Topic: The Movie Thread

Battle: Los Angeles (Blu-Ray) - Advanced alien invaders may be capable of interstellar travel, but there's no way they could ever be prepared for "the Few, the Proud, the Marines™". I didn't like it as much as I'd remembered (it doesn't have the charm of an Independence Day & it has a bit too much shaky cam), but it still has some pretty cool battle sequences, and I generally love movies where aliens are fought off with largely contemporary military abilities, so it'll stick around in my collection (maybe one day I'll do a triple feature with the aforementioned ID4 & Battleship). Unfortunately the BD I picked up thrifting skipped once or twice (small enough not to ruin the watch), but luckily I found another copy the very next day (this time in a snazzy slip cover), so I took that as a sign and grabbed it (hopefully this one doesn't have any issues).

Grumpy Old Men (Blu-Ray) - I'm probably overrating this a bit because it invokes a lot of nostalgia in me (we used to take fishing trips to Minnesota every summer, my earliest memories of which were in the 90's, so the vibe of this just hits with me. Plus, the movie takes place over Thanksgiving & Christmas, so that's a whole lot of cozy baked into it), but I really think this is genuinely enjoyable. The banter between Lemmon & Matthau is often hilarious (the guy playing Lemmon's 90 something year old dad is by far the funniest here though), and it has some good emotional beats to boot.

Spaceballs (Blu-Ray) - I've seen bits & pieces of this before, but never watched the whole thing because my dad said it sucked (to be fair, we generally have different taste in films). I seen the BD while thrifting however & figured it couldn't hurt to give it a watch, and I really ended up enjoying it quite a bit. I can totally understand why Blazing Saddles was a more important & seminal film when it comes to Mel Brooks' comedies, but in terms of personal preference I liked this more (it helps that I like future/space sci-fi a lot more than westerns).

@Hogs-of-War-General, I'm on Letterboxd too btw.

@JohnnyShoulder Disney recently slotted Predator: Badlands in for November 2025 release, with Dan Trachtenberg returning to direct and Elle Fanning starring. I, for one, greatly enjoyed Trachtenberg's Prey, enough to secure the limited steelbook 4K release Looking forward to see where he takes the sequel

@FuriousMachine yeah same, hopefully it will release in cinemas everywhere this time!

@JohnnyShoulder Yeah, I think Disney is looking to capitalize on the success of the previous one. The fact that they've slotted a release for it indicates that they intend to release it wide. Fingers crossed that it releases theatrically on these shores as well

@FuriousMachine Oh that's great news and yes let's hope it has a theatrical release!

Any thoughts on Christophe Gans getting another stab at Silent Hill?

@Jimmer-jammer He should leave it alone and let a better director get a try at it.

Saw yesterday night "The Season of the Witch" - Bluray - It's a good movie with great production value and atmosphere. It's set in the 14th century with Nic Cage and Ron Perlman acting as crusaders. It's dark, moody, and has good pacing along with action. Doesn't take itself too serious at time however its adult enough to be considered serious.

Will probably watch "The Last Witch Hunter" today with Vin Diesel, another entertaining film in my arsenal.

@Hogs-of-War-General I think he’s a capable director, however I’m not convinced he is the right voice for Silent Hill. I don’t know, my thoughts are complicated. His prior attempt at adapting the property for film was beautifully shot and successfully took me on a nightmarish journey. There was enough intrigue to carry the film along with some very unsettling moments. I could sense a deep respect for the material. What was disappointing was I felt it was hampered by a grab-bag approach to aspects of the games that just didn’t do the I.P justice. With a more direct adaptation of the second game, I’m hoping for a more narratively faithful and focused effort. Then again, though Gans has an incredible artistic vision, I’m not sure he’s suited to the more nuanced story that the second game put forward. I guess we’ll find out!

Watched a really good one today, more of a pure comedy than a horror comedy as billed, but still so much fun - Summoning Sylvia.

Couldn't sleep so got up before my alarm and watched No One Will Save You this morning. A truly excellent two acts followed by a third act that completely flies off the rails and honestly soured my overall experience of this.

Today's watch was Shin Godzilla. Dunno what I would have felt about this if I watched it in 2016, as it is very much rooted in commentary around Japanese bureaucracy. But watching it for the first time in 2024, as someone who lived through the UK Government's disastrous handling of the Pandemic, this film haunted me to my bones. Not like a fun recommendation at all. But one of those really rewarding watches.

some great movies are sonic 2 and theHarry potters (only seen 1-4 tho)

@Pizzamorg How do I keep not watching that movie? I keep saying to myself, "self, I really want to see this movie; get it done" and then it seems to continually slip my mind and I never seem to get around to it. The next opportunity for me to watch a movie (aside from "Smile 2", which I'll be seeing in theatres today) will be tomorrow; so hopefully I'll not forget this time

I saw Venom - The Last Dance last night and while I find the first movie surprisingly enjoyable, this one (like the sequel) just about manages a "meh" for me. The highlight of the series is the relationship between Brock and Venom, but the movies built around them aren't all that interesting, I feel. Additionally, the charm of the original seems to be missing from the sequels. This one did at least have a pretty decent (if somewhat predictable) final battle sequence, something I felt the sequel didn't manage to pull off, so I would rate this slightly higher than the second.

Let me know how Smile 2 is, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the first one.

@Pizzamorg Will post my thoughts here I, too, enjoyed the first one quite a bit, which sets the expectations for this one quite a bit higher than what I had with the original. I read a review that indicated that this one leaned heavily into a darkly humorous tone, which can be good. The reviewer felt it succeeded in that regard, anyway, and concluded that it was a superior sequel (which, of course, raised expectations even further).

@FuriousMachine @Pizzamorg Same here with Smile, really liked what they with stuff like starting a scene updside and it gradually turns the right way up (like a smile).

I'm gonna skip Venom as hated the humour from the first two films, and the rest of it I didn't care much for it either.

Wow, I just managed to give myself the most packed cinema schedule I've ever had! Went online to see if there were any screenings of Anora in the next week and discovered that tickets for "Films From the South" film festival were out, so I added three films to an already relatively impressive schedule.
Over the next three weeks, I'll be seeing nine films on the big screen; starting with Smile 2 today.
Then, on Monday, I'll be attending a double-feature of James Whale's Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. That should be a good one; haven't seen the OG "Frankenstein" in many, many years and I don't think I've ever seen "Bride...". Rounding out that week is the aforementioned Anora on Thursday.

The following week I'll see Terrifier 3 (which reminds me that I need to see the second one some time before that) and Full River Red, the latest movie from Yimou Zhang.

Then, the week after that, I will see two Korean films, The Suspect, a spy action/thriller and Exhuma, which, following a recommendation from @Pizzamorg, I lamented not being available on streaming over here. Guess I'll see it on the big screen instead . Also, that weekend, I'll be watching Gladiator II which, weirdly, is the movie I'm most skeptical about. Hope sir Ridley proves me wrong.

I have to say @FuriousMachine I am extremely jealous of your slate! I think you will really like Bride, especially if you like Frankenstein.

I've watched a few, new films (rather than rewatching old ones) recently.
'Rebel Ridge' on Netflix which I thought was a lot better than many action films of late. A compelling story and far more grounded which made it all the more enjoyable to me. I thought the cast were all great too.
Also on Netflix, I saw Anna Kendrick's directorial debut 'Woman of the Hour'. It's the kind of film I would find hard to say you 'enjoy' but found it a compelling watch and well crafted film. I've noticed a lot of the more interesting films I have watched in the last few years have been based on real events.
Which leads to the most recent watch, 'The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare'. The story always intrigued me but I wasn't sure from the trailer if maybe it looked like it was trying to make it too fun. Plus I wouldn't say I've been a fan of any Guy Ritchie films. I was pleased to discover I really enjoyed it. I'm sure I potentially would have liked a more faithful depiction of actual events but found the tone to work better than I thought it would. Made me think it had potential to tell more follow up films of their exploits. I'm eager to read the book it is adapted from now.