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

[Syn]

They killed the lady who cleaned his bedpan so he's back to take care of the shits that did it in John Wick 20.

 

[max 330 mega]

Fiend without a face- pretty koll, good schlurp schlurp noises when the invisible enemy fucks town folk up.
creature with the atom brain- pretty koll also, watched 30 minutes of it tonight, will finish in a few days. Dudes have pretty killer big shouldered suits on in this one.

 

[terry.330]

They're never going to stop making John Wick movies at this rate. They just keep making more money and getting better reviews. Keanu gonna be making these when he's 80.

I fully expect Keanu to drop out at some point and the studio to just keep pumping out barely related sequels and spinoffs as long as there is even a single dollar to be squeezed out. I can see an entire direct to video series just based on all the stupid assassin bullshit without any of the original people involved.

 

[famicommander]

They're already doing a spinoff starring Ana de Armas as that Ballerina character from 3.

Unfortunately Len Wiseman (director of all the Underworld movies, Die Hard 4, and that shitty Total Recall reboot) is directing so it'll probably suck or be barely competent at best.

 

[GregN]

Sonic 2 - Took awhile to get going, but was a fun watch. The first was better.

The Man Who Saved Pinball - Very interesting biopic about times when pinball was illegal and had to be played at XXX bookstores.

 

[terry.330]

Pulse- I'm not sure I understood exactly what happened but I really liked it, legitimately excellent J-Horror. Something about isolation in modern society and technology only increasing that. Lonely ghosts? I don't know, it's Japanese as fuck. Beautifully shot, effectively creepy and a genuine sense of anxiety and dread throughout. I also enjoyed the early internet/technology stuff from the turn of the millennium era. Highly recommended just don't expect to fully understand it all.

I guess there's a US remake that came out during the flood of Japanese adaptations that hit after The Ring. It stars Kristen Bell, which is about all I need to hear to know it's probably shit.

 

[Tung Fu ru]

Pulse is great! I really enjoyed it

 

[100proof]

Yeah, the Japanese one is pretty good and the American remake completely misunderstands what makes the original interesting and instead is just generic PG-13 2000s crap.

 

[jro]

Knock at the Cabin - the near-immediate and then sustained sense of foreboding carries it far more than the rest of the plot or anything else. It's a solid adaptation of the story made better by Dave Bautista's lead turn (seriously, dude is a good actor), certainly worth watching if a bit uneven.

 

[Heinz]

Der Hauptmann 2017 (The Captain)

Follows a private who stole the identity of a Luftwaffe captain in the dying days of the war and the atrocities he committed. Worth a watch though it is in black and white.

 

[terry.330]

Knock at the Cabin - the near-immediate and then sustained sense of foreboding carries it far more than the rest of the plot or anything else. It's a solid adaptation of the story made better by Dave Bautista's lead turn (seriously, dude is a good actor), certainly worth watching if a bit uneven.

Yeah I've heard this is surprisingly good but I just can't with M Night anymore. Old was the straw that broke the camels back.

 

[jro]

Escape the Field - when I was loving Sons of Anarchy 8 years ago I was totally like yeah, Theo Rossi is the actual star in this, H-Wood watch out, j/k!. I dunno, it's mostly dumb movies like this but he's sure in a lot more stuff than Charlie Hunnam I think? At least Emily the Criminal was pretty good in spite of his awful character. Anyway... decent concept that manages to go about 2/3 of the way through before admitting that it's nothing new. Fine if you just need something to waste 90 minutes on or if you're a Theo Rossi stan (guilty!).

 

[terry.330]

Batman (89)- Obviously it's dated but I'd still take this over 99% of all the comic movies made in the last 15 years. Sure it's got its fair share of problems, with Kim Basinger's constant screaming at the top of my list, Keaton is a weird Bruce Wayne, the suit is visibly awkward to move in, the Joker face prosthetics look ridiculous and the Prince score is just an odd choice that works against the tone of the movie just as much as it does for it. Still there's a lot to like; Nicholson is great, Keaton is weird but still kind of awesome, Bob is great and I dig the whole crew aesthetic. Also the Joker's plan and antics are very close to something out of the older comics which is fun. The sets are fantastic, actually they're probably the best thing in the movie. And of course the Batmobile is still cool as fuck.

It's not an amazing movie and nostalgia isn't really strong enough to overlook it's short comings but it's still fun and entertaining.

 

[jro]

M3Gan - I kinda think the PG13 version of this would have suffered a lot without the actual f-bombs etc. MEGan herself, in particular, really does need that one line about head/neck (if that's the one f-word in the 13 version than awesome). Brian Williams is a fraud but his daughter is real solid at Blumhouse horror movies. Loved the ending, bring on 2.0 in 2025.

Sick - overrated, but not bad by any means. The tension that it manages to build in the first two acts deflates A LOT in the last third, but it still works mostly. Recommended but with properly calibrated expectations.

Rampage - 'k, so little background on this for me. Uwe Boll, is, obviously, Uwe Boll. He used to make utterly terrible movies that were generally really offensive while also occasionally having boxing matches against his critics and beating the hell out of them (not even kidding if you google it don't blame me). Somehow, though, Rampage has stuck in my mind, ever since I originally watched it in, what 2009 or whatever, as different than his usual shtick. Been looking to re-watch it in the last few years, but it's stuck on services where a re-watch would be a $10 or so rental, no deal. Now it's finally back on Amazon Prime and I do indeed have 85 minutes to waste so let's see.

And... YEEEEESSSH. Yeah, it's what I remembered. 40 minutes of exposition about why an everyman might want to kill everyone and then another hour or so of him doing that and getting away with it (spoilers, I guess). It's not notable, in any way, in its own right outside of the inherent and suffocating nihilism and bad camera work, but given the past few years or so, it feels oddly relevant to how people treat each other.

Currently have Rampage Capital Punishment, Assault on Wall Street, and Postal (maybe just kidding on that last one) all ready to watch per the Boll syllabus, will report back for no good reason at all.

 

[terry.330]

Beetlejuice- Decided to follow up Batman with another Keaton and Burton pairing. I know this has been discussed before but man he was on a roll for about a full decade before he totally lost it. This one has always been a personal favorite, it's also one of his most Burtonesque movies. It really feels like a bunch of his sketches come to life, which doesn't always work but still you can't say it's lacking for style. The afterlife waiting room is one of the best things in any of his movies. Obviously Keaton steals the show but everyone else is great too, even Alec Baldwin. Aside from some of the effects and gags not quite working my only real gripe is the score, Danny Elfman just gets a little too loose and crazy with it. it's fun, it's weird, it's Burton doing what he does best.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Rampage - 'k, so little background on this for me. Uwe Boll, is, obviously, Uwe Boll. He used to make utterly terrible movies that were generally really offensive while also occasionally having boxing matches against his critics and beating the hell out of them (not even kidding if you google it don't blame me). Somehow, though, Rampage has stuck in my mind, ever since I originally watched it in, what 2009 or whatever, as different than his usual shtick. Been looking to re-watch it in the last few years, but it's stuck on services where a re-watch would be a $10 or so rental, no deal. Now it's finally back on Amazon Prime and I do indeed have 85 minutes to waste so let's see.

And... YEEEEESSSH. Yeah, it's what I remembered. 40 minutes of exposition about why an everyman might want to kill everyone and then another hour or so of him doing that and getting away with it (spoilers, I guess). It's not notable, in any way, in its own right outside of the inherent and suffocating nihilism and bad camera work, but given the past few years or so, it feels oddly relevant to how people treat each other.

I haven't seen it, but it can't be worse and more pointless than the other Rampage movie with the Rock.

I know this has been discussed before but man he was on a roll for about a full decade before he totally lost it.

I dunno, I still like Burton's newer stuff. He's not in the zone like he was during the decade you're talking about, and it's uneven as hell, but still atmospheric and interesting. I'll take Burton at his worst over a lot of current directors at their best.

 

[greedostick]

Looks to be a few years old, but watched "Iceman 2017" a few days ago. It was free on Vudu or Netflix.

Basically, 5300 years ago an Iceman is banging his wife in their cottage, then gets called to another room mid bang where some chick has a baby. Something happens and these 3 other Iceman come invade their small camp and murder everyone, including his wife and child.

The rest of the movie revolves around Icemans attempt to exact his revenge whilst hunting the fuckers down caveman style in attempt to murder them.

Pretty good watch overall.

 

[terry.330]

I haven't seen it, but it can't be worse and more pointless than the other Rampage movie with the Rock.

I dunno, I still like Burton's newer stuff. He's not in the zone like he was during the decade you're talking about, and it's uneven as hell, but still atmospheric and interesting. I'll take Burton at his worst over a lot of current directors at their best.

My main problem with Willy Wonka, Alice in Wonderland etc. is that once he completely switched to CG everything that used to have that Burton feel and charm just became bizarrely bland and ugly. Alice in Wonderland is one of the ugliest movies in recent memory.

 

[zaneiken]

I watched the The Super Mario Bros. Movie a few hours ago. Light on plot like the games, but big on easter eggs and fan service. A fun movie overall.

 

[100proof]

My main problem with Willy Wonka, Alice in Wonderland etc. is that once he completely switched to CG everything that used to have that Burton feel and charm just became bizarrely bland and ugly. Alice in Wonderland is one of the ugliest movies in recent memory.

I think a lot of it is just that he stopped telling his own stories and just took payday jobs that he had little to no passion for. His good movies were all about weird outsiders trying to find their place in the "normal" world: Pee Wee, Edward Scissorhands, Batman (to a lesser extent), Beetlejuice and Ed Wood. Most of his movies the last 10-15 years are bland Hollywood factory films.

What does Tim Burton's worldview and aesthetic have to do with Willy Wonka? Or fucking Dumbo? Alice in Wonderland at least made sense but the writing for that movie was awful, people had kind of gotten sick of Johnny Depp's "quirky character" schtick by that point and Mia Wasikowska has all the charm and screen presence of a porcelain doll.

I think the last Tim Burton movie I enjoyed was "Big Fish" and that was a movie about a son trying to reconcile with his dying father made during the process of Burton grieving his own father's death. He likely still has it in him... I just think he chose to be rich over being an artist at some point.

 

[SouthtownKid]

My main problem with Willy Wonka, Alice in Wonderland etc. is that once he completely switched to CG everything that used to have that Burton feel and charm just became bizarrely bland and ugly. Alice in Wonderland is one of the ugliest movies in recent memory.

Ah, yeah, I wasn't even thinking of the Disney stuff. I wouldn't watch that no matter who was directing (maybe Lynch). And honestly, I forgot those even existed. I was talking more about objectively-bad-but-I-still-enjoy-them movies like Dark Shadows.

 

[terry.330]

Ah, yeah, I wasn't even thinking of the Disney stuff. I wouldn't watch that no matter who was directing (maybe Lynch). And honestly, I forgot those even existed. I was talking more about objectively-bad-but-I-still-enjoy-them movies like Dark Shadows.

Yeah man he's had some real stinkers and it goes back as far as Planet of the Apes. Shit, I didn't even know he made a new Dumbo until I looked it up just now. Every now and then he makes something that's passable Big Fish, Big Eyes, Dark Shadows but the only thing that has even come close to his previous level of quality in the last 20+ years has been Sweeny Todd and maybe Corpse Bride.

Looks like he's in production on Beetlejuice 2 with Keaton returning and Jenna Ortega playing Lydia or a similar role. We'll see what happens but I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

[100proof]

Yeah man he's had some real stinkers and it goes back as far as Planet of the Apes. Shit, I didn't even know he made a new Dumbo until I looked it up just now. Every now and then he makes something that's passable Big Fish, Big Eyes, Dark Shadows but the only thing that has even come close to his previous level of quality in the last 20+ years has been Sweeny Todd and maybe Corpse Bride.

And his involvement on both Corpse Bride and Nightmare Before Christmas was pretty minimal by all accounts.

 

[pixeljunkie]

And his involvement on both Corpse Bride and Nightmare Before Christmas was pretty minimal by all accounts.

always annoyed me that people think he directed those

 

[terry.330]

always annoyed me that people think he directed those

He directed Corpse Bride, which is probably one of the reasons it's not nearly as good as Nightmare.