Movies you've just watched

[Skykid]

Saw Point Break. The remake... Doesn't live up to the original in my eyes for once.

For once?

I could probably count on one hand the number of remakes that lived up to the original movies, and even that would be a challenge.

Which movie remakes in your opinion lived up to the originals then?

[MintyTheCat]

Saw Point Break. The remake... Doesn't live up to the original in my eyes for once.

For once?

I could probably count on one hand the number of remakes that lived up to the original movies, and even that would be a challenge.

Which movie remakes in your opinion lived up to the originals then?

I no longer put myself through it and just simply disregard the remakes.

Mind you, I thought that the first Rob Zombie Halloween at least added something.
I remember turning the Nightmare on elm street remake off half way through and never looking at it again - it was shite.

I stick to the classics

[xxx1993]

Saw Point Break. The remake... Doesn't live up to the original in my eyes for once.

For once?

I could probably count on one hand the number of remakes that lived up to the original movies, and even that would be a challenge.

Which movie remakes in your opinion lived up to the originals then?

Well, I liked the Red Dawn remake from 2012. That's one example.

[xxx1993]

Saw Point Break. The remake... Doesn't live up to the original in my eyes for once. There isn't a final fight between Utah and Bodhi, unlike the original.

Odd that you should say that. Originally, there wasn't supposed to be a final battle between them in the original film, but when Cameron wound it up in the desert leaving room for a sequel to settle scores, test audiences objected to the lack of a denouement. So they wrote the Australian ending/battle, and resolved that differently. I think it worked...there needed to be *something* there.

So the remake went with what originally was supposed to happen. Is that what you're saying?

[Hagane]

There's Carpenter's The Thing. The Departed wasn't as good as Infernal Affairs but it didn't butcher the original and was a good adaptation. Most Hollywood remakes are trash though, especially when they unnecessarily adapt successful foreign movies. Can't believe how they managed to screw up something as good as Nueve Reinas. Remade Asian horror movies were very embarrassing too.

[BIL]

Carpenter's The Thing, Cronenberg's The Fly and Frank Darabont's co-written The Blob. Holy trinity of 80s horror remakes, classics all.

Of course in this decade, the first of those had an embarrassing quasi-remake of its own! lololol. :[

[copy-paster]

I also found The Ring is slightly better than original.

[Hagane]

US The Ring is pretty bad, dumbed down and without any of the original movie's finesse. Not a complete train-wreck like the Ju-on remakes, but still well below the original.

[boagman]

Saw Point Break. The remake... Doesn't live up to the original in my eyes for once. There isn't a final fight between Utah and Bodhi, unlike the original.

Odd that you should say that. Originally, there wasn't supposed to be a final battle between them in the original film, but when Cameron wound it up in the desert leaving room for a sequel to settle scores, test audiences objected to the lack of a denouement. So they wrote the Australian ending/battle, and resolved that differently. I think it worked...there needed to be *something* there.

So the remake went with what originally was supposed to happen. Is that what you're saying?

Without seeing the remake, it's hard for me to say. But it sounds like that aspect is true, yes.

[Skykid]

US The Ring is pretty bad, dumbed down and without any of the original movie's finesse.

For the life of me I will never understand why anyone considers the original Japanese Ring to be of any value. It's fucking rubbish.

[GaijinPunch]

There's Carpenter's The Thing.

Hence my comment about "decades having passed".

The Departed wasn't as good as Infernal Affairs but it didn't butcher the original and was a good adaptation. Most Hollywood remakes are trash though, especially when they unnecessarily adapt successful foreign movies. Can't believe how they managed to screw up something as good as Nueve Reinas. Remade Asian horror movies were very embarrassing too.

I would even cut a little slack when westernizing something, like Infernal Affairs. These other ones are straight up remakes... for younger audiences of the same region. O.o

[Xyga]

US The Ring is pretty bad, dumbed down and without any of the original movie's finesse.

For the life of me I will never understand why anyone considers the original Japanese Ring to be of any value. It's fucking rubbish.

It's showing small bits of (spoiled) original ideas and style, that's why.
And we know that for many people who haven't seen much, the potential for greatness is equal to greatness itself.
Even if the movie really sucks.
EDIT: I mean some movies are elevated to 'cult' sometimes for a single scene, not for the whole thing.

[Skykid]

EDIT: I mean some movies are elevated to 'cult' sometimes for a single scene, not for the whole thing.

Yes, and The Ring qualifies for that completely because a black haired chick in need of a bath crawls through a TV screen to kill some complete mong who's really scared of long black hair and can't move.

The entire thing was stupid, very boring, not scary in the least, and the premise was idiotic. Just don't watch the tape, don't answer the fucking phone.

[chempop]

I just saw the animation Mind Game by the crazy studio that also made Tekkonkinkreet.

Loved it!

[iconoclast]

Mind Game is one of the best animated films I've ever seen. The same director was behind an anime series called The Tatami Galaxy that's also really good.

[emphatic]

I also found The Ring is slightly better than original.

I really liked Gore Verbinski's take on it (the fly coming out of the monitor, the Horse). Plus, the Japanese film although original, has some stupid plot holes that didn't make it into the US version.

[Xyga]

Spectre

A below-average Bond. They should quit the 'phantoms from James past' thing and bring back the good old 'Bond being Bond'.
Frankly the class, humor and pressure have almost completely disappeared from the character now.
Also with each new film the new generic villain feels more tasteless, like they're all another incarnation of Steve Jobs (which is okay at times) unfortunately this is the type of villain Blofeld is not (he's supposed to give the evil crime overlord vibe ffs!)
The action also seems to pop up whenever the script feels bored and 'yeah why not here' for no specific reason making sense with the scenario, except maybe for the far-fetched finale.

[BrianC]

Spectre
Also with each new film the new generic villain feels more tasteless, like they're all another incarnation of Steve Jobs (which is okay at times) unfortunately this is the type of villain Blofeld is not (he's supposed to give the evil crime overlord vibe ffs!)

No cat for Blofeld?

[Xyga]

Cat. Only a brief appearance though.

[Some-Mist]

star wars: the force awakens - I've only seen episode 4 and 5, but I enjoyed it. loved the humor and was surprised that it was directed by jj abrams when I saw his name in the credits (I've been living under a rock).

harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban - I've only read the first 3 books... and seen movies 1, 2, and 4. Watched 3 and will be doing a 5-8 watchathon going into next year.

also saw that an anomalisa screener leaked so I'll probably watch it a handful of more times while I wait for my backer blu ray to ship... which is predicted to ship by June 2016...... with no other way for backers to view it unless you live in NY/LA or one of the handful of theaters showing it next year. easily my favorite movie for 2015 tho (<3 charlie kaufman)

[neorichieb1971]

Star Wars FA

I'm going to go out and say it.. It was disappointing. Not mediocre, just a bit disappointing.

The Dark side in this one was so weak, I didn't see the force awaken.. I saw some coincidental meetings in the first 45 mins, the robot and Chewbacca were the stars of the show.

Where the movie fails is in its inability to stir up emotion. When I watched the 4,5 and 6 there was always some emotional bond between me and the characters and story but in this one, there was hardly anything similar. Some light saber training would have helped. Darth Maul would have had a field day in this movie.

The resemblances to episode 4 were uncanny.

But it was still better than most of the Marvel stuff i've seen in the past 3 years.

6/10.

[EmperorIng]

The resemblances to episode 4 were uncanny.

And intentional, I think! I didn't find it nearly as disappointing; it wasn't perfect but it was at least fun and better than the last decade of Star Wars combined.

I've watched quite a few movies recently.

Some Godzilla:
Godzilla vs. Mothra (the original)
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
Godzilla vs. Mothra (remake)
Terror of Mechagodzilla

That's a whole lotta zilla! I'm making my way through a box-set given to me for Christmas.

The one's I've liked the most from this batch are the two Mothra movies. Both offer similar overarching plots, but offer different takes on the story. The 60s comes across as both an environmentalist story + a travel to the exotic and strange Birth Island (with wild garishly-dressed tribals). The 90s remake is more of an adventure, with less of an emphasis on the environment and more on spectacle. Despite the late appearance of Mothra in the original, it never felt like it moved slowly and the movie went along at a clipping pace. The Heisei remake offered up both Mothra and Battra as cool monsters and had a winning formula of more monsters + more screentime.

I wanted to like Ghidorah much more than I did. Despite the hilarity of Mothra, Rodan, and Godzilla arguing with each other about what to do with Ghidrah (and Godzilla and Rodan playing volleyball with boulders and acting like pissed-off middle-aged men), the human plot dragged on for so long. I never though a story about space princesses and assassination attempts could be so dry and dull.

Terror of Mechagodzilla was also slow, but I watched that with a large group so it didn't feel like it dragged as much. It really took a long time for it to get to the kaiju fights - at least the human stuff was kinda silly. The final fight between Titanosaurus, Mechagodzilla, and big 'G was extremely entertaining though.

I'm worried I might get myself burned out on Showa-era Godzilla movies in short time, based on this batch. I still have Godzilla Raids Again, Rodan, vs. Astro Monster, and the original vs. Mechagodzilla to get through.

[Skykid]

Mr. Six



It was at least a real movie. It's been a while since I A: went to see a Chinese movie in theatres, and B: went to see a movie that actually had some element of filmmaking as opposed to cookie cutter shit filled with CG.

Feng Xiaogang's performance was stoic and excellent, and the supporting cast weren't far behind. I enjoyed the slow ebb, build up and plot complications, less so the eventual culmination of events and way over dramatic finale.

It was too long by around 30 - 40 minutes, elements of the plot were unrealistic or felt tacked on, some of which could have and should have been left on the editing room floor, and certain meandering into family relationships were hung on too long and sapped at the core theme of the main character.

While not perfect, it was good enough to stay engaging, and its theme of old-world principle against the reckless nature of today's youth was a good one.

I was expecting more Old Boy retribution than actually transpired, but it's still a good watch for anyone interested in film with actual characters and believable motivations.

[Vexorg]

With the end of the year, I'm curious to see what people thought were their favorite 2015 films. Keep in mind this list is purely subjective.

My favorite films from the year, in no particular order:

The Force Awakens
The Man from UNCLE (Probably my biggest surprise for the year)
Furious 7 (if only for the sheer ridiculousness of it all)
Inside Out
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (A little predictable, but still a good popcorn flick)
Pitch Perfect 2 (Bit of a guilty pleasure movie, just like the first was)

Good, but should have been better:
Spectre
Jurassic World

The worst films I saw this year:
Tomorrowland (this one could have been a lot better, but it ended up being pretty bad.)
Pan (Ugh)
Pixels (Stop giving Adam Sandler money people!)

Notable films I haven't seen yet:
Mad Max: Fury Road
Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Martian
Ant Man

[Hagane]

You aren't missing anything by not watching Avengers 2. It's much worse than the first.

[BrianC]

With the end of the year, I'm curious to see what people thought were their favorite 2015 films. Keep in mind this list is purely

There's a lot I haven't seen, but out of what I have seen, my favorites of this year were:
Shaun the Sheep the movie
Inside Out
The Peanuts Movie

I also saw Pan (which was bad), Minions (ok, but not great), and Age of Ultron (good, but nowhere near the first movie).

[Leandro]

Whiplash (released here in january 2015) - best movie I've seen in a long time

Kingsman: Secret Service (released here march 2015) - super fun

Mission Impossible: Also super fun, the actress is a knockout


2015 movie I didn't enjoy:

Ex-Machina.

[copy-paster]

Pixels (Stop giving Adam Sandler money people!)

Aside from some Sandler's lame reputation, I'm planned to watch this today.

[iconoclast]

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter is the only 2015 film I've seen so far. I loved it, but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.

[Vexorg]

One last minute addition to the list:

Avengers: Age of Ultron: ***1/2

Watched this tonight with some friends while passing the time waiting for Midnight. Based on the various opinions I have seen I went in with low expectations, but actually liked this more than I expected to (which is pretty much the same thing that happened for me with Captain America: The Winter Soldier.) It did drag on at points (I've noticed that a lot of long movies tend to be long more by not trimming enough of the filler than anything, and 2:21 is definitely on the long side of things) and there were parts where the CG was a little too obvious, but overall I found it reasonably enjoyable if you don't go in expecting a cinematic masterpiece. As much as I tend to be skeptical of Marvel stuff sometimes, I'm actually thinking I might like Captain America: Civil War reasonably well.