1. "Longlegs (Perkins, 2024)" In response to Reply # 0
I loved the atmosphere Perkins set up -- the cinematography is exactly how I like my horror movies to look. the film does a great job keeping you tense for 2/3 of the narrative, then it sadly breaks down.
the whole final few sequences would have been doubly effective with less monologue and exposition shots. but the repeated and exact telling of what happened sucks all the suspense out of the air.
2. "Cedar Rapids (Arteta, 2011)" In response to Reply # 0
I'm so old that this is almost a nostalgic time period for me. The Office winding down, Ed Helms riding The Hangover rocket to lead roles, fourth-wall references to The Wire back when people knew what that was, John C. Reilly in his peak ham era, and the move itself being as formulaic as anything similar from the 80s or 90s.
it's not great, but it sort of has a cheesy earnestness that makes it enjoyable. time capsule movie.
I gave it a shot despite hating the first one, and lo & behold, this one fucked me, too. It feels like Arthur and the movie itself gave up right before the courtroom explosion and kept giving up, until the end.
Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 86982 posts
Tue Jan-07-25 12:02 PM
4. "Hot take, but I definitely liked it more than the first." In response to Reply # 3
I don't really think it all works, and it's definitely too long, but taking the uniquely American fantasy that deluded individuals use to gun people down and exploring it through the uniquely American expressions of the Great American Songbook and the classic Hollywood musical... I thought that was fascinating. I wish they'd pushed the musical numbers to be even bigger and more fantastical... but ultimately I more or less enjoyed it.
I also really liked the different take on Harley, making her a rich kid pseudo-revolutionary content to rage against the machine without ever putting anything at risk. It's not "the Joker and Harley" as we know them... but hey, if we're going to keep trudging up the same IP over and over, I'm happy for people to try something more audacious like this with it. (After this tanked, they won't be allowed to again... but it's a nice idea!)
Also the movie looked and sounded great. That tracking shot after the explosion was absolutely bonkers.
6. "Someone go watch Green Room on Prime" In response to Reply # 0
It's just one of those movies that is a great way to spend 90 minutes and super well executed on the premise with decent names in it that somehow can totally get lost in the deluge of content that comes out so quickly and is forgotten.
********** "Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson
7. "What If…? (S3, Disney+)" In response to Reply # 0
A great through-story like the first season and some good episodes in between. I hate they waited this long to barely graze the nipple of mutants. I feel like if they had an additional episode or two, they could’ve done a What If of something from X-Men ‘97.
12. "Deep Rising (1998), Only Murders in the Building S4, +others" In response to Reply # 0
If there is any movie that shows that I do not have the ability to turn a movie off after an initial time investment it's Deep Rising. That movie was absolute shit but I watched the first 30 or 40 minutes and was just like, "Well, I guess I'm watching the whole thing."
Also saw the last hour or so of Passenger 57 (again) and Wicked and S3 of Reservation Dogs in late December.
13. "Saltburn (Fennell, 2023)" In response to Reply # 0
so there are *significant* narrative and script issues here -- the explanation montage at the end is straight out of a '90s network crime drama, and Barry Keoghan's character is thinly assembled -- BUT
being at Saltburn makes you forget a lot of that. Rosamund Pike being dissociative and hilarious, Farleigh starting karaoke battles (did not realize he was the poor chap strung up in Midsommar), the beautiful tracking shot through a dozen rooms at the mansion, music video segments tied to mid-2000s artists -- I wanted a whole movie of different visitors interacting at the Saltburn summer camp.
15. "Rewatching Six Feet Under for the first time" In response to Reply # 0
since it aired.
Started last month, and im on season 5 now. My biggest takeaway that I dont remember feeling originally is how much I despise Brenda. For a show full of people who are fairly miserable, she's outright exhausting. Brenda deserves all that Skylar White hate.
Really enjoying the rewatch though. Trip seeing all these actors pop up randomly from shows that will come later
19. "Out of the Furnace (Cooper, 2013)" In response to Reply # 0
yes this movie has some major flaws and definitely misses a greater calling midway through, but I have a soft spot for these kind of stories. the cast is excellent if a bit underused as a whole, with everybody seemingly in orbit around Woody's derangement.
20. "Rebel Ridge (Saulnier, 2024)" In response to Reply # 0
I enjoy Saulnier's films -- still not sure why people hated "Hold the Dark" so personally -- and he brings his usual brooding tenseness and underlyingly evil characters, which combusts combust into graphic violence, to the party.
that said, the last 40 minutes kind of sucks. it's like the Netflix executives got involved and it became fairly typical and stupid.
Aaron Pierre is a magnetic lead, he should definitely be in more things moving forward.
25. "Smashed through both Silo seasons. Watched the first Paradise ep" In response to Reply # 0
For whatever reason during the holidays I was watching Taylor Sheridan shows. Made it through Landman and the first season of Lioness. The former was decent, and I oddly enjoyed the latter. I tried with the second season of King of Tulsa, but gave up mid-episode. Shit was just too stupid and regressive.
27. "Castlevania: Nocturne (Netflix)" In response to Reply # 0
I can't even remember why I stopped watching this dead in the middle of the first season. I got back in the groove trying to get this QA automation project set up, and it's amazing. The whole CV franchise on Netflix has been more fun than most of the games.
32. "Saturday Night (2024) - Boring As Hell" In response to Reply # 0
Felt like an Aaron Sorkin wannabe film. There was no drama or reason for it to exist. Putting clunky music over a kinetic film doesnt make it worth watching. I liked the actors playing the various SNL cast members but it just didnt feel entertaining to me.
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"The world is before you and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in." - James Baldwin
35. "Feels like a bunch." In response to Reply # 0
The Apprentice - Good. Excellent performances. Such a villain origin story. All The Streets Are Silent - Can't believe I'd missed this over the years. Loved it though. Heart Eyes - A fun theater experience, but I'm glad I got this on AMC A List. A Real Pain - Perhaps my fav movie of the Oscar contenders. Conclave - I liked it a lot. Didn't LOVE it like a lot did but great performances and really fucking compelling. One of Them Days - Outstanding. Feels like a Friday for the new generation. Y2K - I loved this so much and Kyle Mooney is such a weirdo.
Just started Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix. Know I'm late but...what a fucking weird show already (2 eps in).
And I do watch a bunch of unscripted and/or reality trash - Southern Charm, Southern Hospitality, Scamanda, The Traitors, and Summer House...all of which are on right now, so that makes Thursdays and Fridays fuckin rip.
37. "Hard to Be a God (German, 2013)" In response to Reply # 0
this was a really difficult watch for me, even as someone who has enjoyed overly long, obtuse Russian movies (Tarkovsky). the cinematography is both amazing and claustrophobic, with a "narrative" that barely exists.
premise is really cool -- scientists travel to another planet that also has humans, but their civilization never progressed past the Middle Ages due to anti-intellectualism (lots of artistic suffering in Mother Russ) -- but at three hours, a lot of tedium for me.
40. "Luther: Never Too Much (CNN/MAX)" In response to Reply # 0
It was pretty mild. Very respectful, and didn't get too messy. I never knew he was on Sesame Street. And, he was super cool with Richard Marx, which was surprising.
41. "Real Life Body Cam and Interrogation Footage. Hear me out. " In response to Reply # 0
Already a true crime head but this is actually the most compelling hour of true crime video I've seen in soooo long. It had so much I wanted to know more about.
42. "A Thousand Blows on Hulu" In response to Reply # 0
I had instant interest when I saw the trailer for two reasons 1) the show was created by the same person that helmed Peaky Blinders and 2) two of the focal characters happen to be Jamaicans. Did a little reseach on IMDB.com and its even better that one of the actors is actually from Jamaica; the other is British but has Jamaican grandparents. The Jamaican accent for the British actor fades in and out in terms of authenticity, but the accent is better then the majority of Jamaican accents on dramatic shows. I'm sure 90% of folks won't care about that detail, but it matters to me.
The show seems to delve into bare knuckle boxing in early British times; around the time Jamaica was fighting for independence from England based on an early flashback from one of the main characters. Steven Graham from what I can tell is one of the big bads of the show. Another main character leads to gang of female thieves called the Forty Elephants; it appears the lead character has a crush on one of the Jamaican bare knuckle fighters.
Three episodes in of six that are currently available on Hulu; I believe six more are scheduled to drop in the summer to complete the first season.
"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.
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