[Waragainstsleep]

Was it that Channing Tatum as Gambit never happened? He was signed on for years and years and really wanted to do it by all accounts and it kept getting set back and rewritten and new directors and then it got canned.

[andi*pandi]

I myself liked

 

the Chris Evans Fakeout with peak Boston accent.

[subego]

That continued to fake my dad out, even after the reveal. He’s familiar with the characters, but that actor is too established in his main role.

I was able to guess the general shape of the Gambit gag. Tatum is pretty tailor-made for the MCU, and Gambit is sorta, I dunno… third string?

[subego]

Ex Machina

Still processing it. The ideas are top-flight, but key elements were… improbable.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Check out the director’s CV. It rips.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Now I’m kind of interested to see what you’d think about Annihilation.

[Brien]

Still haven’t finished Civil War. See he’s a writer on 28 Years Later, though. Interest piqued.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

More importantly: wrote the novel The Beach and then wrote the subsequent Danny Boyle classics 28 Days Later & Sunshine. Directed Ex Machina, Annihilation, and Civil War (plus the pandemic TV show Devs and another smaller British horror thriller a couple years ago that I didn’t see).

Definitely doesn’t make content for everyone, but that is some impressive and singular work.

[subego]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

Now I’m kind of interested to see what you’d think about Annihilation.

My dad waved me off, but he showed me the ending, which was kind of out there.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

That’s the craziest shit I’ve ever heard

[subego]

Not second or third craziest?

[ShortcutToMoncton]

You watched Ex Machina, liked it and said “I’ll just skip to the final scene in Annihilation”? That’s wild. ������

[subego]

That would be weird.

This happened years ago. My dad saw the movie, didn’t feel it passed muster, but thought the ending was nifty so he showed it to me.

[subego]

Alien: Romulus

It’s a full-on Alien movie with cassette futurism and everything. Manages to get exceptionally disgusting. Good, subtle use of callouts to earlier movies, but it becomes a little much by the end. The lead is a Mary Sue.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

What’s a Mary Sue?

I watched it last night. Enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

 

The aliens kind of sucked though. Amazing that so little has changed in 45 years. Though the final one was…..appropriately disturbing.

[subego]

Per Wiki:

“The Mary Sue is a character archetype in fiction, usually a young woman, who is often portrayed as inexplicably competent across all domains, gifted with unique talents or powers, liked or respected by most other characters, unrealistically free of weaknesses, extremely attractive, innately virtuous, and generally lacking meaningful character flaws.”

There are certainly worse offenders, but her bingo card is pretty full. What specifically irritated me was five or six instances of her devising a simple solution which could have solved the problem from the outset.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Oh you mean like a “Ripley”

[subego]

Yes, but Ripley didn’t have the simple solution issue.

[subego]

It suddenly hit me during this that gravity generators in sci-fi movies always somehow “know” how to stop at the edge of the ship.

[andi*pandi]

perhaps it's held in by whatever is also keeping the oxygen flowing/contained? (are steel walls enough or sensors...)

for that matter the whole ship could be a holodeck, right? or they could all be exploring the galaxy from earth remotely.

[subego]

Silence

Jesuit missionaries in Japan in the period where being Catholic meant torture, death, and maybe both. Very heavy.

[subego]

Way of the Gun

Old enough all the stars look really young, or not dead in the case of James Caan. It’s a Tarantino hack, but not a bad job as those things go, except for the production values. Has an 80s TV movie feel.

I enjoyed Sarah Silverman in the role of Sarah Silverman.

[subego]

Life

Semi-realistic version of Alien, except for the part where we don’t nuke it.

Repeatedly.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

It was pretty terrifying in spots

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by subego 

Way of the Gun
I enjoyed Sarah Silverman in the role of Sarah Silverman.

IMDB credits her as "Raving Bitch."

[subego]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

It was pretty terrifying in spots

Indeed. All the more reason to nuke it.

Originally Posted by Laminar 

IMDB credits her as "Raving Bitch."

Well, Sarah Silverman as Sarah Silverman character would have been more accurate, but not as pithy. The character is a vile raging bitch, and the vile is all Silverman. It's obvious she wrote it.

[Waragainstsleep]

Originally Posted by subego 

Alien: Romulus

It’s a full-on Alien movie with cassette futurism and everything. Manages to get exceptionally disgusting. Good, subtle use of callouts to earlier movies, but it becomes a little much by the end. The lead is a Mary Sue.

I found myself very frustrated with the completely over the top callbacks. To my mind, they went beyond callbacks and basically copy/pasted half of the movie from others in the franchise. Too far.

[subego]

Callback to Ripley’s underpants mysteriously absent.

[subego]

The Ghost Writer

Polanski kind of phoning it in. BMW. The cast is good enough to make it watchable. BMW. The score is really bad. BMW.



plus a half-star if you like BMWs

BMW

[Thorzdad]

Originally Posted by subego 

...plus a half-star if you like BMWs

Pre or post Bangle?

[subego]

2K5. So, near the end.

[subego]

My Old Ass

Okay, I guess? My dad and I are squarely not in the demo for this movie, so hard to tell. Aubrey Plaza is good but underutilized. My dad and I are fans of hers, so that’s why we watched it. Ultimately wanted more to put it in my demo. Darker with more sci-fi.

[Thorzdad]

We watched My Old Ass a couple of nights ago, and liked it a lot. Kind of a chick-flick, but not really. Sort of builds on the “what would you go back and tell 18-year-old you?” question. Plaza is quite good, especially in her last scene. A surprisingly subtle, yet emotional, scene for someone I think we all still think of as April Ludgate (Plaza is 40 now.)

The lead actress is also very good in the role. It’s a tiny cast, but they’re all good. Overall, it’s a nice, small film that doesn’t demand much from you except to just go along with it and enjoy. Definitely recommended.

[subego]

Emily the Criminal is Aubrey at her least April that I’ve seen. Very low-key performance and movie.

Then there’s Black Bear. April-like in the first act. In the remaining two April is there, but she’s exceedingly vulnerable, which is not an April thing at all.


Full disclosure: seen two minutes of her in Parks and Rec, but she does her schtick in other places. The Little Hours comes to mind.

Did I mention I was a fan?

[Thorzdad]

Yeah, I’m a big Aubrey fan, too. She’s probably the only celeb I can honesty say I’d like hang-out with in some way. Like in a group or something.

Emily... was very good. It was interesting how not-April she was, yet still had toned-down Plaza quirks that are kinda endearing.

I liked her in The Little Hours. It’s a low-budget ensemble black-comedy set in medieval Italy. She’s a nun living in a convent. The story comes from some part of The Decameron. It’s low-key, and, apparently, a lot of the dialogue is improvised. The cast is strong. It’s probably not for everyone, though, but it’s something I’m always drawn to.

[subego]

Focus

Had no idea this movie existed. Really good. Excellent script.

[subego]

The Hit

John Hurt, Terrence Stamp, and Tim Roth criminal road movie.

You need more?

[subego]

Saturday Night

Manic. I’d like to know how much of it is bullshit. Aykroyd is the best impression, closely followed by Morris. Ironically, Morris is the cast member the movie focuses on most, and it works well.

[subego]

Zodiac

Another one where I’m late to the party. Excellent. Jake really knows how to play someone on the spectrum.

[subego]

The Critic

All About Eve-a-like in ‘30s London with Ian McKellen. Some garbage CG exteriors but the interiors are stunning.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Originally Posted by subego 

Zodiac

Another one where I’m late to the party. Excellent. Jake really knows how to play someone on the spectrum.

This is David Fincher. You’re missing a major David Fincher movie!?!?! What is happening?

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button excepted

[subego]

This actually has an answer, though not Fincher specific. About 20 years ago I kinda developed restless leg syndrome and stopped electively watching TV and movies.

[subego]

Patriots Day

Boston Marathon bomber movie. Has a strange shape due to it not being fiction. I wasn’t paying the closest attention at the time, so lots of things I was completely unaware of. Better than average performance from Marky Mark, who’s not really the best actor. Reddit is not mentioned.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Originally Posted by subego 

Better than average performance from Marky Mark, who’s not really the best actor.

Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe fuck yourself!

[subego]

Walk Hard: the Dewey Cox Story

Funny, but runs out of steam about halfway through.

[Thorzdad]

The Only Girl in the Orchestra

A short (30-ish minutes) documentary of Orin O’Brien, double-bassist, and the first woman to join the New York Philharmonic. The film largely takes place around her retirement from the orchestra.

This is a sweet little delight. We stumbled across it tonight on Netflix, and loved it. O’Brien is a wonderful character, and still lively and vital at the age of 89.