What movies in theaterical release have you seen and recommend?

I've seen:

THE SHOPLIFTERS (Japanese) I thought it was very slow going, almost boring. It got a rave review in the NYTimes. Go figure.

BORDER (Sweden) was very strange but also very engaging. Did I say strange? Oh, yes.

WILDLIFE with Carey Mulligan, directed by Paul Dano. Wonderful acting by all. Very well done, low-key family drama.

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY: a mediocre movie but very entertaining and fun. I recommend it for Queen fans. Go see it.

MID 90s I saw this with my son and he liked it more than I did. It's about messed-up young skater dudes. 

A STAR IS BORN Meh. Lady Gaga was great to watch but it's a manipulative Hollywood tear jerker. 

BEAUTIFUL BOY I cried throughout. (I have a son.) This is a bit over-dramatic but it moved me quite a bit. Also, I'm not a big Steve Carell fan but he was understated and quite good.

FAVOURITES I'm not typically a fan of royalty historical fiction, Queens, Castles, etc. This was no exception. Meh. 

(I watched Outlaw King on Netflix, another telling of the Robert the Bruce tale. Meh.)

What have you seen and recommend?



I saw Instant Family the other day. I quite liked it. It's formulaic, but I found it affecting, and I liked the way it took a serious look at the foster care situation in this country.



Skip Fantastic Beasts - Part 2.

It reminded me of when I saw Back to the Future - Part 2 and it seemed like a big advertisement for Part 3. Well... Fantastic Beasts has 5 parts, which are expected to be released every 2 years or so for a decade, so it's even worse. The CGI didn't make up for lack of character development. And Jude Law was a lousy choice for young Dumbledore. 


Last night I saw THE GREEN BOOK. It really sucked. I can't remember being this disappointed in a movie in a long time. It's terribly cliche-driven and the two lead actors overact totally - to the point where it's funny. 

Terrible. If this gets a single Oscar nom, I'm giving up. 


And speaking of the Oscars, for most of my adult life I've followed the Oscars nominations, tried to see as many of the nominate films as possible, and anticipated and watched the awards show with Holiday-like parties. I think I'm done. The movies suck. The awards show sucks. The entire exercise is rubbish.


Looks like it did get nominated for a Best Motion Picture - Musical or comedy category at the Golden Globes.


jamie said:
Looks like it did get nominated for a Best Motion Picture - Musical or comedy category at the Golden Globes.

 Amazing. It's directed by one of the Farrelley brothers who have done dirty Porky's pictures in the past. This film has all the subtlety of a Three Stooges slapfest.


I like heist movies, so I was interested to see what Steve McQueen would do with "Widows." It's not great, and it's frustrating and gloomy in parts, but I wound up thinking about corruption for a long time afterward. 


Can You Ever Forgive Me was one of my favorite movies of the year. I liked Shoplifters so YMMV.


eliz said:
Can You Ever Forgive Me was one of my favorite movies of the year. I liked Shoplifters so YMMV.

 I liked Can You Ever Forgive Me a lot too.

I saw Roma the other day. It was quite good, kept my attention, and was beautiful to look at, but what I didn't understand was the rapturous reviews it's been getting. I was expecting something awesome, and to me it was a quite a bit less than that.

But I'd still recommend seeing it. It's a good change of pace from your regular Hollywood output.


The_Soulful_Mr_T said:
Last night I saw THE GREEN BOOK. It really sucked. I can't remember being this disappointed in a movie in a long time. It's terribly cliche-driven and the two lead actors overact totally - to the point where it's funny. 
Terrible. If this gets a single Oscar nom, I'm giving up. 

And speaking of the Oscars, for most of my adult life I've followed the Oscars nominations, tried to see as many of the nominate films as possible, and anticipated and watched the awards show with Holiday-like parties. I think I'm done. The movies suck. The awards show sucks. The entire exercise is rubbish.

After I saw the atrocity that is Lala Land get nominations I was convinced that awards are up for sale. Whomever has enough left in the budget to advertise wins. I now spend my movie dollars taking my 5 year old out.  Wreck it Ralph was actually pretty good, as was The Grinch. Everything else i catch on Netflix, RedBox or Prime. It's a huge racket and we play right into it. 


it’s a shame when children’s films have corralled all the good writers.


The_Soulful_Mr_T said:
Last night I saw THE GREEN BOOK. It really sucked. I can't remember being this disappointed in a movie in a long time. It's terribly cliche-driven and the two lead actors overact totally - to the point where it's funny. 
Terrible. If this gets a single Oscar nom, I'm giving up. 

Lighten up, Francis.  You're suffering from critics' disease.  It's a fun, feel good movie.  Is it fine art?  I wouldn't want to speculate.  I suppose one could  legitimately argue that it understates life for African Americans in the Jim Crow South, but it doesn't gloss it over either.  

Now, as for the Oscars - well, that's not my thing.  I've always had the impression that the Oscars are about the Hollywood "in" crowd congratulating themselves, but maybe I'm just getting old and cynical.


Wasn’t a fan of the new Wreck It Ralph. Loved the first oneoh oh 


tjohn said:


The_Soulful_Mr_T said:
Last night I saw THE GREEN BOOK. It really sucked. I can't remember being this disappointed in a movie in a long time. It's terribly cliche-driven and the two lead actors overact totally - to the point where it's funny. 
Terrible. If this gets a single Oscar nom, I'm giving up. 
Lighten up, Francis.  You're suffering from critics' disease.  It's a fun, feel good movie.  Is it fine art?  I wouldn't want to speculate.  I suppose one could  legitimately argue that it understates life for African Americans in the Jim Crow South, but it doesn't gloss it over either.  
Now, as for the Oscars - well, that's not my thing.  I've always had the impression that the Oscars are about the Hollywood "in" crowd congratulating themselves, but maybe I'm just getting old and cynical.

 Point taken. I see a lot of movies and I can't help the analysis and critic's disease. I'm seeing "Ben is Back" tonight. I'll post tomorrow. I'll go into the theater with a "Lighten up, Francis" perspective, if I can.

(Who is Francis?)


Francis is a character in the movie Stripes.  




I saw Ben is Back last night and can’t help but compare it to Beautiful Boy, another film out this season about a family with a son addicted to opioids. Ben is Back was good, with a good Julia Roberts as the mum who finds her privilege and good-mother past are no help here. Lucas Hedges was very good as the addicted son, Ben, and it was, for the most part, real seeming. I was never in tears though, as i was at Beautiful Boy and I’m not sure why. I liked this film even though I’m not a Julia Roberts fan as a rule. 


I saw Roma last night.   Very interesting movie.  


angelak said:
I saw Roma last night.   Very interesting movie.  

 That's it? Very interesting? Should I see it?

 question 


The_Soulful_Mr_T said:


angelak said:
I saw Roma last night.   Very interesting movie.  
 That's it? Very interesting? Should I see it?
 question 

 I mentioned Roma earlier too. It's been getting crazy rave reviews, so I expected to be blown away by it, and I was not. But it's beautifully filmed, (B&W w subtitles) and the story line, such as there is, kept my interest. It's set in Mexico in the 70's I think, and it's against a backdrop of some pretty serious social unrest, which interjects itself now and again.

I was glad I saw it, but in the end, I didn't get what all of the buzz was about.

But then, I didn't get Boyhood either.  cheese 


Saw Roma - I agree with drummerboy - it's well done, but wasn't blown away.


Just saw Roma. Probably the most depressing movie I have ever seen. Acting and photography are good but ....


If Beale Street Could Talk was excellent.

If Beale Street Could Talk applies that approach to 1970s New York City, centering on a young black couple who grew up together, then fell in love. And then conflict takes over — not from inside their relationship, but pressing in from the outside world.
It’s a beautiful, lyrical film, at times feeling (as Moonlight did) like a tone poem or a lyrical plaint: though Jenkins’s filmmaking is near-perfect and the film’s images are indelible, without Baldwin’s prose it may scan more as a series of vignettes than a narrative feature film. But it’s nonetheless hard not to fall under If Beale Street Could Talk’s somber, lustrous spell



was in the city shopping today and took a break to see Creed II. It was very entertaining although predictable as dirt. The acting was all pretty first rate actually. There was never any doubt about who would win the big fight win the huge Russian but it’s somehow comforting to sit through yet one more Rocky movie. 


Love the way the Rocky character has evolved and love the performance of Michael B Jordan


Nice touch with the final scene of Ivan and Viktor, too


The Upside is coming out soon with Brian Cranston who I love, but I understand it’s a Hollywood ripoff of The Intouchables, a French film. Has anyone seen the original? It’s supposed to be excellent. 


The Upside is a remake of the Intouchables not a ripoff of it....



Saw DESTROYER last night. Starring Nicole Kidman as a hardened (that hardly describes it) LA detective. Nice urban crime thriller and she's very good. The star of the movie, though, is her make-up.


No makeup or ugly makeup means somebody’s aiming for a nomination.


annielou said:
No makeup or ugly makeup means somebody’s aiming for a nomination.

 In this case, I think that's true...  


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