I was flipping through the channels here and there. Saw bits of Halloween 2, The Pit and The Pendulum, and Hotel Transylvania
Sig by @Brokendeck
My favorites
Full Metal Jacket X
Apocalypse Now X
Pink Floyd the Wall X
Enemy at the Gates X
Heat X
American Psycho X
Scarface X
Midnight Express X
Carrie X
From Dusk till Dawn X
Gladiator X
colors X
American Beauty X
The Exorcist X
Queen of the Damned X
Cube X
Dawn of the Dead(1978) X
Scarface X
Aliens X
Almost Famous X
Spaceballs X
Day of the Dead X
Gattaca X
Fritz the Cat X
The English Patient X
Platoon X
Braveheart X
Pink Floyd The Wall X
Pulp Fiction X
Starship Troopers X
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back X
Candy Man X
The Dark Crystal X
Pi X
Ted X
Labyrinth X
The Wrath of Khan X
Legend X
Fantasia X
Lord of the Flies
To name a few.
At 11/2/16 12:45 AM, MaynardHeart wrote: My favorites
I didn't know they made 9 sequels to any of those movies.
At 11/2/16 12:45 AM, MaynardHeart wrote: Ted X
Gay marriage by 2070. Sorry bigots, get used to it. State enforced homosexuality. I don't have a problem with that, it's equal.
Finally got around to watching the original Night of the Living Dead and I was pleasantly surprised. Usually with old timey horror films (although 1968 isn't that old compared to some of the old timey horror films I'm thinking of) I feel underwhelmed, but not the case with this one. It managed to stay intriguing the whole way through.
Usually when I watch a horror film I find myself questioning the decisions of the characters and pointing out the glaring flaws in their plans. There was a few times when watching this film that I'd do that, and then a few seconds later one of the other characters would point it out too, so that was a refreshing change for me. The only real, and very significant, exception to that was right at the end. Why the fuck didn't he shout out? Great ending though.
Other than that, my only minor grumble with this is that I went in with the expectation of it being quite a graphic film. The only George A. Romero film that I've seen prior to this one is Day of the Dead, and I remember that one having some really cool and grizzly practical effects. But having said that, the film didn't really suffer because of it.
Watched Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World, Werner Herzog's new film about the internet.
Less out there than I expected. There's some really interesting history and factual content in there, with just a sprinkling of Herzogian madness thrown in. It's a rather cheerful film by Herzog's standards, and he seems to be having fun with it when he pops up in interview segments. No "chaos, hostility and murder" here.
At 11/1/16 08:59 AM, Jackho wrote: I absolutely loved Shut Up and Dance though, and San Junipero is genuinely beautiful and completely different to anything the show has done before. That's more what I want from the rest of the season, the high episode count means they can take so much more risks and try new ideas.
I watched these two tonight. Shut Up And Dance was another where I didn't think the concept worked as a full hour of TV, maybe more suited as a short like the smaller stories in the Christmas special, but I adored San Junipero.
Didn't feel at all like a Black Mirror episode, but was just really great high concept sci-fi with a strong human core, and I couldn't ask for more than that. Maybe Charlie Brooker does have a soul after all. He's beaten me down so badly in the past I was waiting for the gut punch twist right until the end of the credits, but nope, it's just really lovely.
At 11/3/16 07:10 PM, TheMaster wrote: Watched Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World, Werner Herzog's new film about the internet.
I'll probably see this soon. Haven't seen a Herzog documentary yet but he was on the Marc Maron podcast to talk about this one and made it seem interesting. The title is really clever, if it's not explained in the film it comes from the first message ever sent over the internet - "login", but only "lo" got across before the system crashed.
I watched these two tonight. Shut Up And Dance was another where I didn't think the concept worked as a full hour of TV, maybe more suited as a short like the smaller stories in the Christmas special
Don't agree at all, Shut Up and Dance 100% had me for its entire duration. Unbearably tense.
I was also thinking about Playtest again, the double simulation thing, I don't think it's comparable to Rick and Morty or whatever else does a double simulation, it's more like a false awakening from a nightmare and I think it's quite effective at portraying that. It's a different feeling from how a simulation is usually done. I'm sure double false awakenings have been done loads in films as well but still.
But I adored San Junipero. Didn't feel at all like a Black Mirror episode, but was just really great high concept sci-fi with a strong human core, and I couldn't ask for more than that. Maybe Charlie Brooker does have a soul after all.
Every time I think back on SJ I like it more. Love the little bits of foreshadowing early on too, like the young guy at the bar telling Kelly about his double knee surgeries, ha. Or having five weeks to live, how that was both ironically true and an actual fully plausible thing for her to say in the moment.
I was also happy to see Brooker as the sole writing credit on this one. I don't think he's deliberately cruel, just a pessimist and a worrier, just as the show doesn't paint technology as evil but rather how it accentuates the faults already present in humanity. "We're going to ruin this thing" rather than "this thing is going to ruin us."
I imagine it took more effort to say fuck it and just give us an example of technology being nice than to think up all the ways San Junipero could have gone wrong. Even as-is you could easily interpret the place as being overwhelmingly shallow or hellish but the delete option nullifies it more or less.
It's probably visually the best episode too.
He's beaten me down so badly in the past I was waiting for the gut punch twist right until the end of the credits, but nope, it's just really lovely.
Right? This show has trained me to predict how everything is going to go wrong. I was expecting Kelly to permanently transfer only to find Yorkie had already deleted herself, or that Kelly would die unexpectedly while plugged in and get trapped against her will, with Yorkie getting her wish but being stuck with someone who now resents her. The idea being that love can't last forever but someday tech might literally give people the option to chance it anyway. I realise that wouldn't work when they've established there's a delete option, though.
So after enjoying Night of the Living Dead and wanting to re-experience the vague memories I have of Dawn and Day of the Dead, I managed to get a copy of both on Blu-Ray. The Arrow releases aren't overly hard to find online, but unfortunately they're not exactly a bargain. Day of the Dead arrived in the post the other day but I'm waiting for Dawn to arrive so that I can watch that first. Hopefully it'll be here tomorrow.
Also decided to pick up copies of Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead since you can get them for next to nothing on eBay. I haven't seen any of them before but I'm well aware they're considered to be shit, especially the latter two. Just thought I might as well watch all of Romero's Dead films for curiosities sake.
Not a film but I also thought I'd check out Ash vs Evil Dead and managed to get the season 1 DVD off eBay. I somehow managed to completely miss finding out that this was released last year.
I saw Doctor Strange , and I was very impressed. They took a big gamble by trying to combine a Super Hero film, and magic. It worked out very well. This is one of the few films that is actually worth seeing it in 3D. I am going to view it a second time this weekend. If you have not see it, you should really give it a chance. You will be pleasantly surprised.
At 11/9/16 01:23 PM, Dean wrote: The family is together at last
Everything after Day detracts from the collection as a whole.
At 11/9/16 01:34 PM, TheMaster wrote:At 11/9/16 01:23 PM, Dean wrote: The family is together at lastEverything after Day detracts from the collection as a whole.
I know, but I'm committed to seeing this through!
So Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead were both fantastic. It's hard to pick a favourite, but Dawn wins by a fraction. I just liked the setting and overall atmosphere more. There just something about surviving in a zombie infested shopping mall that works so well. In my eyes, this is probably what I would consider to be the quintessential zombie film, although admittedly it's probably not a genre I'm too familiar with.
As far as trilogies go, these first 3 films in the franchise would definitely be up there as one of my favourites. Really enjoyed all of these films, which admittedly does make me a little anxious about watching the shitfest to come.
Think I'm also going to have to get a copy of Return of the Living Dead at some point, just to see where that branch goes.
At 11/12/16 05:25 AM, Dean wrote: Think I'm also going to have to get a copy of Return of the Living Dead at some point, just to see where that branch goes.
You definitely should. It's my favourite zombie film. It's mental.
At 11/12/16 07:19 AM, TheMaster wrote: You definitely should. It's my favourite zombie film. It's mental.
Sold. Btw, have you seen any of those Herschell Gordon Lewis films you got recently? These Romero films have me wanting to see more stuff with cool practical effects, and those films seem ideal for that. I've only ever seen clips from his films in the past and it was probably a lot of the "best bits". Tempted to get the regular edition of that set as an early Christmas present to myself, but I'm hesitant because I know they're generally not thought of as great films. Just wondering if the effects are frequent enough to make those films watchable?
At 11/12/16 09:08 AM, Dean wrote: Sold. Btw, have you seen any of those Herschell Gordon Lewis films you got recently? These Romero films have me wanting to see more stuff with cool practical effects, and those films seem ideal for that. I've only ever seen clips from his films in the past and it was probably a lot of the "best bits". Tempted to get the regular edition of that set as an early Christmas present to myself, but I'm hesitant because I know they're generally not thought of as great films. Just wondering if the effects are frequent enough to make those films watchable?
I've been away from home since the day after the set arrived until yesterday, so not had a chance yet. Have a week off work now so hopefully I'll get around to if, if Dishonored 2 and Tyranny leave me any spare time.
I watched Kôkaku Kidôtai (a.k.a. Ghost in the Shell).
Not sure if it was a good idea to watch this without knowing anything of the manga. I think I understood most of the plot correctly, but there are still many things that left me feeling as if I walked into the film halfway. For example, there is almost no backstory for any of the characters, and it seemed to me that the 'ghosts' concept was never properly explained.
That said, I can see that it is a good film. It tackles some very interesting themes that I imagine will become increasingly more relevant in the future. Furthermore, the backgrounds and animations are absolutely gorgeous, and the music is very atmospheric and hypnotising in a way.
So I liked it, but I wish I had read up on the background story before watching.
At 11/14/16 08:22 AM, Auz wrote: So I liked it, but I wish I had read up on the background story before watching.
Nah, it's just a confusing and layered movie that requires multiple watches. I'd say the vast majority of GitS fans have never gone near the original manga.
For reference one of Mamoru Oshii's earlier films I've seen, Angel's Egg, is extremely densely packed with symbolism and while it's simplistic on the surface it's almost impossible to get the most out of it on just one watch. Same sort of thing.
Ghost in the Shell 2 is another example, it's only loosely based on the manga this time and Oshii originally just wanted to call it "Innocence", so as not to imply it would be a conventional sequel. It's absolutely ridiculous how dense and hard to understand Ghost in the Shell 2 is, it's one of the most challenging films I've ever seen. Imagine listening to two PhD's discuss their most complex theories in a field you have no knowledge of while also caught in a time loop, that's basically the middle chunk of Ghost in the Shell 2. Or just imagine being in a complex conversation about a book you've never heard of.
I'm inclined to say that Ghost in the Shell, the film, is a product of Mamoru Oshii's own style and the original manga won't be much help in deciphering it. From what I remember of the manga it's very action oriented, overly sexual (example, was just flicking through the physical copy I have. that's one of the few pages they put in colour) and trope heavy, not really the staggering work of sci fi you might be picturing, but it's only one volume long so hey maybe you'll get more out of it.
I haven't read Ghost in the Shell 2 but it focuses on Motoko after she merges with the puppet master so it might be more interesting (while the Ghost in the Shell 2 film doesn't have the Major in it at all and focuses on Batou).
At 11/14/16 10:29 AM, Jackho wrote:At 11/14/16 08:22 AM, Auz wrote: So I liked it, but I wish I had read up on the background story before watching.Nah, it's just a confusing and layered movie that requires multiple watches. I'd say the vast majority of GitS fans have never gone near the original manga.
For reference one of Mamoru Oshii's earlier films I've seen, Angel's Egg, is extremely densely packed with symbolism and while it's simplistic on the surface it's almost impossible to get the most out of it on just one watch. Same sort of thing.
Ghost in the Shell 2 is another example, it's only loosely based on the manga this time and Oshii originally just wanted to call it "Innocence", so as not to imply it would be a conventional sequel. It's absolutely ridiculous how dense and hard to understand Ghost in the Shell 2 is, it's one of the most challenging films I've ever seen. Imagine listening to two PhD's discuss their most complex theories in a field you have no knowledge of while also caught in a time loop, that's basically the middle chunk of Ghost in the Shell 2. Or just imagine being in a complex conversation about a book you've never heard of.
I'm inclined to say that Ghost in the Shell, the film, is a product of Mamoru Oshii's own style and the original manga won't be much help in deciphering it. From what I remember of the manga it's very action oriented, overly sexual (example, was just flicking through the physical copy I have. that's one of the few pages they put in colour) and trope heavy, not really the staggering work of sci fi you might be picturing, but it's only one volume long so hey maybe you'll get more out of it.
I haven't read Ghost in the Shell 2 but it focuses on Motoko after she merges with the puppet master so it might be more interesting (while the Ghost in the Shell 2 film doesn't have the Major in it at all and focuses on Batou).
I see. It's possible that I missed a few subtle plot points, but I don't know why it needed to be so confusing then. Sure, there's no need to spell everything out literally, but a few extra minutes to flesh out the characters some more and explain this 'ghost' thing would've helped a lot to bring the main ideas of the film across I think.
Anyway, thanks for clearing all that up. I'm kind of interested in watching Ghost in the Shell 2, despite of what you say :p
At 11/14/16 12:57 PM, Auz wrote: I see. It's possible that I missed a few subtle plot points, but I don't know why it needed to be so confusing then. Sure, there's no need to spell everything out literally, but a few extra minutes to flesh out the characters some more and explain this 'ghost' thing would've helped a lot to bring the main ideas of the film across I think.
It's more rewarding this way. All of my favourite films have taken effort on my part to figure out.
The ghost concept is left intentionally vague I think, more food for thought. Oshii was a christian but lost his faith and seems to be way into philosophy, and that comes through in his best work. Is a ghost a soul or just a digitised consciousness? It doesn't seem to have religious connotations but distinctly separates cyborgs like the Major from purely manufactured robots. I think it's left for your own philosophy to fill in the blanks, rather than telling you how it is in this universe, if the concept of a soul has any validity and if humans are more than complex organic machines. It leaves the implications open ended.
The characters not being fleshed out I might agree with, but could also be intentional, and the important points still get across. Motoko has no memory of her real body and her current one is owned by the government, and later the puppetmaster's ability to implant memories pretty much destroys her identity, with neither the "ghost" nor the shell being truly hers anymore.
Her self actualisation only occurs at the very end, with Batou left in the dark. His confusion is what drives the sequel and takes us farther into Batou as a character than we ever got with the Major.
There's multiple GitS anime TV series that I haven't yet seen though and they probably go a lot deeper into this stuff, those are what recent fans are most familiar with.
Anyway, thanks for clearing all that up. I'm kind of interested in watching Ghost in the Shell 2, despite of what you say :p
Oh I think it's fantastic, massively underrated and better than the original. Just not a film I'd readily recommend to most people.
Also btw make sure it's Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence and not Ghost in the Shell 2.0, the latter is just a re-release of the first film with a different soundtrack and bad CG.
At 11/16/16 03:41 PM, Quisty wrote:
Suicide Squad has its extended cut out for digital download. Apparently it is so much better than the theatrical cut, so I guess give that a try for those who didn't like the movie.
New scene here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-TqAOmE_v4
yes this extended video is good, but for me it has a personal effect to it, I do like it though.
~X~
Saw Moana today, it was easily my favorite Disney film since Beauty and the Beast. The characters were really strong, there were some fun and creative visuals strung throughout the film, and the music was memorable and served its purpose well.
Highlight was Jemaine Clement's song of course. Made me thirst for more Flight of the Conchords.
Last night I watched both Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead. In terms of their ability to entertain me, they actually weren't anywhere near as bad as I was expecting. It's pretty rare that I'll sit down and watch two films in a row, but when I was done with Diary I was still in the mood for more and stuck Survival in.
I enjoyed Night, Dawn and Day considerably more than I enjoyed these, but it was nowhere close to being the unwatchable garbage so many people seemed to claim it would be. Same went for Land of the Dead, which I don't think I've posted about but did watch. I liked Land of the Dead more than Diary and Survival.
I'm no film critic, but as far as entertainment goes, I'm glad I gave these Romero films a chance.
Where has everyone gone? I used to get notifications that people had posted in here on an almost daily basis. Now I get nothing :(
Was debating rewatching the Star Wars original trilogy and then James Rolfe put up some videos about them which got me motivated. Only Return of the Jedi to go.
Still haven't seen the new Star Wars film, or the new Star Trek for that matter. Probably going to pick both of those up on Blu-ray at some point after Christmas.
At 12/12/16 11:29 AM, Dean wrote: Where has everyone gone? I used to get notifications that people had posted in here on an almost daily basis. Now I get nothing :(
I'm ashamed to admit that I've been p much exclusively watching '70s-'80s sci-fi anime. Not much to report on the cinema side of things. (I've posted plenty of progress reports on my journey to watch all main Gundam entries in the anime club, though nobody seems to care much for it)
Been possibly planning a massive rewatch of Doctor Who to celebrate the Power of the Daleks animation. Would probably post about it here since the Doctor Who Crew is extra dead.
Still haven't seen the new Star Wars film, or the new Star Trek for that matter. Probably going to pick both of those up on Blu-ray at some point after Christmas.
I found Force Awakens to be unbearably bland and samey. Nothing new or interesting throughout the whole thing, and it pretty much turned me off of any upcoming entries in the franchise as well. Hope you like it though, most people seemed to enjoy it far more than I did.
At 12/12/16 12:02 PM, Oolaph wrote: I'm ashamed to admit that I've been p much exclusively watching '70s-'80s sci-fi anime.
Don't be, because that sort of stuff always looked p cool to me. I bought a big Robotech box set on DVD a while back which I never actually got around to watching properly. Think I watched the first disc or two and that was it. Might need to get back on that whenever I finally get finished with DBZ Kai. Haven't been really watching any series recently but that'll probably change when I'm off work over Christmas.
At 12/12/16 11:29 AM, Dean wrote: Where has everyone gone? I used to get notifications that people had posted in here on an almost daily basis. Now I get nothing :(
I mostly just update my Letterboxd when I watch something but don't have a lot to say. Last movies I watched that I particularly liked were Legend with Tom Hardy playing the Kray Twins (Legend is a really poor choice of title since I have to specify which Legend) and Hell Or High Water. I REALLY liked the trilogy of live action Rurouni Kenshin movies, which I finished a month ago. They adapted from the beginning to the end of the Shishio arc, but they did take a few liberties, some I was fine with and some that did bug me but I still loved the movies.
Was debating rewatching the Star Wars original trilogy and then James Rolfe put up some videos about them which got me motivated. Only Return of the Jedi to go.
I always take out my VHS copies I've had since Christmas 1995 or 6 when I want to watch the original trilogy. Never sat through any "special" version of the movies from beginning to end since I saw the first new version of A New Hope in the theater in 1997. Good chance I'll see Rogue One in the theater, probably not until after Christmas. I liked TFA pretty well.
At 12/12/16 12:23 PM, Dean wrote: Don't be, because that sort of stuff always looked p cool to me. I bought a big Robotech box set on DVD a while back which I never actually got around to watching properly. Think I watched the first disc or two and that was it. Might need to get back on that whenever I finally get finished with DBZ Kai. Haven't been really watching any series recently but that'll probably change when I'm off work over Christmas.
SDF Macross (the "real" Japanese version of Robotech) is my favorite anime of all time. I've never actually watched the American version, so I honestly don't know what it's like. I do know that they did a TON of rewriting to make it fit with the other shows they took footage from, so it's probably nothing like the original show.
Might actually be pretty interesting for me to give it a watch. Maybe I'll do that sometime.
At 12/12/16 11:29 AM, Dean wrote: Where has everyone gone?
I just haven't seen any movies lately. I did watch The Lobster a few days ago and it was excellent, completely unique and bizarre, actually hilarious though with a few scenes of heartbreaking cruelty, and layered with enough meaning that I still haven't digested it. Would highly recommend.
Also watched Final Fantasy XV: Kingslaive, the feature-length prologue to the game, starring Aaron Paul and Sean Bean. It was better than you're probably imagining but not great. The models and level of detail in the world looked fantastic but the animations themselves wobbled around from janky to passable, and even though the english cast was recorded first they had a separate american team to the mocap, so they're still dubbing someone else and none of the lip syncing really lines up properly as a result.
