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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.

The only flaw is the voice acting, they really need to diversify their cast, it is too obvious when it's just the same 2-3 people.

The Foreigner

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.

Finally saw Joker. It was.... fine. Honestly, I was kind of bored with it. Fine film, but I got all I needed out of it from the trailer.

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.)

Easy E wrote:an Irish Pierce Brosnan!

Imagine.

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.

 Easy E wrote:
The Foreigner

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.

Pan's Labyrinth

Yup. This is good. Watch it.

 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.

 Elbows wrote:


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".

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:

 Elbows wrote:


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.

 LordofHats wrote:


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.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:


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.

Yeah, the ending also makes no sense IIRC.

 Easy E wrote:

 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.

 Matt Swain wrote:

 Easy E wrote:

 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?



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.

Wasn't Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain in Destroyer?

Are you accusing him of not being a great actor!?!

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

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—-“

 Frazzled wrote:
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

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.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

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 Green Hornet

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.

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.

 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.)

 LordofHats wrote:

 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.

 LordofHats wrote:

 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"

Akira

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.

Fun.