Topic: The Movie Thread

Dune: Part Two (Cinema) - Took a bit to really get going (it definitely expects more from you than something like Star Wars or Avatar), but once it hit it's stide and started paying off it was excellent. By far the best thing I've seen in theaters so far this year, and I think it's going to be a high bar to clear.

Spring Break (Tubi) - 80's comedy about college kids partying in Fort Lauderdale, Florida during spring break. Not particularly notable, but fun if you like these kinds of 80's comedies.

Stand by Me (Blu-Ray) - Another thrift pick up. Pretty much the quintessential coming of age film, at least for boys, IMO. No matter how many times I watch it the train scene always makes me so anxious, and the great Superman vs Mighty Mouse debate reminds me of the similar debates me & my friends had at that age (although there was a lot more DBZ involved for us, lol).

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Cinema) - Maybe it's just because I wasn't expecting much from it, but I actually enjoyed this a bit. It does seem a tad bit moodier than previous outings, but it's still very much comedy first, horror second. Now, a lot of the comedy comes in the form of standard "sitcom family" jokes amongst the core cast/family & nostalgic call backs to the classic films (& it appears they've decided that the mini Stay Puft marshmallow men from the last one are a permanent fixture, taking on the role similar to Despicable Me's minions, goofing around the lab(s)), so the quality in that department is up for debate, but my theatre seemed to be into it. Without getting into spoilers, the thing that seemed most out of place to me was the subplot involving a friendly ghost who just acted like a regular person.

the Departed (Blu-Ray) - a young cop with a troubled past becomes a police informant embedding himself amongst the Boston Mob (with the boss being Jack Nicholson), but things aren't as easy as first seemed because an all star cop amongst the force is himself a mole in service of the Mob, and both are soon in a race to find out who the other rat is. Picked this up thrifting, and it ended up being a pretty fantastic movie. Really gripping.

Otaku no Video (Blu-Ray) - Really interesting insight into Otaku culture of the 80's & 90's. It follows a young college student who falls in with a crowd of otaku & you can see how becoming a shut in affects his personal life & relationships (of course, being an anime film targeted directly at the otaku audience, things end up much happier for him, as he gets the last laugh against society). Still, it seems like there is some truth to it's depiction of otaku culture of the era, given that it's very loosely based on how Studio Gainax (it's animation studio) was founded. Also had fake live action "interviews" with former/closeted Otaku which made me a bit self conscious about my anime figure collection, lol.

Summer School Teachers (Tubi) - 70's B-comedy that follows a trio of aspiring Midwestern teachers who head out to California for a shot at education careers out on the coast, but these free spirited young women are going to have to win over their conservative/old timey colleagues in order to make it. Pretty poorly made & had a few tonal inconsistencies (the science teacher's storyline felt more serious & drama-ish compared to the comedic tones of the other two stories), but it had a charm to it & had a few laughs.

Godzilla X Kong: the New Empire 3D (Cinema) - Plot is about as dumb as a box of rocks, but man if this isn't the most fun I've had at the theatre this year. It's more Kong centric, but Godzilla definitely steals the show whenever he does show up on screen. The spectacle really shines in 3D too (whether it be Big G splattering bug guts everywhere, or all the dizzying twirling Hollow Earth shots & anti-grav shenanigans).

The Favourite (Blu-Ray) - Picked this up thrifting, and while it does have it's merits, I just don't think it's my kinda thing. That's okay though, it's good to take a step out of your comfort zone every once in awhile, even if it doesn't always pay off.

Summer Job (Tubi) - this 80's comedy doesn't have much in the way of a plot, just a bunch of college kids partying, pranking one another, & looking for romance while working a summer job at a beach resort, with a lot of screentime dedicated to beautiful beach bods, sunsets, and pristine waters (even with the effect a bit muted as it seems to be taken from a tape master, the definite SD resolution doesn't do it much favors). Still, it's fun if you're in the right mood.

From Up On Poppy Hill (Blu-Ray) - Set in 1960's Japan as the nation prepares for the Tokyo Olympics, a pair of high schoolers find love as they campaign for the restoration of a historic school facility earmarked for demolition, however secrets behind their parantage may bar them from being together. Absolutely brilliant film, definitely at or near the top of my Ghibli ranking. Very beautiful & emotional.

Minions: the Rise of Gru (Amazon Prime) - Pretty much run of the mill affair for what, the 5th(?) entry in this franchise. But hey, it was amusing enough, which is why they're able to churn out as many as they do.

Private Lessons (Tubi) - When the teenage son of a multimillionaire is left home alone while his father is away on a trip, he lives every teenage boy's fantasy when the new hot housemaid starts coming on to him. Turns out it's all part of a plot by the family's greedy chauffeur who's trying to blackmail the kid out of $10,000, and he has to find a way to get it back before dad comes home. It's so absurd it loops to being funny, although even by 80's standards I'm surprised this was allowed to be made (let alone available on a modern streaming platform).

Just saw 3 in the theatre

Ghostbusters Frozen Empire - Good Fun. Not excellent but was better than expected.

Zilla x Kong - Super Meh imo. I saw Godzilla Minus One and greadking adored it. Maybe that ruint this for me? I actually gelt like leaving halfway though.

Monkey Man - Was ok. Action was good but not nearly as much as I expected.

Civil War (Cinema) - Set during a hypothetical modern US civil war, the film doesn't take any time to set up why the conflict is happening in the first place nor does it take a hard line politically (while there may be a few subtle hints of Trump in the president come dictator, such as a dismantling of the FBI & a murderous distrust of the media, his political party is left unmentioned, & while the unlikely union of Texas & California's "Western Forces" is the predominant rebel force against the government, the film doesn't portray them as heroes or liberators). Rather, it focuses on a small group of photojournalists making the dangerous trek from NYC to the front line, in the hopes of documenting the WF's historic seige of D.C., travelling through the ruined carcasses of towns which the fighting has already passed through, documenting small outer skirmishes, stopping at a small town that has seemingly managed to avoid the ravages of war, a refugee camp, & more on their way to the big show. While it may disappoint some that it doesn't take a blatant hard line stance on current political discourse, the imagery is all too often raw & pulls no punches when it comes to the brutality of war from all involved, and it had more than one absolutely heart stopping moment.

Deadpool (Blu-Ray) - Another thrift pick up. Probably have done a write up of this one at some point before, but it remains pretty fun, and I always seem to pick up on a new reference or two I missed out on the last time I watched it. Some good, inappropriate, laughs.

Neighbors (Blu-Ray) - The last of my thrift pick ups. Seth Rogan comedy about a couple of new parents who have to make a choice between the responsibility of adulting and trying to hold on to their youth when a roudy fraternity moves in next door. It seems well made enough for what it is & provided a few laughs, but I think I just overall don't care for the vibe of Seth Rogan's work (maybe I'm just a little old at heart, but give me Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, or John Candy any day of the week. Heck, even Will Ferrell will do for someone a bit more modern).

Pretty Smart (Tubi) - 80's teen comedy that sees a pair of sisters with polar opposite personalities (a good girl & troublemaker respectively) sent to private school in Europe & end up in rival cliques. When it's learned that the skeevy headmaster is secretly recording the girls' dorms (& selling the tapes) and using the students to move drugs, the sisters will have to get the cliques to put aside their differences in order to take him down & save the school. Maybe not a particularly novel setup for a teen comedy of the era, but I had a load of fun with it.

Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams (Tubi) - Old stoner movie from the early 80's. Our titular pair rip off a bunch of product from their supplier (which turns it's smokers into lizards, for some reason), and antics ensue as they try to evade the police. It's funny enough for what it is, and worth a watch just to see Paul Reubens (of Pee Wee Herman fame) play a coked out mental patient.

Metal Skin Panic: Madox-01 (Blu-Ray) - the US Army loses a prototype battle armor in a Tokyo traffic accident, a young mechanic gets stuck in it while mucking around with it, but no time to get it off as he has to be on time for a date with his estranged girlfriend before she goes off to study in Europe! He'll make his rendezvous no matter what, even if he has to fight off the Army trying to reclaim it's toy along the way. This is short & to the point (under an hour long), and is a pretty fun watch. I just love the vibe of these old 80's sci-fi OVAs.

Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child of Fire (Netflix) - This doesn't have a single original bone in it's body, whether it be aesthetically or narratively. A hodgepodge of locations & ideas ripped from other more notable sci-fi & fantasy properties without any attempt to make them mesh together in a cohesive way (& the narrative itself is just the first half of Seven Samurai spread out over 2 & a half hours), but what it does have going for it is a very gigantic, impressive even, sense of scale & grandeur with some fun action (even if it goes laughably overkill on the slow-mo & lens flare). This isn't a "good" movie, but it's the kind of project that's probably the favorite film of some nerdy 13 year old boy out there, and as someone who was a nerdy 13 year old boy at some point myself, it appealed to that part of me (which is how I feel about a lot of Zack Snider stuff come to think of it, kind of like a guilty pleasure. If he ever gets to release that big R rated cut I heard he wants to release, I'll probably be there).

Howard the Duck (Tubi) - I... Was not expecting to see duck boobs. Seriously, this is definitely pretty bad, but so much so that it's pretty hilarious (felt pretty decently high budget for a comedy as well. This was definitely a blunder). Still, ignoring the alien demon invasion aspect in the latter half, it could have maybe been salvageable if it stuck to Howard being a duck out of water in our world for more of it's runtime. This is the kind of project that should be a D+ MCU TV series (given the character is a tertiary peripheral existence in the GotG films). Tangently related to the overall brand, but not to the point where it's particularly important to film continuity.

Showdown in Little Tokyo (Blu-Ray) - Dolph Lundgren plays an L.A. supercop who has it out for the Yakuza, who are trying to get a foothold in the US (and whose leader killed his parents). Big on action, it's short, to the point, & pretty fun. I had actually caught this late night on HBO as a kid but never remembered the name or any of the actors, so I went about 2 decades without seeing it until now when I relearned of it. These old 80's/90's Hollywood flicks that deal with the topic/fear of Japan's growing economic/cultural relevance (at the time) might not always be the best representation, but as someone who was a Japan obsessed kid before widespread Internet adoption they were pretty much all we had outside of the occasional Godzilla marathon or whatever anime was airing on Cartoon Network at the time, so I have a bit of a nostalgic connection to them. Hope I can get around to seeing Rising Sun, Gung Ho, & Mr. Baseball in the future as well (& maybe discovering some I don't know of).

The Abyss (4K UHD Blu-Ray) - Watched the Director's Cut version.

After a nuclear sub goes down after running across an unknown craft, a nearby deep sea oil rig crew is contracted to go on a rescue/research mission before a hurricane moves in, but what they find will change their (& our) world forever.

Tense, gripping, mesmerizing, & beautiful are all feelings that come to mind. James Cameron is clearly a master of his craft when it comes to VFX, and despite a few moments showing their age, this was pretty much just as immersive as any modern special effects showcase (like the new Dune movies), that didn't feel nearly as long as it's 3 hour run time would suggest.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (Cinema) - 2 & a half hours of monkeys with no poop throwing 0/10! Seriously though, it could be a bit slow in the first half, but it ended up being pretty good. Definite sequel bait at the end, though.

Grave of the Fireflies (Blu-Ray) - Absolutely gut wrenching stuff. Still don't entirely understand why the kid didn't ultimately suck it up & go crawling back to his aunt though. She was a bit of a donkey's behind, but it's not like she actively kicked them out or anything (though maybe it would have gone against the "polite" sensibilities of Japanese society for her to physically kick them out, and her behavior was the "polite" way of telling the kids to get lost, I dunno).

Back to School (Blu-Ray) - I'd seen bits & pieces of this before on TV, but realized I'd never seen the whole thing (or much of anything else with Rodney Dangerfield, other than Caddyshack), so I decided to pick this up on BD (a double pack with another of his comedies, which I also watched). I don't think Dangerfield is quite up there as Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Chevy Chase, or John Candy when it comes to big 80's comedians, but this was still a pretty fun watch, as he plays a wealthy business owner with a working class mentality who decides to attend college with his son (he skipped out when he was younger to work for his father's clothing business, which he inherited & expanded into a national chain).

Easy Money (Blu-Ray) - the other Dangerfield film in the double pack. This time in the role of a middle class father who has a weakness for various vices (gambling, drinking, smoking, gluttony, etc), however when his mother in-law passes away she leaves the family her $10,000,000 retail empire, but only if he can straighten himself out & refrain from partaking in any of his vices for a year. I didn't much care for the subplot involving his daughter's marriage, but other than that, I'd say I enjoyed this one a bit more of the two films.

Paprika (4K UHD Blu-Ray) - Anime film in which a small group of scientists & a detective get caught up in a case where someone steals a device that let's them go into/merge people dreams, and people start dying after being afflicted with delusions while awake. It's a pretty twisty & trippy tale, and also very gorgeous. Interesting watch.

Kiki’s Delivery Service - I recently watched this with my brother and mother for Mother’s Day and few weeks ago for the first time.

I have watched Studio Ghibli’s movies before, but I actually have not watched a ton of them; if I recall, I’ve only watched Ponyo, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and From Up on Poppy Hill. Kiki’s Delivery Service is one of their most popular movies and I actually didn’t know much about it or even most of its plot, so I saw it and absolutely enjoyed it. I thought it was a really cute movie, had nice characters, and I found the delivery service super fun. Anime films are full of so much creativity and passion, and I think that is what Ghibli exceeds in very well.

I think I should watch more Ghibli movies, but I’m not really a movie fanatic, so I have not seen a bunch of classic movies that everyone talks about. I also don’t watch recently released movies; usually I watch maybe one or two new movies and then I stop, since most of the time they don’t really interest me. There’s only one movie coming out this year that I actually want to see, but it doesn’t release until later this year, so I am just going to wait for that.

Wish

I had heard of a lot of not so great things about the movie and even rewatched a ton of reviews for it sort of as something to entertain me while I did my hobbies, but I never watched it upon release or even did a random one-time watch of it when it was released on streaming. I saw the movie for the first time today and it wasn’t really good in my opinion; I found most of the reviews I watched for Wish to be right.

I think the main issue with the movie is the characters and writing. The protagonist seemed like an uninteresting and generic quirky girl, and I’d say that she acts a little selfish and that a lot of the problems that happen in the movie are caused by her. The villain isn’t really a villain either despite how evil the film tries making him seem to be, though he is not well written either; a LOT of the film’s cast of characters are bland, not deep, or written great. I also don’t know why there was a talking goat thrown in there. He was so unfunny and was clearly there just to sell marketable plushies.

The music was pretty bad too I feel. The performers sound great, but I think what really makes the songs forgettable and not good is from them carrying badly written lyrics. The songs are too poppy (not that I have an issue with pop music but there’s a bit too much in the film) and some lyrics are a bit cringy and use too many unnecessary words. I’d say the worst song lyric-wise was the villain song unfortunately… it sounds great vocally, but is taken down a lot from the awful lyrics that go with it. It’s a bit surprising that Disney, who has made several catchy, well-written, and memorable songs, couldn’t repeat it here, especially since the movie was made to celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary last year. There was a review I watched prior to seeing the actual movie, and the video had a portion that went over the lyrics for that specific song. Despite only hearings a few seconds of the song prior to watching the film, I could tell how underwhelming the track was just by the snippet of lyrics alone in that review.

I also know that the movie was for their 100th anniversary, but they crammed in so many references to their past movies a ton. There wasn’t really ANY subtly with the references, and they sort of added nothing. The main character’s friends are supposed to be based on the seven dwarfs from Snow White, but they don’t really do anything in the story or get real development from how much of them there is.

However, there was some good things about it, but not enough to save it. I thought the voice cast was great, and they did a great job voicing their characters, and the art style they were going for with the animation didn’t look bad, and it was a nice attempt at stylization. A lot of people dislike the animation style, but I don’t think it looks terrible. Maybe less detailed than previous animated Disney movies, but they were intentionally trying to go for some sort of watercolor look and coloring for the animation, though they apparently were going to do the movie in 2D, which I feel would have looked fantastic, and the art style maybe would have looked better there than in 3D.

Anyway, I just feel that the movie wasn’t good at all, and it’s shocking that they didn’t give it their all in so many aspects when making a movie that was intended to celebrate their centennial. The film wasn’t really fun or interesting in my opinion…

Belladonna of Sadness (4K UHD Blu-Ray) - In spite of being a 50 year old film, this is one of the most mesmerizing looking anime films I've ever seen. Which is saying something, as it utilizes a lot of still (or sparsely animated) scenes, which really gives props to the quality of the art itself. And oh boy, when it does go all out on animation you get some fantastic sequences (such as the visualization of how the Plague spreads across the village). Definitely one for the adults only though.

Fantastic 4 (Blu-Ray) - the 2000's one. I picked this up at a thrift store (in a triple pack with Daredevil & Elektra, which I'll get around to eventually as well). I don't think I've seen it since we rented it on DVD back when it first came out. Definitely very middle of the road for what it is. It had it's moments, but superhero films have come a long way since. How it handled Dr. Doom was probably it's biggest shortcoming though.

Hurricane Polymar (Blu-Ray) - I don't watch enough "Tokusatsu" stuff to know whether or not this is considered a good example of the genre, but I thought it was alright. A bit too cheesy for me maybe, but worth the buy to support Discotek.

The Wind Rises (Blu-Ray) - Absolutely phenomenal film. I won't lie, I think overall Miyazaki hasn't been my favorite Ghibli director (I generally prefer Takahata's output, & even the one Goro Miyazaki film I've seen, which I know is blasphemy lol), but this is definitely my favorite from him so far, and is one of my favorite Ghibli films. If you can get over how it sort of downplays Japan in WWII, it's a brilliant watch.

I understand this will likely be a little TL;DR, but here are all the films I watched over the past couple weeks (with the exception of Malena & the anime titles, I picked up everything thrifting).

Daredevil (Blu-Ray) - the 2003 version (Director's Cut). I think this actually started out pretty strongly, but got a little shaky as it went on. Still has some good elements though, and I wouldn't call it terrible.

Elektra (Blu-Ray) - This on the other hand wasn't very good at all. Only watched it because it was included with Fantastic 4 & Daredevil (got the three pack at a thrift store for $2, so can't complain).

Gladiator (Blu-Ray) - Haven't watched this in a good while, and am glad to report it's still fantastic. Easily the best thing I watched over the past couple weeks & am now pretty excited for the legacy sequel coming out.

Gurren Lagaan: Childhood's End (Blu-Ray) - The first half of the TV series abridged into film format. There is some new animation which is cool to see (along with a bunch re-used from the show), but it's best watched as a refresher for existing fans, rather than a jumping on point for newbies.

Gurren Lagaan: the Lights in the Sky are Stars (Blu-Ray) - The second half of the TV series abridged into film format. I give it pretty much the same assessment as the first.

Independence Day (Blu-Ray) - Watched this on the titular holiday (with the dog on my lap as he's afraid of fireworks). Haven't actually sat down to watch this one in a long time, but it was a pretty fun time, even if the film itself was pretty uneven. I think it jumps around a bit much and would probably be a bit tighter if they cut out Randy Quaid's storyline, but at the same time he has some of the best bits in the film so I'm not sure I'd want that, lol. Similarly, I think it does a great job setting up the tension when the saucers are entering the atmosphere, but once the action gets going the effects start tearing apart at the seams.

Malena (Blu-Ray) - Picked up the uncut Imprint release. Coming of age story set amongst the backdrop of WWII Italy. Could be pretty tonally inconsistent, but it was worth the watch, IMO.

the Monuments Men (Blu-Ray) - Pretty breezy film about a group of academics who are sent into Europe during WWII in order to identify & protect art/historic sites, etc. with a pretty all star cast. It wasn't a masterpiece itself, but I really enjoyed watching it.

Shazam (Blu-Ray) - It's not a perfect movie, but man is it a fun time. Really captures the vibe of all the kinds of mischief a kid would get into if they suddenly had superpowers. Definitely the best out of all the superhero flicks in this list.

Spider-Man 3 (Blu-Ray) - It definitely had it's moments, but was definitely stretched a bit too thin with the three antagonists. Like Independence Day it's another one I hadn't seen in a long time & wish I would have liked a bit more, even if there were good parts.

Ghostbusters Frozen Empire - A big frozen turd / 10

The opening sequences were great, as well as the ghost ones, but in-between that it was subpar. Even the comedic antics of the original cast were missing. Goes to show the scriptwriters aren't good enough in comedy. The actor who portrays The Firecaster, seemed to be not allowed to go all out as a comedic sidekick. At least that possessor ghost was the best part as the ghosts were concerned, but Slimer was good. As others noted, the Phoebe parts end up questionable.

Now, I've seen every Ghostbusters film, and obviously the 1st one is still the best, and that god-awful 2016 version as the worst. I rate Afterlife as 2nd, Ghostbusters 2 as 3rd, and Frozen Empire as 4th.

I got suckered in by Prime Day and ordered a bunch of 4Ks (since most were only around $10 a pop, save one or two).

• 1917
• Back to the Future trilogy
• Braveheart
• Dune: Part 1
• Kong: Skull Island
• Godzilla (2014)
• Godzilla: KotM
• Godzilla vs Kong
• Schindler's List
• Zach Snyder's Justice League

Not sure when I'm going to have the time to watch all of it though. I've picked up well over a dozen standard Blu-Rays thrifting over the last month that I'm not even close to getting through as well, lol.

Also just remembered I have the "Criterion" Risky Business 4K on pre-order that releases next week as well.

Saw Twisters in Imax last night. It wasn't one I was super excited for, but I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Pretty good summer popcorn flick.

I would have liked for it to have had some sort of deeper connection to the original Twister though, as it pretty much had nothing to do with it outside of the theme. The new gen did have an old Dorothy device in like the first 10 minutes of the film, but it's not explained where they got it (no one seems to be descended from the OG cast), and it never appears again after the fact.

Otherwise, here are the movies I watched last weekend:

Ocean Waves (Blu-Ray) - Ghibli film that breaks away from their typical fantastical mold in favor of a more grounded drama/romance centered around a group of friends in high school. Could be a tad slow at times, but I actually really enjoyed it.

V for Vendetta (Blu-Ray) - Got this one thrifting. In spite of the effect it's had on pop culture, I actually hadn't seen it until now. It was pretty solid. Can't say it's something I'll be itching to watch again any time soon, but it was definitely an interesting watch.

Wonder Woman (Blu-Ray) - Another thrifting get, and another one (believe it or not) I haven't seen in full until now. Pretty excellent all around, from the effectively immersive world design to the action. I think it kinda mishandled it's big bad, but otherwise is pretty flawless. It's kinda wild how many times DC pretty much nailed that first film (MoS, WW, Shazam!, Aquaman), only to somehow completely fumble the followups.