Topic: Movie thread.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Netflix) - Watched this last night and it was a really fun time. It was definitely a visual spectacle (I really liked how it avoided the homogenized look Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, and other western CG productions have), and it had some fun characters.

I watched a bunch of stuff recently, so in no particular order:

Redbelt. Written and directed by David Mamet, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and a bunch of other people. Very good movie. It's a tense and psychological drama about a jui-jitsu master who prefers not to compete who is slowly drawn into the corrupt world of tournament fighting.

Quiz Show. Robert Redford's classic about the game show scandal surrounding 21 in the 50s. Lots of amazing performances from the likes of Ralph Fiennes and Paul Scofield.

Straight Outta Compton. Had never seen this until the other day, and didn't know much at all about NWA or their music, but it's a compelling movie. It's pretty charitable to the main characters (who all produced the movie) but shows some of their flaws as well.

Fast 5. I'm working my way through this franchise cause it's part of the cultural zeitgeist and I'm finding them actually very enjoyable. I feel like 5 is when the series really kicks into high gear, after floundering a lot in 2-4.

I am going to see Toy Story 4 on Thursday. My favourite one is the second one. I've not been reading reviews but I just think that it is going to be the worst one out of them. Better to have low expectations

Papillon (DVD) - True story from the 1930's that sees a Parisan thief framed for a murder he didn't commit and sent to a penal colony in French Guiana that was famed for being inescapable. I won't spoil the ending, but the film chronicles all the escape attemps he made over the years. Given the subject material the film can be quite a bit raw & gritty, but I thought it was an interesting watch and was really into it. I know there was an older version, but this was a more recent adaptation (Raimi Malek, the guy who played Freddie Mercury in last year's Bohemian Rhapsody, had a prominent role).

the LEGO Batman Movie (TNT) - It's not often I catch a full movie on cable (commercials & all that), but I had the time this afternoon and caught it just as it was starting so I figured what the heck. I actually had a lot of fun watching this. It got a little chaotic during the climax, but it was a good time overall and is one of the few movies I've seen in recent times that has legitimately made me laugh. Much like Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse, it's a bit of a breath of fresh air compared to both contemporary superhero flicks & typical western CGI cartoons (though I know there've been a couple of other movies with the LEGO aesthetic).

Watched the trailer for the new Top Gun & Wow! I'm not a huge fan of the original film or anything, but all the aircraft & flight scenes look phenomenal as they're opting for the real thing rather than CGI.

It seems like there has been a growing trend in recent years to use more practical effects & more subdued use of CGI, and I hope it's a trend that continues.

Watched a good one on Sunday.

The Thin Man. The 1938 classic detective story, a light-hearted romp with a socialite couple who solve crimes and drink lots of martinis. Shot in just 12 days! It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and spawned five sequels, all with the original actors (William Powell and Myrna Loy). For as old as it is, I found it felt very modern, with lots of witty, ribald banter (it was pre-code) and an interesting mystery based on the Dashiell Hammett novel. Highly recommended.

Can't wait for getting End Game on Blue-Ray!
I just really want to watch it again and have my mom see it because she never saw it yet.
soon soon sorta

For those who are fans of independent horror, I would recommend "The Clovehitch Killer."

@RR529 : The vast majority of Hollywood films are CGI-heavy, even for romcoms that you would think are shot on location, but nope, green-screened with CGI environments, and the overwhelming majority of people can't tell the difference. It also explains why so many films, even though that don't appear to have much, if any, CGI contain a long list of CGI crew in the credits, and why even fairly low-budget-looking Hollywood films have budgets in excess of $50 million.

And it makes sense, because the logistics behind using real-world locations can be nightmarish. You'd have to seek council permission to close down roads, potentially recompense local businesses for disrupting their trade, and hire additional crew that would be required for controlling traffic etc. Meanwhile, with CGI, not only do you not have to worry about any of the logistics or red tape, but the producers can exercise complete control over the lighting, time of day (not having to worry about bad weather throwing an entire shooting day down the toilet), among other things. Entire conversations between actors could potentially be shot separately if there are diva-ish types on the set or one happens to fall ill when scheduled for a particular day, for example.

And with movies having their release dates announced so far ahead of time, it stands to reason that producers can meet those deadlines when resorting to CGI rather than being at the mercy of unforseeable circumstances.

I was impressed by how much of Mad Max: Fury Road's effects were real though, but I can't vouch for the new Top Gun, which I will watch in a minute.

Universal Soldier (Amazon Instant Video) - 90's action flick starring Jean-Claude Van Damme & Dolph Lundgren as Vietnam War soldiers who, after killing each other during the war, are brought back to life in a clandestine government program to create super soldiers, but things don't go quite as planned when the two start regaining their memories.

It's not art by any stretch of the imagination, but there's just something fun about all the cheesy machismo, overdesigned super soldier uniforms, and explosions to turn your mind off to.

@Silly_G, apparently Cruise refused to do it unless they didn't use any CGI, so we'll see.

Species (Amazon Prime Video) - 90's sci-fi thriller/horror that sees government splice alien DNA into a human embryo (after they recieved a message from space detailing how to do so), and after the young girl rapidly ages into an adult and escapes the government facility, they must stop her from breeding with a human male before she can give birth to alien babies that could wipe out humanity.

It's alright. Her alien form was designed by the artist behind Alien's xenomorphs, so she looked like a slightly more human xenomorph, now with boobs, when in her true form. Overall the plot just seemed like an opportunity for lots of nude scenes (there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I really didn't think the film was really special otherwise).

Of course, the fact that the resolution constsntly fluctuated certainly didn't help my enjoyment of it. It routinely dropped just under HD resolution (just getting a little fuzzyness about it for a few minutes before recovering), and a few times absolutely tanked into a blurry mess. Especially during the climax (once they went into the sewer it tanked for the longest periods, and even during recovery periods never quite got back up to HD). I expect this from Netflix (which does this to me every once in awhile), but I've never had Amazon do it to me before and I'm really disappointed in them. This is really starting to put me off streaming, and outside of exclusive series, I think I may start buying all my films physical.

@RR529 I have a soft spot for that flick. It really toes the line between a real movie and trashy shlock. There's a lot of great actors too, like Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina. Haven't seen any of the sequels but I assume they're terrible.

@BougieBeetle, yeah, I can see that. I didn't think it was bad, just a bit average. I probably would have enjoyed it a bit more too if it weren't for the aforementioned streaming issues.

On that note, I just ordered a bunch of Blu-Rays from Walmart, so I should be set for the next month - month & a half when it comes to movies (so no more streaming purchases).

• The Wolverine - I actually like the newer X-Men films, and I've been wanting to see this since it's set in Japan (as a plus, it also comes with the 3D version, which I should be able to watch on my PSVR).
• National Lampoon's Vacation - I enjoy all the Vacation films (except for the reboot) and tend to find myself watching them when they're on, so this was a no brainer. Plus, I won't have to worry about the TV censorship.
• For Your Eyes Only - I like 80's-90's era bond films, so I figured I'll start buying them all from that era.
• Oblivion - This isn't one that's talked about much, but I always find myself really getting into this sci-fi Tom Cruise flick whenever it's on, so I might as well own it.

Of course, as always I'll post detailed thoughts on them when I get to watching them.

Been going through a bunch of ‘80s sci-fi the past few days and my latest was The Terminator. One of my favorites in any genre. Think I’ll watch Tron tonight.

@RR529, I love Oblivion! Very underrated movie. It's the kind of original big budget script idea that just doesn't get made that much anymore.

@Woomy_NNYes, I agree, Tron Legacy is great. I never understood all the negative reviews for that movie, I think it's very watchable and very entertaining, and yeah the music is a big highlight.

finally signed up for netflix. can anyone recommend any good films on there? i tend to like drama / thriller type movies.

National Lampoon's Vacation (Blu-Ray) - Required summertime viewing as far as I'm concerned. As someone whose family used to take annual roadtrips up to Minnesota, so much of this film feels so relatable.

Granted, I'm not a fan of how they handled Edna's death, or rather Clark's reaction to it (he just seems like too much of a butt during this scene, and is hard to empathize with him here), but the rest of the film is just so much fun. Anything that can go wrong does go wrong, and unlike many modern raunch comedies that either overly rely on the F-Bomb way too much and/or get cartoonishly goofy, it usually stays just grounded enough to be believable, which makes it all the better, IMO.

@botk watch Jackie Brown. Quentin Tarintino's third (and if you ask me, best) movie. It's his most normal movie, it doesn't have all the racial slurs and hyper violence. What it does have is an amazing script adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel, amazing acting (Sam Jackson's best bar none), an incredible soundtrack, and just mesmerizing cinematography. Truly one of the best.

Yesterday I watched On the Waterfront for the first time. I'm surprised I avoided such a classic for so long. I guess I never realized how much a of a gritty crime drama it is. Marlon Brando is great, all the numerous supporting actors are great. It takes some abrupt twists and turns, but on the whole I really liked it. The score is interesting. It's good, but so bombastic and invasive that it almost ruins certain moments.

Actually it has the most racial slurs after only Django Unchained from him, I mean it's his take on blaxploitation so it'd be surprising if he didn't. It's one of the films Spike Lee brings up when moaning about Tarantino's racism.

Good film tho, it has some pacing issues but it's still very much worth a watch.

@jump Well I think it ties with Hateful Eight for second most n-words behind Django, but that's not saying much, lol. They don't hit as hard since it's mostly coming from Samuel L. Jackson and other black characters and are not used venomously, as opposed to Django or the infamous scene from Pulp Fiction and etc. And of course there's numerous slurs against other races in other films of his.

Anyway, I don't mean to get all technical about who swore how much where, Jackie Brown is a fantastic movie, folks.