I saw SOLO on the airplane today. As a Star Wars movie, its somewhere in the middle. The first 30 minutes is pretty bad. Horrible fake CGI gratuitous "car chase" for no reason. But Woody Harrelson has an interesting character and there's a lot of twists that make you think and wonder what's going to happen next. My one beef is the guy they chose to be Solo really doesn't have any of the charm or presence of Harrison Ford. I don't care that he doesn't look like him but he seems to be forcing some of the snide remarks. It's watchable. It's certainly better than the last one.
Whiplash It was way better than I thought it would be based on the previews and what little I knew about the story beforehand.
Saw 2 TERRIBLE movies on the flight today 1) Jurassic 26th (or whatever). What a CRANK IT OUT piece of garbage. Yes, 20 ton dinosaurs crawl on roof tops and glasshouses. Yes, "rich Russians" and "Greedy businessmen" want to buy Dinosaurs (for what purpose we don't no). This is without a doubt one of the dumbest movies ever made for all the wrong reasons. The actors phone it in. Robots would have done a better job. And , they couldn't find a new cliche' they just recycled one from an older movie (aka we need 8 year old girls screaming at dinosaurs trying to eat them). Even the death scenes of the bad guys was boring. How bad of a movie is that? How stupid is it? A 20 ton dinosaur rushes to get the girl who tries to escape down the dumbwaiter. Just at the last minute the 1/4 inch thick wood door closes and the dinosaur -- running at full speed -- hits the door of the dumbwaiter head first. Does he crash right through? NO, he bounces off and shakes his head as the girl escapes. REALLY WRITERS? This is the best you can do? 2) Oceans 8. Ocean's 11 was really good. Ocean's 12 SUCKED. Ocean's 13 sort of sucked. This one (the all female version) is just disappointing. But my biggest problem with this is that in the past, they rip off people you hate or feel they deserved it. They rip off a greedy casino owner to "muscled out" another owner or one who treats people like crap. The people they prey on all deserve it. In this one, they rip off some nice couple staying on a vacation, they shoplift innocent stores, they steal from Cartier - not one of them deserved it. They just steal like common crooks. How can you feel good about a heist if it's just for greed? Without the element of "justice" then it's just robbery. We are supposed to feel good that someone innocent was ripped off so they could be rich?
Over the last few days wife and I watched a couple of awesome shows. Shot Caller: Same actor that plays Jamie Lannister on GOT. Successful businessman sent to jail and his journey to becoming a hardened criminal and why he chose to do so. Leave no trace. About a father and young daughter living off the grid in a central Oregon park.
Watched "A Star is Born" with my wife this weekend. Was much better than I had expected, and thought pretty well done. Though? I'm MOST impressed that "Charlie," the dog, was played by the male lead's actual dog. And? He was a rescue dog.
Hmm...I heard about the Ryan Gosling movie Drive recently. It's been out for a number of years, but the trailer looks good. I found out about it looking up info on First Man that comes out tomorrow. He's plays Neil Armstrong in that and I plan on seeing probably both those movies this weekend.
Both of these movies ended up being awesome. First Man was great in Imax. The opening scene was perfect.
I have the Drive DVD. Got it when it first became available. It is indeed a very good movie. A rare Hollywood original in an age of reboots and franchises.
Mission impossible .. good movie Little Italy .. so so Baby driver .. pretty good Mama Mia 2 .. not my thing but pretty good Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk
Infinity wars .. a good movie especially if into avengers etc .. justice league was better though Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk
"A Star is Born" was great. Slowed down slightly last half, but Bradley Cooper and Sam Shepard awesome actors and Lady Gaga is an awesome actress for a singer.
Musical romantic films usually are on my hard pass list, but this one looks good. It's amazing how many actors/actresses are incredibly talented in a lot of areas.
And don't forget the best actor in the whole film: Charlie, the dog! Yeah, wife & I liked this one quite a bit.
Letters from Iwo Jima. Interesting. At least they cut out the really really really gross stuff the Japanese did to survive. But you come away with the idea “Such a waste”— which I guess was the real point.
The Nice Guys A Place Beyond the Pines Both really good, but I liked The Nice Guys more...some good humor scattered throughout.
Just saw 1929's "The Mysterious Island" with Lionel Barrymore -- a mixed part silent / part "talkie". Despite the title, it's kinda a prequel to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, based on Nemo's back-story revealed in "Mysterious Island". So not really based on any of Verne's work, directly. But even more interesting in that it's a story about a scientist creating a ship to visit uncharted vistas, only to have it usurped by a militant dictator --- -- in a film made years before Werner Von Braun and the V2 program.
Stranger Than Fiction Odd movie. I have a hard time seeing Will Ferrell do anything other than comedies...it doesn't seem right.
Bohemian rhapsody about queen. Teriffic movie despite straight forward linear time line narrative. Malik was doing a bit of a mck jagger impression for the early mercury but was incredible as the mustachiod version. Never knew he was a paki which was interesting. Great movie to see on huge screen with matching sound system.