The Unofficial Ongoing Current Movies in Theaters thread

[dookeyXXX]

I could never get over the weird pacing in Fast X where they whiplash you from over-the-top action to super gushy sentimentality (Dom is the best father in the world apparently). It's also basically a super hero franchise where they just don't mention that these people have super powers. I may just wait til part 2 comes out for rent on streaming at this point. I'm invested to the point where I want to see the end of it, but can't justify spending three hours at the theater.

Can we just get a nice, tight, 90 minute action film again? I got shit to do.

I concur on all points!


Funny aside, a few days after seeing Fast X, I went touring with a buddy and his 16 y/o son. When I mentioned that I had seen the film, the kid said, “You realize that they keep making shitty films like this because idiots like you keep paying to see them, right?”
I laughed and told him the irony was not lost on me!

[Supermoon]

Hahaha. Brutal, and true. They know they've got us.

[dookeyXXX]

RE: Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

I agree on the multiverse stuff being overdone but you may as well go to this one. It was pretty fun

It was indeed fun.
There are a lot of cool elements in the film, enough to recommend it for sure.
The opening pre-credits segment is really cool (and feels inspired by Whiplash, amongst others).
The action sequences are nuts.
And the cool little 1970’s era Stan Lee edit notations that pop up are super cool, especially if you grew up reading that period of comics.
The animation is fantastic, encompassing so many different styles that it’s often overwhelming, but equally as arresting.

My only quibbles would be the faux 3-D backgrounds they employ on Miles Morales’s Earth. They used these in the previous film and it gives me a headache.
Also, some of the melodrama was a bit overwrought, imho.
And they could have perhaps tightened it up and edited it down to 90 minutes.
But those are just quibbles (with the exception of the faux 3-D headache inducing visuals), overall it’s a whiz bang effort that is more often stunning and gonzo good than not.
It’s also way better than 90% of live-action comic book films.

[bagtagley]

The first Miles Morales is one of my favorite movies of the past decade. I really liked the follow-up, but agree that it would have been better with some fat cut, especially considering it’s basically a part one of two, which was predictable but disappointing.

The new Transformers movie started fun. The music was like a soundtrack for my High School years. Then it turned into a low budget Marvel movie with worse acting and none of the humor. The nail in the coffin was the final “get ready for a universe that nobody cares about” reveal. I stopped watching the franchise after the first movie with The Beef cause I thought it sucked, so expectations were low enough that, despite thinking this new installment was bad, I did have a good time.

[dookeyXXX]

ASTEROID CITY
I was kinda starting to feel like I might be Wes Andersoned out, what with The French Dispatch only a mere 2 years in the past, plus the recent deluge of AI generated fake WA trailers saturating the webz.
But you know what?
I LOVED this film from start to finish. It was cool and surprising and not at all what I expected from the official trailer.
The cast is beyond solid and there are some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments sandwiched between all the quirk.
And who can hate on a Jarvis Cocker end credit song?
Top notch and may have just become my favorite WA film.

[bagtagley]

ASTEROID CITY
I was kinda starting to feel like I might be Wes Andersoned out, what with The French Dispatch only a meee 2 years in the past, plus the recent deluge of AI generated fake WA trailers saturating the webz.
But you know what?
I LOVED this film from start to finish. It was not at all what I expected from the official trailer, which was cool and surprising. The cast is beyond solid, there are some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments sandwiched between all the quirk.
And who can hate on a Jarvis Cocker end credit song?
Top notch and may have just become my favorite WA film.

Well said, very similar experience here. I was a little wary going into this one after my disappointment with The French Dispatch. This one did not disappoint, not even a little. We're gonna let the memory fade a bit and see it again next week.

[dookeyXXX]

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY
The latest (and last?) Indiana Jones adventure is good. Not great, merely good.
I was hesitant to see it given how ho-hum the last entry was and what with all the internet buzz over the de-aging CGI. Well, the de-aging wasn’t terrible. But that’s mostly because all of the flashback sequences were shot at night, so the Uncanny Valley was shrouded in shadows and darkness.
The action elements were decent enough, too. Nothing spectacular, mind you, but thrilling more often than not. Their only slight was that they were terribly stock and rife with deja vu. Fight on moving train? Check. Car chase in a quirky vehicle (in this case a tuk-tuk) through narrow, crowded streets? Check. Horse vs. motorized vehicle chase through crowded streets (what the fuck is up with all these horseback chase scenes in modern action films recently, anyway?). Check? Airplane fight sequence? Check. Sure, they were entertaining, but also kinda bland.
There are a number of requisite nods to the other films strewn throughout, too, ranging from bullwhip vs. guns, to snakes to creepy crawlies and a youthful sidekick, amongst others. While nothing special, at least they aren’t terribly annoying; they just kind of fall flat.
The real win here is the chemistry between cantankerous old Indy (Harrison Ford) and spunky young Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). There are some nice cameos, too. Sadly, the baddie, portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen, is one-dimensional and Mads himself kinda seems to be blasé about the whole affair.
Oh, and there is one super hokey moment in the third act. Thankfully, it is only about 15-minutes long, but it’s pretty bad. How bad, you ask? Well, I groaned. And the family in front of me, which consisted of two parental units and three elementary school aged kids, all groaned. You know something is corny AF if pre-teens groan. It was pretty much worse than the crystal skull imbued aliens from the last film.
As for the ending, while it’s blatant fan service aimed squarely at ticking off more nostalgia points, it actually works. Heck, I found myself getting a bit teary eyed.
In the grand scheme of this year’s franchise blockbusters and tentpole sequels—think Fast X and John Wick 4—this is by far the best of the bunch. Then again, I'm not sure that's saying much...

[mcski]

Phoebe is sooooo good. I think Fleabag is one of the best things I’ve ever seen on TV

[dookeyXXX]

Phoebe is sooooo good. I think Fleabag is one of the best things I’ve ever seen on TV

Just added Fleabag to my Prime queue purely based on her performance in Indy 5…

[mcski]

You haven’t seen fleabag? Wow. Im kinda shocked. Although it did sit in my queue way past its original run before I finally decided to check it out. It sucked me in immediately

[dookeyXXX]

You haven’t seen fleabag? Wow. Im kinda shocked. Although it did sit in my queue way past its original run before I finally decided to check it out. It sucked me in immediately

I’m not big into watching series…

[dookeyXXX]

Apparently Barbie is just the tip of the iceberg…

Brace yourself for the Barney invasion:

Mattel Corporate Press Release about forthcoming Barney projects:
https://corporate.mattel.com/news/ma...chise-relaunch



A24 behind “surreal” Barney feature film:
https://variety.com/2023/film/news/d...ed-1235660392/

[dookeyXXX]

Speaking of Barbie, I had no interest in seeing it until some co-workers told me they were going to double-feature it with Oppenheimer .

Pretty genius combination, imho.
So much so, that I bought tickets for both today.
So far three of us going, but trying to convince more.
Gonna be the first time in a long time that I’ve gone to the movies with a group, too.

[Supermoon]

I tried to go see Asteroid City tonight but mixed my times up so I saw No Hard Feelings instead. It’s exactly what you think it will be, but it’s executed very well. You’ll laugh, you’ll cringe, you’ll unlock a new kink when a fully nude Jennifer Lawrence beats the shit out of a couple people, what’s not to like!

[Supermoon]

Speaking of Barbie, I had no interest in seeing it until some co-workers told me they were going to double-feature it with Oppenheimer .

Pretty genius combination, imho.
So much so, that I bought tickets for both today.
So far three of us going, but trying to convince more.
Gonna be the first time in a long time that I’ve gone to the movies with a group, too.

This sounds awesome

[Mike Pow]

Apparently Barbie is just the tip of the iceberg…

Brace yourself for the Barney invasion:

Mattel Corporate Press Release about forthcoming Barney projects:
https://corporate.mattel.com/news/ma...chise-relaunch



A24 behind “surreal” Barney feature film:
https://variety.com/2023/film/news/d...ed-1235660392/

Going to have to pull all the stops out not to be unfavourably compared with this classic

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266452...q_death%2520to

[Mike Pow]

I tried to go see Asteroid City tonight but mixed my times up so I saw No Hard Feelings instead. It’s exactly what you think it will be, but it’s executed very well. You’ll laugh, you’ll cringe, you’ll unlock a new kink when a fully nude Jennifer Lawrence beats the shit out of a couple people, what’s not to like!

It was a decent watch

Lawrence is very easy on the eye

[dookeyXXX]

Saw this trailer before the screening of Asteroid City I attended a few weeks back.

Granted, it looks familiar in terms of the basic plot shown in the trailer, but it is by 1/2 of The Coen Bros. so here’s hoping it’s got their signature eccentric flair running throughout…

[dookeyXXX]

Mr. Scott has always been rather adept at the costume epic…although I rather wish he had filmed it in French with a French cast.

[Kenny Satch]

OK starts with another WWII Nazis back story, throws in a little homage to The Fugitive. Very Raiders of the Lost Ark vibes, same original music score. Goes off on an Ancient Aliens (the thing they're after has been featured on a couple of episodes there) sort of tangent. Most of the main action happens in 1969. A good ending for what's likely Harrison Ford's last film.

I agree with Critical Drinker on this one

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G_k8cDLe-Kk

[dookeyXXX]

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE- DEAD RECKONING PART I
Forget what I said about Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny being the best summer blockbuster of 2023 (it’s still better than either John Wick 4 and Fast X, though) as M:I - DR Pt 1 is the new king of 2023 tentpole extravagance.
That said, the opening pre-title sequence and the skeletal elements of the plot felt like an update on the opening of the 1981 Bond film For Your Eyes Only. Additionally, the requisite car chase also felt like a rip-off/homage to the one in FYEO. Thankfully, that’s perhaps my favorite Bond film, so I didn’t mind the similarities too much.
And while each of the core action set pieces smacked of deja vu in terms of locale and situation—car chase in crowded exotic city, fight aboard/atop a speeding train—they are served up with such flair and unbridled intensity as to make other similar minded exploits from other recent films pale in comparison.
Sadly, two of the most hyped action pieces fell rather flat. I blame this on the editing (both would have benefited from the technique Jackie Chan employed in his seminal 1980’s and early 1990’s films where they had multiple cameras rolling on the big stunts, capturing the action from the front, back, sides, as well as above and below). Both of the scenes in question are much cooler looking in the behind-the-scenes featurettes posted on YouTube. Perhaps having watched them prior to seeing the film set me up for disappointment?
These are mere quibbles, though, since the film speeds along at a breakneck pace, the chemistry between all involved (Hayley Atwell FTW!!!) is wonderfully palpable with Mr. Cruise orchestrating the whole maelstrom of mayhem into a cohesively entertaining blast of popcorn worthy fun.
Definitely see it on the BIG screen!

[mcski]

Lynn Holly Johnson???

[dookeyXXX]

Lynn Holly Johnson???

Not even.

Carole Bouquet all the way!!!

[MontuckyFried]

Watched the Sound of Freedom last night. EXCEPTIONAL film. Very well done from a cinematic perspective alone. Excellent performances, good writing, great filming, etc. Highly recommended. I like Critical Drinker's take on how they approached some of the subject matter. The filmmakers knew exactly how to walk that razor thin edge of showing juuuuust enough without making you puke given the subject matter. Faaaaaak this movie was heavy. Was far more epic in scope than I was expecting it to be, which was good, but prolly could've benefited from being trimmed down a hair as it's pretty long. It was pretty riveting while not being so much bang bang pew pew or nonsensical action. More on the crime thriller side. Anyway, go check this one out while it's in theaters. It's surprising for a pretty low budget indie.

[Buzzworthy]

I watch movies for entertainment. That movie doesn’t look entertaining to me and even if it wasn’t clouded with questionable characters on the production side, I’m not interested at all in watching it.