Movies you've just watched

[Vexorg]

Pacific Rim: ****

Picked up the Blu-Ray for this cheap at the Walmart Black Friday sale. I had watched bits and pieces of this one before, but never the full film. I think the Honest Trailer is pretty accurate on this one. This might just be the ultimate "I'm Just Here for Godzilla" movie made to date. The plot is a complete throwaway, half the main characters serve little useful purpose but to chew the scenery,

Spoiler

(or to get chewed by the scenery)

and you probably wouldn't miss much if you fast-forwarded through every scene that isn't a giant robot punching a giant monster. But let's be honest, you didn't care about anything that didn't involve a giant robot punching a giant monster anyway, right?

[KindGrind]

Yeah, Amelie is definitely a close second for me.

Did you ever see Before Midnight?

Loved it. Visceral. Sunset is a lot lighter in tone. "What could have happened between us?" vs "What have we become?"

One of the 5-star movies I saw in the last 5 years for sure, Before Midnight.

[GaijinPunch]

^Hell yeah, all so awesome. If I could live one movie it'd probably be Streets of Fire. Or maybe The Perils of Gwendoline if I'm feeling dirty. Time for my weekly blast of Tangerine Dream's "Beach Theme" from Thief!

The one Tangerine Dream album I really need to check out.

Boyhood

Jesus.

This movie is perfect.

<snip>

Stellar acting from most. An absolute must-watch in my book.

Think if any of them (especially the kids) turned out to be shitty actors in their older age? I was moved as well... great film. Linklater deserves all the praise he's getting. And as a Texan it of course hit home a little harder.

[spadgy]

I watched the 1959 original of House on Haunted Hill. Pretty scary for an old horror. But then I am a wimp, and I think the early scene with the old lady appearing in the darkness gave me Flashbacks to a childhood shaking moment of mine, when the four-year-old me fled a cinema in 1984 after the purple woman screamed into the camera in Ghostbusters' library scene.

[BIL]

Quality fifties horror flick, that. Great cast of characters, decent plot and some memorable creepy bits. And Vincent Price ofc.

[Raytrace]

Streets of Fire - fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk yes

yep it is amazing

[Mischief Maker]

I watched the 1959 original of House on Haunted Hill. Pretty scary for an old horror. But then I am a wimp, and I think the early scene with the old lady appearing in the darkness gave me Flashbacks to a childhood shaking moment of mine, when the four-year-old me fled a cinema in 1984 after the purple woman screamed into the camera in Ghostbusters' library scene.

Well to be fair, the ghost effects were supposed to be scary in Ghostbusters, to make a better straight man to the bumbling antics of the human cast.

It slays me how many people nowadays say Ghostbusters was a kid's movie just because their parents let them watch it when they were kids. How many kids movies have you seen with jokes about mortgages and blowjobs?

[KindGrind]

It slays me how many people nowadays say Ghostbusters was a kid's movie just because their parents let them watch it when they were kids.

My parents rented Watership Down for us when we were kids based on the VHS cover alone. I must have been 6 or 7. We watched it alone while they were doing something else. A movie I wasn't to forget... Criterion released the Blu-ray version of this recently, so it might be time for me to go back to it.

Watched Dredd (2012), based on the good words in this thread. Reminded me a lot of The Raid: Redemption, a movie I thought superior in most areas except SFX/music. Had a good time watching, though.

[drauch]

Really excited for that new Watership Down BD from Criterion. That one really shocked me. Only a few months away! I know Cmoon can back this sentiment, but I really hope they can get a hold of The Plague Dogs, the superior Martin Rosen directed Richard Adams adaptation. One movie that I can say is much better than the book, although I can't really say the same with Watership Down. Still, a wonderful adaptation, that aside.

[jonny5]

Everything Must Go

Threw it on expecting a usual Will Ferrel film, but it was anything but. Really enjoyed it, although some bits hit a bit too close to home for me. Great acting from the whole cast, and really interesting to see Ferrel play a serious role.

[KindGrind]

Only a few months away!

My bad, I thought it was out already!

I've never watched Plague Dogs, but heard only good things about it. Will definitely look into it!

[drauch]

I had to double check myself after you said that, haha. Criterion gets their stuff out fast, so it wouldn't really be surprising with their awesome track record.

You kind of have to be careful when tracking down a The Plague Dogs release, as most are horribly butchered by quite a large amount of time. Typical "oh, it's animation; let's market it towards kids!" and ruin the entire work. I originally bought the Australian R4 DVD back in 2005, but it looks like Optimum has an R2 DVD out with both cuts now. Not sure if you're into multi-region stuff, but it's in print and very affordable. It's one of my favorite films, but it's definitely not one you can watch frequently. Quite depressing.

[Obiwanshinobi]

It's been many a year, but now told Streets on Fire was popular in Japan, I think Sunabouzu (Desert Punk) anime (possibly the original manga too) could be a bit influenced by it (the pump-action shotgun thing).

[Bar81]

Everything Must Go

Threw it on expecting a usual Will Ferrel film, but it was anything but. Really enjoyed it, although some bits hit a bit too close to home for me. Great acting from the whole cast, and really interesting to see Ferrel play a serious role.

My GF hated it for just that reason, but I enjoyed it as well.

[jonny5]

Everything Must Go

Threw it on expecting a usual Will Ferrel film, but it was anything but. Really enjoyed it, although some bits hit a bit too close to home for me. Great acting from the whole cast, and really interesting to see Ferrel play a serious role.

My GF hated it for just that reason, but I enjoyed it as well.

Which reason? The fact that it wasn't a wacky movie, or the alcoholism?

[Obiwanshinobi]

That you liked it?

[lilmanjs]

Its A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World
A classic that I've found recently on dvd and am enjoying. Might be long, but I've always found it to be quite the comedy. I've asked for the blu-ray/dvd set from Criterion as an xmas gift, but even if I don't end up getting it, I will buy it next year. Just about everyone probably already knows of the awesomeness of Criterion, but that Eclipse series has shown me some gems.

[drauch]

Criterion's Eclipse series are primarily great sets, but goddamn, I wish they'd change the packaging. I don't understand who thought it would be a good idea to have a paper sleeve that comes off vertically. Pick it up the wrong way, everything falls on the floor. Makes me wonder how such a thing got by the most revered DVD company in the world and still continues to be produced. I was really surprised that the Zatoichi films were given the full treatment that they were. They still own a handful of samurai and 50s-70s Japanese stuff as well that they haven't physically released, like the amazing Ironfinger (AKA 100 Shot, 100 Killed,) and its sequel, Golden Eyes (AKA Booted Babe, Busted Boss.) Hard to say what sort of treatment those'll be given.

[lilmanjs]

Criterion's Eclipse series are primarily great sets, but goddamn, I wish they'd change the packaging. I don't understand who thought it would be a good idea to have a paper sleeve that comes off vertically. Pick it up the wrong way, everything falls on the floor. Makes me wonder how such a thing got by the most revered DVD company in the world and still continues to be produced. I was really surprised that the Zatoichi films were given the full treatment that they were. They still own a handful of samurai and 50s-70s Japanese stuff as well that they haven't physically released, like the amazing Ironfinger (AKA 100 Shot, 100 Killed,) and its sequel, Golden Eyes (AKA Booted Babe, Busted Boss.) Hard to say what sort of treatment those'll be given.

I am not aware that the Eclipse series is actually packaged like that. That is a crying shame. I only know of the Eclipse series because most of the Japanese movie section is from the said company and mostly of the Eclipse series. I see they have a new one coming out this month that is a collection of Japanese. But really? that's a crying shame that some of the best stuff I've watched in my life is in such junk packaging.

[drauch]

It's really weird; absolutely and utterly mindboggling. Kind of like a few years back when they tried to make that transition with cardboard cased Blurays, which thankfully didn't last very long. I understand that the sets are supposed to be more affordable and cheap, but this just seems like an issue of common sense that would make no difference in price whatsoever. Some of their old sets were like that, too. I specifically remember one of their old Berman sets was like that before they started Eclipse. Very odd choice.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Brave the movie by Richard Stanley. So I've never thought much of Marillion (except for Script for a Jester's Tear - that was good in my days of listening to VdGG a lot). I did like the directror's Hardware, but when was that again?
Nowadays, however, I deal with girls this age on a daily basis, so the movie's taken its toll.

[Ed Oscuro]

Nothing out yet for "The Beast of Turin" but this great trailer. I'm not usually a fan of dopey piano music but it all gets blasted away in the end

Edit: Here's a remarkable statistic about film in China:

* China’s total number of cinema screens is now 22,420, up 31.88% from the same period last year.
* According to data released annually, the total number of screens was 8,800 in 2011. That figure rose to 11,835 in 2012, a 34.5% increase, and to 17,000 in 2013, a remarkable 43.6% jump. This year’s 31.88% increase was somewhat slower.

[Bar81]

Everything Must Go

Threw it on expecting a usual Will Ferrel film, but it was anything but. Really enjoyed it, although some bits hit a bit too close to home for me. Great acting from the whole cast, and really interesting to see Ferrel play a serious role.

My GF hated it for just that reason, but I enjoyed it as well.

Which reason? The fact that it wasn't a wacky movie, or the alcoholism?

That it wasn't a typical Will Farrel silly movie.

[Obiwanshinobi]

apartment building who uses people as his meat. It's a fairly unique premise with some nice visuals and a colorful cast of characters. It never made me laugh, but I still thought it was a lot of fun to watch.

Oh man I remember this, such a great movie.

Delicatessen is very good. It's not a comedy... It feels like a comic book at times, not very surprising if you consider where Jeunet comes from.

AT LAST, Jesus wept, what a film. Of the Jeunet & Caro trilogy, Delicatessen is a favourite of mine, Alien: Resurrection is my pal's, while The City of Lost Children is my cousin's.
I for one found Amélie disappointing. Could have something to do with Caro not being involved anymore?

So I have a tiny bit of beef with Delicatessen; the way guy in the basement lives off snails. You see, snails don't live in basement; they need meadows, grass and all that. Humidity is not enough.

It's a crying shame the beginning of Delicatessen is no longer on YouTube. Much better than the official movie trailer.

[Raytrace]

It's been many a year, but now told Streets on Fire was popular in Japan, I think Sunabouzu (Desert Punk) anime (possibly the original manga too) could be a bit influenced by it (the pump-action shotgun thing).

I've only watched two episodes of Desert Punk so far so I can't really tell yet. But I certainly think it's influence can also be felt very strongly in Bubblegum Crisis OVA and Megazone 23.

[Obiwanshinobi]

You just wait 'till Koizumi Taiko appears...

[spadgy]

It slays me how many people nowadays say Ghostbusters was a kid's movie just because their parents let them watch it when they were kids.

My parents rented Watership Down for us when we were kids based on the VHS cover alone. I must have been 6 or 7. We watched it alone while they were doing something else. A movie I wasn't to forget... Criterion released the Blu-ray version of this recently, so it might be time for me to go back to it.

I'm a rabbit lover, so Watership Down is a tough watch.

And Ghostbusters in 1984 was my first ever trip to the cinema. I think anything on a screen that big would have scared me... the woman in the library was far too much! I leapt up in the cinema and shouted 'let's get out of here!', and then just ran and ran. By the time my dad had gathered his stuff and caught up with me, I was out on the high street. I barely remember it, but that's how the story is told in my family.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I hope you're into rats too.

[Raytrace]

You just wait 'till Koizumi Taiko appears...

I did like it a lot, but I have as usual a massive backlog of stuff I'm watching in parallel to finish off first.

[system11]

Just watched Guardians Of The Galaxy, that's a big bundle of fun - Marvel really seem to know what they're doing at the moment.