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Post by Newbie on Dec 25, 2022 22:16:19 GMT
The Watcher (2022) a 7 part min-series based on real events. The series takes great liberty with the real story but it is pretty disturbing. A new family moves into a large beautiful home in a seemingly ideal neighborhood. Soon the family finds a series of threating anonymous letters from The Watcher. Strange things happen inside the house. The Watcher knows intimate details of the house and the family's lives. The neighbors are creepy and hostile, any of them could be The Watcher. The father hires a private detective who discovers the disturbing history of the house. The whole town seems to be on the plot to scare the family out of their home and they have nowhere to turn.
There are huge gaps in the storytelling, for example when something major is revealed, an obvious link to has been harassing them and there is no follow up. Also, surely they could have gotten police help outside their small community. So it's far from perfect but the performances are compelling. Many viewers have found the conclusion unsatisfying but I think the show did point point a finger at the perpetrator. Good cast: Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Jennifer Coolidge, Mia Farrow, Margo Martindale, Richard Kind, Christopher McDonald, Terry Kinney, Noma Dumezweni, and Michael Nouri.
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Post by Newbie on Dec 27, 2022 18:44:01 GMT
"Inside Man" (2022) A four part mini-series but don't worry you'll never get that far. Set in England, a vicar (you won't forget it, he regularly shouts things like "I'm the f*cking vicar!!") agrees to hold a USB drive for one of his troubled parishioners. He goes home and he loses track of the device only to have his teenage son's tutor, a sanctimonious woman accidentally get a hold of it to download some math homework. Welp, there is some pretty nasty and disturbing stuff that the f*cking vicar's creepy parishioner has on this USB drive and the tutor quickly assumes that her teen student is to blame. She won't listen to reason as the vicar, his dad, tries to tell her that his son is not to blame. Things get out of hand and the vicar does something out of desperation that he really shouldn't have done. The situation escalates from there with the vicar doing increasingly maddening and stupid things, getting himself deeper in trouble.
Meanwhile in America, Stanley Tucci plays a genius criminologist who happens to be a convicted murder on death row. He also moonlights as a sort of Sherlock Holmes, solving mysteries for people who he deems worthy enough of his time. There's a British journalist who is the link between the murderer and the vicar. It got so far fetched that I had to bail on it by the penultimate episode. People don't behave the way the characters behave here. One Star.
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Post by ando on Dec 28, 2022 2:21:05 GMT
"Inside Man" (2022) A four part mini-series but don't worry you'll never get that far. Set in England, a vicar (you won't forget it, he regularly shouts things like "I'm the f*cking vicar!!") agrees to hold a USB drive for one of his troubled parishioners. He goes home and he loses track of the device only to have his teenage son's tutor, a sanctimonious woman accidentally get a hold of it to download some math homework. Welp, there is some pretty nasty and disturbing stuff that the f*cking vicar's creepy parishioner has on this USB drive and the tutor quickly assumes that her teen student is to blame. She won't listen to reason as the vicar, his dad, tries to tell her that his son is not to blame. Things get out of hand and the vicar does something out of desperation that he really shouldn't have done. The situation escalates from there with the vicar doing increasingly maddening and stupid things, getting himself deeper in trouble. Meanwhile in America, Stanley Tucci plays a genius criminologist who happens to be a convicted murder on death row. He also moonlights as a sort of Sherlock Holmes, solving mysteries for people who he deems worthy enough of his time. There's a British journalist who is the link between the murderer and the vicar. It got so far fetched that I had to bail on it by the penultimate episode. People don't behave the way the characters behave here. One Star. Kudos. You've got faith in these NF tv/mini-series/original programming shows. I have none. I look for classics and/or wait for great suggestions from folks like yourself.  Thanks, in any case. |
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Post by ando on Dec 28, 2022 2:34:19 GMT
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Post by mrminiver on Dec 29, 2022 8:47:20 GMT
Up until a few years ago I was still getting DVDs from NF.
I was focused on film that wasn't available elsewhere. I've since cancelled and replaced it with different approaches. I've focused on series that
may be 20 yrs old but are new to me. Still watching new movies and International film but at a different ratio.
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Post by Newbie on Dec 29, 2022 23:28:32 GMT
In the past Netflix would have Oscar-bait movies this time of year (Power of the Dog/Tick Tick Boom/Don't Look Up/The Lost Daughter/Marriage Story/Mank/Roma) but not much this holiday season. Frankly, the selection at the theaters aren't much better. I guess there is Babylon and Avatar 2. It's slim pickins.
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Post by ando on Dec 30, 2022 5:24:50 GMT
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Post by ando on Dec 31, 2022 21:37:39 GMT
 Ella Fitzgerald Just One Of Those Things (2019, Leslie Woodhead) On Netflix
The life and times of the unique Ella Fitzgerald. One of my musical heroes. |
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Post by Newbie on Jan 6, 2023 13:21:06 GMT
Emily the Criminal (2022) Alert fellow forum posters! I actually found something good to recommend on Netflix! Starring Audrey Plaza and Theo Rossi. Emily is a struggling Millennial. She's drowning in student loan debt, she's stuck in a nowhere job, she's got a minor assault on her record so she's lucky to have the crummy job she has. Through a co-worker she gets involved in credit card scam earning $200 for an afternoon. Attracted by the money and the adrenaline she is pulled into bigger criminal enterprises and becomes romantically involved with fellow thief, Theo Rossi. The movie is efficient, quickly moving Emily through bigger and more dangerous schemes. It's also a commentary on how tough it is for some Millennials to get out from under their huge student debt. Emily went to art school but is working at a low-level catering job. Going nowhere fast.
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Post by Newbie on Jan 6, 2023 23:36:22 GMT
Blonde (2022). 2 hours and 47 minutes. Controversial, fictionalized movie about Marilyn Monnroe. Cuban born Ana de Armas stars as Monroe. The production is slavish in its recreation of Monroe's famous style. However, the effect is broken when this Marilyn speaks with a breathy Cuban accent. It felt exploitative showing her participating in a long term manage a trois, getting three abortions, being raped as a young starlet by a studio goon, the mental breakdowns, calling the men in her life "Daddy." The low light: Servicing JFK while he's on the phone. In extreme close up for an uncomfortably long time. The positive: Bobby Canavale as Joe DiMaggio ( although Joe comes off as abusive and controlling) and Adrian Brody as Arthur Miller. JFK does not fare well. The movie shows a pregnant Monroe being drugged and carted off for an abortion surrounded by shadowy government types. Monroe tells herself it's just a dream but the next morning she wakes up in her own bed, naked and soaked in blood. I can't recommend this other than our of curiosity. RIP Norma Jean.
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Post by hoganman1 on Jan 18, 2023 14:56:29 GMT
We've been watching HEARTLAND from Canada. It's sort of like YELLOWSTONE meets Hallmark. It's entertaining, but cheesy at times. Apparently, it is the longest running TV show in Canadian history as it started in 2007 and is still going. Like VIRGIN RIVER the characters are likable for the most part. Anyway, it's a nice pause from the murder and mayhem we usually watch. My guess is we will probably pop in from time to time rather than binge watching all 15 or 16 seasons at once.
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Post by ando on Jan 23, 2023 0:29:39 GMT
I've been watching Our Universe over the past week - just letting the episodes run from the first season onward. Content-wise, it's not as impressive as the History Channel's 8 part series on the subject (currently on the Roku Channel) but the photography, graphics, writing and Morgan Freeman narration make it a compelling watch: |
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Post by Guest on Dec 16, 2023 20:37:49 GMT
Maestro (2023) coming to Netflix on 12/20. About the marriage of Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre.
I just came back from seeing it in the theater. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, having read its mixed reviews, but I was disappointed. It seems like a real missed opportunity.
In the film, his career was secondary to his complicated personal life. There's a lot of "shorthand" dialogue where rather than depict something, the movie gives a character a convoluted mouthful to catch the audience up to speed. The direction is clunky where it hopes to be artistic to the point its almost hard to watch. The film also seems to wallow in the grubby details of Bernstein's life: See Lenny in a tract suit snort coke with his young boyfriend! See geriatric sweaty Lenny at a rave like party with the college kids he is mentoring! Lenny likes the bathroom door open when doing his business!
I was wondering if anyone here has seen it.
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Post by Guest on Jan 24, 2024 0:58:08 GMT
Sr. (2022) Documentary by Robert Downey, Jr. about his father, writer-director RD, Sr. The two are close and the son is proud of his father's avant-garde film career. While it is a touching tribute, it doesn't cover much ground.
The elephant in the room, the father's contribution to his son's famous struggle with drugs is barely addressed. In a 25+ year old clip, Sr. who by that time had overcome his own addiction admits that his generation was wrong for encouraging their kids to par take in drugs. In the clip we see a twenty something RD, Jr hugging his dad, looking away from the camera, rather glassy eyed. I think it was a topic that RD Jr hoped to discuss on camera with his father but it never happened. Interestingly, we see the third generation with Exton, the son from RD, Jr and his second wife. We do not see or hear about his older son from his first marriage who has his own addiction issues. He, like his father, grew up with a father addicted to drugs.
His father was suffering from Parkinson's and we see over the course of filming his deterioration. He passed away in 2021.
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Post by topbilled on Jan 24, 2024 4:59:26 GMT
Maestro (2023) coming to Netflix on 12/20. About the marriage of Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre. I just came back from seeing it in the theater. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, having read its mixed reviews, but I was disappointed. It seems like a real missed opportunity. In the film, his career was secondary to his complicated personal life. There's a lot of "shorthand" dialogue where rather than depict something, the movie gives a character a convoluted mouthful to catch the audience up to speed. The direction is clunky where it hopes to be artistic to the point its almost hard to watch. The film also seems to wallow in the grubby details of Bernstein's life: See Lenny in a tract suit snort coke with his young boyfriend! See geriatric sweaty Lenny at a rave like party with the college kids he is mentoring! Lenny likes the bathroom door open when doing his business! I was wondering if anyone here has seen it. |
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Thanks, in any case.
