Movies you've recently watched

I finally saw John Wick: Chapter 2 today, and what a great experience it was. The action is fantastic (there's lots of little details that make a world of difference in it), fun and it all looks gorgeous. To me the stakes felt a bit higher in the first movie, and the reason the story was set in motion was a bit of a stretch (though nothing that couldn't be overlooked/accepted), but I thought the ending was a lot better. Another aspect I really liked about this movie was how it gave us more information about its world. I really, really like this world and its weird rules, The Continental, its characters. I'm glad we got this sequel and I'm hoping we will get another one
particularly because of how Chapter 2 ended. Talk about high stakes.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Johnstantine said:
Saw Logan last night and loved it. Great movie.

That's good to hear, I'll try to see it in theaters. I feel like the X-Men franchise has needed a good shot in the arm for a few years now...
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Walter said:
That's good to hear, I'll try to see it in theaters. I feel like the X-Men franchise has needed a good shot in the arm for a few years now...

Does your omission of Deadpool mean you don't think it fits the criteria of X-Men franchise or good shot in the arm?
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Griffith said:
Does your omission of Deadpool mean you don't think it fits the criteria of X-Men franchise or good shot in the arm?

I put Deadpool more in the Rob Liefeld universe than X-Men. :void:
 
Walter said:
I put Deadpool more in the Rob Liefeld universe than X-Men. :void:

Ouch, though to be fair the wise cracking deadpool of today was not that eccentric as Robs creation intended.

Logan was a pretty damn good movie. It truly does have a western feel and although I have a few "Cmon, really?" moments, the movie is pretty sound. I've never been a fan of the X movies all that much. I like that series almost as much as Berserk and in this case it's about as good as it will get.

Also, earmuffs. They really went overboard with the F word. Like they were making up for what he would have said off and on the entire series. There is more blood and guts :guts: in this film than even I expected the R rating to bring.

Lastly, the villain you don't see in the previews. When I was growing up that was a thing, they just don't come out and say the name. Wolverine issue 38 after you see the movie for reference.
 
Salem said:
Ouch, though to be fair the wise cracking deadpool of today was not that eccentric as Robs creation intended.

Logan was a pretty damn good movie. It truly does have a western feel and although I have a few "Cmon, really?" moments, the movie is pretty sound. I've never been a fan of the X movies all that much. I like that series almost as much as Berserk and in this case it's about as good as it will get.

Also, earmuffs. They really went overboard with the F word. Like they were making up for what he would have said off and on the entire series. There is more blood and guts :guts: in this film than even I expected the R rating to bring.

Lastly, the villain you don't see in the previews. When I was growing up that was a thing, they just don't come out and say the name. Wolverine issue 38 after you see the movie for reference.

Salem

...Their were no true traditional antagonists in the film
2 of the 3 were opportunistic while the other is a metaphor for Logans bestial rage . If I could say who the true antagonist of the film was it would be "time".
 
I saw Get Out last week and it was good fun. The audience was totally into the movie and it ruined it for me a little because I don't like clapping and all that jazz. There was this guy who laughed a little too late after a scene/ joke and held it long where a bunch of other members of the audience laughed at it. Things like that take away from a tense moment. Outside of that, the film itself has a witty script - leading to some really good and uncomfortable conversations and it's funny in parts with a good, slow build up. It felt more like a Thriller with a handful of jump scares. I'd avoid watching the trailer if you haven't checked it out already because looking back at it, it definitely spoils some cool moments. There's a lot of information in either the dialog or what's around the house that ties into the story. Peele was meticulous about that kind of stuff and parts of the soundtrack reminded me of The Shining. I'd give it a solid 8 on 10.
 
I recently watched Rogue One. To be honest, I wasn't planning on watching it until years from now when you could find it in a $5 bargain bin, if ever. But I have a badass family who, knowing how much of a Star Wars nerd I am, bought it for me as a gift the day it came out in stores. And I am so thankful they did because I thought the movie was fucking amazing. If they made the film as a love letter to SW nutjobs like me, they nailed it. All of the references, "easter eggs," and attention to little details from the other films blew me away. Take Vader's final scene. The fighting style Vader uses in that scene is the same fighting style he uses when he's ambushed in Cloud City in Episode V. How awesome is that? I mean shit, they even kill off the X-Wing pilot with the Red 5 call sign so that it'd be free for Luke to use in Episode IV. Talk about attention to detail.

Something else I really loved about Rogue One is how they incorporated some of the ideas Lucas had for the Star Wars universe that never made it into the films for whatever reason, such names that were in earlier drafts of the films or ideas he put out there in interviews. I don't sugarcoat my criticism of Lucas's bad decisions, but I do love a lot of his ideas and think it's a huge shame not a lot of them made it into the final product. (Fuck it: I secretly really love George Lucas. There. Are ya happy?!) So the fact Disney's using them now makes me happy. And that's probably why Lucas allegedly liked Rogue One(!).

Anyways, there were some things I didn't like about the film:

I didn't like that the movie starts with Jyn's childhood, and then ten minutes further into the film she has a flashback to her childhood where they just recycle the same scenes we literally just watched.

There were two times in the film where the time seemed wonky because the movie moves so quickly. For example, in Jedha City Jyn runs into two aliens that Luke later runs into in Episode IV. Later the city is destroyed. Because the movie's pace moves so quickly it feels like for them to have escaped the city they would have to have dead sprinted to their ship after the Jyn encounter and then hauled ass off-planet. When I think of the series of events now I can see they had plenty of time to leave. But the pace makes it seem otherwise.

The characters in the film, minus Director Krennic, were pretty unremarkable. I can't see any of them becoming like Boba Fett, a bit character who became a massive fan favorite.

The rumor was they had to do reshoots to put some humor in the film. I have no idea where they put it.

(Do you know who would've been great at adding humor to the film? George Lucas.)

This isn't really a knock on the film, but I don't understand why everyone thought the android was so great. His funny bits weren't that great. In fact, I think TARS, that robot from Interstellar, was infinitely funnier.

EDIT TO ADD: Something I forgot... I wasn't a fan of the CGI Tarkin and Leia. I could tell they tried as hard as they could to make them as realistic as possible, but they were still uncomfortably weird/off to the point where they had a (slight) negative impact on the scenes they were in. I think similar looking actors would've been the better route.

I also finally watched Batman versus Superman. For it being the sequel to Man of Steel there wasn't much Superman in it. Through most of the film he might as well have been a statue in the background, and the (literally) one time the movie tries to develop his character all it did was tell me nobody making the movie had actually seen or understood MoS (and that includes Goyer, who unbelievably wrote both films):

Jonathan Kent in MoS: "Son, I don't know if people will have a good or bad reaction to you or if you were sent here to help or harm us. All I know is when you go public it'll change the world forever. So hide your powers until you're ready to deal with that."

Clark in BvS: "I'm tired of helping people and seeing only good in them! I'm sick of living a dead farmer's dream!"

What the fuck are you talking about, Clark?

I'm convinced that Christopher Nolan is the only reason MoS is as good as it is and not a giant steaming pile. He's the only major figure behind MoS who wasn't there for BvS. It's gotta be him.

I do love Affleck's Batman though. Seeing Batman kill people threw me off at first, but by the end of the film I understood it. I loved the depth of character, the subtle explanations for why he is the way he is. Hell, even the "Martha" moment everyone jokes about makes complete sense. I love Batfleck to the point I was really stoked that he was directing his own Batman movie. It's a shame that went to hell.

And the Wonder Woman, Justice League, and Lex Luthor parts? Pass.
 
Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 was ok. I'm a big fan of this movie tv series Marvel has built the last 10 years, but this one especially is feeling like those late episodes with more filler than even I want before the finale.

There's a good movie in there, but Gunn writing this solo, too much feels like he tried too hard. Did you like Groot, Rockets quips, the one liners? Cause this has them doubled up in a way that felt too reminiscent to AOU. I would say GOTG2 is slightly better than that. Kurt Russels Ego was great. The emotions were more feely than the first, but even then over half of the movie gave me that "get on with it" numbing bore.

One thing to note is this takes place soon after the first, and on top of that there is a four year break in the timeline between this movie and the final (I hope) Avengers part1/2.
 
Salem said:
Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 was ok. I'm a big fan of this movie tv series Marvel has built the last 10 years, but this one especially is feeling like those late episodes with more filler than even I want before the finale.

There's a good movie in there, but Gunn writing this solo, too much feels like he tried too hard. Did you like Groot, Rockets quips, the one liners? Cause this has them doubled up in a way that felt too reminiscent to AOU. I would say GOTG2 is slightly better than that. Kurt Russels Ego was great. The emotions were more feely than the first, but even then over half of the movie gave me that "get on with it" numbing bore.

I watched it last night and thought it was a solid 6 with it's failings being it was now too self aware of what worked in the first film. I liked the first film more. Speaking of positives, Yondu, Ego, Judge Dredd and Mantis were characters I enjoyed more than the others. It was also weird how the jokes through the movie didn't resonate or fell flat on me with the exception of a few instances and didn't help how Groot was now met with a bunch of 'awwww's every single time the character was on screen. Movie going experience aside, I enjoyed the bad guy but spoiler ahead -
the way Starlord uses those powers in the end with no effort or training against someone who's part of the planet and is doing this for a million years was honestly rubbish and unconvincing. I've gotten past the silliness of the dance-off in the first movie but this was nonsensical. BUT, hey, it's what it is and the movie worked for a lot of audience members or pals I went to watch it with. I also wonder how this pushes the story of the infinity stone or any galaxy guarding or whatever else forward. We get a bit of the guarding part in the beginning of the film.
 
What's weird is a few people I work with thought it was too emotional and touchy-feely. Eh, that wasn't my issue or even issues with this one. I feel like I'm in the minority for the masses too. Groot must be too cute or some bullshit. I'm pretty much completely on the same page you are incantation. This is one of those movies I couldn't even allow my fandom to overcome the shortcomings.
 

residentgrigo

Excitement and Enjoyment!
@Walter Modern day Deadpool (post Joe Kelly) and the Liefeld version have almost no relation. The way the hack is trying to pass the work of someone else as his own is a new low for him.

I have been filling the gaps in the works of my favorite directors, after having 1 year being taken over by seeing every film on the Imdb top 250 list since the inception in 1996. The first year is.... rough but the rest of the 300-400 films grind was rewarding. I now need more than 1 hand to name good Bollywood films! The top 2 films i would have never seen that stood out to me were the Indian Rang De Basanti and the Serbian Underground. Back to my chronologic Orson Welles marathon. Good god did he peak early. His last film is even a made for German tv making-of of Othello [1951] :???: .
That doc is somehow his 3rd best film too. Welles´ infamous struggles after his 1941 masterpiece ended with him becoming Charles Foster Kane himself in the end. Kinda depressing.

PS: Guardians 2 is solid 8/10. Bloated and very safe but Ego is a rare good MCU film villain. See, i like both DC and Marvel... Still a shame that the quite serious Marvel space comic line can´t branch out of the comedy camp. Modern comic Drax would have been a delight to see on screen.
 
residentgrigo said:
I now need more than 1 hand to name good Bollywood films! The top 2 films i would have never seen that stood out to me were the Indian Rang De Basanti and the Serbian Underground.

Rang De didn't resonate with me, too pretentious. If you're looking for Bollywood reccos, here are some I enjoy Swades, Sholay, Guide, Zanjeer, Silsila, Don and Aandhi.
 

Ruhe Strom

'Moon Pie... what a time to be alive."
Sorry for my extended absence, but I've returned to say that I quite liked Alien: Covenant.

Crazy I know.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Ruhe Strom said:
Sorry for my extended absence, but I've returned to say that I quite liked Alien: Covenant.

Crazy I know.

Hmmm, reviews are positive to mixed but seem to at least confirm that even if it doesn't live up to the first two it's not an embarrassment either. Care to elaborate on why you quite liked it without spoilers (or just tag them where necessary)?
 

Ruhe Strom

'Moon Pie... what a time to be alive."
I'll put up some extended thoughts in a day or so when I've had a chance to think about it some more, but it really felt like Ridley either learned from Prometheus, or someone gave a good old tug on his leash. He might have got the impression that nobody really cares that much about where the Engineers came from and I think that prompted him to much more elegantly incorporate the 'Creation' theme he seems to be running with in these films as something pertaining to the actual aliens. It's not hugely scary or anything, but there's some nice thrills and I feel the atmosphere is better (darker visuals in general perhaps).

Also, all of that soppy emotional stuff we saw in the promotional material is completely gone. Either it was cut, or was just for promotional purposes, but the movie's better for it I think.
 

Menosgade

Not all those who wander are lost
All The Mornings In The World, Tous les matins du monde (2001), a french movie about the baroque composer and virtuose of the viola de gamba, Marin Marais, and his teacher, also a celebrated master, Jean de Sainte-Colombe.

It's based on the 1991 novel of Pascal Quignard of the same name.

As a cellist it's a bit annoying to me the fact that the acting, when the characters play a viola, does not go well with the audio. It's clear they're trying to look as if they are playing the music, but not really playing it. But it's just a detail really, all musical pieces were very well played by the actual musicians.

It's quite good to anyone interested on music in general, specially baroque, or anything historical related to the XVII century.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
I recently saw Split and Assassin's Creed (don't judge it was on a plane, I only watch shitty movies when on the plane). AC was mediocre, though not as bad as I expected. It has no reason to exist though. Split was pretty nice (for a plane movie). James McAvoy carries the entire movie on his shoulders.
 

Kompozinaut

Sylph Sword
Saw Alien: Covenant, and the more I ruminate on it, the more I dislike it. There's not one thing I cared for in the entire movie other than the spaceship and the panoramas. It basically took all the stupid shit from Prometheus and smashed it into a halfassed version of Alien to create a movie that's easily the weakest entry in the franchise, imo (full discloser, I've only seen parts of Resurrection, and that was probably 15 years ago). I walked out of the theatre feeling utterly unfulfilled in every way possible. I'm starting to think Scott's success with the first Alien was a fluke, because the more of these movies he makes, the more it shows he doesn't know how to make a compelling entry.
 

Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
Delta Phi said:
I'm starting to think Scott's success with the first Alien was a fluke, because the more of these movies he makes, the more it shows he doesn't know how to make a compelling entry.

I don't think it was as much a fluke as it was there wasn't really anything else at the time. Also, Alien is just a good movie to begin with.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Uhhh, I'm all for saying Scott has lost his touch, but to be fair he already made the most compelling entry in the franchise before it was a lousy franchise. I think it's ill advised for him to do these new ones, but it's just as much a mistake to start letting it color your judgement of his stellar work from almost 40 years ago (basically a different person in a different time). I'm all for separating the person from the artist and the artist from the art, but also credit when and where due.

On that note, it's also good to remember Walter Hill's largely forgotten contributions as writer and producer on the original Alien trilogy, including writing the original draft of the screenplay for Alien and being the common denominator on all three; also known as the only ones worth giving a damn about. Something to consider as we give Ridley Scott all the credit, both good and bad.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Griffith said:
On that note, it's also good to remember Walter Hill's largely forgotten contributions as writer and producer on the original Alien trilogy, including writing the original draft of the screenplay for Alien and being the common denominator on all three

Since we're talking about not forgetting people, I'd add Dan O'Bannon to the list (the one who actually wrote the original screenplay for Alien), as well as all the crew that migrated from Jodorowsky's Dune (which includes H.R. Giger).
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Aazealh said:
Since we're talking about not forgetting people, I'd add Dan O'Bannon to the list (the one who actually wrote the original screenplay for Alien), as well as all the crew that migrated from Jodorowsky's Dune (which includes H.R. Giger).

Indeed, that production kind of lead right into Alien with O'Bannon, Giger, and company. He was also an effects supervisor on the original, which is a weird combination. Also gotta give him a shout out for Return of the Living Dead.


On another topic, saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and have to say I disagree with the lukewarm reception here. It's not a revelation, but I really don't think this is the Marvel movie to draw the line on (I mean, c'mon). Quite the contrary since it's so insularly focused on its own plot and characters, almost to a fault, and is unburdened with connections or setups to other Marvel movies, even less so than GotG. That's a good thing, and I really don't get the complaint that it's not homogeneous enough; I kind of dread when the Russos get a hold of them and they become AVENGERS... IN... SPAAAAACE... Anyway, it's otherwise a pretty unapologetically over-the-top, charming and whimsically strange space comedy that doesn't take itself or anything too seriously except the characters, which it goes out of its way to explore and payoff (like a standalone movie or something =). It's hard to say it's better than the first one, especially since it lacks the newness or as much actual outer space adventuring and settles largely in one location, nor does it have quite a singularly stirring "We are Groot" or "You said it yourself, bitch" moment, but overall I think it payed off more throughout the third act and will stick with me longer. Fun movie, inadvertently one of the better things to come out of the Marvel machine like its predecessor, and of course the use of Fleetwood Mac in it is indeed awesome. I think I'll take my dad for father's day. :carcus:
 
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