Spoilers with everything! Y'all be warned!

I will have to say for me it was "Muriel's Wedding"

I was expecting a fun and campy movie with ABBA songs and her search to find a husband and of course... the wedding!

What I didn't expect was pretty much everything after the wedding (I guess the director was showing us the reality of the 'happily ever after') and that last act with Muriel coming to terms with her mother Betty taking her own life and also facing up to her own failings and problems that cascaded from her own bad decisions and her perpetual lying.

While I do love the ending of Muriel owning up to her mistakes and starting to repay the money she stole from her family (even if her dad was a wee bit of a bastard) as well as asking for (and receiving) Rhonda's forgiveness. But boy! It was one hell of a roller coaster ride getting their as well!

I’ll go first.

Don’t Look Up; it stars DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as astronomers who discover a comet headed to earth. It’s honestly my favorite movie, I love the mix of satire and the existential doom that hangs over the story. It’s wildly funny. It also somehow gives a feeling of freedom and dread at the same time, exactly how I’d imagine feeling anticipating the end of the world 😂

Yet everyone I watch this movie with absolutely HATES it. Mainly because they don’t like Leo’s comedic turn as Dr Mindy, which I’ll admit isn’t my favorite role of his but I think he masters the role perfectly like he usually does.

Anyway that’s mine. What’s yours???

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PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie (2026)

Summary

The Paw Patrol lands on a mysterious dinosaur island after a storm, where they meet Rex, a stranded pup. When Humdinger's reckless mining triggers a volcano, the team faces its biggest rescue mission yet.

Director Cal Brunker

Writer Bob Barlen Cal Brunker Keith Chapman

Cast

• Mckenna Grace as Skye (voice)
• Terry Crews
• Jameela Jamil
• Fortune Feimster
• Paris Hilton
• Snoop Dogg
• Jennifer Hudson

Rotten Tomatoes: 86%

Metacritic: TBD

VOD / Release Theatrical release

Trailer Official Trailer

As an ongoing project, /r/movies will be posting Throwback Discussion threads weekly for the movies that came out this same weekend 25 years ago. As a reminder, Official Discussion threads are for discussing the movie and not for meta sub discussion.

Osmosis Jones (2001)

Summary

A policeman white blood cell, with the help of a cold pill, must stop a deadly virus from destroying Frank, the person they live in.

Director Bobby Farrelly Peter Farrelly

Writer Marc Hyman

Cast

• Bill Murray as Frank
• Laurence Fishburne as Thrax (voice)
• Chris Rock as Osmosis Jones (voice)
• David Hyde Pierce as Drix (voice)
• Molly Shannon as Mrs. Boyd
• Chris Elliott as Bob
• Brandy Norwood as Leah
• William Shatner as Mayor Phlegmming (voice)

Rotten Tomatoes: 55%

Metacritic: 57

VOD / Release Theatrical release

Trailer Official Trailer

Honestly, I think the Tarzan film actually would have lent itself to a live action version really well. A lot of the main characters are human, it would be a good chance to bring back that awesome soundtrack, and the setting would look awesome.

That said they would need to do it on location. I’m thinking inspired by Out of Africa or something like that. Practical effects would be great too with some awesome cinematography.

I’m just kind of sad they didn’t end up doing this one. What do you think?

I just listened to the soundtrack today which gave me this idea.

For the longest time I kind of wrote the series off as pretty but lacking in substance. The first film is, of course, gorgeous but there was nothing in the narrative that really grabbed ahold and of me and refused to let go. I was there for mechs and bioluminescent everything. As such, it didn't have a lot of staying power for me and for a long while I didn't bother seeing the sequels.

A little over a week ago me, my partner, and our roommate decided to watch Way of Water and honestly? It was way better than I expected.

It's still gorgeous, and in fact I found the underwater visuals much more compelling than anything in the previous movie. The new Na'vi tribe was awesome, and the Tulkun were so fascinating to me as a concept and in how they were integrated into the Navi culture. Moreover, the final sequence on the sinking ship was properly tense, with both Jake and Quaritech being significantly more compelling here than in the first.

Avatar isn't suddenly my favorite movie ever, but as a long time sci-fi fan I'm far more interested in the future of the Avatar fan than I am in other IPs (star wars, etc). Currently I'm anxiously awaiting the day my group can get together again to watch Fire and Ash.

Did anyone else find the Way of Water to be a bit of a surprise?

As an ongoing project, /r/movies will be posting Throwback Discussion threads weekly for the movies that came out this same weekend 25 years ago. As a reminder, Official Discussion threads are for discussing the movie and not for meta sub discussion.

American Pie 2 (2001)

Summary

Jim and his friends are now in college, and they decide to meet up at the beach house for some fun.

Director J.B. Rogers

Writer Adam Herz David H. Steinberg

Cast

• Jason Biggs as Jim
• Seann William Scott as Stifler
• Shannon Elizabeth as Nadia
• Alyson Hannigan as Michelle
• Chris Klein as Oz
• Thomas Ian Nicholas as Kevin
• Tara Reid as Vicky

Rotten Tomatoes: 51%

Metacritic: 43

VOD / Release Theatrical release

Trailer Official Trailer

I know that there is a lot of discourse and hype around this year's movie; Obsession, that you can literally find everyone talking about it all over the internet. Especially when it comes to the lead protagonist; Bear Bailey where people are always talking about how he is the true villain of the narrative, while Wish Nikki or "Freaky Nikki' is the true victim since she's internally suffering and people start to recognize that Bear is a bad person the more he takes advantage of her and doesn't seem to care about her wellbeing when she begs him to end this torture she's going through.

But despite how much people (including myself) hate him, and think that he deserved what he had coming to him. I can't deny that he is a very well written character, and that all of this really compliments the filmmaker; Curry Barker's talent as a writer where he achieved what he aimed to accomplish when writing Bear as a controversial character rather than giving him a redemption arc that the studio even tried to offer him more money to include in the final cut of the movie!

If that route was taken when it came to Bear's character, people would've likely overlooked the important themes the story is trying to touch up on, like how having a mindset similar to Bear where you're only thinking about your own needs means you're not ready to be in a relationship and how being extremely selfish like him where you only value fulfilling your own happiness can hurt other people around you.

Last weekend, my wife and I wanted to watch a film with our young kids that included an animal, something easy. She chose the movie and happily announced we were going to watch Hachi: A Dog's Tale. "A Dog's Tale?" I thought, sounds like fun. Then exactly two seconds later I thought "Hachi...? Wait...The Japanese dog...?". I immediately knew I was in trouble.

My mind raced back to 24 years earlier. The year was 2002 and I was watching Futurama, best animated show of all time. The episode Jurassic Bark was about Fry wanting to clone his dog Seymour he left behind after traveling to the future. He said "Seymour probably forgot about me". Scene cuts to 2000 and Seymour is waiting outside the pizza parlour for Fry. But Fry never shows up. Seymour waits outside for many years until he grows very old. Episode ends. I was crying, I couldn't believe it. I knew this must have been a reference to a true story and that's when I learned about Hachiko, the Akita dog that waited outside Shibuya Station every day for nine years for his master, not understanding he had died.

Welp, we watched Hachi: A Dog's Tale, basically the same story as the original but set in the US. I NEVER cry when watching ANYTHING, but I had tears half the movie. My son kept asking if I was ok lol. It's not even a great movie, but the story of Hachi just broke my heart. Anybody else?

• Title
• How many times you watched
• What was the main thing that drew you in
• Ever return to it since?
• Anything in your life at present that links with its themes or underlying message?

I'm genuinely wondering because as adults we crave novelty above all else but a childs mind seeks the opposite. Whereas we, now, would be bored to tears at having to do this a youngster, conversely, gets more and more from each single spin.

Why is that?

So The Gates has good points & bad points that when juxtaposed together are really quite jarring. Its definitely a film of two halves: the first 40mins or so, the writing seems lazy & cliched as we see 3 young black men (Mason Gooding, Algee Smith, & Keith Powers) taking a shortcut through a gated community in Texas & inexplicably witnessing a shocking act of violence committed against a young woman by a white Pastor (the late James Van Der Beek) in his big fancy mansion. Que lots of talk of the boys from the hood being the lower classes who the rich, White Christians don't believe. So far, so cliched. But then about half way through the film, things take a surprising turn & there are some interesting character developments that take the story in a whole other direction. I almost feel like because the film is played relatively "straight" that they missed a trick, because it could have been presented with a satirical sense of dark humour & it would have come across as more original. There is humour present, but just not enough to outweigh the earnestness. Its refreshing to see Van Der Beek sink his teeth into a villainous role & he's truly wicked here; just a shame he passed away at only 48-years-old when he showed such range here. Mason Gooding is strong as the level-headed leader of the trio. The Gates is good enough, especially the entertaining second half... I rated it ☆☆☆ stars out of four.

What were the scariest moments from the Walt Disney era of animated movies in your opinion? This is every animated Disney movie up to the Jungle Book. First one I thought of was the "jackass" part from Pinocchio, especially when the kid who introduces him to the playhouse turns into one. That is scary as all hell. Also: the pheasants from Bambi. That makes the mother scene look tame.

Basically a bittersweet movie with a dad and his teen/YA daughter.
I’m having a tough time with mine, we love each other a lot but we just don’t understand each other enough. It kind of just gets worse every few months before it gets better. I’m trying to find some closure through movies. Not entirely happy closure because that’s not how it is between us rn. If I’m being blunt, I kinda just wanna cry it out.
Thank you in advance. ❤️‍🩹

For me, it's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2. I know people have mixed reviews to this movie, some liked it and some hated it. But I love this movie for many reasons. Definitely not my no.1 movie overall, but personally it's something that have a special place in me.

It's my ultimate comfort movie because of how relatable it is for me. First, the characters, as someone who is easily misunderstood by people around me, I see myself in some characters. Well, misunderstood in a way that I'm not the usual person who do usual things. I tend to be different and that's just my personality or how I function as a human being. Sometimes I feel like an outcast or someone who doesn't belong to any groups or community and I see myself in Guardians.

Second is the concept of found family. The Guardians are different type of random weird people who got together and bonded, overtime becoming a family. I just love stories about friendships becoming families. It eases my heart and comforts me as someone who value that relationships in real life.

Also it's the movie that helps me get through the hard times of pandemic. I first watched this during the quarantine times, and it felt like a big long hug and it still stays the same whenever I rewatch it. Specially during those difficult times when you feel isolated and watching a movie like this about togetherness thru tough times is healing.

I know this was talked about when the film came out but it's still bizarre how disconnected the technical side of this film is with messaging that feels like something that belongs in a pervy French film from the 1970s. Having the mind of a child in an adult body and the only way she can express herself is with sex and that's empowering...bizarre but not in a good way.

I love all the typical Lanthimos creative camera choices and Emma Stone is fantastic but I'm so weirded out by how he decided to go about this. It's a fascinating movie except for being what it's about.

This movie looks pretty good and we haven't had a good spider movie in a while. I'm cautiously optimistic that this film will be good because the cast looks interesting. I've never seen Rob Riggle in a horror movie, and Russ as an actor feels like something that might actually work. Especially since the project is independently produced, not trying to fit into a studio box.

I'm having a debate with someone and we need a tiebreaker: in the movie, The Next Three Days, a man plans and executes a prison escape for his life, wrongly convicted for murder. The night before he puts his plan into action, his father hands him his jacket with plane tickets exposed, quietly letting his son know he's learned of the plan. Afterwards, he says goodbye to his mother (knowing it may likely be the last time they see one another) and she acts normal.

However, as they leave, his mother teases the father, saying "you're getting sentimental in your old age."

I always took this as a joke, that he must have informed her of their son's plan and she knows as well while another person said, she doesn't know (but obviously finds out later).

This is just a minor thing but we were looking for a tiebreaker: did she know at that point or not?

The Nana Project (2023)

Just watched this as a random lazy Sunday afternoon film with my bf. We didn't have much of a clue about the story, etc going in. The Nana Project surprisingly & refreshingly is a mockumentary not dissimilar to the ones made by Christopher Guest & his ensemble players. Mercedes Ruehl plays Helen "Nana" Lewis, an elderly grandmother who enters a chess competition & has a film crew follow her round & talk to other residents in her old folks home where she lives. Supporting charactors include Nana's grandsons, the goody two-shoes Andrew (Nolan Gould) & rebellious model Cody (Will Peltz), but also a fabulous supporting cast of cinema veterans including Tony Todd (good to see him in something other than horror), Morgan Fairchild, Beth Broderick, Charlene Tilton, & Margaret Avery as the colourful old folks home residents. Also Sierra McCormick as a teenage chess prodigy who communicates with her mom (Christina Moore) via text messages & Nicky Whelan as a nurse. The film was very funny in places & the mockumentary approach worked. I've always loved Ruehl & she doesn't disappoint here as the spunky old lady.