All Things Movie/Documentary Reviews/Recommendations Thread

John Cena won the Oscars.
So it looks like the director of Poor Things has another one coming out with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, Kinds of Kindness.
Thought it’s kind of interesting using those two again immediately after Poor Things.
 

So it looks like the director of Poor Things has another one coming out with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, Kinds of Kindness.
Thought it’s kind of interesting using those two again immediately after Poor Things.

From looking at wiki, Kinds of Kindness has been in post-production for over a year, since Dec 2022.

Filming for Poor Things wrapped filming back a year prior (Dec 2021). Makes since it took a while (2 years) to edit all the visuals for that one.
 

So it looks like the director of Poor Things has another one coming out with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, Kinds of Kindness.
Thought it’s kind of interesting using those two again immediately after Poor Things.
Apparently it's an anthology film (several shorter films within the movie).
 

So it looks like the director of Poor Things has another one coming out with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, Kinds of Kindness.
Thought it’s kind of interesting using those two again immediately after Poor Things.
First rule of government spending: why build one, when two’s just twice the price?
 

Watched Down by Law (1986) starring Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi. Ellen Barkin has an appearance at the start. Only other movie I've seen with this director, Jim Jarmusch, is Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
This one was interesting. Filmed very differently. Black and white, sudden lapses in time and different camera angles. Ended up liking it.
 


Watched Down by Law (1986) starring Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi. Ellen Barkin has an appearance at the start. Only other movie I've seen with this director, Jim Jarmusch, is Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
This one was interesting. Filmed very differently. Black and white, sudden lapses in time and different camera angles. Ended up liking it.
Forgot about that movie. Gonna give it another watch. I like Jarmusch a lot.
 

Watched Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) in observance of Easter. Bibleverse AKA Christian Cinematic Universe needs a reboot.
 

Watched Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) in observance of Easter. Bibleverse AKA Christian Cinematic Universe needs a reboot.

I've seen several productions of Superstar on stage. I just think it works better as a stage production as compared to a movie. the original soundtrack recording is still excellent. (cracks me up that the lead singer of Deep Purple performed the role of Jesus on the album).
 

I've seen several productions of Superstar on stage. I just think it works better as a stage production as compared to a movie. the original soundtrack recording is still excellent. (cracks me up that the lead singer of Deep Purple performed the role of Jesus on the album).
That would be fun. But I'm not sure anyone could top Carl Anderson as Judas. He was incredible!
 



Just watched Riders of Justice starring Mads Mikkelsen. Man, there were a few scenes in it that were hilarious. Thought it was very good.
 


Going to try another one with Mads Mikkelsen, Flickering Lights. Directed by the same guy that did Riders of Justice, Anders Thomas Jensen.

Bogging down on this one. Think I will pull the plug.
 
Last edited:

I've been slowly knocking down some of the "Sniper" movies on Netflix. I have to say, they aren't too damn bad. Basically a number of sequels to the original Tom Berenger/Billy Zane classic, "Sniper". There's a good half dozen of them made, with the primary character being the son of the Berenger character, Thomas Beckett, named Brandon Beckett.

They're not Oscar caliber movies but I gotta say, if you're looking for something to watch, good action movies that I feel comfortable giving the green light to.

Makes me want to go back and watch the original Sniper movie at some point; always loved that movie. Berenger was pretty damn good in that.
 



Dune: Part Two = good
Liked it. Never read the book, so didn't know what to expect.

Also just watched Headhunters from 2011, directed by Morten Tyldum who directed The Imitation Game. It was quite the movie. Lots of twists and turns.
 
Last edited:

Watched The Peanut Butter Falcon yesterday. Thought it was good movie and impressed with Shia LaBeouf
Bruce Dern with an appearance also. Old Bruce has been around forever.
Oh, really good music score also.
 
Last edited:

Watched The Peanut Butter Falcon yesterday. Thought it was good movie and impressed with Shia LaBeouf
Bruce Dern with an appearance also. Old Bruce has been around forever.
Oh, really good music score also.
It's a wonderful feel good movie. It was a rare film that I actually went back to the theater a 2nd time, because I thought my parents would enjoy it too.
 

Michel Keaton directed and starred in Knox Goes Away

From IMDB
When a contract killer is diagnosed with a fast-moving form of dementia, he is presented with the opportunity to redeem himself by saving the life of his estranged adult son. To do this, he must race against the police closing in on him, as well as the ticking clock of his own rapidly-deteriorating mind.

It was really good. Al Pacino has a role in it also.
 

Watched Monkey Man. Its a revenge movie, loads of violence. Dev Patel wrote, starred and directed it. In the credits showed Jordan Peele as a producer.
It was ok. Probably wouldn't recommend it.
 

I saw The Zone of Interest a couple of days ago. It's a picture that I doubt I would have seen had it not been a Best Picture Nominee, though it is also from A24, so perhaps I would have eventually watched it. I'm glad I did.

It's about the German commandant of Auschwitz (Rudolf Hoss) and how his family went about their daily lives in 1943. It's incredibly disturbing, but not because of anything they show in the camp (which is very little) but how matter-of-factly they act while the viewer knows all about what's going on just yards away from their house.

The audio references alone are pretty powerful as is the film.
Watched this on a flight yesterday and you've conveyed the feel of it very well. I had an understanding going in to it what the setting of the film was, but it was still jarring to hear the conversations shared among the family members, the speculation of the grandmother if her former employer might be on the other side of the fence, the casual threat levied by the wife/mother against the Jewish house servant. So many films have been made about Nazi Germany/WWII, but this perspective was one that visited new and horrifying territory. Throughout the movie, there were times when I found myself thinking of The Sound of Music and the similarities and vast contrast portrayed on film between these two families during that period of history.
 

Went to the new Planet of the Apes movie tonight. Very solid. I'm a fan of the new series so clearly some bias there. But I'd give it a strong recommendation to fans of the sci-fi/dystopian genre.

This one fast forwards the timeline quite a bit but still keeps the theme of the Rise/Dawn/War series.
 

Watched The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Guy Ritchie directed. Little over the top as some of his tend to be. It was okay.
 

Went to the new Planet of the Apes movie tonight. Very solid. I'm a fan of the new series so clearly some bias there. But I'd give it a strong recommendation to fans of the sci-fi/dystopian genre.

This one fast forwards the timeline quite a bit but still keeps the theme of the Rise/Dawn/War series.

read an article in the Strib. one of the lead Apes in the movie is mo-capped and voiced by an actor who grew up in the Twin Cities and did a lot of local theater.

Peter Macon went to HS at Mpls North. He plays an orangutan named "Raka." His theater roles included Othello at the Guthrie. and he was on the sci-fi TV series "The Orville" playing an alien named "Bortus." He said he did 6 weeks of training to learn how to act like an ape for the mo-cap work.
 

We watched Seinfeld’s new movie Unfrosted on Netflix. A bunch of well known people. It gets terrible reviews for some reason. It’s silly and ridiculous. We enjoyed it.
 

We watched Seinfeld’s new movie Unfrosted on Netflix. A bunch of well known people. It gets terrible reviews for some reason. It’s silly and ridiculous. We enjoyed it.
I didn't even finish it. Thought it was awful. And I almost never stop a movie early.
 

the real-life story behind "Unfrosted" is interesting. The History Channel did a program about it a while back. Post and Kellogg's were both trying to come up with a breakfast toaster pastry at the same time. Post announced their product, called "Country Squares" first - but the announcement was premature because Post wasn't ready to go into full production. that gave Kellogg's a window of opportunity and Kellogg's managed to get Pop Tarts into stores before Post could ship its product. Needless to say, Country Squares lost the breakfast toaster pastry battle.
 

I didn't even finish it. Thought it was awful. And I almost never stop a movie early.
giphy.gif
 



Just finished Griselda on Netflix. Not the greatest acting in the world but showed just how money hungry and power hungry this crazy drug lord was. Amazing how long she got away with it
 

We watched Seinfeld’s new movie Unfrosted on Netflix. A bunch of well known people. It gets terrible reviews for some reason. It’s silly and ridiculous. We enjoyed it.
We enjoyed it too. Some dumb stuff, but also some "laugh out loud" jokes for me. Kind of reminded me of Airplane in that you throw a bunch of jokes at the wall and some stick and some don't.
 




Top Bottom