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We saw Chappaquiddick last night. I have a fear of bridges, so I'm not sure why I chose it. Interesting to see Ed Helms in a dramatic role. He was good in it. 

Tonight we saw A Quiet Place. I'm not big on that genre, but it was good. Odd and some things didn't make sense, but John Krasinski does no wrong for me. Ever. And I loved the boy in it who was the main character's friend in Wonder. The girl was good too. I say we saw it tonight, but really it was late afternoon. I can't see something that will scare me late at night and certainly not on the big screen at night. 

If we see another movie this weekend (we're in the free zone w/ our Movie Passes) it will probably be The Miracle Season.

 

 

Edited by Angie in VA
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I took the 15 yo to see Tomb Raider. It was a good action movie. The characters did some pretty stupid things but it was a movie.

DH & I saw A Quiet Place. I was thrilled to have a not rated R scary movie. Within the first 5 minutes my DH turned to me & said that our family would have died right away because our kids are so loud. LOL!

I got together with a couple of friends and rented The Book of Henry. It was good but the trailer is deceiving.

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Last night, we rented I Kill Giants for family movie night. I definitely wouldn't recommend it for younger children, but I absolutely loved it for my family. For reference, my kids are 15, 13, and almost 12. It's...I can't describe it. It's the first time in a long time I've not figured out the ending, mostly because we went into it on the knowledge that it was produced by the same folks who did Harry Potter. LOL For maximum enjoyment, I'd avoid spoilers, personally.

Ooooh, the NYTimes has a great review that doesn't give away too much. 

Also, I put it here in the "current" thread because apparently it's in theaters and available for rent simultaneously.

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My friend who goes with me to the movies every Tuesday night didn't want to see A Quiet Place, so I went with my ds15 today.  (My friend has small children and can't stand watching movies where small children are in any kind of danger. I was that way, too, when my kids were still small.)

It was a lot of fun.  My son said it reminded him of Cloverfield--the same level of suspense and "horror".  So, if you liked Cloverfield and didn't find it too scary, then you'll like A Quiet Place and not find it too scary.  It's listed as horror because it's a suspenseful monster movie, but not slasher-horror or super creepy spirit/demon possession.  Monster movies are ok for me.

It was suspenseful throughout and was just fun to watch.  This is the sort of movie that I would say it's worth seeing in the theater and not waiting for it to come out on video.  I think it needs to be seen on a big screen in a quiet theater full of people.  My son was literally on the edge of his seat for parts of the movie.  He claims it's because his back was getting sweaty and I was like, "Mmhm. Yeah, right."  I think it was a little mixture of both for him: sweaty back, suspenseful movie.

The movie is very quiet with very little spoken dialog.  Most of the time, the characters sign to each other with subtitles.  So, don't bring crunchy snacks and open the packaging on your candy before the movies starts, or everyone will hear all your rustling and chomping.

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I have to say that I clapped eyes on a single poster for A Wrinkle in Time and could sense that I wouldn't like the movie.  The costumes were too showy and not at all how I pictured the characters dressing.  From what everyone's said, I think it's probably a good kid movie--key word being "kid".  I think a lot of adults thought it would be a kid/adult movie...but it's just for kids.  And so the adults, not being the targeted audience, just aren't enjoying it.  Which is a big shame.  And it confirms my first impression of it from seeing that first poster--it's a kid movie.  I'm bored with kid movies now that I've had kids of my own and had to sit through so many of them.

And I'm suspicious of Ready Player One.  When my friends giddily told me, "It has all sorts of references to games from the 80s and stuff!" then I felt it would probably be cheesy and rely on sentiment rather than good storytelling.  I'm sort of getting that sense from the reviews--the book was good, but the movie isn't relying on good storytelling.

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2 hours ago, Garga said:

My friend who goes with me to the movies every Tuesday night didn't want to see A Quiet Place, so I went with my ds15 today.  (My friend has small children and can't stand watching movies where small children are in any kind of danger. I was that way, too, when my kids were still small.)

It was a lot of fun.  My son said it reminded him of Cloverfield--the same level of suspense and "horror".  So, if you liked Cloverfield and didn't find it too scary, then you'll like A Quiet Place and not find it too scary.  It's listed as horror because it's a suspenseful monster movie, but not slasher-horror or super creepy spirit/demon possession.  Monster movies are ok for me.

It was suspenseful throughout and was just fun to watch.  This is the sort of movie that I would say it's worth seeing in the theater and not waiting for it to come out on video.  I think it needs to be seen on a big screen in a quiet theater full of people.  My son was literally on the edge of his seat for parts of the movie.  He claims it's because his back was getting sweaty and I was like, "Mmhm. Yeah, right."  I think it was a little mixture of both for him: sweaty back, suspenseful movie.

The movie is very quiet with very little spoken dialog.  Most of the time, the characters sign to each other with subtitles.  So, don't bring crunchy snacks and open the packaging on your candy before the movies starts, or everyone will hear all your rustling and chomping.

 

I saw  A Quiet Place today and someone brought a newborn baby!! Who in the  world bring a baby to a movie, much less a movie that is about being quiet!  Silly. But the baby wasn't too disruptive and anyway... ahhh  can't say more  without spoilers.    But -- my theater was sold out, and the showing before me sold out too, so I think a lot of people will see it.

It's funny you mentioned Cloverfield, because this movie was almost a Cloverfield movie.  It could have been, but the Cloverfield chose to do that John Goodman one instead (which is, IMO, an even better movie - but this one was fun too). 

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Saw Ready Player One last Tuesday.  I didn't say anything when it was done, and the person I go to the movies with said, "That was a cute movie.  I liked seeing all those references to the 80s and stuff."

But I personally didn't like it.  I thought all the references to the 80s were just goofy.  I don't know why everyone in the year 2045 would have any interest in the 1980s.  The characters were about 16 years old, and the 1980s would have been 55-65 years in their past.  When I was 16 years old, 55-65 years in my past was 1924-1934 .  I can't imagine my friends and I in 1989 learning all sorts of stuff about the twenties/thirties and thinking it was cool.  So, the movie was just a total goof-fest for me.

I mean, yes, I get it that the creator of the game was a man who loved the 1980s, and the movie was all about figuring out this man's thoughts to solve the little riddle that he'd created.  So people had to learn about the pop culture of the 80s to solve the game maker's riddles, but...I wasn't convinced.  I couldn't get past the feeling that the movie was made just so that we would sit in our chairs, see a Lost In Space robot toy and go, "Oooo! A Lost in Space robot toy!"  (Which wasn't even 80s, I know.)

Basically, at the end my eyes were hurting a little bit from rolling them so much through the movie every time the characters did things like argue over the name of the high school in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. 

The plot was so-so.  A cheesy plot about a bunch of teenagers trying to solve a riddle before a rich CEO, with all the resources of his entire company, solves it.  And the CEO didn't even get all the 80s references!  Gasp!  Which was how we knew just how bad he was.  The characters started off as avatars in the game and were worried that if they met in real life they'd all think each other was ugly or something.  But of course, they were all perfectly good looking people in real life, so there were no nasty surprises.  Instead of one of the avatars being some 40 year old man in his basement, they were all nice looking teenagers.  

Some people compare this movie to something like Goonies.  Just be aware that I hated Goonies.  Watched it when it came out and I was a kid and hated it.  Tried watching it again in my 30s to see why everyone else loves it...and I still hated it.  So, if you love Goonies, you might just love this movie too.  Dunno.

 

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I unexpectedly went to see Wrinkle in Time on Friday.  All the bad reviews were right.

As many people noted, all the interesting ideas were ripped out and replaced with Oprah/Paltrow type new age cliches.  And the CGI was really over the top.  The Oprah character in particular, who was often a different size, wasn't well integrated and seemed clearly to be acting in a studio alone.

Some comment has been made about the multi-cultural element and time and place changes, essentially making a white rural New England family into a modern, ethnically mixed, urban family.  I think making it modern makes sense, and similarly I think the urbanization might appeal to more kids.  I don't think changing the ethnic make-up of the family is a problem.  I do wonder about two things - I'm not sure if it's so important to make the family so much like most kids so that they can "identify".  I think readers made a connection with the Murray family even if most weren't from big rural families with scientist parents.  In fact, in some ways the family being a little different, in a very warm way, was part of the appeal.  I didn't get that same warm feeling from this family - whether the setting was part of that I don't know.

Along those lines, I didn't really like the change to make Charles Wallace adopted - it seemed only so the family could be even more ethnically mixed.  There was something about that which seemed a bit - I don't know, like it misses the point?

Anyway, the other thing that struck we was how bad a lot of the dialogue was, and some of the show too seemed very off - I had vertigo a few times which hasn't really happened in 3-D movies to me in the past, and there were close-ups which seemed very odd, like they were too long.  Over-all, something just seemed off if the way it was put together.

I saw it with my mom, sister, and kids.  All the kids liked it.  Dd13 has read the book.  Dd10 and ds8 have not, but don't really have a high bar.  My mom and sister both disliked it, but also, neither had read it and they found it hard to follow, the plot didn't make much sense.

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I saw A Quiet Place and loved it. Great movie and I agree with Garga - go see it while it is in the theaters - the silence in the movie will be more meaningful. 

Also saw Ready Player One and it was ok. I had listened to the audiobook and loved it. Will Wheaton narrates and does such a fantastic job and made it super enjoyable. The movie changed a lot of things and it just felt flat and uninteresting. 

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Any MoviePass users having trouble? Last weekend we updated the app b/c they now require a photo of your ticket stub. Well, after updating the app, they no longer recognize our accounts. That was last Saturday. 

I saw another update on their app this morning, and updated. Still not recognized. 

Anyone else having issues? There is at least one movie I'd like to see this weekend. 

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On 4/20/2018 at 12:39 PM, Angie in VA said:

Any MoviePass users having trouble? Last weekend we updated the app b/c they now require a photo of your ticket stub. Well, after updating the app, they no longer recognize our accounts. That was last Saturday. 

I saw another update on their app this morning, and updated. Still not recognized. 

Anyone else having issues? There is at least one movie I'd like to see this weekend. 

I can't get Fandango to work either.  I'm trying to buy Infinity War tickets for Friday morning and it's giving me an error message every time.  For any movie, not just Avengers.   Not a good week to get movie tickets, I guess.

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Saw Rampage last week.  It was just like Tomb Raider.  Which means it was like every other action movie out there.  :). 

Well, it wasn’t like T2, because that’s one of the Best Action Movies ever.  It was like a regular ol’ action movie.  Dime a dozen.  Fun while you’re watching and the popcorn is always good.

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  • 4 weeks later...

We saw SOLO last night.

?

 It was very fun and very well done.  I loved how they pulled tiny tidbits and foreshadowing in for future events that we already know about. 

I had managed to avoid any spoilers and was treated to a few unexpected surprises that totally made me excited in a fangirl way.   It definitely ended in a way that proposed a spin off sequel/series of sorts.  And not the original Star Wars trilogy- you'll see what I mean when you see it.  ?

Action packed and LOTS of motion sequences.  We sat in the very front row because by the time we got to buying tickets, the only ones left where we had 7 seats in a row were in the front.  We usually don't sit so close, but this was really the only time we could all go together, we thought we'd give it a shot.  My DS and I had some motion sickness trouble with the movie because there was a lot of flying/chase action going on.  

The cast was great.  Wow, I thought Donald Glover's Lando was spot on!  I thought he was the best in the cast.  Honestly, I'm still not totally sold on Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo.  But, I have to confess that I kept thinking about OLD Han Solo and I feel like maybe if I go back and watch the original Star Wars with a young Han Solo, I'll feel better about how this young guy did playing him- I just thought he was missing some of those tiny nuances or gestures that are part of who Han Solo is.   Woody Harrelson was a fantastic addition to the Galaxy Far Far Away.

I'm going to see it again Monday morning, and I expect I'll see it again within the next week or so with DH and the kids.  DS will want a second viewing that is not so close to the screen, and DH didn't go with us, so we'll need to take him. 

Family friendly at the Star Wars level for sure.  Lighthearted fun.  It takes some jabs at more serious subjects, but in a fun or funny way.  Quite a few laughs for the whole family- we took my 8 year old nephew and he absolutely loved it.  I think there were two instances of very mild swearing, and then the usual Star Wars violence/beloved characters in peril. 

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I thought Solo was even better the second time.   ?  It really is a fantastically fun movie with the feel of the classic Star Wars movies.

Now that I've seen it again, I'm realizing that there are quite a few tie-ins to the animated series The Clone Wars and Rebels.  I think while we're waiting a whole year for the next SW movie to come out, we'll make our way through those and be caught up on our Star Wars lore.

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We saw Solo yesterday too.  It was pretty good as sci fi movies go.  ?  I thought there was too much sucking face and the story line was confusing at times, but like I said, pretty good.  (I'm picky though.)

I woke up this morning and was trying to remember who was still a "good guy" at the end, and I was not 100% sure ....

I would add that although it is rated PG-13, my 11yos saw it and I didn't think there was anything age-inappropriate for them.

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I saw Solo and enjoyed it.   It  feels more like a heist-style movie than a Star Wars movie to me at times.  My favorites were Woody Harrelson and Donald Glover. And the droid whose name I forget, but, you know who I mean.  I somehow didn't recognize Emilia Clark, even though her voice is so distinctive... she was just fine too.  No bad performances really. 


Word is that the box office for it is well below expectations.  I get that there have been so  many Star Wars movies that it doesn't feel special anymore, but,  I thought it was more flat-out fun than Rogue One or episodes 6 & 7.  So I hope it has some legs.

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I went with some girl friends to see Book Club last week and laughed all through the movie (along with everyone else in the theater). There were only two men there and we joked that they were probably dragged along. I loved that the four leads were all women over fifty. Older men in Hollywood become the elder statesmen of the acting profession. Women OTOH, see roles for them dry up or they only get offered supporting roles. 

 

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13 minutes ago, poppy said:

I saw Solo and enjoyed it.   It  feels more like a heist-style movie than a Star Wars movie to me at times.  My favorites were Woody Harrelson and Donald Glover. And the droid whose name I forget, but, you know who I mean.  I somehow didn't recognize Emilia Clark, even though her voice is so distinctive... she was just fine too.  No bad performances really. 


Word is that the box office for it is well below expectations.  I get that there have been so  many Star Wars movies that it doesn't feel special anymore, but,  I thought it was more flat-out fun than Rogue One or episodes 6 & 7.  So I hope it has some legs.

There's an entire legion of Star Wars fans who have decided they dislike the direction Disney has headed and so have decided to... Not be fans, I guess? I don't get it, but there's a big push to boycott, which is silly imho.   Their loss, because it IS a fun movie.

I think it also doesn't help that in the last several weeks Infinity War and Deadpool 2 have both come out, combined with the holiday weekend... I just think the timing was a poor move on Disney's part. Hopefully it will pick up traction as we head into summer and people start increasing their movie viewing.  

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29 minutes ago, Lady Marmalade said:

 

I think it also doesn't help that in the last several weeks Infinity War and Deadpool 2 have both come out, combined with the holiday weekend... I just think the timing was a poor move on Disney's part. Hopefully it will pick up traction as we head into summer and people start increasing their movie viewing.  

I've seen speculation that it's a combination of Star Wars burnout with the movies coming out too close together, and some of these other movies also premiering around the same time. 

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35 minutes ago, Lady Marmalade said:

There's an entire legion of Star Wars fans who have decided they dislike the direction Disney has headed and so have decided to... Not be fans, I guess? I don't get it, but there's a big push to boycott, which is silly imho.   Their loss, because it IS a fun movie.

I think it also doesn't help that in the last several weeks Infinity War and Deadpool 2 have both come out, combined with the holiday weekend... I just think the timing was a poor move on Disney's part. Hopefully it will pick up traction as we head into summer and people start increasing their movie viewing.  

 

I think the people who thought the Last Jedi was lame will be back for Episode 9. (I'm one of them... though not as angry as some!)

It was released late because they switched directors and had to reshoot a lot, which, whatever. I don't care about behind the scenes stuff,  But yeah, the timing was not great. Also it has a distinct lack of Harrison Ford.  The young actor who replaced him is fine, the whole movie is fine, but it doesn't have that whatever that makes some movies very special.  This isn't a very special movie. It's just a well made, fun movie.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Lady Marmalade said:

There's an entire legion of Star Wars fans who have decided they dislike the direction Disney has headed and so have decided to... Not be fans, I guess? I don't get it, but there's a big push to boycott, which is silly imho.   Their loss, because it IS a fun movie.

I think it also doesn't help that in the last several weeks Infinity War and Deadpool 2 have both come out, combined with the holiday weekend... I just think the timing was a poor move on Disney's part. Hopefully it will pick up traction as we head into summer and people start increasing their movie viewing.  

 

I wouldn't say that Star Wars has been such a success because it's fun, but because people also felt it spoke to them in some way.  A lot of people feel they've moved from a series with a real arc, meant to tell a story with a point, to a franchise written by committee with fan-service in mind - to produce whatever will please their focus groups.  And that Disney will continue to do this until they have wrung every last dollar out of the idea.  They they feel they are being cynically exploited for their love of the story. 

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  • 1 month later...

DH & I saw the new Jurrasic World Friday night. Reminded why I don't go to movies on weekends. It was ok. There were several times I found myself looking at my watch and computing how much time was left. Told the kids to wait until it was available to rent.

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1 hour ago, heartlikealion said:

Saw Hotel Transylvania 3 last night. It was okay but I didn't like it as much as the others. Something felt off... like not enough jokes, pacing was slow to me... I don't know. Dh and I both felt there was too much emphasis on sexual stuff/body focus. I don't know how to explain. He said he felt that Incredibles 2 and this movie both seemed to point the camera at cartoon butts a lot lol. I know it sounds silly but it's true! Like okay we get it, Mrs. Incredible has a butt. Dracula dancing was funny, but between his short shorts, sticking his butt out, the grandpa's speedo, and probably various female characters showing cleavage (can't recall too well), it was kind of weird for a kids' movie.

The movie did pick up closer to the end of the film, but it felt like it took a while to pick up for me.

We saw Hotel Transylvania 3 on Monday. My girls and I were not impressed. At all. They quite like the first two movies in the series, but this one fell short. (And I'll be honest: we're not hard to please.) We all thought it felt rushed or nonstop...and yet, somehow, incredibly slow and boring.  My youngest said: "We should've just watched Incredibles 2 again."  It's one of those movies where all the best bits are in the preview...

On another note, we all finally got a chance to see Black Panther and LOVED it. Youngest said she preferred Wonder Woman because the violence in that was less "stabby" but she liked them both. Oldest *adored* Black Panther. (They saw both these movies this week for the first time - their first super hero movies.)

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We saw Incredibles 2.  My one kid was dying to see it.  It was fun, but not my fave.  The baby was creepy to me - everyone else thought he was just super cute.

I agree with the comment above about Mrs. Incredible's butt.  I mean first of all, her butt was like 1000x the size of her ankles ... it just looked wrong.  But nobody asked me.  ?

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  • 3 weeks later...

We've seen a few movies this summer- not as many as we'd like, but we've liked what we've seen!

Incredibles 2 we all enjoyed very much except for the flashy scene.  Why on earth did they need to include that?! I get migraines from light, so looked away, and DS was worried he'd have motion sickness effects so also looked away.  It was just really unpleasant and didn't enhance the movie at all.   I loved the interactions with the family and Frozone so much in this movie.  It really was a nicely done sequel and we'll look forward to purchasing it and watching again when it comes out on blu-ray.  I did think that it seemed that the youngest children in the theater got a little bored- one was quite vocal about asking if the movie was over yet.  So maybe not for the littlest ones. 

Ant-Man & The Wasp gosh I loved this one.  What I love about Ant-Man is that he enhances the Marvel universe, yet has his own story, AND his movies are just really entertaining and funny.  Things that are really serious just don't seem as much when Luis is talking about it, you know?  The story was somewhat predictable as it went on, but it explores a completely different part of the MCU and I love that!  The exploration of "the space between the molecules" could have far-reaching effects.  That being said, going into this movie I was really hoping for something in the movie that would give me some hope about the MCU as a whole after watching Infinity War several times.  The storyline of both movies is happening at the Exact. Same. Time.  Without giving any spoilers, there is a point of convergence of the two movies.  If you haven't seen Infinity War yet, this point is going to be really confusing.  If you have seen Infinity War, it will be an unexpected twist to something expected.   I've been telling people not to watch this movie if you are an MCU fan and just haven't gotten to IW yet.   There were a few moments of language, but usual MCU violence/language.

Mission Impossible: Fallout Wow, this is our surprise summer hit of 2018.  This was freakishly good! It had everything you could possibly want in this type of movie. Lots of action, laugh-out-loud moments, knuckle-biting moments, daring stunts taken to new levels, a fantastic story with twists and turns all along the way.  The audience in the theater collectively gasped at least twice in this movie, I kid you not.  They did an amazing job integrating something from all five of the other movies along the way as well.  It truly was spectacular!  It left all three of us stunned at how good it was- we expected it would be fun, but this was a whole other level of fun. If they don't make any more Mission Impossible movies, I feel like this one is a great one to end the series with.  But at the same time, if they continued making them we would definitely not be disappointed.  I think the PG-13 rating was appropriate for this one, and I wouldn't take a child under 10 for sure.  I also wouldn't take a child who hadn't seen the other five- if they were mature enough to enjoy the fifth installment, they'll be fine with this one.   

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I saw Mama Mia 2 last week. It was okay....but not great for me. Unfortunately, I thought it felt a little forced, and I wasn't thrilled with the Cher or Meryl Streep roles in the movie. I also felt there were inconsistencies between the first and second movies (small details). 

But I liked Lily James in the role as Young Donna. 

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Lady Marmalade, I agree with your assessment of Ant Man & the Wasp. Completely. 

We also just went and saw Christopher Robin last night, and even my 13 yr old who grew up more on Marvel movies than Pooh movies like his older brothers just absolutely LOVED it. We all laughed out loud, many times (as did all the little ones sitting around us; half the delight of the movie was hearing the full on giggles of all the littler kids there....so sweet!). My 17 yr old said it's the closest he came to tearing up in a movie, in a long time. (surprisingly, I did not....). It was perfect. 

We had an extra laugh as a family as we then rushed home for oldest to do an online quiz (time limited) for his college quiz, which is the direct opposite of the point of the movie, so struck us as hilarious (his quiz was only open from 8 to 10, movie which we'd pre-bought tix to before the quiz was posted, was from 7 to 9, getting him home with 45 mins for a 30 min quiz....we rushed out before the credits finished rolling). 

Anyway, if you've not seen it, do go. It was so perfect. 

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18 minutes ago, TheReader said:

Lady Marmalade, I agree with your assessment of Ant Man & the Wasp. Completely. 

We also just went and saw Christopher Robin last night, and even my 13 yr old who grew up more on Marvel movies than Pooh movies like his older brothers just absolutely LOVED it. We all laughed out loud, many times (as did all the little ones sitting around us; half the delight of the movie was hearing the full on giggles of all the littler kids there....so sweet!). My 17 yr old said it's the closest he came to tearing up in a movie, in a long time. (surprisingly, I did not....). It was perfect. 

We had an extra laugh as a family as we then rushed home for oldest to do an online quiz (time limited) for his college quiz, which is the direct opposite of the point of the movie, so struck us as hilarious (his quiz was only open from 8 to 10, movie which we'd pre-bought tix to before the quiz was posted, was from 7 to 9, getting him home with 45 mins for a 30 min quiz....we rushed out before the credits finished rolling). 

Anyway, if you've not seen it, do go. It was so perfect. 

I'm thrilled to read your review of Christopher Robin!  DD and I want to see it, but are having a hard time convincing DS to want to go.  I think it will help if I tell him that your group of guys loved it. 

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1 minute ago, Lady Marmalade said:

I'm thrilled to read your review of Christopher Robin!  DD and I want to see it, but are having a hard time convincing DS to want to go.  I think it will help if I tell him that your group of guys loved it. 

 

They ALL were quoting it all night, and even this morning. And while the older 2 grew up on all the great Pooh movies, youngest never really did (by the time he was paying attention to movies, we were watching Marvel stuff with the big boys), and even he just laughed out loud, many times. They did a really great job of being true to the characters, but in a way that even if you'd never really seen a Pooh movie before, ever, you'd love them at the end of this. And the trailer did not really capture, at all, the humor of it; even with the trailer, we were surprised by a lot of it. He won't be sorry if he agrees to go with you, really. 

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Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was our $5 Tuesday pick this week.  We were glad it was still playing since it wasn't the huge blockbuster hit it was expected to be.  It was a fun way to spend the afternoon.  I feel like it was missing some intensity though- like, the perilous situations in this movie weren't as intense as previous installments.  I didn't really feel that our main characters were REALLY in danger even though they were supposedly running for their lives.  A lot.  But overall, it was a nice addition to the franchise.  A little more cerebral in nature- it kind of does make you think.  If animals such as dinosaurs were brought back from extinction, what responsibility would mankind have towards keeping them alive? Or do you allow them to become re-extinct?  

We enjoyed it and will be curious if they take the franchise further.  They sure left the door wide open. 

Minor language, Jurassic level violence (so... people being eaten and losing limbs), children in peril all would prevent me from watching with my youngest nieces and nephews.  But if they watched Jurassic World no problem, this one will be just fine. 

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On ‎4‎/‎25‎/‎2017 at 11:08 PM, Garga said:

I go to $5 Tuesday nights every single Tuesday, so I've seen a lot of the movies that are out now. But it's 11:00 and I need to get to sleep. If I remember, I'll post my thoughts on a bunch of them tomorrow. :). But be aware that everyone likes/dislikes different things, so in a way, my opinion won't mean much. I like to go to Rotten Tomatoes and read the regular people's reviews (not the critics) to get a feel for whether or not I'll like something.

 

It's a lot like curriculum. Some people love X, others hate X and it all boils down to what works for each family. Same with movies.

We learned about some of the theatre's in our city offering $5/Tuesday tickets!  We don't go every week but when we go now we do so on a Tuesday!  :)

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  • 2 months later...

I saw First Man last night. And I didn't like it as much as I had hoped to. The reviewers who had critical comments seem to think that the film soars during the flight scenes but is less successful during the interpersonal and family scenes. I felt the opposite.

I understood the effect that the flight scenes were going for -- an attempt to bring the viewers into the cockpit to experience the tight spaces and the feeling of constant danger. But I thought the direction and jerky camera work had the opposite effect for me. The alarm bells and indistinct communication with mission control and long passages of silence or frenetic punching of buttons and flipping of switches and zooming in on the astronaut's eyes....it just made me aware that these were camera effects and so it distanced me from connecting with the characters and what they were going through. And I just kept thinking that the astronauts would NOT have experienced it that way, because they would have understood what mission control was saying to them, and they would have known what effect flipping the switches would have, and, yes, they would have felt tension and imminent danger and grave concern when the ship didn't respond as expected. But they also had great expertise and knowledge and control and skill to draw on. But the viewer is not invited to experience that aspect. The fact that the direction does not allow the viewer to get inside the astronauts' minds, and only shows what they are experiencing externally in those moments, made me feel more excluded from the experience instead of more invested.

During the movie, I was contemplating what space disaster movies I liked better. (It's not a good sign that I was thinking about other films instead of feeling invested in this one!) I think Apollo 13 and Gravity were more satisfying to me, because I was able to connect more with the feelings of the characters.

Neil Armstrong was a famously reserved and private person, and the movie actually does a great job at portraying that in the interpersonal scenes. It's not Arnstrong's reserved personality that made gave me a sense of feeling unconnected to the movie. I thought Ryan Gosling as actor and the direction did a really good job of revealing the internal man while also showing stoicism. It was the intense flight sequences that made me feel disconnected with him. And I thought that was unfortunate, because I imagine that the real-life Armstrong likely felt that he was the most in his element when in the cockpit, and the movie missed portraying that but focusing on a sense of instability and insecurity during those scenes.

I woudn't discourage others from seeing it. There were parts that I thought were excellent, and the acting is stellar, particularly from Gosling and Claire Foy.

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  • 3 months later...

I'm bumping up this older thread to see if anyone still wants to participate.

I'm looking at the list of films showing at our local theater, and I've seen:

The Kid Who Would Be King -- I would say this is definitely a kid-centric movie. Meaning, if you are an adult going to a movie without a child, perhaps you wouldn't choose this one. Merlin was a fun character, though, and I enjoyed it as a fan of King Arthur.

The Upside -- Kevin Hart plays a man half-heartedly looking for a job to meet the requirements of his parole, and he unexpectedly is hired by a wealthy quadriplegic, played by Bryan Cranston, to be his caregiver. The relationship has ups and downs but benefits both of them. I really enjoyed the balance of serious and lighthearted moments in this film and appreciated seeing Kevin Hart in a more serious role.

Aquaman -- great fun. We generally see all superhero movies, and I'd rate this one in the middle of the pack.  Enjoyable, but some of the special effects and characters fell short and seemed juvenile compared to, say, The Black Panther. Still worth seeing, if you like the genre.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse -- So original! It has the appeal of a youthful hero but is sophisticated in both storyline and animation. It's completely different than the other Spider-Man movies of recent years.

Green Book -- Loved it!! This is a character driven movie, and the characters are charismatic yet believable. I enjoy films set in recent history, like this one. If you liked Hidden Figures, I think you will like this one, too.

Second Act -- Jennifer Lopez ends up being hired for her dream job but with a fabricated resume (created without her knowledge by the techie son of her best friend). She has to prove herself while also knowing that she is holding up a pretense. Her past as a single mom who gave up her baby to adoption - and how that affects her love life and creates other conflicts --  is a major secondary plotline. It was a diverting way to spent a couple of hours, though I didn't buy into all of the scenarios that unfold and think the moment of big revelation was overplayed.

 

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Movies I'd like to see with my kids but haven't yet: 

Mary Poppins Returns, Bumblebee, and the Lego Movie. There are quite a bunch of kid-friendly movies out right now, and we haven't had a chance to see them all. Plus, some of my kids want to see some and not others, and it doesn't always work with our schedule to have just some of us go to see something. I wouIld also see A Dog's Way Home with my animal lover, but it's further down the want-to-see list for all of us.

I'd like to see If Beale Street Could Talk and Bohemian Rhapsody. I would have seen The Mule but missed it. I missed several other movies over the past few months that I probably would have enjoyed.

I did see A Star is Born and loved it! Bradley Cooper continues to amaze me with his talent and range, and Lady Gaga was completely believable in her first acting role.

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I saw Isn't It Romantic, and it was super cute. In recent years, there have not been many straight up romantic comedies released, and I've missed them. The tone of this one is lighthearted and fun, and there are several musical numbers that included dancing. There are some suggestive comments and a few curse words (mostly bleeped out, but there is one near the end that is not bleeped), which I personally can let slide by without being bothered but would have made me feel uncomfortable if I had taken my young teens along. Overall, however, those things were mild.  Liam Hemsworth showed a surprising comic ability, and his character was at times sweetly dopey and at other times more scheming. Rebel Wilson, who usually plays supporting characters, had the starring role this time. She was vulnerable and charming but also strong and independent. Very funny. It would be a nice film for date night or a girls' night out.

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On 2/9/2019 at 2:37 PM, Storygirl said:

The Upside -- Kevin Hart plays a man half-heartedly looking for a job to meet the requirements of his parole, and he unexpectedly is hired by a wealthy quadriplegic, played by Bryan Cranston, to be his caregiver. The relationship has ups and downs but benefits both of them. I really enjoyed the balance of serious and lighthearted moments in this film and appreciated seeing Kevin Hart in a more serious role.

I didn't see this one but have seen previews for it. It's based on the French film, The Intouchables. The French version was great. (And it's based on a true story.) I'd definitely recommend it (the French version). It is rated R, which is fine as we have teens. Our whole family loved it.

 

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On 2/9/2019 at 2:44 PM, Storygirl said:

 

I did see A Star is Born and loved it! Bradley Cooper continues to amaze me with his talent and range, and Lady Gaga was completely believable in her first acting role.

Dss and ddil gave me a Fandango gift card for Christmas. Dh and I were torn between A Star is Born and The Crimes of Grindewald, but chose A Star is Born. We're both old enough to have seen the Barbara Streisand/Kris Kristofferson version in theaters and we both liked this new one better. Bradley Cooper is very talented in addition to being so easy on the eyes. From what I understand he wrote and directed the movie as well as starring in it.

When we eventually rented The Crimes of Grindlewald we were glad we didn't waste the gift card on that movie. We found it so disappointing, and we're among those who thought the previous Fantastic Beasts movie was really cute.

Two other movies we saw and liked were Mary Poppins Returns and Bohemian Rhapsody.

Mary Poppins holds up on its own but it's also pure nostalgic fun. There were a number of nods to the original Mary Poppins movie that were fun to catch as we watched. Some were so quick you almost weren't sure you saw it (we looked it up when we got home). 

Bohemian Rhapsody will appeal to anyone who likes Queen and/or Freddy Mercury. We really liked it.  It would have been nice to see on the big screen with movie quality sound but it was still good to watch at home.

Edited by Lady Florida.
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We have Bohemian Rhapsody & A Star is Born on the 'to rent" list. 

Saw the new Lego Movie in the theater; all of us felt it was a bit "younger" than the previous movies and the weakest of the bunch. Cute, had some fun moments....but not great like the other ones. Youngest is now almost 14, so, that's maybe part of our thoughts. We thought the scenes with Lego Batman in them were the best part 🙂

Saw Mary Poppins Returns; cute, fun, nostalgic, good movie. The songs weren't, we didn't think, quite as "stick in your head and sing for days" as the original, mostly, but still really good. 

I definitely want to see The Upside. And we're going next weekend to see the new How to Train Your Dragon movie. With oldest off at school now, the boys have designated some films "save for Bro 1" and others as "okay to watch w/o him."  That's a "save for Bro 1" so we're going up to college town and watch it with him there. 

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I actually went to a movie yesterday, by myself, which is something I used to love doing but haven't done in quite a while. I saw Isn't It Romantic? and very much enjoyed it. It is often goofy and funny, but I had some more serious thoughts about it, too. As a person who has spent most of her life being overweight and feeling "unseen," I found it touching to have a protagonist verbalize those feelings. I also appreciated that, while most of the featured actors were still "movie star" types, a large number of the people in the film look like, well, people. 

I don't want to over-sell it -- it's not exactly profound -- but I appreciated it in addition to enjoying it.

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