Topic: Movie thread.

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).

Godzilla VS Space Godzilla (Blu-Ray) - In this entry the anti-Godzilla task force "G-Force" has devised two plans to help humanity stand against the big guy. The first, Project T, seeks to influence Godzilla's actions via enhanced telepathy, and if the more peaceful plan fails, Project M, which refers to MOGERA, yet another giant fighting robot that has a heavy drill theme (and can split into two parts). Of course, things don't go quite as planned, especially considering the arrival of a new monster dubbed Space Godzilla, assumed created by some of Godzilla's cells being sucked into a black hole, rapidly mutating & evolving, then spat out of a white hole (in a previous film in the canon, Mothra flew into space to destroy an asteroid after fighting Godzilla).

Space Godzilla sure isn't the most unique monster in Toho's stable (it's just a souped up Godzilla with crystal growths), and I actually think MOGERA was the most interesting between the two (though with the Mechagodzilla in this canon also being a G-Force piloted mech, I can understand them not wanting to hedge too closely to their last movie in terms of plot), but it's still a decent watch for what it is.

I watched Rambo First Blood and The Lighthouse. I'll start with First Blood; it's a great film through to beginning to end. Some of the dialogue and acting don't hold up, but everything else does. Sylvester Stallone, in his prime, was such a hottie, my goodness. But besides that, this was a tense and thrilling film. Watching Rambo taking on a squad of cops on his own, just using his wits and cunningness was fantastic to witness. You don't see that anymore in modern action movies. Everyone's a brute that only acts without thinking twice. So this movie was a breath of fresh air. To be frank, watching this film has made me want to read the Rambo novels(hell, I might just do that one of these days).

The Lighthouse, wow! It was a mesmerizing film, Dafoe and Pattinson killed these roles. Both of them brought these characters to life, and Dafoe's magnificent angry speech was the icing on this terrifying dark cake. I would highly recommend The Lighthouse; it's a film like no other.

Deep Star Six (Amazon Prime Video) - Set in the fictional deep sea Navy facility "Deep Star Six", it follows a small group of workers nearing the end of a 6 month project to install a nuclear missile silo at the ocean floor. However, in a rush to complete the project they open up an ancient cavern while clearing the ocean floor, from which a primordial crustacean emerges that throws things into chaos.

It was a pretty good watch. While I'd never say it got to the point of being scary, it did a good job of building up suspense as the crustacean was a faceless terror until the last half hour, up until that point being nothing more than a mysterious radar signal that would close in before snatching away an exploratory sub or some such. Plus, there tends to be just something that works on an atmosphere level in these post Alien sci-fi suspense flicks, with the soft glow of the CRTs & the high tech but very mechanical facilities they work in.

Must of been a busy year for the theme too, as according to the recommendations of what to watch next, The Abyss, Leviathan, & Lords of the Deep all released the same year as this (89), and all seem to be variations of the same idea. I'll put them on the watchlist.

I watched One Hour Photo and Perfect Blue.

@Link-Hero
Okay, let's see...

One Hour Photo is a 2002 thriller staring Robin Williams, about a guy who works on an one hour photo shop (those don't exist anymore), developing photos. He is a lonely guy, and he obsesses over a family he develops photos for a long time.
It's great, Williams was usually cast as the really nice guy in most movies and in this movie his character is really creepy while appearing nice to the family he's practically stalking.
The contrast between his nice behavior (most of the movie, haha) with his awful actions is what makes this really effective.

Perfect Blue is a 1997 anime movie about an japanese idol who retires to become an actress, but after traumatic experiences and stalking she starts losing her grip on reality.
From the way people were describing it online i thought it was be "worse" (on how disturbing it is) tbh, there are some bloody/disturbing scenes but i'd say the psychological aspect is the most disturbing one.

I watched the Tim Burton Batman series (Batman and Batman Returns) last night. It's been years since I watched them and I forgot how dark these movies were. The Nolan series were a bit more grounded in reality but Burton's had a near Frank Miller feel to them in mood and story. They weren't goofy say like Deadpool or Sam Raimi's Spider-Man series or even flashy like Avengers. Especially the Penguin was dakrer then I remember the fact that his whole plan was to kill children wow.

Keaton still is my favorite Batman though as he didn't over exaggerate being Batman. He didn't go overboard with growls and over exaggerated voice like Bale did while wearing the suit. He used more his body language and actions to intimidate his enemies kindly like a stealth predator more then getting up in people's faces like other Batman. He was slow and methodical when confronting enemies.

In all these movies held up even to this day. Will I say they were better then the Dark Knight Trilogy. Probably not but I will say they are a different take and on equal terms with the Same Knight Trilogy. Though in my opinion keep the series separate like I do. There's the Tim Burton series (Batman, Batman Returns) The Joel Schumacher series (Batman Forever and Batman and Robin) and then the Nolan Series (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises).

I saw the movie Us by Jordan Peele. It was alright, started engaging in the first 30 minutes, and after that, it went to the gutter. Got dumber and dumber by the minute, and the pacing was all over the place! The movie didn't know what it wanted to be at times, and that's what ruined it for me. Or maybe it was when NWA song popped up out of nowhere, made me wince. Jordan Peele had some neat ideas, but, he wrote himself into a corner, and it shows with the second part of this movie. Funny that the thing that ruined this film was the villains themselves.

I can't recommend this. Us is a forgettable disappointing experience that got worse by the minute. I just hope Candy Man(Jordan Peele's new upcoming film) is at least better than this drivel.

Golgo 13: the Professional (Amazon Prime Video) - Late 80's anime film that sees professional assassin for hire Golgo fight for his life after the CIA, FBI, & Pentagon team up to kill him at the behest of a powerful oil baron, who's son was Golgo's last mark.

It was an interesting watch, though not without it's flaws. Graphic, gritty, but with a flair for spectacle (such as car chase through the neon lit streets of LA), it has a vibe you'd never see from anything the anime industry would turn out in the past 20 years, and honestly would probably feel more at home next to Kill Bill & Sin City rather than any anime collection, and it cleans up really nicely in HD, save for a few rough edges (Though it has a laughably bad helicopter CGI segment during the climax, that completely takes you out of the experience & plops you down into an ancient flight simulator. I can't imagine it looked good even at the time, other than the novelty of having a CGI segment. They didn't, and honestly probably even couldn't, achieve any sort of aesthetic commonality between it and the rest of the film).

The story is nothing particularly noteworthy, though it does it's job in setting the stage for the graphic misadventure, and features a few eccentric assassins that would feel right at home in a Metal Gear game. Also, when I say graphic, I mean it. It's absolutely saturated with blood & sex, and while while some scenes are stylistically interesting or tactful (the scene where Golgo beds his female contact in LA comes to mind, where they appear as silhouettes on an ever changing neon background), it easily goes in the other direction as well, even featuring a rape scene (as morally ambiguous as Golgo himself is, they really wanted to drive home that he finds himself up against some twisted individuals). Needlessly to say, it's definitely not for everyone.

Ahh! Free HBO & Cinemax, AND Idiocracy & Happy Gilmore are playing tonight. I haven't seen either uncensored, without commercials in forever.

I love president Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho

Deathstalker II (Amazon Prime Video) - The sequel of the low budget fantasy affair, Deathstalker (itself I watched about a month ago). In this entry, the warrior is lured by the promise of fame & fortune after a seer he rescues promises he'll receive them if he manages to defeat a wicked sorcerer who rules a far away land (what she doesn't tell him is that she's no seer, but the displaced princess of said land).

It's still ultimately a rather generic budget fantasy tale, but it is an improvement upon the original in a few areas. A new actor is called in to play the titular role, and while he was previously a brute of few words who was just as likely to assault the women he "rescued" as the bad guys were, here he's been changed to a more Indiana Jones like depiction (not always the biggest guy in the room, he's more likely to get into rough & tumble brawls, not adverse to throwing some dirt in his opponent's face in order to gain an edge, all with a bit of a smart mouth), and he never forces himself onto any of the film's women (there is one scene of attempted sexual assault, but it's by a group of minor baddies who are killed by a band of warrior women). While Deathstalker puts on a macho front and says some questionable things, as it goes on you get the impression he's not quite as bad as he lets on. Also, the film is a lot more tongue in cheek than the humorless original, even including a scenario where Deathstalker finds himself getting caught up in a fight to the death that takes the form of a pretty modern professional wrestling match, including ring & mid round ring girls. Also, while it clearly hasn't been remastered, the picture quality was much more consistent here than it was in the original.

It's still a pretty forgettable film, but if you're really into cheesy 80's fantasy, it's an okay source of swords, sorcery, & mostly guilt free nudity.

I tried and liked Alita: Battle Angel. I recommend it. It really scratched my itch for a new science fiction movie. Edit:.. it's definitely a good looking movie, great effects, too.

James Cameron didn't direct it, he produced it. Cameron was a fan of the original manga and wanted to direct it for years (his tv show Dark Angel was heavily influenced by it) but filming 3 Avatar films at the same time got in the way of it so he asked Robert Rodriguez (the guy reasonable for Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, Sin City etc) to directed it.

*edit
I had Déjà Vu when I wrote that and it's because I mentioned to someone else in the thread it wasn't directed by Cameron a year ago. It's funny so many people are being tricked into thinking Cameron directed it.

I recently watched Watchmen: Director's Cut. It's great, it's very long (over 3h) but it doesn't feel boring.
The plot is interesting, as it's set in an alternate universe during the cold war where the heroes are investigating the death of one of a fellow hero and uncover a huge conspiracy.
Great characters like Rorschach, an anti hero which is basically the opposite of Batman and Dr. Manhattan, a godly figure created after an laboratory incident.

Morbid fact: The bodybuilder who played Manhattan (Physically, a different actor voiced him. BTW, there is a contrast between him being this muscular, blue being with godly powers and his voice, which is very soft and not what you'd expect.) died in 2015 trying to film an ad by standing on a train track and later trying to outrun a train in motion.

What Snyder films you guys like?
I really like 300.
Funny story: I remember back when it came out, my history teacher bashed this movie, saying it wasn't accurate at all. Well, it's based off a Frank Miller comic, lol! Of course it wasn't accurate to real life events.
A few years later she showed us Pearl Harbor. So much for accuracy, haha.

@Vinny, I caught Watchmen on TV not too long ago and found it very good (it was on IFC, so it didn't have any broadcast censorship).

In general I really find myself liking the standalone (or small series) comic book/graphic novel films more than the MCU stuff (yeah, they're all consistently fun and props must be given for what it managed to build over 10 years, but there's nothing I'd want to own individually). Granted, standalone films/series tend to be more hit & miss in terms of quality, but when they nail it they're very good or unique (Watchmen, the old Spider-Man films, Into the Spider-Verse, & the Sin City films & 300 if you want to count the non-superhero stuff. Heck, I even enjoyed the 00's Punisher movie).

@jump Ha. Yeah, I said "directed" out of ignorance of what his role in the movie was. You're right, he was a producer. I was surprised to see IMDB cite him as co-writer of the screenplay too. Interesting.

@RR529 I feel the same, those expanded universes are cool for seeing how everything interacts together but some of the individual movies can be very forgettable. (other than being a nice build up for the "bigger" crossover movies.)