**** = Really good
*** = Worth seeing
** = A waste of time, but one or two good moments
* = Not worth your time
-0 = Less Than Zero: viewing this is likely to result in a dramatic loss of IQ points.
1. Prisoners (2013) *** This was a truly brutal movie about child kidnapping, child abuse, and torture of a mentally handicapped man. And casting Jake Gyllenhaal as the hero cop did not work for me--'cause the guy looks and sounds do creepy that you kept expecting him to join in on the kidnapping, abuse, and torture. I had to watch it in three different sittings because it stressed me out do much. 1/2/24
2. Godzilla Minus One (2023) *** I wanted this to be better, but the truth is that it dragged a bit, and would've been a better movie if it'd been 30 minutes shorter. Sorry. 1/7/24
3. Nabbuco (2024) **** A pretty amazing opera with a fantastic set. 1/10/24
4. Incendies (2010) **** Another brutal movie. War, torture, rape. But at its heart this is a very touching story about children in search of their mother's past. And once again there was some fine camera work. 1/11/24
5. Enemy (2013) *** To be honest, I didn't understand this movie. Especially the giant spider bit. So...interesting... but WTF??? 1/15/24
6. Ivanhoe (1952) 20 year old Elizabeth Taylor...what more could you possibly want from a movie? 1/19/24
7. Paddington 2 (2017) **** Jimmy told me that Quentin Tarrentino called this a perfect movie. Not to me, but it was MUCH better than I thought it would be. 1/26/24
8. American Fiction (2024) **** Funny, but with some bite, too. 1/27/24
9. The Lake at the Bottom of the World (2022) **** A truly great movie. It captures the joy of being a scientist, even in the harsh environment of Antarctica. Watching it made me wish u could go back in time and follow the Oceanographer path that I wanted to find when I was young and enraptured by Jacques Cousteau. 2/7/24
10. Life on Mars (2006) Funny, I had such a good (if vague) memory of this show. But after 4 episodes (of the first season's 8) I'd had enough. The story is just so thin...the acting so bad.... And at no time did I believe that Sam was stranded in the past. He was much too absorbed in the 1973 plot line to convince me that it was "a dream." And his longings for his "real life" in 2006 were much too sporadic. So I'm moving on, moving on.
11. True Detective Season 4: Night Country **** I don't know why this show got such terrible reviews. I thought it was excellent and compelling, and Jodie Foster should get an Emmy for her brilliant performance. It was also good to see so many Native Americans in the show. Two thumbs up with a twist. 2/19/24
12. The Gambler (1997) 2/21/24
13. Madame Web (2024) ** I don't think this was as terrible as I'd thought and heard it would be, but I'm not completely sure since I nodded off a few times. At any rate, there's still no reason to go out of your way to see this thing...unless you have a son who MUST see every Marvel movie made. 2/25/24
14. Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024) **** I thought this Netflix series was great.
15. The Flash (2023) ** You know, I didn't think it was good on this second viewing, but I didn't think it was terrible, either. Had some moments. Probably won't ever watch it again, but...yeah.
16. Dune Part One (2021) **** Loved it (3rd time), but watched it now because I was going to see
17. Dune Part 2 (2024) **** Which was just excellent. And from what I hear, there's going to be a Part 3 at some point. Thinking hard about re-reading the book now. Dare I eat a peach? 3/2/34
18. Hold the Dark (2018) *** Just wanted to see some James Badge Dale, and Netflix had this. And JBD was good as an Alaskan lawman, and Jeffrey Wright's presence was a nice surprise. This movie was harsh, though. There's A long scene where a guy with a machine gun massacres a bunch of cops, and it is quite vivid. Took me two sittings to make it through this one. There were also some lively scenes of Alaskan mountains which made me wish I'd seen this in a tbeater. I'd guess not many people had that experience, though, as I doubt that this one was around for long. 3/6/24
19. Life (2017) *** Speaking of inTENSE...wow. This one was a non-stop thrill ride. An excellent way to kill two hours when you're confined to your couch with covid. Again. 3/6/24
20. Ordinary Angels (2024) ***** This movie was Jacqueline's idea, and I had less than zero interest in seeing it. But it was very powerful. Not so much in a Christian way...in fact, religion itself wasn't anywhere near the center of this story. It was a story...and apparently a true one...about a person who felt driven to help a stranger. A bit more complicated than that, but in essence the truth. A bonus was that it was set in Louisville, Kentucky...and in 1994, when I'd already been living here for a few years. I was surprised that I didn't know the story already, but I was teaching and had two babies and one on the way, so I probably wasn't too aware of the world outside of my head at the time. At any rate...I laughed and cried, and give two thumbs up for the movie and for Hillary Swank, who did an awesome job as the hairdresser who helped a little girl get a liver. 3/10/24
21. Kung Fu Panda (2008) Cute...but not nearly as funny as I was hoping it'd be. Say **
22. The Magic Flute (2022) ** 3/18/24
23. Spaceman (2024) ***** Yep. I thought this was a truly great movie. More on that later. 3/19/24
24. Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) * Just read A series review that said this was the best of the four movies, but Rotten Tomatoes and I disagree. It was just a yawner...not much story, just chasing and fighting. And some preachy stuff. 3/20/24
25. Three Body Problem (2024) **** I could've done without the slicing people into pieces bit in Episode 5, but other than that, I thought this was brilliant stuff. And Benedict Wong was superb as the ornery detective. Here's hoping for Season 2.
26. The Silence of Mark Rothko (2016) **** Realized I'd seen this before almost immediately, but watched it again anyway. Decided I want another go at it with some Delta-8 in my gut, so will watch again today. 4/10/24
31. Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2022) ** This went a lot better the second time around...but u must confess that drugs were involved.
32. The Suspended Step of the Stork (1991) *** Probably better than that, but massive subtitle problems (sometimes missing completely, other times truncated beyond comprehensibility). Going to see if there's a work around for that. 5/7/24
33. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) * Long and silly, just a lot of jumping around and fighting. And so many plot holes that I couldn't get any traction at all. I love the PotA franchise, but this was just a bad movie in my humble opinion. 5/11/24
34. Sorcerer (1977) *** Kind of a stupid movie, but pretty enthralling, and the 10 minutes of truck crossing the shitty bridge in the jungle were straight up amazing. And became even more amazing when I read that this was the real thing...real truck, real shitty bridge...and the real actors. Yowza. Speaking of, Roy Scheider did a great job (as usual) in the lead.
35. Furiosa (2024) * Joe's choice. He and Jimmy liked it, but I thought it was really stupid. 5/26/24
36. Atlas (2024) -0 5/27/24 From what I've found online, looks like Netflix spent $100 million on this. I could make a better movie for 1% of that. Much of the movie is Jennifer Lopez talking to a robot voice...and going histrionic every 12 minutes or do. In case you haven't guessed, this was a very bad movie. One for instance: very early on Atlas (J-Lo) tells the robot she wants to walk to the rendezvous point. Robot says there's not enough battery power. She says fuck it, we're walking. And they do. After they arrive at the RP, they fight and fly and lots of other stuff. What happened to the low battery power? 🤷🤷🤷
One bright spot: Simu Liu plays the evil terrorist robot. Other than that...fageddaboutit.
37. Herb Alpert Is... (2020) **** A most excellent documentary, with contributions from Sting, Billy Bob Thornton, Quincy Jones and some other cool cats. Makes me want to see the old boy (89 years old and still touring!)...and hey, he's going to be in Louisville next month, so it might happen. 6/2/24
38. 1941 (1979) -0 I saw that Steven Spielberg asked, "Why don't people like this movie?" (I think it was on Wikipedia.) Well...it couldn't be the unrelenting misogyny and racism (which included a Black man in White face, a White man in Black face, and several derogatory terms for Japanese people)...or the sheer stupidity of the movie, since all of those are values that Americans embrace. I just don't know, Steven. 6/6/24
39. Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024) ** Having seen all three previous BB movies, I was not expecting much from this one. I've also got no love for the posts slap Will Smith. So why did I actually stay awake though and sometimes enjoy this movie? I dunno. But it had some funny moments, and it held my attention. And most importantly, Joe (who chose it) liked it. 6/7/24
40. Elsbeth (2024) *** Like almost all shows, there's a certain repetition that creeps unto the plot lines, but with a great character like Elsbeth, who cares? This series was a hoot. Definitely worth doing.
41. The Good Wife Season One (2009) ** I started watching this show when I found out that the Elsbeth character first appeared here. Alas, she doesn't show up much, and only in the last few shows of the season. More alas, the character is not the one I loved in her own show. She's still quirky, but harder edged. Mean, even. Nevertheless, I persisted. But like so many shows, everybody here is nasty, bitchy and bastardy. Reminds me of Mad Men in that aspect. A bunch if arrogant rich people who will screw you in the ground, to quote George Harrison. Don't think I need any more of this one.
42. Red Dragon (2002) ** Well...it was good to see Harvey Keitel...and Edward Norton did a good job as the super cop...but I wasn't a fan of Ralph Fiennes' performance. And since he was at the center of the thing, that was kind of a spoiler for me.
43. Avengers: Endgame (2019) *** You know, the big battle was more than a little bit too much...and shit like the All Women scene was just ludicrous...but for the most part this is quite a good movie, sometimes very funny, sometimes very touching. I might event watch it again sometime. 6/22/24 to 6/23/24
44. State Fair (1945) *** Watched this by accident, thinking it was the 1962 version, which has a brief scene with a 15 year old Meatloaf. (Which I discovered in the first few pages if a Meatloaf biography I picked up last week.) But you know, this was actually pretty good, pretty entertaining. Not to mention pretty girls Jeanne Crain and Vivian Blaine. Liked it enough to watch it again with the commentary track on. Now for the 1962 version. 6/26/24
45. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) * Yeah...sorry, cast, but all of y'all are too old for this shit. 7/3/24
46. Twister (1996) Well, I managed to avoid this movie for 28 years, but that ended today. Joe is planning to see Twisters (2024...who waits 28 years to make a sequel?) with his girlfriend, and he wanted to prep for that. And hey, I like Helen Hunt, so I thought maybe it wouldn't be too painful. The flying cows scene was a bit much for me, but some of the other stuff was pretty exciting. And my day was made with this exchange:
Beltzer: {Into radio} See, kids? An ordinary person spends his life avoiding tense situations!
Dusty:{Into Radio}Repo man spends his life getting into tense situations, BELTZER!!!!!!!WOOO!!
And shortly after that, there was a Star Wars reference ("Beltzer: Yeah, I can see it!!! All right, I got it!!! THAT'S NO MOON, IT'S A SPACE STATION!!!!!!!WHOOOOOO!!!!!!)
Speaking of the script, it was co-written by Michael Crichton, and you know that can't be bad. At any rate...I'd give this a ** */2. A fairly enjoyable waste of two hours. 7/5/24
47. My Spy: The Eternal City (2024) *** Kind of stupid at times, but I enjoyed it. 7/19/24
48. Young Woman and the Sea (2024) **** Jacqueline's choice...and a good one. Some very moving parts, and some humor as well. 7/19/24
50. Deadpool and Wolverine (2024) *** I was looking forward to it, and it certainly did have some good moments, and more than a few laughs, but it also lacked something that I can't quite put my finger on. I never felt pulled into the movie. And I never felt anything much more than amusement. Which isn't enough. 7/27/24
51. The Hot Spot (1990) With a Don Johnson who was still pretty cool and a Jennifer Connelly who was just 20 years old. Not much else to recommend it...though for the prurient amongst you, there are a fair number of bare breasts in this movie, two of which belong to Jennifer Connelly. ** 8/5/24
52. The Fall Guy (2024) *** I had no desire to see this, even though I like Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, but Joe was Jonesing, so.... And big surprise, it had some true wit mixed in with the usual action bullshit. And the cameo with Lee Majors was a nice bit. 8/11/24
53. Cabrini (2024) ***** A truly great movie about an Italian nun who fights to help orphans in America. It's also beautifully filmed by Gorka Gómez Andreu, and I will be on the look out for more of his work. 8/18/24
54. No Más (2013) *** Interesting documentary about the Sugar Ray Robinson / Roberto Duran fights. 9/3/24
55. She's Out of My League (2010) ** Anything with Alice Eve in it is worth seeing, but this movie didn't have much else beyond that, unfortunately. Stupid jokes, unbelievable characters, etc. 9/3/24
56. The Batman (2022) **** Third time, I think. Last act is a bit much, but still...this is a great movie.
57. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season Two (2024) ** Hate to say it, but I'm getting kind of tired of this show. 9/3/24
58. Joker: Folie à Deux (2024) I didn't want to see this movie. I don't like Joaquin Phoenix, I didn't like the first movie, and I'd heard rumors that 2 was going to be a musical, and I had zero interest in that. But Joe wanted to see it, so I threw down those bills. And much to my surprise...I thought it was good. Um...really good. Like 3.5eaning into 4. Of course it's gotten terrible reviews. That's the way it is on this bitch of an earth.
59. SEAL Team Season 7 (2024) **** The final episode was a bit overwrought, but I really liked this show and I'm going to miss it.
60. The Instigators (2024) Another Matt Damon / Casey Affleck movie...with side orders of Alfred Molina, Ron Perlman, and (surprise, surprise, surprise) Rob Gronkowski. Not a good movie, maybe a **, but I still enjoyed it and had more than a couple of laughs, so 👍.
61. Joker (2019) Decided to have another go at this since I liked the sequel. And for 7/8ths of it I was happy. But that last 1/8th... when he hits the talk show.... I said no, no, no.
62. 36 Hours (1964) The movie poster declares. "Give me any American for 36 hours and I'll give you back a traitor."This movie preceded The Prisoner by three years, and I can't help but think that the TV show was influenced by...if not inspired by...this movie. In brief, a U.S. soldier is kidnapped by Germans prior to the invasion of Normandy. The Germans set up an "American" hospital and try to fool him into revealing the secrets of the upcoming invasion. Shot in black and white, this was quite an interesting movie. I give it ****. Special bonus prize: John Banner, who plays Sgt. Ernst, later shows up in Hogan's Heroes as Sgt. Schultz. Pretty much the same character, too. Special bonus prize the second: look who shows up for a bit part eary on in the movie:
Yep, it's Scotty!
10/23/24
63. Venom: The Last Dance (2024) -0 Please, please...let it be the last one. My son keeps making me go to see this shitty movies. 10/27/24
64. Agatha All Along Season 1 (2024) Good reviews, but this was my cup of tea. Why was the lead actress shouting all the time? At any rate...silly, trivial tale of witches on a quest. 11/2/24
65. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2024) ** A Jacqueline pick. Not a very good movie, yet there was a moment near the end that was truly touching, so there you have it.
66. Slow Horses Season One (2022) **** I don't know why I decided to have a look at this one, but I was hooked from the first minute...LITerally. And my interest didn't flag a bit over the course of the first six episode "season." Fortunately for me, thete are three more seasons...and according to IMDb there will be two more. 👌👍
67. The Penguin (2024) **** I wouldn't recommend this for everybidy, as it is at times intensely violent...but it is one fascinating character study. Colin Farrell really deserves an Emmy or two for his work here. For one thing, you'd never know it was Farrell in there. For another, he manages to simultaneously portray Oz Cobb as a ruthless murderer, A devoted son, and a sensitive feller. No mean feat that. Of course I was hoping for a little Batman along the way, even though I knew that that wouldn't happen (and it didnt), but after awhile I didn't even miss that. Farrell...and the rest of the cast as well...this just so brilliant! 11/11/24
68. Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024) * The main thing that this movie did for me was make me miss Ron Perlman. 11/16/24
69. Slow Horses Season One (2022)
70. Slow Horses Season Two (2022)
71. Slow Horses Season Three (2023)
72. Tulsa King Season Two (2024) Sorry to say that I'm officially tired of this show. Don't need another season, thank you...though I'll probably still watch it to keep Joe company. The things we do for love. 12/4/24
73. Slow Horses Season Four (2024) This show, on the other hand, continues to keep me interested, and I was very happy to gear that it has been renewed for another two seasons.
74. The Crow (2024) * Nope.
75. Alien: Romulus (2024) **** Very exciting movie! Traits out lots of the old tropes, for sure, but there were a few twists and turns here that kept me interested. For instance...The Return of Ian Holm! Especially surprising as he died four years ago, but hey, this is the 21st century, man. Anyway...I loved it. 12/8/24
76. Kraven the Hunter (2024) * The usual shitty non-Marvel Marvel movie. 12/13/24
77. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024) *** Too much battling, not enough character development...in fact, pretty much none...but pretty good animation and some nice surprises at the end. 12/14/24
78. The Pigeon Tunnel (2023) **** Documentary about John le Carré. I found it (and him) fascinating, and am now thinking I need to read at least a couple of his books.
79. The Killer's Game (2024) *** Not a good movie...and say too violent for me...but Dave Bautista is worth a bonus star, and I found the director interesting enough to seek out his resume. 12/21/24
80.
2 comments:
Benedict Wong would like a word... :-)
Damned autocorrect!!! Thanks for the catch!
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