Topic: The Movie Thread

Only one movie for me this weekend due to all the new gaming goodness in Future Redeemed & Jedi Survivor.

Coffy (Blu-Ray)

After her sister falls victim to drug pushers and finding out that the law isn't exactly on her side, Coffy decides to take justice into her own hands by hunting down the dealers & the powerful men who enable them.

This was pretty fun when all's said in done. I'd have liked a bit more action, but what's here is good (shoutouts to the dude who got shotgunned to the head & the big cheesy prostitute brawl. A "prostitussle", you could say?), and it can be quite effectively brutal at times. King George's bold yellow pimp jumpsuit has to be seen to believed, and you'll get an eyeful of boobs, which is always a plus (though not always in the most politically correct of scenarios, being a 70's flick, if that bothers you).

Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer (Blu-Ray)

A franchise film that doesn't feel like a franchise film, in a good way.

When the students & staff of Tomobiki High School slowly start realizing that they're repeating the same day over & over again they set out to figure out the cause of the phenomena, all while the stability of their world seems to unravel the closer they get.

Pretty much a more high concept Groundhog Day, about a decade before that even released, with some absolutely stunning animation & dreamlike imagery. It's much more of a slower burn than other things in this franchise that I've seen, but it managed to hold my attention better, and it's interesting to note that the core characters don't really seem to push the narrative forward a whole lot for the majority of it's runtime, with supporting cast like Sakura & Mendo doing most of the heavy lifting until the end.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (theatre)

A part of me is kinda over these movies that want to be both your epic blockbuster & your comedy (something about Maverick, Avatar re-release, & Avatar 2 last year made me realize how much I missed relatively straight faced immersive blockbusters), but on the other hand this was still tons of fun & managed to strike that balancing act between action & comedy much more effectively than last year's Thor movie did.

It managed to both make me laugh & tear up at different points, and the big action set piece in the hall towards the end was a particular delight. I only regret not being able to find the time for a 3D showing.

InuYasha the Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler (Blu-Ray)

On my way through the franchise on Blu-Ray, I've now arrived at the point where I can fit in the third movie.

A lot of fans consider this one the cream of the crop when it comes to the film adaptations, and while I don't quite rate it that high (it has nothing that comes close to "that" moment in movie 2), I definitely understand the praise.

Granted, there's nothing here that'll make you a fan if you aren't already into the franchise (the same can be said of all the movies), but it shines a light on some background lore that the series proper barely touches upon and has probably the most exciting climactic set piece battle in any of these films.

Suicide Club (Blu-Ray)

Japanese film that follows a police investigation into a rash of mass suicides seemingly driven by mysterious online culture.

It starts off really strong with an engaging narrative and a jarring amount of gore (a couple wonky CGI effects are counterbalanced by some genuinely sickening practical effect gore), but it goes absolutely bonkers in the last third and kinda lost me.

I'm sure there's some sort of poignant cultural critique at play in here somewhere (something maybe about internet/youth culture being disengaged from reality?), but it's probably more apparent if you're more familiar with Japanese society than I am (especially the Japan of the era it was made in). Glad I gave it a go though.

some movies im watching the rest of this month

She-wolf of London from the Wolfman Legacy Collection DVD

then on Tubi
-Heathers
-original Running Scared movie
-Robot Jox
-Doomed! the documentary about the canceled Roger Corman Fantastic Four movie
-City Hunter
-Space Raiders

Akira (4K UHD BD)

Recently rewatched this as I got in the 4K BD.

All these years later & it still looks absolutely stunning. It's really strong until the end where it kinda loses me. I mean, I think I understand it a bit more everytime I watch it... maybe.

Anyhow, there's just something about the gritty sci-fi anime of the 80's that I can't get enough of.

Ant-Man & the Wasp Quantumania (Disney+)

This was fine.

It's visually a bit of a mess (I know they wanted the Quantum Realm to come off as strange, but a lot of it is just CGI noise), some scenes looked really cool (like when Scott was being split up into "possibilities") while others looked 10-15 years out of date (the scene in the "desert" where Janet negotiated with those raider types).

Otherwise it was okay. A bit too lighthearted of a character to really sale the higher stakes adventure it was trying to be (given that it was building up the next major villain post Thanos).