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Movies You’ve Watched Lately [OT] - 2023

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DeafTourette

Perpetually Offended
I saw this for the first time a few years ago. Blew me away. But it was hard watching many moments, I wouldn't want to watch it again.

Yeah. It can be a hard movie to watch... But there's funny moments, heartfelt moments, beautiful moments and sweet moments between all the heartbreak and abuse. Just like real life. The ending is sweet yet bittersweet. It's a classic in every sense of the word and doesn't get its just due.
 

violence

Member
Gladiator
Excellent. I watch this every year. Exactly 50%, of the three times a day I think about the Roman Empire, it’s this movie. The film is a documentary as far as I’m concerned.


Highlander
… I wanted to like it... I think there’s a better idea here than the movie is able to convey. Having just watched Gladiator, I was thinking what Ridley Scott would do with this material. But God, I just kept wondering why this was so poorly done. You thought it was hard to buy Russell Crowe as a Spaniard? Just wait till you see Sean Connery!


DABL1bE.jpg
 
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BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
Gladiator
Excellent. I watch this every year. Exactly 50%, of the three times a day I think about the Roman Empire, it’s this movie. The film is a documentary as far as I’m concerned.


Highlander
… I wanted to like it... I think there’s a better idea here than the movie is able to convey. Having just watched Gladiator, I was thinking what Ridley Scott would do with this material. But God, I just kept wondering why this was so poorly done. You thought it was hard to buy Russell Crowe as a Spaniard? Just wait till you see Sean Connery!


DABL1bE.jpg

I watched whatever cut of Highlander 2 is on Tubi the other day and that shit is hilariously unwatchable.

---

The Blind Side 4/5

It's a saccharine feel-good movie, but very good. Even though it kind of comes off as a highly produced Hallmark movie at times, it's layered and unafraid in some respects. Even though it approaches subject matter in a very Disney family movie way, it clearly illustrates the stark differences between the carefree life of an affluent and privileged family and that of an average kid who grew up in the ghetto.

Perfect pacing. Sandra Bullock must have had a physical trainer that was specifically hired to make her butt look incredible. Because I mean, my man, it's the focus of a good quarter of the shots in this film.
 
Not a movie but documentary 11/9.

Damn, that was bad. Watching documentaries these days feels so empty these days. No one gives a shit about education, it’s just about messaging. Well, maybe it always was but damn it if it isn’t becoming more apparent by the day.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
Godzilla Minus One:

+ Likeable characters?!
+ No divisive "THE MESSAGE" shoved down your throat?!
+ OMG this is a war movie?!

- Those legs are ridiculous.
- Last 3rd was a little iffy.

8/10 - Favorite movie of the year for me.
 

BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
Finally got around to watching Tenet. Wat the hell was all that? Lol. I did enjoy the cast’s work.

I made the poor decision to go see that movie with friends after we smoked a huge blunt. I had no earthly idea what the hell was going on.

I later watched it at home sober as me grand papps, and again, I have no idea what went on. I have an idea, like it's easy enough to follow the main story beats, but I know that the minutiae was lost on me.
 
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Laieon

Member
I watched Wonka & Godzilla: Minus One last night and just finished TMNT: Mutant Mayhem.

Wonka was much better than I was expecting it to be and I enjoyed it, but I felt like it was a movie that would have been better suited as a broadway/west-end play. It ultimately isn't a story that I really needed, but it was a nice enough way to kill a couple hours before the main event, which was...

Godzilla: Minus One is probably one of my top 3 of the year, right behind Oppenheimer and Past Lives. Absolutely loved it.

TMNT: Mutant Mayhem doesn't reach the heights of animation that Into/Across the Spiderverse do (which are my benchmarks at this point), but man am I glad that the success of Into the Spiderverse has led studios to take chances and experiment with styles that aren't just copies of what Pixar has done for the past 20 years. Really fun movie.

Killers of the Flower Moon - good movie, which could've possibly been great if it was an hour shorter.

I walked away from it feeling the same way I did about the Irishman. Great movie, but man he needs to hire an editor. It'll still probably make it into my top 10 of the year though. The Departed and Wolf of Wallstreet are still my favorite of his.
 
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kurisu_1974

Member
The Holdovers was a perfect Christmas movie, the young cast was phenomenal and the 70s New England vibes were very well done.

Anatomy of a Fall was a great French courthouse thriller with great performances, deservedly won the Palm d'Or.

Bottoms was one of the most unfunny pieces of shit comedy movies I have seen in a long while. Only LGBTQIA++++ zoomers need apply.

May December was a great watch, not Todd Haynes' best but still pretty great, especially for a Netflix product.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Watched The Creator yesterday. It was so-so. Great visuals, meh acting and plot. Watched it once, will never again. 5/10

I watched Token Tavern today. A documentary on a bunch of video game bars in Florida and how they run their business, got affected by covid shut down etc.... Has that bum Billy Mitchell in it. Generally light hearted till the part they talk about how covid hurt small business. 7/10
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Just watched The Instagram effect. A BBC documentary.


- Pretty similar to The Social Dilemma
- Talks about algorithms, effects on people, real people experiences. Unlike Social Dilemma, it's all real employees and users. No fake family acting out parts
- UK based, so most people in it have an accent. Some are tough to understand. And a few other employees are weird and equally hard to listen to
- But overall a decent flick

7/10

The point that sticks out the most is a guy describes someone he saw in an Instagram pic....... He showed he's driving a BMW. I know him in real life. He doesn't even own a BMW.

So in a nutshell, you get the idea of how bad social media can be on people. It's the kind of movie we all know the good and bad things about social media, but it gives some real examples. Worth a watch IMO.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Going to rent The Creator for it's visuals, predictive programming.
Ya. As that Creator thread recapped, a lot of us thought the visuals and setting are cool. The acting and plot are forgettable.

It's like a video game that has great graphics, but shit gameplay.
 

INC

Member
New indy film....First 15mins was OK, they should of just carried on using young Indy, and the ending.......ooooft

5/10

All 3 of the new Poirot films, I love who done it films, and these are all above average, as a collection, its a 7.5/10
 

GreenAlien

Member
Till Death 2021
bgEDPDa6iEgygHKWZtTa30SW7jJ.jpg


Yes, MFs acting isn't the best and the average adult could probably solve the handcuff situation in half the time, but still.. this is a surprisingly entertaining thriller.
 

Billbofet

Member
Silent Night (2023)
Hated every single second of it. Absolute head scratcher decision to have no dialogue or soundtrack, terrible action, and just an ugly movie in every way. I fast forwarded quite a bit, thankfully, but hands down the worst movies I have seen in years.
 

clarky

Gold Member
Just watched The Holdovers with the Mrs, thanks to the recommends in the thread. What a great Christmas film, surely due an Oscar or two.

Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves/10.
 
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Andyliini

Member
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

The final DCEU film arrived, so I went to cinema to check it out. Went for 3D showing, as it is the only way to watch modern movies is 3D nowadays. This one continues is the veins of it's predecessor. If you have seen it, you knlw exactly what you'll get here. It has gorgeous visuals, predictable plot and pretty one dilensional characters. It's fun for what it is, but time for these films went away years ago, so I'm not surprised nobody cares anymore. Somebody has to bring on change, and I wish all the luck in the world to James Gunn and his team.
 

Dr.Morris79

Member
Die Hard, at the cinema last night. It was glorious! And guess what? The cinema was packed solid! My local cinema hasn't been that packed since the 90's. Last time I saw it that busy was for Jurassic park

They need to start showing more old films at the cinema, no shit, i'd go weekly.
 

Yoboman

Member
Watched The Creator yesterday. It was so-so. Great visuals, meh acting and plot. Watched it once, will never again. 5/10

I watched Token Tavern today. A documentary on a bunch of video game bars in Florida and how they run their business, got affected by covid shut down etc.... Has that bum Billy Mitchell in it. Generally light hearted till the part they talk about how covid hurt small business. 7/10

I enjoyed the Creator as a bit of a brain off sci fi.

Despite my brain being off it was still hard to ignore the many plot holes and nonsense moments. Particularly the ending

her power doesn't work on the door for some reason?
I also feel like the main character sacrifice trope needs to be earned and it really wasn't. He never did anything bad the whole movie, if anything it felt set up for a happy ending

One highlight is the lead girl character was really great. For such a young actor she really nailed her parts even the big emotional beats
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
MV5BNmQ5MzdkMzgtODkzOC00MDUzLTgwZTEtYzlhYjA0MzY1MTM2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyODYyNTM1Nzk@._V1_FMjpg_UY4134_.jpg


Last night I watched Warm Hug, a Chinese romance/comedy movie. Super goofy, but had a lot of heart. The main character was a piano teacher who suffered from OCD, and fell in love with a girl trying to win an American Idol-style singing competition.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I enjoyed the Creator as a bit of a brain off sci fi.

Despite my brain being off it was still hard to ignore the many plot holes and nonsense moments. Particularly the ending

her power doesn't work on the door for some reason?
I also feel like the main character sacrifice trope needs to be earned and it really wasn't. He never did anything bad the whole movie, if anything it felt set up for a happy ending

One highlight is the lead girl character was really great. For such a young actor she really nailed her parts even the big emotional beats
Biggest plot hole I noticed was NOMAD is supposed to be that space age command bomber scanning lands for AI bases to destroy. Once they find one then they blast it with missiles.

But then at the end of the movie, they suddenly know where all the AI bases are and launch like 20 missiles at them all. Why would they just obliterate them all already if they knew where they were?
 

Yoboman

Member
Biggest plot hole I noticed was NOMAD is supposed to be that space age command bomber scanning lands for AI bases to destroy. Once they find one then they blast it with missiles.

But then at the end of the movie, they suddenly know where all the AI bases are and launch like 20 missiles at them all. Why would they just obliterate them all already if they knew where they were?
Nevermind that this death star can't be shot down by Chinese missiles but they can sneak on board with a standard space shuttle

And you kind of have to ignore that they wouldn't have put some sort of tracking technology in this super AI

And her super weapon power was based on pausing the power on the ship for like 15 seconds? It makes no sense. They could easily have destroyed Nomad without the girl if they just needed to detonate one of the missiles while it is on board. Heck she could have detonated a missile with her power

Also the wife made the AI from the embryo but did this before she lost the baby? Very contrived

Anyway at least the movie was visually pretty
 

Andyliini

Member
Jingle All the Way

Me and my girlfriend have this tradition of watching a movie on Christmas Eve and we somehow landed on this one. Maybe I agreed only because Schwarzenegger is on it. Not really my type of film, too much of chaos happening around, altough Schwarzenegger and Sinbad do work great together. Not much else to say about this one.

With this, I wish Merry Christmas to all fellow movie lovers on GAF.
 
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Dr.Morris79

Member
GAF. I need your help

I know there's some refined film buffs in here and I need help finding a film I watched on the TV sometime in the 90's. It's a horror..

From what I remember~

A female beat cop and her partner go to investigate some form of crime, her partner goes missing and she goes looking for him, stuff happens.. at the end she wakes up in a hospital bed thinking everything's fine but she turns to her side and her partners there, he looks at her and grumbles her name 'Sarahhh'

She then looks down and she's missing all her limbs and weird alien things with little wing things are eating them..

Yeah, it was messed up. I think it was a film with three different stories.

It's bugged me for years :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Anyone know?
 
Joy_Ride_%282001_film%29_poster.jpg
Rewatched a 2001 film
Joy Ride: This was better than I remember it being. Premise of two brothers having to deal with psychotic pissed off Trucker is somewhat plausible. Steve Zahn was funny enough doing his thing. Could’ve used a bit more gore to really earn that R rating.
7/10 “Watchable once a year”
 

Dr.Morris79

Member
GAF. I need your help

I know there's some refined film buffs in here and I need help finding a film I watched on the TV sometime in the 90's. It's a horror..

From what I remember~

A female beat cop and her partner go to investigate some form of crime, her partner goes missing and she goes looking for him, stuff happens.. at the end she wakes up in a hospital bed thinking everything's fine but she turns to her side and her partners there, he looks at her and grumbles her name 'Sarahhh'

She then looks down and she's missing all her limbs and weird alien things with little wing things are eating them..

Yeah, it was messed up. I think it was a film with three different stories.

It's bugged me for years :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Anyone know?
If no one knows this are there any movie sites that find this kind of stuff?
 
GAF. I need your help

I know there's some refined film buffs in here and I need help finding a film I watched on the TV sometime in the 90's. It's a horror..

From what I remember~

A female beat cop and her partner go to investigate some form of crime, her partner goes missing and she goes looking for him, stuff happens.. at the end she wakes up in a hospital bed thinking everything's fine but she turns to her side and her partners there, he looks at her and grumbles her name 'Sarahhh'

She then looks down and she's missing all her limbs and weird alien things with little wing things are eating them..

Yeah, it was messed up. I think it was a film with three different stories.

It's bugged me for years :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Anyone know?
Here's what ChatGPT says :

Based on the description you provided, it seems like the film you are referring to is "Body Bags" (1993). "Body Bags" is a horror anthology film directed by John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper. It consists of three different stories, and the one you described appears to be the third segment titled "Eye." In this segment, a female cop investigates a crime and her partner goes missing. Towards the end, she wakes up in a hospital bed only to discover that she has lost her limbs and strange alien creatures are feeding on them.
 

Dr.Morris79

Member
Here's what ChatGPT says :

Based on the description you provided, it seems like the film you are referring to is "Body Bags" (1993). "Body Bags" is a horror anthology film directed by John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper. It consists of three different stories, and the one you described appears to be the third segment titled "Eye." In this segment, a female cop investigates a crime and her partner goes missing. Towards the end, she wakes up in a hospital bed only to discover that she has lost her limbs and strange alien creatures are feeding on them.
No that's not it but I do remember that film and it was just as warped. Mark Hamil has an eye transplant from a seriel a killer in one of the shorts, that seriel killer slept with dead bodies etc, then Mark pokes his own eye out with scissors at the end..

I can't believe I'm writing this, the 90's was wild in horror films! :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 

Andyliini

Member
Once Upon A Time in the West

Leone's films are often notably sluggish. That's no a bad thing, as he was a master of creating tension, only to release it very quickly. This western fairy tale takes the sluggish movement to a new level, which is especially apparent in the opening sequence. The minimal dialogue can be jarring at first, but as the viewer gets more adjusted to the style, the film works great. Actors do great work all around, especially Bronson, whose silent protagonist character is even more mystical than that of Eastwoods in previous Leone films. The Blu-Ray release also had a commentary track on it, which, to me, was a god sent, as I missed many thing that make the film even better when I was watching through the film for the first time. It might wok even better now, if I watched it again, but 3 hours for one movie is quite a lot, and I have many others movies to see.
 

Dr.Morris79

Member
Here's what ChatGPT says :

Based on the description you provided, it seems like the film you are referring to is "Body Bags" (1993). "Body Bags" is a horror anthology film directed by John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper. It consists of three different stories, and the one you described appears to be the third segment titled "Eye." In this segment, a female cop investigates a crime and her partner goes missing. Towards the end, she wakes up in a hospital bed only to discover that she has lost her limbs and strange alien creatures are feeding on them.

Found it, if you like horrors, watch this 👍

2GOaUpy.jpg
 
No that's not it but I do remember that film and it was just as warped. Mark Hamil has an eye transplant from a seriel a killer in one of the shorts, that seriel killer slept with dead bodies etc, then Mark pokes his own eye out with scissors at the end..

I can't believe I'm writing this, the 90's was wild in horror films! :messenger_tears_of_joy:
Dang, really? ChatGPT sounded so confident!
Found it, if you like horrors, watch this 👍

2GOaUpy.jpg
Glqd you found it

I just read the synopsis for Body Bags, and it's not even close. ChatGPT seemed so confident!
 

Dr.Morris79

Member
Dang, really? ChatGPT sounded so confident!

Glqd you found it

I just read the synopsis for Body Bags, and it's not even close. ChatGPT seemed so confident!
It did help in a way though. After I saw it wasn't the right film I trawled the net for a while and found an old old reddit post that had pretty much, word for word, the same question, which was a bit odd..

I then went on to look for the DVD and it came up pretty expensive, and mostly in german. No idea why.

Worth a watch though, it's typical 90's shlock horror.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Watched this earlier tonight. Meh. 5/10. Could had been so much more. Only watch if you are big into gaming and want to know about Atari in late 70s and early 80s.

Atari: Game Over

The doc is supposed to be about the dig, but it really wasnt. Most of the hour long film is about Howard Warshaw and his career, and him talking to the cam with a giant ego. You can tell he's the kind of guy in a meeting or pub who can sit there for hours talking about himself as if he's the greatest guy on Earth. The rest of the movie is about a waste disposal guy who does big landfill dumps and Atari in their hey days.

The doc didn't even go into detail about why Atari and console gaming died off so thats why games were in a landfill..... until the end where they say it wasnt even Atari who dumped them but a company with a warehouse of stuff needing to dump product and a big dusty trash site was the easiest way.

A few notes:

- The former warner exec looks and acts just like Stan Lee
- Nolan Bushnell looks like Alec Guinness
- One guy resembles Mark Zuckerberg if he was 20 years older and 40 lbs fatter
- Almost everyone interviewed seemed like they havent washed, combed their hair or shaved in years
- During the excavation, a kid wore an N7 Mass Effect Tshirt, and another person wore a Pittsburgh Steelers shirt!

 
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Biff

Member
The Creator (2023)

I watched this because it made Kermode's "honourable mentions" of 2023. I legitimately think less of Kermode now and will probably no longer trust his reviews.

This movie was straight CHEEKS. Made by a director who thinks he is Christopher Nolan, so tries to do Nolan shots, but fails because he's a hack so you're left with cliche after cliche. The script was so awful. Acting was terrible (except for the kid). CGI was mixed: the futuristic cities were well done but the simulant design was non-sensical. John Washington needs a new agent, because to go from Tenet to this is puzzling.

I'm not exaggerating when I say it's one of the worst movies I've seen this year. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
 

near

Gold Member
The Big Chill (1983) -

The tone isn't as dark as the opening leads you to believe. It's sort of a serious comedy, where the epitome of circumstantial hardships are confronted with humour, love, friendship, and drugs.

The screenplay leans on a sort of character study approach by developing sub-plots. As a result, I found each character to be interesting and important to the dynamic of the group. Although some of these sub-plots end up going nowhere, they're ended in a way that provokes curiosity and insight. I loved this.

Fantastic performances from an ensemble cast, a brilliant soundtrack, and a firm reminder why Lawrence Kasdan is a charismatic writer.
 

Biff

Member
Infinity Pool (2023)

I'm a fan of Brandon Cronenberg and while my wife hates body horror, she loves Alexander Skarsgard so this was a good middle ground.

The premise of this movie is dumb and requires 100% buy-in from the viewer or else you can't get into it, but if you are willing to suspend your belief for 2hrs, this is a good movie with A+ acting from Skarsgard and A- from Mia Goth. The body horror elements were "good" (not "great") but still worth a recommendation to Cronenberg fans (father or son). Movie fell a bit flat in the third act unfortunately, so with that in mind it's not a strong recommendation to thread readers here.

The trailer gives you a good sense of what you're getting into, so just check it out before committing 2hrs.
 
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Andyliini

Member
Duck, You Sucker

My final film of 2023 was this Zatana Western by Sergio Leone from 1972. I'm a bit surprised I was able to get this on Blu-Ray, as MGM never released this here, altough the disc has local subtitles. Thank the French for issuing an affordable reprint. It is a strange package, as some parts are almost comedy, while the themes are quite dark indeed. It's easy to understand why this has been forgotten, as there are very long, almost dreamlike shots and lots of social commentary. Still, it's an enjoyable adventure film, with Leone-like shots to see. Even the name is a funny one.
 
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