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

[prof]

Exorcist III is much better than it should be. Initially, William Peter Blatty wrote and directed it as an adaptation of his novel Legion. But deep into the production, the studio pivoted and insisted that it needed to be an Exorcist sequel, so he had to do a bunch of rewrites, and tack on a new final act to add some exorcism to it. So, like I said, it's amazing to me that the movie ended up as good as it did.

I think it's due in large part to the towering performance of George C Scott in the lead. And the always reliable Brad Dourif as the wack job killer was quite memorable. But Blatty gives the film such a thick atmosphere, full of dread and suspense. It all goes a long way to cut through the convoluted plot, and allows the movie to avert what should have been a studio imposed disaster.

But I'm bringing this up because even with a studio doing everything in their power to sabotage the movie, it was still good due to the talent involved. Sadly, David Gordon Green and his obnoxious comedian sidekick (forget his name, the Eastbound and Down guy) are given significantly more creative freedom leeway to make the movies they want than the actual creator of The Exorcist (Blatty) could have ever dreamed of. And Blatty's work still towers over it.

 

[neo_mao]

I never watched the exorcist in its entirety. I’ve seen bits and bobs but I always get too scared and chicken out.

 

[Burning Fight!!]

New Fist of Fury - the whole Bruceploitation thing does not reflect well on anyone involved, but especially on the people that actually worked with Bruce when he was still alive. First you get a director Lee hated bastardizing his footage and Game of Death script (idea?), and then you get Nora Miao crying on camera in the most shameless plug for Jackie Chan being a sucessor to Bruce Lee I've ever seen, this is probably worse than Aaron Banks faking being buddies with sepia archival footage of Lee in Fist of Fear Touch of Death.

Spoiler:

Yeah, real tasteful sendoff to your acting pal there!

Anyway this is another Japanese occupation naiveté fest, it's like a good chunk of Chinese movies that deal with the subject end up tonally similar to movies like Rambo II (do we get to win this time?) and Missing in Action (lol do I need to say anything). But I actually enjoyed the premise which got me through to what would have been a complete bore fest otherwise, and the climax was aight. Fight scene coreography was notably sub-par, sometimes like watching the movie on a slower projector, and the fat kid and the japanese lady did not sell their moves at all which is a problem since they were featured prominently. I think Han Ying-Chieh and Jackie (only at the end, in very stilted coreography) kinda saved this movie from being completely unwatchable if you can get past the literal hour of minimal fight, plot only footage.

Oh and of course the end is abrupt and rushed, OK Jackie you beat up all the bad guys now would you please rush all of the good characters and the Japanese ass kisser out in 10 seconds to have them shot by the firing squad? Fist of Fury was no cinematic masterpiece but at least that same ending was executed better there.

 

[terry.330]

Jaws- As great as this one is I have to fast forward through almost half the movie these days. So many nasty looking 70s people on the beach scenes, Still it's a classic and all the stuff on the boat is great, the score is amazing, it's just so incredibly well made and efficient especially considering how troubled the production was.

I Know What You Did Last Summer- A turd floating on the Scream wave.

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer- Some sort of greasy trail coming off the turd. But at least it has Jeffery Combs and Jack Black in one of his more bizarre performances.

 

[terry.330]

Cliffhanger- Die Hard on a mountain. Definitely feels like a vanity project for Sly. Supporting cast is good, John Lithgow is great as the bad guy.

Hook- Probably one of Robin Williams best performances but it's so incredibly schmaltzy and at least 30 minutes too long. Dustin Hoffman and Bob Hoskins are also great. Incredible production value, the sets are absolutely fantastic. The movie absolutely does not hold up as an adult but it still has a lot of old school charm.

 

[NeoSneth]

Reptile
Great detective movie that has a lot going for it. The pacing is just spot on. It's a modern movie, it's slow, but it's a good "slow" , like a nice strip tease.
The build up is what this movie does so well. Alicia Silverstone doesn't come off as goofy and works it well. A feat she has never accomplished until this movie. This one has you changing a lot of assumptions has you are fed bits of information and character building. I liked it.

 

[Heinz]

Cold Fish 2010 Japan
A fish store owner gets entangled with a serial killer. A bit too much rape going on in this one, if it needs to be there at all.

 

[Syn]

Cryptid

A freelance journalist covering a brutal animal attack notices a pattern. Drama and horror with little action that isn't a two hour film, it should have been shot for 90 minutes. I could edit out 30 minutes and it wouldn't affect the film negatively, I'd argue it would be overall a better viewing experience. Not that it's bad, I enjoyed it for a low budget movie.

 

[terry.330]

Heat- While I like this one quite a bit I'm not in the camp that considers this one of the best movies ever. The cast is great, the heist scenes are great and the cat and mouse between DeNiro and Pacino is great but the movie is bogged down by all of the relationship stuff and Natalie Portman. I'd love to see a version of this cut down to about 2 hours.

 

[Burning Fight!!]

Japan
A bit too much rape going on in this one

You remind me to watch Mosquito on the 10th Floor again.

 

[terry.330]

28 Weeks Later- Better than I remembered. I think this didn't get received all that positively when it was released because it's not really a follow up to the original story and didn't have Danny Boyle involved but I think it's alright as it's own thing. Not amazing but a notch above most zombie stuff that was getting cranked out around that time.

 

[NGLad]

Cold Fish 2010 Japan
A fish store owner gets entangled with a serial killer. A bit too much rape going on in this one, if it needs to be there at all.

Fish store owner, and serial killer piqued my interest. What will those crazy Japanese think up next?!

 

[terry.330]

Underwater- It's Cloverfield underwater and it sucks. I should have known better considering it stars Kristen Stewart and TJ Miller. Pretty high production value but it still feels kind of cheap and there's so much CG, shaky cam and POV shots that it's hard to tell what's happening a lot of the time. Which while intentional ruins any sense of tension. It's obviously heavily influenced by The Abyss, Leviathan etc. but it just comes off as a cheap unoriginal ripoff. The script and acting are both mediocre and Kristen Stewart is awful as usual. It had to have been a bitch to make as well what with all the actual underwater stuff, sets and those stupid suits. An ambitious failure.

 

[Lagduf]

28 Weeks Later- Better than I remembered. I think this didn't get received all that positively when it was released because it's not really a follow up to the original story and didn't have Danny Boyle involved but I think it's alright as it's own thing. Not amazing but a notch above most zombie stuff that was getting cranked out around that time.

This movie absolutely has one of the best openings to any film in this genre. When he leaves the girl to presumably die to the zombies I was absolutely stunned.

Stunned because I couldn’t believe a film of this genre was made where they had a character make the actual smart decision.

I enjoyed it but it’s less about the zombies (as always) and more about peoples (in this case the state’s) response to such a catastrophe.

 

[roker]

Was going to watch Atomic Girl, but then I realized Last Night in Soho was still on my list.

Last Night in Soho - Well color me surprised. I went in knowing nothing and expected to be disappointed. I'm a big fan of Edgar Wright but Baby Driver can suck my ass. It started out as a "coming of age" kind of story but then turned into something completely different. I just wasn't expecting the twist. Good thing I don't watch trailers. Is this as good as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz ... well no, those 2 are classics. I liked World's End and Scott Pilgrim but I wouldn't put them in the "classics" category (well, my classics at least) but there is something different about Last Night in Soho as well that puts it in a different category over his other movies. It shows his maturity and growth as a director. He doesn't do the usual stuff he's known for (quick edits, fast talking (jokes), etc.). The movie spends its time telling a story and fleshing out character development. I can't wait to see what he does next. I recommend this movie.

 

[Lagduf]

Anyone going to check out Killers of the Flower Moon next week?

 

[terry.330]

Was going to watch Atomic Girl, but then I realized Last Night in Soho was still on my list.

Last Night in Soho - Well color me surprised. I went in knowing nothing and expected to be disappointed. I'm a big fan of Edgar Wright but Baby Driver can suck my ass. It started out as a "coming of age" kind of story but then turned into something completely different. I just wasn't expecting the twist. Good thing I don't watch trailers. Is this as good as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz ... well no, those 2 are classics. I liked World's End and Scott Pilgrim but I wouldn't put them in the "classics" category (well, my classics at least) but there is something different about Last Night in Soho as well that puts it in a different category over his other movies. It shows his maturity and growth as a director. He doesn't do the usual stuff he's known for (quick edits, fast talking (jokes), etc.). The movie spends its time telling a story and fleshing out character development. I can't wait to see what he does next. I recommend this movie.

While I didn't love this one it was certainly unique and well made. The visuals were incredible, highly innovative and stylized without being gimmicky and what's her name was really good in the lead, perfect casting there. I don't think the twist worked all that well but I still appreciated the drastic shift in tone and story progression. It's definitely an odd one in his body of work.

 

[terry.330]

UHF- This was a go-to rental when I was a kid and while I enjoy Al's music he really works best as a visual comedian. The pop culture parodies and references combined with slapstick and just random bizarre humor all come together really well in this. It's no masterpiece but it's a solid little movie and even though not all of the gags land there are so many of them that the good heavily outweigh the bad. Being a total product of it's time also gives it a very specific nostalgic quality. However I don't think anyone much younger than people our age could ever really appreciate it. Of course this flopped on it's initial release but has obviously gone on to become a cult hit. Which is pretty fitting considering the underdog story of the movie. Overall it still holds up and being as dated as it is has only helped it.

Friday the 13th Part IV- It's good...

Seriously though it's probably the best in the series along with VI. We got a sufficiently menacing Jason, some good kills, an actual plot, Crispin Glover and of course the twins.

 

[Burning Fight!!]

how to know if a friday the 13th movie is decent: imdb, ctrl+f tom savini

 

[Burning Fight!!]

Shangai Express - Cool movie with stupid but amusing slapstick and a great climax full of fighting in the last 30 mins. I just wish Rothrock was a bit more prominent but I can understand since there are so many characters there's not enough time for them all! (the chinese masters on the train just disappear after the train act for example)

"You're retail, they're wholesale" - Sammo Hung on married woman vs. hoes

 

[terry.330]

how to know if a friday the 13th movie is decent: imdb, ctrl+f tom savini

lol yeah. It also depends on how the MPAA was feeling on a random day. It's funny though because the only reason Savini came back is that IV was supposedly going to be the final F13 and he wanted to kill off his own creation. Then they kept cranking them out for another 20 years...

 

[jro]

Monument - Polish art students making a pretty good horror movie, not even kidding. A bit predictable, but not in a bad way. Strong ending, kind of skins that cat between too little and not enough info. Kinda gotta re-think it a little and then it makes sense. For what was basically a student film, it's really good. Honestly very good, period, as long as you can sit through the first very slow 30 minutes.

Caveat - okaaaaaay, there's a lot of reviewers calling this scary. It's not. It's fine, but it's not scary in the slightest. It's Euro-horror that does nothing for the genre other than bore people. Bore? Bororrrror? Who cares. Bad. Had me convinced it was better right up until it ended and I went oh, okay, nothing.

Do actually watch Monument though, it's really good and I did not do it justice there.



Caveat -

 

[terry.330]

Bats- Trashy and goofy late 90s horror starring Lou Diamond Phillips and Dina Meyer. Genetically enhanced bats escape from a secret government lab in rural Texas. Not as goofy as Lake Placid and more fun than Anaconda, it delivers exactly what you expect.

 

[terry.330]

Reptile
Great detective movie that has a lot going for it. The pacing is just spot on. It's a modern movie, it's slow, but it's a good "slow" , like a nice strip tease.
The build up is what this movie does so well. Alicia Silverstone doesn't come off as goofy and works it well. A feat she has never accomplished until this movie. This one has you changing a lot of assumptions has you are fed bits of information and character building. I liked it.

Just finished this, it was very good. Very effective atmosphere and uneasy feeling throughout, It's incredibly well constructed and produced without being showy or try hard. Just a really solid thriller.

The Conference- A Swedish slasher. The twist is it isn't annoying promiscuous teens at a summer camp, it's a bunch of real estate developers at a team building camp. Rides the line on being a straight up horror comedy at times. It's a surprisingly good concept and they execute it pretty well. Recommended if you enjoy self aware mean spirited comedies with a big dose of gore.

 

[terry.330]

Renfield- This is one of the biggest pieces of shit I've seen in recent memory. Written by idiots for even bigger idiots, we're talking female Ghostbusters level garbage. What makes it even worse is that the movie thinks it's super clever. Nic Cage as Dracula is awesome (even though the ridiculous fake teeth he has in makes him sound like an old man with ill fitting dentures) but he's not in it all that much because they have to make room for Awkwafina (ugh) and her subplot and every single other aspect of the movie is so incredibly lazy, dumb or mishandled it completely nullifies him being in it.

I did not have high expectations for this but man it's just depressingly dumb. It's a bottom of the barrel action comedy that just happens to have Dracula in it.