I haven’t fully decided where I stand on Weapons yet. May need a second viewing before I can even rate it
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
The Imagineering Movie Discussion Thread
- Thread starter PerGron
- Start date
TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
Just did a rewatch, and it elevated the movie from a 7.5/10 to a 9/10 for me. Definitely worth a second viewing. There's so much that clicks into place from the get go when you know what's going on.
I’m definitely there with you after a rewatch
TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
Just gonna drop this here 
TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
Really looking forward to doing my ranking this month. August has been truly special. One of those rare moments in film where every week there's stuff coming out that's genuinely fresh and exciting. It's crazy to think on top of all the awesome stuff we've gotten this month there's still a new Darren Arronofski movie releasing next week. Freaking wild!
Not only have the new releases been awesome, I feel like we're in a golden age for re-releases. Seeing Shin Godzilla for the first time in 4K on the big screen was one of the most memorable movie theater experiences I've had all year.
Not only have the new releases been awesome, I feel like we're in a golden age for re-releases. Seeing Shin Godzilla for the first time in 4K on the big screen was one of the most memorable movie theater experiences I've had all year.
Hell we even got an Aronofsky rerelease this month in Black Swan. Of course I missed it but it was there
TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
I legitimately think August 2025 might be my single favorite movie month since this thread started. There's not a lot here that's going to be considered a classic years down the line, but pretty much everything that came out was at least interesting. I was genuinely excited for each week's batch of new releases and I hope this sets a standard for August being a showcase for more experimental genre fare. Let's get into it.
11. Freakier Friday
The one movie this month I can say was legitimately bad, but really what was anyone expecting from this? God bless Jamie Lee Curtis, she's really trying. Between putting out a killer dramatic performance in The Bear and reminding us all how awesome she was in the original Freaky Friday in this movie it really feels like she's on an apology tour for winning an Oscar for the wrong movie. Seriously though, Jamie Lee Curtis recreating her famous "screaming at the mirror about how old she looks" bit is about ALL this movie has going for it.
I think we might have had something here had the two daughters not also gotten mixed up in the body swap antics. Their presence made the plot feel really jumbled and the two teen actresses were so obviously a few classes below Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. Good to see Lohan turning in some solid work here and Curtis is always reliably hilarious, but there's too much other plot surrounding the two of them to make this movie even remotely satisfying between brief flashes of Member Berries induced serotonin hits. Definitely the least memorable thing of the month and it was SOOO satisfying to see Weapons curb stomp it at the box office.
10. Relay
Relay is one of those "they don't make movies like this anymore" mid budget thrillers that...Frankly...kind of serves as a reminder of why they don't make them anymore. There's nothing about the movie that's actively bad, but there's just a sense of dullness and malaise in the pacing that kind of ruins the otherwise intriguing premise. Honestly there were a lot of moving plot threads and by the end I thought we'd committed to one too many twists to make the end result actually satisfying (a reoccurring problem I had with a couple movies this month, including Freakier Friday to an extent). I like seeing mid budget stuff hit theaters, but this is such a "serious movie for serious adults" coded affair that it just barely has any actual personality. It has a couple memorable performances but is overall pretty damn mid.
9. Nobody 2
Oh yes, the classic "sequel to a cult classic comedy that just kind of...does the first movie again...". Nobody 2 is definitely a step up from the bottom two of the month but still not really anything that substantial. Bob Odenkirk is predictably entertaining as hell here, and Colin Hanks turns in such a good performance as the corrupt small town sheriff that I really wish he was the main villain instead of Sharon Stone who was WAAAY too over the top and cartoony for the movie's good. Seriously though, props to Colin Hanks because he's slowly morphing into a true second coming of his father when it comes to screen presence.
I did really enjoy some elements of this movie. I think the original had the slightly better story but I liked the setting and action in this one more, so it kind of evens itself out. I'm a total sucker for the run down theme park vibe so I loved all the parts that took advantage of that. There's also a couple surprisingly effective genuine arcs for minor characters that don't often get that kind of depth in movies of this caliber. All in all I had a really good time in the theater with this one but it's ultimately a totally disposable little comedy action movie that doesn't have nearly the same cultural impact as the first film which I already wasn't that big of a fan of.
8. Caught Stealing
I totally agree with Jeremy Jahns, this movie was a total "shadow drop". It's appropriate that I saw Snatch for the first time this month during a movie night as this movie radiates early Guy Richie energy which is really unique for Arronofsky. I really like the first and last act of this, but the "too over convoluted for its own good" criticism rears its head once again. Unlike Relay I could follow all the twists just fine, I just think the cast of characters here was too packed resulting in a lot of good performances pretty much competing for screen time.
Austin Butler does a solid job at a more "straight man" role than were used to seeing him in, and his character arc from beginning to end was surprisingly poignant for a movie this frenetic. Matt Smith is fantastic and really memorable in the limited screen time he has, while Regina King steals the show in a role that has a genuinely effective twist to it. I think my biggest problem with this movie is that the situation snowballs on itself so much that it ceases to be any kind of believable and just sort of devolves into cartoon chaos by the end, fortunately not sacrificing Butler's arc and character development in the process. This is a solid 7/10 movie and I certainly enjoyed it a hell of a lot more than the misery fest that was The Whale, but it's far from being an Arronofski classic.
7. The Knife
Out of everything that came out this month, The Knife is the movie I was the most mixed on. It's a lean mean "bottle episode" thriller that does a fantastic job holding the tension all the way through the very limited run time. Melissa Leo delivers a career defining performance here and it was utterly surreal seeing the boyfriend from Freakier Friday as a racist cop haha. Ultimately I SHOULD love this movie, but a couple things drag it down. For one I think the police escalate the situation to an absolutely comical degree in record time.
I get that the movie is trying to make a commentary on racial profiling, but how INSTANTLY the situation turned into an all hands on deck crime scene over one dead homeless lady really stretched the line of realism for me. There's also a straight up INSANE decision a character makes that kind of defines the whole movie's plot but was a pretty ridiculous "why the hell would you do that??!?!" moment. This movie is definitely worth watching for the pressure cooker tension, I just wish the mechanics of the plot were a bit less sloppy.
6. The Bad Guys 2
The most "Yea, that was pretty good!" movie of the summer haha. I don't have anything great to say about this movie but I don't really have anything negative either. It's just overall a really solid little heist movie that sadly made very little impact in a year that's already been brutal for theatrical animation. I think the action and heist stuff in this movie is fantastic and a step up from the first film. These movies really do just radiate chaotic Looney Tunes energy and the amount of craziness happening on screen at any given point in the action sequences are a joy to behold.
While the villains are definitely well done, I think I'm kind of in the minority in thinking Marmalade was overall the stronger antagonist and even in his limited screen time here I still found him more memorable than the new "Bad Girl" characters. The biggest step down from the first movie is definitely the lack of interpersonal drama between the titular Bad Guys which I thought gave the first film an almost Pixar level of sincerity. Snake in particular is really dumbed down and Flanderized in this one which is a shame. Sam Rockwell is still smooth as hell, Mr. Shark's costume antics are still hilarious, and Awkwafina is actually tolerable, there's just not nearly as much depth here. I feel like they traded off the individual dynamics between the team members for more focus on Wolf and Diane's will they/won't they dynamic which just did not land for me at all. It's a decent time and a visual spectacle, but I think there's a reason this barely made a blip on the pop culture radar.
5. Honey Don't!
I liked this movie A LOT more than most people. It still suffers from that "too convoluted for its own good" issue that keeps coming up, but I still had a blast with this. Margaret Qualley is an absolute superstar at this point in her career and I'm really looking forward to seeing where she goes from here. As someone who's been binging all of It's Always Sunny over the past year seeing Charlie Day in a supporting role was delightful. A t this point I think I associate Chris Evans more for playing smarmy villains than playing Captain America which is a really cool evolution in his career. I also think the title sequence here was an all timer along with having an awesome bookend with the opening and closing.
I was NOT a fan of the twist in this at all, and thought it convoluted an otherwise really enjoyable character study. Still, this movie in a lot of ways feels like a lighter and more fun version of the "small town pressure cooker" atmosphere Eddington was trying to go for. I think it's a step up from last year's Drive Away Dolls and I'm really looking forward to seeing the last piece of Ethan Coen's "Lesbian B Movie" trilogy especially because these films REALLY know how to use Margaret Qualley and I'm stoked to see her next character.
4. The Toxic Avenger
I'm not that well versed in Troma and have never seen the original, but I still had a blast with this. I think it's great that the cast consists of genuine A listers while the movie itself still sticks very closely to its cheesy B horror movie vibes. There's some awesome laughs to be had here, a lot of it coming from throwaway background dialogue ("Oh my god, that dude just saved a cat!!") Kevin Bacon and Elijah Woods are serious standouts here, and I think the film should be a shoe in for a Best Makeup nomination at the Golden Tikis. There's not really a lot to this thing. Either you're not going to be on its wavelength or you're going to have a ton of fun with it. There's really no in between. It's about as deep as a kiddie pool which is why I can't really put it any higher, but it still resulted in one of the most fun movie theater experiences of the month. There was a single group of like five or six people in the theater with me but they were clearly Troma super fans and were eating it the hell up. I loved feeding off that energy!
3. The Roses
Easily the biggest surprise of the month for me, I really loved this thing. It's a slow burn pressure cooker of a divorce comedy, but that slow burn really pays off in one of the most genuinely insane final acts we've seen all year that comes complete with a total mic drop of an ending. Olivia Coleman and Bennedict Cumberbach are both on their absolute A game here, and unlike most other movies this month I thought the script was razor tight and everything fell into place within the story in a really satisfying way. I think the biggest issue I have is with the supporting characters. Andy Samberg is weirdly toned down from the kind of performance he usually gives, while Kate McKennon feels like she just stumbled off the set of one of her more high concept goofball comedies. Neither of them fit the movie that great at all, but the lead performances are so fantastic that it really doesn't matter that much. Definitely curious to check out the original War of the Roses after seeing this, as I hear it's even darker.
2. The Naked Gun
I don't even know what to say here. It's THE return of the screwball comedy. I don't even think this is the most rewatchable movie by any stretch, but that in theater experience the first time simply can't be beat. Unlike The Toxic Avenger, the theater was PACKED and everyone in the audience was locked the hell in. Liam Neason and Pamela Anderson make an awesome romantic pairing and I think it's adorable that they actually fell in love on set. Neason lives up to every inch of promise he had in his Seth McFarlane roles and delivers a comedic performance for the ages, and Anderson does a fantastic job matching his energy. There's not a ton of depth here and honestly even on a second viewing some of the gags didn't hit as hard, but this was still just such a triumphant return to form for the spoof movie and kind of EXACTLY what we needed as a culture in this particular point in time.
1. Weapons
As I said in my initial impressions, I think Weapons is a movie that practically requires a second viewing. Holy cow, once I started the movie again knowing all the pieces of the puzzle it just got elevated to one of the absolute best of the year. Were truly living in a golden age of horror, and while I think Sinners is probably the better overall movie Weapons might be the best straight up horror movie of the year while still having the bonkers genre bending especially in the comedy department. There's a ton of memorable comedic beats but also a ton of genuinely freaky moments and the whole thing comes together into an absurdly satisfying package.
Everything I said about the last act of The Roses can be amplified tenfold here. I can't get over the very last line of narration before we cut to credits. I think a lot of people are razor focused on the insanity that comes right before that...and make no mistake, THE chase scene is just absolute CINEMA in the same way something like the worm ride in Dune Part Two was from last year. Still, that last line of the movie just genuinely haunts me and really puts such a brilliant punctuation on the themes of the story and I don't think enough people are talking about just how hard it hits. The cast is all brilliant, the non linear storytelling...while I worry might beome a one trick pony if Zack Cregger continues to implement it going forward, worked really well here, and pound for pound this is just a much more satisfying movie over the already very good Barbarian. It might go down as an all time great sophomore outing for a promising new voice in the genre.
The one movie this month I can say was legitimately bad, but really what was anyone expecting from this? God bless Jamie Lee Curtis, she's really trying. Between putting out a killer dramatic performance in The Bear and reminding us all how awesome she was in the original Freaky Friday in this movie it really feels like she's on an apology tour for winning an Oscar for the wrong movie. Seriously though, Jamie Lee Curtis recreating her famous "screaming at the mirror about how old she looks" bit is about ALL this movie has going for it.
I think we might have had something here had the two daughters not also gotten mixed up in the body swap antics. Their presence made the plot feel really jumbled and the two teen actresses were so obviously a few classes below Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. Good to see Lohan turning in some solid work here and Curtis is always reliably hilarious, but there's too much other plot surrounding the two of them to make this movie even remotely satisfying between brief flashes of Member Berries induced serotonin hits. Definitely the least memorable thing of the month and it was SOOO satisfying to see Weapons curb stomp it at the box office.
10. Relay
Relay is one of those "they don't make movies like this anymore" mid budget thrillers that...Frankly...kind of serves as a reminder of why they don't make them anymore. There's nothing about the movie that's actively bad, but there's just a sense of dullness and malaise in the pacing that kind of ruins the otherwise intriguing premise. Honestly there were a lot of moving plot threads and by the end I thought we'd committed to one too many twists to make the end result actually satisfying (a reoccurring problem I had with a couple movies this month, including Freakier Friday to an extent). I like seeing mid budget stuff hit theaters, but this is such a "serious movie for serious adults" coded affair that it just barely has any actual personality. It has a couple memorable performances but is overall pretty damn mid.
9. Nobody 2
Oh yes, the classic "sequel to a cult classic comedy that just kind of...does the first movie again...". Nobody 2 is definitely a step up from the bottom two of the month but still not really anything that substantial. Bob Odenkirk is predictably entertaining as hell here, and Colin Hanks turns in such a good performance as the corrupt small town sheriff that I really wish he was the main villain instead of Sharon Stone who was WAAAY too over the top and cartoony for the movie's good. Seriously though, props to Colin Hanks because he's slowly morphing into a true second coming of his father when it comes to screen presence.
I did really enjoy some elements of this movie. I think the original had the slightly better story but I liked the setting and action in this one more, so it kind of evens itself out. I'm a total sucker for the run down theme park vibe so I loved all the parts that took advantage of that. There's also a couple surprisingly effective genuine arcs for minor characters that don't often get that kind of depth in movies of this caliber. All in all I had a really good time in the theater with this one but it's ultimately a totally disposable little comedy action movie that doesn't have nearly the same cultural impact as the first film which I already wasn't that big of a fan of.
8. Caught Stealing
I totally agree with Jeremy Jahns, this movie was a total "shadow drop". It's appropriate that I saw Snatch for the first time this month during a movie night as this movie radiates early Guy Richie energy which is really unique for Arronofsky. I really like the first and last act of this, but the "too over convoluted for its own good" criticism rears its head once again. Unlike Relay I could follow all the twists just fine, I just think the cast of characters here was too packed resulting in a lot of good performances pretty much competing for screen time.
Austin Butler does a solid job at a more "straight man" role than were used to seeing him in, and his character arc from beginning to end was surprisingly poignant for a movie this frenetic. Matt Smith is fantastic and really memorable in the limited screen time he has, while Regina King steals the show in a role that has a genuinely effective twist to it. I think my biggest problem with this movie is that the situation snowballs on itself so much that it ceases to be any kind of believable and just sort of devolves into cartoon chaos by the end, fortunately not sacrificing Butler's arc and character development in the process. This is a solid 7/10 movie and I certainly enjoyed it a hell of a lot more than the misery fest that was The Whale, but it's far from being an Arronofski classic.
7. The Knife
Out of everything that came out this month, The Knife is the movie I was the most mixed on. It's a lean mean "bottle episode" thriller that does a fantastic job holding the tension all the way through the very limited run time. Melissa Leo delivers a career defining performance here and it was utterly surreal seeing the boyfriend from Freakier Friday as a racist cop haha. Ultimately I SHOULD love this movie, but a couple things drag it down. For one I think the police escalate the situation to an absolutely comical degree in record time.
I get that the movie is trying to make a commentary on racial profiling, but how INSTANTLY the situation turned into an all hands on deck crime scene over one dead homeless lady really stretched the line of realism for me. There's also a straight up INSANE decision a character makes that kind of defines the whole movie's plot but was a pretty ridiculous "why the hell would you do that??!?!" moment. This movie is definitely worth watching for the pressure cooker tension, I just wish the mechanics of the plot were a bit less sloppy.
6. The Bad Guys 2
The most "Yea, that was pretty good!" movie of the summer haha. I don't have anything great to say about this movie but I don't really have anything negative either. It's just overall a really solid little heist movie that sadly made very little impact in a year that's already been brutal for theatrical animation. I think the action and heist stuff in this movie is fantastic and a step up from the first film. These movies really do just radiate chaotic Looney Tunes energy and the amount of craziness happening on screen at any given point in the action sequences are a joy to behold.
While the villains are definitely well done, I think I'm kind of in the minority in thinking Marmalade was overall the stronger antagonist and even in his limited screen time here I still found him more memorable than the new "Bad Girl" characters. The biggest step down from the first movie is definitely the lack of interpersonal drama between the titular Bad Guys which I thought gave the first film an almost Pixar level of sincerity. Snake in particular is really dumbed down and Flanderized in this one which is a shame. Sam Rockwell is still smooth as hell, Mr. Shark's costume antics are still hilarious, and Awkwafina is actually tolerable, there's just not nearly as much depth here. I feel like they traded off the individual dynamics between the team members for more focus on Wolf and Diane's will they/won't they dynamic which just did not land for me at all. It's a decent time and a visual spectacle, but I think there's a reason this barely made a blip on the pop culture radar.
5. Honey Don't!
I liked this movie A LOT more than most people. It still suffers from that "too convoluted for its own good" issue that keeps coming up, but I still had a blast with this. Margaret Qualley is an absolute superstar at this point in her career and I'm really looking forward to seeing where she goes from here. As someone who's been binging all of It's Always Sunny over the past year seeing Charlie Day in a supporting role was delightful. A t this point I think I associate Chris Evans more for playing smarmy villains than playing Captain America which is a really cool evolution in his career. I also think the title sequence here was an all timer along with having an awesome bookend with the opening and closing.
I was NOT a fan of the twist in this at all, and thought it convoluted an otherwise really enjoyable character study. Still, this movie in a lot of ways feels like a lighter and more fun version of the "small town pressure cooker" atmosphere Eddington was trying to go for. I think it's a step up from last year's Drive Away Dolls and I'm really looking forward to seeing the last piece of Ethan Coen's "Lesbian B Movie" trilogy especially because these films REALLY know how to use Margaret Qualley and I'm stoked to see her next character.
4. The Toxic Avenger
I'm not that well versed in Troma and have never seen the original, but I still had a blast with this. I think it's great that the cast consists of genuine A listers while the movie itself still sticks very closely to its cheesy B horror movie vibes. There's some awesome laughs to be had here, a lot of it coming from throwaway background dialogue ("Oh my god, that dude just saved a cat!!") Kevin Bacon and Elijah Woods are serious standouts here, and I think the film should be a shoe in for a Best Makeup nomination at the Golden Tikis. There's not really a lot to this thing. Either you're not going to be on its wavelength or you're going to have a ton of fun with it. There's really no in between. It's about as deep as a kiddie pool which is why I can't really put it any higher, but it still resulted in one of the most fun movie theater experiences of the month. There was a single group of like five or six people in the theater with me but they were clearly Troma super fans and were eating it the hell up. I loved feeding off that energy!
3. The Roses
Easily the biggest surprise of the month for me, I really loved this thing. It's a slow burn pressure cooker of a divorce comedy, but that slow burn really pays off in one of the most genuinely insane final acts we've seen all year that comes complete with a total mic drop of an ending. Olivia Coleman and Bennedict Cumberbach are both on their absolute A game here, and unlike most other movies this month I thought the script was razor tight and everything fell into place within the story in a really satisfying way. I think the biggest issue I have is with the supporting characters. Andy Samberg is weirdly toned down from the kind of performance he usually gives, while Kate McKennon feels like she just stumbled off the set of one of her more high concept goofball comedies. Neither of them fit the movie that great at all, but the lead performances are so fantastic that it really doesn't matter that much. Definitely curious to check out the original War of the Roses after seeing this, as I hear it's even darker.
2. The Naked Gun
I don't even know what to say here. It's THE return of the screwball comedy. I don't even think this is the most rewatchable movie by any stretch, but that in theater experience the first time simply can't be beat. Unlike The Toxic Avenger, the theater was PACKED and everyone in the audience was locked the hell in. Liam Neason and Pamela Anderson make an awesome romantic pairing and I think it's adorable that they actually fell in love on set. Neason lives up to every inch of promise he had in his Seth McFarlane roles and delivers a comedic performance for the ages, and Anderson does a fantastic job matching his energy. There's not a ton of depth here and honestly even on a second viewing some of the gags didn't hit as hard, but this was still just such a triumphant return to form for the spoof movie and kind of EXACTLY what we needed as a culture in this particular point in time.
1. Weapons
As I said in my initial impressions, I think Weapons is a movie that practically requires a second viewing. Holy cow, once I started the movie again knowing all the pieces of the puzzle it just got elevated to one of the absolute best of the year. Were truly living in a golden age of horror, and while I think Sinners is probably the better overall movie Weapons might be the best straight up horror movie of the year while still having the bonkers genre bending especially in the comedy department. There's a ton of memorable comedic beats but also a ton of genuinely freaky moments and the whole thing comes together into an absurdly satisfying package.
Everything I said about the last act of The Roses can be amplified tenfold here. I can't get over the very last line of narration before we cut to credits. I think a lot of people are razor focused on the insanity that comes right before that...and make no mistake, THE chase scene is just absolute CINEMA in the same way something like the worm ride in Dune Part Two was from last year. Still, that last line of the movie just genuinely haunts me and really puts such a brilliant punctuation on the themes of the story and I don't think enough people are talking about just how hard it hits. The cast is all brilliant, the non linear storytelling...while I worry might beome a one trick pony if Zack Cregger continues to implement it going forward, worked really well here, and pound for pound this is just a much more satisfying movie over the already very good Barbarian. It might go down as an all time great sophomore outing for a promising new voice in the genre.
Last edited:
I’ve got a big movie day Monday to finish up the month, but I agree August was incredibly strong, especially compared to July’s very mixed batchI legitimately think August 2025 might be my single favorite movie month since this thread started. There's not a lot here that's going to be considered a classic years down the line, but pretty much everything that came out was at least interesting. I was genuinely excited for each week's batch of new releases and I hope this sets a standard for August being a showcase for more experimental genre fare. Let's get into it.
11. Freakier Friday
The one movie this month I can say was legitimately bad, but really what was anyone expecting from this? God bless Jamie Lee Curtis, she's really trying. Between putting out a killer dramatic performance in The Bear and reminding us all how awesome she was in the original Freaky Friday in this movie it really feels like she's on an apology tour for winning an Oscar for the wrong movie. Seriously though, Jamie Lee Curtis recreating her famous "screaming at the mirror about how old she looks" bit is about ALL this movie has going for it.
I think we might have had something here had the two daughters also got mixed up in the body swap antics. Their presence made the plot feel really jumbled and the two teen actresses were so obviously a few classes below Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. Good to see Lohan turning in some solid work here is Curtis is always reliably hilarious, but there's too much other plot surrounding the two of them to make this movie even remotely satisfying between brief flashes of Member Berries induced serotonin hits. Definitely the least memorable thing of the month and it was SOOO satisfying to see Weapons curb stomp it at the box office.
10. Relay
Relay is one of those "they don't make movies like this anymore" mid budget thrillers that...Frankly...kind of serves as a reminder of why they don't make them anymore. There's nothing about the movie that's actively bad, but there's just a sense of dullness and malaise in the pacing that kind of ruins the otherwise intriguing premise. Honestly there were a lot of moving plot threads and by the end I thought we'd committed to one too many twists to make the end result actually satisfying (a reoccurring problem I had with a couple movies this month, including Freakier Friday to an extent). I like seeing mid budget stuff hit theaters, but this is such a "serious movie for serious adults" coded affair that it just barely has any actual personality. It has a couple memorable performances but is overall pretty damn mid.
9. Nobody 2
Oh yes, the classic "sequel to a cult classic comedy that just kind of...does the first movie again...". Nobody 2 is definitely a step up from the bottom two of the month but still not really anything that substantial. Bob Odenkirk is predictably entertaining as hell here, and Colin Hanks turns in such a good performance as the corrupt small town sheriff that I really wish he was the main villain instead of Sharon Stone who was WAAAY too over the top and cartoony for the movie's good. Seriously though, props to Colin Hanks because he's slowly morphing into a true second coming of his father when it comes to screen presence.
I did really enjoy some elements of this movie. I think the original had the slightly better story but I liked the setting and action in this one more, so it kind of evens itself out. I'm a total sucker for the run down theme park vibe so I loved all the parts that took advantage of that. There's also a couple surprisingly effective genuine arcs for minor characters that don't often get that kind of depth in movies of this caliber. All in all I had a really good time in the theater with this one but it's ultimately a totally disposable little comedy action movie that doesn't have nearly the same cultural impact as the first film which I already wasn't that big of a fan of.
8. Caught Stealing
I totally agree with Jeremy Jahns, this movie was a total "shadow drop". It's appropriate that I saw Snatch for the first time this month during a movie night as this movie radiates early Guy Richie energy which is really unique for Arronofsky. I really like the first and last act of this, but the "too over convoluted for its own good" criticism rears its head once again. Unlike Relay I could follow all the twists just fine, I just think the cast of characters here was too packed resulting in a lot of good performances pretty much competing for screen time.
Austin Butler does a solid job at a more "straight man" role than were used to seeing him in, and his character arc from beginning to end was surprisingly poignant for a movie this frenetic. Matt Smith is fantastic and really memorable in the limited screen time he has, while Regina King steals the show in a role that has a genuinely effective twist to it. I think my biggest problem with this movie is that the situation snowballs on itself so much that it ceases to be any kind of believable and just sort of devolves into cartoon chaos by the end, fortunately not sacrificing Butler's arc and character development in the process. This is a solid 7/10 movie and I certainly enjoyed it a hell of a lot more than the misery fest that was The Whale, but it's far from being an Arronofski classic.
7. The Knife
Out of everything that came out this month, The Knife is the movie I was the most mixed on. It's a lean mean "bottle episode" thriller that does a fantastic job holding the tension all the way through the very limited run time. Melissa Leo delivers a career defining performance here and it was utterly surreal seeing the boyfriend from Freakier Friday as a racist cop haha. Ultimately I SHOULD love this movie, but a couple things drag it down. For one I think the police escalate the situation to an absolutely comical degree in record time.
I get that the movie is trying to make a commentary on racial profiling, but how INSTANTLY the situation turned into an all hands on deck crime scene over one dead homeless lady really stretched the line of realism for me. There's also a straight up INSANE decision a character makes that kind of defines the whole movie's plot but was a pretty ridiculous "why the hell would you do that??!?!" moment. This movie is definitely worth watching for the pressure cooker tension, I just wish the mechanics of the plot were a bit less sloppy.
6. The Bad Guys 2
The most "Yea, that was pretty good!" movie of the summer haha. I don't have anything great to say about this movie but I don't really have anything negative either. It's just overall a really solid little heist movie that sadly made very little impact in a year that's already been brutal for theatrical animation. I think the action and heist stuff in this movie is fantastic and a step up from the first film. These movies really do just radiate chaotic Looney Tunes energy and the amount of craziness happening on screen at any given point in the action sequences are a joy to behold.
While the villains are definitely well done, I think I'm kind of in the minority in thinking Marmalade was overall the stronger antagonist and even in his limited screen time here I still found him more memorable than the new "Bad Girl" characters. The biggest step down from the first movie is definitely the lack of interpersonal drama between the titular Bad Guys which I thought gave the first film an almost Pixar level of sincerity. Snake in particular is really dumbed down and Flanderized in this one which is a shame. Sam Rockwell is still smooth as hell, Mr. Shark's costume antics are still hilarious, and Awkwafina is actually tolerable, there's just not nearly as much depth here. I feel like they traded off the individual dynamics between the team members for more focus on Wolf and Diane's will they/won't they dynamic which just did not land for me at all. It's a decent time and a visual spectacle, but I think there's a reason this barely made a blip on the pop culture radar.
5. Honey Don't!
I liked this movie A LOT more than most people. It still suffers from that "too convoluted for its own good" issue that keeps coming up, but I still had a blast with this. Margaret Qualley is an absolute superstar at this point in her career and I'm really looking forward to seeing where she goes from here. As someone who's been binging all of It's Always Sunny over the past yea seeing Charlie Day in a supporting role was delightful. A t this point I think I associate Chris Evans more for playing smarmy villains than playing Captain America which is a really cool evolution in his career. I also think the title sequence here was an all timer along with having an awesome bookend with the opening and closing.
I was NOT a fan of the twist in this at all, and thought it convoluted an otherwise really enjoyable character study. Still, this movie in a lot of ways feels like a lighter and more fun version of the "small town pressure cooker" atmosphere Eddington was trying to go for. I think it's a step up from last year's Drive Away Dolls and I'm really looking forward to seeing the last piece of Ethan Coen's "Lesbian B Movie" trilogy especially because these films REALLY know how to use Margaret Qualley and I'm stoked to see her next character.
4. The Toxic Avenger
I'm not that well versed in Troma and have never seen the original, but I still had a blast with this. I think it's great that the cast consists of genuine A listers while the movie itself still sticks very closely to its cheesy B horror movie vibes. There's some awesome laughs to be had here, a lot of it coming from throwaway background dialogue ("Oh my god, that dude just saved a cat!!") Kevin Bacon and Elijah Woods are serious standouts here, and I think the film should be a shoe in for a Best Makeup nomination at the Golden Tikis. There's not really a lot to this thing. Either you're not going to be on its wavelength or you're going to have a ton of fun with it. There's really no in between. It's about as deep as a kiddie pool which is why I can't really put it any higher, but it still resulted in one of the most fun movie theater experiences of the month. There was a single group of like five or six people in the theater with me but they were clearly Troma super fans and were eating in the hell up. I loved feeding off that energy!
3. The Roses
Easily the biggest surprise of the month for me, I really loved this thing. It's a slow burn pressure cooker of a divorce comedy, but that slow burn really pays off in one of the most genuinely insane final acts we've seen all year that comes complete with a complete and total mic drop of an ending. Olivia Coleman and Bennedict Cumberbach are both on their absolute A game here, and unlike most other movies this month I thought the script was razor tight and everything fell into place within the story in a really satisfying way. I think the biggest issue I have is with the supporting characters. Andy Samberg is weirdly toned down from the kind of performance he usually gives, while Kate McKennon feels like she just stumbled off the set of one of her more high concept goofball comedies. Neither of them fit the movie that great at all, but the lead performances are so fantastic that it really doesn't matter that much. Definitely curious to check out the original War of the Roses after seeing this, as I hear it's even darker.
2. The Naked Gun
I don't even know what to say here. It's THE return of the screwball comedy. I don't even think this is the most rewatchable movie by any stretch, but that in theater experience the first time simply can't be beat. Unlike The Toxic Avenger, the theater was PACKED and everyone in the audience was locked the hell in. Liam Neason and Pamela Anderson make an awesome romantic pairing and I think it's adorable that they actually fell in love on set. Neason lives up to every inch of promise he had in his Seth McFarlane roles and delivers a comedic performance for the ages, and Anderson does a fantastic job matching his energy. There's not a ton of depth here and honestly even on a second viewing some of the gags didn't hit as hard, but this was still just such a triumphant return to form for the spoof movie and kind of EXACTLY what we needed as a culture in this particular point in time.
1. Weapons
As I said in my initial impressions, I think Weapons is a movie that practically requires a second viewing. Holy cow, once I started the movie again knowing all the pieces of the puzzle it just got elevated to one of the absolute best of the year. Were truly living in a golden age of horror, and while I think Sinners is probably the better overall movie Weapons might be the best straight up horror movie of the year while still having the bonkers genre bending especially in the comedy department. There's a ton of memorable comedic beats but also a ton of genuinely freaky moments and the whole thing comes together into an absurdly satisfying package.
Everything I said about the last act of The Roses can be amplified tenfold here. I can't get over the very last line of narration before we cut to credits. I think a lot of people are razor focused on the insanity that comes right before that...and make no mistake, THE chase scene is just absolute CINEMA in the same way something like the worm ride in Dune Part Two was from last year. Still, that last line of the movie just genuinely haunts me and really puts such a brilliant punctuation on the themes of the story and I don't think enough people are talking about just how hard it hits. The cast is all brilliant, the non linear storytelling...while I worry might beome a one trick pony if Zack Cregger continues to implement it going forward, worked really well here, and pound for pound this is such a more satisfying movie over the already very good Barbarian. It might go down as an all time great sophomore outing for a promising new voice in the genre.
Lizzy May Bee
Well-Known Member
Lex Luthor created a super reactor that allowed him to access a pocket dimension, bioengineered Twitter ragebait monkeys, and spent 80 billion dollars funding an invasion of the fake DC version of Palestine just to p!ss Superman off. 8/10
August was overall a pretty strong month for movies. I managed 16 new releases but it was also the month a lot of the movies I missed in theaters came to streaming so while my list here may not be all that robust, my end of year list has grown to 180 so far. I'm behind still but I've done more catching up than I expected. Hoping to get those numbers up even more by the end of September. Anywho, let's go through the 16 movies I caught.
#16- Fixed
[Watched on Netflix]
From the guy who brought you such animated masterpieces as Star Wars: Clone Wars, Primeval, Samurai Jack, Dexter's Laboratory, etc. comes Genndy Tartakovsky's newest production: a raunchy R-rated animated movie about dogs doing the dirty deed.
This was slop, absolute f***ing slop. The animation style is crude and disgusting and genuinely for no actual reason. It's not like this is some shocking grindhouse movie meant to challenge the way something is looked at, no, this is a Netflix original animated movie where dogs f*** and that's it. It's packed full of celebrity voices like Idris Elba, Kathryn Hahn, Bobby Moynihan, Adam DeVine, and Fred Armisen and yet not a single one of these people deliver anything even remotely meaningful or entertaining. This was just a raunchier and somehow dumber version of that one R-rated dog movie starring Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx from a few years ago.
I'm no prude when it comes to comedies, I don't mind raunchy and gross out, but I do absolutely mind stupid for the sake of stupid and gross for the sake of gross. This movie wasn't trying to say something it was just juvenile humor in the same vein as f***ing Big Mouth, so I guess if you liked that creepy gross show then maybe you'll like this too, but I won't lie, I'm gonna judge you hard. I hated this thing and it's easily going to finish in my bottom five of the year unless we get some absolute stinkers in the last four months.
#15- The Pickup
[Watched on Prime Video]
We go from raunchy and disgusting to just pointless and boring. I almost have to give credit to Fixed because it at least gave me an emotional reaction, The Pickup gave me nothing and honestly while compiling this list I almost missed it because I forgot I even watched it. This is Eddie Murphy just sleepwalking to a paycheck the way he has been for the last decade at least, accompanied by Pete Davidson who is, admittedly, trying his best here but he's so unlikable and the chemistry between him and any of the other characters is nonexistent that I just didn't care about him. Keke Palmer is also a lead here and after her role in One of Them Days this year, it's almost a gut punch to watch this because she's awful and underutilized here. This is the most Amazon Prime movie they could've put out and there's literally nothing else to even say about it. Skip this movie.
#14- Honey Don't!
[Watched in theaters]
Going into Honey Don't! I was really excited and highly anticipating it. I adore Margaret Qualley, Chris Evans, Charlie Day, and Aubrey Plaza and I'm also a pretty big fan of the Coen Brothers, so man I wanted this to be really good. The intro credits were honestly some of the best I've ever seen and so I was really really hopeful but unfortunately it fell apart really quickly for me. The whole Chris Evans plotline being a red herring sucked, the twist at the end was terrible, and the story as a whole just really didn't work. There was no real cohesion or anything here worth watching and it's disappointing that we now know which of the Coen Brothers has the sauce and which one doesn't. None of the actors here deserved this.
#13- Eenie Meanie
[Watched on Hulu]
This was an entirely forgettable action thriller that got dumped on streaming because that's where it belongs. Samara Weaving does her best here and I do like her as an actor, but this is just significantly worse Baby Driver. I straight up just don't have anything to say about this movie, it's nothing and I'll never think about it again. It's not bad, it's not good, it just is and that's the worst thing a movie can be.
#12- Freakier Friday
[Watched in theaters]
This certainly isn't a great movie, but growing up my cousins watched the original religiously to the point every sleep over for YEARS was just us watching Freaky Friday and so I have a lot of nostalgia for that original movie. This one is very much the "more of the same but worse" issue a lot of legacy sequels have and there's a point at the movie where you kind of forget who has swapped with who. I almost feel like the movie would've been stronger if it was the two girls switching and Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan either helping them through it or just being side characters because as is there's just too much going on here that doesn't work. Still, Jamie Lee is a star and Lindsay Lohan is also doing a really great job and just the pure nostalgia of it all let me enjoy my viewing even if it's unlikely I'll ever watch it again.
#11- Nobody 2
[Watched in theaters]
Nobody 2 is another pretty by the books action movie that has some great star power with Bob Odenkirk who plays the everyman very well, but the movie just doesn't ever really come together for me. The first half with Colin Hanks' corrupt sheriff as the villain was pretty entertaining, but as soon as Sharon Stone was brought in as the big bad the movie mostly lost me. There's some fun action moments and I like the performances (minus Stone) mostly, but ultimately it's just a one and done action movie for me.
#16- Fixed
[Watched on Netflix]
From the guy who brought you such animated masterpieces as Star Wars: Clone Wars, Primeval, Samurai Jack, Dexter's Laboratory, etc. comes Genndy Tartakovsky's newest production: a raunchy R-rated animated movie about dogs doing the dirty deed.
This was slop, absolute f***ing slop. The animation style is crude and disgusting and genuinely for no actual reason. It's not like this is some shocking grindhouse movie meant to challenge the way something is looked at, no, this is a Netflix original animated movie where dogs f*** and that's it. It's packed full of celebrity voices like Idris Elba, Kathryn Hahn, Bobby Moynihan, Adam DeVine, and Fred Armisen and yet not a single one of these people deliver anything even remotely meaningful or entertaining. This was just a raunchier and somehow dumber version of that one R-rated dog movie starring Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx from a few years ago.
I'm no prude when it comes to comedies, I don't mind raunchy and gross out, but I do absolutely mind stupid for the sake of stupid and gross for the sake of gross. This movie wasn't trying to say something it was just juvenile humor in the same vein as f***ing Big Mouth, so I guess if you liked that creepy gross show then maybe you'll like this too, but I won't lie, I'm gonna judge you hard. I hated this thing and it's easily going to finish in my bottom five of the year unless we get some absolute stinkers in the last four months.
#15- The Pickup
[Watched on Prime Video]
We go from raunchy and disgusting to just pointless and boring. I almost have to give credit to Fixed because it at least gave me an emotional reaction, The Pickup gave me nothing and honestly while compiling this list I almost missed it because I forgot I even watched it. This is Eddie Murphy just sleepwalking to a paycheck the way he has been for the last decade at least, accompanied by Pete Davidson who is, admittedly, trying his best here but he's so unlikable and the chemistry between him and any of the other characters is nonexistent that I just didn't care about him. Keke Palmer is also a lead here and after her role in One of Them Days this year, it's almost a gut punch to watch this because she's awful and underutilized here. This is the most Amazon Prime movie they could've put out and there's literally nothing else to even say about it. Skip this movie.
#14- Honey Don't!
[Watched in theaters]
Going into Honey Don't! I was really excited and highly anticipating it. I adore Margaret Qualley, Chris Evans, Charlie Day, and Aubrey Plaza and I'm also a pretty big fan of the Coen Brothers, so man I wanted this to be really good. The intro credits were honestly some of the best I've ever seen and so I was really really hopeful but unfortunately it fell apart really quickly for me. The whole Chris Evans plotline being a red herring sucked, the twist at the end was terrible, and the story as a whole just really didn't work. There was no real cohesion or anything here worth watching and it's disappointing that we now know which of the Coen Brothers has the sauce and which one doesn't. None of the actors here deserved this.
#13- Eenie Meanie
[Watched on Hulu]
This was an entirely forgettable action thriller that got dumped on streaming because that's where it belongs. Samara Weaving does her best here and I do like her as an actor, but this is just significantly worse Baby Driver. I straight up just don't have anything to say about this movie, it's nothing and I'll never think about it again. It's not bad, it's not good, it just is and that's the worst thing a movie can be.
#12- Freakier Friday
[Watched in theaters]
This certainly isn't a great movie, but growing up my cousins watched the original religiously to the point every sleep over for YEARS was just us watching Freaky Friday and so I have a lot of nostalgia for that original movie. This one is very much the "more of the same but worse" issue a lot of legacy sequels have and there's a point at the movie where you kind of forget who has swapped with who. I almost feel like the movie would've been stronger if it was the two girls switching and Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan either helping them through it or just being side characters because as is there's just too much going on here that doesn't work. Still, Jamie Lee is a star and Lindsay Lohan is also doing a really great job and just the pure nostalgia of it all let me enjoy my viewing even if it's unlikely I'll ever watch it again.
#11- Nobody 2
[Watched in theaters]
Nobody 2 is another pretty by the books action movie that has some great star power with Bob Odenkirk who plays the everyman very well, but the movie just doesn't ever really come together for me. The first half with Colin Hanks' corrupt sheriff as the villain was pretty entertaining, but as soon as Sharon Stone was brought in as the big bad the movie mostly lost me. There's some fun action moments and I like the performances (minus Stone) mostly, but ultimately it's just a one and done action movie for me.
The gap between 11 and 10 is pretty big. Hell, even the gap between 13 and 12 was huge. I'd say 13-1 are all movies I liked enough to recommend in some capacity.
#10- The Bad Guys 2
[Watched in theaters]
I really liked the first The Bad Guys, it was one of those surprise sleeper hits that came out of nowhere, but when the sequel came out I was shocked next to nobody saw it. I thought for sure this franchise would be one people would be into but it did pretty poorly at the box office and while I'm sure once it hits streaming it'll do well, it's kind of sad because I did like this movie a lot. The heist is fun, all the characters are charming, and the villains are interesting. I especially think Danielle Brooks as Kitty Kat has a pretty strong chance at a Golden Tikis best voice performance nomination. There's still a bit too much toilet humor and I felt most of the main Bad Guys got sidelined other than Wolf where I wish we got more from all of them, especially Snake, but ultimately it was a fun sequel that I think deserves more than it got.
#09- East of Wall
[Watched in theaters]
We're starting to have the Sundance 2025 movies rolling out and this was one of them that I was pretty excited for. I love slice of life movies and this being a slice of life where the characters are played by themselves in real life had me intrigued. This story is an emotional one that covers things like parental abuse and neglect, expectations, finding your place, and all kinds of other themes that make for a great story to sit through. There's one scene in a barn where real people share their stories that hits like a truck and plenty of moments involving these real kids with troubled home lives who find refuge on this ranch that tug at the heart strings. This was a beautiful movie that feels very much like something that would come out at Sundance, but I do recommend checking it out, I liked it a lot.
#08- The Roses
[Watched in theaters]
This movie is held together by two killer performance by Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch who absolutely kill in their roles. Their chemistry is off the charts both in moments where they are a loving couple and in moments where they're mortal enemies. This movie is less dark than the original War of the Roses and leans way more into the comedy than the drama and I do feel like the actual "war" was rushed through after a ton of buildup, but even still those two central performances were so good and fun that I think everyone should check this one out.
#07- Caught Stealing
[Watched in theaters]
This definitely didn't feel like an Aronofsky film, but it was still a really good time. The ensemble here is amazing with Matt Smith, Reginia King, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Liev Schreiber all being massive standouts. Of course, Austin Butler was also really solid here as an everyman caught in this wacky situation. The movie is high octane thrill with plenty of comedy and fun thrown in, especially a moment involving a dinner. The cat is also adorable and basically this movie is what Argylle thought it was.
#06- The Toxic Avenger
[Watched in theaters]
I've not seen any of the original Toxic Avenger films or anything by Troma at all, but I'm a huge fan of The Dinkle and the low budgetness of this movie had me curious. This movie was an absolute blast where every character from Peter Dinklage to Kevin Bacon to Elijah Wood in his audition for the DCU's Penguin, they're all just fun. The movie is gory and messed up in all the right ways but doesn't go too over the top that it's not fun to watch. The makeup effects will indeed be in competition for the Golden Tiki, though the blood and gore will not because the CGI blood was really obvious, especially where all the other major effects were practical. Still a really fun movie and now I'll have to go check out Troma's backlog.
#05- Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II- The Ashes of Rage
[Watched on Netflix]
When I saw the first chapter of this last year it was just to pad my count because I'm famously not an anime fan, but since watching and really loving that initial movie, I've managed to catch the whole series (not very long) and I've become a pretty big fan of Mononoke. This story follows up the first chapter as another ghost demon thing is terrorizing a feudal Japanese harem and the Medicine Man has to take it down. I adore the mystery and horror aspects, and the animation is just absolutely stunning. I never would've thought I'd fall in love with an anime as much as I have with this series, but I cannot recommend it enough. It's like H.P. Lovecraft turned anime, it's great.
#04- Americana
[Watched in theaters]
Yeah I'm one of the six people on Earth who caught this movie as it made like $19 in theaters, but I actually think that sucks because I really loved this movie. It's a multi-perspective neo-western that ties in all kinds of themes from Indigenous cultures and profiting off of Indigenous artifacts, colonization and whitewashing of history, disabilities, abusive families and conservative traditionalism, it's kind of a wonder that a movie like this got made. It sucks it came out right at the height of the overblown Sydney Sweeney drama because I actually loved this movie and it's gonna end up being one of those weird hills I have to die on I guess.
#03- The Naked Gun
[Watched in theaters]
I think all of Akiva Shafer's movies have been, at minimum, really solid and with movies like Hot Rod and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, they can be genuinely some of the best comedies of all time, so of course his requel of The Naked Gun was something I was super hyped for. Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson star in this and are absolutely perfect in their roles, Neeson especially carrying comedy way better than I ever thought he would. This is such an amazing return to the spoof comedy we haven't seen since Friedberg and Seltzer murdered the genre and abused its corpse years ago. I'm happy to see this movie get made and I really hope these mid-budget theatrical comedies and spoof comedies continue in the coming years.
#02- Ne Zha 2
[Watched in theaters]
This movie came out in February, sure, but I caught the redub done by A24 which is an August movie, so I'm counting it. This movie is an absolute wonder and I have no idea how something like this got made. The first third was really generic kiddie stuff and I was sitting through it wondering why the hell this was the highest grossing movie of the year and animated movie ever, but there's a moment in the second act where something just switches and I felt like Danny DeVito in that one episode of It's Always Sunny where he "gets it." This movie is a triumph of animation and absolutely deserves all the celebration it's gotten. I don't want to give anything else away, just go watch it.
#01- Weapons
[Watched in theaters]
We really are living in a golden age of Horror between this, Sinners, Together, Bring Her Back, Final Destination: Bloodlines, Presence, etc. 2025 has just been killing it and I'm so glad for it. Weapons is an absolute blast of a movie with a genuinely thrilling mystery, some truly frightening moments, and a bombastic ending that is guaranteed a Golden Tikis nomination for best ending. It's another movie I don't want to spoil but absolutely go check it out, it's well worth it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As September is already in full force and we've already had our first big drop (I will be seeing it tomorrow) I'm pretty excited now that festival season is in full swing so I can start getting excited for the big fall Oscar movies. For September though, some of the movies I'm most excited for include: The Long Walk, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, Him, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, One Battle After Another, and Eleanor the Great as the big standouts.
#10- The Bad Guys 2
[Watched in theaters]
I really liked the first The Bad Guys, it was one of those surprise sleeper hits that came out of nowhere, but when the sequel came out I was shocked next to nobody saw it. I thought for sure this franchise would be one people would be into but it did pretty poorly at the box office and while I'm sure once it hits streaming it'll do well, it's kind of sad because I did like this movie a lot. The heist is fun, all the characters are charming, and the villains are interesting. I especially think Danielle Brooks as Kitty Kat has a pretty strong chance at a Golden Tikis best voice performance nomination. There's still a bit too much toilet humor and I felt most of the main Bad Guys got sidelined other than Wolf where I wish we got more from all of them, especially Snake, but ultimately it was a fun sequel that I think deserves more than it got.
#09- East of Wall
[Watched in theaters]
We're starting to have the Sundance 2025 movies rolling out and this was one of them that I was pretty excited for. I love slice of life movies and this being a slice of life where the characters are played by themselves in real life had me intrigued. This story is an emotional one that covers things like parental abuse and neglect, expectations, finding your place, and all kinds of other themes that make for a great story to sit through. There's one scene in a barn where real people share their stories that hits like a truck and plenty of moments involving these real kids with troubled home lives who find refuge on this ranch that tug at the heart strings. This was a beautiful movie that feels very much like something that would come out at Sundance, but I do recommend checking it out, I liked it a lot.
#08- The Roses
[Watched in theaters]
This movie is held together by two killer performance by Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch who absolutely kill in their roles. Their chemistry is off the charts both in moments where they are a loving couple and in moments where they're mortal enemies. This movie is less dark than the original War of the Roses and leans way more into the comedy than the drama and I do feel like the actual "war" was rushed through after a ton of buildup, but even still those two central performances were so good and fun that I think everyone should check this one out.
#07- Caught Stealing
[Watched in theaters]
This definitely didn't feel like an Aronofsky film, but it was still a really good time. The ensemble here is amazing with Matt Smith, Reginia King, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Liev Schreiber all being massive standouts. Of course, Austin Butler was also really solid here as an everyman caught in this wacky situation. The movie is high octane thrill with plenty of comedy and fun thrown in, especially a moment involving a dinner. The cat is also adorable and basically this movie is what Argylle thought it was.
#06- The Toxic Avenger
[Watched in theaters]
I've not seen any of the original Toxic Avenger films or anything by Troma at all, but I'm a huge fan of The Dinkle and the low budgetness of this movie had me curious. This movie was an absolute blast where every character from Peter Dinklage to Kevin Bacon to Elijah Wood in his audition for the DCU's Penguin, they're all just fun. The movie is gory and messed up in all the right ways but doesn't go too over the top that it's not fun to watch. The makeup effects will indeed be in competition for the Golden Tiki, though the blood and gore will not because the CGI blood was really obvious, especially where all the other major effects were practical. Still a really fun movie and now I'll have to go check out Troma's backlog.
#05- Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II- The Ashes of Rage
[Watched on Netflix]
When I saw the first chapter of this last year it was just to pad my count because I'm famously not an anime fan, but since watching and really loving that initial movie, I've managed to catch the whole series (not very long) and I've become a pretty big fan of Mononoke. This story follows up the first chapter as another ghost demon thing is terrorizing a feudal Japanese harem and the Medicine Man has to take it down. I adore the mystery and horror aspects, and the animation is just absolutely stunning. I never would've thought I'd fall in love with an anime as much as I have with this series, but I cannot recommend it enough. It's like H.P. Lovecraft turned anime, it's great.
#04- Americana
[Watched in theaters]
Yeah I'm one of the six people on Earth who caught this movie as it made like $19 in theaters, but I actually think that sucks because I really loved this movie. It's a multi-perspective neo-western that ties in all kinds of themes from Indigenous cultures and profiting off of Indigenous artifacts, colonization and whitewashing of history, disabilities, abusive families and conservative traditionalism, it's kind of a wonder that a movie like this got made. It sucks it came out right at the height of the overblown Sydney Sweeney drama because I actually loved this movie and it's gonna end up being one of those weird hills I have to die on I guess.
#03- The Naked Gun
[Watched in theaters]
I think all of Akiva Shafer's movies have been, at minimum, really solid and with movies like Hot Rod and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, they can be genuinely some of the best comedies of all time, so of course his requel of The Naked Gun was something I was super hyped for. Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson star in this and are absolutely perfect in their roles, Neeson especially carrying comedy way better than I ever thought he would. This is such an amazing return to the spoof comedy we haven't seen since Friedberg and Seltzer murdered the genre and abused its corpse years ago. I'm happy to see this movie get made and I really hope these mid-budget theatrical comedies and spoof comedies continue in the coming years.
#02- Ne Zha 2
[Watched in theaters]
This movie came out in February, sure, but I caught the redub done by A24 which is an August movie, so I'm counting it. This movie is an absolute wonder and I have no idea how something like this got made. The first third was really generic kiddie stuff and I was sitting through it wondering why the hell this was the highest grossing movie of the year and animated movie ever, but there's a moment in the second act where something just switches and I felt like Danny DeVito in that one episode of It's Always Sunny where he "gets it." This movie is a triumph of animation and absolutely deserves all the celebration it's gotten. I don't want to give anything else away, just go watch it.
#01- Weapons
[Watched in theaters]
We really are living in a golden age of Horror between this, Sinners, Together, Bring Her Back, Final Destination: Bloodlines, Presence, etc. 2025 has just been killing it and I'm so glad for it. Weapons is an absolute blast of a movie with a genuinely thrilling mystery, some truly frightening moments, and a bombastic ending that is guaranteed a Golden Tikis nomination for best ending. It's another movie I don't want to spoil but absolutely go check it out, it's well worth it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As September is already in full force and we've already had our first big drop (I will be seeing it tomorrow) I'm pretty excited now that festival season is in full swing so I can start getting excited for the big fall Oscar movies. For September though, some of the movies I'm most excited for include: The Long Walk, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, Him, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, One Battle After Another, and Eleanor the Great as the big standouts.
TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
The Long Walk...just, DAMN man. It totally transcends "horror" and goes into Requiem for a Dream territory as one of the absolute most disturbing movies I've ever watched. I have some issues with the ending, but the actual journey of the film was beyond harrowing. One of THE all time great title drops in all of Cinema. I'm just absolutely shaken. I don't think I'm ever going to forget that theater experience. Spent most of the time having to fight off blind rage at the sheer injustice of it all, which of course was partly spurred on by the current political climate.
Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson have THE SAUCE.
Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson have THE SAUCE.