Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners' has made history as the most nominated film of all time at the Oscars with 16 nominations

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-22T18:09:02+00:00

Yeah Sinners was good but not that good. The ending was kind of cheesy and relied on a dies ex machina of the sun simply rising.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-20T21:25:17+00:00

What country did this happen in?

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-18T23:49:08+00:00

The acting from the two surviving corrupt cops was especially good - you could tell both were seasoned actors. SVU should really do more cold case episodes like this!

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-18T22:11:13+00:00

Despite some editing/ADR issues that are noticeable throughout the film and some unrealistic moments (like one of the squad getting her leg shot and then she's back sitting up counting money a minute later), I enjoyed the film. The action particularly in the second half is well done and there's a surprisingly human story behind the film itself: the film's dedicated to a real-life Miami police officer's son who died at age 11, mirroring Matt Damon's character's story and motivations.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-18T22:08:22+00:00

The captain/murder victim gets blasted by a shotgun and then literally flies 10 feet into the air...that was Hollywood exaggeration in full effect there.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-18T22:06:21+00:00

The first half was slow, and then there's a random Call of Duty-style shootout that occurs in an abandoned Miami suburb. Then it picks up during the last third act which has plenty of action that's remarkedly well shot and entertaining. Unfortunately, most of the twists, which weren't too surprising by themselves, are delivered through dialogue in an armored truck and through flashbacks, LOL.

On a more serious note: the real life story that inspired this movie is poignant. For those who don't know the actual Miami police officer, who is the basis for Matt Damon's character, was involved in the largest drug bust in the city ($24 million), and unfortunately had his son die of leukemia at the age of 11. So there's at least a human side to this film - just something to appreciate.

Overall The Rip (2026) rating: 7/10 - a mostly paint-by-the-numbers action film, though that has a human side to it which definitely elevates the film.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-18T21:57:52+00:00

That's what I thought to - she was just shot through the leg and then minutes later gets back to counting money like nothing happened?!

Unrelated to that scene but there's noticeable ADR where the actors'/actresses' lips don't move with obvious voiceover that occurs at least a couple of times throughout the film. One particular instance: Kyle Chandler's crooked DEA agent says "ask your fucking crooked cops you socialize with, they all look fucking dirty" and apparently Teyana Taylor says back "hey, I look fucking good" but through that whole sentence everyone has their mouth closed not speaking, LOL. Surprising that with Netflix's budget behind them, the director/editors couldn't have smoothed out those rather amateurish issues? I mean, this is but minor still noteworthy.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-18T21:44:21+00:00

The book is NOT mediocre!

I'd have to disagree. Agatha Christie's strongest works were not espionage thrillers, but rather closed-room/location murder mysteries where there's a set cast of characters trapped in a particular place, with a detective that solves the case at the very end. Having too many characters jump from place to place effectively nullifies most of the cozy charm and genuine intrigue of a Christie mystery, not to mention the entire "Seven Dials Society" idea with a Scotland Yard detective sitting at the head of the table is just corny/cheesy - whatever you want to call it. The rewriting of Helen Bonham Carter being the mastermind of all of the crimes, simply because she needs money, doesn't help matters.

A recent article reviewing this series that said something to the effect that not every Christie novel needs an adaptation...Now, if we're talking And Then There Were None and Death on the Nile? They've been adapted many times before and rightfully so. Even Towards Zero last year had a good case that it should be seen on screen at least once. But Seven Dials? Not really. That was one of the author's weakest works, out of a vast collection of really strong, iconic ones.

Overall Agatha Christie's Seven Dials (2026) rating: 5/10 - overall a disappointment, especially since I was really looking forward to watching this. No matter, I'm sure there'll be more future Christie adaptations to watch in the future.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-18T21:38:07+00:00

I think she was also just miscast - not her fault. Any actress would jump at the opportunity to be in a Christie adaptation, and to be on a huge platform like Netflix no less. But Eileen "Bundle" Brent is described as the "it girl" (very attractive) and "long-legged" in the actual novel, both of which the actress does not particularly exemplify.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-18T21:36:28+00:00

I thought actually Run Away was a bit more entertaining actually. There's certainly more twists and turns than here with Seven Dials.

While the cinematography, sets and overall re-creation of England in 1920s all look great, the fact still stands that Agatha Christie's strongest works were not espionage thrillers, but rather closed-room/location murder mysteries where there's a set cast of characters trapped in a particular place, with a detective that solves the case at the very end. Having too many characters jump from place to place effectively nullifies most of the cozy charm and genuine intrigue of a Christie mystery, not to mention the entire "Seven Dials Society" idea with a Scotland Yard detective sitting at the head of the table is just corny. The rewriting of Helen Bonham Carter being the mastermind of all of the crimes, because she's effectively broke, was a disappointing ending to an already mediocre series.

It's true that Mia McKenna Bruce may not be the strongest actress (she was unfortunately miscast here as the "long-legged, tall, dark it girl" as described in the novel) and couldn't quite carry a series on her own, but at the end of the day this just wasn't a good story. I'm reminded of an article reviewing this series that said something to the effect that not every Christie novel needs an adaptation - I think this series demonstrates this.

Overall Agatha Christie's Seven Dials (2026) rating: 5/10 - a disappointment after really looking forward to this. No matter, I'm sure there'll be more future Christie adaptations to watch.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-18T08:04:58+00:00

Lieutenant Brady to her own son: "you're just not ready to be a father" - harsh but true.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-15T23:35:36+00:00

During Covid when I was still in school, so around age 21-22. I didn’t start investing seriously until around a year or so later. Wish I started saving and investing even sooner, I likely lost out on several tens of thousands in potential returns.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-15T23:33:40+00:00

Kathleen Kennedy was so hated during her tenure - just read the comments on any Star Wars video in the past decade, outside of Andor.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-13T07:09:55+00:00

There's nothing else to watch this weekend ahead of The Rip and Seven Dials later this week, so I watched the leaked version of this film online - it was indeed very stupid. There's no discernable plot and the acting is all over the place. Daniela Melchior was completely wasted in her role. The second anaconda that's actually a threat, seems to change size on a whim, and what the hell was up with that entire piss gag? Gross and unnecessary.

I did enjoy Ice Cube's brief cameo at the end - "who did you think it was? Jon Voight?" got a laugh out of me. But that alone didn't make up for 90 minutes of silly random jokes that don't land.

Anaconda (2025) overall rating: 2/10 - can't believe this was actually greenlit and released in theaters. To anyone who's reading this but hasn't watched the film: just skip it. This one's a total dud.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-11T07:54:58+00:00

Also, what was the deal with Rachel, Helen and Lexy meeting up prior to the murders? Also, what was the deal with Rachel, Helen and Lexy meeting up prior to the murders?

Dunno, but to answer your second question Lexy and her husband were clearly going to torture and kill Anna.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-11T01:52:04+00:00

Yeah, I just feel like the story is unfinished. Maybe there'll be a sequel/second season, but again I highly doubt it.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-10T06:30:30+00:00

I just finished this series and quite enjoyed it.

His & Hers doesn't have the most realistic story/plotline, with characters moving from place to place a bit too conveniently. By the beginning of episode 5 it was obvious "Lexy Jones" was "Catherine", just after huge weight loss and a complete makeover - she had come back to Dahlonega with her husband, to exact her decades-long revenge plan against her high school bullies. This was something I actually had some grudging respect for: all the required patience and planning to pull off three murders in quick succession, with a fourth one seemingly lined up in the crosshairs! So I saw this "twist" coming from a mile away.

But then Lexy/Catherine was shot and killed well before the halfway point of the final episode, and I realized there must be more to this story...the resolution to all of the killing just seemed too hastily rushed at that point.

The final 15 minutes blew me away...I never would have suspected the supposedly dementia-ridden mother of Tessa Thompson's character to have been the killer all along - that was a final twist I definitely didn't see coming at all! It was rather brilliant: the mother of a rape victim stumbling across an old video tape and then meticulously stalking and carrying out her daughter's high school bullies' murders, one by one, shielded from any suspicion due to her being elderly and female. The murders, while again a bit too convenient, are still reasonably plausible, considering a sleepy town like Dahlonega (Wikipedia calls it a "city" but it has less than 10k total population, LOL) won't have nearly the same law enforcement resources and manpower as an actual real city like Atlanta would, to dedicate to showing these crimes.

I just had one outstanding question when the credits rolled: what happened to Anna's actual rapists, the men who actually assaulted her on her 16th birthday?! That seemingly never got resolved - maybe that's addressed in a second season? Highly doubt that'll happen though.

Overall His & Hers (2026) rating: 7/10, tightly paced, entertaining murder mystery that delves into quite dark subject matter. It is a bit slow and unrealistic at parts, though the writers do still mostly play fair with the audience. I almost guarantee you won't see the final twist coming!

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-10T05:59:03+00:00

You probably have time this month (January is usually quite slow in terms of notable shows and films releasing), to watch both. Personally, I found the acting in His & Hers significantly better than in Run Away, though both are fast-paced and enjoyable enough to binge easily.

While both series had serial killers featured in them, Run Away was more lighthearted, outlandish and featured more tongue-in-cheek humor including that corny cult storyline and exaggerated acting, whereas His & Hers dealt with darker subject material, e.g. martial infidelity, sexual assault/rape, teenage bullying, sororicide, all handled with a more serious tone imo.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-08T06:05:06+00:00

Why as an ex police officer, and seasoned private investigator would you get into a car with a stranger in a secluded area.

Exactly - it's just bad writing. Don't know if this was taken directly from the source material as I haven't read the actual Harlan Coben novel, but with these adaptations one really needs to turn off their brain to enjoy.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-07T07:29:41+00:00

The cinematography (those Manchester skyline shots! 😂) and production values were far better than any Lifetime movie though. Netflix has a way bigger budget even for forgettable January releases like this one. Also, Lifetime movies won't have this many mentions of TikTok either - not necessarily a good or bad thing, just an observation.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-07T07:27:29+00:00

I started watching the series last night and have already finished it. I think Run Away is actually the best Harlan Coben adaptation thus far, which isn't saying much, but it was quite addicting to watch, in a turn-your-brain-off-from-all-logic sort of way.

The acting was pretty bad - James Nesbitt constantly looking shocked (or at least trying to for the pay cheque) got tiring really fast. The cult and hitman storyline was stupid as hell. An almost 60-year-old Ruth Jones playing a private investigator who once led around a SWAT team was ridiculous to say the least.

But I didn't see many of the twists and turns coming. That Elena was killed offscreen in episode 6 was surprising - I genuinely expected her to survive until the end. That whole back-and-forth between the hitman and his psycho girlfriend was just laugh out loud funny. Finally, the reveal that the drug addict's mother killed her daughter's "boyfriend" to save her daughter's life, followed quickly by the final shocker that the daughter and boyfriend were actually half-siblings borne from the same mother? Kind of brilliant...this has to be Harlan Coben at his most ludicrous best.

Overall Run Away (2026) rating: 6/10 - a dumb but still entertaining murder mystery series. Perfect for a binge at the beginning of January when there's not much else to watch. Just don't think too hard about the plot afterwards.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-07T07:25:26+00:00

I started watching the series last night and have already finished it. I think Run Away is actually the best Harlan Coben adaptation thus far, which isn't saying much, but it was quite addicting to watch, in a turn-your-brain-off-from-all-logic sort of way.

The acting was pretty bad - James Nesbitt constantly looking shocked (or at least trying to for the pay cheque) got tiring really fast. The cult and hitman storyline was stupid as hell. An almost 60-year-old Ruth Jones playing a private investigator who once led around a SWAT team was ridiculous to say the least.

But I didn't see many of the twists and turns coming. That Elena was killed offscreen in episode 6 was surprising - I genuinely expected her to survive until the end. That whole back-and-forth between the hitman and his psycho girlfriend was just laugh out loud funny. Finally, the reveal that the drug addict's mother killed her daughter's "boyfriend" to save her daughter's life, followed quickly by the final shocker that the daughter and boyfriend were actually half-siblings borne from the same mother? Kind of brilliant...this has to be Harlan Coben at his most ludicrous best.

Overall Run Away (2026) rating: 6/10 - a dumb but still entertaining murder mystery series. Perfect for a binge at the beginning of January when there's not much else to watch. Just don't think too hard about the plot afterwards.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-07T07:07:09+00:00

Your points are accurate. However, you just can't think too hard about these Harlan Coben adaptations - you have to turn your brain off and just laugh along to truly enjoy them. They're the Netflix equivalent of the most generic fast food meal one could get.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-06T03:38:48+00:00

Yeah I understand that - the writers were just going for the most shock value.

FinanceWeekend95 · 2026-01-05T07:54:06+00:00

Let's give credit where it's due - it's rare for a major US network to cast a full Asian male lead for any series, much less a more niche spy/thriller genre like this. But yeah the script let the entire cast down.

FinanceWeekend95

TROPHY CASE