Last Movie You Watched and Rate it | New Year New thread

[SniperHF]

A Complete Unknown

Someone explain to me why this was up for 8 million awards (other than Oscar baity reasons?)
This movie is a well crafted plod with no overall theme no plot and no structure other than paint by numbers voyeurism. It leans heavily on Chalemet and Dylan's music; Chalamet is fine but he has nothing to do and I'm sure Dylan's music floats somebody's boat but it mostly doesn't land in 2025. It's devoid of any intrigue, humor, interesting dialog.

Maybe not every famous boomer generation singer needs a biopic? He's just kinda boring and if he wasn't this movie doesn't show it.

I also confess I only got through about 60% of it.

 

[Unholy Diver]

A Working Man - 8/10

Jason Statham is a former Royal Marine, now working as a construction worker (foreman?) in Chicago, when his boss's daughter is kidnapped for trafficking purposes by the Russian Mob. Obviously one guy vs the Russian Mob is a huge mismatch, unless that guy is a one man army, or in this case a one man Royal Marine corp. Statham mows through the Russian goons, in his typical style, a little more serious than I expected, not many of his typical hammy one-liners, but still a good watch if you are a fan of his, as I am, or just felt the need to see some bad guys get stabbed and limbs broken

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I think the titles of the movies in the two above reviews could be swapped.

 

[shakes the clown]

saw A Complete Unknown for free this weekend. Weird movie in that I thoroughly enjoyed it, yet I can't think of even 3 things I learned about Bob Dylan. They really did a terrible job giving any meaning or substance to the movie. yet that said, I did like it.

 

[shakes the clown]

A Complete Unknown

Someone explain to me why this was up for 8 million awards (other than Oscar baity reasons?)
This movie is a well crafted plod with no overall theme no plot and no structure other than paint by numbers voyeurism. It leans heavily on Chalemet and Dylan's music; Chalamet is fine but he has nothing to do and I'm sure Dylan's music floats somebody's boat but it mostly doesn't land in 2025. It's devoid of any intrigue, humor, interesting dialog.

Maybe not every famous boomer generation singer needs a biopic? He's just kinda boring and if he wasn't this movie doesn't show it.

I also confess I only got through about 60% of it.

This is a terrible review. I also found the movie lacking, but to come here and say that the music mostly doesn't land in 2025 only serves to paint you as completely ignorant.


Why even give a review if you only watched half the movie?

 

[kihei]

Black Bag (2025) Directed by Steven Soderbergh 7A

Kathryn (Kate Blanchett) and George (Michael Fassbender) play married spies who work for British Intelligence in London. George discovers that a nasty device that can kill tens of thousands is in danger of falling into the wrong hands. Five candidates emerge for him to suss out and find the culprit. The trouble is one of the likelier suspects is his wife Kathryn. Much cat-and-mouse activity soon follows.

Director Steven Soderbergh plays around subtly and sometimes elegantly with traditional genre tropes, and Black Bag, with its heavy reliance on dialogue, is one of the more intelligent spy flicks to come down the pike in a while, basically a spy movie with a relationship movie tucked inside it. Some of the scenes crackle and pop in an amusing fashion, some of the scenes have a sharp-edged wit, but I would be lying if I claimed I could accurately recount all the intricacies of the maybe a-little-too-clever-by-half plot. But the movie is still a lot of fun, and both the acting and the production values are both classy and attractive. Fassbender's George could be (and likely is) an homage to a younger version on John le Carre's George Smiley, a taciturn spy/sleuth with a problematic wife who always keeps his cards close to his vest. It made me realize just how stingy Fassbender has always been with doling out the charm. He's definitely not a chummy actor who trades on being ingratiating. His self-containment, his ability to be opaque while remaining interesting, is his actor's superpower, and he is perfect for this role. And to top it all off, the movie delivers the goods in a mere 94 minutes, a bracingly refreshing running time.

 

[Unholy Diver]

A Minecraft Movie - 8/10

Jack Black was on his over the top, manic game, and Momoa played well off of him as the washed up late 80's video game champion clinging to past glory. Lots of funny bits that might go over the kiddies heads, Jennifer Coolidge was also a highlight

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

A Complete Unknown. I am deeply allergic to music bios. (Bios in general but ESPECIALLY music bios). The stories are often rote and predictable, hitting the same beats of childhood trauma, disrespect, challenging a system, nearly loosing it all, rebounding, etc. My contention is always that people just want to hear the songs so they may as well all be jukebox musicals (which I don't care for either but they at least cut the bullshit). Spare me another scene of the artist singing/playing and then cutting to the faces in the room all silently stunned by the greatness they're witnessing. And this one goes to that move four or five times at least. The whole subgenre is the epitome of "don't tell me about the labor, show me the baby."

That said ... I actually enjoyed this one. I think it helps that I'm a Dylan agnostic so I am not firmly pro or con to the man and his music. What really worked for me is the LACK of explanation. I know enough about Dylan to know of his shiftiness and myth-making. Truth is fungible. He just is. There's never a scene where he sees a stone rolling and then mumbles, "Hey I got an idea ..." (Though we do see a tambourine man). He's completely opaque other than a subtly conveyed competitive streak. The title sounds like a generic bit of lyric citing, but it's actually quite knowing and clever. Moreso than I anticipated. Thought this was also surprisingly funny with much of the humor coming from Dylan's almost troll-like nature. He may be a genius but he's also a dick. The movie doesn't shy from that. The climactic Dylan goes electric moment at the Newport Folk Festival plays almost like screwball comedy. Also, Johnny Cash drunkly bashing in a car then saying "You want a Bugle?" is maybe my favorite line reading in some time.

Black Bag. Few filmmakers are better at letting beautiful people be stylish and cool than Steven Soderbergh. Always gets good performances and damn if everyone isn't radiant while they're doing it. This is another in a long line of tightly scripted, sexy, breezy bits of fun that Soderbergh is so innately gifted at making. You could almost take him for granted.

Michael Fassbender's George is a mash-up of John LeCarre's George Smiley and Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot that I didn't know I wanted or needed. This is a spy story but with a pair of very entertaining dinner party set pieces, it owes more than a little debt to Christie. And then to top it off there's a dash of another influence that I'll throw in a spoiler tag so as not to dilute the mysteries here. But ...

Spoiler

If they announced a new Thin Man/Nick and Nora Charles movie staring Fassbender and Cate Blanchett I wouldn't be mad.

 

[kihei]

A Complete Unknown.

Spoiler

If they announced a new Thin Man/Nick and Nora Charles movie staring Fassbender and Cate Blanchett I wouldn't be mad.

Damn, you are so right.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Lisa (1990)

This is the kind of 'hangover' movie the WB used to run on Saturday afternoons.
But, I thought it was surprisingly tense for a mostly generic movie.
The daughter from 'My Two Dads' plays a teenager who tracks down good-looking adult males.. then anonymously flirts with 'em over the phone.
One thing leads to another, and she's unknowingly playing phone tag with a serial killer.
It also co-stars Chery Ladd as her Boomer single mother.
Like I said, generic.. but pretty good watch (my opinion).
On Prime.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Rewatched For The Zillionth Time:

Terminator 2: Judgement Day - 8.5/10

 

[Beantown Beatdown]

A Minecraft Movie - 8/10

Jack Black was on his over the top, manic game, and Momoa played well off of him as the washed up late 80's video game champion clinging to past glory. Lots of funny bits that might go over the kiddies heads, Jennifer Coolidge was also a highlight

Wife and I took the kids to see it. Wasn’t super excited heading in but I honestly kind of enjoyed it. I thought it was gonna be over the top silly where I just couldn’t take it seriously but it does a great job of being funny and silly without going too far. Thumbs up.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Small Time Crooks (2000)

This was surprisingly likeable. Woody Allen plays a goofy lowlife, but loving husband.. who conscrpts his wife into helping him rob a bank. She'll run a cookie shop, while he tunnels out underneath into a nearby bank.
Turns out, her cookie shop is a success and the dumb, floundering heist is no longer needed. The movie follows their subsequent success & constant marital bickering. Basically a nice, funny flick.
On Tubi.

 

[John Price]

Anora 9+/10. Watched this last night. Side note, though I hadn't heard the song before, I immediately recognized Gary Barlow's voice from "Greatest Day" which played in the beginning and during the Vegas scene. Anyway, movie went in a direction I wan't expecting after the first around 40 minutes. What a ride. Much funnier than I expected. After seeing The Substance, I thought Demi Moore was a lock for the Oscar. But Mikey Madison definitely pulled out an Oscar worthy performance in this.

About 80% through this movie, watched most of it last night and will watch the rest later. I feel pretty confident that this is a good movie and there was just something about it that made it intriguing. Maybe it was the young couple or the outlandish Vanya in Vegas "I'm American now, bitch", but this movie balances well the comedy of the guy getting hurt and throwing up in the car with the seriousness of the situation.

Will provide a numerical ranking after finishing the movie

 

[Unholy Diver]

Wife and I took the kids to see it. Wasn’t super excited heading in but I honestly kind of enjoyed it. I thought it was gonna be over the top silly where I just couldn’t take it seriously but it does a great job of being funny and silly without going too far. Thumbs up.

I never played the game before, my daughter wanted to see it, she's actually never played it either, but has watched her cousins play, so I went in blind, but I am a Jack Black fan, and generally the more spastic the better, so it worked for me, and it worked for the kid. I don't know if it followed the "source material" or whatever, I see many people acting like this movie is somewhere between the holocaust and slavery as one of mankind's worst atrocities, but I liked it. Life is way too short to get worked up over goofy stuff

 

[DingerMcSlapshot]

The Gorge. 4/10.

 

[John Price]

Anora (2024) is an outstanding movie that deserved to win Best Picture. There are a lot of adult themes but at the same time it manages to lighten the serious situation Anora is in with comedy. The acting is outstanding as well. Would strongly recommend this film

9/10 only because some of the scenes go on a bit too long

 

[shadow1]

The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008) - 6/10

Former FBI Agents Mulder and Scully are summoned by the bureau to investigate an abduction.

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reprise their TV roles as Mulder and Scully, the former living in isolation and the latter working at a Catholic hospital. The pair is summoned by the FBI to help them locate a missing agent (Amanda Peet), who disappeared while investigating serial killings in West Virginia. The FBI is so desperate that they've also called in Father Joe (Billy Connolly), a former priest convicted of child sex crimes, who claims to be a psychic. Everyone at the FBI believes Father Joe to be a charlatan until he leads them to a severed arm frozen in the ice...

The X-Files: I Want to Believe was directed by Chris Carter and written by Carter and Frank Spotnitz. The idea for a second X-Files film was conceived as early as 2001, but due to a number of development hangups wouldn't be released until six years after the TV series ended. As the show was no longer airing, Carter opted for a "monster of the week" story, rather than one based around the alien mythology. How does I Want to Believe fare?

It's alright. Unlike the first movie, this second X-Files film has the benefit of not being bogged down by series lore. That not only means this story can breathe on its own, but also that anyone can watch this movie without getting lost. To that point, I Want to Believe has a strong opening act, posing questions about both the nature of the abductions and the legitimacy of Father Joe's abilities.

As events play out, things become formulaic. To be more specific, I Want to Believe is more police procedural than X-Files story. Little to nothing supernatural happens, which leaves me questioning why they dusted off Mulder and Scully for this particular story. Speaking of the latter, she is mostly off doing her own thing at the hospital as she tries to save a child with a rare disease. Though this "B" Plot has thematic parallels with the serial killer plot, I again ponder why they dusted off Mulder and Scully for this particular story.

Overall, The X-Files: I Want to Believe is an okay-ish way to kill 90 minutes. It's a movie that will grab and hold your attention, but one you're unlikely to think about after the credits roll. I Want to Believe earned $68.4M against its $30M (wtf, how!?) budget.

 

[DaaaaB's]

Snow White 7.5/10

The hatred and review bombing that this film is getting is stupid, it isn't a masterpiece for the times, but it is a perfectly fine family movie, a bit more musical-y than I expected, but the wife & daughter loved it, so that works for me

I know my nieces loved it. I think a lot of the hate comes from adults who have a political axe to grind.

Anyways, I watched Cosmopolis by David Cronenberg and enjoyed it enough despite finding it confusing. Not one of my favourite Cronenberg films at least based on my first viewing but it was interesting and an excellent lead performance by Robert Pattinson. Compared to the other two Cronenberg films I've watched recently I'd rank it behind Existenz and ahead of Spider. I'm curious what other Cronenberg fans or anyone for that matter thought of this film.

 

[kihei]

I know my nieces loved it. I think a lot of the hate comes from adults who have a political axe to grind.

Anyways, I watched Cosmopolis by David Cronenberg and enjoyed it enough despite finding it confusing. Not one of my favourite Cronenberg films at least based on my first viewing but it was interesting and an excellent lead performance by Robert Pattinson. Compared to the other two Cronenberg films I've watched recently I'd rank it behind Existenz and ahead of Spider. I'm curious what other Cronenberg fans or anyone for that matter thought of this film.

I think those three films are afflicted with the same disease that many of Atom Egoyan's movies suffer from: they are cold and keep the audience at arm's length. I thought Pattison's performance in Cosmopolis was exceptional, but I was never the least emotionally invested in his character's story. That particular trio of films are more like intellectual exercises. I'd also add Maps to the Stars and A Dangerous Method to this list of unaffecting, uninvolving Cronenberg movies.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I think those three films are afflicted with the same disease that many of Atom Egoyan's movies suffer from: they are cold and keep the audience at arm's length. I thought Pattison's performance in Cosmopolis was exceptional, but I was never the least emotionally invested in his character's story. That particular trio of films are more like intellectual exercises. I'd also add Maps to the Stars and A Dangerous Method to this list of unaffecting, uninvolving Cronenberg movies.

I still have never seen Cosmopolis or Spider. And I've only seen Maps to the Stars once. I need to knock that trio out to wrap up my Cronenberg and make my definitive ranking. (Seeing The Shrouds in two weeks).

I did finally just watch Fast Company. Total curio. Well directed but only really memorable because it's Cronenberg making a pretty basic sports/drag racing movie. Otherwise it would be lost to time. The injections of music are of the time and kinda hilarious. I amused myself by imagining similar soundtracks on some of his other movies.

 

[DaaaaB's]

I think those three films are afflicted with the same disease that many of Atom Egoyan's movies suffer from: they are cold and keep the audience at arm's length. I thought Pattison's performance in Cosmopolis was exceptional, but I was never the least emotionally invested in his character's story. That particular trio of films are more like intellectual exercises. I'd also add Maps to the Stars and A Dangerous Method to this list of unaffecting, uninvolving Cronenberg movies.

That seems like a pretty accurate assessment. I definitely find A Dangerous Method more involving than the other films but still somewhat cold. I also enjoy it quite a bit more than the others partly due to the story/subject matter but also because of Fassbender and Mortenson's acting.

Cronenberg is pretty fascinating director imo. I don't always love his films but they always keep me interested and he gets points for originality. I once heard him described as Lynch-lite which seems fairly accurate as I find some of Lynch's films to be more out there, at least for a guy like me.

 

[DaaaaB's]

I still have never seen Cosmopolis or Spider. And I've only seen Maps to the Stars once. I need to knock that trio out to wrap up my Cronenberg and make my definitive ranking. (Seeing The Shrouds in two weeks).

I did finally just watch Fast Company. Total curio. Well directed but only really memorable because it's Cronenberg making a pretty basic sports/drag racing movie. Otherwise it would be lost to time. The injections of music are of the time and kinda hilarious. I amused myself by imagining similar soundtracks on some of his other movies.

I've only seen Maps to the Stars once as well and should watch it again sometime. I've also never seen Fast Company, Rabid, Naked Lunch, M. Butterfly or The Shrouds and haven't watched a couple others since college so you're a ways ahead of me.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Man About Town (2006)

Ben Affleck plays a self-centered, type-A talent agent.. who develops an unexpected sense of critical self-awareness. He decides to join a class on journaling.. but a resentful classmate steals his journal, and proceeds to publicly embarass (& blackmail) Affleck. But the scheme ends up being a blessing in disguise, as Affleck is forced into more self reflection.
Good cast: John Cleese, Gina Gershon, Affleck, etc.. but it had a straight-to-DVD feeling (I'd never heard of it). And is a kinda clichéd Hollywood morality tale. But I liked it, and it worked in humor effectively. Watched it overnight on Tubi.

 

[Osprey]

Blood Tide (1982)

A seaside Greek village is cursed by its relationship with an ancient monster. A couple of American visitors find out the hard way.
Good 8os cast: James Earl Jones, Martin Kove, and the blonde daughter from 'Too Close for Comfort'.
Nice scenery, I rate it a 6 (out of 10).

I watched this last night. It was pretty lacking in plot and suspense, but you were so right about the scenery. The location wasn't so bad looking, either.