Let's Talk Movies #36 - 2020 - Yep it is a new decade

clairecloutier

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10/10 = Border (2018 Swedish fantasy film). Ever go through a movie-watching streak and think, "I've seen this all before..."? Well, you haven't! Border is one of the most original films I have seen it a long time, maybe even ever. It's a wonderfully made work, with incredible performances from the two leads. The movie is about Tina, a woman who works as a customs agent. She has the ability through her sense of smell not only to detect illegal drugs or alcohol carried by someone, but to also sense shame and fear. One day someone comes through customs whose appearance is different, in a way similar to her own. The two form a bond and as time passes, she realizes their connection is quite specific.


Thanks for the review of this film, @PeterG. We watched it the other night on Hulu and found it fascinating! As you say ... it's like nothing you've ever seen before. Literally. And so well done. I know this film is one I'm going to remember for a long time to come. (y)
 

PeterG

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Thanks for the review of this film, @PeterG. We watched it the other night on Hulu and found it fascinating! As you say ... it's like nothing you've ever seen before. Literally. And so well done. I know this film is one I'm going to remember for a long time to come. (y)

So glad you liked Border. It's been a while since I could rate a movie 10 out of 10 so easily. I should probably look into seeing what other movies the writer(s) and directors of Border have done. 🧙‍♀️
 

Buzz

Socialist Canada
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37,309
Finally saw Black Widow and loved it! But it does feel a little out dated because of where it gets in the timeline compared to when it was released. There is an important post credit scene at the end but no new trailers.


ETA:
Black Widow will finish 2nd at the BO this weekend with Space Jam expected to open at #1.
 
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LeafOnTheWind

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17,506
This is freaking hilarious:

Deadpool and Korg React (to the trailer for "Free Guy"): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7q60i_Lh_E
When I saw that I actually did a search for his Cruella reaction video just in case. It doesn't exist but I couldn't take that chance. :lol:

He is one of the few people that can make me watch and love commercials and then beg for more.
 

PeterG

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9/10 - Bad Trip (Eric André, Lil Rel Howery and Tiffany Haddish) - Okay, this is really lowbrow comedy, but it made me laugh out loud at least four times and I don't laugh out loud when I watch movies alone. But there's just too much funny stuff in this movie! Bad Trip is a hidden camera comedy and they got a LOT of great stuff. Some of it I was surprised that people didn't realize this was a hidden camera production, but in the credits they did show multiple clips of the same scene with different unsuspecting people around, so I guess many (most?) scenes were filmed at least a few times and they ended up using whatever ended being the funniest. Most surprising is that nobody seemed to know it was Tiffany Haddish, who to me is a pretty big star at this point. They did change up her look, but her voice is SO recognizable. If you want some stupid fun...correction, FUNNY stupid fun, I highly recommend this.

Trailer for Bad Trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-6HHDBiw-0

8/10 - Monos - In this 2019 drama, in an unspecified South American country, a doctor is being held hostage in the middle of nowhere by some teenagers, whose boss is holding the hostage for a payout from her family. The movie is about how these teenagers handle themselves and their hostage, not just dealing with the usual teenage problems, but also being from such extreme poverty that they have been recruited into a horrible life and being responsible for the well-being (life, actually) of their hostage. It's a dark theme for a movie, but the tone isn't as dark as it could have been...which would have made it unbearable to watch in my opinion. So it's a captivating watch, but at times a bit overwhelming also. Great performances from all of the cast, many of which are acting on film for the first time. Monos won many film festival awards, the biggest being a Sundance award. It was nominated for best international film at the British Independent Film Awards and was Colombia's pick for Oscar consideration for international film.

Trailer for Monos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dK8qNKwrUI
 

Aussie Willy

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When I saw that I actually did a search for his Cruella reaction video just in case. It doesn't exist but I couldn't take that chance. :lol:

He is one of the few people that can make me watch and love commercials and then beg for more.
Damn I so wanted to see a Deadpool Cruella reaction video.

BTW I caught up with Deathproof last night. The Tarantino film which I think he basically made to give Zoe Bell a film where she could just do her dream stunts. I can see what Tarantino was trying to do with in terms of style and story but it felt a bit disjointed and I think it could have been a much better movie. Still as a Tarantino fan I am glad I saw it and I did like it.
 

watchthis!!

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I want to say that Love And Honor is so bad it's good, but I can't even give you that. Love and Honor is a "romantic" "drama" starring Liam Hemsworth and Teresa Palmer. This movie came out a year after The Hunger Games, I'm wondering if it was filmed before The Hunger Games and the studio held it back to see if they could capitalize on whatever success Hemsworth gained from being in The Hunger Games. If that's the case...it didn't work. This dud made $16,769 at the box office. I wonder if it made more than that, but theatres had to refund a bunch of cash to pissed off customers. :lol: The ludicrous plot of this movie is about a Vietnam War soldier who uses his leave to fly home and win back the girlfriend who just broke up with him. His buddy joins him and finds the girlfriend living in a hippy house. Other stuff happens, but please don't ask me to relive it. Hemsworth and his buddy played by Austin Stowell are awful pretty to look at, but in no way is this a good enough reason to watch this movie.

Trailer for Love and Honor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inrG_MexJao
 

annie720

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1,303
Re the movie Border, we watched last night on Hulu. Hubby was fine with watching because he'd liked another movie by the director. I feel like it was very well done, but Wow, was it out there! I think I was bothered by having just read some details about the kind of videos Josh Duggar had been watching and then the movie is addressing this type of pornography. Anyway, we never considered stopping watching and were curious what would happen next, but I wouldn't put in in my best films category. The actors were fantastic, however, as was the makeup and the overall mood of everything.
 
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Rina RUS

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1,211
I watched Front of The Class not long ago. It is not a movie full of violence, but a good story about trying to overcome one's health issues and to live a full-on life. I think it’s a good movie.
(the trailer)
 

PeterG

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7/10 - Gilda (1946 film noir drama with Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford) - A Buenos Aires casino is where a small-time gambler (Ford) ends up working at after a chance meeting with the casino's owner (George Macready). Things are going well enough until the day that owner brings him his new wife (Hayworth) - Ford's former flame. The cast is very strong, this is possibly Hayworth's most famous role. She's the one Madonna mentioned in her song, "Vogue": Rita Hayworth gave good face. Which is true, but I think Hayworth does some good acting with (specifically) just her eyes. This movie didn't really get any kind of awards recognition, but it has a high 7.7 rating at imdb.com and rates even better at rottentomates.com: 90% positive by critics and 88% positive by viewers.

Trailer for Gilda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hTdgygrlOg
 

Jay42

Between the click of the light
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7/10 - Gilda (1946 film noir drama with Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford) - A Buenos Aires casino is where a small-time gambler (Ford) ends up working at after a chance meeting with the casino's owner (George Macready). Things are going well enough until the day that owner brings him his new wife (Hayworth) - Ford's former flame. The cast is very strong, this is possibly Hayworth's most famous role. She's the one Madonna mentioned in her song, "Vogue": Rita Hayworth gave good face. Which is true, but I think Hayworth does some good acting with (specifically) just her eyes. This movie didn't really get any kind of awards recognition, but it has a high 7.7 rating at imdb.com and rates even better at rottentomates.com: 90% positive by critics and 88% positive by viewers.

Trailer for Gilda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hTdgygrlOg
Rita Hayworth's singing was always dubbed in her movies even though she could sing. Something she fought Columbia studio head Harry Cohn over a lot but it did not go her way. However Rita Hayworth is the one singing in the scene where she's strumming the guitar at the bar.

I watched Gilda a few months ago. It's excellent and I really do need to actually buy it.
 

PeterG

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9/10 - Katherine Ryan: In Trouble (Netflix). I just think she's hilarious. You have to be funny when a country of over 100 million people are out to get you...and you can still make the audience laugh as she tells you all about it. :lol:

Trailer for Katherine Ryan: In Trouble: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1iNZ4XukhE

8/10 - Genius On Hold (DVD) - A 2013 documentary about inventor Walter Shaw...who invented many things, some of which we all use on a daily basis. But in spite of his genius, he died penniless and spent multiple times in jail - once for not paying for four long-distance phone calls (for which he spent one year in jail for EACH phone call). A sad story for sure...but Shaw never gave up on being positive and always trying to do his best.

Trailer for Genius On Hold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Cx7EXRp8o
 

watchthis!!

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Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice came out in 2019, and it’s a good documentary. But I was left feeling like I wanted more. I can’t pinpoint exactly how the film could be different to make me more satisfied. Maybe I’m such a fan that I would need a mini-series, like ten hours to get everything I want out of a film bio of someone as phenomenal as Linda Ronstadt. But a thumbs up for this. Maybe one day there will be a 10 hour director's cut of this story. :D
 

PeterG

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7/10 - The Woman In The Window (Netflix) - A psychological thriller starring Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Julianne Moore, Anthony Mackie, Wyatt Russell, Brian Tyree Henry, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Quite the cast! But this is very much an Amy Adams vehicle, she is in pretty much every scene of the movie. The movie is quite an homage to Alfred Hitchcock, especially Rear Window. Adams plays a woman dealing with agoraphobia as well as other mental health issues. One night she witnesses what she believes to be a murder in the building opposite hers...of a woman she met briefly (Moore). Like with Hitchcock films, there is much more to this story...many layers that continue to unravel right to the very end. I found this movie to be quite entertaining, especially with Adams and Moore together on screen. They are fantastic together. Towards the end, things slow down a bit too much in my opinion, but overall this one is quite watchable.

Trailer for The Woman In The Window: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_0GJg_Jnlo

6/10 - Angela's Ashes (DVD) - A 1999 drama starring Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle as parents to Frank McCourt and his siblings struggling to survive in 1930's Ireland. I found this movie difficult to get through as the subject matter is so very, incredibly, overbearingly bleak and dire and depressing and overwhelming. The movie is well made and the performances are top-notch. But with the exception of the last half hour of this 2.5 hour movie, it's just one depressing thing after another. If you're in the mood for a seriously depressing historical drama, this one is lovely. :D

Trailer for Angela's Ashes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPXP17JJ4GY
 
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watchthis!!

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Burn is a really great 2019 thriller. Amazing script and great performances from Josh Hutcherson, Suki Waterhouse, Harry Shum Jr. and Shiloh Fernandez. And Tilda Cobham-Hervey is fantastic as the main character, Melinda. An introverted and offbeat woman working at a gas station on what turns out to be an eventful night. Josh Hutcherson's character tries to rob the gas station even though it appears this is the last thing he wants to do. We learn more later about what has led him into this desperate act, but before then, many wild things happen to these two characters and anyone else who visits this gas station.

This movie wasn't a box office hit and doesn't seem to be rated highly by viewers or critics, but I'd give it an eight or nine out of ten. I loved it.
 

PeterG

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6/10 - The Pass (DVD), a 2016 gay drama, which is about how societal homophobia can really f*** somebody over. The Pass is basically a stage play with three acts, each five years apart. The first and last scenes are with two football (soccer for us North Americans) players in a hotel room. And how in the first scene, they awkwardly move towards acting on a mutual interest and attraction. Then ten years later, a last desperate attempt by the closeted of the two to make sense of his life. The middle scene is with the closeted player and a woman hired to film a sex video to prove that the soccer player "is a MAN". I might be a little harsh with my rating on this one. But the internalized homophobia seen here is so ugly that it became horrible to watch. But I guess that was the point... :(

Trailer for The Pass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZenLkhmG78

4/10 - The Band's Visit (DVD), a 2007 Israeli comedy drama about a policy orchestra from Egypt mistakenly ending up in a remote village instead of their correct destination...all because of a pronunciation error in the name of the place they are to play at. I enjoyed the first half of this movie, which is amusing at telling a fish out of water kind of story. But the second half has a quieter, introspective tone - so much so that the movie almost comes to a standstill. Not much happens after the mid-point, so it was quiet a letdown after the originality of the beginning.

The Band's Visit won three awards at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for best foreign film at the Indepenent Spirit Awards. Hmmm....

Trailer for The Band's Visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWYlLb0jm8U
 

PeterG

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7/10 - Delinquent (Tubi) - Alex Shaffer plays Joey, a high school student from a troubled family who is struggling between family loyalty and his conscience once a robbery goes wrong. My only reason to see this was for Shaffer, who I have been a fan of since his film debut in 2011 with Win, Win (co-starring Paul Giamatti). Shaffer makes this movie, although everyone in the this movie is perfectly cast. This is a small film (it doesn't even have it's own wikipedia page). But this movie won best picture and best actor awards at a number of small film festivals. Shame this movie didn't get more promotion.

Trailer for Delinquent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkuNrVhRD-0

6/10 (or 8/10) - The One And Only Ivan (Disney+). Bryan Cranston stars in this family film as the ringmaster for a wild animal show at a strip mall. While Cranston does his best to care for his animals, they yearn for a life in the wilderness...and plot to acheive just that. I rated this a six because the movie is aimed for a young audience and their patient parents. But if you want a wholesome and good-hearted movie for your kids to watch, this one deserves an eight (maybe even a nine). Big names doing voice work for the animals: Sam Rockwell, Angelina Jolie, Danny DeVito, Helen Mirren, Chaka Khan and Ron Funches.

Trailer for The One And Only Ivan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-uIQDRS4a8
 

Buzz

Socialist Canada
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37,309
Saw Snake Eyes and this is one movie that is not going to be able to blame it’s poor BO on C19. I liked the movie but they completely changed the title character’s back story and not for the better. A lot of fans of the character are not going to be happy.
 

PeterG

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Current movies in theatres reviewed by my friend:

Did I tell you we saw “Space Jam: A New Legacy” It was the only movie in English that we hadn’t seen. It was a fun kids movie. My fav part was near the end they have this huge basketball game between the bad guys and the loonie tunes plus whoever the basketball hero was. Already forgotten his name. But the cool part was that because it was a WB movie they had all their characters from other movies as the audience. It was fun to spot characters from movies over the years.

So we saw “Old” this afternoon. Aubrey have it a 6. I have it a 7. A few thoughts. There are a few loose ends that feel unattended to. About 3/4 through the movie I actually turned to Aubrey and asked “How are they going to end this?” Then after another 15 min there was a very satisfactory reveal and conclusion that took about 20 min to bring the movie to an end. We both liked it. It’s definitely one of M. Night Shambalamba‘s better endings that leaves you feeling satisfied. There are still some unanswered loose ends but you feel good about what happened over all so forgive him the small lacks. I’d recommend it. Great for a cool few hours in an air conditioned movie theatre 🎥 with popcorn 🍿 of course.

Snake Eyes - So like...that was a movie. Yeah. We saw this movie. It was like...a movie. That's all the feeling I can possibly... (His post ended here, guess the movie didn't deserve a finished sentence. Or finished review! :lol:)
 

vgerdes

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Snake Eyes - So like...that was a movie. Yeah. We saw this movie. It was like...a movie. That's all the feeling I can possibly... (His post ended here, guess the movie didn't deserve a finished sentence. Or finished review! :lol:)
Heh. I actually saw Snake Eyes this weekend. I didn't think it was as terrible as some of the reviews have been, but... pretty damn predictable, yes. The action sequences were fun. I loathe snakes, so the giant murderous ones were... not fun. Henry Golding is great eye candy. That's about all I have to say.
 

PeterG

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9/10 - The Old Guard (Netflix) - I LOOOOOOVED this movie! Charlize Theron and Matthias Schoenaerts star as two soldiers (in a group of four) who use their exceptional skills to take on jobs where they can right a wrong that has been committed. Their first mission in this movie is to rescue a group of kidnapped girls in Sudan. But this is not your usual war film. Or your usual action film. It's a smart and engaging drama and there's a reason these soldiers have such amazing special skills. I won't say more than this as I didn't know the secrets of this movie, I just knew that I loved the two leads, so had to see this one. As a bonus, Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as the man who hires this group for this mission...but is more than just an employer...

Trailer for The Old Guard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK-X2d0lJ_s

8/10 - Stevie Nicks 24 Karat Gold The Concert (DVD) - I'm a Stevie Nicks uber, so it's not a surprise that I loved this. This concert is almost two and a half hours long, in part because it has a format like what was done with VH1 Storytellers. Nicks discusses the creation of most of the songs, which was great for me as I like hearing about the creative process of one of my favourite artists. Those who want somebody just to sing songs with little or no chatter might not like how this concert proceeds. But it worked for me. :D

Trailer for 24 Karat Gold The Concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J02RTLFYVlM

8/10 - Jim Jeffries: Intolerant (Netflix) - I'm also a big fan of Jeffries, so I love everything he does. The bit where he rips into millenials is pretty wild! :lol:

Trailer for Intolerant: I decided not to share it because it does an awful job of presenting what the concert is about. But there's plenty of his stuff on youtube to get an idea of what he is about. His bit on gun control is his most viewed youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rR9IaXH1M0

3/10 - Zookeeper (DVD) - As I started watching this, I wondered why the heck it was on my To See list. I had to imdb the cast as I figured it had to have somebody in the movie that I really liked. Yup, it's Cher doing the voice work for the lioness. Unfortunately, she has only about six lines in this movie. But the lion is played by Sylvester Stallone, and where else will we get to see the two of them playing opposite each other?? The movie itself is okay in a stupid way. I mean, both Leslie Bibb and Rosario Dawson are trying to lure in Kevin James as their mate. Seriously??? So I guess this isn't a comedy, but a supernatural fantasy film. :D The movie also has Ken Jeong, Joe Rogan and Donnie Wahlberg in small roles. Others doing voicework for the animals in this movie are Nick Nolte, Adam Sandler, Don Rickles, Judd Apatow, Jon Favreau and Maya Rudolph.

Trailer for Zookeeper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNJxxRi7AeE
 

Jay42

Between the click of the light
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9/10 - The Old Guard (Netflix) - I LOOOOOOVED this movie! Charlize Theron and Matthias Schoenaerts star as two soldiers (in a group of four) who use their exceptional skills to take on jobs where they can right a wrong that has been committed. Their first mission in this movie is to rescue a group of kidnapped girls in Sudan. But this is not your usual war film. Or your usual action film. It's a smart and engaging drama and there's a reason these soldiers have such amazing special skills. I won't say more than this as I didn't know the secrets of this movie, I just knew that I loved the two leads, so had to see this one. As a bonus, Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as the man who hires this group for this mission...but is more than just an employer...
I love The Old Guard. It's so good. They're making a sequel to it that should be going into production soon.
 

PeterG

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I love The Old Guard. It's so good. They're making a sequel to it that should be going into production soon.

I was shocked when I found out that The Old Guard was
based on a comic book
. The tone of the movie has a real seriousness to it, while remaining completely entertaining. I also liked that of the five main characters,
two were women, two were people of colour and two were members of the LGBTQ+ community
. :40beers:

Plus the very last scene is amazing, which sets up the sequel so well! Can't wait!

Also liked that the movie is (brilliantly) directed by a woman/person of colour, Gina Prince-Bythewood. She co-wrote 2017's Before I Fall, another movie that I loved.

Other interesting info (from wikipedia):

On July 17, Netflix reported the film was on pace to be viewed by 72 million households over its first four weeks, among the top 10 most-successful original launches in the platform's history. That October, Netflix reported the actual figure to have been 78 million. In November, Variety reported the film was the seventh-most watched straight-to-streaming title of 2020 up to that point.
 

Jay42

Between the click of the light
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5,051
I was shocked when I found out that The Old Guard was
based on a comic book
. The tone of the movie has a real seriousness to it, while remaining completely entertaining. I also liked that of the five main characters,
two were women, two were people of colour and two were members of the LGBTQ+ community
. :40beers:

Plus the very last scene is amazing, which sets up the sequel so well! Can't wait!

Also liked that the movie is (brilliantly) directed by a woman/person of colour, Gina Prince-Bythewood. She co-wrote 2017's Before I Fall, another movie that I loved.

Other interesting info (from wikipedia):

On July 17, Netflix reported the film was on pace to be viewed by 72 million households over its first four weeks, among the top 10 most-successful original launches in the platform's history. That October, Netflix reported the actual figure to have been 78 million. In November, Variety reported the film was the seventh-most watched straight-to-streaming title of 2020 up to that point.
The script was also written by
Greg Rucka, who wrote the comic book. He also wrote the Stumptown comic, a show I'm still very sad ended up as an early p*ndemic casualty and the comic Batwoman: Elegy which is absolutely fantastic.
 

watchthis!!

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1,774
Good Boys, the 2019 comedy vehicle for Jacob Tremblay, was funnier than I expected and had more of a heart than I expected. So I was pleased in both ways, the script is great and the other two boys who play Tremblay's friends are both cute and talented. The movie is about the boys ditching school one day and end up having quite the adventure. In smaller roles as some of the parents are Will Forte, Lil Rel Howery and Retta.
 

PeterG

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13,624
7/10 - The Decline (Netflix) - A 2020 action thriller about a survivalist training program where a fluke accident occurs...and leaves everyone else at odds on how they should deal with the accident that happened. I'm wondering if thrillers are hard to get right...there's always going to be somebody pointed out a plot point problem here or there. This movie suffers that same fate, but the story is interesting and the performances are all good. Perhaps the movie is just a little on the cheesy side, but I found this to be pretty good escapist fun.

Trailer for The Decline: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H80jcZjb-C8

7/10 - Standoff (Tubi) - Another thriller starring Laurence Fishburne and Thomas Jane and a fantastic child actress, Ella Ballentine. Fishburne stars as a hitman who is spotted mid-job by a girl...and her camera. The girl makes a run for it and ends up at a house of a man (Jane) packing up his house after a personal tragedy has broken up his family. Jane's character is ex-military and vows to protect the girl. This, being a thriller, has a few plot problems (like the previous film), but the acting of the three main characters is so good that one can let a few things slide and just enjoy some great performances happening on screen.

Trailer for Standoff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEavB4f2tD0

5/10 - Common Threads: Stories From The Quilt (DVD) - A 1989 HBO documentary about the AIDS quilt, with five stories spotlighted of people who had a quilt made for them. Such an important topic (and project). But the tone of the director for this film is so sombre and dour. I felt dragged into a bit of a despressed state. The music doesn't help, it has the same feeling of the movie and it's basically the same stormcloud of a tune on repeat and used constantly throughout pretty much the entire...length...of the...movie. But what do I know, this won the Oscar for best documentary in 1990... :eek:

Trailer for Common Threads: Stories From The Quilt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tR57NA0gl8
 

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