Movies you've just watched

[BIL]

Gantz is a fun and intense fighting/killing gameshow/alien invasion manga so I watched both its movies. Bad move!

Gantz Not a bad compressed adaptation of the manga's early volumes. Production is good - they really nailed the look of the suits, equipment and aliens, along with the sterile "room" and unsettling yet clinical teleportation effect. Problem is, it's an adaptation of the manga's early volumes, which means lots of the protagonists terrifiedly bumbling around with their dicks in their hands. Doesn't stand alone well. The guy who plays Nishi was trying to portray a sinister eccentric, I think, but only ended up punctuating his sentences with the most perfectly rounded BJ lips I've ever seen. No bad thing, obviously.

Gantz: Perfect Answer Extremely loose adaptation of mid-manga content, reworked to conclude the films' story. Works a bit better cinematically, channeling the source chapters' stronger characters and eroding sense of security. Decent action centerpiece in a firefight/katana duel aboard a crowded train. Nishi guy delivers more crazy cock-eyed gurning.

TLDR: Gantz is a fun and intense fighting/killing gameshow/alien invasion manga reliant on mystery and escalation, something these adaptations can't capture. Only really worth a look for curious manga fans - the props are at least pretty cool. As science fiction/action flicks they're not very memorable.

[Tregard]

I just watched "Stung", a film in which human-sized wasps terrorise a rich family's party out at their isolated woodland mansion.

Pros: The wasps lay their eggs inside the various guests and then burst out, leaving tattered pieces of glistening flesh (and sometimes partially intact heads) stuck to their chitinous hides. Many of the effects aren't done with CGI, meaning all kinds of goo gets slopped around.

Cons: Characters, plot, set pieces, acting, editing, cinematography, dialogue.

Verdict: Don't bother.

[emphatic]

Gone Girl 4/5.

What a bitch.

[JBC]

Yeah, I just watched Gone Girl too. Not bad, not great. The beginning has terrible dialogue but it gets better pretty quick.

Crawl Or Die - 6/10

Takes the premise of Children Of Men & combines it with Alien. The creature is a terribly done ripoff of Alien itself. It gets points for being oppressively claustrophobic, moreso than even The Descent. The lead actress is interesting. Everything else is pretty bad though. Worth one watch if you're bored.

[neorichieb1971]

Jack Reacher.

I've had this a long time but didn't watch it. Was better than I thought it would be. Surprisingly a lot of it is detective work, was expecting a James Bond film based on the cover material.

[chempop]

Monsters Dark Continent - Intense middle eastern war with giant cthulhu monsters strewn throughout. Not one of those glorification pro US army movies in the slightest, very gritty and the monster effects were stunning! Far better than I expected it to be.

These Final Hours - Australian dude plans to enjoy his last 12 hours before a meteor’s impact wipes out the rest of mankind, but finds himself in a situation that greatly changes his plans when he finds a young girl who needs his help. Really depressing plot, but the two leads carry this film strongly to the end.

Didn’t expect much from either of those, but was pleasantly surprised by both!

[xxx1993]

Ant-Man was hilarious as hell. XD

[Stevens]

Monsters Dark Continent - Intense middle eastern war with giant cthulhu monsters strewn throughout. Not one of those glorification pro US army movies in the slightest, very gritty and the monster effects were stunning! Far better than I expected it to be.

I dug the original a lot, but was naturally hesitant to watch the new one since they have something like another five Monsters movies planned.

[Satan]

Ant-Man was hilarious as hell. XD

Hmm

[Ixmucane2]

The Babadook

A strange variant of horror movie where the monster is very clearly an hallucination, not a fantastic entity. It's introspective drama with the exterior shape of a typical horror plot (mother and son alone in a creepy house with a bogeyman).

The strongly realistic foundation allows the film to explore the horror of grief and loneliness in unusual depth, and with the help of excellent actors. The symbolism is quite simple, but not to the point of being boring; there's a worse issue, that instead of the usual cathartic victory or disastrous defeat we've gotten used to from genuinely confrontational horror movies, all the ending has to offer is characters somewhat adjusting to madness.

[Lord Satori]

Ant-Man was hilarious as hell. XD

I take it wasn't a comedy, and you are, in fact, saying that the movie was terrible?

If that is the case, then I'm not surprised. Ant Man is literally the last Marvel character that deserves their own movie.

[Satan]

Can't believe Ant Man is more popular than The Punisher.

[Mischief Maker]

If you haven't seen Punisher:Warzone, I highly recommend it!

[BrianC]

Just saw Minions. It was alright, but not great. Most of the good stuff was shown in the trailer. It had some funny moments and some cute pop culture references, though. Herb Overkill actually turned out to be far more enjoyable than Scarlet Overkill. Scarlet was meh.

[BIL]

Monsters Dark Continent

This was good - glad I took your recommendation. Unflinchingly yet artfully bleak movie, as much about humanity's general self-destructive tendencies as it is war in particular. Savage first act blazes with horror, smouldering into a sparsely worded, sadly beautiful dirge. I could very easily see the shift in pace and tone dismaying some, but it's just the sort of Sorcerer / Valhalla Rising panoramic doom march I enjoy. I particularly liked that the aliens were mostly just going about their own fragile existences, much like the civilians caught in the middle. Worth a look, with the proviso that Tremors via The Hurt Locker it's decidedly not.

[Skykid]

Ant-Man was hilarious as hell. XD

I take it wasn't a comedy, and you are, in fact, saying that the movie was terrible?

I'm pretty sure he's saying it was great.

If Hollywood had a target, it would be painted on this guy's forehead; but so far the movie seems to have been reasonably well-recieved (even if professional movie critics are only 50% reliable).

[Skykid]

Monsters Dark Continent

This was good - glad I took your recommendation. Unflinchingly yet artfully bleak movie, as much about humanity's general self-destructive tendencies as it is war in particular. Savage first act blazes with horror, smouldering into a sparsely worded, sadly beautiful dirge. I could very easily see the shift in pace and tone dismaying some, but it's just the sort of Sorcerer / Valhalla Rising panoramic doom march I enjoy. I particularly liked that the aliens were mostly just going about their own fragile existences, much like the civilians caught in the middle. Worth a look, with the proviso that Tremors via The Hurt Locker it's decidedly not.

They made a sequel to Monsters? Wow, that's weird.

[Stompp]

Monsters Dark Continent

This was good - glad I took your recommendation. Unflinchingly yet artfully bleak movie, as much about humanity's general self-destructive tendencies as it is war in particular. Savage first act blazes with horror, smouldering into a sparsely worded, sadly beautiful dirge. I could very easily see the shift in pace and tone dismaying some, but it's just the sort of Sorcerer / Valhalla Rising panoramic doom march I enjoy. I particularly liked that the aliens were mostly just going about their own fragile existences, much like the civilians caught in the middle. Worth a look, with the proviso that Tremors via The Hurt Locker it's decidedly not.

They made a sequel to Monsters? Wow, that's weird.

I had no idea about a sequel either. I quite liked Monsters, maybe I should give this a chance too Any connection to the prequel or a totally separate storyline?

[Skykid]

I had no idea about a sequel either. I quite liked Monsters, maybe I should give this a chance too Any connection to the prequel or a totally separate storyline?

According to google, it's set ten years later or something.

The thing is Monsters is very impressive because it was made on a mind bogglingly tiny budget with a crew of about 5 people and the director did all the effects work himself. That said, it was very well handled and I was impressed.

Then the same director made Godzilla 2014 and that was one of the worst films I've seen in the last decade.

This sequel is by a different guy and appears to be on a straight to DVD cash-in basis, but I wouldn't write it off if these guys reckon it's got some worth. But comparing it with the first may hurt it.

[Stompp]

According to google, it's set ten years later or something.

The thing is Monsters is very impressive because it was made on a mind bogglingly tiny budget with a crew of about 5 people and the director did all the effects work himself. That said, it was very well handled and I was impressed.

Then the same director made Godzilla 2014 and that was one of the worst films I've seen in the last decade.

This sequel is by a different guy and appears to be on a straight to DVD cash-in basis, but I wouldn't write it off if these guys reckon it's got some worth. But comparing it with the first may hurt it.

Yeah, I read as much and the scene is set in Asia iirc. I was positively surprised by Monsters. I didn't really have any expectations but it wan't anything close to what I imagined. And produced on a shoestring budget - impressive!

I still haven't made it through Godzilla 2014. I've seen the beginning and the end twice - always fall asleep in the middle

[Satan]

If you haven't seen Punisher:Warzone, I highly recommend it!

Just found this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWpK0wsnitc

[Skykid]

I still haven't made it through Godzilla 2014. I've seen the beginning and the end twice - always fall asleep in the middle

You missed nothing. Throw it in the bin.

[Satan]

I watched that a few days ago, what a crock of shit - good way to get people accustomed to troops on the streets though.

[Stompp]

I still haven't made it through Godzilla 2014. I've seen the beginning and the end twice - always fall asleep in the middle

You missed nothing. Throw it in the bin.

Yeah, I've realized that by now. Ain't gonna try again

[system11]

Yeah +1 on Godzilla being complete rubbish, not even I sat through it.

[jonny5]

Mad Max - Fury Road

Pretty good watch. Could have used some more character development

I did like the way it didn't waste any time and just got right down to it from the start, much like Dredd. Vehicle and character designs were pretty awesome too.

2 hours well spent in my book!

[system11]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3541262/

The Admiral / Roaring Currents - typically enjoyable Korean film based on a real battle during the Japanese war with Korea. I could watch this sort of thing all day.

[Stompp]

Mad Max - Fury Road

Pretty good watch. Could have used some more character development

I did like the way it didn't waste any time and just got right down to it from the start, much like Dredd. Vehicle and character designs were pretty awesome too.

2 hours well spent in my book!

Gotta agree with you on this. I too enjoyed MM-FR

Home - total feelgood flick First time I watched it I was kinda disappointed first half of the movie. Felt meh but it takes off after a while and Jim Parsons fits like a glove. Only thing that bogged me was that the whole movie feels like a Rhianna commercial

[BIL]

This sequel is by a different guy and appears to be on a straight to DVD cash-in basis, but I wouldn't write it off if these guys reckon it's got some worth. But comparing it with the first may hurt it.

That's what surprised me - given circumstances, I would've expected an army-themed Tremors knockoff at best. ("GOGOGOGO! AAAA" *monster POV shot of scrambling boots*) Instead it's a brutally grounded war story in the shadow of gargantuan, indifferent alien fauna. Vast bulk of action is mundanely horrific and expended in the opening third. Rest of the movie is a bleakly existential trek. It's not phenomenally outstanding cinema or anything, but it's certainly distinguished from DTV monster schlock. Tonally closer to stuff like Dune.

I'll probably watch the original tonight - tbh I normally don't go for Giant Monster Movies (couldn't care less about Godzilla '14, only very recently saw Cloverfield), but I'd like more of this.

Just finished "psychic teenagers" movie Chronicle, again something I'd usually skip but saw on rec; this time Half in the Bag's. Their review isn't very spoilery and pretty much on-target. It's a bit affectedly Young Adult, and the found footage gimmick is at times ruefully artificial, but it's strongly written with a real sense of fraternity, corruption and loss. Along with surprisingly convincing SFX and a compact runtime, it was a satisfying watch.

And as HTB said, the unflattering parallel between the Star Wars prequels and this is amusement enough. ^__^

---

Monsters Not very different at all from its sequel in style or tone - a contemplative journey that winds perilously through but is decidedly not about titanic alien wildlife. Dark Continent's human horror is accordingly more foregrounded, with it following beleaguered grunts in a Middle Eastern warzone, rather than amorous civvies trekking up Central America. The theme of human-inflicted suffering in the name of a greater good is just as evident, however. Actually both films are about as geopolitically rooted, in US/Mexico border relations and Western interventionism in the Middle East respectively.

Liked it too, naturally. Final scene was awe-inspiring, albeit predicated on a bit of stock horror movie imprudence that had my "don't go in the house!" sirens blaring minutes in advance -

Spoiler

we saw beforehand that the aliens react violently to light... maybe they should've seen about dimming the blazingly illuminated gas station before letting their guard down?

Easily worth it for the fearful magnificence that followed, though.

[xxx1993]

Ant-Man was hilarious as hell. XD

Hmm

Really, the whole movie was more than just an action sci-fi Marvel flick. It was also a comedy. XD