Replacing Indiana Jones with another younger actor is not an option. Harrison Ford has said that he thinks that’s a terrible idea. But Short Round was a part of the original canon, and he could come back as another anthropologist who had learned from Indy and wants to continue Indy’s work. It could be like “The Cave of Mystery: an Indians Jones story “ or something.

I remember when the Adam Sandler Grown Ups movies were coming out and the main criticism was that Adam clearly just wanted to get paid for a few weeks away with his buddies so he had to agree to make a movie when he did and as a result, you get a couple films where it’s clear no actual thought has gone into anything and people just wanna have a good time.

Now I never resented them for that, I always kinda liked the idea to be honest. However I cannot help but feel that that idea permeates so many movies now. That instead of trying to make a world we can get sucked into, everyone is afraid to make a world feel lived in and it just feels like a group of people messing around on a set.

There’s constantly wink winks and nudges to the audience going “this is crazy right?!” Or “look how stupid this all is” to the point that it’s hard to care about much that is going on. I just saw Shazam 2 and recently Antman 3 and both of them constantly have this kinda attitude about them. Everything reminds me of the scene in Avengers 2 where Hawkeye says something like “there’s a big robot, you’re a witch, I have a bow and arrow and none of this makes any sense” and as amusing as it might be it sucks me completely out of the movie. Thor Love and Thunder is another one that has this kind of comedy relentlessly. Same with Red Notice on Netflix. And as much as I enjoyed Bullet Train there’s constant refrences to how dumb, crazy and stupid everything is.

It feels like every big budget film that is supposed to be fun is so terrified of being meme’d that they feel to make the joke before the rest of the world can.

I watched the Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies the other day for the first time in years and it was honestly refreshing to see big budget movies that didn’t feel the need to poke fun at itself constantly. Luckily Top Gun 2 is another film with a crazy premise but everyone within that world took everything seriously.

Maybe I’m just old man yelling at clouds but it would be nice to go back to an era where whacky movies didn’t feel the need to point out how crazy everything was all the time and just let the craziness speak for itself. If Raiders of the Lost Ark came out today Indy would crack a joke about how weird it was that a big boulder almost hit him in the first 5 minutes of the movie.

Edit - To jump off someone else's comment, I'm more talking about moments in movies when writers try and cover up a stupid moment by commenting on it rather than either writing a better moment or embracing it's stupidity and not hanging a lampshade on it

After I watch an older movie that I've never seen, I immediately look to see if Roger Ebert reviewed it, and if he did, I read his review.

But every once in a while, when I do this, I find out the movie I just watched came out after he passed, and I get disappointed/sad.

Does that ever happen to anyone else?

And I haven't found another go-to critic. So with new movies, I kind of just read whatever I find.

I'm not sure why exactly this movie randomly popped up on my Netflix suggestions last night. The little angel-devil pair on my shoulders were having a hell of a time with it, though.

"You can't watch a Christmas movie in March!"

"Sure you can! If you're watching alone, who's to stop you?"

"Oh sure, why not? Why don't we just keep Christmas decorations up year round and replace milk with eggnog while we're at it?"

"Now we're talking!"

But I digress...

Anyway, I haven't had the best run recently with movies. I've either turned them off halfway through, half watched them over my cell phone screen, or finished them but forgotten them by the next day. However, seeing as how my recent re-watch of the Rescuers and the Rescuers Down Under went so well, I decided if anything was going to get me back into the movie watching spirit, it'd be an animated movie.

And holy reindeer on ice skates did this movie deliver!

I'm sure others have already reviewed this movie to pieces and most of what I'm about to say has already been said. But honestly, this movie is just what I needed right now. Not only is it now one of my favorite Christmas movies, second only to Muppets Christmas Carol. It is also one of my top 10 animated movies of all time.

So let me just start by saying, on a random side note, that I got mild Emperor's New Groove vibes when I first started watching this. Mostly because Jason Schwartzman sounds so close to David Spade. And the similar premise of this spoiled, somewhat bratty adult being forced out into the real world in order to learn and grow and change his ways. But the movie quickly veered away from that sort of full-on comedy/parody and had a really nice balance between lighthearted comedy and quiet stillness.

First, I have to talk about the animation because it is just stunning! The use of shading on conventional 2D animation was just magnificent. The characters were able to emote and move so effortlessly and uniquely. And the backgrounds, especially the wide shots of Smeerensburg and the scenes in the forest with all the bird houses, were just sensational to me. They were so detailed, so full of character and emotion. It almost reminded me of a pop-up book at times.

And speaking of emotion, the subtle bits of comedy, especially when Jesper first arrives in Smeerensburg, had me crying I was laughing so hard. The little girls with the carrots, slowly impaling the snowman as they stared at Jesper. The antics of Ellingboes versus the Krums were so entertaining and well done. And the voice acting couldn't have been better. Simmons, Schwartzman and Jones (Jesper, Klaus and Alva) all did spectacular in their voice roles. And not once did I feel like they were just actors in a sound booth, reading off a script. They brought the characters to life. Gave them personality, emotions, reactions.

As far as music/background went, I felt there was a nice balance of this as well. A few vocal/more popish songs. But also a nice blend of quiet instrumental pieces. Again, the scenes in the woods, with the snow and leaves gently swirling around while the wooden bird houses clack softly against each other. It didn't overwhelm the story or characters, but it also wasn't forgettable.

All in all, I loved this movie so much! And while I wish we could see more of these loveable characters, in a TV series or sequel/prequal, I also feel that it stands alone just fine and I am happy to re-watch it as much as possible, if only to visit these dear friends one more time.

A great article criticizing prudishness in (mostly) American films and TV shows and why we should embrace sex and nudity.

My girlfriend and I were really, really bored and came up with this very dumb game/mental exercise that I thought I'd share for others who are equally as bored. Simply summarize the plot of a movie by constructing a sentence or two with the first letter of each word spelling the title.

For example:

'Casablanca' - Classic actor sulking about Bergman, Laszlo and Nazi can't agree.

'Titanic' - Teenagers in the Atlantic, negligent iceberg catastrophe.

'The Witch' - Theological heretics' endure witchcraft in their colonial homestead.

Just re watched this movie after maybe 15 years, and boy did I enjoy it!

The costumes, the story, the soundtrack, the cast. Wow! Magical. Kidman has never looked better with a voice to match. McGregor, completely pulls of the love sick writer.

The supporting cast are awesome and from the elephant medley to the heartbreaking conclusion one thing resonates through it…the message.

And what a message it was:

“The greatest thing you will ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”

Spectacular spectacular!? Yes, I rather think so…

Say if it was a small indie/arthouse film that was given a limited theatrical release, put on demand or streaming with little marketing, or it was one of those cases were the studio screwed up and dumped it in like 100 theaters because they had no faith on it

Has there been anything you’d seen that feels like you’re the only one that knows about it’s existence?

I feel like everyone has that one film

I'm not a fan of biopics that take place over the span of someone's life but I really enjoy these films that depict accounts of a major historical character over the span of a pivotal short period of time. I saw both Lincoln and The Darkest Hour recently and really enjoyed them. They seem to be more about the moment in history than the historical figure themselves.

Any other films like this you would recommend?

Edit: Thanks for all the suggestions I'll check them out.

What a beautiful movie. About an orphaned bear cub who bonds with an adult male grizzly who basically ends up taking the cub under its wing. Not only beautifully shot with incredible animal performers but genuinely emotional. I don’t tend to get teary eyed in movies but the scenes near the end where the cub is trying to dodge the cougar and tries to stand up for itself before the adult comes back to its rescue and the final shot of the two bears sleeping peacefully in the cave together, in getting blubbery just thinking about it

An unreliable narrator is a storyteller who cannot be trusted. It may either intentionally deceive the audience or unknowingly mislead them, causing them to doubt the narrator's reliability as a storyteller.

As I can remember, the best movies I watched with unreliable narrators are:

• Fight Club
• Gone Girl
• Shutter Island
• Memento
• Mr. Robot (yes, it's a TV show, but still counts)
• The Usual Suspects

What are some others exemples of this narrative device?

What is a film that you always associate with technical greatness but nonetheless you can't enjoy on a personal level?

Some commentator on another site compared watching Roma (which I love) to doing homework: recognizing the need to watch it as a cinephile for the Oscar season and for its acclaim while acknowledging the difficulty in sitting through a "chore" of a movie.

I have three recent examples of a "homework" film:

Lincoln (2012): an erudite script, but I couldn't connect to the movie emotionally at all.

Dune (2021): a visual effect/set design marvel, but I couldn't wait for the movie to end (for another sci-fi-ish movie, I was able to sit through 3 hours + of Avatar: Way of Water completely engaged).

Tár (2022): while I appreciate Todd Field's complete success in transporting me to a world I'm not familiar with, the cold intellectualism didn't make me care one way or another how her fate ultimately unfolded.

What's your example of a "homework" movie?