Topic: The Movie Thread

I really liked King of the Monsters. It wasn't high art, but the visual design was amazing, and it was fun seeing big-budget hollywood Ghidorah. And it certainly beat the previous movie, where 90% of it was spent following a human storyline that was actively pretty mediocre, and then Godzilla spends the last bit of the movie fighting random scrub monsters nobody cares about.

I mean, I know boring the viewer senseless with terrible human drama is a Godzilla film tradition, but it's not one I'd like to see repeated.

Skull Island was golden, though. Loved that movie.

Also excited to watch Kong vs Godzilla. Hopefully Kong tries to choke Godzilla with a tree again!

@Th3solution KotM and Skull Island are both very much worth watching if you're in for fun kaiju action. If you only watch one, though, make it Skull Island, as it works both narratively and as an action movie, where KotM is pure dumb action movie fluff.

Godzilla was a bit of a drag to watch for the most i found. When Godzilla did show up it was cool. King of Monsters was allright i suppose. The monster battles were a visual and audio treat, but the rest of the film felt a bit naff. Too many annoying humans making too many annoying decisions saying too many annoying things. This annoyed me. And Skull Island... I have seen this but don't remember much about it. Was a weird mix of Vietnam War movie and a King Kong movie... I think?

Movies I watched last weekend.

the Lady & the Tramp 2019 (Disney+) - Another live action Disney remake, this time a doggy love story that follows Lady, the pampered pet of an upper crust early 20th century couple, as she meets up and gets romanced by Tramp, a street wise stray with a distrust of humans.

It was cute, but otherwise nothing else much to say about it.

Content Guide:

Language (None)

Violence (None)

Nudity/Sex (None)

the Black Cauldron (Disney+) - A mid 80's effort from the house of mouse, it's a traditional fantasy yarn in which the young farmhand Taran dreams of heroic adventure. Be careful what you wish for however, as he finds himself guardian of an oracle pig named Hen Wen, and when the villainous Horned King seeks out the oinker in order to locate the wearabouts of the titular Black Cauldron (housing the soul of an evil king, it can be used to summon an army of the undead), Taran finds himself thrust into the adventure he's always wanted.

I've heard that this was much darker than most other Disney fare, and that rings true. The Horned King has a genuinely frightening design, and an absolute ton of effort went into making his castle absolutely hauntingly nightmarish, with some fantastic special effects on display. Unfortunately that's all the film really has going for it, with a plot & cast that's generic to a fault (I didn't even take to the comic relief sidekick creature thing), it took me a whole day after the fact to even remember the main kid's name.

Content Guide:

Language (None)

Violence (Mild) - Just some bloodless cartoon fantasy swordplay.

Nudity/Sex (None)

@rogerroger, maybe I missed it, but what did you think of Zach Snyder’s Justice League cut?

I liked Godzill:KoM, but I thought the fights could’ve been better. I hate one-sides fights where the the main character gets defeated and gets a power (radiation) somehow that makes it a different one sided fight where the “hero” wins, it would have been much better to have pitched thought out fights.

@RR529 I thought Lady and the Tramp really could have done with a bit more language, violence and nudity/sex.

@nessisonett Wrong version on the wrong streaming platform.

@RogerRoger I haven’t seen it yet, but I enjoyed your opinions on the previous films, so I was going use them to factor how in much of a priority to make it. I’m definitely interested.

@JohnnyShoulder I’m afraid any jokes about doggy style and b****es might be a little blue for this site.

So for the Snyder Cut, are there black bars on the the sides for the whole film or just during certain scenes?

@JohnnyShoulder The whole film, it’s just made that way. I really like it to be honest, gives it a sorta timeless feel.

@nessisonett Eeeesh, they sure are trying their hardest to make me wanna not see the film.

I need some Godzilla v Kong in my life and obviously there's no way I can see it anytime soon (not a legit one anyway).
Big fan of giant monsters smashing cities and stuff.

@JohnnyShoulder Entire movie

The film was preserved in the 4:3 ratio because it's the standard viewing ratio for IMAX screens

It's honestly one of those things where it's noticeable for like the first hour and then you just kind of forget it's there. In my opinion the way the film was shot perfectly accomodates for more of the vertical frame

@RogerRoger Transformers The Last Knight was practically completely unwatchable for me because of the constant switching between aspect ratios during the same scene

I hear that the IMAX remastered version of BvS Ultimate Edition also switches between conventional digital camera shots and scenes that were specifically filmed for IMAX that are displayed in 4:3 for the full frame like the Knightmare sequence

I like how The Grand Budapest Hotel uses the changing aspect ratios to convey the different time periods. It makes a lot of sense thematically too.

@nessisonett @TheFrenchiestFry @RogerRoger Yeah I'll still watch it but I may prioritise other films when it is available. Certain films have used the switching of aspect ratio to good effect, but I agree it can be jarring sometimes when it happens.

I like how Steve Jobs (the Michael Fassbender one) switches formats depending on which point in Apple's history the narrative is currently centered around

Whilst on the subject of films that switch aspect ratio, The Mauritanian uses it to quite good effect. The film does sag a bit in the middle I found, but i felt strongly moved after watching it. A good cast who all do well, but Tahar Rahim (who was also great in the recent BBC series The Serpent) shines above them as the suspected 9/11 terrorist imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. Worth a watch.

@JohnnyShoulder Tahar Rahim was amazing in The Serpent. He’s a consistently gripping actor though, brilliant in A Prophet too.