What movie did you last see?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Hmmm.  The three people pictured on the cover look vaguely familiar.  

IIRC it was supposed to be a pied-à-terre for some horny guys.

[Gwaithmir]

[Gawdzilla Sama]

This is how I've always pictured Holmes. Borderline insane and hyperkinetic.

[Gwaithmir]

This is how I've always pictured Holmes. Borderline insane and hyperkinetic.

Oddly, I saw the sequel before I saw the first one.

[OakTree500]

Justice League : Snyder Cut

Before getting into this - I'll give some minor history on why there is a different cut of this film out now, compared to the 2017 version that was released theatrically. My Review is also spoiler free.

Zack Snyder directed the first installments in DC's Movie universe, Man of Steel and Batman Vs Superman, and was the creative force behind the then DCEU - Due to backlash with the BvS reviews [saying it was too dark etc] Warner Bros decieded to "lighten the tone" of it's next big release, Suicide Squad [which was completely re cut also] and later Justice League. In/around the time of shooting, Zack Snyder suffered a loss in the family and essentially gave up fighting the studio and left the project. WB hired Joss Whedon to finish the movie [which was pretty much done anyway] but also re-shot a fair ammount of it and help lighten the tone. The result was 2017's version of Justice League, which in fairness was "OK". Not good but "alright".

Skip ahead to now, and following years of fan/actor support WB gave Snyder the go ahead to finish his version of the movie [which only needed editing/VFX doing] to throw onto their streaming service. The result is the 4 hour snyder cut - 4 hours due to the ammount of stuff originally shot, some very minor extra stuff [like literally 5-10 minutes] and pretty much everything he shot to put in there, mainly because he probably won't be coming back to do another one [and that the current DCEU movies dont really follow on from this one technically], so may as well put it ALL in there.

Now here we go:

Plot - 
Following the events of Batman Vs Superman - Superman is dead. This opens the door for baddies from another world to invade, trying to obtain object called "Mother Boxes" which when united will cause the world to be destroyed. Batman and Wonder woman hunt down the other known "meta-humans" hoping they will fight along side them in the likely battle to come.

Thoughts -
Well it's a long one, I'll tell you that. However, while you probably could shave maybe 30 mins off to save on some time, overall it wasn't that bad - it didn't feel like it dragged at all, and having that ammount of time gives every charecter enough time to tell their story. For example: Cyborg now has a million things more to do, and as other reviewers have said, he is the "heart" of this movie. The Flash is no longer a goofy sidekick that does very little, he actually has powers that kick ass! Batman as well no longer appears to be totally useless and is given more to do as a leader of this group. Wonder Woman is more savage in her attacks, as is Aquaman. Even the bad guy, now completely re-designed from the OG release, is actually scary! We get MORE characters [both good and bad] that weren't in the original release, and hints to where this universe was going originally [compared to now where there is no "end goal" currently]. The change is very much night and day.

If you are a fan of Watchmen [also by Snyder] then you will 100% love this. It's as if Man of Steel and Watchmen had a child, and it's kicking everybody's ass.


Is it perfect? No - far from it at least, but to see some of these things [for me, the flash showing how POWERFUL he is] on screen the way they were meant to be - it's honestly a geeks paradise. This movie IS the DC Universe packed into 4 hours and makes an epic trilogy with Man of Steel + BvS, in my opinion.

Its a solid 7.5/10 for me - not perfect, but really surpassed my expectations and improved 100 fold on a movie released 3 years ago. If the DCEU stuck with this, which would have separated them from Marvel as a true alternative - I would have been very happy.

[mordant]

NomadLand.

It is a quiet, somber movie that gets to you gradually, and even continues to get to you after watching it. It is a little bit like a docudrama, in that apart from a handful of pro actors, most of the actors are first-timers portraying themselves.

Frances McDormand portrays a woman leaving her long-time home in a company town after US Gypsum closes it all down (that location and shutdown is real). Her husband has just died of cancer. She lives in her van, taking odd jobs: seasonal worker at Amazon, park employee in the Badlands, waitress at Wall Drug, commercial farm worker at a beet harvest. As she moves around the country, including a stop at Quartzite, Arizona, for the annual Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, she meets, among others, a woman dying of cancer on her own terms, and considers (and rejects) kindling a new romance of her own.

It's a well-crafted movie about love, loss, letting go, being true to yourself, minimalist living, etc. It's also an introduction fo a fascinating subculture that had us Googling all over the place afterwards.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Justice League : Snyder Cut

Where do I find this?

[OakTree500]

Justice League : Snyder Cut

Where do I find this?

In the US: HBO MAX I think. See if you can get a free trial or something.

For UK Residents: its on sky Cinema/Now TV.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

T/Y

[Aliza]

Coming to America 2 on Amazon Prime

Meh! What a disappointment! I found it forced, cliché, and too sentimental over the first Coming to America movie. The first movie was funny, uplifting, and whimsical.

This movie sucked! Anyone else see it? I want to gripe about it.

[TheGentlemanBastard]

Coming to America 2 on Amazon Prime

Meh! What a disappointment! I found it forced, cliché, and too sentimental over the first Coming to America movie. The first movie was funny, uplifting, and whimsical.

This movie sucked! Anyone else see it? I want to gripe about it.

Is it free with Prime or is it one of the majority that requires an extra purchase? If it's free, I'll watch it so we can gripe about it together.

[Dānu]

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"Fire Maidens from Outer Space", 1956. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046977/

I thought Boss Lady was going to have a heart attack from laughing so much.

[OakTree500]

This is England

Plot:
Set in 1983 - this film focuses on a young boy who falls in with a crowd of skin-heads. While they as a whole are actually friendly and look after the kid well enough, another member of the gang shows up in "combo" who was recently released from jail. Combo is violent, and racist, and tries to unit this group of friends - and the young lad - into his mental plan of "getting rid of the foreigners from the english shores".

Thought:
WELL - this is a difficult watch. Very well acted and done on a crazy low budget, and from what I understand depicts some true life stories of the writer/director as well, from when he was a younger man - but the subject matter is VERY intense, mainly that of race. The stupid thing is, when I was a younger man that kind of language was "acceptable" in adults, meaning I grew up around similar thought processes - I suppose I am just lucky that I was not around that specific type of person and that times changed for the better in that department. It's a funny thing to see though as my own father was in the "skin head" group, probably around this time - so to see what that culture was like, was something to see also [and that of the more friendly skin heads].

It's worth a watch if you like your gritty British movies - just be aware of the subject matter and brace yourself if you need it. I found it very difficult to watch, with the subject being what it is / my own step father being a black man [and my 2 sisters being black] and some of the mentality on display being exactly the same in some people in todays society re: brexit and the rest. Time truly never change it seems.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

DEVIL WOMAN FROM MARS 1956. Mars needs men.

[OakTree500]

The Warriors

Plot:
The various gangs of New York, including Coney Islands own The Warriors, meet up to hear a speech from a rival gang leader, about how if they unite they could potentially run the entire city. One rival gang member kills the speaker, and blames The Warriors for it. They then have to try and escape from central new york back to their home turf with the entirety of New York's gangs united against them.

Thoughts:
This is a cult classic, and the story is pretty solid. Some of the acting hasn't aged all that well BUT that's easily overlooked for some of the other performances, as well as the story as a whole. My first time watching it and I really enjoyed it.

Worth a watch

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Currently watching "Godzilla v. Kong." (HBO Max, still not ready to theater.)

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The Warriors

Plot:
The various gangs of New York, including Coney Islands own The Warriors, meet up to hear a speech from a rival gang leader, about how if they unite they could potentially run the entire city. One rival gang member kills the speaker, and blames The Warriors for it. They then have to try and escape from central new york back to their home turf with the entirety of New York's gangs united against them.

Thoughts:
This is a cult classic, and the story is pretty solid. Some of the acting hasn't aged all that well BUT that's easily overlooked for some of the other performances, as well as the story as a whole. My first time watching it and I really enjoyed it.

Worth a watch

Insanely popular on USS Peleliu (LHA-5) when I was assigned to her. Certainly an entertainment.

[Vera]

NomadLand.

It is a quiet, somber movie that gets to you gradually, and even continues to get to you after watching it. It is a little bit like a docudrama, in that apart from a handful of pro actors, most of the actors are first-timers portraying themselves.

Frances McDormand portrays a woman leaving her long-time home in a company town after US Gypsum closes it all down (that location and shutdown is real). Her husband has just died of cancer. She lives in her van, taking odd jobs: seasonal worker at Amazon, park employee in the Badlands, waitress at Wall Drug, commercial farm worker at a beet harvest. As she moves around the country, including a stop at Quartzite, Arizona, for the annual Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, she meets, among others, a woman dying of cancer on her own terms, and considers (and rejects) kindling a new romance of her own.

It's a well-crafted movie about love, loss, letting go, being true to yourself, minimalist living, etc. It's also an introduction fo a fascinating subculture that had us Googling all over the place afterwards.

Been meaning to watch it for ages (long before it was nominated for anything) - it popped up in my imdb recommendations ages ago (probably because I loved Three Billboards).

I will reward myself with it after I finish my excruciatingly long and excruciatingly dumb book. (Hope I'm not disappointed... happens when you look forward to stuff).

Now, those two might not be anything alike, but may I recommend Last Cab to Darwin. It deals with terminal cancer and euthanasia, but it's actually a... well, I'm not a fan on the word heart-warming but I found it touching and beautiful and thought-provoking and just... good (plus - a road trip through Australia - what's not to like!)


Oh, and another small, nearly unknown movie that I ended up loving - The Station Agent; it has great actors (Peter Dinklage, above all) and it's just so... like one reviewer described it "joyous and wondrous tale".

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Currently watching "Godzilla v. Kong." (HBO Max, still not ready to theater.)

This franchise just keeps getting better.

[Gwaithmir]

I recently went on a movie marathon and watched all three of the Taken films starring Liam Neeson. 

[Kim]

Well, I saw Mank, recently. I may indeed, see it again, mostly because I don't think the protectionist had the contrast & audio settings correct in the theater. Lazy twat.

As for content, I found it interesting though, somewhat tedious with a few structural things. I'm glad it delved further into the politics of "Hollywood" at the time - kind of what I was there for. That is something shied away from by most surrounding the film industry.

So far, I think the Guardian headline had a hilarious & fair take:

Mank: a death wish of a movie that could never live up to the legend of Orson Welles.

I found that truthfully funny but also, I can't help thinking that even the critic who came up with that gem, may not have given the film the thought it seems to try to provoke.
Again, hmm.

Who knows? Could be talking out my ass. As I say, I'll need to see it again to pass any sort of assessment along. Oh, and ... Gary Oldman ... that guy can pretty well act the absolute shit out of anything.



Lots of boozing going on in this film.
I suppose if I was a critic, my headline might read:
Mank: what gets "lost" when a writer goes on one of those six-month-long, "lost weekends".

[jerry mcmasters]

Currently watching "Godzilla v. Kong." (HBO Max, still not ready to theater.)

This franchise just keeps getting better.

Please tell me they team up and beat up some other baddie/baddies.  They're both such good guys!  Of course some reason has to be invented for them to first duke it out for awhile.

It's a commonly used superhero comic trope going way back.  You can't have the two good superheroes meet each other for the first time and just say "Hi, let's be superfriends!"  There has to be some "misunderstanding" (often manipulated into existence by omniscient giggling baddie) that makes them fight for a few pages.  Only then can there be a pause and a "waitaminute...maybe we...shouldn't be fighting each other!"  Worked well with Hulk vs pretty much anybody else.  And Sub Mariner vs pretty much anybody else.  Or the XMen vs anybody else.  Shitty use would be the dumb but kinda fun Superman vs Batman.  They really had to do some manufacturing to try to make it believable (they failed) that these two super-goodies would ever fight to the death.  But the actual punch-out was pretty cool.

[Dānu]

G. v. K. sounds like ideal entertainment this evening. Hopefully, it's still on HBOMax. I'll anchor my butt after housework tonight.

[Dānu]

Kinda stupid. Okay, maybe a lot stupid.