What movies have you seen lately? Now with reviews!Movies

[05XR8]

Watched Tron Aries. My wife found it okay. I didn't.
To me, the first two movies are more serious in showing how high the stakes are.

 

[Sprite]

View attachment 1503871

Watched Heat last night. Well, what can I say? I‘ve seen this movie many times before and it was just as good as always. A timeless masterpiece and certainly in my Top 10 favorite movies ever!

It’s pure class and top cinema. I know they want to make prequel/sequel I’m just not sure how it will go as I’ve not read the book.

 

[Imbissbrunto]

It’s pure class and top cinema. I know they want to make prequel/sequel I’m just not sure how it will go as I’ve not read the book.

Tbh I‘m always a bit skeptical when it comes to prequels/sequels with masterpieces like Heat. Likely none of them will be as good as the original movie.

 

[Sprite]

Tbh I‘m always a bit skeptical when it comes to prequels/sequels with masterpieces like Heat. Likely none of them will be as good as the original movie.

I’m going to pick the book up at the end of the week. See what all the fuss is about. It’s supposed to be good, just hope it translates to the screen.

 

[Imbissbrunto]

I’m going to pick the book up at the end of the week. See what all the fuss is about. It’s supposed to be good, just hope it translates to the screen.

Me too. I‘m just glad that the movie will be directed by Michael Mann as well so it‘ll probably be similar to the original.

 

[TheCracker]

Me too. I‘m just glad that the movie will be directed by Michael Mann as well so it‘ll probably be similar to the original.

The original film, and the earlier version of it, LA Takedown, was written by as well as directed by Michael Mann - based losely on a true story, although set 30ish years later. I don't think there's any reason to believe a prequel/sequel won't be just as good IMO.

 

[Dave A]

Heat 2 has a hell of a cast attached to it. I understand reservations, but I hopefully optomistic with the people involved.

 

[TB]

@AnthonyD1993 made me.

7/10, will not watch again.

 

[Sprite]

Well the wife and I watched a film I’ve wanted to watch since its release.

I Swear

Based on the true story of John Davidson who has Tourette Syndrome.

Its focus is more on his formative years and finally touching on his work to help other sufferers which ultimately earned him an MBE.

It’s a very British Film and while has humour, those parts are more around laughing at the situation and not laughing at the main character. This along with all the poor treatment from the public really leads to some touching and quite sad moments.

The film isn’t going to be for everyone but we really enjoyed it. 8/10 from us.

 

[MetalApe]

That’s pretty much it, due to the world ending for them when Jimmy was alive and the like, they’ve misled their look on him which coupled with some weird Bruce Lee / Martial arts moves etc, it’s just funny.

I've seen "28 Years Later: Bone Temple" now, and it's magnificent. It works where it's predecessors failed, they all had too much unbelievable crap in both the main plot points, and character behaviour.

Somehow Bone Temple gets this right, I can believe the Jimmy's as something that could happen in a world were kids grow up outside of any form of civilised society. The Savages are a far more believable form of 'Zombie' than the OTT hyperactive infected, or traditional undead zombies. It's this believability that it makes it seem far more gruesome and unsettling than some of the previous films OTT splatter action.

Ralph Fienne's character is a great case of a humane genius gone a bit bonkers in a nice and funny way. Not to mention the best use of Heavy Metal in a film ever!

 

[Sprite]

I've seen "28 Years Later: Bone Temple" now, and it's magnificent. It works where it's predecessors failed, they all had too much unbelievable crap in both the main plot points, and character behaviour.

Somehow Bone Temple gets this right, I can believe the Jimmy's as something that could happen in a world were kids grow up outside of any form of civilised society. The Savages are a far more believable form of 'Zombie' than the OTT hyperactive infected, or traditional undead zombies. It's this believability that it makes it seem far more gruesome and unsettling than some of the previous films OTT splatter action.

Ralph Fienne's character is a great case of a humane genius gone a bit bonkers in a nice and funny way. Not to mention the best use of Heavy Metal in a film ever!

From the Kermode and Mayo review the third film is about redemption. I’ve yet to watch Bone Temple.

 

[Nacho Libre]

Yesterday I watched The Holdovers (on Amazon Prime). I kind of expected a movie in the vein of Dead Poets Society, but it's really not. Instead, we get into the lives of three people that indeed are literal holdovers and in need of moving on. But first, they have to endure the winter and each other at a prestigious boarding school during the holiday recess.

I enjoyed the acting of Paul Giamatti (cantankerous professor), Dominic Sessa (problematic student, of course), and Da'Vine Joy Randolph (grieving mother and head cook of the school), and while indeed there are tropes here and there about teachers and students and lonely people, the way the story unfolds and the ending are quite satisfactory.

And the movie looks and feels like it was filmed in the 70's, when the story is framed, including the old Universal logo and very grainy film stock. 9/10 for me.

 

[05XR8]

Predator Badlands was actually entertaining. I liked the background of the main characters.

Had a bit of A-Team and McGyver moments, but cool finish to the movie.

 

[Nacho Libre]

So, today somebody posted the entire Steve McQueen Le Mans movie (1971) on YouTube and since it is considered by many to be the "greatest racing movie" I decided to check it out.

Well, in this year of our Lord 2026, it is very overrated IMO, but I get that for the racing fanatics at the time it was the finest representation of the sport anywhere outside attending the race itself. The racing footage is generally excellent and the driving in the rain and the staged incidents and crashes stand out, but the night portion of it is disappointing (due to technical limitations more than anything, I guess). The last 30 minutes are absolutely thrilling, I admit.

But after that there really isn't much movie to talk about. Other than the race itself, there is no major plot or character development. There are some inane and underdeveloped subplots, like the underlying Ferrari-Porsche rivalry (with one of the most lifeless racing directors you will ever encounter), the driver who confesses to his wife that he may call it quits afterwards (I'm surprised he survived, usually that foreshadows doom, see Grand Prix), and the moping main female "character" that is implied to be a racer's widow and is just hanging at Le Mans one year after the fact (why?), and the sparse dialogue is cringy and dull, and delivered with the enthusiasm best reserved for a wake. And the music, let's just not touch that subject.

There was a time when saying that X movie was the best videogame adaptation didn't meant much, because in general they were terrible. So, this may have been the best of the genre (for the racing action alone) when the pool sample was smaller. But videogame movies did improve over time, and so did the racing movies.

5/10 on technical merits alone.

 

[Nacho Libre]

So, yesterday I finally watched Michael Mann's 2023 Ferrari, and it's so much better as a movie than the quasi-documentary Le Mans (that lacks context, real drama, feelings and characterization). Anyways, top performances by Penelope Cruz and Adam Driver, superb technical production (that sound, wow), great Ferrari and Maserati duels, and that scene... Accidents and death are a given in a racing movie because they are ever present, especially in the era depicted, but that carnage near the end, even if it was repeatedly foreshadowed during the movie, still gets you hard. And to think that has always been the cost of progress...

9/10. Minus 1 point because you have Sergio Scaglietti as a character and there wasn't enough of him and his contributions.

 

[05XR8]

Just watched Mission Impossible Final Reckoning. I enjoyed the earlier films and some of the ones in the middle and not too fond of the final movies. This one, so dramatic from the start. In my opinion, the movie should be fast forwarded to 2 hours and 29 minutes.
If anyone have watched the Mission Impossible series, you’ll understand where I’m coming from. Everything before that 2 hours and 29 minutes can be sorted out after watching from this point to the end.

I’ve got no score. The first movie is still the best for me and stands on its own.

 

[Touring Mars]

One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2025)

I watched this over 2 nights, and loved it. It actually won the Best Film BAFTA award while I was watching it last night, and PTA also won Best Director. Leonardo Di Caprio is, as always, absolutely brilliant - though he didn't pick up the BAFTA award for Leading Actor.

I doubt this film has anywhere near the rewatch value as many of my favourites, as by it's very nature, it's a thriller with some pretty one-off reveal moments, but it is a very enjoyable movie which I will no doubt watch a few times. Some of the characters in the movie are thoroughly dislikable, particularly Sean Penn's character - Penn is brilliant, however, and I think he'd deserve the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Stylistically, it is up there with one of my favourite movies by PTA, 'Boogie Nights' - some brilliantly darkly comic moments, great characterisation, and a superb and evocative soundtrack.

 

[Nacho Libre]

Over the weekend I rewatched two favorite, comfort films: School of Rock, a 9/10, no descriptions needed, it's School of Rock; and Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves.

Of the latter I noticed many details after all this time, like all the actors probably having the time of their lives with lots of improv moments and lines that were kept in the film, and references to both the Errol Flynn and Disney films. This is the movie that introduced me to Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Alan Rickman. Also, how many films can claim to have one legendary shot in it? This has three by my account: Arrow flying POV (early use of CGI), Robin licking the feathers and shooting, and Robin firing with the background set on fire. Add that famous cameo at the end, the rousing Michael Kamen score and that famous pop song about doing things for the one you love, and this was 90's film perfection. 9/10.

 

[Northstar]

No idea how a Coen Brothers/Sam Raimi movie with Tim Robbins and Paul Newman escaped me so long but I'm happy to finally stumble across it. Pretty good, very 90's, comedy.

 

[Sum1s2pid]

Caught up on some sequels I skipped in theaters.

D

Every character is stupid, and not enough of them die.

C+/B-

I found myself enjoying chunks of it, and got some solid chuckles. Movie lends itself better to PG-13 action violence than bloodless horror.

C+/B- Movie was OK. I even liked some of it. Teases a bit of the Yautja culture, but I would have liked more. Not sure if I want a Dek sequel or a different Predator story.

 

[Com Fox]

Just saw the movie, GOAT.

The name sake feels like false advertising, the goat main character (Will) doesn't feel like the main character, his character arc just ends once he's on the team and barely has a proactive role in the story and his rivalry with the antagonist just doesn't happen anymore until the final closing moments reminding me that it was a thing. The panther character (Jett) feels much more like the main character of the movie and the one that ultimately learns, develops and makes the important decisions in the story, it's a good character arc but it's just weirdly focused. The movie comes across more as Jett's movie only just told from Will's perspective.

Modo is the biggest industry plant character I think I ever seen in a Kids movie, to put in perspective, I'm very lenient and even a high supporter of comic relief characters. Mr. Piranha is great in Bad Guys 1, Perritto is the best character in Puss in Boots 2, outside movies Clay is the best character in Wings of Fire. My problem with Modo is there's nothing to him being constantly in your face and random other than he is in your face and random and his running gag is just an outdated meme that serves no purpose other than to remind you of said outdated meme and then all the background characters singing ridiculous high praise. For a Sony movie which are notorious for product placement, Modo felt way more like an advertisement then all the Mercedes cars that kept showing up.

That weird aspect and minor rant aside, its a pretty decent run of the mill sports movie with fun character interactions that doesn't make much stand out as great but enough to be enjoyed. The game courts feeling like the come straight of a Mario Sport's Title is also quite cool. Would recommend if you need something to watch for the sake of it.

 

[Sum1s2pid]

C+/B-

A simple training mission turns into Predator with a Metal Gear Rex, and ends up feeling like a backdoor prequel/sequel/spinoff to Battle: Los Angeles. It's aight. Things get blowed up real good, there's a decent helping of gore, and Alan Ritchson gets to deliver some horrible one-liners as nameless action man. Not a bad way to spend 107 minutes.

 

[Nacho Libre]

Yesterday I watched Mars Express (Prime Video), a French sci-fi animation movie that starts as a missing person case and ends up in a complete robotic upheaval. It was quite entertaining and my rating is 8/10.

 

[TB]

nameless action man

His name was Robert Paulson Eighty-one.

I have about 20 minutes left. Figured I better get something accomplished today, though.

 

[Nacho Libre]

One advantage of my Prime Video subscription is finding rare gems (Judgement at Nuremberg, for example), and obscure movies everyone has forgot, like Needful Things.

Do you remember that Hollywood in the late eighties/through the nineties had a fixation with the occult? Witches of Eastwick, Beetlejuice, the Coven, Practical Magic, Hocus Pocus, Angel Heart, etc? Like they were trying to normalize that stuff... anyways, when I was younger, I NEVER heard of Needful Things.

So, I learned it's an adaptation of a Stephen King book and has a great cast in paper: Max Von Sydow, Ed Harries, Bonnie Bedelia, Amanda Plummer... and the plot is basically that the Devil goes to a small town to wreak havoc.

But... the execution was terrible in general, so the movie isn't compelling, nor frightening, is overacted/underacted and completely forgettable, 2/10 and that's just for the casting director, this was not on him/her.

 

[Nacho Libre]

So, yesterday I watched The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (on Netflix). Now, I'm a fan of the franchise and I've read the original trilogy books, but I wasn't really asking for a prequel dealing with the early years of President Snow, memorably played by Donald Sutherland (RIP).

In the end I was entertained and surprised by the 3-arc story and by Rachel Zegler's acting and singing (there's a lot of singing) and the early games as depicted here were more brutal. And I'm OK that Tom Blyth never even tried to copy a young Donald Sutherland (nobody can) and instead did his thing.

But ultimately, I don't think this is as rewatchable as the other movies, so 7/10. It's well-made, but a bit overlong and the story is not fully resolved: I know now that the fate of Lucy Baird Grey is ambiguous in the book too, but here is too abrupt of an exit, and emotionally not quite satisfying.

 

[Nacho Libre]

I unearthed another gem from the MGM catalog in Amazon Prime: Run Silent, Run Deep, a tense and lean submarine movie with Clark Gable/Burt Lancaster butting heads and wills as captain and XO. If that plot sounds familiar is because Crimson Tide is heavily inspired by it, just with nuclear/doctrine stakes instead of personal ones.

At 90 minutes it has the perfect length to set up the plot and characters, and you can see how well executed the film is on the technical side (with the US Navy advice) even if the special effects have aged, which is to be expected. That being said, apparently there were only 2 explosion sounds available at the time for all movies: loud and louder, and you have heard them, and here they are used ad nauseam, so it gets tiresome.

It even has Don Rickles in his first role on film, and he gets to wisecrack here and there, so you know he's the "funny" guy in the crew, and there's even an unexpectedly dark subplot that does pay off. Gable and Lancaster are perfect here as men of honor repressing what's really on their minds in service of their mission, boat, and crew, with the latter having more nuances. 9/10.

 

[05XR8]

Just watched this.

Easy watch on the young guy running from gangsters/bad guys/gub’ment genre. I feel Patrick Dempsey’s story in Run is still the benchmark for these type of films.

Watching this now.

 

[Sprite]

We watched Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die

Surprisingly good, Sam Rockwell is fantastic as a crazy time traveler and it has strong Gilliam vibes going on.

Style and substance are well balanced too. Although the underlying message about social media & AI seems a little pushed and contrived at times.

8/10

 

[05XR8]

Very corny. So weird to see Chris Evans stuck in the Johnny Storm acting a year before his Cap debut. All and I mean all characters were all over the place with no feeling.

No score.