Official last movie you saw thread

Ash

A scifi horror movie with Eiza Gonzalez. I went in blind without seeing a trailer and much like the protagonist, I honestly wondered for about 80 mn what the hell the movie was about. It turns out to be about not much at all and it's so derivative, I doubt anyone exists who has never seen a movie, a show or read a scifi story that wasn't similar.
The direction is also subpar. I don't know who "Flying Lotus" is but guessing by the stupid name, I suppose he is a celebrity who is branching out and that can only explain why he was given any amount of money to make this movie. The 4.5 rating on IMDB seems harsh but it's the first movie I see with such bad rating that actually deserves it.

The Man from Beyond (1922)

American mystery science fiction film. It's about a man found frozen in arctic ice who is brought back to life. What I find interesting about this premise is that the man frozen in ice isn't a caveman like it would usually be the case in movies like this, but has "only" been frozen for 100 years. That guy is played by the great Harry Houdini, who also wrote the screenplay (and if you didn't know that Harry Houdini also acted in some movies... well, there you go, now you do). What's interesting is that in some ways this movie was Houdini's attempt to reconcile with his former friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Maybe you know that Doyle was very into the supernatural and spirits and stuff. Well, they had a falling out when they attended a seance together in which the "spirit" of Houdini's mother communicated to her son in English even though she only ever spoke German when alive. This movie ends with the words "You must believe" and the imagery of a spirit entering a body (which kinda replicates the cover artwork of a spiritual treatise Doyle wrote). So anyway, the movie is nothing all that special (and certainly not Houdini at his best, at least according to people who have seen more of the five movies he acted in) but if you're just curious about seeing THE Harry Houdini on film it's very much worth a watch. Can recommend.

Family Pack/Loups-garous (2024)

French adventure fantasy comedy film. It's about a medieval village where werewolves make victims among the villagers by nightfall and the modern family that is accidentally transported there. Rewatched it today and it's still very entertaining. Sure, it's no masterpiece but it's very entertaining and lots of people are of course familiar with the game(s) this is based on, called Werewolf or Mafia. So if you've ever played that and are in the mood for a movie that mixes it with a bit of old-fashioned Jumanji I can recommend it.

Final Destination (2000)
Final Destination 2 (2003)
Final Destination 3 (2006)
The Final Destination (2009)
Final Destination 5 (2011)

The plots for the films don't make sense at all. But if you decide to watch them, it is definitely not for the plot or acting. (Devon Sawa in Final Destination and Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Final Destination 3 really sold the performance though).

The franchise created some iconic death scenes and a lot of these death are really creative.

Hugo (2011)

American adventure drama film. It's about a boy who lives alone in a Paris railway station in the 1930s, only to become embroiled in a mystery surrounding his late father's automaton and the pioneering filmmaker Georges Méliès. I've actually held back on watching this because as a big fan of early film I love much of Méliès' work and wasn't sure how they'd portray him in this movie. But my fears were unfounded, I should've realized that Scorsese wouldn't have anything but praise for the masters coming before him. So yeah, this is actually a really good movie (and if it introduced Méliès' work to a new generation I'm all the more happy about it. Great cast (Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Jude Law, Christopher Lee, Emily Mortimer, Ray Winstone, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helen McCrory, Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour and more). Overall I very much enjoyed this and can highly recommend it.

BASEketball (1998)

American sports comedy film. It's about a hybrid sport combining baseball and basketball and two childhood friends who envision it as something they could win against athletes, so it becomes an overnight sensation and a target of corporate sponsorship. Interesting cast. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, playing the two main characters; Robert Vaughn, Ernest Borgnine and more in the supporting cast and lots of cameos including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dale Earnhardt, Reggie Jackson and more. Overall this is a fun comedy that's sometimes a bit juvenile (in many ways it actually reminds me of South Park) but if you're not going in expecting a masterpiece I can very much recommend this movie.

Edit: And reading through this movie's trivia section on IMDb I found out that the expression "derp" (as in the internet slang for stupidity) was first used in this movie. I heard it but I thought I misheard and that it would've been to early for that, but apparantly they've used it in a number of episodes of South Park and that led to the spread and usage of the term.

Hercules (1997)
Another rewatch. Still amazing, the songs, the jokes the artstyle... 10/10. The little gags which were hidden from me till now... 🤯
Oh and btw When Hercules knocks over the pillars at the "beginning" of the movie... The pillars are falling in a different direction, than how they end up stopping on the top of the shop... 😅 Not a huge problem, but it was funny I never noticed this...

Ragtime (1981)

American epic period drama film. It's about a young black pianist who becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City. Yesterday I've finished the James Cagney autobiography I was reading but because it was released in 1976 obviously he didn't know he'd still be in another movie and much of the last part of the autobiography is about how he's happily retired now and doesn't miss show business a bit. So I felt like today might be the perfect time to watch this, his last movie*, one he seemingly did for a number of personal reasons. I've watched lots of his movies. The popular ones, the obscure ones and the ones from somewhere inbetween. Of course it's kinda weird seeing him so old. He was in his 80s in this movie and given the fact that his best work was in the 30s and 40s that sure is a big difference. But this movie is really good. Great cast (above all of course the great James Cagney (who Miloš Forman had a lot of work convincing to come out of retirement but this movie is all the better for it), but also Howard Rollins, Elizabeth McGovern, Jeff Daniels, Brad Dourif, Debbie Allen, Mandy Patinkin, Moses Gunn, Pat O’Brien (who was frequently paired onscreen with Cagney), Mary Steenburgen, Robert Joy, Fran Drescher, Richard Griffiths, Kenneth McMillan (who's playing a pretty nasty racist in this movie but you're more likely to know him as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in David Lynch's Dune (1984), Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Jeter, Jeffrey DeMunn, John Ratzenberger and more). It also has a very interesting story, so overall I can highly recommend it.

*Technically his last is a 1984 TV movie called Terrible Joe Moran where he even plays the title role (and I have seen Winner Take All (1932) which that movie references/uses clips from) and I'll watch that some other time, so Ragtime is only his final theatrical movie.

The Wind Rises (2013)

Japanese animated historical drama film. It's about the life of Japanese aeronautical engineer. It's a beautiful movie and it definitely would've been a fitting swan song if it would've been Miyazaki's last one but I am glad it isn't. Of course the animation is breathtaking, the characters are interesting, everything's just magical. What took me out a bit is that when our main character travels to Germany all the Germans seem to be fluent in Japanese. I'm sure that IRL a number of Germans did speak Japanese (especially if they were diplomats or the like) but these were basic workers who opened with something like "Hey, you can't be here." in German but when our main character replies in Japanese that he's actually allowed to they're answering in perfect Japanese (at least it doesn't sound any different than the Japanese the Japanese characters speak). But I know that that's a very specific and minor problem to have with this beautiful movie so all I'll say is that it's really good and I can highly recommend it.

Calvary (2014)

Irish-British psychological drama thriller film. It's about a good-natured village priest who is told by an unseen guy during confession that he's going to kill him the following Sunday. This is a slow burner but with a cast as strong as this (Brendan Gleeson, Chris O'Dowd, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Reilly, Dylan Moran, Aidan Gillen, Isaac de Bankolé, M. Emmet Walsh and more) who deliver great performances it's never boring. The cinematography is very good, too. Overall this movie is surprisingly good so I can highly recommend it.

James vs. His Future Self (2019)

Canadian science fiction comedy film. It's about a scientist researching time travel whose life is turned upside down when his older self arrives from 17 years in the future to demand that he stop. It's good but it doesn't quite reach its full potential. So yeah, it's fun, it's just a bit over 90 minutes long and if you don't mind it not being as good as it could've been it's still a good watch. Can recommend.

Blink Twice (2024)

American psychological thriller film. It's about a group of people invited to the private island of a billionaire tech mogul as something strange happens with the attendees. It's surprisingly good. Channing Tatum is scary in this. And I do like that cool, calm and collected scary a lot. The rest of the cast is also very good (Naomi Ackie, Alia Shawkat, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Geena Davis, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Kyle MacLachlan and more). This is Zoë Kravitz's directional debut and I think she did pretty well. Obviously there are still some stuff that's not 100% there but if I wouldn't know I couldn't tell that this is someone's first jab at being a director. Overall I thought this was very good, better than expected. Can very much recommend.

The Fantastic Four (1994)

Very bad movie, but kinda funny. I recommend it for a few laughs maybe lol.

The Dead Don't Die (2019)

American absurdist dark comedy horror film. It's about a small town's police force as they combat a sudden zombie invasion. Rewatched it yesterday and I still enjoyed it.

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)

American comedy film. It's about a man and his wife who decide that they can afford to have a house in the country built to their specifications but it's a lot more trouble than they think. Very good cast (Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Melvyn Douglas and more). It's of course a story people across the ages can relate to, so it's no surprise that it spawned three remakes (which I'm also gonna watch in the coming days) in 1986, 1993 and 2007. I do think this one will turn out to be the best of the bunch, though, although I'm excited to see how this story was adapted in those different settings. Overall I can very much recommend this one.

The Money Pit (1986)

American comedy film. It's about a couple who attempt to renovate a recently purchased house. Again, that story is one for the ages and it works just as well in 80s New York as it does in post-war New York. Sure, Tom Hanks and Shelley Long are no Cary Grant and Myrna Loy but they fit their setting very well. So yeah, this is not quite as good as Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), but still worth the watch. Can recommend.

Going Postal: The Legacy Foretold (2025)

Very good documentary of the Postal series!
There could've been more insights regarding the actual development of the games but all in all it's a high production and definitely worth a watch even if you haven't played the games!

The Dream House/Drömkåken (1993)

Swedish comedy film. It's about a couple who buy a house in a suburb that is in need of some repairs which the guy believes himself capable of repairing, but it's more trouble than expected. Well, I have no idea who these actors are, but they did a good job. Again, the same premise works just as well in Sweden as it does in the US, which of course is hardly surprising. For some reason, though, they decided to cram some Wet Bandits-like criminals into the third act, which doesn't really work. Overall this is probably the least engaging of the three versions of this story I've seen so far but it's still worth the watch. Can recommend.

Are We Done Yet? (2007)

American family comedy film. It's about two newlyweds who decide to move to the suburbs to provide a better life for their two kids but their idea of a dream home is disturbed by a contractor with a bizarre approach to business. Yes, it's another version of the same story. And a sequel to Are We There Yet? (2005), a movie I never knew had a sequel. Before watching I was convinced this wouldn't be any good, but now after I finished it I'm surprised that it's actually not as bad as the IMDb score of 4.3 would make you think. It's just a lighthearted family movie that, if you turn off your brain, is quite enjoyable. That's of course partly thanks to John C. McGinley, but Ice Cube also did a good job as the family father. So overall, to my surprise, I think this was actually good. Just don't go into it with high expectations. Can recommend.

And given that this is the fourth version of that same exact plot I can safely say that it is pretty universal and would probably work in any setting you could imagine.

In a Violent Nature (2024)

Canadian slasher horror drama thriller film. It's about a mute killer who is accidentally resurrected from his grave in the wilderness by a group of teenagers, whom he then begins stalking and murdering. It's a very stylized movie, being shot in Academy ratio (1.375:1), featuring no soundtrack apart from the diegetic music the characters in it are listening to themselves, being all around pretty slow-paced, and of course the fact that the events depicted are largely observed from the killer's perspective. It's definitely not your usual slasher flick. The kills are creative and gory but yeah, if you don't like slow-burners you won't enjoy this. I do and I did, so I can recommend it.

Presence (2024)

American supernatural thriller drama film. It's about a family who becomes convinced they are not alone after moving into their new home in the suburbs. The special thing about this one is that it's completely shot from the presence's perspective. It is a slow burner and could also be described as a single-location movie (and some of you might know that I like those a lot). It's also a movie that would benefit from a second viewing if you were as surprised by the ending as I was. It's also only 85 minutes long, so if you want to watch something relatively short that's gonna stay with you for a while, this is it. Overall I thought this was really good and I can highly recommend it!

Jason X (2001), this is the perfect day for a rewatch and this time I went with this one, it has one of my favourite kills in the franchise; Liquid nitrogen.

Rosemary's Baby (1968). Horror movie starring Mia Farrow. Pretty scary to say the least, actually it may have been the most uncomfortable movie i have ever seen. Terrifying. Rated 10/10 on IMDB.

Moneyball (2011)

American biographical sports drama film. It's about a baseball team and their general manager's attempts to assemble a competitive team with a fraction of the amount of money their rivals have. I don't really care about baseball at all, but this was interesting with a more analytical approach to the game. So yeah, still doesn't make me care about baseball but it was interesting enough. Good cast as well (Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Chris Pratt, Robin Wright, Philip Seymour Hoffman and more). Overall you might enjoy it more than me if you actually like baseball and/or the specific team this is about but I can still recommend it.

Ballerina (2025)
I thought, well, it's a 1 in 2 chance that they're just trying to squeeze the life out of the franchise, but in fact i was really happy to see actors from previous opuses perform again, also it wasn't boring at all, and of course it's great for clearing the mind !

Colours of Time (2025)
I loved the transitions between Paris at modern times and in the past, there were some really moving passages and some light and funny. For sure the movie would please those who liked Lost illusions (2021) or Amélie (2001)