Hey.

Just some movies I've seen recently, as I'm too lazy to look up each movie thread I decided to make this one.

The Shape of Water - I liked this one. It looked good, had some good performances and wasn't too predictable. Good comedy moments that blended well with the dramatic stuff.

Aquaman - This was better than I'd expected it to be; not that the script demanded much of the cast but everyone did a good job, IMO. The underwater stuff looked good, the movie was well paced and didn't drag at any point. My only nitpick is that we didn't really find out...



The cast were well-chosen and I liked all the various undersea societies and how they differed from each other. I liked it more than I thought I would, even if it wasn't startlingly original in any way. It was a good action/adventure story and the main characters were able to make you like them just as the bad guys made you dislike them. I'll watch the sequel.

Logan - Finally watched this, and it was good. Bleak, but good. The performances were excellent from everyone, even the kids in it were believable, and overall I thought it was the best X-Movie since Days of Future Past.

Dune - Villeneuve did a great job of translating this novel. He managed to avoid going into detail about the wrong things (the biggest mistake David Lynch in my opinion) and focused on the idea of Paul being manipulated into the role of messiah, and his awareness of this, which gives the audience a reason to care about the guy. Villeneuve didn't spend time explaining the Mentats, for example, just used a visual effect - and examples of them advising their Patrons - to show us what they could do. The novel is narrated by Princess Irulan and I was glad Villeneuve didn't use that device; it works well in the novel but I liked the approach he took. Showing how the various Houses were vying for power and demonstrating the treacherous nature of the society Paul's part of tells us what we need to know, having Paul say to Jessica that he could marry Irulan and make a play for the throne - and her shock that he'd even suggest this - was a good way of telling us how ambitious and tactically bold Paul is without any laborious exposition. We're simply shown (on multiple occasions) that Paul is always being underestimated, especially by those who've trained him and raised him to be this way. They're all genuinely shocked by how good he is at the role he's been prepared for which is an interesting way of telling the story, IMO. Paul takes the lead in the discussion during their initial meeting with Stilgar, much to Leto's obvious surprise, and Paul's depth of understanding seems to both impress and unnerve his Father. The knife fight with the Fremen guy is a great scene and tells the audience (and the Fremen) just who Paul really is as a person, whatever else they might think he is. Chani comments to Paul that he looks like 'a little boy' even though 'everyone says you are the Madhi' and the whole preamble to the knife fight is tense and well acted - Paul literally says nothing at all to anyone and it gives him this weird aura. He's expected to show fear, but he shows no emotion at all. It was interesting, and so was the way he contradicted Jessica about going back to Caladan ('my path lies in the desert') - it's the first time Paul really asserts himself in an authoritative manner and it works so well, as the film's been building to it all along. From the young lad who doubts himself and says so to his Father to the guy who, having lost almost everything, now decides to take on the role he's inherited and live up to the terrifying expectations everyone has. It makes emotional sense, and I think that's why it works so well - the guy playing Paul is believable as this kid who'd been thrust into a world of betrayal and intrigue but whose innate sense of right and wrong is his greatest asset. Making the political stuff personal, and simply showing what happens to Paul and Jessica, is more telling than cutting away to scenes with the Emperor or the Spacing Guild or whoever. We see everything through the lens of what's happening to Paul and Jessica, and the Emperor is a distant figure. Skarsgård is excellent as the Baron, and by giving us only one villain to focus on Villeneuve manages to stop things from seeming too vast or impersonal. Instead of an interplanetary political saga about resources, we're told a story of personal betrayal done for reasons of petty jealousy and greed. It makes things more pointed and dramatic, IMO. I liked it much more than I thought I would.

I liked how committed and unselfconscious Aquaman.was. It really went full superhero. I felt like I was picking up issues 13-18 of an ongoing series.

I also liked how Aquaman spent literally an entire day drinking beer with his father and our hero just blithely hopped behind the wheel of his pickup and started driving home on twisting coastal roads. He's probably lucky the tsunami hit before he reached a residential neighborhood.

I agree, it was 'full superhero' - and that scene, with the drunken selfies and the biker gang guys - was hilarious. He really was portrayed as a rough diamond who eventually begins to see himself as the future King. I enjoyed it.

What's funny/odd about the Aquaman movie is how the actor playing Ocean Master is a dead ringer for Aquaman as he is depicted in the comics.
That's Hollywood.

That's a good point, so he is.

It was a surprise to me seeing Dolph Lundgren show up as an Atlantean King...and I have no idea if the various tribes of Atlanteans exist in the comics but I liked the idea of the mer-people, the crab-people and the primitive trench-people. It was just an interesting detail that I liked.

I just watched The Snyder version of Justice League.

I loved it. It was one of the best superhero movies I've ever seen and that's about all I can say. Everything was good, it all made sense, and Steppenwolf was a credible threat. Interesting to see some of the Atlantean characters who don't show up again until Aquaman, and since I haven't seen any other DC stuff apart from this and Aquaman, a lot of it was surprising to me. I didn't mind Affleck's portrayal of Batman and Godot was really good as Wonder Woman. I have Supes vs Bats there so that may be nest on the watch list.

I saw Man Of Steel last night and enjoyed it more than I'd expected to.

I'm liking the DC movies more than the Marvel ones these days. I prefer the less jokey, tongue-in-cheek tone of Snyder's DCU stuff. It was a different take on things but one I liked, and I honestly hadn't expected to. So there you go.

One of the best scenes in the entire DCMU. Jason Mamoa is an inspired casting choice as Aquaman!

Jason Mamoa is Aquaman to me.

Worth waiting for...?

I really liked a lot about Dune - the feel of Arrakis, much of the casting especially Momoa as Duncan Idaho, the whole epic scope of the film - but the central character was miscast imo, and I couldn't get past it. Plus, it finished in a really odd place. I think maybe it would have been better as a limited episode TV series. Some stunning set pieces, though.

I agree with you about the guy cast as Paul - he was the only one I had to think twice about. The rest of them seemed perfect right away, but I initially struggled to see him as Paul, although he eventually grew on me. I kept telling myself that Paul is only fifteen in the first novel, but having Chani point out that he looked "like a little boy" wasn't a smart move, IMO.

As for the ending, I felt the film stopped too abruptly, especially after the drama of that knife fight scene. They should've gotten to the Fremen stronghold or something more decisive. Just leaving them wandering in the desert seemed weird to me.

It did look amazing, though, and certain scenes - like Paul speaking with the guy watering the trees, or that first meeting with Stilgar - managed to let the actor get across how thoughtful and earnest Paul is. I dunno...I had to forgive that one casting choice because the rest was so impressive.

I watched Superman V Batman: Dawn Of Justice.

I liked it. It was good but not great - I enjoyed it for what it was but thought Batman going off and being all paranoid the way he did was sort of...clumsy. Even so, I enjoyed seeing it so there you go.

I watched Glengary Glen Ross (1992) and Seconds (1966).

For those of you who have never seen the film "Seconds" ...

And if you're unfamiliar with "Glengary Glen Ross," here is a trailer analysis by Irene Dunne...

I saw The Black Phone last week and Elvis yesterday. Both were quite good.

Quite.

Elvis in particular, along with The Batman and, of all things, Top Gun: Maverick (I'm not a big fan of the original or the subject matter), are this year's biggest reminders so far of just how fantastic the big screen experience can be.

Well, from being virtually a non-film watcher I've gone all-in in 2022.

Mrs. Simon and I have ordered a bunch of movies that should be arriving this week, among which are the new Fantastic Beasts one, Multiverse of Madness and Get Back. Should be interesting.

Last night we watched Conan the Barbarian - it was a restored high definition super-snazzy edition on blu-ray and I'd forgotten how much I loved this move when I saw it as an eleven year old. I don't think I'd seen it since I was about seventeen so I didn't recall a lot of details; I just remembered loving it.

Apart from the locations, the acting is awesome from everyone involved - okay, Arnie doesn't say much but he doesn't have to. His presence is impressive enough and the supporting cast, Sandahl Bergman especially, are incredible. When you have Max Von Sydow and James Earl Jones in something it's worth a look anyway, but everyone in the whole movie does a great job. I was glad I enjoyed it after all these years - the part where a drunken Conan punches out a camel made me laugh, and there were all sorts of great little moments scattered throughout the film.

Landis' review of Glengarry Glen Ross review/film was awesome.

I can’t believe that Seconds hasn’t been remade yet. Certainly we have plenty of actors today that would jump at it and most people have never seen the original. I read the novel when I was a teen and it still stays with me.

The commentary track featuring Arnold and John Milius is pure awesome.

For a Beatles fan of any stripe, Get Back is absolutely amazing.