Last movie you watched......

Went to see this with the Wife the other night, and she absolutely loved it. I enjoyed it, not as much as her I think, but it was definitely fun. Maybe it's because I had no expectations one way or the other (I had seen one trailer and read about 15 minutes worth of synopses and reviews), but I'm still trying to figure out what to make of it. I loved the use of music and sound tricks (the way they took the volume of the soundtrack up and down to sync it to the action on the screen was quite clever), and the car chases and heist parts are outstanding. The romantic bits were OK, and there were some tropes in there, but not bad enough to bring the whole thing down.
I'm just not sure if it was an original idea, an experiment by Edgar Wright in how to tell a story, or just a solid movie in its own right.

 

Watched Baby Driver today. Loved it. My only issue is that I don't buy Jon Hamm as a big bad and he didn't sell it well.

Immediately went to find the soundtrack on Spotify afterward ...

 

Took the kids to Despicable Me 3 yesterday, and I fell asleep about 30 minutes in. I really liked the first two, but this one just fell flat. It was an afternoon showing and the theater was about 90 percent full, and there were a lot of quiet moments when, I presume, there should have been laughter. At least this was the case during the parts I saw. I'm not sure how long I was asleep. After I woke up, my son kept poking me every two minutes to make sure I hadn't fallen back asleep.

 

We watched "Okja" on Netflix. I thought that it was one of the more seamless blends of technology and traditional cinematography. The CGI pig beast it one of the more relatable characters, rivaled perhaps by the young girl costar. The use of special effects is pretty realistic, mostly following the rules of physics and set against stunning natural scenery or dramatic urban settings. The story arc is compelling, perhaps a bit preachy. Some of the character development is a bit flawed, but the rest of the family liked it even more than I did. Definitely not for the kids; at least for me, the overuse of the F-word is one of the film's flaws.

 

Rewatched one of my fav summer movies, "The Way Way Back". Sam Rockwell is hilarious while Steve Carrell makes a good villian. The kid protaganist is enjoyable as well. Underrated star though, the water park during the summer, great memories.

 

I haven't gotten to a movie theater in about a year given my schedule, but I think Kathryn Bigelow's "Detroit" will get me there in early August.

 

Saw it last night. This was the first movie I lost myself in for quite a while. I thought it was tremendous.

 

Love that one.

 

Great read on the Baby Driver soundtrack:

The Soundtrack to ‘Baby Driver’ Is a Music Nerd’s Dream — and Director Edgar Wright’s

I had no idea during the (no spoilers) key scene near the end that two separate songs were playing. The music editor finding the back end of a Blur song to blend seamlessly with that Hocus Pocus song is just pure brilliance.

 

All of the driving stunts were practical effects as well.
The more I read and hear about Baby Driver, the more it seems like a movie you might need to see several times to catch everything. Watch it once to enjoy it as a movie, and then once or twice more to pick up on and appreciate all of the technical tricks.

 

More music nerd talk from Baby Driver. Was listening to the soundtrack yesterday, and not only is Hocus Pocus' "Focus" on the soundtrack, but the Young MC track "Know How" has the line: "It's no hocus-pocus, I'll just get you into focus"

My mind is more blown than Bill Clinton at an intern convention.

 

"The Big Sick"; starring comedian from Silicon Valley; hilarious; best movie experience this year and perhaps in last couple of years.