That's the shift I was waiting for, I had the exact same feeling. They could pick like any two storylines in the movie and cut them completely and nothing would have been lost, but at the same time it was really fun.
[Movies] Talk about the last movie you saw 2: Electric Threadaloo
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Alien Romulus
Really liked the first 1/2. Didn't care for the last 1/4 of the movie. Haven't seen anything between this and alien3 so maybe I missed something. Big fat meh.
Really liked the first 1/2. Didn't care for the last 1/4 of the movie. Haven't seen anything between this and alien3 so maybe I missed something. Big fat meh.
The sad, slow decline of Ridley Scott's talent...
Wallace and Gromit A Vengeance most Fowl
Loved it. It's equally as good as the older stuff. The whole family had a great time watching.
Loved it. It's equally as good as the older stuff. The whole family had a great time watching.
Flow
An animated film about a group of animals navigating a catastrophic flood. No dialogue other than animal sounds and body language (which they captured perfectly). The main character is a cat, so I've seen the movie compared to the game Stray a lot, and they do have the same vibe. They mostly behave like animals with some slight anthropomorphic stuff. Some interactions are human-like and they learn how to steer a boat, but it's not a "talking animals" movie. Beautiful film, with a strong feeling of "magical realism". It doesn't explain everything that is happening, which is very refreshing these days. I saw one review complain that there was no explicit lesson on the dangers of climate change, and... dude, just chill out and let the movie exist, not everything has to be lectures and checkboxes and a quiz at the end. It's the kind of movie that makes you think about what it's trying to say, with cute animals.
Also, the movie was made entirely in Blender by a small team, so that's very cool.
An animated film about a group of animals navigating a catastrophic flood. No dialogue other than animal sounds and body language (which they captured perfectly). The main character is a cat, so I've seen the movie compared to the game Stray a lot, and they do have the same vibe. They mostly behave like animals with some slight anthropomorphic stuff. Some interactions are human-like and they learn how to steer a boat, but it's not a "talking animals" movie. Beautiful film, with a strong feeling of "magical realism". It doesn't explain everything that is happening, which is very refreshing these days. I saw one review complain that there was no explicit lesson on the dangers of climate change, and... dude, just chill out and let the movie exist, not everything has to be lectures and checkboxes and a quiz at the end. It's the kind of movie that makes you think about what it's trying to say, with cute animals.
Also, the movie was made entirely in Blender by a small team, so that's very cool.
Nosferatu
A very entertaining movie. If you have watched any adaptation of Dracula you know the generell direction of the movie even though this one has a lot more sex in it. Don't expect a gore fest where people gets torn apart left and right. It's a lot more atmospheric but not boring. However there are scenes that made me laugh thanks to Mel Brooks's parody.
A very entertaining movie. If you have watched any adaptation of Dracula you know the generell direction of the movie even though this one has a lot more sex in it. Don't expect a gore fest where people gets torn apart left and right. It's a lot more atmospheric but not boring. However there are scenes that made me laugh thanks to Mel Brooks's parody.
figmentPez
Staff member
Monkey Man
For the first half I thought this was an unremarkable revenge movie; not bad but I was thinking that the movie really needed to change something up if it was going to go another hour. Change things up it did.
This movie has got some style, and the villains are distressingly relevant. Also, it says Trans Rights.
I don't know enough about the religions of India to know if it did right by the original mythology, but it is interesting to see an English language action film inspired by Hindu stories.
Overall, it was really good.
For the first half I thought this was an unremarkable revenge movie; not bad but I was thinking that the movie really needed to change something up if it was going to go another hour. Change things up it did.
This movie has got some style, and the villains are distressingly relevant. Also, it says Trans Rights.
I don't know enough about the religions of India to know if it did right by the original mythology, but it is interesting to see an English language action film inspired by Hindu stories.
Overall, it was really good.
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Finally got around to watching Dune part 1.
Hmm... I think I can see why lots of people liked it, but after finishing it, I just feel like it wasn't really for me. It was well acted, the designs were interesting, and the universe is deep and rich, but I just didn't really feel much as I was watching it, you know? The attack on Arrakis? Lots of explosions and sword fights, but it didn't have an emotional impact on me. Duncan Idaho's last stand? Very noble and brave, but again, I didn't feel much. The climactic fight against that Fremen dude? Well choreographed, but again I didn't feel anything. The special effects were fine, but when Paul and Jessica were standing in awe in front of a gigantic sandworm's open mouth, I felt no awe at all.
Also, apparently Paul gets psychic visions a lot, but this just means there are lots of random shots of things that may or may not mean anything, who knows. Shots of Zendaya smiling? Maybe it means something, maybe it doesn't. Shots of a vague future war? Maybe it means something, who knows.
Maybe it's a problem with me, like maybe I just didn't go in with the right mentality, or perhaps I would need to have read the books to truly appreciate what I was seeing. But, in the end, it's a well-acted and well-shot movie that left me feeling strangely hollow and uncaring when the credits rolled, like my brain wasn't interested in dissecting what I'd just watched, and just wanted to think about something else now. Oh well.
Rebecca Ferguson is really hot though.
Hmm... I think I can see why lots of people liked it, but after finishing it, I just feel like it wasn't really for me. It was well acted, the designs were interesting, and the universe is deep and rich, but I just didn't really feel much as I was watching it, you know? The attack on Arrakis? Lots of explosions and sword fights, but it didn't have an emotional impact on me. Duncan Idaho's last stand? Very noble and brave, but again, I didn't feel much. The climactic fight against that Fremen dude? Well choreographed, but again I didn't feel anything. The special effects were fine, but when Paul and Jessica were standing in awe in front of a gigantic sandworm's open mouth, I felt no awe at all.
Also, apparently Paul gets psychic visions a lot, but this just means there are lots of random shots of things that may or may not mean anything, who knows. Shots of Zendaya smiling? Maybe it means something, maybe it doesn't. Shots of a vague future war? Maybe it means something, who knows.
Maybe it's a problem with me, like maybe I just didn't go in with the right mentality, or perhaps I would need to have read the books to truly appreciate what I was seeing. But, in the end, it's a well-acted and well-shot movie that left me feeling strangely hollow and uncaring when the credits rolled, like my brain wasn't interested in dissecting what I'd just watched, and just wanted to think about something else now. Oh well.
Rebecca Ferguson is really hot though.
figmentPez
Staff member
I've read Dune (though not any others) and I still felt very similar to you after having recently watched Dune part 2. Beautiful cinematography, special effects, and people. Solid acting, good action, and there's clearly a well developed world. I don't really care about any of it.
Coincidentally, I was looking on my server yesterday and said "oh, i should get finally get around to watching part 2," queued it up, and went "oh..i've already seen it. I guess it didn't make much impact."
Oh I think the bad ratings are justified, but if you go in with the right expectations it can be fun.
Captain America: Brave New World
That was pretty good. If I ranked it with the other Cap movies, I'd say third place, above Civil War (which I enjoyed, but didn't think was great).
The middle part dragged, taking way too long with the villain reveal, but the main event was worth it.
Not a perfect movie, but it was all right.
That was pretty good. If I ranked it with the other Cap movies, I'd say third place, above Civil War (which I enjoyed, but didn't think was great).
The middle part dragged, taking way too long with the villain reveal, but the main event was worth it.
Not a perfect movie, but it was all right.
The Gorge
That was totally wicked! Just a really solid action flick that basically delivers as advertised. There's nothing really special or groundbreaking about it, but it's a ton of fun. The two leads have good chemistry with each other, and I liked the extended sequence where they communicate across the gorge with little to no spoken dialogue. As the trailer teases, they also wind up in the gorge and spend a lot more time in it than I expected. A lot of really neat special effects and lore than I expected, too.
Again, it's nothing special, but it's one of those great popcorn flicks that takes a neat concept and executes it well. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the mood for a solid popcorn flick.
That was totally wicked! Just a really solid action flick that basically delivers as advertised. There's nothing really special or groundbreaking about it, but it's a ton of fun. The two leads have good chemistry with each other, and I liked the extended sequence where they communicate across the gorge with little to no spoken dialogue. As the trailer teases, they also wind up in the gorge and spend a lot more time in it than I expected. A lot of really neat special effects and lore than I expected, too.
Again, it's nothing special, but it's one of those great popcorn flicks that takes a neat concept and executes it well. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the mood for a solid popcorn flick.
At this review I decided to give it a go. Even renewed my Apple TV account to see it. Have to say I agree on Nick’s thoughts. It’s a fun movie. Definitely gets dark and horrific at times. I would have enjoyed seeing this in theaters, especially with the incredible shots of the gorge.
I'm going to be honest with you, I -think- I enjoyed that movie while I was watching it, but it's such a manufactured piece of disposable consumption that I have no memory of what happens in it.
Perfectly understandable. I actually watched it about a week ago and only just remembered to post about it today.
Star Trek Nemesis
...yyyyyeah.... not the best. Like, the action scenes were good, but as a book end for the TNG era it just didn't feel right, the least of which because of that Troi scene as...WHY?! LEAVE HER ALONE STAR TREK WRITERS!
...yyyyyeah.... not the best. Like, the action scenes were good, but as a book end for the TNG era it just didn't feel right, the least of which because of that Troi scene as...WHY?! LEAVE HER ALONE STAR TREK WRITERS!
I'm trying to catch up on some of the Oscar nominated movies. I don't think I really care about the Oscars; truth be told, I haven't watched them in over 20 years. But I'm sometimes curious to see what is considered "the best of the best" each year, artistically-speaking.
Anora - I'm still a little confused why it was nominated for so many awards. It wasn't a bad movie, but I don't know if it reached quite the levels of it's hype. I think some parts went on a tad too long. I know they were trying for...atmosphere? ambiance? But it didn't really feel like it was building either at times. Just kind of spinning it's wheels, bordering on gratuitous, like it didn't trust the audience to get the point without hitting them over the head with it. It wasn't really that deep. Not bad performances, either, but Mikey Madison's shrieking could have been shorted by a few minutes. I feel like it could have been a tighter film with the same amount of emotional impact had they made some edits.
A Complete Unknown - On the opposite end, this definitely screamed, "trying for an Oscar". What disappointed me was that with a 2+hour run time, they covered so little of Dylan's life, and there's so much to work with. It reinforced Dylan as being a self-centered dick, which is more-or-less the impression I've had of him for decades. I would have loved for them to give us a tad more insight to his thinking, but it felt like the characters around him were doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and he would just react to them. I feel like Ed Norton's Pete Seeger should have gotten more love. He felt like a far more complete and complicated character compared to Dylan. All the supporting cast seemed great to me. And I enjoyed the music, but what, no "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"? (I'm kidding-please don't.)
The Substance - WOOF. I knew going in this would be a body horror film, and I had already been spoiled about some plot points, but I didn't think it would be so unflinchingly Cronenberg-esque. This is like The Fly, and then some. I'm not going to forget that insane finale for a long time, no matter how hard I try! The main plot wasn't exactly unexamined territory (how far would you go for youth, and how important is it?), but it was an interpretation that was as subtle as a giant mallet and far more gory results.
Anora - I'm still a little confused why it was nominated for so many awards. It wasn't a bad movie, but I don't know if it reached quite the levels of it's hype. I think some parts went on a tad too long. I know they were trying for...atmosphere? ambiance? But it didn't really feel like it was building either at times. Just kind of spinning it's wheels, bordering on gratuitous, like it didn't trust the audience to get the point without hitting them over the head with it. It wasn't really that deep. Not bad performances, either, but Mikey Madison's shrieking could have been shorted by a few minutes. I feel like it could have been a tighter film with the same amount of emotional impact had they made some edits.
A Complete Unknown - On the opposite end, this definitely screamed, "trying for an Oscar". What disappointed me was that with a 2+hour run time, they covered so little of Dylan's life, and there's so much to work with. It reinforced Dylan as being a self-centered dick, which is more-or-less the impression I've had of him for decades. I would have loved for them to give us a tad more insight to his thinking, but it felt like the characters around him were doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and he would just react to them. I feel like Ed Norton's Pete Seeger should have gotten more love. He felt like a far more complete and complicated character compared to Dylan. All the supporting cast seemed great to me. And I enjoyed the music, but what, no "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"? (I'm kidding-please don't.)
The Substance - WOOF. I knew going in this would be a body horror film, and I had already been spoiled about some plot points, but I didn't think it would be so unflinchingly Cronenberg-esque. This is like The Fly, and then some. I'm not going to forget that insane finale for a long time, no matter how hard I try! The main plot wasn't exactly unexamined territory (how far would you go for youth, and how important is it?), but it was an interpretation that was as subtle as a giant mallet and far more gory results.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
I was pretty high on Ghostbusters: Afterlife when I saw it in theaters, but since then, I'll be honest, I barely give it any thoughts. I remember enjoying it a the time but I can't remember much of it now.
Frozen Empire will probably have the same fate.
It's fine. It's not great, it's not terrible. Characters show up and say entertaining things. The effects are solid enough. There are a few interesting things they could have explored more if the movie didn't feel so corporatized paint-by-numbers.
It's a serviceable, entertaining movie that I doubt I'll give a second thought to after a short time. The only reason I watched it is because I stumbled across it on @GasBandit's Plex server. I'm glad I didn't pay money to see it, I don't regret watching it, but I probably won't ever watch it again.
I was pretty high on Ghostbusters: Afterlife when I saw it in theaters, but since then, I'll be honest, I barely give it any thoughts. I remember enjoying it a the time but I can't remember much of it now.
Frozen Empire will probably have the same fate.
It's fine. It's not great, it's not terrible. Characters show up and say entertaining things. The effects are solid enough. There are a few interesting things they could have explored more if the movie didn't feel so corporatized paint-by-numbers.
It's a serviceable, entertaining movie that I doubt I'll give a second thought to after a short time. The only reason I watched it is because I stumbled across it on @GasBandit's Plex server. I'm glad I didn't pay money to see it, I don't regret watching it, but I probably won't ever watch it again.
What I could see them doing, and I really want this to be a thing, is giving us villains basically right out of the cartoon series. I don’t mind them coming up with new ghosts, but how amazing would the Boogie Man or Samhein be in a live action film?
GasBandit
Staff member
Supernatural crossover.
figmentPez
Staff member
I was trying to think of a good crossover, but now I'm just sad that Lockwood & Co. only got one season.
Matilda the Musical (2022)
Ok, so I'm a little late to the party on this one.
I've never seen the stage play, which in itself is a crime because I love Tim Minchin. But watching this one day on a lark had it quickly become one of my favorite musicals, and one song in particular caught me entirely off guard and had me crying in my living room, a song where Matilda sings about having an anxiety attack from sensory overload and then disassociating. Or at least that's how I interpreted it.
Without turning this into a trauma dump about our childhoods, this hit me right in the feels and transported me back to being a kid, realizing that my head seems to work differently from most of my friends, and trying to navigate how to handle all this noise without showing any signs of struggle to the adults, because they would be concerned if I brought it up and I didn't want that.
The fact that this is also the moment Matilda discovers her super power (spoiler for a 40 year old book) also seems incredibly poetic. I was caught completely off guard by how seen I suddenly felt.
Ok, so I'm a little late to the party on this one.
I've never seen the stage play, which in itself is a crime because I love Tim Minchin. But watching this one day on a lark had it quickly become one of my favorite musicals, and one song in particular caught me entirely off guard and had me crying in my living room, a song where Matilda sings about having an anxiety attack from sensory overload and then disassociating. Or at least that's how I interpreted it.
Without turning this into a trauma dump about our childhoods, this hit me right in the feels and transported me back to being a kid, realizing that my head seems to work differently from most of my friends, and trying to navigate how to handle all this noise without showing any signs of struggle to the adults, because they would be concerned if I brought it up and I didn't want that.
The fact that this is also the moment Matilda discovers her super power (spoiler for a 40 year old book) also seems incredibly poetic. I was caught completely off guard by how seen I suddenly felt.
I went to the play in London a few years back basically just cause it had showings open on a day I had time to kill and I had a very similar reaction.
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I did say I wasn't going to turn this into a trauma dump buuuut.... I learned so many bad lessons as a kid dealing with that, which took me ages to unlearn. I quickly learned that showing signs of struggle made adults 'concerned' because I was supposed to be the smart kid, so I would hide that. When I was in fourth or fifth grade an uncle that I was extremely close to died in a car crash, and naturally this affected me. One of my teachers sent a note home with me concerned that I was being quieter than usual, as before that I was known as the class clown, and now they were worried I was depressed. As an adult looking back I was just sad (though depression would come soon after) and sad is a perfectly valid reaction to losing someone, but what I learned from that experience is I couldn't show my sadness as it got me into trouble, so I quickly became the class clown again to mask that.
Anyway, I'm much better now, 30 years later. But Matilda still felt very moving and validating.
The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
I have a deep love for the old cartoon shorts. Anything from the 1930s through the early 1950s is that golden era. Tex Avery, Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones were that trio that I would credit with most of my budding sense of humor in my youth.
I've been mostly disappointed with most of the Looney Tunes film projects. The Day the Earth Blew Up is a vast improvement over films like Space Jam, but it still felt like it might have worked better as a short film. Animation wise it's pretty good as far as the main trio of animal characters (Porky, Daffy and Petunia) are concerned. I do not care for the human animations which is basically that really off-putting animation they have been using for human characters in any WB animated project for the last decade or so, which I think the fast-tracked Direct-to-Video Tom and Jerry films starting using. Humor wise it's got some good gags but it isn't consistently funny. Some of the humor just doesn't work and some gags run on far too long. The animation is very well done with a few exceptions: a character that is purposely animated horribly and it is by far one of the best gags, and some flashback sequences that just reuse past scenes unnecessarily so they could save some money on animation. Probably not the fault of the animators though, as this was clearly something that was a troubled production due to Zaslav. But I think the biggest thing here is that you will not be wasting your money with this film to support it. And supporting it will go a long way for us to see hopefully better and better Looney Tunes films in the future.
The Electric State:
A lot of hate for this film and I honestly don't understand why. It's no masterpiece but it's definitely not a piece of cinematic garbage either. There are definitely some better ways the story could have gone but I think that overall it was a fun two hours.
Asterix: The Mansion of the Gods
Amazon Prime finally has some of the more recent Asterix animated features available to watch. I've been wanting to see this one for a few years and finally had the chance to sit down.
Enjoyable but, kind of like the Looney Tunes, I think the humor of the older projects has diminished in the more modern stories. It's also unfortunate to see the animation switch to CG animation when I think these characters worked so much better in a 2D format. I think the last one that was 2D was Asterix and the Vikings, which I recall enjoying, especially since Paul Giammati was Asterix in that English dub.
Mansion of the Gods is fun, but it's not near it's prime.
I have a deep love for the old cartoon shorts. Anything from the 1930s through the early 1950s is that golden era. Tex Avery, Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones were that trio that I would credit with most of my budding sense of humor in my youth.
I've been mostly disappointed with most of the Looney Tunes film projects. The Day the Earth Blew Up is a vast improvement over films like Space Jam, but it still felt like it might have worked better as a short film. Animation wise it's pretty good as far as the main trio of animal characters (Porky, Daffy and Petunia) are concerned. I do not care for the human animations which is basically that really off-putting animation they have been using for human characters in any WB animated project for the last decade or so, which I think the fast-tracked Direct-to-Video Tom and Jerry films starting using. Humor wise it's got some good gags but it isn't consistently funny. Some of the humor just doesn't work and some gags run on far too long. The animation is very well done with a few exceptions: a character that is purposely animated horribly and it is by far one of the best gags, and some flashback sequences that just reuse past scenes unnecessarily so they could save some money on animation. Probably not the fault of the animators though, as this was clearly something that was a troubled production due to Zaslav. But I think the biggest thing here is that you will not be wasting your money with this film to support it. And supporting it will go a long way for us to see hopefully better and better Looney Tunes films in the future.
The Electric State:
A lot of hate for this film and I honestly don't understand why. It's no masterpiece but it's definitely not a piece of cinematic garbage either. There are definitely some better ways the story could have gone but I think that overall it was a fun two hours.
Asterix: The Mansion of the Gods
Amazon Prime finally has some of the more recent Asterix animated features available to watch. I've been wanting to see this one for a few years and finally had the chance to sit down.
Enjoyable but, kind of like the Looney Tunes, I think the humor of the older projects has diminished in the more modern stories. It's also unfortunate to see the animation switch to CG animation when I think these characters worked so much better in a 2D format. I think the last one that was 2D was Asterix and the Vikings, which I recall enjoying, especially since Paul Giammati was Asterix in that English dub.
Mansion of the Gods is fun, but it's not near it's prime.
The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
I liked it. Didn't love it. I can appreciate the traditional 2D animated style and there were some really great animated moments in this. I feel like it maybe went on a little too long, though? The problem with the Looney Tunes characters is they were built around the short cartoon format, not a full length feature. So as funny as Daffy and Porky were, they weren't really interesting enough to carry a full plot. Not one that takes itself kind of seriously for a silly as the concept is.
On the one hand, I'm not sure if I needed to see this in theaters. On the other hand, I'm glad I did to support a 2D traditionally animated movie.
I liked it. Didn't love it. I can appreciate the traditional 2D animated style and there were some really great animated moments in this. I feel like it maybe went on a little too long, though? The problem with the Looney Tunes characters is they were built around the short cartoon format, not a full length feature. So as funny as Daffy and Porky were, they weren't really interesting enough to carry a full plot. Not one that takes itself kind of seriously for a silly as the concept is.
On the one hand, I'm not sure if I needed to see this in theaters. On the other hand, I'm glad I did to support a 2D traditionally animated movie.
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It was initially marked for a direct to streaming film. So I think going in with that mentality people will probably be prepared for that quality. But yes, I agree this could have been hilarious as even an extra long short (like 15 minutes).
GasBandit
Staff member
Much like the others, I agree that The Day the Earth Blew Up was a 45-60 minute movie stretched into 90 minutes that was adequately enjoyable despite it. While certainly not a timeless classic, I, too, am glad I showed support for this endeavor. Unfortunately, my group was the only 3 people in the theater at 1:50pm on a Sunday to watch it. I don't know if that bodes disaster for Coyote vs Acme's release prospects or not.