Topic: The Movie Thread

Netflix have decided to utterly ruin Persuasion now. The casting is great but what on Earth possessed them to release a trailer littered with ridiculous ahistorical language, slapstick comedy and a character that does not have the personality of Anne Elliot in the slightest? There’s absolutely a place for ahistorical interpretations of these books, Emma wasn’t particularly faithful but was brilliant. This doesn’t even come close to the essence of what makes Persuasion a great book though. Hoping it’s just a crap trailer but Netflix really love dropping the ball.

@RogerRoger haha I don't know much to be fair. Just wondering what you thought of it in the end!

Highlander. Still fantastic even after I‘ve seen it about a million times. Yes, it’s hokey. Yes, the effects are terrible. Yes, the whole Quickening thing and The Prize makes literally no sense. But it’s just so fun. I’d love to know who the hell cast the Scot as the Spaniard and the Frenchman as the Scot though.

@LN78 Highlander 2 didn’t happen. It was all your imagination. It didn’t happen.

@nessisonett Yeah the casting was bang on for Highlander 😂

@LN78 I love your entertaining mini-reviews. You’ve a real knack for captivating analysis. There seems to be a wide range of quality in the Cannon collection, and kudos for sticking through all the bad ones!

Most of these I’ve not been familiar with, but I do remember Over the Top and have watched parts of it in the past when flipping through cable TV channels. Sly Stallone is a strange one — when he’s on, he’s great, but when he’s not, it’s painful to watch.

Good luck with Superman 4 (never watched it but suspect it’s awful) and Masters of the Universe (also never watched it, but oddly curious to).

@LN78 Runaway Train is worth a watch. Not as good as Unstoppable in regards to train films, but I enjoyed it.

@cheetahman91 Is it better than Money Train with Wesley Snipes and Woddy Harrelson?

@JohnnyShoulder Never heard of that one. Runaway Train and Unstoppable are the only train-centric movies I’ve seen.

@RogerRoger nooooice! I do wonder how it will fare on second viewing to be honest. I have to admit that I've "seen" the first movie twice, the first time I loved it and the second time I fell asleep fairly quickly...and it was the middle of the day. So I am questioning whether it really was as good as I thought it was lol. I had the same reaction to Scott Pilgrim, great first viewing, not so great on second and third viewings.

I'm wondering if a fan edit is in order, chop out most of the (admittedly amusing but still fairly irrelevant) human stuff except what is actually relevant to Sonic's character. See how long it actually ends up!

I'm hoping Amy makes an appearance in Sonic 3 and that the Knuckles show goes down the route of the Chaotix Crew rather than more echidnas. Though I suspect it will probably take the latter approach.

I quite liked the trap filled sequence, probably the best way a film could adapt a platforming game's level!

@LN78 Shadow the Hedgehog reveal. I wouldn't say it was particularly jaw dropping 😅 but I suppose it got spoiled by Google/YouTube search results even though I didn't even search for anything related to it...

@RogerRoger oh yeah for sure, the bridezilla scene was super funny but toward the end of it, I was just like wtf am I watching 😅.

Totally agree with your pleasant surprise sentiment!

I've caught up with a few films on Netflix as it's too hot for much else. I watched The Invisible Man which I was very impressed with, cleverly unnerving and well shot. I also watched The Equalizer which was enjoyable enough, Denzel Washington is always highly watchable and it only had a few slightly silly moments which prevented it from being great. I'll certainly keep an eye out for the sequel appearing on one of the services.

Watched the Fifth Element this morning. 90's future sci-fi flick centering around Bruce Willis as a(n ex-military) cabbie whom is roped into protecting a woman who is the key to saving the universe from an interdimensional threat as foretold by an ancient Egyptian prophecy.

They ultimately don't focus too much on the nature of the end threat (though it's revealed to be sentient it might as well be some sort of natural disaster), instead focusing on all the myriad factions trying to nab the girl, and it feels oddly constrained for a movie about the fate of the universe (the only section of the film that takes place off Earth is on an opulent cruise ship on a planet that's mostly water).

However it's a decently fun time. It's writing doesn't seem to take itself very seriously, it's very aesthetically loud (like the future is super extreme 90's) in a way that has to be seen, has a fun (flying) car chase & gun fight, Chris Tucker seems to be having fun chewing it up as an OTT TV/Radio personality, and Milla Jovovich spends the entire film running around half naked (fully once or twice) if that's your thing.

Apparently the Joker sequel is going to be a musical? Should be called Ha Ha Land. 🤣

The Northman is out on the 18th July on 4K blu ray in the UK, and already available in the States. I've heard some people say the quality when streaming is not the best, so I will be avoiding watching it that way if possible.

@LN78 Same here, was gutted I missed it in the cinema.

Not seen anything on 4K physical release for Everything Everywhere All At Once, but will keep an eye out for it. The couple of channels on YouTube I watch for physical media that are based in the states, but we usually follow shortly after.

EDIT: Just seen on Blu-Ray.com that it comes out in the States on 5th July.

Watched The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, with Benedict Cumberbatch about the artist guy who painted all the cats. What an unfortunate bloke, his entire life seemed to be a series of misfortunes. It was shot beautifully though and Cumberbatch was good as always. I was really impressed by the direction, especially because Will Sharpe is only 35 and I mostly know him as an actor. I get the feeling he’ll do very very well for himself in the years to come.

@LN78 A sad end to the Cannon films, indeed. I’ll miss the updates you’ve been posting, but if the last two films are anything to go by, it’s probably a good thing it’s over for you.

That’s really interesting about Superman 4 production being such a mess with all the loss of financing. It makes a little more sense why the film was of such poor quality. I’ve never seen the movie, and I don’t know if I ever will, but I’ll be able to watch it through a more understanding lens should the opportunity arise.

Anyways, as always it was a great read there with your final time on the Cannon series and I’m excited to see what kind of random cinematic project you’ll be off to next, if any. 😄

@LN78 It’s definitely been interesting reading about these movies that I’ve mostly never heard of! It’s only really the ones like Superman IV and Masters of the Universe that I’d really heard of. I reckon a reboot/remake series would be interesting, but only if you’re willing to track down the approximately 5 million adaptations of Dracula 😂