I saw Spider-Man last night as well. Not only do I think it's the best representation of Spidey since he joined the MCU (five movies deep already!), I think it's the best Spider-Man movie of all time.

Gyllenhal was phenomenal. Peter and his classmates actually come across as teenagers. The comedy was spot-on. The stakes were real.

And I'd contend it might be the best mid-credits scene in the history of the MCU, followed by a serious contender for a Top-3 end credits scene.

I absolutely loved this film.

I wrote this post in my head shortly after seeing this movie during a special theater screening a few months back, but was too lazy to put words to keyboard until now.

I loved this movie. It really had a lot of charm to it. I watched Enemy of the State with Hackman not too long ago and the difference with Hackman between this movie and that one is night and day. Sure, he was great in Enemy of the State but he was a fucking God in this movie. While his face generally stayed the same in Enemy of the State, his constantly changing expressions in The French Connection were both on point and humorous and made him out to be quite the wacky character as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, a good cop with usually good hunches. My wife said that is what happens to people's faces when they get older, they kind of get more static...and maybe that explains it. But yeah, I was literally thinking during the movie that Hackman should have won an academy award for this performance. Well, I looked it up after to find out what asshole schmuck stole it from him to find out that he actually did win best actor for this performance. AS IT SHOULD BE. For once, all felt right in the world. This is Hackman's gold star movie cementing him as a legend.

I read some comment from someone about this movie that "This isn't a thriller. It's basically a movie about people following people." Well, that couldn't be more accurate. But it's the way they follow people that counts. Very humorous exchanges, very tense atmosphere, and a very cool vibe all-around. The car chasing the train scene was badass as all Hell and super iconic. Although I had no idea it was from this movie until now, it is emulated very frequently. Come to think of it, I just watched an episode of The Blacklist last week where they did a very similar chase scene. I just found out that they actually shot the chase scene without permits of any kind and for parts of it were actually darting in and out of real traffic and avoiding normal pedestrians going about their business. One of the insane crashes that happened suddenly in the movie was a REAL CRASH with a completely unsuspecting driver trying to go to work, unaware that a movie was being shot, and they kept it in the film because it looked good. Well, I can't exactly condone that they did that since it was dangerous but it sure ended up in an awesome result.

Pretty solid plot that's a rather standard setup, but with above average acting and editing and a unique cinematography style for the execution and interesting writing towards the end that wraps it all together to make for a fantastic classic movie.

Hey, Lionheart and I actually DO share some common ground! I dug French Connection as a kid, and then dug it even more as an adult upon rewatch. Gene was definitely on fire in this.

Hereafter
Essentially this is a film about the afterlife, and it covers the topic in a fascinating and compelling and impartial way. It's one of those movies that brings independent storylines together. The most interesting of the three storylines is Matt Damon's, who plays a reclusive man with genuine psychic abilities that he considered to be a curse. Regardless, he is constantly pulled back in by people too curious to leave him alone, and relationships are damaged because of it. It is this psychic ability that eventually ties him to the other two main characters. The way these characters finally meet is through a series of ridiculous coincidences, but it somehow seems forgiveable in such a philosophical and spiritual story. Moreover, the film would have had no purpose or no closure if they never did come together.

Matt Damon is the only known actor in this film, and he does put out the best performance. However his supporting cast, all unknowns to me, do a fantastic job in their own right. Particularly Cécile de France, who plays a French journalist.

I was shocked to see Clint Eastwood's name in the credits as the director. This does not strike me as a Clint Eastwood film at all. It's far too...gentle. It's a very interesting and slightly weird drama film, but it is very powerful, and worth watching.

I have seen Hereafter but literally recall absolutely nothing about it. I was hoping your description would jog my memory but it did not at all.

Adventureland
The first scene in this film is the establishment that Jesse Eisenberg's late teen character is a virgin, and that he must get a girl ASAP. You'd think this would set up for a raunchy innuendo filled teen comedy like American Pie. Instead what I witnessed was a very grounded and believable comedy drama coming of age films about a group of teenagers and their relationships.

The plot is a relatively standard romcom affair, with the usual trials and tribulations of the two romantic leads. However the film doesn't present stereotypes or caricatures. The main characters, while young and still maturing, are multi-layered and behave in accordance with their characters rather than according to some convoluted story arc. There are stereotypical comedy characters, but these are exclusively the side characters. The comedy comes not only from their antics, but how the more grounded main characters react to them. It's a very clever script. It wouldn't have worked if the main actors weren't up to snuff, but Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart are more than good enough. Stewart gets a bad reputation because of Twilight, but she's been great in everything I've seen her in, this included. All of this is quite remarkable considering the film is set in a theme park, which you'd think would be an endless source of goofy skits and set pieces.

Strongly recommended. It's a great coming of age and romantic comedy film. Plus, Ryan Reynolds is in it. Ryan freakin' Reynolds! Are you sold?

Jul 9, 2019 18:38:58 GMT Emperor said:

Adventureland
The first scene in this film is the establishment that Jesse Eisenberg's late teen character is a virgin, and that he must get a girl ASAP. You'd think this would set up for a raunchy innuendo filled teen comedy like American Pie. Instead what I witnessed was a very grounded and believable comedy drama coming of age films about a group of teenagers and their relationships.

The plot is a relatively standard romcom affair, with the usual trials and tribulations of the two romantic leads. However the film doesn't present stereotypes or caricatures. The main characters, while young and still maturing, are multi-layered and behave in accordance with their characters rather than according to some convoluted story arc. There are stereotypical comedy characters, but these are exclusively the side characters. The comedy comes not only from their antics, but how the more grounded main characters react to them. It's a very clever script. It wouldn't have worked if the main actors weren't up to snuff, but Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart are more than good enough. Stewart gets a bad reputation because of Twilight, but she's been great in everything I've seen her in, this included. All of this is quite remarkable considering the film is set in a theme park, which you'd think would be an endless source of goofy skits and set pieces.

Strongly recommended. It's a great coming of age and romantic comedy film. Plus, Ryan Reynolds is in it. Ryan freakin' Reynolds! Are you sold?

I'm loving the streak of movies you're on.

Hitting so many of my beloved favorites!

Adventureland carries bonus points because PITTSBURGH!!~

I recall liking Adventureland. Probably because some of James Stewart's charm wore off on his daughter.

Jul 9, 2019 23:19:25 GMT Lionheart said:

I recall liking Adventureland. Probably because some of James Stewart's charm wore off on his daughter.

*Granddaughter.

Shaft (2019): I thought the movie was a pretty standard shoot em up flick, not bad but nothing really great either. I enjoyed the interactions between Sam Jackson and Jessie Usher and thought they played off of each other pretty well.

Spider-Man: Far From Home: Unsurprisingly I thought this was a pretty solid movie. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love Tom Holland as Spider-Man, definitely my favourite live-action version of the character. I also thought they handled Mysterio pretty well, especially with the illusions and shit.

That mid-credit scene...

SPOILER: Click to show

J.K. Simmons back as J. Jonah Jameson was pretty freaking cool… glad to see him back.

Having said that, not sure how I feel about Spidey being outed to the public.

2019 Movie Rankings

SPOILER: Click to show

10. Godzilla: King of Monsters
9. Hellboy
8. Shaft
7. Captain Marvel
6. X-Men: Dark Phoenix
5. Shazam!
4. Detective Pikachu
3. Alita: Battle Angel
2. Spider-Man: Far From Home
1. Avengers: Endgame

Perfect Blue:

I watched countless hours of YouTube and a video came up about why this was terrifying.

Not terrifying but an amazing film nonetheless, years ahead of its time with its social commentary. Can just picture Arianna Grande in this role with her crazy ass fans for example.

Jul 10, 2019 17:25:20 GMT System said:

Perfect Blue:

I watched countless hours of YouTube and a video came up about why this was terrifying.

Not terrifying but an amazing film nonetheless, years ahead of its time with its social commentary. Can just picture Arianna Grande in this role with her crazy ass fans for example.

Saw this a good many years ago. One of my favorite anime movies ever.

I'm hitting all of 🤯's greatest hits recently Can I make it three for three?

Miller's Crossing
When the credits rolled and I saw the Coen Brothers, I was taken aback for a moment. But the Coens are now two for two in putting out amazing serious films, along with No Country For Old Men.

Miller's Crossing is a neo noir film that does a perfect job of paying tribute to the old noir films of the 30s and 40s while retaining a more modern identity. It also overcomes the trope of noir films being too convoluted and stoic to fully appreciate. The plot of Miller's Crossing is by no means straightforward, but usually only one main thing is happening at each moment, only one main thread to follow, and it can be followed if you're paying attention. As is often the case with these films, it's very hard to read between the lines of the subtle dialogue, but in general I had little difficulty working out the motivations of each character. The story flows very smoothly and ends in a logical way.

I didn't know any of the cast besides Steve Buscemi who is in the film for two minutes at most. Reading the cast list the only name I recognise is Albert Finney. The first scene is phenomenal - it is a microcosm of the entire film, which I realised when rewatching it after seeing the whole film. It's also a great scene setter that introduces most of the main players. The protagonist, however, is the unassuming chap standing at the back of the room, listening to everyone else and not saying a word. It is Gabriel Byrne's Tom Reagan we follow, as he schemes and manipulates his way through the rough world of organised crime, always choosing his words carefully, and never speaking when he has nothing to say. His catchphrase is "I'll think about it". Reagan rarely betrays emotion, and is very plain on the surface, but he has a subtle charisma and a deep intelligence that connects with the audience.

I love this film. It's very smartly written, well-acted. Really the only flaw I have is a long scene where gruesome things happen in a drawn out of way to a loud rendition of "Danny Boy". Forced artsy fartsy is a big pet peeve of mine. Besides that, perfect film. The Coen Brothers should never make another comedy film again.

I've never seen Miller's Crossing. If Emperor dug it though, I'll check it out.

Jul 13, 2019 2:59:08 GMT 🤯 said:

I've never seen Miller's Crossing. If Emperor dug it though, I'll check it out.

It is fantastic. WATCH IT.

Aladdin: I love the original Aladdin movie, hell it’s my second favourite Disney animated film of all time so this was something that had my interest. Like with Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast before it, the live-action movie follows the same formula. The cast was pretty good as well, especially since with Will Smith being the only recognizable name in the film, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the others.

Given how much money Aladdin has made, one has to wonder (in my case hope) if (that) Return of Jafar and King of Thieves will get the same treatment as well.

MIB International: I thought this was a decent enough movie, as in if it's on TV and there is nothing else on I’d watch it again. I really enjoy the chemistry between Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, they were great in Thor: Ragnorok and I felt like that carried over into the new Men in Black movie as well.

2019 Movie Rankings

SPOILER: Click to show

12. Godzilla: King of Monsters
11. Hellboy
10: Shaft
9. Men in Black: International
8. Aladdin
7. Captain Marvel
6. X-Men: Dark Phoenix
5. Shazam!
4. Detective Pikachu
3. Alita: Battle Angel
2. Spider-Man: Far From Home
1. Avengers: Endgame

The French Connection

Lionheart reviewed this not too long ago. He liked the film a lot more than I did. Which isn't to say I disliked the film, I just didn't think it was that great. The cinematography was excellent in the sense that I've never seen a film shot in this way before and a lot of the chase scenes were very unique.

What stood out to me the most was the way the movie depicted organised crime and the work detectives do to try and catch them. We see scenes of Popeye Doyle and his colleagues painstakingly follow guys, sitting or standing outside in the freezing cold for hours as their targets eat amazing food at a top dollar restaurant. We see an amausing battle on the subway as criminal and detective step on and off the train in an attempt to outwit one another. That could have been a classic comedy scene, but in this instance it's incredibly tense. We see mechanics laboriously tear apart a car for hours in an attempt to find the smuggled heroin. It really is an eye opener that emphasises the mundane nature of the work detectives do, rather than revelling in only the glorious moments as most action flicks do.

In that sense the film was very unique, but I didn't find it all that compelling. Gene Hackman is great, but it's not my favourite Hackan role. All the other actors are nothing special, and Hackman's character is the only one explored in any depth. I understand the effort to focus the film only on the obsessive chase and little else, but this made the film rather dry, albeit very technically sound.

I certainly don't regret checking it out, but I wouldn't watch it again.

Triple Frontier: The film has a great cast but man was this such an underwhelming movie. If you’re looking to spend the evening staying in and wanting to watch something on Netflix, do yourself a favour and watch something else.

The Lion King: I’ve been looking forward to this movie for a while now and it didn’t disappoint... I enjoyed this so much, just absolutely fantastic. I saw the original as a kid at the theatre and it’s just incredible to do it again twenty-five years later with the new Lion King, especially since I took my nephew and niece with me.

2019 Movie Rankings

SPOILER: Click to show

14. Triple Frontier
13. Godzilla: King of Monsters
12. Hellboy
11. Shaft
10: Men in Black: International
9. Aladdin
8. Captain Marvel
7. X-Men: Dark Phoenix
6. Shazam!
5. The Lion King
4. Detective Pikachu
3. Alita: Battle Angel
2. Spider-Man: Far From Home
1. Avengers: Endgame

Crawl: Simple premise executed really well, fun creature film. Smart character traits so as to not make it too far fetched.

Stuber: Hilarious, Batista is great and had great chemistry with Kumail. Very surprised at how funny this was and I really liked what they did with the romance subplot.

Lion King: Technologically groundbreaking, that’s it. Will be used on in store displays once it hits 4K Blu-Ray but other than its extremely forgettable,

I have lost my DVD and wanted to annoy the wife with it, I suspect it's been thrown out for that reason, but this is better. In a most surreal moment, Macaulay Culkin reviews my favourite mid-90s cult movie, Hackers. 

Jul 20, 2019 17:09:44 GMT System said:

Crawl: Simple premise executed really well, fun creature film. Smart character traits so as to not make it too far fetched.

Stuber: Hilarious, Batista is great and had great chemistry with Kumail. Very surprised at how funny this was and I really liked what they did with the romance subplot.

Lion King: Technologically groundbreaking, that’s it. Will be used on in store displays once it hits 4K Blu-Ray but other than its extremely forgettable,

I'm interested in both Crawl/Stuber, but think I'm gonna wait till they're outta the cinemas to watch them. Glad they're both pretty good. Also LOL @ the Lion King comment. Will be the bane to all electronic department associates.

Batman vs TMNT: Really entertaining flick, also packed a lot in the run time, loved it, the turtles feel so at home in Gotham, some excellent scenes in there, Batman vs the Shredder and first encounter with the turtles especially. Hopefully get at least a trilogy out of this. A

Jul 22, 2019 9:54:25 GMT RagnarokMike said:

Batman vs TMNT: Really entertaining flick, also packed a lot in the run time, loved it, the turtles feel so at home in Gotham, some excellent scenes in there, Batman vs the Shredder and first encounter with the turtles especially. Hopefully get at least a trilogy out of this. A

Is this the one where Batman participates in a pizza party with the turtles!?

Yes.

Didn't even know it was a thing and I've enjoyed all 3 volumes of the crossover too. Guess this thread exists for a reason.

I think "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" is definitely going to be one of Tarantino's most divisive films.


With the trailers giving you no real indication of what the movie is about, turns out it's not about much, certainly not typical Tarantino affair. Maybe a bit long in the tooth, but I still enjoyed it for the most part. Not one of his best, but still an enjoyable film. B+

SPOILER: Click to show

It's basically 2+ hours of the least Tarantino movie ever, for one brilliant flash of maybe the most Tarantino scene ever (if only someone had been called the n-word). Actually playing into the title, finding out it's a fairy tale version of what happened in real life only. Not sure that punchline is worth the run time, but still an overall enjoyable movie for the performances.

I genuinely dislike almost all of the Marvel movies I’ve seen, but I’m slowly watching Ant Man & the Wasp with my kid and I’m enjoying it darnit. Not perfect, the Boyd Crowder character feels unnecessary, but generally it’s fun just like the first one.

Hush - Ya know between this and that one Strangers sequel... makes me think living in isolation in the woods isn't a way to avoid crime. Really enjoyed it though.

Just watched Cool World from like 1992, Brad Pitt movie that was inspired by the Roger Rabbit style of live action blended with animation. Aspects of this movie were... cool, like the whole thing bleeds early 90's MTV vibe, but altogether it's a pretty wonky mess for a story, it just kinda gives up at the end. It's like I want to like it but overall it's kinda weak, but still cool/interesting enough to keep me from changing it to something else.

That's exactly how I'd describe Cool World as well, I enjoy it, but it's nowhere near "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" levels of awesome. Some cool things in a majorly flawed film.

The SNES game was kind of a bitch too.