Amph What was the last movie you saw?

Savage lives up to her name; she's balls to the wall. You're right that the plot doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but you can see why it was so influential: it nails the mood of cynical, fatalistic nihilism that gave birth to noir. The movie doesn't make sense, but when it ends the way this one does, it doesn't need too: Fate, or some mysterious force, can put the finger on you or me . . . for no reason at all. Damn. That's good.

 

I kind of loved the fact that they had a female character who was so vicious and crude and just . . . totally repulsive in every respect. It's not a typical femme fatale role at all and it's not a typical female role at all. Totally fascinating. And as you say, it's so compelling a scenario and atmosphere you don't care about the plausibility of the plot.

 

Tower Heist - It's alright

 

American Psycho (2000).

Seen it before, enjoyed it a lot, but now I'm in the middle (or maybe back fifth or so?) of reading the book, which provided an interesting new perspective. I think it's an effective adaptation for what it is, which is a condensing of a lot of sprawling anecdotes into a crisp 100 minute plotline - crimes and characters are merged, some things are taken out of sequence to better build an arc, etc. Some particulars that stood out to me:

• Almost everywhere that the dialogue or narration strays from Ellis' original is severely less elegant. That's not so much a knock as an indication that I have a very high opinion of the book's writing.
• Discretion shots actually make the on-screen violence considerably more palatable than the written violence. Somewhere Peckinpah laughs a grim laugh.
• Unlike the book the movie is able to play around with the emotional correlations between dramatic tension and comedic tension. Moments that were nail-biters on the first viewing were pretty funny when you already know how things resolve and can appreciate the bizarre disconnect of the banter. Also, c'mon, Christian Bale running around with a chainsaw while naked and covered in blood is hilarious.
• I erroneously remembered a scene that I now realize was from Wall Street as being in this film. Which. Hm.

 

yeah I watched that , it's quite good , wonder where they filmed it , it looked like a genuine wrecked city .

.

 

Ah, didn't realize. I would say it's their best then (of the one I know/ took my kids to those other two)

 

'Don't Breathe'

I know a lot of people were very enthusiastic about this one. I sort of fell in the middle. It's okay but it isn't very scary or memorable in my opinion. It's surprisingly low key in it's script and character development. I feel that with such a scene chewer in Stephen Lang that they kind of were a little too restrained. I was expecting a loud performance. The kids are very trope. The lead male Alex played by Dylan Minette is pretty awful. There's only so much punishment this villain can dish out too. It just gets gratuitous. Haunted house movies like this are easy ways to build suspense because we just expect BOO's. Boo's are sort of fun but they don't leave much of an impression with you.

'Toy Story'

I hadn't seen the original in years and felt a desire to revisit it. It holds up reasonably well in terms of the animation however the human characters are terrifying and Pixar has come a long way in rendering them. It's a funny film and surprisingly a lot darker than I remembered. There are some pretty twisted scenes that I just didn't remember from being a kid. I still like it and rate it among the best Pixar films probably a lot of that is coming from nostalgia though.

 

I've been watching the same three Chan Wai Man movies on a loop the past two weeks with no signs of stoppage. Will say that The Club (1981) is the purest example of cause and effect I've ever seen. That this film was loosely based on actual events in CWM's triad days makes it even a bit more potent. Happy I found a Cantonese version, now all that is needed is a widescreen print in slightly better condition.

Though I did take time to laugh through The Chronicles of Riddick. I do like Karl Urban in this, but overall Vin D. never quite caught on with me.

 

Heaven Is For Real (2014)
I liked that the message of the movie was that life can be a glimpse of 'paradise.' (whether you believe in life after death or not)
4/5

Robots (2005)
This is my third viewing of this. Remember seeing it way back in theaters in order to see the Teaser for Revenge of the Sith.
I'd really like to like it, but I just can't. It's very dull and there's too much toilet humor. There's a couple great innuendos, some great voice talents, and the animation and design is great, but it's just blah.
3/5

 

Snowpiercer - What a good movie

 

I recently saw this! Part my noir "Always meant to do
this" catch up. Good review, I agree. Savage is the highlight for me.

 

Have you seen Pitch Black? Chronicles of Riddick is particularly weird in context because it has nothing in common with Pitch Black, which is more of an ensemble piece and actually a really solid thriller. I saw the new one from a few years ago, Riddick. I honestly remember like one stunt and that's about all. I never do that, but that movie just washed right out of my brain.

 

Planet of the Apes (1968) - Plot; Three astronauts crash land on a planet where simians are the dominant species and man is considered a beast beneath contempt.

At first blush it would be easy to dismiss the original Planet of the Apes as a dystopian sci-fi relic from the genre's golden age, or to lump it in with its lesser (though not always bad) sequels. But join Charlton Heston's cynical Taylor as he's dropped off into this "Madhouse" and you learn to appreciate just how smart, well made and well crafted this film is. There are a lot of themes in play here--race, class, reason vs. faith--but like any good allegorical story, it doesn't beat you over the head with them. At its core it's about a man who has become embittered by mankind's seeming inability to overcome its base nature, and yet when his own humanity is denied him, he gains a new appreciation for just what it means to be human. But then we get the twist. The power of the twist is not the shock value, or subterfuge merely for the sake of it, but because just as Taylor has learned to value his own humanity, he's delivered this gut punch that seems to validate that original cynicism.

I also have to take note of the cast. Hidden beneath restrictive latex masks, actors Maurice Evans, Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowall manage to give compelling and believable performances. You never question the "reality" of their characters because they don't. But this is a film carried in large part by Charlton Heston. Never one for subtlety, Heston's bold performance style lifts this small-scaled film into something much, much larger than it would've otherwise have been. - 8.5/10

 

I saw Passengers last night and I didn't really care for it. The central idea is interesting and quite morally gray, but it gets glossed over for the most part to make the film more of a typical hollywood romance. It also doesn't help that I can't stand Jennifer Lawrence.

 

INTERSTELLAR.

a most excellent picture.

 

Yeah some years ago. Can't say that bowled me over either. Like you say, it washed right out of my brain.

 

Yeah, Pitch Black is a small, reasonably taught horror-thriller w/Riddick as a classic anti-hero. And then Chronicles of Riddick comes along and the saga takes this hard left turn into this Dune-like space opera territory that fits together with the latter like a Lego with a Lincoln Log. Chronicles works for me in fits and starts, but in the end it feels a bit overambitious for everyone involved. The third film, Riddick, gets back to basics and is actually my favorite of the three.

 

Legend of the Owl (1981) David Chiang's sometimes hilariously funny rip on more serious (and far crazier) Shaw Brothers wuxias and western tv / movies. Chiang who stars with his siblings Paul and Derek is the bumbling Captain Fan. Fan must rescue the Emperor's 36th wife and bring down the nefarious Owl who holds rather unpleasant auctions (gathering all kinds of items his sleazy clients will pay a handsome sum for). If you've seen Chu Yuan's yawn inducing Legend of the Bat with Ti Lung (trust me, the only Chu Liu Xiang movie really worth seeing is the 3rd, the utter bonkers Perils of the Sentimental Swordsman), you know what you're in for.

Some of the humor is on point funny (a Cantonese talking Cockatiel who delivers the Mission message to Fan before dying - Mission Impossible style), the Star Wars rips (light sabers) and the wink at how ridiculous the whole wuxia genre is. Chiang has a natural flare for comedy and it's too bad more people weren't aware of just how funny he could be, because he rivals Sammo Hung and bests Jackie Chan in that department. This is still pretty funny in spots and all around quite enjoyable; especially if you like slapstick humor and have seen your share of old school super swordsmen movies, this is, well, a hoot.

 

2 Lava 2 Lantula on Syfy. A sequel to Lavalantula, which I watched recently. Very much in the Sharknado vein - very silly but good for a couple of hours of escapism.

 

Hamlet (1996).

I could talk about how much I like this adaptation (especially that bombastic finale that nevertheless drives home the subtler point that all of Hamlet's revenge seeking basically destroyed his homeland) but if you're talking about Shakespeare on the Internet only the hottest of hot takes is allowed! Laertes is secretly a much more sympathetic char- nah, too obvious. Hamlet was actually craz- no, insufficiently hot.

Wait, I've got it: 70% of the quotable lines from this play are said by Polonious, a character so incompetent and blissfully unaware he arguably out-stupids even Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. That's because people are stupid! MAEKS U THINK RIGHT?!!!!?!

 

Godzilla (2014) - Still love this movie. Gareth Edwards did a terrific job linking it to the original 50's movie, creating its own identity but also being the first chapter in the MonsterVerse. I'm very much looking forward to Kong: Skull Island because of this The scale of many of the shots in this movie is a big reason why he was approached for Rogue One.

 

Love this one.

 

Justice League - Dark


9/10

Good story centering on the magic/dark arts instead of just the usual space based/earth is in danger/Justice League big hitters in danger/all is saved trope.