Movies 2: Electric Boogaloo

Watched Toy Story 4 the other night which was top-notch then on Netflix I watched Downsizing which I thought from trailers was a comedy as it showed the characters being small then a normal size vodka bottle look at how funny it is but none of that was in it.

Ended up being a different film then I though but was better for it.

Downsizing was social satire and I wasn't a big fan of it.

We watched Pacific Rim for the first time yesterday. For me, it was a bit of dumb fun, but I can imagine the Monster Hunter lads going absolutely bananas for it.

I hear that the sequel's dire in comparison. Can anyone confirm?

Aye Pacific rim is fun stuff! Not watched the sequel either though I do have a habit of watching some really terrible films via netflix so if it's on there maybe I'll give it a go and then let ye's know.

Thanking you kindly in advance Jas. (tips hat)

Balladeer wrote:

We watched Pacific Rim for the first time yesterday.

https://player.fm/series/luke-and-matts-sci-fi-sanctuary/pacific-rim

Quote :

I hear that the sequel's dire in comparison.  Can anyone confirm?

It's still dumb fun. It doesn't have as much weight but it also has a lot more bright, daylight action that you can follow. I saw it in a cinema in Osaka so I have good memories.

Cheers for the summary boss. I did okay at following the night-time action! The Lady however lost count of the kaijus.

On my quest to own every Best Picture nominee, I've binged a few films recently:


Lady Bird (2017) is a really easy to watch coming-of-age film about a teenage lass and her typical emotional conflicts. It's about family, relationships and that period before you "leave the nest", but as far as a plot, it doesn't really have one. As it's only 90 minutes, it's definitely worth watching though, just for the lead actress Saoirse Ronan who is incredible. I don't know what it is, but there's something about her that reminds me of old Hollywood cinema - you can't stop watching her.

Julie & Julia (2009) is a true story about a 30-year old lady in New York fed up of her job, who decides to complete 500+ recipes from a famous cookbook on French cuisine. In one year. Again, this is all about how this affects Julie's life (she blogs about it and becomes semi-famous) but also how it parallels with Julia's life (the author) in the 1960s. It's decent, but it took me a while to adjust to Meryl Streep's goofy character.

The Big Short (2015) is quality. A film about a bunch of New York stockbrokers who take a gamble by predicting the housing market crash of 2008, and make billions of dollars off of it. It's also a true story, and although it is a bit confusing (they do break the fourth wall to explain terminology to the audience) it's got some great actors that carry what could have been a dry plot.

The Post (2017) is definitely my favourite of all of these - this is Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep playing Washington Post editors/owners during the Watergate scandal of the 1970s. It addresses America's battle with the media and free speech, and how they rode out the politics to publish secret government documents surrounding the reasons for the Vietnam War and why they continued to send troops to a lost "war". Definitely recommended.

Midnight Express (1978) - a little dated this one, but another true story that I enjoyed. This is about an American lad who got caught smuggling hash and was given 4 years in a Turkish prison. It goes into how different Turkey is to the US, but some of the mistreatment of prisoners is a tad ridiculous (and apparently something the producers regret) as it paints Turkey as a hellhole. When the American lad (Billy) finds out he's being made an example of, and has his sentence extended to a life sentence, it turns all Shawshank and is about his battle to escape. It's definitely worth a watch, but I think Shawshank improved on it in every way.

Watched three films recently

Birds of Prey, this is the best of the DCEU films with its Deadpool like vibe

Sonic the Hedgehog, actually a fun movie with Jim Carrey stealing the show

Peanut Butter Falcon, best "film" of the bunch which I'd recommend if you like things more like gJones post

I don't watch much beyond what I watch for my sci-fi podcast lately. I did see Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri over Golden Week, as Rob recommended it to me, and it was really bloody good. It briefly made me consider watching films without robots or dinosaurs more often, but I can't be arsed.

I also saw Shin Godzilla again recently; the local cinema opened (only every other row, and only seats 5 apart, and only showing classic films) and I thought I ought to support them. Man, that film looks good on a big screen!

I watched The Godfather last night for the first time!

Yeah, there's good reason that one is regarded as an all timer. Great film! The performances were great, the drama was powerful, the music and cinematography was timeless . . . What I particularly liked was that it didn't trouble itself really with the minutia of the criminal goings on, but concentrated on the human drama of it. Top stuff.

Annoyingly, Part 2 isn't on Netflix. Still, I'm satisfied enough with what I saw in preparation to discuss Honchkrow.

Oh, you're in for a treat with Part 2. I prefer the first part personally, but Part 2 is still up there with some of the best films of all time.

The Godfather films are cracking, especially the first. I can't believe it's nearly 50 years old.

Speaking of old films, I watched a couple of gems:



Citizen Kane (1941)

This was on BBC2 recently and I had never got around to watching it - surely it's too old to be any good now? It's EIGHTY years old. And yeah, it's most certainly a different era, but the dialogue is outstanding! Orson Welles is razor sharp in this and it's all about him inheriting a newspaper, then running for governor, and ultimately his death. It starts with his death, so my understanding is that the way it jumps about and tells the story in reverse was something of a revelation at the time, and while it did drag after 90 minutes, it was enjoyable. I'm no movie buff by any stretch, and I think it gets all its acclaim for technical achievement and pushing the boundaries artistically, but Citizen Kane is well worth a watch. I personally would recommend Casablanca or Sunset Blvd. (my favourite film) over this from that early era - they are easier to watch.

Vertigo (1958)

This film took a little while to get going but turned out to be one I wanted to immediately watch again. I didn't, but I might put it on again in the background one night. But what's it all about? Well, it's a Hitchcock thriller that's primarily a romance story. It does what a lot of the best films do, in that it only really has two or three characters and a few locations so you really get sucked into their world. Basically, a fella suffers from vertigo and falls in love (it's all very soppy and 1950s) but, actually, it's difficult to describe without spoiling the main twist/theme. All I will say is that it is easy to see why it's heralded as a classic and one of the best films ever - it still had me gripped for the full two hours 62 years later. It's set in San Francisco and there's a stunning shot of the Golden Gate bridge that I'll always associate with this film. Highly recommended!

Never seen CK, but I really liked Casablanca when I watched it at uni! Aged surprisingly well, despite the obvious mush in some places.

I've actually seen embarrassingly little Hitchcock, and my Welles doesn't extend much beyond Transformers The Movie.

gjones wrote:

The Godfather films are cracking, especially the first. I can't believe it's nearly 50 years old.

The crazy part to me is that, in my head, that film is set about 50 years ago!

I've never watched Godfather, I've never really been one for crime/mob films same goes for games I think it's why I don't like GTA but do Red Dead as I just prefer the setting.

masofdas wrote:

I've never watched Godfather, I've never really been one for crime/mob films same goes for games I think it's why I don't like GTA but do Red Dead as I just prefer the setting.

I wasn't until fairly recently, but I'm getting into it more now. One of the reasons Godfather is so good is that it doesn't bog itself down in the ins and outs of running the criminal operation, its just about the family and human drama.

Buskalilly wrote:

masofdas wrote:

I've never watched Godfather, I've never really been one for crime/mob films same goes for games I think it's why I don't like GTA but do Red Dead as I just prefer the setting.

I wasn't until fairly recently, but I'm getting into it more now. One of the reasons Godfather is so good is that it doesn't bog itself down in the ins and outs of running the criminal operation, its just about the family and human drama.

That's also why The Sopranos works so well. These people are born into the situation and you can feel for the characters. Something like GTA usually fails on that front - I never feel anything in the stories because the protagonist is either a cocky git, completely devoid of a personality or an outright maniac. Which I like to think I'm none of. Yet.

The movie binge continues...



13th (2015)

This is essential viewing for any white person. Starting with the 13th Amendment, this documentary explains how the American prison system has its roots in slavery and is effectively a repackaged version, thanks to the way the 13th Amendment is written. Very eye-opening and contains plenty of shocking footage from America's recent past, but also I found it MORE worrying that this was released five years ago and nothing has changed. We now have black people still being murdered by police and lynchings disguised as suicides. The evil that is racism is so ingrained into American society at this point, and this film highlights this better than any. 9/10

All About Eve (1950)

This film is a blinder. While Bette Davis dominates with her performance as the 40-year old actress paranoid about her younger, prettier understudy Eve trying to take her next role, it's the script that stands out. The dialogue is outstanding and the back-and-forth between Bette's character and her husband was so good that it actually detracted from the final scene - one that reminds us that even Eve will be replaced with a younger model at some point. This was the most Oscar-laden movie until Titanic, and it's easy to see why. Plus Hollywood love films about making films. 9.5/10

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

This wasn't as bleak as I thought it right be, but the lass playing the 6-year old fending for herself after a storm wipes out her village, is effing insane. It's basically Castaway but Tom Hanks is a defenceless girl, and while it may not quite be as outright miserable as Grave of the Fireflies, it did bring a tear to the eye. There's an optimistic undertone throughout that definitely helps, but I don't know if it will stick with me. 8.5/10

Fargo (1996)

I've watched this a few times over the years, but as it's only 90 minutes it's perfect for rewatching. Some of the secondary characters feel incomplete (the weird guy that lies to Frances McDormand's character in the restaurant) but Buscemi is fantastic throughout, carrying off that neurotic yet somehow affable killer trying to make good of a bad situation. He's kind of reenacting the character from Reservoir Dogs. The pregnant cop is fine, but I think the movie is too short to really get to know any of the characters. It's not surprising that a series was made as the source material is so good it deserved to be looked into further. 9/10

I just recently finished the first season of the Fargo show and its dope!

I watched The Big Short over the weekend. Fantastic movie, but it made me even more cynical and furious and leftist than I already was.

On the opposite end of almost every spectrum, Rambo: Last Blood is finally hitting Japanese theatres this weekend so I'mma watch all the old ones this week.

Update: I just watched First Blood.
Fuck me that's a good movie. Its not really an action movie; it's a film about PTSD and police brutality. Brutal, unflinching, tense. I saw it before so I knew it was good but at the same time, I had forgotten those feelings a bit.

I didn’t really get on with The Big Short, just found it to be a bit smug and not super interesting to follow.

Oh, it was very smug, and other than maybe Brad Pitt and Steve Carrell's characters, I think every person involved in these events belongs under a guillotine.

He's only gone and watched another bunch of wildly differing examples of that there cinema:



Knocked Up (2007)

I hadn't watched this since seeing it at the cinema, but it's still a blast. Seth Rogen has had better films and the premise of Knocked Up is highly romanticised (workshy stoner gets successful TV host up the duff) but if you want to watch a romantic comedy that has a bit of naughty humour in it (via Jonah Hill and co) but tackles a tricky subject in a fun way, you can't really go wrong. I did feel that in the cinema, in 2007, this was laugh-out-loud hilarity, but on Netflix it just feels like another easy-to-watch romp you throw on when you can't decide what to watch. It was also interesting watching it having had an unplanned child. 8/10

King Kong (1933)

Did you know there are a ton of classic movies on IPlayer? This includes King Kong, and I had my doubts watching this iconic classic. It's the very definition of a classic, with so many moments that have been seen or referenced in the almost NINE decades since it released. I was actually blown away after watching it, because nobody involved would know what a computer is, yet the special effects, whilst clearly dated, had so much character. The T-Rex fight was gripping, the snake thing in the cave made me jump, the ending on the Empire State building that everybody knows, was both triumphant and heartbreaking. The pterodactyl I have no idea how they pulled off without strings showing. Kong kills a few people but I always felt like I was on his side - I found him more likeable than the male characters, which makes sense since they are there to capture him. But Fay Wray's damsel in distress is probably the best ever. Must see stuff. 10/10

Erin Brockovich (2000)

Watched this again recently and it's still a great story. Julia Roberts is brilliant as the divorced mum of three, trying to make ends meet, when she nabs a job at a local law firm. It's a true story of how a legal assistant uncovers a huge energy corporation is making people ill (properly ill) through its water, and gets hundreds of people compensation. Some of the secondary characters aren't as fleshed out as they maybe should be, but it's one of them films that manages to entertain you whilst also making you thankful you don't live the United States. 8.5/10

La La Land (2017)

I don't know what it is, but I found myself with a fat smile on my face throughout this celebration of jazz and classic Hollywood. The modern setting is somehow refreshing, full of life and colour in what is generally a dead, forgotten part of film. Emma Stone is oddly beautiful, yet largely ordinary and genuine, almost countering the larger than life, pristine goddesses of the past. It's like the film embraces its current environment and time, but applies an old formula to it. I'm not normally a fan of musicals as they tend to be corny, or I burst out laughing when everyone starts singing all of a sudden. La La Land somehow breaks that for me, and there's not much better than enjoying something you never thought you would. 9/10