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

[Average Joe]

Sasquatch Sunset

I was looking forward to this one for a while and it caught me a bit off guard by how raunchy and darkly comedic it was. If you don't like shit, piss, vomit, breast milk, afterbirth, and LOTS of genitalia-sniffing then stay far away. If you think those things can be funny when used in a raunchy comedic context, then come on by.

I can see this being super divisive being as gross as it is and as wordless as it is (primitive grunts and one Erasure song is all you get), but some folks will find it hilarious and I sure as hell did. As I said it does get surprisingly dark (or maybe just realistic?) and that can mess with the tone a fair bit at times, but overall it cracked me up enough for it to be a plus and it definitely felt sort of "real" for the most part.

 

[terry.330]

ExistenZ- Cronenberg's messy warning about VR and the corruption of reality (or something). One of the more intelligent VR themed movies to come out of the 90's but that's not exactly a high bar when the competition is Lawnmower Man and Brainscan. While it's an extremely flawed movie it's also packed full of Cronenberg goodness. The game pods and bio-ports, the bone gun, hell the whole chinese restaurant scene. There's a lot of gross weirdness and body horror.

One thing I really appreciate about it is how much it feels like a movie version of those overly ambitious super weird borderline experimental PC games that were coming out in the mid-late 90's. Like a lot of those it's not great but it's so unique and creative it's hard to dislike it despite its many issues. Even though its portrayal of VR is quaint by today's standards and understanding of it the movie has a legitimately surreal vibe to it that I really dig.

 

[Syn]

Day of the Dead : Bloodline

I had forgotten I've seen this until I saw Zoe on the guy's arm. A remake that I liked more than the original. They kept it in an Army base, female lead, zombie that gets chained up, etc. Rather than a cheesy mad doctor trying to solve the problem it's the female lead who was a doctor in training. It introduces the possibility of a cure for a bite.

If you watch zombie flicks this one doesn't embarrass it's namesake despite flaws.

 

[Stefan]

ExistenZ-

One thing I really appreciate about it is how much it feels like a movie version of those overly ambitious super weird borderline experimental PC games that were coming out in the mid-late 90's.

What's with that one scene where Jude Law's character approaches Allegria(sp?) at the trout fishery and they talk for a bit, then she drops the meat, picks it back up and repeats her line? I always assumed that was tying into her actually being an NPC entity and not the same as the real personage, but this never came up again in any context. Is it meant to foreshadow the final scene? I seriously thought the movie was going somewhere else entirely after that. Been years since I watched it, but the disparity/plot hole of said scene still mildly bothers me.

 

[Syn]

I binged Bruno Mattei films on Prime.

Hell of the Living Dead

A SWAT team investigate an accident at a chemical plant making zombies. Good cheesy fun.

The Tomb

A Mayan priest trying to raise a goddess gets mortally wounded and gets mummified so he can return to complete the ceremony. An archeology teacher and his students revive him accidentally. Another fun film.

Zombies The Beginning

At end of Island of the Living Dead the only person who leaves on a raft, she became a zombie. Well forget that, she survived for this film. She tells the story of what happened but everyone scoffs at it.

One corporation decides to check her story out, discovers it true and takes some samples to study. The corporation loses contact with the facility and sends a team to investigate.

I'm now a Bruno fan so I'm looking forward to checking out his other films. I laughed pretty hard when Goldberg's entrance music was used in a scene.

 

[Lagduf]

Homeward Bound - saw this two or three weeks ago and just now saw a picture of a hedgehog which reminded me I had seen this.

Fond memories of this as a kid, particularly when Shadow fell in that inexplicable huge hole in the scrapyard or whatever and crying like a bitch.

However, unlike A Dog's Purpose which I really enjoyed, this one is strictly for five year olds. Some nice scenery shots but that's as much praise as I can give it. I was kinda surprised how much time they spent on the family. This one's best left in memory.

The poster showed them encountering a bear but there weren't no damn bear

Just a Milo and Otis knockoff.

 

[100proof]

Just a Milo and Otis knockoff.

The Incredible Journey (the original book and film that Homeward Bound is a remake of) came decades before Milo + Otis. Also didn't have multiple allegations of animal abuse on their set.

Watched the original a bunch as a kid. I'm sure it doesn't hold up but most things you enjoyed as a kid don't.

 

[Lagduf]

Listen, I’m just trying to give ‘Sage a hard time.

 

[LoneSage]

Give me a harder time Duffy daddy

Christ I just gave myself some shivers. Woof

 

[100proof]

Listen, I’m just trying to give ‘Sage a hard time.

I know man. Just being an obnoxious know-it-all in one of the few subjects I can be.

 

[terry.330]

Guyver 2: Dark Hero- This is kind of hard to judge by real movie standards but for a direct to video sequel it's actually pretty good. The acting and dialogue are absolutely painful, the pacing is atrocious, the CG is embarrassing and honestly a lot of the plot just doesn't make any sense. On the other hand the suits, effects, action and sets are legitimately awesome. The Guyver suit, the ship interior and the main bad guy in particular look incredible at times. But the budgetary restraints are often extremely obvious and can sometimes be pretty embarrassing. For every kick ass fight there's also just 2 guys in rubber suits slapping each other and rolling around in the woods. Also the movie is over 2 hours long and you can feel every second of it when there isn't any action. And while David Hayter is certainly trying and even though he's a handsome dude that looks the part there's a reason he ended up a voice actor.

It's leagues better than the cringe shlock fest of the first movie but nowhere near as fun or competently made as the directors next movie Drive with Marc Dacascos. Still there are moments here that really impress.

 

[wyo]

Latency - An agoraphobic gamer girl who is inexplicably attractive beta tests an augmented reality device that takes over her mind. Started out ok until she was playing Gameboy Tetris in barely any natural light. This glaring error threw me off for a few minutes. Movie was ok and I appreciated it only lasting 90 minutes. 2/5

 

[SouthtownKid]

she was playing Gameboy Tetris in barely any natural light. This glaring error threw me off for a few minutes.

Mad props for your ability to rally. That's the kind of thing that would still be irking me as the end credits rolled.

 

[terry.330]

John Carpenter's Vampires- I think this get unfairly lumped in with Escape From LA and Ghost of Mars as legit bad. It's not a particularly good movie but it's still pretty enjoyable for what it is. It feels far more like an older Carpenter movie than either EFLA or GOM. James Woods is amusingly sleazy and Sheryl Lee is fun. The first 20 minutes are pretty strong but it meanders a bit after than though never gets boring. I think this would have been received better if From Dusk Till Dawn hadn't come out a couple years earlier. This seems kind of quaint in comparison.

 

[SouthtownKid]

John Carpenter's Vampires- I think this get unfairly lumped in with Escape From LA and Ghost of Mars as legit bad. It's not a particularly good movie but it's still pretty enjoyable for what it is. It feels far more like an older Carpenter movie than either EFLA or GOM. James Woods is amusingly sleazy and Sheryl Lee is fun. The first 20 minutes are pretty strong but it meanders a bit after than though never gets boring. I think this would have been received better if From Dusk Till Dawn hadn't come out a couple years earlier. This seems kind of quaint in comparison.

Ghosts of Mars is better than Vampire$.

 

[SouthtownKid]

There seems to still be some confusion as to the ranking of John Carpenter films in terms of quality, so here's the definitive list which you can use as a handy reference:

1. The Thing
2. Halloween
3. Escape From New York

4./5. tie between Big Trouble in Little China and They Live

6. Prince of Darkness
7. In the Mouth of Madness
8. Assault on Precinct 13
9. The Fog
10. Ghosts of Mars
11. Christine

12./13. tie between Vampire$ and Escape From LA

14. Starman
15. Memoirs of an Invisible Man
16. Dark Star
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27. The Ward

I don't know why Village of the Damned was omitted from this list, but everything above has been fact checked and endorsed by both the RAND Corporation and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

p.s. apologies to tak for ranking Fog so low, but you can't argue with the CEIP.

 

[LoneSage]

You forgot the 1979 made-for-TV movie starring Kurt Russell, simply titled Elvis. Otherwise, I'll allow it.

Also, I'm going to need an explanation for why there's a $ in Vampires. You did that twice, TWICE. Clearly there's a reason

 

[SouthtownKid]

Also, I'm going to need an explanation for why there's a $ in Vampires. You did that twice, TWICE. Clearly there's a reason

edit: I changed my mind, I'll tell you later.

aka REDACTED

 

[Average Joe]

There seems to still be some confusion as to the ranking of John Carpenter films in terms of quality, so here's the definitive list which you can use as a handy reference:

1. The Thing
2. Halloween
3. Escape From New York

4./5. tie between Big Trouble in Little China and They Live

6. Prince of Darkness
7. In the Mouth of Madness
8. Assault on Precinct 13
9. The Fog
10. Ghosts of Mars
11. Christine

12./13. tie between Vampire$ and Escape From LA

14. Starman
15. Memoirs of an Invisible Man
16. Dark Star
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27. The Ward

I don't know why Village of the Damned was omitted from this list, but everything above has been fact checked and endorsed by both the RAND Corporation and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

p.s. apologies to tak for ranking Fog so low, but you can't argue with the CEIP.

Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness switching places is the only point of contention I can find.

 

[Hattori Hanzo]

Escape From New York is my number one but I'll allow that.

 

[terry.330]

Ghosts of Mars is better than Vampire$.

Nah.

 

[100proof]

That Vampires tries to sell me the idea that a 50-year-old James Woods in embarrassingly tight jeans and a leather jacket and boots ensemble is supposed to be a badass anti-hero is both sad and hilarious. That and Snake Plisken playing basketball poorly for 5 minutes in Escape from LA kind of encapsulates the last few years of John Carpenter's directing career.

Edit: And Ghosts of Mars is still a career-wrecking garbage fire. I'll explain why in a series of nested flashbacks and boring, flatly-shot fight scenes.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Oh, you.

 

[HornheaDD]

Titanfall: The Movie "Atlas."

Dumb scifi with little to no story that telegraphs why the chinese robot went bad. Why Jennifer Lopez tho? Meh.

 

[Taiso]

Titanfall: The Movie "Atlas."

Dumb scifi with little to no story that telegraphs why the chinese robot went bad. Why Jennifer Lopez tho? Meh.

Roommate was watching this over the course of the past four days. As I would catch clips of it, I noticed how bad J-Lo is in this film. She clearly struggled interacting with the effects.

I'm going to guess it's a combination of inexperience acting in CGI heavy movies and a director intimidated by her star power, fading though it might be. If you look at Brad Peyton's directorial credentials, it's not an impressive list. Seems like a 'took the job because no one else wanted it' kinda guy. Maybe a bit of a grift too, attaching himself to projects with big names in the hopes of getting the rub.

Brad Peyton - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

EDIT: He was responsible for the shitty Netflix series Daybreak. Ugh.