Movies you've just watched

[Squire Grooktook]

Genuinely curious what you think the actual metaphor was though.

Spoiler

More than one, but I initially interpreted it as a metaphor for love, or at least love being the cure for human emotional ailments, including depression. For example the old woman in the house is immune to the effects of the epidemic because she is isolated from people, but then she ends up sleeping with mannequins, which points to her emotional disorder. And in the middle of the movie is a big American house called the "perfect house", but inside it's all plastic and people are being killed by their lawn mowers - a metaphor for the American Dream. It's definitely attempting too much, which is why I keep saying it was flawed in concept out the gate.

Ah, yes I think a bit of the "love" theme definitely came out for some people. Particularly in the ending, the way it was described to me. Just not done particularly well. The rest you point out is a cool interpretation, could definitely see that and would probably be a better movie if those elements were written better and given more priority over the more obvious plant stuff.

Definitely is a "what could have been" movie.

[Mischief Maker]

Wait... are you having an in-depth discussion of the subtext of a movie you never saw?

[Squire Grooktook]

That's the twist.

[BryanM]

I never saw it either, and I say it's a parable about how life isn't worth living if you don't worship the Jesus Tree. Those people didn't have to commit suicide - they were dead inside all along. You know, like spiritually and stuff.

This is the same guy who made a movie about water-allergic aliens invading earth and being defeated by being beaten to death by Mel Gibson with a bat. After Jesus told his dead wife to tell him that you can murder things with a baseball bat.

I'll give the man one thing: his movies sure are memorable.

[EmperorIng]

You should check out Mel Gibson's rom-com The Beaver then. Mel plays an awkward guy whose wife and kid left him, so he gains confidence by putting on a beaver puppet onto his hand and only communicating through the beaver puppet. Pretty soon though the beaver tries to take over Mel Gibson, leading to an extended, bloody confrontation between the man and his beaver puppet, much to the horror of his estranged wife and child.

Like, how could Mel find these movies, and then say "this needs me in it"?

[Skykid]

Genuinely curious what you think the actual metaphor was though.

Spoiler

More than one, but I initially interpreted it as a metaphor for love, or at least love being the cure for human emotional ailments, including depression. For example the old woman in the house is immune to the effects of the epidemic because she is isolated from people, but then she ends up sleeping with mannequins, which points to her emotional disorder. And in the middle of the movie is a big American house called the "perfect house", but inside it's all plastic and people are being killed by their lawn mowers - a metaphor for the American Dream. It's definitely attempting too much, which is why I keep saying it was flawed in concept out the gate.

Ah, yes I think a bit of the "love" theme definitely came out for some people. Particularly in the ending, the way it was described to me. Just not done particularly well. The rest you point out is a cool interpretation, could definitely see that and would probably be a better movie if those elements were written better and given more priority over the more obvious plant stuff.

Definitely is a "what could have been" movie.

Not really. I don't grant it with that much intelligence. It's a not-as-smart-as-you-think-you-are movie that was flawed in conception and writing stage. It's a guy branching out from traditional storytelling and trying to get into some artistic depth, who doesn't really have that artistic depth in a non-conventional way. He definitely can direct and has a much better grasp on the filmmaking process than a LOT of shitmongers in the industry - and has genuine passion for the craft - but anything that breaks the realm of short story fiction is above his station in my opinion, and the Happening in its failure is a demonstration of why.

This is the same guy who made a movie about water-allergic aliens invading earth and being defeated by being beaten to death by Mel Gibson with a bat.

Exactly. Directorial craft, yes; film-making skill, yes; conceptual genius, no.

[BIL]

You should check out Mel Gibson's rom-com The Beaver then. Mel plays an awkward guy whose wife and kid left him, so he gains confidence by putting on a beaver puppet onto his hand and only communicating through the beaver puppet. Pretty soon though the beaver tries to take over Mel Gibson, leading to an extended, bloody confrontation between the man and his beaver puppet, much to the horror of his estranged wife and child.

Like, how could Mel find these movies, and then say "this needs me in it"?

Sounds like a documentary tbh

[NYN]

You're not what? Interesting?

Right. That was misshaped. I meant interested.

You seem to acknowlege technical decisions favorably when they are close enough to your own standard, so you get your worth out of it even if other points are not. Fair enough.
Often enough I let things slide I notice and I'm not in favor of. Things that I consider minor. Just for the bigger picture that is delivered through various decisions. It's a equilibirum I need to believe in for a limited time. How else could I stand watching people doing or committing acts I deem stupid or dangerous?
In the case of the twist in The Village I realise now I'm only displeased in hindsight. At the moment I kinda accepted it. After that it changed from minor to major. That's emotion for you.

The Visit is worth a watch. It's a fun movie, and I usually hate the found footage style stuff.

Thanks for the recommedation. Seen only The Village and Unbreakable. The latter was fine enough and I can see your arguments apply there. Don't intend to see The Sixth Sense though. Waited too long and got a sneaky spoiler. So my equilibrium is down from the start.



Speaking of Mel Gibson pre-tinfoil hat: saw Braveheart again. The scenes on the battlegrounds without any digital adding are a example of a very impressive production scale overall and the romantic bits aren't sappy. Maybe just me but I didn't have a problem with the film duration. All taut enough.

[Vexorg]

Thunderbolt
Is this a truly horrible Jackie Chan movie? No. See more recent works after Chinese Zodiac 2012 if you want to see the worst of Jackie Chan. Is this an amazing movie? Its not that either. Its a decent movie, nothing more, nothing less. The plot you can kinda throw out the window, and the fights are interesting, that pachinko fight is the best one in the movie though. When it deals with the racing aspect of the movie, its tuner car porn for damn sure. The ending race is silly looking for most of it, but hey, you get a lot of awesome looking cars for the time. Not the best one from Jackie in the 90s, but Its worth at least one watch.

The race scenes in this movie are perhaps the most ridiculous depiction of auto racing ever to be committed to film. The whole thing comes across as cartoonish and absurd, although I suspect to a large extent that was the intent in the first place.

Case in point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00LyWec12Xk (minor spoilers, but it's not like there's really any plot to spoil in this thing anyway.)

[lilmanjs]

The end race scene was partly filmed in Japan and then when they moved to a different country entirely, they were not allowed to go at race speed so they undercranked and then sped up the film to the proper speed. Result is a silly end race for Thunderbolt.

[MintyTheCat]

CARGO

This came up in conversation with a friend who had not seen it.
I think it was quite good as a hard SciFi film.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_(2009_film)

[GaijinPunch]

Primal Fear (1996)

I needed something as semi-background filler as I attempted to make some clothes for an upcoming event. I had seen this before, so knew how it ended, and remembered a lot of the middle, but not everything. While I'd still rate it as good, the only thing that hasn't aged not-so-well was Ed Norton's performance. Richard Gere is a bit too cliche, and the prosecuting attorney (forgot her name) laid the drama on so thick. Finally, and this probably shows the sign of the times,

Spoiler

(and may sound a bit terrible on my side), the degree of abuse the alter boy suffers wouldn't fly in a film today, considering what the catholic church is capable of. At the time it was probably quite daring though.

Would still recommend it. Was cool to see my new home town 20 years ago.

[Vexorg]

The end race scene was partly filmed in Japan and then when they moved to a different country entirely, they were not allowed to go at race speed so they undercranked and then sped up the film to the proper speed. Result is a silly end race for Thunderbolt.

They don't even do a very good job of hiding the fact either. There's at least one part where there's a timer displayed on the screen and running about twice as fast as it's supposed to be.

[emphatic]

Primal Fear (1996)

I needed something as semi-background filler as I attempted to make some clothes for an upcoming event. I had seen this before, so knew how it ended, and remembered a lot of the middle, but not everything. While I'd still rate it as good, the only thing that hasn't aged not-so-well was Ed Norton's performance. Richard Gere is a bit too cliche, and the prosecuting attorney (forgot her name) laid the drama on so thick. Finally, and this probably shows the sign of the times,

Spoiler

(and may sound a bit terrible on my side), the degree of abuse the alter boy suffers wouldn't fly in a film today, considering what the catholic church is capable of. At the time it was probably quite daring though.

Would still recommend it. Was cool to see my new home town 20 years ago.

The book (and it's sequel) = really good. Or are there two sequels, I don't remember?

[BrianC]

So it's not the same type of absurd as Wacky Races or The Great Race? I like that kind of silliness.

[Leandro]

Just saw Wonder Woman and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it is...

Best origin Super Hero movie since... Batman Begins

[GaijinPunch]

The book (and it's sequel) = really good. Or are there two sequels, I don't remember?

Feels like it would be better as a book. Might check them out. Wikipedia says there are two sequels.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

The Oats Studio shorts are both worth checking out on Youtube.

[EmperorIng]

I watched Steven Seagal in Marked for Death with my brother while visiting family. Steven Seagal is... Marked for Death!

What a glorious clusterfuck of a movie. "Pretty soon trouble's gonna come looking for you!" Cue 20 seconds later evil Jamaican gangs riding by to riddle Steven's house and little nephew full of bullets. Steven then decides that all Jamaicans must die, especially practitioners of voodoo. Because Jamaican drug gangs are also black magic sorcerers. The island's most feared voodoo drug lord has decided that a tiny town outside of the small town of Rockford, Illinois will be his base of operations. Too bad that means that Seagal has this baddie... marked for death!

If you need a good laugh punctuated by Steven effortlessly snapping Jamaican arms in half, you ought to check this one out.

[GaijinPunch]

I watched Steven Seagal in Marked for Death with my brother while visiting family. Steven Seagal is... Marked for Death!

Pulling in a sold 5.9 on IMDB, you gotta wonder if Segal wrote the splurge himself. I don't imagine him's so good at grammar.

A retired DEA agent is out to hunt down and take out a Jamaican drug posse that has targeted he and his family for murder.

[EmperorIng]

Well I mean, part of the joy of watching a pre-total-insanity Seagal movie is watching him attempt to pretend to be a normal person, and that is on full display here, with awkward attempts at conversation with dialog that only Steven could have come up with.

-to a doctor looking after his nephew/nieve
"Treat this kid like the president of the United States"
"We treat all of our patients the same."
"I know you say that, but treat this kid like the president of the United States."

Once more, with feeling, Steven!

On an unrelated note, the annual G-Fest in Chicago is hosting a lineup of movies that might be worth watching in a week. Chief among them is a screening of Shin Godzilla on the big-screen (also showing: Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, and Dragon Wars: D-Wars, some Korean/American production). Is Anno's Godzilla worth a watch? I think I can convince some family/friends of mine to join me.

[emphatic]

Spider-Man Homecoming. 5/5

Nailed it. Funny, cool and dramatic, great cast etc. Fits so well with the rest of the MCU (which I really love as well, so if you don't, then you can lower your expectations).

[GaijinPunch]

On an unrelated note, the annual G-Fest in Chicago is hosting a lineup of movies that might be worth watching in a week. Chief among them is a screening of Shin Godzilla on the big-screen (also showing: Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, and Dragon Wars: D-Wars, some Korean/American production). Is Anno's Godzilla worth a watch? I think I can convince some family/friends of mine to join me.

Shin Godzilla was pretty laughable, in the same vein as Marked for Death I imagine. In short, it was pretty weak. Typical Japanese bullshit production. Glad I watched it on a plane. Some of the older ones sound interesting though.

Spider-Man Homecoming. 5/5

This looked pretty lame judging by the previews... but... I haven't seen a Marvel movie in like 5 years (except Logan).

[Mischief Maker]

I haven't seen a Marvel movie in like 5 years (except Logan).

Slight correction, Logan is a Marvel comics character but not a Marvel studios movie (subsidiary of Disney). Fox owns the X-Men rights which is why nobody in the Avengers movies ever says the word "mutant."

Of the three, DC is the Ayn-Rand-quoting bottom of the barrel, Marvel Studios is a consistent level of predictable quality, (even if they have to shitcan Edgar Wright to bring Ant Man back down to their intended level of mediocrity), while Fox is the risk-taking studio whose films can fall flat on their faces (X-Men Apocalypse) or can hit surprisingly well for a comic book movie (Deadpool and Logan).

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a writer's strike casualty, btw.

[GaijinPunch]

Cheers for the heads up. Ironically, I read mostly Marvel comics as a younger man, but eventually stopped around the time I went to college. Too much to keep up with. Sold mine at what I thought was a high point... the same way I sold most of my god damn Saturn collection.

[Mortificator]

Where comics are concerned, the overall quality of Marvel's output has alternated between good decades ('60s, '80s, 2000s) and bad decades ('70s, '90s, current). It's hard not to see the '80s as the peak: John Byrne on Fantastic Four, Chris Claremont on X-Men, Frank Miller on Daredevil, Walt Simonson on Thor, David Michelinie on Iron Man... talented creators who really got the characters, and enough history to play off of without being overwhelming.

But I have little hope of that happening again while copyright squatting and corporate stewardship guarantee nothing important will ever happen to Spider-Man again, and he'll inevitably bounce back to the status quo.

[Skykid]

Train to Busan

95% on Rotten Tomatoes?

GTFO

It's a pretty fun film for the most part, and I enjoyed it for the one and only time I'm ever going to watch it. For all the great concept and good ideas, and all those shots of zombie bodies rumbling through windows, it's sadly bogged down by classic Asian sentimentality. This could have worked perfectly as a pure scenario film with a bit of subtle social commentary, but instead it bogs down interim periods between the action with really trying schmaltz not limited to: pregnant women, syrupy teenage romance, father-daughter bonding, Grandma-affectionate-death-wishing that makes not one bit of logical sense.

The premise was fine in the sense that the father-daughter dysfunction would lead to some kind of resolve amid a zombie crisis, but it was crippled by heavy handedness. The social commentary was mostly confined to a corporate super asshole who was presented in the most unsubtle possible way, and went to ridiculous lengths to feed people to zombies before his own comeuppance consisted of a completely unsatisfactory sentimentality bonus round.

Basically, can the sentimentality, or at the very least, use it to set up the audience's desire for the survival of the protagonists, but minimize it thereafter and allow the circumstance to guide the highs and lows. I feel as though a remake would be a good opportunity to really improve what's here, assuming the right scriptwriters and directors manage to make more of the concept.

[kaicooper]

watched these:

Wonder Woman
its more drama then straight action..thats what i like
v good super hero movie..7.5/10..not bad at all
========

Ghost in the Shell 2017
aaah my eyes..wtf is this? go watch the orignal Masterpiece
but yea still has some cool vesual effects
5/10

[neorichieb1971]

Train to Busan

95% on Rotten Tomatoes?

GTFO

It's a pretty fun film for the most part, and I enjoyed it for the one and only time I'm ever going to watch it. For all the great concept and good ideas, and all those shots of zombie bodies rumbling through windows, it's sadly bogged down by classic Asian sentimentality. This could have worked perfectly as a pure scenario film with a bit of subtle social commentary, but instead it bogs down interim periods between the action with really trying schmaltz not limited to: pregnant women, syrupy teenage romance, father-daughter bonding, Grandma-affectionate-death-wishing that makes not one bit of logical sense.

The premise was fine in the sense that the father-daughter dysfunction would lead to some kind of resolve amid a zombie crisis, but it was crippled by heavy handedness. The social commentary was mostly confined to a corporate super asshole who was presented in the most unsubtle possible way, and went to ridiculous lengths to feed people to zombies before his own comeuppance consisted of a completely unsatisfactory sentimentality bonus round.

Basically, can the sentimentality, or at the very least, use it to set up the audience's desire for the survival of the protagonists, but minimize it thereafter and allow the circumstance to guide the highs and lows. I feel as though a remake would be a good opportunity to really improve what's here, assuming the right scriptwriters and directors manage to make more of the concept.

What about the really irritating bad guy who seemed to drop anyone in his path and get away with it for far too long? I was like "Just *ucking kill the bastard"

[Turrican]

Shin Godzilla was pretty laughable, in the same vein as Marked for Death I imagine. In short, it was pretty weak. Typical Japanese bullshit production. Glad I watched it on a plane.

Damn, I read this too late. Watched in theatre and it was atrocious. Never been a fan of Anno, one very bad director that was often saved by the talent of guys working with him, but this time not even Shinji Higuchi could save this from an all-time low.

The fact that it won so many awards in Japan says a lot about the state of cinema there these days.