Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Great movie…Russell and JT Walsh are excellent

Never heard of this movie

The Deer Hunter (1978)


I saw the thread about comparing this movie to Apocalypse Now...Deer Hunter is good, but its not on the same level.

I think I had heard it mentioned, but not much else. It's John Dahl, though, who did Red Rock West, which is a pretty cool neo-noir. He also did Rounders (which I haven't seen in a long time, but I know a lot of people love it) and Joy Ride (which is a fairly decent horror-esque thriller). He also did The Last Seduction, which I haven't seen but I think someone here is a fan (is it @Holden Pike?). I'm also finding out that he has directed episodes for a lot of shows I like/love (i.e. Breaking Bad, Justified, The Americans, among many others) and also directed two episodes of The Looming Tower, which is a really great mini-series about the events that preceded the 9/11 terrorist attacks. So bottom line, I'm intrigued. Thanks for bringing it up.

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Saw this in theaters and have loved it since.

By Bloody Disgusting, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77217687

Heretic - (2024)

Sometimes a series of performances can cause you to really fall in love with this or that actor, and you're not quite aware it's happening until one day you consciously think about the esteem they now have in your mind. I'd put Hugh Grant front and center concerning that phenomenon for me personally. After enjoying his work in the likes of A Very English Scandal, Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen, Cloud Atlas, Florence Foster Jenkins and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves I'd have to say his post-romantic comedy period has found him expanding his range, much to his benefit. In Heretic he plays Mr. Reed, an intellectual who seems to have dedicated his entire life to dissecting and examining religion - searching for the ultimate truth in both philosophical and practical terms. On the surface he's ingratiating, polite and kind - but a pair of missionaries from the Church of Latter Day Saints, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) are in for a brutal evening composed of much more than a bruising theological discussion. Reed's purpose is much more sinister and menacing, and the two young women soon find themselves rats in a theologically designed trap set to prove and disprove his theory about "the only one true religion". It's all overwhelmingly exciting and interesting stuff - both edge-of-your-seat thrilling and mentally stimulating. The ending didn't quite work for me - I was hoping for something stranger and more open to interpretation, but aside from that this was an excellent psychological horror film.

7/10


By IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58544327

Prospect - (2018)

Prospect is going to stick around in my memory because it was such a purely enjoyable sci-fi western to digest - successfully transforming the vastness of interplanetary prospecting into the same wild trigger-happy frontier of old that proved so successful with tales of banditry, greed, danger and lawlessness. All of the ingredients work so well together - Pedro Pascal, the intricate world building, the genre shift and sound combining to create something special. Full review here, in my watchlist thread.

8/10

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Never seen it, but I intend to now.

Heretic is a good movie. I can always listen to Hugh’s beautiful voice even if I don’t like a movie. But this one I did.

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

Warfare (2025)

The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025)

Warfare is now available for streaming so looking forward to it.

Thunderbolts
7/10.

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Boldly going.

USS Callister: Into Infinity - (2025)

This counts as a movie, right? Anyway, I liked the first part of this in the previous season and I liked this one too. 8/10

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You don't remember me? We spoke on the phone two days ago. I told you I would find you.

(MILLS, 2008)

Dead End (1937) - Looks like I don't click super-well with " ensemble pieces " from the classic era; it has happened with Grand Hotel and Stage Door before and it happened here again.
Bogart and McCrea's stories are so interesting on their own (let alone the scenes they share with each other) that everytime they're not on screen the picture drops in swag. Bogie especially is the one you're gonna remember the most from this...

Some nice compositions and lighting, Trevor tries, and the kids show potential early on; but the whole thing is written in such a blunt way about it's concerns that I couldn't wait for it to be over.
I may be underrating it as it was nominated for 4 Oscars (including Best Picture) back in the day but going in, I was hoping for it to be better...
6 - 6.5/10.

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HEI guys.

By Official James Bond 007 Website, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61977088

No Time to Die - (2021)

Up until last night No Time to Die had been the only James Bond film I'd only ever seen once (and considering the fact that Eon has now officially lost control of the franchise, you could almost call it the final James Bond film.) The now dead Mr. White (Jesper Christensen in three previous Bond films), his daughter Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), Spectre and Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) - the whole interconnected saga comes to a close, as does the experiment of having a James Bond actor go through a sequential saga instead of appearing in completely stand-alone stories. The challenge was to also weave stand-alone spy adventures into the (unplanned I guess) saga. In this one shadowy figure Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek) basically ends Spectre - despite being a powerful villain, not hero. I guess the enemy of Bond's enemy didn't end up becoming his friend. Safin is a classic Bond villain - scarred by poison (check), wonderful massive industrial lair (check), prone to megalomaniacal pronouncements (check) and in the process of killing humanity (check). Thank goodness he didn't announce that he'd been behind all of the events in the previous films - that had happened too often in Daniel Craig Bond movies. I liked the film a bit more this time around. All of it's parts seemed to fit together, and the action set-pieces didn't feel ridiculous, even when they were. The score is missing more Bond theme, and although it rears it's head at times it's missing more title song music reprises. I did absolutely love the return of Louis Armstrong's "We Have All the Time in the World", and the Oscar-winning song from Billie Eilish continued a trend towards more orchestral, softly sung opening credit themes. What's massive of course, is the fact that (massive spoilers)

I liked Dr. Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik), and because he was so goofy he seemed so cute - so I was shocked that he was (slight spoiler) thrown into a pool of deadly poison. I liked henchman Primo (Dali Benssalah), with his bionic eye. Two good examples of them including stuff that was very 'Bond' but not too over the top. As silly as Skyfall got at times, though, it's still the highpoint of Craig's time as Bond, with Casino Royale coming in second and this one a very firm third. But while it's not as spectacular as the best two, it's very steady in narrative terms with solid characters and a satisfyingly emotional send off to Daniel Craig.

7/10


Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61977088

Cilla - (2014)

I can now put a name and a face to songs such as "Anyone Who Had a Heart", "You're My World" and "Alfie" thanks to this biopic which takes us into the heart of Liverpool as The Beatles were playing at The Cavern and Priscilla White (stage name Cilla Black) knocked around the same haunts singing her particular brand of groovy stuff - her being friends with the fab four helped nab her an audition with Brian Epstein. The rest is pretty standard, boring, biopic "rise to fame" stuff, but Sheridan Smith shines in the title role, so there's that at least. We could have done with four guys who actually looked like John, Paul, George and Ringo though.

6/10

The Gorge - (Scott Derrickson, 2025)

Broke (2025)

Well, this was good. Earnest tale about a bronco rider caught in a storm trying to survive while looking back on the big events and decisions he's made in his life. Despite the all american background he suffers from expectations passed down (lovingly but firmly) by his father (a looking good Dennis Quaid). These always concern having "a plan" and constant badgering about seemingly trivial issues (obviously the wisdom of age not being of interest to the more flighty rodeo obsessed son). The acting is first class (didn't know the hero) and the love interest and ending a bit superfluous but the story flows effortlessly and is one worth watching.

1st Rewatch...For my money, the weakest entry from the Judd Apatow resume. Not sure exactly what Apatow was trying to do here. The film seems to be in the tradition of Fellini's 8 1/2 or Fosse's All that Jazz, but a seriously confusing screenplay mars whatever the directions intentions were. The film stars Adam Sandler as George Simmons, a movie star who has learned that he has contracted a rare form of leukemia and decides to return to his stand up roots with the aid of a struggling comic named Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) who he has asked to write jokes for him and be his assistant. First of all, I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a look at Sandler's life or Apatow's, though there is a lot of archival footage from Sandler's early stand up career utilized. I guess Apatow wanted to show people that he was capable of doing something other sneering sex comedies, but this one can't decide if it wants to be a comedy or drama, the shifts between comedy and drama are jarring and just exhaust the viewer. Sandler and Rogen are excellent and I also liked Jason Schwartzmann as Rogen's roommate, a television star who likes to leave his $25000 a week paycheck on Rogen's bed just to rub it in his face. Several of Apatow and Sandler's buddies make cameo appearances (76 total), but this movie is a hot mess.

4th Rewatch...This goofy animated comedy still provides laughs for most of its running time. This is the story of four animals who are residents at the Central Park Zoo and are BFF's: Alex (voiced by Ben Stiller) is a lion, Marty (voiced by Chris Rock) is a zebra, Gloria (voiced by Jada Pinkett Smith) and Melman (voiced by David Schwimmer) is a zebra. The friends escape from the zoo one day and are captured and put on a boat to Africa, but their boxes fall of the ship and find themselves stranded on the deserted island of the title where they meet a small but friendly group of animals who treat them like kings in order to serve their own agenda. I especially love the first third of the film where it is established how happy these four friends are in Central Park, except for Marty, whose restlessness kicks off the tale. After they get to the island, it gets a little too silly and by the time Alex is so hungry that he keeps picturing all the island residents as steaks, the film runs out of gas for me, but it's fun for the most part though. The film is effortlessly stolen by Schwimmer and by co-director Tom McGrath who voices the leader of four penguins trying to escape the zoo and get to Antarctica. There have been three sequels so far and, I don't know why, I have never had any desire to see them.

you all know i'm always on the lookout for that hot new garbage and this right here is the hot new garbage. 3D animation that's usually moving at like 3 fps, the characters look like lumpy blobs of clay and there's not even voice acting, all the dialogue comes up as text. funny story, all the freely available versions of this i could find didn't even have the dialogue, i had to rent this directly from the company's vimeo page to get that. it probably would have been even funnier if i just let the free version rock. god, every time you see a new character for the first time its the funniest thing in the world. even looking at the main dude is still funny by the end. this is something special.

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slurps up! 🤙🤙

By https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1001520/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73538487

The Last Voyage of the Demeter - (2023)

It's easy to lambast a movie that's terrible (I watched a few minutes of ueno's movie above, The Delegator - that one's really...something) and it's easy to praise a movie that's great. When a movie does a thing or two, lacks in certain ways and entertains a little but ultimately ends up being something worth forgetting about it's tough to say a lot about it. We know exactly what's going to happen during The Last Voyage of the Demeter, so that only leaves us it's execution - so how does it perform as far as horror and tension go? So so. It relies a little too much on CGI and it's screenplay does not inspire - what's worse is seeing it not so long after catching the Robert Eggers version of Nosferatu, and the comparison does Demeter no favours at all. When Dracula is mostly consigned to the shadows - a sickly, weakened but savage and powerful bag of bones slinking and slivering around the ship - it works. Once we've seen a little too much, and he sprouts wings - flying about like Superman and sporting a bat-face - it's stopped inspiring terror. When those bitten burst into flames it looks cool, to the extent that CGI doesn't ruin the effect (I think CGI works best when enhancing effects that are mostly practical.) But having a few things that look cool does nothing to change the fact that the writing is very mediocre and performances likewise. Workmanlike, passable, but mediocre. It needed more of an eerie nightmare atmosphere, instead of devolving into a cycle of "Dracula kills a member of the crew" then "Crew has a meeting to discuss matters" continuing on an endless loop. It needed more surprise - a few twists and turns along with vision. It did enough not to bore me, but it won't haunt my memories - or linger very long in them.

5/10

1st Rewatch...Tim Burton made his directorial debut with this goofy and imaginative comic romp about a guy named Pee Wee (the late Paul Reubens) whose prized possession. a big shiny red bike is stolen. When the police are no help in locating his bike, Pee Wee goes to a fortune teller who tells him that the bike is in the basement of the Alamo (think about that for a minute), so Pee wee hit the road for Texas. This movie is a lot funnier than it should be. Love Pee Wee's encounter with an escaped convict named Mickey and his memorable evening in a biker bar. Reubens is so engaging in this film that he managed to carve an entire career out of this one character. Think I liked this more the second time around.