Cinema and Movie Thread: flickering images

[Gfted1]

Murder Mystery

We watched it in anticipation of Murder Mystery 2 releasing today and it was pretty funny. I enjoy most of Sandler's movies and Aniston is still a total smokeshow. She must live in a hyperbaric chamber while not out and about because she hasnt aged in 25 years.

[Amentep]

D&D: Honor among Thieves

Lots of fun. Maybe not the over-the-top cheesy fun of the Irons one, but more of the classic movie adventure fun.

[Chairchucker]

I watched the new Dungeons and Dragons movie and thought it was excellent. Feels like it did a good job of pandering to hardcore fans while not alienating newcomers, too.

[Amentep]

 

[Gromnir]

am looking forward to an owen wilson film.

am looking forward to an owen wilson film?

a signs o' the apocalypse moment. 

HA! Good Fun!

[Gromnir]

two in a row... and equal unlikely, a superhero flick am looking forward to, albeit with reservations.

first were fantastic. in our top three o' sooperhero movies. we were quite skeptical o' the first miles morales movie before seeing it. glad we were wrong.  

our initial thoughts is a spiderverse sequel is understandable from an economics pov but am seeing as all too likely to diminish the story. nevertheless, am looking froward to #2 in spite o' some reservations.

HA! Good Fun!

Edited April 4, 2023 by Gromnir

[Amentep]

 

[Raithe]

 

[Gfted1]

 

[Bartimaeus]

On 4/4/2023 at 10:08 AM, Gromnir said:

spider-verse

I keep forgetting to watch Into the Spider-Verse. I've heard that it is good even by the standards of people who don't care at all about superheros/Spiderman. Maybe someday.

. . .

Altered States (1980). Drug movies are always so danged dull. It has a neat poster, though.

[Keyrock]

12 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Altered States (1980). Drug movies are always so danged dull.

I thought A Scanner Darkly was quite interesting and that was a drug movie. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas featured a metric ****ton of drugs, not sure if it's strictly a drug movie, but that definitely wasn't dull.

In other news,

Without having seen anything beyond the trailer released, I'm already convinced that Cade - The Tortured Crossing will be the greatest movie in the history of cinema.

Edited April 8, 2023 by Keyrock

[majestic]

Of course, Neil Breen is the best at everything, and that includes showing the audience his ball sack.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Lost Highway (1997)

It's absolutely one of the wildest films I have ever seen, and after over a decade of searching for it (to see legally and affordably, no bully NSA), I finally found it available on Criterion. For me, it held up just as much or even moreso than when I first viewed it as a depressed teenager. The film runs through time and reality like an ouroboros while constantly creating the feelings of an unsettling nightmare via low rumbling sounds and stretched of pitch black darkness. Absolutely incredible, the transitions are horrifying and The Mysterry Man is one of the creepiest entities in a film that isn't outright horror.

Rashomon (1950)

Four conflicting stories of rape and murder, each told by someone looking to frame themselves in the best possible light and nones of them are the "true" story. Perhaps not the best film Kurosawa made, but definitely a very good or great film that uses beautiful visuals and unreliable narration to incredible effect.

[Gfted1]

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)

It's a feverdream observing a treacherous and ambitious man's descent (further) into madness as it becomes more apparent what he is chasing doesn't exist. It's shot on location, which made the raft scenes more comedic than they should be.

[LadyCrimson]

Speaking of William Fichtner - I'll rent this for him alone. Maybe it'll be a decent thriller/mind-bender, too, who knows.
 

 

 

[Keyrock]

Unmasking the Idol (1986) - The adventures of debonair spy/ninja Duncan Jax and his baboon partner Boon. Duncan and Boon must stop the sale of nuclear weapons to terrorists and stop the mysterious and deadly Scarlet Leader.

This is an unashamed James Bond ripoff with a baboon twist with what looks to be a medium-ish budget. It's a quality B movie that entertains throughout, even if it's extremely derivative. I got the blu-ray from the fine folks at Vinegar Syndrome and the quality is superb, as usual; the restored 2K visuals are terrific. Included is a two-sided poster:

The top is the new VinSyn artwork, the bottom, I assume, is the original 1986 artwork.

Hopefully VinSyn gives this treatment to the sequel Order of the Black Eagle. Supposedly, it's the superior of the 2 movies, largely due to higher Boon screen time. The man playing Duncan Jax, Ian Hunter, isn't bad, but he has barely more charisma than notable charisma black hole Robert Ginty. On the other hand, the screen lights up any time Boon is on it. Seriously, Boon is the best.

Vinegar Syndrome is an awesome company. If you like B movies, cult classics, and weird foreign films, support VinSyn. Their releases cost more but you get the highest possible version of the movie with any and all extras they can throw in. They're the Criterion Collection of B movies.

Edited April 13, 2023 by Keyrock

[Amentep]

I'd love ORDER OF THE BLACK EAGLE to get released.

In other news..

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Dune (1984)

It's really dumb and silly, like a Star Wars knockoff with an R rating made by people doing too much mind altering substances. Easily the worst David Lynch film, but it works for me as a campy sci-fantasy romp.

[Bartimaeus]

Aftersun (2022). Barebones premise: a divorced Scottish father takes his young teen daughter on a vacation to Turkey for her birthday.

Spoiler

It's one of those films where you have trouble determining exactly what the tone is and what you think it might do, and you keep switching between thinking "this is cute and nice and everything is going to be fine" versus "I don't think this is going to be fine".

I really enjoyed it. I'd recommend it to @PK htiw klaw eriF...and probably most everyone else who enjoys slow character-driven films.

Edited April 15, 2023 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

3 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I'd recommend it to @PK htiw klaw eriF...and probably most everyone else who enjoys slow character-driven films.

It sounds like it could work very well for me, I will add it to my list and give it a go......probably next weekend? We'll see how things pan out.

[Amentep]

 

[Bartimaeus]

i guess Stranger Things has helped shift the old trope from "there's a person in the walls" to "there's a demogorgon in the walls"

Edited April 17, 2023 by Bartimaeus

[Gromnir]

5 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

i guess Stranger Things has helped shift the old trope from "there's a person in the walls" to "there's a demogorgon in the walls"

to be fair, the old trope were closer to demogorgon.  grendel were one o' the firstest bogeymen in literature and he were a vaguely anthropomorphized fear o' that which lurks just beyond the longhouse door-- something monstrous and indescribable.

as a species we became more "civilized" and less afraid o' the unknown birthed by the darkness. we realized hic sunt dracones were less scary than our neighbors. whether is climate change, nuclear war, or handguns, chances are you see mankind as the origin o' the mostest likely nightmares you will need confront. not surprising, our monsters changed from unknowable and indescribable to something much more familiar... and human. the motivations and appearance o' our monsters became recognizable and describable.

nevertheless, the old terrors were never genuine dispatched and they crouch in the midnight corners o' our collective unconscious. like it or not, we all got a monkey brain and on a fundamental level we know there is monsters waiting for us in the darkness.

HA! Good Fun!

[Lexx]

Watched Thor Love and Thunder yesterday. Honestly wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. Sometimes it was a lil bit too wacky for sure, but at least it's not the most boring Marvel movie.