Topic: The Movie Thread

@LN78 I was watching a film on Netflix and it was like when your local news comes one and it's in 460p or something. The info text said it was in 1080p but that was clearly a lie as 1) I could see with my eyes it wasn't and 2) and the stream rate was something really low like 0.75 Mbps, which is way too low for 1080p. I've watched other stuff and it seems to be fine. 🤷‍♂️

Oh and Krull was one of my all time faves to watch as a kid. Not watched it in yonks so not sure if it hold up well. Is that the one wehn the main guy has a metal boomerang thing with blades?

@LN78, I'm not really sure how much (if anything) was cut. According to IMDB the film's runtime is 120 minutes, while the version on Amazon Prime was 116 minutes (so it may be true something was cut, but there may also be some other reason it's slightly shorter).

And yeah, I can definitely see a lot of the film's content featuring women not gelling well with more modern sensibilities, but the film is just so stupid all around I couldn't take it seriously.

Watched three more horror films recently.

The first was Dario Argento's acclaimed giallo Deep Red. The film's cinematography and use of color is superb, but the mystery itself, along with the story's pacing, made it a real bore for much of the running time. Not a fan of the score, either: hated how this tacky prog rock music would start blasting whenever somebody was about to be murdered. Speaking of which, the audio balancing was terrible: I had to turn the volume up to hear the voices and then frantically dive for the remote when that Goblins music started blasting. Very pretty film to look at, but that's about it. I'm starting to think I just don't like these old Italian thrillers/horror movies.

Then I saw Black Christmas, a 1974 proto-slasher about a mysterious psychopath who terrorizes a group of sorority girls. I saw this mainly with its historical significance in mind, but expected something gaudy and exploitative. Surprisingly, it was actually quite excellent: strong characterization all around, patient direction that builds up a sense of tension and paranoia, some genuinely creepy moments, and a twist near the end that was co-opted more famously by another thriller a few years later, but which is still effective here. This is far, far closer to something like Halloween than it is Friday the Thirteenth. Highly recommended!

Finally, I watched Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, a low-budget thriller that helped contribute to the creation of an NC-17 rating due to its inability to receive a proper theatrical rating. It's obviously not as shocking now as it was when it first released, but there are still some utterly appalling sequences here. The main character, a drifter and serial killer named Henry (shocker, I know), played by a young(er) Michael Rooker of GotG fame, falls in with a creepy redneck named Otis and his unfortunate younger sister, Becky. The film opts for a quiet, almost docudrama feel, which makes the alarmingly casual treatment of violence and murder by Henry all the more alarming. What makes it so scary is how detached from any sense of empathy or morality he is: when he kills, it's not because he seems to gain a transgressive thrill from the act, or for any depraved sexual reasons, but simply because it's what he knows and what he does, which makes him feel more like a shark than some sort of moral reprobate. Michael Rooker has a natural talent for creepiness, and it works really well with this character. This provides an interesting contrast for his redneck buddy: Otis falls into murder as well, but, for him, the pleasure comes from the perversity of his actions, which eventually brings him into conflict with Henry. I can't really say this movie was a "good time," but it's excellent for what it is, and any fan of dark cinema should see it at least once.

To complement my Amazon Prime subscription I decided to order Amazon's 10 inch tablet, which should make it easier for me to get through TV series (I only get the main tv for a few hours weekday mornings, and lately not at all on weekends, and streaming is very hit and miss on my bedroom TV because the Wi-Fi signal is very weak up there). I got the stand to go with it, so I'll set it up on the dining table, which is right next to the room with the router, and hopefully that'll give me a good experience (Netflix supports HD quality streaming on it, so I imagine Amazon's own stuff will as well).

@RR529 Actually right now Netflix isn't doing HD due to the heavy traffic happening now because of the lockdowns

@Genrou, I remember hearing about that for Europe, but I don't think they've limited HD in the US yet (my parents regularly watch it through the PS3 & smart TV and I haven't noticed any decrease in quality from usual).

Project A-Ko (Amazon Prime Video) - 80's anime film that sees two high school girls (the cheerful A-Ko, whom has inhuman super strength, & C-Ko, who has a childlike cuteness & demeanor) transferring to a new school, and acclimating isn't easy, largely due to the schemes of B-Ko, spoiled rich & a genius, she's quickly enamored with C-Ko & devises many plans to defeat A-Ko & take C-Ko for herself. All this while an alien invasion is brewing on the horizon, seemingly linked to a mysterious object that crashed to Earth 16 years prior, of which our cast's city is built on top of.

It's largely a parody of anime of the time (with A-Ko, B-Ko, & C-Ko being named for their personality stereotypes, rather than having actual names, I believe), with nods to franchises such as Macross, Captain Harlock, & Fist of the North Star (I'm sure someone more well versed in anime culture of the time could find more). I actually first watched it a number of years ago after I randomly ran across it on YouTube (there was a channel long since taken down that had posted a bunch of the old Central Park Media stuff, and maybe some stuff from some other defunct localization outfits), and I remember liking it at the time so I decided to check it out again (and in more official capacity) since it's on Amazon. It's not a must watch classic, but I enjoyed it for what it was. Just keep in mind it's from an early era in dubbing, and it's in need of a remaster (quality was consistent, but SD).

https://www.avforums.com/news/odeon-cinemas-ban-universal-s-m...

Only just seen this. After Universal indicated that it would be releasing future films simultaneously in movie theatres and via home distribution, Odeon and Cineworld have announced that they will no longer show Universal Studios’ movie releases.

Interesting times. I wonder if other stuidios will take the same stance as Universal?

@LN78 It does smack of 'cutting your nose to spite your face' by the cinema chains. You would think that they would need to work closely with the studios in these unprecedented times.

Yeah we are not going to see packed cinemas for ages even when lockdown restrictions are lifted, as it will be gradually eased. I don't think people can be trusted to be sensible on their own, so i wonder if there will be restrictions of allowing a certain number of people in per screening, or whether it will just be a no go until social distancing is relaxed or no longer in place. The latter could be a long long way off yet.

That is interesting regarding Tenet, when it is due to be released? Like you say even if people are allowed to go to the Cinema, some will still be scared off by what has happened.

Godzilla VS Space Godzilla (Blu-Ray) - In this entry the anti-Godzilla task force "G-Force" has devised two plans to help humanity stand against the big guy. The first, Project T, seeks to influence Godzilla's actions via enhanced telepathy, and if the more peaceful plan fails, Project M, which refers to MOGERA, yet another giant fighting robot that has a heavy drill theme (and can split into two parts). Of course, things don't go quite as planned, especially considering the arrival of a new monster dubbed Space Godzilla, assumed created by some of Godzilla's cells being sucked into a black hole, rapidly mutating & evolving, then spat out of a white hole (in a previous film in the canon, Mothra flew into space to destroy an asteroid after fighting Godzilla).

Space Godzilla sure isn't the most unique monster in Toho's stable (it's just a souped up Godzilla with crystal growths), and I actually think MOGERA was the most interesting between the two (though with the Mechagodzilla in this canon also being a G-Force piloted mech, I can understand them not wanting to hedge too closely to their last movie in terms of plot), but it's still a decent watch for what it is.

@JohnnyShoulder, yeah, here in the US AMC theaters has decided not to show anymore Universal films either, and Regal is thinking about joining them.

Just ordered Escape From New York and Sicario on UHD Blu Ray. Not seen the former in ages and it is supposed to be a really good restoration. The latter is on of my fave films of the last decade.

@LN78 I saw The Fog is now available, which I almost got. If The Thing becomes available i don't think I will be able to control myself. Hopefully comes along with Big Trouble in Little China. A John Carpenter & Kurt Russell triple I wouldn't mind having in my collection. That is a good haul you got there. Jaws Is a stone cold classic. Shame the sequels got steadily worse. I remember seeing one in 3D in the cinema years back. Is Ford vs Ferarri also known as Le Mans 66, or is that another film?

I also see that Akira came out in Japan on 4K I think last week. Hopefully that comes this way soon.

Is Hitman, the 2007 movie, worth watching or is it just a bullet mess?

Deep Star Six (Amazon Prime Video) - Set in the fictional deep sea Navy facility "Deep Star Six", it follows a small group of workers nearing the end of a 6 month project to install a nuclear missile silo at the ocean floor. However, in a rush to complete the project they open up an ancient cavern while clearing the ocean floor, from which a primordial crustacean emerges that throws things into chaos.

It was a pretty good watch. While I'd never say it got to the point of being scary, it did a good job of building up suspense as the crustacean was a faceless terror until the last half hour, up until that point being nothing more than a mysterious radar signal that would close in before snatching away an exploratory sub or some such. Plus, there tends to be just something that works on an atmosphere level in these post Alien sci-fi suspense flicks, with the soft glow of the CRTs & the high tech but very mechanical facilities they work in.

Must of been a busy year for the theme too, as according to the recommendations of what to watch next, The Abyss, Leviathan, & Lords of the Deep all released the same year as this (89), and all seem to be variations of the same idea. I'll put them on the watchlist.

Everyone heard the news Taika Waititi is going to direct and co-write the next Star Wars movie? I've not yet seen his episode of The Mandalorian but I'm a fan of a lot of his stuff. It certainly has me intrigued, it's not like he has a lot to live up to at this point(personal opinion).

@LN78 I probably agree with that sentiment. I really liked Solo and felt a sequel could have ironed out some of the problems but Episode IX destroyed any faith I had in the brand. If they do the Obi Wan series on D+ then yeah, I’ll watch it but the sequel trilogy just burned me out completely on the brand as a whole.

@LN78 yeah I’ve not even seen Rise of the Skywalker yet. I’ll get around to seeing it eventually but my interest is definitely low. Now that the whole season of Mandalorian is on Disney + in the UK I’m eager to see that. Hopefully Taika’s new film won’t be burdened by being connected to any existing characters and allowed to tell it’s own story in that universe.

Flash Gordon is getting a 40th Anniversary 4K release! Gordon's alive?!

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=26790

Crawl

Effective if a little over familiar movie about two people trapped in a house with alligators and a category 5 hurricane looming. This was way better than I expected it to be and was tense pretty much throughout, with the alligators very menacing whenever they are on the screen. One small niggle that one character gets badly injured a couple of times but it has little or no effect on them going forward. Which annoyed me. Apart from that thought the actors do a solid job. Overall I really enjoyed it and and just under 90 mins a snappy watch.

I watched the extended edition of Fellowship of the Ring. Nearly 4 hours long but I enjoyed all the extra scenes. It’s been a while since I saw the movies, but I’m reading the book again (I must have been 12-13 when I read it first as it was before the movies, I didn’t understand a lot of it at the time) so thought I’d watch the movies as I go.

The films are kind of cheesy but they are getting to the age where you can let that slide and appreciate them for what they are. Looking forward to seeing the extended versions of the next two!