[Movies] Talk about the last movie you saw 2: Electric Threadaloo
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I got a rental appreciation out of it. I would never go as far as owning it. The twist at the end is not very smartly executed. There are several elements of the movie that go completely wasted. It even felt like they were trying to make the little girl seem like a suspect. I was half expecting her to start snickering evilly as she pulls a bomb from her teddy bear.
Saw it myself, also loved it. Only thing I kind of wish was the other riders got more time to shine.
For the most part, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins were almost non-entities other then a small love triangle plot. (Tuffnut had like, three lines the whole movie, even less then the Eret throw away character). I would have loved to see a section during the climax where they got control of their dragons in the same way Hiccup did with Toothless, though I guess that would have damaged the significant of what Hiccup did. "shrug"
Loved the sections with Stoick. They really could have driven one of the main conflicts being Vilka versus Stoick but instead they showed how much Stoick cared for his family and had changed since the first movie. I won't spoil any more then that.
Loved the sections with Stoick. They really could have driven one of the main conflicts being Vilka versus Stoick but instead they showed how much Stoick cared for his family and had changed since the first movie. I won't spoil any more then that.
I thought Non-Stop was pretty clever. I really liked a lot of the visual flourishes the director did with the text messages, and using the small area / space of the plane to heighten tension and all that good stuff. Liam Neeson was pretty good as always. The twist / ending was pretty lame, but it was really hard to live up to all the stuff that came up before. I also really liked Corey Stoll in it. He's one of my favorite new actors lately, he brought three dimensions to what was kind of a two dimensional character on the page.
Oh yeah! I forgot, I really liked the text stuff. That was clever and integrated really well into the story.
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I had a thread once for good bits in otherwise bad movies. We should do that again.[DOUBLEPOST=1403146290,1403146165][/DOUBLEPOST]I saw Days of Future Past. I know I will be condemned to burn in the fires of geek hell for saying so, but I thought it was better than the comic. Which I have and like, but I enjoyed the movie more.
The Lego Movie
(Bought it this past week.)
This just in: everything is still awesome.
(Bought it this past week.)
This just in: everything is still awesome.
Also beware the huge plot hole: hiccup was previously given one half of his mothers breastplate, which clearly wouldn't have fit her.
You're assuming it wasn't just the front and back of it... or a family heirloom or something and it was never sized to fit her. Argh... it was a fun joke. Just leave it be!
As for the Nightfury thing... I'm assuming it'll be tackled in the next movie. What -I- want to know is how they'll explain all the changes when/if the TV show comes back. Stoic's dead and Hiccup is chief now. Unless his mom does most of the heavy lifting for awhile, he can't exactly go out on adventures anymore.
As for the Nightfury thing... I'm assuming it'll be tackled in the next movie. What -I- want to know is how they'll explain all the changes when/if the TV show comes back. Stoic's dead and Hiccup is chief now. Unless his mom does most of the heavy lifting for awhile, he can't exactly go out on adventures anymore.
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Stephen Chow's Journey to the West.
For those of you who have seen Kung Fu Hustle you may understand my excitement to see this latest installment from Stephen Chow. Unfortunately, despite a fairly solid beginning, it becomes clear that Journey to the West lacks a focused story and does not have anywhere near the character power of Kung Fu Hustle. "Journey" feels like it's broken up into a bunch of very loosely related segments, all strung together. I notice the same pattern when it comes to bad parody films like "Scary Movie: We've Lost Count" and... well... pretty much anything with _________MOVIE as part of the title. And that's what Journey to the West unfortunately feels like. A parody. A parody that, as far as I'm aware, doesn't really have anything that it's actually parodying except maybe Chinese mythology. I will say this though, it absolutely surprised me with the level of gore. After watching the trailer I was convinced it was going to be a kid-friendly movie. I was very, and happily, mistaken.
For those of you who have seen Kung Fu Hustle you may understand my excitement to see this latest installment from Stephen Chow. Unfortunately, despite a fairly solid beginning, it becomes clear that Journey to the West lacks a focused story and does not have anywhere near the character power of Kung Fu Hustle. "Journey" feels like it's broken up into a bunch of very loosely related segments, all strung together. I notice the same pattern when it comes to bad parody films like "Scary Movie: We've Lost Count" and... well... pretty much anything with _________MOVIE as part of the title. And that's what Journey to the West unfortunately feels like. A parody. A parody that, as far as I'm aware, doesn't really have anything that it's actually parodying except maybe Chinese mythology. I will say this though, it absolutely surprised me with the level of gore. After watching the trailer I was convinced it was going to be a kid-friendly movie. I was very, and happily, mistaken.
To be fair, A LOT of the source material for Journey to the West is basically a bunch of unrelated stories that are only united by the main cast. The main goal is to go west, get to India for the... scriptures I think, but everything in between is basically hijinks meant to be life lessons.
Yeah, I was gonna say "sounds like the book".
I think Kung Fu Hustle was probably Stephen Chow's most broad comedy, in terms of international appeal. He does a lot of slapstick, but most of his stuff (or all the movies Mr. Z has), is usually very steeped in Chinese culture, resulting in "in-jokes" that sometimes need explanation. The first time he adapted Journey to the West, I think the English name was A Chinese Odyssey, the story was a little less all over the place, but it was a looser adaptation of the Monkey King's story.
If you haven't seen it already, try Shaolin Soccer (not the US release, if you can find the subtitled). Mr. Z would also recommend The God of Cookery, From Beijing With Love, King of Beggars, Royal Tramp(s) and God of Gamblers.
If you haven't seen it already, try Shaolin Soccer (not the US release, if you can find the subtitled). Mr. Z would also recommend The God of Cookery, From Beijing With Love, King of Beggars, Royal Tramp(s) and God of Gamblers.
Also, also, to be fair, just because something is based off of legend and folklore doesn't mean that it can't be adapted well into the medium that it's being translated to.
This movie had Liu Yifei in it though, who I consider one of the most attractive women in Chinese cinema.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: Back when the first Hunger Games came out, I told my wife I wasn't going to see Mockingjay. The only reason that changed is because of this sequel and that the director of this one is doing the third and fourth movies as well. It's far better than the first and I hope he can use that skill to improve Mockingjay from its source material.
Godzilla vs Mothra: The Battle for Earth and the Temple of Doom:
This movie is as bad as the original Godzilla vs Mothra is good. Indiana Jones rip-off slapstick, and one of the worst dubs I've ever heard. That its backstory greatly resembles the backstory of the far better Gamera movies from a couple years later doesn't help. I'll do a Tumblr riff of this one at some point; I just wanted to put it on to see if I liked it better than I remember.
No. No. No.
Battra is still kinda cool though.
Winning dialogue during monster fight: "Oh no, they're getting pissed off!"
This movie is as bad as the original Godzilla vs Mothra is good. Indiana Jones rip-off slapstick, and one of the worst dubs I've ever heard. That its backstory greatly resembles the backstory of the far better Gamera movies from a couple years later doesn't help. I'll do a Tumblr riff of this one at some point; I just wanted to put it on to see if I liked it better than I remember.
No. No. No.
Battra is still kinda cool though.
Winning dialogue during monster fight: "Oh no, they're getting pissed off!"
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Godzilla vs King Ghidorah: Ahhhh, that's more like it. This one's a blast, with time travel that in no way takes into consideration cause and effect. Apparently only monsters are affected. Also, androids, Pokemon, and "Take that, you dinosaur!" This movie has it all.
And my wife has now seen a kaiju film besides Pacific Rim.
And my wife has now seen a kaiju film besides Pacific Rim.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2: ... Ehhhhhh.
I love the first movie. This one got kind of stupid. I was still laughing sometimes, but I wish there hadn't been a villain. Every time he's on screen, it's too much. And that's without getting into the holes in his dumbfuck plot. All the food island stuff was funny or cute or even interesting like it got at the end of the first movie, but the movie's charm died every time the villain starting noodle-limbing his way around the screen like a rejected Cartoon Network character. I would've rather just watched them explore and discover stuff with the island. The first movie didn't need a villain either, and until watching this one, I totally forgot there had been one. He was barely in it and it worked fine.
I love the first movie. This one got kind of stupid. I was still laughing sometimes, but I wish there hadn't been a villain. Every time he's on screen, it's too much. And that's without getting into the holes in his dumbfuck plot. All the food island stuff was funny or cute or even interesting like it got at the end of the first movie, but the movie's charm died every time the villain starting noodle-limbing his way around the screen like a rejected Cartoon Network character. I would've rather just watched them explore and discover stuff with the island. The first movie didn't need a villain either, and until watching this one, I totally forgot there had been one. He was barely in it and it worked fine.
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Really enjoyed this. I would argue it's better than the first one, too. Though part of the reason it's stronger is because the characters are now well-established, so focus then goes to expanding the world around them. Really loved all the reuniting scenes in particular.
I'll have to go see it again sometime, though. The hurricane blew through our area and knocked out power in many parts of the city, including the theatre. It was JUST at the climactic final battle when the power went out. So the last thing I saw was....
I assume there wasn't much more movie after that. I was actually a little surprised by the runtime for this movie. It felt longer than your average animated/kids movie.
Really enjoyed this. I would argue it's better than the first one, too. Though part of the reason it's stronger is because the characters are now well-established, so focus then goes to expanding the world around them. Really loved all the reuniting scenes in particular.
I'll have to go see it again sometime, though. The hurricane blew through our area and knocked out power in many parts of the city, including the theatre. It was JUST at the climactic final battle when the power went out. So the last thing I saw was....
Hiccup breaking Toothless out the trance.
I assume there wasn't much more movie after that. I was actually a little surprised by the runtime for this movie. It felt longer than your average animated/kids movie.
How about Meatballs then?
That was Meatballs 2, which most of us are happy to forget.