Topic: The Movie Thread

@GarbonZoni Logan was really good the first time I watched in black and white at the theater. I thought it was a good end to the series. I hope or wish when they do new xman stuff they keep the younger Xavier and Eric i really thought those two actors did a tremendous job.

I watched King Kong (1976) on Pluto TV this morning.

Don't think I've seen this version before. Definitely feels like a proto version of a modern blockbuster at times, albeit still a bit B-movie in others. A bit slow to get going, although it picks up near the end. Kong gives Dwan (the kidnapped woman) these absolutely goofy grins from time to time that are unintentionally (?) funny which I thought was amusing, and being the 70's, they seemed to push showing as much of her skin as possible while still being a "PG" film (thought I even noticed a blink & you'll miss it nudity shot).

Interesting curiosity of the time.

@GarbonZoni, if you look closer to the top of the page you'll see I've already watched Logan (it's not on Disney+ or Hulu for some reason, & I don't have it on BD, so I jumped on it the moment I seen it popped up on one of the free services, given you never know how long it'll stay on there).

Definitely a unique take on the property!

Right . Yeah, I own it on BD. I have a couple of watches a year. I think the idea of Xavier with Alzheimer's Is brilliant when you think of the further implications of the condition and him being a mutant.
Watched Southern Comfort this afternoon, it still holds up today. Excellent cast and the Cajun soundtrack at the end of the film is Class. Plus its a who's who of 80's actors.

@Royalblues that was a fun movie

My favorite film maker has to be Christopher Nolan I really liked Memento and all his other stuff. My favorite all time movie has to be Interstellar I am not sure why but it just speaks to me I could watch it 100 more times and still enjoy it.

Finally watched Sonic 2. Was awesome. But I must say I was a bit like wtf is going on at points. Particularly a scene of a man getting tasered and then kissing a jilted bride. Not sure what that had to do with Sonic but it was still bloody good.

Given that summer is upon us, I figured it was about time to take my annual road trip with the Griswolds in National Lampoon's Vacation.

At this point it's just one of those comfort food movies for me. I've probably said all of this at some point in the past, but it rides the line between zany adventure & relatable road trip just perfectly, and reminds me of the road trips my family used to take as a kid each summer (although we never held up an amusement park, lol). It's really giving off a really classic Americana vibe at this point as well.

Just got back from seeing Jurassic World Dominion in 3D.

I know it's been getting pretty scathing reviews, but I honestly thought it was pretty entertaining & at least better than Fallen Kingdom. Sure, if you think hard enough there are some things that don't add up (I'm not sure exactly how long after it takes from the last one, but it probably doesn't make that much sense that a couple dozen dinos let loose on the west coast could become endemic the world over in a few short years), but it was a fun action movie.

3D was pretty good too. Didn't make quite as good use of it as Doctor Strange, but there were definitely some acts that made great use of it like the action scene in Malta.

@RR529 we are going to see this tomorrow looking forward to it. About reviews I think critics are morons about these kind of movies. Is it fun yes or no I don't care if it makes that much sense or have sound science they got the dna from mosquitos lol.

Watched the Fifth Element this morning. 90's future sci-fi flick centering around Bruce Willis as a(n ex-military) cabbie whom is roped into protecting a woman who is the key to saving the universe from an interdimensional threat as foretold by an ancient Egyptian prophecy.

They ultimately don't focus too much on the nature of the end threat (though it's revealed to be sentient it might as well be some sort of natural disaster), instead focusing on all the myriad factions trying to nab the girl, and it feels oddly constrained for a movie about the fate of the universe (the only section of the film that takes place off Earth is on an opulent cruise ship on a planet that's mostly water).

However it's a decently fun time. It's writing doesn't seem to take itself very seriously, it's very aesthetically loud (like the future is super extreme 90's) in a way that has to be seen, has a fun (flying) car chase & gun fight, Chris Tucker seems to be having fun chewing it up as an OTT TV/Radio personality, and Milla Jovovich spends the entire film running around half naked (fully once or twice) if that's your thing.

@RR529 aziz light! I remember that movie oh so well. One of those Bruce Willis starts with a hangover movie, which was a thing back then. It's always nice to go back and watch those movies nowadays seeing how off the image of the future was back then. In a lot of older movies we were supposed to be in flying cars around now lol.

But yeah the fifth element was one of this highly entertaining popcorn movies as I like to call them. For the time it had great special effects, the story even though it's not the best written was being kept up by Bruce Willis well being Bruce Willis, like only a role he can play, Chris Tucker was also very entertaining in his role as Ruby.

I can understand it doesn't have the same impact anymore as it had 25 years ago when it released but still is highly enjoyable nowadays

@Lavalera, yeah, I'd seen it in bits & pieces over the years on TV but realized I'd never actually property sat down to watch it before, so I figured it was about time.

Also watched X-Men: Days of Future Past over the weekend.

Overall pretty solid, though not as good as First Class (and from what I understand, outside of the spinoffs like Deadpool, it's all downward from here). Nice seeing the old cast too, even if they didn't do much with them.

@RR529 I honestly really liked this one a lot

I watched the Bounty this morning. The crew of an English trade ship, the titular "Bounty", after experiencing a veritable paradise in Tahiti followed by the increasing demands of their overbearing captain decide to mutiny.

It's much more of a slow burn than I typically watch (different thematically as well), but I thought was pretty interesting (and based on the end film text wall, based on a true story?). More of a character drama and features a young Mel Gibson & Liam Neeson. Also, even given the era's more lax ratings, I have no idea how this got away with a straight PG rating (I don't think I've ever seen so many boobs in a film), not that it's a bad thing.

Currently free on Tubi & Pluto TV.

Just got back from watching Lightyear in 3D.

I actually enjoyed myself. I could maybe see this as a bit boring for really young kids (in fact the family seated in front of us left during the climax as their kids started getting restless & jumping around on the seats), as it's more of a played straight action sci-fi film that happens to be family friendly (with some humor), rather than a kid's sci-fi film. If you like deep space sci-fi (like I do) it's definitely worth a watch.

However, there was probably no reason to make this a "Buzz Lightyear" movie (it practically has no ties to Toy Story, other than an opening blurb mentioning this as Andy's favorite movie of 1995, and one or two catch phrases), they don't even bother to make it feel retro (in a 90's sense) in any capacity, and it's a modern film through & through. So yeah, if you're wanting to watch this as a Toy Story fan, that's probably not the right mindset to go in with (and probably why the film isn't playing well).

As for the 3D experience I thought it was fantastic. Maybe not quite as trippy as Multiverse of Madness, but the effect was used strongly throughout, and was certainly a better 3D experience than Jurassic World Dominion.

I watched Apollo 13 this morning. It starred Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, & Bill Paxton as the astronauts involved in the Apollo 13 mission & how through ingenious ingenuity (& with help from those on the ground within NASA) they miraculously managed to safely make their way back to Earth after an oxygen leak in their craft.

I thought it was excellent. Some of the CGI effects near the beginning of the film were starting to show their age (like the shots of the surrounding area around the rocket), but it was much more of a character drama & everything within the capsule was believable & edge of your seat tense.

What I've watched since my last post.

National Lampoon's European Vacation.

It's still worth a few laughs, but it really isn't as good as the first. I think it's actually stronger towards the beginning (particularly during the England & French segments), but falls apart towards the end. Absolutely worst version of Audrey (the daughter) though (she just spends the entire movie complaining about getting fat, in the laziest teenage girl writing ever).

Moonraker.

The big space battle with the astronauts floating around blasting each other with their chest mounted lazer blasters was the most (unintentionally?) hilarious thing I've seen in quite some time. Other than that, I really didn't think it was that bad (really not all that out of line with the other Moore era Bond films). Granted, there was WAY too much "Jaws" for my liking (the more of them I see, the more I think he's my least favorite part of these Moore Bond movies, & he shows up sooo much here. The way the movie ends they should have just written him out after this).

X-Men: Apocalypse.

I've always bounced off it every other time I've tried to watch it (usually just catching it on cable), but actually making the point to watch it & I have to say I liked it more than I thought I would. Still not as good as First Class & it was a bit overly long, but a decent enough superhero action (would have liked to see more Psylocke though).

Thor: Love & Thunder (3D).

It was pretty decent. I think the humor leaned a bit TOO quirky for my tastes, but it still wasn't enough to ruin the serious moments IMO. I think the explanation behind Jane (Mighty) Thor was well done, and quite sad.

As for the 3D, I don't think it was as consistently excellent as Multiverse of Madness, however I thought the scenes on that (black & white) moon looked really good, and the final battle was an absolute tour de force in 3D effect, IMO.

Last Night In Soho
Another excellent film from Edgar Wright, but is a very different type of film from him - a psychological horror / suspense. Stars Thomasin McKenzie and Ana Taylor-Joy in the main leads. Acting is great, and the setpieces of 1960s London is excellent.

The Northman
Another excellent film from Robert Eggers (The Witch). Is an arthouse Nordic revenge drama. Alexander Skarsgard and Ana Taylor-Joy are excellent, and well as Willem DaFoe and Bjork.

City Hunter the Movie: Shinjuku Private Eyes.

City Hunter has been one of my favorite personal anime discoveries in recent years, so I made a punt on ordering the newest movie on Blu-Ray and wasn't disappointed. Pretty much a long episode of the old TV series (but with modern animation), but that's no bad thing! Fun movie that calls to mind the action romps of the 80's.