Last movie you watched

[nanook]

I kindly request that y'all watch Brimstone. In exchange i won't write about how i feel about my father in the Traumatic or Sorrowful Stories thread. Some fool on imdb commented that Brimstone has no moral and is pointless violence. So basically it's a realistic movie and that is exactly it's teaching.

There were some other movies i found outstanding lately: Wolyn (Imagine how the little boy in this movie will develop ... Brimstone Jr Probably), Split, Silence & In Dubios Battle - which has the same subject as Brimstone: Narcissists ruling Life.

 

[Rixus]

I kindly request that y'all watch Brimstone. In exchange i won't write about how i feel about my father in the Traumatic or Sorrowful Stories thread. Some fool on imdb commented that Brimstone has no moral and is pointless violence. So basically it's a realistic movie and that is exactly it's teaching.

There were some other movies i found outstanding lately: Wolyn (Imagine how the little boy in this movie will develop ... Brimstone Jr Probably), Split, Silence & In Dubios Battle - which has the same subject as Brimstone: Narcissists ruling Life.

I found Brimstone and Treacle on Amazon and Play. You don't mean that do you? I can't find anything else called Brimstone.

And that's what that thread is for, Nanook. You are just as welcome to write about that as anyone else.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[nanook]

I guess Brimstone is not officially available yet. It's out on streaming sites. Arrr.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1895315/reference

 

[TheManBeyond]

I kindly request that y'all watch Brimstone. In exchange i won't write about how i feel about my father in the Traumatic or Sorrowful Stories thread.

XDDDDDD

 

[Rixus]

I usually like to find a good horror movie for Friday night - last night I did a Google search to find a good one on Amazon Prime and came up with Oculus. It's begins with a guy of 21 now being released from a psych ward after seemingly committing murder on a family member as a child. His older sister greets him with open arms, and insists she can prove his innocence. Whatever happened was, according to her, the fault of a mysterious very old haunted mirror that was kept in the family home and she has now managed to get hold of again. Hanging it again in fathers study (where it originally resided), she has her brother assist her with an experiment to prove the mirror was at fault and is indeed supernatural.

The mirror appears to warp reality and twist what you are seeing; gradually growing stronger as it feeds on life energy it sucks up from anything alive around it. As the story unfolds, that night more than a decade ago is revealed. The two tenses intermingle with each other and the illusions until neither the characters nor you are sure what's real, what's not, what was real and what wasn't and when you or they are at any given moment. Despite the potential for this to be an eye rolling CGI laden visual feast, I was highly impressed at how the film keeps the illusions grounded so that anything could be real and focuses on twisting the mind rather than just a monster fest.

It was a thoroughly twisted, disturbing and enjoyable film. It was free to watch on Prime, but I wouldn't have begrudged paying. Well worth the watch.

Rating - 4.5* Highly recommended.

 

[Jennywocky]

I usually like to find a good horror movie for Friday night - last night I did a Google search to find a good one on Amazon Prime and came up with Oculus. It's begins with a guy of 21 now being released from a psych ward after seemingly committing murder on a family member as a child. His older sister greets him with open arms, and insists she can prove his innocence. Whatever happened was, according to her, the fault of a mysterious very old haunted mirror that was kept in the family home and she has now managed to get hold of again. Hanging it again in fathers study (where it originally resided), she has her brother assist her with an experiment to prove the mirror was at fault and is indeed supernatural.

The mirror appears to warp reality and twist what you are seeing; gradually growing stronger as it feeds on life energy it sucks up from anything alive around it. As the story unfolds, that night more than a decade ago is revealed. The two tenses intermingle with each other and the illusions until neither the characters nor you are sure what's real, what's not, what was real and what wasn't and when you or they are at any given moment. Despite the potential for this to be an eye rolling CGI laden visual feast, I was highly impressed at how the film keeps the illusions grounded so that anything could be real and focuses on twisting the mind rather than just a monster fest.

It was a thoroughly twisted, disturbing and enjoyable film. It was free to watch on Prime, but I wouldn't have begrudged paying. Well worth the watch.

Rating - 4.5* Highly recommended.

Oculus is a decent movie, directed by Mike Flanagan whose star has been rising -- if you liked this, you can check out some other movies he has done including:

- Absentia (2011)
- Hush (2016)
- Before I Wake (2016)
- Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)

Hush got a lot of buzz on Netflix. I saw Ouija and it's a case where a movie prequel actually is much better than the first movie. The others are on my list but I have not seen them yet.

he is also directing the adaptation of Stephen King's "Gerald's Game" due this year some time.

Anyway, along with this movie having Karen Gillan (probably better known to Doctor Who fans - 11th doctor -- as well as playing Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy.... where she had to shave off that wonderful red hair of hers), it was so darn technically/narratively proficient because it is constantly jumping time frames and yet I never found myself lost based on how this was handled. And yeah, darn creepy movie, lots of ambiance.

 

[Rixus]

Oculus is a decent movie, directed by Mike Flanagan whose star has been rising -- if you liked this, you can check out some other movies he has done including:

- Absentia (2011)
- Hush (2016)
- Before I Wake (2016)
- Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)

Hush got a lot of buzz on Netflix. I saw Ouija and it's a case where a movie prequel actually is much better than the first movie. The others are on my list but I have not seen them yet.

he is also directing the adaptation of Stephen King's "Gerald's Game" due this year some time.

Anyway, along with this movie having Karen Gillan (probably better known to Doctor Who fans - 11th doctor -- as well as playing Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy.... where she had to shave off that wonderful red hair of hers), it was so darn technically/narratively proficient because it is constantly jumping time frames and yet I never found myself lost based on how this was handled. And yeah, darn creepy movie, lots of ambiance.

A day will come when I will have a good movie to recommend that you have not seen or heard of. But it is not this day.

Yeah, I was impressed by how well they kept the tense jumping, so much so that the characters had no idea when they were - and you weren't even sure whether you were seeing a child in the past or an adult seeing the present through the eyes of a child or if they were false memories or illusions, yet you never feel confused over the plot. It makes perfect sense in that way and you receive all the information you need to understand what happened then and now.

I saw Hush on Netflix - it was OK, but I wasn't blown away.
Am I confusing Ouija: Origin of Evil with The Ouija Experiment? They're not related in any way, are they?
I think Abstentia was recommended also, but I haven't come across it yet. Was thinking of another Prime recommendation for tonight - Neverlake. I think it's some sort of holiday by the haunted lakeside.

 

[Jennywocky]

I saw Hush on Netflix - it was OK, but I wasn't blown away.

It seemed to get a lot of buzz but I couldn't tell what was buzz vs real. Then again, after seeing Oculus, I was willing to chance it.

Am I confusing Ouija: Origin of Evil with The Ouija Experiment? They're not related in any way, are they?

They are not related, there's just too many ouija movies out there.

Ouija (2014) was the original movie. Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016) is the prequel that actually leads to Ouija in the timeline but manages to be interesting / is technically proficient. Flanagan only did the latter one.

Was thinking of another Prime recommendation for tonight - Neverlake. I think it's some sort of holiday by the haunted lakeside.

I don't know that one. Watch it and let me know!

 

[Rixus]

I don't know that one. Watch it and let me know!

I did see Neverlake last night. It wasn't free, but since I'll pay more for a cup of coffee I gave it a try.

The story involves a teenager who takes a break from boarding school to visit her father in Italy, who is studying a lake said to be the site of ancient rituals involving healing / afterlife stuff. The girl is befriended by some sick children at a hospital, but something just isn't right with what's going on. It's more a supernatural mystery than a horror film, but the answer to it all is quite horrifying and you feel pity for everyone involved, even if the perpetrator(s) have done something unforgivably disturbing at least the motives make sense.

It was a pretty low budget affair with an interesting idea and story. Despite it clearly being low budget, the filming itself doesn't come off as cheap. The effects are perfectly fine and the children pull off some great performances. The story is pretty decent and leads to a disturbing conclusion that really makes you question (or made me question, at least) the nature of humanity in respect to how many people would do something so horrifying and pointless under the same circumstances and the whole quantity vs quality of life debate.

The only downfall of this film was the acting of the father and the maid and at times the main character's acting and lines seem a little fake, almost as if the writer/director wasn't sure what to do to make a teenage girl act natural under normal circumstances but was fine with the dramatic and weird scenes - and the hospital scenes with the other children were pulled off perfectly.

Overall, I'm giving it 3.5 stars. Would have been 4 if the father and maid were better cast. An interesting story and quite a bit of atmosphere to it, plus points for the lake and legends being real rather than made up.

 

[nanook]

Fallen. I've tried to hate it but I liked it.

Must have swallowed an INFJ or two in a past life.

Wait.... I think that may have actually happened ...

*looses mind*

The theology of the movie wasn't all bad. Transcending the lame good-parent / evil-child duality for mature humanism. Production / Cutting was shitty though. At times you couldn't tell who is saying what, except by knowing the voices, because no moving mouth being shown. Sudden ending. Apparently a story from several books cut together *somehow*.

 

[TheManBeyond]

The Lovely Bones. wtf/10

wtf
is this movie about
there are many things wrong here

first, a quick scheme of characters with wtf moments:

main girl - dead girl
Little brother - irrelevant
Little sister
father
mother
grandmother
serial killer
crazy girls from heaven
hot guy - he was supposed to be dead girl's boyfriend but she died just before they could, irrelevant
gothic girl who takes the position of dead girl, and somewhat terribly irrelevant

- Girl's suffering even after she's dead, eternally?: i can't imagine the faces of people watching this movie who have been through similar experiences.
But it's only the beggining
- Girls in Paradise, feeling happy about them being dead and jumping around in joy, saying so many akward things
- Why everyone in her family acts so crazy? they have almost no proof at all besides 4th phase experiences with the after life? and they still get obsessed about this guy to the point of breaking into his home where they eventually find out that he's the killer
- The spiritual liberation of the dead girl comes thanks to the throwing of her dead body in a sack inside a safebox? into a fucking puddle of mud? in a fucking junkyard? where no one will ever find it!
- And her parents continue living a normal life without knowing where the fuck the criminal ran away?!
- While her astral body????¿¿¿¿ posseses¿?¿?¿?¿ the body of the gothic girl while perhaps the hot guy was having allucinations about a girl who died who knows how many fucking years ago? HAVING SEX?
- Her sister gets pregnant and how is that relevant at all? omg wtf
- Her brother went to a football game and he never came back. XDDDD You can't see him growing up, like her sister, he just dissapears from the movie. omg
- Why does the serial killer dies like that?

it's like a dramma movie made by a troll
last 45 minutes are insane, i can't say if in a good way or in a bad way

 

[Jennywocky]

^ The book made more sense / was a better experience. Jackson got kind of Jackson-y in this, unfortunately; it was distracting and too much in places.

Saoirse Ronan is always worth a watch though even when she's in a shit movie (like "The Host"); she's always had real talent even from a young age.

-----

Finally watched "Trading Places." Yes, a movie from 1983 I meant to watch for years. I guess I wasn't missing much, it's only a 3/5 rating I think. lots of "meh" space that felt a little fluffed out or aimless; like, couldn't something MORE have happened in those periods? Every so often a joke/behavior by Murphy or Akroyd would be spot-on and then that was funny, but too far and few between. Even the premise of the movie really could have had more meat, rather than just being a convention meant to carry the plot.

It was more fun to see cameos by folks who went on to bigger, better things. One of the notables -- Al Franken who is now a US Senator and doing a pretty solid job as one. Even better... Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring from "Breaking Bad"), who has one line as a quizzical tough in jail with Murphy in an early movie scene. I was like wtf is that and then died when I read the credits at end.

Also, another opportunity to rub my face in how Jamie Lee Curtis has nicer firmer higher breasts that I will ever have. Meh.

Final parting shot -- uh, Paul Gleason always ends up playing the stooge in these movies, maybe starting with this one? Wow. he's the same schmuck in just about any movie!

 

[TheManBeyond]

^ The book made more sense / was a better experience. Jackson got kind of Jackson-y in this, unfortunately; it was distracting and too much in places.

Saoirse Ronan is always worth a watch though even when she's in a shit movie (like "The Host"); she's always had real talent even from a young age.

makes sense, i thought somehow the structure of the movie is wrong, the way some music start at some escenes makes them weird, or some lines are strange placed, i can't really explain tho, didn't know there was a book about it, so yeah.
The girl is really pretty at least, reminds me a lot of a girl i met from Italy.
LIKE WTF
[BIMG]http://i.imgur.com/LuPqUfH.jpg[/BIMG]

 

[TheManBeyond]

Take Shelter 5/10

So boring. The surprise surprise ending is always an option. 2 hours for smth that could be resolved in 45 minutes.

We need to talk about Kevin.

9'5/10 amazing, my little brother is like that kid.
A bit less physco tho.

 

[Jennywocky]

Life = 5/10 stars.

Decent cast, monster design was a bit different than most, but the movie had no real connection to characters, no identity of its own, and was just cobbled together from bits and pieces of far better movies.... it's like a poor man's Alien + Gravity + whatever else.... Meh, meh, and more meh.

Even the "twist" ending didn't do anything but show how desperate the filmmakers were to try to give it some kind of shock value. I actually started laughing out loud. Like, of course that's how this fucking movie would end.

Now, was it better than Event Horizon? Maybe. I'm kinda unsure of how to rank them in comparison to each other. Life wanted to be something more but just couldn't. Event Horizon seemed to be made by someone who was doing drugs after doing drugs before doing drugs, the entire way through filming, while watching every B-horror flick they could get their hands on while doing drugs after doing drugs before doing drugs.

 

[Hadoblado]

The force awakens. 6/10

Spoiler

They did some decent fan service, and the visuals were good. There were some issues though.

I felt as if Rey was next level Mary Sue. The force already pushes Mary Sueness (it can explain any and all talent), but she didn't even go on a force acquisition journey. When she force persuaded the guard it ruined immersion for me. Force persuasion was something that was a demonstration of force mastery for Obi Wan in the first trilogy. Rey learned it within seconds of the thought occurring to her to use it this way. It just makes the whole jedi thing feel even cheaper and more rubbish. It's a pity, because I think cinema needs more high profile female protagonists, I'd have just preferred her to experience some sort of character development between the start and finish of the movie.

I also hated Kylo Ren. I dunno, I feel as if Siths should be universally bad arse. You may not like them, but you should respect them as dangerous and powerful. He just came off as a whiney confused teen, and while that does have a place in cinema, it deprived the movie of a meaningful villain. He got his arse kicked by two scrubs. Remember Darth Maul, the apprentice that could take on Quaigon and Kenobi simultaneously and win? Kylo was just a tosser with a whole bunch of buildup.

 

[Pyropyro]

Watched the Arrival. The plot might be a bit too confusing to understand at first but it makes sense in the end. I also did not know linguistics to be quite fascinating.

 

[Pizzabeak]

Saw Ghost in the Shell... They explained the ScarJo choice of course and gave haters the boot but it was obvious. I thought it was alright, but should Goku be played by an Asian actor for example (not to mention Evolution)? There are numerous fan films with Asian actors and the topic has been done to death but some of them don't always resemble exact Asian species or people. I didn't think she did a good enough job acting robotic if that's what she was going for, I never really noticed Motoko doing that in the series. She almost personally tried too hard for her, I thought, but it was a separate continuity. They made the movie easier to understand, it was for afficianados, and the tank scene was shorter in this one.

It wasn't as futuristic and sci-fi as I would have hoped. The new Dane DeHaan movie Valerian that they showed a trailer to looked more futuristic looking and promising. Haven't read the book though.

Watched Inferno. It was a slasher flick, didn't like it as much as I would have hoped but the cinematography was nice and intriguing enough. It made me want to pay attention but I had to revisit Suspiria, which is more of the same kind of rote slash fest with some attempt at substance. There's a third film in the series too so I guess I'll have to watch that, and may as well revisit Inferno again and again. I'm sure these are the kinds of films you catch something new every time you see it.

 

[Reluctantly]

7 days in Hell - a great documentary on the greatest and longest match in Wimbledon history. It detailed the life of two of tennis's greatest players, giving commentary on the players and the people that knew them over the course of their lives until the very end. It really ignites a feel of the intensity and passion that goes into professional tennis. The best part for me was "Let them fight", "all the dicks dropped" and "They could theoretically play forever, which is scary for somebody like me who doesn't much like watching tennis".

Truly amazing documentary - 100/10.

 

[TheManBeyond]

The circle 7'5/10

Its like intpforum family reunion
And I'm the aliens
Survivor is nanook

 

[onesteptwostep]

Saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.


*SPOILERS*
Was boring. Wouldn't recommend. It has a silly father-son plot with some Star Trek-esque Final Frontier God figure/complex. I'm not even sure if there was even an infinity stone in play.

Pretty much a waste of 10 bucks for me.

 

[Rixus]

The circle 7'5/10

Its like intpforum family reunion
And I'm the aliens
Survivor is nanook

I actually really enjoyed The Circle. I remember lowering my head as the business guy was laying in to the lesbian woman thinking, "you need to stop talking now."

Nicely thought provoking. When you've only got a 1 in 50 chance how do you play it?

You really think Nannook would survive? I think you lot would buzz me out in the first round.

 

[TheManBeyond]

I actually really enjoyed The Circle. I remember lowering my head as the business guy was laying in to the lesbian woman thinking, "you need to stop talking now."

Nicely thought provoking. When you've only got a 1 in 50 chance how do you play it?

You really think Nannook would survive? I think you lot would buzz me out in the first round.

nah, i think nanook would be the kid who wanted to commit suicide, it was his signature what triggered my comment
i don't know why i would buzz u out so quickly
the problem started when they divided into groups, from there i would either commit suicide or vote for the leader of each group / give an speech about importance of pride and individuality and expect some positive reaction
that part was disgusting, that's where i dislike society:
ur collegue has a problem with another person, u have a problem with ur collegue, the other person comes and make peace with ur collegue and to validate their friendship they attack u.
it's just pathetic.

 

[Jennywocky]

I actually really enjoyed The Circle. I remember lowering my head as the business guy was laying in to the lesbian woman thinking, "you need to stop talking now."

Nicely thought provoking. When you've only got a 1 in 50 chance how do you play it?

You really think Nannook would survive? I think you lot would buzz me out in the first round.

I was kinda shocked it logged in SO bad on RT (17%)?

Sounds like a Redbox flick. Along with The Belko Experiment.

 

[Rixus]

It was a way of showing how people will do anything to survive that little bit longer, even in the short term. Most of the characters had no plan - they were just desperately trying to do anything survive for longer. The husband and wife came up with a good plan to play on emotions.

I'd probably have just done what I could to make the kid survive.

And meant between you all, I'd be buzzed out quickly, I'm sure.

I was kinda shocked it logged in SO bad on RT (17%)?

Sounds like a Redbox flick. Along with The Belko Experiment.

What's RT? You mean rotten tomatoes? I can never figure out how critics rate things and they don't seem to be a predictor of how good a film is at all. I saw it on Netflix as it was recommended to me by a work colleague as something I'd find interesting. They used to have star ratings, but now it just has "67% Match" - no idea what that means. I'm sure it used to have a reasonable rating on there. Can't find it on IMDB.

 

[TheManBeyond]

also i think there is no point in the whole debate thing or trying to imposs a certain structure or logic on the game, i would just vote whoever i would pick for whatever random reason and not say to anyone who they have to vote for
i mean, it's a movie, made for entertaining, so they turn it into a game, i don't think people would be as "logical" or stupid if they were actually living it
they think they have power in internet

 

[Lazy Vulpes]

Like a proper Hollywood movie? I don't remember, I really don't do that kind of movies..

Last movie I saw was Boruto: Naruto the movie.
https://9anime.to/watch/boruto-naruto-the-movie.4jrm

 

[Jennywocky]

What's RT? You mean rotten tomatoes? I can never figure out how critics rate things and they don't seem to be a predictor of how good a film is at all. I saw it on Netflix as it was recommended to me by a work colleague as something I'd find interesting. They used to have star ratings, but now it just has "67% Match" - no idea what that means. I'm sure it used to have a reasonable rating on there. Can't find it on IMDB.

Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes are two well-known rating systems.

Metacritic aggregates the actual scores critics give movies. So when it gives a movie a 63/100, that means that finding the average of all critic's scores (on a 1-10 scale turned into a 1-100 percentage) is whatever that value is. This is more useful if you are interested in specific quality of a movie. It tends to be harsher than RT.

Rotten Tomatoes doesn't really care what the actual score is, it just determined whether a review (based on their review) gives the film a thumbs up or thumbs down. So the RT score is the percentage of reviewers who gave a film a thumbs up. I think they will also show the aggregate in small print somewhere as well, but it's more designed for someone who wants to attend a movie -- it just tells you "is this movie worth seeing?" You need at least 60% of the reviewers giving a thumbs up to be "fresh." A movie can be fresh but only have a 6.3/10 score average. They now give a higher-eschelon rating for percentages of 75% + past a certain threshold of Official Critic approvals.

There are other ratings from other sources, each with different results. I've seen movies with high metacritic scores (i.e., it's a well-done movie) that bomb with the "mass crowd" enjoyment level (like the popcorn symbol from Fandango?) I've noticed Netflix rankings can suck, some really terrible movies can have high scores.

 

[Rixus]

Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes are two well-known rating systems.

Metacritic aggregates the actual scores critics give movies. So when it gives a movie a 63/100, that means that finding the average of all critic's scores (on a 1-10 scale turned into a 1-100 percentage) is whatever that value is. This is more useful if you are interested in specific quality of a movie. It tends to be harsher than RT.

Rotten Tomatoes doesn't really care what the actual score is, it just determined whether a review (based on their review) gives the film a thumbs up or thumbs down. So the RT score is the percentage of reviewers who gave a film a thumbs up. I think they will also show the aggregate in small print somewhere as well, but it's more designed for someone who wants to attend a movie -- it just tells you "is this movie worth seeing?" You need at least 60% of the reviewers giving a thumbs up to be "fresh." A movie can be fresh but only have a 6.3/10 score average. They now give a higher-eschelon rating for percentages of 75% + past a certain threshold of Official Critic approvals.

There are other ratings from other sources, each with different results. I've seen movies with high metacritic scores (i.e., it's a well-done movie) that bomb with the "mass crowd" enjoyment level (like the popcorn symbol from Fandango?) I've noticed Netflix rankings can suck, some really terrible movies can have high scores.

I know how those sites and overall ratings work. What I cannot get is how that corresponds to whether I'll enjoy a film or why so many critics like one thing and not another, why this has no correspondence to what fans think and neither corresponds to whether I'll enjoy something.

BTW - what's your vote? Should I pay to rent Arrival tonight, or watch Immortals for free on Prime?

 

[Jennywocky]

I know how those sites and overall ratings work. What I cannot get is how that corresponds to whether I'll enjoy a film or why so many critics like one thing and not another, why this has no correspondence to what fans think and neither corresponds to whether I'll enjoy something.

Ah, got it. Okay.

I think RT actually offers a series of questions by which it matches you up with "similar reviewers". It's not foolproof, but basically if you have similar tastes to certain people, you can use them as a litmus test. You can also do this on your own -- find certain reviewers who you seem to agree with more often than not and depend on them more.

But it's the kind of way I "vet data" -- everyone is biased/subjective, so I look for folks that include data in their comments so that i can answer key questions for myself, versus folks who just draw conclusions. Give me the reasons why you do or don't like something, and that helps me more than just a conclusion about whether a movie is good or bad.

BTW - what's your vote? Should I pay to rent Arrival tonight, or watch Immortals for free on Prime?

How much are you paying to rent Arrival?

Personally, I love Arrival -- but I love all of Villeneuve's movies. It's a pretty introspective internal subjective sort of movie, with ambiguity and gloom, with its own twists and turns. the aliens are kind of creepy, and I like how the movie is designed to put you in the head of the main character -- you learn while she is learning.

I have no desire to watch Immortals based on the trailers, it's kind of the opposite. It was like trying to watch Scott's Gods and Kings, or provyas' Gods of Egypt... but there it's rather odd because I like Ridley Scott and Alex Proyas, yet could barely sit through some minutes of either movie. I think the advertising + topic matter + blockbuster approach of those gave me a negative vibe. Immortals feels the same way to me.

 

[Rixus]

How much are you paying to rent Arrival?

Personally, I love Arrival -- but I love all of Villeneuve's movies. It's a pretty introspective internal subjective sort of movie, with ambiguity and gloom, with its own twists and turns. the aliens are kind of creepy, and I like how the movie is designed to put you in the head of the main character -- you learn while she is learning.

I have no desire to watch Immortals based on the trailers, it's kind of the opposite. It was like trying to watch Scott's Gods and Kings, or provyas' Gods of Egypt... but there it's rather odd because I like Ridley Scott and Alex Proyas, yet could barely sit through some minutes of either movie. I think the advertising + topic matter + blockbuster approach of those gave me a negative vibe. Immortals feels the same way to me.

Arrival is £3.50 for SD or £4.49 for HD. Same price on Prime or Play. I'll watch it on my phone in bed, so I only really need SD, but will probably pay the extra. I know I could probably find somewhere to get it for free - but I've had enough of those sites being more trouble than they're worth - and for the once or twice I need to pay for a movie each month, it's no big deal.

Arrival does sound very tempting.

Immortals is part of the 300 story, isn't it? The whole concept of those two films was to tell a story that was inspired by actual events in a totally over the top way. This seems completely pointless, until you realise that the point is that it's a story as it would have been told after the event. They would have told the stories later on in as glorified a way as possible - and the movies are the events as they would have happened had they been told in the stories afterwards.

I also enjoy watching any historically based story so I can compare and contrast the film to records and decide if artistic license warrants the inaccuracies, or if the principle of the story is being carried forwards. And this method of telling these particular stories in a legendary overly glorified manner works in that particular context.

 

[Rixus]

So I watched Arrival last night. I thought it was an excellent film.

First of all, it sucked me in by imagining how I'd go about communicating with them. And it got me thinking about the different language structures around the world. I'd agree with idea of going for text rather than sound since their vocal patterns were obviously completely incompatible with ours - plus there's no guarantee our ears could even hear the pitches of the sounds they made.

And I liked the concept that their intentions seemed alien because they were not like us at all - what common ground could we even find. I'm not sure I could buy the twist as being a result of their language - order of words isn't always important (take Latin, for example), and I'd have thought that it would be the result of the way they perceive reality rather than the other way around. Nonetheless, the twist was excellent and unexpected until it dawned on me after she went in the last time. And from a non scientific point of view, the point of the story was clear, well played and nicely poignant. (I was watching it in bed, and my littlest had decided she was scared of a nightmare of a giant hamster so had crawled in, and I couldn't help cuddling her after watching it.

I still law awake for a while imagining what you'd do if you knew that. I couldn't imagine how it would feel and it succeeded in evoking a great sense of emotion and contemplation (which is rare for a film to do).

 

[AndyC]

Just watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Love the Stan Lee cameo with the Watchers.

 

[Creeping Death]

No Country for Old Men.. I've seen it many times, but it's such a great film, with one of the best movie villains.

 

[Jennywocky]

So I watched Arrival last night. I thought it was an excellent film.

First of all, it sucked me in by imagining how I'd go about communicating with them. And it got me thinking about the different language structures around the world. I'd agree with idea of going for text rather than sound since their vocal patterns were obviously completely incompatible with ours - plus there's no guarantee our ears could even hear the pitches of the sounds they made.

And I liked the concept that their intentions seemed alien because they were not like us at all - what common ground could we even find. I'm not sure I could buy the twist as being a result of their language - order of words isn't always important (take Latin, for example), and I'd have thought that it would be the result of the way they perceive reality rather than the other way around. Nonetheless, the twist was excellent and unexpected until it dawned on me after she went in the last time. And from a non scientific point of view, the point of the story was clear, well played and nicely poignant. (I was watching it in bed, and my littlest had decided she was scared of a nightmare of a giant hamster so had crawled in, and I couldn't help cuddling her after watching it.

I still law awake for a while imagining what you'd do if you knew that. I couldn't imagine how it would feel and it succeeded in evoking a great sense of emotion and contemplation (which is rare for a film to do).

It's a movie about alien contact on the surface, but underneath it's really about grief and loss and what it means to be human, yet also transposed in what it could mean if we were NOT human on some levels and had other ways to cognitively understand the world. it's so big-picture, yet so personal, all at once. I was already moved after just the first five minutes, and when it goes into the aliens landing sequence where she walks into her class... creepy vibes of 9/11. That was so WTF.

and yeah, the linguistics aspects were interesting, with everything you noted. We have some experience like this even with human language -- like, when I listen to Asian languages, there are things happening in there that means something to the Asian listener that are going right over my head because I just have not been trained in the nuance of the sounds that are being used. Now imagine if your physiology isn't even capable of perceiving some of those sounds, like a dog hearing things beyond the range of audible human perception.

Anyway, glad you enjoyed it. It still chokes me up some just recalling it. Intellectually Villeneuve's movies kind of all hit me on that level, although one is the one that most emotionally grabbed me. But they're all kind of unsettling.

Enemy - a guy thinks he sees another guy who looks like him. Is he going mad? What does this mean?

Prisoners - a parent's grief leads to taking the law into one's own hands -- it's willing to explore the ambiguity between justice and revenge when the law is incapable, yet is it? It's really willing to go into unsettling territory.

Sicario - the surface of the drug trade might seem black/white, but not so much when you actually are in the rubber-meets-road area. Again, morality breaks down, conflicting against itself.

I really want to see what he does with Blade Runner 2049.

Just watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Love the Stan Lee cameo with the Watchers.

Boo, spoiler fiend...!

I'm going tomorrow. Had tickets for right now, but had a Central Air problem that tech could only schedule for right now. I think I'll like it based on what I've read but sometimes these kinds of movies can go either way.

No Country for Old Men.. I've seen it many times, but it's such a great film, with one of the best movie villains.

A great movie I need to rewatch soon, it's been a few years. I'm sure I missed stuff on first pass, and it was constantly breaking my expectations as an American viewer, which was good. Might be the best translation of one of McCarthy's literary works to screen? "The Road" nailed the book's tone very well but was a bit uneven in delivery, it felt like a series of cobbled together vignettes.

 

[Nebulous]

Watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2 last night. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Soundtrack is still great, more mellow than the first movie song wise but they did juice it. Like whenever there was a fight scene they'd be like "we need to somehow set up music to play!!!"
Plenty of dumb jokes but they made the theater laugh.

Overall it was emotional family related feelings mixed with sorta dumb things that were really funny. I liked it.

If you liked the last one you should watch it.

I'm interested to see how it ties into the next Marvel moviesss

 

[Jennywocky]

Saw it (GotG2) this morning. Decent movie, on par with the original. Thought the opening was a little rough (it was relying on jokes to get the movie going) but quickly locks in and develops a great undercurrent of meaning. Nebula is explored far more deeply, which is a great subplot -- there's lots of crazy shit between her and Gamora that is hilarious to watch, yet her backstory is pretty heartbreaking. (Up yours, Thanos... I hope you get what you've got coming.)

Also, note how most of the plot and horrible things the Guardians face is their own fault in a way? Typical.

Really glad to see a "villain" that hasn't really been addressed in a Marvel movie before. Superhero movies aside from the last few years were getting really old because they just wanted to keep rehashing a few particular villains, but here's one who only readers of comics would be aware of.

Again, the lesson of this loser's club is all they have is each other, and it's pretty amazing how the commitment they have to each other on the very personal level ends up being replicated on the galactic scale in terms of being faithful to mortal beings. It seems pretty difficult to "love everyone" but you can love that one person (or handful) that you personally care about and that can reap benefits for everyone at large.

Decent special effects, some pretty funny moments (although Drax can hit or miss), lots of Yandu for you Yandu fans, and a TON of tie-in to the unfolding Infinity Stone plotline (that "birthing chamber" was a "duh" moment for me, I should have jumped on that as soon as I saw the Sovereigns), and a number of ending-credit clips and quips. The Credits themselves were pretty nice too, both the visuals as well as the disco-ization of the orchestral themes.

Also a few unexpected cameos

Spoiler

Aside from the obvious Sylvester Stallone, pretty sure that was Ving Rhames and then Michelle Yeoh in there as ravagers at the end. And Seth Green as Howard the Duck. And of course, The Hoff...

 

[onesteptwostep]

That was Michelle Yeoh? I did not realize..

I'm surprised people here actually enjoyed it. I hadn't watched a movie in a while so I seemed to have high expectations I guess. The movie reminded of me of a cross-over between Hitchhikers and Star Trek's Final Frontier, while it being a blockbuster action. The plot wasn't too deep for my liking.

 

[Jennywocky]

That was Michelle Yeoh? I did not realize..

I'm surprised people here actually enjoyed it. I hadn't watched a movie in a while so I seemed to have high expectations I guess. The movie reminded of me of a cross-over between Hitchhikers and Star Trek's Final Frontier, while it being a blockbuster action. The plot wasn't too deep for my liking.

Maybe your expectations were not attuned to a typical Marvel movie. I got what I expected, and it was what I wanted, so I was happy. Some humor, some action, some great effects, and some poignant moments where characters either come to certain revelations that will change their course OR choose to what things they will be committed.

I find the comparison to Final Frontier disturbing, since it's one of the worst movies I have ever seen in any genre. If there was any connection here, it was that Star Trek ripped off a Marvel property that already existed (Ego probably dates back to the 60's or 70's? Although I remember reading Byrne's Fantastic Four in the 80's where Ego would make an appearance) and then did not really do anything with it except use it as a shallow plot device ("Why does God need a spaceship?" Meh.) Aside from the "brain" element here (I wish it had been a little more elegant), GotG2 took some pains to imagine what it would be like to be in that kind of creature and where it might naturally lead.

From my review on letterboxd:

...the first step to join this loser's club is the willingness to admit that one is indeed a loser, yet it's these backstories that resonate during viewing (e.g. Nebula) and draw such a strong contrast with those who use their own experiences of loneliness and loss to dehumanize and destroy rather than preserve and protect.

In a way, Ego is a loser too. He's alone and isolated. But he resolves that issue in a way far different than the other losers in this movie, who (as their solution) reach to other losers to make connections outside themselves. Good, evil? We can at least say he makes a fundamentally different choice. Compared to how deeply this delves into Ego's experience and motivations, the ST:FF ripoff is shit.

 

[green acid]

The last movie I watched was Fat Guy Goes Nutzoid (1986). I always thought it was hilarious. A rotten tomatoes low budget classic. Reading this thread makes me want to rewatch The Lovely Bones though.

 

[Rixus]

Last night I scrolled through Netflix's offerings and decided upon what was labelled a Netflix original (I say that, because a lot of stuff that sold as Netflix originals in the UK are by other networks in the US, and Netflix have the sole UK rights) called Before I Wake.

I wasn't sure what it was because not much info was given. The whole story is a grief and loos metaphor, but and interesting take on it. A couple who lost a child adopt a boy who lost his mother. Soon, they discover he has a unique ability - his dreams manifest in reality. Sometimes, this results in pretty things like a swarm of butterflies. When he starts dreaming of the couple's lost child, you begin to feel for both the boy dreaming of being the happy child in the photos and the mother desperate to use the ability to see her child again - which ends up being very uncomfortable to watch after a homemade Christmas video.

But, children also have nightmares. And about halfway through it starts to take on some creepy moments. The main nightmare is unsurprisingly a recurring dream about a particular monster, but there are some creepy ones (the boy repeating himself in front of the settee and the "impression" of the nice lady being amongst the most unsettling). The poor boy knows this is happening, and tries taking stimulants to stay awake which only results in waking hallucinations that manifest in a scene that actually made me jump.

Of course, this is only the surface of what is happening. The story is really showing a contrast between the two perspectives of loss and if you have a heart, the explanation of the monster is very moving. It really makes you think about how children interpret things and how we explain tragedy to them. I can't really classify it as a horror film, though it has some horror elements. I'm not really sure what to call the genre, but it was certainly worth seeing just for that explanation. Some of the recurring imagery makes sense and it all clicks about how you've been seeing this child's mind and his confused perspective.

8/10. Worth the watch.

 

[Pyropyro]

Watched A Silent Voice (Koe no Katachi). It's a rather sad slice of life anime movie about dysfunctional teens trying to become friends and lovers. I think it's a useful movie for young INTP's to watch so they will know what not to do to achieve healthy relationships.

 

[Jennywocky]

Office Christmas Party.

Lots of funny one-liners and such, good banter at times... but should have ditched stupid subplots about Russian hooker pimp service + trying to make grinchy CEO sister grow a heart. Just go for the jokes.

 

[RaBind]

Just came back from watching the mummy at the cinema and man that movie was so boring. Every scene was really predictable and made my eyes roll.

Visually it was trying to be horror/jump scare sort of thing but completely failed cause their sound effects were just explosions and bangs for everything. No creepy sound effects which any good horror movie would know is essential.

Didn't particularly like the acting either. The drama/emotion was very shallow.

Just couldn't get into the movie no matter what. Some great movies you can get into even if you're watching in on your phone in 480p, while this movie couldn't at any point immerse me for even a minute.

2 hours of borefest. Overall just a really mediocre piece of shit. Has an IMDB rating of 6 and I would agree. Its probably at that level objectively, but personally I'd rather movies be bolder and do some bit really well even if they have to neglect other bits (An example is the Sin City movies), because of this my personal rating would be like 4.5 or 5.

 

[Jennywocky]

Yeah, everything I've heard about The Mummy has been really lousy. Plus pushing Dark Universe before they had even released a movie....and this one sucked.

 

[washti]

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Disappointing (although obscurus and obscurial were cool. And Kowalsky but Legilimens suck and wizarding Amercia MACUSA lol ;/ ).

It seems there will be movie about Voldemort. I have bad feelings about this. Since Cursed Child humans destroy my enjoyment in wizarding world. They will fuck up Tom for sure as well :-(

 

[Jennywocky]

I saw two movies this weekend:

- It Comes at Night. Great little movie, HOWEVER you need to view it not as necessarily a "horror" movie with literally things in the dark but more like a psychological/sociological breakdown movie along the lines of 10 Cloverfield Lane. Otherwise, you might find yourself disappointed and/or even angry when the film ends. If you can accept it for what it is, without expectations, it's a movie with nicely frustrating ambiguity, claustrophobic cinematography, and great acting by actors I did not recognize (aside from Joel Edgerton).

- Wonder Woman. I really liked this movie, and it was great to finally have a DC movie that wasn't ridiculously dark and gritty and depressing and incoherent. Diana is also rather naive at first, where good and evil is black and white, and she thinks she has an easy pathway to removing evil... she can be frustrating zealous... but along the way she is forced to develop a more nuanced view of humanity and revise her approach. I found it a rather inspiration movie, with some decent action sequences, and Chris Pine manages to be mortal while remaining relevant and finding glory in that.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Disappointing (although obscurus and obscurial were cool. And Kowalsky but Legilimens suck and wizarding Amercia MACUSA lol ;/ ).

It seems there will be movie about Voldemort. I have bad feelings about this. Since Cursed Child humans destroy my enjoyment in wizarding world. They will fuck up Tom for sure as well :-(

I wasn't very impressed with Fantastic Beasts, nor have I bothered reading things since Harry Potter. Kowalsky was kind of the best part of that movie, oh well.

We don't really need a "prequel" for Valdemort AKA Tom Riddle. I thought he was chilling enough as a teenager in scenes in the latter movies, and that was all we really needed to know of him. But studios seem to like to suck any franchise to the last drop, killing it in the process.

 

[Jennywocky]

Thumbs up on two movies with similar themes (although I don't want to spoil them):

Triangle (2009): Starts out as a drama -> ghost ship thriller but quickly becomes something else. Lots of mental coolness in there, trying to unravel who is who and what, what's happening, where it's happening, and how it ties into everything else, but it's mainly an emotional throughline of one of the characters (Jess, played by aussie Melissa George, who I've always thought was great).

Coherence (2013): A dinner party with eight acquaintances (friends, lovers, rivals, ex's) meets on the night a comet buzzes earth, resulting in a weird phenomena creating what seems to be an alternate reality. Very low budget but effective especially once the mental acrobatics take over. in fact, it was kind of amazing how much tension/paranoia could be generated that, when you step back, it's not clear why there is an "us/them" mentality at all. While Coherence does more to try to explain and explore what is happening from a mental POV, it still ends up being a personal story when one member of the dinner party tries to take advantage of the situation... (Also admirable in that the actors had no script, they adlib the entire movie; on each day of shooting, they simply received notes about major plot points, motivations, relationships, etc., and they took it from there.)

Both movies take a little time to set things up and become mentally engrossing, but once you get there they both become interesting -- not really on the crazy-mental-braniac way of Primer, they both remain very accessible, but enough to become very engaging.

 

[Rixus]

I saw Coherence some time ago. I quite enjoyed it to. Done very simply, but quite effectively for what it was. Like you said, even though there is little reason why there should even be an "us and them", it takes you into their journey of paranoia quite well.

The Boy
I saw this last night. Scrolling through Amazon Prime trying to decide on a horror film for my son and I to have for our Friday movie night. We thought it looked nicely creepy. A creepy and possibly possessed porcelain doll is always a good start. I liked the way it took you into the mind of Greta and her journey through the plot. At first, the premise is so silly you couldn't possibly take it seriously, and neither does she. Then it continues and you gradually become convinced as she does, and it leads to an exceedingly disturbing conclusion. Although not completely original, it does do it well for what it is. Creepiness is very high, unfortunately the jump scares are a little weak. I'm going to put my other criticism in a spoiler only for those who've seen it:

Spoiler

When you finally learn what "The Boy" actually is, his strength and the way he throws people is ridiculous and unnecessary. Though, I didn't see that coming. I thought they'd poured the ashes into the doll and it was possessed, the fact that the idea of Brahms was actually plausible made it all the more disturbing. I think they should have kept his strength human in order to keep that transfer from fantasy to could-be.

Still, for it's impressive creepiness I grant it 4 stars.

 

[TheManBeyond]

I don't feel at home in this world anymore

Yeah at the end of it I actually felt like commmiting suicide, such a pointless movie. It doesn't resolves anything. Everything is left hanging, every sequence on it.
Actually like real life. Meaningless.
If that's what they were trying to capture then good job.
6,5/10