Topic: Movie thread.

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.

Terrible weekend at the box office.

Sinister 2 was the best performing new release in 3rd place, making only a little over $10 million. Hitman: Agent 47 opened in 4th place with I think around $7 million, and American Ultra didn't even break the top 5 in it's opening weekend, landing the number 6 spot with a measly $5.5 milllion.

Straight Outta Compton remains on top with $26 million, in it's second weekend.

Watched two movies last night, and both were very good.

American Sniper (DVD) - Powerful, powerful film. It's just hard to believe there were Americans going through such brutal hardship in the last decade, back when I was living my life carefree going to school, playing games, and watching anime. It really puts things in perpective, and was a wonderfully made film.

Starship Troopers (Netflix) - I've been itching for a good sci-fi film, and this delivered perfectly. It has that perfect blend of humor (especially those government propaganda videos), adventure, romance, drama, and action (though it got a bit gruesome), that just made it a joy to watch, and I'll definitely be doing so again at a point in the future. I actually really dug all the physical sets & props.

It actually made me want to play Lost Planet. I saw my friend play a bit of it when it was new, but have never played it myself.

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

Very disappointing after coming off the first film (which is a shame, because it started out looking like it was going to be a decent sequel).

I'll start out with the good, and say from a movie making perspective, it was pretty good (in terms of the technical aspects). Although the "action" wasn't as creative as the first film, the change to a more war like atmosphere at least made it unique from the first film. However, it's the plot that's the real disappointment, and due to that, I'll have to spoiler tag the rest of my thoughts.

Since I think he wanted to know my opinion of the follow up, I'm going to call upon @the_shpydar.

@RR529
Thanks, man. Cool to read your thoughts on BR2. Your take on it seems about on par with what i've generally heard about the flick, that it kind of falls apart (or gets ahead of itself) story-wise. I'll still check it out one day, if only out of curiosity.

Meanwhile, my neighbor is moving and doesn't feel like packing up all his stuff, so he gave me like 20 or 30 old-school (70s/80s) kung-fu/martial arts/"chop-socky" flicks. Psyched to start digging in to that pile eventually.

I expect a review on here of every single one.

You actually summed up my exact feelings about this movie pretty well. I definitely expected a more traditional take on the story of Hercules, what with more over the top Clash of the Titans type of action, so I was somewhat disappointed. I don't think it's a bad film taken on its own, just somewhat generic and unremarkable.

As for what I've watched recently, Nightcrawler was a very intriguing movie with great acting, especially by Jake Gyllenhaal. I haven't seen too many movies with the same kind of style or atmosphere, so it was a breath of fresh air. I don't know if I'd agree with the 95% it has on Rotten Tomatoes, but it's definitely worth a watch.

Troll 2 is a rather infamous movie for good reason. The acting and writing is downright awful, but in the cheesy way that makes it so much more entertaining to watch. The whole concept of the movie is ridiculous but also a whole lot of fun. If you're looking for a horror movie, this is nowhere near that, but as a comedy it works pretty well.

Why can't I find the first 3 Pokemon movies in stores but I can find all the other ones?

It's Cinema Nihongo Thursday! This week I watched Kagemusha!

Set in Japan's feudal era, it centers around the house of war lord Shingen Takeda, as they struggle against the combined forces of rival warlords Oda Nobunaga & Ieyesu Tokugawa. Their biggest problem? Shingen is mortally wounded, so he appoints a lookalike (a thief) to take his place to keep up appearances. Can this lowly thief be convincing enough as castle lord to fool both Shingen's family at home, and his enemies on the battlefield?

It was the first film by acclaimed director Akira Kurosawa I've watched, and while it was a long one, it was fantastic. He makes some great use of color, and uses impressive manpower to showcase battles between hundreds on screen. You get invested in the story, which is good because they spend more of their time talking than on the battlefield.

Looks like 20th Century Fox is planning a live-action Mega Man movie.

Wait, Whut???

Video games and movies, imo, just aren't a good combination.

Saw Mission Impossible 5 last week. What a fun ride that was.

I saw Straight Outta Compton yesterday. First movie I'd seen in the theater since 2013...and I loved every second of it!!!

I watched The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (DVD) the other day.

Watched it with my family back on Sunday, and I actually liked it. I remember seeing a bit of the first one, though not much of the second. I think I need to go back & watch them, though, because I really liked the near future sci-fi vibe the movie had going on.

Watched Terminator: Genisys this past weekend.

Hoo boy.

I am a fan of the Terminator franchise in general, but this movie ... ugh. There was some good stuff going on in the movie for sure, but as a whole, it was thoroughly disappointing. Bad casting, huge plot holes, writing that is just a mess, uneven tone, failure to follow its own internal rules and logic in the storytelling (which, to be fair, is a common problem in time travel movies), surprisingly weak CGI ... disappointing is really the best way to describe it.

At the end of the day, i did enjoy the good parts of it (though glad that i didn't pay anything to see it). I will say that it's better than Terminator: Salvation — though that's certainly damning it with faint praise, since Salvation was absolutely horrible.

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

Set in the 1910's, it's about a teenage Japanese girl (named Riyo) who was sent off into an arranged marriage with a farmer in Hawai'i after her parents died. The thing is however, that they only know each other by the pictures they have seen of each other (this was common in Asia back then, when matchmakers were trying to set up long distance pairings), and her husband's photo was out of date (turns out he's in his mid 40's).

It's a very by the books romance story, where she wants to do nothing else but return to Japan in the beginning, though over time she learns to love her new home & husband. There is one really shocking thing that happens near the end, but I won't spoil it.

It's not bad by any means, but it won't win you over unless you already like these kinds of films. It's not my sort of film, but I was happy to jump out of my comfort zone & try something different.

It's Cinema Nihongo Thurdsay! This week I watched the Key of Life (Netflix/Japanese language film)!

Comedy about an out of work actor who decides to switch lives with an random amnesiac man who fell in the public bath (since no one there knew who either of them were, he switched their locker keys). Luckily for our actor, neither him nor the man he switched lives with have anyone close to them, but unluckily for him, the reason for that is because he just stepped into the shoes of a hit man. The two try to get used to their new lives, while an ultra organized businesswoman also gets involved in the antics.

It's not my favorite movie I've seen this year, but it's probably the best comedy I've seen in quite some time. It has mature elements while not resorting to the cheap raunchy antics & F-bombs that many western comedies are filled with nowadays.

Got dragged by a friend to go see Maize Runner 2. It is mediocre. I constantly wish that Mad Max and Fursoia came in to take the plot away from these boring characters.

@Waveboy
Turbo Kid does not dissapoint. One of my favorite movies for the year.

Watched Willow Creek recently. If you like found footage movies, give this a shot.

I watched Big Hero 6 (DVD) tonight!

Absolutely fantastic. At times humorous, emotional, or action packed, and it looked absolutely gorgeous all the time.

While Wreck-it-Ralph & Frozen were steps in the right direction, BH6 is undoubtedly the best Disney animated film in well over a decade. The most enjoyable since Treasure Planet, or maybe even their 90's renaissance.