Legend
19,984 POSTS & 20,019 LIKES
|
Post by Ness on Sept 30, 2020 22:32:36 GMT
Antebellum: this movie seems like it was 65% finished and they called it a day, Interesting premise with awful execution. 65 is a D I think... passing good enough.
Their thoughts probably.
|
|
God
8,268 POSTS & 6,474 LIKES
|
Post by System on Oct 8, 2020 3:39:35 GMT
Hubie Halloween: I’m an unapologetic Adam Sandler fan but this was a pretty good family movie combined with a lot of fan service casting that has seen all of his movies. Some cringe moments but that was to be expected.
|
|
Legend
10,651 POSTS & 6,014 LIKES
|
Post by nath45 on Oct 8, 2020 11:13:37 GMT
Harley Quinn.. or Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
You know what, not nearly as awful as people would suggest. You really don't need to explain it, Robbie bounces around making witty commentary while things blow up.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years Old
Male
11,332 POSTS & 11,472 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Oct 11, 2020 12:07:36 GMT
The Killer (John Woo, 1989)John Woo is some kind of legend in the action genre, apparently. I'm not sure why. The Killer is the movie equivalent of a Young Bucks match. The bare minimum of chain wrestling to get it going, then meaningless high spot after meaningless high spot until the finish. The Killer has a plot, and it's a good one on paper, but there's zero nuance to the execution. It's so rushed. The dialogue is the bare minimum needed to establish the story. The acting is beyond awful. The action sequences are corny even by 1989 standards. The only thing they are missing is some 1960s Batman style "POW!" "WHAM!" animations. It just throws shit at the wall and barely any of it sticks. There's a moment where the protagonist randomly pulls out a harmonica, like it's fucking Once Upon a Time in the West. Suddenly in one scene he has a moustache, apparently to signal the passing of time or something but it's just stupid. The moustache is gone in the next scene.
The protagonist is the worst hitman ever. In the opening scene heads he is hired to kill one guy and strolls into a busy nightclub all guns blazing, killing everyone in sight. He shoots every human about ten times, with two tiny handguns that can't possibly fit more than six bullets each. He accidentally injures an innocent singer which drives the rest of the plot: the apparently guilty hitman taking one last job to pay for her surgery, but as I said, there is no nuance to this, it's just a flimsy excuse to have stupid shootout sequences.
Simultaneously, he's the best hitman ever. You thought Neo from the Matrix was good at dodging bullets? This guy takes a dump all over Neo's dodging ability. He has a sixth sense that allows him to detect people trying to kill him from any direction, under any cover, and hit them perfectly with one shot while dodging all the other bullets. He's never presented as a guy who is street smart and can detect an ambush coming a mile away from context, he just walks obliviously into ambush after ambush and wins. I know this sounds like every action movie hero ever, but believe me, this guy really takes the cake. He makes your average Schwarzenegger character look like León The Professional.
Despite all that, the acting, if you can call it that, is definitely the worst part of the film. If you were to show me a selection of random clips from this film presented as a parody of bad action movies and bad movies in general, I would have bought it without question. Since 0/10 is a special score reserved for Step Brothers only, this will have to be 1/10.
The film is critically acclaimed and beloved by everyone, which is a complete mystery to me. What am I missing?
|
|
Moderator
USER IS OFFLINE
Years Old
Male
8,867 POSTS & 8,638 LIKES
|
Post by Big Pete on Oct 11, 2020 12:22:41 GMT
I haven't seen The Killer in over a decade but like Die Hard and Woo's earlier film A Better Tomorrow it's credited for making the action film more stylish which would go onto inspire the Tarantino and Rodriguez' of independant cinema and later Hollywood. I also remember something about the bittersweet possibly tragic ending and how that stuck out from the usual action movies of the time where the protaganist is this superhero who can withstand everything and is perfect in every which way. The Killer on the other hand is very grey and the ending is a real kick in the teeth. So a highly influential film that influenced the way action scenes were shot with anti-hero character tropes that wouldn't become popular until years later. A movie that was ahead of it's time and opened the doors for Woo. The Young Bucks comparison is fairly apt. Woo is known for his excess film-making which just expanded on what films like Rambo II had already established. It was a 7/10 from memory.
EDIT: Expanding on the Tarantino point, it was the first time in decades where the action genre became synonomous with auteur cinema. Usually you went to see action movies to see Sly or Arnie, Woo shifted the dynamic.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years Old
Male
11,332 POSTS & 11,472 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Oct 11, 2020 12:48:56 GMT
I also remember something about the bittersweet possibly tragic ending and how that stuck out from the usual action movies of the time where the protaganist is this superhero who can withstand everything and is perfect in every which way. The Killer on the other hand is very grey and the ending is a real kick in the teeth. I didn't get as far as the ending. From a pure action point of view the protagonist was definitely a flawless superhero, at least for the first half of the movie which is as much as I could tolerate. Sure, he did have a semblance of a personality and feelings beyond just being a killer, but these weren't very sophisticated, and impossible to convey properly with such awful acting and dialogue. At least Arnie movies embrace their cheesiness and are fully self-aware, I didn't get that impression with The Killer. Seemed like a film that was trying to be taken seriously while being completely ridiculous. Or maybe I'm missing the point.
|
|
Legend
23,184 POSTS & 12,594 LIKES
|
Post by 🤯 on Oct 11, 2020 12:52:52 GMT
Are Steven Segal movies then closer to Arnie/Sly vehicles or this John Woo disaster?
|
|
Moderator
USER IS OFFLINE
Years Old
Male
8,867 POSTS & 8,638 LIKES
|
Post by Big Pete on Oct 11, 2020 13:04:53 GMT
That sounds about right, highly styalized action with serious moments that give weight to the character beyond cheesy one liners.
His movies are pretty out there, I take it you've never seen Face/Off?
Arnie/Sly but probably more Bruce Lee/Chuck Norris/Jackie Chan/JCVD since he lets his body do the talking.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years Old
Male
11,332 POSTS & 11,472 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Oct 11, 2020 13:16:12 GMT
That sounds about right, highly styalized action with serious moments that give weight to the character beyond cheesy one liners. Barely a step above cheesy one liners. His movies are pretty out there, I take it you've never seen Face/Off? I have seen Face/Off, and I think it's pretty good. Had no idea it was John Woo. Yes, the premise is absurd, but nothing wrong with the execution. I appreciate that The Killer is influential and ahead of its time for the reasons you stated, but to me influence does not make a good movie, nor an entertaining one. It's not well made at all.
|
|
Moderator
USER IS OFFLINE
Years Old
Male
8,867 POSTS & 8,638 LIKES
|
Post by Big Pete on Oct 11, 2020 13:46:41 GMT
That sounds about right, highly styalized action with serious moments that give weight to the character beyond cheesy one liners. Barely a step above cheesy one liners. His movies are pretty out there, I take it you've never seen Face/Off? I have seen Face/Off, and I think it's pretty good. Had no idea it was John Woo. Yes, the premise is absurd, but nothing wrong with the execution. I appreciate that The Killer is influential and ahead of its time for the reasons you stated, but to me influence does not make a good movie, nor an entertaining one. It's not well made at all. Is that because it wasn't a Hollywood production? You've got to remember the Chinese film industry didn't have anywhere near the budget of something like Face/Off so to even choreograph all those shoot outs was an achievement given what they had at their disposal. I also don't think a movie can be influential and poorly made.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years Old
Male
11,332 POSTS & 11,472 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Oct 11, 2020 14:57:32 GMT
It may be an achievement, but doesn't make it a good film.
The way I see it, it was only influential in terms of narrive. Anti-hero, action hero having some depth, the ending. The acting is garbage, the action scenes are crap (although I appear to be in the minority on that), the dialogue is terrible, the narrative is jumpy and hard to follow. Seems poorly made to me.
|
|
God
8,268 POSTS & 6,474 LIKES
|
Post by System on Oct 12, 2020 13:21:41 GMT
The Outpost: fantastic modern warfare film, very highly recommended. One of 2020’s best movies, all 8 of them 😒
|
|
Senior Member
2,866 POSTS & 2,222 LIKES
|
Post by Lionheart on Oct 12, 2020 19:57:36 GMT
Love Is Hard for Otaku
Absolutely horrendous. Nowhere near a Top 100 movie.
The guy is a complete lifeless robot that does not provide any possible form of relatability whatsoever. He is borderline a total asshole weirdo that no one would ever want to be around. Fails to capture the heart of the excellent anime show it is based on in any way. Also, the guy can't sing worth a damn which is terrible news because this is a musical for some reason. This is the movie for you if you want to watch a lifeless, uncharismatic, jerkass robot singing badly. The girl is cute and much closer to the character she is supposed to be. Not that this does much good when the entire story is based around her interaction with the guy who there is zero chemistry with. She also can sing well, but the lyrics are mostly cringey. There's still a song or two that was pretty nice and made it not a total shitfest, but it was one of the toughest movies to get through that I've ever watched.
Officially worse than Dark Phoenix.
Even if you love the anime like I did, do not watch this. The memories will actually ruin part of the good ones from the show because it's so bad.
|
|
Legend
19,984 POSTS & 20,019 LIKES
|
Post by Ness on Oct 12, 2020 20:03:22 GMT
Are anime adaptations ever good? Minus Passion of the Christ.
|
|
Legend
23,184 POSTS & 12,594 LIKES
|
Post by 🤯 on Oct 12, 2020 21:26:32 GMT
Lionheart didn't like it because it was Japanese, not Korean. Dude is racist against anything that's not Korean.
|
|
Legend
19,984 POSTS & 20,019 LIKES
|
Post by Ness on Oct 12, 2020 21:27:35 GMT
Lionheart didn't like it because it was Japanese, not Korean. Dude is racist against anything that's not Korean.
|
|
Moderator
USER IS OFFLINE
Years Old
Male
8,867 POSTS & 8,638 LIKES
|
Post by Big Pete on Oct 13, 2020 10:13:47 GMT
Are anime adaptations ever good? Minus Passion of the Christ. Have you not seen Alita?
Apparently it's an alt-right propaganda film.
|
|
Legend
19,984 POSTS & 20,019 LIKES
|
Post by Ness on Oct 13, 2020 11:23:46 GMT
Are anime adaptations ever good? Minus Passion of the Christ. Have you not seen Alita?
Apparently it's an alt-right propaganda film.
No but I should it's got Waltz in it.
|
|
God
8,268 POSTS & 6,474 LIKES
|
Post by System on Oct 14, 2020 2:44:01 GMT
Are anime adaptations ever good? Minus Passion of the Christ. Have you not seen Alita?
Apparently it's an alt-right propaganda film.
I’ve seen it and... please explain?
|
|
Moderator
USER IS OFFLINE
Years Old
Male
8,867 POSTS & 8,638 LIKES
|
Post by Big Pete on Oct 14, 2020 3:48:15 GMT
Have you not seen Alita?
Apparently it's an alt-right propaganda film.
I’ve seen it and... please explain? I was hoping you'd know more. :lol:
The basic gist is that once Alita hit streaming services it became a cult hit which baffled movie critics. Instead of considering that Alita was a passion project that had undergone considerable production to make it to the big screen, critics believed fans only liked it to spite Captain Marvel. This is why there was a divide between their lowly opinions of the movie and the general concensus.
I came across this when I was trying to figure out why nobody liked it, especially since Christoph Waltz and Mahershala Ali starred in it.
|
|
Legend
10,651 POSTS & 6,014 LIKES
|
Post by nath45 on Oct 14, 2020 3:52:49 GMT
So, once again, the critics were wrong.
|
|
God
8,268 POSTS & 6,474 LIKES
|
Post by System on Oct 14, 2020 5:01:46 GMT
I’ve seen it and... please explain? I was hoping you'd know more. :lol:
The basic gist is that once Alita hit streaming services it became a cult hit which baffled movie critics. Instead of considering that Alita was a passion project that had undergone considerable production to make it to the big screen, critics believed fans only liked it to spite Captain Marvel. This is why there was a divide between their lowly opinions of the movie and the general concensus.
I came across this when I was trying to figure out why nobody liked it, especially since Christoph Waltz and Mahershala Ali starred in it.
I thought it was ok at best, the manga has a huge following. But I suppose anime = reddit edgelords so I can see how they tried to string tsome BS together.
|
|
God
8,268 POSTS & 6,474 LIKES
|
Post by System on Oct 15, 2020 19:54:39 GMT
Irresistible: This was was hilarious and a breath of fresh air for political movies as it isn’t just ___ bad on either side, which I was expecting as soon as I saw Jon Stewart’s name pop up as the director. Incredibly funny as well, Steve Carell and Rose Byrne are also great in this.
|
|
Legend
IS OFFLINE
Years Old
Undisputed 2020 Poster of the Year
33,663 POSTS & 10,427 LIKES
|
Post by c on Oct 15, 2020 19:59:32 GMT
I do not get the love for the Killer either. A Better Tomorrow was a far better film in the same style.
|
|
Senior Member
3,249 POSTS & 3,380 LIKES
|
Post by Gyro LC on Oct 15, 2020 22:48:07 GMT
Are anime adaptations ever good? Minus Passion of the Christ. I hope it was like Tenchi Muyo. Please let it be like Tenchi Muyo.
|
|
Moderator
USER IS OFFLINE
Years Old
Male
8,867 POSTS & 8,638 LIKES
|
Post by Big Pete on Oct 16, 2020 17:30:34 GMT
The Lady In White (1988)
Happy Halloween.
I decided to go back and check out a childhood classic, The Lady In White. It's one of those movies that hardly anyone talks about but it's a really solid deep cut. It's directed, produced, scored and written by Frank LaLoggia who only directed three movies, one of which came out straight to video. So he didn't have a stellar career, but his passion shows for the movie and the whole movie seems loosely based on his childhood. The main character is also called Frank, he's around LaLaggia's age and they make a huge deal out of his Italian heritage. It helps the movie because this feels like a home movie in places and characters act like human beings instead of cliche riddled characters.
The movie stars child actor Lukas Haas who is most famous for his role in the Witness, but has appeared in a ton of movies since like Mars Attacks, Inception, Widows and Brick largely in smaller roles. He's pretty good here as this kooky kid with an over-active imagination. He's the type of kid you could see as an easy target for bullies, but he's not dislikeable or too much of a pushover he just seems like a regular kid.
The main plot of the film is that on Halloween, Frankie gets locked in the classroom closet after school and he misses out on Trick or Treatin. After having a bittersweet dream about his dead mother, he wakes up to find this young ghostly girl talking to somebody. It seems really sweet and innocent then it takes a ghastly turn as we see the young girl brutally murdered. Just as the scene ends, a hooded figure barges through the door looking for something but they find Frankie and proceed to choke him out. Frankie has a near-death dream where he talks to the ghostly girl who asks him to help her reunite with her mother.
The plot goes from there with Frankie finding more clues about the girl, the murder, the mother and essentially this is what happened. Spoiler warning because you should all go and see this film...
The young girl was Melissa Montgomery the first victim of Widows Peak where 11 kids were thrown to their deaths. The Peak is haunted by the Lady In White who turns out be Anne Montgomery, Melissa's mother who had a house on the peak and couldn't save her daughter. She dived off the cliff but couldn't save her daughter and every night they relive the horror. The murderer turns out to be the best friend of Frankie's father who is like an uncle to him. Frankie's older brother is the first to piece it together, but Frankie figures it out for himself when Phillip (the father's best friend) outs himself by humming the song Melissa references each night. Phillip tries to tie up the loose end but they end up near Widow's Peak and in the real big twist of the movie, the Lady In White is still alive.
Well sort of, the woman that everyone mistook as the lady in white was Anne's sister who lives as a recluse unable to come to terms with what happened to her sister or niece. She lives just long enough to explain that to Frankie before she's killed off by Phil who attempts to throw Frankie off the side of the cliff. Naturally the Lady In White makes her nightly visit and spooks Phillip giving Frankie's family enough time to save the day. Then the movie ends on a bittersweet note with Frankie's father desperately trying to save Phil, but Phil succumbs to his fate unable to live with himself after being caught. However Melissa and Anne are reunited, finally she has avenged her daughter's death and the two disappear into the afterlife.
I should make mention that the green screen is awful in this. Film techniques hadn't quite caught up yet so when they're battling on the edge of a cliff it really looks like the end of Rear Window which doesn't hold up at all. It was the one serious flaw I had.
The other is that the movie does feel rushed in places. Characters are conveniently where they need to be at all times and the movie skips along at a frantic pace. Supposedly 30 minutes were cut from the film which makes sense and supposedly there's a director's cut out there that I'm actually curious to see.
I did forget to mention the sub-plot where the police believe the African American janitor did it since he was found at the scene drunk and had links to all the other kids. It feels like something that would have been hamfisted into a remake right now, but it actually existed back then with really blatant cops. "Ah he's black, nobody would care if we pin it all on him!" In the end he's exonerated on insufficient evidence but one of the grieving mothers shoots him dead after the trial. Again, it feels a little heavy handed especially for a lighter horror film, but I guess they wanted to give the case some weight and just how it impacted the community.
Has anyone else seen it? It reminds me of something that Stranger Things would have drawn inspiration from, especially in terms of the town and the characters. It's a surprisingly solid movie and if you're looking for something that's atmospheric but wholesome like a good Wonder Years episode it's an enjoyable movie to watch.
|
|
God
5,999 POSTS & 4,337 LIKES
|
Post by mikec on Oct 18, 2020 5:33:07 GMT
Watched the new Aaron Sorkin movie, The Trial of the Chicago 7 tonight on Netflix. I still think Sorkin should collaborate with top notch directors as he did For the trio of terrific movies prior to the dud Molly’s Game (which has a few highlights like the opening scene but isn’t good), but this is still a significant improvement. Originally it was going to be a star studded Spielberg picture, but the actors are still very good and the movie feels very timely with the riots around the country and frequent altercations with aggressive police forces.
Not as good as Social Network, but comfortably in the company of Moneyball and Steve Jobs for quality of script, performances, etc. Terrific.
|
|
Legend
19,984 POSTS & 20,019 LIKES
|
Post by Ness on Oct 19, 2020 0:03:41 GMT
Watch the original Nightmare on Elm Street. Saw it once, maybe about 10 years. Don't remember anything and I want to go through the series like I did Halloween. Maybe have to rethink that Sidney > Nancy comment I made.
|
|
Administrator
USER IS OFFLINE
Years Old
Male
12,899 POSTS & 8,444 LIKES
|
Post by @admin on Oct 19, 2020 0:21:33 GMT
Watched the new Aaron Sorkin movie, The Trial of the Chicago 7 tonight on Netflix. I still think Sorkin should collaborate with top notch directors as he did For the trio of terrific movies prior to the dud Molly’s Game (which has a few highlights like the opening scene but isn’t good), but this is still a significant improvement. Originally it was going to be a star studded Spielberg picture, but the actors are still very good and the movie feels very timely with the riots around the country and frequent altercations with aggressive police forces. Not as good as Social Network, but comfortably in the company of Moneyball and Steve Jobs for quality of script, performances, etc. Terrific. I really enjoyed this too, and interesting that I also really didn't like Molly's Game even though I had a few people recommend it to me and it's highly rated. You definitely have to be in the right mood to pay attention to a Sorkin movie but they're pretty rewarding. The only thing that really threw me off was SBC's accent - did Abbie Hoffman really talk like that? Didn't know anything about this story before hand but you're right - very relevant today and probably a blessing in disguise it was delayed for as long as it was.
|
|
Junior Member
1,964 POSTS & 1,372 LIKES
|
Post by Jake on Oct 19, 2020 11:29:04 GMT
It's nice to have a bit nostalgia I think, so I decided to watch "The Breakfast Club" recently.
Always loved this film and it still stands up to this day for me.
|
|