What are you watching & why? (splain)

Not surprised that it sucked. The reviews were not kind. I'm trying to think of one movie which I really liked which was developed from a video game. I guess I liked "Assasion's Creed" the best, and probably half of that was because I have a crush 😍 on Marion Cotillard. 🤓

However, English though he may be, Tom Holland is still easily my favorite of the three actors who have played The Spiderman, all of whom appeared together in "Spiderman: No Way Home." Which while not terrific, was still a much better MultiVerse-based movie (IMO) than "Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness." At least the plot made a helluva lot more sense to me. And the direction was impressive. I watched it before the Doctor Strange movie, thinking it would help that movie make more sense to me. It didn't. But I give it a 7 / 10.
I did enjoy the nostalgia of Spiderman: No Way Home.

And yes, I definitely preferred the Tom Holland Spiderman movies to the Andrew Garfield Spiderman movies.I personally thought Tobey Maguire did a decent job as Spiderman, too.

I haven't seen the new Dr Strange movie yet. I'll wait until it hits Redbox and they send me another $1 off promo code 😂
 
Just watched tne documentary"Try Harder" that I had recorded from a telecast on PBS.

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It's a documentary about the pressures that seniors at Lowell High School (the nationally ranked academic HS located in San Francisco) experience in applying to college. Here's a link to the official synopsis of the film: Try Harder - Synopsis

Why did I watch it?

Because I attended Lowell and graduated from there in 1967 but which was a much different time then.

You can watch for free on PBS if you can find it. It was an "Independent Lens" broadcast or you can stream it for a fee on a site shown here.
 
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Just watched tne documentary"Try Harder" that I had recorded from a telecast on PBS.

WltXhyh.jpg


It's a documentary about the pressures that seniors at Lowell High School (the nationally ranked academic HS located in San Francisco) experience in applying to college. Here's a link to the official synopsis of the film: Try Harder - Synopsis

Why did I watch it?

Because I attended Lowell and graduated from there in 1967 but which was a much different time then.

You can watch for free on PBS if you can find it. It was an "Independent Lens" broadcast or you can stream it for a fee on a site shown here.
I'm disappointed in your review since it doesn't give any sense of whether you liked it or recommend it.
Try harder! 🤣
 
Watched and re-watched "The Hunt" (2020). Takes "The Most Dangerous Game" theme of humans-hunting-humans to a whole new level. Astonishing performance by lead Betty Gilpin, who gets down, dirty and bloody to survive a twisted game of weekend slaughter.

Released in 2020, it died at the box office, as there were no box offices open at the time. Caused a bit of a stir over its depiction of violence and its elites v. rednecks theme. Gory, bloody and relentless satire that is definitely worth watching. On Prime now.
 
Staircase on HBOMax. I know that its namesake is also on Netflix and that the HBO’s mini series about Michael Peterson’s case in NC got complaints from the French documentary maker who was following Peterson around during the real thing, but with the big name actors in HBO’s version, I’m thoroughly enjoying this one. Seeing Colin Firth as a NorthCarolinian is so strange!

If you have Apple TV+ both Severance and Slow Horses are great series. I tried to get into Essex Serpent a couple of times but just can’t accept Clair Dane in character as an English woman!
 
Posted this in another thread today and thought it should be posted here too.

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So, here's my take on "Power of the Dog."

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This movie is only a "western" in the sense that it's set in the west on a cattle ranch but it's really a movie about the personalities involved and their motives. So, until you care about what's going on w/these characters, it's easy to dismss the film as boring and of no merit.

That said, overall, I liked it and I can see why it was nominated for an Oscar for "Best Picture."

The cinematography and the sound track was excellent. There wasn't much dialog but the acting was very good at conveying the characters' emotions, even if the direction was sometimes confusing or inexplicable until later developments clarified what was going on.

Worth the time to watch it if you like films that focus on the "interpersonal" and the complexity of human emotions. But, there is a bit of "Brokeback Mountain" to this film and, if such themes bother you, this probably is NOT the movie for you.


SPOILERS AHEAD!

Phil and George are brothers who own/run a big ranch. Phil presents as a "real" cowboy/man and George as more gentrified. Phil dominates George and runs the ranch. George manages the business and wants to move up in social status which Phil wants no part of.

George meets and marries a widow named Rose, who also has a son. Phil immediately sees Rose as a threat to his relationship w/his brother and his control over the ranch. So, he demeans and belittles her, drivng her to drink, which he uses as a tool to try to break up Rose and George. Phil also dislikes Peter, Rose's son, but his relationship w/Peter changes over time.

Initially, he mistreats Peter because he appears weak and effeminate (quiet and introverted) but belittling Peter is also a way for him to do more damage to Rose. However, based on an obvious homoerotic subtext, the relationship between Phil and Peter changes and, while they do not have any sex, at least none that's shown, they share certain intimacies and secrets and Phil comes to have so much affection for Phil that he becomes his protector, teaches him to ride a horse and offers to braid a lasso for him out of cowhide but Peter's feelings for Phil are more complex.

According to Wiki and other sources, Peter was a medical student which is meant to explain why he carries a scapel and latex gloves w/him in his pack but how many medical students do that? Not many, I think.

In any event, one day while Peter is out riding alone he finds a dead cow that we later learn died of anthrax. Not sure if Peter already knows this or not. How would he w/o some way of testing the hide for disease? But, the cow dies for some reason and would be the source of some potentially deadly pathogens. So, he puts on his gloves, takes out his scalpel and cuts off some of the cow's hide, which he later gives to Phil to complete the lasso that Phil is making for him which ultimately causes Phil's death.

It is unclear at which point Peter decided to kill Phil but it seems obvious that's what he decided to do; apparently because of Phil's mistreatment of his mother and the negative effect it was having on her relationship w/George. We understand this when, in the final scene, Peter is standing alone at a window and watches his mother and George kiss in front of the house after burying Phil. So, with Phil dead, Peter wins and at least he believes that their lives now will be better all around.

It is also unclear whether Peter ever had any sexual feelings toward Phil or if Peter was just using Phil's feelings for him against Phil so that Peter could gain Phil's trust and then cause his death. On the other hand, there is no doubt that Phil had great affection for Peter. Phil's offer to make a a lasso for Peter was symbolic of that affection.

Phil became really distraught when Rose gave away some hides that were to be burned but the main reason he was upset was because he didn't have enough hide to finish the lasso for Peter w/o a least some of those hides.

This is where Peter offers to give Phil the anthrax laced hides to complete the lasso which Phil views as an act of affection, not realizing Peter's evil intent.

There's no way for Peter to have known that his mother was going to give away the hides, so he must have had the intention to give the infected hides to Peter before that occured. Phil had cut his hand ealier looking for a rabbit in a pile of wood and then soaked the infected hide in tanning solution which he stirred w/his cut hand as Peter blithely watched and said nothing as he did that.

Phil's feelings for Peter were demonstrated again when he urgently searched for Phil to give him the lasso that he finished, just before he was being driven to the doctor by his brother to treat his illness before he died. Peter was intentionally avoiding him at that moment which speaks volumes about his feelings about Phil.

So, if Peter had any affection for Phil, it was not equal to his love for his mother.
 
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It's not due to be released in theaters utnil Friday 5/27 but I also just watched a pirated copy of "Top Gun: Maverick" ( TG2).

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Going to try not to spoil it here (much). I think it was an excellent (near perfect IMO) sequel to "Top Gun" (TG1).

Maverick is still Maverick. Breaking rules and pissing off his superiors. There are numerous flashbacks to TG1 to address issues re: Goose that still haven't been resolved. Iceman has made an Admiral and has Maverick's back. Val Kilmer makes a cameo appearance w/Cruise. He has a new (and IMO better & more age appropriate love interest). The aerial scenes are better than in the 1st film because of better tech. Word is that the video of the crews in the cockpits pushing G's are REAL.

I look forward to watching the film in IMAX (after the buzz has died down and the crowds have thinned) where the aerial scenes should give me same kind of the stomach dropping feeling -- TIMES 10! -- that I felt when I watched the cars in "Bullitt" for the 1st time in a theater (nearly 45 years ago) launching off the hills in San Francisco during the major chase scene.

So, if you liked TG1, I'm sure you will also like TG2. At least I did. :)

BTW & FWIW, the following is the BEST review of TG2 that I've read so far: Why TG2 Is Better Than TG1.
 
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Just finished watching "Coda."

Zw


The winner of the 2022 Oscar for "Best Picture" and the "best" movie of the year that, still now, no one (except Apple+ subscribers) could watch w/o watching a pirated copy of it as I just did.

It is definitely the BEST movie of the 8 out of 10 movies nominated for "Best Picture" this year that I've seen so far.

Who knew a movie about a deaf family with a hearing daughter who can sing would be such a heart warming musical.

Watch it, if, when & where ever you can.
 
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It's not due to be released in theaters utnil Friday 5/27 but I also just watched a pirated copy of "Top Gun: Maverick" ( TG2).

dCZwaWQ9QXBp


Going to try not to spoil it here (much). I think it was an excellent (near perfect IMO) sequel to "Top Gun" (TG1).

Maverick is still Maverick. Breaking rules and pissing off his superiors. There are numerous flashbacks to TG1 to address issues re: Goose that still haven't been resolved. Iceman has made an Admiral and has Maverick's back. Val Kilmer makes a cameo appearance w/Cruise. He has a new (and IMO better & more age appropriate love interest). The aerial scenes are better than in the 1st film because of better tech. Word is that the video of the crews in the cockpits pushing G's are REAL.

I look forward to watching the film in IMAX (after the buzz has died down and the crowds have thinned) where the aerial scenes should give me same kind of the stomach dropping feeling -- TIMES 10! -- that I felt when I watched the cars in "Bullitt" for the 1st time in a theater (nearly 45 years ago) launching off the hills in San Francisco during the major chase scene.

So, if you liked TG1, I'm sure you will also like TG2. At least I did. :)
:thumbsup::cool: I’m going to watch tomorrow in a XD theater. I wanted IMAX, but my wife only likes to watch movies in recliner chairs now.😆
 
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