Went to see JoJo Rabbit expecting funny Blazing Saddles -type irreverent comedy, and promptly got destroyed by its serious emotional bits. It’s really good and Taika Waititi is a genius.
But the big one recently was Portrait of a Lady on Fire. I’ve probably seen thousands of movies at this point, and this went straight into my top 3 of all time. It might be number one. Made me fall in love with cinema again. It’s absolutely incredible.
JoJo Rabbit is very good. We had an amazing 2019 for movies. I think Scarlett Johansson was great, her talent did really show. You have a bit of everything in that movie, and as Taika said in his Oscar acceptance speech, thanks to his mother for reading the book and making him get in contact with the author (that I believe also lives in NZ) to get the movie rights.
I managed four theatre viewings as my group of friends kept catching up with people who hadn’t seen it.
I tend to watch Fifth Element to prepare for GMing. Something about the pacing to have Zorg and Corbin never meet helps me get in the right headspace. Also all the bit parts like the cops getting fast food and the ground crew passing a joint around remind me to work on small personality cues.
As a crossover between this and the parenting thread I have now watched all three of the DC SuperHero Girls movies available on Amazon. Hero of the Year, Intergalactic Games, and Legends of Atlantis.
If you want to gamble on the chance that your 6 year old daughter may also yell “yay Big Barda!”, ask you to name the Female Furies, and inquire why Crazy Quilt jokes about heroes wearing their underwear on the outside; then this is good odds.
I never dreamed my daughter would quiz me about the Metal Men but destiny prepared me for it so I’m really enjoying it.
Also Netflix now streams Community and a friend had recommended it some time ago and I’m enjoying it quite a bit too. The spotlighted awareness of tropes in serial entertainment is kind of hypnotic.
Pi is easily his worst movie. Well, maybe Noah. He is a bit hit or miss, though, as are most directors. But, if you only watch one more of his, I’d definitely recommend The Wrestler. I think it can be argued it’s actually his best.
Community is so good, but basically dies once Donald Glover leaves. I think the show only made it another 1.5, maybe a full 2 seasons without him. At this point, though, when my wife rewatches it, she just stops at that point.
I thought the first two seasons of Community were brilliant and quickly lost interest after that.
Moon is such a good film! But… Kevin Spacey. Bah. Can you love the art, but hate the artist?
In fact all the films in Duncan Jones’ Mooniverse are excellent; Moon, Source Code and Mute are all good films.
Mute is probably the most divisive, but I found it enthralling. Well worth spending the time watching, and it’s on Netflix!
2001 - god, how I hate that film. Don’t get me wrong - it’s a masterpiece - but I’m glad I’ve only watched it twice, and won’t be bothering again.
So many good recommendations on this thread, it’s hard to keep up!
On the subject of mutliple watches…
We went to see Ghostbusters 2 nine times at the cinema. NINE. And that’s Ghostbusters 2, not 1. What can I say? My girlfriend loved it, and I loved her!
Moon is lovely. Surely someone can do a non spacey edit? I’m pretty sure Majel Barrett recorded her whole voice print before her death.
Yes. A lot of art is by fucked up people.
Maybe I can ask for recommendations. I have a tricky family to entertain. There are six of us, all over 16, but with rather different preferences. Some prefer Disney, some prefer Marvel, some prefer action and some (well, one) prefer period drama. We have a weekly lockdown film night, and as you can imagine there’s a bit of difficulty keeping everyone happy.
We have all managed to enjoy The Martian simultaneously. Drama, but not too dramatic. A happy ending. Not too weird. Not too childish. Other films that have worked: Hunger Games, Harry Potter, The Incredibles. Can you recommend other films that might work similarly? This is more a quest for a lowest common denominator than necessarily really good films, I realise, but I’ve tried making everyone watch Spinal Tap and it didn’t end well. They didn’t even enjoy Napoleon Dynamite, so I’ve lost credibility as a recommender.
If you liked the incredibles, but also want a period film, can I wholeheartedly recommend The Iron Giant
What about some good old classics like Indiana Jones or Star Wars?
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse might bridge that Marvel/Disney crowd, and has the bonus of being an incredibly good film.
Indiana Jones turned out to be surprisingly bad on re-watching. Star Wars is a winner, though.
Excellent film - and my son’s choice recently. My youngest left in the middle, and my wife didn’t even watch the start. Tough crowd.
Ouch. Tough crowd indeed.
There are two categories of “good movies” in my mind. There’s “good cinema,” which represent an approach to consuming and appreciating movies based on their ability to leverage the medium to convey a story and characters in a way that would be impossible in another medium (such as literature or television or stage play). I don’t really put any time or effort into this sort of appreciation any more.
And then there’s “good flicks” which are movies that are not ‘good cinema’ but are enjoyable and I don’t feel as though I’ve wasted my time. Indiana Jones trilogy is definitely in this category and I still adore the movies. I’ve not kept up with MCU, but I believe those may live firmly in this category… but I am often surprised when seemingly “non-art” (i.e. business) projects come out of Hollywood and flirt with the former category.
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec? If you don’t mind subtitles …
Brotherhood of the Wolf might fit that too, but, I don’t know if it’s on streaming anywhere.
Funny that, I think that, taking away the epic mythology, the Indiana Jones movies have aged better than Star Wars…
We watched Star Wars last night (obviously, given the date): I love that movie, but I can see how flawed it is in so many levels. Still, Harrison Ford with his humor, and the epic setting carry it through.
On the other hand, Last Crusade works in every level. Great epic adventure, amazing cast, and so, so funny. I will probably watch it with the family this weekend, they love it.
The Iron Giant is a masterpiece. The advertising was bad, and not enough people saw it, and that’s a shame. It also has an awesome message about morality, nobility and sacrifice which makes the modern superman movies look like stinky-trash-garbage in comparison.