The Latest Movie/TV show You Watched Topic 2.0

[Mr_Goji_and_Watch]

Saw Sion Sono's Love & Peace. I loved how Ryu and Pikadon worked off of each other. Seeing the latter affect the former's life was really good. You don't see that kind of dynamic executed anywhere near as well in other monster flicks. It's so funny and heart warming, some of the reveals and callbacks at the end are played out beautifully. Wonderful film, and definitely among the best in the monster genre. I hope we get more auteurs taking a stab at the genre, would be a shame if we only got Sono and Anno's efforts.

[Grievous]

Tomb Raider (2018)



It was okay I guess...I mean I'd rather see an over sexualized Lara Croft in
a tight tank top & short shorts shooting mutants, dragons & a T-Rex...but
I guess everything has to be dark & serious these days.

[eabaker]

Jenn and I watched the new Watership Down adaptation a couple of days ago (well, we did the first three parts one day, and the fourth part the next).

It was... okay. The cast is a collection of really good actors, but most of them aren't particularly experienced as voice actors, and it shows, with the performances a little flat and at times indistinguishable. This isn't aided by the designs, which just don't do enough to distinguish most of the individual rabbits from one another.

Also, despite being four hours long, this version at times manages to feel more rushed than the 100 minute version from 1978. I think the 1978 version had an advantage there in that it didn't even pretend that it was telling the full story, and functioned instead as a kind of an impressionist portrait of the book. This version doesn't really have enough of its own voice, so it just starts to feel like Watership Down with all the details glossed over.

There's some reshuffling of events that I don't think serves much purpose, and makes the third episode in particular feel needlessly frenetic.

And there's an unfortunate tendency to condescendingly spell out points. The most galling example is with regards to perhaps my favorite moment of the book (and a very effective moment in the previous adaptation), when Bigwig tells Woundwort, "My Chief Rabbit has told me to stay and defend this run," and Woundwort is stunned to realize that Bigwig is not the Chief Rabbit. The moment works in part because it is unexpected (at least on first reading/viewing), in part because it represents such a moment of sincere devotion on Bigwig's part, and in part because it is not spoon-fed to the reader/viewer. By having Hazel specifically tell Bigwig in advance that he should mention his Chief Rabbit in order to spook the Efrafans, the impact of the moment is spoiled in every regard.

Finally, there's this version's failure to replicate Adams's very careful balancing act when it comes to how much he should humanize the rabbits. While he obviously has to allow them a level of intellect and a form of verbal communication rabbits don't really posses, he basically keeps them thinking like rabbits. When there are particularly un-rabbit-like behaviors involving abstract thought - Blackberry figuring out how to cross the river, the "shapes" made of rocks in Cowslip's warren - he emphasizes that most of the rabbits cannot comprehend these things. But in the new adaptation, these elements are present, but they aren't treated as unusual, they aren't specifically beyond the comprehension of normal rabbits; they're just things from the novel, stuck into the movie without concern for tone or significance.

So, yeah, it was fine. Told the story, had some affecting moments and some solid performances, but I doubt it'll have anything like the lasting impact of the novel or the 1978 movie.

[Jeff-Goldblum2]

Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters and Yokai Monsters: Along With Ghosts

I last watched two of the Yokai Monsters movies. 100 Monsters and Along With Ghosts.

These two movies are ok but I enjoyed Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare the most, especially when Kappa calls the Babylonian Demon a filthy bastard. Hilarious.

The atmosphere in all three movies within set pieces like the Japanese swamps and forests are really well done. I liked that all the movies ended with the Yokai dancing away.

[G-Matt]

I went to see a Hammer prehistoric double feature yesterday. The first one was When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970). I'd seen it before on TV (uncut, no less) and I thought it's still an imperfect, but enjoyable movie, with very good stop-motion effects. The second movie was Creatures the World Forgot (1971). To me, this movie was the polar opposite of the former, and not just because it didn't have any dinosaurs or whatnot. After the volcano sequence at the beginning, the movie got boring really fast. It's a total snooze-fest.

My ratings are 3.5/5 and 0.5/5, respectively.

[KManX89]

I just saw Escape Room. Man, that shit was immersive as hell, I couldn't imagine being in those rooms, I couldn't help but try and put myself in those poor souls' shoes while watching this, but man, that Zoey chick was annoying AF. Actually, a lot of the mains weren't likable. The ending left a lot to be desired as well. The traps, though, while they last, for the most part were cool.

[GodzillaFan1990's]

I just saw Escape Room. Man, that poop was immersive as hell, I couldn't imagine being in those rooms, I couldn't help but try and put myself in those poor souls' shoes while watching this, but man, that Zoey chick was annoying AF. Actually, a lot of the mains weren't likable. The ending left a lot to be desired as well. The traps, though, while they last, for the most part were cool.

Movie has kind of spark my interest but I'll probably wait until NetFlix to see it.

[Grievous]

I just saw Escape Room. Man, that poop was immersive as hell, I couldn't imagine being in those rooms, I couldn't help but try and put myself in those poor souls' shoes while watching this, but man, that Zoey chick was annoying AF. Actually, a lot of the mains weren't likable. The ending left a lot to be desired as well. The traps, though, while they last, for the most part were cool.

So...its a SAW/Jigsaw rip off film?

[SoggyNoodles2016]

Rented a bunch of stuff from the library, mostly to rewatch some films I wanted to recheck my feelings on and one new film.

Land Of The Lost (2009): Eh. It's stupid schlock, but sometimes it's knowingly scholck. I enjoy it but it ain't no Oscar winner. 6/10.

Krampus (2015): DAMN. I went in expecting little and was blown away. This movie rocked. Intense tension, scary monsters, and the one thing all monster movies need: characters you care about. The stuff with the family worked very well. Not to mention, I loved that it wasn't too grim or too silly. It embraced some of the ridcoulusness and used it as part of it's charm.

10/10. Godzilla's in good hands.

[KManX89]

I just saw Escape Room. Man, that poop was immersive as hell, I couldn't imagine being in those rooms, I couldn't help but try and put myself in those poor souls' shoes while watching this, but man, that Zoey chick was annoying AF. Actually, a lot of the mains weren't likable. The ending left a lot to be desired as well. The traps, though, while they last, for the most part were cool.

So...its a SAW/Jigsaw rip off film?

Kinda, not really. The traps don't require you to badly torture/mutilate yourself to pass. They're more like death puzzles than Saw traps.

[Mr_Goji_and_Watch]

Saw Mishima. Beautiful film, everything about it was sublime. Just seeing the man's life and how it was reflected in some of his writing like goddamn. Kino, if you will.

[Grievous]

They're more like death puzzles than Saw traps.

I...hang on...isn't that just the same thing?

[Zarm]

ABC's Quest (one of several yearly rewatches). Such a great show.

[Grievous]

+ Saturday Night Triple Feature +

Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)



My personal favorite of the Die Hard films.

Flash Gordon (1980)



Stupid, campy & fun as hell.

Them! (1954)



I love this one...and I always will.

[G-Matt]

+ Saturday Night Triple Feature +

Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)



My personal favorite of the Die Hard films.

Flash Gordon (1980)



Stupid, campy & fun as hell.

Them! (1954)



I love this one...and I always will.

Great choices. All of them.

[Grievous]

Great choices. All of them.

Thanks.

I generally have a movie night every Saturday with
a couple of friends & we each pick a film to watch
while also getting some take out food.

Its a good time...and some weeks we even watch
kaiju films.

[eabaker]

Saw On the Basis of Sex yesterday. There were several good places that the narrative could have begun, but they chose to start the movie about 14 years before any of them. The first, I dunno, 40 or 45 minutes of the movie were typical biopic stuff full of needless time skips through unnecessary sequences. Once it got to 1970 and started actually telling its story, though, it was quite good.

[Jeff-Goldblum2]

Anaconda (1997)

Hey guys just finished watching the 90's classic Anaconda the best snake movie.

Hey girlies if you want to see a giant snake you don't have to travel to South America. You can just watch the DVD of Anaconda instead.

I'm a snake, i'm gonna eat you up Jennifer Lopez. I'm gonna eat you Jon Voight. Jon Voight does get eaten in this movie. This movie came out in 1997 and Jennifer Lopez's music career started around 1998. Had the snake eaten her as well it could have saved us a lot of grief. Watch Ice Cube take on snake.

Owen Wilson gets crushed by the snake, just like starring alongside Ben Stiller crushed his hopes of being considered a great actor.

Frank Welker is probably my favorite actor in this movie, he does the voice of the snake. It's mostly just horrific sounding screeching. Which is more talented than what the other Thespians in this movie are capable of.

[Grievous]

Anaconda (1997)

Hey guys just finished watching the 90's classic Anaconda the best snake movie.

Hey girlies if you want to see a giant snake you don't have to travel to South America. You can just watch the DVD of Anaconda instead.

I'm a snake, i'm gonna eat you up Jennifer Lopez. I'm gonna eat you Jon Voight. Jon Voight does get eaten in this movie. This movie came out in 1997 and Jennifer Lopez's music career started around 1998. Had the snake eaten her as well it could have saved us a lot of grief. Watch Ice Cube take on snake.

Owen Wilson gets crushed by the snake, just like starring alongside Ben Stiller crushed his hopes of being considered a great actor.

Frank Welker is probably my favorite actor in this movie, he does the voice of the snake. It's mostly just horrific sounding screeching. Which is more talented than what the other Thespians in this movie are capable of.

[Jeff-Goldblum2]

Dracula AD 1972

Just rewatched Dracula AD 1972. One of many Hammer Dracula films starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

Hey Dracula man do you play the PlayStation? Yeah man I play the PlayStation. Far out man.

Overcooked modern dialogue aside, at least for the time, I enjoyed the premise of this movie. Peter Cushing playing the grandson of Van Helsing who he played in the earlier films and also with Jessica Van Helsing, the great grand daughter of Van Helsing.