Great idea, Julio, I’ve actually been waiting for a topic like this
I’m not quite up to date with movies. I used to be a movie nerd back in the day, but for some reason I’ve kind of stopped watching movies. I don’t think I’ve seen a movie in over a decade. Still I’ve watched a lot, and I mean a lot of movies in my time, and I am still interested in this medium.
I’m excited to see where this goes. My contributions to this topic will most probably be about older movies. And me being me, perhaps with a little history and trivia on the side. Hope you don’t mind, guys and girls
happy to see you here. I’m much more into movies than I am into music, where your passion seems to be. I have to ask, when you say you have not seen a movie in a decade, do you mean theatrically or… at all?
Anyway, I’m a big proponent of seeing movies theatrically, it is a completely different, immersive experience, as there the movie has your undivided attention. And a well made movie deserves that. And seeing it together with others heightens the emotional impacts, as we are empathic, social beings.
I would say it is never too late to start going to the movies again and if you are waiting for a special occasion to get your grumpy ass into the theatre, in two weeks Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” is upon us. That one has a very high likelyhood to be an extraordinary movie. One of the oldest stories we have from one of the very best directors we have.
Some people say there are no good movies in theatres anymore but that is not true. These days more movies are being released than ever before. But it is also true that a lot of good movies are not being seen by a lot of people, the mainstream blockbusters hog all the attention. And a lot of the good films I see are not very successful at the box office, people just don’t have them on their radar.
If you’re into thrillers and find Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried just as hot as I do, don’t miss The Housemaid. This movie is loaded with twists, some quirky moments, and a great sense of tension throughout. And for the ladies out there, Brandon Sklenar is most likely some nice eye candy too.
Btw: Watching movies completely blind is the best way imo. Meanwhile I try to skip the trailers, the reviews and just watch them. Spoilers ruin too much of the suspense and take away from the overall experience.
You know what, the last time I went to the cinema was the James Bond movie Spectre (ahh, Monica Belucci) in 2015. And I think it’s been around a decade since I’ve literally seen a movie at all. I find this strange myself. I used to love going to the movies, all the way back to the 1970’s. I often went alone, just sitting in the darknes immersed in what was going on on the big screen in front of me. I’ve also watched loads of movies on TV, VHS and DVD.
Yes, music is my big passion. A good song can make you feel that the world is a little different. But so can a good movie. So why did my interest in movies somehow slip away?
For some reason I don’t watch movies anymore. I just can’t figure out why. Perhaps I’ll start doing it again, who knows? Meanwhile, I still have precious memories from from movies I’ve seen, and I will be sharing it here. There’s epic moments, great punchlines, great sceneries and so on. So I’m in, just don’t expect recommendations for new movies from me
Now I’m going to do what I intended to do when I opened this topic, give some notes about some other films I have seen lately, maybe you guys want to talk about one of them.
SUPERGIRL Milly Alcock is a good Supergirl, unfortunately in an otherwise disappointing, mediocre movie
THE DEATH OF ROBIN HOOD Beautifully crafted film, though certainly not for everybody. You could call it the LOGAN of Robin Hood movies, even moreso as it’s staring Hugh Jackman who gives a great performance. His biggest challenge is finding peace at the end of his bloody life. And it is an A24 movie, there is a pattern there.
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Actually more fun than I expected. But I am sitting dead center in the middle of this films very narrow target audience. When those toys hit the shelf I was exactly the right age for them to become my absotlutely favorite toys ever. So although I never watched the cartoon I have fond memories and nostalgia for that franchise. But I am the exception. Predictably the film fell flat on its face at the box office. They will definitely not make that sequel featuring She-Ra that they teased in the post credit scene.
DISCLOSURE DAY It is an entertaining night at the movies, BUT coming from Steven Spielberg, arguably the best movie director of all time, honestly, that is underwhelming.
THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU Speaking of underwhelming…
MOTHER MARY Another very weird one, another A24. Beautifully shot, captivating and intruiging as one may come to expect from that studio, though I have to say I found the very ending to be a tad disappointing. It basically is a two person piece, Anne Hathaway being the big star of the two. The other one, Michaela Coel, delivers a great performance, too. And what a stunningly beautiful woman she is. I could drown in that face and it would be a good death.
THE SHEEP DETECTIVES I would not have expected this, but Sheep Detectives is one of the best movies of the year. I am not kidding. I have already written about this
MICHAEL Sadly a very white-washed (pun intended) biography of Michael Jackson, maybe caused by a gigantic fuck-up in the production of this movie, but that’s a story of its own. So what we got is a perfectly polished idol-worship and music video.
PROJECT HAIL MARY This movie was made for me, I loved the book, I very much like the film. Rocky rules.
And that shall do it for today, I could make that list much longer, going back chronologically, but I’d still be writing tomorrow morning.
Hmm, I haven’t seen either of those Sydney Sweeney movies. (Now that’s an E-Y-heavy name.) I was on the fence of seeing the Housemade theatrically but didn’t get around to it. And when I have not seen a movie theatrically, more often than not I will not catch up on it later. I download so many movies that I’ll most likely never watch. Maybe I’ll give this one a chance. Or maybe not.
Earlier I spoke about people not having a lot of interesting movies on their radar. One thing that has been working very well for me for a couple of years now, I watch or listen to The John Campea Show on an almost daily basis, often while doing other things. Like checking the VHTV timelines or cutting some loops.
I don’t always agree with their opinions, and it will get a bit repetitive, as they tend to talk about the same upcoming movies over and over again. But it keeps me well informed about the upcoming mainstream and genre fare. I especially value the opinions of his usual co-host, Robert Meyer Burnett. Here’s a segment on upcoming movies for the rest of the year, which I think fits right in here.
Of course there’s other sources, some critics’ channels I sometimes check out. And when you watch one of those smaller films in an arthouse theatre you’ll often see a number of very interesting trailers for films you otherwise never would have heard of.
Cape Fear 1991 - unhinged ex-con Max Cady stalks the family of Sam Bowden, the public defender who intentionally hid evidence that could have acquitted him of rape. Using loopholes, Cady legally terrorizes the Bowden family, ultimately forcing a deadly final confrontation on a houseboat
Back then, a former girlfriend got me somewhat immersed in the world of time-travel/loop stories…
I’d like to suggest a film from that era that features twists right up to the final scene:
The story centers on young mother Jess—played by Melissa George—who, following a shipwreck, seeks refuge with friends aboard a seemingly abandoned ghost ship, only to find herself trapped in a time loop.
Cape Fear is on of Scorsese’s better movies, but it often gets overlooked between his mafia stuff. Have you ever seen the original with Robert Mitchum in the DeNirio role? It’s not bad either. And now I see, didn’t know this before, there is another remake as a streaming show on Apple TV+, with Javier Bardem as the villain. I might have to check that out.
Anyway, young Juliette Lewis was a very nice maiden in distress in the '91 remake. Which reminds me of another favorite movie of mine, where she’s all grown up and a very hot rock bitch.
Strange Days (1995) by Kathryn Bigelow. She may be a more interesting director than her ex-husband, James Cameron, who wrote and produced this one. Such a visceral movie. Staring the ever brilliant Ralph Fiennes. And I love Angela Basset in this.
I think I saw the german premiere at the Fantasy Filmfest in Munich back then, though I don’t remember it in too much detail. Somebody got his jaw ripped off, right? Or was that in Jeepers Creepers?
Yeah I’ve seen the original but I much prefer the Scorsese version I’m currently watching the TV version which is also really good and I 100 agree on being one of Scorsese’s best films and my personal favourite
After all these newer movies, time for the classcs then and back to 1968 and Once Upon A Time In the West. Directed by the Italian director Sergio Leone, and starring Charles Bronson, Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale and Jason Robards. At the time Leone was known for the Dollars Trilogy, but this movie marked a shift in Leone’s way of directing.
While the Dollars Trilogy had some humour now and then, Once Upon A Time In the West was grittier, with long epic scenes without any dialogue. The opening scene is fantastic, three men standing waiting for a train with nothing but dripping water, buzzing flies and a scorching sun happening. Then the train arrives…
Classic dialogue too…
Bronson: Did you bring a horse for me?
Hitman: Ha ha, looks like we’re shy one horse.
Bronson: You brought two too many.
Oh Grumpy, I have something especially for you, since you’re all about music. Well, others may find this interesting, too.
In those classic Sergio Leone films, and in many other films, the real MVP is actually Ennio Morricone, maybe the best film music composer of all time. It’s really only a two horse race between him and John Williams.
Couple of years ago there was this very good documentary about him, it is a bit long, mostly Italian with but it’s worth every minute except for the english speaking interviews. I have of course seen it in a theatre. For music lovers and cinephiles alike. It is also an ode to classic cinema, makes you feel like they really don’t make movies like they used to, anymore.
The documentary is by Giuseppe Tornatore, great Italian director, who had several films scored by Morricone himself. Ah, Cinema Paradiso. And several people have put this documentary on youtube in its entirety. Goes by titles “Morricone: The Glance of Music”, “Ennio: The Maestro” or simeply “Ennio Morricone Documentary”.
So here’s the trailer first, and then the whole thing. Damn, that trailer gives me goosebumps.
I am also part of that era when the toy’s came out and I also watched the cartoons as well as the other film (don’t mention the Dolph version ).
I went to the cinema to see this and had some mixed feelings, but I understood where they were trying to go with aiming at a young audience to introduce them to this franchise and balance that with being faithful to it’s origins.
I will say there are parts of the story that left me scratching my head and also found bits funny because you could see the director was being specific with some aspects.
I will say that I enjoyed the movie score far more than the actual movie and I think is definitely worth listening to.
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