Movie opinions thread (what have you seen, what did you think?)

[DevilRedeemed]

Robocop 2

Robocop may be one of my all time favourite films. The sequel is nasty, a shitty film by all accounts. Partly why I adore it. Ultra violence gone wrong and yet everything that this type of film should be, of it's time and in spite of itself. I've always liked it and I feel it has aged well, through the twists and turns of time it seems coherent today, more so than in the past. Maybe it's the fact that the aesthetics of the early 90s is in vogue again.
It is a great shit film

 

[100proof]

I wouldn't call Robocop 2 a shit film. It's certainly not as good as the original but it's totally acceptable.

Robocop 3, on the other hand... SHIT with like 12 i's.

 

[wyo]

Robocop 2 rules! Very entertaining sequel that turns up the action and absurdity levels to 11 and has lots of memorable scenes. The violinist fundraising guy, Magnavolt, Robocop 2 proto failures, arcade mayhem... Me and my friends were constantly quoting lines from it in high school. It was made in that brief late 80s / early 90s period where coked out movie makers seemed to think the world was going straight to hell in the near future.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Robocop 3, on the other hand... SHIT with like 12 i's.

 

[terry.330]

Robocop 2 is the shit. It's an amazingly entertaining movie and a technical marvel.

It's just not as clever as the first. They try hard to ape Verhoeven but don't quite succeed.

 

[100proof]

Yeah, the prototype Robocops scene is worth the 2 hours of your time by itself.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

I stand by what I say, it is accidentally great. Definetly beautiful in many ways. But it is outsider art, almost autistic. An enjoyable mess which takes itself too seriously, is campy and grotesque. I think having kids be that sociopathic is genius though.

 

[terry.330]

Going Clear- The Scientology documentary from a few years ago. Highly recommended.

There's a shot in this where Tom Cruise goes on stage at an unbelievably elaborate award ceremony in his own honor to receive a medal for being him. In the shot he has to bend over slightly to shake David Miscavage's hand. Tom Cruise is like 5'6", so Miscavage is like 5'2".

 

[Lagduf]

You’re too old to drop a dank meme like that.

 

[LoneSage]

Yeah, the prototype Robocops scene is worth the 2 hours of your time by itself.

As a child, that scene was lighthearted and funny.

As an adult, it makes me wonder - does the cyborg take off its metallic face because it doesn't understand that is what its face is now? Does the cyborg shoot itself in the head out of realization of what it's become?

That warehouse scene was nightmare fuel to my 6 year old self.

 

[SouthtownKid]

You’re too old to drop a dank meme like that.

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeit

 

[SouthtownKid]

Does the cyborg shoot itself in the head out of realization of what it's become?

this one.

 

[NeoSneth]

The Deer King
This one felt like it was checking the boxes, but not bringing much new. Definitely Mononoke influences in this one, but I think that is intended. There is some attempt at world building at the beginning, but it wasn't all that immersive. Characters just show up and your supposed to buy into them 100%. There's an epic story here, but this is one of the few times it may have been better as a mini series. It's crazy to think that since most anime elongates everything 10 fold. I just didn't buy into the world as quickly as similar anime, so it could have just been a poor setting.

The Story is interesting and there are some great characters and moments. It's just not as good as it could be IMO.

B-

 

[terry.330]

Earth Girls are Easy- First of all Gina Davis was fucking hot as hell back in the day. Second this is such a product of it's time, it's unreal. One of the last of and also a great example the truly bizarre stuff that only could have been made in the 80s. I guess you could call it a "Bimbo" comedy like a stoner comedy etc. but it's actually pretty clever, not smart but clever. It's also a fairly well made movie, for as bizarre and goofy as it is it's all pulled off fairly effortlessly. It all looks pretty good, the whole movie looks and feels like a parody of socal hyper 80s, something that we'd see in some sort of synthwave video today. It's definitely a guilty pleasure but I think it's a fun enough movie that it has a pretty broad appeal.

 

[terry.330]

Pearl- I have not seen X yet but as a standalone movie this is excellent. Mia Goth is fantastic and really gets to show her skills in some pretty heavy scenes that would be out of place in most lesser horror movies. I'm a fan of most of Ti West's other work and his smaller, character and atmosphere driven approach really works well here. The simple rural setting, small cast and time period all come together and help elevate the script by keeping the story focused. The movie also looks great, the Technicolor palette and daydream sequences are restrained enough that they blend well while also allowing an effective contrast to the farm and it's daily drudgery.

I have a couple issues with the timeline/setting and some minor pacing nitpicks but honestly the movie as a whole is executed well enough and Goth's performance is so strong that I can't really complain. It's not balls out crazy with huge twists like Barbarian or Malignant so if you're expecting that type of horror look somewhere else. This is a slow(ish) character piece that has more in common with Psycho or Taxi Driver. The ending/credit shot is one of the best things I've seen in years. Anyways highly recommended.

 

[terry.330]

X- Boogie Nights meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre except with creepy old people. Like West's other stuff it's slow but not boring and small but still does a lot with a little. Again don't expect old school grindhouse levels of sleaze and violence, there's still quite a bit of nudity and gore though. While I wasn't totally engaged by the tension building it was still pretty effective and the climax was satisfactory. Mia Goth didn't quite get the chance to shine in this like she did in Pearl and I have a feeling that a lot of people probably weren't even aware that she also played the old lady.

The movie also looked great while remaining restrained, they didn't overdo the late 70s and turn it into a gimmick and instead made more practical use of the movie within a movie style.

I like the two movies being connected but still essentially standing on their own and I hope there is a third. I think Pearl is the more enjoyable of the two but they're so different that that it's not really fair to judge them against each other. I kind of wish I had watched this before Pearl but it didn't really spoil too much overall. I'd also recommend this but be prepared for some seriously uncomfortable old people stuff.

 

[fake]

I saw X in the theater – need to watch Pearl ASAP.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Watched Malignant last night. Heard from someone online that it was good if you go into it not knowing anything about it, which I didn't. Not knowing anything didn't help. Boring, dumb, predictable. It's another movie that wants to have a twist, except that "twist" is so obvious by about 15 minutes in that it ends up being a comedic moment near the end of the movie when you realize they'd meant it to be a surprise.

 

[terry.330]

Watched Malignant last night. Heard from someone online that it was good if you go into it not knowing anything about it, which I didn't. Not knowing anything didn't help. Boring, dumb, predictable. It's another movie that wants to have a twist, except that "twist" is so obvious by about 15 minutes in that it ends up being a comedic moment near the end of the movie when you realize they'd meant it to be a surprise.

Should have went in expecting a comedy, it's a far better movie that way.

 

[100proof]

Should have went in expecting a comedy, it's a far better movie that way.

This. If I had not known what it was going in, I would've thought it was an elaborate prank/hilariously awful. If you expect an 80s exploitation movie, it's the right kind of ridiculous. Like if someone gave Frank Henenlotter a budget.

 

[SouthtownKid]

And the music choices were so weird. An odd score with random cues and source music. Borderline inept. The instrumental/elevator music version of the Pixies' Where Is My Mind was absolutely eye-rolling.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

I'm finishing up watching Robocop 3 and I just wanted to soy that it's awesome














-ly bad. But it was so bad it's good. What a silly film


Edit. I liked it more than the 2014 reboot. That film took itself too seriously

 

[terry.330]

Happy Death Day- Terrible title, great little movie. Groundhog Day meets a slasher, not the most original premise but at least it has a fairly unique spin. I don't think it would be half as enjoyable with a different lead actress, she's fantastic. Not only is she great in the role but it's nice to see a slasher where the lead actually has a character arc. It is a little predictable and it's pretty "girly" but that doesn't really detract too much overall. It's well made, briskly paced and funny. Not a bad way to waste 90 minutes. I just wish it had been R rated, nothing crazy but a bit of gore would have gone a long way.

 

[jro]

Barbarian - this was... that well regarded? C'mon, it's not good. Justin Long tries, very much so, to redeem it, but such a dumb script.

One very good, two really solid, and one Richard Brake (they have their own curve on my scale) performances brought way down by an awful script. How in the living fuck did this review so well? Trash-plus if graded on a curve, i.e. wait til it's free on yo' streaming platform of choice.

 

[terry.330]

Barbarian - Trash-plus

Accurate. I thought it wa enjoyable but so dumb. I think the overwhelmingly positive reviews were mainly because of the drastic shift when Justin Long is introduced which is unexpected but nothing revolutionary. I also suspect there's more than a little bit of #metoo influencing the scores as well. There's also the urban neglect social commentary on top of that. It's a weird and clumsy movie.