Topic: Movie thread.

From Up On Poppy Hill (Blu-Ray) - Set in 1960's Japan as the nation prepares for the Tokyo Olympics, a pair of high schoolers find love as they campaign for the restoration of a historic school facility earmarked for demolition, however secrets behind their parantage may bar them from being together. Absolutely brilliant film, definitely at or near the top of my Ghibli ranking. Very beautiful & emotional.

Minions: the Rise of Gru (Amazon Prime) - Pretty much run of the mill affair for what, the 5th(?) entry in this franchise. But hey, it was amusing enough, which is why they're able to churn out as many as they do.

Private Lessons (Tubi) - When the teenage son of a multimillionaire is left home alone while his father is away on a trip, he lives every teenage boy's fantasy when the new hot housemaid starts coming on to him. Turns out it's all part of a plot by the family's greedy chauffeur who's trying to blackmail the kid out of $10,000, and he has to find a way to get it back before dad comes home. It's so absurd it loops to being funny, although even by 80's standards I'm surprised this was allowed to be made (let alone available on a modern streaming platform).

Watched Mimic (1997) last night. Great creature feature from Guillermo Del Toro. He seems to have a fixation with monstrous genetic abominations living in sewers, which is a theme that's cropped up in a few of his movies. Anyway, the creature itself is quite unique, designed by effects artist Rob Bottin. Also the film was shot in my home town Toronto.

Huh, no one questioned the fact that I picked all female voices for my emotions even though I'm a guy.

Anyway, I just watched "Wreck-It Ralph" on Disney+ on my 4K TV, ha ha~

I LOVED Godzilla vs. Kong, but was really sad that I didn't get to watch it in theatres (we were in COVID lockdown). And here I was, in the theatre, watching the sequel, and the final battle comes and I was bored to tears and couldn't wait to get out of the theatre.

The Favourite (Blu-Ray) - Picked this up thrifting, and while it does have it's merits, I just don't think it's my kinda thing. That's okay though, it's good to take a step out of your comfort zone every once in awhile, even if it doesn't always pay off.

Yorgos Lanthimos is one of 3 directors on my "Do Not Watch" list. I made a rule to only watch his films if they're nominated for Best Picture. And, cruelly, they always seem to be. So at this point I hate watch them to get them over with and cross them off.

Saw Beetlejuice in preparation for the upcoming sequel (cleverly titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice).

My sister and I LOVED it to pieces as kids. The naughty bits mixed with all the impressive special effects really entertained.

Seeing it now, decades later, it isn't nearly as entertaining. But it's still fun enough. A couple of jokes I get now that I didn't when I was 9, like what "valium" and "civil servants" are. At least it introduced us to Harry Belafonte's music!

I first heard of Yorgos when my sister told me: "We just saw a movie called The Lobster on Netflix. You have to see it! You won't believe a movie can be this bad!"

I declined to watch it. Next thing I know, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is getting rave reviews, so we rush out to see it. Ugh. The actors were all talking like robots or something. My sister said: "Yeah, that's just how The Lobster was!" That's when I made my "Best Picture" rule for ol' Yorgos. Unfortunately for me The Favourite and Poor Things followed.

Who are your other two directors?

Wes Anderson and Robert Altman. Could probably add Fellini and Kurosawa.

You might be thinking: "Those are all the best directors who have made scores of the greatest films of all-time! Stick to mindless superhero blockbusters you cultureless swine!"

Well, I don't really have a defense. I was convinced, and was eager, to watch a bunch of each of their films based on their reputations, critical acclaim and user ratings. And almost every time ended up feeling baffled or even swindled. They're just not for me.

But I continue to seek out movies from literally every genre (except children's films), from blockbusters to indies, always on the hunt for a good time. Even if it doesn't seem like my kind of film, at all, I give it a shot as long as both critics and audiences seem to love it.

The Patriot with Mel Gibson.
Pretty good film, as a very sensitive person, there were a few scenes where I cold not look, but overall a good plot. If you are a brit do not watch /hj

Civil War (Cinema) - Set during a hypothetical modern US civil war, the film doesn't take any time to set up why the conflict is happening in the first place nor does it take a hard line politically (while there may be a few subtle hints of Trump in the president come dictator, such as a dismantling of the FBI & a murderous distrust of the media, his political party is left unmentioned, & while the unlikely union of Texas & California's "Western Forces" is the predominant rebel force against the government, the film doesn't portray them as heroes or liberators). Rather, it focuses on a small group of photojournalists making the dangerous trek from NYC to the front line, in the hopes of documenting the WF's historic seige of D.C., travelling through the ruined carcasses of towns which the fighting has already passed through, documenting small outer skirmishes, stopping at a small town that has seemingly managed to avoid the ravages of war, a refugee camp, & more on their way to the big show. While it may disappoint some that it doesn't take a blatant hard line stance on current political discourse, the imagery is all too often raw & pulls no punches when it comes to the brutality of war from all involved, and it had more than one absolutely heart stopping moment.

Deadpool (Blu-Ray) - Another thrift pick up. Probably have done a write up of this one at some point before, but it remains pretty fun, and I always seem to pick up on a new reference or two I missed out on the last time I watched it. Some good, inappropriate, laughs.

Neighbors (Blu-Ray) - The last of my thrift pick ups. Seth Rogan comedy about a couple of new parents who have to make a choice between the responsibility of adulting and trying to hold on to their youth when a roudy fraternity moves in next door. It seems well made enough for what it is & provided a few laughs, but I think I just overall don't care for the vibe of Seth Rogan's work (maybe I'm just a little old at heart, but give me Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, or John Candy any day of the week. Heck, even Will Ferrell will do for someone a bit more modern).

Pretty Smart (Tubi) - 80's teen comedy that sees a pair of sisters with polar opposite personalities (a good girl & troublemaker respectively) sent to private school in Europe & end up in rival cliques. When it's learned that the skeevy headmaster is secretly recording the girls' dorms (& selling the tapes) and using the students to move drugs, the sisters will have to get the cliques to put aside their differences in order to take him down & save the school. Maybe not a particularly novel setup for a teen comedy of the era, but I had a load of fun with it.

Guys... that last BLUEY episode hit WAY to hard😦
Im not one to cry in kids TV shows... but dang bro😭😭😭
Just watch it. You will cry.

Some recent movies...

Woody Woodpecker Goes To Camp on Netflix, a fun one with some heart. Better than I was anticipating. I remember seeing the first Woody Woodpecker movie years ago, I remember liking it too.

Migration came to Peacock today, so I watched it for the first time since seeing it in theaters. Still love the adventure the Mallards went on.

@Sunsy
I regret watching Migration last time at cinema as the movie opened by short movie of Minion and it was absolutely trash in my opinion, not funny at all to watch the constant repetitive slapstick like OCD symptom. I gave the score ZERO from 10 for trash storyline, trash humour.

Meanwhile for Migration itself, I didn't like the beginning part as terrorizing kids with horror story about outside world was really disturbing in my opinion. The story progression wasn't strong enough, it was like the conflict happened separately on different places. Only the last part was good when the birds get freed. Overall, I thought the movie was weak compared with Trolls 3 / Super Mario movie / Paw Patrol the Mighty movie as I watched them for multiple times at cinema. I gave the score 6 / 10 for Migration.

I was thinking, when Shigeru Miyamoto was supervising in making Super Mario movie, I didn't even find any repetitive slapstick with OCD symptoms. But when any movie made by Illumination Studio with Minnion intervention, the movie goes crap with OCD slapstick. Even I hate the Minnions for disturbing behavior.

What does slapstick have to do with OCD?

@Dogorilla
There were some slapstick scenes repeated so many times and at some point it was like OCD symptoms when you keep repeating the same things over and over again.
Imagine doing the Tom & Jerry cartoon violences in hundred times consecutively.
It was really terrible scenes to watch from Minion short movie before Migration, not funny at all.
It looked stupid in my opinion.

@Anti-Matter Alright, I see what you mean now, but perhaps a real anxiety disorder isn't the best way to describe Minion behaviour.

@Anti-Matter There was a point to it, it's Mack's character to be fearful of the outside world. At the start of the movie, Mack is pretty much afraid of everything, to the point of trying to scare his kids so they would be afraid to leave home. Over the course of the adventure, he pretty much overcame his fears.

That's most likely because Nintendo had their hand in with the Mario Movie. Illumination does more than just Minions, the aforementioned Migration had no Minions. Sing has no Minions in it either. They're just an animation studio, and Minions are in their logos because they are their mascots. Like Mario is for Nintendo, or Sonic is for Sega.

Dunno why but I started watching Conan the Destroyer on Netflix late last night for the heck of it even though I've seen the movie a gazillion times. People say it a PG movie but it still feels like a rated R movie beause it has beheadings little bit of gore here and there and Grace Jones in a skimpy outfit and bashing men up with her bo stick

@XandertheWise Conan the Barbarian is most definitely the better movie, but Destroyer is still a lot of fun. The scene with the wizard in the hall of mirrors used to freak me out as a kid. I'm still bummed we never got Conan 3. The ending of both movies teases Conan becoming a king, oh well.

Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams (Tubi) - Old stoner movie from the early 80's. Our titular pair rip off a bunch of product from their supplier (which turns it's smokers into lizards, for some reason), and antics ensue as they try to evade the police. It's funny enough for what it is, and worth a watch just to see Paul Reubens (of Pee Wee Herman fame) play a coked out mental patient.

Metal Skin Panic: Madox-01 (Blu-Ray) - the US Army loses a prototype battle armor in a Tokyo traffic accident, a young mechanic gets stuck in it while mucking around with it, but no time to get it off as he has to be on time for a date with his estranged girlfriend before she goes off to study in Europe! He'll make his rendezvous no matter what, even if he has to fight off the Army trying to reclaim it's toy along the way. This is short & to the point (under an hour long), and is a pretty fun watch. I just love the vibe of these old 80's sci-fi OVAs.

Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child of Fire (Netflix) - This doesn't have a single original bone in it's body, whether it be aesthetically or narratively. A hodgepodge of locations & ideas ripped from other more notable sci-fi & fantasy properties without any attempt to make them mesh together in a cohesive way (& the narrative itself is just the first half of Seven Samurai spread out over 2 & a half hours), but what it does have going for it is a very gigantic, impressive even, sense of scale & grandeur with some fun action (even if it goes laughably overkill on the slow-mo & lens flare). This isn't a "good" movie, but it's the kind of project that's probably the favorite film of some nerdy 13 year old boy out there, and as someone who was a nerdy 13 year old boy at some point myself, it appealed to that part of me (which is how I feel about a lot of Zack Snider stuff come to think of it, kind of like a guilty pleasure. If he ever gets to release that big R rated cut I heard he wants to release, I'll probably be there).

I watched Bong Joon-Ho's The Host (2006) on 420. Part of my friend's "Bong Hits" screening series, heh.

Anyway, It's a great creature feature, with a cool monster and visual effects that still hold up. The core cast is also incredibly endearing. This movie always makes me crave barbecued squid and beer, haha.

After watching Fallout I had a hankering for more atomic bomb/Fallout shelter films so I watched blast from the past which I haven't seen in years.

First, I forgot how funny the movie is. Secondly, it got me thinking how it could use a sequel. The first movie was from the 60s to 90s, and they could do the 90s to the 2020s. Culture has changed so much since the 90s there would be alot of source material.

Maybe have Adam and his family set up for Y2k and lock the doors for 25yrs until his child's grown, and repeat the cycle for present day.

Could be very entertaining.

At least imo..