Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched

[Wintermute]

Watched some spooky netflix movies this weekend

Snyder's 11 vs the Parkour Fu Zombies ------- 127 Hours / 10

So I'm kind of dumb, right? I don't really ask any questions, it doesn't matter if it's a big Hollywood movie or some no budget crap. I watch the movie and then I move on with my life. With Army of the Dead, however, I kept asking "what....?" "why....?" "how does that many any sense....?" and if I'm asking these questions, there's something wrong with your movie. The intro was kind of fun, and the part where the Vasquez cosplayer is fighting the sleeper zombies, I liked that too... everything else was varying degrees of meh. And then my kids grew up and went to college and the movie is still going.

Host ------- It's a webcam horror movie / 10

Because I'm kind of dumb, this is the third Skype horror movie I've seen. Filmed during lockdown, the movie stars a bunch of nobodies and their webcams, so I was expecting complete garbage, but you know what? I thought this one was pretty good. They managed to mix trash like Unfriended and Paranormal Activity and make the... uh... best webcam horror movie? Anyway, a group of friends decide to perform a seance during a Skype Zoom call, then spooky things start to happen when an ancient evil spirit named Jum Pscare joins the conversation. Unlike Army of the Dead, Host is only 55 minutes.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Cruella: I Saw It / I Hadn't Previously

Hmm... this is an odd one. The film did absolutely nothing remarkable, but I enjoyed it? It is the tale of two rivaling fashion divas, one senior, the other a young up-and-comer that eventually becomes the antagonist in Disney's "101 Dalmatians." It's certainly a nice looking film, acted well enough all around, but there's nothing really noteworthy about it; it's junk food in the end. I do like how they went dark despite it being linked to a children's cartoon; I thought Disney would ham it up as a live action version of what they'd do with an animated film, but no, they went dark. Not too much so, i.e.: there's no blood and guts or overt violence, but you'd not watch this film blind and think it's Disney by any stretch; this is more in the vein of "Fantastic Beasts," another film series I enjoy.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Death of Stalin (netflex)
An appropriate opiate after Chernobyl. Very well done.

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

Goosebumps:

A perfectly fine horror film aimed at kids that kinda has some of the twists you'll see a way off but I think manages a good enough balance that kids will be a bit afraid but they won't come away scarred from it. It's probably not even as bad as some of the old "Are you Afraid of the Dark" show.

Source Code:

A bit of a Sci-Fi twist on the Time Loop idea as a former military pilot finds out he is in a government experiment using quantum entanglement residual memory of decased people to go back into a train bombing to find the identity of the bomber before his 2nd bigger nuclear payload goes off in a Chicago. Each time he only has 8 minutes while in the real world time ticks on. The pilot begins to however question quite what can be done in the source code though believing as it's a quantum entanglement linked system if divergent realities could come into existence due to to his actions. He also discovers more about his own fate after his helicopter was shot down in the middle east and he remembers nothing between then and being placed in the strange Source Code chamber from which his only link to those in commend of the project is via a live video link on one of a number of monitors.

 

[Trunkage]

Doesn't surprise me at all. I worked in a comic shop in the 90s, right when the X-men were having their resurgence into popularity, and they had trading cards, multiple covers of the same issue that combined into a huge mosaic. Dude would walk into the shop, and buy the long boxes full of the X-men cards, and just stand there, IN the store, and open every single individual packet, and if they didn't get the one they wanted, they would buy another full box, and do it again. And so many other examples of that insane level of obsession for a thing. Bird watching at least, in theory, is fairly low cost, compared to other hobbies (like flying and astronomy), though I guess you might spend a lot on travel and accommodations to get to various areas to watch birds. But if you just stay local, then you could just buy a set of binoculars and be done.

Just buy wingspan

Also, I can't say much. I didn't do this type of box opening... but I do have all but 4 cards from Revised to Time Spiral for MtG locked away in binders. So I understand the obsession

 

[Garlandia]

Promising Young Woman - oh my glob! So in love with this film, its so important and I feel like everyone needs to see it. The colour scheme, the music and of course the story. You're not told what's happened, and you don't need to be told because you instinctively know and that says it all. Can't wait to get a physical copy and have some kind of screening party.
Funny in parts, uncomfortable, truthful, hard-hitting, painful, empowering, sad, brave.
Loved. It.

 

[Gordon_4]

Cruella: I Saw It / I Hadn't Previously

Hmm... this is an odd one. The film did absolutely nothing remarkable, but I enjoyed it? It is the tale of two rivaling fashion divas, one senior, the other a young up-and-comer that eventually becomes the antagonist in Disney's "101 Dalmatians." It's certainly a nice looking film, acted well enough all around, but there's nothing really noteworthy about it; it's junk food in the end. I do like how they went dark despite it being linked to a children's cartoon; I thought Disney would ham it up as a live action version of what they'd do with an animated film, but no, they went dark. Not too much so, i.e.: there's no blood and guts or overt violence, but you'd not watch this film blind and think it's Disney by any stretch; this is more in the vein of "Fantastic Beasts," another film series I enjoy.

Well. 101 Dalmatians is kind of dark when you watch it. Also, does Cruella do cocaine? Because I refuse to believe she’s not a fucking coke fiend.

 

[BrawlMan]

Drive (1997) - The one with Mark Dacasacos. The guy who played Jimmy Lee in Double Dragon (1994). It's a Hong Kong style action film made in America and it is tight! How come I never saw this back in the 90s? I don't recall it ever showing up on Cinemax, Sowtime, or HBO. I do know this was a straight-to-VHS movie. I did not know this film existed until I was almost out of high school.

The plot is basically Toby (Mark D.) has an artificial heart that makes him super strong, and is trying to get it removed. Going cross country across the states to LA. He meets up with Malik Brody (Kadeem Hardison), a guy jobless and near divorce, recruits him to help him out (unwillingly at first). The action scenes are freaking awesome. How Mark never got more work than he should have did is beyond me. The stunt choreography are beautiful and carry that finesse you'd see in HK and Japanese cinema. In fact, a Japanese team did a lot of the fight coordination and it shows. Crazy, stylish, and over-the-top.

The director is Steven Wang. He directed the live-action Guyver movies and it shows. He uses some of the same crew from Guyver 2: Dark Hero. A movie I do recommend, if you're in to Henshin style heroes with gore. This dude did a lot of straight to video action movies. The version of Drive I watched is the Director's cut with everything restored. The movie ends open-ended on a sequel hook, but that obviously never went anywhere. Watch this movie.

Another thing I noticed about Drive (1997), is that it beat Rush Hour by a year. Both movies are a martial arts/buddy movie about a black guy reluntanct to work with the Asian guy. As much as like the Rush Hour films (mainly 1 & 2), I highly favor Drive over the entire franchise. The movie's humor is a lot more straightforward instead of obnoxiousness and overly long punchlines in the sequels. Plus, Drive has plenty of subtle down time to let the characters develop or relax without feeling too padded.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (Fucking finally/10)

Not Gilliam's crowning opus but I enjoyed it. I wanna call it messy and scattershot but that's his whole thing, so why didn't it click with me now? Maybe it's the fever dream quality. All of his movies end with one, but here the whole thing plays out on that note uninterrupted. And the first act is a bit of a drag but once it gets going the movie has the quality of getting better and better by the minute. Overall the movie won me over just by being immensely likeable, even if it wasn't exactly perfect. It's like the excitement for the material transpires the execution to the point of being infectious. I think it has the potential of growing on me.

 

[Dalisclock]

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (Fucking finally/10)

Not Gilliam's crowning opus but I enjoyed it. I wanna call it messy and scattershot but that's his whole thing, so why didn't it click with me now? Maybe it's the fever dream quality. All of his movies end with one, but here the whole thing plays out on that note uninterrupted. And the first act is a bit of a drag but once it gets going the movie has the quality of getting better and better by the minute. Overall the movie won me over just by being immensely likeable, even if it wasn't exactly perfect. It's like the excitement for the material transpires the execution to the point of being infectious. I think it has the potential of growing on me.

That's right. This did finally come out after like a decade in dev hell. I'll have to give it a look.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

That's right. This did finally come out after like a decade in dev hell. I'll have to give it a look.

By the movie's own estimate at the beginning (it's very meta) it took them at least 25 years. In 2000 they kicked off shooting by losing Quixote to a herniated disc and the set getting flooded in the second day, but add some dev hell carrying over from the late 90s as well. I don't know if Gilliam ever released a movie that didn't go through some kind of hell first.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Well. 101 Dalmatians is kind of dark when you watch it. Also, does Cruella do cocaine? Because I refuse to believe she’s not a fucking coke fiend.

It's not "dark" like the villain/villainous plots of every Disney animated film since time immemorial; "dark" as in it's noire, i.e.: it has more in common with Sin City than it does Sleeping Beauty. Not that children couldn't watch it, they just weren't the demographic despite the source material. The only Dalmatians in this film are three vicious attack dogs that don't talk, and at the end, when the film foreshadows the classic animated movie, you're left with a "what... the... fuck?" taste in your mouth. Overall it was good; not memorable, but an enjoyable waste of time. Junk food.

And no, she doesn't do cocaine. Not on screen, anyway; given the myriad tropes about the ruthlessness of the fashion industry, I think it a fair assumption to think some drugs are involved. (Would have been hardcore if they'd have shown it, though.)

 

[Gordon_4]

It's not "dark" like the villain/villainous plots of every Disney animated film since time immemorial; "dark" as in it's noire, i.e.: it has more in common with Sin City than it does Sleeping Beauty. Not that children couldn't watch it, they just weren't the demographic despite the source material. The only Dalmatians in this film are three vicious attack dogs that don't talk, and at the end, when the film foreshadows the classic animated movie, you're left with a "what... the... fuck?" taste in your mouth. Overall it was good; not memorable, but an enjoyable waste of time. Junk food.

And no, she doesn't do cocaine. Not on screen, anyway; given the myriad tropes about the ruthlessness of the fashion industry, I think it a fair assumption to think some drugs are involved. (Would have been hardcore if they'd have shown it, though.)

Fair enough. My wife went and watched it with a bunch of her friends for a movie night; she said she had a good time but conceptually it doesn't tickle my pickle so I wasn't fussed.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Fair enough. My wife went and watched it with a bunch of her friends for a movie night; she said she had a good time but conceptually it doesn't tickle my pickle so I wasn't fussed.

Neither was my pickle tickled (gf wanted to see it, and I paid $30 fucking bucks to stream it via Disney+ which I only ever got because she/ wanted to watch Hamilton which I also unexpectedly enjoyed,) but I came away pleasantly surprised insofar as I didn't hate it.

 

[Piscian]

I honestly have zero interest in seeing cruella, neither did I for Mulan. I'm not against live actions or reimaginings, but other than Maleficent which I thought was a pretty bananas concept and for the most part it paid off, nothing thats been done so far has really grabbed me. If Disney does more edgier stuff like that I'd be interested. I think they would have been more rewarded in 2021 by not being cowardly about it. Lean hard into cruella being utterly "no more wire hangers" insane. Now that I'd actually go pay money for.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Saw Raya and the Last Dragon, and after all the mixed reviews I went into it with pretty low expectations, but I ended up liking it well enough.

The first half or so feels terribly rushed, like you're watching 10 episodes worth of a TV show edited down to movie form. Once you're past that it flows pretty well. All that lore feels rather superfluous though, since the main conflict is not between the five nations, but between Raya and other girl (forgot her name). They could've just zeroed it down to two nations at odds with eachother, with Raya and other girl representing each side. The other nations don't even feel represented beyond one wears blue and the other wears purple. And mentioning the clothes, that lady ruler of the Fang nation wore he shit out of that dress, goddamn she made that work.

I heard a lot of people were annoyed by Shisu the dragon, and I can see why. This character is written as a comic relief when there's no need for her to be one, and Jesus H. Christ a couple of her lines are ghastly unfunny. It also really bothered me that she had fur on her palms. Like that's the one spot you don't draw hair ever Disney, damn. I thought you knew that. When she drops the attempt at humor she works fine as a character though.

I did feel surprisingly engaged by the rivalry/animosity between Raya and Namaari (that's her name), and it made me wish there was more of that. Like a series worth of build up. By the time the climax rolled around though I did share that negative urge of vindictiveness that both characters felt, which shows the movie did mostly do its job. Its theme of trust also hit well enough, though I still feel like I do with most Disney movies that adress an interesting theme, in that they never seem to have the balls to really follow through. Though I also just wanted to nestle in that negative spiral for a bit longer, that stuff is like Coca Cola to me.

Overall good movie. Certainly better than Frozen 2.

 

[BrawlMan]

first half or so feels terribly rushed, like you're watching 10 episodes worth of a TV show edited down to movie form. Once you're past that it flows pretty well. All that lore feels rather superfluous though, since the main conflict is not between the five nations, but between Raya and other girl (forgot her name). They could've just zeroed it down to two nations at odds with eachother, with Raya and other girl representing each side. The other nations don't even feel represented beyond one wears blue and the other wears purple.

That's when you can tell they're trying really hard to capitalize on Avatar The Last Airbender. For premise like that, and might as well been a TV series. I might check this out later thanks to your review.

 

[Offworlder]

Finally watched Ex Machina. Great, great movie. One of the best thrillers I've ever seen. All the acting was great, the set design and settings were gorgeous and some of the shots used I've never seen before. All of the concepts were explained so well, but through pure natural dialogue. Two characters having a normal conversation broke down complex themes that are core to the plot. I'm not a tech guy at all, but the ideas of a Turing test and AI when put in context of the story were clear as day to me, which is a testament to how good the script is. I was still being surprised legit up until the final shot of the movie, and even then I had questions that I don't know if I want, or even can have answered.

If you like future tech ideas, tightly wound thrillers and superb acting, 100% give it a watch.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

Super Mario Brothers

Yes, the one from the 90s. I somehow went my entire life without ever seeing it, despite it actually having come out the year I was born. It follows the misadventures of Mario and Luigi, a pair of plumbers from Brooklyn (Yeah, I know that was, like, their canon backstory before Yoshi's Island, but god Mario with a Brooklyn accent will never not be jarring if you grew up with Charles Martinet's "funny Italian stereotype" performance.) who get isekaied into a world of lizard people ruled by the ruthless dictator King Koopa, played by a delightfully energetic Dennis Hopper, and have to overthrow him to restore the rulership of the rightfull princess Daisy (Not Peach. Which is weird, because Daisy is an obscure character in the Mario universe now and, I imagine, was even moreso back in the 90s.).

The result is... a dinosaur themed dystopian action comedy where things that have nothing to do with the Mario games are randomly named after characters and things from the Mario games. And that's pretty much it, really. The fact that this, of all things was, an officially licensed Mario Brothers movie is just about the only remarkable thing about it. Now, I haven't done any research on this movies history, but if I were to make an educated guess, I would assume that it's one of those cases where it's based on an originally unrelated screenplay that had the Mario Brothers label more or less randomly slapped on to it. The movies connections to Mario canon practically end at some of the names being the same, to the point where it's almost jarring to see a Bob-Omb that actually looks like the ones from the game show up.

It's not a good adaptation and it's hardly a good movie. It had some moments of genuine humor, some of them even intentional, but it's an all around unremarkable work, a piece of forgettable 90s esoterica that's fun to riff on, but little more. I'm not exactly confident that there is the potential for a genuinely good movie in the Mario series or, at least, in the pre Paper Mario Mario series, but this is definitely not it. Frankly, the whole thing feels like an overly long cutaway joke from Bojack Horseman, or something. The fact that a cheesy 90s cyberpunk comedy loosely based on the Mario series exists is much more entertaining than actually watching it all the way through.

 

[Samtemdo8]

The Emperor's New Groove: