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

The Ring

It's somtimes hard to find films in the horror genre that have aged well, but I think this one fits the bill. It had been about a decade since the last time I watched it, but it still works for me. The atmosphere is great, the performances are solid, and the images are still as disturbing as they were back then.

Originally Posted by JDR13
The Ring

The original or the remake? If you don't mind watching subbed Japanese and don't know it already, try Dark Water (specifically not the remake). It worked even better for me than The Ring.

Originally Posted by Arhu
The original or the remake? If you don't mind watching subbed Japanese and don't know it already, try Dark Water (specifically not the remake). It worked even better for me than The Ring.

The remake. The original Japanese film is called Ringu I believe? I've never seen it.

I haven't seen Dark Water yet, but I might have to check that out since you mentioned it.

Originally Posted by JDR13
The remake. The original Japanese film is called Ringu I believe? I've never seen it.

I haven't seen Dark Water yet, but I might have to check that out since you mentioned it.

I don't recall which one of the Ring versions I watched. Probably both? The Ring and Ringu both got about the same ratings, which is good. The remake of Dark Water fell flat though, so I wouldn't recommend it.

I'm usually going to prefer originals but The Ring is an exception to that. I've seen both Ringu and The Ring and think the American remake is scarier and better acted.

Sadly I did not watch the original, only the remake.
It didn't work for me, I thought of it as another mediocre horror.

Note however that I don't like japanese horrors that are specifically of horror genre.
On the other hand they have a few filmmakers there who use horror elements in other genres and such movies are pure gems. An example is Cold Fish which is a crime movie based on real events.

Also, speaking about southeast asia production, I find Thailand and Taiwan horrors more interesting than japanese.

The Ring Two

Not as good as the first film. The atmosphere is still there, and the acting is decent enough, but it's too much of a retread, and the ending is kind of lame.

Sukiyaki Western Django

A recommendation from joxer, and low and behold… it was actually pretty good.

It's a Japanese Western (Noodle Western?) with an all Japanese cast except for Quentin Tarantino who plays a small part.

It doesn't bring anything new as far as the plot goes. It's basically yet another retelling of Yojimbo. It's also very low budget, but I thought it was generally well-acted and choreographed. It has a mixture of violence and humor that reminded me of Kung Fu Hustle at times, though the humor isn't quite that over-the-top. Worth seeing if you like these kinds of movies.

When did I ever recommend something not worth seeing?

One thing I have to add. The movie is not for people who get easily disturbed.
The author does not shy from doubling a tragedy. An example if you're unsure:


One more thing. I believe this is the only japanese western that is filmed completely in english. The sound is not dub.
If someone finds another, please do let me know.

It's Takashi Miike. That's usually enough for me to know it'll be worth watching.

Watched Im Labyrinth Des Schweigens. Labyrinth of Lies would be the English title, I don't know if there is a dubbed version, but I saw the original German version. I wasn't really aware of that period of time in Germany, after WWII, when it was considered better to not talk about the war and just forget about it, because they thought it was better. This movie is about the road to the trial that changed this view and brought to trial some 18 officers from Auschwitz. For many Germans this would be the first time they heard about the atrocities that took place there.
I felt it was done quite well, even though it was obvious that some things were added to make it a more appealing movie to a larger crowd (like the usual love story, an obsession with Mengele that came across as something that was out of place and a connection to the abduction of Eichmann by Israel). I would rank it an 8/10.

Just watched two movies today or actually streamed two movies to my TV.

The Tomorrow War - My Score: B+

I was surprised as I wasn't expecting much. It was a decent twist and original take on aliens conquering earth and time travel. Had a good ending as well.

Werewolves Within - My Score: C-

When someone told me a movie based off an Ubisoft game was getting released I had low expectations. I was correct it's a diverse cast full of stale humor.

Surprised you rated Tomorrow War B+. I haven't been interested in the slightest to see it based on just how generic it looks.

What can I say I and my family liked it.


It just felt different then watching the usual hurrah go USA underdog who somehow win in alien flicks, which is prevalent in the genre. Others will probably disagree.

It's one of the highest watched/earned income streamed movie right now.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
It's one of the highest watched/earned income streamed movie right now.

Considering the average American's taste in television and movies, that's not saying much.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
What can I say I and my family liked it.

Right, I didn't mean to sound like I was disparaging your opinion of it or anything. The trailer just comes off like something China and Hollywood producers got together on, hired actors from list A, B, and C, and then afterward shopped around for a PG-13 action script with story marketing elements D, E, and F. I got the same feeling from Matt Damon's recent "The Great Wall".

Originally Posted by Drithius
Right, I didn't mean to sound like I was disparaging your opinion of it or anything. The trailer just comes off like something China and Hollywood producers got together on, hired actors from list A, B, and C, and then afterward shopped around for a PG-13 action script with story marketing elements D, E, and F. I got the same feeling from Matt Damon's recent "The Great Wall".

Funny you mention The Great Wall the aliens looks like those demons.

Originally Posted by Drithius
Right, I didn't mean to sound like I was disparaging your opinion of it or anything. The trailer just comes off like something China and Hollywood producers got together on, hired actors from list A, B, and C, and then afterward shopped around for a PG-13 action script with story marketing elements D, E, and F. I got the same feeling from Matt Damon's recent "The Great Wall".

Yes, the world of film is a very curious one with regards to taste. No matter what film you watch there will always be someone really liking it.

Take the thing I watched at the weekend, Romeo & Juliet (2013). You have a time tested script already at hand, one of, if not the most universally loved and rewatchable scripts of all time. Pretty much any version of R&J should have some element of wathability.

Alas, just 45 minutes into this version and I was already wondering if I'd make it to the end. Perhaps I just wasn't in the mood, even though I thought I was when I put it on.

At the hour mark I went on to IMDB while it was still playing to see what everyone else thought. It was at 5.8/10 at that time & I chuckled, sounds about right.

Reading the reviews and pretty much all of them were highlighting the exact issues I had seen from it after just 1 hour of this 2 hour slog. Poor acting, more poor acting and even more poor acting probably not helped by poor casting and zero general chemistry. One guy summed it up with "this is worse than a high school play".

And yet, without fail, there's a minority of people saying 10/10 "magical", "delightful", etc. And I don't think all of them were the various actor's mothers.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Considering the average American's taste in television and movies, that's not saying much.

Not just the US but world wide.

I don't have the numbers for other countries but it was 2.4 million on it's release day in the US. I had more fun watching this then any other movie this summer so far.

So if people want to mock me for doing so who cares.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
So if people want to mock me for doing so who cares.

I can honestly inform you that, though it may surprise you, no-one cares in the slightest what you like and what you don't like. That's not what people are reading the posts for.

The whole point of telling other people about a movie and your experience with it is to provide those other people with information, you're final verdict is but a minor fraction of that information.

You saying "me and my family liked it" as the total summation of your information provision combined with the factual statement that it does or doesn't follow a specific type of plot-line says nothing much at all.

It's common to like awful films, it's common to dislike popular films, but what makes any opinion relevant to an observer is the reasoning.

If someone says "It's an abysmal mess, but, wow, it was so bad it was hilarious", then that is a different opinion to "It's an awful movie, just dragged from the first minute until I turned it off half an hour later". And both statements provide the reader with completely different information. Even though both might be rated low.

Similarly, a film that is 'liked' could be anything from an 'average' experience to a 10/10 experience, the reason why it was liked being the relevant take from the words.

Instead you seem to be mostly pre-occupied with the fact that you like something and other people don't - which is absurd, because, hey, that happens to everyone, that's life, bro. Duh.

And you then spend most of your time talking about box office instead of details about the film, which suggests the film isn't really that important for you.

So instead of saying "I liked it ok enough, 7/10 because of XYZ", you're just saying "I liked it, now what are you gonna do about it?", which is potty level discussion.