Recent Movies You Saw

[newmodelarmy]

Well I finally saw Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

I've been a big fan of all the MI movies but this one just didn't do it for me. It's my least favorite by far. It was way too long and the story was so convoluted. They made an attempt to tie in many of the previous MI movies, even bringing back some minor characters. There was more flashbacks than a polaroid camera. The airplane scene at the end was impressive but by that time I was exhausted and ready to put on a bow on this series.

Thanks for the warning. The first part was not much fun. I will avoid the second part as well

I enjoyed part 1 but it was definitely a step down from the previous movie, "Fallout". I thought Fallout was such a great movie and easily the best MI movie IMHO. I will have to watch the Final Reckoning for closure but thanks for the warning!

[Zack Burner]

After an exciting Thanksgiving movie, decided to settle on what I call a "lazy weekend movie" and my choice was the dark comedy "Throw Momma From the Train" (1987) Billy Crystal plays Larry Donner a writer suffering from writer's block due to growing resentment of his ex-wife stealing his book as her own, and plans to off her, yet at the same time teaches aspiring if untalented writers at college. None more prominent than Owen Lift (Danny Devito who doubles as the director) who also has a problem: his domineering, paranoid mother (masterfully played by Anne Ramses in her final performance). After persuading Owen to see "Strangers on a Train" Owen decides to help off Larry's ex-wife, provided that Owen can convince a reluctant Larry to off his mother. Things however don't go according to plan, in fact with some funny shenanigans and lines. Among my favorite are when Owen has Larry over Momma comes in introduced him as "Cousin Paddy" which Momma replies: "You don't have a Cousin Paddy!" (turns to Larry) "You lied!" (donks him on the head with a frying pan) or this "What a dream! Louis Armstrong was trying to kill me!" (after Owen blew a trumpet in her ear). While not a favorite, a guilty pleasure of mine, Billy Crystal and Danny Devito have good chemistry together, though Devito's direction is uneven.

[DaHeckIzDat]

I watched Peter Pan Goes Wrong on YouTube the other day. I've been feeling really down lately, and that got me laughing like an idiot. Definitely recommend. It's free with ads, but I didn't even get any ads.

[velcrozombie]

Hadn't watched anything with Humphrey Bogart in a while so I watched In a Lonely Place (1950) for the first time. It's rare I get that emotionally invested in a film and I've never seen him so raw and vulnerable. My first Nicholas Ray film as well so I've got some watching to do.

[VideoGameCritic]

Watched Scrooged (1988) last night for the first time.

This movie is chock-full of 80s pop culture references. It had old products like Tab soda. It featured icons like Mary Lou Retton. It had the Solid Gold Dancers for crying out loud!!

The cast was stacked. Bill Murray. Karen Allen. Robert Mitchum. John Forsythe. Bobcast Goldthwait. The list goes on.

The first 10 minutes (which feature parodies of holiday specials) are hilarious, but after that the film is a snore. It's just not funny. Maybe they thought Murray could carry it with his SNL lounge singer routine? This movie suffered the same fate as Ghostbusters 2.

[matmico399]

Critic you need to 'put a little love in your heart'.

[VideoGameCritic]

Critic you need to 'put a little love in your heart'.

The most insulting part about this sing-along at the end of Scrooged was them assuming there would still be people left in the audience by the end!

[matmico399]

After an exciting Thanksgiving movie, decided to settle on what I call a "lazy weekend movie" and my choice was the dark comedy "Throw Momma From the Train" (1987) Billy Crystal plays Larry Donner a writer suffering from writer's block due to growing resentment of his ex-wife stealing his book as her own, and plans to off her, yet at the same time teaches aspiring if untalented writers at college. None more prominent than Owen Lift (Danny Devito who doubles as the director) who also has a problem: his domineering, paranoid mother (masterfully played by Anne Ramses in her final performance). After persuading Owen to see "Strangers on a Train" Owen decides to help off Larry's ex-wife, provided that Owen can convince a reluctant Larry to off his mother. Things however don't go according to plan, in fact with some funny shenanigans and lines. Among my favorite are when Owen has Larry over Momma comes in introduced him as "Cousin Paddy" which Momma replies: "You don't have a Cousin Paddy!" (turns to Larry) "You lied!" (donks him on the head with a frying pan) or this "What a dream! Louis Armstrong was trying to kill me!" (after Owen blew a trumpet in her ear). While not a favorite, a guilty pleasure of mine, Billy Crystal and Danny Devito have good chemistry together, though Devito's direction is uneven.

"Ya clumsy poop"

[mbd36]

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

This stars Dick Van Dyke and was so obviously made in order to cash in on the success of Mary Poppins. It's _long_, it's slow and it's padded out with a ton of musical numbers, and the plot doesn't really kick in until late in the movie.

Yet it's so dang weird that I love it, and keeps getting weirder and weirder as it goes. Like a technicolor fever dream of a children's musical. I wonder how many saw this as kids and wondered if they dreamed it. Some of the musical numbers are great as well, with impressive dancing and choreography.

9/10

[Zack Burner]

Not a likely pick for around Christmas time but it works: "Trading Places" (1983) featuring Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Paul Gleason, Denholm Elliot, Ralph Bellamy, and Don Ameche, plus a cameo of Frank Oz as a police officer. Two greedy stockbrokers decide to do a little "experiment" of switching their wealthy protegee Winthorp (Aykroyd) with con artist Valentine, putting the former out of his job and lifestyle putting the latter in his place. Everything seems all fine and dandy for Valentine, until he overhears the stockbrokers plan and decides to track down Winthorp so they can get even with the double-crossers, in the market that is....A nice modern rendition of the classic story "The Prince and the Pauper" though many parts of it are tragically dated, including some eyebrow raising racial humor that doesn't stand the test of time. Another negative is that the laughs are uneven, though the best thing about this is the chemistry between Murphy and Aykroyd, and the funniest scene involves a (poorly animatronic) gorilla where the equally double crossing security man (Gleason) gets KO'ed, then gagged and put into a gorilla suit, and then two drunken custodians have some fun one claiming: "The black one is a female!".