TV & Film Movie Lounge

[Chryssie]

I have just watched The Wife starring Glenn Close. She won several awards for this film from 2017. There were flashbacks and her daughter played her younger self which is very cool. It was an intense drama and well worth watching though it was a box office bomb. Critics liked it but evidently the general public did not go see it. I recommend this movie!

 

[PTree15]

I finally watched A Street Cat Named Bob. I'd borrowed it a while ago, but I didn't get a chance to watch it right away. What a sweet movie. I'm going to have to read the book now.

 

[Chryssie]

I finally watched the 2015 movie Straight Outta Compton. It was a really good movie about the beginnings of "hip-hop" music. It was even fairly accurate as it was produced by the major players in the movie, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. Ice Cube's son played his father in the movie which was cool. Why would a 60+ grandma be interested in this you ask? Well, I had teenaged boys back in the day and was "mom" to several of their friends and this was the music they listened to. The early hip-hop was far superior to the junk that is today's version and is a part of history. The movie is actually quite relevant to the racist climate we are still living in today.

 

[PTree15]

I finally watched the 2015 movie Straight Outta Compton. It was a really good movie about the beginnings of "hip-hop" music. It was even fairly accurate as it was produced by the major players in the movie, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. Ice Cube's son played his father in the movie which was cool. Why would a 60+ grandma be interested in this you ask? Well, I had teenaged boys back in the day and was "mom" to several of their friends and this was the music they listened to. The early hip-hop was far superior to the junk that is today's version and is a part of history. The movie is actually quite relevant to the racist climate we are still living in today.

That's been on my list as well. A couple of my nephews got me into some rap and hip-hop back in the day. I prefer a lot of lesser-known artists in that genre. There is one I listen to that I discovered by reading Steven Wilson's playlist on a regular basis: Dälek, who is from New Jersey, I believe. He incorporates a lot of industrial sounds in his music, which I just love, as it's something different.

 

[Chryssie]

This past week I watched a couple of not so good movies that are not worth mentioning. I did see the latest remake of The Magnificent 7 which was pretty good for what it is. Lots of action and killing. I know I saw the Yul Brenner version from 1960 as a child because my dad was a huge fan of westerns and took us to those kinds of movies all the time. I think I saw every John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movie made!

 

[Andy_T]

Re-watched John Wick.

Now, looking at John Wick, John Wick II and John Wick III it really seems to me the guy should just have said in the first movie "OK, just give me back my car, get me a new dog and let's forget the whole thing" ... At that point he still had his house and his quiet... surely they would have offered him some nice compensation and called it an unfortunate misunderstanding... (of course, this would have made for a rather boring movie)

 

[PTree15]

Re-watched John Wick.

Now, looking at John Wick, John Wick II and John Wick III it really seems to me the guy should just have said in the first movie "OK, just give me back my car, get me a new dog and let's forget the whole thing" ... At that point he still had his house and his quiet... surely they would have offered him some nice compensation and called it an unfortunate misunderstanding... (of course, this would have made for a rather boring movie)

I saw only the first John Wick, and that was enough.

 

[Chryssie]

Some movies I have watched recently that are worth mentioning:
Lowriders Another movie I never heard of that was really good from 2016. It was a movie about generational/family conflict set against the background of the lowrider culture in the Latin community in LA. If you appreciate awesome cars and a well acted story, see this movie.
Aquaman It was fun with lots of pretty cool special effects. It wasn't exactly Oscar worthy! Jason Momoa is nice to look at though!
Oblivion A sci-fi film starring Tom Cruise. It wasn't bad; wasn't outstanding either.
Deadpool2 If you liked Deadpool, you will enjoy this one. Fun movies!
The Dark Tower Ok I admit I haven't read the book; now I will have to. The movie was pretty good; I liked it. But I know there is so much MORE!
The Fate of the Furious My guilty pleasure is the Fast and Furious franchise. I love these movies! So wild and over the top and FUN! Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson oh yeah! I miss Paul Walker.

 

[Andy_T]

The Dark Tower Ok I admit I haven't read the book; now I will have to. The movie was pretty good; I liked it. But I know there is so much MORE!

Be aware that there are 9 books with ~4500 pages. I read these a long time ago...
I was lucky that I only read the first book ("The Gunslinger") around 2000, so I did not have that long to wait for the end of the story.

However, NOBODY I know who had both read the books and seen the movie had a favourable view of the movie. So - on a positive side - the books might be even more awesome than the movie, but they might also be targeted at different audiences. But I do think the books were awesome at the time and likely still are. Hell, I might even read those again, or watch the movie now ....

And, if you are in the mood for a lot of books, also look at this article that also puts other books King has written that are related to the story into the total reading order:

http://digg.com/2017/how-to-read-the-dark-tower

 

[Chryssie]

Be aware that there are 9 books with ~4500 pages. I read these a long time ago...
I was lucky that I only read the first book ("The Gunslinger") around 2000, so I did not have that long to wait for the end of the story.

However, NOBODY I know who had both read the books and seen the movie had a favourable view of the movie. So - on a positive side - the books might be even more awesome than the movie, but they might also be targeted at different audiences. But I do think the books were awesome at the time and likely still are. Hell, I might even read those again, or watch the movie now ....

And, if you are in the mood for a lot of books, also look at this article that also puts other books King has written that are related to the story into the total reading order:

http://digg.com/2017/how-to-read-the-dark-tower

Thank you for the link! I had looked up the books when the movie came out and it is quite a daunting task to read them all! I also had read reviews of the movie and knew it was a poor representation of the series. But when I saw it at the library, I figured "what the heck" and I did enjoy it. You can't really condense a whole series of books into one movie!

 

[Moll Flanders]

I want to see Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw when it comes out.

I miss Paul Walker.

I do too.

 

[Chryssie]

I want to see Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw when it comes out.



I do too.

Oh yeah I will see that one too. There are also a couple of short films I never heard of that might be worth tracking down. They seem to be included in the DVD's of a couple of them. Here is a complete listing of the series:

https://www.pocket-lint.com/tv/news/148310-what-order-should-you-watch-the-fast-and-furious-films-in

 

[Andy_T]

I want to see Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw when it comes out.

That one does look interesting.

 

[Celibataire]

I recently bought The Damned United on DVD for a quid from a local charity shop. Having watched it, it is very good, in its own way as good as the book. I'm unsure how anyone unfamiliar with the culture of 1960's-70's English football or the main protagonists would relate to it.

 

[Chryssie]

I have just watched a really good movie, another I had never heard of from 2017. It is called Only the Brave and is the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighting team that battled a forest fire called the Yarnell Hill Fire in June of 2013. I do not remember hearing of this fire at the time. Without spoiling the movie, I have to say.... grab the tissues! It was very emotional. Worth seeing! Stars Josh Brolin, Jeff Bridges, Jennifer Connelly and a young actor I have seen in several films who is outstanding, Miles Teller.

 

[Andy_T]

Have watched some very good older movies recently.

“The Railway Man” with Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman
“City of Gods”, a Brazilian movie with largely amateur actors about gang violence
“Fahrenheit 11/9” by Michael Moore

 

[Celibataire]

I bought City of God on DVD over a decade ago (from HMV I think, it wasn't Amazon). What is disturbing about the gang violence is that it involves children.

The most recent films I've seen, both on DVD are adaptions of novels:

Filth, starring James McAvoy, from Irvine Welsh's book​

High Rise, starring Tom Hiddleston, from J G Ballard's book​

I'd recommend Filth, but High Rise didn't really work in my opinion; the novel was always a bit absurd anyway.

 

[Chryssie]

The re-make trend is in full swing and I am not often pleased with the result. I watched the 2017 re-make of The Mummy starring Tom Cruise and Russel Crowe. It was ridiculously bad! I liked the original and was curious about this one when I saw it at the library. It was a box office failure which is why I never heard of it.

 

[Andy_T]

@Chryssie , I fully agree with you!
Don't know what came over Tom Cruise, Russel Crowe and Sofia Boutella to star in that movie.
Don't actors read the script before agreeing to take the role?

 

[Amy SF]

@Chryssie , I fully agree with you!
Don't know what came over Tom Cruise, Russel Crowe and Sofia Boutella to star in that movie.
Don't actors read the script before agreeing to take the role?

Their agents or PR people probably convinced them it was a good choice to do it. Or their accountants.