Last movie watched...

[karlos]

Totally agree. I'm new to the Dirty Pair but I can see that the characters are definitely written drastically different here.

But, yeah, what a visually appealing piece of anime.

[judgeurko]

Pretty Things. Best film of the year.

[Hawkmumbler]

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

If this does transpire to be Martys final ode to the medium, I dare say we could have asked for a greater send off.
I'm not saying we'll never see the likes again, a true genius of the medium working with quite so wide a canvas to such aplomb, but it feels of a dwindling breed.

[Funt Solo]

The Professionals [1966]
Somehow managed to have missed this one before. It's not perfect (for that, you've got The Wild Bunch, three years later), and you've got to pretend you're not seeing the white-washing - but Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Jack Palance are all on top form on a mission to rescue a kidnapped wife south of the border.

Best lines:
- "You bastard!"
- "Yes, well - for me it was an accident of birth - but you're a self-made man."

[pictsy]

I rewatched Teen Wolf for the first time since I was a kid.

Meh.  It has multiple themes going and none really have time to develop and resolve satisfyingly.  One thing the very explicitly makes sure you understand is it's not an allegory for being gay.  It did so very quickly.  It was like a drive-by but homophobia instead.

I can see why I remembered the film existing but hadn't, until now, sought it out to watch again.

[Barrington Boots]

I saw Teen Wolf at the cinema and remember it fondly, but it is on the whole absolutely terrible. All the 'kids' are obviously about 30.

However it does have a banger from Mark Safan on the soundtrack and the best life advice ever from the coach: "Never get less than twelve hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body." These are words to live by.

[pictsy]

The coach was one of the few highlights.  He didn't give a shit.  I also liked the background character, Tina.

Last night I watch GitS: Innocence wrapping up a GitS kick I've been on of late.  This film is just disappointing.  It could have easily rivalled the original '95 film, but the awkward CGI throughout is far too jarring.  Sometimes the use of CGI blends beautifully with the 2D animation, but mostly it distracts.  The soundtrack was a poor rearrangement of the '95 film, and again is just distracting.  If there weren't these missteps, it would be a classic.  This film showcases some of the finest demonstrations of talent I've seen in an animated film - then it cuts to a butt ugly 3D rendition of seagull.

It's still a pretty good film, but the potential that it clearly could have been amazing leaves a sour taste.

[pictsy]

Continuing my journey in revisiting films I haven't seen in a long while I watched Universal Soldier.

I enjoyed it more than I was expecting.  Dolph Lundgren puts in a fun performance and the narrative is very basic - which works for it's benefit because it's a reasonably dumb film.  Ally Walker brings the much needed charm to counter-balance Jean-Claude Van Damme's robotic interpretation of his bland character (his best moment was a diner scene).  It was all just a lot of silly fun for 100 minutes.

There are sequels as well.

[JayzusB.Christ]

The 1989 Pet Sematary, last night. Last time I saw it was probably about 1990.  Pretty good, and worth the watch, with a few good scares in it. Weird how production-wise it looks like a low-key TV drama, but the horror and misery is just relentless.

Next stop, the new version, which looks ok in the trailer though I've already spotted the massive plot change.  I'm not sure if that can be quite as horrific and tragic as what happened in the book and the old film, but I'll hold my judgment till I see it.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Scuse the double post, but I had to turn off the new Pet Sematary - the silly truth is that I couldn't face watching

SPOILER





Church die twice in two nights.  Or four times, now I think of it.

[Barrington Boots]

Continuing my journey in revisiting films I haven't seen in a long while I watched Universal Soldier.

I enjoyed it more than I was expecting.  Dolph Lundgren puts in a fun performance and the narrative is very basic - which works for it's benefit because it's a reasonably dumb film.  Ally Walker brings the much needed charm to counter-balance Jean-Claude Van Damme's robotic interpretation of his bland character (his best moment was a diner scene).  It was all just a lot of silly fun for 100 minutes.

There are sequels as well.

I love Universal Soldier!
A few years back we embarked on a JCVD marathon and this was comfortably top of my wifes list and close to the top of mine. Van Damme himself, Dolph and Ally Walker are all excellent in it: the plot is nonsense, but it's enjoyable nonsense. Its neither relentlessly grim nor total pastiche, and it's of its time but such a good action film.
Don't bother with the sequels, all terrible.

[pictsy]

Against all sensible advise I watched Universal Soldier: The Return.  I skipped the two direct tv-movie sequels.

It's a bad film in an interesting way.  It's a collage of derivative elements implemented with, what seems, a lack of a surface level understanding of each part.  A heavy metal soundtrack that screams late 90's and explosions that would make Michael Bay wet with excitement. I'd say the pyrotechnicians bought their A game to this film, with a climatic wall of fire to end the film.  And it pretty much does end with the explosion - it's very abrupt.

Generally speaking, the incompetents on display is impressive.  I probably won't watch it a second time.  The films ineptitude is what kept me engaged and I don't think that has enough value for repeat viewings.

The next sequel, apparently the third direct sequel to the first film, has Dolph return.

[Hawkmumbler]

I'll bat for UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING any day of the week.

Genuinely excellent little movie.

[pictsy]

I'll bat for UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING any day of the week.

Genuinely excellent little movie.

Of my brief research into the sequels, that one seemed the most interesting and is pretty much the reason I decided to watch the sequels.  I'm still going to manage my expectations going into it.

[Barrington Boots]

In fairness I haven't seen that one, and it does sound quite interesting.