Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread

[Bebpo]

Watched Mandy 

Felt less like a movie and more like the director REALLY wanted to make a PS3 era action horror game aka The Evil Within with random ass cool looking imagery and mini-bosses and kills.
I mean it looked cool,
but probably would've been better at like 2x speed because boy was it slow and some bits were zzzzzzzzzzz, while some bits were neat.

Chainsaw battle & Cenobites were great. Would've been better if the cenobites were actually supernatural cenobites and not just superhuman LSD people. That kinda made them a lot lamer.

Enjoyed all the drugs and Nic Cage making the faces when on the drugs.

2/5 stars

[team filler]

just like the messagebore poster 

[EchoRin]

I've been watching lots of movies on Netflix. Made several write ups over the week. This is a few of them.
------

Kill Bill Vol 1 & 2 – A non-superhero comic book come to life essentially. Maybe leans too heavily into paying homage at times. And lo and behold, even before Quentin got all westerny, even here he likes to use western style music. Not sure if it’s all from other films or if some of those tracks were composed for this film (didn’t do a Wikipedia check). Kiddo (Uma Thurman) is a great revenge seeking character and I’m glad Uma was actually physically up to the challenge, as it would be pretty lame to have the main character being only competent at the action choreography. Especially for something like the final fight in Tokyo for the conclusion of volume 1. For such a basic story you get a good feel for these characters the way you always seem to do in a Tarantino movie.

There were moments where I was like “huh, this seems like it doesn’t make sense”, but then give it time and the movie will show you. The two things that came to mind were why was Lucy Liu a Yakuza leader of some kind. Cause I was like “isn’t she Asian-American of Chinese descent? Well maybe in 2003 people didn’t give a shit as long as the actress looks Asian… THEY’RE ALL ONE AND THE SAME RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE”. And indeed, she is a half American and half Chinese lady who was stationed with her family in Japan. Some shit happens in the movie and then you’re like “well, yeah. And that’s how she accomplished that”. The other was when Kiddo is buried in the ground. I was like “is it gonna be something lame and the bad guys pull her back out to torture her some more cause they are dumb and that will be her second chance?” NOPE! You get the whole Pai Mei backstory and learn that she actually has the technique to bust through that damn casket. It’s great stuff how the aspects you think are gonna be BS, in turn are fully explained.

Favorite bits are the fight in Tokyo in the restaurant. And the soundtrack. Soundtrack is amazing here. Oh and David Carradine can read a book to me. If uh, he was still alive.

-------
Any Given Sunday – Bad. Thumbs down. Schlocky nu-metal meets XFL meets MTV reality TV. A couple good scenes. Last game is good. It's all over the place and comes off extremely cheesy more than cool as it views itself. It’s very of its time in a bad way. Cameron Diaz’s character is a joke. The whole angle of her character is just bad and she seems so ill fitted for this role.

There were some surprising ahead of its time moments for a minute, before the movie kinda reverts back to the late 90s of perceived guts and glory. There is this defensive player who has head issues or neck issues. The doctor goes all “man we shouldn’t play him. This is a human being and there is more to life after football”. A sound thing to say in 2020. It sounds even sound to the coach who’s like “of course I want your help, but not at this price.” Of course, it ends up that the player gets his way, nearly dies on the field, but hey he stopped that first down and gets his million dollar bonus check. Guts and glory babyyyyyy! Atta boy atta boy. True team player! Right, so that’s how the movie handles that.

Then we got hotshot black QB played by Jamie Foxx. He brings up some really good points of racial injustice in football. Again, I’m like “huh, in fucking 1999? Oliver Stone you sure you weren’t time traveling to 2014?” But it’s then all kinda swept aside for some team talk stuff by Al Pacino. But yeah that dinner scene between Al Pacino and Jamie Foxx is one of the movie highlights. Then Al Pacino talking with Dennis Quaid before the big game at his home is a nice scene. Which reminds me LOL at Dennis’ wife acting like she wears the pants in the family. In a macho football world where Dennis is god for who know how long, some woman is gonna be like “you are gonna play and that’s that!” She then slaps him. Yeah ok gurl. As if someone of Dennis’ stature would ever be like that. Literally the lifestyle you have is because of him up to this point. I’m assuming you have been investing money over the last 15 years he had his career. You think some extra games or one more season is gonna suddenly offer you a much better lifestyle or that your lifestyle will be downgraded if he never plays again? Wat? This makes no fucking sense. Anybody in Dennis’ shoes would be like “I said biiiiiiiiitch.” Dennis could easily tell her to fuck off. But no, the movie which is full of masculine bullshit steroid bravado makes him look like some puppy that just had its nose shoved in dirt. It’s just stupid considering how the movie has played out till then.

Oh and great speech by Al Pacino before the final game (or was it at halftime?).

Right then. Very poor sports movie. Not worth watching.

[Nuitangg]

I can wait another 34 years, I'm good.

Fuck you.

[ToxicAdam]

I was an Oliver Stone fan up to Any Given Sunday. It was such a massive disappointment that it kind of changed how I viewed all his previous work. Things that (at the time) seemed raw and edgy, now just looked amateur and unpolished. Many of those movies I loved were carried by the performance of the actors and not the choices by the director.

[team filler]

https://twitter.com/NicholasPalod2/status/1246656724733435905

[EchoRin]

A couple more write ups
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Philadelphia – Excellent movie. A law firm fires Tom Hanks on the basis that he is incompetent, but Tom Hanks sues them for discriminatory firing. He claims that he was fired for having AIDS. Denzel Washington who is a loud and proud homophobe gives the case some thought and decides to defend Tom’s character.

1993 eh? A family that actually loves and supports their gay son? Even the old ass parents? Hmm, cool. A nice change of pace for the average LGBT movie. Now this is also about AIDS as much as it is about Tom Hanks’ character sexuality. I feel that today the AIDS horror show is kinda worn off now. We live in a post-Magic Johnson world so AIDS is no longer seen as the GAY PLAGUE. Well at least not so blatantly. Sure, there will be some that quickly look at AIDS as a gay disease first, but it’s not really seen that way today by anybody, dare I say under 45 (in the western world I guess if I have to qualify that for all you pedantic pricks). So the AIDS scare is naturally dated in this movie.

But hoo boy homophobia that is presented in such a great way here, (loooooove Denzel’s homophobic quips. Err, not in a supportive way mind you. More like “yep, I know these kind of people. Yep I overhear this kinda shit on the street” kind of way.) is still just as relevant today. That scene where Denzel is at some pub and pretty much everyone is like “ah you fighting for that feg.” It’s unanimous. Even the bartender is like “we got one thing in common. I hate those fairies”. Cause Denzel’s character is a work in progress. Obviously he grew up in a homophobic environment. He isn’t suddenly a gay loving homeboy once he takes on Tom Hanks’ case. But he tries. He’s a work in progress who has a wife that is not homophobic which helps him to rethinking his stance. Yeah that quality homophobia (and just general other bigotry against LGBT people) is just as prevalent then as it is now.  [Trump voice] Sad, very said [/Trump voice].

I also love how during the court scene the lawyer defending the company mumbles to herself “I hate this case”. Right there with you. She knows how this is a piece of shit company that has no right winning the case, but you do what you gotta do and defend them. The court scenes are pretty good. I find that the one bit of the movie that seemed week to me was when Tom Hanks passes out at court. His character looks like shit for minutes on end. Barely even able to stay upright, but somehow this is all overlooked until he finally collapses. It seems a little too Hollywood in how that all plays out. Could have been less dramatic. Cause the subject matter is dramatic on its own. Didn’t have to play up his character having the big dramatic fainting scene.

Great film. Surprising in a way to me that it’s from 1993 and plays out the way it does with how it treats all its characters. It’s a nice mature look at the subject matter. Sadly, many of the ugly aspects of life that this movie shows us are still present today. It’s embarrassing frankly. I wish this movie felt a lot more aged than it does.
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The Natural – Robert Redford gets a chance at the big leagues to play baseball, but on his way to Chicago he gets shot ruining what could have been an incredible career. 15 or so years later and bouncing around from here to there, he gets a second chance at the ripe age of 35 to make his major league debut. I don’t know when the movie takes place. Simply put, the olden days. Likely some time after the Babe Ruth era, but still pre-Jackie Robinson era.

There’s something romantic about baseball tales from these ancient times. They seem legendary. Almost untouchable. Probably cause it’s so pre-corporate and pre-TV. It’s just stupidly old school in every facet. Borderline amateur compared to how leagues are run today. Yet because the game of baseball is essentially the same the actual playing capabilities don’t seem old in any sense, so the competition seems just as relevant. I mean you can’t say that for hockey or American football. Those games have truly changed since even the 60s. Baseball, it’s still the same game more or less.

The story is a good ol tale of redemption with corruption just around the corner. Robert is, ehem, a natural at the game and suddenly the team he is on turns from awful to playoff capable. We observe how he handles the rough start all the way to the glitz and glamour after the team gives him a chance to prove himself. We see the effect it has on the team as well as ownership/management. Ownership and management of course turn out to be shady and are knees deep in betting. Something that wasn’t much of an issue when Robert wasn’t on the team. They don’t mind either until they want the team to lose the series in the playoffs. They try to get Robert in on it and I won’t spoil the rest. It ties in nicely to how his career panned out at the start of the movie.

The movie is from 1984, but it gives me a more old school Hollywood feel than that. Probably due to the setting. There is that childlike whimsy surrounding it all along with some good ol baseball superstition and pre-TV and internet innocence that the world is surrounded by. Who is this 35 year old? How come we never heard of him? Where the hell did our scouts even find him now at this older age? This wouldn’t pass in more modern times. Weird things like this could only happen back then. It’s that combination of old time baseball, baseball superstition, dare I say the American Dream and classic Hollywood feel that makes The Natural a winner.

[Nintex]

Still waiting for a glorious Kill Bill 1+2 4K HDR remaster that hasn't surfaced.   

[EchoRin]

https://twitter.com/NicholasPalod2/status/1246656724733435905

I think this is the movie in the tweet

[chronovore]

I can wait another 34 years, I'm good.

TOP GUN was the movie matinee on the worst date of my entire life. I like Tom Cruise movies, but I will be keeping COVID-19 social distancing between myself and this movie FOREVER.

[EchoRin]

Another batch
------

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape – Let me start by saying look at that ensemble here. Just go to Wikipedia and check out who is in this movie. It’s also almost strange to remember that Johnny Depp can play a person that isn’t eccentric. And damn Leo did a really good job playing the mentally handicapped kid considering his age at the time. The little movements and habits that he keeps up throughout the film.

Johnny is I’m guessing the oldest brother of a family that is composed of a mom who is morbidly obese, two sisters, one in high school, the other probably out of high school, and then two boys. Johnny who is the oldest of the house and seems to take on the role of parent essentially and then Leo who is about to be 18, but has some kind of mental handicap that I’m not sure about. Either way he is more like a child than a teen. And this is a lot for the family to deal with. Especially Johnny cause the mom doesn’t even really play the role of the mom. She only eats and watches TV leaving Johnny to look after Leo along with the oldest sister. They all live in a house in some small midwestern town. It’s a really interesting family dynamic. You slowly uncover some of the darker truths of the family. The hopes that the family has for the future. You also have the uncertainty of the future. The movie is really delicate with how it deals with Leo’s character as well as the obese mom. You come around to having an understanding for her and how things got to this point. Cause early on I really disliked the character and thought she was an awful person, but as more is revealed you recognize that she understands how she is perceived by others. And in the jail scene you realize that she isn’t just some ballooned American with her brain shut off. She’s still a mother that has love for her child.

There’s a lot of interesting relationships in this movie that Johnny is a part of. His relationship with his mom. His relationship with his friends. His relationship with the housewife. His relationship with the store he works at and how the big “Wal-Mart” equivalent that recently moved into town is impacting everyone at the mom and pop store. His relationship with the young lady passing by with the trailer. And then finally his relationship with Leo. Very human.

On a side note, I totally thought the mom was gonna die by falling through the floor lol.

-------

God’s Not Dead – The liberal muslim ACLU lawyer professor meme come to life and I love it. This movie pisses me off and yet I enjoy every little bit of it. 1 out of 5 and also 5 out of 5.

There are way too many story arcs here. You have Kevin Sorbo as the philosophy teacher vs. punk ass Christian kid. You have Muslim daughter (but she’s secretly Christian!) vs. Muslim dad. You have Christian black guy with a heavy accent who wants to go to Disney World along with this white pastor vs. shitty cars that keep breaking down. Kevin Sorbo’s girlfriend being Christian vs Kevin Sorbo being an atheist. Kevin’s girlfriend has a shitty brother who is played by the guy that played Superman in that 90s tv show. So we will call him Superman. Superman is a in a relationship with some “God damn lefty journalist” who pesters these good God fearing religious right folks. So uh, These two vs. The good Christian folks? Sure.
And from here on out it’s gonna be all spoiler territory.

It’s just awesome. Not as awesome like The Room, but pretty damn close. The Muslim father is the ultimate Muslim male terrorist stereotype that the Christian white man fears. Forces his daughter to wear a head cover (not sure which one so I won’t guess). Then he finds out she is secretly a Christian and he kicks her out of the house. What a piece of shit movie preying on Christian fears of the evil middle eastern brown man. Oh well. Seems par for the course actually.

I love how the kid challenging Sorbo has the most typical southern blonde girlfriend. The kind that has their whole life planned out for the next 50 years. She probably even took those southern courses on how to be a lady or whatever. Her hair is beautiful I must say. Anyways, after she finds out that her boyfriend won’t back down and will challenge Sorbo she dumps him. Lol. Another dumb plot point for the movie. And yeah the whole Sorbo vs. Christian kid arc is exactly the 4chan meme I will leave at the bottom. Along with the dumbest arguments that somehow convince the class to in unison chant God’s Not Dead.

Meanwhile the pastor and his buddy have not 1, not 2, but 3 cars break down on them and the black guy always goes with the ol Obama Chaos Emeralds chuckle and then says with a smile, “God is good always and always God is good.” What. The. Fuck. Ah yes the master plan of having a fuckton of cars break down on you. Another brilliant plot point.

Meanwhile, the God hating lefty journalist bumps into the Duck Dynasty fuckwad and the movie makes him out to be a levelheaded man you should cheer for. Why is he even in the movie? You know what. I know why and I don’t even want to go into it. Stupid. Our lefty girl then finds out she has cancer. Superman unceremoniously dumps her at a fancy dinner because “that wasn’t part of the plan.” Wat?! You fuck. I hope Batman beats you to a pulp for the rest of eternity. Skipping ahead to the conclusion of the film, there is some Christian pop-rock band called the Newsboys who are playing at the local arena and our lefty journalist barges into their dressing room to conduct an interview. A pissed off interview cause you know, she’s dying and the last thing she can fathom is this band playing their Christian music. Well it all ends with them praying. Praying the cancer away? I don’t know, but clearly she’s a believer now. She just needed to let Christ in. Another excellent plot point.

Kevin Sorbo being the atheist prick that he is belittles his Christian girlfriend. Constantly. Then the final straw is when he embarrasses her at a home dinner in front of his other damn university lefty non-believer professors. All over the fact that she bought some wine and forgot it in the car so now it’s bad. The next day she dumps Sorbo at the university. Good for her. Sorbo was (Hercules reference coming up) DISAPOINTEEEEEEED. But tough shit.

And so it all culminates with the best scene or scenes in this movie. It’s honestly incredible how insane it all goes from this point on. The black guy with the white pastor finally get a car that works (the original car that broke down suddenly works. God works in mysterious ways. A true miracle). So they are finally off to Disney World. But they get caught in traffic cause everybody is going to the Newsboys concert. The lefty journalist. Sorbo’s ex. The Christian college kid. The exiled Muslim, now Christian girl. Even Sorobo is on his way there cause he decided he will try to reconcile his relationship. The concert is already happening when Sorbo is crossing a street and some car hits him. This is hilarious. The shot of him up in the air is something else. But things don’t look good for him. Luckily the pastor and the black guy are there to help him… wait no? Oh they are here to let him accept God before he dies. What in the hell!!!!!??? So Sorbo finally gives in and accepts Jesus Christ as his lord a savior and dies. Then these two assholes have the audacity to say “it was a good day because he accepted God and now he is enjoying himself in Heaven.” Bro I am triggered to hell by this scene. A dude just died by doing a barrel roll after getting smashed by a car, but it’s all good, actually. God is always good and always God is good tee hee I guess. Then to top off the shit sandwich we cut immediately to the concert again where on the screen they show Mr. Duck Dynasty who says “I heard dat der was a gud boy here tonight dat proved dat dumb professor wrong. Good on you young man. Anyways let’s all text every single one of our contacts in our phones the words God’s Not Dead.” I wish Bill Hicks were still alive to annihilate that Duck Dynasty dunce. Then of course the band jumps into the same named song. It’s insane. This whole damn conclusion is off its rocks and makes me sick. And by that, I mean it’s phenomenal. 

Let me tell you this. If God’s not dead, after he watched this movie, I guarantee you he offed himself.

[Great Rumbler]

(Image removed from quote.)

[BlueTsunami]

Watching The Man Who Fell to Earth and was not expecting to see Rip Torns flaccid dick lmao

[Joe Molotov]

Watching The Man Who Fell to Earth and was not expecting to see Rip Torns flaccid dick lmao

Cocaine is a helluva drug.

[Tasty]

Watching The Man Who Fell to Earth and was not expecting to see Rip Torns flaccid dick lmao

Cocaine is a helluva drug.

So's alcohol.

[Great Rumbler]

Watching The Man Who Fell to Earth and was not expecting to see Rip Torns flaccid dick lmao

[BlueTsunami]

Watching The Man Who Fell to Earth and was not expecting to see Rip Torns flaccid dick lmao

Goddamn the mad lad. RIP Rip Torn.

[EchoRin]

Another batch
--------

Enemy – Jake Gyllenhaal is a professor. Wait, no he’s a small-time actor. He’s both?! Well who knows. An uneasy feeling movie in which the professor stumbles upon a movie where he sees someone that looks exactly like him. That person turns out to live in Toronto too and is an actor it seems. It gets a little weirder as even their significant others look kinda similar. After the professor reaches out over the phone to contact the actor things get weird.

I think it’s a decent movie. The way these guys react seems odd, but they’re both pretty weird dudes in some way. The actor is a slight dick (complains that his wife didn’t buy organic blueberries. A wife that is 6 months pregnant mind you). The professor lives in an apartment that may as well be a hotel room the way it’s furnished (and as I look around my room, I think to myself “I’m one to talk”). It’s hard to put your finger on it, but something is off about his life. That isn’t helped by him finding out about this twin/doppelganger/alien.

I stated that both of them have their quirks. The way things play out seems ridiculous to me even though it’s in line with the vibe the movie gives off the whole time. The very last 4 seconds of this movie made my heart skip haha. Total WTF moment, but I actually had a physical reaction. A decent 3 out of 5. It’s a short movie so if you like Jake Gyllenhaal (I do) it may be worth a watch.
-------

Miss Hokusai – Taking place sometime around 1818 in Edo, Japan (modern day Tokyo ya weeeeebs) we get a slice of life story surrounding  O-Ei (Miss Hokusai) and her life as she paints by the side of her father who I guess is a well renowned painter in Japan. Her mother lives in the city too, but in a different house so I guess her parents are divorced. O-Ei also has a younger who is blind and lives in some house run by nuns or something like that. But she too is in the city and O-Ei makes a point to spend time with her now and then.

O-Ei and her father are an interesting pair. Both seem to be masters at their craft, but also have an off-kilter lifestyle. They just paint and paint. Not really patting themselves on their backs how great they are. They’re just inspired by the art itself. I like how the film has no issues with mature content but presents it in an adult matter of fact way. No loli-bait bullshit or absurdist hentai titties. O-Ei is simply exquisite at drawing erotic imagery and that’s all there is to it. She goes to the brothels to use the prostitutes as models. This ties in with me going “heh, this woman goes to the beat of her own drum, eh?”

There are a few moments where there is this whimsy or magic that our inspired artists are able to see. Sort of like a vision if you will. The less inspired people are oblivious to this. That includes a young adult man who lives with the Hokusai duo and Mr. Hokusai is his painting master. This makes for some nice anime scenes too.

I really enjoyed the relationship between O-Ei and her blind sister. Very tender and kind. I wish there was a little more time spent on these two during the movie.

Lastly, I wanted to touch on the music. There are 2 or moments in the film where the soundtrack features rock music. It seemed strange to me to use that for a movie set in the Edo period. But then I told myself, “y’know, O-Ei being a little unconventional maybe makes this an alright choice.” I don’t know. I think I’m against it at worst and indifferent at best. The credits song has to be Sheena Ringo. I mean if not then I’m a dummy, but I swear I recognize that voice loud and clear and the instrumental of the song sounded very Sheena Ringo. So that was cool. Sheena is the best.

Solid short anime film. 4 out of 5.

[Leadbelly]

Watching The Man Who Fell to Earth and was not expecting to see Rip Torns flaccid dick lmao

There are so many levels to this. lol

He whistles his family at the start like he is whistling a sheep dog. There is something funny about things that are really politically incorrect now. You can't help but laugh.

[Don Rumata]

Another batch
--------

Enemy – Jake Gyllenhaal is a professor. Wait, no he’s a small-time actor. He’s both?! Well who knows. An uneasy feeling movie in which the professor stumbles upon a movie where he sees someone that looks exactly like him. That person turns out to live in Toronto too and is an actor it seems. It gets a little weirder as even their significant others look kinda similar. After the professor reaches out over the phone to contact the actor things get weird.

I think it’s a decent movie. The way these guys react seems odd, but they’re both pretty weird dudes in some way. The actor is a slight dick (complains that his wife didn’t buy organic blueberries. A wife that is 6 months pregnant mind you). The professor lives in an apartment that may as well be a hotel room the way it’s furnished (and as I look around my room, I think to myself “I’m one to talk”). It’s hard to put your finger on it, but something is off about his life. That isn’t helped by him finding out about this twin/doppelganger/alien.

I stated that both of them have their quirks. The way things play out seems ridiculous to me even though it’s in line with the vibe the movie gives off the whole time. The very last 4 seconds of this movie made my heart skip haha. Total WTF moment, but I actually had a physical reaction. A decent 3 out of 5. It’s a short movie so if you like Jake Gyllenhaal (I do) it may be worth a watch.

I don't know if you're being coy on purpose but...

spoiler (click to show/hide)

there aren't actually two Jakes in the movie.
Much like Persona or Double Life of Veronique, only in this case it's a dude who's afraid to grow up and become a family man, and so has a mistress, and fantasizes about being an actor/badass, hence why the symbolism of women = spiders.

[close]

Probably on of his (Villaneuve's) most solid films, in my opinion, I liked it more than Prisoners and Incendies, which are probably his two most beloved ones.
Anyway, he's better spent doing excellent blockbusters, than "just" very good arthouse. 

[EchoRin]

Another batch
--------

Enemy – Jake Gyllenhaal is a professor. Wait, no he’s a small-time actor. He’s both?! Well who knows. An uneasy feeling movie in which the professor stumbles upon a movie where he sees someone that looks exactly like him. That person turns out to live in Toronto too and is an actor it seems. It gets a little weirder as even their significant others look kinda similar. After the professor reaches out over the phone to contact the actor things get weird.

I think it’s a decent movie. The way these guys react seems odd, but they’re both pretty weird dudes in some way. The actor is a slight dick (complains that his wife didn’t buy organic blueberries. A wife that is 6 months pregnant mind you). The professor lives in an apartment that may as well be a hotel room the way it’s furnished (and as I look around my room, I think to myself “I’m one to talk”). It’s hard to put your finger on it, but something is off about his life. That isn’t helped by him finding out about this twin/doppelganger/alien.

I stated that both of them have their quirks. The way things play out seems ridiculous to me even though it’s in line with the vibe the movie gives off the whole time. The very last 4 seconds of this movie made my heart skip haha. Total WTF moment, but I actually had a physical reaction. A decent 3 out of 5. It’s a short movie so if you like Jake Gyllenhaal (I do) it may be worth a watch.

I don't know if you're being coy on purpose but...

spoiler (click to show/hide)

there aren't actually two Jakes in the movie.
Much like Persona or Double Life of Veronique, only in this case it's a dude who's afraid to grow up and become a family man, and so has a mistress, and fantasizes about being an actor/badass, hence why the symbolism of women = spiders.

[close]

Probably on of his (Villaneuve's) most solid films, in my opinion, I liked it more than Prisoners and Incendies, which are probably his two most beloved ones.
Anyway, he's better spent doing excellent blockbusters, than "just" very good arthouse. 

I really liked Prisoners a lot.

As for Enemy discussion:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ah. I didn't pick up on the one and the same. I mean when he's visiting his mom she mentions that he should stop being a third rate actor so for a moment I was like "oh boy. He's one and the same." But with the other things that happen and them being in the same room together (though maybe they never touch?) I thought well maybe not. Plus the re is the car crash. I kinda assumed that the professor Gyllenhaal would be like "well, I guess I'll leave that life behind and become the actor now. Cause it almost seemed like the pregnant woman was fully aware it was the professor version and not the actor version in bed with her.

Ah that's interesting. Doesn't really change my feeling about the movie, but yeah.

So the thing with the key then. Would the real Jake experienced or was he just thinking that he was going to some erotic show? Cause the hotel worker seemed pretty adamant about going again.

[close]

[Don Rumata]

I watched it last years ago, mind you, but i think (and of course this is just my interpretation of the events)

spoiler (click to show/hide)

that was part of his fantasy persona, the exclusive, outlandish erotic life of a movie star.

[close]

I don't think this type of movie is meant to be precisely pieced together like an Agatha Christie thriller though, elements that are metaphysical can be just that, an abstraction that doesn't have a solid place in time and space, and are just used to represent a concept.

[Tasty]

Holy shit Black Christmas 2019 is utter trash. I mean yeah, of course, but like, it's a different type of trash. The original and the remake were gonzo-trashy, but despite the Blumhouse name the newest is baaaad. Feels like a first draft with exposition thicker than butter, Cary Elwes hamming it up has the effect of Superman-punching the tone past the outer atmosphere to Planet Crazytown, and if you can make it through the movie without audibly groaning you're either a Cylon or a twelve-year old girl. Possibly both.

I'd take the 2006 remake over this and that had mutant twins making out with each other. It also had some bad qualities.

[Transhuman]

Another batch
--------

Enemy – Jake Gyllenhaal is a professor. Wait, no he’s a small-time actor. He’s both?! Well who knows. An uneasy feeling movie in which the professor stumbles upon a movie where he sees someone that looks exactly like him. That person turns out to live in Toronto too and is an actor it seems. It gets a little weirder as even their significant others look kinda similar. After the professor reaches out over the phone to contact the actor things get weird.

I think it’s a decent movie. The way these guys react seems odd, but they’re both pretty weird dudes in some way. The actor is a slight dick (complains that his wife didn’t buy organic blueberries. A wife that is 6 months pregnant mind you). The professor lives in an apartment that may as well be a hotel room the way it’s furnished (and as I look around my room, I think to myself “I’m one to talk”). It’s hard to put your finger on it, but something is off about his life. That isn’t helped by him finding out about this twin/doppelganger/alien.

I stated that both of them have their quirks. The way things play out seems ridiculous to me even though it’s in line with the vibe the movie gives off the whole time. The very last 4 seconds of this movie made my heart skip haha. Total WTF moment, but I actually had a physical reaction. A decent 3 out of 5. It’s a short movie so if you like Jake Gyllenhaal (I do) it may be worth a watch.

I don't know if you're being coy on purpose but...

spoiler (click to show/hide)

there aren't actually two Jakes in the movie.
Much like Persona or Double Life of Veronique, only in this case it's a dude who's afraid to grow up and become a family man, and so has a mistress, and fantasizes about being an actor/badass, hence why the symbolism of women = spiders.

[close]

Probably on of his (Villaneuve's) most solid films, in my opinion, I liked it more than Prisoners and Incendies, which are probably his two most beloved ones.
Anyway, he's better spent doing excellent blockbusters, than "just" very good arthouse. 

I really liked Prisoners a lot.

As for Enemy discussion:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ah. I didn't pick up on the one and the same. I mean when he's visiting his mom she mentions that he should stop being a third rate actor so for a moment I was like "oh boy. He's one and the same." But with the other things that happen and them being in the same room together (though maybe they never touch?) I thought well maybe not. Plus the re is the car crash. I kinda assumed that the professor Gyllenhaal would be like "well, I guess I'll leave that life behind and become the actor now. Cause it almost seemed like the pregnant woman was fully aware it was the professor version and not the actor version in bed with her.

Ah that's interesting. Doesn't really change my feeling about the movie, but yeah.

So the thing with the key then. Would the real Jake experienced or was he just thinking that he was going to some erotic show? Cause the hotel worker seemed pretty adamant about going again.

[close]

I liked the part with Mélanie Laurent's bare breasts

[Don Rumata]

Another batch
--------

Enemy – Jake Gyllenhaal is a professor. Wait, no he’s a small-time actor. He’s both?! Well who knows. An uneasy feeling movie in which the professor stumbles upon a movie where he sees someone that looks exactly like him. That person turns out to live in Toronto too and is an actor it seems. It gets a little weirder as even their significant others look kinda similar. After the professor reaches out over the phone to contact the actor things get weird.

I think it’s a decent movie. The way these guys react seems odd, but they’re both pretty weird dudes in some way. The actor is a slight dick (complains that his wife didn’t buy organic blueberries. A wife that is 6 months pregnant mind you). The professor lives in an apartment that may as well be a hotel room the way it’s furnished (and as I look around my room, I think to myself “I’m one to talk”). It’s hard to put your finger on it, but something is off about his life. That isn’t helped by him finding out about this twin/doppelganger/alien.

I stated that both of them have their quirks. The way things play out seems ridiculous to me even though it’s in line with the vibe the movie gives off the whole time. The very last 4 seconds of this movie made my heart skip haha. Total WTF moment, but I actually had a physical reaction. A decent 3 out of 5. It’s a short movie so if you like Jake Gyllenhaal (I do) it may be worth a watch.

I don't know if you're being coy on purpose but...

spoiler (click to show/hide)

there aren't actually two Jakes in the movie.
Much like Persona or Double Life of Veronique, only in this case it's a dude who's afraid to grow up and become a family man, and so has a mistress, and fantasizes about being an actor/badass, hence why the symbolism of women = spiders.

[close]

Probably on of his (Villaneuve's) most solid films, in my opinion, I liked it more than Prisoners and Incendies, which are probably his two most beloved ones.
Anyway, he's better spent doing excellent blockbusters, than "just" very good arthouse. 

I really liked Prisoners a lot.

As for Enemy discussion:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ah. I didn't pick up on the one and the same. I mean when he's visiting his mom she mentions that he should stop being a third rate actor so for a moment I was like "oh boy. He's one and the same." But with the other things that happen and them being in the same room together (though maybe they never touch?) I thought well maybe not. Plus the re is the car crash. I kinda assumed that the professor Gyllenhaal would be like "well, I guess I'll leave that life behind and become the actor now. Cause it almost seemed like the pregnant woman was fully aware it was the professor version and not the actor version in bed with her.

Ah that's interesting. Doesn't really change my feeling about the movie, but yeah.

So the thing with the key then. Would the real Jake experienced or was he just thinking that he was going to some erotic show? Cause the hotel worker seemed pretty adamant about going again.

[close]

I liked the part with Mélanie Laurent's bare breasts

Sarah Gadon>     

[EchoRin]

Magnolia – A movie about multiple characters dealing with sorrows, anger, forgiveness. It’s a long one. The time allows the various characters to have enough substance to their stories. I liked the stories too. Through about half of the film you feel as though you know these characters, but it isn’t until a little later that the curtain is fully pulled back.

Some great performances in this film. Tom Cruise going all jumping on Oprah’s couch crazy in terms of his attitude here. He plays a pickup artist that teaches men the arts of being a misogynist asshole. Philip Seymour Hoffman is fantastic as a nurse caring for a dying old man. Julianne Moore has some great moments of not being able to cope with the situation she is in. Melora Walters is a phenomenal coke fiend and I really like how we learn about her character. Donnie Smith is the one actor whose character is least attached to the others, but his scenes are really fun to watch. He’s such an oddball. I also enjoy the whole angle of the little genius kid. His concluding words to his father (not that he dies. I mean just his last line is this film) being “You need to be more kind to me”. It’s spot on. There’s something sad and beautiful there in that.

I won’t give away the big twist. All I have to say is that I don’t have much in terms of how I felt about it. It’s strange. Totally out of the blue. I can deal with it I guess though. The singing part though I could have done without.

Solid film.

[Madrun Badrun]

Jack Reacher:  I avoided this because I thought it was a MI rip off not a JAG rip off.  It's pretty corny - really liking it. 

[Madrun Badrun]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2018/11/15/tom-cruise-dropped-jack-reacher-franchise-short-says-lee-child/

WTF at that shade

[Don Rumata]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2018/11/15/tom-cruise-dropped-jack-reacher-franchise-short-says-lee-child/

WTF at that shade

It's reasonable, Jack Reacher is supposed to be a massive guy.
Also why i think they should've gotten some jacked lady to play Wonder Woman, but then they made it about the big tits. 

Also while the first JR was a fantastic action movie (because of McQuarrie) the second one was pure shit.
Ultimately, it's a useless IP without McQuarrie behind the camera, but he's better spent on Mission Impossible anyway.

[Pissy F Benny]

pls don't slander my person who believes in the development and protection of a Jewish nation queen

[Don Rumata]

pls don't slander my filler queen

She kinda filled up anyway, plus i got fed up by these capeshit movies by now, so whatevs.
I'm just sayin' if there's a role where you can cast some buffed up amazon, it's Wonder Woman. 

[Pissy F Benny]

even as a hardened misogynist i'd sip that simp juice for gal   

[Madrun Badrun]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2018/11/15/tom-cruise-dropped-jack-reacher-franchise-short-says-lee-child/

WTF at that shade

It's reasonable, Jack Reacher is supposed to be a massive guy.
Also why i think they should've gotten some jacked lady to play Wonder Woman, but then they made it about the big tits. 

Also while the first JR was a fantastic action movie (because of McQuarrie) the second one was pure shit.
Ultimately, it's a useless IP without McQuarrie behind the camera, but he's better spent on Mission Impossible anyway.

I mean its one thing to do that in initial casting, its another to say 'You out shorty' after two movies and to do so publicly. 

[Pissy F Benny]

The second film was pretty shit iirc

[Don Rumata]

I'm assuming this is going to be some sort of reboot (not that there was any major continuity between the first two).

[D3RANG3D]

I watched Return of The Living Dead 2 this is the one I saw as a kid and a few times since, fucking hot garbo.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I never saw the First Return movie until about ten years ago fucking great movie but this one is shite.

[close]

[Nintex]

The Cruise Missile doesn't need Jack Reacher.

Good luck with the reboot starring the Rock lmao.

[Joe Molotov]

I watched Return of The Living Dead 2 this is the one I saw as a kid and a few times since, fucking hot garbo.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I never saw the First Return movie until about ten years ago fucking great movie but this one is shite.

[close]

Watch Return of the Living Dead 3 instead.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

zombie waifu

[close]

[EchoRin]

Blue Valentine – Well depending on where your life is at this could be a tougher watch. Our two main characters are a married couple whose marriage is failling right in front of us and seems like nothing can stop this car from smashing into the wall.

Really like how the film goes back and forth from when the two characters first met and who they were leading up to that, and then going back to the present day. Some good juxtaposition. While there is good reason why this relationship is falling apart it’s all the little things. Little things bunching on top of each other till finally the lid gets blown off in a very unsettling way. Gosling’s character tries to be a decent person, but always seems to twist things into his view of how things should be. When Williams’ character tries to bring something up or do right, somehow some way this doesn’t fit Gosling’s sense of how it should be and in turn he flips the script in a way that makes things uncomfortable for both and ends up hurting them both.

It’s like they are no longer in sync. They try. There was something between them at some point that was true, and we could all see it. Somewhere along the line it started to vaporize away.  And it’s tough because Gosling’s character does want to be loving and caring, but his way of going about it always leads to an argument or something where in the end he feels he was wronged. It’s to nice to want to be loving and caring. But to be loving and caring and wanting to be loving and caring are two different things. Gosling’s character can’t make it come true.

It sucks. It sucks for all the people involved here. Wanna give a shout out to the kitchen scene. That to me sums up all the thoughts I had written already.

A difficult movie to watch if it’s relatable to you. It is a good one though.

[D3RANG3D]

I watched Return of The Living Dead 2 this is the one I saw as a kid and a few times since, fucking hot garbo.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I never saw the First Return movie until about ten years ago fucking great movie but this one is shite.

[close]

Watch Return of the Living Dead 3 instead.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

zombie waifu

[close]

I've seen it before thought it was alright...

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Just finished rewatching it and it's way better than the second one holy shit.

[close]

[Don Rumata]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2018/11/15/tom-cruise-dropped-jack-reacher-franchise-short-says-lee-child/

WTF at that shade

It's reasonable, Jack Reacher is supposed to be a massive guy.
Also why i think they should've gotten some jacked lady to play Wonder Woman, but then they made it about the big tits. 

Also while the first JR was a fantastic action movie (because of McQuarrie) the second one was pure shit.
Ultimately, it's a useless IP without McQuarrie behind the camera, but he's better spent on Mission Impossible anyway.

Ya Gal Gadot, known for her....giant tits...

I'm saying they lumped all the casting critiques as nerds wanting "someone with bigger tits". 
Superheroes literally have ONE characteristic, and it's body presence, i don't know how many other criteria you could use to cast someone.

[EchoRin]

Lol. That point was oddly written in your first post.

I don't really have an issue with her body type. Kinda like Carrie-Anne Moss somehow being able to kick stronk people's ass and Scar Jo as the Black Widow. Slim athletic builds. I mean even strong versions of Peter Parker smash fools much harder and they don't look anywhere close to a roided out Rocky 4 Stallone body type. I mean that Spider-Man appears to be able to dish out more damage than even Rocky 4 Rocky. In their respective movies.

The superheroes physical strength and durability is more suspension of disbelief to me. "If you are in shape you can smash fools in over the top fashion that wouldn't happen in real life" is how I take it.

I took a bigger issue with how the newest Terminator made the hispanic leading lady seem much stronger than she was and in that movie humans are as strong as according to their actual appearance (I would have believed her physical hand to hand combat actions if she had the body build of say Sarah Conner in T2). I guess I just see it depending on the context of the rules the movie plays by.

[chronovore]

Magnolia – A movie about multiple characters dealing with sorrows, anger, forgiveness. It’s a long one. The time allows the various characters to have enough substance to their stories. I liked the stories too. Through about half of the film you feel as though you know these characters, but it isn’t until a little later that the curtain is fully pulled back.

Some great performances in this film. Tom Cruise going all jumping on Oprah’s couch crazy in terms of his attitude here. He plays a pickup artist that teaches men the arts of being a misogynist asshole. Philip Seymour Hoffman is fantastic as a nurse caring for a dying old man. Julianne Moore has some great moments of not being able to cope with the situation she is in. Melora Walters is a phenomenal coke fiend and I really like how we learn about her character. Donnie Smith is the one actor whose character is least attached to the others, but his scenes are really fun to watch. He’s such an oddball. I also enjoy the whole angle of the little genius kid. His concluding words to his father (not that he dies. I mean just his last line is this film) being “You need to be more kind to me”. It’s spot on. There’s something sad and beautiful there in that.

I won’t give away the big twist. All I have to say is that I don’t have much in terms of how I felt about it. It’s strange. Totally out of the blue. I can deal with it I guess though. The singing part though I could have done without.

Solid film.

I've been meaning to watch this for a long, long time. Never have gotten around to it. Thanks for avoiding a spoiler despite how long ago this movie came out.

[chronovore]

I watched Return of The Living Dead 2 this is the one I saw as a kid and a few times since, fucking hot garbo.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I never saw the First Return movie until about ten years ago fucking great movie but this one is shite.

[close]

Watch Return of the Living Dead 3 instead.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

zombie waifu

[close]

That movie is solid fun. The Japanese video cover art sported that zombie with a pierced nipple. Hard to ignore that on the video stores shelf.

[Don Rumata]

Yeah i phrased it all backwards i notice now.

Anyway, it's fiction, and fiction about magical people to boot, so i'm not really worried about what realistic strength they are supposed to have.

What i'm talking about is the projected body ideal, these super heroes are supposed to incarnate.
Having a tall, buff dude play SuperMan, instead of Jonah Hill, isn't about how well a slightly bigger bicep will help him lift a planet, it's about playing to the one distinctive element these superheroes have going for them, which is their physicality (because their internal worlds are always completely bland and trite).

So Superman and Wonder Woman are the idealized representation of buff power fantasy you slap on your propaganda posters, Spiderman is the slender ordinary nerd turned hero, and so on and so forth.
You wouldn't want Cavill playing Spiderman, nor Holland playing Superman.

-
On the subject of portrayed strength though, i think a good choreographer does have to take into account the physicality of their actor when designing a scene.
If you have a tall woman like Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde, you can get away with things that Noomi Rapace or even a more extreme example, HitGirl in Kickass, would look ridiculous doing.
This goes for men too, you obviously don't choreograph The Rock and Jet Li in the same way, but women are usually just fitted into more of a standard body type and there's less variety of what you see on screen.
So yeah, it would've been interesting seeing a larger more buff woman on screen, from that point of view.

[Don Rumata]

I wouldn't mind Cavill in Spiderman. 

[Tasty]

I shut baby driver off after 10 minutes

Kevin Spacey giving you too many PTSD flashbacks breh? :'(

[Tasty]

Yeah not a super huge fan either tbh.

[EchoRin]

I remember liking Baby Driver. distinguished mentally-challenged means slow. Is he slow?
Pretty sure last movie I saw with Spacey before all that stuff transpired too. I remember the Walking Dead guy saying that Spacey acted like such a dick on set lol.
-----

Purple Rain – This is different. A b-movie glorified music video with some bizarre acting and dialogue mixed in with some questionable actions from our protagonist which is sort of played off for laughs or brushed aside. 1984 in Minnesota was different time indeed.

I don’t know how much input Prince had ‘cause it says the movie was not written by him, but man this whole thing seems like a parallel universe cooked up by Prince’s mind in terms of everything. Human interaction, expression of feelings, solutions to problems, acceptable (or not) sexual behavior.  All of that is pretty strange. Amusing, but strange. And some people are awful at acting and giving their lines. Prince sometimes as well, but most of the time his charisma pulls him through. All these things that were going through my mind then disappeared when the song sharing the same name of the movie comes on. Suddenly I’m not even thinking about the movie. I’m lost in the performance. And same goes for the songs that follow. I’m dancing to it in my own room wishing I was at that gig. Surprise surprise, the music in this movie is awesome. I think the only weakness was the song done by the love interest. She seems to lack that frontwoman star power and the song isn’t much to hoot about.

Also wanted to point out the fashion and sets. Those were great. The outfits Prince wears. The look of the other musicians. The styles the people in the audience have. Good stage set up and lighting for the concerts. It’s not a massive live production. It’s pretty basic all in all, but very effective. The house in which Prince lives is really neat. It’s a crummy house, but the way it’s decorated stood out. Eyes eyes eyes everywhere. Creepy dolls or masks. Just what the hell is going on in your head Prince?

This is a unique b-movie that… it’s just a strange and awesome at the same time and the last 15 minutes or so took me away. What the hell.

------
Just wanted to post some of my favs from the record/film. Even though I realize right now that I would almost post the whole record.

I Would Die 4 U
Purple Rain
Let's Go Crazy
The Beautiful Ones

[Nintex]

Baby Driver was a fun film and the girl was cute, I never got all the praise though.

[Transhuman]

You guys just hate musicals

[bluemax]

Blue Valentine – Well depending on where your life is at this could be a tougher watch. Our two main characters are a married couple whose marriage is failling right in front of us and seems like nothing can stop this car from smashing into the wall.

Really like how the film goes back and forth from when the two characters first met and who they were leading up to that, and then going back to the present day. Some good juxtaposition. While there is good reason why this relationship is falling apart it’s all the little things. Little things bunching on top of each other till finally the lid gets blown off in a very unsettling way. Gosling’s character tries to be a decent person, but always seems to twist things into his view of how things should be. When Williams’ character tries to bring something up or do right, somehow some way this doesn’t fit Gosling’s sense of how it should be and in turn he flips the script in a way that makes things uncomfortable for both and ends up hurting them both.

It’s like they are no longer in sync. They try. There was something between them at some point that was true, and we could all see it. Somewhere along the line it started to vaporize away.  And it’s tough because Gosling’s character does want to be loving and caring, but his way of going about it always leads to an argument or something where in the end he feels he was wronged. It’s to nice to want to be loving and caring. But to be loving and caring and wanting to be loving and caring are two different things. Gosling’s character can’t make it come true.

It sucks. It sucks for all the people involved here. Wanna give a shout out to the kitchen scene. That to me sums up all the thoughts I had written already.

A difficult movie to watch if it’s relatable to you. It is a good one though.

I went on a date with a girl off CL (back when that was still a thing) to see this movie "The worst movie possible to see on a first date."

I think I got lost trying to find my car after (and possibly locked out?). I never talked to her again either.

[Tasty]

I saw The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo on a first date

So did one of my friends, he said it was her idea and she ended up being a crazy bitch.

Edit- No wait, it was Gone Girl.

[EchoRin]

We had "shitty movie Netflix Party" Friday.

Hisss - It was shitty, but it also dragged at many points so I'm afraid it also somewhat fails at being "so bad it's good". The story behind the scenes is pretty amusing. Not as good at being true shitty like "Naga Pearls" or "Twins Mission" which we have watched previously.

[ToxicAdam]

Also wanted to point out the fashion and sets. Those were great. The outfits Prince wears. The look of the other musicians. The styles the people in the audience have. Good stage set up and lighting for the concerts. It’s not a massive live production. It’s pretty basic all in all, but very effective. The house in which Prince lives is really neat. It’s a crummy house, but the way it’s decorated stood out. Eyes eyes eyes everywhere. Creepy dolls or masks. Just what the hell is going on in your head Prince?

This is a unique b-movie that… it’s just a strange and awesome at the same time and the last 15 minutes or so took me away. What the hell.

------
Just wanted to post some of my favs from the record/film. Even though I realize right now that I would almost post the whole record.

I Would Die 4 U
Purple Rain
Let's Go Crazy
The Beautiful Ones

I still put on The Beautiful Ones from time to time. If you’re in the right mood, it’s absolutely raw and powerful.

That’s the beauty of Prince, he wasn’t afraid to just put it all out there. An audacity to his confidence that you can’t help but admire.

—-  // —-

I saw Knives Out finally. It’s really solid. You can nitpick it, but it’s a pointless exercise. The 2+ hours flew by.

[Tasty]

Yeah whenever a movie's production is described as "like jazz" that's a no from me, dawg.

[Don Rumata]

I don't know why people call Primer pretentious.
It's convoluted and barely entertaining at all, i'm even down to call it a failure as a movie, since beyond the knot of time travel shenanigans, it can't deliver on anything else to keep you interested, but how is it pretentious? I think it's the opposite, it's quite dry and devoid of any pretense, beyond getting wrapped up in its own incomprehensible time web. 

[VomKriege]

Best time travel movie is Retroaction by Louis Morneau don't @ me.

[Steve Contra]

I watched Panic Room for the first time in a while. It’s not an ambitious Fincher movie but it’s a technical masterpiece. Definitely worth a watch if you’re stuck at home.

[Madrun Badrun]

It's not even a question.  12 Monkeys is pretty decent but no End Game.