Recently watched movies 2025

[Dove]

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.

 

[ZooCougar]

Those people are weird.

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.

 

[ZooCougar]

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.

 

[superjohn]

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.

Tracy Letts is so great. I'm watching Homeland again and he's amazing on it.

 

[ZooCougar]

Tracy Letts is so great. I'm watching Homeland again and he's amazing on it.

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.

 

[CL82]

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.

 

[superjohn]

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.

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.