Turns out there are books between the movies! I wonder if they're any good.
[Movies] Talk about the last movie you saw 2: Electric Threadaloo
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Batman v Superman
Super contrived, lots of little plot holes, but that's the nature of any movie trying to pit 'good' against 'good'.
Fun action, lots of little fun callbacks, a pretty interestingly crazy lex Luther, a unique take on the batman and superman characters that while not unpalatable certainly breaks from some traditions.
Worth a watch, but I'm glad to have not spent theater money to see it.
Super contrived, lots of little plot holes, but that's the nature of any movie trying to pit 'good' against 'good'.
Fun action, lots of little fun callbacks, a pretty interestingly crazy lex Luther, a unique take on the batman and superman characters that while not unpalatable certainly breaks from some traditions.
Worth a watch, but I'm glad to have not spent theater money to see it.
Beauty and the Beast (new one)
It's a good film overall, I think, but it suffers from the existence of the original animated version, which is superior in virtually every way. It doesn't hit those emotional highs, for some reason, maybe due to how certain key scenes are framed or how the music's used. The new songs also didn't really do much for me, and I thought it's a pity they didn't use songs from the stage version that served the same narrative purpose as the new tunes (for example, To Be Human Again and If I Can't Love Her). There were some good innovations, such as the scene of the castle staff gradually transforming into inanimate objects, and the Enchantress being a constant presence in the story was an interesting touch. The acting and singing were also competent enough. But on the whole, I definitely prefer the original, and the stage version.
It's a good film overall, I think, but it suffers from the existence of the original animated version, which is superior in virtually every way. It doesn't hit those emotional highs, for some reason, maybe due to how certain key scenes are framed or how the music's used. The new songs also didn't really do much for me, and I thought it's a pity they didn't use songs from the stage version that served the same narrative purpose as the new tunes (for example, To Be Human Again and If I Can't Love Her). There were some good innovations, such as the scene of the castle staff gradually transforming into inanimate objects, and the Enchantress being a constant presence in the story was an interesting touch. The acting and singing were also competent enough. But on the whole, I definitely prefer the original, and the stage version.
fade
Staff member
Spider-Man homecoming
Go see this. Seriously. I thought this was the best Marvel Studios movie yet. Parker was right. Villains were right. Hell, superhero movie notwithstanding, this is one of the few movies to make high school actually feel like high school. Understandable, well motivated villain. References out the ass. And real actual crime fighting! Fight scenes that felt good while retaining teen awkwardness! And holy moly the filmwork on the Washington monument scene had my feet tingling from momentary fear of heights. 11/10.
Go see this. Seriously. I thought this was the best Marvel Studios movie yet. Parker was right. Villains were right. Hell, superhero movie notwithstanding, this is one of the few movies to make high school actually feel like high school. Understandable, well motivated villain. References out the ass. And real actual crime fighting! Fight scenes that felt good while retaining teen awkwardness! And holy moly the filmwork on the Washington monument scene had my feet tingling from momentary fear of heights. 11/10.
GasBandit
Staff member
So I get the feeling you didn't like it.
Or that we won't.
Wait, some other people already went on record as saying that they liked it, too.
Now I'm confused.
--Patrick
A scene of Spider-man: Homecoming I totally forgot about because the climax had so much to do:
I don't see many people mention this scene online, but that one got to me.
After the Vulture brings down his base, Peter is trapped under the rubble, and for a moment, he snaps out of his own mindset. He isn't Spider-man. He's just a kid, scared and hurt and alone, crying for help. That was a rough moment; Holland sold the hell out of it, like Peter genuinely needed an adult because he was so in over his head.
I don't see many people mention this scene online, but that one got to me.
That one definitely got to me when I was watching. It felt so much more believable than most scenes of a similar nature.
My wife was the reason I remembered the scene. She started talking about it and it flashed back into my memory.
So, I watched Valerian and the House of a Thousand Corpses.
It's....complicated. My feelings about it, not the movie itself. Ok, the leads aren't likable (and I like Cara Delevingne) at all and their dialog is some of the worst I've ever heard in a movie, like actual worst. Getting into The Room territory. Cara is British, why make her do an American accent? The cast is British, French, German, etc and they all get to talk with their own accents. Why make a supermodel who's acting skills are suspect to begin with talk in an accent that isn't their own? On the other hand, it's gorgeous and fun to watch and you're constantly being visually stimulated in a good way with all the inventive and fun stuff onscreen. There's tons of Luc Bessonish madness going on, like Ethan Hawk playing a spectacularly weird looking space pimp.
The best way I could describe the writing is it's something written by someone who isn't a native English speaker and I don't know Besson's directing style, but I feel like he doesn't allow actors to change dialog to something more natural sounding, because no one sounded natural, or even human. All the dialog was cringe worthily bad. Oh, and I think Besson has issues with women drivers, because they make jokes at women drivers' expense like a half dozen times.
It's bombing and I'm not surprised. It's like the perfect example of a flawed but watchable movie. Like John Carter of Mars territory. It's not good, but it's not terrible either.
It's....complicated. My feelings about it, not the movie itself. Ok, the leads aren't likable (and I like Cara Delevingne) at all and their dialog is some of the worst I've ever heard in a movie, like actual worst. Getting into The Room territory. Cara is British, why make her do an American accent? The cast is British, French, German, etc and they all get to talk with their own accents. Why make a supermodel who's acting skills are suspect to begin with talk in an accent that isn't their own? On the other hand, it's gorgeous and fun to watch and you're constantly being visually stimulated in a good way with all the inventive and fun stuff onscreen. There's tons of Luc Bessonish madness going on, like Ethan Hawk playing a spectacularly weird looking space pimp.
The best way I could describe the writing is it's something written by someone who isn't a native English speaker and I don't know Besson's directing style, but I feel like he doesn't allow actors to change dialog to something more natural sounding, because no one sounded natural, or even human. All the dialog was cringe worthily bad. Oh, and I think Besson has issues with women drivers, because they make jokes at women drivers' expense like a half dozen times.
It's bombing and I'm not surprised. It's like the perfect example of a flawed but watchable movie. Like John Carter of Mars territory. It's not good, but it's not terrible either.
I suspect it's going to do well internationally, especially in Europe which was the target audience anyway.
Seventh Son
Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn who has a drunken bender as a wizard-knight who helps some chisel-jawed fuckwit learn how to kill witches. Julianne Moore is the base for a lot of Goth makeup and CGI that portray the villain.
Rooster goes the entire movie with between 6 and 24 marbles in his mouth, and Julianne Moore acted with all the verve and charm of a bottle of Xanax.
I can't remember where I heard the phrase, but it fits: "They sure make this look difficult"
Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn who has a drunken bender as a wizard-knight who helps some chisel-jawed fuckwit learn how to kill witches. Julianne Moore is the base for a lot of Goth makeup and CGI that portray the villain.
Rooster goes the entire movie with between 6 and 24 marbles in his mouth, and Julianne Moore acted with all the verve and charm of a bottle of Xanax.
I can't remember where I heard the phrase, but it fits: "They sure make this look difficult"
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
I saw this movie at my Aunt & Uncle's house this past weekend. My nephew was watching it and wanted us to watch with him, so we humored him. I have never seen it before, nor have I read the books, so it was literally my introduction to the series proper. Most of the movie is fine, CGI is a bit dated, but what are you gonna do? Hagrid seems bad at his job. He constantly was saying things he shouldn't, all of which lead directly to students under his care getting into trouble. I can excuse that as a plot device.
What I can't excuse, though, is Dumbledore at the end of the movie awarding the house cup. He reads out the points spread and awards the cup to Slytherin. THEN, he counts up some additional points earned through the climax of the movie which takes Gryffindor from 4th all the way up to winning. Dumbledore then takes the cup away from Slytherin and awards it to Gryffindor. What kind of bullcrap is that? Why did he wait to tally up the final points? I know it's more dramatic for the movie, but that is needlessly cruel to the Slytherin kids.
I saw this movie at my Aunt & Uncle's house this past weekend. My nephew was watching it and wanted us to watch with him, so we humored him. I have never seen it before, nor have I read the books, so it was literally my introduction to the series proper. Most of the movie is fine, CGI is a bit dated, but what are you gonna do? Hagrid seems bad at his job. He constantly was saying things he shouldn't, all of which lead directly to students under his care getting into trouble. I can excuse that as a plot device.
What I can't excuse, though, is Dumbledore at the end of the movie awarding the house cup. He reads out the points spread and awards the cup to Slytherin. THEN, he counts up some additional points earned through the climax of the movie which takes Gryffindor from 4th all the way up to winning. Dumbledore then takes the cup away from Slytherin and awards it to Gryffindor. What kind of bullcrap is that? Why did he wait to tally up the final points? I know it's more dramatic for the movie, but that is needlessly cruel to the Slytherin kids.
GasBandit
Staff member
Dumbledore giving zero fucks kinda ascended into a meme.
Kong: Skull Island
The 2nd installment of the Avengers except what if they were monsters universe. It's a really well shot and put together movie. I enjoyed the crap out of it. It plays out exactly how you think it'll play out but the ride is fun enough that you're fine with it. It's a King Kong movie so spoilers, people get killed by large things and Also Spoiler maybe the real monster is man?
Everyone is good in it. There's no standout performance because everyone does things they've done before more or less or things they were cast to do well. Loki is smooth and British, John Goodman talks and it's nice. Samuel L Jackson is tired of this mother fucking ape on this mother fucking island. I've seen it before but I liked it so much that I'm not mad.
If anything it's worth it for the after credits sequence where they tease the other Kiju.
8/10. Plus points for John C Riely being awesome. Minus points for no Gamera
The 2nd installment of the Avengers except what if they were monsters universe. It's a really well shot and put together movie. I enjoyed the crap out of it. It plays out exactly how you think it'll play out but the ride is fun enough that you're fine with it. It's a King Kong movie so spoilers, people get killed by large things and Also Spoiler maybe the real monster is man?
Everyone is good in it. There's no standout performance because everyone does things they've done before more or less or things they were cast to do well. Loki is smooth and British, John Goodman talks and it's nice. Samuel L Jackson is tired of this mother fucking ape on this mother fucking island. I've seen it before but I liked it so much that I'm not mad.
If anything it's worth it for the after credits sequence where they tease the other Kiju.
8/10. Plus points for John C Riely being awesome. Minus points for no Gamera
He's feeding the wizarding version of the war economy. He understands you need angry Slytherin kids to become future bad guys.
GasBandit
Staff member
I thought John C Reilly was the standout. John Goodman I thought they could've done more with. Really enjoyed Sam Jackson's story. The movie as a whole was a blast.
But it's too bad a pretty good Kong movie was overshadowed by its own mid-credits scene.
fade
Staff member
Ip Man
I decided to watch this after people wouldn't shut up about it. Meh. The acting is pretty cheesy and the fight scenes are kind of boring. Plus as a student of Japanese karate, I don't really recognize the stances or punches the "Japanese" martial artists were using. It looked more like a style of Kung Fu to me. Then again they did call it Japanese Kung Fu in the movie. I also found it a bit ironic that Ip said several times in the beginning that style doesn't matter. But then style mattered when it was the Japanese. Overall though it was just kind of a boring movie.
I decided to watch this after people wouldn't shut up about it. Meh. The acting is pretty cheesy and the fight scenes are kind of boring. Plus as a student of Japanese karate, I don't really recognize the stances or punches the "Japanese" martial artists were using. It looked more like a style of Kung Fu to me. Then again they did call it Japanese Kung Fu in the movie. I also found it a bit ironic that Ip said several times in the beginning that style doesn't matter. But then style mattered when it was the Japanese. Overall though it was just kind of a boring movie.
I'm...assuming that was a bad dub, given Ip Man was a practitioner of Wing Chun.
fade
Staff member
Not sure what you're talking about. That's as it was shown in the movie. But he fought Japanese martial artists after the invasion.
Sorry I misread that, thought you said Ip Man used Japanese Kung Fu. Either way from what I've read the film takes liberties with the man's life, and most likely martial arts as well.
Batman Mask of the Phantasm
A new Blu-Ray edition released recently. Which I would absolutely buy, but it's not available in Canada. So, I had to "legally obtain" it.
And goddamn this movie holds up. I would argue it's THE best Batman movie, even rivaling The Dark Knight. It's a great murder mystery (something no Batman movie has done to date). Really, the whole movie threatens Bruce with the one thing that could destroy Batman: happiness. And the animation is just...gah! It's just so good!
But fuck you, WB, for not releasing this in Canada.
A new Blu-Ray edition released recently. Which I would absolutely buy, but it's not available in Canada. So, I had to "legally obtain" it.
And goddamn this movie holds up. I would argue it's THE best Batman movie, even rivaling The Dark Knight. It's a great murder mystery (something no Batman movie has done to date). Really, the whole movie threatens Bruce with the one thing that could destroy Batman: happiness. And the animation is just...gah! It's just so good!
But fuck you, WB, for not releasing this in Canada.
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Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island
I love Godzilla. Not quite at @Zero Esc's level of fandom (
), but I loved Godzilla movies (and the cartoon!) as a kid so he definitely invokes warm fuzzy nostalgia with me. So this movie was disappointing. I finally figured out it was because you could remove Godzilla entirely from the film and it would still play out essentially the same way, with only a slight tweak at the end to make the plan to defeat the bugs succeed without Godzilla's help. The conflict was almost entirely humans vs. the mutos. Godzilla was more of a prop (when they remembered to put him in the movie) than a character.
Kong, on the other hand, was awesome. Solid characters and a solid story. And the filmmakers always rememberd to keep Kong front and center.
Kong will definitely be rewatched, Godzilla probably not. Hopefully my favorite giant lizard will get better treatment in the rest of the series.
I love Godzilla. Not quite at @Zero Esc's level of fandom (
), but I loved Godzilla movies (and the cartoon!) as a kid so he definitely invokes warm fuzzy nostalgia with me. So this movie was disappointing. I finally figured out it was because you could remove Godzilla entirely from the film and it would still play out essentially the same way, with only a slight tweak at the end to make the plan to defeat the bugs succeed without Godzilla's help. The conflict was almost entirely humans vs. the mutos. Godzilla was more of a prop (when they remembered to put him in the movie) than a character.I was disappointed Bryan Cranston's character died at the beginning. He was a far more compelling character than his son, with a real motivation to drive the film, while the kid was just "yeah, whatever" and sort of stumbled into situations where he was The Only One Who Can Do This. With Cranston's character figuring out the echolocation/communication and Ken Watanabe's character having knowledge of the monsters, I think this movie would have been better with those two working together to figure out more about the mutos and Godzilla, and they could have provided the human connection to Godzilla. But no, Cranston dies and Watanabe just stands around and info dumps at appropriate moments, while we follow the adventures of an EOD specialist handling bombs as giant bugs destroy cities.
Even when Kong wasn't in a scene, he was still present in the movie. From totally fucking up the plans of the human invaders, to motivating Sam Jackson's spiral into crazy, to inspiring team members to rebel against Jackson and become Kong's defenders. Kong drove this movie and the story wouldn't be the same without him. Kong has his own story/motivations and becomes a sympathetic character to the audience.
I watched Shin Godzilla the other day. Much more exciting than the Legendary movie which I stated before I found to be a complete snore fest. I recall @Zero Esc having described it as tonally similar to the original film, and I have to agree. Godzilla is a big, terrifying, natural disaster brought about unintentionally by man.
I did find it amusing that bureaucracy was the real monster.
I did find it amusing that bureaucracy was the real monster.
I don't disagree with any of this, except that I've rewatched the Legendary Godzilla and probably will again ... I'll just be preoccupied in the time after Cranston dies up until the finale, because I do love that last 25 minutes. I get what was being attempted, but I'm happy there will be a new director for Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Kong is a blast, and while not exactly a deep movie, it wholly embraces what it wants to be. I've seen people complain about Jackson's character, but I was hooked.Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island
I love Godzilla. Not quite at @Zero Esc's level of fandom (
Kong, on the other hand, was awesome. Solid characters and a solid story. And the filmmakers always rememberd to keep Kong front and center.I was disappointed Bryan Cranston's character died at the beginning. He was a far more compelling character than his son, with a real motivation to drive the film, while the kid was just "yeah, whatever" and sort of stumbled into situations where he was The Only One Who Can Do This. With Cranston's character figuring out the echolocation/communication and Ken Watanabe's character having knowledge of the monsters, I think this movie would have been better with those two working together to figure out more about the mutos and Godzilla, and they could have provided the human connection to Godzilla. But no, Cranston dies and Watanabe just stands around and info dumps at appropriate moments, while we follow the adventures of an EOD specialist handling bombs as giant bugs destroy cities.
Kong will definitely be rewatched, Godzilla probably not. Hopefully my favorite giant lizard will get better treatment in the rest of the series.Even when Kong wasn't in a scene, he was still present in the movie. From totally fucking up the plans of the human invaders, to motivating Sam Jackson's spiral into crazy, to inspiring team members to rebel against Jackson and become Kong's defenders. Kong drove this movie and the story wouldn't be the same without him. Kong has his own story/motivations and becomes a sympathetic character to the audience.
And now you're all caught up for the next movie in this shared universe ... in 2019.
Funny; I'm about to rewatch it once dinner's ready
. And yes, Shin Godzilla is the superior of the two recent Godzilla movies, oddly enough despite Godzilla probably having the same amount of screentime in each film ... maybe slightly more in Shin, but it depends on how you stopwatch the different ways he appears. But to Sara's point, the entire movie focuses on Godzilla, it's about nothing but Godzilla, so it's okay that he isn't present a lot. And yeah, as menacing as Godzilla is in that movie, the scary part is the sense of the public being completely alone because their government is helpless and incompetent. It's also a nice touch how it handles this like a real natural disaster, showing people's phone cams and media reports. It's a fine piece of filmmaking and deserves all the praise it's gotten.It's a shame Toho can't make any more live action Godzilla movies until after Legendary finished Godzilla vs Kong, as part of their production deal. We're getting three anime Godzilla movies on Netflix, but since it's the same animation studio as the new Berserk, I do not have high hopes.
The World's End
Finally got 'round to finishing off the Cornetto Trilogy. It's not as good as Hot Fuzz IMO, but it is definitely worth the watch. Nick Frost as a bit of a bad-ass, I found myself rooting for Andy more than Gary through most of the movie.
I find myself with a hankerin' for a marmalade sandwich now.
Finally got 'round to finishing off the Cornetto Trilogy. It's not as good as Hot Fuzz IMO, but it is definitely worth the watch. Nick Frost as a bit of a bad-ass, I found myself rooting for Andy more than Gary through most of the movie.
I find myself with a hankerin' for a marmalade sandwich now.
Yeah, definitely agree that the first half-hour or so and the last half-hour or so are the best parts of Godzilla. I think that is what makes it "disappointing" for me, because there were glimpses of a decent movie in there. But Kong was really good, so I'm hopeful for future movies.
Finished the Shin Godzilla rewatch a few minutes ago, and that is just a damn fine movie. I was probably wrong, it does have more Goji screentime than the 2015 film. There are long stretches of politics that threw me off, but every moment of it goes by at such a quick clip, not just to tell a story but to get a sense of the atmosphere. I remember feeling let down by the climax when I saw this in theaters back in October, but that wasn't the case this time. The middle of the movie is still jaw-dropping, the entire thing demanding attention, and while the bureaucracy is also a heavy beast, Godzilla himself is pretty scary too.
And then that final shot still gets me. Horror movies wish their final shot could be so chilling.
And then that final shot still gets me. Horror movies wish their final shot could be so chilling.
Definitely, it seemed to orbit around better moments in the middle, such as the almost-fight in Hawaii. And I feel that Cranston could've carried the movie had he been the lead even with the weak parts, because he's that kind of actor. You could've given him the same lines Aaron Taylor Johnson had and he would've delivered them with gravitas instead of bread and water.
I watched Dark Tower the other day and not having read the books, I did enjoy it. It was a pretty simple story but everyone played their parts well. Not sure if this quells anyone's trepidation regarding seeing the movie having read the book but I heard that rather than being the original series, this is rather a continuation of the wheel, told after the 7th book.
