# 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:** 456
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9120 "2024-04-16T04:26:16Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > This is intriguing. It’s also free on kanopy. It should also be known going in that this film is very gory and has a **lot** of sexual assault. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2024, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9121 "2024-04-16T04:36:47Z")
Huh. Well now I’m less intrigued… ---
**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:** [April 16, 2024, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9122 "2024-04-16T20:58:59Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > **Monkey Man** - Written, directed and starring Dev Patel, this is a mixture of _John Wick_ and every martial arts movie Dev Patel eve saw as a child, filtered into an Indian context. Extremely bloody, but very few guns. Few slow parts though. It’s not going to displace the _John Wick_ series, even though it leaves room for a sequel in much the same way. I had fun, though, which is the most you can expect from this movie, so I don’t feel cheated and would watch a sequel. I have to add, there’s quite a lot of political content in this as well, plus shout outs to the Ramayana if that interests you (it does me). It’s squarely aimed at ([Hindutva - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindutva#:~:text=Hindutva%20(Hindi%20pronunciation%3A%20%5Bh%C9%AAn%CB%88d%CA%8Atv%C9%99,Vinayak%20Damodar%20Savarkar%20in%201922.)), which is a likely reason that it’s been held up past its initial release date in India. I should add, there is a lot of shaky cam in the early action sequences, and I didn’t enjoy that. But I liked the rest of the movie, and that seemed to get itself ironed out in the back half. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9123 "2024-04-16T21:08:39Z")
**Hundreds of Beavers** (2022). Pretty much defies description, but I’ll try. Imagine a cross between an old silent slapstick comedy and a Wiley Coyote cartoon, and imagine that it was made on almost no budget. A drunken applejack salesman pursues rabbits, beavers, and squirrels, all of whom are actors in comical costumes. You can tell when one of them is dead because their eyes turn into Xs. There are also sled dogs (also actors in costumes). It’s certainly creative and innovative and amusing for a while, but probably should have been shorter than its nearly two-hour run time. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2024, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9124 "2024-04-16T21:10:04Z")
Just watched ANNA (with the second N backwards) on NFLX. Spy vs Spy flick with lots of gunplay and a blond heroine who is a deadly agent. No hilarity ensues. Not bad for the genre. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9125 "2024-04-16T23:29:51Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Spy vs Spy flick I don’t suppose they’ve made an actual _Spy vs. Spy_ movie, with Antonio Prohias’s black and white spies from Mad magazine, have they? That, I would want to see (assuming it was any good). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9126 "2024-04-17T00:06:03Z")
I remember hearing a few years ago that someone wanted to make a live-action Spy vs Spy movie. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2024, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9127 "2024-04-17T06:25:40Z")
**Men** (2022). There have already been quite a few comments about this film, which I quote below though I probably missed some. But I was sufficiently impressed that I wanted to add my own observations. What perplexes me about this movie is why some folks seem to be perplexed by it! To me it’s a well-crafted supernatural horror/thriller. Why search for symbolism and “messages”? Maybe because of the title, and the fact that the protagonist is a woman and all the antagonists are men? I don’t think there’s any deep significance to that. Some of the comments here led me to believe it had the same kind of social messaging about rape culture and misogyny as _A Promising Young Woman_, but it’s nothing even remotely like that. Some critics seem to feel it has deep symbolism but I don’t agree and in any case teasing out what that symbolism may be is not necessary to enjoying the film. I will say that I think it’s seriously underrated on IMDb at only 6.1. Its critics rating on RT is higher than that but the audience rating in inexplicably terrible, with which I vehemently disagree. I never thought I’d say this about a horror movie, but among its virtues is beautiful cinematography and a great soundtrack. Highly recommended. And if someone insists it must have an “explanation” of some sort, here’s mine, spoilered because it contains significant spoilers – feel free to totally disagree and substitute your own: One could posit that there’s nothing odd or supernatural there at all. Maybe the tragic end to Harper’s troubled relationship with her husband traumatized her, and her impression that all the men she meets in the little country village are aggressively horrible or condescending was all in her mind. And maybe this worsened the trauma, so that all the weird stuff we see at the end was just the delusion of a troubled mind sent over the edge. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > **Men** > > Essential. Highly recommended. > > I saw this movie the first time in July of 2022 and while I liked it quite a bit(it even made my top 10 list of the year), I don’t think I fully appreciated it until I watched it again just now. I think it actually helped having experienced it once. And you definitely both watch…and _experience_ Men. I was able to more fully enjoy the middle chunk of the movie that seemed a bit dull the first time. I was able to more fully appreciate both the male and female lead actors’ performances. > > For some reason, this did not get the critical acclaim it deserves and I hope it gets a critical re-evaluation by people over time because I think it really deserves it. It isn’t just a great movie from 2022; I think it was probably the best movie I’ve seen from that year. > > It’s a weird, great movie. I hope more people get to see it. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > Even having seen it again, I don’t understand what it is saying. Men = Bad? Men = All-The-Same? > > It’s very bizarre and even though I am not sure what to make of that ending, I love the movie. > [@Sitnam](#): > > **Men** (2022, Paramount+) It was alright. It was mentioned above that this film improved on a subsequent viewing and that intrigued me. I love all film, but rarely go back to a horror because the gimmick is given away. So for another film fan to not only watch a horror film again but say it improves was enough to try it. > > It was alright, but I can’t comment much more than that. It was different, and I have thought about it days later. I’d say it qualifies as social commentary and that it is a horror is part of the conversation it wants to have. > > I don’t think I’ll gain much more on further viewings but like it enough that I would see it again. That is no small achievement. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > Is there even a clear message? “All men are the same”? “Men = bad”? > > I’m not sure. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9128 "2024-04-17T08:53:59Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I don’t suppose they’ve made an actual _Spy vs. Spy_ movie, with Antonio Prohias’s black and white spies from Mad magazine, have they? That, I would want to see (assuming it was any good). The closest I’ve seen is _Despicable Me 3_. It’s a fun movie, and well worth a watch. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9129 "2024-04-17T10:02:47Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > **Men** (2022). There have already been quite a few comments about this film, which I quote below though I probably missed some. But I was sufficiently impressed that I wanted to add my own observations. Mines, from memory of watching it six months ago: a woman haunted by the ghost of misogyny. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2024, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9130 "2024-04-17T11:50:42Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I don’t suppose they’ve made an actual _Spy vs. Spy_ movie, with Antonio Prohias’s black and white spies from Mad magazine, have they? That, I would want to see (assuming it was any good). > [@](#): > > - Animated segments of _Spy vs. Spy_ appeared in the unaired 1974 _Mad Magazine Television Special_, and in the first five seasons of _[Mad TV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_TV)_ (1995 until 2000) with animation by [Rough Draft Studios](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rough_Draft_Studios). > - In 2004, the characters were featured in television commercials for the soft drink [Mountain Dew](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Dew).[[12]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_vs._Spy#cite_note-12) > - “Spy vs. Spy” was a skit in every episode of [Cartoon Network](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartoon_Network)’s animated series _[Mad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_(TV_series))_. It ran from September 6, 2010 – December 2, 2013 (there was one skit per episode; in total, there were 103 short skits in 103 episodes), including themed skits depending on the time the episode first aired (i.e. a Christmas or Halloween theme). In the first season, the skits were drawn in styles based on the illustrations by Prohías and Clarke; the second season introduced a new three-dimensional stop-motion animation style - these skits were animated by [Stoopid Buddy Stoodios](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoopid_Buddy_Stoodios) (the team behind _[Robot Chicken](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_Chicken)_). For the remaining two seasons of the show, the shorts were produced exclusively in stop-motion. The sketches followed the style of the comic, with one spy being outwitted by the other, and many of them adapted actual installments of the comic, like the _Mad TV_ shorts. Both spies claimed victory 51 times each, and one of their feuds resulted in a draw. > - In addition, the aforementioned _Robot Chicken_ spoofed _Spy vs. Spy_ twice. In the Season 2 episode “Password: Swordfish”, a skit based around the aforementioned Mountain Dew ads sees White Spy attempting to trounce his adversary by hiding a spring-loaded boxing glove in a soda vending machine, only for Black Spy to simply approach him from behind, shoot him dead, and steal his top-secret plans, rather than using a more elaborate counter-plot as seen in the comic strips. The Season 7 episode “Panthropologie” features a short sketch where Black Spy enacts testicular torture on White Spy, a la _[Casino Royale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casino_Royale_(2006_film))_. > > - The characters made an appearance on an episode of _[Family Guy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Guy)_, “[Spies Reminiscent of Us](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spies_Reminiscent_of_Us)”, wherein White Spy revealed at the headquarters of [Chevy Chase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevy_Chase) and [Dan Aykroyd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Aykroyd) that they had settled their differences and started a romantic relationship. White Spy was voiced by _Family Guy_ series creator [Seth MacFarlane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seth_MacFarlane). > [@](#): > > I remember hearing a few years ago that someone wanted to make a live-action Spy vs Spy movie. > [@](#): > > - There is a planned film adaptation that was originally meant to have [Ron Howard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Howard) to direct back in 2011 from a screenplay by John Kamps and [Brian Grazer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Grazer) and [David Koepp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Koepp) were set to produce but was scrapped.[[13]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_vs._Spy#cite_note-13) It now has [Rawson Marshall Thurber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rawson_Marshall_Thurber) directing and writing the screenplay. > **[Spy vs. Spy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_vs._Spy)** > > Spy vs. Spy is a wordless comic strip published in Mad magazine. It features two agents involved in stereotypical and comical espionage activities. One is dressed in white, and the other in black, but they are otherwise identical, and are particularly known for their long, beaklike heads and their white pupils and black sclera. The pair are always at war with each other, using a variety of booby traps to inflict harm on the other. The spies usually alternate between victory and defeat (sometim... ---
**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:** [April 17, 2024, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9131 "2024-04-17T12:25:48Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > One could posit that there’s nothing odd or supernatural there at all. Maybe the tragic end to Harper’s troubled relationship with her husband traumatized her, and her impression that all the men she meets in the little country village are aggressively horrible or condescending was all in her mind. And maybe this worsened the trauma, so that all the weird stuff we see at the end was just the delusion of a troubled mind sent over the edge. And that all the men were the same man as well…except her husband? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9132 "2024-04-17T12:37:06Z")
I saw the 2017 movie, [**Killing Gunther**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Gunther), last night. I’d classify it as “a crazy spoof” of action movies, and I enjoyed its inaneness because I realized it wasn’t supposed to taken seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9133 "2024-04-17T17:36:01Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > **Men** (2022). There have already been quite a few comments about this film, which I quote below though I probably missed some. But I was sufficiently impressed that I wanted to add my own observations. > > What perplexes me about this movie is why some folks seem to be perplexed by it! To me it’s a well-crafted supernatural horror/thriller. Why search for symbolism and “messages”? Maybe because of the title, and the fact that the protagonist is a woman and all the antagonists are men? I don’t think there’s any deep significance to that It isn’t a supernatural world like **Leprechaun** , it’s a fantastical world where you can make humans. This dude made a woman, who discovers that she adores sexual gratification. This upsets or unsettles all men in the film, and there is so much ‘furious jumping’ Emna Stone’s sexuality is supposed to unsettled the audience. And why? Because a person is doing what they want with their own body? It was odd, I’ll give it that, but it wasn’t thrilling or scary so in turn I have no idea why some folks think **Poor Things** is winning awards. It doesn’t have any other underlying themes, after all. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2024, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9134 "2024-04-17T17:53:41Z")
This is a very confusing post. You quoted my commentary about the movie _Men_, but you’re talking about _Poor Things_, which I also commented about earlier. Anyway, I liked both those movies and highly recommend them both, but your post might leave a lot of readers scratching their heads trying to figure out what your’e talking about. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9135 "2024-04-17T18:31:30Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I have no idea why some folks think **Poor Things** is winning awards Because it has _won_ awards, including Best Actress at the Oscars last month. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9136 "2024-04-17T19:22:51Z")
[quote=“wolfpup, post:9127, topic:699906”] One could posit that there’s nothing odd or supernatural there at all. Maybe the tragic end to Harper’s troubled relationship with her husband traumatized her, and her impression that all the men she meets in the little country village are aggressively horrible or condescending was all in her mind. And maybe this worsened the trauma, so that all the weird stuff we see at the end was just the delusion of a troubled mind sent over the edge. Well said and very much what I got from it. I think the confusion for many (including myself, initially) is that it’s hard to distinguish the obvious horror elements from the deeper horror that is the woman’s personal experience/ real life pain. It’s a creative and visceral way to convey her inner trauma and, while I enjoyed and responded to it, the fact that so many viewer’s response is (understandably) “WTF!?” kind of indicates that it failed on that level. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2024, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9137 "2024-04-17T20:27:25Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > This is a very confusing post. You quoted my commentary about the movie _Men_, but you’re talking about _Poor Things_, which I also commented about earlier. I was scratching my head for sure. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2024, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9138 "2024-04-19T11:45:27Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I don’t suppose they’ve made an actual _Spy vs. Spy_ movie, with Antonio Prohias’s black and white spies from Mad magazine, have they? That, I would want to see (assuming it was any good). No, it’s just a spy flick set in the Soviet era. Helen Mirren is almost unrecognizable as the evil spymaster. Watched **Rust Creek** on NFLX. A young woman is chased through the woods by bad guys who think she saw something she shouldn’t have. Not bad, but it’s been done before. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2024, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/9139 "2024-04-19T20:33:25Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > > > **Late Night With the Devil** > > > > A found footage/documentary horror, the concept is that we are watching an episode of a famous 1970s late night talk show that aired on Halloween night 1977 when eerie things started to happen… > > > [@Hampshire](#): > > > > **Late Night with the Devil** > > Pretty neat little film (90 minutes) about a fictional early 70s late night show that could never get close to the ratings of Carson so in a last ditch effort during sweeps week decides to do a Halloween show and have a psychologist/author and her young girl patient as guests. > > Sounds awfully similar to the TV movie **[_Ghostwatch_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0200659/)**. Which, incidentally, was pretty good. Also occurs on Halloween, also is an attempt to track ghosts on live TV, and also turns unexpectedly and horrifyingly real. Just watched _Late Night with the Devil_. A fine little flick. Much more over-the-top than _Ghostwatch_, a BBC TV movie that some might prefer precisely for being more understated, but if you like this genre of horror _Devil_ is quite enjoyable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906.md?page=455) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906.md?page=457)