Black Panther (2018)

20180227:
Overall, I enjoyed the plot.

T'Challa / Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman)

Attached Trailers: Uncle Drew (2018), Death Wish (2018), Rampage (2018), Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018), Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) 7:39 PM PT

[20180612]

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20181001:
This Marvel movie felt refreshing and was full of exciting action.

Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan)

While I highly enjoyed the movie as a whole, I felt like there were a couple of scenes in the film which I disliked. In particular, the appearance of the spaceship in Oakland near the end of the film was ridiculous.

Although watching Black Panther is a given for anyone who closely follows the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I would also highly recommend the film to fans of action movies.

On 20181001, Netflix determined the movie for me as a 98% match. I decided to give the movie a thumbs up|thumbs down|neither a thumbs up nor a thumbs down.

Okoye (left, Danai Gurira) and Nakia (right, Lupita Nyong'o)

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Instant Comments:
1: Freeze. 2: "You froze."
2: "This corset is really uncomfortable..."
2: Haha. "You're recording." "For research."
2: Stan Lee cameo ("I think I'll just hold onto these.")
2: "Put some music on, what do you think this is a funeral?"
1: The car seat was left (though I thought she would have died) everybody laughed.

Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman)

2: "Great, another broken white boy for us to fix. This is going to be fun."
2: That's so cold. ("It's going to be okay.")
2: Do they have a way to make more purple flowers? Possible resolutions: 1) Despite the supposed claim that those are all the purple flowers, there may be more such flowers elsewhere. 2) There may be a way to artificially make such flowers.
1: Ha, vegetarian. 2: Smile. "I'm kidding, we are vegetarians."
2: Wait. In hindsight, she should have lifted all the suits.

2: Ha. Big yawn. "Are you done?"
1: Great ending: series of fights.
2: How did T'Challa win here but lose before? [Quora: An answer on Quora suggests that T'Challa was the better fighter but held himself back during the first fight.]
1: The ship landing in Oakland was over the top.

Credits:
1: After main titles: just a UN meeting. Meh. 2: I suppose it has to do more with sending a positive message.
1: After credits was revealing that they healed Bucky.

Shuri (Letitia Wright)

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Released 20180216
Watched 20180227 (theater)
Watched 20181001 (Netflix, Instant)
Black Panther (2018) Ryan Coogler. 134 min

Relevant Links:
Black Panther (IMDb.com)
Black Panther (RottenTomatoes.com)
Black Panther (film) (Wikipedia.org)

M'Baku (Winston Duke)

The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

20180227, 20180228:
While I can't remember if I've seen this movie once or twice before, it's a movie that I remembered enjoying. Watching it again today,I could sense some of the movie's weaknesses, but was willing to overlook them based on the range of emotions which the movie conveyed.

Chris Gardner (Will Smith)

Overall, I enjoy the movie for what it has to offer. For those who enjoy drama and are in the mood to feel emotional, this movie hits the spot.

Netflix determined the movie for me as a 95% match. I decided to give the movie a thumbs up.

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Instant Comments:
Hehe. The "Y." 4 min 33 seconds into the movie.
"Is 'fuck' spelled right?"

Linda (Thandie Newton)

I forgot this part: "running."
[Watched first 20 minutes]
"Whatever, I don't care." It felt so caustic.
Emphasis on "pursuit of happiness" in Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence.
All those numbers.

Chris

The sequence of events was so tense. The tension conveyed from the inability to pay. Followed by a chase. And then losing the device. (A little tension broken with the "time machine" homeless guy.) Moments later to be followed by...
"He must have had on some really nice pants."
I got a bit teary eyed. And it struck me as weird. Somehow the contrast between his change in ideals was moving:

"Hey. Don't ever let somebody tell you you can't do something. Not even me. All right?"
"All right."

Chris's son Christopher (Jaden Smith)

"You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period."

Hey dad, you wanna hear something funny? There was a man who was drowning, and a boat came, and the man on the boat said "Do you need help?" and the man said "God will save me". Then another boat came and he tried to help him, but he said "God will save me", then he drowned and went to Heaven. Then the man told God, "God, why didn't you save me?" and God said "I sent you two boats, you dummy!"

I think part of why I enjoyed this film was all the emotion captured such as fear, anger, and sadness.

Jay Twistle (left, Brian Howe) and Martin Frohm (right, James Karen)

The amount of frustration which comes from the emotion as well.
Restroom.
Wow. $5. And the look on his face after lending it.

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Watched at least once before.
Watched first twenty minutes 20180227, remaining 20180228 (Netflix, Instant)
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) Gabriele Muccino. 117 min [bot memoir otsn by Chris Gardner with Quincy Troupe]

Christopher and Chris

Relevant Links:
The Pursuit of Happyness (IMDb.com)
The Pursuit of Happyness (RottenTomatoes.com)
The Pursuit of Happyness (Wikipedia.org)

Apollo 13 (1995)

20180219:
What surprises me is that I apparently haven't seen this movie in the last eight years (the start of my blog). Granted I have been known to forget to record an entry from time to time.

Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks)

Initially my gut feeling was that I've seen this movie in full twice before. However, watching the movie, my guess is that I've seen the ending several times, but I've only seen the movie in full once before.

In any case, I was initially only going to take a couple of screenshots. And then I was going to stop watching the movie at the halfway point (1 hour 10 minutes). But the movie at the halfway point was so gripping that I watched the movie straight until the end - despite knowing how it ended.

Overall, the movie was well-paced with a constant sense of urgency, realistic (e.g., filming in reduced-gravity aircraft), and had wonderful sound. I would recommend the film to anyone who enjoys a good drama.

Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon)

Remark: Tom Hank's performance is good in this film, but nothing about it is worth noting.

Netflix determined the movie for me as a 98% match. I decided to give the movie a thumbs up.

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Instant Comments:
"Houston, we have a problem."
I watched a video on a slide rule. I never knew how to use one before. Neat.
That makeshift filter adapter was one of my favorite scenes in the movie.

Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise)

I didn't remember how critical Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise) was to the success of the rescue mission.
All that water condensation dripping down.
The ending wasn't as tense because I already know how it ended.

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Watched at least once before.
Watched 20180219 (Netflix, Instant)
Apollo 13 (1995) Ron Howard. 140 min [adaptation ot book Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 (1994) by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger]

Gene Kranz (Ed Harris)

Relevant Links:
Apollo 13 (IMDb.com)
Apollo 13 (RottenTomatoes.com)
Apollo 13 (film) (Wikipedia.org)
Apollo 13 (Wikipedia.org)

Jim Lovell

Batman & Robin (1997)

20180217:
After finishing this movie, I had the following thoughts: the movie was campy, the plot was weak, I was bored, and the dialogue was terrible.

In particular, I did not know until after watching this movie that it was horrible: 3.7/10 on IMDb.com (206,039 reviews) and 10% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Mr. Freeze / Dr. Victor Fries (Arnold Schwarzenegger)

While the costume design for Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy were cool, they would not be sufficient reasons to watch the film.

I suppose the only reason to watch the film would be to complete the 1989 Batman film series. Otherwise, it's a waste of time.

Netflix determined the movie for me as a 98% match. I decided to give the movie a thumbs down.

Remark: Yesterday I watched Ocean's Eleven which also stars George Clooney.

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Batman / Bruce Wayne (George Clooney)

Instant Comments:
I don't think I've seen this movie before, at least not from start to finish.
What!? So this movie has Chris O'Donnell but a different Batman?
Ha. This is why Superman works alone.
Hehe. Robin has the bike.
Huh. Why didn't he just fire directly at Batman? (as opposed to shooting the dinosaur)
Not sure of this physics involved with their safely landing back on Earth...

Poison Ivy / Dr. Pamela Isley (Uma Thurman)

Cheesy. "Stay cool. Bird Boy."
Not sure why they casted Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze. He doesn't look like a scientist.
Hehe. That definitely doesn't look like Uma Thurman.
It's John Glover, Lionel Luthor, in television series Smallville.
Oh, I can see Thurman's face when she's speaking with Dr. Woodrue (Glover).
Hah. "I hate when people talk during the movie."

Batgirl / Barbara Wilson (Alicia Silverstone), Batman, and Robin / Dick Grayson (Chris O'Donnell)

Ha. His Batman Forever credit card. "Never leave home without it."
Hehe. Riddler's outfit and Two-Face's outfit are in the Criminal Property Locker.
Huh. He turned a switch on to freeze the room but they motioned like they were choking from gas.
Ha. "Anatomically correct rubber suit."
Why did she remove her ears.
Wait a minute, Robin was wearing a different suit earlier in the film. And his new uniform so happens to match Batgirl's uniform.

Mr. Freeze

Good thing Batgirl intuitively knows how to use all these Bat gadgets proficiently (sarcasm)
So dumb. "I got you!" Moments later. "No, I got you."
Smile. Similar ending to the last film where the characters run down inf ront of the light.

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Watched 20180217 (Netflix, Instant)
Batman & Robin (1997) Joel Schumacher. 125 min

Poison Ivy and Bane (Jeep Swenson)

Relevant Links:
Batman & Robin (IMDb.com)
Batman & Robin (RottenTomatoes.com)
Batman & Robin (film) (Wikipedia.org)

Ocean's Eleven (2001)

20180216:
I watched this movie once a long time ago and the only details I still remembered today were the following: 1) the film had a plot twist, 2) that Danny does the full run through at the end, and 3) the plan succeeds.

Danny Ocean (George Clooney) [#1]

Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon) [#11] and Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) [#2]

After one hour and thirty-six minutes (the bomb squad enters the vault), I wondered if I confused any of those details with the sequel, Ocean's Twelve. After finishing the movie, I believe that was the case (with #3 being technically correct). Consequently, doubt entered my mind on whether I ever actually saw Ocean's Eleven. However, I rarely watch a sequel without watching the original and I'm sure I watched the sequel (confirmed by a quick glance at the sequel's plot summary).

Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle) [#8]

Frank Catton (Bernie Mac) [#4]

In any case, this film excels at exposition. I enjoyed it more than The Italian Job (2003).

Netflix determined the movie for me as a 98% match. I decided to give the movie neither a thumbs up nor a thumbs down.

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Instant Comments:
Hehe. One more.

Turk Malloy (Scott Caan) and Virgil Malloy (Casey Affleck) [#5 & #6]

Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner) [#10] and Rusty

[In the scene where Danny meets Linus, it's made to look like Linus lifts the ticket from underneath Danny's fingertips. However, I happened to re-watch the scene (20180228) and Danny lifted his right hand when he asked for the check. Which diminishes the feat.]
Hahaha. "That's wonderderful. Get in the goddamn house."

Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) [#3]

Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison) [#7]

"We're just suppose to walk out of there with 150 million dollar in cash [...]." "Yeah." "Oh."
Smile. "Say hi to your mom for me." "Say hi to her yourself, she'll be onstage in five minutes."
Ink on his forehead.
Smile. That grip.

"The Amazing" Yen (Shaobo Qin) [#9]

Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia)

Hahahaha. He's watching it on tv when it's happening right behind him.
Smile. "Don't under any circumstances..." (gets cut off). What is it!?!
HAHAHA. "You might as well call it 'white'-jack."
Holy crap. That bomb trigger was so tense.

Danny Ocean

Tess Ocean (Julia Roberts)

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Watched once before.
Watched 20180216 (Netflix, Instant)
Ocean's Eleven (2001) Steven Soderbergh. 116 min [remake ot film otsn (1960)]

Relevant Links:
Ocean's Eleven (IMDb.com)
Ocean's Eleven (RottenTomatoes.com)
Ocean's Eleven (Wikipedia.org)

Meet the Fockers (2004)

20110122 Comment:
This sequel falls into the norm of sequels falling short of the original movie. I think this is normally caused by the established relationship between the majority of returning characters. Nevertheless, I recall enjoying the film.

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20180215:
This sequel to Meet the Parents (2000) was not as funny and balanced as the first film, but had scenes that were much better and scenes that were much worse. In particular, the awkwardness between the main characters Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) still remains but to a smaller degree. Instead of focusing as much on tension between Greg and Jack, the movie shifts towards a tension between Greg and his parents due to Greg's attempt to please Jack.

Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) and Greg Focker (Ben Stiller). Jack insisted that Greg feel the breast of the breastfeeding device he made in order to breastfeed his grandson.

While I liked the first movie more, I enjoyed the additional set of characters (Greg Focker's parents: Bernie Focker (Dustin Hoffman) and Rozalin Focker (Barbra Streisand)) in this sequel. And of course there's Little Jack.

Overall, if you liked the first film, watching the second film would be worthwhile.

On a different note, prior to watching the film, I had recalled watching it once before, but I later realized that I remembered absolutely nothing about the film. Actually, I take that back, I explicitly remembered the fact that Greg's father never washed his pan and that Pam's dad had a secret spy console hidden in his RV.

Greg's father Bernie Focker (Dustin Focker)

Netflix determined the movie for me as a 98% match. I decided to give the movie neither a thumbs up nor a thumbs down.

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Instant Comments:
Haha. His luggage fits.
Ha. I'm pretty sure that's the same flight attendant as in the last movie.
"Muskrat"
Ha. Ha. The brick ricochets.

Dina Byrnes (Blythe Danner) and Greg's mother Rozalin Focker (Barbra Streisand).

Haha. "Honk if you're horny."
Haha. Haha. Cappuccino.
Looks a bit like capoeira.
The pants look like abadas.
Ah, indeed, "I was just practicing capoeira."
"If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down."

Greg meets Little Jack.

Smile. Greg just backs away after "You said you milked your sister's cat."
Smile. "He was squeezing them all night." "I managed to make some lemonade too."
Haha. Ha. Ha. "I had a boob job."
"He is a handsome little Focker."
"We Fockerize them."
Greg's character is interesting. He's so self-conscious.

Dina and Greg's fiancee Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo)

"Gay goes both ways." "Oh I bet he does."
Haha. That tackle. (I remembered it happening but didn't remember it being so intense.)
"Ass... hole."
Ha. 15 years old.
He does look a lot of like Greg.
Hmm. Greg's interruptions and complaining in this film is annoying.

Little Jack (Spencer Pickren & Bradley Pickren)

I wonder if that's how truth serum works.
It's interesting because I didn't encounter capoeira until after this movie. So this capoeira
Hahaha. It's a map of Detroit.
Ha. Rusty Bridges is definitely Ben Stiller.
Haha. "Ass... hole."
It's the cop from Reno 911.

Jack Byrnes.

Credits:
Hahaha. Greg's turn at the camera.

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Released 20041222.
Watched 20041228 Theatre. AMC Block 30 [FOCKERS] 6:15pm. $8.
Probably watched at least once more.
Watched 20180215 (Netflix, Instant)
Meet the Fockers (2004) Jay Roach. 115 min

Relevant Links:
Meet the Fockers (IMDb.com)
Meet the Fockers (RottenTomatoes.com)
Meet the Fockers (Wikipedia.org)

Atonement (2007)

20180214:
Today I watched this movie together with my fiancee.

Briony Tallis, aged 13 (Saoirse Ronan)

I don't know the details, but I liked how the movie was shot. Together with the soundtrack, there's a sense of tension and mystery.

With that being said, I sometimes had trouble understanding the dialogue.

Overall, I enjoyed the film and my fiancee thought it was good as well. Although it only partially relates to the war, I would recommend it as a great movie in the drama-romance-war genre (e.g., A Very Long Engagement (2004)).

Robbie Turner (James McAvoy)

Netflix determined the movie for me as a 69% match. I decided to give the movie neither a thumbs up nor a thumbs down.

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Instant Comments:
She's in such a hurry. [What builds the tension? The pacing? The actor's expression?]
Young Saiorse Ronan and James Mcavoy. [McAvoy began feature films in 2003. Oh, he was Mr. Tumnus (the faun) in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]

Leon Tallis (left, Patrick Kennedy), Cecilia Tallis (center, Keira Knightley), and Paul Marshall (Benedict Cumberbatch)

Showing the events out of order creates confusion and mystery.
Although Briony was shown first when the movie started, I didn't expect for her to be the main character.
Wow. That's quite the rising action / climax.
The typewriter clicking part of soundtrack is appropriate and riveting.

Pierrot Quincey & Jackson Quincey (Felix Von Simson & Charlie Von Simson) and Lola Quincey (Juno Temple)

Four years later!?
Whoa. Is this shot of the scene on the beach a long take? [I asked this about halfway through the scene. It's about five minutes long. It starts around the 1 hour and 5 minutes mark.][In a 2014 article "Ranking the 20 Greatest Most Celebrated Long Takes" on Indiewire.com, this scene was ranked at number 18.]
Earlier I thought perhaps part of all this story was just part of Briony's play. While somewhat on point, I definitely didn't see that ending coming.

Briony contemplates.

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Watched 20180214 (Netflix, Instant)
Atonement (2007) Joe Wright. 123 min [botnotsn (2001) by Ian McEwan]

Relevant Links:
Atonement (IMDb.com)
Atonement (RottenTomatoes.com)
Atonement (film) (Wikipedia.org)
Atonement (novel) (Wikipedia.org)

Cecilia is a nurse during World War II.

August Rush (2007)

20180214:
Unfortunately, the movie's plot was one-dimensional.

August Rush (Freddie Highmore)

While the plot wasn't as good as I remembered, I still enjoyed the film's music.

Overall, due to the weak plot, I would not recommend the movie to most people. However, those with a strong affinity and appreciation of music may find the movie uplifting and/or inspiring.

Netflix determined the movie for me as a 55% match. I decided to give the movie neither a thumbs up nor a thumbs down.

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Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell)

Instant Comments:
This start was a lot more obvious than I remembered.
But there was one scene which made Ada wonder if this couple wasn't his parents
Oh, same spot. Means The Wizard was the person his parents were listening to.

Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers)

I thought the little girl screamed (in a high pitch) when she returned from school, instead she's was in awe and then excitedly rushed to the reverend.
I didn't remember how Wizard convinced August to return to him.
I forgot the fine details of the ending. For example, that Lyla was walking away, how Louis decided to leave the cab, and that Jeffries saw the fallen flier.

Maxwell "Wizard" Wallace (Robin Williams)

Ada appeared to feel that the ending was abrupt.
I love the music of the movie and the story was decent. Maybe the plot could have been better and/or it could have been presented differently...

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Watched once before.
Watched 20180214 (Netflix, Instant)
August Rush (2007) Kirsten Sheridan. 114 min

August conducts at Juilliard.

Relevant Links:
August Rush (IMDb.com)
August Rush (RottenTomatoes.com)
August Rush (Wikipedia.org)

Hope (Jamia Simone Nash)