Last movie you watched......

Been a while since I saw The Founder, but thoroughly enjoyed it.

Last movie watched: What Happened to Monday. Orphan Black in movie form. I'll take Tatiana Maslany over Noomi Rapace any day, but the movie was pretty entertaining.

 

I just got home from seeing "IT" with the matinee price of $7.50 for a ticket.

Thoughts: Pennywise was much more present in this version than the original two-parter, but I thought Tim Curry's Pennywise was much more malevolent than Bill Skarsgard's version. It's the division between creeping anticipation/dread than a full-on assault.

That said, the kids were pretty good, especially the kid from "Stranger Things" and the girl who played Beverly. Henry Bowers was the older bully most of us dreaded as young kids. However, there wasn't much character building in this 2 hour, 15 minute version, which made it seem a bit (or a lot) shallow. It kind of went from one scare to another without filling in the back stories very much. Mike got much less screen time than in the original, and the apocalyptic rock fight was much, much shorter than in the book.

It's difficult to fully connect with, especially if you've read the book (two or three times). The movie takes some departures from the book, including one big one, and it is more a reimagining of the original movie than a remake.

Still, there were chills aplenty, as in gooseflesh running down my arms, when Pennywise was sprinting for one of the kids. Beverly's dad was genuinely creepy as the soon-to-be incest rapist. The music was perfect for the setting, 1988, with The Cult's "Love Removal Machine" in an early scene.

All in all, I'd give it 3 stars out of 5.

I'll be interested to see Chapter 2 when it comes out.

 

Logan Lucky is fun. When Dwight Yoakum shows up halfway through, it gets better.

Elvis' granddaughter has a certain appeal, too.

My favorite line of the movie (impossible to understand unless you see it) has to do with somebody's OS.

 

Watching the original "IT," which I recorded this week. It holds up better than I thought it would.

One big difference: The kids in the original don't say "fuck" all the time.

 

Battle Royale. This would have been a late late movie on a UHF station in another era. The hackneyed soundtrack, horrible script, and awful day for night photography made me wonder if it was really a sharp satire posing as a bad movie. No. It's just a really bad movie.

 

What if it was Battle Royale with cheese?

 

Oh, there was plenty of cheese.

 

I liked it too. Especially since, as you wrote, Pennywise was much more present and....

Spoiler

Seriously, he seemed to pop up every five minutes in the first half. This would make a lot of movies ridiculous but it worked here for me. Or didn't hurt it that badly.

Saw Wind River. It didn't seem to know if it was a drama or a thriller but enjoyable for me.

The laziest thing about it you can say is that in a film set on an Indian reservation - with Elizabeth Olsen as a FBI agent - most of the screen time is taken up by Jeremy Renner, a white guy. It's also probably the truest.

 

In another era, that movie never comes out in the U.S. In fact, in another era -- the era it was released -- it didn't get a U.S. release because of fears of what would have to be cut to get past the MPAA. Hard to believe it would be a late late movie considering that.

 

Battle Royale the Japanese movie from like 2001?

 

Watched a 30th anniversary showing of "Dirty Dancing."

Time-wise, maybe this belongs on the "Things That Make You Feel Old" thread. Only, it didn't. In fact, it made me feel young again. A good movie, and, of course, what a great sound track.

 

To clarify, I'm asking because I haven't seen it in some time, but my recollection was that I liked it.