What movies have you seen recently?

[Armor and Sword]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Rumors of a reboot

Polarizing warning;

Spoiler

Henry Cavil

I like him....so I would give it a shot. Question is...who would be Connery's character as well as Clancy Brown.

But "There can only be one"!!! LOL.

[LambertandHam]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Manhunter(1986)


Michael Mann movie, screenplay by Michael Mann too. Around the time he was working on Miami Vice and the style shows. I loved this movie, maybe as an extension of that and the Noir feel at times. It's a slowburn. Didn't realize it was William Petersen from CSI and other stuff as well. Reccomended.


Next up for me is another William Petersen movie "To Live and Die in LA".

[Armor and Sword]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Manhunter(1986)


Michael Mann movie, screenplay by Michael Mann too. Around the time he was working on Miami Vice and the style shows. I loved this movie, maybe as an extension of that and the Noir feel at times. It's a slowburn. Didn't realize it was William Petersen from CSI and other stuff as well. Reccomended.


Next up for me is another William Petersen movie "To Live and Die in LA".

Love Manhunter. Very 80's and great noir.

[LambertandHam]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Love Manhunter. Very 80's and great noir.

Noir is one of my favorite genres, soon as the synth kicked, I was hooked.


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[Blzer]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Infernal Affairs

The Departed is a top 20 film for me, so this has a lot to live up to. Honestly, I thought these would only have ties in basic story only (a rat and mole trying to sniff each other out), but this and its American remake tie a lot more closely where direct comparisons can be made.

The Departed is about 50 minutes longer, and I think that time is given great use, especially with Scorsese at the helm. I also think it's good I've seen that version first too, because I would've been very lost with the first twenty minutes of this film that go by at such a rigorous pace. That's fine since I know the plot, but if I went into IA first I would have been in a lot of trouble. Thankfully it slows down after that.

The main things I love in IA more are the relationship/dynamic between Yan and Lau (our two leads) as well as Yan and Wong (the Leo and Sheen of the group), the use of Morse code, and the frenetic pacing absolutely leading to more overall tension since the story urges you to keep going with it. I also like the way Yan and Lau are established here more; not with backstory, but with understanding their characters. You really get to feel these are characters who want out of their positions they're placed in. And, of course, this did it first. Lots of out-of-focus shots though sadly, and they linger on them for quite some time.

Otherwise, The Departed is a little more my cup of tea. Its dialogue, the Irish culture in Boston neighborhoods, the expansion of the ending, merging what is basically three female characters into one Vera Farmiga (and she has a lot more to do), the FBI informant tie-in that leverages Damon's character more... but most importantly, what the likes of Jack Nicholson and Alec Baldwin bring to the film that IA fails to meet. I really like Sam (the head mobster) and he has a great scene that The Departed doesn't have, but Jack is someone you both adore and are frightened by his unhinged behavior, and Scorsese really brings that out in his and Leo's performance. Then all the other side characters who keep it going (Wahlberg, Winston, the guy who plays Fitz, etc.). The remake is just a complete package that is only done wonderfully because of the original, and again it's cool to see how many scenes we're still used bit for bit.

This was a great movie though. It lacks the gore, language, and drugs that The Departed has if that interests you, but if you love The Departed I highly recommend you give this one a look.

EDIT: I also realized this movie gave M. Night Shyamalan the idea for Split.

[Ghost Of The Year]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I watched the 20th anniversary rerelease of Revenge of the Sith in the theatre last week. I hadnt seen it since 2005, which was I also saw at the theatre. Glad I did see it again. Even tho it still reeked of a love story, the rest is excellent. Worth the price of admission. At the time in '05, I wanted more Samuel L. as Mace Windu. That desire hasnt changed. How does that man not have a dozen Oscars. Great actor.

[Majingir]

Mufasa:
One of those movies that because of the obvious legacy of Lion King, you have certain expectations of this. It wasn't just some sequel (or prequel) for the sake of it like we see all the time, this was a prequel that definitely should've happened ages ago (especially instead of Lion King 2).

I always wondered what Mufasa/Scars backstory was. It was obvious it had to do with Mufasa being King and Scar being jealous, but you always wondered how deep things went.

Funny how until this movie, I had never even though that Scar wasn't his name, or wondered what his name actually was.

But I wasn't expecting this kind of backstory at all. I just figured they were actual brothers, Mufasa being the older of the two so he was naturally next in line. Wasn't expecting the whole story of Mufasa being separated from his parents and "adopted" by another herd but being the outcast, and the current king/father hating Mufasa and warning "Scar" that one day Mufasa will betray him. I figured that other Lion was Scar the second they showed Mufasa hanging off the side and reaching out for his help (exactly like the Lion King moment).

This movie makes that betrayal scene in Lion King so much more dramatic now that you have the backstory between them. It's not just the typical "good vs evil" Lion, it's two Lions who really were as close as brothers at one point, and Scar killing Mufasa in a stampede now connects to a moment that changed everything for them (the stampede almost killed the Lion that Scar loved, and despite Mufasa trying to give Scar credit for saving her, she knew Mufasa was the one who saved her, which is what led Scar to turn on Mufasa for betraying him).

And of course once Mufasa dies and Simba is chased away, Scar takes over, including ruling over Mufasas wife who was the one that Scar once loved.

[Blzer]

Rosario

It was bad.

[Ghost Of The Year]

See How They Run.
As always, Sam Rockwell is excellent.
Out of deference to Agatha Christie and her wishes, I will not be spoilering.

[NoleFan]

Let me preface this by saying 'Hold you judgment' but I consider myself to be a big Denzel Washington fan and I was Saturday, 5/3/25, years old when I watched the first Equalizer for the first time. 🤦♂️ And I haven't seen the other 2 either so I'll be watching those since they're both on Netflix. *sigh*

[ChaseB]

Let me preface this by saying 'Hold you judgment' but I consider myself to be a big Denzel Washington fan and I was Saturday, 5/3/25, years old when I watched the first Equalizer for the first time. 🤦♂️ And I haven't seen the other 2 either so I'll be watching those since they're both on Netflix. *sigh*

It's so nice to have quality "action trash" with an actor that capable. I really didn't expect to love the Equalizer films as much as I did but really did enjoy all three.

I did some 2025 rewatches the last couple days. Black Bag remains GOATed, still don't like Companion (I bounce off most AI movies in that I think the themes mostly end up being the same and so aren't that interesting overall even if I think Spielberg's AI is probably one of his three best films), and Last Breath was still good but def was better in theaters.

[Ghost Of The Year]

Not a movie, but Little House On The Prairie, I had never watched it before, so I've been binge watching the first season.
While it is pretty good, it's sooo emotionally draining.
Makes my eyes sweat funny and burn. I don't know if I'm up for seasontwo, it's so taxing.

[NoleFan]

Not a movie, but Little House On The Prairie, I had never watched it before, so I've been binge watching the first season.
While it is pretty good, it's sooo emotionally draining.
Makes my eyes sweat funny and burn. I don't know if I'm up for seasontwo, it's so taxing.

Wow you’ve NEVER seen it before? I’m 45 so I used to watch it all the time in my youth. I’m more emotional now so I dare not 😂

[Blzer]

Clown in a Cornfield

When a horror film's title feels like all the substance you'll get from your viewing and you end up with more than that in the end, you leave pleasantly surprised. I think this gave that to me. Outside of the scares, kills, and self-aware comedic jabs, there was intrigue from the characters, the town, and the lore. Shakespeare this was not, but in my near middle-age years I saw both the youth and elderly rhetoric this provided in the narrative, and it worked on me.

There are two things I didn't like, and neither were faults of the film itself. One was releasing this in May instead of October, and another was this absolutely had a "trailer final shot" in the movie that was absolutely nowhere to be seen in the trailer. I go into movies blind so I saw it after the fact, but man this was the failure of Marketing 101 unfolding right in front of my YouTube viewing.


Hurry Up Tomorrow

This certainly was a jam, but I don't know if it was my jam.

I just mentioned that I go into films blind and this was no exception, but I feel I should've done some of my research beforehand. I didn't know this was going to basically be an artful introspection on The Weeknd and his music. I don't listen to his music, so I probably missed out on a lot that my audience ate up. Thankfully I'm a fan of Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan, and they both played their parts wonderfully (Weeknd did well too, I might add).

This movie had a little bit of Misery in it, or on the surface the later acts almost gave me a Hard Candy feel. I really think you need to see this in theater if you check it out, though. This builds so slowly for so long without telling any real cohesive story, that to the person "streaming on their phone" they won't have the A/V immersion that will keep you glued as long as it wants to hold your attention. Ultimately though, I don't think the payoff justified the runtime. Make it a short, make it a documentary, and to those entering I say know what you're getting into.

It's not bad, it just wasn't exactly for me.

[Ghost Of The Year]

Wow you’ve NEVER seen it before? I’m 45 so I used to watch it all the time in my youth. I’m more emotional now so I dare not 😂

I had cousins who watched it so I knew the gist of it, but in my youth I didn't have the attention span to watch anything longer than thirty minues, lol.