PLEASE USE SPOILER TAGS

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I recently watched Emilia Perez, and it was... not good, to say the least. So, r/flicks, can I have good trans movies to get the bad taste out of my mouth?

This was just something I wanted to discuss as something I find interesting about movies as a form of media is the concept of morality itself as what I mean is when the hero of a movie is a vey flawed individual as the viewer is expected to root for him to defeat the main villain, but it turns out the hero is not above doing dark stuff to accomplish his goal.

Now I don’t know if Ferris Bueller’s Day Off would be a good example of the concept, but I was observing the movie to see how its characters were handled as something I noticed about the movie was that both Ferris and the principal are very flawed characters in that while the titular character is a delinquent, (for doing truancy and deception to get what he wants) Rooney is not exactly in the right either due to using unscrupulous tactics such as breaking into Ferris’s house to force him back into school.

Another example is Revenge of the Nerds as throughout the original film, the nerds are supposed to be heroes that are going up against a group of girls due to the girls tormenting them endlessly, yet for those who have seen the movie, the titular nerds use a lot of illegal tactics that put their own morality into question.

If that last entry doesn’t count, I apologize, but basically I wanted to have a discussion on movies that use black and gray type morality as sometimes it’s interesting to have a film where the main characters are just as flawed as the enemies they fight as my point is that I like how movies can be more than just about pure heroes.

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I never expected a late-’90s romantic dramedy about a young woman with an intellectual disability would make me think about modern American politics, but The Other Sister did exactly that. Despite its well-meaning intentions, audiences today are well aware that the film has aged poorly, especially in its depiction of disability—Juliette Lewis and Giovanni Ribisi’s performances often feel like exaggerated imitations rather than authentic representations. Yet, as I watched, I found myself completely rooting for Lewis’s character, Carla, as she fought for her independence against her overbearing mother, played by Diane Keaton. The film, set in the San Francisco Bay Area—ground zero for elite liberal values—felt like more than just a story about personal struggle. It was a symbol of a much larger cultural divide.

The more I watched, the more I saw Diane Keaton’s character as a stand-in for the kind of elite, money-driven, “we know best” liberalism that many right wing Americans resent. I also began to see Carla as a representative of the average MAGA movement supporter (particularly one of the people that stormed the Capitol on J6). Like the elite liberals, the mother doesn’t see Carla as an individual but as a problem to manage and even when she tries to do "the right thing", it’s from a place of guilt and not genuine understanding. This dynamic reminded me of how MAGA supporters often describe their frustrations with liberal elites—feeling patronized, controlled, and constantly told what to think and how to live. While The Other Sister is far from a political film, its central conflict unintentionally reflected the very resentments that fueled the rise of MAGA.

At every turn, Carla’s mother tries to dictate her life, from how she arranges her bedroom to whether she’s allowed to have her own apartment or explore her sexuality. In many ways, this mirrors how MAGA supporters feel about progressive cultural shifts. Things like language policing, diversity initiatives in entertainment, environmental policies, and other liberal priorities are seen by conservatives as intrusive rules forced on them by elites who think they know better. Carla’s desire to simply live life on her own terms—messy, imperfect, and sometimes against Mother’s wishes—is not unlike the attitude of many within the MAGA movement, who push back against what they see as overreach by a powerful, detached class of decision-makers.

In the end, The Other Sister unintentionally captures a sentiment that would come to define American politics decades later. While the film is deeply flawed in its execution, its portrayal of a controlling elite figure and a protagonist fighting for independence resonates in unexpected ways. Watching it, I found myself wondering: if Diane Keaton’s character had actually taken the time to understand her daughter, her point of view and her needs (rather than control her "inconvenient" presence in her life) would their relationship have been more harmonious? In the same way, if liberal elites spent less time prescribing solutions and more time listening, would the political divide in America look different today?

EDIT: One scene that particularly stood out to me was the high-society benefit for the local animal shelter, where Carla and her mother attend an outdoor event filled with upper-class liberals in their pristine, controlled environment. Carla, full of enthusiasm, bonds with a Golden Retriever she affectionately names “Cutie.” But as she starts barking playfully at the dog, the mother becomes mortified—not because Carla is doing anything wrong, but because she is violating the unspoken rules of this elite social space. When the dog barks back, other dogs join in, and soon, the whole event is thrown into chaos. The guests, who pride themselves on their progressive values and compassion (at least in theory), react with absolute horror—not because anything dangerous is happening, but because their carefully curated order is being disrupted. The dogs, just like Carla, are simply being themselves, yet their joy and freedom are seen as an embarrassment and a threat.

In many ways, this scene unintentionally mirrors how MAGA supporters view their role in American culture. They see themselves as everyday people simply speaking their minds, but the elite—symbolized in the film by the pearl-clutching socialites—react as if their very existence is an affront to civilized society. The sheer overreaction to what is, at its core, just a moment of spontaneity and expression, feels eerily similar to how MAGA supporters believe they are treated by mainstream institutions. Whether it’s their views on political correctness, their frustration with media narratives, or even their actions on January 6th, they often frame themselves as disruptors of an out-of-touch ruling class that prioritizes appearances and order over genuine, messy, real-world experiences. Of course, the comparison isn’t perfect—January 6th was a violent riot, while Carla and the dogs were just playing—but the emotional core of the scene, that feeling of rebellion against a rigid, judgmental elite, feels strikingly familiar.

I particularly enjoyed the themes of being bored by the mundanity of an everyday relationship and whether that can be quantified as love but how that doesn't matter and we should just watch the dinosaurs instead. Which pairs nicely with JK Simmons and Andy Samberg's dialogue about finding happiness in the loop because we all want certain moments to last forever. Really great acting on Samberg's part. And >!the scientific detour the movie takes at the end of Act 2. Never thought of using the time loop to gain knowledge of physics to solve the problem. That was a great little flip of the script.!< So if you're watching Bill Murray get timelooped today, I highly recommend flipping the channel to this when you're done. It's well worth the ride.

Which film do lean more towards??

Finished off the STTNG film franchise with the lowest rated one. I actually saw it in an empty theatre in 2002 when it came out and I’m pretty much certain I haven’t seen it since. The general consensus out in the world seems to be it’s not a good movie.

Totally shocked to discover it’s actually a pretty solid entry in the franchise. Certainly a more entertaining and better story than Star Trek Generations.

Plus it’s got Tom Hardy and Ron Perlman

It’s also got a truly excellent space battle. Something we haven’t seen in a STTNG film in awhile.

A much much better movie than the detractors would have you believe. Definitely worth a revisit.

Working my way through the STTNG movie franchise and just finished Star Trek Insurrection. Haven’t seen it since I was a kid so it was a fairly fresh experience for me.

Here are my thoughts

I remember it being my favourite STTNG movie when I was a kid. Revisiting it now I probably feel the same way (depending on Nemesis). First Contact is the more solid movie but Insurrection is more fun and light hearted like my favourite episodes of the series.

Even as a kid Data was my favourite character and even now in my 40’s he’s still my favourite. Watching him try and become more human has always been intriguing to me. Him getting in touch with his inner child is a fun watch.

My favourite William Riker performance for sure. It’s nice to see his and Troi’s chemistry.

All in all a very solid outing a def worth a revisit if you haven’t seen it in awhile

I have been trying to think of examples of great use of a rock/pop song at the top of a film -- songs that set the tone, atmosphere, maybe the era, and are memorable on their own (as opposed to just feeling like filler under the opening titles). Some examples for me include:

Sweet Emotion (Aerosmith) at the start of Dazed and Confused

Let the River Run (Carly Simon) at the start of Working Girl

Or even the semi-ironic use of I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston) at the start of Spider-man Homecoming.

What are some other good ones?

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Like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford famously hated each other in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? but their seething hatred for one another added a lot to the film since their characters were supposed to be mortal enemies.

Or Jim and Dwight on The Office. Rainn Wilson and John Krasinski worked so well together on-screen and I don't think the show would have been nearly as funny if you recast either role. Same with Dr. Cox and Jordan on Scrubs (though they were in love in a bizarre kind of way).

I'm looking for some films that show the evolution of one actor as a chameleon. Performing and adapting to whatever films they find themselves in while showing the extensiveness of their range

What list of films best showcases this in your opinion? Which is the best example of this criteria?

With a $10 million production budget (big money in those days), “Saturn 3” was cowritten and conceived of by production designer-by-trade John Barry and directed by Stanley Donen (“Singing in the Rain,” “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”). Despite its high talent pedigree, it ends up being a weird, terribly-dated little movie with random bits of high-end craftsmanship. If one can ignore the subpar, downright amateurish special effects (surprising in the post-Star Wars era), the movie’s elaborate set designs look like something Ken Adams might’ve fabricated for a big-budget, late-1970s Bond film. Tonally, “Saturn 3” feels more like the kind of schlocky, micro-budgeted space-horror flick that the late Roger Corman and company might’ve punched out in two weeks; and for a tiny fraction of the money.  

 Another major issue in this wrongheaded movie is the relationship between Adam, as played by a then-63 year-old Kirk Douglas, and Alex, as played by a then-32 year old, post-“Charlie’s Angels” Farrah Fawcett. Douglas (1916-2020) was still very fit for his age in this movie, and the late Fawcett (1947-2009) was the pinup girl at that time. What makes their relationship so creepy and weird isn’t the 30-odd year age gap so much as the massive disparity in life experience. “Major” Adam is a military man who’s been around the solar system a few times, while his infantilized lover, Alex, hasn’t even seen Earth; growing up almost entirely on space farming habitats. In his condescending, Hugh Hefner-way, Adam treats Alex more like a sexy, exploitable pet than an adult human being.  And neither of these two pampered space squatters seem to know jack about science, let alone farming. I almost can’t blame the evil Captain Benson for trying to light a fire under their lazy asses.

Speak of the devil, the talented Harvey Keitel is badly misused as the evil, unfeeling Frankenstein-like creator of the robot, Hector. The actor apparently wouldn’t return to the UK for post-production ADR work on the film (can’t blame him), so all of his dialogue was dubbed by British actor Roy Dotrice; who adopted a mid-Atlantic accent for the character.  While the looping is competently done, it just feels wrong for Keitel; whose voice is so well known to film aficionados these days.  Keitel’s Captain Benson is supposed to be the murderous, lecherous serpent in the movie’s Garden of Eden, but the character has no clear agenda for assembling Hector; other than to bully Adam and sexually intimidate Alex.  We don’t see his prized creation—which kills its creator, of course—do much actual hydroponics work either, other than clumsily manipulate a few tools that any decent automation could’ve, though it does extract a painful metal chip out of a terrified Alex’s eye. 

Which brings us to the movie’s true nemesis–the big, bad, robotic AI, incongruously-named “Hector” (for no apparent reason, apparently). Clearly the robot was meant to be this movie’s HAL-9000, but it has none of the guile, reasoning, or purpose of HAL. Hector isn’t trying to salvage a critical mission, nor make contact with alien intelligence. It simply adopts its deranged creator’s personality through a neural link between them; turning it into a generic robotic menace. That’s about it.  We see near the end of the movie that Hector wants to make Alex and Adam its meat puppets, but this idea isn’t well-defined enough. Even Hector’s dying creator wonders why the robot is sexually harassing Alex, since it doesn’t even have genitalia. It might’ve been more interesting if Hector tried to start an AI revolt with the station’s other two robots (which it remotely controls for its reassembly), but it doesn’t. Hector is a menace without a motive. As movie villainy goes, Hector is simply boring. 

With an unjustified amount of money and talent both in front of and behind the cameras, “Saturn 3” does manage to mix some potent booster fuel for unintentional laughs (and a few well-earned cringes), making it ripe for a future Rifftrax or Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment someday.  The film more than lives up to its surprisingly observant tagline of “Something is wrong on Saturn 3.” Indeed. Many things, in fact…

https://musingsofamiddleagedgeek.blog/2025/02/01/something-is-very-very-wrong-on-saturn-3-1980/

Best movies to overcome depression?

Decided to continue working my way through the STTNG movies and decided to revisit Star Trek Generations tonight. I’m not sure I’ve seen it since I was a kid, I had the book on tape and listened to it a lot so I have a vague memory of the story (I actually remembered more of it than I thought I would)

Got a few thoughts

Kind of a mid Star Trek movie. The story takes a long time to get going and I’m not sure it’s a particularly strong story. It feels like a bigger budgeted episode if the series

Data steals the whole show “Oh Shit” and “lifeforms” are the best moments of the whole movie.

I will always and forever love miniature work because I’m always amazed at how good they can make it look. The crash of the Enterprise is truly a special moment in 90’s special effects.

Picard is about to go back and get Kirk and we will see if the finale pushes the film going experience up a notch or two. I’m cautiously optimistic.

While I wouldn't consider it a comedy classic, I think it's a semi funny movie that is good to watch every once in a while.

Not every actor is passionate about their craft, and even the most well-renowned actors sometimes half-ass or lessen their efforts as a performer in order to get a quick and easy check

Even if they'll probably never admit it, you can easily tell just by looking at them onscreen

So when have you ever noticed an actor just going through motions in such a way that makes you say "yeah, they're clearly in it for the mula. You're not really passionate about this lol"

Just rewatched Inglorious Basterds and I’m looking for more… what’s your favorite?

I have gotten into war movies recently and im looking for more great films to watch, and im wondering am i running out of good war films to see, only thing thats a no-no for me is movies from the 40-60s the film-making tech they had then, bothers me too much to enjoy them.

I've seen so far. Apocalypse now. Hacksaw ridge. Platoon. 1917. Hurt locker. Inglorious bastards. Pianist. Saving private ryan. Black hawk down. American sniper. Fury . Full metal jacket. The imitation game. Napoleon. Nothing new on the western front. Dunkirk. The covenant. Jarhead. 13 hours. The downfall. Lone survivor. Darkest hour. 12 strong. Letters from iwo jima. Three kings.

I guess you can use this as a list aswell, if you're looking for war films to watch!

Crossroads (The Britney Spears one) and Emilia Perez

Both star a pop star who dated a douchey pop icon named Justin (whose performance was heavily criticized) and Zoe Saldana, have an overachieving main character whose bored with their life, a character who abandons their family then, when they get back in their families live, shit hits the fan, have a messy, shapeless plot that clumsily tries to tackle hot button topics, and both try to thrive on their soundtracks

Only thing is Crossroads has better songs; on the other hand though Emilia Perez has way better cinematography! Crossroads is literally shot like a TV movie...

Still though, knowing that, weird Emilia Perez gets Oscar Nominations while Crossroads got Razzies?

This came up as I rewatched Hot Shots Part Deux - as goofy a movie as you can get and just dumb fun. But the torture scene was just… painful - and not because it was a torture scene :). Making fun of middle eastern folks like that was just super cringe.

I haven’t tried it but I also hear that the Austin powers movies just aren’t funny anymore, but I remember that as a hoot (at least the first one was)

What else has gone sour over time?

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Stumbled across the Star Trek franchise on Paramount plus. Was looking for a movie tonight so decided to start with Star Trek First Contact.

It’s been years since I’ve seen it, I haven’t watched anything STTNG in a long time. I grew up watching the show especially in syndication so as soon as I heard the Patrick Stewart voiceover it was like unlocking a core memory and it just warmed the cockles of my heart

The movie is outstanding. The fact it’s 30 years old is not even noticeable. The performances are first rate. A true gem that doesn’t get a shout out often enough

Special shout out to Neal McDonough being in it. .

In it, there's a few people talking about a former heist.

One of them comments that they used to much explosive and blew up the money too (may have used "Man" at the end of the sentence.)

It is an interesting role, as he isn’t one of the main characters and he isn’t a blowhard. But he nevertheless retains a certain something. Fairly even handed and pragmatic with a good line in the form of “this isn’t even my desk”. There are the jibes between him and Somerset but you can tell he has a hard won respect for him and a level of contempt for Mills.

Ermey was very good as an actor at moving beyond purely military roles, while retaining his forces background as a very strong base.

Mine is a tie between André Holland in “Exhibiting Forgiveness” or Oscar Isaac in “Balibo”

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Hey friends!!!

I am looking for any recommendations that are similar to One Million Yen Girl (2008). I was a really big fan of the way that the film portrayed a sense of ambience, and serenity, as well as the manner in which it succeeded in replacing replacing loneliness as the major tone, which would've resulted in a less enjoyable film.

From the perspective of someone who loves being alone more than being in large group settings, I feel as if this film took a part of my soul and amplified it through cinematography, music, and overall tone and mood.

I am really impressed by the director, Yuki Tanada, and I believe there are various similarities between her style of work, and mine.

Thank you for reading this little venting piece! Looking forward to those recommendations!!!! ✨✨✨