Recently watched movies!

[O.Supreme]

Superman (1978) So I decided to wash the depression of BvS out by taking in the original film, the one I've seen many times. It is still fun, and still takes me back to my childhood. Is it perfect? By no means, but it is still a highly enjoyable film. What I do dislike however is what more recent films have done to the younger generation, especially my kids. I got downright angry at my son last night and threatened to hurt him (all in jest I assure you I'd never do that ) . First he complains that the opening credits are going on "forever"---I have never heard anyone say this, I have never heard anyone not be able to enjoy John Williams amazing score. Of course he was in-and-out of the living room all night, I don't think he ever stayed for 10 minuets at a time because it was "too boring" . Oh well....All I can hope is that in time he will appreciate this film. My daughter on the other hand watched the whole thing, she seemed to enjoy it. In an odd twist, of all the things in the movie to complain about, she found the scene where Superman flies into the San Andreas fault and secures it to be unbelievable, but my son on the other and thought it made total sense... go figure .

[lhb412]

^ Kids can be difficult movie buddies. I've got my nephews to sit still for a couple of movies, but mostly we've just watched old cartoon shorts like Looney Tunes and Popeye. Someone's gotta teach these kids culture!

The Thomas Crown Affair

Steve McQueen is super rich, but stages elaborate heists for kicks. Thin story, but they fill the thing with as much stylish split screens, montages, and shots of McQueen driving vehicles to fill the runtime. Also, Faye Dunaway suggestively strokes a chess piece.

There could be an interesting story here about the deep longing or sadness McQueen's character has that compels him to do these things, but it's barely hinted at.

Speaking of the bloodsucking bourgeois...

The Return of Count Yorga

This sequel is much better than the original. More vampires, more fun, more dryly funny moments with the snooty Count Yorga. Craig T. Nelson has a part that'll make you go 'hey, is that Craig T. Nelson?'

[O.Supreme]

[Dr Kain]

To be fair, I'm a Superman fan and I even have trouble sitting through the Reeves movies.

[lhb412]

Taste the Blood of Dracula is certainly in the top three as far as Chris Lee Dracula movies is concerned. Love the part where Drac is inexplicably seized with pain, then he turns to reveal there was a cross on the stained glass window he was standing in front of. This entire series could be called 'fun with crosses.'

Free and Easy is an at times unbearably stale comedy from the the early talkie era that shows that despite MGM being the slickest, fanciest studio of Hollywood's golden age they had absolutely no idea how to utilize a genius like Buster Keaton.

[jellydonut25]

Midnight Special - I need to apologize to 10 Cloverfield Lane. THIS movie torpedoes itself with its ending. By comparison, the end of 10 Cloverfield Lane looks damn near Shakespearean. It's fine to be ambiguous...I like ambiguous movies (hell, I've spent some time recently watching movies with ambiguous and/or melancholy outcomes), but there comes a point where you have to answer SOMETHING about what is going on, otherwise it feels like you didn't even know yourself. This movie sets up its entire run against a mystery and never gives an answer. The third act is ultimately so bad, that this movie COULD have been a 4 or even 4.5 out of 5 if the ending brought it home, but instead it's a 2/5.


Zootopia - It's fun/fine. I had fun with it. It's the kind of movie I wish Pixar would do more often, instead of getting all weepy and "emotional" all the time. Let fun be fun. 4/5.

13 Hours - It's fine, but...well...I guess you don't really want to do a movie analyzing the political fallout and everything when it's kind of still taking place, but this is kinda "just" a low-brow war movie, and there's potential for something more than that with this story. It's a pretty decent war movie, though. 3.5/5.

Hail Caesar - Blech. A bunch of celebrities got together to play "quirky" parts that were probably so "fun." Celeb-turbation. I didn't like it. 1.5/5.

[lhb412]

Pacific Rim is still the best, a bonkers Holywood produced Tokusatsu made with love.

The Hunger is an arty vampire erotic thriller filmed with all the stylishness of the slickest contemporary (this would be the '80s) music videos. I think the plot looses some steam once David Bowie's part is over, though. Even with Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve's big sex scene (the most famous thing about the movie) I think it gets kinda meanders through its second half.

[Psycho Soldier]

Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F': Pretty good, though I didn't like it as much as I liked Battle of Gods. Freeza is one of my all-time favourite villains, so it didn't take much for me to get on board with the premise. The movie felt a little more balanced (in terms of comedy vs. action) and focused than BOG. I also liked most of the new characters. But the movie also felt less exciting than BOG. I think that's simply because, in the show/manga, we've seen Goku fight Freeza with similar tactics and a similar outcome to what we see here. The movie does emphasize history repeating itself, but I think the repetition harms the movie a little. Overall, though, I'd gladly watch this again.

[Dr Kain]

To be fair, RF was meant to be a fanservice movie.

Zootopia is definitley amazing and one of Disney's finest. I would have seen Finding Dory this weekend if it weren't Denver Comic Con.

I also though Hail Ceasar was a fantastic movie, but it's a one time watch movie.

[O.Supreme]

[klen7]

^ I was going to point out that Pixar was able to just have fun with Wreck it Ralph... and then i realized the same thing... that it wasn't a Pixar film. We have almost all the Pixar films, because my kid likes them, but really the only one i like is Monsters University.. i can see how the other films are all "good", but they really aren't much fun

[O.Supreme]

Yeah I just took stock, we own 10 of the 16 Pixar films in one media form or another. Surprisingly we do not own the Toy Story trilogy, but that may change if I can ever find it cheap. We do not own Brave or The Good Dinosaur (my kids weren't overly impressed with either of these films so we just don't own them). And surprisingly NONE of us (Myself, the wife, or kids) has seen A Bugs Life. I guess the most cost effective way for me to rent it would be through Amazon Prime, it has just never been a priority.

I can see how all these films appeal to kids and *some* adults, but because I have never been that big a fan of Disney or Pixar, I'd say the only ones I genuinely like are The Incredibles and the first Cars. I probably would have seen those in the theater even without kids, but would probably not own them on DVD. With DreamWorks however, I can see that even if I did not have kids, I'd probably own several of their films.

[Dr Kain]

Actually, I don't think Jelly meant that Zootopia was a Pixar movie, just that he wishes Pixar would do something like that. Of course, I don't see why that matters since Pixar has given us masterpieces like Up, Inside Out, Wall-E, The Incredibles, etc. I mean, Up was about life after the person you cherish the most dies. Inside Out told about a girl facing multiple personality disorder. Wall-E showed how our realiance on technology can end up making us lazy slobs. The Incredibles was that family is everything. And so on. Those are just as meaningful as a movie that shows the worst aspects of racism.

Frankly, even Pixar's worst movies, Cars and Cars 2, are better than most animated films out there.

[klen7]

I got a very different read on Inside Out than you did

[lhb412]

I've got the noir bug and The Big Heat hits the sweet spot. I really like Glenn Ford as the hero, a cop in a corrupt police force who goes rogue, and Gloria Grahame is great as the ditzy femme fatale who isn't really a femme fatale at all. There are some moments of brutality here that are real shocking for 1953.

[Dr Kain]

[lhb412]

^... oooh, with the director and stars of Laura! Duly noted!

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

Finding Dory - More like Finding Dory's Parents, but still, it was a great movie nonetheless. It feels like a sequel though because there are a lot of things that occur and characters that pop up just for fanservice, but as a whole, the movie is pretty solid. That doesn't mean it is perfect though as it does start out kind of weak and the last 15 minutes of the movie are a little too silly, but the heart of the story is great and it is an entertaining movie. It isn't anywhere near the sophistication of the first one, Wall-E, Inside Out, or Up, but compared to the sequels not named Toy Story, it is superb. All of the actors do an excellent job with their voices and the vast majority of it balances the drama and comedy nicely. While Zootopia may be the better animated movie, this is easily second best and nothing will top it at all this Summer. Unfortunately though, I do have to give it a 7/10 because its negatives do take a hit on it.

[lhb412]

Judgment at Nuremberg

Very important story, if somewhat fictionalized from the actual Judge's Trial. Very smartly written. It's a difficult subject, and at three hours in length it's not exactly a fun way to, well, spend three hours, but that aforementioned smart writing and a cavalcade of amazing performances keeps it interesting and engrossing. Spencer Tracy is just terrific as the Chief Judge, maybe the best actor... ever? A lot of this movie is just his subtly reacting face.

Oh, and William Shatner has a pretty big supporting part! He only has a few scenes with lines, but as a courtroom drama he's actually on the screen for a substantial amount of the movie.

[O.Supreme]

Zootopia ok, finally found this at the Red Box for the kids. I'll probably end up purchasing it for them, but I'll wait as probably around the end of the year I'm hoping they'll have a $10 BRD deal at some store. But anyways...On the surface, sure it is a fun film for kids, it has some fun moments, and some drama. I am probably reading to much into it, as it is a kids movie, but there was a major disconnect for me. I totally get that the message is anti-prejudice, which is good. Lord knows since almost the beginning of human history, there have been dozens of reasons that humans have waged war against each other, and on a more personal level, individuals have hated each other, all of which are irrational and illogical, still it happens, and any attempt to erase that hate is commendable. However, in the fictional world of Zootopia, you have several different species mingling together. All mammals (and where were the Primates and Aquatic mammals...??) , but still several different species. I just cannot equate the natural instinct animals have , such as prey animals, to fear/flee from predators to human prejudice. Humans are all one species, and although there are many reasons we have fabricated to hate one another, being Eaten by other humans isn't one of them. Sure there may be some isolated tribes that practice cannibalism, but you get my point. in 99+% of human society this is frowned upon. The fear of a predator is instinctual and cannot be removed, Humans fear/hatred of one another based on (insert reason here) is socially conditioned and can be overcome. But all that said, I get the point. I know they tried to do good, and provide an entertaining movie for kids, mission accomplished.. I guess it just bugs me that the underlying reasons are not equal comparisons.

[lhb412]

Zulu

Fantastic! Maybe the best war film I've ever seem! Certainly the most entertaining. Great cast, the always engaging 'base under siege' scenario, great music - a lot of it sung by the British soldiers and (most prominently) by the Zulus. The Zulus themselves are great - and it's no surprise: they're the real deal, some the descendants of the people in the actual battle. Future political leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi plays the Zulu king, who in real life was his own great grandfather. Stanley Baker and Michael Caine are great as the co-leads, and Nigel Green (Hercules from Jason and the Argonauts) has a big part.

Directed by Cy Endfield, who did Harryhausen's Mysterious Island right before this film!

[lhb412]

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)

A lot of fun. I don't know why Hammer didn't make a good half dozen of these gothic-tinged Sherlock Holmes movies. Peter Cushing is a perfect Sherlock Holmes, which is no surprise since his Van Helsing was already very Holmes infused.

[Dr Kain]

Independence Day - Man, was this movie always this boring? I haven't watched it in over 10 years and I just can't believe this was the movie I was calling all of my classmates idiots for not liking. There are some good moments to be found and it has some fun bits of dialog, but ultimately, it is a borefest. It starts out great and then nothing happens for over an hour. Also, a lot of things just don't make sense if you really want to nitpick them apart and man are the effects heavily dated. I can do better green screen than some of the effects here. Will Smith is what really saves this movie and I give it a 7/10 stars.

[klen7]

I watched it last night as well. I didn't remember the lasers being so spaced out and slow in the dog fights. The miniatures were pretty slick during the initial attack