Topic: Movie thread.

The Wolverine Extended Cut (Blu-Ray) - Film that sees the popular X-Men character travelling to Japan to say goodbye to a friend on their deathbed, a former WWII Japanese soldier turned leader of the most powerful business conglomerate in Japan, but things don't go as planned when a variety of forces target the man's granddaughter (and company heir), and Wolverine is dragged into the mess (all while his healing factor is failing him).

I actually quite enjoyed this one. It's not a transformative film, but the action is visceral & has a satisfying meatiness to it that it seems the MCU films are missing (I quite enjoyed the fight on the bullet train & the final battle with Silver Samurai), it seems to have fun with the Japanese setting (across the neon lit streets of Tokyo, snowy mountain villages, and the tropical setting of southern Japan, wolverine finds himself up against all the staples of Japanese pop-culture in terms of Yakuza, Ninja, and even a small scale Mecha), and it makes great use of color.

I know Fox's X-Men films are often hit & miss, but I'm actually going to miss them now that Marvel has the license back (it'll probably be for the best, but still).

I think Fox gets an excessively bad rap for the X-men films.

Pretty much everything made between First Class and Logan was really good, with the exception of Apocalypse, which, IMO wasn't nearly as bad as the critics made it out to be.

I'm really going to miss the edge that the Fox films had. They weren't afraid to make you hurt. They weren't afraid to make a death real and permanent. DOFP remains in my top 3 favorite superhero movies with the likes of Spider-man 2 and The Dark Knight. And Logan is just so damn soul crushing.

For Your Eyes Only (Blu-Ray) - Releasing in 1980, it's the first 80's entry in the long running Bond series, and this entry sees the famous super spy seeking out a device that can control Britain's nuclear sub fleet, after the spy ship in which it was located is sunk. He'll have to act fast though, as a Soviet linked criminal organization is after it as well.

• I really quite enjoyed the more deliberate pacing of the film, which was a nice change of pace from the thrill a minute pace modern action/adventure films tend to have. This really gave you the time to appreciate all the locales, and I really thought all the underwater scenes, as well as the scenic mountains where the bad guy's lair were located, were quite beautiful (especially at Blu-Ray quality).
• The action scenes were good fun, and all the more impressive that they were handled by real stuntmen & physical props (I really want to recognize the opening helicopter scene, and the ski resort chase).
• Think what you will of me, but I like seeing what they were able to get away with in terms of sexual content in these old PG & PG-13 films, whether they did it intentionally, if they just didn't think resolution would be good enough for people to ever see it, or if things were just more relaxed on this type of content (to me it adds a sort of rawness to them that modern PG & PG-13 films don't have, as it seems like they go through them with a fine tooth comb to make sure nothing slips through), and there certainly were a few of those moments here. As one example, in one scene where our heroes are ransacking the sleeping quarters of the bad guy's henchmen, you can clearly, albiet briefly, see a couple of photos of topless women pinned to the walls, and there are a couple more moments like this as well.

Overall I really enjoyed watching this one (more than I thought I would, honestly) and can't wait to get to the other 80's, 90's, and early 00's Bond films (I plan on buying them up through the Brosnan films).

I recently watched Hellboy (*3/2019), Marvel End Game and Detective Pikachu.

All films I enjoyed, the only complaint was Detective Pikachu was abit short and I found it got tedious during the second half.

Otherwise I think the new actor who plays Hellboy done a better job than previous, don't really want comment on End Game because spoilers.

Do any of you fine forum people recommend a science fiction movie that's released in the past year that's streamable? I haven't paid much attention. Something other than star wars, or a super hero movie.

The recent Blade Runner was good, stream able mostly.

Oblivion (Blu-Ray) - Sci-Fi film that sees Tom Cruise in the role of Jack, a man left behind on an Earth ruined after a war between man & alien invaders. It's his job to repair the battle drones used to hunt down the remnants of the alien invaders, but when he comes across another survivor who he has dreamt about, he begins to question his reality.

• While the story doesn't quite have the same oomph after you know it's twist, it's still an interesting premise, and the ending is satisfying every time.
• It's an absolutely stunning looking film. The Sci-Fi tech has really slick designs (even if the CG is starting to show it's age in spots), and the wide, naturalistic environment shots are gorgeous.
• The action has a real oomph to it. I enjoy the dogfight with the drones every time, the fight at the base during the climax is intense.

Overall, while it's probably not a must watch sci-fi film, it is one I like going back to from time to time.

With that, I've finished up my first batch of Blu-Rays, and have just placed the order for my next:

• Alien - I've seen this in parts before on TV, and while I get into it each time, I've never had the chance to finish it before, so I figure it's time to change that.
• Godzilla 1984/5 - My Japan related film in this batch. They either didn't have the other Japanese films I was looking for, or they were more expensive than I was looking for, so I settled for this. I remember my brother used to have this on Video Brick (yes, I know that's not what they're called, lol), so it'll be a bit of a nostalgia trip.
• National Lampoon's European Vacation - I know this is the black sheep of the original Vacation films, but I still enjoy it from time to time.
• Octopussy - The next Bond film in line. I think I enjoyed For Your Eyes Only the most out of my last batch of films, so I'm looking forward to this.

National Lampoon's European Vacation (Blu-Ray) - The first of the Vacation sequels, that sees the accident prone Griswald family bumble through a game show to win a "deluxe" European vacation.

Ultimately it tries too hard to one up the first film (many of the scenarios feel a bit too zany & unorganic), and Audrey's film long whine about her Stateside boyfriend, Zack, never goes anywhere & is never funny, but the film as a whole still has it's funny moments (such as when Clark fumbles his way through a traditional German dance & turns it into a brawl) & is overall a fun time (still better than 98% of whatever modern Hollywood is churning out in terms of comedy). I will say I enjoyed the overall world travelling theme of it as well.

Godzilla 1984 "the Return of Godzilla" (Blu-Ray) - An attempt to get the franchise back on track after the sillier fare of the 60's & 70's, it positions itself as a direct sequel to the 1954 original, with a more serious tone that references the nuclear danger posed by the cold war between the US & Soviet Union. This was the uncut Japanese original, and not the version first brought over to the west.

My brother used to have this on VHS (the Americanized version, I'm sure), so it's one I watched quite a bit as a kid, but it's been years since I've seen it so it was practically brand new to me (the only things I remembered about it were Godzilla's temporary defeat due to the Cadmium weapons, and being forced into a volcano at the end). I have to say I really enjoyed it. The story had just enough oomph to it to keep me intetested in that angle of it, and while the effects are showing their age, you can tell they put a lot more care & effort into the whole thing compared to the usual "Godzilla VS [insert monster here]" flicks of the time (I actually was pretty impressed with the practical effects work when Godzilla fought the Super X).

Octopussy (Blu-Ray) - The second of the 80's Bond flicks I've picked up. When another "00" is killed for discovering that the Soviets are seemingly in the business of smuggling knockoff priceless artifacts, Bond is sent in to find out the truth behind the matter.

• It started off really strong with Bond infiltrating a military facility of an unnamed(?) Latin American dictatorship, but never really climbed back up to those hights again (though the big climax in East & West Germany was pretty good too). Most of the film took place in India, which just wasn't that interesting of a locale IMO.
• I want to give props to the opening chase (loved him pulling out that small plane), the cool (albiet very brief) car chase in Germany, and the ending plane scene (especially with the stunt doubles climbing on the outside of the craft while airborne).
• Interestingly, it's the first time I've seen full nudity in a Bond film (for a brief moment or two when "Octopussy" is getting out of the pool in her introductory scene. She's just far enough away from the camera that they probably thought the resolution would ever be good enough to see anything).
• Even as someone who enjoys the more campy elements of the older Bond films, it really kind of pushes it in the final moments of the raid on the villain's lair (you have a small army of women warriors raiding the place in JRPG levels of bikini armor, and James himself arrives in a Union Jack patterned hot air balloon of all things).

Overall pretty decent, but not one of my favorites.

Joker is a goddamn masterpiece

Seriously, WATCH IT. Ignore what the press has to say about inciting gun violence or glorifying white male terrorism because they simply missed the deeper messages about the importance of not dismissing mental health, social divide, whether we contribute to the toxicity that creates malevolent people, what it takes to expose society's inadvertent hypocrisies, etc.

I'd honestly be content with DC scrapping the DCEU in favor of more of these standalone character study films on their individual heroes and villains in a "what if" scenario where they rose from realistic circumstances.
Easy 10/10 film. Really makes you think

@StephanDLW Well in an age where we are all required to make every film politically correct and void of any artful expression, Joker can definitely be the type of film that rubs critics the wrong way, but that doesn't demean any of the messages that it had to speak up about, which enhanced its quality.

A Clockwork Orange was nominated for an Oscar, it was held a masterpiece from the get go, it was Stanley Kubrick the critic's darling of the day film. You're confusing the controversary where there were instances (some directly linked and others not) of the film inspiring rape and murder. Also the Joker is rated fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, people are complaining it's not getting universal great reviews rather than it's not getting good reviews.

It's interesting people are standing up for this movie as art with it's important messages that must be seen despite the movie's huge adverting budget and use of an iconic merch selling murder clown overshadowing all of the small think pieces films and documentaries out there. Hopefully Warner Bros will allow the use of Harry Potter, Looney Tunes etc for directors to raise attention for other important issues like climate change or movies to entertain people.

@jump I'm not denying that films can't be entertainment. They have to all share that element first and foremost, but the fact that critics have been calling Joker a shallow film lacking of any meaningful substance or messaging when it really has things to say about societal norms and our treatment of the mentally ill, as well as the reluctance to reach out to those types of people when the signs are there, is really disheartening.

A more apt comparison to how I think this film will be recieved retroactively is Taxi Driver, fittingly one of the Scorcese works that actually influenced this film's direction in tone and characterization.

It's rated fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and the movie poster on the buses that pass me on the streets have loads of five star reviews calling it a masterpiece. The big picture is it's being well received by most critics with a handful not liking it, which is far from being slammed by the critics. In any case it doesn't matter what critics thinks, with the power of Batman's murder clown pal on the poster it will sell loads of tickets so it really doesn't matter.

The bigger issue to me as comic book fan is now having to explain to non-comic book people for the next few years The Joker film is nothing like the actual Joker

@jump It's rated fresh but the rating has dipped significantly since its initial screening at the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals

80-69% is really steep
It's because there's a noticeable amount of negative reviews slamming the film as inciting gun violence or glorifying white male terrorism or lacking in any thoughtful messaging which I find really baffling

So what? That 11% means very little, it's got good word of mouth, it's making dolla dolla and will probably get an Oscar.

Tbh you can't have it both ways tho, if the real world stuff from what the movie says matters then so does a movie studio using forced controversy to sell a movie too. I mean he's a serial killer clown from a franchise that has had spree killings connected to it the past. This Joker has very little in common with the established character, take him out and there's a lot less people paying attention or keep him in and there's controversary and cash. Whilst the handful of critics complaining are indeed muppets for buying into it so are people for not seeing through this as a crass re-skinning of a movie. I'm off to pre-order my talking Joker doll now

Metacritic is rubbish for films though, it's evaluates dozens of reviews as opposed to Rotten Tomatoes using hundreds of reviews for the same films. Unless of course people are just looking for bad reviews to complain about them

Dumbo (DVD) - The live action one. Nothing revelatory, but a decent enough family film.

Alien (Blu-Ray) - Although I've seen bits & pieces of it in the past, this is the first time I've fully watched this sci-fi classic.

Pros:

• It's a marvel in practical effects work. I mean, sure there were times when something showed it's age, but man was everything meticulously put together for the most part. The eggs & facehugger in particular gave me a believably squeamish reaction.
• Tense & moody atmosphere that made it a perfect evening watch, with a genuine narrative twist or two. I never expected Ash would be an android.

Cons:

• A small complaint in the grand scheme of things, but I didn't care for the incessant strobe light effect during the climax.

I can definitely see why this is a classic. It certainly holds up.