Recently watched movies 2025

[Palatine]

George was not menacing and was vain. And his character here was not comedic and a total slob. Satisfied?

Seemed right in his wheel house to me. But I'm ready to move on.

 

[DRBackup]

I must be losing my mind. How did these movies get nominated for Best Picture? "The Substance," nope. I'm most of the way thru "Anora" that won everything...nope. It's an R rated version of "Pretty Woman" w/ Russians and Armenians and lots of yelling and cussing, borderline pron. Best Picture? You have to be kidding. Hollywood is crazy.

There was some parts that were decent - they actually sucked me in for a half hour or so during the slow mo chase portion of the movie. But the lead actor with the russian accent and always switching from Russian to English was awful. One of the worst characters in a movie, ever.

I see the Oscar appreciation of it as a nod to the "sex worker as persecuted class" kind of thing.

 

[CL82]

The thing I couldn't get out of my head the whole time was thinking her character had been watching way too much "Jersey Shore." Maybe there are people who are really like that IRL. I find it hard to believe. So utterly classless, so tacky, yet either defiantly proud of such qualities or completely lacking self awareness so they don't even know they have such qualities.

Not particularly. For what it's worth, the original original jersey shore cast were from Staten Island.

 

[ZooCougar]

I’ll be watching a Val Kilmer movie tonight.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I’ll be watching a Val Kilmer movie tonight.

Same. That is the plan. Wife suggested Tombstone, but I'm kind of in the mood for Real Genius, Heat or The Saint.

 

[nomar]

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.

Have you seen Past Lives or Decision to Leave? Both good

Some recent watches:

*Anora - I liked it quite a bit even if it's not Lawrence of Arabia

*A Real Pain - Worth a watch if only to see Culkin's acting performance (Eisenberg's no slouch, either)

*The Count of Monte Cristo (French 2024 film) - This may be my favorite novel, and this is a pretty good version (there's also a European miniseries that recently came out, but it's not available in the US yet)

*Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary - Do you like Steely Dan? If so, you will enjoy it

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Have you seen Past Lives or Decision to Leave? Both good

Some recent watches:

*Anora - I liked it quite a bit even if it's not Lawrence of Arabia

*A Real Pain - Worth a watch if only to see Culkin's acting performance (Eisenberg's no slouch, either)

*The Count of Monte Cristo (French 2024 film) - This may be my favorite novel, and this is a pretty good version (there's also a European miniseries that recently came out, but it's not available in the US yet)

*Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary - Do you like Steely Dan? If so, you will enjoy it

Past Lives was my favorite movie of 2023, one of my favorites of the 2020’s as well. Not many movies portray loss/reconnection ao realistically.

I actually watched Decision to Leave a few months ago. Another great movie. Really cool mystery with so much symbolism and hidden messages. Park Chan Wook is a mastermind. Some people I know didn’t love it because it was hard to grasp at points, but I thought it was beautiful with a really great ending as well.

 

[nomar]

Anora is wildly overrated. My biggest issue with the movie is that Mikey Madison is so unlikable as Anora that she comes off like she is running a scam on Ivan. There is no subtlety in her performance, and I have a hard time understanding why Ivan even falls for her. Why did she win best actress? The movie honestly would have been more interesting if it turns out she was running a scam on Ivan. Mark Eydelshteyn's Ivan is the only interesting character in the entire movie, playing an emotionally stunted oligarch's son. Igor has a little depth, and the rest of the Zakharov family and entourage are stereotypes.

The movie tries to say something about class and love, but there is way too much filler and a lot of random events that do not make sense and do not provide character development. It also feels like a lot of the first half of the movie consists of montages.

Spoiler

The search for Ivan was ridiculous. First, the scene was about 20 minutes too long. We didn't need a long, drawn out fetch quest scene that doesn't have much of anything to do with the core plot. It also makes the whole movie jump the shark. In a movie trying to be gritty and realistic, about 20 different people would have called the cops if a crew looking like that showed up in a dozen different places acting nuts, physically and verbally abusing everyone they come in contact with, while looking for a rich kid. And why didn't she run at any of 10 different points? How did she know they would not just kill her once they found Ivan? Why didn't she tell the judge that she was being held against her will? And a street smart girl would never get on a plane with that crew.

Why does the movie switch gears with 30 minutes left and try to develop a relationship between Anora and Igor?

The final scene of the movie doesn't make sense. It is clear that Igor is falling for her, she recognizes it, and abuses him anyway for the last 20 minutes which he deserves. I don't get the point of that, but fine. Then, at the very end, she tries to manipulate him with sex, completely initiating it, but then breaks down sobbing when he tries to kiss her. That scene feels gratuitous, and I can not figure out what it is trying to say about either character.

It is a big plot problem when everyone starts doing random things that don't make sense, because then nothing anyone does matters.

I interpreted that final scene differently than you. She's not manipulating him at all. There's no motivation to manipulate him. He can give her nothing. I'm going to be vague here, even with the spoiler filter.

What happens, in my view, is that she finally recognizes that he was the best of the (bad) bunch and as a way of thanking him for returning the "R" to her, she offers the only thing she has to offer. She only then realizes (I don't know why you think she's recognized it previously -- she's had blinders on) that he has feelings for her and that perhaps she feels something for him too, and the entirety of what's gone on over the last few days and what she's doing with this man all catches up to her at the same time. It's a wonderful scene, with great acting from the two.

In general, I think people are caught up in the sex and madcap comedy (which was funny), and are having trouble grasping that the presence of those elements doesn't mean the film isn't good or serious. Everybody's entitled to their opinion, but count me out of the "akshully, the Oscar winning movie sucks" camp. I'm in the backlash-against-the-backlash camp.

 

[ZooCougar]

Same. That is the plan. Wife suggested Tombstone, but I'm kind of in the mood for Real Genius, Heat or The Saint.

I might go with something light like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I interpreted that final scene differently than you. She's not manipulating him at all. There's no motivation to manipulate him. He can give her nothing. I'm going to be vague here, even with the spoiler filter.

What happens, in my view, is that she finally recognizes that he was the best of the (bad) bunch and as a way of thanking him for returning the "R" to her, she offers the only thing she has to offer. She only then realizes (I don't know why you think she's recognized it previously -- she's had blinders on) that he has feelings for her and that perhaps she feels something for him too, and the entirety of what's gone on over the last few days and what she's doing with this man all catches up to her at the same time. It's a wonderful scene, with great acting from the two.

In general, I think people are caught up in the sex and madcap comedy (which was funny), and are having trouble grasping that the presence of those elements doesn't mean the film isn't good or serious. Everybody's entitled to their opinion, but count me out of the "akshully, the Oscar winning movie sucks" camp. I'm in the backlash-against-the-backlash camp.

Agree with your take on the final scene, I thought it was pretty straightforward actually.

I liked Anora but I liked 3 or so of the Best Picture noms better than it. Good movie, not my favorite of the bunch.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I might go with something light like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Good choice. Very underappreciated movie IMO.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I interpreted that final scene differently than you. She's not manipulating him at all. There's no motivation to manipulate him. He can give her nothing. I'm going to be vague here, even with the spoiler filter.

What happens, in my view, is that she finally recognizes that he was the best of the (bad) bunch and as a way of thanking him for returning the "R" to her, she offers the only thing she has to offer. She only then realizes (I don't know why you think she's recognized it previously -- she's had blinders on) that he has feelings for her and that perhaps she feels something for him too, and the entirety of what's gone on over the last few days and what she's doing with this man all catches up to her at the same time. It's a wonderful scene, with great acting from the two.

In general, I think people are caught up in the sex and madcap comedy (which was funny), and are having trouble grasping that the presence of those elements doesn't mean the film isn't good or serious. Everybody's entitled to their opinion, but count me out of the "akshully, the Oscar winning movie sucks" camp. I'm in the backlash-against-the-backlash camp.

Spoiler

I read a different take somewhere that made sense to me. Pretty much every interaction she'd ever had with men, including s e x, was transactional. This was real true intimacy, emotional as well as physical, and it freaked her out because she didn't know how to deal with it.

I agree that scene was good, but it didn't save the movie for me.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I might go with something light like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Good movie!

 

[nomar]

Spoiler

I read a different take somewhere that made sense to me..

I agree that scene was good, but it didn't save the movie for me.

That’s not a different take at all!I That’s wholly consistent with and encompassed within my take, specifically my comments that she offered all she thought she had to offer, and she had a realization that he wanted something different.

All due respect to Nelson, but I bet if you surveyed 100 sexist men, 99 of them would interpret it the way he did.

 

[nomar]

Agree with your take on the final scene, I thought it was pretty straightforward actually.

I liked Anora but I liked 3 or so of the Best Picture noms better than it. Good movie, not my favorite of the bunch.

Which films?

• The Brutalist - I’m 2/3 done, but it’s good so far
• A Complete Unknown - Amazing biopic and TC’s awesome, but it’s a biopic
• Conclave - Great performances but can’t say it’s a better film than Anora
• Dune: Part Two - I enjoyed it more than Anora but best picture?
• Emilia Perez - Nope, Saldana was good but it’s not a serious film
• I’m Still Here - haven’t seen
• Nickel Boys - haven’t seen
• The Substance - haven’t seen
• Wicked - Stopped watching and have no interest in finishing

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Which films?

• The Brutalist - I’m 2/3 done, but it’s good so far
• A Complete Unknown - Amazing biopic and TC’s awesome, but it’s a biopic
• Conclave - Great performances but can’t say it’s a better film than Anora
• Dune: Part Two - I enjoyed it more than Anora but best picture?
• Emilia Perez - Nope, Saldana was good but it’s not a serious film
• I’m Still Here - haven’t seen
• Nickel Boys - haven’t seen
• The Substance - haven’t seen
• Wicked - Stopped watching and have no interest in finishing

-I’m Still Here was my favorite of the year.
-Nickel Boys was amazing and better for me.
-I really liked The Brutalist as well.

Also, not nominated but Sing Sing was incredible. Shame it didn’t get the promotion The Brutalist did.

 

[Waquoit]

*Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary - Do you like Steely Dan? If so, you will enjoy it

I guess I'm yes to both. That was pretty good.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Watched Real Genius which my wife and I both missed somehow. It’s not that funny or that good. Loved the 80s music. Very authentic. Michelle Meyrink is adorable. Val is good.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I guess I'm yes to both. That was pretty good.

Surprisingly interesting. I knew how Toto formed. I didn’t know the connections with Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Toto and Steely Dan. Basically comes back to a bunch of brilliant musicians who appreciated certain styles.