Last Movie You Watched

[C.T.1290]

The last movie I’ve watched was Mortal Kombat: Scorpion’s Revenge.

The plot was somewhat similar the first Mortal Kombat film, except it’s more centered around Scorpion. And it was pretty fucking brutal, as is expected of the Mortal Kombat series. I think MK fans should see this.

[Gus Hanson]

I went into detail about Justice League Dark: Apokolips War in the Superheroes thread so I will keep it short. Tremendous yet bittersweet method of ending the first continuity of the DC Comics Animated Universe indeed. The amount of carnage and casualties will have you on the edge of your seat. Plus, if I ever meet Hynden Walch (voice of Harley) at a con, I definitely need to ask her to do that "If you're happy and you know it, smack a head" tune that her character sings while going to town on the enemies.

[Zusuchan]

Recently watched GoodFellas and that's still a Grade-A masterpiece.

[robersora]

TENET
My peer group was giving very mixed reviews ranging from "worst Nolan yet" to "oh my gaaash, amazeballs", which is super interesting 'cuz it was 12 people from very different areas of my personal and work life. I, for one fell in the "LOVE IT" category.

very slight spoilers about the nature of the movie:

SPOILER: Show

The music is awesome, I just adore the concept (I wanna see more) and I think the execution was mega-cool. The final scenes felt like an LSD-trip, due to the complete breakdown of causality (in an awesome way).

Go see it!

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

*googles "How to watch Tenet in the US"*

[Zusuchan]

Watched Tenet and I'm Thinking of Ending Things. Both are great and the best films to come out of the year (which isn't saying much considering how little competition there is, but still).

Tenet I think is an amazing action film with a lot of exciting ideas, genuine thrills and originality/audacity. The acting was superb (Branagh and Debicki are obvious highlights, but Washington and Pattinson managed to give off so much so subtly and yet realistically), the action set-pieces were superb and explored the central concept awesomely and there's a puzzle-like quality to the film that is rewarding and endearing. Probably my favorite film of the year.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things is another film that rewards attention to detail and rewatches, has superb acting (Buckley, Collette and Plemons kill it, while Thewlis and Boyd are also great) and is original. It's also a lot darker, more surrealist and less commercial. Its themes are explored in such interesting and intriguing ways, too.

[The Eva Monkey]

Just watched the 2015 Fantastic Four, Fantastic 4, or Fant4stic, or whatever. It wasn't as absolutely dreadful as I was expecting to be. I have no desire to ever see it again, it was kind of like a more realistic, or possibly joyless, remake of the same movie from ten years earlier, with 100% less Jessica Alba. Whatever happened to Jessica Alba? I miss her.

Hot take: I think it was better than Iron Man 3. Fight me.

[Gus Hanson]

Just watched the 2015 Fantastic Four, Fantastic 4, or Fant4stic, or whatever. It wasn't as absolutely dreadful as I was expecting to be. I have no desire to ever see it again, it was kind of like a more realistic, or possibly joyless, remake of the same movie from ten years earlier, with 100% less Jessica Alba. Whatever happened to Jessica Alba? I miss her.

Hot take: I think it was better than Iron Man 3. Fight me.

What did you think of Homer Simpson as the stereotypical skeptic teacher at the beginning scenes? I didn't like him at all but that's how these cliches go, wonder what they say to themselves by the end of every one of these origin films where the team takes care of the big bad threat and is given the perks of being a superhero while they are still stuck at the same dead end job.

[silvermoonlight]

"Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil" Netflix

Wow, just wow the production values on this film are utterly amazing, almost all the effects are practical with GCI only used in minimal even on the demons with the higher demons it being using it on the hoofed feet and legs and tails but the top half are clearly costume with effects on the eyes and it's utterly stunning.

It really hems back to classic 80's horror movies where they had the medieval settings and it's sold story wise and based on a real German fable with some great twists and turns. I also loved that all the demons look like the weird paintings you get in medieval and renaissance art, like the time and effort that's gone in to this research wise is mind-blowing and puts a lot of current horror movies to shame.

SPOILER: Show

My only nitpick and its very miner was in the dub version the devil is clearly voiced by a person of colour but the rest of the cast are white voices and this is problematic with him also becoming a white voice at the end when god redeems him giving him true human form. (I need to watch this in sub just to see if it was also in the native language version as well or added by netflix's dub team)

The other problem is the wife who constantly hits her husband and child and it's played for joke and the other male characters laugh at it and call the guy henpecked and hiding under his wife's skirt when in reality his wife is clearly abusing both her son and husband but it just feels so out of touch with modern media.

Though I get there is an uncurrent that is similar to IT in that every one in the village is horrible, and they all pick on the motherless little girl who is being looked after by the priest's wife who is the only one who is kind to her. Even the godly priest is shitty towards her and saying she'd rot in hell and hits her. So it begs the question is everyone becoming evil due to evil demon locked in the cage as that was the feeling I got.

[Zusuchan]

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: As a long-time Hunter S. Thompson fan, I was both excited and nervous to watch this film. Thankfully, this was fucking wonderful, a brilliant visual counterpoint to the book that is overflowing with both humor, unsanity and the beginning of actual intriguing points about the end of the American Dream, the decline of the countercultures and the effects these two have had on America, all of which will be elaborated upon in the book.

Being John Malkovich: Another movie I loved despite not being all that impressed by literally every other film Spike Jonze has done. The whole film is kind of overflowing with a particularly wonderful sort of humor mixed with serious drama and quiet nihilism. It is basically a hyper-stylish examination of rather simple themes, but it was so well done it's kind of hard to scream at it.

Requiem For A Dream: An absolute masterpiece. The most harrowing, horrifying film I have ever seen-the ultimate endpoint of utter despair and everything going to absolute hell while people remember the better times of their lives...Astonishing. Also probably the best depiction of addiction I have ever seen.

The Devil All The Time: The cast was wonderful (Pattinson once again straight-out slaughtering it, as usual) and the story itself sounds great, but there was something missing. I thought it was on its way to becoming a great film for the first hour, but after that it became a lot slower without any kind of gradual flowing from one pace to the other and the narrator's comments tended to be off-putting, as if the film didn't trust the viewers to actually be able to understand connections without explicitly showing them. And there was like this curious lack of life in it-it just didn't seem to be made with passion. It's still good and worth a watch, but it does seem to be lacking aesthetically in something crucial.

The Green Mile: Really long, but also really good. Tom Hanks was awesome and the way I felt like I was watching an old yarn told to me in a voice full of passion was something that I liked. I do think it could have been useful for John Coffey's character to be expanded upon a bit earlier and there were other minor quibbles, but overall I thought it was great. Awesome little film. Controversial opinion: better than The Shawshank Redemption.

[Gus Hanson]

American Pie 2: While not as instant classic as the first one, this one still holds up enough on it's own and as a sequel than most other entries in the series. Lots of funny hijinks and mishaps in this to keep me entertained.

[silvermoonlight]

Enola Holmes
I'll say now Millie Bobby browns acting in this and 4th wall breaks are brilliant where this movie falters is the male vs female narrative it is a huge problem which derails the movie.

SPOILER: Show

This biggest issue are Holmes and the older brother, Sherlock Holmes does not feel like the real Sherlock Holmes he has no real feelings for his little sister shows her no real support comes of emotionless and uncaring and quite happy to sell out his mother friends in the suffragette movement to the point of threatening and exposing one of them, when Enloa is stuck in prep school he does nothing to rescue her. There are also moment where she is lost in London but him and his brother are in the smoking rooms enjoying their privileges and not caring to look for her and just send other people to find her even though there is another guy who is there to outright kill her and tries to do so three times.

Mycroft Holmes is even worse, but he's a sexist bastard just to be a sexist bastard though the movie, he learns nothing does not grow in any way he's a cookie cutter villain who is just there to be hated by the audience and it's really sad as this could have been a story about him not being the villain and growing as a person and though his little sister seeing that women have value and that the reform for women voting has merit.

The other guy Tewkesbury is better, but he is there for romantic reasons which again hurts the movie though not to a terrible to the point of ruining the film but just enough to be annoying to the movies credit they never kiss.

Thats not to say the female characters don't have problems as the movie implies that Enola's mother is a radical suffragette as its made super clear that she's making bombs (Which was a thing as they used to bomb letter boxes) but the movie never wants to fully address the issue between movements and those in the movement who take to far, only that she is part of this problem and its why she's on the run. The rest of the movies women are just boring stereotypes the villain being the only interesting one.

I can see though why there is a real lawsuit going on with these books as the Sherlock Holmes portrayed is so far removed from the true one I can see why the estate would be mad over it as it goes so against the canon as Sherlock was not great with women, but he had a huge soft spot for intelligent smart women who were as smart him and Nancy Springer's vision clashes really harshly with this making him selfish, privileged and uncaring when he'd in reality be the opposite to his mother and younger sister who clearly show great intelligence and be calling out the older brother for his actions and showing him as the moron small minded person he is.

[cyharding]

^I quickly looked up the lawsuit and I thought the stories that are part of Casebook were now in the public domain. I remember when I wanted that book around ten years ago, I had to import an editon that was printed in the UK.

[silvermoonlight]

^I quickly looked up the lawsuit and I thought the stories that are part of Casebook were now in the public domain. I remember when I wanted that book around ten years ago, I had to import an editon that was printed in the UK.

I rechecked myself it's a weird one there suing the movie for giving Sherlock feeling and caring for women, but again I'd argue that it doesn't care in the movie and that the Conan Doyle’s estate have lost the plot since in other depictions he has been shown as caring for women and liking intelligent ones.

Plus a lawsuit for this reason is utterly outrageous at this moment in media when female led media is hot property again. I'd also argue a lot more is expected from male characters now on screen and no one wants a cold heated asshole and that Holmes needs to evolve beyond the books to keep having relevance.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/25/21302942/netflix-enola-holmes-sherlock-arthur-conan-doyle-estate-lawsuit-copyright-infringement

[movieartman]

C.h.u.d. (1984)
- Fairly damn good environmental monster movie with a surprisingly fleshed out cast of characters. Great score. Largely good make up/suits for the monsters. Only downside is the climatic battle doesn't actually involve the Chuds themselves and so there isn't really much of a resolution.


The Presidio (1988)
- Decent.


Dead Bang (1989)
- Good. Don Johnson makes for a fine Dirty Harry stand in here. William Forsythe's FBI character deserved much more of a comeuppance, he got multiple cops killed during the final battle because of his petty actions meant to spite Don Johnson's character.


Cover Up (1991)
- Good, Dolph Lundgren playing against type as a largely non action oriented reporter character.


The Final Cut (1995)
- Ok, see for Sam Elliott and nothing else.


Another better Sam Elliot action film Avenger (2006)
- Surprised how quickly the initial mystery of the missing son was resolved, Timothy Hutton was good as a surprisingly conflicted antagonist.

[Dr. Nick]

Every Day (2018):
We will be better off as a society if we just collectively agree that this was the western Your Name remake. It came and went, it's out of the system now, and nothing else needs to be done with it.

[movieartman]

Rambo - Last Blood (2019)
Worst of the series but still decently good. More Death Wish/Taken than Rambo.


Pros!
- Actress playing Gabriela did a very good job. Her tender but slightly awkward bond with Rambo felt mostly authentic.
- I am glad the scene with Rambo letting Gabriela's friends see the tunnels didn't get ruined by John doing anything to personally weird them out.
- Good amount of build up to get to know the characters and the relative peaceful existence that Rambo has found & earned since 2008.
- Touches on Rambo's PTSD more than 2, 3 & 4 did.

Mixed Elements & Missed Opportunities!
- The opening with Rambo acting as a volunteer rescuer/tracker in the deep forest was a damn solid sequence (that said it's too short and too much cgi) and honestly might have made for a solid full film instead of returning to the "butcher fuck tons of bad guys" phase that they really couldn't top after Rambo (2008).
- The final battle is good but not great. Rambo playing that song on the speakers seemed out of place.
- The scene with Gabriela meeting her father suddenly seems to have been obviously overdubbed at the point that he rejects her. Wonder what the original dialogue was.
- CGI blood is used but it's never too glaringly poor.

Cons!
- Rambo kinda just walks into a ambush during his initial incursion into the Cartel's fortress. I get he has been out of action for over a decade but still it seems to just happen and seems off.
- In previous films it never as far as I recall ever seemed like Rambo was enjoying it when he killed people, in this it seems like they went full Garth Ennis Punisher with him and I get the circumstances are different with it being personal instead of just war but I can easily see how some will be turned off by it.
- They should have just had Rambo kill the Brother when he escapes with Gabriela instead of having him return to Mexico just for murderous revenge.
- CGI for some of the opening flood and when the tunnels collapse is weak.
- I don't like them conflating Rambo's war violence as being the same kind of wrongness as Gabriela's father's cruel domestic abuse.

SPOILER: Show

- Why didn't Rambo just take Gabriela to a hospital in Mexico? That might have saved her!
- In this day in age them letting Gabriela die was ballsy but honestly I wish they hadn't. Her being pimped and abused was more than enough to warrant the slaughter of the villains at the end.

Future!
- No more sequels please.
- I wouldn't mind some comics or novels set between R3 and 2008.

[Zusuchan]

The Trial of the Chicago 7: A timely, well-made film with snappy dialogue and great performances (special shout-outs to Mark Rylance and Sacha Baron Cohen.) Sorkin doesn't have the flairs as a director of Fincher, Boyle or Spielberg, but he is obviously capable of doing a good drama film and he showcases a far better handling of the cinematic language than he did with his directorial debut, the more middle-weight Molly's Game. Overall, I'd say this is a great film that wonderfully discusses the complicated and messy politics of protesting and the necessity of the people to stand up against the establishment whenever it's incompetent, crooked or both.

Also watched Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy, which still remains one of the greatest cinematic experiences I've ever watched. Every film is full of extraordinary storytelling power.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Lupin the Third: The First

I haven't seen a Lupin film since Castle of Cagliostro (which, despite knowing better, still feels weird to be a Hayao Miyazaki movie), so this jump to 3-D animation was probably a larger leap for me that it was other audiences more familiar with the character. I'm not sure how strictly this film sticks to canon (or even how strict of a canon Lupin has to begin with), but I had a blast watching it. The animation was fun and lively, the characters felt like they had heart, and the visual design had an immense amount of appeal in the 3-D space the filmmakers were exploring. On a technical level, this movie feels like it came from Pixar. I can't think of a single shot that didn't look right. On a story level, it was fun and light hearted. This movie is clearly there to play around with the idea of characters punching through impossible odds and doing backflips out the room, and is not interested in the idea of there being any realistic stakes to anything. I think that's the proper way to go for animation, actually. Stunts aren't as impressive in animation if they don't involve actual stunt people, so the filmmakers wisely went for making sure the action was as wild and as expressive as possible.



Raiga: God of the Monsters

This is a low-budget kaiju movie from Japan, where the filmmakers are clearly the ones having the most fun out of everyone. The audience can also have fun if they realize this early on. A lightning-summoning monster rises out of the ocean and attacks Japan, and the main characters (one of which is established as having magic girl powers?) ultimately have to stand by and watch as their government reaches comedic levels of hubris before realizing that there's really nothing they can do to stop the monster. I stress the "comedic levels of hubris" in this film, because it is cranked up to 11. Sure, there are satirical elements of Shin Godzilla, but that film didn't have scenes where the JSDF are acting like they're drunk on saké the entire time while plotting out their plan of attack with a weird, specialized military force pulled straight out of the wackiest of science fiction tropes. I found the DVD on store shelves in Walmart, but apparently the Blu-ray can be ordered from the distributor's website. The movie looked like a low-quality pirated torrent from 2002, so I have no idea what the quality would look like on Blu-ray. (This movie was filmed in 2019.) There are special features on the disc that show the creature design building the monster suit, and the suits looked better in that special feature than they did in the movie itself.

This isn't the movie you get drunk with your friends to watch; this is a movie that gets drunk with you and your friends as you all party hard during the movie night.

[Justacrazyguy]

Lupin the Third: The First

I haven't seen a Lupin film since Castle of Cagliostro (which, despite knowing better, still feels weird to be a Hayao Miyazaki movie), so this jump to 3-D animation was probably a larger leap for me that it was other audiences more familiar with the character. I'm not sure how strictly this film sticks to canon (or even how strict of a canon Lupin has to begin with), but I had a blast watching it.

The only real canon is the main cast and their personalities. Everything else changes based on who is directing and writing it. Both Cagliostro and The First are on the lighter, more humorous side, but there is also Lupin media that goes in a darker direction. There is stuff for most tastes, really.