What are we watching now?

[laxu]

Went to see Deadpool & Wolverine. That was a fun movie, though I wonder how well it will age considering all the cameos and needing to know a good bit about the older Marvel movies.

The overall story is not much to write about and is more of a vehicle to allow for all kinds of shenanigans. The other two Deadpool movies are more cohesive stories.

Hugh Jackman is again great as Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds reprises his usual schtick.

Sometimes it's nice to just watch something silly.

 

[Whizzinby]

Watched the new Ghostbusters with the kids last night. A little paint by numbers, but some fun callbacks. 6.5/10

 

[Achilles]

Sometimes it's nice to just watch something silly.

This is how many reviewers are summing it up also.

 

[Frankencat]

Fringe S2:E13

 

[la szum]

Legend! Icon!

I put Warren up there with David Gilmour as the most toneful, diverse, and accomplished
guitarists and songwriters of the past 50 years.

 

[State of Epicicity]

My wife was dead tired last night and insisted on watching Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. I thought it was total shit. Mckenna Grace just had an emotionless look on her face for the whole movie. There was one really funny part when Bill Murray first appears, but it felt like I was watching a lazy sitcom. I couldn't stand it, and I'm so glad I don't have to sit through shit like that often. If she weren't feeling so bad, I would've recommended bailing after fifteen minutes, which is our regular rule. You can't take an original film that was full of character and a sense of awe and wonder and create a franchise out of it filled with actors who mostly have no personality.

 

[JiveTurkey]

My wife was dead tired last night and insisted on whatching Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. I thought it was total shit. Mckenna Grace just had an emotionless look on her face for the whole movie. There was one really funny part when Bill Murray first appears, but it felt like I was watching a lazy sitcom. I couldn't stand it, and I'm so glad I don't have to sit through shit like that often. If she weren't feeling so bad, I wouldn't recommended bailing after fifteen minutes, which is our regular rule. You can't take an original film that was full of character and a sense of awe and wonder and create a franchise out of it filled with actors who mostly have no personality.

TERRIBLE. The last film at least touched on nostalgia in a good way. This one was just bad on multiple levels.

 

[State of Epicicity]

TERRIBLE. The last film at least touched on nostalgia in a good way. This one was just bad on multiple levels.

I hadn't seen the last one. So it's worth seeing?

 

[laxu]

My wife was dead tired last night and insisted on watching Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. I thought it was total shit. Mckenna Grace just had an emotionless look on her face for the whole movie. There was one really funny part when Bill Murray first appears, but it felt like I was watching a lazy sitcom. I couldn't stand it, and I'm so glad I don't have to sit through shit like that often. If she weren't feeling so bad, I would've recommended bailing after fifteen minutes, which is our regular rule. You can't take an original film that was full of character and a sense of awe and wonder and create a franchise out of it filled with actors who mostly have no personality.

It has way too much going on and focuses on the wrong things. And the previous one already did the "change of guard" thing with the old crew.

 

[Deadpan]

The Boys nailed it this season.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I hadn't seen the last one. So it's worth seeing?

It's not perfect by any means. But it is better, imo.

 

[State of Epicicity]

It's not perfect by any means. But it is better, imo.

Ah, I'll let my wife know and see if she wants to try it. After watching Frozen Empire I just want to watch Ingmar Bergman for month haha.

 

[State of Epicicity]

Last night we watched Inventing David Geffen, since it's about to exit Netflix. That was blowing my mind. His story is just crazy. I love that he has nothing but chutzpah and moxie and at the beginning really dedicated himself to nurturing the artists he represented. That's the dream.

The documentary overall was okay, but one big thing they left out was any exploration of his vindictive side. They had this cascade of colleagues and clients say that you would never want to be his enemy, but they never showed what happened to those who did.

I was really interested in this because I love so many albums that were released by Geffen Records in the 80s. Turns out, he managed most of my wife's favorite singer songwriters, like Jackson Browne and Joni Mitchell.

 

[Achilles]

David Geffen

 

[laxu]

Watched Real Steel last night. It was pretty much exactly what I expected: Robot boxing, and a by-the-numbers story of estranged father & son. Honestly, I liked it.

I also watched My Cousin Vinny. I hadn't seen it probably since the 1990s and it still works very well. It's funny to see how it's almost a template for many courtroom dramas that followed, except this one is much less convoluted and complex, and focuses much more on the actual court process. Also, Marisa Tomei.

 

[State of Epicicity]

Last night we watched The Guilty by Antoine Fuqua, America's Director Laureate of Sheer Brutality. It's from 2021, on Netflix in the US right now. It's a remake of the Danish film Den skyldige, and it's incredible. The whole thing takes place at a 911 call center in Los Angeles, and it's every bit as fucked up as Fuqua's other films, like Brooklyn's Finest and Training Day.

It all centers on Jake Gyllenhaal, and it's so good because that motherfucker is a worker. I don't ever see him lazy in a film. He always takes the time to build a character deeply, his mannerisms, ticks, the way he gets upset or swallows it. Everything about the way he works is admirable. I read that for Southpaw he did 1,000 situps a day as part of his preparation. He masters the differences in how people act in fundamentally different ways, embedding himself in a psychology he has to construct in reverse to get to where the audience jumps into the story. Man, I think it may be worth it to watch just about anything with that guy just for his performance.

And let me tell you, Antoine Fuqua is one of the very best directors ever. He just knows everything in his bones about how to make a film the right way. His instincts are dead on. The performances are always right, never cartoonish nor empty. His actors in general are not lazy, which is the hallmark of a director who knows how to fix problems in a performance. Man, I need to go on a run of all his films in order, but they're all so damn dark and unwavering in their examination of human ruthlessness that I may have to watch Care Bears cartoons for a year to make up for them. The man gets my full respect.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Last night we watched The Guilty by Antoine Fuqua, America's Director Laureate of Sheer Brutality. It's from 2021, on Netflix in the US right now. It's a remake of the Danish film Den skyldige, and it's incredible. The whole thing takes place at a 911 call center in Los Angeles, and it's every bit as fucked up as Fuqua's other films, like Brooklyn's Finest and Training Day.

It all centers on Jake Gyllenhaal, and it's so good because that motherfucker is a worker. I don't ever see him lazy in a film. He always takes the time to build a character deeply, his mannerisms, ticks, the way he gets upset or swallows it. Everything about the way he works is admirable. I read that for Southpaw he did 1,000 situps a day as part of his preparation. He masters the differences in how people act in fundamentally different ways, embedding himself in a psychology he has to construct in reverse to get to where the audience jumps into the story. Man, I think it may be worth it to watch just about anything with that guy just for his performance.

And let me tell you, Antoine Fuqua is one of the very best directors ever. He just knows everything in his bones about how to make a film the right way. His instincts are dead on. The performances are always right, never cartoonish nor empty. His actors in general are not lazy, which is the hallmark of a director who knows how to fix problems in a performance. Man, I need to go on a run of all his films in order, but they're all so damn dark and unwavering in their examination of human ruthlessness that I may have to watch Care Bears cartoons for a year to make up for them. The man gets my full respect.

Gyllenhaal is always awesome. From Bubble Boy ( ) to Prisoners (); dude is committed.

 

[State of Epicicity]

Gyllenhaal is always awesome. From Bubble Boy ( ) to Prisoners (); dude is committed.

I don't know anything about Bubble Boy, but I've now seen it referenced a few times, so I'll keep it in mind. I was just telling my wife that we've seen him as a cop now three times, in Prisoners, End of Watch, and The Guilty, and he's completely different in each. I love his approach so much. My wife was saying this morning that in The Guilty, he felt like a cop you would 100% meet in real life, like if something terrible happened and you had to be interviewed to see if you saw anything in the neighborhood, this is the actual guy who'd come to your door. He wasn't some TV detective who's just a conduit to the writer's unresearched imagining of the world; he was unnervingly real.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I don't know anything about Bubble Boy, but I've now seen it referenced a few times, so I'll keep it in mind. I was just telling my wife that we've seen him as a cop now three times, in Prisoners, End of Watch, and The Guilty, and he's completely different in each. I love his approach so much. My wife was saying this morning that in The Guilty, he felt like a cop you would 100% meet in real life, like if something terrible happened and you had to be interviewed to see if you saw anything in the neighborhood, this is the actual guy who'd come to your door. He wasn't some TV detective who's just a conduit to the writer's unresearched imagining of the world; he was unnervingly real.

It's dumb comedy at it's most base level. So be warned in advance Have you seen Nightcrawler? He's great in that. Really; anything he's in. Even Roadhouse

 

[State of Epicicity]

Have you seen Nightcrawler? He's great in that. Really; anything he's in.

That is an incredible film. I'm with you 100% on that. That was one instance where I felt like the director was extremely influenced by Michael Mann. I think if you watched that right after watching Collateral you'd see striking similarities in style. But for Gyllenhaal, to me that's one of his most impressive performances. He's again unnerving in it. He's able to be so intense for so long, it's like watching a feat of strength.