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

I finished watching Once Upon a Time in America, yeah this one is tough to view these days, at least for me. The sheer violence is epic, and the out-right numerous assaults on women can really take a toll on a viewer. I'm highly unlikely to re-watch this one ever again, I think.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
I finished watching Once Upon a Time in America, yeah this one is tough to view these days, at least for me. The sheer violence is epic, and the out-right numerous assaults on women can really take a toll on a viewer. I'm highly unlikely to re-watch this one ever again, I think.

Epic film overall, and a very long one too. Maybe I'd feel like you do about it now, I'm not sure, I should try to watch it again and see. I'd put The Godfather is in the same category.

I've watched the first five minutes of Once Upon a Time in America twice only to decide, both times, that I wasn't in the mood for it, haha.

I've watched it in full twice, with a large gap of years between, and I still can't actually remember much at all about it.

The early part about the kids was ok, I remember a couple of scenes from that part, where they peep on some people making out (?) and when they knock that guy to his death at the subway station stairwell, but other than that, it's all a blank.

I remember it was a very atmospheric film that flows well while you watch it, but nothing really lingers in the memory. Sort of, good acting, sets, costumes, music, script, but no memorable set pieces. Though if someone mentioned "you forgot about THIS scene" that might bring it back I suppose.

I watched Firestarter tonight.

Stay away. It's every bit as bad as the reviews say. The only good thing about it is that it's somewhat short, so I didn't waste a lot of time watching it.

Oh yeah I saw an ad for that Firestarter remake the other day on Amazon, it looked really awful.

My SO and I watched Scarface, since she hadn't seen it yet. The Al Pacino one. I liked it just as much as I did the first time. She, not so much. What can I say, it's not for everyone. She particularly had a problem with the way Pacino spoke, trying to imitate cubans, I guess. I admit, it is a bit corny, but it's so iconic for me that I can't help but love it.

Anyway, it was a real fun ride. Loved the music. Also, made me remember playing GTA 3: Vice City. Such a fun game.

Also, I've been meaning to try and watch the original Scarface, from 1932. I was always curious about it.

Both Scarfaces are well worth watching. I'm a bigger fan of the Pacino one, I usually watch that film every three to five years.

Yeah that Firestarter was abysmal. I can't see how anyone involved could have thought it would of been any good just by how poor every scene was. Surely they would have noticed that after watching the days filming back in the trailer? I can only think it was a money laundering exercise where they didn't care how bad the movie was, they knew they would get some money from the name recognition/Steven King.

I also watched X. I have disliked most of Ti West's previous attempts but he finally delivered a good movie. Cabin Fever 2 was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. X was pretty much the polar opposite. Great characters, great buildup and good original concept. It was also well shot. Probably a 7.5/10 and a must watch for genre fans.

Originally Posted by bjon045
Yeah that Firestarter was abysmal.

Ah, that's a pity. Still, I have to watch it, just so I can say I have. Then maybe I can wash the taste out of my mouth by re-reading the book.

Originally Posted by bjon045
I also watched X. I have disliked most of Ti West's previous attempts but he finally delivered a good movie. Cabin Fever 2 was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. X was pretty much the polar opposite. Great characters, great buildup and good original concept. It was also well shot. Probably a 7.5/10 and a must watch for genre fans.

Excellent! (Though, in all honestly, I didn't think CB2 was totally bad, in the sense that at least I was entertained)

Originally Posted by JDR13
The Innocents

A Norwegian drama/horror about a group of young kids in an apartment complex that discover they have some interesting abilities.

I liked it. I didn't find it as disturbing as some articles claim it is, but there's definitely some uncomfortable scenes. It's got an A24-ish feel about it, and if you like that vibe, you'll probably find this worth checking out.

Watched this last night. I agree with you about it being "uncomfortable" rather than truly disturbing. It didn't fuck with my mind like, say, Hereditary.

The main problem for me was the lack of a decent pay-off. That psychopathic little shit needed to meet a truly unpleasant end rather than what was presented in that damp squib of a climax.

Originally Posted by Shagnak
Excellent! (Though, in all honestly, I didn't think CB2 was totally bad, in the sense that at least I was entertained)

I was probably a bit too tough on it. It might have been how I was feeling on the night combined with the fact that I quite enjoyed the previous entry and it was a quite a departure from it.

Originally Posted by Shagnak
Watched this last night. I agree with you about it being "uncomfortable" rather than truly disturbing. It didn't fuck with my mind like, say, Hereditary.

The main problem for me was the lack of a decent pay-off. That psychopathic little shit needed to meet a truly unpleasant end rather than what was presented in that damp squib of a climax.

Yeah, the ending didn't have as much impact as I would have liked. I still thought it was a neat little film though.

I'll be interested in hearing what you think about Firestarter. Remember, you were warned.

I was in the mood for some comedy tonight, so I checked out the latest Katt Williams stand-up special on Netflix. It's called Katt Williams: World War III, and…it sucks.

I turned it off about halfway through, but until that point, he talked about politics, conspiracy theories, and drugs among other things. It just wasn't very funny though.

I wouldn't say I was ever a big fan of Williams to begin with, but I've found some of his stuff in the past to be funny. This latest act falls completely flat.

I used to enjoy Katt Williams back in the nineties, then maybe ten years or so after that I noticed he got extremely full of himself and went off on topics/rants that were of no interest to me. Yet man, back in the day, he could be totally hilarious.

I had completely forgotten the plot of World War Z, and just stumbled onto it on Netflix, so I watched it again.

Such a missed opportunity. It was decent for the first half, but so little happens in it that it's really a missed opportunity. And the second half is really disappointing. I also hear the book is a lot better. Plus I completely forgot about the immersion-breaking Pepsi scene. Holy shit what were they thinking. They also jumped the gun with the plane crash where only Brad Pitts character and the jewish soldier make it out alive.

Psst the book is better but the actual story is told through multiple pov's. Seems the move had to be re-written and re-filmed many times. It was a budget disaster.

Even the original movie ending was cannon and depressing.

Agreed, as most often tends to be the case, the written form is far superior, and yet it easily could have gone the other way. I look at films and really wonder why the writers/directors made some of the decisions that they did, sometimes. And boy howdy, is it a jarring experience in World War Zed.

I saw Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. And it was pretty great. It was a lot more philosophical than I expected, but I loved the themes it juggled with. I lost pace a few times, but still got the broad strokes of it. I think I could enjoy a second viewing some other time.

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
I had completely forgotten the plot of World War Z, and just stumbled onto it on Netflix, so I watched it again.

Such a missed opportunity. It was decent for the first half, but so little happens in it that it's really a missed opportunity. And the second half is really disappointing. I also hear the book is a lot better. Plus I completely forgot about the immersion-breaking Pepsi scene. Holy shit what were they thinking. They also jumped the gun with the plane crash where only Brad Pitts character and the jewish soldier make it out alive.

What was the Pepsi scene? I don't recall.

I agree about the second half. It's a shame because the setup was really good. The FX were great, and I really liked some of the set pieces. Like when that horde climbing over the wall in Jerusalem.