Recently watched movies!

[klen7]

^ perfect. Thanks

[lhb412]

Hellraiser IV: Bloodline

The idea behind this movie is actually neat. You start in the 18th century with the toymaker who creates the demon-summoning puzzle box and after he figures out what it's for comes up with a plan to make another box to counteract it and kill the demons, for the middle portion we have the toymaker's descendent in modern day (1996) and he's an architect and we basically wrap up the cliffhanger ending from the last movie, and then we have the final third on a space station with another descendent (these are all played by the same guy and he's not doing a good job) attempting to finish the good puzzle box once and for all. It's a prequel and a sequel. Neat concept, and the demon dogs are fun, but it just doesn't quite amount to being as good as it sounds. I'm reading the wikipedia, and apparently this was a case of them coming up a script everyone liked, then facing a series of budget cuts where they had to simplify and scale back the plot a few times, then at the end having the whole thing drastically reedited and partially refilmed to make it more commercial. In other words: Weinsteins were involved.

Adam Scott is in this movie! He has't aged in 20 years, so maybe he's demon, eh?

Also, is it just me or does the Hellraiser puzzle box actually look pretty simple to work? It kinda just solves itself when you press the button and then do like one or two other things, and then you just fiddle with it slightly to send all the demons back. Good information to have if you get stuck in a similar situation.

[eabaker]

I just watched Bloodline about two weekends ago. I agree that the premise is strong but the execution weak. I actually had a pretty hard time even paying attention at times. While I wasn't especially invested in Hellraiser III, at least it was mostly entertaining, even if stupidly entertaining.

[klen7]

Wheels on Meals - Yes! Not sure how i hadn't even heard of this before. Classic Jackie Chan interweaving comedy and martial arts. That fight at the end was something else too. This is easily in my top Jackie Chan films

[Joseph Goodman]

It's too bad that the Blu-ray options for Wheels on Meals are so limited. Most of the releases worldwide are upscales from standard def, and few have English support. I have the Japanese Blu-ray, which has the same upscale of the HK version as the rest, but also has an actual HD transfer of the Japanese release, complete with burned-in Japanese subtitles... this Japanese version does, however, include the English dub.

[lhb412]

^Burned in Japanese subs? For all the dialog or just the signage and stuff?

[Joseph Goodman]

[lhb412]

^Hrrrmmmm. Guess I'm not getting that one.

[lhb412]

Cronos

Guillermo del Toro's first film - his first Spanish language film and his only Spanish language film set in his native Mexico.

This film follows a kindly old antique dealer, Jesús Gris (played by Federico Luppi), and his relationship with his almost entirely silent granddaughter. Their quiet existence is interrupted by the discovery of a ornate, golden, scarab-shaped device hidden in an old archangel statue in his shop. Jesús accidentally activates the device which 'stings' his palm, and soon he begins changing into, well, a vampire (the movie never says 'vampire'). If that wasn't enough trouble, an industrialist who wants to live forever is also after the device and he's got this brutish American nephew (Ron Perlman) to get rid of anything or anyone in the way.

You see a lot of GDT's style and themes, some in embryonic form, in this movie. Of course, it's his first movie and it's really low budget, but even so GDT elevates it somewhat - but what really elevates it is Luppi's wonderful performance. Without Luppi the movie is interesting, but with Luppi the movie becomes special.

Luppi also appears in Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth. He passed away a few weeks ago.

Mimic (director's cut)

GDT goes from a small Mexican film to a major Hollywood production and it almost destroyed him: tons of interference with the studio demanding constant rewrites, character changes, changes to the design of the creatures - often seemingly without logic or reason, or, as when they refused for the main couple to be interracial, just pure meanness. GDT notes in his commentary that he was 33 when making this movie; "the perfect age to be crucified." Star Mira Sorvino championed GDT, and was apparently the reason GDT wasn't fired from the film. Honestly, the special features when GDT goes over all the madness is probably more interesting than the film itself.

This director's cut is, by GDT's own admission, far from the film he wanted to make, but at the very least it restores the movie into almost all stuff GDT actually made himself, eliminating the reshoots and second unit stuff that added fake scares and the like that GDT didn't want to shoot.

The film is okay. It's a good, standard creature feature about giant insects breeding in the NYC sewers and the scientists who accidently created them discovering and trying to fight them. I quite like Charles S. Dutton as the police officer. There are a few sparks of really interesting ideas, but they never really blossom. What GDT could certainly be proud of is his visuals, 'cause the film looks fantastic.

[canofhumdingers]

Justice League - it was good. Not great (it felt like a very “safe” film compared to the rest of the DCCU), but definitely solid. It pains me that it’s underperforming at the box office because I really love the casting choices for each of the heroes (especially the big 3) and I’d love for them to have at least one more JL movie where they can really shine.

[Dr Kain]

Coco - Maybe a 10/10 as it was another Pixar masterpiece. I went in expecting it to just be a copycat of THe Book of Life and what I got was some far deeper and far more authentic.

Frozen Short - 5/10. It was pretty bad. There were some really funny moments, but the songs were pretty bad as was the singing from the actors.

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

Kingsman The Golden Circle - There are some obvious, low-hanging fruit type of complaints, like the marketing giving away one of the movie’s biggest plot pieces and also playing up Channing Tatum despite his role being a cameo basically, and the action going maybe just a step too far (the opening chase scene has the most egregious examples), and for me personally a celebrity cameo that kinda turned into a role and went too far for sure...but it also definitely feels like Kingsman, and it’s fun and funny and I like the way the characters have progressed and its willingness to embrace over the top insanity. 3.5/5. Not deserving of most of the crap it got.

[Dr Kain]

I thought Kingsman 2 was utter "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!". One of the most disappointing movies of the year.

Anyway,

Spider-Man Homecoming - My first time watching it on video (third time total) and it is still a near perfect 10/10.

[Kaiju_Ultra_Fan]

Homecoming seems like the first time a Spider-Man movie has both Peter Parker and Spider-Man being well done.

usually it's sort of one or the other. I thought the Sony Spider-Mans were good,..but only Spider-Man. I didn't think that guy was a good Peter Parker at all. If nothing else he was a bit too "cool" to be Peter Parker,...and he was kind of a dick, where Parker is not. But the Spidey scenes were good,..the animation and movements were very good.

But Homecoming really did it well where both Spider-Man and Parker both seem right.

[lhb412]

Blade Runner 2049

This was quite good. Didn't try to outdo the first one or do it better or bigger, just tells a satisfying story that turns out to be connected to the previous one in a rewarding way. Great visuals (using lots of practical miniature effects for the environments!) and great cast... I was surprised by which performer impressed me the most: it was Sylvia Hoeks who's role is essentially that of the villain's henchman. She's a far more interesting presence than the villain himself, played by Jared Leto.

Also: 75 year old Harrison Ford is in better shape now than I've ever been in my entire life.

[Dr Kain]

I felt Jared Leto was absolutely pointless. He didn't accomplish jack "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!", but he also didn't even truly lose.

[klen7]

Chappie - I hadn't watched this until now due to how maligned it was by people I typically agree with, so i went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. It has some narrative issues but still an interesting piece of science fiction with some interesting ideas.

Sayonara Jupiter (Bye Bye Jupiter) - Wow. I picked this up cheaply on DVD mostly because of the Koichi Kawakita/Toho connection. I don't even know where to start with this movie, there are things that are impressive (scope, sets, miniatures, some of the effects shots), a very diverse cast (especially for a toho flick), things that don't make any sense (Space McDonalds), scenes that laughably bad (almost any scene involving Peter and the dolphin), a cameo appearance from Godzilla, and one of the most over the top sex scenes i've seen. At G-Fest Shinji Higuchi said his girlfriend broke up with him immediately after seeing this movie in the theater (he had been bragging to her and over exaggerating his role in the sfx department.)
The movie follows a character named Eiji Honda who plans to turn Jupiter into a second sun before discovering he needs to use Jupiter to defeat a black hole. Also as typical with Toho films from that time it features a scene that rips off a popular Hollywood film and since this is a sci-fi epic you probably guessed which movie - Jaws.
It kind of surprises me that this doesnt have more of a cult following

[jellydonut25]

Brigsby Bear - I love when little movies come along and surprise me. We're all always looking forward to the blockbusters and are excited when they're good, but when a Big Sick or I Don't Feel at Home in this World Anymore or Brigsby Bear run across your eyeballs, it feels like a real treat. It's basically like "What if The Room had the little boy living a decent, albeit sheltered life in captivity and then upon getting freed, wanted to at least hang on to a part of that life, and so decided to continue the story of a fake show his captors made to keep him entertained?" It's charming and witty, creative and heartfelt, and at times pretty funny. I could have used a slight push further on the comedy, but that's just because I would like it to be a little more humorous for revisits. I usually never say this, but I could also have watched this for longer, and explored some of the mythology of Brigsby and/or the mentality of the captors...maybe the home video release will slake that thirst? Anyway, that's not really the point of the movie as it's more a commentary on pop culture worship and how it's not necessarily a bad thing if it helps drive you to find what you want to do and helps you realize your place in society. I'd give it a solid 4/5.

The House - Comedy is subjective. And people will say, "DURR! It's a Will Ferrell movie, what were you expecting?" But like...I like more than half his movies...and so I checked this out. And I don't know if I laughed once. Just absolutely awful. One of this year's crimes against cinema. 1/5

[canofhumdingers]

Rogue One - As I’m sure many others will do, I’m prepping for seeing The Last Jedi by rewatching the series. I skipped the prequels cause they suck, I hate them, and they don’t exist in my head cannon. I love Rogue One more every time I see it. Especially the stuff on Jedha. Chirrut and Baze have become personal favorites and I love how they’ve given more hints into the mythology of the galaxy by revisiting some really old ideas such as kyber crystals, the Whills, etc. I also love how they’ve been moving the force back in the direction of mysticism and away from measurable sciencey stuff.

Star Wars - Watched the Silver Screen Edition from (the somewhat disbanded) team NegativeOne. I love having a complete, HD copy of Star Wars scanned from an actual 1977 35mm print. And of course the movie is wonderful. It’s amazing how, even after just watching Rogue One’s awesome effects and starship battles, the 40 year old space battle over the Death Star is still so exciting, engaging, and amazing to look at. I need to find a copy of the second silver screen edition, as I’m still watching version 1.0 (it’s awesome, but the newer version is even better: A bit sharper with better color restoration)

Next will be The Empire Strikes Back. Still debating whether I should watch the Despecialized edition or the NegativeOne Grindhouse edition. The purist in me prefers the Grindhouse because it’s completely the 1980 original and actually has much more image detail than the official Blu ray, but it’s pretty pink-shifted. The colors on Despecialized are much better but it’s a reconstruction (i.e. not totally original) sourced primarily from the blu ray. Someone did a pretty incredible color correction on the Grindhouse, but once again I haven’t had a chance to track it down...

[jellydonut25]

I might rewatch Rogue One since I haven’t seen it since theaters (not a huge fan) and Force Awakens to throw myself back in.

[Rody]

[lhb412]

The Devil's Backbone

In 1939, the waning days of the Spanish Civil War, old leftists (i.e. the ones who'd lose the war - the fascists won and General Franco ran the country for 40 years afterwards) operate a boys orphanage in the middle of the desert where they care for children, many of whom have no idea their parents have died in the fighting. They're also hiding a not insignificant amount of gold. One day, a new boy is delivered to the orphanage, Carlos, and bullying from the other boys is the least of his worries, as he immediately begins seeing a ghost around the orphanage: a little boy with a face like a broken porcelain doll, a cloud of blood rising from the wound above his temple. As Carlos' visions of the ghost increase, and the fascists gain control on the outside, a conflict within the orphanage reveals itself.

I love Guillermo del Toro's movies, and I adore his excesses, like hordes of monsters and luscious sets, but I think this movie, his most concise and disciplined, is his best and my favorite. There's only one 'monster,' but the ghost boy, Santi, is one of my favorite designs to come out of his movies.



Watched the old, silent Willis O'Brien dinosaur shorts featured on The Lost World Blu-ray. R.F.D. 10,000 B.C. is an entirely animated, Flintstones-syle, 'cavemen act like modern folk' thing, while The Ghost of Slumber Mountain combines live action and animation as a man looks through a magic pair of binoculars to observe the dinosaurs that lived in the surrounding mountainside millions of years earlier. The primitive beginnings of our genre!

[jellydonut25]

Rewatching some movies from this year that I bought:
Spider-Man Homecoming - This is one of those movies where, when I start to think about it, I pick out more and more problems, but in the moment, it’s a lot of fun. This is a solid 3.5/5, maybe a 4.

Guardians 2 - Marvel’s most emotionally charged movie, in my opinion. The comedy is great and the action delivers on spectacle, but it’s the moments of introspection and quiet that make this one shine. One of my favorite MCU films. 4.5/5

Wonder Woman- If Ares was more compelling, this would be a 5/5. Gal Gadot is SPECTACULAR as Wonder Woman and the character herself is in my opinion the best pure hero we’ve seen in any superhero film thus far. She’s pure and noble and just brings out the very best in everyone without ever being a wise cracking smart allec. 4.5/5

War for the Planet of the Apes - These movies have been either THE highlight of their respective years , or one of them, for me. This one is no different. It’s a great Apes movie with moments of beauty and hope spiraling into utter despair and heartbreak. It’s maybe the darkest Apes film of them all, but for the story they’re telling, it works perfectly. A great thematic cap to one of the best trilogies ever, I’d love to see more and see how the Apes society we know from the original films (not the EXACT one, just the hierarchy and theology) evolves from where we leave everyone here. (I imagine something like Maurice being a kind and noble interim leader who remembers Caesar “the man” clashing with a young more “religious” ape who deifies Caesar). Anyway, 5/5.

[Gwangi]

I also saw "Wonder Woman" during the Thanksgiving period. Second time seeing it. Saw it in the theater last spring and to date, it is the best of the D.C. movies thus far, though I do have to admit that it does fall a little flat towards the end, as the battle between Diana and Ares was at best very standard (I thought that Ludendorff and Dr. Maru were the more intriguing villains).

I didn't remember if there were any end of credit scenes, so I let it play all the way, and the answer was a resounding no. However, I did find one interesting thing. The very, very end was a production logo - Wanda Picture:




Of course, they own Legendary and are heavily involved in the Monsterverse. Are these guys also involved in the D.C. universe?