Topic: Movie thread.

I watched Shazam 2 like a week ago but forgot to mention it. I thought it was pretty good.

Couldn’t sleep so I’ve watched a couple of flicks I've seen before so if I do fall asleep I wouldn't miss anything.

Gravity, this was the first time I’ve seen it since I saw it in the cinema in 3D and it does lose some spectacle in 2D but not nearly as much as I thought it would. It just wonderfully smacks you over the head with wonder and terror in equal measure. There’s some rather lovely arty farty symbolism I missed the first time round like the shot of Sandra Bullock in the space station is like the womb, the trauma of losing her kid is the disconnect from life/earth etc. Best thing about it is the movie 90 mins which is becoming so rare, like I'm refusing to watch The Irishman until Martin Scorsese releases the non-indulgence less than 3 hours cut!

Dredd, I got thinking about 3D films on 2D screens and Dredd was the first one that came to mind as there’s some stunning sequences that look so awkward in 2D but it doesn’t stop how so fudging good this movie is, just relentless gritty crowd pleasing action fun. I loved the deadpan humour (which seems to get missed by Americans who start applauding the fascist cop system lol ), the world feels alive and this is just a normal day which is something that is lacking in most comic book movies as they all try to turn everything upto 11 and the core three actors of Karl Urban, Lena Headey and Olivia Thirlby are all great. I'm still sad there's no sequel as they had planned to go with some of the madder stuff from the comics next. Also I’ve got a mate who worked on it who gave me one of Judge Dredd’s police badges.

Rather annoyingly this has made me wish the 3D fad would come back so I can rewatch the handful of films that used 3D really well. The independent cinema which would show these types of films don’t have 3D projectors and the big chain cinema wouldn’t bother showing them.

@jump Eyy, you finally watched Gravity! Now I need to actually watch Gravity!
...this is the one where Sandra Bullock floats in space, right?

@Colonel_Mustache Yeah, pretty much. Her and George Clooney muck about in space until it all goes wrong. It's a lovely looking movie so if you do watch try to watch it on the biggest screen possible, it's not a movie to watch on your phone.

@jump Cool, another movie to watch after I finish John Wick 3 as part of my John Wick binge... Thanks!

I’m gutted that I won’t be able to see John Wick: Chapter 4 until April 20, which is when the movie releases here. But it is what it is, so I’ll just have to catch up with the rest of them in that time.

Anyone seen The Banshees of Inisherin by the way? One of my films of 2022 for sure, it was such a subterfugal, uneasy yet bafflingly hilarious experience that left me completely dumbfounded by the end.

@TheJGG Yeah I rally liked The Banshees of Inisherin too. It's exactly how I like my comedies, bleak, dark and depressing.

What's the movie where Brad Pitt falls from the sky tower/space elevator? That scene is sick. Was it brad pitt?

A: Oh, it's Ad Astra. I can't recall if the movie was good or not. The the space tower scene at the beginning is pretty epic, though.

@WoomyNNYes it's a slow burn. An epic but slow burn.

I’m sorry to say, but unlike other adults, I have no desire or interest in the John Wick series. I don’t know why.

@JadeKitsune
You're not special or unique for being uninterested in a movie series. There are plenty of people out there that don't care for the John Wick franchise.

I'm not interested in John Wick since they're mostly nothing but mindless action flicks, and I'm not much into movies like that. Seeing one of them was enough for me. Films where the central character mainly kills an extensive number of terrorists or criminals throughout the movie get repetitive and boring very quickly for me. I prefer movies where violence is not the main focus, have a little more characterization, and slow down the action every once in a while.

@Link-Hero I love John wick, and I feel like anyone who has watched that movie, has to agree with what you said, your not even lying, i personally love how they do the kills, even if simple, I enjoy it. But i legit can’t even act like anything you said wasn’t true, I mean, it’s all true, lol. Pretty much what I’m trying to say as a John wick lover, I agree with you.

@JadeKitsune @Link-Hero @Snatcher Actually watched the first John Wick movie with my mother last night, and it wasn't her cup of tea. It's definitely not for everyone.

Actually going to see John Wick 4 later, my friend is seeing the movie for his birthday today and wanted me to tag along. Looking forward to a movie and nachos again because AMC popcorn is usually stale whenever I go.

I blame the special showings of Trolls World Tour I went to last summer... those two theaters had actual fresh popcorn.

I'm not hugely keen on the John Wicks, I've seen the first two and they are enjoyable enough I just didn't buy into the world to want to see more of it. The same applies to Mission Impossible, Sicario, Jack Reacher, Has Fallen, Taken and a few other action flick series in the last few years other folk like.

Credit where credit is due I'd rate John Wicks above them as they are perfectly executed once you realise they aren't action movies but action homage movies. It's so deadpan you don't even realise the (loving) joke how of it's pointing at absurd the genre and they are just piling on cliche after cliche with the action sequences being nice and tight a bonus.

I've not seen any of them apart from catching a bit on telly where someone got their face kicked off by a horse.

However, they can't be in the same league as Raid 1 & 2?

Raid 2 has a fight with hammers.

Also, they surely won't be as good as John Woo's HK films?

Edit: oh and Sonatine has a gun fight in a lift, which it just outrageously good

I just love how the first movie is just pure anger, I mean your wife is gone, the love of your life, and the only thing she left you, was a puppy, and some jerks kill it, I would be in rage, only difference is johns got the skills to do it.

We now live in a world where the first ever Tetris movie is rated R.

Well the first Wick film is a straight forward revenge film, a man gets attacked so he wants revenge. The second one has a turn which made it into a franchise where it’s all about a secret society of gangster assassins, which is where a lot people jumped on to it since it’s a franchise now in the same way people watch Marvel just because it’s Marvel.

Yeah The Raid films are great. I saw the first one with a Q&A with the director who took me for a surprise since he’s British. I had just assumed he would be Asian.

I prefer John Woo’s 80s stuff (particularly Hard Boiled and A Better Tomorrow) but I’m sure people in the 80s were talking about how John Woo films aren’t as good as those 70s Kung Fu films with Bruce Lee or The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin. John Wick is this gen’s kung fu movies which in 10-30 years later they will complain about how the new modern action films aren’t as good as John Wick.

I wouldn’t call it the best but my favourite martial arts film in recent years was The Man With The Iron Fist which caught my attention as it’s sounds like someone was making it up as I don’t understand how this film exists. It was directed by Wu Tang Clan’s RZA and it’s just this loving warts and all kung fu movie with a few big names like Russel Crowe, Lucy Liu, Dave Bautista, Gordon Liu, Pam Grier etc. The soundtrack is obviously brilliant too.

@jump they could get sponsorship from Wickes, and use some of their tools as weapons. I might email Keanu with the idea.

Speaking of the RZA and films - have you seen Ghost Dog Way of the Samurai? It's Jim Jarmusch's idea of a gangster / ninja film. Very funny and cool. RZA does the music and has a cameo in it, and it's got some very nice homages / lifts from Le Samouri and Branded to Kill (which is one of my favourite films ever).

I remember that RZA film coming out but I've not seen it - sounds like one to check out.

Top Gun Maverick is now free with Amazon Prime Video. I watched some last night.