What Is The Last Film You Watched? (2022 films)

[KK 3,307]

5 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

Can you elaborate on this?

 

Sigourney Weaver plays one of the children. Where the other kid actors are full of life and personality, Weaver's character definitely sounds like a 70-year-old cosplaying a 15-year-old poorly.

[Jay 37,374]

Oh man, that sounds rough

[crocodile 8,020]

Being awkward and out of place is quite fitting though. What @KK describes is sort of true for the character. So he's both right and wrong.

 

Karol

[Holko 9,532]

del Toro's Pinocchio is fantastic indeed. No shock that it looks amazing, but the animation and voice acting is also so full of life and personality, and all the changes to the original story just make sense and fit into this vision. I've only seen Pan's Labyrinth and and Shape of Water from him before but this is the first one I liked.

[KK 3,307]

1 hour ago, crocodile said:

Being awkward and out of place is quite fitting though. What @KK describes is sort of true for the character. So he's both right and wrong.

 

Karol

 

Yeah, it's not so much an issue in the film. But I don't think we're hearing "awkward" in a child-like way, so much as it really just feels like a more aged, mature woman trying to pose as a child.

[JNHFan2000 2,969]

Violent Night

 

Lot's of fun. Laughed out a few times.

Harbour is great as an asskicking Santa.

Rest of the cast is also fun.

The action is great and the film is a nice mix between Die Hard & Home Alone (for grownups) with some scene paying homage in great and fun ways.

 

Lewis' score is incredible. His main theme and interpolations of a number of X-Mas carols amd somgs are incredible.

 

Very fun evening watch!!

[JNHFan2000 2,969]

Glass Onion

 

This film is absolutely incredible. I had high hopes, because I love the first one, but this was just insane. I really don't know how Johnson did it. 

The script is so brilliant, it's hard to explain. The mystery at the centre of the story is so brilliant and has so many twists and turns that I didn't see coming. I kept guessing what was going on but the film really surprised me. The reveal is also great and executed in a way that it's hidden enough but you understand right away what happened. In-cre-di-ble!

 

The acting across the board is superb, standouts being Monae, Craig, Norton & Hudson. (Oh and keep a watchful eye, they are surpises in the cast😉)

Everything from costumes, production, cinematography, editing, writing, sound deserves to be included in this years awards.

 

Nathan Johnson's score is also superb. I stayed away from the album on purpose until I saw the film, so it was a joy to hear it.

Big orchestra, themes, a bit of harpsichord. Loved it!!

 

I highly recommend that everybody watch this. Brilliant!!

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,433]

Glass Onion

 

I don't have much to add after @JNHFan2000

The movie is brillantly done, like the first one was. I'm completely in love with Johnson's score which suit and lift up each scenes

 

Probably one of the best movie I've seen this year with The Outfit

[KK 3,307]

 

Decision to Leave

 

Park Chan-wook reigns in and focuses his sensibilities to make his own Vertigo. More restrained and subtle than his sensational classics, it remains visually inventive and beautifully shot. But the spotlight is on serving and affording space to the tender love story in the middle of its noir mystery. It's not my favourite film of his, but it is very good.

 

 

White Noise

 

Ambitious, admirable and exhausting. In the spirit of PTA's Inherent Vice or David Robert Mitchell's Under the Silver Lake, there are a lot of interesting moments in which it tries to capture the psychedelic, post-modern spirit and flourishes of its source novel. But ultimately, I don't think it works. 

 

 

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

 

That was a whole lot of fun! As with the first one, the twists don't surprise, but it is all wildly entertaining. Give us more!

[A24 4,346]

1 hour ago, KK said:

White Noise

 

In the spirit of PTA's Inherent Vice or David Robert Mitchell's Under the Silver Lake ...

 

 

 

Ouch! Suddenly this Baumbach movie doesn't sound all that appealing to me. 

[JNHFan2000 2,969]

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse

 

An animated short that was broadcast yesterday on Christmas Day on BBC 1 based on the book from a few years ago.

It's 30 minutes of beautifully animated, scored & voice acting story.

Like the book it's about kindness, friendship, honesty and hope. Sometimes I feel the whole world could use right now.

It really feels like the book translated to the screen, it's absolutely beautiful.

 

At this moment it's on the shortlist for the Oscar for Animated Short. It should get nominated and to be honest. It should win. Loved it!

 

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Violent Night 

Die Hard meets Home Alone. Fun fun fun with a sledge hammer.

 

The Invitation.  J should have disliked it. But I had fun with it.

 

 

 

 

[JNHFan2000 2,969]

White Noise

 

I don't know what to makes of this. It feels so disjointed with 3 acts, which don't really fit together.

Act 1 is about the central family.

Act 2 is an sci-fi/action thing

Act 3 is about despression, being afraid of death, murder.

 

I'm a big fan of Boambach and the actors who were in this. But for me it was a misser. I liked the 2nd act the most, but the 3rd act lost me completely.

The film is well made, the effects are good and the film looks like it's from the 80's, which I enjoyed. Elfman's music is good when it appears, especially in the more sci-fi/action bits.

 

Shame, I really looked forward to it, but alas.

[JNHFan2000 2,969]

Troll

 

A film from Norway on Netflix. It's really really cool.

I found the whole thing a joy to watch. Performances are great, very well directed and the VFX on the troll are incredible.

I loved how the film felt very real and grpunded, and felt like it could have been a real story.

 

The music by Johannes Ringen is also terrific. It orchestral with some added electronics and a few Nordic instruments. And some great uses of In The Hall Of The Mountain King by Edvard Grieg.

 

I really enjoyed the whole thing and recommend it for a fun evening watch.

[filmmusic 1,843]

Although it's been yeeeeears since I have seen any recent film I think, I just watched Elvis.

I quite liked that.

The editing should definitely be nominated for an Oscar, and maybe the main actor too.

The thing I didn't like much was Tom Hanks (I don't know, he wasn't very believable to me with all that make-up), and the inclusion in the soundtrack of some out of place (and era) songs that Elvis didn't sing.

Very stylised (as most of Luhrmann's films) but it fitted the subject.

[Bespin 8,484]

I saw Bullet Train (2022). Entertaining!

 

Brad Pitt is playing his usual offbeat character, that's nice and funny by moments.

[A24 4,346]

Can it be streamed somewhere?

[Jay 37,374]

In the USA, it's on Netflix.  YMMV in other countries

[A24 4,346]

It's definitely not on Netflix in Belgium.

 

 

White Noise 

 

 

I started watching but almost immediately couldn't keep my eyes open. So I switched it off. Strange, I like Baumbach's previous movies. 

[Faleel 5,361]

Black Adam

 

It was fine.

 

Cool to see Doctor Fate in something with a little more budget after being introduced to the character with Smallville Season 9, where he didn't really get to do anything.

 

Spoiler

Kind of funny they always kill him off shortly after his first appearance 😄

 

I like Aldis Hodge, though he seemed a little more subdued and stiff in the Hawkman role than in other things he has been in.

 

Random fun fact: Patrick Sabongui is in this movie, he had parts in both Smallville (S9) and Flash TV series.

[Edmilson 7,474]

Between Christmas and yesterday, I catch some major movies of 2022 that I hadn't seen before but I was too lazy to review them before.

 

Top Gun: Maverick

 

Surprisingly efficient action movie with great VFX and acting. It's easy to see why it made so much money. The score by Zimmer, Faltermayer, Gaga (!), Balfe & team is pretty good, and I'd certainly listen to an expanded version of the woeful OST.

 

Glass Onion

 

Very entertaining and, just like the first one, using the "murder mystery" genre to satirize current affairs and one-percenters. I liked it.

 

Smile

 

This surprisingly good chiller is like a mix between some of my favorite horror films (and horror tropes) of all time: The Ring, It Follows, The Babadook... Sure, it may not be as good (and scary) as those, but it has a great creepy tone (I prefer horror films that focus on tone and atmosphere rather than gore) and quite a disturbing twist ending that stayed with me long after the movie was over.

 

Nope

 

Jordan Peele's horror movies are at the very least entertaining, and this one is no exception. This one is like his first attempt at a (spoilers, I think) "monster movie" (unlike his two previous movies, where the villains were human) and the result is a very compelling and tense film. Daniel Kaluuya's subdued performance is pretty good.

 

See How They Run

 

Reasonably entertaining, though you need to have at least some knowledge of Agatha Christie to fully "get" the movie. Since I'm no Christie expert I kinda felt like someone who only saw one or two Spider-Man movies years ago wandering into a showing of No Way Home.

 

Bullet Train

 

It starts off decently, with some nice cinematography and action scenes and fun characters... But then it gets more and more convoluted as it goes, and by the end it devolves into another messy CGI-filled dumb action flick. As a fan of the John Wick franchise, it's a shame to see David Leitch's career, once so promising, now devoted to dumb movies like this and Hobbs & Shaw. Even Deadpool 2, which I liked more than the first, was a step down from JW in its action scenes.

[JNHFan2000 2,969]

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

 

This is one of the most fun and best animated features I've ever seen. I love Shrek, and for me it's the 2nd best film in the Shrek franchise after Shrek 2.

 

The animation is staggering. There are different animation styles used and the film looks absolutely gorgeous.

The story is truly well written with all the characters getting interesting things to do.

 

None of the voice actors are just here getting a paycheck and are all-in. Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, John Mulaney, Harvey Guillén (really funny), Ray Winstone and Wagner Moura in a really surprising layered performance.

 

I really love Del Toro's Pinocchio, but this should win Best Animated Feature. Incredible work across the board and again the animation is truly staggering, it's fun and funny, heartfelt, has beautiful messages about life, death, family and friendship and is just a joy to watch.

I couldn't ask for more.

Highly recommended

[Jay 37,374]

Huh, that's interesting. Just this week on one of the movie podcasts I listen to, they had a listener who said it was their favorite animated movie of the year.

 

I guess there's more to this flick than meets the eye! 

[Mr. Who 919]

10 hours ago, JNHFan2000 said:

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

 

This is one of the most fun and best animated features I've ever seen. I love Shrek, and for me it's the 2nd best film in the Shrek franchise after Shrek 2.

 

The animation is staggering. There are different animation styles used and the film looks absolutely gorgeous.

The story is truly well written with all the characters getting interesting things to do.

 

None of the voice actors are just here getting a paycheck and are all-in. Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, John Mulaney, Harvey Guillén (really funny), Ray Winstone and Wagner Moura in a really surprising layered performance.

 

I really love Del Toro's Pinocchio, but this should win Best Animated Feature. Incredible work across the board and again the animation is truly staggering, it's fun and funny, heartfelt, has beautiful messages about life, death, family and friendship and is just a joy to watch.

I couldn't ask for more.

Highly recommended

How was the score, was it as good as Jackman’s?

[Edmilson 7,474]

A YouTuber that I watch regularly, whose channel is focused on animation, said that Puss in Boots 2 was not only his favorite animated movie of 2022 but also one of the very best DreamWorks movies ever. And it also was influenced by Into the Spider-Verse.

 

Who would say that a silly Shrek spin-off (actually, a sequel to a silly Shrek spin-off) would've turned out so good?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

My wife and kids loved it

[Jay 37,374]

But what did you think about it Stu?

[JNHFan2000 2,969]

8 hours ago, Mr. Who said:

How was the score, was it as good as Jackman’s?

It's quit different. I don't the the main theme is as catchy as Jackman's and the album might not be for everybody because of the short cues.

But I thought it was a cool blend between Spanish/Mexican, spaghetti western and fantasy scoring.

I believe there are 3 themes in there, which I was able to make out after seeing the film.

I think overall Jackman's score is stronger, but it's the best score of Pereira's career I feel, and I quite enjoy his Despicable Me & Angry Birds scores. But this was wonderful.

[Jay 37,374]

 

Amsterdam

 

This was a weird movie.  For most of its running time, I sat there truly unsure if I liked it or not!  There was always something interesting happening often enough that my interest was kept, yet at the same time there was a running feeling of "but where is this all going, what is the point of all this?"

 

Luckily, by the end of the movie, maybe by around the start of the third act when the actual plot and point of the movie is revealed, everything came together, and I left the movie thinking I'd like it for sure.  In fact, this is one of those movies that the more time has gone on since that viewing, I've realized I liked it even more than I initially thought I did; it leaves a lasting impact more than a lot of disposable movies these days.

The film reminds a bit of No Sudden Move, a 2021 Steven Soderbergh film (with script by Ed Solomon of all people) that has a similar setup/structure of hiding its real story and true intentions until late in the picture, and when they are revealed not feeling like a cheap twist or an idea they were afraid to reveal to early, but one organically revealed as the characters figure out what's going on.  I like that.

 

Other than the story, the best part of this film is by far the acting, which is really great across the board from the big parts to the small ones.  But the true anchor of the movie is the three leads in Christian Bale, Margot Robbit, and John David Washington.  One of them, various pairings of 2 of them, or all 3 are on screen together for almost every scene in the movie, and their chemistry is top notch the whole time.  Not just the chemistry between all 3 of them, but in each of the individual pairings as well.  These guys really carry the whole movie, and they do it very well!

 

The supporting cast is stacked with big names that put in good work of varying sizes: Zoe Saldaña, Rami Malek, Ed Begley Jr, Beth Grant, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Michael Shannon, Mike Meyers, and even Taylor freaking Swift does a good job here.  Timothy Olyphant is almost unrecognizable, in fact I'm not sure you see his face until the end, which is kind of funny casting.  Robert De Niro is the remaining big name, and he does a pretty good job, he doesn't phone this one in; He really brings gravitas to a role that needed it for the film to work.

 

The movie is far from flawless, and its biggest flaw is a strange habit it has of repeating itself, sometimes in short order.  Like a couple characters will figure out what's going on or what they need to do, then in the next scene they'll repeat this information again that we just learned.  It's sort of hard to explain but it happened more than once in the movie, and made me think it was maybe rushed to theaters without having its necessary time in the editing room - but maybe I'm missing something and it was done on purpose, I dunno.  To me though, these repetitions were unnecessary, as this is not a hard film to follow.

 

The primary setting of 1933 New York City is wonderfully realized, and the plot involves 2 WWI veterans investigating a murder and reuniting with a nurse they knew during the war, and the investigation leads them into areas I didn't see coming that aren't revealed up front.

 

Cool little flick.  It's on HBO Max.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I've seen some clips being shared on social media as like a Room type of thing "can you believe how badly delivered this bad dialogue is".  I have to admit, it seemed pretty bad to me, but maybe it's just hyper stylized and comes off better in context?

 

Here's a good example:

 

 

[Jay 37,374]

Hehe yea, you could find lots of 30 second clips that seem weird taken out of context, but make sense in the movie.

 

Robbie's delivery in that clip is for a specific reason, and the majority of the time in the movie she's completely different

[JNHFan2000 2,969]

Devotion

 

Incredible film and an incredible story about someone who's story, Jesse Brown, has never been told before.

Jonothan Majors is, as always incredible. He is such a good actor and I'm so glad he's getting roles to show his versatility.

Glenn Powell is also very good. I've mostly known him in pretty bombastic or big roles so to have a more introspected nuanced performamce from him was a treat.

 

The whole film is visually beautiful with great production, sound, cinematography & effects.

Chanda Dancy's music is also great. This is my introduction to her, but after this I'm looking forward to new scores from her.

 

I do feel it's a shame that this film is totally getting overlooked by awards, prpbably because Top Gun: Maverick is in everybodies mind. And while both films are about fighter pilots, the films couldn't be more different and I feel there is a place for both of them during awards.

[Jay 37,374]

 

The Menu

 

 

This movie is a hoot!  All I knew going in was the cast and basic premise, and that it was a dark comedy... and boy, does it live up to both words there!

 

Ralph Fiennes is a world-renowned, top of the game chef who runs an exclusive restaurant on a private island that only has 12 guests per night at $1,250 a person.  The film shows us the events one one particular night, where the guests are Nicholas Hoult, Anya Taylor-Joy, John Leguizamo, Rob Yang (Succession), Arturo Castro (Flipped), Paul Adelstein (Prison Break), Janet McTeer (Ozark), and some others.  There's also great turns by Hong Chau (Lady Trieu from Watchmen) and Peter Grosz (The Great) on the staff.

 

As the night goes on, it becomes clear that each guest is there for a particular reason, and the chef has a grand plan in mind that the staff is in on.. and it's got so many comedic moments on the way to everything unraveling.

This is the kind of film I like even more in restrospect than I did right when we finished it.  Definitely a nice enjoyable watch if you're into dark comedies.  So many great little moments I wouldn't want to ruin!

 

It's on HBO Max

[Bespin 8,484]

@Jay Next time I'll go to the restaurant, I'll watch me and be kind with everyone! 

[Jay 37,374]

With which hand will you handle it?

[Jay 37,374]

 

Bullet Train

 

I loved this!  I like action/comedies, and I liked good ole r-rated action flicks, and this combines both with a clever script and terrific casting, and was just super fun to watch!

 

Brad Pitt is really good as an assassin who seems to be reluctant to continue and feels he is unlucky.  But Aaron Taylor-Johnson & Brian Tyree Henry steal the show as twin brother British assassins whose banter is great.  I also really liked Joey King (I'd only seen her before in Radium Girls) as another assassin with plenty of secrets of her own.  But what makes it fun is the parade of additional characters that show up, all played by recognizable faces (some pretty big names too) that just kept the movie fresh and interesting the whole time.

The plot involves a bunch of assassins all being on the same bullet train in Japan for various different reasons that begin connecting as the film goes on.  It was pretty well done how everything you thought you knew gets turned over eventually, and it all makes sense.  The film goes off the rails (pun intended) a bit towards the end, but that didn't ruin the overall enjoyment for me at all!

This is definitely one of the better r-rated popcorn flicks of recent times!

 

It's on Netflix (at least in the US, it is)

[Jay 37,374]

 

The Pale Blue Eye

 

I enjoyed this moody murder mystery set in 1830s New York (the state, not the city).  Christian Bale plays a retired detective called back to duty because he lives near a military academy where a cadet has been found hanging, with his heart removed from his body.  As he investigates, more bodies turn up, many suspects with various motivations get in the mix, and a cadet by the name of Edgar Allen Poe (Harry Melling - Dudley Dursley!) aids him in his investigation.

 

The murder mystery is not the most interesting or complex one around, but the moody atmosphere that permeates the entire film really elevates the film above its script.  When outdoors, everything is covered is snow and often snowing and overcast.  And a nice touch is that all the indoor scenes are realistically lit for a pre-electricity world, meaning you only see what (copious amounts of) on-screen candles are illuminating, which was really well done.  I loved how dark this movie was in this scenes, very few films are willing to go that far!

 

The other best aspect is the acting - not only is Christian Bale as good as always, but Harry Melling almost completely steals the show from him as Poe!  He's great in this movie!

 

I also appreciated the second finale after the main finale, that was really well done.

 

It's on Netflix

[Bespin 8,484]

And the music?

[Jay 37,374]

I liked it a lot! It really fits the film like a glove and perfectly enhances all the scenes it's in. Really excellent melding of music and visuals

[Bespin 8,484]

Everything Everywhere All at Once.

 

This movie exhausted me. Too much information for my little brain.

 

Well deserved interpretation prizes for Michelle Yeoh and Short Round. Jamie Lee Curtis was very funny too (the saussage fingers were my favourite scenes!). And I was happy to see old veteran James Hong, wow! He must have 112 yo! 

[Jay 37,374]

On 30/08/2022 at 3:48 PM, Jay said:

 

Dual

 

This sounded like a cool movie on paper.  It takes place in a world where instant cloning (the clone is instantly your same age) is possible, but is only done for people dying of a terminal illness in order for the clone to "take over" your life so your friends and family don't go through your loss. 

 

The main character (Karen Gillan) learns she is dying, gets the clone made, begins to teach it about herself only to learn she is in remission, and not dying afterall.  Since the clone wants to live too, the law is that her and the clone will have to have to literally duel to the death so only one remains.

 

Sounds pretty interesting, but the way the story is executed leaves a lot to be desired.  In order to portray how unhappy Gillan is in her life, the director has her play every scene with no emotion, which just becomes unsettling after a while.  The movie gets a little fun when she hires Aaron Paul to train her for her duel, but even a joke about special payment for the final month of training not being what you think it will be, but just being hip hop dance lessons, kind of falls flat when they are still emotionless doing elaborate dance moves.

 

The ending has a kind of fun twist but it doesn't matter when most of the what leads up to it is kind of sub par.  A bummer, as it looked good from the trailer

 

It's on AMC+

 

If anyone was interested in this flick but didn't want to get AMC+ for it, I noticed it's on Hulu now 

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

Gillan's presumably in a position now where she doesn't need to appear in just any old project, so I guess this came across much better on paper. Like Oculus, that horror that she was in that was also a whole lotta nothin'. 

[Bespin 8,484]

On 14/01/2023 at 12:10 PM, Jay said:

 

The Pale Blue Eye

 

I enjoyed this moody murder mystery set in 1830s New York (the state, not the city).  Christian Bale plays a retired detective called back to duty because he lives near a military academy where a cadet has been found hanging, with his heart removed from his body.  As he investigates, more bodies turn up, many suspects with various motivations get in the mix, and a cadet by the name of Edgar Allen Poe (Harry Melling - Dudley Dursley!) aids him in his investigation.

 

The murder mystery is not the most interesting or complex one around, but the moody atmosphere that permeates the entire film really elevates the film above its script.  When outdoors, everything is covered is snow and often snowing and overcast.  And a nice touch is that all the indoor scenes are realistically lit for a pre-electricity world, meaning you only see what (copious amounts of) on-screen candles are illuminating, which was really well done.  I loved how dark this movie was in this scenes, very few films are willing to go that far!

 

The other best aspect is the acting - not only is Christian Bale as good as always, but Harry Melling almost completely steals the show from him as Poe!  He's great in this movie!

 

I also appreciated the second finale after the main finale, that was really well done.

 

It's on Netflix

 

I was disappointed a bit by the ending of the movie.

 

A long monologue at the end of a movie with a character explaining "all the truth", I saw that in movies over and over in the last 40 years... The rest of the movie is perfect, the mood is dark, that's well played, the music fits the mood... it's just the ending I didn't like.

[Jay 37,374]

I didn't mind that. 

[Jay 37,374]

 

Avatar: The Way of Water

 

Well, this isn't as good as the first movie, but it isn't bad either.  It starts off a bit clunky, having to recap 14 years of time in between movies with some flashbacks, montages, and narration... and then it has to go right into setting up the new (old...) villain and the new circumstances that change the status quo for our heroes.  But once they start getting settled into a new life with the water tribe, it really settles into a groove, and I was really enjoying the whole proceedings from there on out, especially all the stuff with the intelligent whales.

The unfortunate thing is that once a ton of stuff is set up, the long final action sequence (or series of sequences, I guess) begins and then there's a tiny bit of wraup and we're out.  There were so many plot threads, interesting ideas, and entire characters laid out in the opening part of the movie that never get touched on again; I guess we'll see these things payoff in Avatar 3?

 

It's enjoyable though.  I left the film thinking Cameron had done it again, and I genuinely want to see Avatar 3 in the theater as well!

[Jay 37,374]

 

The Fabelmans

 

I caught this at the cinema the other weekend.  At first, I was really into it, thinking I was seeing a special movie.  But then, things got more routine and less interesting.  After a while, it felt like I was just seeing a series of different scenes from Spielberg's childhood, without strong connecting tissue to give a good reason for everything being there.  So really I guess it's Tony Kushner's screenplay that let me down.  The acting was really top notch, as was the cinematography, production design, and clever use of period music and old film scores.

 

The funniest scene was when Sam was dating the Christian girl, that was great  But overall, I didn't think this was a terribly effective film. It doesn't live up to the potential it had.  Oh well.

[Bespin 8,484]

All the beginning childhood part was, I think intentionally, mostly musicless.

 

What an odd choice. Boring!

[Jay 37,374]

There was 4 pieces of music during the childhood part - The Greatest Show On Earth, Elite Syncopations, By A Campfire On The Trail, and the film's first original score cue (that isn't on the OST album)

[Tallguy 3,402]

I was so disappointed when it got to the end and I realized that the John Ford scene that I'd heard so much about was going to just be tacked on with no relevance to the rest of the movie. It's a great scene but it's only meaningful outside of the film because you know this is Steven Spielberg.

 

It's a weird movie but I admit that it stuck with me for days. It doesn't mean anything because it's just true.

[Jay 37,374]

Yea, I totally agree.

 

When the film jumped from his high school years to living in an apartment with his father, I thought that scene was interesting, and would act as some kind of final statement on the movie.  Then when it shifted to him interviewing at CBS, I though OK, there's a bit more movie here to go.  I wasn't expecting to it be JUST the John Ford scene, with no real statement to make or connection to anything.  It's like Spielberg just HAD to include it but him and Kushner couldn't connect it anything at all.  It just kind of sits there as its own thing.  And then it was funny when he goes outside, and I realized the poster / soundtrack cover was the final shot of the movie!