Last Movie You Watched

[bsjkki]

On 9/5/2021 at 12:46 AM, Rain said:

Watched the new Cinderella.  I enjoyed it overall, but I give it a 6 or a 7.  I loved the color - both the skin and clothing etc. I think it was trying to hard to be a diverse Ella Enchanted and missed.  Even repeated one of the songs and really missed there.  I wonder how many who rated it a 10 have seen Ella Enchanted and if they had seen it first if it would have changed the rating.

I am going to have to watch it. I really hated Ella Enchanted the first time I watched it. I loved the original book and they totally changed the plot/tone. I enjoyed it the 2nd time when I separated it from the book.

[Calm]

9 hours ago, bsjkki said:

I am going to have to watch it. I really hated Ella Enchanted the first time I watched it. I loved the original book and they totally changed the plot/tone. I enjoyed it the 2nd time when I separated it from the book.

I haven’t seen Ella a second time.  I read the book not long before I saw the movie and hated the movie for that very reason.  But it has been long enough since I read it, maybe I should watch it again to see if I can enjoy it as you did.

Edited September 8, 2021 by Calm

[bsjkki]

Just now, Calm said:

I haven’t seen Ella a second time.  I read the book not long before I saw the movie and hated the movie for that very reason.  But it has been long enough since I red it, maybe I should watch it again to see if I can enjoy it as you did.

Just make up an entirely new name for the movie in your head and you might enjoy it. 😏I am not rereading Dune before I see this next movie adaption so I am vague on the details. 
 

I am wary of the new Wheel of Time series. I will watch it and give it a shot but so many of these book to series productions are incredibly bad.

[bsjkki]

I also  liked Cruella more than I expected to. It is a dark tale with not a lot of likeable characters but I don’t mind dark but somewhat clever movies.

[Rain]

1 hour ago, bsjkki said:

I am going to have to watch it. I really hated Ella Enchanted the first time I watched it. I loved the original book and they totally changed the plot/tone. I enjoyed it the 2nd time when I separated it from the book.

Yes, that can be a real problem.  I didn't read the book so I didn't need to do that on this one.

[Amulek]

On 9/5/2021 at 1:46 AM, Rain said:

Watched the new Cinderella.  I enjoyed it overall, but I give it a 6 or a 7.  I loved the color - both the skin and clothing etc. I think it was trying too hard to be a diverse Ella Enchanted and missed. 

That's too bad. I think it's going to make it into our movie night rotation sometime soon. Oh well, maybe the kids will like it.

 

Quote

Even repeated one of the songs and really missed there.

I only remember two songs distinctively from Ella Enchanted: one by Queen (about mid way through the film) and the other by Elton John (closing scene / credits). Both were pretty great.

Please tell me they didn't butcher either one of those.

 

[Amulek]

19 hours ago, bsjkki said:

I am not rereading Dune before I see this next movie adaption so I am vague on the details.

Early reviews aren't promising. Unfortunately, the source material doesn't easily lend itself to adaption, as pretty much all previous installments have shown.

I'm still planning on seeing it, but from what I've read I might have to try and withhold judgement until Part 2 drops.

 

Quote

I am wary of the new Wheel of Time series. I will watch it and give it a shot but so many of these book to series productions are incredibly bad.

Yeah, I watched the trailer for WoT and had some reservations. I would really like for them to not mess this one up.

 

[Rain]

34 minutes ago, Amulek said:

That's too bad. I think it's going to make it into our movie night rotation sometime soon. Oh well, maybe the kids will like it.

 

I only remember two songs distinctively from Ella Enchanted: one by Queen (about mid way through the film) and the other by Elton John (closing scene / credits). Both were pretty great.

Please tell me they didn't butcher either one of those.

 

I liked it.  Just didn't think it was done as well.  The repeated song was "Somebody to love".  

I think the biggest thing was that it wasn't believable to me that Ella and the prince would get together and the rest that goes with that, but would be a spoiler.

[bsjkki]

38 minutes ago, Rain said:

I liked it.  Just didn't think it was done as well.  The repeated song was "Somebody to love".  

I think the biggest thing was that it wasn't believable to me that Ella and the prince would get together and the rest that goes with that, but would be a spoiler.

The book is a dark and somber tale and the love story makes a lot more sense. I would love an actual movie adaption that stays true to the source material. The plot changes were enormous in the movie. 

[Calm]

5 hours ago, Amulek said:

Early reviews aren't promising. Unfortunately, the source material doesn't easily lend itself to adaption, as pretty much all previous installments have shown.

Looking at the trailers, for the most part I liked the look,  but the dialogue was so lackluster. 
 

Edited September 8, 2021 by Calm

[bluebell]

On 9/7/2021 at 12:55 PM, bsjkki said:

Just make up an entirely new name for the movie in your head and you might enjoy it. 😏I am not rereading Dune before I see this next movie adaption so I am vague on the details. 
 

I am wary of the new Wheel of Time series. I will watch it and give it a shot but so many of these book to series productions are incredibly bad.

I’m re-reading the Divergent series (it happened to be downloaded on my phone when we went camping so was easily available) and though the books are not my favorite, the movies really sucked rocks.

The first one did ok but by the final one they had mauled the story and created something completely new (and stupid) that everyone hated.

They ended up splitting the third and last book into two movies but the first half did so bad at the box office they didn’t even ever make the second half.

Movie grubbers ruin everything. 

[bluebell]

6 hours ago, Rain said:

I liked it.  Just didn't think it was done as well.  The repeated song was "Somebody to love".  

I think the biggest thing was that it wasn't believable to me that Ella and the prince would get together and the rest that goes with that, but would be a spoiler.

I thought the movie tried too hard to be relevant to today, and so the story suffered some.

Especially the ending.

But it was entertaining, so there’s that. I’ve never seen Ella Enchanted so can’t compare it to that one. 

Edited September 8, 2021 by bluebell

[Rain]

41 minutes ago, bluebell said:

I thought the movie tried too hard to be relevant to today, and so the story suffered some.

Especially the ending.

But it was entertaining, so there’s that. I’ve never seen Ella Enchanted so can’t compare it to that one. 

I agree with your assessment.  It works well with why there were so many 1 and 10 stars on it as well.  I laughed at the reviews saying it was too political because it wasn't political, just like you say - trying to be relevant. 

[Amulek]

Over the weekend I went with my son to go see Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

We both enjoyed the film, and I thought it was much better than the last Marvel installment (sorry, not sorry, Black Widow).

After the dumpster fire that was the live action remake of Mulan, I had some serious doubts about Disney being able to pull off a successful Asian film, but I thought they cleared the bar on this one.

 

Edited September 9, 2021 by Amulek

[bluebell]

26 minutes ago, Amulek said:

Over the weekend I went with my son to go see Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

We both enjoyed the film, and I thought it was much better than the last Marvel installment (sorry, not sorry, Black Widow).

After the dumpster fire that was the live action remake of Mulan, I had some serious doubts about Disney being able to pull of a successful Asian film, but I thought they cleared the bar on this one.

 

They ruined Mulan. 

[Amulek]

On 9/5/2021 at 1:46 AM, Rain said:

Watched the new Cinderella.  I enjoyed it overall, but I give it a 6 or a 7.  I loved the color - both the skin and clothing etc. I think it was trying too hard to be a diverse Ella Enchanted and missed.  Even repeated one of the songs and really missed there.  I wonder how many who rated it a 10 have seen Ella Enchanted and if they had seen it first if it would have changed the rating.

Well, it was my daughter's turn to pick the movie last night, and this was what she landed on.

It wasn't unbearable, but it's definitely my least favorite Cinderella movie.

Literally every other version of Cinderella is better: Cartoon original? Yes. Live action remake? Definite yes. Ever After? Ella Enchanted? Yes, and yes again.

The CGI mice were just painfully bad appearance wise - though they were one of the highlights of the film in terms of comic relief. 

And the music selection was distractingly all over the map. So much of it just didn't fit at all - character wise, setting wise, etc. Watching Idina Menzel prance around in a renfare outfit singing Madonna's Material Girl was just plain cringeworthy (despite the spot-on vocals). If these were the songs they wanted to run with they should have pulled a Mama Mia and just made a story to fit them all into, rather than trying to cram them into a Cinderella remake.

However, I did have a couple of proud dad moments during the film when my son accurately identified both Queen and The White Stripes. So, at least I'm doing something right as a parent.  

 

[Calm]

Anyone else notice “Covid team” or something similar listed in credits these days?  I have seen a few shows reference Covid, explain why they are not wearing masks, go for handshakes and then either completely refuse or do fist bumps or elbow bumps.  Just minor cultural references.  Wonder how long they will last.

Edited September 12, 2021 by Calm

[Raingirl]

29 minutes ago, Calm said:

Anyone else notice “Covid team” or something similar listed in credits these days?  I have seen a few shows reference Covid, explain why they are not wearing masks, go for handshakes and then either completely refuse or do fist bumps or elbow bumps.  Just minor cultural references.  Wonder ho long they will last.

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes in TV and movie production as regards Covid. Not only vaccine and masking requirements, but also regular testing, keeping people more separate, physical barriers, etc. 

In my work world, we’ve had to add Covid-19 language to our contracts. 

[bsjkki]

3 hours ago, Amulek said:

Well, it was my daughter's turn to pick the movie last night, and this was what she landed on.

It wasn't unbearable, but it's definitely my least favorite Cinderella movie.

Literally every other version of Cinderella is better: Cartoon original? Yes. Live action remake? Definite yes. Ever After? Ella Enchanted? Yes, and yes again.

The CGI mice were just painfully bad appearance wise - though they were one of the highlights of the film in terms of comic relief. 

And the music selection was distractingly all over the map. So much of it just didn't fit at all - character wise, setting wise, etc. Watching Idina Menzel prance around in a renfare outfit singing Madonna's Material Girl was just plain cringeworthy (despite the spot-on vocals). If these were the songs they wanted to run with they should have pulled a Mama Mia and just made a story to fit them all into, rather than trying to cram them into a Cinderella remake.

However, I did have a couple of proud dad moments during the film when my son accurately identified both Queen and The White Stripes. So, at least I'm doing something right as a parent.  

 

I was going to watch while waiting up for my daughter to come home from a date. 😬

[Amulek]

On 9/11/2021 at 10:20 PM, bsjkki said:

I was going to watch while waiting up for my daughter to come home from a date. 😬

Well, maybe you can make it into a fun game by playing 'guess which actor / actress is most auto-tuned.'

 

[bluebell]

I finally watched Bill and Ted Face the Music last night and it was cute and campy and fun.  Not as good as the original but it had a lot of heart and was such a feel-good movie.  Great for families.

[Amulek]

Well, the kiddos still rule on movie night, so last weekend we watched Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made.

It's apparently based on a children's book, but not one that I had ever heard of. You can check out the Wikipedia page for the film to get a complete, spoiler-filled rundown of the entire plot should you so desire.

The production values were good, but I found the storytelling to be annoyingly episodic - kids won't be bothered by that though; it works with their attention spans.

It's the kind of film that I think is perfectly fine to watch...once.

But it's not one that I would come back to again and again. Mainly because it's one of those films where, the more you think about it, the more problematic it becomes.

The story revolves around Timmy Failure (yes, that's his actual name) and how he kind of bebops through life wrapped up in his imaginary world. Which would be totally fine, if it weren't for the fact that his fantasies cause all sorts of real-life problems - none of which are ever really addressed in any meaningful way.

The absence of consequences or any accompanying character growth and development are what (as a parent) would prevent me from letting my kids get attached to it as a film favorite.

But I thought it was a fine diversion for a one-off movie night.

Edited September 21, 2021 by Amulek

[Tacenda]

My husband and I went to Cry Maucho. I was excited because I've enjoyed the last few movies that were produced and directed by Clint Eastwood such as Mule and Gran Torino and many more that he directed, just googled. 

Sadly, this was very slow and the acting not so great. But good moral to the story type movie. No swearing and had some spiritual moments. 

[Rivers]

Just watched Fast and Furious 9.   These movies get dumber with each installment.  The way they bend the laws of physics remind me of the Matrix movies.  But they are still a lot of fun.   Looking forward to Fast 10 Furious.

 

[poptart]