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

Sinbad

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Midsommar

I liked it a lot, not as much as Hereditary which it shares a lot of DNA with despite feeling less of a horror movie and more of a macabre pyschological drama. Apparently Aster is done with horror now and wants to do different things, looking forward to his next project as he is a huge talent.
 

DigModiFicaTion

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Strange Impersonation (1946)
An almost comical attempt at a suspense story. It tries its best to set up a twist and then dismally misses the mark at the end.  Some may like the ending, but it seems like a cheap cop-out with what the movie drags you through. This is a light weight thriller that isn't worth a repeat viewing. 5/10
 

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The Widow (2019)
This is an amazon prime original mini-series so I'm cheating with this one, but I just binge watched this series and minus a small handful of things I didn't care for it was pretty great. The story's depth increases with each episode in intelligent ways. While the fact that this is a mini-series takes any of the real suspense regarding danger for the lead character away, the story is compelling enough with its pace and cliffhanger endings to keep things moving. The acting is great and the story delivers. Might be interesting to see someone snag the blu ray and try to make a movie out of it. 7.5/10

True Grit (2010)
I appreciated this movie a lot more this go around. The end is a little drawn out and probably wasn't needed, but great acting all around here. 7.5/10

The Ghost Army (2013)
A great documentary of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops who used deception tactics to mislead the Nazi war machine. Worth the watch. 8/10

Attraction (2018)
This Russian sci-fi looked fantastic, but was plagued by bad voice overs and a sci-fi channel story. I walked in and out on this one, but essentially it's a story of entitled Russian youtubers who encite their followers to fight the aliens that were shot down. The head military guy could play Stephen Colbert. I'm sure hoping this movie doesn't represent the Russian youth......the boyfriend is a father's worse nightmare....4/10
 

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Dark Passage
It was fine. Pretty good even. Perhaps great, hard to say. Contrived in places, but for a 70 year old movie it was certainly captivating. I don't know what else to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it but I wasn't bowled over.
 

mnkykungfu

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Airplane Watches:

Mortal Engines: You can really tell this is the first feature of a storyboarding/visual effects guy.  Christian Rivers directs off a script from mentors Jackson/Boyle/Walsh.  Typical for them, it's overstuffed.  Unlike their best efforts, it doesn't find balance.  Plus, I find the main actor thoroughly unlikable.  Not nearly as bad as I was led to believe though.  Impeccable design.  6/10

The Sandlot: People quote this all the time like it's a classic up there with Stand By Me and The Goonies.  It also makes 4th of July movie lists, so I gave in and watched it.  It definitely thinks it's trying to do something different, but it's decidedly a movie for little kids, and not the Pixar kind with layers for adults, too.  3/10
 

DigModiFicaTion

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mnkykungfu said:
The Sandlot: People quote this all the time like it's a classic up there with Stand By Me and The Goonies.  It also makes 4th of July movie lists, so I gave in and watched it.  It definitely thinks it's trying to do something different, but it's decidedly a movie for little kids, and not the Pixar kind with layers for adults, too.  3/10

tenor.gif

but it's decidedly a movie for little kids, and not the Pixar kind with layers for adults, too

Maybe you missed this and other scenes?

If you are under 25 you probably missed the magic of this moment that is the Sandlot.
 

DigModiFicaTion

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Cruised through some more movies the past couple of days.

War of the Worlds (2005)
Second outing on this one. It's really hard for me to watch this intently because it is so bleak. Spielberg takes a terrifying story and makes it horrifying. The red vines still...ugh. This movie unnerves me more than most any movie I've seen. It's not Cruise's or Spielberg's finest outings, nor does it have strong characters. This movie is about hopelessness and powerlessness. Same gripes with this one as I did minority report. The cinematography is super distracting. 6.85/10

Tangent: I'm finding that I'm not really a 2000's era Kamiński fan. A.I., Minority Report, War of the Worlds, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull...all of these really suffer from his crazy exposure/contrast style during this period, imho. I love the Terminal and Tin Tin was great looking so hopefully The Post and Bridge of Spies (in the queue) will be more pleasing on the eye.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)
This one hasn't aged well. It looks and feels like a made for TV film and that late 2000's early 2010's blue/teal hue.....ugh. The acting is borderline corny thanks to Renner's character and the plot just feels rushed after the fantastic outings that follow it in Rogue Nation and Fallout. Still, it's better than most movies and my Mission Impossible craze will most certainly bring me back around again. Jerik's noble attempt to fix this movie does improve it, but some of the Brandt character just can't be avoided or removed due to plot holes it would create. 7/10
 

mnkykungfu

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DigModiFicaTion said:
mnkykungfu said:
The Sandlot: People quote this all the time like it's a classic up there with Stand By Me and The Goonies.  It also makes 4th of July movie lists, so I gave in and watched it.  It definitely thinks it's trying to do something different, but it's decidedly a movie for little kids, and not the Pixar kind with layers for adults, too.  3/10

tenor.gif

but it's decidedly a movie for little kids, and not the Pixar kind with layers for adults, too

Maybe you missed this and other scenes?

If you are under 25 you probably missed the magic of this moment that is the Sandlot.


Oh no... you're one of them!  haha  No, rather the issue is that I was too old.  I was already in high school when Sandlot came out.  I actually found most of the kids annoying, not funny or charming.  The pool scene was arguably the best scene, but wow does it play like a lesson on toxic masculinity and consent when viewing it now.  Hard to imagine a kid's movie being made anymore where scamming a lifeguard close enough to where the kid can grab her and kiss her is played for laughs.  Seems more like an 80s movie.
 

mnkykungfu

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Sick all last week, so had a bit of time....

Extinction (2018) - I watched this because I was like "Michael Pena is great in anything!  He's doing a lead in a sci-fi?!  Cool!"  This is his worst, most-deadened performance.  The story has several key, interesting points.  Might be worth hanging in there for some.

Manhunter (131 min composite version) - I've always had so much affection for this Lecter underdog film.  This was my first time watching it in probably 5 or 6 years, and the first time I felt it finally seemed too dated.  The composite doesn't fix the movie's issues, which are mostly bad edits and a setup that takes too long to show you where it's going.

Whiplash - Man, I just don't have Damien Chazelle's sensibilities.  He has some kind of certain love for a 'classic' era of style and music that he is unable to translate to me.  This film has Miles Teller really playing some pretty great jazz, but all the film told me was he had to work his ass off to do it, and he buys into the narrative that the means justify the ends.  I wanted to the film to teach me a bit about what he was doing.  Why was it so hard?  How was he good?  What was the difference between him and other players?  Between good jazz and bad jazz?  I left with no better understanding of what it was to be a jazz musician/lover than when I came in.

The Young Offenders - Bit of a screwball indie Irish comedy.  Had faint echoes of Trainspotting (the lighter bits) to this Yank.  Actually, closer to The Inbetweeners.

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch - ran through this again with the gf making the choices.  I was amazed at how just one subtle difference could open a whole new version of things.  It seems to be the accumulation of specific choices that leads to a narrative, rather than one specific choice suddenly taking you to a new branch.  Will definitely play again in 6 months or so.

Snowden - I thoroughly enjoyed this, and it's been quite awhile since I could say that about an Oliver Stone film.  Levitt's performance is phenomenal.  He absolutely nails what makes Snowden, Snowden.  He somehow even looks like him in the film, but it's all mannerisms and his voice and bearing.  There are few moments here that really seem overly-dramatized, and if you've seen CitizenFour you know that much of the drama is exactly what took place.

A Monster Calls - you know how sometimes 2 very similar movies come out around the same time, like Armageddon/Deep Impact?  Volcano/Dante's Peak?  Well, this came out about the same time as The BFG, but I also somehow associated it with The Babadook (both about childhood monsters coming from stories into the kid's real house while mom is out-of-it, kid acting out, etc.)  Anyway, this is 100x better than either film.  I found it charming and moving, a movie for kids that doesn't talk down to them or assume they're immature and need silliness and fart jokes.  It hit me in the feels, but I didn't find it cloying or manipulative.  It was just inherent in the subject.  Loved the visual style, too.
 

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Neon Genesis Evangelion: End of Evangelion - I don’t know how I’m supposed to review this, but I think I enjoyed it. I’ll let the movie* speak for itself.

6MMnOYK.jpg

*I didn’t watch this translation but “I’m the worst” wouldn’t work as well for this post.
 

mnkykungfu

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suspiciouscoffee said:
Neon Genesis Evangelion: End of Evangelion - I don’t know how I’m supposed to review this, but I think I enjoyed it. I’ll let the movie* speak for itself.

6MMnOYK.jpg

*I didn’t watch this translation but “I’m the worst” wouldn’t work as well for this post.

The Netflix translation is bullshit.  They purposely mistranslated to lose profanity and queer references.  They "kiddie-ized" it.  I'm not watching it there.
 

ThrowgnCpr

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mnkykungfu said:
What was the difference between him and other players?  Between good jazz and bad jazz?  I left with no better understanding of what it was to be a jazz musician/lover than when I came in.

Eh, this isn't something a movie can teach you. If you can't hear or feel the difference between good jazz and bad jazz, or hear how good players are, then it will probably be lost on you no matter what the movie does.
 

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mnkykungfu said:
suspiciouscoffee said:
Neon Genesis Evangelion: End of Evangelion - I don’t know how I’m supposed to review this, but I think I enjoyed it. I’ll let the movie* speak for itself.

6MMnOYK.jpg

*I didn’t watch this translation but “I’m the worst” wouldn’t work as well for this post.

The Netflix translation is bullshit.  They purposely mistranslated to lose profanity and queer references.  They "kiddie-ized" it.  I'm not watching it there.

From what I understand based on my limited knowledge on the subject, that's simply not true whatsoever. But I'm sure someone more knowledgeable about it like @Chainsawash could shed more light on it.
 

ChainsawAsh

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Yeah, no. Netflix didn't have anything to do with the retranslation. Studio Khara (the studio founded by Hideaki Anno, the creator of Evangelion, which owns all the rights to the series) made a new translation and new dub a requirement of licensing after they were extremely unhappy with Funimation's first dub of Evangelion 3.0 (the reason why the home release of 3.0 was delayed 3ish years was because Khara forced them to redo the dub with their own script).

Khara made the new translation for both the subs and the new dub in-house. They also cast the new dub actors themselves.

It's a very literal translation, that's all. It isn't kiddie-ized, and it isn't necessarily better or worse than the old, more localized translations. I also firmly believe the new dub is significantly better than the old in terms of both the new actors' performances (which are much more natural and less over-the-top/cartoony) and fidelity to the original sound design (no changed or added sound effects as in the original dub).

As far as translations go, it isn't better or worse. On the pro side, it's generally more precisely translated compared to the original Japanese without taking liberties (like "I'm so fucked up," which is NOT the Japanese line). On the con side, because it's so literal, it occasionally feels more awkward, especially when it comes to things that Khara dug in their heels about (namely calling Shinji the "Third Children" - apparently ADV had to fight tooth and nail to let Gainax say "Third Child" back in the day).

The queer references thing is overblown too. The Japanese line in that scene is an ambiguous word that can mean "love" or "like." ADV's original VHS subtitles used "like." ADV's dub and DVD subtitles used "love." Netflix is back to "like." But it's a guy telling another guy "I like you" while they're naked holding hands in a sauna - there's no gay erasure there, the scene is still very explicit in its intentions.

But I will say that the new translation for the line right before that (which now says "you're worthy of my grace") is a prime example of what I mentioned earlier when I said some of the new lines are awkward because they're too literal.

Overall, people are laser focused on specific things they've heard about the new dub/translation and decided it's awful because someone else told them it was instead of just giving it a chance for themselves.

Me? The new Netflix dub is now my preferred way of watching the show when it used to be in Japanese with subs. I never much liked the ADV dub. But I do still prefer the old subs I have to the Netflix subs.

Now if only they had ponied up to get the rights to "Fly Me to the Moon"...
 

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I just watched House from 1986. I kinda loved it. Reminded me of Evil Dead, which is funny because House 2 and 3 are labeled as being in the same series as Evil Dead 1 and 2 in Italy. I digress. Lots of neat practical effects monsters, lots of neat camera angles and cinematography, and lots of unintentional and intentional humor.
 

mnkykungfu

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Possessed said:
mnkykungfu said:
suspiciouscoffee said:
Neon Genesis Evangelion: End of Evangelion - I don’t know how I’m supposed to review this, but I think I enjoyed it. I’ll let the movie* speak for itself.

6MMnOYK.jpg

*I didn’t watch this translation but “I’m the worst” wouldn’t work as well for this post.

The Netflix translation is bullshit.  They purposely mistranslated to lose profanity and queer references.  They "kiddie-ized" it.  I'm not watching it there.

From what I understand based on my limited knowledge on the subject, that's simply not true whatsoever. But I'm sure someone more knowledgeable about it like @Chainsawash could shed more light on it.
 
ChainsawAsh said:
Yeah, no. Netflix didn't have anything to do with the retranslation. Studio Khara (the studio founded by Hideaki Anno, the creator of Evangelion, which owns all the rights to the series) made a new translation and new dub a requirement of licensing after they were extremely unhappy with Funimation's first dub of Evangelion 3.0 (the reason why the home release of 3.0 was delayed 3ish years was because Khara forced them to redo the dub with their own script).

Khara made the new translation for both the subs and the new dub in-house. They also cast the new dub actors themselves.

It's a very literal translation, that's all. It isn't kiddie-ized, and it isn't necessarily better or worse than the old, more localized translations. I also firmly believe the new dub is significantly better than the old in terms of both the new actors' performances (which are much more natural and less over-the-top/cartoony) and fidelity to the original sound design (no changed or added sound effects as in the original dub).

As far as translations go, it isn't better or worse. On the pro side, it's generally more precisely translated compared to the original Japanese without taking liberties (like "I'm so fucked up," which is NOT the Japanese line). On the con side, because it's so literal, it occasionally feels more awkward, especially when it comes to things that Khara dug in their heels about (namely calling Shinji the "Third Children" - apparently ADV had to fight tooth and nail to let Gainax say "Third Child" back in the day).

The queer references thing is overblown too. The Japanese line in that scene is an ambiguous word that can mean "love" or "like." ADV's original VHS subtitles used "like." ADV's dub and DVD subtitles used "love." Netflix is back to "like." But it's a guy telling another guy "I like you" while they're naked holding hands in a sauna - there's no gay erasure there, the scene is still very explicit in its intentions.

But I will say that the new translation for the line right before that (which now says "you're worthy of my grace") is a prime example of what I mentioned earlier when I said some of the new lines are awkward because they're too literal.

Overall, people are laser focused on specific things they've heard about the new dub/translation and decided it's awful because someone else told them it was instead of just giving it a chance for themselves.

Me? The new Netflix dub is now my preferred way of watching the show when it used to be in Japanese with subs. I never much liked the ADV dub. But I do still prefer the old subs I have to the Netflix subs.

Now if only they had ponied up to get the rights to "Fly Me to the Moon"...

Guys this isn't really the thread for this debate, so I'll keep it succinct and please feel free to PM me if you'd like to discuss further.

Just to explain my earlier comment, my opinion is not kneejerk or based on something I heard.  I've been a huge fan of the series from the start.  The statement "Netflix didn't have anything to do with the retranslation" is patently false, sorry.  What, you think Dan Kanemitsu donated his time to retranslate out of the goodness of his heart?  Khara retranslating and redubbing the series was part of the deal for Netflix acquiring it.

And as far as the translation being more accurate because it's literal: in my 5+ years of living in Japan, I rarely found literal translation to be an effective way of practicing Japanese.  It is not an explicit language like English.  It's called a "High Context" language, and I could easily give you dozens of examples of things that can have different meanings depending, or can't be literally translated accurately to English, like お げんき です か?, お疲れ様でした! , and あなたはとても小さい顔をしています。

Here are some links for anyone wanting to learn more about why the re-translation is intentionally obtuse, though you'd have to understand the Japanese political situation to get the full context. https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/6/24/18701179/netflix-neon-genesis-evangelion-kaworu-gay-backlash , https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/06/evangelion-netflix-neon-genesis-changed-a-lot-more-localisation/ , https://www.dailydot.com/irl/netflix-erased-queer-evangelion/

Sorry for the tangent on here.  Let's get back to short movie reviews, eh?
 

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You seem pretty dug in, so we aren't going to change each other's mind on this. The only thing I want to comment on is this:

mnkykungfu said:
The statement "Netflix didn't have anything to do with the retranslation" is patently false, sorry.  What, you think Dan Kanemitsu donated his time to retranslate out of the goodness of his heart?  Khara retranslating and redubbing the series was part of the deal for Netflix acquiring it.

Um...yeah. Is this not exactly what I said? Netflix wanted the series, Khara said "Okay, but you have to give it a new translation controlled by us, otherwise you can't have it." The translation choices were not Netflix's choices. They were Khara's. Any English language streaming service would have been forced to agree to Khara's terms or they wouldn't have been allowed to license it. Therefore, Netflix didn't have anything to do with the retranslation - it would have happened no matter who got it.
 

DigModiFicaTion

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mnkykungfu said:
Guys this isn't really the thread for this debate.....please feel free to PM me if you'd like to discuss further.

End of Line.
 
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