AxB Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 Yesterday, I watched Alita: Battle Angel. It was a bit messy. Felt like it was trying to do a bit much, couldn't decide if it wanted to be a kid's film like a cross between Spy Kids and Real Steel, or if it wanted to be a high speed gorefest like Terminator mixed with Robocop aired at double speed. It was doing the whole "We're beating up machines, not people, look at all the blue fluid that oozes from the sounds, it's definitely not blood", only these characters were living cyborgs who could actually feel their robo-parts getting dismembered, so it really was that violent, sort of. But at the same time, it's very surface, like a kid's show. It's not exploring the lore or the world building at all, just mentions stuff once and expects you to run with it. There's a sky city and a trash city under it, and Earth was at war with Mars but it ended 300 years ago but we don't know why. Possibly the source material actually explains this stuff, but the movie really doesn't. It's really rushed. Kind of feels like it was pitched as a trilogy, and the studio said "cram the three movie's worth of plot into two hours and we'll do it", but then during production changed their minds and said "take the climax out and do a sequel tease at the end instead". So it is both rushed and padded, sort of. Great cast, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimbra Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 Alita definitely felt like about three different movies edited together in a way that almost made sense, like one of those Looney Tunes movies that was cut together from old cartoons. But I liked that they really went for it and made some weird choices. Not enough big movies do that. The best part for me was how game Christopher Waltz was to say incredibly dumb shit like "hunter-killer" and "Vector runs motorball" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caley Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 What did you guys think of her eyes in Alita? I get that it was in tribute/reference to the anime/manga but I found it incredibly distracting/weirding me out especially since everyone else looked normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driver Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 I found it very fitting that Christoph Waltz was in both Alita and Big Eyes. Another thing about Alita that caught my attention was during a scene in the street there was an electronic billboard showing people who were wanted and I could've sworn that Samuel L. Jackson as Mr. Glass was one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxB Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 7 hours ago, caley said: What did you guys think of her eyes in Alita? I get that it was in tribute/reference to the anime/manga but I found it incredibly distracting/weirding me out especially since everyone else looked normal. I thought it made sense, that considering her whole face is a mechanical construct, having bigger eyes than a regular human would allow for a greater ability to accumulate visual information. She's supposed to be the ultimate war machine or something, so having an obvious advantage like that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted June 10, 2020 Author Share Posted June 10, 2020 Similar to Just Mercy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 (edited) As discussed in the TV thread, Raising Cain by Brian De Palma is indeed on Netflix. Let's see how much of a trainwreck this sucker is (and how wooden Steven Bauer is). EDIT: Okay, that one was looney tunes. I can see why De Palma didn't like some of the editing, because the beginning in particular and then the constant flip-flopping between dream sequences and perspectives is enough to make you dizzy. Once they firmly buckle in and give you all the backstory (after De Palma's already poked fun at his own Hitchcock fetish with the sinking car from Psycho ripoff) it gets fun. Lithgow has played better crazies (in Dexter and the ice-cold bastard in Blow Out) but he gets to eat scenery whole in this one. The main cop is one of the drug dealing politicians in Scarface and he comes off well, so does the psychiatrist who has that sudden off-color joke about her wig. Lolita Davidovich was alright. Steven Bauer was a mere cypher with like five lines, so not enough enough to come off as wooden. Really it's worth watching for the end which is one of those classic De Palma setups that you can't peel your eyes off of. Thinking about it, he's even parodying himself again by putting a baby cart as a factor in the scene as a nod to his famous one in The Untouchables. Funny guy. EDIT II: Now that I think of it, there are references to Sisters and at least two to Dressed to Kill (the wig joke being one) so if you look at this as self-parody it works even better. Edited June 11, 2020 by Curt McGirt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/split-personality-two-cuts-of-raising-cain-come-to-blu-ray Here's a discussion of the second cut that ended up on BluRay with the original. Pretty neat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(BP) Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 I liked Alita, but there's a reason it felt rushed and yet incomplete. It's, iirc, the first three volumes of a 9 volume manga, so it had to cram in a lot of story, but it's still just a third of the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caley Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 What I watched this week Dinosaurus!: I kinda of half-watched this one. The dinosaurs looked bad, but the neanderthal was shockingly neat-looking. This was by the makers of The Blob and reportedly they still had Steve McQueen under contract but were so fed up with dealing with him, they just dumped him and didn't put him in the film. That fact is probably more interesting than the film. Walking Tall: As kind of a fan of Joe Don Baker, I'd been looking for this one for YEARS. I was puzzled that they never showed it on TV (Like the Death Wish movies) but after seeing it, I can see why: it's long and EXTREMELY violent. JDB plays Buford Pusser, the (in)famous Southern wrestler turned Southern wrestler who decides to clean up his county and carry a big stick. Looking it up, a lot of this is fictionalized, but oddly enough, the most outrageous moments are also the most true to life Pusser being cut up and repeatedly shot; Pusser being ambushed by a woman and shooting her dead; and the surprisingly gory murder of his wife Apparently, the real Pusser wanted Bo Svensson to play him in the film, but he was unavailable so he went with Baker. After Pusser's death, they made two more movies, both starring the now-available Svensson. I haven't watched the sequels yet, but I'm gonna. A Bronx Tale: I recorded this one off AMC last year and watched about half of it, then the recording cut the second half off and I forgot about it. I found it and recorded it and the recording said I had an hour and a half left so I kept putting it off. So it turns out, with AMC commercials, there was like 40 minutes left and it really took no time at all. The first half is pretty good, with a kid growing up in NYC and finding himself working odd jobs for the mob. I didn't think the second half was quite as authentic feeling, with the interracial romance, though I really enjoyed the performances by the two star-crossed lovers (Taral Hicks is good but only did 2 more movies; while Lillo Brancato is super-good but is a really sad case-study in the corruption of fame (Go read his Wikipedia, it's nuts!). Chazz Palmienteri and Robert De Niro are great in supporting roles. Dolphin Man: I LOVED this. It's a documentary about free-diving pioneer Jacques Mayol. The first part of the film is nuts, like a Wes Anderson film brought to life with Mayol and his team wearing matching tracksuits and lots of 70s fashion and parties. There's a rival diver who is doing it for the military benefits and the perfect counter-point to Mayol, who goes and studies yoga in order to use the techniques to further his free-diving, while living a kind of free-love, Hollywood lifestyle. I was amazed that no one had ever adapted it into a film, and then halfway through they reveal that Mayol's life was made into the film 'The Big Blue' (Which I have not seen). The second half of the film is more morose, with Mayol's personal tragedies and growing frustration with his newfound stardom and the world's destruction of the environment. There were some shots in here that were as beautiful as any I've seen in a documentary in a long time. I really really enjoyed it. I think the whole thing is on Youtube. Private School: This had the misfortune of coming right after my transcendent 'Dolphin Man' experience. I have a strange fascination with 80s raunchy teen comedies but this was DREADFUL. There's a comment in the IMDB trivia section that this was basically focus-grouped from start-to-finish and it SHOWS. No one in the film ever has a conversation about anything other than sex. One character (Bubba) is basically a raging hormone (He also has a particularly funny, probably self-edited, IMDB bio that talks about him moving to NYC to work at a different Virgin Megastore), constantly basically drooling over the women. There's lots of great 80s nudity, if that's your thing, but it is an absolute turd of a film. I will concede to laughing at one part when the stuck-up snotty girl's dad runs some kid off the road and the kid takes a HARD fall and gets up and flips him off. But, shit, was this bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 (edited) NSFW I watched Walking Tall because it had that violent rep but it didn't work for me, just felt long and boring. That was years ago though and my attention span is a little better now Edited June 12, 2020 by Curt McGirt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister TV Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 12 hours ago, caley said: A Bronx Tale: I recorded this one off AMC last year and watched about half of it, then the recording cut the second half off and I forgot about it. I found it and recorded it and the recording said I had an hour and a half left so I kept putting it off. So it turns out, with AMC commercials, there was like 40 minutes left and it really took no time at all. The first half is pretty good, with a kid growing up in NYC and finding himself working odd jobs for the mob. I didn't think the second half was quite as authentic feeling, with the interracial romance, though I really enjoyed the performances by the two star-crossed lovers (Taral Hicks is good but only did 2 more movies; while Lillo Brancato is super-good but is a really sad case-study in the corruption of fame (Go read his Wikipedia, it's nuts!). Chazz Palmienteri and Robert De Niro are great in supporting roles. A Bronx Tale is basically Chazz Palmienteri's childhood and teenage years so you can't really say it's not authentic. Palmienteri's one man stage show of A Bronx Tale is amazing and I think he was still taking it on the road until COVID hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 There are probably better Sylvia Kristel soft core films to watch if necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 I watched The Vast of Night last week and I highly recommend it. It's such a great example of doing the best you can with limited resources, and the mood they create is fantastic. I felt fucking INSPIRED when it was over. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonial Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Just got word that my area's island of misfit theaters are set to re-open this coming Wednesday. No clue what they will be showing, but I'm sure Seagal, Travolta, Willis, etc. have something to send us and only us. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 You can definitely look forward to that new Edge movie coming through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, jaedmc said: I watched The Vast of Night last week and I highly recommend it. It's such a great example of doing the best you can with limited resources, and the mood they create is fantastic. I felt fucking INSPIRED when it was over. Yep. Just got done watching it and it was superb. I'm actually hoping that Patterson does more with the Paradox Theatre backdrop. Sierra McCormick seems to be winning the award for the performer that has had the least problematic transition from Disney Kid to serious artist. Edited June 12, 2020 by J.T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxB Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 TIL that Cameron Diaz retired from acting. Six years ago. I thought I hadn't seen her in anything recently, but just assumed she was making Straight to DVD flops or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVA Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 She should’ve stopped a year earlier and gone out on THE COUNSELOR. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 I am currently watching FIVE ELEMENTS NINJAS and it’s not often that every aspect of a film is a surprising æsthetic feast. An isolated recording of the English dubbing alone would be the Podcast of the year. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 We watched The King of Staten Island. We wanted to give Pete a big hug at the end of it. I can't imagine what it must be like making a semi autobiographical movie that hits that close to home. Anyway, we loved it. Many tears were shed. This was some of Judd Apatow's best work. Everyone gave great performances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(BP) Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 I watched The Guest last night, sort of for the 2010s poll and sort of because I wanted something less heavy after watching some intense stuff this week. It was good, but what really blew my mind was that halfway through I looked up the name of the lead and found out it was Dan Stevens. I just watched the first twelve episodes of Legion like a week ago. He’s a good actor, but he’s got one of those faces where I’m never going to be able to place him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxB Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 He had to do some things to get that role, let me tell you: 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonial Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 The island of misfit cinemas open tomorrow. Two theaters to be exact -- the third is still being renovated. For the time being, only four of the eight screens in each theater will be active, and every other row will be closed off. With not much new material out there, the options are ... interesting. We have the dueling "Christian song" films. "I Can Only Imagine" in one theater, ""I Still Believe" in the other. "Green Book" and "La La Land" are getting screenings, as is the Diane Keaton/Jane Fonda film "Book Club" (the theaters are, primarily, for the 55+ set). There's also ... BECKY According to Deadline, this did finish in the Top 10 at the box office last weekend, so that's ... something? And ... THE GRIZZLIES The first film featured Kevin James. This has Will Sasso, who appears to be Kevin James on a budget. Plus ... SOMETIMES ALWAYS NEVER A very British film with very British actors driving very British cars . And for the kids, we don't have Trolls or Onward or Scoob or Artemis Fowl. We have ... DAFFY DUCK'S MOVIE: FANTASTIC ISLAND Hey, if the theater owners want to stage a film festival showing nothing but the same 10 movies HBO repeated in 1983, why not? 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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