What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

Erik Twice wrote: Of course, it's a bit unfair to compare some of the best action movies of all time to average franchise flicks but CGI is just so stupidly overused. Like, many modern movies don't even bother building an actual set. They just record everything on a green screen, no wonder it looks like terrible and the lightning is non-existant.

The thing I hate the most is CGI blood instead of squibs. It looks so terrible. Same with fire.

My wife and I are powering through the MCU because...it's something to do, I guess. Been doing one movie a night, in release order. We've previously seen a lot of them, but missed several. We watched Captain Marvel last night and oh boy was that boring. I guess she really didn't like it because it felt so removed from the rest of the MCU to her. As for the series as a whole, she has a big problem with the varying power levels of characters depending on the situation, and I agree with her. I guess watching them back to back to back really highlights the discrepancy. Overall I don't regret watching them, but I'm glad our binge is nearing the end (we already watched the three TV series prior to starting the movies).

+1 for Throne of Blood. It's the best Shakespeare movie ever made.

charlest wrote: Yojimbo is a classic, Rashomon too. I really like Throne of Blood too.

+1 to Rashomon, Yojimbo and Sanjuro.

Pass The Hidden Fortress (for now). Not that it's bad, it's just another kind of movie.

I got into Kurosawa movies in college. The student union on the Bloomington campus of I.U. showed a variety of classic, cult, and cult classic movies every school year, with a different movie every Saturday night. Which in retrospect sounds completely unimpressive, but that was back when the alternatives were whatever was currently playing in the regular movie theaters, or if whatever you could rent at the local video store. I still haven't gotten around to seeing Rashomon, but I would rank the ones I have seen as: Seven Samurai, Ran, Throne of Blood, and then a tie between Kagemusha, A Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, and Sanjuro.

Because HBO brought them back, I have been watching the Harry Potter movies. They look impressive, but are undermined by the incomplete worldbuilding and the unengaging plots. I was expecting to see more rivalry between the houses, but they are rarely mentioned after the initial sorting hat scene in the first movie. I have finished the first five, and while they aren't getting better or worse, the tone is getting darker.

Disgustipater wrote:

Erik Twice wrote: Of course, it's a bit unfair to compare some of the best action movies of all time to average franchise flicks but CGI is just so stupidly overused. Like, many modern movies don't even bother building an actual set. They just record everything on a green screen, no wonder it looks like terrible and the lightning is non-existant.

. As for the series as a whole, she has a big problem with the varying power levels of characters depending on the situation, and I agree with her.

This is true, but also definitely true to the source material. If a writer wants Hawkeye to beat Galactus for their story then that's what's happening.

I was talking to some friends yesterday and they said the same thing. Their power level is whatever it needs to be to fit the story.

I tried and failed to watch Heavy Metal 2000. I was a big fan of the original Heavy Metal (1982), but I understood that the title was a reference to the transgressive sci-fi/fantasy comic/magazine and not a musical reference. The music of the original Heavy Metal featured quite a few successful performers, and covered a lot of ground, from a Journey ballad to psychedelia to actual heavy metal. The movie consisted of an anthology of stories linked by a semi-omniscient narrator in the primary/linking story. This new Heavy Metal featured shitty and forgettable music that usually didn't match the current scene, and the single storyline was unengaging. It felt like the whole project was conceived by people who resented the soundtrack of the superior original movie, people who had never seen an issue of Heavy Metal. At least the animation was better this time around. I bailed after about 25 minutes.

Then I stepped outside of my usual genre comfort zone and watched Shakespeare in Love. I actually took an English lit class in college that was entirely about Shakespeare, so I was familiar with Romeo & Juliet and some of the other references. I tried not to analyze the many comparison points between this movie and Shakespeare's plays, and instead just enjoyed it as a period piece. The acting was decent, the story was good, and the pacing made the two hours feel like just 100 minutes. It was a good but not great movie, and suitable for a date night. The star-studded cast did fine with this script but were capable of doing a better movie. Judi Dench got few scenes but stole them all.

I agree with all the previously recommended Kurosawa movies, but you guys are acting like all he did were samurai movies. High & Low and Ikiru are both excellent, non-genre films.

I like High and Low quite a bit, never seen Ikiru sadly.

But I wouldn't recommend High and Low before the others.

Disgustipater wrote: I was talking to some friends yesterday and they said the same thing. Their power level is whatever it needs to be to fit the story.

Many years ago, an old roommate of mine went to a con where there was a Babylon 5 panel, and J. Michael Straczynski was on it. Some neckbeard stood up during the Q&A and started pointing out various inconsistencies with how long it took the little shuttles to move around the setting. “How fast do they actually move?” he asked.

Straczynski paused. “They move,” he said, nodding sagely, “at the speed of plot.”

charlest wrote: I like High and Low quite a bit, never seen Ikiru sadly.

But I wouldn't recommend High and Low before the others.

Same. First one I would always recommend was already stated a couple times (Rashomon) but if you're selling someone on TWBG the idea of Kurosawa, the samurai classics are probably a better place to start. If they find that they enjoy his work, you can move on from there. In that vein, I'd also recommend The Bad Sleep Well (or, honestly, pretty much any of his works; I'm a fan.)

Should I be seeking out Zack’s Justice League?

Sagrilarus wrote: Should I be seeking out Zack’s Justice League?

I actually think that's a tough question to answer. I'm not a Snyder fan but I preferred (by a large margin) his cut to the studio/Whedon one. It's incredibly portentious but consistently so (EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IS IMPORTANT) so that may wear you out. It's too long but I watched it over a series of nights.

I think it's more a cinematic curio than, you know, a good film. That being said - I could probably watch it again.

I didn't find the snyder cut to be any better than theatrical. A lot of the stuff in it is usual stuff cut during editing. Scenes with repeated information, plots that don't really serve the overall story, character moments that don't enhance the narrative, and bloat. For streaming it is fine, but NFW would this behemoth have made it to the bug screen.

It does keep most of the big moments of action, but doesn't have the small bits of humor that often can replace 5 minutes of turgid dialogue for the same end result.

If you like the Flash and especially Cyborg then it offers a lot more. If you like random unexplainable references to other heroes it has that as well including a ridiculous gaslighting moment with Lois and Martha Wayne. If you like Superman being OP to the point of divinity (and questioning why Kryptonians don't just run the galaxy ala ) then you will prefer his ending. I admit that I wish his Joker was what we got in Suicide Squad (though maybe that was a reaction to how Leto was received in SS).

Finally revisited Coming to America 2 (still locked to amazon I think). Fun, if ultimately very safe, flick. Almost too many call-backs to the original, though I think they were entitled to it for the most part. Wesley Snipes OWNS this film since Eddie plays it so straight, and it is a real shame if he isn't at least Whistler in the new Blade as his particular brand of acting crazy was a key element in making Blade fun as well as badass and I'm not sure Ali will play it that way.

Also hit up Vacation Friends on hulu. John Cena has really progressed as an actor, or at least found his niche. He steals every scene. This is a very formulaic comedy but throws just enough curveballs to keep you interested. Plus is has just enough emotional resonance to bring you in for the characters. It's not edgy enough to be a true comedy classic but it is by far one of the better ones I've seen in recent times.

Shellhead wrote: This new Heavy Metal featured shitty and forgettable music that usually didn't match the current scene

But probably easier to retain the rights to.