Movies you've just watched

[Mischief Maker]

Terminator 5 isn't that hard to understand!

[Lord Satori]

Terminator 5 isn't that hard to understand!

This kind of bullshit is why I've made it a rule to never include backwards time travel in my own works. It's just asking for trouble. "I have to go back in time to prevent this from happening." TOO FUCKING BAD! YOU'LL JUST CONFUSE THE AUDIENCE!

When you're writing a convoluted timeline, make sure you're good at it before you mix in time travel, too.

[BrianC]

I was surprised to find out that David S. Goyer, the writer for the recent Batman movies, also wrote the made for TV movie, Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD.

[CMoon]

Terminator 5 isn't that hard to understand!

Shit, they did an entire 30 minute review already: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II6OAIJPe70

All these beloved movies took their inspiration from comic books, if not directly then in spirit. Aliens, future cyborg killers, robot cops, one-man armies. It's surprising how at the time they were looked down on as the pulp that they intended to be, but in hindsight they were done with incredible imagination, panache and vision - especially when placed side-by-side with their soulless, conveyor belt modern equivalents. I have no idea why capturing the audience's imagination is so utterly elusive in film these days. These movies aren't Shakespeare, how is it they keep ruining them all so horribly?

If your mind isn't fully blown, consider Kurosawa's Yojimbo...it's certainly a pulpish samurai action movie that he viewed at least in part as comedy. Now it is fucking better than everything (and why not, it is a GREAT movie), because nobody understands how to make a simple film except apparently for George Miller. Maybe this is why I keep going back to redletter media coz they get how retarded this situation is.

[BrianC]

One of the few movie remakes that actually worked was The Fugitive. I can't think of too many remakes that were well done. I also liked the more recent True Grit much better than the John Wayne one, but half the people I talk to like the older one better becuase it has John Wayne. ugh.

[Ji-L87]

Watched "Sailor Suit and Machine gun" (セーラー服と機関銃) on a whim after stumbling over it on the webs.

It's an old movie (1978) about a girl in highschool that one day is suddenly asked to take over as the head of a small time mobster group after her fathers sudden passing. She basically takes the job to stop the remainders of the group to make a suicidal last stand against another family.

The version I found didn't have any subs and I had some real issues picking up what was being said sometimes. That said, I didn't find it to be a very entertaining movie but my expectations going in were way off. It's mostly drama and it's played straight. The main character Izumi behaves rather oddly, sometimes dumb. I'm thinking it's supposed to make her cute and endearing but I spent the whole film wondering what her problem was. That goes for the rest of the cast as well though, the acting is overdone in the same way every other Japanese live action production I've ever seen and comes off less believable as a result. Obviously, Japanese cinema isn't really my thing, though I hope to come across something that I actually like.

Since all the pictures I found featured Tomoyo Harada as Izumi, holding the titular weapon while wearing the aforementioned Sailor uniform (and looking somewhat smug about it), I was hoping for a more optimistic, action-comedic romp where she'd round up her sorry excuse of a group and go kick some butt. I guess I'll have better luck turning to manga and anime for that kind of story.

[CMoon]

One of the few movie remakes that actually worked was The Fugitive. I can't think of too many remakes that were well done. I also liked the more recent True Grit much better than the John Wayne one, but half the people I talk to like the older one better becuase it has John Wayne. ugh.

True Grit is at least an example of a good remake. I haven't seen the Wayne movie or read the book, but their existence certainly doesn't make the Cohen Bro's version a bad remake when it is in fact a very good film in its own right.

[system11]

I thought the Dawn Of The Dead remake was pretty damn good. The new Evil Dead remake wasn't bad either, they knew better than to try to ape Bruce Campbell. I saw that at the cinema and it scared the living hell out of my sister.

The Ghost In The Shell live action remake is probably the only thing on the horizon which will compare to the Rollerball remake in terms of insulting the original though.

[jonny5]

I thought the Dawn Of The Dead remake was pretty damn good.

For sure, one of the best 'modern' zombie flix by far!! I watch this one almost as often as I watch the original, which is probably one of my all time favorite movies.

[iconoclast]

The Ghost In The Shell live action remake is probably the only thing on the horizon which will compare to the Rollerball remake in terms of insulting the original though.

There's an upcoming Seven Samurai remake by Scott Mann that's guaranteed to be a crime against humanity if it ever comes out.

[JBC]

Yep, I like the Dawn remake better than the original. That wasn't always the case, but after seeing Diary & Survival of the Dead I feel like the Romero entries are horribly tarnished.

The remake does a great job of doing it's own thing while still using the basic premise of the original as a springboard. It's got an appropriate mix of horror, action, & humor.

I realize the remake doesn't have a heavy handed message about society like the original, & because of that it typically comes off as the more enjoyable watch. I'm not above a little mindless indulgence.

On a side note, how do you guys feel about Land of the Dead? I feel like it was a good mix of what made the originals so compelling & what made the Dawn remake so infectious.

[system11]

I actually enjoyed Land Of The Dead, John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper pretty much carried the film though.

[drauch]

Hate it. Before, Romero's commentary at least had tact. Dawn is the least heavy-handed of the bunch, with a lot of the commentary quite comical: Ex: Zombies returning to the mall because they're hardcore consumerists, tripping on escalators, etc. Land just really shoves the social situation down your throat. "The rich people are on the top floor. The poor people are on the bottom. Did you hear? THE RICH ARE ON TOP OF THE POOR PEOPLE." And the zombies pushing shopping carts and pumping gas and dicking around really jumps the shark when compared to poor old Bub. Oh, and John Leguizamo.

I'm not a big fan of the Dawn remake, but I'll hand it to them for making a competent, primarily enjoyable film. I think I've seen it twice now on TV and I enjoy it to an extent, but I find the primarily young cast a bit annoying and unlikeable. You don't get the bonding and the sense of devastating loss when you have four adults that absolutely rely on one another, as well as the brotherly relationship with Peter and Roger. I do, however, really like the rooftop communication bits with the store owner and Ving.

Anything else Romero I'm basically done at this point. He probably should have just thrown in the towel after The Dark Half. I mean, really, most of the big horror directors lost it all as they got older (Craven, Carpenter, Argento, etc.) Cronenberg changed in his subject material, but he still delivers good films.

[Immryr]

Land of the dead is truly awful, only film I've ever walked out of. Romero definitely lost his way big time. Martin is one of my all time favourites and a pretty overlooked gem.

[drauch]

Agreed! Right up there with the big three zombie films and Creepshow for me.

[emphatic]

Dumb & Dumber To. 2/5.

The Zamboni ride was fun, the beer scheme was too, I actually loled. The rest wasn't really good.

[Some-Mist]

Agreed! Right up there with the big three zombie films and Creepshow for me.

something kinda cool/creepshow related, there's a band I really like called blotted science (with ron jarzombek) and for all his songs, he writes it on paper first scoring it to a movie (typically horror) and then translates it to guitar.

creepshow
king kong
slither
swarmed

[Tregard]

The first two Terminator films were very human films. There's a warmth and a frailty in the characters and their relationships. The scenes that always stand out in my mind are never the action scenes - it's Sarah breaking down when she realises she can't kill Dyson; it's the quiet moments of father-son reflection between John and the T800, like their musing on the destructive nature of mankind; it's Kyle's desperate pleas to the police that they're in danger.

The recent films don't give a flying fuck about the characters or in trying to ground them in any kind of human manner. They just throw robots and explosions and action at the screen as if that was all the Terminator films were ever about.

On a different note: when oh when is the lumbering Marvel juggernaut going to grind to a halt? The endless milking of their every franchise is getting out of hand now.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

Enjoyed the Redlettermedia reviews as usual but strongly disagree that the movie had good effects. The helicopter chase was embarrassing.

Spoiler

Theres some George Lucas-esque poetry in this movie that nobody else seems to have pointed out yet:

T2 - Goodguys reprogram Terminator to protect John Connor

T:G - Skynet reprograms John Connor to kill goodguys

It rhymes.

[system11]

Trouble is the Marvel films are mostly very good at what they do. That's turning comics into films, they've completely nailed the formula. If you want some superhero action film for an evening, you know that Marvel will deliver one with the sort of high production values required to sell it visually. Popcorn entertainment and they've got decades of stories and lore to draw from.

I think the X-Men is pretty much done now though.

[JBC]

I accept the Marvel films, but I'm not so much a fan of the Sony-headed ones. Looking forward to Doctor Strange as well as seeing more cosmic stuff. Truly I wasn't on board until Guardians finally showed us the intergalactic side of things.

Ronan looked great, but his character is way cooler in the comics than the emo brat we got. I hope the next appearance of The Silver Surfer does the character justice.

If you think about it, Mark Ruffalo's Hulk makes every single one of the MCU movies worth it. They may not all be winners, but at least they led to us getting the first good Hulk.

[BrianC]

I'm very skeptical of the new take on Fantastic 4 after seeing the trailer, but I hope it turns out better than the last movies. Fantastic 4 deserves a good movie since the original comics are fantastic. It looks like Fox is still behind it. Fox did do a good job with some of the X-Men movies, though.

I generally like the job Marvel did with their movies, though some are better than others. The first Captain America wasn't as good as the first Avengers or Iron Man, but it was still pretty good and did much more justice to the character than any previous Captain America movie. As far as where I rank the second Avengers, I rank it below Captain America 2, Avengers 1, and Iron Man, but above Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, and Thor. Not sure if I like it just as much or better than the first Captain America.

[Ixmucane2]

Escape from New York

I'm unable to tell what was particularly original and influential and what was already relatively mainstream in the plot, setting and style of John Carpenter's classic, but almost everything is great and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts: keeping a character like Snake Plissken balanced between his three sides of anarchist hero, violent criminal and less serious cynical badass is a major accomplishment.
I've been particularly impressed by the slightly dated but important political message and by how the masses of street punks are perfectly equivalent to hordes of zombies.

[Skykid]

Escape from New York

I'm unable to tell what was particularly original and influential

A lot. I think this one was bold new ground for action adventure in confined, claustrophobic spaces wrought with danger and a one man army to take care of business. Carpenter did a lot that may not have been wholly original conceptually, but in execution it was very fresh and influential.

Assault on Precinct 13, Dark Star, Big Trouble in Little China and The Thing all have similar themes of situational emergencies, and they're all some of the best examples.

[system11]

They want to remake Big Trouble In Little China.

You can't make that film better, it's pointless.

[Skykid]

They want to remake Big Trouble In Little China.

Although these days I shouldn't even be surprised, I'm shocked. How could you even attempt such a thing without Kurt Russell as the lead?

Bad news. I'll steel myself for another horrible bastardisation of a well-loved movie.

[iconoclast]

I've been watching movies more often lately, so I decided to dig through a specific year and pick out everything I wanted to see. I was going to go with 2014, but there are still too many interesting movies that I either can't find or haven't been translated yet, so I went with 2013 instead. It seems like a better year for film at first glance, anyway. My top 10:

1. Hope
2. Why Don't You Play in Hell?
3. Way Back Home
4. The Great Passage
5. Han Gong-Ju
6. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
7. Tamako in Moratorium
8. New World
9. Montage
10. Like Father, Like Son
(+ everything I watched, for reference)

All great movies. I feel like I should rank Han Gong-Ju higher, but it's a hard film to actually enjoy watching (the same can be said for Hope, but there is a difference). Everyone but the main character and her new group of friends is either unlikable or downright despicable. I also thought some of the events in the film were too absurd to be believable, but when I looked up the case that the movie was based on, that shit actually happened. What the fuck is wrong with people.

I just tried watching Wong Kar-wai's The Grandmaster, but I turned it off after 45 minutes. I knew I probably wouldn't like it, but I was curious since it's a WKW film and it won a bunch of awards. I thought it was just a dull kung fu movie, though. It's not even an enjoyable one that stars skilled martial artists, they just try and mask the actors' lack of ability with tricky camera shots, quick cuts, slow motion, and special effects. Boring.

I'm not entirely done with 2013. I still want to watch The Tale of Iya and Capturing Dad, but I can't find them. And I'm somewhat interested in The Wind Rises, but only because it's Hayao Miyazaki's last film. I couldn't possibly care less about the subject matter, so I'm going to skip it for now. I'm sure it's good, though.

[MR_Soren]

2015-07-14 Mad Max: The Road Warrior
I've seen Mad Max and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome in whole or in part several times as a child, but I don't believe I have ever seen any part of The Road Warrior. It held up well over the years. Plenty of action, successful visual storytelling, and a steady pace. The vehicle designs were not as outlandish as in Fury Road, but they felt dangerous and functional. Some interesting characters too. I went into this with high expectations, and I was not disappointed. I now see why this is regarded as the highlight of the original Mad Max trilogy, and I would recommend it to anybody who enjoys a good action movie.


2015-07-15 Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
Action fans say this is the worst Mad Max. Non-action fans say this is the best Mad Max. This was my first time seeing the movie as an adult, so most of my impressions are fresh. Overall, I was really enjoying the movie up through the Thunderdome scene. Interesting setting, the music was actually great for the environment, and I love the somewhat memorable chants: "Two men enter, one man leaves" and "Break a deal, face the wheel."

Shortly after that, everything went downhill. It's like they threw the concept of pacing out the window, for there were countless scenes that dragged on too long. Motives stopped making sense. When they finally got back to some action, it was difficult to follow; a bunch of people shooting in the dark and swinging on ropes. Lots of shots fired at a grate.

The chase scene felt obligatory, as if the filmmakers were tired of doing chase scenes, but knew they had to include one. The vehicles no longer felt believable. It seemed like the production designers just welded a bunch of crap together without much thought. Some vehicles had big rocket engines on the backs that were apparently non-functional since they were never used. The fighting had a more slapstick feel which did not fit with the rest of the series or the first half of the movie. However, the train hitting the car and the crash at the end were both pretty cool.

Some of the characters were interesting. The creepy announcer guy, the guy with glasses who lets people into Bartertown, and Master/Blaster were all great. Scrooloose looked interesting too. Almost like a precursor to the War Boys in Fury Road. Tina Turner, however, ugh. She was either miscast or she is a terrible actress. I don't normally say things like. I don't feel qualified to speak about an actor's skill. Acting is like an IT department; most people don't notice when it's decent to good, but everybody notices when it's bad. Tina Turner was downright awful.

The train tracks also bugged me. Why aren't the rails covered by sand? The vehicle on the rails is built into the machinery, so it wasn't using the rails. It didn't seem like they had any other use for the rails either, they didn't lead to any sort of resource gathering point. Just sand. Why did they even take the train, was it supposed to go somewhere? Why would a child set a trap on tracks that are never used? Why would a guy allow his child to set a trap right next to their home which was otherwise well-hidden until the trap drew attention to it?

Finally, the people by the river. How is it that nobody in or traveling to/from Bartertown noticed a nice river nearby? I didn't mind this tribe in general, but they talked too much. A bit of it was amusing, like the way they butchered "apocalypse", but most of it needed to be cut down. Were they trying to make a Mad Max version of Ewok Village? The worst part of the worst movie in the original Star Wars Trilogy is not the place to seek inspiration!

I'll have to agree with what I generally hear: Beyond Thunderdome is the worst Mad Max movie. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody, but fans of the other Mad Max movies will probably want to see it at least once.

[boagman]

"Big Hero 6"

Actually, very not bad. I was pretty well amused by it, and it never tries to be anything other than what it sets out to be: a fun/funny adventure movie for kids. Decently written considering the audience, and I found myself enjoying it more than I thought I would, though I wasn't as blown away with the animation as the Oscar might have suggested.

Even so: a solid entry. It even gave me the feels a couple times.

[Xyga]

Jurassic World ... *sigh*

It's a kid's movie actually. I didn't know.