What Movie Are You Watching?

Watched Midsommar tonight. Objectively speaking, its a very well made film with great cinematography. Subjectively though, I'm not terribly interested in folk horror/cult things even from a horror perspective so I wasn't really invested in it.

That said, while watching the movie I got a news alert that Chadwick Boseman died. I don't normally get all broken up over celebrity deaths but I'm incredibly bummed about his passing.
 
Had recently rewatched ‘The Lighthouse’ since my parents were interested in it after hearing about it from me. Think I got more out of it this time already knowing what happens ahead of time. I guess at least neither them nor my other family members are as upset as they were when I had them watch Rubber. :p

One particular preview on the dvd was for some sappy looking movie titled ‘The Farewell’. Decided to try it, still kinda fresh in my mind so I’ll have to mull it over a bit, but it’s not quite what I expected coming from something advertised as a comedy/drama. Perhaps I’m just too used to what kind of Hollywood films pass for that these days. I don’t even know if I like the ending. Overall, though, at least something interesting and different in a way where it doesn’t have to be as out there as a black and white 4:9 film made last year lol

An odd coincidence, or really not much of anything at all, but I noticed one name in the credits that’s the same as my friend over in China. Well, she goes by Angie, at least to me, but I guess Zhang Jing kind of sounds like Angie? Probably a ton of people have that name, though. Just thought that and the fact she kind of has a passing resemblance to the actress in the lead role was funny.
 
Feels Good Man.. new documentary that released a little while back now but has become available on streaming platforms recently. It's really good, it traces Pepe's path from the creator and shows what the Internet did to the beloved frog. I'm glad Pepe has been 'taken back' from the racists. I like Pepe as my primary reaction image.


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I watched Princess Mononoke tonight. I haven't seen a lot of anime in my life but know that Studio Ghibli films are pretty much essential views (even outside of anime!). I'm slowly making my way through all their high profile films. So far I've seen that, Spirited Away, and My Neighbor Totoro, with Kiki's Delivery Service coming next.

To be honest, I didn't quite enjoy My Neighbor Totoro, but of course I understand how important of a film it is. It could just be I'm older and it didn't appeal to me, and the kids annoyed the hell of out me, haha. Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke were both great, though.
 
Last night Mulan 2020(surprisingly fantastic movie!) and Curse of the Golden Flower from 2006 with Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li. Probably watch House of Flying Daggers tonight.
 
i saw quite a few movies over the past week. nothing great but one movie which i though was pretty cool was The Void (2016). its a horror film and it's a bit of a mix between the X-Files and silent Hill.

it had some great Special effects which were clearly inspired by John Carpenters the thing.
 
red said:
i saw quite a few movies over the past week. nothing great but one movie which i though was pretty cool was The Void (2016). its a horror film and it's a bit of a mix between the X-Files and silent Hill.

it had some great Special effects which were clearly inspired by John Carpenters the thing.
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Sounds like a solid movie, adding it to my watchlist.
 
Nothing right now, but I did watch Allan Quatermain And The Lost City Of Gold free on YouTube not too long ago. Has James Earl Jones, Sharon Stone and Elvira.


I am thinking of checking out Raised By Wolves, which at least the first episode is also free. Not sure that counts as a movie or a series though...

Edit: First episode of Raised By Wolves was decent enough.

 
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Recently took in a few films that I've never seen, as well as some that are among my favourites.

The Crow (1994)

Still a fantastic film from top to bottom; it isn't the best film ever, but it is superb nonetheless. For those who aren't aware, it is based on a Graphic Novel by James O'Barr, about a guy who is killed with his fiancée and he's brought back to life by a crow who allows his to take revenge and, "right what went wrong that evening." The film alters about 30-50% of what happened in the GN, but stays true in the main points the GN was to get across. Brandon Lee (Bruce's son) played the titular character and he was sadly (and infamously) killed on set, due to the prop master not being as skilled as the weapon specialist and a dummy bullet (blank) was NOT in the prop gun as it was supposed to be, but instead a live round of sorts was and when they filmed Brandon getting shot, he actually got shot for real... and died soon after.

There is heart and soul in this film and Alex Proyas does a great job directing it. The meaning and symbolism behind the images and scenes can be very powerful at times and Lee's work whether serious or comical, is nothing short of brilliant. All of the major players in this film (save for maybe Myca) act their parts very well and convincingly, which is a surprise for many little-known actors.

9/10, one of my favourite films ever (think I've seen it now a good 50+ times?)

The Warriors (1979)

It was cheap, so I decided to pick it up; I don't mind James Remar (he IS the best actor in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, after all and that's my 2nd favourite film ever) and soon after purchasing it, I discovered that David Patrick Kelly (who plays T-Bird in the Crow) was in it as well, so I figured to take a chance on this cult classic.

The teenage/young adult gangs of New York outnumber all of the major crime factions in the city (including the police) and the leader of the largest gang, calls for a peaceful meeting (no weapons are to be brought) of each and every gang member in the city, in the attempt to unite everyone and take over/run the show. David Patrick Kelly's character ends up shooting this leader and the titular Warriors are blamed, thus every gang they come across wants their head on a platter, as there will be a reward (of sorts; it's straight-forward, but difficultish to type out lol). The rest of the film is them avoiding other gangs, in order to get back to their home on Coney Island.

This is definitely a fun film and I can see WHY it's popular, but I don't get why people say it is, "such a great film." I found it good, but far from a masterpiece and far from being, "one of the best teen films ever," especially in comparison to another Walter Hill film that I will mention below, that has similar visuals, settings and the like. The acting is nothing special (not too bad though) and Deborah Van Valkenburgh looks much better in the film below (when she is on-screen for half the film, one must comment on that lol).

(a rounded) 8/10

A League of Their Own (1992)

My second favourite baseball film ever (after Eight Men Out) and given that is one of the best (if not the best) baseball films ever made, it is superb from beginning to end. Two sisters who work for a local dairy farm during the second World War, are scouted to play in a new Women's Baseball League (which actually existed), due to the MLB being on hiatus (as it really was during WWII). The film follows their journey through the first year of the league and the many hijinks, hilarities and serious moments, that occur throughout a season.

Despite the only real male presence throughout the film being Tom Hanks (one of his best roles, highly-underrated) and to a lesser extent, David Strathairn, I love this film because it is at its heart, a baseball film; the high, the lows, the feelings, the symbolism/meanings, when they talk about baseball itself in the film, I just get a wonderful, warm feeling inside; this film speaks to my heart and it truly is film about the love of the game. I can't stand Madonna's music, but I will gladly watch the credits for this film; just seeing people play the sport I love, stylized that way... brilliant.

Anyways, the acting is great (seriously top notch from major players to the extras), the cast is a great cast (Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Hanks, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Strathairn, Bill Pullman, list goes on. Even Tea Leoni is in it as an extra of sorts lol), the plot is not hokey, is well-written and just great cinematography throughout.

9/10

Streets of Fire (1984)

FINALLY got this film, as I've been told for over a decade that Final Fight was inspired by this. After watching it intently, aside from literally 2 similarities, this film has nothing to do with Final Fight lol. Anyways, deemed a spiritual successor to The Warriors and the start of a trilogy (which, due to low box office returns, kept this to just 1 film), SoF is a gritty and highly-stylized film, with a bunch of things going for it.

Tom Cody (similarity #1 for FF, played by Michael Paré) is a veteran who has just come back from the military (deemed a Soldier of Fortune) and his sister (Deborah Van Valkenburgh returns, looking much better and acting better as well) goes to see the Attackers, a Pop-Rock band whose frontwoman (Ellen Aim, played by Diane Lane) is Tom's ex-girlfriend. At the concert, a biker gang (led by Willem Dafoe) busts in and kidnaps Ellen, in her low-cut, red outfit (similarity #2 for FF; that's the only reason why I'm mentioning it lol) after they play their opening number. Tom's sister then sends a telegram (this is set in the 80s, stylized like the 50s) to Tom, to come home. He does, joins up with Ellen's current boyfriend and band manager, Billy Fish (played by Rick Moranis in a completely-different role than every role he played prior lol) and a hardcore dyke whom he meets at a bar, named McCoy (played by Amy Madigan). Together, the three of them bust into the gang's hideout and get Ellen out. Then things escalate...

People say the acting in this film (particularly Paré) was bad, but I thought it to be significantly-better than the Warriors, with all of the characters being much more grounded in reality and not horribly hammy or over-the-top like they were in the previous film. Paré in particular, I thought was great and he has a Stallone-esque voice, which doesn't hurt, IMO. The real standout though, is Madigan, as she plays an awesome character with a ton of spunk to her. Her character of McCoy was originally an older an named Mendez, who was to be played by Edward James Olmos. When Madigan auditioned for Tom's sister's part, she was able to convince Hill to change that character to McCoy and bang, she does a superb job.

The film has a ton of original music in it and while I would never put it on my iPod, it is GREAT stuff, especially for the setting and plot. If you like Meatloaf, the opening and closing numbers are written by the same writer and have a very Meatloaf-esque style to them. After taking both of them in and really breaking them down, I don't see how the Warriors comes close to being a better-crafted film than Streets of Fire, especially with the former's, "staccato," plot arrangement making it a touch hard to follow just exactly what is happening, at times: this film is much more concentrated and linear (which is a good thing). Really enjoyed it and it has become one of my favourites, without nearly the amount of flaws that people criticize it for.

9/10
 
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Based on my MUBI list, the last 10 films i've watched are

1) Bad Education (Pedro Almodóvar, 2004)
2) Fando y Lis (Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1968) (i'll also count his short film 'La Cravate' - 1957)
3) Destroy All Monsters! (Ishiro Honda, 1968)
4) Bullets Over Broadway (Woody Allen, 1994)
5) Friday The 13th (Sean S. Cunningham, 1980) (there was a short film called Lost Tales From Blood Camp on the BR)
6) Treasure Planet (John Musker & Ron Clements, 2002)
7) Bill & Ted Face The Music (Dean Parisot, 2020)
8) The Mourning Forest (Naomi Kawase, 2007)
9) Talk To Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002)
10) The Way Of The Dragon (Bruce Lee, 1972)

So er....a varied bunch! Might watch American Ninja 3 tonight to shake things up a bit! I think I need to watch some cheerier films at the moment :O
 
Truck_1_0_1_ said:
How is it? Of all the post-2000 Disney Animated Canon, nothing has interested me outside of the Toy Stories and Zootopia.
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The first 20 minutes was pretty dire, but it got better pretty damn quick. I almost welled up at the end (although most animated films make me want to cry, so no biggie there). Cracking end theme too! I started Brother Bear this morning and it's not really gripping me (although the Phil Collins songs are welcome).

I'm getting to the end of the cel-animation era which is a shame as i'm not overly keen on CGI films. I got the 58 disc boxset of all Disney films from Snow White to Moana and have been getting through a couple of films a month to have a bit of variety!

BTW American Ninja 3 wasn't as good as the 2nd one, but there is a scene where the hero slices a bad ninja up. When the ninja gets back up the hero screams "DIE!!" and he drops dead. That was worth its weight in gold :D
 
Decided to watch the live action Jojo movie...it’s really hard to judge, especially considering my memory of part 4 in particular. I watched it for my first time in just the past year or two, but I watched the whole series in kind of a sporadic rush, so I’m unsure I took everything in properly.

Things like how the Stands look is mostly cool or at least inoffensive. Outfits are...meh. Hair is extremely silly but it’s hard to say whether it’s good or bad for being so corny. The casting, well, that’s a bit of the main problem here where you want actors that can act but barely any can actually have any realistic chance at looking like their over the top pastel or buff characters. That also goes for the setting feeling so boring in general compared to how zany it was even compared to most other Jojo locale. You can’t do Morioh without the crazy colors.

First half was alright, fleshed some stuff out and all, but it felt like the second half really dragged what was originally one or two episodes when they could have included more characters and events instead. And if the ending is anything to go by, they may skip Red Hot Chili Pepper stuff entirely. Not that it seems to matter much now seeing as apparently the movie did not do well enough to warrant a sequel. Kind of unfortunate but then again I feel a live action adaptation is just not a good idea as is.
 
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Cyberpunk road trip!
 
Kiba said:
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Cyberpunk road trip!
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Oh man, I really want to see this; especially the 5 hour cut that got released recently (although not in the UK). I do love me a bit of Wenders; Paris Texas, Wings of Desire and Kings of the Road are amazing films!
 
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