Movies you've just watched

[vol.2]

Somehow I suspect Tarantino's wry ironic spite would want to pull a Death Proof and humiliate the fuck out of his character, no way prideful Stevie would agree to that without some form of trickery

That would be amazing, but somehow I don't think QT could pull it off. Nathan Fielder could do it

[xxx1993]

Just watched Expend4bles. To be honest, I wasn't expecting the climax of the movie to take up most of the film!

[Vexorg]

Elemental: ***

I'd put this as a middle-of-the-road Pixar film, not at the level of the best ones like the first Toy Story, Up and Monsters Inc, but still enjoyable and still better than the last two Pixar releases (Turning Red and Onward). Even so, it's another one of those cases where even the average Pixar stuff is better than 75% of the stuff the other studios are putting out. And that includes Disney Animation, whose last film (Strange World) was so bad I stopped watching halfway through.

The most direct comparison I can think of for this movie would be Zootopia, and I liked this one a lot more than I liked that one. The world of Element City is well built and well animated and gives the sense that more stories could be told there, but it doesn't seem like the movie did well enough to warrant a sequel. At times the storytelling in this particular film felt choppy and disjointed with a rushed ending, and left a number of dangling plot threads in its wake.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Makes me wonder what Quentin Tarantino's very last film will be about. I do recall about him talking about a possible "Kill Bill Vol. 3" sequel -- one with all the surviving characters from parts 1 and 2 (including a much older Beatrice played by none other than Uma Thurman herself). What kind of story/plot for a "grande finale" third sequel to eclipse the action scenes of the first one infused with the usual Tarantino infused euphemises/witty dialogue + the "over-the-top" action scenes to move the story along. A fight scene with the blind Daryl Hannah character + Uma = priceless -- it'd certainly'd be the final "fight" showdown to end all fights to the death indeed. Why not pull out all the stops and just make a truly epic third sequel as a proper final bow to directing. That'd be one for the ages.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Vexorg]

The Gumball Rally (1976) : **1/2

One of the three different movies inspired by the real life Cannonball outlaw races. Falls somewhere between Cannonball! (the R-rated David Carradine version released the same year with lots of violence) and The Cannonball Run (the 1981 madcap comedy version with lots of big-name stars.) The plot of all three films is basically the same: An illegal race from New York to Los Angeles while being chased ineffectually by various law enforcement. Lots of fast cars (highlights include a Shelby Cobra, a Ferrari 365 GTS/4 and a Mercedes 300SL roadster, all seven-figure cars in today's market), lots of great stunt work and a lot of inadvertent documentary of mid 1970s America make up for a somewhat lackluster script.

[xxx1993]

Just watched Spy Kids: Armageddon!

[Herr Schatten]

Finally got around watching Ghostbusters Afterlife. I went in with no expectations, but came out pleasantly surprised.

The movie was, for the most part, well-cast and well-acted. The inevitable fan service was delivered subtly enough to not feel forced. I think Paul Rudd's talent for comedy was under-utilized, though.

I actually liked the slow build-up, and it was fun watching the kids independently puzzling together different bits and pieces of their grandad's past. Opposed to that, the finale felt rushed, which makes me think that the whole thing might have worked better as a series.

I do think that making the kids the main protagonists was a good move, as it gives the whole thing a sufficiently different spin compared to the original movies, and the Goonies vibes this creates fit well into the 80s nostalgia that fuels the film at least partly.

Overall, the movie was much more entertaining than could be reasonably expected. I'd definitely watch the reboot the ending seems to hint at, but I guess that’s not happening.

Spoiler

I don’t think that rehashing the whole Gozer thing was a good idea. Fans of the original will certainly enjoy spotting all the instances the new film varies the events of the original, but at the same time it makes everything far too predictable. A new audience wouldn’t care either way, so a whole new threat would have made much more sense, as long as it’s still on the level of "godlike creature from another dimension" and not "carpathian guy trapped in painting".

A creative new villain would also have made the most glaring plothole just a tad more believable, as it’s easier to imagine the old pals writing off poor Egon if he became obsessed with something totally weird and unbelievable. On the other hand, it’s hard to imagine them not listening if he came up to them saying: "Remember that batshit crazy architect who built that appartement building in New York? I found out he also built a whole town in the middle of nowhere, complete with a Gozer temple and a pit that leads straight down to hell nearby. How about we take a look at that?“

[lilmanjs]

La Bamba
Watched this last night for the first time in years and still wish Criterion would have gone with a 4K release since they state in the booklet it even got an HDR color grading! Still a good biopic about a tragic death of a musical star on the rise. Also, don't trust Buddy Holly and a coin flip!

[xxx1993]

That movie has Esai Morales, right? I now know him as the main villain of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One and its upcoming Part Two.

[vol.2]

Finally got around watching Ghostbusters Afterlife. I went in with no expectations, but came out pleasantly surprised.

This is basically how I saw it. I went very early so there wouldn't be too much time for me to absorb any hype or negative reviews. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie the whole way through, but I did think the end was kind of cheesy and overly nostalgic; I think they could have gotten away with just passing the torch entirely to a new generation and running with it, and I believe it would have felt like a stronger movie if they had.

[GaijinPunch]

Makes me wonder what Quentin Tarantino's very last film will be about.

It's about a movie critic.

[BryanM]

Overall, the movie was much more entertaining than could be reasonably expected. I'd definitely watch the reboot the ending seems to hint at, but I guess that’s not happening.

Eh? The sequel's already shot. Just delayed to March.

I didn't like it, but at least its heart was in the right place and some people liked it.

I kind of wish Dan and Harold could have been on the writing team; they were the real core of where the soul of the writing came from. The videogame they co-wrote on feels like a real Ghostbusters movie. No one else can really create a proper skeleton of these things.

Ah, while on the rare topic of Ghostbusters, this song these rando guys made did a good job of getting the vibe right.

[vol.2]

No one else can really create a proper skeleton of these things.

hmmm. Idk, I see your point about them being the "core" of the OG ghostbusters, but that doesn't mean that reinterpretations can't also appeal or be good in their own right. I honestly felt like the strongest parts of Afterlife were when they were going off in their own direction and weren't just digging for nostalgia. All they actually had to do was to fully set the film in the same universe as the first two Ghostbusters films, they didn't have to bring the old cast back

[xxx1993]

The Creator. It was fine, but I thought it was a pretty tragic movie to put a close to the summer season.

[SuperDeadite]

Speed 2: Cruise Control.... Was free on amazon, so finally watched this one, and wow it truly was terrible . Shakey cam typically doesn't bother me, but this movie is 100% shakey cam. Like they will be sitting at a table eating, and the camera still shakes. Felt actually sick during a few scenes. The last big action sequence was quite awesome as it's crazy over the top, and from the days of minitures and camera tricks. But overal this movie is just bad.

[xxx1993]

I do agree the ship crashing into the seaside town and the final chase sequence were awesome, at least. ESPECIALLY the main villain's explosive death.

[xxx1993]

Ballerina. Pretty standard Korean revenge action thriller on Netflix.

[xxx1993]

I just watched Sniper: G.R.I.T. And it retained a lot of the humor from Rogue Mission, its predecessor. Chad Michael Collins once again scored as Brandon Beckett. And while Sayaka Akimoto couldn't reprise her role as Lady Death, Luna Fujimoto did a pretty good job.

Spoiler

The ending totally ripped off New Jack City (1991) and Shaft (2000), though.

[xxx1993]

Finally saw Renfield. It was pretty fun!

[Some-Mist]

the fly (1986) and tucker and dale vs evil both for the first time, and not sure why it took so long to watch either but the latter was added to the list of movies to watch every october.

I'm pretty pumped to see robot dreams and the promised land in theaters next week.

[Vexorg]

A Haunting in Venice: ***

The latest of the Kenneth Branagh Hercule Poirot movies. This one is based (very loosely) off of the Agatha Christie novel "Hallowe'en Party" (one of the last Hercule Poirot novels Christie would write) and features a retired Poirot being dragged to a seance in a Venice palazzo by a detective novelist, where after the medium declares that the spirit in question was murdered, she soon ends up murdered herself, leading Poirot to try to navigate all the usual whodunnit tropes while apparent supernatural occurrences go on all around him.

I would probably put this one in the middle of the 3 Kenneth Branagh Poirot movies (better than Death on the Nile, not as good as Murder on the Orient Express) but found it still reasonably entertaining. The main problem I had with it was that it was very dark as though the entire gigantic palazzo was illuminated entirely with 15 watt bulbs, and made it hard to see much of anything. I know they're going for the whole dark and moody look but it seems like they took it too far.

Worst part of the film was having to walk past at least six theaters playing that Taylor Swift concert film at ear splitting volume to get to the one at the end playing our film. That said, it's the busiest I've seen a theater recently by far.

[BIL]

the fly (1986) and tucker and dale vs evil both for the first time, and not sure why it took so long to watch either

Hell yeah, BergerFly is great! I drop it on 'em with TEH THING and TEH BLOB, for a movie night triptych of 1950s creature feature gone cutting-edge 80s horror. Only the strong will survive, though! Don't try this with sensitive souls liable to cry or barf well tbh a pass is warranted for the former - ESPECIALLY watching w/ladyfriends! - as while Thing is bleakly existential, and Blob is crazy outre, Teh Fly's narrative core is authentic tragedy! Some sad shit! But if they can't handle balls-out CRONENBERGAMANIA, they'll hate you for ruining movie night!

But now - oof! Mamma mia! It's the Beeiest B-film ever to B, not fit to shine the preceding's gore-caked wingtips! It's

TEH GRAVEYARD SHIFT (1990)

A while back we discussed the underrated quality of Stephen King film adaptations. A solid brace of 'em are good-to-great! But this isn't. 3; Inoffensive at best tbh. Well, the setting is cool: a convincingly rat-infested mill, which a bunch of schlubs must de-rat in various unconvincing ways! But what is really in the basement!

ALSO one Brad Dourif, formidable in the recently-discussed Exorcist III! While this film cannot begin to compare, the great man gives his usual mighty all, as movie-original character THE EXTERMINATOR. This NAM-bred nutter shoulda had his own trilogy!

SPREAD THE WORD, FUCKER (■｀w´■)

Spoiler

Delivers a genuinely terrifying sermon on the horrors of FUCKIN VIETCONG RATS Actually, I wonder if this is where that fat bastard GRRM and/or his shitbird pals D&D nicked the "rat in burning bucket" torture idea from. Brrr! Some bad shit either way!

Other than the man Brad, Fred Ward of Tremors renown (same year!) does well as the eccentrically menacing foreman, with the oddest lilting at-tempt at a Welsh (?) ac-cennt I've ever hearrrd~ Doesn't sound like the Mainers/New Englanders I know of; would be interested to hear what locals think. Being a new-worlder of British descent myself, I've always found the region's quirks endearing; so many familiar names. Regardless, a strong anchor for a weak film. Rest well sir. ;-;7

Beyond these two stalwarts, fleeting glimpses of classic 90s practical FX, and a very nice matte painting, there is little to note. The primary means of de-ratting is a firehose. The producers clearly thought it was hilarious - halarious! - to feature many extended shots of some fat fuck using the hose like it's Johnny Rambo's M60E3. He goes "Ruuuaaaaa" and shakes the hose violently to simulate recoil, in multiple lengthy, repetitive shots. I don't get it. Rats wouldn't care either! I suppose that's addressed in-script, as THE EXTERMINATOR informs the foreman that they need to gas the damn place. Apparently the gorier original cut was toned down for fear of an X rating. It could've used the pep!

Unsurprisingly, the OG short story fares far better; no-nonsense horror with an insidious mad streak brought to horrid bloom. I'd fond memories of it, hoping in vain this flat adaptation might've followed a similarly lunatic trajectory; and indeed on revisiting, it's a cracking short trip. Read or audiobook that instead.

[Some-Mist]

robot dreams, despite having zero dialogue, was a rollercoaster of emotions. I hadn't read the graphic novel so the twists and turns took me by surprise, but I had some good belly laughs and welled up with tears a couple times. much better than I was anticipating

the fly (1986) and tucker and dale vs evil both for the first time, and not sure why it took so long to watch either

Hell yeah, BergerFly is great! I drop it on 'em with TEH THING and TEH BLOB, for a movie night triptych of 1950s creature feature gone cutting-edge 80s horror. Only the strong will survive, though! Don't try this with sensitive souls liable to cry or barf well tbh a pass is warranted for the former - ESPECIALLY watching w/ladyfriends! - as while Thing is bleakly existential, and Blob is crazy outre, Teh Fly's narrative core is authentic tragedy! Some sad shit! But if they can't handle balls-out CRONENBERGAMANIA, they'll hate you for ruining movie night!

But now - oof! Mamma mia! It's the Beeiest B-film ever to B, not fit to shine the preceding's gore-caked wingtips! It's

TEH GRAVEYARD SHIFT (1990)

the part I loved most was there was a point, likely leading up to when they were recording how he eats food, where he let go of the panic and just accepted it for what it was. this is my life now so I might as well get used to how this all works? in that specific scene he was just like, /shrug I can't eat solid foods now, and this is how I have to consume... as he begins to salivate with the camera panning to geena davis's look of horror. him

Spoiler

crawling on the ceiling

was truly nightmarish and it's something that stuck with me for a few days. we had to follow it up with some cartoons before laying down that night.

and speaking of the thing, I brought my lady and a couple of buds to go see the thing in 35mm last year(?) (maybe this year) and neither one of my buddies had seen it before. needless to say, they were blown the hell away

[PC Engine Fan X!]

If E.T. hadn't been released within two weeks of John Carpenter's The Thing theatrical release, it would've done better at the U.S. box office, indeed (but E.T. movie mania took the entire country by storm). Ultimately, it was Universal Studios' bad decision to release "The Thing" during the summer of 1982 -- of course, nobody knew or have predicted that E.T. was going to be THE box office smash hit that summer.

The 2011 remake of The Thing is a prequel that does set up events leading into in the beginning of the 1982 film of the same name -- if it had gone with using traditional "old-school" real-time puppetry & practical EFX and absolutely no CG EFX, it would've paid homage to the classic 1982 film title with it's state-of-art special EFX showcase/mastery overall presentation.

It's well-known that there are two versions of 1982 The Thing, the original version that Mr. Carpenter prefers and the alternative version with two different scenes: there's vocal background narration of all the main character's name, age & profession and an alternate ending that could "open the door" for a true proper sequel. The alternate cut version of 1982 The Thing has been shown on NBC back in 1983 (to get people to watch it) and on TNT as well.

The 1982 version of The Thing recently got the proper 4K UHD disc release treatment -- is the best way to watch it nowadays.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Some-Mist]

dang, good lore for sure. I am skeptical about UHDs at the moment because I only have an XB1 and it's 50/50 if it'll actually read the UHD. I think the disc drive is actually failing even tho it hasn't had too much wear. I've gotta buy a legit uhd/bluray/dvd player but the ones I want are surprisingly more expensive than video game consoles.

I saw the promised land (starring Mads Mikkelsen) the day after I saw robot dreams, and while the performances were incredible, it was a one-and-done. the ending left me unsatisfied even though it made sense and was probably historically accurate. cinematography wise, for the budget, it felt most similar to the green knight without the fantastical elements, and I actually enjoyed the promised land more.

during the recent criterion sale I grabbed heaven can wait (ernst lubitsch) and it might be the most I've seen my s/o laugh at a film in the last 10 years. crime? well I'm afraid I can't think of any. but I can safely say that my whole life was one continuous misdemeanor

[GaijinPunch]

More trips across the pond... wound up just doing rewatches as I was quite tired both going, coming, and while there. In order...

District 9
I think I watched this in the theater, then once right as it came out on home video, and never again. I may have forgotten just how good it is. Did we ever officially decide of Blomkamp was a one hit wonder? The best part of this was while I was having my fun in the land of socialism, a friend had a little interlude w/ a South African that turned out to be a disaster that kept getting funnier and funnier as the week went on. Can't make it up. She's gonna hear about it for years.

Sixteen Candles
The lack of political correctness in movies from simpler times doesn't phase me one bit. I'm able to look at things through the lens of the time they were created. And this one never in a million years will ever get old. Despite being the debonair nerd you all know me as now, I was anything but suave in my childhood years. I've always admired Farmer Ted's very displaced confidence. As with most John Hughes films, the soundtrack and use of tunes are in a class of their own.

Heat
This was watched on a very well earned "duvet day". I had to stop a couple of times to explain what was happening (I forgot how dense the dialogue is) but only a couple. When it was done, she said, "that was an amazing film". Guess what honey, you just got an A+ on the test!

Big Trouble in Little China
Does this just get better with age? I had a whole row to myself on my journey home, so I kicked back and cranked this up. I can almost recite the whole script but that never gets in my way of enjoying it. Oddly I didn't feel too much more of a draw to it now that I live mere blocks from Chinatown like I did watching Chicago flicks in Chicago.

[NYN]

B0DY SNATCHERS

The overlooked 1993 entry. A first. Wanted to know if the year of release would be a fun one for practical fx. 0h, yeah. It is! And a cold creeper, too. Alas, if one knows the other 2, then there will be a familiar, if paranoid, feel about it. It stops being civic, and brings in the military, perfectly undermining a "solution" to an invisable invasion. Bah! It shivers. Doesn't overstay welcome at slim 84 min, it's even better.

[SuperPang]

Big Trouble in Little China
Does this just get better with age? I had a whole row to myself on my journey home, so I kicked back and cranked this up. I can almost recite the whole script but that never gets in my way of enjoying it. Oddly I didn't feel too much more of a draw to it now that I live mere blocks from Chinatown like I did watching Chicago flicks in Chicago.

This film never gets old. No matter how many times I watch it, I still can't quite believe it's a real thing. It's the most batshit crazy idea for a movie ever and everyone involved just ran with it, heart and soul. Nothing like it.

[GaijinPunch]

Big Trouble in Little China
Does this just get better with age? I had a whole row to myself on my journey home, so I kicked back and cranked this up. I can almost recite the whole script but that never gets in my way of enjoying it. Oddly I didn't feel too much more of a draw to it now that I live mere blocks from Chinatown like I did watching Chicago flicks in Chicago.

This film never gets old. No matter how many times I watch it, I still can't quite believe it's a real thing. It's the most batshit crazy idea for a movie ever and everyone involved just ran with it, heart and soul. Nothing like it.

Everyone who loved Everything Everywhere All At Once but hasn't seen this is doing themselves a huge disservice. I was thrilled that the former was a thing, and in the time of woking the fuck out of everything embraced the whole Asian American thing quite well, but Big Trouble did it so smoothly in 1986. Also gonna throw out mad props to Dennis Dunn as Wang Chi. Best "hero disguised as the side kick" in cinematic history. Looking at his IMDB, he is from the Bay Area which, for some reason, adds credibility to me. Victor Wong (Egg Shen) apparenlty also studied in the San Francisco area.

[vol.2]

Also gonna throw out mad props to Dennis Dunn as Wang Chi. Best "hero disguised as the side kick" in cinematic history. Looking at his IMDB, he is from the Bay Area which, for some reason, adds credibility to me. Victor Wong (Egg Shen) apparenlty also studied in the San Francisco area.

Hey now hey now Al Leong deserves a huge shoutout here. What an amazing force in 1980s martial arts cinema