The Unofficial Ongoing Current Movies in Theaters thread

[dookeyXXX]

X
Writer/Director Ti West has been hit or miss with me. His "satanic panic" offering, The House of the Devil, was also a wonderful ode to late '60s/early '70s horror films. I was in the minority in that I dug his haunted hotel effort The Innkeepers. As for the rest of his work? What I have seen--The Roost, Cabin Fever 2, In A Valley of Violence--has left me nonplussed.
So it was with a bit of trepidation that I ventured to the Cineplex to see his latest effort, X. That it was waving the A24 banner was what got me motivated.
The film, much like HotD, is an homage/riff on '70s horror films; it wears its influences boldly on its sleeves.
Be warned, this is a film aimed squarely at horror film geeks, so if you aint a die-hard you may wanna steer clear.
West's predilection for making faux '70s films is on full display here and every time The shtick begins to wear thin he slaps the viewer with a jump scare, ironic snark, or just some leftfield WTFuckery. It also helps that the cast is top-notch and the pacing is brisk. Plus the score is subdued and creepy.
While the story mines a number of familiar horror tropes, it also pokes fun at them, spanking the likes of Southern Gothic, giant killer animals, the cabin-in-the-woods, found footage, as well as the porn industry.
Again, this film is aimed at the horror film geeks, so if you're one you'll no doubt dig its not so subtle tongue-in-cheek digs at the genre.

RIYL
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original); Wolf Creek; The Visit

[dookeyXXX]

Went and saw Scream last night on a whim. It was pretty good, nothing fantastic but kind of clever as the franchise can be. I was the only person in the theater. First time I've been since the pandemic.

On the one hand it's really cool to have a theater all to yourself; no worries about inconsiderate people talking or using their cellphones during the film.
On the other hand you miss out on that audience reaction/participation factor (people laughing or screaming) which can heighten the experience, especially with comedies and horror films...

[Mike Pow]

Licorice Pizza
Imagine if Quentin Tarantino, Richard Linklater, and Cameron Crowe had collaborated on a flashback episode of Seinfeld, which took place in L.A. during the 1973 oil crisis. That's kinda, sorta, but not really the vibe of Paul Thomas Anderson's latest cinematic exploit, which at its core is an unconventional love story featuring waterbeds, pinball machines, and schmarmy Hollywood characters.
It's idiosyncratic, uncomfortably charming, quirky, and hilarious and features some tour de force acting, gonzo cameos, and enough eccentricity to keep you thoroughly entertained.

RIYL
Almost Famous; Dazed and Confused; Once Upon A Time In Hollywood; Fast Times at Ridgemont High; Everybody Wants Some; Pulp Fiction

Arthouse?

No, Shithouse.

Was hoping they all went off the cliff as the truck was freewheeling backwards, which is a metaphor for the movie.

[dookeyXXX]

Arthouse?

No, Shithouse.

Was hoping they all went off the cliff as the truck was freewheeling backwards, which is a metaphor for the movie.

To each their own.


I saw it with my 87 year old dad back in December and we both dug it.
When we came out of the theater he said "That reminded me of one of Quentin Tarantino's films."

[dookeyXXX]

CODA
I haven't seen the film yet, but it's returning to theaters next week in light of it having just won Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

It really wasn't on my radar, however this journalist writes a pretty convincing editorial about it:

https://variety.com/2022/film/column...235216710/amp/

[toast2266]

Death on the Nile

OK, maybe not in theaters anymore? But it just showed up on HBO. Anyways, a bit of a let down. I figured an Agatha Christie book kinda makes for a decent paint by numbers movie, but it didn't work out this time. The pacing is weird - the lead up takes forever, but once people start dying everything seems rushed. And I'm not the best at spotting the twist / whodunit, but this one seemed painfully obvious from very early on. The whole movie also has this weird CGI sheen on it that's both unnecessary and sometimes distracting. And, in an unsurprising twist, Gal Gadot is still a really bad actress.

2/5

[yeahman]

I would give it 3/5, but yeah, it had some issues. I was entertained enough to make it worth a couple hours of my time.

[dookeyXXX]

Death on the Nile

OK, maybe not in theaters anymore? But it just showed up on HBO. Anyways, a bit of a let down. I figured an Agatha Christie book kinda makes for a decent paint by numbers movie, but it didn't work out this time. The pacing is weird - the lead up takes forever, but once people start dying everything seems rushed. And I'm not the best at spotting the twist / whodunit, but this one seemed painfully obvious from very early on. The whole movie also has this weird CGI sheen on it that's both unnecessary and sometimes distracting. And, in an unsurprising twist, Gal Gadot is still a really bad actress.

2/5

Still bouncing around a few theaters in Reno, but it was never really on my radar.


And, what, no mention of Poirot's 4-D moustache?

[Supermoon]

I liked Murder on the Orient Express better, but I thought it was ok. Gal Gadot makes every movie better

[dookeyXXX]

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
With their latest endeavor, writer/director duo The Daniels take a familiar subject--in this case family and the trials, tribulations, and sacrifices that come with being a parent--and inject it with some serious doses of absurdity and surrealism. Toss in some wacky martial arts, a sub-plot involving a tax audit, and some phallic and anal fetishism and you've got a seriously warped and multi-layered cinematic rumination on love, life, and the pursuit of happiness.
At times the film does unravel with an uneven tone and teeters between off-kilter humor and treacley, heart string pulling emotionalism, but it is never boring.
I definitely feel it warrants a second viewing...

RIYL
Time Bandits; The Cell; Bedazzled; Timecrimes; The Fountain

[Labcabin]

I went back to about page 40 and saw nothing posted yet...

Have you all seen this coming. I can't wait.






Nordic blood is trendy right now!

[dookeyXXX]

I went back to about page 40 and saw nothing posted yet...

Have you all seen this coming. I can't wait.






Nordic blood is trendy right now!

I have seen the trailer a couple times in the theaters now.
I am about 87% in.
I am a bit worried/put off by Anya Taylor-Joy's accent...

[dookeyXXX]

SINGIN' IN THE RAIN

70th Anniversary screening in select theaters:
Sunday 4/10
Wednesday 4/13.

https://www.fathomevents.com/events/...esented-by-TCM

I saw this film for the first time a few months back and it kicks ass. It's like a gloriously happy martial arts movie with singing and dancing instead of kung fu fighting. You can totally envision a young Jackie Chan watching this film over and over again since his 1980's endeavors owe a huge debt to the choreography of Gene Kelly.

[funkendrenchman]

I have seen the trailer a couple times in the theaters now.
I am about 87% in.
I am a bit worried/put off by Anya Taylor-Joy's accent...

I’m in.

All you really need to know about “The Northman” — a $90 million Viking revenge saga directed by Robert Eggers — is that every single minute of it feels like a $90 million Viking revenge saga directed by Robert Eggers. Both parts of that equation are worth celebrating outside of and in addition to the movie’s other merits.

https://www.indiewire.com/2022/04/th...234715765/amp/

[dookeyXXX]

Debuting at Cannes in May, where it is competing for the Palm d'Or.

Headed to theaters in June.

[dookeyXXX]

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2
I would never have gone to see this on my own, but my 4 y/o niece and 9 y/o nephew were in town. We drug My 90 y/o dad (grandpa) along, too.
I gotta say, it was a smartly stupid and glorious blast of escapism.
I laughed quite a bit throughout, mostly at Jim Carey's ribald antics and the potty humor, but also because of my niece and nephew's ongoing commentary.
On top of that, the film is rife with homages, blatant rip-offs, and nods to other popular films from The Day the Earth Stood Still and Risky Business to Home Alone, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Wizard of Oz, and many, many more.
In many respects it's a giant melting pot of references aimed at movie and pop culture nerds and often seems like an episode of The Muppets in that on the surface it looks and feels like a kids show, but underneath that veneer is a lot of humor aimed at adults.
All in all It's a fun movie, even if you don't know jack about Sonic (I have never played any of the games and didn't see the first film, but my nephew and niece kindly gave me the 30-second condensed history of the Sonic storyline prior to watching this film).

As for my dad's take? He said "now I understand why kids today have hearing problems. It was loud and there were things blowing up non-stop." Keep in mind that my dad has hearing aids and is a bit hard of hearing, so if something is loud to him, it's gotta be pretty loud. (I didn't think it was any louder than any other film)


My niece stood up the whole time, eyes transfixed to the screen and my nephew, while rather restless throughout, still cheered and yelled at the screen when something he recognized from the games showed up. Both exclaimed "Best Movie Ever!!!" when the credits rolled.

[toast2266]

THE BATMAN
Matt Reeves's take on The Dark Knight is good.
Not great, mind you, but pretty damn good.
For starters its pacing is solid with the film feeling like a nice 90-minutes instead of the damn near 3 hours it actually is.
And the cast is brilliant. Robert Pattinson makes for a good Bruce Wayne/Batman and Zoe Kravitz finally brings Silver Screen legitimacy to Catwoman. The supporting cast is gonzo good, too, teeming with a number of surprises.
There are a few moments of treacley melodrama and while Michael Giacchino's score has some intriguing motifs, Reeves has it blasting virtually non-stop from the first frame until the credits fade out; somebody needs to teach him about the power of silence.
The film owes a huge debt to the likes of Chinatown, Blade Runner, L.A. Confidential, and Dark City, too, containing imagery and story elements that are heavily tinged with deja vu.
Despite its shortcomings, it is still 100 times better than 93% of the fare Marvel keeps pushing into the cineplexes.

Watched this one last night. Enjoyed it - you're spot on with the comparisons. It owes a lot of it's aesthetic to Blade Runner, which is a good thing. The cast was great, and Pattinson continues to successfully drag himself out of the Twilight hole.

Agreed that the score was a bit odd at times, although I didn't find it that overbearing (although I was watching on my home setup). I thought the inclusion of "something in the way" was kind of a weird touch that didn't really work for me.

Also thought they could've trimmed 40 minutes off of it, but that might have just been because I was tired from house projects and beer, and was pretty drousy by the end of it.

[dookeyXXX]

Re: The Batman:

Pattinson continues to successfully drag himself out of the Twilight hole.

Pattinson has made quite a few solid choices post-Twilight:
Cosmopolis
Good Time
The Lighthouse

Agreed that the score was a bit odd at times, although I didn't find it that overbearing (although I was watching on my home setup). I thought the inclusion of "something in the way" was kind of a weird touch that didn't really work for me.

Yeah, the inclusion of that Nirvana song didn't work for me either.
It was a total head scratcher, imho.
It was also the only moment in the film that took me out of the story as it seemed so out-of-place.

[dookeyXXX]

THE NORTHMAN
Sadly, it's not the epic it wishes it was.

Poor casting choices, cheesy special effects, growly voices, and horrible accents mar the production.

My main takeaway:
Alexander Skarsgard appears to be a very strong swimmer; his breaststroke looks Olympic level.

[buttahflake]

Was there any overly choreographed sword fights! Those are my favorite

[PB]

Well .... comedic berserker shows are currently all the rage

[dookeyXXX]

Was there any overly choreographed sword fights! Those are my favorite

Sadly, no. They might have helped the film...

Well .... comedic berserker shows are currently all the rage

A little bit of comedy mighta helped, too...

[dookeyXXX]

THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT
This movie is stupid.
And by that I mean stupidly entertaining.
It's smart in all the right places and hilariously dumb in all the other right places.
While the whole meta action hero shtick is nothing new--Arnie kind of gave it a go in The Last Action Hero and Jean-Claude Van Damme was ahead of the trend with the sublime JCVD--Nic F$%king Cage gives it a go and then some here.
The director and screenwriters keep things light and breezy and moving at a breakneck pace. As for Cage? Well, he's firing on all cylinders (and that's something of an understatement).
The plot is ripped straight outta the era when Sly, Bruce, and Arnie (and to a certain extent Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude, and Chuck Norris) ruled the Box Office and Nic gave 'em all a run for their $$$ with Con Air, The Rock, and Face Off. But there's also a heaping dose of ribald comedy a la Leaving Arizona.
I laughed, I was thrilled, and now I wanna watch Paddington 2 and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
Viva Nic F$%king Cage!

RIYL
Lethal Weapon; Romancing The Stone ; Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle; Dude, Where's My Car; JCVD

[plugboots]

Re: The Batman:


Pattinson has made quite a few solid choices post-Twilight:
Cosmopolis
Good Time
The Lighthouse

I was watching Tenet for a while before I recognized him. He was great, and Tenet was really good.

[abraham]

THE NORTHMAN
Sadly, it's not the epic it wishes it was.

Poor casting choices, cheesy special effects, growly voices, and horrible accents mar the production.

My main takeaway:
Alexander Skarsgard appears to be a very strong swimmer; his breaststroke looks Olympic level.

Bummer, I had high hopes for something like a more active Valhalla Rising.