Just watched Captain Fantastic, liked it a lot. Very original, a provocative idea-rich movie. Completely held my interest, although the plot took some questionable turns toward the end. The veneration of Noam Chomsky I found somewhat disgusting, but thankfully there's a lot more going here than that. They sure botched naming it though, Jesus. It's not a comic book movie!

Viggo Mortenson kills as the lead, an ex-academic hippie raising his kids in the woods.

Yeah, I've always been turned off by his rigid treatment of linguistic abilities and complete dismissal of non-human communication. However, in light of modern research on neuroplasticity he's been reworking some of his theories and I think is somewhat more flexible in his thinking.

Captain Fantastic sounds good. I'm a sucker for anything about moving into the woods.

Mystic River is great imo.

The book is also excellent. It is written by Dennis Lehane, who also wrote the books that were adapted into several other acclaimed movies.

The Drop
Shutter Island
Gone, Baby, Gone

As well as several episodes of The Wire and Boardwalk Empire.

Full disclosure, he also wrote the reviled Live by Night, but everyone gets at least one flop. And we can always reframe that as a misstep by Batfleck.

Just finished watching Aeon Flux, which I'm pretty sure is designed to be a kind of Equilibrium that guys can watch with their girlfriend.

Story pretty runs like this: Dystopian future --> Lets kill the bad guy --> Oh no, the bad guys not the bad guy! --> we can't have babies --> big end fight --> lets make babies!

Fight scenes were a little off, in that they reminded me of Japanese karate fight scenes were the hero (or whoever) is flying towards the bad guys in one shot, camera angle changes and then you see the hero's flying kick hit the bad guy. Just kinda jerky and not very fluid.
Plus with the gun fight at the end, you get a panning shot once it's over, and was struck by how there should of been more corpses.Way more corpses.

Not the worst film I've ever seen, just.... needed polishing.

I Am Your Father

Documentary about David Prowse, the actor who played Darth Vader, revolving around how the ****tiness of how a different actor was used in Vader's death scene in ROTJ.

Very nice documentary, makes me really want to meet Mr. Prowse.

The lone disappointment:



Man vs. Snake: The Long and Twisted Tale of Nibbler.

Documentary about the first person to ever score a billion points on a video game, the arcade game Nibbler. He did it when he was 16 and now, 25 years later, is trying to re-set the record to prove that he's still the best.

Typical video game record documentary, but enjoyable if you like this sort of thing.

Both films on Netflix.

Wonder Woman pretty good. Definitely the best DCEU movie. I thought the first third was okay, the second third was great, the last third was hrmmmmmm.

First third just felt hammy and preachy. But it was awesome to see a huge all female cast doing badass stuff. I hope they do a prequel with Robin Wright.

Second third with WW as a fish out of water in London and then when she first goes to war, just awesome. Great laughs and great action.

Last third took a nosedive in quality, but it was okay.

This is the sort of movie Man of Steel should have been. A heroine whose innocent optimism is tested against the darkness of mankind, but she decides that whether we deserve it or not, she will be a force for good.

If only this had come first, I can only imagine how that would have informed and driven MoS and BvS. But then again, WW is a direct reaction to the criticism of those movies.

The RT score is very high, but of course that only means that 90% of critics gave it a positive review. Not that 90% of critics absolutely adored the movie. (but it looks like most did give it a glowing review)

I'm glad it's doing so well. It's a powerfully positive experience for women. I hope we get more like this. Batgirl next. WW in Justice League. And maybe Superman will take a lesson from WW. But Snyder probably has him coming back from the dead with the wrath of a fallen god.

I'm curious how anybody arrives at the decision point where they watch Aeon Flux the movie for the first time in 2017.

For me it was really bad, I fell asleep during it and would put it up there with the worst films I've ever seen like Lawnmower Man 2.

Definitely check out the MTV cartoon, that on the other hand is among my favorite visual narrative.

This is a case too where the video game (I think I played it on Xbox original) is better than the film.

In the Aeon Flux graphic novel (years before the movie) actually.

To spend 90 minutes watching a 29-year-old Charlize Theron?

dlk: those sound awesome. Will I like man vs snake if I've already seen King of Kong? Sounds like they might be more or less the same movie.

This. Plus I've never really put too much stock into professional reviews and popular opinion.

Women Woman was good. I didn't find it preachy at all. Just a good superhero movie. Best DC superhero movie not involving Batman.

I'd rather watch 2 days in the valley.

Mystic River was phenomenal.

it's not often I say this but I have read a bunch of lehane novels n think I actually like the film adaptations better than the books.

mystic river
gone baby gone
the drop

3 of my favs.

did you read Live By Night?

no and only made it about 15mins into the film before I turned it off.

I liked Godzilla (2014) quite a lot by the end, though it has most of my usual issues (representation, could have cut 10-30 minutes, standard emotion-stroking through character deaths and music). I thought the creature storyline was really well done (don't want to give too much away) and I legit got goosebumps a couple of times.

The main attraction here clearly is the creature, and trying to give equal time to the same "human storylines" we've seen hundreds of times that have hit all these same beats is tiresome. Still, the creature stuff for me was so good that it overshadows that (literally).

I'd like to see a disaster movie like this where you *don't* do the "guy has to get back to his family" thing, where there's not the one smart mad scientist who nobody will listen to until it's too late, where the military isn't simultaneously idolized and treated with contempt. Contagion may be a good blueprint, though I know for a fact that many people would say exactly the opposite.

I'll be there for the sequel in 2 years, rooting for the MonsterVerse to work out. Skull Island next week.

King Kong vs Godzilla is already underway... Adam wingard

Watched Shotgun Stories, about a modern-day feud between two sets of half-brothers in rural Arkansas. Made by the same guy who made Mud. It's a little slow but good at capturing the rhythms and scarcities of small town Southern life. The great Michael Shannon stars.

oh man that sounds excellent.
Michael Shannon is awesome can't wait to check this out.

Yeah, He's great in SS.

Even better in Take Shelter and my favorite; Bug

he was ****ing incredible in the one with jake gyllenhall the name of it escapes me at the moment but it was a crime he didn't win best supporting actor.

I never saw it, but google suggests Nocturnal Animals.

It Comes at Night

Accomplished, brutal film. Joel Edgerton is a husband and father who is trying to keep his family safe in the face of some unknown and unnamed plague that has apparently wiped out most of humanity...they are holed up in a house deep in the woods and must decide whether or not to allow another family into their home.

This movie is tense and scary and real. Very little "movie scares," though. It's a good film...I would not call it entertaining, however, because it doesn't let you breathe or give you hope.

The ending is especially brutal, and one that left me with many questions, narratively.

yes!

he was good beyond description in that.