Topic: The Movie Thread

@VisitingComet1, thanks! I can't think of the last time I've been to the library, but I might keep it in mind if it ever pops up on any of the streaming services we use.

Couple of movies for me tonight.

Swamp Thing (Tubi) - I'm not at all familiar with the comics it's based on & I wouldn't say it's a particularly good film, but I did enjoy my time with it. Seems mostly held back by the budget & VFX of the time, but the overall setup was decent & there was at least one entertainingly disturbing transformation sequence (be aware there is some nudity despite being rated PG). There looks to be a sequel, which I'll give a go.

Lupin the 3rd: Goemon's Bloodspray (Blu-Ray) - Goemon centric Lupin film that plays out like an ultra violent modern day samurai film where he finds himself up against a nigh indestructible American assassin with killer axe skills. Very bloody, with lots of excitingly fun action.

@RR529 swamp thing!!!! Ya it was pretty terrible but in a good way there is indeed a second and I think third one. Definitely two of them was pretty good when I was a kid watching it

@RR529 there's another 80s movie in a similar vein called I think the guyver you should check it out!

the Return of Swamp Thing (Tubi) - Takes a bit more of a comedic tone than the original, & paired with noticeably improved VFX & costuming it's a much more fun watch at that. I assumed it was more of a reboot than a sequel (and in some ways that's still true), but along the way it infers the original is still canon, but handwaves the idea that the villain died at the end.

Ghost in the Shell ARISE 3 & 4 (Blu-Ray) - Last two OVAs in this GitS series. Maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace for it but I thought they were narratively more dense than the first two & I left with some questions. If you liked the first two these are worth a look though.

National Lampoon's Movie Madness (Tubi) - Anthology of parody films (the first a spoof of a family drama, the second a revenge flick, & finally a buddy cop film) that is absolutely terribly dull. While the final one seemed maybe a bit funnier than the first two, I had largely tuned out by then, and all of them feel like they go on much longer than they do (while it certainly has it's duds as well, I think the Kentucky Fried Movie is a much more enjoyable film of this type overall). That, & it seems like a direct to VHS film that got a lazy digital transfer (it's not in widescreen, & there's a very noticeable "screen tearing" effect that happens nearly everytime the camera pans, and sometimes even when a character is just moving).

Deadpool 2 (Disney+) - Still working my way through Fox's X-Men catalogue. Kinda more of the same after the first one, but that's not a bad thing. Being just a bit more versed in comic lore/culture than I was the first time I watched it, more of the jokes/references landed for me even, & just like the first film, in spite of how crass & crude it is, it even managed to make me tear up a time or two.

I just watched Prey the other day on Disney+ and it's a very good prequel film to The Predator a film I still like watching to this day. I'd definitely recommend it over any of the other sequels.

Big Bad Mama (Tubi) - An impoverished mother & her two teen daughters get deeper & deeper into crime trying to make ends meet during the depression. Decent enough criminals on the run type film, that features William Shatner & lots of boobs because it's a 70's film.

Samaritan (Prime Video) - Sylvester Stallone plays a washed up retired superhero (believed to be dead by the public after the climactic battle with his arch nemesis/brother) who winds up becoming a mentor figure of sorts to a neighborhood kid & has to come out of hiding after the kid falls in with the wrong crowd.

I saw the big twist coming a mile away, but I thought it was a pretty good watch.

Morbius (Netflix) - I actually thought this was pretty okay. It's certainly not the most unique CBM out there & pretty derivative, but it's also not the trainwreck I was expecting based on the memes. I think it may have been a bit more enjoyable had they been able to go a bit harder on the gruesome vampire stuff with an R-rating, but as a Spider-Man adjacent property there's no way that was ever going to happen.

Pinocchio (Disney+) - The new one. It certainly has the look & seems to carry the kind of polish you'd expect from a Disney production, but it just doesn't feel like it has any passion to it. Kinda started to tune out by the end (& did they need to change Monstro from a whale to a literal sea monster). My favorite part of it was probably all the little cuckoo clock cameos in the beginning of the film.

watched House III Horror Show on Tubi earlier tonight. It was actually pretty good. Had the same type of plot as Destroyer and Shocker with the resurrected killer.

Today which is Saturday now, Im going to be watching Cameron's Closet

I watched Thor Love and Thunder over the weekend on Disney + and it was...OK. I loved Ragnarok and was expecting much more from this one. A 3 out of 5 for me.

Ive had enough of the Marvel Comics movies. the Tom Holland Spider-Man Trilogy along with the Doctor Strange movies and Thor Love and Thunder will be the finale movies for me.

Im going back to watching the older stuff such as Blade, Generation X the movie along with Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2 and Spawn

Lupin the 3rd: Fujiko's Lie (Blu-Ray) - 3rd film in the "Koike" trilogy of Lupin films. Like the two before it, I thought it was thoroughly entertaining. Seemed to suggest a narrative connection to the last two as well, so hopefully the line continues to finish the story.

Trailer:

The Forgotten Battle (Netflix) - Dutch WWII film that centers around the battle for control of a port town near the end of the war, from three different interconnecting perspectives (a town girl who gets caught up in the resistance, a young Dutch guy who joined the Reich in the hopes of escaping his family's poverty, and a British airborne trooper who gets shot down behind enemy lines). It can be a bit brutal, but it's a good watch, showing just how harrowing the experience of war can be for all involved.

Trailer:

Had the main TV all to myself all day, so I watched a lot of movies.

Blade Runner 2049 (Netflix) - Excellent. Now, it could definitely be a slow burn AND it was long (just under 3 hours), but I'd be lying if I said my eyes weren't glued to the screen from beginning to end. Fantastic world building, an interesting narrative surrounding a gripping mystery, they didn't seem to try to sterilize the content (like the original, it's still R rated), and they managed to call back to the original film without being suffocated by nostalgia. Harrison Ford doesn't even show up until the film's final hour.

Trailer:

Lupin the 3rd: the Castle of Cagliostro (Blu-Ray) - This is often lauded as the seminal piece of Lupin the 3rd media, and after finally getting around to it I can safely say all the praise is justified. In spite of being over 4 decades old it's an absolutely gorgeously animated film, and while the core narrative isn't too deep or original (it see's Lupin thrust into the position of a knight in shining armour rescuing a young damsel in distress from a menacing Count in a picturesque small European nation), it's a breezy feel good movie that just brings a smile to your face. It's also the most tame (dare I say family friendly) piece of Lupin media I've ever watched, making it a great introduction point to the franchise. A bit of warning though, in addition to the original Japanese, this release has 3 different English dubs (1992, 2000, & 2000 Family Friendly). The 1992 dub changes some of the character names due to legal issues of the time (Lupin is called "the Wolf"), the 2000 dub uses the correct names but includes tons of added profanity that wasn't present in the original script, and then you have the "Family Friendly" 2000 dub which is based on that dub but removes/alters most of the profanity, making it the most correct dub of the three. I'm absolutely glad I looked that up beforehand, otherwise I would have never guessed the "Family Friendly" labelled option was the most faithful.

Trailer:

Uncharted (Netflix) - I'll admit first thing that I don't know much of anything about Uncharted as a game series (I played part of the first game as a rental over a decade ago), but taking the movie as it's own thing I liked it. It's not high art, but I thought it was genuinely fun. I enjoyed the banter between the leads, and I was entertained by the many larger than life set pieces (many of which I understand are ripped straight out of the games). Dare I say I might like it more than the first Sonic movie (haven't seen the second), & would watch a sequel. I will agree that Tom Holland looked a little too "babyface" for the role, but it wasn't a big deal.

Trailer:

trying to get through the last couple episodes of Naruto Season 3.

that and watching these other movies

Tubi
-The NES Pursuit
-Evening wit Kevin Smith 1
-George Carlin Jammin in New York

Netflix
-Umma or at least Eraser
-the recent new Patton Oswalt stand up special

for DVD, Star Trek First Contact with the text trivia track on

@RR529 I really enjoyed blade runner also it is a slow burn but man sooo goood. If you havent seen interstellar I would recommend that it is also a slow burn but really good.

Just got back from watching the Avatar theatrical re-release in 3D!

I've always thought the movie was just okay, however finally seeing it in 3D blew me away. Many scenes are absolutely magical (it really gets going during their first excursion into the jungle), and the big final climactic battle is just so much more engaging in 3D. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say this tops Top Gun: Maverick as the most exhilarating big screen theatrical experience I've had this year.

They also added on a scene from the sequel during the credits (a character I'm assuming is one of Jake & Neytiri's kids swimming with a whale like creature after removing a harpoon from one of it's fins), which was breathtaking.

@VisitingComet1, I've wanted to see Interstellar for a long time. I'll be sure to watch it if it ever pops up on any of our streaming services. I think I remember my brother seeing that one in theatres, and he enjoyed it.

Scream (2022)
A decent retelling of the 1996 original film with minor differences and features three of the original cast. Has its moments, but I still think the first film is the best.
8 / 10

The 355 (2022)
A below average spy / action film with an all female cast. The final action scene was the best part. Could have been alot better, but as it is, its forgettable.
3 / 10

Since mostly everyone else here has set up a Letterboxd, I have as well.

Here's my review for Raw Deal, a Schwarzenegger movie I watched this afternoon:

https://letterboxd.com/rr529/film/raw-deal-1986/

Films I watched over the weekend.

Blonde (Netflix)

A, highly speculative, journey behind the stardom of Marylin Monroe, exploring her troubled past & how those around the star used her.

It's a highly difficult film to watch, with some scenes being hard to stomach & other decisions being outright odd (and some will say exploitative), but it's also highly accomplished from a technical standpoint, with some of the most mesmerizing visuals I've seen in some time (I personally enjoyed the way it played with aspect ratios & color).

Trailer:

Raw Deal (Tubi)

Schwarzenegger vehicle that sees him in the role of a small town sheriff who goes undercover in a Chicago Mafia family for a chance to get reinstated back into the FBI. It naturally gets to the point where he straps various firearms to his person & transforms the scenery into swiss cheese.

It's not a great movie, but there's some cool action to be had.

Trailer:

Canadian Bacon (Tubi)

Political satire that sees the president (Alan Alda) trying to start a cold war with Canada in order to mask his poor approval ratings (he can't blame his failures on the Soviets any longer), and a small border town sheriff (played by John Candy) takes the whole situation a bit too seriously.

It's not a classic, but it elicited a few chuckles from me.

Trailer: