What Was The Last Movie/Anime You Watched?

[Cartagia]

Killers of the Flower Moon - Best 2023 movie I've seen by miles.  Scorsese is an absolute master.  Just amazing stuff.

Terrified - Starts incredibly strong, but struggles to keep that momentum past the halfway mark. Even with that slight issue it is filled with great scares, atmosphere, spooky designs... the works. Big recommend.

Downrange - Decent enough concept hobbled by some really bad dialogue and not great performances.

Se7en - I don't think I've actually sat down to watch this since the 90s. Not quite as transformational as I remembered it being, but still an achievement of the highest caliber. Not quite as dark or gritty as I recalled, bit still wonderfully grim, bleak, and pessimistic.

Plus that all-timer of an ending. I mean damn.

Aliens - Basically flawless, with the only thing I'd hold against it being the delivery of some of Newt's lines, and that only adds to the overall charm and earnestness of the endeavor.

Accident Man - The faux Ritchie tough guy stuff didn't really work for me, but the action is killer and it's got Ray Stevenson showing everyone else how it's done.

Mystery, Alaska - A nice little side-hug of a movie. Tries to do way too many different things, and while it executes them all just fine, it ultimately feels pretty shallow since it can't give any of them the time they deserve.

The Marvels - If this were just a standalone sci-fi adventure people would be tripping over themselves to talk about how much fun it is. It is a little clunky in a couple spots (mostly from unnecessarily trying to tying it to the baggage of the larger MCU) , but it is breezy, funny, and the action is mostly cool to watch.

The Killer - My favorite Fincher in over a decade.  It's not especially dense, but it is meticulous, and funnier than I expected.

[ferraroso]

Went to see Godzilla Minus One last Saturday (and I plan on going again later this month)
I've always been a huge Godzilla fan and, for me, this is the best one ever.
I heard it is going to get a world-wide release next month and I gotta say it is definitely worth going to the theater just to watch it!!
What an amazing piece of art!
My favorite 2023 movie so far.
PS: It also shows how Americans are simply incapable of understanding what Godzilla is really about!

[pzeke]

[...]

PS: It also shows how Americans are simply incapable of understanding what Godzilla is really about!

Please, enlighten us; what is Godzilla really about?

There's no denying that "GodZilla 1998" was an aberration of a movie, and that "King of the Monsters" and "Godzilla vs. Kong" were all nonsense, albeit with some good monster brawling sprinkled about; but "Godzilla 2014", regardless of what the naysayers in their echo chamber say, managed to capture what the essence of Godzilla is, especially if we take into consideration the original was a source of inspiration. Sure, it has its flaws, killing off Cranston's character early being the prime example, but the movie holds its own among the greats within the franchise rather well. As far as I've seen, "Minus One" seems to follow nearly the same threads that "Godzilla 2014" did with its man vs. nature themes.

[ferraroso]

Please, enlighten us

No, thanks.

[Cartagia]

Watched Norm Macdonald's Dirty Work for the first time since the 90s.  I didn't think that I remembered much of it, but as it went on more and more kept coming back to me.  It's more like a series of bits than an actual movie, but most of the bits are good, even if there is pretty much no plot tying them together.

[pzeke]

Please, enlighten us

No, thanks.

The pontificator not wanting to pontificate any further?



Anyway, let me not derail this with hogwash...

Just recently, about a week or so, I gave Batman & Robin a watch after literal decades and I would like to echo what someone over at Reddit said, which I'll quote below for full transparency:

"I don't know why so many people hate this movie, it's one of the most comic accurate Batman movies we have. The entire film oozes silver and bronze age Batman, and that's exactly what they were going for. It's entertaining, funny as hell, and so many scenes look like they were pulled straight from a Dennis O'Neil issue.

I love serious Batman and I love fun Batman and I'm sick of pretending one is better than the other."

Me too, EldritchSlut, me too. I couldn't have said it any better.

Watched Norm Macdonald's Dirty Work for the first time since the 90s.  I didn't think that I remembered much of it,but aside went on more and more kept coming back to me.  It's more like a series of bits than an actual movie, but most of the bits are good, even if there is pretty much no plot tying them together.

Man, I've loved that one ever since my first watch. I've never owned it and saw it once at Walmart and never got it because I was in a hurry. I'm hopeful I'll find it one of these days while digging through their movie bins. I mean, I found Porky's in one of them, so...

[ferraroso]

The pontificator not wanting to pontificate any further?

Well, I’m a teacher, so I only enlighten people when I’m being paid for that… Haha

[Cartagia]

The Queen of Versailles - Surprisingly even handed, and even though the Siegels don't always acquit themselves that well, I found a shocking amount sympathy for them at times. They're still abhorently rich and almost comically evil, but more relatable on a day-to-day basis than I anticipated.

Thanksgiving - Eli Roth's best project by miles. It's a pitch perfect pastiche of 80s slashers, with a dash of social media hysteria thrown in. It gets pretty lost in the third act, though. The gruesome imagery is generally pretty strong, but there are a few whiffs when it tries to gets laughs from it. Even with those missteps it's one of the better horror movies of the year.

Martial Law II: Undercover - Probably a stronger and all around more well-made film than the first, but missing a presence like David Carradine's to keep you engaged in the downtime.

No Escape - Hadn't seen this since the 90s.  It's definitely got some fun moments, and the villain is great, but it is way too long and has a foundation of pretty lazy / illogical world-building.

Quiz Lady - Totally fine. I get that it is trying to play Awkwafina and Sandra against type, but Oh didn't really nail it the way Awkwafina does. Could have really leaned into the absurdity more as those were my favorite bits.

Con Air - Definitely worse than I remembered, but it is so bugnuts crazy it is impossible not to have a good time.

First Blood - It's a shame what the sequels have done to the reputation of this first Rambo outing. It's lean. It's grimey. It's a scathing critique of how US Veterans are treated. It screams ACAB. There's more pathos in that final monologue than nearly every modern blockbuster. A damn fine film.

[Cartagia]

Rambo: First Blood Part II - You have to completely divorce your expectations from the first film or you're gonna have a bad time. As a totally unrelated action fest it's pretty fun, even if it is jingoistic pablum.

Rambo III - Much stronger narratively than the second film, but missing the bombast and iconography. Lots of cool helicopter stuff, though, which is always welcome.

Rambo - Grim, gratuitous, excessive, and exploitive. A pretty good time at the movies.

Rambo: Last Blood - I liked it a little more this time around, but it's still easily the worst of the series. Where the second one is pure Boomer wish-fulfillment this entry is end to end fearmongering. The editing is pretty bad as well. I was confused as to the timeline way too much in the first 10 or so minutes.  Stallone has still got it, though, and the action is solid enough.

The Lives of Others - Meticulously and perfectly constructed. Finds the tragic and horrific in the mundane of the lives of the flawed but regular people of 1980s East Germany.

[kamikazekeeg]

Blue Beetle - This was some fun, it's got a nice style to it, some decent action, and the suit is cool, it's kinda like a scaled down Green Lantern in execution being able to create all sorts of blasters and blades.  Probably the first of the DCEU movies I've liked since the second Suicide Squad movie.  I'm glad they are keeping him around for the upcoming DC stuff as I can see him easily slotting in no problem and I'm curious to see where they go with the sequel.  I thought the family was abit much at the start, but it all comes together well enough as the movies goes on, I'd recommend this one.  It's not quite the end of the DCEU, but if Aquaman 2 turns out okay, it's a decent enough ending to that era of DC films.  I'm just glad it's a decent film to make up for how terrible Flash was lol

The Meg 2 - I thought the first movie was a great time, it's cheesy, over the top, and probably the best shark movie I've seen in years.  The sequel I think escalates things well enough for a sequel without just rehashing the first movie, but not sure it replaces it with better stuff.  There's a lot more person on person action, it's a much more standard Jason Statham movie and it didn't need to be, because the idea is that there's more creatures to deal with in the Trench and it should've been more of an emphasis on it being like an underwater Jurassic Park sort of experience.  It does rehash the finale though, trying to save people at a resort while fighting the Megs, there's just some added threats.  It's certainly not a bad flick, it's an extremely high budget B-Movie pretty much and it shows with good visuals, so if you liked the first, or you are a fan of flicks like Deep Blue Sea, Deep Rising, you'll like this.

[Cartagia]

Money Plane - Cheap garbage, but there's one legitimately great scene involving Russian Roulette.

Miami Connection - One of the most well-made bad movies of all time. It's so close to being legitimately great you can practically taste it.

Stone Cold - I spent a lot of this watch thinking I overrated it the last time I watched it. Then third act hit. What an insane spectacle.

Royal Warriors - After watching several other 80s HK action flicks since the last time I watched this, I like it a little bit less. The actual final fight is great, but I just can't buy Michelle's motivation and I can't really jive with the armored car stuff.

Godzilla Minus One - Definitely not one of the fun Godzilla films. It's stark, moody, and terrifying - just the way I like my G films. I think it doesn't quite earn the ending, and the third act isn't quite as good as what comes before. Still near the top of the franchise and one of my favorite movies of the year, though.

[kamikazekeeg]

Godzilla: Minus One - I also saw this today and it's really good, up there as one of the top Godzilla films for sure.  I'm not sure where I'd place it personally for myself, I lean more into the actiony side of Godzilla, fighting other monsters along with humans, but there's no doubt how good this is.  I would definitely put it over Shin Godzilla as I think this nails the Godzilla experience all around with a tragic human drama alongside the horrific terror of a giant monster killing and destroying everything so easily.  I'm always so bad about placements, but I think it might be Top 5 as it's kind of the perfection of the Japanese side of Godzilla.

One thing to note, Toho just knows how to sell his heat ray blast so much.  I thought they peaked with Shin Godzilla's attack, which has more gravitas to it, but this one?  It's up there for sure. 

Probably my favorite of 2023 too, though I haven't watched everything yet, but even if I like Oppenheimer, or Barbie, or The Boy and the Heron, I am a Godzilla fan, so it's going to win out lol

[Cartagia]

Face/Off - Hadn't seen this since the 90s, and it definitely has lost some luster in the intervening years. It's way too long and has several sections in the first two acts that drag. However, when it's firing on all cylinders it is still pretty entertaining and the climax is astonishingly bonkers and awesome.

Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain - It's definitely got its moments, but nothing else in it is as consistently perfect as Conan O'Brien.

[kamikazekeeg]

The Hobbit (1977) - Wasn't sure what to watch, so I initially thought about starting up the Lord of the Rings movies, then The Hobbit ones, but decided to instead start with the old cartoons.  Haven't watched them in years, I remember renting this one in particular at the library more than a few times, so I definitely have a soft spot for it and I definitely have a strong memory for some of the music.

The movie as a watch is good for the animation, I love the style they went with, very different from The Lord of the Rings one that came out the year after this.  I've never read the original books, so I don't know how this movie sticks with the story, though it's very much the cliffnotes version in feel.  Like where the newer Hobbit movies were unfortunately dragged out into 3 films when they didn't really need to be, this movie felt like it could've used a little more time spent kinda early on and then towards the end and some moments I'm like "Is this really how they accomplish this in the book?", because it's so weird and goofy lol

Overall I still enjoy this, if you've somehow never seen it, and are a fantasy fan, I'd definitely recommend it, I think it's a much watch for anyone that says they enjoy Tolkien or the movies.  Gonna be hearing "Down, Down, To Goblin Town" in my head for abit lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogTDa-vG2MQ

[Cartagia]

Stalked by My Doctor: Patient's Revenge - Absolutely bonkers insane.  Not a good movie, but easily the best of these so far.

Silent Night (2023) - The fact that there is no dialogue shouldn't have stopped someone from doing a second pass on the script. Woo and Kinnaman elevate the hell out of it.

Fred Claus - Paul Giamatti is great (of course), and it's got a few good moments, but overall not that good.

Lethal Weapon - Director's Cut - The Director's Cut really messes with the early pacing and character intros. More of a subtraction by addition situation. It doesn't tank the whole movie or anything. It just makes it feel like a less-oiled machine.

Nimona - God I love how emotive Nimona's face is. Stunningly animated and a ton of fun. Really dug this.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock - An inconsistent film that feels like it is missing huge chunks of plot and character development, but more than makes up for that in sheer entertainment value. It was never going to live up to Wrath of Khan, but it could definitely be worse.