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Movies You’ve Watched Lately [OT] - 2023

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Trunx81

Member
Just finished Avatar - Way of Water.
Maybe it has to be seen in 3D, but maaaan was this a dull and boring movie. Predictable as hell, cringy kids and sub-par action scenes. I really had high hopes but this was a huge letdown.
 

BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
Castle in the Sky

Rewatch, haven't seen it in many years. It still impresses me how detailed the animation is in even these early Ghibli movies, and how expertly Miyazaki is at directing animation. It puts the cinematography of many big budget, AAA films to shame.

James Van Der Beek who voiced one of the main characters when he was a kid, actually just sounds like adult him doing a child's voice - which I found hilarious.
 

V1LÆM

Gold Member
Watched X and Scream VI.

X was shit but at least got a good few laughs at the end.

Scream VI was alright I suppose.

I need some good new scary movies to watch. I feel like I've seen everything. Well everything that interests me. There are countless cheap junk horror movies that I'm not wasting my time on.
 

Andyliini

Member
Indiana Jones & The Dial of Destiny

While internationally this has had a lukewarm box office performance, it was not reflected here. I was out city's biggest theater on opening weekend (first show of Saturday to be exact) and the theater was almost full, very few seats were left empty. It was also the most viewed film of the week by far.

Anyway, the film is a typical modern action-adventure film. Harrison Ford is starting to show his age (not as bad a Keanu Reeves in John Wick 4, though) so most of the action was stunt work or with another character all together. CGI was rough, especially with the train scene in the beginning. Action was well directed, not at all disorienting, although there were a bit too many of them. I would have trimmed 20-30 minutes off from the film to pace it better. This seems to be a problem with many modern films, they are just too long for their own good.

Although Indy films have always been supernatural, I think that time travel was a bit too much here. I heard that the ending was reshot, but maybe we'll know for sure one day. In the end, I enjoyed the film for the most part, but I hope Hollywood will learn soon to manage their budgets. Seeing how big budget this one had makes it very difficult for it to turn profit, even if the reception was glowing. Cause the marketing budget for this one certainly was not a small one.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Harrison Ford is starting to show his age (not as bad a Keanu Reeves in John Wick 4, though)
Excuse Me Wow GIF by Mashable
 

BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
I have blurays of both La Haine and Harakiri set to arrive within a week or two, depending upon the movie. Really looking forward to them as I've heard so many positive reviews.

In the meantime I watched Last Man Standing with Bruce Willis. Pretty sure it was a take on Kurosawa's Yojimbo. For a 90's film it holds up very well. Quick pacing, no muss, no fuss, good time. Some really good small parts played by some talented actors. 3.5/5
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
I have blurays of both La Haine and Harakiri set to arrive within a week or two, depending upon the movie. Really looking forward to them as I've heard so many positive reviews.
You're in for a treat with both of those, especially Harakiri!
 

Andyliini

Member
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part 1

Ethan Hunt and his merry men are here again. And of course they have to save the world once more, this time from a rogue AI, which threatens everyone and everything. And of course the men are brave, and ladies beautiful. And I wouldn't take it any other way. Although the story is cliché and characters predictable, I had fun watching this. The common problem today seems to be that tentpole films are too long. This one was lengthy as well, but it didn't feel like that to me. I think the pacing worked well, and the story kept moving on all the time. The action scenes, of course, were the highlight. And since there is the second film coming (did they manage to shoot it before the strike?), I know I can return to this world soon. Thoroughly enjoyable experience.

So yeah, these films are dumb, but fun. Exactly the reason I like James Bond films. These are nice to see every once in a while, as 007 takes long breaks these days.
 

kruis

Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
Can everyone please make up their minds about Neogaf's "official" movies thread? Every couple of days this seems to change.
Either we all switch to this thread or we continue posting in "Anyone seen any good movies lately?". But close one of them!
 

AJUMP23

Parody of actual AJUMP23
RE: Dead Island.....Has all the RE characters in it. There is that, and the CG animation is crisp. overall the movie is serviceable.
 
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Fbh

Member
p_guardiansofthegalaxy_vol3_2106_fe5dfa27.jpeg


6/10

I'm generally done with the MCU but I like Guardians enough to still give this a watch.
Pretty enjoyable even if it was nothing special. Some funny moments, decent action, soundtrack is still great and even the visuals are fairly consistent. The backstory for Rocket was well done too and makes you feel sorry for the poor guy.
Can't help but feel like I'd have enjoyed it more if I hadn't played the game, which I thought was better than the MCU version of the Guardians in basically every way (shame it will never get a sequel)
 
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Stafford

Member
I just saw Gran Turismo. It was the sneak preview movie in the cinema theater tonight.

Surprisingly good, I really enjoyed this. Some very cool scenes in here. I had no idea at all that this is a true story and it’s quite damn remarkable too.

I don’t care one bit for the games, but this movie was well done! The racing scenes while nicely done and often filmed with the camera perspective of the game, did lack suspense and tension. This was something I absolutely felt during Ford vs Ferrari. But overall a fine movie with some heartfelt scenes.
 

Fbh

Member
image.jpg


3/10

I guess I was still somewhat entertained but this was generic as fuck, a bunch of recycled ideas with nothing new to add to genre, not scary at all and the acting from the kid being possesses could have been better.
Russell Crowe doing an Italian accent for almost 2 hours was mildly funny though.
 

V1LÆM

Gold Member
watched Dungeons & Dragons movie that came out a few months ago.

also Death Proof by Tarantino.

The Litte Mermaid live action. Never seen the original.

Going to rewatch Tenet at some point.

Talk-to-Me-Poster.jpg


Anyone seen Talk to Me yet? Really great debut horror movie by the RackaRacka twins from Youtube.

The kid who played Riley killed it in some of the really tense sequences.
didn't even know it was out. might catch it at the cinema this weekend.
 
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Andyliini

Member
Conan the Barbarian

I'm not sure what I should think about this. It's difficult to put old things into perspective, especially for a movie that was released before I was even born. What I'm trying to say, is that while the script and the setting were new things back then, and the it does the best it can with camerawork and (very primitive) CGI, the acting itself in this is quite bad, and therefore difficult to take seriously. It doesn't help the fact that first sounds coming out of Arnold's mouth are comically bad screams when he fights in the pit. The rest of the films moves on quite slowly, and I found myself reaching for my phone quite often. Not an easy watch with today's standards, that's for sure.
 

AJUMP23

Parody of actual AJUMP23
TMNT Mutant Mayhem. A fun movie targeted at kids. The most Juvenile Turtles ever, but it was a fun ride. Ice Cube made a good villain.
 

V1LÆM

Gold Member
in a movie binge kind of mood so my current watchlist is (in some kind of order):

(available on prime and it expires tomorrow so i'll watch these asap)
ghosts of girlfriends past
mad max fury road (rewatch)
his girl friday
dunkirk (rewatch)

(these are next)
2001 space odyssey (rewatch)
children of men (rewatch)
dazed and confused
enter the void
frances ha
lost in translation
mulholland drive (rewatch)
singin in the rain
sorcerer
the wild bunch
the great silence
there will be blood (rewatch)
vertigo
west side story (2021)
tenet (rewatch)
audition
deep red
jeanne dielman
carrie (original)
eaten alive
man with a movie camera
memories of murder
rio bravo
the great escape
the host
tokyo story

(still to buy/rent)
the skin i live in
blow out
unfaithfully yours

this list was a lot longer and i had to cut a lot out lol. i'll try get through all of these first then make a new list.
 
Talk-to-Me-Poster.jpg


Anyone seen Talk to Me yet? Really great debut horror movie by the RackaRacka twins from Youtube.

The kid who played Riley killed it in some of the really tense sequences.
I saw it over the weekend and loved it. The house was packed so I'm hoping it's doing well in theaters.
 

Doom85

Member
Talk-to-Me-Poster.jpg


Anyone seen Talk to Me yet? Really great debut horror movie by the RackaRacka twins from Youtube.

The kid who played Riley killed it in some of the really tense sequences.

Saw it, thought it was fairly good but that was it. I dunno, it felt a bit conventional for an A24 horror film. Normally I wouldn’t mind something conventional but I guess I just expect anything horror under A24 to throw me a curveball and it didn’t really happen. Even X, while kind of a general slasher, was different in that needless to say it’s rare to have the slasher(s) be an elderly couple. But yeah, I liked it, I just didn’t love it as much as most of A24’s other horror films.

The acting from the cast was solid, I agree with that. Cool to see Miranda Otto, haven’t seen her since Annabelle: Creation.
 

V1LÆM

Gold Member
I rewatched Dunkirk. Enjoyed it first time but appreciate it more after another watch.

watched His Girl Friday too. I dozed off right in the middle (not because of the movie) but it was a good watch. Didn't expect so much dialogue and at times it was overwhelming having multiple people talking so fast and over each other. It was intense and quite funny. Might give it a rewatch at some point.

get-out.gif
 
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NahaNago

Member
I saw the new Haunted Mansion movie and it was almost okay-ish. I'd rate the movie like a 78. It kinda feels like they didn't know what they wanted to make and maybe the story was changed in editing. It just bounces quite a bit from serious to goofy. You got the main guy and the family usually being more serious and the other 3 helpers being fairly goofy most of the time. Since it was a family film it wasn't scary but they could have maybe done better with the sound effects and music to heighten the spookiness of the scenes. I think I remember enjoying the Eddie Murphey version a lot more since they went full comedy.
 

GeekyDad

Member
My wife and I watched Knock at the Cabin yesterday.

Hmm...

Let me start with some, I think, objective thoughts. Excellent movie, excellent craftsmanship...by all involved. Absolutely superb acting, even from (or perhaps especially) the little girl. Incredibly impressed by Bautista. There definitely seemed to be some cribbing; cinematically, of Misery, and storywise by The Rapture. But I have no problem with that. Shamalamalakim doesn't seem to try to hide his homages.

At the very beginning, I wasn't quite buying the pretentiousness of the little girl as she was collecting and talking to the insect. But of course, once they introduce and offer backstory to her daddies, it becomes apparent that her personality is completely realistic.

I kinda hit a bump in the road right around the midway point.

The black nurse is trying to help contain the one guy's injury, and then begins to say something to the effect that she was told as a child to believe in something other (or outside) herself. I've heard these kinds of pitches before when I was young, and it immediately revealed itself to me personally as being deception, and I felt the rug pulled out from under me. Not happy.

Not happy with the note the movie landed on, and I found myself questioning why (and perhaps what) Shamalamalakim was trying to sell this.

Short-story-long, I felt like Shame-a-lame befriended me with this great opening, and then tried to sell me something. The movie is an amazing work of craftsmanship and storytelling. I loved it, but I also despise it. And I don't trust Sham-a-lamb anymore. Guy's lost his table in my restaurant for the time being.
 

V1LÆM

Gold Member
This morning watched Singin' in the Rain and Frances Ha.
 
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Andyliini

Member
Commando

This action flick from 1985 is as typical as those films go. Arnold is an unstoppable one man army on a quest to rescue her daughter from the kidnappers. The film is ridiculous and stupid, and it was clearly intended to be that way. The director said on the commentary that James Bond was the inspiration for the funny situations and one liners, and that also shows. I wasn't born until 1987, so this 80's era of super macho action films is a bit lost to me in a context, but I still enjoyed this one for what it is. With a runtime of only 90 minutes, it certainly does not last too long either.
 

V1LÆM

Gold Member
finished watching Man with a Movie Camera. Don't know what the hell that was but for such an old movie the editing and soundtrack was well done. I guess for its time it was innovative and maybe helped push creative movie making or something? Maybe I missed somethin else.
 
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Mr Hyde

Member
Blade Runner 2049

Solid follow up to a cult classic. I've always enjoyed Denis Villeneuve. His movies are rich and deep in layers, very thoughtful with awesome cinematography and skilled directing. Blade Runner is no exception. It is beautiful looking, tense, slow paced and very well scripted and acted. The last 45 minutes are exceptionally well done and a great pay off of a great movie. Kinda shocked that this movie bombed so hard, goes to show casual audience has shit taste in movies. Very happy Denis is still making big budget movies (and making them so good), a flop like Blade Runner in today's modern cinema and economy would've probably killed any other director's career.
 
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kruis

Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
finished watching Man with a Movie Camera. Don't know what the hell that was but for such an old movie the editing and soundtrack was well done. I guess for its time it was innovative and maybe helped push creative movie making or something? Maybe I missed somethin else.

Man with a Movie Camera was both an exponent of avant-garde documentary film making and also an example of soviet cinema that made regular people, factory workers, etc the subject of cinema. It wasn't the first movie of that kind though. There were more silent impressionist documentaries made before it that also didn't focused on individuals but on groups of people or even a whole city, for instance Manhatta (1921), Rien que les heures (1926) about Paris, Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (1927), Rain (1929), etc. These movies were also a reaction against the popular movies of that era showing that silent cinema could be a an actual artform instead of escapist entertainment. So there are various ways to look at Man with a Movie Camera.
 

V1LÆM

Gold Member
Watched some of The Great Silence but could feel myself drifting to sleep. I am terrible for falling asleep watching movies lol. At the weekend I woke up early hoping to watch some movies but it was too early and I went back to sleep. Then later at night it's too late....:messenger_weary:

I'll finish the movie later today
 

Biff

Member
La Nuit du 12

Very good true crime recreation with an excellent performance by the lead actor. Great thriller.

Warning #1: it's in french, so you'll have to deal with subtitles
Warning #2: as the movie states in the opening text, this is an UNSOLVED crime. You will not get some kind of big reveal at the end.
 
saw the turtle movie. enjoyable, but nothing special. the aesthetics and actual teen personas were the most interesting bits about it.

thought the story was safe, simple, linear, and generic.
voice casting, dialog, and non-turtle characters were all crap.
 
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DeafTourette

Perpetually Offended
Grey Matter on Max. Pretty standard story but I liked it.

Teen with powers gets captured by a mysterious organization after being unable to control her powers. Her mom, also with powers, tries to rescue her.

Pretty solid and believable performances by the mom and daughter. I'd love to see this develop into a series. This was made by Project Greenlight.
 

Sonik

Member
John Wick 4....should have stopped at 1

I can't even describe how bored I was watching that piece of shit, it was like watching someone play a videogame on easy with endless hordes of useless enemies with shitty AI all doing the same thing over and over again. How was this crap liked so much by the general public? I don't understand
 
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AJUMP23

Parody of actual AJUMP23
Raising Arizona - I had never seen it before and I thought it was really good. Fun characters, and the story doesn't waste any time. A great movie.
 

DeafTourette

Perpetually Offended
The Outfit

This movie was SO GOOD! It's set in one place (a tailor shop in Chicago) but it keeps you guessing!

"An expert cutter must outwit a dangerous group of mobsters in order to survive a fateful night."
 
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