Category: Movies

We have started a new tradition at our house.  Each Saturday night, one of us picks a movie and we all watch it together.  Now, we have four different takes on the movie that we can talk to death.  At our house, we all have very strong opinions.  It also gives us an opportunity to see a movie we may not have ever watched otherwise.  Have fun trying to figure out who picked which movie.  Movie night!

Movie Night: Macbeth

Published on by Tracie2 Comments

We have started a new tradition at our house.  Each Saturday night, one of us picks a movie and we all watch it together.  Now, we have four different takes on the movie that we can talk to death.  At our house, we all have very strong opinions.  It also gives us an opportunity to see a movie we may not have ever watched otherwise.  Have fun trying to figure out who picked which movie.  Movie night!

macbeth

2015 |  R  | Amazon/Vudu/Netflix | Directed by: Justin Kurzel Produced by: Iain Canning

Starring: Michael FassbenderMarion CotillardPaddy Considine

Music by:  Jed Kurzel

Runtime:  113 minutes

Budget:  $15 – 20 million

Box Office:  $16.3 million

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macbeth Macbeth.  Have you seen it?  This was my second time watching this adaptation of the Shakespeare play.  I absolutely love this one.  Everything about it is stunning.  Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard are AMAZING.

macbeth One caveat that I would give you is this:  you need to know going into this film what is happening.  If you’ve never read the play or seen any kind of adaptation, you may get lost.  They use the wording straight out of ol’ William’s play and with the Scottish accents everyone in the movie uses….But what do I know, you may be WAY smarter than I am and won’t have a bit of trouble keeping up.  macbeth I have no idea why none of the cast was nominated for an Academy Award or an Emmy or something, because they deserved it.  The “out, damn’d spot” scene should have won her an award on its own.   I’m ready to watch it again.

Go watch it tonight and tell me what you think!

macbeth

You can find all of the other movies we’ve watched lately, here if you are interested!

 

Movie Night: Inception

Published on by Tracie2 Comments

We have started a new tradition at our house.  Each Saturday night, one of us picks a movie and we all watch it together.  Now, we have four different takes on the movie that we can talk to death.  At our house, we all have very strong opinions.  It also gives us an opportunity to see a movie we may not have ever watched otherwise.  Have fun trying to figure out who picked which movie.  Movie night!

Inception1996 |  R  | Amazon/Vudu/Netflix | Directed by: Christopher Nolan  Produced by: Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan

Starring:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine

Music by:  Hans Zimmer

Runtime:  148 minutes

Budget:  $160 million

Box Office:  $828.3 million

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. Check out what that means to you here.

InceptionInception.  Have you seen it?  It had been many, many years since I had seen this film.  This was another movie that’s been on Hayden’s radar – you know, since he was 12 YEARS OLD when this movie came out in 2010.

InceptionI loved it.  Yes, it’s weird.  But all you have to do to know that this is a great movie is to look above at the list of the cast.  Stellar.  I mean come on!  A movie with all of these people has to be excellent.  Right?  I thought so.

Go watch it tonight and tell me what you think!  Hayden doesn’t agree with my assessment, BTW, so you won’t hurt my feelings if you disagree too.  His opinion is that he would need to see it again to be sure if he likes it or not.  I’m game.

You can find all of the other movies we’ve watched lately, here if you are interested!

 

Movie Night: Atomic Blonde

Published on by Tracie2 Comments

We have started a new tradition at our house.  Each Saturday night, one of us picks a movie and we all watch it together.  Now, we have four different takes on the movie that we can talk to death.  At our house, we all have very strong opinions.  It also gives us an opportunity to see a movie we may not have ever watched otherwise.  Have fun trying to figure out who picked which movie.  Movie night!

Atomic Blonde 2017 |  R  | Amazon/Vudu/Netflix | Directed by: David Leitch 

Starring:  Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman

Music by:  Tyler Bates

Runtime:  115 minutes

Budget:  $30 million

Box Office:  $100 million

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. Check out what that means to you here.

Atomic Blonde.  Have you seen it?  You know my love of a good action movie.  This one delivers all of that and then some.  I thought this movie was excellent.  So excellent that I watched it again with Hayden when Denton went out of town for work.

Charlize Theron is one of my favorites – have you seen Mad Max Fury Road? – and she is as outstanding in this movie as always.  James McAvoy is crazy good in his role and John Goodman is …. John Goodman.  Excellent.

I will caution you though.  This movie is rated R for a reason.  And it’s not because of all of the blood, mayhem and violence.  So you definitely do NOT want to watch this with your small children anywhere about.

So if you need an escape from everyday life and want to watch a lovely woman do her job and do it well I highly recommend this movie.
P.S.:  I would make a terrible spy.  P.S.S.:  I LOVED the soundtrack to this film.  I would go watch it again just for that reason tonight!

You can find all of the other movies we’ve watched lately, here if you are interested!

 

Movie Night: There Will Be Blood

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We have started a new tradition at our house.  Each Saturday night, one of us picks a movie and we all watch it together.  Now, we have four different takes on the movie that we can talk to death.  At our house, we all have very strong opinions.  It also gives us an opportunity to see a movie we may not have ever watched otherwise.  Have fun trying to figure out who picked which movie.  Movie night!Image result for there will be blood

2008 |  R  | Amazon/Vudu/Netflix | Directed by:  Paul Thomas Anderson 

Starring:  Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O’Connor, Ciarnan Hinds, Dillon Freasier

Music by:  Jonny Greenwood

Runtime:  158 minutes

Budget:  $25 million

Box Office:  $76.2 million

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. Check out what that means to you here.

There Will Be BloodThere Will Be Blood.  Have you seen it?  I have to admit this is another movie that I definitely would NOT have put on my must see list if it were not for my man child, Hayden.  (He isn’t a child at all, but let’s just agree to let me live in denial a little longer, okay?  Okay.)

First, let’s list out the reasons you should watch this movie.

  1. Daniel Day-Lewis.

Do I need to actually list any other reason?  Seriously.

The caliber of actors in this movie is ridiculously good, though.

There Will Be BloodSecondly, if you know nothing about this movie, you may wish to know going into it that it is a:

  • brutal
  • quiet
  • heart-pounding
  • disturbing
  • beautiful
  • and sad movie

Please don’t let that stop you from watching it!!  Don’t listen to my adjectives!!  I mean come on, they can’t be all 007, John Wick, Mission Impossible movies all the time!!  Do you think I added enough exclamation points to get my sentiment across?

There Will Be BloodI think they did an excellent job of conveying what was a possible and plausible story of an oil prospector in the early 20th century.  Man, they did an incredible job with this movie.  You should watch it.

Also, this movie is VERY loosely based on the novel Oil! by Upton Sinclair in case you are interested.

You can find all of the other movies we’ve had on our watch list here if you are interested.



Movie Night: Good Will Hunting

Published on by TracieLeave a comment

We have started a new tradition at our house.  Each Saturday night, one of us picks a movie and we all watch it together.  Now, we have four different takes on the movie that we can talk to death.  At our house, we all have very strong opinions.  It also gives us an opportunity to see a movie we may not have ever watched otherwise.  Have fun trying to figure out who picked which movie.  Movie night!Good will hunting

1997 |  R  | Amazon/Vudu/Netflix | Directed by:  Gus Van Sant  Produced by:  Lawrence Bender

Starring: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgard, Minnie Driver

Music by:  Danny Elfman

Runtime:  126 minutes

Budget:  $10 million

Box Office:  $225.9 million

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. Check out what that means to you here.

Good will huntingGood Will Hunting. Have you seen it?  I hadn’t.  When Hayden asked if we would watch this as our Movie night movie, Denton and I both had to stop and think if we had actually ever watched it to begin with.  Neither one of us had seen it.  Can you believe that?  I am thinking that it was such an iconic movie and it’s been talked about for so many years that we rationalized in our minds that we had seen it along with the rest of the world.

Good Will HuntingYou know that I’m not going to give you any spoilers about the movie, just in case you’ve missed them all over the past 22 years, but I just want to put my two cents into the pot.  Firstly.  Robin Williams.  There is nothing else I need to say to make you want to watch this movie.  He was such an actor.  There truly isn’t a good adjective to use for his skill.  The world lost so much when he died.

Good Will HuntingThe rest of the cast is superb too.  I loved it and of course you should go watch it right now if you haven’t seen it.  You won’t be sorry!

You can find all of our other Movie Night movies here if you are interested!

 

Movie Haul! April 2019

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Hello again!

We have movie night every Saturday at our house.  We watch things in a multitude of ways.  Netflix, Vudu, Amazon, Hulu, HBO Go, or Redbox, but sometimes we can’t find the movie we want to watch on those platforms.  And sometimes we would rather just have it.  In our possession.  That way we know we can watch it repeatedly if we want to.

Hayden and I went into the city earlier this month and we hit the jackpot when it comes to movies that we want to keep in our stash.  When you can buy a movie for $2.50 and it costs a minimum of $3.99 to rent it for the night…..

Here’s what we picked up.

Argo I have this book on my nightstand.  I need to find more hours to read…..

Batman Begins We’ve been looking for this one.

In Bruges This was a pick from Hayden.  I have no idea what this is.  I’ll keep you updated.

District 9 Denton and I watched this a few years ago.  Disturbing is the word that comes to mind, but Hayden hasn’t seen it yet, so in the pile it goes.

Road to Perdition I know that Denton has watched this several times, but this is another one that is on Hayden’s watch list.

Quantum of Solace Can you ever have too many 007 movies?  Especially if they have Daniel Craig in them?????

Fargo Yep.  I love this movie.  You can read my review of it here.

The Talented Mr. Ripley I’ve never seen this movie.  I am a fan of Matt Damon and Hayden wants to see it.

The Social Network My son who will not touch Facebook said that this is supposed to be an excellent movie.  We shall see.

Memento Another pick from Hayden.  I have no idea.  I’ll let you know. 

Inception This is an excellent movie.  I loved it.  We also found it in Blu-ray, so this one will go to live with someone else.

Primer No idea.

T2 ~ Terminator 2 – Judgement Day Love, love, love the Terminator movies.

There Will Be Blood Hayden has been asking us to watch this. 

Pan’s Labyrinth Even Liv knew what this was and has seen it.  I have no idea what it is.  I know it’s in Spanish with subtitles.  Which is a good thing.  I like subtitles.  What I DO NOT like is a scary movie.  I don’t do scary movies.  Buffy was pushing my limits.  The whole family laughs at me and that’s just fine.  I need to research this one first.  It may go into the NO WAY pile for me…..

That’s the lot of them.  I can’t wait to get into them!  Do you buy movies?  What movies did you pick up in April?

Fargo

Movie Night: Fargo

Published on by TracieLeave a comment

We have started a new tradition at our house.  Each Saturday night, one of us picks a movie and we all watch it together.  Now, we have four different takes on the movie that we can talk to death.  At our house, we all have very strong opinions.  It also gives us an opportunity to see a movie we may not have ever watched otherwise.  Have fun trying to figure out who picked which movie.  Movie night!

Fargo (1996 movie poster).jpg

1996 |  R  | Amazon/Vudu/Netflix | Directed by:  Joel Cohen  Produced by:  Ethan Cohen

Starring:  William H Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Frances McDormand

Music by:  Carter Burwell

Runtime:  98 minutes

Budget:  $7 million

Box Office:  $60.6 million

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. Check out what that means to you here.

Image result for fargoFargo.  Have you seen it?  I’ve put off doing this update on the movies that we’ve been watching for months now.  Why?  Because what can I say about this movie that has not been said already.  Seriously.  Let’s use all of the adjectives:  outstanding, amazing, funny, terrible – in a good way – incredible, fascinating, witty, brilliant, intelligent, original….

It’s all of those things and more.  If you’ve never seen this movie,  you need to go watch it tonight.  To quote from the iconic words of the late, great Roger Ebert “one of the best films I’ve ever seen.”   I couldn’t agree more.Image result for fargo william h macyEverything about this movie is unparalleled.  The writing, the acting, the directing, the editing, the music…..  ALL of it.Image result for fargo 1996Don’t wait!  I promise that you won’t regret it.  If you are going to watch something on your TV, this movie is well worth the 98 minutes of your life.

You can find all of my other movie reviews here if you are interested!

 

Movie Night: The Godfather

Published on by TracieLeave a comment

We have started a new tradition at our house.  Each Saturday night, one of us picks a movie and we all watch it together.  Now, we have four different takes on the movie that we can talk to death.  At our house, we all have very strong opinions.  It also gives us an opportunity to see a movie we may not have ever watched otherwise.  Have fun trying to figure out who picked which movie.  Movie night!

Image result for the godfather movie poster1972 |  R  | Amazon/Vudu/Netflix | Directed by:  Francis Ford Coppola

Starring:  Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall

Music by:  Nino Rota

Runtime:  2 hrs 57 minutes

Budget:  $5 – 6.5 Million

Box Office:  $245 – 286 Million

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. Check out what that means to you here.

Image result for the godfather marlon brando catThe Godfather.  Have you seen it?  Can you believe that I hadn’t?!  I had seen parts of it over the years, (the wedding, Vito playing with his grandson in the garden, the baptism) but I had never sat and watched this film in all of its glorious entirety.

I have to say that I think this is one of my favorite films to date.  I’ve seen a lot of movies, but this one……it is truly magnificent.

In case you haven’t seen it and don’t want anything spoiled for you, 😕 , instead of giving you the plot, I’ll give you five fascinating facts about the movie instead.

  1.  Paramount pictures did not want Marlon Brando to play Vito Corleone.  Can you imagine?
  2. The cat was a stray.  It’s purring was so loud during filming that they had to dub some of Marlon Brando’s lines into the movie later.
  3. The horse’s head was real.  Come on, that’s not a spoiler!  Even if you haven’t seen the movie, you know there is a scene with a horse’s head, right?
  4. Al Pacino actually had his jaw wired shut for part of the movie.  Yikes.
  5. Lenny Montana, who played Luca Brasi, was so nervous during his scene with Marlon Brando that it took an entire day’s shoot to get one take, which still had flubs.  So, Francis Ford Coppola added a new scene of him rehearsing lines so that it would seem like he was simply nervous to talk to the Godfather.

If you haven’t seen this film, I insist that you watch it tonight!  Seriously.  It’s that incredible.

You can find all of my other movie reviews here if you are interested!

 

Movie Night: The Matrix

Published on by TracieLeave a comment

We have started a new tradition at our house.  Each Saturday night, one of us picks a movie and we all watch it together.  Now, we have four different takes on the movie that we can talk to death.  At our house, we all have very strong opinions.  It also gives us an opportunity to see a movie we may not have ever watched otherwise.  Have fun trying to figure out who picked which movie.  Movie night!

Image result for the matrix1999|  R | Amazon/Vudu | Directed by:  The Wachowski Brothers

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantoliano

Music by:  Don Davis

Runtime:  136 min

Budget:  $63 Million

Box Office:  $463.5 Million

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. Check out what that means to you here.

Image result for the matrixThe Matrix.  Have you seen it?  All of us truly LOVED this movie. I saw it for the first time when it came out in 1999.  Denton dragged me to see it.  Hayden made the comment last night that if you were watching this movie for the first time and you had NO idea what the plot was about, you would be absolutely lost.  He was right, and I was.

I highly recommend watching it more than once.  Yes, I actually do think it’s that good.  Also, I will watch anything with Keanu Reeves in it.

Just in case you like to go into a movie blindly – and you have somehow managed to avoid spoilers for this movie – I’m not going to give you the plot.  You can always google it if you want to know what’s going on.  Or you can watch it the first time without a clue as to why everything that’s happening is happening and then watch it again for the pure pleasure of it.

So, if you are in the mood for a strange, action packed, science fiction, amazing movie, this is it!  I thought this film was excellent.  Let me know what you think of it.

You can find all of my other movie reviews here if you are interested!

 

Movie Night: Paterson

Published on by TracieLeave a comment

We have started a new tradition at our house.  Each Saturday night, one of us picks a movie and we all watch it together.  Now, we have four different takes on the movie that we can talk to death.  At our house, we all have very strong opinions.  It also gives us an opportunity to see a movie we may not have ever watched otherwise.  Have fun trying to figure out who picked which movie.  Movie night!

Image result for paterson movie2016|  R | Amazon/Vudu | Director:  JIM JARMUSCH

Starring:  ADAM DRIVER, GOLSHIFTEH FARAHANI

Music by:  Carter Logan

Runtime:  1 hr 58 min

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Image result for paterson moviePaterson.  Have you seen it?  All of us truly enjoyed this movie.  It’s a slow, quiet, calm story.  There are no dinosaurs, exploding meteors, or car chases.  It’s about a man who drives a bus for the city of Paterson, New Jersey, who is also a poet.  Coincidentally, his name is actually Paterson.

The plot follows Paterson during a week of his life and shows the day to day patterns:  his work, his home life with his wife and her dog Marvin, his daily visit to his local bar for his one beer of the day and his poetry.  I know that sounds seriously boring, but you have to trust me!

The acting in this film was superb.  Adam Driver did an amazing job showing a great depth to his character and I can see why it was nominated for the for the Palme d’Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.  It won the Palm Dog Award for the portrayal of Marvin, one of the best characters in the movie in my opinion.

So, if you are in the mood for a calm, genuine film, this is it!  I thought this film was excellent.  Let me know what you think of it.