Official last movie you saw thread

Land of Bad

I was in the mood for something to turn my brain off for a bit and picked this action flick with Liam Hemsworth and Russell Crowe.
Wasn't half bad actually. Nothing ground breaking but a nice take on the usual Spec Ops story. Well directed with good twists and a well maintained tension throughout. Felt pretty realistic too, which is not always true of those movies.

Wonka (2023)

British-American musical fantasy comedy film. It's about a young and poor Willy Wonka discovering that the industry is run by a cartel of greedy chocolatiers, when he arrives in a city renowned for its chocolate with dreams of opening his own chocolate shop. So yeah, it's kind of a prequel to the story of Willy Wonka that we've already seen twice. I could actually see them make a sequel to this one, considering it did well enough at the box office. Very good cast (Timothée Chalamet, Keegan-Michael Key, Matt Lucas, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant and many more). Definitely a movie you could enjoy with your children, even though it also incorporates some darker points. It's not a great movie but it's entertaining enough and in the best case scenario your kids might get hooked on the songs and you can show them the 1971 version. Overall I can recommend it.

Aporia

Not sure how I feel about that one. The directing and acting were sub-par for the most and I feel like the movie accomplishes nothing that About Time hasn't done better before. Emo time travel is not really new and the movie doesn't bring anything to the sub genre. It's also very self conscious. But if you are a time travel movie collector, or if you like scifi that's not special effect frenzy, it's worth a watch.

500 days of Summer, i freaking love the end

Monolith

Second movie I watch this week that actually would have worked better as a podcast (and was probably a podcast until the director ran into some money). It's creepy and kinda tense for a while until it plateaus and drives off a cliff but it's not too bad if you enjoy scifi movies.
Warning: lots of dialog and very low on SFX so if that's your thing, probably skip it.

The Vast of Night (2019)

One night in New Mexico, in the late 1950s, a switchboard operator and radio DJ discover a strange audio frequency which could change the future forever.

It's been on my to-watch list for a long time, but I finally got around to actually watching it. I enjoyed it a lot, even more than I expected to. I've seen complaints that it was boring but didn't come across as such to me. Great setting and I really liked the slow burn feel of it. Both protagonists were likable and their dialogue felt genuine. Loved the cinematography and the soundtrack as well.

My only complaints would be just rather minor like I didn't really like that the elderly lady was just able to perfectly recite some "code words" to resolve the situation. It seemed a bit silly that they were something a human could somehow rehearse and write down. I also personally would've preferred if the ending had not shown what they saw in the sky, but I'm not really "mad" about it being shown either, just a small matter of preference there.

Close-Up by Abbas Kiarostami

Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)

American crime drama film. It's about a hard-boiled New York City cop who unintentionally kills a murder suspect during a routine questioning and hides the fact from the department, trying to pin the killing on his nemesis, a notorious gangster. Very good story, very good cast (Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Karl Malden and more) in this great and very entertaining film noir. Highly recommended!

Eileen

Very odd movie but a fine one. The cast is superb (it's been a while since I saw Anne Hathaway in a part that deserved her talent), even the smaller parts (both Hathaway and Marin Ireland were nominated for an Indie Spirit and you can see why quickly); the writing is sophisticated but never trying to be more than the movie needs and the direction is appropriately claustrophobic.
It's definitely not your usual thriller but it's a great take on the genre.
Recommended.

In a World... (2013)

American comedy film. It's about an underachieving voice coach who finds herself competing in the movie trailer voice-over profession against her arrogant father and his protégé. Directed and written by Lake Bell, who also plays the main character. It pays hommage to "The King of Movie Trailers" Don LaFontaine on whose catchphrase "In a world..." this whole movie is kinda based on. The cast also includes Fred Melamed, Ken Marino, Tig Notaro, Stephanie Allynne, Eva Longoria, Rob Corddry, Nick Offerman and more. So it's really chock full of familiar faces. The story is good, too. But of course it's a light comedy, so don't expect too much depth. Overall I can recommend it.

Kimi

I guess I should have checked the imdb page when one of my coworker recommended this one instead of adding it to my queue right away.
It's about an agoraphobic millennial who works for a company with a Siri/Alexa type device invading your privacy every day and guess what she hears? A crime! (yep it's my second movie this week about someone hearing a crime and trying to solve it from their office)
Corporate shenanigans ensue and it's a big skip unless you really have 2 hours to waste.

Metacritic score is a whooping 79 although of course the celebrity kiss-ass factor is high since it's "directed" by Soderbergh (he's still filming on iphones?) and written by the guy who brought you The Mummy remake that nobody watched and the Indiana Jones movie we didn't really need.

Nefarious 2023. On the day of his scheduled execution, a convicted serial killer gets a psychiatric evaluation during which he claims he is a demon

The Outfit
An expert taylor must outwit a dangerous group of mobsters in order to survive a fateful night.

Really enjoyed that one. Rylance is perfect as always and the plot is full of great twists and tension. Recommended if you like thrillers

In a Better World (2010)

Danish drama thriller film. It's about the intertwining lives of a doctor working in a Sudanese refugee camp, his troubled marriage, and the friendship between two boys, leading to profound consequences. Maybe not knowing any of the actors in this is a good thing, so you can completely focus on the story at hand. And it's a very good one. It actually won Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars over Biutiful (2010) by Alejandro González Iñárritu, Dogtooth (2009) by Yorgos Lanthimos, Incendies (2010) by Denis Villeneuve and Outside the Law (2010) by Rachid Bouchareb and even casual movie watchers should be familiar with at least three of those directors. So yeah, overall I can definitely recommend this one.

Imaginary (2024)

American supernatural horror film. It's about a woman who returns to her childhood home to discover that the imaginary friend she left behind is very real and unhappy that she abandoned him. I actually liked this one. The premise is fun and that's what makes it worth the watch. Even though the third act is definitely the weakest, overall I still enjoyed it and (especially before that third act) there are some nice scares in this. So yeah, I can recommend this movie if you're in the mood for something like it.

Wrongfully Accused (1998)

American-German satirical comedy film. It's about a guy who was wrongfully accused of murder. Rewatched this yesterday and I still think it's amazing. Definitely among Leslie Nielsen's most underrated work.

Target Earth (1954)

American science fiction horror film. It's about a small group of people in a deserted city who were overlooked during the city's mass evacuation because of a sudden invasion by hostile robotic beings believed to be from the planet Venus. This is a low budget black-and-white independent sci-fi flick from the 50s, so don't expect anything great, but if you do like 50s sci-fi, this is an enjoyable one-time watch. And it's also a crisp 70 minutes long. So for those reasons, I can recommend this movie.

Lisa Frankenstein (2024)

American comedy horror film. It's about a misunderstood teenage goth girl who meets and develops a relationship with a reanimated Victorian-era corpse. This is the directorial feature-length debut of Zelda Williams and she seems to be kind of a movie nut herself, because who else would reference G.W. Pabst, the director of Die Büchse der Pandora (1929) in their movie? There are also other references, direct or indirect, to movies like Weird Science (1985), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Day of the Dead (1985), A Trip to the Moon (1902) and many more. I very much enjoyed this one so I can definitely recommend it.

Spring (2014)

Italian-American romantic body horror film. It's about a young man who travels to Italy and pursues a woman who, unknown to him, is not entirely human. It is quite unique, I mean how often do movies mix those genres? I've heard people describe it as "if Guillermo del Toro shot a film scripted by David Cronenberg, based on a story by HP Lovecraft, then had it edited by Richard Linklater", which, after watching this, feels like a pretty accurate description. It's a great movie, absolutely one of those rare hidden gems. Highly recommended!

Wicked Little Letters

The ending was reaaaallly satisfying.

The Face Behind the Mask (1941)

American crime drama film. It's about a recent Hungarian immigrant to the US who is pushed into a life of crime because of a horrible accident that leaves his face disfigured. Peter Lorre is great in this and it's only a crisp 68 minutes long. So if you got that hour and want to watch a very good film noir, I can definitely recommend this.

The Return of the Living Dead (1985) A classic horror comedy

One-Minute Time Machine (2014)

British-American comedy romance short film. It's about a one-minute time machine and the consequences of time travel. It's just 6 minutes long and a fun watch, so I can recommend it.

It's a Gift (1934)

American comedy film. It's about a henpecked New Jersey grocer who makes plans to move to California to grow oranges, despite the resistance of his overbearing wife. A great W.C. Fields comedy and from what I've heard, among fans it's even considered his best work. I was in the mood for an old comedy movie, but no romantic comedy à la Lubitsch or slapstick à la Marx Brothers, just a pure comedy. This is what I found and it did not disappoint. Very funny, great gags that definitely still get a laugh out of you even 90 years later. Overall I can definitely recommend this great comedy.

The Kindergarten Teacher

A character study about a kindergarten teacher who becomes obsessed with fostering the talent of one of her 6 year old pupil she sees a prodigy.
Maggie Gyllenhaal is a massively underrated actress. I don't know how she has not won any major award yet. The movie is a study in ambiguity and her performance is amazing.
Despite the topic, don't worry there is nothing about her obsession with the kid, or her actions, that is sexually motivated. It's not that kind of movie.