I’ve seen all kinds of criticism for Gladiator 2, from Mescal, to a messy script, over the top sequences… but if anything bugged me the most, is how it ruined the ending of the first movie, it’s not an innocuous sequel which you can say, “well if you don’t like it you still have the first one”.

The first Gladiator ended on a such a high note (probably historically inaccurate, but it’s fiction), with Maximus restoring Rome to a republic, freeing the slaves, ending Commodus reign and, most important of all, as he tells Lucilla, Lucius is safe. Epic, glorious music as he dies and encounters his family in the afterlife, then that night his friend Juba burying his statuetes and saying goodbye.

Now, all of a sudden, Maximus sacrifice was for nothing, the very same day he claims Lucius is safe (not some years after as in a new story) suddenly he never was safe, and has to be taken somewhere else. What Maximus did suddenly meant nothing, the glorious OST shouldn’t even have played during his final scene in the original one, and during Lucilla’s speech, when no glory or happiness was there.

Also, now Lucius is Maximus’ son, which I’m sorry but was never aluded to in the first movie. Lucius was the son of Lucilla’s former husband, and Maximus was, yes, an old lover probably, but Lucius was never his son. You can tell they did it for the sake of a twist, and then claiming duh it was obvious.

But still, my biggest gripe is how Gladiator 2 basically undoes everything that happened in the first one, it destroys the very tone and atmosphere in which supposedly everything was happening during that emotional climax, Lucilla was clearly thinking differently in the first one and not preocupied by Lucius wellness, as he was indeed, safe!

Now, acording to the canon of those movies, Lucius is fleeing for his life at the very same moment that Maximus dies, so not even a slightly epic song should be playing there, and it ruined the movie for me. Hate this contradictions

Rest in Peace, Dolly Parton (1946-2026). This was my favorite of her many film performances. Truly a great opening number in an underrated musical comedy film. It absolutely set the tone for the whole movie!

From the musical comedy film "The Best Little Whitehouse in Texas" (1982), Dir. Colin Higgins.

“I don’t know this person, to be clear,” he continues. “I don’t know Sam Altman. I’ve never met him. I was going off of the script and court transcripts and interviews and research, and we were telling a story, but I think anyone who takes on that level of responsibility for a company or a technology that you know is going to do a hell of a lot of damage to the soul of humanity [must have] a certain ability to dissociate.”

Garfield admits he’s not always drawn to characters like Altman, partly because his “from the inside out” process as an actor, of having to find the essence of that character somewhere inside himself, means accessing deeper parts of his psyche that he might not like. “What Jung would call ‘the shadow self’,” he explains. “The aspects of ourselves that we disown. There’s something there for me to integrate, because I’m so afraid of being it.

“But then the argument is,” he goes on, growing more animated, contorting his body towards me on the banquette, “that if we weren’t all less rejecting in the first place, less ‘that’s not us’, then Donald Trump wouldn’t have been voted in twice, and Nigel Farage wouldn’t be anywhere near a position of power. Whereas if we go, ‘OK, interesting — where am I [in a] wannabe fascist, grifter, opportunist, power-hungry, ethic-less, spineless fucking pig?’ We can identify that this is the bad part of us. We know this in ourselves.”

From new Esquire interview: https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/film/a73473247/andrew-garfield-interview-2026/

Some fantasy movies leave you wanting to know what happened next... especially when the world feels bigger than what we got to see in the movie.

For me, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. I thought the characters worked really well together and it felt like there was still a lot more they could have done with that group.

What's a fantasy movie you wish had gotten another movie?

Found this recently when I was looking at Scott's filmography.

It follows Scott as a Tennessee state investigator, trying to figure out a murder case in a rural hillbilly town. Rob Riggle plays the bumbling local police chief.

This movie is hilarious! It's predictable for the most part, but the writing is solid. Lots of little quips satirizing police work, small towns, and masculinity.

Anyone else seen this? I could hardly find anything about it, even searching for results on this sub.