I was also partial to Destroyer, mostly for the monster fight and the amazing opening scene and score.
It helped that our cantor belted out the prayer following the sh'ma in a similar melody. It felt like we were blessing His Name in glorious majesty forever and ever with a mighty sword, by the Anvils of Crom!
Until recently I didn't like destroyer as much. This changed last year after having not watched it in years. I really like the way the movie was shot in several spots and there is subtle storytelling as well. The monster isn't amazing however, there are little things it does to establish it as the credible threat it is suppose to be. It crushes a man under foot being the standout action. Mako as the wizard lighting the torch in the temple. He has this look of disgust as being relegated to torch guy, it is clearly beneath him, not worth the magic he's about to use. I also like the way they pull into frame on horseback, very cowboy western. It work, I watch actors hitting their mark in frame and this sort of thing is all over the place. This movie isn't as epic but it is very good. There was no PG13 at the time if I remember and the studio didn't want the R rating.
Love the line "lot on your knife." And most of the party banter is fun.
I never watched it when it was the hotness way back in the day.
It was enjoyable for what it was, but I think I liked Looney Tunes: Back in Action better.
I did enjoy that Michael Jordan was supposed to live in a normal "hollywood" middle income, cul-de-sac neighborhood, and had a very sitcom ready family and needed a ride to go places. He's just an ordinary guy.... and the greatest Basketball player ever! Despite the "whitewashing" of MJ, they did take a couple of subtle cracks at his expense.
Bill Murray also slays in this....
Best line: "I didn't know Dan Akroyd was in this movie!"
warhead01 wrote: Until recently I didn't like destroyer as much. This changed last year after having not watched it in years. I really like the way the movie was shot in several spots and there is subtle storytelling as well. The monster isn't amazing however, there are little things it does to establish it as the credible threat it is suppose to be. It crushes a man under foot being the standout action. Mako as the wizard lighting the torch in the temple. He has this look of disgust as being relegated to torch guy, it is clearly beneath him, not worth the magic he's about to use. I also like the way they pull into frame on horseback, very cowboy western. It work, I watch actors hitting their mark in frame and this sort of thing is all over the place. This movie isn't as epic but it is very good. There was no PG13 at the time if I remember and the studio didn't want the R rating.
Love the line "lot on your knife." And most of the party banter is fun.
It really does feel like a very well played game of D&D, everyone is just in character and having fun.
Action/Comedy about a cop that comes out of jail after going against his department and is now trying to solve a case that involves members of the department with the rest of the force antagonizing him.
The first part of the movie had me thinking that i was watching a sequel to something I didnt watch. Between this and Birds of Prey im a little tired of "lets start in the middle, go back to the beginning, then catch up to the middle and finally carry on".
Besides that i actually enjoyed the movie. Gave a bit of a Crank vibe. Not as over the top, but it has Mark Wahlberg hamming it up a bit as a Boston cop
As a massive fan of the first one I wasn't too keen on the sequel drifting into video game dakka ballet, the 3rd one just doubles down on this with admittedly stunningly choreographed set pieces that just go on for far too long, heck the end of the film is just one long final level complete with fancy FPS game locations and literal bullet sponge baddies, although props to the lubberly Ms Berry for wrangling second billing despite barely being in it
Love Death and Robots
Animated shorts about, well what it says on the tin, quality varies but more hits than misses (my fav being the Farmers with Battlemechs one)
Jojo Rabbit
I think this film might have out clevered me, there's clearly something going on under the silly but I cant quite grasp it, but hey it ends with Bowie so that'll do
So much lovely stock footage of era British aircraft shooting at Gorgo.
The plot makes no sense. Why did they try to hold onto the baby and not just let it go again? I guess it is a metaphor for the folly of greed..... or something?
Finally saw Alita the other day. About what I expected beginning to end. Kind of hilariously rushed, but pretty good overall. I'd like to see the sequel but seems unlikely.
Bone Tomahawk: Just superb. Beautifully drawn out and written so well. Glorious acting, and ....brutal. So refreshing in a world of Hollywood nonsense. Definitely something you'll love or hate, but I still can't get over how superbly the whole thing is done.
Good , fun little movie, bits very much reminded me of Old Boy and you can definately see how bits of it have influenced films like the John Wick series too.
Sadly, not the Chuck Norris version.... no, it is the 1952 version.
This movie is clearly Cold War propaganda of the worst sort, and probably partially funded by the Pentagon. A bunch of people are in a bar and hypnotized into seeing a vision of the USA invaded by a foreign invader. I hate the right wing slant of this entire movie, but.....
It is filled to the brim the glorious stock footage of jets, planes, carriers, and more from WWII and Korea. So much good stock footage! It is a bit unnerving watching stock footage of planes getting shot down with actual people getting killed in such a drek movie.
Watch it for a great stock footage and the Cold War inferiority complex!
Kid_Kyoto wrote: I needed to watch Conan the Barbarian AND the Destroyer for RESEARCH, so I got 4 pack with them, Kull and Scorpion King.
The two Conans are very different, light and dark but both good. I prefer Destroyer since it was always on when I was a kid and I have fond memories of it.
Scorpion King tries to do the same and has some of the Rock's humor and charisma but is still a bit of a pale imitation.
Kevin Sorbo's Kull was originally going to be Conan 3 but Arnold pulled out so they changed it to Robert E Howard's other barbarian hero. It feels like an extra long episode of Hercules, so yeah. About as good as that. Made me wish I'd watched Destroyer again.
Conan the Barbarian: Classic, without question. Not the least becasue of a mix of early Schwarzenegger and Milius. The best film fantasy soundtrack ever. A staple of our D&D games.
Conan the Destroyer: ...problematic. There are some good bits, and I think it would be a beloved niche classic if it wasn't the sequel to the great Conan.
Never seen Scorpion King. I'm aware that The Dwayne is a class human being, but I really don't have to see him in films. Also... a fantasy film after 1998.... come on. Those were never good, right?
KULL: Recently seen it again and had a whale of a time. It's great. And it's got 1990s Tia Carrere. WITH RED HAIR. As an evil sorceress. What more can one ask for. Sorbo's also OK for the role of a 1990s barbarian. He cxan be equally white-meat babyface as well as smug dafty.
@Easy E: For some reason Space Jam is getting this weird recognition now. I guess it's because people who saw it as 5 year olds are all old and boring and nostalgic for childhood memory stuff. Never really seen it to be honest, but I do hear people talk about it more again recently.
As for Gorgo - dang, you seem to watch all the films I only know via Mystery Science Theatre 3000. I think it's a metaphor of too much dorkin' and the excessive want to do a monster film in the UK. However, for that unique status alone it's interesting. Invasion USA: Again, only seen the MST3k version. What are you going to watch next? The Giant Gila Monster? Squirm (which I hear is pretty hardcore in the original version)?
I only really watched tv shows recently. Yeah, I saw The Dark Knight again. It's perfectly fine. Really good film. Then I watched The IT Crowd. About 12 years ago I watched the first episode, but found gags to be predictable and the show itself a bit boring. Gave it another go, really like it. Not as wacky as Black Books and of course far from Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, but it's fun. And I really like Jen. Good character. In general the show's good at characters. Of course there's absolute cartoon characters (mostly the bosses of course). That being said, these are used to great effect to poke fun at authority. Especially Matt Berry's character gets two lines which are some of the most important ones of our time. The first being in the Friendface episode in which he shows up at Jen's class reunion because "friendface is great because it allows bosses to know where their employees are all the time". The more important thing though is that after casually uncovering a very strict surveillance programme on all employees "if you got nothing to hide you got nothing to fear" (again, quoting from memory). Which of course is possibly THE central fallacy of our time (and any time period, but especially nowadays). I don't often wish for people to be slapped, but I'd like to slap everybody who claims that they "don't care. I got nothing to hide". Anyway, fun tv show.
Last night I couldn't sleep and decided to give Love on netflix another try. I watched the first season and then stopped (probably a few episodes later than I should have). I started season 2. It was the same experience as last time - I really like Gllian Jacobs, I don't like the main guy. I like the friends he hangs out with (apart from the music stuff, which is the most hipster thing I've ever seen). But the way they hang out and interact is really nice. I like how hollywood is depicted in this show. I despise the people Gillian Jacob socializes with, but the character is pretty insufferable anyway. That's a thing many people critizise about the show - the main characters being people you'd normally not wanna socialize with. But more than specific characters for some reason the show makes me really, really, really dislike Los Angeles. It seems like a dreadful place full of insane people who seems like a condensate of annoying habits and mindsets.
Last but not least I always kinda feel shortchanged or exploited when watching Netflix productions. I usually don't do that and make few exceptions (GLOW, because it's harmless and fun and I enjoy the subject), Hilda (because it's super-harmless and just nice) and I'm sure one or two other things I forgot. Oh yes, I watched Disenchanted. I defended it after the first season because it was O.K.. After the second season I'm just tired of defending it and I did curse at the screen when they introduced the dude and the "Steampunk" stuff. And before that the whole character development stuff led me to groan a few times.
Aaaanyway, to me Netflix tv shows always make me feel kinda exploited. They COULD employ engaging, tight storytelling instead of "character moments", but especially from season 2 on (in any show) they start doing entirely unnecessary filler episodes. I can understand that with regular tv shows which run for 24 episodes a season and don't make a big fuss about sequential storytelling or having a story at all. But in Love, season 2, there's a whole episode which is nothing but Mickey writing a text message which more or less means something, doesn't send it because she's not sure, in the end of the episode she decides to delete it and doesn't send it in the end. In between, non-consequential quirky side character things happen. The next episode started out exactly the same and I stopped watching. It's really grating. Somehow this show makes me angry in hindsight. It also made me angry that nobody except the annoying main character knows who Michael Landon was. Okay, Mickey wouldn't know him. But his other friends didn't either? They want to talk inconsistencies in Dharma&Greg (which I would have loved to hear a longer conversation about, but it was only hinted at), but don't know Michael Landon? Odd. Oh well. Rant over.
No wait, there's another thing. I decided to watch Community again during the lockdown period. Somehow Dan Harmon really, really irritates me. Pretty sure I don't like him (judging from interviews and dvd commentary). However, he knows stuff about writing characters and about TV shows. It's weird, because I feel the same about Rick&Morty. I appreciate some points the show makes in certain ways, but I just don't enjoy the show at all. Oh well.
Oh, here's a positive thing: I found a new documentary on Cannon films on youtube. It's really good fun and just goes through the history of the company. Highly recommended: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TfJBNReCNo
The Killers: A thoroughly enjoyable movie that...you wouldn't expect to be any good. It's a better version of Knight and Day/Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Just a fun cast, fun writing, fun popcorn movie.
Kick Ass 2: I've always enjoyed the goofy/bizarre comic-book style of both these movies. I think the first one is a better movie, but I don't mind the sequel at all. Misses some of the glorious soundtrack pieces from the first.
@Easy E: For some reason Space Jam is getting this weird recognition now. I guess it's because people who saw it as 5 year olds are all old and boring and nostalgic for childhood memory stuff. Never really seen it to be honest, but I do hear people talk about it more again recently.
As for Gorgo - dang, you seem to watch all the films I only know via Mystery Science Theatre 3000. I think it's a metaphor of too much dorkin' and the excessive want to do a monster film in the UK. However, for that unique status alone it's interesting. Invasion USA: Again, only seen the MST3k version. What are you going to watch next? The Giant Gila Monster? Squirm (which I hear is pretty hardcore in the original version)?
With my family, I watch a lot of more mainstream shows, but I keep the obscure stuff for those special moments when they are not around, when I can steal 90 minutes to myself int he early morning or late at night.
Next up on my list is Iron Superman which looks like an amazing live-action Super-robot Japanese cartoon, AND made in the 70's!
@Easy E: For some reason Space Jam is getting this weird recognition now. I guess it's because people who saw it as 5 year olds are all old and boring and nostalgic for childhood memory stuff. Never really seen it to be honest, but I do hear people talk about it more again recently.
As for Gorgo - dang, you seem to watch all the films I only know via Mystery Science Theatre 3000. I think it's a metaphor of too much dorkin' and the excessive want to do a monster film in the UK. However, for that unique status alone it's interesting. Invasion USA: Again, only seen the MST3k version. What are you going to watch next? The Giant Gila Monster? Squirm (which I hear is pretty hardcore in the original version)?
With my family, I watch a lot of more mainstream shows, but I keep the obscure stuff for those special moments when they are not around, when I can steal 90 minutes to myself int he early morning or late at night.
Next up on my list is Iron Superman which looks like an amazing live-action Super-robot Japanese cartoon, AND made in the 70's!
I'm sure that one has about 8 different titles as well, and it wouldn't surprise me if it was the Jet Jaguar film.
Mortal Engines: I ordered this, despite its poor performance and general poor reviews...I was curious how they could screw up such a cool possible concept. This is one of the most painfully average, mediocre, inconsistently done movies....ugh...borderline painful. Also, the main male protagonist looks just like Emilia Clarke (and has a similarly pale performance).
Torn between thinking the plot is the daftest thing ever or that the script / Beck's scheme was meta genius for a world already used to absurd nonsense, and had a giggle at the final post credits, I'll go 6/10
Whilst I havent enjoyed them as much as LOTR, I dont think theyre as bad as some reviewers have posited. that could be down to nostalgia though.
overall, theyre a fun enough watch, with the slightly more comical nature of the dwarves making form some fun scenes.. I particularly liked the song where they do the washing up, and the barrels in the river.
negatives are you can definitely tell some parts have been shoehorned in just for filler, like the tauriel/kili love story, and tauriels made up character in general. and some of the CGI battle scenes are unnecessary.
I just discovered the Tales from the Crypt movies of the 90's: Demon Knight and Bordello of Blood.
Demon Knight was great - lovely practical effects and a solid cast chewing the scenery up a bit.
Bordello of Blood was OK, I enjoyed it but objectively it's not so good - a strange production history to it.
The background to these films is also interesting. Apparently the original anthology trilogy they had penned in was Demon Knight and what became From Dusk til Dawn and The Frighteners.
Tarantino wanted too much money and Universal were desperate to keep Robert Zemeckis onside, so he insisted on turning his college script into a movie - Bordello of Blood, which never got the cast they originally wanted and was received poorly, so scrapping the final film (until the early 2000's with a straight to video effort starring Jennifer Grey post nose job and Tim Curry).
Spoiler:
Bordello was quite a strange set to work on - Erika Eleniak (aka Jordan Tate from Under Siege) wanted to be taken more seriously and refused a lot of ideas as a result, shutting herself in her trailer for most of the shoot. Quite why you'd sign on for a schlock low budget comedy/horror movie if you wanted to be taken seriously is anyone's guess. One of those ideas was her character was meant to be a former adult starlet of ample persuasion turned religious.
Dennis Miller was a disinterested A-hole who wanted a million dollars to do it and refused to re-do scenes with his fellow actors, only shooting his side before jetting off to do stand up somewhere and then promoted the film by basically dismissing it and saying 'save your money, don't bother seeing it'.
Joel Silver (or an appendage of his) was convinced super models starring in films was the next big thing and Angie Everheart was dating Stallone at the time only to break up with him mid-shoot, pretty devastated by it.
And poor Corey Feldman, fresh out of rehab, looking to create some sense of fun and camaraderie, was like 'WTF is wrong with these people?'
There's more to it but yeah - ultimately they picked a script that shouldn't have been made and the effects were pretty generic in concept throughout.
Synopsis: Ice Queen Elsa is bored of living with humans. She's hearing a voice, calling her to the North. She wants to go, but doesn't want to endanger her Sister, but Sis isn't playing with that since she risked life and limb for Elsa in the last movie. They head North, with the original crew in tow. Along the way, they discover dark family secrets and keep trying to separate until finally Elsa is just sick of little sister's gak and shoves her away in an Ice Canoe.
Elsa discovers more unpleasant truths about her family's past, and eventually becomes Frozen, herself. Little Sister has to get the stone giants to break the dam that Grandfather Built to let water back into the forest so the nature spirits will stop being pissy, and let her people go!
Analysis: Despite my snarky review, I enjoyed the movie...
EXCEPT FOR THE SINGING!!
My key issue is not the singing itself, but that the songs are just musical exposition. All the songs are just versions of, "This is what I'm doing, and this is what I'm doing now, And this is what I'm going to do" while / leading into what they do.
A song about wanting to go into the unknown... before leaving on the adventure. A song, not just shoehorned but crowbarred into the movie about being lost in the woods. Anna's song, after
Spoiler:
Olaf dies! For a little while...
while she's climbing out of the hole. She sings about taking a first step, and takes a step, then sings about putting another foot forward... and does that. Sings about climbing out of a hole while she climbs out of a hole.
I was going ballistic. I started singing about sitting in my chair. I sang about how my kids were sitting in their chair. I sang about putting my hand in the air. I sang along with the songs, singing stupid things like, "I need to dodge this bouldier, or I be splatted flaaaaat!"
I think I would really like the movie, if it weren't for the exposition songs. Some kind of super cut where they take out the singing, or only allow them the first verse where they tell you what's going on before they skip to the end of the song and do what they said they're going to do. It would probably cut the movie in half, but that would be an good 45 minute or so movie.
If you have kids, they'll like it. You might like it too, if you can handle the singing. If you can't, just be a snarky jerk like me and amuse yourself for 3 minutes at a time by singing your own lyrics.
warspawned wrote: I just discovered the Tales from the Crypt movies of the 90's: Demon Knight and Bordello of Blood.
Demon Knight was great - lovely practical effects and a solid cast chewing the scenery up a bit. Bordello of Blood was OK, I enjoyed it but objectively it's not so good - a strange production history to it.
The background to these films is also interesting. Apparently the original anthology trilogy they had penned in was Demon Knight and what became From Dusk til Dawn and The Frighteners. Tarantino wanted too much money and Universal were desperate to keep Robert Zemeckis onside, so he insisted on turning his college script into a movie - Bordello of Blood, which never got the cast they originally wanted and was received poorly, so scrapping the final film (until the early 2000's with a straight to video effort starring Jennifer Grey post nose job and Tim Curry).
Spoiler:
Bordello was quite a strange set to work on - Erika Eleniak (aka Jordan Tate from Under Siege) wanted to be taken more seriously and refused a lot of ideas as a result, shutting herself in her trailer for most of the shoot. Quite why you'd sign on for a schlock low budget comedy/horror movie if you wanted to be taken seriously is anyone's guess. One of those ideas was her character was meant to be a former adult starlet of ample persuasion turned religious. Dennis Miller was a disinterested A-hole who wanted a million dollars to do it and refused to re-do scenes with his fellow actors, only shooting his side before jetting off to do stand up somewhere and then promoted the film by basically dismissing it and saying 'save your money, don't bother seeing it'. Joel Silver (or an appendage of his) was convinced super models starring in films was the next big thing and Angie Everheart was dating Stallone at the time only to break up with him mid-shoot, pretty devastated by it. And poor Corey Feldman, fresh out of rehab, looking to create some sense of fun and camaraderie, was like 'WTF is wrong with these people?' There's more to it but yeah - ultimately they picked a script that shouldn't have been made and the effects were pretty generic in concept throughout.
All in all, fun schlock that I recommend.
Thanks for all the extra info! I remembered The Freighteners having a strange production history itself, but I didn't know it was planned to be part of an anthology series. Great stuff.
I watched Bordello of Blood donkeys years ago on TV (late night TV was SUCH an important thing in introducing me to all sorts of films. Great stuff. I have no idea how kids today get to know films which are outside of their bubble of interest.), and I'd love to watch it again. JUst can't find it anywhere. Pretty sure I've seen Demon Knight as well at some point, but I can't remember a thing about it. I should watch that as well.
In general I really enjoy documentaries on the making of films. There should be more of those.
edit2: Argh, he only uploaded the first two parts of the documentary. I checked his channel, found out he must be a BIG fan of pretty lady hair. All hair product commercials and similar things. Sometimes it's nice to see that the internet as we used to know it still exists.
Synopsis: Ice Queen Elsa is bored of living with humans. She's hearing a voice, calling her to the North. She wants to go, but doesn't want to endanger her Sister, but Sis isn't playing with that since she risked life and limb for Elsa in the last movie. They head North, with the original crew in tow. Along the way, they discover dark family secrets and keep trying to separate until finally Elsa is just sick of little sister's gak and shoves her away in an Ice Canoe.
Elsa discovers more unpleasant truths about her family's past, and eventually becomes Frozen, herself. Little Sister has to get the stone giants to break the dam that Grandfather Built to let water back into the forest so the nature spirits will stop being pissy, and let her people go!
Analysis: Despite my snarky review, I enjoyed the movie...
EXCEPT FOR THE SINGING!!
My key issue is not the singing itself, but that the songs are just musical exposition. All the songs are just versions of, "This is what I'm doing, and this is what I'm doing now, And this is what I'm going to do" while / leading into what they do.
A song about wanting to go into the unknown... before leaving on the adventure. A song, not just shoehorned but crowbarred into the movie about being lost in the woods. Anna's song, after
Spoiler:
Olaf dies! For a little while...
while she's climbing out of the hole. She sings about taking a first step, and takes a step, then sings about putting another foot forward... and does that. Sings about climbing out of a hole while she climbs out of a hole.
I was going ballistic. I started singing about sitting in my chair. I sang about how my kids were sitting in their chair. I sang about putting my hand in the air. I sang along with the songs, singing stupid things like, "I need to dodge this bouldier, or I be splatted flaaaaat!"
I think I would really like the movie, if it weren't for the exposition songs. Some kind of super cut where they take out the singing, or only allow them the first verse where they tell you what's going on before they skip to the end of the song and do what they said they're going to do. It would probably cut the movie in half, but that would be an good 45 minute or so movie.
If you have kids, they'll like it. You might like it too, if you can handle the singing. If you can't, just be a snarky jerk like me and amuse yourself for 3 minutes at a time by singing your own lyrics.
My little girl is obsessed with the first one, so I want to try and find this for her, but I dont know its out here on dvd yet
Released on Disney +, if that helps. I probably enjoyed the plot of the 2nd, more than the 1st. Just so many of the songs feel crowbarred into the movie than the first where they felt a little more organic... and less exposition-y.
So I read Tom Scioli's flying rodent gak insane Transformers vs GI Joe (if you are of a certain age, read it, it's cool!) and that got me thinking about the Second Greatest 90 Minute Toy Commercial Ever
And yeah, I enjoyed the insanity of it a lot more than I thought.
The opening credits of Joe vs Cobra on the Statue of Liberty with an extended version of the GI Joe theme is worth it by itself. The rest is just crazy good, crazy bad, or just nuts.
I especially liked when the Joes are prisoners but still have their bandoliers of grenades and such because they're molded on the action figure and you have to be on-model.
next I have to rewatch the Greatest 90 Minute Toy Commerical Ever.
Blackhawk Down: Still a decent Hollywood take on the event...and fun to see so many actors who hadn't made it terribly big at the time showing up - heaps of them...that movie has friggin' everybody in it.
Gladiator: A movie that I still enjoy despite knowing a lot about actual gladiators (news flash: the movie is...96% wrong). Still a very lovely shot movie, decent acting, great score.
Flyboys: As a WW1 aviation nut this is a simple "cope with it" kind of film. The CGI is mediocre, the Germans are moustache-twirling villains who inexplicably all fly red Dr.I's....etc. But, it gives just enough amusement to be worth an occasional watch. As long as I don't take it too seriously.
Strictly Ballroom. Considering the era in which it was made, it surprisingly straddles the line between a formulaic rom-com with enough self-awareness to wink at the camera and a full on (but dry) parody of formulaic rom-coms. It’s a quirky, charming movie. The dancing is fun and the soundtrack is excellent.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: Strictly Ballroom. Considering the era in which it was made, it surprisingly straddles the line between a formulaic rom-com with enough self-awareness to wink at the camera and a full on (but dry) parody of formulaic rom-coms. It’s a quirky, charming movie. The dancing is fun and the soundtrack is excellent.
It is indeed a fun little film, and why I can't take telly dancing shows at all seriously
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Elbows wrote: Flyboys: As a WW1 aviation nut this is a simple "cope with it" kind of film. The CGI is mediocre, the Germans are moustache-twirling villains who inexplicably all fly red Dr.I's....etc. But, it gives just enough amusement to be worth an occasional watch. As long as I don't take it too seriously.
I kind of liked it, as much like Fury, if you treat it as a live action Battle comic rather than any kind of serious history its a lark
Elbows wrote: Flyboys: As a WW1 aviation nut this is a simple "cope with it" kind of film. The CGI is mediocre, the Germans are moustache-twirling villains who inexplicably all fly red Dr.I's....etc. But, it gives just enough amusement to be worth an occasional watch. As long as I don't take it too seriously.
Not as eye-burningly painful as Red Tails so there's that.
Elbows wrote: Flyboys: As a WW1 aviation nut this is a simple "cope with it" kind of film. The CGI is mediocre, the Germans are moustache-twirling villains who inexplicably all fly red Dr.I's....etc. But, it gives just enough amusement to be worth an occasional watch. As long as I don't take it too seriously.
Not as eye-burningly painful as Red Tails so there's that.
Red Tails was the movie that convinced me Lucas doesn't know how the make good movies (which I already thought, I was just further convinced).
Pretty sure Samurai Cop is a legend on Best of the Worst. Is that the Len Krabasinski film? Or a film that inspired him? Either way, it reminds me that I saw Space Cop, so...
Space Cop. He’s a cop from the future, the future of space.
It’s a bad movie made by connoisseurs of bad movies. I was entertained. However, I can’t recommend it to anyone who isn’t already fully aware what they’d be stepping into.
I spent far too much of the run time scrutinizing their kitbashed props looking for parts I recognized from the $25 battleship model kit sold at Michaels.
Elbows wrote: Mortal Engines: I ordered this, despite its poor performance and general poor reviews...I was curious how they could screw up such a cool possible concept. This is one of the most painfully average, mediocre, inconsistently done movies....ugh...borderline painful. Also, the main male protagonist looks just like Emilia Clarke (and has a similarly pale performance).
Truly awful isn't it.
makes no sense either, and it's like all the main actors think they're in a different style of movie than the one they're actually in.
Link is supposed to be a chimpanzee, as is evidenced by a poster of him in his old circus days as a chimpanzee, but for some unknown reason he is played by an orangutan who has his fur colored darker and is wearing prosthetic ears to make him resemble a chimpanzee.
when you read that you know you're in for a treat.
How the hell Goldsmith was nominated for an award here I have no idea , score sounds more like a zany 80s comedy than the Birds style horror they're going for.
Cracking appearance by the guy who played Tosh Lines in "The Bill" too,
I have seen Konga.... it is okay but nothing special.
I recently watched Jupiter Ascending
This movie has characters with motivations, backgrounds, and goals. It has world-building. It has great sets and costuming. It has sub-text about the nature of immigration, exploitation, and Capitalism. It has a plot line that follows the Hero's Journey.
So why does it not work? It makes no sense. On paper this movie is "good", but when you watch it all together.... it is just boring. Why? I do not understand!
If you are a film student, this movie could be a great subject for research and review. It should work, all the parts are there, but it just doesn't work.
Easy E wrote: I have seen Konga.... it is okay but nothing special.
I recently watched Jupiter Ascending
This movie has characters with motivations, backgrounds, and goals. It has world-building. It has great sets and costuming. It has sub-text about the nature of immigration, exploitation, and Capitalism. It has a plot line that follows the Hero's Journey.
So why does it not work? It makes no sense. On paper this movie is "good", but when you watch it all together.... it is just boring. Why? I do not understand!
If you are a film student, this movie could be a great subject for research and review. It should work, all the parts are there, but it just doesn't work.
I think its cos is a bit too cluttered as a film, might have been better as a 8-10ep streaming show even if you lose some of the visuals
I watched the new Ghostbusters (2016) film last night.
First off - I'm not hugely into the original films. I think they're nice, they're fun for the most parts and the special effects were great (some stuff's scary too, especially part 2 I thought), but they're not more than "perfectly fine". I expected to be very annoyed by the new film, especially since I watched the German dubbed version on TV. So I watched the thing and the characters kinda won me over. They're a good mix and a good unit at the same time. I enjoyed the build-up, the look of the technology and the ghosts were mostly fine as well. There is too much 'chattiness', there is this constant sound carpet of one-liners and attempts at jokes, which is superfluous and distracting. There is dancing for no reason.
The problem with many comedies these days (especially ones which employ established comedians) I think is that all too many times they seem to want to get 'their gak in' all the time. This is probably more of a production/management problem than an ego thing, who knows. But it's annoying. Yes, you like do to funny voices. Great. Doesn't mean it's gotta be done all the time. Dave Coulier on Full House was more restrained than the blonde lady in that film. And yet, she was kinda my favourite thing about it. The hair was silly, but what can you do. Silly hair is the order of the day.
There's also a ton of unnecessary, senseless and misplaced fan service and references. All of the three surviving Ghost busters actors make an appearance (plus Janine and some others), and NONE of them further the plot one bit, help in any way or are that funny. Especially Sigourney Weaver's at the end was the top of several unnecessary things. And all of that adds up over the course of the film.
The last third is garbage. And even before that it's hard not to realize that this script is about as strong as one for a 22 minutes kids cartoon show. They even have two whole sequences of stupid weapons (first shown, then used) to sell toys. A film driven by fan service (a.k.a. fear of fans and at the same time deep, deep scorn for them) and production companies, chewed up by test audiences and marketing.
All that being said - it's not the fault of the main characters. They could be more toned down and less chatty, but oh well. They are fine and engaging at times. I really like Melissa McCarthy, and I liked her in this film. Not the least because I didn't catch even once reference to her weight or looks. The characters are competent in their fields, don't whine, they are active and work together. I really like that. I also really enjoyed their headquarters. It's just the script, fanservice and fear that lets this film down and kinda kills it over the second and third thirds of the film.
Pass
Oh, as for the whole women-thing: that is not the problem. It's not a bonus either though. And most of all - swapping genders is NOT emancipatory. It's lazy, it's cheap, it insults the viewer's intelligence. Make a good film starring women or make good films starring men - a good film's a good film, a bad film's a bad film. And middle-of-the-road, lukewarm, produced-and-tested-to-death films are the worst.
This may sound overly negative, and in retrospect I notice mostly negative things about the film. But the first ....almost half of it? Third? kinda won me over due to the charcters.
Easy E wrote: I think the biggest issue of the "new" Ghostusters film is that there was no reason for it to exist, and everyone working on it seemed to know that.
Well, there is, it just happens that 'virtue signalling' isnt a legitimate reason.
Easy E wrote: I think the biggest issue of the "new" Ghostusters film is that there was no reason for it to exist, and everyone working on it seemed to know that.
Well, there is, it just happens that 'virtue signalling' isnt a legitimate reason.
and I don't even think it was that much of a signal to start with, lot of SNL graduates get, for good or ill, get to craft their own movie, whereas the ladies get lumped with reheating a movie that either isn't a thing to the younger gen or a precious part of folks teen years, they just couldn't win
Easy E wrote: I think the biggest issue of the "new" Ghostusters film is that there was no reason for it to exist, and everyone working on it seemed to know that.
Well, there is, it just happens that 'virtue signalling' isnt a legitimate reason.
and I don't even think it was that much of a signal to start with, lot of SNL graduates get, for good or ill, get to craft their own movie, whereas the ladies get lumped with reheating a movie that either isn't a thing to the younger gen or a precious part of folks teen years, they just couldn't win
Agreed. No idea why SNL is such a huge thing in the US, but it still seems to be. Anyway, the film was unnecessary, just a money grab basically. Funny thing is that the actresses who did do their best (I think) of course got their paychecks, but no franchise out of it. Production firms just go ahead and do another Ghostbusters film. Weird how these things go.
Easy E wrote: I think the biggest issue of the "new" Ghostusters film is that there was no reason for it to exist, and everyone working on it seemed to know that.
Well, there is, it just happens that 'virtue signalling' isnt a legitimate reason.
Pretty sure it didn't even have to do with that.
One of my old script writing profs told me the following (which I will paraphrase since that was a long time ago):
"If you want to sell a script, don't write anything original. Instead, take a movie that all ready was successful and change one element of it to make it new. For example, take a samurai or western movie you like and put it in a different setting, or change up the main character a bit, or re-work the macguffin, or twist a simple plot point. There you go. You now have a new sellable script."
Pretty cynical but also very risk averse, which is what movie companies want right now. I can practically see the pitch meeting in my head.
Exec 1- "It's Ghostbusters, but with an all female cast!"
Exec 2- "he first one made a lot of money!"
Exec 1-"And people are still fond of it today."
Studio Head- "Green light it."
The simple reason Ghostbusters 2016 failed was they took a beloved franchise (I'm not much of a classic Ghostbusters fan, beyond the cartoon) and turned it into an SNL movie...and a bad one (as most SNL films are). It just failed on all fronts. It was a mediocre and not terribly funny movie (not as good as Brides Maids, etc.)....didn't appeal to Ghostbuster fans...didn't even accomplish the director/producer's desires to virtue signal...and didn't bring anything new or interesting to anybody. That's a failure across the board.
______________________
Disturbia: A decently amusing film starring the growing-into-his-roles Shia Lebouf. Fun, but impractical. Some nice thriller moments.
Crimson Tide: Still holds up beautifully. Just a well done, well shot, fun, and well scripted military thriller/drama. Good stuff. Who doesn't like watching Denzel or Gene Hackman? Exactly.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: But how does it compare to the Hunt for Red October, the other submarine movie with great music?
While I prefer the story of Hunt for Red October, I think Crimson Tide is immeasurably better filmed (better lighting, decent CGI, etc.). No Sean Connery not-Russian language, etc. While I enjoy both, I'd say Crimson Tide is the better movie.
Red Sonja-having seeing the two Schwarzenegger Conans I figured I may as well finish with this informal continuation of the trilogy. It... well it had potential. Brigitte Nielsen had the physical presence, but as a model turned actress speaking in her 3rd or 4th language... let's just call it wooden. Like Conan the Destroyer they went for a D&D party type approach but none of the actors, including Arnold really pull it off. 13 year old Ernie Reyes Jr. is impressive as the martial-art skilled Prince Tarn, but that's about it. The set design has some nice ideas, instead of a standard Hollywood rickety rope bridge they cross a dinosaur skeleton. Giant statues are everywhere. Overall it was worth the $5 digital purchase but that's about it.
Ah digital streaming. Now I can see any movie ever made, with about the quality as using my old 12" B&W set to watch a UHF channel in the 80s.
We just watched Battle Beyond the Stars. It’s a bit campy as you would expect from its age and budget, but a much better movie than we were expecting. Good story, good characters, some far out sci fi concepts, and a bit of action.
Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker: Wasn't going to watch it, but my brother rented it. Just about as disappointing as I was expecting. Not TLJ levels of gak, but just really underwhelming and...if I'm honest, I'm glad to be done with the Star Wars main story. It's time to put this old horse out to pasture and move on.
True Memoirs of an International Assassin Fun enough, but nothing groundbreaking or amazing. I enjoyed it for what it was. I wouldn;t rush out to watch it, but when you are on lockdown, you could do much worse.
Iron Superman Have you seen Ultraman? Imagine something made about 5 years later, only using action figures.... that is this movie. The opening with the big robot using a harpoon to destroy a ship is a glorious use of models. Sadly it is a highlight of the film and it only goes down hill.
If you are absolutely Jonesing for something like a poor man's version of the Power Rangers, you can really skip this one. There are so many better versions of this type of movie out there.
Mad Max: Fury Road: Still a fun action movie, and one of the few movies to have such a definitive style, a kind of 300 feel. Love the dedication to real action set pieces.
Terror Beneath the Sea This movie is a real treat to watch as it has tons of opportunity for riffing. My daughter and I went crazy on this film.
It is like a James Bond movie mixed with a Japanese monster movie. Glorious stuff. This movie must have been a victim on MST3K, but if it has I have not seen it.
I recommend it for a good time, but it really makes no sense.
The Brain Eaters A strange cone arrives on the outskirts of town, and bad things start to happen.
You know, this movies has a decent idea and then completely fumbles it. The director did have some interesting shots to make things seem "out of sorts" including some good opening credits sequence and using angled shots. The "Two-fisted Man of Science" is also enjoyable in this film. Too bad the rest of the cast is dumb as rocks and the plot just meanders along. The Brain-eaters are always ten steps ahead of the "heroes". Then, the "ending" makes no sense at all.
Youtube-based fan-series continuing the original series. Similar to Star Trek Phase II (founded by America's greatest Elvis Impersonator who used his vast Elvis Impersonating Fortune to live his dream of playing Captain Kirk). Unlike Phase II, Continues really works to feel like a 60s episode, same lighting, same shots, even the effects aren't really that different. The closest thing we can get to new 'old' episodes. And a lot of plots hew very close to the same sort of veiled social commentary as TOS. The only sore bit for me has been the cameos and stunt casting, I don't like running to wikipedia during a show to figure out who that guy is. Though having Apollo from BSG in an episode with Apollo from TOS was cool.
First was "Death by Metal". . . a doc about the band Death, but mostly focusing on Chuck Shuldiner's life and creative process, etc. . . Pretty good and interesting, if you're interested in death metal or the metal genre in general.
Second was one called "Lo Sound Desert". . . another really interesting look into an underground music scene lifting its head: California desert rock. Its got interviews with a bunch of the musicians from the area, including Josh Homme (one of the main reasons why more people are now discovering desert rock, I'd say)
Synopsis: Terrorists are trying to steal all the monies, and only John McClane can survive the vicious ass-kicking required to save the day. Not to be confused with all the other Die Hard movies, this one pokes fun at how old people don’t understand technology.
Analysis: Do you like Die Hard 1,2,3, or 5? Chances are good you’d like this one too. Nothing new, sticks to the script. The only thing more dangerous than a pandemic is being related to John McClane. Fun non-super hero pop corn movie.
I genuinely really enjoy Live Free or Die Hard, an exceptionally fun popcorn movie. I think it's a PG-13 one too? Either way, fun action, fun writing, love me some Justin Long - excellent character interaction, etc. Overall it's really fun.
Sadly the follow up was...terrible by comparison. :(
Two nights ago I watched Streets of Fire again. Around christmas I realized I somehow had lost my dvd. So I bought a second hand one for like 2€. Suckers. So I got a German and an English language DvD cover now (with a DVD that says "not for retail". Must have been from one of the many dissolved video store collections). Anyway, watched it again, because it's my favourite film. Wrote mini reviews of it several times.
I was on the verge of thinking that maybe it's not all that entertaining and that I basically only like the first and last scenes, with a big slump in the middle because I hadn't seen it for a year or two. Of course I was wrong. It's a brilliant film. Also look at how young everybody (and I mean everybody) in that film was. Rick Moranis I think was the eldest of the cast at about 30. Yeah, sure, Michael Paré isn't that good in this film. He's young and I think it's really hard pulling off a stoic, seemingly-unaffected kinda badass soldier when you're 18 and know you don't quite look the part (but are very pretty). There's also not all that much chemistry with Diane Lane (but she's so awesomely pretty. And I don't use that adjective usually. In this case it fits though.). So at least both leads are very pretty. The way they two work with each other also kinda gives their relationship an interesting spin that doesn't go badly with the story. Amy Madigan is just a fun character. The role was written for a big, burly dude, but she pulls it off. And it's fun to see this buddy relationship between her and Michael Paré's character.
Rick Moranis' character is possibly the strongest (along with Madigan's). He takes a lot of abuse, but also hands it out when he's in the position. Which is cool. when we see Rick Moranis (in a classic Rick Moranis look in that film too), we expect him to be this comedic, zany wet blanket type, but he certainly isn't in that film.He's out of his element for most of the film, but competent when it comes to stuff he knows about. I like that in a character. Make'em count.
Also pay attention to the extras in that film. They are amazing. Concert audiences, café visitors, bikers. In so many scenes you'll find extras in the back which just fit the scene perfectly. They round it off. Then there's the scene in the middle of the film where they have to pass the inner city on foot. And suddenly we got this explosion of colours and extravagant clothes, but the people in those clothes are all seedy characters, either over- or underexcited. It's such an interesting scene because it's such a contrast.
The whole film is such a proper personal project. Hill made it for him and himself alone. There are so many ideas and visual tricks put into every scene that make the film feel vital and driven and just going. Then there's these amazing night shots (IIRC they built a huge tent over Universal's parking lot) with the neon lighting and just this whole amazing city set in general. The city always feels slightly claustrophobic (with this 'roof' of railways above everything), very cramped and alive with action. A proper sprawl.
The music of course is beyond discussion. I wouldn't call it a musical, but of course the music is a huge part of this film. Hill even bloody got the line "long live Rock&Roll" into the film. Just as a throw-away line mumbled by a stagehand, but that makes it even better.
Also: pretty memorable villain. Maybe not in terms of character (even though he does have a theatric bent), but it's made very clear that he's a bad guy. And this Rock&Roll Fable needs a good bad guy to contrast the good guy. And we got that in Raven Shaddock and his upsetting pants. Speaking of the good guy, count how many times they say his name in the film. It's like they're establishing a band there or if it was a comicbook titled Tom Cody. It's just so gut. I could gush on and on about this film. Go watch it. Some will love it, some will find it really silly, but nobody will find it just 'meh' I believe. It's a unique film, and it's an interesting film, and those are the ones which stand the test of time (despite bombing at the box office). Nobody will remember that Moby Dick origin story film, The Mummy (Tom Cruise film) or The Heat in 30 years time. Streets of Fire, in it's weirdly timless-but-complete-time-capsule setting and timeless fairy tale story and characters will prevail. Kinda like rock&roll.
After having watched the new Ghostbusters film I also decided to re-watch Ghostbusters. And yeah, it really is a good film. Better than the new one of course, but also just good. So yeah, the new one made me look at the original more fondly.
Streets of Fire use to be one twice a year (at least) Saturday afternoon on the local channel when I was a kid. I have seen it about a dozen times, but it has been ages. I might have to give it another go.
The Patriot: Typical Emmerich style 6/10 movie. Decent cast...okay writing...okay action...soft-ball approach to conflict, etc. Satisfies my occasional desire to see muskets go pop.
Watching a disaster flick during a disaster is a bit.... unusual feeling. I don't think I would want to watch a movie like Outbreak or Contagion right now. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was one of those anonymous background characters who are doing their best to survive, but since we aren't the leads we don't get to be action stars and survive.... or even make it to the 3rd act. Instead, I am the comic relief faceless person in peril......
@Easy E: That's the crazy thing - I tend to think that I was someone who's at least somewhat familiar with 80s and 90s b-films or a certain level of belovedness. And I hadn't heard of Streets of Fire until I happened across it by accident on late night TV in like 2004. Insane. Long live late night tv. Well, until it died and made way for these insufferably gakky crime shows they run all the time now. Or insufferably gakky military shows. Or Supernatural. Austrian TV seems to have this incredible love for Supernatural. Each time I turn it on at night (from 11 to 2am) they seem to have bloody Supernatural on. Of course I never watched an episode. I also never sat through an episode of NCIS. And I can not count the times I turned on the TV, it said that Lethal Weapon was on, I'm happily thinking 'alriiiiiiigh' and then it's the gakky tv show. And don't get me started on Last Man Standing's title popping up in the TV's menu misleading me.... Anyway - watch it. Based on the stuff you watch I think you'll enjoy it. Also: You have to show it to the rest of the family!
As for 2012 - yeah, watching catastrophe films now probably feels weird. I actually saw 2012 in the cinema as part of a birthday evening out. I found it perfectly entertaining. The last quarter or so was a bit meh, but overall, it was a fun little film.
@Bobtheinquisitor: Yes, you do. As I said - I love it.
So during these weird times, what are films you can put on any time and they'll always make you feel better than when you started watching them? The ones I can think of right now are: .) There's something about Mary .) Harold&Kumar go to Whitecastle .) Pappa Ante Portas .) Maverick .) Bridge of Dragons .) Probably Miami Connection .) MST3k in general, apart from the odd KTMA(?) episode, Blood Waters of Dr.Z or the Fu Manchu one.
I also enjoy Harold and Kumar go to Guantanamo Bay. The bit where they are interrogating Harold's Dad is hilarious. Never gets old to me. Captures the feel of the time so well.
Never got myself to watch the sequel. I heard so much bad about it and never quite made it past the first 5 minutes or so. Seemed very "Next Friday" to "Friday to me, and I got burned on that one already! But I'll see that I give it another chance.
Free with Prime. Sadly, this is pretty awful. Loaded with lampshading that the movie is basically an acting credit for his daughter with a cast mostly made up of friends doing a favor after his brush with death, which.... fair, but doesn't make it good. Leans a lot on Mewes to carry the film which goes about as well as you'd expect. Act 3 is actually pretty okay. Lots of comic/film industry jabs with the right actors to make it appropriately self deprecating. Pretty low effort affair.
Free with Prime. Sadly, this is pretty awful. Loaded with lampshading that the movie is basically an acting credit for his daughter with a cast mostly made up of friends doing a favor after his brush with death, which.... fair, but doesn't make it good. Leans a lot on Mewes to carry the film which goes about as well as you'd expect. Act 3 is actually pretty okay. Lots of comic/film industry jabs with the right actors to make it appropriately self deprecating. Pretty low effort affair.
I'll give it a go but Kev and I haven't been getting on since Tusk (Red State was also muddled mess but for an out of the comfort zone effort I let it slide)
We recently saw Destroy All Monsters on Tubi. This classic Godzilla film has it all, from hokey costumes to cheesy props, silly dub voices and retro sound effects, with a pace slow enough to let you think of all the best jokes while you wait for the epic monster throw down. Definitely going to watch again.
Free with Prime. Sadly, this is pretty awful. Loaded with lampshading that the movie is basically an acting credit for his daughter with a cast mostly made up of friends doing a favor after his brush with death, which.... fair, but doesn't make it good. Leans a lot on Mewes to carry the film which goes about as well as you'd expect. Act 3 is actually pretty okay. Lots of comic/film industry jabs with the right actors to make it appropriately self deprecating. Pretty low effort affair.
I'll give it a go but Kev and I haven't been getting on since Tusk (Red State was also muddled mess but for an out of the comfort zone effort I let it slide)
to be fair, even he gives himself gak for tusk
still need to watch jay and silent bob reboot myself now that i think of it
First was "Death by Metal". . . a doc about the band Death, but mostly focusing on Chuck Shuldiner's life and creative process, etc. . . Pretty good and interesting, if you're interested in death metal or the metal genre in general.
Thank you for this. One of my favourites but I was unaware the doc existed.
Watched the Wizard of Oz last night. My kindergartener spent most of it pointing out the differences between the book and the movie, so I guess she's well on her way.
Later, I watched Knives Out, which is just delightful. Easily one of the most satisfying whodunnits I've seen in years.
Breakfast Club's back up on Netflix (what a crappy, crappy system). One of my absolute favorite.s Decided to just have a peek into it, and all of a sudden I had watched the whole thing. It's such an easy and nice watch.
started watching Bloody Pit of Horror for the ..... 5th or 6th time or so. Didn't finish before I had to go do something else. I always get a good smile from watching it.
The Last Witch Hunter The Vin Diesel film about an immortal witchunter. The story and world building isn't terrible, but Vin hits on the character's main issue about half way through the film in a bit of dialogue.
"I don't fear anything any more. It's kind of boring really."
Indeed Vin. Indeed.
Plus the scenes with him and Michael Caine..... well..... makes it pretty obvious who the veteran actor is and who the action star is......painfully obvious.
Easy E wrote: started watching Bloody Pit of Horror for the ..... 5th or 6th time or so. Didn't finish before I had to go do something else. I always get a good smile from watching it.
The Last Witch Hunter ...
"I don't fear anything any more. It's kind of boring really."
Indeed Vin. Indeed.
....
Vin Diesel is such a weird case. He seems like kind of a nice guy and sure seems to be passionate about making (action) genre films. But he's just such a non-presence on the screen. Few weeks ago I chaught about 10 minutes of "xXx: Return of Xander Cage". It was just.... naff. Not quite rubbish, but also not anything but rubbish.
Jackie Chan vs. an Irish Pierce Brosnan! Honestly, bot do a great job playing their respective roles in the film. It was fun to watch.
You know, I was unsure how this movie was going to play out. Jackie does a nice job with his "physical" acting in this film. In addition, most of the martial arts is restrain, and the old guy "wins" by being resourceful, planning ahead, training, and using his wits more than his combat skills.
I was entertained and thought it was suitably intense and exciting. It was obvious what was going to happen, but it was a fun enough ride.
Kid_Kyoto wrote:Not a film but catching up on the last 3 seasons of Venture Bros. So good! Sad that I only have 4-5 episodes left.
At the start of isolation I bought the first three seasons of The Venture Bros. before I realised it was all there (barring a Christmas special I think) on Channel 4's streaming service. I ate right through all the seasons to date. I can't believe I overlooked it this long.
(Now if someone could just tell me why King of the Hill isn't available anywhere.)
Bloodsport: Obviously not a film that has aged that well, but such a childhood favourite. Amusing how this film is nowhere near as violent as an average night of UFC nowdays.
Predator: Simply put...still marvelous. A little painful knowing how god fething awful the reboot was...so as long as I don't think about that travesty, the original is just superb.
Jackie Chan vs. an Irish Pierce Brosnan! Honestly, bot do a great job playing their respective roles in the film. It was fun to watch.
You know, I was unsure how this movie was going to play out. Jackie does a nice job with his "physical" acting in this film. In addition, most of the martial arts is restrain, and the old guy "wins" by being resourceful, planning ahead, training, and using his wits more than his combat skills.
I was entertained and thought it was suitably intense and exciting. It was obvious what was going to happen, but it was a fun enough ride.
I thought this was a good movie too. Jackie Chan can act, despite his reputation for being that goofy Chinese guy in the action comedies.
Elbows wrote: Bloodsport: Obviously not a film that has aged that well, but such a childhood favourite. Amusing how this film is nowhere near as violent as an average night of UFC nowdays.
Well yeah, because UFC is pretty much as violent as it gets. I prefer my fightin' to be predetermined and featuring undead teleporting bikers! Bloodsport's nice though. Gotta love Van Damme. Either the early stuff for being odd or the later stuff for him becoming a decent actor.
@Easy E: True.
I bought two DVDs off some person. They were 90 cents each, so I got Deep Rising (the one I originally wanted, because I remember it to be brilliant fun) and at that price I also got Red Planet. Not so much for the film, but for the robot, which is one of the most interesting I've seen on film. As far as I remember at least. Can't wait to see Deep Rising again.
An old SF movie, "mindwarp", AKA "Galaxy of terror'>
A roger corman classic, not for everyone due to a really gruesome scene involving a woman and a giant maggot. Good low budget SF movie that was not a star wars ripoff. Robert Englund played a role that given the time this movie was made was almost eerily prescient.
Predator: Simply put...still marvelous. A little painful knowing how god fething awful the reboot was...so as long as I don't think about that travesty, the original is just superb.
I just rewatched Predator (for research! see my sig) and it really is good. Like Conan the Destroyer the real strength is the ensemble behind Schwarzenegger, his little commando team does a great job of distinguishing themselves as characters, especially since their character descriptions were basically "big guy who dies, black dude who dies, nerd who dies and Indian dude who dies".
Predator: Simply put...still marvelous. A little painful knowing how god fething awful the reboot was...so as long as I don't think about that travesty, the original is just superb.
I just rewatched Predator (for research! see my sig) and it really is good. Like Conan the Destroyer the real strength is the ensemble behind Schwarzenegger, his little commando team does a great job of distinguishing themselves as characters, especially since their character descriptions were basically "big guy who dies, black dude who dies, nerd who dies and Indian dude who dies".
I think it's one of the few movies from the 80s that aged into being a better movie. It's tragic how bad the franchise has become, and I'm reminded every time I watch this one.
I think it's one of the few movies from the 80s that aged into being a better movie. It's tragic how bad the franchise has become, and I'm reminded every time I watch this one.
It's like Alien/Aliens, people forget and underestimate how good and important the human cast was and think all you need is the monster. But before we can be scared of the monster we have to care about the victims, and that means taking the time to establish them and make them likeable.
I think it's one of the few movies from the 80s that aged into being a better movie. It's tragic how bad the franchise has become, and I'm reminded every time I watch this one.
It's like Alien/Aliens, people forget and underestimate how good and important the human cast was and think all you need is the monster. But before we can be scared of the monster we have to care about the victims, and that means taking the time to establish them and make them likeable.
It's definitely my issue with most modern horror/monster flicks. They can come up with a cool critter or spook, but they seem hellbent on making the human characters unlikable douches or total morons. Cabin in the Woods making fun of this from start to finish is one of the things that made it such a great and clever satire.
Matt Swain wrote: An old SF movie, "mindwarp", AKA "Galaxy of terror'>
A roger corman classic, not for everyone due to a really gruesome scene involving a woman and a giant maggot. Good low budget SF movie that was not a star wars ripoff. Robert Englund played a role that given the time this movie was made was almost eerily prescient.
Matt Swain wrote: An old SF movie, "mindwarp", AKA "Galaxy of terror'>
A roger corman classic, not for everyone due to a really gruesome scene involving a woman and a giant maggot. Good low budget SF movie that was not a star wars ripoff. Robert Englund played a role that given the time this movie was made was almost eerily prescient.
Yeah, the ending also makes no sense IIRC.
It made some sense to me.
Spoiler:
The alien building was said to have been created by an ancient race to help their children develop and mature. Their children would go to it, confront their fears, overcome them and as part of their development be given some sort of power once they'd reached a level they could handle it.
At some point a human discovered the building, went thru it, survived and was given the power, which made him master of humanity. When he ages to near death, he arranges for a group to be sent to the alien world, find the building and if if one of them succeeds he kills the old master and becomes the new one. This assumes that humanity can't survive without a benevolent dictator.
Matt Swain wrote: An old SF movie, "mindwarp", AKA "Galaxy of terror'>
A roger corman classic, not for everyone due to a really gruesome scene involving a woman and a giant maggot. Good low budget SF movie that was not a star wars ripoff. Robert Englund played a role that given the time this movie was made was almost eerily prescient.
Yeah, the ending also makes no sense IIRC.
It made some sense to me.
Spoiler:
The alien building was said to have been created by an ancient race to help their children develop and mature. Their children would go to it, confront their fears, overcome them and as part of their development be given some sort of power once they'd reached a level they could handle it.
At some point a human discovered the building, went thru it, survived and was given the power, which made him master of humanity. When he ages to near death, he arranges for a group to be sent to the alien world, find the building and if if one of them succeeds he kills the old master and becomes the new one. This assumes that humanity can't survive without a benevolent dictator.
Yeah I tend to overthink and over analyze things.
That might be more distasteful than the alien bug scene to me.......
Kid_Kyoto wrote: Like Conan the Destroyer the real strength is the ensemble behind Schwarzenegger,
Wait.
This guy?
Spoiler:
This little Rob Schneider wannabe?
I'd say Conan the Barbarian was a classic because of John Milius, Basil Poledouris, James Earl Jones, and because Arnie didn't really have too many lines. As for Conan the Destroyer... I think I was less disappointed by Dungeons and Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God.
Saw it as part of a free preview for HBO. Its not worth actually spending money on.
Absolutely terrible and represents everything wrong with tentpole movies now. Its plot was written by someone suffering from severe ADD, with terrible tropes and writing. Michael Bay would think this movie needs to slow down and develop some plot...
The only positive is that I love Buffalo Bill in any performance he is in. "The Indoraptor rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again!"
Man, colliding those worlds really makes me wish we’d get a movie where the Indoraptor killed lots of people... by luring them in with Craigslist ads and cat fishing. “Hey! You’re not a barely-legal skaterboiiiIIIIEEEeRAAAAarrrr—-“
Saw it as part of a free preview for HBO. Its not worth actually spending money on.
Absolutely terrible and represents everything wrong with tentpole movies now. Its plot was written by someone suffering from severe ADD, with terrible tropes and writing. Michael Bay would think this movie needs to slow down and develop some plot...
The only positive is that I love Buffalo Bill in any performance he is in. "The Indoraptor rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again!"
My favorite (because my favorite part of bad movies are the worst parts) is the super heavy handed ending that requires all the characters to suddenly be completely different people with none of the experience of seeing people get eaten by genetic engineered dinosaurs. They might as well have written "we're going to set up a billion sequel hooks for a bunch of Jurassic Park movies now" into the script and had someone say it.
Brings the Marvel look to the screen in a more vivid way than anything I’ve seen. Crowded cast and dense plot with plenty of intriguing set-ups but mostly weak pay-offs. Nonetheless, the characters’ charms sustain the fun throughout.
The Seth Rogen movie about the Green Hornet crime fighter that was originally a radio show contemporary to the Shadow, and also a TV show contemporary to 1960's Batman.
I was shocked to see Christopher Waltz as the villain in this movie. He did a great job as a standard, everyday villain starting to feel the encroachment of a Comic Book world into his everyday crime life. Eventually, he decides he needs to "step up his game" to add more theatrics to the mix. A good arc for a villain.
Green Hornet himself suffers a lot from "Iron Fist" issues. He is a spoiled rich guy who decides to fight crime for the LOLs and brings nothing to the table except a lot of money.
Kato is a "Magical Negro" only..... you know..... not. Cameron Diaz is also in this as a very talented woman who takes a lot of sexual harassment from her boss.
Overall, I am torn about this movie. My family enjoyed it, but I was left a bit cold. The main character is very unlikable and I enjoyed watching him get his ass-handed to him in a few scenes. However, he has no character arc or development which was really annoying.
A hero buddy cop comedy that lacks the noir elements to make it really fun, that no on asked for or wanted.
Kid_Kyoto wrote: Finished Venture Bros (so DAMN good!) and moving on to Batman Beyond.
I've watched the other Bruce Timm shows (even Superman TAS, which gets the review of 'nice try') but never Batman Beyond. So far really liking it.
I consider Batman Beyond a severely underrated animated series. The final season isn't... great, but it's otherwise pretty grand. Watch the Return of the Joker movie when you finish the series if you can. It's definitely one of the better DC animated features from before they began their current staple and even now it still holds up very well as a film.
After serving in WWII, James Stewart said he would only do war films if they didn't glorify war. For a while I thought that meant his WWII film 'The Mountain Road'. After watching Shenandoah, I guess it includes the American Civil War too.
Stewart plays Virginian farmer Charlie Anderson, a hard, self-sufficient man who takes an isolationist view of the war. But the war comes to his farm and sweeps up several of his family, and he girds up to set out and find his youngest, 16-yo son in particular, taken as a confederate prisoner by union troops.
This film follows a couple of different viewpoints across the war-torn countryside, offering up a bleak showcase of the kind of horrors you might expect to find. The portrayal of the ACW feels a lot like The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, released a year later, except there's no exciting race for a cache of gold - just an attempt to mitigate further tragedies, which keep coming despite everyone's best efforts. It's not a happy film, although there are moments that show how hope and humanity can appear in unexpected places.
James Stewart, as ever, is excellent in his role.
(Currently wondering when Venture Bros. season 8 will appear, and yeah, Batman Beyond is a worthy successor to B:TAS. Skillfully avoids most of the worst 'it's Batman, but in high school!!!' tropes and lets Terry be his own bat.)
Kid_Kyoto wrote: Finished Venture Bros (so DAMN good!) and moving on to Batman Beyond.
I've watched the other Bruce Timm shows (even Superman TAS, which gets the review of 'nice try') but never Batman Beyond. So far really liking it.
I consider Batman Beyond a severely underrated animated series. The final season isn't... great, but it's otherwise pretty grand. Watch the Return of the Joker movie when you finish the series if you can. It's definitely one of the better DC animated features from before they began their current staple and even now it still holds up very well as a film.
The pre-censored version of Joker introducing himself to the JokerZ is my pick for everything great about Mark Hamill's take on the character. He's charming, clever, scary, and manages to twist a joke into something horrible, laughing while everyone else stares in stunned horror.
Kid_Kyoto wrote: Finished Venture Bros (so DAMN good!) and moving on to Batman Beyond.
I've watched the other Bruce Timm shows (even Superman TAS, which gets the review of 'nice try') but never Batman Beyond. So far really liking it.
I consider Batman Beyond a severely underrated animated series. The final season isn't... great, but it's otherwise pretty grand. Watch the Return of the Joker movie when you finish the series if you can. It's definitely one of the better DC animated features from before they began their current staple and even now it still holds up very well as a film.
The technology is interesting. Putting aside sci fi and comic stables like flying cars and super suits it's cool that everyone has cell phones, a lot of 80s, 90s sci fi just missed that coming revolution even though Hollywood were kind of early adopters. But the writers didn't foresee data transfer, Terry carries lessons and even detention ships on little CD ROMs.
Vermis wrote: After serving in WWII, James Stewart said he would only do war films if they didn't glorify war. For a while I thought that meant his WWII film 'The Mountain Road'. After watching Shenandoah, I guess it includes the American Civil War too.
Stewart plays Virginian farmer Charlie Anderson, a hard, self-sufficient man who takes an isolationist view of the war. But the war comes to his farm and sweeps up several of his family, and he girds up to set out and find his youngest, 16-yo son in particular, taken as a confederate prisoner by union troops.
This film follows a couple of different viewpoints across the war-torn countryside, offering up a bleak showcase of the kind of horrors you might expect to find. The portrayal of the ACW feels a lot like The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, released a year later, except there's no exciting race for a cache of gold - just an attempt to mitigate further tragedies, which keep coming despite everyone's best efforts. It's not a happy film, although there are moments that show how hope and humanity can appear in unexpected places.
James Stewart, as ever, is excellent in his role.
(Currently wondering when Venture Bros. season 8 will appear, and yeah, Batman Beyond is a worthy successor to B:TAS. Skillfully avoids most of the worst 'it's Batman, but in high school!!!' tropes and lets Terry be his own bat.)
Thats actually an excellent movie from back in the day.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Terminator: Dark Fate.
Yes, everyone knows the plot, and I am probably the last to see this.
Review: Pleasantly surprised. While it did not stand with T1 and T2 greatness (too choppy and didn't let characters build as well), it was pretty good. Considering this ground has been tread about 18 times already thats a high achievement.
Liked all the characters and thought Linda Hamilton was perfect. Also, is it me or was the female "not terminator" 6ft 6 or something? Da Womenz are really eating their wheaties now.
Favorite part: when opening the building with all the weapons, Arnold spiels about why he had it, because of the likelihood of humanity falling to barbarism, "also, this is Texas"
Huh, turns out according to the Dub I was pronouncing it wrong the whole time!
Anyway, this movie takes place in 2019 so that adds a bit to the fun. It kind of reminded me of the premise to Bright Burn but with some other strangeness attached about evolution, being composed of Stardust, and the indestructibility of energy.... or something.
Underwater: Knew it wouldn't be great given the scores, etc...and it was frustrating. A lot of wasted potential. Could have actually been really good.
Extraction: A wannabe-John Wick...and that's not a bad thing. A solid, mostly mindless shoot-em-up action film. Blessingly spared of the modern politics and agenda.
Rise of Skywalker. . . . Well, I only rented it, so there's that. . . As for the movie/story, well, it was telegraphed to hell and back (wife and I were calling the shots before they happened, which is bad if even she's able to do that). Action sequences were pretty cool, I guess.
Overall, it wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be, but any further reviews or discussions I would bet should be taken to one of the *other* star wars threads.
On a random note for those who've seen it. . . those early shots with Palpatine, is that how yall imagine the 40k emperor looking??
A computer animated kids flix on Netflix that was #1 on USA Today when I watched. i have no idea why it was number 1.
Definitely heavy on the magical realism and nothing connects to any purpose. It is unlike most movies I have seen as there are lots of set-ups, but no payoffs, and nothing that happens can be predicted or makes sense from what happened before. Even for a kids flix this had some strange writing choices.
The Cat narrator voiced by that guy who does the Oscars on occasion (and whose name escapes me completely as of writing) was the highlight.
The newer live action version with computer animated animals.
I was surprised to see this was directed by Andy Serkis. Typically he is the mo-cap performer so someone thought he had something to bring to the table for this type of film.
As for the movie itself, it is a case study in making an amoral psychopath. Then, the character becomes an amoral psychopath just like the villain and we are all happy! Roll credits.
The newer live action version with computer animated animals.
I was surprised to see this was directed by Andy Serkis. Typically he is the mo-cap performer so someone thought he had something to bring to the table for this type of film.
As for the movie itself, it is a case study in making an amoral psychopath. Then, the character becomes an amoral psychopath just like the villain and we are all happy! Roll credits.
Not sure I can saw I endorse this film.....
Yeah, somehow I have not the slightest interest in any of the "live action" Disney redos of classic cartoons. I think a good case could be made in favor of calling these cartoons as well though, especially in the case in which 80% of characters are CGI animals. I'M sure it looks impressive though.
Universal Soldier (1992)
Secret programme of bascially freezing mortally wounded or dead US Vietnam soldiers. By 1992 the technology's there, they enhance them with a bit of cyberware (minimal), stick bunch of biotech in there as well and reawaken these bascially undead to be super-soldiers. Of course there's a tiny malfunction (because this is about the most problematic scientific undertaking possible) and the soldiers' programming messes up. Basically they act upon the last wish they had before they got quasi-killed. In the case of Luc Devraux (Jean-Claude van Damme) that was 'going home', in the case of his direct superior Sgt.Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) and a bunch more of his men (including Tiny Lister!) it's basically "the enemy is everywhere, it's never-ending war!11".
I own the DVD, but it's been a while since I watched this film. If you got access to the DVD, make sure to listen into the audio commentary by Roland Emmerich and one of the producers (I think). Really, really itneresting stuff about the craft side of things and so on. Anyway, the film is really good. Van Damme (who is the leading man of course)'s role is a bit ungrateful I think since he's an undead robotic super soldier. He flees along with a spunky and very pretty reporter lady, Dolph and his pals are on their heels because the super soldier programme is tip top secret and things shouldn't get out. They aren't very subtle about it, but somehow the people behind the programme try to frame the reporter lady for a motel that got shot up with 200 billion bullets and other things. Anyway, van Damme's role is unthankful. Dolph Lundgren on the other hand has the time of his life with the role as the evil sergeant Scott. He's bascially a Space Marine (sans all the extra-silly Imperium ideology) and knows it. In possibly the best scene of the film he holds a big speech in a supermarket which is reminiscent of the 'bad guy' speech in Scarface.
Anyway, the film's even better than I had remembered. It's easy to watch, it's fun, there are some nice scenes between van Damme and the reporter lady, there are amazingly funny and evil scenes featuring Lundgren and some cringe-funny one-liners.
Watch It.
Sea of Love (1989)
Al Pacino is a policeman who's on an undercover hunt for a killer after two murders have taken place in exactly the same fashion. During his investigation he meets a mysterious woman named Helen (Ellen Barkin) and there's some mutual interest. On a personal level as well as on a professional level, as she might be a suspect for the killings.
Oh yes, that one's right up my alley. Very film noir, 80s saxophones, Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman as Pacino's colleague. As much as it is a noir thriller, the interesting aspect about the film is the urban romance story between people who aren't quite young any more and both of them wounded in a way. It's really interesting to see how these characters get involved with each other. They are very unsure about this whole thing (murder suspicions aside). He is insecure about telling her that he works as a cop, she isn't sure about his fits of rage or at least general tenseness and she can't afford to make any bad choices in men since she's been hurt before and she's got a little daughter.
The film works with a very small cast, but it doesn't feel small. It's just a personal story between very engaging characters.
Watch It. It's not a great film, but it's engaging and very charming in a way.
Downfall (2004)
You've seen it. And if you haven't, go watch it. It's just well done, it's gripping and insane and sombre and mind-boggling and all of that. I've seen it a few times since it was released, this time I switched off before Magda Göbbels does that thing. It's not a spoiler, because we all read about what generally went on in the Führerbunker.
Watch It. it's good.
Since it's the 75th anniversary of the end of WW2 ('round these parts at least), tv channels are showing documentaries and films about the topic. While channel flipping I caught Cross of Iron 2, but I can't find myself bothering with that film. And why would I, to be honest.
Then, last night, I saw a film I think I hadn't seen before.
The Murderers Are Among Us (1946)
After the end of the war a woman (illustrator and photographer and liberated from a concentration camp, played by Hildegard Knef) returns to her former flat in the completely destroyed Berlin. While she was gone, former army surgeon Dr.Mertens (Ernst Wilhelm Borchert) had taken shelter in the flat. She's obviously pretty beaten up by his war experiences, seems cynical and dismissive towards everybody, and drinks the nights away in clubs. Since neither has anywhere to go they are forced to become flatmates. Then a letter appears which brings back a figure from Merten's past in the army, who basically is the cause of the worst of all his bad memories about service and things get really interesting.
IIRC this was the first film made in Germany after the end of the war. They started shooting it in 1945 and shows a lot of the devastation of the city, it draws really interesting characters in this insane post-war situation. Oh, and I also get now why Hildegard Knef is so revered. Borchert is really good too. Visually the film is a very interesting mix of 1920 and 30s expressionist film (loads of light and shadow going on there. Great stuff) and post-war Germany realism. Of course the most interesting person is Mertens former captain Brückner. Not only the casting, but also his presentation is really clever insofar as that he's a seemingly small, unassuming and jovial fella with a nice family.
I'm sure a ton of treatises by people who are much more educated and clever than me about Knef's and Borchert's characters, their different experiences during the war, the way the system hurt them and how they are coping with it. The film even breaks it down rather clearly in the beginning: Knef's character tells an old man that she just wants to live now, while it's pretty clear that Borchert's character just doesn't. Either lived through terrible things during the war (different experiences, but both terrible). The illustrator didn't have a choice in what happened to her, whereas Dr.Mertens felt like he had, but somehow didn't. Yet he believes he should have done something and this tears him up. Both were powerless then and after the war in a way still are, but now they are more in charge of their lives than they were within the system. Their experiences shape how they cope with it though. Interesting stuff, well played, impressive.
I have never seen Downfall. Only the memes it spawned.
Sea of Love I recall it being interesting for what it was. At the time, I seem to recall the "erotic" thriller was a subgenre spawned from a few very successful movies whose names escape me at the moment. I also recall being somewhat surprised by the obligatory "twist" ending, but back then I was still a bit new to the movie scene.
Synopsis: Palpatine returns and is revealed as having been behind it the whole time! Still destroying planets, but this time the guns are mounted on the big triangle ships! Hooray for micronization! All your favourite characters are back, but now they’re generals! The empire still hasn’t leaned from it’s all-eggs-in-one basket follies, so the resistance can find all the planet busters in one place... but it gets better, because the ships are all controlled by a single thing, so if you blow it up they all crash!
Oh, Rey and Kylo are linked in the force, and the good guys beat the bad guys because they have the magic of friendship.
Analysis: I had *absolutely zero expectations* for this movie. It was ok for a movie night with the kids. Felt oddly rushed, plot wise, at times while at others, the plot seemed to drag. Pacing was a bit strange, and the time-Focus for different elements of the movie felt off to me. Lots of time looking for the space-gps, not much time developing anything else, really. Not a bad movie per se, but kinda forgettable.
It’s on Disney Plus, so if you have that, it’s basically free to watch, and it’s part of pop culture so I say give it a go.
Rewatched Age of Ultron while playing the new solo raid boss mode for Crisis Protocol. It's often cited as one of the worst Marvel movies but I really enjoyed it. It's definitely more rooted in the 60's incarnation of the team, but I really struggled to find anything to gripe about.
Rewatched Star Trek 6 with my family and friends via zoom and Facebook messenger. It’s still a fun movie, even if we spent most of our time discussing all the character actors and whether or not all Efrosians are blind. (They aren’t! Jeez!) The boy enjoyed the Klingons. My wife enjoyed the alien dogs on Rura Penthe.
*For example, Pat Tallman/Lyta Alexander is uncredited, but she’s one the bridge almost the whole movie.
LunarSol wrote: Rewatched Age of Ultron while playing the new solo raid boss mode for Crisis Protocol. It's often cited as one of the worst Marvel movies but I really enjoyed it. It's definitely more rooted in the 60's incarnation of the team, but I really struggled to find anything to gripe about.
It also sets up quite a few of the following films, though of course we’d no way of knowing that at the time. Still better than its reputation suggests.
Easy E wrote: I have never seen Downfall. Only the memes it spawned.
Sea of Love I recall it being interesting for what it was. At the time, I seem to recall the "erotic" thriller was a subgenre spawned from a few very successful movies whose names escape me at the moment. I also recall being somewhat surprised by the obligatory "twist" ending, but back then I was still a bit new to the movie scene.
It's a good film. Portrays crazy things well. And it's pretty easy to watch, with some peaks of insanity being fittingly unsettling.
What intrigues me about films is the depiction of Göbbels. So very often he's veering towards caricature. I guess it's because of all the ingredients (his stature, the dialect, the foot, the resort, the fascination with certain esoteric ideas, etc.) which are easy to use for identifying the character. There's just a complete clown like in Jew Suss - The Rise and Fall (played by Moritz Bleibtreu). In Downfall it's a bit less distracting, but the face is slightly unsettling.
Oh well. Sea of Love is nice. Yeah, erotic thriller. That's been a thing for a while, hasn't it. Not sure it really applies to this film; the two characters just interact in a kinda erotic fashion and the enviroments sure help. And of course a ton of erotic thrillers followed in the early to mid 1990s, along with a whole lotta made-for-tv sex films. Those were the days! All ruined by the internet, wasn't it. Last erotic thriller I saw must have been Basic Instinct 2, which itself was an odd thing in itself. There's a thing - do hollywood films nowadays still have sex scenes at all? I don't think I've seen one, even the tamest, in a long time.
I think last night I listened to a film while reading something. Can't remember which one it was. I know that I did see the beginning of Batman&Robin. Maybe I'm doing Batman Begins a disservice, but I think I'd rather watch Batman&Robin than Batman Begins. Or Dark Knight Rises for that matter. Watched a bit of The Untouchables on Netflix. But watching films on a tablet is just wrong. Watched the beginning of the excellently nice "My Neighbors the Yamadas". Good fun, funny, heart-warming. Watch It.
As for Age of Ultron - yes, I've seen it up until the last 15 minutes or so.
Star Trek V:The Final Frontier will always hold a special place in my heart for that scene where Captain Klaa made a satellite cry out like a little child.
My strongest memory of Batman and Robin (beyond the stuff that's been giffed to death) is that there were so many trailers in front of it I forgot what movie I'd gone to see when "Feature Presentation" showed up on the screen.
Watched Toy Story 4 last night. It's quite good, but didn't pack as much punch as the third or second. It's always been more of a series I appreciate as excellent films rather than one where I'm super invested in the characters though, and I suspect for people who saw it as kids there's a lot more to unpack here.
So, i thought this would be a modernize adaption of Shakespeare. My daughter and I kept looking for parallels. The closest is that one star is from one ethnic crime family and the other is from a different ethnic crime family. They have a meet-cute and a weak romance side plot.
Nothing else is at all like Shakespeare. The title comes from a throw away line from one bad guy to Jet Li.
This movie is very 90's in execution. (Note I probably spell everyone's name wrong in the following paragraph) It has Aliyah, a rising hollywood star who was killed in a plane crash after filming Queen of the Damned. I have no idea why I remember that.... but I do. It also was one of Jet Li's first attempts to get into mainstream Hollywood movies. Del Rey Lindo rules this film and completely dominates every scene he is in. This movie was clearly trying really hard to be a Hollywood Hong Kong Wire-fu action movie, but it just fails.
Mazes & Monsters. MAZES AND MONSTERS. Even though I think I might have done this already in another thread long ago(its happened quite a bit of late)...LETS DO THIS!
Tom Hanks plays a young college student named robbie who goes full Pardu, in the movie that explains what that actually means to D&D players who still don't understand what the other players are accusing them of. Back in the late 70s/80s, D&D Dungeon Masters were a greater threat to society than drug dealers, cult worshippers, brutal dictators and the cast of Cats, and so they made this made-for-tv movie based on a book of the same name by Rona Jaffe to expose how evil DMs really are...
Just like Michael Corleone, Robbie tries to get out of the game but new friends drag him back in(one of which is a DM, who is so evil he looks like Fred from Scooby-Doo). Before long hes back in fantasy land and after a traumatic experience in an attempt to make the game more real, starts to believe that he is the character he plays. Pardu - sorry, Robbie - goes walkies and his friends have to find him quickly before he does something in which they all might regret, such as playing an extra in West Side Story or even taking up Sky diving...
This film was obviously jumping on the D&D-bashing band wagon of the time, and on that front its a cheese fest that invokes face palm within the first five minutes. But once one has repented for being D&D worshiping scum, there is a genuinely fun 80s adventure-thriller to be found here! Robbie begins to see the real world as an analogy to the game world, and despite the efforts to place blame on the game it actually does a good job of highlighting the real villian of the film - dysfunctional families! Each of the players - especially Robbie - essentially retreat into a world of make believe where they can give structure and dignity to their lives, and in the process form a close friendship.
Beyond the controversy of the game and scapegoating to gloss over more serious issues happening in society even to this day, Mazes and Monsters does occasionally shine a light on the fragile connection between the unlimited power of our imagination and the constraints of reality. Robbie is a bit like Arthur in The Joker, where reality is not in healthy harmony with the imagination, and where most of us merely struggle with that issue as we adapt to new difficulties in life, Arthur and Robbie are lacking a strong enough foundation in reality to keep the imagination in check. Yet Mazes and Joker are contrasts to each other, and controversial in their own rights; M&M blames a recreational game, whereas Joker blames the state of society. Both Arthur and Robbie are lost to their imaginative alter-egos; The Joker and Pardu, respectively.
But "Pardu" has the support of friends, family and society so that he may one day find Robbie, but The Joker is lost in the wilderness of Gotham( much like Robbie where he is lost in the night life of New York ) and unlikely to find Arthur again. While we may never know the fate of either("AM I JOKE TO YOU?", Batman), we do know that Darth Vader was reunited with Anakin, and thus restoring balance to the Force!
OMG! Slow motion this side...mmmmmmmmmhhhhhhh....
...thats right deep divers! The balance of the force is the balance of the imagination and reality!
Can I get a hellllloooooooooo thereeeeeee!
LOL, shout out to Ralph Smart over on Infinite Waters for just popping to mind as I wrote this shamelessly indulgent not-so-mini-review of a film that is so bad its good.
@SamusDrake: Yeah, I heard of this one a few times, but never watched it. The D&D scare never took place here, which may have something to do with it.
Heyhey, I saw a vastly mediocre film.
The Hunted (2003)
US special elite supersoldier (benicio del toro) kills lots of people, but some of them not being the people he should have killed (shock horror). He claims they were baddies too, official story claims "nuh-uh, they were like kids and stuff". Former US special elite supersoldier trainer (Tommy Lee Jones) is hired to help hunt him down.
Good things: Good protagonists who are enjoyable to watch, good low-key action scenes. Remember, this is from a time at which we got mostly overchoreographed, stylized fight scenes and action scenes. This film does everything more down to earth and 'realistic' (with several head-shaking-inducing moments). The film also kinda slightly tries to delve into the inherent problem of turning people into really capable killers, send them somewhere to kill people, and then not having a plan where to put them once the people-to-be-killed are killed.
Bad things: .....but isn't really interested in that thing in the end. It really likes scenes in which people make knives though for some reason. This film is basically First Blood (Rambo I), but with less depth and less of an identity. It's just not very interesting. It's OKAY to watch, but ultimately very by-the-numbers, criminally lets go of the actual topic in favor of a regular chase film and just leaves you with a feeling of 'meh'.
Don't Watch.
I also watched Jack Reacher, because I greatly enjoy that film. And it's SO weird seeing (and hearing!) Werner Herzog as the bad guy. Tom Cruise is the perfect casting choice for that character.
It’s got Zombie Templars. But so far, no seagulls.
Hadn't even heard of that series before, but it's intriguing. Also seems to be available on Amazon Prime. I'm no fan of Amazon, but it's cool that they got older and slightly more niche stuff to offer. As opposed to Netflix, whose film library is disappointing, especially from a genre film perspective and for someone who doesn't feel like watching films from years with a 2 in front.
First off, I don't want to hear any BS about "SJWs" or "Empowered women". Maybe there was no reason for the movie to have a female cast, anymore than there's any reason a lot of movies have all male leads. So I don't want to hear anything about that!
Or maybe there was a reason for a female lead, more on that...
It was not a bad movie. All in all it was a welcome relief from action movies, slob comedies, etc. It tired to be a serious, intelligent SF movie and generally came close enough for me. It had a lot of good effects, good acting, the plot wasn't explained much as in why "it" came to earth or what "it" was. There was some good dialog. "I don't know what it wants. I don't know if it wants."
I think it tried to be kinda sorta like 2001 in some ways, with more action and humanity. A scene near the end is vaguely like the stargate sequence.
The end is very ambiguous. It also might tie in to the female cast.It's very open to interpretation. I had my own if you want some heavy spoilers.
Spoiler:
If you want my view on it, at the end the entity learned enough from humans to know it should leave them be. I don't think it was destroyed but left earth, removing most of it's effects here. As to why the two people at the end apparently retained some of it, maybe it learned from them a few things. Maybe it saw that humanity was flawed but had some redeeming qualities, like the guy grenading himself in an effort to save others from being infected by him. Like that humans valued their individual existence in a way it never had by its nature understood before. Maybe to it this melding and amalgamation was a good thing, a positive thing it thought humans would embrace, only to see they didn't feel the same way. Maybe it left those two with some of its essence to let them decide humanities future. Maybe it had some positive ending. don't know. Maybe that was the point of a female lead, to set up an "adam and eve" situation with the pair at the end. Maybe they slowly uplift humanity instead of just tossing it into a blender like the creature was doing t first. I think if it wanted to force this blending on humanity, which it maybe saw as a good thing, it could have done so but chose not to once it learned about humanity. I don't know, just my feelings on a very open and ambiguous end.
I never rated the book and beside some nifty sfx the film was equally mehh
@ Matt, I got the sense the shimmer was largely instinctive and only started being a problem after it absorbed the first team and picked up human traits
I never rated the book and beside some nifty sfx the film was equally mehh
@ Matt, I got the sense the shimmer was largely instinctive and only started being a problem after it absorbed the first team and picked up human traits
I'm reminded of an old song, "You may be right. I may be crazy." (No "may" about the second part in my case I'm afraid.)
the entity left earth of it's own choice. I don;t believe it was defeated, destroyed, etc. I think it just realized, after absorbing enough from humans, including portman's character most of all, humanity as a whole just didn't want to be blended with all other life. Maybe it understood the idea of individuality.
The two at the end, even if the guy was a duplicate, still were mostly human. Embracing as they did was a human thing. Maybe it left some of itself with them to let them decide humanitiues fate from a more human perspective. Just my emotional reaction.
I hope we can respect each others interpretations of the ambiguous ending, net arguments get so boring. I don't think there is a right or correct view.
indeedy, not having the answers spoon fed is partly why the story works, but still think the doctor essentially feeding it broken people wasnt going to end well
Only about 20 minutes in so far, and it’s utterly charming in its own way.
Somewhat toned down than Taiki’s usual stuff, but retains all his wit.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Ready Player One was great for 80’s kids in terms of nerdy nostalgic spots. Beyond that? Honestly? Wreck-It Ralph 2 did it better.
I damn near fell asleep in Ready Player One...and it's a good example of why you don't pick an awful, boring, non-charismatic actor to try to lead your film. Just a huge fething bore.
Predator: Still, just the best.
Thor: Ragnarok: Still a fun Marvel film, and closer to the "feel" of an actual comic book than most of the other films.
Girls und Panzer, der Film: Just as fun and charming as the show, but with less "girls eating food and talking about friendship" that dragged down the actual show. Tanks are still fun/cool/silly.
LOTR:FOTR: The extended full edition is still my favourite of the LOTR films. Great atmosphere and pacing, etc.
100%. Just everything about it is superb, perfectly conceived and thought provoking. And in these days of ever more polarised political stances, relevant.
Finished the Dragonheart Pentology only to discover that it will be a Hexatology shortly!
3-5 seem to be written by the same writer (and share many of the same production folks, which I respect) so they actually hang together pretty well as they follow the story of the Dragon's as they spread.
1 and 2 are sooo bad. 3-5 are solid. They keep managing to get A-listers for voice acting the Dragon in most of them too.
For reasons I will never understand, I actually watched an asylum "series of images shown in rapid succession to simulate motion along with a soundtrack" (it didn't deserve to be called a movie of film) called "Monster island."
They used to say "I could eat a roll of film and a better movie than this!" Now I guess I'd have to say "I could eat a blank dvd and a better movie than this!"
Monster island was a rip of godzilla kotm, and managed to be absolutely horrible even by the dismal standards the asylum proudly boasts.
I can think of nothing this movie did right whatsoeverr. The cgi was remarkably poor, even by asylum standards. The monster designs were along the lines of "WTF is that supposed to be?!" as to acting, honestly, why can't someone put Eric Roberts out of his misery to spare him more embarrassment by being in more asylum productions?
While most of the cast pronounced kaiju properly, one actress apparently couldn't say it and pronounced it "kie yoo" As to the main monsters name, it was pronounced so poorly and indistinctly I can't remember it.
Not quite as deliberately stupid as the sharknado movies, but in every other way abysmal. Yahweh liked soddom and gammorah better than i liked this movie...
Yeah, sounds like pretty much any Asylum film I've come across. They had some strokes of luck in earlier times (like 10 years ago) with their Sherlock Holmes film, which was kinda entertaining and stuff like the Battle:L.A. one (which was better than the one they aped with it), but overall they just do really boring and cheap films. Never liked the concept of Sharknado (deliberately created "cult" film for the internet to joke about), so I never watched them. Saw a few other newer Asylum films, and they just kinda sucked. Shame, because for a little while they looked like another chance for low-budget B-movies which are fun and maybe even good.
A legendary swordsman has a vision while meditating and decides to retire. He gives his sword into the safe keeping of the local magistrate. Thieves steal it and when he goes to regain it, he encounters someone who he wishes to tutor. They have different ideas.
There is so much more to the story than I just laid out, as there are really three coinciding story lines that all intersect and ask you to consider the traditional gender roles and how they conflict, each with their own price to be paid.
Murder Mystery
An Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston movie that is a bit better than I expected, but still not amazing. Jennifer Anniston has nailed the suburban white woman role. There are times where the twos banter teeters on the edge of irritating, but dials it back just before crossing over.
I am sure they had a ton of fun making this movie, and it was an OK watch. If you have nothing better to do I have seen much, much worse.
After watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon I watched the Netflix sequel.
It has been 18 years since Lu Mu Bai's passing. Sun Lien has been wandering China alone, but returns to the House of Te after Sir Te's death. There she encounters two thieves trying to steal the Green Destiny. Hijinx ensue.
This film was directed by the fight choreographer of the original film. You can tell. The focus is much more on action and less on the intertwining story lines. The movie is lesser for it and feels like a lesser film following normal Kung Fu/Action movie cliches.
Overall, it was a disappointing watch despite a strong performances by Michelle Yeoh and a cast of skilled martial arts movie veterans.
I dont get the hate. It wasn't terrible. The idea of a cosmetic company knowingly selling a skin creme that made you look younger but turned your skin to stone was not hard to accept given the realty of botox.
I could see a lot of people looking at that skin creme and asking "How much younger?"
There was a decent plot buried somewhere but I think all concerned knew it was a stinker and went with the only upside they had and pointed the camera at Ms Berry, a lot
An excellent film with a unique premise: The classic silent film "nosferatu" starred an actual vampire. It was a movie about making Nosferatu with a real vampire as count orlock.
An Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston movie that is a bit better than I expected, but still not amazing. Jennifer Anniston has nailed the suburban white woman role. There are times where the twos banter teeters on the edge of irritating, but dials it back just before crossing over.
I am sure they had a ton of fun making this movie, and it was an OK watch. If you have nothing better to do I have seen much, much worse.
Jennifer Aniston's good. I like her. Sandler is a mystery. Maybe he's just really uncomplicated and good to deal with behind the camera? At this point I somehow can't believe he's just hired so much because his films perform weirdly okay and beyond of how they should. There's a weekly film show I watch on youtube and the past two weeks the presenters discussed "great actors vs. people just getting hired because they're reasonably good actors, but also are just agreeable and work well with others", which was quite interesting.
Didn't really watch any films lately. Not any I remember. I did happen across two recent x-files episodes though. It was weird, but overall ...alright? There was a funny incident when the two latest seasons were released with the production company not wanting to pay the original German voices of Moulder and Scully, so they exchanged them, which (along with the obvious changes in look of the actors) was weird. Apart from that - the Trashman episode was perfectly fine. The other episode (the one with agent Einstein; Moulder and Scully meet basically their younger selves in some young FBI agents) was kinda grating between annoying banter and annoying young agents (he's got that problem many US actors seem to suffer from - looking like a football player. And not being a very good actor, I thought. Agent Einstein was just generally annoying. Sure, they're young and brash and so on, but technically she's talking to superiors, at the very least in seniority.). So I turned the thing off at that point.
The other strange things about Sandler Sigur, is that he can act and has proven it in several more serious roles. Thing slike Punch Drunk Love, Spanglish, Uncut Gems, etc. He just chooses not to most of the time!
The other thing about Murder Mystery is that is skipped most of the normal Sandler "crew" and had a wider variety of actors.
Vermis wrote: I watched The Big Lebowski properly, all the way through, for the first time, and I think I get the hype.
Aye, this one's my prime example of a film getting better and better with repeated viewing. Weird thing is that it doesn't stop getting better each time I watch it. :O
The 90's remake with Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, and Greg Kinnear.
A Rom-Com where the daughter of a rich family's chauffeur returns from Paris. This causes business and romantic complications. The movie mashes up the brothers competing for a woman, and Dream Girl teaches the Stuffy Business Man how to live genres together and adds in a does of Modern Fairy Tale too!
I imagine if this movie was remade today, it would not look remotely the same. Still, I enjoyed it for what it is. It makes me want to track down the earlier (Hepburne?) version.
Some japanese kaiju-fu with a monster that looks like a chicken and the moon had a baby. Some american bashing in it but it's too silly to get offended by.
The 90's remake with Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, and Greg Kinnear.
A Rom-Com where the daughter of a rich family's chauffeur returns from Paris. This causes business and romantic complications. The movie mashes up the brothers competing for a woman, and Dream Girl teaches the Stuffy Business Man how to live genres together and adds in a does of Modern Fairy Tale too!
I imagine if this movie was remade today, it would not look remotely the same. Still, I enjoyed it for what it is. It makes me want to track down the earlier (Hepburne?) version.
What a funny coincidence. That one was on TV just two days ago or so. I haven't seen it in quite a few years, but IIRC even for the time it was made it was decidedly old-school looking and sounding, which I believe is a very deliberate move. Anyway, nice film. I think mainly due to the lead actors who carry the thing very well.
Few nights ago I caught two episodes of the new X-files seasons. (the Trashman episode and the one in which Moulder&Scully meet their younger selves in two young FBI agents who look into a suicide bombing somewhere in Texas). Funny side note - prior to release of the first of the two new seasons (was it 10?) there was quite a hooplah about the German dub voices asking for too much money to return, so the production company replaced them. That sure didn't help reception in German-speaking areas as both their voices were quite distinctive. Anyway, the Trashman episode seemed like a nice, regular monster-of-the-week episode with a bit of the old tongue firmly resting in the cheek. Pretty okay fun. Then the other episode came around and I had to turn the tv off. It GREATLY suffered from annoying things. Mostly endless, abrasive talking. I don't know why, but so often dialogue seems to be written as it each side competed for having the last word or getting a little joke in they just thought of. All while acting all tough and like an idiot, because this is the modus operandi when meeting new people, right? Oh well.
Last night I caught bits of xXX - The Return of Xander Cage again. Few months ago I already did see the first 10 minutes and turned it off. Last night I got a tiny bit further, but it really doesn't improve. It's such a weird film. Suuuuuuuuch a weird film. It's like a 13 year old who really likes instagram and gets a million each month from their rich parents. That is Xander Cage. It's like Last Action hero without a charismatic lead or the kid or any self-awareness. I get it, it's "so over the top that it's ridiculous". I don't get the merit, art, craftsmanship or anything in that. It's just a big pile of nothing with an annoying bow on top.
I did watch a full film too, and a good one even - Ocean Waves (1996)
Japanese animation film, produced for TV by Ghibli. It's one of the more low-priority projects and they had their younger producers do it so they can show what they do. I think it's based on a book. The story of a 17 year old guy in his last year in school, he's good friends with another guy, a new girl from Tokyo comes to the school for the last year (which is odd in itself). She also acts a bit strange, but the boys are utterly fascinated. At least the one. And then the other, and then a really interesting story unfolds.
It's a pretty neat coming of age film which comes across as rather real (in that the characters seem like actual people, if possibly a tiny bit low-key). There isn't a single annoying character in that film. Granted, there aren't that many at all, but none of them are annoying. It's people talkig calmy to each other, until the big emotions hit. It's kinda like an intrigue ("what's that girl's deal?") film with a love triangle on top. A few funny moments, but mostly it's just a story unfolding which keeps you guessing.
Many will probably find it a bit boring and might conclude with the question "what? That's it?". I don't know, I liked it. It's just people's life in times of change. At a later stage there's a reunion of the class which is just a very real and nice scene, especially later on. It's odd, since you only know the characters for about an hour at that point (btw, this is a rather short film. Like 80, 90 minutes?), but they properly get a feeling of familiarity across in those reunion scenes.
Sure, especially from today's standpoint I'm sure there's a lot to criticize about the film. All I could find is that it's really hard to tell characters apart. Faces are drawn in a very minimal fashion, which makes facial expressions instantly recognizable for what they want to convey, which is very clever (and I'M sure saves time). Since faces and most hairdos are very similar (and of course school uniforms are worn a lot during the film) it's hard to tell minor characters apart. Not that it matters very much, but especially later in that reunion I had a bit of a hard time guessing who that young woman is, or who that guy is.
Either way, nice, nice film. Not Ghibli's strongest, far from it, but I really appreciate this film for depicting life and actual people. No superpowers, no magic (APART FROM ACTUAL PEOPLE AND THE MAGIC OF LOVE and FRIENDSHIP!!1), or stuff like that. Only things that matter to people at that point in their lives. Watch It.
Oh, I also watched No Country for old Men again as well. Best Cohen brothers film? Possibly? The Man who wasn't there is brilliant of course, but not necessarily very re-watchable.
The 90's remake with Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, and Greg Kinnear.
A Rom-Com where the daughter of a rich family's chauffeur returns from Paris. This causes business and romantic complications. The movie mashes up the brothers competing for a woman, and Dream Girl teaches the Stuffy Business Man how to live genres together and adds in a does of Modern Fairy Tale too!
I imagine if this movie was remade today, it would not look remotely the same. Still, I enjoyed it for what it is. It makes me want to track down the earlier (Hepburne?) version.
I really should get round to this one as its indirectly responsible for me finding out about the divine Audrey
Some 25 years back I worked in a small arts centre / cinema that had a faithful core of regulars, one of these were a couple of older ladies who only usually showed up to period or costume dramas but they came to Sabrina, film done I asked if they liked "oh yes a bit old fashioned like the old one and the girl was pretty but she was no Audrey" , "who ? " resulting in a 5 minute film history lesson and a list of her films
New Girl
Been binging during lockdown, skipped it at the time as it looked like trope sitcom 101 and for the first few seasons it very much is but then it morphs into the nearest you 'merika sorts have got to UK levels of dark funny in some time, only sunnier and prettier ( but whilst Jess and Cece are passable theyre no Big Suze
)
Jojo Rabbit
still think it overclevers me but im getting there, another watch and i expect ill crack it
I actually see this as a romance movie. Female creature comes from outer space, finds human boy, transforms into his (Anm most people's) idea of the perfect woman, seduces him, falls in lover with him, takes him with her to the stars.
I actually see this as a romance movie. Female creature comes from outer space, finds human boy, transforms into his (Anm most people's) idea of the perfect woman, seduces him, falls in lover with him, takes him with her to the stars.
Yeah, I guess i'm pretty twisted, eh?
also features Sir Patrick at peak shouty scenery chewing, film is just 70/80s Dr Who with bewbs mind
Elbows wrote: I actually enjoyed "most" of 47 Meters Down: Uncaged...for exactly one reason; it was at least spooky (even if most of them were jump scares!). Yes, sharks don't work like that...but I'm so tired of movies like MEG, etc. which are so incredibly boring, etc. This one at least generated some decent silliness/violence.
I mean, the biological principal of an isolated population deviating to better adapt to its habitat is sound. But the sequence where they're just circling under the cast all treading water apparently unable to find them while they exposit, then as soon as the dialogue is done and we know what they're going to do next they lock on like heat seeking missiles was what overcooked it for me.
But then, given the bleak nature of the ending of the first one, the various false horizons of the ending of this one worked surprisingly well. All I thought it needed was for the bitch girl who pushed her into the swimming pool at the start to slip and then have the final shot echo the first only with it being the bitchy girl with added sharks.
Finally watched Spiderman Far From Home while rebasing necrons last night.
It was pretty decent (Homecoming I turned off after a few minutes, couldn't stand the hyperactive video blogging).
What struck me though was the music- it was a bizarre fit for the high school kids in the film, especially the opening song in their student video. It was all very 80s, obviously aimed at the audience (or reflects the movie makers) rather than fitting the kids in the movie.
Made me wonder what the film would sound like if they actually chose music relevant to the characters rather than the movie makers and audience.
Room. The most uplifting film about abduction, long term imprisonment and rape you'll see this year. But in all seriousness one of the best bits of film I've seen in an age.
Voss wrote: Finally watched Spiderman Far From Home while rebasing necrons last night.
It was pretty decent (Homecoming I turned off after a few minutes, couldn't stand the hyperactive video blogging).
What struck me though was the music- it was a bizarre fit for the high school kids in the film, especially the opening song in their student video. It was all very 80s, obviously aimed at the audience (or reflects the movie makers) rather than fitting the kids in the movie.
Made me wonder what the film would sound like if they actually chose music relevant to the characters rather than the movie makers and audience.
Well, to be fair a lot of High School kids WERE doing the 80's thing around the time this came out......
The Duchess
****Warning: Horrible Spelling of Names and places ahead!***
Kiera Knightley and Ralph Fienes in a period piece. The exact period is beyond me, but it was the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire as the main focus.
I had three take aways.....
1. I am sure glad I was not a woman during those times, even a rich one!
2. Ralph Fienes was hotter than the young guy that Kiera Knightley was supposed to fall for
3. Ralph can ACT!
Otherwise, a disturbing and not uplifting watch. At the end, i wondered why I suffered through it.
Azreal13 wrote: Room. The most uplifting film about abduction, long term imprisonment and rape you'll see this year. But in all seriousness one of the best bits of film I've seen in an age.
a decent Brie Larson film* ?
Challenge Accepted
* Scott Pilgrim doesnt count as her playing a self centred pop star isnt really a stretch for her
Mallrats
The Fatman tries to make a John Hughes movie, doesnt really come off
It's the one she won the Oscar for, but frankly she's acted off screen by the little boy who owns the whole show, and isn't in it for a chunk of the third act.
A great terrorist/crime thriller featuring a criminal who has put some very powerful and sophisticated bombs onboard a passenger ship and threatens to detonate them unless a ransom is paid. Something of a technothriller as disarming the very sophisticated (by 1974 standards) bombs is a highlight of the show.
Just saw Goodfellows for the first time (I know, I'm late to the party there).
The film is paced like a biopic, depicting the life of a gangster from age 11-45. The character becomes a gangster for a sense of family and power that he lacks in his own family, but the cycle of abuse continues in his adopted gang family.
Imagine the Bridesmaids coming together 30 years later to celebrate one of their owns 50th birthday. At least, I am sure that was the pitch for this Amy P/Tina Fey film.
I have decided, I do not understand modern comedy that well. Much of it focuses on the "awkward situation" and I find this typically less than compelling. I prefer word play or observational comedy with a dark center of truth.
To me there are three things that make a something funny:
1. A deeper truth
2. Being up way too late
3. Too much booze
Therefore, do not take my advise on if this is a good movie or not. I have no idea what the modern comedy goer is looking for.
How awkward are we talking about? I liked Bridesmaids, but I can’t stand movies beyond a certain cringe factor, such as Meet the Parents or Anger Management.
I watched (and read) the Harry Potter series over the last couple of months. I'd initially written them off as jolly-hockey-sticks cribs of Enid Blyton and Jill Murphy. There's a bit of that in the first couple of instalments, but I was surprised by the amount of 'darkness', for want of a better word, in them from the start and how the stories kind of matured along with the protags.
Quality-wise, the films are pretty good. Maybe getting better after Chris Columbus left. (Maybe also when someone other than John Williams took over the music. Love his music but it was a bit obviously John Williams.) In many places the movies were literally dark; it was tricky to figure out what was going on at some given moments. Zany action scenes were a bit overegged. And I'm not expecting miracles from a lot of child actors, but there still some cringes. That's another aspect that matured as the series went on, although it took 'til the seventh or eighth to coax anything remotely human-sounding out of Emma Watson.
I think it was more than made up for by the adult cast. That's one thing that surprised me: the sheer amount of names. I knew some like Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, Mark Williams and Richard Harris/Michael Gambon were in them, but it's like the films hoovered up the whole membership of Equity. John Hurt! Maggie Smith! John Cleese! Leslie Philips! Zoe Wanamaker! Miriam Margolyes! Warwick Davis! (Twice! Or was it three times?) Julie Walters! Kenneth Branagh! Gary Oldman! Frances De La Tour! (They got Frances De La Tour out of hiding!) Roger Lloyd Pack! Brendan Gleeson! David Tennant! Miranda Richardson! Helena Bonham Carter! Jim Broadbent! And yet more!
And Ralph can ACT.
(Okay, let's call it just the perfect amount of scenery-chewing)
The other notable thing was a bit more of a niche interest: absolutely belting creature design and effects.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: How awkward are we talking about? I liked Bridesmaids, but I can’t stand movies beyond a certain cringe factor, such as Meet the Parents or Anger Management.
I think less than Meet the Parents but only a sliver more than Bridesmaids.
I also liked how it totally outwitted film critics I recall either Bradshaw or Siskel/Ebert wailing on it in a way that showed they did their usual not bothering to watch it as it was considered below them and of course Ms Dawson mmmmhhhmm...
Imagine the Bridesmaids coming together 30 years later to celebrate one of their owns 50th birthday. At least, I am sure that was the pitch for this Amy P/Tina Fey film.
I have decided, I do not understand modern comedy that well. Much of it focuses on the "awkward situation" and I find this typically less than compelling. I prefer word play or observational comedy with a dark center of truth.
To me there are three things that make a something funny:
1. A deeper truth
2. Being up way too late
3. Too much booze
Therefore, do not take my advise on if this is a good movie or not. I have no idea what the modern comedy goer is looking for.
Oh yes, I watched that one. I think that there are some problems with some US comedies and this one in particular: SNL, Tina Fey and Netflix.
.) SNL is a big deal in the US. I get it. That's fine. I think though that certain comedians getting cast in films falling in a certain trap of being cast to do 'their bit' and for recognition of their stage persona. Most of them have some sort of background in stand-up comedy which possibly isn't the best background for someone to star in a technically low-key ensemble piece. At least that's my observations on the thing.
.) Tina Fey is pretty darned cool, and she's very likeable, and good at what she does. We like seeing her because she's good at various things. However, a lot of stuff is sold based on her or her 'brand of humour'. Many of these things aren't very good though.
.) Maybe it's just me, but I always feel cheated when I watch anything produced by Netflix. I tend to avoid Netflix productions altogether due to that feeling. If Hollywood films and tv shows feel marketing-based, Netflix productions do so manifold. This film looks so focus group oriented it's not even funny. The characters, the actors, the sense of humour, the setting, the story, the look. There's this British author, Rosamunde Pilcher, who wrote about a billion wholesome romance novels which since decades are turned into tv films by public German TV, and which are tremendously popular, and of course are scathed by everybody under 60. They're popular thogh with predominantly female viewers over that age (and many people in general it seems). If we enjoy Wine Country we can not belittle these films. Same thing.
Not to say it's bad, because Netflix don't do 'bad'. They do worse - they do "bland and safe with three (or more) recognizable actors". I'm sure I had a chuckle or two in that film, but in general....meh.
I watched the 4th season of Rick&Morty. Yeah. Well. Business as usual. I liked fascist Morty (representing a large portion of the fans I'm sure) demanding 'classic adventures' at gunpoint, but not sure what he actually likes. He can't come up with anything, so he says he liked Mr.Meeseeks. Because that's exactly what a person like that would say. The other thing I liked was at the end of episode four(?) when Rick&Morty get excited about doing classic adventures mixed with 'whatever' and so on. Then Summer chimes in to make fun of them and they both very harshly dismiss her and tell her off for ruining everything. Which I thought was a fun meta moment. But maybe it's just because I found the character extremely overbearing in the past season. I still don't like much about that show, but there are some fun ideas in there here and there.
A series of 5 vignettes about how much the Old West sucked. It covers the ranges from singing cowboys, to Indian raids, hangings, wagon trains, and stagecoach rides. All the key genre elements get a shout out, and it is all a bit depressing.
I have a sneaky feeling that the sequence of stories some how mirrors the evolution of the Western genre, but I have no idea if this is the case.
Easy E wrote: Ballad of Buster Scruggs ....
I have a sneaky feeling that the sequence of stories some how mirrors the evolution of the Western genre, but I have no idea if this is the case.
...
Ha, this is exactly how I feel about Django Unchained. Can't really back it up though.
Joel Schumacher died.I've never seen St.Elmo's Fire, Lost Boys(!), 8mm, or Tigerland. I HAVE seen Falling Down, which I wholeheartedly recommend, and I really enjoyed Phone Booth. Lots of good stuff to be watched. RIP.
A Jewish father in the suburbs of Minnesota in the late 70's has a really bad few days leading up to his son's Bar Mitzvah.
I have a feeling I was not the target audience for this film, and it feels very personal to the Coen Brothers, possibly being semi-autobiographical. That or it could also be a "modern" day interpretation of the Book of Job? Or both at the same time!
However, as a fellow Minnesotan from the suburbs in the early 80's it had some recognizable moments. The Passive-Aggression of it all!
My key takeaway is that the FBI was just as if not more dangerous to the citizens of the United States as the bank robbers and gangsters.
Great tommy gun porno happens throughout the movie. Also, some great cars and clothes.
The story is nothing special and the pacing of the movie is a bit odd. Enjoyable enough but missing that special something to move it from solid to good.
My key takeaway is that the FBI was just as if not more dangerous to the citizens of the United States as the bank robbers and gangsters.
Great tommy gun porno happens throughout the movie. Also, some great cars and clothes.
The story is nothing special and the pacing of the movie is a bit odd. Enjoyable enough but missing that special something to move it from solid to good.
I have a vague recollection of this movie. . . If its the same one I'm remembering, the wife and I both, upon completion commented that it felt rather unfinished. . . Like, so many of the shots/effects felt like they hadnt undergone the full hollywood touch up, it felt in places like absolutely raw camera footage
Pacific Rim: The mecha movie I keep watching, hoping it'll somehow be better than the last time I watched it. Still frustratingly mediocre/poor.
...
Brotherhood of the Wolf: Nothing special about this, other than the wonderful costumes and the excellent atmosphere. Laughable premise, but I enjoy it occasionally.
Not sure there's another film I turned on so hard as on Pacific Rim. Watched it at the cinema, loved it to bits. Had a great time. Gave it another go a while later on Netflix, and couldn't make it past 10 minutes or so. Made me a bit sad.
Brotherhood of the Wolf was ...alright? Vincent Cassel of course was memorable, but he always is. Yeah, the atmosphere was really good. I remember the fact that the film turns into Mortal Kombat (or Soul Calibur rather) in the last 10 minutes or so.
Easy E wrote:
A Serious Man
A Jewish father in the suburbs of Minnesota in the late 70's has a really bad few days leading up to his son's Bar Mitzvah.
I have a feeling I was not the target audience for this film, and it feels very personal to the Coen Brothers, possibly being semi-autobiographical. That or it could also be a "modern" day interpretation of the Book of Job? Or both at the same time!
However, as a fellow Minnesotan from the suburbs in the early 80's it had some recognizable moments. The Passive-Aggression of it all!
Also, has some very Coen Brothers moments in it.
Oh yes, that's an interesting film. Right from the get-go with the scene in Russia in the 18th century(?). Interesting film. Really interesting. Should be watched. Not as powerful as The Man Who Wasn't There I thought, and maybe it's because it's very, very, very specific to US suburbs Jewish life, but I enjoyed that film. Certainly don't regret watching it.
This is Spike Lee's new adventure action movie about a group of Vietnam Vets who return to the country to collect the remains of their fallen comrade as well as a lot of gold they hid during the war.
That is a pretty basic genre set-up. However, this movie is soooo much more than that. In a way, it transcends the genre tropes through characterization, unsubtle messaging about race relations, and subtle subtext mixed in beneath the unsubtle ones. Really, a multi-layered film that comments about a ton of subjects such as Black-on-Black violence, Absent Fathers, The Legacy of War, Black Gentrification, the Nature of Protest, PTS, and sooooo much more. It is a dense film that demands to be re-watched.
Some highlight scenes:
- Del Rey LIndo (SP) explains why he voted for Trump
- Chadwick Boseman reacts to Martin Luther Kings assassination
- The former GIs are toasted by former VC in Saigon
- A man trying to sell a chicken to Lindo while traveling up country
This movie is very good, but it is heavily political. I have to say, it was hard watching some parts of the movie and feeling an eerie deja vu.
@Sigur- Regarding A Serious Man I loved the opening and it drew me into the movie as it reminded me of an old horror short called "The Werdalak" Or some such with Karloff. However, I kept trying to tie it back into the rest of the movie, and I really couldn't.
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga: A simple and fun take on Eurovision - pretty accurate to that madness, with some really solid songs. Feels very similar to a Pitch Perfect style. I normally enjoy Will Ferrell but he was the weakest part of this movie.
Yar, I think I'll pass on that one. The ESC is just a very easy target (and I really, really like that silly show), and I find Will Ferrell tolerable when he's at his best and part of an ensemble cast. This film just looks like a very Will Ferrell heavy film with funny wigs and costumes.
Last night I finally watched Deep Rising again (after like 12 years). Hunted down the DVD a few months ago, was a bit worried it might not be as entertaining as I'd remembered it to be, but my worries are absolutely smashed. What a fun film. It's just brilliantly entertaining. Solid cast, good mix of action, gruesome bits, tentacle creature feature and humour. It isn't great at any of these things, but the mix of these aspects makes the film for me. There's also some very raw behind-the-scenes footage as well, which is pretty cool, especially seeing how they did some of the effects. Sure, the CGI doesn't work well on our huge HD tvs nowadays, but still. It's used rather sparingly (up until one scene in the end). The breakout character of the film's got to be the 'comic relief' who gets about 200 times more of a story arc than the main character Finnigan, who's basically just a stick in the mud with a very, very bad catchphrase. I'm rather sure they did that on purpose. Good fun. Would have liked to see that sequel they teased at the end of the film.
Easy E wrote: Bravo! Not as concise, but gives me an easy way to distinguish them all!
Well, being fair to me the abyss was different than the other 3 in a lot of ways.
Onto a movie, there's one and only one gamera movie i'll recommend, and it's called "war of the monsters" in america, or gamara vs barugon. (Don'r confuse barugon from the gamaera series with baragon from the godzilla movies, it hurt kaiju's feelings when you mix them up.)
I swear this is the only gamera movie i will recommend watching instead of running screaming from the room when it starts.
It has no kenny it it, and is all in all a pretty dark and grim movie compared to a lot of kaiju flicks. There is a lot of human on human violence, in one scene a man lets another be stung by a scorpion and die slowly from the poison for money, in another the same guy beats a man and his wife to death barehanded. A manis caught on a jaiju's long, chameleon like tongue, pulled into it's mouth like a fly and eaten alive. There is a close up scene of him caught by the tongue and pulled into a full sized mockup of the monster's mouth.
Gamera is more the guest star in this flick and spends most of it frozen solid, appearing in little more than cameo roles.
this is a very violent and dark kaiju movie for the 60's and almost unbelievable that is is a gamera movie since they were mostly kiddie flicks, but not this one
You know, the new Will Ferrel movie on Netflix. It is enjoyable enough for what it is.
Ja, Ja, Ding Dong!
The Family A movie by Luc Besson, produced by Martin Scorsesee, starring Rober DeNiro as a gangster, Michelle Pfeifer as his wife, and Tommy Lee Jones as an FBI agent. The gangsters are sent to a small town in France to avoid Mob hitmen. It is a comedy. Consider that premise for a moment.
The Kids getting "acclimated" to their new school maybe a highlight of the film. The end is also surprisingly violent.
Otherwise a kind of pointless time kill as their is no character development or plot arc to the film.
Seen War of the Monsters more times than I can recall. it also has a lot of weird 60's "globe trotting" elements to it as well. it is like they mixed a 60's adventure/spy/heist movie with a giant monster film.
Now, I watched a movie that I absolutely adore and consistently evangelize for, but few other people share my view of it. It is the Wachoski's Speed Racer film. This movie is so well done.... it is amazing. Great transitions, excellent exposition reveals, interesting characters, great cast, very quotable, and exciting racing! Why is this movie not more popular? Probably because it is too long.
Entertaining, BUT the fact the leads are immortal starts to drain the tension from action sequences.
I am confused why the baddies did not switch from lethal force to concussive and non-lethal force. Things like tasers, stun grenades, bean bag rounds, gas, etc.
Great cliff-hanger ending.... too bad it will probably go no where.
Cage didn’t want the world to see him, because he didn’t think that they’d understand/ when everything’s made to be broken, Cage just wants you to know who he ...am.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: Cage didn’t want the world to see him, because he didn’t think that they’d understand/ when everything’s made to be broken, Cage just wants you to know who he ...am.
You good sir win the Internet for today
I hated that film so much, mangle a much better film with a dreadful cast and jam Dawson music in (ie softy ballad gak / alanis-esque wailing likely to appear in a 00s teen drama) what could go wrong
This is a delightful little movie. I recommend it, as it is a bit of a throwback to "classic" mysteries, but with some modern twists.
After seeing this and Brick why the hell did they want Rian Johnson to do the 2nd Star Wars Trilogy movie? It was clear he was meant to do the Solo movie instead. Then, they should have swapped Ron Howard in to do the 2nd Star Wars movie! That makes the most sense!
In short, Rian Johnson is a good film maker and writer, just not for the middle of a Trilogy Star Wars film!
Eye of the needle. Maybe Donald Sutherland's best movie.
Nutshell: Nazi germany's greatest spy, codenamed 'the needle' due to his weapon of choice,a stiletto, has discovered the truth about the D day deception and FUSAG. He must escape from england and reach germany with the information.
Matt Swain wrote: Eye of the needle. Maybe Donald Sutherland's best movie.
Nutshell: Nazi germany's greatest spy, codenamed 'the needle' due to his weapon of choice,a stiletto, has discovered the truth about the D day deception and FUSAG. He must escape from england and reach germany with the information.
Matt Swain wrote: Eye of the needle. Maybe Donald Sutherland's best movie.
Nutshell: Nazi germany's greatest spy, codenamed 'the needle' due to his weapon of choice,a stiletto, has discovered the truth about the D day deception and FUSAG. He must escape from england and reach germany with the information.
A fun, moving film about a human and his Drakh enemy learning to survive together on a hellish moon. Then there's a tacked on action scene at the end. All in all, a great movie that will have you, too, proclaiming "Mickey Mouse is a big, stupid dope!"
Galaxy Quest
The best Star Trek parody of all time. Also kinda somehow one of the best Star Trek movies of all time.
The best Star Trek parody of all time. Also kinda somehow one of the best Star Trek movies of all time.
Cant disagree there I think part of why its awesome sauce is there is a clear love of all things Trek whilst acknowleging its shortcomings, just hating and mocking a thing just doesnt work as those fork awful parody films show, outstanding cast also helped
Reality Bites
Now I admit her acting isnt why I watch Winona films but a recent rewatch of this even her purty cant deflect from her character and nearly everyone, barring maybe Ben Stiller, are fupwitted entitled sacks of gak to the extent you just cant care
[b] Labyrinth [b]
Wuzza wuzza Goblin King Bowie rules some muppets by dance magic although it might all be a dream and if thats the case Sarah needs some pills and voltage calming for those trousers
A movie ahead of it's time in recognizing the GIGO rule of computers. "Garbage in, garbage out". Even the greatest computer on earth can be fooled by one slick conman.
The political satire of it, and the fact it's a 60's movie, was eerie in how it pre parodied the rule of a recent american president.
My daughter and I sat down and watched all the the episodes in one sitting in the evening.
It is basically, 2012 the Anime.
I have to admit, disaster flicks are not my favorite genre, and the mostly unforgiving bleakness is not me cup of tea. Oh, the last episode is a triumphant tourism ad for Japan..... doesn't make up for the rest of the unrelenting bleakness.
The other reason I can not get behind most disaster and post-apoc is that I know my family and I would not be survivors. Therefore, I can not relate to the protagonists at all. In fact, I often watch and think..... I would be dead.... i would rather be dead.....
Ok, not a fast paced action movie, more of a thinking person's movie that is more like "Slow and Purposeful" in it's pacing.
Once you get past the ridiculous mcguffin ( roll of film capable of infinite enlargement) it's a good cold war movie, if you like 'em long.
My only problem is rock hudson. I have a hard time watching movies with him. No, not because he was gay, but because he knowingly risked infecting an actress with what was at the time an incurable, untreatable, terminal illness who's transmission was at the time largely unknown without telling her he was ill. I considered that to be very despicable behavior.
2nd time round its one of the weaker MCU efforts that even the big/small gimmick wears thin, also Ms Lillys mere presence irritates me for reasons I cant quite figure
Superman
Still charmingly goofy fully aware of the silliness of Capes, even the opening nudges your mindset with the whole comic book bit (pilfered from an earlier film that currently eludes me)
A romantic comedy from when they still made those before SmartPhones with Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd, and Jack Nicholson. A pretty killer cast really.
What I liked was the guy Reese was leaving was not a total scumbag, just not the right one for Reese. However, what I did not like was Paul Rudd's "Nice Guy" strategy getting the girl. Totally not OK in this day an age of Incel rage.....
Harmless fun overall, and everyone involved got a paycheck and played their parts well.
Edit: It has been pretty hot during the evenings here with 90+ temps, so watching a family movie is about all you can manage without sweating yourself to death. Expect some more reviews.....
This is a pretty fun movie, but it is a bit high on its own stash sometimes. Some great soaring rhetoric at times though. It would probably be fun to watch a double header of this and The Siege starring Bruce Willis.
That being said, in the movie their is a terrorist plague epidemic that kills 80K people and triggers the march to a right wing state in the UK.
As an American i thought, "80K that's nothing compared to the 150K we have lost to COVID so far." That thought humbled me.
V might well be the finest example of Hollywood misunderstanding utterly, and whilst some drift was unavoidable in the transfer I can see why Alan was even more grumpy than usual
No idea where the virus plot came from, maybe the W's chickened out of the book premise of a limited nuclear exchange arguably provoked by the US turning the world to poop
And of course boiling it down to goodies and baddies and removing about half the characters didnt help
I remember when The Siege came out, and everyone was incensed and rolling their eyes. Then by 2005 everyone kind of went back and thought, “Okay, The Siege. I owe you an apology.”
BobtheInquisitor wrote: I remember when The Siege came out, and everyone was incensed and rolling their eyes. Then by 2005 everyone kind of went back and thought, “Okay, The Siege. I owe you an apology.”
Nowhere near as clever as it thinks either plotwise or with the choices but a passable 5/10, maybe 6 just for the Jeff Minter cameo, starting to think Black Mirror is running out of steam as if the best episode of late features Ron's tiresome offspring thats worrying
I do love the storyline in Bandersnatch where.....
Spoiler:
The therapist says, "You want more action and violence? Then let's go" Then it devolves into a random, over-the-top fight scene. Or something to that effect.
A film about Polish RAF Pilots during the Battle of Britain.
The film has some pacing issues and the dogfight sequences are kind of boring. It can also be a bit challenging to tell who is who when they are all kitted out.
A film about Polish RAF Pilots during the Battle of Britain.
The film has some pacing issues and the dogfight sequences are kind of boring. It can also be a bit challenging to tell who is who when they are all kitted out.
Overall, pretty Meh and I can not recommend.
thats a shame as 303 squadrons story is fantastic, was in one of the war comics wee 1970s Turnip had instead of supers, and came with a little history write up at the end
Belated fourth instalment of Romero’s loose series of Dead films.
I greatly enjoy this film, but it’s definitely the poorer cousin. Main reason for me? The production feels too polished. The plot itself is pretty solid. And Big Daddy’s sort of sentience builds neatly from ‘Bub’ in Day of the Dead.
It’s on Netflix in at least the UK, so if you’ve time to spare it’s worth a look.
I rewatched Letters of Iwo Jima recently and decided to see the partner film which I don't really remember... and now I remember why I don't remember.
Is it just me, or is Flags of our Fathers a movie with great scenes, good actors, and everything that makes a good movie good... that just isn't good? I forgot how much and how randomly this movie nonsensically jumps around in time. It's kind of like Dunkirk, except I could follow the plot of Dunkirk. The plot of this movie is like someone cut the script up and it was pieced back together at random. It's so unviewer friendly I'm kind of shocked Letters from Iwo Jima was made by the same director.
EDIT: Though on a history note, this movie is straight eerie at times now that it's been determined Rene Gagnon was not a flag raiser. It makes multiple scenes outright eerie, even prophetic. There's one where someone threatens to accuse him of not being a flag raiser if he doesn't reveal the names of everyone who raised the flag, and another scene where Hayes jokes that 'he didn't do anything'. I'm curious if these incidents appeared in the source material, and are only just now given new meaning. Given that the film presents him as the only one of the film's principal characters who reveled in sudden fame, he almost comes out looking like a villain, despite the film being made at a time when people thought he was one of the flag raisers. EDIT EDIT: In fact, apparently Hayes was the only actual flag raiser on the war bond tour. John Bradly was determined to have been mistaken for Harold Schultz in 2016, which puts a whole new spin on Hayes' struggles in the film.
I read the source material..... and it sucks! I hope my memory is faulty, but I recall a very bad impression of it.
I read it on a flight and it was so bad, I decided to just stare at the seat in front of me instead...... the worst sort of Pop History paperback I recall having read.
Finally got to the end of the Netflix Marvel shows so thought id give the Ben/Jen effort a rewatch, its still a bit mehh but still better than Hobojesus of Steel or Dark World
Umbella Academy
more super hijinx better than recent CW output and the young chap that plays 5 is the standout
[b] Wild at Heart [b]
Or as it should be called Nic Cage Begins, lots of Lynch crazy and the nastiest bone crunching noise since Superman 2
A pretty good film about the sexual harassment scandal at Fox News that brought down Roger Ailes. It has an amazing cast, and Charlize Theron kills in this film! John Lithgow is also very good as Roger Ailes.
It is a pretty strong look at how Sexual Harassment impacts the culture of a workplace, and impacts everyone there; the people being harassed, the people not being harassed, the management, etc. Pretty interesting stuff even if you take the Fox News angle out of it.
If you are not in a couples relationship, you are packed up and sent to an indoctrination camp immediately. Then, you have 45 days to get into a relationship or you are turned into an animal of your choice. The protagonists wishes to be turned into a lobster.
The movie really evolves from that plot summary, but it doesn't get less weird. Instead, it gets more weird as we are introduced a bit to society outside of the "Hotel", and that culture is also weird.
I am sure there is lots of symbolism, metaphor, and subtext in the film but my pretentious hat is at the cleaners right now so I really do not have much more to say.
Colin Farrel (sp) is passable, and Rachel Weisz is below standard. However, I think that is more based on some of the direction she was given in some scenes.
Wasn't there a short-lived Chuck Norris series of post-9/11 actions films of the same name?
REVENGE OF THE NINJA (1983)
First time I've seen this one. Happened across it on TV, because this is where we get to see classics. Netflix is an utter wasteland and waste of time. I only use it to watch the IT Crowd over and over again really. Sometimes I'll watch The World's End or Der Tatortreiniger. But in terms of films in general it's absolute trash. I'd love for them to get rid of all that "original content" rubbish. I know, I know, it's their business model, but I don't care for it. A netflix logo is an instant incentive to turn it off. If we see annoying stuff in Hollywood films and think "thank you, studio interference/ test audience" we have to be aware that Netflix productions (apart from shows they bought from smaller production firms or tv channels) are JUST that. Oh well. Back to better things.
Revenge of the Ninja is the second installment of the ninja trilogy by Cannon films. This sentence already explains several factors of why I had to stick around and watch this film. Haven't seen the other two films, I hear the first is weaker.
The film stars Sho Kosugi and if that verb ever was fitting it's for this situation. Kosugi plays the hero as well as the villain for the most part of the film as far as I know. In short - the (main) baddie is played by a strapping white fella with strapping blue eyes. Of course he's not trained much in the way of the ninja, and they found a brilliant way to work around that fact WITHOUT resorting to differently coloured ninja outfits for the goodie and the baddie. Great stuff.
The story is somewhat secondary. It's about Sho Kosugi displaying a collection of painted ninja figures, the baddies want one of the figures because they smuggle drugs in them or something. Now that is a plot I can get behind! A baddie wants to steal nicely painted figurines and break them? How dare they!? Get them, Sho Kosugi! There's also something about his son and his police friend and his girlfriend or something, but who cares. This is about ninja figurines!
I'm aware of the name Sho Kosugi, but I don't think I'd ever seen him much on screen. Now I have and I'm a fan. Any irony or nostalgia aside, this film has some brilliant and very inventive action scenes. There's one very long sequence in which some baddies steal figurines and Kosugi tries to stop them. It starts out pretty regularly, and keeps on getting better and better and better. Most of all, it keeps you guessing about the result! Which is pretty rare. I really liked it. The ninja duel in the end is as fun as it is inventive and ridiculous.
I'm not a huge martial arts guy, but this has got to be my favourite ninja film. Yes of course I've seen the American Ninja films. Yes of course I've seen the pilot of The Master. Nope, none of those are as good as Revenge of the Ninja.
Watch It. It's fun, it's cool, it's gory in places, but not excessively so.
Just a reminder - the documentary "Electric Boogaloo" about Cannon films is still up on Youtube and it's brilliant. Watch it.
Other things I've watched lately:
Universal Soldier - Regeneration (2009). Bleh. Blue/grey.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006): As brilliantly heart-warming as ever. If you haven't seen it in a while and remermber it as being "yeah, it was nice, but very American-indie-film, and the ending was slightly lame" watch it again just to remind you of how nice a film it is and how bloody strong the cast is. Sure, the ending IS slightly problematic since "wee look at me, I'm odd, but I'm owning it and make it my annoying message!" is a silly approach. We're all odd, we all live with it, but never ever rub anything in people's faces. They got their own crap to cope with. THAT BEING SAID, in this case it's a thing about family and solidarity in this very situation. Of course, the whole focus on family is always a cheap cop-out by films, but these people are in a situation in which family is the only thing that works for them at the moment. So no matter how much I try to be cynical about it, it's a very, very, very nice film that makes ye feel happier.
Jodorowski's Dune (2014): Ha, finally got to see it! Worth it. Watch it. Brilliant.
Watched documentaries on The Kinks (interesting), Whitney Houston (seems like I knew nothing about her. Interesting.), Patrick Swayze (seems to have been a tip top lad, bascially trained as a superhero from age 3 up. Best thing about the documentary was the bit about the fight at the end of Road House. Which seemed to be a shoot, brother. The baddie actor coming from a martial arts background, knowing Swayze came from a ballet background, wanted to test him. Then they did that weird thing manly fighty dudes do which people like me can't ever understand. They punched and kicked each other and had a great time and bonded over it.), Frank Zappa (interesting fella) and "pop music and space" (Incredibly interesting. Listened to a radio feature about Afrofuturism a few years ago, been interested in the subject ever since. The whole space thing in pop in the 70s and early 80s ...interesting stuff. Now of course we're all about retro stuff because we're contronted with sci-fi stuff every day now and we see that it leads to a LOT of harm for us, so we have little interest in the future it seems).
Recently rewatched The Three Amigos. It still holds up. I had forgotten just how funny Steve Martin can be using just the inflections of his voice. Martin Short and Chevy Chase also shine. A plethora of laughs.
Michael Dudikoff was/is only the king of "American" Ninjas. Ninjas from other places can have different royal lineage based on their own Ninja lines.
Extraction
A movie directed and produced by the Russo Brothers, starring Chris Hemsworth.
The plot? It is standard action movie fare. The son of an Indian drug lord is kidnapped by a rival Bangladeshi drug lord. A Mercenary is hired to retrieve the son. Bad things happen as everything falls apart. If you have seen an action movie before, you know the story line of this film.
This movie does have and amazing chase/actin sequence that is very well done and very exciting. It is a smooth "single take" that has become popular thanks to Children of Men. It starts in a jungle and evolves into a car chase, then a street fight, then a house-to-house search, followed by an aerial chase. All very well done and shot. That sequence alone is worth seeing the movie. This long mid-way scene carries the rest of the movie.
Easy E wrote: Michael Dudikoff was/is only the king of "American" Ninjas. Ninjas from other places can have different royal lineage based on their own Ninja lines.
Extraction
....
What about Hawaii? Is Dudikoff's reign limited to the mainland? Do the Surf Ninjas rule the islands? Or are they more like dukes of hawaiian ninjadom?
I heard good things about Extraction. Well, good in that it's serviceable and does what it says on the tin.
Saw Birds of Prey Wow. That was bad. Not even entertainingly bad.
Worse than Suicide Squad bad.
Even worse than Batman v Superman bad.
The pacing was frakked. (I get the flashbacks/rollbacks were supposed to be a joke, but... it wasn't funny).
The characters were dull, some seemed 'still reading the script in shot' dull.
The 'action' was dull, the betrayals were emotionless, no one really seemed to be excited to be there.
Everything was too normal and banal, which seems absurd to say about a 'supers' movie
H.G. Wells really built a time machine. Then his best friend who was secretly jack the ripper stole it and escaped into the 'future' of 1979. Wells goes off to save 'utopia" from the monster he let escape into it.
H.G. Wells really built a time machine. Then his best friend who was secretly jack the ripper stole it and escaped into the 'future' of 1979. Wells goes off to save 'utopia" from the monster he let escape into it.
That was a mid-Saturday afternoon favorite on my local UHF station. Loved it.
H.G. Wells really built a time machine. Then his best friend who was secretly jack the ripper stole it and escaped into the 'future' of 1979. Wells goes off to save 'utopia" from the monster he let escape into it.
So... what do you think of it?
I think i watched it twice or so. It was alright, I suppose?
H.G. Wells really built a time machine. Then his best friend who was secretly jack the ripper stole it and escaped into the 'future' of 1979. Wells goes off to save 'utopia" from the monster he let escape into it.
So... what do you think of it?
I think i watched it twice or so. It was alright, I suppose?
I'd call it a good movie. It was fairly original in concept and pretty clever, playing on wells actually building a time machine.
It was amazing to see malcolmn mcdowell playing wells as a saintly character given the fact he's most famous for playing very dark and negative roles like caligula and alex delarge.
Dave warner was at his villainous best as Jack the ripper.
I really do not like movies that start the movie at the end, and then replay most of the story in flash back. Typically, this is to set-up a twist in the end, but it pretty much drains the tension out of the rest of the film. WE know they get to that point at the end, it is just a question of how.
This movie, and Extraction both use this technique. I would argue Atomic Blonde uses it better as there is actually a who-dun-it element to the cloak and dagger mystery to be resolved.
The second reason I dislike this movie making technique is because it "forces" a twist, and as a seasoned film watcher, I am now expecting it and predicting it; instead of letting it unfold. This also drains away tension as when it is revealed I am less impressed; either because I think mine was a better twist, or I predicted the "twist" all ready.
Therefore, I hate the story-telling technique that starts at the end of the story and tell the majority of it in flashback. This movie uses that technique but I do not hate it. I was not blown away by it either, and I actually liked it less than I expected too.
Why? The protagonist is not likable in anyway. The who-dun-it was not a surprise. The pacing was a bit tepid. The soundtrack was solid and new wave. The cloak and dagger was mediocre. There was less action than I wanted. The ending twist made no sense.....
Therefore, I was disappointed. However, I love seeing Charlize Theron as an "action" star. After seeing this, perhaps making a Black Widow movie would be harder than I thought......
utter drivel, seems even Tom's cheeky suave cant lift it out of whichever Circle of Hell gak scriptwriters go to, crimes that wouldnt make the cut in Hart to Hart, Chloe, Maze and Ella all suffering from plot driven stupid and no Eve or Rae-Rae, avoid unless dissappointment is what you truly desire
That's what a 21st Century James Bond flick should be. Yeah there's an overdone Eliza Doolittle plot (which is lampshaded) and yeah it's British Gentlemen spies, but it was still really good.
Kingsmen has its flaws but embraced the joyful silliness of the older Bond era as all modern Bond seems to do is eternally be one step behind Bourne, MI and Wick
Yesterday was my birthday. It was a very nice day, mostly spent writing wargamey things while fixing my dad's computer. In the evening I just sat around with my brother and my sister (because no going out or meeting people. Also: it was a Wednesday.). Either way, my brother unexpectedly brought a film along which he specifically chose to watch on my bday. Because he knows I like old genre stuff he brought Death Race 2000! I'd seen parts of the somewhat boring-ish remake starring Jason Statham. The original is anything but (boring or Statham). It stars John Carradine, Sylvester Stallone (in one of his first roles; can't be far off the Italian Stallion) and people who I'm sure I'd be familiar with if I was born 10 years earlier.
The story comes down to this: Dystopian USA, it is hinted that the US are the only remaining superpower (as Mr.President resides alternatively in Moskow and Peking). The economy is on the downswing (for which officially the French are to blame), same as the fact that telephones across the nation don't work any more. But TV does. And so Mr.President instated the Death Races as a sort of gladiatorial gore-sport to entertain the masses. It's basically a race across the US, East to West. Going over the finishing line won't necessarily make you the winner though, as there's an intricate scoring system based on who and how gory the participants run over and kill people on their way. (children and elderly score the most). Each car's got a driver and a navigator, and OF COURSE a gimmick. There's the Nazi car, the Nero (as in roman emperor) car, Calamity Jane car, etc.
The pacing of the film is great. Since it basically starts with the beginning of the race. The film opens with the national anthem and snippets of the audiance cheering and so on, and the more we see and hear the more we learn that a.) something's really off here, and b.) we're in the future (relative to 1975). And from then on the race starts and really helps the film keeping a pretty break-neck pace. Most of the film we follow via the play-by-play commentator (who's delightfully bored with everything) and the colour commentator (who is VERY much like The American Gameshow Host from Monty Python sketches) and a lady interviewer who's great as well.
I also like how the Resistance is depicted - slow, reactionary, very much red-white-and-blue, oldee style US. Rather puritanic and a bit clumsy. Interesting stuff.
A few very graphic (but only split-second usually) gore effects with very brightly coloured blood, some nudity, no guns as far as I remember. Remember when films featured more sex than guns? Yeah, me neither. But as far as I hear that's closer to actual life than the other way around. Okay, that's really unfair I guess, because the film also shows quite a lot of people being run over with cars with spikes in the front. But you get my point.
Oh well. Watch It. It's a classic, it's great fun.
Of course overall it's hokey, camp-looking stuff. I had a ton of fun though. It's fast, it's funny as heck, it's very dark at times.
I remember it having a similar feel to Robocop, in that it was an over the top satire. I also loved that interviewer’s running gag of introducing every celebrity as “a dear friend of mine”.
PS: There might not have been guns, but there was definitely a hand grenade.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And it looks like the whole movie is on YouTube. (I don’t know if it’s been edited.)
BobtheInquisitor wrote: I remember it having a similar feel to Robocop, in that it was an over the top satire. I also loved that interviewer’s running gag of introducing every celebrity as “a dear friend of mine”.
PS: There might not have been guns, but there was definitely a hand grenade.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And it looks like the whole movie is on YouTube. (I don’t know if it’s been edited.)
Oh yes, all the commentators/interviewers were great characers/caricatures.
I deliberately left out the hand grenade, because that reveal had us in stitches.
Great find on the film being on youtube! I assume it's edited, because there's some gory bits, but who knows. Yeah, it being over the top satire akin to Robocop is pretty spot on.
I really do not like movies that start the movie at the end, and then replay most of the story in flash back. Typically, this is to set-up a twist in the end, but it pretty much drains the tension out of the rest of the film. WE know they get to that point at the end, it is just a question of how.
This movie, and Extraction both use this technique. I would argue Atomic Blonde uses it better as there is actually a who-dun-it element to the cloak and dagger mystery to be resolved.
The second reason I dislike this movie making technique is because it "forces" a twist, and as a seasoned film watcher, I am now expecting it and predicting it; instead of letting it unfold. This also drains away tension as when it is revealed I am less impressed; either because I think mine was a better twist, or I predicted the "twist" all ready.
Therefore, I hate the story-telling technique that starts at the end of the story and tell the majority of it in flashback. This movie uses that technique but I do not hate it. I was not blown away by it either, and I actually liked it less than I expected too.
Why? The protagonist is not likable in anyway. The who-dun-it was not a surprise. The pacing was a bit tepid. The soundtrack was solid and new wave. The cloak and dagger was mediocre. There was less action than I wanted. The ending twist made no sense.....
Therefore, I was disappointed. However, I love seeing Charlize Theron as an "action" star. After seeing this, perhaps making a Black Widow movie would be harder than I thought......
So. . . basically film noire is a genre you dislike?
BobtheInquisitor wrote: I remember it having a similar feel to Robocop, in that it was an over the top satire. I also loved that interviewer’s running gag of introducing every celebrity as “a dear friend of mine”.
PS: There might not have been guns, but there was definitely a hand grenade.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And it looks like the whole movie is on YouTube. (I don’t know if it’s been edited.)
Movie theatres near my house reopened and started showing old films on the big screen. I took the opportunity to see some classics that I wasn't alive to see in theatres.
Clue (1985)
Yes really, based on the board game. A delightful little mystery film that lampshades the genre while also making many nods to the board game itself through murder weapons, rooms, secret passages. The film has a stacked cast including Tim Curry and Christopher Lloyd. They also did something really cool when it released in theatres where the theatres received 3 cuts of the film each with a different murderer so audiences never knew how it was going to end. Seriously, it's on Amazon Prime and everyone should watch it if they like murder mysteries or the board game.
Jurassic Park (1993)
It holds up, brilliant pacing, and the practical effects still look better than CGI ever could.
Jaws (1975)
I never really understood the people who claimed Jaws was the scariest movie ever back when it came out. However, after seeing it on the big screen, I can kind of relate. That movie has some of the slowest buildup and just a genuine sense of dread the entire time as you watch the town try to ignore the monster literally eating tourists in front of them. For a fun activity, watch this movie and replace every mention of "shark" with "coronavirus"
Inception (2010)
My wife had never seen this one, and I hadn't seen it since it was in theatres in 2010. She said she doesn't understand the hype, it's a good film, but fairly straightforward and she doesn't understand the people who claim it's some giant mindfeth of a film. I'm inclined to agree. I love the movie, and it really highlights Nolan as a director. For sure made me excited for Tenet.
The New Mutants (2020)
It's finally out in the wild, and I (mostly) loved it. The build up is great, I was real into Marvel around 5 years ago and was pretty much keeping up with the modern comics. As a result I was very familiar with all the characters present in New Mutants except for the main character Dani Moonstar(Moonstone?). This worked out well for me as the mystery of what her mutant power is, is the crux of the film. My biggest complaint is that the plot of the film didn't lend itself to a final battle or big climax moment, and what they came up with was pretty meh and anti-climactic. Sucks this film will never get a sequel after the Fox/Disney sale. They even cut out the Post-Credits scene.
So. . . basically film noire is a genre you dislike?
Well, it's complicated.....
take Casablanca for instance, that is Film Noir (I think), uses Flash Back to tell a story but the Flash Backs are only to fill in some backstory to help us understand the characters. It is not the entire film, it is a supplement to the film. It does not start at the end of the film, but has its own beginning. There is a difference between using flashback as a tool, and using it is an entire film gimmick to try to heighten suspense. Therefore, I like Film Noir when it is done well.... heck I like any film when it is done well....
The Sleep-over The Kids are having a sleep over, when their parents are kidnapped by international criminals. Basically, a lower rent version of Spy Kids. Entertaining enough and competently made. I enjoyed it for what it was.
Saying a movie is competently made is pretty high-praise from me. So many films can not even achieve that level, and they get released to the big screen!
The Never-Ending Story It has been ages since I have seen this film. Re-watching it, this film is full of subtext and a interesting look at how children deal with their emotions through metaphor and story-telling. Also, a pretty interesting reaction to the Reaganism of the 80s when "Greed was good". Very well done on that score, even if the final wrap ending and narration is a bit of a let down.
My daughter kept saying, "Man, I hate CGI. Practical creature effects are so much better." From a teenager, that is a big compliment to what this show managed to do with its FX. Meanwhile, my wife was amazed that she could have made all the flying scenes with the technology she has on her home computer if she wanted to. Things changed a lot in two decades I guess!
The China Syndrome.
A new reporter and photographer (Jane Fonda and Mike Douglas) take a tour of a nuclear energy reactor. While there accident occurs and the news crew surreptitiously records it. Shenangicans ensue.
Pretty good movie. Jack Lemmon plays a serious role outstandingly as the nuclear manager on duty.
Its a good pairing with Chernobyl. Watch this one first then that one.
It's a genuine feel-good comedy film. No snark, no cynism. Just that burn-out Bill and Ted humor where two really dumb guys and their families try to bring the world together through the power of music and also save the world.
This is the second time I have seen this, and I found the second viewing better than the first.
Granted, the core idea that "real" superheroes would be completely messed up, psychotic, and not that effective; is a bit stale. It was probably stale even when the movie came out. However, it does what it does pretty well.
The character's are interesting. The performances are solid. The script makes sense. it is a very competently done movie. However, I find the story arc doesn't quite hang together the way I would have wanted it to.
Am I allowed to do TV shows? I don't care, I'm doing one.
I hate Suzie
Only one episode in and there isn't much of a story, but whoever mixed the audio for that first episode deserves a BAFTA. A barrage of confused voices, music, a brief musical, technology buzzing, country wildlife, a ploppy poo - all contrasted with a deaf child. An aural assault that is magnificent.
This is the second time I have seen this, and I found the second viewing better than the first.
Granted, the core idea that "real" superheroes would be completely messed up, psychotic, and not that effective; is a bit stale. It was probably stale even when the movie came out. However, it does what it does pretty well.
The character's are interesting. The performances are solid. The script makes sense. it is a very competently done movie. However, I find the story arc doesn't quite hang together the way I would have wanted it to.
I preferred Super but still liked Kick Ass as the super genre needs the odd slap (or outright stomping, if you have to call in The Boys) from time to time and its kind of grump inducing its mostly gone out of fashion
Weird. Thought I’d mini-reviewed Dark Phoenix....but seemingly not.
X-Men Dark Phoenix
Honestly. I don’t get the heavy rep. It’s not perfect, but was still a better film than Age of Apocalypse.
Currently on Disney+, and pretty enjoyable overall. Definitely superior to X-3. But then, so are a lot of things. Like that time I deleted by the Inqusition.
Honestly. I don’t get the heavy rep. It’s not perfect, but was still a better film than Age of Apocalypse.
Currently on Disney+, and pretty enjoyable overall. Definitely superior to X-3. But then, so are a lot of things. Like that time I deleted by the Inqusition.
I think its because our Soph is an awful actor to centre a film around and everyone else bar Fassbender is clearly just running out contract obligations and half assing it
@ Easy, yep and the finest Tyler offspring and wee Ms Page
I agree Turnip in that Super was better than Kick-Ass IIRC. Perhaps that was why I was disillusioned the first time I saw Kick-Ass as I had also recently seen Super and liked it better.
It's a genuine feel-good comedy film. No snark, no cynism. Just that burn-out Bill and Ted humor where two really dumb guys and their families try to bring the world together through the power of music and also save the world.
Just finishing B&T's Excellent Adventure, it is no better nor worse than I remembered it from 1989ish. Just a solid little comedy.
Utterly and completely bewildered by the idea they did a sequel 30 years later but somehow it kinda fits the absurdity of the film.
This is the second time I have seen this, and I found the second viewing better than the first.
Granted, the core idea that "real" superheroes would be completely messed up, psychotic, and not that effective; is a bit stale. It was probably stale even when the movie came out. However, it does what it does pretty well.
The character's are interesting. The performances are solid. The script makes sense. it is a very competently done movie. However, I find the story arc doesn't quite hang together the way I would have wanted it to.
I preferred Super but still liked Kick Ass as the super genre needs the odd slap (or outright stomping, if you have to call in The Boys) from time to time and its kind of grump inducing its mostly gone out of fashion
Not to be 'that guy' but...
AHEM in the original comics the ending is pretty different, Big Daddy is a fraud and a psycho who kidnapped his daughter. No jetpack, no minigun, no last second rescue. I thought the film suffered from that swerve at the end into super heroics.
Yeah, well, The Godfather (the book) spends a surprising amount of time on a woman with a medically-interesting Hoohah and her surgeon. Sometimes it’s good to change things for an adaptation.
Tombstone (1993) is surprisingly accurate to historical texts, Val Kilmer delivers his magnus opem performance, and the use of historical slang is fascinating. Might be my favorite western of all time.
Contact (1997) is a tad divisive. Some people hate the ending, others love it. I enjoyed it more the second time around then the first. It is based on the novel by Carl Sagan and has minimal deviations in plot.
Gattaca (1997). I've watched it twice now and it falls firmly into my list of worth it to watch once movies. Maybe twice to pick up on things you may have missed. The story is stretched very thin in order to make a full movie. Wardrobe and set design is lacking. In my opinion it's an interesting thought experiment that would work better as a short story.
@balmong7: Oh yes, Jurassic Park does hold up really, really well, doesn't it. There was some CGI there, but used entirely correctly. I once heard a really fun little thing about Jurassic Park: The scene the lawyer gets eaten off the toilet by the t-rex features a CGI body being thrown around by the T-rex. At the point in time Hollywood only had one digitized human body - Robert Patrick's. They scanned him for Terminator 2. So they did the special effect using Patrick's digitized body. Essentially the T-Rex ate the T-1000 there.
Is "Face the Music" the new Bill and Ted film? I was very unhappy with the trailers. Not sure I can watch that one. Few years ago I watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, and, as others said on here: It's a charming little film. It's good fun. The German dub of the film was something else (same with Enzino Man and other stoner comedies of the time). They couldn't come up with existing terms for stuff like "dude" and other terms used, so they came up with this entirely new lingo of words nobody would ever use. Gave the films a whole new dimension. The terms from the films actually found their way into every day lingo among young people. Well, for a while.
I watched Kick-Ass once. I think I wrote this ten times before: the endless shot of Nicholas cage sitting in front of the mirror putting up make-up is amazing. Did not like girl. The main guy was ...alright. I don't know. Not my kind of thing. I liked Super a bit better. But in the end I don't find them more moving than Paul Blart and Observe and Report respectively.
@Kid_Kyoto: 'bewilderment' is the perfect reaction to seeing they made a sequel now. I agree. As for Netflix - because they only have crap. AND they just raised prices for the second time within 18 months. I only use Netflix to watch Star Trek these days, Community (which I got on DVD anyway) and The IT Crowd. There are some good films on there, but it's getting more and more crap with the big red N in front.
@trexmeyer: Aye, 90s films! You're speaking my language. Tombstone is epic (Val Kilmer standing out properly), Contact is really good, Gattaca I think I've seen once a long time ago, but I barely remember a thing about it.
Have I watched a new film? Err... I don't think so. Watched Return of the Ninja again, watched Friday again, watched Papa ante Portas.Nothing new.
Yeah yeah I know about the moon getting blown out of orbit and flying thru the universe. I get it.
Ignoring that I think that the pilot ep of space:1999 was pretty awesome. The effects were groundbreaking for the time, immeasurably better than anything on tv up to that date.
The acting was good, the ep was pretty decent and still likely the best one made.
Is "Face the Music" the new Bill and Ted film? I was very unhappy with the trailers. Not sure I can watch that one. Few years ago I watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, and, as others said on here: It's a charming little film. It's good fun. The German dub of the film was something else (same with Enzino Man and other stoner comedies of the time). They couldn't come up with existing terms for stuff like "dude" and other terms used, so they came up with this entirely new lingo of words nobody would ever use. Gave the films a whole new dimension. The terms from the films actually found their way into every day lingo among young people. Well, for a while.
Yes, it's the new one. I can't recommend it enough. It really is just a nice feel-good comedy that I didn't realize I needed this year.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: Yeah, well, The Godfather (the book) spends a surprising amount of time on a woman with a medically-interesting Hoohah and her surgeon. Sometimes it’s good to change things for an adaptation.
Yes, that was...strange, as well as the werid dying old consigliere. I liked the greater discussion about how Sonny was a very effective general in the last mob war, and how Do Corleone felt (at least to me) much more sinister.
AHEM in the original comics the ending is pretty different, Big Daddy is a fraud and a psycho who kidnapped his daughter. No jetpack, no minigun, no last second rescue. I thought the film suffered from that swerve at the end into super heroics.
The end of the film definitely suffers (though Hit Girl's assault is pretty great). I just don't really think the comic ended all that much better either. Part of it is the whole.... Millar... thing, but the story is a knife's edge with the comic falling hard to one side and the movie slipping to the other. Neither really walk it to the end.
Then again, the core appeal of the whole thing was pretty much spent in the first issue. After that "damaged nerve endings" superpower caused the series to lose the "what if someone tried to Batman for real" hook almost immediately.
a better movie than this!" Now I guess I'd have to say "I could eat a blank dvd and 
in it's pacing.
