Seen any good movies? Or bad ones?

Strangeite

Strangeite

Well-known member
It’s spooky season and that time of year that I get to pick the movies. Tonight I chose Sleepy Hollow (Tim Burton’s). I think it might be the best American Ghost Story* put to film.

11 year old liked it. 15 year old was bored but she said that she wasn’t in the mood to like any movie, so wants to watch it again sometime.

*capitalized on purpose.
 
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User56767

Guest
Malignant was just okay. Never would have seen it in the theaters or rented it anyway. Did not AT ALL recognize Grace from Peaky Blinders as the main character. I felt like it wanted to be really campy (the CSI character, the researchers in the very beginning, the bad acting and dumb decision-making by the detectives) but never really committed.

Black Widow was fun, but the story felt very small. I guess after saving the universe, every story will feel small by comparison. The best part was Florence Pugh (Midsommar) as the successor to the Black Widow role. She was fantastic, with a dry wit that reminded me of Jodie Comer as Villanelle (Killing Eve). She'll be in the Hawkeye TV Show and hopefully has more than just a cameo. I'm excited that she's in the MCU Phase 4 plans. The casting people at Marvel are the real superheroes.
 
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George

George

The ratio of people to cake is too big.
I found No Time to Die to be a fine, if not extraordinary (that description would apply to Skyfall), addition to the James Bond series. Overlong at 163 minutes, it was at times bombastic and self-important, with a dearth of things we've come to expect from the series, such as the cool gadgets, the borderline (or not) sexism, the over-the-top villains, etc. Post-modern political correctness has caught up with Bond, for better and worse. All that aside, it's a fun ride through gorgeous scenery and set pieces.
 
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geek1997

Active member
What's the deal with this show? Just based on the very limited info I've read on it, my initial reaction is that it's comparable to Saw or The Purge - torture/gore for the sake of torture/gore? Have I missed something? Oversimplified? My 14yo wants to watch it because "everybody is watching it". But it's a TV-MA rating and there has to be a reason for that.
 
U

User56767

Guest
I asked my wife if she wanted to watch and she was horrified, because she thought it was a reality show and I pointed out that it's scripted. Then she said that it sounded like it was insensitive to low-income people and I pointed out that it's meant to be a commentary on social inequality. So now we're watching "Maid" on Netflix instead. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
George

George

The ratio of people to cake is too big.
Strangeite

Strangeite

Well-known member
geek1997 said:
What's the deal with this show? Just based on the very limited info I've read on it, my initial reaction is that it's comparable to Saw or The Purge - torture/gore for the sake of torture/gore? Have I missed something? Oversimplified? My 14yo wants to watch it because "everybody is watching it". But it's a TV-MA rating and there has to be a reason for that.
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I am watching it now but am only on episode 3, so take this with a grain of salt.

I also thought it was going to be like Saw or the Purge (both are movies that I do not care for) but it isn't like that at all. It is more like Parasite crossed with Cabin in the Woods with the image reflected back by Black Mirror.

We are watching it with our 11 year old and 15 year old but I am not sure my family is a good baseline for appropriateness for other families. It is very rare that we tell our children that they shouldn't watch something, and because of this, they trust us when we say it. If you watched the recently released "The Hunt" the gore level would be on par with that. Cabin in the Woods would be another good benchmark for level of gore, but more guns and less farming implements. The Hunt is a good example of a movie that I've told the kids that I am not sure they are ready for. Not because of the violence and gore but rather with that movie, you had better grok the message or it is going to come across very wrong.

Again, my family probably isn't a good basis for what is or is not appropriate, but the violence, sexual situations (few but there have been some) and language isn't what we've been talking to the kids about after each episode. It's the societal implications the show is pointing out. My 15 year old in particular is picking up on those themes and they are making an impact on her.

I tried my best to help give you an idea what to expect without spoilers.
 
Alcachofa

Alcachofa

Active member
@geek1997 Put it more simply, if you're OK with them watching people have their brains blown out - a LOT - then your 14yo should be OK.

There is one sex scene, of sorts, but your 14yo has probably already seen more than what is presented in the show on some friend's phone.
 
George

George

The ratio of people to cake is too big.
Alcachofa said:
@geek1997 Put it more simply, if you're OK with them watching people have their brains blown out - a LOT - then your 14yo should be OK.

There is one sex scene, of sorts, but your 14yo has probably already seen more than what is presented in the show on some friend's phone.
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To be fair, the violence is rather cartoonish, random, and faceless, in a Japanese/Kurosawa kind of way, complete with exaggerated spurting blood.

And as everyone knows, brief clothed simulated sex scenes are WAY worse than violence. Make war, not love.
 
Strangeite

Strangeite

Well-known member
I ran across this a few days ago and thought we might watch it as a family one day. Mentioned it tonight and was properly chastised for not mentioning it earlier. So after dinner we gathered around the TV and watched a 1971 infomercial complete with original commercial breaks.

Let's just say, there is a whole lot to unpack in those 90 minutes.


Edit: It won't allow the video to be embedded. It is the Grand Opening of Walt Disney World TV Special, with the ads as it was aired on NBC.

Edit 2: An urban legend of Jonathan Winters' wife running around the woods of WDW like sasquatch needs to be a thing.
 
RetroCOTfan

RetroCOTfan

Well-known member
Strangeite said:
I ran across this a few days ago and thought we might watch it as a family one day. Mentioned it tonight and was properly chastised for not mentioning it earlier. So after dinner we gathered around the TV and watched a 1971 infomercial complete with original commercial breaks.

Let's just say, there is a whole lot to unpack in those 90 minutes.


Edit: It won't allow the video to be embedded. It is the Grand Opening of Walt Disney World TV Special, with the ads as it was aired on NBC.

Edit 2: An urban legend of Jonathan Winters' wife running around the woods of WDW like sasquatch needs to be a thing.
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What a classic. From the moment Glen Campbell came wandering out of the woods, signing a song that has zero relation to WDW, you know it's going to be awesome.

FWIW, RetroWDW covered it in a podcast (along with the EPCOT Center and Disney/MGM opening specials) - good stuff.

RetroWDW Episode 30
 
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geek1997

Active member
We watched the Behind the Attraction episode on The Haunted Mansion last week then, a few days later, the new Muppets Haunted Mansion special. It was good that we watched them in this order because our girls don't really have a frame of reference for HM. We rode once in 2016, but it's not really their jam - too creepy (which may shed more light on why we don't think Squid Game would be well-received). They were able to pick up on all of the references, which made the Muppets special that much more enjoyable. I had hoped that the combination of the two would change their willingness to ride again, but it was still a hard pass. 🤷‍♀️
 
ThemeParkCommando

ThemeParkCommando

Active member
Strangeite said:
I ran across this a few days ago and thought we might watch it as a family one day. Mentioned it tonight and was properly chastised for not mentioning it earlier. So after dinner we gathered around the TV and watched a 1971 infomercial complete with original commercial breaks.

Let's just say, there is a whole lot to unpack in those 90 minutes.


Edit: It won't allow the video to be embedded. It is the Grand Opening of Walt Disney World TV Special, with the ads as it was aired on NBC.

Edit 2: An urban legend of Jonathan Winters' wife running around the woods of WDW like sasquatch needs to be a thing.
Click to expand...
That special is what fired my desire to go to WDW. I was 9 when it aired, and I pestered my parents for the rest of my childhood to go to WDW. I never got to go as a kid. My first visit was on my honeymoon in 1983.

The marching band and choir at the end are quite a spectacle! As a kid, I thought they were doing the count of instruments from the song '76 trombones'. Watching again now, there are well over 100 trombones in that band. It's really amazing to see it now as an adult.
 
Strangeite

Strangeite

Well-known member
I can not more highly recommend the 2021 documentary “SET!” about the world of competitive table setting (or table scapping, it’s controversial on which is proper).

The Zen diagram of competitive table setters and Disney fans is not a circle, but it is really close.

We watched it on Discovery+.

 
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