When I went to see Dark Knight IMAX, I saw that the theater was going to be playing every single Marvel movie over Labor Day weekend (this post is late). There were 4 that I hadn't seen, and I wasn't happy about it but I decided that I find them juuuuust marginally enjoyable enough that I should fill in my gaps, and I live 2 blocks from the theater.

First up was Dr. Strange in 3D (all 4 were IMAX, this was the only 3D). This was definitely enjoyable enough, despite the fact that I grabbed the incorrect 3D glasses and had to leave to get the correct IMAX ones in the first few minutes (I caught up later on Netflix). It's colorful, looks good, fun enough, fine.

Spider-Man: Homecoming was the one I had really wanted to see for some reason. It's my favorite out of all of them now. Loved the relationship between him and Stark, even though Stark is a dick. Keaton is sensational.

At this point I was completely sold on Marvel movies and decided I will continue to see them without grumbling about it (in IMAX when possible) for the foreseeable future. On the IMAX screen especially they are just good solid 2 hour experiences, akin to theme park rides.

The connective tissue works wonders to keep you interested in the universe even with the movies you don't like as much.

Thor: Ragnarok and Ant-Man and the Wasp I didn't love as much, but they're still good and I'm still in.

This is all a pretty big 180 from posts I've made about Marvel movies in the past.

(SEC disclaimer: I am a Disney stockholder.)

Overlord was better than I was expecting....lots of fun. It's really an old-fashioned WWII-mission-behind-enemy-lines flick, with a pretty French gal helping out, of course.

Tight script, decent characters from a no-name cast, except for Wyatt Russell. He's quickly becoming a favorite.

And when the Dr. Frankenstein stuff starts, it gets good and gory.

French chick is a hottie, too.

Solid B.

Watched Tokyo story 1956 and Mr Thank You 1936 both of which or mentioned in this thread. Both are classic Japanese movies that depict in subtle ways what happens to family life when economic times are tough and modern industrialization and urbanization take over. Their styles are the antithesis of modern Western blockbuster movies. As in Japanese culture everything is understated and nuanced. The viewer has to pay attention to the smallest detail since even the smallest gesture or simplest one word of dialogue can have tremendous meaning. Some important events even happen off camera. On the surface level nothing much seems to be happening yet tragedies are occurring. The special ways that each director set up his camera shots has been studied for decades by film experts. Both films are somewhat sad but are grade A masterpieces.

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Outlaw King https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6679794/

William Wallace is dead and it is up to Robert The Bruce to reclaim the Scottish crown.
Using cunning and bravery, Bruce lures the English into a showdown at Loudoun Hill where he takes on the might of the English Army.

This is a pretty good movie but is way too short to do the story justice. Chris Pine is bland as Robert The Bruce and his accent leaves a lot to be desired.
But the battle scenes are bloody and brutal and the movie is worth watching just for the final showdown.

Worth checking out but don't expect to be overly impressed.

Seems like if all these Scottish dudes were really that heroic, they'd have won their independence by now!

Gaga: Five Foot Two The camera follows Gaga around prior (and during) her album, Joanne, and her Super Bowl halftime performance.

My take on her is that she's an incredible performer/artist but her personal life/emotional state, is pretty much a total mess.

I've always thought that when someone gets to that level of stardom, there isn't any way to be normal. Every person around her is there to serve, not really be her friend. She does go back to family, but it appeared to be quick drive-bys in between everything in her career.

She laments not being able to maintain a relationship, and seems to really want to be "normal" on some level, but I can't believe that would be possible when she's in "Gaga" mode 24/7.

I don't think this is a particularly good documentary. It's just a camera following her around. If you like Lady Gaga, you'll like it. If not, you probably won't make it 5 minutes through.

The whole movie is basically one giant montage. Great flick though.

Burning

Phone rings in the middle of the night: Nobody there.

I want to vanish: Like I never existed.

I have a bad feeling: His bathroom looks the same as a hotel’s.

Why does everybody smoke as though: They were German Colonels in WWII movies?

Dancing from The Bush to The Disco: Gangnam Style!

Naked chick dancing to the newly waxing moon: I hate it when they shave under their arms.

William Faulkner: The ghost in the room.

William Faulkner: Take barn burning, stand it on its head, then turn it inside out.

Stone in her heart/lost in a well: Where have we heard this before?



Great flick, maybe the best this year. Stunningly and evocatively photographed. I don’t see many, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bad Korean movie. Based on a Murakami story -- it doesn’t have a talking giant frog, but it still works. Hope it finds an audience. Sometimes excruciating: Check it out.

Bohemian Rhapsody - 6/10 (Fun)

The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6412452/

A vignette of bizarre short stories from the Coen brothers depicting different
aspects of life on the American frontier.
Not their best work imo, but as a Coen brothers fan I still enjoyed it a lot.

https://www.criterion.com/current/po...ch-spring-2019

Yeah, Criterion with a streaming service is the nuts

Charter member...

Me too.

was really disappointed with the ballad of buster scruggs.

Ditto.

Miyazaki event at the theaters for two days only

Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki

seems hes been working ever since announcing his retirement years ago.

You Were Never Really Here had all the right stuff but I thought it was just pretty good. It’s a thriller about human trafficking, that is shot like Tree of Life / Boyhood, with flashbacks and quick cutaways, that are rich w/ context. It is a very violent movie, but most of the violence is off screen. I thought this worked well since the movie is brutal / heavy enough.

Joaquin is great, the direction / sound track is cool, but it ended up feeling a little incomplete, like there should be another episode. My main issues are that the resolution seemed ambiguous () and that while the end point makes some sense, there is so much left unsaid. We pretty much have no idea what will happen to the two main characters in the foreseeable future. It was entertaining and held my attention but I won’t be recommending it to many people.

Cam https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8361028/
A cam-sex girl, desperate to make her way up the popularity ranks, has to track down a doppleganger that steals her identity and cam account.

I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie, it felt like I was watching a feature length Black Mirror episode at times.

[PHP][/PHP] It was ok but they literally never explained what happened.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - A series of vignettes that caricature the wild west to highlight violence and grittiness of the times. It tries its best to balance whimsical humor, over the top violence, gore and the unceremonious nature of life. It almost succeeds into being a very good movie, but falls short. Some stories were better than others, some of them didn't fully gel with the rest to create one uniform arc. Each story has something meaningful to tell, but together they don't add up to a cohesive vision. Still this movie was a big treat. A lot of beautiful visuals and great character actors. Last story didn't quiet sit well with me.

B+

Watching The Big Short for like the 7th time.

One of the most entertaining movies of the decade. So good. Can't wait to see McKay's Dick Cheney movie.

wth?

I saw it in a theater today and would agree that YMMV on 3 of the 6 shorts, as is generally the case with anthologies. But imo 1 of them is superb and 2 are outstanding and that really should be enough (maybe if they moved the order around so that one of the unambiguously better ones was at the end?).

Some of the best cinematography I've ever seen. Gotta chalk some of the negative/mixed reactions up to watching it at home.

I interned for the guy that's introduced at the very beginning as having set everything in motion in the '80s with mortgage-backed securities.

Wow, that's cool...why aren't you a billionaire?

Wow, I enjoyed the hell out of it. Shrug.

Had an absolute blast watching The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Once again, the Coens deliver. Their cinematography is just sublime. Will watch again.