Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[dutchrvl]

Not about a movie I watched, but I wanted to make a plug for the Chicago International Film Festival here. I used to love it when I still lived there, and this year they are going virtual, meaning you can stream many of the movies between Oct 14-25.

A few movies are not streamed online, and some are restricted to those located in the midwest states only, but the majority can be streamed nationwide.

They have a lot of really interesting movies on offer, including a good number of movies related to LGBTQ and/or BIPOC issues. E.g. Mama Gloria about black transgender icon Gloria Allen.

link

[Tova]

April and the Extraordinary World

So much fun.

[Blue Kitty]

4 movies over the past 4 days:
-Siren: the sequel/prequel/who really knows to my favorite segment from VHS. A bachelor party at a brothel filled with monsters
-The Night Eats The World: The loneliness of a post apocalyptic world. Feels very weird watching this during the pandemic cause the main character can not go outside or else he'll die. Not a lot of scares and more of a thinker
-Ghost Stories: 3 shorts wrapped into an overall story. I thought Martin Freeman would be in it for the whole thing, but he only appears near the end
-Cargo: Zombies in the outback. Another Martin Freeman movie, this time he's throughout and it made me cry by the end

[oddtail]

I finally watched "Knives Out".

Here's my spoiler-free take on it:

I love murder mysteries. This is one of the best ones I've seen in a long time. The cast is stellar, the dialogue is witty and snappy (which is important in a mystery), the characters are despicable or likeable as appropriate for the plot, the mystery is set up, developed, and concluded very skilfully, and the dramatic tension is maintained through some very well thought-out plotting.

Not only that, but the music is excellent, the humour lands, and here's the most important part:

The plot makes SENSE, so that the viewer can make their own guesses and attempt to figure things out. Which is CRUCIAL. The worst mysteries are ones where new information comes out of the left field with the audience given no foreknowledge to speculate themselves (I'm looking at you, BBC's "Sherlock").

Also, Captain America tells people to eat shit in this movie. Which is the best thing ever.

The movie is damn near perfect, so if any of y'all haven't seen it yet, do so.

[Theta9]

I finally watched "Knives Out".

Here's my spoiler-free take on it:

I love murder mysteries. This is one of the best ones I've seen in a long time. The cast is stellar, the dialogue is witty and snappy (which is important in a mystery), the characters are despicable or likeable as appropriate for the plot, the mystery is set up, developed, and concluded very skilfully, and the dramatic tension is maintained through some very well thought-out plotting.

Not only that, but the music is excellent, the humour lands, and here's the most important part:

The plot makes SENSE, so that the viewer can make their own guesses and attempt to figure things out. Which is CRUCIAL. The worst mysteries are ones where new information comes out of the left field with the audience given no foreknowledge to speculate themselves (I'm looking at you, BBC's "Sherlock").

Also, Captain America tells people to eat shit in this movie. Which is the best thing ever.

The movie is damn near perfect, so if any of y'all haven't seen it yet, do so.

Haven't seen it... but the name of the murdered man reminded me of the old Choose Your Own Adventure series of children's books - one of the first six (I think it was the fourth one) cast the reader as a detective and was titled Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey?

EDIT: It was actually the ninth book in the series. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Choose_Your_Own_Adventure_books

[LeeC]

I know people like to shit on it, but I just love Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula. Sure it deviates from the novel a bit (a lot) but its just so fun to watch. The cinematography is just so great! Poor Keanu was a total miscast though.

[Tova]

Strict adherence to the source material is so overrated.

[dutchrvl]

Strict adherence to the source material is so overrated.

Damn right it is. Books are not movies/series, and what works for a book may not work at all on the screen, and vice versa.

[Theta9]

I know people like to shit on it, but I just love Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula. Sure it deviates from the novel a bit (a lot) but its just so fun to watch. The cinematography is just so great! Poor Keanu was a total miscast though.

Reeves and Ryder both were awful in that film. We're it not for Oldman and Hopkins, there would be no compelling reason to watch it.
And Tom Waits. He's always a treat.

[sitnspin]

I would argue the film is worth watching for the aesthetics alone. It is an absolutely gorgeous film. The visuals alone make it worth every minute. The sound is great too. As a sensory experience, the film is top notch.

[Theta9]

I would argue the film is worth watching for the aesthetics alone. It is an absolutely gorgeous film. The visuals alone make it worth every minute. The sound is great too. As a sensory experience, the film is top notch.

Okay, fair.
I still think Ryder and Reeves are almost unwatchable.

[LeeC]

I read that they originally wanted Johnny Depp to play Johnathan Harker, but the studio execs said he was too much of an unknown and to go with Keanu since he was more familiar with public audiences.

I also liked Sleepy Hollow. I haven't watched it in years but I thought it was great too. Dracula though is my go to for the Halloween season. Hocus Pocus too.

[Theta9]

I read that they originally wanted Johnny Depp to play Johnathan Harker, but the studio execs said he was too much of an unknown and to go with Keanu since he was more familiar with public audiences.

I also liked Sleepy Hollow. I haven't watched it in years but I thought it was great too. Dracula though is my go to for the Halloween season. Hocus Pocus too.

The Harkers should have been cast with English actors. Even I can do a better accent than Reeves or Ryder did.

[N.N. Marf]

Coppola is hit-or-miss. Half his films are great, half his films are terrible. Many persons agree even on the exact partition, but for some reason, don't agree which are the good ones, which are the bad ones. I'll probably watch Dracula if I think it's in of the good ones.. What's your opinion of The Godfather?

[LeeC]

What's your opinion of The Godfather?

Its a real slow burn, was intriguing and I am glad I to have watched it. However its too much of a commitment to watch it. If I see Dracula on tv or offered on a stream service, I'd probably watch it. I do not feel that way toward The Godfather.

[sitnspin]

I can't comment on the "objective" quality of The Godfather, it may possibly be a well crafted piece of cinema,  I can only say that it definitely wasn't my taste. It was largely boring to me, and I really didn't care about any character in it.

[oddtail]

I watched "Shazam!" a few days back. It being on Netflix now and all.

For the most part, I'm so tired of superhero movies. This one joins the relatively short list of those that do something different, and stand out in a good way.

It's funny, it's touching, and it's a childish power fantasy, with a villain who is silly by virtue of being a bit *too* menacing and intimidating to be taken entirely seriously (and that's a tough balance to find, because it's not a caricature of a bad guy. It's a believable bad guy, but in a "straight man to the protagonist's zaniness" sort of way. Kinda reminds me of the villain in the first GotG, but much better realised).

I highly recommend it if you haven't watched it, even if you're as hopeful as I am that popular culture will FINALLY move on from superheroes to the next big thing. It's not a masterpiece, it's "merely" a good, fun movie. But it's honestly different, and THANK GOD for that.

[Blue Kitty]

I watched it and Aquaman pretty close together and I definitely like Shazam more.

We're on the last day of October so I'm on the last day of my horror binge. The movies since my last update were:

-Let The Right One In: the original, not the remake. Definitely creepy and atmospheric. A kid befriends a vampire
-Vampire Cleanup Department: Felt like a USA channel movie, though it was nice seeing Chinese hopping vampires. A government department that takes care of vampires in Hong Kong
-Vampires vs. the Bronx: nice actiony vampire movie with kids, definitely felt like the stakes were higher in it compared to Goosebumps 2. The title tells you everything you need to know
-Oculus: incredibly creepy and original. Two kids confront the mirror that threw their family into chaos
-Teeth: Not so creepy, more of a comedy really. A woman finds out she has teeth in her vagina
-Creep: more creepy, though very odd and indie. A man is invited to document a weirdo for a whole day
-Tragedy Girls: two girls idolize serial killers and plan on becoming them. Negasonic Teenage Warhead is one of the leads
-30 Days of Night: Still one of my favorite vampire films, amazing makeup and effects
-Under the Shadow: Very creepy and atmospheric, a woman is haunted by something during the bombing of Iran
-Pooka: A little weird, but fun. Definite unreliable narrator. A man slowly grows crazy as he has to play a mascot character for the hottest toy of Christmas
-Invasion of the Bodysnatchers: the 70s classic. It was weird seeing a baby Jeff Goldblum
-Paranorman: Still amazing after all the times I've seen it, still my favorite Laika movie
-The Housemaid: I got this one confused with the Handmaiden, but this one is a Vietnamese ghost story
-John Carpenter's Vampires: This one wasn't as good, the premise was nice but then they threw it all out the window in the first 20 or so minutes
-Winchester: The setting and characters were good, but overall it was disappointing
-Goodnight Mommy: Two kids think there mom isn't who she says she is after she comes home from facial surgery. Very creepy and genuinely terrifying
-Mothman Prophecies: I completely forgot that Jim Carrey was in this
-The Autopsy of Jane Doe: The standout movie of this month. Pretty much everything about this movie was great, From the start to the windup and all the way to the end
-Bad Hair: A woman gets a weave of evil hair. All of the cameos really make this movie shine
-Phantasm: 70's horror movie that doesn't really know what it wants to be most of the time
-Perfect Blue: My favorite Satoshi Kon film, a popstar has a nervous breakdown as she tries transitioning into being a film star

The winner of this month was Autopsy of Jane Doe, and the loser would have to be John Carpenter's Vampires. While Winchester was disappointing it had a nice setting and characters, and the house was just amazing, and One Eyed Monster was at least weird/funny. Vampire's just didn't really have anything going for it.

Aside from Paranorman, 30 Days of Night, Perfect Blue, and the Mothman Prophecies, all the movies were new to me

[TorporChambre]

-Perfect Blue: My favorite Satoshi Kon film, a popstar has a nervous breakdown as she tries transitioning into being a film star

His Magnetic Rose: spacegarbagemen begrudgingly answering abandoned distress ...

Vampires ... stakes were higher

:clairedoge:

[Theta9]

Kon is probably my favorite filmmaker, periodendofsentence.

(Edit: Tokyo Godfathers is my favorite Christmas movie.)

[Welu]

Happy Death Day 2 U
Fun film, lots of genre fuckery. The first film has more horror than this one so don't go into this one expecting many scares.

Annabelle Comes Homes
Enjoyed this, was a good Halloween watch. Standard enough horror with a 60s aesthetic backdrop.

[Tova]

Happy Death Day 2 U

Ah, thanks..?

Wait, what thread am I in?

Oh, right. 

[hedgie]

Obligatory Red Dwarf:

[Blue Kitty]

Kon is probably my favorite filmmaker, periodendofsentence.

(Edit: Tokyo Godfathers is my favorite Christmas movie.)

I like to mix it up every Christmas by bringing in a new Christmas movie for the in-laws to watch. I wasn't sure what they would think of Tokyo Godfathers since I myself hadn't seen it but my father-in-law loved it

[cybersmurf]

Are we talking "Die Hard is a Christmas movie!" Christmas movies here?

[Theta9]

I like to mix it up every Christmas by bringing in a new Christmas movie for the in-laws to watch. I wasn't sure what they would think of Tokyo Godfathers since I myself hadn't seen it but my father-in-law loved it

What did you think of it?

[Blue Kitty]

Are we talking "Die Hard is a Christmas movie!" Christmas movies here?

No, nothing like that. I saved that for my old work place when I would bring in movies that are set during Christmas but have nothing to do with it, like Die Hard, Batman Returns, Iron Man 3, etc.

Mainly the in-laws just watch Christmas Vacation over and over, so I brought over that and the Muppet Christmas Carol


I really liked it. Some of it is dated, like a couple of slurs, but overall it's a good movie. We even did it in Japanese with subtitles and we all loved it. My father-in-law even wanted the DVD for his own personal collection

[LeeC]

Muppet Christmas Carol is probably my favorite version of the story. Home Alone is also a classic I typically watch around Christmas.

November is the month for Thanksgiving here in the US, and I always felt Harry Potter (since its marathoned on TV around then) and Fantastic Mr. Fox qualify as my Thanksgiving movies. Also anything from Bob's Burgers.  Since its Bob's favorite holiday in show, they usually do a Thanksgiving episode every season (although, not always). “An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal” and “Turkey in a Can” being my favorites, but honestly they're all pretty good.

[Thrillho]

Our friends leant us their Disney Plus login, which allows us to watch many Disney things slightly less guiltily.

I was very suspicious of Frozen 2's very existence, but it is astonishingly good. There have been a handful of animated sequels that I think have actually surpassed their predecessors, I don't think this one quite did that, but it is a pretty jaw-dropping movie.

Disney is going to be seen by children no matter what I do or say. However meek their attempts to seem woke may be, as far as I'm concerned they're still going to make a difference.

[Tova]

Lost In Translation

A beautiful film.

An object lesson in how to tell a story without explaining absolutely everything to your audience.

[N.N. Marf]

Just watched The Passions According to Andrej (1966).

explaining absolutely everything to your audience

Wait.. there are films like that? What terrible viewing that'd make. Well, maybe it could be done well.. I doubt.

[Tova]

There are many fine films like that.

[sitnspin]

There are ways of "explaining" that are not literally speaking it aloud exposition style. I would say most stories do this.

[Tova]

Yes. In part, I do mean "don't explain everything exposition style" (show, don't tell).

I also mean, "leave at least something for the audience to interpret."

[Theta9]

I was very suspicious of Frozen 2's very existence, but it is astonishingly good. There have been a handful of animated sequels that I think have actually surpassed their predecessors, I don't think this one quite did that, but it is a pretty jaw-dropping movie.

I liked it better when it was called Avatar: The Last Airbender   

[Gyrre]

Yes. In part, I do mean "don't explain everything exposition style" (show, don't tell).

I also mean, "leave at least something for the audience to interpret."

Then there's wonderful movies like The Fifth Element where the world simply is.

[Thrillho]

I was very suspicious of Frozen 2's very existence, but it is astonishingly good. There have been a handful of animated sequels that I think have actually surpassed their predecessors, I don't think this one quite did that, but it is a pretty jaw-dropping movie.

I liked it better when it was called Avatar: The Last Airbender   

I am shocked - nay, outraged - at the suggestion that Disney would create something that was heavily borrowing from other things

If I give this post any more sarcasm the forum might crash again

[Tova]

Just popping in to point out that all creators borrow, including Jeph.

Everything's a remix.

[sitnspin]

I was very suspicious of Frozen 2's very existence, but it is astonishingly good. There have been a handful of animated sequels that I think have actually surpassed their predecessors, I don't think this one quite did that, but it is a pretty jaw-dropping movie.

I liked it better when it was called Avatar: The Last Airbender   

Nobody liked that movie.

[Farideh]

I was very suspicious of Frozen 2's very existence, but it is astonishingly good. There have been a handful of animated sequels that I think have actually surpassed their predecessors, I don't think this one quite did that, but it is a pretty jaw-dropping movie.

I liked it better when it was called Avatar: The Last Airbender   

Nobody liked that movie.

It's true - we tried watching it, turned it off after 20 mins, and went back to the series again.

[LeeC]

Has anyone ever watched a movie or tv show and felt personally called out. I don't mean insulted but more like called you out on your shit. I just watched the season opener for the newest Bobs Burger's season "Dream a Little Bob of Bob"and wow. Ouch. I have never more identified with Bob and felt like like I was called out on my behavior when it comes to self care. Like seriously, damn.

Edit: Also the next episode about Pinworms is a great allegory for the Covid-19 pandemic and is wonderful but might give you the sensation of being itchy when you're not.

[Theta9]

I was very suspicious of Frozen 2's very existence, but it is astonishingly good.

I liked it better when it was called Avatar: The Last Airbender   

Nobody liked that movie.

What movie?

[Tova]

Warning: snark overflow

[Theta9]

 

Warning: snark overflow

[Gyrre]

Andron.

Oof. I can appreciate whate they were trying to do but it's still a bit of a mess. Somewhere between a B and C movie.

[N.N. Marf]

Warning: snark overflow

So it turns out too much snark, becomes anti-snark.

[Farideh]

Random movie I watched recently: 'Animal World'. Lots of 'Deadpool' vibes. The movie is mostly in Chinese, but about 20 minutes in Michael Douglas shows up and starts speaking English. Kinda threw me off 😁 The premise of the movie sounds a bit ridiculous (playing rock-paper-scissors with very high stakes), but it involves a lot of chance calculations and human psychology.

I enjoyed this movie once I got into it.

[Gyrre]

Random movie I watched recently: 'Animal World'. Lots of 'Deadpool' vibes. The movie is mostly in Chinese, but about 20 minutes in Michael Douglas shows up and starts speaking English. Kinda threw me off 😁 The premise of the movie sounds a bit ridiculous (playing rock-paper-scissors with very high stakes), but it involves a lot of chance calculations and human psychology.

I enjoyed this movie once I got into it.

I saw the previews for that and it looked interesting. I'll have to check it out.

[Theta9]

Warning: snark overflow

So it turns out too much snark, becomes anti-snark.

Still not clear on what you're referring to.

[N.N. Marf]

Warning: snark overflow

So it turns out too much snark, becomes anti-snark.

Still not clear on what you're referring to.

Sorry, it's one of those things that becomes tacitly understood---it's `obvious'---after a while inured in the schlock---there's even a website named after it, so it kinda slipped my mind that it's jargon. An `overflow,' often, is a (computer) error condition about too-much. I was referencing integer overflow, where adding 1 to the maximum value, becomes the minimum value---a `large' negative number, in some cases.
(I would be interested to know if this is too much or still too little explanation, to better calibrate my sense of how much explanation would be appropriate.)