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creekland
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I'm surprised to not find Dunkirk mentioned yet! We saw it last week and  liked it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-eMt3SrfFU

 

It is directed by Christopher Nolan so the timeline jumps around a bit (and is a bit confusing at first) but is really very well done and it gave me a good understanding of the fear, boredom, terror, etc. that the troops must have felt while waiting to be evacuated.

 

I think there should have been a little more explanation of what was actually happening  - if I hadn't already known what happened at Dunkirk (thank you Mrs. Miniver and many years of homeschooling :) ) I would have been confused. 

 

Not everyone in my group liked it. One of my young adult sons hated it and ranted for a good 10 minutes about all that he thought was wrong with the film. :)

 

It's PG-13 for war violence and a little language, no s&x or gore. My 10yo dd saw it with us and I didn't have any cringing moments. 

 

OH! and Harry Styles is in it, too, my daughters were excited to see him in this. :) As well as Kenneth Branagh, James Darcy, Tom Hardy, and Mark Rylance.

 

I hope to see it in the next two weeks. I just haven't had a chance, yet. Why did your young adult son hate it?

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I hope to see it in the next two weeks. I just haven't had a chance, yet. Why did your young adult son hate it?

 

He thought there was no storyline, not enough explanation of what was happening, he thought the acting was wooden, and there was no audience connection to the characters. 

 

I think he was expecting a regular war movie - you know, the kind with a group of four or five soldiers and each one is a stereotype - the bookish one, the smart aleck, the whiner, the gentle giant, the all-around good guy, the lovesick Romeo, etc. This movie doesn't have that and there is very little dialogue. 

 

I was surprised at how much this son disliked the movie because WWII was always his favorite era in history. But maybe because of that he couldn't let go and just enjoy the film?  

 

He was the exception - the rest of us liked it and I want to see it again, maybe in IMAX. I'm interested to hear what everyone else thinks of the movie! 

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"To me, most of it seemed forced. For instance, somewhere near the beginning the main character is listening to music with earbuds while he walks down the street and is dancing around and acting out the music as he walks. I think he was supposed to look cool, but I thought he looked a little goofy. The whole thing felt a little off to me and not believable."

 

Imo (& from stuff I've read), I think that's somewhat on purpose. Everything, everything is coordinated to the varying beats of the music. So the dialogue, the physical movements, the cuts between angles or scenes -- all of it is coordinated to the beat of the music chosen for that scene. Apparently the music was treated as a character & even scripted into the storyboards because it is such an integral part of the entire mode of storytelling in this movie.

 

Ds said he saw something where Kevin Spacey talked about how hard it was NOT to start dancing in every speaking scene because they rehearsed over & over saying things while music was blaring so they would say it in time/in sync with the music. And he had to speak "naturally" as well as move "naturally" (not dancing) when all he really wanted to do was break out & dance. :lol:

 

My ds refers to it as an action/heist musical. Lol. (And it sort-of is.)

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No.

 

After Hollywood, GA is (I think) the biggest spot in the US for filming & production. There are many movies filmed around here. Dd goes to a local university & there are various times throughout the year there are crews filming different things. I am guessing what you saw will be for a movie that comes out in 2018 (or later).

 

Thanks.  I thought it was way too close timing-wise, but then wondered - so figured it was worth asking.  When a movie comes out that has a scene from the aquarium in it, I want to know to give it consideration for watching.  I've no idea if the scene is an "aquarium" scene or a mere "tropical underwater" scene though.  We asked - and got nowhere.  I'm not sure why.  One would think they'd want to promote their film, but I guess not - esp not knowing if the scene makes it or gets cut I suppose.

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He thought there was no storyline, not enough explanation of what was happening, he thought the acting was wooden, and there was no audience connection to the characters. 

 

I think he was expecting a regular war movie - you know, the kind with a group of four or five soldiers and each one is a stereotype - the bookish one, the smart aleck, the whiner, the gentle giant, the all-around good guy, the lovesick Romeo, etc. This movie doesn't have that and there is very little dialogue. 

 

I was surprised at how much this son disliked the movie because WWII was always his favorite era in history. But maybe because of that he couldn't let go and just enjoy the film?  

 

He was the exception - the rest of us liked it and I want to see it again, maybe in IMAX. I'm interested to hear what everyone else thinks of the movie! 

 

Thanks for this.  I think our decision Tuesday is down to Dunkirk or Valerian.  We're letting middle son pick as it's his last one with us before returning to school, but I'll be sure to share this with him.  I suspect he'll want escapism more than realism, but I don't know for sure.

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Will be curious to hear comments on Valerian too. Dd really wants to see it & we probably will go soon.

 

I'm on the fence about Dunkirk for myself. I will sob during movies & am sure a war movie will make me sob. My dc don't think so, though, based on the style of storytelling in it. And I love Christopher Nolan's work (Inception is one of my top two movies). But I'm still not sure.

 

Will let you know when/if I hear about the GA Aquarium in a movie that's out. I know when they are filming on campus, they often as students not to tweet, etc... about the location or sets or anything. I think they want to avoid masses of people coming to gawk (or see big stars, if there are any). And, like you said, plenty of stuff that is filmed doesn't end up in the final version. It could be for a tv program too (or did it specifically say it was a movie?)....

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Could it have been Pitch Perfect 3? Looks like they were filming at the aquarium in Feb.

 

I've been seeing the trailers for that movie & it will be coming out at Thanksgiving or Christmas (can't remember which).

 

That's a possibility.  We saw a trailer for the film - not sure it fits hubby and I...  Middle son said he saw the first two and liked them, so maybe we'll use Netfix to catch up, then decide.

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That's a possibility.  We saw a trailer for the film - not sure it fits hubby and I...  Middle son said he saw the first two and liked them, so maybe we'll use Netfix to catch up, then decide.

 

I never saw the first ones either but I've heard they were quite funny. When my friend & I saw this preview for Pitch Perfect 3, we said we would go because we could use some silliness & laughs after the past year that both of us have had.

 

I had no idea it was filmed (or part of it was filmed) in Atlanta until now.

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I never saw the first ones either but I've heard they were quite funny. When my friend & I saw this preview for Pitch Perfect 3, we said we would go because we could use some silliness & laughs after the past year that both of us have had.

 

I had no idea it was filmed (or part of it was filmed) in Atlanta until now.

 

The timing works out perfectly for when we were there, but I'm super curious as to why they were advertising for extras (in general), but wouldn't tell us the name of the movie being filmed.  That just seems, uh, "odd" might be the most family friendly word I can think of.

 

It also has me wondering if the guy we talked with even knew the name of the movie himself or was just paid to move stuff around and make sure people didn't touch it and didn't care which movie it was.  

 

All sorts of "WTH" answers are entering my mind when it seems rather obvious that it wasn't exactly a secret if I had googled.  I never thought to google because we don't care about movies being filmed and just happened upon it while at the aquarium - piquing an interest.  Since the guy was pretty adamant about not sharing info, we figured that's the way it was with some films.  When people are filming around here (Gettysburg area) it's not a secret at all, but those are often war or period movies (not always).

 

Oh well.  I'll add the first one to our netflix queue sometime in the next couple of months and we'll see what we think.

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Saw Valerian today and we definitely liked it a lot (hubby, middle son, and I).  It's a Sci-Fi film and with that genre has sci-fi violence (not really tons of gore) and "future" things happening that couldn't happen today due to "lower level" technology, but since we like that sort of thing, that was fine by us.  Very little language issues (major language issues anyway) and only some implied lust scenes (along with a pole dance scene) - enough to be wary if one is super against those, but not enough to bother us at all.

 

We all loved not knowing "the story" as it kept the brain engaged figuring it out - what's happening (new sci-fi imaginative scenes), what's predicted, etc.  (Some is predictable, but not boring - to us anyway.)

 

I'm not quite so sure why it gets so few viewers/critics liking it (76% Google users like it, but only 57% Rotten Tomatoes audience), so middle son investigated.  According to him it seems those who didn't like it were confused by not knowing the story and/or thought it was too long.  I can see their line of thinking even if we didn't share it.  I like engaging my brain figuring things out, but if one wants more mindless entertainment, this one could get overwhelming I suspect - and that would make it seem long.  For us, time flies when our minds aren't wandering.  Another aspect folks didn't care for is the acting.  Perhaps.  We don't get hung up on that terribly often and there was nothing offensive about the acting for us, albeit the main character seemed a bit young for his part.

 

The story comes from a French comic series (he told us), so if one wanted a preview, it's possible to get it.

 

For references to other movies we liked or didn't so one can potentially gauge for themselves which lot they would fall into...  I didn't like Guardians of the Galaxy at all (first one - never watched the second) and don't even bother with Super Hero movies, except I watched - and mostly liked - Wonder Woman.  I like Star Trek, most of the Star Wars movies (the remake of the first one being an exception, but Rogue One was really good), and the Jurassic Park movies.

 

We like movies that are clean or mostly clean (language, potty humor, and sex), but don't mind violence as long as it doesn't focus on gore.  We like a sense of realism to it all too - given advances in technology and the knowledge that no one can actually aim their weapons when shooting at main characters.  Mythbuster moments are allowed, of course - it's a movie.  Unreasonable human behavior turns me off ("can you honestly think anyone would do that???" types of things).

 

Three thumbs up for Valerian here.  Glad we saw it!  (And seeing it in 3D was worth it too - nice special effects.)

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ds is begging me to take him to see The Emoji movie. I heard nothing but bad things about it. I told him to rent it when it comes out if he still wants to see it, but he said he doesn't want to wait that long. He has some money and says he just needs someone to go with him lol. He wants me to start using my shopkick points towards a fandango gift card lol.

 

Has anyone here been to that movie?

 

DS says that movie has an 8 on Rotten Tomatoes.   :huh:   That's pretty bad.  I did offer to take the kids to see it but they both gave me The Look and then told me about it's current score.  I expect it won't be in the theaters very long at all.

 

We went and saw Despicable Me 3 tonight for our $5 Tuesday.  We all enjoyed it and thought it was as fun as the other ones. There were a few minor things that made me raise my eyebrows, and I might want to preview before taking little ones (like the 4-8 crowd).  Just a few things that I wouldn't want my little one adding to their vocabulary or reenacting.   That being said, we were in a very full theater and there was a whole lot of laughter coming from the pint sized crowd throughout.  I especially loved the villian and his 80's soundtrack.   :lol:

 

Next week we'll probably go see Spiderman again.   There are quite a lot of R rated movies at our theaters right now- more than half- which seems a little unusual to me for the summer.  

Edited by Lady Marmalade
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Saw Dunkirk tonight.

 

I liked how they ended it. If you know your history, then you know how that episode in WWII ends. However, the phrase, "live to fight another day" came to mind, as you looked at the soldier's faces at the end. They were just 19/20 year old kids, but knew that they'd be sent back out to face the enemy again, and they didn't want to. I like that they did that in the movie. It made it more real that just a 'rah-rah' ending. The movie wasn't gory, but it did a good job of showing that war isn't just a bunch of Rambo's running around yelling with guns. War is a bunch of late teens/early twenties who just want to live.

 

The timeline of the movie is unconventional. Parts of the story covered events that took place over a week, parts took place over a day, and parts took place over an hour. The movie flits back and forth among those three timelines. By the end of the movie, all the timelines come together. I didn't find it hard to follow the timelines, and I didn't even know going in to the movie that it would be an issue. I was able to figure it out on my own and follow the story without trouble.

 

Just in case you didn't know, Dunkirk was a true story. I saw a little interview with a 97 year old man who was there when he was 20. He was pretty weepy after seeing the movie and said that the movie was exactly how it was at Dunkirk and that he'd lost a lot of buddies.

 

And I saw in the credits that they used boats that had actually been part of the Dunkirk evacuation in the 1940s in the movie.

 

I also liked that there was very little dialogue. It was there, but mostly just soldiers relaying information to each other. No bantering. It wasn't necessary. The movie was about feeling as if you were there. As if you were living it, but without gore. It felt very real and human as if you were a character in the movie, rather than you are are movie goer learning about the stories of the characters.

 

ETA: I used my earplugs when I watched this. I read a few reviews and people said it was LOUD. I wear earplugs for all the movies I see, so I couldn't tell that it was louder than usual, but apparently it was, so be prepared for that. They want you to feel like you're being fired on, so it's LOUD.

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Has anyone seen Dark Tower?  

 

I haven't read the books and am not likely to do so, but the trailer intrigues me.  I've heard it's short by current movie standards and that there is certain to be a sequel (or two or three).  I'm mostly curious if the movie has AN ending that satisfies or if it's a total cliffhanger and we're better off waiting for more before watching the first one.

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Has anyone seen Dark Tower?  

 

I haven't read the books and am not likely to do so, but the trailer intrigues me.  I've heard it's short by current movie standards and that there is certain to be a sequel (or two or three).  I'm mostly curious if the movie has AN ending that satisfies or if it's a total cliffhanger and we're better off waiting for more before watching the first one.

 

I have not read the books or seen the movie, but a friend who has does both was a bit disappointed in the movie. He said it felt cramped, like trying to put several books into one film. He said if you haven't read the books, you might enjoy the film, but you'd be missing pieces. 

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Ds and I saw Dunkirk the other day with one of our friends. I'm a big fan of Nolan movies, so certain aspects I knew I'd like. Our friend who is a fellow history major felt similarly to me. We had a modern European history class together this semester and on the last day of class we ended discussing concentration camps. We knew the stories, we knew most of what was taught, but we all walked out of class with a somberness that was palpable. I had to go around and get hugs from everyone to not break into tears. It was the same feeling in Dunkirk. 

 

Nolan makes it not an action movie, but action as a participatory event. We were sitting in the airplanes and on the boats and on the beach. Hans Zimmer's score is brilliant and you really don't hear it, it doesn't force the emotion say like the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack does. The timeline is not that confusing to follow and by the end you understand why it had to be presented in that manner. There are no real stars in the movie, even the presence of the Nolan regulars (Cillian Murphy & Tom Hardy) is played down. 

 

It is a film best seen on the big screen. I might end up going again. 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

A few book club friends & I went to see The Glass Castle movie last week. We read the book years & years ago. I really enjoyed the book/memoir, in spite of some of the truly horrific parts. The movie was also very good, imo. (Btw, in that still picture there, I had those.exact.same.earrings in the late 80s/early 90s. :lol:)

 

 

The ending of the movie actually shows some of Jeannette Walls & her family (not the actors). Our conversation after the movie was interesting. One person was very unforgiving of the parents in the movie (unlike Jeanette herself, who seems to have come to terms with her life) & didn't cry as I did during the movie because she found it hard to forgive the parents in general & the dad specifically. I think both the book & movie will elicit different responses based on each person's upbringing & their parents to a certain extent. We also talked about mental health issues affecting families & how Jeanette's family in particular dealt with life & how each of the children responded to the life she/he lived.

 

If you enjoyed The Glass Castle (the book or movie), I think you would also very much enjoy the book Half Broke Horses, Jeannette Walls' story of her maternal grandmother. It's a mix of truth & fictionalized truth, I suppose. When I read it, I liked it even more than The Glass Castle.

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A few book club friends & I went to see The Glass Castle movie last week. We read the book years & years ago. I really enjoyed the book/memoir, in spite of some of the truly horrific parts. The movie was also very good, imo. (Btw, in that still picture there, I had those.exact.same.earrings in the late 80s/early 90s. :lol:)

 

 

The ending of the movie actually shows some of Jeannette Walls & her family (not the actors). Our conversation after the movie was interesting. One person was very unforgiving of the parents in the movie (unlike Jeanette herself, who seems to have come to terms with her life) & didn't cry as I did during the movie because she found it hard to forgive the parents in general & the dad specifically. I think both the book & movie will elicit different responses based on each person's upbringing & their parents to a certain extent. We also talked about mental health issues affecting families & how Jeanette's family in particular dealt with life & how each of the children responded to the life she/he lived.

 

If you enjoyed The Glass Castle (the book or movie), I think you would also very much enjoy the book Half Broke Horses, Jeannette Walls' story of her maternal grandmother. It's a mix of truth & fictionalized truth, I suppose. When I read it, I liked it even more than The Glass Castle.

 

Thanks for that review, Stacia.  I loved the book and have been looking forward to seeing the movie.  I think it'll be my birthday option for tomorrow (even though movies cost more on Wednesdays than Tuesdays - we're not home today).

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We went and saw Logan Lucky yesterday for our $5 Tuesday.  I thought it was way better than what I was expecting.  It was promoted as being similar to Ocean's Eleven, and it definitely had that same heist vibe going where you don't really know everything that's going on until the end.   But on top of the fun heist stuff, it was sweet at times and quite funny at times.  I absolutely fell in love with Jimmy and Clyde just a few minutes into the movie.  Adam Driver and Channing Tatum pull off slow southern boys amazingly well, and then when Daniel Craig shows up, I about fell out of my seat.  They were great together.  

 

There were a few moments of language- one F bomb, and a few others, but not a lot at all, and as we were talking about it last night, there was very little violence (surprisingly) and no adult bedroom situations at all either.   It might get boring for younger ones at times, and there were a lot of different parts going that were a tiny bit confusing at times, but overall, I am looking forward to seeing it again. Now that we know how it ends and how things were pulled off, I think different parts of the movie will be even more fun.  

 

I had kind of braced myself for this one because after seeing the previews a few times, it looked like it had potential to be fun, but could head into really crass territory quickly, and it really didn't go there at all.   I was quite pleased with it.  The very end left a tiny bit of an open ending to potentially revisit the Logan family, and I am finding myself hoping that this movie does well and they proceed with a second one.  

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We went and saw Logan Lucky yesterday for our $5 Tuesday.  I thought it was way better than what I was expecting.  It was promoted as being similar to Ocean's Eleven, and it definitely had that same heist vibe going where you don't really know everything that's going on until the end.   But on top of the fun heist stuff, it was sweet at times and quite funny at times.  I absolutely fell in love with Jimmy and Clyde just a few minutes into the movie.  Adam Driver and Channing Tatum pull off slow southern boys amazingly well, and then when Daniel Craig shows up, I about fell out of my seat.  They were great together.  

 

There were a few moments of language- one F bomb, and a few others, but not a lot at all, and as we were talking about it last night, there was very little violence (surprisingly) and no adult bedroom situations at all either.   It might get boring for younger ones at times, and there were a lot of different parts going that were a tiny bit confusing at times, but overall, I am looking forward to seeing it again. Now that we know how it ends and how things were pulled off, I think different parts of the movie will be even more fun.  

 

I had kind of braced myself for this one because after seeing the previews a few times, it looked like it had potential to be fun, but could head into really crass territory quickly, and it really didn't go there at all.   I was quite pleased with it.  The very end left a tiny bit of an open ending to potentially revisit the Logan family, and I am finding myself hoping that this movie does well and they proceed with a second one.  

 

Thanks for the review! My dds and I were thinking of seeing a movie today and I hadn't considered this one because of the reasons you mentioned. 

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In the past three weeks, this is what I've seen on my Tightwad Tuesday nights:

 

Valerian: Didn't really like it because the dialogue was so predictable. I liked the rainbow world and the visual effects of pretty much everything, but the story just didn't quite sing to me. I was getting kinda bored. And the male lead didn't look like what his character was supposed to be like. I thought he looked like he was 17ish and still growing, but the character was supposed to be a tough 27-or-so-year-old ladies man. That was jarring.

 

Girls Trip: I rarely see R rated comedies, but I'd seen pretty much everything else in the theater and was going alone and was hoping that I'd manage to get a laugh. (Needed a laugh that day.). I didn't like this movie. It was raunchy and done in a way that wasn't even where you laugh and feel a little guilty for laughing at something raunchy. It was just raunchy, but I didn't find it funny. Not for me. I must remember not to break my no-R-rated-comedies rule. I just don't like them.

 

Logan Lucky: Saw this one last night. I hadn't seen any trailers and had no clue what it would be like. I was really surprised. I loved it. It was quirky and gentle and I laughed out loud a few times. Daniel Craig, who has been voted the sexiest man on the planet a few times, was SO unsexy in this film and I loved that! He tries to flirt with a woman and all he can come up with is a rhyme with her name, "Melly, Melly, Melly....hey--that rhymes with smelly!" That sums up his character. His accent was difficult for him to pull off though. A few times I could hear his normal accent coming through and it was a touch distracting, but his character was pretty fun. They also tried to make him unattractive at times. I know a bit about photography, and I know that if you use a certain kind of lens up close on a person, it's very, very unflattering to them. I could tell they were doing that with him. Some of his closeups were a little distorted from using the lens the wrong way. Now, it wasn't distorted where you could tell, unless you're into photography and have learned not to make your subjects look bad. I thought it was fun that they tried to make his character unattractive...and succeeded!

 

There was zero raunch in this movie. I didn't know this was by the Oceans 11 people. I didn't like the Ocean's movies and might have avoided this one had I known it was by the same people. I thought this was going to be an action film, but it was more of a light comedy with a bit of action thrown in, but not a lot. There were mostly a lot of character scenes with the characters talking and interacting, which I very much like in a movie.

 

 

 

On this coming Saturday morning, I'm heading 40 miles away to the closest theater near me that is re-releasing Terminator 2 in 3D. It was one of my all-time favorite movies when I was in high school, so I'm going to go back in time and relive my teenage-hood. I'm taking my son with me and I think we'll have a blast. :). I have a feeling that if the Terminator movies came out now I probably wouldn't much like them as a 44-year-old mom who has changed a lot in the past 25 years, but since I fell in love with them when I was young, I continue to love them.

Edited by Garga
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Thanks for the review! My dds and I were thinking of seeing a movie today and I hadn't considered this one because of the reasons you mentioned.

Logan Lucky wasn't crass in the slightest. Like the other poster said, there were a few bad words, but that was it.

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Logan Lucky wasn't crass in the slightest. Like the other poster said, there were a few bad words, but that was it.

 

 

We also saw Logan Lucky last weekend and really liked it. The next day I was trying to figure out why it was R. I guess it was for the few F-words. But the language really seemed so much less than other movies and I liked that there was very little sex or really even violence. I would be fine with my boys (ages 10 and 13 watching it) and I would probably even let my 7 year old watch it (although I don't think she would like it). 

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I saw Atomic Blond last weekend and enjoyed it.  It is like a female Bond movie soo there's that type of violence & adult scenes.  Lots of hand-to-hand violence and there is one lesbian sex scene.  Takes place during the fall of the Berlin Wall - so late 80s.  I am not familiar with the graphic novels they are based on.

 

I almost never go to the movies but this year I'd like to see Valerian, Dunkirk, Logan Lucky, Hitman's Bodyguard, and Jeremy Renner's movie Wind River.

 

For the less splashy and art-house and/or foreign movies I want to see:  Toilet, In This Corner of the World, Once Upon a Time - although I can only find it in 3D and I don't like those.. and finally The Big Sick.

 

I wonder how many of these I'll actually get to see in the theaters??  LOL.

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We also saw Logan Lucky last weekend and really liked it. The next day I was trying to figure out why it was R. I guess it was for the few F-words. But the language really seemed so much less than other movies and I liked that there was very little sex or really even violence. I would be fine with my boys (ages 10 and 13 watching it) and I would probably even let my 7 year old watch it (although I don't think she would like it). 

 

It's rated PG-13, not R.

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In the past three weeks, this is what I've seen on my Tightwad Tuesday nights:

 

 

 

Logan Lucky: Saw this one last night. I hadn't seen any trailers and had no clue what it would be like. I was really surprised. I loved it. It was quirky and gentle and I laughed out loud a few times. Daniel Craig, who has been voted the sexiest man on the planet a few times, was SO unsexy in this film and I loved that! 

 

 

 

 

Ha-ha, just reading this made me laugh again.  He really was un-sexy and unattractive wasn't he?   :lol:

 

The scenes with the inmates were also some of my favorites.  Lol. Now I really want to see it again! 

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We just got back from seeing The Glass Castle as my birthday present to myself - well - my family's to me I suppose, but I digress.

 

It was very, very well done for what I "like" in a movie based upon a book (and that book is a true story).  It's also a tear jerker for anyone raised in a dysfunctional family who can relate to "why" they still are family.  It even made my youngest son well up in tears at the end, and I've never seen him get tears for any movie in the past, but... he knows his grandpa and just finished a stint for the summer working with disadvantaged kids and heard many stories helping him relate.

 

If you're not from a dysfunctional family, both the book and the movie are well worth reading/watching to get a feel for what makes some folks who they are and to perhaps get some empathy for the kids involved (or as those kids turn into adults).

 

This is not a movie to go to in order to have a light, fun, night, but it's super worthy for discussion - esp for those with teens.

 

My youngest has plans to show the movie back at his college when he returns from his Study Abroad.  There is so much folks can learn about either "the other side" or "wow, I can relate to that" in this movie.

 

I'm very glad we watched it.  (I also really liked the book for similar reasons.)

 

 

We went and saw Logan Lucky yesterday for our $5 Tuesday.  I thought it was way better than what I was expecting.  It was promoted as being similar to Ocean's Eleven, and it definitely had that same heist vibe going where you don't really know everything that's going on until the end.   But on top of the fun heist stuff, it was sweet at times and quite funny at times.  I absolutely fell in love with Jimmy and Clyde just a few minutes into the movie.  Adam Driver and Channing Tatum pull off slow southern boys amazingly well, and then when Daniel Craig shows up, I about fell out of my seat.  They were great together.  

 

There were a few moments of language- one F bomb, and a few others, but not a lot at all, and as we were talking about it last night, there was very little violence (surprisingly) and no adult bedroom situations at all either.   It might get boring for younger ones at times, and there were a lot of different parts going that were a tiny bit confusing at times, but overall, I am looking forward to seeing it again. Now that we know how it ends and how things were pulled off, I think different parts of the movie will be even more fun.  

 

I had kind of braced myself for this one because after seeing the previews a few times, it looked like it had potential to be fun, but could head into really crass territory quickly, and it really didn't go there at all.   I was quite pleased with it.  The very end left a tiny bit of an open ending to potentially revisit the Logan family, and I am finding myself hoping that this movie does well and they proceed with a second one.  

 

Thanks for this review (and those who added to it afterward).  I now have this one on my list for "light, fun" movies for hubby and I since we'll be back to our empty nest after this weekend!

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Happy Birthday, creekland!

 

2liagdx.gif

 

Glad to hear you also enjoyed The Glass Castle. It seems that so many families have dysfunction, I would think it would resonate with many. I guess that was why I was surprised that one of the people I was with was not moved to tears, but more to anger. But, I can understand that response too, especially in light of some of the topics.

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Happy Birthday, creekland!

 

2liagdx.gif

 

Glad to hear you also enjoyed The Glass Castle. It seems that so many families have dysfunction, I would think it would resonate with many. I guess that was why I was surprised that one of the people I was with was not moved to tears, but more to anger. But, I can understand that response too, especially in light of some of the topics.

 

Thanks!  (It was a good birthday.  ;)  )

 

I think quite a few people get angry at mental health issues rather than trying to understand them.  Too often too we don't realize just how much what we do affects those in our lives.  There is no one correct way to raise children, but there are some ways that are proven to not be in their best interest (sink or swim anyone?).  Yet... tradition continues and/or the sins of the father (or mother) are continued in the children for oodles of generations.  We only "know" what we grow up with and too often that's all one knows so the cycle continues. Then add in things like abuse, fetal alcohol syndrome, drugs, etc.

 

It takes a strong person to break the cycle, and even then, it's tough (thinking of the opening scene where she wants a doggie bag).

 

I had no idea about some of the things going on in my dad's life until I went to college and studied Psychology.  I also know I still have some of his upbringing tendencies as "autopilot" if I don't actually stop and think, reasoning things out.  But it wasn't all bad and I won't cut him out of my life even if some can't understand "why."  I also can't explain "why" when folks ask me how I broke the cycle.  I have no idea TBH.  I only wish my sister had too... (and I won't cut her out of my life either).

 

It really annoys me when folks expect those in certain "far from ideal" situations should have to "keep up" with those who never had anything even remotely similar to deal with when it comes to educational opportunities, etc.  (That's not in the movie, but it comes to my mind anyway since I often hear how everything should be merit based alone.)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Saw Wind River last night. 

 

It's a serious movie.  It's about an FBI agent coming to an Indian Reservation to investigate a possible murder, so it's a mystery.  It also has the feel of a western.

 

From the reviews I read, some people didn't like it that the female FBI agent had to rely on a man to help her out.  Other people didn't like it that a white man was the one helping her and not the Native Americans.  So, basically people didn't like the white male hero in a story.  Why couldn't the female FBI agent have been the hero?  Why couldn't it have been an Arapahoe who did all the stuff the white man did?

 

It's rated R.  There are gun fight scenes with blood that mists a bit (not huge gore, just a mist of blood when the bullet hits), there are images of people frozen in the snow, there is a fight scene with lots of punches between strong men who aren't holding back, and there is a rape scene.  There is some language, but it didn't jump out at me a lot.

 

Some of the reviews made it sound like the violence was over the top. I didn't think it was.  Game of Thrones or the Walking Dead is much worse.  Some reviews went on and on about the rape scene.  I didn't find it to be over the top either.  I was prepared to avert my eyes during it, but it wasn't like that at all.  

 

I felt it was a middle-rated R level.  Not pushing the limits of what R could be, and not tame either, as if it just tipped into R.  Right in the middle.  

 

I didn't think I'd like it, but I did.  Sometimes I like a serious show about people dealing with serious issues.  There isn't much humor.  The people in the movie are stoic.  The subject is serious and the characters deal with the grief around death.  Also, it's a western, so there's an element of taking the law into your own hands  

 

But I liked it. Sometimes I get tired of fluff and plot holes and action just for action's sake, and like to see real people dealing with real issues.  I would recommend it if you are ok with R movies and feeling contemplative as you walk out of the theater.

 

 

 

Edited by Garga
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  • 2 weeks later...

My dc (older teens) & I went to see The Hitman's Bodyguard tonight. It's completely violent, profane, predictable, & still funny even so. If vapid action movies are your thing (esp. for summer) this is a good choice, as long as you don't mind curse words (which is actually part of a repeating & funny element of the storyline). You know, it's Samuel L. Jackson & Ryan Reynolds & they are totally riffing on some of their standard stuff.

 

Total popcorn movie that we thought was fun. But it would not be fun if you find any of that stuff offensive.

 

Relatively safe (edited) movie trailer:

 

 

Avoid this trailer (seriously) if curse words bother you (this is the unedited version like the movie):

 

 

Saw some promising movie previews tonight too, such as Molly's Game, American Made, & Kingsman: The Golden Circle. (Even though I didn't really like the first Kingsman that much overall -- other than Colin Firth being in it -- I may give this series another chance & go see this one.)

 

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90Ă‚ÂºF and humid for the first time this year?  I was thrilled to pull up the movie listings today and see Lego:Ninjago on the list, as all of the other movies are R rated except for Leap, which we don't really want to see.

 

Never mind the fact that I felt like the guy who sold me the tickets was judging me when he kind if sideways commented "Soooo 3 adults to see Lego:Ninjago?"   :glare:   I wanted to ask him if he thought IT was appropriate for my 13 year old son, but refrained and bought our tickets.  We were rewarded with a theater all to ourselves!  

 

It was great! If you thought the original Lego Movie was funny, this has the same kind of humor.  There was a somewhat serious story behind the Lego drama, but overall it was just a lot of fun.  I think that families could go see this one and all would have a good time.  Kids would love it because of the silliness, adults will love some of the humor that goes over the kids heads, and in the end you all walk out smiling and thinking that it was worth the price of the movie ticket.  Fun for all ages. 

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My teens went to see the new Kingsman movie tonight. Both said it was way too gory & had too much over-the-top violence. (And this is from teens who see & often like R-rated movies.)

 

My ds (who knows/understands my movie tastes well) said I would hate it. (He also said it would make me cry.) He said that the first 30 minutes were so gross that he thought about leaving. (This is similar to what I have always said about the first LotR movies -- when the Orcs appeared, they were so disgusting, I seriously considered walking out of the theater.) He also said that there were about six horrible scenes which, if they would have been removed, would have made the movie a good one. (This is from my kid who enjoyed the first Kingsman movie, even though -- imo -- it was way over the top on violence. I really didn't like the first one, but he did.)

 

My dd liked the movie ok but agreed that the violence & gore were too much.

 

Both dc said that Elton John (who apparently played himself in the movie) was great in every scene he was in.

 

Overall vote from them: a few scenes were good, Elton John was great, & the rest was too much gore/violence/general over-the-topness..... Not recommended.

 

I will definitely be skipping this one for myself.

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My teens went to see the new Kingsman movie tonight. Both said it was way too gory & had too much over-the-top violence. (And this is from teens who see & often like R-rated movies.)

 

My ds (who knows/understands my movie tastes well) said I would hate it. (He also said it would make me cry.) He said that the first 30 minutes were so gross that he thought about leaving. (This is similar to what I have always said about the first LotR movies -- when the Orcs appeared, they were so disgusting, I seriously considered walking out of the theater.) He also said that there were about six horrible scenes which, if they would have been removed, would have made the movie a good one. (This is from my kid who enjoyed the first Kingsman movie, even though -- imo -- it was way over the top on violence. I really didn't like the first one, but he did.)

 

My dd liked the movie ok but agreed that the violence & gore were too much.

 

Both dc said that Elton John (who apparently played himself in the movie) was great in every scene he was in.

 

Overall vote from them: a few scenes were good, Elton John was great, & the rest was too much gore/violence/general over-the-topness..... Not recommended.

 

I will definitely be skipping this one for myself.

We went to see it this weekend. I agree with your teens. Dh, who had really liked the first movie was really disappointed with this one.

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90Ă‚ÂºF and humid for the first time this year? I was thrilled to pull up the movie listings today and see Lego:Ninjago on the list, as all of the other movies are R rated except for Leap, which we don't really want to see.

 

Never mind the fact that I felt like the guy who sold me the tickets was judging me when he kind if sideways commented "Soooo 3 adults to see Lego:Ninjago?" :glare: I wanted to ask him if he thought IT was appropriate for my 13 year old son, but refrained and bought our tickets. We were rewarded with a theater all to ourselves!

 

It was great! If you thought the original Lego Movie was funny, this has the same kind of humor. There was a somewhat serious story behind the Lego drama, but overall it was just a lot of fun. I think that families could go see this one and all would have a good time. Kids would love it because of the silliness, adults will love some of the humor that goes over the kids heads, and in the end you all walk out smiling and thinking that it was worth the price of the movie ticket. Fun for all ages.

I... am going to (slightly) disagree on Lego Ninjago. I took my kids to see it with friends today. I loved the Lego Movie and Lego Batman. This seemed more geared to the kids who are familiar with the TV series (mine are), but it was enjoyable enough.

 

Until the end. As someone who grew up with an absent father I was pretty unhappy with the "save the bad dad's soul" moment. Most of the time, people's criticism of movies go way over my head and I'm left wondering, "Where did they get THAT idea from?" But I was immediately bothered by it. I haven't googled yet to see if anyone else felt the same.

 

My kids loved it though and can't wait to see it again.

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Oi! All the "R" rated movies lately and very little NOT rated "R" is annoying!

I'm SO ready for a nice escapism film - it's been TOO long!

DD is looking forward to MLP (My Little Pony) movie to come out in October.

I think we're all looking forward to seeing Thor: Ragnarok in November. It looks weirder than usual but we'll give it a chance.

Also being released in November "Justice League" which I know both of my kids want to see. I can probably stomach seeing that one

more than I can seeing LEGO: Ninjago. Told them they can go see that one. I'll pick them up when they're done.

 

In December is:

another Star Wars movie but considering the last two renditions, I think we're kinda done with it all. I know I am!

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. We all enjoyed the first Jumanji, so we'll probably go see this one.

and we are ALL definitely looking forward to seeing Psych, the Movie when it's released!

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Oi! All the "R" rated movies lately and very little NOT rated "R" is annoying!

I'm SO ready for a nice escapism film - it's been TOO long!

DD is looking forward to MLP (My Little Pony) movie to come out in October.

I think we're all looking forward to seeing Thor: Ragnarok in November. It looks weirder than usual but we'll give it a chance.

Also being released in November "Justice League" which I know both of my kids want to see. I can probably stomach seeing that one

more than I can seeing LEGO: Ninjago. Told them they can go see that one. I'll pick them up when they're done.

 

In December is:

another Star Wars movie but considering the last two renditions, I think we're kinda done with it all. I know I am!

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. We all enjoyed the first Jumanji, so we'll probably go see this one.

and we are ALL definitely looking forward to seeing Psych, the Movie when it's released!

 

We are very anxiously awaiting Thor:Ragnarok! November looks like a good month for us for movies.  

 

The new Jumanji looks fun too, and I think we have decided we want to see Daddy's Home 2.  We haven't actually seen the first one, but we'll watch that first and see.  The trailer looks like it should be good for a few laughs. 

 

We all really want to see Murder On The Orient Express, but they haven't given it a rating yet.  Crossing our fingers for PG-13!   

 

I also really want to see Wonder with Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson, but if I go, it will have to be a date night with the hubs because the kids aren't really interested.

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I... am going to (slightly) disagree on Lego Ninjago. I took my kids to see it with friends today. I loved the Lego Movie and Lego Batman. This seemed more geared to the kids who are familiar with the TV series (mine are), but it was enjoyable enough.

 

Until the end. As someone who grew up with an absent father I was pretty unhappy with the "save the bad dad's soul" moment. Most of the time, people's criticism of movies go way over my head and I'm left wondering, "Where did they get THAT idea from?" But I was immediately bothered by it. I haven't googled yet to see if anyone else felt the same.

 

My kids loved it though and can't wait to see it again.

 

You know, as I watched it, I DID have a thought that if a person had issues with their own absent father, that this movie did NOT do them any favors.  Kind of treated it more like a joke than an actual thing- even though it was an actual thing in the context of the movie.   

 

My only "raise the eyebrow" moment was when Dad mentioned (more than once) that his second set of arms was good for looking like he was making out with two people.  :glare:   I could totally see my 5 year old niece turning to her mom and asking very loudly "What's making out?"  Or I could see my 7 year old nephew emulating him and not knowing at all what he was actually emulating...

 

We've never seen the TV series- I honestly didn't know there was one.   

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Caution, slight spoilers:

 

You know, as I watched it, I DID have a thought that if a person had issues with their own absent father, that this movie did NOT do them any favors. Kind of treated it more like a joke than an actual thing- even though it was an actual thing in the context of the movie.

I really thought they were going to go with "Lloyd realized he isn't a loser because of his dad, he's a good person despite him", and his father would realize the same. That was the set up. But then the son apologizes to his father for his honest, candid thoughts about the his absence from Lloyd's life. I was a bit shocked - a child does not owe an absent (and evil) parent an apology for emotionally struggling with that situation! And there's nothing a child should have to do (or can do) to earn their father's attention and affection. Believe me, I've tried.

 

It was disappointing.

 

My only "raise the eyebrow" moment was when Dad mentioned (more than once) that his second set of arms was good for looking like he was making out with two people. :glare: I could totally see my 5 year old niece turning to her mom and asking very loudly "What's making out?" Or I could see my 7 year old nephew emulating him and not knowing at all what he was actually emulating...

LOL, my 9yo blushes and gets bent out of shape at any kind of kissing or joking about it in movies and always has. He was sitting with his brother and friends away from me so I have no idea how he reacted. Maybe I'll quote that part tomorrow and see if he runs out of the room.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is what I've seen since I last posted:

American Assassin--I have read the book series that this movie is based on. It's an R rated action/spy movie and I wasn't sure I'd like it, because I'm tired of long drawn out action movies with little plot. When you read a book, you can skim over the action scenes and get to the plot parts, but with a movie, you're stuck watching all the action scenes.

I enjoyed the movie very much. It's R rated, so there is action/spy movie blood and gore (gunshot wounds, a guy gets tortured). I sat there thinking, "Maybe I'm only enjoying it because I've read so many of the books and so the characters are endeared to me."

But when the movie ended, my movie-friend (I go with her every week to the movies) said she really liked it and she is also like me and doesn't usually go for the action/spy movies. We both realized that what made it better than most action movies was that the action scenes didn't last forever. A lot of action movies have a 10 minute sequence of non-stop action and it gets boring. I doze during long action scenes. But this one had shorter scenes--for instance, if they have to drive a car fast in the movie, it's under a minute of driving fast. The driving scene doesn't take forever. They drive fast, get where they're going, and the movie continues.

The only thing that confused me for a bit is that the lead character and one of the bad guys look a lot alike. There was a few minutes where I thought that our good-guy character was inside of a van when he wasn't. It was a different bearded/long-haired guy in the van.

The main character (Mitch Rapp) is an American James Bond. James Bond drinks a shaken martini while this guy would toss back a beer, but they both have genius-level intelligence, unwavering and almost disturbing determination to get the bad guy, fighting skills that are off the charts, and they both always (always, always) win in the end against impossible odds.

If you at all like action movies, then you'll probably like this one. But do be prepared for R-rated violence.

The Glass Castle
I enjoyed the movie. I'd have hated to live like that as a kid, and the parents weren't good at raising kids at all, but I did enjoy the movie. I can see where someone who was raised by people who were bad parents would react strongly to the movie, but my parents were steady and good at caring for me, so I could watch and enjoy the story without getting too invested in it.

Home Again
This was an ok movie. Not the best rom-com I've ever seen, but not horrible either. Just in the middle. If I only went out to the movies once in a while I'd have waited for this on DVD. But since I have my moviepass card now and it's just $10 a month for me to watch up to 30 movies a month, it was fun to see on the big screen. (Moviepass is $10 a month, and you can see one movie every 24 hours for free--as long as you've paid your $10 a month.). It was a simple story and very predictable and the characters weren't entirely believable, but for a couple of hours of suspended disbelief, it was fun. Go to a matinee if you want to see it, because it's not worth full price, but would make for a nice afternoon out with a friend.

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Three of us saw Blade Runner 2049 yesterday, and all three liked it. The one scifi expert among us loved it :)

 

 

DH and I really liked it too. 

 

I watched the original a few weeks ago, to be prepared to watch the new one. 

 

I haaaaaaaated the original.  I thought, "What is wrong with me?  This is supposed to be one of the 'greats' of sci-fi? I love sci-fi and I hated this movie."  I started reading reviews that people wrote about the first one.  Lots of people loved it, but a great deal of people haaaaaaated it, for the same reasons I did.

 

And now I don't know what to think of BR2049.  Did you guys see the first BR movie?  If so, what did you think about it?  Is BR2049 anything like the first one? 

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I watched the original a few weeks ago, to be prepared to watch the new one. 

 

I haaaaaaaated the original.  I thought, "What is wrong with me?  This is supposed to be one of the 'greats' of sci-fi? I love sci-fi and I hated this movie."  I started reading reviews that people wrote about the first one.  Lots of people loved it, but a great deal of people haaaaaaated it, for the same reasons I did.

 

And now I don't know what to think of BR2049.  Did you guys see the first BR movie?  If so, what did you think about it?  Is BR2049 anything like the first one? 

Well, my son is our resident sci-fi expert (both movies and books). He also haaaaaaaated the first Blade Runner and LOVED the new one. Make of that what you will...

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