Recommend (or don't) a movie thread v2

[FireGilbert]

Love Hurts: I was intrigued by a Valentines action movie with Ke Huy Quan as the lead but this is one of the worst movies I've seen in a while. The story is dumb and rushed with no romantic chemistry or interesting characters. Was super annoyed at the repeated monologue narration that treats the audience like idiots. There is some fun action but it's over reliant on violence. 3/10

Nosferatu: Just a really well made movie with great cinematography, set design/costumes, music, and especially the acting. Bill Skarsgard is so creepy and Lily-Rose Depp gives and epic performance that somehow was snubbed from an Oscar nomination. Eggers continues to make interesting historical horror although his sacrificing of pacing for mood and developing tension may not be for everyone. 9/10

Novocaine: A decent action concept with some romance added in, and I like the idea of a character learning to turn a weakness into a strength, but something was missing from this. The plot is a bit random and the bad guy is pretty uninteresting. The action is good but some of the gore goes a bit over the top. 6/10

Paddington in Peru: This loses a lot of the charm of the first two movies by moving from the more grounded London location to having an adventure in the jungles of Peru, but is still an enjoyable family friendly movie. Sally Hawkins is missed in the cast but can't go wrong adding Coleman and Banderas. 7/10

The Phoenician Scheme: It's a nice looking movie that has the expected Wes Anderson quirkiness and charm but it doesn't all come together. Feels like he was trying to match the tone of The Grand Budapest Hotel, with a eccentric man going on a dangerous adventure with a protege. Overall it's just kind of boring and forgettable. 5/10

Sinners: I understand needing to set up your characters but this takes forever to get going. The last half is just spectacular though. Its a cool take on a pretty standard vampire survival story and I liked how the great music was integrated into the plot. 9/10

[Mitch]

First time watch of The Thing (1982) last night - WOW! Immediately enters as one of my favorite of all time. Just a perfectly entertaining horror movie. 10/10.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Vince Gilligan really is a great creator of TV content. However he is first to come to mind to benefit from better editing. I really like his stuff but man he pushed me to the brink of pulling the plug on Better Call Saul and now the same thing with Pluribus. Really why make it so hard for fans to enjoy your work? When I hear "slow build" to characterize any new show, it's an immediate indication of a good show let down by too much "useless filler".

Yeah I just started Puribus, and each episode is 10 minutes longer than it needs to be.

[Bigtime]

Counterpoint: Each Pluribus episode should be 10 minutes longer and consist of nothing but glorious New Mexico sky shots setting the scene.

[Johnny Makarov]

Each Pluribus episode should be 10 seconds longer showing a billboard ad for Saul Goodman.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Each Pluribus episode should be 10 seconds longer showing a billboard ad for Saul Goodman.

The Albuquerque Cinematic Universe (ACU for the nerds).

[Engine09]

Yeah, Marty Supreme is definitely worth watching, loved it. I forgot it was directed by the Safdie brother who did Uncut Gems, became obvious 15 mins in. I guess I'm a Chalamet fan, guy is pretty damn flawless in this, Complete Unknow and Dune which I all love.

Great casting, loved seeing Penn Jillette, the "golden voiced homeless guy" Ted Williams was a surprise but he is a unique individual and this film is full of them. I didn't recognize Sandra Bernhard. The cast is just loaded with interesting choices.

One of my recent favorites, it's out there and exaggerated but so damn enjoyable.

[trackercowe]

I know this might sound crazy, but gotta give a huge recommendation for Primate. It was the mystery movie the other night, and I came in with super low expectations... but it floored me. It was so well done, with some great scares, amazing gore, and just a well done intense thrill ride. Smashed my expectations, and delivered some of the most memorable scenes you'll find in modern horror. A must see for any horror/thriller fan. Don't take my word alone, it's at 92% right now on Rottentomates. This is not the typical lousy movie the studio is dumping into theatres in January. The filmmakers should be proud of what they were able to accomplish in a horror movie in 2026.

[FireGilbert]

Still more movies!

Snow White: Not as horrible as some reviews make it out to be, and out of all the Disney animated properties this one is prime for a modern re-imagining, but it's not a good movie. While it has a few interesting parts it's let down by too much CGI, unremarkable songs, and a horribly miscast Gal Gadot giving a laughably poor performance. 4/10

Superman: Can't argue that James Gunn knows how to make engaging comic book movies that balance seriousness with humour. There is a lot of characters and plot crammed in here which does help the world building but sometimes feels like too much is going on. David Corenswet is a solid Superman, but the highlight is Nicholas Hoult as Luther. 8/10

Train Dreams: A slow burn with a great performance from Joel Edgerton. It's a well made film but does crawl along at a slow pace with lots of quiet conversations. Does explore some interesting themes about what it means to be a man and finding a purpose in life. 8/10

Twisters: Would have been better to make a remake or a sequel instead of this lazy reboot. I spent most of this just laughing at the bad writing which almost moved this into so bad it's good territory. Could have maybe done something with a romantic comedy angle but even that was cringe. The tornado scenes were okay I guess but remember the original feeling much more intense. 4/10

Wake up Dead Man: Another Rian Johnson mystery. This one subverted my expectations a bit by not subverting my expectations, as it's a pretty standard Christie style mystery. Does continue to be very self referential though. Thought this could have been cut down as it takes a while to get going and the same to wrap but the stuff in between is engaging with good acting. 8/10

[Locke]

Watched a couple of films.

Playdate - Not going to lie, I threw this on in the background and...it was pretty cringy for the most part and its really not my kind of movie or my kind of humour but I must admit, there were parts that got me some genuine laughs which I found surprising. So...I'll give it a 5.5/10.

Roofman - Strange film. I'm not going to get into 'Based on a True Story' but it was overall well done, cant complain about too much but just not my thing. It was kind of nice with a 'nice guy robber' motif but overall I just found it kind of sad. 6/10

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Mitch

First time watch of The Thing (1982) last night - WOW! Immediately enters as one of my favorite of all time. Just a perfectly entertaining horror movie. 10/10.

Lightning in a bottle for John Carpenter. Perfect cast, perfect story, perfect acting, and production. One of the greatest sci fi horror movies ever. Sure there are a few scenes where some of the animatronics haven't aged well but a lot of the effects still hold up much better than most 90's CGI films.

[direwolf]

What's interesting about The Thing is that it was a box office and critical flop when it was first released, and had the misfortune of coming out a couple weeks after E.T. It wasn't until people discovered it on video that it eventually became a classic and is now rightfully hailed as a sci-fi/horror masterpiece.

[Sr. Mints]

It's a small detail in a 20 second shot, but the opening scene in The Thing where the UFO is heading toward Earth did more to spark my interest in Sci Fi than all the Star Treks and Star Wars' and BSGs did during my childhood.

I'm not sure why I remember that scene so well, I couldn't have been younger than ~6-7 when I finally saw The Thing. I can even remember the couch I was sitting on watching it with my older brother and our cousin/babysitter, and the feeling of being absolutely enthralled is still palatable.

[Shazam]

That movie scared the hell out of me when I saw it as a kid. Still love it.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by Engine09

Some of the same people who complain about two and half hour movies plow through a TV series with a season clocking in at over 9 hours. After 5 seasons you're quite possibly in 60 hour territory.

I'll take a well written and executed film every time over the meandering and bloated TV series. It's a rant I've gone off on before but I've been reminded how annoying that type of writing can be while catching up with Stranger Things.

I'm kind of the opposite. I used to strictly only watch movies. Breaking Bad back in the late '00s was really the first time time I sat and watched/followed a series as an adult. After I got into it, I finally understood there are some good series out there worth getting to so I branched out to others like The Wire, Sopranos, etc.

To me there's nothing as good as settling into a good series. Not all are good, but when it finally clicks, I enjoy it much more than a quick 2 hour action romp or drama knowing that I'm getting something long term out of it for a few weeks. Series are much harder to get into, but the payoff is significantly better IMO. The buzz of a movie is gone soon after, while a good series sticks with me for a while.