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

Saw these last week on my vacation, and while I already saw another movie this week, I'll bundle it with another movie that I'm planning to watch in a couple of days, so I'll talk about last week's.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

I liked it well enough, but I think it suffered immensely from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull trying too hard to stay in the lane of the previous movies and not moving forward by making its story more complex and character driven, on top of having to deal with a bloated budget. Wished James Mangold went full in on the Logan route and add in the grimness that movie had.

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1

If you're a fan of the franchise, you'll love this one too, as it has all the same staples of Tom Cruise running with his friends and nearly killing himself in real life stopping major catastrophes with some at times overly complicated dialogue said along the way. Definitely see this on a higher quality screen.
 
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
I've been meaning to check out these movies for a while now, and I finally decided to take the plunge yesterday. This first film is the most 2001 movie I've ever seen, in both good ways and bad. It's dumb, and you gotta love that classic casual homophobia, but also Vin Diesel is a delight and the whole thing has a certain charm to it. I like the characters, and I look forward to watching more.

Better Luck Tomorrow
When I heard that this was a retroactive unofficial F&F movie, I just had to include it in my watchthrough. It also gave me certain expectations. It was not at all what I expected, and it was great, and I can't wait to see Han in F&F. I don't know what it is, but I really like the way this movie looks. I'm excited to see more from this director.
 
Jrzag42 said:
the most 2001 movie I've ever seen
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Bwa ha ha! That probably is super accurate...I have not seen this in quite awhile, but I lived in Miami at the time and yes, Florida is super ridiculous and the movie felt almost like a documentary. Not so much the next two.

F+F tried to build on Better Luck Tomorrow?! That's bizarre. That movie is inspired by a real case in LA at a real high school populated mostly by Asians, and it's loosely based on the director's actual experiences. It was a little indie drama that in now way shape or form made me think of F+F when I first sought it out nearly 20 years ago....I think they both have the same actor playing a "Han" (like that's a rare Asian name :rolleyes: ) but otherwise...?
 
mnkykungfu said:
Bwa ha ha! That probably is super accurate...I have not seen this in quite awhile, but I lived in Miami at the time and yes, Florida is super ridiculous and the movie felt almost like a documentary. Not so much the next two.

F+F tried to build on Better Luck Tomorrow?! That's bizarre. That movie is inspired by a real case in LA at a real high school populated mostly by Asians, and it's loosely based on the director's actual experiences. It was a little indie drama that in now way shape or form made me think of F+F when I first sought it out nearly 20 years ago....I think they both have the same actor playing a "Han" (like that's a rare Asian name :rolleyes: ) but otherwise...?
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The director of a F+F film, not the first film, was also the director of Better Luck Tomorrow. He included the same actor playing the "same" character, Han, in his F+F film, declaring his earlier film that would have remained somewhat obscure otherwise, to be a part of the larger franchise. A smart move, but a superficial one, IMO. Although I haven't seen BLT and haven't seen a F+F past the third I think.
 
mnkykungfu said:
I think they both have the same actor playing a "Han" (like that's a rare Asian name :rolleyes: ) but otherwise...?
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The director directed F&F 3-6 and 9, and supposedly there are a couple references that tie the two Hans together. The wikipedia page for BLT has a section on how it connects to the F&F franchise, so it must be legit! In any case, whether or not this movie matters in the long run, I never would have heard of it if it weren't for these connections, so I think it's worth acknowledging.
 
2 Fast 2 Furious
its ok. I mainly ended up having it on in the background, it didn't really hold my attention. Maybe I should've waited another day to watch this, I wasn't having a good day today so I might just be bitter. Maybe it's just not the same without Vin Diesel.

This might not be the best idea, but I plan on going in chronological order, which is to say that I'll be skipping Tokyo Drift for now until I get to its place in the timeline. Tomorrow will be Fast & Furious (2009) and its accompanying short film. It also occurred to me earlier that I should check out the unrelated 50's Roger Corman film at some point, just for the sake of arbitrary completion.
 
A few different super-American flicks back around Independence Day...

The War on Democracy (2007)
A documentary investigating US-interference in the democratic processes of various Latin American countries. Some of it I knew, some I didn't, pretty much all was well-researched and shocking. The interviews with former CIA agents alone are worth watching this for.

Mary Silliman's War (1994)
Finally caught up with supposedly the most historically-accurate narrative feature film ever.... and it did not make for a very good movie. Big props for trying to tell a story from the women's point of view. But you need much more dramatic filming and dialogue to make a movie out of sitting at home writing letters.

The Master (2012- "Re-Processed" fanedit)
Based on American iconoclast and cult/religious leader L. Ron Hubbard, this chronicle of the American dream works as a commentary on how success usually comes through taking advantage, and how people get lost and left behind. Wonderful fanedit of a mixed-bag of a film. Highly recommended.
 
mnkykungfu said:
It (2017)
I missed this when it came out but eventually decided to give it a date night watch, which it works well for. Much less cheesy then the TV mini-series movie and with a really stellar kid cast, I thought this was one of the rare adaptations that probably works better than the book!

The Flash (2023)
Andy Muschietti moves up from It and reigns in unruly actors, an unhelpful studio, and a hostile audience to turn in one of the DCEU's best films. I don't give a flying F that some of the CG looks like a videogame while space and time are being distorted and we're peaking into other dimensions. My god, some people will just take any excuse to hate on CG and special effects and would prefer to nix those kind of visuals altogether. A lot of this movie looked fantastic, and the writers of D&D turned in another super funny script with a lot of heart and the best Michael Keaton Batman appearance...yeah, I said it!
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I don't know how much of the script was from the D&D writers, as they left before the scripts by Ezra Miller + Grant Morrison and Christina Hodson were done, but nonetheless, while the CGI complaint is understandable and I hated the ending, the Flash overall was a pretty good movie that didn't deserve the amount of bad luck and uncharitable treatment from people who didn't even see the movie that it got. If it had better circumstances and came out before Across the Spider-Verse, it could've easily been at least a near billion dollar movie.
 
^Well, they have a "Screen Story By" credit, along with Joby Harold. According to the WGA rules, when there are a lot of "cooks in the kitchen" on a script, only 3 can be credited on screen, and arbitration counts up the writing in the final film and matches it to their script. At least 33% must come from that writer in order for them to get credit. Hodson on the other hand has full "Screenplay By" credit. The only way to get that is to write the original and still final screenplay, or to come on later and contribute at least 50% of the final screenplay, which seems to be her case. No other writers are credited, so any suggestions or scriptdoctoring by Morrison, Miller, or others must have amounted to less than those percentages in the final film.

Regardless, I agree, if the general zeitgeist didn't seem to be one of being let down by too many superhero films, and too many DC films in particular, (as well as Miller being a right c**t), this movie could've been as big a hit as Aquaman or Shazam, easily, if not better Marvel films.
 
Avengement (2019)
A better-than-average Scott Adkins joint where he gets to play a grimy criminal for a change. Nice to see his acting chops, though his character would be a lot more intimidating if he didn't spend all film telling everyone what a badass he is.

Amores Perros (2000)
A better-than-average 90's-feeling indie, but certainly not worth all the hype. Innaritu has become an impressive director, but I'm never convinced that his patented "mixed chronology interweaving stories of 3 characters" scripts in any way help the films he's making. Frustrating characters, overlong, and some hard-to-watch dog violence with this one.
 
mnkykungfu said:
Avengement (2019)
A better-than-average Scott Adkins joint where he gets to play a grimy criminal for a change. Nice to see his acting chops, though his character would be a lot more intimidating if he didn't spend all film telling everyone what a badass he is.

Amores Perros (2000)
A better-than-average 90's-feeling indie, but certainly not worth all the hype. Innaritu has become an impressive director, but I'm never convinced that his patented "mixed chronology interweaving stories of 3 characters" scripts in any way help the films he's making. Frustrating characters, overlong, and some hard-to-watch dog violence with this one.
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I really like amores Perros - but it wasn’t my favorite inaritu. I think it is one of the movies you had to see when it first came out to appreciate it and compare it with what was coming out at that time. Like for example I saw goonies for the first time, 3 years ago, and couldn’t stand it! yet everyone tells me how classic it is and are always quoting it.
 
kinnikuman said:
Like for example I saw goonies for the first time, 3 years ago, and couldn’t stand it! yet everyone tells me how classic it is and are always quoting it.
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Off-topic, I know, but I also hated The Goonies, and I'm speaking as an Oregonian who lives in the state where it was filmed! Never understood how that movie got so much love, and for me, it was the film that started off the awful trend of '90s family films where kids beat up a bunch of bumbling villains with slapstick and silliness.
 
kinnikuman said:
I really like amores Perros - but it wasn’t my favorite inaritu. I think it is one of the movies you had to see when it first came out to appreciate it and compare it with what was coming out at that time. Like for example I saw goonies for the first time, 3 years ago, and couldn’t stand it! yet everyone tells me how classic it is and are always quoting it.
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For sure there are certain films that at a certain time and place hit you differently. But I think that has a lot more to do with the individual watching them and what film experience they're bringing in. There are people nowadays who watch '50s musicals and find them charming, or '80s big fantasy-adventures and find those charming. You shouldn't have to see a film when it's released in order to appreciate it.

On that note, compare what was coming out at the time. City of God came out in 2002 and is, for me, a million times better. Requiem For a Dream came out in 2000 and is even better than that. Traffic came out in 2000, same. A Simple Plan came out in 1998, and Fargo in 1996, both amazing. And there was a film called Pulp Fiction in 1994. What I'm saying is: there were tons of films with the paths of multiple characters crossing over in dark and unpredictable ways all around the time of Amores Perros. There's no accounting for personal taste, but if you really liked that film, I think there are a lot of other films waiting for you to watch and be even more impressed.
 
Eyepainter said:
Tron (1982)

When I first saw this film, I had no idea what was going on. Now that I've seen it again, I can confirm that I still have no idea what is going on. Sure, the special effects are groundbreaking for their time. No denying that. But I've built my own PC now, and my brain still hurts watching this. I've seen Christopher Nolan movies that were easier to follow. I had to rewind so many moments to make sure I heard something correctly. I hate to say it's bad, but I'm afraid that's more honest.

Also, did anyone have a hard time trying to figure out who's who? Even with Jeff Bridges and 1080p high definition, I couldn't distinguish which character was which without them saying each others' names. All I understood was blue guys vs. red and yellow guys.
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The computer lingo they use is definitely archaic when compared to current computing terminology. If I remember correctly, Flynn has a sash that Tron doesn't. Tron Legacy is basically the same story but with incredible visuals and artistic direction. I've always thought of Tron as a precursor to cinematic ideas like the Matrix. I suppose if you didn't grow up with it, it would be difficult to like the movie. I have a friend that liked the star wars prequels more than the originals simply because the original as looked "silly". I have a similar response to the original Dune
 
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mnkykungfu said:
For sure there are certain films that at a certain time and place hit you differently. But I think that has a lot more to do with the individual watching them and what film experience they're bringing in. There are people nowadays who watch '50s musicals and find them charming, or '80s big fantasy-adventures and find those charming. You shouldn't have to see a film when it's released in order to appreciate it.

On that note, compare what was coming out at the time. City of God came out in 2002 and is, for me, a million times better. Requiem For a Dream came out in 2000 and is even better than that. Traffic came out in 2000, same. A Simple Plan came out in 1998, and Fargo in 1996, both amazing. And there was a film called Pulp Fiction in 1994. What I'm saying is: there were tons of films with the paths of multiple characters crossing over in dark and unpredictable ways all around the time of Amores Perros. There's no accounting for personal taste, but if you really liked that film, I think there are a lot of other films waiting for you to watch and be even more impressed.
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loved city of god ! Didn’t like requiem , traffic was pretty cool, so was simple plan. Loved Fargo. Pulp fiction I saw opening night and went on to memorize! I am currently on sabbatical from pulp fiction lol haven’t seen it since 2001! I’m hoping for a 30 year anniversary release in the big screen!! I agree no accounting for taste and people can like any genre at any time. But there are things that could not be hits in other eras it’s like they are riding a certain wave and are in a perfect place and time. I think a good example is Blair witch project - I was working at a movie theater in Los Angeles when it came out and people lost their minds ! It was chaos! People crying , people walking out the theater ! We could hear screaming from the lobby ! But yeah people can like whatever they like wherever they want
 
Mad Max: Fury Road
Not my first time with this one, but I was still left in awe at what a masterpiece of death and destruction it is. My only gripe is the abysmal day-for-night sequences. For such a wonderfully-made movie just adding a heavy blue filter feels incredibly slapdash.

Escape from L.A.
A real guilty pleasure. Yes, Carpenter and Russell's commentary on bigger budget sequels simply redoing the same story beats bigger and louder falls a bit flat, but Russell's clearly having fun slipping back into the eyepatch, and any movie that has Stacy Keach as a gruff authority figure, Cliff Robertson playing a scumbag, Steve Buscemi playing a weasel, and Pam Grier vamping it up is always going to be watchable to me (and lest we not forget Bruce Campbell, Peter Fonda, and Michelle Forbes).
 
Commentary! The Musical (Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog orig. 2008)
The DVD release for Dr. Horrible (the Whedon's web-released project starring Neil Patrick Harris) saw the whole cast and crew coming back together for not only a commentary track, but another whole separate musical making fun of commentary tracks, the project, and themselves. Very much in the vein of the original, very funny project.

The Decline of Western Civilization Part III (1998)
Penelope Spheeris' series explores the changes in the L.A. rock club scene, from the punk explosion in the early '80s, to the glam rock takeover in the late '80s, to the "gutterpunk" endemic in the late '90s here. Less a musical doc than an examination of youth homelessness, this one is significantly less fun than the earlier two docs, but shows Spheeris' growth as a film producer.

Keep Punching: The Making of Rocky vs. Drago (2021)
This Youtube doc covers some of the process of Sylvester Stallone recutting Rocky IV during the pandemic in order to try to make it more dramatic and less cheesy, gloriously cheesy. Whatever you think of the result, the doc itself is practically must-see viewing for any faneditor, as it's pretty much exactly what people do here!
 
Took my son to see the latest Spider-Verse movie Across… It was fine. I liked the first one. It felt like it had more heart than this one and the movie felt fresh back then. Maybe it is sequel-itis, but I think it’s more that this multi-verse comics meta thing has gotten a bit tired for me. The visuals are still great and the humor is better than most comic book movies. But this one did feel like near constant exposition punctuated by action and was definitely too long at just over two hours.
 
World's Greatest Dad
What an upsetting film. I mean, I loved it, but it's upsetting. A Robin Williams movie about suicide is inherently upsetting given certain circumstances, I wonder how it felt watching it when it first come out. I miss Robin Williams.
 
Superman Returns (2006)

Very well made in multiple areas and has several great moments, but would've been better off either being a brand new Superman story not connected to the Richard Donner movies or being about that universe's version of Superboy.

Valkyrie (2008)

Decent and well made biopic with a good cast that, when the assassination attempt started, definitely got my interest. Would not be surprised, if it was popular with WW2 enthusiasts.
 
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