Recently watched movies!

[Hybrid Gojira]

The Never Ending Story - I love this movie and the Rock Biter is awesome. That is all.

[jellydonut25]

The Bronze - Insufferable "comedy" about a former Olympic hero who's now a terrible person and something something, then the movie's over and everyone's a jerk.

The Killing Joke - You know, everyone's complaining about how Batgirl gets shafted (pun not intended but welcome) in this, but what I don't hear, and what's far more problematic is that it's just a bad movie, with bad pacing and a story that's so obviously stitched together and padded out that you can tell when it switches from what was added for run-length and what was in the comic (and that's as someone who hasn't read the comic). And...is that REALLY the story in the comic? Is it presented as poorly as it is here in the movie? I never for ONE SECOND bought that the Joker had "won" in his plan, or really why he even chose Gordon in the first place. There's absolutely NO tension to this thing. I don't even buy that there's not enough material here for a full-length feature. There absolutely is. Rushing through the "psychological torture" of Gordon AND him "coming around" to sanity or whatever leaves it with ABSOLUTELY no punch whatsoever. Instead, it seems like a throwaway, especially since, if they wanted to expand on a character for us to care about, it should have been Gordon, so we'd care about whether or not he was "lost." This is bad bad bad bad bad and honestly, it doesn't even make me want to check out the comic since everyone is saying the back half of this is pretty accurate to the comic and I thought the back half was actually worse than the Batgirl prologue (with the exception of Batgirl and Batman doing the hibbity bibbity, I thought the prologue had a good "jerk Master vs. rebellious student" aspect to it, and had way more interesting stuff going on emotionally and psychologically than the slapdash finale). Also, by spending so much time on Batgirl in the first thirty minutes, we're sitting there wondering why she gets almost NO closure at all. If it were Gordon, that problem would be fixed (somewhat).

[lhb412]

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

I love every Miyazaki film, and I dig his visual style all the time... but there's something interestingly different with the designs of the creatures and machines in this early one: there are all sorts of fiddly details in them. Did he realize that these details were more trouble then they were worth and favor more rounded, simpler surfaces for designs going forward? Or maybe the reason is that he originally made Nausicaä as a comic, and he didn't design these things with animation originally in mind so he went nuts with Moebius-esque detail?

Anyway, I've seen this film probably a dozen times, and there are still little details I'm just now picking up on.

[klen7]

Watched Black Mass, it was decent enough, but there was something uncanny about Depp's makeup.. like CG skin and unnatural eyes that don't match the lighting. Something really didn't work for me with it.

Watched The Little Prince on Netflix. A beautiful, touching film throughout. We'll see how Moana is in November, but if this loses best animated picture to "Finding Dory" I will be very disappointed. ::edit:: guess this was a 2015 release. nevermind.

[O.Supreme]

Independence Day Resurgence
Went to the local cheap theater to see this. I wasn’t expecting much, based on poor reviews but man…this was pretty bad. Whereas the ensemble cast of the first film worked for me, this time I found myself not caring about any of the newer younger characters, and actually only wanting to see Jeff Golblum…which is saying a lot. Well that’s not entirely true; there was one new character I liked. The African Warlord …he was pretty cool. Also –a 10 year ground was against aliens in Africa…I want that movie please…The rest was just nonsensical. Bill Pullman just looked old, and I can honestly say that, after he shaved his beard and broke away the from the “crazy old man” bit, he still looked old & tired. Brent Spiner’s character was kind of fun…until that whole seen at the end when his buddy…or whatever died…that was pretty dumb. Next…William Fichtner…I could not get a read on him…was he going to be the sniveling opportunistic weasel like the previous secretary of defense…ort is he a rally good guy? I guess if you judge the end of the film, he was one of the good guys, but there was no really string through line for him, other than becoming president by attrition.

As for the story…so many holes. So…in 20 years they basically rebuilt all major cities…and there is world peace…except for warlords in Africa evidently…The "Harvester" ship was so friggin' HUGE, you never saw the entire thing in one shot, so you never really knew its dimensions. Sure they said it was like 3000 miles across, and was basically as big as the entire “Atlantic Ocean” but really? Good thing when it finally parked, it just nudged the Whitehouse and didn’t destroy it this time. Also if it was over the Atlantic Ocean, how was there destruction going on in Asia? There was just so much in this film that didn’t make sense. Judd Hirsch & the kids…-Completely useless. Also they basically explained what happened to most characters form the first film except Jeff Golblums wife. Seems like they patched things up at the end of the first film…no mention of her at all in this film, just some awkward tension with another female scientist that reminded me exactly of the Elsie/Craven relationship in Godzilla.

Some things I did like…when the pilots were inside the Alien ship fighting a “ground battle” of sorts, would have like dot have seen more of that, also the Giant Alien Queen battle, that would have been great if they got rid of the silly school bus chase scene (again like the Taxi/Godzilla scene) . Again…I know I shouldn’t have expected much from Emmerich whose disaster films post-Godzilla have been completely abysmal. But there were no great speeches like in the first film. And for all the destruction, there was really no “Big” explosions, they are all inhibited by some shields, and the big ass ship just goes away at the end? Although it did not accomplish its goal of penetrating the Earth’s Core...I’m pretty sure the damage done just by landing would be pretty catastrophic. Good thing the next film is going to have interstellar travel as we take the battle to the harvesters…cause earth I’m thinking, like they said…could not survive another attack. In fact, I’d assume it was already too late, they better start evacuating. But something tells me, there probably won’t be a 3rd film anytime soon.

Atlantic Rim This was on Amazon Prime. At the time I shut it off the timer said 6 minuets & 2 seconds. -The acting was just too god awful- Its not even something that would be fun to watch if it got he MST3K treatment. THAT is the difference I think. Most films that were on MST back in the day were bad, but they were never purposefully trying to be, THATS what made it fun. When you have Asylum films being cranked out on a miniscule budget knowing full well how awful they are, there is no sense of fun. You cannot laugh at how bad these films are because they are a whole other level of bad. Its no secret here that I pretty much have a visceral reaction to anything from the Asylum, but honestly, I would pay Amazon money if they would remove this film from their website. If they want to keep cranking out Sharknado sequels, and the like, more power to them, they can make all the bad films they want. Just don't steal other films IP.

[jellydonut25]

Kung Fu Hustle - A lot of fun, but I think Chow's funniest is still Shaolin Soccer.

Stand By Me - This movie is basically perfect aside from occasionally unnecessary narration. Just a spectacular coming of age story.

Fight Club - I try not to hold this movie's idiotic fans who took the wrong message out of it against it. It's still a good movie with good performances.

Darkman- This was my first time seeing it from start to finish in a LONG time and I think that other time may have been edited for TV. It's not really a "good" movie, but it's definitely fun. Raimi managed to create a unique and interesting hero who I think just needed a little bit of a better villain.

Super Troopers - I still really enjoy this a ton and I actually have enjoyed all of Broken Lizard's movies except for Puddle Cruiser (a film they did in college). I'm a bit sad they just kinda dropped out of the picture. I know there's supposed to be a crowd sourced Super Troopers sequel but I feel like that magic is going to be gone, and it's just not gonna work. I wish they had been able to keep doing new things and I wish people hadn't pigeonholed them into strict comedy because I enjoy Club Dread.

Midnight Meat Train - I haven't seen this since it first came out. I have the same major issue as I did last time (why does Mahogany keep Cooper alive in the middle of the movie?) but I think I enjoyed everything else even more than the first time. Overall a really good horror movie that makes me wish we could see more from Kitamura.

[EricDent]

Darkman, which I got on Blu-Ray for $1 at work.
Man I forgot how cool this movie was.

[sentaison]

The Face of Fu Manchu. This movie is Christopher Lee's first outing as Sax Rohmer's classic villain. There's a lot of action in this film, though in comparison to todays action scenes it now seems a bit tame. I loved the Fu Manchu series as a kid, and while it doesn't quite stand up to todays action and superhero films it's still good enough to watch.

[lhb412]

Star Trek Beyond

A really fun movie, and a massive correction from the murky and forgettable Into Darkness. Nothing mind-blowing, but a solid colorful romp of a summer blockbuster, and we could've used a few more like it this summer.

[jellydonut25]

The Sandlot - some might say this is just a nostalgia trip, but I think this movie is pretty timeless. It's a stone cold classic in my book.

Scout's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse - It's nowhere near perfect, but it's a good time. Probably not this year, but I can see this working its way into October viewing.

[DannyBeane]

Sausage Party This. Movie. Sucked. I didn't laugh once. All the jokes were jokes I've heard a 1000xs before. It was a waste of a $5 matinee.

[Dr Kain]

[Gojira69]

Deja Vu
The Last Winter
Wanted
Gojira (Criterion)
GvD
GxM
Deadpool
Space Amoeba
Project Almanac
Young Messiah
Hologram for the King

[klen7]

Not sure i'm following you're entire review scoring there.. What did you think of 'The Last Winter'?

[Gojira69]

[lhb412]

A Touch of Zen

This film goes through various phases: it starts out being about a low-level Ming Dynasty artist who begins to suspect something strange is happening in his small village, then it adds a martial arts element and becomes about corrupt government officials hunting down the few surviving members of a dissenting clan, and finally it becomes a movie solely about martial arts and Buddhism! I didn't know what to expect from this film other than it was important in the development of the epic martial arts art film - the 'Crouching Tiger' type - but I ended up enjoying it a lot, especially the Buddhist elements. The monks are the coolest bit.

Kwaidan

One of the most beautiful films ever made, adapting four classical Japanese ghost stories with an emphasis on sorrow instead of fear. The stories are The Black Hair, The Snow Woman, Hoichi the Earless (this one alone is the length of a feature film), and In a Cup of Tea. All this melancholy doesn't make for a drag of a film, though, because it's so relentlessly interesting to look at (practically everything is a detailed but very artificial looking set, and the skies are these expressionistic background paintings) and generally full of weirdness that its very entertaining.

[Dr Kain]

[klen7]

Victor Frankenstein - well if you haven't seen this let me spoil the first 15 minutes for you



And that's just first 15 minutes

[Dr Kain]

I still need to see that movie, Bridge of Spies, and the gothic romance movie from last year.

[jellydonut25]

I didn't mind the central conceit of Victor Frankenstein that you laid out there... But (a) the movie really wasn't about Victor at all, it was Igor's story, and (B) the movie turned to crap right when pretty much EVERY other Frankenstein story gets good: the monster making.

As for Kain's post, I thought Bridge of Spies was bad. Not TERRIBLE, but just such a cliché, safe, Oscar-bait kinda thing that just floated through the motions.

[Dr Kain]

[klen7]

i wouldn't have been surprised if the movie was titled "I, Igor" at some point. Overall i thought it was a mixed bag. The beginning was ridiculous, and felt like someone had just finished watching the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes flicks. Then the initial arc of them creating a proof of concept monster was good, i wanted more of this tone for the whole film. Pretty much everything after Igor goes out to the ball is blah for me, except the ice box reveal, which goes back to the horror tone i enjoyed earlier in the film.

[Dr Kain]

Morgan - I'll be releasing a video review of this with details after the embargo is off, but for right now, Ex Machina did it better, 7/10.

[Hybrid Gojira]

Went on a Kong binge...

King Kong (33) - It's amazing how timeless this is, how great the effects still look, and just how good of a film it is overall.

Son of Kong - I liked this movie. Despite the rushed ending, the idea of Denham having to deal with the aftermath of Kong's rampage in New York is a good one, and Kiko (Kong's son) is quite charming.

King Kong (76) - Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?

King Kong Lives - As a kid, I loved this movie, so I enjoyed this for nostalgia's sake. It's not good, but it's better than it's predecessor, and it has all "the feels" at the end.

[Dr Kain]

I found Son of Kong to be mindless boredom.

The remake from 76 is garbage, but Lives is even wore. Lives is a huge insult to the entire franchise and the ending is down right dreadful.