Re: Good (or bad) Movies PART 2

[LennG]

Saw a couple of movies this weekend, first time in a while we watched some of the newer releases. On looking at the list of newer releases, I see we are way behind, so hopefully, we'll be doing some watching, and reporting.

First of our watches was the latest in the Bridget Jones saga, "Bridget Jone's Baby' starring Renee Zellweiger as Bridget, as she did in the other two movies about her. Myself and my DW are fans of this series and we loved the first tow movies in the set. This one fell a bit short and really had to revert to to sex and 4 letter words to get some laughs. Overall, it was OK, but if you ARE a fan of Ms Zellweiger and her portrayal of Bridget Jones, then add a star as they say. We enjoyed it, but if we had to rate the 3 movies, this one would be last.
Story wise, Bridget is out in the dating field, goes to a sort of rock concert and sleeps with a guy.  A few days later, she sleeps with the lost love of her life and low and \behold, she's pregnant and isn't sure who the father is. The rest is a complication of her pregnancy and how she deals with the two possible fathers.

Again, a decent enough watch if you are a fan of the series, you will enjoy it more. Ms Zellweiger has this part down to a tee.


The second watch is a brand new release, "The Accountant' starring Ben Affleck as an accountant who minors in Jason Borne areas. The subtitle should be Jason Bourne gets a calculator.
Let's start out slow here. Affleck,a s a child, has autism and is a lot weird. He grows up, becomes an accountant for many of the world's riches men (legal and illegal), and when he is not saving people money on their taxes, he is secretly Jason Bourne's alter ego (not literally) but he is a kick ass hero who rids the world of many bad people. Funny, but as I'm watching this movie and Affleck, I just don't know why but I kept picturing John Travolta in that part).

Story wise, like many of these action movies is not the main part, it is the character and the action. Affleck surprised me and was pretty good in his role as meek accountant, turning Jason Bourne when needed to be. Action was good and I enjoyed the movie. Not to the point where I would even pout it in Bourne's class, but for this genre, it wasn't bad. I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes these sort of movies. It isn't deep and the actors won't win any awards, but it was entertaining.

[LennG]

WE are trying to get back to our regular Friday nite movie routine, at least for the time being. I'm not sure if this movie has been reviewed already, the latest installment in the Jason Bourne collection, 'Jason Bourne'. First of all, I have to say that I am a HUGE fan of the series, at least the Matt Damon--Bourne movies. The Bourne Legacy was drivel, just to try and capitalize on the Bourne name. That said, I went into this movie, knowing I would like it at the least, or love it at the best. For me, it was some where in between. Iver all, I feel this was the weakest of the now 4 Bourne movies, but it is still good.

The plot, who really cares, but it has been 10 years since we last saw Bourne and now, this movie is about a lot of modern technology that probably wasn't even round when we last saw Jason. It also stars Tommy Lee Jones as the 'evil' CIA director. For me, this was one aspect of the movie I didn't like. Not that Mr. Lee isn't great in everything he is in, but that is the point, he had too much screen time, which, IMVHO took time away from who we want to see, Jason Bourne. Again, just my opinion, but this 'older' Bourne was missing some of the 'charm' if we can call it that, that made his character so enjoyable in the other movies. The way he played with the CIA and assorted other operatives, just made us root for him even more. This time, that 'charm' if you know what I mean, is not to be seen.

The action is still great, the car chases are very exciting, though the one in Vegas (at the end) was a bit over the top. In past Bourne movies, you really believed the car chases, this time, it really looked staged, just to have as many vehicles crashing at the the time.

So, to wrap it up, I've included some negatives, but if you are a fan of these type of movies, and of Bourne movies in general, this movie is a must see. . It was an enjoyable ride and I liked it a lot. It also leaves the door wide open for more Bourne stories, if that is what they desire.

[LennG]

Last night we had another movie that I was anticipating watching, 'Deepwater Horizon' starring a great cast of Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell and John Malkovich. This movie was billed as a tremendous action thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat throughout. That was their opinion, now I'll give you mine. As with my last review, if this has been reviewed already, my apologies.

Deepwater Horizon is the true story of the oil rig/platform that exploded and sank killing 11 men and injuring many more. It is still the cause of the largest oil spill EVER, in the Gulf. The movie tries hard to explain the causes and effects of the story, but I was a bit disappointed in it. It got decent enough reviews but after it was over, I felt I missed something.

The movie is basically a 2 parter, the first part shows us many of the crew and tries very hard to explain what was going wrong and it just got too technical for me. After a while, I didn't understand about pressure, mud, spinning things and concrete connectors. Maybe if I worked on an oil rig, I would understand, but since I don't, I was completely lost. I just figured they were setting the scene for something, but it just went on and on until the darn thing exploded, which brings us to the second part. This part is where all the 'action' is and it is truly spectacular. But after a while, I was sort of immune to it. How many times can you watch parts of the Horizon explode. There was no great acting, just to regular movie stuff when you are faced with an exploding oil platform.

So, to sum this all up, it's not that I didn't like it, I d id, but maybe I expected a lot more and was disappointed. How much of this story is true to life, I have no idea. I remembered the explosion and fire and men dying on it,m but I just didn't remember how many. The platform held 128 men and when they said 11 dies, it sure seemed like a lot more than that to me. At the end when the head guy is calling a roll for who has escaped and who isn't there, most of the names he calls out don't answer so they sure give the impression many more died then actually did.

Would I recommend this movie, if you like these type of movies, action, thrillers, based on true stories, then this would be a decent enough watch. If you like love stories, forget it. 

Definitely not for young children, or even very young teens.

[jimv]

Last Wednesday, I went to see "Patriots Day."  (Mark Wahlberg was in this one too.)  For those who might not remember, it's the story of the bombing of the Patriots Day Race a few years ago in Boston.  It's very much a two part story like Lenny described "Deepwater Horizon."   The first part slowly describes the lead up to the explosions.  Once the explosions occur, the picture really takes off.  And, it's a little gory; made more so by the fact that these things DID happen.  Even though you know how the whole thing comes out, it's suspenseful & exciting.  I recommend it.

[LennG]

Thanks Jim.
I was looking forward to seeing that movie.

[LennG]

Had some time to watch a movie yesterday, so I went thru the DVD's that I won to see what I haven't seen in many a year. There it was, one of Jim's favorites, Ben Hur (the real Ben Hur with Charlten Heston). I have been trying to relive my youth in watching many of Hollywood's classics this past year and realized it has probably been 20 years since I really sat down and watched this great movie. Since tomorrow will start Oscar month on TCM, I said, let me watch this truly great movie while I have 3 1/2 hours to do it in. To this day no other movie has won more Oscars than Ben Hur, 11 (some have tied it--Titanic and LOTR- The King Returns.)

I really don't think we have to delve into the story, as most know it, but to be honest, there were minor stories that I had forgotten. I d id think parts were a bit dated as movie making has improved so much since this epic hit the big screen, but story wise, it is still just a great watch, and Charlten Heston is at his best. I would think, in today's movie making they would have probably cut out about 60 minutes worth of this movie, and maybe they could have shortened it just a tad, but one thing is for sure, they sure don't make movies like this anymore, and we are poorer because of that. Just a magnificent movie, Hollywood at it's finest. 

[LennG]

Last night we got to watch a movie that I knew, before going in, I would like. 'Star Trek--Beyond' the latest movie in an endless series of movies about one of the great TV series of all time. So, without saying it, I am a huge fan of Star Trek, basically the older one, Captain Kirk and Picard days, so any movie that features a Captain Kirk and a Spock etc., is OK on my watch.

So, obviously, we liked this movie a lot (my DW has seen every episode of the 'old' Star Trek, so many times, she can recite passages by heart). Overall, it is a longer version of of the TV show, with LOTS of action, a decent enough story line and just great special effects. The 'bad' guys weren't terrible and, of course, Captain Kirk and his crew and ship are in mortal danger at different points in the movie. My take, if you are a trekkie or just liked the Star Trek series or any or all of the other movies about Star Trek, you will easily like this one, as I feel it is one of the better ones.

Again, it is sort of a prequel to the Captain Kirk we know from the TV series, but all the characters are there and all play good parts.

For trekkies, I highly recommend this movie, for all others it is an enjoyable watch and you don't have to know who is who in order to enjoy it.

[LennG]

I'm on a roll so here goes nothing.

First I have to climb on my soap box for a moment---------------------
Why do the morons who run motion picture studios think that it is a good idea to remake movies--not just regular movies, but classic ones? They have tried it so many times and really never succeeded, yet they keep doing it. Lately with The 10 Commandments, Ben Hur just to name a few and to no avail, the remakes ultimately stink, so why do they feel the need to throw money away when you simply can never duplicate a classic?

OK, now that I am off my soap box, here's the point. Today, I watched the remake of 'The Magnificent Seven' starring Denzel Washington and a bunch of other names, some I have heard of, and others I have never heard of. The original Magnificent Seven has become a Hollywood classic. I don't think there are too many people who go to movies, or who watch movies, that have not seen that movie. And then there is the Elmer Bernstein score, where EVERYONE alive has heard that music and loved it. The original movie was loaded with stars, some superstars and it all melded together. The story was simple, the action heavy and again, the music made it all a classic. So how can they think of remaking it. Well they did. Denzel can hold his own with anyone and his name adds immediate super star power to any movie. I really couldn't picture him as a gun slinging cowboy, but he pulls it off, if not a bit over the top. The rest of the Seven are just that, a bunch of guys playing cowboys, and the villain, some dude named Peter Sarsgaard sure was no Eli Wallach. But I went in with a very opened mind. I simply LOVE westerns. There are hardly enough westerns being made to satisfy me, so even if this was a remake, with Denzel in the lead, and a great story, how bad could it be?

Overall, it wasn't terrible. The story, of course (???) had to be updated and Mexico is out and some where out West is in. The 'Seven' have to be updated to include Asians and Indians, and a woman has to have a prominent role, I guess to attract the 'new' generation of movie watchers.
But the basic plot is the same----town needs help against the villainous bad buys and have to hire a group of men to save them.  Enter our 'good guys' and the plot is set. The first hour is dedicated to rounding the 'Seven' up as each needs their own 10 minutes to get to join the group. The second half is the action and there is no shortage of it. Nothing graphic but plenty of killing, and believe it or not, they even get to have things blown up (wonder of wonders).
Sure there are no Yul Brenners,  Steve McQueens, James Colburns, Charles Bronsons, Robert Vaughns among others, but the new cast played together fairly well. AND the score, IMVHO was not very good. The original score became one of the greatest movie soundtracks ever, so they had to have a different score (????). The only time the old score was used was after the movie, for about 10 seconds during the credits.

So, what did I think--it wasn't too bad. As I said, I love westerns, so I was hooked \right from the get go. I love Denzel and he was good--no Academy Awards here, but there is no need for great acting and great dialogue. There was enough there to hold my interest. Of course you are always comparing the new to the old, but this one wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Again, I still don't understand why you need to remake a classic and without that magnificent score, for another generation, but they did. and this movie probably fared better than many of the other remakes.

I would recommend it.

[jimv]

So, Lenny, who are you recommending it to?  Re-read your post.  Aside from the fact that you love westerns, you basically said that this film is just so-so.

[LennG]

Jim

I recommend it to anyone looking to watch a decent enough movie. As I DID say, the movie wasn't terrible, so if you want to spend a couple of hours movie watching, you could do worse than this one.

[LennG]

Last night we sat down to watch a movie ( yes we watch movies on other nites also  ) that we had on the DVR for a couple of months. I have been waiting for the right time to watch this movie, as I eager wanted to see it. This movie 'The Woman in Gold'  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404425/  was not a highly released movie, made on a lower budget but it is one powerful movie. It is the TRUE story of Maria Altman, played magnificently by Helen Mirren, who escaped Nazi occupied Austria right after the Germans marched in.  Now an older lady, she wants to regain a certain painting that was stolen from her family by the Nazis and is now in possession of the Austrian government. Her family was very well to do when the Nazis took over and her family was decimated by them and all their possessio0ns confiscated. After the war, this painting of her aunt, by a very famous painter is worth many, many millions of dollars and is now hanging in a Vienna Museum and to make matters worse, it is basically like Austria's national painting, as the Mona Lisa is to France. So Ms Mirren, goes on a quest to get back what was rightfully hers, through many trials and tribulations. She has to return to Austria, where she had so many horrible memories and she refuses to go, but regaining that painting is paramount and  takes her on a journey to help her overcome many of her past fears.


I will not go into the ending, if anyone wants to see this movie, but it is well worth the watch. It wasn't highly praised when it opened, but this is a remarkable movie and Ms. Mirren is just magnificent in it (as she is in all her roles). I enjoyed this movie immensely and will very highly recommend it to anyone who wants a wonderful movie and true story to watch.

There are several flashbacks to Nazi atrocities so the movie is not for younger folks, but overall this is an adult movie made on an adult level and a wonderful watch.

Just on a personal note. Several years ago, we did a cruise to St Petersburg, Russia. There, we went to their national museum, the Hermitage, where they have hundreds, if not thousands of works of art that, just lets say, are not theirs. They ask you NOT to take pictures of many of the works, as, I believe, like in this movie, it would make it harder and harder for them to retain these artworks if original owners started to try and get them back. I'm sure there have been many attempts, but dealing with Russia is not like dealing with Austria, so these paintings remain on display in the Hermitage, but the theory is the same. Screw the rightful owner, prove it is yours or wait for the original owners to die off so no claim can be made.

[jimv]

I ABSOLUTELY AGREE, Lenny!   I bought this movie when it first came out in Blu-ray (I don't know exactly where it is).  The actor who plays the lawyer is also excellent.

[LennG]

Jim

The actor is Ryan Reynolds and if you read many of the reviews when the movie opened, he got destroyed. So I have no idea who reviews these movies, because, like you, I thought he was great, from a bumbling sort of lawyer to the high court in Austria and he did it wonderfully.

[LennG]

We're on a roll with Friday nite movies once again. Last night we saw an excellent movie, 'Sully' starring the always great Tom Hanks. I believe my friend Jim also wrote a review about this and I also believe he feels the same way as I do, just a great watch. Even though we all know the outcome (or else the movie would not have been made), to me, it offered some different perspectives on the entire event.

The movie is told in a sort of flashback, as the 'event' has already taken place. It follows Captain 'Sully' thru an arduous hearing as to whether or hot he did the right thing or could have made it back to a local airport. (I did not know about this and found the insights into this part fascinating). I t shows how he tries to deal with all this sudden fame and several other things that delve into this man's life.

As I said, Hanks is always great as he really assumes the role of Captain 'Sully'.

Just a good watch all around.

I think this movie can be for the entire family, though there are several curse words thrown in along the way. Younger children just will never be able to follow the story line.

[Ed Vette]

I've seen several movies lately and enjoyed them all. I highly recommend Hidden Figures for it's historical significance, acting and story line. The Founder was enjoyable and interesting. Contrary to the critics I loved Passengers and can see a sequel coming out of it. We also saw the Big Screen Version of the original Singing In The Rain with my aspiring actress Niece Jennifer. The local AMC theater is doing a series of these. The Theater was packed! Everyone loved it and applauded. We're going to see Fences today.