Movies You've Seen Recently | Q4 2024

[Sean C.]

Turning Red (2022): Pixar's latest, a charming bit of entertainment that I don't think is quite on the level of their best character work, but is still a lot of fun.

The Batman (2022): Rewatch a week or so after my first viewing. One of my favourite Batman films. I enjoy the MCU consistently, but I wish more of their movies had this kind of artistic craft (particularly in the aesthetics).

No Way Out (1950): One of a collection of films directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz that is leaving the Criterion Channel at the end of the month. I opted to watch this one in particular because it was the cinematic debut of a 23-year-old Sidney Poitier (playing a young doctor, five years before he would get a breakout role playing a teenager; the magic of movies). I'm surprised this one doesn't get talked about more, because it might be the best pre-1960s cinematic depiction of African-American characters that I've seen, at least as made by white Hollywood creatives. Poitier's physician treats two white criminal brothers brought into the hospital, one of whom dies, causing the other, a frothing-at-the-mouth racist, to accuse Poitier of murder. Nobody at the hospital gives this any credence, but the accusation rapidly spirals out of control in the wider community. Future Poitier collaborators Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis are also present in uncredited supporting roles. It's not a perfect movie, as the structure of the narrative feels somewhat haphazard in how it jumps between characters (female lead Linda Darnell doesn't show up until about halfway through), but this touches on a lot of stuff that the Production Code did its damndest to smother.

Licorice Pizza (2021): Another second viewing. Such a delightful film. I swear, if the Academy follows the WGA's lead in the Original Screenplay category I would be so, so angry.

 

[TheNatureBoy]

Watched this on Showtime. Some great imagery and themes throughout. Some aspects I didn't fully understand, but read some thoughts and listened to a podcast discussing the film, especially the ending and feel like I have a better grasp now.

 

[Conditional-Pancakes]

Watched this on Showtime. Some great imagery and themes throughout. Some aspects I didn't fully understand, but read some thoughts and listened to a podcast discussing the film, especially the ending and feel like I have a better grasp now.

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If you're interested, here's a quick video essay I think is very interesting and particularly accurate about The Green Knight. It's great.

 

[TheNatureBoy]

If you're interested, here's a quick video essay I think is very interesting and particularly accurate about The Green Knight. It's great.

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Props, will check it out after work.

 

[Sibersk Esto]

The Replacements (2000)

Right off the bat, a film about the anti-union scabs coming in to substitute for workers asking for higher pay, and how that's a good thing because those workers were elitist and entitled for asking for a raise is kind of a non starter for me. Lucky (?) for me the rest of the film isn't very good, relying on a range of stereotypes, cliches and jukebox scene stretchers to deliver a mostly unpleasant time.

You ever think about how inflating music licensing fees killed an entire filmmaking style? Because the early '00s were lousy with films that relied on a soundtrack full of pop hits to try and carry emotion.

 

[Naijaboy]

Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (1976) While the outlaw movie has a similar premise throughout its history, there are still many different ways that it can be done. Bobbie Jo has the unfortunate honor of failing to achieve much of anything with its movie. They could have shown the outlaws as sympathetic compared to the police. While the sheriff and his men are terrible people, the outlaws aren't that much better, not caring much to shoot others (albeit in many cases they were going to be shot at as well). They could have also given us elaborate ways to elude arrest. While this is where they at their strongest (I especially loved the bus escape) it doesn't alleviate its weakest aspect: the actors. Even the worst people out there can be watchable if an actor can show what they are capable of, but no one is really able to establish themselves. It doesn't help that the script doesn't do much of anything outside of showing that they are outlaws and the police are trying to respond by any means necessary. Put it all together and you have a forgettable movie who's only highlight is that it has Lynda Carter and a somewhat more explicit than usual sex scene. 5/10

The Last Duel (2021) Man did award judges hate this movie. It got to the point that they gave Affleck a Razzie nomination. At this point I won't allow any more dogpile now that it's clear the Batman setbacks weren't his fault. With that said, I can see some issues with adapting this sort of movie. For one, it's hard to make a historical movie of a duel where the accusations are speculation. It did try to deliver the film under multiple perspectives, but it paints the fault pretty clearly on one party. At that point it didn't seem needed for multiple POVs of the story seems so clear here. With its intent on drawing confusion unclear, the resulting duel and how the audience should feel about is just as muddied. But thank God for those action scenes. It feels like it's the closest we've gotten to Game of Thrones-calibur fights that are so wonderfully chaotic and entertaining to watch. The duel itself was great to watch alongside some of the other action presented in the movie. I just feel that the climax could have been more emotional if they just picked a lane. 7/10

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

Meh. Sure Stallone got rid of a lot of the 80's cheese but now it feels more generic. While I would never say 4 was the best Rocky, it's probably the one I find most enjoyable. This version is not that. It's not bad, but I would rather watch the regular version so I doubt I'll watch the director's cut again. The ending speech by Rock is a bit weird right now with the Russian invasion of Ukraine going on.

 

[Dice]

The High Note
With cheeky casting of Tracee Ellis Ross (daughter Diana Ross) as an ageing music star, and Dakota Johnson (daughter of Melanie Griffith) as her assistant/aspiring-producer. It was floated as a sort of "modern" Working Girl, and even as a fan of that film, I honestly loved this. Easy viewing, relatively low-stakes, a little romance (which was surprisingly well-done and better earned than a lot of movie romances), and a sweet story. Including a bunch of great cameos (one is no less from Mel Griffith herself who was even credited as "Tess"), chats about music and the industry itself, and that delicious workplace drama you'd have seen in Working Girl. Hell, there's even a few nice surprises in the plot. It's easy-viewing at its finest, IMO; it might not blow people away, but it's a great feel-good choice.

Gangs of New York
I hadn't seen this in AGES, and I quite missed it (it's always great to 'buckle in' for a Scorcese movie). I love how wrapped up I got in the set design and generally just how lived-in and BUSY EVERY SINGLE SET is. Bill the Butcher is a fascinating and perfectly horrible villain that steals the show in every scene he's in; DiCaprio performs well as its hero; and Cameron Diaz.....feels...a little miscast, but I really liked seeing her in something where she gets to flex a few different acting muscles and does the part well enough. The many instances of racism feel, well, sadly on-point to the times, but I do wish "Irish minorities" weren't the central crux of development. But overall the story fascinates and keeps you well occupied for its 2.5 hour runtime. Hard to hate a good tale of revenge, and it's hard to hate Scorsese's commitment to some truly epic crime thrillers.

 

[gforguava]

Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes

What is the best of all possible things? Low-budget, one location, and a single high concept that the filmmakers play with for the entire runtime. Coherence did it, and we all know how great that film is, and now we have Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes.

Tonally the two films are nothing alike but they share the same 'We got one idea and that idea is the foundation and the engine of the whole film'.

The concept in question: Guy runs a cafe and lives in an apartment above it. He goes home and he sees himself, downstairs in the cafe, on his computer monitor. The 'him' in the cafe starts to have a conversation with the 'him' in the apartment, explaining that 'he' is downstairs but in the future, that the computer monitor is connected to the TV in the cafe but the connection is two minutes in the past/future(depending on which screen we are talking about).

The film takes this and runs with it for 70-something minutes, wisely knowing that it can't last forever, creating a clever and charming high concept, sci-fi...hang out movie?
One thing that really sticks out, besides the cleverness, is just how confident the filmmakers are with what they are doing. The 'two minute' gap means that every time they talk to the future "them", two minutes later they will be the future "them" talking to their past selves. Meaning every interaction with the screens is shown to the audience twice and, in less talented hands, that could've been a recipe for disaster, but the filmmakers make it work beautifully.

 

[Hoggle]

Crisis (1946 Bergman)

My second Bergman film and I'll watch them in release order going forward. From the little I can find online about this one it's not considered on of his greats. Knowing that, I still enjoyed it. Definitely not the usual type of film I'd watch, but once again I'm surprised at some of the subjects he tackles considering this was released in the 40's. I also find his characters pretty interesting.

Paprika (2006)

So I watched Perfect Blue yesterday and Paprika today. Gorgeous visuals and again, a really trippy story. I enjoyed this and it felt a lot like Ghost in the Shell. It was a little more confusing than Perfect Blue though. Might require a rewatch to really piece altogether.

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

I loved the Guillermo Del Toro version and found out there was a 1940's version, based on the same book. So I picked it up. Definitely prefer the newer one but this one is also great. Interesting to see many of the same scenes and story beats play out sometimes a little different, other times very different. Prefer the newer one's ending

Spoiler: Movies' endings

with Stan becoming the geek instead of the older one where it looks like Stan will become Pete instead. Sure it's still a sad ending but nowhere near as bad as becoming the geek.

 

[mbpm]

Everything Everywhere at Once- very very fun little joint. For most of the movie I was surprised and thrilled by where they were willing to go.
9/10

 

[LazyLain]

Had a bit of a Cage-athon today...

I really liked Raising Arizona and Red Rock West. I was a bit more mixed on the others, but they had their moments.

 

[Theorry]

Midnight Alley

I remember i saw a trailer of it a while back. Thought it was more horror for some reason. Or maybe i misremembered.
But it wasnt. Beginning was oke. Ones they went away from the Carnival i started to enjoy it. Was pretty intresting overal

7.5/10

 

[Blader]

North by Northwest
Rewatch. Haven't seen this in many years and tbh I didn't quite like it much back then, but a recent trip to the Academy Museum in LA inspired me to revisit. Actually quite liked it this time, despite one of the worst endings of all time in a career plagued by terrible endings. I had somehow completely forgotten about the whole fake spy angle, so that was fun to relive. Also that famous cropduster sequence? Still good!
7/10

Nightmare Alley
I was really into this for a while but once it got to the seance stuff, the plot lost steam for me. I thought Cooper was solid though and the production design was amazing. Just felt like the movie peaked in its first half and ran too long in its second.
7/10

Drive My Car
Some good shit. Didn't mind the runtime at all, with the only frustration from that coming from the Roku app's subtitles dying 2+ hours into the film, forcing me to restart it several times and having to finish the film the next night -- this, right in the middle of the emotional climax of the whole thing! Very irritating. But that aside, this is really a beautiful, touching movie in all respects -- from the camerawork to the performances to the simple but effective production design to the titular car itself. I really liked it, and I can tell it's only going to keep growing on me -- I've been thinking about it pretty much all week. It gets under your skin in a sweet and life-affirming way.
9/10

 

[meowdi gras]

North by Northwest

Actually quite liked it this time, despite one of the worst endings of all time in a career plagued by terrible endings.

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🤔

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

I've got the power. Speakman isn't the best actor but he's pretty great at the martial arts part. Pretty standard revenge flick and with the bad boy protagonist who has daddy issues. But the action is great.

Only Trek movies I've seen are the new ones with Pine and the one where they go back in time to get a whale. Now I've see the first movie. BOOOOOOOOORING! Plus like the 2nd biggest role was played by Stephen Collins... Ewwwww.

 

[coma]

Luckily the next Trek is the best one.

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

Luckily the next Trek is the best one.

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That's what I've heard. I got all 10 movies for $20 on Vudu a few weeks ago so I'm going to at least watch a few more. And I didn't hate 1, just felt like it wanted to be 2001 but the boring version. Could have possibly been a banger episode though.

 

[PassiveObserver]

Drive My Car 🚘 delivered on the hype, 100%. I am ready to give my five hours to Happy Hour, because I believe in Gooch.

 

[thenexus6]

Jackass Forever wasn't as good as I expected. Too much of new people with the OGs in the background watching. I know they are all older but it doesn't have to be 100% dangerous stunts to be funny.

 

[MrKlaw]

Fast and furious 9. 8 and 9 have both been pretty poor for me but 9 particularly so. Pointless Macguffin is expected but it just felt incoherent and things happening while in vehicles which I know is their thing but barely connected to anything. The magnets were fun but that's about all

And why on earth were half the cast of Tokyo drift making RC rocket cars on an air base in Germany? Entirely random as far as I can tell

 

[lazybones18]

CODA

Last of the Best Picture nominees I had to see. I actually liked it. Got no problem with it winning over Power of the Dog tomorrow

 

[djinn]

Movie night with mum again last night. We watched Murder on the Orient Express (2017). We enjoyed it. Nothing mind-blowing and I didn't particularly like the added bits since the book is so tightly written, like an intricate machine, that I feel if you add things it ruins the art of the mystery. But I generally liked this interpretation of Poirot; a little too Sherlock at times, but the "plagued by inconsistencies in the world" was an interesting take. Judi Dench just losing her Russian accent every line she spoke was really funny.

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

Much better than The Motion Picture. Khan is a cool villain but I was surprised how much of it was just spaceship vs spaceship. Thinking back, was it only Chekhov that saw Khan face to face? Also, it should have ended a bit earlier. It just kept going.

 

[TheNatureBoy]

I've got the power. Speakman isn't the best actor but he's pretty great at the martial arts part. Pretty standard revenge flick and with the bad boy protagonist who has daddy issues. But the action is great.

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I remember enjoying it as a kid.

 

[TheNatureBoy]

Watched the newest Scream on Paramount+. Thought it was pretty fun throughout, although it is meta as hell. Dylan Minnette will always be Jack's son from Lost to me. New batch was cool, but nothing like seeing the OG's of the franchise.

 

[Gaucho Power]

Did Parasite rewatch and I didn't love it. It's still great movie but overall it just didn't feel ageless as Memories of Murder. I guess I like Bong's low-key films just better (Memories of Murder and Mother being my favorites as of now).

 

[MidnightCowboy]

Been in a Cobra Kai rabbit hole for the last few weeks, finally decided to rewatch The Karate Kid. It's the underdog coming of age formula done to perfection, you can't top it. Pat Morita deserves his legendary status. But what stood out the most on this rewatch was the cinematography. I know it's unfair to compare television to film, but from Frame 1 the movie is a looker. It just reminded me how much people who made movies used to care about the craft. This standard family martial arts film from 40 years ago has better composition than the majority of contemporary Hollywood's output.

 

[LazyLain]

Watched the Satoshi Kon documentary last night, quite good.

 

[Blader]

Been in a Cobra Kai rabbit hole for the last few weeks, finally decided to rewatch The Karate Kid. It's the underdog coming of age formula done to perfection, you can't top it. Pat Morita deserves his legendary status. But what stood out the most on this rewatch was the cinematography. I know it's unfair to compare television to film, but from Frame 1 the movie is a looker. It just reminded me how much people who made movies used to care about the craft. This standard family martial arts film from 40 years ago has better composition than the majority of contemporary Hollywood's output.

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I love Cobra Kai but it's basically the blandest looking thing on TV

 

[MidnightCowboy]

I love Cobra Kai but it's basically the blandest looking thing on TV

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You're not wrong, it's what put me off the show for so long. Just seemed so cheap. Thankfully everything else makes up for it. I need Season 5 asap.

 

[Sean C.]

Knocked Up (2007): This was my first rewatch of this since the theatrical run, I believe. It's amazing to look at this now, the supporting cast is astonishing; every other minor character is played by an actor who is now much more well-known (for instance, the OB-GYN played by Ken Jeong). With Judd Apatow's films, what I always remember is not the jokes so much as the characters, and this remains one of his best films in that regard.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021): I didn't see this in theatres when it came out because it didn't especially interest me and it seemed safe to ignore it for Oscar purposes; well, here we are. But it arrived on Disney+ just in time, so I was able to see it. Obviously the main point of interest here is Jessica Chastain's performance. She got back-to-back nominations for 2011/2012, and then managed to go almost a decade without a third for one reason or another, but she may end up winning for this (though I'm predicting a surprise win for Penelope Cruz). Chastain is very good here, and is impressively not smothered by the prosthetics used to turn her into Tammy Faye. The film outside of her is extremely okay-ish. The "whole life" biopic is virtually extinct these days, but this is the rare dinosaur still going, and I don't think it ever develops a good through-line. It also inadvertently makes the case that a biopic of Jim Bakker would probably have been more interesting because he drives the entire plot and seems to go through more dramatic character changes (though the attempts to make Andrew Garfield look like a man in his late 50s are kind of hilarious, no fault of the makeup crew, because Garfield is permanently boyish).

The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021): After watching The Eyes of Tammy Faye I was about to say that I had watched all the acting nominees in time for the Oscars, then I realized I still hadn't seen this; time to subscribe to a month of Apple TV+, as I periodically do. We don't get many cinematic Shakespeare adaptations in the present moment, and even less so by a director of Joel Coen's caliber, so I was very interested in seeing what he did here. The result is very much style over substance. Which isn't to say it's not worth watching, because the German Expressionist aesthetics that Coen and cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel employ here are very striking. But this is all about the visuals, and the result is a very bloodless (figuratively) telling of the story. Denzel Washington got the film's Oscar nomination, but I don't know that this storytelling approach really suits him; there are points where he's very good, other times where he just seems to be reciting the text by rote. McDormand is lively, but unlike most cinematic adaptations Coen doesn't do anything to flesh out Lady Macbeth beyond her lines, which leaves her role feeling a bit slight. Some of the supporting performers are noteworthy in one or two scenes. The Queen's Gambit's Moses Ingram impressed me as Lady Macduff.

 

[Naijaboy]

The Batman (2022) It's been what... how many decades since we've put The Batman in a proper detective film. It's one of the biggest plots I hoped DC would do next to having a Batman & Robin film. The story pulls a few liberties with some of the characters' backstories, but it's done in a thoughtful way that enhances the story. It's also fun watching a Batman that's far from fallible that has to work hard to succeed. The Batmobile scene is no Dark Knight, but it's a different experience where you can cheer when it manages to do something spectacular. It's also honestly the best use of Bruce Wayne yet in the live-action films tying the Wayne family to The Riddler. Selina was great as well and the romance works fairly well. It's not a film that's for everyone in the superhero genre, but it's one I would suggest if you want a different experience. 8/10

Turning Red (2022) I definitely approve of Pixar focusing more on stylistic focus on animation to fit the story. I'm glad that Spider-Verse is getting more movies to experiment on things. As for the meat of it all, it matches a lot of beats with Encanto, but I think Red works on it better by... I guess making more realistic characters (ironic since the current discourse seems to be people 'can't relate with the character'. I think the focus on an era I'm familiar with gave it the edge for me. I also found the use of the red panda helped address the relationships among the family better as well as how her friends may affect things. Speaking of which, the girls are all fantastic characters yet they feel realistic. I think that's it. The interactions between the family and the city itself helps make it all feel authentic. Overall, news of Pixar's demise is greatly exaggerated. They can still dish out some great films. 8/10

Spies in Disguise (2019) What's with animated movies and being more real on American policy than with 90% of live-action films. First I see We Bare Bears straight up explain police brutality and now we have this film coming closer than any spy film criticizing America's foreign policy in the 20th century. Sure it's an overly simplified take on things, but it's a start. Yet there's plenty of homages to the genre as well including that famous Bourne Ultimatum scene. It also helps that Will Smith puts up his best effort in years. He and Tom Holland make a great pairing as well. The animation can be hard to track at times, but it's serviceable. It's not a great effort, but its an effort I appreciate and hope that more spy films can follow up on. 7/10

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

I'm just going to say it, I liked 3 as much as I liked 2. Yes Khan was a better villain but at least Kirk and Kruge got a face to face. Also funny how they introduced Kirk's son then killed him off the next movie.

 

[smisk]

Watched One Shot (2021) on Hulu last night, as implied by the title it's a one shot action movie starring the best straight-to-video action star in the world, Scott Adkins.
They definitely have a limited budget (it was filmed entirely on an abandoned military base in England), but can barely tell - I was shocked by how good this looks and how well choreographed the camera and fight scenes are. Going in I was a little concerned that the one shot gimmick would lead it to be a completely one sided story where we stay with the main SEAL squad the entire time, but the director did a fantastic job at changing perspectives between the opposing sides and building tension even within this framework.
In general the story and characters are pretty thin and there's one really dumb moment, but there are a couple of good performances here and even a (slightly) sympathetic portrayal of a terrorist. But in general I wouldn't come into this looking for nuanced politics, though if you want a damn entertaining action/military movie with better fight scenes than most films with 10x the budget, give this a watch!


On a completely different note I was thinking last night, why did I barely hear anyone talk about One Night In Soho? Maybe it was just the effect of covid on the industry, but compared to Baby Driver, I feel like it got no attention. Is it worth watching?

 

[Strings]

Had a bit of a Cage-athon today...

I really liked Raising Arizona and Red Rock West. I was a bit more mixed on the others, but they had their moments.

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The first half of Red Rock West is immaculate. It loses me a bit in the second, though it's still a strong flick overall.

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

Pretty damn great. Probably my favorite so far.

Not pretty damn great at all. Nowhere near my favorite.

 

[coma]

The joke about the odd number ones being the shittier ones is (mostly) true.

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

The joke about the odd number ones being the shittier ones is (mostly) true.

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I liked 3 as much as I liked Khan but 1 and 5 I'm not keen on for different reasons. One was just boring and 5 was dumb. I've heard good things about 6 so I'm eager to start that.

 

[coma]

They're all worth watching at least once if you like ST. I wish the TNG cast had a better run, but First Contact is top tier.

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

They're all worth watching at least once if you like ST. I wish the TNG cast had a better run, but First Contact is top tier.

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Before starting this Trek marathon, the only ones I've seen that I really remember are the Pine trilogy. I saw 1 or 2 as a kid and only remember pieces. And the only Trek tv show I've ever seen is Lowered Decks. My wife, who watches way less movies than I do, actually remembers most these. Her father was a big fan apparently.

 

[Strings]

Just make sure you watch the best Trek film at the end (Galaxy Quest).

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

Just make sure you watch the best Trek film at the end (Galaxy Quest).

Click to shrink...

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

Man Christian Slater had a great run of movies in the 80's and 90's. All within a few years he had this, Gleaming the Cube, Heathers, Wizard and Young Guns 2. In Pump Up the Volume, he gets to play just about every shy teenager's dream of in reality he's head strong, fearless, matters, gets the girl(or whichever sex you prefer) and getting to say fuck the system. I guess another way to look at it is from the anonymity he's those things which could also just be a precursor for the Internet. So... Maybe he's an asshole.

Mr Devon Sawa making a comeback as of late. Finished the Chucky show last week and he was in most, if not all, the episodes

Spoiler: Chucky spoilers

dude won't be back in s2 unless flashbacks though

Decent horror/comedy hybrid. It's black Friday and the shoppers are turned into zombieish type characters from some fallen meteors. All the characters are decent although Michael Jai White is criminally underutilized. Lots of decent retail jokes for us that either used to or still do work the hell that is retail.

Heard good things about 6. I was a little let down. Wasn't awful, especially considering it follows 5 but still nowhere near as good as 4 and honestly, I prefer 2 and 3 to this one. Decent villain but goes out like so many Klingons do, watching the laser beam thing head right at them. Fun cameo by Christian Slater. Maybe not fun, but I was surprised and got a kick out of it.

Actually enjoyed this one. Great villain, but I always enjoy Malcolm McDowell, and having both captains together was cool. Once it hit the TNG people it felt like a tv show. And we got another shot of Klingons watching a laser missile thing take them out head on. Also a very wasted death of Kirk. Like they couldn't figure out how to let him go down with the enterprise? No, he gets to go down with a bridge, all to make a missile turret thing visible... I guess.

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

Ninja, Ninja rap, Ninja, Ninja rap, go Ninja go Ninja go! My son felt like an action movie and as I was suggesting titles, when he heard Scott Adkins name, he chose Ninja. Same origin as Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow with a white guy adopted into a ninja clan to become the best ninja ever but has to fight his "brother" who dishonored the clan. Listen, the story is whatever but the action is great. Isaac Florentine works very well with Adkins. I prefer the Undisputed movies but their Ninja movies are also a lot of fun.

What a great Start Trek movie. Not as good as 4, but pretty damn close. Felt like a real movie and not just a longer tv show. Effects were the best yet, the Borg are some cool ass villains, and having multiple plots going on so everyone has something to do were all pluses. Data is no longer super annoying like in Generations. Picard still not as fun as Kirk and I doubt he ever will be.

I was telling my youngest about this movie yesterday so we put this on after dinner. While it looks a little cheap, it's a hell of a lot of fun with so many great actors looking like they're having a blast. Kurt Russell steals every scene he is in. Just amazing delivery in this movie. A very fun, if not a bit cliche story about a superhero high school.

 

[LazyLain]

Doing a bit of 2021 catch-up… watched West Side Story, Matrix Resurrections, and the Japanese remake of Cube. Enjoyed all of them.

 

[Stoney Mason]

Stuff I've seen in no specific order recently


Forbidden Planet

I may have seen it as a kid but if I did, I had forgotten everything so it was essentially a new experience. Special effects wise, I think its quite good. Better than Star Trek which it is a decade behind time wise. But as far as societal evolution Star Trek wins imo as its a more progressive tale relative to its time and characters. It's not a bad movie for its time but if I'm being honest, I probably prefer most S1 TOS episodes over it.

Duck You Sucker! aka A Fistful of Dynamite

Had never heard of it before but then I've yet to see a lot of Sergio Leone's work. Good movie that's fun because it meanders all over the place in a way, that you're not sure exactly where its going. James Coburn and Rod Steiger are both quite good and carry the movie although seeing Steiger doing a mexican accent and role isn't especially endearing in 2022.

Unforgiven

Clint Eastwood is super problematic at this stage in history and his most recent output is garbage. I have no idea how something like American Sniper got nominated for an Oscar when it sucks imo so its good to go back to what is probably his best work here. I saw Unforgiven as a kid and liked it, but I think its a film that ages really well. It's mostly a non-glamorous Western with really great acting and terrific characterization. I think Gene Hackman kind of makes the movie as Little Bill the antagonist. Really Pretty. Really Slow. Entertaining through out. Eventually I'll get around to trying out that Japanese remake.

Unforgiven (2013 film) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Iron Monkey

I know Iron Monkey is popular if you are a fan of the genre but its a movie that is so good I feel it should be more well known and appreciated outside of its niche. One of my personal favorite movies that is just a blast to watch. I honestly encourage anybody who has not seen it and enjoys silliness to watch it. Just don't watch the dub or the theater cut.

Iron Monkey (Comparison: US Version - Original Version) - Movie-Censorship.com

Comparison: US Version - Original Version

www.movie-censorship.com

Star Trek TNG finale movie (All Good Things...)

I like TNG fine but I'm not somebody who puts it on a pedastal. A personally prefer TOS and I'm fine with the new iterations of Trek that are currently playing. But I think the finale movie for TNG is one of the best endings of a TV show period and it deserves to be treated as a movie. Thematically it encapsulates everything the TV show was about and wraps it up in one final mystery plot that gives every character something meaningful to do. It's a bon voyage to characters you enjoyed and watched for years in a finale that isn't about tying up plot threads and breadcrumbs but tying things up emotionally and thematically. Very Well done. And a perfect example of what the TNG movies failed at.

Babylon 5: The Gathering (1998 re-edit)

I have a friend who wants to watch Babylon 5 and since I love that show I was down to do it. So you have to start here which is the pilot movie. Apparently there are two versions. The original and this 1998 re-edit that was improved by the original creators at a later date. I didn't watch the show when it originally aired as I watched the entire run many years later. I can't remember which version of this I saw the first time. As with most of early Babylon 5 its rough. The seeds are there for a really interesting universe and lots of universe building is going on, but its rough like almost all people would acknowledge. It's hard to imagine watching this, how good it would eventually get. One interesting thing that the person I'm watching with immediately noticed was that the lead character, Jeffrey Sinclair played by Michael O'Hare looked off and had a weird style. This was really interesting to me because O'Hare as Babylon 5 fans would know was going through mental issues at the time. I thought it was super surprising that they picked up on this as I certainly didn't on a first watch.

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

I've really been enjoying Affleck these last few years. I love Batfleck, thought he was a lot of fun in The Last Duel, played a great father figure in The Tender Bar. Honestly this flick seemed like maybe more suited for a Matt Damon but in the end he did a great playing a cuck who may be more aggressive than we expect and Ana De Armas also excels in the role of the femme fatale who enjoys pushing her husband's buttons.

Heard some negative things about Insurrection but actually quite enjoyed it. This was another one that felt like a tv show but it was a good show. Wasn't a fan of the villains but really enjoyed the story.

Pros: this one felt like a movie.
Cons: not a great movie, but not awful. Hated the main villain but I love me some Ron Perlman.
If anyone cares, this would be my order for the Star Trek movies.
Really good 4 > 8 > 2 = 3 >
Decent 9 > 6 = 7 > 10 >
Bad 1 > 5

 

[Messofanego]

The Bubble
Unlike Will Smith, this movie could actually have killed someone. If you thought Don't Loop Up was a bad self-important satire, you haven't seen anything yet, where in Judd Apatow's worst film, you'll witness painfully unfunny and already outdated COVID-19 jokes, a reluctance to edit out lame improv so it's another 2 hour badly paced comedy, and the worst meta-comedy about Hollywood since Epic Movie (or Movie 43). The half-a-star is for the mountain hanging joke where the actors get fed up with being on the side of the mountain and so they end up hanging in the CGI background which was the one decent visual gag. Then it's ruined with a puke joke. Guz Khan (please go see the excellent Man Like Mobeen) gets to be the self-aware comic relief and I very much enjoyed grabbing someone's lulli, but then he gets fridged. It's yet another comedy that doesn't go for many visual gags and mainly the humour is conveyed in dialogue, which in a film, makes for a visually boring affair. The talented cast are wasted, some don't seem that thrilled to be here much like the characters, and so I just hope Guz Khan and Maria Bamford were paid well for their bit roles. Unlike Don't Look Up, this film doesn't even want to go for any earned human drama as it's very hard to care about these characters' inner lives nor js any time given to develop them, despite the 126min runtime. Pedro Pascal and Karen Gillan are making the most out of their thinly written roles. His character (sorry, can't remember any of their names) says the line, "Never watch your own shit, You just wipe, just flush, and you move on" which might apply to Judd Apatow so you should do the same and forget this film ever existed until 5 years later when you remember this was one of the worst lockdown films.