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Movie thread, or; what movie did you watch last?

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2016 7:57 am
by Tetsuro
I know there's that DVD thread but that doesn't mean you've just watched them too. You might've watched a movie you got ages ago, or maybe just something on netflix.

I've been sitting through the Puppet Master films because I discovered it has ten sequels and I can't help but feel attracted to terrible horror sequels. Unfortunately, I'm only up to part 3 so far and none of them have been terrible, apart from the obviously low budget, although the stop motion sequences are miles better than the one in The Basket Case. The worst they can do is inconsistency about the nature of the guy who actually created them; in the first movie he's fleeing from the nazis and commits suicide before they get to him; in the second movie the puppets raise him from the dead and he becomes the villain and kills people, but the third movie makes him sorta the good guy again by taking place in nazi Germany and using his puppets to kill nazis.

I also watched Conan the Destroyer. I discussed the movie with someone, namely how the hall of mirrors scene has stuck with me since childhood when I guess my siblings had rented it or something and managed to catch that little of the film (I wasn't supposed to see it), and they called it a quintessential D&D scene; it got me thinking, this movie is probably a better D&D movie than, well, Dungeons & Dragons.

Awesome!

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2016 7:07 pm
by Auntie Slag
Mousehunt. I haven't seen it for about 12 years, but its still great. Very Tom & Jerry-style. Nathan Lane is superb, funnier than Lee Evans I think, and the film has a great look to it.

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 8:47 pm
by Skyquake87
I watched Aliens the other night. I must have watched it a billion times, but if its on the telly and I do find myself watching it. Still love it.

Quite often watch some guff on the horror channel. Saw a weird one about a plastic surgeon who sewed up a girls bits and removed her nipples so she could look like barbie. One of the Hostels, which I didn't make it past 40 minutes because it was just sh*te. Set in some weird club where they cut people up for the amusement of rich folk.

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2016 9:18 am
by Tetsuro
I did not expect Robert Vaughn to kick the bucket this week, so it did not factor into my decision at all to re-watch all the Superman movies (although I may have to watch 3 sooner than I thought because of it), but I did watch Superman II the other day, and seeing it for the umpteenth time did make me realize how different it actually is from the first film, directorially.

IIRC only about 20% of the film is from before they sacked Richard Donner? The rest of it definitely feels more like the movie that followed it, in the way many of the shots are staged and lit, while clearly still having greater production values. It's especially obvious in the big city fight, which still holds up well to this day. Saying CGI isn't as good as practical effects may be a tired old horse, but some of the shots - like the one where Non gets punted through a high-rise building, and we get to see it from an indoor perspective - really do make me wonder how they accomplished the effect. With CGI, the answer would be fairly obvious.

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2016 9:26 am
by Auntie Slag
The Opposite of Sex: Black comedy drama thing with Christina Ricci, Phoebe from Friends, Leonard from The Big Bang Theory and Lyle Lovett (Julia Roberts first husband).

It came out in 1998, it was brilliant then and still is now. Probably sank without trace at the box office because of stellar hits like Lost In Space, Armageddon and Species II were out.

That and its a bit of a cantankerous sort of film, but well worth watching.

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2016 1:27 pm
by Heinrad
Robert Vaughn died? That sucks.

Given the way they were filming Superman and Superman II, Donner had filmed enough footage to have the second movie a little over half done before the Salkinds, figuring that Warner Bros. was going to have them shot if they didn't get a film out, told him to get an edit of Superman done and then he could finish Superman II. Apparently the turning back time ending was supposed to be for the second movie, as Zod and Co. had pretty much wrecked everything.

They then fired Donner and brought in Richard Lester to finish Superman II, having him refilm certain scenes so that he would have directed 51% of the movie and therefore could claim credit for the whole thing. Although no matter what happened, the odds were good Jor-El wouldn't have been in it even if Donner hadn't been sacked. Brando saw how much money Superman was making and wanted to renegotiate his contract.

They found all of the Donner footage in a vault in England somewhere, and Donner was able to finally do his version of Superman II. It's more even, tone wise, but also a bit jarring in spots. The honeymoon suite scene is done using audition footage.

I watched the first Puppet Master movie over Halloween, and it was pretty good, if low budget. In fact, I watched a lot of Full Moon Studios stuff over Halloween. Dollman is excellent, and HIDEOUS! is a lot of fun.

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2016 1:43 pm
by Tetsuro
Heinrad wrote:They found all of the Donner footage in a vault in England somewhere, and Donner was able to finally do his version of Superman II. It's more even, tone wise, but also a bit jarring in spots. The honeymoon suite scene is done using audition footage.
My biggest issue with the Donner cut is that it basically exists in it's own universe; that is, one where the first movie had a different ending, leading into a much smoother transition to the second. Such as it is, the time-reversing ending in the Donner cut comes off too much as a "here we go again" type of thing.

I think in the end, the Lester version will remain the film everybody remembers. Speaking of alternate versions, what bums me about Superman IV isn't so much the fact that Warner or nobody else bothered to try making a proper "extended cut" of the film, with the proto-Nuclear Man and all, but the fact that the video release in Europe contained additional scenes which aren't on the DVD or blu-ray, namely the tornado and the Red Square; we only get them in the deleted scenes gallery. It'd be nice to at least see some kind of fan-made cuts of 3 and 4, but Warner made sure to nip that one at the bud by only including fullscreen versions of them - and a lot of the "deleted" scenes on the S3 disc are less like deleted scenes and more like outtakes.

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2016 12:41 pm
by kathykit
Tetsuro wrote:I know there's that DVD thread but that doesn't mean you've just watched them too. You might've watched a movie you got ages ago, or maybe just something on netflix.
I just watch Doctor strange last night.
Not bad, but just not look like other Marvel movies.
On the other hand, R.I.P. Mr Robert Vaughn. english
Our UNCLE.

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 4:19 am
by Heinrad
I'd love to know what the original ending for Superman would have been. Although I get the impression Donner isn't sure what it would have been, either. Don't get me wrong, what happened was pretty sucky, but I can see why the Salkinds were getting worried.

I've never seen all of Superman IV.

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 9:16 am
by Brendocon 2.0
Saw Arrival the other day. I thought it was really good if you've not seen Interstellar, Contact or more than three episodes of the Twilight Zone.

Sound mixing was top though.

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:12 pm
by Skyquake87
I watched the Neon Demon which I also bought... which thread to use?!!

I liked Drive, so was hoping for more monosyallabic weirdness with a nice thumping synth score. And this is definitely weird. I liked it! A film you experience, rather than make much sense of. Something about beauty and blah, I dunno. Once it got murdery and strange, that message gets kind of lost.

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:17 pm
by Brendocon 2.0
Neon Demon was great. That and The Nice Guys are probably my top two films of the year.

Going into a Refn film expecting it to be anything like a previous one is folly. FOLLY.

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:20 pm
by Skyquake87
Oh, I didn't expect it to be the same. I loved Drive and was keen to see this. Really want the score now *trots off to a well known online retailer out of laziness*

TRIANGLES IN THE DARK!!! OOOOOH

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:21 pm
by Brendocon 2.0
His scores are always awesome. You seen Only God Forgives at all?

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:25 pm
by Skyquake87
No! Drive was the first of is I saw. Whats OGF about? Or is that a silly question?

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:27 pm
by Brendocon 2.0
It's sort of a cop/mobster revenge drama. It's... an experience. Definitely recommend watching it, though can't vouch for whether you'll enjoy it at all.

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:28 pm
by Skyquake87
I watch lots of things I'm never sure I'll enjoy, so I'll have a punt. Thanks!

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:35 pm
by Skyquake87
And bought. For £1.27. Hooray!

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 1:10 pm
by Cyberstrike nTo
V for Vendetta because it's a fun movie and I needed something to cheer me up.

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2016 12:45 am
by Heinrad
Star Trek Beyond because I needed to renew my hope for the future.

And I got Star Trek Beyond.