Recently watched movies!

[klen7]

I wasnt a fan of Hateful Eight or Django. I'm not really sure what direction I'd rather see Tarantino go, but I would have hard time getting excited for another Western from him.

I think i'd currently rank his films:
Pulp Fiction
Inglorious Bastards
Reservoir Dogs
Kill Bill Vol 1
Kill Bill Vol 2
Jackie Brown
Death Proof
Django Unchained
Hateful Eight

[Dr Kain]

I'd probaby rank them:

Pulp Fiction
Inglorious Basterds
Reservoir Dogs
Hateful Eight
Jackie Brown
Kill Bill 1
Kill Bill 2
Django Unchained
Death Proof

[Dr Kain]

So tonight we went to see the Ultraman double feature despite my earlier woes.



First, the postives:

Both movies were highly enjoyable and have re-ignited my interest in Ultraman. In fact, I wish I could go back in time and stop mysel from getting rid of my Tiga DVDs I sold to a second hand shop for $1.50 a piece. Secondly, Ultraman Zero was pretty cool looking (and he looks quite reminiscent of Seven), so I really want to check out his respective series. Of course, I'm curious to see X and Ginga as well, epecially since I would be able to enjoy the characters a lot better.

Now the thing I found interesting is that X had a much better plot while Ginga had better action. The plot for X was enjoyable and the dude in the Indiana Jones get up looks quite familar (as does the archeologist lady). I couldn't help but laugh at the card game system though, which made me expect to hear the computer shout, "Ultraman Dededededecade." It was awesome getting to see Tiga and Nexus on screen again and there were some pretty wicked shots. However, the evacuation scene was quite pathetic. People would just leisurely walking instead of running.

Ginga's plot was pretty generic and by the book of what we have seen from Japanese stories hundreds of times, but the movie really excelled in its action. The camera work and miniature were utterly spectacular and I loved the different backgrounds used for the castle levels. The villain, albeit also generic, was quite awesome and he looked bad ass. Loved the scarf. Oh, and wow, I did not expect to see Yellow Buster in this, so that was cool. The other aspect I liked more in this is that each of the Ultramen really got a moment to shine compared to X.

Now the negatives:

I won't take any points off for character development because come on, let's face it, these movies are made specifically for the people who have watched the shows. However, OH... MY.. GOD.. THAT.. DUB. Did William Shatner direct the dub? The only one that seemed to actually be putting emotion into his dialog was the commander dude in X. Everyone else was more wooden than a forest. The worst goes to the scientist lady in X who paused like every three words (not that anyone was better, but she was the worst). I knew they were going to be bad, but not THAT bad! Hell, the Toho dubs from the Godzilla Heisei movies were better than the dubs to this duo. Oh, and the male scietiest in X sounded like Krillin from Dragon Ball Abridged. Anyway, they show exactly why you can not dub live action. UGH!! I hope these are released on BD with their Japanese tracks intact because I will most certainly buy them if so.

That aside, I'm going to give the X movie an 8/10 and the Ginga movie a 7/10. Like I said, they're got me wanting to get back into Ultraman again (which is kind of bad since I don't have the time for it) so this summer I am definitely going to finally watch my DVDs of the original series.

[lhb412]

^Sounds like fun. Can't wait to see them in whatever wide release Tsuburaya has planned for them.

Moby Dick (1956)

Directed by John Huston! Starring Gregory Peck! Script by Ray Bradbury! Even with an awesome pedigree, I'm not sure the denseness of the novel as well as the poetic language translates all that well to the motion picture screen, at least in this instance. Still, it's awesome to see a Hollywood film end with what is essentially 15 minutes of Tsuburaya-style giant creature effects.

Jurassic Park

Still the best movie purely about dinosaurs ever made. Although the extensive CGI made it a game changer it's the even more extensive practical effects that makes it timeless. Oh, and Sam Neill is such an underrated actor.

[lhb412]

Duck Soup

It's been a month, and now I finally get to my most anticipated Christmas gift: the Marx Brothers Blu-Ray set! I've seen this movie dozens of times, but with a movie like this your appreciation changes depending on what's going on in the world, and right now it seems like the film (in which Groucho is president and Chico and Harpo are obvious spies who aren't really punished or inconvenienced in their operations) isn't outlandish at all. The only far-fetched thing is that Groucho is probably too witty and literate to be a politician: people would say he's elitist.

[canofhumdingers]

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition - whoever was in charge of the final theatrical cut should be fired and permanently banned from ever approaching within 100 feet of an editing booth ever again. I didn't hate the theatrical version like some people did, but I found it frustratingly disappointing. It had numerous problems, but for me, the one thing that just killed it was the nigh incromprehensible editing. It made the story nearly impossible to follow and made the character motivations and actions seemingly random and nonsensical.

Thankfully the ultimate edition goes a LONG LONG way to fixing this. If you didnt like the characterization of superman, this cut won't change that. Jesse Eisenberg is still obnoxious as Lex Luthor (although his plan is infinitely more clear and actually makes sense this time). The bat-dream still comes out of nowhere (although I better understood how it was part of his motivation to kill superman - not sure if that's due to the new edit or just seeing that sequence a second time). But the various plot lines actually come together as a complete story that all makes sense and works. You get the crucial information missing from the theatrical cut.

In the theater I walked out so frustrated because I knew there was a good movie that I would've really liked that could be assembled from that wreck. The ultimate edition is that version.

I'll never understand how they came to the theatrical cut. I understand why they wouldn't want it to be rated R (though you could easily eliminate a few bloody bullet hits and get it down to pg-13). I also get why wouldn't want it to be 3 hrs, even though I had no problem with the run time. But MAN!!! You could totally edit this down to 2 1/2 hours WITHOUT making it so incomprehensible! They cut out CRUCIAL pieces to the plot and character motivations while leaving in stuff that was entirely unnecessary. Just totally baffling.

As for the ultimate edition, I really enjoyed it! Bat-fleck is still super awesome, and I've come to terms with him killing people (every other movie version of batman kills people too, even Bale). Some people found Superman too mopey, but I thought it was fine. He's only been known to the world for 18 months and he's really struggling with how the world is reacting to the knowledge he exists and how hard it is for him to do the right thing when it's not always obvious what the right thing is, and he's not always able to save everyone all the time. Wonder Woman was still great. Lex is still obnoxious, but his evil plan actually makes sense and he does have some really great dialogue (SOME!). I've got no problem with the title fight. Supes TRIES to talk to Batman but bats ain't having it and keeps interrupting him with attacks and traps specifically designed to turn Superman's strengths into weaknesses. So Superman decides, "fine, I'll beat you down and MAKE you listen." In the end, THIS is the movie they should've put in theaters, or at least a FAR more coherently trimmed version of it. The theatrical cut is dead to me.

[jellydonut25]

Silence - For a twenty-year passion project, Silence seems at times slapped together, and not entirely thought-through. Scorsese only flirts with asking and musing on some interesting questions, but ultimately shies away from getting as philosophical/theological as this subject matter essentially demands, instead focusing on 90 minutes of "Will he/won't he" with torture sprinkled in. It's unusual for someone with Scorsese's prowess to be so light-handed in his examination of something so heavy, but here is Silence, which starts with a rather gripping first hour but over the next 90 minutes loses all of that steam and ends on a final 15 minutes that seems unconscionably lazy. This movie only made me curious to seek out the novel and its prior adaptations to see if there's something inherently flawed in the source material of if, in the strive to just get this movie made, Scorsese somehow lost sight of WHY he wanted to make it in the first place...or perhaps, to give an individual of Scorsese's talent more credit, became TOO focused on why he wanted to get it made, and just barrelled his movie forward toward the conclusion he wanted rather than examine how and why it should have earned that ending.


^Silence I was LEGITIMATELY interested in, due to Scorsese, but then I checked out a bunch of movies that were getting Oscar buzz (like, before the nominees were announced just the other day) and had that "hot critic buzz" from people who make their year-end lists and populate them with more artsy fair...because every few years I try to cast my net as WIDE AS POSSIBLE and see AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE to see how my tastes may have shifted. For example, I'm sure like 5-10 years ago, I probably wouldn't have sought out Swiss Army Man, or liked it much, but it was my favorite movie of the year. La La Land is another I probably would have HATED like 10 years ago and it was my 4th favorite movie of the year...so in the spirit of seeing if I've shifted my tastes around again:


Moonlight - Disjointed and lacking a strong narrative thrust (are those the same thing?), Moonlight is a "good" movie that doesn't strike much of a cord and will be forgotten before too long (by me, at least). Too often in this movie (almost literally every time it happens) just when things get really interesting, and reach a potential turning point, it smash cuts and ends that plot thread. Characters are given a spotlight for 30 minutes or so and then never seen or heard from again, one of the MAIN characters at the beginning of the film even dies off-screen. The emotional payoff at the end doesn't feel earned and the whole thing just feels like a character study of a miserable life and though it's "good" it's pretty unpleasant and not something I'd ever want to revisit.

Fences - Good performances, but I did not GIVE A F***.

Christine - Rebecca Hall gives a good performance, but Kate Plays Christine is the far more interesting movie about Christine Chubbuck.

Jackie - Another "good performance, didn't care at all" movie.

Manchester by the Sea - While it's good, this is probably the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. I'll almost always ultimately seek out the Best Picture nominees of a given year, just to have my say/opinion on an event as big as the Oscars, but I'm more or less done (at least for a few years) with seeking out EVERYTHING that has Oscar-buzz. I know I would have wound up watching Manchester by the Sea as a BP nom, but I would have saved myself some of the other films I've watched recently that are this film's lesser-kin.

This is yet ANOTHER film with good performances, and well-fleshed-out characters...but no story. I understand not literally "everyone" can, but: anyone can write good characters, and anyone can write a good/complex story, but when there are so many films out there that can do BOTH to at least competent extents, I no longer have much interest in movies that can only do ONE (and for my tastes, if it's only going to do one, give me a good story).

So, while this movie is good at what it does, it left me kind of cold and I'm sure I'll probably forget about it before too long.


Now, I've seen a LOT of movies this year (more movies than I've listed here, by a pretty decent amount), and I feel like I'll reign it in a little more for 2017 and only seek out stuff that seems interesting to me rather than just kinda EVERYTHING that gets high praise.

[lhb412]

Horse Feathers

One of my favorite of the Marx Brothers movies. There's no Margaret Dumont, but instead of a middle-aged society lady they have the young, beautiful (and comedically adept) Thelma Todd for the Marxes to bounce off of in this one. She sadly passed away soon after making this movie. Still a bummer 80+ years later. There's a specific joke near the end that Bugs Bunny steals in the first cartoon where he meets Gossamer (the red hair monster): a frenzied Groucho/Bugs implores the audience if there's a doctor in the house, when one responds Groucho/Bugs forgets about the emergency and casually greats the doctor.

Unfortunate byproduct of the sparkling Blu-Ray picture: the image gets really jittery in two separate scenes, I checked my old DVD (which was a transfer originally made for VHS and laserdisc in the '80s) and unfortunately it's present there, too - must be inherent to the print Universal has for the movie. Never noticed it before, because the old transfer was so murky and soupy that it basically hid those flaws under a constant screen of flaws!

[Reaper G]

[lhb412]

^ They discovered the missing minute and a half of Animal Crackers. That's back in the film. The films are nicely restored given flaws with the source materials and the lack of some really expensive restoration project. All the films have new commentary tracks, and there's a new feature length documentary primarily covering their Broadway and Paramount Pictures years.

[O.Supreme]

Super 8. -Finally broke down and bought this. I still enjoy this film, though it wasn't really liked all that well.

City of Ember -Now I know this is odd, but I haven't watched this yet. I got it for my son who is reading the book for his school curriculum, and told him he could watch it only after he finished the book. I only saw it once but virtually remember nothing about it, but I don't think it was too well received either...hope I'm wrong.

[Dr Kain]

The Wrong Man - Another Hitchcock masterpiece. It was absolutely fantastic with a lot of unexpected moments, some truly phenomenal shots, and great actors all around. It's only falter is that the movie took a major slow down in its second act. Nevertheless, a truly spectacular 9/10.

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

Repo Man - This movie was flat out dumb. I don't get how it is so well loved that Criterion released it. Maybe it's just because if was the haunted briefcase story done with a car instead. There were some truly great shots, especially at sunset, but ultimately, the thing was just a horrible mess of a film. The editing was terrible, the story was subpar, it was just one random scene after another, and none of it made any sense. Hell, I'm not even able to comprehend what I watched enough to competently type my thoughts on it. As such, I will end it here with a lukewarm and give it a 6/10.

[lhb412]

[lhb412]

Monkey Business

You know, there are better Marx Brothers movies (Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera and Day at the Races), but for me this has always been one of the most enjoyable. This one has a lightweight, freewheeling feel. I like how the brothers really feel like brothers in this one, a single unit, and like their later MGM films this one has them as underdogs, facing of against the bullying crew of the boat they've stowed away in as well as a group of gangsters. Without a figure like Margaret Dumont, someone who represents the establishment who provides pomposity for Groucho to puncture, something weird happens to Groucho: his shtick becomes less insult-driven and more totally absurdity. At one point Groucho confounds someone by bragging he has 'licked his weight in wild caterpillars!' There's a scene where all four brothers impersonate movie star Maurice Chevalier to try to get off the boat (long story) and it ends with Harpo jumping on the table and throwing dozens of the papers in the air while several people try to restrain him and it's just the funniest scene ever committed to film. I laugh my head off every time I see it. Pure joy.

Animal Crackers

The Marx Brothers' second movie, and their first great movie. Also based on one of their hit Broadway shows, much better filmed than The Cocoanuts - this is still early talkies, so the technology made leaps and bounds just in the months between that film and this one! This is also, for the first time in 80 years, complete! When it was rereleased a few years after its original release over a minute of lines deemed too crude were cut out. They lines are pretty tame, actually; but all those annoying jump-cuts are now gone!

[jellydonut25]

Dr. No - More like Dr. No-thanks. This movie's dull. It feels like there are no stakes for the majority of its running time, and then it ends so anticlimactically. Probably my least favorite of the handful of Bond films I've seen so far. 2/5

From Russia with Love - MUCH better. It lacks a strong main villain, with the load being spread out among many characters (and the 'main' one being more of a henchman than a real villain with a plot), but it's fun and brisk and has some cool sequences. 3.5/5

Goldfinger - My favorite Bond film thus far. Fun, over-the-top, great villain, and just supremely enjoyable. 4.5/5

Thunderball - The first time I ever saw this, I thought it was pretty much boring. Seeing it a second time, I felt maybe my initial impression had been wrong...until I got to about 30 minutes left. The movie feels like that last half hour drags pretty bad and the final fight lacks something, probably because it's underwater and everyone moves kinda slow. It's an okay enough movie, but not anything super special. Plus, Bond is kinda rapey in this one. 3/5

[Dr Kain]

I really don't get the love for Goldfinger. It's a great film, but no where near the masterpiece that From Russia with Love was.

As for Dr No, it does get better the more you watch it. When you look at it as being the first Bond movie ever (kind of), it works just fine. Plus, it is far superior to any of the films Moore and Brosnan did.

Thunderball is also incredible and I love the underwater scenes becasue it's something different. It might be slow, but they are battling under water.

[jellydonut25]

I just got done with You Only Live Twice and I'd put that ahead of From Russia with Love as well.

From Russia with Love lacks a good villain. It's fun, but I didn't think it was awesome in the way that Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice are. Goldfinger to me has it all. A great charismatic Bond performance (and Bond not making unwelcome advances on women making him more likable), cool spy gadgets, fun action beats, a great villain, hilarious camp, an awesome main henchman, and a great theme. From Russia with Love doesn't have all that. You Only Live Twice has almost all of it (there's not really a great main henchman/super strong guy, and the theme is meh, but man does it have some awesome gadgets, and great camp...and a really REALLY likable Bond).

[Reaper G]

[lhb412]

^ Poor Zeppo. I wonder if giving him stuff to actually do was a result of his threatening to leave (he wanted to leave after their Mom died - she wanted her boys to all be in show business).

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

I couldn't possibly care less about closeness to source material. That's almost a zero percent indicator of quality to me.

[Dr Kain]

I disagree. Usually the closer it is to the book, the better.

[klen7]

I'm really fond of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" - it just seems like a more competent production than the films surrounding it. Goldfinger is the quintessential Bond film though.