Posted on 12/31/2025 6:45:02 PM PST by sphinx
“The Ballad of Wallis Island”—One of 2025’s most endearing sleepers was this British comedy from director James Griffiths about a duo of folk singers, played by co-writer Tom Basden and Oscar-nominee Carey Mulligan, who travel to a Welsh island for a gig. Basden’s writing partner, Tim Key, plays the rich fan who encourages the duo to reunite for this performance. What follows is a film filled with big laughs and a startling amount of heart....
“Bugonia”—Based on Jang Joon-hwan’s 2003 film, “Save the Green Planet!”, Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest collaboration with actress Emma Stone is a galvanizing apocalyptic satire. She plays a chilly pharmaceutical CEO abducted by an irate employee (played frighteningly by Jesse Plemons) who is convinced that she is an alien hellbent on conquering humanity. From one scene to the next, the film keeps us guessing about the true nature of its characters, eliciting laughs that occasionally get caught in the viewer’s throat....
“Nouvelle Vague”—There are some films that are impossible for me to watch without wondering what Roger would have thought of them. I have a feeling he would have been utterly delighted by Richard Linklater’s meticulous recreation of the radically unconventional production days for Jean-Luc Godard’s profoundly influential 1959 masterpiece, “Breathless,” the picture often credited with birthing the French New Wave. Each legendary figure of the movement is so impeccably cast that there are times the film feels akin to time travel.
(Excerpt) Read more at rogerebert.com ...
A “friend” of mine wrote the book it was based on. Not really a friend but someone I know and helped through the transition of being unknown to being super popular author. She’s amazing.
A great many of them. What kind of movies do you like ... when you settle down to rewatch your well-worn list of golden oldies?
I'm sure freepers can supply many recent suggestions in your preferred genres. Golden oldies are fine in their place, but how many times do you want to rewatch Patton or The Godfather?
As to poor behavior by people in theaters ... since I had my Road to Damascus moment six or seven years ago, realized I had a huge blind spot, and started exploring, I've not seen ANY bad behavior in theaters. And I live in the city, where bad behavior is not unknown.
This reflects the kinds of movies I watch. The ones I've mentioned here -- this I guarantee -- are well protected by their idiota repellum charms. In fact, I think they're essentially invisible to the idiots, who are all down another hall looking for death stars, flying spandex and Sydney Sweeney's boobs. If any of the idiots blundered into the adult theater, I'm pretty sure they'd be vaporized before they could take a seat.
I've never asked, but I have the suspicion that the theater operators know their audiences and deliberately keep a little intentional separation going. I'm glad the idiots are there because there are a lot of them, they buy a lot of tickets, and they help keep the theaters open. But it's best if they're way down the hall, around the corner, and maybe up the escalator.
It all depends on what you watch. Here and there, some movies are funny enough that you hear laughter. Otherwise there is dead silence. Adults are like that.
Years? Try months or weeks depending on the cost to rent.
About 6 weeks I can rent one for 48 hours at about $5 to $9.
Looks great on a 72 inch Samsung LED.
Can pause, rewind, cheap food, beer, etc.
At the top of my head I can say there are probably only two movies made since 2000 that I would have in my top five movies all-time: Margin Call and Hot Fuzz (which IMHO is the funniest movie ever made, every scene had something that made me laugh out loud).
I’ve not seen either of those but I will add them to my list.
A GOAT list is a different discussion, but if two movies made since 2000 are in your all-time best five, I’d say “modern” movies are doing pretty well in your book.
A documentary on the British pop/rock group, the Zombies was released to limited theatrical showings, now available streaming on Prime (possibly others).
Title is: Hung Up On A Dream - which is one of their songs.
Told mostly by the group members, very honest and lots of heart and some humor. Just 5 guys who were friends and made music and never did drugs or broke things.
I was astonished to see the list of movies that came out in 2025, and realized how few of them I had seen. The only one I liked that I did see was “F1: The Movie”.
Very un-compelling to me. There was a time I would go to 2-3 movies a week. I only went once this year to see “Nuremberg” and my wife and I were the only two in the theater. Thought it was so-so.
This made me think of just what I had seen in the last few years that I DID find compelling.
Last year (2024) I saw “The Beekeeper” which I liked, but perhaps not because the movie was good, but as an IT person, what happens to Internet scammers in the movie...:)
I liked “Reagan” very much, and also liked “Am I Racist?”
I saw “The Brutalist” with my wife, and that one engendered the typical movie response we seem to have all the time now when a movie is over:
ME: What did you think?
SHE: Uh.
ME: Yeah.
2023? Saw “Oppenheimer”. Didn’t like it. Nothing else even broke the surface for me to remember.
2022? Loved “Dog”. Just loved it. I found “Dog” compelling. Enjoyed “Top Gun: Maverick”. However, for me, I was completely and wholly taken by surprise just how much I enjoyed “Puss In Boots”! My wife wanted to watch it, and I grumblingly agreed.
I was astonished at how much I liked it. I thought “Is it just me?” so I went to The Critical Drinker, and he raved about it! For me, I have found The Critical Drinker to be a completely reliable indicator of whether I will like a movie or not.
But it was a bit of a shock to me how few movies appealed to me.
I did see “Sinners.” It was very good until the vampire or zombies or whatever they were showed up. Like we needed another vampire or zombie movie. I also saw “Weapons.” I liked it but can’t remember a thing about it now. I thought I watched a lot of new movies this year but I haven’t heard of any more than about two others on Mrs. Ebert’s list.
He was an amazing actor, wasn’t he? His wife and child, too. All the guys in the lumber camps. So many excellent short vignettes about the people he crossed paths with in his life. Very poignant and sad movie.
This has been on my list for some time. ALL the major studios and streamers passed on it, which raised eyebrows because it is Gore Verbinski's first movie in nine years.
The one certainty about GV is that he will be original. And he can get pretty over-the-top wild. Pause the trailer at 1:41 and take a look at the ad hoc intervention team that is going to save the world ... and remember this is from GV, who started the Pirates trilogy with a straightforward love triangle action comedy ... and then Captain Jack Sparrow sailed his sinking dinghy into the harbor ... and things went ... nuts.
The movie has only screened twice, each time in genre festivals. The audiences loved it. Most said it is wildly funny and totally unpredictable, not perfect but very good.
So why would all the big players take a pass? THAT is an interesting story ... but it seems linked to the fact that the biggest laughs come from the darkest storylines, on topics that spook the risk averse big players who are terrified of getting sideways with the Karen's and winding up on someone's boycott list.
Because the biggies all passed, the film went full indie. It was apparently shot for a surprisingly low budget, and a little birdie tells me that because they kept the costs down, it doesn't need huge numbers at the box office to be a success for the producers. And if it catches a spark and becomes one of those occasional indies that breaks out and overperforms, it could be a surprise hit. That's another reason, in my book, to make a point of seeing it in the theaters and sticking a finger in the eye of woke Hollywood.
Remember that GV opened the third Pirates movie with a long scene depicting the hanging of a ten year old boy ... this is an Disney movie, before Disney went off the rails entirely.
I think I know what two of the sensitive issues are, and I have a strong hunch on a third. That's because I've read the reviews. But I'll leave that in no-spoilers territory.
Oh yeah ... it's a sci-fi action/comedy/drama/horror mashup. And somehow it works.
Me too. Our target acquisition systems are broken, and the streamer takeover has made things worse. Very often, the good movies aren't heavily promoted. They get picked up for streaming, linger on the "newly added" page for a couple of days, and disappear into the back pages of the catalogue, to be found only by people who already know about them and actively seek them out.
Maybe take a chance on some of the films recommended on this thread. I'll post a "Most Anticipated for 2026" list tomorrow. If you find three or four of interest, get out and watch them in the theater.
I’m in it just for the Twinkie. Nothing else.
As long as you buy a ticket and see it in a theater ....:)
My hubby and I were just praising “Margin Call” urging my SIL to watch it. One of the most underrated great movies I’ve ever seen.
My funniest movie since 2000 is “Spy”. It’s in my top 10 of any funny movie since the beginning of time. My hubby and I are always throwing out quotes that randomly come into our heads, there are so many.
My hubby and I were just praising “Margin Call” urging my SIL to watch it. One of the most underrated great movies I’ve ever seen.
My funniest movie since 2000 is “Spy”. It’s in my top 10 of any funny movie since the beginning of time. My hubby and I are always throwing out quotes that randomly come into our heads, there are so many.
Out of all the movies mentioned I only heard of 3 . Out of that I saw Bugonia. I almost walked out due to the violence. I’m glad I stayed because the ending made it worthwhile. One movie not mentioned was ‘Good Fortune’. It is about an idiot angel who tries to do good things beyond his assigned tasks. I liked it.
Another movie not mentioned that I liked was ‘Mickey 17’. It is a science fiction movie about a fellow who is so expendable they routinely kill him only to bring him back for more . All this while on an Interstellar journey to an icy world .
Dog, great story.
I liked “Fatman”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icYvr39VB5Q
Above is a documentary about RUSH (from 2010). Lots of humor and shows their friendship. No comment on the “never did drugs” or breaking things. But it wasn’t too terrible.
They are going to do a “Fifty-Something” tour in 2026. With some drummer from Germany (Anika Niles) as the drummer.
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