Netflix told me to rewatch the original Jurassic Park and you know this really holds up better than you'd expect for an effects-driven movie from 1993. That's partly because the ILM guys were decades ahead of their time, but also because many other components of the film were well done. Jeff Goldblum is at peak Jeff Goldblum, John Williams was in his prime, and Steven Speilberg seems to instinctively know how to incorporate the CGI and traditional props to sell an action scene. The t-rex in the rain setpiece still holds up.

There's a certain lack of awareness that bugs me a little. JP clearly was intended to be an allegory about the Disneyfication and lack of respect for the natural world --Goldblum has a great snarky line about Pirates of the Caribbean where the pirates eat the guests. And yet the movie gives us exactly that: Spielberg's heart was clearly intent on sending viewers on the kind of theme park thrill ride that Ian Malcolm warns us against.

Get shorty is so good. Both the book and the movie.

I never said they set out to make a bad movie. Of course nobody does that. I said they didn’t care enough to make a good one.

Kunis sort of said as much on the Marc Maron podcast. She said she didn’t want to put too much into her movie and just wants to go home at the end of the day.

To the first part, while I appreciate the technical distinction, both are the same category of unkindness toward those who made the movie.

To the second, I would have to listen to the context of the quote, but was she talking about this movie in particular? Or was she stating a general approach to healthy work limits?

Enemy kind of sailed over my head, but after about some of the analysis online I want to give it a rewatch.

She was speaking generally but gave the distinct impression she was not up at night striving to make great art.

I will check it out and see if I share your interpretation. I am doubtful anything she says will justify your remarks in my view, least of all given your remarks were about more people than just her.

Sometimes great artists make pieces of ****.

Some people are just awful at something but keep taking (and getting!) shots.

Both cared about their art and did everything that was healthy and appropriate to make it the best art it could be.

Sure, some people don't care. But I'd disagree that a significant enough amount of people who don't care enough are making movies for us to come close to assuming as much unless they outright say so.

But it's perfectly fine if we agree to disagree

Watched Human Traffic offshore, forgot how funny this was, classic 9/10 Danny Dyer was so young in it.

both are phenomenal.

I don't think anyone should immediately get it on first watch but the ending kind of points you in the right direction on where your focus should be on your rewatch.

I don't like/buy John Travolta as a tough guy at all. He was born to play Vinnie Barbarino. Epstein is the tough guy.

Up your nose with a rubber hose!

Sit on it, Al!

...wait, wrong show

I saw that on the 15th they limit you to only 3 movies a month. lol

MoviePass: The ****tier version of AMC A-List

MoviePass: Don't like our business model? No problem! We change it every 3-5 days.

MoviePass: Tired of operational excellence? Good news! We offer a stunning display of incompetence at no extra a constantly shifting charge.

MoviePass: Like spontaneity? Good news! With MoviePass, you'll never know what movies our service will allow you to see.

MoviePass 1 for 1 with me so far.

I can't stay mad at moviespass. I got to watch a bunch of free movies and some rich moron investors got soaked --what's not to love? Plus, my local theater has countered by offering its own monthly subscription service which is not as generous as moviepass but still a good deal.

Son of Frankenstein (1939)



The OG bad boys of monster movies are at it again: Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi as the monster and Igor, respectively, plus an up-and-coming Basil Rathbone playing the son of Frankenstein. Very delightful performance by stage actor Lionel Atwill as the one-armed police inspector. Unepectedly surreal, minimalist sets that seem more like theater stages than movie sets. Banging soundtrack. Also, Rathbone shows off his no-look darts skills.

Son of Frankenstein was the swan song of Frankenstein as a serious horror franchise. Many other B-movie cheap knockoffs and parodies of the character would appear on screen, but none would showcase the production values and solid performances that made Son of Frankenstein such a classic.

Enemy was weird, but I liked it. I guess you can spend some time thinking about it, but I don't think you'll get anywhere. It was just a little weird and I think intentionally ambiguous/unclear/mysterious.

Pulp Fiction, Broken Arrow and To Paris With Love would like a word with you.

Broken Arrow sucked. He wasn't *that* tough a guy in PF (better performance as a dancer and just banter) and Bruce Willis put him in his place for getting out of line. Never saw the other one.

John Travolta in Swordfish is neither a sword nor a fish. Discuss.

Trick question!

Hugh Jackman was the sword, Halle Berry was the fish.

I think you're making a big leap, good filmmakers will get funding, a silly brainless summer movie like SWDM isn't going to impact genuinely talented women directors one way or the other. No one expected it to be great and the box office performance is about what was expected from a movie like this. It's late summer counter-programming against MI.

Detroit (2017)

Fact-based drama set during the 1967 Detroit riots in which a group of rogue police officers respond to a complaint with retribution rather than justice on their minds.

This movie was an attempt at Oscar bait. It had all the elements. Long run time (over 2 hours), minority suffering, famous actors in various roles, major and minor, but somehow it didn't come together. I found myself checking my the run time and thinking, why is there another hour to this movie? Which is odd because the director is Kathryn Bigelow who did the Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty so she knows how to make a movie, but this one isn't it.

This movie is way too long. They spend 30 minutes on the start of the riots, 30 minutes on the protagonists, 30 minutes on them at the hotel, 30 minutes having the cops arrive, 30 minutes on the trial, 30 minutes on the aftermath of the trail etc. There isn't a thread that carries the movie through like a drama would and instead it's best to think of the middle act with the cops as a kind of horror movie for blacks where the cops are the hillbillies attacking, killing, and torturing with little reason while residents of the hotel have to react to them and then another hour other stuff that feels like its connected but could have been its own movie.

It was an OK movie but also long and made specifically for Oscar bait so not really worth seeing on its own merits