Recently Watched Movies

[showa58taro]

If I remember correctly, she and her father were Japanese in the book.

Why Masi Oka was used to play a Japanese scientist with accent and everything I’ll never know. But I don’t mind.

Isn't he Japanese?

Japanese American but he has no accent whatsoever in real life. I also think he might be half something. Just bugged me to see him put on a fake accent. The Wall had his original Icelandic accent.

[Jigsaw]

Last saw these movies:

The Game (1997)
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Clerks (1994)
The Dark Knight (2008)
13 Going on 30 (2004)

All re-watches. All decently solid (I actually liked Clerks this time around). Favorite is probably The Dark Knight, though I absolutely love 13 Going on 30 and Moonrise Kingdom.

[Jigsaw]

Missed The Karate Kid (1984)

Still an extraordinarily enjoyable movie.

[Jigsaw]

Just watched The Severed Arm (1973) for the second time.

Pretty solid proto-slasher, I feel.

[Jmac Attack]

Just watched The Severed Arm (1973) for the second time.

Pretty solid proto-slasher, I feel.

*Adds to list

[Jigsaw]

Just watched The Severed Arm (1973) for the second time.

Pretty solid proto-slasher, I feel.

*Adds to list

Hopefully, when you do see it, you get some pleasure out of it. My taste in horror flicks, according to some, is most questionable.

[Monster]

Darkest Hour

I sat on this one for a while because I haven't been in the mood for an all talk and no action movie. Finally decided to give it a shot and I got sucked in pretty quick. Gary Oldman may be the best actor on the planet. I'm far from a history expert but Oldman's portrayal matched all I've heard about Churchill's personality. Fascinating guy and a very good movie. It also works as a companion to Dunkirk as it shows the behind the scenes stuff. Anyway, well worth your time.

[DancesWithWerewolves]

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983) ...... C+

Meh. Good looking production...but was just eh by the time it was finished. Not poor, but pointless with little to stand out.

[Jigsaw]

Last of the Living (2009)

A New Zealand clone of Shaun of the Dead, and rather low-budget, but I thought it was enjoyable enough. Seen it before for one of the previous challenges, so I'm glad that it's still decent with a second viewing.

[Monster]

The Nun

Not as bad as I'd heard but not great. Forgettable is a good word for it. I did like the atmosphere but it's mostly a big long string of jump scares.

[Jason]

Can't wait to watch Slender Man!

Spoiler

---

[Monster]

The Predator

I enjoyed most of the movie. It has more comedy and more gore than any previous Predator movies and the main group, the Loonies, where very entertaining. Nowhere in the same league as the first two but still fun. Unfortunately, it got a bit too silly towards to the end and dropped from a B- to a C.

[DancesWithWerewolves]

The Predator

Luckily the comedy is mostly Shane Blackish, so if you like him, you should like it. The jokes told in the trailer makes sense in the scene, so they really shouldn't have been in the trailer without context. However, it's pretty obvious there were reshoots, as there's a lack of focus going on, and even the villain's motivation for being...well a villain is non-existent. Probably something left on the cutting room floor since there is so much left out. Sterling K Brown is great, you just don't get a reason for him to enjoy "silencing" people. Sure, he's secret government, and they wanna hide aliens, but silence those you requested their help? What the hell? He's not established as psycho, so it makes no sense. The ending felt very tacked on. The "troop" is pretty good, in spite of Key's penchant for jokes, and I was surprised Thomas Jane was even in this. His turret's syndrome is much funnier than anything Key jokes. The kid subplot isn't even necessary, and rolled my eyes at the hint of him being the "only true warrior" (sorry, don't care about spoilers here, the twists are weak and sloppy), he felt totally shoe-horned in. Not enough Thomas Jane, not enough Jake Busey.

The music is good, very strongly uses Alan Silvestri's original music. Boyd Holdbrook is good, but still a pale replacement for someone of Arnold's stature. Olivia Munn is better than expected, and I am actually annoyed she didn't have any closure.

I also don't like the idea of a "upgraded" Predator. It was stupid, and not even fun stupid.

There are definitely fun moments, and as mentioned if you like Shane Black's style of dialogue (Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Nice Guys, Long Kiss Goodnight) you should be good.

C+

[Jigsaw]

Hellraiser: Inferno (2000)

Despite it's problems, it's still a better film than the third and fourth movies (controversial opinion, but fuck it :p).

[Jigsaw]

L'ossessa (1974)

Somewhat amusing Italian rip-off of the Exorcist. Got a bit tedious half-way through, sadly, but before than, plenty of wild sequences to keep you interested.

[showa58taro]

The Predator

Luckily the comedy is mostly Shane Blackish, so if you like him, you should like it. The jokes told in the trailer makes sense in the scene, so they really shouldn't have been in the trailer without context. However, it's pretty obvious there were reshoots, as there's a lack of focus going on, and even the villain's motivation for being...well a villain is non-existent. Probably something left on the cutting room floor since there is so much left out. Sterling K Brown is great, you just don't get a reason for him to enjoy "silencing" people. Sure, he's secret government, and they wanna hide aliens, but silence those you requested their help? What the hell? He's not established as psycho, so it makes no sense. The ending felt very tacked on. The "troop" is pretty good, in spite of Key's penchant for jokes, and I was surprised Thomas Jane was even in this. His turret's syndrome is much funnier than anything Key jokes. The kid subplot isn't even necessary, and rolled my eyes at the hint of him being the "only true warrior" (sorry, don't care about spoilers here, the twists are weak and sloppy), he felt totally shoe-horned in. Not enough Thomas Jane, not enough Jake Busey.

The music is good, very strongly uses Alan Silvestri's original music. Boyd Holdbrook is good, but still a pale replacement for someone of Arnold's stature. Olivia Munn is better than expected, and I am actually annoyed she didn't have any closure.

I also don't like the idea of a "upgraded" Predator. It was stupid, and not even fun stupid.

There are definitely fun moments, and as mentioned if you like Shane Black's style of dialogue (Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Nice Guys, Long Kiss Goodnight) you should be good.

C+

Watched this yesterday as the second of my double bill cinema trip. Would agree with all of the above.

There was also some pretty weird bits that seemed like a mess in it. Like the dog, several scenes devoted to it, and then the ultimate ending timit is to jump st it’s nastervin a hasty scene. They devoted way too much time to the dog-Munn bond to let that be what happens. At first I didn’t even make the connection as to why the megapredator missed the target.

And the same for the death of some guys, it felt weirdly in-heroic. In Predator the characters were all kind of given a death that mattered in one way whilst being pointless in another. But a couple here just felt really flat. Bigger me.

And yeah, the plot line f spine-gene hybrid seems laughable and entirely pointless. They wouldn’t need the best humans if that was their stated goal. And they wouldn’t need to accelerate their hunting that bloody fast either.

[Havok]

Hell Fest

The film could've been something, but ends up being dull and uninteresting. I mean, it's a pretty by the numbers slasher film. It kind of felt like something you would find on a rental rack in the early 00's alongside Frightmare, Final Examination and Bloody Murder. The location was cool and there were a few decent gory kills, one even plucked right out of Halloween 2, but that is honestly the only praise I can give the film.

[pixie]

Train to busan.... i really liked it... it was kinda grimey but mostly cause the voice over was in spanish.

[DancesWithWerewolves]

Bad Times At The El Royale ..................... A

Really dug this movie. It's long, but I didn't really feel it because I was anticipating what the hell was going to happen next. Wasn't horror, though I wasn't sure if it was going to be, but a cool thriller with Tarantino inspirations.

[Headhunter]

Bad Times at the El Royale --- A-

This one is a lot of fun. It does so many things so well, it feels close to being a truly GREAT movie. But there's a little bit of fluff, it's uneven at times and probably could have been 15-20 minutes shorter. There were a lot of great ideas to sort through, and it wasn't quite crafted together as well as it possibly could have been, or this is an A or A+. But it's top notch suspense, some great performances, really well-written and edited. Has a lot of Tarantino to it. Definitely worth checking out.