At The Movies

Movie Day

68 Comments

I saw a lot this month - mostly TV. I probably won't have much time to mention it before work, but we'll see.

Of course, the big movie news this month is the whole Sony thing and how a big-budget comedy is now going unreleased.

68 thoughts on “Movie Day”

  1. I had designs on watching a bunch of stuff this month, but didn't end up watching most of it. I did watch all of the first season of BoJack Horseman which I liked a whole bunch. And I rewatched a bunch of episodes of Bob's Burgers which I love to death.

  2. My wife and I finally started watching Breaking Bad over Thanksgiving week (after giving up on Weeds after six episodes). We're almost done with season three. I learned that my brother has a crush on Jesse Pinkman, so I bought him a bobblehead for Christmas. Mad stockings, yo.

    Mockingjay: Like Catching Fire, better than the book. I was surprised, considering there's virtually no action in the first half of the book and they had to rely on dialogue and politicking to build suspense. Donald Sutherland helps as does some critical storytelling devices. Julianne Moore is the glaring weak spot. I like her in comedies, but with dramatic stuff she usually doesn't make me feel anything. Same here.

    Premium Rush: New York City bike courier thriller with JGL? Yes, please. This was so close to a great action film, in the vein of Taken. It couldn't decide whether or not go for camp or suspense. When it went camp, it was hilarious. When it went suspense, I was underwhelmed.

    Divergent: If you thought the allegory and storytelling in Hunger Games was weak, boy howdy. There's one part that really disappointed me. The protagonist (a teenage girl) at one point reunites with her mother. It's obvious they've both matured, and for the first time, they have a connection. They're both now strong, independent women. So what do they do? They take some guns and act like men to be heroes. I'm not saying the story called for them to be peaceful and negotiate, but it is frustrating that even in roles where women aren't talking about men or depending on men, they're often conquering like men.

    1. Linds liked the book Divergent, and came out of the movie spitting fire. I dunno. I'm sort of over the whole "Dystopia as teen parable" genre, but this one was underwhelming even for those lowered expectations.

    2. We made it the same distance with "Weeds." I couldn't believe how poor the writing was, as eager as the show appeared to be. Outside the lead women, the acting was pretty crummy too.

  3. I haven't seen any, but the Girl went to the Hobbit III the other day, and came back declaring it awful. Her main complaints centered on technical concerns about the mythology (she's STILL riled up about some Silvan/Sindarin elf name confusion) and on defiance-of-laws-of-physics in action CGI scenes. I said: Because Fantasy. She still complained.

  4. * Thanksgiving was John Wayne day, so there were John Wayne movies on in the background all day. I ended up seeing El Dorado (which I've always enjoyed quite a bit) and The Alamo (which was somehow a first), The Comancheros and the end of Red River. All are John Wayne movies. There are good things about them, but they all sort of blended together for me by the end of the day.

    * Crossroads. Many years ago, my best friend and my wife agreed to hate-watch this, then he backed out. Linds finally got him to watch it a few weekends ago, and it is just as awful as one would guess. It's not even all that fun as a hate-watch, because it's constantly altering the mood. It goes from the movie's idea of fun ("hey, let's win a karaoke contest so that we can stop having to pretend that these characters need to be concerned about money!") to the movie's butchered idea of weighty issues (date rape, teen pregnancy, and the possibility that they've hitched a ride with a felon) with no warning and no tact at all. It's... weird. I mean, I obviously expected this, but it's even worse than I would've guessed.

    * Edge of Tomorrow. Great, great movie...

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    * Donald Glover: Weirdo. Funny at times, a little try-hard at times. I liked it.

    * Mockingjay: The Movie: Part One. I really don't see why this was two movies (yes, yes "cash grab" I get it). I've read the books, and knew about where this one was going to leave off, but it left the movie sort of poorly paced. Hoffman and Lawrence (and, to a certain extent, Moore, who takes a one note character in Coin and turns her into something with at least the slightest shred of subtlety and sympathy) elevate it, though, and it ends up being plenty watchable.

    1. and I felt they went the opposite of Coin. I don't think she's all that subtle. She's just out and out sympathetic and nice in the movie, with absolutely no hint at all of what's to come.

      1. As a character, I like this version better....it is going to present..."issues" for the next movie to fix, though.

        Or maybe not? Consistent and believable character motivation is overrated, anyway.

    2. I also watched and loved Edge of Tomorrow.

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      3. I really enjoyed Edge of Tomorrow and didn't mind the ending ...

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        I went in not expecting much from it and came away more than satisfied.

        1. I went in knowing that I was probably going to like it. I wasn't prepared for quite how much I was going to like it (ending and all, it's still easily in my top 100). I just had my qualms with the ending.

          1. I can appreciate that.
            I was hoping that I'd like it, but thought it could've easily been a "meh" movie if any number of things weren't done right. I'm a pretty easy movie-goer to please, but I really appreciated the rules that were established and how hard they work to keep the character's actions in step with what the world they've created requires.

  5. I had Under the Skin come in at the library, but had to return it unwatch because busy. Otherwise re: TV, I don't know why I still watched Marvel/Shield, The Librarians is mindless fun and doesn't try to be something it's not, and Sleepy Hollow continues strong. Latest season of Dr. Who was disappointing, not because of Capaldi but because of weak writing. And I now have a void with Craig Ferguson off TLLS.

    1. I still have a few episodes of Doctor Who to watch, but yes. Not only were the stories not that good, but they really didn't develop the characters very much, either.

  6. I had a pretty good movie month.

    Watched Guardians of the Galaxy and loved every minute of it. I'd call it the best of the Marvel movies without feeling bad about that.

    I also watched Edge of Tomorrow, which was pretty much everything I was expecting and thoroughly entertained me.

    The other night I watched The Man of Tai Chi, which is a Keanu Reeves directed martial arts flick that is pretty great. Lots of really good fight sequences and a nice, simplistic story to not muddle anything up.

    1. when did GotG come out? If in the last month, then I guess I saw it too since our last confab. And I agree with cheaptoy's assessment.

  7. I watched George C Scott in A Christmas Carol for the first time last night, with EAR, CER, and HPR. (Hey! It's a British Literary Adaptation! That's totally in our wheelhouse!)
    Definitely too much for the two that were already in bed.
    I thought it was pretty good. I should watch some other George C Scott films.
    I definitely think it's a better way to learn the story than from Mickey Mouse or The Real Ghostbusters (animated series).

    1. The George C. Scott version is the definitive one for me.

      Well... maybe the Disney one with Mackey and Scrooge holds that title. Let's just say they co-own it.

  8. Finally finished Breaking Bad. I kind of miss it, which is strange because I was sort of loathing it during the first half of the last season. I appreciated the payoff, except for

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    1. I think Breaking Bad loses something when you binge-watch it on Netflix. I felt that with the normal weekly pacing of episodes that I would have had a different reaction to a lot of it.

      1. Agreed. We had to watch it live because Sheenie couldn't even handle watching two episodes consecutively.

        1. there's been a couple of episodes so far where we've needed to take the night off to reset, but for the most part, we find the show more intriguing than gut-wrenching. I dunno. Maybe we're desensitized after season four of Dexter.

      2. I didn't binge watch, except for the last two or three episodes of season 4 and five. It was hard to find the time to watch since Philosofette wasn't interested.

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  9. I also have watched a number of Christmas movies, including classics like A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation. Philosofette and I have also been on an "Awful ABC Family Holiday Movie" kick, so we've sort-of watched A Christmas Kiss (possibly the worst thing I've ever seen), 12 Dates Of Christmas (a rip-off of Groundhog's Day, but excellent "bad movie" fare), and Holiday in Handcuffs (which has the most offensive premise... she kidnaps the guy, and he falls in love with her. Stockholm Syndrome anyone?).

    We also rewatched The Avengers which was a lot of fun, and I've been plowing through Deep Space 9 episodes whenever I get a shot. That is a darn good show.

    1. We watched Christmas Vacation last night and, while I still think its a solid comedy, I found myself more than a little annoyed at the portrayal of their neighbors. They never actually do anything "bad", with the exception of one snide comment (which was given a far worse rebuttal by Mr. Griswold), but have to suffer through all these relatively terrible things that you're supposed to laugh at because they don't get into the holiday spirit. As a fellow Christmas hater, I sympathize with their annoyance at everyone else's tackiness.

      1. But they're wearing expensive clothes instead of local sports team jerseys and college sweatshirts! How can you not hate them?

    2. I've introduced DS9 to my wife. We usually have one show we'll watch together after the boys are in bed when we have time. She's enjoying watching it for the first time. It has been long enough since I watched it that I don't remember much of individual episodes but have a general idea of what's coming in the overall storyline. Still a lot of fun.

  10. Wife and I finished a marathon screening of seasons three and four of Game of Thrones, finishing up the final episode last night. Having powered through the books this summer, I've been able to answer most of her questions. However, there were enough, "It didn't really happen that way in the book" moments that I took more notice of the limitations presented by the format (or decisions by the producers/directors) which in some ways prevented me from completely buying in. Even so, I'm very excited for Season five.

    Begin Again - I'll concur with nibbish, a Once clone of sorts, but I did enjoy it and was mostly happy with how things played out.

    I Am Legend - Still a fun flick, but I've never been entirely happy with the ending. I don't know why, but the self-sacrifice always leaves me slightly annoyed.

    The Polar Express - My kiddo loves this movie. I'm okay with it.

    Frozen - My kiddo loves this movie. I'm okay with it.

    2/3 of Avatar - got bored and turned it off. This almost never happens.

    Toy Story 3 - Got this for Kernel for Christmas but gave it to her for St Nicholas Day instead. Man did I forget how great this movie is.

    1. This almost never happens.

      But this is probably the best way to handle this particular situation.

          2. Really cool visuals.
            Predictable plot (as you have mentioned).
            I was bummed when that came in the dump of DVDs from the SiL and the case was empty.

            1. Avatar is probably the worst movie I've seen in the last ten years. I keep trying to think of something worse, but outside of a low-budget zombie movie I saw, nothing else is at that level.

              Still, the bad guy was so sneeringly, laughably evil that it was good for a chuckle that Cameron didn't intend.

    2. The Polar Express - My kiddo loves this movie. I'm okay with it.
      Really? I found it crossed the uncanny valley and it gives me the creeps with their dead faces.

    1. Don't forget that Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey is the superior movie, so that sounds like the next logical place to go.

    2. I got my oldest two through Miyazake's Studio Ghibli's Pom Poko after CER didn't want to watch any more Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and I finished it with just HPR.
      Before that, it was Laputa, Castle in the Sky. HPR said he liked Laputa better than Nausicaä. I think he's badly mistaken. Laputa's cool, but Nausicaä is awesome in so many more ways.
      Wondering how soon I can have him watch Princess Mononoke. I'm guessing CER will reject that.
      Grave of the Fireflies is years away for either.

  12. Watched Mystic River and Shutter Island last month (a little Dennis Lehane kick). I had read both books, and the first was both more faithful to the book and also a better movie. Shutter Island was frankly pretty disappointing.

    1. I enjoyed Shutter Island the first time I watched it, but never felt any compulsion to watch the whole thing again.
      Mystic River was so good that I bought it. That's high praise in my world.

  13. Speaking of endings. Watched All is Lost a few weeks back. My wife and I both thought the ending meant something completely different, and when I did a google search it turned out audiences were split on the ending as well. I did like the movie.

    Can't stand Tom Cruise but loved Edge of Tomorrow...ending and all.

    Recently watched Get Him to the Greek expecting to not like it and I laughed harder than a 47 year old should at that type of humor.

    I am embarrassed to say that I (for the 3rd time) teared up at the end of Elf. Don't know why, but that whole spirit of Christmas thing just tugs and tugs.

    Last night watched the last hour of Prometheus and then watched the first hour as it was played back to back. Weird way to watch a movie, but liked it. Thought it was visually stunning and I am a sucker for Charlize Theron.

    So, there you have it. I like everything. Geez.

    1. I like everything.

      No worries, I'm learning that I'm right there with you.
      Love Elf - one of the best "recent" additions to the Christmas movie canon. The shower duet is one of my favorite movie scenes ever.

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