The son of "What the hell are YOU staring at?"

[lunchstealer]

I saw 1917 the other day. Not as depressing as I was afraid it was going to be, but about as close as a major film is ever going to get to the horror of war in general and WW1 in particular.

The only thing that seemed wrong was the German pilot stabbing Blake after the latter had just saved the pilot from burning to death. The stabbing felt like an un-natural reaction to the situation.

Definitely the best film I have seen this year.

Well I mean he was a murderous Hun. Eating babies is an un-natural reaction, too.

[Warren]

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

My deepest connection with Spider-Man was Spider-Man 67' which bequeathed the web slinger with the greatest of all superhero theme songs. I never read the comics. I have seen the Sony movies and various other places he's shown up.

While I'm not as squee with this as some others, I do think it is the best Spider-Man movie. Lots of fun and uniquely accomplished at hanging lampshade after lampshade over how many ways the character has been used and abused over the years into the plot.

[Warren]

A couple from "Movies You May Have Missed in 2019".

High Flying Bird
Well worth the price of admission. It's an all dialog movie. But I like a lot of well scripted yakety yak. From the interweb:

Director Steven Soderbergh is proving with each new film that he can make quality cinema on his own terms, outside the traditional studio system. High Flying Bird, a Netflix film shot entirely on an iPhone, is his latest example. Shot on a measly $2 million budget, the movie stars André Holland as an NBA agent working behind the scenes to end a financially devastating lockout. It’s catnip for sports business fans, but also accessible to anyone who enjoys smart, fast-paced human drama. The screenplay was written by Moonlight co-writer Tarell Alvin McCraney.

Blinded by the Light
If the description of this movie ended at

• A Pakistani teenager in Margret Thatcher's England is caught between a demanding Old World father at home, and the violent racism of the National Front outside, struggles to find love, friendship, and a life of personal expression

I'd have given it a pass. But when you ammend

• and finds salvation through the music of Bruce Springsteen.

to it, suddenly I'm intrigued.

I really liked this a lot. It also purports to be based on a true story and provides photographs of the actual major characters during credits. There's a lot of cookie-cutter feel-goodness to it but there is much originality as well. Perhaps the best part of this is in how it has a forward "moral lesson" plot and that isn't wagging it's finger in my face about it. I'm allowed to not be racist. It's not a musical per se. There is music and at one point at least they take the song and the action too far for disbelief, as you do. The high-point of the film is set to music. It uses a gimmick, but it uses it effectively.

[Hugh Akston]

I checked to make sure Leslie Nielsen was already dead before I note that the Naked Gun is not good. The theme song is solid though.

[Ellie]

HOW DARE YOU, SIR

(Funny timing, though; I actually just rewatched part of it the other day and was marveling at how well a lot of it has held up)

[Warren]

HOW DARE YOU, SIR

(Funny timing, though; I actually just rewatched part of it the other day and was marveling at how well a lot of it has held up)

Damnit Ellie! The correct response was:
IS THIS SOME KIND OF BUST?

[JD]

Finally got around to watching Joker the other night. And while I'd heard it was good, I was really surprised at just how good it was.

[JasonL]

Parasite is quite good. It is not subtle and the ending is telegraphed but it punches in lots of directions and the acting is good.

[Warren]

Parasite is quite good. It is not subtle and the ending is telegraphed but it punches in lots of directions and the acting is good.

Everybody says so. But subtitles really diminish the experience for me. It's been many years since I've put up with them.

[Hugh Akston]

The Homesman is a bleak-ass western. Good cameos/bit parts from John Lithgow, James Spader, Tim Blake Nelson, and Meryl Streep. I also like that instead of making Hillary Swank's character a one-dimensional selfless saint, they made her into a more complex character with needs and weaknesses. Weird seeing Tommy Lee Jones as a no-account drifter rather than a weathered authority figure, but he did a decent job.

[thoreau]

Parasite is quite good. It is not subtle and the ending is telegraphed but it punches in lots of directions and the acting is good.

At one point I thought it was going to turn into a Jordan Peele movie. (In a good way.)

[JasonL]

Parasite is quite good. It is not subtle and the ending is telegraphed but it punches in lots of directions and the acting is good.

At one point I thought it was going to turn into a Jordan Peele movie. (In a good way.)

The take on class is pretty nuanced for the guy who made Snowpiercer. He doesn't let the Kims off the hook at all. By any reasonable account their acts as moral agents are the most horrid even as they are subject to conditions that turn out to be not the worst in the movie. There's a lot of meat in the idea of how the idea of class is all they can see. I'm curious how most people digest the Parks. They are guilty of not seeing things outside their experience for the most part. They aren't great noble people and they are a bit silly but I was struck that this is not in any way a tale that makes it easy to assign them direct guilt for most of what happens. My sense is a lot of people see them and may just be mad that they are allowed to exist in that world and are guilty by playing along. I don't see it that way.

Anyway, yeah good movie.

[Warren]

Oh you guys. I feel like I need to see this movie now. But I refuse to read subtitles all the way through a full length movie. Is there at least an English overdub track?

[thoreau]

Parasite is quite good. It is not subtle and the ending is telegraphed but it punches in lots of directions and the acting is good.

At one point I thought it was going to turn into a Jordan Peele movie. (In a good way.)

The take on class is pretty nuanced for the guy who made Snowpiercer. He doesn't let the Kims off the hook at all. By any reasonable account their acts as moral agents are the most horrid even as they are subject to conditions that turn out to be not the worst in the movie. There's a lot of meat in the idea of how the idea of class is all they can see. I'm curious how most people digest the Parks. They are guilty of not seeing things outside their experience for the most part. They aren't great noble people and they are a bit silly but I was struck that this is not in any way a tale that makes it easy to assign them direct guilt for most of what happens. My sense is a lot of people see them and may just be mad that they are allowed to exist in that world and are guilty by playing along. I don't see it that way.

Anyway, yeah good movie.

Mr. Park is kind of a dick, and his sole focus on his kid when someone else is dying is simultaneously completely understandable and also cold. So Kim's actions are also understandable in that moment. But I like that they never try to make this into a Robin Hood tale.

On a lighter note, the impersonations of North Korean newscasters were hilarious.

[Warren]

Uncut Gems

Not only is Adam Sandler unfunny, he also can't act.

[thoreau]

Last night's SNL was actually pretty good. They had to do topical humor about quarantine, and make creative use of the medium of individuals performing alone at home, or performing together via video chat. And it kind of worked.

[Kolohe]

I feel they had a few more fresh ideas in the first one they did, but this second one was much better in execution (and no outright bad ideas like the first one had)

What's really weird is that Pete Davidson has been (imo) the MVP across the two episodes.

[thoreau]

I feel they had a few more fresh ideas in the first one they did, but this second one was much better in execution (and no outright bad ideas like the first one had)

That's basically my take.

I also really liked the Miley Cyrus performance.

[Kolohe]

I did too, but it is really hard to go wrong with a stripped down acoustic cover of wish you were here.

[Warren]

I did too, but it is really hard to go wrong with a stripped down acoustic cover of wish you were here.

*YouTubes*
Yup. I've heard the equal to that at at least three parties.

[Kolohe]

I did too, but it is really hard to go wrong with a stripped down acoustic cover of wish you were here.

*YouTubes*
Yup. I've heard the equal to that at at least three parties.

She was better than Coldplay minus Coldplay in the previous episode.

[lunchstealer]

I did too, but it is really hard to go wrong with a stripped down acoustic cover of wish you were here.

*YouTubes*
Yup. I've heard the equal to that at at least three parties.

She was better than Coldplay minus Coldplay in the previous episode.

I started to say that nothing's better than coldplay minus coldplay but coldplay minus coldplay is literally nothing so nothing is equal to coldplay minus coldplay by the axiom of symmetry.

[JasonL]

Well the common denominator of your response to Kolohe's post is Coldplay minus Coldplay which is zero and as such a denominator suggests your post can't be evaluated.

[Jennifer]

So far, the second season of What We Do In The Shadows (fake-reality show about vampires in Staten Island) has been even funnier than the first. But it's definitely something where you want to watch the episodes in order, because they're making references to or building upon things established in earlier episodes.

[Highway]

I don't know if anyone is interested in bladesmithing or reality shows, but my wife and I like watching Forged in Fire on History Channel. It's a pretty static format where 4 bladesmiths have 3 hours to make a blade, usually meeting one odd condition (like they all have to do a certain type of Damascus steel or have to use parts off of a tractor or something). After the first section, one is eliminated, leaving the remaining three to finish their blades with handles and then have some testing, to eliminate a second person. Then they send the remaining two smiths home to make a specific weapon and then bring it back to test them. Each 1 hour episode is an entire competition to a winner.

There's no bloodsport (although they make a big scene of carving up dummies with red gel inside them sometimes), but there's a lot of respect all around in the show, and it's got a good feel for a competition show. The judges don't ever denigrate the competitors. And it's interesting seeing people overcome challenges, both intentional and mistake-sourced.