Topic: Movie thread.

Recently rewatched The Lord of the Rings in its entirety. A fantastic fantasy trilogy that I will never stop enjoying.

I used to watch these too! I was pretty cool to see it was a shared universe.
BTAS and Superman weren't being aired during the early to mid 2000s over here anymore (on regular, non cable TV, at least).
But I really can't complain, as most of the cartoons airing back then were DC ones.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged (DVD) - What I'm assuming is a direct to video sequel to 47 Meters Down (which my father thought he was ordering. I'm guessing the Uncaged bit threw him off and he thought it was marketing wording for an "unrated" version of the original, rather than a sequel).

Anyhow it's a shark movie that sees a foursome of teenaged girls decide to get into mischief by scuba diving into underwater Mayan ruins (the father of a couple of the girls is an archaeologist, and they knew where his team left some of their gear), and once an accident closes their way out, they must make their way through the dangerous labyrinthine ruins to find another exit, all the while their air is running out and they're hunted by a shark that calls the ruins it's home.

It's very much a horror b-movie with all that entails (the obviously bad decisions, an extended scene of young girls/women splashing around in almost nothing, albeit with no nudity, a bad CGI shark(s) that gobbles people up in surprise, bloody attacks). While the location is kinda neat, overall it's just okay. The type of thing you'll know whether or not you'll like just based on it's premise/description.

Just realized I watched most Vietnam War movies these last years: Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, We Were Soldiers, Platoon, Hamburger Hill...

License to Kill (Blu-Ray) - The next Bond film in line, it's the second (and last) of the Dalton era films, as well as the last one of the 80's.

While in the US attending the wedding of a friend (and DEA agent), things go wrong when his friend is mutilated (and his wife killed) at the hands of a powerful Colombian drug lord. Ignoring orders to "stay out of the Americans' problem" and return to England, he officially renounces his position and goes rouge to seek revenge for his friend.

I tend to prefer the entries that focus more on the Cold War era tensions between the West & the Soviets (like For Your Eyes Only & the Living Daylights), but I have to say I liked this one almost as much as those, and moreso than Octopussy & A View to a Kill. It's just a well made action thriller that hits the right tone most of the time (and I quite liked the aerial scenes). If there was any weak point, it was the Hong Kong agent ninjas. They were in and out so quick, yet the female ninja featured prominently in the opening music video, I can't help but think they were written out of a larger role.

Anyhow, I'll be off to Goldeneye next.

I'm watching this very surreal and surprisingly funny late 2000s cartoon called The Misadventures of Flapjack.

The other day I caught Independence Day: Resurgence on TV. I was working (at home) during the time it was on so I couldn't give it my undivided attention, but I thought it was alright for what it was.

It's biggest problem seemed to be that it leaned on nostalgia for the original a little too much (a few scenes seemed to be lifted wholesale, just now in even bigger scale), and while I believe the original was a technical showpiece for it's era (even amongst other blockbusters), Resurgence comes across as just another in the pile.

Still, it was nice seeing some faces on the big screen you don't see much anymore, and works for an afternoon of dumb fun.

@Vinny, I think I remember that being on around the time I stopped watching daytime Cartoon Network. Never realized it got a movie.

@RR529 Oh, no. I'm posting it on the movie thread but it's the cartoon itself, haha (I think there was an animation thread but there wasn't a lot of activity). There was no movie.

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (Blu-Ray) - The second of the prequel trilogy, it's part of my ongoing quest to watch through the series in earnest (which I haven't really done, at least not in a long time).

It does have it's weak points, such as it's over reliance on CGI (though being newer, I think it looked a bit better than Episode I in this regard), and it doesn't necessarily have it's own self contained narrative (instead acting more as the set up for the next entry), but I still enjoyed watching it.

I liked the "car chase" segment in Corsucant (while some may find it silly, I actually liked seeing the brief glimpses into "regular life" here, whether it be the night club Anakin & Obi-Wan hunt down the assassin in, or the 50's style diner staffed by aliens. Usually our heroes are either on the front lines or on the run in derelict parts of the galaxy, so it's a side of this universe you don't often see), the scene where Obi-Wan is chasing Jango Fett through that asteroid belt, and the final battle was pretty cool too (especially since it's rare to see so many Jedi active at once).

It was tonally a bit darker than Episode I (a sign of what's to come), but still had a key amount of cheesiness to balance the whole experience out.

The other day I watched the Directors Cut version of Little Shop of Horrors. Audreys death was sad pretty much.

Then i went back to watching the regular original theatrical version of the movie and watched the regular ending.

Me, I prefer the regular ending where they beat Audrey II

National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation (Blu-Ray) - the 4th & last of the original Vacation line of films, that released nearly a decade after the release of Christmas Vacation.

In this installment the Griswalds head off to Las Vegas in celebration of patriarch Clark's (Chevy Chase) work bonus. Despite Clark's insistence that Vegas is a family destination now, it doesn't take long for him to be taken in by the glitz & glamour, ever further leaving his family to fend for themselves (with wife Ellen being courted by Wayne Newton, son Rusty getting into trouble with a fake ID, and daughter Audrey being drawn into the world of exotic dancing), as he becomes addicted to gambling.

I have to say it really holds it's own (Randy Quade once again makes a hilarious turn as cousin Eddie, "Have you tried swimming with the dolphins Clark? I tell you those things are hard to catch!"), and I'm astounded at how well the series had maintained it's heart & general high quality throughout (European Vacation was a bit too try hard, though still enjoyable). If I had to nitpick I'd say Clark's shenanigans at the Hoover dam were a little too silly (these films' strength lies in the fact that they're just grounded enough to be relatable, particularly the original & Christmas), but overall I'd say it's still a great watch.

Into the Inferno - Great 2016 Werner Herzog documentary about volcanos.

Godzilla VS Mechagodzilla II (Blu-Ray) - 90's effort that isn't canonically related to the 70's original (the II was added to the title in the western release).

In this release, the U.N's anti-Godzilla task force develops a new weapon by reverse engineering the future tech present in the remains of Mecha Ghidorah (whom Godzilla faced in the 90's Godzilla VS King Ghidorah), developing it into a Mechagodzilla. Humanity's titanic new hope is quickly put to the test however, as Japan becomes the battleground to history's greatest custody battle as Rodan & Big Green himself show up to compete over a baby Godzillasaur, whom has recently hatched from an egg researchers brought onto the mainland.

At the end of the day it's a "Godzilla VS" title, and you should know what to expect going in. It's no cinematic masterpiece, but it's good dumb fun for a couple hours. I have to say I really enjoyed this incarnation of Mechagodzilla, who has a pretty large arsenal of weapons to flash around.

GoldenEye (Blu-Ray) - Next up in my Bond journey is the first entry of the 90's (and the first with Pierce Brosnan in Bond's shoes).

In this entry, Bond must track down a criminal organization that has stolen a powerful Soviet era satellite weapon that fries all electronic devices in it's attack range, and his search leads him to a surprising culprit.

It's noticeably an evolutionary entry for the series, but I think it strikes the perfect balance of modernization & tradition. In terms of action it's generally more high octane than past outings, with Bond & foes alike spraying machine guns everywhere, a destructively fun car chase involving a tank, and an impressive leap of faith off a mountaintop airfield in it's opening moments, though it also remains true to traditions in terms of offering a decent array of gadgets (nothing too campy, but it does feature a grappling belt, lazer watch, and a narratively important explosive pen). This balance of old & new also extends to the women in Bond's life, as although he's still as flirty and persuasive as ever, it's now balanced out by the fact that Judy Dench plays his no nonsense boss "M". Likewise, while the film's "Bond Girl" has a couple sultry scenes, she also comes across as a capable & necessary computer hacker (I personally would have preferred to see a bit more "cheesecake", but by this point the ratings scale was a bit more solidified, and they couldn't push the PG/PG-13 rating quite as much as they could in the late 70's & 80's, and I can't deny it still strikes a nice balance). Overall a nice first outing for Brosnan.

@RR529 GoldenEye is my favorite Brosnan movie. Love the whole cyber/techno/satellites theme, as it was made during the rise of the internet in the 90s. And one of the plot points is a not that well known historical event (the repatriation of cossacks in WWII), which is very interesting.
I like the credits theme a lot, from what I know it was acually meant for Leon: The Professional.

Recently I've been watching the second season of the Manhunt series, about Eric Rudolph, the olympic park bomber.
Also watched Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, this absolutely crazy movie.

On the cartoon front, finished watching Batman: The Animated Series!
Now I gotta watch The New Batman Adventures, though I watched the first few episodes and I'm not a big fan of all the redesigns.

After digging around their catalog, I decided to start a 30 day free trial of Amazon Prime Video, to check out the anime films & cheesy 80's B-Movie fantasy & horror films they have (mostly stuff I wouldn't have bought anyways, in fact some of it isn't even available in HD, but who knows, maybe I'll uncover some gems). Naturally, I've already made use of it this morning.

Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer (Amazon Prime Video) - Mid 80's anime film based on the slapstick shonen comedy manga, Urusei Yatsura, which was mangaka Rumiko Takahashi's breakout hit (she'd later go on to produce other popular series such as Ranma 1/2 & InuYasha).

I was quite impressed by the film. While it expectedly had it's fair share of comedy, it was surprisingly deep too. While getting ready for a school festival, some members of the cast come to the realization that they're living the same day over and over again, and the further they get to the truth, the more people vanish (to the point it's just the core cast left) & the more dilapidated their town becomes. The effect of the mystery is heightened by the seriousness they handle it with, and the fact that the film has absolutely stunning animation & detail, resulting in some impressive imagery, particularly the almost haunting lighting effects during nighttime scenes (it's in HD too, which is a plus). The biggest barrier to entry would probably be the fact that you'd need some pre-existing knowledge of the series to fully appreciate it (luckily, being a big fan of Ms. Takahashi's later works, I had read some of a fan translation of the manga a number of years ago, so I was already somewhat acquainted with the core players), but overall it was a pleasant surprise.

Deathstalker (Amazon Prime Video) - An early 80's budget "sword & sandal" film that's obviously trying to cash in on the success of Conan the Barbarian. It stars a muscular blond swordsman named "Deathstalker" (because why not), whom after running across a man who claims to be an evicted king & an old witch, is sent off to collect a magical sword and use it to rid the kingdom of the immortal sorcerer Munkar, who rules with an iron fist.

It's all very by the numbers stuff, including all the low budget gore, and barely dressed women (it makes sense with Munkar's personal harem, but most hilarious is a warrior woman who is first believed to be a man until her cloak opens up and it's revealed she's wearing absolutely nothing except a loincloth underneath. It's almost hilarious how straight it's played when she has further sword fights and it's seemingly no big deal that she's bouncing around topless). Despite all the cheesiness though, I found the experience as a whole quite dull however. It certainly isn't helped by it's picture quality which looks like it was ripped from a VHS release (it wouldn't surprise me to learn if it was a straight to video release back in the day), compounded by the fact that it was blurrier in some parts than in others (maybe due to inconsistent quality in it's original production, maybe due to a cheaply done digital conversion, or maybe due to some picture buffering on the part of the streaming service, though that last one would be kind of sad). Quality mostly dipped during action scenes, so I'm going to guess it's a cheap digital conversion though (there were a few times I rewound a bit and the quality fluctuated in the exact same spots, so that probably backs that theory up). It wasn't a huge commitment at just over an hour, and it does have a sequel that was made a few years later so I'll probably try it out eventually to see if they improved it at all.

Just finished The New Batman Adventures cartoon. Some great episodes, some good, the redesigns range from meh to bad.

Also watched Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, it was good. Wouldn't say its one of my favorite Tarantino movies but it was a lot more enjoyable than Hateful Eight, for sure.

To complement my Amazon Prime subscription I decided to order Amazon's 10 inch tablet, which should make it easier for me to get through TV series (I only get the main tv for a few hours weekday mornings, and lately not at all on weekends, and streaming is very hit and miss on my bedroom TV because the Wi-Fi signal is very weak up there). I got the stand to go with it, so I'll set it up on the dining table, which is right next to the room with the router, and hopefully that'll give me a good experience (Netflix supports HD quality streaming on it, so I imagine Amazon's own stuff will as well).

Project A-Ko (Amazon Prime Video) - 80's anime film that sees two high school girls (the cheerful A-Ko, whom has inhuman super strength, & C-Ko, who has a childlike cuteness & demeanor) transferring to a new school, and acclimating isn't easy, largely due to the schemes of B-Ko, spoiled rich & a genius, she's quickly enamored with C-Ko & devises many plans to defeat A-Ko & take C-Ko for herself. All this while an alien invasion is brewing on the horizon, seemingly linked to a mysterious object that crashed to Earth 16 years prior, of which our cast's city is built on top of.

It's largely a parody of anime of the time (with A-Ko, B-Ko, & C-Ko being named for their personality stereotypes, rather than having actual names, I believe), with nods to franchises such as Macross, Captain Harlock, & Fist of the North Star (I'm sure someone more well versed in anime culture of the time could find more). I actually first watched it a number of years ago after I randomly ran across it on YouTube (there was a channel long since taken down that had posted a bunch of the old Central Park Media stuff, and maybe some stuff from some other defunct localization outfits), and I remember liking it at the time so I decided to check it out again (and in more official capacity) since it's on Amazon. It's not a must watch classic, but I enjoyed it for what it was. Just keep in mind it's from an early era in dubbing, and it's in need of a remaster (quality was consistent, but SD).