Movies you've just watched

[Randorama]

The cherry on top for the topic at hand: it was financed by Francis Ford Coppola.

...I forgot about this. I guess that he decided that the project was worth finishing, given that it was taking them forever to find funds (right?).

pics

Untold tales from the park, the geriatric version:

"young folks, this one here guy sitting with me and wearing a raspberry coppola hat once dressed like Prince in Purple Rain and had no shame in posting the pics on the intarwebz!"

(I bet the crowds would go berserk with cheers!)

...I admit that for many movies, it is the first time watching them in the original language. Will report in a few more days (!).

[GaijinPunch]

The cherry on top for the topic at hand: it was financed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Which one? Koyaanisqatsi I think but making sure.

Correct.

[lilmanjs]

Duel of Fists
David Chiang and Ti Lung in a story about David Chiang looking for his long lost brother that takes him to Thailand. Some odd music choices, and some wonky zooming are really the only downfalls of an otherwise decent movie. Corrupt Thai Boxing scene is on display here, as well as some good Thai Boxing and Chinese Boxing. Looks very 70s though, so it hasn't aged too well.

Star Trek: Generations
A fitting end to the TV series with a story about and energy ribbon called The Nexus that a guy is trying to get back into. The music is the highlight of this, along with Data and his emotion chip. They did a fantastic job lighting the ships in the movie too.

[Steamflogger Boss]

The Next Gen movies are mostly underrated imo.

[vol.2]

The Next Gen movies are mostly underrated imo.

In general, I agree with you, but only because they were almost universally panned.

Generations is a fun, solid movie. First Contact is amazing and does a better job of retaining the feel of the show than any others. The rest are fun but just good, not great. IMHO

[Steamflogger Boss]

The Next Gen movies are mostly underrated imo.

In general, I agree with you, but only because they were almost universally panned.

Generations is a fun, solid movie. First Contact is amazing and does a better job of retaining the feel of the show than any others. The rest are fun but just good, not great. IMHO

Yeah I'm coming from the point of most people seem to hate them and think they are all awful. I remember them all being at least decent.

[Mischief Maker]

Generations is a fun, solid movie. First Contact is amazing and does a better job of retaining the feel of the show than any others. The rest are fun but just good, not great. IMHO

Are you high? These movies created Redlettermedia's Mr. Pinkett reviews:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h06WKYF ... B-5c53eBY2

[...]the highlight of this, along with Data and his emotion chip.

By referring to Data's emotion chip as a "highlight" you mean in a Hellraiser "We have such sights to show you" pain-so-overwhelming-it-blurs-into-pleasure kinda way?

[Steamflogger Boss]

Speaking of Godzilla: https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/2648- ... -1954-1975?

[FinalBaton]

Speaking of Godzilla: https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/2648- ... -1954-1975?

No... No... tell me this isn't real... Tell me this isn't REAL

Omg I'm crying of joy over here never thought this would be possible. I knew different studios had different parts of catalogs, so I was hoping we could get seperate sets for the different eras. But it seemed so, so far away... it seemed impossible.

Now I just can't believe what I'm seeing! been wanting something like this so BAD. This will look killer next to my Gamera boxset

[FinalBaton]

*is flipping out*

[Steamflogger Boss]

Speaking of Godzilla: https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/2648- ... -1954-1975?

No... No... tell me this isn't real... Tell me this isn't REAL

Omg I'm crying of joy over here never thought this would be possible. I knew different studios had different parts of catalogs, so I was hoping we could get seperate sets for the different eras. But it seemed so, so far away... it seemed impossible.

Now I just can't believe what I'm seeing! been wanting something like this so BAD. This will look killer next to my Gamera boxset

I've been wanting it as well. I didn't want to dick around buying movies on different formats and in bad quality. A box set like this is really convenient. The per movie cost here isn't that bad by Criterion standards. That said I'm not in at $180. I'm patient, I got the Zatoichi set ($200 MSRP) for $105 new.

Did somebody say Godzilla (1998)?? That's the best one of course.

So I watched this last night. It had been awhile. It's so bad. It's more Jurassic Park than Godzilla.

[GaijinPunch]

Gonna be a stickler here (and one too lazy to go to IMDB). What's up w/ the Godzilla films between 1976 and 1986? There's a good 10 years fo Showa that seem to be gone.

[Weak Boson]

drinking so much beer to stave off the heat caused me to crave superhero attack fighting, so I booted up Captain Marvel. I liked this film waaay more than I thought I would. It's not like it's much better than the average marvel film but there were a few things I liked about it in particular, and these were nice surprises.

Spoiler

Namely the "twist" that the terrorist skrulls are actually just a persecuted minority of refugees while the galactic empire that carpet bombs planets is the real villain (I am shook). It gives the story a moral relevancy wholly absent from your average "giant laser destroys new york city" stories, let alone the US military funded "thank god there's a military to step in and enact a solution to this film's central conflict!" shebang.

The characters overall were a weakness of the film, though there were just enough interesting moments to keep me going (considering that it's a film about a flying space lady shooting laser beams out her butt). Indeed, Captain Marvel's invincibility, amnesia and alien culture saps the relatability out of her character, but Fury steps in for that, and the dynamic the two is nice enough. As with a lot of these movies the villains are a weakness, but less so here since, while "guy whose name I can't remember" (leader of her squad of storm troopers) doesn't really have any character development we do have that Vier's view of him (and therefore the viewer's) does develop, from a paternal figure to an antagonist, which is interesting.

I did feel like the final confrontation between them was lacking some important dialogue. I liked what was there and how they handled it (her rejecting his challenge to be judged by his values) but it seemed like, given that he was someone she cared about, this would have been a good time for her to make him explain himself and to see if he stood by the justification for his actions. The fact that the villains are no different from how the hero was at the start of the film is interesting, and that's as far as you need to go for the grunts, but given that they had a personal relationship I would have liked a bit more there for a really satisfying ending.

Still I appreciate how the MCU has expanded beyond "superhero saves the day" into the realms of pure fantasy and science fiction. Despite the fatigue one must feel with these movies at this point, I do dare to hope that there is a space being cultivated for increasingly more interesting films, even if that promise will only be rarely delivered upon.

Of course, that's all academic since the scenes of Samuel L Jackson going crazy for a cute little kitter cat is honestly all you ever need to see.

[Ixmucane2]

Ballad in Blood

In what is likely to be his last work, Ruggero Deodato adapts the death of Meredith Kercher into a horrifying portrait of a trio of "normal" murderers, deliberately departing from the unsatisfactory outcome of the actual investigation and trial to tell a good story instead.

The friendship between two girls from the USA, both exchange students in Perugia, one accumulating found footage on her laptop (chiefly video messages for her family) and the other mostly fucking, ends in the morning after a Halloween party: the naughty one is in her bed with her Italian boyfriend and a drug dealer, the nice one is found dead in the next room with a slashed throat. The three survivors are so stoned that they initially have no idea of who murdered their friend, then they manage to remember that it was them.

Much more cruelty and moral degradation than gore, with a particularly impressive beginning.
Some funny moments, like Eli Roth on a wheelchair, and silly lines round out the intense contempt for the protagonists.
Very well shot (on location in Perugia, of course) despite the low budget, and even better written and edited; a throwback to a more enlightened age, like Deodato himself.

[drauch]

Gonna be a stickler here (and one too lazy to go to IMDB). What's up w/ the Godzilla films between 1976 and 1986? There's a good 10 years fo Showa that seem to be gone.

They didn't make any again until 84.

[scrilla4rella]

Pre-ordered Criterion's Showa Godzilla collection (they won't charge your card until the set ships FYI). I know some folks are hating on the art for this but I quite like it.

Gonna be a stickler here (and one too lazy to go to IMDB). What's up w/ the Godzilla films between 1976 and 1986? There's a good 10 years fo Showa that seem to be gone.

Toho put the series on ice until a reboot in 1984. I think this was mainly due to declining ticket sales. You also see reduced budgets for the latter Showa film.

the 1984 film was a pretty substantial change of pace with Godzilla returning as the antagonist. Toho seems to alternate between periods of making one Godzilla film per year and fallow periods where they let demand build. It sounds like they're gearing up for a 1-a-year run beginning in 2020 after the deal with Legendary Pictures expires.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Checked out the interesting 2019 documentary by the name of "General Magic". It's about a secret start-up that was funded by Apple themselves to create a working prototype smart phone device that was released under the name of the Sony Magic Link device which debuted at a whopping MSRP $799.99 USD back in 1996 at the Bay Area Fry's Electronics Superstores. It crashed big time as the general public wasn't ready for it at the time. The Sony Magic Link device was the original prototype forerunner of the Apple iPhone that wouldn't make it's initial debut until 2007. A lot of the General Magic employees whom were working on the Sony Magic Link device went on to work for Apple, Google and elsewhere. Quite fascinating stuff to learn about an unknown company start-up during the early 1990s in Silicon Valley.

Factoid time: One former General Magic employee (a software developer) even ended up founding eBay.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[vol.2]

Are you high? These movies created Redlettermedia's Mr. Pinkett reviews:

hahaha.
they are obviously an important part of lore in general. i glibly judge them outside of the context of that lore as movies in vacuum.
i love star trek, so my feelings about the movies are quite different.

[GaijinPunch]

Cheers for the Godzilla lesson. I hated Shin w/ a passion, but given that i'm catching up on Japanese cinema I've embarrassingly not seen, might be a good time to go back and watch these goodies. Or maybe for the updated releases? I may stream Criterion for a couple of months this Fall and tear through some stuff.

[GaijinPunch]

Blade Runner: Workprint

Figured I'd tip a glass to Rutger Hauer and crank this up as I'd never bothered w/ this version. I know there's been some praise for it around here, but it's definitely a one and done for me. I believe Skykid has pointed out the different palette used. It's probably closer to what theaters saw, and is more a testament of how trends in color correction have changed over the years than anything. However, for me the lack of Vangelis' score in many scenes (perhaps he wasn't done yet?) is to me, a deal breaker. They shape the scene so much. If I was a producer I don't think I'd want to show a test audience something w/o such a key element.

Anyway, fun to watch I suppose but I'll stick to Final Cut.

[vol.2]

Cheers for the Godzilla lesson. I hated Shin w/ a passion, but given that i'm catching up on Japanese cinema I've embarrassingly not seen, might be a good time to go back and watch these goodies. Or maybe for the updated releases? I may stream Criterion for a couple of months this Fall and tear through some stuff.

What's your beef with Shin?

[GaijinPunch]

What's your beef with Shin?

In chronological order:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32519&p=1270941&hilit=Shin#p1270941
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32519&p=1286226&hilit=Shin#p1286226
viewtopic.php?p=1320212#p1320212
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32519&p=1367442&hilit=Shin#p1367442

[dan76]

Ballad in Blood

In what is likely to be his last work, Ruggero Deodato adapts the death of Meredith Kercher into a horrifying portrait of a trio of "normal" murderers, deliberately departing from the unsatisfactory outcome of the actual investigation and trial to tell a good story instead.

The friendship between two girls from the USA, both exchange students in Perugia, one accumulating found footage on her laptop (chiefly video messages for her family) and the other mostly fucking, ends in the morning after a Halloween party: the naughty one is in her bed with her Italian boyfriend and a drug dealer, the nice one is found dead in the next room with a slashed throat. The three survivors are so stoned that they initially have no idea of who murdered their friend, then they manage to remember that it was them.

Much more cruelty and moral degradation than gore, with a particularly impressive beginning.
Some funny moments, like Eli Roth on a wheelchair, and silly lines round out the intense contempt for the protagonists.
Very well shot (on location in Perugia, of course) despite the low budget, and even better written and edited; a throwback to a more enlightened age, like Deodato himself.

Never heard of this so I'll have to try and track it down. The trailer looks a bit naff, I bet it's one of those films that if it was made in the 60's or 70's it would've been great. At least he's managed to get something made.

[vol.2]

In chronological order:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32519&p=1270941&hilit=Shin#p1270941
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32519&p=1286226&hilit=Shin#p1286226
viewtopic.php?p=1320212#p1320212
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32519&p=1367442&hilit=Shin#p1367442

Ok. I see where you're coming from. It seems like it bothers you that the production of the movie was antithetical to the nature of a Godzilla film in general. Totally valid and I understand why you didn't enjoy it.
As to the other comments, all Godzilla movies are filled with canned characters from Japanese pop culture (as is most Japanese cinema then and now). The jarringly out-of-place production of Shin simply makes that all the more obvious. (we can't get lost in Showa era-nostolgia or the charming rough edges of low-budget production)

[GaijinPunch]

I've actually never watched any of the older Godzilla films so I can't say. Canned characters I guess I don't really mind, but this was just Japanese over-intensity through and through. Zero subtlety. Reminded me of day-time TV I'd see here and there and it made me cringe. But I didn't really expect too much better I guess.

[Ajora]

Samurai Reincarnation. It's badass.

[Steamflogger Boss]

Just a reminder that between Criterion directly and B&N there are typically 4 50% off sales a year. That's the time to strike if you are budget conscious.

[BryanM]

Of any one scene that's highly irritating to me, it's when the radiation just magically disappears at the end. Which demonstrates that the writer does not know what radiation actually is. And is irritating in that it actively misinforms people about a very important subject.

The film is an allegory on the 2011 tsunami (and thus why there's so much water and flooding imagery in the movie). Some feel-good pablum about the power of bureaucracy being able to get us through any tragedy. To gloss over the Fukushima mismanagement (thanks to.... government capture by industry through legal bribery. Your bureaucracy kind of sucked ass there, film.) and fallout... to make radiation as this unknowable, terrifying sorcery instead of a real physical thing that can be quickly explained if only one would take five minutes to skim a wikipedia article... it's a bit unconscionable they didn't use their platform to reduce the amount of fear and anxiety in the world.

... yeah I know that's asking too much for something made to make a buck off of a tragedy.

All of that is part and parcel whenever you insert identifiable real world elements into fiction. At least it's not remotely as harmful or insidious as the Joe Biden buddy cop books, or the various other fictional realities peddled with immediate real-world consequence.

Shin is just like any other mass market blockbuster - lazy and far too long for what little it does have. Final Wars, now. That's a movie.

[vol.2]

Of any one scene that's highly irritating to me, it's when the radiation just magically disappears at the end. Which demonstrates that the writer does not know what radiation actually is. And is irritating in that it actively misinforms people about a very important subject.

The film is an allegory on the 2011 tsunami (and thus why there's so much water and flooding imagery in the movie). Some feel-good pablum about the power of bureaucracy being able to get us through any tragedy. To gloss over the Fukushima mismanagement (thanks to.... government capture by industry through legal bribery. Your bureaucracy kind of sucked ass there, film.) and fallout... to make radiation as this unknowable, terrifying sorcery instead of a real physical thing that can be quickly explained if only one would take five minutes to skim a wikipedia article... it's a bit unconscionable they didn't use their platform to reduce the amount of fear and anxiety in the world.

... yeah I know that's asking too much for something made to make a buck off of a tragedy.

All of that is part and parcel whenever you insert identifiable real world elements into fiction. At least it's not remotely as harmful or insidious as the Joe Biden buddy cop books, or the various other fictional realities peddled with immediate real-world consequence.

Shin is just like any other mass market blockbuster - lazy and far too long for what little it does have. Final Wars, now. That's a movie.

Are you there now? I was living in tokyo at that time. That was a fucked up year.

[GaijinPunch]

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

In all honesty a bit let down. Some great stuff in there no doubt, and really liked the third act, but I question the inclusion of a lot of things in the first two. Might do better on multiple viewings. Solid performances all around, but I was not enthralled nearly as much as I am on almost every other Quentin Tarantino outing.