What was the last movie you watched?

Isle of Dogs.
I like a well told story by an original teller, Wes has a unique style, and he doesn't do the same thing twice.
 
"Big Fat Liar" (2002)

Stars Frankie Muniz, Amanda Bynes, Paul Giamatti, Donald Faison, and Amanda Detmer
A nice family-oriented comedy, in which 14 year-old Jason (Muniz) is a habitual liar, so no one believes him when he has a short-story manuscript stolen by an unscrupulous Hollywood film producer (Giamatti), who plans on turning the story into a film.

Jason and his best friend Kaylee (Bynes) set off for Tinseltown to settle the score, with the help of a few sympathetic folks who have also been screwed over by the producer. This is a light and lively film, a good way to pass a couple of hours.
 
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Finally got around to seeing last summer's big hit, Baby Driver. Not sure what to make of this one. Early on, I thought it was being self consciously "stylish" in a kind of half-assed tribute to Michael Mann, but it sort of grew on me. There are some great driving scenes in which what I must assume are some pretty impressive CGI effects are seamlessly blended with live action. The performances, however, seemed mostly stock and to varying extents phoned in: Kevin Spacey (was this his Hollywood swan song?) was competent in the kind of paternal elder statesman role that he's played to better effect elsewhere (I'm thinking 21 here), Jon Hamm was just Don Draper as a hired assassin (not a big stretch), and Jamie Foxx was a prototypical angry black psychopath. I kind of liked the kid who played the title role. He had a kind of a disengaged millennial diffidence that was perfect for the part.

The soundtrack, which was widely billed as being the best thing about the film, was ideally suited to the story, script and production design, but didn't really knock my socks off.

All that being said, there was something of an engaging plot (which is a component often overlooked in modern filmcraft), the performances were adequate for their purpose, there was some clever-ish dialogue, and the movie had a cohesive look and feel and was decently paced.

I give it a recommendation, but with reservations as noted above. I would be curious to compare notes with others who have seen it.
 
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All The Money In The World

The basis of a good movie is a good story. This one is based upon historical events. The protagonists in this story include a man who considered himself the richest man to ever have lived. J. Paul Getty. Excellent work all round on this one. A thriller which really took place. This is a good one. Highly recommended.

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I finally got around to watching Night on Earth by Jim Jarmusch. A wonderful series of five short stories of taxi drivers in LA, New York, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki, and their fares at night. Some stories are kind of dark, some are funny, some are awkward. A good mix.

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Emperor [2012] - Tommy Lee Jones as Douglas MacArthur ...
for the most part, a nicely done film, with the story centered on General Fellers sorting out blame
for a report so the US and MacArthur moving forward with the rebuilding of Japan can occur.
I'd rate it well - we got involved in the story and stayed up late last night to watch through to the conclusion.

Some "attitudes" added to the story are explained here -
http://www.armchairgeneral.com/historical-hits-and-misses-in-the-movie-emperor.htm


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Emperor [2012] - Tommy Lee Jones as Douglas MacArthur ...

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I enjoyed that movie also. Flying to Japan I came across the Japanese film "The Emperor in August" about the surrender as seen from the Japanese side. A bit overlong but interesting; it's available subtitled on DVD. I found it interesting to compare their "Never Surrender" mindset to that in "Darkest Hour."
 
Darkest Hour
I'm barely 15 minutes into this one. I can't shake the impression that I'm watching Gary Oldman impersonating Alfred Hitchcock acting the part of Winston Churchill.
 
I'm no authority on the historical accuracy or lack thereof contained in Darkest Hour. So that having been said, the movie does develop as it moves forward. Recommended. I know that sounds like a vague statement. I actually wasn't going to watch this movie. I had to force myself to go back and continue with it. It improves as they develop the story.
 
I have not yet seen the movie, but from comparing the clips I've seen to footage of old speeches, Oldman's performance seemed more an interpretation of Sir Winston than an authentic reproduction. Which is fine. But I guess it's good policy to see the entire movie before I render a judgment, right?
 
I have not yet seen the movie, but from comparing the clips I've seen to footage of old speeches, Oldman's performance seemed more an interpretation of Sir Winston than an authentic reproduction. Which is fine. But I guess it's good policy to see the entire movie before I render a judgment, right?
Yes, much of the personal content is dramatized, but lacking the original, he will do.
 
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