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

[terry.330]

Neil Breen while editing this:

 

[LoneSage]

Hacksaw Ridge was based on a person, Desmond T. Doss, from my hometown. We have an expressway named after him.

 

[lithy]

Hacksaw Ridge was based on a person, Desmond T. Doss, from my hometown. We have an expressway named after him.

They should have renamed the town for him.

 

[LoneSage]

Yeah. Yeah, I know.

 

[SouthtownKid]

I thought I would hate this one but ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Andrew Garfield is actually pretty good in the right roles. This, Under the Silver Lake and Silence prove that he's not just the that guy from the Facebook movie or the worst Spiderman.

I liked Under the Silver Lake a lot, in which he plays an actual creep, but somehow found Garfield even creepier in Hacksaw Ridge. I feel like I would have enjoyed the movie more with anyone else in the role. Was the real life person meant to be mentally diminished? Because the way Andrew Garfield played him, he came off as a borderline Forrest Gump combined with Gomer Pyle.

 

[terry.330]

Was the real life person meant to be mentally diminished? Because the way Andrew Garfield played him, he came off as a borderline Forrest Gump combined with Gomer Pyle.

Yes. I saw a short doc about him and the movie and they all but said that he was Forrest Gump level slow. It was more than heavily implied.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Yes. I saw a short doc about him and the movie and they all but said that he was Forrest Gump level slow. It was more than heavily implied.

Ah, well that helps the movie a lot. Although it's probably a lot easier to convince a dim person to go do something brave and stupid.

 

[terry.330]

Deep Red- Argento in his prime. I watched the Italian cut which is about 20 minutes longer than the international version. First time watching this version and I can see why it was edited for international audiences. There's a lot of stuff that's quite frankly just too Italian. While I appreciate this version it feels bloated and messy, the other cut is much tighter and honestly more effective as a thriller/horror piece. Either way both cuts are good and the movie is a must watch if you're into Giallo or just cinema in general.

I got the Arrow Video 4k set and it looks amazing. It may not be as stylish as Suspiria or Inferno but it's a gorgeous movie, even the bland or annoying dialogue scenes are shot beautifully. Arrow really did a great job with this set, this is the kind of release that gives Criterion a run for their money.

 

[NeoSneth]

Pinocchio 2022
Absolutely beautiful animation. I like the minimal use of special effects. I'm glad someone is keeping this art style alive, and it works extremely well for this story. It truly hits all audiences, children through adults. There's probably a lot of opinions on the WWII aspects, but I'll just add that it works well. The only part that is kind of grating is Pinocchio can be very annoying at times, but I also hate kids in real life ... so I guess it's very accurate.

Another interesting plus is that typically I can't stand musicals, but this kid's voice is angelic. I guess while I'm on the voices, the voice casting is perfect.

Good movie. Go watch it.

 

[Syn]

I got the Arrow Video 4k set and it looks amazing. It may not be as stylish as Suspiria or Inferno but it's a gorgeous movie, even the bland or annoying dialogue scenes are shot beautifully. Arrow really did a great job with this set, this is the kind of release that gives Criterion a run for their money.

Arrow is pretty badass. I have a blu-ray of The Burning and it includes a second disc full of extras.

For the kid in me I bought Arrow's Gamera the Showa Years and I'm looking forward to what the set includes. Off Amazon even though it's the wrong region.

 

[terry.330]

Arrow is pretty badass. I have a blu-ray of The Burning and it includes a second disc full of extras.

For the kid in me I bought Arrow's Gamera the Showa Years and I'm looking forward to what the set includes. Off Amazon even though it's the wrong region.

Yeah I have several of their releases and they've all been great. I think most of them are region free as well which is nice as some of their stuff doesn't get released in the US since they have to share the rights. It also tends to have better cover art. Their release for The Burning in the UK uses the Mondo poster art which shits on the US Scream Factory art.

 

[SouthtownKid]

First time watching this version and I can see why it was edited for international audiences. There's a lot of stuff that's quite frankly just too Italian.

haha I know what you mean. But I'd still rather watch a movie that's too Italian than one that's too French.

 

[Syn]

Barbarian

Too long for what it is. Shortened as part of some anthology, it could work.

 

[terry.330]

All the Colors of the Dark- Totally unique sycho-sexual thriller from 1972 directed by Sergio Martino. A woman suffers a mental breakdown after a miscarriage which leads her into a kaleidoscopic psychedelia tinged nightmare of paranoia, sex and the occult. Truly one of the most extreme psychological thrillers of the time, this movie is like nothing else. The closest thing I can compare this to is some of Ken Russell's stuff. I'm not even going to try and explain it, just watch the clip below to get an idea. It's not all just shock, nudity and weirdness either, it's a genuinely good movie. Now I need to go find more movies starring Edwige Fenech, she's absolutely incredible. Highly recommended to anyone looking for something artistic and more than a bit out there.

 

[100proof]

It looks like Avatar 2 was the world's first $440 million box office opening weekend failure.

 

[roker]

I watched the documentary Meet Me in the Bathroom about the early 2000s indie scene in NYC and it was pretty good. Not great but a lot of footage of the Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, and LCD Soundsystem from their early days. I felt weirdly nostaglic about it even though I moved to NYC as the scene was winding down. Seeing Karen O's early performances was probably the highlight. Carlos D was cringy in it just as I expected. The Strokes were just blitzed out of their minds 24/7. Love James Murphy but it just confirms that he was just a big music nerd who got tired of being a DJ/producing and decided to do his own thing. It's worth a watch if you like any of these bands.

 

[jro]

I re-watched The Mist for the first time in while the other day. The CG is dated, but the rest of the movie holds up pretty well. Tight script, good pacing, good acting across the board. I had forgotten how good Darabont was at adapting existing material but still putting his own feel on it.

 

[LoneSage]

It looks like Avatar 2 was the world's first $440 million box office opening weekend failure.

Movie theaters are all but dead here for the past three years. Avatar 2 isn't coming out in China, which is a massive blow. Post-covid there haven't been many Hollywood movies coming here at all. I just checked the theater close to me and there are a whopping two movies total showing in the whole theater.

For all of you, what is the general feeling of going to the movie theater nowadays?

Does anyone else feel the heyday of movie theaters is over? Movies will always be a popular form of entertainment but with so many factors - early/same day release on streaming, piracy, and a feeling of not wanting to leave home - it looks to me like going to the movies is not what it once was.

Sometimes I think how freaking lucky Marvel was to release Endgame in 2019.

 

[fake]

Movie theaters are all but dead here for the past three years. Avatar 2 isn't coming out in China, which is a massive blow. Post-covid there haven't been many Hollywood movies coming here at all. I just checked the theater close to me and there are a whopping two movies total showing in the whole theater.

For all of you, what is the general feeling of going to the movie theater nowadays?

Does anyone else feel the heyday of movie theaters is over? Movies will always be a popular form of entertainment but with so many factors - early/same day release on streaming, piracy, and a feeling of not wanting to leave home - it looks to me like going to the movies is not what it once was.

Sometimes I think how freaking lucky Marvel was to release Endgame in 2019.

I don't want it to be over, but it probably is for the most part. IMO, covid is only part of the equation. Theaters were far too late – like a decade too late – in changing things up and installing comfy recliners instead of airline seats. They needed to offer something that was better than what you had at home, and once Netflix and bigass LED TVs came out, going to the movies was worse than staying in.

 

[famicommander]

Box office isn't really slowing down
Top Gun 2: 1.5B
Jurassic Park...6 I think? 1.0B
Doctor Strange 2 960M
Minions 940M
Black Panther 2 790M and counting
The Batman 771M
Thor 4 760M

 

[terry.330]

Box office isn't really slowing down
Top Gun 2: 1.5B
Jurassic Park...6 I think? 1.0B
Doctor Strange 2 960M
Minions 940M
Black Panther 2 790M and counting
The Batman 771M
Thor 4 760M

That's the problem right there though. Those are the only movies most people are going to see. The big theaters are pretty much just Disney or equivalent junk now.

I can't even remember the last time I went to a normal theater and I have very little interest in going again anytime soon. Every time I go I'm just reminded of how horrible the general public is. I don't think big theaters are going to disappear anything soon though, they're just going to only show very specific types of movies. People will always enjoy going out and being mindlessly entertained for a couple hours.

But I think there's a lot of people like myself that have no real reason to go anymore. Just look at the list fami posted, Top Gun and Batman are the best things on there and neither of those made me consider going to a theater for a single second. I would much rather wait till they're streaming for $5 or on some service I have and most people I know feel the same. There's definitely truth to nice big TVs and ease of streaming eliminating the urge to go out for an "experience".

If I really want to go see something it's going to be stuff like Licorice Pizza, Everything Everywhere... etc. and it's going to be at an indie theater.

 

[terry.330]

Savage Beach- A pair of busty, scantily clad, blonde special agents of some sort who own a plane(?) crash land on a remote island where two rival groups of bad guys are searching for a fortune in buried gold lost during WWII.

This is an Andy Sedaris movie which means all of the women are played by Playmates, Penthouse Pets and porn stars from the late 80s and early 90s. It takes place in Hawaii. There are lots of guns, ninja weapons, fancy off road vehicles, planes, boats and cars. All of the women get naked. A lot. They skinny dip, change outfits for no reason, go hot tubbing, screw and sometimes just stand around naked and have pointless conversations.

All of his movies are the same and they are all terrible. Not for lack of trying, there's production value, action, great scenery and tons of nudity. It's just that most of them are boring and frankly casting porn stars as your main characters doesn't work when you want them to be semi competent action heroes that just happen to be centerfold babes. Still they're usually ridiculous enough to be fun. Also between the titties, beaches and action stuff there's usually something worth looking at. But man are the dialogue and comedy scenes tough to get through.

If you want a good one from him check out Hard Ticket to Hawaii. It's got everything above plus a giant rubber snake and a rocket launcher. It's good bad.

 

[HornheaDD]

Never saw Savage Beach, but I'll check it out.

I really like Hard Ticket to Hawaii, specifically because of the rubber snake. I remember I saw a clip of the movie somewhere on a show, like Hot Package, or maybe a Tim and Eric thing. I had to find out what the movie was because the clips they played in the show were hilarious and perfect examples of 80s/early 90s low budget schlock action movies.

 

[terry.330]

Sonic the Hedgehog- I had heard from multiple people that this actually a good movie (you know for a video game movie) and while it's fine for children I couldn't get through it. It's pretty much exactly what I thought it was going to be. Loud and annoying. The incessant talking is what really got me. I guess it's about as good an adaptation as could be expected all things considered. Jim Carrey completely let off the chain was also wayyyy too much.

 

[Lagduf]

On the subject of bad films I've been watching some of Liam Neeson's old man action movies. Oh boy. You guys see then where he plays a hitman who is in the onset stages of Alzheimers? He has to do the hit before he forgets! (ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration but...it's not that far off.)

Not sure why I'm doing this to myself.

I watched Scrooged last night. Great Christmas flick. I forgot Bobcat Goldthwait was in it lol. Karen Allen tho