I spent the weekend catching up on Predator movies, starting with Predator Badlands on Friday and finishing up with Prey on Sunday. Of the two, I enjoyed Prey more. It had better pacing and more likeable characters. I also liked that it didn’t drag on forever. At 100 minutes with credits, the main film is only ~90 minutes in length.
If you’re American (and It says on your name in the post thar you’re in Kansas), it’s probably a good idea to check the IMDb and then Wikipedia before you say where an actor is from if they are not an American. I’m an American who spent three years in the U.K. and a month in Australia, and I’m still not any good at it. Too many actors take excellent courses in accents in acting school or just before filming from an accent coach. Too many have bounced around the world while filming or married to various people.
Broken Arrow 1950 Jimmy Stewart, Jeff Chandler, Debra Paget
I don’t remember this movie airing on cable tv. A lot of Stewart’s movies used to air regularly in the 1970’s and 80’s.
This movie is pretty unusual for a 1950 Western. It’s very pro Indian and portrays them as honorable and proud people. That type of Western became common in the 1960’s
Stewart’s character is an ex-Army Scout. He’s grown tired of the bloodshed and killing on both sides. He learns the Apache language and customs. His decision to go into Apache territory alone earns the respect of Cochise. Negotiations for peace are hindered by distrust on both sides.
Slow-paced. I still enjoyed it.
6 out of 10 rating.
I read the plot for that film- so our protagonist commits arson and terrorism on an occupied police stations, then drives off to execute a man she thinks maybe committed another rape? And this person is made out to be a good person?
Uh, maybe your post has more spoilers than is ideal for this thread (I’ve not seen the film). And trying to judge a character’s morality — and the film’s morality — based on a plot synopsis seems an iffy proposition.
I saw that movie when it was first released to theaters and as I remember, Frances McDormand’s character isn’t “made out to be a good person” or a bad person but a person who is grieving over the loss of her daughter and blaming herself over the last conversation she had with her daughter. People are complicated; it’s ridiculous to try to categorize them as exclusively good or bad.
That’s what I remember being impressed by with this film. You kept thinking that characters were going to slide into a certain movie stereotype, and then they didn’t. And that the story was going to go a certain way, and then it didn’t. It was a refreshing change not to be able to see the plot points from a mile off.
Also, even if the main character is an unambiguously “bad person”, why should we assume that a character is “made out to be a good person” just because they’re the protagonist? There can be a good movie about a bad person; in fact, there are lots of them.
I think the end of the movie had a real missed opportunity as well. Steve Stark, played by Michael Hitchcock, seems to have a fascination with Corky that grows during the movie until he’s yelling out Corky’s name while applauding the end of the play. They show Corky in NY after and it would have been fun to see Steve there with him and they just shrug and say something about having a new relationship and they’re learning more about each other.
Left Handed Girl (2015) - Mandarin/subtitles (Netflix)
This was a beautiful film about challenges and shame across generations. It follows a divorced mother who moves back to Taipei with her two daughters and attempts to start a new life. The youngest girl, 5 years old in the movie and 8 or 9 in real life, is a better actor than most adults.
It was short-listed for the Best International Film Oscar, and it’s a shame it didn’t make it. Highly recommended.
Maybe you should actually watch the movie instead of making assumptions based on a plot summary you read on the internet somewhere.
This took me for a loop. Jimmy Stewart was in Broken Arrow?? Then I realized the year of the film was not 1996 which is when the action film of the same name with Travolta and Christian Slater came out. I remember that one as being an OK action film that I enjoyed but mostly forgot about afterwards. In looking it up now I see that it was directed by John Woo, something I had not realized.
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Broken Arrow 1996 Christian Slater, John Travolta, Samantha Mathis
I forgot about John Woo too. Decided to watch on Prime.
I remember that it’s a good movie.
It is unsettling seeing Travolta as the criminal. He’s played so many likeable characters. I forget he can be a convincing villian.
I can’t believe how fit Travolta is in this 1996 movie. He’s close to his Saturday Night Fever weight.
Travolta was in Pulp Fiction two years earlier, 1994. Overweight and his face terribly bloated.
He must have trained hard for those two years for Broken Arrow.
He suddenly became somebody again. Before Pulp Fiction renewed his stardom he was making Look Who’s Talking movies.
IMHO Travolta has had only one good performance- Grease.
Broken Arrow is pretty good. I get a little frustrated that there’s seemingly an unending supply of bad guys.
It’s like a pistol that shoots 19 rounds.
Why in the heck would a Park Ranger attempt to arrest a wounded military pilot? She saw his parachute.
Wouldn’t most rational people assume the plane had engine trouble? A pilot ejecting from a plane is not a criminal.
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025), If you were a fan of the series, as I was, and enjoyed the two previous movies, then this is for you. I wouldn’t say it especially stands out compared to the series or the other movies, but they all had superb, award-winning production values so that’s a pretty high bar.
The only unique thing about it is that, sadly, it’s definitely a final wrap-up. Lord Grantham turns over management of the Downton estate to Mary and he and Lady Grantham move out and retire to a much smaller house on the estate. Meanwhile many of the key servants are retiring, too, and turning their duties over to the younger set. If ever there was a movie that spelled the end of a story line that spanned six seasons and three movies, this is it. As always with Downton Abbey, various interesting subplots are woven in throughout.
The movie is dedicated to Maggie Smith, who was a notable character in the series and died in 2024.
He didn’t pay the entrance fee. We can’t just have people skirting the rules. Otherwise it would be chaos.
My biggest complaint of the film (and there are many) is that, at then end, after Slater and Mathis are chased, dropped, dragged, soaked, and otherwise abused for half an hour of film time, after the bomb goes off and she’s walking towards him, she clearly had time to put on a push up bra. Clear manipulation by the director, pandering to guys.
That, and a “broken arrow” refers to an accidental detonation of a nuclear weapon. “Empty quiver” is what they should have said, but that probably would sound like impotence. 
Beevis: “he’s got an empty quiver!”
The film’s ending seemed to drag on forever. There was an unending supply of bad guys to fight.
I attribute that to John Woo’s love of fight scenes.