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Made in gb
Lord of the Fleet






London

Girlfriend's been on a bit of a Hugh Jackman binge this weekend so I sat down and watched Real Steel last night.

Premise is in the very-near future robot boxing is a huge sport, and a retired actual boxer is struggling to survive with his robots in the sport.
It's a little cheesy with the whole dad/son interaction and storyline, but I found it to be a decent watch.
   
Made in fr
Longtime Dakkanaut






 Valkyrie wrote:
Girlfriend's been on a bit of a Hugh Jackman binge this weekend so I sat down and watched Real Steel last night.

Premise is in the very-near future robot boxing is a huge sport, and a retired actual boxer is struggling to survive with his robots in the sport.
It's a little cheesy with the whole dad/son interaction and storyline, but I found it to be a decent watch.


You and her should see the original version of this movie.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_(The_Twilight_Zone)

"But the universe is a big place, and whatever happens, you will not be missed..." 
   
Made in us
Pyre Troll






i enjoyed real steel right up until it became one of the favorite movies a group of kids i worked with liked and it got put on a heavy repeat cycle
   
Made in at
Buttons Should Be Brass, Not Gold!





Vienna, Austria

Few years ago I watched Accepted (of course the German title is "S.H.I.T.", because when in doubt, they go for incredibly crass titles on comedies since ~2010). I found it to be surprisingly alright.

Didn't watch Real Steel, not overly keen on Hugh Jackman (even though he seems to be a very decent bloke). I'm interested in the Twilight Zone story though!

   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

 Sigur wrote:
Mini mini review:

The Gate (1987)

Hell on earth emanates from hole in the yard, boy, sister (babysitting boy and friend) and friend have to stop hell.

Good mood (nightmarish), fantastic effects (a joyride of great proper effects with a number of monsters and things appearing) , Watch It.


Considering the budget and rating they were going for (kids movie) that film is epically awesome.

-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
Made in fr
Longtime Dakkanaut






 Sigur wrote:
Few years ago I watched Accepted (of course the German title is "S.H.I.T.", because when in doubt, they go for incredibly crass titles on comedies since ~2010). I found it to be surprisingly alright.

Didn't watch Real Steel, not overly keen on Hugh Jackman (even though he seems to be a very decent bloke). I'm interested in the Twilight Zone story though!


it's easy to find on the net and if you see i'm curious as to what you thought.

"But the universe is a big place, and whatever happens, you will not be missed..." 
   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

The only thing I remember from Real Steel was Kevin Durand’s Texan saying “homeboy”.

   
Made in at
Buttons Should Be Brass, Not Gold!





Vienna, Austria

 Matt Swain wrote:
 Sigur wrote:
Few years ago I watched Accepted (of course the German title is "S.H.I.T.", because when in doubt, they go for incredibly crass titles on comedies since ~2010). I found it to be surprisingly alright.

Didn't watch Real Steel, not overly keen on Hugh Jackman (even though he seems to be a very decent bloke). I'm interested in the Twilight Zone story though!


it's easy to find on the net and if you see i'm curious as to what you thought.


Not sure I'm too keen to put me through that film again. It was surprisingly alright when I caught it at night on TV a bunch of years ago, so I guess that's one category. Not sure I'd seek it out to watch again. I'd rather watch Girl Next Door again (which to me for some reason feels like a very similar sort of thing). I think it's even on Netflix. I might watch it again? Let's see.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/21 21:56:10


   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

We rewatched Kong: Skull Island, and if anything I enjoyed it even more the second time. I’m a big fan of character acting, and the movie delivered.

   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Tenacious D and the PIck of Destiny

Your enjoyment depends on two things:

1. Tolerance for Jack Black mugging
2. If you like the Jay and Silent Bob dynamic in movies

Poor Kyle Gass can not act, but he tries. It is a reminder that comic acting is an actual skill.

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
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Made in at
Buttons Should Be Brass, Not Gold!





Vienna, Austria

@Easy E: Hmm, I have a surprsingly high tolerance of Mr.Black's mugging. Maybe I'll give it a go if I run across it.


Right, last night I watched TV because I thought that this would be the best way to spend my time. And I got swamped with options! Because it was the weekend and after midnight.

Things I saw: Shape of Water (meh), Tafelspitz (I think I even exclaimed an audible "aaaw", because I'm old and sad and the film's from 1994 and a weird thing in itself, and it kinda makes me feel warm and fuzzy), bloody Guardians (the russian superhero film. I wrote a mini review of that a while ago. Basically it's an Avengers thing with built-in giffable moments and so on. I have no particular emotion towards it, because it doesn't bring any particular emotions itself.). I heard that the glorious German tv channel Tele5 showed an old Chalies-Angels-ploitation film, but I didn't catch it. I have to say though, that the existance of this tv channel is a blessing. Here's what Tele5 do:
.) They show films. Even at prime time. And not a single horrible US TV crime show. Okay, that's mostly crap (for a while they showed pretty much the whole Asylum library. Incredible. But at least that way I watched the first Transmorphers film, Battle for Los Angeles and the very interesting Sherlock Holmes. I also saw a bunch of boring Asylum crap, but oh well.), but very often also the crap I like. And they show films from the 70s, 80s, and 90s!. So Yeah, crap I like. They got a timeslot for "the worst films ever made" (we all know that's never really true, but oh well). Last week they showed bloody Zombie Nightmare! Watching that one's German dubbed version and without the commentary by Mike and the 'bots was pretty interesting.
.) they show Star Trek, Babylon5 and Relic Hunter on a regular basis.

Yup - gotta love Tele5. It's for the old, set-in-their-ways dude in all of us. :p


So last night I watched a film I hadn't seen in a long time:Leon (1990). I actually misread the title wrong first. At the first moment I thought it was The Professional, but nooooooo, it's the JCVD film. I guess it's mostly known as Lionheart? There seems to be a baffling range of cuts of that one (mostly cut for violence of course).

The film tells the tale of a Foreign Legionnaires dude (Jean Claude van Damme, of Friends fame) who deserts to go to America and help out his brother or something like that. Said brother gets killed by evil people, van Damme wants to a.) protect and b.) support his late brother's wife and daughter. Good thing is that he's Jean Claude van Damme, so he's got one skill that'll take care of both these things: kicking highly or round-housely.

This film presents us with a nice mix of "action dude caring for family" and "underground fighting tournament" with colourful characters. PLUS foreign legion agents being after van Damme to get him back and probably court martialed or what ever the french foreign legion do to deserters. Anyway, JCVD makes a fast-talking friend who becomes his 'manager'. There are some funny bonding scenes in which they get drunk or fight and so on. Van Damme is introduced (in a very entertaining way) to an evil rich blonde lady who'll pay him to fight other dudes for lots of money. Of course her sidekick is Brian Thompson (nobody knows his name, but if you see him, you know him).

So the film switched back and forth between van Damme slowly gaining the trust (well, fastly, based on the things he pulls on them at first to give them money without them knowing) of the widow and the kid and pretty brutal fight scenes. Van Damme is shown to get kicked, punched and thrown around quite a lot.

The film is good fun. A bit uneven, a bit overloaded, but the emotional stuff works, the 'comedy' stuff ...works (mostly due to how odd it is though) and the action parts of course are good. The only let-down is a problematic one though: It's 1990 Jean Claude van Damme. And he just wasn't a good actor then. Even the German dubbed version I saw had van Damme talk really low and mumbly compared to the other characters, which of course doesn't help a lot. It's really impressive how much better an actor he became over the coming 15 years. He pulled a reverse Steven Segal.

Rating this film is easy: If you like Jean Claude van Damme films Watch It Again. Because you most probably have already. If you don't, Don't Watch of course. Simple, brilliant.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/25 10:02:35


   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Mortal Kombat

Yes, the one in the theatre RIGHT NOW! (Unless you are reading this in the future! Then, it is not in the movie houses right now.... or is it! It is all timey-whimey)

This actually feels like a Pre-quel to the actual Mortal Kombat tournament as there is no actual tournament in this film! Instead, Shang Tsung is trying to kill off earth's champions BEFORE the tourney so they can auto-win. I guess the rules do not explicitly forbid conflict outside of the Tourney.

All Champions have a MK mark. If they get killed or defeated by another member of their plane, the mark transfers to them. If they are killed by someone outside of their realm, it starts fresh with a new person (who may or may not be an actual fighter yet).

So, the big question is how does this stack up compared to the "original" Mortal Kombat (OTMK)?

1. Outworld is really boring compared to the OTMK.
2. The acting and story is much better, even if some of the character actors in the OTMK are iconic.
3. This has 100% less Johnny Cage, and it is weaker for it.
4. Kano in this one is particularly good.
5. The fighting in this one is better, with the potential exception of Jaxs vs. General Hammer Guy.
6. Actual Fatalities from the games in the movie, which is delivered in a superior way than the OTMK.

Overall, this is a much more "serious" effort than the OTMK and it has its charms. However, it lacks the over-the-top zaniness of the OTMK. I was still entertained, but my bar was very low going in.

***Reviewers warning, my daughter asked to go see this with me and she is a teenager who can drive and hang-out with her friends and see a movie like this without me. However, she asked me to see it with her, because she is secretly a MK fan girl, which I did not know! Therefore, my MK experience is being clouded by dad emotions!***

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Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






Demonoid

A demonically possessed left hand goes on a rampage, possessing other people until they (willingly, as part of its design) chop their left hand on, providing it with a new host.

It’s actually rather good. Distinct Hammer feel to it, despite being a Mexico/US combo.

The effects are pretty solid for low budget horror nonsense. A combination of clever camera angles and prosthetics.

Slight point deduction for entirely gratuitous boobies in the opening minutes.

   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

That’s a point deduction in a film called Demonoid?

   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Typically, it means the following movie will be crap..... but MDG is claiming Demonoid is not crap.

Therefore, by showing boobies so early the producers/director were false advertising for their product!

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
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Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






Got nothing against fun bags, just bored of gratuitous dirty pillows.

If it’s something like an Italian Giallo or an 80’s slasher, they’ll at least pretend they’re contextual. But here it was “I’ll just rip your blouse because reasons”

But it was made in 1981, so possibly par for the course.

   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

I see. So not even a “I guess I’ll take a shower in the woods”?

   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






Indeed not. Well. Nearly time to pick another dodgy horror film!

   
Made in at
Buttons Should Be Brass, Not Gold!





Vienna, Austria

The film sounds like fun. Opening boobies aren't a bad thing, I suppose. It's a staple of the genre. Few weeks ago I read an article about all these hollywood bodies. It's almost as if these things are an expression of dedication to 'self-improvement' and 'hard work' (and I'm sure these strictly conforming-to-standard bodies are, not to mention surgical adjustments, hard work to attain), but nobody in Hollywood films - or other broad films it seems - ever has sex or even has a look. These chaste hulls are more like a CV, carried around and visible to anybody. It's weird.

But then again, I don't see many new films and I'm all wrong there.



Have I seen something recently? Not sure. The other night I saw some Australian horror films/thrillers on TV, but skipped them. Not sure I enjoy those much. Of course I saw the one with the dude and kids in the outback. Oh, and I saw the one with the sniper (was that even an Australian film?). Jeez, that one was ....meh.

I did watch the beginning of Breakdown (1997). Kurt Russel and his wife (not goldie hawn, his film wife ) drive their car, it breaks down in the middle of nowhere, before that they almost collide with some local's truck,they have a few words, etc.
Friendly trucker comes along, offers to take the wife to the next gas station so she can call for a repair truck, Russel stays with the car, he gets the car to work again, drives up to the gas station, but it seems like his wife never arrived. Yikes stripes!
Of course I wouldn't have even watched that far if the film had been made in 2004 or somethingk because it would have gotten nasty. Even this one I switched off at that point, because that's kinda scary. And I've seen the film before (a long time ago) anyway.

It's not that great either. A tense scenario, but meh. If you want to watch an 'evil trucker' film, watch Reindeer Games instead. Or that film with Jim Belushi in which he's got that big belt buckle and the lady's car breaks down.


   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

Surely the evil trucker movie to beat is Duel.

   
Made in us
The Daemon Possessing Fulgrim's Body





Devon, UK

Recently I've been feeling that the "mini" aspect of this thread has been pushed to the side somewhat...

We find comfort among those who agree with us - growth among those who don't. - Frank Howard Clark

The wise man doubts often, and changes his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubts not; he knows all things but his own ignorance.

The correct statement of individual rights is that everyone has the right to an opinion, but crucially, that opinion can be roundly ignored and even made fun of, particularly if it is demonstrably nonsense!” Professor Brian Cox

Ask me about
Barnstaple Slayers Club 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

I find I sometimes have a few more things to say about a film, and sometimes I don't.


Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
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Made in at
Buttons Should Be Brass, Not Gold!





Vienna, Austria

I think that social media may have twisted our perception of what is a short text and what is a long text. If a mini review's got fewer than 5 lines (don't pin me down on that number ) it's hard to make a review interesting or meaningful beyond basic opinion, or very clear that the film's crap.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Surely the evil trucker movie to beat is Duel.


Aye, I gotta see that one at some point.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/30 20:41:18


   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut





Oxfordshire

Cosmic Sin

Somehow this sci-fi calamity starring Bruce Willis gets a four star on Sky's preview. I lost track of how long I'd been persevering before I gave up. This is awful on every level. It gives the appearance of a high production value amateur live action tribute to a computer game. The script is shocking, the costume design is sub Comicon cos-play and I'll be damned if I could work out a single coherent moment of plot. Avoid, for the love of all that is good on this earth, please avoid.
   
Made in in
[MOD]
Otiose in a Niche






Hyderabad, India

The Tick (Amazon version)

It gets better. The pilot and first few episodes are rough as they decide to dwell on Arthur's PSTD and introduce the idea that the Tick is just his delusion.

Then someone realizes that grim, gritty psychological thriller Tick is very, very bad idea and we're off to the races with a gay sentient speed boat, and other madness. Season 2 is a real improvement and plants a lot of seeds...

Just in time to be cancelled.

Ah well.

 
   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

Is it as entertaining as the “Batmanuel” Tick series?

   
Made in in
[MOD]
Otiose in a Niche






Hyderabad, India

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Is it as entertaining as the “Batmanuel” Tick series?


A different sort of comedy, sort of building to wry smiles and fond memories rather than laugh out loud humor if that makes sense.

I have vague but fond memories of the 2000s Tick series with Putty/Brock as the Tick (really have to look up that dude's name) so I might try that next.

But Invincible first.

 
   
Made in gb
Executing Exarch





 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
The Tick (Amazon version)

It gets better. The pilot and first few episodes are rough as they decide to dwell on Arthur's PSTD and introduce the idea that the Tick is just his delusion.

Then someone realizes that grim, gritty psychological thriller Tick is very, very bad idea and we're off to the races with a gay sentient speed boat, and other madness. Season 2 is a real improvement and plants a lot of seeds...

Just in time to be cancelled.

Ah well.


Cancelled ? Pooey, we didn't even get to see Dangerboat get his mojo back and soar like, what's the phrase, a leaf on the wind

also watched Palm Springs, twice in fact as wasn't sure about my objective assessing being muddled by Ms Milioti, but even with that its worth a watch

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/05/02 11:26:19


"AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED." 
   
Made in fr
Longtime Dakkanaut






Frankenhooker 1990

Uh, yeah, this is...a movie. That got made, and is...a thing.

Spoilery review (or maybe a warning?) below. Read with caution.

Spoiler:
There's this scientist, named franken. he has this girlfriend, she's really smart and it looks like he loves her. He's making this regeneration stuff that's based on estrogen, somehow. It only works on women.

His smart girlfriend somehow gets her head cut off, and he saves it but her body gets lost.

So he plans to murder some hookers to get female body parts to build a new body for his smart girlfriend, but he feels really bad about murdering women, so he drills a hole in his head with a black n decker drill. To not feel so bad anymore.

He rounds up some hookers to use for parts and murders them with these special rocks of crack he's made, that make people who use it explode, somehow. Apparently blowing them to pieces saves him the time and effort of cutting them apart.

He gets all the parts together, but something's wrong with his girlfriends smart brain. She starts acting like a hooker stereotype, because somehow her body is controlling her brains, he must have gotten something crossed somewhere.

She goes out looking for customers but because.. reasons, anyone using her services explodes.

The pimp who owned the dead hookers comes looking for her and ends up knocking the scientists head off and trying to reclaim his property, but the discarded parts form a patchwork monster and drag him off into a tank or something.

It has a happy ending, sort of, the smart girlfriend and her scientist lover end up together ever after.

I'm not sure people would want to watch it, I felt kinda dizzy aftr i did, so i decided to describe it and let them decide.

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2021/05/02 22:28:58


"But the universe is a big place, and whatever happens, you will not be missed..." 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Is it as entertaining as the “Batmanuel” Tick series?


Putty/Brock as the Tick (really have to look up that dude's name)


Patrick Warburton.

Now you do not need to look it up and can spend time painting all those Reaper models instead.

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