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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostSat Jul 17, 2021 5:58 pm 
I search thru Amazon Prime's offerings periodically to see if there's something new or something I missed that looks interesting. I'd never heard of the movie "Suck" before, but the concept intrigued me. I very thoroughly enjoyed it. A bit of a genre mashup maybe, but I can't think of anything like it that I've seen before. Canadian rock n roll road trip vampire comedy. A local Toronto band going nowhere suddenly sees their fortunes improve when one of their members is turned into a blood sucker. There are some minor (or major) complications that ensue of course. Most of the cast aren't real well known, but there are a handful of small roles by some legit music/rock people--Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins, Moby. I thought it was clever, there are various little nuggets alluding to both music and gothic horror history. I had seen a bit of Jessica Pare before--in "Wicker Park" and "Hot Tub Time Machine." She was good in this, and a bigger role than in the previous movies I've seen her in. Oh shoot, I forgot about Malcolm McDowell, as a Van Helsing descendant.

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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostMon Jul 19, 2021 8:52 pm 
Sometimes I just get it in my head to watch a movie, even with lukewarm at best reviews, so I go in with moderate expectations. I'm a sucker for sci fi, even though there are probably more clunkers than good movies. "Voyagers" has been quite well tagged as Lord of the Flies in space, so you already have a pretty good idea where it's going. It actually started decent, the setup was fine, but then the situation devolved so fast, with so little to suggest that would've been the likely outcome, it lost me. Oh well.

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PostMon Jul 19, 2021 10:29 pm 
Saw “Soul” on the plane to LA and it was a perfect film for a plane ride. Just under 2 hr. Good music and a feel good plot. Pixar

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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PostTue Jul 20, 2021 12:09 am 
I watched “SUMMER of SOUL” - a week ago. Great documentary on a series of free soul/funk/gospel/blues concerts in Harlem in 1969. Well attended events. Interesting is why the 40+ hours of footage was never available, until now. Called ‘the Black Woodstock’. Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Gladys Knight, Mahalia Jackson, David Ruffian, Staple Singers, Sly and the Family, Chambers Brothers, BB King……on and on Good stuff!

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marta
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PostTue Jul 20, 2021 12:03 pm 
Last night we watched "Mercury 13" (streaming on Netflix) to get a background on Wally Funk and the group of women who trained to be astronauts in the early 60's. Nice to see that she got to finally got to travel to space.

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PostTue Jul 20, 2021 12:34 pm 
For whatever reason I've grown to appreciate Brittany Murphy more since she's been gone. Haven't seen all of her films, but a smattering of them. Watched another, "Little Black Book" (2004). It was potentially problematic for me, because the entire premise of the movie is about snooping, which usually drives me crazy. Brittany is concerned she knows so little about her boyfriend's (Ron Livingston) previous relationships, so starts doing some digging, prodded by coworkers at her new job on the staff of a trashy day time talk show. Holly Hunter is fantastic as her new mentor. The 3 exes are interesting characters. I found this to be quite enjoyable. Also watched a short film featuring Maika Monroe, who I'm a fan of. Titled "How To Be Alone." When she's alone in her apartment while her husband is at work, her overactive imagination torments her. Lots of nightmare fuel. I think it's hinting at mental illness of some kind, but I wasn't quite sure about that. Only about 15 minutes long.

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PostThu Jul 22, 2021 7:26 pm 
I honestly don't remember the last time I saw a movie in a theater. It's probably been 2 years, I know it was well before covid changed everything. I've been waffling back and forth for a couple weeks about going to see "Black Widow." I finally did. Edmonds Theater has $7 matinees. The timing of the release of this is kinda odd, it would've made more sense to make this after "Civil War"...but at least it finally made its way to the big screen. I've seen really mixed reviews on it. I quite enjoyed it. Some big spectacle action scenes. Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh shared a lot of screen time together, and that pairing was great. edit--whoa, mind blown; the actress who briefly plays a younger version of Scarlett's character at the beginning of the movie is the daughter of Milla Jovovich (and pops is director Paul W.S. Anderson).

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PostThu Jul 22, 2021 10:15 pm 
"Jolt"--brand new original streaming on Amazon starring Kate Beckinsale. It's totally over the top and ridiculous...and totally entertaining. She plays a woman with anger management and impulse control issues, who is also unusually strong due to some body chemistry mumbo jumbo. It doesn't matter, just roll with it. It's very violent, but probably 50% of the violence is just stuff she imagines in her head, but doesn't actually do. Also has Jai Courtney, Stanley Tucci, Bobby Canavale and briefly Susan Sarandon. Turn your brain off and enjoy the ride.

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PostSun Jul 25, 2021 3:14 pm 
"News of the World" stars Tom Hanks, and he is good as always. It was decent, but I didn't love it. Slow paced. Some of the story elements seemed very at odds with others. What made it worth watching IMO was a powerhouse performance from a young German girl--Helena Zengel. She didn't have a lot of speaking lines, and most of those were in Kiowa (her family was killed and she was kidnapped as a very young child by a Kiowa tribe). But she conveyed an enormous amount with her facial expressions. It blows me away how talented some people are so early in life. A movie I've had on a list for a while, don't know if it will ever be available on DVD, but I found it streaming thru Hoopla--"Run This Town." Based on at least some factual events with a former mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford. He was a real piece of work apparently. There are quite a few characters, it jumps around. There is a young reporter who is on the bottom of the totem pole, plus some of the other staff there. Several staffers working for the mayor. A couple of police detectives briefly. I thought it was well done and interesting, although disturbing. Several familiar faces--Nina Dobrev, Scott Speedman, Ben Platt (didn't actually know his name but he's a bit character in the Pitch Perfect franchise), Jennifer Ehle...and a completely unrecognizable Damian Lewis in a fat suit as the Mayor.

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PostMon Aug 02, 2021 3:21 pm 
Went and saw “The Green Knight” last night with the girlfriend. I was stoked, the trailers made it look interesting, it was well reviewed, and I love A24 as a studio.. well… they have a few duds that get good reviews because they are “artsy”. This flick was an absolute bore, and didn’t even make any sense. Total waste of time and money. It was difficult to sit all the way through.

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PostTue Aug 03, 2021 6:52 am 
Fletcher wrote:
Went and saw “The Green Knight” last night with the girlfriend. I was stoked, the trailers made it look interesting, it was well reviewed, and I love A24 as a studio.. well… they have a few duds that get good reviews because they are “artsy”. This flick was an absolute bore, and didn’t even make any sense.
I felt better about the movie in hindsight, once I'd figured out the nonsensical bits (such as who the fox was), but I agree, it was somewhat boring to sit through. I saw at least one couple leave the theater about 2/3rds of the way through.

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PostWed Aug 04, 2021 8:48 am 
Another Brittany Murphy movie I'd never seen before--The Ramen Girl. Starts a bit slow but I enjoyed it. Her boyfriend has a job in Tokyo, she moves there to join him. He might not have actually invited her. She's cramping his style, so he takes off for Okinawa. Heartbroken and completely on her own, she gravitates to the ramen joint across the street from her apartment. She kinda forces her way into being mentored by the owner. He's really rough on her, he's a big jerk most of the time. But she sticks it out and learns how to make authentic ramen, and learns some valuable lessons along the way. It's got some comedic moments but it's more of a drama. Checked out Gunpowder Milkshake on Netflix. Fairly meh. Kinda aiming to be a female-centric John Wick kind of thing, but it fell flat. Good cast, but they couldn't really save it. Karen Gillan, Lena Heady, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeow, Angela Bassett, Paul Giamatti.

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PostFri Aug 06, 2021 11:09 pm 
I've watched "The Map of Tiny Perfect Things" on Amazon Prime a couple times now. Needless to say I really enjoyed it. I've become a big fan of Kathryn Newton, her character is enjoyable in this. Brief synopsis, it's a stuck in a time loop thing (yes it's been done before, but it's merely a plot device, you can go literally any direction with the story, and it can be any kind of genre*). There's a guy (Kyle Allen) who is trying to get the day just right, and Newton's character seems to be repeating the same day totally randomly, popping up in different places at different times. Impossible to tell how many iterations of the day pass before they bump into each other and figure out they're experiencing the same thing. They start hanging out together. He seems more eager to get out of the loop than she does. There is a reason for that, but it isn't revealed until most of the way thru the movie. Both characters are endearing. There's some humor, there's some heartfelt stuff, well worth a watch. * Just some examples I can think of off the top of my head that use this concept but are very different movies--Groundhog Day (comedy/drama), Edge of Tomorrow (sci fi/action), Happy Death Day (action/horror spoof or deconstruction) oops, forgot one of my favorites--Before I Fall (teen drama)

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PostTue Aug 10, 2021 9:11 pm 
Streamed something from Hoopla, Fanny's Journey (original French title Le Voyage de Fanny). It's from 2016, made a limited run at some festivals in the U.S. in 2017 apparently. Well made, a number of very good performances from young teen and child actors. Based on factual events. Heartbreaking story. During WWII, many French Jewish families sent their children to a part of the country that was controlled by Italy, where they wouldn't be persecuted. Various organizations cared for the children there. As the Italians began to falter, the Nazis moved into that part of France. The children were no longer safe and had to be sent elsewhere. The title character, at only around 12 or 13, unwittingly became the leader of a group of kids trying to get to safety in Switzerland. There is definitely tension off and on during the film, not really much in the way of violence like most war films, but everything about it is enraging. What a dark period of human history.

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PostFri Nov 05, 2021 7:32 pm 
This thread died again. "Free Guy" is awesome! I feel a bit bad I didn't go see it in the theater. It's at Redbox now. It's a little like Ready Player One, but plenty different enough, and better. What movies are supposed to be, just a lot of fun and really entertaining. Ryan Reynolds is doing the Ryan Reynolds thing, and Jodie Comer is wonderful as always.

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