Topic: Movie thread.

Pixels (Encore) - Caught this on TV, and figured what the heck. The concept is absurdly stupid, but for awhile I pegged it down as acceptable levels of dumb fun, until Q-Bert appeared. They just did some weird, and even disturbing things with the character that detracted from the film.

Ghost in the Shell (Amazon Video) - The original. Caught this about 10 years ago on TV, and this is the first time since then that I've watched it. Really good movie. The animation is top tier stuff, and the story is easy enough to follow as to where you won't get lost (in terms of the general narrative), while also deep enough that it's definitely going to warrant future watches to get the most out of it. My only complaint? No Tachikomas, lol (I'm more familiar with the property through the two TV series).

The Godfather Before watching, I was worried that the film was overhyped, and that it was going to be just a good film, but by the end, I saw what everyone was talking about. Great 1940s crime drama film.

The Godfather Part II An excellent followup to the original Godfather.

A Monster Calls A shockingly sad children's film about losing a loved one. While the minor twist at the end was predictable, the film itself is excellent.

the Siege of Jadotville (Netflix Original) - Set in 1961, UN peacekeeping forces are sent into the Congo to intervene in the nation's civil war, and a group of 150 untested Irish soldiers must fend for themselves against 1,500 experienced mercenaries led by ex-French Legionierres after their higher ups deem their position unimportant in their grand strategy. It ended up being a really good watch.

Big Trouble in Little China (Netflix) - Very 80's movie about a trucker who goes to Chinatown to save his friend's fiancé from a Chinese crime syndicate, and as you do, gets involved in an ancient plot to revive a 2,000 year old magical emperor bent on world domination. It's not something I'd buy, but I enjoyed it for what it is.

Alien: Covenant

Decided to go to the cinema on a whim this evening, since it has been raining here all day. It was either Alien: Covenant, Miss Sloane, The Zookeeper's Wife or rewatching Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 again.

I don't think it was very good. I didn't exactly have high exceptions either however, it turned out worse than I thought.

For me, as soon as they land on the planet (which is where two-thirds of the film takes place), the film takes a nosedive and never recovers. To nobody's surprise, the dumb scientists are back in full force from Prometheus, and then when D A V I D appears, everything slows to a crawl and somehow drags on even more.

Maybe it's because I only saw Prometheus the one time and admittedly don't remember much of it very well, but I honestly don't get what the hell is wrong with D A V I D, none of his actions or what he says make any sense to me; only way I can go along with it is to say that he's just plain old crazy.

The film barely even has any good Xenomorph moments - every time it appears (to kill) is the most predictable, cliche, boring thing you can imagine. Girl washing up in the cave, slowly looks behind her... surprise! You're dead! Two people in the shower, they look behind them... surprise! You're dead!

Speaking of predictable, who didn't see that ending coming a mile away? They beat you so hard over the head with it, to the point that I was half-wondering when Daniels would be able to figure it out by herself (before it was too late). I could only half-heartedly laugh when she doesn't.

I may come across as a little bit harsh because Alien remains in my top ten films of all time however, even if I had left the 'big fan of Alien' at the doorstep, it still wouldn't be a particularly worthwhile film to go and see.

Any positives? The music is subtly done. The crew is interesting enough (before their IQ levels abruptly dropped when they landed on the planet). The first twenty minutes is pretty good. The philosophical dialogue wasn't as daft as it was in Prometheus; the dialogue had a somewhat poetic element to it. The Xenomorph design is always nice to see; it looked very agile and predatory in its movement. The Engineers and their story will hopefully continue in the next film, given the way it was left open to your own interpretation.

Ultimately though, it was a remarkably average film with a few bright spots.

5/10

True Memoirs of an International Assassin (Netflix Original) - Action comedy where Kevin James plays an author who gets confused for a legendary assassin, and is spirited away to Venezuela, where the nation's top three most powerful warring factions each want him to kill the leaders of the other two. It wasn't great, but it wasn't nearly as cringe worthy as the Adam Sandler stuff he usually winds up in either, so that's a plus. Decent if you like him.

Guardians of the Galaxy (FX) - Seen it before, but I happened to catch it as it was getting started, so I figured what the heck. I'm really starting to hit superhero fatigue, but luckily this one is different enough that I am still able to enjoy it. Fun movie.

Doctor Strange (DVD) - Watched this directly after GotG. I wasn't too keen on starting this due to the previously mentioned superhero fatigue, but the very magical nature of the film helped to seperate it from the rest of the MCU films, and it had some dazzling special effects.

The Mars Generation (Netflix Original) - Documentary about the history of the space program, it's longstanding promise/desire to send a man to Mars, and the new generation of kids who are growing up believing that they will to be the first humans on the red planet.

The Last Emperor (1987): A movie about Puyi, the last Emperor of China. It's a sad story. Goes to show how much can change over some decades.

Any thoughts here on 2010 (sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey)?
I saw it a few months back, and I have pretty mixed feelings on it. 2001 was a very unique movie, and more of an art piece then a movie. 2001 ( the movie ) really didn't set itself up for a sequel, and I guess 2010 was more closely to the book than the original. 2001 put the standards so high for any sequel that it would always be a bit of a disappointment. Getting to the movie, there's a lot of things that don't make sense, like David Bowman's Ghost Alien thing. Also the whole Soviet Union thing seems pretty dated. Although, I do like how they bring back One character...

6.4/10

Ok Sci - Fi movie, not another 2001

It was pretty good.

Thanks for the threads

Just watched wonder woman. No one in the family liked it. Seriously I feel bad for DC.

@Qwertyninty It's getting really good reviews from both critics and users. Nothing to feel sorry about.

@Peek-a-boo I kind of liked the new Alien. Amazing set design. Good acting. The first half of the movie, before they land on the planet, is fantastic hard sci-fi. And David is fun in a sociopathic way.

I will admit it's missing any of the big memorable moments we got in the first two Alien movies. Also, the lack of a compelling lead character harms it, imo. Sigourney Weaver is almost as integral to Alien movies as Bruce Willis is to Die Hard.

The biggest problem, though, which was a way bigger issue in Prometheus, is that it's so pretentious and full of itself. Somehow it went from being a series of well-designed action-horror-sci-fi movies about predatory aliens to some weird, pseudo-philosophical meditation on the origins of human life. The problem is that it never really explores this idea at all: it's just window-dressing. Now, I'm not opposed to sci-fi having well-done philosophical window-dressing, but I don't think Ridley Scott pulls it off well.

I kind of wish they'd either go back to the basics or just give the franchise a rest.

I'm not sure if it's a good thing if the most memorable thing in an Alien movie is an intensely homoerotic flute-playing lesson. ("Here, I'll do the fingering.")

So far, I'd rank them:

Alien > Aliens > Alien 3 > Alien Covenant > Prometheus > Alien: Resurrection

@Ralizah

I guess. Hope for DC it does well in sales.

Well, I am not a Movieholic but I have specific interest about some movies. Mostly, I ONLY want to watch Disney / Pixar movies, but still.... i'm very picky. Not all Disney / Pixar movies are my favorite.
Okay, btw... I have owned Handy Manny Big Construction Job VCD, Kim Possible : A Sitch in Time VCD, Buzz the Lightyear A Star Command: The Adventure Begin s VCD, Monster Inc VCD, Lion King 3 DVD, Cinderella 2015 DVD, Inside Out Disney-Pixar 2015 DVD.

I have watched Beauty & the Beast 2017 3 times and still want to watch again.
The 2017 version just Perfect, better than the Cartoon version in many ways.
Love the first Aria from Audra McDonald (Sung at beginning of movie) & I have ever tried to sing that Aria on higher Pitch ( And I couldn't maintain the screaming at the end for long times. I had run out of my breath XD )
Wanna buy the Blu-Ray version that will be released on 6th June 2017.

The Bourne Legacy (2012). It's a Bourne movie without Bourne (Matt Damon). It stars Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and it's about the participants of a government program for physically/mentally enhanced agents which is being shut down.
It lacks the feel from the Bourne trilogy and the story is not that interesting IMO.

Just saw Wonder Woman. AWESOME movie. Gal Godot is the PERFECT actress for the role: she conveys Diana's moral purity and righteous anger at the cruelty of the world perfectly. She's feminine yet also radiates a sense of power. As an origin story, it hits all the right notes for me. Script is fun, but not to the degree that it seems unfocused. In that respect, it's much more like a Marvel movie than DC's miserable recent outings (the comically grimdark Batman v Superman and the all-over-the-place mess of a script that turned into Suicide Squad come to mind). The action sequences are exciting and visceral, and they pleased me in a way that superhero fare usually doesn't (lots of physicality in the fighting, which I really liked) There was a bit too much use of the slow-motion effect in fight scenes for my taste, but they still worked really well, and this is better as a pure action movie than any superhero film since Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

• the Legend of Tarzan (DVD) - The one from last year. I thought it was pretty decent, but I was super tired when we watched it, so I probably need to give it another watch someday to better judge it.
• Tag (Netflix) - Odd Japanese B-movie about a schoolgirl who keeps somehow slipping between alternate realities, where everyone around her ends up being killed in bizarre situations. I want so say it's a statement on how women are represented in media, particularly video games, but maybe I'm putting too much thought into it.
• Starship Troopers (Amazon Instant Video) - I bought this a few weeks ago, so figured I'd watch it. It's purposely campy, and I find it to be a good watch every time I watch it.

Wonder Woman was all sorts of awesome!!! (I want to see it again)

I watched The Day After Tomorrow last Saturday as a silly popcorn movie.

But then Trump pulled out of the Paris agreement.

The movie is still very silly (obviously) but perhaps I'd have had a different experience if I'd have watched it this weekend.

Not a movie but recently i've been watching a lot of the Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. Funny how it aired when i was a kid (early-mid 2000s) but i had never watched it until now. It's very funny and i really like "Inconsequential" cartoons without continuity; to me they just feel more relaxing.