Recently watched movies 2025 | Page 21 | The Boneyard

Recently watched movies 2025

Tulip Fever (2017) - How does a movie with a budget and cast this big have such a silly script? I wonder what Christoph Walz, Alicia Vikander, Zach Galifinakis (with a small role), Judi Dench, and about half a dozen "that guy" actors thought they were signing up for when they agreed to this movie. The reviews are not kind to Dave DeHaan, who plays part of the love triangle. He is pretty, which is why he got the part, but he didn't sink the movie.

Pros: The movie makes 1630's Amsterdam seem pretty cool. The city is vibrant and alive and interesting, where so many period films make the time and place seem miserable and dreary. The tulip market is also vibrant in the movie, and one of the more realistic portrayals of the mob psychology of a financial market in any movie.

Cons: The last 20 minutes were ridiculous, and the script was not a exactly a masterpiece before that. The dialogue could have used a comprehensive re-write because the friend has to keep jumping in as narrator, likely because in editing they realized no one would understand what was happening because so much of the dialogue was pointless and meandering. I knew what the movie was about, and I was still surprised when Vikander and DeHaan's characters got together because there had been little indication there was any sexual energy between them up to that point.

I get that Vikander can act, but I find her generic and lacking charisma.

Edit: This was Harvey Weinstein’s final film, which may explain why it is such a mess.
 
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"The Woman in Cabin 10" is brand new on Netflix, adaptation of a popular novel by Ruth Ware. I read it, many years ago, barely remember any details. Although I'm quite certain they changed quite a bit for the movie version. Starring Keira Knightley and Guy Pearce among others. Started fairly slow, eventually became a decent tense thriller, but then went completely overboard at the end IMO.
 
“The Life of Chuck”. Excellent and thought provoking. Based on a Stephen King short story. Not a horror movie, btw.
 
Roof Man. (2025) The is an unapologetic chick flick. My wife loved it. I was mostly bored. There are many holes in the plot but my wife loved it. After the movie we went out for soft serve ice cream. That was very good.
 
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I watched the "semi live action" version of How to Train your Dragon. It was pretty much a remake of the animated script with a couple of small changes to make the movie "more inclusive". They were unnecessary in my view, but they weren't a major distraction.

I give this movie a "meh." It's not bad; it's not good; it pretty much just exists as a profit grab on an existing Disney intellectual property.
 
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CL82 said:
I give this movie a "meh." It's not bad; it's not good; it pretty much just exists as a profit grab on an existing Disney intellectual property.
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Disney is all about that. Unfortunately this one is Dreamworks, so they aren't above doing it either.
 
Elevation. Post apocalyptic thriller starring Anthony Mackie and Morena Baccarin. It's short because they skip the apocalyptic events and instead say "yeah, this happened". So creatures that resemble beetles the size of a Rhino emerge from underground and start killing all the people. They are essentially bullet proof and humanity loses bigtime. Except, they will not go above 8000 ft. above sea level. So, people are surviving above the line. Baccarin is the world's hottest physicist and is trying to understand these things and learn how to kill them. Eventually she and Mackie travel below the line to Boulder to get critical supplies for Mackie's son and to visit her lab. You can guess what happens. Fun, simple, some great scenery from up in the Rockies.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Elevation. Post apocalyptic thriller starring Anthony Mackie and Morena Baccarin. It's short because they skip the apocalyptic events and instead say "yeah, this happened". So creatures that resemble beetles the size of a Rhino emerge from underground and start killing all the people. They are essentially bullet proof and humanity loses bigtime. Except, they will not go above 8000 ft. above sea level. So, people are surviving above the line. Baccarin is the world's hottest physicist and is trying to understand these things and learn how to kill them. Eventually she and Mackie travel below the line to Boulder to get critical supplies for Mackie's son and to visit her lab. You can guess what happens. Fun, simple, some great scenery from up in the Rockies.
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It was ok. I liked it. I liked "A Quiet Place" better.
 
I wasn’t sure if this fit here because it’s a documentary, but here goes: I just watched this wonderful documentary about John Candy. Rarely does a documentary make me cry and smile until my face hurts all in the same couple of hours, but this one somehow managed to do that. Watch it. Even if you weren’t a fan. You won’t regret it. John Candy made the world a better place.

 
ZooCougar said:
It was ok. I liked it. I liked "A Quiet Place" better.
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That was what it reminded me of. Agree that A Quiet Place had more tension, brought the audience into to terror.
 
Get Her Back (2025)

The creepy factor is strong in this Australian horror flick.

A must watch if you have a macabre itch to scratch.
 
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Bomber36 said:
I wasn’t sure if this fit here because it’s a documentary, but here goes: I just watched this wonderful documentary about John Candy. Rarely does a documentary make me cry and smile until my face hurts all in the same couple of hours, but this one somehow managed to do that. Watch it. Even if you weren’t a fan. You won’t regret it. John Candy made the world a better place.

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Just watched this, really well done. A who's who of comedians and actors appeared, talking about their experiences with John. Maybe the one that stood out the most was Macaulay Culkin, surprisingly.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Just watched this, really well done. A who's who of comedians and actors appeared, talking about their experiences with John. Maybe the one that stood out the most was Macaulay Culkin, surprisingly.
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I agree. He was excellent and I loved how he spoke about John Candy. You could tell that he really loved him.
 
Baby Boom (1987)

Diane Keaton is in every scene of this enjoyable movie where her 24/7 marketing job is upended by an inheritance...a baby.

I never watched it before.
 
War on Everyone (2016). Alexander Skarsgard and Michael Pena are a pair of police detective partners in Albuquerque. Bad ones. Crooked, lazy, unprofessional and crude. They stumble onto a crime planned by a crew led by Theo James and seek to not so much thwart it, as become the recipients of the results. Along the way Skarsgard's character meets ex-stripper Tessa Thompson (looking the best she has ever looked). He's a huge Glen Campbell fan. The early part of the film was just off color jokes that didn't really work. But it did hit its stride and became pretty funny. There's a slight redemption arc involved as well. A mild thumbs up.

Best thing was an interesting soundtrack, including a spectacular blues/folk song by Jackson C Frank called Blues Run the Game. There are some excellent covers by John Mayer on YouTube. Another excellent song by Lee Hazelwood, who wrote many of Nancy Sinatra's hits.
 
Full Metal Jacket (1987) - I listed to Charlie Sheen on the Joe Rogan podcast and he talked about being 10 and on the set of Apocalypse Now, then filming Platoon himself. That got me interested in rewatching those two, then I went on a plane trip and saw Full Metal Jacket as an inflight movie option and watched it.

Obviously, if you've seen it there are two halves to it. The basic training first half with Vincent Donofrio as Private Pyle didn't really hold up for me. Very over the top and a little overacted. I imagine that would be much different and more watchable if it were done now.

The second half was the opposite for me. I thought it was raw and gritty. There was no CGI. I kept imagining how they went about creating that set for the gun fights. The second half really hit me and held up much better and thought that was brilliant filmmaking that we don't get anymore.
 
HuskyHawk said:
War on Everyone (2016). Alexander Skarsgard and Michael Pena are a pair of police detective partners in Albuquerque. Bad ones. Crooked, lazy, unprofessional and crude. They stumble onto a crime planned by a crew led by Theo James and seek to not so much thwart it, as become the recipients of the results. Along the way Skarsgard's character meets ex-stripper Tessa Thompson (looking the best she has ever looked). He's a huge Glen Campbell fan. The early part of the film was just off color jokes that didn't really work. But it did hit its stride and became pretty funny. There's a slight redemption arc involved as well. A mild thumbs up.

Best thing was an interesting soundtrack, including a spectacular blues/folk song by Jackson C Frank called Blues Run the Game. There are some excellent covers by John Mayer on YouTube. Another excellent song by Lee Hazelwood, who wrote many of Nancy Sinatra's hits.
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Huh. I've never heard of this movie. Fairly big cast. Consider me curious about it now.
 
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Deepster said:
Full Metal Jacket (1987) - I listed to Charlie Sheen on the Joe Rogan podcast and he talked about being 10 and on the set of Apocalypse Now, then filming Platoon himself. That got me interested in rewatching those two, then I went on a plane trip and saw Full Metal Jacket as an inflight movie option and watched it.

Obviously, if you've seen it there are two halves to it. The basic training first half with Vincent Donofrio as Private Pyle didn't really hold up for me. Very over the top and a little overacted. I imagine that would be much different and more watchable if it were done now.

The second half was the opposite for me. I thought it was raw and gritty. There was no CGI. I kept imagining how they went about creating that set for the gun fights. The second half really hit me and held up much better and thought that was brilliant filmmaking that we don't get anymore.
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Interesting.

Most people love the first half and lose interest in the second.
 
Deepster said:
Full Metal Jacket (1987) - I listed to Charlie Sheen on the Joe Rogan podcast and he talked about being 10 and on the set of Apocalypse Now, then filming Platoon himself. That got me interested in rewatching those two, then I went on a plane trip and saw Full Metal Jacket as an inflight movie option and watched it.

Obviously, if you've seen it there are two halves to it. The basic training first half with Vincent Donofrio as Private Pyle didn't really hold up for me. Very over the top and a little overacted. I imagine that would be much different and more watchable if it were done now.

The second half was the opposite for me. I thought it was raw and gritty. There was no CGI. I kept imagining how they went about creating that set for the gun fights. The second half really hit me and held up much better and thought that was brilliant filmmaking that we don't get anymore.
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Kubrick was famous to doing 700 takes for each scene, so I can understand where the sense of overacting may creep in. OTOH, R. Lee Ermey was the technical advisor and a former Drill Instructor IRL. He wasn't happy with the original actor's performance and drew on his own experience when given the opportunity. I tend to think he knew exactly how a DI should behave and wasn't really acting.

The first half is entertaining and I think that was the point, because I don't think the movie works without the second half, when playtime becomes real. Hartman tore the fear out of the company, so I don't think Pyle was scared necessarily. He was smart enough to know he wasn't smart or skilled enough to be an engineer or writer and maybe avoid harms way (Ironic that Joker was not spared the harshness of war and Rafterman was supposed to only shoot a camera. Not a weapon.). OTOH, He was awakened to the the reality that he was basically already dead. It was only a matter of time. So Pyle took control of his own fate.
 
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Watched a very different kind of war movie last night, "The Mountain Road". I'd never heard of it. Stars Jimmy Stewart and it's the only way movie he ever agreed to do as he found war movies unrealistic. It's set in China in 1944 and while the plot centers around Stewart's demolition team blowing up strategic roads, bridges and whatnot to delay Japanese troops advancing on Chinese targets, the Japanese are never seen - the "enemies" are actually Americans and Chinese, who were supposed to be allies.

It's generally considered an "anti-war" movie, but there is no real animus to the US military shown. It's more about racism, difference in cultures, chaos when all authority breaks down, and questioning one's purpose. It was made in 1960 when such topics in a war movie were still considered controversial if not taboo, although it did have full cooperation from the Pentagon.

There's not much battle action until the very end and there are some very impressive explosions for a 1960 film. I found it interesting and a well told story, and Stewart is excellent.
 
Julia Garner, Josh Brolin and Amy Madigan star in this mind**** psychological thriller where a witch-like woman mind controls her victims.

Really creepy and a gore fest at times.

It brought @Mano out of his posting doldrums.
 
Dove said:
Those people are weird.
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Most people are.

The second half is really disjointed. It’s like one half of the movie is a masterpiece and the other is some kid’s finger painting project.
 
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A House of Dynamite (2025)

I've been looking forward to this one for a while. The premise is that that an ICBM has been detected and in the course of 20 minutes a bunch of action officers, Generals and the President have to figure out what to do. You watch the story from three perspectives. You get to look at Rebecca Ferguson (the world's oldest Captain in the Army) in the first one, then you see it from the General Officer/Cabinet level where Tracy Letts headlines the group with Jared Harris and then from the Presidential level with a really not well put together Idris Elba.

I love these kinds of movies, there is something interesting about watching people have to make a decision about the fate of the world and it can all end within the hour.

Tracy Letts as the Commanding General of US Strategic Command steals every scene. He might be the world's greatest living actor at the moment. He's hardcore but not in a Dr. Strangelove kind of way. Idris Elba does a good job portraying a clearly physically and mentally stressed out POTUS, he's already having a sub-optimal day and will get worse. Basically every character is having kind of a bad day or is not in great place to be making decisions of this magnitude. Rebecca Ferguson's kid is sick, the Major in charge of the Missile Base that is supposed to shoot the bad missiles down is going through a divorce, Jared Harris's wife just died and he's depressed. The actual National Security Advisor is "out of pocket" and the deputy is getting to work late.

This is basically the point of the movie. The idea of Mutually Assured Destruction being a deterrent is on really shaky ground and the people running the show might be fine but everyone has bad days. Also what happens if you don't have all of the information? Are your choices really just surrender or suicide by nuclear armageddon? I did a little work with the Missle Defense Agency, the scenario in this film is literally the simplest possible. One ICBM? The tests we run are simpler than that. A real strike would involve multiples and decoys, the fog of war would be far worse.

Kathryn Bigelow is the director, she makes a great firecracker, lights the fuse but the whole thing fizzles out. It's like watching a gymnast or a figure skater do a great routine and then fracture both legs at the end. This movie was about starting a conversation. Unfortunately I think most of the conversation will be about the ending, if anyone actually watches this.
 
ZooCougar said:
A House of Dynamite (2025)

I've been looking forward to this one for a while. The premise is that that an ICBM has been detected and in the course of 20 minutes a bunch of action officers, Generals and the President have to figure out what to do. You watch the story from three perspectives. You get to look at Rebecca Ferguson (the world's oldest Captain in the Army) in the first one, then you see it from the General Officer/Cabinet level where Tracy Letts headlines the group with Jared Harris and then from the Presidential level with a really not well put together Idris Elba.

I love these kinds of movies, there is something interesting about watching people have to make a decision about the fate of the world and it can all end within the hour.

Tracy Letts as the Commanding General of US Strategic Command steals every scene. He might be the world's greatest living actor at the moment. He's hardcore but not in a Dr. Strangelove kind of way. Idris Elba does a good job portraying a clearly physically and mentally stressed out POTUS, he's already having a sub-optimal day and will get worse. Basically every character is having kind of a bad day or is not in great place to be making decisions of this magnitude. Rebecca Ferguson's kid is sick, the Major in charge of the Missile Base that is supposed to shoot the bad missiles down is going through a divorce, Jared Harris's wife just died and he's depressed. The actual National Security Advisor is "out of pocket" and the deputy is getting to work late.

This is basically the point of the movie. The idea of Mutually Assured Destruction being a deterrent is on really shaky ground and the people running the show might be fine but everyone has bad days. Also what happens if you don't have all of the information? Are your choices really just surrender or suicide by nuclear armageddon? I did a little work with the Missle Defense Agency, the scenario in this film is literally the simplest possible. One ICBM? The tests we run are simpler than that. A real strike would involve multiples and decoys, the fog of war would be far worse.

Kathryn Bigelow is the director, she makes a great firecracker, lights the fuse but the whole thing fizzles out. It's like watching a gymnast or a figure skater do a great routine and then fracture both legs at the end. This movie was about starting a conversation. Unfortunately I think most of the conversation will be about the ending, if anyone actually watches this.
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Tracy Letts is so great. I'm watching Homeland again and he's amazing on it.
 
superjohn said:
Tracy Letts is so great. I'm watching Homeland again and he's amazing on it.
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The first time I noticed him was in Ford vs. Ferrari. He played a Henry Ford and kind of stole that movie too.

The other guy I like in this movie is Jason Clarke who deserves to be in more things. Unlike Pedro Pascal he actually acts.
 
The Greatest Beer Run Ever (2022)

Zac Effron stars as "Chickie" Donahue a local slacker who gets goaded into bringing beers to his friends who were serving in Vietnam after making a drunk promise that he would do it. It is based on a true story which makes the dopey premise even more fascinating. Amazingly, he manages to get to Vietnam, make his way around the country, including into war zones and give his friends beers. Notwithstanding some cringey New York accents, it was surprisingly good. A very large Russell Crowe plays a prominent supporting role. It's worth watching.
 
ZooCougar said:
The first time I noticed him was in Ford vs. Ferrari. He played a Henry Ford and kind of stole that movie too.

The other guy I like in this movie is Jason Clarke who deserves to be in more things. Unlike Pedro Pascal he actually acts.
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He stands out in everything he's in. The dad in Lady Bird, the white supremacist leader in Imperium, and Jack McKinney in Winning Time all come to mind.

He's well known as a playwright at the Steppenwolf theater in Chicago. His wife Carrie Coon is also a great actress.
 
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