What Was The Last Movie/Anime You Watched?

[Cartagia]

Coherence - Does a whole lot with very little. A big ole tangled web of plot twists and turns that mostly make sense, and a couple that probably don't. Really appreciate the ambition on such a tiny budget.

Eurovision Song Contrst: The Story of Fire Saga - Trim this down to no more than 110 minutes, and it's 3.5 stars. Get Will Ferrell to do anything other than his sketch persona and it's an easy 4. McAdams out funnies him in every scene because she has a better grasp on the tone than he does.

Highlander - It's a concept that begs for a better movie, but at the same time the pure 80s cheese is what makes it so watchable.

Decision at Sundown - It is a bit claustrophobic with a story that feels a bit like a stage play and not like a typical Western. Even though it doesn't have the sweeping vistas that you'd expect, the performances are solid and it's not just white hats vs black hats. Really been enjoying Randolph Scott in these Ranown titles.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - I'm like 90% sure that the movie is in on the joke, but it's so problematic that 10% of uncertainty casts a really heavy pall over the whole thing.

Fight Club - It's a rare thing when a satire gets its subject matter so right that the targets of the satire think it is an endorsement of their behavior. Also Brad Pitt hot.

Heat - Been a long time.  Still great.  Really noticed how good the score is this time.

Frankenstein (2025) - Stretches itself thin with the visual effects more often than I expected. Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi each give very good - and very different- performances. Kinda wish we spent less time with Frankenstein and more with the creature.

Buchanan Rides Alone - My favorite of these so far.  Really enjoyed just how comically corrupt the small town was.  Love that trope.

Mary Poppins - Gonna be honest here, it could use more Mary Poppins. She's sorely missed in the back half.

[Cartagia]

Roman Holiday - Totally delightful picture.  Really easy to see why this was a huge breakout for Audrey Hepburn.

The Fugitive - An absolutely pitch perfect first act, and everything that comes after is good as hell, too.

Ride Lonesome - It's really wild just how much plot these Ranown Westerns manage to cram into a 75 minute runtime.  And all while feeling well-characterized and not overstuffed.

My Fair Lady - It's a stunning musical production (even if there's not enough dancing for my taste).  But.  BUT. What is with how horrible 80% of the characters are?  It really only works these days if you read Professor Higgins as a closeted homosexual who is resentfully grooming his beard.  I'm tempted to call the runtime egregious since you spend so much time with these asshats, but three hours goes by quick.

The Running Man (2025) - Definitely the bottom of Edgar Wright's ouerve but still a fun enough action flick.  Pretty messy script.  Felt more like a condensed mini-series than a movie.

Hacksaw Ridge - Pretty much follows the historical biopic playbook to the letter.  It's well put-together, but just feels slight on the characterization front for everyone except for Doss.  Also wasn't nearly a visceral aa I was expecting based on the reputation.

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues - Its not embarrassingly bad or anything, but it's definitely missing the spark that the original had.

Back to the Future - Did the whole trilogy yesterday, just for fun.  I love all three of these films.

Taken - Absolutely hobbled by two main issues. The first is the screenplay. Any line of dialogue that isn't directly related to Liam Neeson figuring out where is daughter has been taken is an absolute clunker. Second, the lack of a R-rating (even though this was Unrated Version). The movie feels too light for how heinous what is happening actually is.

All of the Neeson on the hunt stuff is solid, though.

The Sound of Music - Probably my first time watching front to back, but I'd seen loads of scenes and heard lots of songs (a good 75% I think). It's probably because of this disjointed knowledge that I didn't previously realize just how... moody? Dour? Foreboding? The last act is.

Kinda wish the back half wasn't just reprises of songs from the front half. Also, it ends kind of abruptly.

[Cartagia]

Taken 2 - Hot Taken take: better than the first.

Predator: Badlands - I liked this for the most part, but I don't know that the "power of friendship" belongs in Predator.

Taken 3 - Absolutely epileptic editing.  Theres good potential here, in pitting Neeson up against Forest Whitaker, but they don't do anything with it.

[kamikazekeeg]

Five Nights at Freddy's - Haven't watched it since it came out on video, but I still like this film, it feels like a good throwback to 80's horror/kinda kids adventure films like a Monster Squad or something like that.  I've actually grown as more of a fan of the series since the movie came out, playing more as I just really enjoy all the practical elements of this sorta setup like it's about ghosts (Or in the Steelwool era, it's about AI), but it's still all about practical suits, robots, and I like that setup.  I know some folks had some issues with it being a little slow and not having a lot of kills and such, but I'm fine with what is here.

I'm actually going to see the sequel today, haven't been to the theater in forever, so figured I'd catch the earliest showing tomorrow in the afternoon so I can avoid the kids lol

[kamikazekeeg]

Five Night's at Freddy's 2 - I'll avoid spoilers for this since it's brand new, but I generally liked it.  Its technically a tad less faithful to the idea of a FNAF adaptation compared to the first one which had the nightly stay at the location, but they weren't going to execute things the same way for an ongoing story.  Get more animatronics, love seeing them, though could've used more deaths.  I think they tried to push the idea of this being like the limits of PG-13 in the leadup, but it's really not. 

My only real gripes is that there's some slop in the writing, not major stuff, just little bits here and there throughout that should've been cleaned up and that it ends on a cliffhanger to set up the third movie, which more often than not just hurts the movie on its own, which is unfortunate.  There's a lot setup for the third movie, but I'm not sure where they take it exactly, but we'll see.

I think overall, I might like this movie more than the first one, it's abit more creepy and tension filled throughout, it's just hampered by that ending.  It'll take another rewatch before I can say for sure.

[Cartagia]

Needful Things - Terrific cast with a fun premise. If this had a better director it could have really been something.

Hot Frosty - The only reason this works in any real capacity is the 100% committed performance from Dustin Milligan as the hot snowman. Couple that with genuinely talented comedians as the heels and you've got an actually watchable cheesy Christmas romance.

The Lone Ranger - Not nearly as bad as its reputation.  Terrific action, great score, amazing production design, and a deep bench cast are all hobbled by the absolutely idiotic casting of Johnny Depp as Tonto.  Framing device is totally unnecessary and makes the already long runtime to too long.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - One of the best (if not the best) of the slew of YA and fantasy adaptations that came in the wake of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, while also being one of the most artistic, despite being a huge Disney production. Effects mostly hold up, but it definitely has some pretty shaky green screen in a few spots. Kids are mostly fine, but its also not surprising they didn't do much after. Pleasantly surprising rewatch.

Vertigo - Well it turns out that everything I knew about this movie is only from the last 25 minutes or so, and far less important to the overall story than I had thought.  Terrific story of the type of obsession that can drive you crazy.  Felt a bit rushed in the last act, and ends incredibly abruptly, which is what keeps it from being my new favorite Hitchcock.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Price Caspian - Better than I remembered. Ben Barnes is acting circles around the Pevensie kids.  They traded the somber winter vibes for bright summer ones, and while effects look great, the feelings are just not the same, and the movie is worse off for it.