Topic: Movie thread.

Saw a couple of movies this week. The Mario movie, Creed 3, and Terrifier.

I liked Creed 3 a lot. The final fight oozes anime inspiration, I loved it. But, I felt some things went too fast, the movie should have calmed down and let things happen at a slow pace. Damian was awesome, loved his character, I hope he gets a spin-off movie. But after Drago of course.

Terrifier 1 was fine. It was hilarious, the actor playing Art the Clown was superb. I couldn't get enough of him. I just wish the tone of the whole movie was like the beginning. It was tense and horrifying. Reminded me of the dinner scene in Hereditary, felt like a bomb was going off any second. They went with dark humor, which is fine. Going to watch the sequel eventually, I read it's better.

The Mario movie. I don't know what to say. It was great, the animation was nice, the world was so warm and inviting, the actors did a top-notch job, and all the cute references made me smile. It was a good fill movie. I don't know how people wanted an Oscar-winning plot about a guy who jumps on turtles and blocks. People love to whine about anything.

I watched "Rango" on Netflix.

I’ve watched movies too!

Infinity Pool, it actually reminded me a lot of Salo which I’ve watched recently in a sense of what happens when you’re given no consequences so you become a filthy sod for lols. It’s visually stunning and all the ambiguous dream metaphors arty farty stuff works really nicely so it plays on the mind. That thing with the nipple is gonna haunt me! Also to be honest I thought it was made by David Cronenberg until I saw it was Brandon his sons name on it.

Operation Fortune, Britain’s most geezerish director Guy Ritchie new film. This felt very odd, it’s all the right ingredients of colourful characters, caping crimes, banter etc but it’s more restrained. It’s lost the feeling of it being a story told in the pub (which love it or hate it is a signature strength of his) so it can be a more internationally appealing film which makes me think this is actually a proof of concept test film for him to be the next Bond director. The scene with High Grant at the end is fantastic!

@jump
I've not seen any of Brandon Cronenberg's stuff not Crimes of the Future, so lots to look forward to.

But no! Nick Love is Britian' most geezerish director - and I've even seen The Business twice. Why, I have no idea. It's a good comedy though.

@jump Catherine Breillat should direct the next Bond. She would show Bond in his true light

@Rambler You made the same mistake I did, David Cronenberg made Crimes Of The Future and Brandon Cronenberg made Infinity Pool and I got the two mixed up. I need to see Crimes, it's apparently very classic Cronenberg. Brandon is a good director in his own right, before Infinity Pool I saw Possessor which is a decent flick and Anti-viral is on my list to watch which is about people who inject themselves with viruses from celebrities which sounds like a laugh.

Any talk of geezer films deserves a mention of Sexy Beast! I love all the sweary witty dialogue between Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley, I could just watch them banter and bicker for hours on end.

It's almost certainly BS but apparently Phoebe Waller Bridge is gonna be the next Bond director, it was on The Daily Mail so I'm not clicking on it but I'd love to see the reaction of people if it was announced for real.

Speaking of Catherine Breillat, is Bluebeard any good? It's caught my eye awhile ago I've not got round to it yet.

Just got back from watching the Super Mario Bros. Movie in 3D!

Sonic ran & Tetris cleared the way so Mario could jump for the (Super) Stars.

Seriously though, this is hands down the best VGM ever made. I know that's not a high bar to clear, but it was more fun than I could have ever imagined. It's not deep & they don't really bother to explain why things in the Mushroom Kingdom work the way they do (floating blocks, power ups, etc), but it's honestly better that way and let's them get right down to it. Everything is lovingly crafted, the cast is fun to be with (Mario & DK are the best "frenemies" ever), and the various nods to series' (& Nintendo) history constantly brought a smile to my face. Really, even my mother who doesn't really have any knowledge with the series past the SNES came away having a good time with it.

3D was fan-frickin'-tastic too. I've always heard that animated films tend to transition to the format better than most live action films (sans the stuff filmed in 3D like Avatar), and based on this I'd have to agree. It was constantly a feast for the eyes, whether it be a series of pipes bursting in a bathroom or an army of Dry Bones emerging from the ground (to name a couple of early film moments).

So when I saw the new Dungeons & Dragons trailer in the cinema my reaction to it was it looks so stupid only to be told by my old lady that she wants to see it as it looks so stupid plus there's dragons in it...In fairness it's pretty fun fluff which actually out Marvel formula the Marvel films.

It's more naturally aligned to comedy, unlike the Marvel films which are action movies filled with too many quips undercutting itself they made the choice to not write themselves into a corner and just be an action-comedy so the comedy here feels right as they roll around in the ridiculousness of it all. It was also really nice see a mix of pratical effects still being used along with CGI. Plus the fat dragon, Michelle Rodriguez's dry humour and Hugh Grant embracing being a slappable prat are all highlights.

As I was walking out of the cinema I heard some people say it actually feels like a D&D movie, I've never played it but good on them for keeping the fans happy.

@jump
Mebbes just say 'Cronenberg' to cover it all? I might start doing that.

A good choice of writer for the next Bond film would be anybody apart from those two who did the last four or five. All they all are a series of set pieces with minimal plotting and autopilot secondary characters. The only standout bit (apart from PWB doing the two female characters in the last one - I reckon anyways) was when Bond in a previous film decided with a huge grin that him and M we're off to get the baddie, much to the horror of the Bond Girl. It was a lovely touch. Then it was destroyed as she got nabbed by the baddie and it was just a, 'rescue the Girl against the clock' yawn ending.

I've only ever seen Romance and A ma Soeur / Fat Girl by Breillat. I thought Romance was astonishing, and possibly the most French film ever (including Eric Rohmer), but I found A ma Soeur to be far too much. Some stuff you just don't need to see. I'm keeping a lookout for The Anatomy of Hell, though, as that looks really interesting.

Edit: apparently I don't know the difference between the words writer and director. Anyways, point still stands.

Also, Sexy Beast may be geezerish, but it's brilliant! Pity we'll be never get a Comic Relief Don Logan / Gandhi mashup

@Rambler If baby boy Cronenberg didn't want to be compared to his dad then he shouldn't be making physiological body horror too so Cronenbergs is fair game in my opinion.

Would I be a poser if I said you're wrong as Amelie is the greatest French film of all time? Yes, I know it's the subtitle film for people that don't like subtitles films and it's so sickly sweet as if a gummy bear threw up after binging on sweets but c'mon look at how kooky and whimsical it all is! Thinking about it @Kermit1 would probably really enjoy the kooky wholesomeness of it.

Yeah I didn't enjoy Craig Bond films that much, Casino Royale was a knee jerk reaction to be more like the Bourne films (I specifically remember when watching it saying was the whole film about Bond chasing people's phone) and then Skyfall decided to run back to being a conservative take on Bond with them all being linked together by how much he obsesses over Eva Green. It sorely needs an injection of something new beyond just casting a new Bond.

@jump Cronenbergen?

Nooooo, Romance is the most French film - it's all stylish clothes, people looking bored quoting philosophy, and lots of shagging.
Amelie doesn't float my boat, but it must be in the running for the best French film (which is actually Three Colours: Blue, or Taxi 5, I'm not sure).

They could make Bond a musical? Bond! They could probably get away with loads of theme tunes rather than new songs where he boasts of how many people he's killed and / or shagged.

Or they could go in an entirely new direction - get Bela Tarr out of retirement, music by SunnO))), script is all lines and directions taken from other Bond movies cut and pasted together

As for the movies I watched at home this weekend...

The Wizard (Blu-Ray)

Don't have the '93 Mario film on disc, so watched this instead to prep myself for the new Mario movie.

Wanting to prevent his younger brother from being holed up in a mental hospital, Corey (Fred Savage) sneaks him out and they hitchhike their way cross country to California (making money hustling at arcades & such along the way because the younger bro is a "wizard" at video games) in order to compete in a Nintendo competition at Universal Studios (which will prove the younger kid is cognizant or some such). Along the way they team up with a girl (so Corey can have an obligarory romantic plot), and are chased down by the duo of their father & eldest brother (who are genuinely worried about them), and a bounty hunter who specializes in catching runaways (hired by mom's new husband, he's our cartoonishly evil bad guy).

Yeah, it's cheesy as heck (you really need to turn your brain off to roll with the idea that a bunch of kids under 13 can successfully travel cross country & no one bothers to ask questions other than the few characters activity in pursuit), and it really is just a big commercial for Nintendo (even the eldest bro & dad reconnect by playing an NES they dragged along whenever they make a stop in their journey), but that latter fact is what makes it so fun if you were a fan of gaming in the 80's & 90's.

For what it's worth they do try to squeeze in an emotional revelation as to why the younger brother has the issues he has, and while it's probably more of an afterthought it does have me tearing up. But yeah, "the Wizard", much like the Power Glove featured in the film, is "so bad" (and it's up to you how you want to read that context).

Urusei Yatsura: Only You (Blu-Ray)

I'll admit I was going into this one a bit blind (I've never seen the show it's based on), but it was easy enough to get to grips with the various players.

A bit rough & slow in spots, but it was a fun enough time & there were times when you could tell they were trying to stretch their artistic chops (like the opening tag scene). Will definitely check out other stuff in the franchise.

@Rambler I like clothes, mumblecore philosophy and coitus too but there's something so darn charming about Amelie I can over look those lack of things. In my defense I'd rank Raw and Titane as my other favourite French films which are so not nice it more than makes up for Amelie's niceness.

I think you might be onto something with Bond The Musical, instead of 5 mins pretty opening credits with music just make it 2 hours long. It's not like people watch the films for it's plot anyway. The only problem would be it's now a lot harder to get all of those product placements in.

@RR529 Oh Satan, I had completely forgotten about The Wizard. I saw that on the TV when I was a kid and even then I laughed at how stupid it was. It's basically a Rain Man knock off but with vidya games if I remember it right.

@jump the word coitus reminds me of the Big Lebowski.

We once had a BL party with dressing gowns, white Russians, and Wii bowling. I think it was lots of fun

@Colonel_Mustache I had a feeling it wouldn't be great .

@Rambler Hmm...Amelie breaking off into a discussion of The Big Lebowski reminds me I need to watch The Jesus Rolls. It's a spin off from The Big Lebowski about one of the bowlers with Audrey Tautou in it. It got massively slated when it was released so I'm in no rush to watch it.

After Super Mario Bros, I decided I wanted to start a movie collection again. Used to have one many years ago, in the age of DVD right when Blu-Ray hit. But now, it's 4k UHD Blu-Ray.

Debated on buying the Panasonic UB820 for Dolby Vision, but honestly can't justify the $422 + $55 for an HDMI 2.1 switcher to free up ports since they're all being used.

Instead, I took my recent bonus I received of $2500 (of which I only kept $1700 after taxes, but Im not complaining), and dedicated $1000 of it to starting a movie collection. Bought all my faves in 4k UHD Blu-Ray. Game of Thrones complete series, all the Star Wars movies, Back to the Future Trilogy, all Daniel Craig Bond movies, all Lord of the Ring and Hobbit movies, all Pirates of the Carribean movies, all Indiana Jones movies, all Jurassic Park movies, all Harry Potter movies, all Bourne movies, Princess Bride, Lion King (the original), and much, much more.

Also bought about two dozen normal Blu-Rays for movies that don't have a 4k UHD Blu-Ray released or planned. Stuff like the Bible miniseries, Clerks, Office Space, Extract, etc.

Boxed up all my remaining PS4 games I didn't sell to Gamestop, and made room on a shelf for movies. Feels good to finally have a little collection again, with movies I can enjoy in 4k HDR on the OLED with Dolby Atmos surround.

@RR529 The Wizard was supposed to be an update of Tommy (The musical by the Who - So instead of Pinball Wizard it was computer game wizard) but they couldn't put most of the musical in there as...erm how do i put this....not very kid friendly.
But i remember when it came out on VHS as the video store down the road had it and you could buy the movie posters for 10p, which i used to have on my wall at my Dad's house.

@JaxonH That's a big investment, I got my bonus recently so I spunked £60 on a pair of Batman converse as treat to myself and then the rest went into my savings. Thinking about it I could spend it on a 3D TV as I recently fancied watching some movies in 3D again as Gravity, Life Of Pi and Dredd aren't the same in 2D.

If you like Office Space and Extract try a show called Severance. The best way to describe it is the same way my girlfriend watches The Handmaid's Tale in horror about the abuse of women I will watch Severance and be in horror about work as there are real feeling details in it like twisted HR lingo and middle management politics. It's a comedy sci-fi drama about working in the office where people have their personalities split so they are now two people in one body with one person who works in an office but doesn't remember their home life and vice versa. It's also got a decent cast with Adam Scott, Christopher Walken and John Turturro in it.

@JaxonH, congrats! I don't have too many 4K discs yet, but I do love adding new BD's to my collection (probably mostly anime at this point, but I'm trying to add more live action stuff as well).