What Did You Watch This Weekend?
Sunday, July 9, 2017 at 5:30PM 
Blockbuster audiences flocked to Spider-Man: Homecoming this weekend to the tune of $117M (making it the second-highest opening for the character behind the largely reviled Spider-Man 3), while Sundance darling A Ghost Story had a strong limited debut in four theatres. Meanwhile, The Big Sick expanded further and continues to do gangbusters - it goes nationwide this coming week. Did you catch any of these three? Something else?
Have you started you mid-year catch up, like Spencer did with Gore Verbinski's A Cure For Wellness? I also recently caught up to Xavier Dolan's It's Only The End Of the World, which landed oh so quietly on US Netflix. Is there any hidden gem you've caught on any streaming platforms?
Tell us about your cinematic weekend!
Reader Comments (33)
porn, mostly
"The White Sister" (1923) a great silent melodrama with everything from nuns in peril to an erupting volcano starring one of cinema's first icons Lillian Gish.
20th Century Women and The Salesman are both streaming now on Amazon Prime. They're not to be missed. (I can't say the same for most of the dreck in theatres at the moment.)
A couple of the Dirty Harry movies in Magnum Force and The Enforcer and earlier today, Tour de Pharmacy. SEE THAT!!!!! THAT SHIT IS A FUCKING RIOT!!!!!
Boyfriend and I watched the original Godzilla (I'd never seen it) and Get Out (he'd never seen it), we both had a blast. Seeing him again was super fun, thank god we had such great films to talk about. All in all, weekend's been pretty great.
I saw The Beguiled (Gone With the Wind + Misery + Last season of the Bachelor = DELICIOUS). I also saw Spider Man: Homecoming (Loved Tom Holland, loved high school stuff, loved random indie child actors in small roles, but ugh the action scenes were typically dull and all the Avengers tie ins felt really low-rent and awkward)
Finally, I saw Baby Driver which was incredible. I will be seeing it again this week. Easily my favorite of the year.
Tbh completely honest I re-watched America's Next Top Model, cycle 3 and 5 specifically.#sorrynotsorry
I saw Spider-Man: Homecoming and had a blast. Tom Holland is easily my favorite incarnation of Peter Parker in the films. Watched Passengers with my boyfriend which was highly uncomfortable given the plot. I wished the visuals of Passengers had a better plot to go with it.
Baby Driver.
Squandered it's early goodwill.
Pro: totally hit the sweet spot for male fantasy. It's like a "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", ready to be beloved by many for years.
Caveat: borrowed from a zillion other movies. I can't believe they stole the Mom Mix Tape from Guardians of the Galaxy. The cliches started off light, but started grinding by that long third act, and that silly coda.
Padre Padrone: 1977 Palme D'or winner. I have to admit I didn't love it like I thought I would - especially given my affection for other Taviani films, but it's still worth a view.
Two for the Road: Okay, this is sacrilege, but does anyone else think Rooney Mara is Carol resembles Audrey Hepburn in this Donen film? Anyway, really liked this one - 1967 was a phenomenal year for movies, wasn't it?
The Big City: Masterpiece from Satyajit Ray. Madhabi Mukherjee deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as any of the great goddesses of international cinema.
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia: Goddamn, this a terrific movie.
Had a good weekend, all told.
@Yavor - very well done.
Saw 20th Century Women and Moonlight for the first time (on prime). I think I saw moonlight on Tuesday actually and then more recently women.
SO worth it. Also, I am hardly these film's target audience. One huge benefit of the amazons and netflixes of the world are a wider audience (ppl that see you and stream you but wouldn't have given you a chance and paid for you on your own).
Funeral Parade of Roses (1969, Japan)- wow! This should be required viewing for anyone interested in Queer cinema. So lucky this new restoration was in theaters right now. I head the DVD is coming soon. Very creative, energetic, fun- story of a "gay boy" who works at a host bar, attempts to take over from the current reigning queen and has major daddy issues. I don't want to spoil too much, but it's amazing that this got made in late 60s Japan. Just go see it.
Nathaniel--- How was the new Dolan then? I've been *very* curious given all the hubbub surrounding this one at Cannes 2016. I'm a huge Dolan fan and am sad to assume that this won't be in theaters then? Anywhere else to see it besides NF?
I watched Ghost World for the 100th time and Miller's Crossing for the 1st. It's been a rewarding weekend.
Finally saw Wonder Woman, started to watch Them! - but did not finish.
I watched 'The State of Marriage' on Netflix. It's a doco about how the state of Vermont lead the charge on the issue of same sex marriage in the US. It was really good.
The Beguiled: Loved this. Felt like a 70's atmospheric horror film and had an amazing ensemble. Kirsten Dunst was the MVP in my opinion.
The Hero: In spite of its cliched story, Sam Elliott gives one of the best performances of the year.
Staying Vertical: Worst movie I saw this year. Boring, overly aimless, characters were unlikable and thinly written.
Get Out, After the Wedding, and The Big Sick. It was nice to have a movie filled weekend after a long random hiatus.
Matt-
I saw the Beguiled and HATED it with a passion. Nothing happened for a good 70 minutes! People were falling asleep in the theater :( I usually love slow-paced costume dramas but this film ceased to build any tension or character development whatsoever. Snoozefest :(
The husband and I watched I Am Michael via Netflix last night, which did more to confirm how much James Franco creeps me out than anything else. As for the movie itself, eh. I didn't learn any more than I did by viewing the documentary short Michael Lost and Found a few weeks ago -- at least nothing of any consequence -- and it has a very institutional, TV-movie-of-the-week quality.
Watched 'Aquarius' on Netflix. Such a beautiful movie in so many ways and Sonia Braga was spectacular...I don't know why her performance didn't get Oscar buzz.
MMinDC
The Big Sick - Given all the hype, I didn't expect this to be so mediocre. At least 30 minutes could have been easily cut from the film. I also don't really think it's a "romantic comedy" when the woman is in a coma for about half the movie.
The Big City - Like Arkaan, I watched this this weekend and thought it was a masterpiece, very compelling with a beautiful lead performance. Looking forward to seeing more by Ray.
The Salesman - Not Farhadi's best, but still very rewarding viewing.
JULY is GONE GIRL MONTH, since almost all of the events take place this month, so my fiancé and I watched that last night.
I have an Instagram account for all the artwork I do, and I'm doing several pieces on Gone Girl. If ya'll have a free second, check them out! :-)
@newqcartoons
"Beatriz at Dinner" ~Liked it a lot. Agree with those who pointed out its uneven screenplay. Lithgow and Hayek were strong, but it was Britton and Landecker who were the easy standouts for me. They were PERFECT as those women we ALL know who live "up on the hill" if you will. Great actressing from the edges!
Ooooooooh I got to see a lot this week/weekend.
Wednesday I got to see an advanced screening of Atomic Blonde which kicks MAJOR ass. Probably my favorite film of the year so far. The centerpiece single-take fight scene is BONKERS, Theron and McAvoy are perfectly cast, the soundtrack is killer.... basically everything about it is HOT TO DEATH and I can't wait for it to officially open so everyone can see it.
Thursday I finally saw My Cousin Rachel, which featured great performances and cinematography and clothing but ultimately fell ever so slightly flat.
And then yesterday I had planned to go to Film Forum and see Klute, but it was sold out, so I bought a ticket to a later screening of Dog Day Afternoon instead. I had never seen it, and i was pleasantly surprised by how funny it was. Pacino's best performance that I've seen by a mile, and the supporting cast is killer, too.
I saw The Razor's Edge, which meant I got to stare at Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney for almost 2.5 hours, which is a nice way to spend an afternoon. The movie is fine but inconsistent, but I'm glad to have seen Anne Baxter's Oscar-winning performance, which veered from 1940's stiff, presentational-style acting to really natural, authentic, almost modern acting. Very interesting and overall very effective.
And I believe it was Nat who's been saying that Zaf Efron should be in a Power biopic and boy is he right. There were some shots of him in this film that really make this comparison undeniable.
I saw Spotlight, which was great, and Pirates of the Caribbean 3, which was the expected drivel. But those were the films I pulled out of my imaginary hat, and since that hat is my moviegod, I had to see Them.
I've been randomly picking a year and going nuts watching movies from it. Most recently went after 78, where I checked out Heaven Can Wait (cute enough and Cannon was fun, but a BP nod?), Midnight Express (fantastic and I'm in love with Brad Davis between this and Querelle), Interiors (maybe my favorite Page performance, tries too hard in parts but strong overall) and sadly, I wasn't able to track down An Unmarried Woman anywhere online. Getting the Netflix disk, hopefully. Right now I'd give my awards to Days of Heaven, Malick, Gere (though Davis is close), Page, Caine and Smith. I could watch those Caine/Smith scenes from California Suite on a loop.
I also saw Three Coins in the Fountain. Is it just me or is Dorothy McGuire the only interesting part of cliche films like this and Gentleman's Agreement? She feels so natural in films trying to hard to be heavy handed. Not sure I love the message of Three Coins, but I did love her in it. If anyone else is a fan, I'd love to check out recommendations from her filmography.
eurocheese -- Celeste Holm is the MVP of Gentleman's Agreement, I think. But D-Mc takes the cake in Three Coins. I think it's her best performance.
Finally saw Sully, and it was much better than I expected it to be. Hanks is really strong and makes the most of the thin script. Eastwood has a delicate touch with the material.
Rewatched Far From Heaven. Now I need to rewatch all the Sirk classics.
Caught up on both John Wick movies and color me impressed. Paper thin characterizations but great cinematography, editing and world building. Perfect use of Keanu Reeves as well.
Watched SPIDERMAN: HOMECOMING which was enjoyable and led by a superb performance by Tom Holland, but ultimately felt like another Marvel-filled film.
Also, finally got around to ALL EYEZ ON ME (which still had a packed audience) and it got the message across, but was a bit uneven direction and pacing-wise. Kat Graham was spot-on as Jada Pinkett, and Keith Robinson left a lasting impression with his supporting performance as 2Pac's manager Atron.
MMinDC - Aquarius had a slight Oscar buzz but not enough since not many people saw it :(
I was one of the drum bangers for that movie. Fascinates me.