Topic: Movie thread.

Watched a movie called Spontaneous this past weekend.

A story about life, love, friendship, and fellow classmates randomly combusting in nothingness.

For a lighthearted horror movie, it was excellent.

A Time Slip of 10,000 Years: Prime Rose (Retro Crush)

Early 80's science fantasy anime flick. Starting out either in "modern day" or the near future (It's not made really clear) a space station known as "Death Mask" (with an appearance to match) breaks apart and it's debris wipe both a Japanese city & Dallas, Texas off the face of the Earth. It's quickly descerned that the two cities were actually transported 10,000 years into the future, and time agent Gai (who's superior officer is totally Spock from Star Trek, for some reason) is tasked with investigating the incident.

I thought it was a pretty interesting curio from a bygone era of anime. Interestingly it makes a pretty drastic change in focus after Gai arrives in the future, as he winds up involved in a war between ancient Roman/Egyptian styled civilizations and it essentially drops him as the lead in favor of Emiya (a local girl destined for greatness, it pretty much becomes a standard fantasy story, though it eventually ties things back around to the original narrative).

Content Guide:

Language (Average) - Typical PG-13 language.

Violence (Average) - there is some blood, but it's not gory. Again I'd say it's probably PG-13 levels.

Sex/Nudity (High) - There's one pretty lengthy gratuitous bathing scene involving Emiya. Otherwise she takes on a warrior persona with dominatrix styled skimpy armor. I found out after the fact that the film was produced by Osamu Tezuka's studio (the guy behind Astro Boy), and that this film is in oddity in his lineup because of the fanservice, which apparently isn't something usually present in his works.

Mission Impossible III. I've seen I, II, Ghost Protocol, Rogue Nation and Fallout already so this was the last one I had to see. It was pretty darn good if you ask me. It marked the start of the MI Series as a proper blockbuster instead of a cheap wannabe. It had one of the best villains (IMO), I've ever seen, in Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). He's completely unafraid of the IMF, and the way he threatens Ethan is just terrifying. There's a lot of trickery and backstabbing, and the action and heist sequences are gritty and.... just awesome.

@TheJGG I'm kinda skeptical of any movie franchise that takes 3-5 movies to get good, it's the same with The Fast & The Furious, I just can't be bothered with it. I suppose I should give them a proper try again as the directors are largely A-listers.

@jump True. But honestly, when they get good they get absolutely stunning. I feel like the Mission: Impossible movies get better and better with each one. 1 and 2 aside, 3 was decent, 4 was good, 5 was great and 6 was... a masterpiece. And then there's series like Harry Potter and to some extent The Hunger Games movies, which for me were great right out of the box, and kept the momentum going throughout the entire franchise. More points to Harry Potter though, because that one lasted eight movies, and they had no right making as much critical and commercial success as they did.

@TheJGG Isn't comparing it to Hunger Games or Harry Potter an apples to oranges comparison though? Those are films that have a precise narrative/arc that carries on into the next film but Mission Impossible are fairly standalone like Ice Age or Alien. I'm asking out of ignorance as I've only seen the first two MI films.

Ninja Scroll (Hulu).

Anime action film from the 90's set around the Edo era, that follows a wandering warrior known as Jubei who gets caught in a shadow conflict between the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate & the remnants of the Toyotomi clan, which is employing the aid of the nation's most powerful Ninja in order to take control.

It's a beautifully animated film, with a lot of stunning action sequences that'll please any fan of Samurai or Ninja film, and I enjoyed the sort of supernatural elements they added (they kind of reminded me of the kind of supernatural/inhuman abilities of the bosses in MGS3. One even controlled a swarm of bees). It is an exceptionally explicit film though, which is sure to turn some off. The exceedingly gory combat & general nudity is one thing, but it actually involves the female lead in not one but two on screen depictions of outright rape. Intentionally unsettling as it may be, there's no doubt it's inclusion is surprising.

Content Guide:

Language (Average) - Surprisingly given the rest of the film's content, I didn't notice anything here to write home about. The only thing here that could be described as PG-13.

Violence (Extreme) - Rape notwithstanding, it also includes much gore as characters are stabbed & ripped asunder any number of ways, including a scene in which a villain drinks blood out of a freshly severed limb.

Sex/Nudity (Extreme) - At this point I think this goes without saying.

Tried watching Space Sweepers on Netflix. Beautiful sets, painful/boring to watch. Stopped watching after 40 minutes. I was psyched, it's a new movie, looks gorgeous, has positive rating on rotten tomatoes, maybe the score is based on south korean audience.

Been watching total drama before they take it off, Its amazing well the first 3 seasons.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Hulu)

The live action big screen debut of one of gaming's biggest mascots. This was pretty cute to be honest. I found the "alien" thing a bit weird at first, but in the end it's a lot better than the "escaped to our world from the game/cartoon" setup that these types of things tend to have. Provided a few decent chuckles, some fun action scenes (kinda reminded me of the Flash tv show, but with a larger budget), and all the little nods to the franchise's history (like one of the crossed out worlds on Sonic's list was represented by a Sega Saturn logo). I'll definitely watch the sequel when it releases, and hope it lives long enough for them to run it into the ground with a live action Shadow, lol.

Content Guide:

Language (Mild) - There's like one or maybe two minor cuss words during the entire film, both during the climax I believe.

Violence (Mild) - There's some slapstick violence (I liked the bar brawl scene) & destruction of robots.

Sex/Nudity (None) - Unless you count a cartoon anthropomorphic blue hedgehog running around in nothing but a pair of shoes... which I don't, but you do you.

Lupin the 3rd: Legend of the Gold of Babylon (Retro Crush)

Early 80's anime film in the iconic Lupin III franchise. When Lupin & the gang get wind of the legendary gold of Babylon (a mythical treasure of the Biblical age that God himself supposedly sought), they're off on a globe trotting adventure from New York, Paris, to Iraq to locate it. Complicating the matter however is the fact they have to compete with the Marciano Mafia family for the prize, with series regular Fujiko Mine playing both sides for her own gain, and the interference of Inspector Zenigata in his never ending quest to catch our lovable thief (this time with the aid of a bevvy of beauty pageant policewomen for the ride!).

This movie was a heck of a lot of fun. I can't be sure, but due to the era & theming it seems like they were influenced by the popularity of Indiana Jones (they even went out of their way to showcase that the Nazi's had previously sought the mysterious treasure), and I thought it blended nicely with the typical Lupin shenanigans. I remember liking one of the older Lupin TV anime back in the day back on Adult Swim, and while one of the newer interpretations I've seen never really grabbed me, this was an absolute delight. I also thought it was amusing that it was clearly from an era of anime less concerned with copyright, as there were blatant Sony, Coca-Cola, & even Star Wars logos visible during the New York portion.

One point of contention for today's viewers will definitely be the outdated stereotypical depiction of Black people. I don't think it's intentionally meant in a negative way, as they likely would have just been influenced by how Black people were depicted in older American animation without a proper understanding of the stereotypes (and it's not quite Mr. Popo from DBZ levels of bad), but it's very apparent in the early parts of the film (an early scene involves a lengthy motorcycle chase on top of a giant animatronic head of a stereotypically depicted African American).

Content Guide:

Language (Mild) - I was surprised at how little swearing there was in this. Maybe one or two mentions.

Violence (Mild) - There's a ton of gunplay, but it's a bloodless experience from my experience. It's really slapstick in it's depiction, with a lot of scenes involving people being blown up but only having torn clothes and covered in soot to show for it. Two people do die of poisoning, though.

Sex/Nudity (Average) - There's one scene involving a "goddess" that's clearly wearing a sheer top. Otherwise you have a "blink & you'll miss it" bit of nudity on behalf of "Fujiko", and an occasional bit of light fan service involving Fujiko or the Beauty Pageant cops.

Cool World (Amazon Prime Video)

It's 1945 and Frank Harris (Brad Pitt) has just come home from the war. Taking his mother out for a drive on his brand new motorcycle, things take a turn for the worse when a drunk driver causes them to crash, killing his mother. When the police try to tend to Harris himself he vanishes, transported to the "Cool World" (the universe where cartoons reside) by the invention of a Cool World scientist. Fast forward to modern day (the 90's) we meet up with Jack Deebs, a man in prison for killing his wife's lover (this is only touched upon once, apparently deemed unimportant) who has made a name for himself by creating a series of comic books based on Cool World (he has been transported there in his sleep for years for some unknown reason, though it's inferred that it's not all that uncommon for humans to temporarily visit in this manner), thinking it's just something he's dreamed up. During his trips he's regularly seduced by the sultry Holli Would, a "Doodle" (the film's term for cartoon characters) who believes that by copulating with a human (referred to as Noids in Cool World) that she can become real & escape into reality. Unfortunately for her, sex between Doodles & Noids is the only taboo within Cool World, and Frank Harris (who hasn't aged, I guess because it's not his universe?) is now a cop within Cool World who makes sure that taboo is never broken. Of course, we wouldn't have a movie if things always went according to plan...

If that sounds like a totally bat**** premise, it's because it is, and this is a totally bat**** movie. Apparently intended to be a graphic, R rated take on films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the original script called for a horror premise wherein Jack & Holli conceived a homicidal half real, half toon offspring that would attempt to murder it's parents, but the studio stepped in as they wanted it to reach a wider audience & get some of that Roger Rabbit money, so the threat was toned down to a more generic "world's colliding" apocalypse, and they simply cut out the worst parts of what's clearly an R rated world so it could squeeze by with a PG-13 rating (the cartoon world itself is absolutely nightmarish in appearance, and I'll even say aesthetically quite impressive, and full of off kilter toons that are consistently as naughty as they're allowed to be within the rating & so zany it's quite often a sensory overload, and although there's no nudity, Holli is depicted as an absolute slut that tries to get into the pants of every man that comes her way & regularly dry humps the environment). It's certainly not a good film, but was definitely interesting to experience at least once. Even in it's final toned down form this isn't a film I'd ever suggest to watch with kids.

Content Guide:

Language (High) - PG-13, but definitely pushes it at parts.

Violence (Average) - It may have a twisted & nightmarish appearance, but at the end of the day cartoons really can't get hurt, no matter how bad they're being. A few humans die, but it's not a gory or even particularly bloody.

Sex/Nudity (High) - There's no outright nudity, but I've already explained Holli's consistently shameless persona, and there's tons of other innuendo as well.

Today/later tonight im watching Half Brothers a new comedy that just came out in stores for DVD/blu ray. its pretty good for a movie that was made during this years crazy covid times

I saw Baby Driver a few days ago, it was a wild ride. I enjoyed the story and the screenplay was really engaging. Jamie Foxx, as we saw in Django Unchained and... Soul, can play the antihero very well, but I consider his character to be a minor villain. His acting was phenomenal because you'd agree with him one minute and you'd want to kill him the next. Which is good because his death scene for me was vastly satisfying..

Ansel Elgort was amazing. I don't know why he isn't in more movies, because he can play a supporting role (Divergent), he can be the handsome male lead (The Fault in Our Stars), and now he's an antihero. His romance with Debra (Lily James) was extremely fun to see, and his character arc was very well executed.

Kevin Spacey was good. Doesn't change his supporting role in the Sex Offender Shuffle but he was a complex character. Boss, then villain, then anti-villain... it was a fascinating development. And the two star-crossed lovers, was a very realistic portrayal of that kind of obsessive romance.

All in all a 17 movie, and a well spent two hours. High recommend.

@TheJGG Yeah Baby Driver is great, I'm surprised you didn't mention the soundtrack or the car chases as they really drive (pun!) the movie more so than the acting or plot does.

Edgar Wright is probably my favourite director, I've loved his stuff ever since I saw Spaced. I'm really looking forward to his next movie Last Night in Soho, with Anya Taylor-Joy having now gone massive thanks to The Queens Gambit plus the genre hopping and pop culture premise of the movie it is right (pun!) in his wheelhouse so it looks like it could be the sleeper hit of 2021.

@jump No, they were really... really good. The car chases were amazing, and the soundtrack was almost made specifically for the movie. Edgar Wright's visual style is very distinct, though he probably cranked it up to 100 for Scott Pilgrim. During Baby's first on-screen coffee run there's subtle visual cues that match the beat or lyrics of the song, and it was a very satisfying thing to see.

@TheJGG Speaking of his visual style I listened to a podcast interview with him and I was really surprised to learn he doesn't edit his own films. For a typical director it's not that shocking but considering he has this very recognizable style of quick cuts, call back jokes and visual cues I was sure he would be in the editing room to make sure it all pulls together.

In a way it's sad he's not a bigger director as everything he does looks so great so I'd love to see what he can do with a blockbuster budget as besides Scott Pilgrim which sadly flopped on release all of his films have been pretty small considering what happenes on the screen. Perhaps he's too indie for that and would have to give up too much control like with what allegedly happened with his Marvel movie.

Apparently Avatar has retaken the highest grossing theatrical release from Avengers: Endgame after China re-released it in theaters.

It was $7 Million behind Endgame, but it's currently made $33 Million since the re-release.

@RR529 I wonder if they did that just so they can re-release the Blu-Rays with the subtitle; The Highest Grossing Movie Ever.

So... Zack Snyder's Justice League came out and I have zero intention of watching it. It's way too long, rivalling even the hardiest of Lord of the Rings movies, at 4h2m. Apparently reviews say it's better than the original, so that proves Snyder's vision for this film was better than Joss "Abuser" Whedon's. The creation of that cut is a tale of despair, so it's great that this project was finally realised in the end.

Zack Snyder is a really good editor, I can't wait to see how he improves Joss Whedon's other Marvel movies.

I don't think they did a good enough job explaining why Wolverine, Hell Boy and the other Avengers were not about. That's kinda the problem with shared universes like they never explain why the characters don't help each other in their own movies like why didn't Wonder Woman and Captain America didn't help each other in WWII.

The cheap CGI was annoying, Thanos looked at lo better in Infinity War and they should have explained Darkseid is his secret identity like how Spider Man is actually the normal guy Ben Reilly.

Shame there was no Stan Lee cameo, he created all of these comics so it's fitting he should be in it even if it's the rubbish ones.

The recasting of Vision was weird, I assuming he was black in the comics so they had to get rid of Paul Bettany for woke big tech agenda but they handled it really badly with "I have lots of names now I'm Martian Manhunter" to explain the change.