Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate it | {Insert Appropriate Seasonal Greeting Here}

[shadow1]

I didn't see a dedicated X-Men (movies) thread and I didn't want to throw this into the Marvel Discussion thread, but I did just rewatch 10 of these 13 movies in the past 2-3 weeks so I'm putting this here. You're welcome and/or I'm sorry.

I've had a soft spot for this series and I feel like it hasn't always gotten proper credit for its role in superhero movie history. This really was the successful proof of concept before Spider-Man before Nolan's Batman and before the MCU. Fox really let it wither on the vine with the last few movies and two of the directors in the series are awful humans, which also makes it easy to just memory hole and move on.

But I had been wanting to revisit for a while. Recently listened to a podcast that ranked the series and with the arrival of X-Men 97 and the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine, the time seemed right. So I did. My ranking:

Good-to-great
X2
The Wolverine
Logan
First Class
Deadpool 2

Fine
X-Men
Days of Future Past
Deadpool

Meh
Apocalypse
The Last Stand

Bad
New Mutants
Dark Phoenix
X-Men Origins: Wolverine

I've seen Apocalypse, New Mutants and Dark Phoenix recently enough that I didn't revisit. And as you can see I didn't care much for any of them though the podcast I listened to had some really impassioned defenses of Apocalypse that have me considering a rewatch, but I remain skeptical.

Notes: One overarching thought was how well cast most of these are. They really nailed the key characters (in multiple iterations) and the times you might want to call a miss are at least somewhat due to a lack of material than the performance (like Halle Berry who gets absolutely nothing to do in four movies).

Several also have very strong openings.

I honestly think The Wolverine and Logan are the two best movies here but it feels weird to not top an X-Men list with a team movie so X2 gets a slight edge. Also it's the rare second part of a trilogy that actually hits some of the "this is our Empire Strikes Back" touchstones that trilogies love to claim. To be clear, not nearly as good, but you don't have to squint to see the structure.

Yes, I genuinely believe The Wolverine is better than Logan, though not by much. I won't prolong this but I bump a little bit against Logan's "we're not a normal comic book movie, we're a COOL SERIOUS R-RATED comic book movie" tone. It's self-aware to a point it almost pulls me out of the movie. And in case you don't get that it's "a Western" they literally watch Shane then quote it at the end. The craft and performances are undeniable though. James Mangold just makes good movies ...like The Wolverine, which gets all the world weariness without being precious about it. Plus Samurai Wolverine is just cooler than Western Wolverine.

And "deaths" in these things never moved me much in the first place and really don't now since no one ever really dies and nothing really ever ends in these worlds.

First Class is a load of fun. Big James Bond vibes I didn't pick up before for the spying, political intrigue, 60s setting and Kevin Bacon's very Bond villain Sebastian Shaw. The new kids are underwhelming but Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy are a good pair.

The Deadpools: I think the hit rate on Ryan Reynolds' jokes is extremely low (sub 20%), which at times makes these a chore since he never shuts up. The thing that 2 does well though is it gives him more people and situations to bounce off of. There is a lot of humor in that, especially the X-Force segment which is genueinely hilarious. Good action in both of these. Uses music for humorous effect well too.

Days of Future Past is the one that dropped the most on this viewing. So much clunky exposition and this one has the biggest "these deaths are meaningless" problem. I understand the Hollywood reasons why Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique became central to these movies but that relationship triangle never worked for me and she already feels halfway out the door here (with two more movies to go).

X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Rare to see a movie that just makes wrong turn after wrong turn from story to casting to execution. Only positive I can say is that Hugh Jackman never phones it in. That dude works.

Enjoyed reading your thoughts! I have seen all of these movies, but many of them only once. Reading through your comments, you're higher than consensus on The Wolverine, so I'm going to have to give that one a rewatch. I watched it before I kept track of my ratings anywhere (IMDB/Letterboxd), but I remember liking it... though I can't remember much about it aside from being set in Japan. I agree with you that Logan is a little overrated, and though very good isn't the masterpiece it is sometimes made out to be.

My top-3 are First Class, Days of Future Past, and Deadpool 2. I understand your criticism with Days of Future Past though, but I still think it's great. I also kinda liked the universally maligned Dark Phoenix... well, there goes my last shred of credibility.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Enjoyed reading your thoughts! I have seen all of these movies, but many of them only once. Reading through your comments, you're higher than consensus on The Wolverine, so I'm going to have to give that one a rewatch. I watched it before I kept track of my ratings anywhere (IMDB/Letterboxd), but I remember liking it... though I can't remember much about it aside from being set in Japan. I agree with you that Logan is a little overrated, and though very good isn't the masterpiece it is sometimes made out to be.

My top-3 are First Class, Days of Future Past, and Deadpool 2. I understand your criticism with Days of Future Past though, but I still think it's great. I also kinda liked the universally maligned Dark Phoenix... well, there goes my last shred of credibility.

I realize I mostly criticized Logan without praising The Wolverine that much. I liked it the first time I saw it but I think what really got to me this time was just how lean and straightforward it is. Simple story, well done. I'm just completely burned out on alternate timelines and multiverses and movies overstuffed with plotlines and forced character introductions that don't make sense in that story but are needed to set up the next property.

None of that is really in The Wolverine (save a brief credit sequence). Good fish out of water setting. Well acted. Good action. Still fun and comic booky while also effectively working how over it Wolverine is. Stellar opening sequence and the scene in the snowy village with the bad guys shooting arrows into him is a really rad visual (and quotes Kurosawa without having to have Wolverine watch a Kurosawa movie 30 minutes earlier). I've seen criticism of the final battle but I really didn't bump on it. Not quite as good as the earlier action, but perfectly fine.

And if you don't like it, I won't hold Dark Phoenix against you if you don't hold The Wolverine against me!

 

[shadow1]

I realize I mostly criticized Logan without praising The Wolverine that much. I liked it the first time I saw it but I think what really got to me this time was just how lean and straightforward it is. Simple story, well done. I'm just completely burned out on alternate timelines and multiverses and movies overstuffed with plotlines and forced character introductions that don't make sense in that story but are needed to set up the next property.

None of that is really in The Wolverine (save a brief credit sequence). Good fish out of water setting. Well acted. Good action. Still fun and comic booky while also effectively working how over it Wolverine is. Stellar opening sequence and the scene in the snowy village with the bad guys shooting arrows into him is a really rad visual (and quotes Kurosawa without having to have Wolverine watch a Kurosawa movie 30 minutes earlier). I've seen criticism of the final battle but I really didn't bump on it. Not quite as good as the earlier action, but perfectly fine.

You saying that reminds me that The Wolverine came out when Fox was reshuffling the deck, which probably helped it. They had already started the "young" X-Men timeline, but didn't want to lose Jackman. Of course everything eventually came together in Days of Future Past, but that's beside the point.

And if you don't like it, I won't hold Dark Phoenix against you if you don't hold The Wolverine against me!

The Wolverine actually has respect! Dark Phoenix is about as popular as going to the dentist, but I still like it (someone has to).

 

[Puck]

This isn't for people who are mainly into action flicks. It's a low budget mystery film from the UK. I like eccentric films so this was my best flick for the month. Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley make this work.

From IMDB : Wicked Little Letters, 7.0 - When people in Littlehampton--including conservative local Edith--begin to receive letters full of hilarious profanities, rowdy Irish migrant Rose is charged with the crime. Suspecting that something is amiss, the town's women investigate.

Wicked Little Letters | Rotten Tomatoes

A 1920s English seaside town bears witness to a farcical and occasionally sinister scandal in this riotous mystery comedy. Based on a stranger than fiction true story, WICKED LITTLE LETTERS follows two neighbors: deeply conservative local Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) and rowdy Irish migrant Rose...

www.rottentomatoes.com

 

[Raging Bull]

This isn't for people who are mainly into action flicks. It's a low budget mystery film from the UK. I like eccentric films so this was my best flick for the month. Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley make this work.

From IMDB : Wicked Little Letters, 7.0 - When people in Littlehampton--including conservative local Edith--begin to receive letters full of hilarious profanities, rowdy Irish migrant Rose is charged with the crime. Suspecting that something is amiss, the town's women investigate.

Wicked Little Letters | Rotten Tomatoes

A 1920s English seaside town bears witness to a farcical and occasionally sinister scandal in this riotous mystery comedy. Based on a stranger than fiction true story, WICKED LITTLE LETTERS follows two neighbors: deeply conservative local Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) and rowdy Irish migrant Rose...

www.rottentomatoes.com

I'll have to watch this. IMO Jessie Buckley is the best actress working right now.

 

[Nakatomi]

The Gift - Bullying is never the answer, people.

 

[The Macho King]

Went to the theater with my daughter to watch Kung Fu Panda 4.

Thunderstorm knocked the power out. Got a refund because we didn't even make it all the way through the previews.

?/10

So we went back.

Daughter enjoyed it. I feel like someone decided Awkwafina was a star but didn't bother telling anyone else and now she's just in shit? Kinda like Josh Gad. Viola Davis better have made all the money because she was too good for this.

I know it's #4 but like... it's a kids movie that was way too invested in it's own mythology and just... convoluted. Not very good but some decent jokes.

4/10

 

[The Macho King]

I filled in one of my two last Park Chan Wook blindspots and watched Joint Security Area.

It's so f***ing weird that his next three movies were the Vengeance trilogy (of which I really only like Lady Vengeance - Oldboy and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance aren't very good in my opinion). This is such a well paced, emotional but subdued, tragic and somehow beautiful movie. I think he doesn't really make a film this... restrained until Decision to Leave - everything else he does is heightened in some way (not in a bad way). This is such a surprise in how straight it plays it.

I kind of expected to watch this and find it be one of those "here is an early movie by a director who didn't really find himself yet - you see flashes of the greatness to come but it is not fully developed." Instead... I kind of think this is a masterpiece? Like not a "for a first movie" qualifier (I know he had some quasi-student films first but he kind of disowns them) - this movie is just great. I think the relationship between the NK and SK soldiers in this is beautiful and it puts the entire conflict in such an interesting light. This feels like an underexplored avenue to me - the kind of tensions the division of Korea have.

Does Kang Ho Song just have the best face in movies? What a superb performance. I didn't cry, but I certainly came close at the end. That being said - it's a little rough in some spots. Some of the camera moves feel a little sloppy compared to his later work. The very end was a bit of an overly expository button on it which I think he just wouldn't do in his later works. But overall - great movie.

Strong 8/10

Kind of want to give my Park rankings after seeing this.

1 - The Handmaiden
2 - Decision to Leave
3 - Joint Security Area
4 - Thirst
5 - Lady Vengeance
6 - Stoker
7 - Oldboy
8 - Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

Haven't seen - I'm a Cyborg but That's Okay

 

[Babe Ruth]

Love Stinks (1999)

A very Gen X cast and cynical love story. Reminded me a lot of my own marriage to be honest.
Bill Bellamy, Jason Bateman, Tiffani Amber Thiessen (when I said Gen X, I wasn't lying). On Tubi..

 

[Nakatomi]

Birth (2004) - 7/10

Nicole Kidman's husband dies of a heart attack during a jog through Central Park. A child born at the same moment comes into Kidman's life a decade later and claims to be her husband reincarnated.

A fairly trippy movie ensues with a great performance by Kidman.

I think this could have been a complete masterpiece, but I felt the two possible meanings both had evidence for them but lacked enough to be unequivocal. Not necessary to enjoy the film, though.

An interesting perspective and way to think about loss and grief.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

You Should Have Left (2020) - 2.5/10

Felt like someone read House of Leaves and watched the “My House” Doom mod, wrote a copycat novel and decided to make a movie starring Kevin Bacon.

About as “meh” of a horror movie as could have been made. Amanda Seyfried puts on an unremarkable performance as the Hollywood actor wife to an older retired banker with a spotty past. Felt like Kevin Bacon mostly mailed it in here with a pretty average performance himself.

Apparently in the novel he was a screenwriter, but that was washed over in the film with a throwaway line about him being a banker.

Weird stuff in the house starts happening and a bunch of corny “horror” ensues. Didnt even inspire me enough to write up a proper synopsis.

Don’t waste your time.

 

[flyersnorth]

Causalidad (English title - Causality) - 5/10

Decided to watch this because I'm learning Spanish and have been trying to absorb as much as I can from different sources.

It is about a woman who goes to a restaurant to wait for her online date to show up, and then through a series of events, is kidnapped.

The entire movie is shot in one continuous sequence and takes place almost entirely in a run down city medical treatment center. It is an interesting decision that definitely keeps you focused on the here and now, but I would say not the best execution of that technique.

Aside from Romina (head nurse, I think) who is excellent, the acting is mostly flat as is the dialogue.

The execution is kinda clumsy throughout the film, which is a shame because the actual story and motivations are interesting and convincing.

 

[Osprey]

Don’t waste your time.

Too late. I watched it during the pandemic, when there wasn't much else to watch. Then again, I watch stuff like this all of the time, so who am I kidding? I really don't remember much, except that Bacon has a secret and the house knows about it and happens to be awfully judgmental, for a house... or something like that. I suppose that the fact that I can't remember much else isn't a good sign. Hmm. I just looked up my review and, surprisingly, I gave it a 5/10. Maybe I really was starved for content during the pandemic.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

<mod> he gone </mod>

How is this guy still tolerated here?

 

[SniperHF]

How is this guy still tolerated here?

It does help to report these posts instead of waiting till I happen to read the thread.

 

[SniperHF]

Now for what I actually came here for, after taking out some trash.

Argylle

I've certainly seen worse movies and I realize it's not intended to be terribly serious, but Howard is not believable in this role in the slightest. They also kinda ruined it with somewhere around 7 plot twists packed into 20 minutes. The first hour and a half was reasonably enjoyable though. Also too long like most movies these days.

 

[The Macho King]

Now for what I actually came here for, after taking out some trash.

Argylle

I've certainly seen worse movies and I realize it's not intended to be terribly serious, but Howard is not believable in this role in the slightest. They also kinda ruined it with somewhere around 7 plot twists packed into 20 minutes. The first hour and a half was reasonably enjoyable though. Also too long like most movies these days.

I feel like movie length goes in waves. I have no problem sitting through a 3 hour movie if that's what it needs, but obviously the number of 3 hour movies to the movies that need to be 3 hours (or honestly anything over 2 hours) is skewed. I know there were eras where that was fairly common in the past as well (the "epics" of the 50s and early 60s come to mind as an era that features a lot of overly long movies - seriously cut the Jesus shit out of Ben Hur and it's like a tight 100 minute stone cold classic).

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

How is this guy still tolerated here?

@ me next time you cowards!!!

2010: The Year We Make Contact. A solid bit of good looking, good sounding slow sci-fi as long as you go in not holding it to 2001's impossibily high bar. You could still get stoned to this.

Beckham. I hated how likable this makes Becks. Decades of hatred down the drain. Really sucks that on top of being good looking, world class talented and wildly successful that he also seems like a good and normal (relatively, comparatively) dude. Also a wonderful compendium of British tabloid pun headlines.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Too late. I watched it during the pandemic, when there wasn't much else to watch. Then again, I watch stuff like this all of the time, so who am I kidding? I really don't remember much, except that Bacon has a secret and the house knows about it and happens to be awfully judgmental, for a house... or something like that. I suppose that the fact that I can't remember much else isn't a good sign. Hmm. I just looked up my review and, surprisingly, I gave it a 5/10. Maybe I really was starved for content during the pandemic.

Looks like we had a pretty similar attitude toward the film, I guess I was a bit more harsh though lol.

I left it out of my review, but I do agree with you that the young actress playing the daughter did very well. I was pretty impressed by her range of emotions and natural acting ability.

 

[The Macho King]

@ me next time you cowards!!!

2010: The Year We Make Contact. A solid bit of good looking, good sounding slow sci-fi as long as you go in not holding it to 2001's impossibily high bar. You could still get stoned to this.

2010 is such a just... solid movie? Also really dig the book if you're into that.

 

[kihei]

.... except that Bacon has a secret and the house knows about it and happens to be awfully judgmental, for a house...

lmao

 

[The Macho King]

Watched Infernal Affairs for the first time in like 15 years.

I forgot how completely The Departed was based off of this. Like almost scene for scene. I have a lot more movies under my belt so it was fun to recognize some of these actors from other roles (most notably Tony Leung).

I mean - it's a fun movie but I remember being more impressed back then. The score is... unsubtle. The performances are solid (and I like Han more than Nicholsons performance) but I think the rest of the US cast outshine the HK cast a bit. 6/10

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I re-watched Shottas (2002) not too long ago.

It's not bad when they're in Kingston but when they start taking over Miami LMAAAAAOOOO. The only movie where the production value seems to get visibly worst as it goes along. Still, it's a lot of dumb fun.

 

[Nakatomi]

Bull (2021)

That was....quite violent. Weak dialogue and the timing of some plot points dragged it down a bit. But not a bad flick.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

Dune 2.
10/10