Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched

[thebobmaster]

A ★★ review of Mission: Impossible II (2000)

“We just rolled up a snowball and tossed it into Hell. Now we’ll see what chance it has.” This film, as you might expect, follows Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) on an impossible mission. This time, it is tracking down a rogue agent named Ambrose (Dougray Scott), who has occasionally doubled for Ethan...

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[thebobmaster]

A ★½ review of Night Swim (2024)

"Marco!" "POLO." This film follows the Waller family, which consists of father Ray (Wyatt Russell), mother Eve (Kerry Condon), daughter Izzy (Amelie Hoeferle), and son Elliot (Gavin Warren). After moving into a house with a pool, Ray soon finds out that his MS is healing at an unusually rapid...

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[thebobmaster]

A ★★★ review of Mission: Impossible III (2006)

“Did you just throw a title at me? I don’t care if your daddy plays golf with the President. This is Intelligence. So far, I haven’t seen any.” This film follows Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). Having retired since the last film, Ethan finds out from IMF Director of Operations Musgrave (Billy Crudup)...

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[BrawlMan]

A ★★ review of Mission: Impossible II (2000)

“We just rolled up a snowball and tossed it into Hell. Now we’ll see what chance it has.” This film, as you might expect, follows Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) on an impossible mission. This time, it is tracking down a rogue agent named Ambrose (Dougray Scott), who has occasionally doubled for Ethan...

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Not Woo's best movie, but still enjoyable. He got screwed hard though, and was locked out of the editing room. So it's technically not even his, and is name only, despite having his signature staples.

A ★★★ review of Mission: Impossible III (2006)

“Did you just throw a title at me? I don’t care if your daddy plays golf with the President. This is Intelligence. So far, I haven’t seen any.” This film follows Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). Having retired since the last film, Ethan finds out from IMF Director of Operations Musgrave (Billy Crudup)...

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Slightly better, but I have harder time going back to this one at times. Granted, I really only watch this one for the Hoffmeister. May he forever rest in peace.

 

[Piscian]

Challengers

Y tu mamá también meets Wimbledon. My patience was worn out around the 90-100 minute mark (movie is 130). I understand they're doing a cute metaphor about how the ball bounces back and forth in a tennis match by having the story bounce back and forth between the climactic match itself and the lives of the three main characters leading up to it; our understanding of their relationship predictably changing with every beat. I got the concept long before the movie was done illustrating it, and stopped caring about who would win the match long before the movie stopped caring too. I was left with a well-acted but ultimately overlong, low-stakes melo about a love triangle between Zendaya and the two "little white boys" she plays against each other.

I'm still on the fence about if/when I'm gonna see it. Since were here I do feel obligated to note my favorite Tennis movie.

 

[thebobmaster]

Not Woo's best movie, but still enjoyable. He got screwed hard though, and was locked out of the editing room. So it's technically not even his, and is name only, despite having his signature staples.


Slightly better, but I have harder time going back to this one at times. Granted, I really only watch this one for the Hoffmeister. May he forever rest in peace.

Fun thing I just learned about MI 3. There was an explanation for what the Rabbit's Foot actually was planned, but every time the writers came up with an idea, it boiled down to "dangerous bioweapon", which they thought was boring. So they decided, in the end, to not explain it at all and actually turn Ethan not finding out what it was into a bit of a running joke.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★★★★★ review of Only Yesterday (1991)

“I didn't intend for ten-year-old me to come on this trip. But somehow, once she showed up, she wouldn't leave me alone.” This review is for the dubbed version of the film. The plot of this film follows a 27 year old woman named Taeko (Daisy Ridley), taking a 10 day long vacation from work in...

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[Piscian]

So I'm watching Dr Strange multiverse of madness in the background while working I'm surprised on second viewing how bad the CGI is. NOt functionally bad but thoughtfully.

I'd really challenge anybody to go back and watch the Gargantos fight towards the beginning and try to pick out where the shadows should be.




it has minor shadows under its legs which are easily generated, but I can't for the life of me identify where the light source is in the battle. the monster, even on an overcast day, would be creating huge shadows all around it and the lighting on surfaces should change has it destroys the city, but everything looks clearly like static CGI objects.

I think the problem is a lot of shading like that is difficult to do with AI especially at scale. I have an uncle who was a lighting engineer on Toy Story and Bugs Life and I remember him talking about how that was like a year at time of 12 hours days drawing surfacing lighting. I'm sure we have incredibly advanced tools today but it still takes time. Without that time spent all the CGI in Dr Strange 2 just looks like Green screens and cartoon.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

So I'm watching Dr Strange multiverse of madness in the background while working I'm surprised on second viewing how bad the CGI is. NOt functionally bad but thoughtfully.

I'd really challenge anybody to go back and watch the Gargantos fight towards the beginning and try to pick out where the shadows should be.

View attachment 11114


it has minor shadows under its legs which are easily generated, but I can't for the life of me identify where the light source is in the battle. the monster, even on an overcast day, would be creating huge shadows all around it and the lighting on surfaces should change has it destroys the city, but everything looks clearly like static CGI objects.

I think the problem is a lot of shading like that is difficult to do with AI especially at scale. I have an uncle who was a lighting engineer on Toy Story and Bugs Life and I remember him talking about how that was like a year at time of 12 hours days drawing surfacing lighting. I'm sure we have incredibly advanced tools today but it still takes time. Without that time spent all the CGI in Dr Strange 2 just looks like Green screens and cartoon.

We already all know that Disney is creating untenable timelines for animation and VFX studios to get these movies out. We've seen all of the cut corners, and unfortunately this is far from the most egregious.

Remember, they put this in a movie and thought it was fine:



The thing is, if these movies were more engaging then we probably wouldn't notice the bad CGI as much because we would be paying more attention to the characters and story. What's on screen just isn't engrossing enough to keep our attention from wandering, which allows our brains to notice all the things that are wrong.

 

[Gordon_4]

We already all know that Disney is creating untenable timelines for animation and VFX studios to get these movies out. We've seen all of the cut corners, and unfortunately this is far from the most egregious.

Remember, they put this in a movie and thought it was fine:

View attachment 11115

The thing is, if these movies were more engaging then we probably wouldn't notice the bad CGI as much because we would be paying more attention to the characters and story. What's on screen just isn't engrossing enough to keep our attention from wandering, which allows our brains to notice all the things that are wrong.

To be fair, MODOK’s flesh face looks ridiculous even in animated and comic form. No amount of CGI can make it look not stupid.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★ review of Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002)

“Wherever there is hate, violence, depravity... a door will always be found.” This film follows Trevor (Dean Winters), following a car accident where he crashed into a river. While he survived, his wife Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) has vanished from the scene, even after he is sure he saw her drown...

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[Dirty Hipsters]

To be fair, MODOK’s flesh face looks ridiculous even in animated and comic form. No amount of CGI can make it look not stupid.

To be fair, there was no reason to even use Modok so if they couldn't make it look good they didn't need to put him in that movie.

 

[Casual Shinji]

So I'm watching Dr Strange multiverse of madness in the background while working I'm surprised on second viewing how bad the CGI is. NOt functionally bad but thoughtfully.

I'd really challenge anybody to go back and watch the Gargantos fight towards the beginning and try to pick out where the shadows should be.

View attachment 11114


it has minor shadows under its legs which are easily generated, but I can't for the life of me identify where the light source is in the battle. the monster, even on an overcast day, would be creating huge shadows all around it and the lighting on surfaces should change has it destroys the city, but everything looks clearly like static CGI objects.

I think the problem is a lot of shading like that is difficult to do with AI especially at scale. I have an uncle who was a lighting engineer on Toy Story and Bugs Life and I remember him talking about how that was like a year at time of 12 hours days drawing surfacing lighting. I'm sure we have incredibly advanced tools today but it still takes time. Without that time spent all the CGI in Dr Strange 2 just looks like Green screens and cartoon.

When's the last time you saw a (live-action) Marvel movie that had... lighting? Proper lighting tends to do a lot of heavy lifting for CGI, just look at the recent Planet of the Apes movies. Disney/Marvel however have the same investment in proper lighting as any commercial on TV.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★½ review of Hellraiser: Deader (2005)

“I am your redeemer. I am the way!” This film follows a reporter named Amy Klein (Kari Wuhrer), who is tasked by her boss Charles (Simon Kunz) to investigate a tape he received that appears to show a woman kill herself, only to be revived by a man. Upon investigating, Amy not only discovers the...

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[BrawlMan]

A ★½ review of Hellraiser: Deader (2005)

“I am your redeemer. I am the way!” This film follows a reporter named Amy Klein (Kari Wuhrer), who is tasked by her boss Charles (Simon Kunz) to investigate a tape he received that appears to show a woman kill herself, only to be revived by a man. Upon investigating, Amy not only discovers the...

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[thebobmaster]

A ★★★★½ review of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

“Next time, I get to seduce the rich guy.” This film follows Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). After a mission to retrieve nuclear launch codes from The Kremlin ends with an explosion in The Kremlin, the Secretary of Defense makes the call to enact Ghost Protocol, which disavows all of IMF. Now a rogue...

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[Bartholen]

Little Shop of Horrors, 7/10.

This is a fun, macabre little musical about a boy in a dingy flower shop who one day discovers a never before seen plant that feeds on blood, and all sorts of hijinks ensue. It's based on an off-broadway musical, but that's about the extent of my knowledge of the source material.

The only knowledge I had of this film was Steve Martin's musical number about being a dentist and there being a killer plant involved. It didn't blow me away or surprise me, but it was a fun, breezy little romp. It's very light and fluffy, there's not much cerebral or thematic engagement or deep character exploration to be had with it, but it's not trying for that. It's got a pretty basic but fun plot, some absolute bops for music, a show-stealing performance from Steve Martin, and some straight up incredible practical effects. The animatronics/puppetry on display are legit some of the best work of their kind in all of film history. It's not gonna rock your world, but it's a very easy watch you can put on in any mood.

If there are criticisms beyond it being very light entertainment, it feels like the musical numbers don't really take full advantage of the medium of film. It feels very much like a recreation of a stage musical, and you can certainly tell. That's not to say it ignores the medium entirely: the shot from the inside of a dental patient's mouth is certainly something you can only do on film. But I felt there was something missing from the musical numbers. A bit of extra movement, some more playing with lighting and editing would probably have made a significant difference.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Little Shop of Horrors, 7/10.

Which version? IIRC, there's been quite a few.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★ review of Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005)

"Welcome. Welcome to Hell." This film follows a group of friends named Chelsea (Katheryn Winnick), Derrick (Khary Payton), Mike (Henry Cavill), and Allison (Anna Tolputt). 2 years after their friend Adam (Stellan Urian) apparently killed himself after playing a game called Hellworld, they find...

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[Bartholen]

So I went back to rewatch some bits of Rebel Moon part 2, because I was so plastered on the first go that I had a hard time recalling substantial chunks of it. I have now arrived at the conclusion that not only are these the worst movies Zack Snyder has ever made, they're straight up some of the worst movies ever made by anyone ever. They're an absolute, abject failure on so many fundamental levels: storytelling, internal logic, camera focus, dialogue, script, worlbuilding, the list just goes on. This is the kind of stuff that makes Michael Bay's Transformers movies look good. Legitimately Uwe Boll, Catwoman tier. Words honestly fail to describe the sheer magnitude of the shittiness of these movies. It's like a black hole of filmmaking.

Which version? IIRC, there's been quite a few.

The one I watched was a pretty even 90 minutes.

One thing I forgot to mention about Little Shop is that I honestly think it could make for a pretty effective horror movie if played straight. It already plays with pretty serious subject matter like spousal abuse, poverty, murder and sociopathy, so a more grounded non-musical with more emphasis on the cosmic horror would probably be pretty damn effective and unnerving.