Recently watched movies!

[lhb412]

City of the Living Dead

Another Fulci horror film I have now watched that has a plethora of memorable, surreal (and often gory) scare scenes but the movie fails to build up to anything beyond being a string of those scenes.

[Dr Kain]

Incredibles 2 - Amazing movie with the only negative being the predictable villain. 9/10.

[lhb412]

Watched The Howling again after my first viewing last year. I was dissapointed with it that first time, partially because I had built the movie up in my head for years and years. Also, the central twist of the movie was long spoiled for me. Watching it again with my expectations tempered I've really come to like this film. There's lots of fun stuff, the cast is great, and the full werewolf design is maybe the best ever seen in a horror movie.

[eabaker]

[lhb412]

^ No Curse of the Werewolf? That's one of my favorite Hammer films, and it has probably the most authentically folkloric werewolf.

[eabaker]

I like Curse of the Werewolf, but it's never been one of my favorites. The multiple time jumps kind of kill the flow of the story for me.



Been meaning to say, I saw Hereditary over the weekend.

Technically, it was well made, but I definitely don't think it lived up to the hype. It was over-long, at times directionless, and more ugly than really unsettling or scary.

Part of my issue comes down to the fact that I don't agree with the movie's central premise, which is that a story is more tragic if the characters' actions have no impact on the outcome. Characters devoid of any meaningful agency do not, for me, and engaging narrative make.

[lhb412]

[eabaker]

[lhb412]

^ Ah, you know what I mean. A Greek poet and a German peasant woman in the 1700s tell stories differently.

[jellydonut25]

I enjoy Bad Moon, probably on about the same level as Silver Bullet, personally. Perhaps slightly worse character work and such, but it's got a GREAT wolf design and is a thoroughly fun flick.

Also, and trust me, this one would be towards the bottom of my favorite werewolf films...but still on it...Howling III. It's an unmitigated disaster of a movie...but it's amazing.

[lhb412]

Howling III is like two movies fighting each other. I've never seen anything like it.

[Dr Kain]

I couldn't even get into the first Howling, so I have no interest in watching its sequels.

I've never seen the Hammer Curse of the Werewolf, but I'd like to as I like the design of the wolfman. Never seen An American Werewolf in London nor Wolf with Jack Nicholson either.

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

Jurasic World 2 - First half was entertaining while the second half was beyond boring. The movie was full of characters that served no purpose and the girl was stupid as "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" hell. Nowhere near as bad as Solo, but utlimately a pretty forgettable movie. 6/10.

[Dr Kain]

Annihilation - I missed this movie when it hit theaters due to being busy and some friends that said it wasn't worth paying for. Being that I loved Ex Machina, I thought they were crazy but after having seen it for myself, I see what they were talking about. The first half was an utter borefest while the second half was just existential nonsense. There was no sense of suspense or tension and the plot just felt like it had to jump from Scene to Scene B to Scene F to Scene M without letting any of the characters actually be developed. For a film that had essentially five characters, you would think they would all have moments to shine when barely any of them did. Then we have the ending that never explained jackshit about what was going on. I guess this is based on a trilogy of books, but if you want your viewers to come back for two more, you have to include something that would make them want to see more. With this, I couldn't care less if they got made (assuming it is true). I don't regret watching the film, but I was expecting something so much better from the guy that madeh the psychological masterpiece that Ex Machina. I give it a 6/10.

[klen7]

Based on how loosely they "adapted" the first book, i am not expecting sequels. It's a one and done. I'm in a similar boat in that i adored Ex Machina but have no reason to buy Annihilation

[lhb412]

I think Annihilation is a masterpiece. Pure cinema: great acting, fantastic score, incredible creatures, unforgettable weirdness... thanks for reminding me to pick up the blu.

[Dr Kain]

[klen7]

The first book spends most of it's time exploring this underground "tower" so for me, I was two thirds through the movie wondering when they would reach the tower and feeling like it was really dragging to get to the main part of the story, only for that to never occur. I wonder if a second viewing would improve my feeling on pacing now that the presumption is gone.

[lhb412]

I read beforehand that the movie just uses the book as a jumping off point and wasn't a straight adaptation. The book is about venturing out into the alien and unfathomable. The movie is about descending into the self.

[lhb412]

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

This was pretty enjoyable! Lot of classic monster movie-type fun. Liked it a whole lot more than the first Jurassic World, which I found more irritating than anything.

[O.Supreme]

Masters of the Universe 1987 Well after much coaxing, and repeat viewings of The MOTU episode of The Toys that Made us, I got my kids to sit down and watch this film. Yeah, its cheesy, YES it is an awful He-Man film, but as a generic stand-alone 80's sci-fi flick, its not that bad. It cold almost be called HINO, except there are a few elements there from the lore, even if they are few. I know reports are coming out constantly of a supposed new film in production, but I'm not holding my breath.

Star Wars-The Last Jedi
If you had told me a few years back, that my 2nd viewing of a SW film would be on a streaming service, simply because of convenience, (It's not NETFLIX now btw...) I'd have found that hard to believe. But here we are. I really wanted to watch and heavily scrutinize this film again, but oddly enough I found myself often distracted and not minding having to go away from the TV to do other things. Even to this day if I'm watching any other SW film, of course I'm going to pause the film if I need to step away, this was not the case with TLJ. I've tried so hard not to be a hater simply for the sake of hate (as some of my friends are), But I can definitely say, the things I don't like about this film have definitely driven me to apathy, which is kind of sad. I've resolved that if I can get TLJ on Blu-Ray come Black Friday for $7, I probably will, but I may never even break the plastic and watch it, owning it for completion sake only...TLJ has the dubious honor of being the first SW film I saw theatrically only ONCE, and did not purchase in some media format on release day.

[Dr Kain]

Most people seem to hate on TLJ because it didn't follow the story they made up in their heads and they don't like seeing their heroes from the OT get old. Of course, they seem to also think you saying that means you think the movie is a masterpiece. They don't understand that you can enjoy a movie and still find faults with it.

Anyway, I honestly have no desire to watch TLJ again until Ep 9 comes out. Also, I probably won't buy it until after I see how the whole story ends, and by then I might as well just wait for the trilogy set. Hell, that is probably how they will release TFA on UHD anyway.

[eabaker]

I basically get the desire to watch TLJ again at some point every day. If only I didn't have all this work to do while I'm at work...

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

Over the past month I've been watching the JP franchise in 4K rather than give my thoughts on the actual movies I'll just talk about the transfer of each film and rate them on a personal preference. I still have to see Fallen Kingdom doing that tomorrow so I'll post a general review here and spoilers in its topic.

Jurassic Park- This had a really good 4K transfer. I've seen new details I've never noticed before in all the viewings I've had of this movie. The HDR is amazing too colors really pop. As for personal preference I rate it as number one.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park- This one has an even better transfer than JP. The movie has never looked better. Can't really comment on sound because I don't have a decent sound system. As for a personal preference this has become my least favorite JP movie over time. I used to enjoy it as a teenager but after the second DVD viewing and first Blu-ray viewing I can't get behind it any more.

Jurassic Park 3- This has the worst transfer off the films, most of the time the film gets barely above DVD quality which is a shame because TLW looked so amazing. As for the movie itself yeah it's a disaster but over time it grew on me and as of right now it's my third favorite film in the franchise.

Jurassic World- This had the best 4K transfer which is a given since it's the newest of the films. HDR was fantastic and again saw details I never noticed before but keep in mind this is only my fourth viewing of the movie. The others I've viewed dozens of times before. As for the actual film its my second favorite in the franchise.