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

[terry.330]

I’d hang out with Paul Rudd but I’m a poor.

Sure, he's comes across as a likable guy but that's the problem. He's the safest bet possible and they have to play it super safe after the all female GB. So we get Paul Rudd and Stranger Things kid in a family friendly horror comedy. A movie completely manufactured to ultimately please no-one.

 

[Burning Fight!!]

Bustin makes me feel good!

 

[sylvie]

Thief
Watched this after loving Manhunter. It's not as good, but is really stylish in certain parts. Drive definitely borrowed a few bits.

Drive stole everything from Michael Mann. Drive had me convinced for like 20 minutes (tops) that it was going to be a good movie, too.

I had the opposite opinion on Thief vs. Manhunter. I liked Thief more.

 

[SouthtownKid]

I enjoyed Mann's Miami Vice movie a lot. Story and acting were shit but it was fascinating trying to figure out if I was supposed to be taking anything seriously or if it was a spoof movie. Right until the very end, I was on the edge of my seat waiting for a clear sign one way or the other.

 

[terry.330]

I enjoyed Mann's Miami Vice movie a lot. Story and acting were shit but it was fascinating trying to figure out if I was supposed to be taking anything seriously or if it was a spoof movie. Right until the very end, I was on the edge of my seat waiting for a clear sign one way or the other.

Hahaha I watched that somewhat recently and yeah, it's something alright. Still not sure what that something is. I remember like half the movie just being Collin Ferral on a boat at night trying real hard to look serious.

 

[sylvie]

Oh yeah I have a friend who is really fond of that film, because it was one of the first movies to be shot in all digital cameras. He said it seemed like Mann had a beautiful overestimation of the digital technique. Still need to see it to see what he's talking about

 

[terry.330]

Still need to see it to see what he's talking about

It's a very strange looking movie. It's almost all at night with lots of water and neon/reflections which considering Thief and Mann's involvement in the OG series seems like something that should be awesome but it's very cold and plastic looking. It's like all of the warmth has been sucked out and it's just a vacuum. That crosses over to the entire feel of the movie and characters. Jamie Foxx and CF just totally lack any charism or chemistry. Nothing feels right, like a sort of disassociation from reality. It's not a good dreamlike quality either, more like when you wake up confused from a really vivd dream and it takes a while for your brain to fully wake up. Kind of like when you take acid and you're waiting for it to hit. It's like that except nothing happens and you just keep waiting.

It's also just a godawful movie from the plot to the writing to the pacing literally everything about it feels wrong.

 

[sylvie]

As a huge fan of the TV series I gotta see it. I'll probably like it for some weird reason

 

[SouthtownKid]

I remember like half the movie just being Collin Ferral on a boat at night trying real hard to look serious.

Which, to be fair, is also what the tv series was (or in the car at night trying to look serious). Except that Ferral, with all the will in the world, could never be anything approaching what Don Johnson was in the mid-'80s.

But for all the shallow ridiculousness, I wasn't kidding when I said I really enjoyed it. I've watched it 3 or 4 times already. It's pretty vintage Mann, for all the good and the bad that entails. This is probably a minority opinion, but for me, it's infinitely more rewatchable than Heat, for example. I almost feel like watching it again right now.

 

[terry.330]

Jacob's Wife- A fun little horror comedy vampire flick starring Barbara Crampton. Worth a rental from Amazon. Barbara Crampton still looking pretty good at 62 and still getting naked. I'd put it on the same level as Freaky, not great but entertaining enough.

 

[100proof]

Barbara Crampton is a hall-of-fame hottie.

So I saw Ghostbusters: Afterlife. As a stand-alone movie, it's.... fine. It preys upon people's love of the original movie in a way that's really shameless and it very much rushes its way through the character backgrounds and setups to get to the emotional manipulation but it kind of won me over. I don't know if it's because Jason Reitman's a talented filmmaker or that I'm such a shameless whore for the original Ghostbusters but I was okay with being manipulated. I'm sure they'll ruin it by making more movies but I'm okay with this being the end.

That said...

Spoiler:

It did the one thing I REALLY hoped it wouldn't do and it went for the CGI ghost Harold Ramis. While the way they do it makes sense within the story and I'm sure they got the permission of his family and whatever, it just seems wrong. The whole movie does revolve around him and it's sweet in the sense that you could view it as their apology to their friend for waiting so damn long to make it... but ugh. CGI dead people will never stop being weird.

 

[HornheaDD]

Watched the last James Bond movie and I was meh about the whole thing. I dont think I watched the one before it, because as much as I actually like and respect Daniel Craig as an ack-tor, (Knives out = best work), I just didnt enjoy him as Bond. The movies took themselves too serious and steered away what made the Bond franchise fun. Just ridiculous amounts of pussy that Bond gets, the funny banter between him/Q/Money Penny, etc. Craig-Bond was too... I dunno.. boring.

And I guess they are gonna be making some black chick with a huge ass the next 007. So, you know - its no longer James Bond.

2/10

 

[DevilRedeemed]

Which, to be fair, is also what the tv series was (or in the car at night trying to look serious). Except that Ferral, with all the will in the world, could never be anything approaching what Don Johnson was in the mid-'80s.

But for all the shallow ridiculousness, I wasn't kidding when I said I really enjoyed it. I've watched it 3 or 4 times already. It's pretty vintage Mann, for all the good and the bad that entails. This is probably a minority opinion, but for me, it's infinitely more rewatchable than Heat, for example. I almost feel like watching it again right now.

Miami Vice is brilliant. Fun, a little ridiculous, flamboyant, beautiful. All the digital experimentation going on is excellent. Mann does these things, and he did 2 years earlier with colateral which is kind of like a prequel in terms of exploration with use of consumer grade filming equipment, shooting at night etc.
That double bill is just wicked. Especially at the time. 28 Days Later was the other one playing around with digital consumer grade cameras at the time. Was pretty much unheard of back then for mainstream cinema. The lenses, though, a very different story.

Heat is lovely. I think I prefer Miami Vice though. It's limitations and strangeness just makes it better.

 

[fake]

Funeral Parade of Roses - Japanese new wave with a not so linear narrative and interspersed bits of actor interviews and bts footage. A trans girl is dating a guy and partying all the time. Then stuff that would be spoilers happens. Recommended.

Eye of the Devil - Olde “oops I stumbled upon a pagan cult” movie. It’s slow and not scary but if you like stuff like the Wicker Man it may be worth a watch.

 

[sylvie]

Funeral Parade of Roses - Japanese new wave with a not so linear narrative and interspersed bits of actor interviews and bts footage. A trans girl is dating a guy and partying all the time. Then stuff that would be spoilers happens. Recommended.

Intrigued. Not cringe trans-acceptance LGBT agenda bullshit?

 

[fake]

Intrigued. Not cringe trans-acceptance LGBT agenda bullshit?

Oh no not at all. It’s from 1969 (nice) so it’s ahead of its time in a lot of senses. It feels kinda like a filmmaker using a small counter culture group of friends to tell a few interwoven stories - some that are just exploratory and one that is an actual narrative with a climax and resolution.

 

[terry.330]

Killer Party- Meta 80s slasher. It opens with a parody of Thriller and goes right into Porky's meets Slumber Party Massacre. Lot's of nudity and gore, it's incredibly entertaining and 80s as fuck. the clothes, the soundtrack, the tropes, it's got it all. It's also super un-PC in that very particular 80s sex comedy way that's actually pretty shocking. Lots of misogynistic stuff that borders on sexual assault. Some of that is just a product of the times and some of it is parody but it's still creepy. Problems aside it's definitely a notch above most 80s slashers, I'm surprised it's not better known.

 

[famicommander]

Heads up y'all, Amazon has a buncha 4K Blu Rays on sale for 5-12 bucks each.

 

[wyo]

Ghostbusters: Afterlife was like watching the original movie with all the fun parts removed. I am not fucking with any more nostalgia remakes. The ghost of Ivan Reitman should return to haunt everyone involved in this flaccid faggotry. With so many new movies, I feel like they barely register in the brain. And like a dream they auto-erase by the time you get in your car.

 

[famicommander]

Ghostbusters: Afterlife was like watching the original movie with all the fun parts removed. I am not fucking with any more nostalgia remakes. The ghost of Ivan Reitman should return to haunt everyone involved in this flaccid faggotry. With so many new movies, I feel like they barely register in the brain. And like a dream they auto-erase by the time you get in your car.

Ivan Reitman isn't dead.

 

[famicommander]

As for why so much nostalgia

Top 10 Hollywood films of 2021 at the global box office:
1. Bond part 25 (27 if you count non-Eon films)
2. Fast and Furious part 9 (but actually the 10th to hit theaters)
3. Godzilla part 36 (or King Kong part 7, depending on how you look at it)
4. Marvel (Venom 2)
5. Marvel (Shang-Chi)
6. Marvel (Black Widow)
7. Dune: Part One (second theatrical film in the franchise)
8. Marvel (Eternals)

coming for the last two spots: Marvel (Spiderman) and Matrix 4

Sad to say, the biggest new property Hollywood film of the year was fucking Free Guy, and that was basically, "Hey, Remember These Other Movies?: The Movie"

 

[wyo]

Ivan Reitman isn't dead.

He will be soon enough but yeah, Harold Ramis.

 

[HornheaDD]

As for why so much nostalgia

Top 10 Hollywood films of 2021 at the global box office:
1. Bond part 25 (27 if you count non-Eon films)
2. Fast and Furious part 9 (but actually the 10th to hit theaters)
3. Godzilla part 36 (or King Kong part 7, depending on how you look at it)
4. Marvel (Venom 2)
5. Marvel (Shang-Chi)
6. Marvel (Black Widow)
7. Dune: Part One (second theatrical film in the franchise)
8. Marvel (Eternals)

coming for the last two spots: Marvel (Spiderman) and Matrix 4

Sad to say, the biggest new property Hollywood film of the year was fucking Free Guy, and that was basically, "Hey, Remember These Other Movies?: The Movie"

Yeah but Free Guy was actually funny/fun

 

[bubba966]

Yeah, Free Guy was solid entertainment. Had some quality lolz

 

[jro]

Coming Home in the Dark - overrated. I had high expectations given the reviews, and it didn't come close to meeting them. The main bad guy did a nice job of creating a sense of dread, but the story was far too shallow as well as being almost insultingly stupid at times.