Last movie you saw?

[hefdaddy42]

I could probably recite the entire film, with everyone's speaking parts and accents, including the music.

You know how we all have a couple movies like this? One of mine is It's A Wonderful Life, even though it's easily been 20 years since I've seen it. Had the house to myself tonight, which is a very rare occasion, and have been feeling like my life is particularly not wonderful lately, so decided to watch this.

The end never failed to make me weepy, especially one specific part. Tonight I started getting choked up at the beginning when the townspeople were saying their prayers for George. Never got emotional 4 minutes in to a movie before.

That's awesome.

BTW, Hudson Hawk. 

I know, I know, it is critically reviled and both other people who saw it hated it.  But I have always loved it.  I saw it in theaters, I've seen it many times, I own it on DVD.  In a weird way, I think it was a little ahead of its time, and with a couple of really bad parts cut/altered, I think it could have been a minor hit released maybe 5-10 years later.

Anyway, it's not good, and I know it, but I love it anyway.

[gmillerdrake]

BTW, Hudson Hawk. 

I know, I know, it is critically reviled and both other people who saw it hated it.  But I have always loved it.

I loved this one as well!!! I thought it was super fun and have seen it a bunch of times also.

[hefdaddy42]

BTW, Hudson Hawk. 

I know, I know, it is critically reviled and both other people who saw it hated it.  But I have always loved it.

I loved this one as well!!! I thought it was super fun and have seen it a bunch of times also.

[soupytwist]

Ghostbusters : Afterlife.

Very charming film with some lovely throwbacks and a really nice cast of characters, but completely undersold by a underwhelming and somewhat plodding plot that never really gets going.
6/10.

[newtree43]

french dispatch on bad copy. may have to watch again to review

[Cool Chris]

The 2019 British TV presentation of A Christmas Carol, with Guy Pearce. I know the story of A Christmas Carol well. I try to read it every Christmas, and have seen several of the film/tv adaptations, some multiple times. That being said, I have no idea how to express my feelings for this version. I will say after finishing it last night, it has been on my mind, haunted me, you might say, the whole day. I will try and write down my thoughts after I have had a little more time to process them.

"Nor shall forgiveness ever be earned, nor expected, nor wanted. My business now is the future. I will just be the best I can be."

[hefdaddy42]

The 2019 British TV presentation of A Christmas Carol, with Guy Pearce. I know the story of A Christmas Carol well. I try to read it every Christmas, and have seen several of the film/tv adaptations, some multiple times. That being said, I have no idea how to express my feelings for this version. I will say after finishing it last night, it has been on my mind, haunted me, you might say, the whole day. I will try and write down my thoughts after I have had a little more time to process them.

"Nor shall forgiveness ever be earned, nor expected, nor wanted. My business now is the future. I will just be the best I can be."

That's been on my list since it came out, and I haven't watched it yet.  I will do my best to make the time sometime in the next several days.


It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

Clearly seen as a Christmas classic.  I had not seen it in a LONG time, and my wife had NEVER seen it, so she agreed to do so over the weekend.  Really good movie with flaws, as are many other Capra films among others of this era.  Well over halfway into the film, my wife asked "So what does this have to do with Christmas?" and I had to explain to her that most of the film is just backstory and setup for the actual story.  Which sounds weird, but once you accept it, it's a really good film.

Klaus (2019)

I don't normally enjoy animated films very much, but we were still in a Christmasy mood so we knocked it out.  It was cute enough, with an interesting animation style.  Very nice, although I doubt I watch it again.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Holy shit.

[pg1067]

I kinda realized in the last couple weeks that I don't really like Christmas movies.

I pulled up a recent list of "best Christmas movies" ( https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a50565/best-christmas-movies-of-all-time/ ) and this was the top 10:

1. It's a Wonderful Life -- I don't know when I first saw it.  It's good, but I don't really feel like I need to see it again.

2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation -- I think I never saw this any time close to when it came out.  I was 22 when it was released, so I did most of my moviegoing with friends, and this isn't the sort of thing we'd have gone to see.  I saw it in a $5 bin about 5 years ago and bought it.  Holy crap does it suck.

3. A Christmas Story -- Again, I didn't see it when it came out.  I've now seen it many times (mostly in bits and pieces) when it's on TV so much.  It's ok.

4. White Christmas -- Old timey musical.  No thanks.

5. Home Alone -- Is this really a Christmas movie?  I saw it back in the day and don't need to see it again.

6. Scrooged -- Don't think I've ever seen it.  Should I?

7. Miracle on 34th Street -- Best one so far.  I'll actually leave it on if I'm flipping channels and come across it.

8. Bad Santa -- Never saw it.  Looks dumb.

9/10. A Christmas Carol -- The list actually has (at least) two versions of this and has the Muppet version ranked one spot ahead of the Alastair Sim version, which basically destroys any credibility this list has (as if having Bad Santa at #8 didn't do the trick).  The Alastair Sim version is one of my wife's all-time favorite movies, so I usually see this at least once every Christmas season.  It's good, but I've seen it too many times.  I've never seen and have no desire to see the Muppet version.

11. The Nightmare Before Christmas -- Since I lumped the two Christmas Carols together, I decided to include #11.  Again, is this really a Christmas movie?  I didn't see this movie until sometime in the mid-2000s.  The person who got me to watch it LOVED it.  I was not impressed.

Scrolling through the rest of the list, not much jumped out, except....

They have a bunch of the made-for-TV specials (Charlie Brown, Rudolph, etc.).  THOSE are where it's at for me, and I'm pretty sure that's completely a nostalgia thing.  I watched those religiously as a child.

The rest of the list had a bunch of stuff that I've either never seen or movies that aren't really Christmas movies (e.g., Eyes Wide Shut...WTF?!).

While we're on that subject, I have had a change of heart.  Die Hard, while epic, is not a Christmas movie just because it happens on Christmas eve.

Others worth mentioning:  Polar Express is cool, but I've seen it too many times now.  The Santa Clause movies were a thing in my house for a while.  They're bloody awful.  The Holiday is really good (but I don't think of it as a Christmas movie -- maybe there needs to be a separate category for "incidental Christmas movies").

Anyway...that is all.

[jammindude]

I personally think Scrooged is the best version of a Christmas Carol. But I think Bill Murray is brilliant and not everybody does.

It was a nice move getting his real life brothers to play his family. Brian Doyle Murray has a cameo as the dad in the “Christmas Past” scene.

[pg1067]

I personally think Scrooged is the best version of a Christmas Carol.

Didn't realize that's what it was.  Maybe I'll try to track it down.

[hefdaddy42]

Scrooged -- Don't think I've ever seen it.  Should I?

Yes, if you like Bill Murray.

If you don't, then definitely don't see it.

[Stadler]

So, my daughter wants to watch a Christmas-themed movie each night she's at my house until Xmas.   We watched Christmas Vacation the other night; legendary and still funny (I love when Clark loses it at the end).  We watched the live-action Grinch last night, and... I hated it.  It's everything I don't like about Hollywood.  I know i shouldn't care, and I don't in the big picture, but I found myself getting annoyed while watching it.  I found myself feeling resentment, imagining Ron Howard and Jim Carrey thinking they were adding to the mythos with the "backstory" and the snarky asides, some laden with innuendo.    The Seuss version didn't last 64 years because it suffered from a lack of "backstory", or a dirth of snarky asides.   It just seemed - to me, one prone to overthink things - as so calculated and contrived and in-group-y.   

I'm going to lobby for "A Christmas Story" when she comes back over (she's with Mom for the next couple days).  I love that movie.

[pg1067]

Scrooged -- Don't think I've ever seen it.  Should I?

Yes, if you like Bill Murray.

If you don't, then definitely don't see it.

He's done a shit ton of stuff I haven't seen (particularly post-turn of the century), but I've generally liked everything I've seen him in (What About Bob being a MAJOR exception).

[hefdaddy42]

Scrooged -- Don't think I've ever seen it.  Should I?

Yes, if you like Bill Murray.

If you don't, then definitely don't see it.

He's done a shit ton of stuff I haven't seen (particularly post-turn of the century), but I've generally liked everything I've seen him in (What About Bob being a MAJOR exception).

I am also not a fan of that film.  If I never see it again, that will be fine.

Otherwise, he can do little wrong, in my book.

[pg1067]

Scrooged -- Don't think I've ever seen it.  Should I?

Yes, if you like Bill Murray.

If you don't, then definitely don't see it.

He's done a shit ton of stuff I haven't seen (particularly post-turn of the century), but I've generally liked everything I've seen him in (What About Bob being a MAJOR exception).

I am also not a fan of that film.  If I never see it again, that will be fine.

Otherwise, he can do little wrong, in my book.

When I was in my late teens/early 20s, I would occasionally borrow my sister's VCR, hook it to mine, and spend a couple days renting movies and copying them onto blank tapes.  Often, I'd just set them to go and not watch them at the time of copying.  What About Bob was one such movie.  When I met my now wife in '93, we watched a lot of movies, and she said she LOVED What About Bob.  We watched it together, and I thought, "what the fuck?!  This guy's an a-hole."  Well played by Murray, but no thanks.

[Orbert]

I had the misfortune of being named Bob whilst in a small group of co-workers who loved the movie "What About Bob?"  I'd seen some of it once, and thought it was completely stupid.  I never finished it.  The humor (if you can call it that) is that Bob's an asshole, and an idiot, and I guess it's supposed to be funny how flustered Richard Dreyfuss gets.  Dreyfuss was one of my favorite actors, and while I like Bill Murray well enough, I've never been a fan of that kind of humor.  Ha ha, he's such an idiot, isn't it funny?  Ha ha, he's such an asshole, isn't if funny?  No, it's not.  I deal with idiots and assholes in my real life; I don't need it during my recreational escapism.

We were trying to decide... something -- I forget now what it was -- and people were weighing in, and someone said "What about Bob?" and everyone looked at me and said "What about Bob?" "What about Bob?" "What about Bob?"  Dear fucking lord, are you kidding me?  Unfunny meta-humor based on an unfunny movie?  I didn't exactly hate that movie before -- I just thought it was completely stupid -- but I pretty much hated it from that point forward.

[pg1067]

I'd seen some of it once, and thought it was completely stupid.  I never finished it.  The humor (if you can call it that) is that Bob's an asshole, and an idiot, and I guess it's supposed to be funny how flustered Richard Dreyfuss gets.  Dreyfuss was one of my favorite actors, and while I like Bill Murray well enough, I've never been a fan of that kind of humor.  Ha ha, he's such an idiot, isn't it funny?  Ha ha, he's such an asshole, isn't if funny?  No, it's not.

Pretty much my reaction to a T.  And on top of that, the Dreyfuss character was the only one acting rationally while everyone else kept "siding with" Bob.  How is that funny?  (rhetorical question).

[Cool Chris]

That Top 10 Christmas Movies list is basically "10 most famous, celebrated Christmas movies."

I'll put It's A Wonderful Life at #1 easily, and yes, we could say it's not a Christmas movie, but it has become part of the holiday culture, so it qualifies. And I am not sure if this has ever been said on these forums, but Hef, you are objectively wrong. That movie has no flaws. 

Also, Hef, if still reading and placing any value to my posts, watch that Guy Pearce A Christmas Carol. It's broken down in to three parts, so you can split it nicely over multiple nights, which is what I did.

I will also gladly wave the flag for the 1984 A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott. Excluding the Guy Pearce version (which is really hard to compare against the others), this is my definitive telling of the story. It hits on all cylinders and tops every other version across the board (with the possible exception of Bob. No slight on the amazing David Warner, but he almost seems too.... stately to be a lowly, starving clerk. Richard E. Grant is top notch in the 1999 Patrick Stewart version.)

Just saw the Muppet version last night. Somehow never saw it. And I loved the Muppets growing up. Those early Muppet films were quite good, I was highly disappointed.

[hefdaddy42]

I'll put It's A Wonderful Life at #1 easily, and yes, we could say it's not a Christmas movie, but it has become part of the holiday culture, so it qualifies. And I am not sure if this has ever been said on these forums, but Hef, you are objectively wrong. That movie has no flaws. 

Nope, not the first time lol.  Agree to disagree about flaws in the film.  Having said that, I am talking about, IMO, minor flaws.  It's a great film.

Also, Hef, if still reading and placing any value to my posts, watch that Guy Pearce A Christmas Carol. It's broken down in to three parts, so you can split it nicely over multiple nights, which is what I did.

I will also gladly wave the flag for the 1984 A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott. Excluding the Guy Pearce version (which is really hard to compare against the others), this is my definitive telling of the story. It hits on all cylinders and tops every other version across the board (with the possible exception of Bob. No slight on the amazing David Warner, but he almost seems too.... stately to be a lowly, starving clerk. Richard E. Grant is top notch in the 1999 Patrick Stewart version.)

Yeah, the Scott version is an all-time fave.

Just saw the Muppet version last night. Somehow never saw it. And I loved the Muppets growing up. Those early Muppet films were quite good, I was highly disappointed.

Yep.  Not great.

[MirrorMask]

Some animated movies came out in recent years are quite good.

Klaus, on Netflix, is fantastic.

Arthur Christmas is another excellent and heartwarming story.


Both try to "make sense" of the myth of Santa Claus adding some explanations to the legend, while having at the same time a nice story. I highly recommend seeing them both, especially with kids!

[ZirconBlue]

I kinda realized in the last couple weeks that I don't really like Christmas movies.

I pulled up a recent list of "best Christmas movies" ( https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a50565/best-christmas-movies-of-all-time/ ) and this was the top 10:

1. It's a Wonderful Life -- I don't know when I first saw it.  It's good, but I don't really feel like I need to see it again.

2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation -- I think I never saw this any time close to when it came out.  I was 22 when it was released, so I did most of my moviegoing with friends, and this isn't the sort of thing we'd have gone to see.  I saw it in a $5 bin about 5 years ago and bought it.  Holy crap does it suck.

3. A Christmas Story -- Again, I didn't see it when it came out.  I've now seen it many times (mostly in bits and pieces) when it's on TV so much.  It's ok.

4. White Christmas -- Old timey musical.  No thanks.

5. Home Alone -- Is this really a Christmas movie?  I saw it back in the day and don't need to see it again.

6. Scrooged -- Don't think I've ever seen it.  Should I?

7. Miracle on 34th Street -- Best one so far.  I'll actually leave it on if I'm flipping channels and come across it.

8. Bad Santa -- Never saw it.  Looks dumb.

9/10. A Christmas Carol -- The list actually has (at least) two versions of this and has the Muppet version ranked one spot ahead of the Alastair Sim version, which basically destroys any credibility this list has (as if having Bad Santa at #8 didn't do the trick).  The Alastair Sim version is one of my wife's all-time favorite movies, so I usually see this at least once every Christmas season.  It's good, but I've seen it too many times.  I've never seen and have no desire to see the Muppet version.

11. The Nightmare Before Christmas -- Since I lumped the two Christmas Carols together, I decided to include #11.  Again, is this really a Christmas movie?  I didn't see this movie until sometime in the mid-2000s.  The person who got me to watch it LOVED it.  I was not impressed.

Scrolling through the rest of the list, not much jumped out, except....

They have a bunch of the made-for-TV specials (Charlie Brown, Rudolph, etc.).  THOSE are where it's at for me, and I'm pretty sure that's completely a nostalgia thing.  I watched those religiously as a child.

The rest of the list had a bunch of stuff that I've either never seen or movies that aren't really Christmas movies (e.g., Eyes Wide Shut...WTF?!).

While we're on that subject, I have had a change of heart.  Die Hard, while epic, is not a Christmas movie just because it happens on Christmas eve.

Others worth mentioning:  Polar Express is cool, but I've seen it too many times now.  The Santa Clause movies were a thing in my house for a while.  They're bloody awful.  The Holiday is really good (but I don't think of it as a Christmas movie -- maybe there needs to be a separate category for "incidental Christmas movies").

Anyway...that is all.

I don't agree with that list, in general, but The Muppet Christmas Carol is definitely the best movie version of that story.  Michael Caine is awesome in it, and adding Dickens as a character means they can include a lot of the non-dialogue parts of the book.

[hefdaddy42]

The animated version starring Jim Carrey is surprisingly good (to me, anyway, who is not a Carrey fan).

[pg1067]

I watched the 1970 stop motion Santa Claus is Coming to Town (with Fred Astaire and Mickey Rooney).  After 50+ years, it's still awesome.  The nostalgia is off the charts.  And some of the stuff they came up with to explain "why does Santa do ___?" is really pretty clever.

[Orbert]

I love that one!  Those Rankin & Bass specials were the best.

[MirrorMask]

Saw Don't Look Up on Netflix, a black comedy (well, comedy to a certain point) about the public reaction when a comet due to a collision with Earth in six months is discovered.

I was expecting it to be so-so but overall it was fun to watch, and it was a mercilessly realistic portrayal of how nowadays we would react to a mass extinction danger (spoiler: basically the same way we reacted, and are still reacting, to Covid).

[gmillerdrake]

Saw Don't Look Up on Netflix, a black comedy (well, comedy to a certain point) about the public reaction when a comet due to a collision with Earth in six months is discovered.

I was expecting it to be so-so but overall it was fun to watch, and it was a mercilessly realistic portrayal of how nowadays we would react to a mass extinction danger (spoiler: basically the same way we reacted, and are still reacting, to Covid).

Watched this last night as well. I enjoyed it for the most part but the heavy handedness of the obvious comparison to Trump and his ‘followers’ got a bit annoying and made me roll my eyes on more than one occasion. We get it….Hollywood doesn’t like trump.

But overall…..sadly…..I think that show pretty much nailed how we’d react as a country to that news. But I don’t believe they were accurate on how useless the other countries of the world would have been.

[MirrorMask]

I liked the most the rant of Di Caprio's character near the end, when he screams on TV something about "we know there's a comet 'cause we saw it and we took fucking pictures of it, if we can't agree about at least this, how can we even comunicate?" or something like that.

[gmillerdrake]

I liked the most the rant of Di Caprio's character near the end, when he screams on TV something about "we know there's a comet 'cause we saw it and we took fucking pictures of it, if we can't agree about at least this, how can we even comunicate?" or something like that.

Yeah. That was pretty epic and nailed our current cultures lack of ‘give a shitness’

[bosk1]

Re: "Christmas movies":  First off, a bit of a rant.  I think the "is it a Christmas movie?" debate is stupid and overly pedantic.  If you enjoy it and it reminds you of Christmas because it (a) is all about Christmas, (b) merely has Christmas as the setting, or (c) something in between, I don't really care what you call it.  Just shut up and enjoy it and stop being pedantic.

I've come to love "Christmas movies"--or at least some of them.  Not necessarily because they are great movies, but simply because they remind me of that time of year when family is together.  And the older I get, as the kids grow up and become more independent and start living their own lives, is something I treasure more and more. 

As for the list:
1. It's a Wonderful Life -- I never used to like those "old" movies that were old when my parents were growing up,  but that they love.  I largely ignored them.  And we didn't really have a tradition of sitting down to watch those.  As a result, while I may have seen bits and pieces of many, I hadn't actually sat down and watched most of them all the way through and couldn't have told you what happened in them until fairly recently.  This is one of those.  Can't remember when I first saw this one.  I want to say maybe 5 years ago, but it was probably longer (but not 10 years, I'm pretty sure).  My wife loves it, and I have come to really like it as well.

2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation -- Saw it in the '80s.  As with the other National Lampoon films, it's not my kind of humor.  Don't like it.  Too crass and vulgar.  Haven't seen it in ages and no desire to.

3. A Christmas Story -- Hadn't seen this until last year.  Last year!  I don't know now I missed out on it for so long.  I really enjoyed it and laughed out loud so many times.

4. White Christmas -- Pretty sure I've seen it, but no specific recollection.

5. Home Alone -- Love this one and the second one.  We typically watch it every year.  Each year, I have the same reaction during the viewing:  "This is starting to feel old, and I'm not sure I can get through this again next year.  But...the humor still lands, the nostalgia is huge, and the kids love it."  It doesn't make me laugh out loud anymore, but it does bring repeated smiles.

6. Scrooged -- Haven't seen it in a long time, but I remember liking it.  That was a LONG time ago, but I want to drag it out again.  Probably next year.

7.  Miracle on 34th Street -- I feel like I've seen it, but not sure.  It's also on the list of "I missed out on this for years because of my bias against these kids of films, and need to check it out."

8. Bad Santa -- Never saw it.  Looks dumb.  Probably never will

9/10. A Christmas Carol[/u] -- I've seen both, and it has been SO long that I don't have a clear recollection.  And when I say it has been a long time, I mean I was an actual kid.  Maybe teenager.  I remember liking the muppet version.  I don't recall the live version.

11. The Nightmare Before Christmas[/u] -- I like it a lot.  Yeah, it's a kids' movie.  But we have broken it out and watched it at Halloween time since the kids were really young, so it is a favorite.  I love that we can take our Jack and Sally decorations out for Halloween and leave them up through Christmas. 

[Lonk]

Just saw Don't Look Up. I'm a sucker for apocalyptic movies, so it was very enjoyable.

[gmillerdrake]

Just saw Don't Look Up. I'm a sucker for apocalyptic movies, so it was very enjoyable.

You should check out ‘Station 11’ on HBO Max. It’s a pretty cool post apocalyptic series.

[chknptpie]

Just saw Don't Look Up. I'm a sucker for apocalyptic movies, so it was very enjoyable.

You should check out ‘Station 11’ on HBO Max. It’s a pretty cool post apocalyptic series.

I read the book and liked it, but did not enjoy the series. Only made it through the 3rd episode which seemed like the LONGEST thing I've ever sat through.

[gmillerdrake]

Just saw Don't Look Up. I'm a sucker for apocalyptic movies, so it was very enjoyable.

You should check out ‘Station 11’ on HBO Max. It’s a pretty cool post apocalyptic series.

I read the book and liked it, but did not enjoy the series. Only made it through the 3rd episode which seemed like the LONGEST thing I've ever sat through.

Not sure how many episodes there are…..it’s still going….I think it’s up to 6 right now. I never read the books so I guess I’m lucky I have nothing to compare it to.

[Lonk]

Just saw Don't Look Up. I'm a sucker for apocalyptic movies, so it was very enjoyable.

You should check out ‘Station 11’ on HBO Max. It’s a pretty cool post apocalyptic series.

Thanks, I'll check it out 

[Phoenix87x]

darren aronofsky's Noah

Really liked it