Particularly funny given his character brings up the hypocrisy of private jets in the film.
I have not seen the movie yet so that might have been an inside joke.
I was thinking that private jet flights couldn’t have added that much to a nine figure marketing budget. Also that probably he’s not the only A-list actor who flies private planes.
I watched The Death of Stalin (2017) and quite liked it.
It’s a pitch-black comedy about the chaos that erupts after Stalin dies suddenly in 1953. His inner circle immediately start scheming, lying, forming alliances and stabbing one another in the back while pretending that they are all devoted comrades working for the good of the Soviet people. It has vibes of Dr. Strangelove.
The cast is terrific and include Steve Buscemi (Khrushchev), Simon Russell (Beria), Jason Isaacs (Marshal Zhukov), Michael Palin (Molotov), and Jeffrey Tambor (Malenkov),
Very funny, very dark, and just historically accurate enough to often make you think, “Wait…did that lunacy actually happen?”
Quite a bit of it did!
A couple of movies I watched on the flight back home from London yesterday.
Backrooms - there’s a whole thread for this movie and I don’t really have a lot to say that hasn’t already been said, other than that it kind of reminded me of the book “House of Leaves”. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it, glad I watched it so I could see what everyone was talking about.
First Man - Ryan Gosling portrays Neil Armstrong in what I thought was an excellent movie about NASA’s attempt to land a man on the moon.
I thought Digger was great. It’s not really what you think it is. For the first 20 mins I was thinking “I really can’t spend 2 hours watching these people,” but then the film does something and I was totally into it. Tom Cruise has an absolutely incredible monologue scene late in the film that I hope puts him into awards consideration, but with the disappointing box office the film may be totally ignored.
I agree that Digger is much better than I thought it was going to be based on the trailer. It is definitely an Iñárritu joint.Some really good scenes with good acting, and the multi-layered 4th wall breaking keep the story moving where a more straightforward narrative would have bogged down. But I knew when I walked out of the theater that this movie was going to flop at the box office. Bottom line: I enjoyed it but wouldn’t recommend it to the casual movie goer.
Others:
The Incomer is a wry comedy set on a remote Scottish isle where two siblings have lived, isolated, since they were children. A bureaucrat is sent from the mainland to notify them they have to leave, as the island is being designated a wildlife preserve. It’s surreal and somewhat raucous time on the island, with a heartfelt (and somewhat preposterous) ending. I was charmed and would definitely recommend.
Linkin Park: Unshattered I am not a Linkin Park fan, but I am a big Emily Armstrong fan. This is a documentary on putting the band and its metal/hip-hop sound back together around Emily seven years after the death of their lead singer. The musical sections center around a stadium show in Brazil and I have to say that they rock (especially in the Dolby theatr presentation). If you are a fan or just a fan of heavy, energetic rock, check it out. If you can’t stand the band or metal or hip-hop, stay away.
Monday movie night.
Backrooms (2026).
Interesting directing and set design, good acting. Started out extremely creepy and got progressively less creepy throughout the film. About halfway through, the script fell apart. The whole thing was very on the nose and not very well-developed. Did you know that some people…don’t want to change? When someone explained to me what the whole deal was supposed to be, I thought it was pretty stupid.
I watched this with a Zoomer in order to contextualize it, but he said it wasn’t much deeper than creepypasta + 4chan = successful YouTube career and then the guy got to make a movie. I guess the overall aesthetic is very popular on the internet somewhere. Fine? The aesthetic was cool. I’ll watch something directed by this same director again, if it has a different screenwriter.
Skip this, go watch Severance instead. (Seriously, go watch Severance. Go!)
I also thought this was an excellent film, it’s a shame it got caught in the culture wars. An understated and thoughtful performance by Gosling and the way they filmed space flight (from the pilot’s POV rather than sweeping external shots) really ramped up the psychological tension for me.
I can’t remember why I watched this, but I liked it a lot more than I expected. Gosling played a different sort of character, and did it well I thought.
I liked it, but it was the lesser of the two youtuber-directed films. Obsession was better.
Then again, Iron Lung was worse than both of those and this year, we also got Mortuary Assistant and Exit 88. Exit 88 was good…Mortuary Assistant was dull(game is dull, too).
I’m not sure I could watch that one. Certain subjects squick me out.
It’s quite effective, but it is about a man who wishes for a girl to love him and she becomes INSANELY obsessed with him and we see the results of that. He is essentially abusing her by allowing magic to make her love him when she wasn’t interested on her own.
I’d say up to now, based on what I’ve seen, it was the best movie of the year so far. Still many to see this year, though.
Credit for this one goes to Woody Allen.
The Sentinel 2006 Michael Douglas, Kim Basinger, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria
There’s a mole in the President’s Secret Service Detail. Michael Douglas is a decorated agent being framed for providing information to a assassination team.
Douglas has to uncover the conspirators to save the President and clear his name.
Great premise. There are some plot holes. Overall it’s a pretty good film.
I recommend it. It’s on Prime.
8.5 out of 10
I liked Iron Lung more than most, but it definitely wasn’t as good as the others. Just fixing the sound issues would have improved it somewhat.
Is Exit 88 the extended cut of Exit 8? 
I highly recommend the show Counterpart on Starz. J.K. Simmons stars as two versions of himself who are constantly at odds with each other in this sci-fi espionage thriller. Think J.K. Simmons from the Farmers Insurance commercials vs J.K. Simmons from Whiplash.
OK, so it wasn’t good enough for me to remember the title. But I still liked it.
I like Cregger’s other films quite a lot, especially Weapons, but I agree with this assessment. It was basically a good use of 90 minutes, but I won’t come back to it.
Disclosure Day 2026 Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor
Finally on Peacock. 
It’s from Steven Spielberg
Need I say more?
Yes, it’s very good.
I’ve eagerly waited to see it for several months.
Not a movie I’ve seen, but one I am thinking of seeing:
Caligula - The Ultimate Cut
I understand the original cut was a notorious flop, but this latter cut appears to have a slightly more (borderline) positive assessment. It’s available for rent on several streaming services. Has anyone seen it? Am I insane? Like, Caligula insane? The trailer is visually stunning (so props to whoever cobbled that together).
I recently watched Sixteen Candles (1986). I think I saw a few minutes of it on TV in the past.
Did not like the ending. I think Samantha should have been with Duckie instead of Blane. Apparently this was the original ending for the movie, but test audiences complained about it. Also, Paramount was afraid of sending the message that a lower-income girl doesn’t belong with a wealthy boy.