The Latest Movie/TV show You Watched Topic 2.0

[RamshackleRanger]

Finally got around to watching colossal, and I really enjoyed it. The message was a bit pushy, but it was played well and that twist got me good. solid 8(maybe 9)/10.

[GodzillaFan1990's]

The Shape of Water (2017)

10 out of 10

Holy skreeonking Hedorah!!!! This is an absolute majestic piece of art here and Mr. del Toro once again has outdid himself. He should definitely be proud. The characters, the story and premise, chemistry between the main character and monster, the whole Creature from the Black Lagoon meets Beauty and the Beast. I have no words to describe this movie since there isn't even one flaw to point out. No words! Easily in my top 11 no doubt.

[eabaker]

Finally got around to seeing The Shape of Water last night, and I am very much not a fan. It was heavy-handed, ponderously paced, and burdened with a ton of redundant scenes and go-nowhere narrative threads. Lots of great ideas, but Del Toro really needed to kill a lot of babies.

[GodzillaFan1990's]

Get Out (2017)

10 out of 10 stars

Funny story with this movie. When I first heard of this, the idea of the premise I thought was it was being a horror movie racist to black people thus thought it'd be dumb and passed on which then turned out to be the only movie I regretted not seeing in theaters after hearing all this praise and great reviews it got. So I decided to eventually get it and it true to those words, it was a pleasant surprise and not to mention a very smart horror/thriller. If there's one thing I can describe about this movie is its in a bizarre way uniquely creative with the premise alone having that Twilight Zone feel to it and our main protagonist Chris, god damn man I had never seen such a smart character in a horror movie such as trying to keep his cool and play along once he finds out about the motive of his white girlfriend and her family as well as his plans of escape using cotton to cover his ears from the teacup sound. The movie also did a great job with sympathizing him considering his backstory of what happened to his mother. While an a great movie, I do however have to say his white girlfriend being on it I really saw coming but even then what makes up for it is the rest of the movie with its premise alone and how original of a film it turned out to be which is what I want to see more of. Lots of suspense keeping me at the edge of my seat, great pacing where no moments felt bored, despite being horror/thriller had perfect humor that fitted and work, how much of a true bro the main characters best friend is and most of all not to mention the main character gets a happy ending which I thought was a nice touch, the original ending I knew was going to be one of those downer ones before Jordan Peele (Which for his first movie is a perfect start as a director, definitely look forward to future projects by this guy) decided to change it at the last minute and you know what I was glad he did because it's not often that we see those kind of endings in horror movies. It was a nice change for once. Overall though I really enjoyed and liked it which I definitely get around to watching again. Easily in my top 11 movies of 2017 for sure.

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

I finally say Coco- definitely one of Pixar's finest with an interesting theme I ponder myself sometimes. Almost made me cry......almost. 8/10.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Equinox (1970)

Mostly something to watch as a curiosity for the early career of Dennis Murren. Stop motion monsters and demons mostly filmed in minimal locations in the woods.

It's alright it's not the worst movie but most of the entertainment you'll get out of it is if you go in with the mindset that it's a low budget production from early career filmmakers.

Equinox is really great in this kinda strange surreal atmosphere it gives off due to the low budget and strange vibes.

In terms of shape of water I haven’t seen it yet but I’m curious to see what eabaker means.

I just finished devilman crybaby, great series. I loved devilman a few years ago and now this adaptation is great with its own spin. Definitely shows how to adapt an older manga and pay homage while making it its own thing.

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

Watched The Foreigner- I give it a 9/10.

[Leviarex]

'The Abyss' (Theatrical and Special Edition)- It goes without saying that the SE version is the superior one, especially with the better understanding of the aliens.

'Dracula' 31 (Spanish version)- I can see why it's considered superior to the Lugosi version in terms of cinematography, and I even consider the acting to be a bit better at times when it comes to emoting.

'Bad Moon'- Only real high points are the Werewolf scenes, the practical effects for which are pretty good for a b-movie. In fact, I'd go so far as to say they're Rick Baker or Rob Bottin good. And the Werewolf himself has definitely made my 'Top 10 Favorite Werewolves' list.

[eabaker]

'Dracula' 31 (Spanish version)- I can see why it's considered superior to the Lugosi version in terms of cinematography, and I even consider the acting to be a bit better at times when it comes to emoting.

I definitely think Lupita Tovar is stronger than Helen Chandler, and Pablo Alvarez Rubio gives an equal-but-different take to Dwight Frye's. Most of the rest of the cast in the Spanish version, however, doesn't quite match up to their American counterparts for me.

[Zarm]

Cars 3.
Huh. I'm... I'm not sure about this one. I mean, better than Cars 2, obviously. But to me, this has three stories-

Spoiler:

Lightning Mqueen's story, Cruz Ramirez's struggles with believing in herself, and an apparent bigotry story about lack of acceptance of women and minorities. The problem being... for me, the three storylines just kind of crash into each-other instead of smoothly handing off.

Like, Lightning's struggle is the one the movie starts on, and the one that I (as an aging guy contemplating the day when my doing days will give way to teaching days) identify with most. And it's a really poignant one, tying in a lot of things I observe about the world around me... and then, suddenly, the climax becomes Cruz's story. And though it's by McQueen's choice, it still seems to derail his story, in that the ending... doesn't really feel like it emotionally pays off his story. It just suddenly stops, and his struggles take a back-seat. Cruz's self-confidence story takes its place- and it's a good story, and she's a good character (so obnoxious as she babies Lightning, yet so well-meaning that you can't help but like her), but it's still a strong story. Until we get to the racism/sexism thing (which is only sprinkled throughout, with the old-timers in the bar... and then suddenly, the actual climax of the film seems suddenly built on it. Now, that may just be me reading, but the whole 'You don't belong on this track!' bit really seems to echo what the old-timers were saying, and the reaction of the statistics lady, etc., all seem to tie in to suggest this is a "No one thought she could do these because of who she was, and she proved that she could" empowerment kinda thing, which, again, wouldn't be a bad story... but that's not what it was set up as. It was set up as a voluntary, self-doubt thing; no one ever told her she couldn't except her. So for me, the emotional switching of gears was abrupt and stole the emotion from the climax, because it was suddenly hinging on something that it hadn't been up 'till that point.

(And I freely admit on that last point, that could just be me seeing something that isn't there. It makes me kind of resent our current culture and how deeply it's gotten into my head, seeing sex and race issues possibly where there weren't even meant to be any. But if it was just intended to be 'Sterling and Storm represent an echo-chamber, telling her what she's been telling herself, and she has to stand up to her own self-doubts, as verbalized by these characters,' then to me, the execution didn't quite fit. I think the surrounding context (we've heard from older cars apparently female and black about how they were held back and had to prove themselves before, she herself is given a pointedly-hispanic name (and reinforces it with tire-names, etc.), it's men that her telling her she doesn't belong, there's a very pointed reaction from the female commentator as if she's just had her eyes opened to possibilities she's never considered) just gives it the impression- to me- of being about those kinds of issues, even if it wasn't meant to be).

And again, none of those three storylines are bad ones. And I think that they could have handed off to each-other smoothly enough that it still could have worked. But as it is, it's the execution- like a relay-race where each of the runner's is going too fast and body-checks the next runner as they try to pass the baton- really didn't work for me. Lightning's story felt unfinished, Cruz's switched tracks right at the point it was about to pay off, etc.

It was a well-made movie (the Tennessee scenes looked especially great), had good characters, plenty of emotion and poignancy, and three good story-thread; the pieces simply didn't gel into a cohesive whole, for me.

[TheRedKing1979]

Yesterday:

Caught Terminator Genisys on FX HD. Besides FX's horrible scaling, and the movies general badness, I like watching Arnie push other robots through walls and hitting them with heavy machinery. Id still rather watch it over Terminator 3.

Today, I watched Jaws in upscaled 4K and rather enjoyed it in such crispness. And Tremors 5 Bloodline. I hadnt seen that in awhile, so it seemed newer to me. Worlds better than Back to Perfection.

[godzilla98rules]

Alpha and Omega (2010)

A decent, but generic CGI comedy drama. The animation is pretty decent, the voice acting isn't bad and the characters are entertaining to watch, while the music is a very satisfying listen on the ears. About the only problems with this film I see is that it's predictable and becomes buried in a pile of more memorable animated films like this and some of the jokes don't really work. But overall, I'm glad I watched it and wouldn't mind looking at it again sometime down the road.

3.5/5

[eabaker]

Already mentioned this in the Cloverfield thread, but last night I rewatched the first one for the first time since it was in theaters (along with my wife, who had never seen it before).

Man, that movie has no third act whatsoever. It just runs out of story, sputters along for a few extraneous minutes, and then stops.

[godzillafan1954]

Terminator Genysis - Not sure where it stands on the Terminator scale, but I'd put it somewhere in the middle. It wasn't as good as the original three, but Salvation...ehh. The liquid metal dude was a waste. He showed up for like 5 minutes and then the main characters time traveled. At least John was a decent villain. 7/10
Extraterrestrial - Lot of unneeded profanity, and it almost felt like a Syfy movie, but it was pretty freaking good. 6.5/10
Cloverfield - I missed like five minutes of it, but I still found it enjoyable. Didn't like how it was a documentary wannabe, but the story was compelling enough to keep me interested. 8/10
10 Cloverfield Lane - Even though there was no clear connection to Cloverfield, I still liked it. 8.5/10
The Maze Runner - Loved the characters. Loved the story. Loved everything. Yanno, except for the fact I don't really know anything about the universe. 9/10
The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials - No mazes, but wow this movie is fantastic. I don't know what else to say. I can't wait to see The Death Cure. 10/10
Suicide Squad - Not gonna lie, I didn't hate it. It's not as bad as some make it out to be. Sure, it's no Wonder Woman, but it's good in its own right. 7.5/10

[TheRedKing1979]

Movies:
Tremors 5
Sweet Home Alabama
Sicario (LOVE this movie)

TV:
Brockmire Season 1

[Jeff-Goldblum1]

20 Million Miles To Earth

So I was watching this classic science fiction film and a thought occurred to me whilst doing so, this is actually a really good movie.

It gives the monster known as the Ymir a lot more sympathy, more of a character than just being a threat. Quite good for a monster movie of it's time.

The special effects give the monster a lot of personality, something Ray Harryhausen was great at doing.

[GodzillaFan1990's]

The Ritual (2017)

9 out of 10

Man what an nice breath of fresh air. It's been rather a while since we actually got an good creature flick especially considering how original the Jotunn's design was and especially considering a movie involving a monster from Norse Mythology which we need more creature movies involving monsters from mythologies. Despite some nitpicks I thought the cast was solid with good acting although I do feel there was no need of these worshippers. I thought it would've been better if the Jotunn was just this creature that kills anyone that trespasses into the forest. It would've been simply yet original considering the whole worshippers and sacrifice thing has been done a few times which was IMO one of the nitpicks I had with the movie but overall despite that I really enjoyed this movie. Extra props on the fact we didn't get one of those downer endings where everyone dies and for once the monster doesn't get killed as many tends to in these kind of movies. So all in all I would recommend this to anyone who are especially into creature features.

[Jeff-Goldblum1]

Death Wish (2018)

Saw this and thought it was quite bad ass and dare I say even entertaining. Don't listen to the critics! Probably the best Bruce Willis in quite some time and maybe even my favorite Eli Roth movie.

Quite a black satire on gun culture in the movie which was quite amusing.

Definitely enjoyable to be able to go to the cinema and see something so gleefully violent and unconcerned with it's own bad taste especially when something as mediocre and poor as Black Panther is getting rave reviews.

But it's definitely nothing on the Charles Bronson Death Wish movies especially the shoot out at the end of Death Wish 3.

Here's a clip to remind you. Starting around 4.45. It's Insane. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dSN1Z01-iE

[Leviarex]

'The Black Panther'- Saw it on opening day, and I can definitely say that it's as good as people are saying. One aspect of the final battle I especially love is the use of War Rhinos (being a long time rhino lover).

'Lovecraft: Fear Of The Unknown'- Really compelling documentary about one of my favorite authors. Though it did spoil parts of 'The Dunwich Horror', 'The Color Out Of Space', and 'The Shadow Over Insmouth'; none of which I've read yet.

On top of that, I've also started watching the latest season of 'The Zoo'.

[Jeff-Goldblum1]

Blade II

Vampires have been a part of cinema for a century and part of folklore since the early days of humankind. How do you create a villain intimidating enough to scare even the vampire? Under the direction and imagination of monster movie lover Guillermo Del Toro.

This predates his critical acclaimed films such as Pan's Labyrinth and popular films such as Hellboy and Pacific Rim. But with movie The Shape of Water, Del Toro has just done what has seemed impossible for the monster movie genre film for a century of cinema. Made a monster movie that won an award for best picture. So in retrospect they couldn't have picked a better person for the job.

This movie introduces us to The Reapers, a grotesque strain of monsters that are capable of feeding on and eliminating vampires with ease. Their lamprey inspired mouths are quite disgusting and a very horrific concept indeed. Many Matrix inspired action scenes appear in the movie and the costume department sure put the black leather suppliers into good business to give this movie it's futuristic gothic style. Del Toro's visual style heightens this movie immensely. The vision of a vampiric Wesley Snipes rising out of a pool of blood is quite possibly unmatched in bad-assery.