movies

[Kory]

I saw Wonder Woman then jumped theater to Guardians of the Galaxy. Both well over 2 hours, what a long fucking day. Guardians was kinda a let down since the first one was so good. And the last 20 minutes of emotions and feelings, jesus fuckin christ. As for Wonder Woman, she's got to be the current prettiest chick in the world right now. That was also about 20 minutes too long though.

To be fair, the first Guardians really wanted to drive home the whole "friendship is the key" point, so I didn't see much difference with this one and its slightly modified theme. Plus the end was kind of like Wrath of Khan, so I dug that.

[Flex]

I don't need to see the new Guardians because I've seen at least one other Marvel movie and they are all the exact fucking same.

Looking forward to Wonder Woman and then not seeing another superhero movie for quite a while.

[tepista]

I've seen at least one other Marvel movie and they are all the exact fucking same.

My nephew observated" "Pick up a bus and throw it at somebody, I got it already."

[Dr. Medulla]

I've seen the first two Spider-man movies, the first Captain America, and the second (I think) Avengers (and a bunch of X-Men). I honestly believe being a comic book dork ruined the movies for me. The comics helped me develop what I think that stuff should be like and it diverges too much for me. I'm not saying the movies are bad—that my version is obviously the right one—but that my version is way too strong in my head and overwhelms the stuff on the screen. More power to those who can enjoy the films, tho, especially if it gets them reading comics.

[revbob]

I only have watched them because my kid was into seeing them. Ivery enjoyed a decent few.

[matedog]

Well alright.
http://news.nationalpost.com/entertainm ... e-internet

[Dr. Medulla]

Read the book, but never seen the movie until today. Aside from title, character names, and mood, the two aren't anything alike. Mixed feelings about this. To the negative, not relating to or empathizing with any of the characters makes it hard to enjoy a movie. Plus things really do plod along. And I don't know if I've ever found Andrew McCarthy persuasive in anything—he always seems like a placeholder while the real actor is taking a dump or something. But there was something compelling about the film. The set-up of the story is a rich kid goes off to college in the east and comes back to L.A. during winter break to find his friends fucked up with drugs and debt. Remove the rich part and it still sounds very plausible, suggesting something more … universal? … about the premise. Much of this story could be adapted to rural Indiana. It would change a key factor—kids from material privilege snorting away their advantages vs. those more trapped by structural hindrances—but I'm kind of intrigued by thinking of it as a more American social rot kind of tale, of a corrosive amorality and a need to escape.

[tepista]

Read the book, but never seen the movie until today. Aside from title, character names, and mood, the two aren't anything alike. Mixed feelings about this. To the negative, not relating to or empathizing with any of the characters makes it hard to enjoy a movie. Plus things really do plod along. And I don't know if I've ever found Andrew McCarthy persuasive in anything—he always seems like a placeholder while the real actor is taking a dump or something. But there was something compelling about the film. The set-up of the story is a rich kid goes off to college in the east and comes back to L.A. during winter break to find his friends fucked up with drugs and debt. Remove the rich part and it still sounds very plausible, suggesting something more … universal? … about the premise. Much of this story could be adapted to rural Indiana. It would change a key factor—kids from material privilege snorting away their advantages vs. those more trapped by structural hindrances—but I'm kind of intrigued by thinking of it as a more American social rot kind of tale, of a corrosive amorality and a need to escape.

lat week on jeopardy they were all "the book was by blah blah and the song was by Elvis Costello" in a common name category.

[tepista]

Nocturnal Animals (2016) Amy Adams reads a book.

[Kory]

I've seen the first two Spider-man movies, the first Captain America, and the second (I think) Avengers (and a bunch of X-Men). I honestly believe being a comic book dork ruined the movies for me. The comics helped me develop what I think that stuff should be like and it diverges too much for me. I'm not saying the movies are bad—that my version is obviously the right one—but that my version is way too strong in my head and overwhelms the stuff on the screen. More power to those who can enjoy the films, tho, especially if it gets them reading comics.

I'm sure to many people, there ain't much difference, but I think there's a very wide chasm between movies made by Fox, Universal, and Sony (Spider-Men, X-Men, FF, Daredevil, Hulk), and Marvel Studios. The stories diverge, but they do so in a way that's respectful to the characters—whereas the other studios (Fox, particularly) are almost malevolent in their mistreatment of the source material. I think, anyway.

[tepista]

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II (1993) the United Nations create a mechanical Godzilla to combat the real one during his next attack. Rodan makes an appearance in this one, and what was mistaken as a Rodan egg and taken into captivity, but to everyone’s surprise, it’s a baby Godzilla that comes out once it hatches. He’s about 12 feet tall and adorable. Meanwhile, Godzilla, Mechagodzilla and Rodan have it out over Tokyo. Unlike the first G vs MG, the robotic creature was but to protect Japan, and not to destroy it. Human characters include the fighter pilots that control the Mechagodzilla, and Megumi Odaka, reprising her role as Miki Saegusa, the now adult woman who has a psychic connection with Godzilla.

The Possession of Michael King (2014) A non-believer deals with the recent death of his wife by making a documentary in which he intends to debunk any and all things paranormal, including the summoning of demons. Well, it's not too long before his behavior changes, putting those around him including his young daughter, in physical danger. At first he thinks he could be losing his mind over the grieving, but you can rest assured there are demonic forces at work here. I'm partial to possession movies anyway, and I caught this one late at night and alone, and I ain't afraid to say it gave me the creeps. I'll have to "thumbs up" this one. (2nd viewing 2 years later, still effective)

Don’t Blink (2014) Ten friends arrive at a mountain resort in Colorado to find it completely empty. Water running, stove on, etc, not a soul in sight. With no gasoline or communication to the outside world, they hang around, and one by one, they vanish without a trace. Tension runs high as the numbers shrink. With Mena Suvari and Brian Austin Green. Just as all the characters did, I expect this one will soon vanish from my memory.

Back From Eternity (1956) Remake of the 1939 adventure Five Came Back, which starred Lucille Ball. An airplane crashes in the Amazon jungle, and the crew hurries to repair the vessel before the local “headhunters” close in. Problem is, when the repairs are done, they realize the damaged plane can only carry the weight of five people. There’s eleven of them. Former Miss Sweden Anita Ekberg plays a hooker, Robert Ryan is a tough-guy pilot, and Rod Steiger is a condemned killer who isn’t as bad a guy as he seems.

The Anniversary (1968) So with 2 of Hammer’s most prolific screenwriters and directors (Jimmy Sangster and Roy Ward Baker) and a trailer that teases a murder plot, this has got to be a horror film, right? No, not really. But it is a fun dark comedy with an over the top performance by Bette Davis, who controls her three sons lives and verbally abuses their spouses, while wearing an eye patch that matches her dress. Good soapy fun with several laughs and throw in some cross dressing for good measure.

Frankenhooker (1990) When his girlfriend is killed in a freak lawnmower accident, Jersey boy Jeffrey, a med school dropout and electronic whiz, puts her back together with assorted body parts that came from a dozen dead hookers. The hookers exploded after smoking Jeffrey’s “Super Crack” which he made out of some regular crack. Not all plans go as expected, when she wakes up she hits the streets with a limited vocabulary that mostly consists of “Wanna date?’ and “Got any money?” 1987 Penthouse Pet of the Year Patty Mullen was great as the clunky-walking, face twitching title character, who surprisingly only has one other film credit. Writer/Director Frank Henenlotter is best remembered for his two 80s classics, Basket Case and Brain Damage, and this one, with plenty of gore and nudity, is a blast too.

The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1957) A rash of decapitations are plaguing a seaside town. SPOILER Seems the local lighthouse keeper had been feeding an 8-foot amphibious monster “meat scraps”, but when he got in a fight with the local butcher and his meat scrap privileges were revoked, the monster realized he had a taste for locals! That was kinda the Lake Placid plot too, wasn’t it? We didn’t get a good look at the rubber suit monster til the end, he reminded me a bit of Rawhead Rex without the hair. Several neat scenes of severed heads, not awful.

From Hell it Came (1959) A South Seas tribe of natives sees their leader murdered and betrayed by his wife and the treacherous witch doctor, but vows revenge in his dying breath. From his burial plot grows a tree stump…with a face and a heartbeat! The visiting American scientists dig it up for experiments, but the locals all insist it’s their former leader reincarnated as “Tobanga”, a vengeful demon. They were right, it woke up and killed all who betrayed him, usually by making them faint, then throwing them into quicksand. One of the most ridiculous creature designs you’ve ever seen. All the actors with speaking roles, including the tribes people, were all white, except maybe one.

[Inder]

IIRC, Don't Blink had one semi A/B-lister who got top billing... and who was in the movie for maybe 3 minutes. The ending was pretty cool.

[Dr. Medulla]

Archetypal noir. Visually, lots of shadows. In terms of theme, choices made in the past are a cancer that grow and become malignant (y'know, noir). Jane Greer is a marvellously inscrutable femme fatale—is she going to double cross or triple cross? The story isn't really important, it's the characters and the environment. Great stuff.

[daredevil]

47 Meters Down (2017) While vacationing in Mexico, Kate talks her older sister Lisa (Mandy Moore) into cage diving with sharks. Things go well for a while, but the winch breaks apart
causing the cage to fall. This was a good entry in the shark genre. The ending is similar to the Descent.

[revbob]

Insomnia gave me the opportunity to watch Green Room (without my wife constantly saying "this is stupid" aND/or why do those girls have hascidic haircuts if they are nazis? It was enjoyable enough though why did they go to a place they kimd of knew was a Nazi club?