What was the last movie you've seen?

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Jmustang1968
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Jmustang1968 »

isiolia wrote:
dsheinem wrote:Jurassic World was a nice surprise. It can't hold a candle to the original and it lacks that Crichton/science feel, but I'd have never have guessed anytime in the past ~20 years that the 4th JP movie could have been any good (and likely the 2nd best by a good margin).
Yeah, I saw it last Sunday, and while it's by no stretch of the imagination a good movie, it was definitely the sequel that reminded me the most of the first one. Then again, it seemed to be trying really really hard to reference it at every turn.

I did probably laugh a lot more than they intended though.
The ending scene
with the raptor running in as some hero
had both my wife and I struggling to contain laughter in the theater.
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Luke
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Reot : What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Luke »

The self awareness was a tad forced, but not over the top. I disagree that it is not comparative to the original, based solely on the fact of how fun the third act is.

It's a fun ride and I doubt anyone would tell their friend "Nah bro. It's not a good movie".
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Michi
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Michi »

Reincarnation
AKA Rinne

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I’ve been filling my time less with movies lately, and more with television shows I’ve missed out on over the years thanks to Amazon Prime (Veronica Mars, Bullshit, Daria… At least until they took that last one off Prime, the bastards). But that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped watching movies altogether, thus we have Reincarnation.

Reincarnation is about a group of filmmakers who decided to make a movie about a massacre that happened at a rural hotel. Thirty-five years earlier college professor Norihasa Omori visited the hotel with his video camera and two children. While there he stabs his wife and kills 11 people, including his own children, before committing suicide. The crime was so awful that the hotel shut its doors forever.

Of course, the director of the film wants the whole cast to visit to the abandoned hotel to get the creative juices flowing (I guess). Anyone who has seen a movie like this knows where this is going. As the filming for the infamous slaughter gets underway the lead actress, Nagisa, starts to get grisly visions. She very soon starts to believe that she is the reincarnation of one of the murder victims in her visions, visions that can manifest themselves while she sleeps, or even as lucid dreams as she’s merrily going about her day.

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They’re…They’re not nice visions.

Meanwhile, other people connected to the film are having similar experiences of deja vu and there are reports of people going missing, including one of the other actresses that auditioned for Nagisa’s role. As the movie progresses Nagisa’s visions get stronger and stronger (and more graphic), and she is reluctantly lead towards the terrifying truth of what happened that fateful day 35 years ago.

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Perhaps it’s best you don’t know.

The more I watch movies like this, the more I come to realize that Japanese ghosts must be the assholes of the spiritual realm. Seriously, these guys just give, like, zero f*&%#. Most western ghost (not poltergeist, ghost) stories involve some benign way to help the ghost find peace.

“Please find my body to give me a proper burial.”

“Tell So-n-So I loved them/It’s not their fault.”

“This is my house, stay the hell out of it, or so help me I’ll….”

… Alright, admittedly that last one doesn’t typically end up being so benign, but usually if you just get the hell out of the house the Western ghosts will leave your ass alone. But not the Japanese ghosts. Oh, no. Those bastards will track your ass down and make your life a living hell if you so much as give the block their ancestors lived on a funny look. And the ones here are no different. In fact, I’d argue these are even worse since most of the people they end up abducting are blissfully going about their day with no inkling of the horrors that happened to them in their previous life. Hell, one poor girl gets abducted right in the middle of the damn library.

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Dammit! All I wanted was a reference book!

That’s just cold.

Again, these ghosts are supposedly supposed to be the specters of their former lives (I’d almost consider that a spoiler, but the title of the movie sort of gives it away). Which means their past lives don’t give a damn that they’re pulling their happy, future selves into the spiritual/underworld just for the sake of a climactic ending. Of course this also begs the question of exactly how one’s own reincarnated soul, or any reincarnated soul really, can abduct them. Are they abducting themselves? Shouldn't they be somehow occupied with their current life? Did their soul split in two? How the hell is this working? Are they dead now too, or will they somehow come back after the credits roll? These are questions that remain unanswered.

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It’s hard to tell if they’re dead, or waiting for the mall to open.

Those hoping for copious amounts of gore are going to be disappointed. Despite a couple bloody scenes, this movie is far from gruesome. Like a lot of Japanese horror movies, Reincarnation’s focus leans more towards unsettling atmosphere and creepy imagery and I’d argue it did a very good job of that. This was a movie made on a smaller budget, so subtly here is king. It’s the kind of film you can watch a second or third time and still pick up hints that you didn’t notice before. Lighting, in particular, is used to good effect.

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There are a lot of familiar formulas used in Reincarnation, from the abandoned location of the slaughter, to the familiar camera angles, to the creepy little girl (the Japanese just love creepy little children) and even to the zombie-like reincarnations themselves. But there are enough twists here to keep things from being too formulaic. Though the horror conventions may be familiar, there are enough plot twists and turns that they do manage to lead to an entertaining climax. A climax that involves ghosts, and zombies (at least I think they’re zombies) and death, where the lines between the real world and paranormal world start to collapse upon themselves… Oh, and a creepy, demonic doll.

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Because of course there’s a creepy, demonic doll.

Horror veterans will still see much of the plot coming a mile away, but I think even the most seasoned horror buffs will find a surprise or two during the last 15 minutes.

Reincarnation is not for everyone. This is a movie helmed by Ju-On director Shimizu Takashi. So if that wasn’t your cup of tea, then you probably won’t find too much to like here. Nor will those who do not enjoy a slow build up. But still, for all its faults, it’s still a well-realized film with great atmosphere and the ability to occasionally get under your skin.

If you enjoy Japanese horror movies, feel free to give this one a go.
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prfsnl_gmr
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by prfsnl_gmr »

Michi wrote:The more I watch movies like this, the more I come to realize that Japanese ghosts must be the assholes of the spiritual realm. Seriously, these guys just give, like, zero f*&%#.
:lol:

Great review, as always.
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Nemoide
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Nemoide »

I've got to start actually posting in this thread since I actually watch a good amount of weird movies...

Tonight I attended a local horror club which had a double-feature screening: Martin and TerrorVision. I've known about both for a long time but did not really expect what I saw!

Martin was...okay. The whole movie is a bit of a confusing mess. Yeah, it updates the vampire legend for the 20th century and eschews all superstitious elements, making it ambiguous if Martin is actually a vampire or just delusional. But the movie still felt really disjointed and never really seemed to probe deep enough into other characters to satisfy me. I know George A. Romero has said this is his favorite film. I'd rank it above Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead, but otherwise it's pretty low on my scale of his work. Maybe you need to be in the right mood for it or something, but I wasn't feeling this movie.

TerrorVision on the other hand really impressed me on a "goofy fun" level. I normally don't like movies by the Band family or Full Moon Features. I associate them with Subspecies (boring), Ghoulies (great poster, boring movie), and Puppet Master (cool puppets, boring movie)... but TerrorVision is just INSANE. It's balls-out RIDICULOUS. ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE TOTALLY NUTS: the swinging parents, the rainbow-haired daughter, metalhead boyfriend, lizard tail jerky-obsessed grandpa, the littlest survivalist son, and HORROR-HOST MEDUSA. Not to mention THE SLIMY MONSTER FROM PLANET PLUTON! I was really pleased by this! I want to buy the blu-ray so I can subject it to friends.
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noiseredux
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by noiseredux »

Wow, personally I love Martin.
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Nemoide
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Nemoide »

I was really surprised I didn't like it more than I did! It's reputation is so solid, I feel like I'll have to revisit it at some point down the line to give it another chance.
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REPO Man
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by REPO Man »

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For a fan film, it's brilliant!

First off, it's not a direct prequel to the series, but is rather a reimagining. Love Rita's redesign, but still a bigger fan of the original Rita's design. Also, King Mondo is voiced by the original Zordon, David J. Fielding.

But since it's a fan film don't expect million-dollar CGI (there's TONS of CGI).
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Luke
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Luke »

If you have the opportunity to spend time with your father tomorrow, give him the gift of KUNG FURY. Twice if possible.

Or REMO WILLIAMS, which is an 80's action flick full of kung-fu, and a hero named after a bed pan. Straight up Ack's alley.
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Exhuminator »

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Collateral (2004)
A hitman forces a taxi driver to ferry him around on a late night killing spree, but the taxi driver grows a pair and stuff happens. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It was fun seeing Cruise play a bad guy. The pacing was kept up to par largely thanks to the mobile nature of the situation. If you want to watch a fun crime action thriller, you could do a lot worse than this.

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The Host (2006)
Monster movie I watched for my daughter's sake. It ended up being above average, but has some real pacing issues and needlessly extended scenes. If this film was 30 minutes shorter, and tried harder to be scary than it does to be campy, I would have enjoyed it more. That said, the younger kids in this movie do a great acting job, I was surprised. If you want to watch a dysfunctional family fight a river monster, go for it. I'm still trying to figure out if this film was a metaphor for USA & South Korea foreign relations though.
PLAY KING'S FIELD.
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