# 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:** 51
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1001 "2024-12-29T19:39:29Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > As it turns out, though, the entire Krampus scene was irrelevant padding that added nothing to the search for Santa. The whole film was disappointing – all the best stuff was in the trailer. You’re 100% correct. What’s really sad is the actor who played Krampus was really good in the role; he had some funny things to say. Here, try this instead (possibly NSFW): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8MUB8saaHDg/maxresdefault.jpg "How the Grinch Stole Christmas - SNL") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MUB8saaHDg) ---
**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:** [December 29, 2024, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1002 "2024-12-29T20:01:44Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > **The Faculty** (1998). “A group of high school kids vs aliens” tells you pretty much all you need to know about this movie, and the age group it’s aimed at. The kids discover than an alien parasite is turning the school faculty into aliens themselves, and it may have infected a few of their own gang, too. Not really recommended, unless you’re a fan of that kind of juvenile sci-fi/horror schlock, although the special effects aren’t bad. Fun fact: the guy who looks oddly similar to Jon Stewart is … Jon Stewart! I remember this one. Josh Hartnett! Elijah Wood! It’s a fun spot-the-future-star vehicle. With a very silly ending, but I still liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2024, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1003 "2024-12-29T21:48:36Z")
This whole thread somehow makes me miss being able to get movies in the mail from Blockbuster and Netflix. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1004 "2024-12-29T22:02:10Z")
I recently got a good deal on the Disney+/Hulu bundle, so I finally watched **Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny** yesterday. This film has gotten plenty of hate on line, but I really enjoyed it. Not perfect, by any means - the big chase scene in Tangiers is too long and rather pointless, for example - but there is some good exciting classic-Indy action (especially the opening sequence). Some familiar faces show up, and there are lots of callbacks and Easter eggs for the fans. And with a fine performance by Harrison Ford as an older, grizzled Dr. Jones, it’s a worthy send-off for a beloved character. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2024, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1005 "2024-12-29T22:18:28Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I remember this one. Josh Hartnett! Elijah Wood! It’s a fun spot-the-future-star vehicle. With a very silly ending, but I still liked it. Elijah Wood, I think, is also in Cooties, a movie where the _children_ turn into monsters after eating contaminated chicken nuggets. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2024, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1006 "2024-12-29T22:42:20Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I remember this one. Josh Hartnett! Elijah Wood! It’s a fun spot-the-future-star vehicle. Also Salma Hayek. And the year after the movie release, Jon Stewart, who played the high school science teacher, went on to become some kinda comedy talk show host, I forget what the show was called! 😃 🤣 ---
**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:** [December 29, 2024, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1007 "2024-12-29T22:47:33Z")
**Predestination** with Ethan Hawke. I honestly didn’t understand what went on this muddled mess. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2024, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1008 "2024-12-30T00:27:58Z")
I watched Phil Tippett’s **Mad God** last night. I’d requested a copy of the DVD for Christmas. It was…weird. It’s as hard to describe this movie as it is to describe, say, **Eraserhead**. A weird dystopian vision brought to life through stop-motion animation, rod puppets, and some live action. Don’t ask me to provide a plot. Even after watching the supplemental material on the disc, it’s still obscure. Maybe if I watched with the commentaries on… Tippett (who did effects on _The Empire Strikes Back, Young Sherlock Holmes,_ and many many others) worked on this for some thirty years. I was interested to see some of the other FX people who worked on it – Dennis Muren, Jim Aupperle, Peter Kuran, and a whole lotta names I don’t know. You can read a synopsis of the plot here. Not that it’ll help you figure it out > **[Mad God](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_God)** > > Mad God is a 2021 American adult stop-motion animated experimental horror film written, produced, and directed by Phil Tippett. Completed in 2021, it was produced over a period of 30 years. > Mad God premiered at the Locarno Festival on August 5, 2021, and was released in the United States on June 16, 2022 by Shudder. It received critical acclaim. > A tall figure shrouded in a jacket and gas mask, credited as the assassin, descends into a ruined, hellish world via a diving bell. In his possessio... ---
**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:** [December 30, 2024, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1009 "2024-12-30T00:32:45Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I watched Phil Tippett’s **Mad God** last night. I’d requested a copy of the DVD for Christmas. Yeah, I was not a fan. The story behind it and the effort put into it are great, but the movie was not that great. Primevals came out this year and was the same. Great decades of effort, but not a great movie. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2024, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1010 "2024-12-30T04:25:16Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > **Predestination** with Ethan Hawke. I honestly didn’t understand what went on this muddled mess. Have you read _“- All You Zombies -”_ by Robert Heinlein, which was the source of the story? ---
**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:** [December 30, 2024, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1011 "2024-12-30T06:05:01Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Fun fact: the guy who looks oddly similar to Jon Stewart is … Jon Stewart! Showing just why he wasn’t cut out to be an actor in the most amusing manner possible. Every second he’s on the screen he looks like he is struggling and only just barely succeeding to keep from busting up when he is saying his lines. I have a weird feeling it was a problem on set with multiple takes required to get through every one of his scenes as he kept laughing too much. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2024, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1012 "2024-12-30T11:16:30Z")
> [@icon](#): > > **Kraven the Hunter** (2024) Some good performances and a bit of a nuanced family dynamic, but it went on too long. They could have tightened the script and changed one of the scenes to be a post or mid credit scene. The visuals for the most part were great with some notable exceptions. On the whole mildly entertaining. Went to see it yesterday and in general I agree, as long as by “tightened the script” you mean “replaced all the incredibly clunky dialogue and cliches with something remotely human-sounding”. In particular the writing for the two (or three if you separate the younger version out) female characters was just bad. Also: why did Ariana DeBose’s character dress like she went shopping in 1985? Have any of the writers ever met a woman? And why are we still doing Magical Negro characters? But despite being a generic superhero origin story hitting all the usual beats, there were a lot of surprisingly good performances in it. If - as per usual with these things - you can avoid thinking about science, logic, geography etc, it’s an entertaining enough two hours. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2024, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1013 "2024-12-30T14:22:17Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Have you read _“- All You Zombies -”_ by Robert Heinlein, which was the source of the story? I haven’t and didn’t realize(or remember) that it was based on a story. I found the movie excellent and had no issue following it. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2024, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1014 "2024-12-30T14:25:10Z")
> [@icon](#): > > **Kraven the Hunter** (2024) Some good performances and a bit of a nuanced family dynamic, but it went on too long. So did they make him the supervillian or the hero? Or antihero? Because I grew up on comic books where he, Chameleon (his brother) and Calypso (lover) were supervillains 🙂. Could be that all swerved after I stopped reading spider-man comics umpteen million years ago. But the film was being marketed in a way that looked like he was being cast as a superhero, which did make me make confused Scooby-doo sounds. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2024, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1015 "2024-12-30T14:26:55Z")
**Stage Fright** (2014) A musical comedy horror movie. Alas, while the opening 30 minutes were charming and fun, the remaining 60 minutes were boring and charmless. They had a great premise and wonderful opening, but the movie ended up being dull. I guess this was, however, Meat Loaf’s last movie if you care about that. Edit: I should add that Meat Loaf looked way different I this movie than I’d ever see him, mustache and all. > **[Stage Fright (2014)](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt2190838/mediaviewer/rm812435712/)** > > Meat Loaf in Stage Fright (2014) ---
**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:** [December 30, 2024, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1016 "2024-12-30T14:26:59Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > So did they make him the supervillian or the hero? Or antihero? Hero-ish, in a “only violently murders bad people” sort of way. And causes the usual amount of property damage. The other two are in the film. Won’t spoil it though. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2024, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1017 "2024-12-30T16:20:00Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Yeah, I was not a fan. The story behind it and the effort put into it are great, but the movie was not that great. Primevals came out this year and was the same. Great decades of effort, but not a great movie. I disagree about **The Primevals**. I definitely liked it, although I grant that it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But at least you have tp grant that its plot was comprehensible, if convoluted. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2024, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1018 "2024-12-30T17:05:14Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I haven’t and didn’t realize(or remember) that it was based on a story. I found the movie excellent and had no issue following it. To be fair, these sorts of movies usually confuse me. It took three watches for me to figure out what the heck was going on in The Matrix. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2024, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1019 "2024-12-30T19:44:31Z")
**Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning** , Part 1 (2023 - Prime). I’m still trying to get through this. It reminds me of a Buster Keaton stunt-comedy, but less convincing stunts, 10x the length, 1/10 the humor, and 1/10 the sympathy with the characters. But still, the first 80 minutes went well, and I’ll probably finish it. The potentially unlimited (but ill-defined) power of the antagonist makes all plot machinations meaningless. A complete reversal of fortune could be fairly inserted at any point. Or not inserted. The cardboard characters make the occasional stabs at emotional depth kind of embarrassing. Maybe a B? It’s not horrible, but I won’t be in a rush to watch Part II. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2024, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1020 "2024-12-30T20:01:06Z")
We’ve been on a Scott Cooper jag of late. To me, he’s one of the most brilliant movie makers out there. He is _definitely_ one of the most snubbed directors. This weekend we (re)watched [Black Mass](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1355683/). Great movie, Depp does an amazing job. We also re-watched [Hostiles](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5478478/), a very powerful film. And we watched the [Pale Blue Eye.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14138650/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288.md?page=50) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288.md?page=52)