The first movie I watched in 2025 was the third Avatar (blue people, not hamburger anime) movie, subtitled "Fire and Ash." I went with my bf Stephan (xoxo) to see it in IMAX. We got seats pretty close to the center and we were closer to the screen than I usually go, but it wasn't neck straining or anything. The movie was in 3D, so it took a bit getting used to that, especially because I wear glasses so I had a six-eyes thing going on. Anyway, the movie was good. It looked amazing, which is basically the franchise's branding at this point. I really liked the cute alien otters and evil alien squid. Though there was maybe less new, imaginative material added to the world like Avatar 2 added with the ocean biome. The plot of the movie also felt more disjointed? There were a lot of plot threads amongst the pretty large cast. Some threads had more development than others, like who Spider's real family is versus almost all of Neytiri's character development (submissive wife/mourning mother/faithful tree Navi). Which is related to my next thought of the movie, where I personally would like certain things explored more over what they chose to. Like the actual theology of the Navi people's faith and beliefs (especially since it ended up being a huge plot point for the finale), or the ecology/biology/geology/etc of Pandora, or the different perspectives of what humans think of what RDA is doing. The movie is very bro coded to me, which is a little fun but not the most satisfying to watch or think about after the fact. I like the environmentalism angle of the movie and how the movie frames using indigenous people to steward the land. But it kind of falls flat to me when the movie then turns the conflict into a military campaign. The movie kind of frames using violence as the only solution to the conflict between RDA and the Navi. Seeing as how the entire concept behind the movie is very thinly veiled real life environmental/indigineous politics, that framing is very suspect. Like, yes, there will need to be some fighting against governments and corporations to prevent harm to people and the Earth, but that's not sustainable or even just healthy or fun to think about. Jake Sully as the main character always brings the entire conflict into a mindset of a Marine and then that seems to be what saves everyone from the bad guys. A plot thread that I really was hoping would be folowed was that Sully's Marine training makes him almost unfit to be a father or husband and he has to learn to be an actual person and lean into the navi way of life. Ranting aside, it's just a pet peeve when movies are so military-filled. I don't regret seeing this movie since it was a cute date night, but it was a bit frustrating to watch the movie and try to engage with the plot.
The next movie I watched in 2025 was Bugonia. I saw this with a group of friends at a house watching. It was a cute night, cuddling with Stephan and seeing my buddies. Though I partially watched this movie through the back of some heads. So. This was a crazy movie. That I loved. The acting was phenomenal. Emma Stone, Jesse Plemmons, and Aidan Delbis all had great performances. There were so many cunty moments with Emma Stone, from her lip syncing to Good Luck Babe (which felt like a callback to Easy A) to her iconic mono/dialogues after being imprisoned. Jesse Plemmons played a conspiracy nut very convincingly. I did not believe him for a lot of the movie. But also he was very sympathetic and I appreciated the praxis of fucking up the rich. I'm surprised to learn that this is Aidan Delbis's first role in a movie. He was the most sympathetic character. I'm still upset about how it ended for him. The soundtrack and the cinematography was so good. I was especially struck by all of the uncomfortable moments the movie created, e.g. by holding a shot for an excruciating amount of time or going dead silent to let you sulk in the mess of what's onscreen. The ending is really great, since Plemmons's character (Teddy) is practically right on the money with his conspiracy. I almost want to watch the movie again just to be able to see it through the lens of knowing the truth. Like, I think Stone's character (Michelle/Emperor) stays pretty consistent because her goal as the alien overlord is as pedantic as her position as a high power CEO. With the reveal, I like that Teddy got a few things a bit wrong, like the goal of the aliens and calling Michelle the Emperor's wife (misogyny!), which then makes the ending of humanity make that much more sense. Also that there are some questions that the movie leaves open. Like did Fuller plan to blow up Gatz? or was she actually going to bring him to her spaceship? If Don hadn't committed suicide and then went with Teddy to the transporter, would Michelle have honored her deal? This is a movie I look forward to thinking about and pondering, which is a great sign for it. Also the movie is surprisingly funny, which is always a plus for me.
We found this movie on TikTok where a creator talked about how gay this movie is. A 60s Rock Hudson and Doris Day project in a trilogy of movies they did together. Stephan and I sat down to watch this as a little movie date at home, getting high and eating some cake ;3. The plot roughly is that Hudson plays a hypochondriac who eavesdrops and misinterprets his doctor and thinks he only has a couple weeks to live. He starts preparing for his death and a main goal he has is to make sure his wife, Day, is secure by having a new husband he's approved of. Which of course means going around town and ogling at all the hot eligible bachelors with his bf (best friend). The movie is pretty funny and has loads of gay euphemisms and veiled subtext. It's a cute movie with a decent amount of comedy, though a lot is slapstick or funny misunderstandings which aren't my favorite comedic sources. In my opinion, the best parts are all the "accidental" gay moments and fan service Rock Hudson provides.
We randomly found this movie while scrolling through recommended movies on the TV. I really like a murder-mystery movies (murder optional), as does Stephan so we went for it while eating some snacks. The movie was pretty good. I thought all the would-be suspects were interesting characters. Rex Brewster, the biography writer poof, and Daphne Castle, the sassy hotel owneress play by Dame Maggie Smith, were probably my favorite characters. The best part of the movie is just seeing all these characters interact with Poirot and defend themselves. E.g. Castle constantly trying to outwit Poirot and solve it first or Mr. Gardener making fun of the mystery novel trope of everyone knowing their exact alibi. The mystery was pretty inttriguing though I did kinda call everything pretty quickly, but that's not necessarily a negative. Some of the costuming was great, like all of Mrs. Gardener's cocktail party outfits. And it was impressive that they did film this on an island, or it seemed like it. I was a bit put off by the parts of the movie that didn't age well, like the treatment of the islanders or the fat jokes. Some of the character traits that Poirot has, like being a foodie or being pretentious, which are probably supposed to be charming or entertaining, kinda fall flat for me.
I'm reading Twilight as part of my book club (Order of the Phoenix). We read books chapter(s) by chapter(s) and then meet up to analyze the book through a theme and use theological methods to understand it, like finding phrases that speak to you or reading passages and diving into the meaning hiding within. It's more fun and chill than it sounds and less culty. I've read Twilight before, after the first movie came out and then the rest of the series as it came out. I secretly enjoyed the series a lot since I was reading it as an emo teen with a lot of emotions. I even got weirdly trauma bonded with Jacob for a bit since I felt that he was so unfairly treated. Since then though, I've mostly been left with a lot of the criticisms of the series or just treating it like a joke.