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Post by Nudeviking on Apr 22, 2020 17:15:45 GMT -5
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) - I finally saw this and after all the "THIS IS THE WORST MOVIE EVER!!!! IT RUINED MY CHILDHOOD FOREVER!!!!!!" hype I was disappointed that it was mostly just okay. For all the bellyaching people did it should have been way worse than it was. There was some dumb stuff in it and some decisions that were clearly made to placate the dunderheaded oafs who bellyached about the last one having an Asian woman as a primary character but mostly it was just your garden variety Star Wars fare. There were spaceships and laser swords and goofy looking aliens and robots and space Nazis and noble sacrifices and space wizards and pretty much everything one could possibly want from a Star Wars movie unless you're the sole person who thought that the stuff about trade disputes from The Phantom Menace was the best thing to ever appear in a Star Wars movie in which case you'd probably be very disappointed about this one. I watched it with my four year old daughter and she had a grand ol' time with it, laughing at the goofy looking aliens, wondering why the "sick boy" (Kyle Ren/Ben Solo) disappeared at the end, insisting that BB-8 is a girl robot, so for her at least, it was about as effective a movie as the original Star Wars was when I saw it at the same age. Both are goofy movies for kids with space wizards and robots and laser swords and I think if people realized that they'd be less angry about new Star Wars movies. Viking, what was your opinion of Babu Frik? He was just another weird CGI/puppet thing in Star Wars that spoke pidgin space English. Every Star Wars movie’s got at least one and he was it for this one. The fact that he and Gold Helmet survived their planet getting unexpectedly blown up was kind of dumb. |
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Post by Mrs David Tennant on Apr 23, 2020 20:15:03 GMT -5
I'm watching Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (again - it's rapidly becoming one of those movies I watch every time I see it on TV) and there's this super nice little scene where Karen Gillan is dance fighting the two NPCs, and the Rock comes out of the hangar, watches for a minute, then kind of half shrugs and goes back into the hangar. You can almost hear him say, yeah, she's got this. I just like it.
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Post by nowimnothing on Apr 23, 2020 20:55:37 GMT -5
I'm watching Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (again - it's rapidly becoming one of those movies I watch every time I see it on TV) and there's this super nice little scene where Karen Gillan is dance fighting the two NPCs, and the Rock comes out of the hangar, watches for a minute, then kind of half shrugs and goes back into the hangar. You can almost hear him say, yeah, she's got this. I just like it. I really liked the second one despite myself. Getting to see Awkwafina imitate Danny Devito was worth the price of admission alone. |
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Post by chalkdevil 😈 on Apr 24, 2020 10:06:33 GMT -5
Things I watched in small chunks in the middle of the night whilst feeding a baby:
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Maybe because of the FF7 re-release came out, but I got a wild hair to watch this movie. I have seen it several times but it's probably been at least a 10+ years. I realize, too, that it is not good, but for some reason I find it compelling. Sometimes the visuals are really great. Most of the time the characters are moving or talking it looks terrible. I just remember back in 2001 when it came out, there was all this hype about it and articles about whether or not it signaled the beginning of end of real actors. Looks like 19 years on they still haven't totally cracked it. Anyway, the plot is somehow both trite and nonsensical. It's got all the weird technology, monsters, magic, and hippy environmentalism you'd expect from a Final Fantasy outing. And, hey, Alec Baldwin voices a CGI marionette that looks like Ben Affleck.
Logan
I think a rewatch of this was spurned on by this idea in my head that we are going to come out of quarantine and the world will be in decline. That the peak of our society has passed us by. This movie's setting seems like the kind of corporate controlled, soft dystopia that seems all to plausible. Oh, and it's just a great movie with great performances.
Funnily, I was taken aback a bit by the violence. I mean, I've seen the movie several times before and knew it was there, it just felt a good bit more visceral with a small baby in sleeping in your arms.
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Post by chalkdevil 😈 on Apr 24, 2020 10:13:31 GMT -5
Final Fantasy: The Spirits WithinMaybe because of the FF7 re-release came out, but I got a wild hair to watch this movie. I have seen it several times but it's probably been at least a 10+ years. I realize, too, that it is not good, but for some reason I find it compelling. Sometimes the visuals are really great. Most of the time the characters are moving or talking it looks terrible. I just remember back in 2001 when it came out, there was all this hype about it and articles about whether or not it signaled the beginning of end of real actors. Looks like 19 years on they still haven't totally cracked it. Anyway, the plot is somehow both trite and nonsensical. It's got all the weird technology, monsters, magic, and hippy environmentalism you'd expect from a Final Fantasy outing. And, hey, Alec Baldwin voices a CGI marionette that looks like Ben Affleck. Oh man, I was on this movie's Wikipedia page and was reminded that Sony wanted to make the main CGI character, Aki Ross, into actress that could appear in other films as well. There was even a Maxim photoshoot with her in a bikini. |
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Post by nowimnothing on Apr 24, 2020 10:21:38 GMT -5
Final Fantasy: The Spirits WithinMaybe because of the FF7 re-release came out, but I got a wild hair to watch this movie. I have seen it several times but it's probably been at least a 10+ years. I realize, too, that it is not good, but for some reason I find it compelling. Sometimes the visuals are really great. Most of the time the characters are moving or talking it looks terrible. I just remember back in 2001 when it came out, there was all this hype about it and articles about whether or not it signaled the beginning of end of real actors. Looks like 19 years on they still haven't totally cracked it. Anyway, the plot is somehow both trite and nonsensical. It's got all the weird technology, monsters, magic, and hippy environmentalism you'd expect from a Final Fantasy outing. And, hey, Alec Baldwin voices a CGI marionette that looks like Ben Affleck. Oh man, I was on this movie's Wikipedia page and was reminded that Sony wanted to make the main CGI character, Aki Ross, into actress that could appear in other films as well. There was even a Maxim photoshoot with her in a bikini. I guess our minds are better suited to thinking in revolutionary terms rather than gradual progress. Even our textbooks point out this or that specific event that was a catalyst for change when in reality it was an infinite number of small events. So, yeah, The Spirits Within was revolutionary, but it fits within a continuum from Roger Rabbit to Jar Jar to Will Smith's younger self in Gemini Man. |
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Post by Desert Dweller on Apr 26, 2020 3:20:19 GMT -5
Tonight I re-watched the 2011 adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
This is such an excellent film. I loved it just as much this time as when I saw it in the theater.
First, I adore the costuming, hair and makeup in this movie. It is very rare that these elements impress me this much in a film that almost entirely feature dudes. But... look at the hair/makeup/costuming on Gary Oldman. That is utterly fantastic work. Look at what hair/makeup/costuming do for Tom Hardy. That is astoundingly good. The blonde hair/style and costuming on Benedict Cumberbatch manage to make him much less weird-looking. Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jones, John Hurt, Mark Strong.... Ugh, the styling in this movie is superb. Any makeup/costuming work done on this level in a film about women would result in an Oscar nomination.
The film overall just looks great. The production design is wonderful. The period styling...ugh, so good. The exterior shots, the office shots, people's homes... everything. Really great.
The score by Alberto Iglesias is wonderful. It really helps to sell the atmosphere.
Yeah, I really love it. The script does an amazing job at untangling the very complex, confusing source material. Alfredson's direction is great. The actors are all great. Wow, Gary Oldman is great in it. Grade A film.
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Post by ganews on Apr 26, 2020 15:29:25 GMT -5
Isolation week 6 movies
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part I didn't think it was really possible to live up to the first Lego Movie, one of the most unexpectedly warm and clever projects of recent years, but this actually came close. I saw the Lego Batman spinoff movie with Will Arnett, and it was fine but not brilliant. But the official sequel actually continued the real life/Lego symbiosis and added to the original. Chris Pratt is again in his perfect roll as a guy who thinks he is cooler than he is, and not only does he effectively dunk on himself in the Jurassic Park franchise, that persona is the plot twist villain! Pretty great. Single best throwaway joke is that growing up and feeling bleak makes you appreciate Radiohead. Speaking of music, the Beck contribution to the soundtrack is a real time capsule of his Colors album-era.
An Inconvenient Truth On TMC for Earth Day. Wow this came out in 2006? I would have guessed pre-2004. Al Gore gives the world's first TED Talk (ok not really) intercut with interview and B-roll that looks right out of a 60 Minutes profile. The actual talk, which is probably an hour long without the padding, is basically a super good plenary lecture, and the data and examples are both compelling and gut-wrenching. Both the documentary and Gore deserved those awards, and though I could have done with less of the framing, the Katrina aftermath was a fair enough time to throw Bush in your face. Fuck South Park. This did everything right that Fahrenheit 9/11 did wrong. Attack the Block What was I thinking, I hate teenage English slang. I guess it was okay, one of those little genre applied to niche things. I'm still disappointed that Finn The Human didn't catch on as a nickname in Star Wars fandom.
Election Still a brilliant movie in so many ways. Mathew Broderick's finest work as an adult, though that's not saying much. Tied with American Beauty in the category of "1999 movies with audiences that got wrong which character was supposed to be unsympathetic".
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan There's nothing I can say that hasn't been said in Prole Hole's great thread. VI was great and should have been the last time any of this cast appeared on screen; II holds up except for the terrible code-talk.
High Noon A wooden Gary Cooper is supported/outshined by a dynamite supporting cast that includes a Lloyd Bridges, a Moroccan princess, Uncle Billy, the Wolfman, and the guy in charge of MASH. They're so good that Lee Van Cleef doesn't even have to say a line. Maybe I'm too hard on Gary Cooper, he had a few good scenes and maybe it was all intentional, but I'd still take the radio voice of Matt Dillon if I was picking marshals. There are some nice camera shots, but the actual climactic shootout is a bit of a letdown Special mention of the actress playing the Mexican saloon proprietress, who carries a lot of dignity and panache, particularly in the scene that hinted at racism.
Bad Education Now this you can double feature with I Love You Phillip Morris, except Jim Carrey's sociopathic gay conman is more wacky and sympathetic than Hugh Jackman's. Good performances from Jackman and Allison Janney, but otherwise kind of thin.
Jackie Brown The forgotten Tarantino movie, probably because it doesn't get a lot of TV showings like the others, that is the stealth favorite of many. It's only even my second time watching. Really is too bad the Pam Grier didn't get the kind of sustained career re-invigoration that Travolta got from Pulp Fiction. De Niro already looks old in this, never more than when humping Bridget Fonda. Good flick. Best shot in the movie is the sustained focus on Grier's face as she runs through the mall. Great performances and all, but it's really the Samuel L. show. |
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Post by The Stuffingtacular She-Hulk on Apr 27, 2020 15:14:23 GMT -5
In honor of my cinephile friend Nick's birthday on Saturday, because we can't have a party to celebrate, I watched one of his favorite movies for the first time: Escape from New York (1981).
I am so mad at myself for waiting so long to watch this movie. It was ridiculously entertaining, the set design was amazing, Harry Dean Stanton is always welcome, and I wish my hair looked as good as Kurt Russell's.
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Post by President Hound on Apr 27, 2020 16:03:52 GMT -5
I've been making my dad watch a bunch of random films in the last few weeks because the man needs some culture beyond shitty action movies
So far, it appears Michael Clayton is his favorite of the ones so far, which is still a perfect film.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2020 10:57:19 GMT -5
Terrified (Aterrados) (2017)
Argentinian horror flick. If you don't go in looking for a terribly rigorous explanation of the evil entities or even much beyond a series of setpieces, it's got some quality effects and is overall a good time.
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Invisible Goat
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Grab your mother's keys, we're leaving
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Post by Invisible Goat on Apr 30, 2020 13:10:54 GMT -5
I've been making my dad watch a bunch of random films in the last few weeks because the man needs some culture beyond shitty action movies So far, it appears Michael Clayton is his favorite of the ones so far, which is still a perfect film. I just watched that this weekend for the first time since it came out, so felt like the first time really. Fucking awesome. I've been saying "it's an oldie but a goodie" like how he talks about the report when he shows it to Tilda Swinton at the end since then. Also didn't realize Merrit Wever has been around that long. |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Apr 30, 2020 13:48:40 GMT -5
I've been making my dad watch a bunch of random films in the last few weeks because the man needs some culture beyond shitty action movies So far, it appears Michael Clayton is his favorite of the ones so far, which is still a perfect film. The very end of the film, when he gets in the cab and just stares into the middle distance while the credits start to roll ... I love it. It's so simple and so perfect. |
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repulsionist
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Post by repulsionist on May 1, 2020 17:49:27 GMT -5
The Cat Returns (2002)
Nice little kitty, er, ditty about empowerment.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2020 1:44:51 GMT -5
The Girl With All The Gifts - Fucking brilliant movie. Loved every minute of it! Hope Sennia Nanua has a long and successful acting career. Glenn Close is amazing as always.
It took me a few years to get to this one out of zombie overload, but glad I did.
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Post by President Hound on May 3, 2020 12:52:23 GMT -5
Its been a couple weeks since I've last seen it but Road to Perdition is the only movie I've seen with Daniel Craig that I didn't immediately think he looked like an angry baby.
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Post by President Hound on May 3, 2020 16:30:55 GMT -5
I've been making my dad watch a bunch of random films in the last few weeks because the man needs some culture beyond shitty action movies So far, it appears Michael Clayton is his favorite of the ones so far, which is still a perfect film. The very end of the film, when he gets in the cab and just stares into the middle distance while the credits start to roll ... I love it. It's so simple and so perfect. pretty sure one of my favorite college professor's wouldn't ever shut the fuck up about it |
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Post by Mrs David Tennant on May 3, 2020 17:23:24 GMT -5
Flight of the Navigator. This was a movie I really enjoyed back in the 80s, and it was still reasonably entertaining.
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Post by ganews on May 3, 2020 20:09:47 GMT -5
Isolation week 7 movies
Total Recall (1990) I wish I had kept count of prosthetic heads during this rewatch. It strikes me, do you suppose the bad acting before Quaid gets to Mars is intentional to emphasize that his life on Earth is fake? I also wonder how they managed to keep notorious punster Arnold from a single quip, with the possible exception of screaming "screeeeeew youuuu!" as he drills into the turncoat cabbie.
Super Fly The criticism that this glamorizes the drug lifestyle are correct - Priest is cool as hell with money, coke, ladies who love him, karate proficiency, no comeuppance, and ready access to Curtis Mayfield shows. However the most required suspension of disbelief is how he drives really fast through Harlem. The still photo montage is the best part.
Indecent Proposal Gross, certainly in 2020 but in 1993 also. Demi Moore's character is the most easily manipulated person in the world, Woody Harrelson's is an idiot, and Robert Redford's billionaire fuck is a manipulative monster who looks like Robert Redford. Except the script is written such that his manipulations are incredibly effortless. Yeah, the script is the main problem with everything, particularly how it paints Redford as maybe not so bad a guy who actually is the cheesy romantic he pretends. Demi Moore cheesecake, Billy Connolly cameo.
The Fighter I hate Boston even more than English youth slang. Sub-par movie boxing. Christian Bale is skinny.
Singin' In the Rain Although I knew the biggest songs and the title song sequence with Gene Kelly, I had never actually seen it. I didn't even know the plot.Oh god, amazing! I sure wasn't expecting a big send-up of the movie industry that is also a tribute. And I thought Best Picture winner The Artist was junk even before I saw this; go watch Hail, Caesar! if you want a contemporary love letter. Donald O'Connor is the best, he does it all.And yet, the sequence that most blew me away was the dream with Cyd Charisse:
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Post by Desert Dweller on May 3, 2020 23:42:36 GMT -5
Ugh, Cyd Carisse was such an incredible dancer. Love her so much! "Singing in the Rain" is a perfect film. I love it.
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Post by chalkdevil 😈 on May 4, 2020 11:07:17 GMT -5
The Girl With All The Gifts - Fucking brilliant movie. Loved every minute of it! Hope Sennia Nanua has a long and successful acting career. Glenn Close is amazing as always. It took me a few years to get to this one out of zombie overload, but glad I did. I really enjoyed the book and thought the movie was a pretty decent adaptation, too. I was trying to get my mom to read it since she enjoys horror (or a specific slice of horror: creepy stuff or rad monsters) and I thought she would like the zombie twist. Maybe I can just get her to watch the movie instead. |
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on May 4, 2020 11:56:18 GMT -5
Its been a couple weeks since I've last seen it but Road to Perdition is the only movie I've seen with Daniel Craig that I didn't immediately think he looked like an angry baby. Knives Out? |
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Post by President Hound on May 4, 2020 20:15:05 GMT -5
Its been a couple weeks since I've last seen it but Road to Perdition is the only movie I've seen with Daniel Craig that I didn't immediately think he looked like an angry baby. Knives Out? Angry baby |
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Post by songstarliner on May 5, 2020 21:58:49 GMT -5
Seven Samurai rewatch
Everyone says it's a masterpiece, well is it or what?
It sure is. It's a movie as rich as a buttered steak topped with grilled eel, according to the director, and I wouldn't argue with him.
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Post by sarapen on May 7, 2020 12:48:47 GMT -5
  While we're talking about food stuff in Parasite that people outside of South Korea probably wouldn't even notice. There are two scenes in which the poor family are all gathered around drinking beers. The first time they're all drinking the Korean equivalent of like Natural Ice, just the cheapest cheap-ass domestic beer that's available. The second time after I think just the kids had infiltrated the rich peoples houses they're drinking more expensive imported Japanese beers except for I think the mom who is still drinking Korean Natty Ice because she's a Korean mom and Korean moms are willing to suffer so that their kids and husbands can have better lives. I did notice the switch from domestic to Japanese beer, it was Sapporo wasn't it? So not even premium foreign beer, just kind of standard export beer but which feels like incredible luxury for people who have just crawled out of the pit of bare survival. |
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Post by Nudeviking on May 7, 2020 19:01:31 GMT -5
While we're talking about food stuff in Parasite that people outside of South Korea probably wouldn't even notice. There are two scenes in which the poor family are all gathered around drinking beers. The first time they're all drinking the Korean equivalent of like Natural Ice, just the cheapest cheap-ass domestic beer that's available. The second time after I think just the kids had infiltrated the rich peoples houses they're drinking more expensive imported Japanese beers except for I think the mom who is still drinking Korean Natty Ice because she's a Korean mom and Korean moms are willing to suffer so that their kids and husbands can have better lives. I did notice the switch from domestic to Japanese beer, it was Sapporo wasn't it? So not even premium foreign beer, just kind of standard export beer but which feels like incredible luxury for people who have just crawled out of the pit of bare survival. Yes it is Sapporo which here is about double the price per can as the domestic shit they were drinking prior to getting jobs. And to continue the trend of booze as indicator of social standing, the third time they're all hanging out and drinking they're drinking rich guy Scotch and eating dog snacks that they think are beef jerky. CLASS ISSUES! |
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repulsionist
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Post by repulsionist on May 10, 2020 3:25:50 GMT -5
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Pretty amazing. I guess I'd half-watched the kludge version on VHS as a kid. I'd forgotten it. Truly moving.
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Post by ganews on May 10, 2020 20:53:46 GMT -5
Isolation week 8 movies
Aeon Flux The movie that wasn't received very well and yet somehow still spawned imitators. I actually remember watching some of the old MTV series, plus Reign the Conqueror on early Adult Swim, and that grotesque animation really sticks with you. That visual style is represented decently well here, even if the animation creator didn't think so, in Charlize Theron's wall-crawling and and poses. The effects are even pretty decent, compared to The Matrix Reloaded. The plot is rather loony but par for the future dystopia course. You know what 2005 movies could have used? A Trigun adaptation. Frances Mcdormand wear a gender-swapped Ronald McDonald wig.
The Frighteners For years I have thought this movie is better than Ghostbusters, Bill Murray aside. Of course, Robert Zemeckis and Peter Jackson aren't quite going for comedy, although there is some, they're making a mashup of Sam Raimi and Tim Burton stuffed with horror movie references. This is even more apparent when you read the credits and see that a random background character is named "Bryce Campbell". And of course Danny Elfman on soundtrack. Michael J. Fox brings an erratic energy, which no one knew at the time was tied to Parkinson's.
The Dragon Artist (1919) Silent, staring the actor who went on to play the Japanese commander in Bridge on the River Kwai. The guy is super striking, his face is intense.
Hold That Baby! (1949) The Bowery Boys were a group of farce comedy also-rans that grew out of the Dead End Kids, straight TCM am fare. Not bad, solid hijinx and punnery. The one guy was obviously a big fan of Shemp Howard. |
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Post by chalkdevil 😈 on May 11, 2020 16:58:29 GMT -5
Isolation week 8 movies
Aeon Flux The movie that wasn't received very well and yet somehow still spawned imitators. I actually remember watching some of the old MTV series, plus Reign the Conqueror on early Adult Swim, and that grotesque animation really sticks with you. That visual style is represented decently well here, even if the animation creator didn't think so, in Charlize Theron's wall-crawling and and poses. The effects are even pretty decent, compared to The Matrix Reloaded. The plot is rather loony but par for the future dystopia course. You know what 2005 movies could have used? A Trigun adaptation. Frances Mcdormand wear a gender-swapped Ronald McDonald wig.
The Frighteners For years I have thought this movie is better than Ghostbusters, Bill Murray aside. Of course, Robert Zemeckis and Peter Jackson aren't quite going for comedy, although there is some, they're making a mashup of Sam Raimi and Tim Burton stuffed with horror movie references. This is even more apparent when you read the credits and see that a random background character is named "Bryce Campbell". And of course Danny Elfman on soundtrack. Michael J. Fox brings an erratic energy, which no one knew at the time was tied to Parkinson's.
The Dragon Artist (1919) Silent, staring the actor who went on to play the Japanese commander in Bridge on the River Kwai. The guy is super striking, his face is intense.
Hold That Baby! (1949) The Bowery Boys were a group of farce comedy also-rans that grew out of the Dead End Kids, straight TCM am fare. Not bad, solid hijinx and punnery. The one guy was obviously a big fan of Shemp Howard. I've tried to watch Aeon Flux on two separate occasions. I liked the old MTV series (at some point tracked it all down on YouTube to watch through it) and, you know, Charlize Theron in a black bob haircut, but that movie just lulls me right to sleep. In my head this is lumped in the near fully green screen sci-fi movies that came out in the early aughts in the wake of the success of Sin City, but I just watched the trailer and now I think I am confusing it with Ultraviolet the Mila Jovavich movie that came out the same year. This is more more like Equilibrium, with all the Brutalist architecture used to signify totalitarian regime. God, I thought Equilibrium was such a cool movie. It's gotta be terrible now right? |
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2020 20:48:35 GMT -5
The Dark (Rifftrax version) (1979)
Some complete nonsense produced by Dick Clark and featuring Casey Kasem in a small part. Not one scene has a point and it sort of feels like someone with brain damage trying to recreate Kolchak: The Night Stalker. So imagine my surprise looking it up on IMDB and finding out parts were apparently ghost-directed by Tobe Hooper, probably while on the coke binge to end all. Atrociously funny.
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