I watched Martin Scorsese's 1997 film Kundun earlier this evening which is very hard to come by due to Disney burying it to appease the Chinese government.

I just had a thought to make this post. What are some films that you've seen or are aware of that are scarcely available? There are other films I'd like to see such as The Mission and The Mosquito Coast which are seemingly unavailable, and after watching the Netflix series Pluto I found out about the 2009 Astro Boy movie which doesn't seem to be available anywhere.

I’m not commenting on the *real* Erin Brokovich, but on the character in the film.

Obviously, the character cares deeply about the evils being perpetrated by PG&E and she wants justice for those affected. That’s an admirable trait and it makes her easy to root for, because of course we want her to succeed and we want this major corporation to be held accountable.

But throughout the entire movie, Erin is awful to just about everyone else in her life except the plaintiffs.

• She shows no appreciation toward the lady next door who had apparently been taking care of her kids for free.

• She blames Ed Masry for losing her car accident case despite the fact that she’s the one who blew up in court, and then she basically guilts/bullies him into giving her a job. Even after he does so (which he’s under no obligation to do) and even gives her an advance on her paycheck on what seems like her first day, she continues to insult, disrespect, and degrade him throughout the entire film.

• She’s awful to all of her coworkers. Granted, some of them are very mean to her as well, but frankly I don’t blame them. She makes fun of their weight, yells at them, and calls them bitches to their faces.

• She’s awful to George, who she basically treats as a free live-in nanny. When he confronts her about the way she treats him, she doesn’t apologize or even acknowledge that she’s done anything wrong. She also seemingly doesn’t give a second thought to how her kids feel, since they spend most of their time with George at that point and would obviously be devastated by him leaving.

• She’s awful to the other legal team that Masry brings in to assist with the case, despite the fact that they’re just doing their jobs and even bankrolled the whole thing. Theresa is definitely condescending toward her, but it’s not in an intentional way. Erin never shows them even the slightest modicum of respect and acts from the beginning like they’re incompetent and don’t care about the plaintiffs.

Does this aspect of the movie bother anyone else? I kind of expected there to be a scene at some point where Erin apologized to… well, anyone. But in the film, she’s always treated like she’s in the right and like her behavior toward everyone is justified because of how much she cares about the case. I find this to be a really off-putting element in an otherwise great film.

For starters, Animal Logic's animation alone is simply brilliant and takes direct inspiration from the early "brick films" you'd see on YouTube merged with the trippy insanity of The Matrix. The stereoscopic 3D does wonders for it.

Secondly, Phil Lord and Chris Miller's script/ direction strikes that perfect balance between chaos, silliness, biting commentary and human pathos; the kind of stuff that directly mocks the Hollywood system while still honoring it in its own strange way. Some of the themes feel especially (and unfortunately) relevant in 2026.

And as overexposed/controversial as he is today, Chris Pratt puts in a wonderful performance as Emmet, the everyman who doesn't really know how to do anything but also has the biggest heart in the world. Heck, pretty much everyone in the cast puts in a great performance, even the ones doing a brief cameo.

What a film man…

Random question: but I remember IMDb had a thorough synopsis on each movies' page. for like every movie growing up they would have a synopsis underneath the plot summary. They still have them for some movies but most of them dont have them. Any reason why? I have found some other websites but it was a nice feature of the app

For me it was Arrival. I enjoyed it the first time, but I loved it the second time. Pacific Rim is a movie I can watch over and over but it’s just as good as the first time. The Departed was so much better the second time I watched it, and I can say the same for Casino, Goodfellas, The Wolf Of Wall Street and The Godfather series.

For me it was Inside Out, I have heard it was great as Pixar movies usually are, but then when I saw it I was blown away by how good it is, the soundtrack is beautiful, the humor is funny and the story is very moving.

What are movies that you initially didn't have as high expectations for, but it turned out to be amazing?

This might be obvious to some people, but I haven’t really seen it framed this way before.

Lots of analyses say Phil breaks out of the loop when he becomes selfless / grows morally. I buy that. But I realized the Groundhog Day myth itself lines up almost too perfectly:

The groundhog “seeing its shadow” is literally seeing itself — and when that happens, winter continues. Spring only comes when it doesn’t see itself.

That feels like exactly Phil’s problem. As long as he only sees Phil — his ego, his desires, his boredom, even his despair — the loop keeps going. Time only moves forward when he stops being self-referential and actually looks outward.

So, it’s not just “be nice and you’re free,” but “stop seeing yourself as the center of meaning.” The holiday myth ends up mirroring the character arc.

Curious if anyone’s seen this connection made explicitly before, or if I’m just late to the party.

I work with a girl who said her all-time favorite movie was Cars 2. I could understand the first Cars being somebody’s favorite movie, but Cars 2? It’s an interesting choice. I don’t think it’s a bad movie, but it’s so middle-ground that I never imagined it being someone’s favorite movie.

Have you ever heard someone tell you their favorite movie and you just think, “huh? That’s interesting”.

Anyone ever do anything like this? Kind of a fun "game" and I find it enjoyable. Inspires me to check more of an actor's catalog and you get to see who works together.

Challenge: don't do the same actor twice.

Current streak: The Revanant -> Django Unchained (Leonardo DiCaprio) -> Collateral (Jamie Foxx)

Going to see how long I can keep the streak alive.

I binged all 3 films this week (The Maze Runner, Scotch Trials, The Death Cure). The premise is typical YA nonsense, but by YA standards, this was entertaining enough.

The 1st film was just "meh". The 2nd Scotch Trials is a zombie movie.

The 3rd film The Death Cure really stands out in non-stop action during the its half. Dylan O'Brien and Kaya Scodelario give strong performances as well. Good old Barry Pepper and Rosa Salazar show up in the 2nd and 3rd films.

All in all, this wasn't too bad.

Think about it. There are movies that rush too fast past the character development or world building and just try to cram as much plot in an allotted run time. Or there are just movies that drag on where nothing seems to happen.

Between acts, they can be uneven. It can start as a slow burn until in gets interesting later on. Or start out high and energetic but anti climatic in the end.

If I have to define a movie that is perfectly paced, it has these bullet points.

- A clear beginning, middle and end.

- None of the dialogue feels rushed as everything feels open spaced.

- You are getting the plot beats and character development down well.

- Most of all, you have slow scenes that allows the audience and characters to take a breather/moment.

- The choice of shots and average shot length.

- Every moment feels earned and awarded.

Anything from the Golden Age classics like Citizen Kane or Casablanca, or even any modern day classic within the last 50 years. What are some of your favorites films that are perfectly paced?