Time to check in again with what I’ve been watching over the past few weeks. I’ve watched a few movies along with TV series like America Primeval, Harley Quinn, No Good Deed, Twin Peaks (2017), The Pitt, Landman, and Ghosts UK. Anyway, here are the movies I’ve watched over the past few weeks…
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Foul- Fun feature follow up to one of their early shorts.
The Dead Don’t Hurt- This is a recent western written/directed/scored and starring Vigo Mortensen. I didn’t love it, but it is good. It can be a tough watch.
Listen to Me Marlon- This is a doc that uses a lot of Marlon Brando’s own home recordings to help tell the story of his career. It’s good, but gets caught up in the tapes a bit.
East of Eden- I hadn’t watched this 1955 James Dean classic in a long time, probably over 30 years, so it felt almost like the first time again. It’s a very good film. I liked it. It’s hard to say I “enjoyed it”, it’s not really the feel good movie of the ‘50’s.
June- This is a documentary about June Carter Cash. While Johnny Cash gets the most attention, June, and the Carter Family, probably had the bigger impact on American music. Quite a good film.
Passage to Marseille- See Classics section for full review
The Purple Rose of Cairo- You can feel however you want to feel about Woody Allen but there is no denying that he has made some of the best comedies of all time. This one happens to be my favorite.
Die Hard With a Vengeance- This one is my second favorite of the franchise. It tosses out the gimmick of the first film and works as a true follow up to that classic.
Idiocracy- This was my first time seeing this 2006 Mike Judge comedy. They say it turned out to be prophetic, and they’re not wrong. Humanity is getting dumber and it’s scary.
The Six Triple Eight- It has an interesting story to tell of the first all black female army battalion. Their job, to go through, sort, organize, and distribute years worth of backed up mail. The movie itself is good, but feels like a TV movie with a script that could have used a little more work.
Calamity Jane- This is a 2024 made for TV western starring Arrow’s Emily Bett Rickard, and Stephen Amell. It has some good moments, but is complete fiction. Other than the fact that Wild Bill was shot in the back during a poker game in Deadwood, and I hate to say it, but Rickard is just too pretty to play Calamity Jane.
Eraserhead- On the evening I heard of David Lynch’s passing I watched this, his first feature. It’s so batshit nutty that you have to love it.
Back in Action- See TV/Streaming section for full review.
Maria- Angelina Jolie as famed opera star Maria Callas, in her final days. Knowing nearly nothing about Callas, I thought the film was saved by the two supporting actors who played Callas’ housekeeper and butler.
A Real Pain- Written/Directed/Starring Jesse Eisenberg, this drama tinged comedy is actually well worth your time. Especially for the performance of Kieran Culkin.
Brothers in Arms: The Making of Platoon- This recent doc is interesting because it catches up with most of the cast and gets their feelings about the experience of making this classic war film nearly 40 years ago. It’s interesting that we don’t hear from writer/director Oliver Stone though.
Star Trek: Section 31- I wanted to love it, but barely liked it. It was originally planned as a series and it really feels like there is a lot missing. We don’t really get to know any of the characters so there is no emotional impact when something happens involving them. Too bad. We’re currently in an environment where Trek can’t really afford to be meh.
The Wild Robot- A beautiful looking animated film. I enjoyed it.
Saturday Night- Jason Reitman’s movie about the 90 minutes leading up to the premier of the first episode of Saturday Night Live. It’s good, but doesn’t lend itself to character development.
Mutiny on the Bounty- This is the 1935 version, which happens to be my favorite.
Nightbitch- Here’s an interesting film. I enjoyed it, but had it been any longer (it’s about 90 minutes) it would have gotten tiresome. Amy Adams, as always, is great.
Oklahoma Crude- I didn’t know of the existence of this film until I saw it mentioned in the documentary “Faye”, about Faye Dunaway. So I searched around and finally found it. It’s not a great movie, but interesting enough to be worth a watch.
Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning- My second view and I’m excited that the final mission is finally coming this summer!
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