Recently watched movies!

[klen7]

i finally watched Fant4stic (Fantastic 4.. the newest one) out of morbid curiosity. I actually liked it more than the DCEU films. The third act is an unapologetic mess, but the set up was pretty solid. It really felt like the studio/producers/different director hijacked the film at some point because there wasnt enough action. Maybe thats why i would rank it higher than MoS (which i felt missed the point from the beginning all the way to the end.)

It seemed like visually there were two different Doctor Dooms. One looked fine and the other looked horrid. Not sure if it was all the details getting lost in the motion, or if the rushed action scenes weren't fully rendered or what. One felt like a body and suit had melted together and managed to keep a lot of the hard lines from the suit, the other looked like a recycled Deadpool (origins). He certainly wasn't the classic Doctor Doom (as much good as that did in the last filmset or the corman flick) but it matched up with his origin in this film and didnt preclude him from dawning the armor in a later entry. I was more bothered by Ben Grimm not wearing pants.

Overall it isnt as horrid as i had been led to believe, and if a director's cut was released, i would seek it out.

[Dr Kain]

I will agree that it wasn't as bad as I expected, but that was probably because I had watched Mortdecai 3 days beforehand. As such, that lessened the blow for this (among a few others like Pixels). The cast had absolutely no chemistry whatsoever though, but the first 45 minutes made a decent science fiction thriller about discovering a new world. Everything falls apart after that, especially when Reed abandons everyone. That thing called Doom was god damn awful and is far worse than the Galactus cloud or even Eisenberg's joke of a Lex Luthor.

However, no, DC's recent movies are still better than it.

[jellydonut25]

[Hybrid Gojira]

[Dr Kain]

You guys are crazy. Jackson's Kong is far superior to any of those sequels and remake. The only issue with Jackson's Kong is its run time, but the movie was still well made, well acted, and he showed that he has a high respect for the original. It's not the movie's fault Jackson doesn't understand what editing software is for.

[Hybrid Gojira]

[lhb412]

Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

The definitive movie about nuclear weapons and nuclear war - probably the definitive Cold War movie overall. What I picked up this time was how the entire movie is built on the theme that all war or aggression is a result of male (sexual) inadequacy. You may not be able to maintain an erection, but you can fire a big gun or drop nuclear bombs and that's better, right? Dr. Strangelove's fascism/nazism is like the ultimate version of this male ego trip, which is why he can't even control his own body at the end when he's discussing his plan to essentially create a master race from the human survivors.

... and for such a cynical movie, I was surprised with how much of an actual hero Col. Mandrake is: he quickly realizes something is wrong, he overcomes his terror when he realizes he's at the mercy of a crazy person who he then tries to keep calm while attempting to trick him into revealing the code to call back the planes, and we learn that he was tortured in WWII and has a prosthetic leg. I suppose the message is that actual heroics are more often than not committed by unassuming types, while the self-consciously tough guys are usually just posturing and ultimately unreliable.

[Dr Kain]

Yeah, that movie was hilarious. My favorite scene is probably when the president was talking to the Russian dude on the phone and was like, "No, I can't be more upset than you." Oh, and Scott was hilarious, especially his facial expressions.

[lhb412]

^ Yes! The phone call is the funniest part in a very funny movie. I especially love how hurt the Russian leader is that the president didn't just call because they were friends - the ultimate irony: the countries are ready to annihilate each other and the world, but the leaders of the countries are friends!

[Dr Kain]

Don't Breathe - Except for one specific moment in the last act, this was a pretty enjoyable movie. It had some really good suspenseful moments and Lang's acting was down right phenomenal. Unfortunately, none of the characters are good people, so everything that happened to each and every one of them is justified and they all got what they deserved. There is one scene that is truly outstanding which is when the blind man shuts the power off in his house. The way they filmed that scene was pretty damn awesome thanks to the styled it was filmed in. It's kind of amazing how many great horror movies we have had this year, and yet, nobody felt the need to save them until October. Instead, we are left with garbage like another Ouija movie (how the hell did that crap get a sequel??) and a Blair Witch remake (Seriously? WTF?!). Anyway, I give Don't breathe a solid 7/10 because as enjoyable as it was, it's not a movie that really has any replay value and that really awkward bit towards the end does ruin it quite a bit.

[jellydonut25]

[Hybrid Gojira]

Legend of the Dinosaurs and Monster Birds - So...this was kind of terrible, but if you cut 30 minutes out of it, it could be a really fun B movie. There are some parts that are awesomely bad.

The Last Dinosaur - This movie sucks. Besides Richard Boone's drunken performance (which is both hilarious and good), it's a train wreck. The SPFX have some cool moments, but it's too long and often pretty boring. Sorry everyone's childhood, but this wasn't a fun or good movie.

The Magic Serpent - I loved this! It's insane from start to finish. Ninjas and monsters? Sign me up!

[O.Supreme]

[lhb412]

^It was actually the very last episode MST3K did for KTMA! 6 months later they were on cable. I always thought it was one of the better ones of "season 0." I suppose because they had had the most practice riffing at that point.

I remember renting the Sandy Frank VHS of Legend of the Dinosaurs when I was a kid. I was a dino-obsessive, but the only thing that registered with me was how weird and bad it was.

[Dr Kain]

Embargo should be over, so here is my review of Morgan:

[Hybrid Gojira]

[jellydonut25]

I tried to watch some KTMA episodes. Couldn't do it. Combination way too low quality (video and sound) and just too much down time since they weren't scripted.

[O.Supreme]

^ I agree, I have digital copies of most of them, but haven't watched many of them. I respect the fact that they don't want to release these to DVD, in that they just aren't very good. But revisiting any of those movies that weren't done so already, especially in the new episodes coming up I think would be a great idea.

[Hybrid Gojira]

House (1977) - So...what did I just watch? I'm not sure. It was bizarre...insane. I recommend you see it.

[lhb412]

Mobile Suit Gundam Movie II: Soldiers of Sorrow

This one has a great deal of my favorite storylines from the show; the ones that really stuck in my head these past 15 years, like Lieutenant Matilda, Amuro going AWOL and kinda befriending the enemy General, the fate of Ryu, and Kai going AWOL and picking up the Zeon spy. Lots of good stuff, and the fights were cooler - new animation for this movie version?

[Dr Kain]

My only problem with the movie is I feel it short changed Odessa Day. In the TV version we have this build up to it, and the event feels like this giant battle being fought across the world for days. In the movie, it feels like this little tiny battle that last 2 hours.

[Gojira69]

Return of Daimajin
Godzilla Final Wars

[lhb412]

[O.Supreme]

Jaws series just got added to Netflix so...

Jaws (1975) -- I have seen this many times, but its probably been at least a decade since watching it from beginning to end. I forgot what a simple, story this is, but that is not a bad thing. a small scale story, that amazingly fills two hours with only a few characters, I guess it helps that most of them (sans the Mayor and his supporters) are likable. Still an enjoyable film to this day. Someday I hope to see this on the big screen as I know it repeatedly appears through Fathom events, or some other service. Also I may be the last man on the planet...but I now I know where the reference "bad hat Harry" comes from . I would like to say more about this film but I really cant...it is really just a great all around film.

Jaws 2 (1978) I cant remember the last time I saw this all the way through, so much of it was a new film for me. I was trying to figure out fictionally how much time had passed, when the chief is fired, he says "four years down the drain" or something like that, while I can believe he younger son aged about four years, the older son looks like he aged about five or six...oh well...I guess its only fiction. I guess the fact that this story focused so much more on the teens made it generally unlikable...also how is the same Mayor still around? You'd think he would have been removed after the events of the first film? Additionally...looking solely at the Shark Effects themselves, they seem to be on par with the first film, I guess its everything else that makes it an inferior sequel...for which I agree. One thing I would have liked to have seen would have been A fight between the Orca & Great White Shark (the washed up Orca was no doubt a reference to the first films ship, as well as a response to the 1977 film "Orca" that tried to cash in on Jaws success). But I guess the budget of the time limited such a thing, but to this day i dont think such a fight has appeared in film...though i don't watch many other shark movies so I may be wrong. Also I really liked the female scientists line to Brody "Sharks don't take things personally..." Too bad they could not get Dreyfuss back for the sequel. I kind of like the idea that the shark gets burned early on to differentiate it from the shark form the first film...too bad that scene is so poorly executed. Also the actress who played the girl who liked Michael..her screams and performance were cringeworthy toward the end. Also the girl who was praying...did I miss something? When the shark swam past her, her shirt came up and there was a huge scar...was she a previous shark attack survivor? Seems like there was something left out.

Well I suppose I'll have to descend it to the awfulness of 3-D and The Revenge...though I am not looking forward to it. I have not watched these since I was probably in my early tens, and have mostly forgotten them for a reason I think...

[lhb412]

Kubo and the Two Strings

It lives up to the hype. See it in theaters or you'll be kicking yourself, especially if you're a fan of stop motion monsters.