Rate The Last Movie You Saw

I think that the most powerful art about the death penalty takes exactly this approach. Have you seen Herzog's Into the Abyss? I thought it was amazing, not only tackling the question of how we treat people who are (undeniably, sometimes even proudly) guilty of crimes, but also the toll that deliberate, state-sponsored killing takes on those involved. If you like Dead Man Walking, I think Into the Abyss makes for a great companion piece. (Though they are both very intense, so maybe not as a double feature!)

The Sea Beast, 2022

In this animated film, seasoned sea monster hunter Jacob (Karl Urban) is set to inherit an imposing ship from his captain (Jared Harris). But when the hunters to after a notorious large red sea monster, plucky orphan Maisie (Zaris-Angel Hator) stows away on the ship, and after a dangerous encounter Maisie and Jacob end up learning more about the monsters and the nature of the conflict between them and the kingdom.

About halfway through this film, I was like "Well, someone has seen Moana!". You know, sea-faring adventure with a grown man and a young woman; adorable but weird animal sidekick; themes about the balance between people and nature; giant crab monster. But despite some VERY familiar elements, I thought that The Sea Beast was an enjoyable adventure with a good message at its core.

It really helps that the voice acting is very strong. Urban deftly manages the absurd comedy and the more serious moments easily. Hator's Maisie is an engaging child character. And the two of them have an easy chemistry that helps their banter. The supporting cast is also pretty good, including Harris as the grizzled captain and Marianne Jean-Baptiste is also on hand as the stoic first mate of the ship.

Visually, I enjoyed the film. I wouldn't say that it's incredibly original, but the action scenes are easy to follow and the size and scope of the sea monsters is fun.

There are two messages in the film, and I appreciated both of them. One is simply about communication, and the other is about the fact that you can be well-intentioned and wrong at the same time. The latter message is pulled off pretty deftly. Where it would have been easy to vilify the sea monster hunters, the focus is put more on those who have driven the conflict for their own profit.

Nothing earth-shattering, but a solid family film.

I remember reading about Into the Abyss when it came out, and wanting to see it very much - unfortunately I haven't yet, and it seems I have to seek it out rather than waiting to cross paths with it. The best film I've every seen regarding this issue is Krzysztof Kieslowski's A Short Film About Killing, which he made towards the end of his 'strictly Polish' period. If you haven't seen that, then I recommend it to you.

Oh boy, my older kid saw this and he. just. won't. stop talking about it To be fair, I saw half of it and thought what I saw was pretty solid, but damn, it's all day he's talking about the Red Beast and Jacob Holland

Bookie lives in the middle of these two, but it will definitely probably test the patience of those not acclimatized to what he does.

Marihuana, 1936

...the behaviors we see after they get high are, honestly, the kind of things that I more associate with people who have been drinking, such as going swimming while intoxicated.

He made the cuts after the film was a commerical failure. Which isn't always the best reason, especially when the rest of the movies made in his typical style allow for lots of space for his actors to ramble and improvise until they completely exhaust themselves.


The two you've seen are not typical Cassavetes. They are almost normal films. When it comes to his usual more uncompromising approach, Husbands is the one that pushes his extremes to the max, where Minnie and Moskovitz is one of the tamer ones. Bookie lives in the middle of these two, but it will definitely probably test the patience of those not acclimatized to what he does.


I guess it depends how much you want to be left to the whims of a drunkard filming drunkards until something finally happens. I think that is an important element, even if it pushes against the lean and mean expectations you might have for a neo noir film. It's possible the edit works more as a genre piece than the theatrical cut

My wife smoked a blunt before I put it on so she was laughing the whole time. I was amused the whole time. I liked the supporting characters better than the lead, not unusual for a comedy. It was good, definitely worth watching. That's as far as it goes for me.

By https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1707386/mediaindex, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35988556

Les Misérables - (2012)

To all the lovers of this film - I'm sorry, but 158 minutes was far too long for me. There's around 30 minutes of this film put together which I find to be exciting spectacle - and 2 hours worth of wandering soliloquy, with characters singing their thoughts to themselves. Does the stage show go as long? This movie's excesses made some stretches somewhat painful, and instead of winning me over and getting me to love this musical, I ended up disliking it more than I did initially.

4/10