Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched

[Johnny Novgorod]

Watched this too, begrudgingly. Already wasn't expecting to like it (I hate romance movies,) and this one didn't disappoint that expectation.

It exists solely for itself, in a vacuum of its own making. Nothing new, nothing intelligent, no message, no intrigue. It's a movie about an unexpected relationship between two consenting adults between which there happens to be a 16-year age gap. That's IT. The filler is simply the inexorable stigma from outside parties. No on learns anything; no motivations are explained; there's no resolution to the manufactured conflict. It all just happens, then it ends. Complete waste of time, imho, but my girlfriend picked it, so I get to the pick our next show: 3-hour roast of Tom Brady it is; that'll learn her to make me watch her bullshit.

My girlfriend picked it too as kind of a joke follow-up to having recently watched May December. The idea was, we watched the fucked up based-on-true-events version of this story, now let's watch the trashy/horny romcom take.

I don't know what are their ages in the book but 40 and 24 feels like such a non issue. And come think of it none of the "drama" really stems from their age difference, it's more about (eventually) being hounded by paparazzi and eviscerated online, which would happen to any person who dares date the lead of an insanely popular boy band with a legion of fans trailing behind.

 

[Xprimentyl]

My girlfriend picked it too as kind of a joke follow-up to having recently watched May December. The idea was, we watched the fucked up based-on-true-events version of this story, now let's watch the trashy/horny romcom take.

I don't know what are their ages in the book but 40 and 24 feels like such a non issue. And come think of it none of the "drama" really stems from their age difference, it's more about (eventually) being hounded by paparazzi and eviscerated online, which would happen to any person who dares date the lead of an insanely popular boy band with a legion of fans trailing behind.

I didn't get much "com" from this romcom. It had it's moments of levity, but it was mostly very austere about a very trivial matter which made itself the basis of the entire film. Who had any stake in their relationship? The daughter? Got over it pretty quickly, and the teasing at school, who gives a shit. The ex husband whose business it is the least given how he'd already fucked her over royally? Not so much. The public/paparazzi? Celebrity gossip comes and goes, and their relationship would have been a "thing" for about a week before someone else took the spotlight. Other than that, it was just the two of them (well, her more specifically) making a big deal out of it in an extremely low-stakes drama of "will they, won't they." I was actually a little insulted with how little this film respected my intelligence. Like athletes flopping on the field, hamming it up for the attention when everyone with two working eyes can see clearly there's no substance to the performance.

BUT, this film wasn't for "me." It's a fantasy for every middle-aged woman who dreams of being wooed by a younger man who also happens to be handsome, rich, and famous, and they're welcome to that fantasy. And when someone makes the equivalent film about a middle-aged man who get's stalked by a young, insatiable nymphomaniac, watch those same women scoff on disgust.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

Rio Bravo (1959)

Another classic western starring John Wayne, this one directed by Howard Hawks. Wayne plays sheriff John T. Chance of the eponymous small town. After arresting notorious outlaw Joe Burdette, he is faced with the dangerous task to keep his prisoner, and himself safe from the hired guns of Burdette's brother Nathan, a wealthy landowner, until the authorities arrive. Assisting him are his two deputies, a recovering alcoholic everyone calls Dude (portrayed impressively well by singer Dean Martin) and a cranky old cripple who goes by Stumpy.

Rio Bravo isn't interested in providing social commentary on a divisive topic the way something like The Searchers does but that leaves it open to explore its characters and flesh out their personalities on an individual level. It's a movie about a small handful of men forging a bond of brotherly trust while upholding justice under the threat of death. Dean Martin's Dude and his struggle with alcoholism is really the emotional heart of the movie. It's not the affliction itself that's tormenting him, it's the self loathing and it's the way the other characters rely on him and assert their faith in him is what stops him from succumbing to it.

Overall Rio Bravo is a fairly lighthearted movie, although one with a very earnest emotional heart. The gravity between Chance and Dude is contrasted with the more outwardly comedic beats, like Stumpy's perfectly executed "cranky uncle" routine, handsome young Cowboy Colorado who joins the protagonists partway through or a genuinely sweet romantic subplot between Chance and a gamblers former wife trying to go straight.

Quentin Tarantino has cited this as one of his favourite movies and its influence is clearly all over his own works. The dialogue is very fast paced and witty which is, frankly, the only reason the aforementioned romantic subplot works at all. It communicates character dynamics and personalities incredibly efficiently while making them endearing at the same time. John Wayne, for all his virtues as an actor, wasn't exactly a dynamic leading man but Hawks knew how to write and direct around his limitations and play him up as a representation of stability and confidence to complement Dude's insecurity and vulnerability.

I'd say Rio Bravo is about as good a classic, straight forward western as you can imagine. It doesn't offer much in the way of introspection in regards to the genre or the setting as it relates to real history, but it's a timelessly well executed action movie with a strong heart and a sharp tongue.

 

[Piscian]

Abigail 2024

Watched this last night. I had somewhat high expectations having really enjoyed You're Next and was pretty let down.

Abigail has a group of mercenaries kidnap a rich kid for ransom. They are not involved in the transaction only required to babysit the kid at a remote mansion of their employer for 24 hours then release.

As shown the trailers so no spoilers here the twist is that the kid is actually a vampire.

Its a fun little flick with some comedy, twists, and turns. Unfortunately the late game reveal is done more like exposition and with no real tention. I was surprised in the way you'd be when someone informs you that the mets won a game. "Ok".

Other than that it was solidly enjoyable but Im not racing to rewatch it to see if I could pick up the clues like in You're next which is a much much funnier movie.

7/10 because vampires, otherwise its closer to a 6/10.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★★★★½ review of Hellraiser (2022)

“Lament. Lore. Laudarent. Liminal. Lazarus. Leviathan. What would you ask of us?” To say this film had a protracted production is putting it mildly. The idea of a Hellraiser reboot was first pitched in 2007, with at first Clive Barker himself, then the writing/director pair of Julien Maury and...

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[Old_Hunter_77]

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

I watched this because I was in the mood for something silly and fun but this movie is too silly and not really much fun. I knew it was not a real biopic, more like a spoof/satire of those, and that it was chock full of celebrities mugging it, and I was going in fine with that.

[For personal context, of course I loved Weird Al growing up. His "Off the Deep End" album, the one with the Nirvana spoof, was in my regular CD rotation along with, well, Nirvana and such]

But when the opening credits told me that it was produced by Funny or Die I got worried and then the "movie" proceeded to confirm my fear that it would just be an extremely long Funny or Die sketch. Those sketches are fine because, well, they're sketches, but hearing that kind of joke where a person just says what the joke is gets really lame after, well, the length of a sketch.

The jokes are like "hey you're just writing new words to existing songs!" over and over.

I did chuckle when the "plot" kicked into super-absurdity with the introduction of the Madonna character, she was the best part (I have to hope/assume IRL Madonna went along with this and if so, I gotta respect that.)

And of course the problem with making a satire of musical biopics is that Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story already exists and it is great. So, in conclusion, watch that movie.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Watched this too, begrudgingly. Already wasn't expecting to like it (I hate romance movies,) and this one didn't disappoint that expectation.

It exists solely for itself, in a vacuum of its own making. Nothing new, nothing intelligent, no message, no intrigue. It's a movie about an unexpected relationship between two consenting adults between which there happens to be a 16-year age gap. That's IT. The filler is simply the inexorable stigma from outside parties. No on learns anything; no motivations are explained; there's no resolution to the manufactured conflict. It all just happens, then it ends. Complete waste of time, imho, but my girlfriend picked it, so I get to the pick our next show: 3-hour roast of Tom Brady it is; that'll learn her to make me watch her bullshit.

I thought the point of it was Anne Hathaway doing a sexy role. Which apparently is novel and interesting in of itself, given her past films, or something. Or maybe the PR people ran out of ideas.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I thought the point of it was Anne Hathaway doing a sexy role. Which apparently is novel and interesting in of itself, given her past films, or something. Or maybe the PR people ran out of ideas.

If that was the case, they missed there, too. This film gets about as "spicy" as a made for TV movie. Save some language, this is basically a Hallmark movie to be enjoyed by housewives whilst drinking red wine and giving their husbands and entitled children the side-eye. I'd argue this film served to make Hathaway even more wholesome and relevant as-is as she enters middle age along with her fan base.

 

[Phoenixmgs]

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - 3/10

This is like a copy of an imitation of a copy of a copy. The script is horrible, the main plotline is so fucking contrived, there's way too many fucking characters that all get shit-all to do. The thing is almost 2 hours long for no reason. Why can't we make nice, tight, 90-100 minute movies anymore? There's really only 2 scenes of actual ghostbusting: Eventually, you do plan to have dinosaurs ghostbusting on your dinosaur ghostbusting tour, right? There's so much nostalgia bait, even the guy from the library in the 1st movie has a cameo... The movie is so addicted to doing Ghostbuster call-outs that the entire finale takes place in-doors where nobody else would really know what's going on and then when the Ghostbusters are victorious, the whole city is outside cheering, which makes no sense and it's only in the movie because that's how Ghostbuster movies are supposed to end basically. The movie earns none of those moments.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - 3/10

This is like a copy of an imitation of a copy of a copy. The script is horrible, the main plotline is so fucking contrived, there's way too many fucking characters that all get shit-all to do. The thing is almost 2 hours long for no reason. Why can't we make nice, tight, 90-100 minute movies anymore? There's really only 2 scenes of actual ghostbusting: Eventually, you do plan to have dinosaurs ghostbusting on your dinosaur ghostbusting tour, right? There's so much nostalgia bait, even the guy from the library in the 1st movie has a cameo... The movie is so addicted to doing Ghostbuster call-outs that the entire finale takes place in-doors where nobody else would really know what's going on and then when the Ghostbusters are victorious, the whole city is outside cheering, which makes no sense and it's only in the movie because that's how Ghostbuster movies are supposed to end basically. The movie earns none of those moments.

Well, Ghostbusters fans are nostalgic for the old films, I guess. The old films which weren't dominated by nostalgia for older Ghostbusters films, of course, which franchises don't seem to grasp.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I thought the point of it was Anne Hathaway doing a sexy role. Which apparently is novel and interesting in of itself, given her past films, or something. Or maybe the PR people ran out of ideas.

The point was "MILFs deserve love too".

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

The point was "MILFs deserve love too".

Seems to have also been the point of the recent and perhaps more vapid Mother of the Bride, only the casting director might’ve overlooked that Brooke Shields ain’t quite so milfy anymore.

Spoiler

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - 3/10

This is like a copy of an imitation of a copy of a copy. The script is horrible, the main plotline is so fucking contrived, there's way too many fucking characters that all get shit-all to do. The thing is almost 2 hours long for no reason. Why can't we make nice, tight, 90-100 minute movies anymore? There's really only 2 scenes of actual ghostbusting: Eventually, you do plan to have dinosaurs ghostbusting on your dinosaur ghostbusting tour, right? There's so much nostalgia bait, even the guy from the library in the 1st movie has a cameo... The movie is so addicted to doing Ghostbuster call-outs that the entire finale takes place in-doors where nobody else would really know what's going on and then when the Ghostbusters are victorious, the whole city is outside cheering, which makes no sense and it's only in the movie because that's how Ghostbuster movies are supposed to end basically. The movie earns none of those moments.

It's really fascinating that they keep making Ghostbusters movies even though I don't think I ever met anyone who cared for them beyond the first one.

 

[Thaluikhain]

It's really fascinating that they keep making Ghostbusters movies even though I don't think I ever met anyone who cared for them beyond the first one.

The second one was on TV a fair few times when I was young, so I saw it more than once. There's that. In retrospect, not much other appeal, but not seen it in ages.

 

[Phoenixmgs]

It's really fascinating that they keep making Ghostbusters movies even though I don't think I ever met anyone who cared for them beyond the first one.

I love both the 1st 2, I don't get 2 is hated/disliked so much. I know it literally hits the same exact beats as the 1st movie but it's still just as good IMO, and you get more Winston.

 

[Bartholen]

Immaculate, 8/10

Well, what a way to wash the taste of Rebel Moon out of my mouth. This is a horror movie starring Sydney Sweeney, and could be considered a spiritual successor to Rosemary's Baby: a young nun enters into a faraway convent in Italy, and not long after discovers herself to be pregnant despite ostensibly never having engaged in adult relations, hence the title. Of course this being a horror movie nothing is as it seems, and things start to go off the rails.

It's great. Definitely bound to be one of the best horror movies of the year. It looks great, has heaps of ominous atmosphere, tight pacing and runtime at just under 90 minutes, and the squick factor is a solid 9/10. It's not some splatterfest, but there's some proper wince-inducement here with fantastic effects. It's actually about something which always helps horror movies go down easier, and doesn't rely on cheap jumpscares. And holy moley does Sydney Sweeney act her ass off. I won't spoil it, but the final scene rests entirely on her acting ability alone, and good golly Jesus on a jetski does she pull it off. I'm debating if I should compare her performance to that of Toni Collette in Hereditary, because while Sweeney can't match the nuance and depth of that masterclass, she more than matches it in intensity. It's easily among the best endings to a horror movie I've ever seen, right alongside Talk to Me from last year. It's so satisfying when the ending is the best part of a film, and that scene alone is making me consider bumping this movie even higher.

There's honestly not much I can think of to criticize. There's not necessarily a lot of depth to a lot of the characters, but the script focuses on the areas it needs to. It can be debated whether a certain element from the very end should have gone even farther for maximum payoff, but that's down to personal preference. So yeah, this is a treat of a horror movie, and the kind we should support. This was apparently a personal passion project for Sweeney, and I'm happy to see her pre-emptively go against the grain of being the new "blonde bombshell" of Hollywood.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★★½ review of Mortal Kombat (2021)

“You hoped that I would burn in the flames of hell... but instead, I learned to control them.” Making another Mortal Kombat movie after Annihilation proved to be quite the ordeal. Unsurprisingly, despite plans for a trilogy from the outset, the reception to Annihilation put things on hold for...

letterboxd.com

 

[BrawlMan]

It's really fascinating that they keep making Ghostbusters movies even though I don't think I ever met anyone who cared for them beyond the first one.

The second one was on TV a fair few times when I was young, so I saw it more than once. There's that. In retrospect, not much other appeal, but not seen it in ages.

I like the first two movies, but I never had a big obsession, other than Xtreme Ghostbusters. I did see the Real Ghostbusters cartoon as a kid, I barely remember the first cartoon. Xtreme is better any way. I still have not watched any of new live action movies. Just stick with the first HD game that came out on 7th gen consoles and got ported to modern consoles. That's the real GB3.

A ★★½ review of Mortal Kombat (2021)

“You hoped that I would burn in the flames of hell... but instead, I learned to control them.” Making another Mortal Kombat movie after Annihilation proved to be quite the ordeal. Unsurprisingly, despite plans for a trilogy from the outset, the reception to Annihilation put things on hold for...

letterboxd.com

Get rid of the boring OC fan fic character no one cares about! Of course, the execs had to stick their dicks in it and couldn't make Liu Kang the main/lead characters. No one cares about Cole!

 

[Gordon_4]

I love both the 1st 2, I don't get 2 is hated/disliked so much. I know it literally hits the same exact beats as the 1st movie but it's still just as good IMO, and you get more Winston.

Ghostbusters 2 (and Predator 2) seem to get a weird amount of scorn and I have no idea why. They’re both very solid movies.

 

[BrawlMan]

Ghostbusters 2 (and Predator 2) seem to get a weird amount of scorn and I have no idea why. They’re both very solid movies.

Predator 2 doesn't get nowhere the scorn it did back in the 90s and 2000s. I love it, and is my personal favorite of the franchise. GB2 I have found memories of and still enjoy, but I know it's not as good as the first. I don't hate it though.