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I haven't watched this movie in ages, and there's a scene where Nicole Kidman's character mentions to a friend how she started giving her son Clonazepam for nightmares again.

So I was being treated with Clonazepam and developed a heavy addiction, and with what we now know about the drug it's a CRAZY move to give it to a young minor. Drugs in the diazepam family like Klonopin (clonazepam) and Xanax are very, very strong and can cause euphoria & dependency similar to opiates like Oxycontin. There's even the risk of death if you try to come off diazepams cold turkey, similar to alcohol addiction.

An aspect I find fascinating about Dogville, besides it being placed on a stage set and yet you totally but the story because the acting is so believable, is that unlike other female-led Von Trier movies prior to this was that Grace doesn't have a tragic ending, even though she suffers a lot with the townspeople who mistreat and degrade her for the entire movie.

I find her so fascinating because she's like a ghostly moving painting, particularly when she was young with the Porcelain skin and Sadako hair.

She's mostly subtle in her performances but when asked to play crazy, she lets it rip like no other. In Possession, we see her go full insanity but in The Story of Adele H, her madness is more restrained but effective in its subtlety.

And, of course, her work in Camille Claudel, is utterly sublime. I often feel her beauty could have been an hindrance but in France, she's widely respected. She's the only actress to win 5 Cesars. All deservedly so.

In America, she never made it like Marion Cotillard or to a lesser degree, Catherine Deneuve. Though she did do a very good noir film by Walter Hill, The Driver, where she played the cool femme fatale to perfection.

I watched eternal sunshine and 500 days of summer in the same week. The emotions of 500 days of summer resonated with me way more since it was more so about the pain of betrayal and learning how to move on slowly, and getting there to your next chapter.

I’ve always seen people say watch Eternal Sunshine after a break up… but… they literally get back together at the end? The whole point of the film was for them to get back together… I literally don’t get it. The whole point was he remembered the good so they’re fighting for the good and keep going for each other- it’s not at all a heartbreak or breakup movie in my opinion, whereas 500 days of summer was literally all about that. Also the characters in Eternal Sunshine are annoying and bland in my opinion.

If a girl has done you wrong you don’t want to watch a film where the guy gets done wrong but still ends up going back to her and she ends up back with him too because their subconscious is calling each other… like huh

I just don’t get it. What made eternal sunshine be that type of film for others? I personally did not see it in that way at all and didn’t like it… they could’ve done so much more with the surrealist aspects too

In your opinion, what has been Anya Taylor-Joy’s best performance to date? She's killed it in The Witch, The Northman, Furiosa, The Queen's Gambit, The Menu, Last Night in Soho, Emma, and Thoroughbreds. There's a whole bunch more I'm missing, too. She has demonstrated remarkable versatility in a short career span. Which of these performances, or others, do you believe most effectively highlights her range as an actress?

What would you say my top ten films say about me as a watcher of film and as a person? I’m interested in your feedback, critique and also predictions of what picks 11-20 might look like. Thank you:

These are in no particular order:

Planes, Trains & Automobiles Glory The Revenant The Departed The Empire Strikes Back 3:10 to Yuma Silver Linings Playbook Rushmore Christmas Vacation Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid

For me it would be Zach McGowan. I got maybe 1 season into Black Sails a couple months ago and I just recently started watching Shameless for the first time. It took me getting to the end of season 2 in Shameless and seeing Zach as the poster for Black Sails on Netflix.

(mine's an actor from a tv show but same idea)

What are your recommendations for doomsday movies where the worldwide disaster is brought about by AI takeover? Think Armageddon meets Transcendence.

ChatGPT was moderately helpful. The Matrix doesn't dwell on the takeover process and the Animatrix is focused on personal stories. Terminator 2 would qualify, though only bits of the US and Mexico are portrayed. Eagle Eye only takes place across the US. WarGames seems more about hacking than AI (I haven't read the full plot to avoid spoilers). Something interesting 03 came up with was this 1970 movie, Colossus: The Forbin Project. GPT 4o missed it.

When I went to see complete unknown, the brightness was about 30% and there was a distracting flicker for the duration. Was this intended or was there a projector problem?

I’ve watched a lot of movies with a bad bulb and that’s what it seemed like. This was at my local flagship AMC. I have come to expect a level of quality control there.

I reported it to one of the theater associates but I didn’t get any confirmation.

Haven't seen anyone discuss the soda before. In Signs, everything happens for a reason, and we see the librarian complaining about too many soda commercials. Given the creatures' weakness, this seems like either 1) divine protection because the commercials would make people thirsty and keep water/drinks around, or 2) the creatures' attempt to get you to have soda lying around instead of (holy) water by hijacking the commercials. #2 might only make sense if you buy into the demons theory. What do you think about the sodas?

Just watched The Brutalist, and I’m still processing it. The film is undeniably ambitious—stunning cinematography, strong performances, and a distinct visual style that sticks with you. Some moments feel truly powerful, but I’m not sure if everything fully comes together. A lot of the themes either lack depth or feel haphazardly assembled in the first half. It snuffs a lot of basic storytelling techniques in service of "ideas". Still, it’s the kind of movie that lingers in your mind long after the credits roll.

Curious to hear what others think—did it work for you? Was it a masterpiece or merely an imitation, or did it leave you wanting more?

Here is my review: https://abhinavyerramreddy.substack.com/p/the-brutalist-an-ostentatious-journey?r=38m95e

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I'm on a Clint Eastwood kick. Mainly just his Westerns cuz YouTube has a 7-day free trial for Mgm+. Somehow I haven't seen any of his Westerns either because I haven't had the time or it cost money to rent them or they weren't free on any streaming apps. So I would be forced to scour Google to see which 123 movie sites had which movies. Half the time some movies are blocked or I'm tired of all the pop-up ads and lagging.

What is a movie that you feel nailed the casting choices? I am looking for any movie that was previously another form of media like a book or cartoon. For example I think the live action scooby doo nailed it. (Could also feel that way because of nostalgia haha 😂) I rarely read or watch something and then see a live action remake where I find the casting to be close to the characters.

Very good movie! But does anyone feel like the ending was kind of a cop out? It doesn’t address their relationship much…the AIs just “transcend” to somewhere else.

Other things I’d like to understand about the movie and that world….

Why aren’t they called AIs? That term was definitely avoided. The only time it was half-mention was talking about the resurrected AI…”artificially hyper-intelligent”.

What place does money have? Dude is a letter writer, but lives in a gorgeous huge apartment in downtown. It kind of seems like there is no money, but a man dancing on the street put out a hat for donations? Also, he’s excited for the publishing deal, but it doesn’t seem to be about money.

How does he have a job? We have AIs that can have relationships with multiple people, but the dude is writing letters for people!? ROFL.

Great movie though, and it hits now in this buzzword-filled AI time. I recommend a re-watch!

I’ll start first. Predators from 2010. This movie got a lot of mixed reviews and tbh, I always thought it was a alright movie. Actually I think it’s one of the better Predator sequels if you compare it to the others. It still had its problems, but not a bad movie at all. However, I always fucking hated how this movie ended. Basically, a group of skilled people ranging from ex military, the yakuza, the cartel, and murderers are kidnapped and thrown into a alien planet where they’re pitted against Predators where they have to battle and survive. The whole movie, these characters are trying to find a way to make it off this planet and go back home. Once you reach towards the end, Royce and Isabella are the last two standing and they manage to defeat the predators. However, the ship that they needed to go home is destroyed and now they have no way to leave the planet. Royce then grabs Isabella and says “Let’s get tf off this planet”, and then the both of them walk off, ending the movie. I hate this because wasn’t that literally the whole point of the movie? So basically nothing was accomplished and everything that they went through and those people that died was for nothing. Big waste of time. I guess it was a sequel bait but it was never made, and no I’m not counting the comics. What is your thoughts on this if you have seen it and name a movie that pissed you off with its ending.

I mean, I still need therapy from when I saw Se7en 25 years ago at 23 years old. But I just went to see it at Alamo Drafthouse and there was a young kid sitting next to me. I'm not mad. Maybe this is the most media literate youngster ever. But I do feel a little lament for times past. I just don't understand this. I mean, I go to see Se7en because it's the very worst of what humanity has to offer. And because no matter how shit a day I've had...Mills had a worse day. Not to mention the murder victims. And to see Morgan Freeman's amazing performance.

I don't know. I was concerned for this kid that was sitting next to me. I was thinking..."I wish she didn't have to see this." I wish she wasn't growing up in a world where people can do incredibly shitty things. Personally, I wouldn't take a 10yo (approximately) to see Se7en. But I guess it's fine.

Hi all, I’m not a movie buff or anything but I do seem to like Jim Carey movies and I have never heard of this one before. Just watched it tonight on Prime and thought it was pretty good. Just seems weird to me that I’ve never seen it advertised or listed when just searching on apps. Is this movie overlooked a lot or is it common that a lot of people haven’t heard of it or is it just me? Maybe I have been under a rock on this one lol

Many people say it's worse than the first one, but I actually think it's decent. However, the script refinement and visual effects could have been better. Still, I'm looking forward to the third installment and hope the production team gets more decision-making power and funding.

This film series is clearly aiming to be China's answer to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, trying to establish a Chinese fantasy film franchise. The response from Western audiences seems to be quite positive.

Anyone who has watched it, let's discuss! Do you think the first movie was better, or do you prefer the second one? Has it changed your perception of Chinese films?

Loved the movie, easily my favorite of 2024. Awesome story with awesome and entertaining characters.

I loved the chance to see Immortan Joe and the Citadel again, and it gave us another fantastic scene of how much authority he holds over his minions. For starters, he doesn’t even bother to respond to Dementus’s comments, he has the people eater do it for him.

Then that leads to a fantastic scene of a random war boy being chosen to represent how all of them would willingly blow themselves up in the Immortan Joe’s name, or as the people eater words it

“Among us, are 972 devout warriors. Any one of them, if chosen, would’ve done the same. Each would die historic for the Immortan Joe. That’s why you’re fools, you’re all fools for coming here!”

I’m wondering if there’s any other movies that have moments like that off the top of my head but I’m drawing blanks.

In Predator when Arnold says “Let’s go” after leaving Billy to face Predator, not another piece of dialogue is spoken until 18-19 minutes later when he says “bleed, dammit”.

But the entire confrontation is perfectly portrayed without even needing to say anything. Is there an instance that comes to your mind similar to this?

Anyone here watching Inspector Koo in 2025? I’ve been hooked in mystery/thriller drama these days, I have watched Beyond Evil, Mouse, One Ordinary Day and more, but I can say that Inspector Koo is really satisfied me in any way that a mystery/thriller should be. The story, plot wise, and not to mentioned the amazing casts plus the OSTs that are so good and the cinematography is a chef kiss.

I highly recommend Inspector Koo to all the Kdrama fans who love mystery/thriller with amazing story.

Share your thoughts about this drama!!!! Coz i’m frkng love this and I want to talk about this 🫶😆

I binged American Primeval last night, western miniseries I know but have noticed this in movies too. I started a 5 second clock in my head until they switched shots during the story. It was like clockwork; 5 seconds change camera, 5 change camera, 5 seconds camera change with tilted angle. Repeat. The timing was hurried in the overall storytelling as well. There was little to no time for orientation and submersion into the scenes.

Contrasted with an older Western, Dances with Wolves that I watched a few minutes of right after to compare. In an opening scene there was a 24 second clip of a soldier twirling his hat around his rifle bayonet. You could sense the nothingness of that time period and buildup to a confrontation. Following that a 15 second and 20+ second uninterrupted scenes. I felt like I was there.

I may be way off, and I'm sure there are exceptions to this observation (PTA immediately comes to mind). I get that in the digital media days you have to hook an audience quick and keep it as long as you can, but I can't seem to get into these series and movies because of thos tempo.

I'm working on logging movies I've seen on my Letterboxd, and it's made me realize that since having kids 10 years ago, I haven't seen more than a handful of new comedies, especially not in theaters. I'd like to catch up on some I've missed, and I hardly know where to start. What are your favorite comedies from the last decade or so? I know way fewer comedies are released in theaters these days anyway, so Netflix, Hulu etc originals are also fine.

Here are a few recent-ish comedies I've enjoyed, if that's any help:
Spy
The Death of Stalin
The Menu
Sleeping With Other People
Booksmart
My Old Ass
You Hurt My Feelings
Wes Anderson's movies, generally

I’m taking film class this semester so I’ve been thinking about movies recently. These are movies I would consider to be masterpieces, completely based off of my personal opinion.

These are in no particular order

1. The Searchers

2. It’s A Wonderful Life

3. 12 Angry Men

4. A River Runs Through It

5. The Longest Day

6. Cars 1&2

7. King Fu Panda 2

8. Monty Python And The Holy Grail

9. No Country For Old Men

10. What do you think?

What movies would you guys recommend based on what I like?

Jojo Rabbit

A comedy about a ten year old boy who loves being a Nazi. That shouldn’t work. When I first saw Jojo Rabbit, I didn’t know much about it. All I saw was a quick summary along the lines of, “A boy in Nazi Germany towards the end of WWII discovers that his mother has been helping a young Jewish girl hide out in their attic.” I thought I was about to watch a serious drama, but then it kicks off with a little boy and his imaginary friend, Hitler, and their banter. “I guess it’s a comedy,” I told myself.

This movie is very funny. Sam Rockwell and Rebel Wilson at the youth camp are hilarious. Not only is the writing witty, the physical comedy hits the right notes of goofy. My favorite side character is Yorki. He gets to have the best lines:

• “I’m going home to my mom. I need a snuggle.”
• “Guess I’m just a kid trapped in a fat kid’s body.”
• “Somehow I just keep staying alive.”
• "The Japanese are our only allies left, and between you and me, they don't really look that Aryan."

What the movie does with tone throughout the runtime is what I believe makes it a great film. The first time we see Jojo looking upon people hanging in the square, and is told that what they did is what they could, this hilarious comedy lets us know that the reality of the situation is extremely bleak. We also find out that Jojo’s father is in the war, and that his mother is having the hardest time raising a young boy who has been brainwashed by the Nazis’ propaganda. When Johansson pretends that she is her husband, it really makes me feel bad that she is alone in trying to raise a boy amidst the war, a war that she hates and knows how her country is in the wrong.

The “shoes scene”, as I like to call it, may be the largest gut punch any comedy has ever put to screen. We just had seen the most tense scene, where we think that Elsa has been found out by the Gestapo, but then gets away. There is a butterfly and nice music, and it feels like maybe everything is going to be alright. But then we see the shoes. Again, how a comedy can turn the mood so fast is where this movie earns its greatness.

The dilemma Jojo finds himself in, where he wants to be a good Nazi and turn in the hiding Jewish girl, but he knows if he does so, he, and especially his mother, would be in trouble, is quite unique. If Jojo wasn’t ten years old, I don’t think this plot would work. How can we have any feelings for someone who loves Hitler? It makes me feel bad for any youth who are raised to hate others.

So how did Taika make a movie about Nazis funny? He made sure to let the audience know that Nazis are stupid. It has a repeating gag of Hitler offering him a cigarette. If you watch this movie and get nothing out of it, at least you will know, Nazis are stupid.

I've seen this movie twice (once at TIFF before all the buzz and again last week) and was very open to liking it. The structure is good, the actors do a competent job, the editing is effective in intensifying the vibes. Where I struggle is that, as I watch this movie, I can't forget that this was conceived, written and directed by a dude and that gives me The Ick.

Knowing that a man is behind the camera of this incredibly intimate look at this young woman's struggle and body makes me feel that there is just one more man in this world who is exploiting her. (He pointed out at TIFF that he had a sex worker on his team so he could 'get it right' but, for me, that was good but not an absolution of my main objection - this isn't his story to tell)

(for any of you who believe the Bechdel Test is a useful measure, this movie, purportedly about Anora, only passes this test because Anora and Lulu share a 4 sentence exchange about their choice of nail adornments. That is pretty telling.)

Would be interested if anyone else had this experience watching this film.