Recently watched movies!

[lhb412]

Lucy

Honestly, I found the earliest parts of the movie the most engaging and found the movie less interesting the more super-powered and less human Lucy becomes.

[Rody]

My family and I saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 this weekend - it's a big, bombastic live-action cartoon for adults, even crazier than the first. I don't think that's a bad thing, either; the film is clearly having fun going all-out, even if it suffers from some predictable plot beats and a few contrived character moments (not unlike the first). It's a very fun film.

TCM ran Ugetsu (1953) a while back, so I recorded it and finally sat down to watch it today. Ugetsu tells the story of two men in 16th century Japan who crave riches and glory, only for them and their wives to learn the costs of such misguided ambitions in a time of war. It's a sad tale with a sharp message about the hazards of greed; not really my kind of movie, but an interesting watch nonetheless.

[lhb412]

"Who's the lady with the log?"
"We call her the log lady."

I've started watching Twin Peaks... not the new episodes, but the original series. I think I like it, but it makes me really hungry for coffee, pie, and doughnuts. Like, really craving those things. This show makes me want to consume pastries in mass quantities while swilling vast amounts of coffee. I'm pretty sure this was what David Lynch was going for.

[klen7]

^ probably healthier than watching Mad Men, which made me what to drink copious amounts of whiskey....


Tag - After "Tokyo Tribe" i had a view of Sion Sono that he was fairly misogynistic... i was told this film was the opposite.. i'm not so sure about that. Yes it is about the objectification and exploitation of women for the enjoyment of men (in a very roundabout way that wont make sense until the last 15 minutes of the movie) but the ending seems to state that the only way to break this cycle A very odd movie overall, not sure that i "got it", maybe i was set up by being told a theme that seemed to run contrary to what played out on the screen (with multiple upskirt panty shots) for 5/6 of the film - but i did enjoy the soundtrack. Overall I'm still not sold on Sion Sono, but he seems to make the movies he wants to make even if they run contrary to what is conventional, so he'll stay on my radar, but not with any sense of anticipation.

[jellydonut25]

[lhb412]

[lhb412]

Seven Samurai

My sister has been bugging me for a while to show her some samurai movies, and I said that Seven Samurai is pretty much the essential first samurai movie to watch, as I imagine was the case for most of us. It's really gratifying to watch someone discover Toshiro Mifune for the first time. After a few minutes she was peppering me with questions about him and when I said he's the most famous Japanese actor of all time she felt that, oh, of course he is!

[Dr Kain]

Goodfellas - A movie that gets better with every viewing. Chuck NOrris/10.

[lhb412]

^You should rate things "Bruce Lee/10"

Bruce Lee killed Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris is dead. I will not hear otherwise.

[lhb412]

Police Story 2

Really dug this one. Jackie Chan's directing is now a lot more polished, and while the first movie had these tonal whiplash moments where chunks of the movie don't seem to fit together this one feels more cohesive. It still has all the stuff the first one had: comedy, action, stunts, gags, romantic comedy - but it's mixed more thoroughly. Lotta stuff happens here: Jackie is demoted to traffic cop after he flew off the handle in the first movie's finale; extortionist bombers; the bad guys from the last movie still want revenge on Jackie; Jackie and his girlfriend's relationship is strained by all the crazy stuff that always happens to him; halfway through Jackie becomes the leader of a team of vaguely defined, casual, cool cops.... honestly, it seems like it'd be a mess, but it all seems to make sense when you watch it, a Rube Goldberg movie.

- and I lost count of how many tall gates Jackie jumps over in this movie. 6? 7?

[lhb412]

Arcadia of my Youth

The original movie version of Leiji Matsumoto's iconic space pirate character! Human officer Captain Harlock returns to Earth after a enormous space war where the human side lost. The victorious alien race (shades of German occupied France as well as the American occupation of Japan) sees Harlock's value as a leader and try to enlist him for the occupied human government/military, but Harlock soon rebels and hooks up with eccentric spaceship designer Tochiro as well as pirate queen Emeralds.

Now, I dig the crazy opening with Harlock's WWI flying ace ancestor, but I have a problem with this movie: Harlock gets his ship and iconic costume halfway through, but he only really becomes Space Pirate Captain Harlock and kicks ass in the last thirty minutes of this two hour movie. Up to that point there's a lot of morose stuff about the defeated human race and it's a bit much for me: maybe they could have had just and hour of that instead of an hour and a half?

I also think the basic setup for why Harlock becomes a space pirate is weaker than in the original TV show (and, I suppose, the manga, which I haven't read yet). There, Harlock rebels against society because it has become apathetic and corrupt, here he's an insurgent against occupying aliens, which is a bit more... straightforward?

[Dr Kain]

Wonder Woman - DC made a good non-Batman movie for a change, WTF? lol 8/10

[Dr Kain]

Doctor Strange - My first time watching it since opening night and I still loved it. There were some flaws I noticed with it this time around, but nothing too bad. It still opens a whole new realm of possibilities for the MCU and Cumberbatch is a wonderful Strange. 8/10.

[jellydonut25]

I'm all but caught up on Twin Peaks (just need to watch this week's episode).

For a show that starts as conventionally and narrative-driven as it does, where it winds up going is mind-blowing.

[lhb412]

^I'm not prone to binge, and am only now almost to the end of the first season. Love it, and am glad to hear of the positive reception of the new season (staying the hell away from any recaps or anything, naturally).

[lhb412]

So I watched the entire Phantasm series as one is want to do. Some say the Phantasm series is about a group of people fighting an otherworldly mortician and his army of minions (mainly the flying death spheres), others say it's a mediation on death, but in truth it's a love letter to the Plymouth Hemi Cuda - which, if these movies are to be believe, is the ultimate mode of transport for those whose lives become devoted to fighting the undead. The Hemi Cuda blows up in the second movie, and does that stop it from reappearing without a scratch in the next one? Hell no! Such is the power of the Cuda.

Phantasm

No budget '79 film made by amateurs (and friends and family!) mainly on weekends and it all works. Mike is a 13 year old kid who coms to believe there is something very strange about the local mortician (The Tall Man, played with relish by Angus Scrimm) and he ends up drafting his brother Jody and ice cream man Reggie in the strange adventure. This film feels like a fever dream, and everything about it seems like an extension of the mentality, of the anxieties of a kid that age. In a way this film reminds me of Goonies. That film is often touted as this sort of manifestation of a 13 year old's psyche, and that may be the case - but Phantasm is a far purer version of that.

Phantasm II

Made ten years later, Mike is now a young adult played by another actor and a major studio (Universal) is behind it and it feels less Phantasm-y and more like other '80s actiony splatter-romps, like a Nightmare sequel or Night of the Creeps or the like. Lots of latex flesh getting mangled and fluids squirting everywhere, you know? Reggie now becomes, essentially, Ash, but more pervy and his signature weapon is a four barrel shotgun instead of the chainsaw. Unfortunately, The Tall Man and his whole deal feel more solid and bound by rules than in the first film, where he seemed like an unsteady dream.

Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead

Basically continuing the tone of the last one: Mike is now the original actor again but there's no time to celebrate because he's been kidnapped by The Tall Man and Reggie and a group of new friends hunt him down in a series of encounters with The Tall Man and his minions. Despite a smaller budget and that distinct 'uh, oh' feeling you get in your stomach when you realize you're watching a '90s direct-to-video movie this is actually, in my opinion, a bit better than the second one because that movie wasted a lot of time with more generic ghouls when this one mostly sticks with the stuff you want in a Phantasm, namely The Tall Man and bunch of the death spheres.

Phantasm IV: Oblivion

After the action comedy in the last two they decide to try to get back to the moody surrealism of the first film... for the scenes with Mike. The parts with Reggie stick with the tone of II and III. With virtually no budget they get creative and utilize unused sections of the first film which fit into this movie's time travel and dream sequence heavy plot. That old footage is the best part. The first Phantasm just had such a great feel and even these brief scenes have that.

Phantasm V: Ravager

Released last year, this no-budget reunion film was made guerrilla style like the first movie with drastically different results. Horrible CGI, atrocious CGI as far as the eye can see. Man is it bad. Some interesting ideas but oh god it drowns in CGI. Angus Scrimm seemed to be near the end of it when this was filmed. He's hardly in it, and when he is he's apparently propped up and such with all the scenes of him standing as horrible CGI. Still, Scrimm is adorable in this. Maybe that's the appeal of Phantasm as a series: despite the freaky mannerisms and frightening face you can tell that Angus Scrimm doesn't have a mean bone in his body and he's like the best grandpa. The series could be called "Best Grandpa."


The first Phantasm I feel can be enjoyed by people who don't even like horror movies, because it reads as more surreal coming-of-age thing than horror. The sequels move it solidly into horror and it feels more part and parcel of the other horror franchises of the time. Your Nightmares on Elm Streets, your Fridays the 13th, your Chuckys, your (what's another one?) ... uh, Amityvilles and Howlings? The second, third and maybe if you're in a good mood forth Phantasm films can be enjoyed in that mindset, but none of them manage to capture the lightning in the bottle of that first movie.

[lhb412]

Wonder Woman

It's weird: after a decade plus of superhero films and those films now feeling more like commercials for others films it feels really refreshing to see a stripped-down, back-to-basis superhero movie done so well. Wonder Woman is an iconic character, but so much of it is just the image or the idea. I think this movie will crystalize the concept of Wonder Woman going forward, much as the first Christopher Reeve Superman did.

[jellydonut25]

A Cure for Wellness : It's got some really creepy moments and is beautiful, but it's ultimately undone by its exasperating length, which causes there to be one too many fakeout moments and periods of utter inactivity. I also wasn't sold on Dane Dehaan as a ruthless corporate ladderclimber.

Life - Extremely adequate, and ultimately rather forgettable. If you've seen Alien, you've seen Life, with maybe just one or two twists enough to make it at least entertaining during the initial watch, but not something I'd ever want to revisit.

[O.Supreme]

[Dr Kain]

[canofhumdingers]

I actually agree with Kain about the ice cream. It's a GOOD thing they're looking to the source material for ideas. And so what if a cartoon adapted it before the live action version? Not everyone has the same taste. Some people don't like to read comics. Some people don't care to watch animation. I mean, for me personally, I'll watch an animated adaptation here or there, but I VASTLY prefer live action. I like the fact that it's real live people, in real (or, these days at least partially real) costumes, on (hopefully real) sets, etc. I just connect to it more. But having real people on screen is the biggest thing that sets live action so far above animation for me.

I agree with part of your sentiment, O.supreme. It annoys me to no end when people dismiss or outright disparage something that they've never even given a chance, or without a reasonable and thoughtful justification. But I'm not going to begrudge people for having positive reactions to something just because it already existed in another form of media that they don't care for.

I think fans should be happy more people are discovering how cool Wonder Woman is, not irritated by the fact they haven't already read every comic and watched every cartoon she's ever been in.

[lhb412]

[O.Supreme]

[O.Supreme]

[O.Supreme]