What Did You Watch Today? 2022

[Benjamin]

3 hours ago, fourstarfizzle said:

Such a great film with an immense cast when you think about who is in it.

Last night, having seen the trailer for Wednesday, I watched Addams Family Values and realized how I miss Raul Julia.

He still gave my favorite performance ever:

[Benji]

On 23/08/2022 at 14:29, IDOL said:

After putting off watching it for years, I think Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind just became my favorite Jim Carrey film. Absolutely loved it.

I adored that film as a teen and worried it wouldn't hold up as well years later. I gave it a shot the other day and I think it actually hits even harder now than it did back then.

[GhostMachine]

On 23/08/2022 at 09:29, IDOL said:

After putting off watching it for years, I think Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind just became my favorite Jim Carrey film. Absolutely loved it.

Great movie, but my favorite Jim Carrey movie is THE MAJESTIC. Which I really need to go buy a copy of. 

 

On 24/08/2022 at 01:24, Benjamin said:

He still gave my favorite performance ever:

That over the top performance, Ming Na looking positively smoking as Chun Li, and Jean-Claude Van Damme's speech are why I still think that's one of the best video game movies ever made. (Though my favorite JCVD movie is DOUBLE IMPACT, with UNIVERSAL SOLDIER a close second.)

Edited August 29, 2022 by GhostMachine
Left out a letter in UNIVERSAL.

[fourstarfizzle]

On 30/08/2022 at 04:21, GhostMachine said:

Great movie, but my favorite Jim Carrey movie is THE MAJESTIC. Which I really need to go buy a copy of. 

 

That over the top performance, Ming Na looking positively smoking as Chun Li, and Jean-Claude Van Damme's speech are why I still think that's one of the best video game movies ever made. (Though my favorite JCVD movie is DOUBLE IMPACT, with UNIVERSAL SOLDIER a close second.)

My friends and I spent a Sunday watching and reviewing JCVD movies a few weeks back whilst I was in the UK, the reviews form my friend are as follows:

• A.W.O.L (aka Lionheart) - 5/10 - Solid bit of early Van Damme, good action, story was fine, amazing work by Harrison Page, slightly hokey, but overall would recommend. 5/10
• Jean Claude van Johnson (Amazon Prime Series) - 9/10 - Absolute gold. Wonderfully silly, really engaging work by the main cast, completely played into everything you would want it to. Brilliant.
• Timecop - 7/10 - Held up to my memories of it being good, within the genre. A fun plot, and good action scenes, but perhaps could have done with a little more plot work and the acting is nothing to write home about, but overall wholly enjoyable.
• Knock Off - 3/10 - This film holds a special place in my heart for how ludicrous it is, but I have to acknowledge that it's crap. Potential to cause liver failure when you add "drink every time someone says knock off(s)" to your JCVD drinking game rules. It's just a mess of a film, but it will make you laugh. 3/10
• Double Team - 0/10 - This makes Knock Off look good, barely comprehensible, awful casting, it doesn't get you invested in the characters or the story. It's the worst film I have ever watched (a title previously held by another van Damme film, Black Eagle). Not even worth watching for a laugh. 0/10

[GhostMachine]

2 hours ago, fourstarfizzle said:

My friends and I spent a Sunday watching and reviewing JCVD movies a few weeks back whilst I was in the UK, the reviews form my friend are as follows:

• A.W.O.L (aka Lionheart) - 5/10 - Solid bit of early Van Damme, good action, story was fine, amazing work by Harrison Page, slightly hokey, but overall would recommend. 5/10
• Jean Claude van Johnson (Amazon Prime Series) - 9/10 - Absolute gold. Wonderfully silly, really engaging work by the main cast, completely played into everything you would want it to. Brilliant.
• Timecop - 7/10 - Held up to my memories of it being good, within the genre. A fun plot, and good action scenes, but perhaps could have done with a little more plot work and the acting is nothing to write home about, but overall wholly enjoyable.
• Knock Off - 3/10 - This film holds a special place in my heart for how ludicrous it is, but I have to acknowledge that it's crap. Potential to cause liver failure when you add "drink every time someone says knock off(s)" to your JCVD drinking game rules. It's just a mess of a film, but it will make you laugh. 3/10
• Double Team - 0/10 - This makes Knock Off look good, barely comprehensible, awful casting, it doesn't get you invested in the characters or the story. It's the worst film I have ever watched (a title previously held by another van Damme film, Black Eagle). Not even worth watching for a laugh. 0/10

Haven't wathced Jean Claude van Johnson, but I pretty much agree with your other ratings. In fact, I would give Double Team a -2/10!

[Josh]

I remember liking Sudden Death. Part of that is Powers Boothe.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Everything Everywhere All At Once is fantastic. Absolutely watch it of you can (its on Amazon Prime now in the UK).

[GhostMachine]

Spent a good chunk of yesterday watching episodes of The Foods That Built America on The History Channel. Funnily enough, I got bored and changed the channel during the episode on Taco Bell.

 

[Baddar]

I really liked Get Out and Us.

Nope on the other hand, is shit.

[GhostMachine]

2 hours ago, Baddar said:

I really liked Get Out and Us.

Nope on the other hand, is shit.

Get Out was great. Have not seen the other two, but I've had conflicting opinions on Nope from people who have seen it.

Right now, I'm watching The Proposal on cable. Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds and Betty White. What's not to love? (This will be at least the fourth time I've seen it.)

[TheGrandAvatar]

Ned Kelly is on. I forgot how amazing an actor Heath Ledger was. Amazing acting, smooth voice and handsome looks. So sad.

[GhostMachine]

Been watching Wicked Tuna and Wicked Tuna Outer Banks, via Disney+. Have finished the first 3 seasons of the former, season 1 of the latter.

Absolutely hope TJ eventually quits whining and bitching about Tyler just about every damn episode. Can't wait.

[DFF]

Been working my way through one of the 1001 films to see before you die books. Saw a few this past weekend - 

Sunset Boulevard - absolutely brilliant. 

The Seventh Seal - very good, and a funnier script than I was expecting

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie - more interesting than good, particularly with Cassavates' filming techniques being employed to a neo-noir. 

[Jimmy]

19 minutes ago, DFF said:

Been working my way through one of the 1001 films to see before you die books. Saw a few this past weekend - 

Sunset Boulevard - absolutely brilliant. 

The Seventh Seal - very good, and a funnier script than I was expecting

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie - more interesting than good, particularly with Cassavates' filming techniques being employed to a neo-noir. 

Sunset B is just so good, Billy Wilder was something else. 

If you liked Killing of a Chinese Bookie, I'd totally recommend nearly all of Cassavetes' other films. I think they're extraordinary, or full of extraordinary things, some work better than others for me - can either find them a bit indulgent or just genius. Even when they don't hit, they're trying something, or filled with this independent spirit that's just captivating. 

[DFF]

17 minutes ago, Jimmy said:

Sunset B is just so good, Billy Wilder was something else. 

If you liked Killing of a Chinese Bookie, I'd totally recommend nearly all of Cassavetes' other films. I think they're extraordinary, or full of extraordinary things, some work better than others for me - can either find them a bit indulgent or just genius. Even when they don't hit, they're trying something, or filled with this independent spirit that's just captivating. 

Shadows, Faces and A Woman Under the Influence are all on the 1001 list, so I snagged a box set that had those three and Bookie in from Ebay the other week for a respectable price. Have heard that he collaborated with Mingus for the soundtrack on Shadows so am looking for to that at least. 

I suspect I would probably have enjoyed the the shorter cut of Bookie, that eliminates a lot of sketches in the club (which, frankly, are a bit wank). 

[Jimmy]

16 hours ago, DFF said:

Shadows, Faces and A Woman Under the Influence are all on the 1001 list, so I snagged a box set that had those three and Bookie in from Ebay the other week for a respectable price. Have heard that he collaborated with Mingus for the soundtrack on Shadows so am looking for to that at least. 

I suspect I would probably have enjoyed the the shorter cut of Bookie, that eliminates a lot of sketches in the club (which, frankly, are a bit wank). 

Haha, right! I definitely think you have to embrace the fact there's gonna be plenty of bits like that in these films, Cassavetes definitely has sections like that in all of his films, none of them are tight, they're all quite sprawling and rambling, but he does it all in search of getting to something true, which I think he does more often than not. I just always think you've gotta be in the right mood for them, Bookie is definitely one of the tighter films from memory, but it was one of the first I watched. 

That boxset is great! I would say Opening Night is well worth tracking down if you vibe with all this stuff, I personally think Husbands is a grotesque masterpiece and I'm also a big fan of Too Late Blues, which was one of his cracks at a studio picture instead of his usual independent stuff.

Was actually reading a booking on Cassavetes semi recently and was watching a bunch of these films. Let me know what you think! 

[DFF]

1 hour ago, Jimmy said:

Haha, right! I definitely think you have to embrace the fact there's gonna be plenty of bits like that in these films, Cassavetes definitely has sections like that in all of his films, none of them are tight, they're all quite sprawling and rambling, but he does it all in search of getting to something true, which I think he does more often than not. I just always think you've gotta be in the right mood for them, Bookie is definitely one of the tighter films from memory, but it was one of the first I watched. 

That boxset is great! I would say Opening Night is well worth tracking down if you vibe with all this stuff, I personally think Husbands is a grotesque masterpiece and I'm also a big fan of Too Late Blues, which was one of his cracks at a studio picture instead of his usual independent stuff.

Was actually reading a booking on Cassavetes semi recently and was watching a bunch of these films. Let me know what you think! 

Ah man, thanks for the info/insight. I'll need to double check, but I think Opening Night might also be in the box set I have (just not on the 1001 list). 

I did like quite a bit of Bookie, particularly Ben Gazarra's performance. Also quite enjoyed the cinematography - I dug how he'd linger close-up on a single character when, say,  a 3 or 4 way convo was happening, just to capture/show how that one person was reacting to the situation around them. 

[Benjamin]

On 20/09/2022 at 21:37, DFF said:

Been working my way through one of the 1001 films to see before you die books. Saw a few this past weekend - 

Sunset Boulevard - absolutely brilliant. 

The Seventh Seal - very good, and a funnier script than I was expecting

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie - more interesting than good, particularly with Cassavates' filming techniques being employed to a neo-noir. 

I will always highly recommend any other Billy Wilder movies. Double Indemnity is probably my favorite and I watch Stalag 17 every year as part of my Christmas watch. Also good are The Lost Weekend, the Apartment and a few others people never seem to cite I guess because his work is just so good and numerous, like Ace in the Hole and Witness for the Prosecution.

He's the director with my favorite body of work. I haven't even listed any of his comedy films (I guess the Apartment and Stalag 17 are sort of comedies in bits).

[DFF]

7 hours ago, Benjamin said:

I will always highly recommend any other Billy Wilder movies. Double Indemnity is probably my favorite and I watch Stalag 17 every year as part of my Christmas watch. Also good are The Lost Weekend, the Apartment and a few others people never seem to cite I guess because his work is just so good and numerous, like Ace in the Hole and Witness for the Prosecution.

He's the director with my favorite body of work. I haven't even listed any of his comedy films (I guess the Apartment and Stalag 17 are sort of comedies in bits).

These are the Wilder films the make the 1001 list: 

Double Indemnity (1944) - Absolutely brilliant, and has become an all time favourite of mine. 
The Lost Weekend (1945) - Yet to watch.
Sunset Boulevard (1950) - Another brilliant one. 
Ace in the Hole (1954) - Yet to watch. 
Some Like it Hot (1959) - Saw it many many yeears ago and probs too young to appreciate it, so will re-watch.
The Apartment (1960) - Wasn't what I was expecting, but still really really good stuff. 

[Benjamin]

Nice to see Ace in the Hole making the list, I always feel like it’s not listed in the same lists as Double Indemnity, Some Like It Hot, Sunset Boulevard, the Apartment and the Lost Weekend.

Wilder is also the director of the Seven Year Itch, where the famous Marilyn Monroe photo comes from.