Movies you've just watched

[Lemnear]

well not a movie...or a tv series...but an event.
i was there few hours ago with my daddy

Spoiler

and i was caught on camera twice....

[Not in this video but] before the race there was a test drive for some prototype Lamborghini racing cars (2.5M each one), the loudest thing i have ever heard in my entire life.

Lamborghini World Finals 2023

[cj iwakura]

See, I got that capitalist sell your hate back for a tidy profit vibe from the series, but from 2 rather than 2014.
The way it sheds most of the talent that made the first film what it was, loses focus on Robocop in favour of less interesting new faces, and just kind of rolls on as if success is now self-evident. Smacks of greedy corner-cutting.

3 has the whole we hear you! element in bringing back Poledouris and treating Murf with a smidgen more respect (beyond the action figure and sold-separately arm cannon / gyropack), but the loss of 1's artistic soul is a dull throb rather than a fresh wound at that point.

2014 struck me as too incisive to be a product of pure movie mogul cynicism. Some degree of it can't be avoided for anything with a serious budget, but I didn't get the usual vibe; as a rule corpos like to go full blowout on the cartoon evil as a sort of shield from the self-criticism they peddle (see Ready Player One etc,) whereas here it's a more even-handed depiction of manipulative sociopath assholes hiding behind a friendly and enthusiastic facade.

Though I guess jacking the MGS4 / Black Mirror aesthetic for the news show could be seen as cynical; imo that's the closest it got to risking a tone-deaf shot at the original superparody. Dunno if I have enough frame-of-reference to say if it worked or not, since MODERN REALPOLITIK is a circus I stay away from, but it was entertaining to see Sam Jackson chewing the scenery and towering over CEO fella (serendipitous, since you can also view his stature as sly host-enhancing CG from the show's editors!)

I thought it was particularly effective to depict the Robocop project as sleek and well-executed, only to see it fucked into amorally familiar i-have-no-mouth territory by last second executive meddling. You get to see the full potential realized firsthand, and then contrast it with something far inferior. Pretty true-to-life if various industry anecdotes about gimped products are to be believed!

And beyond that, the source material is treated with enough care that I have a hard time simply writing it off:

Little Things

I Want To Die - straight to the Robocop 2 screaming skeleton. This could go both ways, since it cuts right to the heart of the existential horror without any of the original's gradual surfacing, but I get the sense that Robocop 1 needed more space to really nail Murphy's suffering alongside everything else it wanted to do, so addressing it directly from the start was an effective way to dodge that for a one-and-done remake.

The brief look at focus-tested gimmick modes before just make it look tactical; Battle Mode is just a little wink at the original design, but Police Mode with built-in red and blue flashing lights (popular with kids!) strikes me as an acknowledgement that the character was taken as a joke in 2, and as a broadly commercializable product in 3.

Making the directive system more insidious via the machine that thinks it's a man setup; having the computer make choices and retroactively tell Murphy's brain that he wanted to do it, rather than being a set of discrete conscious rules, gave me some effective technophilisophical heebs. Though I think the remake could have done more with that; seemed like an unfired Chekhov's Gun come the end, since it carried the implication that the machine would eventually do something so far beyond Murphy's moral code as to cause a psychotic break.

Directly playing the wife-and-kid angle, which worked as peripheral flavour for the first movie, but ended up a bit overdone in the sequels.

Getting the precinct drama right, since the originals only really used it for flavour. Distinct personalities, corrupt cops, chain of command, all that stuff.
But then, who's going to hire Omar Little and fuck up the police angle? I did want more buddy cop action because of that, but fitting it in would have been difficult.

Getting the ED-209 CG right and doing all of its iconic stuff, since it never got a technically-competent rendering in the OG trilogy. I guess you could argue the inverse and call it homogenized pandering, but I don't have enough fondness for the janky stop-motion version to play serious devil's advocate for it.

Lewis taking a bullet during the finale, but surviving. I see it an an acknowledgement that original Lewis getting ventilated by MacNugget in 3 was pointless; her character may not have been used to the fullest (needed a regret arc to address making the call that got Murphy killed, imo), but she deserved more respect than being a cadaverous revenge motivator.

And more that I'm forgetting, no doubt!

I've not touched it, but what I've seen of Rogue City looks pretty good. Seems to mostly derive from the first film plus some new touches like the goofy punks, and have its tongue lodged in cheek with just the right amount of force. Dunno if we're looking at a full on Batman Arkham situation since it's from a smaller studio, but it has a handle on the series' finer qualities.

Haven't played Rogue City yet since it's only next-gen, but it's by the guys who did the excellent Terminator Resistance game, so I'm optimistic.
(My dream game: Terminator Isolation, set in the '80s, one man against the world.)


Also, I love Robocop 2. It's not as good as the original, but Cain is priceless, and it has some amazing lines.

"Have a seat, Officer Duffy."

"Jesus... had days like these."

"It's okay, Lewis.
We're only human."

[xxx1993]

Finally saw The Marvels for my birthday.

[Lemnear]

Finally saw The Marvels for my birthday.

Happy birthday !

[Lander]

Haven't played Rogue City yet since it's only next-gen, but it's by the guys who did the excellent Terminator Resistance game, so I'm optimistic.
(My dream game: Terminator Isolation, set in the '80s, one man against the world.)


Also, I love Robocop 2. It's not as good as the original, but Cain is priceless, and it has some amazing lines.

"Have a seat, Officer Duffy."

"Jesus... had days like these."

"It's okay, Lewis.
We're only human."

I finished watching that Rogue City playthrough, and it totally gets it. Full homage to all the best bits, and made me crack up laughing a few times both in and out of cutscenes

Cain being a strong character before the pivot was part of my disappointment, I think - he was gearing up to be a solid cult leader villain, but didn't get the chance at a scene-chewing sendoff on par with Boddicker.

Spoiler

And I know it's characteristic of future cynical corporate fucks, but it seemed mindless of the RoboCop 2 project lead to just off him immediately instead of proffering a deal. Dude might have jumped at the chance, and ended up a much more effective killing machine!

Should have given him some of Kid Gangsta's screen time, imo; what were they thinking putting a juvenile in baddie shoes? Genre kryptonite - makes him bulletproof against all of the just desserts you want to see served to an 80s action villain!

[xxx1993]

Finally saw The Marvels for my birthday.

Happy birthday !

Thank you~

[RGC]

Valley Girl (1983) - Very few, if any, redeemable qualities about this early Nic Cage flick. Was hoping for something light and upbeat, but for a romcom there was a conspicuous absence of "com". (Some real missed opportunities too, like, "Who did your chest hair?"). There were moments where we laughed at it, but I don't think the writer or director should necessarily be credited for that. Surely it was made too early in the 80s to be a satire of everything now iconic about that period? Big hair, sailorboy outfits, ubiquitously bad dancing, well-lit house parties, etc. The Juliet in this R&J retelling was fundamentally unlikeable, and her whimsical dumping of boyfriends made it difficult to care who she ended up with. The suggestion was that her friends were pressuring her to stay with hunky, clean-cut twatface, Brad (of course he's a Brad. "I already kicked his ass once before, and I'll gladly do it again" That Brad.), but that pressure was so minimal it failed as a believable source of her dilemma.

As someome who wasn't an 80s Californian teen, and indeed didn't even know any, I'm probably not the right audience to appreciate whatever gives this one its cult status. Next time I want something light and actually funny I'll go with Blind Date (1987), for the umpteenth time, as that one always delivers.

[Lord British]

Valley Girl (1983) - Very few, if any, redeemable qualities about this early Nic Cage flick. Was hoping for something light and upbeat, but for a romcom there was a conspicuous absence of "com". (Some real missed opportunities too, like, "Who did your chest hair?"). There were moments where we laughed at it, but I don't think the writer or director should necessarily be credited for that. Surely it was made too early in the 80s to be a satire of everything now iconic about that period? Big hair, sailorboy outfits, ubiquitously bad dancing, well lit-house parties, etc. The Juliet in this R&J retelling was fundamentally unlikeable, and her whimsical dumping of boyfriends made it difficult to care who she ended up with. The suggestion was that her friends were pressuring her to stay with hunky, clean-cut twatface, Brad (of course he's a Brad. "I already kicked his ass once before, and I'll gladly do it again" That Brad.), but that pressure was so minimal it failed as a believable source of her dilemma.

Colleen Camp as the mom was the hottest female in this one

[xxx1993]

Believer 2 on Netflix was... not that good.

[Mortificator]

Dagon - 2001

An adaption of "The Shadow over Innsmouth." The short story has the protagonist visit a dilapidated fishing village, learn it's sinister history (informed by Lovecraft's tired race-mixing phobia) from a local drunk, stay overnight at a hotel, see an attempt by the locals to sneak into his room escalate to him going out the window with the whole town hunting him and blockading the roads out. Then tries the railroad tracks and just... escapes. So there was definitely room to expand "Innsmouth" into a full-length story with twists and greater horrors discovered.

I saw the last ten minutes of "Dagon" years ago, and they are brutal. Now that I've seen the whole movie, I can say the end's the only decent part. The lead's so corny that he's practically channeling the guy from Troll 2.

Color out of Space - 2020

Another Lovecraft adaption. "Colour" with the British "u" is a contender for his best, and while he set most stories in his contemporary times, this took place in the late 1800s. The adaption goes the opposite route and modernizes it. There are some very nice location shots paired with Hallmark movie level performances. Nicholas Cage soon stops caring and becomes indistinguishable from parody.

[BIL]

Nicholas Cage soon stops caring and becomes indistinguishable from parody.

I enjoyed it a lot overall, but I definitely let the Growing Pains (IN HELL) thing slide. Another emblematic scene, as Nephew Nic samples an offending tomato.

AUUGHHH!!! *PLBTHHH* Man put everything he had into that Trashcan Tomato Spike But then, when does he ever not?

I think Germany's Die Farbe (TEH COLOUR :3) gets impressively close to the story's eerie pall. It's got issues of its own, like a b/w filter (ok!), with the Indescribable Menace™ a blistering Energon Purple (blew it! shoulda been ambiguous monochrome). Also a few silly changes to the framing, but that seems endemic to TCooS adaptations. Still, worth a go imho.

As so often happens, my favourite is the Dark Adventure Radio Theatre adaptation, from the HPL Historical Society. Very classy! No tomato spiking here; you will feel Farmer Man Sr's swelling pride at his Fookin Massive Plums M8 - and his bewildered dismay, as all goes to ashes in his mouth! Damn good work.

[blackoak]

Valley Girl (1983) - Very few, if any, redeemable qualities about this early Nic Cage flick. Was hoping for something light and upbeat, but for a romcom there was a conspicuous absence of "com".

Yeah, I was mystified by this one too (or rather, its fame) when I watched it a few years back. Maybe it was the soundtrack and novelty of early MTV that people liked, no idea.

[Lord British]

A Design For Living - 1933 - Ernst Lubitsch



Pre-code films are truly fascinating, especially the romantic comedies with the "Lubitsch Touch". Sex is not taboo and the women are just as self-assured as the men, in a totally non-pandering way. It's well written, witty, and the characters have personality. While rom-coms aren't usually my cup of tea, Lubitsch is the godfather of them and all of them have been worth watching. Seeing Gary Cooper in his prime was a bonus (I'd only seen a couple of his crica 1950). Watched on Criterion

[GaijinPunch]

Valley Girl (1983) - Very few, if any, redeemable qualities about this early Nic Cage flick.

The soundtrack is superb. And yes, it's definitely more enjoyable now as a time capsule rather than some feat of film making.

[vol.2]

Valley Girl (1983) - Very few, if any, redeemable qualities about this early Nic Cage flick.

The soundtrack is superb. And yes, it's definitely more enjoyable now as a time capsule rather than some feat of film making.

Iirc, it's got Sparks representing the Valley party and The Germs or something at the hip LA club. Definitely worked it's way into my imagination and showed an interesting version of LA culture in the early 80s

[GaijinPunch]

Iirc, it's got Sparks representing the Valley party and The Germs or something at the hip LA club. Definitely worked it's way into my imagination and showed an interesting version of LA culture in the early 80s

Embarrassing confession: I didn't know who Sparks was until I rewatched Valley Girl a few years ago. I was able to locate the Angst in my Pants LP in Japan for like 2000 yen. It's fucking fantastic!!

For anyone that cares, Halcyon who is about the closest thing to a Burning Man advocate as you can be, does another silly podcast called Hard on the 80's, and they covered Valley Girl not too long ago. They're all gen-X'ers a bit older than me, and their commentary is pretty entertaining. Good for a walk.

[vol.2]

Embarrassing confession: I didn't know who Sparks was until I rewatched Valley Girl a few years ago. I was able to locate the Angst in my Pants LP in Japan for like 2000 yen. It's fucking fantastic!!

Sparks is pretty obscure even now. They had a bio pic about their career a couple years ago that was pretty good, and also an operatic musical movie called Annette starring Adam Driver. I didn't much like the musical, but it got good reviews.

I learned about them from a record store owner in NY when I was in school; I used to go to this place in the West Village with a six pack at night and hang out with the owner and talk about music all night long. It's fun as hell when you have literally an entire record store to grab music from. Anyways, the guy really loved Sparks and also the band Sweet from the 70s (the band who did Ballroom Blitz which got the cover on the Wayne's World Soundtrack), and also Alice Cooper, so I basically got every single record by all of those bands back then. Sparks is pretty fucking fantastic, but I'd probably recommend Number One Song in Heaven over all of the others; it's a stone cold disco/new wave-crossover classic

[Lord British]

I remember seeing Sparks in the movie Rollercoaster (w/ Timothy Bottoms), I was like holy shit, that's Sparks!

https://youtu.be/DL3kSSZrAUI?si=Fu2y14h8ALoapXel

[GaijinPunch]

Sparks is pretty fucking fantastic, but I'd probably recommend Number One Song in Heaven over all of the others; it's a stone cold disco/new wave-crossover classic

Noted! I will check that out!

[Lord British]

Sparks is pretty fucking fantastic, but I'd probably recommend Number One Song in Heaven over all of the others; it's a stone cold disco/new wave-crossover classic

Noted! I will check that out!

Yeah it's w/ Giorgio Moroder, probably their best song and video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6I6yr7WDeg

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Speak No Evil -
I was not prepared for the level of nihilism in this film. Kinda reminds me of how I felt after watching Salo and Martyrs. Ideologically, it's retarded, but fuck me, what an effective horror film.

[Lander]

Been taking in some Shaw Brothers after a long absence from good old Kung Fu flicks.

Very enjoyable; watched The 36 Chambers of the Shaolin and Heroes of the East so far, and both were fun romps with no shortage of quality action. Rather enjoyed the way Heroes could be mistaken for an similarly historic piece, until the shot of Japan's finest budoka striding through a modern chinese harbour in nonetheless traditional combat getup

Pacing has been endearingly non-prototypical; start off by setting the stage for the story, then gradually tip the scales until reaching full action at the clima-
THE
END!

[blackoak]

Inspired by that recent viewing of The Passenger, I decided to see what other Jack Nicholson movies I haven't watched yet. I was curious what his last film was so I reluctantly agreed to my wife's request to watch the romcom How Do You Know. Hahaha... wow. It's been awhile since I saw something that bad, and not in the entertaining way. Poor Nicholson. I'm just gonna think The Departed was his last, haha.

I also watched The Crossing Guard, a very odd film, clumsily directed by Sean Penn. It features Nicholson as a father whose daughter was run over by a drunk, who he has resolved to kill on his release from prison. The ghoulish premise and ultimately humane message of forgiveness is endearing, but it's directed (and written) like a made-for-TV melodrama. Some genuine scenes scattered in a wash of tonally bizarre and overwrought pretension... and like, 20 strip club scenes. I admit I shed a tear or two though at the end.

[RGC]

I also watched The Crossing Guard, a very odd film, clumsily directed by Sean Penn. It features Nicholson as a father whose daughter was run over by a drunk, who he has resolved to kill on his release from prison. The ghoulish premise and ultimately humane message of forgiveness is endearing, but it's directed (and written) like a made-for-TV melodrama. Some genuine scenes scattered in a wash of tonally bizarre and overwrought pretension... and like, 20 strip club scenes. I admit I shed a tear or two though at the end.

This is still on my list to see, and make up my own mind about. I'm too easily put off by negative reviews, only to find when I can ignore them that the reviewer (I'm talking critic here), must have watched a totally different film from me, or that it simply connected with me in a way that it couldn't with them (not because of some deficiency on their part, just different lived experiences, I guess). There was much to like about The Passenger, it had a very true feel to it, but don't think it would quite make my top 5 JN flicks, whatever those are (at this moment in time, probably something like: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Five Easy Pieces [I'm moved by stories about drifters, where attachment to places or people has become synonymous with pain], The Shining [obvious, but I can't imagine anyone but Jack playing Jack], Wolf [yes, I know the ending was shit, even Rick Baker acknowledged that, but I love everything else about it, especially the mood it captures; plus James Spader is off-the-charts great in this], and The Last Detail [which I admit I've not seen in years, but it has to beat his, admittedly mostly enjoyable, body of comedic/lighthearted work]. On another day, Chinatown, Easy Rider and The Departed could be swapped out with the above. Except Cuckoo's Nest - that'll always be no.1)

Of his lighthearted roles, I'd like to see Terms of Endearment, but I'm too much of a tightwad not to wait until it's included with a streaming service.

[Lord British]

Inspired by that recent viewing of The Passenger, I decided to see what other Jack Nicholson movies I haven't watched yet. I was curious what his last film was so I reluctantly agreed to my wife's request to watch the romcom How Do You Know. Hahaha... wow. It's been awhile since I saw something that bad, and not in the entertaining way. Poor Nicholson. I'm just gonna think The Departed was his last, haha.

Carnal Knowledge - 1971 - Mike Nichols



Nichols broke down the door of sexual mores in 1968 w/ The Graduate, ushering a new era in American cinema. This one goes deeper into the male psyche of sexuality; and its a scary, disgusting place. This one features two friends played by Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel, the former the more charming and the latter the more shy and awkward. It starts off with them in college until middle-age. It seems as soon as Garfunkel finds a woman, Nicholson feels the need to have sex with the new flame. But I think what the film is about is not knowing what you want in a relationship or just looking for the wrong qualities. You'll see a pretty, young Candace Bergen in this, plus a plenty hot Ann Margaret; her performance was great in this and so was her cleavage.

Spoiler

This is probably my favorite Jack Nicholson performance. He's a bastard as always, but in this one he's actually made out to be really pathetic and you feel sorry for him. The only thing I didn't buy was these two guys being best friends; the chemistry wasn't really there. I liked this one more than I thought I would. Watched on Criterion

[Lord British]

Been taking in some Shaw Brothers after a long absence from good old Kung Fu flicks.

Very enjoyable; watched The 36 Chambers of the Shaolin and Heroes of the East so far, and both were fun romps with no shortage of quality action. Rather enjoyed the way Heroes could be mistaken for an similarly historic piece, until the shot of Japan's finest budoka striding through a modern chinese harbour in nonetheless traditional combat getup

Pacing has been endearingly non-prototypical; start off by setting the stage for the story, then gradually tip the scales until reaching full action at the clima-
THE
END!

I've seen a few SB movies and my favorite so far is Five Elements Ninjas aka Chinese Superninjas

[Lander]

Another Shaw Brothers joint, Flying Guillotine, was tonight's choice of film. Except Blockbuster only had Flying Guilllotine: Terrible British Dub Edition in, so I had to make do.

And what a dub, featuring the cast of a monochrome WW2 epic barely suppressing their urge to end sentences with OLD CHAP and SHOW JERRY WHAT FOR, eh what Done in someone's living room over a thrice-rerecorded cassette of the OST too, I'll wager!
Fun moments here and there, but culturally stripped to the point where full-bore insensitive ISSA FRYING GIRROTINE MISSA EMPERAH, VEY POWAFUL WEAPON would probably have been more entertaining as an of-its-time retrospective viewing.

Quirky pacing is present and accounted for, along with signature slam cut to denouement, but longer-form with a few mini-arcs packed into the back end. Go home and be a family man, eh? Don't mind if I do!

I wasn't expecting the titular guillotine to be a lethal head-seeking hat either; envisioned something more like a giant yo-yo with extending blades, but the reality was considerably more grisly than what Shaolin's reverent invention of the three-section staff led me to expect. A portable private execution booth, complete with tasteful folding screen to anonymize the corpse while it spasms around like a chicken. How quaint!

As such, the goriest SB yet, insofar as extra-thick ketchup and painted-on stumps are gory. Weaker on the whole than the other two despite the tonewrecking dub, I think; more focused on drama and skullduggery than nonstop action, which played less to the studio's strength of communicating with one's fists.

Shame, since the lead actor had strong Retsu Kaioh energy in the couple of scenes where he got to lay big-braid-no-shirt smackdown on pursuing imperial lackeys. My search for the definitive 4000 Years of Chinese Kenpo movie continues!

I've seen a few SB movies and my favorite so far is Five Elements Ninjas aka Chinese Superninjas

Nice, onto the list it goes

[PC Engine Fan X!]

A new Mad Max prequel by the name of "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" by famed director George Miller just made it's grand debut with a first revealing movie trailer yesterday, 11/30/2023. This prequel takes many years earlier that is a backstory of the Furiosa character that leads into the chain of events that unfold in Mad Max: Road Fury (circa 2015). It is slated for the silver screen on May 24th, 2024. Expect the usual over-the-top action scenes & vehicle mayhem. It's a given alrighty. It's about damn time for another Mad Max film. Actress Ana Taylor-Joy gets top billing along with actor Chris Hemsworth in this Mad Max prequel indeed.

Film Factoid: Director George Miller had seriously considered "de-aging" actress Charlize Theron (through the movie FX magic of CG) to reprise her Furiosa character but ultimately settled with Ana Taylor-Joy instead for this prequel.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BIL]

Good to hear, Miller was on excellent form the last time around. Was a merciful reprieve from all the Ridley Scott / James Cameron bedshittings of recent times! Here's hoping this one is comparably bravura.

To be fair, Cameron did nail Dark Stool's director with an especially sick ImageFight Booster Burn, leaving the chump's name in ashes as he jetted off to his next Smurfy extravaganza. Come to think of it, Dan Ayyyylmaoroid did similar with beleaguered WOMAN GHOSTBUSTERS director Funnier than the movie!

Speaking of darling RIDORI, I hear Alien Romulus is set between Alien and Aliens, which is riveting information to be sure! Can some excitement be wrung from the auld xenodong? Or will it be Uninformed Space Guys Walk Around And Encounter Bad Shit We've Seen Before XVIII: The Bad Shittening?

TBH I wish they'd finish off the Crazy Robo Man trilogy, that was at least a little fun when not Bad Shittening. Make him moonwalk around the ship again doing crazy experiments and shooting hoops. It's all about salvage at this point PCEFX 3;

[xxx1993]

Just saw Silent Night, John Woo’s first American flick since Paycheck (2003) and starring Joel Kinnaman. A nearly dialogue free action movie set on Christmas Eve.