Recently watched movies!

[Dr Kain]

[lhb412]

Taste the Blood of Dracula

Great title, mediocre Hammer Dracula movie. Still, when you've got a few great shots of Christopher Lee in that cape you can't help but be entertained.

[Dr Kain]

Jurassic Park - It's been a few years since I have watched this one and it is still just a fantastic movie. The effects are phenomenal and put a lot of movies today to shame. It is colorful, has a great sound design in both music and effects, and the characters are lovable. Goldblum is miscast for Malcom, but aside from him, I have no complaints about this movie. The only thing that strikes me as odd, and always has, is the T-Rex area. When the T-Rex comes through the fence he is on land that is right behind the fence, but when he knocks the car and over and stuff, it is like a 50 foot drop. Huh? Nevertheless, I give this masterpiece a 9/10 stars.

The Babadook - I finally got to see this and it was good, but I was a little disappointed with it. It was nice to see an original horror movie again though and it had a lot of great moments to it. I also liked that there was a lot of build up to the Babadook's terror. Unfortunately, I didn't feel the payoff was good enough though. I am glad to have finally gotten to see it, at the same time however, I'm happy I didn't run out and buy it as it's not a movie I'm probably going to ever rewatch. I give it a 7/10.

[MekaGojira3k]

Mad Max: Fury Road - Fun, action packed way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Easily my favorite of the Mad Max films. Really beautiful looking film.

[lhb412]

Mad Max Fury Road

I don't think think it's hyperbolic to say that this is a genre/action classic in the vein of and equal to classics like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Aliens, and The Road Warrior. It's astounding that George Miller was able to come back to something he had success with decades ago and at age 70 top what he did as a young man. See it now, then see it again, because it's that type of movie.

I don't find it light on story or characterization at all. The character is in the action. Pay attention to what people do, not just how many lines of dialog they have. Max doesn't speak much (like in The Road Warrior) but you can see him thinking in every scene he's in. That's a deeper connection than just listening to a character prattle off a bunch of lines because the actor in question demanded more speaking time. I'd say that this film has many dozens of characters which are deeply realized, some of whom only appear for a few moments but suggest so much.

[lhb412]

Mad Max

Not a terrific movie, but an okay one with flashes of greatness. You can see the various bits that'd make the franchise so iconic in embryonic form embedded throughout - especially in that ending! The only bad thing about the ending is that the total shock of it has been diminished by the fact that the same idea has become commonplace in the intervening decades. But, you know, Mad Max did it first.

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

Zombeavers- It's one of those movies that are so bad they're good. I highly suggest watching it if you have Netflix because it's pretty good. I'd rank it up there with WolfCop.

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

I think Zombeavers is better than WolfCop. One thing WolfCop doesn't do that Zombeavers does, is consistently and continually amp up the insanity. WolfCop reaches an apex (arguably a higher point than Zombeavers) of insanity and then sort of retreats back to being a normal movie. Zombeavers gets crazier and crazier until you honestly can't help but be impressed.

[XvGojira]

[Dr Kain]

For Your Eyes Only - It is nice to have a more grounded Bond movie again. This one is pretty good from a narrative standpoint, but its execution needed more polish. There are scenes that drag on for way too long (such as the guy who is trying to knock Bond's mountain climbing gear out) and the 16 year old girl trying to sleep with him is utterly disgusting. That aside, I love the characters and the actors in it (I also just noticed Charles Dance is one of the henchmen), so I give it a 7/10.

[MekaGojira3k]

[Dr Kain]

Yeah, For Your Eyes Only would have been perfect had it been Dalton or even Brosnan (since he was in the running for Bond when Moore left).

That is kind of why I am hoping that when they replace Craig, they get someone who is around 30 so that the man can be Bond for a good 20 or so years.

Anyway,

The Lost World - My god this movie is just one giant bag of miscasts. Sarah is miscast. Nick is miscast. And I hate Goldblum's Malcom even more. Everyone seems half asleep in this movie except for Roland, who is the best thing about the movie. There are some pretty funny lines of dialog that are ruined by a quick follow up and the stuff in San Diego is just horrible. Everything there feels tacked on at the last minute as if they needed to up the stakes because having the movie end on the island wasn't good enough. Sure, the first movie took a lot of liberties to the original book, but this movie should not have even been called The Lost World because only two scenes are from Chricton's novel. Overall, I give this sloppy second a 6/10.

[XvGojira]

[MekaGojira3k]

It's a really odd sequel, and from my memory I only really remember enjoying the T-Rex coming ashore bit.
I know it's blasphemy but I'd almost rather watch JP3 because I love the Spino/new Raptor designs.
I don't like the book's ending, but it's at least doing a much better job to feel distinctive from the first JP.

As for Spielberg and sequels. I don't really even like the Indy sequels that much. They're all inferior to Raiders. I mean
I enjoy Last Crusade a bit, but it's no Raiders. Very few things are.

[jellydonut25]

I love The Lost World. I think it's actually a bit better as a movie, because the book really reverts too much to the Jurassic Park formula, just with some occasional new dinos and it not being a 'zoo' in the first place.

The movie's certainly wonky and an odd duck of a sequel, but I think it was a much harder book to try to adapt and so Spielberg kinda went the route of "Let's just make this as FUN as possible."

I don't think Nick is necessarily mis-cast, largely because the type of character they went with in the movie itself is played well by Vince Vaughn. I don't remember ANYTHING about him from the novel, but that doesn't even matter. They went for "cocky arrogant jerk" and Vaughn plays that well.

I think it's a lot of fun and the San Diego rampage rules, even if it actually IS tacked on (which it is; they were originally going to do a Pteranodon battle against helicopters but the effects team convinced Spielberg that they couldn't pull that off).

[Dr Kain]

Jurassic Park 3 - My god does this movie suck. Not only does it not make sense with the ending to the original, but everything about it sucks. Suddenly the T-Rex is a weakling. The Raptors now don't kill on sight. And the Spinosaurus is supposed to be better than a T-Rex? Add on top that it doesn't even have a good send off, just makes it even more pathetic. However, the worst aspect of this movie is its characters. They are just completely unlikable jerk monkeys and are as bright as coal to boot. The only scene I can say I do enjoy is the birdcage bit, and I'm not even sure why. I think it has to do with the music and suspense of it. How they wrote something that good while the rest of the movie is dino "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" is beyond me. I give it a 4/10.

[jellydonut25]

I'm no JP3 fan, but what about it is contradictory to the ending of the original?

Also, the raptors never really killed instantly on-sight. They always sized-up the situation and planned, that's sorta their thing. ALSO, it's not like they don't TRY to kill the people in the movie. ALSO ALSO, they explain why the raptors don't go for the kill with extreme prejudice. ALSO ALSO ALSO, T-Rex isn't "suddenly a weakling" they introduce a more powerful character. It's like if Godzilla wins a fight and then in the next scene Superman punches him into the sun. Godzilla's not a weakling, Superman is just ridiculously strong. Spinosaurus is just WAY stronger than the already strong T-Rex. The thing that makes no sense here is where the Spinosaurus was hiding during The Lost World.

The ending IS really pathetic though. It just sorta peters out. As for the birdcage scene, it's basically lifted from the original novel, so that helps explain it.

[Hybrid Gojira]

I'm watching GINO.

This movie is sucks, but I haven't seen it from start to finish in years. I must be a glutton for punishment.

Oh and Maria Patillo is the worst actress of all time. I hate this movie.

[XvGojira]

[DannyBeane]

[Dr Kain]

Yeah, the ending to JP3 is so god damn bad. It's like the writers couldn't figure out how to get the characters off the island, so this is all they could come up with.

What I mean by contradictory is Alan and Ellie's relationship. They are clearly in love with each other but here, you just don't see it at all. It just doesn't make sense.

Danny, it is weird because Hammond told Malcom that the dinosaurs were bred on Sorna and then transported to Nublar, and that Sorna was left without any restrictions. However, that doesn't make sense because we clearly saw them breeding the dinosaurs in the first movie in the lab with the baby Raptor. Secondly, in JP3, Sorna has fences and crap all over it, which does not go with the freedom that Hammond talked about.

Oh, and yeah, where did the Spinosaurus come from? For something so ferocious, he would have been present when Malcom and gang were there.

[klen7]

The Graduate - Its been 10 years since i had last seen this, but it seems to keep coming up as an "influential work" so i had been wanting to rewatch it. There really is a lot to love about this film. The cinematography, tracking and framing of many scenes really make it a visually interesting movie. The soundtrack is a bit over used and i still don't understand the thought process of Elaine's character, but overall you can't beat the ending and i can see how it remains a classic.

[jellydonut25]

[Hybrid Gojira]

American Sniper - This was a much talked about film in my FB feed for a variety of reasons. From the people claiming it was some "pro-war propaganda" film, to the "Best movie evah!" comments...

My position is that the movie is well-crafted. Kyle is certainly portrayed as an American Patriot, responding to the calls of terrorist attacks on the US Embassy and then eventually sent to war in Iraq after 9/11. There are anti-war characters in the film and the movie doesn't shy away from showing the effects of war on everyone - civilians and soldiers - including the deaths of women and children. Given the subject matter, this movie is still very heavy. I found myself enjoying most of it but also realizing the sadness of war. For it's part, I didn't necessarily feel the movie was pushing an agenda. It gave voice to both sides of the war and showed the effects of conflict between Kyle and his wife/family. I'd give it a 7/10.