So what are you watching?
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Showed the youngins more important historical films: specifically Terminator One, Two and half of Three... Ran out of time on that one.
Seemed thoroughly enjoyable and pointing out how these movies were made thirty or forty years ago and how effects were more practical and the evolution of CGI and the like. They're even recognizing actors now... Glorious. And yes both films are still exceptionally watchable. Hooray.
Forgot a lot of bits in regards to Terminator 2. Just little scenes here and there of character development, especially with John Connor and his character arc.
Seemed thoroughly enjoyable and pointing out how these movies were made thirty or forty years ago and how effects were more practical and the evolution of CGI and the like. They're even recognizing actors now... Glorious. And yes both films are still exceptionally watchable. Hooray.
Forgot a lot of bits in regards to Terminator 2. Just little scenes here and there of character development, especially with John Connor and his character arc.
Street Fighter is on Tubi.
Yes, the 1994 or whatever film where Raul Julia gives it his all.
I watched the film and I forgot A LOT about this movie and what I forgot... makes sense. Like I forgot that Ming Na Wen dressed as an exotic belly dancer and in leotards for a prolonged scene in the film.
I forgot that EVERY scene that Raul Julia was in had him killing it, not just his infamous "Tuesday" speech.
I forgot that Colonel Guile's OTHER friend (that wasn't Kylie Minogue/Cammy) was that THawk guy whom I literally forgot existed in the movie.... or in the video game... or in general.
Also... Vega was in this movie. Huh...
Sixteen Street Fighter characters actually. Most movies, the magic number is seven "mainish" characters. Here they had sixteen. Oof...
Still despite how utterly hilarious, crazy and jumbled the Street Fighter film is, still entertaining to watch even now. It's immensely quotable. The action and fight choreography is serviceable and despite seeming low budget, it actually was pretty ambitious with what it wanted to do and somehow managed to pull it off pretty well. It's certainly better then a lot of contemporary bloated movies which might be more "gritty" but are ultimately far less entertaining.
Here's a news article about the films extremely hilariously troubled production.
www.theguardian.com
Yes, the 1994 or whatever film where Raul Julia gives it his all.
I watched the film and I forgot A LOT about this movie and what I forgot... makes sense. Like I forgot that Ming Na Wen dressed as an exotic belly dancer and in leotards for a prolonged scene in the film.
I forgot that EVERY scene that Raul Julia was in had him killing it, not just his infamous "Tuesday" speech.
I forgot that Colonel Guile's OTHER friend (that wasn't Kylie Minogue/Cammy) was that THawk guy whom I literally forgot existed in the movie.... or in the video game... or in general.
Also... Vega was in this movie. Huh...
Sixteen Street Fighter characters actually. Most movies, the magic number is seven "mainish" characters. Here they had sixteen. Oof...
Still despite how utterly hilarious, crazy and jumbled the Street Fighter film is, still entertaining to watch even now. It's immensely quotable. The action and fight choreography is serviceable and despite seeming low budget, it actually was pretty ambitious with what it wanted to do and somehow managed to pull it off pretty well. It's certainly better then a lot of contemporary bloated movies which might be more "gritty" but are ultimately far less entertaining.
Here's a news article about the films extremely hilariously troubled production.
'I punched him so hard he cried': inside the Street Fighter movie
In 1993, writer/director Steven de Souza battled a military coup, an ever-growing cast list and a self-destructing Jean-Claude Van Damme – and came out with a profitable picture
www.theguardian.com
Another shilling of a movie from Tubi... at this rate they are just spoonfeeding my recommendations based off of my horrible tastes... but did you know they made a movie based on the greatest fighting/volleyball game of all time, Dead or Alive?
It's called... well DOA: Dead or Alive and was released back in 2006 and I can safely say... without having ever played a Dead or Alive game... that this movie is likely the most faithful adaption of a fighting game into a movie format that's ever graced modern cinema and can say as much just by watching the movie.
Is the concept cheesy? Yes.
Is there a fight scene every five to ten minutes regardless of pacing? Yes.
Are the characters shallow and one dimensional but fun and entertaining? Yes.
Is there an excess of tits and ass and women in various states of undress, simulated lesbianism and other random erotica? Yes. Yes and Yes.
Is the fight choreography at least halfway decent? Yes it is actually. You can actually notice they trained a bit or possess some skill.
It's not a great movie by any means. But its fun and lighthearted and has women in skimpy outfits fighting each other... including a climatic duel between two of the female fighters in a bamboo pond in the rain while wearing swimwear for some reason. That's fine... it's fine.
And actually, with the very noticeable exception of Devon Aoki who portrayed Kasumi, most of the main actors and actresses actually seemed to be having fun playing up their various very distinct characters. Jaime Pressly as Tina Armstrong, a professional wrestler with a Southern drawl, and Holly Valance as a posh British thief with just strong enough accent were standouts. And again, despite having never played the game, you can readily tell they drew A LOT from the video game with a lot of the scenes and set design and the like.
Very average movie quality wise but entertainment wise... worth giving a shot despite all of the video game cheesiness baked in.
And as I searched for confirmation of my opinions... I found some. YouTuber Good Bad Flicks seems to agree with me.
It's called... well DOA: Dead or Alive and was released back in 2006 and I can safely say... without having ever played a Dead or Alive game... that this movie is likely the most faithful adaption of a fighting game into a movie format that's ever graced modern cinema and can say as much just by watching the movie.
Is the concept cheesy? Yes.
Is there a fight scene every five to ten minutes regardless of pacing? Yes.
Are the characters shallow and one dimensional but fun and entertaining? Yes.
Is there an excess of tits and ass and women in various states of undress, simulated lesbianism and other random erotica? Yes. Yes and Yes.
Is the fight choreography at least halfway decent? Yes it is actually. You can actually notice they trained a bit or possess some skill.
It's not a great movie by any means. But its fun and lighthearted and has women in skimpy outfits fighting each other... including a climatic duel between two of the female fighters in a bamboo pond in the rain while wearing swimwear for some reason. That's fine... it's fine.
And actually, with the very noticeable exception of Devon Aoki who portrayed Kasumi, most of the main actors and actresses actually seemed to be having fun playing up their various very distinct characters. Jaime Pressly as Tina Armstrong, a professional wrestler with a Southern drawl, and Holly Valance as a posh British thief with just strong enough accent were standouts. And again, despite having never played the game, you can readily tell they drew A LOT from the video game with a lot of the scenes and set design and the like.
Very average movie quality wise but entertainment wise... worth giving a shot despite all of the video game cheesiness baked in.
And as I searched for confirmation of my opinions... I found some. YouTuber Good Bad Flicks seems to agree with me.
Basileus_Komnenos
Imperator Romanorum Βασιλεύς των Ρωμαίων
I just finished Black Clover last week. Now I’m basically working my way through Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.
I think I’m gonna watch Vinland saga after that and then watch JoJo part V (Golden Wind).
I honestly had more fun which Black Clover than MHA tbh. I feel like the characters in BC are more fleshed out. Plus the anime of MHA has some really bad pacing right now because they either skipped or switched the order of a major arc.
I think I’m gonna watch Vinland saga after that and then watch JoJo part V (Golden Wind).
I honestly had more fun which Black Clover than MHA tbh. I feel like the characters in BC are more fleshed out. Plus the anime of MHA has some really bad pacing right now because they either skipped or switched the order of a major arc.
I just realized I haven't watched Vikings in several months now after binging through the first season and then some.
That alone wouldn't be weird but I had watched Vikings before around a few months after it came out but lost interest after the first season or so.
Now I'm having some weird M. Night Shaymalan moment wondering if this series... which is decent enough I guess... Somehow afflicts me with the desire not to proceed past a certain point in said series.
Do I really wanna continue the series? Or don't I and move on to something else? I sure as hell won't be starting from the beginning again.
That alone wouldn't be weird but I had watched Vikings before around a few months after it came out but lost interest after the first season or so.
Now I'm having some weird M. Night Shaymalan moment wondering if this series... which is decent enough I guess... Somehow afflicts me with the desire not to proceed past a certain point in said series.
Do I really wanna continue the series? Or don't I and move on to something else? I sure as hell won't be starting from the beginning again.
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Argent
Well-known member
Do I really wanna continue the series? Or don't I and move on to something else? I sure as he'll won't be starting from the beginning again.
Honestly I haven't seen it but I have heard good things about the show.
So I went to see Jungle Cruise. Mainly because it reminded me of Brendan Fraser's Journey to the Center of the Earth. Also I like Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson.
But overall I was pretty disappointed. The movie was two hours long and felt like it.
Not to mention that some of the action scenes felt forced and mainly there to be part of the newly renovated ride. The chase scene in the harbor felt long. It did have its moment especially the foot chase threw the town. But a submarine in a harbor and traveling the Amazon is hard to accept.
The ending fight scene had the same problems as it picked up and stop multiple times causing it to just feel long.
The chemistry between main leads is decent and overall both give a strong performances. The romance was obvious but the build up was worked and felt realish. It also mainly took a back seat to the plot which is good in an adventure movie.
They did do a decent job with the natives. I know that the 1960 version of the ride is never going to fly. It may have been the new bog standard natives are more mercenary and their primitive lifestyle or cultural values are more effects for tourists then real but overall worked in the plot.
The goofy bother is ok. He is mainly a side character used to set up Emily and Dwayne for their jokes. Overall it works even if they campfire scene about being gay was pointless. It was added for woke points or if you are charitable expanded on a character. But his character is undeveloped even with that and it added nothing to the movie. It would have ended up as deleted scene in most movies.
The inculsion of the German's is painful. Not only is Joachim generally a failuare at being comedy relief but takes time from the much better done Conquistador villains. Also is the fact that basically despite being set in WWI they play up fascist evil Germany trope that already is overdone. Every movie doesn't need an Evil German it.
As for the rest. Special effects are good, fight scenes are well acted, the twists actaully are some what of surprises.
But overall the movie is below average and even it good points can not outweigh all its faults.
The ending fight scene had the same problems as it picked up and stop multiple times causing it to just feel long.
The chemistry between main leads is decent and overall both give a strong performances. The romance was obvious but the build up was worked and felt realish. It also mainly took a back seat to the plot which is good in an adventure movie.
They did do a decent job with the natives. I know that the 1960 version of the ride is never going to fly. It may have been the new bog standard natives are more mercenary and their primitive lifestyle or cultural values are more effects for tourists then real but overall worked in the plot.
The goofy bother is ok. He is mainly a side character used to set up Emily and Dwayne for their jokes. Overall it works even if they campfire scene about being gay was pointless. It was added for woke points or if you are charitable expanded on a character. But his character is undeveloped even with that and it added nothing to the movie. It would have ended up as deleted scene in most movies.
The inculsion of the German's is painful. Not only is Joachim generally a failuare at being comedy relief but takes time from the much better done Conquistador villains. Also is the fact that basically despite being set in WWI they play up fascist evil Germany trope that already is overdone. Every movie doesn't need an Evil German it.
As for the rest. Special effects are good, fight scenes are well acted, the twists actaully are some what of surprises.
But overall the movie is below average and even it good points can not outweigh all its faults.
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Saw something else on Tubi.
The 2006 BLADE...... Television Series. It lasted one season and starred Sticky Fingaz... stage name I'm presuming because his actual name is Kirk Jones or something.
According to my research, it lasted one season on the Basic Cable channel SPIKE TV and its premiere episode got 2.5 million views but rapidly dropped off afterwards and apparently while successful still, was too expensive for the television channel that would give us quality entertainment like The Ultimate Fighter and Deadliest Warrior.
With that said, I liked the television series. The first few episodes are rough but entertaining but the show actually gets better and more interesting. You can tell its low budget. Some of the CGI is just bad and dated and looks cheap, the choreography is alright, sometimes low budget but usually serviceable, but despite there being a lot of fights and kickboxing and people being yeeted through walls, towards the end of the season I was watching the show more for the cool character interaction, plot developments and general world building to the point it almost felt like the action was interrupting that. After the first few episodes I just wanted to see vampires doing vampire stuff and vampire hunters doing vampire hunter stuff and how they lived and operated and interacted and constantly dealt with issues or plotted on killing each other etc.
Overall, and considering the price is 'Free' and your into Blade or low budget Cable action/modern fantasy television shows, I'd recommend checking out Blade the Television series.
The 2006 BLADE...... Television Series. It lasted one season and starred Sticky Fingaz... stage name I'm presuming because his actual name is Kirk Jones or something.
According to my research, it lasted one season on the Basic Cable channel SPIKE TV and its premiere episode got 2.5 million views but rapidly dropped off afterwards and apparently while successful still, was too expensive for the television channel that would give us quality entertainment like The Ultimate Fighter and Deadliest Warrior.
With that said, I liked the television series. The first few episodes are rough but entertaining but the show actually gets better and more interesting. You can tell its low budget. Some of the CGI is just bad and dated and looks cheap, the choreography is alright, sometimes low budget but usually serviceable, but despite there being a lot of fights and kickboxing and people being yeeted through walls, towards the end of the season I was watching the show more for the cool character interaction, plot developments and general world building to the point it almost felt like the action was interrupting that. After the first few episodes I just wanted to see vampires doing vampire stuff and vampire hunters doing vampire hunter stuff and how they lived and operated and interacted and constantly dealt with issues or plotted on killing each other etc.
Overall, and considering the price is 'Free' and your into Blade or low budget Cable action/modern fantasy television shows, I'd recommend checking out Blade the Television series.
Watched the second season of Black Summer on Netflix... as well as the third season of Ash vs. the Evil Dead on that same platform.
Black Summer, which is a zombie apocalypse television show, I felt had an amazing first (and maybe second episode) which had me thinking this is going to be an amazing television series. What a different... a few more minutes made though. I feel the biggest problem with Black Summer is that it feels like an amazing scrapbook of ideas. Like the Showrunners or whatever are like... I want to see THIS scene in a Zombie Apocalypse... and then THIS scene in a Zomble Apocalypse and then THIS scene in a Zombie Apocalypse nad individually the scenes are great and fun and nail biting and gritty or whatever but when it's all put together in a series of television episodes it is all jumbled and glued together that the entire television series just absolutely doesn't make sense.
Why are people milling around this suburban community? Why are they shocked by a bunch of bodies hanging in a shower a few episodes in? Where did everyone get these guns from? How were these strangers who randomly encountered each other last episode somehow pulling off this multilayered and detailed infiltration plot? etc etc etc...
I watched whole first season though because these individual scenes, taken on their own, were pretty neat even if the sum of their parts was absolute crap.
Sadly... Season Two was almost not watchable in that my eyerolling became so intense I took a week off from watching the rest of the episodes (and almost always as background noise) because it repeated the same formula of Season One... only doubled down on it. So again with amazing ideas for little scenes or encounters or dramatic or character beats all glued and slapped together because the plot dictates it. But in ADDITION to all of that, we have 99% of the characters including the main character acting like complete sociopaths. And I'm not talking Mad Max style or Walking Dead style sociopaths. People are killing each other and betraying each other and being needlessly antagonistic and homidical and non-cooperative for absolutely no reason. Everyones a selfish asshole. It's all needlessly edgy and dark and literally almost everyone in the show would've survived if they acted with an ounce of prudence and wisdom instead of CONFRONT, KILL, CLAIM or whatever was going on.
Then again... I did watch the whole show because again, there were really good moments sprinkled out throughout the entire television series like diamonds in a coal mine or whatever.
---
Ash vs. the Evil Dead... I really liked the first season... then I waited several months or whatever... then I saw the Second Season allegedly... I have NO IDEA what happened in the Second Season. I can't remember almost anything from it. I don't think it was terrible... but I really couldn't tell you the synopsis of a single episode.
Regardless, I saw the third season recently and was able to burn through it because each episode was only like 25 minutes long and well... it was okay... I really liked the characters, or at least the protaganists and I liked the kills of the Deadites. Some of the humor was amusing. Most of it was meh. Some of the gore was a bit too much, not in content or quality but in sexually explicit situations which left a bad taste in my mouth... pun intended. More gross out then egregious. And the overall story... eh... I didn't care. The last episode was moderately cool though and I liked Ash's budding relationship with his Daughter towards the later episodes. So entertaining yes... was it good? Meh.
Black Summer, which is a zombie apocalypse television show, I felt had an amazing first (and maybe second episode) which had me thinking this is going to be an amazing television series. What a different... a few more minutes made though. I feel the biggest problem with Black Summer is that it feels like an amazing scrapbook of ideas. Like the Showrunners or whatever are like... I want to see THIS scene in a Zombie Apocalypse... and then THIS scene in a Zomble Apocalypse and then THIS scene in a Zombie Apocalypse nad individually the scenes are great and fun and nail biting and gritty or whatever but when it's all put together in a series of television episodes it is all jumbled and glued together that the entire television series just absolutely doesn't make sense.
Why are people milling around this suburban community? Why are they shocked by a bunch of bodies hanging in a shower a few episodes in? Where did everyone get these guns from? How were these strangers who randomly encountered each other last episode somehow pulling off this multilayered and detailed infiltration plot? etc etc etc...
I watched whole first season though because these individual scenes, taken on their own, were pretty neat even if the sum of their parts was absolute crap.
Sadly... Season Two was almost not watchable in that my eyerolling became so intense I took a week off from watching the rest of the episodes (and almost always as background noise) because it repeated the same formula of Season One... only doubled down on it. So again with amazing ideas for little scenes or encounters or dramatic or character beats all glued and slapped together because the plot dictates it. But in ADDITION to all of that, we have 99% of the characters including the main character acting like complete sociopaths. And I'm not talking Mad Max style or Walking Dead style sociopaths. People are killing each other and betraying each other and being needlessly antagonistic and homidical and non-cooperative for absolutely no reason. Everyones a selfish asshole. It's all needlessly edgy and dark and literally almost everyone in the show would've survived if they acted with an ounce of prudence and wisdom instead of CONFRONT, KILL, CLAIM or whatever was going on.
Then again... I did watch the whole show because again, there were really good moments sprinkled out throughout the entire television series like diamonds in a coal mine or whatever.
---
Ash vs. the Evil Dead... I really liked the first season... then I waited several months or whatever... then I saw the Second Season allegedly... I have NO IDEA what happened in the Second Season. I can't remember almost anything from it. I don't think it was terrible... but I really couldn't tell you the synopsis of a single episode.
Regardless, I saw the third season recently and was able to burn through it because each episode was only like 25 minutes long and well... it was okay... I really liked the characters, or at least the protaganists and I liked the kills of the Deadites. Some of the humor was amusing. Most of it was meh. Some of the gore was a bit too much, not in content or quality but in sexually explicit situations which left a bad taste in my mouth... pun intended. More gross out then egregious. And the overall story... eh... I didn't care. The last episode was moderately cool though and I liked Ash's budding relationship with his Daughter towards the later episodes. So entertaining yes... was it good? Meh.
Saw the new movie Katy on Netflix. Ultimate verdict is it's above average. I found it deeply flawed but entertaining. Just to get the bias out of the way, I am a big Mary Elizabeth Winstead fan I guess. I love actresses that keep doing these action roles and fun ones at that without going full camp. I dug MEW in The Thing, Scott Pilgrim, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter etc and in all honesty she was one of the best parts of mediocre (at best) films like Gemini Man or Birds of Prey.
Surprise, she's the best part of Katy as well, but that doesn't save this film or make it the next Extraction. The trailers made Katy out to be some sort of fast paced, light hearted action romp kind of similar to Crank or other the like but this movie had a lot more heart and drama and character moments to it then I expected. But that's a flaw of the movie. Whoever the Director is, I feel like he's one of those types that runs the Second Unit that just does the action scenes while a more proper Director does everything else. This movie suffers because during those slow moments, whether its the script or scene or direction, the characters despite being competently acted, have to work with super stale scripts and scenes and dialogue. It slows the movie up and drags it down despite the pretty decent cast.
This is a big flaw because the centerpiece of the story is MEW's relationship with a Crimelords fifteen year old daughter who is a completely trendy Otaku type. On the face of it, the teenager sounds like she could be super annoying, but she's actually not and is pretty decent as a character. But unfortunately the bonding she's supposed to have with Katy, the main character, never really works. There's no chemistry or rapport I feel between the two. And that's a weakness of the script or direction. Everything else is there.
I really did like the action pieces and I think Mary Elizabeth Winstead does a credible job with her scenes. She's tall and has some thickness to her to avoid the perennial waif-fu derisions. There's a fight in a tea house with lots of knives and it's delightfully brutal. People getting repeatedly stabbed in the guts, knives through the face and people getting sliced open in CGI goodness. She's getting chucked through walls and manhandled and the like. People get shot in the head and brained. Delightful stuff.
Some of the later action scenes are suitably good too but sadly focus more on gunplay then delicious blade combat. The gun battles are okay. Nothing exceptional, occasionally derivative, occasionally clever or surprising. One thing I did notice was the CGI used for the gunshot impacts was extremely cheap looking. For example in a marketplace shootout MEW is running across the rooftops of these stalls or balconies and the bad guys are shooting at her and you see this little CGI explosions peppering the walls around her which just look bad. Also there's a car crash in the beginning of the film that just looks pure CGI.
Another thing is that sometimes the fight choreography seemed rushed or lazy. You'd have pretty decent fight scenes and then there'd be a bit of choreography that just looks slow or a strike that noticeably lacks impact. I don't think that's due to having a FEMALE protagonist as much as the filmmakers being sloppy or lazy or rushed.
The Japanese cast does a fine job for the most part with what they're given and if you watch Japanese cinema you'll recognize some of the Crimelords and the like. Woody Harrelson does okay but isn't really sellable as a Crimelord in this piece. And there's one super cringey piece of dialogue which is ripped straight from Leon: The Professional and poor Woody is NOT Gary Oldman. Sorry.
Perhaps unsurprising, I think Mary Elizabeth Winstead did fantastic however. These's a scene that's foreshadowed through the film and after she kills this big bad guy, instead of delivering some vapid (or badass) one liner like most action heroes, she just leans in and is nodding as she watches the guy slowly die and the way she can act with just her face and body language is just perfection.
Overall Katy is entertaining but far from amazing. Which is about standard for most Netflix films.
Little bit more time to polish up action scenes fight choreo and CGI and maybe doing the MCU thing of having a Main Director for the drama bits of the film and this guy for the Second Unit action direction and this could've been a pretty good film I think.
Surprise, she's the best part of Katy as well, but that doesn't save this film or make it the next Extraction. The trailers made Katy out to be some sort of fast paced, light hearted action romp kind of similar to Crank or other the like but this movie had a lot more heart and drama and character moments to it then I expected. But that's a flaw of the movie. Whoever the Director is, I feel like he's one of those types that runs the Second Unit that just does the action scenes while a more proper Director does everything else. This movie suffers because during those slow moments, whether its the script or scene or direction, the characters despite being competently acted, have to work with super stale scripts and scenes and dialogue. It slows the movie up and drags it down despite the pretty decent cast.
This is a big flaw because the centerpiece of the story is MEW's relationship with a Crimelords fifteen year old daughter who is a completely trendy Otaku type. On the face of it, the teenager sounds like she could be super annoying, but she's actually not and is pretty decent as a character. But unfortunately the bonding she's supposed to have with Katy, the main character, never really works. There's no chemistry or rapport I feel between the two. And that's a weakness of the script or direction. Everything else is there.
I really did like the action pieces and I think Mary Elizabeth Winstead does a credible job with her scenes. She's tall and has some thickness to her to avoid the perennial waif-fu derisions. There's a fight in a tea house with lots of knives and it's delightfully brutal. People getting repeatedly stabbed in the guts, knives through the face and people getting sliced open in CGI goodness. She's getting chucked through walls and manhandled and the like. People get shot in the head and brained. Delightful stuff.
Some of the later action scenes are suitably good too but sadly focus more on gunplay then delicious blade combat. The gun battles are okay. Nothing exceptional, occasionally derivative, occasionally clever or surprising. One thing I did notice was the CGI used for the gunshot impacts was extremely cheap looking. For example in a marketplace shootout MEW is running across the rooftops of these stalls or balconies and the bad guys are shooting at her and you see this little CGI explosions peppering the walls around her which just look bad. Also there's a car crash in the beginning of the film that just looks pure CGI.
Another thing is that sometimes the fight choreography seemed rushed or lazy. You'd have pretty decent fight scenes and then there'd be a bit of choreography that just looks slow or a strike that noticeably lacks impact. I don't think that's due to having a FEMALE protagonist as much as the filmmakers being sloppy or lazy or rushed.
The Japanese cast does a fine job for the most part with what they're given and if you watch Japanese cinema you'll recognize some of the Crimelords and the like. Woody Harrelson does okay but isn't really sellable as a Crimelord in this piece. And there's one super cringey piece of dialogue which is ripped straight from Leon: The Professional and poor Woody is NOT Gary Oldman. Sorry.
Perhaps unsurprising, I think Mary Elizabeth Winstead did fantastic however. These's a scene that's foreshadowed through the film and after she kills this big bad guy, instead of delivering some vapid (or badass) one liner like most action heroes, she just leans in and is nodding as she watches the guy slowly die and the way she can act with just her face and body language is just perfection.
Overall Katy is entertaining but far from amazing. Which is about standard for most Netflix films.
Little bit more time to polish up action scenes fight choreo and CGI and maybe doing the MCU thing of having a Main Director for the drama bits of the film and this guy for the Second Unit action direction and this could've been a pretty good film I think.
Just saw Falcon And the Winter Soldier and it was deeply disappointing.
The activist messaging itself was pretty cringe but that wasn't even a bit issue for me. Falcon's family has financial trouble.... whatever. Diet Cringe. Black Captain America spent thirty years in prison for reasons. Diet Cringe. That speech at the end where Falcon just babbled happy sounding stuff. More Diet Cringe.
What was really the issue with the series wasn't the story. I was fine with the idea of the Power Broker, with a stateless group attacking a corrupt UN style organization in order to abolish borders and states blah blah blah.... Even the characters were fine. Multiracial Ginger Karli Morgenthau. USAgent. "Battlestar." I don't know why Baron Zemo sounded like he had a perpetually raspy voice. That pointless Air Force guy Torres.
But good grief... who wants to watch such a substandard show where your favorite heroes are just a bunch of losing shits. The dialogue is blah and boring. There's only moments of that trademark Marvel humor. Everything feels both rushed and boring, like the buildup (or lack thereof) of USAgent and Battlestar. The scale seems incredibly small... nothing even close to epic despite it being worldwide. And the show just felt low budget.
The fight choreography was okay at best. Like what was the best fight scene? The ones with Batroc? The fight on top of the trucks. Meh. The fight in the random Latvian factory. Meh. The fights with the Dora Milajae. Meh. The gun battles in Madripoor. Blargh. Even the climatic fights. Just so bland.
All of the Netflix shows had better scripts, writing, dialogue, and characters and even fight choreography then Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
What's just as bad is seeing your favorite heroes are just a bunch of losing shits. Imagine having Falcon, Winter Soldier, US Agent (whose a three or four time Medal of Honor winner who got the Super Soldier serum and has decades of Special Forces and combat experience and specialist training) and his sidekick whose basically a highly elite combat veteran and soldier fight against four random activists who've apparently got the super soldier serum recently and in fight after fight, these Activists (none of whom are implied of having any sort of elite training or experience beyond 'Criminal Enforcer') keep beating up or stalemating two iconic heroes in Falcon and WS and the two new elite heroes that are apparently the best the US military can offer.
In the very first fight you had these four heroes go up against like four or so Super Activists and not just lose, but lose bad to them. Keep in mind the heroes have a metal arm, a set of wings, firearms and a vibranium shield and like almost half a century of combat experience between them and they got beat up by apparently untrained Super Activists with good ol fisticuffs.
Battlestar is literally a loser. Every fight he got into, he was either captured or held hostage or beaten up and sometimes multiple times in a fight. US Agent is a loser. He literally loses almost every fight. He even loses a climatic fight against a Super Activist girl half her size that wasn't seen or implied as having the least bit of military or combat training or experience, unless playing soccer with refugee kids is special forces training.
The fact that they all lost to the Dora Milajae is actually unsurprising considering how balls each of them actually is.
It's like night and day between Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Civil War and whoever these chucklefucks are that can't even stop a rogue helicopter or take on four super activists repeatedly.
In one scene Winter Solder, Falcon and Sharon Carter are somehow pinned down by a half dozen normal goons with pistols and rifles and they're like exchanging potshots with each other in the most boringly generic gun battle in history and I'm thinking... what the hell? Isn't Winter Soldier a super soldier, can't he just f'ing leap out of there, rip off a container door, use it as a shield, punch through a box and slam it into the enemy etc etc etc. Nope lets just hide behind cover, fire a few pistol rounds and take cover again, gab a bit, then have a plot device rescue us.
So yeah... below average. Somehow the Iron Fist's rambling and meandering adventures on Netflix was infinitely more entertaining then whatever was going on in Madripoor/Latvia with two of my favorite Marvel Heroes.
There's more to say and it's not as bad as this post makes it out to be, but... it's still disappointing.
The activist messaging itself was pretty cringe but that wasn't even a bit issue for me. Falcon's family has financial trouble.... whatever. Diet Cringe. Black Captain America spent thirty years in prison for reasons. Diet Cringe. That speech at the end where Falcon just babbled happy sounding stuff. More Diet Cringe.
What was really the issue with the series wasn't the story. I was fine with the idea of the Power Broker, with a stateless group attacking a corrupt UN style organization in order to abolish borders and states blah blah blah.... Even the characters were fine. Multiracial Ginger Karli Morgenthau. USAgent. "Battlestar." I don't know why Baron Zemo sounded like he had a perpetually raspy voice. That pointless Air Force guy Torres.
But good grief... who wants to watch such a substandard show where your favorite heroes are just a bunch of losing shits. The dialogue is blah and boring. There's only moments of that trademark Marvel humor. Everything feels both rushed and boring, like the buildup (or lack thereof) of USAgent and Battlestar. The scale seems incredibly small... nothing even close to epic despite it being worldwide. And the show just felt low budget.
The fight choreography was okay at best. Like what was the best fight scene? The ones with Batroc? The fight on top of the trucks. Meh. The fight in the random Latvian factory. Meh. The fights with the Dora Milajae. Meh. The gun battles in Madripoor. Blargh. Even the climatic fights. Just so bland.
All of the Netflix shows had better scripts, writing, dialogue, and characters and even fight choreography then Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
What's just as bad is seeing your favorite heroes are just a bunch of losing shits. Imagine having Falcon, Winter Soldier, US Agent (whose a three or four time Medal of Honor winner who got the Super Soldier serum and has decades of Special Forces and combat experience and specialist training) and his sidekick whose basically a highly elite combat veteran and soldier fight against four random activists who've apparently got the super soldier serum recently and in fight after fight, these Activists (none of whom are implied of having any sort of elite training or experience beyond 'Criminal Enforcer') keep beating up or stalemating two iconic heroes in Falcon and WS and the two new elite heroes that are apparently the best the US military can offer.
In the very first fight you had these four heroes go up against like four or so Super Activists and not just lose, but lose bad to them. Keep in mind the heroes have a metal arm, a set of wings, firearms and a vibranium shield and like almost half a century of combat experience between them and they got beat up by apparently untrained Super Activists with good ol fisticuffs.
Battlestar is literally a loser. Every fight he got into, he was either captured or held hostage or beaten up and sometimes multiple times in a fight. US Agent is a loser. He literally loses almost every fight. He even loses a climatic fight against a Super Activist girl half her size that wasn't seen or implied as having the least bit of military or combat training or experience, unless playing soccer with refugee kids is special forces training.
The fact that they all lost to the Dora Milajae is actually unsurprising considering how balls each of them actually is.
It's like night and day between Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Civil War and whoever these chucklefucks are that can't even stop a rogue helicopter or take on four super activists repeatedly.
In one scene Winter Solder, Falcon and Sharon Carter are somehow pinned down by a half dozen normal goons with pistols and rifles and they're like exchanging potshots with each other in the most boringly generic gun battle in history and I'm thinking... what the hell? Isn't Winter Soldier a super soldier, can't he just f'ing leap out of there, rip off a container door, use it as a shield, punch through a box and slam it into the enemy etc etc etc. Nope lets just hide behind cover, fire a few pistol rounds and take cover again, gab a bit, then have a plot device rescue us.
So yeah... below average. Somehow the Iron Fist's rambling and meandering adventures on Netflix was infinitely more entertaining then whatever was going on in Madripoor/Latvia with two of my favorite Marvel Heroes.
There's more to say and it's not as bad as this post makes it out to be, but... it's still disappointing.
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ParadiseLost
Well-known member
Its low budget, so they have to be going up against street level threats - and because they are going up against street level threats, they have to be nerfed compared to past showings.
Finally saw Malignant and it was amazing.
I recommend people seeing this horror movie just for how ridiculously brilliant it was. Some people described it as campy and I'm not a big fan of camp and it didn't feel camp to me but... it was ridiculous in the so bad that it's good category. The acting and characters are pretty shallow, and there's these equally shallow and yet overly dramatic moments and reveals and plot twists combined with musical cues and beats and its done so overbearingly you wonder if they realized how uneven the film they are making is. Maybe camp is the right word and if it is, then it's a great throwback to 80's Horror movies blended with modern day horror films that James Wan is known for (like Insidious or The Conjuring etc).
The film isn't particularly scary and despite building anticipation for jump scares, I can't recall any that made me jump. So it's not a cheap film. It's actually a really well done film. And there are a lot of moments where it competently builds up dread. But for a Horror Movie... not much traditional scares going on. There is gore though. There is bloody. And it's glorious. I loved watching it in theaters as well, with the surround sound and everything.
After 75% of the film being kind of an uneven modern day horror slasher film interpretation... then it just goes completely bonkers and off the wall and it is AMAZING! I loved the ending of this film.
If possible, do not spoiler this film. It's great and I feel like if I wasn't partially spoilered for the movie, it would've been simply fantastic. Definitely recommend watching Malignant if your remotely interested in the genre or concept. It's like Cabin in the Woods level of freshness and originality and really breathes new life into an often stale genre of modern horror.
The fight scenes and choreography is inferior to that of the Marvel Netflix series which are also street level... only actually street level.
I recommend people seeing this horror movie just for how ridiculously brilliant it was. Some people described it as campy and I'm not a big fan of camp and it didn't feel camp to me but... it was ridiculous in the so bad that it's good category. The acting and characters are pretty shallow, and there's these equally shallow and yet overly dramatic moments and reveals and plot twists combined with musical cues and beats and its done so overbearingly you wonder if they realized how uneven the film they are making is. Maybe camp is the right word and if it is, then it's a great throwback to 80's Horror movies blended with modern day horror films that James Wan is known for (like Insidious or The Conjuring etc).
The film isn't particularly scary and despite building anticipation for jump scares, I can't recall any that made me jump. So it's not a cheap film. It's actually a really well done film. And there are a lot of moments where it competently builds up dread. But for a Horror Movie... not much traditional scares going on. There is gore though. There is bloody. And it's glorious. I loved watching it in theaters as well, with the surround sound and everything.
After 75% of the film being kind of an uneven modern day horror slasher film interpretation... then it just goes completely bonkers and off the wall and it is AMAZING! I loved the ending of this film.
If possible, do not spoiler this film. It's great and I feel like if I wasn't partially spoilered for the movie, it would've been simply fantastic. Definitely recommend watching Malignant if your remotely interested in the genre or concept. It's like Cabin in the Woods level of freshness and originality and really breathes new life into an often stale genre of modern horror.
The fight scenes and choreography is inferior to that of the Marvel Netflix series which are also street level... only actually street level.
Wife and I are rewatching Falling Skies.
More recently, I fell down a Youtube rabbit hole known as Star Wars fan movies.
More recently, I fell down a Youtube rabbit hole known as Star Wars fan movies.
Yeah, there's tons of those, ranging from "really professional" to "comically bad, but you get a C for effort".
I particularly liked this one here, also because the fighting's quite visceral.
bintananth
behind a desk
Wife wants to watch a Nethack TTYrec of an ascention to get some pointers. She wants it to be one of mine so she can ask "why did you do that?" questions.
I have 43 saved. Picking one might take awhile because the shortest one almost 12 hours long.
I have 43 saved. Picking one might take awhile because the shortest one almost 12 hours long.
f1onagher
Well-known member
I finally got around to watching the Boys. I can see why it was such a fad back when it aired, the first six to eight episodes are actually pretty good, cringey and very dated social commentary aside. Once we reached the first season climax though it became very clear that the writers had no clue how to actually deliver and things started to awkwardly shuffle from one plot point to the next. Everything interesting about the show drained out quickly in season 2 and by the time Stormfront shows up the whole things has become a pitiful shadow of itself. I really want about six hours of my life back as season 2 was not worth it.
prinCZess
Warrior, Writer, Performer, Perv
Watched Joker because I'm late to the party but figured it might be worth it because man was there hype over the film.
It's not bad, but seems to fall into that kind of cliche brand of misery-porn oscar-bait movies just with the vague batman/joker allusions put on top? Falling Down did the 'societal commentary' with an unquestionably better ending in both moral and execution, and Joker seemed to be aping that with the Batman veneer (and, of course, the ever-aggravating two three instances of 'this thing we showed you was just in the person's mind ooohhhh, aren't we clever!" that were so absurdly telegraphed and cliche I guessed them as they were happening.)
Don't really see any of the really big lauding it had (or, to be fair, the condemnation). It's serviceable for what it is. Phoenix did a pretty good job acting the descending sociopath. Probably a different thing to do with a 'superhero' movie...But the different thing it actually did didn't stand out much to me. Would put it in that 5-7/10 nebulous zone of 'watchable and maybe worthy of mention on occasion'.
It's not bad, but seems to fall into that kind of cliche brand of misery-porn oscar-bait movies just with the vague batman/joker allusions put on top? Falling Down did the 'societal commentary' with an unquestionably better ending in both moral and execution, and Joker seemed to be aping that with the Batman veneer (and, of course, the ever-aggravating two three instances of 'this thing we showed you was just in the person's mind ooohhhh, aren't we clever!" that were so absurdly telegraphed and cliche I guessed them as they were happening.)
Don't really see any of the really big lauding it had (or, to be fair, the condemnation). It's serviceable for what it is. Phoenix did a pretty good job acting the descending sociopath. Probably a different thing to do with a 'superhero' movie...But the different thing it actually did didn't stand out much to me. Would put it in that 5-7/10 nebulous zone of 'watchable and maybe worthy of mention on occasion'.
Falling Down is a movie that it reminded me of in another thread:
And well like I said before, I thought Falling Down was a fantastic film and while the themes kind of seem similar, with Joker the journey is still dramatically different enough. Both D-Fens and Arthur Fleck had their issues but Arthur was kinda in the same general realm that D-Fens was in the beginning of the movie, but his character arc was still different and marked by far more intense psychosis and the like.
D-Fens from Falling Down apparently always had a simmering and edgy temper, his ex-wife and Mother both implied as much but never approached that abusive state and only cracked the day of the movie and it boiled over into that sort of violence that wasn't exilharating but rather just more of a deflating style of release. He'd make awkward wisecracks and witticisms while dispatching of adversaries... or annoyances but it's he's never happy about it, he just seems more tired a few seconds later with it. His journey is a lot of ups and downs but he's always simmering and always tired.
Arthur's journey is more dramatic I guess, takes place over a longer period of time and actually involves a rather elaborate hallucination or multiple ones. I actually didn't "guess" all of the hallucinations in the movie and in fact the fact that they were in play had me more interested in the movie (ie it never felt cheap to me) because I wanted to figure it all out or see how it played out. The scale of Arthur's menace also (and in my opinion not really sold me) created a lot more disorder and public unrest so the social commentary either benefited or suffered because of it. I wasn't really sold on his actions causing that unrest until the climax of the film. But by then... the unrest was already happening.
With Arthur as a person, I did find his descent into sociopathy pretty interesting and the climax, while I'd agree wasn't as effective as Falling Down, still worked for me. One of the things that bothered me about Joker's ending scene in the talk show is that the Joker never, ever stated why he actually killed those "three young men" in plain terms. He just says "they're awful" and that "everyones awful." It didn't really hit me why he didn't state the logical obvious until like weeks or months later. He's so lost in his descent, he's not even going to fucking bother explaining why he killed them either because he doubts anyone would listen or care, or because it should just be self evident.
There's bigger ideas swirling around in there, or maybe just personal interpretations of the film and that's something Joker has over Falling Down IMHO even though I do think the latter is still the superior film.
Oh my gosh... I spotted the 2018 version of Robin Hood on Tubi and figured, I knew that it got horribly received by everyone and completely bombed at the box office and apparently had stupid stuff like elephants in it for some reason but... I figured... it might make good background watching.
Whoa... is this film bad.
And while I didn't see elephants, I only watched like the first half of the movie. It's like A Knights Tale with the anachronisms but instead of having fun with the medieval setting and using it to make a better movie, this one tried to make a message about the modern day that's so unsubtle that it hits you like a rock, and it somehow manages to take itself so seriously, try to look so cool and yet still manage to be so incredibly cringe to the point it might be so bad it's watchable? Maybe entertaining but certainly not good, not in the least. I might not even think it's entertaining except maybe in the trainwreck department and bearing witness to how a hundred million dollars could be made on a film like this... like THIS!
It started off with some bad and bland introductory voice over narration before letting us dive into the CRUSADES where Robin of Loxley is accompanied by some other bow equipped Crusaders that are moving through some ruined settlement. They are advancing with bows drawn, very light on Hollywood armor but dressed in some sort of medieval garb when they're AMBUSHED by a Saracen ballista or bolt thrower that acts like a machine gun in that it can be fired everytime you work the action on it. The Crusaders are even pinned down and one of them tries to pick up a mirror to see where the ballista machine gunner is only to get the mirror shot out of his hand.
And the Crusaders led by Robin start advancing through these hallways and stairwells and clearing rooms like a SWAT team with bows drawn when finally Robin spots the Muslim bolt machine gunner on a tower from another rooftop and snipes him out. This scene, and the rest of them, were literally like generic 'War on Terror' combat scenes from the 21st century, only they replaced machine guns with rapid firing ballista and assault rifles with longbows. Later they are ambushed by more of these black garbed Muslims who are running from rooftops and shooting from windows and a half dozen Crusaders are mowed down by like a volley blast from another ballista.
The Crusaders even use terms like "Cover me!" and "Fall back" and eventually one of them fires a arrow into the air that's actually a flare to signal the "stone throwers" to open fire and then all of these trebuchets located like a half mile out of the town walls start lobbing stones into the urban area and on the initial volley are like blasting Muslim soldiers hiding behind walls and stuff.
Anyways, then there's these narmy scenes of where the Guy of Gisborne is executing Muslim prisoners and he tries to execute the son of Jamie Foxx's obligatory Black Moor character and it's so cringe and poorly acted by everyone and combined with the silly setting I feel nothing. Anyways apparently the English crusaders also have "Hospital Ships" and that's were Robin is sent back to England after he's injured.
So he returns to England and it looks more like 19th Century England with huge worker queues and soup kitchens and foundry and blacksmith style factories. And the leadership is wearing like anachronistic garb. Oh and FRIAR TUCK isn't even fat. What the hell? And he's like a Priest instead of a Monk. And a dumbass.
Anyways there's this amazing speech by the Sheriff of Nottingham about the ongoing Crusades and who they are fighting that I scribbled down:
"They hate us. Our freedom, our culture, our religion. They will come here. They will infiltrate. They will proliferate. They will choke our courts, strangle our religion and our children with their fanatical dogma." "That is why my War Tax Bill is so vital!"
Apparently Jamie Foxx, the Black Muslim character, not wearing any sort of disguise, manages to find Robin in Nottingham and reveals he stowed away on the aforementioned Hospital Ship undetected and despite having just arrived in England, has planned out this entire operation to bring down the Sheriff of Nottingham and his bank and financial machine which is fueling the Crusades (with the help of the Church) so they can make money. Jamie Foxx tells Robin his plan and has actually deduced the best way to rob and steal from the Sheriff and how Robin can infiltrate the halls of power using his local lord status. Jamie Foxx also teaches Robin (who is said to have been fighting in the Crusades for years and having killed hundreds of Muslims) how to be a better archer and thief and even gets him to quick drinking... and gives him relationship advice... basically teaches Robin everything because he is better then Robin in everything. He also gives Robin Hood a new weapon to replace his inferior Longbow.
"This war will be fought up close. You will need a street weapon."
He then hands him a SUPERIOR Muslim Recurve Bow of course which can shoot faster and more powerful arrows. He also reveals his name, which the ignorant Robin cannot pronounce despite having served in the Middle East for years, translates to "John" in their barbarian tongue. So he's not actually a reboot of Morgan Freeman's Moorish character Aziz, but he's actually Little John! Much wow!
I stopped watching (I will probably continue to watch this trainwreck later) after the Sheriff, trying to woo Robin of Loxley (his noble public persona) to support his election because Robin is so popular with the "Youth Vote."
Whoa... is this film bad.
And while I didn't see elephants, I only watched like the first half of the movie. It's like A Knights Tale with the anachronisms but instead of having fun with the medieval setting and using it to make a better movie, this one tried to make a message about the modern day that's so unsubtle that it hits you like a rock, and it somehow manages to take itself so seriously, try to look so cool and yet still manage to be so incredibly cringe to the point it might be so bad it's watchable? Maybe entertaining but certainly not good, not in the least. I might not even think it's entertaining except maybe in the trainwreck department and bearing witness to how a hundred million dollars could be made on a film like this... like THIS!
It started off with some bad and bland introductory voice over narration before letting us dive into the CRUSADES where Robin of Loxley is accompanied by some other bow equipped Crusaders that are moving through some ruined settlement. They are advancing with bows drawn, very light on Hollywood armor but dressed in some sort of medieval garb when they're AMBUSHED by a Saracen ballista or bolt thrower that acts like a machine gun in that it can be fired everytime you work the action on it. The Crusaders are even pinned down and one of them tries to pick up a mirror to see where the ballista machine gunner is only to get the mirror shot out of his hand.
And the Crusaders led by Robin start advancing through these hallways and stairwells and clearing rooms like a SWAT team with bows drawn when finally Robin spots the Muslim bolt machine gunner on a tower from another rooftop and snipes him out. This scene, and the rest of them, were literally like generic 'War on Terror' combat scenes from the 21st century, only they replaced machine guns with rapid firing ballista and assault rifles with longbows. Later they are ambushed by more of these black garbed Muslims who are running from rooftops and shooting from windows and a half dozen Crusaders are mowed down by like a volley blast from another ballista.
The Crusaders even use terms like "Cover me!" and "Fall back" and eventually one of them fires a arrow into the air that's actually a flare to signal the "stone throwers" to open fire and then all of these trebuchets located like a half mile out of the town walls start lobbing stones into the urban area and on the initial volley are like blasting Muslim soldiers hiding behind walls and stuff.
Anyways, then there's these narmy scenes of where the Guy of Gisborne is executing Muslim prisoners and he tries to execute the son of Jamie Foxx's obligatory Black Moor character and it's so cringe and poorly acted by everyone and combined with the silly setting I feel nothing. Anyways apparently the English crusaders also have "Hospital Ships" and that's were Robin is sent back to England after he's injured.
So he returns to England and it looks more like 19th Century England with huge worker queues and soup kitchens and foundry and blacksmith style factories. And the leadership is wearing like anachronistic garb. Oh and FRIAR TUCK isn't even fat. What the hell? And he's like a Priest instead of a Monk. And a dumbass.
Anyways there's this amazing speech by the Sheriff of Nottingham about the ongoing Crusades and who they are fighting that I scribbled down:
"They hate us. Our freedom, our culture, our religion. They will come here. They will infiltrate. They will proliferate. They will choke our courts, strangle our religion and our children with their fanatical dogma." "That is why my War Tax Bill is so vital!"
Apparently Jamie Foxx, the Black Muslim character, not wearing any sort of disguise, manages to find Robin in Nottingham and reveals he stowed away on the aforementioned Hospital Ship undetected and despite having just arrived in England, has planned out this entire operation to bring down the Sheriff of Nottingham and his bank and financial machine which is fueling the Crusades (with the help of the Church) so they can make money. Jamie Foxx tells Robin his plan and has actually deduced the best way to rob and steal from the Sheriff and how Robin can infiltrate the halls of power using his local lord status. Jamie Foxx also teaches Robin (who is said to have been fighting in the Crusades for years and having killed hundreds of Muslims) how to be a better archer and thief and even gets him to quick drinking... and gives him relationship advice... basically teaches Robin everything because he is better then Robin in everything. He also gives Robin Hood a new weapon to replace his inferior Longbow.
"This war will be fought up close. You will need a street weapon."
He then hands him a SUPERIOR Muslim Recurve Bow of course which can shoot faster and more powerful arrows. He also reveals his name, which the ignorant Robin cannot pronounce despite having served in the Middle East for years, translates to "John" in their barbarian tongue. So he's not actually a reboot of Morgan Freeman's Moorish character Aziz, but he's actually Little John! Much wow!
I stopped watching (I will probably continue to watch this trainwreck later) after the Sheriff, trying to woo Robin of Loxley (his noble public persona) to support his election because Robin is so popular with the "Youth Vote."