Topic: The Movie Thread

@LN78 The main correlation I would say is that you described Challengers as a dark sex comedy and Caligula has a lot of sexual content, but sorry if I steered you in the wrong direction there!

@BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN Yeah - you definitely got the wrong end of the stick there - I was absolutely scoobed trying to work out what an acclaimed, ultra modern tennis-as-a-metaphor sexual satire had in common with a notoriously reviled soft-core Roman "epic" from almost five decades ago. 😄.

@LN78 🤣 Sorry, friend.

@LN78 Personally, I thought the one thing Challengers was missing was Helen Mirren’s knockers.

@nessisonett I think that's something that everyone can agree on.

@nessisonett @LN78 Maybe at the time of Caligula. Not so much these days.

Movies I've watched over the past couple weeks:

Blazing Saddles (Blu-Ray) - Definitely delivers quite a few laughs during it's runtime (I especially liked the Looney Tunes-esque bits), and I can definitely see why it would have been such a seminal satire for it's era, but like most films made before the 80's I kinda found it hard to really connect to it on a personal level (just a bit too far culturally removed I guess). Still a pretty good film though.

Heaven's Lost Property the Movie: the Angeloid of Clockwork (Blu-Ray) - Anime film that follows up the two HLP TV series. Kinda disappointing as the first half is just an abridged retelling of the preceding shows, and once it does get to the meat of things it feels more like a side step narratively than a way forward, but if you liked the shows (which I'd only recommend if you like raunchy comedies), it may be worth a watch.

Kingsman: the Secret Service (Blu-Ray) - Perhaps the best action flick of the 2010's? Every single action scene is just as exciting today as they were when it first released, it successfully modernizes the "Bond" archetype movie going experience by making dapper chaps in suits with fancy gizmos awesome instead of cheesy. It maybe loses a bit of something once Colin Firth is written out, but is still highly enjoyable.

Troy (Blu-Ray) - the Extended cut. Absolutely fantastic historical epic. Top notch acting performances from everyone involved, incredibly immersive epic scale recreation of Troy & the battles surrounding it, and some great action (especially that fight between Hector & Achilles). My only criticism is that I got a little tired of how constantly brown/beige the whole color pallet looked, but that's a small issue.

Watchmen (*Blu-Ray) - The Director's Cut. I have quite a bit of nostalgia for this one, though I'll admit I didn't quite like it as much this time as I did in the past. Still a great film though, and much more interesting take on the superhero genre than most of the "cinematic universe" superhero films we get these days.

"Furiosa" - barnstorming 4K blu-ray transfer of a pretty fantastic prequel/companion piece to "Mad Max:Fury Road". Perhaps a little overlong and too reliant on digital effects compared to it's predecessor (although the seamless morphing of the younger actress portraying Furiosa into Anya Taylor-Joy's incarnation is astonishing) it's still more witty and inventive than the last 5 MCU movies combined. Cult status seems assured.

Finished watching Fast and Furious 8. Another fantastic movie! What I love about these movies is that they're so creative, they always do something that'll shock you. This one was no different. I thought it was really cool how they controlled the cars so they acted like zombies and just attacked all the other cars. I also liked the submarine chase, that was awesome!

Can't believe I've seen eight of these movies now. I never get tired of them!

@RR529 Did you catch the Watchmen TV Series from a few years back on HBO? Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) was the showrunner, and I genuinely loved it.... a really excellent "sequel" (of sorts) to the Graphic Novel and a real love-letter to the source material.

Great turns from Jeremy Irons and Regina King, a fun ride that is a great watch for fans of the movie/comic

@CJD87 The show doesn't really make sense as a sequel to the movie as it follows on from the (far superior) ending to the comic series. I agree with you though, it was very good indeed and Episode 8 "- A God Walks Into Abar" - was a masterpiece.

@LN78 Yeah agreed it serves best as a dessert to the Graphic Novel, and IMO Lindelof did a great job in towing the line between appeasing the die-hard fans + conjuring up something new (Whilst being respectful of the IP's origins)

Casting was top tier, loved Jeremy Irons!

So after my exchange with @BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN regarding "Caligula" I got to thinking about movies that are interesting (or even excellent) that I've watched but for whatever reason never want to see again. The ones that came to mind first were:
1) "When The Wind Blows".
2) "Requiem For A Dream".
3) "Million Dollar Baby".
4) "Zone of Interest".
5) "Irreversible".
What would be on your lists, movie topic regulars?

Without thinking too deeply about it or putting them in order, here's a few memorable films. Whether it's emotional impact, a learning experience, perspective challenging, a draining watch, or a combination or something else entirely, I have no problem never watching these again and I mean that in a complimentary way.

The Lighthouse
Mystic River
Ichi the Killer
Oldboy
Oppenheimer
The Last King of Scotland

Just finished watching Oppenheimer. For a movie where there's no action, it was one of the most captivating movies I've ever watched. I always love stories based on real life, I think that was the primary reason why it gripped me so much. The visual effects and psychological aspects of it were absolutely exceptional. It also surprised me how many recognisable actors there were in this movie. Obviously the actor who played the protagonist is known from Peaky Blinders. Then we had Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jr. There were also people that I recognise from The Boys, Black Lightning, Mr. Robot and more. The cast was great!

@LN78 I’d stick 1 and 3 from your list on mine too.

Grave of the Fireflies
Threads
Dancer in the Dark
Aftersun
Control

If things hit me then they really hit me plus I really do not enjoy general apocalyptic depressive movies with the whole wailing kids turned to ash sorta vibes. That being said, there’s some horribly depressing movies I’ve seen multiple times like Come and See, The Painted Bird, The Elephant Man, All of Us Strangers etc. It depends on what mood I’m in but there’s a line for me between being able to separate what’s on screen and then some movies just horrify me to my core, which is clearly a sign of a good movie!

@nessisonett I saw Grave of the Fireflies twice, both times when I was a child, but still remember it vividly enough that I have no interest in revisiting it again. I don't need to keep inviting that pain back into my life lol.

Not seen Dancer in the Dark. Partially because it sounds about as fun as using a staple gun on myself, but also because I'd already seen Antichrist and thought it was the most pretentious rubbish I'd ever seen in my life.

All of Us Strangers sounds interesting, though. I'm surprised I didn't hear about it. Definitely adding it to my list.

@Ralizah Bjork is so good in Dancer in the Dark that it makes it worth seeing. Even if she was treated terribly on set. It’s Lars von Trier though, I dunno why anybody was surprised that he’s a bit gross. It’s like when Gerard Depardieu was accused of stuff, felt like a formality.

Films I watched over the weekend.

Alien Romulus (Cinema) - No overwrought lore and overbearing technical jargon kept to a limit, this is a back to basics affair that follows a group of scared youths fighting for their lives against unimaginable horrors amongst the decaying husk of an orbital research station. It's absolutely stunning, brutal, tense, icky, and the best thing I've seen in theatres since Dune Part 2. If you have even a passing interest in deep space/future sci-fi you owe it to yourself to see this.

Gran Torino (Blu-Ray) - Every once in awhile my parents will introduce me to a movie that I otherwise wouldn't watch but end up loving, and this is one of those films (though this isn't the first time I watched it). Clint Eastwood plays the role of a crotchety (& kinda racist) old man who forms a connection with a new immigrant family next door, and in his own way tries to keep their teenaged children from falling in/victim to the local gang(s).

Heaven's Lost Property Final (Blu-Ray) - What a load of crock. Following on from the preceding two TV series & film in the HLP franchise, this film seeks to be the big finale, or at least the title would lead you to believe so. However in practice this has to be the most ill conceived/mismanaged efforts in closure I've ever seen (even by anime standards of "we're cancelling the series before reaching the manga's conclusion", it's terrible). Starts out in the middle of the big climactic final battle with no context as to what's going on, precedes to have a 40 minute long flashback (which is like 90% of the film's runtime) that never gets around to addressing how the final battle begins, then in it's final moments returns to the "present" only to not show how things end either.

Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs (Blu-Ray) - For the first ever feature length animation this has a lot of elements that still impress (like a lot of the water effects, such as when the camera is looking up at the titular heroine from the inside of a well), you can really tell that the animators really poured their heart & soul into this as they had everything riding on it. That said it's characters don't have much in the way of character, especially Snow White (and her "Prince Charming", who shows up like twice), although the dwarfs have a few good comedic relief bits.

@CJD87, sorry for taking awhile to get back to you. Haven't seen the Watchmen TV series since we don't subscribe to Max (& honestly I really haven't found the time to stream much even on the services we do get ever since I started collecting & watching more physically. Especially dedicating myself to TV shows).

Just got back from "Alien:Romulus" which I went to see despite my brother's express warnings. He was right - it's an insulting, nonsensical mess - the movie equivalent of one of those knock off "greatest hits" albums recorded by a cover band that includes songs from the records that nobody even likes. In terms of franchise reheats it might be even worse than "Terminator:Genisys". I want my money back.