What's the latest movie you've seen?

[FETCHER.]

^I only saw Jaws once and that was years ago, like before there was Wikipedia. But I remember having similar feelings about it. My first impression is basically: Sharks.. Without David Attenborough narrating, how interesting could it be? But then it's actually very good.

About films becoming outdated or not, I think the mark of a true classic is it has staying power across the ages 🙂 though there certainly are some fading stars among them.

Yeah I definitely agree, I was so pleasantly surprised and given me the push to watch some more older films I had put off for those reasons .

Jaws is my favorite movie of all time. It's absolutely perfect.

Also the only film that's inspired me to monologue lol
Patched together because it was originally posted as a series of instagram stories

Lol I love that, it's great.

Did you ever get a chance to go on the Jaws ride at Universal in Florida?

I haven't but you have reminded me to watch it on YouTube 😅 as close as I'll ever get

[Guybrush]

We finished the movie Shutter from 2004 that we started yesterday, but fell asleep to.



Its a Thai horror movie in which a ghost may possibly be haunting photographs. Or at least a photographer.

It's very much in the same vein as The Ring / The Grudge (at least the Asian originals) and feels slightly above average in certain aspects.

Something that did dull its impact somewhat for me is the movie sets up our protagonists, a couple, as somewhat despicable at the start of the movie so I wasn't too sympathetic towards them. You go, ghost!!

There were a few decent scares and cool scenes, but nothing mind-blowing. Still, enjoyable enough and the ending was kinda neat / fun.

My rating:

[Psy-Fi]

The Choppers (1961)

Low-budget B&W teenage crime drama about an organized group of teens working for a crooked junkyard owner, illegally stripping cars for parts. Ridiculous, cartoonish, and somewhat entertaining but rather mediocre overall.

[Marie Monday]

Jaws is my favorite movie of all time. It's absolutely perfect.

Also the only film that's inspired me to monologue lol
Patched together because it was originally posted as a series of instagram stories

great accent, great beard, 10/10

[DJChameleon]

We finished the movie Shutter from 2004 that we started yesterday, but fell asleep to.



Its a Thai horror movie in which a ghost may possibly be haunting photographs. Or at least a photographer.

It's very much in the same vein as The Ring / The Grudge (at least the Asian originals) and feels slightly above average in certain aspects.

Something that did dull its impact somewhat for me is the movie sets up our protagonists, a couple, as somewhat despicable at the start of the movie so I wasn't too sympathetic towards them. You go, ghost!!

There were a few decent scares and cool scenes, but nothing mind-blowing. Still, enjoyable enough and the ending was kinda neat / fun.

My rating:

They did an American remake of that movie. I should have known it was a remake in the first place. I wonder how much better the original is comparatively.

Spoiler

Did the ending also have the main character starting to bend over like he had pain in his neck? if so then they followed the original to a T. The reveal at the end was dope and the only reason to watch the movie.

[close]

I generally don't like ghost horror movies because like so what they tell a story about what sad/tragedy happened to the ghost to want them to haunt the place but 9/10 it is super boring. Just silly little jump scares here and there. Ghosts can't physically harm you.

[Guybrush]

^I know about the remake, but haven't seen it and so can't compare. I think the original is a little more well liked, but who knows.

Spoiler

Did the ending also have the main character starting to bend over like he had pain in his neck? if so then they followed the original to a T. The reveal at the end was dope and the only reason to watch the movie.

[close]

MASSIVE SHUTTER SPOILER

Yup, locked in an insane asylum with a very bent back. I liked it!

[close]

Now I'm watching Wicked City, another horror anime. However, got sleepy yet again and had to divvy it up.

[jadis]

Saw a local cinematheque is having a mini retrospective in August and got excited. Anyone else here a fan? I've always thought I was more in the camp of the understated Antonioni rather than the carnivalesque Fellini but seeing Roma on the big screen a couple of years ago and then Amarcord made me a passionate fan. 

Really looking forward to see Nights of Cabiria on the big screen.

Here's Germaine Greer on why that film is Fellini at his finest ("the final emancipation of cinema from the narrative") and also on her relationship with the great man

Saw Nights of Cabiria yesterday on the big screen. Cried like a bitch at the ending, it's impossible not to. Germaine is right, it's a great great film.

Apparently Giulietta Masina was Chaplin's favorite actress and you can see why.

Was slightly pissed off during the first minutes because a date stood me up but the film drew me in very quickly. Texted her afterwards, turns out she had a sun stroke from a trip to Caesarea the previous day and thought it's today. Will take her to another Fellini later this month. Living in a city with a Cinematheque that shows Fellini is better than living in one without, whatever other inconveniences there might be 

[Guybrush]

^Cool, Jadis 🙂

I haven't forgotten your Fellini recommendation btw. Just gotta wade through some of this trash first.

Yesterday, I finished Wicked City, an anime from 1987.



One of the reasons I watch these is my wife falls asleep and I can't watch our regular shows because she'll miss out and same with any good movies we might wanna watch together. So she holds all those things hostage and I watch something she definitely would not want to watch anyways.

Wicked City is one such film.

It's a story that takes place in a setting where there is a demon world as well as the human world (I guess this is a regular concept in anime). There's a peace between the worlds, but the peace agreement is due for a re-ratification. Our protagonist is part of an agency that handles security for one of the signers of the new deal, a guy who some terrorist demons are out to get. To help him keep this dude safe from various attacks, he's joined by a sexy and lethal partner from the demon world.

I can't say the story really pays off when all's said and done, but some of the characters and visuals are quite cool. As an anime newb, I do like the wild ideas put onscreen.

We get some sexual violence, although nowhere as bad as in the Legend of the Overfiend. Still, it feels unnecessary and stupid. I'm not a prude, but the way it's depicted makes you feel like the people who made it find rape really hot. I guess it's also just a regular thing in anime?

So to summarize, it's reasonably entertaining and occasionally offensive anime about killing demons and banging.

[Lexi Darling]

One of the reasons I watch these is my wife falls asleep and I can't watch our regular shows because she'll miss out and same with any good movies we might wanna watch together. So she holds all those things hostage and I watch something she definitely would not want to watch anyways.

I feel that for sure. Sometimes while the mister is at work I'll start watching something that looks interesting to have on while I'm doing chores, and I'll watch it for like 10 minutes before it turns out it's an incredibly "us" movie and something we'd definitely want to watch together. So I turn it off, add it to the "to watch" list and then find something else.

[jadis]

^Cool, Jadis 🙂

I haven't forgotten your Fellini recommendation btw. Just gotta wade through some of this trash first.

For me it's important to find the right mood for anything like that. There was more than a decade between the last Fellini I've seen (based on Guy Maddin's recommendation I pasted here) and my current spark of interest in him. There was a short breather between Covid waves when I saw that Roma is playing at the local Cinematheque and felt like seeing it with a friend and it exceeded all expectations.

I kinda want to see Barbie but have no one to go with. The girl I'm seeing has already seen with her friends, the other lady I'm messaging with is more of a Fellini type and whoever else I know here who could be susceptible is either away or seen it already. It's not a film I feel like going to see alone.

[DJChameleon]

We get some sexual violence, although nowhere as bad as in the Legend of the Overfiend. Still, it feels unnecessary and stupid. I'm not a prude, but the way it's depicted makes you feel like the people who made it find rape really hot. I guess it's also just a regular thing in anime?

So to summarize, it's reasonably entertaining and occasionally offensive anime about killing demons and banging.

It is NOT a regular thing in anime. Anime as a whole gets a bad reputation from the few super over the top sexualized scenes that are found in select ones but by no means is that the norm across all Anime.

Anime has so many sub categories that you can venture into and never see anything related to loli or being over sexualized.

have you watched Akira? It came out in 1986. I feel like you might enjoy that one.

Demon City, Fist of the Northstar, Ghost in the Shell are a few others as well that are considered old school anime that came out in the 80s that are stand alone movies that later on became series but the movies hold up so much better imo.

^I know about the remake, but haven't seen it and so can't compare. I think the original is a little more well liked, but who knows.

MASSIVE SHUTTER SPOILER

Yup, locked in an insane asylum with a very bent back. I liked it!

[close]

Slightly darker ending than the remake but similar.

[Guybrush]

have you watched Akira? It came out in 1986. I feel like you might enjoy that one.

Demon City, Fist of the Northstar, Ghost in the Shell are a few others as well that are considered old school anime that came out in the 80s that are stand alone movies that later on became series but the movies hold up so much better imo.

I love Akira and have also read it (though I don't actually care so much for the story as it continues past the events of the movie).

I've also seen Fist of the North Star and Ghost in the Shell (kinda boring).

Perfect Blue, Vampire Hunter D and Cobra Space Adventure are a few more. Sword Art Online, Paprika, various Ghiblis.. okay, so there's some I've seen when I think about it 🤔 but I believe most of the animes I've seen caught the attention of the mainstream, so a deep dive is not something I ever really did.

[Guybrush]

Saw this the other day:



Der Todesking by Jörg Buttgereit.

I saw it while working out and I don't know German that well so kinda couldn't keep up with it when I wasn't paying attention to the subtitles.

What I did catch seemed like dark, artsy drivel. You see stories from the lives of several characters. All of them seem depressed, suicidal, murderous or all of the above. There's a lot of suicide themes here and Der Todesking (The Death King) makes it so that people don't wanna live anymore. At least that's what a young girl tells us.

Between the various episodes, we get stop motion pictures of a rotting corpse that looks very wax-like (ie. fake).

It's a super low budget, arty farty, edgy german flick that feels like a shallow attempt at being profound. Jörg is the guy who made NEKROmantic and was still very young when he made this. I don't think Jörg had the necessary maturity to pull this off. For example, we get weird changes in tone. When a girl tells her slob of a boyfriend to get off his lazy couch ass and he pulls out a gun from nowhere and shoots her dead. The score suddenly changes to punk music.

The drama and reasons for people's suffering seems whiny or non-existent. A lot of the violence either happens off-screen and is just implied or the sound is cut or whatever. Coupled with how the movie seems disingenuous in its profundity, the scenes lack the impact they might otherwise have.

This might not be a completely fair review because I wasn't giving it my full attention, but my impression is it was very boring.

[robhr]

Amsterdam.

Didn't love it. It was fine.

[DJChameleon]

Amsterdam.

Didn't love it. It was fine.

wow really? I watched it twice because I was into it.