Topic: The Movie Thread

Went to see Creed III at the cinema last night. Decent movie, had a few nice moments but it had some brilliant acting in it. Shame they couldn't get Rocky back but I think there are a few unspoken moments where Adonis remembers some lessons that Rocky taught him like "it's not about how hard you can hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and get back up again". The line isn't mentioned but the moment is in the film.

It's good, I enjoyed it. I also like that there's a new original character for it and Adonis seems to have built up his own rogues gallery of frenemies.

One for the middle of the week.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (Blu-Ray)

You know, there's a lot about this I could probably criticize, whether it's Piccolo & Gohan's contrived new transformations (at this point it's like they're not even hiding the fact that they're just trying to move toys), the fact that they sorta blew a possible return of a past villain, or the fact that they sidelined Buu due to a nap, AGAIN. However, I ultimately don't watch Dragon Ball for nuanced stories, and when all is said & done this was pure fun.

I was a little unsure of the 3DCG going in, and while there were a few things that looked a tad wonky, it worked a lot better in practice than I'd have imagined and the CG environments gave a sense of scale to the battles that was enjoyable to see. The action was fun, had some funny comedic bits, and it was nice getting a story that was a bit smaller in scope, allowing a few characters that have been more or less on the sidelines get a chance to shine.

Little Mermaid live action movie official trailer.
The movie will be released on 26 May 2023.
I cannot wait to watch the movie to see the difference between cartoon version and live action version. 😊

So hope this turns out to be true (lies). Will defo be adding True Lies and The Abyss to my collection.

@JohnnyShoulder I’m surprised Titanic wasn’t already done tbh

@JohnnyShoulder was really avoiding Smile because everything about it seemed dumb but watched it the other night with a free trial of... something (who can keep track) and came away appreciating it more than I thought I would. And yeah, watched alone with headphones and the soundtrack definitely helped sell the scares.

Also impressed by both whoever played the lead and the Laura character from the beginning.

@kyleforrester87 The Abyss and True Lies have not even been released on Blu-Ray! 😂

@zupertramp Yeah I thought it would be one of those films that would be slightly over hyped, but turned out to live up to it. I also liked the weird cinematography, which made me feel as uneasy I imagine the lead character was feeling.

Can't imagine watching it with headphones though! Think I would a wreck afterwards!

watching the Sadako vs Kayako movie on Shudder right now. its actually pretty good and not dumb or goofy

Another mega movie weekend.

the Professional: Golgo 13 (Blu-Ray)

After assassinating the son of a powerful US oil tycoon, the world's best hitman (the titular Golgo 13) finds himself in the crosshairs of the CIA, FBI, & Pentagon.

Narratively it plays things entirely straight, without even the slightest quip to lighten the mood. The action is instead broken up by frequently occurring sex scenes (of which at least one is an on screen rape, so be aware of that). It manages to stay interesting throughout though, as he still chooses to take on other jobs while being tailed, and there are one or two interesting twists & developments.

Animation is a bit of a mixed bag. It generally looks good (and there are a few standout shots, like a psychedelic shot where his speeding car is reflecting the neon lit environment), though it also looks rough in spots, and there's this hilariously bad looking shot where these ancient CG helicopters are after him (there is absolutely no effort to blend it into the art direction, in fact they probably didn't even have the tech to try & do that). At first I thought a character was looking at a computer screen "battle plan" or something (the helicopters were first shown flying through an equally CG cityscape), until I realized it was all supposed to be "real life" (I assume it was a big deal at time of release though, as the Japanese theatrical trailer included in the Blu-Ray put a lot of emphasis on the handful of CG elements, calling it the first "computer anime"). Back to the good though, it absolutely nails the vileness of it's villains (especially an assassin called snake who'll make your skin crawl), and is a bloodthirsty 80's anime film in the best way.

Kunoichi Lady Ninja (Blu-Ray)

Evil feudal lord sends his evil magical henchmen to kill a bunch of nuns, the survivors are actually a bunch of ninja, and with the help of historical samurai Jyubei Yagyu they seek out their revenge. In all honesty I found it hard to follow (and hard to care about following) the more specific narrative threads though.

Very much a low budget b-movie through and through, with laughibly bad special effects & cheesy costuming, and while this isn't inherently a bad thing (sprinkler system blood sprays being a good time & who wouldn't love the "Nipple Shockwave", an actual attack), here things often times seem very hard to follow. This isn't at all helped by the fact that while it's billed as being presented in 1080p, it seems like they tried to directly upscale it from a freakin' VHS and it often just doesn't look good on a large modern HD TV (I normally wouldn't blame the movie itself for resolution woes, but there is a note at the start of the film, as well as on the back of the box, that says "due to limitations of the original source this is the best upscale available", which I assume means it was filmed on tape originally and thus can't be any better than this, making it an inherent part of watching it).

Robot Carnival (4K UHD Blu-Ray)

Anthology film of robotic themed animations.

Like any anthology project there are one or two weak link segments (I'd say "Deprive" fits that bill here), but even those I'd say are still enjoyable. Otherwise it's absolutely fantastic, with vibes that range from fun & wonderous ("Star Light Angel", "the Mechanized Culture of the Meiji Era: Western Invasion") to the artful & deep ("the Cloud" & "Presence", the latter of which is absolutely stunning in terms of animation quality which is high praise indeed given the high bar the whole project in general achieves).

Really something you have to see for yourself.

Zeiram (Blu-Ray)

After watching the anime and then hearing that this live action adaptation centers around two electricians from real world Tokyo who go into a "virtual world where they meet Iria fighting Zeiram" I was convinced it was going to suck (like the world of the anime only exists as a video game or some such nonsense).

However the setup actually makes a lot more sense in practice. The world(s) of the anime is real, it's just that the "humans" from the anime (like Iria) aren't actually from Earth, and are in fact aliens themselves. With reports that Zeiram is headed to Earth, Iria arrives in advance and sets up a trap (a pocket dimension containing an exact copy of the area of Tokyo it's going to land in, sans populace, that way she can battle it uninhibited). Of course, her abandoned warehouse hideout is using up more electricity than it normally would thanks to all her high tech gizmos, and in checking out the discrepancy, the two electricians (Kamiya & Teppei?) accidentally follow her into the pocket dimension battle zone.

The movie itself is very fun too. There are a handful of wonky special effects, but by and large Zeiram itself is a wonder of practical effects making, believably recreating many of it's anime abilities (such as the creepy snake like tiny face that extends from the top of it's head), and exhibiting a number of effective transformations that'll completely gross you out. All in all it's a great sci-fi themed horror flick as our protagonists struggle to survive against a nearly indestructible monster.

Earth Girls Are Easy (Blu-Ray)

I see Jim Carrey & Jeff Goldblum (+ Damon Wayans) starring in an alien comedy I've never heard of before, so I decided to give it a chance. The general premise is that the trio of horny aliens crash lands in recently heartbroken Valerie's (Geena Davis) pool while watching her sunbathe from space, and she tries to teach them about life on Earth (and love, once Goldblum's character gets a hot human makeover) while they wait to repair their ship.

It perhaps spends a bit too much time at the start setting up that Valerie's doctor fiance is a bit of a horse's rear, but the entire segment detailing the trio's crash landing & exploring Valerie's home learning the basics of life on Earth is absolutely hilarious (also the wet bikini top she's wearing the entire time that clearly doesn't cover anything is a plus). Once they take on their more human appearances and it becomes a quirky romcom between Davis & Goldblum it doesn't hit those highs again, but it has it's moments.

Also a musical in spots. These segments can be fun, but aren't always relevant to the core plot (like the random song about how great it is to be a blonde, when they go to the beach).

watching the old 1980s The Nest today. Ive read the book like last year.

For reasons that I can't fully fathom, Matt Reeves' director's commentary for "The Batman" has been made available online instead of it being on the physical home releases as is the norm - it might have been a technical oversight of some kind, I suppose. I wonder if it's just three hours of him talking about why David Fincher is so great?

Hotline Miami the movie a.k.a John Wick Chapter 4 was excellent. Great movie, at almost 3 hours long it went by pretty quickly!

Did anyone see the DnD movie? I love playing DnD, but I'm offput by the marvel vibes I get from and how subjective DnD is.

@Jaz007 it's probably a matter of whether you like Chris Pine or not. Seems like they're really hinging the movie on him. Still it cannot, just cannot, be worse than that one DnD movie back in the day with one of the Wayans brothers.

Watched The Whale last night, definitely deserves its plaudits. Had me sobbing in places. Who knew Rick O’Connell could do that acting? There’s a stranger thing in it too, she’s very good if a little over played even for a teenager.

@AgentCooper I've been hearing very mixed things about the film (although not about the universally acclaimed central performance) the main complaints being that it betrays its theatrical origins a little too much and that (typically of Aronofsky) the religious symbolism is a touch unsubtle at best, completely overbearing at worst. Mark Kermode absolutely hated it, which I found quite surprising but I do still want to see it at some point - I can't imagine when I'll be in the right mood, though - Aronofsky does tend to be a bit much for me, even when he's at his best like with "The Wrestler" or particularly "Requiem For A Dream" which was completely brilliant but a film that I never want to see again.

@LN78 I had very little context going in beyond hearing Brendan Fraser was exceptional, I wasn’t even aware it was a play. This is has probably served me well. The religiosity of the film is very on the nose but overall the central performance is enough to carry it the full run time, Fraser really is remarkable. My wife felt the supporting cast were overacting a tad which pulled her out of the moment on occasion. One aspect of Fraser’s character that I really liked, was there was little to no cynicism, despite his obvious physical issues and various other external challenges he faces.

I blow a bit hot and cold with Kermode, in fact I watch little to no criticism on films or anything else these days. I find Thomas Flight more palatable since he tends to predominantly highlight and celebrate aspects of the films he watches. In regards to Aronofsky, I have similar sentiments, this will be probably enough for another decade I expect.

@AgentCooper Have you seen "The Banshees of Inisherin" yet? Every single performance (but especially Colin Farrell's) is absolutely superb and yet it came away empty handed in those departments at the Oscars. It's a wonderful movie - highly recommended.

@LN78 I have. I adored it. Watched it twice in two days 👍