Topic: Movie thread.

Saw Spectre yesterday and it was amazing! On-par with Skyfall, in my opinion.

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

Horror film about a boy & his mute elder sister, and how they are seemingly being haunted at night by the vengeful spirit of an injured rabbit he killed. However the true origins of their nightmarish situation become a mystery as this film has more twists than an M. Night whatshisface film.

Also, looks like I'm about out of Japanese films to watch (on Netflix). In addition to me watching quite a bit of their catalogue over the past few months, they've also lost the rights to more Japanese films than they've gained over that time (according to Instantwatcher, they had just over 40 when I started, but are down to about 25 now).

There are still a couple left I'm interested in, but one of them is nearly 2 & a half hours long, and I'm not watching a movie on my tablet for that long.

Tonight I watched Batman Begins (Netflix).

I've seen this before, but it's been years ago since I last watched it in full (only seen it in bits & pieces in recent memory). I didn't have a strong opinion about it the first time I saw it, but I figured it was time to give it another shot.

Glad I did, as I really liked it this time. Before I was younger and expecting something a bit more in line with what Marvel puts out in terms of tone, and it's obviously not that, so really going into it with that in mind, I enjoyed it much more this time. Now, unlike most of Marvel's fare, I don't think I could just jump into it on any given Saturday afternoon. You have to be in the mood for it, so it's not the kind of superhero movie you're going to return to often, but when you are in the mood, it's a good watch.

It's Cinema Nihongo Thursday! This week I watched Tenga Toppa Gurren Lagaan: Gurren-Hen (anime)!

Pretty much it was just a retelling of most of the first arc of the Tenga Toppa Gurren Lagaan TV anime. It was mostly reused footage from what I could tell, though the battle with the Four Kings was different. Instead of attacking the heroes one at a time (which they did in the TV anime), they all attacked all at once, which was really the only difference.

I guess it'd be okay as sort of a refresher for anyone who'se already seen the series, but if you're new to it, I'd just suggest to go to the more in depth TV show.

So why is Spectre recieving mixed reviews? From the trailers it seems really good. Also I feel like the UK recieved the movie a lot more because if I recall the review score was a lot higher before being released in the states. Granted, I take review sites average score with a grain of salt but I still want to know why Spectre is recieving these scores?

Tonight I watched Walt Disney Animated Classics Short Film Collection (Netflix)!

It's a really neat compilation of various animated shorts, with the best ones being absolutely brilliant, and even the "worst" ones still being fun for a go around.

I watched it for Feast (which was as great as I had hoped), but there was lots of other great stuff too.

It just doesn't live up to the last three Daniel Craig ones, although It might be a little better than Quantum of Solace. The action sequences are on par with the last three, but the dialogue is absolutely horrid, bland, and cliche. There was this one point where Bond's love interest for this specific movie (don't remember her name) was like "Why should I trust you?" and Daniel Craig was like "Because I'm the only person keeping you alive." Oh, and she's a terrible character by the way, she absolutely no coherent fit in the movie. It feels like they threw random stuff together so that it would tie in to the past three movies, and it just feels lazily made altogether anyway (there are plenty of random plot holes, especially with the villain). They clearly weren't trying to match the critical acclaimed reception of Skyfall and Casino Royale, but it's still fun to watch anyway. It's bad in comparison to Craig's other Bond movies, but it's still an OK movie overall.

It's Cinema Nihongo Thursday! This week I watched Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F (anime)!

OMG yes! This is pretty much everything you could want in a new DBZ movie. It felt much more like the best parts of the series due to the fact that it had a more serious tone than Battle of Gods (which was good too, but borrowed more from the series' more comedic side, which isn't as interesting, IMO). It still had it's fair share of comic relief (that I did think was funny), but it was wisely lessened. It was pretty fantastic, and my biggest complaint is probably Master Roshi (when did he become strong enough to face off against even one of Frieza's soldiers, let alone many? He's been kinda left behind since the King Piccolo arc, and it doesn't seem like he's done much if any training since then).

@WaveGhoul, I watched a behind the scenes of Resurrection F earlier this year, and they pointed out that unlike BoG, the vast majority of character art was hand drawn the traditional way, and then layered over the backgrounds, which were still digitally animated.

There are a few "intense" scenes though, where the characters are CG (as in they actually have clearly visible 3D models, like the games, just better). Any other time though (where the characters look 2D), they are apparently hand drawn.

Tonight I watched Back in Time (Netflix)

It's a documentary about the behind the scenes of Back to the Future, as well as the impact it's had on our culture. They talk to various people behind the movies (such as Michael J. Fox, Steven Spielberg, Christopher Lloyd, Huey Lewis, ect.), as well as creative visionaries influenced by it (such as the guy behind Rick & Morty, and yes, they show clips from the show!).

Pretty interesting watch if you're into the movie.

It's Cinema Nihongo Thursday! This week I watched Wolf Children (anime)!

Pretty much, it's about a woman who falls in love with a wolf man (Japan, amirite?), and how she raises their two children throughout the years. It's actually an excellent film, that's beautifully animated, and it's story is an absolute emotional rollercoaster.

The premise may seem odd if you're not into anime, but it's such a charming film, that I'd recommend it to pretty much anyone. Other than the whole wolf people thing, it doesn't really have any of the typical anime clichés that turn people off of the medium. It's very Ghibli-esque.

@GamecubeMan: @-Godot: While Spectre isn't a consistently great film compared to Casino Royale and Skyfall, I thought the opening ten minutes in New Mexico during the 'Day of the Dead' parade was genuinely one of the best introduction to any Bond film.

From the way the camera never breaks off (subtly done in one cut) to the 'bedroom moment' and along the rooftop whereby Bond faces his target is done so well that you daren't take your eyes off of the screen.

A shame then that the rest of the film never quite lives up to the amazing free flowing opening sequence. I still enjoyed it all, but Spectre lacks the sparkle of the first and third film. Maybe an even-numbered Daniel Craig Bond film ends up being a bit of a curse?

Earlier tonight I watched The Admiral: Roaring Current (Netflix/Korean/Japanese language film).

Set during one of Japan's incursions into Korea in the 1500's, it centers around a Korean admiral who must find a way to turn back the numerous (and recently reinvigorated) forces of the Japanese navy, with only 13 ships.

There's a lot of buildup (lots of strategy meetings & the like, in both sides) in the first half of the film, but the final hour is one long, nonstop naval battle that never lets up, and it really pays off.

Last night I saw one of the many teen romance films to spawn due to the success of The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns. I must say how surprised I am about how good this movie is. Basically the main character goes on this scavenger hunt to find this girl. Now most people would wonder why he is going though so much trouble over a girl? Well the film actually addresses this point and even makes it serve as a key idea to take away from the while film. Very refreshing movie.

@GamecubeMan: The Fault in Our Stars was overbearingly sentimental whereas Paper Planes does well to stick to the book without resorting to the usual melodramatic fluff.

Both books are worth reading considering both films (annoyingly) go off on their own paths from time to time; An Abundance of Katherine's is John Green's best (so far).

Last night we watched Home (Netflix).

It's the one that has Jim Parsons (Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory) voicing an alien who befriends a human girl. Like most of Dreamworks' catalogue, it's pretty decent if you're in the mood for an animated movie, but it's not top tier level stuff.

I just watched 'Coherence' on the UK Netflix (tho it may be in other regionsay - a group of 8 friends meet for a dinner party during the night when a comet passes over. When the lights go out they are surprised to see one house on the block still with its power. However, when two of them decide to go to the house, they are shocked to discover it's actually another parallel reality of their own dinner party. I wish I could say more but that would be giving away the twists! It's an independent film with a lot of improv but played out so brilliantly, this has quickly become one my favourite films! I still need to watch it again though to figure a few things out...

Tonight I watched American Wedding (Netflix)!

I watched American Pie about a month ago & liked it, so I figured I'd try another in the series. Netflix didn't have the second, so I jumped into the third. Just as crass as the first one, and to humorous effect.

Last night I watched Fantasia 2000 (Netflix)

It was pretty neat, and overall I thought it was better than the original. I don't think there was a single short I disliked.

Watched The Good Dinosaur in the cinema and thought it was really good. It was well made, beautiful, and with the usual emotional-Pixar angle. Not as good as Up or Toy Story 3 which I feel are Pixar's best films, but definitely on the level of Inside Out.