Topic: The Movie Thread

@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

@Gremio108 @Th3solution I really like Signs, The Village, and Unbreakable. So there was a time he had a fairly solid record with me but I just haven't really enjoyed anything since those.

@Tjuz well I didn't finish and I'm not sure where I left off. I think I was on season 3 but can't remember if I finished it or not. Idk it started out really good but I lost interest as more and more weird things happened.

@LN78 That was on BBC a while back and I had fairly fond memories of it being a decent, well, Saturday daytime BBC movie but it’s just rubbish. Alan Rickman aside, so much of it is just dire. I remain confused about how Kevin Costner got a career.

@LN78 The Untouchables is a movie that I think was probably good but can’t really make my mind up. Like elements of it were great but the way it’s filmed and presented is so uniquely dated that I couldn’t really connect with a single character. Probably De Palma’s directorial style to be fair. Costner being a bit wishy-washy is one thing but even Sean Connery being Sean Connery has been done better in other movies. Not seen Field of Dreams but I have seen the other Shoeless Joe Jackson movie that came out around the same time, Eight Men Out, which is really great and not as beloved. JFK is basically nonsense and insanely long but they showed us it in school and it was probably the best movie we got shown there along with In The Heat of the Night. We got a loooot of crap movies thanks to it being Catholic school. Not even like Passion of the Christ or The Last Temptation of Christ (understandable) but more like really low budget films about Jesus with Trevor from Eastenders or vaguely European movies about John Paul II.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (theatre)

A part of me is kinda over these movies that want to be both your epic blockbuster & your comedy (something about Maverick, Avatar re-release, & Avatar 2 last year made me realize how much I missed relatively straight faced immersive blockbusters), but on the other hand this was still tons of fun & managed to strike that balancing act between action & comedy much more effectively than last year's Thor movie did.

It managed to both make me laugh & tear up at different points, and the big action set piece in the hall towards the end was a particular delight. I only regret not being able to find the time for a 3D showing.

InuYasha the Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler (Blu-Ray)

On my way through the franchise on Blu-Ray, I've now arrived at the point where I can fit in the third movie.

A lot of fans consider this one the cream of the crop when it comes to the film adaptations, and while I don't quite rate it that high (it has nothing that comes close to "that" moment in movie 2), I definitely understand the praise.

Granted, there's nothing here that'll make you a fan if you aren't already into the franchise (the same can be said of all the movies), but it shines a light on some background lore that the series proper barely touches upon and has probably the most exciting climactic set piece battle in any of these films.

Suicide Club (Blu-Ray)

Japanese film that follows a police investigation into a rash of mass suicides seemingly driven by mysterious online culture.

It starts off really strong with an engaging narrative and a jarring amount of gore (a couple wonky CGI effects are counterbalanced by some genuinely sickening practical effect gore), but it goes absolutely bonkers in the last third and kinda lost me.

I'm sure there's some sort of poignant cultural critique at play in here somewhere (something maybe about internet/youth culture being disengaged from reality?), but it's probably more apparent if you're more familiar with Japanese society than I am (especially the Japan of the era it was made in). Glad I gave it a go though.