Topic: The Movie Thread

@Rudy_Manchego Had a looksie at Train to Busan and picked it up on blu ray this evening. Will be a week or so before I watch it though.

@kyleforrester87 it's a great movie

@kyleforrester87 Nice - all I can say is ZOMBIE ATTTAAAACKKKKK

@Rudy_Manchego I highly recommend both The Wailing (Korean horror movie) and The Chaser (Korean) as well if you can find them.

Star Wars: the Force Awakens (DVD) - I'm not a huge SW fan, though I've seen all the films at some point, but I do like sci-fi in general, so I thought this was a good time. It was nice seeing some familiar faces, the effects/action were cool, and it was simply nice watching a blockbuster that has nothing to do with superheroes for a change. Interested in seeing where it goes, though I'm not sold on the villains yet (While an emotionally unhinged villain can be threatening in their unpredictably, Kylo Ren simply looks like a dork without his mask, limiting the intimidation factor. Meanwhile the big bad seems to be a rehash of Palpatine. In comparison, at least Kylo Ren has a reason to ape the whole Darth Vader shtick).

Police Academy (Netflix) - Never saw it before, so I decided to check it out. Decently fun for what it is, but not something I could see myself actively seeking out again.

Patriots Day (DVD) - Drama recounting the events surrounding the Boston Marathon terrorist bombing. It features Mark Wahlberg, Kevin Bacon, & John Goodman, and it ended up being quite good. It could get quite emotional in spots, was really tense in others, and the interviews with the real survivors (and other relevant persons) at the end of the film was a nice touch.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Netflix) - This was added to streaming today (in the US), and watching it was the first thing I did upon waking up, lol. I really quite liked it. It was darker/grittier than your typical SW film (though not to the point of feeling out of place), which made it stand out a bit, the battle scenes were phenomenal, and the cameos from familiar faces were nice.

I watched Baby Driver at the cinema at the weekend. Story was so so but the execution was amazing with a great soundtrack.

@Rudy_Manchego I wasn't interested at first after watching the trailers a while back but after seeing the reviews it got I think I might go watch it next week.

Also, I'll probably go watch Dunkirk this week.

Have you watched Spider-man? I thought it was really good. I like the story plus finally a good villain as well.

@WanderingBullet Worth seeing at the cinema - I love Edgar Wright's other films, like Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim so if you like those I think you are on safe ground.

Dunkirk looks absolutely amazing.

I think I'll briefly discuss the new movies I've seen this year. These are in no particular order.

Movies I Liked

War for the Planet of the Apes (The Ten Commandments if it was framed as a sci-fi war movie. Grueling, intense, and maybe a bit overlong, but this is still easily the best film in the superb Planet of the Apes prequel trilogy. The set design is masterful but, as always, the star of the show is the nuanced, brilliantly emotional performance of Andy Serkis' Caesar.)

Wonder Woman (Despite the uninspired final act and a seemingly tacked-on romantic subplot, this film, thanks in great part to the superb casting of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, does justice to one of the more unfairly neglected DC superheroes. It's also nice to see a good DC movie after Man of Steel, Suicide Squad, and Batman vs Superman all turned out to be incredibly flawed.)

Kong: Skull Island (An inspired, ridiculous, pulpy bit of cinema. Jackson's performance as the obsessed Preston Packard is the highlight of the film.)

It Comes at Night (This film wants to immerse the audience in a nightmarish vision of a post-apocalyptic America, and it fully succeeds. One of the most sickeningly tense yet masterfully constructed bits of horror cinema that I have ever seen.

Get Out (Some pretty biting racial satire in this engaging sci-fi horror film, even if I wasn't nearly as infatuated as so many professional critics seemed to be.)

Split (Was not looking forward to this, as trailers made it seem like a ridiculous bit of scare-mongering about people suffering from DID: I'm still... uncertain how I feel about the films treatment of its subject matter, but I can't deny that it's a total return to form for Shyamalan after 2015's surprisingly decent film The Visit. Suspenseful and I absolutely loved the twist at the end.)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (Charming, almost deconstructive take on the iconic teen superhero. Unlike other recent Marvel films, Homecoming does a wonderful job narrowing down the scope of the conflict and providing an almost personal superhero film. I thought it was a delight.)

The LEGO Batman Movie (While it's not as sharply written as The Lego Movie, I still loved this absurd film that is all about the self-centered Lego Batman. The way it frames Batman and the Joker's rivalry as a homoerotic relationship is funny, but it's hammered home one too many times.)

Mixed

Life (Good, not great sci-fi horror film. If you've seen Alien, then you've seen a much better version of this. Not a bad time at all, but it adds nothing to the genre.)

Despicable Me 3 (Not a great movie, but it gets credit for downplaying the minions and trying to have an actual story, even if it is one about a "long lost brother")

A Cure for Wellness (A gorgeous, weird gothic horror film that I wanted to love: unfortunately, under all of its pretensions at artistry, it has a fairly pedestrian core whose reveal doesn't justify the monumental build-up. On that note, the film is about an hour too long and loses focus too many times. I don't regret seeing it, but I do think it's a shame that such a lovingly produced film is so uninspired.)

The Boss Baby (It's stupid, but that shouldn't surprise anyone. It's kind of cute if you can roll with the neverending silliness of the material.)

Alien: Covenant (Goes way downhill after the first hour or so. The set design is great, though, and that first hour really is enjoyable.)

Before I Fall (Another young adult mash-up: this time, it's chic lit meets Groundhog Day. It's all horribly predictable, to be honest. Not necessarily a bad film, but not worth paying much to see, either.)

The Circle (Another "I wanted to like this" film. It's somewhat timely. The film's ultimate failings are that it never takes a firm moral stance on continued technological evolution, the main character is horribly written (and horribly acted by Emma Watson; please stop giving roles to this woman), and it falls apart at the climax.)

Didn't Like

Monster Trucks (A miserable experience from beginning to end.)

The Space Between Us (I appreciate the creators trying to liven up the teen romance formula with hard sci-fi elements, but it just didn't work for me. Maybe it'll work for the intended demographic, but it's certainly nothing that rises above the trappings of its own genre.)

The Girl with All the Gifts (The Last of Us, but with worse writing and a truly ridiculous finale.)

Beauty and the Beast (The biggest disappointment of the year. Emma Watson is ghoulish as Belle. The songs, plot, writing, etc. are all underwhelming. Takes one of my all-time favorite cinematic stories and makes it boring and obvious.)

@Rudy_Manchego Oh, Scott Pilgrim was brilliant. Hot Fuzz was a bit slow at the beginning until the last act.haha. Wasn't Edgar Wright involved in directing one of the (old) MCU movies but then left because of creative differences?

@Ralizah Cool, I liked War for the Planet of the Apes as well but not as much as Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. I like Dawn (1st), Rise (2nd), War (3rd). I think Caesar has to be one of my favourite fully CGI in a live action movie characters of all time. Andy Serkis' King Kong is also at the top of the list. That guy is talented.

Speaking of Kong, I didn't enjoyed Skull Island that much for some reason. I didn't like both the story and especially the characters. I also thought Aliens: Covenant was kinda boring as well.

The babies in Baby Boss were so cute.lol

@WanderingBullet Caesar is the most vividly realized CGI character in cinema history. It's incredible: you can see every emotion going through that ape's face.

@WanderingBullet Yep, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish had written an Ant Man movie before the MCU had even started with Iron Man and got the greenlight to go for it but then they both walked away when Marvel wanted to change stuff. Rumour on the ground was that all the Avengers stuff and MCU crossovers was what they didn't want but Marvel forced it. It is a shame, Ant Man was OK but you have to wonder what it would have been like with Edgar Wright directing.

@Ralizah Agreed.

@Rudy_Manchego Personally, I thought Ant-Man was good and if he wasn't part of MCU universe, the Civil War airport fight scene wouldn't be as epic.haha

Right now, I just want to watch some Avengers: Infinity Wars footages.

@Rudy_Manchego I liked Ant Man, but Edgar Wright writing and directing would've resulted in a far more interesting (and funny) film, I think. I am a bit biased, though - I love everything he does.

I also saw Baby Driver recently and it was excellent. You can definitely pick holes in the story, but as a whole, the film is so much fun. I had a big stupid grin on my face the whole time.

@WanderingBullet Antman was a pretty good Marvel flick, but as the man @Quintumply says, an Edgar Wright version with that budget and cast would have been so much fun. But yeah, the moment Antman gets into the fray in Civil War was the highlight of the movie for me...

I love Edgar Wright, even since Spaced in the late 90's (yes, I am that old). Baby Driver was just a great flick and I can see myself watching it lots of times.

@Quintumply @Rudy_Manchego Just found that he also directed Shaun of the Dead which I really liked. The World's End on the other hand is my least favourite, thought that movie was only so-so.

@WanderingBullet I actually quite liked The World's End, but I agree that it isn't his strongest work. I can't decide my favourite between Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim

@Quintumply @WanderingBullet I am in the minority that I think World's End is my favourite, just because I like the sci-fi story and ending but also I think from an action perspective. Plus, being from a small English town and rarely going back, I kinda get it. That's not me trying to be cool and go for the unpopular choice, just struck a chord with me. However, you can't go wrong with any of them... I seriously want him to do a video game adaptation. Will never happen but hey, I think his style would sit well in that kind of story.

Expelled From Paradise (Netflix) - I won't go into deep detail like I did in the anime thread, but if you like sci-fi or mecha anime, this film is worth checking out.