Topic: The Movie Thread

(Oh I also watched Sonic, lots of fun, not sure it needs another though!)

@LN78 I didn’t actually catch any of that, but I will say that’s what made me want to read the books again. I am pretty sure I first saw it advertised as him reading LOTR and I thought Jesus how long is that going to take him? Maybe I was wrong though.

My first experience of The Hobbit was on cassette tape when I was 7 or 8.

This was the one! In fact, I might not have ever actually read the Hobbit.

@kyleforrester87 I saw the extended versions of the first two films followed by the regular cut of the third film when it was released in the cinema. That was a long stint, and I did not want to set foot in a cinema for a long time after that!

@kyleforrester87 The extended editions are great. My parents went to see the three together in the pictures (lol it was that long ago) and they bought the extended editions on DVD when they first came out so I actually think they’re the only versions I’ve seen. I couldn’t imagine what the shorter versions cut, none of it really feels superfluous.

@nessisonett i have seen the originals a lot, and it didn’t seem like a lot was added (although I enjoyed everything that was) so I’m surprised it increased the film by that much. I guess the most worthwhile addition was seeing what Galadriel gifted the Fellowship, you only see her giving Frodo the magic bottled star (whatever they call it) in the original cut.

@Arugula congrats!

Golgo 13: the Professional (Amazon Prime Video) - Late 80's anime film that sees professional assassin for hire Golgo fight for his life after the CIA, FBI, & Pentagon team up to kill him at the behest of a powerful oil baron, who's son was Golgo's last mark.

It was an interesting watch, though not without it's flaws. Graphic, gritty, but with a flair for spectacle (such as car chase through the neon lit streets of LA), it has a vibe you'd never see from anything the anime industry would turn out in the past 20 years, and honestly would probably feel more at home next to Kill Bill & Sin City rather than any anime collection, and it cleans up really nicely in HD, save for a few rough edges (Though it has a laughably bad helicopter CGI segment during the climax, that completely takes you out of the experience & plops you down into an ancient flight simulator. I can't imagine it looked good even at the time, other than the novelty of having a CGI segment. They didn't, and honestly probably even couldn't, achieve any sort of aesthetic commonality between it and the rest of the film).

The story is nothing particularly noteworthy, though it does it's job in setting the stage for the graphic misadventure, and features a few eccentric assassins that would feel right at home in a Metal Gear game. Also, when I say graphic, I mean it. It's absolutely saturated with blood & sex, and while while some scenes are stylistically interesting or tactful (the scene where Golgo beds his female contact in LA comes to mind, where they appear as silhouettes on an ever changing neon background), it easily goes in the other direction as well, even featuring a rape scene (as morally ambiguous as Golgo himself is, they really wanted to drive home that he finds himself up against some twisted individuals). Needlessly to say, it's definitely not for everyone.

@RR529 sounds good, might have a look.

@Arugula You are on a bad run recently! Yeah Hangman wasn't great, I probably enjoyed it a smidge more than you. But only a smidge.

I watched Election tonight because it was on the BBC and it was really good. It does a really good job of making you detest basically every character, which is impressive in its own right. Reese Witherspoon is an absolute monster and plays it well, everyone knows that one try-hard student and Matthew Broderick is equally good as a petty, despicable excuse for a teacher. It’s pretty similar to Rushmore and not quite as good but it’s definitely worth a watch.

Saw Joker last night. Thought the actual film was only ok but my lord what a performance by Joaquin Phoenix, fully deserving of his oscar win. Anyone expecting a traditional comic book movie is going to be in for a surprise and share more resemblance to something like Taxi Driver. Don't understand what all the fuss was about when it got released, I didn't think it was overly violent or anything.

@JohnnyShoulder I went to see Joker at the local indie cinema on 70mm reels and the noise and aspect ratio added to the experience so much that I couldn’t imagine watching it on my TV. I did find some of the violence slightly tacky but I’m a bit of a wuss and looked away during the scissors scene. I also felt a bit mixed about the movie, it definitely felt like it was a decent movie held back by Todd Phillips’ direction and only really held together by Joaquin Phoenix’s performance, which was brilliant.

Watched Casino Royale last night. I had low hopes for this James Bond movie, and suffice to say it wasn't great. It might have been a tolerable movie at the time, but it hasn't aged well. The story was messy, and much of it could have easily been cut out. It tries to be a comedy, but a lot of the jokes fall flat, and the movie is a drag at times.

The story revolves around respectable former agent Sir James Bond. He is forced out of retirement as secret agents around the world are disappearing. He is helped by others, who are also given the 007 James Bond nicknames in order to confuse the enemies. Together they must defeat Le Chiffre at a high stakes game of baccarat, and stop SMERSH's leader Dr Noah from his evil plan.

This 1967 movie was created by a different production company than the usual Bond producers Eon Productions. The producers of Casino Royale didn't think they could complete with Eon Production's next James Bond movie, so instead they decided to turn Casino Royale into a parody. It had a troubled production, and had mixed to negative reviews, but was a financial success.

I watched it mainly just because I was curious what this satire movie was like. Overall, I can't recommend it, not unless someone has an unyielding curiosity about this Bond movie. It'll be much better to watch the 2006 Casino Royale movie or Austin Powers instead.

@nessisonett I saw it on 4K UHD blu ray and thought it was stunning. I'm not overly keen on film grain, on older movies I can tolerate it because there it is not much you can do about, but not so much on new films. Especially when Joker was shot digitally, so this is how it was intended to be shown by the filmmakers.

@RogerRoger @Arugula It is a very well made film, but not one I enjoyed a great deal. I much preferred it to the recent DC films however and hope The Batman has a similar tone.

@crimsontadpoles Oh dear, I thought you were talking about the ace 2006 one! Yes, that movie is truly terrible, especially if you’ve read the book which is a really great spy thriller.

@JohnnyShoulder Joker looked incredible with the film grain as it totally captured how grimy Gotham is. I feel that a cleaner picture would make the film look slightly more modern, which imo wouldn’t do it the same justice of capturing 70s Scorsese.

@nessisonett Yeah not a fan of it, i always turn it off in a game if given the choice.

I watched the extended version of The Two Towers last night. Very enjoyable and the extra (almost) hour of footage was most welcome, better than the extra footage in the first film which was itself good. Particularly enjoyed Treebeard talk about the Entwives, and how they lost them and can’t remember what they looked like. What a way to go.

The stew scene with Aragorn was laugh out loud funny on par with the Terminator 2 smiling scene, and I enjoyed Gimili’s “he’s twitchin’ coz he’s got ma axe EMBEDDED IN HIS NERVOUS SYSTEM!” delivery.

Still, the entire film is almost ruined again by the Legolas surfing on a shield scene. God I hate that scene 😂

@LN78 nice will take a look at that

@LN78 haha, highly doubtful. I know The Hobbit movies were not that well received, I am not sure if I saw them all in the end either although I’ve seen the first one a couple of times. I agree it’s not great. I also really don’t like Martin Freeman for some reason.

I watched Alita: Battle Angel. It wasn’t terrible and I loved the styling of it, some of the characters really captured the early 90s anime style and the violence was brilliantly gory at times. It kinda dragged and the dialogue was a bit goofy but it had a certain charm and I’d probably watch it again.