[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Severian

Hey Symbols, did you ever watch Road to Perdition? That post-American Beauty San Mendes joint I recommended to you a few months ago?

Or maybe it was like a year ago. Who the fuck can tell anymore?

no! i forgot. it’s been a few months in limbo and i recently relocated so organizing movie queues was kinda pointless.

tragedies i try to reserve for the season when our hemisphere descends into darkness, so it will be a few months.

[noisereductions]

What I like about the DC animated films is they mostly stick to actual comic storylines. The WW one was great for instance. I personally like New Frontier. First Flight made Hal Jordan cool to me etc.

Though our tastes clearly part ways sev as I thought Gotham Knight was meh.

[HenryHill51]

Few films recently seen.....


1. Princess Cyd (2017)- Had I made time for this in '17, it most certainly would have placed pretty high on my 'best of the year' list. Gentle, knowing and heartfelt tale that slinks along with intelligence in dealing with the fumbling emotions of a 16 year old girl (Jessie Pinnick, wonderful) spending a few weeks in Chicago with her aunt (Rebecca Spence). There's no huge moments, just perfectly realized characters finding their way through this certain time together. And the speech given by Spence to Cyd in the kitchen after a party feels ten times more real and moving than the speech given by Michael Stuhlbarg in "Call Me By Your Name"..... which earned him an Oscar nomination by the way.



2. Flower (2018)- can't say much. review upcoming at Dallas Film Now. Zoey Deutch is the real shit, though.





3. The Devil, Probably (1977)- Robert Bresson's second to last film, highly regarded by most and still so hard to see today. Dry is an understatement. Watching this group of social and environmentally active group of teens sleep with each other, fall in and out of love, question God, then ultimately question themselves is not without its blessings.... it just also feels very self-serving. I love the way Bresson remains entrenched on watching hands, bodies and objects more than the faces of his characters, though. I also see where Bertrand Bonello probably drew his inspirations for last year's "Nocturama".



4. Brawl In Cell Block 99 (2017). What I said about "Princess Cyd" applies here as well. I can't even recall this thing playing in Dallas last year. Maybe a midnight Alamo Drafthouse event? Regardless, it's a relentlessly hardcore exploration of the decisions made when pinned between a rock and a hard place. Vince Vaughn is amazing as the ex-boxer pinched for dealing drugs, then forced to sink lower and lower into the pits of confinement hell when given an ultimatum. It all becomes quite exploitative, but in the best way.




5. Mustang Island (2017)- One of the films I missed at last year's Dallas International Film Festival, which it went onto win the Texas Jury Prize from. Head scratching mistake if you ask me. Filmed in that deadpan, black and white early Jarmusch way, even its aesthetic screams precocious. It's story? Not much better. Macon Blair drags two buddies on a stalker-esque quest to find his recent ex-girlfriend at her beach home on the Texas coast. Of course, life lessons and new loves are earned. Everything in this effort has been done better and more sincerely.




6. Gideon of Scotland Yard (1958)- What a day for Chief Inspector Gideon (Jack Hawkins) of Scotland Yard, who has to deal with crooked cops, murder and a payroll robbery all in one day. Handled deftly (if not fairly pedantic) by Ford, the film is worth watching only for his handling of the stiff, tight-lipped manner in which most British film of the 50’s and 60’s were shrouded in.


7. Gator (1976)- Burt Reynolds directed southern-action flick about an ex convict named, yes, Gator (Reynolds) enlisted by the feds to infiltrate and bring down old buddy Jerry Reed. The seven year old in me would have loved the opening 20 minutes of speed boat chases along the Louisiana bayou.




8. The Whispering Star (2014)- Either one likes Sion Sono's films or not. "Tokyo Tribe" anyone? The man is a true punk rocker in a long line of cinematic Japansese saboteurs. "The Whispering Star" is yet another deviation in his work. Quite slow, reflective and featuring one sequence of breathtaking visual acuity, the film tracks a robot delivering mail packages to people around various solar systems are her brief interactions with them. Though the worlds she ultimately lands on look like post apocalyptic wastelands of Earth (for good reason since Sono filmed in areas around the Fukushima power plant meltdown), the small beauty lies in their interactions that range from obscure to heartbreaking.




9. The 1517 To Paris (2018)- Very confused by this. I've liked Eastwood's efforts less and less since his masterpiece "Mystic River", and this one features the real life men who stopped a terrorist attack onboard a French train a few years back. The problem is, none of these guys can act and Eastwood chooses to begin with their friendship in grade school, which comes off just as tone-deaf and hackneyed as one would imagine. It doesn't get any better as it goes along, either.




10. Norwegian Wood (2009)- Based on acclaimed author Marukami's novel of the same name, Tran Ahn Hung brings the story of young star-crossed lovers to light with ethereal beauty and texture. Friends since childhood, the always splendid Rinko Kinkuchi and Kenichi Matsuyama react to the suicide of their best friend in different ways... ways that pull and push them together for years afterward. This is a film that reminded me of the early films of Julio Medem in the way life is messy and rude and beautiful each time we meet someone new. Not to mention, this features one FANTASTIC score by Jonny Greenwwod. Yes, even better than most of his P.T. Anderson films.

[dirty bunny]

GoodFellas. Easily one of my favourite films. I wonder if it's partly because of how it unravels and the anti-heroes actually get their comeuppance. Hmm

[evollove]

Originally Posted by HenryHill51

3. The Devil, Probably (1977)- Robert Bresson's second to last film, highly regarded by most and still so hard to see today. Dry is an understatement. Watching this group of social and environmentally active group of teens sleep with each other, fall in and out of love, question God, then ultimately question themselves is not without its blessings.... it just also feels very self-serving. I love the way Bresson remains entrenched on watching hands, bodies and objects more than the faces of his characters, though. I also see where Bertrand Bonello probably drew his inspirations for last year's "Nocturama".

Saw it about a decade ago and I don't remember anything about the film except footage of a seal (I think) getting killed and...that last scene. Holy shit. That really stuck with me. Still find it disturbing.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

What I like about the DC animated films is they mostly stick to actual comic storylines. The WW one was great for instance. I personally like New Frontier. First Flight made Hal Jordan cool to me etc.

Though our tastes clearly part ways sev as I thought Gotham Knight was meh.

Gotham Knight was at least half meh for sure, but I enjoyed the different animation styles. That’s my main beef, if you couldn’t tell.

Also, sticking to the comics is tricky. Yes, they usually adapt directly from the comics (not always a good thing, btw), but they change a LOT. See Flashpoint, Killing Joke, etc.

Now what’s a I really want is for them to make an R-rated Knightfall adaptation. The main arc, with Bane breaking Batman, Azrael stepping in and whooping Bane, and Bats coming back and whooping on Azrael. But mostly Bruce’s slow descent into madness followed by his shit getting smashed.

That would be cool. For a ‘90s guy like moi.
Also a Death of Superman one. Maybe. Actually naw that would be sad.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

What I like about the DC animated films is they mostly stick to actual comic storylines. The WW one was great for instance. I personally like New Frontier. First Flight made Hal Jordan cool to me etc.

Though our tastes clearly part ways sev as I thought Gotham Knight was meh.

Gotham Knight was at least half meh for sure, but I enjoyed the different animation styles. That’s my main beef, if you couldn’t tell.

Also, sticking to the comics is tricky. Yes, they usually adapt directly from the comics (not always a good thing, btw), but they change a LOT. See Flashpoint, Killing Joke, etc.

Now what’s a I really want is for them to make an R-rated Knightfall adaptation. The main arc, with Bane breaking Batman, Azrael stepping in and whooping Bane, and Bats coming back and whooping on Azrael. But mostly Bruce’s slow descent into madness followed by his shit getting smashed.

That would be cool. For a ‘90s guy like moi.
Also a Death of Superman one. Maybe. Actually naw that would be sad.

[ilduclo]

Brawl in Cellblock, yeah....I had to watch Chinese rom coms after that

[!@#$%!]

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

i expected it to be a goofy movie about a silly dad but no... yeah it’s funny at times but mostly a drama which while structurally may have had its problems it was a kind of a paen to a certain kind of alternative lifestyle i find appealing. so. i liked it tons. free on prime too.

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by Severian

Also a Death of Superman one. Maybe. Actually naw that would be sad.

you mean like Superman: Doomsday.... the very first one of the DC Animated Universe movies?

Or do you mean like The Death Of Superman & Reign Of The Supermen, which are coming in 2018 and 2019 respectively?

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

you mean like Superman: Doomsday.... the very first one of the DC Animated Universe movies?

Or do you mean like The Death Of Superman & Reign Of The Supermen, which are coming in 2018 and 2019 respectively?

Obviously what I mean is that I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about.

Lol. Seriously though, I’ve only seen a handful of these movies. I get them mixed up with the various animated series like Justice League, BAS, Adventures of Superman, Young Justice, etc. because, again, they all look the fuck the same.

But now that you mention it, I think I was aware that Superman: Doomsday was a movie. I didn’t know Reign of the Supermen was being adapted, but I’ll look forward to that just because I love me some goddamn m-f’n Super-motherfucking-man!

[noisereductions]

yeah there are DC animated movies that I'm NOT talking about. I'm specifically talking about the (currently) 30 movies that make up the DC Universe Animated Originals, which is a series that started in 2007.

Yes, the art style remains the same.... because it's supposed to be a single universe. So they sort of make Batman look like the same Batman in every movie. And so on. And keep the same voices. I mean it makes sense to me from a "shared universe" standpoint, even if you don't like the changing of art from various books.

Those animated series or Warner Bros animated movies aren't part of this. Like there were some movies connected to Batman: The Animated Series or Justice League series... (I loved B:TAS, btw) but this series is generally more 'serious' and dark and several entries have been rated R even. Like Killing Joke for example.

(Speaking of, that one gets a lot of hate - mostly for the added Babs Gorden scene in the beginning, which I *get* but at the same time I think they were trying to show an attachment to her and Bruce is all. So I mean, I get it. It's just people are easily upset if you mess w/the classics and this is a classic. But ultimately, I liked the Killing Joke movie quite a bit).

I've seen a bunch of them, first in random order - ended up seeing more of the newer ones, and have now been going back and watching them all in chronological order. So the ones I've done that with so far are -

1. Superman: Doomsday
I totally loved this one. Yes, it's obviously condensed from the Death Of story, but it's awesome. And it's actually sad. Like the scene where Lois goes and visits Clark's aunt... great stuff.

2. Justice League: The New Frontier
You said you didn't like this one,but I thought it did a good job. The intro to Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter stuff...

3. Batman: Gotham Knight
As I've said, I thought it was pretty meh. I didn't like the art styles here personally. And the whole thing was basically a re-hash of an ep of Batman: The Animated series from like the first season.

4. Wonder Woman
Excellent. Really great. Based on Gods & Monsters, but has a lot of the same origin stuff as in the eventual live action movie, and then goes off in a diff direction for the ending. Recommended.

5. Green Lantern: First Flight
So good. This one made GL cool to me. I was never really interested in that character. But this was like about 'a new cop on his first day on a beat' or whatever. And then there's crooked stuff going on in the Corps. This one really surprised me.

I've got Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths sitting at home for me. After that I might be hitting up the library to keep the chrono viewing in order, though I do have probably another half-dozen random entries already, and though there is something fun about picking up copies of each as I go.

[HenryHill51]

Originally Posted by evollove

Saw it about a decade ago and I don't remember anything about the film except footage of a seal (I think) getting killed and...that last scene. Holy shit. That really stuck with me. Still find it disturbing.

Yep, the seal scene and final scene are pretty much the noteworthy things. I admire Bresson more than love any of his films.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

yeah there are DC animated movies that I'm NOT talking about. I'm specifically talking about the (currently) 30 movies that make up the DC Universe Animated Originals, which is a series that started in 2007.

Yes, the art style remains the same.... because it's supposed to be a single universe. So they sort of make Batman look like the same Batman in every movie. And so on. And keep the same voices. I mean it makes sense to me from a "shared universe" standpoint, even if you don't like the changing of art from various books.

Those animated series or Warner Bros animated movies aren't part of this. Like there were some movies connected to Batman: The Animated Series or Justice League series... (I loved B:TAS, btw) but this series is generally more 'serious' and dark and several entries have been rated R even. Like Killing Joke for example.

(Speaking of, that one gets a lot of hate - mostly for the added Babs Gorden scene in the beginning, which I *get* but at the same time I think they were trying to show an attachment to her and Bruce is all. So I mean, I get it. It's just people are easily upset if you mess w/the classics and this is a classic. But ultimately, I liked the Killing Joke movie quite a bit).

I've seen a bunch of them, first in random order - ended up seeing more of the newer ones, and have now been going back and watching them all in chronological order. So the ones I've done that with so far are -

1. Superman: Doomsday
I totally loved this one. Yes, it's obviously condensed from the Death Of story, but it's awesome. And it's actually sad. Like the scene where Lois goes and visits Clark's aunt... great stuff.

2. Justice League: The New Frontier
You said you didn't like this one,but I thought it did a good job. The intro to Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter stuff...

3. Batman: Gotham Knight
As I've said, I thought it was pretty meh. I didn't like the art styles here personally. And the whole thing was basically a re-hash of an ep of Batman: The Animated series from like the first season.

4. Wonder Woman
Excellent. Really great. Based on Gods & Monsters, but has a lot of the same origin stuff as in the eventual live action movie, and then goes off in a diff direction for the ending. Recommended.

5. Green Lantern: First Flight
So good. This one made GL cool to me. I was never really interested in that character. But this was like about 'a new cop on his first day on a beat' or whatever. And then there's crooked stuff going on in the Corps. This one really surprised me.

I've got Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths sitting at home for me. After that I might be hitting up the library to keep the chrono viewing in order, though I do have probably another half-dozen random entries already, and though there is something fun about picking up copies of each as I go.

Green Lantern is cool. Or, has become cool. Alan Scott is the antithesis or cool, as is Silver Age... well, everything. But GL has splintered off into its own thing. The GL Corps has had some epic storylines and massive arcs throughout New 52 and Rebirth, while Hal is my favorite, the other have had their moments. They all operate the rings differently, and it leads to a lot of interesting, imaginative character-based stuff. Jessica Cruz and John Stewart are kickass.

I think there’s a great deal of potential there for a *good* movie if it’s in the right hands. But not holding out hope for any DC love action stuff at the moment.

Man of Steel II might not happen until 20-fucking-20!!! Cavill will be like 40. Laaaame.

Anyway, maybe I’ll check some more of these lit.
Can’t see how Gotham Knight fits into any shared universe, as it’s an anthology of different tales on Batman, but whatever.

Still looking forward to Batman: Ninja.

[noisereductions]

Gotham Knight was a weird one like Assault on Arkham or whatever it was called that was part of the universe... But pretty obviously not.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

Gotham Knight was a weird one like Assault on Arkham or whatever it was called that was part of the universe... But pretty obviously not.

Dude-yo, have you SEEN the trailer for Batman: Ninja? There’s an English language one, but subbed > dubbed and all that. Check t:

https://youtu.be/nXsWXgOJ0Q8

(Actually my vision is shit so I usually need to watch dubbed unless I’m at a huge screen)

[Rob Instigator]

Hollywood Reporter review of Annihilation https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/re...review-1085770

[!@#$%!]

yo action fans

what are the essential jean-claude van damme movies?

watching jean-claude van johnson and i’m not gettin half the jokes and o man. where have i been all these years

the tv show is awesome btw but i want the background

[LifeDistortion]

 

Alex Garland is two for two for me. I really like this movie. Garland is really reaching for big heights. This movie is ambitious, and its going to leave a lot of people cold. This movie is going to be very divisive, in the way that 2001: A Space Odyssey or Prometheus is. Some will declare it a masterpiece, as its already been, while others are going to dismiss it as self-indulgent and boring. Either way you fall on it, its worth seeing in theaters. Because we only get a few big budget sci-fi movies like this that aren't called Star Wars.

[demonrail666]

 

Limitless

Solid PK Dick-style sf. Haven't seen any of the spin off series but the film is definitely worth a watch.