Recent Viewings, Part 2

[Rev. Powell]

FOUND: DNA tests reveal that three Chinese girls adopted by US families are cousins, and they travel to China together on a search for their birth parents. Good companion viewing with the more informative documentary ONE CHILD NATION, showing the fallout of China's disastrous population control policies on a purely emotional level. 3/5. On Netflix.

[lester1/2jr]

I'm watching https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4231140/ this Russian tv series. It's about Russian royal family palace intrigue. enjoyable so far

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Target Shoots First" (2000)
In the early 90s, a recent college grad, punk rocker and aspiring film maker named Chris Wilcha took a job at the Columbia House Music Club headquarters in NYC. Bringing his camera with him to work every day, he captures the schism between the marketing and creative departments and  eventually realizes that even though these people are in the business of selling music, they don't seem to really know much about it. This becomes especially clear as they try belatedly to jump on Nirvana and the "alternative" music wave. A dry, funny documentary about a weird time in the music business.

"So Wrong, They're Right" (1999)
A documentary ode to that most maligned of past music formats, the lowly 8 track tape. Two guys who run a fanzine devoted to 8 track collecting take off on a cross country road trip to meet up with fellow 8 track devotees and hoarders, who show off their favorite finds and discuss why they're all still  devoted to this dead format. I suppose if a sequel to this doc were filmed today, it would focus on CD collectors (and I'd gladly appear in it!)

[Rev. Powell]

TORN (2021): Max Lowe makes a documentary about birth father, the famous mountain-climber Alex Lowe, who died in an avalanche when he was young. The third mountain-climbing movie I've watched this year (!), this one largely eschews heart-pounding footage to focus explicitly on the effect that the risks climbers' take have on their loved ones. 3.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Don't Look Up" (2021)
While scanning the night sky, a pair of astronomers (Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence) discover a massive, planet killing comet that's on a collision course with Earth. With only six months left before it hits, their attempts to get the word out and mobilize a plan to save the planet are consistently blocked by government ineptitude, corporate agendas, and just plain ol' human greed and stupidity.
...sounds familiar, doesn't it?
This all-star, big budget satire plays like a combination of "Deep Impact" and "Idiocracy" (with a hit of "Dr. Strangelove") and seems to be Netflix's hip "message" movie of the moment -- they're not even trying to hide the parallels to our current world situation. I laughed a lot, but I also thought, "Damn, that's exactly how this would play out" quite often too. Your mileage may vary depending on which side of the aisle you're on.

[Rev. Powell]

MLK/FBI (2021): A film documenting the FBI's surveillance--which quickly tuned into harassment---of Martin Luther King, Jr. Thorough and credible journalistic documentary that explains the FBI's motives as charitably as possible and doesn't whitewash MLK's infidelities, while remaining a cautionary tale about government interference in the lives of private citizens (how can we countenance the FBI conducting a massive campaign to uncover adultery?). Available on Hulu. 3.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Mallrats" (1995)
Two losers (Jason Lee and Jeremy London) both get dumped by their girlfriends on the same day, so they head to the mall, where they plot an elaborate scheme to win them back with a little help from the notorious Jay and Silent Bob... and Stan "The Man" Lee.
Kevin Smith's first attempt at a "studio" film is less profane than "Clerks" but there's still lots of slap-sticky fun. "Mallrats" wasn't the box office hit everyone expected after the success of "Clerks," but Kev's career rebounded nicely with "Chasing Amy" and "Dogma," and "Mallrats" eventually garnered a well deserved cult following.

[Dr. Whom]

"Don't Look Up" (2021)
While scanning the night sky, a pair of astronomers (Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence) discover a massive, planet killing comet that's on a collision course with Earth. With only six months left before it hits, their attempts to get the word out and mobilize a plan to save the planet are consistently blocked by government ineptitude, corporate agendas, and just plain ol' human greed and stupidity.
...sounds familiar, doesn't it?
This all-star, big budget satire plays like a combination of "Deep Impact" and "Idiocracy" (with a hit of "Dr. Strangelove") and seems to be Netflix's hip "message" movie of the moment -- they're not even trying to hide the parallels to our current world situation. I laughed a lot, but I also thought, "Damn, that's exactly how this would play out" quite often too. Your mileage may vary depending on which side of the aisle you're on.

I found it overlong. The satirical bits were funny enough, but some of the other parts that were supposed to flesh out the characters, added nothing but length. I started picturing conversations among the production team like
- Timothée Chalamet wants to be in the movie
- Sure, we can fit him in somewhere

- Ariana Grande is in, but only if she gets to sing
- No problem, we can do that

[lester1/2jr]

I finished the first season of Ekaterina: the rise of Catherine the Great on tubi https://tubitv.com/series/300005819/ekaterina-the-rise-of-catherine-the-great?start=true&utm_source=google-feed&tracking=google-feed

It was ten episodes in part sponsored by Russia itself so it was I guess accurate or biased or something? but I liked it. Very different from stuff I usually watch in terms of content and also the format. There's a lot of sex and murder going on in the palace.

Catherine has a different name at first coming from Prussia. When she's chosen to be the bride she gets a new name and even her mom has to call her that. Everyone in the palace is concerned with starting new wars and their own glory and pleasure. No one thinks the slightest bit of the people they are supposedly ruling over. no lessons for today then obviously!

The best performance was probably Catherine's dips**t husband Peter, who is obviously in way over his head but manages to evoke some sympathy for his pathetic attempts to survive the whole thing and make a name for himself.


5/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Ambushers" (1967)
Dean Martin smirks, schmoozes, and martini's his way through another adventure as suave super agent Matt Helm. This time the "agency" sends him and a lovely female sidekick to Mexico to recover a stolen American space craft that can only be flown by a lady pilot, for some reason. As usual, the story is lame, the effects are cheap, and Dino is clearly pickled to the gills half the time, but the South of the Border scenery is nice, and Dean's constantly surrounded by pretty girls (those Sixties chicks, mama mia!) so I was entertained.

[Jim H]

Pig - Pretty enjoyable film, very solid Nicholas Cage performance.  A couple of interesting side characters.  Slow pacing in a good way.  Nicely shot.  I heard it called the anti-John Wick, and that's mostly apt I think.  The only person getting damaged by Cage it's psychological, but devastating.  It's not really deep, but it is well put together.  7/10.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Inventing David Geffen" (2012)
PBS "American Masters" documentary on the music and movie biz mogul. David started out managing 70s rock acts like Laura Nyro and the Eagles, established the iconic Asylum Records label, made movies like "Risky Business" and "Little Shop of Horrors," started his own record label imprint that gave the world Guns N Roses and Nirvana, and teamed up with Spielberg and Katzenberg to start the Dreamworks studio. Not a bad track record for one guy.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Stripes" (1981)
Two losers (Bill Murray and Harold Ramis) with no prospects decide to join the Army, and are assigned to a platoon full of fellow screw ups. They bumble through Basic Training together and eventually are sent to Europe on a special mission, which of course goes horribly wrong.
I hadn't seen this classic in a looooong time and wondered how well (or not) it had aged. Its "edge" has been dulled somewhat by the passage of time but there's still plenty of juvenile laughs in it.

[Rev. Powell]

MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES: The Mitchells--a young dinosaur nerd, a college-bound film nerd, an enabling mother nerd, and a survivalist nerd dad--must come together as a team to defeat the robot apocalypse. This movie for the YouTube/Snapchat generation has it all: family drama, a cross-eyed dog, contemporary technological satire, robot-fighting action, a giant demonic furby, subtle references to other movies, and multiple cat filters. This animated delight from Sony Pictures Animation, produced by the team behind THE LEGO MOVIE and INTO THE SPDERVERSE, might have been a big theatrical hit if the original theatrical release hadn't been cancelled due to Covid, leaving Netflix to snap it up instead. 4.5/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Found - dark and downbeat low budget horror movie that apparently came from a graphic novel. A kid opens a bowling ball bag in his brothers room and finds a human head instead of a ball. This sets the tone for the rest of the movie, which reminded me of Creepshow,  American Beauty, and my own dreams of looking at horror movie vhs cassettes in video stores.


3.75 / 5 this ain't no horror comedy thats for sure. check it out if you're in to serial killer stuff