The Movie Preview, Review, & Recommendation Thread pt. II

[Pimpernel Smith]

Chernobyl 1986 on Netflix. Captures the tragedy of it and the sacrifice of those who saved the now Ukraine, Belarus and much of western Europe from being a radioactive contaminated mess.

 

[Dropbear]

Jolt. Silly action rom-com. 4/10 +2 for the wonderful Kate Beckinsale.

 

[Fwiffo]

The Green Knight is based on the Arthur and Camelot stories so why is Gawain brown?

 

[Grand Potentate]

The Green Knight is based on the Arthur and Camelot stories so why is Gawain brown?

apparently they're going to make a "series" out of it.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

Robbery the 1967 film based on the Great Train Robbery directed by Peter Yates with Stanley Baker and Joanna Pettet as his wife. It's just come on Netflix here.

Dated in parts, but the opening cops and robbers car chase through period London is exceptional and was a big influence on Steve McQueen choosing Peter Yates to direct Bullitt.

 

[Fwiffo]

apparently they're going to make a "series" out of it.

I hope the white British people demand proportional representation in the upcoming casting. After all, it's what the fable and stories were based on.

 

[ballmouse]

I've started watching movies again. Most have been forgettable.

This one was nice, although Keitel's character reminds of some of the students from grade school. Just enough unhinged to grief you and of course the system is set up that no one's going to interfere with that. Glad those days are over.

 

[Grand Potentate]

new suicide squad. i swear these movies get dumber and dumber every year. at least the shark was funny.

 

[ter1413]

Watched this nonsense today at work.

A couple heads to Greece for some rest, relaxation and romance. One evening while driving down a dark road, they crash into a home and the female dies.

The lead character is taken to the hospital and questioned by local police about what happened. He can't remember much except that he saw a boy and someone at the house.

Nope....the police say that there was no one at the home. This is where the nonsense begins. Apparently, the police are in cahoots with some other people and now want to stitch up the main character before he can make his way back to the US embassy...er even better, the USA and explain what is happening.

He is on the run dodging who knows who and attempting to figure out what exactly is going on. Along the way he gets some help from a few that turn on him and a few that don't.

This is a MISS by Netflix!

1/5.

 

[ter1413]

Also caught this today......

Back in 2004, 2 of the best teams in the Eastern Conference of the NBA squared off in Detroit at the Palace at Auburn Hills: the home team Detroit Pistons vs the Indiana Pacers. It was a Friday night in November and both of these teams were expected to compete for the NBA title...which the Pistons won the year before.

Indiana came in looking to set the tone and let everyone know that they were the team to beat. Detroit was looking to defend the title.

Well, Indiana came to play and put on a clinic....until the end of the game when some tussling took place.....and everyone knows what happened after!

This doc is basically told by Reggie M, Ron A, Jermaine O and Stephen J's viewpoint. It is very good.

As a Piston fan, I have seen docs about this in the past. This was very well done!

4/5.

 

[ballmouse]

I remember watching that game and it unfold as it happened. Really a wild event. Fights at NBA games seem much more uncommon these days.

 

[Fwiffo]

The Pistons. That felt like ages ago but still in the 21st century.

 

[Fwiffo]

Watched this nonsense today at work.

You watch movies at work?

 

[ter1413]

You watch movies at work?

I did yesterday.

Boss was away. Was watching on my personal laptop.

Shhhh.

 

[ballmouse]

You watch movies at work?

All the time. But I'm one of those viewers who has no problem pausing and unpausing so a 2 hour film takes 2 days to finish.

 

[ter1413]

I did yesterday.

Boss was away. Was watching on my personal laptop.

Shhhh.

And this is not an every day/week thing. As I said, boss was away since last week. So I indulged!

 

[ter1413]

During the 2010 World Cup, a group recruits a genius engineering grad to help them rob the Bank of Spain's safe of some ancient coins from a lost treasure off of a sunken ship.

They have most of the caper worked out, they just need the genius to come up with how to actually get into the safe. You see, the building is over 100 years old and the engineering used to secure the vault isn't your standard motion sensors and alarms.

Spain happens to be in the final....and thousands of people converge outside the bank to watch the match on jumbo screens. Will that help...or hinder?

They will need the grad's genius, some planning and some luck to pull this off.

This is Ocean's Eleven meets The Bank Job....on a lesser scale. Still not a bad watch.

3/5.

 

[Thruth]

During the 2010 World Cup, a group recruits a genius engineering grad to help them rob the Bank of Spain's safe of some ancient coins from a lost treasure off of a sunken ship.

They have most of the caper worked out, they just need the genius to come up with how to actually get into the safe. You see, the building is over 100 years old and the engineering used to secure the vault isn't your standard motion sensors and alarms.

Spain happens to be in the final....and thousands of people converge outside the bank to watch the match on jumbo screens. Will that help...or hinder?

They will need the grad's genius, some planning and some luck to pull this off.

This is Ocean's Eleven meets The Bank Job....on a lesser scale. Still not a bad watch.

3/5.

I liked it

 

[ter1413]

A successfully finance dude is living life: wife, son, nice home. One night out with friends changes everything.

He gets into an accident and someone is killed. His BAC was over the limit. Off to prison he goes!

His attorney tries to prepare him: you will get tested and if you back down, that's all she wrote! He steps up to the plate and aligns himself with the white gang in the prison. His status starts to rise as he proves himself over and over. He is now one of the main guys in the gang!

After release, with his estranged family....estranged, he involves himself in a deal to sell some stolen arms to some other criminals. The authorities get a tip and look to make a huge bust.

Who is working who? Who is looking for a way out of the life? Who won't make it out?

This was not bad. Definitely watchable. Not as good as the person who recommended it said, but still not bad.

3/5.

 

[ter1413]

This documentary tells the story of the Knoedler art gallery in NYC and the $80 million dollars of fake artwork that it sold over several years.

The main characters are Ann Freedman, who was the director at the gallery, and Glafira Rosales, who approached the gallery/Freedman with a tall tale about how a client came to come into possession of many unknown works of art by some premier artists.

In reality, they were all top notch forgeries that Freedman was 100% sure were legit!

This is a fascinating look at forgery in the art world with commentary from the main players, attorneys, buyers and even the actual forger!

Definitely worth a watch!

4/5.

 

[The Ernesto]

Made You Look is a fantastic doco. Amazing story.

Really enjoyed this:

 

[ballmouse]

I had an unusual string of luck watching some decent movies (that I had not seen before) in a row at one point these past few weeks.



Someone had mentioned how prophetic this film was in depicting a worldwide disease and a xenophobic post 9/11 world. I don't recall how difficult it would have been to imagine or pitch this as a sci-fi film in 2006. But in 2021 it's practically a baseline for a world set in the future. Unfortunately I found the plot or story a bit too straightforward and lacking which makes repeated viewings probably less engaging.



I love pre-80s NYC films, depicting it on the verge of bankruptcy and laughably (at least in hindsight) showing artists could get a 2 bedroom apartment for nothing. I guess this was an independent film that was eventually picked up by a major studio for distribution. It shows the sort of everyday interactions between people and how that 'progression' can actually ruin what exists in the present. I think. I have a bad memory. But I liked this film and thought it was a pleasant surprise given there isn't much of a story and it's more of a selection of episodes.



I know this wasn't Scorsese's debut. But it's first big picture let's say. And it's a nice showing of what he would later expand upon. De Niro does a great job as a youthful nutcase.



All-star cast and each one is deserving of their reputations. Even Thelma Ritter who disappears about halfway through the film does her great patented street smart older lady shtick. I love classic Hollywood. You're just hanging out watching what unfolds when Monroe, recently divorced gets enamored by the desert, freedom, a pilot, a cowboy, and a rodeo rider.



I didn't expect this one to be a film I would sit through given it's fairly new (2019) and my distaste for what constitutes films these days. But I really enjoyed the visual storytelling and the acting. Not bad if you want to watch a more recent film, although it's a bit like Desert Hearts and the lesbian love sort of feels a little dime store-y (it might just be a personal bias as I'm not sure how it can be anything but).

 

[The Ernesto]

Nice collection there bmouse.

 

[Fwiffo]

Someone had mentioned how prophetic this film was in depicting a worldwide disease and a xenophobic post 9/11 world. I don't recall how difficult it would have been to imagine or pitch this as a sci-fi film in 2006. But in 2021 it's practically a baseline for a world set in the future. Unfortunately I found the plot or story a bit too straightforward and lacking which makes repeated viewings probably less engaging.

We're just waiting for the vaccines and anti-viral drugs to make us barren.

No worries though because "Only Britain Soldiers On (alone)" but not because it is organised and above the fray, but because of Brexit.

 

[Ciociaro]

Also caught this today......

Back in 2004, 2 of the best teams in the Eastern Conference of the NBA squared off in Detroit at the Palace at Auburn Hills: the home team Detroit Pistons vs the Indiana Pacers. It was a Friday night in November and both of these teams were expected to compete for the NBA title...which the Pistons won the year before.

Indiana came in looking to set the tone and let everyone know that they were the team to beat. Detroit was looking to defend the title.

Well, Indiana came to play and put on a clinic....until the end of the game when some tussling took place.....and everyone knows what happened after!

This doc is basically told by Reggie M, Ron A, Jermaine O and Stephen J's viewpoint. It is very good.

As a Piston fan, I have seen docs about this in the past. This was very well done!

4/5.

Are you from Detroit?

 

[ter1413]

Are you from Detroit?

Nah. Brooklyn, NY.

Just been a Pistons fan going back many years.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

I had an unusual string of luck watching some decent movies (that I had not seen before) in a row at one point these past few weeks.

View attachment 41027

Someone had mentioned how prophetic this film was in depicting a worldwide disease and a xenophobic post 9/11 world. I don't recall how difficult it would have been to imagine or pitch this as a sci-fi film in 2006. But in 2021 it's practically a baseline for a world set in the future. Unfortunately I found the plot or story a bit too straightforward and lacking which makes repeated viewings probably less engaging.

View attachment 41028

I love pre-80s NYC films, depicting it on the verge of bankruptcy and laughably (at least in hindsight) showing artists could get a 2 bedroom apartment for nothing. I guess this was an independent film that was eventually picked up by a major studio for distribution. It shows the sort of everyday interactions between people and how that 'progression' can actually ruin what exists in the present. I think. I have a bad memory. But I liked this film and thought it was a pleasant surprise given there isn't much of a story and it's more of a selection of episodes.

View attachment 41029

I know this wasn't Scorsese's debut. But it's first big picture let's say. And it's a nice showing of what he would later expand upon. De Niro does a great job as a youthful nutcase.

It's great gritty realism, you also get that in the early Kojak series.

 

[Dropbear]

Full Metal Jacket + Brokeback Mountain set in the Apartheid era SADF of 1981.

 

[Fwiffo]

There's another Matrix? Do they need more money? Did the trilogy not end on the note that Neo broke the cycle forever?

Can they bring back Monica Bellucci?

 

[ter1413]

After CIA analyst Jack Ryan takes on a Russian submarine captain in The Hunt for Red October, he gets a promotion and is tasked with getting to the bottom of the murder of a successful biz-man and his family in Colombia.

What's the big deal? The man was a close friend of the POTUS and there is some $600 million in unclaimed money that the US wants and the cartel feels is theirs.

Along the way, the CIA wages a secret shady "war" against the cartel, without Jack's knowledge. After some success, the mission is aborted and the members of the team are left stranded.

Jack heads back to Colombia to try to save the survivors, put the kibosh on the cartel and make it home alive!

He has enough ammo to snitch on the upper levels of government!

This is just one slight notch below Red October. I can watch this, or parts of it, every time it comes on.

3.95/5.

 

[ter1413]

\

Five friends head out for a bachelor party in the woods. All is AOK until they hear some gunshots....and it ain't duck hunting season.

At first, they dismiss it as random shots. That is until one of the five gets grazed on the arm.

What happens is a struggle of the hunted...and the prey.

Why? Is it internal strife? Is it some Blair Witch stuff? Watch and see.

Nothing special here. Basic flick.

2/5.

 

[Dropbear]

\

Five friends head out for a bachelor party in the woods. All is AOK until they hear some gunshots....and it ain't duck hunting season.

At first, they dismiss it as random shots. That is until one of the five gets grazed on the arm.

What happens is a struggle of the hunted...and the prey.

Why? Is it internal strife? Is it some Blair Witch stuff? Watch and see.

Nothing special here. Basic flick.

2/5.

I made it through all but the last 10 minutes of this and I still don’t care enough to see how it ends.

It sure isn’t Deliverance or The Ritual.

 

[ter1413]

DeNiro plays a small time bounty hunter looking to make a living catching some bad guy bail jumpers. Grodin plays a mob accountant who stole millions and is on the run.

DeNiro's bail bondsman contact tasks him with finding and bringing Grodin in before the deadline when he will lose the $ he put up for his bond.

What could go wrong? Well, the mob is also after Grodin as are the feds. Throw in a rival bounty hunter looking to make a score, and you get a solid "comedy" that takes the main duo from NYC to Vegas!

This has it all. Some comedy. Grodin's deadpan humor. DeNiro going through a range of emotions. Throw in a solid cast of characters...lead FBI agent/bail bondsman/mob figures/etc and you have a 2 hour watch that you won't regret.

I had not seen this in MANY years. I forget how good it is.

4/5.

 

[Grand Potentate]

I had not seen this in MANY years. I forget how good it is.

never forget

 

[fxh]

This documentary tells the story of the Knoedler art gallery in NYC and the $80 million dollars of fake artwork that it sold over several years.

The main characters are Ann Freedman, who was the director at the gallery, and Glafira Rosales, who approached the gallery/Freedman with a tall tale about how a client came to come into possession of many unknown works of art by some premier artists.

In reality, they were all top notch forgeries that Freedman was 100% sure were legit!

This is a fascinating look at forgery in the art world with commentary from the main players, attorneys, buyers and even the actual forger!

Definitely worth a watch!

4/5.

I was not convinced that there was too much innocence around.

 

[fxh]

Not sure why it took me so long to get around to this - but its one of the great "small" movies and one of the best musical films - no mawkish stuff, plenty of feeling, no fall and redemption, no drama. 9 /10

 

[ter1413]

So a couple are living life in the architect/husband built secluded home. She is a counselor. All is suave!

A break-in occurs! Then another one. What da heck is going on?

The police are stumped...but they have an idea of who may behind it. Or do they? Throw a missing local girl into the mix and this turns out to be too much for my liking.

2/5.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

Dead of Night a British horror film omnibus from 1945, the last story on the ventriloquist dummy is the best and quite haunting. The rest is fairly dated and the golf one just comic filler. The recurring nightmare motif was a clear influence on The Hammer House of Horror episode Rude Awakening. Overall, well worth watching and was on the Dutch Netflix.

 

[The Ernesto]

Not sure where to even start with this. Appears on Netflix as a 'documentary' but there's no mention of the fact that Robbins funded it himself and that the Director had previously attended seminars and was an acolyte. Basically a promotional video with the emotion porn turned up to 11.

 

[ballmouse]

I usually don't watch contemporary movies, so this was a rarity. I'm not sure what it exactly was about but it at least didn't make me think the modern film industry is a bunch of bullshit.