Recently watched movies 2025

[nwhoopfan]

Almost posted in the 2024 thread, let's kick off a new thread for a new year.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"The Fallout" (2021) on Max. Saw a trailer for it a while ago but finally got a chance to watch it. About a school shooting and the aftermath. Stars Jenna Ortega and Maddie Ziegler. Tough watch as expected. Good performances. This was the directing debut (full length movie anyway) for Megan Park. I saw her second film previously. I liked her as an actress, I think she's off to a good start as a director as well. Shailene Woodley appears briefly in 2 scenes as a therapist. Sometimes cameos seem like kind of a throwaway, but other times like in this case a talented actor can really make that short amount of screen time matter.

This movie featured 2 songs with Maisy Stella, who would go on to be the star of Park's next movie. Which also featured Ziegler in a small role.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Monster Hunter. Milla Jovovich is Army Ranger Captain Natalie Artemis. Tony Jaa is a lot of fun as the Hunter. Artemis and her squad are caught in a strange lightning storm while investigating what happened to a lost squad. They are transported to a different world where there are Monsters. Jaa is a local Hunter who helps her (they battled a bit first). Is this silly? Yeah. Is it fairly well made by Jovovich's husband Paul Anderson, yes. It's a classic Saturday Matinee movie, good fun. Also, holy hell does she have some gorgeous eyes.

The only complaint about this film is the ending. Perhaps they will make the sequel now that it's a streaming hit after flopping at the box office.

 

[Dove]

"Lost Boys" (1987) - Saw this movie tonight. Still a great watch.

 

[dvegas]

Boneyard (2024) ⭐ 4.1 | Action, Crime, Drama​

1h 36m | R

m.imdb.com

After Police Chief Carter (Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson) discovers the remains of eleven women, FBI Special Agent Petrovick (Mel Gibson) is recruited to profile the serial killer responsible for the infamous "boneyard" killings. As the police force, narcotics agency, and FBI lock horns, a tangled web of intrigue turns everyone into a suspect.

 

[Stagnant]

The Fallout is a good movie.

I watched Nosferatu and A Complete Unknown over the Christmas break. I liked them both. I am trying to watch some of the academy awards contenders before the awards get announced.

 

[CL82]

Curtis Jackson stars as Tom Emery in this loose interpretation of the trials and tribulations of the formation and administration of The Boneyard, America's best college basketball fan forum. Mel Gibson proves that at this point in his career, he'll take any role co-starring as "Fishy", The Boneyard's unpredictable snarky throat punching moderator, pretty much reprising his lethal weapon character. While Brian Van Holt turns in an intriguing supporting performance as... um... business lawyer, I guess, because he's wearing a tie. The writers took some considerable liberty here, but it's watchable I guess, if there's nothing else on.

 

[Deepster]

Just watched Gladiator 2.

Uhhh. Isn’t it the same exact movie as the first one??

 

[Palatine]

The Creator. Huge movie on a large canvas. Not a good movie but impressive movie making. Very good CG. Lots of plot holes and things that just didn't make any sense. You never really care about anyone. It's bad food in large portions.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Nosferatu. Big screen. Lilly Rose Depp as Emily Hutter, Nick Hoult is her husband Thomas, Bill Skarsgard is Count Orloff (the vampire), Willem DeFoe a professor (kind of a Van Helsing role, Aaron Taylor Johnson and Emma Corrin are the Hardings, friends of the Hutters. Emily has some weird dream like experience as a young girl, waking Orloff. Later she is beset by visions, seizures, sleepwalking etc. Her husband is sent to Romania where he encounters Orloff. He deduces that Orloff is trying to get back to Emily in Germany. Anything more is spoilers.

So, is it good? Yes and no. It's long. It's dark. It's beautifully filmed in a classic style. Going back to my HS lit class, it relies very heavily on the common theme of the day that female sexuality and sexual awakening are essentially a gateway to evil, it invites it in. The question then is what are the results of that and what can the woman (Emily in this case) do about it. Well that's the premise really. It's not fun, but it accomplishes its goals.

 

[CL82]

Bloodshot (2020) - I have to say I wasn't expecting much since I hasn't seen any favorable press on it, but this was a solid movie. Basically everything you want from a Vin Diesel movie. The best way I can describe it would be if you made a mashup between Universal Soldier and Total Recall, adding in just a splash of The Matrix and Terminator 2, this would be that movie. It's pretty satisfying as an action movie.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Bloodshot (2020) - I have to say I wasn't expecting much since I hasn't seen any favorable press on it, but this was a solid movie. Basically everything you want from a Vin Diesel movie. The best way I can describe it would be if you made a mashup between Universal Soldier and Total Recall, adding in just a splash of The Matrix and Terminator 2, this would be that movie. It's pretty satisfying as an action movie.

Yeah, I enjoyed this one. Didn't seem to get much traction, not sure why. In addition to Diesel, some good supporting actors like Eiza Gonzalez, Guy Pearce and Lamorne Morris. And a brief appearance by the lovely Talulah Riley.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Been watching a lot of Asian movies recently, got some great recommendations so going through them.

Brief likes/dislikes:

Really liked Fallen Angels.
Liked Chungking Express, but seemed like a messier version of Fallen Angels.

The Farewell was really good. Not fully Asian but takes place there mostly. Great message in it.

Minari was good, kinda same deal as The Farewell but takes place in the US. Both A24 movies.

Oldboy was OUTSTANDING. Gonna rewatch soon.

Decision to Leave and Memories of Murder are next on my list.

 

[Waquoit]

The Korean Oldboy I hope.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

The Korean Oldboy I hope.

Of course

 

[Waquoit]

Of course

That movie is...something.

 

[Jay-Bone]

Been watching a lot of Asian movies recently, got some great recommendations so going through them.

Brief likes/dislikes:

Really liked Fallen Angels.
Liked Chungking Express, but seemed like a messier version of Fallen Angels.

The Farewell was really good. Not fully Asian but takes place there mostly. Great message in it.

Minari was good, kinda same deal as The Farewell but takes place in the US. Both A24 movies.

Oldboy was OUTSTANDING. Gonna rewatch soon.

Decision to Leave and Memories of Murder are next on my list.

I liked the Chaser and A Bittersweet Life. Rewatched MOM not too long ago and was further dumbfounded by how pitiful detective work was there.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Borderlands. Based on the video game. Campy Saturday matinee popcorn movie. Good cast. Kate Blanchett seems to have fun playing a bounty hunter/heroine type. Kevin Hart. Jack Black as Claptrap the robot. Jamie Lee Curtis. Doesn’t take itself seriously, is pretty funny at times and so just lands in the dumb fun movie category.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"American Star" is new on Hulu, had not heard anything about it previously, not sure if it was a theatrical release. Slow paced, not much happens until the end, but I found it intriguing enough. I've seen Ian McShane in plenty of movies, but I don't think ever as the lead. He more than carried it off. He's a hit man, a job takes him to Fuertaventura, part of the Canary Islands. He arrives there before his target, so has some time on his hands. He is taken with a local woman, played by Nora Arnezeder. Also forms a bond with a young boy staying a couple rooms down from him in a hotel.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The Wild Robot. Animated. Robot mistakenly ends up in a forest, doesn't understand animals vs people. It is programmed to be a helper and has to learn to communicate with the animals. Ultimately goes outside its programming to help one in particular. It's a nice story, enjoyable family fair. It gets a bit silly as many animals deny their nature to get along (this would mean many starve but harsh realities aren't part of the story here).

 

[DRBackup]

Yeah, I enjoyed this one. Didn't seem to get much traction, not sure why. In addition to Diesel, some good supporting actors like Eiza Gonzalez, Guy Pearce and Lamorne Morris. And a brief appearance by the lovely Talulah Riley.

I'd wager the release date of 3/13/2020 at the absolute peak of the initial Covid freakout had something to do with it. I find that with streaming dominating over ad driven cable, that the visibility / hype for upcoming movies has been very hit or miss. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was a pretty big budget, major release that I literally heard nothing about until I stumbled on it long after it was released on streaming. Great movie, great production values, big names, and I had not heard a single peep about it.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I've found a couple movies on Amazon Prime recently from the early 90s that I was completely unaware of previously, which I enjoyed quite a bit. This one is called "That Night" with Juliette Lewis and C. Thomas Howell, and the debuts of both Eliza Dushku and Katherine Heigl. I didn't realize either of them started acting that young. It's set on Long Island in the early 60s. Eliza is the narrator. She's a misfit with the other kids in her neighborhood. She idolizes Juliette, an older girl who lives across the street from her. She gets swept up in various things she's a little too young to quite understand, but she's a sweet and earnest kid. I'm not really a big fan of Juliette, but she surprised me in this one. She's at the center of the story, she has a star crossed romance with a slightly older guy from the wrong side of town. Well worth a watch I thought.

 

[Deepster]

Netflix documentary - Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever

https://www.netflix.com/title/81757532

The story of Bryan Johnson. He bought Venmo as a start up and sold it to Paypal for 800m. Now, he's using his wealth to reverse aging and push the limits of how long he can live. Crazy and weird and interesting the lengths he goes to in this doc. His biometric markers are supposedly the "best in the world" and he's 99.9th percentile in body fat and muscle. He's 45 and has the genetic equivalents of an 18 year old and in the last 2 years has reversed his aging by 28% (most of us age at 1.03 and he's at .72).

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Rest In Peace to a true legend in David Lynch. Very sad. Made some incredible, expressive and unique films, not everyone’s cup of tea, but definitely a visionary at the least.

Weird timing, just watched Lucky (Harry Dean Stanton) last night, and Lynch was it it. Rip.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Rest In Peace to a true legend in David Lynch. Very sad. Made some incredible, expressive and unique films, not everyone’s cup of tea, but definitely a visionary at the least.

Weird timing, just watched Lucky (Harry Dean Stanton) last night, and Lynch was it it. Rip.

One of the most unique guys in the industry. Twin Peaks on TV too, really groundbreaking stuff. In a lot of ways I think Lynch paved the way for guys like Tim Burton and Wes Anderson and to be "weird". RIP.