What was the last movie you've seen?

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Ack
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Ack »

Hey now, Terry Crews would make an amazing president.
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by samsonlonghair »

What could possibly go wrong?
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Kuruwin
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Kuruwin »

Babadook

I commend the film for it's more subtle aspects but this movie was ruined for me because two things. Some do find Babadooks design scary but to me it was tension killer. The second thing is that even though what happens during the last twenty minutes is horrible most of it comes off as goofy and i almost chuckled one or two times during the finale.

From Beyond

The practical effects were for the most part fantastic but otherwise this was completely forgettable film. It's not bad per se, but not much happens in it and the effects weren't enough to save it.
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by prfsnl_gmr »

Shaolin vs. Lama - I read an article where the RZA recommended this Kung Fu classic. I am a fan of 1970s grindhouse Kung Fu films, and it definitely did not disappoint. It is available for streaming almost everywhere, and it did not disappoint.
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

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6/10
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Ack
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Ack »

I've heard it praised as "better than Batman vs Superman" which...isn't exactly high praise.
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by MrPopo »

Ack wrote:I've heard it praised as "better than Batman vs Superman" which...isn't exactly high praise.

I've see "I'm done with DC movies until Wonder Woman 2".
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by noiseredux »

I'm going to see it Monday. I'll let y'all know what I think. I'm less curmudgeonly than most critics I think.
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

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Saw Justice League. Will share thoughts soon. Work is busy at the moment.
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

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Ok, finally got a little time.

Justice League

Where to begin? I know, character breakdowns.

Batman is played as aging and tired, a man who has to lead but knows he's no good at it. Affleck's Batman even has a moment of acknowledgement that Superman was more human than he is.

Wonder Woman is coming out of the shadows and finding her place as an icon in a post-Superman world. Gal Gadot portrays her as strong and capable, but wary and unsure in her leadership. Still, Batman recognizes her natural charisma and talent and grooms her to become the leader he is not.

Aquaman is brash, tough, self-centered, and spoiling for a good fight. Jason Momoa plays him as overly confident, though in one of the movie's funnier scenes, he unwittingly sits on the lasso of truth and has a moment of genuine reflection. He then threatens to introduce the Flash to every piranha he knows if he ever speaks of what happened. I generally don't care for the character, but I liked Momoa's version.

The Flash is young, inexperienced, innocent, both sarcastic and just happy to be here. Ezra Miller cracks jokes continuously, and there are recurring elements such as a terrible sense of direction and tripping over things due to his inexperience. If anything, this is what sells the movie for me and breaks it from previous DC films, which have been overly dark and serious. Perhaps the DC brooding ends here?

Cyborg is a walking deus ex machina, and the character I have the most problems with. Not because Ray Fisher does a bad job, but because the CG for Cyborg looks terrible, and he's basically used as "reveal next plot point" throughout the film.

The movie is better than Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad...infinitely so. For one, it's coherently put together. That doesn't mean there is much meat to the plot, and the constant CG makes things look cartoonish at times. Also, just like Marvel, DC seems incapable of writing a decent villain. But for what it is worth, this film is still an improvement over most of DC's previous entries in this series and a step in the right direction. It's still not up there with Marvel's best, it's still too dark, there's still a ton of brooding. But a much more lighthearted character is starting to tease its way in thanks to The Flash, so maybe we'll end up somewhere good.

Oh, and then there's some other stuff that happens...which I will spoiler, because this gives away pretty much everything, so don't read if you don't want the movie ruined.
First off, Superman comes back to life...though at least it appears to have some stakes to it. Flash makes Pet Sematary jokes about it at least.
And then it is promptly shown that the rest of the Justice League cannot in fact take Superman. In perhaps my favorite scene of the film, Supes holds off Wonder Woman and Aquaman while Cyborg fails to move him...and then Superman turns his head and looks at Flash as he runs up, and Flash realizes he can move just as fast and basically gets an "oh shit" look on his face that made it worth it. A post-credit scene has Flash and Superman decide to race to the Pacific coast to see who is faster.

Unfortunately, Supes is so powerful that when he does show up for the final battle, he pretty much wins it on his own. Why do we need a Justice League again?

Steppenwolf is pure CG and looks like a cartoon character...but I'm glad he ended up the villain, and not Darkseid. Darkseid is teased but never appears. Thank goodness, as that would have completely blown the wad of the entire DC universe, because we've already lost Doomsday, so who else besides Darkseid is left to showcase?

A Lantern shows up in a flashback, which means we may get a decent Green Lantern in a future film. I hope so.

Oh, and the true post credits scene is Deathstroke meeting Lex Luthor and decided to form the Legion of Doom! But who will play Toymaster? Questions abound!


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As for other films I've been watching recently, I checked out the first three Zatoichi films. For me, the beginning of the series is low budget and a bit rough; blind fight choreography for Shintaro Katsu just isn't quite where I'd like it to be. Things swiftly improve though, and by the third film, fights are significantly better. The plots meanwhile intertwine in a way that, while steadily becoming predictable (Zatoichi enters town, fights yakuza, falls in love, does not end up with woman), still allow for Katsu's quality acting to come through. I look forward to seeing more of the series.

I don't really talk about a lot of what I watch, because I don't often have time for these posts, and I don't know how much you guys would really care to hear me rant on about samurai films, but if you ever get a chance, I also watched Hideo Gosha's Three Outlaw Samurai...and it is now my favorite Gosha film. It's excellent. Go watch it if you love samurai movies.

Also Takashi Miike's Blade of the Immortal is ridiculously bloody and violent and totally lives up to the director. It has a literal river of blood in one scene. If you are a fan of the ridiculous excess that Miike can often take with his violence, see if you can check this one out. It's currently running in art house theaters, but I expect it'll end up on a streaming service soon enough.
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