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The Last Movie(s) You Watched... (quick one or two sentence reviews)

Roujin Z (1991)
Katsuhiro Otomo's anime right after Akira. He pawned off the directorial supervising to his co-worker, Hiroyuki Kitakubo, but this script about the rights and needs of an aging society is handled with Otomo's typical insight and insanity, plus a bit more comedy.

2009 - Lost Memories (2002)
It's not often that a sci-fi story sets itself so near to its own future, but this one is actually about an alternate past: one where Japan had long before allied with the US, and so helped to drop the bomb on Berlin and win WWII. It takes place in the part of 'modern' Japan that used to be called Korea, and the bi-lingual co-production never gets as good as this description of the premise probably sounds.

Fist of the North Star: Chapter of Death in Love (2006)
The Legends of the True Savior series attempted to retell FotNS with 5 films, this first one focusing on the origins of Raoh, the main antagonist. I thought it'd be a fun way to dive into the classic manga, but the whole thing is just trying so hard to be a 13-year old boy's version of "cool" that it falls flat and was just too lame to finish.
 
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Variation on a theme part 3. I'll probably get some hate for saying this, but it was pretty much just as what ever the other ones were as the first two. The only real difference here to me was that the actors and acting weren't preferred by the audience. T2 was lifted by Joe Morton's superb acting and the presence of Sarah Hamilton. The story of T3 was decent enough, though it could have been told in a vignette and saved a lot of time. The action is what you'd expect, over the top and ridiculous. A timid ending/beginning of the terminator judgement day story. 5/10
 
My Friend Hugo (2014)
Follow-up to Oliver Stone's earlier documentary, South of the Border; he goes back to Venezuela to make a sort of documentary eulogy for its recently-departed president. Interviews many world leaders who worked with Chavez as well as friends, family, and constituents, and surprisingly doesn't shy away from critically examining his legacy.

Idol is Dead (2012)
This may be one of the most inside-Japan movies I've ever watched, with all the things that make it truly great being almost impenetrable to someone who hasn't lived there. Even still, it's totally worth tracking down as a self-deprecating horror-comedy about bar girls who impersonate budding pop stars and find out they like it. This is my One Cut of the Dead.

Bullet Train (2022)
.....aaaaaand then on the other side, there's this movie, none of which was actually filmed using a bullet train. Japanese people are used for quirky window-dressing while the culture is portrayed with zero accuracy and total fetishization. A few quite good performances along with some pretty bad ones but all of it brought down by a script that thinks its waaaay funnier than it actually is.
 
Terminator Salvation
I was hoping this would be a better movie as it at least takes us to a new time for the story. Sadly, the story is a bit convoluted. I couldn't help thinking that the movie wasn't really fleshed out when the ending came. Lots happens on the screen, but ultimately nothing really happens. Marcus' character doesn't receive the depth it needed to really be impactful, nor does Reese or Connor. Marcus might have been an intriguing bridge between man and machine, but ultimately became a distraction for a story that could have been a bit better. Also, we see that Terminator really could just be the genesis of the Matrix right? When Morpheus says they don't know for sure what happened, this could easily have been it, the Skynet storyline. 5.75/10
 
Well, was a bit bored and decided to watch Heartbreakers with Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Was actually pretty fun, despite it petering out near the end.

7/10
 
Saw Ghostbusters: Afterlife today. Overall it was good though some parts were a bit odd. Definitely felt more like one of those 80's fantasy/horror/family films though than Ghostbusters.

8/10
 
Elvis. I’m not a fan of biopics in general and especially music biopics. This one was okay. It felt very one sided and glossed over many problematic aspects of Elvis and often seemed to imply any of his failing weren’t his fault. It does seem to strive to give credit to the black music that Elvis built his success on, but IMO could’ve gone further. Elvis is a strange phenomenon. He’s absolutely huge among one generation, but his popularity falls off fast among other generations. I’d be interested to see what a true Elvis fan thought of it.
 
^Everything I've seen on every platform by big Elvis fans has ranged from 'truly enjoyed it' to 'it's one of the most moving films I've ever seen'. Uniformly very positive.

Non-Stop (2014)
One of the now four films that Liam Neeson(s) has done with Collet-Serra, this innovative airplane cyber-terrorist mystery was certainly a cut above most of Neeson's old-man-actioners. Plus, it was a really interesting experience watching it on Panamanian Netflix.

Genius Party - Beyond (2008)
The sequel to the previous year's anime anthology film from Studio 4C. The shorts are of mixed quality, as you'd expect, but overall there's not enough truly strong stuff here to recommend it.

Midori (1992)
Just barely long enough to qualify as a feature film, but this classic animated tale packs a lot in to its running time. One of the most mercilessly grotesque, perverted, and bleak stories to ever be animated; it's pretty disturbing that this was pretty much just one guy's passion project to get made.
 
The Gray Man. It started off okay as a sort hyperdrive version of the Bourne films, but it quickly got so over-the-top that I just couldn’t take it seriously. By the time the film gets to Prague it has lost all credibility. Credit to Evans, at least, who seems to give it his all. Can’t say the same for the rest of the cast.
 
Finally got around to seeing Top Gun Maverick. Overall, I liked it though not gaga over it like some.

Then again, I never really have an attachment to the original like others so that may have affected how I felt about the movie.

8/10
 
Sherlock, Jr. (1924)
This early feature from Buster Keaton is much-beloved, but I felt that if modern film critics weren't so in love with films about films then it wouldn't get nearly so much attention. Focuses more on comedy than stunts but I didn't laugh much.

Sword of the Stranger (2007)
An anime jidaegeki from Production IG that has a nice art style and plays like a fairly-straight action flick with strong silent protector and precocious child on a road trip. Didn't do much innovative or stylish enough to wow me, but you could do far worse if looking for one-off anime.

Warm Bodies (2013)
Seems to have gotten written off as a zombie version of Romeo & Juliet, but it's so much more. Does a lot with a limited budget, focusing instead on clever writing, solid performances, and adapting the novel to say far more about the impending race/class divide in Trump's America than just a simple Shakespearean love story.
 
mnkykungfu said:
Warm Bodies (2013)
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I saw this in theaters, twice actually. My mom took me to see it, then I later dragged my dad to see it. I don't think either really loved it, but for some reason it's stuck with me and I still think about it here and there. I should revisit it sometime, though I doubt it will live up to 10 year old me's perception of it.
 
Watched a youngling cut of Fellowship of the Ring with the fellowship this evening. At the end the youngest hobbit said, "That's a stupid ending" 🤣
 
I just finished watching Pink Floyd's The Wall. I enjoyed it far more than I ever expected to, it was simply phenominal. I never got into the band, but I really need to now. I already wanna rewatch this.
 
Lightyear (2022)
Glad I waited for this to land on Disney+... a completely acceptable sci-fi romp that blows its trademark Pixar hit-you-in-the-feels moment too early in the film and then becomes increasingly by-the-numbers as it goes on.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020)
I'm sure I was not the audience in mind when this film was being made, but I wish they might have made it to connect with a bit of a broader audience? Loved the music, but it was sidelined in favor of stagey melodrama and awkward adaptation.

Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie (1982)
Awesome trashy old sci-fi anime with a pretty boring anti-hero but pretty exceptional everything around him. It's better than the manga, the anime series, and any other version, and it's up free on Youtube!
 
I saw Tron (1982) and it was awful. And no, the visuals aren't the issue. Those are at least neat to look at. It's just so boring, somehow managing to be simultaneously too straightforward yet confusing. Everyone looks the same in the digital world, so it's incredibly hard to keep track of who's who.
 
Ender said:
I saw Tron (1982) and it was awful. And no, the visuals aren't the issue. Those are at least neat to look at. It's just so boring, somehow managing to be simultaneously too straightforward yet confusing. Everyone looks the same in the digital world, so it's incredibly hard to keep track of who's who.
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I have some plans to help the look and sound eventually but the story is what it is. I think it's mostly a shame that it's only one original film. Back in the day if this were a series or trilogy it could have really developed some of the deeper ideas better.

Instead we got the twenty ish years later sequel reboot.

I think some things could be done now that tech has advanced that would help marry it to its sequel better.
1. Rescore with the sequel's soundtrack. This is simple in concept.

2. Fix the skin color, it's painted monochromatic color because of how the inside the computer portions of the film were shot on black and white stock and colored later. I can get better results now from putting some of the frames into an AI colorizer and distributing the color with EbSynth (something I did to the entire first episode of Doctor Who as a test with great results when the footage is clear and high enough resolution for the AI to recognize its elements). Then the skin tone has to be comp'ed back in with the original costumes and background colors.

3. Add texture or reflections to the primitive 3d elements and atmosphere or fog or weather elements to bring it more to life. Maybe recreate some things altogether.

Post credits scene with Daft Punk music video.

Maybe some things could be cut too, I haven't really thought about that part.
 
Ender said:
Tron (1982)
It's just so boring, somehow managing to be simultaneously too straightforward yet confusing.
...it's incredibly hard to keep track of who's who.
Click to expand...
With a younger generation getting around to this, I imagine it basically becomes a period piece. I sometimes have these same issues which anything that takes place in Victorian England, what with the wigs and frilly coats and nonsensical names... :p

Dug Days (2021)
Honestly my favorite thing Pixar has done in a looooong time. These 5 shorts comprise a wonderful sequel to Up, and I honestly think it was a better call to do it this way. Toy Story 4 should've taken note.

The Book of Life (2014)
Pre-Coco but similar in many ways, like if Dreamworks did the film (although this is Fox). Charming voice cast and some interesting visuals but definitely more for the kids.

Dune (1984)
I watched the old "Third Stage Edition" fanedit and it was great seeing the film at basically maximum length. I think I'm still looking for the perfect fanedit, as the quality of footage and the usefulness of some of it is still a bit lacking, but I do love me some '80s Dune!
 
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