@uninspiredcup: The Dalton Bond movies weren't bad--and out of the two movies, License to Kill was the better one. It was different than previous installments--didn't mind that it was darker than most at the time, and that most of the movie took place in Florida (for budgetary reasons).
@hallenbeck77: Ha, had a big post typed out but the website decided to break and lost it. Prob for the best condense it abit.
Disagree completely. Not to say I don't like Licence To Kill, still ranks as one of the better movies and one of the most awesome climaxes. Seriously, the Truck sequence is better than any car sequence in Craigs movies.
Problem I have with it, it feels more like a crime thriller that happens to have Bond, than a Bond movie. It also lacks any really good set-piece action barring the climax. Which what should expect from a Bond movie.
It also lacks globe-trotting, it almost entirely takes place in the same location. Very samey-samey.
The Living Daylights is almost introvert of that. It's weakness (unlike Licence To Kill) is a supremely lame villain lacking any semblance of threat. It's the henchman Necros who acts as the primary threat. One barely see, the other more of a weasel goof-ball.
Where I think Living Daylights really shines is specifically in the depiction of Bond, far closer to the book.
It has a fairly decent story as well and focusing on it, while still having the expected action peppered appropriately. The only part I think where it starts to drag is when they arrive in Afghanistan, but that's alleviated with a terrific climax.
Also really like the female character and the romance done here. I don't think prior, barring OHMSS was a female love interest done as well.
A lot of the time in Bond woman just expect as eye-candy, which is fine. But here she's a character, part of the story who comes across as more of a real person and Dalton is convincing as giving a shit about her as opposed to just wanting to hump her.
OST wise as well, do think Living Daylights is John Barry's best work. Final thing he composed for the franchise, and he goes all out.
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To me, it kinda ranks in like, the top 5. But then have a strong bias due to watching it alot on TV as a kid.
@uninspiredcup: I think the reason I dug License the fact that it didn't feel like a traditional Bond film and more like what you said--it felt more like a crime thriller. I think it's maybe I had got burned out on the Moore films and how goofy they were.
Need to rewatch both Dalton films. Been a hot minute since I seen either one.
Went to the cinema in over a year to watch this one.
Trippiest movie I've seen in a good while, and unapologetically weird.
Everything Everywhere All at Once is a lot of things, and I think it's going to take some time to process it all (and multiple watches), but it was very refreshing to pay to see something that's not franchised or big budget, but just a damn good feature that I'm sure word-of-mouth will get more people to discover this one.
Evelyn is running a failing laundromat business and finds herself in a tizzy with the IRS, but that's pretty much the least of her worries when she discovers the access to unlimited realities and gets in touch with her other variations to discover the true meaning of having purpose and how the act of kindness triumphs this chaos she's going through.
Don't really know how to describe what I just watched, but I highly recommend checking it out. It might end up being a surprising hit for a lot of people, and another winning entry in an ever-expanding and impressive A24 catalog.
Went to the cinema in over a year to watch this one.
Trippiest movie I've seen in a good while, and unapologetically weird.
Everything Everywhere All at Once is a lot of things, and I think it's going to take some time to process it all (and multiple watches), but it was very refreshing to pay to see something that's not franchised or big budget, but just a damn good feature that I'm sure word-of-mouth will get more people to discover this one.
Evelyn is running a failing laundromat business and finds herself in a tizzy with the IRS, but that's pretty much the least of her worries when she discovers the access to unlimited realities and gets in touch with her other variations to discover the true meaning of having purpose and how the act of kindness triumphs this chaos she's going through.
Don't really know how to describe what I just watched, but I highly recommend checking it out. It might end up being a surprising hit for a lot of people, and another winning entry in an ever-expanding and impressive A24 catalog.
Went to the cinema in over a year to watch this one.
Trippiest movie I've seen in a good while, and unapologetically weird.
Everything Everywhere All at Once is a lot of things, and I think it's going to take some time to process it all (and multiple watches), but it was very refreshing to pay to see something that's not franchised or big budget, but just a damn good feature that I'm sure word-of-mouth will get more people to discover this one.
Evelyn is running a failing laundromat business and finds herself in a tizzy with the IRS, but that's pretty much the least of her worries when she discovers the access to unlimited realities and gets in touch with her other variations to discover the true meaning of having purpose and how the act of kindness triumphs this chaos she's going through.
Don't really know how to describe what I just watched, but I highly recommend checking it out. It might end up being a surprising hit for a lot of people, and another winning entry in an ever-expanding and impressive A24 catalog.
@jaydan: As in they create quality and don't chase trends.
The Witch and Hereditary are my two favs. The Lighthouse, Ex Machina, Midsommar are also great. Most of their non family friendly movies are good. Green Knight disappointed, tho. Was expecting something much more fantastical.
@jaydan: As in they create quality and don't chase trends.
The Witch and Hereditary are my two favs. The Lighthouse, Ex Machina, Midsommar are also great. Most of their non family friendly movies are good. Green Knight disappointed, tho. Was expecting something much more fantastical.
Ahh, gotcha. I see what you're trying to say, but still a weird comparison to me.
My favorite is definitely Ex Machina, one of the best science-fiction films of the last decade. The Florida Project, Hereditary, The Lighthouse, Uncut Gems, Moonlight and Under the Skin are among my top picks as well. I'm gonna let Everything Everywhere All at Once process a bit longer, but I got a good feeling it'll be up there for me as well.
I kinda hated Midsommar when I first saw it, because it legitimately made me cringe and feel uncomfortable, but then I realized that was kinda the brilliance of it because it's a rare thing for a horror film to cause genuine unease like that.
The Disaster Artist was surprisingly decent, even though I don't have much connection to the movie it's based on (The Room), but I can always go for some backstage movie-making meta.
I haven't gotten around to watching The Green Knight yet, but I will eventually. I also need to watch C'mon C'mon still, as well as the other current new one, X.
@jaydan: As in they create quality and don't chase trends.
The Witch and Hereditary are my two favs. The Lighthouse, Ex Machina, Midsommar are also great. Most of their non family friendly movies are good. Green Knight disappointed, tho. Was expecting something much more fantastical.
Ahh, gotcha. I see what you're trying to say, but still a weird comparison to me.
My favorite is definitely Ex Machina, one of the best science-fiction films of the last decade. The Florida Project, Hereditary, The Lighthouse, Moonlight, Under the Skin and Uncut Gems as well. I'm gonna let Everything Everywhere All at Once process a bit longer, but I got a good feeling it'll be up there for me as well.
I kinda hated Midsommar when I first saw it, because it legitimately made me cringe and feel uncomfortable, but then I realized that was kinda the brilliance of of because it's a rare thing for a horror film to cause genuine unease like that.
The Disaster Artist was surprisingly decent, even though I don't have much connection to the movie it's based on (The Room), but I can always go for some backstage movie-making meta.
I haven't gotten around to watching The Green Knight yet, but I will eventually. I also need to watch C'mon C'mon still, as well as the other current new one, X.
Saw X like a week ago. Meh. Or should i say, i expected more from it. Interested in checking Men when it comes out.
Just saw Cannibal Holocaust, and put up an OT discussion about it.
By Atabey, it's THE most depraved caca I've ever seen. The theme music is ironically spine chilling.
It's one of those movies that one dick friend bets you to behold for $700. I'm telling you right now, I wouldn't watch it again for 2 Xbox Series Xs....
@hardwenzen: Like I said before, I love Ex Machina, and I also love the director's other work, Annihilation. I'm naturally looking forward to his next work as well.
A little thought I had toward Everything Everywhere All at Once: for a while I was struggling to put a finger on exactly what genre it is. It is a real genre-bender, perhaps more than your average genre-bender. But then I realized that might have been done on purpose as a very clever thematic detail. Everything Everywhere All at Once is everything, including all genres. Brilliant.
Sci fi, comedy, action, family, love, a bagel with everything. And it is an assault on your senses.
You will walk out thinking...wtf did I just watch?
Genius film making.
@jaydan said:
Went to the cinema in over a year to watch this one.
Trippiest movie I've seen in a good while, and unapologetically weird.
Everything Everywhere All at Once is a lot of things, and I think it's going to take some time to process it all (and multiple watches), but it was very refreshing to pay to see something that's not franchised or big budget, but just a damn good feature that I'm sure word-of-mouth will get more people to discover this one.
Evelyn is running a failing laundromat business and finds herself in a tizzy with the IRS, but that's pretty much the least of her worries when she discovers the access to unlimited realities and gets in touch with her other variations to discover the true meaning of having purpose and how the act of kindness triumphs this chaos she's going through.
Don't really know how to describe what I just watched, but I highly recommend checking it out. It might end up being a surprising hit for a lot of people, and another winning entry in an ever-expanding and impressive A24 catalog.
Drive My Car, the Japanese film that won an Oscar for best international feature film. At 3 hours it's a long one and despite feeling slow at times, I was immersed throughout the entire length. The story is nothing groundbreaking - it's centered around the theme of dealing with loss. Directing and acting though really elevate it into a great film.
Wasn't sure if I should pick the 1 hr 45 min version or the 1 hr 37 min version. Went with the longer one and think 20th Century Fox might have made the right decision with cutting Charlotte Rampling's scene for the US. The Barry Newman character didn't need a woman. Her dialogue feels slightly forced compared to the rest. But I kind of like the scene too, so I'm forced to keep both versions. The movie's about freedom. A police chase from Colorado to California with most of the story there is being brief memories of his previous life. It was relaxing, just the kind of laid back movie I needed.
What led me to the movie was Tarantino's Death Proof, a rewatch maybe twelve years later. Wanted to know why he was fanboying so hard over that white 1970 Dodge Challenger.
Realized as I was watching this guy is probably a fan.
V for Vendetta.This movie was fine but for some reason it's message felt so heavy handed to me.The way the protagonists talk some times is so cheesy.It's like they want you to know they are super heroes.I felt the same with the protagonist of RE:Zero.
Midnight Cowboy.It was fine.
The World is not Enough.Great movie.For some reason i missed it when i was watching all the James Bond movies.
RoboCop (1987): Arrow Video put out a 4K steel book release, and nabbed it for the same price as their standard 4K release. Went with it because I liked that the cover is the image from the original movie poster. Their artwork for their releases are usually good, but I just like the original image a bit more. Movie is still great, and the extras make it worth getting--some new material along with all the bonuses from previous releases.
Heavy Metal (1981): Sony released a steel book release of the animated cult classic this week and I snatched it up. Wasn't aware that it contained the garbage "sequel" Heavy Metal 2000 as a bonus, but the original makes for a great midnite movie.
Zatoichi: The Blind Swordman (2003): I remember first seeing this almost 20 years ago, and it introduced me to Japanese actor/director Takeshi Kitano. The movie was long out of print, but Paramount re-released it on Blu-ray this year.
I like that Arrow has reversibles. I flipped over my RoboCop cover for the original poster of him stepping out of the car. That montage with all the faces blows.
About Heavy Metal: One thing that's cool about this (probably) final home video format is that the studios seem to be going out of their way now to perfect releases and add all the features that previously seemed unimportant. Maybe they are recognizing that many of the people still buying discs are very particular. Example, the Heavy Metal BD I bought a few years ago only has the 5.1 remix. This one has that, a new Atmos and its original stereo (2.0 surround) mix. That stereo mix will be the one I'll listen to, maybe tomorrow.
Gone in 60 Seconds - Original 1974 (?) movie, overall it's a pretty crappy movie. The story and acting are almost non existent (the main actor has an ok screen presence at least), but this movie is not known for those things, it's known for its insane car chase that takes up roughly the last 40 minutes of the movie. Some of the action/driving is really impressive, but the editing makes it come across as more goofy at times then dangerous. If you're a car fanatic you might enjoy this, if not stay away. 5/10
I like that Arrow has reversibles. I flipped over my RoboCop cover for the original poster of him stepping out of the car. That montage with all the faces blows.
About Heavy Metal: One thing that's cool about this (probably) final home video format is that the studios seem to be going out of their way now to perfect releases and add all the features that previously seemed unimportant. Maybe they are recognizing that many of the people still buying discs are very particular. Example, the Heavy Metal BD I bought a few years ago only has the 5.1 remix. This one has that, a new Atmos and its original stereo (2.0 surround) mix. That stereo mix will be the one I'll listen to, maybe tomorrow.
Wasn't aware that Arrow had reversible artwork to their regular cases; most times, their artwork is great--loved what they had for ther releases of An American Werewolf in London and Flash Gordon.
Now, I'm patiently awaiting the 4K releases of Escae from New York and Shaft. Haven't seen either in years.
@hallenbeck77: Imported StudioCanal's Escape from New York a few years ago. It's the darkest movie in my collection. The darker areas of some of those night scenes are pitch black, but there's enough range that you still see so much detail. It's one of the discs I'd use if I wanted to show off what HDR can do.
104 minutes. 1280x720 BD. Picture quality was bad, but I stopped thinking about it as I was watching. Never watched them perform. Had a good time. This was Tarja's last concert with the band. After the show, they gave her a letter to be opened the next day, which they also published on their website, informing her that she was out.
Bit disappointed. Firstly, opens up using the Batman 89' theme? The music score is done by Michael McCuistion, who ain't no Shirley Walker. Nothing stands out.
While Mr.Freeze in infamous in live action, Heart Of Ice is considered one of, if not thee best episodes of TAS.
This finally to it feels absolutely tepid. Instead of focusing on Freeze and his wife, 70% is him trying to get Barbara Gordon, her escaping again and again, it's kinda boring.
The final as well in concept is a good idea, but it's so abrupt with no connection between any of the characters that it feels deflated. 1 hour or so long, very tight but unlike Mask Of Phantasm gets almost done character wise.
This scene in Batman And Robin (yea, that movie) is done better. Barring the stupid prison scene.
Third time in five to six years. While it's fun to see the piss taken out of Hollywood so long ago, I can't help but find the genius but simple plot dragged out as an excuse to show fancy musical numbers that aren't that related to the story. Takes it as far as fantasy within a long fantasy.
@warm_gun: Could be worse--you could have been watching Stanley Donen's final film, Blame it on Rio. One of the skeeviest sex "comedies" ever, it had Michael Caine in a granny perm doing it with his best friend's 17 year old daughter in Rio de Janerio. To make it worse, the actress was only 17 when she did it, and had to get signed waivers for certain scenes scenes due to her age.
Ugh. Not the best way to finish your career as a director.
The Wrestler.I have watched this movie many times but for some reason.The scenes Randy has with his daughter felt even more heavy.Cause i realized i'm a living **** up like Randy was.Trying to do good but always fucking shit up and ruining good things.So i felt like she was cutting me to pieces.And i don't even have a daughters or any kids.Thankfully.My bloodline ends with me.
Rewatch. Rented this and Death Proof because I saw they were out of print, and Netflix is always losing Blu-rays. Think stupid outweighs entertainment somewhat. Liked what they were going for, but still more stupid. Would watch again, years from now. Marley Shelton (the doctor who loses the feeling in her hands) was the highlight for me.
Weird not seeing Michael Biehn for so long and then The Rock and Death Proof in consecutive nights. Been so long that I forgot he was in either of these movies.
Third time. Two cops who hate each other forced to work together on a murder in Mississippi. Sidney Poitier's character is passing through on his way to Philadelphia. Like it a little more with each viewing. Entertaining seeing them cut into each other's character flaws in these heated arguments and become buds. Stylish too, partly for Quincy Jones' score.
The Batman. I really liked how it was grounded in reality and focused on Batman as a detective in his early years rather than a superhero. The characters of Catwoman and Riddler were also believable and well-written. The film is expertly shot and directed by Matt Reeves. All in all, a very refreshing take on the character.
Didn't wanna go into a rant, but living in the present is so emasculating. Felt down for most of the day, in no mood for smart or artistic cinema, and then this rewatch brought some happiness. Just watching him and listening to that bombastic tropical jazz action score by James Horner (Tempted to find it.) makes you wanna run and get more fit. Really efficient movie too. Having last watched it two years ago and far longer ago before that, I was surprised by how quickly it came up on those setpieces.
For a 14 year old MPEG2 encode, which is probably the best we're ever gonna have*, it looks decent enough. Listened to the Dolby Digital 2.0 track, which I thought sounded more powerful at points when switching back and forth between that and the uncompressed 5.1. But the difference is pretty subtle. I've had my Atmos speakers disabled for a while now because I hardly listen to DTS:X and Atmos tracks and don't want the 2.0 surround tracks getting sent up to the height speakers by the upmixer anymore. People claim that Dolby Surround is "smart" enough to send the right kinds of sounds up. But I don't trust it not to mess up and not to make the mix too front heavy in my setup. If I do have an Atmos or DTS:X track to listen to, I now go into my receiver setup and switch the speaker layout from 5.1 to 5.1.2, rather than simply selecting the correct sound mode. People will have you believe that Atmos is this giant upgrade for general movie watching, but even most new movies are still mastered in 5.1, and the old movies usually have older mixes available on top of the Atmos. Why would you trust some young guy working on the new master to do it right over the people who made the movie? Shit, even games rarely have Atmos, with some of the developers who did use it having already dropped it. Resident Evil 2 had Atmos. RE3 did not.
@warm_gun: I'm surprised how that movie never got a sequel, and that was right smack in the middle of the dumb action movie Renaissance of the '80s, too.
Synced the subs from my Criterion BD of Nights of Cabiria up to the StudioCanal BD that I imported before that boxset was announced two years ago. Required first changing the framerate of the subs from 23.976 (Criterion) to 24 (StudioCanal) in BDSup2Sub. Not that Criterion's subtitles are great. In fact, their outline is shitty. Really fuzzy and low res, especially shitty in their 4Ks, with the HDR around. I just don't like the thick outline on the StudioCanal subs. The UK subs are also too close to the border, but I could easily fix that. An alternative is changing the subs from image-based to text-based (SRT), but you end up with hundreds of typos.
Reason I did this is because Criterion overdoes it with the contrast in their transfers, nearly always, to the point that darker details disappear into the darkness. It doesn't really look like black and white of the era, makes it look more revisionist.
Also noticed StudioCanal's 2.0 mono is louder than Criterions 1.0 mono. Probably more noise reduction, as usual.
The Bad News Bears - About 46 years late watching this. Enjoyed it.
I like that even though it's really old now, the kids act like kids rather than Disney'esk interpretations of kids.
As in, they act like little bastards. The ending as well, rejects the wholesomeness where they literally tell the winners to get fucked.
Little moments of drama peppered in are done well, love the scene where Walter Matthau is losing hit shit talking about winning and getting back at them when it becomes obvious he's talking about himself through proxy.
Was watching some Mexican movie, but became very tired twenty minutes in, slept a few hours, then decided to watch Nights of Cabiria again, after remuxing it earlier.
If someone asked me what my favorite movie is, I'd probably say this. It's not even that it's necessarily better than others that I love, but nearly every viewing affects me in a way that other movies don't always. Her loneliness/longing wouldn't mean anything if she didn't endure through them with such pride and optimism. If the actress didn't emote as she does. You can catch her smiling at times when she is supposed to be upset, but it's okay. The character's personality is ugly and likable at the same time. Poverty is a big theme, but she doesn't really seem to mind where she is too much. It's more that she has to live through that alone, I think. The score is dreamy, the visuals are picturesque. I wouldn't place this at the top of some top 10 list or anything, because I wouldn't make a list like that in the first place. Too many great movies out there to bother.
Yeah, to bring it up again, really don't know why Criterion thinks it necessary to darken so many of their movies so much. If you set your TV's brightness closer to recommended levels, you already get very nice contrast with the StudioCanal disc. My Sony 900e is only at 10/50. I used to have it much higher, until someone explained to me that only the HDR mode is supposed to max it out. So that it can use the full range of its limited HDR10. But doing that in SDR means constantly being blasted by many hundreds of nits and darker details becoming too visible.
Dick Tracey - Never watched this one before, but ai do remember the trailers and all the buzz it got way back in 1990 (I don't remember though how critics liked it though). The good, the visuals for the most part are very good. The use of color is well done, the characters all look great (the make up and prosthetic work are really good). The bad, a lot of great actors are hidden underneath those prosthetics, and while they do look good not many of them are really given much to do. A decent try to get Dick Tracey on the big screen, not a bad movie but it could have been better. 5/10
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