Official last movie you saw thread

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

American superhero film. First off, Black Panther (2018) was way better. Chadwick Boseman was just such a presence and also a fantastic actor. And despite people's best efforts, you just feel that there's a big void he left. The story that they ultimately went with wasn't as good as what they could've done if Chadwick Boseman was still around. The movie itself looks good and the costumes are well designed, too. It was a bit too long, though. Could've probably cut out 20, 30 minutes and it would've been better. I don't want to spoil too much, but one character felt kinda shoehorned in just so they can make a series about her later on. Overall it's not bad, but also nothing exceptional. I'm sure the general story (or at least an outline they followed) is based on existing comics but again, the movie would've been better with Chadwick Boseman still around.

Night of the Living Dead 1968 - 7/10

Tár (2022)

American-German psychological drama film. Cate Blanchett plays fictional composer and conductor Lydia Tár and I think she has very good chances to win Best Actress at the Oscars because she was phenomenal in this. It's not for everyone, I'm sure there are people who'd turn it off after just a few minutes saying it's boring and pretentious, but if you keep watching you'll see a deep character study unfold over the course of almost 160 minutes. So yeah, maybe you'll like this, maybe you don't. Only way to find out is to watch it. I can recommend it, but again, it's probably not for everyone.

Causeway (2022)

American drama film. Very authentic performances by Brian Tyree Henry, the latter of whom was nominated for his supporting role in this. It's about a US soldier who experienced a traumatic brain injury after an IED explosion and is forced to return home to New Orleans. There she needs to learn how to get back to daily life, to walk, talk, be overall independent again. As her health improves she becomes friends with an auto mechanic who lost his nephew in a car accident he caused.
This is kind of a slow burner but I think it was good. Recommended.

To Leslie (2022)

American drama film. Andrea Riseborough's performance was very good, I'm not gonna say it's not. It's just weird how she earned that nomination. The movie is also surprisingly good with an interesting cast and a nice story. But again, it's just weird that it was completely overlooked until that grassroots campaign to get Riseborough nominated.

And with this I've watched all movies related to the Best Actress nominations this year, so I can share my thoughts on those. I believe Michelle Yeoh and Cate Blanchett are the frontrunners in the category with Blanchett a bit more likely to take it considering her movie is a drama and the Academy historically liking dramas a lot. But in the end I can see it go either way. Ana de Armas being held back by her movie just being plain bad, Andrea Riseborough by her movie being relatively obscure and by that whole nomination controversy and Michelle Williams by probably having the least memorable performance in this group. So yeah, I'll stick with either Blanchett or Yeoh being frontrunners. Have you seen any or all of these movies yet? What do you think? Please share your thoughts if you want.

Dawn of the Dead 1978 - 7/10

Le pupille (2022)

American-Italian comedy short film. It's a cute little short about the rebellious girls of a Catholic boarding school at Christmas during a time of scarcity and war. Can recommend!

The Collector (2009) & The Collection (2012)
If you liked Saw movies, you'll like these movies too.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (2022)

British-American animated short film. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" "Kind." This one's sweet, very heartwarming. Based on a children's book iirc. Beautifully animated and a simple, yet great story, especially if you got children or are one yourself. But even if you're not you'll still enjoy this. I haven't watched all the animated shorts yet but right now I think this has good chances to win the Oscar. Highly recommended!

Whirr (2006)

German experimental short film. Watched this yesterday at that old independent arthouse cinema that always shows a short before the main movie. "In the 1960s the same type of town houses were built and transformed by their owners over the years. By reducing apparently similar views of houses into a linear tracking shot, Whirr gets to show how the transformations and irregularities oscillate around an initial architectural idea without ever reaching an exact description." I already had a bit of a headache before this and this didn't make it any better. The best thing about this is that it's only 3 minutes long. Can't really recommend.

The Son (2022)

French-British-American drama film. Watched this yesterday at that old independent arthouse cinema that always shows a short before the main movie. On paper this movie great. Written and directed by Florian Zeller who also made the outstanding Oscar-winning The Father (2020), with a cast including Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby and Anthony Hopkins, a harrowing story about depression and a score by Hans Zimmer. The performances by everyone were really good, including Zen McGrath, whose character is the main focus of this movie. But somehow it kinda fell short. There's this expression "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts" and while here the parts were great, in the end they didn't really form a greater whole. I really can't say why. Maybe it's because the story is kinda predictable. We've all heard of Chekov's gun which is an actual gun in this movie. You kinda see what's coming. So overall I sadly can't really recommend this either.

Argentina, 1985 (2022)

Argentine historical drama film. This is a really good legal drama about something I had no idea about before watching this movie. Great performances. Highly recommended!
I still have to watch EO (Poland) and The Quiet Girl (Ireland) but right now I feel like if Germany doesn't win the Oscar for Best International Feature Film with All Quiet on the Western Front, Argentina could definitely take it too. But again, there are still two movies I haven't watched yet and they could change everything. And Close (Belgium) was also very good. Best International Feature Film will be a hard one.

Watched The Sea Beast (2022) yesterday because I needed something light-hearted to watch, it's nothing that hasn't been done before but still very enjoyable. ~7.5 / 10

Navalny (2022)

American documentary film. It's about Alexei Navalny and events related to his poisoning in 2020. And let me tell you, it's an incredible documentary. First one I've watched of the ones nominated for an Oscar this year so I can't say anything about the others but this one is great and you should absolutely watch this!

Babylon (2022)

American epic period comedy drama film. It's quite a spectacle. 3 hours of madness and parties all while revolving around a central story about old Hollywood and the transition from silent films to talkies and careers being kickstarted and fading away. I feel like this is Damien Chazelle's love letter to cinema, especially if you're looking at that montage at the end. And while it isn't as historically accurate as it wants to make you think it is I still enjoyed it. So overall I can recommend it. But it's definitely not for everyone.

The Karate Kid (1984)

I've watched a ton of martial arts schlock from the 80's when I was a kid, was obsessed with them. But somehow I've never watched The Karate Kid. Now I did, and I was very surprised at how much it wasn't what I expected. It was more of a very decent coming of age drama that just happened to have a Karate tournament at the end. I was less surprised that it was so good, after I learned that it was directed by the same director as Rocky.

8/10

Day of the Dead - 7/10

Vorwärts immer! (2017)

German comedy film. Watched this yesterday. It's about an actor who needs to play Erich Honecker, the leader of East Germany from 1971 up until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, to save his daugther who wants to defect to West Germany. So while it's probably not very good if you're not familiar with the themes at hand it is if you do. But even while watching I felt like this was actually two movies in one. We have the comedy about the guy pretending to be Erich Honecker and on the other hand there's a drama about a young pregnant woman wanting to flee the country to enable her unborn child to have a better life. That felt kind of unusual and even jarring sometimes but overall I thought the movie was good. Can recommend.

All That Breathes (2022)

Indian-American-British documentary film. First of all, this has amazing cinematography for a documentary. It's about brothers who rescue and treat injured birds. Highly recommended! So far I've watched two of the five documentaries nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars this year and they're both amazing which makes it a lot harder to guess who'll actually win.

An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It (2021)

Australian stop motion animated short film. This is amazing! Very meta. 11 minutes long and it's free on Vimeo. Definitely check this one out! Highly recommended!
So I have one more animated short to watch but currently I think the winner will be either this or The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, with the latter probably taking it in the end.

Night of the Living Dead 1990 - 7/10

Puss in Boots (2011)

American computer-animated adventure comedy film. It's alright. It's one of those kids films that has some jokes for the adults as well, but those feel kinda forced. Great voice cast, though.

Puss In Boots: The Three Diablos (2012)

American computer-animated short adventure comedy film. This 12 minute short movie about Puss in Boots isn't very good. It's one "adventure" where he needs to find a gem someone stole. That's it. The whole thing could literally be an irrelevant little sideplot in a movie to make it a bit longer. But it's very clearly connected to the first movie, so there's that. Overall... can't recommend. Let's hope Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) will be better.

Dawn of the Dead 2004 - 7/10

Viking Wolf 2022

Norwegian horror drama. A bit slow and predictable. But not too bad.
6.5/10