The Official Last Movie You Saw Thread (Part 2)

[Joneslab]

I definitely want to see "Game Night." Looking forward to that when it's on "video."

(I still say video even though that's not a thing anymore.)

[Joneslab]

Netflix's The Week Of is surprisingly entertaining.

Yeah, about half the jokes miss. Steve Buscemi's character is mostly unfunny. Chris Rock is wasted. But Adam Sandler shows some surprising range, and there are 5 or 6 set pieces that are extremely good.

Definitely not a bad choice if you're scrolling through and looking for something worth your time. Recommended for both dumb-guy comedy and chick-flick lovers.

[KCKUKFan]

I've actually heard a number of semi-positive reviews for "The Week Of," which, for an Adam Sandler movie in 2018, is shocking.

I'll probably give it a watch sometime soon.

[Joneslab]

A Quiet Place.

It's been a great few years for horror. I wouldn't call it a "resurgence," because the genre never really went away, but starting with Paranormal Activity and moving through the James Wan stable and into Get Out and the films of the last couple of years, horror is becoming a style that has shrugged off its B-movie history and has started to put out capital-F Films. This seemed to be happening in the '70s as well, with the ascent of Wes Craven and into the John Carpenter era. A lot of reasons can probably be pulled from our news, our politics, how deranged the American situation was both in the 1970s and now--but whatever the reason, there've been some great horror movies of the last few years that can stand up to any Academy Award-nominated film.

A Quiet Place is a worthy addition to this new movement. A lot has been written about it over the last three weeks or so, but it's a very solid movie for a lot of reasons. It's essentially a family movie, and the (almost completely silent) performances of everyone involved give the suspense of the last 45 minutes that much more of a kick. (I loved Millicent Simmonds as the deaf daughter.) Throughout the tight running time John Krasinski mines everything he can to make the conceit scary as hell: drops of water, individual breaths, kernels of corn, and enough stairsteps to choke a horse. But almost everything works in this, and the only criticism I might have is that the monster feels a bit derivative (didn't we see that thing in Stranger Things?).

Highest recommendation.

[KCKUKFan]

A horror movie for the ages is on the horizon: "Hereditary" is supposed to be one of the freakiest movies ever made.

Can't wait to see it.

[KCKUKFan]

And, Will, "The Week Of" was hideous, like every other Adam Sandler movie since around 2004.

[Joneslab]

Solo: A Star Wars Story.

This is probably the weakest of the new SW movies, but not by much. It's at its best when it sort of becomes a sci-fi western. I loved the shots of blaster duels and sand-blasted landscapes. You can almost hear a spaghetti western soundtrack playing over some of this. A few of the set pieces drag on too long, and the film is probably a half-hour too long at least. It also doesn't have that careening sense of fun that the Guardians of the Galaxy movies have. But it's a solid, functional film that answers some longstanding questions about the Star Wars universe and is a pretty good time at the cinema.

Recommended, but definitely in the good-but-not-great category.

[Spiritof96]

Solo: A Star Wars Story.

This is probably the weakest of the new SW movies, but not by much. It's at its best when it sort of becomes a sci-fi western. I loved the shots of blaster duels and sand-blasted landscapes. You can almost hear a spaghetti western soundtrack playing over some of this. A few of the set pieces drag on too long, and the film is probably a half-hour too long at least. It also doesn't have that careening sense of fun that the Guardians of the Galaxy movies have. But it's a solid, functional film that answers some longstanding questions about the Star Wars universe and is a pretty good time at the cinema.

Recommended, but definitely in the good-but-not-great category.

If one has mostly disliked all the recent Star Wars movies would they like this less or more?

I actually liked Rogue One up until it intersected with Star Wars: A New Hope.

[Joneslab]

If one has mostly disliked all the recent Star Wars movies would they like this less or more?

Probably will dislike this one as well.

Doesn't seem to have as much...I don't even know what to call it...seed-planting as the other movies. This may have a sequel, but I doubt it. It feels kind of like a one-off.

There's one really good segment of technical wizadry on a train. Otherwise the action bits are hit and miss. But I thought it was an okay couple hours at the movies.

[Spiritof96]

Probably will dislike this one as well.

Doesn't seem to have as much...I don't even know what to call it...seed-planting as the other movies. This may have a sequel, but I doubt it. It feels kind of like a one-off.

There's one really good segment of technical wizadry on a train. Otherwise the action bits are hit and miss. But I thought it was an okay couple hours at the movies.

As a person who liked "Star Wars" (read: A New Hope and Empire) I have thought for 30 years that one off movies set in that universe was the way to go, I just wish they were good. The trailer for Solo makes me want to see it, but they a. haven't been very good stories and b.seem to be tied too closely tied to the original movies such that they run into all sorts of problems.

This actor also looks like a douche... It's a shame River Phoenix isn't still around to do a credible Harrison Ford impersonation.

[TrueblueCATfan]

Life Of the Party......typical Melissa McCarthy comedy

[KCKUKFan]

I wasn't as bowled over by "Hereditary" as a lot of people seem to be. For a good portion of its runtime, it worked as an effective meditation on grief and a family in crisis. Then, when the paranormal begins to sneak in, it gets... wonky. Almost completely ruined by its final (silly) five minutes.

See it if you're a horror buff, because there's a good deal of cool stuff and the newcomer writer-director knows how to stage a true feeling of dread (without jump scares!!), but the movie just doesn't quite work overall.

[Joneslab]

I wasn't as bowled over by "Hereditary" as a lot of people seem to be. For a good portion of its runtime, it worked as an effective meditation on grief and a family in crisis. Then, when the paranormal begins to sneak in, it gets... wonky. Almost completely ruined by its final (silly) five minutes.

I feel the exact opposite.

This movie is completely brutal through its first hour. If you have young children, I would highly recommend you don't watch it. It's essentially an hour-long experiment in psychological brutalism. Plus: it's boring.

Then the magic hits. For its last 25 minutes it ranks up there as one of the finest horror movies I've ever seen. Everything that happens in that first 60 minutes is explained and upended. Like the great The Witch and The Babadook, we're in the land of surrealist horror. And God does it work. The way everything is tied up, twisted around, and utterly destroyed is something to behold.

Because of its oppressive first movement it's not a masterpiece. It reminded me actually of Happiness through much of the first few sections; i.e. the kind of movie where the pain is the point.

But the ending is glorious and relentless and evil as hell. If you're looking for something that settles in your mind, that crouches on your chest long after you've watched it, this is the film. We saw it last night and since we walked out of the theater I've thought about it constantly. Highest recommendation.

[KCKUKFan]

I feel the exact opposite.

This movie is completely brutal through its first hour. If you have young children, I would highly recommend you don't watch it. It's essentially an hour-long experiment in psychological brutalism. Plus: it's boring.

Then the magic hits. For its last 25 minutes it ranks up there as one of the finest horror movies I've ever seen. Everything that happens in that first 60 minutes is explained and upended. Like the great The Witch and The Babadook, we're in the land of surrealist horror. And God does it work. The way everything is tied up, twisted around, and utterly destroyed is something to behold.

Because of its oppressive first movement it's not a masterpiece. It reminded me actually of Happiness through much of the first few sections; i.e. the kind of movie where the pain is the point.

But the ending is glorious and relentless and evil as hell. If you're looking for something that settles in your mind, that crouches on your chest long after you've watched it, this is the film. We saw it last night and since we walked out of the theater I've thought about it constantly. Highest recommendation.

I thought the explanations for all the crazy stuff in "Hereditary" were pretty ridiculous, to be honest. The more I've had time to sit with this movie, the more I think I just pretty much disliked it. There were a couple of great "moments," but aside from Toni Collette's everything-but-the-kitchen-sink performance, I thought the movie was just sort've bad. Audiences seem to agree, as the movie tanked with a D CinemaScore. I know, that's not always the greatest gauge of a film's artistic merit, but it sort've gives you an idea of the general consensus. Not to mention, there was more than one loud laugh in the final sequence in the treehouse at my screening, and if it's a horror movie, that's NEVER a good thing.

"The Witch" was boring and "The Babadook" might be the most overrated horror movie I've ever seen. The metaphor was WAY overdone and the kid might've put in the most shrill, annoying performance in film history, right up there with Shelly Duvall in "The Shining." As a matter of fact, this new wave of cerebral horror that wins over the critics but bores the general audiences (Hereditary, We Come At Night, Innkeepers, House Of The Devil,The Witch, The Babadook, etc.) just doesn't really do it for me. I like that the genre is trying to emulate the more successful pictures of the 70s, but even those didn't really do it for me. I must be the only person on earth who thinks "The Exorcist" a fine movie, but a bland horror film (I'm not Catholic - haha). Same goes for "Rosemary's Baby" and "Don't Look Now" - both good movies, both weak horror exercises (IMO). "The Shining" worked because of its set pieces and because Stanley Kubrick was a genius, but even that film has a painfully slow and dated first hour. I don't believe in ghosts or exorcisms or possession or any sort of paranormal-medium stuff, so none of that stuff really SCARES me. For a horror movie to really connect with me, it has to be ENTERTAINING first and foremost; a purely enjoyable experience, akin to a rollercoaster ride. Probably why I enjoyed "IT" from last year -- not a scary movie, not even a particularly disturbing one, but it definitely felt like a rollercoaster ride of pure entertainment. Same goes for "A Quiet Place" this year -- for all the plot holes and narrative lapses, it worked as a rush of pure cinematic heroin. For me, this new wave of "cerebral" horror doesn't really work, because it just sort've bores me. I can see the artistic merit in most of them, and they're usually well-crafted, but they just don't really move me, if that makes sense.

Although, I should be thankful that the torture porn/Rob Zombie trend of the mid aughts is over. I'm a John Carpenter/Wes Craven/80s kid. Lots of those flicks might not be technically great, but damnit, they sure knew how to entertain.

[Joneslab]

I feel like audiences probably don't like it because it's a little plodding until the end, and also SPOILERS COMING it deals with the violent death of a child.

The "crazy stuff" is what makes it a horror film. Before the crazy stuff it's a very heavy drama. That's uninteresting.

I don't read MORE SPOILERS the witchy occult/Satanism as wonk but a trope that fits neatly into the history of the horror genre. If you don't buy that, horror probably isn't for you. It's not a genre for cold logical rationalism. It's a style full of people acting the way nobody really does and believing in stuff that only people in ancient literature believed in.