Movies 2025 Movie Discussion Thread

[Technico Support]

Olympus Has Fallen is over the top bonkers and fun.  I’ve seen it at least thrice.

I fell asleep on White House Down.

That’s your review.

[Andrew POE!]

Movies today.....

Caddo Lake (Max) - (3.5/5 stars)

Spoiler

"Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time" -Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

Caddo Lake on its surface doesn't appear to be a time traveling story. The two main characters - Paris (Dylan O'Brien) and Ellie (Eliza Scanlen) - have their stories being told in parallel throughout the entirety of the movie. Paris is working as a contractor and discovers a necklace belonging to his mother. Ellie meanwhile is involved with a family squabble and leaves after a family get together when her younger sister Anna (Caroline Falk) vanishes.

The movie in some ways has elements of David Lynch and yes, M. Night Shyamalan in its storytelling; there's a sense of grounded realism especially with the difficulties Ellie has with her family. It's only when the movie progresses that it's apparent what type of story this is. In a lot of ways, it's Twin Peaks meets Bastard Out of Carolina.

I loved how the different times were delineated with how the movie was shot - the past scenes have a greyer coloring in the scenes while the present (or 2022) have a brighter lighting (even when it's raining).

I will say that the story doesn't make a lot of sense and doesn't seem to bother to explain how the phenomenon happens (my guess is it has to do with the dam breaking and that seemingly serving as a nexus for the time periods involved).

Hundreds of Beavers (Amazon Prime) - 5/5 stars

Spoiler

Hundreds of Beavers is a throwback to Saturday matinees that would play in the theater like Popeye, Warner Bros. cartoons, and Tom & Jerry. It's also got elements of early 1920s cinema like German Expressionism films. It's purely maniacal filmmaking to watch that's done by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.

What's fascinating with the movie is it's told purely through visual storytelling. Compared to something like this year's Flow, which tries to do visual storytelling, it's a lot more cut and dry what's going on with Hundreds of Beavers. The simple goal is the main character Jean Kayak (Ryland Tews) has to switch careers from an applejack salesman to a fur trapper. That aspect of progress and loss is almost quintessentially American; we went from transversing via the rails and via wagon trains to automobiles. Unfortunately, those that only knew one thing lost that.

As Kayak begins to hunt for beavers, he comically fails at the task. In a lot of ways, what he has to do is similar to video games (like Don't Starve) where you have to gather supplies and trade the supplies to get better items. Eventually, he becomes proficient until he is asked to gather....hundreds of beavers in order to give his love interest (Olivia Graves) a ring.

What I thought was interesting was the movie's willingness to subvert standard characters - the father (Doug Mancheski) actually loves the master fur trapper (Wes Tank) who scorns him. The love interest isn't that interested in Kayak at first and finds it amusing that her father tries to kill Kayak a few times.

What I found interesting is the court room scenes where Kayak is put on trial for killing beavers. In some ways, I wonder if there were a statement being made about governments controlling the narrative when it comes to murder and what they present about the accused in a country. While keeping in mind this is a 'cartoon,' so having Kayak being sentenced to death and actually killed would have given the movie a much darker outcome and message.

What makes the movie work as well is the repeated visual jokes and the visuals that's used - in some respects, the visuals appear 'low budget' but it adds to the charm.

Hundreds of Beavers is more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

Run All Night (Netflix, leaving on 2/1) - 2.5/5 stars

Spoiler

Movie really takes its time even getting somewhere with the plodding script and almost by the numbers gangster characters and Liam Neeson doing Liam Neeson things. It aims for Road To Perdition but completely misses it.

I did like the apartment complex shootout scenes since those remind me a bit of Attack The Block.

The ending scenes were a tad annoying and way too drawn out; it made little sense for the contracted killer (Common) to continue the job since Sean (Ed Harris) was killed earlier, unless he never got the memo that it happened. I guess gangster types don't check their phones or their emails when they are hunting after someone.

Camerawork is really gimmicky and not in a good way. A lot of overhead shots that look like it does when you switch characters in Grand Theft Auto V. Half expected to see Liam Neeson digging for food in the trash and waking up in his underwear. The final scenes had a camera mounted on a shotgun trigger (really). I mean I guess if you got the budget for that, use it.

Run All Night makes me want to sleep all night after watching it.

 

[elizium]

The repeated gags in Hundreds of Beavers work because they build on each other so well. One of the most enjoyable things I watched last year

[Mister TV]

4 hours ago, Craig H said:

My friend and I talk about this movie all the time, mainly focusing on why I’ve watched it so much (I loved race car movies as a kid, like Stroker Ace, and I guess as an adult even if I don’t like actual racing) and it played all the time on TBS and movie channels. I love it even though it’s Top Gun with stock cars. It’s so dumb.

RUBBIN’. IS. RACING.

Also not a fan of racing but always watched racing movies like Days of Thunder, Stroker Ace, Six Pack, Greased Lightning and Heart Like a Wheel when they were on cable. 

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Hundreds of Beavers, Strange Darling and The Zone of Interest were the 3 best films I saw last year, although I will never watch Zone of Interest ever again. 

I've been terrible with the award season films, the only one I've seen is Conclave. I really need to see The Brutalist. 

[Johnny Sorrow]

13 hours ago, Mister TV said:

Also not a fan of racing but always watched racing movies like Days of Thunder, Stroker Ace, Six Pack, Greased Lightning and Heart Like a Wheel when they were on cable. 

Greased Lightning is one of those movies that was always on some UHF station on a Saturday afternoon every year when I was a kid. It was one of my favs.  I hadn't thought about it in forever and lo and behold,  it was on yesterday on Roku channel's Pam Grier channel.  I forgot how loaded the cast is.

[odessasteps]

That's awesome they have a Pam grier channel. 

[Andrew POE!]

Movies today....

Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of The World (Mubi) - 5/5 stars

Spoiler

The nature of work is for us to work until we collapse. To gather blood from a stone. Late stage capitalism sadly wants this for everyone participating; workers are expected to ignore needs like food, sleep, improving economic standing, lives, and medical care to feed the beast.

Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of the World is a bewildering film about a person locked into this situation. Angela (Ilinca Manolache) is an overly tired, overworked, underpaid production assistant for a workplace safety video. Upon first frame, we see that she is a lot smarter than given credit - Proust and Fielding's Tom Jones are on a nightstand. She drives listlessly to record people involved in safety accidents for a corporation that the videos get sent off to them. She literally is working past the point of exhaustion; she works for 14-16 hours a day, sometimes 20 hours. Apparently there’s no one else available to help her, all because the director doesn’t want to use people on a different production. In the end it’s all for a video production that wants to feed the beast too.

In between we see aspects of her life, her posting videos as Bobita and making a video with Uwe Boll while he is making a movie.

The sad and disheartening aspect is the involvement of the corporation producing the video. Doris Goethe (Nina Hoss) is a fuddy-duddy marketing executive who looks at what Angela produced for videos and one person who had a horrific accident yet cannot speak, she dismisses from the video. "We don't want it to be like Tod Browning's Freaks" says one of the people involved with the production. A higher up in the company pops in to meddle and to tell the director "I have one word: emotion" before walking off.

I found it interesting the scenes with the person eventually chosen for the safety video. The grandmother Angela is shown as having the same story as a character in 1981 Romanian film Angela merge mai departe; it creates an interesting inter-textual dialogue between both that film and this film. The thought is "well, maybe this safety video is real" or "the participants are real" until it is shown at the end that Angela is an actor too.

The ending scenes are interesting as well; the worker in a wheelchair is asked to recount how he was paralyzed. With each take, he is asked to change his story. "Don't mention Russia, we have business with them." At one point, he is directly blamed essentially for not wearing his safety helmet even when walking in a parking lot since that is apparently in a contract he signed. The executive from earlier interjects again, this time he doesn't want the employee to talk at all and instead hold green signs where the words will be added in post-production. One of the relatives is naturally concerned that the words will make the employee look bad or negligent but knowing from what was shown earlier, that shouldn't be too surprising if it happens. Angela's work in this instance is now made meaningless since a guy thousand of miles away dictate what will be in a safety video. It goes from teaching employees safety to being propaganda.

Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of the World as a movie is a lot to absorb. In some ways, it's the 2020s post Covid world version of Jeanne Dielman; the monotony of thankless work coupled with outrageous statements and at one point sexual release for the main character. The movie is shot in black and white and feels like a documentary of the entire process.

Vermiglio (saw in the theaters) - 4/5 stars

Spoiler

With Italian dramas, you know what you are going to get. Love, guilt, themes about Catholicism? It's there with Vermiglio. In some ways, it called to mind Marco Bellocchio's work and his fixations on the very same themes as well as Padre Padrone (with the focus on different languages and the difference with the languages). The difference being the longer takes, the wide angle shots, the way the scenes are framed, and a critique on patriachal society from Maura Delpero.

With this movie, every shot is absolutely gorgeous. I loved the visual symmetry in the school room scenes (with girls on one side of the room and boys on the other side). The father Cesare Graziadei (Tommaso Ragno) has an almost older Donald Sutherland quality about himself as he teaches the school. With the premise being set in a village during WWII, there's very little in terms of men between 20 - 40; it's all old men, women, and children.

A lot of the scenes have two different places where they take place - at night when it's bed time or during dinner. We never really see the characters in day to day life - instead, the movie 'flash forwards'' a bit depending on when they take place. The differences are only visually as we see the movie start in winter but transition to spring.

Some reviews have compared this to Haneke's The White Ribbon (which I need to see). For me, a lot of the action of the movie is much quieter and in whispers. There's never any outburst of emotions from any of the characters; just a quiet dignity as they suffer - it's somewhat similar to Small Things Like These outlining abuse from nuns at a convent. I never really get the sense of what the characters are going through, but just seeing and seeing the aftermath of actions shows what they went through.

The scene that stuck with me was it being found out that Pietro (Giuseppe De Domenico) is a bigamist; one of the girls in the village reads the story out loud in a newspaper. The mother proceeds to reinforce the patriarchal way by essentially talking about how the oldest daughter Lucia (Martina Scrinzi) will now be unwanted, which means she'll be unwanted by the family.

Over time, the movie presents Cesare as not a good person; he has difficulties with his own son Dino (Patrick Gardner) (he offers praise for everyone else with their school work except for him). Cesare in a bedtime conversation with his wife expects his son to do more because 'he's a teacher's son.'

One shot that is incredible was when Dino's girlfriend was standing on top of the cliff.

The drawback I can say is there wasn't as much emotional depth as I wanted from the movie and some of the characters were a bit of 'blank slates.' Cinematography wise the movie is incredible with the framing, shot selection and shot compositions.

 

Flee (Hulu, leaving on 2/4) - 4.5/5 stars

Spoiler

Utterly devastating and honestly just a perfect length of a film. Some of the animation is a bit sloppy and oft-putting, but that adds to the charm of the documentary.

Anyone who supported Trump needs to watch something like this (of course, they wouldn't and would decree the documentary as 'woke' and watch Carrie Underwood on Hulu instead). Amin's experience as a refugee from Afghanistan is heartbreaking to watch; he never really feels safe wherever he goes until lands in Denmark. Then coupled with his status as a gay man, he feels like he's having to hide twice - hide being a refugee and hide who he truly is.

I appreciated the mixture of news footage and animation for the scenes describing Afghanistan's civil war.

Definitely one to watch on Hulu before it leaves next month.

 

[Log]

Watched Perfect Days yesterday. Just a beautiful movie. It was perfect for a lazy Sunday morning where I could just vibe with it.

Never thought a movie could make me want to go around Tokyo using restrooms.

[Andrew POE!]

Movies today....managed to watch 6 movies during a work day.

Beans (Hulu, leaving on 2/4) - 3.5/5 stars

Spoiler

It's nice to watch a coming of age story and a movie from people that don't look like me and is from a different point of view. For this movie, it's about a young Mohawk girl living in Quebec named Tekehentahkhwa (Kiawentiio) or "Beans."

Most of the movie depicts a time in history for the Oka Crisis in Quebec and the young girl's emotions and personal changes during that time. In some ways, the approach the movie takes is a bit more simplified. It does present some scenes (like Beans and her family going across a bridge) as smaller scaled versus the actual events.

The movie in some respects could be an echo of Because of Winn Dixie or Mathilda about a young girl who is misunderstood and striving to achieve understanding in a confused world. Similar to those two movies, Beans has its protagonist not understanding their family and by the end growing to understand them.

The ending scene is really great - the start of the movie had the main character tell the headmaster her nickname while in front of the class, she tells them her Mohawk name.

I liked the fact that the movie used a lot of indigenous actors and for many of them this is their first role. The movie does have somewhat cliched writing but Tracey Deer did great direction for the actors to be a bit more authentic despite script issues.

Shorts (Max, leaving on 1/31) - 1.5/5 stars

Spoiler

Strange Darling did the same nonlinear story structure and did so much better.

This movie is an absolute mess. It captures the feeling of drinking too much Mountain Dew, rolling around in mud and dirt, playing video games all day and eating junk food all day.

The premise doesn't make sense - the main character lives in a town where a 'black box' is created and it has all sorts of dystopian nightmare aspects to it lead by a guy (James Spader) who wants an upgrade (it had X before Twitter got turned into X). Any idea of character development or lessons learned for the main character is just sped through; if they didn't think it was important, you won't either.

It is imaginative filmmaking but holy crap is it bad.

Made In Italy (Netflix, leaving on 2/6) - 3/5 stars

Spoiler

Beautifully shot movie in Italy with a somewhat standard romantic comedy/drama story. It's always amazing to see Liam Neeson play a character Robert Foster in late 2010s-2020s time period that's not shooting people or breaking their necks.

I absolutely loved the scene where Robert's son Jack (Micheal Richardson) finds the room with several paintings of his mother and him and Neeson breaks down as he recounts what happened. That actually got to me a bit.

The movie made me want to seek out I Basilischi (The Lizards), which scenes were shown of that movie during the movie on the town square scene.

I hope to see more of the director James D'Arcy's next directorial feature. I did love the cinematography choices throughout the movie with how shots were framed, editing choices made with scenes. Nice split diopter shot for the ending.

Save Yourselves! (Max, leaving on 1/31) - 3/5 stars

Spoiler

Noah Baumbach does a Roland Emmerich disaster film.

Some incredible shots towards the end of the movie (I loved the shot of the Hummer backing up) and it's an analogy for Covid-19 essentially wrecking society (or possibly how hipsters would be lost in a catastrophic disaster no matter how much I would like them).

Companion (saw at the theaters) - 3.5/5 stars

Spoiler

Companion as a movie will make Sophie Thatcher a star or at least on the way to be an indie darling. In some ways, her character Iris in Companion and her interactions with Jack Quaid’s character Josh will conjure memories of Maggie Gyllenhaal in Secretary or Zooey Deschanel in (500) Days of Summer. She dresses in a fashion like Bardot in Godard’s Contempt and for how it’s set up for Josh, the male gauze is drawn to her.

Something interesting happens during the telling of this movie’s story. I actually began to feel sympathy towards Iris and began to want her to rebel against her programming. In a lot of ways with this movie, it’s as if Terminator 2 were a love story (it’s pretty telling that Lukas Gage as Patrick had him dress as a police officer). The final scenes were another callback as Iris waves to another companion, metal hand exposed.

Iris eventually does escape and sees her future open like a wine bottle.

The relationship between Iris and Josh starts as being one born out of love until we realize that Iris is a robot. Even then, Iris has a nuance with the relationship until she realizes that Josh is using her and breaks up with him (despite her being programmed to not). In some ways, the relationship between the two is similar to Bardot’s relationship with Paul in Contempt and Josh pushes Iris away in much the same way. There’s a statement being made about men feeling loveless and feeling like they have no choice but to do this (in a way, Josh’s story is sadder than Iris until he becomes abusive towards Iris then fuck him, he can die).

I love how this movie was shot and the cinematography choices made - Companion even in darker lit scenes has a lot of color, almost Jacques Demy like with its usage. The scene in the house when Josh and Iris arrive is opulent and gorgeous with a lot of high wide angle shots of the forest. I was a bit cold towards the script and the story (having the trailers spoil the story and some dude in my row laugh a little loudly at everything didn’t help). With the characters striving to divide the money, it made me think they would kill each other when instead it’s Iris doing the killing.

Companion is a nice mixture of (500) Days of Summer meets Fatal Attraction.

Inheritance (saw at the theaters) - 4/5 stars

Spoiler

No, this movie isn't unique or even that original. It's a spy thriller. The story beats are the same story beats told in countless other spy movies (The Man Who Came In From The Cold, The International, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Night Manager, Goldfinger, From Russia With Love, etc). It's not even that unique with having women in a lead character role as a spy (Hanna, Anna, and Salt).

But there's something about this movie that's just loaded with nervous tension that I couldn't tear away from watching.

Phoebe Dynevor plays Maya who reconnects with her estranged father Sam (Rhys Ifans) at a funeral for her mother. Sam wants her to do a job and gives her $1000 to fly with him to Egypt.

He gets a phone call and suddenly leaves the restaurant. The police are after him and she gets a call to leave with an iPad and he's been kidnapped trying to meet with her at a cafe.

The movie made me wonder when the police would catch up with Maya. Maya essentially steals throughout the movie (a bottle of alcohol and a pair of sunglasses plus millions at the end in crypto). Sam views her as completely gullible so she makes an easy mark to carry out his scheme.

Maya eventually finds out the truth and has one final meeting with her father in Seoul.

This movie is loaded completely with style - it's a Paul Greengrass spy film done by Steven Soderbergh or Abel Ferrera in terms of being 'guerrilla filmmaking.' It won't win awards, but it's a well executed story.

The motobike chase is absolutely insane to watch with the head mounted camera as Maya and the taxi driver tries to speed away.

This movie won't hold up well with repeated viewings, but cinematography wise it does really well with the iPhone format. The shots in Egypt with Rhys Ifans and Phoebe Dynevor walking around near the pyramids is absolutely breathtaking.

 

[Curt McGirt]

I was surprised to find out that I really liked The Wolf Man. It reminded me of Curse of the Werewolf, which for my money is the best werewolf picture that nobody talks about. The sequence with the big change in the dissection theater or whatever was gnarly. 

[J.H.]

Saturday Night - I've stuck through Saturday Night Live since I was kid sneaking into the kitchen to watch it on our black and white portable TV. Now by "portable" I mean it was about the size of a small suitcase.

Turning the very first episode, into a chaotic drama seems rather apt. I appreciate Gabriel LaBelle playing Lorne Michael's, it could've been someone just doing a Lorne Michael's impersonation but it isn't. LaBelle's Lorne is a bundle of nerves, which only gets over the vibe of the whole movie. It's tense, nerve wracking and makes the viewer those things in turn.

It carries over to the other cast members. I think the only person in this cast who feels like an impersonation is Matt Wood's John Belushi but it is hard to make Belushi original because he was such a force of pure anarchy.

I dug Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris. His story is to ask "Why am I here? I'm not a comedian. Why the fuck am I here?". His exasperation at trying to find what his purpose is beyond being the token black guy. If you know anything about Garrett Morris, he was a damn renaissance man.

So this movie is crackling with energy and given its trying to get over how SNL is, itself, the most chaotic show on TV it only makes sense this movie feels like anything could go wrong. 

It's manic. It's chaos. It controlled anarchy. Most importantly, it's a movie that is never dull. Thankfully, it's a good movie that engaged me entirely.

James

[Andrew POE!]

18 minutes ago, J.H. said:

Saturday Night - I've stuck through Saturday Night Live since I was kid sneaking into the kitchen to watch it on our black and white portable TV. Now by "portable" I mean it was about the size of a small suitcase.

Turning the very first episode, into a chaotic drama seems rather apt. I appreciate Gabriel LaBelle playing Lorne Michael's, it could've been someone just doing a Lorne Michael's impersonation but it isn't. LaBelle's Lorne is a bundle of nerves, which only gets over the vibe of the whole movie. It's tense, nerve wracking and makes the viewer those things in turn.

It carries over to the other cast members. I think the only person in this cast who feels like an impersonation is Matt Wood's John Belushi but it is hard to make Belushi original because he was such a force of pure anarchy.

I dug Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris. His story is to ask "Why am I here? I'm not a comedian. Why the fuck am I here?". His exasperation at trying to find what his purpose is beyond being the token black guy. If you know anything about Garrett Morris, he was a damn renaissance man.

So this movie is crackling with energy and given its trying to get over how SNL is, itself, the most chaotic show on TV it only makes sense this movie feels like anything could go wrong. 

It's manic. It's chaos. It controlled anarchy. Most importantly, it's a movie that is never dull. Thankfully, it's a good movie that engaged me entirely.

James

I want Cory Michael Smith to be in a Caddyshack remake now.

[Andrew POE!]

Movies today...calling it a night a bit early. I'm somewhat tired.

The Foreigner (Netflix, leaving on 1/31) - 3/5 stars

Spoiler

Absolutely gripping action thriller that seems like the logical extension of Martin Campbell's earlier GoldenEye and Casino Royale. Jackie Chan is really great in this role and has grown in his English language acting compared to his Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon days. Pierce Brosnan as a First Minister of Northern Ireland Liam Hennessy has a bit of Liam Neeson during Michael Collins in his portrayal as a person who can't unring the bell after bombings happen that kill Quan Ngoc Minh (Chan)'s daughter.

I can say that some aspects of it were a bit outdated; I had almost wondered if it would be found that the attacks were orchestrated by an overseas group making it look like the IRA but that wasn't the case.

I can rant about this as well about something that annoyed me a bit - for God's sake, quit calling Chan's character a bloody "Chinaman"! The movie was done in 2017 and the guy emigrated to the UK. "Chinese-British citizen" or "Chinese" would have been better names to use. That sort of crap was seemingly fine in 1940s/1950s movies where we had John Wayne using racial epithets to describe people.

That didn't lessen the movie's power, but it did bug me a bit.

I did love how the scenes were framed and the tone throughout the movie; Chan seemed more compact in his fighting compared to his earlier movies when he was younger, but it was incredible to watch.

I'll have to seek out the other action thrillers Campbell did besides Bond movies and this. He has a knack with how he does action scenes.

Flight Risk (saw in the theaters) - 0.5/5 star

Spoiler

Flight Risk is a comedy. If you attempt to watch it as a serious drama or as a thriller, you will be disappointed. The movie starts with Topher Grace (Winston) heating up ramen in a microwave and stares drolly into the camera while looking at the microwave. You can't help but to laugh.

US marshals come busting in lead by Michelle Dockery as Madolyn and put him in handcuffs and put him on the bed. He complains about the blanket being scratchy. He has to go to the bathroom. "Could I get some privacy?" "No." "Well, you'll have to do some paperwork." "I got a special assignment for you two." Title card.

This is a comedy where everyone talks in the driest manner possible. It's almost bordering on an Aki Kaurismaki film except.....this is not supposed to be funny. This is supposed to be absolutely serious and a thriller. This is not the Mel Gibson that directed Passion of the Christ, Hacksaw Ridge, Apocalypto, and Braveheart and knew how to make a compelling story with the movies he made. This is the Mel Gibson that ate dog biscuits and called a police officer "sugar t***" during a DUI arrest. He is absolutely unhinged. He lost his mind if he thought this movie should have been released.

One scene that made me bust out laughing was when the plane was about to hit the mountain and there's quick cuts between Madolyn, Winston and "Daryl Booth" (Mark Wahlberg). A serious movie doesn't do that. Only in a comedy does that happen.

When the plane finally lands, Mark Wahlberg gets run over and....it's hilarious (it's not supposed to be but it is). The EMTs arrive to check on Winston. "One of the people on the plane didn't make it," says an EMT. "Thank God," says Madolyn. (EMT taken aback). Then Madolyn meets the guy on the radio that was sexually harassing her - I mean flirting with her (time and place, pal, she's in a plane that's about to crash, read the room a bit). But nope, Madolyn doesn't raise a stink and just accepts it.

Then we see an EMT on a phone looking at Madolyn sinisterly before going into the ambulance. Oh no! He's going to kill Winston too! Madolyn bursts in and kills the guy while the US marshal director tells him he'll be sent back to Bulgaria. Again, this is supposed to be serious but I was laughing at how the scene played out. I imagine once they left and are riding in the ambulance and go to a McDonald's, the cashier gives Winston the stink eye and is about to pull out a gun. Madolyn will kill him too! (That's probably in Flight Risk 2).

The ending literally had Hasan (Maaz Ali/Monib Abhat), firefighters and EMTs stare at Madolyn and Winston in the ambulance while Winston nestles his head against Madolyn. I was again laughing.

If you watch the movie as a comedy, this is a 5 star classic. If you watch it as a serious drama or expecting it to be a functional movie, 1/2 star. If this is what Mel Gibson wants Hollywood to be and to get rid of the 'woke' agenda, we're in serious trouble.

The Coldest Game (Netflix, leaving on 2/6) - 1.5/5 stars

Spoiler

Except for Bill Pullman, a lot of the acting for this movie isn't very good and the script isn't very good either. It seems a bit like an early 2000s "Made for TV" movie in how the performances and direction is.

There weren't a lot of highlights or truly memorable performances.

 

[Curt McGirt]

5 hours ago, Andrew POE! said:

Then Madolyn meets the guy on the radio that was sexually harassing her - I mean flirting with her (time and place, pal, she's in a plane that's about to crash, read the room a bit). But nope, Madolyn doesn't raise a stink and just accepts it.

Because of course she does. 

I almost want to see this show up on TV to give it a brief whack. The Ebert site writer HATED it and you make it look halfway interesting -- like a film that, say, Tarantino would like and somehow accept as high art. 

[Andrew POE!]

1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

Because of course she does. 

I almost want to see this show up on TV to give it a brief whack. The Ebert site writer HATED it and you make it look halfway interesting -- like a film that, say, Tarantino would like and somehow accept as high art. 

Yeah, it sorta irked me but if the movie didn't have a problem with it, I wouldn't either. While it's gross, I doubt someone in that position would be that concerned with a guy she never met doing that. She's more concerned about landing the plane and not dying.

The movie seems very Tarantino coded now that I think about it. Topher Grace seems like he should be in the next Tarantino movie with the amount of references he does (he even makes a Spirit Airlines joke).

But don't get me wrong - the movie is completely terrible.

[HarryArchieGus]

On 1/25/2025 at 11:20 PM, Andrew POE! said:

Hundreds of Beavers (Amazon Prime) - 5/5 stars

  Hide contents

Hundreds of Beavers is a throwback to Saturday matinees that would play in the theater like Popeye, Warner Bros. cartoons, and Tom & Jerry. It's also got elements of early 1920s cinema like German Expressionism films. It's purely maniacal filmmaking to watch that's done by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.

What's fascinating with the movie is it's told purely through visual storytelling. Compared to something like this year's Flow, which tries to do visual storytelling, it's a lot more cut and dry what's going on with Hundreds of Beavers. The simple goal is the main character Jean Kayak (Ryland Tews) has to switch careers from an applejack salesman to a fur trapper. That aspect of progress and loss is almost quintessentially American; we went from transversing via the rails and via wagon trains to automobiles. Unfortunately, those that only knew one thing lost that.

As Kayak begins to hunt for beavers, he comically fails at the task. In a lot of ways, what he has to do is similar to video games (like Don't Starve) where you have to gather supplies and trade the supplies to get better items. Eventually, he becomes proficient until he is asked to gather....hundreds of beavers in order to give his love interest (Olivia Graves) a ring.

What I thought was interesting was the movie's willingness to subvert standard characters - the father (Doug Mancheski) actually loves the master fur trapper (Wes Tank) who scorns him. The love interest isn't that interested in Kayak at first and finds it amusing that her father tries to kill Kayak a few times.

What I found interesting is the court room scenes where Kayak is put on trial for killing beavers. In some ways, I wonder if there were a statement being made about governments controlling the narrative when it comes to murder and what they present about the accused in a country. While keeping in mind this is a 'cartoon,' so having Kayak being sentenced to death and actually killed would have given the movie a much darker outcome and message.

What makes the movie work as well is the repeated visual jokes and the visuals that's used - in some respects, the visuals appear 'low budget' but it adds to the charm.

Hundreds of Beavers is more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

On 1/25/2025 at 11:28 PM, elizium said:

The repeated gags in Hundreds of Beavers work because they build on each other so well. One of the most enjoyable things I watched last year

Sold on seeing Hundreds of Beavers. 

18 hours ago, J.H. said:

Saturday Night - I've stuck through Saturday Night Live since I was kid sneaking into the kitchen to watch it on our black and white portable TV. Now by "portable" I mean it was about the size of a small suitcase.

Turning the very first episode, into a chaotic drama seems rather apt. I appreciate Gabriel LaBelle playing Lorne Michael's, it could've been someone just doing a Lorne Michael's impersonation but it isn't. LaBelle's Lorne is a bundle of nerves, which only gets over the vibe of the whole movie. It's tense, nerve wracking and makes the viewer those things in turn.

It carries over to the other cast members. I think the only person in this cast who feels like an impersonation is Matt Wood's John Belushi but it is hard to make Belushi original because he was such a force of pure anarchy.

I dug Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris. His story is to ask "Why am I here? I'm not a comedian. Why the fuck am I here?". His exasperation at trying to find what his purpose is beyond being the token black guy. If you know anything about Garrett Morris, he was a damn renaissance man.

So this movie is crackling with energy and given its trying to get over how SNL is, itself, the most chaotic show on TV it only makes sense this movie feels like anything could go wrong. 

It's manic. It's chaos. It controlled anarchy. Most importantly, it's a movie that is never dull. Thankfully, it's a good movie that engaged me entirely.

James

I didn't really like this movie as a whole, but I like this review. 

[HarryArchieGus]

12 hours ago, Andrew POE! said:

Flight Risk (saw in the theaters) - 0.5/5 star

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Flight Risk is a comedy. If you attempt to watch it as a serious drama or as a thriller, you will be disappointed. The movie starts with Topher Grace (Winston) heating up ramen in a microwave and stares drolly into the camera while looking at the microwave. You can't help but to laugh.

US marshals come busting in lead by Michelle Dockery as Madolyn and put him in handcuffs and put him on the bed. He complains about the blanket being scratchy. He has to go to the bathroom. "Could I get some privacy?" "No." "Well, you'll have to do some paperwork." "I got a special assignment for you two." Title card.

This is a comedy where everyone talks in the driest manner possible. It's almost bordering on an Aki Kaurismaki film except.....this is not supposed to be funny. This is supposed to be absolutely serious and a thriller. This is not the Mel Gibson that directed Passion of the Christ, Hacksaw Ridge, Apocalypto, and Braveheart and knew how to make a compelling story with the movies he made. This is the Mel Gibson that ate dog biscuits and called a police officer "sugar t***" during a DUI arrest. He is absolutely unhinged. He lost his mind if he thought this movie should have been released.

One scene that made me bust out laughing was when the plane was about to hit the mountain and there's quick cuts between Madolyn, Winston and "Daryl Booth" (Mark Wahlberg). A serious movie doesn't do that. Only in a comedy does that happen.

When the plane finally lands, Mark Wahlberg gets run over and....it's hilarious (it's not supposed to be but it is). The EMTs arrive to check on Winston. "One of the people on the plane didn't make it," says an EMT. "Thank God," says Madolyn. (EMT taken aback). Then Madolyn meets the guy on the radio that was sexually harassing her - I mean flirting with her (time and place, pal, she's in a plane that's about to crash, read the room a bit). But nope, Madolyn doesn't raise a stink and just accepts it.

Then we see an EMT on a phone looking at Madolyn sinisterly before going into the ambulance. Oh no! He's going to kill Winston too! Madolyn bursts in and kills the guy while the US marshal director tells him he'll be sent back to Bulgaria. Again, this is supposed to be serious but I was laughing at how the scene played out. I imagine once they left and are riding in the ambulance and go to a McDonald's, the cashier gives Winston the stink eye and is about to pull out a gun. Madolyn will kill him too! (That's probably in Flight Risk 2).

The ending literally had Hasan (Maaz Ali/Monib Abhat), firefighters and EMTs stare at Madolyn and Winston in the ambulance while Winston nestles his head against Madolyn. I was again laughing.

If you watch the movie as a comedy, this is a 5 star classic. If you watch it as a serious drama or expecting it to be a functional movie, 1/2 star. If this is what Mel Gibson wants Hollywood to be and to get rid of the 'woke' agenda, we're in serious trouble.

Haha, yeah, the basic titled action thriller of the year. Affleck, Denzel, Will Smith, eat your heart out! The words 'Flight Risk' together under the umbrella of a Mel Gibson joint provides me with a great deal of amusement. I'm gonna watch the trailer so I get an even better visual of your review here.

[J.H.]

And just think, this is one of 2 Mel Gibson action movies we're getting this year!

Could Lethal Weapon 5 be worse?

James

[Andrew POE!]

38 minutes ago, HarryArchieGus said:

Haha, yeah, the basic titled action thriller of the year. Affleck, Denzel, Will Smith, eat your heart out! The words 'Flight Risk' together under the umbrella of a Mel Gibson joint provides me with a great deal of amusement. I'm gonna watch the trailer so I get an even better visual of your review here.

The trailer completely makes the movie look completely serious even with Marky Mark's terrible Southern accent.

Spoiler

It's revealed in the movie that it's a front and Wahlberg switches back to his "Your Cousin From Boston" accent

I was trying to get people to NOT see Flight Risk. I failed.

Edited January 29 by Andrew POE!

[Dolfan in NYC]

 

*Cat Hissing Noises*

[Curt McGirt]

I still haven't seen that, which is pretty egregious for how much I like the director. 

[Contentious C]

Eh, it's fairly skippable. On the other hand, Gong Li hasn't done many American films and almost makes it worth the time.

Edited January 29 by Contentious C

[caley]

I Saw the TV Glow: I tried to watch this once and couldn't get into it, gave it another chance because people loved it so much. I can't say I completely get it, or even really love it, but I do have to give it credit for being so thoroughly single-minded confident in its singular vision. Two teens bond over a youth-oriented TV show only for one of them to disappear. And then thing get REALLY out there. Quite beautiful and eerie and sometimes downright disturbing. So I LIKED it but not completely in love with it. I may watch t one more time as it's fairly short.

Dirty Dingus Magee: I HATED this. I know it's the 70s and I'm fairly forgiving about blatant racism in other eras (I LOVE 'Holiday Inn' and as bad as the blackface is, the discussion on the blu-ray where a critic say, "You can't really FORGIVE the blackface because it should have always been bad, but Bing likely saw it as a tribute to minstrel shows which Crosby always raved about and not an attempt to make fun") but I could not get past Magee's love interest being a Native American, played by a white girl in a miniskirt whom repeatedly said "Din-GOOSE,  we make bam bam now?" Anyways, it's one of those wacky old Westerns with repeated double-crosses and sex jokes and I friggin' detested it.

Woman on the Run: This was another one I got 30ish minutes into and got bored and turned off, then gave it another shot when it turned up on TCM Noir Alley. And, actually, it's pretty great. Ann Sheridan plays a woman whose husband witnesses a murder and goes on the lam, and she's aided in trying to track him down by a reporter (Dennis O'Keefe). The duo trade some barbs, get into various mishaps while trying to stay ahead of the police and the murderer. There's some questionable plot points, but the last series set in the carnival with a roller coaster ride from hell is pretty great. 

Kill the irishman: I liked this, especially Ray Stevenson's performance, but I think it could've been better (I'd like to read the book!). Stevenson plays an irishman (but not THE Irishman!) who rises up from the docks to become a major figure in the Cleveland organized crime scene. I felt there were too many characters gven major importance who disappear offscreen for long periods then suddenly reappear (Usually to get killed and give the movie more...weight?). It's funny cuz when Stevenson and Linda Cardellini first get together, I went "There is WAY too big of an age gap here and it's throwing me off" and then I looked it up and they're only about 10ish years apart and that's a tribute to Stevenson looking way older than his age and Cardellini looking way younger than her age!

The Marvels: I read a review of this that said the first 45 minutes or so is basically people explaining things to each other without ever really explaining anything which is pretty spot-on, really. I did greatly enjoy the half-assed explanation for folks who haven't watched the Marvel TV shows about how Maria/Monica Rambeau (I can't remember which Rambeau is which) got her powers "I walked through a witch's hex." It's right up there with Halloween 3 when the big bad is talking about how they stole a one of the Stonehenge stones and explain it by saying "I can't even begin to explain how difficult it was to get it here!" and that's the end of the explanation. Anyways, it was short, it looked cheap (One sequence where Captain Marvel flies into the back of flying ship does not in any way, shape or form looks like anything other than an old video game), the big bad was mediocre. 

[Curt McGirt]

The book of Kill the Irishman is better, yeah. I wasn't much a fan of the movie even though I love gangster crud more than most. It just makes Stevenson out to be too nice a guy, almost some kind of hero for defending himself when he's on A STRING OF PUBLIC BOMBINGS. He wasn't no good Union man, he was a corrupt motherfucker involved with the mob. 

Also, for a tale of public bombings, read up the way wilder stuff that went on in Philly and up in Montreal involving the Hell's Angels. Those stories make the Irishman tale look pretty small in comparison. 

Edited January 29 by Curt McGirt