Recently watched movies 2025

[ColchVEGAS]

The 2002 one is a classic. I can’t believe they had the nerve to remake it.

I would not say "remake" more of an updated take. I think the new French version is better.

 

[ZooCougar]

I would not say "remake" more of an updated take. I think the new French version is better.

“I think the new Bollywood Version of Shawshank is better”

Sorry but that’s impossible.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

“I think the new Bollywood Version of Shawshank is better”

Sorry but that’s impossible.

I know it is impossible to think that a French adaptation that more closely follows a French novel would be better. Both are good movies. To each his own.

 

[ZooCougar]

I know it is impossible to think that a French adaptation that more closely follows a French novel would be better. Both are good movies. To each his own.

Yup. We do it better.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Found another one of those unheard of little movies I tend to enjoy on Prime. "All At Once" (2016). A few recognizable actors in it, mostly in small roles. Young man unexpectedly becomes guardian of two young girls (their parents/his friends died). After struggling in NYC for the next decade (happens off screen, we get a time jump), he decides to move back to his home town of Buffalo. Older daughter was already difficult and she becomes insufferable after the move. Younger daughter is a sweetheart but she starts to have some problems too. Dad is just trying to do his best. Got the quirky family around for some laughs. He got a job teaching at a local college, hits it off with another member of the faculty. It's got some humor, some heartfelt stuff, decent acting, I thought it was a good family drama.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I just saw Nice Guys (2016) for the first time. The plot is ridiculous, and the action scenes are a mixed bag. It is also a bit disjointed, particularly with some of the odd decisions by Gosling’s character that are pretty important to the story. That said, it is a fun watch once you suspend disbelief. Gosling is excellent as always, Crowe is serviceable, but Angourie Rice steals the show as Gosling’s daughter who joins their adventures. It really doesn’t make any sense why she ends up in some of the scenes she is in, but she pulls it off.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I was looking forward to "Bookworm," was just added to Kanopy. Very disappointing. Started out decent but switches to something entirely different midstream that just didn't work at all. The age old formula of having to have a conflict is sometimes nonsensical in the context. This is the would-be triumphant return of Elijah Wood to Middle Earth...I mean New Zealand. He's a failed illusionist, meeting his estranged 11 year old daughter for the first time while her mom is in the hospital. They go on a backpacking trip to try to obtain evidence of the elusive Canterbury panther (this is a real thing, I've looked it up, kind of the Kiwi version of Bigfoot). There is a bit of charm and humor for a while. New Zealand is always gorgeous. They aren't in the snow and glacier clad mountains like LOTR franchise, but rolling hills and lakes. Then they encounter another pair of backpackers and the whole thing derails, never gets on track again. Too bad.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"Winner" is now available on Hulu. Based on actual events. Reality Winner (that's her real name) leaked classified documents regarding the 2016 election while she was working for the NSA. The government went after her hard.

Emelia Jones played Reality. She's been really good in everything I've seen her in. Some good performances in smaller roles as her family members by Connie Britton, Zack Galifianakis and Kathryn Newton.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Monster Summer. Stars Mel Gibson and a bunch of kids. Set on Martha’s Vineyard but mostly filmed in NC. It’s part Stranger Things and part The Sandlot (Patrick Renna does have a role). I thought it would be more of a comedy but not really. Kids think old man (Mel) killed his wife and kids and sneak onto his land. Turns out he’s ok. These kids all play little league. Something bad happens to the kid who is the star player and he’s catatonic. That keeps happening to some others. The kids and Mel investigate. Main kid is convinced it is a witch. It’s pretty decent really, if not as light as I expected.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Monster Summer. Stars Mel Gibson and a bunch of kids. Set on Martha’s Vineyard but mostly filmed in NC. It’s part Stranger Things and part The Sandlot (Patrick Renna does have a role). I thought it would be more of a comedy but not really. Kids think old man (Mel) killed his wife and kids and sneak onto his land. Turns out he’s ok. These kids all play little league. Something bad happens to the kid who is the star player and he’s catatonic. That keeps happening to some others. The kids and Mel investigate. Main kid is convinced it is a witch. It’s pretty decent really, if not as light as I expected.

Huh. I have that on hold at the library. Now I have some idea what to expect.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Monster Summer. Stars Mel Gibson and a bunch of kids. Set on Martha’s Vineyard but mostly filmed in NC. It’s part Stranger Things and part The Sandlot (Patrick Renna does have a role). I thought it would be more of a comedy but not really. Kids think old man (Mel) killed his wife and kids and sneak onto his land. Turns out he’s ok. These kids all play little league. Something bad happens to the kid who is the star player and he’s catatonic. That keeps happening to some others. The kids and Mel investigate. Main kid is convinced it is a witch. It’s pretty decent really, if not as light as I expected.

Okay I watched it, enjoyed it. I didn't recognize the name but I saw the lead in a Netflix movie (Incoming) 6 months ago or so. He has potential, seems to have charisma. He's buried well down the cast list and it wasn't publicized at all that he's in it, but this also featured Kevin James. I haven't seen Nora Zehetner in FOREVER. Looking at imdb she's been in stuff, but nothing I've watched. She looks quite youthful for 44.

 

[Waquoit]

Yup. We do it better.

No, we don’t. American remakes of foreign classics are usually a cringe. Oldboy, Wings of Desire, and A Man Called Ove come to mind immediately. The Magnificent Seven is an exception.

 

[Waquoit]

Apparently I am on a French film kick.

The Count of Monte Cristo (2024). We all know the story but this new version was very well done cinematically. It's about 3 hours but still somehow felt shorter than the 2002 version.

Have you gotten into those Alain Delon caper flicks yet? I love those.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Okay I watched it, enjoyed it. I didn't recognize the name but I saw the lead in a Netflix movie (Incoming) 6 months ago or so. He has potential, seems to have charisma. He's buried well down the cast list and it wasn't publicized at all that he's in it, but this also featured Kevin James. I haven't seen Nora Zehetner in FOREVER. Looking at imdb she's been in stuff, but nothing I've watched. She looks quite youthful for 44.

Yeah, I think the lead kid will be more successful going forward. Kevin didn't do much, so I didn't mention him. I had no idea who Nora was but my opening response seeing her was "really cute mom, probably too young". Looked her up, nope, she just looks great.

 

[ZooCougar]

No, we don’t. American remakes of foreign classics are usually a cringe. Oldboy, Wings of Desire, and A Man Called Ove come to mind immediately. The Magnificent Seven is an exception.

That’s a matter of taste.

By the way they remade our movie. Not the other way around.

 

[storrsroars]

No, we don’t. American remakes of foreign classics are usually a cringe. Oldboy, Wings of Desire, and A Man Called Ove come to mind immediately. The Magnificent Seven is an exception.

Two films from the 70s I enjoyed were Cousin, Cousine and The Seduction of Mimi. The US remakes featured Ted Danson in the first and Richard Pryor in the second. Both remakes were horrific.

The Wings of Desire remake... ugh, even with Meg Ryan at the peak of her powers. The original was startling good and different. And the use of Peter Falk playing Columbo was brilliant.

 

[HuskyHawk]

That’s a matter of taste.

By the way they remade our movie. Not the other way around.

It's their book. First film version was French in 1903 (at least per Wikipedia).

The Three Musketeers in film - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[ZooCougar]

You can’t talk about French movies unless you are talking about Francois Truffaut.

Dude is one of the Goats.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I had no idea who Nora was

Saw her in "Brick' directed by Rian Johnson way before "Knives Out" or his Star Wars debacle. She was also in the tv series "Heroes." This was in the mid 2000s.

 

[nwhoopfan]

One more thing I should add about "Monster Summer." I'm always complaining about mid 20s to pushing 30 year old actors playing high school kids. This actually had teenagers playing teenagers. So kudos for that. I thought their characters were probably around 14-15, looks like the actors for the 4 main kids are 17-19. So maybe that's part of it, teens just look so young that directors are usually gonna go for someone a few years older than the character is supposed to be, I can understand that. But 25, 28, 30 playing a high school kid, that's always gonna be weird to me.

 

[nwhoopfan]

The Substance. Demi Moore won a Golden Globe for this. I'm as surprised as she was. She's good, but it's likely more about how challenging this role was. She plays Elizabeth Sparkle, a former young starlet who has a fitness show (think Jane Fonda). She's over 50 and her producer, played by Dennis Quaid and named "Harvey" wants to mover her out. He's disgusting in every respect. She hears about something called The Substance, a very sketchy thing that can restore youth. Enter Margaret Qualley as "Sue" but basically, young Elizabeth. This is where it becomes more of a horror film as they two are one, but don't really have the same goals. Qualley just oozes sexuality (I have since learned that's the case in all her films). There is copious nudity in this from both of them (some may be prosthetics or CGI). It's been listed among best picture nominees, I don't get it. It's badly edited and runs way too long. It's evidently an "inside Hollywood" film that speaks to them, but I'm not sure it does much for the rest of us. It also has a very weird timeframe, it looks and feels like the 80s, right down to the aerobics shoes, but is evidently now. It's ok, but at over 140 minutes, choose carefully.

This was so weird. It left me with questions, but I don't think it's the kind of movie that's interested in answering any. Just one here though, why did it make eating food seem like such a barbaric act?

I wasn't that interested in it even before it went off the rails at the end. It was dragging IMO.

And one more thing. I hear the phrase that there is a difference between art and pron. This movie blurred that distinction. I'm not even talking about the frequent nudity. The scenes with Margaret in the studio shooting her dance/workout show...that wasn't art. Seemed more like the other.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Love and Monsters. This is clever. Dylan O'Brien is Joel, and Jessica Henwick is Aimee. They are HS kids dating (she's out of his league). An asteroid is headed for earth, so we send missiles to blow it up. That works....but...there's weird fallout and now giant mutated monster creatures dominate the earth. Joel made it to an underground bunker. Aimee is in a different shelter, they talk via ham radio. Seven years have passed. There are no single women in Joel's bunker, and despite being a wimp, he decides to make the 85 mile trip to get to Aimee. To avoid spoilers that's all I'll say. It's fun, enjoyable, heartwarming film with likable characters. Whoever said they cared about RT ratings, it's very high with critics and audiences.

Edit: side note. It's set in LA, but you will find that it is way too lush, green and tropical to be LA. The scenery is really quite impressive, it was all filmed in Queensland, Australia.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Jessica Henwick

I just watched something with her doppelganger Natasha Liu Bordizzo last night.

I might've reviewed it years ago, can't remember. "Guns Akimbo." Extremely violent but silly movie starring Daniel Radcliffe and Samara Weaving. About an underground online game pitting contestants against each other in a battle to the death. It's ridiculous, but entertaining enough.

 

[Dove]

Red Right Hand (2024) -

When I think of Orlando Bloom I think of him as a fairy or as Captain Jack Sparrow's sidekick.

Holy crap, you have to see him in this movie. Didn't even know it was him until I looked up the cast.

So, Andie McDowell is a family "mob" boss with a real evil manner. At the beginning of her appearance in the movie, it was a tough sell, but it didn't take long to buy into. She was a bad ass.

Orlando Bloom was in her posse but was able to get out. Alas, she reeled him back in with a threat to his family.

The movie is really entertaining. Garret Dillahunt is also in it and was pretty damned good.



Lastly, I walked into the room one day and wife had a movie called Ride (2024) on. All I want to know is, what the hell happened to C. Thomas Howell?

 

[Dove]

The Outsiders (1983)

This movie is still epic. I had forgotten that Macchio was one of the top 2 stars in the film.