What movies have you seen recently?

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My Cousin Vinny

At the beginning of September we began the DC Extended Universe. We finally finished it last night!
It could've gone faster but:
-=-=.A. I'm an Aspie who thinks we should watch movies in the evening and
-=-=.B. She's ADHD and has a busy life.

In almost all franchises I believe you should watch in chronological order based upon when the story takes place. (Two exceptions that come immediately to mind are Cloverfield and Doctor Who.) So, we watched the DC movies in this order:

*.1.. Wonder Woman 1984 [2020] <trailer>^{First time we've seen this movie!}
-=-=-=-"A new era of wonder begins."
-=-=-=-A good, "big" movie but not as good as Wonder Woman [2017].
-=-=-=-Wonder Woman has brief opening and closing scenes that make the body of the movie a flashback to WWI.
-=-=-=-Wonder Woman 1984 is set in the 1960s and is not structured as a flashback and that is why I chose to
-=-=-=-watch it first and defer Wonder Woman to where it appears to be flashing back from.
-=-=-=-But having now seen Wonder Woman 1984 I am reconsidering.
-=-=-=-- I think it is an unsatisfying way to begin the franchise...it contrasts with the next few movies too much.
-=-=-=-- I think Man of Steel is a better first movie for the franchise.
-=-=-=- -Start slow and build up, like the fanfare from Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra.
-=-=-=-- And it would make Wonder Woman's first appearance, in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a great tease.
-=-=-=-Now I think it might be better to pretend the two Wonder Woman movies are one big flashback
-=-=-=-and watch them back-to-back.

*.2.. Man of Steel [2013] <trailer>
-=-=-=-"Accomplish Wonder."
-=-=-=-A solid movie but uninspiring. As a stand-alone movie I would not have added it to our collection.
-=-=-=-But it is a good foundation for the franchise!

*.3.. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Ultimate Edition [2016] <trailer>
-=-=-=-"Who will win?"
-=-=-=-The Ultimate Edition adds 31 minutes to the Theatrical Release. It is an improvement.

*.4.. Suicide Squad, Extended Cut [2016] <trailer>
-=-=-=-"Justice has a bad side."
-=-=-=-The Extended Cut adds 11 minutes to the Theatrical Release. It is an improvement.
-=-=-=-Neither edition is great but both are kind of fun. The Extended Cut is slightly more fun.
-=-=-=-And I thought Jared Leto made a perfectly good Joker. I would have preferred more of it!

*.5.. Wonder Woman [2017] <trailer>
-=-=-=-"The future of justice begins with her"
-=-=-=-W O N D E R F U L ! This is when I began liking the franchise.

*.6.. Zack Snyder's Justice League [2021] <trailer>^{First time we've seen this movie!}
-=-=-=-"Us United"
-=-=-=-Justice League [2017] was adequate but this is much better!
-=-=-=-But, GEE! It is a shave over four hours long! It should be split into two volumes.

*.7.. Shazam! [2019] <trailer>
-=-=-=-"Just say the word."
-=-=-=-Fun, but so far, seems out of place in the franchise. I look forward to a 2023 sequel.
-=-=-=-I suspect the general wisdom is to watch this after Aquaman [2018]
-=-=-=-but I think Shazam!'s post-credit scene makes a very obvious hand-off to Aquaman.

*.8.. Aquaman [2018] <trailer>
-=-=-=-"He's not from around here."
-=-=-=-A really good movie and is probably exactly the kind of superhero movie a lot of people hope for.

*.9.. Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn [2020] <trailer>
-=-=-=-"Mind Over Mayhem"
-=-=-=-A lot of fun! A lot of action! A lot of Harley Quinn! A tough act to follow.

.10.. The Suicide Squad [2021] <trailer> ^{First time we've seen this movie!}
-=-=-=-"Don't get too attached."
-=-=-=-More fun! More action! Not quite as much Harley Quinn, but still plenty  
-=-=-=-and the characters around her this time are stronger than the previous lot.

We enjoyed these movies!

If this is a genre you like then this franchise is worth watching. But, with two recommendations:

-=-=- Don't start with Wonder Woman 1984 [2020], watch that right after Wonder Woman [2017]...after Suicide Squad, Extended Cut.

-=-=- Zack Snyder's Justice League [2021] is internally broken into parts which are labelled! See complete parts at one sitting but don't necessarily see all of the parts in one humongous sitting. For planning purposes, on ComicBook.com see 'How Long Is Zack Snyder's Justice League? Runtimes For All Six Parts And Epilogue Explained'.

-=-=- And look forward to future films in the franchise!

Now, would someone please pass me a bit of Robot Chicken, or two?

national security
meh.

First Daughter
Light fluff but I still enjoyed it.

Eternals

It's a nearly three hour long film based on an obscure comic in which the characters are mostly Justice League rip offs, especially Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern. It has no idea which direction it wants to go either.

Phase Four of the MCU is in trouble. So far the best of it has been the streamed TV shows (Loki, Wanda Vision, and Falcon and Winter Soldier). Black Widow and Five Rings weren't that good and now this. Hopefully Spiderman No Way Home will be good, but I don't have high hopes for Love and Thunder or any of the films based on side comics like Guardians of the Galaxy or Ant Man.

Freedom Writers
good

Last night I watched:

Meet the Feebles [1989]
-=-"From the creator of 'Bad Taste', comes a movie with no taste at all!"



I watched it. I see no compelling reason for you to.

Start with Muppet wannabes, reduce the budget and quality, add a simple story, make it sleazy enough to be completely inappropriate for children, and have the acting polished to about late night variety show skit level. Nailed it!

Bourne Identity
Good and it was on tv.

Last night we watched:

Train to Busan [2016]
-=-"Escape from the zombies! Get on board to stay alive!"
We watched it in Korean with English subtitles.



Normally I prefer zombies to be mixed with some comedy but that was definitely not the case in this movie. IMDb lists its genres as: Action, Horror, Thriller  very true on all counts!

We both thought the movie was very good!

One actress in the movie merits special mention. We both agreed that Su-an Kim gave an outstanding performance...which seems noteworthy because she had a major role in the film and, when the movie was filmed, it seems likely her age was less than 10. (She's the only little girl in the trailer above, first appearing about 7 seconds into the trailer.)

Thank you, AnonymousAnonymous and Kraichgauer for recommending it.

Does anyone know anything about its animated prequel, Seoul Station [2016], or its sequel, Peninsula [2020]?

Beat.

Story of two murders - of David Kammerer and Joan Burroughs - at the heart of the Beat literary movement.
While some liberties had been taken with the facts, it's still a good movie.