Some movies watched in 2020

CaptainWacky

I want to smell dark matter
Since I'm vaguely trying to watch more movies in 2020 but they're not all on Netflix and legally I can only post about things that are on Netflix in the Netflix thread. Other people can post about things they've watched if they want!

Snowpiercer (2013) - It's the post apocalypic sci-fi thriller about the class system that develops on a crazy super train. It's completely weird and wild, sometimes super violent, sometimes cartoonish. Tilda Swinton does an accent. It's not very subtle with its message but there are some nice character twists towards the end. Chris Evans does a good job as the lead and there's strong support but it's mainly Tilda who will captivate you with her accent. It's visually arresting and I enjoyed it. But it's seven years old and you've probably watched it by now if you wanted to.
 

CaptainWacky

I want to smell dark matter
Fighting With My Family (2019) - Fun family wrestling comedy! Florence Pugh is excellent as real actual (now retired) wrestler Paige. The guy playing her brother was very good too whcih is just as important. Nick Frost and Lena Headey are a lot of fun as their parents. The Rock shows up as The Rock! It's a great cast and a solid story from director Stephen Merchant. NOW OBVIOUSLY it isn't entirely accurate to Paige's real life and as I watched wrestling all through that era (and still do! I have no life!) there were certainly times when I was thinking "well that never happened." Like it makes it looks as if she had like one match in NXT before being moved up to the main roster and nobody knew or liked her yet, but really she was NXT champion for a long time and highly popular there. BUT this doesn't matter at all really because the point of the movie is to tell an entertaining (and kind of true!) story and it definitely succeeds at that. GOOD FUN.

(I'm not expecting a sequel covering her broken neck, drug addiction, eating disorder, abusive relationship, leaked photos, etc! That wouldn't be as fun.)
 

CaptainWacky

I want to smell dark matter
Booksmart (2019) - I watched it because Olivia Wilde directed it and it got highly positive reviews. And it was good! A coming of age teen comedy (but with girls!) with two strong lead actresses and good writing. It was funny though I probably would have found it funnier if I was young. Really when I watch these types of movies I end up feeling "oh fuck I'm old" after every time. But I did like it! Billie Lourd is in it and made me laugh more than anyone else. All the (zany) characters had a bit of depth which elevated it beyond just being teenage silliness. The part where the two main characters turned into dolls didn't really work for me but otherwise it was good. It was good. A good movie. I liked it. It was good. Good.
 

CaptainWacky

I want to smell dark matter
Creed II (2018) - I liked the first Creed. It was like a Rocky movie but less silly. This is more of that, but not quite as good. Ryan Coogler is replaced as director by some other guy and it gets a bit dull in the middle as it follows the familiar Rocky formula and you just want to get through it to get to the fight. Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson are good leads though, and Stallone does he usual likable Rocky thing. The weirdest thing here is that it so heavily uses elements from Rocky IV, the silliest Rocky movie, with Ivan Drago's son being Creed's opponent here. Dolph Lundgren is back as the older Drago and his story is actually handled well (and there's a fun Brigitte Nielsen cameo!) but the son character isn't as interesting. It's a pretty good Rocky movie but if you don't like them then you won't like this.
 
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Mirah

I love you
I am watching the Shape of Water.
It is pretty good so far. I didn't think I would like it.
 

Loktar

Pinata Whacker
I watched X-Men: Dark Phoenix. I don't think it was as bad as Wacky had said,but they should have used the actress for Jean Grey from the first X-Men movies and de-aged her like they did with The Irishman.
 

CaptainWacky

I want to smell dark matter
I haven't seen it so any comments I made on quality were based on the trailer/stealing opinions from Youtubers.
 
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CaptainWacky

I want to smell dark matter
Toy Story 4 (2019) - The thing everyone thought when this was announced was "well 3 was a perfect ending, do we really need a fourth?" The answer is "no", but it's not bad. It's the weakest of the four, the pacing in the middle feels weird in the kind of way that makes me want to post "the pacing in the middle feels weird" but not go into details, but it's still Toy Story and it's still cute, good, and has emotional moments. I liked Forky's existential crisis and Keanu Reeves as the stuntman. The Gabby doll had a good arc. It's very Woody centric with a bit of Buzz just doing his regular stuff, so if you're just watching for Potato Head or something prepare to be disappointed! It's fine. It didn't have to be made but it doesn't hurt the franchise. If you like Toy Story you'll have watched it by now anyway.
 
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CaptainWacky

I want to smell dark matter
Thoroughbreds (2017) - Dark comedy thriller about an upper class teenager plotting to murder her stepfather with her sociopathic friend. I watched it because I've become interested in actress Anya Taylor-Joy and it got excellent reviews. It's very good! Taylor-Joy is great and pretty obviously going to be a huge star once they start making movies again. Olivia Cooke is also excellent in it. A lot of the movie is just the two girls talking and it's always compelling thanks to the writing and chemistry between them. Anthon Yelchin is in it too in his final role (just looked it up and they finished filming two weeks before he died) and he's great fun as a slimy drug dealer. It's pretty short (about 90 minutes) and very well directed with interesting use of sound. I enjoyed it!
 

CaptainWacky

I want to smell dark matter
Blockers (2018) - Comedy about three parents trying to stop their teenage daughters from having sex and learning lessions along the way! Much like Booksmart and probably all other comedies these days this is a very modern comedy that treat the teens like real people and doesn't demonise them for wanting to have sex (the parents are very clearly in the wrong from the start.) And that's good! I definitely prefer this type of stuff to the older fashioned gross-out teen comedies where everyone's a JOCK OR A NERD and lol gay people exist. Having said that there is some gross-out stuff here which feels a bit out of place compared to the sweeter stuff and I kind of wish maybe they'd left that out. But some of the more traiditional stuff is still funny and some of the sweeter stuff maybe gets a bit overdone so hey nothing's black and white not even my opinions, okay! John Cena's in it and maybe that was why I knew it existed (and I remember it getting fairly good reviews) and he's not really a proper actor yet but he is pretty funny. Leslie Mann (always excellent in these type of things) and the other guy get to carry most of the dialogue while Cena makes faces and stuff and that works. The girls playing the teen girls are all very good too and there's funny supporting characters. It's nost quite in the level of Booksmart but I enjoyed it on the whole.
 

CaptainWacky

I want to smell dark matter
I'll wait until the new Jumanji is on Netflix, Amazon or Disney+ or someone gives me a free copy. Welcome to the Jungle was good for what it was.
 

Loktar

Pinata Whacker
I'll wait until the new Jumanji is on Netflix, Amazon or Disney+ or someone gives me a free copy. Welcome to the Jungle was good for what it was.
I paid to watch Uncut Gems on Amazon Prime. It's coming on Netflix in May. Wish I had waited. The ending was a bit disappointing for me.
 

Mirah

I love you
Good to know. I will wait and watch it on Netflix.
Just watched Wendy.
I don't know what to think of it.
I might have to watch it again.
 

CaptainWacky

I want to smell dark matter
Colossal (2017) - It's the movie where Anne Hathaway turns into a Godzilla and it's a metaphor for her drinking (AT FIRST.) I remember watching the trailer for it a few years ago and it was made to look like a romantic comedy with Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis...it definitely isn't a romantic comedy. It's funny in places and is definitely about the relationship between the two of them but I don't want to get too deepy into spoilers. Hathaway and Sudeikis are both great as they respective characters and there's solid support from Dan Stevens and the guy who was Looking Glass in Watchmen. If you're watching just to see a giant monster fight a giant robot then you'll be disappointed as there isn't much of that and what there is isn't Pacific Rim or Godzilla level quality. But it's all about the two main characters so watch it for that and think of the giant monster and robot as a bonus. It does hit its metaphors a bit hard by the end and the villain character ends up kind of over the top, but I liked it.
 
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