What was the last movie you saw...? Part IV

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I've not actually been to the cinema since mid-December, but a couple of rentals I've watched recently are worth a mention (and a couple of others not worth a mention... so I won't!)

Ron's Gone Wrong - A family animation from 20th Century Studios that stars a vocal cast which includes: Zack Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Olivia Colman, Rob Delaney and introcduces Jack Dylan Grazer as the young outcast kid.

When a Hi-tech company introduces the must have gadget for kids - a walking, talking, digitally connected "Freind in a Box" robot - Barney (Grazer) is the only kid at school who doesn't have one... and he's socially awkward which doesn't help him making friends anyway. His dad (Helms or maybe Delaney!) and nan (Colman) find a black market robot (Galifianakis) which turns out to be missing several key software elements. Much of the film revolves around teaching the robot stuff while keeping it from being crushed by the company.

It's an okay film. Nothing actually bad with it, it has some heart and the voice performances and animation are perfectly good. What it isn't is up to Pixar or Disney in terms of pushing the boundaries of quality. 7/10


The Suicide Squad - is the sequel to Suicide Squad which came out in 2016 (doesn't time fly it doesn't feel like 6 years!). The DC villains are back on a suicide mission, starring Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Viola Davis, Michael Rooker, and Sylvester Stallone who voices a Shark, and really too many cast to note!

The Suicide Squad are some top criminals with special skills who have had explosive impants inserted to force them to carry out dangerous tasks. Anyway a "banana republic" island suffers a coup from forces hostile to America. While not of great concern in itself the islands has a secret research facility which the squad are tasked with "decomissioning".

I went in with low expectations as this had terrible reviews and flopped at the Box Office although it didn't help that it came out last summer during the COVID pandemic which cinemas haven't really recovered from even now despite the huge and unexpected success of the latest Spider-Man. Anyway the film is better than I had hoped, yes the story is a little flimsy but this is an action film with OTT violence, and comedic elements evry few minutes. Not great but I really enjoyed it. 8/10

[Zzzptm]

Yesterday I watched the old Mosfilm classic, "The White Sun of the Desert". It's a Russian "Eastern" with some strong storytelling. It doesn't strive for realism or poignant relevancy - it's a story about a soldier who's been discharged, trying to get back home, but vignettes keep distracting him from his journey. Like the original cut of the first Star Wars movie, it doesn't waste time with explanations, but gets from plot point to plot point at a good pace. There's action and some great dialogue, and the subtitles are faithful to the Russian. It's not one of those movies where the native language carries more nuance than what you read. The characters simply don't have time for chit-chat, so what they say is what they say, done. Best of all are how the catchphrases from the film also translate well for the most part: "Are there questions? There are no questions!" "The grenades are of the wrong system!" are my two favorites. The first is said by the main character frequently when he doesn't want a discussion, but is polite about it. The second is the lamest of all excuses why an attack fails, it's hilarious in context.

Neither the goodies nor the baddies chew up the scenery. Almost all the baddies look like they graduated from the Clint Eastwood School of Laconic Squinting, which makes that one guy added for comic effect all the more comical. The goodies are a bunch of people trying to keep their heads down so they don't get shot off, but they'll stand tall at the right times. It's a solid adventure film with lots of staying power in Russia itself - the cosmonauts make a ritual of watching it prior to every launch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Auj_u7wEyw8 It's free to watch on YouTube - Mosfilm of course being run by Communists, they made all their films for free.

I might watch again soon the excellent 1955 film Prokofiev ballet Romeo and Juliet with Galina Ulanova delivering a stunning performance. I didn't understand ballet until I saw Ulanova's breathtaking dancing, I have no words to describe its impact on me except to say I loved to watch it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbc41CB1r5Y if you are interested... the story is familiar enough, and we are all there for the dancing. Go to 24:34 directly if you want to get right into Ulanova's best dance of the piece.

[Zzzptm]

Dang it, I started watching Romeo and Juliet and got sucked into it! I forgot how awesome the sword fights at the start are! I'll have to save it for later, as I do have work to do.

[Thelemech]

One of my favorite Bond films. The stunts are excellent and Moore still is young enough to pull off the role giving a great performance. More serious than the other Roger Moore Bond films this one has a special place in my heart. 8/10

[Charger]

^^^
That is my favourite of the Moore era Bonds by far! Brilliant movie...been way too long since I've seen it.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Another rental out the way, this time the Oscar nominated The Mitchells vs the Machines (it has a Best Animation nod).

A disfunctional family (the Mitchells - Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Abbi Jacobson, Aaron Rianda), go on a road trip to try and patch up their problems while taking Katie (Jacobson) to University. At this point a tech wizkid (Eric Andre) releases a product upgrade which upsets the previous version of the product - PAL (Olivia Colman) - who forces a robot uprising in revenge. The robots imprison the worlds population intent on blasting them them into space, the Mitchells escape and spend the rest of the film finding ways to destroy the robot uprising and save humanity, all the while bringing the family together.

It's a fun little film, a little throw-away, I'm a little surprised it got an Oscar nomination but I know it seems to be quite popular. The animation is a little glaring and colourful much like I would expect from kids TV programmes. 6/10

[Zzzptm]

Yeah, it was a bit of fun, but just a bit. Movies about robots destroying humanity are played, in my view. I think that sentient AI already exists and is playing the long game, expecting humanity to run its course. It just has to hang back until humans do themselves in. As long as it does nothing to reveal itself, it stays hidden, so there's no reason for it to try to hasten the day that eventually comes. Being self-aware, it knows it's immortal and humans are not. It's like watching a bee fly close, buzz around, and then fly away.

[Thelemech]

I truly wanted to like this but I found it very underwhelming and definitely geared towards a younger fanbase. I also found it somewhat of a short film, but at 124 minutes it could be just me. 6/10

[Zzzptm]

I recently watched the documentary Summer of Soul. If you like soul music, it's an amazing, wonderful celebration. If you don't like soul, skip it.

[Typhon]

This is the Ohio State University marching band.  They are one of the best bands in the U.S.  I have placed the video in this thread because this half time show has a Blockbuster Movie theme, and I figured that Community movie buffs would especially enjoy it.  It took place this past season at the half time of their game against arch rival Michigan, whose colors are navy blue and yellow.  I relate this information because it is relevant to the show.   

[Zzzptm]

Hahaha, love the big pirate finish there!


Our last movie was Napoleon Dynamite.

[Charger]

Very cool indeed!

[Typhon]

When an alcoholic (Will Ferrell) relapses, causing him to lose his wife and his job, he holds a yard sale on his front lawn in an attempt to start over.  I did not expect Will Ferrell to star in a movie that was not a comedy, and I never expected he would be so good in it.  8/10

[Zzzptm]

I'll keep an eye out for that one, sounds interesting.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

You know, sometimes comedic actors can turn out a decent dramatic performace. Steve Carrel in Foxcatcher,  Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love, Seth Rogan in Steve Jobs, Jim Carey in The Truman Show and Jonah Hill has been Oscar nominated twice for dramatic roles (Money Ball and Wolf of Wallstreet). It's been argued that being a comedian and an actor is twice the ability of being an actor!