Topic: The Movie Thread

@Ravix, Dragonheart can be pretty cheesy, but it's good fun. Hope you enjoy it.

TBF I really didn't notice the IMAX transitions in Interstellar, but that's probably just because I was so engrossed into the movie itself. Half the time I don't even notice the shifting aspect ratio in these things until I'm well into the movie.

@JohnnyShoulder, I already had a few 4K movies last time I was posting, but at the time I was mostly picking up stuff at thrift stores (so mostly regular Blu). I've now mostly switched to browsing a local media store every weekend (which has a lot more 4Ks) and just picking out 1 or 2 movies (instead of the handfuls I'd sometimes get at the thrift stores).

Ooooooh there is a 4K steelbook of Hereditary coming to the UK in October. Seeing as the 4K is not available here, this could be one to get.

@JohnnyShoulder not for me, but might be one for others here, for sure.

People might want to look out for a UK release of Tron soon, too. Canada, US and Spain had one and it goes fast.

I finished Zatoichi the Outlaw this morning, it is suitably gory for a 70s samurai flick, without being outright horror, which is more to my tastes than the latter, i.e. I prefer samurai action to horror. But, yeah, it was a good film, and hopefully Zatoichi Challenged , the next on the list will prove to be equally edifying.

@FuriousMachine KoH amazon UK. Good luck, man... if you see this in time.

@Ravix Order confirmed!! Thank you so much, my friend!! Now it remains to be seen if the parcel makes it all the way this time or not, but I am hopeful

@FuriousMachine noice! Having the order secure is the best we can hope for, for now. Mines been travelling all around America for the last week. But I do have a zavvi backup just in case 😂

It is in the hands of the delivery gods, now 🤞🤞🤞🤞

@Ravix May they smile upon us faithful mailorder junkies

Nosferatu (2024) - PayTV
Didn't know there was another remake of the classic German silent film made in the 1970s. Never saw either. To me, Robert Eggers did a real arthouse vampire flick that builds up by tension slow burning. Did see Coppola's Dracula flick a few times, and this reminds me of that.
Willem DaFoe playing that "Van Helsing" professor provided many "unintentional" comedy relief. Bill Skarsgard is unrecognisable as the Count. He must have spend hours in the makeup room for that transformation. Johhny Depp's daughter was great as well as Nicholas Hoult (as usual).
8 / 10

Gladiator 2 - Blu-ray
Two and a half hour long sequel, and the only bright spot was Denzel Washington. The CGI baboons were terrible, and that supposed naval battle inside the arena to copy the naval victory against the Persians was lacklustre, including sharks?? And that Roman soldier riding a rhino?
It took until the last hour or less to get things moving with Denzel's character's ulterior motive. The ending was anticlimatic. Even the opening battle scene was mediocre and the way the protagonist wife died.
6 / 10

Sinners (2025) - Blu-ray
I'm confused. This was not promoted as a musical, but that is exactly what this is with "Dusk Till Dawn" style vampires tacked on. There were a few scenes that had nothing to do with the plot and was just put in. Example the finale shootout at the barn. Unless I missed something, there was no indication the seller had any intention to come back "with force". The post-credit scenes were equally confusing. Cinematography and musical scenes were great, as well as the acting. As a musical, it exceeds. As a vampire flick, it fails. Not badly, but this is no "Dusk Till Dawn" ripoff.
7 / 10

🙌

@Ravix Nice! That is a quite beautiful steelbook. Mine shipped yesterday, said amazon.co.uk... meanwhile, across the pond at .com, my Lawrence of Arabia order seems to be just... sitting there... no charge, no movement, nothing. Sold by Amazon LLC, so should be legit. Ah well, if it shows, it shows

saw Conjuring Last Rites at the movie theater couple of hours ago earlier today. pretty good for a "final" movie but im pretty sure there will be another Annabelle movie or whatever in the next couple of years probably.

the movie felt like a remake of Conjuring 2 due to another big family being tormented. that and a late night storm happened again and the movie focused on a tree like they did with Conjuring 2.

and a dumb Ghostbusters joke where when Ed was teaching a seminar class at some college, couple of the college kids were teasing Ed where the kids brought up Ghostbusters

I've watched quite a significant portion of my latest Zatoichi movie, Zatoichi Challenged, where Zatoichi has to take care of a kid, with Zatoichi being called 'Uncle Ichi' by the young lad, who is getting up to various larks ,it's a thoroughly heart-warming affair and fun for the whole family, I'm sure.

Edit: Finished it now, and the tone of the earlier scenes in the movie proved to be consistent throughout the entire duration of the movie. Really loved it, man.

@Elfuggingjefe I love Pacino's performance in that film.

Just watched Superman - absolutely terrible! First James Gunn film that I didn’t at least like (most I love).

Watched both Superman for the first time and then Thunderbolts again. Superman I really enjoyed, even if it was safe and a little sterile at times (sorry Supes fans, that’s how I feel about his comics a lot of the time too). Great casting, apart from maybe the Kents being a bit cartoonish. Also the whole Not-enyahu bloke is the most on the nose criticism of the ongoing genocide I’ve seen yet, which makes me think that it was probably completely accidental otherwise the studio would have intervened.

Thunderbolts is a decent movie too but I still feel the same way about its lack of real conflict, it doesn’t particularly build towards anything. Good cast, good chemistry, just not quite enough meat on its bones.

Next up, Zatoichi's Flashing Sword.

Edit: Actually, cancel that, I plan to watch Zatoichi's Conspiracy and then Zatoichi ,next, in order to conclude the series. This is, because, as I have previously stated, these are the last two films in the 26-film long series and I feel like I have had my fill of Zatoichi's journey ,by this point.

What I watched this past weekend.

Air Force One (UHD Blu-Ray) - Action packed political actioneer that sees political extremists hijack Air Force One in an attempt to get the dictator of a former Soviet republic released, and only the president himself has a chance of taking the plane back. Honestly just really fun flick & I can't place my finger on it but I just love the vibe. As an aside I always thought this was based on a Tom Clancy book (similar theme, Harrison Ford was in a few of those adaptations just a few years prior so it lines up in terms of "sequel timing", and the couple of Tom Clancy books I read in High School were at a later point in the timeline where Jack Ryan was indeed president), so I picked up the 3 80's/90's Tom Clancy movies as well as I planned to watch them in order, only to find out this actually has nothing to do with them, lol.

Death Wish (UHD Blu-Ray) - Charles Bronson plays the part of a pacifistic everyman who descends into violent vigilantism after his wife & daughter are assaulted by hooligans & the law seems ineffective (maybe even apathetic) towards finding the culprits. It sure has some messaging that probably wouldn't set too well today, but even so it's a great film. It really captures the grime of the New York of the era, with what would probably be an unconvential at the time outlook showing that law enforcement isn't always competent/infallible.

Kill Bill Vol. 2 (UHD Blu-Ray) - Although I know I've seen this once when I was younger, I was always more enamoured with part one since it was more laser focused on paying homage to Japanese media specifically (and yes, I've rewatched that one recently as well & still love it). Giving this one a fresh watch I've really come to appreciate it more & think it's a great conclusion to the saga however. I especially loved the training flashback & how it was filmed to look like an old school kung fu movie.

Super 7 (Blu-Ray) - Off beat Japanese crime comedy that sees a low ranking Yakuza trying to hide out in the "New Mexico Hotel" (an obscure establishment themed after a dingy American motel) after stealing a suitcase of the family's cash, and having to deal with a lot of strange individuals (the hotel's weird staff, an ex girlfriend looking for him to pay off a debt, her new dorky fiancee, etc.). Kind of an acquired taste, and humor can be a tough sell cross culturally to boot, but it definitely had it's funny moments, and an absolutely awesome anime style intro introducing the players.

@FuriousMachine which Kill Bill did you miss? Noticed KBV2 was at HMV again in the UK, so I don't know if it's a hint of a European restock coming. I know Pulp Fiction is due to be restocked in November. So maybe keep your eye out for some Kill Bills.

Also. My USA Kingdom of Heaven was more Kingdom of Sent in a Paper Bag 🤦‍♂️ so that has to go back, and I assume landfilled (sold to someone else). Thankfully I took a chance on the UK restock as well, rather than waiting for the US delivery, as Amazon US can suck ma d for using this ridiculous packaging. It included a half torn note saying "enjoy your gift" 😂

If your 'Lawrence' survives it might be worth entering the lottery as you will have acquired all the damn luck 🙌

@Ravix Technically I missed out on both, but vol 2 got restocked at an indecent price shortly after. I didn't want to get only the one and I certainly didn't want to pay through the nose for my least favourite of the two, so I decided to wait and see if there was a re-release somewhere down the line (I've noticed that companies have already started triple- and quadruple-dipping their big releases, so I figure my chances are good... this practice has also done a lot for curing my FOMO for many of these "limited" editions)

That being said, if the vol 1 steelbook surfaces, I'll be all over it like blood spatter on The Bride, so I'll keep a look out.

Too bad about your broken Kingdom! I think A.com may be out of paper bags, as Lawrence is still sitting pretty in their warehouse. They haven't charged me yet either, so I Am Patience