|
|
Post by Coolverine on Oct 2, 2024 0:02:44 GMT -5
The Outpost - Still one of my favorite war movies ever right up there with Saving Private Ryan and 1917, decided to put it on. Just feels like a very accurate and realistic war movie, never goes over the top with the action or musical score and stays believable. From what I've read, they were pretty accurate with the story (Battle of Kamdesh) and people who were actually there were in the movie and served as consultants as well. I have yet to watch The Outpost all the way through but I used to know a guy who served in Iraq and he said Restrepo was by far the most accurate movie he has ever seen about being a US soldier in the middle east. Found that one and watched some, it feels very documentary-like. Will watch more later.
Another war movie I remember also really enjoying, Dunkirk.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cop on Oct 2, 2024 9:44:21 GMT -5
Futurama - Season 12 (Download): While this was certainly the overall weakest season, I still can't say I mind watching the show. It's a lot of fun regardless and sometimes that's just fine.
|
|
|
|
Post by Coolverine on Oct 4, 2024 11:31:15 GMT -5
The Joker sequel is getting really bad reviews, apparently it's a musical and many are not liking it.
*edit* Wow people are saying it's basically a huge "f*** you" to fans of the first movie and deconstructs everything established in it (whatever that means). I enjoyed the first Joker, not sure I'd call myself a "fan" of it but I thought it was a good movie and a cautionary tale.
|
|
|
|
Post by Coolverine on Oct 5, 2024 15:44:27 GMT -5
Laserblast (1978) - had seen this a long time ago but never knew the name of it, found it on Amazon. Not a great movie and has some bizarre acting at times but still kind of enjoyed it. Sci-fi movie about this young man who finds an alien weapon in the desert and starts using it to get revenge on people who bully him, but it turns him into some kind of monster whenever he uses it. The acting during the parts where he's the monster are really weird too.
*edit* There's a 2018 movie called Kin that has a similar premise (except the sci-fi gun in that one doesn't mutate its user), they were gonna make a sequel but it's considered one of the absolute worst box office bombs ever so 0% chance of it ever getting one. Didn't think it was a bad movie, watchable and had some pretty good special effects, the cast was likeable enough. Wouldn't have minded a sequel, probably a big reason it failed at the box office was a lack of marketing.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cop on Oct 6, 2024 12:46:27 GMT -5
Deadpool 2 - The Super Duper Cut (Bluray): The new Deadpool movie became available so I figured a rewatch of the previous ones was in order but I didn't have enough time to watch them all so I settled for just the second. Great fun...
Deadpool & Wolverine (Download): Greatly improved sound over the previous version, lol, but I just had to get it out of the way to escape spoilers that time. This time I could just enjoy it all the way it was meant to be seen. Might very well be my favorite movie of the year.
V/H/S Beyond (Download): New VHS anthology is always something to look out for. Of course it's hit'n'miss like every anthology horror to date, but I always manage to enjoy these. Need to rewatch but I think the skydiving segment is my favorite so far.
The 4:30 Movie (Download): The new Kevin Smith movie didn't really do it for me this time around. It wasn't silly or crass enough for my taste. Best moments were the fake movie trailers, especially the nun one with Jason Mewes. Watchable but I'd consider it to be one of his lesser one.
Strange Darling (Download): Glad I shut off the RLM review before they went into spoilers a while ago so I could let myself be suprised by the twisty and fragmented nature of this rather spectacular indie flick. Refreshing to see stuff like this still gets made. Will also make it into my best off lists of the year.
Speak No Evil (Download): This would've been a pretty decent horror flick, it it hadn't been a remake but it is and alas, it fades in comparison. About 75% of the movie is the same, with a great James McAvoy as the antagonist, but the final 25% is where the changes happen and it is exactly that very 25% that made the original flick stand out so much and make it one of the most fucked up movies I've ever seen, with one of the most memorable endings ever. This forced happy ending doesn't do it for me. I don't think I'll be watching this one again, but that's mostly because the original is so much better, not because this movie is particulary bad or anything... ...unlike...
The Platform 2/El Hoyo 2 (Download): Fuck this movie. Unnecessary 'sequel' that is just a confusing mess that someone probably could make sense of but that person isn't me and going by the decline of the score on imdb, I'm not the only one. It's probably another allegory, but it's all so muddled and unintelligible it quickly lost me. I wanted to shut it off after 30 minutes and after 100 I regretted not doing it.
The Killer's Game (Download): Enjoyable action romp in the style of John Wick in the way it's about contract killers and directed and starring stunt people, but not as stylish or cool. Takes a while to get going but the final half is an enjoyable all-out action spectacular that's fun to watch.
|
|
|
|
Post by Coolverine on Oct 10, 2024 0:36:52 GMT -5
Joker: Folie à Deux - Can definitely see where all the hate is coming from, hard to discuss without spoiling the whole thing though. I'll just say I didn't 100% hate it and thought it was a pretty effective movie with a dark feel and great performances from most in it. The musical parts were weird, but I have a feeling those were just in Arthur's head.
{CLICK FOR SPOILER}
In the first movie, Arthur Fleck is miserable/depressed and weak for most of the movie, but then he becomes Joker and it makes him confident and strong. Then in this movie, turns out he went to Arkham anyway and didn't get his big following of followers in clown masks burning down the city. In the end, he ends up reverting to Arthur Fleck and abandoning the Joker persona. Also Harley Quinn leaves him because of that, and another inmate (presumably the next Joker) stabs him to death at the end, before carving a smile into his own face with the same knife. Which suggests this could possibly be the same Joker from The Dark Knight, younger - edit - turns out this is not possible, as Harvey Dent (a younger version of him) appears to get his face disfigured during a scene where the courthouse explodes. So in a nutshell, people hate this film because they deconstructed Arthur Fleck and killed him in the end. Was also hinted near the end that he was raped by the Arkham guard captain, seems like this (among other things) is what caused him to abandon the Joker persona and revert to his old self.
|
|
|
|
Post by Coolverine on Oct 12, 2024 2:29:08 GMT -5
Caddo Lake (HBO Max Original) - Quite enjoyed this one, mystery type film about supernatural phenomena around Lake Caddo and the disappearance of a young girl. Might've been as mind-bending as seeing The Sixth Sense for the first time, I think M. Night Shyamalan was involved with it too. Not bad, actually putting it on for a 2nd time now. *edit* Also on HBO Max: The Penguin - Really good so far, actually kinda has The Sopranos vibes.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cop on Oct 12, 2024 10:28:19 GMT -5
Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Season 4 (Download): Halfway through this season there was an episode that had deleted scenes of the movie that had yet to come out when this series was going, which I thought was funny, and reminded me I had to follow up this season with said movie before going to the next season.
The Silent Hour (Download): Somewhat mediocre cop/action movie that I nevertheless decided to give a chance because I noticed the name of the director: Brad Anderson. It was watchable but quickly got samey as 2 people (with hearing issues) try to keep from getting caught in an abandoned appartment complex.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon The Movie for Theaters (Download/DVD): I don't think I ever made it through this movie without nodding off at one point or another and I've seen it quite a few times already. Instead of making it my last movie of the night, I decided to watch it second, after having had a good nap during the previous one so I was rested up... ...didn't work, still had to rewind a few times, lol.
Azrael: Angel of Death (Download): This one I decided to give a chance because of the writer, which is Simon Barrett, and because I read there was a fair bit of gore, which there was. What there wasn't was dialogue because nobody is allowed to speak anymore in this post-rapture world that looked way too Walking Dead for my taste. Countless seasons of Walking Dead and its related shows have killed the walking through the woods wearing greys and browns aesthetic for me. The monsters (that aren't really explained, since nobody talks) are also just black zombies. But even with all that against it, I found the movie watchable enough. One thing though, why would you get Samara Weaving and then not have her be able to scream? I mean, I like looking at her face better than looking at most other faces, but she's a scream queen. Having her not be able to do that feels like a waste...
Beetlejuice (Bluray): The new one dropped earlier this week so a good time to rewatch the original before delving into the new one tonight, which seems to get pretty decent reviews as well.
The Outpost (Download): Don't remember how this came on my radar, might even have been mentioned here, but this modern war movie about an impossible to defend encampment in Afghanistan was pretty fucking good.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cop on Oct 13, 2024 8:23:58 GMT -5
Caddo Lake (Download): Thanks, Mole, for this one. Right up my alley even though I didn't know that before going in, which was a nice surprise. I had my suspicions as the movie went one and I was partly right but I didn't realise they were going to have it come as nicely full circle as it did. Lovely flick. I looked around on IMDB afterwards. ROFL, a couple of the 1-star reviewers literally have NO IDEA what happened in the movie, coming to all kinds of dumb conclusions. It's true, the movie doesn't spoon feed you the plot, but it's not that difficult either...
Hellboy: The Crooked Man (Download): Or: the indie horror version of Hellboy. The title screen says it all. Anyone expecting a Guillermo Del Toro movie after that is going to be disappointed, which a lot of people seem to be, judging by the review scores. I liked this lower budget, incidental adventure of a younger Hellboy (set in 1959) where he isn't even the main character for the plot. Directed by the Taylor half of the Neveldine/Taylor duo of Crank fame, which shows in some shots, but a lot is more like an indie horror, like the VVitch.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Download): I appreciated they didn't go full CG for a lot of it and even when they did they made it to look like it was stop-motion. Also a lot of practical stuff. I realised this is the first new Tim Burton movie I've watched in 20 years, the last one being Big Fish. I've never bothered with any of his ugly CG Disney movies. The plot maybe meanders a bit too much with every character seemingly having its own problems, but it was still a lot of fun.
Teacup - Episodes 1-2 (Download): A series that's off to a promising start with some very gory moments at the end of the second episode and a mysterious plot that's no doubt going to work to a disappointing conclusion, but for now it's interesting. If there had been more episodes, I would've kept watching for sure...
|
|
|
|
Post by Coolverine on Oct 15, 2024 0:19:47 GMT -5
One thing I really liked about Caddo Lake was that it also had somewhat of an Alan Wake vibe.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cop on Oct 19, 2024 11:11:59 GMT -5
Alien: Romulus (Download): Can't say I liked the opening very much, with them being able to recover an alien from the remnants of the Nostromo. I mean, it was a great visual but the implications I wasn't on board with, but the movie recovered from it quickly and the rest of it was pretty good albeit quite fast and condensed with everything following in quick succession. At least it didn't annoy the fuck out of me like Covenant did. We'll never get back to Alien or Aliens, but this certainly wasn't the worst entry in the series.
The Substance (Download): Body horror that starts off pretty great, then goes on for too long and ends hilariously grotesque. I liked most of it, except for the fact it didn't need to be 2 hours and 20 minutes. It's all about an aging actress (Demi Moore) who sees her star waning (literally) and gets hold of a miracle cure that (also literally) makes her into a new woman, with the caveat she can only switch for 1 week at a time or the consequences will be dire. Taking into account the first 2 words of my review, that's exactly what's going to happen.
The Red (Download): Aka Rippy, a creature feature starring an oversized killer kangaroo that could've been a lot of fun if they hadn't forgotten to put any actual fun in it. Instead they went deadly serious with it, resulting in overly long dramatic scenes inbetween the occasional killer roo attacks that also weren't as good as they should have been. Completely missed opportunity and as such one to skip(py) *rimshot*
Things Will Be Different (Download): Now this is more up my alley, but I can see people hating this even more than Rippy, lol. A very slow time-travel adjacent movie that comes with very little explanations as to the who, why or what, but as such it worked really well for me. It's a time loop movie without any loops, until the very end, which I, once again, can see people being infuriated by. I liked the originality and the weirdness of it all.
|
|
|
|
Post by Coolverine on Oct 20, 2024 8:37:35 GMT -5
Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance - Has animation a lot like those older Final Fantasy movies like The Spirits Within and Advent Children. Only seen a few episodes, but not bad so far IMO. Pretty fun.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cop on Oct 20, 2024 10:16:53 GMT -5
Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance (Download): Liked that it was only 6 episodes, which is managable. Would've preferred if it had been 2D, like every other Gundam thing I've ever seen, but it looked pretty decent nevertheless. Most of all I liked the fact the Gundam weren't the good guys for once, having them be the mysterious unbeatable adversary for the faction the plot focuses on. I watched it in Japanese, obviously, but I heard from someone who watched it in English that the dub was horrible.
Romeo Must Die (Download/DVD): Probably my favorite American Jet Li movie, certainly of the ones where he's the lead and it pains me to see that awful Kiss of the Dragon flick is getting a higher imdb score. Haven't seen it in a while, last time was on DVD, but it holds up reasonably well despite the fighting scenes having been surpassed in recent years. Anthony Anderson is funny and Delroy Lindo's performance is probably better than a movie like this deserves.
The Shadow Strays (Download): How can you top "The Night Comes for Us"? Apparently you can't. While the opening scene is great and promises a lot, the movie can't keep that momentum and slowly but surely (over the course of 140 minutes, which is way too long) outstays its welcome. The action scenes become very samey and go on for too long so while there's good stuff in each one of them, the total is less than the sum of its parts and by the end I just wanted it to be over. Shame.
Cuckoo (Download): Another weird one, by the director of a low budget German experimental horror flick called Luz, which I really liked. Hard to categorise this one and I almost skipped it because of negative reviews but a friend whose opinion I trust told me to give it a go. Glad I did, it's got all the weird elements I like.
Guts of a Virgin (Bluray): The only movie in the guts trilogy I hadn't seen yet but I actually bought a bluray boxset of this Japanese Pinku trilogy because the other 2 in the series, which I had seen, I actually kept, which is not usually the case. This one I probably wouldn't have either. It's a better sex movie than it is a horror. The plot doesn't get going until 15 minutes in, everything before it being straight up softcore porn (with a very attractive girl). Then a demon shows up (a guy painted black) and starts killing the men and raping the women (who have been getting into all kinds of rapey situations already before that). There are a few shots towards the end that are great in the horror department as well, but overall this isn't the best flick.
The Edge of Sleep (Download): 6 20-minute episodes mini-series about a situation where everyone that was asleep one night died and the only people left are the ones that haven't slept yet, but they will once they do. Weird and creepy, right up my alley once again.
|
|
|
|
Post by ForRealTho on Oct 20, 2024 17:47:39 GMT -5
The Substance (Download): Body horror that starts off pretty great, then goes on for too long and ends hilariously grotesque. I liked most of it, except for the fact it didn't need to be 2 hours and 20 minutes. It's all about an aging actress (Demi Moore) who sees her star waning (literally) and gets hold of a miracle cure that (also literally) makes her into a new woman, with the caveat she can only switch for 1 week at a time or the consequences will be dire. Taking into account the first 2 words of my review, that's exactly what's going to happen. People are saying Demi Moore might get a best actress nomination from this one, if the awards didn't dislike horror anyway. |
|
|
|
Post by ForRealTho on Oct 20, 2024 18:16:13 GMT -5
Dragon Age: Absolution: Before Dragon Age Inquisition came out in 2014, I read the two books they published and watched the cgi cartoon Dragon Age: Dawn Of The Seeker which is the origin of Cassandra Pentaghas. I liked both books, neither were Shakespeare but they give a lot of back info on the characters between Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition. Dawn of the Seeker was pretty bad, the budget was so low mages didn't cast spells they just attacked people with hooks. I wasn't very impressed with it. I've done zero reading before Dragon Age Veilguard. I kept forgetting Absolution released. It is a 6 episode series. Each episode is less then 30 minutes. I didn't realize how short they were at first. Cassandra is in the trailer but she is in the show for a grand total of 30 seconds in one episode.
Though not drawn or directed by a Japanese anime studio the whole thing has a very anime vibe. I totally understand this. I realize I'm an out of touch old man who never really got into anime but the kids love it so its 100% in their best interest to make this show heavily anime influenced. I decided to just go with it anyway. Thankfully the goddamn mages cast spells in this, they do it a lot actually. The terminology of Dragon Age is used a lot and someone who never played the games wouldn't pick up on everything. It was an enjoyable story set in Tevinter which is an area of the world we don't get to see much of. I liked it overall but not something I would ever watch again. Its not as good as the Cyberpunk 2077 anime was.
I don't know why anyone would want to watch it but turns out Dawn of the Seeker is on YouTube in extremely low quality:
|
|
|
|
Post by Cop on Oct 21, 2024 12:16:06 GMT -5
People are saying Demi Moore might get a best actress nomination from this one, if the awards didn't dislike horror anyway. Wouldn't be undeserved. She very good AND goes full frontal in a very unglamorous way... |
|
|
|
Post by Cop on Oct 26, 2024 11:10:16 GMT -5
Rick and Morty: The Anime (Download): People are absolutely hating on this because it isn't the exact same thing and I don't think it should be. I made the decision to wait for the season to complete after watching the first 2 episodes, which are very confusing, and finding out it wasn't episode based but had an overarcing story and by the time I watched episode 2 I had already forgotten much of episode 1. So I only just saw it earlier this week, in a few days, which certainly helped make sense of it and you find that all the confusing stuff in the beginning does actually all start to tie together along the way. The main difference between this anime and the regular series is the tone. This is more a more serious and longer version of a timetraveling and multiverse hopping idea that almost completely does away with silly and crude humor (or gets lost in translation) but does have a heart and a very emotional conclusion. Don't dis it right away is what I'm saying, give it a chance.
The Soul Eater (Download): More of a police procedural than a horror even though the crime scenes are pretty graphic. It's a somewhat slowish French cop flick (made by the people that were behind A L'Interieur) that isn't too surprising or unpredictable but decent enough.
The Coffee Table (Download): Ultra dark Spanish 'comedy' about the worst thing that could happen and the inability to cope with it. I won't spoil it, but it's pretty fucked up and it takes entirely too long to reach the end. Could do with some cutting in the middle to make it more poignant. Picked this up in a Redlettermedia 2024 horror movie round-up (most of the other I'd already seen).
Angel Guts: Red Porno (Download): Even though it has Guts in the title, it's not a pinku from the Guts boxset I bought. It's not much of a horror either, more of a thriller with a lot, and I mean a lot, of sex and of course the good old rapu as well. Watchable, pretty hot, but not memorable enough to keep around.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cop on Oct 27, 2024 11:20:11 GMT -5
I started the night with the animated Transformers One but after 25 minutes I gave up. I did not like it at all, in fact, I hated it. Judging by the scores on IMDB that's not a popular opinion but I just couldn't take it anymore. In those 25 minutes there had already been 3 noisy and overly busy chase-type action scenes that didn't need to exist. It also had a young Optimus and Megatron being friends -how are they young, they're robots- and why did they need to be friends? I went back later that night, watched another 10 minutes until an overly energetic Bumblebee got introduced whose frantic dialogue I had no interest in and I just gave up. Didn't like the standard animated CG-look either. Prime (hoho!) example of why I stopped watching these American CG movies in the first place...
Terrifier 3 (Download): I watched the other ones but didn't hang on to those not being particulary interested in slashers, but I will this one (and if I ever come a trilogy boxset for a nice price, I might just get that). It's clearly the best of the three in every sense and the kills are just insane and insanely well done. The kills in the shower and the finale might be among the best ones I've ever seen. This movie truly deserves all the (box-office and critical) success it's getting. If you could have seen the glee on my face during those scenes, you would rightly consider me to be a psychopath, lol. The best possible palate cleanser after Transformers One.
Frankie Freako (Download): New movie by the guy that did Psycho Goreman and this time its an homage to the '80s little monster movies like Gremlins and especially Ghoulies. Practical puppets (voiced in part by the Redlettermedia guys) and a lot of silliness all around make for an enjoyable lower-budget 'horror' comedy romp.
Carved (Download): Killer pumpkin creature feature that starts and ends well enough but really drags in the middle. Nothing special but nothing too bad either, just tighten it up.
Occult (Download): Japanese mockumentary about a guy that starts seeing things after surviving an knife attack years earlier. It's filmed as if it were an actual documentary and while quite long (109 minutes) and quite slow, it nevertheless never really becomes uninteresting. The ending is quite a shocker and the button after that maybe even moreso. This was only a DVD rip but because of the source material it never became apparent. The same director went on to make what may the ultimate torture porn in Grotesque.
|
|
|
|
Post by ForRealTho on Oct 27, 2024 11:56:46 GMT -5
Mormon Mom Gone Wrong: The Ruby Franke Story (Philo): I have been following the Ruby Franke case for a long time now. I never watched her "family" YouTube channel back in the day but kept up after she was arrested in 2023. Since the movie is based on a true story the kids have been vocal they hate that this movie exists and none of them were contacted about this movie and they aren't seeing a dime from it. I couldn't help but wonder how Lifetime would handle this movie, I watched it on Philo by signing up for a free trial then immediately cancelling my trial before I even watched the movie.
Anyway, Lifetime did a surprisingly good job with the facts. Obviously with a 90 minute movie and a case years in the making there are some things going to be left out but they got the main facts of the case. Interestingly enough even tho the movie is called Mormon Mom Gone Wrong the word "Mormon" or "LDS" isn't used at all in the movie. They just say "the church" like real Mormons would.
Heather Locklear does a good job as the evil villain of the story Jodi Hildebrant but doesn't look much like her in real life. Jodi gives of lesbian vibes hardcore IRL and Heather Locklear doesn't. Jodi's niece who was abused by her(not featured in the movie at all) say that people have speculated Jodi was a lesbian since she was a teen, then fastforward decades and she runs this scam on multiple families where the father is driven out of the home and she sleeps in the same bed as the mothers. I mean it makes sense. The movie touches on that a bit.
As far as Lifetime movies go it is about as good as could be expected.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cop on Nov 1, 2024 13:01:29 GMT -5
Cowboys & Aliens (Download/DVD): Another one I hadn't seen in a while. Didn't remember it to be as serious as it was, I thought it was lighter in tone but it really is a somewhat serious western where aliens show up to steal gold. Held up well enough.
Krazy House (Download): These guys did a Q&A recently at Kevin Smith's theatre and got me excited to watch the movie. I have to say it took a little getting used to in the beginning but it gets better (read: crazier and more violent) as it goes on, with some rather fucked up imagery in the finale. It's basically a Dutch movie with an international cast and done in English, and it's done by the guys that did the popular New Kids movies. Original concept that pays off at the end.
Noroi - The Curse (Download): The movie last week's 'Occult' got compared to in the reviews, an earlier flick by the same director in a similar mockumentary style. I wanted to watch it when I read about it and it just so happened to get posted this week, so I didn't skip the opportunity. I guess it all depends on which movie you've seen first because while most people seem to prefer Noroi, I lean more towards Occult. I found it creepier and more intriguing than this one, and the payoff was better. That said, it's still a very decent found-footage type mockumentary.
Le Deuxième Acte (Download): New Mr Oizo movie is as absurd as his previous ones but this one is talky, boy is it ever. It's what you expected French movies to be back in the day: unending fast talking dialogue. Certainly not my favorite one of the lot.
Teacup - Season 1 (Download): Sadly it didn't turn out to be a mini-series but rather a season 1 of something that's uncertain if it will ever be followed up. I guess it ended well enough, if that's the case, with most questions answered.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Season 5 (Download): The first season after the movie and it starts without the regulars, except for Carl who's looking for new tenants. I actually really liked those episodes. Eventually they show back up and it's the regular hilarious nonsense.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cop on Nov 2, 2024 11:08:08 GMT -5
Joker (Bluray): With the new one available I figured rewatching the OG one would be a good idea... ...or maybe not, if the comparison is unfavorable, which does seem to be the case if the review/scores are anything to go by. I'll keep an open mind however and give it the benefit of the doubt.
Dracula 2000 (Download/DVD): Almost a guilty pleasure, I guess. I saw this in the theatre back in the day even and I've seen it plenty times on DVD but that has been a while. It didn't look particulary HD, this version, but the rest was still pretty watchable. I've always liked the origin story for the Dracula character this movie presents.
Chime (Download): 45 minute horror short by the director of Kairo, which isn't too far away, atmosphere-wise. I can't say I got it all right away but it's intriguing nevertheless.
Daddy's Head (Download): Creature feature that was watchable but also a bit annoying with them trying to make it about grief and loss. The few good scares towards the end are too little too late for a story that kinda drags itself to a predictable conclusion. I mean, everyone but the characters is already aware what the creature is and what it's doing so it's kind of pointless.
Kids (Download/DVD): The infamous one. Can't believe I saw this in the theatre back in the day. I mean, that would be impossible today, something like this would go right to streaming. This and all the other fucked up GenX flicks we saw in the theatre back in the '90s: Doom Generation, Nowhere,... Anyway, infamous for all kinds of reasons, still as shocking and disgusting as it was back then...
Guts of a Beauty (Bluray): Movie 2 in the Guts trilogy and this is what I'm talking about. 67 minutes of which the first half is pretty much all rapu and the second half is also a lot of rapu, but then a grotesque penis monster also shows up and starts getting revenge on all the yakuza rapists. Easy to see why I hung on to this one, lol...
|
|
|
|
Post by ForRealTho on Nov 3, 2024 0:52:20 GMT -5
Noroi - The Curse (Download): The movie last week's 'Occult' got compared to in the reviews, an earlier flick by the same director in a similar mockumentary style. I wanted to watch it when I read about it and it just so happened to get posted this week, so I didn't skip the opportunity. I guess it all depends on which movie you've seen first because while most people seem to prefer Noroi, I lean more towards Occult. I found it creepier and more intriguing than this one, and the payoff was better. That said, it's still a very decent found-footage type mockumentary. At one time in the mid-late 2000s Noroi was on the top of many lists as one of the "scariest movies of all time". I watched it once, I started to get bored so put the speed at like 150% or something like that. The only thing I remember about it is the ending. I didn't find it crazy scary and didn't understand the hype. If I spoke Japanese and didn't have to read the subtitles and also picked up on Japanese cultural things I don't get as an American then maybe it would have been scarier. |
|
|
|
Post by Cop on Nov 3, 2024 11:00:34 GMT -5
Joker: Folie à Deux (Download): I think this movie will get appreciated more for what it tries to do once the negative hype dies down. That's not to say I thought it was great or anything, but certainly not as bad as it was made out to be. I think a lot of people take offence to the fact the Joker isn't the anti-hero the first movie made him out to be anymore but an infinitely more sad and pitiful character that doesn't come out on top... ...and maybe the musical moments which didn't do it for me either. The obviously staged musical numbers that were clearly just in his head I was fine with, but the times they started singing in everyday situations kinda took me out of it as well. Still, I think it will get redeemed somewhat in the future.
Torque (Download/DVD): Silly F&F inspired movie with bikes instead of cars that's played very tongue-in-cheek. It's pretty hilarious actually in how silly it all is. Every man is a tough guy, the girls are all hypersexual en just like F&F physics are nowhere to be found.
Guts of a Beauty III: Rusted Body (Bluray): Aka Female Inquisitor, the final Pinku from the Guts boxset. Took a bit of time before I recognised stuff in this movie but I did eventually. Not much horror in this one but plenty of sexual torture, making this the sexiest of the bunch.
Agatha All Along - Season 1 (Download): I liked the first episode well enough but I started to care less and less with each consecutive one and I was glad it was finally over. I always though the "scarlet witch" was just a name but now, even though she was a product of experiments with the tesseract (or another infinity stone), she's actually a witch and part of an entire subcategory of witches all with color-coded powers? How does that happen?
|
|
|
|
Post by Coolverine on Nov 8, 2024 5:50:27 GMT -5
Silo (Apple TV series) - Been wanting to check this one out, the premise sounds really interesting. The story is definitely similar to Fallout, the whole silo thing being like a vault pretty much. First episode wasn't bad, turns out the people there are being kept in the dark about the past and other things.
*edit* I think the part of Joker 2 I liked the most was that Looney Tunes esque cartoon at the beginning, wish there was more.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cop on Nov 9, 2024 13:20:24 GMT -5
Hellbound - Season 1 (Download): Quite unexpectedly there was a new season of this Korean series but I knew I had to rewatch the first one first because the only things I remembered about it were the 3 creatures and the fact I really liked it and after having rewatched it, that certainly hasn't changed and I'm extremely glad I did rewatch because I wouldn't have been able to follow the new season in the slightest. I love the implications the unexplained phenomenon is having on society and the way it's being interpreted by various groups for their own means and I love the character arc of the lawyer who, after being left for death, comes back ready for battle and takes everyone by surprise (including the viewer) when she's confronted by an overconfident mob coming to take her down who then get their asses handed to them. The ending was very open but I still would have been satisfied if there had never been any follow-up because I liked the series just that much. The Jacket (Download/DVD): Seen this one before, also forgotten just about everything about it, except it had a time travel element, which is right up my alley. I looks about as early 2000s as it can and I guess it isn't that weird to visit the girl you'll end up boning when she's like 10 years old... ...or is it?  In a Violent Nature (Bluray): The way to get me to appreciate slashers is to present them with a twist, which this has. Garner it with amazingly done and gory kills and it's a slam dunk. People calling this slow are slow themselves. One Missed Call (Bluray): Snagged an Arrow boxset of a trilogy of this J-horror saga, which, to be honest, I didn't know went beyond that first one, which I've always liked well enough. Directed by Takashi Miike, who isn't known for these types of movies, but who delivered a solid horror flick that is really creepy right up until one of my favorite moments of J-horror (the TV-studio) after which the plot loses focus and starts to dilute into a less well done ghost story that offers a few too many twists and illogical jumpscares... ...but that first half is great. Look Back (Download): About an hour long, this recent anime of which I knew nothing but I saw it had pretty high review scores so I decided to check it out. Right from the start I thought I might have made a mistake, the music really made it seem like something I might not be very interested in but I decided to stick with it since it was too late to start anything else anyway. I'm glad I did, the coming of age story and friendship between 2 girls who start drawing manga is pretty sweet but then it offers a bit of a twist and it drew me in completely right up until a perfectly sweet ending that tugs at your hearthstrings.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cop on Nov 10, 2024 12:00:31 GMT -5
Cleaner (Download/DVD): Serviceable thriller that starts strong but slides into more and more clichés as it goes on. Seen it before on DVD but forgotten enough about it to remain curious about the plot developments, which ultimately weren't that great but decent enough to warrant watching it again.
Monkey Man (Bluray): You know, I kinda forgot just how great this was. I knew I liked it and I bought it because of that but I didn't realise it might very well be the best fight movie of the year. Interesting look, great and violent action and while it is yet another revenge flick, it keeps it fresh enough to stand out. Great job by Dev Patel who stars and directed.
One Missed Call 2 (Download): I never expected this to be nearly as good as the original... ...and I was right. Starts off as more of the same except it takes too many cues from the second half of the original. There's a loose tie with the first movie but it quickly becomes clear there's a completely different Ju-On/Noroi ghost that's responsible for these killings and it is to be found in a mine in Taiwan. Cue a lot of jump-scary pale Asian chicks in a plot that meanders along until it ends...
Hellbound - Season 2 (Download): Couldn't be more related to current affairs if it tried. Despite it being about (still) unexplained phenomena that have thrown society into chaos, the parallels with MAGA and Jan 6th in the second half of this season are impossible to ignore. 4 groups are trying to dominate the narrative, the church, the zealots, the government and the group led by the lawyer from the first season who've cared for the 'messiah' in secret. The 'deep state' government is trying to get a grip on the situation by putting the various pieces on the board against one another in the hopes of regaining some form of control. It's great. I don't understand how it is scoring so poorly on the imdb unless it's going over people's heads. I certainly loved all of it and while it's once again left somewhat open, there's also enough closure to call it quits and I would also be satisfied with that. I mostly love how there's still no explanation of the phenomenon. Any explanation would be dumb. It's more interesting to see society deal with the consequences than it would be to get some unsatisfying reason for it all.
|
|
|
|
Post by ForRealTho on Nov 10, 2024 15:18:48 GMT -5
Heretic (theater): This movie got Mormonspeak down 100%. The girls in this movie talk exactly like two sister missionaries for the Mormon church would. I really liked this movie a lot up till the last 15% of the film. Didn't stick the landing for me. A bunch of outraged Mormons who didn't even watch the movie are very angry about it, and going so far as to post spoilers in the titles of their reviews to keep people from seeing it, and recommending movies made by Mormons instead. They seem to miss that the two sisters are the heroes in the movie, not the villains. Hugh Grant does a good job being a creepy weirdo, I just really wish the end was better. Strong 8 till the end and it dips back a 7 thanks to the ending.
|
|
|
|
Post by ForRealTho on Nov 10, 2024 19:00:00 GMT -5
Joker: Folie à Deux (Download): I think this movie will get appreciated more for what it tries to do once the negative hype dies down. That's not to say I thought it was great or anything, but certainly not as bad as it was made out to be. I think a lot of people take offence to the fact the Joker isn't the anti-hero the first movie made him out to be anymore but an infinitely more sad and pitiful character that doesn't come out on top... ...and maybe the musical moments which didn't do it for me either. The obviously staged musical numbers that were clearly just in his head I was fine with, but the times they started singing in everyday situations kinda took me out of it as well. Still, I think it will get redeemed somewhat in the future. Quentin Tarantino thinks this movie is great and better then the first one. Time will tell if it becomes redeemed in 10 years. I have yet to watch it but I know part of the reason people hate is because of the musical aspect "Wait its a musical? Musicals are gay!". I've seen that reaction over the years multiple times. I knew someone who was a huge Bjork fan. I mentioned she made a movie and they said they already knew that but flat refused to watch it because it was a musical. Full stop. Wonder if this will get the same treatment as The Thing in 10 years. |
|
|
|
Post by Coolverine on Nov 12, 2024 1:58:37 GMT -5
Silo (Season 1) - Glad I waited to watch this one, because season 2 premieres this Friday. Thought it was a solid sci-fi series with great atmosphere, probably will watch again.
Cobra Kai season 6 part 2 (of 3) also premieres this Friday.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cop on Nov 12, 2024 13:27:54 GMT -5
Stopmotion (Bluray): Creepy stop-motion sequences make this movie stand out from the pack. Can't believe how much of it I'd already forgotten about it, I watched it earlier this year, I think.
Black Cab (Download): Nick Frost as the bad guy is the best thing about this movie. He sells his part really well. All the rest sadly was kinda crappy. Pretty dull and illogical ghost story that I can't even remember how it ended and I saw it last night (well, 2 nights ago at the time of typing this because I forgot to post)...
One Missed Call 3: Final (Bluray): After the second one I didn't have high hopes for this one, but hey, I liked it a lot better than the second. I'd say it's pretty solid up until the final part, which goes on for too long and is a bit pointless. All had already been resolved 15 minutes earlier. It's still about cursed phonecalls, but the twist is, you can forward your curse to someone else (in your contacts) and you'll be safe while the other one dies. Now it's all about the revenge of a bullied girl who starts calling her classmates that are on a school trip to Korea and all where given phones with just eachother's numbers in them, so there's the situation that even though you might be able to get away, you're going to condemn one of your friends and afterwards all the others will know you did so. It's an interesting dynamic, that could be worked out even better, but it made this movie a lot more interesting than I held possible...
Monster Summer (Download): Child-friendly horror flick in the vain of Monster Squad and Goonies where some kids must try and find a witch that keeps picking off their friends. While the parents don't believe them, they require the help of an old man whom all the kids suspect killed his family. That man is played by Mel Gibson. Very enjoyable flick.
Arcane - Season 2 (Epi 1-3) (Download): Didn't want to rewatch the first season since I wasn't as big a fan as most and I was really scratching my head at first when I had no idea anymore who was who or what they stood for and I almost gave up. It came back enough to be able to follow from the second episode. It still looks amazing, but I still don't see what's so great about it either. I mean, it's fine, but 9+/10 fine like the imdb scores for all episodes indicate? Apart from how it looks, it doesn't stand out for me...
|
|
