Movie Record 2021 Edition - The Bear and Badger

Gremill

73. Shang-Chi
Loved it. Fight choreography was brilliant and it was just a big, daft action fantasy. Perfect Sunday afternoon fare. 8

ShabbyMcCrabby

Thanks for the tips peeps. I know I've seen all of the classic Jackie films (I think) and I know he is a shit but you really can't beat the peak Jackie fights for what they do.

Is there anyone else that tried to carry on the comedy, everything a weapon, action legacy?

Gremill

I wanty aware of Chan being a shit. How so?

Wookienopants

Gremill wrote:

I wanty aware of Chan being a shit. How so?

"LALALA IM NOT LISTENING LALALALA!!!"

hylian_elf

37. The Eternals - 14 Nov
What a load of meh.
[5]

ShabbyMcCrabby

Gremill wrote:

I wanty aware of Chan being a shit. How so?

Not Cosby bad but more political opinions is what I've read about. Probably nothing too out of the ordinary for any star that falls under the China banner but that might just be a simple view of things.

Cos

Well, I couldn't have timed my entry into this thread any better...

I completely forgot to keep track in here this year so getting into the habit for next year.

90. American Graffiti - Not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't quite this. Fairly loose in structure and I can see it's influence on Dazed and Confused for sure but only a couple of the characters were particularly engaging. It was odd to see Richard Dreyfuss so young as I just associate his voice and mannerisms with a much older version. Interesting but probably somewhat overrated. [5]

ShabbyMcCrabby

110. The Wolf of Snow Hollow
Jim Cumming's cop character from Thunder Road finds himself in a snowy town with a werewolf(?) attacking people. Well it's not the actual same character but it's basically the same. Some stuff works great - especially the comedy that is timed very well - but some stuff doesn't. If you liked Thunder Road you should like this.
[6]

111. Old
Neat setting but terrible script. I'm guessing it was a rushed COVID production because some of these really seemed like one and done takes and there wasn't the usual careful thought put into the camerawork like other Shyamalan productions. Not a waste of time but could have been better.
[4]

112. The Night House
Bruckner makes a tense movie. This one had me clenched for most of it and it has some stellar moments. I should be mad that one moment is very similar to one in The Ritual but it got me both times so kudos to him. Seems he's making a Hellraiser remake. I think he could do a good job.
[8]

113. Titane
Hmmmmmm, I don't really know what I just watched. As a visceral experience it's fantastic but as a story I'm less sure. I think ultimately I didn't really gel with where the film went after the slick opening but it's certainly had me thinking a lot about it afterwards. God it's so French.
[7]

114. No Time To Die
Enjoyment definitely helped by seeing it on a massive IMAX screen. There's a certain feeling you get with blockbuster Bond. But it's a long film and whilst it didn't drag I also don't think it used it's long runtime in a meaningful way.
[6]

ShabbyMcCrabby

Cosby wrote:

Well, I couldn't have timed my entry into this thread any better... I completely forgot to keep track in here this year so getting into the habit for next year. 90. American Graffiti - Not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't quite this. Fairly loose in structure and I can see it's influence on Dazed and Confused for sure but only a couple of the characters were particularly engaging. It was odd to see Richard Dreyfuss so young as I just associate his voice and mannerisms with a much older version. Interesting but probably somewhat overrated. [5]

Heh.

I was also surprised at how chill American Graffiti is. Seems so weird put next to Star Wars. I still haven't watched THX but I've heard it's quite good.

Cos

Crikey, thought I was doing well this year but some of you guys are movie watching machines!

Cos

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

Heh. I was also surprised at how chill American Graffiti is. Seems so weird put next to Star Wars. I still haven't watched THX but I've heard it's quite good.

Yeah, that was interesting in itself. Wonder what old George's output would've been like without Star Wars?

ShabbyMcCrabby

Cosby wrote:

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

Heh. I was also surprised at how chill American Graffiti is. Seems so weird put next to Star Wars. I still haven't watched THX but I've heard it's quite good.

Yeah, that was interesting in itself. Wonder what old George's output would've been like without Star Wars?

Probably more like Scorsese and those other 1970s up and comers. Even Spielberg managed to not get railroaded so hard.

And I think my movie watching frequency has increased since lockdown ended here. So many months stuck inside but unable to relax enough to watch a movie most days and now I'm using it as an excuse to avoid the now open world! I mean I watched Old, The Night House and Titane all in one night.

Moot_Geeza

Cosby wrote:

Well, I couldn't have timed my entry into this thread any better...

I completely forgot to keep track in here this year so getting into the habit for next year.

90. American Graffiti - Not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't quite this. Fairly loose in structure and I can see it's influence on Dazed and Confused for sure but only a couple of the characters were particularly engaging. It was odd to see Richard Dreyfuss so young as I just associate his voice and mannerisms with a much older version. Interesting but probably somewhat overrated. [5]

I love it - one of only a dozen or so I rebought when BluRay came in - but admittedly it's more of a jukebox than a great film.

Cos

That's a good point - the soundtrack is superb. Need to look that up on Spotify.

djchump

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

...
Is there anyone else that tried to carry on the comedy, everything a weapon, action legacy?

There's some fun action comedy from indie stunt crews on YouTube - Eric Jacobus, Martial Club, Vlad Rimburg, ReelDealAction etc. (lot of the same LA/Chicago guys pop up in each others' shorts).
No one is really doing the "everything a weapon" thing to the levels of JC because it just takes so damn long.

Sam Hargrave (Chris Evans/Cap stunt double, EXtraction director) finale and some of the other fights in this are good, I wouldn't bother watching the whole film though:

And he's great in this short:

davyK

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

I still haven't watched THX but I've heard it's quite good.

I liked THX. Is a good one. And benefitted from Lucas' digital tinkering. It only got a small number of well considered enhancements that made no narrative impact.

davyK

Walk The Line I'm not sure if you have to be a fan of Johnny Cash to like this. And I don't know how accurate it is.

But I am a fan and I don't care how accurate it is. This was brilliant. Phoenix and Witherspoon are perfect in their roles. It's a really handsome , well paced production this. I'm trying hard to think of a better bio-pic but I can't right now.

Gremill

Yeah, it's a cracker.

ShabbyMcCrabby

Dewey Cox?

And thanks chump, I'll check those clips out

davyK

Watched 2 more films with the commentary track last night.

THX-1138 with Lucas and co-writer/sound designer Walter Murch. Very good insightful commentary and makes me think what Lucas would have done if he hadn't made such a pile off Star Wars. It was never his intention to get into making mainstream film. This is an interesting and visually striking film that has aged extremely well. Lucas tinkered with it using his digital pallette but since I didn't see the original it's only obvious in one or two places where it looks out of place. It's background mainly and I don't think it changed the meaning of anything.

The Omen (1976) Has 2 commentaries. The one I listened to was Richard Donner and editor Stuart Baird which is great fun. They are clearly two very old friends and there's loads of little stories about the crew and cast. Wrangling the wee boy who played Damian and the monkeys in the safari park scene are highlights for me.

Well worth checking out. The film itself still looks great and really benefits from a superb cast. I haven't watched the remake and have little intention to either. If I have got to the end of my COVID isolation (last day today) without doing it it's unlikely I ever will.

ShabbyMcCrabby

115. The Phantom Menace
Figured it was time to watch all these again. Never done it 1 - 9. Will probably work better as it starts and ends with disappointment but has a nice middle. This started off fine for me - I knew what it was - but then as it went along it really lost my interest. It's just a bunch of nonsense scenes one after the other with no attempt to make you care about the characters. It's really shit. Still can't believe this is what came out after all those years.
[started at 5, ended at 1]

Watched a little of the RLM video on it again afterwards and thought some more on it. I really think that the story isn't that bad it's just that the focus is wrong. All the trade federation and senate bullshit was fine but it should have been happening in the background. The odd line here or there that keeps you up to date on what is happening there and not entire scenes and sequences dedicated to it. If it solely focussed on Anakin or Obi-Wan and was a character journey through these story beats with time spent to make you care about them and to flesh them out then it could have been good. The main problem is that nobody is anything. Why should I care what happens to Qui-gon when he's just been a stoic bellend who constantly uses his jedi mind tricks to get what he wants the whole time, I don't know anything about him or his relationship with Obi-wan.

One thing that really jumped out to be on this watch was how you don't even hear what Anakin thinks of this amazing city planet he's going to. Here's this kid who has lived as a slave on a desert planet and he's finally in space and seeing something that should have blown his mind but he doesn't even get a "wow" reaction shot when they come in to land.

It's mind-boggling how poor the film-making and writing is in this. Especially after Lucas had done character pieces like American Graffiti and making indie weird films was originally his jam. You would have thought he'd jump at paring Star Wars back and doing something about character. I guess the fanbase expectations and maybe even from the producers wanting a big thing fucked it up. The tone is all over the place with all the kids cartoon poo jokes then cutting to senate hearings.

But the only real crime of this movie is midiclorians. "Over 20,000!" fuck off you stupid cunt.

Pod race is still fun when you turn the sound up.

Bring on Attack of the Clones!.....

hylian_elf

Yeah a right stinker.

davyK

The prequels were all about Lucas playing to CGI. It looks like he made the films around a sequence of images in his head. The Senate, the pod race, the "War and Peace" style battle on those green hills, etc.

It looks gorgeous in places. But it takes far too long to say what it needs to say - which isn't very much.

And the midichlorians nonsense ruined things. Classic over-explanation.

poprock

Prequels?

“These are not the films you are looking for.”

“You can go about your business.”

“Move along.”

Webbins

Up to 110 films watched but not updated the mini reviews for a good while, need to catch up. 73–83 below.

73. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
Reasonable black comedy slasher mockumentary. A film crew follows wannabe apeshit nutjob Leslie Vernon as he plans to join the pantheon of famous slasher killers 6.5

74. Re-Animator
Blood filled zany horror classic. A brilliant but nutty medical student invents a dead body activating reagent... what could possibly go wrong? 8

75. Terror Train
Watchable 1980 slasher with scream queen Jamie Leigh Curtis and a beguiling David Copperfield cameo. A wronged nutjob wreaks revenge on his college mates during a New Year's Eve train party. 7

76. The Brood
Ollie Reed starring David Cronenberg 1979 psychological horror. A man battles to uncover the link between a brutal series of murders and his institutionalised ex-wife. 6.5

77. Fear Street: Part One 1994
First part of the Netflix teen horror trilogy based on R. L. Stine's book series. Enjoyable and entertaining, with heavy Scream vibes and a couple of decent kills, one in particular very memorable! 8

78. Bride of Re-Animator
Lesser 1990 sequel to Re-Animator. A bloody and madcap Frankensteinesque follow up albeit missing the first film's quality and story. 6.5

79. Fear Street: Part Two 1978
Strong sequel to 1994, this time echoing the Friday films. Camp Nightwing is the focal point as the campmates must survive an apeshit possessed counsellor's murder spree. 8

80. Basket Case
Cult 1982 Frank Henenlotter low budget horror. A man and his deformed, formerly conjoined basket bound twin arrive in New York to seek out those responsible for their unwanted surgical separation. 7.5

81. La Horde
Cops and gangsters must come together to make it out of a high rise alive in this French zombie flavoured take on The Raid. 6

82. Cold in July
Gritty, crime drama featuring Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard and Don Johnson. The killing of an intruder puts a man into the path of a vengeful father. 7.5

83. The Babysitter
Enjoyable teen comedy horror featuring the delightful Samara Weaving. Young Cole adores his beautiful babysitter but one night unfortunately finds out she is not quite as perfect as she seems. 7.5

davyK

Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

Solid , effective and atmospheric telling of the ingenious and ballsy escape story that resulted in the famous prison being closed. Eastwood and McGoohan in the leads with lots of "those guys" in support including Fred Ward. Excellent stuff. Papier mache probably hasn't ever been put to better use. (The escapees made fake heads so their cells looked occupied as they made their night escape).

Cos

I watched that for the first time last year and really didn't get the praise for it. There's so much extraneous story not related to the escape that the key parts felt rushed.

I had to laugh when I looked up the papier mache heads because the ones they used in the film were absolute shite compared to those created by the real guys.

Moot_Geeza

Terror Train was very enjoyable, nice review Webbins. Didn't realise those Fear Street films were decent, saw them pop up and filed them alongside Happy Death Day 3 etc.

acemuzzy

The Starling was, tbh, not very good at all

Webbins

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Terror Train was very enjoyable, nice review Webbins. Didn't realise those Fear Street films were decent, saw them pop up and filed them alongside Happy Death Day 3 etc.

No worries! The Fear Streets are perfectly watchable, well produced, Saturday night popcorn films. Low on originality but entertaining nonetheless.

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