Topic: The Movie Thread

Dune: Part Two (Cinema) - Took a bit to really get going (it definitely expects more from you than something like Star Wars or Avatar), but once it hit it's stide and started paying off it was excellent. By far the best thing I've seen in theaters so far this year, and I think it's going to be a high bar to clear.

Spring Break (Tubi) - 80's comedy about college kids partying in Fort Lauderdale, Florida during spring break. Not particularly notable, but fun if you like these kinds of 80's comedies.

Stand by Me (Blu-Ray) - Another thrift pick up. Pretty much the quintessential coming of age film, at least for boys, IMO. No matter how many times I watch it the train scene always makes me so anxious, and the great Superman vs Mighty Mouse debate reminds me of the similar debates me & my friends had at that age (although there was a lot more DBZ involved for us, lol).

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Cinema) - Maybe it's just because I wasn't expecting much from it, but I actually enjoyed this a bit. It does seem a tad bit moodier than previous outings, but it's still very much comedy first, horror second. Now, a lot of the comedy comes in the form of standard "sitcom family" jokes amongst the core cast/family & nostalgic call backs to the classic films (& it appears they've decided that the mini Stay Puft marshmallow men from the last one are a permanent fixture, taking on the role similar to Despicable Me's minions, goofing around the lab(s)), so the quality in that department is up for debate, but my theatre seemed to be into it. Without getting into spoilers, the thing that seemed most out of place to me was the subplot involving a friendly ghost who just acted like a regular person.

the Departed (Blu-Ray) - a young cop with a troubled past becomes a police informant embedding himself amongst the Boston Mob (with the boss being Jack Nicholson), but things aren't as easy as first seemed because an all star cop amongst the force is himself a mole in service of the Mob, and both are soon in a race to find out who the other rat is. Picked this up thrifting, and it ended up being a pretty fantastic movie. Really gripping.

Otaku no Video (Blu-Ray) - Really interesting insight into Otaku culture of the 80's & 90's. It follows a young college student who falls in with a crowd of otaku & you can see how becoming a shut in affects his personal life & relationships (of course, being an anime film targeted directly at the otaku audience, things end up much happier for him, as he gets the last laugh against society). Still, it seems like there is some truth to it's depiction of otaku culture of the era, given that it's very loosely based on how Studio Gainax (it's animation studio) was founded. Also had fake live action "interviews" with former/closeted Otaku which made me a bit self conscious about my anime figure collection, lol.

Summer School Teachers (Tubi) - 70's B-comedy that follows a trio of aspiring Midwestern teachers who head out to California for a shot at education careers out on the coast, but these free spirited young women are going to have to win over their conservative/old timey colleagues in order to make it. Pretty poorly made & had a few tonal inconsistencies (the science teacher's storyline felt more serious & drama-ish compared to the comedic tones of the other two stories), but it had a charm to it & had a few laughs.

Godzilla X Kong: the New Empire 3D (Cinema) - Plot is about as dumb as a box of rocks, but man if this isn't the most fun I've had at the theatre this year. It's more Kong centric, but Godzilla definitely steals the show whenever he does show up on screen. The spectacle really shines in 3D too (whether it be Big G splattering bug guts everywhere, or all the dizzying twirling Hollow Earth shots & anti-grav shenanigans).

The Favourite (Blu-Ray) - Picked this up thrifting, and while it does have it's merits, I just don't think it's my kinda thing. That's okay though, it's good to take a step out of your comfort zone every once in awhile, even if it doesn't always pay off.

Summer Job (Tubi) - this 80's comedy doesn't have much in the way of a plot, just a bunch of college kids partying, pranking one another, & looking for romance while working a summer job at a beach resort, with a lot of screentime dedicated to beautiful beach bods, sunsets, and pristine waters (even with the effect a bit muted as it seems to be taken from a tape master, the definite SD resolution doesn't do it much favors). Still, it's fun if you're in the right mood.

From Up On Poppy Hill (Blu-Ray) - Set in 1960's Japan as the nation prepares for the Tokyo Olympics, a pair of high schoolers find love as they campaign for the restoration of a historic school facility earmarked for demolition, however secrets behind their parantage may bar them from being together. Absolutely brilliant film, definitely at or near the top of my Ghibli ranking. Very beautiful & emotional.

Minions: the Rise of Gru (Amazon Prime) - Pretty much run of the mill affair for what, the 5th(?) entry in this franchise. But hey, it was amusing enough, which is why they're able to churn out as many as they do.

Private Lessons (Tubi) - When the teenage son of a multimillionaire is left home alone while his father is away on a trip, he lives every teenage boy's fantasy when the new hot housemaid starts coming on to him. Turns out it's all part of a plot by the family's greedy chauffeur who's trying to blackmail the kid out of $10,000, and he has to find a way to get it back before dad comes home. It's so absurd it loops to being funny, although even by 80's standards I'm surprised this was allowed to be made (let alone available on a modern streaming platform).

Just saw 3 in the theatre

Ghostbusters Frozen Empire - Good Fun. Not excellent but was better than expected.

Zilla x Kong - Super Meh imo. I saw Godzilla Minus One and greadking adored it. Maybe that ruint this for me? I actually gelt like leaving halfway though.

Monkey Man - Was ok. Action was good but not nearly as much as I expected.

Civil War (Cinema) - Set during a hypothetical modern US civil war, the film doesn't take any time to set up why the conflict is happening in the first place nor does it take a hard line politically (while there may be a few subtle hints of Trump in the president come dictator, such as a dismantling of the FBI & a murderous distrust of the media, his political party is left unmentioned, & while the unlikely union of Texas & California's "Western Forces" is the predominant rebel force against the government, the film doesn't portray them as heroes or liberators). Rather, it focuses on a small group of photojournalists making the dangerous trek from NYC to the front line, in the hopes of documenting the WF's historic seige of D.C., travelling through the ruined carcasses of towns which the fighting has already passed through, documenting small outer skirmishes, stopping at a small town that has seemingly managed to avoid the ravages of war, a refugee camp, & more on their way to the big show. While it may disappoint some that it doesn't take a blatant hard line stance on current political discourse, the imagery is all too often raw & pulls no punches when it comes to the brutality of war from all involved, and it had more than one absolutely heart stopping moment.

Deadpool (Blu-Ray) - Another thrift pick up. Probably have done a write up of this one at some point before, but it remains pretty fun, and I always seem to pick up on a new reference or two I missed out on the last time I watched it. Some good, inappropriate, laughs.

Neighbors (Blu-Ray) - The last of my thrift pick ups. Seth Rogan comedy about a couple of new parents who have to make a choice between the responsibility of adulting and trying to hold on to their youth when a roudy fraternity moves in next door. It seems well made enough for what it is & provided a few laughs, but I think I just overall don't care for the vibe of Seth Rogan's work (maybe I'm just a little old at heart, but give me Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, or John Candy any day of the week. Heck, even Will Ferrell will do for someone a bit more modern).

Pretty Smart (Tubi) - 80's teen comedy that sees a pair of sisters with polar opposite personalities (a good girl & troublemaker respectively) sent to private school in Europe & end up in rival cliques. When it's learned that the skeevy headmaster is secretly recording the girls' dorms (& selling the tapes) and using the students to move drugs, the sisters will have to get the cliques to put aside their differences in order to take him down & save the school. Maybe not a particularly novel setup for a teen comedy of the era, but I had a load of fun with it.

Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams (Tubi) - Old stoner movie from the early 80's. Our titular pair rip off a bunch of product from their supplier (which turns it's smokers into lizards, for some reason), and antics ensue as they try to evade the police. It's funny enough for what it is, and worth a watch just to see Paul Reubens (of Pee Wee Herman fame) play a coked out mental patient.

Metal Skin Panic: Madox-01 (Blu-Ray) - the US Army loses a prototype battle armor in a Tokyo traffic accident, a young mechanic gets stuck in it while mucking around with it, but no time to get it off as he has to be on time for a date with his estranged girlfriend before she goes off to study in Europe! He'll make his rendezvous no matter what, even if he has to fight off the Army trying to reclaim it's toy along the way. This is short & to the point (under an hour long), and is a pretty fun watch. I just love the vibe of these old 80's sci-fi OVAs.

Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child of Fire (Netflix) - This doesn't have a single original bone in it's body, whether it be aesthetically or narratively. A hodgepodge of locations & ideas ripped from other more notable sci-fi & fantasy properties without any attempt to make them mesh together in a cohesive way (& the narrative itself is just the first half of Seven Samurai spread out over 2 & a half hours), but what it does have going for it is a very gigantic, impressive even, sense of scale & grandeur with some fun action (even if it goes laughably overkill on the slow-mo & lens flare). This isn't a "good" movie, but it's the kind of project that's probably the favorite film of some nerdy 13 year old boy out there, and as someone who was a nerdy 13 year old boy at some point myself, it appealed to that part of me (which is how I feel about a lot of Zack Snider stuff come to think of it, kind of like a guilty pleasure. If he ever gets to release that big R rated cut I heard he wants to release, I'll probably be there).