# Movies you've seen recently (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [August 27, 2024, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288 "2024-08-27T05:10:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 163
**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:** [August 29, 2025, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3241 "2025-08-29T11:30:23Z")
I just watched **Jurassic World Rebirth**. I have a mixed reaction to the _Jurassic Park_ movies, as I tend to prefer the ones everyone else cites as their least favourite, and vice versa. This one starts out with a lot of very annoying people, who don’t get any less annoying as the movie goes on. But I did like that it wasn’t weighed down by any inconvenient drama. It was straightforward dumb people doing dumb things in order for the story to happen. About halfway through, when it stops being a boat adventure and starts being a jungle adventure, I warmed to it a bit more. It was solely a chase movie after that, which I think is what all the JP movies ought to keep to. The homage to _Land Of The Lost_ seemed obvious to me, but I haven’t seen many other people talking about that. The big dino baddie was not all that interesting, nor made a damn lick of sense for existing in the first place. And the lack of velociraptors must have been a first for the franchise. Overall, it was a fine action chase flick. It reminded me the most of _JPIII_, which is my favourite of the whole series, so I guess that makes it okay. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2025, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3242 "2025-08-29T12:39:25Z")
[URL=[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death\_of\_a\_Unicorn\](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_a_Unicorn%5C)] **Death of a Unicorn** [/URL] To me, at least, this movie seemed to come from right field in terms of being a creative presentation. I enjoyed it! If anyone else has seen it, I’d appreciate an opinion. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2025, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3243 "2025-08-29T13:39:12Z")
I thought it was kind of dull. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2025, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3244 "2025-08-29T13:48:52Z")
To quote my earlier review: > [@Gyrate](#): > > **Death of a Unicorn**. Comedy-horror with a stellar cast. > > If you love films with unexpected plot twists and jump scares, then this film…isn’t one of them. In fact pretty much the entire plot is fairly predictable (as are the jump scares) - the only thing I didn’t see coming a long way off was the very, very end. > > Fortunately the cast really is very good and delivers a lot of actually quite good comedy (and sometimes quite subtle - “You must stay for dinner. Griff is making my famous moussaka.”). Will Poulter seems to be on a casting roll of late but Anthony Carrigan (a.k.a.NoHo Hank) as Griff really makes the most of his supporting role and minimal dialogue. > > The effects are a bit erratic - some very good, some distractingly clunky. Most of the gore is played for laughs. > > On the whole, an entertaining film but a forgettable one. In short, it’s more a gory comedy than a horror film and the two protagonists (Rudd/Ortega) are given very little of interest to do at any point, but the Grant/Leoni/Poulter trio are brilliant as the dysfunctional family of rich jerks, and I repeat my point about Carrigan. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2025, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3245 "2025-08-30T12:22:54Z")
The wife wanted to watch **The Thursday Murder Club** on NFLX, so we did it over two nights. An elderly trio of Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and Ben Kingsley, all residents of a retirement home solving murders. Sort of a British attempt at cashing in on Only Murders in the Building. The wife seemed to like it. I was able to tolerate it, but it really never got my interest, and had a typically muddled British resolution. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2025, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3246 "2025-08-30T12:35:20Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Sort of a British attempt at cashing in on Only Murders in the Building. Not only does the first Thursday book predate OMitB, but those books are wildly popular on their own. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2025, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3247 "2025-08-30T12:51:15Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Not only does the first Thursday book predate OMitB, but those books are wildly popular on their own. I love the books and watched the movie last night and … meh. I was disappointed. It was like seeing a beautiful portrait originally sketched in great detail, with nuance and shading, re-created with a sharpie. It’s not terrible, and if you’ve never read the book, I bet you could enjoy it for what it is. The main four actors do a good job with what they’re given, and there are a few legitimately funny scenes, but overall it’s a pale shadow. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2025, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3248 "2025-08-30T15:32:44Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Not only does the first Thursday book predate OMitB, but those books are wildly popular on their own. Color me corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2025, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3249 "2025-08-30T21:30:08Z")
_ **Runaway Train** _ (1985) I wanted to see this when it came out (40 years ago!!) but didn’t for some reason. Never rented the VHS or the DVD or watched it on cable or anything in all the years since. Until today. Not really worth the wait. Two escaped convicts are stuck on a driverless locomotive speeding through the Alaskan wilderness. And… that’s pretty much it. I thought there’d be more to it. Meanwhile everyone overacts like crazy. I never felt any stakes or peril because the entire cast (including bit players) was _acting_ so hard that it gave away the artifice. Disappointing. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2025, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3250 "2025-08-30T21:41:35Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Not only does the first Thursday book predate OMitB, but those books are wildly popular on their own. But adapting it and stylistic choices are no doubt influenced heavily by the recent wave of cosy Murder Mystery shows and movies. The genre is booming. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2025, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3251 "2025-08-30T22:04:27Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > But adapting it and stylistic choices are no doubt influenced heavily by the recent wave of cosy Murder Mystery shows and movies. The styles are very different (OMitB has a LOT of sight gags, and the actors mug endlessly), but I can’t speak to whether some kind of wave of TV shows prompted the adaptation of a wildly successful book series. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2025, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3252 "2025-08-30T22:11:52Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Meanwhile everyone overacts like crazy. I never felt any stakes or peril because the entire cast (including bit players) was _acting_ so hard that it gave away the artifice. Yeah, I recall this one was getting a lot of critical acclaim when it came out, but I missed it in the theaters having scant dollars to spend on movies back then. I saw it several years later on VHS expecting awesomeness and was very underwhelmed. ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3253 "2025-08-31T00:09:19Z")
**Nonnas** (2025) And inoffensive comedy that is based on the life of a, still living, restaurant owner. It has some depth and lots of humor, thought nothing that stands out in particular. It really is a low key comedy that is more of a story with injected humor rather than a comedy with an injected story. Nothing spectacular, but an enjoyable way to spend some time. There are vignettes at the end to show the actual restaurant and the people involved. `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3254 "2025-08-31T06:18:10Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The wife wanted to watch **The Thursday Murder Club** on NFLX, so we did it over two nights. Watched this last night with my partner and my mum (before anyone makes the joke, no, they’re not the same person…). I was disappointed with it. Felt more like an ITV Sunday night drama than a proper film, like _Midsummer Murders_ or some other bit of fluff. I’ve never read any of the books so can’t compare, but mum has and said they’d left a lot out which was for the poorer, sadly (guess it’s necessary for the runtime, but maybe a short series would’ve been better?). She thought Brosnan was miscast and said a Ray Winstone type would’ve been better in the role of Ron. It was a bit of a who’s who of British actors. Spotted Paul Freeman (the baddie from _Raiders of the Lost Ark_) behind a great big bushy beard, and the chap who played the bully in _The Inbetweeners_ as the Polish builder. My partner enjoyed it and said it was fun. I could easily have give it a miss though. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3255 "2025-08-31T07:38:40Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > I was disappointed with it. Me too. There was just nothing surprising about it. The mystery was by the numbers, the characters were all shallow stereotypes who never did anything unexpected, and it just wasn’t all that funny. I like the cast a lot, and I really wanted to enjoy it - but it just didn’t work for me. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3256 "2025-08-31T07:42:19Z")
Yes, Agatha Christie it was not. Must admit I had a handful of chuckles but nothing beyond that. In fact, the funniest bit was when the Police Constable was told she’d been reassigned… ‘You’re being transferred to CID - Criminal Investigations Department’. So clunky. As if she wouldn’t know what CID stands for. Clearly a little bit of exposition for the non-UK audience. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2025, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3257 "2025-08-31T09:32:40Z")
Watched it last night. It was fun and had a great cast (although I agree Brosnan was an odd choice) but yes, it was nothing special. “You look like the Queen” was a good in-joke though (particular from Jonathan Pryce who played Prince Philip). ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3258 "2025-08-31T09:39:19Z")
I didn’t know that about Pryce. My mum laughed at some reference to Mirren’s character ‘who do you think you are, the head of MI5?’ or something like that, not sure what that referred to though. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2025, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3259 "2025-08-31T09:41:44Z")
Pryce was Phillip in “The Crown”. Mirren of course was the Queen in “The Queen”. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2025, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/3260 "2025-08-31T11:39:44Z")
Mirren also played a former MI5 or MI6 assassin (can’t recall which) in the Red movies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288.md?page=162) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288.md?page=164)