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

[wyo]

The first few Seagal films were great for what they were. I liked Above the Law/Nico, Out for Justice, Marked for Death and Hard to Kill. Under Siege was successful but then his star began to wane as his insane ego peaked. His role in Executive Decision was good and that was his last solid film.

I remember seeing The Perfect Weapon at the video store but I skipped it. There were so many cool action flicks at the time and most hold up very well in terms of pure entertainment compared to the crap Hollywood shovels out today.

@Tarma Yeah let us know your thoughts on Internal Affairs when you catch it.

 

[famicommander]

After reading this I actually ask myself wtf happened to the action movie genre.

Comic book movies supplanted it.

 

[famicommander]

The first few Seagal films were great for what they were.

No they weren't, every single movie he's ever been in sucks ass and so does your face.

 

[wyo]

After reading this I actually ask myself wtf happened to the action movie genre.

The mid budget actioner and mid budget films in general have all but gone away.

 

[wyo]

No they weren't, every single movie he's ever been in sucks ass and so does your face.

You had to be there I guess. Every normal teenage boy liked them at the time.

 

[famicommander]

You had to be there I guess. Every normal teenage boy liked them at the time.

It was on this day that wyo found out that he was the only teenage boy jacking it to Seagal

 

[Tarma]

After reading this I actually ask myself wtf happened to the action movie genre.

Living in a world of fucking pussies mate.

 

[Tarma]

Seagal coasted off of Under Seige (which he's like the 4th most interesting thing in) and his first couple of movies.

So, assuming Erika Eliniak's boobs are 1 & 2, is the 3rd Gary Busey or Tommy Lee Jones?

 

[terry.330]

A Quiet Place: Day One- I was hesitant to watch this after Part II which I found Insultingly stupid. To my surprise this one was actually pretty decent, nothing amazing but solid enough. Pretty much stand alone even though it does tie into the sequel. The performances were good and it was a nice focused little story. There were a couple stupid moments with the cat but nothing that really took me out of the movie. I still find the overall premise to be gimmicky and the aliens still don’t make any sense but it doesn’t completely throw logic out the window like in Part II.

 

[Tarma]

The Delta Force - 1985 action thriller starring Chuck Norris as part of his deal with Cannon. Interesting entry into the Cannon catalog as the production values are pretty high, perhaps because Menahem Golan directed, and also has a strong supporting cast - Lee Marvin, George Kennedy, Joey Bishop, Robert Vaughn, Bo Svenson, and Shelley Winters, with Robert Forster (barely recognizable) as the main bad guy. Also has a catchy synth score by Alan (Back To The Future) Silvestri.

Entertaining throughout, despite not having an original bone anywhere within its body, and Forster probably has more screen time than Norris, who, again, probably has no more than a page of dialogue, for what is a two hour film. Also features no profanity, which is amazing given what the film is.

Solid, but unoriginal, overall - ignore the jingoism, and just go along for the ride.

 

[terry.330]

Star Trek IV: The One With The Whales- I’m not much of a Trek guy so I can’t really speak to its quality in the context of the franchise. That said this is goofy as fuck regardless of context. It’s definitely not a good sci-fi movie but everyone seems to be having fun and it’s just so damn 80’s. I remember watching this on cable bitd and always enjoying it for just how silly it is and I still found it oddly enjoyable this time around. I’m honestly kind of surprised they let Nimoy make it.

 

[sirlynxalot]

Encino Man - It was good for what it is/was, a light and zany comedy. I miss the "rad" culture of the late 80s/early 90s a la Bill and Ted / Saved by the Bell / Waynes World. This was more of that, and getting a view into Hollywood's portrayal of that culture again was heartwarming. It was quaint to see the villain, a school bully wearing the stereotypical dark leather jacket, get his comeuppance, get rejected by the main character's love interest, and to see a caveman playing Radmobile. The neanderthal's improbable antics as he clashes with early 90s teenage life and pop culture were fun to see, though I wondered if the film would have been "canceled" in modern times by, among other things, the neanderthal being strongly interested in hip hop music while no on else is, and impressing the two hiphop fans in the movie with his neanderthal hip hop dancing, the implication perhaps being that hip hop (which some may regard as black music, especially at the time that this movie came out) can only strongly appeal to someone with a primitive intellect.

Heretic - Spoilers

Spoiler:

My friend told me it wasn't a horror movie, but that turned out to just be a ploy to get me to watch it. It was absolutely a horror movie. Some people say that Hugh Grant's character really makes you think and the movie is open for interpretation in many instances and therefore its deep and good a la seeing the Matrix or Sixth Sense for the first time. I don't agree with that. The cinematography and pacing were good, I got stressed out watching the main character girls get systematically tortured for the entire movie, but by the end, I wasn't feeling any significant lesson learned or deep impact. Grant's character's criticism of religion was elementary and nothing that anyone should have a "whoa" moment over.

I didn't understand Grant's motivation for kidnapping and torturing people at all, especially considering he apparently did it repeatedly and lots of times. I guess you could say it just boils down to Grant enjoying going on a power trip, enjoying the exercise of control for control's sake, as after talking about religions throughout the entire movie and trying to dupe the main characters into believing a fake miracle, there is the reveal towards the end that he regards all religions as nothing more than a way to exercise "control". But this isn't a satisfying motive to me as the audience and makes Grant's character shallow. The bizarre elaborate torture house they were in that I guess had no windows, was also hard to take as a potential real environment. Overall, the movie was creepy because creepy and gruesome events happened in it, but the thread holding those events together wasn't anything special for me.

 

[100proof]

So, assuming Erika Eliniak's boobs are 1 & 2, is the 3rd Gary Busey or Tommy Lee Jones?

TLJ is by far the most interesting thing in that movie. Dude kills it. Didn't really give it much thought beyond that but I imagine Erika would be 2 and the conceit (Die Hard on a boat) is more interesting than Seagal pretending poorly to be a cook and doing basically no aikido.

 

[terry.330]

 

[Hot Chocolate]

Nosferatu
-Wlliam DeFoe steals every scene he's in.

The Big Hit & The Replacement Killers
-first two movies for the new year are my go to movies for a fun time.

 

[Lagduf]

Star Trek IV: The One With The Whales- I’m not much of a Trek guy so I can’t really speak to its quality in the context of the franchise. That said this is goofy as fuck regardless of context. It’s definitely not a good sci-fi movie but everyone seems to be having fun and it’s just so damn 80’s. I remember watching this on cable bitd and always enjoying it for just how silly it is and I still found it oddly enjoyable this time around. I’m honestly kind of surprised they let Nimoy make it.

As a Trek fan I feel basically the same. It’s fun, dumb, and mostly low stakes.

 

[SouthtownKid]

As a Trek fan I feel basically the same. It’s fun, dumb, and mostly low stakes.

 

[terry.330]

The Cat’s Meow- A period drama based loosely on real events surrounding a murder cover up on William Randolph Hurst’s yacht in 1924. A group including Charlie Chaplin, Hurst, his mistress and a handful of other Hollywood associates and socialites go on a weekend party cruise. Just about everyone involved is a terrible person in one way or another, they’re all trying to further their own careers or get dirt on someone else. Chaplin is in love with Hurst’s mistress and pursues her quite openly. Hurst finds out and things quickly spiral out of control.

An excellent ensemble cast including Edward Herrmann, Cary Elwes, Kirsten Dunst, Joanna Lumley, Eddie Izzard and Jennifer Tilly all turn in solid performances. Along with great production value and a lot of period accurate details really create a sense of roaring 20s excess and the dark side of golden age Hollywood. Definitely worth a watch if you’re into jazz age murder mystery stuff.

 

[sc]

Welcome To The Dollhouse - You follow middle school aged girl Dawn Weiner as she tries to survive her day to day life while being bullied in various ways as well as dealing with her family and home life where she also takes it on the chin. It shouldn’t work as a comedy but most of the scenarios are kind of over the top/ridiculous and she is made to be a bit of an unlikable character herself as well as everyone else in the film.

You can tell there wasn’t a budget here but it adds to the charm. All the outfits, interiors and objects are a really dated mix of 90s,80s,70s. Probably just thrift stores and kmart but everything just looks bright or shitty and drab in a good way. The film was shot in 95 so there are scenes like playing super pang/buster bros in a 7/11 with slurpees, slut girl making out with a heavy metal dude on car, etc. the film is nicely saturated and pops.

I can count the number of people I could recommend this to on one hand and even then I probably still would be hesitant as its just too fucking weird but there is something to it.

 

[fake]

Jeff Baena killed himself. RIP.

 

[Tarma]

RoboCop 2 - sequel to the '87 original, directed by Irvin "Empire Strikes Back" Kershner, with Peter Weller reprising his role as RoboCop. The OCP corporation is up to its tricks again, trying to bankrupt the city of Detroit so it can steamroller through its plans for "Delta City". Meanwhile the crime rate soars as people get addicted to a new drug called "Nuke". Robocop ultimately goes up against OCP and the kingpin behind Nuke resulting in a climatic battle with the titular RoboCop 2.
This is an entertaining enough sequel to Paul Verhoeven's first film, but it doesn't have the edge that film does, and while there's plenty of violence, it is nowhere near as OTT and visceral as its predecessor.
Generally criticized as being inferior to the original, I've always liked RoboCop 2, and while I agree it is not as good as the first film, it's still a solid Sci-Fi action romp, and the special effects (with the stop-motion miniatures) hold up well. Plus it's a better time than the 2014 reboot.

 

[terry.330]

Robocop 2 is fucking awesome.

Anyone who is a Robocop fan should watch Robodoc. It’s a fantastic documentary.

 

[LoneSage]

The warehouse scene was nightmare fuel for my 6 year old self. Tarma's review is the best review I've ever read of Robocop 2.

For a long time I hated the opening where Murphy sees his wife. I felt it went against the ending of the first film, where he clearly has his identity. - he is not just Robocop, he is Murphy. Now I see it as him letting his wife move on.

Maybe the one thing we can all agree on is having some fucking kid be a crime boss is still a retarded idea. Clearly there is some message there, but it's just so ridiculous it doesn't work.

 

[Tarma]

I kinda disagree with your assessment of Hob. Sure, on a superficial level it seems ridiculous, but when you give wider consideration to the "world" in which RoboCop is set, then having a young kid be a sadistic killer is not so far fetched - and I think that's the point the filmmakers were trying to make - society in this world has become so fucked up that even a child, brought up in a world of drugs and violence, could run a crime empire, because he probably has never known anything different.

I know a lot of contemporary reviewers also found the Hob character to be quite repulsive, and a stupid idea... I think it was genius.

 

[terry.330]

Yeah I kinda like the kid and the actor they got is perfect for the character. It also plays well into the weird little family dynamic with Kane and the chick.


Scanner Cop- I’m sure David Cronenberg never imagined there would be 2 sequels to Scanners let alone a spin off series, but of course with the direct to video boom anything was possible.

I have to say this is actually surprisingly good for what it is and it definitely has that gritty early 90s VHS rental feel with a generally nasty vibe and some gnarly effects. The main performances are all pretty solid and really help sell the “scanning” which could easily come off as laughable. The evil fortune teller lady in particular is really going for it and Richard Lynch as always is perfectly evil and always comes across as a true professional regardless of how silly a role may be.

Obviously this is nowhere near as smart, well done or original as Cronenberg’s but for a direct to video spin off it’s really entertaining.