Last movie watched...

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Just watched 2 Guns.

It was that or the Euro 2020 final.

It was... okay. Marky Mark does what he does. Denzel Washington does what he does. Guns go bang.

The late, great, Bill Paxton steals the show as an insane CIA agent. It helps that he has the best lines.

[Hawkmumbler]

Disney Par Excellence.

Maybe just don't watch the movies, then...? No one is forcing you to...

Morbid curiosity and a forgiving nature all too often get the better of me.

[pictsy]

I'm forcing Hawkmumbler to watch the latest Marvel films, just so I don't feel the need to.

Indeed, he is consuming mediocre cinema to protect the rest of us. He our cin eater.

This is class

[Mardroid]

It's a bit... shouty. All those kids spend 90 minutes going "Aaaaaaah!"

That's mainly what irritated me about that film. It's got good stuff in it, though. The overall premise is decent, they just needed to tone down the annoying shouting kids. I remember two films coming out around the same time: The Goonies, and Gremlins. The latter I loved...although no shouty kids. At least not human ones.

Coincidentally (in that it's set in the 80s and is centred around kids) I watched Super-8 today. It was okay, although I felt it dragged a bit, and I found it somewhat predictable.

Not sure what it says that near the end, I found certain scenes familiar and concluded that I think I've seen it before... and somehow forgot most of it.

The kids weren't annoying and shouty though. The actual Super-8 zombie film footage in end credits was amusing.

The film felt like the kind that, with just a bit of tweaking and tightening could have been better. Or maybe it's just because I was a bit tired when I watched it. (Started a new job* this week which means I need to sort out my sleep cycle. )

Oh the train crash effects scene at the start was phenomenal!

*Or more accurately returned to old job which I originally lost due to Covid situation, but  now in a permanent situation, which is nice.

[pictsy]

Power Rangers (2017)

Just finished this.  I remember watching it around it's release.  Power Rangers isn't my thing, but I am just about the age for it.  Could never get into the TV show cos I found it hokey.  When I watched this film with my Power Ranger loving friend I said that this is a Power Ranger movie made for me.  Revisiting it years latter, I really dig it.  It really is made for me.  It's largely about the characters and it has a nice feel to it.  My only complaint is Goldar is bad and the Zords and Megazord aren't too much better.  Also, would have been nice if they came outright with the fact the Yellow Ranger is gay.  I didn't pick up on it the first time around because it is so throw away.  Aside from that, I really dig this film and I'm glad I rewatched it.

[repoman]

THE GOONIES

I never saw it as a child and only got to watch it about 5 years ago.

It wasn't great.  I think the problem was that all the characters were dialled up to 11 so it was just a constant onslaught of unrealistic interactions.

If you'd told me the kids were all mentally disabled somehow, it would make sense.

Anne Ramsey is always great though.




Bit rubbish isn't it?

[milstar]

Assault on Precinct 13

Ah... The 1970s. I remember thinking how ballsy Carpenter must have been to show a kid killed without any remorse. Then again, the decade was no-holds-barred one like this movie.

Cruising

The movie has great potential to stir unrest, not just as a movie that created a massive controversy in 1979 (released the following year). Tbh, I was sure that I was never going to see the picture, but I did. Billy Friedkin's cop thriller could be the grittiest NY picture ever filmed. I realized this when I saw the movie for the first time at the age of 15; after the first murder scene, which immensely freaked me out, I realized this would not be for the weak stomach. Which came into play later on. Here we come to the first infamous, controversial aspect of the film. If anybody who didn't follow, a serial killer murders gay people and. In a rather forgettable role, Al Pacino plays a cop whose character physically matches the look of the victims is sent undercover to the underground gay world, of leather and S&M. And those scenes in the nightclubs, grossed me out. Even today, I felt vastly uncomfortable while watching those. And I'll say that probably it wasn't Friedkin's intention, but the film has considerable potential to turn people homophobic. So, criticisms made that the film is made to shock heterosexuals, unintentionally hold some weight. I know that people have various fetishes, but these are not mine. And watching those scenes made me feel a bit dirty. As if it drew the worst parts out of me.
The next aspect of the controversy is the plot. Friedkin (and I watched the making of the documentary) stated that he deliberately made the film uncertain. And yes, the film heavily relies on ambiguity. While I am drawn to the mystical quality, I realized the film ultimately falls flat because

things, murder cases, remain basically unresolved.

And the film raises many questions without answering them. And there are scenes in it that have nothing to do with the plot (like cops who harass two transsexuals). Friedkin's idea that more killers are operating (the film is based on actual events) is legit. Still, unfortunately, he painted the movie as a "whodunit mystery," which is totally misleading. Hell, it's not even a "whydunit." I have nothing against the ambiguity in films, but only when it's done coherently. Not everything needs to be explained, but not everything should feel so alien to the audience. Right now, I think that the movie is too intellectual for its own good. And here, even character development is ambiguous, or should I say, non-existent. And Pacino is shamelessly wasted here. Paul Sorvino, his boss, plays his part so lifelessly, as if he wonders, "what am I doing in a movie like this?". Dialogues (Friedkin also wrote the movie) are cringe, to say at least. Pick-up routines between gays, probably worked in the 1970s. Now I don't know anyone who talks like that, regardless of sexual affiliation. But I must commend the serial killer. I mean, the voice. Soothing, yet having irresistible, but quite eerie, ominous quality to it. Btw, the documentary reveals that the voice dubbed the lines said by the actors playing the killer(s), also voices the father of one of the suspects and for a line in the crucial part of the film of the said suspect.
Finally, one more interesting thing. The version I watched at the age of 15 had some disclaimer at the beginning, no opening credits. It went, "the movie is not representative of the gay community as a whole" or something. The version I watched yesterday omitted that. Instead, it started with the Warner Bros logo, followed by the Cruising title.

[repoman]

Oh man.  My attempt to quote that post previously went wrong.  But you get what I was saying.

[Barrington Boots]

Tremors. is on Netflix and there's not much to say that everyone doesn't already know about how awesome this is, but watching it for the 100th time or whatever I'm always impressed how lean - and therefore great - the storytelling is. Key events and items are seeded at the start: it spends a good chunk of it's runtime setting up it's characters and relationships in a way that's not boring, meaning when the action half kicks in you're invested in them already.. The characters are all likeable (apart from Melvin) and that's a real achievement, considering a retrospective watch of lot of films of the era finds the characters acting like dicks. The special effects are not great but the way the film is made covers their limitations perfectly.
Tremors really rules.

Also the Goonies does really suck.

[PsychoGoatee]

Watched End of the Century: The Story of The Ramones (2003), really really cool rock doc. Compelling, touching, funny, a bit of everything.

Then I watched Rock n Roll High School, what a fun, joyful, rockin' movie. Nutty, clever, and of course the Ramones are great in it. My first time seeing it, really exceeded my expectations, so good. Gabba gabba hey!

[milstar]

Gone Baby Gone

Gripping Ben Affleck's directorial debut. And he really made his brother Casey shine in this thriller. The whole thing behind a missing girl wasn't of much interest to me, but I liked the complexity of the entire piece, seen through the main character's eyes. And Ben pretty well uses the cesspit, gritty areas of Boston for that. What I especially liked here is that the movie ends, while on a bittersweet note, it at least divulges from the typical Hollywood lemonade happy endings and imho, the conclusion here is the only possible solution. I wish if just Ben made better use of Michelle Monaghan's character who, only starts to get through in the last ten minutes; otherwise, she's wasted.

[rogue69]

Guns Akimdo

Ordinary computer programmer Miles Lee Harris (Daniel Radcliffe), who gets his kicks by trolling online trolls, logs into Skizm's forum to insult viewers who turn murder into entertainment. Riktor, the criminal kingpin and psychopath who runs Skizm, breaks into Miles' apartment with his henchmen Dane, Effie, and Fuckface. After being beaten and drugged, Miles wakes up to find guns bloodily bolted into both of his hands. Miles learns that he has been forced to participate in Skizm by being pitted against Nix, the game's deadliest and craziest killer; she wants out but Riktor requires she kill one last opponent - Miles.

Good action movie with the comedy not over played as Miles stumbles around the city trying to escape the killer & rescue his ex girlfriend from Riktor & his men

[milstar]

12 Monkeys

When I saw this movie as a teenager, it quickly became one of my favorites. Although I hadn't really grasped then how deep, and ambitious and thought-provoking this is. I was carried away by interesting premise, performance (Brad Pitt absolutely nailed playing a total wacko and Bruce Willis showed something greater than being a cop over finding himself over his head) and Terry Gilliam's regular off eat, zany director, rife with grotesque humor and wide, Dutch angles. And I like how the movie offers a statement on insanity, hardly I heard in another movie where psychiatry is compared to a religious cult. Anyway, arguably, one of the best 1990s films.

I wonder if Bioshock Infinite took inspiration from 12 Monkeys... (but that's just me imagining too much).

[Tiplodocus]

I enjoyed BLACK WIDOW (at cinema) so I don't get the hate.

Definitely in the upper tier of Marvel movies with a smash the patriarchy endingthat Wonder Woman lacked. Some genuine LOLs and nice character bits combine with stunning set pieces.
It benefits from being relatively low key for this sort of thing (and I appreciate that using low key to describe a finale with characters fighting as they tumble to earth amidst the falling and burning ruins of a super massive hovering aircraft carrier sounds daft but that's where we are now.)

Followed this up with an excursion to Glasgae to see what they've done as set dressing to St. VINCENT STREET for Indiana Jones 5. It looks great.

[pictsy]

Face/Off

I thought I hadn't seen this film before so I decided to finally get around to watching it.  I'm convinced now that I have seen it before and just forgot.  It's a really interesting film.  I'm sure not on purpose either.  It seems to be entirely constructed on contrivances.  It almost has themes, but forgets to explore them.  The action is surprisingly bad.  It's a mess, but a fast paced mess, so I was always hit with something new to baffle my brain.  And if it wasn't from the narrative then it was from the eating competition between Cage and Travolta as to who can consume the most scenery.  The answer is Cage, btw.  The answer is always Cage.

In terms of Cagery present in this film, I'd say it is relatively restrained.  I'd probably put it in the middle of the Cage scale of Cagery.  Enough to be satisfied that you are getting your moneys worth of Cage.

Oh and I kinda liked the film despite it being incredible dumb and awful throughout.