Movie opinions thread (what have you seen, what did you think?)

[famicommander]

It started filming today AFAIK.

Surprised Fami hasn't posted the news that Alec Baldwin has been charged for a second time with involuntary manslaughter.

The prosecutor is a big ol' Trumpster doucher so as much as I hate Baldwin there's nobody to root for.

Still think he's at least partially responsible, though. He was a producer and there had been multiple gun safety issues on the set already before he accidentally shot two people because he ignored basic gun safety guidelines from both the actor and producer side. Baldwin, the AD, and the armorer should all be punished. And the other producers, too.

 

[SouthtownKid]

The prosecutor is a big ol' Trumpster doucher so as much as I hate Baldwin there's nobody to root for.

This isn't pro wrestling. You don't need to "root" for anyone. You could, like, just want justice for the victim or whatever.

 

[famicommander]

This isn't pro wrestling. You don't need to "root" for anyone. You could, like, just want justice for the victim or whatever.

I do want justice. I'm just not as enthusiastic about it when the guy responsible for attaining it is just as big of a shitbag as the people he's up against. In my opinion the prosecutor is only taking the case because he hates Baldwin for making fun of Trump, and couldn't care less about the safety of anybody on that set or repercussions for the people that got shot. And that's pretty shitty.

But at the same time, I think Baldwin should be held accountable for his negligent stupidity.

Remember, fake asked why I didn't post about it. That was why.

 

[terry.330]

The Mummy Returns- The first movie was a perfectly serviceable hokey action adventure throwback. Sure it's dumb and cheesy but it has its charm. This one however is just a perfect example of what not to do in a sequel. It's bigger, it's dumber, there's more bad humor, even more terrible CG and lets just throw a super annoying little kid in while we're at it. On second though lets make the kid the whole crux of the plot. The only good thing in the entire movie is when the chicks ninja fight half naked in that flashback scene. That's it, everything else is absolute garbage.

 

[Average Joe]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

This isn't the best Potter film, but it is probably my favorite in terms of watchability. I know it had a solid budget at the time, but it still feels rather quaint and even a bit jank (in a charming way) due to the terrible early 2000s CG. It honestly just does a near perfect recreation of its literary counterpart due to its casting choices and set design; it's impossible at this point for me to listen to the audiobooks and not picture the actors from the movies and that started here.

 

[LoneSage]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

This isn't the best Potter film, but it is probably my favorite in terms of watchability. I know it had a solid budget at the time, but it still feels rather quaint and even a bit jank (in a charming way) due to the terrible early 2000s CG. It honestly just does a near perfect recreation of its literary counterpart due to its casting choices and set design; it's impossible at this point for me to listen to the audiobooks and not picture the actors from the movies and that started here.

I saw the Hogwarts Castle yesterday at Universal Studios Beijing, serendipity

 

[Average Joe]

I saw the Hogwarts Castle yesterday at Universal Studios Beijing, serendipity

Is Harry Potter a big thing over there?

I never considered its popularity in that kind of market before.

 

[terry.330]

I thought HP wasn't a thing over there because they're scared of witches.

Although they do love spectacle and theme parks so I could see how they would make an exception for something like that.

 

[LoneSage]

It is absolutely huge over here, extremely popular. The movies are popular, the books are popular, it's all so tiring.

 

[terry.330]

Did some googling and apparently HP is popular enough in China that they have expanded the lore to include all kinds of Chinese legends and mysticism. There also appear to be fake HP books written specifically for the Chinese market all about Chinese magicians being the best.

They do love mystical bullshit and basic good vs. evil stories told on an epic scale. Plus there aren't any prominent characters that are black and HP prints money so yeah makes sense that it would be huge there.

 

[Average Joe]

I'd legit be interested in reading unofficial Harry Potter books with a Communist twist.

 

[Heinz]

I'd legit be interested in reading unofficial Harry Potter books with a Communist twist.

 

[terry.330]

 

[Average Joe]

 

[terry.330]

Halloween: Resurrection- This is the one with Busta Rhymes kung-fu fighting Michael live on the internet. That should tell you everything you need to know.

Dark City- A retro, sci-fi, noir, reality bending mystery from the director of The Crow. Which unfortunately bombed in theaters and was quickly forgotten once The Matrix came out. Great cast, great sets and miniatures, really one of the last of it's kind. It's a flawed movie though, the story and script are a little off, the CG is obviously a little dated and a lot of stuff just feels kind of ho-hum since it's been copied and one-upped for the last 25+ years. Still it's a criminally underrated movie and it's worth watching for the visuals and atmosphere alone.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Way late, but finally saw the Hellraiser reboot. I liked it alot, which is to say it was better than any Hellraiser from 3 on. Not a high bar, but these are movies I always want to like, so it's nice to have an instance where I actually can. Premise was decent, visuals were solid. Kind of surpised to see it wasn't written by Barker. I thought I'd heard he was going to write this.

 

[terry.330]

Way late, but finally saw the Hellraiser reboot. I liked it alot, which is to say it was better than any Hellraiser from 3 on. Not a high bar, but these are movies I always want to like, so it's nice to have an instance where I actually can. Premise was decent, visuals were solid. Kind of surpised to see it wasn't written by Barker. I thought I'd heard he was going to write this.

I didn't love this but there was definitely a lot of good stuff in it. I thought the new Pinhead was great and the bad guy having that mechanism embedded into his body was an awesome idea and visually interesting. I know they made a lot of scenes really dark to hide the low quality CG but there were times I straight up couldn't tell what was happening. I also really dislike the whole junkie protagonist cliche, they've done this in a few newer horror movies and I think it's kind of lazy. They at least fleshed her character out a little bit in this though, which they don't do in the others.

 

[SouthtownKid]

I know they made a lot of scenes really dark to hide the low quality CG but there were times I straight up couldn't tell what was happening.

Where did you see this? Because I didn't encounter it on streaming. And the smaller screen I watched it on probably helped hide any bad CG better than darkness would anyway.

 

[jro]

I had no idea Clive Barker was gay. No idea how I managed to not notice that amidst the the, um, not at all obvious undertones in his various works. And yes the Hellraiser reboot is entirely better than it has any right to be.

Anyway, re-watch and new watches and some ranting:

Prince of Darkness (re-watch) - this was maybe the fourth or so time I've watched this, and somehow it was the closest attention I've paid to it. Caught a few details I'd missed every time before, can't help but appreciate it more and more. Also kind of cracks me up how incredibly loyal Carpenter was to his small stable of preferred actors, talent/lack thereof be damned.

The Holdovers - outside of my usual range of genres but really enjoyable. Just kind of an old-school kick back and have fun comedy/drama, little serious but not overly so. Really good.

Strays - much more entertaining than I was expecting, so much so that it got me to turn off the handheld and pay more attention about 30 minutes in. Ferrell, Fox, and Fisher were all really committed to the bit, and Forte (lot of F names) nailed the vibe. I didn't realize, right up until I saw their names in the credits, that this was a Lord/Miller production. Those dudes can make anything work.

Pearl - much better than X. Letting Mia Goth carry the movie entirely as young Pearl works a lot better. I still generally think Ti West is a very good filmmaker but he's not been close to House of the Devil in a while.

Special Ari Aster is hilariously overrated section:

Hereditary (re-watch) - could have sworn this was scary, rewatch had zero thrills. The girl getting her head knocked off by a sign is still fun, totes obvs, but nothing else is worth paying attention to.

Beau is Afraid - just, wtf. A24 seems like they generally get their decisions right as to what to finance/make/whatever, this was not a good choice. 3 hours (!!) of inane almost completely pointless navel-gazing. Performances were fine, but what an awful script. Of course it lost money, and it deserved to do so.

I remember generally liking Midsommar, but also that I didn't think it was a masterpiece by any measure. I've considered re-watching it a few times, though now the only reason I can think of to do so is to try to convince myself that Aster isn't a hack. Not gonna bother I don't think. I know not everyone likes Jordan Peele's stuff, but man, as far as modern-day generally-accepted horror auteurs go, Aster shouldn't be in the conversation.

Fun ball-smashing: Most of Key and Peele sucked (Chappelle wasn't wrong), but I like this one. In an alternate universe, Steven Spielberg is taking those howitzers.

 

[Average Joe]

Prince of Darkness is so close to greatness that it kind of frustrates me a bit. With just a bit more money thrown at it we could have gotten some really good stuff. All the God/Devil plot stuff is super interesting, but a lot of the movie is just people hiding in closets from people that spit goop. I still think it's a bit underrated, but it doesn't touch Mouth of Madness which has become a favorite of mine.

Speaking of favorites, Pearl is my favorite Horror movie of that year and I HATED X; terry330 actually convinced me to give it a chance and I'm glad I did.

 

[terry.330]

Where did you see this? Because I didn't encounter it on streaming. And the smaller screen I watched it on probably helped hide any bad CG better than darkness would anyway.

I watched it on a 55" Sony Bravia via Hulu with whatever bullshit specs they claim it streams in 4k w/ HDR. It was a fairly common complaint when the movie came out, so I know it's not just me.

Forbidden World- A Roger Corman produced Alien knockoff from 1982. Like most Corman productions it's super cheap, sloppy and trashy but still surprisingly entertaining and different enough from Alien that it feels unique. There are reused sets and a bunch of space battle footage that doesn't match anything, the outdoor stuff is just them wandering around Vasquez Rock in wetsuits. But there's a ton of nudity and some halfway decent gore, it's paced well and the soundtrack is pretty awesome. Worth a watch if you dig Corman's particual style of schlock.

 

[rarehero]

I still think it's a bit underrated, but it doesn't touch Mouth of Madness which has become a favorite of mine.

I love the movie, it was cool to see a Carpenter movie starring Sam Neill with a Lovecraft feel. I think the only thing I don't like was the main theme, I heard that Metallica wanted too much for their song rights, so they came up with their own "heavy metal" song. Say what you will about Metallica music, but it would have fit pretty good in the movie.

 

[SouthtownKid]

I watched it on a 55" Sony Bravia via Hulu with whatever bullshit specs they claim it streams in 4k w/ HDR. It was a fairly common complaint when the movie came out, so I know it's not just me.

I'm not doubting you, I just find it interesting. Maybe I saw a version adjusted after people complained.

 

[terry.330]

These people also insist on using "motivated" lighting meaning 100% accurate to life, which is a huge mistake.

Goes hand in hand with this:

 

[famicommander]

It's all Christopher Nolan's fault.