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Rachel Lambert recommended Wonder Boys (2000) in Movies (curated)

 
Wonder Boys (2000)
Wonder Boys (2000)
2000 | Comedy, Drama

"It’s dramatically different [from The Godfather] in terms of this town and the world of it. It’s a good movie, tremendously. I’m a writer, so obviously I enjoy the content because it’s about writer things and writer dramas and writer people. It’s just one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. I can watch that movie over and over again. Robert Downey Jr. gives one of his best performances ever. And very funny. And I love Michael Douglas in it; he’s great. But it also has this wonderful capacity for pathos in this very earned way. It doesn’t feel kitsch. It feels really earned and honest, so it can play those lines really well."

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Dumbo (2019)
Dumbo (2019)
2019 | Animation, Family, Fantasy
Disney's continuing plundering of their back catalogue (see also: Beauty and the beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Cinderella …) continues with this latest attempt to turn their 1940s cartoon original into a live action movie.

It doesn't really work.

Starring, for once, a pretty 'armless (sorry not sorry) Colin Farrell, this crams the story of Dumbo (circus elephant, learns how to fly, lives happily ever after …) into roughly the first 30 minutes or so, before going off on its own tangent (for that, at least, it needs lauded), and introducing both Michael Keaton's circus businessman alongside Eva Green's aerial trapeze artist.

Ironically, however, I found the movie never really takes off at all!
  
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David McK (3540 KP) rated The Day After Tomorrow (2004) in Movies

Nov 20, 2019 (Updated Sep 25, 2022)  
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
2004 | Action, Drama, Mystery
Roland Emmerich sure likes his disaster movies.

This is his 2014 disaster movie that, taking climate change as it's starting point, has entered the popular vernacular - "it's like the day after tomorrow out there" - and, until the movie 2012 came along (I'm typing this in 2019) also must have held the record for portraying natural disaster on the big screen.

The main focus of this one is on both Jake Gylenhall and Dennis Quaid, with the former becoming trapped in New York when a series of natural disasters leads to a new ice-age leading to the latter (who, natch, is an experienced climatologist) to trek has way across the frozen North America to rescue his son.
  
Dr. No (1962)
Dr. No (1962)
1962 | Action, Classics, Mystery
Bond. James Bond.
The first James Bond movie, based on the 6th Bond book, and starring who is for many, arguably, the best Bond of all in Sean Connery.

Now over 60 years old (at the time I’m writing this), it’s noticeable how ‘fully formed’ the tropes of the series are here right out of the gate: the flirting between Bond and Moneypenny, the mutual respect between Bond and M, the exotic locales, the girls (for better or worse), the secret bases, the villains with a penchant for explaining their dastardly plans before letting Bond escape …

There is, however, also a reason that a later incarnation of M (Judi Dench) would call Bond something along the lines of “a dinosaur. A misogynistic relic from the Cold War …” which is also on full display here!

I suppose it was the 60s, though …
  
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Andy K (10823 KP) rated Crash (1996) in Movies

Aug 31, 2018  
Crash (1996)
Crash (1996)
1996 | Drama
Bad words in review (0 more)
Do you get turned on after being in a car crash?
Contains spoilers, click to show
The people in this movie do and it pretty messed up. I love David Cronenberg and all his body horror films and also the deeply provocative and sometimes controversial subject matter in his films; however, this one seemed just a bit too random and out there for me.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a great steamy sex scene in a film as much as anyone, but this movie seemed like a never-ending stretch of handjobs and random nastiness for no reason whatsoever.

The characters were not even that interesting in that all they wanted to do was grope, suck and fuck each other just for the turn on of being around a crashed car and that didn't really make any sense.

Do yourself a favor and watch Naked Lunch or Videodrome instead.
  
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
J.K. Rowling | 2014 | Children
9.0 (221 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"Finished this one last week and forgot to mark, but I loved it. I ended up taking a massive break for several months because I'm such a mood reader but I really have always loved this one. I remember missing the magic as a teen since Umbridge was being Umbridge but the last act remains one of the most exciting in the series. And I was really happy to get to revisit the scene where Harry talks to Nearly Headless Nick about why some wizards become ghosts and why most don't. I always wanted that scene in the movie, but it's beautifully done in the book. Also loved the extensive conversation between Harry and Dumbledore, which was also reasonably shortened in the film. #AdamRereadsHP"

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Men in Black International (2019)
Men in Black International (2019)
2019 | Action, Sci-Fi
Weighed, Measured and Found Wanting
Men In Black International is a 2019 sci-fi action/comedy directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. It is based on the Malibu/Marvel comic book series by Lowell Cunningham. The film was produced by Amblin Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, Image Nation, Tencent Pictures and MacDonald/Parkes Productions and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The movie stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Rebecca Ferguson, Kumail Nanjiani, Emma Thompson, and Liam Neeson.


Molly Wright (Tessa Thompson) witnesses her parents being neuralized by agents of Men in Black in Brooklyn 1996. Avoiding neuralization as her parents assumed that she was asleep, she helps an alien escape. Twenty-three years later, she manages to track Men in Black agents back to MiB headquarters in New York. Molly makes an impression on Agent O (Emma Thompson), despite being caught entering the building. She is assigned to the London branch on a probationary agent status as "Agent M".


This movie was very predictable. There really wasn't one part of the movie that surprised me plot wise. From the twists and turns that they try and throw at you to the big reveal at the end. A lot of critics said this movie was very forgettable with lackluster action and they are not wrong. However, the movie was quite enjoyable for myself and others. The chemistry between Thompson and Hemsworth was awesome and particularly the voice acting for Kumail Nanjiani's character. His character Pawney, stole the show and really made the movie good. He was the comic relief and center of any scene he was in. The special effects were great and they even threw in a couple of new aliens as they often do with the sequels of this series. The movie also didn't have near the emotional impact of the sequels. It was a decent movie but not as funny, surprising, or stupendous as the first film in the franchise. I give it a 7/10,
  
Always and Forever, Lara Jean
Always and Forever, Lara Jean
Jenny Han | 2017 | Romance, Young Adult (YA)
10
8.1 (11 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is the third book in this series. I read the all three books in a matter of days after watching the movie. I really liked this story. I felt that it was a great ending for the story and character arcs and also felt that the theme of going away to college and what that means for you and your relationships is important. I liked the first book best, then this was my second favorite, but all are good! Go read them!