I saw Amadeus in school, quite young. I always have a weird feeling with those types of films just for that reason. It's not the most fun first association to have with a film.

For that matter, why does teacher and schools seemingly insist on showing really artsy films to young people. Surely introductions to film or film education is best done with more mainstream films, to make sure there is a more geniune interest there to begin with. I saw The Royal Tenenbaums in school aswell, another film I have that weird type of relationship with for that reason.

That said, need to see Amadeus again, pretty sure I'd adore most of it at this point in life.

I always periodically forget the genius of The Onion, and always love it when I'm reminded:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9d09JLBVRc

Some recent random stuff.

Noah (2014) - 8/10 (6.3)

I might have a soft spot for Aronofsky, but this really impressed me. it takes the, in my opinion, silly subject matter and turns it into a compelling story which focuses on the human experience of the event it describes. Certain aspects are a bit underdeveloped, but the actors really seem to give it their all, the direction is focused and understated, and the score from Clint Mansell is hypnotic and thematically moody. Russell Crowe in particular seems as focused as ever and is the highlight of the film for me.
Very recommended. Not as thematically neat and tidy as some of Aronofskys other films, but it's firing on quite alot of cylinders.

Intruders (2011) - 5/10 (5.4)

Clive Owen in horror about a family terrorized by a strange presence. Sounds familiar, and it is. Not bad, but unfortunately didn't have any lasting impressions on me. I've already for gotten most of it.

Transcendence (2014) - 5/10 (6.4)

Wally Pfisters directorial debut, and a big "meh" from me. Not bad, but after an hour I looked at the clock and lamented the hour remaining of it. It's really lethargic in tempo and quite frankly emotional intensity from the case in general, and the aspect of AI and the implications of it have been dealt with in better detail before, making that aspect feel pretty stale. What's left is a standard-feeling Hollywood thriller with no bite.
Watch "Her" if you already haven't, that delves deep into the interesting aspects of AI this movie barely grazes.

Dorian Gray (2009) - 5/10 (6.3)

TV-drama-feeling movie based on the novel by Oscar Wilde. Man is nice, man gets magical portait of himself which ages instead of himself, but also shows his increasingly ugly soul.
Nicely filmed and costumes are great. Colin Firth unexpectedly has a big part and is as good as ever. The rest of it all doesn't offend, but feels a bit like a teen novel made for TV.

Mostly harmless.

High Crimes (2002) - 6/10 (6.3)

90s thriller, only made in 2002. Freeman and Ashley Judd star as lawyers trying to clear her husband of murder charges in the military.
Has some similarities to "Basic", the 2003 John McTiernan film also about a criminal investigation in the military.
Competently made, well acted, a bit twisty, and ultimately comfortably familiar to other 90s thrillers. Definitely worth checking out for fans of the genre in general.

Clue (1985) - 6/10 (7.4)

Quirky comedy based on the "Clue" boardgame, dinner guests need to solve a crime while all being potential suspects. Quite highly regarded, but as someone seeing it for the first time now, it feels a bit dated and the comedy is at times slightly stiff. Still charming, tempo picks up more and more as the movie progresses, and Tim Curry has a big role. Who doesn't like them some Tim Curry?

Under the Skin (2013) - 7/10 (7.2)

Really unsettling, psychedelic and minimal thriller, not much can be said without spoiling. Scarlett Johansson is excellent in it, and the film is very much in the "art" section as far as symbolism and cinematography is concerned. If you thought "Only God Forgives" was inaccessible this is probably not for you. Mostly sexual in both over and undertones, drab, bleak.

Rambo 1-3 (1982 - 1988)

Seeing these again really shows Stallone and his abilities as an actor, aswell as the many levels to the character of John Rambo. The plot in all films are pretty bare-bones by modern standards, but the execution and editing still holds up very well. Jerry Goldsmiths music is absolutely superb. Rambo II in particular has an awesome soundtrack, both gentle and at several points kinetically majestic and driving.

Enemy 2013 - 7/10 (6.9)

Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners) most recent film. It's very different from Prisoners, much of the film is an exercise in how little you can give an audience and still create an engrossing experience. Works pretty much only on hidden layers and the obvious plot is almost nonexistant. Jake Gyllenhaal does great work as a man who finds a seemingly identical copy of himself in a movie.
Very hard to predict, great cinematography.

Idiocracy 2006 - 7/10 (6.5)

Mike Judge made this little comedy film about an average man who is frozen and thawed out in the future, a la Futurama, only to discover that the human race has become so dumb that he has become the smartest person on the planet.
Overall it feels like a small movie, but it doesn't feel cheap in most cases, other than some matte paintings and CGI which feels like it might have come from an episode of Beavies and Butthead rather than a Hollywood movie.
If you like South Park and that style of humor, this one is probably worth your time.

Been enjoying these VSonic GR07 Classic Ed. IEMs for 3-ish months, and just recently got a maroon-colored 2nd pair as a backup. Sonically they're crisply textured and beautifully balanced, 100$ from lendmeurears.com with free worldwide shipping. I've got a pair of full-size $300+ Beyerdynamic DT880s for my desk, and the GR07s are a great complement to them, which is saying alot.

The Hidden Face (La Cara Oculta) (2011) - 7/10 (7.3)

Very good Spanish film. The girlfriend of an orchestra conductor disappears and it goes from there. Not too much should be said about it. It does twist and turn a bit. Very well acted by most everyone involved. Very recommended if you like thrillers.

The Jacket (2005) - 6/10 (7.1)

"Jacobs Ladder" meets "Donnie Darko". An injured soldier (Adrien Brody) is put in a mental hospital after an incident, and while there he is subjected to treatment that cause strange events.
Fairly derivative plot (you can tell what movies the writer watched and was inspired by), and despite being normal length, it's not as "rich" in tone and content as Jacobs Ladder or Donnie Darko. Still, good acting and emotionally the movie still connected with me very well. Worth seeing in most cases.

You know, I will have to agree that Tom Cruise is a pretty darn good example, other than the true legends like Jackie Chan and other stunt/actor combinations.

Tom Cruise gives it his all. Thanks to this I've never been able to dislike him despite his kooky personal beliefs. You'll see Cruises character fall awkwardly down some stairs and just as you think "that stunt man must be really sore", nope, Tom Cruises face pops out from the mess of a person at the bottom of the stairs.

Basic (2003) - 6/10 (6.5)

I realized I hadn't seen some John McTiernan films. This one was a fairly straight thriller, with quite a twisty plot involving John Travolta trying to figure out the events of a miltary incident. Well-acted, well-shot, but not really all too eye-catching either. If you like thrillers it probably couldn't hurt to see it.

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) - 7/10 (6.8)

This McTiernan film is slightly more light-hearted, a female police-of-sorts (Rene Russo) goes after a suspected gentleman art thief (Brosnan). Has some of the same city energy McTiernan used in Die Hard 3, a quite charming movie overall which isn't too heavy on plot. Feels a bit Soderberg "Out Of Sight" or "Oceans Eleven" in a way.

The Cave (2005) - 5/10 (5.0)

To describe it quickly; "The Descent" light. "The Cave" came out 2 years before the superior "companion" piece, and it isn't as focused as the tense, constricted Neil Marshall cave exploration flick. Some unnecessary and hokey-feeling subplots get in the way of what could be a pretty good 60 minute horror film.
A cave is discovered, bad stuff is in it, group dynamics come into play. You've seen it before, though it isn't completely ineffective, thankfully devoid of teenagers and quite inclusive of a gorgeous Lena Heady.

Non-Stop (2014) 5/10 (7.2)

Liam Neeson thriller set on a flight from New York to London. All elements within are familiar, some of it feels a bit too familiar at times. The element of mystery keeps it interesting until the end, though alot of tension is dissipated due to an implausibly omniscient villain.
Kind of an amalgamation of "Red Eye", "Flightplan", "Executive Decision" and probably some other airplane films. I suppose there is a limitate palette to work with in that environment.

Godzilla (2014) - 6/10 (7.3)

I don't know. This rating will probably drop a bit if I see it again. It's pretty forgettable unfortunately, there is no strong throughline that you can be invested in, it moves from scene to scene but it mostly only has a semblance of any emotional core.
Effects are awesome though, and like Pacific Rim they get the scale of huge things just right. Watching it as a collection of very well-directed individual scenes can work. Trying to invest anything beyond that will probably leave you unsatisfied.

Great choice of movie, saw it for the first time a short while back and overall really enjoyed it. Can't wait to hear you guys talk about it.

Does anyone, maybe Teague, know how long the video in the OP of the stream will be available? Are you going to keep it uploaded to your channel or is it only temporarily saved and automatically deleted after some time?

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) - 7/10 (7.4)

Very enjoyable film by Ben Stiller about a gentle and quiet man who sets out on a journey. A simple story with a hard-to-resist combination of comedy and drama, and an overall very positive and uplifting tone that makes you feel good at the end of it. Good song selection and some very excellent photography from some exotic locations.
Very simple and in a sense very clichéd script that you can probably guess the outcome of from scene 1, but generally each scene is directed with a very steady hand and a great sense for comedic timing and genuine-feeling interactions between characters.
It held my interest and made me feel for the characters despite not necessarily having alot on the page to work with. Well done Mr Stiller.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) - 6/10 (6.3)

My brother compared this to "The Bourne Legacy" in terms of how it seems quite forgettable (and how I can't help thinking of Jason Bourne in general, though it's not quite the same type of focus story-wise). It's a decently interesting story about tensions between Russia and America and a terrorist plot, and Chris Pine is fine as an injured soldier recruited by the CIA and sent to Moscow to uncover said plot. But the movie doesn't have the same level of intricacy of your Mission:Impossibles, the sought-after Mcguffin device is an "algorithm" (yawn...), and it's not really smart enough to engage you in any deeper political intrigue. Overall every plot device has been done many times before, and it feels like the filmmakers didn't add the necessary flair and finesse to make it stand out. There's very little texture overall at display.

You're Next (2011) - 4/10 (6.5)

Slasher film. Family gathering turns bloody after unknown assailants attack their home. I felt this was below par, and the movies claims of being a dark comedy went straight past me, once or twice I chuckled but the movie doesn't cohesively move you in that direction, and the characters just ended up being really weird and off-putting since their sometimes weird antics or reactions clash with the more dead serious score and camerawork and your common-denominator scare tactics.
It's got a generally good reception for a slasher film overall, but I don't see it myself. I mean, the killers take the time to write "You're Next" with blood on the wall. That's the type of film it is, just replace your standard horror film teenagers with adults, but keep the rest as-is. If you've seen any horror film before, you know exactly what to expect. Either watch something aimed squarely at horror like the French home invasion movie "Ils" ("Them") from 2006, or just go for "Tucker and Dale vs Evil" or "Cabin in The Woods" if you want a genuinely clever blend of horror and comedy in various ratios.

The French Connection (1971 )- 7/10 (7.8)

Convincingly gritty and down-to-earth, almost documentary-feeling film about some cops investigating a smuggling case. Lots of street surveillance, tailing, and stake-outs.
Worth seeing if you're fairly young like me as a time-capsule of early 70s New York. Relaxed and airy atmosphere.

In Bruges (2008) - 8/10 (8.0)

Very original story and structure, hard to predict and very well-acted by Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes, among others. Overall very enjoyable and with a surprising depth of character for a stylish crime drama, somewhat in the style of "Snatch" or "Lock, Stock..." but with other layers over.
Director Martin McDonagh also recently did "Seven Psychopaths" which I even enjoyed slightly more, also an intriguing structure and plot to that one.

Her (2013) - 10/10

Holy hell. I don't dole out perfect scores often, but here I have no choice.
A beautifully written script which manages to be very intimate while also effortlessly weaving in themes of existentialism, humanity, technology, and love.
THE most steady directing hand I've seen in years and years. The precision in each scene and the way they flow into each other is incredible.
The acting is superb, everything is just so human, while not falling into complete naturalism.
The score works perfectly in guiding emotion and I never felt like it was forcing something on me that wasn't already present in me from the moment I was watching, the cinematography is exceptional, the editing reaches Malick-ian levels of freeflowing beauty at times.

Throughout this film I just kept wanting it to end just so that it wouldn't take a wrong turn and ruin what was a perfect ride. But it just kept going and going and going, and in the end I couldn't do anything but completely surrender to it.

Fuck yes, this movie.

Fassbender is great in "12 years" aswell.