The Way Ahead (1944). The British made a WW2 propaganda/training film called The New Lot about what it was like to join the army, and then decided to redo it as a movie and put some fighting at the end. Also quite decent.
Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched
- Thread starter Th3Ch33s3Cak3
- Start date
Alright get ready for pure blasphemy..
I thought Dune 2021 was just "fine". I was not blown away, but I was not overly disappointed. I did see it in theaters, but I missed XD due to Eternals. The place I moved to only keeps movies in XD for a week to two and I just didnt make it in time. That said my screen had the meaningful accommodations.
I think they went too noir, everything being brown in the dune makes sense, but it kind of wore on me that all these fantastic elements and scifi stuff in space was all black and bland and gothic. Everything was almost awe inspiring except I had to squint to make out the detail of anything. I needed the contrast turned up like 5-10%.
I noticed they kept a few of Jodorowsky's ideas and tried to visualize some of the things from the book and that was always great when it came up, the dragonfly ships, the underground ecological surveyor scenery, but so many of the ships and architecture are just big black, brown boxes, like they were afraid "oo the kids are gonna think this is too futuristic and it'll be goofy, tone it down". It almost too much like his Blade Runner 2049 asthetic than a film thats supposed to take place 10k years from now. Funnily enough I just watched a youtuber complain about the outlandish outfits in Frank Herberts Dune and when they showed screen captures, sure enough it was the stuff from "Jodorowskys Dune" which had a very French Scifi Aesthetic think "Moebius".
I think for the most part they nailed the immensity of the worms so that was cool, the armies looked cool.
However I will say it just didn't feel vastly different in terms of storytelling than the original. Its mostly just fixes, but growing up I didn't hate the original dune so idk. It was more David Lynch's Dune, but with all the missing content than something patently, unique from the original Film in term of storytelling and aesthetics. I feel like its missing a lot even from the point in the story that's told on screen.
I got irritated at how demure his mom is, but I started thinking back to the book and remember she does start to just become a set piece after the battle. I would say the main reason I leave disappointed is that it ends rather anti-climactically. I think they should have cut it off somewhere more cliffhanger like after the battle maybe. I was left wanting more, but also blegh. Thankfully I waited until after they announced the sequel so I don't feel bad. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of it, but I did not "feel like a kid again" as it were. Not in the way in the way I did with Green Knight for instance. I was not "entranced" by the spectacle of Dune like I felt I should haven been.
idk 7/10. maybe 8/10 if they ever finish the damn thing. How fucking dumb can you be to not film this all at once when you know actors come and go, life happens. Hope this doesnt turn into an expect mistake on their part.
I thought Dune 2021 was just "fine". I was not blown away, but I was not overly disappointed. I did see it in theaters, but I missed XD due to Eternals. The place I moved to only keeps movies in XD for a week to two and I just didnt make it in time. That said my screen had the meaningful accommodations.
I think they went too noir, everything being brown in the dune makes sense, but it kind of wore on me that all these fantastic elements and scifi stuff in space was all black and bland and gothic. Everything was almost awe inspiring except I had to squint to make out the detail of anything. I needed the contrast turned up like 5-10%.
I noticed they kept a few of Jodorowsky's ideas and tried to visualize some of the things from the book and that was always great when it came up, the dragonfly ships, the underground ecological surveyor scenery, but so many of the ships and architecture are just big black, brown boxes, like they were afraid "oo the kids are gonna think this is too futuristic and it'll be goofy, tone it down". It almost too much like his Blade Runner 2049 asthetic than a film thats supposed to take place 10k years from now. Funnily enough I just watched a youtuber complain about the outlandish outfits in Frank Herberts Dune and when they showed screen captures, sure enough it was the stuff from "Jodorowskys Dune" which had a very French Scifi Aesthetic think "Moebius".
I think for the most part they nailed the immensity of the worms so that was cool, the armies looked cool.
However I will say it just didn't feel vastly different in terms of storytelling than the original. Its mostly just fixes, but growing up I didn't hate the original dune so idk. It was more David Lynch's Dune, but with all the missing content than something patently, unique from the original Film in term of storytelling and aesthetics. I feel like its missing a lot even from the point in the story that's told on screen.
I got irritated at how demure his mom is, but I started thinking back to the book and remember she does start to just become a set piece after the battle. I would say the main reason I leave disappointed is that it ends rather anti-climactically. I think they should have cut it off somewhere more cliffhanger like after the battle maybe. I was left wanting more, but also blegh. Thankfully I waited until after they announced the sequel so I don't feel bad. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of it, but I did not "feel like a kid again" as it were. Not in the way in the way I did with Green Knight for instance. I was not "entranced" by the spectacle of Dune like I felt I should haven been.
idk 7/10. maybe 8/10 if they ever finish the damn thing. How fucking dumb can you be to not film this all at once when you know actors come and go, life happens. Hope this doesnt turn into an expect mistake on their part.
The Eternals
The MCU's most recent work, directed, notably, by Best Picture winner Chloe Zhao, for whatever that's worth. Eternals follows a group of immortal extraterrestrials send to earth by a race of space gods to oversee the evolution of mankind and protect them from a race of monsters called Deviants. The Deviants, believed to have been wiped out centuries ago, rear their heads again, leading the Eternals, who have settled down to live among humans, to once again to unite against their threat and maybe learn a thing or two about their own origins. There are a couple more important aspects to the lore, revealed in the mother of all exposition dumps about halfway through, but let me tell you that those make it feel even more like a JRPG backstory.
Eternals feels like Marvel's attempt to get in on the "high class blockbuster" gig as you'd expect from a Villeneuve, Snyder or better Wachowski movie. The last one's probably the most relevant comparison here. In its best moments, Eternals reminded me somewhat of the sister's century spanning epic Cloud Atlas. The problem is, in the rest of its moments, it reminded me of just about every other Marvel movie. Compared to the directors I've mentioned, who do find the compromise between art and entertainment, Eternals lacks Snyder's grasp on genre and iconography, Villeneuve's patient sense of pacing or the Wachowski's genuine warmth and compassion. Eternals is keen on proclaiming its intent to take risks and not play by the rules, but hesitates to follow through with it. It's portrayal of a homosexual couple or the first mute superhero are cute set dressing but the story follows a very predictable outline, it's comparatively grander scope nonwithstanding. Eternals tries its best to look bigger, smarter and more artistic than it is, but behind its generous runtime, numerous flashbacks and, admittedly, pretty shots, it's effectively just an Avengers movie with a grander scope, having a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses and little new to add. I did actually rather like its characters and I think they did a fine job characterizing what is a pretty large ensemble over a single movie. To be fair, the performances are rather hit and miss. Gemma Chan plays, effectively, the main viewpoint character and is inoffensively adequate and Brian Henry brings his lovable Papa Bear charm to immortal gay husband and father Phastos. Silicon Valley's Kumail Nanjiani providing the MCU's trademark grating comic relief and a botox faced Angelina Jolie playing warrior goddess Thena did comparatively very little for me.
Eternals is not bad, certainly not the worst movie in the franchise, but in its effort to be the prototype of a more artistic, more "grown up" MCU, it calls attention to how ill suited the brand is for being that. After Zack Snyder has all but single handedly dragged the superhero action movie to a place of artistic legitimacy kicking and screaming, Eternals feels like a rather stunted and clumsy attempt to catch up with that. The MCU has always stubbornly refused any artistic ambition and Eternals feels like too reluctant and too half hearted an attempt to embrace it. Despite providing some of the franchises more appealing aesthetics, it doesn't manage to shake off the baggage of its neurotic obsession with mass appeal. Had it more embraced the drug fueled 70s space psychedelia it occasionally hints at it might have been quite compelling, but what we got leaves us with little other than a Joss Whedon chaser in a Wachowski shaped glass.
The MCU's most recent work, directed, notably, by Best Picture winner Chloe Zhao, for whatever that's worth. Eternals follows a group of immortal extraterrestrials send to earth by a race of space gods to oversee the evolution of mankind and protect them from a race of monsters called Deviants. The Deviants, believed to have been wiped out centuries ago, rear their heads again, leading the Eternals, who have settled down to live among humans, to once again to unite against their threat and maybe learn a thing or two about their own origins. There are a couple more important aspects to the lore, revealed in the mother of all exposition dumps about halfway through, but let me tell you that those make it feel even more like a JRPG backstory.
Eternals feels like Marvel's attempt to get in on the "high class blockbuster" gig as you'd expect from a Villeneuve, Snyder or better Wachowski movie. The last one's probably the most relevant comparison here. In its best moments, Eternals reminded me somewhat of the sister's century spanning epic Cloud Atlas. The problem is, in the rest of its moments, it reminded me of just about every other Marvel movie. Compared to the directors I've mentioned, who do find the compromise between art and entertainment, Eternals lacks Snyder's grasp on genre and iconography, Villeneuve's patient sense of pacing or the Wachowski's genuine warmth and compassion. Eternals is keen on proclaiming its intent to take risks and not play by the rules, but hesitates to follow through with it. It's portrayal of a homosexual couple or the first mute superhero are cute set dressing but the story follows a very predictable outline, it's comparatively grander scope nonwithstanding. Eternals tries its best to look bigger, smarter and more artistic than it is, but behind its generous runtime, numerous flashbacks and, admittedly, pretty shots, it's effectively just an Avengers movie with a grander scope, having a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses and little new to add. I did actually rather like its characters and I think they did a fine job characterizing what is a pretty large ensemble over a single movie. To be fair, the performances are rather hit and miss. Gemma Chan plays, effectively, the main viewpoint character and is inoffensively adequate and Brian Henry brings his lovable Papa Bear charm to immortal gay husband and father Phastos. Silicon Valley's Kumail Nanjiani providing the MCU's trademark grating comic relief and a botox faced Angelina Jolie playing warrior goddess Thena did comparatively very little for me.
Eternals is not bad, certainly not the worst movie in the franchise, but in its effort to be the prototype of a more artistic, more "grown up" MCU, it calls attention to how ill suited the brand is for being that. After Zack Snyder has all but single handedly dragged the superhero action movie to a place of artistic legitimacy kicking and screaming, Eternals feels like a rather stunted and clumsy attempt to catch up with that. The MCU has always stubbornly refused any artistic ambition and Eternals feels like too reluctant and too half hearted an attempt to embrace it. Despite providing some of the franchises more appealing aesthetics, it doesn't manage to shake off the baggage of its neurotic obsession with mass appeal. Had it more embraced the drug fueled 70s space psychedelia it occasionally hints at it might have been quite compelling, but what we got leaves us with little other than a Joss Whedon chaser in a Wachowski shaped glass.
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The Harder They Fall - My God....There are no other words to say other than see this all Black cast Western movie. And Tarantino has no involvement in it, which leads a definite big boon bonus. The dialogue, the pacing, the acting, and the action are all great. The build up to suspense is master class. Seriously, great job everyone! If you are a fan of Westerns, see this movie. If you are not a fan, still at least give the movie one watch.
I want this movie to come out on DVD/Blu Ray pronto.
I want this movie to come out on DVD/Blu Ray pronto.
Just got back from the Eternals, and boy howdy was this movie WAY better than I read. I was about 2/3rds the way through, during the inevitable betrayal scene and I was like "So...when does this movie start sucking? 'cause Im enjoying this shit."
Its a perfectly acceptable Marvel movie. I liked the characters, the jokes were funny, their interactions were charming, the soundtrack was lackluster to be fair, but by the end I was like "Okay, yeah Im in, Justice League but with actual charm and actual stakes."
Every bit as good as Shang-Chi /10
Its a perfectly acceptable Marvel movie. I liked the characters, the jokes were funny, their interactions were charming, the soundtrack was lackluster to be fair, but by the end I was like "Okay, yeah Im in, Justice League but with actual charm and actual stakes."
Okay first scene, Eros, sure, good great, new character, seems fun enough, more Eternals. Second scene and holy moly now its good. Two new character, the Black Knight and fucking BLADE in one scene! This is the comicbook fanboy in me, but a shared universe where Falcon, Spiderman, Blade, and Thor can all share a scene is great.
Every bit as good as Shang-Chi /10
I hadn't heard of this until now but I'm interested. The casting looks good and I'm a sucker for a good Western. So I'll check it out when I get a chance.
Can I be that guy for a moment who nit picks?
"Marvel's first mute superhero".
I get Blackbolt can technically speak but come on he had like 3 lines in the entire Inhumans series does he not count for all intents and purposes as being mute? Also yes Inhumans counts it's first two episodes were shown at imax theatres it counts as a film.
This isn't so much directed at you as the other critics who have pushed this claim in the media too.
Sweet, been looking forward to this since coming across a glowing review a couple of weeks ago along with an interview with the director/writer/composer/producer who sounded very passionate about it (who is also the brother of the singer Seal!). Apparently is based on real people too. Tonight's entertainment is sorted then!
Devil's Backbone, 7/10
Guillermo del Toro's "masculine sibling film" to Pan's Labyrinth from 2001, this movie is about a group of war orphan boys in a secluded orphanage/school during the Spanish civil war, and the ghost that haunts the building. The comparisons to Pan's Labyrinth are imminent with the setting, subject matter, and the even greater emphasis on the hurt and traumatization of children. Like seriously, I don't think I've ever seen a movie with so much on screen violence enacted on children.
It's mostly pretty straightforward and I didn't find that much to say about it. It's really grim, miserable and depressing with a somewhat hopeful ending. The acting and period detail are spot on, and the film makes the most of its almost entirely single location. I especially enjoyed how, unlike in Pan's Labyrinth, there is no clear antagonist from the outset. The real antagonist of the film is war itself, the feelings of frustration and hopelessness it brings out in people, and the things those feelings drive people to do. Even at the end the villain has completely understandable motivations, and isn't defeated in some protracted final confrontation, but pretty much immediately taken out by teamwork from the boys, leading to an agonizing and gruesome death.
I didn't find that many deeper dimensions to it on first watch, but it did get me interested in the Spanish civil war. I feel this movie would hit entirely differently if one were to have that cultural background, since it's clearly addressing some serious generational trauma.
Guillermo del Toro's "masculine sibling film" to Pan's Labyrinth from 2001, this movie is about a group of war orphan boys in a secluded orphanage/school during the Spanish civil war, and the ghost that haunts the building. The comparisons to Pan's Labyrinth are imminent with the setting, subject matter, and the even greater emphasis on the hurt and traumatization of children. Like seriously, I don't think I've ever seen a movie with so much on screen violence enacted on children.
It's mostly pretty straightforward and I didn't find that much to say about it. It's really grim, miserable and depressing with a somewhat hopeful ending. The acting and period detail are spot on, and the film makes the most of its almost entirely single location. I especially enjoyed how, unlike in Pan's Labyrinth, there is no clear antagonist from the outset. The real antagonist of the film is war itself, the feelings of frustration and hopelessness it brings out in people, and the things those feelings drive people to do. Even at the end the villain has completely understandable motivations, and isn't defeated in some protracted final confrontation, but pretty much immediately taken out by teamwork from the boys, leading to an agonizing and gruesome death.
I didn't find that many deeper dimensions to it on first watch, but it did get me interested in the Spanish civil war. I feel this movie would hit entirely differently if one were to have that cultural background, since it's clearly addressing some serious generational trauma.
This should have been a miniseries on a streaming channel. Production values wise, which I've hear so much of? I would put Apple TV's Foundation series up against it any day. They're doing just as well in that department.
I watched the 1984 version, the Sci Fi TV Channel version and read the books. I know and like the story and this did that story well enough. While not canon, I enjoyed Duncan's enhanced inclusion in the story.
Duncan got killed early on in other tellings... but became the only character, through cloning, to be in the rest of the main books. Dunno about the ones that took place when Herbert stopped writing them
This could have been a streaming series and been just as good.
But judging what we got? Enjoyable. 8/10.
This is the 4th gunslinger type character Idris has played. He's almost being type casted at this point.
- Moreau from Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
- The Gunslinger from Dark Tower.
- Bloodsport from The Suicide Squad.
- and now Rufus Buck.
I finally saw Kate. It's between fine and good overall. This movie gives me some flashbacks and reminds me bits and pieces of Extraction. Grizzled soldier or assassin is protecting or is in need help of teenager. I like the boy better though. There is definitely some creativity to the action, and I'll give credit to Mary and all of the stunts she preformed. I do love the use of lighting and the neon coloring. That almost never gets old for me; especially if it's done well. Reminds me of Atomic Blonde and Tokyo Drift. The soundtrack I actually love and did not bother me in the slightest. Though I can see where @Xprimentyl is coming from.
It's one of the better Wick clones, and I am glad we're getting more action films that are not straight up super hero blockbusters, but R-Rated one-offs. Those have been coming back in full swing starting around the better quality of straight-to-DVD action movies. There are certain films that are trying to get or start franchises (Kate not being one of them, thank goodness). Make a good movie first, then worry about sequels.
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Harder They Fall was pretty good, can't think of much to say otherwise. Had a classical feel to it, soundtrack was unexpected. Afterwards though, made the mistake of trying to watch a different film (also on Netflix) called Out of Death. Within a minute or two, something felt off, it looked and sounded all wrong. So before any significant time got wasted, decided to look up some reviews, and wowsers...
Got the fuck outta that one quick then.
Censor (MUBI)
So very good, kinda heartbreaking ending though. As an atmospheric horror it works, made me feel the depressed bads.
Got the fuck outta that one quick then.
Censor (MUBI)
So very good, kinda heartbreaking ending though. As an atmospheric horror it works, made me feel the depressed bads.
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The French Dispatch
Wes Anderson and his ensemble cast give us three short stories fitting the pages of a 70's Sunday Extra. I was bored out of my mind by the midpoint of the second one. In a way it's like a school play in which you see all the classmates (famous actors) taking surprising, some bigger and some small, roles. Charming? Maybe. Ennui? You got it. Léa Seydoux is cute as gardienne or nude. 6/10
Wes Anderson and his ensemble cast give us three short stories fitting the pages of a 70's Sunday Extra. I was bored out of my mind by the midpoint of the second one. In a way it's like a school play in which you see all the classmates (famous actors) taking surprising, some bigger and some small, roles. Charming? Maybe. Ennui? You got it. Léa Seydoux is cute as gardienne or nude. 6/10
I like Bruce Willis, but he's made some questionable role choices of late; a film titled Out Of Death just screams "direct to VHS." I've no qualms having strong, negative opinions on this one without even seeing it. What the hell, Bruce; you strapped for cash or something? Isn't it time for another Die Hard? That should net you some scratch.
It's been made pretty clear that Bruce Willis does not care anymore. He's been doing straight to DVD for years, since 2013. Most of the movies are garbage with only a few minor standouts. Bruce Willis has become a primadonna actor. I know Nicholas Cage was stuck in DVD hell for a while, but he had went bankrupt at the time and needed the money. He's been doing fine now ever since Spider Verse came out.
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He came in for some pretty harsh criticism years ago: can't remember the film but the director openly stated he asked a huge fee, then turned up and was very demanding on set whilst showing little interest and delivering a poor performance. I suspect that might be a trend, and it's damaged his employability. I guess he's rich, and he doesn't care that much. And still enough of a name to pull in decent pay.
Nick Cage is sort of interesting: as you say he had to make tons of low/mid-budget films to pay the bills, most of which were neither great nor particularly successful at the box office but often turned a tidy profit in the end. He appears to have consciously uncoupled from the Hollywood mainstream, but he is doing some interesting and oddball stuff... which is more than you can say for Bruce Willis.
I don't know if Bruce Willis has actually been blacklisted, but he is notoriously difficult to work with which might have impacted his attraction, it wouldnt surprise me, but I also suspect he's essentially retired. He's been increasingly doing cameos on streaming shovelware where supposedly they just rent him for a million bucks and he shows up for a couple days, says his lines and he's out though I havent watched any of them personally. I was a big fan of his, its a shame to see him go. Kevin Smith obviously has that big bit he does about what a psycho Willis was on that movie he directed, but I've heard that a lot. He got into a big fight with Sylvester Stallone who was trying to bring all the old guys out to do those expendable movies and Bruce was both an ass and wanted a ton of money so Stallone wrote him out after his cameo and vowed never to work with him again.
Nicolas Cage is a little different in that he's still legitimately acting, but he explicitly only does indie art projects and semi-shovelware streaming films. I like Nick because hes been pretty blatant and open about it. He had a really bad compulsive buying disorder and went around 50-100 million in debt that hes paying off so hes been doing 5 or so shovelware films a year and then Indie Stuff like Mandy and PIG in his free time. He has said with him getting older he just wants to do personal projects going forward.
Whats funny is I've heard that even on the Shovelware films he still gives them 110% Nick Cage and hes a joy to work with, super nice to the cast and crew. Theres some dude I wanna say on youtube thats been following the whole thing.