• Most new users don't bother reading our rules. Here's the one that is ignored almost immediately upon signup: DO NOT ASK FOR FANEDIT LINKS PUBLICLY. First, read the FAQ. Seriously. What you want is there. You can also send a message to the editor. If that doesn't work THEN post in the Trade & Request forum. Anywhere else and it will be deleted and an infraction will be issued.
  • If this is your first time here please read our FAQ and Rules pages. They have some useful information that will get us all off on the right foot, especially our Own the Source rule. If you do not understand any of these rules send a private message to one of our staff for further details.
  • Please read our Rules & Guidelines

    Read BEFORE posting Trades & Request

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

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. This was more fun than I expected but I enjoyed the full on commitment of Cage and Pascal way more than I expected. It’s meta to the max, but I kept expecting it to be even more meta. I think I would’ve enjoyed it even more if

it had all been in Cage’s head rather than a more Tropic Thunder-esque comedy.

But if you surrender to the ludicrousness it’s a fun way to spend an hour and half.
 
First Resident Evil movie lowkey sucks. I don't care enough to elaborate. I'm not even finished but l don't expect a game changing final 15 minutes. I hope the second film will at least be more fun.

Edit: of course Slipknot is playing over the credits, that of all things killed me. And it's a shitty remix, l actuall thought it was a cover until l looked it up. This song choice really just sums up this movie.
 
Last edited:
Die Hard with a Vengeance is really darn good, can't believe l waited so long to watch it.
 
Wow, Live Free or Die Hard was surprisingly not bad. With the title l kinda expected it to have something to do with New Hampshire which it doesn't, and thus it feels like kinda a weird choice.

Now, l have zero faith in the fifth one, l'm almost tempted to not watch it at all.
 
Jrzag42 said:
Wow, Live Free or Die Hard was surprisingly not bad. With the title l kinda expected it to have something to do with New Hampshire which it doesn't, and thus it feels like kinda a weird choice.
Click to expand...

I watched this in Japan, where it was called "Die Hard 4.0". Films are often retitled for the Japanese market, often to be much more literal since the locals wouldn't get some language reference/implication. In this case though, I thought the Japanese title fit very well with the hacking-based plot of the film, and is my preferred title. Besides that man vs jet battle, it's a surprisingly solid film.
 
Mr. Mom (1983)
Like many light, fun '80s films, I think this movie gets rather overlooked these days (and forgotten as the first hit from John Hughes). Its gender politics are a snapshot of late '70s/early '80s America, but it never looks down on the challenges of either gender role, and modern pandemic dads should find a lot to love here.

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once (2022)
Ke Huy Quan is the heart at the center of this film, and I love that the '80s icon is back on the screen in such a big way. As a Father's Day film, it's so wonderful to see his softness, his quiet persistence and fighting through compassion. Great alternative to some of the overtly, aggressively-masculine films I watched for Memorial Day. The movie as a whole...wow...it's a lot.
 
mnkykungfu said:
I watched this in Japan, where it was called "Die Hard 4.0". Films are often retitled for the Japanese market, often to be much more literal since the locals wouldn't get some language reference/implication. In this case though, I thought the Japanese title fit very well with the hacking-based plot of the film, and is my preferred title. Besides that man vs jet battle, it's a surprisingly solid film.
Click to expand...

From what l was reading, that's the title used literally everywhere outside the states, was the working title throughout production, and was the director's preferred title. It's so weird that we ended up with the title we got. I mean l don't mind the title on its own, but it has certain conotations that aren't met here. I can't stop thinking about this.
 
Welp, my kid wanted to watch Dr. Strange in the Yada Yada Yada. I was more interested in this one than most MCU movies due to it having a director with actual personality. Unfortunately, if I didn’t know this was a Raimi movie I never would’ve guessed as it seemed just as generically MCU as the rest (other than a few brief flashes, almost Raimi cameos). I also think there has to be a lot of required viewing before seeing this movie as I knew very little of things I assume I’m supposed to know. For example, last I saw Wanda she was a good guy with no kids IIRC. That’s obviously a biggie but it seemed there was a lot of other things I should’ve known to fully appreciate the movie. Obviously I know Professor X but the Illuminati thing seemed like there were things I should know that I just didn’t. But ultimately for me, with my knowledge of Marvel, it wasn’t really a very good movie.
 
Moe_Syzlak said:
I also think there has to be a lot of required viewing before seeing this movie as I knew very little of things I assume I’m supposed to know. For example, last I saw Wanda she was a good guy with no kids IIRC. That’s obviously a biggie but it seemed there was a lot of other things I should’ve known to fully appreciate the movie.
Click to expand...

You're correct, Moe! The stuff with Wanda and the kids began in WandaVision, which I've seen. I'm fine with the Marvel movies taking canon from the other movies, but when it comes to TV and streaming, that's a separate audience that doesn't always pay attention to what's in theatres, and vice versa.
 
Eyepainter said:
You're correct, Moe! The stuff with Wanda and the kids began in WandaVision, which I've seen. I'm fine with the Marvel movies taking canon from the other movies, but when it comes to TV and streaming, that's a separate audience that doesn't always pay attention to what's in theatres, and vice versa.
Click to expand...
I honestly don’t care one way or the other as long as the story is good for the audience regardless of investment in other properties. Star Wars is guilty of this as well but in a different way. They are so concerned with making sure they keep “canon” intact, they fail to tell a good story. Ironically they still end up breaking the overall story in many ways. Since watching the Dr. Strange movie I’ve read a few other reviews and it seems the same is true here. Having not seen Wandavision, I can’t comment. But the stuff I read indicated that they basically tossed Wanda’s arc in that show in rose to make her the baddie in this one. 🤷‍♂️ So maybe I was better off not knowing about it.
 
Two more well-meaning dads:

Parenthood (1989)
These days, it seems like the film community is not keen on Ron Howard, so I guess I'm something of an apologist for him. That said, many of the criticisms lobbed at him in general seem very true for this work, as it's almost oblivious to what a milquetoast, entitled position on parenting it's coming from. Two great little speeches from Keanu Reeves and Jason Robards make up for this.

Captain Fantastic (2016)
A frustrating film because it starts off taking a real position and executing a vision, then sets these characters up to fail through over-exaggeration and contrivance. The final act feels like "manic pixie dream family: the movie" with insincere writing turns that the wonderful cast somehow make seem grounded and believable. I couldn't help wondering what this script would've been like if Joaquin (formerly "Leaf") Phoenix wrote it about his own traveling, hippie family.
 
Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was really good. I'm a bit bitter that it didn't end on a gay note, it really felt like it was going in that direction at some points, but alas it wasn't meant to be. Regardless, l really enjoyed it.

Also, l just noticed Ghost Rider mentioned in the credits, when was it referenced? I swear l was looking out for any Ghost Rider references.
 
^Maybe because he actually has Ghost Rider's head tattooed on his arm? Did they show his bare arm? (He actually had to have it covered with makeup when he played the character himself. lol)
 
mnkykungfu said:
^Maybe because he actually has Ghost Rider's head tattooed on his arm? Did they show his bare arm? (He actually had to have it covered with makeup when he played the character himself. lol)
Click to expand...
Haha that's probably it, l didn't notice it but they definitely do show his bare arms so l probably just missed it.
 
Jurassic World Dominion (2022) Meh. Pure money grab, nothing more. It sucks IMHO.
 
My sister finally got me to see Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness! Overall, I loved it, and I hated it. I loved it for the crazy and insane Sam Raimi-isms, the envelope-pushing violence, and for zombie Strange at the end of the film. I hated how convoluted it was, and having seen both WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home, some of the plot choices seemed at odds with what's already happened in the past, especially with Wanda's character arc in the WandaVision season finale. All in all, I think it's a mixed bag, but you'll have to come back to me later, because I'm still trying to process it.
 
Monsters at Work (2021)
It's weird to me that this seems considered as a TV series when things like the Marvel and Star Wars series are far more open-ended. This tells a complete open-and-shut story in about 200 minutes that is a direct sequel to Monsters, Inc. Mike and Sully are now running the plant on laugh-power and we follow a new character who had always wanted to be a scary monster and now has to be a jokester...hilarity supposedly ensues? Don't know what the target audience was meant to be for this, as it's a weird combo of dopey physical comedy meets The Office, though it is nice to have a "Son of..."-type generational sequel that still gives equal time to the original cast.

21 Grams (2003)
I liked a lot of things about this Inaritu'-directed film when it first came out, but I couldn't connect with it. I always suspected the spastic editing was hiding that the story lacked depth and character motivations made no sense. Seeing Gatos' "Rebalanced" fanedit that straightens it all out definitely improved the film and viewing experience....though it confirmed my suspicions.
 
Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
I liked quite a lot of this. Ewan McGregor is a serious mancrush for me, and one of my favorite things in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. He didn't always get the room to show lots of depth, but by the end of that, his relationship with Christenson's Anakin had an arc with depth. Seeing that explored more here is great, very satisfying bookend episodes; too bad it's hampered by a poor performance from a sub-par villain added in as a distraction.

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Under the stewardship of Tom Cruise and many of his frequent collaborators, Joseph Kosinski manages to finally turn in a good movie. Of course, about 80% of it is beat-for-beat, shot-for-shot, line-for-line, song-for-song a copy of Tony Scott's original classic, but the beginning and ending of the film are smartly updated to give a gratifying throwback film that manages to beat the odds and recreate Star Wars without audiences realizing it and complaining that it's not "subverting expectations" or whatever.
 
I've been watching/re-watching the series of films called The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. These came out in a big DVD set in the late '90s, but many of them were released as TV episodes in the early 90s. I'm now in the second section of the series, which has been re-edited to play out chronologically, so here Indy starts at like 15, played by Sean Patrick Flannery (who was in his 20s but looks passably young enough).

-Spring Break Adventure: Indy and his high-school gf (the inspiration for Nancy Drew) help foil Nazi espionage in America. Later Indy and his family visit an estranged uncle in Mexico, and Indy kind of accidentally runs off to join the Mexican Revolution. Strong guest stars, and thankfully the last we see of Indy's family.
-Love's Sweet Song: Indy realized that he was fighting in the wrong war, and got talked into running off to join the Belgian Army and fight in WWI. In transit to London, he gets caught up in the Home Rule Act troubles in Ireland, then falls in love with Elizabeth Hurley amidst the suffragette movement. There are shocking parallels to the story Lucas later used for Attack of the Clones.
-Trenches of Hell: Indy joins the war in Europe just in time to get thrown into two of the most horrible battles, Verdun and the Somme. My favorite film of this set, the battle sequences are stunning for '90s TV, and the show is definitely not talking down to kids like with the child Indy episodes.
-Demons of Deception: A super-interesting section with some talent behind the scenes, this sees Indy traumatized on the battlefield and recovering in Paris where he strikes up a love affair with Mata Hari. Love scenes that I'm surprised aired on US television before 10PM.
-The Phantom Train of Doom: A pair of adventures centered around the Royal Fusiliers, I think the zaniness here doesn't quite capture the really probably outright insanity of the real life situation, but once again the show's use of real historical figures made me dig them up to learn more.
-Oganga, The Giver and Taker of Life: Indy's adventures in Africa are now leading to the predictable direness and discrimination that you might have expected, but it's once again refreshing to have the series not be talking down to the audience with expository lectures, but just show Indy's developing morality.
-Attack of the Hawkmen: this actually did air as one long TV movie in '95, though you can still see the seams of two episodes like the others here. Written and directed by that Ben Burtt, it shows his passion for the aerial aspect of WWI, though I don't think the technology or his directing skill have made the visual effects here hold up particularly well. Indy's last battlefield adventure before the films where he becomes a proper espionage agent.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom