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The Official What was the last movie you saw??

Discussion in 'TV, Music and Movies' started by vmarcilfan75, Apr 11, 2008.

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  1. texanphinatic

    texanphinatic Senior Member

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    Aladdin was OK. At least it was fairly upbeat and tried to capture the spirit of the original.

    Mulan... Did not. It was boring, made significant changes from the animated version, had no musical numbers. The supporting cast was essentially nameless and purposeless.

    It was just bad.
     
  2. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I heard they tried to instill more women empowerment themes in the new Mulan, but instead, they took out all of the strong themes that already existed in the original.

    I don't trust Disney's live action much anymore these days.
     
  3. texanphinatic

    texanphinatic Senior Member

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    I can see that since it's a present and intentional theme, but that's be odd since the animated film was literally about a society defying woman who turned herself into a badass warrior and had the Emperor of China bow to her.

    In the live action, and this isn't really a spoiler, she basically starts off as a really good martial artist/swordswoman, but has to hide it when she replaces her father, instead of the cartoon where she just learned as she went along. There was also a female witch that was very important in the live action (entirely absent from the animated) with a super ham fisted and predictable reveal at the end that also kind of supports the woman empowerment.

    Granted, I suppose they tried to keep it simplistic in order to be obvious to kids, but even still, the cartoon did it much better and elegantly. Mulan's journey felt organic and earned, rather than just a lame self realization. I don't really think the idea of woman empowerment was detrimental to the film though, it was just so dull, slow and lifeless that it didn't matter. Since it didn't have a Mushu replacement, it's like trying to watch Aladdin without Genie and then also entirely failing to develop or give credit to any side characters. The villians were also super dull compared to the animated Huns and Shan Yu (sp). Mushu's epic line "they popped out the snow. LIKE DAISIES!" was a great way to show their strength. They were ruthless and brutal in the cartoon even without directly showing gore and slaughter. The live action missed that entirely.

    TLDR: It was just super boring and uninspired.
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2021
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  4. texanphinatic

    texanphinatic Senior Member

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    You know those funny memes where people claim they feed "ai" bots loads of something and it spits out a hilariously terrible but ultimately passable facsimile of that subject (Shakespeare plays, obituaries, etc).

    If you feed one a bunch of Ryan Reynolds movies, Rock movies and heist movies, Red Notice would be the result. To call it generic or formulaic or by the numbers would be a compliment. It's not unwatchable, but it's re-reading a mediocre book you've already read 20 times because you saw a new printing with a fancy AF cover.

    Speaking of The Rock, he plays basically the same character in the Disney flick Jungle Cruise. My 5 year old enjoyed it. I didn't hate it. The production value was fairly high as you would expect from a Disney film, but ultimately the characters are all pretty bland and formulaic, the action surprisingly light for what they threw into the trailers, the villian almost hilariously overwrought. Imagine Indiana Jones Light, This time it's a woman who wears the pants! Featuring ... The Rock ... as The Rock!

    It was alright, more for the kids, not something I'd seek out to rewatch.
     
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  5. Stitches

    Stitches ThePhin's Biggest Killjoy Luxury Box

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    But Jimmy Wong...
     
  6. texanphinatic

    texanphinatic Senior Member

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    It's not that they didn't get some good side actors (Donnie Yen!!!) but rather that they were wasted in the film, especially when you compare to how integral and important they were in the animated version.
     
  7. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    I watched Encanta with my girlfriend and her kids. That movie is fantastic. I love it. I want to watch it again. It is very colorful. The villain is family trauma. My only complaint is that while the songs were enjoyable, none of them work outside of the movie.

    Also in the spirit of Christmas, we checked out A Boy Named Christmas on Netflix. That movie is weird. I feel like it was written by a 1st-grade class with help of their leftist teacher. The movie has a talking mouse that does nothing but says jokes throughout the entire movie. There are zero reasons for this mouse to be there and less reason for this mouse to talk.

    I also finally watched The Christmas Chronicles. Which is also a bunch of random things happening but it is fun because it is Christmas and Kurk Russel is amazing.

    I wouldn't call either Christmas movies good, but they are nice with the family or would be fun drinking with a bunch of friends making fun of the insanity of these movies.
     
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  8. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Enchanta looks like its fun, but my kids have a strange and very strong aversion to it. Any time a commercial has come on for it, they've immediately changed the channel say its awful. *shrug*. My wife and I will eventually watch it on Disney+
     
  9. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    Just saw No Way Home. It was a fun mess.

    My non spoiler review is everything I dislike about Rogue One, with everything I loved about End Game.

    Like Rogue One I felt that everything in the movie felt like it served the plot. Like in the Screen Rant series Movie Pitch, the reason why things happened was, "So the movie can happen." It felt like it was just someone took all of Sony Spider-man movies, mixed them up and threw them on the screen. It felt jumbled and messy.

    However, saying that, as a fan of the Raimi Spider-Man films and the Holland Spider-Man films, it was enjoyable to see the mess. It was a much better constructed movie than Rogue One, and like End Game it was a celebration of all things Spider-Man movies.

    On a hole I liked it. Though I am probably the only person who is sad that Topher Grace wasn't in the movie.

    Also, William Defoe was outstanding.
     
  10. cuchulainn

    cuchulainn Táin Bó Cúailnge Club Member

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    Of course it's a mess... it's a Spiderman movie. Lol

    They should've had the Deadpool team do it with Tim Miller directing.
     
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  11. cuchulainn

    cuchulainn Táin Bó Cúailnge Club Member

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    Watched Evidence of Blood, a late 80's mystery movie about the unsolved death of a teenage girl back in the 50s starring David Strathairn and Mary McDonnell. Better than I expected.
     
  12. Claymore95

    Claymore95 Working on it... Club Member

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    Old Henry, a very good old style Western that has a twist ending (which you might see coming). Nice to see a film with a non-standard (in terms of looks) lead in Tim Blake Nelson.

    One other film that I've watched recently that has stuck with me as better than most was Riders of Justice, a Danish film (mostly in Danish, so best with subtitles, but with some English as well) starring Mads Mikkelson with his usual excellent performance. It's basically a revenge film, but with quite a bit of comedy.
     
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  13. texanphinatic

    texanphinatic Senior Member

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    Encanto, the animated Disney flick. It's ok. Doesn't have a special feel to it, but it's not bad. Moves at a good pace, super colorful, has the singing numbers you expect, it just doesn't grab the way some Disney films do.
     
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  14. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    I am obsessed with that movie.

    I love it so much.

    I think it hits different if you have experience with abusive parents or grandparents.

    My grandfather was very emotionally and physically abusive on my mother's side

    Edit: I have been watching people talk about it all week on TikTok. The movie really hits if the person is from an immigrant South American family.
     
  15. texanphinatic

    texanphinatic Senior Member

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    I can see both of those things, but as neither of those things personally I guess it didn't take root like it did you and others. For a kids movie, I thought the idea of having a more abstract "villian" didn't work, but I could be wrong.

    As someone who experienced familial trauma from a grandparent, did you feel the movie let her off the hook too easily, or is the "redemption/forgiveness" at the end legit, plausible and earned? It seemed like they didn't want to go as far as making her outright abusive, and they tried to hem it as "don't neglect/pressure family, even if the purpose is helping others". It ... just felt kind of weird.
     
  16. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    The more abstract "villain" was one of my favorite parts of the movie. The fact that the "villain" was dealing with trauma and passing that trauma down to children who pass it down to their children I thought was a stroke of genius.

    I do agree with the idea that the grandma was let off the hook and switched very quickly. Probably the most unrealistic thing that happened in a movie that is full of people with super powers. However, I attribute it down to it being a Disney family film and wouldn't it be nice if the abuser figures out they are the abuser and change their ways. It doesn't happen a lot in real life, however, it does it is nice to see.

    For me, I think this might be my favorite Disney/Pixar movie. I will probably watch it again this weekend. I will have to see how I feel a few years from now if it can take over Aladdin or Inside/Out, but I think it just might be.
     
  17. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I watched it with my family this week and had very similar thoughts and feelings. It was OK. Glad we watched it on Disney+ and didn't pay at the cinema to go see it. The main character was very likable, and a lot of the others were cute, but it just mostly meandered along. I kept hoping that it was building to something really clever or surprising at the end and it just fell really, really flat. The ending was especially disappointing.

    We also went and saw Sing 2 at the cinema about a week ago, and really liked that one. It wasn't deep, but for a sequel to an aminated comedy, it hit a lot of the right notes, and used most of its characters in the right way and the right amount, while adding a few new ones that felt like they fit in. Not as good as the first one, but other than Dreamworks, most animated movies aren't. It was also fun for us because Sing was the first time our kids ever went to the movies, and Sing 2 was the first one back since the start of Covid.
     
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  18. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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    I'm going to watch it this week. My nephew compared it favorably with Coco, which he considers to be one of the greatest movies ever. And not just animated movies.

    I watched the latest reboot of Ghostbusters yesterday. It was a little meh but all-in-all, it was fun enough and a great tribute to Harold Ramis. MUUUCCCHHH better than that gender swapped crap that came out about five years ago. The new one pays homage to the original film whereas the female reboot tried too hard to copy it. If you enjoyed the original, you probably will enjoy this one too. But be careful if you turn your volume up because it is LOUD.

    For no real reason, I rewatched Vision Quest again a couple of nights ago. It's easily one of my favorite sports movies. There are a lot of things that could have been better but all-in-all, the story of Louden Swain is fantastic. I'm about to queue up Miller's Crossing for the 10th watching.
     
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  19. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    My daughter has gotten really into anime lately, so we went to see Belle. It was OK. Like a few other movies that I've seen lately that while its long and slow, it doesn't actually say or do much with all of the time that it uses. Visually pretty, but not fun or deep, and they don't flesh out the characters' motivations and intentions very well.
     
  20. cuchulainn

    cuchulainn Táin Bó Cúailnge Club Member

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    Watched Poison thread with Daniel Day-Lewis. Weird (of course) but interesting... then watched the Lynyrd Skynyrd documentary "If I leave here tomorrow" on NF. Was a fun watch.

    Always think of Adam Sandler movies when I hear Lynyrd Skynyrd songs. Lol
     
  21. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    What's the connection between Sandler and Skynyrd?
     
  22. cuchulainn

    cuchulainn Táin Bó Cúailnge Club Member

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    Just memorable scenes as Sandler's characters were always common guys...

     
  23. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Ah, gotcha. I've seen that movie a ton and quote it all of the time, but had forgotten about the very end.
     
  24. texanphinatic

    texanphinatic Senior Member

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    The new adaptation of West Side Story.

    It was not good, but your wife will probably disagree. Nothing really clicked (except the aggressive finger snapping), the singing and acting were meh, the storyline pretty much a beat by beat rehash without any real innovation that I could tell.
     
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  25. Claymore95

    Claymore95 Working on it... Club Member

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    The Adam Project on Netflix. For once, actually a decent original Netflix movie! Reminded me a little of Flight of the Navigator, a fun 80's sci-fi movie, which also had a young co-star who helps save the day. It's in the same vein, and has some cool action scenes, as well as being funny.

    I'm a big fan of Ryan Reynolds and, although I know they can get repetitive and some have had enough of them, his one-liners. Always makes me laugh, or at a minimum, raises a smile.
     
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  26. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I'm definitely planning on seeing it soon. I'm glad that you liked it.
     
  27. The_Dark_Knight

    The_Dark_Knight Defender of the Truth

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    Finally saw the last Bond film, “No Time to Die”. I’ve always been a huge Bond fan and thought Daniel Craig played the best version of him but I have to say, without giving anything away…I was UTTERLY disappointed!!!
     
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  28. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I'd forgotten it was even made! I'll probably get around to seeing it eventually.
     
  29. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I tried to watch Dune. Made it 45 minutes to an hour before I gave up. It was so very, very dull. Everyone is dressed and acts like they're at a Victorian funeral. And on top of that, it felt like I was dropped in the third part of a trilogy without seeing the first two. There wasn't nearly enough explanation of who the characters were or what was going on. Not for me at all.

    So, instead of that, I watched Free Guy, which was a lot of fun. I wouldn't quite call it a big budget blockbuster. More like an A- movie starring Ryan Reynolds. It lacks the depth that I would have preferred and the world building is very surface, but it was funny and moved along really well. I knew who it was and who it was talking to, which is the most important part.

    My family also watched Turning Red, and it was also fun. Not the best Pixar movie, but again, it did the big things well. We enjoyed it, but its not one that I think we'll watch again any time soon. Worth seeing once.
     
  30. texanphinatic

    texanphinatic Senior Member

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    The Bubble - a Judd Apatow Netflix movie about a documentary of a movie produced in the pandemic.

    Say what you want about Netflix films (most are ... not good!) but they pay for casts man. This movie was actually pretty amusing. Not uproariously funny, but consistently amusing in a dumb (felt intentionally dumb) kind of way. Decent watch.


    I like the Free Guy analysis and agree - it has a specific audience in mind and hits the notes it needed to hit. I enjoyed it.

    As for Dune, you aren't wrong on either account, though both are also very intentional. If you haven't read the books, it definitely puts you behind, but what you experienced were also present in the books. It's meant to be a bit of a slow burn to start before things just go to hell. The vagueness was both somewhat of a Sci-fi norm for the era when it was written and also intended to give readers/audiences a sense of incompletion that is shared with the main character who gets thrust from a stable and happy situation into a nearly literal hell. It's also a world meant to be explored over the course of multiple novels rather than just shoved in at the start.

    Not necessarily for everyone - it's a different kind of sci-fi than a Star Trek/Wars and many other more modern pieces.
     
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  31. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I appreciate the feedback. While I absolutely have enjoyed movies in the past where the audience is dropped into a situation and has to figure it out along with the main character, if that's the case then I really need to like that character, the others need to be interesting, and the plot needs to move. And none of that was really happening with this one.
     
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  32. Claymore95

    Claymore95 Working on it... Club Member

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    Watched two movies over the weekend, Moonfall and The Contractor. Both were terrible.

    Moonfall had the potential of being so bad it was good, but it really just never got away from bad. Ridiculous storyline (which I can live with if it's still fun), but it was so over the top and stupid that it was never fun. Roland Emmerich has made over the top disaster/sci-fi films in the past which I've enjoyed, but he decided to turn this one up so far it's just a mess.

    The Contractor was just boring. Basic, obvious storyline that's been done a 100 times and so you know what's going to happen all the way through. And again, that can be ok if the movies is well scripted and acted, but this one can't decide if it's a drama or a action flick, and does neither well. Good cast as well, which were wasted.
     
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  33. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    The new Batman with Pattinson is so so bad, what a joke.
     
  34. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    Watched Sonic 2.

    It is what you think it is but with more weddings.
     
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  35. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Along with Dr Strange 2, which I talked about in the Marvel thread, my family also went to see the animated movie The Bad Guys. The animation is fine, and the voice acting is generally good. But the plot is really, really thin and transparent. Its like they took a 15 minute short and stretched it to fill two hours.

    Dreamworks really isn't it once was, unfortunately. IMO, they haven't had a really good animated movie since Trolls back in 2016.
     
  36. Stitches

    Stitches ThePhin's Biggest Killjoy Luxury Box

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    Friday I went and saw the new Dr Strange with friends. I haven't seen any of the marvel shows on Disney+, nor had I yet seen the newest Spider-Man (though I know some of the stuff that happen), so some of the things might not have hit me as hard as they could have, but I found it plenty enjoyable nonetheless. My initial impression is that I liked the original better, as in my head that is either my first or second favorite MCU movie. But I really think I need to watch them closely to each other to get a better sense of what my memory may be forgetting/overlooking.

    Saturday morning as I walked on the treadmill I watched Jack Reacher again. I still don't know the character, but I still find the movie enjoyable. At one point in the film, Reacher gets out of a car during a car chase and jumps in a crowd waiting for a bus. I realize if he was cast to be accurate to the literary character, Cruise never would be cast, but I also think that particular scene wouldn't work, and I found it an enjoyable moment. Also, I'm not even going to threaten biting my fingers off in such a situation as the one guy was in, just give me the bullet.

    Sunday morning on the treadmill I watched Office Space. Still a classic, love it. Can quote too much, and so much more relatable having worked in a cube farm for the past 9 years now.

    Sunday afternoon however was the unexpected main show of the weekend though in Everything Everywhere All at Once. I didn't know I would like it going in, but I had heard good things. Man, it was awesome. My only wish was that somehow Jackie Chan would have been in it, but there's no way he could have done as well as the actor who played the husband I don't think. Michelle Yeoh was great though, and I got to say
    they did the multi-verse better than Dr. Strange.
    Yea, maybe they shouldn't be comparable, I don't know, but man it was so good. I laughed, I cried, I was genuinely engrossed with the spectacle. So many jokes paid off, so many entertaining fights. With that said
    not sure when I will look at hot dogs the same. I won't look at raccoons the same either,
    but at least it will be for an enjoyable reason. Shoutout to Jamie Lee Curtis as well.
     
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  37. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    If you grew up watching the Disney Afternoon and enjoyed Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the new Chip And Dale Rescue Ranger movie will be right up your alley. As someone who fits that criteria, I loved it and will watch it again.

    More references and jokes than you can shake a stick at. Simple references like just the animation style of background characters. Plus a new break out character that I do not want spoil for you. But you will know who he is because he is the best.
     
  38. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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    Okay, I watched The Outfit about three weeks ago and I liked it a lot. No action, but it's written very well and the acting is strong; especially the lead (Mark Rylance, who played James Halladay in Ready Player One). It's almost like a play because the entire movie takes place in two rooms. If you enjoy stage shows, watch it. If you think it sounds boring, I'd stay away from it.
     
  39. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    There is a Reacher season 1 on Amazon Prime that's awesome- based directly on the books and the actor plays Jack Reacher wonderfully. Season 2 comes out fairly soon- I think later this year? They're stories directly based on the books though and they follow it pretty darn close. Season 1 is based on the book where Reacher's brother Joe disappears....that was maybe the 5th or 6th book? Can't remember exactly since I read them all.

    Anyway, way better than Tom Cruise Reacher and worth a watch if you're a Lee Child fan.
     
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  40. Stitches

    Stitches ThePhin's Biggest Killjoy Luxury Box

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    I am not a fan in that I haven't read the books, but I am interested (in the books). The show is on my Amazon watch list along with the Boys and Jack Ryan.
     
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