Recent movie playlist

[TC]

i thought we had a post in here about the Raniere / NXIVM thing, but i can't find it. so far, the docuseries about it - The Vow - is two episodes in, and it's fucking creepy as shit. really anxious to see more of it.

this show is absolutely fascinating. one, the actual content is insane. creepy as shit, and shows the inner workings of a cult. and on another level, the way they made the thing is really insane. like, when they started filming, they didn't know what was going to happen. we are seeing developments in real time. plus, all the footage mark had from years of filming a doc about keith from the inside for ESP purposes is heavily featured. i can only assume that once keith got convicted, rights to all of that reverted to mark. but the pure hubris of filming all of these things that could potentially come back to bite him is baffling. so many intimate moments and conversations, insane parties, meetings, etc. there had to be over a decade of footage they had to plow through to put it all together. a staggering amount of work had to go into assembling this. it's really fascinating to see. there's never been anything like it. i hope it wins some kind of awards.

[TC]

Perry Mason - i heard good things about the HBO re-imagining so figured i'd give it a shot. first off, it is really good. it's a terance winter effort, so you know you can expect quality. several boardwalk empire alum in this. maybe he wanted to revisit the '30s, who knows? but that's when this is supposed to have taken place. just the collection of cars onscreen is worth the watch alone. the series plays like a film noir resto-mod. meaning, it seems like a film noir on the outside, but all the innards have been updated to modern sensibilities. a couple things are pretty over-the-top and questionable, but overall this is a really good, enjoyable series. recommended.

[TC]

The Murders At White House Farm - Robert Baratheon (whose boss is Al Capone) investigates the murder of Grenn's wife (Yara Greyjoy's cousin), her parents, and their two kids, by Theon Greyjoy's BFF/lover (her adopted brother). it's based on horrific real events in 1985 Essex. was very well done, quite unnerving, and there are some hole left unfilled, just like in real life. well worth the watch.

The Boys - i thought we had a thread here but i can't find one, so posting here. S1 was fucking fantastic. watched the first two episodes of S2 and was quite let down. it was nowhere near the pace of the first season. took a break for a week before coming back to it. either i needed that perspective shift, or it got way better very quickly, or both, but loving S2 so far. i'm only one episode behind now, so i've seen the first six. some great scenes here for sure. and gretchen from You're The Worst is in this season as kind of the big baddie (i guess?) highly recommended if you haven't gotten in on this show yet.

[TC]

A Wilderness Of Error - 5-part series about a very fucked up murder illustrates how bonkers the case is/was, how it was wildly mishandled, and takes you on a roller coaster ride of believing one thing, then the opposite, then back to the first thing many times. while there are some serious questions raised about the night in question, lack of evidence to the contrary means macdonald will likely die in prison. unreliable, acid-addled hippies do not a case make. series was disjointed at times, all over the place at others, and the voice actors for the audio recreations were pretty rough, but it was quite a story. i didn't remember this case so it was interesting.

[TC]

American Murder - story is told first-hand via the woman's facebook videos (she was one of those where everything had to be recorded and shared), police bodycam footage, interrogation room footage, news foortage, etc. it's really and orwellian wet dream. it made me feel filthy afterwards, knowing what, when, and how this monster did it. ugh.

My Octopus Teacher - absolutely fascinating in every way, from the filmmaker to the subject. the guy himself swims daily in 40-degree water with no wetsuit, and can apparently hold his breath forever (i wish they would have mentioned how long this guy can hold his breath). but the story he tells about this octopus is amazing. he captures things never before captured on film. and i'm convinced even more that if there were cthulu-sized octopi in the world that decided they didn't like us, we'd be completely fucked. loved this film. highly recommended.

[_Marcus_]

A Wilderness Of Error - 5-part series about a very fucked up murder illustrates how bonkers the case is/was, how it was wildly mishandled, and takes you on a roller coaster ride of believing one thing, then the opposite, then back to the first thing many times. while there are some serious questions raised about the night in question, lack of evidence to the contrary means macdonald will likely die in prison. unreliable, acid-addled hippies do not a case make. series was disjointed at times, all over the place at others, and the voice actors for the audio recreations were pretty rough, but it was quite a story. i didn't remember this case so it was interesting.

Where can I watch this?

[TC]

A Wilderness Of Error - 5-part series about a very fucked up murder illustrates how bonkers the case is/was, how it was wildly mishandled, and takes you on a roller coaster ride of believing one thing, then the opposite, then back to the first thing many times. while there are some serious questions raised about the night in question, lack of evidence to the contrary means macdonald will likely die in prison. unreliable, acid-addled hippies do not a case make. series was disjointed at times, all over the place at others, and the voice actors for the audio recreations were pretty rough, but it was quite a story. i didn't remember this case so it was interesting.

Where can I watch this?

we watched on hulu.

[_Marcus_]

Will look for it!

[TC]

Downhill - apparently this is a remake of 2014 french film called force majeure. i don't know why we needed a remake of a film that recent. but boy is this film blah in every way. just blah. performances completely mailed in with the possible exception of one or two scenes. seriously, don't watch this. between this and the jesus rolls being remakes of french films, i'm starting to suspect all french films are shite. or that they do not translate to remakes whatsoever. or both.

7500 - a very surprising film from amazon. the entire thing takes place in the cockpit of a plane. it's very tense, and is peak JGL. no hollywood endings, no cop outs, there are real stakes. definitely recommended viewing.

[TC]

They Came Together - paul rudd & amy poehler strive to make the airplane of romcoms. it mostly works. some very LOL moments in this, but there is a span where the jokes slow down, which isn't good for this type of thing. as i said, it mostly works, and is pretty damn funny. except for the very ending, which was a lot of ugh.

[TC]

i thought we had a post in here about the Raniere / NXIVM thing, but i can't find it. so far, the docuseries about it - The Vow - is two episodes in, and it's fucking creepy as shit. really anxious to see more of it.

this show is absolutely fascinating. one, the actual content is insane. creepy as shit, and shows the inner workings of a cult. and on another level, the way they made the thing is really insane. like, when they started filming, they didn't know what was going to happen. we are seeing developments in real time. plus, all the footage mark had from years of filming a doc about keith from the inside for ESP purposes is heavily featured. i can only assume that once keith got convicted, rights to all of that reverted to mark. but the pure hubris of filming all of these things that could potentially come back to bite him is baffling. so many intimate moments and conversations, insane parties, meetings, etc. there had to be over a decade of footage they had to plow through to put it all together. a staggering amount of work had to go into assembling this. it's really fascinating to see. there's never been anything like it. i hope it wins some kind of awards.

keith finally got sentenced yesterday - 120 years. says it's a farce and he's going to appeal. but that fucker is going to die in prison. had to be a hell of a party with the people that spent years of their lives and untold amounts of money trying to build a case against this monster. and the craziest part, if you watched the show, is that india oxenberg flipped and testified yesterday. i would love to know what happened between keith getting arrested and now with her.

[darkness]

Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult is better than the The Vow and is mostly India telling her own story, which makes what they glossed over in the Vow seem like a trip to Disneyland. They just in the last episode got to Allison Mack finally. I think she is almost worse than Raniere is.

[TC]

maybe one day it will be on a service i have, as i'd love to watch it. canceled starz when they canceled AvED. yes i'd like to have seen the second (and now third) season of american gods, but fuck them. how many episodes is it going to have? what episode are they on now?

[TC]

The Frankenstein Chronicles - don't know how i missed this over the last few years, as i'd watch anything with sean bean as lead. 2 seasons of 6 episodes so far, both on netflix. just wrapped s2 last night. the ending was less than satisfying, but they clearly felt like they were going to get s3. still no word on that it seems. really enjoyable show. dug it quite a bit. it's about the goings on in and about westminster during the time of publication of shelly's titular novel. shelly figures prominently in S1. it plays like a murder mystery more than anything (frankly, it's quite similar in plot to The Alienist s1, which i've talked about before), where bean is a cop investigating disappearances and strange happenings. recommended.

[TC]

Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta? - this four-episode argentinian docuseries on netflix covers one of the most bizarre, fucked-up, bassackwards, baffling, frustrating murder cases i've ever seen. it's all subtitled, so prepare to read, but holy shit is literally everything about this - from the family to the lawyers to the court proceedings to the media to the community president & employees - completely fucked up. i thought a couple times for sure i knew what happened but by the end i have no fucking idea. the family is crazy suspicious but no DNA evidence implicates them and there's zero motive (that we know about). the neighbor dude is obviously suspicious, given his kidnapping the dog and history of burglaries, and the fact that the lockbox and money is missing, but there's zero evidence implicating him either. why would the family immediately clean everything? why is the death certificate fake? why everything??? ARGH. watch this, but be prepared to be frustrated, baffled, and angry.

[TC]

Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult is better than the The Vow and is mostly India telling her own story, which makes what they glossed over in the Vow seem like a trip to Disneyland. They just in the last episode got to Allison Mack finally. I think she is almost worse than Raniere is.

just finished Seduced. i found it to be way more exploitative than The Vow. everything about it felt gross. beyond what happened, which is obvious. i mean, it's very clearly too early for this girl to be trying to tell this story. she is still completely fucked up. felt like this was rushed to get out the door to capitalize on the current publicity, not because she wanted to tell her story. and she's married, a year after getting out? that poor dude. everything just highlights how sheltered, naive, privileged and rich this dunce is. i mean, she's clearly very well educated, but boy is she a dunce. i kept thinking, this is only one of his many, many victims. what about the ones that don't have unlimited money, a high-profile mom, and royal coffers to use? so many things in this felt extremely set up, like the group of victims speaking to law students, and her speech there read like a 3rd grader wrote it. again, i think she is beyond still fucked up from everything and shouldn't be doing this thing right now. she has years of attempting to heal ahead of her. i found The Vow's over-arching, more broad take on the whole thing much better. gave a much more complete history of the dude and how he got to this point, as well as all of the countless hours (and life savings) a great many people put into trying to bring it down. a nice contrast to Seduced, where catherine oxenberg is painted as the lone superhero causing it all to crumble because she went on TV. it also makes very clear how hurt and impacted so many people are, beyond the DOS members. yes, there were things - specific things - in Seduced that i wish would have been included in The Vow when it came to how exactly he was found and captured, the evidence used in court, etc., but i assume them not covering it in The Vow was probably part of some deal made between them and oxenberg for her involvement, as i'm sure she wanted her daughter's thing to be successful. which is just another reason i felt gross about the whole thing. had she put it out, i don't know, five years from now, with some healing perspective added to the very fresh memories of what happened, maybe i would have felt differently about it. but watching her and her mom literally re-enact scenes where they had emotional confrontations or a thing happened for the camera was fucking disturbing.

[TC]

Ford v Ferrari - lots of familiar character names in this based-on-a-true-story flick. i found it to be very cool. obviously some parts of the story were skimmed over for purposes of this film, but still did a great job with it. well-cast and well-acted. lots of edge-of-your-seat racing scenes too. what a life ken miles led. what a story, of which this is only a piece. even if you don't give a shit about racing, watch this film. it's a glimpse of the man (shelby) who is largely responsible for your favorite muscle car, whatever it might be. with him, and without this story, the american automobile landscape would be entirely different. i'd say enzo ferrari in this is probably more of a charicature of what the real person was, and john berenthal plays the one character john berenthal seems to play in everything (minus the violence), but even so, you can see where lee iacocca made his bones. i put off watching this for a while, as i don't really care about racing, but i shouldn't have. this isn't a collection of action set pieces that they had to connect with whatever story, it's a story that happens to involve exciting things. if you haven't seen it, check it out. wish my dad could have seen it, he would have loved it.

[TC]

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga - didn't expect much from this, but as soon as i saw the main dude from Legion played the russian singer i knew this would be fun. and it was. there were a couple lulls but overall really fun. the songs are great and mcadams is good. wil ferrell's movie choices are inexplicable, but i'm glad he's doing them. he seems to be having fun. this was way better than that married couple skiing french remake pile of crap.

Heavy Trip - everyone once in a while i have to watch this again. so fucking great. i love this movie.

The Devil's Rain - such a classic. as many times as i've seen this, i still don't understand how they convinced most of that cast to do this. such a weird collection of people. i will say, the decision to have ernest borgnine turn into some physical goat being was questionable, and i assume some sort of hollywood influence. he should have just acted all of the film as he was. that aside, this is a great movie, not just amusing because of the cast. and that ending is epic.

[darkness]

just finished Seduced. i found it to be way more exploitative than The Vow. everything about it felt gross.

I disagree. I took it as a form of therapy for Oxenberg, working through what happened. After all, she agreed to it and it's her story to tell, as apposed to the Vow which is other people trying to tell her story. I confess I haven't gotten around to watching the last episode yet though.

[TC]

The Undoing - not sure how many episodes this will have, but given last night's was #4, i assume we're probably halfway through this show. i'm really digging it. it's engrossing and very well-acted. it's yet another show where the central plot is nicole kidman is cheated on. yes, it sounds like the exact same thing as the outstanding Big Little Lies, but this is entirely her and not a gaggle of other stories too. i know it's based on a book, and that's why i'm staying away from online stuff - since the "people that read the book" faction seem to always really enjoy spoiling things for people that haven't - so i don't know where this is going, but i suspect somewhere pretty fucked up. here's my guess: her father (donald sutherland) killed the big-titted naked chick. he commissioned her to do that painting of his daughter. he called her the night of the fund raiser and demanded to see it, which is why she went to the studio to begin with. maybe he even somehow offered her money, pushed her, to get hugh grant to cheat on nicole, to get his daughter to get away from this guy he knows is a piece of shit and really seems to hate. i don't know exactly, but i feel like donald is ultimately going to be responsible for this.