Wife didn't feel well last night so I watched One battle after another. Not a big Sean Penn fan but he was outstanding in his role probably Oscar worthy. Benicio Del Toro was awesome as well. Trippy story.
I watched the Springsteen movie last night and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it and how well done it is. It got panned by most people, but I thought it was great. Only weird part was the love interest stuff, that dragged for a bit. Loved the development of the songs and albums at the time. It occurred to me that the movie itself was kind of intentionally mimicking the Nebraska album, in terms of not being a conventional commercial money maker project. Overall I'd give it an 8/10, although my enjoyment was higher than that. Glad I didn't pay to see it in the theater, very good at-home "video movie."
Watched The Rip on Netflix. Wasn’t expecting it to be good, but actually really enjoyed it. Great tension, good action…it was a solid B.
Watched "Secret Mall Apartment" documentary on Netflix last night and it was very interesting and well done.
Greenland 2: Worse than the first one. It came off to me as corny and contrived. This should not have been made.
Just finished Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart on Netflix. Hit me like a ton of bricks to relive the horror and disbelief. If you are 50+ and remember when it happened, watch.
Is anyone actually a Sean Penn fan? I feel like everyone caveats their praise for him with that statement. He’s a good actor though.
Technically and legally, I get that, but within the greater context of what they were doing (outside the mall) it was an act of "performance art."
Just finished Nuremberg. 8.5/10 but it was 2 1/2 hours long. Russell Crowe gained 50+ lbs for his role as Hermann Goring and carried the movie IMO. Rami Malek did OK but maybe wasn't the right guy to play Douglas Kelley. It didn't quite fit. I found it strange to see John Slattery playing an Army Colonel.
I wanted to see this but every time I checked over at Willowbrook AMC it was never there, figure it will stream
not really a Neil Diamond fan but watched Song Sung Blue--it was fantastic. Very enjoyable, Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson were both incredible. Easily a 10/10 for me, just a really enjoyable movie to watch.
Saw Predator Badlands on Hulu and it was pretty good. Didn't know they were going to do a "Sinners" with the main character. It overall worked pretty well. Spoiler
I had almost the same reactions to those three actors. I was pretty disappointed in this movie, it just seemed clumsy, or maybe clunky is the right word. Some of the dialogue was too modern, the overall narrative structure was kind of all over the place. I was really looking forward to this, it's too bad they didn't do a better job with this. I'd put it at a 6 or 7 out of 10.
One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson) 6.4/10. The film is multilayered about a group of self-proclaimed revolutionaries and resistant fighters who free people from detention centers and rob banks, it is sort of unclear as to the scope of this operation and why the two are related. But it is clearly meant to be a commentary on and about the current immigration issue that is going on. Although, while this is being played out, the film begins to highlight the three main characters in the film: Sean Penn (Col. Lockjaw), Leonardo DiCaprio (Bob Ferguson) and Teyana Taylor (Perfidia Beverly Hills). Doing so in a more than contrived scenario, by way of a forced love-triangle. PTA really wants you to SEE the bigger picture here and how this is all meant to serve as the cautionary tale of a history past, although it is just him making another high concept, low on dialogue iteration on the hollywood trope that all big budget films must, which is to say: the popcorn meter must be at 120%. Of course, the film has style to burn, but it doesn't say much and I found it eerily similar to another film: Civil War. There are fun, albeit lighthearted moments, as long as you look at it at the surface level. I particularly enjoyed Benicio del Toro's part, although I do feel that it re-enforces the stereotype that immigrants are law-breakers. The movie ends (thankfully) on a positive, but rather undeserved note, because of course being a big budget hollywood film, you need to know that all is well, even after the director spent two-and-a-half hours convincing you otherwise. I find it amusing that PTA would reference The battle of algiers and this movie looks nothing like that. Ultimately, Inglorious Bastards is still the king of hollywood big budget films that reference history. At least for the modern era. But it is interesting to note that of the films that quentin tarantino did that reference history, in my mind, he only got it right once. Anyway, for a more inspired film about recent history topics, I would implore you to watch Green Border by Agnieszka Holland. It is a masterpiece and her greatest film of all time, in my opinion.
