Saturday, August 13, 2016

Weekend Open Thread

Don't f**k with the original!

We're in the final weeks of the summer movie season. The end is in sight! While we wait for the sweet release of death September, let's talk about whatever you all want to right here. Maybe it's a show about the early days of breakdancing (?) created by Baz Luhrmann! Maybe it's cartoon food with potty mouths! Or maybe it's just CHUD. It's usually CHUD.

73 comments:

  1. I watching Deep Blue Sea right now. They show way too many sharks, way too early and often. It's like the anti-Jaws.

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    1. What a ridiculous, yet watchable movie.

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    2. Now to complete your experience watch the video for "Deepest Bluest" by LL Cool J. Spoiler: He turns into a shark at the end.

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  2. It's Time!

    No more messing about, this weekend I am watching the Elric kane recommendation Things 1989
    Wish me luck, I may need it

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    1. With all this buildup I feel like you need to take notes of how you're feeling throughout the movie.

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    2. I may have to, I think an Elric Kane commentary to explain why its great

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    3. Fantastic. It's going to take you to the "4th, 5th, 6th, 7th dimension".

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    4. "You've been watching too many Horror films, All I see now is Blood and Guts!"

      My life will never again be the same, I'm still in shock! Highlights were Amber Lynn, I thought she was crosseyed but then i realized she had not learned any lines so she just read everything straight from the Autoque far to the left, the "I think you got yourself in a Tailspin" song was genuinely very catchy,
      And I'll end with my favourite joke
      How do you get paper children?
      You F#ck a Bag lady!

      I just survived Things, I'll be okay, I'll be okay, I'll be okay....

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    5. You'll be fine. You do realize Things is a documentary about life in Canada? It's like that everyday.

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    6. Dennis, I'm so proud of you!! You really can't get what's great about this movie unless you're a smart movie fan, and you appreciating it really proves that you're the real deal, dude. Things is one of the final bosses for bad movie fans.

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    7. I woke up this morning humming You got yourself in a Tailspin, and then I googled Amber Lynn videos, Things is now part of my subconscious

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    8. 24Hhrs later and i still can't get that song outta my head

      I got myself in a tailspin

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  3. I watched The Shallows after JB recommended on an older podcast I was listening to (don't remember which). On the podcast he said that his wife had an eye opening theory on that would be revealed on the podcast-a-thon. I have now listened to the JB's first hour on the podcast with no shocking reveals. Is it revealed later or was it simply forgotten? I am too curious what the deeper meaning of The Shallows is!

    I loved the movie tho, even though there was a bunch of kids in the theatre that kept talking throughout. I'd say it is the definetive Blake Lively performance and probably the best shark movie since Jaws. Yes, I know neither of those statements doesn't mean much.

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    1. That was meant as a seperate comment not a reply to Dennis, Is there any way to change that?

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    2. Did she strip to her undergarments in order to fight the shark? Because that definitely happened in Deep Blue Sea.

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    3. Or maybe it wasn't even, this is what I get for being a 20 year old that doesn't understand how the internet works.

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    4. You cannot edit, only delete and post again. Btw, it isn't showing as a reply to Dennis.

      I guess it makes sense to be in a bathing suit if you're a surfer.

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    5. The Reef, Sebastian! The Reef!! I really liked this one, and I'm all about big nasty hungry animals, in a realistic way.
      I'm really curious to see The Shallows (opens next wednesday in France), though I'm a bit apprehensive about the CGI...

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    6. There is a bunch of CG in the film, the shark was a digital effect throughout the entire movie. There is only a few moments it really stands out though. Watchlisting The Reef for sure.

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    7. Bait 3D is an overlooked gem from Australia where sharks are swarming a mall. Sounds ridiculous but they somehow make it kind of believable. It's not great or anything but I had a lot of fun watching it. Try to watch it in 3D if you can.

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    8. Thanks guys, The Reef is on Netflix and I'll check out Bait 3D sometime because I've never seen sharks swarm a mall...and I should.

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  4. She used everything she was wearing for survival, including her wet suit , so kind of yeah. I really want to watch Deep Blue Sea now, i'm all about sharks now.

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    1. The Shallows, best shark movie since 2012's Attack Of The Jurassic Shark. Wow, there are way more shark movies out there than I would have thought possible. I'm going to make this weekend all about sharks too.

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  5. I got a chance to see Phantasm Remastered. The more I am getting back into horror the more I am liking the 70s. There is something grimey and dream like about the whole thing. Film makers have been let off the leash. Anyway I liked Phantasm. Not a favourite, yet, but it played really well in a theater.

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    1. Jealous, I know it not Xtro, its kinda slow in parts, but it does have some amazing moments, and it was part of my gateway to loving horror, that video cover, I still proudly own the Vhs that sat on the shelf in 83 that scared me all those years ago

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    2. You are right when that movie really wants to kick off, it kicks off! Yes, it can be very slow, but I kind of like the dream like confusion vibe. Very good VHS movie, just not Xtro :).

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  6. Does anyone have the Exorcist Blu Ray Anthology (WB/region free)? Amazon is listing it as "under review" and there are some sketchy reviews about the quality of the discs. Has anyone had any issues with their copy?

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    1. I feel like I've watched all three movies in the set at one point and not had any issues except that the copy of Exorcist II that I watched was a terrible movie.

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    2. Hahaha, that checks out, then. Thanks.

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    3. Same here Rob - no issues other than it took me four times to get through Exorcist II without falling asleep!

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    4. Damn, and I gotta see part 2 soon just so I can rewatch 3!

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  7. I watched Sausage Party with a group of friends and really enjoyed it. It gets pretty outrageous by the end but also has a point it's trying to get across and while it isn't exactly subtle, I think it does it well.

    Also watched Pete's Dragon because I felt like something a little light-hearted. It's a very sweet movie that's far from top-tier Disney stuff, but you could do a lot worse. Plus you've got Robert fucking Redford and the kid that plays Pete is fairly solid also which is always nice when you've got a movie that heavily relies on a child actor.

    I've watched plenty of other stuff this week as well (Tango & Cash, Barbarella, 24 Hour Party People, Stagecoach, Gimme Shelter, and a few other things). One thing I wanted to mention though was Next Door (2005), which is the English name for the Norwegian movie Naboer. It's a fairly well done psychological thriller although it maybe tips its hand a bit early. It's not quite Lynch or Hitchcock but you can see the influences of both here.

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  8. My Mum who watches soaps all the time said this to me today. "I don't like films, its all made up rubbish!" My mum, Patricia Atherton. Best quote ever, I was crying laughing for 5 minutes

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  9. I saw a pretty good new Finnish horror movie, Bodom, on Monday. That's such a rare occurrence, I think it's worthy of note. Also, I'm fulfilling my civic duty by spreading the word.

    A lot of the time, Bodom is a by-the-numbers teen horror and not everything in it makes sense, but it managed to grip me for almost the whole running time.

    Four teens go camping on the shore of Lake Bodom, because they're (or some of them are) fascinated by a real-life crime that happened there decades earlier. Needless to say, events in the present day start to echo the violent past...

    Admittedly, a part of why it gripped me is that it's based on a famous real-life crime (a crime that was never solved), but I'd say it's worth a watch for any horror fan. It's getting an international release, so maybe give it a chance if you happen upon it.

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    1. Heh. I thought if anyone's interested, it'll be Chaybee.

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    2. No dice, Mikko, don't think I can get it in the states yet.

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    3. Not yet, I'm sure. The Finnish premiere is next week (I saw a special preview) and I guess the international release is somewhere in the future. Just wanted to put it on your radar.

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  10. For me it's Pete's Dragom in T minus one hour. I'm looking forward to a fun time!

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  11. Did I go see Nine Lives this morning? Yes, yes I did.

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    1. Your thoughts. They must be shared.

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    2. Well, the five or so kids in the theater with me seemed pretty bored. The Kevin Spacey cat has an inner monologue but cannot speak, so he meows and screeches constantly during the entire movie; it really adds to the entertainment value... not!! ("That's how serious about this I am, Frank, I said 'Not!'" -Brenda Bunson, Sausage Party) I have the feeling this started life as a more adult project. The plot is all about corporate espionage, the overall tone of the picture is kinda dull, and some of the jokes seem like holdovers from a less kid-friendly script ("Everyone in this office knows Tom loves children... they make the best cell phones!"), and a major plot point late in the movie hinges on everything thinking a character is planning on committing suicide... something that doesn't normally come up in kids' movies. It doesn't matter though, whichever version of this movie we got is terrible crap. Christopher Walken is doing Dustin Hoffman's schtick from Mr. Magorium, and Jennifer Garner does nothing with a nothing character. Spacey's totally forgiving, upbeat daughter is a complete blank of a character, there to drive his narrative; a Manic Pixie Dream Daughter, if you will. I would love for this to have been a memorable catastrophe (get it?) to go down in the annals of bad moviedom like its notorious twin A Talking Cat?!, but it's just a forgettable misfire, like Good Boy!

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    3. Much more noteworthily, I did a Steve Miner double feature today of Lake Placid and the Day of the Dead remake. Placid was shockingly great, and DotD is almost single-handedly wrecked by Nick Cannon's incessant, obnoxious ad-libbing and posing. Mena Suvari is unbelievably cute. I got very excited because Pat Kilbane (MadTV's Stan the Coffee Guy) was named in the opening credits, but he gets what amounts to a cameo at the very end as the main zombie. Bogus!

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  12. In keeping with my shark theme, I watched Open Water, which I had never heard of before today.

    From what I understand, opinions are quite polarized for this movie. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it despite realizing it was made on the cheap very quickly. The acting is pretty sub-par, and there is some cringe-worthy dialogue. Also, it could have been shorter, almost losing my interest about the 3/4 mark. However, it does work as the movie it's trying to be. Especially avoiding attempts at (what would have been cheap) special effects, and instead focusing on creating an atmosphere of desperation and dread without hardly every showing the sharks. In this it handedly succeeds.

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  13. "Too Late" has trumped "The Witch" as my favorite movie of the year. It's that good, don't sleep. I haven't stopped thinking about it since I saw it last Wednesday and I watched a second time just to make sure. Might be an all-time favorite. I encourage everyone to rent it on VOD.

    Also, just watched "Let's Be Evil". Not great, but I'm fine with it. Great score!

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    1. This is a coup, I say, a coup. Unheard of! But yeah, Too Late was fucking great. Go in blind, no trailers. But don't miss it.

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    2. Should also mention that even though I would've gotten around to it eventually, the only reason I've seen it already is because of Chaybee's recommendation.

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    3. Not Horror, Dennis, but so damn good. I hope you like it.

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    4. I can handle non horror films about 1 in every 100 I'm good, just messing, too much Horror is not fun, palate cleansers are always great, I need something good to realign my brain after watching Things!

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    5. I might add that if the style of dialogue in something like, say, Brick rubbed you the wrong way, Too Late might not go over so hot with you.

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    6. Doesn't matter. It's too beautiful to look at and so well done. People need to see the movie regardless. Don't like the dialog? Deal with it :)

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  14. I really loved Pete's Dragon. I thought it captured a feeling of childlike wonder that is nearly always missing in modern films. It's beautiful, emotional, and might have the best soundtrack of the year. It also made me feel very affectionate about middle America, where I live. Highly recommended.

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  15. I am seeing Equity on Tuesday night. So excited!

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  16. As someone who grew up with TNG, albeit not with TOS, I get no pleasure at all out of saying I freaking hated the meaninglessly titled Star Trek Beyond. The movie was so violent, so ear-splitting, and such an assault on the senses that it frankly seemed hypocritcal of it to make Krall the villain, because in aesthetic and spirit, unleashing wanton violence upon an innocent audience for our own theoretical good is exactly what the movie was selling. A huge number of Kirk's crew is slaughtered (I'm assuming, based on the viciousness of the attack), and the very next day he's smirking about how "fun" being a captain is? Ha, ha?

    And was I supposed to feel at all nervous that he might leave being a captain in the first place? Because I wasn't; not for a moment. (Actually following through on that threat and doing a movie with Captain Spock would be far too daring for this assembly-line movie franchise to contemplate.) Nor was I convinced for a minute that an FM radio broadcast could scramble the swarms' navigational coordination. Or that, in a movie where transporters are as magic as Harry Potter teleportation, Kirk would even be endangered by being sucked out into space.

    No, I wanted to like the movie, but instead found it downright awful. I agree with all the usual complaints about Into Darkness, a movie I'm not inclined to ever see again, but even it made an attempt at telling a story with some kind of ethical dilemma and contemporary resonance, whereas Beyond was just another Nemesis/Trek '09 rehash, with the boring old "acting" and "character" stuff removed. I still like the cast, but when the MCU consistently produces better and more thoughtful sci-fi than this, it may well be (well past) time to mothball the Trek movie division altogether. (And frankly maybe the whole franchise too, Discovery notwithstanding.)

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    1. Perhaps what this series needs is a Star Trek vs Predator installment to inject some life into it :)

      Honestly, I more excited about revisiting TNG more than any of the movies

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    2. You jest (I think), but if Elba had done all his scenes in a Predator outfit/makeup, only a few tweaked lines of dialogue would be necessary to make it a bona fide cross - which, to my mind, is a perfect example of how insipid and vacuous Beyond's story really is.

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  17. Just watched Jaws 2 for the first time. Might it be possible that this is even better than Jaws? To be fair, they're 2 movies of slightly different feathers. Jaws has the glorious buildup of suspense and character development between Brody and the other 2 guys. Jaws 2 knows it can't top Spielberg, but HAS figured out to use the mechanical sharks in sea water. So it goes all in with shark attacks right from the beginning (and a giant explosion). I thought there was still enough character development between the teenagers that I cared when a few of then got eaten (like the girl in the small boat with Brody's young son. She had been nice and kind to him and also to the new girl. She was also the only one who jumped into the water to save the young boy. I was horrified when she was eaten). All and all, I liked the abundance of visceral shark action in this one.

    Also, some scenes in the harbour at the beginning, there were so many sailboats that they were all nearly crashing into each other. And later on, they did all crash into each other. I chuckled.

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    1. And this means I'm going to be watching 3 and Revenge, for better or worse.

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    2. Oh Revenge. A movie I kind of want to watch again, but really do not want to watch again.

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  18. Heads up: "Ghost Team" is free in HD right now on Google Play. It's not great but I liked it enough and it's worth a watch while it's free.

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  19. Saw Black Snake Moan for the first time yesterday. I really loved it. After re-watching the trailer and looking at the marketing, I remember why I was turned off from it in 2006. Still, I wish I hadn't waited so long.

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  20. Watched The Seventh Seal for the first time. That is an amazing movie, and in particular a great performance from Max von Sydow. I guess along with Sausage Party this is my weekend for watching movies with a lead character suffering a crisis of faith (this may well be the first and only time someone draws a connection between Sausage Party and The Seventh Seal). If I had 3 hours of free time today I'm really in the mood to rewatch the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven.

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  21. And to end my weekend with a bang, the Melbourne Film fest got to show a screening of Fede Alvarez Don't Breathe. I'm not going to say too much except over all I enjoyed it and it had some great moments. It played amazing in a theatre - though I always like a movie a little more in a theatre, I'm not sure if it's I'm at the movies sindrome.

    But I am looking forward to hearing what everyone else thinks, if and when they see it.

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  22. Busy week and weekend last week. Besides Olympic fever I've been charging through the James Bond movies still. Finally got out of the tar-pit that is the Roger Moore Bond run. Screw all of those except for Spy Who Loved Me because I was actually pleasantly surprised with that. I was also really charmed by gentleman T-Dalts in Living Daylights, but after View to a Kill I'd prefer anything. Maybe my biggest disappointment of the week was when I listened to the Living Daylights podcast and (cover your ears Dennis) Patrick really took the piss out of Xtro. That comment alone made me forget how upset I was that Mike hates Living Daylights. I'm glad Patrick seems to have come around on Xtro, but that sudden burst of blasphemy was unsettling.

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    1. I think I remember that, if I'm right it wasn't really negative it was just a bland I can take it or leave it review ?
      I might of not heard it, but with the new love for Giallo I feel Xtro would play much better next viewing....

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    2. If I hear any blasphemy I will do as they do in The life of Brian

      "Crucify him and Crucify him well"

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    3. I just listened, I had listened before but forgot, he's right about Maryam, Stunning, 3 years ago so enough time had past now and Xtro will work its magic next viewing for sure, its got the score, the wierdness, the fantastical, just like Giallo it needs your tastes to change to love it, I think Patrick is ready to give it one more try, just for me.

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