Recently watched movies!

[jellydonut25]

[XvGojira]

With December here, it's time for Christmas movies. First up...

Die Hard - Arguably the quintessential modern action movie. So many movies since then have been described as "Die Hard in/on/during/etc..." . So many great moments, so many great lines, and an awesome score.

[MekaGojira3k]

Watched Scrooged for the first time since childhood.
It's alright, I feel like the third Ghost's hands were a little derpy. Though I dug the tv screen face.

[XvGojira]

Jingle All the WAy - Such a stupid, stupid movie. But god it's hilariously bad. I mean Sinbad playing against Ahnold? What sane person said, "Yeah! That'll be great!"

[Dr Kain]

Rifftrax Santa Claus Conquers the Martians - Never heard of this movie before, but we were dragged to this and the Rifftrax was down right hilarious. That is all I have to say. The movie itself is like a 1/10, the jokes from the gang are a 10.

[XvGojira]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

The Hobbit EE (3D)- I like it but I honestly don't know what was added to the movie. The 3D was nice too ah one of the perks of having a 3DTV.

[lhb412]

[lhb412]

Zatoichi's Flashing Sword

After three thoroughly excellent installments this one is kind of a comedown - but it's not bad. It actual seems to aim to be a more lighthearted and breezy one, with lots of moments of light comedy. Thing is, when Zatoichi's sword (of the title) does come out those sequences are filmed in shadow, like an old horror movie, and combined with the lighter tone of the rest of the film the end result makes Zatoichi's mind-boggling swordsmanship kinda unsettling. Interesting choice.

[jellydonut25]

[XvGojira]

[klen7]

i really liked the first Crank movie... i really disliked the second Crank movie.

[XvGojira]

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

[MekaGojira3k]

Watched Frozen.
I loved it. The snowman, which I dreaded, was actually okay even if it looks stupid. Easily my favorite film of the year (though admittedly I need to catch up on some things that didn't come near my area).

[jellydonut25]

Mad Max 2 - I like this one better than the first. It's wilder and zanier and more over-the-top fun.

[Dr Kain]

Invasion of Astro Monster

[lhb412]

Fight, Zatoichi, Fight

Oh my god you guys. This movie. This has always been my favorite of the series. It's just phenomenal from start to finish.

A young mother is killed in the confusion when a gang tries to hunt down Ichi. Feeling responsible (and always ready to help those in need), Ichi takes the mother's infant son to complete the journey to the boy's father. Along the way, Zatoichi takes in a female pickpocket as a nanny and continues his battle with the gang of killers (and various other cutthroats), but, most importantly, our wandering hero develops a relationship with the baby and discovers what it's like to be a parent. The ending of this movie will rip your heart out.

Gorgeously photographed, fantastic action scenes, an amazing score by our own Akira Ifukube, and one of Shintaro Katsu's greatest performances as Zatoichi.

[XvGojira]

[klen7]

[lhb412]

[Dr Kain]

The Hobbit Extended Edition - Nothing short of pure amazing!! I can understand why someone would not like this movie, as it is not for everyone. However, I'd rather take three longer than necessary movies that keep me engaged in the world, are full of great characters, an excellent story, incredible acting and actors, over countless sequels to movies that did not even need to be made in the first place. I cannot wait for the next part next week and give this movie an incredible 8/10. I especially love some of the additional scenes such as seeing Bilbo meet Gandalf as a child and the Goblin King singing.

[jellydonut25]

[lhb412]

Adventures of Zatoichi

Ichi comes to a town for the New Years celebration along with a mass of entertainers and vendors. He desires a peaceful holiday. What he gets: evil government magistrate surprising said entertainers and vendors with a steep tax ensuring they'll make no profit, two young women with family members tragically tied to said evil magistrate, a master swordsman who just wants to duel Ichi to see who's better, and ... oh, yeah - the town drunk might by Ichi's long-lost father. Zatoichi has a full plate, is all I'm saying.

Things to note:
-Sad to say, but Shintaro Katsu's hard partying lifestyle made him look better as Zatoichi. In the early movies he looks a bit too boyish, but now he seems a tad more weathered and his chubbiness just adds to Ichi's 'guy you you'd never expect to be a master swordsman' thing, which is a big part of the character. Katsu's acting and stunts don't suffer (and don't in the later installments either, from what I remember), in fact they just get better and better. By now Zatoichi's hacking and slashing looks like a graceful dance.
-Again, it seems they just make up Zatoichi's backstory to suit the story of a particular film without thinking or caring about how it fits into what was established previously.
-You gotta love the corrupt villains in these films, who's beliefs are so far removed from Ichi's altruistic behavior that they can't even begin to conceptualize what he's doing or what he wants.
-One of my single favorite moments in the series in this one: Zatoichi kills a group of attacking guys and the one guy left standing tries to play possum.
-Another great thing firmly established by this point: Zatoichi kills a lot of people in each film, but he really hates killing and does all sorts of things to avoid fights and once he's in a fight he gives ample choice for his enemies to save themselves. If you're not at that moment about to kill Ichi or someone else then it's highly unlikely Zatoichi's gonna kill you.