violent reactions for the two coming days: forever family, Hazel. Sam is terrible (voice). Debney’s score is pretty great. Can I have a good luck penny now? Please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,369 Posted October 29, 2023 Author Share Posted October 29, 2023 The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent Amusing affair where Nicolas Cage plays an exaggerated version of himself who gets mixed up in a plot involving him being a mole for the CIA when at a superfan's villa who they suspect is part of a drug cartel. The plot doesn't really matter, the chemistry between Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal carries the movie, along with amusing scenes where Cage also plays an even more exaggerated, younger more successful version of Cage as visions the main Cage sees. The character scenes are just good enough to outweigh the parts where the plot has to plod along. Decent enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jay 37,369 Posted November 10, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 10, 2023 Tár Oh man, I enjoyed this character unraveling movie by Todd Field (In The Bedroom, Little Children). It's a slow burn, and wouldn't have worked any other way. Starting with lots of "slice of life" scenes that set up who the character of Lydia Tár is so well, a bunch of various details from each start to combine to lead to her unraveling and its all quite compelling to watch. It's the kind of movie that gets better as it goes, and the ending was delightful in its dark comedy. This is not a movie for everyone, but I quite enjoyed it! It's on Amzon Prime Nick1Ø66, Glóin the Dark, KK and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,369 Posted November 10, 2023 Author Share Posted November 10, 2023 Spirited This movie was terrible. I didn't realize it was a full blown musical, and that's not a good thing. At least it was nice to see Sunita Mani again. It's on Apple TV+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,338 Posted November 11, 2023 Share Posted November 11, 2023 Why torture yourself for 2 hours? Just switch it off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,369 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 Bodies Bodies Bodies Wow! This movie took me by total surprise. For a lot of the runtime, I wasn't really into it. The setup is that a bunch of rich 20-something are having a weekend party in a mansion, when they start being killed one by one and the remaining people have to figure out who the killer is. This is tied in in a fun way to a game they played earlier in the evening called "bodies bodies bodies", where one person was the "killer" and one a "victim", and they all crawled around in the dark until someone found the body and the remaining plays had to guess who it was. There is also all kinds of various tensions between different guests for different romantic or personal reasons, and a guest mentioned who was there the night before but left after a fight.... I liked the actors and premise, but I guess my probably with a lot of the movie was that it wasn't funny enough. Rachel Sennott and Pete Davidson seemed to be the only people having fun, with the rest caught up in their various dramas. But as the movie went on and the bodies piled up, I was getting more into it, and then the final reveal at the end was so clever and hilarious, that the movie won me over as a whole. This is one of the rare movies I think would actual take on a whole new fun level on second watch, now that you know everything going on. It's on Netflix Glóin the Dark and JNHFan2000 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNHFan2000 2,966 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 I love that film!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,369 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 It was pretty fun yeah. I still think about how funny that whole reveal is at the end. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNHFan2000 2,966 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Yeah, especially because of the reaction afterwards. I remember when I saw it in the cinema and how people reacted to it. And I just like the way the film also kimda talks about how people are with phones and followers etc. It's just really funny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,369 Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 I'm Totally Fine Really strange, comedic, sci-fi (I suppose) film where Jillian Bell and Natalie Morales are best friends and business partners, but just before the events of the movie Morales has died unexpectedly and Bell is off to an Air BNB they had rented together to celebrate a big win for their business. Not longer after arriving there, Morales appears, claiming to be an alien who took her form, in order to study human behavior.... What follows is a sometimes funny, sometime introspective look at grief and the way it presents itself, as a series of conversations and mini-adventures ensue like when What We Do In The Shadows' Harvey Guillen shows up as a party DJ Bell forgot to cancel, with molly to share. Not a great movie, not a bad movie, but an interesting one with two good actors. It's on Hulu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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