TV & Film Movie Lounge

[Chryssie]

I just finished watching Veronica Guerin starring Cate Blanchett. It was made in 2003 and is the true story of an Irish journalist who investigated the drug world of Dublin. I never heard of this movie and of course had no knowledge of the drug problem in Ireland in the mid 90's. Though the movie got a little slow in the middle, it was really good and exciting at the end. I won't spoil it if you don't know the story. Worth watching.

 

[shyvas]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079268/

 

[Chryssie]

Have just finished watching a very intense, emotional, and hard hitting movie from last year called The Hate U Give which is a Tupac lyric. It is from a book and is the story of a young black girl who lives in two world's; her "hood" and the mostly white private school she attends. When she is witness to a cop killing her lifelong friend, these world's collide with life altering consequences. A VERY tense and emotional film. Excellent movie. My question is... Why haven't I heard of it?

 

[Chryssie]

Tonight's movie which finishes up all my DVD's from the library so back I go tomorrow! This was a thriller from 2014 which evidently was a big fail even though it starred some well known actors. The plot has been done before but this was a little different and I thought it was pretty good. Idris Elba (gorgeous man!) plays a VERY bad man who meets his match in Taraji Henson ( I love her!) The title is: No Good Deed

 

[PTree15]

Tonight's movie which finishes up all my DVD's from the library so back I go tomorrow! This was a thriller from 2014 which evidently was a big fail even though it starred some well known actors. The plot has been done before but this was a little different and I thought it was pretty good. Idris Elba (gorgeous man!) plays a VERY bad man who meets his match in Taraji Henson ( I love her!) The title is: No Good Deed

Agree on Idris Elba! Might have to check this one out. Thanks!

 

[Second Summer]

Has anyone watched American Factory? It's on Netflix.

 

[Amy SF]

I started watching Battle of the Sexes last night. It’s about the tennis match between Billie Jean King, played by Emma Stone, and Bobby Riggs, played by Steve Carell. I only made it halfway through when I started getting tired and I lost interest because I’m not really a fan of tennis and that really was what it was all about. So I think it drags a bit and I think it’s a little too talky for a sports film, but if this is something that interests you, then of course check it out. (I also wince at the knowledge that Virginia Slims, a tobacco company, was brought in to sponsor women’s tennis. Imagine female athletes puffing away because that’s who was paying them. Eek!)

 

[Chryssie]

The movies I have watched this week:
Robin Hood the newest one which stars Jamie Foxx and Taron Egerton who I never heard of. It was pretty good; a bit of a different take on the story.
Air a post apocalypse sci-fi story starring Norman Reedus (this is why I got the movie) and Djimon Hounsou. It was about the aftermath of chemical warfare which destroyed the atmosphere making it unbreathable. It was fairly interesting and suspenseful. Not too bad if you like that sort of thing which I do! It was funny because Norman Reedus was obviously just on "vacation" from The Walking Dead because he looked exactly the same as his character Daryl.
Welcome to the Punch which is a British film about bad cops. It starred James McAvoy, Will Strong, and another Walking Dead actor, David Morrissey (the Governor). It was very violent but a good bad guys vs good guys movie.

 

[Val]

I decided to watch another movie without translation. It seems that i'm doing pretty well, haha. It's a cheesy movie for teenagers, IMO, but it's not dirty, not full of violence, not about loss or death, etc. So i can train my perception of English language by ear, without having additional stress. Considering that my comprehension tends to null late at night (especially after a pill of Tioctacid, after a day of running around and crashing a piano for 5 hours in a row), i decided to choose a Hallmark movie again,- but something with more hectic dialogues, if you can say so (something with more rapid speech). So, i chose this one. I'm listening inattentively though, because my whole body is itching out of stress and pain in the legs, hands and chest. But i might say, i can understand it mostly without any particular efforts from my side. I'm planning to find some more silly and easy movies to train my subconscious perception. (I doubt it trains anything though; what really helps to realize that you understand something - is VV... and everyone of you, guys).
Here is my "chewing gum" for tonight:
"Royal matchmaker" (2018).

 

[Chryssie]

Another of the library DVD's: What Doesn't Kill You starring Mark Ruffalo, Ethan Hawke, and Amanda Peet. It was made in 2008 and is based on the director's life in the Irish Mob in Boston. Mark Ruffalo was amazing as the main character and the story was compelling. It is pretty violent.

 

[Chryssie]

I have just finished watching a really good movie called Freeheld. It was released in 2015 and I never heard of it. Julianne Moore (she is amazing!) stars as a New Jersey police officer in this true story. It is so fitting that I watched this movie tonight after going downtown to the Pride event as this movie is historic in the fight for gay rights. Ms Moore's character is "in the closet" and falls in love and things get very complicated. I won't tell the story but I was in tears at the end. Worth watching for sure!

 

[shyvas]

I saw the film Downton Abbey during my stay in California. As I hadn't seen the TV series, I wasn't sure whether of what to expect. I must say that I have always enjoyed James Ivory's film so wasn't too concerned about being bored. I absolutely loved Tuppence Middleton and thought that she was splendid in her role.

Anyway, any worries disappeared and I spent a very enjoyable (two hours) time lapping up the costumes, scenery and brilliant acting. Moreover, I absolutely loved the American cinema (movie theatre) and the seats that are like large beds where you can put your feet up.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6398184/

 

[Second Summer]

We watched The Quake the other night. Mostly because: a) It's a Norwegian movie, and there aren't that many Norwegian movies around to watch. b) We had watched The Wave previously, and The Quake is the sequel, so we (in particular Mrs Summer) felt compelled to watch this one too. The Quake is a disaster movie set in Oslo, Norway's capital, built around the highly unlikely scenario that there is going to be an earthquake

I hated it even more than The Wave! I was very happy to see the end of one of the characters, though, as she hurtled down an elevator chute The actress playing this character also plays in a TV series we have watched (Occupied), and she's super annoying in both. The character of one of the children was also super annoying. How can a person, even a child, show such complete lack of common sense? That is of course a question I often ask myself when watching disaster movies, though ...

 

[Chryssie]

Today I watched a really good movie that I am sure nobody heard of. I think it had a very limited release and it didn't make hardly any money! It was released just last year. It is called Please Stand By and stars Dakota Fanning. It is the story of a young autistic woman who is obsessed with Star Trek. When there is a contest to write a Star Trek script, she works very hard on doing this and is determined to get it submitted. Of course there are many obstacles. I think this movie did a good job of portraying how hard it is for persons with autism to get along in the world. It was a moving, emotional, sad, and sometimes amusing film.

 

[Second Summer]

We watched Midsommar last night. It was a stupid, idiotic movie, and a complete waste of my precious time.

 

[shyvas]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt00042541/

 

[Andy_T]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3270538/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1

Very good and illuminating...

What was most interesting to me was the information, that everybody can read in the "Constitution Discussion" papers (Federalist papers) that Madison and Hamilton already foresaw the risk that in a true democracy, the poor majority would impose their will on the wealthy minority, and specifically designed the constitution in the way it is to avoid true democracy and keep the wealthy minority in power, because they "are more responsible".

Chomsky also mentions that this problem is as old as democracy itself and was, in fact, already foreseen in the very first text on the subject, Aristotle's "Politics". However, Aristotle advocated for a very different approach, which was to make sure inequality would be reduced by a kind of "Welfare State" in order to avoid the problem to come up in the first place instead of making sure the rich stayed in power...

More on this in a 10-minute presentation by Chomsky:

Short synopsis and discussion of the book/documentary...

http://www.the-world-speaks-english.com/en/noam-chomsky-requiem-fuer-den-amerikanischen-traum/

 

[KLS52]

Christmas, Christmas and more Christmas. 24/7 of just Christmas.

 

[Andy_T]

Watched “Vice”, very good movie about Dick Cheney, starring a magnificent Christian Bale.
Great acting, great story.

 

[Chryssie]

Watched “Vice”, very good movie about Dick Cheney, starring a magnificent Christian Bale.
Great acting, great story.

Oh I forgot all about that movie! I want to see it. I will add it to my list. I haven't been posting all the movies I have been watching because most of them aren't worth the effort. Here are a couple good ones though:
Runner Runner starring Justin Timberlake and Ben Afflect. It was about online gambling and corruption. It was pretty good.
American Made starring Tom Cruise. It was very loosely based on a guy recruited by the CIA and DEA back in the 80's to infiltrate the drug cartel in Columbia and Central America. It was done with a lot of humor and was a cool movie. Noriega, Oliver North, and all that stuff concerning the war on drugs and government activity in Nicaragua were in this movie.