What is the best recent movie you’ve seen.
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I am a baseball fan and appreciated the film as well. A couple things of interest: I actually saw the 2002 "Moneyball" Oakland As, in person, in April 2002, playing against the NY Yankees, which is my team. It was the only time I was ever in Oakland in my life. A few things that stand out in my mind about that game were that it was horribly cold, the Oakland Coliseum was (and is) decrepit and antiquated (built in 1966), and the big story line at that time was that Jason Giambi, a former star Oakland As player who the prior offseason had signed a huge free agent contract with the Yankees, was playing in Oakland as an opposing player and was not warmly greeted. It was much later in that season that the As improbably won 20 games in a row. The main reason for that winning streak was that at the time, the As had the best trio of young starting pitchers in baseball in Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito, the latter 2 of whom were lefties and it was very unusual to have two top notch lefthanded pitchers in the rotation. The movie does not focus on those 3 at all, because they were signed via traditional scouting methods as opposed to Moneyball strategies.
Some other notes: when the movie came out in 2011 or so, Art Howe, who was portrayed as an insubordinate, tradition-clinging dunce by the wonderful actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, was outraged by how he was portrayed in the film, feeling that his contribution to several 100 win seasons was undervalued. Scott Hattieberg has also criticized the film for inaccurately portraying Howe. Howe bitterly complained to any media that would listen that nobody contacted him in regards to the movie at all.
I thought that the movie very accurately portrayed David Justice. Prior to his less than stellar one year with the As, Justice was with the Yankees. Although he had a great year with the Yankees in 2000 and was a key factor in the NYY winning the World Series that season, he went downhill after that faster than any player I ever saw. I believe he set a record for strikeouts in the postseason in 2001, lost his power and was having all kinds of trouble making contact. I have seen some guys in baseball lose the ability to hit a fastball suddenly, although usually they were older than Justice was at the time, and it did not make sense to me as he had hit 40 HRs in 2000. There were whispers about his work ethic and off the field behaviors at the time.The movie in my mind confirmed what had long been suspected. 2002 was Justice's only season in Oakland and his last season as a MLB player.
After retiring from baseball Justice worked very briefly as a commentator on Yankees broadcasts, and then never returned. I never thought he was a particularly good analyst. In an interview in 2015, he claimed his acrimonious divorce from actress Halle Berry and rumors that he beat her severely harmed him personally and professionally:
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David Justice Opens Up about Divorce from Halle Berry, Abuse Rumors
The former MLB all-star denies rumors that he abused ex-wife Halle Berry. He says his tarnished reputation affected his marketability as a ballplayer.
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I read the book when it first came out in 2002/2003 and really enjoyed it as I find Michael Lewis a very good writer and able to get people not familiar with a subject deep into it.
After reading the book and seeing the movie when it came out I then realized and understand as to why some people are so passionate about the game of baseball.
After reading the book and seeing the movie when it came out I then realized and understand as to why some people are so passionate about the game of baseball.
I love old movies, especially on AMTRAK rides from North Jersey to Pennsylvania and back to visit my parents. AppleTV has some good ones.
Watched High Anxiety recently. Classic Mel Brooks.
JAWS was great summer viewing, especially for those of us who spend an inordinate amount of time at the Jersey shore.
Scary movies in Oct are fun. Just watched Audrey Rose and Rosemary’s Baby. Freaky movies but riveting. Recommended.
The new Elvis movie and Coal Miners Daughter are on my train schedule for tomorrow and Monday night. Maybe Where the Crawdads Sing or Bullet Train.
... this was a surprised gem of a movie. The ending was 'kinda' unexpected?!
All Quiet On The Western Front (2022)
This is the third remake of the Oscar-winning movie & best-selling book. It very well may be the best version yet. Think Saving Private Ryan & 1917 & you’ll get a good idea if what to expect. It’s a German made movie & will likely win best picture in the best foreign film at the next Academy Awards. I consider it a masterpiece by German director Edward Berger & he may very well get nominated for best director. It stars Felix Kammerer in the lead role as a desillusioned German soldier in WWI & features an all-star cast of German actors.
This war epic was produced by Netflix & was critically acclaimed at various film festivals including the most recent one in Toronto. It’s still playing in the movie theatres but was recently made available on Netflix. I watched it in english although it was originally made in german. There is also some french dialogue in parts of the movie when it involves french soldiers & politicians. In other words if you watch it in english the germans speak english & the french speak…french. I suppose you could always watch it in either french or german with subtitles but to be honest the dubbing in english was done extremely well. I actually believed for the entire movie that the film was first made in english until i did my usual post-movie research afterwards. I watched it again today & enjoyed it even more since I noticed many things in the movie that I hadn’t noticed the first time i watched it. I recommend watching it either in a movie theatre or on a large HD screen (mine is a 4K 80” screen) with a high-end home theatre sound system (preferably Dolby Atmos).
I love well-made movies!
This is the third remake of the Oscar-winning movie & best-selling book. It very well may be the best version yet. Think Saving Private Ryan & 1917 & you’ll get a good idea if what to expect. It’s a German made movie & will likely win best picture in the best foreign film at the next Academy Awards. I consider it a masterpiece by German director Edward Berger & he may very well get nominated for best director. It stars Felix Kammerer in the lead role as a desillusioned German soldier in WWI & features an all-star cast of German actors.
This war epic was produced by Netflix & was critically acclaimed at various film festivals including the most recent one in Toronto. It’s still playing in the movie theatres but was recently made available on Netflix. I watched it in english although it was originally made in german. There is also some french dialogue in parts of the movie when it involves french soldiers & politicians. In other words if you watch it in english the germans speak english & the french speak…french. I suppose you could always watch it in either french or german with subtitles but to be honest the dubbing in english was done extremely well. I actually believed for the entire movie that the film was first made in english until i did my usual post-movie research afterwards. I watched it again today & enjoyed it even more since I noticed many things in the movie that I hadn’t noticed the first time i watched it. I recommend watching it either in a movie theatre or on a large HD screen (mine is a 4K 80” screen) with a high-end home theatre sound system (preferably Dolby Atmos).
I love well-made movies!
Madrid, 1987 (trailer link posted below)
Excellent Spanish movie that wouldn't get made after MeToo went down. Why? It's basically an established author/journalist using his experience to bed a journalism mentee. He tries to bed her not with charm or smooth talking, but by simply taking advantage of her professional interest in him. Nonetheless, it has good dialogue and acting, plus a gorgeous young woman who is pretty much naked for essentially the entire movie.
Diana (2020)
Another Spain-based movie with plot incentive to keep its beautiful female star mostly undressed? I approve! The star is an escort who meets a businessman who becomes enamored with her. That's all I can say without spoiling it. Both movies are refreshing because unlike most Hollywood movies these days, neither is a retread of a movie you've seen before. Speaking of which,
MOVIE TO NOT SEE: Black Adam. 100% boring. No interesting dialogue, no fresh take on superhero movies, no gorgeous and naked Spanish women at all. I don't know how DC has seen a billion Marvel movies but still can't make a superhero movie as well as Marvel does.
Excellent Spanish movie that wouldn't get made after MeToo went down. Why? It's basically an established author/journalist using his experience to bed a journalism mentee. He tries to bed her not with charm or smooth talking, but by simply taking advantage of her professional interest in him. Nonetheless, it has good dialogue and acting, plus a gorgeous young woman who is pretty much naked for essentially the entire movie.
Diana (2020)
Another Spain-based movie with plot incentive to keep its beautiful female star mostly undressed? I approve! The star is an escort who meets a businessman who becomes enamored with her. That's all I can say without spoiling it. Both movies are refreshing because unlike most Hollywood movies these days, neither is a retread of a movie you've seen before. Speaking of which,
MOVIE TO NOT SEE: Black Adam. 100% boring. No interesting dialogue, no fresh take on superhero movies, no gorgeous and naked Spanish women at all. I don't know how DC has seen a billion Marvel movies but still can't make a superhero movie as well as Marvel does.
Watched a couple of Liam Neeson movies over the weekend:
Commuter (2018) - this one is on Prime. Neeson plays a commuter on a Metro North train running from New York City to Westchester County who becomes embroiled in a plot to find and kill someone on the train. The plot of this movie is very elliptical and it's extremely hard to figure out what exactly is going on and who is behind the conspiracy. Lots of action tries to and somewhat make up for the sketchy plot. Overall I found it to be an average Neeson film.
Memory (2022) - this is a recent release on Netflix in which Neeson plays an assassin who realizes he has early onset Alzheimer's Disease, and also grapples with a moral crisis as well as his mental health issues. He draws the line and refuses when asked to do a hit on a 13 year old girl who is a witness. This does not endear him to his employers, and the predictable result is a body count that explodes. I found this Neeson film much better than the Commuter and an above average Neeson film, although very consistent with the themes of revenge, nobility, and "honor among thieves" often coursing through most of Neeson's films.
Commuter (2018) - this one is on Prime. Neeson plays a commuter on a Metro North train running from New York City to Westchester County who becomes embroiled in a plot to find and kill someone on the train. The plot of this movie is very elliptical and it's extremely hard to figure out what exactly is going on and who is behind the conspiracy. Lots of action tries to and somewhat make up for the sketchy plot. Overall I found it to be an average Neeson film.
Memory (2022) - this is a recent release on Netflix in which Neeson plays an assassin who realizes he has early onset Alzheimer's Disease, and also grapples with a moral crisis as well as his mental health issues. He draws the line and refuses when asked to do a hit on a 13 year old girl who is a witness. This does not endear him to his employers, and the predictable result is a body count that explodes. I found this Neeson film much better than the Commuter and an above average Neeson film, although very consistent with the themes of revenge, nobility, and "honor among thieves" often coursing through most of Neeson's films.
Stand outs from this year:
1. Everything, Everywhere, All at once starring Michelle Yeoh. Great to see her having a career revival lately.
2. Top Gun Maverick. Not sure what kind of ritualistic blood sacrifices goes on at Scientology temples to make this happen but Tom Cruise keeps delivering engaging blockbusters whether it was in 1986 or 2022. DVD/Blu Ray worthy just for the behind the scenes content.
3. Northman : Not as good as other Eggers ventures like witch and lighthouse. Still enjoyed it. Waiting for some video editing wizard to make a Mashup of this movie set to the Zeppelin immigrant song on YouTube. Made for each other imo.
Yet to check out: All quiet on the western front
1. Everything, Everywhere, All at once starring Michelle Yeoh. Great to see her having a career revival lately.
2. Top Gun Maverick. Not sure what kind of ritualistic blood sacrifices goes on at Scientology temples to make this happen but Tom Cruise keeps delivering engaging blockbusters whether it was in 1986 or 2022. DVD/Blu Ray worthy just for the behind the scenes content.
3. Northman : Not as good as other Eggers ventures like witch and lighthouse. Still enjoyed it. Waiting for some video editing wizard to make a Mashup of this movie set to the Zeppelin immigrant song on YouTube. Made for each other imo.
Yet to check out: All quiet on the western front
One word to describe it. Brutal. Especially at the end when the French kept on even if there was the armistice signed for a cease fire. They brought in the tanks and flamethrowers. The beginning was messed up too regarding the uniforms.
I liked it very much. Another that i enjoyed watching last week was “Ready or Not”. Like “Barbarian” i also watched it on Disney+.
And to finish off my week i watched ‘The Night House’ which stars the always wonderful Rebecca Hall. It’s a suspense/thriller/mystery type of horror movie about a woman who moves into her cottage soon after her husband’s sudden & unexplained suicide. As the movie moves along she discovers that her husband had a lot of secrets & strange things start happening throughout the movie.
Just watched Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever in theatres.
Thought it was ok but for me, i found the movie too long at nearly 3 hours, plus not enough action scenes. I did think the main bad guy was cool. Namor, the Aztec warrior. As someone who's part Indigenous such as myself, I found him to be very cool and I could relate to him more.
Thought it was ok but for me, i found the movie too long at nearly 3 hours, plus not enough action scenes. I did think the main bad guy was cool. Namor, the Aztec warrior. As someone who's part Indigenous such as myself, I found him to be very cool and I could relate to him more.
I watched Glass Onion last night on Netflix. It's worth watching, although not as good as "Knives Out." It's somewhat amazing to me that a somewhat silly Beatles song could spark the idea for a sequel to "Knives Out", although the movie itself is somewhat silly although entertaining. I thought Janelle Monae added a lot to the film and I find her to be extremely attractive as well as a talented actress. Don't know anything about her music, but am quite familiar with the 2 Beatle songs featured in the movie including the title track:
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