Recently watched movies!

[lhb412]

Speeding along with Godzilla 2000 (second time watching the Japanese version, and I still contend the American edit is superior), Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (this is always a rough one) and GMK ( it's a cliche to say that the film is inferior to the Gamera trilogy but leagues above the other Godzilla films of the time, but the cliche is true).

[jellydonut25]

Godzilla: King of the Monsters - If you don't wanna read my review, then in one sentence: This is a 1970s Godzilla movie with a $200 million budget, a slightly higher sense of self-seriousness, and a truckload of cocaine.

I'll put a longer review in the thread for it.

[lhb412]

^ Now that's an endorsement!

[lhb412]

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

You know, in the macro sense maybe this movie is on shakier ground than the previous two. In the first two installments, John had a clear emotional reason behind doing what he's doing that was easy to get invested in. In this movie John is in pure survival mode, and is himself searching for meaning and direction. It's nothing that can't be resolved or come to fruition in the next installment, but it maybe makes this one thematically weaker.

That being said, holy hell this is an amazing movie full of gorgeous action sequences. The finale and the fight in the museum of antique weapons are worth the price of admission alone. Halle Berry and Anjelica Huston are welcome presences, but it's long time action b-lister Mark Dacascos who steals the whole movie. He plays the lead antagonist, a John Wick super-fan eager to throw his all into a deathmatch with his fav. He's a joy to watch.

In the home stretch with Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, and Godzilla Final Wars. I've criticized all of them pretty heavily before, but this time I pretty much managed to just relax and enjoy them. And they all have a lot to be enjoyed! Mechagodzilla is Tezuka's tightest feature, SOS is worth it for the Mothra puppet alone as well as some great practical effects, and Final Wars is one of those movies that's either great or terrible depending on what kind of mood you're in and I guess this time I was in the proper mood?

[Dr Kain]

[EricDent]

John Wick 3 was fun as heck!

Will be seeing Godzilla King of the Monsters either Monday (my B-Day) or Tuesday.

[O.Supreme]

[jellydonut25]

[O.Supreme]

^Personally I really like Gigan, but I didn't name a specific film because I've heard a fair amount of complaints against it. My personal low point of the 70's is Megalon of course, but I figured a swap between Gigan & Megalon could go either way. Smog Monster/Hedorah has garnered quite a bit of favor in the past decade especially. What was once really a joke is really appreciated by much of the fan community.

But my point was basically the same as yours. I enjoy pretty much all of the traditional Showa Era. if you are saying KotM is closer to that, than that is a good enough endorsement for me.

[Dr Kain]

Hot Fuzz - 9/10

[klen7]

If G'14 has the spirit of the 60's films and G'19 has the spirit of the 70's films, then GvK should be our Heisei flick complete with glitter and beam spam from both Godzilla and Kong

[lhb412]

Godzilla (2014) and Shin Godzilla. Both great, for different reasons. 2/5ths of the way into the anime trilogy as of now - I believe I'll finish my rewatch with time to spare for Godzilla: King of the Monsters tomorrow evening!

[lhb412]

Bam! I finished my re-watch of all 34 films in the Godzilla series. Seeing number 35 in the theater tomorrow!

[Dr Kain]

Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster - 9/10

[O.Supreme]

Batman vs TMNT (2019) just recently released by WB Animation. A collaboration between DC and Nickelodeon. This film was pretty entertaining. At first I was certain this was going to be for younger audiences, because the animation style appears to be cheaper reflecting something akin to the Ulimate Batman animated films. But this definitely pushes it's PG 13 rating, despite the cheap look of the animation. being a completely disconnected one-off film (similar to last years Ninja Batman)...I can definitely enjoy an elseworlds tale once a year along side the main DC Animated film series.

The fights between Shredder and Batman were pretty well done. The appearance of numerous Batman Rogues turned into mutants was both disturbing and fun at the same time. I'd definitely be up for a sequel where Batman goes to the New York of TMNT and we see more deep Turtle lore characters. There are a ton of hidden gems and references in this film as well. All around thoroughly enjoyable. As I said in the thread I made about this film....I did not think I'd ever want to see this, but it looks like too much fun to pass up.

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

GKOTM- I thought it was good. Monster action was amazing the human stuff not so much. I agree with Jelly it felt like a 70s Godzilla film if they had larger budgets and better SFX. Fun and campy. Going to see it a second time tomorrow probably with friends and maybe a third time on Monday on an IMAX style screen.

[lhb412]

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Solid, meat and potatoes kind of Godzilla movie. A bit cookie cutter for someone who's watched off 34 previous ones, but I think great for turning young kids into Godzilla fans!

[Dr Kain]

Godzilla KotM - I highly enjoyed it, but I can see exactly why the critics hate it. This movie was made strictly for Godzilla fans and not the average movie goer. Therefore, if you don't know every Godzilla movie in and out, a lot of it is not going to make sense.

[sentaison]

Watched GKOTM last night and LOVED IT! It does a ton of easter eggs and call backs to Godzilla's film history whiles still being a great story with a few original ideas. I am definitely planning to see it in the theater again!

[Gwangi]

"Godzilla 2014". As a refresher before I saw "G:KOTM", I decided to watch this, which I have not seen since 2014, when I bought the blu-ray.

I maintain, that this movie's greatest sin is not Godzilla's screen time, or lack of monster action, or Aaron Taylor-Johnson, or Bryan Cranston's early demise (if anything, I was more upset with Juliet Binoche's character getting the axe, in the very beginning!). The movie's greatest fault was still too many dark scenes which skewed my vision. I had to turn off my ceiling light, to get a better view of it all. Other than that, this movie still garners a solid *** stars. And for fun, I decided to watch this and 1998, the night before, and one could clearly see the difference between a filmmaker who did not care for the source material vs a filmmaker who actually did!

[lhb412]

^I haven't had this problem with darkness on my Blu-ray of the 2014 film... but then again, when I watch movies I turn the lights out and pull down the heavy curtains I have specifically so I can watch movies in as close to theater lighting as I can manage!

[klen7]

^^ I didn't have the issue with my BD and the 1080p TV i had when it was released, but watching it on my larger 4K television is notably more difficult to make out whats going on.

[jellydonut25]

I have issues with it if there's any glare on my TV at all.

It's a movie that REALLY demands low-level ambient lighting and forget about watching a broadcast version casually at 2 PM on TNT.

[Dr Kain]

Happy Death Day 2U - This one is more science fiction than horror, but that makes sense considering it needed to expand on the concept from the previous iteration, and what a grand time this was. This movie was just down right fun. It also helps that the lead actress if asbsolutely fantastic and able to hold a movie on her own. It may not be anything original, but the people in charge of it know that and just have fun with it. A well done sequel and I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do for the third one. A really solid 9/10.

[lhb412]

Perfect Blue

This movie really surprised me. I know Kon is supposed to be highly regarded as this enormous genius of anime, but I've just never dived deep into his work. When I went into this I wasn't expecting it to be a delightfully scary Hitchcock / DePalma / Argento type horror suspense movie! Just delightful.

And again I have to give props to my public library for getting all the most recent foreign and art-house film releases. They're better than any streaming service!