[Movies] Talk about the last movie you saw 2: Electric Threadaloo

ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

So, SMILE 2 was the best comedy I've seen this year.

*touches earpiece* What's that? It's supposed to be taken seriously?

With laughably cartoonish effects like that, how COULD you take it seriously?
 
Shawn

Shawn

Heretic
Evil Hugh Grant is great.
Yeah. Paddington 2 was fun.
No. EVIL Hugh Grant.
Oh. Yeah. Dungeons and Dragons was also a good time.
I mean... EVIL EVIL Hugh Grant...

I absolutely would not have seen this movie if it wasn't for Hugh Grant. While it may have looked interesting enough without him, I tend to avoid most horror movies nowadays because god knows I'm already stressed out enough with life in general.
But Hugh Grant playing a charismatic villain who torments a pair of Mormon missionaries was too good of a casting choice to pass up, and I have absolutely no regrets. Hugh Grant is equal parts charming, intellectual and terrifying, and at no point did he let me down. Some of this film's best scenes are just Hugh Grant discussing Theology and trashing religion in general. Dozens of pages worth of dialogue, and Grant nailed every word. I will say, what surprised me the most, was that despite my personal dislike of religion, that the protagonists actually offer some very strong counterpoints. But of course this film is not just and hour and a half of debating, as Hugh Grant puts the girls into a very terrifying situation where he puts their beliefs to a test.
The first half you get the tension filled debate, and the second half you get the horror. I walked away happy with both. Mostly with the debate, but the horror part was still quite excellent.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Finally broke down and saw Abigail, simply because I had a YouTube clip from the movie. I quite liked it, although again I wish all the promotions hadn't ruined what could have been a great surprise. I thought the characters were dumb as shit but they did it in a comedic way so it worked.
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

Caught the last showing of Wicked before it left my local theater.

I'm not going to give a full verdict until part 2 comes out next year and I can judge the entire project as a whole, but right now my preliminary judgment is that this has a strong claim to be the best movie adaptation of a stage musical in history. Wonderfully cast, magnificently performed, spectacular sets and costumes, and deeply respectful to the source material as well as its fans. Good stuff.
 
evilmike

evilmike

Dave said:
Finally broke down and saw Abigail, simply because I had a YouTube clip from the movie. I quite liked it, although again I wish all the promotions hadn't ruined what could have been a great surprise. I thought the characters were dumb as shit but they did it in a comedic way so it worked.
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I understand why they did it. It would be difficult to market the movie as anything but a generic thriller if they kept that one story element hidden.
 
ncts_dodge_man

ncts_dodge_man

bhamv3 said:
Caught the last showing of Wicked before it left my local theater.

I'm not going to give a full verdict until part 2 comes out next year and I can judge the entire project as a whole, but right now my preliminary judgment is that this has a strong claim to be the best movie adaptation of a stage musical in history. Wonderfully cast, magnificently performed, spectacular sets and costumes, and deeply respectful to the source material as well as its fans. Good stuff.
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Coming from someone who has seen the musical back in 2005 (with my wife, then girlfriend) and 2006 (honeymoon trip) in Chicago, I really enjoyed the movie version (of the first half of the musical). It was great to see Idina M and Kristen C (the original leads of the stage musical, if you were not aware) as people leading the "Oz Players" part. I've also read the book it was based on - which is definitely not a good one for kids to read until they're older.

Music- and character-wise: Cynthia E's "Defying Gravity" was amazing, as I expected it to be, knowing how well she can sing. I wasn't initially sold on them casting Ariana G as Glinda/Galinda, but she did great. Jeff G as the Wizard is as campy as Joel G did as the original Wizard in the stage musical.

Seeing some of the interviews and behind the scenes stuff that is out there are pretty cool to see as well.

I did miss that they didn't do the 'Clock of the Time Dragon' like they do in the stage musical being the set (the dragon usually moved during the intro music). However, the expansion of the storyline worked well - if you know the whole plot, it explains how things in the original movie worked if you know where characters go.

I'm looking forward to Part 2 next year.
 
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Celt Z

Celt Z

I'm upset I haven't had time to go see it yet. I read the book close to 24 years ago, and one of my earliest Christmas gift's from Mr. Z was tickets to Wicked. I swear I'm going to go soon! I don't want to wait for streaming!
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

Also, forgot to mention, I saw Wicked with my wife and she noticed I was tearing up at some very odd moments. Those specific moments were scenes between Elphaba and Glinda, and the movie incorporated themes from For Good into the background music. She couldn't recognize For Good's musical themes the way I could, so she didn't understand why I was so emotional. "Yes, them dancing together was a nice scene, but why are you crying???"

I am going to be a wreck when they finally do For Good in part 2.
 
Dirona

Dirona

Just saw Wicked today. And basically everything @ncts_dodge_man says is true.

I read the book as a teen, loved it. Saw this on stage in... 2012? 2013? Loved it. Have listened to the Broadway cast recording countless times, and have actually performed Defying Gravity in public (with solo guitar accompaniment, and some degree of skill).

This felt like an excellent adaptation of the stage musical. Cynthia E has a wonderful voice, and I now need to go find her in other things. Ariana G was surprisingly compelling. Jonathan B as Fiyero was delightful to watch (especially his dancing). No one can top Joel G - he's long been a Broadway favourite of mine - but Jeff G definitely brought the camp. And I adored the cameos from Chenoweth and Menzel, they were great fun to watch (though wow they both looked old in comparison to the new cast!)

A few of the scenes felt overly drawn out, and the transition to "One Short Day" was, well, too short for my liking. But overall, I really enjoyed it.
 
ncts_dodge_man

ncts_dodge_man

Dirona said:
Cynthia E has a wonderful voice, and I now need to go find her in other things.
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Some suggestions from when I looked her up more when she was announced...

Cynthia Erivo - "Stand Up" - Oscars 2020 Performance - from HARRIET - co-written by her

CYNTHIA ERIVO - And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going | Hear My Soul 2015 - especially between 4:00 and 4:30

Cynthia Erivo performs "Alfie" for Dionne Warwick | 46th Kennedy Center Honors

Cynthia Erivo Performs ‘Edelweiss’ For Julie Andrews | 48th AFI Life Achievement Award | TNT

70th Annual Tony Awards The Color Purple 2016 Cynthia Erivo Danielle Brookes Heather Headley - timed to just her song in the performance.

Cynthia Erivo & Justin Paul "Rewrite the Stars" - The Greatest Showman demo - for DGF (not the best audio)

Top 10 Greatest Cynthia Erivo Performances - clips from MsMojo

That and all any other performances you find made it why I didn't have *any* concerns about her performance.
 
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Sara_2814

Sara_2814

Super/Man

Cried my way through it. It's well made, not emotionally manipulative or a pity party, nor does it put Chris Reeve on a pedestal. It's a film about who he was as a person and an actor, and about him learning to live with paralysis that emphasizes that he didn't do it alone, whether it's Dana Reeve's love and support or Robin Williams being an awesome friend. Besides commentary from his children and friends & colleagues, they also use Chris' own voice from his autobiography audiobook.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Joker part 2, it doesn't deserve the French title.

I understand what this movie was going for. I understand the meta narrative addressing the wrong type of people that became fans of the first movie, and I can respect what the movie was trying to do in portraying that sometimes what a person is isn't what those identifying with them want to project onto them.

That doesn't excuse how incredibly boring and bland this movie is. Even the musical aspects are so few and far between that they might as well not be there. If you want to be a musical be a goddamn musical, sing something, do anything, other than the nothing that makes up most of the run time.

I'll be honest, after an hour and a half of nothing happening I felt we had to be wrapping up soon. I checked the run time, saw there was an hour left, and tapped out. I read the ending online instead.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Hundreds of Beavers

This topped the 2024 lists for several movie buff people i know, so I finally sat down to watch it.

I'm not even done yet, but I'm begging EVERYONE to watch this. It's...it's a live action, black & white movie, with almost no dialogue, with Looney Tunes level humour. It's one of the most glorious things I've ever seen.

Just watch it. It's free to stream right now on Tubi and Kaniopy, if you have either of those.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
ThatNickGuy said:
Hundreds of Beavers

This topped the 2024 lists for several movie buff people i know, so I finally sat down to watch it.

I'm not even done yet, but I'm begging EVERYONE to watch this. It's...it's a live action, black & white movie, with almost no dialogue, with Looney Tunes level humour. It's one of the most glorious things I've ever seen.

Just watch it. It's free to stream right now on Tubi and Kaniopy, if you have either of those.
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Now on my Plex. I'll watch it Thursday over night.
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
The Six Triple Eight

Meh. This isn't a terrible movie, it's just mediocre. It takes way too long to get started, and it spends way too much time telling us about how important mail delivery is for soldiers and their families, and making really trite statements about racism. It feels more like they were running through a list of checkboxes than telling a story about black women in the army routing mail to and from the front lines during World War 2.

I think it's worst offense is that it never shows just how much work it took to go through all that mail. It shows massive piles of mail, but the characters are never shown struggling. They're shown being smart, and we're told they're being undermined by their superiors, and we're told they're working around the clock, but we don't really see the effect of long hours on them. The church they're operating out of goes from a trash heap to spic and span without so much as a montage of their work. We're never shown them hefting bags of letters, there's no sense of time to the sorting room. I think the movie spends more time showing them dancing with soldiers than it does sorting mail.
 
Shawn

Shawn

Yoshimickster said:
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

SUPER fun stop motion adventure film, if you love Wallace and Gromit you'd love this.
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It was definitely enjoyable. There were also quite a few wonderful callbacks and Easter eggs. Though I do feel it could have done better as a short film, as it is a bit slow in some places.
 
@Li3n

@Li3n

Nosferatu (2024)

It was pretty good, but the fact that i already saw the story like 5 times before kind of worked against my enjoyment of it.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
@Li3n said:
Nosferatu (2024)

It was pretty good, but the fact that i already saw the story like 5 times before kind of worked against my enjoyment of it.
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People are complaining that it ‘rips off Dracula’. Um…yeah. It’s a remake of the FIRST Dracula adaptation.
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

Dave said:
People are complaining that it ‘rips off Dracula’. Um…yeah. It’s a remake of the FIRST Dracula adaptation.
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"ugh, this Batman reminds me of the previous 25 Batmans"
"Godzilla is a big monster from the sea destroying a city? Again? Yawn"

I haven't seen Nosferatu yet, but from what I've heard it goes back quite a bit to the more original interpretation and vision of Dracula, quite different and distinct from modern-day vampire interpretations.
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

PatrThom said:
It handled Danny Elfman just fine, didn't it?
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In some weird way, that transition feels more plausible. He and Mark Mothersbaugh's post-pop oeuvre doesn't surprise me as much. But they didn't also burst onto the scene announcing they wanted to "f*ck you like an animal", so there's that.
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

Black Mass

10 years late on this one. I am not fond of mob movies that romanticize that world. I am also kind of sick of hearing the word Southie. That is probably why I skipped this movie when it came out.

Having said all that, I really enjoyed this movie. All around good acting. Depp was fantastic. I can't believe he wasn't nominated for an Oscar. I am glad they didn't try to make Bulger a sympathetic character. I thought they were for one scene.
 
Shawn

Shawn

Got sick today and watched some movies.

The Gray Man
Chris Evans makes a fun villain. Five stars.

Red One
Chris Evans makes a fun villain turned hero. Five stars.

Roadhouse (2024)
Doesn't have Chris Evans. One star.

I guess I was in an action movie mood. I don't often watch movies at home unless I'm watching it with someone. Surprisingly forgot how much I missed it. Don't often think about how much time I actually take just scrolling on my phone or playing video games.

The movies were all fun. Not much to them, and I enjoyed myself enough that I'm glad I sat down to watch them finally. Red One gave me a few smiles in some of the touching moments.
Oh. And it wasn't while I was sick but I did use Nick's recommendation to get me to watch another film last week.

Hundred of Beavers.
This kind of brilliance just proves you don't need a big budget to pull off something so wonderfully comedic and basically just a live-action cartoon.
 
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General Specific

General Specific

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Where to start with this one... It's a wholly unnecessary sequel movie that came out 30 years late. There are so many plots and story elements that nothing gets the full attention it needs. The film suffers greatly from not knowing which direction to go in. There are several main characters whose stories get completely wasted or glossed over after they are introduced. It's just generally a mess.

And yet, I still really liked it. It's Beetlejuice so you're not expecting high cinema going in, just Michael Keaton chewing the scenery. Add Willem Dafoe into the mix and there's not enough scenery to go around, but again... it's a lot of fun. Is it good? Not especially. A lot of stuff that happens makes no sense, but who cares? Just turn your brain off, suspend all of your disbelief, and just have fun for a while.
 
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