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

[Average Joe]

Resident Evil: Extinction

Milla Jovovich sets a bunch of zombie crows on fire with her mind.

There is a lot to unpack in this movie as the insanity gets cranked to 11. So the world (or just the US... not sure as I faded in and out a lot) somehow got turned into a giant desert in the course of a few years due to zombies(?). Umbrella is still being evil despite the world being in shambles and they've cloned Alice (who is now X-Men level psychic) for the purpose of a plot point I either missed or just isn't there and it doesn't matter which.

Almost the entire film takes place in the bright light of day, which unless you're Ari Aster is a weird choice for a horror film. Once again, there are almost no memorable characters and for some reason Jill is missing and is replaced with Claire who doesn't do anything cool at all. It does have a bit of a pulp/B-movie feel to it in a good way and the action is fine along with some surprisingly decent zombie make-up. They shove the Tyrant in at the end, but don't bother to make him super tall or physically-imposing, so it ends up being rather lame to look at.

Overall, it was mildly entertaining if not for the sole reason of discovering just how fucking dumb and insane these films are.

 

[Syn]

Blue Beetle

I'm not familiar with the character since he wasn't around when I was buying comics so it was all new. There wasn't enough action with all the family back story and the story itself was meh. It isn't bad, just nothing stands out.

 

[fake]

Carnival of Souls
Pretty slow and not very scary, but still worth a watch. It seems pretty influenced by cinema fantastique. I think the production (They used an abandoned carnival for a set and had pretty much no budget.) is a bit more interesting that the movie itself.

Perfect
Amazing. Made during the aerobics craze, it's based on a Rolling Stone article about how health clubs were the new singles bars. Lots of montages of Jamie Lee Curtis having sex with the air. So much spandex.

 

[Average Joe]

Lots of montages of Jamie Lee Curtis having sex with the air. So much spandex.

SOLD

 

[Burning Fight!!]

Resident Evil: Extinction

Milla Jovovich sets a bunch of zombie crows on fire with her mind.

There is a lot to unpack in this movie as the insanity gets cranked to 11. So the world (or just the US... not sure as I faded in and out a lot) somehow got turned into a giant desert in the course of a few years due to zombies(?). Umbrella is still being evil despite the world being in shambles and they've cloned Alice (who is now X-Men level psychic) for the purpose of a plot point I either missed or just isn't there and it doesn't matter which.

Almost the entire film takes place in the bright light of day, which unless you're Ari Aster is a weird choice for a horror film. Once again, there are almost no memorable characters and for some reason Jill is missing and is replaced with Claire who doesn't do anything cool at all. It does have a bit of a pulp/B-movie feel to it in a good way and the action is fine along with some surprisingly decent zombie make-up. They shove the Tyrant in at the end, but don't bother to make him super tall or physically-imposing, so it ends up being rather lame to look at.

Overall, it was mildly entertaining if not for the sole reason of discovering just how fucking dumb and insane these films are.

everytime someone mentions this shitty movie series this is all that comes to mind:

can't believe I legitimately liked the first movie at some point. I often wonder if Milla has some dirt on Paul W. S. Anderson or if she's that good of a lay.

 

[Average Joe]

everytime someone mentions this shitty movie series this is all that comes to mind:

can't believe I legitimately liked the first movie at some point. I often wonder if Milla has some dirt on Paul W. S. Anderson or if she's that good of a lay.

Milla is married to Paul and they have something like five or six kids together.

Rich Evans' laugh is the Siren song that would lure me to my death in the briny seas.

 

[terry.330]

can't believe I legitimately liked the first movie at some point. I often wonder if Milla has some dirt on Paul W. S. Anderson or if she's that good of a lay.

Those horrible movies have kept them both steadily employed and living comfortably for 20 years. I do wish she'd have done some other stuff and not made the RE series essentially her entire career. Oh well can't fault her for it. Though her husband is a lazy hack of the highest order.

 

[pixeljunkie]

Those horrible movies have kept them both steadily employed and living comfortably for 20 years. I do wish she'd have done some other stuff and not made the RE series essentially her entire career. Oh well can't fault her for it. Though her husband is a lazy hack of the highest order.

Die Hard 2 is all I can handle from him. Nevermind, that's Renny Harlin - statement stands though lol

Weed gummies making Gina Davis husband mix up

 

[terry.330]

Die Hard 2 is all I can handle from him.

That's Renny Harlan, Gina Davis' husband. He actually used to be kind of awesome.

The only halfway decent thing Paul WS Anderson ever did was Event Horizon.

Edit: haha

 

[pixeljunkie]

That's Renny Harlan, Gina Davis' husband. He actually used to be kind of awesome.

The only halfway decent thing Paul WS Anderson ever did was Event Horizon.

Edit: haha

Yeah, took me 2 seconds before I facepalmed powerful hard on that one.

 

[Average Joe]

That's Renny Harlan, Gina Davis' husband. He actually used to be kind of awesome.

The only halfway decent thing Paul WS Anderson ever did was Event Horizon.

Edit: haha

I love Event Horizon.

The more I watch it the more I dig it.

Such a shame all that great uncut gore is lost forever as it was supposedly quite a lot.

 

[terry.330]

I like EH but I'd like it a lot more if it had better characters. I like the sets and general vibe but everything else is pretty sloppy.

 

[Average Joe]

I like EH but I'd like it a lot more if it had better characters. I like the sets and general vibe but everything else is pretty sloppy.

Going to text you to tell you to shut the fuck up... gimme a sec.

 

[100proof]

Yeah., he's far from alone.

We've probably been over this before but Event Horizon is yet another thing that the internet beat to death which went from being somewhat underrated to becoming very much overrated. It's a fun little ghost house movie with a solid cast with a couple of notable exceptions (Laurence Fishburne in particular is great) but it's schlocky and kind of a mess... plus all of the best parts of it are ripped cleanly and pretty brazenly off of other, better movies.

It's certainly possible there is an edit including all of the cut footage that could have made for a good movie but considering it's Milla's husband, my confidence isn't very high. Mind you, I'm not saying it sucks... only that it's held up as some kind of classic of horror these days which I find baffling. Wondering if it's one of those movies that was played on a loop on some channel during the 00s so kids of a certain age were all exposed to it.

 

[Hattori Hanzo]

I highly doubt you haven't seen Dancer in the Dark yet. It's actually like a Björk song: pretty weird and pretty sad. No matter what you think of Björk, watch it if you haven't.

The other one is Deathmaker (Der Totmacher)

Chamber play based on Fritz Haarmann's transcriptions from 1924. Worth it for Götz George's outstanding acting alone. Probably his best acting in his whole career.

I just rewatched them and it's been ages since my first watch, but both are worth recommending. You certainly won't forget them after a week. Wonder if Deathmaker is even available in the US.

 

[famicommander]

Rob Reiner is making a Spinal Tap sequel with the original cast plus Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Garth Brooks.

Comedy sequels are very rarely good so this will probably suck but we'll see I guess

 

[LoneSage]

@terry.330 Review request for both 90s Brady Bunch movies

 

[terry.330]

I have zero interest in watching those but I remember them being kind of fun for what they were.

The Funhouse- First time watching this one. It was alright, not exactly what I expected. I thought it was going to be a little more hokey and fun but it's a pretty nasty and grim movie. I mean I know it's Tobe Hooper but I was expecting more along the lines of Salem's Lot than TCM. It's super dated too which definitely adds to the creepiness, that late 70s carnival setting lends itself to some pretty icky stuff.

 

[Average Joe]

I have zero interest in watching those but I remember them being kind of fun for what they were.

The Funhouse- First time watching this one. It was alright, not exactly what I expected. I thought it was going to be a little more hokey and fun but it's a pretty nasty and grim movie. I mean I know it's Tobe Hooper but I was expecting more along the lines of Salem's Lot than TCM. It's super dated too which definitely adds to the creepiness, that late 70s carnival setting lends itself to some pretty icky stuff.

I like that one almost solely for the carnival setting since the only thing more gross than a carnival is a 70s carnival.

 

[Average Joe]

Resident Evil Afterlife:

So I guess Mr. Anderson was too good for the plotline filled with a telekinetic Alice clone army because they got that shit out of the movie ASAP and the film is worse for it as that dumb shit was fun.

I think they tried to make characters feel like actual people for a change, but it still didn't really work. They did make Claire have a purpose and she kicked some ass, so that was cool. Chris on the other hand talked with an affected voice the entire time and tried very hard to be as badass as possible and it failed very hard.

Ending scene on the boat/scientific research facility was actually pretty damn interesting visually, so I give it credit on that and for getting appropriately goofy for the finale.

I think these films are starting to break my brain a bit as I find myself enjoying them on a continuous basis now.

Random information: I did some numbers digging and it turns out that these films had a combined box office total of 1.2 billion on only a combined 313 million production cost (not sure if that included marketing.) So as weird and terrible as these are, it's obvious people out there ate them up.

 

[terry.330]

Midsommar- I think I prefer Hereditary to this one just a little. Honestly my favorite thing about this is how authentically it conveys the visual and psychological effects of psychedelics. The movie uses that to great effect, from the first time they do shrooms the movie is infused with the sort of uneasy feeling like a bad or extremely strong trip coming on. The anxiety and existential dread is heavy. Coupled with the way the movie is shot and the color palette it's a very surreal experience. I have issues with the plot but I like the feel and look of the movie enough that I can look past them. Definitely one of the best modern folk horror pieces.

 

[Hattori Hanzo]

The visuals are better than the plot. A surreal trip about toxic relationships.

 

[100proof]

Agreed on all accounts. It doesn't have a particularly interesting or coherent narrative (a lot of the characters are frustratingly one-note) but the visual storytelling is masterful. That opening scene, all of the little hints dropped at the beginning of the movie, the paintings, the primal screaming, the psychedelic stuff. I do think the way people view the back third of that movie is telling.

 

[fake]

FWIW Ari Aster wrote and directed Hereditary. I don't think he knew it was going to be a hit, so he agreed to direct Midsommar, which was written by some other team, which kind of explains the disconnect.

F for Fake
A semi-documentary with a funny story and wild editing. It's super entertaining, but don't expect the life story of the subject, or even a linear story of his rise and fall. Orson Wells is hypnotic.

 

[terry.330]

Alan Quartermaine and the Lost City of Gold- A slight step up from King Solomon but not much. It's still Canon which means it's still cheap and dumb as fuck. Kind of surprised to see James Earl Jones in this but he was doing some weird stuff in the 80s. Sharon Stone is honestly the best thing in both of these movies, she brings a lot of energy and genuinely looks like she's having fun.