Last Movie You Watched

[Amulek]

Was finally able to sit down and watch Ghostbusters: Afterlife this morning. 

I really liked it. 

It was more of a kids discovery / adventure movie than a full-blown ghostbusters movie, but I thought they did a good job; it really worked for what it was - not to mention that it was orders of magnitude better than the last foray into the ghostbusters universe (which I believe should just be ignored and not considered cannon).

I'm looking forward to a sequel. 

 

[Chum]

The Old Man is the post-midlife-crisis pickup that I needed.

[Tacenda]

12 hours ago, Chum said:

The Old Man is the post-midlife-crisis pickup that I needed.

I've seen just the two episodes offered. Interesting so far, not sure how it will play out.

[Chum]

27 minutes ago, Tacenda said:

I've seen just the two episodes offered. Interesting so far, not sure how it will play out.

Now we get to figure out whether Emily exists. Having a naggy dead wife hang around tells us he does ghosts. Verbose ones.

[bluebell]

On 6/18/2022 at 11:28 AM, Amulek said:

 

I'm looking forward to a sequel. 

 

Are they for sure doing one?

[Calm]

2 hours ago, bluebell said:

Are they for sure doing one?

Apparently announced in April

[Amulek]

Yup, the sequel for Ghostbusters: Afterlife has already been greenlit, so it's just a matter of time.

In other movie-going news, I took my son to see Jurassic World: Dominion on Saturday.

Sadly, the best screen in town had already switched over to showing the new Buzz Lightyear movie, so I was forced to go against my entrenched movie-snobbery and watch it on a lesser premium large format screen instead. We caught the film at the Galaxy Theater over in Grandscape (i.e., The Colony). We saw it on what is currently called the Sony Digital Cinema which uses Sony's high-spec digital laser projection system complimented by a quality Atmos sound setup. Sony is getting out of the premium projection market though, so maybe the theater will be even better in 10 years when they can no longer get parts for their current projectors and are forced to upgrade.

Anyway, my son really enjoyed the movie. I thought it was...okay.

It was fun to see the three principles from the original series again, but the movie would have been fine without them. It felt like they were trying to do too much, and none of it ended up being done really well.

Oh well, at least I got to hear that classic John Williams score (which I really do enjoy) one last time.

 

[bluebell]

1 minute ago, Amulek said:

Yup, the sequel for Ghostbusters: Afterlife has already been greenlit, so it's just a matter of time.

In other movie-going news, I took my son to see Jurassic World: Dominion on Saturday.

Sadly, the best screen in town had already switched over to showing the new Buzz Lightyear movie, so I was forced to go against my entrenched movie-snobbery and watch it on a lesser premium large format screen instead. We caught the film at the Galaxy Theater over in Grandscape (i.e., The Colony). We saw it on what is currently called the Sony Digital Cinema which uses Sony's high-spec digital laser projection system complimented by a quality Atmos sound setup. Sony is getting out of the premium projection market though, so maybe the theater will be even better in 10 years when they can no longer get parts for their current projectors and are forced to upgrade.

Anyway, my son really enjoyed the movie. I thought it was...okay.

It was fun to see the three principles from the original series again, but the movie would have been fine without them. It felt like they were trying to do too much, and none of it ended up being done really well.

Oh well, at least I got to hear that classic John Williams score (which I really do enjoy) one last time.

 

The first Jurassic Park set the standard so incredibly high that I'm disappointed with every movie that has followed.  I thought the first of this new trilogy was ok, but the second was not great and I've heard such bad things about the third that I don't think I'm even going to see it.

I'm still upset that the franchise ruined Lost World so badly when they had the perfect source material in Crichton's follow up book to his amazing Jurassic Park (also called Lost World).  There just is no excuse for how bad that sequel was.

I'm less annoyed at the badness of all the movies after that second one, since they were just making stuff up as they went.

[Tacenda]

"The Good Dinosaur" you can watch over and over and see new things. Beautiful story line, funny and sad parts, creative and intelligent. Tending my granddaughter and she likes Arlo the dinosaur, and adults would enjoy it too. 

[bluebell]

11 minutes ago, Tacenda said:

"The Good Dinosaur" you can watch over and over and see new things. Beautiful story line, funny and sad parts, creative and intelligent. Tending my granddaughter and she likes Arlo the dinosaur, and adults would enjoy it too. 

My littles loved that movie.  I've seen it multiple times.  It's a weird premise and so it's kind of hard to follow at first (that it's meant to show what would have happened if dinosaurs had never died out and humans had never become the top species on the planet), but I agree it's super cute.

[bluebell]

We finally watched Uncharted last night.  It's a movie based on a video game--and is a poor knock off of National Treasure and every Indiana Jones movie--but it's got some good actors in it and has funny moments.  It's entertaining as long as you go in knowing what you are going to get.

The end killed me, it was so unbelievable, but still fun if you can suspend the laws of nature and physics for the last half an hour.

[Chum]

On 6/19/2022 at 11:55 AM, Tacenda said:

I've seen just the two episodes [of The Old Man] offered. Interesting so far, not sure how it will play out.

Third episode ropes in some good plot elements. This show might be a keeper.

[Pyreaux]

Pee-wee's Big Holiday (2016)

I was a big fan of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, that was a prefect movie that seemed like it wasn't going to end, like Christmas Story. I enjoyed seeing him again, he's still has something to offer comedy. I'm just slightly disturbed by his weird bro-mance with Joe Manganiello. And his comically shrill scream, though I find I accepted it later as it became a running gag.

Edited June 28, 2022 by Pyreaux

[Tacenda]

On 6/26/2022 at 7:33 PM, Chum said:

Third episode ropes in some good plot elements. This show might be a keeper.

I was a bit confused about his daughter, is she alive or is she impersonating his daughter, which seems unlikely or somehow he made it look like his daughter passed away, and how is she working with the guy that is after him? Makes me think I better watch again, lol.

Edited June 28, 2022 by Tacenda

[bluebell]

13 hours ago, Pyreaux said:

Pee-wee's Big Holiday (2016)

I was a big fan of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, that was a prefect movie that seemed like it wasn't going to end, like Christmas Story. I enjoyed seeing him again, he's still has something to offer comedy. I'm just slightly disturbed by his weird bro-mance with Joe Manganiello. And his comically shrill scream, though I find I accepted it later as it became a running gag.

The only thing that I remember from PWBA is that the bike was in the basement of the Alamo.  

[Chum]

21 hours ago, Tacenda said:

I was a bit confused about his daughter, is she alive or is she impersonating his daughter, which seems unlikely or somehow he made it look like his daughter passed away, and how is she working with the guy that is after him? Makes me think I better watch again, lol.

My take is Emily is Agent Adams, who's been planted in the CIA.

[Oliblish1832]

When Harry met Sally

[Pyreaux]

7 hours ago, Oliblish1832 said:

When Harry met Sally

I like Billy Crystal, my favorite of his is 'City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold', which was completely ripped of by 'Without a Paddle'.

[bluebell]

I finally finished Stranger Things.  It would have been better if they hadn't have done a Vol. II, but I realize that it was not a stylistic choice but rather a necessity as they didn't have the final two episodes ready yet (thanks Covid) when it was time to drop the season.

Still, it set up the final two episodes to be something magnificent and amazing, and while I think they were good, to me they paled in comparison to the season finales of seasons 2 and 3.  The trailer for them was a little better than the actual episodes, which is never a great thing to have happen.

My other complaint is that the season went exactly has a I had feared and turned into a "part one" for season five.  I really hate shows that don't resolve the problem of that season but carry it over to the next.  This is going to be especially hard for this show because it takes them years to do a new season.  So people won't even really remember everything from this one by the time the next one drops

Plus, the kid actors are already way older than their characters (thanks again Covid) and some of them (hello Will) are already looking like the adults they are.  Add on a few more years and these teenagers are going to look too old to play their parts.  This means that the Duffer brothers are going to have to tweak the timeline of the next season to make the advanced ages work (which is likely to make the final product less than it otherwise would have been if it could have followed their original concept) or we are going to have to suspend belief to pretend they look and sound like regular 17 year olds.

Neither option is very exciting.

Did anyone else watch this season?

Edited July 5, 2022 by bluebell

[bsjkki]

On 7/5/2022 at 1:42 PM, bluebell said:

I finally finished Stranger Things.  It would have been better if they hadn't have done a Vol. II, but I realize that it was not a stylistic choice but rather a necessity as they didn't have the final two episodes ready yet (thanks Covid) when it was time to drop the season.

Still, it set up the final two episodes to be something magnificent and amazing, and while I think they were good, to me they paled in comparison to the season finales of seasons 2 and 3.  The trailer for them was a little better than the actual episodes, which is never a great thing to have happen.

My other complaint is that the season went exactly has a I had feared and turned into a "part one" for season five.  I really hate shows that don't resolve the problem of that season but carry it over to the next.  This is going to be especially hard for this show because it takes them years to do a new season.  So people won't even really remember everything from this one by the time the next one drops

Plus, the kid actors are already way older than their characters (thanks again Covid) and some of them (hello Will) are already looking like the adults they are.  Add on a few more years and these teenagers are going to look too old to play their parts.  This means that the Duffer brothers are going to have to tweak the timeline of the next season to make the advanced ages work (which is likely to make the final product less than it otherwise would have been if it could have followed their original concept) or we are going to have to suspend belief to pretend they look and sound like regular 17 year olds.

Neither option is very exciting.

Did anyone else watch this season?

I liked it. My bar is quite low right now. It kept my attention. Happy to know all will get resolved in season 5.

[Amulek]

Thor: Love and Thunder

I thought it was just okay (7 out of 10). If you liked the previous Thor movies you'll probably enjoy this one, but it wasn't nearly as funny or as well orchestrated as Ragnarok.

I did like the idea of Christian Bale's villain (Gorr the God Butcher), and I really wish they would have done more with him. I also wish they would have tweaked his look a bit more so he didn't look so much like 'Voldemort, only with a nose.'

Oh well. It was enjoyable for what it was. And, if you happen to be a Ted Lasso fan, you'll be treated to a mid-credit scene featuring Roy Kent. So that's a plus.

 

Edited July 11, 2022 by Amulek

[bsjkki]

15 minutes ago, Amulek said:

Thor: Love and Thunder

I thought it was just okay (7 out of 10). If you liked the previous Thor movies you'll probably enjoy this one, but it wasn't nearly as funny or as well orchestrated as Ragnarok.

I did like the idea of Christian Bale's villain (Gorr the God Butcher), and I really wish they would have done more with him. I also wish they would have tweaked his look a bit more so he didn't look so much like 'Voldemort, only with a nose.'

Oh well. It was enjoyable for what it was. And, if you happen to be a Ted Lasso fan, you'll be treated to a mid-credit scene featuring Roy Kent. So that's a plus.

 

Thanks for the review!

 

I liked Ragnarok but from reviews, this one seemed to get too campy or is a bit unsatisfying for many. I really hated the new Dr. Strange and am hesitant to see this one because I don't want to ruin another Marvel storyline. It's no fun when the movies go to places you wish they had not or leave the theater feeling like they were going through the motions, but it did not really work. For me, a good movie is when I leave the theater and don't try and re-write the script in my head to something better. 

[strappinglad]

I think I am getting too old for the " Big Theatre " experience. I had to put in foam ear plugs during " Maverick " especially during the jet fighting scenes. Then the normal talking scenes were a bit muddy. 

[Amulek]

On 7/5/2022 at 2:42 PM, bluebell said:

Did anyone else watch this season?

I did. And I agree with your assessment about it being mostly a setup for Season 5.

The story line ended up being split between uncovering the mystery of the 'big bad' and getting the band back together.

I was, however, a little surprised (in a good way) at how much father they were willing to go tonally with things this season. Trauma, suicide, death, and more than a pinch of classic 80's horror thrown in to boot.

I'm interested in seeing where S05 takes things.

 

[bluebell]

7 minutes ago, Amulek said:

I did. And I agree with your assessment about it being mostly a setup for Season 5.

The story line ended up being split between uncovering the mystery of the 'big bad' and getting the band back together.

I was, however, a little surprised (in a good way) at how much father they were willing to go tonally with things this season. Trauma, suicide, death, and more than a pinch of classic 80's horror thrown in to boot.

I'm interested in seeing where S05 takes things.

 

I have high hopes for season 5.  Season four kind of reads like the middle movie of a trilogy to me, which is almost always disappointing because everything starts to go to crap and nothing is resolved.  But you can't do with the middle one!  It's necessary, just not as much fun.  But they did a great job with it.  I was hooked the whole way through the season.

I'm still sad that they killed of you-know-who and then we didn't get to see the other characters react to his death.  It felt wrong that only Dustin was shown to be sad about it.  And I'm also mad that they killed off the other bad guy in such an 'oops' way.  I wanted him to know that he was wrong about it all, and especially wrong about Eddie, before he got what he had coming to him.

He got it physically but mentally he got off way too easy.   

(In other news, that emoji does not come off as "spiteful" to me.  It looks more like a creepy guy leering at some girl).