Rebel Without a Cause (1955) - 4/5 red jackets
Tonight we watched this classic for the first time. The story is a bit hard to follow and reading more about it reveals how much subtext there was which we missed, but it was still an excellent movie and makes me so sad that we didn't get to see more of James Dean.
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The Booksellers (2019) - 2.5/5 Rare Books
Watched from LA to Seattle today. I came across it on Amazon Prime and downloaded to my plane for the flight.
Overall it was interesting, but there was no central tentpole aside from looking at rare book buyers, etc. It starts to suggest books are dying, then it points out they aren't. It says the book buyers are the final generation, and then has some who are optimistic.
It was an interesting insight into these people, but yeah - it meandered and left me at the end wondering what I could have watched instead.
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The Lost Leonardo (2021) - 4/5 Mona Lisas
I ended up watching this documentary on the way down from Seattle to LA and found it quite interesting and entertaining. It's an interesting story with a lot of twists and turns along the way.
It follows a story about a possibly discovered lost painting by Leonardo Da Vinci, the "Salvator Mundi" aka "The Savior of the World" which depicts Jesus Christ. I was recounting the documentary to friends last night and it is a wild story. It also puts, front and center, the very real truth that high end collector art is used for washing funds (central to this story is a Russian oligarch) and also for general tax evasion, etc.
It also definitely reminded me how much I enjoy documentaries. Need to watch more.
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To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995) - 3.5/5 high heels
What a delightful film from a bygone era.
"I don't think of you as a man. And I don't think of you as a woman. I think of you as an angel."
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Babylon (2022) - 2 out of 5
Continuing our Brad Pitt theme today, Katie and I found ourselves watching Babylon this evening. And, I think the two featured quoted on Rotten Tomatoes really nail it.
Babylon's overwhelming muchness is exhausting, but much like the industry it honors, its well-acted, well-crafted glitz and glamour can often be an effective distraction.
Babylon has some entertaining moments and its ambition is impressive, but the movie's chaotic and disjointed execution makes it difficult to really enjoy.
I found it slow and uninteresting once it left the frenetic initial pace of early film making. And ultimately I asked myself why I cared about this movie and I struggled to find an answer.
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Bullet Train 2 in the works
I just watched this with Katie, having watched it myself a few months ago. It's like a cross of Tarantino and Guy Ritchie good time. And I'm glad to hear they're working on a sequel.
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Heat (1995) - 4 out of 5 Guns
Finally watched this movie with Katie tonight. Neither of us had seen it before. The cast in the movie is incredible.
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Watching Air on Amazon with Katie and while I am enjoying the movie, I have to say it has an absolutely incredible soundtrack.
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Seattle International Film Festival buys Cinerama
Cinerama was the movie theater that Paul Allen funded as a fan of movies. It closed in 2020 and has been since then. Well, that changes soon. SIFF announced it has purchased Cinerama.
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) - 3 out of 5
Definitely overdue in watching this, but I just couldn't make it to the theaters and haven't had a major drive to dive into the movies again (still haven't seen the new Ant Man either.)
We put it on tonight and overall I enjoyed it. I loved the silent opening montage to honor Chadwick Boseman, and overall I liked the story. I enjoyed the Mayan origin they gave Namor and think it's an interesting way to manage the dynamic of the character.
It's also interesting to know more characters after having played Marvel Snap. I didn't know who Ironheart was, for example, and now I do.
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Sharper (2023) - 2 of 5
I mentioned in passing yesterday that Katie and I watched this on AppleTV+ yesterday. The cast looked solid and is what pulled me in.
Sadly, this movie was very lackluster. The plot was formulaic and predictable at almost every step of the way. Additionally, one of the cast members was just a glorified cameo. I won't say who, but they were one of the main reasons I was interested in watching and were only in a fraction of the film.
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1989 Movies
As a joke tonight I had my wife randomly name a year, to which she responded 1989. I then said we should watch a movie from that year. As it happens, we ended up watching Sharper on AppleTV+. However, now that we are looking at the movies from 1989 I can only be in awe of the movies from that year.
- Batman
- When Harry Met Sally...
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- Little Mermaid
- Dead Poet's Society
- Road House
- Do the Right Thing
- Back to the Future, Part II
- The Abyss
- Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
- Ghostbusters II
- Steel Magnolias
- Uncle Buck
- National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
- Say Anything
- Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures
- Major League
- Glory
The list goes on. Literally.
Given the modern era of movies, this seems simply incredible.
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Warren Beatty retains Dick Tracy movie rights to 2027
As pulled from this Mastodon post with a screencap from another social network:
In 1990, Warren Beatty made a Dick Tracy movie. But no one would let him make another one, and even tried to do a TV show without him. He got so mad he decided to find a loophole in his contract and get decades of petty revenge.
Every couple of decades, he makes a no-budget 20-some minute TV special where he complains to Leonard Maltin while wearing his old costume, and releases it unannounced in the middle of the night on TCM. This week, at 85 years old, he premiered his new one, called Dick Tracy Zooms In. He didn't even have to show up on set. However, he has gone to court to make sure that they legally count as sequels, and thus renew his rights to the character. He does this solely so that no one else can legally use the character for anything.
This new special will make the character his until 2027, when Dick Tracy goes into the public domain and anyone can use him for free.
This is art. This is some A+ Andy Kaufman-level trolling. I will never watch either of these specials, because the whole point is that they are unwatchable, low effort, and awful enough to be a middle finger to some bean counting whipper snapper who made Warren Beatty mad in the 90s. But I am so happy they exist. I'd rather know these bird flips by an old man taking a grudge to the grave are in the world than a Dick Tracy Disney+ show staring Chris Pratt.
I completely agree with the original author's feeling that this is some Andy Kaufman-level trolling.
PS - Fuck the American copyright system.
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Man, rewatching Casino Royale and Jesus does Bond take some beatings in that movie. From the poisoning to the awful car crash as he avoids Vesper.
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A few Bond thoughts
Just rewatched 'No Time To Die' and it wasn't as bad as I remembered. It wasn't great, but I will remember fondly Daniel Craig's tenure as James Bond. I still feel Pierce Brosnan is my preferred Bond, but I can't deny the raw power and animalistic tenacity Craig brought to the series.
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Bullet Train (2022) - Four Lady Bugs Out of Five
What a crazy and over the top movie. A neon lit, Tarantino-ver-the-top, and with an incredible soundtrack. A good way to spend my already altered mental state of sickness this morning, cuddling with dogs, and watching it on Netflix.
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Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania trailer
Jonathan Majors remains the actor who I am most excited to watch in any role.
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"Glass Onion's Start Tells You The End"
Spoilers abound in this post. Skip now if you don't want anything spoiled.
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Rian Johnson breaks down the pier scene in Glass Onion
Not any real spoilers in this that I discovered, but I still think you should avoid it until you've seen the movie.
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My 2022 Movies
Sat down tonight and attempted to collect all my movies watched this year. I'm sure there are more I haven't thought of. I'll update it as I think of them. There are a number I haven't seen yet but will eventually.
Loved it
Everyone should watch these movies.
- Bros (2022) - A fantastic love story. I really loved it and seeing Billy Eichner act and not just run down the street screaming at people.
- Glass Onion (2022) - Watched it last night and absolutely loved it. It might be better than the first.
- The Woman King (2022) - Fantastic. I am a huge fan of Viola Davis.
- Weird: The Al Yankovich Story (2022) - Watched this in a crummy hotel with my brother and it will be a "core memory" for the rest of my life. But even aside from the means of how I watched it, it is a fantastic absurdist comedy.
Liked it
If it sounds like your thing, consider my recommendation you watch it.
- Doctor Strange and Multiverse of Madness (2022) - I believe my description afterwards was "It was a very Sam Raimi movie.
- Everything, Everywhere, All at Once (2022) - I had no idea what it was going into it and I loved it.
- Spirited (2022) - Ryan Reynolds and Will Farrell are just so damn likeable.
- The Courier (2020) - Watched this with my wife and mother-in-law. It was fine. If you enjoy purposefully paced period pieces, this is for you.
- The Greatest Beer Run Ever (2022) - We didn't know what we were getting into with this one, and we didn't particularly care for what we got.
- The Lost City (2022) - A fun romp comedy, but not a lot of meat on the bone.
- White Christmas (1954) - I might have seen this when I was younger but I have no real memories of it. So we finally watched it this week and it is a charming story.
Meh
Your call on whether to watch it or not.
- Death on the Nile (2022) - I love Agatha Christie but found this movie completely underwhelming.
- The Adam Project (2022) - There's been worse and it almost crests into "Liked it" but I just never see myself rewatching it, which is the other threshold between Meh and Liking it.
- The Batman (2022) - I'm a sucker for Batman movies. Initially I put this in "Liked it" but as I was writing this, I remembered all the things I disliked about it.
- The Gray Man (2022) - Formulaic and easily predicted.
- Thor Love & Thunder (2022) - I wanted to love it, but the story just lost me and I couldn't bring myself to care.
- Top Gun Maverick (2022) - Vacuous Americanism. Like Chinese food, an hour after leaving the theater I found zero desire to discuss or think about the movie further.
Disliked it
You should probably pass.
- Falling for Christmas (2022) - Watched it with friends and booze. Don't do it unless you have both.
- Moonfall (2022) - It just wasn't good.
My other posts for 2022:
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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Movie - 5 out of 5 mysteries
Just watched the movie on Netflix and greatly enjoyed it. I caught part of it, but definitely didn't completely figure it out. Looking forward to watching it again with complete knowledge and spotting things along the way.
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My Christmas Movie Scale
Every year we see the debates regarding whether a movie is or isn't a Christmas movie. Usually done with humorous intent, but sometimes it comes from someone's earnest belief. In the case of the latter, then all that matters is that you believe it, and you can proselytize it to others and try to bring them around to your side.
For me, I think it is more beneficial (and with just as much opportunity for comedy) to move from the binary of "Is" and "Isn't" to a scale. I propose 1-7 for ease while also allowing plenty of granularity.
Below are my example rankings, I welcome feedback!
1
Nothing relating to Christmas at all.
- Waterworld
- Rosemary's Baby
- Everything Everywhere, All at Once
2
A very meager suggested connection, but overall the movie avoids anything relating to the holiday season.
- Batman Begins
- The Sound of Music
3
Christmas occurs somewhere inside this movie as a background event.
- Gremlins
- You've Got Mail
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
4
Christmas plays a role, but the movie largely lives outside of the holiday
- Die Hard
- Trading Places
- Iron Man 3
5
Christmas is in the movie and holiday themes are part of it, but it is not the tentpole of the movie
- LA Confidential
- Mean Girls
- Catch Me If You can
6
The movie is about Christmas, but not entirely
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Just Friends
- Home Alone
7
Fully about and within Christmas
- Miracle on 34th Street
- White Christmas
- A Christmas Story
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