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

Ralfakick

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Race for Glory : Audi vs Lancia

I really wanted to like this but some how they made Group B Rally Racing kind of boring. The main character wasn’t too compelling. I’ve been wanting to watch this when I first saw a trailer two years ago


Redline

I never watched this before and thought it was fun kind of in an F Zero way

Deadfall. Now this was bad Nick Cage looks like Sonny Bono or something I think it was directed by his brother, honestly one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen not even fun in a trash kind of way. Sometimes there are some 90s movies I missed like Light Sleeper with Willem Dafoe (watched Kinds of Kindness and mostly enjoyed that recently). But this was trash especially with people like James Coburn and Peter Fonda in it (with a special cameo appearance by the last living Monkee Mickey Dolenz)

 
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terry.330

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No. But I always liked Spaceballs more than History Part 1, and there is plenty for them to parody with how far off the rails Star Wars has gone.
Well it wasn’t great, just a cringy cameo fest on par with Drunk History. My expectations for Spaceballs 2 are not high. I love Mel but I just don’t see how this going to be anything other than a half baked out of touch cash grab filled with people like Jack Black and Sarah Silverman.

I’d love to be proven wrong but I’m not holding my breathe.
 

famicommander

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Well it wasn’t great, just a cringy cameo fest on par with Drunk History. My expectations for Spaceballs 2 are not high. I love Mel but I just don’t see how this going to be anything other than a half baked out of touch cash grab filled with people like Jack Black and Sarah Silverman.

I’d love to be proven wrong but I’m not holding my breathe.
You're probably right.

But I still think the current movie/TV climate is definitely asking more for a Spaceballs sequel than a History sequel.

I mean, the last Spaceballs came out when Return of the Jedi was the worst Star Wars. Holy shit.
 

Tarma

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Universal Soldier: Regeneration - another attempt to reboot the UniSol franchise, this one sees the return of Van Damme and Dolph, and directed by John Hyams - son of Peter, who directed two of Van Damme's best 90s flicks - Timecop and Sudden Death.

This is pretty meh. It has none of the charm or character of the original. We don't really get to see Van Damme until the second half of the film, and Dolph is in it for about 5 minutes, and mumbles most of his lines. However, that 5 minutes is probably the best part of the entire film.

I think I'll stick with the original, and pretend none of the sequels exist.
 

sc

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Since we're talking about Keanu, let's not forget his dramatic turn in Parenthood. He was actually pretty great in that film, beginning as a guy that might as well have been Ted Logan in a real world to being alarmingly mature by the end of it. He has one of the most memorable lines in that film or any film in my life, and he said it about as perfectly as you would have expected his character, Tod, to say it:


It’s probably been at least 30 years since I’ve seen this, time for a rewatch. That scene before this where the mom breaks into his room is forever burned in my mind. Kind of ironic to think about watching this years before the same thing would inevitably happen to us irl. I’m sure it’s a bit dated now but I can still appreciate him trying to do something different for once regardless.

Spoiler:
Untitled 4.jpg
 

terry.330

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Cabin Boy- I’ve always loved this but never knew it was supposed to be directed by Tim Burton, it makes a lot more sense now. Apparently after the 2 Batman movies Burton wanted to go back to something smaller and more in his wheel house like Beetlejuice or Pee Wee. He passed at the last minute to make Ed Wood instead (thank god) so the studio handed it off to the head writer who had never directed anything and had written it specifically to suit Burton. The result is the gloriously insane mess we ended up with that ruined the careers of both the writer/director and star Chris Elliott.

Which is a shame because the movie is really unlike anything else and genuinely hilarious. Thankfully it eventually found its audience on home video and cable and has become a cult classic.

It’s definitely worth watching and has lived in my head since I first saw it in the theater back in 94. I still quote it frequently even though no one has ever gotten a single reference in 30 years. (It also provided a key sample for one of the greatest rap songs ever made.)

 
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Taiso

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Caught the live action remake of How To Train Your Dragon with the roomie today. She loved the original and didn't want to go see it alone so I tagged along.

It was nice. Very faithful adaptation. A few casting choices were bizarre to me and there was some clumsy attempt to explain the Vikings as, essentially, 'colonizers' of the island. If it wasn't current year Hollywood and faggetry wasn't sprinkled throughout this industry like dogshit in tall grass, I wouldn't have thought twice about it. It's just a throwaway line, barely worth remembering, which brings up the question: why even add it in?

For the most part, it's nearly a 1:1 recreation of the animated film, which was swell and a lot of fun. The effects for the big dragon at the end are a sight to behold. HBO only wishes it could do this with House of the Dragon and these are cartoon flying lizards (!) flitting about and being silly for most of it.

The cast is pretty great and do well. Gerard Butler reprises his role as Stoic from the animated film and he slides comfortably back into the character. He really was born to play boisterous warriors with Scottish accents. Nick Frost is fantastic as Gobber, very sympathetic, and leads Mason Thames and Nico Parker are delightful as Hiccup and Astrid.

They add some messaging in there about Hiccup's privilege, being Stoic's son, (which he doesn't actually have?) and Astrid is given some background about coming from nothing and NEEDING to be the top slayer because it's all she's ever wanted and has worked very hard, uphill in the snow both ways, for. She girlbosses a bit too close to the sun and is borderline unlikeable at times (Zendaya levels of cuntery in both Dune and Spider-Man), but in the end, she shows a softer side and I find her transition to being Hiccup's love interest while still having an unexpected character arc (given these new wrinkles) believable. Heartwarming, even. I can't be too critical of it, even though it sounds like I am being just that. I like Astrid in this version and Nico Parker has a brilliant future in film as long as she doesn't allow herself to be typecast in roles like this-the sun has set on the girlboss archetype and she won't be doing herself any favors if she doesn't grow beyond it. I wish her the best of luck. Perhaps she can succeed where Zendaya failed.

The final battle is a spectacle and simply must be witnessed in a theater. There is a scope to it that simply can't be effectively captured on the small screen.

Anyway, if you got kids or you feel like one inside, go check it out. It's a good time.

4 out of 5.
 

Tarma

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Maniac Cop 2 - Robert Z'Dar returns as the undead Matt Cordell, still looking for revenge on those who wronged him in the first film.

Again directed by Bill Lustig, but with a larger budget, this really amps up the action elements to make a strong follow up to the original.

The acting is decent throughout, with surviving characters from the first film returning... albeit briefly. The sub-plot of Cordell being befriended by a serial killer is a bit weird, but I guess it all adds to the charm.

I'd like to have seen more of Robert Davi kicking ass, but the focus here seems to be more on Cordell's rampage across the city.

If you liked the first one, you'll like this for sure.
 
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Tarma

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My recent journey down the B-Movie action film rabbit hole has finally led me to the holy grail of 90s B-Movie action films...

Samurai Cop.

Oh. My. God. This film is a real experience. The editing is sloppy, to be point of being bad. Some elements haven't been color graded. The dialogue is hilariously terrible. The ADR is awful. There is virtually no continuity within scenes. Most of the acting is terrible. The direction is practically non-existent. The photography is terrible in places. The soundtrack is pretty good though.

It is almost like a group of people woke up one morning and decided to spend the day making an action film, and then had the balls to release it.

Even the promo material for the film is wrong - most will recognize the poster of the cop with a samurai sword and severed head - making the film appear to be a rip-off of Maniac Cop. Yeah, it's nothing like Maniac Cop. It's not a horror film for starters. And the so called "Samurai Cop" (the films protagonist) only wields a sword twice in the whole movie. There is the Robert Z'Dar connection, but that's tenuous at best.

Yep, Samurai Cop is laugh out loud awful, from the very first scene through to the last. It offers no respite in its ineptitude. But, all this makes it very enjoyable to watch, definitely the best worst action film I've seen to date.
 

terry.330

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I have not, no. I've heard of it. Is it worse than Samurai Cop?
Not worse but equally embarrassing and entertaining for different reasons, like 100 said they have a lot in common. It also has some incredible musical numbers.

VS put out a really nice release a while back that’s still easy to get.
 

Average Joe

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Fuck the haters. This looks hilarious. Just hope they haven't wasted the best gags in this trailer.

That might be the most uneven trailer I've seen in a while--some of those gags were pretty great, but an equal amount were rather lame.

Or does that actually make it even?
 

100proof

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Not every gag in the original was an A+ banger either. The key with the Zucker movies was that there was almost always a joke on screen. Either something weird/silly happening in the background or an actual joke being told in the foreground. If they pull it off correctly, it would almost be the perfect movie for the current attention span free modern audience. They wouldn't have a moment to be bored or distracted.
 

terry.330

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Not feeling that at all. Liam Neeson is trying too hard, Nielsen was effortlessly deadpan. Got big 21 Jump Street vibes, which is not a good thing if you’re aiming for Zucker bros style but maybe it’s just the trailer. A couple of the more subtle gags in the trailer had that ZB feel though (the Spirit Halloween sign and the take a seat bit) so who knows.

People seem excited for it though so whatever, we’ll see.
 
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Tarma

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I think Neeson is looking to carve out his own take on Drebin. You're right, Nielsen made it look effortless, and he will be a hard act to follow, for sure, but if Neeson tried leaning too much into that Drebin, then he's going to be accused of trying to imitate. Perhaps he's damned either way.

I just hope I haven't seen the best bits in that trailer.

I remember when I saw the trailer for Hot Fuzz in the cinema, I was doubled up with laughter. Couldn't wait to see it. Then I went to see it when it was released, and I don't think I laughed once - all the funniest stuff was in the trailer. I had already seen it. Very disappointed. Really don't understand why people like it so much. It's too long, and it's not that funny.
 

Average Joe

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Hot Fuzz is legit one of the funniest movies ever made.

Shaun of the Dead is too.

World's End I was kind of tepid on for a long time, but I came around on that (alien fighting stuff is whatever... but the character moments are on point.)

 

100proof

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Yeah I watched World's End again recently and that movie's grown on me a lot. It's still the least of the three Cornetto movies but those characters are a lot more relatable these days and while the alien stuff isn't as clean a metaphor as the zombies from Shaun, it still speaks very clearly to a time and a place in people's lives.

Plus there's some great lines.
 

terry.330

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Hot Fuzz is amazing.

Speed- This is way dumber than I remember. It’s still enjoyable but it’s got that “high concept” sort of stupidity where everything beyond the basic premise is beyond cliched and paper thin. But it‘s a popcorn movie so that doesn’t really matter, it’s a very movie-movie. The direction and pacing really bump it up a couple notches though. It also wouldn’t be nearly as good with a lesser cast, even the character actors in their cookie cutter rolls add a lot. For a 90’s movie that essentially one giant set piece it holds up well enough. If it was made today it would be a mediocre CG fest starring Chris Pratt and Dakota Johnson that would be forgotten in a week.
 

Ralfakick

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I love Shaun of the Dead and Worlds End (not as much a fan of Hot Fuzz), but even though it’s only connected by the two main actors I still really enjoy Paul as well. I recently watched it again on Netflix and besides having some arguably deeper anti Christian elements in it, it’s so lighthearted and fun to me as a buddy road comedy I can watch it more than one time. I think Jason Bateman is great in it too, and all of the supporting actors in their roles.

I usually watch Shaun of the Dead as part of my Halloween time movie rotation.
 

Tarma

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I guess you guys find the "British" humor funnier than an actual Brit. That's fair enough. Hot Fuzz... more like Hot Garbage. Sorry.
 
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