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

The Scribbling Man

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Fun fact: Antman was the first film I saw at a cinema all on my lonesome. I had no desire to see it, but it was the best option at the time, and I'd cleverly gotten the wrong bus and found myself stuck about 10 hours from my destination for a whole afternoon. Had to kill the time somehow.

It's not a great film, but I enjoyed it at the same. The "between the atoms" bit was pretty darn emersive on the big screen.
 

DigModiFicaTion

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Venom (2018)
Interesting. The dark humor around biting heads off etc. was disturbing. If it didn't have that it would be a pretty decent origin movie. I don't think this movie could decide whether it was a horror action flick or a comedic anti-hero film. The invasion plot was intriguing and a bit terrifying when you think about it. It would be interesting to see how this Venom would exist in a world that has Spider-Man in it. As an aside, I always thought Tom Hardy's walk was in character. It looks like he may have an actual limp? I'd give Venom a 6/10. If it left a few heads intact I'd probably even give it a 7/10.
 

DigModiFicaTion

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Rocky Balboa (2006)
Another great outing with the Italian Stallion. Stallone's portrayal of grief is touching. As with all Rocky movies, the good stuff is outside of the ring. This one has some great moments that really inspire. The first 2 rounds of the fight were filmed well, then it was theatrics, slow-motion and uninteresting. The cinematography is so-so, but again, the real winner here is Rocky Balboa's heart. I smiled and felt good throughout this one. A solid 7/10
 

mnkykungfu

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DigModiFicaTion said:
Rocky Balboa (2006)
Another great outing with the Italian Stallion. Stallone's portrayal of grief is touching. As with all Rocky movies, the good stuff is outside of the ring. This one has some great moments that really inspire. The first 2 rounds of the fight were filmed well, then it was theatrics, slow-motion and uninteresting. The cinematography is so-so, but again, the real winner here is Rocky Balboa's heart. I smiled and felt good throughout this one. A solid 7/10

Love Rocky Balboa!  Best Rocky film since II (sorry, Drago.)

For me, wrapped up my Japanese month with 2 I can't recommend.

Hanzaisha (Dead or Alive - 1999): Pretty much every one is impressed by the opening 10 minutes of this movie, which are just a frenetic mishmash of drugs, sex, violence, gluttony, and bodily fluids.  Of course, we think that it will be meaningful or representative of the rest of the film, but neither is really true.  Director Miike's misogyny and inability to follow a storyline to it's conclusion is on full display here, with it playing more like performance art than a film.  Literally the worst ending to a movie I've ever seen, as well.

Ai no Corrida (In the Realm of the Senses - 1976): A notorious film adaptation of a notorious true crime story.  I was led to believe the focus here was on how beautiful it was shot, but really it's hard to get past the pornographic excess of the film.  It's also clearly written for those who know the story already, and there are a lot of puzzling plot points if you don't.
 

bionicbob

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GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019)
Rewatched last night on blu ray for the third time.  Love this movie!  So much monster goodness!!!  Enjoyed pausing on the end credits to read all the easter eggs.  Hopefully it does well in sales to make up for the soft box office, as this is a fantastically fun flick and I would love to see more in the same style and tone.
Fan edit ideas:
--add alternate deleted scene with Emma and Madison
--trim the excessive comedy moments to maintain a more even tone
--maybe add a bit of additional saturation to the epic monster beauty shots
--restructure Madison's power point presentation;  try to change it from a two way conversation with Monarch into a pre-recorded broadcast... the classic misguided villain explaining her plan to save us.
Regardless, highly recommended!  
:D
 

TM2YC

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^ Dammit, you make me regret having skipped this one at the cinema.
 

Duragizer

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bionicbob said:
So much monster goo

giphy.gif
 

bionicbob

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TM2YC said:
^ Dammit, you make me regret having skipped this one at the cinema.

Yeah, it is visually stunning.  Some amazing framing and epic wide monster shots.
While I appreciate what director Gareth Edwards attempted with G2014, I think King Of The Monsters is superior in almost every aspect.  

Director Adam Wingard has big shoes to fill, I hope he is up to the monstrous task!  :p
 

DigModiFicaTion

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Arctic (2018)
There's really not much to knock on this one. There is little dialogue, but that should be expected given the situation. You don't exactly know what is going on, but that only serves the engagement as the viewer feels the sense of being lost and the urgency of survival in the inhospitable environment Overgård finds himself in. I'd post a trailer, but that would give away most of the story. If you are a Mads Mikkelsen fan, watch this. If you are a survival fan, watch this. If you are easily bored when there aren't explosions or scene cuts every few seconds, watch this and see what an actor can do with performance. If you enjoyed Robert Redford's performance in All Is Lost, you'll enjoy this movie. A good one time watch. 7/10
 

TM2YC

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Some Docs I've recently watched about film and art...

Eye of the Beholder: The Art of Dungeons & Dragons (2019)
This wonderful Documentary is an hour and a half of starring at gorgeous Frank Frazetta-esque artwork that adorned the various manuals in the early days of this franchise. I've never played D&D but I was into Games Workshop, reading the Fighting Fantasy books and played the Baldur's Gate PC games to death, so I felt at home with the kind of powerful fantasy art that is discussed. You also get an anecdote filled history of the company's evolution while soaking up the visuals.


Untouchable: The Rise and Fall of Harvey Weinstein (2019)
A 94-minute BBC feature-length Documentary about the recent exposure of Harvey Weinstein's abusive behaviour. He is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, however, the consistent testimony of countless beautiful and talented young debutante actresses who he admits to having sexual "encounters" with, when he is a powerful, unpleasant, grossly ugly, overweight, old man, does make it difficult to deny pressure was involved, to put it as favorably as one can. Weinstein's tyrannical bullying of powerful male Directors like Martin Scorsese, Guillermo del Toro and Terry Gilliam was not a secret to movie fans, so if that was tolerated by the industry, what went on behind closed doors with the powerless was perhaps inevitable. Just listening to some of the harrowing stories from the women makes you want to have a bath in Dettox.


Alien Evolution (2001)
Film critic Mark Kermode was reviewing Alexandre O. Philippe's new Documentary 'Memory: The Origins of Alien' on the radio and he mentioned his own 2001 Doc 'Alien Evolution', so I thought it was time for a revisit. Mark has interviews with all the major players in the franchise, cast, crew, art department and writing. An hour is probably too short a window to delve into a whole franchise but it's very entertaining all the same.


50 Years of the Troubles: A Journey through Film (2019)
Film Documentarian Mark Cousins takes a look back at movies about "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland and his own life growing up in those dark days in Belfast. He argues that for people of his generation, film (specifically VHS because the cinemas were closed due bomb threats) was a fantasy escape from the violent realities of the outside world. I would have liked more discussion of the films themselves but the personal history was fascinating too.

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/50-years-of-the-troubles-a-journey/on-demand/69162-001
 

bionicbob

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THE ZEN DIARIES OF GARRY SHANDLING (HBO 2018)
Over 4 hours long but it feels like 4 minutes.  Utterly captivating.  Funny.  Tragic. Neurotic. Uplifting.
Highest recommendation. :D
 

bionicbob

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JONAH HEX (2010)
As an adaptation of the classic DC Comics western, this is absolutely and utterly terrible.
But as a prequel to THE CROW....?  Fan edit possibilities lurk...  :p
 

mnkykungfu

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bionicbob said:
JONAH HEX (2010)
As an adaptation of the classic DC Comics western, this is absolutely and utterly terrible.
But as a prequel to THE CROW....?  Fan edit possibilities lurk...  :p

Ha ha!
Brolin as Hex had the look right.  It seemed like this had potential.  It's another one of those "halfway there" movies before the MCU got going.  Like Ghost Rider.  Had the look so right (well, except Cage) but just so much cheese and bad plotting around it.

BTW, does it seem to anyone else like Hollywood casting just decides that certain actors are going to be in comic book films?  Like they just keep circling them until they nail it.  Brolin later cast as both Thanos and Cable.  Ryan Reynolds was Green Lantern and the Weapon XI version of Deadpool before the real thing.  Chris Evans played the Human Torch and Jensen (from The Losers) before Captain America.  Ben Affleck was both Daredevil and Batman.  Aaron Taylor Johnson was both Kick-Ass and Quicksilver.  I'm sure there are more.  You'd think casting could put some more unknowns into some of these roles... or at least a known actor who hasn't yet done a comic book film!
 

mnkykungfu

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Carol (2015) - I had heard this was the story of a lesbian woman's life in the US in the '50s.  It's actually more complicated than that, and touches on immigration, classism, and becomes a bit of a road trip film at one point.  Not the kind of high drama I usually watch, but Cate Blanchett was divine.

Kicking and Screaming (1995) - Not sure how I missed this back in the day, as I used to be all about the indie cinema.  Noah Baumbach's first film is like it was written from the other half of Wes Anderson's brain.  But this was before actors like Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman figured out how to deliver the whimsical, deadpan dialogue.  I probably would've loved this had I seen it in the '90s, but everything just screams how dated it is now, and what it did well has been done much better in other films since then.
 

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Watching pirate movies in honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19th):

Captain Blood (1935):
As I understand it, this was the first great pirate movie.  To me, it was basically a biopic romance.  Dr. Blood doesn't even become a Captain until halfway through.  Errol Flynn is magnetic though...charismatic and downright beautiful.  Does a great Cary Elwes impression.

The Sea Hawk (1940):
I read this was the 2nd-best Flynn film (after Captain Blood)...well, it's not a close second.  Basically a historical drama about the start of the Anglo-Spanish war, it's actually seen through the lens of one ship that's part of a group of "sea hawks".  More adventurous than Captain Blood, but I was distracted by all the anachronisms, historical/sailing inaccuracies, and how only 1 person in the movie sounded/looked anything like the non-English ethnicity they were playing.

Time Bandits (1981):
I had only vague memories of watching this as a kid, and parts of it as a distracted teenager.  It's great eye candy, but has virtually nothing to do with pirates (despite making many of the "Best Pirate Movie" lists I saw).  Full of all the director's trademarks, it could be a bad movie or a good-bad movie, depending on your taste for Terry Gilliam.  It's hard to argue that it's an outright good movie though, except for kids, although David Warner is clearing having good fun as the ultimate Evil, who is obsessed with computers and microchips.  The trailer above spoils every surprise in the film, but is probably more engaging than the film itself.
 

DigModiFicaTion

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John Carter (2012)
This movie has actually aged pretty well. I think perhaps the hate it got was due to the time it was released. Now with all of the extensive world building, cinematic universes and marathon length features that exist in this movie just feels normal instead of over the top and too big. The lead actor's performance is still a little meh, as is the lead actress, but the movie itself is pretty good story telling. The story probably would have done better as a miniseries where they could delve more into the world, characters and the various societies. Better than the dud it gets labeled as. 6.25/10
 

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I really enjoyed John Carter when I saw it in theaters, it was a pity when it got panned by critics and audiences.
 

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If the title included "of Mars" and the characters used the terms Mars and Earth, instead of Barsoom and Helium, I think it would have been received better.
 
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