@nessisonett It's so odd (and sad) that the current obsession with "multiverse" movies (that I'm already so bored of) happens to have coincided with the technological wherewithal to make this sort of digital graverobbing a reality. Or maybe it's the other way round? What a load of old bollocks Hollywood is.
The Flash (IMAX)
Just got back from this and I enjoyed it. It was quite a bit funnier than I'd expected and that was highly welcome (for reference, I loathe Snyder's DCEU movies; hate them with a passion).
I'm a bit torn on Ezra Miller; he delivers the comedy fairly well and the humour mostly lands, but occasionally he turns annoying and even a bit cringeworthy. At least for me, anyway.
Keaton still works exceedingly well as Batman (as does Affleck, by the way... casting was never my issue with the Snyderverse) and I love this version of Supergirl. Would have liked for her to have a bigger role in this, but this movie was already quite packed as it is.
As to the CGI "controversy" discussed above, I found it wholly unproblematic here.
I'm against the practice in general, but in this case it amounts to little more than a montage of previous incarnations of Batman, Superman and The Flash and should be viewed more as an homage than the cynical exploitation of a dead actor's likeness. In George Reeves' case it could just as well have been restored archive footage, all 2 seconds of it. Same with Adam West. Christopher Reeve and Helen Slater fared worse, as it looked very fake. Same with Nicolas Cage, but that was just fun (and I'd be surprised if it wasn't enthusiastically endorsed by Cage himself). None of these have any agency, bearing on or interaction with the story, so while I find it unproblematic, it is also wholly unnecessary
Some fun non-CGI cameos also, especially the one at the very end.
In my mind, the most entertaining DCEU movie since the first Wonder Woman (keeping in mind I haven't seen "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" yet.)
@JohnnyShoulder And that's the best part, seems it will get some proper love and care. While it is easily my favourite Fincher film, I do hope he'll give some attention to "The Game", as well. Haven't seen that one in a long while, so now I'm wondering if it holds up or not. Need to see if there are any rental options available to me for it. If not, a trip to the storage to dig out my old DVD may be in order... if so, I guess I'll bring along Fight Club, Panic Room and Zodiac while I'm at it
@JohnnyShoulder I would be all over that collection in a heartbeat!
Not sure if there are any disc rental services left in Norway, but most movies are typically available to rent digitally, thankfully. All four of the Fincher movies were available, so no need for me to dig out me DVDs. Fight Club and Zodiac were even available free on streaming, Disney+ and Max, respectively
JustWatch is a godsend when looking for movies available on streaming/digital rental, saves a lot of time searching for stuff.
@FuriousMachine Ah, I did not know you are living in Norway! For some reason I assumed you were in America! Apologies, I must have you mixed up with someone else from the forum!
That is good that they are easily accessible to you. I try to limit the amount of services I subscribe to at any given time, unless I have a free trial of something.
I don't think we have Max here in the UK, but I checked and the Fincher films are available on the rental service I subscribe to. 😀
@JohnnyShoulder No worries, mate. It's nigh impossible to determine nationality in here anyways. Considering that the site is UK based I default to assuming everyone on here are from the UK as well, which, to be fair, gives me a fairly decent hit-rate
I keep a subscription to quite a few streaming services; quite possibly more than I actually need, but it's just very, very convenient And, as I mentioned, most movies are available to rent digitally and mostly in good quality (there are only two streaming services that are woefully poor: SkyShowtime and TV2 Play. Neither of them offer anything other than stereo sound and the latter, which is Norwegian, is also egregiously expensive, poor quality, charges extra for renting movies on top of the monthly fee and won't offer better than HD... if you can get past all the buffering).
Additionally, I have buddy who's such an avid collector of discs that it borders on hoarding, and he let's me borrow his discs whenever I need.
Glad to hear that Fincher is readily available over there as well
@FuriousMachine glad to see some positive thoughts about the flash there. I very much enjoyed it. I did have a feeling that the whole middle section was a bit pointless based on the ending but meh, who cares, it was a fun movie. I didn't have a problem with the CGI really because I assumed that within the story of the movie, that is what events look like when a character looks at them from outside of time, a bit animated and unreal. It's kind of set up from the first time travel sequence so I didn't have an issue when the other worlds were depicted similarly.
I did think it was funny how our Barry was way less annoying than the past Barry. Made me laugh to see him be the "responsible" one.
@PixelDragon I really liked the book Into the Wild although the movie was good also. I’d read the book first so that has a tendency to spoil the movie. Still, it was a fair adaptation.
I’ve always been fascinated by survival stories and ‘human vs. nature’ conflicts, and really enjoyed the more pressing ‘human vs. themself’ core conflict as well.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@FuriousMachine Sounds like SkyShowtime is similar to what Now TV is over here, their streaming service which only offers upto 720p as part of the subscription, and only 1080p when you pony up.
Unfortunately they have most of the Premier league football games and most of the HBO shows too. I've cut back on paying to watch as many games and just go to pub more often. The majority of the HBO shows are on my rental service, so aim to watch of the TV series I missed out on.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
I'd say Now TV sounds more like TV2 Play. They purchased exclusive rights to Norwegian football and wall it behind their most expensive subscription, so football fans uninterested in watching their movies and tv shows in poor quality still have to pony up a pretty penny. Additionally, many movies, you'll have to pay to rent on top of that, still only in stereo and HD. SkyShowtime at least realises that their offering is subpar and has the decency to have the cheapest subscription on the market over here (they also claim that they're considering adding 5.1 audio, so maybe they'll be worth it one day).
Glad to hear that your rental service carries the HBO shows you're interested in. Weird that they don't offer Max over there, though. I guess existing rights agreements are even more tangled in the UK than they were over here when they launched HBO Nordic way back when. Things were messy. Now, though, there's almost parity between Max in the US and here (well, when it comes to their originals, at least. Licensed content is a different kettle of fish altogether)
@ralphdibny Completely agree with you there. And the movie was simply a good, enjoyable time at the cinema, something I'll always prefer when it comes to the superhero stuff
After the gang gets caught up in bizarre shenanigans while visiting a newly opened amusement park, Ataru & Lum's relationship is tested when she vanishes shortly after he's transformed into a hippo. Has she really given up on him or is there something else at play?
Feels like they were trying to replicate the magic of Beautiful Dreamer, just to lesser results.
It's still a fine watch in and of itself though, and I'd say I still liked it more than Only You.
National Lampoon's Vacation (Blu-Ray)
Probably overrating this due to nostalgia, but it is such a comfort food summertime movie for me.
Rewatch it every summer if I get the chance, and just so much of it reminds me of the summer road trips my family would take when I was a kid (although they never went off the rails to this degree, lol), and it just feels oh so very much classic Americana (& I know I've been to at least two of the roadside attractions pictured in the postcard montage at the beginning of the film).
That said it can still deliver some laughs as well. I perhaps find the conclusion of the Aunt Edna subplot more & more distasteful everytime I watch it, but otherwise it's largely good stuff.
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (4K UHD BluRay)
So, I really want to like these movies, i really do, but.. well, at least I didn't hate this one, like I did the previous entry. The movie was just a big nothing-burger for me, basically, and I did find the Witwicky character rather obnoxious in this one. Ditto with Turturro's character, but he was supposed to be obnoxious, I guess. Anyway, I had better luck with
Transformers: Age of Extinction (4K UHD BluRay)
This one I actually kind of liked. It was waaaay too long and while Mark Wahlberg's never managed to excite me on any level, he was perfectly fine here. I did like the scrappy young lad who was dating his daughter, though (I forget his name) and said daughter was good too (though Bay's lingering dirty old man gaze is getting a bit cringey at times). Titus Welliver is always a welcome addition to any movie and so is Stanley Tucci, especially when he's playing this particular kind of amoral d-bag, but I must say that the biggest surprise was just how incredibly well Kelsey Grammer worked as the bad guy! Would love to see him tackle more roles like this, preferably in better projects, though.
Another plus for this movie was that I felt that the Transformers other than Optimus Prime and Bumblebee now had some decent personalities and designs that made them stand out from each other in the melee. Great voice work from John Goodman and Ken Watanabe also works in the movie's favour. The geography in the action sequences was clearer in this one, too, and not as much of an incoherent jumble of steel and gears like some of the sequences in the earlier movies.
Becky (BluRay)
Seeing that this one had a sequel released, I managed to borrow this from my hoarder... eh.. collector friend (hope he doesn't read this ). It was a solid little revenge-flick that I found quite enjoyable. Nothing earth-shattering, but a fun and somewhat gory hour-and-a-half that never overstayed its welcome. Extra credit: Kevin James playing waaaaay against type. Paul Blart this ain't (thankfully)
One of the cool things about ripping DVDs is finding Easter Eggs I wouldn't have found just in the DVD menus. I just found one on Cabin Fever that I'm surprised made it onto a 15 certificate DVD!
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