Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched

[Bartholen]

Some more movies I saw recently:

Dungeons & Dragons (2000), goodbad/10

Watched this as part of a bad movie night, and boy is it a treat in that regard! I could just say that Marlon Wayans plays one of the main characters and leave it at that, but it's got many other enjoyable aspects as well. It has a weird clash of occasionally great production values contrasted with costumes that look like subpar cosplay. It being just pre-LOTR and just post-90s means the tone is as painfully datedly semi-ironic as you can get. But the real highlight here are the CGI effects that are not only used for creature effects, but also for sweeping establishing shots. And because the CG is just good enough to not be Lawnmower Man level but not even close to being actually good, it hits a very interesting, very specific type of dated. It's wild to think that a mere 5 years later we had Peter Jackson's King Kong whose effects still hold up. A delight of a good bad movie, and highly recommended.

Another Round, aka Druk (2020), 8/10

A very good and interesting look at alcohol and the culture around it. All the acting is great, especially the physical drunk acting, the story is interesting, the characters are likable, and it's very nuanced. Instead of going "alcohol bad!!!" or "yay partying" it covers a wide spectrum depicting the highest highs and the lowest lows and everything in between. The cinematography and editing are both great too. The thing I'm a bit iffy on is the ending, and how it feels kind of stretched. All of it feels justified and necessary for the story, it's just presented in a way where it feels it could end at multiple points. The final scene is fantastic though, and what you take away from it depends very much on your personal relationship with alcohol.

Bo Burnham's Inside, 2021 10/10

Okay, it's not exactly a movie, but it is feature length and it's heavily music-based, so I'm comfortable calling it a musical. The 10/10 rating is more because there's pretty much nothing to compare it to save for Burnham's previous special, Make Happy, and even then this is so wildly different. It's funny, haunting, sinister, beautiful, depressing, sad, downright unsettling, and simply unlike anything I've ever seen. Pretty much no matter your age or background it will hit you hard at some point (turning 30 next year made his song about that quite harrowing to watch for me). In a way it feels like a career culmination for Burnham, and I'm not the only one who's drawn comparisons to Pink Floyd's The Wall. And yet I still feel that he's yet to make his magnum opus, his 2001: A Space Odyssey. And what he does next is anyone's guess, because he's proven to be amazing at so many different things: writing, directing, performing live or on camera, editing, the world is his oyster. And I can't wait to see what he does next.

 

[MrCalavera]

Its called banter and I thank Christ for it every time.

It's a shit banter.

 

[Gordon_4]

Some more movies I saw recently:

Dungeons & Dragons (2000), goodbad/10

Watched this as part of a bad movie night, and boy is it a treat in that regard! I could just say that Marlon Wayans plays one of the main characters and leave it at that, but it's got many other enjoyable aspects as well. It has a weird clash of occasionally great production values contrasted with costumes that look like subpar cosplay. It being just pre-LOTR and just post-90s means the tone is as painfully datedly semi-ironic as you can get. But the real highlight here are the CGI effects that are not only used for creature effects, but also for sweeping establishing shots. And because the CG is just good enough to not be Lawnmower Man level but not even close to being actually good, it hits a very interesting shade of dated. It's wild to think that a mere 5 years later we had Peter Jackson's King Kong whose effects still hold up. A delight of a good bad movie, and highly recommended.

The best part of this movie is watching all the young actors trying their damnedest to act and yet finding themselves outclassed at all times by Jeremy Irons' eyebrows. Its legitimately fucking amazing.

 

[Bartholen]

The best part of this movie is watching all the young actors trying their damnedest to act and yet finding themselves outclassed at all times by Jeremy Irons' eyebrows. Its legitimately fucking amazing.

You know it's a good bad movie when I didn't even mention Jeremy Irons swallowing the scenery whole and spitting it back out. It's a performance for the ages for all the wrong reasons, and a joy to watch.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I wish there had been more L337, as I just loved her to death. Her sheer joy at the robot chaos she unleashed by accident at the mining facility, has me beaming every time I see it.

That stupid robot was second only to Jar Jar in terms of extreme annoyance and I was glad when it died horribly.

PS: Love Fleabag.

 

[thebobmaster]

Scream (1996). Watched it about a week ago, because I got my brother into horror movies, and now I'm working on getting him introduced to what I feel are the classics. Scream certainly fits that bill, and even rewatching it 15 years later, it still holds up. To me, the big difference between a good slasher film and a bad one is how likeable the cast is. Do you actually care about them as characters/people, or are you just waiting for these insufferable pricks/cardboard cut-outs to get slaughtered?

Scream does an excellent job of making you, if not care about the characters, at least believe they are real people. They act fairly realistically to what is going on around them, and the characters that are supposed to be fairly chummy with each other have good enough chemistry that you buy it. As a slasher movie, there are a few moments of stupidity, of course (poor Rose McGowan gets the worst of it), and while novel at the time, and launching the screenwriter's career in the process, some of the meta stuff can come off a bit too much at times.

That said, I feel the movie is a classic for a reason, and I enjoy watching it every time. Even if, now that I know what happens, about 75% of that is watching Matthew Lillard just being Matthew Lillard.

 

[happyninja42]

That stupid robot was second only to Jar Jar in terms of extreme annoyance and I was glad when it died horribly.

PS: Love Fleabag.

*shrugs* I liked her, because she voiced one of my biggest gripes with the star wars franchise, and that's how they portray droids.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Fatherhood: Tears / Great

Really touching and funny film starring Kevin Hart, a new and first-time father who finds himself a single parent when his wife passes away due to complications during the birth of their child. It does all of the typical stuff you’d expect with that premise, but Hart does an excellent job in this, one of his few genuinely dramatic roles. Also, after his chilling performance as Zsasz in Gotham, I can’t unsee Anthony Carrigan as that character, so him playing Hart's socially awkward best friend felt a little off, like watching Zsasz lead a secret life or something.

The Dry: Confusing / Great

A film that its title describes perfectly. It’s a convoluted murder mystery involving a bunch of Australians in Australia. The plot boil is so slow and involves so many people/suspects just talking, you’re left with a confused, “just get to the end” feeling. I guess they thought they were building intrigue, but it suffers from nothing actually intriguing happening. Also, they do that absolutely tired thing where they keep flashing back to adult characters’ teenaged years, and you struggle to keep straight who from the present you’re seeing in the past, so whatever you’re meant to glean from those scenes is lost in the sauce.

And finally…

Mortal Kombat (2021): Sigh… / Great

As much as it pains me to say it… not as bad as I thought it would be, nor as bad as it could have been. That doesn’t mean it was a good movie, but I’ve spent worse hours watching worse movies. I can say I like what they did with Sub-Zero and Scorpion; I could have done without the rest of the fan service which is why I think they brought in some no-name (Cole) to lead the show: so all the recurring characters could have their moment in the spotlight without stealing the spotlight. Would have to be exhausting to follow, say, Raiden as the main character and try to appease fans by him doing all the things he’s known for for two hours.

 

[Piscian]

*shrugs* I liked her, because she voiced one of my biggest gripes with the star wars franchise, and that's how they portray droids.

Ditto. I got a kick out of L337. I kinda enjoyed the clash between Lando and that psychopath. It was a neat juxtaposition. I think that it provides some flavor to the quandary about robot AI being common in Star wars and somehow being just fine. The interactions with other droids was hilarious. I think the problem with jarjar Binks wasn't just his personality, but his constant distractions. If Lucas had toned it down a bit it would have been tolerable. The same issue was evident in AOTC with C3PO where in a lengthy section of the movie is dedicated to him getting into obnoxious "hijinx". In the defense of the F-L337 stance, if I were editing, I'd cut out the awkward scene where her cutting the fence and saying "I can't do it while you're watching". It was a little too goofy. After that she really only has like two more scenes. Overall she's much more toned down than jarjar or even BB8.

 

[happyninja42]

Ditto. I got a kick out of L337. I kinda enjoyed the clash between Lando and that psychopath. It was a neat juxtaposition. I think that it provides some flavor to the quandary about robot AI being common in Star wars and somehow being just fine. The interactions with other droids was hilarious. I think the problem with jarjar Binks wasn't just his personality, but his constant distractions. If Lucas had toned it down a bit it would have been tolerable. The same issue was evident in AOTC with C3PO where in a lengthy section of the movie is dedicated to him getting into obnoxious "hijinx". In the defense of the F-L337 stance, if I were editing, I'd cut out the awkward scene where her cutting the fence and saying "I can't do it while you're watching". It was a little too goofy. After that she really only has like two more scenes. Overall she's much more toned down than jarjar or even BB8.

Over time I've come to not mind Jar Jar at all. He is in fact, the source of one of my genuine laughs from Phantom Menace. When he's got his hand stuck, but his tongue is numb, and his trying to mumble out "help." I dunno, I found that bit quite hilarious. Yes he is annoying, but...eh, I dunno, 45 year old me just doesn't mind as much anymore. There are far more fundamental problems of writing, pacing, editing, that make that movie subpar, that I just don't really have much emotion for "comic relief character isn't as funny as they hoped."

As to L337, her entire Droid's Rights thing is a big issue I think, with the ever evolving nature of the franchise. For decades, they have worked VERY hard (and been very successful), to humanize the droids, so the audience can empathize with them, and like them. They have cute designs, that make humans predisposed to liking them. The ones that don't vocalize in language, communicate in a chirp/whistle format, that easily conveys emotions to the audience. "Happy beeps little buddy, happy beeps." It's a funny line, but we ALL know what noises the droids make when they are happy, and when they are sad. So they are, by design, made to show emotions. And given how often they display these emotions, and personal agency, even when the organics aren't around, it would imply (at least to me) that it's not just an imitation of sentience, but ACTUAL sentience. We are supposed to feel sad when they are injured/destroyed, we are supposed to laugh with them when they are a little petty, and tease their friends, and then giggle about it in their droid chirps.

So the fact that they are literally an enslaved class, and the entire galaxy is fine with it, does smack up against a lot of evolving ethics in our society. So, for someone like myself, who does think the droids are actually sentient, L337's crusade for droid's rights, is a plot element that I genuinely enjoy, and empathize with. So when she grabs that dude in the fighting pits, and threatens to kill him, because he's gleefully forcing to droids to fight to the death, I was on her side in that. Well, I at least understood and empathized with her fury. Her accidental droid revolution, and her utter glee at what she had caused, genuinely had me smiling in the theaters.

 

[McElroy]

Upgrade

Funny man walks like a puppet. Or maybe... He is the puppet. Movie that doesn't waste time and gets going and keeps going smoothly with entertaining scenes that kept my attention. I also used an old DVD-player with really, REALLY bad image scaling so the movie looked like shit a lot of the time. 7/10

So the fact that they are literally an enslaved class, and the entire galaxy is fine with it, does smack up against a lot of evolving ethics in our society. So, for someone like myself, who does think the droids are actually sentient, L337's crusade for droid's rights, is a plot element that I genuinely enjoy, and empathize with. So when she grabs that dude in the fighting pits, and threatens to kill him, because he's gleefully forcing to droids to fight to the death, I was on her side in that. Well, I at least understood and empathized with her fury. Her accidental droid revolution, and her utter glee at what she had caused, genuinely had me smiling in the theaters.

I guess they never had a Space Asimov.

 

[Piscian]

Over time I've come to not mind Jar Jar at all. He is in fact, the source of one of my genuine laughs from Phantom Menace. When he's got his hand stuck, but his tongue is numb, and his trying to mumble out "help." I dunno, I found that bit quite hilarious. Yes he is annoying, but...eh, I dunno, 45 year old me just doesn't mind as much anymore. There are far more fundamental problems of writing, pacing, editing, that make that movie subpar, that I just don't really have much emotion for "comic relief character isn't as funny as they hoped."

As to L337, her entire Droid's Rights thing is a big issue I think, with the ever evolving nature of the franchise. For decades, they have worked VERY hard (and been very successful), to humanize the droids, so the audience can empathize with them, and like them. They have cute designs, that make humans predisposed to liking them. The ones that don't vocalize in language, communicate in a chirp/whistle format, that easily conveys emotions to the audience. "Happy beeps little buddy, happy beeps." It's a funny line, but we ALL know what noises the droids make when they are happy, and when they are sad. So they are, by design, made to show emotions. And given how often they display these emotions, and personal agency, even when the organics aren't around, it would imply (at least to me) that it's not just an imitation of sentience, but ACTUAL sentience. We are supposed to feel sad when they are injured/destroyed, we are supposed to laugh with them when they are a little petty, and tease their friends, and then giggle about it in their droid chirps.

So the fact that they are literally an enslaved class, and the entire galaxy is fine with it, does smack up against a lot of evolving ethics in our society. So, for someone like myself, who does think the droids are actually sentient, L337's crusade for droid's rights, is a plot element that I genuinely enjoy, and empathize with. So when she grabs that dude in the fighting pits, and threatens to kill him, because he's gleefully forcing to droids to fight to the death, I was on her side in that. Well, I at least understood and empathized with her fury. Her accidental droid revolution, and her utter glee at what she had caused, genuinely had me smiling in the theaters.

Never going to see eye to eye on JarJar. I can see the argument of having that character in other movies, comedies especially. I think of Michael Pena in Ant-Man or something like that, but Phantom Menace is already a self-serious chore to watch and it takes time out to fo Jarjar stuff which makes me unconsciously grind my teeth. I actually remember the day Phantom Menace came out, spending those long hours in line and then there's that whole scene which Jarjar running around in that ridiculously stupid droid army making things accidently explode and thinking "WTF AM I WATCHING?" when people got up and cheered at the end I lost faith humanity (but I'm naturally this grumpy all the time.).

Yeah I think my mental argument is that, like K-2SO, L337 is largely an anomaly of haphazard programing, but I found her biting wit and attitude amusing and refreshingly different from the cutesy bots fans latch onto, but that idea of a robot freedom activist bot makes perfect sense. I liked the scene where she frees that maintenance droid and he's like "uum what now" and she says "I don't know, free your brothers and sisters or something. Gimme some space!".

 

[happyninja42]

Never going to see eye to eye on JarJar. I can see the argument of having that character in other movies, comedies especially. I think of Michael Pena in Ant-Man or something like that, but Phantom Menace is already a self-serious chore to watch and it takes time out to fo Jarjar stuff which makes me unconsciously grind my teeth. I actually remember the day Phantom Menace came out, spending those long hours in line and then there's that whole scene which Jarjar running around in that ridiculously stupid droid army making things accidently explode and thinking "WTF AM I WATCHING?" when people got up and cheered at the end I lost faith humanity (but I'm naturally this grumpy all the time.).

Yeah I think my mental argument is that, like K-2SO, L337 is largely an anomaly of haphazard programing, but I found her biting wit and attitude amusing and refreshingly different from the cutesy bots fans latch onto, but that idea of a robot freedom activist bot makes perfect sense. I liked the scene where she frees that maintenance droid and he's like "uum what now" and she says "I don't know, free your brothers and sisters or something. Gimme some space!".

I disagree that L3 and K2's personalities and autonomy are a quirk of "haphazard programming." They establish pretty early on in the franchise, that one of the reasons the droids are regularly mind wiped, is because the longer they go along, the more sentience they develop. So they are mentally killed, and set back to factory, because they start having "ideas above their station." Now, I appreciate that back in the 70s, the various details that Lucas applied to droids, and their place in the galaxy, and other things, was in a time when there wasn't a lot of thought about what it means to truly have A.I. Whether they are due rights, etc. He was just trying to introduce a fun scifi/robot element, have them be the comic relief/peanut gallery component of the script. That's fine.
But, it's been decades worth of scifi debate about the subject, tons of scifi books directly addressing this subject, and a more detailed look at just what things like "wiping the mind of a droid" means. I mean in Rise of the Skywalker, they framed 3PO getting wiped as a literal death, that we are supposed to mourn. So it's hardly just a bit of defragging their hard drive you know?

To me, K2 and L3, are like R2, in that they've been allowed, for a long duration, to just...EXIST. So they now have an actual identity, and the capacity to evaluate their position in society. And...yeah they don't like it. At ALL. And I agree with L3. I'd really like it if they did something with that bit of the franchise, and who knows, maybe they will. I think a droid liberation as slavery parable could be a quite powerful story, if done right. The parallels are quite numerous.

But, anyway, this is a thread about the last films we watched, not a SW droid rights thread so I'll end my thoughts there.

 

[Piscian]

I sat down and watched the fangoria produced Indie horror "VFW" with Stephan Lang. Ever since Avatar I've found myself enamored with Lang. He carries a huge screen presence while being very subtle and lowkey. He reminds me a bit of a more subdued Clint Eastwood. He's been around forever, but only really blew up after Avatar. I'm not sure what made him decide to take this role. From the interviews I get the impression he accepted because he'd be more involved in the actually production and scripting. It's a kind of grindhouse horror action where a VFW bar is under siege by an army of junkies after a pile of drugs stashed there. It also includes a bunch of B-listers from the 70-80s low-budget action films. The film itself is ultraviolent and hammy, but is played largely serious by the cast and includes a lot of improvisation that actually elevates the film. There's a very natural comradery between these aging B-list stars faced with a force well beyond them that makes it really work. For me though I was a tad bored. I'm not into campy ultraviolent action so every time they stopped spouting one-liners and having moments together I was reaching for my phone. I'd recommend this to anyone who does enjoy that Robert Rodriguez 70-80s action nostalgia. I can't think of the name, but I remember a lot of these types of movies were done by one director. I forget who it was I guess Roger Corman to some extent. Also worth a look if you have any nostalgia for the cast. Norm from cheers is in it too.

 

[happyninja42]

It's a kind of grindhouse horror action where a VFW bar is under siege by an army of junkies after a pile of drugs stashed there.

So the regular patrons of a VFW then

 

[stroopwafel]

Batman, The Long Halloween part one.

Terrific. Loved every second of it. You can tell this movie got the 'A' treatment as it's probably the highest quality animation WB ever put out. Every frame looked hand crafted with not a cheap CGI effect in sight. Subtle touches like falling snow made it even prettier.

The movie is obviously based on the classic graphic novel but exceeds it in some ways. The hyper stylized original artwork is so meticulously recreated to fit the tone of the animation that it feels like the book has come to life. The Long Halloween is one of the best Batman stories that got translated into an animated movie that possibly couldn't be better.

Absolutely amazing, can't wait for part two.

 

[McElroy]

Batman, The Long Halloween part one.

Ah, I just recently (May) read The Long Halloween (and Dark Victory) and was wondering if Tim Sale's art could be done justice. I'll have to see for myself, of course.

 

[stroopwafel]

Ah, I just recently (May) read The Long Halloween (and Dark Victory) and was wondering if Tim Sale's art could be done justice. I'll have to see for myself, of course.

I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

 

[09philj]

A Field In England
A strange and psychedelic psychological horror film directed by Ben Wheatley. Some English Civil War deserters enter the titular field, where possibly real or imagined nightmares ensue. I rather liked it. It works regardless of whether you interpret it as a film about a group of men going mad or a low fantasy story. It's in black and white, which really adds to the oppressive atmosphere of the field.

 

[McElroy]

I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

I wasn't terribly impressed. It's pretty dull and they changed a good plot (though it can be turned back around in part 2). The movie almost looks like it's set in the 90s like the comic but there are some anachronistic details like the very modern soundtrack. It's pretty clear they barely took a glance at how Selina Kyle looks in the comic book. Though the catsuit is almost the same. 5/10