I saw American Made with Tom Cruise.

The problem is that the producers/directors invariably focus too much attention on Cruise and don't let other characters build up.

It was a very good move. Can't quite put my finger on why it wasn't a great movie.

Betting on Zero Documentary about billionaire Bill Ackman shorting Herbalife for a gazillion dollars quickly followed by billionaire Carl Icahn going long for a gazillion dollars. Sprinkled in were stories of Herbalife distributors who lost their shirts, some that made enough to buy gold shirts, and an activist's crusade against the company.

The expose of the company itself wasn't really a surprise. Depending on how you feel about it (or what level of the pyramid you might be on), it is either a multi-level opportunity or a pyramid scheme. Nothing new. I was aware of the Ackman/Icahn bets but not in detail so it shed a little light on that. The story lines of the Latino community and the nutrition clubs were new to me, though.

All in all, I didn't find this all that earth shattering. It's a fairly bland, matter-of-fact documentary. I guess if you didn't know anything about Herbalife you might think otherwise. Some might find it more interesting.

Another Amazon Prime movie

Fences

Denzel Washington and Violetta Davis play a working class couple in 1950s Pittsburgh. Adapted from a Broadway play, the movie is very faithful to the theater format with wide static shots of people giving long monologues. It works well with this movie because Denzel and Violetta give amazing performances.

9/10

Downsizing - strange movie that went in a bizarre direction and had baffling marketing. it's a really great premise for the first 30 minutes and then after that it's watchable because of christoph waltz.

Jumanji - honestly, it's pretty good fun for what it is.

The Big Sick - finally watched this. i really enjoyed it but that talk in this thread of 'funniest line ever in a movie' is a little weird.

Downsizing looked creepy. Like why not just make yourself two feet taller and rule the small keep kingdom.

Was Michael Shannon not brilliant in Shape of Water?

Has he ever not been? Boardwalk is up there for supporting actor performances. I also recently saw Midnight Special and that is a very cool movie. I highly recommend it.

The music in Midnight Special was great.

I liked American Made but I felt I was watching a remake of Blow. For me it had a been there done that kind of vibe.

Battle of the Sexes was okay....nothing special.

Good Time starring Robert Pattinson was incredible. I liked him in Lost City of Z and on an ep of the Nerdist pod, but I didn’t realize he was this talented.

The movie is about a series of escalating crimes in the NY underworld in the 90s. Pattinson’s brother is mentally handicapped and altho they’re clearly a team there’s a level of manipulation to their relationship. This is very much an action movie, but there’s some solid social commentary on how we treat the mentally ill. Mostly it’s just fun as hell. Several times I dropped my jaw and said whaaaaat?! Check it out.

I, Tonya

Totally Real! check.

Wholesome American family: check.

Beautiful girl, lovely dress
Where she is now, I can only guess
'Cause it's gone daddy, gone
The love is gone

You **** dumb: You don't marry dumb.

I won't back down: check.

Best in the world: check.

Don't you know that you are
A shooting star...

The Incident: check.

Two of my top operatives: Every skater's recurring nightmare.

Not: My fault.

I was loved: for a minute.

...And all the world will love you
Just as long, as long as you are?

Fun movie. Great acting. Fantastic use of soundtrack. Check it out.

Pitch Perfect 3 was fun. Fat Amy and Lily the mental beatboxer make it funny.

Boss Baby First of all I need to rant a little about the movie selection on netflix. It sucks. /rant

Cute and amusing animated feature about an only child who gets a new baby brother. Only it's not your typical baby. It's a boss baby. Hence the title.

The movie is fun and never drags. The bits run from really funny to mildly amusing. The story pretty much goes where you would think it was going.

All in all, it holds up pretty well compared to the other animated full length features. Not great. Not bad.

Definitely.

And Escobar has been done much better.

Brawl in Cell Block 99 is pretty awesome. From the guy who made Bone Tomahawk. If you liked that, then you should definitely give this a try. Vince Vaughn is surprisingly great playing a hard **** who gets thrown in prison after a botched drug deal. I won't spoil the plot, but that's where things really ramp up. It's a bit silly, but lots of fun.

is this streaming anywhere??

Amazon Prime

Asif Kapadia (Senna, Amy) is making a documentary about Maradona. Due for release in 2018.

awesome...loved Bone Tomahawk

January 2018 Movie/TV Preview

Molly's Game - I'm a sucker for Sorkin's rapid, witty dialogue even though it's artificial - no-one speaks like this. Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba were good enough to sustain a 2hr20 movie that doesn't have a meaty enough story or any visually interesting scenes. You could close your eyes and just listen without missing too much, which isn't ideal for cinema. I thought the poker scenes were done well but may not be fully comprehensible to someone who doesn't know anything about poker. A friend said he didn't follow all the conversation about the rake, which is a problem as it's important to the plot.

Love Witch About a woman who turns to witchcraft after being dumped by her husband, casting love spells that have bad consequences. A lot of the criticisms I've read spectacularly miss the point - the stilted acting and melodramatic scenes are quite deliberate. Would have thought that the technicolour is a bit of a giveaway that the film is set in the style of a cheesy old B-movie. The difference is that it's directed with a lot more competence and class . IMO it's a triumph of style over substance, as I'm not convinced that it has anything particularly meaningful to say about feminism, relationships, the male condition or anything else. But what style ; the technicolour looks great and Samantha Robinson is ridiculously sultry.

I'm not adverse to offbeat films but I hated The Love Witch. I agree with some of your review but there just wasn't any substance for me and that made it unwatchable.

I was wondering why there wasn't more banter about cell block 99...

Life

A mediocre monster on a space station premise. Everything is a bit too convenient. Why does the monster have to stalk and kill everyone? Because one of the actors said it's either it or us. OK but how does the monster know that? An actor says the only way something can happen if is something else happens and lo and behold the monster makes it happen.

At some parts there was so much CGI it looked like a video game rendering and the intentionally spinning camera work is disorienting for no other reason to show that it's in space.

5/10