Cinema and Movie Thread: coming at you at 24fps

[Raithe]

2 hours ago, InsaneCommander said:

This felt like it was a series and they decided to take some parts and turn into a 2 hour movie instead. Every character they recruited joined without needing any convincing and most of the time what was about to happen was predictable. Still not that bad, until later in the movie when two massive facepalm moments completely ruined it for me.

There was a whole slew of things that felt missing.

Spoiler

The whole situation where out of the blue the Smuggler has this heart to heart talk with Kora about this time with her made him want to join just seemed out of nowhere. Where was the lead-up for this? Did any of the characters actually talk to each other? Did they interact in any meaningful way?

They literally started off watching one of the bounty hunter types hand the guy some cash just after taking their original contact into custody, and they had absolutely no problem trusting him with their plans and who they were talking to. Then were surprised when.. hey.. he's working with the bounty hunters.

 

On other matters, I caught No One Lives.

An interesting twist on the slasher genre.   A moderately wealthy couple traveling cross country get grabbed by a ruthless gang. Only for the reveal that the couple are in fact a psychopathic killer/kidnapper (played by Luke Evans) and one of his brainwashed kidnap victims. The rest of the film is him killing the gang in classic slasher style as they freak out and meltdown.

 

Edited December 28, 2023 by Raithe

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

eXestinZ (1999) - I don't think videogames are gonna be like this tbh

It's pretty good, kinda goes thematically with Paprika in some ways and is the sort of Cronenberg body horror that's not really horror but something else.

Phantom of the Paradise - so this is where Miura (rip) got the design for Femto

It's incredible. I thought it'd just be a 70's rock take on Phantom of the Opera but it is so much more than that. So many gorgeous scenes and outrageous performances make this a must see.

[Hurlshort]

I watched Rebel Moon and agree with most of what people are saying here. The beginning was good. I liked the little Space Amish Viking community. It was a nice looking film and the actors were good. But yeah, it felt half baked. I'm sure we'll get a 4-hour Snyder Cut that will be fully cooked but filled with overly long gazes. 

Spoiler

Kind of hard to fear a dreadnought when it gets taken out by a guy with a spear. Oh no, he pushed the joystick too hard!  

Oh and the pacifist robot was fascinating, but then he disappeared for the bulk of the movie.

 

Edited December 29, 2023 by Hurlshort

[Keyrock]

The Prophecy (1995) - A war between angels culminates in a struggle for a deceased colonel's soul.

While I might still call this a cult classic, just barely, this is likely the most mainstream and highest budget (relative to the time) movie that Vinegar Syndrome has ever put out. I was taken aback a bit when there as no booklet in the packaging, Vinegar Syndrome always goes all out and I've gotten really cool booklets with pictures and behind the scenes stories in previous movies I've purchased from them, but no booklet here. They did, however, make up for it with really great packaging, like really really great. Even Criterion Collection would look at this packaging and say "job well done". The most important part, of course, is the movie itself, and Vinegar Syndrome, as usual, did not disappoint. The 4K picture quality is immaculate. This is especially good news given how well shot this movie was. I'm too lazy to look up the name of the cinematographer, but whoever he or she was, I'd like to buy him or her a beer because this is a beautifully shot movie. All the framing, color grading, and brightness levels in every single shot were deliberate and clearly done by a skilled professional. This is a very good looking movie. It's a slow paced movie with little action and a lot of tension and some suspense. Definitely not for a good chunk of the MCU crowd, they'd be checked out before act 1 ended, but it's quite an enjoyable movie if you're down with a slow burn. Good cast. Christopher Walken is delightful, as expected.

This package also came with The Prophecy 2 & 3, so expect to hear from me again soon.

Side-note: Whatever happened to Eric Stoltz? I feel like I haven't seen him in anything in forever. My hope is that he felt he made enough money and just retired to a cushy life of anonymity somewhere. He's too good an actor to be forced to retire due to lack of work.

Edited December 30, 2023 by Keyrock

[InsaneCommander]

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Much better than I expected. The somewhat recycled scenes from the first movies and the flashback in the beginning gave me a good impression right away. I expected it would get worse later, but it didn't happen. The story does seem even more far fetched than usual though.

Spoiler

Arquimedes would need an IQ in the four digits to be able to build that device, without any knowledge of math and General Relativity, not to say whatever we still don't know that would be necessary to create the dial, even considering it is fiction.

 

On 10/4/2023 at 9:30 PM, Bartimaeus said:

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). ...

e: Red alert, red alert, this is not a drill: @Amentep, @majestic, and I all enjoyed the new Indiana Jones film. Yeah, wrap it up, folks: that should just about seal the world's fate.

On 10/5/2023 at 3:55 AM, majestic said:

...

@PK htiw klaw eriF and @InsaneCommander, would you care to seal the deal?

I enjoyed it and it's definitely better than Skull Kingdom. I don't remember if @PK htiw klaw eriF has watched it already, so, will the world end now?

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

16 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Much better than I expected. The somewhat recycled scenes from the first movies and the flashback in the beginning gave me a good impression right away. I expected it would get worse later, but it didn't happen. The story does seem even more far fetched than usual though.

  Reveal hidden contents

Arquimedes would need an IQ in the four digits to be able to build that device, without any knowledge of math and General Relativity, not to say whatever we still don't know that would be necessary to create the dial, even considering it is fiction.

 

I enjoyed it and it's definitely better than Skull Kingdom. I don't remember if @PK htiw klaw eriF has watched it already, so, will the world end now?

I haven't. Maybe I should or @Sarexshould, or maybe 4 is enough to end the world. If it is godspeed.

[Bartimaeus]

30 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

 

It should be noted that the Antikythera Mechanism is a real thing (although obviously it doesn't quite do what it does in the film) and dates back to at least 2000 years ago, and it's a pretty fascinating read. Technology and science could unfortunately take great leaps backwards in the ancient world thanks to how easily knowledge and skills could be lost. It's only this year they think they discovered the secret to the millennia-old Roman concrete, and I'm still waiting to see if they ever find one of those ancient Greek flamethrowers from antiquity.

Edited December 30, 2023 by Bartimaeus

[Keyrock]

I didn't like Indy5 as much as @InsaneCommanderbut it's definitely better than Indy4.

[Gfted1]

20 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Technology and science could unfortunately take great leaps backwards in the ancient world thanks to how easily knowledge and skills could be lost.

The loss of knowledge is interesting to me. Sure, the understanding of a one of one device like the Mechanism could be lost to the sands of time, but presumably the recipe for Roman concrete would have been common knowledge to thousands of workers who would just mix and pour it on site over the centuries? Nobody wrote it down anywhere?

[Sarex]

1 hour ago, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

I haven't. Maybe I should or @Sarexshould, or maybe 4 is enough to end the world. If it is godspeed.

Here's my take after watching it.

On 10/5/2023 at 9:56 PM, Sarex said:

Indiana Jones has been out for "free" for a couple of weeks now. In my opinion it's ok but nothing special, then again I don't think the originals were all that either. The deaging special effects are still in the uncanny valley territory.

Overall I'm with @Keyrock. Better than the previous movie, but nothing special.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

3 minutes ago, Sarex said:

Here's my take after watching it.

Overall I'm with @Keyrock. Better than the previous movie, but nothing special.

So does the apocalypse fall to me? Or do they already have enough people liking the movie?

[Sarex]

Top Gun Maverick.

USA USA USA!

I don't know why countries are chasing that technological high when it's all about the pilot. Top Gun 3 Tom Cruise is taking down a 6th gen fighter in a biplane.

All that aside the movie was fun. If they extended the training montage and stopped getting high on the mission part it would have been even better. Apart from that I'm pretty sure they used deaging filters and the shot of him sitting on the beach and talking with the admiral was obviously in front of the green screen, guess they couldn't get the actors to shoot the scene at the same time.

[Lexx]

On 12/24/2023 at 10:59 AM, Raithe said:

Not exactly. I saw a report that he got the agreement to do both versions from the get-go, so he apparently set out from the beginning to film two versions of the story. So you aren't going to get fans starting a movement, but the wait for that.

It's a good trick to make people watch the movie twice now. First time it's mediocre at best, then you hope with the directors cut it's actually going to be great... but nope. : >

That said, I actually enjoyed the Justice League directors cut for the most of it.

[Hurlshort]

I watched an episode of The George Lopez Show called Blue Beetle, and it was pretty well done. I've missed most of the DC movies that have come out lately, but this one was a decent standalone flick. The family was definitely the star of the show.

[bugarup]

Watched Love Actually.  Whoever recommended me this pile of saccharine as "Witty British comedy" is up for some retribution. Maybe I'll recommend them Pet Sematary as feel good family movie.  

[Raithe]

2 hours ago, bugarup said:

Watched Love Actually.  Whoever recommended me this pile of saccharine as "Witty British comedy" is up for some retribution. Maybe I'll recommend them Pet Sematary as feel good family movie.  

Yeah, that's, one of those cheesy, sentimental Rom-Com for a season types.

If you're just wanting witty british comedy, that's a bit of a different focus.

You might want to try Death At A Funeral, Hot Fuzz,  Four Weddings and a Funeral leans into the Rom-Com side of things, Chalet Girl is an obscure one that's got some wit behind the rom-com as well.

Or, really go old school and look up Kind Hearts and Coronets

 

Edited January 2 by Raithe

[bugarup]

2 hours ago, Raithe said:

Yeah, that's, one of those cheesy, sentimental Rom-Com for a season types.

If you're just wanting witty british comedy, that's a bit of a different focus.

You might want to try Death At A Funeral, Hot Fuzz,  Four Weddings and a Funeral leans into the Rom-Com side of things, Chalet Girl is an obscure one that's got some wit behind the rom-com as well.

Or, really go old school and look up Kind Hearts and Coronets

I'm not quite starved of British comedy, there's full Monty Python's Flying Circus on Netflix, "After Life" in backlog and other stuff, but this reminded me I still haven't watched the last of Cornetto trilogy, so that's something to look forward to.  

[Hurlshort]

10 hours ago, bugarup said:

Watched Love Actually.  Whoever recommended me this pile of saccharine as "Witty British comedy" is up for some retribution. Maybe I'll recommend them Pet Sematary as feel good family movie.  

I'm not sure who recommended it that way. It's a pretty depressing holiday film. This is like the saddest thing ever:

 

[Amentep]

Okay some more of what I watched over my holidaze -

Pieces - Christopher George plays what may be the least effective cop in slasher film history as a maniac chainsaws his way through college.  He is aided by a former Tennis Pro turned police woman (Lynda Day), a student (Ian Sera), a Professor (Jack Taylor), the groundskeeper (a glowering Paul Smith), and the Dean (Edmund Purdom) - any of who could be the killer (last seen as a kid who killed his mom).  Very giallo (with all the weird logic those films display at times) and in its way and a lot of fun.  Plus random Bruce Le cameo.

Miami Connection - A band that are also martial arts experts runs afoul of drug dealers who have ninjas on their side in Orlando because one of the band members is dating the sister of one of the drug dealers.  A lot of fun, with some catchy music.

Alien Outlaw - Aliens attack a small town just as shooting expert Jesse Jamison comes to town with her trick shooting show.  Lots of things get shot, and possibly one of the best escapes in cinema for a heavily overweight comedy relief character.

The Maltese Falcon - The stuff dreams are made of; the new restoration did a lot of good for sound and image

Casablanca - Also a very good restoration.  And a good film.  Always felt like Henried was all wrong for Lazlo - his portrayal doesn't fit the idea of a character whose led a canny cat-and-mouse chase with the Germans through WWII Europe; instead it feels like his character is one scene away from doing a Sydney Carton with jutting jaw if given half-a-chance.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance - intersplices the origin of the title character's fall from second/execution for the Shogun with a forward story of the now-a-sword-for-hire Ogami Ittō taking money to further his planned vengeance on the clan that framed him in the eyes of the Shogun.  This leads to a bloody conflict with a group of Ronin who are waiting to perform their own assassination in a hot springs town where they terrorize all who are there.  Nice 70s samurai action film; always thought Wakayama Tomisaburō was a great pick for the role; he's expressive when he needs to be, stoic when he needs to be, meancing when he needs to be, and plays the father role well to boot.

American Graffiti - 4 high school graduates have a final night on Modesto before they go their separate ways.  Its an interesting exercise in characters as plot, since there really isn't a formal structure, but a structure that weaves the characters through the night into a satisfying film.

People Under the Stairs - skipped it when it came out, but over the years heard so much about it I had to give it a shot.  Man marketing really let this film down at the time of its release.  Its not the film I remember being sold, and its overall a very solid horror film.  I can't help but feel the film got edited heavily though (Bill Cobbs, for example, just disappears from the film at the end, with no explanation).

Love Brides of the Blood Mummy - a good example of what a lot people accuse Eurohorror of being - pointless cruelty and a rapey plot.  Nice costumes is about the best I can say, they felt like they could have come from a higher budgeted film.  On the plus side, I have a new answer to "what's the worst mummy film you've seen".

Get Crazy - Daniel Stern puts on a rock-n-roll new years eve show for his boss, while an evil Ed Begely, Jr. tries to take over the beloved venue to build a Trump-esque tower on its land.  A surreal comedy that is one half 'lets put on a show' and one half actual concert footage.  A lot better than a film made to be a Mel Brook's The Producers style tax break flop should be.

Underworld / Transmutations - An artist who used to be a fixer for a criminal is brought in to search for his ex-girlfriend who has been kidnapped by sewer dwelling mutants created by a mad scientist.  Its a fun film; certainly compromised by producers.  Still it has a lot of ideas that the film's writer, Clive Barker, would go to flesh out to better effect in later stories and movies.  The director of this would collaborate on the stronger, but still flawed, Rawhead Rex with Barker a few years later.

Sky Pirates - just after WWII, an Australian air force pilot is tasked to bring some US military personnel, a scientist and a mysteries part of a stone tablet to America with a stop at Easter Island.  After things go south, the pilot and the scientist's daughter are locked in a race with evil US military types to get their hands on the completed tablet and the ultimate weapon it contains.  Very much an Australian entry into he Indiana Clones series of films, its probably stronger in the first 2/3 than the last 1/3, but worth a watch.

Magnificent Warriors - Michelle Yeoh is a pilot with a way with a whip, gun and martial arts.  Recruited through her grandfather to rescue the leader of a Tibetan city during the second series of Japanese invasions into various Asian countries in the 1930s, complications abound when a thief steals the identification of her contact in the city.  Great comedic martial arts stunts and good straight action up to the final fight.  While not as grim as some martial arts films can be, the final fight takes a serious turn that somewhat drains the high energy and fun that had been established to that point.  Not as Indiana Clone as I'd been told (its more High Road to China adjacent, really, lol) it is a fun film.

[LadyCrimson]

On 12/29/2023 at 4:48 PM, Keyrock said:

Whatever happened to Eric Stoltz?

Mostly did smaller supporting roles, some TV series that didn't last long, guest episodes etc.
I think he went more towards the producer/director side the past 20 years, Madam Secretary being a notable one. I only know of that one because hubby was watching it for a while and I looked it up.

I still remember him most from Rob Roy for some reason. Probably because of the OST that went with it.

[Bartimaeus]

13 hours ago, Amentep said:

American Graffiti - 4 high school graduates have a final night on Modesto before they go their separate ways.  Its an interesting exercise in characters as plot, since there really isn't a formal structure, but a structure that weaves the characters through the night into a satisfying film.

Hm, is there an alternative ending where all the boys drive off into a volcano together that I missed? I think that's the only thing that could've made that particular George Lucas film 'satisfying' for me, . Or maybe if Laurie decided to go full axe murderer and it suddenly became a slasher film. Ooh, that would've been good.

13 hours ago, Amentep said:

Love Brides of the Blood Mummy - a good example of what a lot people accuse Eurohorror of being - pointless cruelty and a rapey plot.  Nice costumes is about the best I can say, they felt like they could have come from a higher budgeted film.  On the plus side, I have a new answer to "what's the worst mummy film you've seen".

I kind of always assumed that sort of thing was pretty universal to movies made by the untalented and creatively pathetic, particularly when it comes to the more shocking (i.e. sex and violence, and obviously their intersection as well). Talented minds are able to work those elements in when and where they're appropriate and can use them to create some kind of cohesive message/commentary given their framing within the context of the whole film and which will hopefully connect to audiences by being reflective of the world we ourselves live in on some level...the untalented, on the other hand, seem to so often take and remake such scenes/ideas from other works they've experienced and insert them into their films without any clear or deep authorial intent in mind, which robs them of the necessary context and subsequent impact to make them meaningful or even possibly work on any level at all. Though it must be said that some filmmakers are better at certain things than others: just because you have zero craft for themes, framing, and messaging doesn't mean you can't make a well-directed and technically sound zombie film...I'm not particularly likely to love it, but there are plenty out there who would. I don't watch very many B movies for a reason, after all.

[Amentep]

Old thread -

 

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Hm, is there an alternative ending where all the boys drive off into a volcano together that I missed? I think that's the only thing that could've made that particular George Lucas film 'satisfying' for me, . Or maybe if Laurie decided to go full axe murderer and it suddenly became a slasher film. Ooh, that would've been good.

Lol. 

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I kind of always assumed that sort of thing was pretty universal to movies made by the untalented and creatively pathetic, particularly when it comes to the more shocking (i.e. sex and violence, and obviously their intersection as well). Talented minds are able to work those elements in when and where they're appropriate and can use them to create some kind of cohesive message/commentary given their framing within the context of the whole film and which will hopefully connect to audiences by being reflective of the world we ourselves live in on some level...the untalented, on the other hand, seem to so often take and remake such scenes/ideas from other works they've experienced and insert them into their films without any clear or deep authorial intent in mind, which robs them of the necessary context and subsequent impact to make them meaningful or even possibly work on any level at all. Though it must be said that some filmmakers are better at certain things than others: just because you have zero craft for themes, framing, and messaging doesn't mean you can't make a well-directed and technically sound zombie film...I'm not particularly likely to love it, but there are plenty out there who would. I don't watch very many B movies for a reason, after all.

Eh, B movies are broader than just being untalented - often times you have talented people working with minimal budgets and the actors they can get locally.  In those cases, the ideas will shine through and make a movie fun, for me at least.  This had none of that, it was exploitation filmmaking without any redeeming features really.  Unless you want to see a guy playing a mummy stick his face and nose into the camera to simulate mental contnrol before assaulting naked women.  The ending is risible as well and the mythology is inconsistent - not just with Egyptian myth and history, that's common for mummy films but with itself.  The movie presents certain reasons the mummy is doing what he's doing and then literally violates that explanation in the next scene. There was no interest in this film from the filmmakers beyond the explotational elements.  Was a real drag.

[Malcador]

Miami Connection was worth watching just for the letter scene.

[InsaneCommander]

On 12/30/2023 at 7:34 PM, Bartimaeus said:

It should be noted that the Antikythera Mechanism is a real thing (although obviously it doesn't quite do what it does in the film) and dates back to at least 2000 years ago, and it's a pretty fascinating read.

Whatever it does, it doesn't come even close to the device in the movie. But it makes me wonder if there was even more advanced stuff made back then and lost without a trace.

Edited January 3 by InsaneCommander

[Bartimaeus]

4 hours ago, Amentep said:

Eh, B movies are broader than just being untalented - often times you have talented people working with minimal budgets and the actors they can get locally.  In those cases, the ideas will shine through and make a movie fun, for me at least.  This had none of that, it was exploitation filmmaking without any redeeming features really.  Unless you want to see a guy playing a mummy stick his face and nose into the camera to simulate mental contnrol before assaulting naked women.  The ending is risible as well and the mythology is inconsistent - not just with Egyptian myth and history, that's common for mummy films but with itself.  The movie presents certain reasons the mummy is doing what he's doing and then literally violates that explanation in the next scene. There was no interest in this film from the filmmakers beyond the explotational elements.  Was a real drag.

Whoops, I didn't really mean to imply B movies are necessarily lacking in either talent/vision...that last line/mention of them was more just meaning that when you go on and spelunker your way through old B movies, it's going to be an unfortunately common occurrence that you get films that don't quite feel complete and/or totally cohesive in one way or another - whether it's the fault of some particular failing of creative vision at the hands of the director/writer, maybe not having quite the ideal actors for the parts, not having the budget to get the right locations, sets, and props, or something else. And if they do manage all that in spite of their limitations, they're probably pretty notable cult classics. Some people are really good at taking films completely at face value and just riding with them enjoying them for what they are no matter what issues they may have, but I'm really, uh, not that kind of person, which is why I tend to have trouble with B movies. Little things that other people don't even notice, wouldn't even think as worth mentioning because they don't impact their enjoyment of the film, can take me right out of something with little to no chance of recovering...bad framing undercutting characters and/or what I think should be core themes for the sake of exploitation being a prime example.

33 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

Whatever it does, it doesn't come even close to the device in the movie. But it makes me wonder if there was even more advanced stuff made back then and lost without a trace.

Out of lost artifacts that we happen to chance upon and which still exist by a great many circumstances of pure fortune, it doesn't seem particularly unlikely that more advanced examples of certain bits of technology were made before being lost. How much more advanced, probably not exceptionally if none of it ever became widespread and iterated upon enough to not be lost in the first place, or at least that's what I would think.

Edited January 3 by Bartimaeus