Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread

[nachobro]

It is a direct sequel to the 1992 film of the same name and the fourth film in the Candyman franchise, based on the short story "The Forbidden" by Clive Barker.

this trend of "no actually this is the REAL sequel" in horror movies is pretty funny

[Stro]

So the answer is yes

[shosta]

there's no way this can top the original. Hard pass

[Stro]

The original really isnt that good. I watched it last Halloween and it is just kind of bleh. The score and setting make it stand out more than  anything with the story or effects imo. I was hoping it was a real remake into a better movie.

[shosta]

I watched it after you trashed it and, personally, I loved every second. It's a beautiful movie.

[Stro]

It is a good looking movie yes except the burn make up looks terrible. Visually it sticks out so much as a movie from my childhood that so much of it vividly came back to me despite not seeing it I  20 years but I don't think it is particularly good as a movie.

Better than  some other  Clive Barker's adaptations absolutely

[OnlyRegret]

Ted Cruz does not approve of Mario Bros movie

https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1234575793134669826

[VomKriege]

Tetris & Pong in that list... 

[Joe Molotov]

He's mad nobody wants to make another movie about the Zodiac Killer.

[OnlyRegret]

Tetris & Pong in that list... 

tetrimino waifus

[EchoRin]

Where's my Atari story that was going to feature Leo DiCaprio and then was gonna become a tv series instead (with Superbad fat guy I think?)!!! I would love to see that be adapted to the screen.

And what about Masters of Doom. Is that happening too already? Though that would have to be a tv series I would guess.

[Great Rumbler]

And what about Masters of Doom. Is that happening too already? Though that would have to be a tv series I would guess.

USA Network is supposedly working on a pilot episode.

[EchoRin]

The Invisible Man (2020) - It was alright. I agree with Transhuman on the subject of plot holes. Some of them seemed like they could even be avoided. Alas, whatever. Not sure how I felt about the ending. Particularly the demeanor

spoiler (click to show/hide)

of the main protagonist. It just seems so different from her. Even if she was determined to kill him, her behavior walking out of the house and cocksure way of talking to the cop friend. Just seemed off.

[close]

But I liked the various twists and how the invisible man was able to really mess with the main protagonist's psyche. She does a great job playing the character.

[Transhuman]

The Invisible Man (2020) - It was alright. I agree with Transhuman on the subject of plot holes. Some of them seemed like they could even be avoided. Alas, whatever. Not sure how I felt about the ending. Particularly the demeanor

spoiler (click to show/hide)

of the main protagonist. It just seems so different from her. Even if she was determined to kill him, her behavior walking out of the house and cocksure way of talking to the cop friend. Just seemed off.

[close]

But I liked the various twists and how the invisible man was able to really mess with the main protagonist's psyche. She does a great job playing the character.

The worst part was when

spoiler (click to show/hide)

-he was on the rampage in the hospital and she's screaming "he's right behind you" even though she's sitting right next to a gun and could have just killed him herself.

[close]

And they gave no time to linger on Griffin at all. Just a horrible anti-climatic villain

[EchoRin]

The Invisible Man (2020) - It was alright. I agree with Transhuman on the subject of plot holes. Some of them seemed like they could even be avoided. Alas, whatever. Not sure how I felt about the ending. Particularly the demeanor

spoiler (click to show/hide)

of the main protagonist. It just seems so different from her. Even if she was determined to kill him, her behavior walking out of the house and cocksure way of talking to the cop friend. Just seemed off.

[close]

But I liked the various twists and how the invisible man was able to really mess with the main protagonist's psyche. She does a great job playing the character.

The worst part was when

spoiler (click to show/hide)

-he was on the rampage in the hospital and she's screaming "he's right behind you" even though she's sitting right next to a gun and could have just killed him herself.

[close]

And they gave no time to linger on Griffin at all. Just a horrible anti-climatic villain

Well that wasn't necessarily the part that bothered me. I was thinking more

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Why is Zeus still in the house? If his master has been dead for weeks the dog would be in a shelter or taken by some other family member. Wat? Nope he's just chillin in the smart house. I guess he owns the house now. Yep. the dog is the master now. Lol. Ya we the audience assume that the nutjob boyfriend is alive, but the world in the film doesn't.

Then the fact tat this movie is all about surveillance, yet when the sister has her throat slit you mean to tell me that the camera in the restaurant wouldn't have picked up on the floating knife? Problem solved right there.

And when the brother shows up with the documents in the psych ward. The papers with the "hey you and my bro will have new identities and live happily ever after" would have stayed with her and she could have just shown it to someone. Ok, maybe that's not what the papers said, but something about the documents would have given it away.

And finally the phone. She finds his phone with the creep pics. Man that's some good ass evidence. But no. Nothing is done with that. So yeah, the movie has some plot holes that I think could have been avoided.

[close]

[Leadbelly]

Invisible Man is 90% at RT, wao. Might have to check it out this weekend and see if it’s actually better than the Kevin Bacon one.

That movie was garbo, but how did they do the Kim Dickens invisible titty grab? I remember that scene puzzling me at the time, i figured it was done compressed air or a vacuum, but it was probably just cgi, now that i think about it.

I wouldn't call it garbo. At least it dared to go places. I just think it didn't go far enough. Because lets face it, being invisible essentially means free from consequence. And the invisible man is basically set up for exploring how far a man might go when there is absolutely no consequences for his actions. Granted, how far someone might go also depends on a person's personality to a degree, but everyone once in a while has dark thoughts, that usually remain fantasy. What if someone decides to enact those dark fantasies?

Truth being, the invisible man should be dark as fuck. It should be what on the outside seems like a perfectly good and law-abiding citizen, slowly losing all sense of morality and decency. The Hollow Man, kind of went there, but seemed to lose confidence in it half way through. I at least give it credit for attempting to explore that side of it.

[VomKriege]

Hollow Man (the Kevin Bacon one) was made by Verhoeven. It's the most forgettable film of his I've seen by a wide margin, and arguably of his whole body of work save maybe that weird TV film he did for Dutch television before Elle ? Had to be really average to sink down all of Paul's talent. There was a monkey in the first act ? And the titty fondling, as Rumata mentioned. That's kinda it.

[Leadbelly]

I'm not saying it was a good film. I just don't think it is completely terrible.

[TVC15]

It’s pretty entertaining. I consider it his Panic Room. It feels very diluted, but still Verhoeven to me, which is still good enough.

[Don Rumata]

Hollow Man (the Kevin Bacon one) was made by Verhoeven. It's the most forgettable film of his I've seen by a wide margin, and arguably of his whole body of work save maybe that weird TV film he did for Dutch television before Elle ? Had to be really average to sink down all of Paul's talent. There was a monkey in the first act ? And the titty fondling, as Rumata mentioned. That's kinda it.

Yeah, Verhoeven is amazing, but Hollowman was really mediocre schlock.
Kind of neat effects tho.

[Great Rumbler]

https://twitter.com/mattreevesLA/status/1235261421425958912

 

[bluemax]

Hollow Man (the Kevin Bacon one) was made by Verhoeven. It's the most forgettable film of his I've seen by a wide margin, and arguably of his whole body of work save maybe that weird TV film he did for Dutch television before Elle ? Had to be really average to sink down all of Paul's talent. There was a monkey in the first act ? And the titty fondling, as Rumata mentioned. That's kinda it.

I don't think he is particularly proud of it either.

[MMaRsu]

Ok so it's time to check that Sonic movie out I guess

[MMaRsu]

Wait, why does Sonic know who Obi Wan Kenobi is?

*instantly turns off movie without the first 5 minutes*

[Joe Molotov]

Wait, why does Sonic know who Obi Wan Kenobi is?

*instantly turns off movie without the first 5 minutes*

Because he watches a lot of TV through the window of people's houses, just like TVC.

[Madrun Badrun]

Birds of Prey:  really good but too much going on and too many characters.  I would have preferred if it was just Harley, the girl, and one other.  The interactions at the end didn't feel earned. 

Sonic:  really good.  I was hoping for a little bit more edge in the humour like Dora or Jumanji. 

[TVC15]

Birds of Prey:  really good but too much going on and too many characters.  I would have preferred if it was just Harley, the girl, and one other.  The interactions at the end didn't feel earned. 

Sonic:  really good.  I was hoping for a little bit more edge in the humour like Dora or Jumanji. 

Jesus, dude. Are you feeling okay, buddy?

[Potato]

Watched Ford vs Ferrari. Loved it.

[Stro]

Potato, more like Dadato

[team filler]

potauto

[Stro]

Had a hankering to watch The Matrix for a few weeks, forever a classic, really hope Matrix 4 is cool.

[Madrun Badrun]

Real question:  did the guy in Police Academey actually make the noises? 

[Great Rumbler]

Yeah, he did.

[Thirty-Ought-Six]

Old Joy (2006)

I used to live in Oregon and went camping there, and anyone curious about that experience can't do better than this movie. It's actually really good too.

Re-Animator (1985)

Thanks to everyone who talked about this, I was missing it in my life. Jeffrey Combs is tremendous. I love how it focuses more the horror than on typical comedy beats, so you feel like you are sneaking in furtive laughs most of the way, until finally it builds up so much you can't hold back.

[EchoRin]

Harvey Weinstein gets 23 years in prison. Not bad not bad.

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/harvey-weinstein-sentencing-1203529333/

[team filler]

hillary would have pardoned him 

[EchoRin]

The Way Back - 2 out of 4 stars. It's kinda alright. Too often it's all surface level. Even the drinking. A few moments of depth with that, but in the end this movie is only halfway there.

[Great Rumbler]

Should have just watched Hoosiers instead.

[EchoRin]

I just needed some sports with all the leagues being put on hold/canceled 

[Joe Molotov]

Fear of a Black Hat

Cup your hands, cover up, NWH says grab yo stuff.

[Don Rumata]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/marion-cotillard-gets-lip-injections-movie-role-983945

 

Why destroy perfection, you psycho?

Also belongs here.

[EchoRin]

Is... is that only temporary? Otherwise

[Don Rumata]

I think it is, because you usually need to inject routinely, still... 

I'll take the opportunity to point out how this fetish Hollywood has to praise body modifications for a part is fucking demented.
All movies that get praised for this type of things are either mediocre, or very much meme shit, so it's just a fucking gimmick; the only way for them to get any attention.
If the performance is good, it's good regardless of all the stupid make up and absurdities.

Gaining or losing a bit (still within reason) of weight is fair enough, but this kind of shit comes off really desperate and pathetic to me.
They should stop gushing about it and encourage it, because it's stupid, and doesn't make for particularly great cinema anyway.

I don't even think heavy prosthetics are net positive, for natural roles (see Fox Catcher, it always looks bad), let alone fucking up your face with this shit.

[EchoRin]

Sure sure, but I look at Christian Bale and I think his body appearance has been very much part of his character. Like he has to be a buff dude when playing Batman. And then that super skinny dude in, uh, well you know what movie I am referring to. And then him being a bit more of a skinny lanky looking dude in Ford vs. Ferrari.

Your appearance still means something. And I admit that while I love the movie Alive, it's very hard to not notice that everyone who was supposedly trapped in the Andes for weeks on end (months on end?) still looked like a decently fed person.

Not asking people to go all Shia Lebouf and cut their face to scar themselves (that could be achieved with make up). But you still ought to look the part. Hell sometimes a character is straight up miscast because of the person's appearance. Not even because of their weight or whatever. It could just be "well it makes no sense that this skinny girl is taking down buff enemies with punches and kicks". Mila Kunis just naturally doesn't fit that role like say a Michelle Rodriguez type. That's a hypothetical. not an actual movie that I'm referring to.

Edit: On a random note since he just contracted coronavirus. Tom Hanks! Could you maybe like at least give one of your characters a different hair style for fucks sake? And not because you're trapped on an island so you had no choice but to alter your "I'm Tom Hanks haircut".

 

[Don Rumata]

Bale talked about the physical problems his constant weight shift has caused him, back in the day, and suggested nobody else tried it (this was during the cross from Machinist to Batman Begins and back down for The Fighter, i believe), and is one of the examples i'm thinking of, actually.
I think the importance of his appearance in the quality of the overall movie, is vastly overrated.
Again, if you want to lose a bit of weight, gain some muscle or put on some fat for a role, that's fine, but it can be done still within reasonable limits.
My point is: Your body transformation WILL NOT save a mediocre movie, Machinist is an ok dark thriller, but everybody remembers it for Bale's gimmick body transformation, that only speaks about how forgettable it otherwise would be, same for Monster, that movie where Charlize Theron got "ugly" in.
I can think off the top of my head my top 10 movies (but i bet i could extend it to my top 100) and none of them feature, or are particularly beholden to, this type of bullshit performance.

This is not to say that masterpiece of cinema weren't made with great struggle or sacrifice, or even abuse (The Shining, Exorcist) but a stupid gimmick won't save a fundamentally mediocre film.
Besides, we could argue that the abuse in the creation of films like Shining, is only presumed to be instrumental, because great performances exist without that kind of garbage anyway.

I'd extend this to also gimmick shit like DiCaprio eating the raw fish in Revenant, but i don't want to go too long.

EDIT: And yeah, Shia Lebouf and Jared Leto are two obvious names that come to mind when you think of someone trying to make up for their lack of depth as actors, with stupid shit.
Although i don't even hate Shia that much as an actor.

[EchoRin]

I like Monster haha.

Didn't really pick up on Leo eating a raw fish in the Revenant. Not that it was a gimmick, but the big "how we shot this" moment that got into meme territory was the bear fight. Not that I have anything for or against that aspect of the movie behind the scenes stuff being brought up so much around the time of promotion. Sure yeah show us how the bear thing went down.

But I got ya Don 

By the way. Do you get angry eye rolly at people like Jackie Chan and Tom Cruise that do their crazy stunts (well most of them)?

edit: Didn't wan to make it seem like you're seething at these topics at hand lol

[Don Rumata]

I like Monster haha.

Didn't really pick up on Leo eating a raw fish in the Revenant. Not that it was a gimmick, but the big "how we shot this" moment that got into meme territory was the bear fight. Not that I have anything for or against that aspect of the movie behind the scenes stuff being brought up so much around the time of promotion. Sure yeah show us how the bear thing went down.

But I got ya Don 

By the way. Do you get angry at people like Jackie Chan and Tom Cruise that do their crazy stunts (well most of them)?

To me, it mostly depends what it brings to a movie.
I'm a big fan of Jackie, however him being lead actor AND stuntman, allowed him to, for example, always shoot continuously, regardless of whether you could see his face or not.
This isn't as much of an issue anymore, because with cgi you can kind do whatever, but at the time it did make a difference.

I'm also a fan for the Mission Impossible movies, but in that case, i think it's mostly to fuel Cruise adrenaline addiction (or mental illness) more than craft, because films like Casino Royale (Craig's) feature amazing set pieces, without that need for Craig to be jumping off buildings breaking his ribs, halting the production for months. 
At the end of the day i want to reiterate that i'm not saying that great cinema doesn't require sacrifice, even physical, but that at the end of the day, a gimmick on top of an ok movie, it's always just a gimmick.

And it's also actors (works for artists in general) smelling their own farts, this is part of it: The mystique of the tormented genius that goes off the deep end with the Stanislavskij and starts to suck back-alley dick to *become* the prostitute, seems to me, little more than a sophisticated form of Narcisism.

Even my boy Lynch shat on the tortured artist myth, between one Trans. Meditation plug and the other. 

EDIT: I should also say, beyond all this, everyone's free to do what they want, so if you want to shove nails up your ass for you movie, or get plastic surgery for your Michael Jackson biopic, go ahead, but i think Hollywood should at least stop pushing it as the true artist struggle symbol.

[team filler]

 

[Mr. Nobody]

Arrival - 

[Leadbelly]

Harvey Weinstein gets 23 years in prison. Not bad not bad.

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/harvey-weinstein-sentencing-1203529333/

It was clear Harvey Weinstein abused his power to molest women. However, I tend to feel uneasy about these cases. Because 'probably did it' is not evidence that he did it. And the problem with these types of cases is you are relying on testimonies rather than concrete evidence. There is no evidence, they're historic in nature. No witnesses to the crime.

This was an earlier article I was reading. And it seems to be the case in the end.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-harvey-weinstein-testimony/harvey-weinstein-rape-case-may-turn-on-history-of-prior-bad-acts-idUSKBN20C1C9

And so I have mixed feelings about it. Yeah Harvey Weinstein clearly molested women. Was there actual evidence to convict him of rape of a specific woman, I don't know.

[Transhuman]

Bad outcome, he only got 1 year for every hour he spent raping.

[Stro]

Since Comcast let up data caps for the time being I thought I'd download a bunch of shit and figured how bad could Sonic really be.


I made it to 7 minutes, 10 seconds and tapped out.

[Sman]

Fear of a Black Hat

Cup your hands, cover up, NWH says grab yo stuff.

My peanuts!

[Stro]

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)


I would not say this is good, but it is watchable and certainly a lot better than Genisys. Completely destroys the Sarah Connor character even in the first fucking scene of the movie, let alone throughout the rest where she's constantly quipping. There's no way the Sarah Connor from T2 would just be chilling on the beach with her shoes off at a fucking bar because Judgement Day didn't come so she thought everything was safe. They should have just killed her off in the same scene tbh because her personality after the death of John also doesn't fit at all.

The main problem with this and all the post T2 sequels is the concept was already stretched pretty fucking thin in T2 and everything after has just been a rehash and worse version of T2. There have been 5 movies and a TV series before Dark Fate, so absolutely nothing in DF was fresh. Even the one part that wasn't a straight rehash/rip off of previous moments in the movies was a direct rip off of ALIENS to the point that I'm pretty sure the screeches from the machines were actually the xenomorph screams.

The franchise is just so tired and I don't know what the fuck there is to do with it besides strip it of all the things that make it a Terminator movie, and then people will be mad it isn't a Terminator movie. I can't believe they really did BACK TO BACK continuity erasing reboots  And even then Dark Fate still takes a number of plot points from Genisys anyway: Like John gets killed/assimilated, the timeline changes, Skynet takes a different name and format but all the same things happen anyway, the same cycles, fate blah blah blah. The CG was really wonky too. A lot of the sets were very obviously fully CG and anytime characters went to full CGI, it looked about as good as Burly Brawl looks now.


This franchise should have ended in 1991.

[Yeti]

The Terminator franchise should take a page from Assassin’s Creed and have the Terminators target The Connor ancestral line. Imagine a young Prudence Connor trying to escape accusations of witchcraft as well as an unstoppable killing machine during The Salem Witch Trials. The Terminator would be disguised as a clergyman, and at the end she blasts it with a musket, damaging its face enough to reveal a glowing red eye. The townsfolk all think the Terminator is the devil and turn on him. There are lots of historical settings it would be cool to drop a Terminator into. Time travel is already a major part of their stories, they shouldn’t be afraid to use time travel in places other than the present

[Potato]

The Terminator franchise should take a page from Assassin’s Creed and have the Terminators target The Connor ancestral line. Imagine a young Prudence Connor trying to escape accusations of witchcraft as well as an unstoppable killing machine during The Salem Witch Trials. The Terminator would be disguised as a clergyman, and at the end she blasts it with a musket, damaging its face enough to reveal a glowing red eye. The townsfolk all think the Terminator is the devil and turn on him. There are lots of historical settings it would be cool to drop a Terminator into. Time travel is already a major part of their stories, they shouldn’t be afraid to use time travel in places other than the present

I think you just put more effort into that than the writers put into the last three Terminator films combined.

[Bebpo]

Uncut Gems - Was solid, great performance by Sandler, the black light club looked really nice visually, second half had good tension, but overall was kinda long and Sandler's character was really.fucking.unlikeable and too crazy. Just because of that and the short tighter length experience I greatly preferred Good Time. I'm fine with movies about shitty despicable people, but annoying grating people are hard to connect with.

Also seemed really weird that 40/50 something Sandler's annoying ass character was dating the gorgeous 20/30 something Julia Fox who was in love with him. Kinda took me out of the realisim 'cause like really?

[Thirty-Ought-Six]

Bad Times at the El Royale

My expectations were way too high for this. Most of the characters turn out to be surprisingly boring, their relationships to each other are negligible or unexplored, and their actions are inexplicable or impossible.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

The FBI agent is practically begging to get shot when he was the one with the element of surprise, since he had secretly seen how dangerous it was, the military sniper stands directly in the line of fire for no reason, and the cult leader warps through time and space to arrive at the El Royale right after being called from presumably long distance.

[close]

What's left is a fun cast and some stylistic flourishes, so it isn't a waste of time, just really disappointing.


Alita: Battle Angel

This was the opposite of Bad Times. My expectations were low and I liked it a lot. Based on commercials I expected the anime-eyes CGI to be offputting, but it works amazingly well. Even in a movie with Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, and Mahershala Ali, by far the standout is Alita herself, Rosa Salazar.

The story does wind up being very underwhelming, with some annoying parts especially at the end. So I guess the lesson is if you can't come up with a fully satisfying story, at least you can have weird, striking visuals and ludicrous action scenes to push the story aside.

[EchoRin]

One of my friends was laughing through all of Alita the whole time. Luckily I wasn't sitting by him. I enjoyed the movie too. Enough that I do hope a sequel is made.

[shosta]

It seems like a divisive movie. I loved every second.