Recently watched movies!

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

Indeed glad they're making a sequel. One of things I didn't like is how predictable the movie was in certain spots.

[Dr Kain]

Wow, there was nothing like finally getting to see the original Transformers movie from 1986 in theaters for the first time. The Alamo Drafthouse had an excellent 35mm print of it and it looked fantastic. Easily one of the best movies based on a cartoon series ever. 8/10.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service - This movie is just awesome. It has great pacing, tries to add some new ideas to the formula, and it has amazing set pieces and action scenes. Not to mention the powerful tragic ending. The only downside is that Lazenby tries to just copy Connery's performance as Bond instead of trying to put his own persona into the character. I give it a wonderful 9/10.

[lhb412]

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

When your movie stars some really great actors and a cool submarine model it should, in theory, but a much better movie than this actually is. Unfortunately none of the various subplots (Who's the saboteur? Is the captain beginning to crack? Will there be a mutiny?) end up paying off in any rewarding way. In the end everything resolves itself in a rushed ending that makes the potentially really cool activity of repulsing the burning Van Allan radiation belt with an atomic bomb rather mundane in execution.

[lhb412]

Darby O'Gill and the Little People

Wonderful live-action Disney fairytale with absolutely stunning practical effects bringing the folkloric beings to life. I especially like the relationship between Darby and the leprechaun King Brian, who despite their fondness for one another spend all their time trying to trick or outsmart or one-up one another.

[EricDent]

Let's see (not sure if I posted these here or not):

Interstellar: The visuals were great, the actors were good, the story was rather meh IMO.
Plus boy is it LONG....movie started at 12, got out about 3:30...

Redbox stuff:

Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1: I kinda liked the other movies, but have never read the books.
This was OK at best, it had decent action, a interesting plot, and that's about it.
Man Katnis turns into such a "moaning myrtle" in this one.
Plus Jenifer Lawrence needs to stick to acting, cause that "Hanging Tree" song is bad.

Dracula Untold: was pretty good, and hopefully the "shared Universal monster" universe is good.
Is that upcoming Victor Frankenstein a part of that?

Then I went with random movies from my collection (chose 5 movies I hadn't watched in a while & randomly selected one):

Daimajin: The DVD version from ADV. I tried using the upscale feature on the PS3 for this, but it looked pretty bad (one of the reasons I sold this version & went with the newer Blu-Ray version).
Other than that, it's a fun movie, and still looks impressive.

King Kong (1976): this was the next random movie, and the ape effects are still pretty good looking.
The story is rather silly though, and it helped spawn that rather bad King Kong Lives...
Must say that Jessica Lagne is a major hottie in this, and they loved putting her in revealing clothes...

The Abyss: Went with the special edition version which is more like the novel version (with those big waves).
Still looks great (the upscale thing worked pretty good on this one) and hope it comes out on Blu-Ray soon.

The Mummy (Blu-Ray): recently upgraded the DVD to Blu-Ray (only $5 so why not).
Looks great, great action, fun story, lots of memorable lines, and a bunch of cool effects.

[jellydonut25]

I thought Hanging Tree sounded rather decent. I was somewhat surprised until I sat back and realized it was probably insanely over-produced and auto-tuned because Lawrence has stated she hates singing and that was her least favorite thing she's ever had to do as an actress.

Dracula Untold was a missed opportunity at best, with some really frustrating misfires in its plot. The upcoming Victor Frankenstein is a 20th Century Fox film, and not a Universal movie.

As for Kong 76. It's probably my least favorite Kong movie, I'd rather have the hilariously awful King Kong Lives than the incredibly BORING Kong 76.

[Dr Kain]

Hey, Has KK Lives ever been released on DVD? I need a copy of it to review.

[jellydonut25]

I used to see it at the store all the time and kept passing it up. Regret doing so because it's OOP and goes for like $40 on Amazon.

I think you can watch it on YouTube though...

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

There are any number of ways to download a YouTube video for that kind of use.

[XvGojira]

I think I have a copy of the DVD. Maybe I can bootleg netlix it to you (mail it to you and get it mailed back).

[klen7]

Figured we'd give "Secret of Kells" a watch since i remember it being a relatively child safe Irish film. Man, I forgot how incredible the animation is. Such a good flick.

[Dr Kain]

[Dr Kain]

Rear Window - Nothing like getting to see this on the big screen. This movie just flat out rocks. Easily a 9/10.

[klen7]

Rewatched 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea again. I kind of wish we could see David Fincher's take on this story, but it seems like that's dead in the water. It seems like the story could really hit some modern politically relevant notes with a focus on Nemo's terrorism and motivations. Still i love the classic film and it is still filled with plenty of morally grey areas, wonderous visions of science, and a giant squid that grabbed my imagination as a child.

[lhb412]

The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Surely one of the most beautiful animated films ever made. It deeply upset my sister, though, who was saddened by anything less than a happy ending, I tried to explain that happy endings aren't common in traditional Japanese stories, but she was having none of it!

[lhb412]

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Firstly: Twilight Time's new Blu-Ray looks terrific. Secondly: I love this movie so much that even the apparent animal abuse (yes, Slurpasaususes were harmed during the making of this film) doesn't sour it for me. I mean, it's not as bad as the two reptiles fighting in One Million BC or Zatoichi cutting the snake in half, but still. If only they could have got a a few months of Harryhausen's time for the scant few dino scenes!

Brilliant Bernard Herrmann score in this film. It's practically a special effect.

[klen7]

The duck scene traumatized me as a child.

[XvGojira]

Hatchet 2 & 3 - Stupid fun slasher gore made purposely with little to no CGI work. Some of the effects are pretty good, some not so much, but that's half the fun. Although it had been ages since I saw the first movie, so the whole "He's a ghost" thing in part two made me scratch my head a bit, but whatever.

[jellydonut25]

So far I've only seen Hatchet I and II. The first is okay but the second is much more what I was hoping for/expecting and is a lot of fun. I still need to see III.

[XvGojira]

[Psycho Soldier]

Zombieland - Pretty fun, although I grew irritated with the two leading ladies. They didn't have quite enough personality/likeability to offset their more negative traits. Everything else was fine.

[lhb412]

First Men in the Moon

Well, damn. I'd never seen this one before and it's already shot to near the top of my list of Harryhausen films - and this with what amounts to only a couple of scenes of that wonderful creature animation in the last half hour of the film! In fact, what we'd think of a standard Tokusatsu effects actually get more use here: model spaceships, miniature environments, matte paintings, and lots of composite shots.

It's just a wonderful, charming adventure film. Nigel Kneale (of Quatermass fame) delivers a really winning script along with probably the best acting in a Harryhausen film. It actually reminds me of a Shinichi Sekizawa film in its steadfast refusal to be conventional. I mean, the scenes in the English countryside feel so quaint and whimsical, like an old children's book, then a little while later we're fighting enormous space bugs!

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

The Millennium Bug- Hulu started streaming it and I thought it was okay. It was nice that it didn't feature cgi at all and it had a lot of potential.

[Dr Kain]

Live and Let Die - a few years ago this was one of my top favorite Bond movies, but it seems like it gets worse with each viewing. Roger Moore is just an awful Bond, and while I do like Mr Big, especially the actor playing him, it is just way too goofy. That red neck sheriff is just down right annoying. I give it a 6/10.