Topic: Movie thread.

Ant-Man so spice.
I was really worried during the first half, but once he started learning how to use the suit it really came together.

@Arminillo: Same here. It wasn't super fantastic, but it was pretty darn good. I enjoyed it a lot.

I saw Southpaw the other day. The movie really exceeded my expectations! It's a good film! Jake Gyllenhaal's acting is superb. He nailed his preformance. His acting made his character seem very realistic.

The film has a really dark and sad plot. I didn't expect Southpaw to be so serious. I'm glad it was, though. But, if you have PTSD and you're easily triggered, I wouldn't watch it.

It's Cinema Nihongo Thursday! This week I watched Dead Ball (Netflix/Japanese language film).

It's a B-Movie that forcefully tries to be "so bad it's good", and while I'll admit to being amused at some of it's antics, I also cringed at some of them, and just feel that the "so bad it's good" vibe isn't something that can be replicated successfully on purpose.

It stars a high school baseball phenom who swears off the sport after accidentally killing his father with his best fast ball. He ends up finding himself in a prison reform school after a string of brutally violent vigilantism against Yakuza and other criminals (it's never explained how or why he got into this), and is goaded into competing in the "Juvie League" baseball team by the school's headmistress, who promises to reunite him with his missing younger brother if he does so. However, not all is as it seems, because the headmistress is a staunch Neo-Nazi who believes in eradicating the "unworthy" from Japanese society, so why would she care about using baseball to reform bad kids?

There's a lot of B-Movie antics like fast balls that create firey craters, a killer Nazi baseball cyborg, oodles & oodles of laughably fake gore, and completely random nods to pop culture (such as James Cameron's Avatar). Overall, it's a terrible film, and I could only recommend it to those who love B-Movies of every kind.

I watched Saints & Soldiers: The Void (Netflix)!

Movie set in the waning days of WWII in the European theater. After a bridge is damaged an American troop transport truck has to take a detour through "the Void" (nickname given to the barren battlefields that have yet to be cleaned up) and is attacked by a rogue Nazi tank squadron that hasn't yet surrendered. The two survivors of the transport truck (including African-American officer Jesse Owens) join up with an American tank squadron in order to take out the Nazi resistance before any more transports fall victim to them. However, victory depends on whether or not tank gunner Cary Simms can get over his racial prejudice and work with Owens.

It may not be a big name, but it's a really great watch if you're into WWII films (they even use real tanks). In fact, all the Saints & Soldiers films are good, and I believe all 3 are on Netflix (they aren't sequels to each other, either. All three are set in WWII, but feature independent stories)

I watched Atari: Game Over (Netflix) last night!

It's a documentary exploring the sudden fall of Atari in the early 80's, what (if) the flopping of the E.T. video game had to do with it, and whether or not millions of E.T. game carts were really buried in a landfill.

It's an interesting watch if you're into gaming history.

It's Cinema Nihongo Thursday! This week I watched Shall We Dance? (Netflix/Japanese language film)

Salaryman Sugihara has everything he's ever wanted in life. He's married, has a child, and has even recently acquired his own house, but somehow after all this, he still feels like something's missing. However, he thinks he may have found it when he sees an alluring woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio on the train ride back home. He joins a class in hopes of meeting her, but in Japanese society ballroom dancing is seen as an oddity. Even married couples aren't very touchy feely in public in Japanese society, so imagine the shame if it were to be found out that he's doing such intimate dancing with strangers!

I first watched this years ago on TV (though I forgot where) and loved it, so I figured I'd give it a rewatch it here to see if it still holds up. I still loved it. It doesn't seem like something I'd be interested in, but for whatever reason I really like it. It has a cast of likeable, memorable characters, and a nice mix of drama with genuinely humorous situations.

Even if it doesn't seem like something you'd be interested in, I'd recommend giving it a shot.

Last night I watched Son of God (Netflix)!

A Biblical account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It's wonderfully made, though as it's made using repurposed footage from History's The Bible (same production company), you'd probably be better off looking for that if you're interested (It was on Netflix too, though I'm not sure if it's still there).

No matter how you watch it though, I'd say it's a good watch for both believers (like me) and for those just looking for some insight into what's behind one of the most influencial religions/philosophies in the world today.

It's Cinema Nihongo Thursday! This week I watched Battle Royale (Netflix/Japanese language film).

Released in 2000, it's pretty much what the Hunger Games was based on, from what I can gather (though it's much bloodier).

Set in the near future, Japan's economy has collapsed and the youth are more rebellious than ever. The governmet decides that the nation may decline further if discipline isn't restored to the nation's youth, so in order to scare them straight they enact the Battle Royale Act (BR Act for short).

Under the new act, one 9th grade class from anywhere in the country is randomly selected by computer each year to take part in "Battle Royale". Under the guise of a field trip, the selected class arrives at a remote island, where the students must kill each other off within three days. If a winner isn't decided by the final day, everyone dies, courtesy of the explosive collars on their necks. Everyone recieves a duffel bag, which contains water, some food, island map, compass, pencil, flashlight, and random weapon (some lucky people get a machine gun or shotgun, while others not so lucky may get binoculars or a pot lid, or a wide array of anything inbetween). Thanks to loudspeaker announcemtnts at regular intervals, students know who has already been killed, and the whole event is broadcast live across the nation.

Who will win? Well, I guess you'd have to watch to find out. Oh, and Takeshi Kitano appears (he's the teacher), and his character's name is Kitano as well.

@RR529

I LOVE BATTLE ROYAL! Such a great flick, make sure to watch the sequel as it's also on Netflix.

Yeah, the sequel is what I'll be watching next week.

Battle Royale is a fantastic film. I actually bought it on a "grey-market" DVD many years ago (before is was ever released stateside). Haven't watched it in the while, so i think i'll have to pop it in this weekend. Never seen the sequel, though i've heard it's not near as good. Curious to hear your take on it after to watch it.

Oh, yeah! I've heard about that film! Judging by how you guys are reacting to it, I think I should definitely consider watching it. Heard the sequel's supposed to suck, though.

Sequel wasn't awful, but not nearly as good as the first.

It's worth a watch just for the senseless violence though

Senseless violence? I LOVE senseless violence! YAAAAAAAY!

@Nintendofan64 congrats on being the 1000th post on the thread.

Your Prize.

I had some extra time, so last night I watched Hercules 2014 (Netflix)!

First off, this definitely isn't your typical Hercules story, so if that's what you're looking for, you'll probably end up disappointed.

Luckily, I knew about the twist heading in, so I was able to look at the film on it's own merits. It's more straight up action than adventure (and it's more of a war film, as most of the action takes place on large battlefields), and if that's what you're looking for, then you're in for a good time because there's a lot of fighting & it's done really well. Some of the set pieces had a truly great sense of scale, and were cool to see.

Watching Leprechaun 6: Back 2 tha Hood.

Gotta say, it's not as cheesy as I was hoping- and I loved the first few.

I watched The Taking of Tiger Mountain (Netflix/Chinese language film) last night!

It starts out with a Chinese-American man named Jimmy in current day New York who just got accepted for a job in Silicon Valley. Before he takes the job however, he decides to take a trip back home to China, where we get a flashback to 1945 China.

This is where we arrive at the central part of the story, which takes place shortly after the defeat of Japan in WWII. China is deep in a cival war between the communist PLA (which is represented as the good force here, seeing as this is a film from mainland china) and the capitalist army in the south. The film doesn't focus on that however, as it focuses on northern China, which is being assaulted by various gangs of bandits, the largest of which is under the control of "Lord Hawk", a warlord who has stumbled upon a cache of weaponry left behind by the Japanese, and is fortified up in the seemingly impregnable Tiger Mountain. His numbers are large and well armed, and it's up to a small group of 30 or so PLA soldiers to stop him before he gets his hands on a treasure map which would supposedly lead to 80,000 pounds of gold (enough for him to raise an official army by buying arms from Japan & Russia). Can our small group of heroes save the villages under his boot?

It's actually quite good, though I can't say I'd be watching it again anytime soon. It's quite long winded at nearly 2 and a half hours long. I actually forgot about the current day element until the very end, where Jimmy's connection to all this was finallly revealed, and it even came with a twist to the ending.

I saw Pixels yesterday. It wasn't great or anything but I think it gets too bad of a rep. I've seen scores of 17% and I think that's a little harsh. Sure the plot was weak and sometimes obvious, and I really didn't like how they handled Donkey Kong in the end (rather unfaithful to the gameplay of the original game), but overall it was enjoyable if you just didn't think too much about it. I'd give it closer to a 40-45% rating.