Movies Rate and Discuss the Last Movie You Saw v.16

[the ambush]

USS Forrestal Fire (Situation Critical)

In 1967, USS Forrestal aircraft carrer is off the coastline of Vietnam and a fire erupts on the ship's flight deck. Jet fighters, helicopters, fuel, ordnance, and flammable equipment quickly is engulfed in the massive fire. The massive fire penetrates the flight deck and sweeps the interior decks of the Forrestal. USS Rupertus and USS George K. MacKenzie destroyer ships pull alongside to assist by directing their fire hoses onto the Forrestal.

As a result, 134 Sailors perished in the shipboard fire. John McCain gives his account of the event as a jet fighter pilot onboard. I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary

 

[melvinj0]

Wish (2023) - 7/10

I have a 4 year old daughter so I see pretty much every single kids movie in theaters now. Caught this when it first came out and then watched it again tonight since my daughter really wanted to rewatch it. It’s a really solid Disney movie imo, I know it got shit on a lot but I really don’t see it. Some really good songs, interesting enough story, and I really liked the animation. I guess it was considered woke because the characters are very diverse racially, but I didn’t really give a shit about that and still really enjoyed the movie.

 

[llperez22]

Lift (2024)

3/10

this was painful to watch. I had no desire to watch it to begin with but my coworker wanted to check it out so we did. I was bored the entire time. My coworker had also recommended we watch central intelligence agency with kevin hart and the rock the previous night. I think after these two films, kevin hart might be going on my do not watch list going forward.

 

[ufcfan4]

Lift (2024)

3/10

this was painful to watch. I had no desire to watch it to begin with but my coworker wanted to check it out so we did. I was bored the entire time. My coworker had also recommended we watch central intelligence agency with kevin hart and the rock the previous night. I think after these two films, kevin hart might be going on my do not watch list going forward.

He did a mini series for Netflix or one of the other streamers called True Story a couple of years back that I enjoyed. Increasingly far fetched as it goes on, but pretty entertaining. And it was cool seeing Wesley Snipes as the co-lead. He stole the show.

 

[revoltub]

D.O.A. (1988)

-

mystery thriller starring Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan. Sort of noirish or noir adjacent at least.

I thought it was pretty enjoyable. It is a per usual type of film for the genre it is in but I did think the initial plot setup helps it stand out a bit as far as what the main mystery/murder actually is.

Plus you do get a well done performance by Quaid and the character is pretty interesting and dynamic. Along with the murder mystery you get a fairly interesting side plot involving his divorce from his wife and his general "stopped giving a shit in life" character struggle.

Meg Ryan was good in it too and I thought her and Quaid had good chemistry. Wasn't sure how it would approaches the age and power dynamic difference, but I thought it did in a way that works for both characters.

It can get a bit goofy at times, and I think it couldve done with a little bit better of an ending. But overall I enjoyed it and I think it's a respectable entry in the genre.

6.8/10 range

 

[the ambush]

The Finest Hour

A war film starring Gale Hansen/Dean Mazzoli, Rob Lowe/Lawrence Hammer and Eb Lottimer/Bosco. In San Diego, Gale Hansen/Dean Mazzoli and Rob Lowe/Lawrence Hammer complete a rigorous SEAL training program. After graduation Gale Hansen/Dean Mazzoli and Rob Lowe/Lawrence Hammer are sent to deploy in the Gulf War. On an extraction mission the SEALs use covertness to save Eb Lottimer/Bosco held as a P.O.W. The scene with the jet pack should have been cut. Overall I believe it was a decent war film

 

[BisexualMMA]

The Finest Hour

A war film starring Gale Hansen/Dean Mazzoli, Rob Lowe/Lawrence Hammer and Eb Lottimer/Bosco. In San Diego, Gale Hansen/Dean Mazzoli and Rob Lowe/Lawrence Hammer complete a rigorous SEAL training program. After graduation Gale Hansen/Dean Mazzoli and Rob Lowe/Lawrence Hammer are sent to deploy in the Gulf War. On an extraction mission the SEALs use covertness to save Eb Lottimer/Bosco held as a P.O.W. The scene with the jet pack should have been cut. Overall I believe it was a decent war film

Now I have to see this movie.

 

[the ambush]

Now I have to see this movie.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Michael Madsen RIP? Are you predicting bad news? Or are you perhaps not the first to think of Tom Sizemore when he comes up?

Anyway he was always a guy where screen presence did 80% of the job for him perhaps as opposed to deep dive method acting. Guy just has a voice and a demeanor that is basically a ready made character.

Are you saying that Michael Madsen and Tom Sizemore are different people??

 

[eddymotto]

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (UK/USA, 2023)

Guy Ritchie spy action comedy starring Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Hugh Grant, and Josh Hartnett.

I did not really understand the plot but the basics are that a spy, Orson Fortune (Statham), needs to retrieve some sort of AI MacGuffin (conveniently stored in a briefcase) from some bad guys led by billionaire Greg Simmonds (Grant). Fortune is aided by a crew including Sarah (Plaza) and JJ (Bugzy Malone). They recruit the hapless A list actor Danny Francesco (Hartnett) as part of their mission.

There are lots of twists and turns as well as several stunning exotic locations but that is the gist of the plot.

The film is at times a spoof of spy movies and other times seems like it is trying to be an actual spy movie. The combination never really comes together and it is never as funny, quirky, or exciting as it feels like it should be. The entire thing feels a bit limp.

Grant is hilarious as the narcissistic arms dealing billionaire. He was by far the best character. Hartnett has his moments as the self important but clueless actor. I am always a fan of Plaza and she has her moments but the movie makes her the "girl in the chair" during a lot of the missions which is a waste of her talent. I don't see the point of relegating her to staring into computer screens and updating the audience on how many more seconds a data transfer will take.

The entire thing is a passable streaming movie and not much more. It really should have been a lot better.

Rating: 5/10

 

[AFanNotAFighter]

USS Forrestal Fire (Situation Critical)

In 1967, USS Forrestal aircraft carrer is off the coastline of Vietnam and a fire erupts on the ship's flight deck. Jet fighters, helicopters, fuel, ordnance, and flammable equipment quickly is engulfed in the massive fire. The massive fire penetrates the flight deck and sweeps the interior decks of the Forrestal. USS Rupertus and USS George K. MacKenzie destroyer ships pull alongside to assist by directing their fire hoses onto the Forrestal.

As a result, 134 Sailors perished in the shipboard fire. John McCain gives his account of the event as a jet fighter pilot onboard. I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary

When I was in the Navy I had to go to damage control school on Treasure Island in the Bay Area and the Forrestal fire was used as a case study during the training. Was difficult to watch the footage.

 

[AFanNotAFighter]

Eastern Promises(2007)
Starring Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel
Directed by David Cronenberg
7.5-8/10

I had never heard of this movie until yesterday when I was scrolling through my On Demand offerings on the television. Set in London, it tells the story of a mid-wife, Anna, who helps a raped minor give birth. After the minor dies during birth Anna finds a diary which tells of the minor's life as a prostitute and the abuse she underwent from her handlers who are Russian mobsters. Anna learns from the diary who the father is and tracks him down to a Russian Mafia owned restaurant where she meets Nikolai, a chauffeur and "cleaner" for the Mafia. She meets the restaurant owner and they agree to a deal: the owner will provide the address of the deceased teen's relatives in exchange for the diary. Following a series of double-crosses and bloody confrontations between the Russians and the rival Chechens, it is revealed who Nikolai really is and how he helps Anna and her family stay safe from the Russians.

Overall I thought it was a good movie. A bit slow at times but not too bad. There are several rather gory scenes so if you're squeamish be sure to have a pillow nearby to cover your face.

 

[Biochemical Slang Lord]

Trancers (1984)

This movie opens with lots of neon, smoke, an atmospheric synth score, and leads you to believe it is a B-movie Blade Runner knock-off with a double helping of shoulder pads. It then goes fantastically off the rails with a zombie attack before turning its off-brand Deckard (Jack) into a classic 80s loose cannon cop. The movie then apes a classic Planet of the Apes backdrop and crowbars in a James Bond / Q gadget scene, reveals Jacks surname is Death and oh yeah, this is a time travel movie now and we are going back to 1985 to catch a bad guy.

Unfortunately, this opening 20 minutes used up most of the movies allocated awesomeness and Helen Hunt's camel toe, some more zombie attacks, Six Million Dollar Man style slow mo scenes, and the 80's asthetic could not save the remaining hour.

5 / 10



Man on Fire (1987)

Prior to finding this I did not know that there was a Man on Fire before Tony Scott's 2004 film. Further, he was originally slated to direct the 1987 version however he was ultimately passed over for Élie Chouraqu.

The opening scene aside, the first 35 minutes of this one is terrible. It feels like a daytime TV drama movie and the relationship between Creasy and the little girl is uncomfortably intimate at times. The familiar faces of Scott Glen, Joe Pesci, Jonathan Pryce, and Paul Shenar are the only reason I continued to watch.

If you have the patience to stick it out until the kidnapping though, you will be rewarded with a gritty dark revenge movie with some really memorable scenes. I think the movie could have been somewhat longer to further develop Creasy's pain as he learns about what happened to the child and hunt a few more bad guys.

6.5 / 10

 

[the ambush]

November War (2013)

A war documentary from the perspective of Marines ground defense and infantry combat during the troops invasion of Fallujah, Iraq in November 2004. It followed the same documentary formula that has been done multiple times before, the account of what had taken place in the second battle. I was expecting more from the various things I had heard from others about the film, I found it to be very standard

 

[eddymotto]

The Doom Generation (USA, 1995)

Small budget independent black-comedy billed as "A Heterosexual Movie by Gregg Araki".

Amy Blue (Rose McGowan) and Jordan White (James Duval) are teenage stoner valley kids who have been dating for 3 months ("a really long time" as Jordan explains). Jordan is dumb and meek. Amy is aggressive and profane.

The couple meet up with teenager drifter Xavier (Jonathan Schaech), who goes by "X". The 3 bumbling morons manage to kill a Korean convenience store owner and go on the run.

The recurring gag is that the trio wander around the worst parts of SoCal, eat the most disgusting looking food from convenience stores & fast food restaurants, everything costs $6.66, violent weirdos continually confuse Amy for their long lost love, and violence ensues.

The other main part of the movie is a love triangle where everybody wants to fuck everybody else.

Spoiler

Since this is a very "heterosexual movie", the guys take turns having sex with Amy. Jordan is the sort of guy born to be a cuck and so it mostly works out. The recurring joke is that the two boys are clearly in love and want to have sex with each other but never quite bring themselves to do it.

The film is part road movie, part sex comedy, and part gross out black comedy. The dialogue is self consciously distinct with most of the best (?) lines going to the foul mouthed, perpetually angry Amy. She spits out things like “Why don’t you go PASSIONATELY fuck yourself” and “You’re like a support system for a cock”. You get the picture.

The funniest scene for me is when Amy and X are talking about the terrible ways that their parents died. Jordan counters with "my parents live in Encino" and the other 2 look at him with genuine sympathy.

I saw this movie on VHS in the late 90's and did not remember it well. Apparently the current version that is available is a 2023 cut where Araki was able to add back some R rated stuff. I don't recall the differences between the two versions but Araki is adamant that the 2023 cut is his preferred version of the film.

The entire movie is incredibly self conscious. It feels like a young director just getting as much weird and transgressive stuff on film as he can and hoping that some of it will land. Some of it does.

It definitely feels like a film that could only have been made in the 90's.

Rating: 5/10

 

[Van Daz]

Spanish movie. Short 15 mins movie. Horror/action. 9/10.

Best Jesus movie & is really funny. It's a must watch.

 

[HenryFlower]

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 5/5

The chain theater downtown was screening Across the Spider-Verse in the matinee slot at the IMAX all week, so i lied about a doctor's appointment and left work early the other day to catch one of them. i missed it in IMAX back at release because it literally only had a single weekend IMAX run here before getting bumped for the new Transformers movie. so yeah, i jumped at the opportunity to finally see it on the most aggressively large screen w/ the most aggresively textured sound.



it's no mystery that i fucking love this movie. it's easily my #1 movie of 2023 and it's maybe the only movie released within a decade that i've watched more 10 times easy. and let's put something to bed right now—Across the Spider-Verse is in no way an "incomplete" movie. i assume the people mad about the cliffhanger ending, who act as though it's some sort of catastrophic storytelling faux pas, were too busy texting to actual pay attention to anything. & god bless the unstable tin foil mouth breathers, who have convinced themselves that it's actually some nefarious Hollywood scheme, mired in box office greed, designed to cheat us out of our money by dangling the proverbial carrot in front of our stupid drooling faces.



the way i see it, Across the Spider-Verse is Gwen's movie just as much as it's Miles's, except i'd argue that it is Gwen's arc (which literally bookends the movie) serving as the heart and lungs at the narrative's core, breathing life into the characters' actions & motivations. idk how people can watch that prologue, w/ Gwen's omniscient first person voiceover narration (that reaches its conclusion when we return to it at the very end) & somehow come away feeling cheated once the end credits roll.



discombobulated rant aside, people should really just sit their asses down, shut their pretty little mouths, & let the cornucopia of visual delights sex their eyeballs until the crotch of their pants are glued to their pelvis.






if anyone is interested in way more Across the Spider-Verse screen grabs, i uploaded all of mine to a google drive folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kH_e5-fW7o5WkD8BTTBlYP1WEvHtonC3?usp=drive_link

go nuts

 

[AFanNotAFighter]

House of Sand and Fog(2003)
Starring Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard
Directed by Vadim Perelman

The acting in this movie is top notch but it is depressing as hell. If you want to be in a down mood this flick has it all: abandonment, loneliness, addiction, homelessness, police brutality, murder, suicide, imprisonment, accidental death, wrongful eviction. Take your pick.

It's about a woman wrongfully evicted from her home by the county. The house goes to auction and is bought by an Iranian immigrant who wants to fix it up and sell it for a profit. He moves his family in and begins improvements while the evicted woman and her boyfriend cop begin to harass them and accuse them of "stealing" the house even though legally they didn't. Things get very ugly and don't end nicely for anyone.

Hard to rank this one. I'd give the acting a 9/10 but I don't recommend watching it if you're not in the right frame of mind because it is a very saddening movie.

 

[BisexualMMA]

House of Sand and Fog(2003)
Starring Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard
Directed by Vadim Perelman

The acting in this movie is top notch but it is depressing as hell. If you want to be in a down mood this flick has it all: abandonment, loneliness, addiction, homelessness, police brutality, murder, suicide, imprisonment, accidental death, wrongful eviction. Take your pick.

It's about a woman wrongfully evicted from her home by the county. The house goes to auction and is bought by an Iranian immigrant who wants to fix it up and sell it for a profit. He moves his family in and begins improvements while the evicted woman and her boyfriend cop begin to harass them and accuse them of "stealing" the house even though legally they didn't. Things get very ugly and don't end nicely for anyone.

Hard to rank this one. I'd give the acting a 9/10 but I don't recommend watching it if you're not in the right frame of mind because it is a very saddening movie.

Yeah it was a good movie for sure but not a great way to start your morning.

 

[AFanNotAFighter]

Yeah it was a good movie for sure but not a great way to start your morning.

I watched it yesterday afternoon and it was cloudy and raining outside and I was like holy shit I feel like crap now. Had to have a couple drinks when it was over.