Last movie watched...

[von Boom]

Are we still talking Sports Films?

I lost track a page or two back.

I will add the Rob Schneider and sports film The Benchwarmers. An awful film in the best of ways.

[The Legendary Shark]

Chariots of Fire, purely for the soundtrack, of course. And the story (whatever it was, I forget because I was too wrapped up in the soundtrack). I think there might have been a war in it.

I guess films like Hidalgo and Seabiscuit would also be eligible. What was that fairly recent one about the ice skater who punched people? That was pretty cool.

But yeah, I reckon #1 has to be Escape to Victory - it has Sly and Pele and Nazis [spoiler]getting beaten in the end because football[/spoiler] and... everything. It's like Zulu with FA oversight.

[Colin YNWA]

'Dear Mr Watterson' a documentry that explores Calvin and Hobbes... its so nice and warm and fuzzy its not that interesting...

Which lead me to Indie Gamie: The Movie which has none of these problems. its a wonderfully warts and all insight into the development of independent games. Its full of wonderful characters, all be they, you know real folks, but they are delightful to spend some time with, even if at times a little baffling and even occasionally unpleasent. The passion, commitment and real talent also shines through as well.

I knew nothing about the games and their creators before watching this, I suspect more folks who know more about these things will know these folks the way we know the droids. I think that will add an extra level, but to be honest I really felt the benefit of meeting them cold as they really where fantastic to spend an hour and a half with.

Well worth checking out - free on Amazon Prime if you fancy doing so.

[pictsy]

Are we still talking Sports Films?

I lost track a page or two back.

I will add the Rob Schneider and sports film The Benchwarmers. An awful film in the best of ways.

Am I now going to be forever associated with Rob Schneider?

[Professor Bear]

How does a movie thread on a forum for a sci-fi comic discuss sports movies yet not even mention Rollerball?

I mean, it was LL Cool J's best film.

[von Boom]

Are we still talking Sports Films?

I lost track a page or two back.

I will add the Rob Schneider and sports film The Benchwarmers. An awful film in the best of ways.

Am I now going to be forever associated with Rob Schneider?

You've only yourself to blame.

[Funt Solo]

How does a movie thread on a forum for a sci-fi comic discuss sports movies yet not even mention Rollerball?

Or Point Break.

[pictsy]

Am I now going to be forever associated with Rob Schneider?

You've only yourself to blame.

I know... but still.

[milstar]

I watch about 30 minutes of the remake and it was more like Rollerballs so went to bed.

I watched the remake before I knew the movie is so bad and needlessly to say, for a McTiernan fan like me, it was just painful experience. I hated almost everything about the movie. Curiously, I heard that original script for the remake was much better than original film.

How does a movie thread on a forum for a sci-fi comic discuss sports movies yet not even mention Rollerball?

I mean, it was LL Cool J's best film.

After Mindhunters and Deep Blue Sea.

Kick Ass 2 (2013)

Well, I thought this was gonna a mess of a film, but ultimately, I was entertained at the end. Although this filmlacks wit of the predecessor and is more restrained than first and certainly watered down compared to the source material. But I admit that is impossible to fairly recreate scene by scene from the comic(s) into a feature film. But action sequences were okay, and I like what they did to the characters. I am big fan of the comic book series and this film doesn't disappoint for what it tried to do with Kick-Ass and Hit-girl.

[TordelBack]

(And still no-one has mentioned Dodgeball, or The Van for that matter).


I quite enjoyed Kick-Ass 2 meself.

[Mardroid]

Not a sports film (although there are plenty of scenes of young ladies jumping about and kicking stuff) but the most recent film I watched was Sucker Punch.

I think I largely like it. The premise and setting was interesting, as was the concept of layers of fantasy... but I  wish they had done something more clever with it. Instead we got [spoiler]Baby Doll is going to dance as a distraction, while the others complete their current mission. Cue elaborate action fantasy sequences of young ladies kicking strange bottom wearing uniforms which I suspect are not regulation. (Baby Doll saves the day in these scenarios, although in the real world it's the other ladies who are undertaking the dangerous missions, while she prances about -which you never actually see her do -... but it is her fantasy.) They even do that silly dropping from a great height and landing on one knee thing of action films.

I felt sorry for the two dragons. [/spoiler]


The fantasy action scenes were spectacular, and they were a mad ride... yet I found myself feeling a bit bored after a while.

The overall story was quite slight. That's not necessarily a bad thing... but I think more could have been done with this film. [spoiler]The layers of fantasy did get a little more confusing at the end - again not a bad thing as it gave me something to think about. Mainly there was a suggestion that the scenes that seemed 'reality' were likely just another layer on what was really happening. It is signposted at the start but you spend so much time in that intermediate reality you can miss it until later. [/spoiler]

Overall, okay film. Not quite as clever as it thinks it is, maybe. Interesting but a bit disappointing.  I've seen it dismissed as 'tittilating' and 'style over substance.' I can understand why, although I don't entirely agree. The ladies wear quite skimpy outfits and kick a lot of bottom, although I didn't find it particularly
titillating, although a teenaged boy might. A couple of men at the asylum/bordello do act in a predatory way, but it isn't shown as anything but unpleasant. [spoiler]And they get their comeuppance.[/spoiler]

They certainly aren't vacuous women although it would have been nice to show more of their personalities, in a couple of cases. These women are victims, but the story is about them rising above that, albeit partly through fantasy. Maybe more could have been done with that.

There is some substance but it is buried somewhat in the action montage stuff. (The 'style' if you like.)

Is it odd that I find the film both a bit shallow and thought provoking at the same time? A sign it had something but should have done more with that something, maybe.

I did like the end concerning [spoiler]Baby Doll and Sweet Pea.[/spoiler]

By the way, if you don't switch off during the Bjork number in the end credits, there's am extravagant camp duet performance between the main villain and the Madame character singing 'Love is the drug...'.. with the other actresses as backing dancers. Well I found it amusing.

[TordelBack]

I always think of Sucker Punch as the epitome of 'careful what you wish for'.

[pictsy]

I never watched that one, especially after deciding never to watch another Zack Snyder ever.  A rule I unfortunately broke when a friend harassed me into watching his two DC films.  The friend profusely apologises even to this day and the rule has been sternly reimposed.  Never again.  Never again.

[Jim_Campbell]

I never watched that one, especially after deciding never to watch another Zack Snyder ever.

It's terrible. Possibly not the worst film I've ever seen, but definitely a contender.

[wedgeski]

This thread has inspired Mrs. Wedgeski and I to make Friday night "film we haven't seen night". We were getting into a rut with just watching stuff off our shelf. With cinemas closed for a year, we've barely been watching anything new at all.

Last week was Project Power (Netflix). I have little to say about this. It's a dictionary definition 3-star action film with the occasional novel idea. You should watch it if you literally cannot think of anything else to watch.

Last night was Hotel Artemis (Prime). Here's one we missed on its way past a couple of years ago. We were browsing options for the evening and as soon as Goldblum appeared Mrs. Wedgeski's decision was made. I expected it to be excellent and wasn't disappointed--a kind of post-John Wick criminal mythology setting with great performances from everyone. I'm sure her brokenness was supposed to be mirrored in the rioting-LA-of-the-future but if the film has a weakness it's that the setting outside the walls of the hotel wasn't ever used to its potential, and the idea of a bank-vault-secure criminal hospital as a last refuge for the underworld was played secondary to the plot manipulations needed for the nurse to have her character arc. Nevertheless, we enjoyed every second, and it's nice and short, which in action movies is always a plus in my book.