All Things Movie/Documentary Reviews/Recommendations Thread

Donate To GopherHole
fan of Ray Williams said:
Don’t think this is giving away anything important about the movie, but theres a scene where Butler is taking swings in a batting cage from balls pitched from a machine. Austin has a really bad swing.
Click to expand...

I picked up on that too. Maybe they just trained him to hit the ball exactly where the pitching machine was going to place it or even used CGI.
 


Ope3 said:
Caught Stealing - Very good. I liked this popcorn thriller more than I expected that features twists and turns that were not foreseen.
Click to expand...


Apologies. Didn’t know you had mentioned it. You probably have much better insight on it than I. (I should have used the search feature)
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Apologies. Didn’t know you had mentioned it. You probably have much better insight on it than I. (I should have used the search feature)
Click to expand...
No worries. My previous "reminder" comment was because I had to look up myself what happened in that Cubs-Giants game when the movie was over. I was pretty sure the Cubs with Gaetti advanced, but wasn't positive.

I agree with your take on Schreiber & D'Onofrio having probably the juiciest roles.
 

Recently watched on Apple -

The Lost Bus - solid B for me. Amazing special effects showing the Paradise, CA Wildfire, with a cool story based on a true story. McConaughey with his usual good performance.

Highest to Lowest- C- for me and would have been a D, without Denzel being the headliner. Improbable storyline and I generally always like Spike’s flicks, but it really felt like he phoned this one in.
 


BleedGopher said:
Watched the new Naked Gun last night, oof, rough watch. I loved the original, Naked Gun 2 1/2 was solid as well, thought the cast and time away from the original Trilogy would do it justice, but it didn't go nearly far enough for the over the top sarcastic/dry humor of the original, so it was stuck between that and just a bad script. A shame.

Go Original Naked Gun Movie!!
Click to expand...
Really? Disagree. I thought it was very funny. As good as the original? Of course not. But funny nonetheless.

In fact I hadn't heard anyone (that I knew personally) dislike it until this thread. 🤷‍♂️
 
Last edited:

Thought this was worth posting. This X follow often has a lot of really good movie filming trivia

 

BleedGopher said:
Watched the new Naked Gun last night, oof, rough watch. I loved the original, Naked Gun 2 1/2 was solid as well, thought the cast and time away from the original Trilogy would do it justice, but it didn't go nearly far enough for the over the top sarcastic/dry humor of the original, so it was stuck between that and just a bad script. A shame.

Go Original Naked Gun Movie!!
Click to expand...
Ope3 said:
Thanks for the warning, I was tempted to take a flier.
Click to expand...

I was pretty sure I wasn't going to see it already. This would largely solidify that fact. Liam Neeson is getting tiresome and he's better in drama anyway
 

WilliamsArenaGuy said:
Really? Disagree. I thought it was very funny. As good as the original? Of course not. But funny nonetheless.

In fact I hadn't heard anyone (that I knew personally) dislike it until this thread. 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
I saw it in the movie theater and went in with pretty low expectations, and had a good time with it. Certainly didn’t measure up to the original, but there were a couple scenes that had me laughing out loud and yeah, the plot line was ridiculous, but that was to be expected. It was nice being in a theater for a comedy after a long time; I doubt I would have enjoyed it as much at home on my couch.
 



If you're even a little bit of an Ozzy Osbourne fan, there's a new doc on Paramount Plus that's more than worth your time. Chronicles his struggles with back pain and Parkinson's leading up to his HOF induction and final show in Birmingham.
 

Not a big barstool guy but this is mostly Ken Burns talking about his American Revolution documentary coming out soon. So good, could listen to him talk about this all day.


www.pbs.org

The American Revolution | Premieres Nov. 16 | PBS

The American Revolution, a landmark documentary by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, premieres Nov. 16, 2025.
www.pbs.org
 

WilliamsArenaGuy said:
Really? Disagree. I thought it was very funny. As good as the original? Of course not. But funny nonetheless.

In fact I hadn't heard anyone (that I knew personally) dislike it until this thread. 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
I watched it this morning and I'd give it a generous "6" but it's damn near impossible to replicate the genius of the original.

I did think Neeson pulled off the role better than I expected and the scene with him on body cam in the car and needing to poop had me rolling.
 

Anyone else seen 28 years later yet. I didn’t hate it but will be interesting to see where the sequels go. A good amount of subtle references to the first two movies.
 



“From the producers that watched the first two seasons of Downtown Abbey”

 

Over the past week I have seen a pair of biopic movies which I think are quite worthwhile (good not necessarily great), but given the stars associated and the budgets involved, I think they are going to both be deemed as failures if not full on Box Office Flops. That's a shame.

The Smashing Machine on the life of Mark Kerr held me more than I would have thought given that I am not really a fan of Dwayne Johnson, MMA of any kind nor even heard of Kerr. I probably have watched less than 20 minutes of it in my entire lifetime.

Johnson gives a solid dramatic performance, which I quite honestly did not know he had the chops to pull off. It's an intriguing story and shot in quite in a way that it feels like a documentary at some points. His friend/trainer/rival is played by an actual MMA guy, Ryan Bader who also pulls it off quite well. Emily Blunt is solid as always.

Deliver Me from Nowhere is specifically about Bruce Springsteen on the heals of The River and the making, recording and releasing Nebraska. It's dark. Really dark.

However, being so familiar with the album and the Boss' circumstances around it, especially since his one man Broadway show it's really everything I would have expected. It's done quite well. While I enjoyed it, I would find it really hard for any non-Springsteen acolyte to be on board for this ride.

I really wish SoN was around to give his thoughts on the film.
 

Ope3 said:
Over the past week I have seen a pair of biopic movies which I think are quite worthwhile (good not necessarily great), but given the stars associated and the budgets involved, I think they are going to both be deemed as failures if not full on Box Office Flops. That's a shame.

The Smashing Machine on the life of Mark Kerr held me more than I would have thought given that I am not really a fan of Dwayne Johnson, MMA of any kind nor even heard of Kerr. I probably have watched less than 20 minutes of it in my entire lifetime.

Johnson gives a solid dramatic performance, which I quite honestly did not know he had the chops to pull off. It's an intriguing story and shot in quite in a way that it feels like a documentary at some points. His friend/trainer/rival is played by an actual MMA guy, Ryan Bader who also pulls it off quite well. Emily Blunt is solid as always.

Deliver Me from Nowhere is specifically about Bruce Springsteen on the heals of The River and the making, recording and releasing Nebraska. It's dark. Really dark.

However, being so familiar with the album and the Boss' circumstances around it, especially since his one man Broadway show it's really everything I would have expected. It's done quite well. While I enjoyed it, I would find it really hard for any non-Springsteen acolyte to be on board for this ride.

I really wish SoN was around to give his thoughts on the film.
Click to expand...
Watched The Smashing Machine. Somewhere in this thread I have a post about the original that came out in 2002. Liked that one better, which of course was a documentary. Thought Johnson, Blunt, Bader, Valel were good. Johnson did a good job portraying some of the traits Mark had. Lots of addiction with Mark and Dawn.
 

Ope3 said:
Over the past week I have seen a pair of biopic movies which I think are quite worthwhile (good not necessarily great), but given the stars associated and the budgets involved, I think they are going to both be deemed as failures if not full on Box Office Flops. That's a shame.

The Smashing Machine on the life of Mark Kerr held me more than I would have thought given that I am not really a fan of Dwayne Johnson, MMA of any kind nor even heard of Kerr. I probably have watched less than 20 minutes of it in my entire lifetime.

Johnson gives a solid dramatic performance, which I quite honestly did not know he had the chops to pull off. It's an intriguing story and shot in quite in a way that it feels like a documentary at some points. His friend/trainer/rival is played by an actual MMA guy, Ryan Bader who also pulls it off quite well. Emily Blunt is solid as always.

Deliver Me from Nowhere is specifically about Bruce Springsteen on the heals of The River and the making, recording and releasing Nebraska. It's dark. Really dark.

However, being so familiar with the album and the Boss' circumstances around it, especially since his one man Broadway show it's really everything I would have expected. It's done quite well. While I enjoyed it, I would find it really hard for any non-Springsteen acolyte to be on board for this ride.

I really wish SoN was around to give his thoughts on the film.
Click to expand...
When I've seen the previews for The Smashing Machine, I can't help but think of The Wrestler, one of my all time favorite movies, so I've been resistant to the idea of watching the MMA version which I imagine I'll be comparing too critically to that movie. Am I on point or is there a significant difference between these two?
 

coolhandgopher said:
When I've seen the previews for The Smashing Machine, I can't help but think of The Wrestler, one of my all time favorite movies, so I've been resistant to the idea of watching the MMA version which I imagine I'll be comparing too critically to that movie. Am I on point or is there a significant difference between these two?
Click to expand...

I would say The Wrestler is a better film.

However, other than both being in the "sports film" genre, they are pretty divergent in terms of story arcs, conflicts and characters.

The Kerr character is in a sport just as it is gaining traction while he is in his prime physical shape. The Ram is clearly way past his expiration date just trying to hang on and make a buck, as a performing artist.

Both do have real life participants in their sports though and similar tones, but that's about it.

If anything The Smashing Machine is closer to The Iron Claw with regards to struggles with addiction and mental health.
 

I like westerns, so watched the previews of Gunslingers on Netflix. Man oh man, that voice that Nicolas Cage is using might be the most over the top I can recall of any actor. How in the world could a director hear that and say, “yeah, Nick, let’s go with that!”
Looks like horrendous reviews.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
I like westerns, so watched the previews of Gunslingers on Netflix. Man oh man, that voice that Nicolas Cage is using might be the most over the top I can recall of any actor. How in the world could a director hear that and say, “yeah, Nick, let’s go with that!”
Looks like horrendous reviews.
Click to expand...
3.6 rating on IMDB. Yikes. So bad I might just have to watch it now.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom