The Movie Thread....what are you watching?

[alanp]

http://www.razzies.com -- for if you take your bad movies very seriously.

[midwayfair]

I only go to about one movie a year in the theater. Last year's movie was Episode 7. This year's was Rogue One. I actually thought it was Episode 8 and didn't want to go when I found out it wasn't, but Lexa talked me into going and I'm not disappointed. I did think it was pretty good.

I think 90% of the movies I've watched on Netflix in the last few years have been kung fu movies. It was pretty cool to see Donnie Yen in a Star Wars film.

[juansolo]

Top 5 for the year... Tough, though the top two are easy:

1 - Sicario
2 - The Martian

Sicario is just an awesome piece of film making. Proves you don't need car chases to make a tense and exciting scene.

The Martian is a welcome return to form for Ridley Scott. After Prometheus I wasn't sure if he'd lost the plot completely. I'm still not totally convinced about the next Alien prequel he's doing either... But The Martian is just a brilliant film.

The next three is tough because there's been a load of eminently watchable films that were fun and enjoyable, but I have reservations on. For example Civil War I really enjoyed. But it's almost like a formula that Marvel have now and I think we're hitting saturation point on it. That said I'm sure I'll watch Dr Strange at some point, but I'm just not as bothered as I was because they're all really safe... By that, I mean compared to their TV counterparts that are much more daring/interesting. To the point that they're making the films look a bit watered down and empty. Again though, I'm really looking forward to GotG part 2. Because that was something fresh and different that came out of nowhere. I'm hoping James Gunn can keep that going without just making the same film again (which is what Marvel will likely want him to do...).

Deadpool. Again, most enjoyable. They made it how it needed to be and I'm glad it was popular. In the end I hope it's popularity, with it being authentic to the comic, actually makes film makers (well studios) more open to taking risks and allowing characters like Wolverine to have R rated films. The bloke has knives coming out of his hands FFS, how can that be anything else? The trailer for Logan looks interesting and if they go the old man Logan route and allow it to be brutal, it could be an interesting Last of Us sort of affair... I await the reviews before I jump onto that one.

Away from comic stuff now. Wow there wasn't much else that happened this year was there?! The Nice Guys was pretty good... I can understand why it's getting all the rave reviews. Shane Black's stuff is so distinctive it's getting to be like watching Tarantino's latest; you know EXACTLY what you're going to get. That said, it was pretty good, but I'm not going to go to town on it like many have.

Now then... 10 Cloverfield Lane. I might have to put this into the 3 to 5 section somewhere. I've always had a soft spot for Twilight Zone stuff, and this is dripping with it. Nice to see a main protagonist in what is essentially a horror/thriller film who is not an idiot also. The only thing that makes me teeter is the completely unnecessary end section where it should have just ended with her exclaiming 'oh fuck' or whatever it was, without the end bit, for me that'd have been a perfect film. John Goodman was awesome in it.

I'm also going to have to put Rogue One in the last 3 as it was finally a Star Wars film that complemented the original trilogy and it's audience, who are all now in their 40's... Force Awakens was just a nostalgia mash-up of the original trilogy, which is why I don't count that, I am seriously worried about where they're going from that one.

Last one to find (and I really am going through this list of mostly turgid shite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_in_film)...

Oh dear. Now, I haven't seen The Arrival, and from all I've read, that'll be massively up my street. Ridiculously so. So I'm reserving a place in the top 5 for that as there's nothing else that I can see that belongs there.

There are a few that I haven't seen yet as I rarely go to the cinema anymore so I'm waiting for BD releases of The Accountant, Jack Reacher and Jason Bourne. The last I expect to be a re-hash, so I'm not rushing into that. The Affleck one looks interesting and mad Tom Cruise rarely makes a duffer these days. But that's really about it.

[matmosphere]

Only things I saw in the theater were civil war and Rouge One. I enjoyed both but thought Rouge One was great.

Most of the stuff I've watched was on Netflix or the like.

If anybody wants a "good", quirky, sci fi movie to watch check out The History of Future Folk on Netflix. It's not good in the same way Seven Samaria is good, but it's fun to watch.

[alanp]

Saw 'Moana', it was a LOT better than I expected.

One change that I was honestly not surprised at was the magic fish hook.

Why?

In the original legends, the fish hook was his grandmother's jawbone. (And it wasn't the magic do-everything it is in the movie, but I'll let that slide.) If they had gone with that, I'm pretty sure it would have shot straight to M-rating.

[flanagan0718]

I've seen a couple of really good movies lately.

-The Monster (2016). This was directed by the same guy who did "The Strangers". Really well done and SUPER intense!

-The Nice Guys. Hilarious movie loved every second of it.

[alanp]

I suspect I know why Suicide Squad got such a shitty review from professional critics, and such acclaim from amateur moviegoers.

It's a character-driven movie.

The "plot" is just something to keep the timer ticking. Big machine, world ending, whoopee shit. That really doesn't matter, on a meta level.

You're there to see Harley. You're there to see Killer Croc. You're there to see maybe even Captain Boomerang (he of the ever-present lager can.) You're there to see the characters.

Plot, schmot. The world ending is a dime a dozen, in comic books. It's like James Bond -- you know that he's gonna win. You're there to see Bond be Bond.

But critics expect to see overarching themes, grand stories, amazing insights. They're expecting Eraserhead, not the manifestation of Hamill's Joker.

[stringsthings]

Looking forward to Alien:Covenant.   Loved the original Alien.  Not so much the sequels.
IMO, the sequels diminished the scariness of the alien.  They were more army buddy movies
that spent less time on the alien and it's unique awesomeness.  The xenomorphs were treated
as generic monsters.

Ridley Scott's work on the original Alien was just so superior to the sequels. 
Prometheus was alright and more of a return to form.  It was a bit jumbled up.
Hopefully, Covenant brings back the spooky, scary, don't-f*ck-with-me alien of the past.
Where one alien is enough to wipe out a whole crew.

Although "Aliens" was very popular, I didn't care for it so much because in the original, one single
xenomorph was a super badass.  So logically, a whole colony of them should have been able to simply
demolish a squad of soldiers who were woefully unprepared.  In fact, a colony of the super badasses would
have been enough to take on an entire army.  Just my 2 cents.

[Willybomb]

Just watched 28 Weeks Later.  Easily as good as 28 Days Later.  I'm sure I've heard the theme music used in a Brit TV show or recycled somewhere else though.

Logan was pretty good.  Nice to finally see a Wolverine movie that actually showed the effect of slashing random people with 12 inch blades protruding from your knuckles.

Arrival, and The Passengers were both worth the investment in time to watch... Fairly smart sci fi.

[alanp]

_Eraserhead_ is very, severely messed up.

[matmosphere]

Looking forward to Alien:Covenant.   Loved the original Alien.  Not so much the sequels.
IMO, the sequels diminished the scariness of the alien.  They were more army buddy movies
that spent less time on the alien and it's unique awesomeness.  The xenomorphs were treated
as generic monsters.

Ridley Scott's work on the original Alien was just so superior to the sequels. 
Prometheus was alright and more of a return to form.  It was a bit jumbled up.
Hopefully, Covenant brings back the spooky, scary, don't-f*ck-with-me alien of the past.
Where one alien is enough to wipe out a whole crew.

Although "Aliens" was very popular, I didn't care for it so much because in the original, one single
xenomorph was a super badass.  So logically, a whole colony of them should have been able to simply
demolish a squad of soldiers who were woefully unprepared.  In fact, a colony of the super badasses would
have been enough to take on an entire army.  Just my 2 cents.

I agree with a lot of this. The first one is great, but the sequels are just okay. I actually really dislike Aliens because it's too much of a departure from the original. The aliens in the second one could have been any generic monster and it would have basically been the same movie.

[madbean]

I never go to the movies alone (it's been several years) but I did see Covenant on Friday. Alien and Aliens have always been two of my favorite and I don't even hate the other two. I thought Prometheus was decent if you look past the stuff people complain about with that movie and it also was just beautiful looking. But, Covenant is a mess of a film...maybe more than Prometheus. No way to describe why without spoilers, though.

I had high hopes with the premise Prometheus set up but it really wasn't followed through in a satisfying way. And, some of the CG is down right terrible IMO. The set extensions and environmental CG are absolutely amazing but some of the creature effects, space scenes and animation are just not up to par for 2017 (more practical would have been better anyway). But my main problem was with what happens, who did what and why, etc.

But, Fassbender is so outstanding he really redeems a lot of it. He's been one of my favorites since Inglorious Basterds. Also, I kinda dug the ending. Don't mean to sound like a movie snob...this is just one that I really looked forward to and I wish it had been a bit better. Maybe a second viewing will change my mind.

[jubal81]

I never go to the movies alone (it's been several years) but I did see Covenant on Friday. Alien and Aliens have always been two of my favorite and I don't even hate the other two. I thought Prometheus was decent if you look past the stuff people complain about with that movie and it also was just beautiful looking. But, Covenant is a mess of a film...maybe more than Prometheus. No way to describe why without spoilers, though.

I had high hopes with the premise Prometheus set up but it really wasn't followed through in a satisfying way. And, some of the CG is down right terrible IMO. The set extensions and environmental CG are absolutely amazing but some of the creature effects, space scenes and animation are just not up to par for 2017 (more practical would have been better anyway). But my main problem was with what happens, who did what and why, etc.

But, Fassbender is so outstanding he really redeems a lot of it. He's been one of my favorites since Inglorious Basterds. Also, I kinda dug the ending. Don't mean to sound like a movie snob...this is just one that I really looked forward to and I wish it had been a bit better. Maybe a second viewing will change my mind.

Bummer. I'm seriously considering going tomorrow (definitely solo - no chance lady gonna sit through that). The reviews have generally been pretty harsh - like you said, that it's a bit of a mess.


I was a bit 'meh' on Prometheus, but rewatched it yesterday and it was a lot better than what I remembered.

[stringsthings]

I've seen the spoilers on Covenant, so I know what you guys mean.  I'll go anyhow; just because I'm a big "Alien" fan and I like Ridley Scott.
After watching a lot of youtubes that discuss the themes in Prometheus and Covenant, I think the religious aspects might be one of the more
interesting things about the movies.  There's so many biblical references in the movies and trailers.  I'm thinking that had to be a point of emphasis
for Scott.  And I agree about Fassbender.  He's just phenomenal.  Looking forward to his dual role in Covenant. 

As for Prometheus, I know I appreciated it more after a 2nd viewing. 

[juansolo]

_Eraserhead_ is very, severely messed up.

LOL, haven't seen that since I worked in a video shop when I was at college! Messed up is a pretty good summation of that.