Which films have you seen lately? Vol. 21: Now in CinemaScope!

[Smellincoffee]

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. If you've ever struggled with regret or loneliness this will be a hard but rich movie. Great acting and cinemaphotography.

 

[Clubber Lang]

THE BIKERIDERS captures a rebellious time in America when the culture and people were changing. After a chance encounter at a local bar, strong-willed Kathy (Jodie Comer) is inextricably drawn to Benny (Austin Butler), the newest member of Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals led by the enigmatic Johnny (Tom Hardy). Much like the country around it, the club begins to evolve, transforming from a gathering place for local outsiders into a dangerous underworld of violence, forcing Benny to choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I've been looking forward to this one for ages. It debuted at Telluride last Summer, and was supposed to get a wide release before Christmas, but they knocked it back to this Summer because of the strikes. 83% Rotten Tomatoes; 73 Metacritic. I'm a little surprised they're not higher, but they're both based on very few reviews, as yet (36 and 13, respectively), so the overall scores are being dragged down by what could prove to be a small number of negative reactions (just 1 negative review among the 13 Metacritic reviews, for example).

Jodie Comer has recently signed on to a couple of mid-sounding action movies that I had next-to-no interest in, until I saw she was involved: 28 Years Later and The Death of Robin Hood. I guess I still have next-to-no interest in them, but slightly more than I did before.

 

[BenitoChavez]

I saw The Fall Guy this past weekend. It’s nothing new. Basically a throwback to 90s action movies, especially the final sequence. But still enjoyable overall.

 

[Sommerswerd]

I saw The Fall Guy this past weekend. It’s nothing new. Basically a throwback to 90s action movies, especially the final sequence. But still enjoyable overall.

Is it not based on the 1980s TV show of the same name?

 

[BenitoChavez]

Is it not based on the 1980s TV show of the same name?

I heard that too but I’ve never seen the show so I don’t know how faithful the movie is to it stylistically.

 

[Sommerswerd]

I heard that too but I’ve never seen the show so I don’t know how faithful the movie is to it stylistically.

The 80s TV theme/opening:

I used to watch the reruns as a kid. I remember it being an entertaining show... kind of your standard, "Kung Fu" / Incredible Hulk / Magnum PI traveling hero, saving a victim of the week in each episode. IIRC Protagonist was a TV/Movie stuntman who moonlighted/worked on the side as a sort of "sellsword"... bounty hunter, bodyguard, etc.

 

[Clubber Lang]

^That intro-theme, memories!

I’ve never seen the show so I don’t know how faithful the movie is to it stylistically.

 

[Sommerswerd]

^That intro-theme, memories!

The iconic brown pickup truck was the real star of the show!

As an aside... as a kid, I'd never really paid attention to how focused the theme song was on all the desirable women the singer had encountered in the line of work.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Diva, 1981. French film in which a postman with an obessive interest in an American opera singer gets caught up in a crime drama after a potential witness drops a cassette tape in his mailbag shortly before being knocked off. Beautiful music.

 

[Synobun]

Alright, time for another monthly dump. Both my movie groups are on hiatus, so this is just stuff I've watched solo. I recently resubscribed to Netflix in order to watch a new season of some reality TV with a friend, so I'm taking advantage of the movies I've regained access to. Not a great showing, honestly. Didn't see a single movie above a 6.

Black Adam. Yet another DC flop. 3/10, which might be generous. I'm increasingly hearing more and more stories about the Rock and how much of a nightmare he's become. I can't say I'd be sad if he stopped getting movies. He had a charm long ago. No more. The entire Justice Society or whatever they were called in this was just a gathering of whiners. Doctor Fate was alright.

Air Force One. 6/10. Kind of, somewhat boring. The premise was a little silly, and it felt like a movie that can only exist if you ignore the illogical things that needed to happen to make it possible. I can kind of understand if you've painted yourself into a corner, but this is the beginning of the movie. No excuse for it.

Justice League. 6/10. Not as terrible as I expected, but still not good. The CGI for the villain was bad, and the whole "getting the team together" montage was inane. There were also no real stakes involved in resurrecting Superman given that he becomes fine and normal the second he sees Lois. Also, how do you go through an entire plot about tracking a weird, niche form of energy and then simply miss Lex Luthor disappearing and sipping margaritas on a superyacht?

A Man Apart. 4/10. This was a boring Vin Diesel flick about a cop going rogue in order to kill the guy who murdered his girlfriend. Vin's acting in this was actually pretty good. The plot just sucked.

Superhero Movie. 6/10. I was worried this was going to be one of the terrible ones in that long slew of parody movies in the mid 00s/10s. It wasn't. It wasn't great either, but it was serviceable comedy. It mostly just makes fun of Spider-Man and Batman, the Raimi and Nolan ones. Some minor mentions of X-Men and Fantastic 4. Not Another Teen Movie still ranks supreme in the parody movie scene.

Uncharted. 6/10. Again, pretty boring. Tom Holland wasn't a good pick for the role. Wahlberg was a fine pick for a slimy, conniving thief. I've never played the games. The physics in this movie are... bad. But I guess it kept my attention enough to not hate it.

Sicario. 5/10. It started off really strongly and had flashes of brilliance. Unfortunately, it just ended up being misery porn, void of substance or meaning.

 

[Birdjaguar]

@Synobun With so many great films on Netflix, I'm surprised at your choices.

 

[lymond]

@Synobun With so many great films on Netflix, I'm surprised at your choices.

Well two of those movies Syn mentioned are very very good and I totally disagree on the analysis. Granted AF1 is maybe a product of its time but Ive seen it at least four times. Sicario is fantastic.

 

[Synobun]

@Synobun With so many great films on Netflix, I'm surprised at your choices.

I have low-brow tastes.

 

[Birdjaguar]

New Lord of the Rings film to focus on the ‘hunt for Gollum’​

Peter Jackson and Andy Serkis will return to help shepherd new movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels.

A new Lord of the Rings movie was announced by Warner Bros. on Thursday, marking a cinematic return to the Oscar-winning film franchise based on the novels by J.R.R. Tolkien. The new film, the first of two that will explore previously untold stories in the universe, will see Lord of the Rings trilogy filmmaker Peter Jackson back at the helm, along with Andy Serkis, who still star in and direct the first of these films, “The Hunt for Gollum.”

“Yesssss, Precious. The time has come once more to venture into the unknown with my dear friends,” Serkis said in a statement, playing off the slithery, CGI-rendered Gollum character that he performed to much acclaim in the original film trilogy.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav first announced the new films during an earnings call Thursday, with “The Hunt for Gollum” tentatively scheduled to release in 2026. The film’s script is still being written. More here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2024/05/09/lord-of-the-rings-hunt-for-gollum-movie-2026-warner-bros/

 

[Gori the Grey]

"Kung Fu" / Incredible Hulk / Magnum PI traveling hero, saving a victim of the week in each episode

Must add A-Team to that list.

As an aside... as a kid, I'd never really paid attention to how focused the theme song was on all the desirable women the singer had encountered in the line of work.

With Farrah as the in-joke.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Alright, time for another monthly dump. Both my movie groups are on hiatus, so this is just stuff I've watched solo. I recently resubscribed to Netflix in order to watch a new season of some reality TV with a friend, so I'm taking advantage of the movies I've regained access to. Not a great showing, honestly. Didn't see a single movie above a 6.

Black Adam. Yet another DC flop. 3/10, which might be generous. I'm increasingly hearing more and more stories about the Rock and how much of a nightmare he's become. I can't say I'd be sad if he stopped getting movies. He had a charm long ago. No more. The entire Justice Society or whatever they were called in this was just a gathering of whiners. Doctor Fate was alright.

Air Force One. 6/10. Kind of, somewhat boring. The premise was a little silly, and it felt like a movie that can only exist if you ignore the illogical things that needed to happen to make it possible. I can kind of understand if you've painted yourself into a corner, but this is the beginning of the movie. No excuse for it.

Justice League. 6/10. Not as terrible as I expected, but still not good. The CGI for the villain was bad, and the whole "getting the team together" montage was inane. There were also no real stakes involved in resurrecting Superman given that he becomes fine and normal the second he sees Lois. Also, how do you go through an entire plot about tracking a weird, niche form of energy and then simply miss Lex Luthor disappearing and sipping margaritas on a superyacht?

A Man Apart. 4/10. This was a boring Vin Diesel flick about a cop going rogue in order to kill the guy who murdered his girlfriend. Vin's acting in this was actually pretty good. The plot just sucked.

Superhero Movie. 6/10. I was worried this was going to be one of the terrible ones in that long slew of parody movies in the mid 00s/10s. It wasn't. It wasn't great either, but it was serviceable comedy. It mostly just makes fun of Spider-Man and Batman, the Raimi and Nolan ones. Some minor mentions of X-Men and Fantastic 4. Not Another Teen Movie still ranks supreme in the parody movie scene.

Uncharted. 6/10. Again, pretty boring. Tom Holland wasn't a good pick for the role. Wahlberg was a fine pick for a slimy, conniving thief. I've never played the games. The physics in this movie are... bad. But I guess it kept my attention enough to not hate it.

Sicario. 5/10. It started off really strongly and had flashes of brilliance. Unfortunately, it just ended up being misery porn, void of substance or meaning.

The DC Movies having a Superman cameo at the end was cute once, the first time they did it (Shazam), after that (they did it in Peacemaker too) it became tired.

Justice League theatrical release wasn't very good. However, the Snyder cut was excellent, if you excuse the ridiculous length.

Air Force One is a classic, and should get a better rating, especially from someone claiming to like "lowbrow" movies . Gary Oldman alone warrants at least a 7.

 

[Sommerswerd]

With Farrah as the in-joke.

TIL that Lee Majors actually recorded the song himself and that it was written specifically for the show. I'd always assumed that like so many theme songs, it was just a song that someone else wrote that happened to match the theme and they bought the rights to use for the show.

 

[lymond]

TIL that Lee Majors actually recorded the song himself and that it was written specifically for the show. I'd always assumed that like so many theme songs, it was just a song that someone else wrote that happened to match the theme and they bought the rights to use for the show.

What we really need is The Six Million Dollar Man. (must use the Dr. Evil laugh muwhahaha...cause 6 mil ain't gonna buy ya a bionic toenail these days )

 

[Broken_Erika]

What we really need is The Six Million Dollar Man. (must use the Dr. Evil laugh muwhahaha...cause 6 mil ain't gonna buy ya a bionic toenail these days )