mega thread Last Movie You Watched?

[Dreambiscuit 8,475]

Godzilla Minus One (2023) Now I can see what all the shouting was about. It lives up to its fame. This is a really great Gozilla movie. It’s so refreshing to see a movie that’s all about the entertainment, with no social agendas. This movie feels like it was made decades ago, and the 1940s setting was nicely done. The characters were all so well-defined and likeable, and Gojira himself was a real bastard! Very refreshing and very fun.

Abigail (2024) This was one of my most anticipated movies of this year. And now, having seen it I can say…it was okay. It had the potential for greatness and looked like it had the same kind of attitude as M3GAN, but sadly it fell short. The premise was good; a 12 year old ballerina is kidnapped and held for ransom by a bunch of hired thugs, but then the unexpected happens. I won’t give spoilers here as to the rest of the plot. But I will say that it went too far in some areas and not far enough in others. Filmmakers don’t have the maturity, instinct or intelligence to know where the line should be drawn, so if they don’t understand a certain kind of subject matter, they should leave it out of their movies altogether. They end up alienating their audience and getting a bomb at the box office, which this was. It also had a gaping plot hole which is hard to overlook. So, lots of potential, imperfect result.

Hide & Seek (2005) A psychological thriller about a psychiatrist (Robert DeNiro) and his daughter (Dakota Fanning) trying to recover from the suicide of DeNiro’s wife/Dakota’s mother. The daughter ends up with a diabolical imaginary friend and her father tries to unravel the psychological puzzle. There’s a satisfying plot twist and overall it’s a good movie. Dakota Fanning is such a brilliant actress, she makes DeNiro look like a wannabe. The dvd offers several alternate endings, of which one in particular would have made a much more impactful finale. As it is, the theatrical version was fine.

[TheRockARooster 48,202]

The last movie I watched was The Land Before Time.

[Dynamo Pad 10,818]

The last movies I watched were The Land Before Time and IF. 

[Tropical Melody 5,237]

May not count but - made for TV movie anyway - second Columbo pilot - 'Ransom For A Dead Man' (1971)

 

 

[Antiyonder 362]

Checked out Earwig and the Witch

[Dreambiscuit 8,475]

Godzilla x Kong (2024) Yeah, okay, been there, done that; lots of special effects, very little plot, and the usual fight in a city as the finale, all the usual boxes checked off, but really lacking in any suspense or gripping story. It’s a Godzilla movie so it doesn’t have to be anything epic, just entertaining and original enough to justify itself. As long as people turn out to see it, Hollywood is not going to elevate their game because they don’t need to. Godzilla Minus One wasn’t intricate or insanely original, but it didn’t have to be; its characters were strongly written and acted, and the plot took some actual intelligent thought. I didn’t have huge hopes for Godzilla x Kong and it delivered exactly what I expected. Sadly that wasn’t enough to justify the cost.

Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) Well, it sucked. Guy Ritchie has never made a good movie in his life, so hey, let’s give him another script and pile of money and see what happens. Guess what, he turned in another flop. This movie is so pretentious and stupid, with Quentin Tarantino-style, self-consciously ‘cool’ actors, and a spaghetti-western score which is a poor gimmick that doesn’t elevate it to a good movie. The story is fine; a covert team has to stop German U-boat dominance in the Atlantic during WW2. Fine, but what we get is a convoluted demonstration of how brilliant the director, writers and editing team aren’t. In past years (decades) this would have been a simple task; create a war movie with a simple plot, streamlined and entertaining. They never needed to be ‘epic’ or use gimmicks. But it seems the people who made this mess never even seen a movie older than 1970. Their loss and mine. There goes another two hours I’ll never get back.

Howard the Duck (1985) Known for being a huge flop, this movie’s failure at the box office could have easily been avoided or fixed. There isn’t anything all that wrong with it fundamentally; it has a clear plot with engaging characters and a good sense of fun. What it needs is one more draft of the script to polish off the rough edges, and someone to put a leash on the writers, one of which directed as well. George Lucas got the blame for everything largely because he’s George Lucas, and everyone wanted to jump on the bandwagon and see him fail. It’s the same hive-mind thinking that generated the Jar Jar Binks backlash. But taken on its own merits and discounting all crowd-following ‘opinion,’ there is potential here. Howard the Duck is a pretty easy character to make work; a cynical, cigar-chewing duck transplanted into a human world and left to sink or swim. Much can be done with that. This movie simply went too far in some areas and not far enough in others. On the plus side, Lea Thompson is such a gem; she keeps the perfect balance between tongue-in-cheek humor and ego-free innocence. She really is the best thing about this movie.

[Tropical Melody 5,237]

I remember Howard The Duck! I liked it.   Have thought about it since now and again, want to watch it now!

 

[SummerS 6]

Godzilla Minus One - Amazing 9/10

Godzilla x Kong new Empire whatever - Garbage -1 ironiclaly

[Fluttershutter 2,186]

Should I see Furiosa or Planet of the Apes Tuesday? Both look pretty cool, both are kind of annoyingly long, and I've seen all the previous movies.

[Nightlight1313 153]

On 2024-05-05 at 11:42 PM, Nightlight1313 said:

That was one of my favorite movies when I was younger! I haven't rewatched it in ages, I'm definitely overdue

I finally rewatched The Cat Returns a few days ago! I already want to watch it again. I wish I could live in the Kingdom of Cats...

[DubWolf 16,784]

Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

This is the one Godzilla movie I hadn't seen, and it had been on my list for quite a while (it's a 2 hour movie from 2019!! So didn't feel as relevant). Plus I heard the reviews weren't as great but daaaaang....

I didn't really watch it for the "substance". That'd make it better for sure, though that's just cherry on top .. for a Godzilla movie.

Spoiler

Definitely was always intrigued by Ghidorah especially recently, with it and monsterverse stuff popping up on my youtube feed lately.

Every scene with this classic rival of Godzilla was epic; his size, that wingspan, his terrifying look of not one, but three monstrous heads out to get you! Not to mention his lightning powers creating a literal storm about everything. The movie wouldn't have been the same without him. A bit amused by how the center head appears to be in charge of the others, smacking the others like an older sibling would.

Godzilla definitely continues to be epic, sad my review hasn't said much about him. It did feel like he was a bit outmatched for most of the film, being in a slumber for a good time, though I still admire his character as a guardian, especially those interactions he has with the humans. Either intimidating, or even... sympathetic, as Serizawa gave him his farewell... or maybe he just don't care lol).

The classic theme got some good use as well.

Also dam Mothra is so majestic.. and beautiful.

Shame on me for not having watched it sooner. Again, mostly the reviews kinda threw me off but... I liked it enough. The characters were likable enough for me.

 

Also love the classic roar at the end of the credits honoring ... Haruo Nakajima. Forgot his name, but I remember he passed away not that long ago.

 

Edited May 29 by DubWolf

[Ganondorf8 11,151]

The Quintessential Quintuplets movie about a week ago. I want to watch it again just because I like the way things turned out for the main characters.

[Dreambiscuit 8,475]

The Dead Don't Die (2019) A waste of time and I hated it. There's nothing less entertaining than watching an all-star cast partying on the studio's dime under the pretense of making a movie. This doesn't even qualify as a movie; it's a joke that isn't even funny. Loaded with lots of self-consciously 'brilliant' touches like breaking the fourth wall not once but twice, and imposing one of their buddy's shitty songs on the audience a total of FIVE TIMES. I guess he really needed a plug (which doesn't surprise me considering how bad he was). The direction was slow and the editing sluggish. Characters are introduced at length only to have them turned into zombies without any meaning or build-up. It's as if they were only there because they wanted to join the party and get paid for it. I have no use for such performers who are already priveledged enough without getting paid for farting around onscreen while the audience foots the bill. 
Silent Running (1972) This is definitely a product of its time, which isn't a bad thing. I'm not going to say this movie is a masterpiece, and it has its flaws, but overall it's okay. The idea of a handful of spaceships carrying the world's last forests, deserts and natural habitats, at a time when the earth has been controlled to the point of a perfect 75 degrees worldwide with no variation in landscape, is interesting as far as originality is concerned. When the crews get the order to detonate these last examples of nature's beauty in order to return the ships to commercial duty, things take an interesting turn. It's easy to see why George Lucas considered this one of the movies that influenced him for Star Wars, on a technical level and in terms of making machines with endearing personality. And the special effects were quite good for their time. Not a classic, but interesting.
The Searchers (1956) One of the greatest westerns ever. This isn't like then typical John Wayne western, in that this one has some serious edginess to it. John Wayne's character has some flaws which made him textured and interesting, and the violence, shown or implied, can be very harsh, but it never loses it's sense of well-balanced entertainment. This movie is seriously a masterpiece, brilliantly directed by John Ford, and possibly the greatest western ever made.
The Fall Guy (2024) Taking a lukewarm TV show from the 80s and turning it into a movie in 2024 is a tad desperate, especially considering very few even remember the show as anything but a filler to follow The A-Team in the line-up. But still, with a big budget I figured they could maybe do something with this. I was mostly wrong. Okay, it had some decent action and humor, and I can overlook the predictable plot. But every time it started to get some momentum going, they bogged it down with another 'let's get in touch with our feelings' moment that brought everything crashing to a halt. The direction was desperate and fell short, with little to make this movie worthwhile. Even the playbook cameo by Lee Majors and Heather Thomas lacked any excitement. Sorry, but this was a fail.

[DubWolf 16,784]

Godzilla 1985. Wanted to watch something more classic than the newer stuff. It's uhh.... was a nice watch. It's an 80s movie so as far as effects go I wasn't expecting anything modern, and that's just fine. The storyline was easy to follow and, as any Godzilla movie should be, there's enough time between him and anything else so you aren't just tired of him destroying everything or attacking others.

[Dreambiscuit 8,475]

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999) What can I tell ya? This is Star Wars and I love Star Wars. It has that feeling of being the beginning of something vast and amazing. The characters are immortal, the balance of action and humor is perfect, and its gravitas as the beginning of the greatest movie saga of all time is overwhelming. There simply aren't words to adequately describe something one loves more than anything else on earth. So I'll leave it to you imagination (but imagine big words okay? I think this thing merits some fancy vocab).

Octopussy (1983) The best James Bond movie of them all, starring the best Bond actor (Roger Moore) of them all, turning in his best performance of his Bond career. This movie represents everything that was great about this franchise; humor, style, action, gadgets and a hero with a certain penchant for the ladies. Roger Moore brought so much to this role, even though he never seems to get his due credit. Sean Connery, as much as I like him, is always called the best Bond just because he was the first Bond. But that's bypassing any real thought or consideration. Both had a remarkably similar approach to the role in their balance of intensity and humor, but Moore is the embodiment of suave sophistication. This movie also delineates the vast difference between the older Bond series according to Cubby Broccoli, and the newer series under the misdirection of his clueless daughter, Barbara Broccoli, whose concept of Bond is represented by the humorless, self-important thug, Danial Craig. Octopussy, unlike its modern counterparts, has an intricate yet clear plot that holds up under scrutiny, and most of all it's a fun movie, from the days when it was okay to have fun at the movies. Now the series is ostensibly dead, and better off as such.

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,788]

On 2024-05-20 at 6:11 AM, Dreambiscuit said:

Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) Well, it sucked. Guy Ritchie has never made a good movie in his life, so hey, let’s give him another script and pile of money and see what happens. Guess what, he turned in another flop. This movie is so pretentious and stupid, with Quentin Tarantino-style, self-consciously ‘cool’ actors, and a spaghetti-western score which is a poor gimmick that doesn’t elevate it to a good movie. The story is fine; a covert team has to stop German U-boat dominance in the Atlantic during WW2. Fine, but what we get is a convoluted demonstration of how brilliant the director, writers and editing team aren’t. In past years (decades) this would have been a simple task; create a war movie with a simple plot, streamlined and entertaining. They never needed to be ‘epic’ or use gimmicks. But it seems the people who made this mess never even seen a movie older than 1970. Their loss and mine. There goes another two hours I’ll never get back.

No offense @Dreambiscuit, I almost loved this movie because of Henry Cavill and some other interesting stuff  

On 2024-05-26 at 9:05 PM, Fluttershutter said:

Should I see Furiosa or Planet of the Apes Tuesday? Both look pretty cool, both are kind of annoyingly long, and I've seen all the previous movies.

Furiosa  

Spoiler

It's tragic, but it has satisfying loads of action.  

[Antiyonder 362]

Oh yeah, other day I watched Strawberry Shortcake's Summer Vacation as it hit Netflix.  Enjoyed it of course.  Now waiting for news if whether or not Berry in the Big City is done or has another season or special.

[Dreambiscuit 8,475]

57 minutes ago, ZiggWheelsManning said:

No offense @Dreambiscuit, I almost loved this movie because of Henry Cavill and some other interesting stuff  

None taken, Zigg! I'm glad you found something in this movie you liked. 

My recents:

Star Trek 2 :The Wrath of Khan (1982) It's okay, not great but it's worth a viewing as a mid-level sci-fi movie. The Star Trek movies with the original TV series' crew all suffered from the same problem in that the production was mired by 'too many cooks in the kitchen' and no unified vision. But still, the cast seemed more at ease with each other in this movie than they did in the previous installment; the chemistry flowed better. And Ricardo Mantalban is always enjoyable to watch because he has so much charisma.

The Searchers (1956) Possible the greatest of all westerns. It has all the fun, charm and action of the typical John Wayne westerns but adds a distinctly edgy touch, with elements that are (either shown or suggested) deeply troubling. John Wayne is rough around the edges in this one and it works very well for the story this movie is telling. Great stuff.

Clueless (1995) I never saw this movie before so I was glad to have a chance to see something fresh. And it worked for me. To my surprise it didn't have any message to beat over the audience's heads and it told a story with good humor and sense of fun. Even Alicia Silverstone, who I don't usually like, was charming in this; skillfully (or instinctively?) playing a total ditz.

[Fluttershutter 2,186]

7 hours ago, ZiggWheelsManning said:

Furiosa  

  Reveal hidden contents

It's tragic, but it has satisfying loads of action.  

I didn't manage to get to the movies last week or this week lol.

[Antiyonder 362]

Found it when I was looking for the Strawberry Shortcake special last week, watched the anime movie My Oni Girl.  Fun movie.

[TheRockARooster 48,202]

The last movie/s I watched was Jurassic Park and The Lost World : Jurassic Park.

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,788]

@TheRockARooster

I watched Furiosa in theatres,

Spoiler

Packed with tragedy and action.  Had Australian sounds too.  

Wondering what @Dreambiscuit thinks of it.  

[TheRockARooster 48,202]

4 minutes ago, ZiggWheelsManning said:

@TheRockARooster

I watched Furiosa in theatres,

  Hide contents

Packed with tragedy and action.  Had Australian sounds too.  

Wondering what @Dreambiscuit thinks of it.  

You enjoy it, Zigg? 

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,788]

2 minutes ago, TheRockARooster said:

You enjoy it, Zigg? 

Spoiler

Be clear that I mentioned tragedy, I surely enough did  

[Rock-O-Jello 160]

The last movie I watched in full was The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh, which still held up pretty well from when I was a kid.