Movies

[vbman100]

I hear "The Wild Robot" is outstanding, maybe one of the year's best. Anyone have an opinion?

[daredevil808]

Oct 7, 2024 8:40:27 GMT -5 vbman100 said:

Sept 27, 2024 12:47:02 GMT -5 daredevil808 said:

Anyone seen Transformers One? I was going to watch it this weekend.

Yes, we went as a family to see it a few weeks ago. I am not a sci-fi or comic fan, but I thought it was good. It had a good story, not completely predictable, some funny moments and lines.
There were a few foul words in it, so maybe not great for young kids. Our 5 year old son still repeats Bumblebee's nickname for himself. And now our 3 year old daughter does too - not great parenting, but they know to keep it in the house.
I didn't feel like it was a waste of time or money.
Would I watch it again? At home on a streaming service, sure.

I actually liked it too, better than I expected.  I liked what they did with Megatron.

Too bad I fell asleep during the first 20 minutes.

[usdfan2.0]

Oct 7, 2024 8:44:52 GMT -5 vbman100 said:

I hear "The Wild Robot" is outstanding, maybe one of the year's best. Anyone have an opinion?

Overall very good reviews on the movie discussion board that I frequent.  Heartwarming and uplifting if somewhat derivative of "The Iron Giant" (1999).

[ironhammer]

Sept 27, 2024 12:47:02 GMT -5 daredevil808 said:

Anyone seen Transformers One? I was going to watch it this weekend.

Gave my indepth thoughts on the film on the previous page of this thread. Have a look. 

[ironhammer]

Paramount is remaking "Running Man", the 1987 action scifi film that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura. It was based on a Stephen King novel about a man in a dystopian society being framed and forced to participate in a life-or-death TV variety show. Apparently it will be directed by Edgar Wright (know for his collaborations with Simon Pegg) and stars Glen Powell, the rising star in Hollywood now.

Anyway, I am curious about how they will handle the themes of "Running Man". The original film made what, in hindsight, to be some accurate predictions of US culture and society, from reality television, to economic upheavals, to disinformation and manipulation of the audience.

[mln59]

going to see smile 2 on thursday night. while i don't expect it to be as good as the first smile, i am very much hoping for a fun movie

[daredevil808]

Recently got Disney Plus a few months ago and started binge watching all the Star Wars content. Finished watching all the Star Wars tv shows, so now I'm on the animated stuff. Next up, Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie.

[mln59]

Oct 15, 2024 19:17:14 GMT -5 mln59 said:

going to see smile 2 on thursday night. while i don't expect it to be as good as the first smile, i am very much hoping for a fun movie

just got back

it exceeded my expectations. i think naomi scott nailed it

[bobinmd]

Saw the movie ‘The Apprentice’ yesterday. The actor playing Roy Cohn (Sebastian Stan) was really good. The movie followed the biographies I have read on the subject. It left me wanting to read the book ‘Citizen Cohn’.

[daredevil808]

Venom 3 comes out this weekend. Only watched the first one and haven't watched the last one, so debating whether to watch this one.

[ironhammer]

Re-watched the first two Harry Potter films the other day, socercer's stone (or is it philosopher's stone) and chamber of secrets while babysitting my nieces. I realized I haven't seen the Harry Potter films in many years and don't remember the details of the story. As children films, I was a little worried I will be bored watching it as an adult. Some kid films just don't work on adult audiences, as they just come off as too childish and silly. So I sat down to watch with them with some reluctance but to my surprise...found it more enjoyable than I last remember it.

Now I was never a "Potterhead". I found the books and the movies it was based on, entertaining and fun for the most part, but I was very far from those obsessed fan of the series, the later books in particular I found it meanders a lot with side stories that doesn't add much to the main story and I just didn't felt it needed to be so long. And the first two films was largely seen as the weakest in the series, while the later entries with their darker and more mature tone, was more palatable to adults.

But now watching socerer's stone and chamber of secrets again after a long time, I discovered how remarkable it was in foreshadowing the events of the later books and films, particularly since director Chris Columbus and the rest of his crew didn't know how the story will end as he was filming it (the Harry potter books was still being written at the time). And I have to give props to Columbus in nailing the casting for the main characters (Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger). Radcliffe had a little bit of film acting experience but Grint and Watson had not done any filming before, yet they enscapulate their characters so perfectly in hindsight. Columbus and producer David Heyman I remember reading in the press, had to go out of their way to land Radcliffe, as his parents were reluctant to allow him to play the part. But Columbus was adamant, promising Radcliffe's parents he will protect him from the media limelight, and they relented and the rest is history.

And that's the other thing, Chris Columbus threw everything he had to make those films. He had a real passion for the source material, according to interviews of him. He hasn't made a lot of good films since Harry Potter, so Potter was his high point. In a way, you can see the Potter films as the culmination of his earlier works he wrote or directed, you can see bits and pieces of the Gremlins, Goonies, Young Sherlock Holmes, Home Alone and Mrs Doubtfire in the the first two Potter films. And he hired production designer Stuart Craig and set decorator Stephenie McMillan to give the look of Harry Potter that would last for the rest of the series, from Hogwarts, to Qudditch to the classic school uniforms of the Houses. The end result was that the films retain that timeless magical quality.

The films of course isn't perfect. You can tell the young actors wasn't very polished in some acting scenes, some of the CGI hasn't age well and the first film was burdened with the responsibility to introduce the basic rules of the wizarding world, which gave the first film a somewhat disjointed pace. So the film was more competent and workmanlike than truly spectacular and incredible in some respects. Still, I thought Columbus deserves more credit than being dismissed as the weakest director of the series. He laid the foundation for the series to blossom, found the cast and set the look of the Wizarding world for succeeding directors to work on. I guess he's more like a farmer who laid the seeds for the later directors to harvest.

[ironhammer]

Oct 25, 2024 2:32:34 GMT -5 daredevil808 said:

Venom 3 comes out this weekend. Only watched the first one and haven't watched the last one, so debating whether to watch this one.

I always found Venom cool as a character in the comics, but live adaptation...that's been more mixed. 

[daredevil808]

Nov 1, 2024 22:15:29 GMT -5 ironhammer said:

Oct 25, 2024 2:32:34 GMT -5 daredevil808 said:

Venom 3 comes out this weekend. Only watched the first one and haven't watched the last one, so debating whether to watch this one.

I always found Venom cool as a character in the comics, but live adaptation...that's been more mixed. 

I hated him in Spider-Man 3.  But he was pretty good in his Sony stand-alone movie.

[myhouse911]

Oct 24, 2024 9:35:56 GMT -5 bobinmd said:

Saw the movie ‘The Apprentice’ yesterday. The actor playing Roy Cohn (Sebastian Stan) was really good. The movie followed the biographies I have read on the subject. It left me wanting to read the book ‘Citizen Cohn’.

Sebastian Stan played Trump. Jeremy Strong played Cohn.

[myhouse911]

Looking forward to this one coming out next month.