Topic: The Movie Thread

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!

(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.