Crisis
Average
French Exit
Some amusing parts but as usual the book is much better. WTF did Michelle Pfeiffer do to her face?
Rocky Horror - first time in theatre since pre-pandemic
Yesterday. I greatly enjoyed it.
The Father
Difficult watching.
The Mauritanian
Not much easier to watch but very good.
"No Time To Die" Ugh... No one says it better, and hysterically so, than Anthony Lane (the best in the business) in his review in "The New Yorker". Don't waste your money (although, the "senior" ticket price here was only $10).
@haggis posted:"No Time To Die" Ugh... No one says it better, and hysterically so, than Anthony Lane (the best in the business) in his review in "The New Yorker". Don't waste your money (although, the "senior" ticket price here was only $10).
We finally disagree about something! I loved it!! Though it would be hard for me to NOT love a Bond film. And that opening scene in the Italian village was breathtaking on many levels.
No Time to Die Beautifully shot, and the locations were breathtaking. However I have to give it thumbs-down, as the Broccoli's have now turned the franchise on it's head. Enough said.
Also, if I were to simply put on a tux, could I just waltz into a super-secret SPECTRE party?
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid 1973. Had never seen it before, and now I know why. Not one of Peckinpah's best. Slow, pointless scenes, too much exposition, and once again taking extreme liberties with history. Also, Kris Kristopherson at 37 in no way looked like a 21 year-old Billy. Plenty of toplessness though, which I guess was maybe the selling point in '73? Seemed just embarrassing in 2021.
@mneeley490 posted:.
Also, if I were to simply put on a tux, could I just waltz into a super-secret SPECTRE party?
I’m confident that you and Daniel Craig are probably the only two people who could pull that off effortlessly.
@seaquam posted:I’m confident that you and Daniel Craig are probably the only two people who could pull that off effortlessly.
Lol, it would probably have had the same result.
Driven. A good movie looking at the development of the DeLorean car and the "alleged" coke deal that may have saved the company.
Going to see Dune later today.
Dune--89pts.
First I have to say that Villeneuve has done about the best you can with this unfilmable book. Much better than the other science fiction adaptation that is playing currently on Apple TV, Foundation. (A true mess and disappointment.) I absolutely hated David Lynch's Dune. All I wanted to do was leave the theatre after the absurd long prologue and many times thereafter.
My thoughts: First, in the 1022nd century apparently neo-Brutalism has made a solid return in architecture.
The first half of the movie does not do a good job of showing the passage of time. The first three major events seem too compressed. It's almost like they happened the next day. This is especially true of the third event. (I do not want to give any spoilers.) Now of course there is a limit to how long you want scenes to run but there are transitional devices that can be used.
The last third really pulls the movie up and has a number of thrilling scenes and also some excellent personal character interactions. The scene in the tent is particularly good.
The music by the ubiquitous Hans Zimmer is evocative and excellent as is the sound design in general. In fact, the walk out credit music is stronger than the final image of the film that proceeds it.
I think all the acting is solid but I have to agree with Anthony Lane in The New Yorker about this one scene, "One of Paul’s initial duties is to undergo tuition in single combat, although, to be honest, he doesn’t need weapons training. He needs half a dozen lamb chops and a side of spinach."
The word, not unsurprisingly, "jihad" was not mentioned. Just "holy war." There is so much influence in the book, and movie, with Islamic ideas, and yet this major term from the book is dropped. After I noticed this I found this article from the yucky Aljazeera, In Dune, Paul Atreides led a jihad, not a crusade.
I look forward to the second film.
@The Old Man posted:Dune--89pts.
First I have to say that Villeneuve has done about the best you can with this unfilmable book. Much better than the other science fiction adaptation that is playing currently on Apple TV, Foundation. (A true mess and disappointment.) I absolutely hated David Lynch's Dune. All I wanted to do was leave the theatre after the absurd long prologue and many times thereafter.
My thoughts: First, in the 1022nd century apparently neo-Brutalism has made a solid return in architecture.
The first half of the movie does not do a good job of showing the passage of time. The first three major events seem too compressed. It's almost like they happened the next day. This is especially true of the third event. (I do not want to give any spoilers.) Now of course there is a limit to how long you want scenes to run but there are transitional devices that can be used.
The last third really pulls the movie up and has a number of thrilling scenes and also some excellent personal character interactions. The scene in the tent is particularly good.
The music by the ubiquitous Hans Zimmer is evocative and excellent as is the sound design in general. In fact, the walk out credit music is stronger than the final image of the film that proceeds it.
I think all the acting is solid but I have to agree with Anthony Lane in The New Yorker about this one scene, "One of Paul’s initial duties is to undergo tuition in single combat, although, to be honest, he doesn’t need weapons training. He needs half a dozen lamb chops and a side of spinach."
The word, not unsurprisingly, "jihad" was not mentioned. Just "holy war." There is so much influence in the book, and movie, with Islamic ideas, and yet this major term from the book is dropped. After I noticed this I found this article from the yucky Aljazeera, In Dune, Paul Atreides led a jihad, not a crusade.
I look forward to the second film.
Pretty solid review from TOM. I did not end up seeing it as friends backed out. Will try again soon
@jcocktosten posted:Pretty solid review from TOM. I did not end up seeing it as friends backed out. Will try again soon
Oh, I was hoping for your comment. Get going.
@The Old Man posted:Oh, I was hoping for your comment. Get going.
Likely not until next week. I will also confess that while I agree and acknowledge that the David Lynch movie is horrible but I still have affection for it as I watched it a million times as teenager on HBO/Showtime etc. But then again, I also liked Flash Gordon (horrible 1980 version) when I was a kid.
@jcocktosten posted:But then again, I also liked Flash Gordon (horrible 1980 version) when I was a kid.
The horror! 
I'd like to see Dune on the big screen (Imax if possible), but I'm not planning to go a movie theater anytime soon. So I guess I'll watch it on HBOMax.
I did HBO Max as well. I'd like to see the new Bond as well but waiting until it comes to streaming. Not going to a movie theater just yet.
I watched Dune on HBO Max and enjoyed it quite a lot. I'm sure it's even more visually and audibly impressive on a big screen but watching at home allows for subtitles. There is a LOT of sub-voiced thoughts and whispered asides which are important even though they are difficult to hear.
[Context for the above: I'm 55 with good hearing and a good home theater system. I did read the first book in the '80s and saw the Lynch movie in the theaters.]
@wineismylife posted:I did HBO Max as well. I'd like to see the new Bond as well but waiting until it comes to streaming. Not going to a movie theater just yet.
Same. I’ll get Moderna boosted in the next couple of weeks and then play things by ear. My *guess* is that the combination of information coming out about people who have been boosted (perhaps especially who had Moderna originally) combined with my guess at total case numbers in my area will cause me to begin to take things easier come mid-late February. That’s my guess at the moment.
@neilk posted:I watched Dune on HBO Max and enjoyed it quite a lot. I'm sure it's even more visually and audibly impressive on a big screen but watching at home allows for subtitles. There is a LOT of sub-voiced thoughts and whispered asides which are important even though they are difficult to hear.
[Context for the above: I'm 55 with good hearing and a good home theater system. I did read the first book in the '80s and saw the Lynch movie in the theaters.]
I saw the Lynch movie at 19 in a mob-owned Bronx apartment on a semi-inflated Aero-Bed while getting stoned with an openly gay minister (which was still rare in 1999) after a night of hard partying in Atlantic City where I got my picture taken with Paul Sorvino.
For the record, the above is absolutely true.
@winetarelli posted:I saw the Lynch movie at 19 in a mob-owned Bronx apartment on a semi-inflated Aero-Bed while getting stoned with an openly gay minister (which was still rare in 1999) after a night of hard partying in Atlantic City where I got my picture taken with Paul Sorvino.
Just another day at the office, then?! 
@bman posted:Just another day at the office, then?!
Honestly, I think that’s the only way to watch that movie.
Of course it's better to see Dune on a movie screen, but I'm not yet comfortable going to a theatre. Streaming it is fine if your television is set at the correct distance and height. Also you need to be able to darken the room enough so that it replicates a movie theater. When watching a "letter boxed" film the black bars should disappear and you should only see the rectangle of the actual picture.
So let's talk about how your TV should be placed. First if you put it above your fireplace, it's time for a change. You do not watch a movie with your head tilted up (unless you unfortunately got stuck in the first couple rows of a theater.) The height of the television should be with your eyeline being at least 10% to 20% above the bottom of the screen. Again think of where your eyeline is in a theatre where you sit 1/3 the distance back from the screen to back of the theatre. BTW did you know you should be sitting 1/3 back in a movie theatre?
Now what about the distance to the screen? The odds are you are sitting too far. There are two different organizations who recommend distance to screens, both for movie and home theatre. One is the older SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture & Theatre Engineers) standard. For them the ideal viewing angle to the screen is 30 degrees. This has since become the stand for home theatres. However, THX (Lucas's company) also has standards for their certification for movie screen. They recommended a slightly closer 36 degrees. I have a 75 inch and sit very close to the THX recommended 8.5 feet.
This is a calculator you can use. You only need to fill in questions 1 & 2. If you can't get close enough, or think the THX recommendation is too close, then at least try for the SMPTE distance.
@winetarelli posted:I saw the Lynch movie at 19 in a mob-owned Bronx apartment on a semi-inflated Aero-Bed while getting stoned with an openly gay minister (which was still rare in 1999) after a night of hard partying in Atlantic City where I got my picture taken with Paul Sorvino.
Not even this could help that movie.
What's a fireplace?
@winetarelli posted:I saw the Lynch movie at 19 in a mob-owned Bronx apartment on a semi-inflated Aero-Bed while getting stoned with an openly gay minister (which was still rare in 1999) after a night of hard partying in Atlantic City where I got my picture taken with Paul Sorvino.
Best post other than a Seaquam novella. 😅😅
@jcocktosten posted:Best post other than a Seaquam novella. 😅😅
+1
@Rothko posted:What's a fireplace?
The thing that, I'm guessing, 10% of people put their big screen TV over.
@jcocktosten posted:Best post other than a Seaquam novella. 😅😅
As I said, it’s entirely true, too. 😎
@The Old Man posted:The thing that, I'm guessing, 10% of people put their big screen TV over.
Count me in the 10%, probably not going to redo my entire living room just to watch a movie or tv show.
@winetarelli posted:As I said, it’s entirely true, too. 😎
Are you implying that Seaquam's novellas are not true?
@patespo1 posted:Count me in the 10%, probably not going to redo my entire living room just to watch a movie or tv show.
You may have artwork you've purchased. Many will consider carefully where you wanted to hang it including taking into account things like light and the height. Film is an art form too.. And TV is kind of getting there also.
@The Old Man posted:You may have artwork you've purchased. Many will consider carefully where you wanted to hang it including taking into account things like light and the height. Film is an art form too.. And TV is kind of getting there also.
I will not argue that movies (films) or even television are forms of art, as long as we can agree that they are consumed in different ways, by different people, and there is no absolute way in which a movie should be watched.
Most of the time I am laying down when I watch our televisions, whether in the living room or bedroom. Not sure where I would have to put my television to not be looking up at it.
@patespo1 posted:I will not argue that movies (films) or even television are forms of art, as long as we can agree that they are consumed in different ways, by different people, and there is no absolute way in which a movie should be watched.
Most of the time I am laying down when I watch our televisions, whether in the living room or bedroom. Not sure where I would have to put my television to not be looking up at it.
Certainly there is no one right way. But there is a best way. And to truly appreciate the art it should be in viewed for best visual experience. Film is an art form that until relatively recently could only be viewed in a movie theater. A home theater set up is made to replicate that experience as best as possible in the home. There are guidelines for this. It is of course up to the user to decide if this is important to them.