[Movies] Talk about the last movie you saw 2: Electric Threadaloo
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Yeah, this is not your father's WWII movie. You're going to see the kind of shit usually reserved for Vietnam flicks. It's a great movie, and you really need some time to decompress afterwards, because it's incredibly intense throughout (though still well-paced, all in all).
I need to finally see damn Gone Girl so I can ~join the conversation~
I enjoyed it a great deal. I only had one REAL nitpick about the whole thing.
She gained like 20 pounds in a couple of days. That's.....not possible.
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Staff member
Sylvester Stallone is the archetype for those guys who are smarter than most people give them credit for. Partly because of his musculature, and partly because of the injury he suffered due to poor placement of forceps during his birth, which partially paralyzed his face and gave him his trademark slur. He has quite a few extremely successful writing credits, however, which is more than most can say.
I think he's a lot like Keanu Reeves in that he sticks to the roles he does best, so people don't really see past the characters.
I love Norm.
The Rover
It's sort of like a post-apocalyptic (well, societal breakdown really - there's no overhanging threat of extinction) Australian "No Country For Old Men", except where the protagonist is the relentless pursuer. However, that actually makes the movie sound way better than it actually was. The soundtrack is... unpleasing to listen to, and in large part the movie tells a completely pointless story about some awful people doing terrible things for vague reasons which harm everyone they encounter along the way. There is one decent thing to be salvaged from the movie, though - Robert Pattinson actually does a pretty good job portraying his character. It also is a reminder of the quandry that is Guy Pearce. He was really great in LA Confidential and Memento, and was pretty good in a series of TV movies called "Jack Irish", but a lot of his other work is either very strange or just kind of forgettable (could have been anybody in Iron Man 3, honestly).
It's sort of like a post-apocalyptic (well, societal breakdown really - there's no overhanging threat of extinction) Australian "No Country For Old Men", except where the protagonist is the relentless pursuer. However, that actually makes the movie sound way better than it actually was. The soundtrack is... unpleasing to listen to, and in large part the movie tells a completely pointless story about some awful people doing terrible things for vague reasons which harm everyone they encounter along the way. There is one decent thing to be salvaged from the movie, though - Robert Pattinson actually does a pretty good job portraying his character. It also is a reminder of the quandry that is Guy Pearce. He was really great in LA Confidential and Memento, and was pretty good in a series of TV movies called "Jack Irish", but a lot of his other work is either very strange or just kind of forgettable (could have been anybody in Iron Man 3, honestly).
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Monster Squad
Mostly as good as I remember it. Which to say it's a goonies wannabe without the charm, but still fun to watch. The makeup effects on Dracula at the end were actually pretty good. In fact, I read that they were so good that the little girl's scream (when Dracula picks her up and unnecessarily calls a 5 year old girl a bitch) was genuine and not rehearsed. According to IMDB, the actor playing Dracula felt really bad about it.
Mostly as good as I remember it. Which to say it's a goonies wannabe without the charm, but still fun to watch. The makeup effects on Dracula at the end were actually pretty good. In fact, I read that they were so good that the little girl's scream (when Dracula picks her up and unnecessarily calls a 5 year old girl a bitch) was genuine and not rehearsed. According to IMDB, the actor playing Dracula felt really bad about it.
Battle Royale
First time ever watching this and I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner. It's quite good. A lot of the 48 kids get screen time. Even if most are cannon fodder, there winds up being a good little story for each of them, even if it's just in how they react.
It wasn't as gory or violent as I expected, but maybe I'm just very desensitised to violence. Still some great action, even if a lot of the blood splattered in gunshots were clearly CG.
I can definitely see why people thought Hunger Games ripped this off. But while they share some similarities in the concept, they both explore the idea in different ways. Similar base concept but entirely different results. Hunger Games was all about one, strong female protagonist, while Battle Royale had multiple points of view. BR was more about rebellious youth, while HG was more about excess in entertainment (or just excess consumerism) and a large disconnect between the rich and the poor. They're both perfectly valid approaches. Though I will say BR's science is much more grounded and easier to swallow than a dome where they control the elememts in sometimes unbelievable ways.
So yeah, really enjoyed this one. Though I was a little put off and confused by the teacher's reveal or change of heart near the end.
First time ever watching this and I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner. It's quite good. A lot of the 48 kids get screen time. Even if most are cannon fodder, there winds up being a good little story for each of them, even if it's just in how they react.
It wasn't as gory or violent as I expected, but maybe I'm just very desensitised to violence. Still some great action, even if a lot of the blood splattered in gunshots were clearly CG.
I can definitely see why people thought Hunger Games ripped this off. But while they share some similarities in the concept, they both explore the idea in different ways. Similar base concept but entirely different results. Hunger Games was all about one, strong female protagonist, while Battle Royale had multiple points of view. BR was more about rebellious youth, while HG was more about excess in entertainment (or just excess consumerism) and a large disconnect between the rich and the poor. They're both perfectly valid approaches. Though I will say BR's science is much more grounded and easier to swallow than a dome where they control the elememts in sometimes unbelievable ways.
So yeah, really enjoyed this one. Though I was a little put off and confused by the teacher's reveal or change of heart near the end.
There's also an entirely different motivation between each government's reasoning for making children fight each other to the death. In BR, it's random punishment - the kids aren't even aware of what they're in for until it's too late, so it cannot possibly serve as deterrent, and most of them are just regular kids, so it's not punishment for delinquents. In Hunger Games, it's a ritualized method of control, of channeling hope for the individual while reminding the districts that they're under the thumb of the Capital - bread and circuses for the elite, a warning against rebellion for the poor. "We only take two tributes each year - imagine how much worse we *could* do if we wanted." It makes the monstrous into something palatable - entertaining, even.
Bingo. As I said, there are certainly similarities between the two, but they're different enough in theme and execution that it's hardly worth the uproar some people have made about it.
Now, again, that's something different as well. Yes, it's a means of control, but instead of doing it through fear, in the movie version the runners are almost all violent felons (wrongly accused or not) - it's more of a "Look at how we deal with these awful criminal scumbags! Trust us to take care of you! We're on your side!" The Stalkers, too, were violent sociopathic killers, but ones that served the system. More significantly, all of the victims in The Running Man are adults, which removes the element of violently shattered innocence from BR / Hunger Games.
It's been a LONG time since I've seen the movie, but wasn't there a minor character that had a similar motivation?
GasBandit
Staff member
It's been so long that I don't remember either. But of course another change from the book was that in the book the runner wasn't in a sealed arena, he was just trying to stay at-large in the world for as long as he could, and the ending was also completely different. Really, the only thing that I can remember the movie and the book having in common was the idea of a televised spectacle of hunting people for sport to calm the masses.
figmentPez
Staff member
Some of my cast mates went to see Annabelle and I went along because it was something to do. I'm not a fan of horror, but I'm pretty sure this is a cliche-ridden by-the-numbers horror film, with decent acting. I wasn't impressed.
Did you expect anything else from a spinoff of "clap phantoms?"
Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms, yo.
figmentPez
Staff member
I didn't expect anything, since I knew nothing about the movie before seeing it.
figmentPez
Staff member
Oh, one more thing. It dawned on me that a Catholic priest in a horror movie is like Worf on Star Trek TNG or Superman in Justice League. The big power gets brought in to be smacked around a bit, to prove how powerful the evil opponent is.
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Men In Black 3
I was surprised at the quality of this one. I guess because it wasn't so much with "Will Smith being Will Smith as Agent Jay". Josh Brolin was enjoyable as a young Agent Kay, and overall it just worked. The alien guy who could see multiple timelines was handled much better than such a character usually is, too. I think it helped that the movie was a lot more focused on the characters than MiB2 was.
I was surprised at the quality of this one. I guess because it wasn't so much with "Will Smith being Will Smith as Agent Jay". Josh Brolin was enjoyable as a young Agent Kay, and overall it just worked. The alien guy who could see multiple timelines was handled much better than such a character usually is, too. I think it helped that the movie was a lot more focused on the characters than MiB2 was.
Unless it's the Exorcist, in which case the older priest is Worf.
FINALLY getting my annual October halloween movie watching done. It's been a hell of a summer/ fall, and I just haven't had the time. Finally sat down and watched Slither last week, but more importantly, in the last 24 hours, I have marathoned through:
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Birth of the Living Dead
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Trick r' Treat
Evil Dead 2
Army of Darkness
Tucker and Dale vs Evil
and
Shaun of the Dead.
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Birth of the Living Dead
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Trick r' Treat
Evil Dead 2
Army of Darkness
Tucker and Dale vs Evil
and
Shaun of the Dead.
A friend at work and I have been lending each other movies the other hasn't seen, so while she's got Spirited Away and Poltergeist this weekend, I got The Big Lebowski.
That was a lot of fun. A couple parts had the time factor of "look--a meme!" but most of the movie was a surprise. It took me until 3/4 of the way before I realized this was a noir film that got really fucked up, which makes it even funnier. It was nice to see something from back when the Cohen Bros knew how to end a movie. The speech closing this out was so great.
That was a lot of fun. A couple parts had the time factor of "look--a meme!" but most of the movie was a surprise. It took me until 3/4 of the way before I realized this was a noir film that got really fucked up, which makes it even funnier. It was nice to see something from back when the Cohen Bros knew how to end a movie. The speech closing this out was so great.
No Country for Old Men and True Grit are the examples that come to mind where instead of the movie stopping at its destination, it just kept going until it ran out of gas. Books work well like that, movies less so. And I liked the last scene of No Country, but still.
They're not as bad with it as Clint Eastwood in some projects. Changeling kept hitting what you'd think was the ending, and then nope, got more to do!
Oculus (2014)
I've been wanting to watch this one since I saw the first trailer. It has a basic premise - a haunted mirror - but takes it in really interesting directions. There's a really great mirror-like dichotomy between the modern story and the flashback story about the brother and sister dealing with their parents. It all ties up really well in the end, too.
I'll probably have to give it a few more watches before I conclude it's another great new addition to my list of favourite horror movies, but right now, it's a strong contender.
I've been wanting to watch this one since I saw the first trailer. It has a basic premise - a haunted mirror - but takes it in really interesting directions. There's a really great mirror-like dichotomy between the modern story and the flashback story about the brother and sister dealing with their parents. It all ties up really well in the end, too.
I'll probably have to give it a few more watches before I conclude it's another great new addition to my list of favourite horror movies, but right now, it's a strong contender.
B
BErt
I was also excited to get around to this one since the first trailer, and I liked everything about it except how it ended. Or maybe when it ended. Something was off...it seemed rushed maybe? Like they said "we hit our running time, we need to end it now!" I dunno. It was good enough to where I'll give it another watch or two to decide if I'm just stupid.
I only watched this because you guys made me curious, and I have to agree. I completely wrote this movie off as unnecessary after The Strangers and that was a big mistake. Watch this movie.
Yeah, I can kind of see that. They spent so much time on the flashback story that the adult story felt rushed in comparison.
Crank 2: High Voltage
The Crank movies are basically Saints Row / Grand Theft Auto, the movie - but instead of following the fairly loose plots of the games, it focuses on the unhinged mayhem players do between missions. It's crude, absurd, ridiculously vulgar and violent, and a lot of fun. There's a trope in comedy called "Crossing The Line Twice" - where you go from funny, to offensive, then so far in that direction you cross back to funny again. Louis CK is pretty good at it. Crank and Crank 2 are basically made of this trope - it's so over the top, insanely offensive and deranged that it's impossible to give any kind of weight to it. Is it a good movie? Fuck no. But it's a fun movie to watch now and then.
The Crank movies are basically Saints Row / Grand Theft Auto, the movie - but instead of following the fairly loose plots of the games, it focuses on the unhinged mayhem players do between missions. It's crude, absurd, ridiculously vulgar and violent, and a lot of fun. There's a trope in comedy called "Crossing The Line Twice" - where you go from funny, to offensive, then so far in that direction you cross back to funny again. Louis CK is pretty good at it. Crank and Crank 2 are basically made of this trope - it's so over the top, insanely offensive and deranged that it's impossible to give any kind of weight to it. Is it a good movie? Fuck no. But it's a fun movie to watch now and then.