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Post by Snake on May 27, 2020 16:55:48 GMT -5
I completely forgot to post about Parasite after I watched it. It and The Lighthouse were the last films I saw in the theatre before the whole covid stuff happened. I found it very enjoyable. It's I feel they're definitely going to milk John Wick until the public gets tired of it. I really enjoyed all three (even though I saw them in the timespan of two days), but I'm afraid they're going to go a little too overboard with the next one. Compared to 1 and 2, the third one is already like a cartoon. It's much more crazy and over the top and violent. I will say there's a good chance I'll see John Wick 4 in the theatre since 3 was such a good theatre experience. The guns in the battle at the Continental were so damn loud though. Yeah, I was already feeling John Wick go off the rails by the 2nd one. The first movie was perfect as a mysterious, independent film. There's an underworld of killers for hire, which may or may not be employed by the Russian mafia, with its own set of rules and code of ethics. It at least felt grounded in modern life. But it starts to suspend belief, and gets hard to take seriously once it becomes more of a comic book story come to life. It was good to see Mark Dacascos at the end of Wick 3, but his character is certainly insanely out there. A pretty big contrast from his role Yo in Crying Freeman. Can't wait to see how it ends. Finally saw "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" recently. Decent movie. Entertaining movie. Though I still prefer Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained. The movie itself feels made as a wink wink nudge nudge for people who work in the entertainment industry. There's the usual Tarantino feel-good ludicrous, hilarious violence. I think the only stain on the film is the way Bruce Lee is written to be portrayed. While certainly confident, maybe in stating that he would be able to fight Mohammed Ali, Bruce Lee is not the type to provoke a fight over a petty squabble. It felt like Tarantino wanted to make a passive-aggressive jab at Bruce Lee, while using him as a vehicle to build up Brad Pitt's character as a competent fighter. As acting goes, I would say the child actress playing Trudi Fraser really steals the show. As for the events of the film, it's a nice joke on the era of actors that end up in spaghetti westerns. But hard to take seriously in light of Tom O'Neill's book, "Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties."
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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on Jun 1, 2020 15:13:17 GMT -5
Yeah, I was already feeling John Wick go off the rails by the 2nd one. True, but somehow going from the 2nd to 3rd was just as big of a step as going from the 1st to the 2nd. I liked all the touches John Wick 2 added to flesh out the world. Somehow it fits as an extension of the first one. Like the first one retroactively becomes 'just the beginning'. Kind of like how anime series sometimes escalate over and over to top previous episodes. The 3rd one went a little too far, so I hope they dial it down a bit in the next one. She was my favorite part of the movie for sure. Certainly the thing that will stay with me the most about the movie is when Leo meets her for the first time on their lunch break. Well, that and the fact the foot fetishism was extremely unsubtle this time.
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Post by windfisch on Jun 13, 2020 19:55:53 GMT -5
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Wreck it Ralph was a fun ride - this however was mostly tiresome and annoying. It has barely anything to do with games, the one thing that made the first movie stand out. In fact the only moments I found halfway interesting where the ones taking place in a GTA-style online game. This should've been the main focus, not *yawn* memes and social media... Instead we visit mostly sterile and boring "internet-city" locales. Other than the first movie, where pop-culture references were merely quick sidenotes, the sequel relies on those ad nauseum in a shallow and self-serving manner. And having existing internet brands (as opposed to game characters) show up constantly just comes across as slimy advertisement. There's no subtlety at all to the overarching message here and characters feel poorly written and their development not very convincing.
Overall it left me cold, bitter even. I only laughed like twice during the whole thing. Can the next chapter please be just two hours of Zangief's Book Club? Not kidding around, that would be amazing!
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Post by Woody Alien on Jun 23, 2020 15:19:46 GMT -5
Ralph Breaks the InternetWreck it Ralph was a fun ride - this however was mostly tiresome and annoying. It has barely anything to do with games, the one thing that made the first movie stand out. In fact the only moments I found halfway interesting where the ones taking place in a GTA-style online game. This should've been the main focus, not *yawn* memes and social media... Instead we visit mostly sterile and boring "internet-city" locales. Other than the first movie, where pop-culture references were merely quick sidenotes, the sequel relies on those ad nauseum in a shallow and self-serving manner. And having existing internet brands (as opposed to game characters) show up constantly just comes across as slimy advertisement. There's no subtlety at all to the overarching message here and characters feel poorly written and their development not very convincing. Overall it left me cold, bitter even. I only laughed like twice during the whole thing. Can the next chapter please be just two hours of Zangief's Book Club? Not kidding around, that would be amazing! I'm with you on this one, I absolutely loved the first one but thought the sequel was very unnecessary and forced. Maybe Disney thought it was cute to make some kind of ironic self-promotion but it just comes off as annoying and shallow, plus they wasted the potential of having pretty much half of Western popular culture at their fingers and instead focused only on the Princesses which not many outside of certain demographics care about. Also Gal Gadot as basically herself, since we have to be "woke" and put in a stereotypical tough strong female character.
Focusing on the internet was also a problem since making a movie about memes would have dated the film to a very specific time, so they did only random unfunny gags, and making it about only corporate giants (because they had to avoid the most adult stuff for obvious reasons) makes it nauseating like a giant ad. Felix and Calhoun are completely wasted and Vanellope pretty much betrays the characterization she had in the first film, where leaving one's own game was more or less a death sentence. Also the film suffers for not having a villain but a series of obstacles, one of which (the virus) is just... let free in the internet world and forgotten? I don't think it broke the Internet but it certainly, as we say, broke my balls.
Speaking of films, when the quarantine started here I had to spend my time so I started watching some old films among which a certain 80s horror movie that I wanted to see for a long time. I enjoyed it and thought it was underrated, but then, months later, it seemed almost like a prophetic choice... Which film is it, you may ask. This one:
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Post by windfisch on Jun 23, 2020 16:20:43 GMT -5
Making Ralph the de facto main villain maybe *could* have been clever, if it hadn't been executed in such a ham-fisted manner. And I agree that this movie practically preaches the opposite of what the first part was about. Maybe they realized that "don't ever change and simply accept your fate" could be seen as not the greatest message? And frankly, that was certainly one aspect that dragged the first part down a bit for me. But since they made such a big deal about it last time, it seems awfully lazy to basically shrug those seemingly important rules off, without giving a proper explanation why it should be different this time. At the beginning of the movie we even are reminded of the fact that kids do love the Vanellope character. But later on she is just supposed to be not that essential to the game?
Btw: That Maniac Cop-title seems not so much prophetic but rather observant to me, since police force acting as the ruthless pitbull for the rich was certainly a well-established thing back then.
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Post by Woody Alien on Jun 24, 2020 6:02:23 GMT -5
Btw: That Maniac Cop-title seems not so much prophetic but rather observant to me, since police force acting as the ruthless pitbull for the rich was certainly a well-established thing back then.
Sure, you are right, but I wasn't stating that the film itself had been prophetic (police brutality has always existed sadly), rather that I couldn't imagine that just after watching this 30-year-old movie the world would have come to a point where the police force are being hated as much as Maniac Cop, if not even more.
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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on Jul 18, 2020 17:50:27 GMT -5
Watched the 2005 Doom movie last night. It somehow managed to not even meet the absolutely zero expectations I had for it. I mean, I knew it was gonna suck but that the antagonists aren't even demons is just tragic. There are literally only bunch of zombies (and they don't carry weapons, they're just scientists), a couple of imps (?) and a lone Pinky, which showed up so late in the movie that I was actually shocked that it appeared. Not that it looked anything like a Pinky. So it's about as intense, enemy-wise as the opening level of DOOM. The story wants to be kind of cheesy and trashy, but also wants to be kind of serious at times and it just doesn't work at all. The first-person segment towards the end of the movie that I've seen referred to as the best (or only good) part of the movie sucks total shit.
I get that it's a hollywood production based on a video game and all, but I seriously don't understand why they couldn't even keep the demons/hell aspect intact. It's just one of the most bizarre adaptions it could've possible been.
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Post by eatersthemanfool on Jul 24, 2020 0:30:28 GMT -5
I am very much in the minority in that I loved Ralph Breaks the Internet. I should try rewatching it with a more critical eye but the themes of letting go and confronting codependency hit really well for me.
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Post by dsparil on Aug 3, 2020 12:59:53 GMT -5
Finally got around to watching Uncut Gems, and I really don't understand all the praise it got. Adam Sandler gives a fine performance in it, but it's needlessly bleak and all plot with little substance. Mainly, I think it compares poorly to Win It All which is similarly premised and equally tense at times but a light comedy instead.
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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on Aug 10, 2020 10:04:04 GMT -5
I loved Uncut Gems. I didn't feel it was very bleak. The character's life was kind of in a mess partially because of himself and partially because of others. I thought it was pretty well balanced comedy/drama-wise.
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Post by windfisch on Aug 11, 2020 17:59:31 GMT -5
Spiderman Far From Home
Oh, you naughty, naughty MCU. Even though the Tony Stark character is finally dead, somehow a huge chunk of the movie still revolves around him... not being there - not to mention the presence of that even bigger asshole, Nick Fury. Masturbation can be healthy, but please keep it private, Marvel execs, would you? After all, this was supposed to be a *Spiderman* movie, right? Without those self-congratulatory, military-industrial-infused pornographic bits it could've been decent. Mysterio had potetial and Mary Jane was pretty likeable. But even with those going for it, the last third just put me to sleep, as it lacked imagination. And naturally the movie had to keep reminding me until the very climax and beyond, that yes (oh yes, baby!) this is part of a *franchise*.
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Post by kaoru on Aug 17, 2020 13:19:00 GMT -5
Finally watched Parasite. It was good.
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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on Aug 26, 2020 4:04:52 GMT -5
I've been strangely nostalgic for old Pixar movies lately. Recently rewatched Toy Stories 1 and 2, A Bug's Life and Finding Nemo, and watched the excellent Ratatouille for the first time. It's really interesting to compare the really old stuff with how video games look nowadays. Animations in Toy Story 1 are still a little stiff sometimes, and there are some blurry/pixelated textures and other weird texturing stuff. Mouths and humans look kind of scary (humans still do in Toy Story 2). It's amazing how fast 3D animated movies progressed. The difference between Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo is astonishing. Finally watched Parasite. It was good. It was.
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Post by kaoru on Aug 26, 2020 7:49:49 GMT -5
I watched through the Pixar movies some years ago. Though I think their first good one is Monsters Inc and the first great one Finding Nemo. I know a lot of people are nostalgic towards Toy Story, but the first two do little for me.
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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on Aug 28, 2020 10:28:50 GMT -5
Toy Story 1 I mostly liked because of the nostalgia, I'll admit. It's the Pixar movie I had probably not seen for the longest time (that or A Bug's Life) but I must've seen it so often as a kid. I didn't really remember the plot that well, but I when I was watching it, I still remembered every single scene, and a lot of specific animations and just the general mood or feel of a lot of scenes. Definitely triggered some long lost connections in my brain.
But Toy Story 2 (which I didn't watch as much as a kid, unlike 1) I really loved upon rewatching. I agree though that Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo kind of set new bars to clear. I loved those two movies as a kid (and The Incredibles even more), and it's great to see them hold up.
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