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Post by Cop on Oct 31, 2020 11:46:28 GMT -5
The Hunt for Red October (Bluray): Well, isn't that a coincidence, me watching the last of the Jack Ryan boxset the night before Sean Connery's death is announced. Didn't make me like the movie any better though. I mean, it's fine, with some good moments, I just never really cared that much about it.
Love and Monsters (Download): Now where did they hide this one? It's like a Zombieland, but with mutated insects and amphibians instead of zombies and it's great. Cool creatures done in very decent CGI and a simple but effective little adventure story about a guy trekking through a world that has been reclaimed by nature. Visually it reminded me of Half-Life at times, story-wise it was more like Zombieland and all together it was a lot of fun.
Screamers (Bluray): Apart from the disappointing finale, I've always liked this scifi flick. Looked fairly decent in HD although some of the non-practical FX stood out.
Eli Roth's History of Horror (Download): Documentary series that highlights some landmark movies in a bunch of different horror genres. With comments from a lot of well known people, like Tarantino, Stephen King or Jamie Lee Curtis to name but a few. Fast-paced and light. I don't always agree with all their picks, but it was nevertheless an easy series to watch...
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Post by ForRealTho on Oct 31, 2020 14:22:18 GMT -5
The Hunt for Red October (Bluray): Well, isn't that a coincidence, me watching the last of the Jack Ryan boxset the night before Sean Connery's death is announced. Didn't make me like the movie any better though. I mean, it's fine, with some good moments, I just never really cared that much about it. Saw it once as a kid, its been 30 years since I watched it but I recall a part where they are talking about going finishing in the US. Its just so cheesy. People in the USSR could vacation inside the USSR and you were allowed to go fishing. It wasn't a big deal.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2020 14:41:37 GMT -5
The Hunt for Red October (Bluray): Well, isn't that a coincidence, me watching the last of the Jack Ryan boxset the night before Sean Connery's death is announced. Didn't make me like the movie any better though. I mean, it's fine, with some good moments, I just never really cared that much about it. Saw it once as a kid, its been 30 years since I watched it but I recall a part where they are talking about going finishing in the US. Its just so cheesy. People in the USSR could vacation inside the USSR and you were allowed to go fishing. It wasn't a big deal. Are you sure the movie was suggesting that there were laws (in former USSR) prohibiting fishing? Or was it implying, at that time (especially near the end of USSR), that most of their citizens were dirt poor and didn't own cars? Isn't it possible they lacked the financial means to do things that we take for granted in the west, such as travelling to a lake for a fishing trip? It looks like their transportation problem has improved since those times.. www.rferl.org/a/russia_cars/24578724.html
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Post by Cop on Nov 1, 2020 11:07:53 GMT -5
From Dusk till Dawn (Bluray): Put this on for the kids as our Halloween movie. They of course had no idea it would turn into a vampire movie halfway through.
Bacurau (Bluray): Brazilian social commentary with a bloody finale.
Jesus Shows you the way to the Highway (Bluray): The other movie from the guys that did that Crumbs movie I saw last week. If you though Crumbs was insane, you haven't seen anything yet. This is the African Matrix, done in a '70s exploitation style, silliness galore, intentionally bad dubbing, Adam West Batman costume, complete craziness that I cannot explain even if I tried. I loved it.
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Post by Cop on Nov 2, 2020 10:52:37 GMT -5
Crazy Samurai Musashi (Download): Basically an 80-minute 1-take swordfight between the guy from the title and 400 opponents. Quite a feat in itself but it does mean you're going to be limited in the amount of stuff you can do, so all the swordplay is really basic and there's a lot of repetition. At first there's some more variation as he makes his way through a village, but the finale is him fighting in the same place for a good 25 minutes at least, which tends to get really same-y. Still, impressive piece of work all things considered, but right at the end, to add insult to infury, they show you how it could have been, when there's a fight scene '10 years later', that does have cuts and in just a minute or 2 it shows you all the stuff that couldn't have been in the 80 previous minutes because of the single take constraints.
Archon Defender (Download): 3D animated movie done by a single person, which is quite an accomplishment. That being said, the next time he should get some help because even though the story was OK and the designs were decent, there was a lot of stuff that needed improvement: the animation is often wonky, the voice acting isn't very good, the sound effects are pretty bad and so is the music. What annoyed me the most throughout the entire thing was that the arms of the characters are all too short, making all movements look weird.
Creepshow - a Creepshow Animated Special (Download): Exactly as the title says. 2 segments done in this motion comic style that has limited animation but can be crazy detailed in the drawings. Makes sense to do an animated episode since the entire things is supposed to be based on horror comics anyway. Both segments were alright but the first seemed to lack an anding.
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Post by Cop on Nov 7, 2020 11:07:30 GMT -5
The Departed (Bluray): I remember when I first saw this movie. I'd arrived at work but nobody was there. It was the first day of the year and it was decided the night shift got the night off but because I'd been home on paternity leave for several weeks, nobody bothered to tell me. Since I drove out there, I figured I might as well go to the movies and this was playing. I'd loved the Hong Kong original so I was a little apprehensive but that soon vanished as the masterpiece unfolded. Same basic premise even better execution. If it hadn't been for me arriving at a closed factory, I probably wouldn't even have seen it in a theatre.
Possessor (Download): Movie by David Cronenberg's son Brandon and it looks like he's been paying attention to daddy's work. It's all about this company that does hits on people by taking over the mind of someone involved and have him or her do the dirty work. It's a weird one to be sure because the same premise could be done as a dumb scifi action thriller but that's not what this is. It's more of a psychological horror when the person that does the mind-melt becomes unstable and has to deal with not only her own mental state but also that of the host.
Starry Eyes (Download)[/b]: I'd expected to own this by now but for some reason it's really difficult to find at a reasonable price. I've grown to appreciate this movie more and more everytime I've seen it.
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Post by Cop on Nov 8, 2020 11:53:33 GMT -5
Parasite (Bluray): Watched this with the wife. Didn't think she'd like it very much to be honest but I guess it is such a good movie even someone who doesn't really watch Asian movies (and knows of the quirks they have) can appreciate it. It's so unpredictable, you can't really compare it to anything else and it just works...
Chrysalis (Download/DVD): French techno-thriller that I remembered liking way back when I got it on DVD but I can't say it held up all that well. The monochromatic look of it makes it seem cheap after a while (maybe because a lot of cheap productions discovered you can make something look more expensive by doing that it came full circle to now look cheap again). Story is OK but maybe a bit too farfetched if you start thinking about it.
Wayne - Season 1 (Download): Surprisingly awesome series about 2 kids going on a road trip to look for a stolen car. Badlands without the killing and a lot of humor. Formerly on Youtube, now on Amazon. Surprise hit of 2020.
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Post by Cop on Nov 11, 2020 11:31:54 GMT -5
Karas (Download/DVD): I'd downloaded a HD version of this anime ages ago but I never got around to actually watching it. Actually, the downloaded HD version is the 6-episode series whereas the DVDs I have, have it cut as 2 movies. There's not really a difference except for more credits. Picture quality is all over the place. It goes from reasonably sharp to quite fuzzy, which I guess is just the way it was made, in that limbo between HD and straight-to-DVD, more video-anime from around that time suffer from this. That being said, I love Karas, the story is great and the action and designs are amazing. Top 10 material, maybe even top 5.
The New Mutants (Download): This movie is getting hammered with negative reviews on the imdb. I don't get it. Did they watch the same movie I did because I kinda liked it to be honest. Sure, it's not a classic by any means, but I liked what I saw well enough. I have no connection to the source material, maybe that's what getting all those other people riled up, I just enjoyed it for what it was.
The Dark and the Wicked (Download): I like a slow and atmospheric horror as much as the next guy but damn, this was pretty depressing stuff. Not sure how I feel about this yet.
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Post by ForRealTho on Nov 11, 2020 22:41:40 GMT -5
The New Mutants (Download): This movie is getting hammered with negative reviews on the imdb. I don't get it. Did they watch the same movie I did because I kinda liked it to be honest. Sure, it's not a classic by any means, but I liked what I saw well enough. I have no connection to the source material, maybe that's what getting all those other people riled up, I just enjoyed it for what it was. Same. Despite being into tons of nerdy shit as a kid never owned any comics. People look at me like I'm crazy when I say that. I used to watch the Xmen cartoon as a kid, holy shit its terrible. Go watch it on YouTube sometime. Only a 9 year old could love it.
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Post by Cop on Nov 12, 2020 11:25:14 GMT -5
Truth Seekers - Season 1 (Download): OK paranormal comedy series starring Nick Frost (and in a smaller role Simon Pegg) that starts off well but along the way kinda loses momentum. It has its moments and it was enjoyable enough to sit through but ultimately it wasn't good enough to be a keeper. I did enjoy Malcolm McDowell being old and grumpy.
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Post by Cop on Nov 13, 2020 12:26:05 GMT -5
Blood Drive - Season 1 (Bluray): Grindhouse style series about a Death Race type event in a post-fracking disaster 1997 that has literally split the US in two where an Umbrella-type corporation has developed an engine that runs on blood. It's not amazing but it does have its moments and for 13 episodes it does what it does ro satisfying effect.
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Post by ForRealTho on Nov 13, 2020 14:16:29 GMT -5
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Post by sj on Nov 13, 2020 14:58:29 GMT -5
I finished Mr Robot. Overall, really good show, I think I'd even say it was as good as Breaking Bad. The last few episodes were crazy. Haven't watched anymore of The Expanse yet, I do need a new show to watch now so I'll give it another try.Recently saw Bad Boys for Life it wasn't bad at all. I enjoyed the first 2, they aren't the best movies of all time but the action and comedy is great. Martin Lawrence and Will Smith are still a great duo on-screen.
Bought Bill and Ted Face the Music on VUDU, looks like studios are releasing movies in theaters and on digital at the same time lately because of the pandemic. It will unlock on Friday, gonna watch it then. Can't tell much from the trailers but I hope the plot's not just a rehash of the first 2 movies. Also liked the first 2 movies of that series back when I saw them, they're classics in their own way.
fyi, Amazon Prime recently announced Season 5 of The Expanse. The first three episodes of Season 5 to release on Dec. 16. The show has lots of boring talk/faction politics interspersed with good, but brief action sequences, so it's debatable if it's worth the time investment over other shows or video games. I'm enough of a space/scifi nerd to give it a watch though.
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Post by Coolverine on Nov 14, 2020 10:37:00 GMT -5
I'll check it out.
For some reason I had never seen Dr Strangelove so I watched it for the first time ever. Great movie.
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Post by Cop on Nov 14, 2020 11:00:14 GMT -5
With the unwatched bluray pile as good as gone and not too many things being released in other ways either, it's finally time to start long overdue rwatches of stuff I've already seen before:
Resident Evil (Bluray): Start of a rewatch of the entire series because I've still to watch the 3D bluray I bought of the last movie. Not that it's necessary to rewatch the entire series just for the last one but I kind of want to as well even though I'm not really looking forward to heving to sit through the second...
RocknRolla (Bluray): Classic Guy Ritchie shenanigans.
Limitless (Bluray): High concept movie with some good twists and turns and some positively nauseating sequences where the camera apparantly keeps zooming in and in and in and in...
The Brothers Grimsby (Bluray): Comedic insanity. The lowest of the low brow but I love it.
Clive Barker's Dread (Bluray): Bleak and depressing but not bad at all horror flick.
The Cure (Bluray): 37 minutes short action movie that reported cost 15K to make, filled with insane car action and gunplay. They can't hide the (sometimes very) noticable CGI and compositing but still, taking into account it's basically a hobby project, it's quite a feat to pull it off as well as they did. Quite the calling card.
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Post by Cop on Nov 15, 2020 10:35:08 GMT -5
Spotlight (Bluray): One of the best journalism movies.
Green Room (Bluray): Bleak but powerful piece of cinema.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (Bluray): This is such a bad movie. Tries to be too cool for school but becomes just silly because of it. Everyone is acting at their worst and the movie looks bad to boot.
The Faculty (Bluray): '90 monster fun by Robert Rodriguez. Found out Daniel von Bargen has apparently passed away but Piper Laurie is still alive.
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Post by Cop on Nov 20, 2020 14:31:19 GMT -5
Helstrom - Season 1 (Download): Marvel series about demonic possession that wasn't half bad. Didn't know what to expect because I didn't know anything about the source material but this sure wasn't it. Apparently the characters have already been around since the '70s and aren't anything like the ones in the series so I can only judge it on its own merits and I liked what I saw well enough to keep watching. Not a classic like the first season of Jessica Jones or Legion but decent enough. Doesn't look like there's going to be more but I'd watch it if they continued.
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Post by Cop on Nov 21, 2020 10:47:04 GMT -5
Gone Girl (Bluray): Masterly crafted thriller by David Fincher that could have turned out as complete pulp by someone that didn't know what he or she was doing.
Resident Evil: Extinction (Bluray): Maybe my favorite of the series due to the look and feel of all the desert stuff that makes it feel more like a Mad Max than a dumb zombie movie, which it ultimately is.
Jiu Jitsu (Download): Have you ever wondered what Predator would be like if they didn't use guns to fight him but martial arts? Me neither, but the people that made this movie sure did. It's a typical stuntman movie, which means lots of action but not enough attention to story. It's competently shot, with many decent action set pieces and fights but the reasoning behind it all leaves a lot to be desired and the action isn't amazing enough to be able to let all that slide. The alien itself looks pretty dumb as well, especially his face, which reminded me of Master Control's face at the end of Tron everytime he showed it.
Crumbs (Bluray): Rewatch of that Etyopian weirdness but now on bluray.
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Post by ForRealTho on Nov 21, 2020 10:53:51 GMT -5
Green Room (Bluray): Bleak but powerful piece of cinema. I was disappointed with Patrick Stewarts lines in the movie, his dialog was just ok.
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Post by Cop on Nov 22, 2020 11:55:35 GMT -5
The Public Image is Rotten (Download): Documentary about Johnny Rotten and PiL.
Panic Room (Download/DVD): The youngest recently told me of all the movies we'd watched, he liked Seven the best so I decided to give them another Fincher movie. I found out I apparantly still don't own this on bluray...
Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D (3D Bluray): Acceptable entry in the series that is made better with the inclusion of some pretty well done 3D. I would like to note that what seems cool in 1 movie (the Matrix), doesn't necessarily translate well to another. They try so hard to make it look so cool but it just comes off as silly. The openingscene on the other hand is very well done.
The Painted Bird (Download): Almost 3-hour Chech black-and-white holocaust movie that could be tragic if it wasn't so hilarious. I mean, it's pretty hardcore at times but the kid goes through so much it ultimately becomes comical. Ask me about it if you want more details, I just don't have the time right now.
I Spit on your Grave (Download/DVD): The original in remastered form. I have this movie on DVD as part of a UK-released "Box of the Banned" but in a heavily cut down version of which some 7 minutes of rape are missing. If you're not aware of this movie, being able to cut out 7 minutes from a rape scene and still have rape left, you can imagine just how much rape there is. This movie, in all its '70s aesthetic seems so much more gruesome and nasty than the remake even though it's basically the same.
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Post by ForRealTho on Nov 24, 2020 16:15:15 GMT -5
Letters from Iwo Jima: Just ok. One of the characters was waaay more sentimental then I would expect a Japanese officer in the trenches to be. I enjoyed 1917 and Dunrik more then this, last two war movies I watched. Still haven't seen its companion Flag of Our Fathers. From YouTube that movies looks ridiculously CGI in the battle scenes more then this one.
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Post by Cop on Nov 25, 2020 10:50:34 GMT -5
TripTank - Season 1 (Download): Collection of crazy/weird/funny short animations, usually pretty juvenile in content but oh so funny for the most part. Some pretty big names show up to do voices. At 2 episodes a sitting, some 40 minutes, I really enjoyed them.
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Post by Cop on Nov 28, 2020 13:52:35 GMT -5
Belushi (Download): Documentary about John Belushi filled with archive footage and no talking heads, which was nice.
Ghost Dog - Way of the Samurai (Download/DVD): Long time no see, the only Jim Jarmush movie I can stomach and actually like quite a bit thanks to a great soundtrack and a superb Forest Whitaker. I have to have a look to see if I can get this on bluray...
Boss Level (Download): Time loop movie that for a change doesn't start with the person finding out he's in a loop but some 140 loops in. Sadly it then still finds a way to grind to a halt until around the 45 minutes mark, when it picks up and keeps going strong until the end. Only other complaint: Mel Gibson is completely underused as the main bad guy. Barely has any screentime and even when he's on screen he has nothing to do...
Resident Evil: Retribution 3D (3D Bluray): You can say a lot of things about this movie, but not that it isn't action packed. Is it good, not really, but at least Paul Anderson has a good understanding of 3D which makes it a pretty neat looking movie at least.
Fatman (Download): Now here's a good use of Mel Gibson, as Santa Claus with all kinds of financial problems causing him to go into a joint venture with the military. But the one that steals the show is Walton Goggins as a quirky hitman hired to kill santa by a stuck-up rich kid. I went in with reasonably low expectations but it turned out pretty well. Amusing from start to finish with a couple a laugh-out-loud moments.
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Post by Cop on Nov 29, 2020 12:52:13 GMT -5
The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Say (Bluray): Maybe not a classic like the original but still a pretty fun movie.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter 3D (3D Bluray): All over the place tone wise. Equal parts spectacular and ridiculous. Sometimes it looks expensive, the next scene we're in a small corridor. It's like the 3rd movie of the series that goes a different direction after the cliffhanger ending of the previous installment. I didn't remember a whole lot about this movie and I found out I've had the bluray for almost 2 years now without having previously watched it. In fact, it was the prime reason for me rewatching the entire series.
Small Axe - Episode 1 (Download): British anthology series about racial problems in the '70s, directed by Steve McQueen. This first 'episode' is a 2 hour movie.
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Post by Cop on Dec 3, 2020 14:14:18 GMT -5
TripTank - Season 2 (Download): More of the same but twice as many episodes which mean twice the fun.
Moonbase 8 (Download): Amusing and with just 6 episodes of 25 minutes a piece, it didn't outstay its welcome.
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Post by ForRealTho on Dec 3, 2020 21:53:51 GMT -5
Feels Good Man: Good documentary on 4chan memes becoming mainstream and someone's creation growing in ways they never thought.
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Post by Cop on Dec 5, 2020 13:20:06 GMT -5
Direct to Video: Straight to Video Horror of the '90s (Download): Very anecdotal and uneven documentary but when it's about these types of movies, just some good anecdotes are already entertaining.
Tenet (Download): Pretty good. Bit confusing at the start, very confusing even, but when it gets going it's straightforward enough. Can be analyzed to death if you'd feel inclined to do so or you can just enjoy it for what it is.
Freaky (Download): Body-switch horror comedy in which a serial killing slasher villain and a high school girl switch bodies. The killer is played by Vince Vaughn who has to play a high school girl for most of the movie, which is quite amusing and the best part. I liked it well enough but it certainly wasn't a classic.
Ju-On: The Grudge (Download/DVD): Haven't seen this in ages but I was thinking about it a while ago. Happens to be made available so what better time to revisit it (and its sequel, tonight). J-Horror was the only type of horror to give me chills back in the day and the first time the grudge ghost shows up in this movie it did give me goosebumps. Just that one time though, it wasn't quite scary enough anymore afterwards. Some good visuals at the end but I've seen too many of these back in the day to still be creeped out by long-haired Asian chacks or creepy-faced kids... I wonder how the sequel will fare because I remember even less about that one.
Run (Download): Pretty decent thriller about a housebound and homeschooled girl in a wheelchair that starts to suspect her mother is up to something but is limited to what she can do in her condition. Good atmosphere despite some plot-holey moments here and there.
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Post by Cop on Dec 6, 2020 14:54:00 GMT -5
Call (Download): Great Korean thriller, if you shut it off right as the first credit is shown on screen because they managed to spoil a great movie with a scene that runs through the credits which makes no sense.
Wander (Download): Aaron Eckhart plays a conspiracy theory nut being hired to investigate the death of a girl in the small town of Wander. Strange little movie that goes all over the place but is held together by good performances and a somewhat surprising plot.
Mosul (Download): Great action/war movie about a special squad of the Iraqi police taking out ISIS in the city of Mosul entirely in Arabic, which was nice.
Ju-On: The Grudge 2 (DVD/Download): Better than I remembered and better than the first. Doesn't make too much sense, but they upped the creepy visuals nicely.
Small Axe (Episode 2-3) (Download): More racism in the UK, second episode was just a big party which didn't interest me that much, but the 3rd episode, with John Boyega joining the police force was pretty good.
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Post by ForRealTho on Dec 8, 2020 20:31:57 GMT -5
Wormwood: Mini-series about a CIA agent who was given LSD without his knowledge due to the MKULTRA program, then either threw himself out of a window or was thrown out. Its decent but its 6 episodes and it feels very padded. I am reminded of the Matrix Reloaded where they showed you the same sequence over and over. Could have done the same thing in 2-3 episodes. When I was in college I read a lot about these fucked up government mind control programs but not too many documentaries made about them.
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Post by Cop on Dec 9, 2020 11:45:33 GMT -5
Monsterland - Epi 5-8 (Download): Took a while before I got through the second part of this series because there were too many other things to watch but as those finally dried up, I managed to sneak in the last few episodes. Didn't matter when I watched them since they're all stand-alone with only very little crossover, like in the last episode, where the girl from the very first episode showed up again to have a conversation with the protagonist of this one. What was kinda interesting in that final episode is that the girl hasn't really improved her life despite doing what she did in the first episode, which she did exactly for that reason...
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