Amph What was the last movie you saw? (Ver. 2)

Young Frankenstein (1974)
It's as funny as I remembered. Gene Wilder has never been better than he is here, imo, all wild hair, guyliner, and lines delivered with impeccable comic timing; but what really makes the film work is that the trio of Wilder, Garr, and Feldman are just so likeable together they don't actually have to be funny all the time because it's just nice to see them on screen with each other. Maybe it's that none of the actors appear to be trying to outdo one another but instead are working together so harmoniously, but whatever it is it works for me. I've also got to mention Kenneth Mars' Inspector Kemp - love all his scenes. Altogether I think it's just genius.

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One of my favourite Stallone films. Wesley Snipes chewiing the scenery up in a really over the top performance and the gorgeous Sandra Bullock as the very naive rookie cop.

It wasn't a bad year for Stallone wih this and Cliff "Die Hard on a mountain" hanger out too. In addition it wasn't a bad year for Denis Leary either, as I really liked him in the seemingly under rated Judgement Night too.

This was the first Trek movie I saw at the cinema. I went in there with no spoilers and fully expected the Undiscovered Country to be a strange planet not on the charts, I was quite disappointed when that undiscovered country was peace. However I really enjoyed the film, the assassination in zero gravity was a great idea.

 

Thing is I never could make sense of why they called it the Undiscovered Country -

the undiscovered country actually refers to death , it's from Hamlet .

 

Currently watching In the Heart of the Sea on one of the movie channels. Not bad so far, but I think I have seen it (or parts of it) before. I might have caught bits while channel surfing.

 

Kenneth Mars and his malfunctioning arm still make me LOL.

I agree with everything you said, but also Ms. Kahn and Ms. Leachman: "Yes! YES! He vas...my BOYFRIEND!"

 

PUTTIN'ONTHERITZ!!!

 

I saw Boss Baby was on Netflix. I heard good things about it as it made a lot of money while it was in the theater. It was a little slow at parts and not super funny, but it had heart and I was pleasantly surprised where it went with the final act. Thumbs up!

 

Which version did you see, subbed or dubbed? I tend to prefer subtitled, but I've seen some stuff dubbed just because that's the easiest way to see it. I saw Kiki's Delivery Service dubbed and quite liked Phil Hartman's performance as the cat. But I did see Spirited Away subtitled and in doing my research online about it, I see that the dubbed version actually makes some substantial changes in terms of doing away with subtleties in favor of really hammering home some morals, etc. If you've seen the dubbed version, then I would definitely do the subbed version for its second chance. It will at least be different and, from the way it sounds, actually better.

 

Wind River. Taylor Sheridan has had a very promising start with two great scripts in Sicario and Hell or High Water, atmospheric, smart scripts following interaction between the law and the remnants of the frontier in the American west. In his directorial debut, he does the same thing again. I’m not sure the highs are as high as the prior films, but it’s consistently good and he doesn’t let his penchant for heavy-handed messaging get in his way this time, which is big progress. Sheridan has a really good film here, following an out-of-her-depth FBI agent through a murder investigation on an Indian reservation, aided by a Fish and Game hunter who knows the territory. Elizabeth Olson is very good as the agent, aided by the fact that the script doesn’t patronize her. She might be young and inexperienced when it comes to the rez and the mountains, but she’s smart, professional, and sensitive to the situation. Jeremy Renner is also very good as her guide; he can be a little uneven depending on the role but he really clicks with the material here. I’m really looking forward to more from Sheridan.

 

Revenge of the Sith was playing on the TV at work. I noticed that when the sound is off the movie becomes slightly more watchable.

 

I think RotS would be best watched with only the score.

 

Logan because my cousin kept shoving the blu ray up my butt.

Very good, i thought Dafne Keen was the scene stealer and hope she can return somehow.

Also, when X-24 showed up did anyone else think it was Sabertooth? With that buzz cut i can definitely buy Logan and Victor as brothers.

 

Well, that is really unacceptable behavior.

 

I'm just amazed it played.

 

Love Actually (2013) As chick flix go, it wasn't too bad. It was funny enough to keep me awake and I actually cared about most of the characters.

 

How did you watch it if it was put in your butt? Did it play like a projector out of your eyes and onto the wall?

 

Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)

Entertaining film that reminded me of Rear Window a bit. Features typical Woody Allen humor; it seems he plays the same character in every film.

The pacing here is good, not too long, and there are genuine moments of suspense amidst the neurotic silliness.

Anjelica Huston does a great job here and Diane Keaton is awesome as always. Alan Alda is good too.

Features a nice score of jazz standards and cool shots of NYC. Fast, frivolous fun.

 

Mystic Pizza (1988)

Really enjoyable romantic comedy. The three lead actors are great. I think this was Julia Roberts film debut and she is very compelling in her role. Annabeth and Lili are awesome. The story does well at recalling that nostalgic "summer before college" feeling.

This is another 80's film that can be rewatched multiple times without losing its charm, much like The Breakfast Club or Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

The story was inspired by an actual pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut.

 

Kung Fu Panda 3

 

Good Time. Robert Pattinson, who's proving himself a bit of a chameleon, plays a low-level New York crook trying desperately to get his mentally-handicapped brother out of jail when he's nabbed for a bank robbery Pattinson pulled with him. The propulsive premise of this setup, with Pattinson continually reacting on the fly as he tries to spin out plans over the course of one anxious night, has the potential for a driving, pulpy B-movie, but the filmmakers, the Safdie brothers, take it in a different direction. It's still all sweaty desperation, but instead of building a plan, Pattinson just keeps getting pulled away on a spiraling tangent as he tries to react to everything that keeps going wrong or spinning off in different directions. It makes for an enjoyably off-kilter trip through the weird underbelly of New York. Pattinson's really good, and I quite enjoyed the ending, which manages to be unexpected yet inevitable.

Electronic Labyrinth TXH 1138 4B. I happened to see that George Lucas's fifteen-minute student film is currently streaming online and had to watch. It's definitely a fifteen-minute student film; it's cheap and minimalistic, following the titular character as he attempts to escape some kind of sci-fi dystopia. But it shows some interesting strengths, from Lucas's ability to firmly establish the general conceit of the setting he's introducing with just a general sense of atmosphere, to the way he uses layered radio chatter and overlaid graphics to evoke an oppressive surveillance state, to the way he knows how to make what's clearly some hallways, a server room, and a parking garage at USC look believably like an oppressive future environment. It definitely shows Lucas's talent.

 

Dr Strange It's not a bad film, but the good in it is nearly buried by overwrought and overlong SFX. Hey, Marvel, sometimes less is more.

 

Silence

I'll say one thing and leave the rest. Andrew Garfield was a poor choice.

 

Thank You For Your Service (2017) – Jason Hall

You don’t want to die? It was multiple choice and you said you wanted to die. Was that a lie? Adam?

I don’t know.

In Thank You For Your Service, director Jason Hall follows his characters, hardened military men, into the hottest, deadliest battlefield they’ll ever enter, the hellish world of their own minds. There are brief sequences here of fighting in the Middle East, but the bulk of this movie is taken up with what happens to American soldiers when they return and are, essentially, abandoned to deal with their mental, emotional, physical & financial needs on their own. The movie mostly focuses on two soldiers, played by Miles Teller & Beulah Koale, as they try to reintegrate into normal society while dealing with intense cases of PTSD. The cast is very good and it’s led by a really, really fine performance by Miles Teller, not that this is any surprise. Koale is somewhat less effective, but Teller is just an actor on a different level from most. Haley Bennett is very good as Teller’s wife and Scott Haze, a character actor I love more every time I see him, is absolutely brilliant in a brief role as an injured soldier who’s finally come to some level of peace with his situation. The title, taken from the original book, is a strange one for a movie, but I think the movie ultimately makes a really powerful indictment, which is that when our soldiers come home from putting their lives on the line and enduring terrible circumstances, what America essentially offers them is a handshake, a hearty “Thank you for your service,” and . . . well, that’s about it actually. “Thank you for your service” is the most we give our veterans and this simply shouldn’t be the case. The movie, more than any other target, really indicts the military for the way it treats its troubled soldiers. There are some infuriating scenes of the main characters trying to get treatment from an uncaring bureaucracy. This lack of compassion runs down to the individual when it comes to leadership. A scene where a ranking officer tries to talk the Teller character out of seeing a therapist because it will show weakness is brutal and a scene where Koale attempts to explain his suicidal compulsions to a distracted officer who won’t even stop online shopping long enough to listen is absolutely rage inducing. The movie isn’t perfect; it feels a bit sanitized at times, like it’s afraid to go quite as harrowing as some movies might, though it is still disturbing. And the ending is a disappointment; after a lot of time spent with people suffering, it feels very tidy the way that the movie just decides to wrap everything up for a nice happy ending in the very last scene. Still, it’s a compelling movie and one that gets at a serious cultural problem in a way that’s both compassionate to those that are suffering and sincere in its care for them. 3 stars.

tl;dr – sincere, compassionate movie explores PTSD & the lack of support offered to returning soldiers and offers some great performances; falls short of greatness, but an admirable film. 3 stars.