# 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:** 91
**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 9, 2025, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1801 "2025-04-09T18:04:26Z")
Tiny technical correction – the movie actually spans the period 1957-58. It’s sad but magnificently done. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2025, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1802 "2025-04-09T18:37:29Z")
**Coup!** (2023) on Hulu (I think) It’s 1918 and the flu pandemic has isolated the family and small staff of an estate owned by a wealthy but progressive muckraker journalist. The new cook (and suspected killer) played by Peter Sarsgaard teaches his hypocritical employer a thing or two about the illusory nature of social class. It’s a good film but I found the conclusion outraging ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1803 "2025-04-09T19:08:19Z")
**Bottoms** This is one of my daughter’s favorites and we watched it last night. I thought it was very funny and had kind of a _Heathers_ vibe though _Bottoms_ doesn’t seem quite as dark and is more of a wackier, satirical movie. Marshawn Lynch is hilarious as a teacher who barely cares. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH5NAahf76s&ab\_channel=AmazonMGMStudios](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH5NAahf76s&ab_channel=AmazonMGMStudios) ---
**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 9, 2025, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1804 "2025-04-09T21:03:04Z")
**Wit** (2001). A very unusual HBO production made for television. Emma Thompson plays a professor of 17th century English poetry who is diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. She is admitted to hospital for 8 months of intensive in-patient chemotherapy. The movie alternates scenes of her treatments with lengthy soliloquies in which she reflects on her situation and on life and death in the poetic imagery of John Donne. A stellar performance by Thompson and a very powerful film that won an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie. Directed by Mike Nichols and co-written by Nichols and Thompson. Highly recommended with one important caveat: this may be the most depressing movie you’ll ever see. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1805 "2025-04-10T01:25:19Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > this may be the most depressing movie you’ll ever see. More or less depressing than _ **Grave of the Fireflies** _? > **[Grave of the Fireflies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_of_the_Fireflies)** > > Grave of the Fireflies\[a\] is a 1988 Japanese animated historical war drama film written and directed by Isao Takahata, and produced by Studio Ghibli. It is based on the 1967 semi-autobiographical short story of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka. Set in the city of Kobe, Japan, it tells the story of siblings and war orphans Seita and Setsuko, and their desperate struggle to survive during the final months of the Pacific War. > The film stars Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi \[ja\], Yoshiko Shinohara ... ---
**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 10, 2025, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1806 "2025-04-10T01:44:35Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > More or less depressing than _ **Grave of the Fireflies** _? I’d say **Dear Zachary** equals Grave of the Fireflies. **Come and See** is close as well. ---
**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 10, 2025, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1807 "2025-04-10T01:58:51Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > More or less depressing than _ **Grave of the Fireflies** _? I haven’t seen this, so I can only speculate, but I would think it’d be a lot harder to be deeply moved by an animation than by an exceedingly well made action live-action movie, especially for someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy anime. A great deal of what makes _Wit_ so powerfully moving is Emma Thompson’s stunning performance. She is a smart, strong-willed independent woman who is gradually reduced to a frightened, trembling creature devoid of agency, her body ravaged by pain and her organs starting to fail one by one as her body shuts down, even her hair gone from the effects of chemo in final twist of cruelty, looking more like an abandoned doll than a human being. It’s both profoundly sad and compelling as a brilliantly conceived story, and at its core is a parable of life and death. ---
**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 10, 2025, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1808 "2025-04-10T02:06:49Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I haven’t seen this, so I can only speculate, but I would think it’d be a lot harder to be deeply moved by an animation than by an exceedingly well made action live-action movie, especially for someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy anime. I’ll quote Ebert: > [@](#): > > “Grave of the Fireflies” is an emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation. Since the earliest days, most animated films have been “cartoons” for children and families. Recent animated features such as “[The Lion King](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-lion-king-1994),” “[Princess Mononoke](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/princess-mononoke-1999)” and “[The Iron Giant](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-iron-giant-1999)” have touched on more serious themes, and the “[Toy Story](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/toy-story-1995)” movies and classics like “Bambi” have had moments that moved some audience members to tears. But these films exist within safe confines; they inspire tears, but not grief. “Grave of the Fireflies” is a powerful dramatic film that happens to be animated, and I know what the critic Ernest Rister means when he compares it to “Schindler’s List” and says, “It is the most profoundly human animated film I’ve ever seen.” > [@](#): > > Because it is animated and from Japan, “Grave of the Fireflies” has been little seen. When anime fans say how good the film is, nobody takes them seriously. Now that it’s available on DVD with a choice of subtitles or English dubbing, maybe it will find the attention it deserves. Yes, it’s a cartoon, and the kids have eyes like saucers, but it belongs on any list of the greatest war films ever made. ---
**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 10, 2025, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1809 "2025-04-10T02:25:11Z")
OTOH, you’ve been known **[to vehemently disagree with Ebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7083)**! 😉 We all have different tastes, and that’s fine, but I’m sorry, despite the reputation of Studio Ghibli, anime just doesn’t do it for me. I’m not averse to excellent animation, as I noted just upthread about _Flow_. I was glad to see it win the Oscar this year for Best Animated Feature. But it didn’t make me misty-eyed the way _Wit_ did. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1810 "2025-04-10T03:15:35Z")
_Plane_ 2023 Gerard Butler and Mike Colter On Peacock It’s not an inspiring title. But the film is pretty interesting. A passenger plane in a storm is forced to land on a rebel controlled Philippines island. The Captain (Butler) and passenger (Colter) seek help and have to avoid the rebels. The rebels want to take hostages for ransom. Naturally there is plenty of action. I recommend it. Gerard Butler is very good in action films like _Olympus Has Fallen_ and the two sequels. ---
**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 10, 2025, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1811 "2025-04-10T10:11:02Z")
**Presence** (2024). I like the occasional horror movie and this one was in the “haunted house” genre which seemed promising. But the only thing horrifying about this disappointing waste of time was the horrible nausea-inducing cinematography, as if everything was filmed with a handheld camera with a wide-angle lens that followed everyone around, up and down stairways and from room to room. Very little happens that’s of any interest, including the ending. The script feels like it was written by a high school student as a class assignment. But here’s the kicker. Imagine my surprise as the credits rolled to see that this amateurish disappointment was directed by Steven Soderbergh, Oscar-winning director and winner of the Cannes Palme d’Or, and director of such classics as _Erin Brokovitch, Traffic_, the “Ocean’s” trilogy, and many others. He also most recently directed _Black Bag_, which I haven’t seen yet but which at best has mixed reviews. Wow – this felt like he was phoning it in, maybe literally. Definitely not recommended. ---
**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 10, 2025, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1812 "2025-04-10T11:32:17Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > He also most recently directed _Black Bag_, which I haven’t seen yet but which at best has mixed reviews. IMDb: 7.0 Metacritic: 85 Rotten Tomatoes: 96% Popcornmeter: 70% Those are pretty good scores, especially the critics. ---
**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 10, 2025, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1813 "2025-04-10T11:59:46Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > **Presence** (2024). I like the occasional horror movie and this one was in the “haunted house” genre which seemed promising. I really liked Presence. ---
**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 10, 2025, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1814 "2025-04-10T12:14:28Z")
Yes, I should have just said “mixed reviews”. Not all critics liked _Black Bag_ although most did, and audiences were somewhat more mixed, with polling by CinemaScore giving the film a “B” and PostTrack audience polling had just 51% saying they would “definitely recommend” it. I’ll opine on it when I see it. Returning for a moment fo _Presence_, I note that this also got pretty good reviews, but I absolutely stand by my opinion that it was a disappointment, the cinematography was just awful, and the script was amateurish. I admit to being astonished that the screenplay was written by David Koepp, a well-regarded screenwriter who also wrote the script for _Black Bag_ and for many acclaimed films, including _Jurassic Park_ which I consider to be perhaps the most perfect movie ever made, at least in terms of visuals and pure entertainment! How Koepp could produce this drivel I cannot understand. I guess even the best artists can have off days > [@Mahaloth](#): > > I really liked Presence. So did a lot of critics, apparently, though it scored only 6.1 on IMDb, which I still thought was way too high. My problems with it were already stated. Compare this with a really good haunted house story, _The Haunting_ – the original 1963 version with Julie Harris and Claire Bloom, not the terrible remake. The screenplay was adapted from the acclaimed Shirley Jackson novel, and was not just scary in the true “haunted house” tradition, but psychologically very insightful. ---
**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 10, 2025, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1815 "2025-04-10T12:33:58Z")
Within the last 3 nights I’ve watched two Korean movies that I really liked: [**The Witch Part I: The Subversion**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmD6BAQjDzY), and [**The Witch Part 2: The Other One**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Witch:_Part_2._The_Other_One) You have to like government conspiracies, SciFi, and Asian action movies, which are extremely violent. Part I also has a tremendous twist in it that I never saw coming, and Part 2 left open the possibility of a third and final movie. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2025, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1816 "2025-04-10T16:24:55Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > **Wit** (2001). A very unusual HBO production made for television. It may not surprise you to learn that this is based on the stage play of the same name, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It played on Broadway with Cynthia Nixon in the lead role. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1817 "2025-04-10T17:02:37Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > (duh…who doesn’t??) We should watch a Thin Man movie. And Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House. > [@wolfpup](#): > > **No Highway in the Sky** (1951). One of my coworkers, a stress engineer, note that it is the first (only?) film to feature a stress engineer as the hero. I commented that, were it remade, it would star Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. Then I realized that, in its own way, the original already did! > [@CalMeacham](#): > > **North by Northwest** I love the film, watch it all the time. But it _makes no damn sense!_ Grave of The Fireflies is powerful stuff, but I can’t help think they didn’t have to [spoiler]. The writer didn’t in the same situation. They could have went back to the family. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1818 "2025-04-10T17:34:46Z")
**Smithereens** The story of seeing this last night is possibly more interesting than the movie itself. Last year, I discovered a pop up movie venue that played cult films on the first Monday of the month. I took my teenager to see _Rock and Roll High School_ and _Suburbia_ there (and I really regret missing out on seeing _Burst City_). We haven’t been able to get there yet this year but I saw they were playing _Smithereens_ and my wife said she wanted to go. My daughter was in town as well so we all planned to go to the show, though my wife dropped out last night because of work related reasons. I drove my daughter and teenager to the venue and when we went in, there was a different event being held there so I went through my emails from the movie club, found their website (it was very minimalist and DIY) and found that they are in a new venue. So the kids and I hopped back in the car, drove the 20 minutes to the new location and got there after the movie had already started. The folding metal chairs were not very comfortable and the screen was too close, but the popcorn was tasty and we had a good laugh about the adventure. _Smithereens_ is about a runaway named Wren who tries to become a figure in the New York punk scene but she’s kind of aimless and doesn’t know how to do it. Along the way, she gets kicked out of her apartment, gets involved in a number of parasitic relationships, and helps a musician steal money so they can run off to California. He leaves without her and she tries to rekindle and on-and-off again relationship with a friend living in a van but she ends up missing her chance with that as well. It’s an interesting watch, imo. It’s not a complicated story and the acting isn’t the greatest but the gritty drama of a young woman trying to find herself and making mistakes and wrong choices along the way makes an interesting story. ---
**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 10, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1819 "2025-04-10T17:51:29Z")
I remember when that was hot indie for a New York minute, for various reasons, but I never got around to seeing it. How was Richard Hell as Eric? I was always curious if he was able to act…that’s one of the only roles he ever had. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/1820 "2025-04-10T18:34:49Z")
No one would accuse him of being one of our age’s greatest thespians but he’s fine. I think he’s basically playing himself. I did see the movie last year on a streaming service. I believe it was Tubi but I’m not 100%. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288.md?page=90) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288.md?page=92)