What I've Been Watching: The Catch-All Film Thread

Originally Posted by Old Grognard
Dirty Grandpa - Robert De Niro was hilarious in this role.
Going in Style - Bunch of older famous actors robbing a bank.
Why Him - Actor from Malcolm in the middle and Breaking Bad it was funny.

Didn't watch any, but checked them on my list of "to watch" titles.
Will watch, will watch, refuse to watch.

Originally Posted by Nereida
I watched The Old Guard last night, Netflix movie. Was kinda entertaining, and the ending hints at a sequel.

Watched.
It's based on comics of the same name that's why there is a sequel planned, sadly the result is okayish at best. No epic battles in the movie for example.
Still, from movies that were released in past 3 months, this is probably the only Hollywood movie that isn't plain rubbish. The rest I tired, had to turn off fast.
In other words, go in, don't expect much and you'll be entertained. A bit.

Originally Posted by Pongo
I watched Ad Astra recently.
…
I'm not sure how much I would recommend it.

If I didn't write before, I cannot recommend it. All those big names and CGI couldn't save the pure garbage of a script. A forgettable timewaster that brought nothing to the genre except more stupidity.

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So some recently watched entries of mine corresponding to genres/suggestions above, although I did mention some in other threads (IIRC, or it was on other forums on internet).


Three comedies (if it needs to be 3):
Dolemite is My Name
Everyone knows I don't watch biographies as I find them boring, but when a few friends who know my preferences told me to try this one, I couldn't refuse. And I can't understand why other biographies can't be made this way. Warm, lively and not boring!

Movie 43
Vulgarity is not fun(ny). Not to me. But if you add prosthetics to the mix… One of the worst movies I've seen in my life, yet obviously made by a trolling mastermind showing a middle finger both to hollywood's sense of humor, plastics and facebook drones. A mustwatch.

Dad, die
Yes, imdb translated the movie title differently, meh. A day of reckoning in a dysfunctional family within a dysfunctional society, an almost masterpiece tainted by a lousy actress who, luckily, is a side character and doesn't have much onscreen appearance. Wouldn't be surprised if idealess hollywood remakes this one, don't wait, watch it now.


Comics superheroes:
Gundala
All I knew about this one before watching that almost all scenes were onetake. No reshoots. While the story is not anything spectacular (won't go details, but for example it's ignoring two key characters), the overall result amazed me considering it's country of origin and no reshots of brawl scenes that look as if coreographed by finest hongkong artists. Not perfect, left a lot to desire, but I'll watch the sequel definetly.


SciFi:
The Invisible Man
Nice idea, good story with twists and thrills… And bad performance of the lead actress. Sorry but IMO Moss was simply not (completely) believable in this one.
Could have been better, but it's still above average material so I say go for it.

Originally Posted by Pongo
I watched Ad Astra recently. It started well. I thought it was going to be a decent, mature sci fi thriller, but it kinda goes downhill as it goes along and the plot gets stretched. The first third was great, second third ok, last third a bit ridiculous. I still enjoyed it I guess, and Brad Pitt was impressive, but I'm not sure how much I would recommend it.

I watched Ad Astra some time ago and I don't even recall how it ended. It's just that memorable

Except for the moon sand buggy fight and few other scenes Ad Astra was boring and overly philosophical. A waste of money for the cinema ticket. There's one similarly skippable movie from 2017 (Magellan).

Not a "watched" entry but that gig thread somehow turned on my dormant braincells plus I'm not really sober so this will look pretty much random.

Can someone explain to me why on earth I loved so much The Neverending Story?
That movie is a blueprint of everything I hate. Immature, lousy special effects, not really an interesting plot.
Was it the title song? Can't be, I remember plenty of movies I loved OST and hated the movie.
Can't pinpoint the reason. Maybe it's just some specific charm that movie had, and noone ever managed to repeat. Not in my case.

Anyway, it's a mystery I want to solve. Any ideas?

Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo. A documentary about Danny Trejo's (Machete) journey from being a very nasty piece of work, to success as an actor. Very interesting, though I still wouldn't want to upset him…

Originally Posted by joxer
Anyway, it's a mystery I want to solve. Any ideas?

You're a dreamer at heart and/or had a crush on the Childlike Empress.

Yes / can't remember as it was centuries ago but it's possible.

It still doesn't explain why the same thing didn't happen with other similar attempts like Eragon or whatever Narnia movies. I'll never stop being a dreamer and I always have a crush.

Originally Posted by joxer
It still doesn't explain why the same thing didn't happen with other similar attempts like Eragon or whatever Narnia movies. I'll never stop being a dreamer and I always have a crush.

Eragon and Narnia weren't magical. Legend was, the Last Unicorn, Princess Bride, Dark Crystal, Hook… Perhaps also Labyrinth and the Wizard of Oz, though I don't remember those too well. Harry Potter, too. As for why Eragon and Narnia weren't magical? Can't say, really, perhaps they were missing attention to detail which made them bland? David Lynch's Dune > TV mini-series Dune, a bit like that.

If you don't know it yet you could give Momo a shot. Okay-ish movie by the same author who wrote the Neverending Story. It's certainly unique. The City of Lost Children is probably better overall, if a bit more on the darker side. I liked the Tripods series as a kid, that one had an alien sort of magic to it.

edit: all pretty old, are there any more recent examples?

I remember quite enjoying The City of Lost Children when it was released. I haven't seen it since and can remember nothing at all about it other than I quite enjoyed it.

I saw it because it was the follow-up film by the guy who did the amazing Delicatessen, a wonderful film that I saw a few times.

How he went from these two to hilarious mess that was Alien: Resurrection is a fascinating movie history story all in itself.

Thankfully he recovered immediately with the also magical Amelie.

Ron Perlman stars in both his movies. I remember watching his interview in Alien Quadrilogy, he mentioned he had a lousy time filming The city… Hardly anyone spoke English and he felt out of place.

Second time watching Terminator: Dark Fate - was hoping it'd be better this time around. It wasn't It has a decent plot and decent action… but it's just so frustrating to see that potential squandered with bad dialogue and awkward/forced #MeToo references. Not to mention that I just have to fast forward during the scene with 'Dani' ~20 years in the future - she looks even younger than she does in the past

It's disappointing; with but a few edits, it could have been a far better film.

Originally Posted by Drithius
Second time watching Terminator: Dark Fate - was hoping it'd be better this time around. It wasn't It has a decent plot and decent action… but it's just so frustrating to see that potential squandered with bad dialogue and awkward/forced #MeToo references. Not to mention that I just have to fast forward during the scene with 'Dani' ~20 years in the future - she looks even younger than she does in the past

It's disappointing; with but a few edits, it could have been a far better film.

Yeah, I had high hopes for Dark Fate and was extremely disappointed. I bought into the "return of Cameron" hype. It was better than Genisys at least but not by much.

Count me as the third member who was disappointed as well. I finally watched it a few months back, and had to force myself to finish it. My girl on the other-hand enjoyed it.

Guess I wasn't the target audience once again it seems.

I tried watching Genesys and thought it was awful. I didn't try Dark Fate, the synopsis didn't appeal. It feels like the franchise ran out of steam a long time ago to be honest, which is sad because after the second film it still had potential.

Originally Posted by Pongo
I tried watching Genesys and thought it was awful. I didn't try Dark Fate, the synopsis didn't appeal. It feels like the franchise ran out of steam a long time ago to be honest, which is sad because after the second film it still had potential.

In my mind it ended at the perfect ending of part three. They just couldn't let the franchise die. That seems to a problem with Hollywood in general nowadays.

Hollywood is running out of ideas and is resurrecting old movies and catering them to younger audiences. If the plot in SW VII seems familiar, it's because you're not 16 yrs old. As for the new terminator, I don't know when was the last time I was so annoyed at one character (Mackenzie Davis) or with Linda Hamilton who agreed to play a grumpy grandma and butcher her character from the originals.

Pepe's in the movies! [well, documentary movie]. Adam reviews it a couple of weeks before release:

I saw some clip about an upcoming Batman movie or show, and the costume looks like it was designed by some five year old for Halloween or something. The bloke playing Wayne doesn't look much for the part either, gosh, you have to get stuff like this RIGHT, people!!! An established character with what, eighty years of history now, it just has to be done correctly.

Re-watched 2001 with my partner as she hadn't seen it. For a movie made in 1968, it stands the test of time, for both of us, amazingly. The space sequences, in particular, are amazing. ”sorry, I can't do that Dave”. Should be mandatory viewing for anyone training or using AIs, in my very biased opinion.