Topic: Movie thread.

I got the Gamera box set that recently came out and I've been going through the Showa era movies (1966 - 1980). I've seen em all before but it was nice to watch them again. They rarely reach Godzilla quality, but they have this charm to them that warms my soul. It's like they were made by children instead of for children.

The one I finished most recently was Gamera vs Zigra and, while it has some fun moments, it's pretty bad. I think I'm going to skip Gamera Super Monster. With it's abundance of stock footage I've pretty much watched the whole movie anyway (save for the awesome star destroyer rip off). Friday night I'll start the Hesei movies.

For whatever reason YouTube has been recommending me clips of an early 90's live action/animation mash up film called Cool World, which I don't think I've heard of before (maybe a vague recollection).

After looking it up it's apparently regarded as pretty terrible (apparently the director wanted it to be an R rated horror flick involving cartoons, while the studio rewrote the script behind his back as they wanted to piggyback off of the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. They hacked up the edgiest bits of the film, but didn't do a good job patching it up, so it apparently feels unfinished, while still being too adult for a family film), but despite all that I'm actually interested in checking it out one day.

Last film I saw in theatres was also Sonic. I honestly don't get the hype. I saw nothing more in that film than just a generic and derivative kids flick and I've seen people hold it up as the saviour of video game-based films. It kinda reminds me of when Men in Black came out after a string of summer blockbusters that were unoriginal garbage and even though it was at best, pretty good, people treated it like the secondcoming of cinema

@jump I read the book first, so the film was kinda disappointing. I think the main issue the film has is the villains aren't particularly intimidating, and the relationship between Parzival and Artemis was super rushed. The best part of the film for me was a Gundam jumping out of the Serenity. That made me smile, but I was a little bit disappointed there was no Ultraman.

@Slowdive The Joker bothers me as ultimately it's not a Joker film. It's an unrelated indie film with it's title crossed out and the Joker sharpie in so people will pay attention to it. In all honesty Jared Leto is a better Joker!

Besides it being a terrible Joker I found the social commentary was really ham fisted and I've got no idea why people keep celebrating it. I found the take away isn't really more free drugs for crazy people as he was already killing before the therapy was cut and it should have be kind and less judgy with those escalation points coming from those situations which could have been prevented if people had been. However it then doesn't apply it to itself as it seems to interested in class warfare by promoting all the rich folk in society as scumbags.

@Wargoose for me it comes down to it relies too much on it's references, the pinnacle of that for me was there's a scene which is basically about him getting the girl because she will understand the Buckoo Banzai reference. For lack of a better word it's very Mary Sue, an average person saves the world because he loves 80s pop culture more than anyone else rather than him actually do something.

@Slowdive That's kinda my point, it's chasing a divide on social classes so rich people are blamed for society's ills rather than talking about a broken healthcare system.

My bigger problem is it's a rubbish Joker film though, unless The Joker is gonna be a dim-witted pensioner fighting a 20/30 something Batman ;p

This weekend I watched the last two Rebirth of Mothra films, which are on the same disc.

Rebirth of Mothra II (Blu-Ray)

The Premise:

• After mysteriously violent starfish (yes, you heard that right) start swarming the seas, a group of Okinawan school kids join up with a magical creepy off brand Furby called Gorgo (which can heal wounds by peeing on them, ew) and Mothra's little retainer women on a quest to find the resting place of an ancient civilization, whom are said to have a treasure capable of bringing the calamity to an end. Of course, there's a seafaring Kaiju involved as well, which is where film's most famous moth comes into play.

The Takeaway:

• This is honestly the weakest of the trilogy, IMO. While the first & third RoM films have the rilvalry between Mothra's retainers & their estranged sister Belvera more tightly woven into their narratives (as well as ancient threats with a history with Mothra), they feel sort of tacked on here. It's more of a kid friendly adventure movie with ancient ruins (including an "invisible bridge" scene aped from Indiana Jones), and a couple of bumbling adult pursuers who are after Gorgo for the fame of discovering a new species. It's best bits are a couple of gags early on in the film, the first where the kids accidentally send a caterpillar flying down the front of their teacher's shirt, and the second a completely random shot of a falling cigarette catching a cat's tail on fire. Oh, and Mothra gains the ability to transform into a Moth/Shark hybrid during the climax. Truly odd film.

Rebirth of Mothra III (Blu-Ray)

The Premise:

• Wisdom, Courage, Pow... er, Love, these are the three sides of the Trif... er, Elias Triangle, and only by putting their differences behind them & joining forces can Mothra's retainers & Belvera give Mothra the power to face her biggest challenge yet, King Ghidorah, whom has returned to Earth after millions of years to bestow upon humanity the same fate it extended to the dinosaurs, extinction (and to kidnap children, lots & lots of children, to eat).

The Takeaway:

• This was a pretty solid Kaiju film if you like the genre. The rivalry between the sisters is finally resolved, and after some time travel shenanigans Mothra recieves a pretty cool armored makeover. Also lots of SEGA product placement. The family that gets involved in all of this are farmers, and the father definitely has a stuffed Tails, and I think a little stuffed Knuckles in his truck, while two separate Stuffed Sonics can briefly be seen mere seconds apart during a scene in the house. Lastly, there's a kid playing with the detachable part of the Dreamcast controller in school, of which we get a close up shot of after he's kidnapped by Ghidorah & it's left on the floor.

The Package:

• As with the other Godzilla/Mothra films I have, it has a collection of both films' original Japanese trailers.

Perhaps my all-time favorite science fiction property.

Although I love the '84 movie and the SyFy '00 mini series, I'm eager to see a new perspective.

@Magician

We have folded space from Ix.

Many new machines on Ix.

We see plans within plans. We foresee a problem with your plan..... Paul Atreides

God I love the beginning of the 84 Dune movie with that space guild meeting.

@WoomyNNYes

My only concern with Denis Villeneuve's Dune is that it's being split into two movies. Firstly, where will the first movie end? The trailer shows a lot of Chani (played by Zendaya), so I assume this will end shortly after Paul and Lady Jessica escape Arakeen. Secondly, if this performs poorly at the box office there's a chance we may not get the second half of the movie.

@Magician Really, two movies? Yeah, only getting the first half would be disappointing. There's a lot of star power in that trailer; I'd like to think that's a good thing, or a positive sign. I'm dying to see what the Spacing guild creatures and the Baron & Fayed(sp?) look like.

Everest. Awesome movie

@WoomyNNYes

I believe the Baron is the one taking the mud bath in the trailer. Dave Bautista as Glossu Beast Rabban is a good choice as well. And it appears as though Tye Sherian (the lead actor from Ready Player One) will be playing Feyd-Rautha. Honestly the quality of the overall cast is pretty strong.

For example, Javier Bardem as Stilgar?

That's awesome, but the character is little more than a bit-part in the first half of the story.

Just ordered my next set of Blu-Rays. Since I'll be watching these mostly over October I decided to go for a general Halloween vibe.

Ghostbusters - The original one, which will be the comedy of the group.
Ghostbusters II - It was actually a double pack, so I'll get this one as well. I'm sure I'll find a way to squeeze it in.
Gemini - Some sort of Japanese horror film. Never seen it before, but it should be a welcome break to all the kaiju films I've been getting.
The World is not Enough - The next Bond film in line, and the only one in this order that's not in the spooky spirit.
Halloween - The original. Never really seen it in full, but I hear it's supposed to be good.

Also watched Aliens over the weekend, though I haven't yet written up an impressions piece.

October will soon be upon us and I've been buying classic horror movies (more 30s universal monster, less slasher movies - too much gore yeeeuck). I'm stuck between getting Nosferatu and Cabinet of Dr Caligari. I'd prefer Nosferatu but it's almost $10 more expensive than Caligari. Does anyone have an opinion on these movies? Any input is appreciated.

I've got Young Frankenstein because most years it's hard to find in October in the US. Some cable channel usually buys exclusive rights to it for October.

@WoomyNNYes classic movie. Gene Wilder is fantastic, and you really do get the feeling Mel Brooks loved Frankenstein to go into as much detail as he did. My favorite scene has to be the 'Puttin' on the Ritz' number. Even though it's probably the most referenced scene, it still gets me. Something about a dapper Frankenstein's monster tickles my rib cage.

@Losermagnet Did you ever listen to the commentary? I've never cared for commentaries, but Mel Brooks' commentary made me like the movie even more. It's great hearing the story behind many of the bits in the movie, and their delivery.

"....NOTHING!.... THANK YOU....."

@WoomyNNYes I haven't, but now I must lol. Thanks for the recommendation!

Last weekend I watched Aliens (Blu-Ray)!

The Premise:

• Set after the events of the first film, Ripley's escape pod is finally found by other humans and after recovering back at Earth she learns that it's been decades since the events of the first film (she had put herself in suspended animation), and anyone she's ever known (most devastatingly her daughter) has long since died. To make matters worse it seems as if humans have begun to colonize the planet on which her crew encountered the vicious Xenomorph, and with when Earth loses contact with the fledgeling settlement, she is sent in with a small military attachment to exterminate the alien species if it indeed is responsible for the lost contact. Given the name of the film, I suppose the answer to that should be easy to guess.

The Takeaway:

• It's a lot more action heavy than the first film, but no less tense, as our small detachment, while well armed, is vastly outnumbered and soon finds themselves on the defensive. It's a somewhat different feel compared to the original film, and while I'm not super enamoured with either one (possibly as I really didn't grow up watching them), it's undoubtedly an expertly crafted film, and it's easy to get immersed in the sci-fi world presented, which is really impressive given it's age (I was even left in awe with some of the early set pieces). It (and the original) are definitely films you should watch if you're into future sci-fi.

The Package:

• No complaints on this end. It features the theatrical & extended cuts (I opted for the latter, which made for a nearly 3 hour long film), and of course director commentary. I don't think there were any extra features on the disc itself, but the package itself came with some physical goodies which I haven't bothered with (like art cards & I think a comic).