Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any films you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.

Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.

I've been on an interesting train of thought these past few days. I came across some criticism of a random old movie and I started thinking that the reason why I actually hate most modern movies is because they are all cowardly avoiding having any possible political interpretation for anything that happens in them. I've experienced movies that when the big fight scene starts, I'm falling asleep because I'm just so negatively invested in the characters or what will happen to them. That made me think about why so many boring, bland movies and shows keep being made, and it made me think of an opinion that the biggest reason why studios keep betting on blockbusters that are as boring as possible is that they are dependent on theatrical box office takings because streaming killed post-release revenue streams such as movie purchases.

I think that the reason for this is at least partially a symptom of the death of desire for physical media itself. Why deal with the inconvenience of physical media when you can just press a button and the movie starts playing? But at the same time I don't think this is entirely the fault of streaming services, but the fault of movie companies attempting to exert too much control over how people access their films.

I won't bore you with explanations of the limitations of streaming services. We've all been there, surely. They don't have what we want, the stuff we do want to see is spread out on a hundred different subscriptions, yada yada yada. So why do we not deal with them piecemeal? That answer comes with good news and bad news. Good news: you can! You can both buy and rent most movies that have ever been made. Bad news: it's an absolutely terrible deal if you do.

Right now there's at least three major services that allow you to buy digital movies: YouTube, Apple TV / iTunes Movies, and Prime Video. There's also the vestiges of the industry's "digital movies" initiative called Fandango at Home, previously Vudu - the one where you'd use a code you got with a DVD that said it included a digital copy. The problem with all of these services is obvious: if you buy a movie from them, you don't actually own it. They can and will take away access from you at any time for any reason they see fit.

There's an obvious solution to this: rental. It doesn't matter if they de-list a rental because you never had the illusion of ownership to begin with. But that has it's own problem: it's way too fucking expensive.

To put things into perspective, Blockbuster, before it closed down, would let you rent new releases for between $3-5 for a 1-2 day rental, while older movies could be between $1-3. Granted, this was before a lot of inflation, but those rentals also had the costs of running a store in expensive commercial real estate as well as the people who had to manage it, the cost of purchasing the media - sometimes at retail prices - and the cost of maintaining them (rewinding cassettes, cleaning and resurfacing discs, and replacing worn media).

Lets compare the cost of renting on Prime Video today.

Dicks the Musical is a somewhat niche movie unavailable to watch on streaming sites that came out more than two years ago, and the current price to rent it is $4.99. Five bucks. I should mention this is for a movie that I already watched on Hoopla via my library card for free.

Batman Returns is a blockbuster from 1992 and is available for $3.99. Four bucks. You get a one dollar discount if you want to watch something 30 years old. Fantastic.

The category that will really open your eyes is new movies. Zootopia 2 just became available for digital purchase, with no physical editions, and is not yet available on Disney+. If you want to purchase the film, it costs $29.99. Rental is $24.99. Frankly I cannot imagine a world in which the number of people who would pay for that rental exceeds the number of people who opted to pirate but would have paid if the price was at least half that.

If you forget that the major studios own their own streaming services, then this math really doesn't work out. Surely they are getting more money per stream through purchase and rental than they are with the fractional payment they would get from licensing it.

But of course you have to remember that they do own their own streaming services - it's part of why everyone's complaining after all. The major producers, by discouraging short term rentals and pushing streaming services (note that Prime Video will try to sell you one of those subscriptions if the title is available on one), they are attempting to move from producers of cultural products to yet another industry of rent seekers.

Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any films you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.

Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.

Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any films you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.

Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.

When I mean underrated I mean underrated. Few self-imposed rules on this: no movies that had big award nominations and no movies that have above a 60% on RT.

1. Amsterdam (2022)

Directed by David O. Russell, this movie never had a chance. Post-metoo O. Russell is persona non grata. However, this film continue his trajectory that he had with the Jennifer Lawrence trilogy (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, and Joy). Which analyze American perseverance in the face of hopelessness.

The main characters here played by Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington are all a found family of outsiders who don’t fit anywhere else but with each other.

The film was savaged by film critics, earning a 31% on RottenTomatoes. In spite of film critics having their knives out for O. Russell, it is one of the most prescient films of the decade about the rise of fascism in the U.S. And contains perhaps the best performance of Margot Robbie’s career.

2. A Rainy Day in New York (2020)

Originally scheduled for release in 2018 by Amazon, as part of their now rescinded deal with Woody Allen, the film was shelved for close to two years before becoming widely available during the pandemic.

The last Hollywood film Allen ever made stars Timothee Chalamet, Selena Gomez, Elle Fanning, Jude Law, Liev Schreiber, and Diego Luna.

Once again, in a post-Metoo landscape, the film received a 47% on RottenTomatoes. One imagines that if this released prior to 2017 it would receive similar positive notices to Allen’s first Amazon film Cafe Society.

The film plays sweet and comforting, like much of Allen’s work. Chalamet makes an excellent Woody replacement (makes you wonder how many films they would have done together under different circumstances). And the chemistry between Chalamet and Gomez is wonderful, it is also probably the best performance Gomez will ever give.

3. The Greatest Beer Run Ever (2022)

On the topic of vengeful film critics, Peter Farrelly’s follow up to his Best Picture winner Green Book received a 43% on RottenTomatoes. Critics were not-so-subtlety punishing Farrelly for beating the critical darling Roma for the industry’s top prize.

It’s a beautifully shot Vietnam war drama with an incredibly layered and empathetic performance from Zac Efron. It blends comedy and drama much like its predecessor Jojo Rabbit. It’s never boring and gets criticized for “insensitivity” for whatever reason.

4. Cry Macho (2021)

Likely to be Clint Eastwood’s final lead performance, Cry Macho received a 57% on RottenTomatoes.

The film sees Eastwood do what he does best. Deconstruct masculinity through the lens of Americana, with the added element of the impending death that comes with old age.

The type of crowd-pleaser Eastwood specialized in and which was broadly better received thirty years ago.

5. The Strangers: Chapter Two (2025)

A bizarre follow up to the near shot for shot remake that was The Stranger: Chapter One. The film throws you off completely from any expectations you might have had for a horror sequel.

The lowest rated of these films at 15% on RT, it’s an energetic chase film that doesn’t let down and somehow tries to also be The Revenant. Gonzo choices are made here that somehow work as pure entertainment. And it’s anchored by a genuinely good performance by Madeline Petsch. It will be a cult classic with horror fans in a few years.

Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any films you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.

Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.

Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any films you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.

Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.

Hi Everyone,

I am looking for recommendations of your favorite “comfort” movies. Movies, I don’t have to take too seriously and can be watched over and over and can fall asleep to.

As an example a few of mine would be:

MoneyBall
Jesse Stone movies
Dave
Avengers Infinity War and Endgame
Star Trek Generations
Major League
Clear and Present Danger
Ghostbusters Afterlife
Batman Begins
Batman Returns
Grinch animated movie
Indiana jones dial of destiny
Rocky balboa
Moonfall
Goldeneye
X-men 1 & 2, Days of Futures Past
Rainmaker
Runaway Jury

Picture

• One Battle After Another
• Sinners
• Hamnet
• Sentimental Value
• Marty Supreme
• Frankenstein
• Train Dreams
• Bugonia
• F1
• The Secret Agent

Director

• Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another
• Ryan Coogler - Sinners
• Josh Safdie - Marty Supreme
• Joachim Trier - Sentimental Value
• Guillermo del Toro - Frankenstein

Original Screenplay

• Sinners
• Sentimental Value
• Marty Supreme
• Weapons
• The Secret Agent

Adapted Screenplay

• One Battle After Another
• Hamnet
• Bugonia
• Frankenstein
• Train Dreams

Lead Actress

• Jessie Buckley - Hamnet
• Rose Byrne - If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
• Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value
• Chase Infiniti - One Battle After Another
• Emma Stone - Bugonia

Lead Actor

• Timothee Chalamet - Marty Supreme
• Leonardo DiCaprio - One Battle After Another
• Michael B Jordan - Sinners
• Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent
• Jesse Plemons - Bugonia

Supporting Actress

• Teyana Taylor - One Battle After Another
• Amy Madigan - Weapons
• Odessa A'zion - Marty Supreme
• Wumni Mosaku - Sinners
• Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas - Sentimental Value

Supporting Actor

• Benicio Del Toro - One Battle After Another
• Stellan Skarsgard - Sentimental Value
• Jacob Elordi - Frankenstein
• Sean Penn - One Battle After Another
• Paul Mescal - Hamnet

Casting

• Sinners
• One Battle After Another
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• Frankenstein

Cinematography

• Sinners
• One Battle After Another
• Frankenstein
• Marty Supreme
• Train Dreams

Costume Design

• Frankenstein
• Sinners
• Wicked: For Good
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme

Film Editing

• One Battle After Another
• Sinners
• Marty Supreme
• F1
• Frankenstein

Makeup and Hairstyling

• Frankenstein
• Wicked: For Good
• Sinners
• The Smashing Machine
• One Battle After Another

Production Design

• Frankenstein
• Wicked: For Good
• Sinners
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme

Original Score

• Sinners
• One Battle After Another
• Frankenstein
• Marty Supreme
• F1

Original Song

• "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters
• "I Lied To You" from Sinners
• "The Girl in the Bubble" from Wicked: For Good
• "Dear Me" from Diane Warren: Relentless
• "Drive" from F1

Sound

• F1
• Sinners
• Avatar: Fire and Ash
• One Battle After Another
• Frankenstein

Visual Effects

• Avatar: Fire and Ash
• Frankenstein
• Superman
• F1
• The Lost Bus

Animated Feature

• KPop Demon Hunters
• Zootopia 2
• Arco
• Elio
• Little Amelie or the Character of Rain

Documentary Feature

• The Perfect Neighbor
• 2000 Meters to Andriivka
• The Alabama Solution
• Cover-Up
• Apocalypse in the Tropics

International Film

• The Secret Agent
• Sentimental Value
• It Was Just an Accident
• No Other Choice
• Sirat

This is your place to share any and all thoughts on your movie viewing for 2025.

Movies you talk about do NOT have to be limited to this year’s releases.

Feel free to share:

• Favorites
• Disappointments
• Surprises
• Memorable moments
• Self-reflections
• Anything else!

Let us know how your movie watching for 2025 went.

Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any films you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.

Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.