Topic: The Movie Thread

has anyone seen a good Lovecraftian movie?
I liked The empty man and Color out of space.

The new ninja turtles movie looks pretty cool. I'm digging the vibe

@CthulhuFhtagn check out The Void and Glorious

@kyleforrester87 thanks. Glorious, noted.
have you seen The Empty Man?

@CthulhuFhtagn Glorious starts a bit “eh?” But I really enjoyed it by the end.

And no, actually, at least I don’t think so - my memory can be really bad in recent years, kind of worrying. I watch lots of similar films though so they can blend together - hopefully it’s just that! But when I read your post I already checked it out briefly and added it to my watch list so I will give it a look over the next few weeks.

Just one movie for me this past weekend.

City Hunter: Goodbye, My Sweetheart (Blu-Ray)

Another in the long list of City Hunter movies.

The story in this one doesn't make much sense, even by franchise standards. IIRC, the villain is former French Foreign Legion, & after his group is betrayed by the "multinational military force" they were apart of during the Gulf War (for reasons that are never explained), he decides the best course of action to get revenge on the world is to destroy Shinjuku.

That said, the setup leads up into what is probably the most unique of these City Hunter specials so far. It's essentially "Speed" with a bullet train, where if the train drops below a certain speed (or makes so many trips around it's route) it'll set off a series of explosives that'll destroy the city. This leads into a scenario in which Ryo (& Umibozu) just can't waltz into an enemy HQ & gun everyone down (which is how these things usually end). Instead everyone has something important to contribute, with Saeko playing negotiator with the villain, Kaori finds herself in the conductor's seat of the train, & Ryo/Umibozu using their unique talents to find a way to safely stop the train.

In terms of aesthetic this is the darkest one yet as well. Of course it's still full of the series' classic gags (especially in the first half) which you'll either be tired of or looking forward to in a comfort food kinda way at this point, but the bright 80's neon & early 90's pastel color pallets of the past give way to something more grounded, earthy, and maybe even a tad gritty. Heck, even the deaths (& there are deaths) seem to hit harder here (it features the first bloody head shot that I can seem to recall from the franchise for example. While there have been head shots in the past, as well as bloody wounds, this is the first time the two have come together). When Ryo does finally get his one on one with the bad guy he has a much more equal fight on his hands than he typically does and even gets a bit beat up during the ordeal.

I don't think the vibe is my personal preference for the property, but there's no doubt it's used to good effect here, and it looks really good too (you can definitely tell it's a special, with an animation quality that goes above & beyond what you'd see in a typical episode).

Interesting. I always thought it was people either using TV speakers or with a crappy sound system, as I rarely have issues hearing stuff and have a decent soundbar with a sub woofer. Turns out the issue is a bit deeper than that.

@JohnnyShoulder I'm half deaf (my left ear hasn't worked since a bout of meningitis when I was 3) and I just don't have this issue at all. Except during Christopher Nolan movies.

@LN78 My dad has tinnitus in one ear, and doesn't have an issue either. I've never noticed it with Nolan movies apart from Tenet and The Dark Knight Rises. He gets brought in the video, and I find it a bit pretentious the reasons why they mix their films that way.

watched The Arrival on Tubi last night. Still an underrated Charlie Sheen sci fi flick.

Currently watching some VHS Love documentary on tubi at the moment along with Planet of Dinosaurs and the rest of the Man Show

Smile. Not very original but uses some well known tricks of the genre really effectively. An awesome creepy soundtrack which gets right under the skin helps set up the atmosphere of the film. Decent central performance too, but the supporting cast is a bit mixed. Reccomended.

My horror movie watchathon tonight on Tubi and Shudder

Possession
Slaughter High
The Initiation
The Unseen

all thanks to In Search of Darkness III. If it werent for the In Search of Darkness documentaries then i would have completely forgotten all about the Unseen which i sort of remember watching on HBO one time back then in the early 1980s

Happy to see Everything, Everywhere, All At Once had such a good night at the Academy Awards. Actually just rewatched it with my sister and brother-in-law tonight, who hadn't seen it yet.

They weren't very impressed, but they also loved that recent Ant-Man movie, which I thought was almost unwatchable tripe, so... shrug

Not that I pay much attention to any awards show, but it was good to not only have something thay I watched and enjoyed nominated, but to actually win some awards.

@JohnnyShoulder @Ralizah Brendan winning wasn't a shock but I'm disappointed that "The Banshees of Inisherin" got shut out - especially in the acting categories - even though I had "EEAAO" as my favourite for last year.

Caught the last hour & a half of the Oscars last night. Good for Everything, Everywhere, all at Once, I haven't seen it, but it's been very buzzy. Glad to see both Avatar: tWoW & Top Gun Maverick each pick up an award as well, in the technical categories anyways. Too bad All Quiet on the Western Front didn't win anything, as I thought that was quite good as well.

Anyhow, these are all the movies I watched this weekend.

City Hunter: Death of the Vicious Criminal Ryo Saeba (Blu-Ray)

The last of the original City Hunter movies/specials.

I don't think it's particularly worse than what came before (if you liked the earlier stuff, it's worth a watch), however I can't help but think something feels a bit off about this one, IMO.

Starting things off, the opening song has a grungy feel to it that doesn't gel at all with the series vibe (feels like it would be more at home in something like Death Note). Otherwise it has the same kinda more muted color palette as Goodbye My Sweetheart, but while that fit that film's tone, this one leaned much harder on the comedy side of things which felt at odds (and even then, I felt the comedy wasn't the series at it's strongest).

That said it's not bad by any means. It still looks absolutely wonderful like the last couple of films, and despite feeling off in spots it's still largely the same City Hunter we've come to love.

Female Yakuza Tale (Blu-Ray)

This is absolutely wild.

Over the top with exploitative sex/nudity, violence (which often comes off as hilarious in this day & age, such as a scene where a guy flicks a bullet up another man's nose), it's absolutely not for everyone, but it's a fun time if you can get into it. Has a very grungy feel to it too.

It follows Ocho, a woman who is violated by the local Yakuza when they accidentally mistake her for one of their drug mules, and then she sets out for revenge. Can definitely tell it's the type of film that partially influenced the Kill Bill movies (though again, this is much more out there).

Project A-Ko 2 (Blu-Ray)

If you liked the first one this is pretty much more of the same.

The aliens have refurbished their ship as an entertainment center but are plotting to take off with C-ko, the Earth Defense Forces, sour after their defeat in the first film, plan to steal the ship, with an ever bickering A-ko & B-ko caught in-between. It's a bit more truncated as a 50 minute OVA as opposed to the full length original, but that keeps it moving at a nice clip & it still manages to have it's fair share of both laughs & action.

Shogun's Samurai (Blu-Ray)

Historical fiction film that centers around the sons of the second Tokugawa Shogun, and the conflict between them over who will inherit the position.

It's actually a really solid drama. A bit slow in spots, but it's interesting to follow, with some nice environmental & action shots. A handful of the action scenes come across as weirdly superhuman for how grounded the rest of the film feels (like a scene near the end where a guy cuts through some sort of after image of his opponent, where he really cut clean through a statue), but it's kinda weird in a way that's charming IMO.

Project A-Ko 3 (Blu-Ray)

More A-Ko goodness. This time C-ko is feeling left out as A-ko & B-ko are squabbling over a guy instead of her, but unluckily for them he only has eyes for C-ko (who couldn't care less about him).

Looks great aesthetically, and it's full of fun vibes & gags, though it's a bit anticlimactic. I was wondering when the big action set piece was going to happen, and it never does. A-ko & B-ko finally get ready to throw down, the town's volunteer defense forces get ready to roll out (hilariously everyone from fast food employees, to teachers, & even the mayor have personalized Mecha), but the action has already been settled (off screen) by the time they mobilize. Of course, maybe playing with expectations was the gag in and of itself, but I can't deny I was a little disappointed. Still a very fun time overall though.

@RR529 "All Quiet" won Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography, Best Score and Best Production Design.

@LN78, yeah, I just read that a few minutes after posting, lol.

Good to see it come out with a few wins.

@JohnnyShoulder Agreed. This is the first time in a long time that I've felt like the Oscars got it right, at least in terms of the big categories (as I only glanced at the headlines).

***

Sad news about Chaim Topol. I'd planned on watching For Your Eyes Only quite recently, but kept finding other things to do. I'm gonna make some time for it this weekend, I reckon. He was always one of my favourite elements of the film, and of the Roger Moore era in general.

@RR529 Definitely - I think I preferred it to "1917".