Topic: The Movie Thread

@BearsEatBeets For me, I'd say it falls a bit short of the first one, but I liked it better than the second one. Your mileage may vary, of course, but as you loved the first 2, I'm sure there's plenty to enjoy for you with this one too, so it's definitely worth a watch.

@FuriousMachine Good to know thanks. I haven't gone to the cinema in years so I'm going to hope I can avoid spoilers until it hits physical/disney +.

Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer (Blu-Ray)

A franchise film that doesn't feel like a franchise film, in a good way.

When the students & staff of Tomobiki High School slowly start realizing that they're repeating the same day over & over again they set out to figure out the cause of the phenomena, all while the stability of their world seems to unravel the closer they get.

Pretty much a more high concept Groundhog Day, about a decade before that even released, with some absolutely stunning animation & dreamlike imagery. It's much more of a slower burn than other things in this franchise that I've seen, but it managed to hold my attention better, and it's interesting to note that the core characters don't really seem to push the narrative forward a whole lot for the majority of it's runtime, with supporting cast like Sakura & Mendo doing most of the heavy lifting until the end.

been watching the 1987 The Curse movie on Tubi recently. i noticed some on camera mistakes and dunno if the director and film crew even noticed but there was a boom mic that's caught on camera where its showing on a bedroom mirror lol.

also other movies im watching this week

Goddess of Love the weird fantasy romantic comedy starring Vanna White along with St Elmo's Fire which I have never seen at all in my entire life

@FuriousMachine I fear I personally succumbed to superhero fatigue about as quick as the MCU started becoming the machine it is today, but I've always felt the Guardians of the Galaxy movies in particular were a delight. They're easily my favourite of all the Marvel movies and honestly the only ones I think particularly fondly of and this third entry was luckily no exception for me. Just a very well made blockbuster with both fun and emotion actually feeling genuine instead of by the numbers. It's honestly a shame Marvel is losing James Gunn with this, but I'm also not too excited about him heading up DC now myself. I think James Gunn is probably at his best when he's being reined in and I'm not too optimistic about his plans for the future of DC. Best in class were definitely Nebula, Mantis and Drax. It would be a shame to lose those characters even for just a short amount of time.

Wasn't a fan of the inclusion of Cosmo here, though. Having played the Guardians of the Galaxy game as well, I saw what they were able to do with that character over there and was expecting way more from them here. I was very disappointed to see them just being turned into a tertiary character with one gag that wasn't even really funny. What a waste of that character.

Anyone here watched Everything Everywhere, All at Once? I watched it last night and haven't enjoyed a film that much for ages.

@Gremio108 yeah, I thought I would like it but I was surprised how much. It’s really quite profound, you think you’ve seen it all sometimes. I need to watch it again at some point really.

@kyleforrester87 Yeah I don't rewatch films often these days (never enough time!) but I'd definitely watch that again. So far it's tied with The Bashees of Inisherin as my fave film I've watched in 2023, so maybe I'll have to rewatch them both before the year's out to pick a winner!

@Gremio108 it’s a touch long for me to have wanted to watch again super quickly, but I think it’s been about a year so I will get round to it again soon. Not seen The Bashees although have seen a scene (where they are outside the pub talking on the benches) and it looked good. Is it really worth a watch?

@kyleforrester87 Definitely. Everyone is superb in it. It's kind of like Everything Everywhere, in that it can swing from hilarious to heatbreaking without ever feeling jarring. It's also absolutely nothing like it at all. I hope that mini-review cleared things up for you.

@Gremio108 lol absolutely, I’ll give it a watch.

@Gremio108 @kyleforrester87 I also really liked Banshees. Watched it twice within the span of about a week. Haven't seen Everything Everywhere though so can't compare the two. Kinda not feeling how just off the wall out there it comes across but I should probably give it a try at some point.

Watched the new Scream and Knock at the Cabin a few nights ago. Neither were very good. Didn't expect much from Scream (I watch them out of obligation) but was looking forward to the latter. So with The Servant kinda getting stale and aimless, Old being just not good, Glass being a let down, and now Knock at the Cabin I'm beginning to question what was already just mild admiration for Shyamalan's abilities as a storyteller.

@zupertramp I've not watched one of his films for years, I think The Happening was the last one I saw. I'll always have a soft spot for Signs, I really enjoyed that film for some reason. I say "for some reason" because everyone else I speak to seems not to like it!

@zupertramp @Gremio108 Signs is probably his 2nd best, imo. That or Unbreakable. Sixth Sense is objectively the best, of course. Everything else is merely okay to rubbish. Especially Lady in the Water. That was torture to watch. It should have been outlawed by the Geneva Convention.

Looking at his filmography I forgot about some of his — The Visit was actually pretty good, I thought. I’d put it at #4. The next tier would be Old, Glass, Split, and The Village in the middling tier - still worthwhile but nothing special. If Knock at the Cabin is of a similar middling quality then I’ll probably check it out when it’s put on one of my subscription services.

@Th3solution Looking back over it all, it feels like he's been trying to replicate the same trick he pulled with The Sixth Sense with most of them. I'm sure this isn't the first time anyone's made this observation, but it's only just dawned on me for some reason. I've never really thought about it until now. Never seen Lady in the Water, was that the one set around an apartment block? I'll give it a swerve.

@Gremio108 Yeah, that’s the one. Honestly it was so bad that I can’t even remember the basic plot. But yes it’s basically set at an apartment complex and it’s swimming pool. I probably owe it another watch because I’ve heard it’s better on a second viewing, but I just can’t.

And I do think you’re right, he got himself into a pickle by having such and iconic early films which was so renowned for their major plot twist at the end that he became essentially known just for that one storytelling style. We all go into an M. Night movie looking for the twist from the beginning, whether the movie has one or not.

@zupertramp Ah, a shame to hear you got tired of Servant eventually. I was fascinated by that show throughout the whole run. I think it helped me that I didn't start until three seasons were out however, so I didn't have the long wait in-between seasons that I could imagine would ruin the momentum of an already slowly paced show like that. I haven't seen Shyamalan's recent film fare, but that show struck me as unique enough that I was always intrigued to see what happens next. They were masterful at cliffhangers, even though it didn't quite go out satisfying in the typical Shyamalan fashion. Still lots of high points I enjoyed throughout however! Did you watch it all?

finished watching the rest of Suicide Squad 2021. Not bad but they didnt do a good job with Starro where all they did was use him/it as a giant monster attacking the city and that was it.

That and the King Shark character being just a big dumb shark humanoid

This week I'm watching Postcards from the Edge, Sleeping with the Enemy and the Last Airbender live action movie

@LN78 Got the same special edition, but have yet to watch it. I too remember it fondly from back in the day, but I will now lower my expectations before going in for a rewatch

@LN78 Yeah, that's pretty much where it sits in my brain's nostalgia-lobe (real medical name, I promise), too. Sad to hear that they botched the surround track, I feel kinda cheated if I can't utilize my surround receiver when watching my 4K discs