# Movies you've seen recently (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 29, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906 "2014-09-29T21:53:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 450
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9000 "2024-03-28T15:33:14Z")
**The Witch** (2015). Premiered at Sundance and Wikipedia says “considered by some to be one of the best horror films of the 2010s.” But it seems opinions are split on this – 90% critics’ rating on RT, but only 60% from users. It’s set around 1630 in early New England. If you imagine that 17th century beliefs about witchcraft were actually true, then that’s the basis of the film – a family living on an isolated farm is beset by witchery. Many aspects are quite well done but it’s slow; for one thing, just about nothing happens in the first 30 minutes or more, and the whole movie is only about 90 minutes. I think it’s interesting once it gets going but it’s overrated IMHO. And turn on those subtitles for this one – the combination of archaic language and heavy accents makes them essential. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9001 "2024-03-28T15:36:14Z")
I’ve watched this movie a couple of times and love it, but it’s definitely slower than a lot of horror. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9002 "2024-03-28T15:58:02Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > 90% critics’ rating on RT, but only 60% from users. > … > Many aspects are quite well done but it’s slow I’ve often wondered why critics love slow movies so much. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9003 "2024-03-28T17:41:01Z")
**The Accountant** on NFLX. Ben Affleck as an accountant/killer with autism. A rather odd movie and a bit muddled in plotting, but entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9004 "2024-03-28T17:49:03Z")
I agree; entertaining, even fun. But the way they empower Affleck’s character he borders on being a superhero. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9005 "2024-03-28T17:50:58Z")
Yeah, it’s a bit over the top with all the mad fighting skilz, but Affleck is a good enough actor to keep it from being totally off the wall. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9006 "2024-03-28T18:05:36Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > **The Witch** (2015). Premiered at Sundance and Wikipedia says “considered by some to be one of the best horror films of the 2010s.” But it seems opinions are split on this – 90% critics’ rating on RT, but only 60% from users. I’ve seen it and like it, but not so much as a horror film than as historical fantasy. It gets the feel of the New England setting quite right. But it still can’t believe that a family of a man, an woman, and some kids can construct a farmhouse and farm all on their own in a believable amount of time. That’s a two-story house with sawn and finished boards. That’s a communal effort. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9007 "2024-03-28T18:17:57Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > But it still can’t believe that a family of a man, an woman, and some kids can construct a farmhouse and farm all on their own in a believable amount of time. Maybe witchcraft was involved. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9008 "2024-03-29T02:48:31Z")
I’m on Spring Break and one great thing about this week is that I have been able to see three movies that have long been on my viewing queue, including one movie that had been almost impossible to find. Here is what I thought of them. **The Peasants** Not recommended. From the people who made Loving Vincent. This movie was hand-painted, frame by frame, after they filmed it. Unfortunately, the painted effect does not help or enhance The Peasants in any way and the movie is just kind of dull and relatively obvious. Shame. I really liked Loving Vincent, but this one was a disappointment. **The First Slam Dunk** Recommended. This was a really great little sports movie about a struggling basketball team playing the match of their life. Throughout the movie, we get flashbacks showing stories about the boys on the team and we learn about the lives and struggles before this point. Simple premise, extremely well done. It is also an animated movie and the animation is terrific. Definitely seek this one out. Had to get a Japanese Blu-ray for this one, which did not come with English audio. I watched it in Japanese and that was just fine. **Jinnah** Recommended. The movie Christopher Lee considered his best and most important role. I should emphasize I know almost nothing about the real life Jinnah, but this movie portrays him in a great light and I do appreciate his role in the history of Pakistan. A great performance from Chris Lee, but honestly the rest of the performances are not quite up to the same level. An interesting movie and well worth anyone’s time, especially if you want to see Lee portray a non-villain and just act dramatically and seriously. He’s great in it. ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9009 "2024-03-29T05:54:42Z")
**Ghostbusters: Afterlife** (2021). A loving send up to the original. The usual suspects (from the original) are back with new characters having to deal with them. Including the original cast at the end helped keep the focus on the new cast so they could shine, which they did. Enjoyable for anyone who remembers the first movie, while not dwelling too much on backstory. It really plays out as a mystery, which I think was a good way to integrate the past film into the present one, which allows completely new viewers not to get lost and older viewers to get their nostalgia kick. `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9010 "2024-03-29T13:54:26Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > Funny thing about Statham. He’s obviously a marvelous action hero but my favorite role of his was that of Turkish in _Snatch_. Very funny and involved in but one physical altercation, which ended up with him losing and saved by his incompetent sidekick. > > Wish he’d do more of those characters. From the Wiki “Statham moved to Great Yarmouth, Norfolk), where he initially chose not to follow his father’s career working the local market stalls, instead practising martial arts.” As Turkish he was ‘playing’ his father, uncles, and every early childhood adult he knew in that role. He has a lot to draw on. A bit like Stallone as Rocky. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9011 "2024-03-29T14:01:22Z")
I can’t believe I waited so long to watch **Poor Things**. It was brilliant (although a tad too long and the first half outshined the second). I was laughing at things that I never thought could be made funny. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9012 "2024-03-29T20:55:04Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > …The Untouchables is entertaining, but like most movie treatments it is pretty far from actual history. Definitely. Stylish and exciting, but by no means a documentary. Check out Douglas Perry’s excellent bio _Eliot Ness: The Rise and Fall of An American Hero_ for a much more accurate take on the subject. TLDR: Ness was an important figure in the Federal effort to take down Al Capone, but he wasn’t the only one, and the Untouchables were not the tiny, elite squad of crimefighters shown in the movie. > [@Wheelz](#): > > **Long Shot** (2019) > > Presidential candidate Charlize Theron falls for speech writer Seth Rogen, complicating both their lives. > > Much better than I expected… Yeah, I liked it too. Bob Odenkirk also has a nice part as a vaguely Reaganesque President. > [@Sitnam](#): > > … **The Abyss** (Paramount+, 1989) A classic that still finds it’s mark. The CGI holds up and any silliness in the motion of the ships, subs and falling debris was necessary to add to the excitement. Nothing happens fast underwater so a studio audience would get bored watching what you COULD see in real life at the SPEED it was happening in real life, but in real life under all that water you’d be plenty scared already. Both kids stuck around and enjoyed it… Glad to hear it! A great sf action/romance, tense and dramatic, and still one of my favorite Cameron flicks, arguably behind _Aliens_ and _True Lies_. It also boasts my all-time favorite movie pun: “Heeeeeeeeeeeere’s MIRV!” ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9013 "2024-03-30T18:02:06Z")
I finally saw _[Barbie (2023)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517268/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_4_nm_3_q_barbie)_. It was okay. I wasn’t blown away. I wasn’t expecting to be. I was already in the “I liked it better when it was _Free Guy_” camp before I’d ever seen it. Basically, I liked it better when it was _Free Guy_. The story was fine and the performances were fun but I just couldn’t get past what seemed to be a flawed premise from the get-go. Apparently, anyone from Barbieland can go to the real world whenever they want, they just don’t (except for Skipper and all the various Alans) and anyone from the real world can go to Barbieland whenever they want, they just don’t (unless they’re Mattel executives of the FBI). But no one from either world seems to really know anything about the other world despite the apparently free flow of information available. They just didn’t make reality either real enough or fantasy enough. Everything was realistic except those aforementioned Mattel executives and the FBI which made one weird appearance at the beginning and then disappeared for the rest of the movie. So, like I said, it was okay. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9014 "2024-03-30T18:53:22Z")
Werner Herzog got it right about Barbie. He said: > [@](#): > > “I was curious and I wanted to watch it because I was curious. And I still don’t have an answer, but I have a suspicion – could it be that the world of Barbie is sheer hell? For a movie ticket, as an audience, you can witness sheer hell, as close as it gets.” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9015 "2024-03-30T22:27:17Z")
[Werner Herzog has a different idea of what children should be playing with.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2YUpyc8_js) (Is joke) Almost forgot: Just back from seeing **Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire**. Definitely a worthy sequel to the franchise (especially compared to Ghostbusters 2). And _damn_ Ernie Hudson looks good for his age. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9016 "2024-03-31T17:11:14Z")
**Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire** Not recommended. They STILL can’t make a better sequel than Ghostbusters 2 and that wasn’t even very good! Mostly boring, possibly better than Afterlife, nothing to see here. Even the original Ghostbusters get little to do that makes it worth seeing them again. I’m trying to think of a series of movies that have lower quality sequels than Ghostbusters and only Highlander immediately comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9017 "2024-03-31T20:57:15Z")
In keeping with my usual tend, rather than a new movie I watched a very old one. I really like Douglas Fairbanks’ silent film **The Thief of Baghdad** , but I hadn’t seen his other action movies. So I’ve watched a couple of those. So I watched **Mark of Zorro** (1920) and **The Black Pirate** (1926). Those bracket Thief. I’m disappointed to say that I wasn’t as moved by these. Fairbanks is, I have to admit, spectacular. He wrote, produced, and co-directed these films, besides starring in them and choreographing them. His athletic moves are impressive and graceful. But I don’t find the films as engaging. There are dull stretches in them, and I can’t say I want to re-watch them. The Black Pirate is even in two-color Technicolor! I still have his 1922 **Robin Hood**. Maybe I’ll have more luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9018 "2024-03-31T21:03:55Z")
His [The Mystery of the Leaping Fish](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MNZwbEgojxo&pp=ygUfVGhlIE15c3Rlcnkgb2YgdGhlIExlYXBpbmcgRmlzaA%3D%3D) Sherlock Holmes spoof is a weird artifact. His character’s name “Coke Ennyday” means exactly what it sounds like, in Sherlock Holmes context. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9019 "2024-03-31T22:24:40Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Almost forgot: Just back from seeing **Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire**. Definitely a worthy sequel to the franchise (especially compared to Ghostbusters 2). And _damn_ Ernie Hudson looks good for his age. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > **Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire** > > Not recommended. > > They STILL can’t make a better sequel than Ghostbusters 2 and that wasn’t even very good! Mostly boring, possibly better than Afterlife, nothing to see here. Even the original Ghostbusters get little to do that makes it worth seeing them again. I think that pretty much covers it… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906.md?page=449) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906.md?page=451)