Lizzy May Bee
Well-Known Member
Scathing
-
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The Imagineering Movie Discussion Thread
- Thread starter PerGron
- Start date
TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
OH GEE WHIZ LIZZY I JUST LOOOOVE YOUR AVATAR. IT'S SO POSITIVE. AND THAT'S ALL YOU NEED TO BE IS POSITIVE!! DO A LITTLE SQUIM. MAKE A LITTLE LOVE. GET DOWN TONIGHT!!
Sorry. God I love Smiling Friends.
Lizzy May Bee
Well-Known Member
OH GEE WHIZ LIZZY I JUST LOOOOVE YOUR AVATAR. IT'S SO POSITIVE. AND THAT'S ALL YOU NEED TO BE IS POSITIVE!! DO A LITTLE SQUIM. MAKE A LITTLE LOVE. GET DOWN TONIGHT!!
Sorry. God I love Smiling Friends.
HE’S DOING THE SQUIM DANCE, SHOOT HIM!!!
Half/CartoonHalf/Human
Well-Known Member
Zootopia 2 was ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL! I don’t want to spoil anything, so just go see it right now! It’s an absolute win for Disney!
There’s also a post credits scene btw
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I really enjoyed it! I’m a Frozen 2 truther, but I think this can unambiguously be considered the best Disney animated movie sequel. It’s honestly better than the first and I’ll be shortlisting it for a handful of Tikis this year
Pi on my Cake
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
I went into it with low expectations because I honestly always thought the first movie was just alright. Fun designs for the city and likable leads. But I never saw it as anything that great aside from how cool the city itself was. BUT the sequel blew me away and was such an improvement over the first in my mind. Great movie!
Predator: Badlands was also pretty fun. Really goofy but in on the joke about how over the top it is. Never seen a predator movie before so I have nothing to compare it too. But I definitely enjoyed this one
cdunlap
Well-Known Member
No, that’s The Wizard Of Oz (1939)!
New month, new me! November has came and went, shockingly quickly for me while also painfully slowly. We saw the finale of Visions Fantastic, we saw Thanksgiving, I've begun my Christmas shopping, it's been a lot, but still I managed 20 new releases this month. The biggest miss for me was Rental Family which I do plan on seeing still, probably next Monday, but I wanted to get this up without waiting for that one movie. With that said, I think November was overall pretty strong and definitely had some hits here!
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#20- A Merry Little Ex-Mas
[Watched on Netflix]
So, for those who don't know, my girlfriend is VERY into Hallmark-style Christmas rom-coms. She watches them religiously, not for sheer enjoyment but because she loves to make fun of them. It's become a holiday season tradition that we watch as many of these as we possibly can in a given year and just razz them the whole time, real MST3K style. This month we got a few of them on streaming (I don't count Hallmark movies themselves for these lists) and of them all, A Merry Little Ex-Mas was easily the worst thing I watched this month.
Imagine the sheer predictability of a Hallmark movie, but they try so hard to hide the twist that... uh oh, the couple going through a divorce are actually going to stay together. Who would have thought??? This movie has Alicia Silverstone who does a decent enough job as a Hallmark-style protagonist, but her chemistry with Oliver Hudson as the co-lead is literally nonexistent and I am far from surprised they start the movie getting a divorce. The side characters are even worse with the two gay grandpas having zero personality aside from being gay, the teen son having no personality at all, the two dates for the main couple being highly exaggerated caricatures of a himbo and a career woman, but worst of all was the daughter's boyfriend who's literal entire thing is just making unfunny and really unnecessary Harry Potter references (which many of you know I HATE Harry Potter so that was especially brutal for me).
This movie was so clearly written by a Tumblr era millennial that it's truly painful to sit through (no offense to any Tumblr era millennials on here, but you know exactly what I mean by that.) I expect nothing from these movies and yet with this one I came away disappointed and annoyed. Even if you have a tradition like me, absolutely skip this movie because it's only fun to make fun of a Harry Potter reference the first 47 times it happens unnecessarily. Hallmark themselves plus Netflix and Hulu and everyone else churn out a billion of these a year, just watch any of them that isn't this one.
#19- Playdate
[Watched on Prime Video]
From the guy who directed Let's Be Cops and the hit Rob Schneider film The Animal comes this absolute clusterfcuk of an action comedy starring the most unlikeable Kevin James has ever been as the dad who barely stepped up. This movie follows Kevin James as a stepdad for an effeminate boy who wants to do TikTok dances, not play sports, and when they meet the ultimate father-son duo where the dad is freaking Thad from Blue Mountain State they decide to have a playdate.
This sounds like a pretty standard straight to streaming studio schlock you'd expect from the Bezos porta-potty that is Amazon Prime Video, but that's just the premise it sells you on. See, it's not just a little comedy about a step dad accepting that his stepson isn't a big strong sports boy, it's actually an action comedy where Alan Ritchson has been secretly cloned by an evil corporation in order to have a mindless army of supersoldiers with Alan Ritchson's strength but better brains. That comes right out of left field and the fact this goes from dumb playdate movie to literal sci-fi action thriller with a car chase, multiple clones, gunfights, kidnappings, etc. all comes out of literally nowhere. It's an insane premise where even the very very slight goodwill I could see given to a Kevin James comedy on streaming is thrown out the window because what on Earth even is this. Alan Ritchson is funny here, he's easily the best part of the movie, but again, just watch Blue Mountain State if you want to see funny Alan Ritchson. Absolutely not worth your time.
#18- Joy to the World
[Watched on Hulu]
Another one of these things, but Joy to the World was easily the most fun of all of them that we watched this year. This story follows a single woman who has lied her whole life about having kids to sell cookbooks that apparently pay for this giant mansion that she somehow lives in. When the network (she sells books??) wants to do a special on her and her family at her private home without ever informing her or asking for her consent, she then has to round up a crew of misfits to play her family including her driver, her cleaning lady, her mailman, and her neighbor's two children who they left home for the holidays. Once the crew is assembled, hijinks and hilarity ensue and everything goes EXACTLY the way you'd expect them to.
Still, despite the inherent unoriginality and predictability of this movie, I really did like the chemistry between all of the cast and despite not liking liar revealed movies generally, this one is done so tongue-in-cheek that I actually found myself having fun with it. It's far from great, incredibly far in fact, but for what it is and having sat through like 25 of these rom-coms this month, this was easily my favorite one. High marks, I know.
#17- A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
[Watched on Disney+]
Apparently this month was my girlfriend's month to pick movies because she also decided that the Joe-bros were incredibly important to watch in their new Christmas special... It's fine.
This follows the Jonas Brothers as they finish a European tour and are at each others' throats getting ready for the holidays. When Joe Jonas secretly wishes to the least Santa-looking Santa Claus ever to reconnect with his brothers, they are now sabotaged from getting home for Christmas until they realize they love each other. This leads to hijinks and shenanigans like getting on the wrong train to Amsterdam instead of Paris, losing their passports, crashing a plane, getting attacked by wolves, it's a lot. Add in a bunch of music videos not spliced in very well and a TON of celebrity cameos (Billie Lourde, Will Ferrell,John Krasinski... I mean Randall Park, AJ Kappa, etc.) and it's a fine enough short little holiday special. I wasn't nearly as enamored by it as my girlfriend was, but she also knows which brother is Kevin and I do not, so hey, I guess she was the target audience not me. If you like the Joe-bros, I think this is required viewing, but for anyone else, if you have a fan in your life, watch it with them for their reaction, not your own enjoyment. If you don't, just skip it.
#16- Jingle Bell Heist
[Watched on Netflix]
And with this we end the string of Christmas movies from November. This is a step above the rest because it actually has a plot and things going on in it. Unfortunately, that plot is still really convoluted and messy and the heist itself is built up for a long time but doesn't actually have much planning or anything behind it. Olivia Holt is really solid here, I think she's an underrated actress and between this and Heart Eyes earlier this year I'm happy to see her popping up, but her chemistry with Connor Swindells wasn't it for me and their dynamic just didn't work for me. It has its moments but really I can't see myself ever watching this again.
#15- Being Eddie
[Watched on Netflix]
Being Eddie is one of those celebrity documentaries that is more of a celebration of their life than it is an actual documentary focusing on their challenges and struggles. However, because Eddie Murphy is a relatively clean person, there's pretty much nothing interesting in here besides "and then he made this movie, and then he made this movie, etc. etc." for the full 90-ish minutes. The beginning talking about his stand up comedy days, his time on SNL leading to the legendary feud, and his inspirations from other black comics was definitely the most interesting part of this, but by the time it gets into all of his movies and stuff, it just became noise. I don't like when docs just celebrate a living person just because they exist and while Eddie Murphy has definitely been an influential actor and comic for a lot of people, I don't think this doc justified its own existence. It's fine, especially if you're an Eddie Murphy fan, but yeah, it's just kind of there for me.
#14- The Carpenter's Son
[Watched in theaters]
The Carpenter's Son is a really interesting premise that, unfortunately is bogged down by a lot of elements. This is a horror take on the Infant Gospels of Thomas, a non-canonical (and some say even heretical) bout of gospels from the Bible about Jesus's childhood. Obviously that premise alone probably stirs a lot of feelings in a lot of people reading this, whether you're religious or not, but as someone fascinated with religious imagery and mythology without being a true believer myself as well as being a big fan of independent horror, a horror movie like this sounded really fascinating.
A lot of people online immediately jumped onto it saying it's evil and demonic and how dare they make Jesus a horror villain without ever actually watching the movie or even reading the synopsis because that is absolutely not what this movie is. Honestly, the horror elements are incredibly minimal and this is FAR from being an anti-Jesus movie, it's actually incredibly pro-Jesus I'd argue. The movie is about a young Jesus with his mother Mary (played by FKA Twigs) and adoptive father Joseph (played by Nicolas Cage) as they hide out in Egypt from King Herod's Massacre of Innocents to protect the son of God. It follows a teen Jesus who is learning different skills like carpentry, as well as helping people including lepers and the poor. He meets a young child who he befriends that tries to get him to stray from the path of good and righteous to be selfish, that child, of course, being Satan in disguise trying to tempt Jesus. The movie follows as Satan does his best to tempt him but ultimately is defeated, not by violence or by what he wanted, but by forgiveness and love. As someone who grew up Catholic, this honestly was exactly the way I always pictured Jesus, as someone who loves unconditionally and is infallible not despite his humanity, but because of it.
My biggest issues with this movie come from the focus on Nic Cage's Joseph which kind of just becomes the same monologue over and over as he questions Jesus's true purpose, if he is truly the son of his God or if this is a trick, etc. and it just leads to some really boring moments in an otherwise pretty short movie. FKA Twigs as Mary is also just awful, I don't know who told her to try acting but everything I've seen her in tells me she should just go back to music because acting ain't it for her.
Ultimately, this is a really interesting movie that is going to absolutely off a lot of people for reasons that are both valid and entirely invalid. There are certain people on these boards I don't recommend this movie to and I can't think of too many I would recommend it to just because of how messy the movie itself is. I think this is better as a proof of concept of the way to do Bible-adjacent stories in an interesting way rather than a good movie itself. A lot of it intrigues me and has my attention, but the slow parts just DRAG and I can't bring myself to checking it out again.
#13- Dr. Seuss's The Sneetches
[Watched on Netflix]
This is 100% a little kid special with some incredibly simple and on the nose allegory to things like racism and prejudice and it definitely strays away from the simplicity of The Sneetches story by Suess himself, but I thought it was cute and equally a good introduction to important topics for young kids. I watched this one with my niece while babysitting who absolutely adored it and apparently has since watched it three or four more times and I can see it being a hit with young kids (she's four, perfect age for it). The animation is pleasant enough to look at, the characters are simple but none are frustrating which for a story like this is pretty impressive. Again, since most of us here are childless adults I can't say go watch this right now, but if you do have a young kid in your life looking for something cute, inoffensive, easy to watch, with some alright music and animation, and enough meat on the bones to get the kids thinking about how differences don't make someone better or worse, I think this is pretty solid.
#12- Die My Love
[Watched in theaters]
After seeing If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You earlier this month (an October release so I won't be putting it in this list) I think this movie crumbled more for me than it would have since the two have INCREDIBLY similar ideas and messages and that movie just does it so much better than this one. This is a movie about deteriorating relationships, postpartum depression, cheating (y'all KNOW how I feel about cheating), and just overall declining mental health in a woman not happy in her life and I will say, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson both give really great performances in this movie, but I just did not find this on my wavelength at all. The movie feels like it's trying to do something Lynchian with its storytelling, not answering or elaborating on just about any question, but it doesn't go far enough with that to reach full Lynch while also going too far to be a more coherent story.
Everything here was overall well crafted from the set design, the cinematography, the score, sound design, etc. as well as the two lead performances, but the way the story is told just really didn't connect with me and so ultimately while I think it's a well made movie, I can't say it's a "good" movie.
#11- Keeper
[Watched in theaters]
This is Osgood Perkins' second theatrical feature this year (after The Monkey) and a lot like that one, this is just kind of fine? Idk, I really liked Longlegs (as everyone knows) but I'm starting to wonder if Perkins is in the Luca Guadagnino camp of just having a singular fluke of a movie because I just am not sitting with his other stuff the way I did the one movie I really enjoyed. That said, I like The Monkey and Keeper significantly more than I do Queer or Bones and All, so I'm not comparing the quality of their movies, more so their one "masterpiece" (Longlegs and Challengers) is more of a fluke than a show of consistency.
Keeper is clearly a movie made quickly during the strikes using all Canadian artists so that they can avoid the writers or SAG-AFTRA regulations and it feels like that. This has some solid tension building in the first act of the movie where you really wonder what it's building to, if it's supernatural, if there's something up with the cabin, or the boyfriend, with Tatiana Maslany's character, but by the end of the movie, they rush into a really confusing reveal that doesn't excite or engage you because there was zero way to piece it together beforehand, it comes straight out of nowhere and doesn't satisfy at all. I think the movie has good elements, it's beautiful to look at, the score and sets are great, and it does have eerie tense moments, but as a whole, yeah, it's not a keeper for me.
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#20- A Merry Little Ex-Mas
[Watched on Netflix]
So, for those who don't know, my girlfriend is VERY into Hallmark-style Christmas rom-coms. She watches them religiously, not for sheer enjoyment but because she loves to make fun of them. It's become a holiday season tradition that we watch as many of these as we possibly can in a given year and just razz them the whole time, real MST3K style. This month we got a few of them on streaming (I don't count Hallmark movies themselves for these lists) and of them all, A Merry Little Ex-Mas was easily the worst thing I watched this month.
Imagine the sheer predictability of a Hallmark movie, but they try so hard to hide the twist that... uh oh, the couple going through a divorce are actually going to stay together. Who would have thought??? This movie has Alicia Silverstone who does a decent enough job as a Hallmark-style protagonist, but her chemistry with Oliver Hudson as the co-lead is literally nonexistent and I am far from surprised they start the movie getting a divorce. The side characters are even worse with the two gay grandpas having zero personality aside from being gay, the teen son having no personality at all, the two dates for the main couple being highly exaggerated caricatures of a himbo and a career woman, but worst of all was the daughter's boyfriend who's literal entire thing is just making unfunny and really unnecessary Harry Potter references (which many of you know I HATE Harry Potter so that was especially brutal for me).
This movie was so clearly written by a Tumblr era millennial that it's truly painful to sit through (no offense to any Tumblr era millennials on here, but you know exactly what I mean by that.) I expect nothing from these movies and yet with this one I came away disappointed and annoyed. Even if you have a tradition like me, absolutely skip this movie because it's only fun to make fun of a Harry Potter reference the first 47 times it happens unnecessarily. Hallmark themselves plus Netflix and Hulu and everyone else churn out a billion of these a year, just watch any of them that isn't this one.
#19- Playdate
[Watched on Prime Video]
From the guy who directed Let's Be Cops and the hit Rob Schneider film The Animal comes this absolute clusterfcuk of an action comedy starring the most unlikeable Kevin James has ever been as the dad who barely stepped up. This movie follows Kevin James as a stepdad for an effeminate boy who wants to do TikTok dances, not play sports, and when they meet the ultimate father-son duo where the dad is freaking Thad from Blue Mountain State they decide to have a playdate.
This sounds like a pretty standard straight to streaming studio schlock you'd expect from the Bezos porta-potty that is Amazon Prime Video, but that's just the premise it sells you on. See, it's not just a little comedy about a step dad accepting that his stepson isn't a big strong sports boy, it's actually an action comedy where Alan Ritchson has been secretly cloned by an evil corporation in order to have a mindless army of supersoldiers with Alan Ritchson's strength but better brains. That comes right out of left field and the fact this goes from dumb playdate movie to literal sci-fi action thriller with a car chase, multiple clones, gunfights, kidnappings, etc. all comes out of literally nowhere. It's an insane premise where even the very very slight goodwill I could see given to a Kevin James comedy on streaming is thrown out the window because what on Earth even is this. Alan Ritchson is funny here, he's easily the best part of the movie, but again, just watch Blue Mountain State if you want to see funny Alan Ritchson. Absolutely not worth your time.
#18- Joy to the World
[Watched on Hulu]
Another one of these things, but Joy to the World was easily the most fun of all of them that we watched this year. This story follows a single woman who has lied her whole life about having kids to sell cookbooks that apparently pay for this giant mansion that she somehow lives in. When the network (she sells books??) wants to do a special on her and her family at her private home without ever informing her or asking for her consent, she then has to round up a crew of misfits to play her family including her driver, her cleaning lady, her mailman, and her neighbor's two children who they left home for the holidays. Once the crew is assembled, hijinks and hilarity ensue and everything goes EXACTLY the way you'd expect them to.
Still, despite the inherent unoriginality and predictability of this movie, I really did like the chemistry between all of the cast and despite not liking liar revealed movies generally, this one is done so tongue-in-cheek that I actually found myself having fun with it. It's far from great, incredibly far in fact, but for what it is and having sat through like 25 of these rom-coms this month, this was easily my favorite one. High marks, I know.
#17- A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
[Watched on Disney+]
Apparently this month was my girlfriend's month to pick movies because she also decided that the Joe-bros were incredibly important to watch in their new Christmas special... It's fine.
This follows the Jonas Brothers as they finish a European tour and are at each others' throats getting ready for the holidays. When Joe Jonas secretly wishes to the least Santa-looking Santa Claus ever to reconnect with his brothers, they are now sabotaged from getting home for Christmas until they realize they love each other. This leads to hijinks and shenanigans like getting on the wrong train to Amsterdam instead of Paris, losing their passports, crashing a plane, getting attacked by wolves, it's a lot. Add in a bunch of music videos not spliced in very well and a TON of celebrity cameos (Billie Lourde, Will Ferrell,
#16- Jingle Bell Heist
[Watched on Netflix]
And with this we end the string of Christmas movies from November. This is a step above the rest because it actually has a plot and things going on in it. Unfortunately, that plot is still really convoluted and messy and the heist itself is built up for a long time but doesn't actually have much planning or anything behind it. Olivia Holt is really solid here, I think she's an underrated actress and between this and Heart Eyes earlier this year I'm happy to see her popping up, but her chemistry with Connor Swindells wasn't it for me and their dynamic just didn't work for me. It has its moments but really I can't see myself ever watching this again.
#15- Being Eddie
[Watched on Netflix]
Being Eddie is one of those celebrity documentaries that is more of a celebration of their life than it is an actual documentary focusing on their challenges and struggles. However, because Eddie Murphy is a relatively clean person, there's pretty much nothing interesting in here besides "and then he made this movie, and then he made this movie, etc. etc." for the full 90-ish minutes. The beginning talking about his stand up comedy days, his time on SNL leading to the legendary feud, and his inspirations from other black comics was definitely the most interesting part of this, but by the time it gets into all of his movies and stuff, it just became noise. I don't like when docs just celebrate a living person just because they exist and while Eddie Murphy has definitely been an influential actor and comic for a lot of people, I don't think this doc justified its own existence. It's fine, especially if you're an Eddie Murphy fan, but yeah, it's just kind of there for me.
#14- The Carpenter's Son
[Watched in theaters]
The Carpenter's Son is a really interesting premise that, unfortunately is bogged down by a lot of elements. This is a horror take on the Infant Gospels of Thomas, a non-canonical (and some say even heretical) bout of gospels from the Bible about Jesus's childhood. Obviously that premise alone probably stirs a lot of feelings in a lot of people reading this, whether you're religious or not, but as someone fascinated with religious imagery and mythology without being a true believer myself as well as being a big fan of independent horror, a horror movie like this sounded really fascinating.
A lot of people online immediately jumped onto it saying it's evil and demonic and how dare they make Jesus a horror villain without ever actually watching the movie or even reading the synopsis because that is absolutely not what this movie is. Honestly, the horror elements are incredibly minimal and this is FAR from being an anti-Jesus movie, it's actually incredibly pro-Jesus I'd argue. The movie is about a young Jesus with his mother Mary (played by FKA Twigs) and adoptive father Joseph (played by Nicolas Cage) as they hide out in Egypt from King Herod's Massacre of Innocents to protect the son of God. It follows a teen Jesus who is learning different skills like carpentry, as well as helping people including lepers and the poor. He meets a young child who he befriends that tries to get him to stray from the path of good and righteous to be selfish, that child, of course, being Satan in disguise trying to tempt Jesus. The movie follows as Satan does his best to tempt him but ultimately is defeated, not by violence or by what he wanted, but by forgiveness and love. As someone who grew up Catholic, this honestly was exactly the way I always pictured Jesus, as someone who loves unconditionally and is infallible not despite his humanity, but because of it.
My biggest issues with this movie come from the focus on Nic Cage's Joseph which kind of just becomes the same monologue over and over as he questions Jesus's true purpose, if he is truly the son of his God or if this is a trick, etc. and it just leads to some really boring moments in an otherwise pretty short movie. FKA Twigs as Mary is also just awful, I don't know who told her to try acting but everything I've seen her in tells me she should just go back to music because acting ain't it for her.
Ultimately, this is a really interesting movie that is going to absolutely off a lot of people for reasons that are both valid and entirely invalid. There are certain people on these boards I don't recommend this movie to and I can't think of too many I would recommend it to just because of how messy the movie itself is. I think this is better as a proof of concept of the way to do Bible-adjacent stories in an interesting way rather than a good movie itself. A lot of it intrigues me and has my attention, but the slow parts just DRAG and I can't bring myself to checking it out again.
#13- Dr. Seuss's The Sneetches
[Watched on Netflix]
This is 100% a little kid special with some incredibly simple and on the nose allegory to things like racism and prejudice and it definitely strays away from the simplicity of The Sneetches story by Suess himself, but I thought it was cute and equally a good introduction to important topics for young kids. I watched this one with my niece while babysitting who absolutely adored it and apparently has since watched it three or four more times and I can see it being a hit with young kids (she's four, perfect age for it). The animation is pleasant enough to look at, the characters are simple but none are frustrating which for a story like this is pretty impressive. Again, since most of us here are childless adults I can't say go watch this right now, but if you do have a young kid in your life looking for something cute, inoffensive, easy to watch, with some alright music and animation, and enough meat on the bones to get the kids thinking about how differences don't make someone better or worse, I think this is pretty solid.
#12- Die My Love
[Watched in theaters]
After seeing If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You earlier this month (an October release so I won't be putting it in this list) I think this movie crumbled more for me than it would have since the two have INCREDIBLY similar ideas and messages and that movie just does it so much better than this one. This is a movie about deteriorating relationships, postpartum depression, cheating (y'all KNOW how I feel about cheating), and just overall declining mental health in a woman not happy in her life and I will say, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson both give really great performances in this movie, but I just did not find this on my wavelength at all. The movie feels like it's trying to do something Lynchian with its storytelling, not answering or elaborating on just about any question, but it doesn't go far enough with that to reach full Lynch while also going too far to be a more coherent story.
Everything here was overall well crafted from the set design, the cinematography, the score, sound design, etc. as well as the two lead performances, but the way the story is told just really didn't connect with me and so ultimately while I think it's a well made movie, I can't say it's a "good" movie.
#11- Keeper
[Watched in theaters]
This is Osgood Perkins' second theatrical feature this year (after The Monkey) and a lot like that one, this is just kind of fine? Idk, I really liked Longlegs (as everyone knows) but I'm starting to wonder if Perkins is in the Luca Guadagnino camp of just having a singular fluke of a movie because I just am not sitting with his other stuff the way I did the one movie I really enjoyed. That said, I like The Monkey and Keeper significantly more than I do Queer or Bones and All, so I'm not comparing the quality of their movies, more so their one "masterpiece" (Longlegs and Challengers) is more of a fluke than a show of consistency.
Keeper is clearly a movie made quickly during the strikes using all Canadian artists so that they can avoid the writers or SAG-AFTRA regulations and it feels like that. This has some solid tension building in the first act of the movie where you really wonder what it's building to, if it's supernatural, if there's something up with the cabin, or the boyfriend, with Tatiana Maslany's character, but by the end of the movie, they rush into a really confusing reveal that doesn't excite or engage you because there was zero way to piece it together beforehand, it comes straight out of nowhere and doesn't satisfy at all. I think the movie has good elements, it's beautiful to look at, the score and sets are great, and it does have eerie tense moments, but as a whole, yeah, it's not a keeper for me.
#10- Wicked: For Good
[Watched in theaters]
I joked that it's Wicked act two, but yeah, that's basically exactly what this is. The reason I was excited for this movie despite knowing that act two was famously rushed, with weaker songs, less emotion, etc. than act one of Wicked was that the movie was two and a half hours long and I had hoped they'd take that time to address the issues of this long-running musical and make part two something unique and special. Unfortunately, aside from adding two pretty forgettable songs, I don't think they did anything differently or better here from the stage musical and it ended up making Wicked: For Good just kind of a forgettable second half of a story I really loved the first half of.
The stuff that worked in the first movie still works here, they shot them back to back so that makes sense. The world is still bright and colorful and the real sets still look fantastic, the cinematography is still good, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are still incredibly talented vocalists, but a lot of the other stuff just didn't work for me. The music is weaker (we knew this) but the new songs add nothing at all. The connections to The Wizard of Oz feel forced and unnecessary, the pace is absolutely zipping by at mach f*ck and despite it's length already the movie doesn't take a second to breathe. It's far from the worst movie ever made, hell it made my top 10 of the month, but it's not a movie I think I'll be revisiting where the first part absolutely is.
#09- The Running Man
[Watched in theaters]
Easily one of Edgar Wright's weakest movies which sucks because I think the setup and worldbuilding here are really solid. The idea of a dystopian game show where poor people compete in a death competition for the entertainment of the nation isn't exactly the most original thing in the world at this point in our media consumption, but this story is one of the OGs so it's not on Wright that things like Hunger Games exist. That said, this movie absolutely falls off a cliff in the latter part of the second half when Powell's character kidnaps a random civilian and then we just see a messy finale that I didn't care about in the slightest.
The performances here are not great ever. Glen Powell has impressed me in the past with Top Gun: Maverick, Hit Man, and Twisters but this was not his strongest outing for me. Josh Brolin is also pretty meh, as is pretty much the whole cast. I liked Michael Cera's short bit and I really liked Coleman Domingo, but really, outside of that nobody stood out to me here and this movie just became a whatever sci-fi action dystopian movie to slot in with all the rest of them. For Edgar Wright, the man needs a win because his last few movies haven't been great and while this is watchable and entertaining enough (hence why it's this high) it's not a great movie by any stretch and definitely not one you need to rush to. Catch it on Prime Video in 3 months if anything.
#08- Nuremberg
[Watched in theaters]
Nuremberg is the type of November historical drama that gets released to try to soak up any and all Oscar buzz that it can before it ultimately gets left behind and entirely forgotten about. That's not to say it's bad, I actually think the jump between #9 and #8 is a pretty hefty one and this movie is worth checking out for sure if you're a history person, but at the same time, it's a heavy watch without the gusto of a real awards contendor.
Rami Malek is solid here though his characterization is a bit off for me. He starts off as a Maverick-type character wearing a cool bomber jacket and being all "too cool for school" but he kind of becomes a sniveling dork by the end of it. Russel Crowe does his accent (not his best accent, not his best German accent, not even a German accent, just the accent he does in every movie that he does that is vaguely "foreign") but his imposing figure and gentle persona work for the character. The plot reminded me a lot of Mindhunter (Netflix, bring it back for a third season, I beg you) but instead of interviewing serial killers Malek is interviewing actual Nazi party members. Unfortunately, I think it humanizes the Nazis too much and even though you get to see a lot of reasons why these people deserved everything they got, it's framed too much as a "they were bad people but still people" and not enough like "they should've been drawn and quartered like the absolute scum they are." Idk, I can't empathize with Nazis. A solid historical drama, but not my favorite movie by any stretch.
#07- Sisu: Road to Revenge
[Watched in theaters]
Now if you want a movie where Nazis get their sh*t rocked, Sisu is a good one. This one is a sequel though, one that has to go bigger and better and also switch the bad guys to the Soviets rather than the Nazis. That said, it's still a blast to watch with its explosions and graphic murder. There's next to no dialogue here, very little happens besides one long chase sequence and a ton of violence, but despite my best efforts and my cinematic taste, I am still a guy and I still sometimes like when things go "boom."
#06- Now You See Me: Now You Don't
[Watched in theaters]
Guilty pleasure franchise alert! The Now You See Me series is not a particularly great one, but man have I always loved watching them. It's like if you took Ocean's Eleven and just made it so stupid and that's awesome. This movie does have that legacy sequel issue of way too many characters being here for no real good reason and I think they probably could've cut the roles of the original cast down to just cameos because I actually really liked the new trio and I think their dynamic with Jesse Eisenberg as the New Horsemen or whatever could've been really strong. Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, and Justice Smith (shockingly enough) have the best moments in this movie and I really liked their presence and I think if this franchise continues on, they should be the main focal point with the other horsemen maybe showing up periodically. Jesse Eisenberg could be a good mentor for them kind of filling their Morgan Freeman role, and this could continue on as the dumbest fun heist franchise out there.
It's not "good" but it is good. It's a good time at the theater, the magic battle where they play off of each others' tricks is a blast, there's some great moments of action in here, it's just the kind of movie I enjoy turning my brain off for, and sometimes that's just what the doctor orders.
#05- Eternity
[Watched in theaters]
This is the movie A Big Bold Beautiful Journey earlier this year thought it was. It's a heartfelt but also hilarious romp through the meaning of life, love, memory, and everything else. It poses interesting questions about eternity and about life and about lost love while still having a lot of fun with its premise. The logic really doesn't always work out and you can easily nitpick it to death if you want to, but the heart and core messaging of the movie was really strong and I really enjoyed it. It was a good month for the cast of The Holdovers because Dominic Sessa was in Now You See Me and DaVine Joy Randolph was in this and both of them were absolute standouts of their movies. Now we just need a killer Paul Giamatti role and I'll be satisfied.
#04- Zootopia 2
[Watched in theaters]
The newest release and one I was really impressed by. I don't love the original Zootopia, it's kind of a mess that beats you over the head with a message while not really understanding what it's analogy actually does under scrutiny. Zootopia 2 for me though really rectified that and made for a movie I actually liked a lot more than the original. This focuses less on a thinly veiled racism allegory and much more on prejudice and how the ruling class can paint a group of people in a poor light for their own personal gain and that works a lot better.
The movie is filled to the brim with fun and colorful characters and while most of the beloved first film characters show up (Flash, Clawhauser, Mr. Big, etc.) they are used really well and not forced into roles that didn't work. We also get some great new characters like Gary De Snake played by Ke Huy Quan, Andy Samberg's Lynxley brother who I liked a lot, Patrick Warburton's mayor character, and the beaver who I can see absolutely becoming grating once the Facebook moms get ahold of her but for now I did enjoy in the movie.
This movie is also chock full of reference humor that WORKS. None of it feels like a Family Guy cutaway gag and instead it's built into the story really well. There's a great homage to The Shining both visually and in the score, a fun blink and you miss it Silence of the Lambs moment, and probably tons of others I missed and will have to catch on a rewatch. Really, this is Disney's best since Encanto at least and if they do more movies of this quality, maybe they can get back on track.
#03- Frankenstein
[Watched on Netflix]
I won't lie, even as writing this I'm thinking about swapping it and Zootopia, not because this is bad but because I didn't love it as much as I appreciate it. Guillermo Del Toro is a master and I definitely like a lot about this movie. The style, aesthetics, cinematography, sets, all of it is truly breathtaking, but the story itself didn't hit exactly the way I wanted it to.
All of the performances are good, they're strong, they're fine, but none of them really stood out to me as exceptional, even Jacob Elordi's monster who was probably the best part of the movie but still not FANTASTIC the way a lot of people are raving about. Add onto that I did not care about the romance AT ALL and I think poor Mia Goth was entirely wasted here. The movie is good, very good in fact, but at the same time not one I'll really return to.
#02- Predator: Badlands
[Watched in theaters]
I freaking LOVED this movie. It was the perfect combination of Predator action, survival monster movie, and corporate horror that just worked for me on all levels. Honestly I don't even have much to say about it other than I really just loved this thing. I'm getting tired of writing this and I just say go see it.
#01- Train Dreams
[Watched on Netflix]
Train Dreams was the biggest surprise of the year for me so far. This meditation on life and loss is so beautifully made, adding in the emotions and cinematography which are truly masterful. This is a must watch, but definitely don't watch after a sad event in your life because, speaking from experience, it will absolutely WRECK you. (For those worried, I'm fine, just lost an animal at work the day I watched this. It happens, he was ancient and lived a good life, just a bad combo).
==============================================================================
With that, we enter the last month of the year, the big boy, Father Christmas itself and man do I have some huge hype movies coming out soon. Wake Up Dead Man is easily one of my most anticipated of the year and I'm stoked for it, Avatar: Fire and Ash is part of a franchise I don't love but I do love seeing on the big screen, Hamnet is this weekend and I'm stoked for it as is the second spoof movie of the year in Fackham Hall, then have Marty Supreme and The Testament of Ann Lee to round out the month of stuff I can't wait to see. See you all then!
[Watched in theaters]
I joked that it's Wicked act two, but yeah, that's basically exactly what this is. The reason I was excited for this movie despite knowing that act two was famously rushed, with weaker songs, less emotion, etc. than act one of Wicked was that the movie was two and a half hours long and I had hoped they'd take that time to address the issues of this long-running musical and make part two something unique and special. Unfortunately, aside from adding two pretty forgettable songs, I don't think they did anything differently or better here from the stage musical and it ended up making Wicked: For Good just kind of a forgettable second half of a story I really loved the first half of.
The stuff that worked in the first movie still works here, they shot them back to back so that makes sense. The world is still bright and colorful and the real sets still look fantastic, the cinematography is still good, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are still incredibly talented vocalists, but a lot of the other stuff just didn't work for me. The music is weaker (we knew this) but the new songs add nothing at all. The connections to The Wizard of Oz feel forced and unnecessary, the pace is absolutely zipping by at mach f*ck and despite it's length already the movie doesn't take a second to breathe. It's far from the worst movie ever made, hell it made my top 10 of the month, but it's not a movie I think I'll be revisiting where the first part absolutely is.
#09- The Running Man
[Watched in theaters]
Easily one of Edgar Wright's weakest movies which sucks because I think the setup and worldbuilding here are really solid. The idea of a dystopian game show where poor people compete in a death competition for the entertainment of the nation isn't exactly the most original thing in the world at this point in our media consumption, but this story is one of the OGs so it's not on Wright that things like Hunger Games exist. That said, this movie absolutely falls off a cliff in the latter part of the second half when Powell's character kidnaps a random civilian and then we just see a messy finale that I didn't care about in the slightest.
The performances here are not great ever. Glen Powell has impressed me in the past with Top Gun: Maverick, Hit Man, and Twisters but this was not his strongest outing for me. Josh Brolin is also pretty meh, as is pretty much the whole cast. I liked Michael Cera's short bit and I really liked Coleman Domingo, but really, outside of that nobody stood out to me here and this movie just became a whatever sci-fi action dystopian movie to slot in with all the rest of them. For Edgar Wright, the man needs a win because his last few movies haven't been great and while this is watchable and entertaining enough (hence why it's this high) it's not a great movie by any stretch and definitely not one you need to rush to. Catch it on Prime Video in 3 months if anything.
#08- Nuremberg
[Watched in theaters]
Nuremberg is the type of November historical drama that gets released to try to soak up any and all Oscar buzz that it can before it ultimately gets left behind and entirely forgotten about. That's not to say it's bad, I actually think the jump between #9 and #8 is a pretty hefty one and this movie is worth checking out for sure if you're a history person, but at the same time, it's a heavy watch without the gusto of a real awards contendor.
Rami Malek is solid here though his characterization is a bit off for me. He starts off as a Maverick-type character wearing a cool bomber jacket and being all "too cool for school" but he kind of becomes a sniveling dork by the end of it. Russel Crowe does his accent (not his best accent, not his best German accent, not even a German accent, just the accent he does in every movie that he does that is vaguely "foreign") but his imposing figure and gentle persona work for the character. The plot reminded me a lot of Mindhunter (Netflix, bring it back for a third season, I beg you) but instead of interviewing serial killers Malek is interviewing actual Nazi party members. Unfortunately, I think it humanizes the Nazis too much and even though you get to see a lot of reasons why these people deserved everything they got, it's framed too much as a "they were bad people but still people" and not enough like "they should've been drawn and quartered like the absolute scum they are." Idk, I can't empathize with Nazis. A solid historical drama, but not my favorite movie by any stretch.
#07- Sisu: Road to Revenge
[Watched in theaters]
Now if you want a movie where Nazis get their sh*t rocked, Sisu is a good one. This one is a sequel though, one that has to go bigger and better and also switch the bad guys to the Soviets rather than the Nazis. That said, it's still a blast to watch with its explosions and graphic murder. There's next to no dialogue here, very little happens besides one long chase sequence and a ton of violence, but despite my best efforts and my cinematic taste, I am still a guy and I still sometimes like when things go "boom."
#06- Now You See Me: Now You Don't
[Watched in theaters]
Guilty pleasure franchise alert! The Now You See Me series is not a particularly great one, but man have I always loved watching them. It's like if you took Ocean's Eleven and just made it so stupid and that's awesome. This movie does have that legacy sequel issue of way too many characters being here for no real good reason and I think they probably could've cut the roles of the original cast down to just cameos because I actually really liked the new trio and I think their dynamic with Jesse Eisenberg as the New Horsemen or whatever could've been really strong. Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, and Justice Smith (shockingly enough) have the best moments in this movie and I really liked their presence and I think if this franchise continues on, they should be the main focal point with the other horsemen maybe showing up periodically. Jesse Eisenberg could be a good mentor for them kind of filling their Morgan Freeman role, and this could continue on as the dumbest fun heist franchise out there.
It's not "good" but it is good. It's a good time at the theater, the magic battle where they play off of each others' tricks is a blast, there's some great moments of action in here, it's just the kind of movie I enjoy turning my brain off for, and sometimes that's just what the doctor orders.
#05- Eternity
[Watched in theaters]
This is the movie A Big Bold Beautiful Journey earlier this year thought it was. It's a heartfelt but also hilarious romp through the meaning of life, love, memory, and everything else. It poses interesting questions about eternity and about life and about lost love while still having a lot of fun with its premise. The logic really doesn't always work out and you can easily nitpick it to death if you want to, but the heart and core messaging of the movie was really strong and I really enjoyed it. It was a good month for the cast of The Holdovers because Dominic Sessa was in Now You See Me and DaVine Joy Randolph was in this and both of them were absolute standouts of their movies. Now we just need a killer Paul Giamatti role and I'll be satisfied.
#04- Zootopia 2
[Watched in theaters]
The newest release and one I was really impressed by. I don't love the original Zootopia, it's kind of a mess that beats you over the head with a message while not really understanding what it's analogy actually does under scrutiny. Zootopia 2 for me though really rectified that and made for a movie I actually liked a lot more than the original. This focuses less on a thinly veiled racism allegory and much more on prejudice and how the ruling class can paint a group of people in a poor light for their own personal gain and that works a lot better.
The movie is filled to the brim with fun and colorful characters and while most of the beloved first film characters show up (Flash, Clawhauser, Mr. Big, etc.) they are used really well and not forced into roles that didn't work. We also get some great new characters like Gary De Snake played by Ke Huy Quan, Andy Samberg's Lynxley brother who I liked a lot, Patrick Warburton's mayor character, and the beaver who I can see absolutely becoming grating once the Facebook moms get ahold of her but for now I did enjoy in the movie.
This movie is also chock full of reference humor that WORKS. None of it feels like a Family Guy cutaway gag and instead it's built into the story really well. There's a great homage to The Shining both visually and in the score, a fun blink and you miss it Silence of the Lambs moment, and probably tons of others I missed and will have to catch on a rewatch. Really, this is Disney's best since Encanto at least and if they do more movies of this quality, maybe they can get back on track.
#03- Frankenstein
[Watched on Netflix]
I won't lie, even as writing this I'm thinking about swapping it and Zootopia, not because this is bad but because I didn't love it as much as I appreciate it. Guillermo Del Toro is a master and I definitely like a lot about this movie. The style, aesthetics, cinematography, sets, all of it is truly breathtaking, but the story itself didn't hit exactly the way I wanted it to.
All of the performances are good, they're strong, they're fine, but none of them really stood out to me as exceptional, even Jacob Elordi's monster who was probably the best part of the movie but still not FANTASTIC the way a lot of people are raving about. Add onto that I did not care about the romance AT ALL and I think poor Mia Goth was entirely wasted here. The movie is good, very good in fact, but at the same time not one I'll really return to.
#02- Predator: Badlands
[Watched in theaters]
I freaking LOVED this movie. It was the perfect combination of Predator action, survival monster movie, and corporate horror that just worked for me on all levels. Honestly I don't even have much to say about it other than I really just loved this thing. I'm getting tired of writing this and I just say go see it.
#01- Train Dreams
[Watched on Netflix]
Train Dreams was the biggest surprise of the year for me so far. This meditation on life and loss is so beautifully made, adding in the emotions and cinematography which are truly masterful. This is a must watch, but definitely don't watch after a sad event in your life because, speaking from experience, it will absolutely WRECK you. (For those worried, I'm fine, just lost an animal at work the day I watched this. It happens, he was ancient and lived a good life, just a bad combo).
==============================================================================
With that, we enter the last month of the year, the big boy, Father Christmas itself and man do I have some huge hype movies coming out soon. Wake Up Dead Man is easily one of my most anticipated of the year and I'm stoked for it, Avatar: Fire and Ash is part of a franchise I don't love but I do love seeing on the big screen, Hamnet is this weekend and I'm stoked for it as is the second spoof movie of the year in Fackham Hall, then have Marty Supreme and The Testament of Ann Lee to round out the month of stuff I can't wait to see. See you all then!
Half/CartoonHalf/Human
Well-Known Member
I’ve had this question for a while that I’ve wanted to ask you for a while, but have never got around to it, but what i’ve quoted makes it the perfect time to finally ask it; What are some other major movies that you’ve missed throughout the year?
So far I've seen 260 new releases so I've seen just about all of the big names by now, so this list will be ones that had wide releases/some awards buzz that I've not caught yet.
Magazine Dreams- This was huge news before Jonathan Majors got in trouble and much less important now since it basically got buried, but it was a big enough name that I've not caught yet.
Sketch + The Unbreakable Boy- I typically skip Angel Studios/Angel Studios-adjacent movies so even though Sketch was received pretty well, it's not one I've gotten around to seeing. Plus The Unbreakable Boy's marketing was so awful I'll likely never watch it because why would I.
Rental Family- This will be rectified next week, but it's a big enough one I haven't gotten to yet.
Regretting You- I do not care in the slightest about Colleen Hoover adaptations so I skipped this one. My girlfriend say it with her friends and said "you'd hate it" so I guess I made a good call there.
Any Anime Special Film- A lot have come out this year, Chainsaw Man, Dan Da Dan, others I am forgetting. I usually skip these as even though they do well, I'm not an anime guy and 99% of the time these are compilations of multiple episodes of a show I've not seen, is 600 seasons in, and I will never understand.
Sentimental Value- I had tickets in hand to this in Boston but had to reschedule and I have no idea if it'll come closer to me at any point. It's a decent Oscar contender apparently so I hope it does come closer.
So yeah, not a ton of huge names or anything but those are some I've either chosen to skip or haven't gotten around to yet.
Pi on my Cake
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
I'm happy to see Eternity pretty high on the list. It's probably next on my list (possibly Now You See Me so I don't miss it before it leaves theaters).
Well, next on my list after fnaf 2 tonight. I don't have high hopes that it will be good, but I do have high hopes that it will once again be a movie full of fun Easter eggs, cool puppetry/animatronics, Josh Hutcherson, and Matthew Lillard. 4 things that I enjoy seeing in movies lol. Plus, horror as a genre has always thrived on being more "fun to watch" than "good." Good Horror and Dumb Horror are basically 2 entirely separate genres in my mind
Pi on my Cake
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
I feel like FNAF 2 was a definite improvement over the first... until the last like 20 minutes where it kind of anti-climactically falls apart into just goofy fanservice and rushed sequel set up
Though for most of the movie i feel like it did a much better job both adding more horror and adding more cheesy comedy (Wayne Knight as the just the worst teacher ever was a blast). A bit more schlocky in a good way compared to the self-serious tone of the first film. Snappier, scarier, and funnier. Just wish it stuck the landing instead of kind of falling apart
Though I'll note that turning off my "Guy who appreciates movies as an art form and wants them to be good" brain for a second and just speaking as a game fan, the ending and all the teases for the future was a lot of fun and very exciting. Plus some fun Scream Easter eggs snuck in too. And seeing it on premier night was a blast with how many people showed up in cosplay. Just like with the first movie, the crowd was up there with force awakens and endgame for the energy in the theater lol
Lizzy May Bee
Well-Known Member
When I watched the first movie on streaming I drew Markiplier on a sticky note and stuck him on the corner of my screen so it would look like he was reacting to the movie, so I guess the conclusion of the story is I’ll either wait for the sequel to come to streaming or just stick a picture of Mark on my eye
Pi on my Cake
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
That's so funny because me and my friends did that exact same thing with the Markiplier sticky note lol
Lizzy May Bee
Well-Known Member
Oh no…
I know I’m famous for my adoration of video games so obviously you’d think FNAF 2 would be right up my alley…
Nah but seriously, absolute poop from a butt for me personally. It really made me appreciate the first one because that one I didn’t have to fight falling asleep at least
I know I’m famous for my adoration of video games so obviously you’d think FNAF 2 would be right up my alley…
Nah but seriously, absolute poop from a butt for me personally. It really made me appreciate the first one because that one I didn’t have to fight falling asleep at least
Half/CartoonHalf/Human
Well-Known Member
Video game adaptations aren’t your thing, are they?
Lizzy May Bee
Well-Known Member
I guess you're just a fake gamer smh
Rarely. Bad movies are also not my thing