What movies have you been watching?

[Jade]

Watched Skincare  with Elizabeth Banks last night. A good film loosely based on real events.

[MoseyingAlong]

Saw "My Dead Friend Zoe" at the theater this evening.
Some fellow veterans had recommended it. The small group I went with thought it was very good. There was a lot to relate to in it. Sad story with some funny bits and I appreciated the ending.

[uniwelder]

We just watched the 90s movie The Secret of Roan Inish.

We're considering moving to the west coast of Ireland, so I thought this would be a perfect movie, and it is pretty close to being a perfect movie.

It's so painfully Irish, but in the charming, salt of the earth, belief in faeries, deep love of nature sort of way. Not in the dark twisted misery sort of way like Banshees of Inisherin.

The plot is very, very silly, but not stupid. It's sweet, but not overly sentimental. It's cute, but not cutesy. It's feel good but not overdone or treacly.

It would be a perfect chill Sunday afternoon movie, with a nice cup of tea and some cookies.

OMG that film is magical. I am not kidding or exaggerating when I tell you that for many years, it was in my top 10 films of all time.

I also enjoyed Banshees quite a lot.

We just re-watched it recently. We were camping in the RV, which still has a DVD player. It was lovely. My other fave is "Waking Ned Devine". I see some previously unnoticed nuance every time I watch it.

In preparation for a vacation to Ireland 2 weeks from now, we decided to watch The Secret of Roan Inish.  Great movie!  Metalcat's review is spot on.  However, I think we're setting some unrealistic expectations for our trip.

[Metalcat]

We just watched the 90s movie The Secret of Roan Inish.

We're considering moving to the west coast of Ireland, so I thought this would be a perfect movie, and it is pretty close to being a perfect movie.

It's so painfully Irish, but in the charming, salt of the earth, belief in faeries, deep love of nature sort of way. Not in the dark twisted misery sort of way like Banshees of Inisherin.

The plot is very, very silly, but not stupid. It's sweet, but not overly sentimental. It's cute, but not cutesy. It's feel good but not overdone or treacly.

It would be a perfect chill Sunday afternoon movie, with a nice cup of tea and some cookies.

OMG that film is magical. I am not kidding or exaggerating when I tell you that for many years, it was in my top 10 films of all time.

I also enjoyed Banshees quite a lot.

We just re-watched it recently. We were camping in the RV, which still has a DVD player. It was lovely. My other fave is "Waking Ned Devine". I see some previously unnoticed nuance every time I watch it.

In preparation for a vacation to Ireland 2 weeks from now, we decided to watch The Secret of Roan Inish.  Great movie!  Metalcat's review is spot on.  However, I think we're setting some unrealistic expectations for our trip.

Will you be heading up to the north west??

[uniwelder]

We just watched the 90s movie The Secret of Roan Inish.

We're considering moving to the west coast of Ireland, so I thought this would be a perfect movie, and it is pretty close to being a perfect movie.

It's so painfully Irish, but in the charming, salt of the earth, belief in faeries, deep love of nature sort of way. Not in the dark twisted misery sort of way like Banshees of Inisherin.

The plot is very, very silly, but not stupid. It's sweet, but not overly sentimental. It's cute, but not cutesy. It's feel good but not overdone or treacly.

It would be a perfect chill Sunday afternoon movie, with a nice cup of tea and some cookies.

OMG that film is magical. I am not kidding or exaggerating when I tell you that for many years, it was in my top 10 films of all time.

I also enjoyed Banshees quite a lot.

We just re-watched it recently. We were camping in the RV, which still has a DVD player. It was lovely. My other fave is "Waking Ned Devine". I see some previously unnoticed nuance every time I watch it.

In preparation for a vacation to Ireland 2 weeks from now, we decided to watch The Secret of Roan Inish.  Great movie!  Metalcat's review is spot on.  However, I think we're setting some unrealistic expectations for our trip.

Will you be heading up to the north west??

Nope.  We're not renting a car, so bus/train from Dublin, Limerick, and Cork, with day trips planned from those locations.  Won't be running into any Selkies and probably no naked children running around.  For a future trip, we talked about going by car to see the more remote areas.

[Metalcat]

Nope.  We're not renting a car, so bus/train from Dublin, Limerick, and Cork, with day trips planned from those locations.  Won't be running into any Selkies and probably no naked children running around.  For a future trip, we talked about going by car to see the more remote areas.

Really, if you want the feel from Roan Innish, you should really come to Newfoundland instead. It's like Ireland, but from a hundred years ago.

That movie feels so much like where I'm currently living. I leave in a few days back to the mainland and it's psychologically so hard to go back every time.

[reeshau]

Nope.  We're not renting a car, so bus/train from Dublin, Limerick, and Cork, with day trips planned from those locations.  Won't be running into any Selkies and probably no naked children running around.  For a future trip, we talked about going by car to see the more remote areas.

Really, if you want the feel from Roan Innish, you should really come to Newfoundland instead. It's like Ireland, but from a hundred years ago.

That movie feels so much like where I'm currently living. I leave in a few days back to the mainland and it's psychologically so hard to go back every time.

The Aran Islands are also like Ireland, a hundred years ago.  :)

[Warlord1986]

Mulan. The 1998 movie.

The only Disney Princess with a body count. Such a great movie.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

I haven't seen 'Conclave' mentioned here.  I seriously resisted this one, having preconceived notions about the subject matter and watching the first 20 or so minutes at some point and then never coming back.  Then, recently, I was stuck on a plane in front of a screen for several hours and finally gave it a chance...  yowza! Boy was I wrong about this one!  The twist ending in my experience with this film was that I did not expect it to be anything like what it ended up being.  Not going to give it a ringing endorsement, but if you are on the fence like I was, I can recommend watching it all the way through especially in today's non-risk taking, special effects are the main star movie landscape.

[Kris]

I haven't seen 'Conclave' mentioned here.  I seriously resisted this one, having preconceived notions about the subject matter and watching the first 20 or so minutes at some point and then never coming back.  Then, recently, I was stuck on a plane in front of a screen for several hours and finally gave it a chance...  yowza! Boy was I wrong about this one!  The twist ending in my experience with this film was that I did not expect it to be anything like what it ended up being.  Not going to give it a ringing endorsement, but if you are on the fence like I was, I can recommend watching it all the way through especially in today's non-risk taking, special effects are the main star movie landscape.

I recently watched it on a plane, too. Loved it.

[LaineyAZ]

Happened upon "Ordinary People" on TCM.  That movie was made in 1980 and really holds up well 45 years later.

Timothy Hutton won Best Supporting Actor as a 20 year old - still the youngest actor to win that category - and he deserved it.

[alcon835]

Saw "My Dead Friend Zoe" at the theater this evening.
Some fellow veterans had recommended it. The small group I went with thought it was very good. There was a lot to relate to in it. Sad story with some funny bits and I appreciated the ending.

yeah, the ending makes the whole thing. Solid film.

[Warlord1986]

Rodger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella. The 1997 version with Brandy.

Everybody in that cast has great chemistry.

[Jade]

Watched the fundamentals of caring with Paul Rudd last night.

[mspym]

Saw Mickey 17 yesterday. If you like peak Robert Pattinson + peak Bong Joon Ho, then you will like this film. Tonally it is closer to Okja or Snowpiercer than Parasite and I can see why the ticketseller checked with us to make sure we knew what sort of movie we were going to see. [It was great!]

[alcon835]

Saw Mickey 17 yesterday. If you like peak Robert Pattinson + peak Bong Joon Ho, then you will like this film. Tonally it is closer to Okja or Snowpiercer than Parasite and I can see why the ticketseller checked with us to make sure we knew what sort of movie we were going to see. [It was great!]

That is EXACTLY how I felt about it. Luckily, I loved Okja and Snowpiercer and Peak Robert Pattinson is always a great time for me :D

[2Cent]

After watching too many Hollywood movies, I decided a change would be interesting. So I'm now watching Korean series and Indian movies. The latter unfortunately has so many ridiculous over the top power fantasy movies. However there are also a few gems. I recently watched Andhadhun. I can highly recommend it (thriller/comedy).

[Metalcat]

Watched the fundamentals of caring with Paul Rudd last night.

I loved this movie, but that's possibly because I've worked with disabled folks pretty much my whole life

[Tyson]

Saw Mickey 17 yesterday. If you like peak Robert Pattinson + peak Bong Joon Ho, then you will like this film. Tonally it is closer to Okja or Snowpiercer than Parasite and I can see why the ticketseller checked with us to make sure we knew what sort of movie we were going to see. [It was great!]

That is EXACTLY how I felt about it. Luckily, I loved Okja and Snowpiercer and Peak Robert Pattinson is always a great time for me :D

After watching him in Good Tome and The Lighthouse I have a lot more respect for Pattinson as an actor. 

[Jade]

Watched the fundamentals of caring with Paul Rudd last night.

I loved this movie, but that's possibly because I've worked with disabled folks pretty much my whole life

I liked it a lot and like you, have worked with disabled people most of my life.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Paramount + has a 94 minute video on "Tom Petty:  Heartbreakers Beach Party".  It's both a time capsule and a love letter to the best parts of that world...  So much talent, fun, and optimism.  I miss that America, more and more these days.

[FireLane]

I never saw The Big Short, so I watched it this week.

Great movie about the 2008 collapse, and all too relevant now that stupidity and fraud are back at the helm in America.

[alcon835]

I have never cried in a movie theater in my entire life. That is until today when I watched Bob Trevino Likes It.

From beginning to end, it's an almost perfect movie. I don't want to spoil it, but if you've never heard of it the premise is a woman in her late 20s who is estranged from her father accidentally becomes Facebook friends with a man who has her father's name. And then they become real friends. And it's perfect. And beautiful. And I loved it so much.

I couldn't recommend it more. This may end up being my favorite movie of 2025 and we're only in April.

[evme]

"The Thinking Game" on Amazon Prime. It's a documentary about DeepMind and its founder Demis Hassabis. DeepMind is famous for creating a program that beat the world champion in Go, once considered impossible. More recently they cracked protein folding which was a major scientific breakthrough. I follow DeepMind closely so not much new here for me but still fascinating to see how they tackle problems and their quest for AGI (Artificial general intelligence).

[LaineyAZ]

"Badlands" written and directed by Terence Malick. 

I believe it was loosely based on the Charles Starkweather killing spree in the late 1950s.  Filmed in 1973 starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek.  Another movie that holds up amazingly well 50 years later. 

[Trudie]

Paddington movies — All so clever and funny, and such a wonderful message about caring for “the other”, whether they’re from across the street or across the globe.

Saint Maik — available on PBS Passport app. Funny and irreverent. Daniel Donskoy who plays the lead is a triple-threat… immensely talented as a musician, actor, and activist. And he’s easy on the eyes.

[Metalcat]

Paddington movies — All so clever and funny, and such a wonderful message about caring for “the other”, whether they’re from across the street or across the globe.

Saint Maik — available on PBS Passport app. Funny and irreverent. Daniel Donskoy who plays the lead is a triple-threat… immensely talented as a musician, actor, and activist. And he’s easy on the eyes.

The rather brilliant Nicholas Cage movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent has scenes where they rave about Paddington 2 as one of the best movies of all time.

I truly despise watching animated movies of just about any sort, but I'm legit curious about the Paddington movies now, lol.

[Trudie]

Paddington movies — All so clever and funny, and such a wonderful message about caring for “the other”, whether they’re from across the street or across the globe.

Saint Maik — available on PBS Passport app. Funny and irreverent. Daniel Donskoy who plays the lead is a triple-threat… immensely talented as a musician, actor, and activist. And he’s easy on the eyes.

The rather brilliant Nicholas Cage movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent has scenes where they rave about Paddington 2 as one of the best movies of all time.

I truly despise watching animated movies of just about any sort, but I'm legit curious about the Paddington movies now, lol.

The Paddington movies have very clever humor, and I also appreciate that the humor isn't bratty or snarky. To be clear, I'm no Puritan, it's just that I REALLY get tired of the amped up, over-acting of many kids' movies.

[Metalcat]

Paddington movies — All so clever and funny, and such a wonderful message about caring for “the other”, whether they’re from across the street or across the globe.

Saint Maik — available on PBS Passport app. Funny and irreverent. Daniel Donskoy who plays the lead is a triple-threat… immensely talented as a musician, actor, and activist. And he’s easy on the eyes.

The rather brilliant Nicholas Cage movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent has scenes where they rave about Paddington 2 as one of the best movies of all time.

I truly despise watching animated movies of just about any sort, but I'm legit curious about the Paddington movies now, lol.

The Paddington movies have very clever humor, and I also appreciate that the humor isn't bratty or snarky. To be clear, I'm no Puritan, it's just that I REALLY get tired of the amped up, over-acting of many kids' movies.

Yes, this is why I can't tolerate them. I find animated movies to be extremely grating to watch. I used to be able to tolerate them, I remember liking The Incredibles when it came out as well as Monsters Inc, but I completely lost my capacity to tolerate them.

I was made to watch Soul one Christmas, and while there were elements I could appreciate, and I was able to say nice things about it, it was like nails on a chalkboard for me to watch.

I'm deeply curious about the Paddington movies though, although I'm rarely in a movie mood and never, ever in an animated movie mood, so it's one of those things I may never do. Although, if I have another stint of living on opioids for an extended period and hating life because I'm totally incapacitated, it sounds like a good option.

[Trudie]

@Metalcat I also have several YouTube channels I follow that are wonderful and calming for healing. I highly recommend Bealtaine Cottage, Jonna Jinton, and there are several women from Sweden who are renovating cottages (just search "Sweden cottage renovation." ) I have neither the skills nor the wherewithal to embark on such a reno myself, but I love the spirit of it. The women cottage dwellers are repurposing building materials and doing all kinds of neat outdoor projects (gardens, chickens, saunas). I think I find it calming because (with money and gumption, in my case) I think if 'Murica keeps going to hell in a hand basket I could probably find an escape hatch in the woods and live off the grid. At least it's fun to think about. Here's to another great week of recovery! I have just showered and put on my exciting tubi/compression sock. Feeling good today. It's the little things. Cheers!

[2Cent]

Paddington movies — All so clever and funny, and such a wonderful message about caring for “the other”, whether they’re from across the street or across the globe.

Saint Maik — available on PBS Passport app. Funny and irreverent. Daniel Donskoy who plays the lead is a triple-threat… immensely talented as a musician, actor, and activist. And he’s easy on the eyes.

The rather brilliant Nicholas Cage movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent has scenes where they rave about Paddington 2 as one of the best movies of all time.

I truly despise watching animated movies of just about any sort, but I'm legit curious about the Paddington movies now, lol.

It's ok, but don't expect too much. It is still just a kids movie. It is a nice surprise if you go in with low expectations. It's on the same level as Wonka, if you saw that one.

[GuitarStv]

Paddington movies — All so clever and funny, and such a wonderful message about caring for “the other”, whether they’re from across the street or across the globe.

Saint Maik — available on PBS Passport app. Funny and irreverent. Daniel Donskoy who plays the lead is a triple-threat… immensely talented as a musician, actor, and activist. And he’s easy on the eyes.

The rather brilliant Nicholas Cage movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent has scenes where they rave about Paddington 2 as one of the best movies of all time.

I truly despise watching animated movies of just about any sort, but I'm legit curious about the Paddington movies now, lol.

The Paddington movies have very clever humor, and I also appreciate that the humor isn't bratty or snarky. To be clear, I'm no Puritan, it's just that I REALLY get tired of the amped up, over-acting of many kids' movies.

Yes, this is why I can't tolerate them. I find animated movies to be extremely grating to watch. I used to be able to tolerate them, I remember liking The Incredibles when it came out as well as Monsters Inc, but I completely lost my capacity to tolerate them.

I was made to watch Soul one Christmas, and while there were elements I could appreciate, and I was able to say nice things about it, it was like nails on a chalkboard for me to watch.

I'm deeply curious about the Paddington movies though, although I'm rarely in a movie mood and never, ever in an animated movie mood, so it's one of those things I may never do. Although, if I have another stint of living on opioids for an extended period and hating life because I'm totally incapacitated, it sounds like a good option.

I'm noticing that there isn't really a story in modern kids movies.  Like, there will be a main character.  Then things happen to the main character, dragging them through an 'adventure'.  But most of the things seem random and disconnected.  They don't feel very cohesive or tied together.  You look at older Disney animation like Bambi, Snow White, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast . . . this wasn't an issue.  But I find that many of the modern movies feel more like a series of thinly stitched together Youtube shorts than a cohesive story.

[neo von retorch]

I'm noticing that there isn't really a story in modern kids movies.  Like, there will be a main character.  Then things happen to the main character, dragging them through an 'adventure'.  But most of the things seem random and disconnected.  They don't feel very cohesive or tied together.  You look at older Disney animation like Bambi, Snow White, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast . . . this wasn't an issue.  But I find that many of the modern movies feel more like a series of thinly stitched together Youtube shorts than a cohesive story.

Can you list some example movies that fit your description?

I don't watch "pure" kids movies because we don't have kids, but we watch a lot of Disney / Pixar movies that at least have some forethought (from my perspective).

So if I think about Moana or Encanto or Turning Red or Inside Out 2 - well, I feel like they have a lot of message and meaning to them. And, if anything, the "adventure" is a bit of light entertainment layered on top of a good message and a good overall story arc underneath them.

[Metalcat]

Paddington movies — All so clever and funny, and such a wonderful message about caring for “the other”, whether they’re from across the street or across the globe.

Saint Maik — available on PBS Passport app. Funny and irreverent. Daniel Donskoy who plays the lead is a triple-threat… immensely talented as a musician, actor, and activist. And he’s easy on the eyes.

The rather brilliant Nicholas Cage movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent has scenes where they rave about Paddington 2 as one of the best movies of all time.

I truly despise watching animated movies of just about any sort, but I'm legit curious about the Paddington movies now, lol.

It's ok, but don't expect too much. It is still just a kids movie. It is a nice surprise if you go in with low expectations. It's on the same level as Wonka, if you saw that one.

Never saw Wonka, but as I said in another post, my bar for actually watching any Paddington movie would be that I'm incapacitated and hopped up on opioids for a significant duration, then I might actually enjoy it.

[GuitarStv]

I'm noticing that there isn't really a story in modern kids movies.  Like, there will be a main character.  Then things happen to the main character, dragging them through an 'adventure'.  But most of the things seem random and disconnected.  They don't feel very cohesive or tied together.  You look at older Disney animation like Bambi, Snow White, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast . . . this wasn't an issue.  But I find that many of the modern movies feel more like a series of thinly stitched together Youtube shorts than a cohesive story.

Can you list some example movies that fit your description?

I don't watch "pure" kids movies because we don't have kids, but we watch a lot of Disney / Pixar movies that at least have some forethought (from my perspective).

So if I think about Moana or Encanto or Turning Red or Inside Out 2 - well, I feel like they have a lot of message and meaning to them. And, if anything, the "adventure" is a bit of light entertainment layered on top of a good message and a good overall story arc underneath them.

It has been a while since watching it, but at the time I thought Moana was pretty much just a collection of random things happening only loosely related to each other.

The Rock steals macguffin from some God to give somethingorother to island people.  Years and years pass.  Ocean chooses hero to return macguffin.  Blight happens to island people since the plot needs to advance.  Chosen person goes out into the ocean half cocked and fails, breaking boat.  Random stuff about past, conveniently showing stuff about boats.  Chosen person uses new boat to set out to return macguffin.  Random encounter with pirates who steal macguffin for no apparent reason.  Random history about the Rock's tattoos - unrelated to rest of movie.  To advance the plot, the Rock teaches chosen one how to navigate to return macguffin.  Chosen one encounters difficult situation and immediately gives up.  Bad guy turns out to be good guy for plot convenience.  Chosen one decides that since it's now easy to win, this is the time to return macguffin that was previously given up on.  Chosen one goes home and becomes ruler of town for conclusion related purposes.  Just about anything in the movie that happens could have happened without previous parts going on, so it felt very stapled together and random rather than a cohesive tale.

And then you have stuff like the latest Super Mario Bros. movie that was far worse as far as a pure collection of random stuff happening.

Encanto and Turning Red were both more coherent.  Haven't seen Inside Out 2, but the first one was pretty great, so I expect it would be a better story.

[2Cent]

...
I'm noticing that there isn't really a story in modern kids movies.  Like, there will be a main character.  Then things happen to the main character, dragging them through an 'adventure'.  But most of the things seem random and disconnected.  They don't feel very cohesive or tied together.  You look at older Disney animation like Bambi, Snow White, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast . . . this wasn't an issue.  But I find that many of the modern movies feel more like a series of thinly stitched together Youtube shorts than a cohesive story.

It's not that old movies where better. You just don't remember all the bad ones because they are not classics, or remember watching them as a kid. Old movies did take more time to tell things though. It's like someone did some research and found that kids need to be stimulated every 5 seconds or their attention will drift.

[reeshau]

It's like someone did some research and found that kids need to be stimulated every 5 seconds or their attention will drift.

I know this thread is about movies, but that research was foundational to Sesame Street.

[Trudie]

I'm re-watching Borgen on Netflix. It's the best political drama I've ever watched and it's pure Scandinavian escapism.

[aloevera1]

Have been watching Arcane. It's an animated series on Netflix. While the first episode was a bit hard to get through, I really admire the world they created, the complexity of characters and just general artistic expression of the show.

Got me curious about the League of Legends. LOL.

[AuspiciousEight]

Recently watched Minecraft the movie. Pretty good, kids loved it.

[neo von retorch]

Have been watching Arcane. It's an animated series on Netflix. While the first episode was a bit hard to get through, I really admire the world they created, the complexity of characters and just general artistic expression of the show.

Got me curious about the League of Legends. LOL.

Yes Arcane is quite dark but ultimately really great writing and a very enjoyable animated series. No personal experience with League of Legends but my niece is a big fan; she begrudgingly watched the show eventually but loved what they did with it.

[aloevera1]

Have been watching Arcane. It's an animated series on Netflix. While the first episode was a bit hard to get through, I really admire the world they created, the complexity of characters and just general artistic expression of the show.

Got me curious about the League of Legends. LOL.

Yes Arcane is quite dark but ultimately really great writing and a very enjoyable animated series. No personal experience with League of Legends but my niece is a big fan; she begrudgingly watched the show eventually but loved what they did with it.

Yea, it is done really well. The dark pieces are not to a show's detriment IMHO. They just emphasize the cost to the society. I particularly love the subplot about magic and all the politics around it. I am seeing a pretty clear analogy between the arcane and AI and how conflicting interests/money are driving the development. I thought that was really timely.

[wenchsenior]

"Badlands" written and directed by Terence Malick. 

I believe it was loosely based on the Charles Starkweather killing spree in the late 1950s.  Filmed in 1973 starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek.  Another movie that holds up amazingly well 50 years later.

Yeah, I am very waffly on the Malick I've seen (admittedly not a ton of his films) but I thought Badlands was excellent.

[wenchsenior]

I watched “Poor Things” last night, it was insane! I loved it! How did this film even get made?!!! It was nominated in 2023 for an Academy Award.

It is an absurdist Frankenstein comedy set in quasi-Victorian times with Steampunk/Art
Noveau settings and vaguely Victorian costuming. The music punched for effect.

And the sex. It had all the sex.So much sex. Insane!

Just watched this. First 40 minutes my husband kept edging toward wanting to stop watching b/c he felt like it was sort of exploitative for no reason, but in the end we both thought really good and thought-provoking.

[wenchsenior]

I haven't seen 'Conclave' mentioned here.  I seriously resisted this one, having preconceived notions about the subject matter and watching the first 20 or so minutes at some point and then never coming back.  Then, recently, I was stuck on a plane in front of a screen for several hours and finally gave it a chance...  yowza! Boy was I wrong about this one!  The twist ending in my experience with this film was that I did not expect it to be anything like what it ended up being.  Not going to give it a ringing endorsement, but if you are on the fence like I was, I can recommend watching it all the way through especially in today's non-risk taking, special effects are the main star movie landscape.

I recently watched it on a plane, too. Loved it.

My husband also had to be dragged to watch it #ewwwreligiousstuff; but we also loved it.


Slightly tangential... this was one of the best pic nominees this year, but of course the indie movie Anora took ALL the awards instead, which is a bit more in keeping with recent Academy trends to nominate 'old fashioned' movies like Conclave but having odder or indie stuff win.

So for the past TWO MONTHS at my virtual book club, one of my aunts wanted to spend time at both meetings ranting about how incredibly bad Anora was and how Conclave should have won. First month she tried to convince us all to watch Anora so other people could sympathize with her rage.  I figured, well...she sometimes has different taste than I and another aunt do (we tend to like indie and experimental films a lot more). But then by the second month, aunt 2 also watched Anora and absolutely HATED it and also was angry Conclave hadn't won.

I'm leaning toward skipping Anora now (not that the subject matter sounded remotely interesting to me before).

To reiterate. LOVED Conclave.

[LaineyAZ]

Recently watched Minecraft the movie. Pretty good, kids loved it.

Apparently McDonald's had a marketing link with the movie because it provided mini Minecraft characters in its Happy Meals. 
But our local McDonald's had to post signs saying they were completely out of those toys - my guess is the Minecraft fans snatched them all up before the little kids even had a chance!

[iris lily]

I haven't seen 'Conclave' mentioned here.  I seriously resisted this one, having preconceived notions about the subject matter and watching the first 20 or so minutes at some point and then never coming back.  Then, recently, I was stuck on a plane in front of a screen for several hours and finally gave it a chance...  yowza! Boy was I wrong about this one!  The twist ending in my experience with this film was that I did not expect it to be anything like what it ended up being.  Not going to give it a ringing endorsement, but if you are on the fence like I was, I can recommend watching it all the way through especially in today's non-risk taking, special effects are the main star movie landscape.

I recently watched it on a plane, too. Loved it.

My husband also had to be dragged to watch it #ewwwreligiousstuff; but we also loved it.


Slightly tangential... this was one of the best pic nominees this year, but of course the indie movie Anora took ALL the awards instead, which is a bit more in keeping with recent Academy trends to nominate 'old fashioned' movies like Conclave but having odder or indie stuff win.

So for the past TWO MONTHS at my virtual book club, one of my aunts wanted to spend time at both meetings ranting about how incredibly bad Anora was and how Conclave should have won. First month she tried to convince us all to watch Anora so other people could sympathize with her rage.  I figured, well...she sometimes has different taste than I and another aunt do (we tend to like indie and experimental films a lot more). But then by the second month, aunt 2 also watched Anora and absolutely HATED it and also was angry Conclave hadn't won.

I'm leaning toward skipping Anora now (not that the subject matter sounded remotely interesting to me before).

To reiterate. LOVED Conclave.

You can probably skip Anora. It just was not interesting. It was entertaining, and the lead actress did a nice job, but there was nothing in that film to make me think about it again after it was over.

I guess I need to watch Conclave!

[Metalcat]

I really enjoyed Anora, but that's likely due to previous work with sex workers and/or strippers and waaaaay too much exposure to degenerate adult children of very wealthy people.

I found it really accurately captures the reactive judgement/behaviours of a lot of people in both populations.

Tons of similar slice of life movies have been made about upper middle class white male crap, so I appreciate the same treatment given to a different population without having to say something really deep, dramatic, or romantic.

[Jade]

I really enjoyed Anora, but that's likely due to previous work with sex workers and/or strippers and waaaaay too much exposure to degenerate adult children of very wealthy people.

I found it really accurately captures the reactive judgement/behaviours of a lot of people in both populations.

Tons of similar slice of life movies have been made about upper middle class white male crap, so I appreciate the same treatment given to a different population without having to say something really deep, dramatic, or romantic.

I came here to recommend Anora so that's good timing! I really enjoyed it, very funny in some parts as well as interesting reactions / judgements as @Metalcat said. The lead was great.

[Jade]

We just watched my best friends famous and whilst we enjoyed it, it became increasingly obvious to both of us that it was directly copied from bridesmaids (one of my favourite films). Literally the story line (the main character changed from a woman to a man), scenarios and even the lines were almost identical and just fitted to this story, to the point we knew what was going to happen. Anyone else seen both? I can't find anything else online but wondering how they managed to do this...