Topic: Movie thread.

Watched Varan the Unbelievable, The BFG (1989), The Thief & the Cobbler. I will say the The Theif & the Cobbler was quite a strange one. I remember seeing it on Cartoon Network back in 1997. I didn't really get it tbh.

The BFG (1989) is by far the best adaptation. I wasn't too fond of Disney's film back in 2016. But I love the 1989 animation style, which I thought could rival most of Disney's films at the time. It really help adding a bit of a dark tone to the movie. Making the giants even more frightening really does wonders.

Lastly, Varan the Unbelievable is an odd one in Toho's films of the 1950's. While it's not bad by any means, I consider it to be one of the weaker films compared to Rodan. I think it was also the last Toho film to be released in B&W. I remember see it released on DVD by Tokyo Shock back in 2005. But I've never bothered buying nor did I even see the American version either. But it was released on Blu-ray alongside Dogora (which I do own DVD), Gorath (never watched), & Space Amoeba (which I did owned on DVD until it was lost) in Japan. So I'm gonna import it from amazon JP.

I love the Smurfs, and I'm actually excited for this one.

@DanijoEX-the-Pierrot i see. I actually don’t think All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 is a downright awful movie like what some do suggest, it’s just a mediocre and kind of disappointing sequel that mainly suffers from the characters and animation and maybe the story. I know afterward they released a show and a Christmas special, but I haven’t seen either of those. It’s so weird that usually, whenever they make a sequel to a critically-acclaimed movie without the original director or staff, the sequel is usually bad. If they got Don Bluth on it, then it maybe could have been better, but I feel like All Dogs Go to Heaven is that one movie that’s good as a one-off and doesn’t need a continuation or show because it had an already perfect and beautiful ending.

Haven’t seen the Pebble and The Penguin (though I saw YouTube Movies also has it for free) but I have seen some of his other lesser acclaimed works like Rock-a-Doodle. Didn’t like that one a bunch, mainly cuz a lot of the characters were kind of annoying and the plot went by too fast. There were two characters in particular that I thought were the worst personality-wise in that one, but the voice actors and actresses were good at singing.

Watched the original Evil Dead last night. While Evil Dead 2 is better in pretty much every way, the first film is still a classic with a great haunting atmosphere and spooky scenes.

I saw an interview with Bruce Campbell saying that you can actually watch all three evil dead movies as one continuous 3 hour epic. Watch Evil Dead 1 up till the end when the demon pov is flying towards Ash, then start Evil Dead 2 at the moment when Ash is flying through the woods. Watch Evil Dead 2 up until Ash is sucked into the portal, and Start Army of Darkness when he lands in the medieval times. I think I might try that one of these days.

@Pastellioli I almost forgot about Rock-a-Doodle. I didn't think much about that when I first saw it. Thumbelina & A Troll in Central Park are pretty ok. Not great but not bad either.

Titan A.E. is an interesting one but it's a "acquired taste" kinda movie.

Other than that, my personal Don Bluth film favorites are Anastasia, Bartok the Magnificent, All Dogs Go to Heaven, & Titan A.E.

Recently, I watched The BFG (1989) on Tubi the other day. I wasn't too fond of Disney's adaptation so I prefer this one. I think it captures the mood, tone, & feel of the book really well.

@DanijoEX-the-Pierrot I remember Rock-A-Doodle a ton. I had vague memories of seeing it years ago before rewatching it. It isn’t super memorable though compared to the better Don Bluth movies I’ve seen.

Nice list! I agree with All Dogs Go to Heaven. I think that and NIMH are some of Don Bluth’s best when it comes to their stories, characters, and writing. I need to watch Anastasia though.

I have heard of Titan A.E. Is it a pretty good movie despite some of the reception? I haven’t actually seen anything about it or know much about its plot. I also heard a bit about The BFG, but I don’t know much about it besides Disney’s adaptation of it.

Yeah I think 2 is not as much a sequel as it is a replacement of 1.

@Pastellioli Titan A.E. kinda got low reception in 2000 when it first came out in theaters back then. At the time, most critics were wondering what audience the film was trying to aim for. So reception wasn't kind to it in 2000 compared to now since it's considered a cult classic nowadays.

As for the BFG (1989), you can watch it for free on Youtube. I forgot about that part since I was watching on Tubi. I think it's pretty charming really. I'm planning on buying on DVD whenever I get the chance.

Watched Thunder and the House of Magic yesterday. This was another movie I saw years ago (on Netflix) but saw YT had it for free, so I gave it a rewatch cuz why not.

This movie is about a kitten who is abandoned by his owners. He stumbles upon an old home owned by an elderly magician, who lives alongside his pet rabbit and mouse and his own live gizmos and automatons. After he is hospitalized following an accident, his real estate nephew takes it as an opportunity to sell his home behind his back, and it’s up to the kitten and the rest of the house’s inhabitants to save the house.

Although the title would make you think it would focus on magic, it doesn’t actually really do that. There are parts that are full of spectacle and wonder and the fact that it’s about a house owned by a magician, but it’s focused more on the house, and the film kind of felt like Home Alone because the animals and automatons defend the house by pulling interesting and sometimes flashy tricks and traps on people wanting to buy the home to make them go away while they wait for the magician to recover and come back home in time.

The movie has pretty decent animation. While I think the animation is not super groundbreaking or stunning, it doesn’t look cheap at all and it works well for the film. It’s still good animation! The one part of the animation I liked a lot was this part where the magician and his gizmos and automatons were playing music on the piano late at night, as well as traps and tricks they pulled on this pair of moving guys. The perspective the scene is shot at, and the creepy, Halloween-y look of it and the bright neon and dark lighting makes it look like a dark ride at an amusement park, and I thought that was pretty good and super interesting for the animation. I’d say the animation shines the most during scenes that are supposed to be magical and full of splendor.

However, I was a bit disappointed the film didn’t focus too much on the “magic” aspect of the house. During the first part where Thunder enters the house in the attic, the attic has a bunch of cool, mysterious, and actually magical-looking toys and contraptions, and throughout the film some of the characters think the house is haunted (mainly from the automatons causing stuff to fall and move around) but I was expecting the house to actually be a magical home with a bunch of spells and magic (kind of like what I saw in another animated movie called The House of the Lost on the Cape) and it’s only really considered magic because of the magician who owns it and the automatons and gizmos he built that live with him.

The characters, while most of them were fine, some were just awful. The antagonist was super cliched in my opinion, but Jack and Maggie were the actual WORST personality-wise.

I’m probably gonna ramble a bit, but from day one they hate Thunder and do a bunch of acts to get him kicked out even though Thunder literally doesn’t do anything to hurt or affect them. The film says the two dislike Thunder because of the magician having a fondness for cats and they are jealous that he’ll take away their popularity, but the two are just way too mean spirited and a-holey for almost the whole movie; they lie various times and twist events around to make Thunder look bad so that the automatons will dislike him and kick him out, Jack threatens Thunder on so many occasions to get him to leave (which all fail), lock him up in a cage, and, the worst of all, they played a role in the magician getting hospitalized and they try to blame it all on Thunder! And then another part I remember was that when the automatons didn’t follow orders from Jack because they started liking Thunder more, Maggie goes “you’re all a bunch of losers!” to them. Even though Thunder (with some help from the automatons) did most of the work in dissuading people from buying the house, Jack and Maggie aren’t even appreciative. One time, after Thunder escapes from his cage with help from a chihuahua (which ultimately causes a misunderstanding that dissuades a buyer), Maggie takes all the credit for it! She initially looks and even kind of sounds regretful, but she still claims to have done it and stays hateful toward Thunder. It’s only nearing the film’s climax that they go “we took things too far” and realize their mistakes when they get Thunder seen by the magician’s nephew, initially with the intention of having the nephew kick Thunder out, until he unexpectedly comes the next day in a hazmat suit and wields a freaking GUN so he can shoot and kill Thunder, since he has an allergy to cats and has a strong hatred toward the house inhabitants for preventing him from selling the house. It’s only nearing the end the two stop acting like that, but they are so unlikeable for almost the entire thing and do almost nothing but try to make an innocent kitten look bad and make him homeless again.

@DanijoEX-the-Pierrot Ah, it became a cult classic! Usually I hear cult classic movies are super good, so maybe I’ll try watching it soon when I can. They have a bunch of Don Bluth movies on YouTube for free so I can try checking if it’s on there.

I also didn’t know The BFG was free on YouTube. I find that YouTube Movies has a ton of stuff for free to watch but some of it isn’t listed on free primetime movies and you have to search for it yourself. Cool, I’ll try it soon when I finish watching some other movies I’m planning on seeing soon on Disney+.

Just saw Dog Man last night and it was WAY better than i expected. Supa hilarious.

watched Brain Damage on Tubi earlier tonight. liked the cute short cameo of Basket Case's Duane character with Belial's basket during the subway scene

@Sunsy

New Smurfs 2025 movie confirmed and will also featuring Rihanna as Smurfette.

@Anti-Matter Yes! I posted about it last week. Honestly, I'm excited for this one. Will admit, it does surprise me there's no lost village smurfs since they've been in the current cartoon series (for those who don't know, there's a new Smurfs cartoon released in 2021 still on-going, with a third season on the way) and the recent games. Otherwise, I'm looking forward to it. Like the animation style, the Smurfs have a bit of a cuter look to them. Kind of like a blend of 3D, with elements that make them appear 2D.

Given how YouTubers hate this movie, I have to say my opinion is an unpopular one. At least on the YouTube front anyway.

Ah, the myth of the "cult classic".

Public relations firms (and clickbait articles) have decreed that...every...single...movie ever made falls into 1 of 2 categories.

You're either a:
1.) "wildly successful box office smash certified instant classic"

or you're a:

2.) "cult classic"

There are no other options. There are no "flops". There are no "duds". No "colossal failures".

Everything is either a "classic" or a "cult classic".

To your example specifically, if Titan A.E. were truly a "cult classic" movie that was "misunderstood on release" but "everyone loves it now", then it wouldn't have a bang-average "6.6" rating on IMDb.

But it does.

It just bothers me, seeing the endless deluge of stupid articles calling forgettable box office disasters like Madame Web, or the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie as anything but the junk that they were regarded as then, and are regarded as now, and will always be regarded by in the future.

Don't believe me? Think of say, the 5 worst movies you've ever seen. The ones you're sure that everybody hated. Then google the title name along with: "cult classic". You'll find almost all of them called that somewhere on the Internet.

@OldManHermit You definitely can watch all 3 back to back, and I have before many times! I used to host an annual Evil Dead marathon, screening 1, 2, Army of Darkness, and a bootleg copy of the musical back-to-back, with the musical timed to start exactly at midnight. Evil Dead will always hold a special place to me, as it was at my second Evil Dead marathon that I met my eventual spouse (nothing screams "that's the one" like someone else cackling inappropriately at the exact same moments you yourself find hilarious!) 2 is definitely the best, Army of Darkness is the most fun, but the scrappy earnestness of the first one makes it just as worth watching as the rest!

As for the others? Ash vs. Evil Dead is a good time, though it's incredibly uneven. When it works it works, when it doesn't I zone out pretty hard. Pablo and Kelly are both great additions, though, and nothing with Lucy Lawless can be all that bad!

Now this may sound harsh, but Evil Dead 2013 is an abomination that deserves to be locked in a cabin with a deadite. Its cardinal sin is a complete lack of fun, which is an undercurrent that runs throughout the whole rest of the series; even in the darkest moments of The Evil Dead it's still there. 2013 is miserable from the word go, and barely remembers to smile for its entire run time.

By the time we got to Evil Dead Rise I had no expectations, but in my opinion it's a really freakin' good time that stands toe to toe with the original trilogy. I love it! It's goofy when it needs to be while staying genuinely creepy throughout, and all without Ash!

@MontyCircus I don't think cult classic is supposed to mean 'everyone loves it now', just that it has a passionate fanbase - often quite a small one, in the case of films that were poorly received on release, but a fanbase nonetheless. But I do concede you could say that about almost anything.

Dog man was pretty good, tomorrow i reckon i'll go see Captain America even though i did not like the previous one, oh and i got myself a copy of The Thing on bluray, a true classic!!!!

@Splash_Woman haha, that's awesome! Nothing like a mutual love of schlocky horror to bring people together.

I saw the musical many years ago, sadly I was not splattered with blood.

The series was great. A perfect send-off for the Ash character. I can't remember what season it was, but there was a scene with Ash doing battle with a possessed intestinal track and sphincter, which was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

I must admit I've never seen the 2013 evil dead. It came out during a time when a ton of my favorite 80s movies were getting needless, mediocre remakes, so I avoided it on principle. Sounds like I didn't miss much!

I think I might give evil dead rise a chance though based on your recommendation and that of a good buddy of mine.