Recently watched movies!

[eabaker]

[jellydonut25]

Hereditary

I wrote a long review...and then my computer crashed.

The gist: Hereditary is great. Scary without just being startling. It knows how to properly ratchet and release tension.

It also works as a story about coping with loss and grief (all the best horror stories work as other stories as well).

There are also some layers and a lot of smart writing and clues. This will require a rewatch and possibly even some research. It's a great movie that leaves you with a lot to chew on.

[O.Supreme]

KK vs Godzilla. This is such a fun film, of course there was something new I had never noticed before because of the increased quality of the Blu Ray, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was right now . Of course watching this with my kids was a treat as well. There is a wide/evening shot when Kong first enters Tokyo. A barely visible Kong miniature can be seen in the background, and the movement of it is...dubious at best, my daughter said it looked like Kong was on Roller Skates. .

[lhb412]

The Killer

I don't want to overstate this, but this may be the greatest movie of all time. The Eternal truths have been revealed to me, and Chow Yun-Fat is our Lord and savior. May a cascade of bullets and white doves carry you into heaven.

[eabaker]

[Gwangi]

"Alpha". To my surprise, I rather enjoyed it! In my book, we haven't had a really good live-action prehistoric saga since "Quest for Fire". Emmerich's "10,000 B.C" from 2008, I thought could have been achievable, but that turned into silly comic-book fare. I don't think "Alpha" was as great as "Quest", but for the most part, I found myself really liking it.

With the exception of a buffalo hunting scene in the beginning (which really looked too digital), the CGI was kept at a minimum. Most of the prehistoric critters such as woolly mammoths and woolly rhinos were mostly seen in the background. It was the predators, like wolves, hyenas and a cave lion that took the forefront. The movie really belonged to both the young hunter and the wolf, who are forced to befriend each other under very harsh conditions. Amazing cinematography. It is a good bet, the filmmakers were trying to convey a sense of pureness, as we kept seeing many night scenes with a billion stars the naked eye could easily spot (no smog, no light pollution).

Using my Leonard Maltin rating systems, I gave this movie a good *** stars.

[EricDent]

Not sure if I mentioned seeing The Meg recently.
It was a kinda fun movie, wasn't really expecting much.
Only problem was the theater I went to had to restart the movie 3 times cause nobody could hear what the characters were saying.

If there was something else to do (my parents are putting in a pool so there was a lot of noise) I would have got my $ back.

For the next movie (most likely either Wreck it Ralph 2, or Fantastic Beasts 2) might have to go back to Cinemark.

[Dr Kain]

The Predator - "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" awful! Worse than Requiem because at least I couldn't see half of the stupid ass "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" that happened into that film. This one does not grant that sort of mercy to its audience at all.

[XvGojira]

[Dr Kain]

Fun? Fun means it is funny. It was not funny. Also, if the one Predator was there to The movie may not be worse than Red Sparrow, but it is one of the biggest pieces of crap to come out this year. Shane Black just keeps on proving that he is a garbage director when he isn't making an original story. How this stink hole was done by the same dude who gave us the masterpiece that was The Nice Guys two year's ago vexes me. I'm really worried for Doc Savage.

Hell, this was the first time I wished I had to pee during a movie, I hated it THAT much. None of the characters were remotely likable. The humor was forced and mean spirited, which is shocking considering Key is in this film. IN addition, the dumbest decision ever was making a child be one of the lead stars in a Predator movie. CHILDREN DO NOT BELONG IN A FILM LIKE THIS UNLESS THEY ARE THERE TO DIE!!!! Lastly, don't get me started on that lackluster femme bot Olivia Munn. Her character made about as much sense as her acting.

The best part of the movie was having the old Predator soundtrack, but all it did was make me wish I had been watching the original instead.

[XvGojira]

[klen7]

While I disagree with a lot of the good Doctor's reasons, i do think it's a mess of film that reduces the franchise to a CG schlock fest. The early scene in the lab is great but the last half of the film feels like it would be at home in Syfy film. They also explained away a lot of the coolness of the Predator suddenly we have a reason why Predator removes spines, we know what the Predators are saying. Once we get into spoiler territory it really nose dives

[Dr Kain]

[Dr Kain]

Cat People - For a movie that is titled Cat People, it was sure as hell missing a lot of cat people in it. It should have been called "An Affair to Remember," oh... wait... Seriously though, after finally having the chance to watch this since buying it back in Dec, it was kind of a let down. I get what they were going for, and there were really good moments in it, such as when the one woman is walking down the dark street that is only lit by the street lights, but for the most part, I found myself bored. It is easily one of the weakest horror films I have seen from that era of Hollywood. I'll give it another chance next Halloween, but for right now, my score is a 6/10 stars.

[XvGojira]

[Dr Kain]

The Last Man on Earth - A solid Vincent Price film that may be the best iteration of I Am Legend at this point in time. A shame to considering how long the book has been out at this point and how many attempts there have been. 9/10.

[jellydonut25]

[lhb412]

[XvGojira]

[canofhumdingers]

Jurassic World Fallen Ki... oh wait. No, I didn’t get to watch it. After a long day, the kids are finally in bed. We sit down to relax on our comfy couch, put in the brand new BD my sweet wife picked up while running errands and get ready to escape to Funtime Dinotown. But no. The disc loads and begins playing the Universal Pictures intro logo. Just as the letters begin to sweep in front of the globe... STOP. The screen goes black and the swelling music quits. No buttons on the remote will do anything. Except the “pop up menu” button. That will call up the pop up menu on the black screen. But the pop up menu won’t actually do anything either. Ok... clean disc. Same error. Try our other BD player. Same error. Crap. Defective disc.

My kind wife then goes above and beyond the call of duty and runs to the nearest store to grab a new disc (we’ll return the defective one tomorrow). She’s out and back in 16 minutes flat. Awesome. Happy Dinotime for me!



SAME EXACT FRIGGIN PROBLEM WITH THE NEW DISC!!



I hate you universal home video. I hate you.

[Dr Kain]

Sounds like your disc is trying to load the live trailers Universal does with their discs. Is your player disconnected from the internet? That could be causing the issue.

[canofhumdingers]

Both players are connected to the internet.

But why would it do the same thing in two different players? And no other universal disc I’ve ever had has exhibited any sort of problem like this. And they load the “fresh preview” from the internet all the time without any problems.

These discs don’t even get to that point. They can’t even get halfway through the introductory universal logo before freezing up.

I don’t get it. But thanks for trying to help. It’s been intensely frustrating. I’m taking both discs back after I drop the kids off at school. I dunno if I’ll bother with a third disc.

[jellydonut25]

Try DISCONNECTING the players from the internet...?


Been watching some TV lately:

Glow - This show is wonderful. The first season was really good, but the second season was even better. The characters (in general) are more likable and it feels a little more streamlined. This might be my favorite currently ongoing show...?

Bates Motel - I really enjoyed this. It seems like a terrible idea...the prequel to Psycho (and then a loose Psycho remake in season 5), but the acting is consistently good and other than a weird rough patch in the second season that shifts the focus off Norman and his mother too much and focuses on a drug war, the show zeroes in on Norman's psyche and relationship with his mother and really hits that perfect balance of likable (since they ARE the protagonists we have to follow for 50 episodes) and...icky. Season 1 is really good. S2 is a little dull. S3 is good. S4 is AMAZING and S5 is very good. Overall, really enjoyed this.

Hannibal - Coming off Bates Motel, and having heard a lot of good things about this show, I was super excited...and then it was a let down. At first, I was mostly okay with that..."It just wasn't what I thought it would be, I can't hold that against it." and "I just need to re-adjust my expectations." Also, I'd been told that Season 2 is one of the best seasons of television ever or something...
...ultimately I wound up hating the show. It's weird when something has so many elements that you should like but the way it comes together is extremely dissatisfying, but that was Hannibal for me. The dialogue, the characters, the killer-of-the-week storytelling...it didn't do it for me. Mads Mikkelson is a great Hannibal, but he's stuck in something I really didn't like.


I also watched SOLO: An Unnecessary Story.
And that's my review of it.
I watched it.
Then it was over.
That's the full extent of discussion, excitement and seething hatred it deserves. Had it not had the Star Wars name on it, even fewer people would have seen it and nobody would ever talk about it. Utterly forgettable.

[canofhumdingers]

I thought about that, but seeing as the players also function as our primary streaming devices (which is our primary media source by a large margin), if I have to disconnect from the internet every time I want to watch this disc? Forget it. It's going back to the store. That's a defect I'm not willing to waste my time working around.

[O.Supreme]

Little Shop of Horrors (1960) - Surprisingly I had never seen the original before. Of course I've seen the 80's musical remake, even with all it's comedic talent, the film just never resonated with me for some reason. I remember my mom being all excited about it, renting it on VHS once, and never having a desire to see it ever again. But this original film, is a quirky little thing that I think I am more fascinated by it's components more than the film itself. Of course watching it on Amazon Prime via Rifftrax made it a little more palatable. I had no idea this was a Corman film. Also it was colorized for some odd reason, and seeing Jack Nicholson in a very early role was pretty amazing if nothing else. The ending is...odd to say the least, but no surprise considering the source. I will say Rifftrax has allowed me to experience a wide range of schlocky films I otherwise would never have simply on their own.