Which movie did you see last?

[Deleted]

Maybe I'll just read the book before the 15th...

Hermoine defeats Harry Potter, but not before devouring the remaining Horcruxes. I'm only speculating, but I think Medusa's head will be used to defeat Voldemort. I see no other way of defeating him. Ron Weasley becomes the next Ganondorf. Again, this is only speculation, I have no idea how to story is going to unfold.

[Mutagene]

I've recently rewatched Blade II, Hellboy, and Cry-Baby. I haven't seen the latter since I was much younger, so it was pretty awesome to see that I had remembered it surprisingly well. Blade II is still pretty creepy and definitely a great movie, I always enjoy the tension between the characters when I see it. Hellboy is also still great, although it's not nearly as fantastic as its sequel.

I've been trying to rediscover some of the movies I grew up watching, although I've had trouble with it outside of Cry-Baby and Virtuosity. There's one in particular that I remember very well that I can't think of the name of--would anyone here have any idea? It's about three siblings--one older girl, an older boy, and a younger boy. The younger boy is obsessed with Thor and wears a horned helmet sometimes. The older boy got in a fight on a subway train and one of the other guys threw a knife in his foot. I think they were trying to get to a huge building where their parents were having a business party or something? I can't explain it very well, sorry. But I'd like to know if it rings any bells for anyone.

[Ascended Mermaid]

Adventures in Babysitting?

[Mutagene]

Oh geez, you're right! I was wrong on a few things, too. Guess it makes sense though since I haven't seen it in at least 8 years?

EDIT: Watched Virtuosity for the first time in probably 10 years! It's a pretty good movie that doesn't get enough credit, and it definitely gets better as it goes on. It's still pretty cheesy, but I also think it's pretty clever at times, and manages to be genuinely creepy. The opening VR scenes were like Uncanny Valley Central, and the last one near the end is total nightmare fuel. I think some of the twists were pretty stupid though, especially near the end, and didn't make much sense. But it's still a highly entertaining and somewhat interesting sci-fi action flick.

[Raison D'etritus]

Just saw The Man From Nowhere.
Fantastic movie about a man who's trying to save a young girl from a crime syndicate. I really loved it.

Despite having some incredibly choreographed action scenes, it wasn't a straight up action flick (those always bore me to death), and the story carried itself very well.
And because it was Korean and not Hollywood, I didn't have to suffer through another boring 20 minute car chase where even the pedestrians have Mercedes emblems. --I swear, I expect to see car chases in medieval period pieces anymore. . .

And while it wasn't overpacked with action. . . the climax would put John Woo to shame.

[AllenSmithee]

People told me for all my life that Superman (1978) was rife with cheesy special effects.

And yet, Star Wars is not cheesy?

Especially on the Krypton scenes, where they could load it up with foke and smog, it worked well because they just burned magnesium or however and it all was great.

I am normally not a big fan of John William's disgusting overscoring, but hear I was totally into it.

There are some bits I took issues with, in regards to Clark's dishonesty by acting as "Clark Kent" and really being Kal-El -- this is something I never really felt in my interpretation of the character, I always thought of Kal-El as a foreign bit of heritage that, while important, will never override the influence of Ma & Pa Kent and the fair teachings of The American Way.

I did really enjoy Clark's acceptance of Ms. Tessmacher's offer even at the jeopardizing of Lois' health. Definitely sensing some great drama in the second part, what with the loose ends regarding those zany guys stuck in The Phantom Zone.

I have great disdain for Lex Luthor's character in this, however -- he's just a stock villain, played for laughs and doesn't reach that level of camp offered by, say, Caesar Romero's Joker and falls flat with his gang of dorks. He just doesn't really make any sense to me and to my idea of how I'd write Lex. It is simply the devaluing that I dislike most, as I'm fine with character interpretations not in line with my own, just so long as they are presented nicely.

I will say though that the actress playing Lois is fab. She really reminds me of Zooey Deschanel, actually, hahaha. She has that level of crude city-gal that hides the nearly ethereal beauty that should be Lois Lane. The reason I think this is necessary is, well, she ain't got time for that shit and so she devalues much of her femininity, and I think that they hit it with the actress, the make up, the costumes, and so forth.

On the subject of costumes, Reeves looks great in the Superman outfit. I couldn't get over how well the cape draped the entire time, and it absolutely captured the stoicism necessary. I say it, time and time again, to my friends who like comics that the super-hero costumes we see in cinema today are too textured and overdone. The costume here was perfect and entirely believable.

Perhaps that was due in part with Reeves' spectacular performance as the man himself, Clark Kent. Golly, although I'm not entirely happy with the character interpretation, Reeves' pulls it off with charm and is endearing the whole way through. That honest smile is wonderful, and yet we see the God-like power he holds when he rages at the death of Lois Lane -- and, reminded of his inability to save Pa Kent, does the physically impossible but absolutely comic-book cool race around the world backwards, heaving time in the opposite flow.

Now here's where I give the writers much respect: He could have diverted the entire thing. No missile misfiring mishaps, and therefore no earthquakes and so on. But the writers hit the nail square on the head by having Clark fix it to only save the one he cares for most. Two things here are important. First of all, it shows that he is aware of how far he will go in abuse of his powers. He knows for a fact that Jor-El's warning is important, but we can see his response to Lois' demise as being driven by Pa Kent's greater advise -- and Clark's greater purpose. He's Clark Kent, from Smallville, Kansas, and he's got a greater purpose on this earth than kicking homeruns. And yes, the death of his father figure drives his guilt at being unable to save one person and now with the ability to save another he feels he has to, but really, here's the second point that makes it great:

Clark Kent is a human. And he grants himself this small abuse of the blessing of being born Kal-El, son of Jor-El and Lara to give himself this very human wish. The guilt that this must stir inside of him, the question of having an ability far greater than any man should is the crux of Clark's character and why I love Superman so.

He left many dead but he granted himself the secret of keeping her alive. In a way, he murdered the rest. He COULD have saved them too, but as per his birth father's request, he is not to affect the paths of history. This respect of his heritage is an important part of Clark as an adopted son.

Anyway, the great this about Clark Kent is that he is not Beyond Good & Evil. He is fully capable of Good or Evil and he tries to do the right thing. He is effectively God Incarnate and yet he remains human, for he is Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas.

Also of note is that Lois' perils were very perilous and regardless of knowing the outcome (saved by ol' Supes), I was at the edge of my seat the entire time.

TLDR I just watched the 1978 Superman film, loved it, and wrote a bunch of stuff y'all have probably thought up anyway.


EDIT: I was just thinking about a certain scene more deeply and it is really unsettling for who the character is (to me) but with, as always in this movie, a glimmer of hope.

In the scene after "Superman" amazes Lois, Clark is supposed to go on a date with her. He is almost going to admit he is Superman -- I hadn't noticed until this point how much he differentiates his voice; Kevin Conroy was the first to alternate the voice of Bruce Wayne and Batman -- and this matters because Batman can be a liar. Bruce Wayne is just a platform for Batman to exist properly. Batman uses Bruce Wayne's identity for all sorts of things, but one thing that should always be kept in mind is that at the end of the day, Bruce Wayne sheds his False Smile and Vapid Charms to return to the Cape, Cowl, and Gotham @ Night.

See how this bothers me? Now, I fully understand Clark putting on a different air when he bears the S-Emblem -- but I don't think it is an intentional bravado or gusto, and if it is then it certainly isn't the tone he'd use to talk to Lois. The movie implies here that Kal-El is always there and he acts a buffoon in order to lead the feeble earthlings astray in the guessing game of "Who is Superman? Who is the Man of Steel?"

Of course the saving grace here is that he does revert back to Clark, clearly due to nerves and lack of decisiveness, which is a very bumbling Clark-like attitude.

It is pretty clear that Clark might be more comfortable as Superman. He doesn't have to hide his talents -- which also describes another feasible interpretation for part of Clark Kent's mumbling clumsiness: He's focusing so much on NOT crushing that pencil and NOT floating up those stairs (after all, nobody is looking), how can you expect him to be 100% aware of all that's happening around him.

Yes, I do like that, and am surprised I never thought of it before.

I think the other reason Clark is more confident as Superman aside from scare tactics against his foes, and on top of focusing less on control of his strength and powers is that idea of being in a costume -- when I wear a mask or an outfit I get crazy. Crazier than normal, anyhow! And it is easy to do because you can put on a character, and be The Guy.

This actually creates a nice identity struggle for Superman, but I think, when he comes home at the end of the die, flies into his quaint flat and sits down on his favourite chair reflecting on the day, or the past, or whatever else, he isn't thinking in out-there abstract alien concepts. He's thinking of the great times with his dad, Jonathan Kent, and he's thinking of what he's gonna write for The Planet, and he's thinking of how he's gonna impress Lois.

He's a Man. The Super is part-time stuff.

[schlagwerk]

Saw Cowboys and Aliens this weekend. It had cowboys. It had aliens. Spoilers: it even had indians. It had a Maxim cover model, Han Solo, and James Bond


....and not much else

[Raison D'etritus]

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society
Or
GitSSACSSC

Like anything with the GitS title, I loved it. The philosophical overtones, undertones, and color tones from the earlier entries were absent (Kazunori Ito and Mamoru Oshii from the movies, and Dai Sato from the series were evidently uninvolved. . . sadly), but Kenji Kamayama still managed the standard conspiracy and political intrigue that are expected from the title, so it lived up to the standard, if not the name.

A minor (and pervy! ) complaint is that Maj. Kusanagi was an exhibitionist pre-SAC. As of SAC, Production I.G made her the most attractive anime heroine next to Re-L (if Re-L can really be called a heroine), yet she's suddenly modest? Good work on character continuity guys!

A more serious gripe is that nothing's been done with this excellent series in over five friggin' years. The concept certainly has vastly more potential to be molded long before becoming stale. I think at least another series or set of movies are warranted.
I guess only the concepts that are shallow to begin with get dragged out indefinitely and beaten to death.

[Ascended Mermaid]

Haha, gits.

So I watched What Happens In Vegas for the second time. Yeah, I'm such a girl, but I love mushy funny movies. I can really relate to the characters. I live by the philosophy that I'd rather have fun doing nothing than be miserable doing something. I'd love to strike it rich. I'd love to meet the woman of my dreams someday. It's always been my biggest dream -- above everything.

I also share the POV of the protagonist from Enchanted that "life isn't a fairytale". I wonder how much of what I want is really only just a fairytale. Everything I've ever shared with anyone was real to me, at least. Maybe that's all that matters.

[AllenSmithee]

Aug 4, 2011 17:59:20 GMT -5 Raison D'etritus said:

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society
Or
GitSSACSSC

Like anything with the GitS title, I loved it. The philosophical overtones, undertones, and color tones from the earlier entries were absent (Kazunori Ito and Mamoru Oshii from the movies, and Dai Sato from the series were evidently uninvolved. . . sadly), but Kenji Kamayama still managed the standard conspiracy and political intrigue that are expected from the title, so it lived up to the standard, if not the name.

A minor (and pervy! ) complaint is that Maj. Kusanagi was an exhibitionist pre-SAC. As of SAC, Production I.G made her the most attractive anime heroine next to Re-L (if Re-L can really be called a heroine), yet she's suddenly modest? Good work on character continuity guys!

A more serious gripe is that nothing's been done with this excellent series in over five friggin' years. The concept certainly has vastly more potential to be molded long before becoming stale. I think at least another series or set of movies are warranted.
I guess only the concepts that are shallow to begin with get dragged out indefinitely and beaten to death.

they're not all in the same continuity, which it seems like you're implying.

[Raison D'etritus]

they're not all in the same continuity, which it seems like you're implying.

How so? If you mean by my comment of character personality coherence, they're still based on the same basic archetype models. Her personality is actually consistent between the two (it was a joke--I was referring to nudity )
I actually saw a behind the scenes conversation about the character writing which discussed them in depth as traced from the original clay. --which included an interesting discourse delineating Togusa as a young Aramaki, and even going so far as to label the Laughing Man as what either of them would have become if they hadn't found an official outlet for their sense of justice.

And if you mean simply because I didn't specify what arc I'd like to see more of, that's like saying somebody can't like Xenosaga because it isn't an "official" prequel to Xenogears, or that the original series of Full Metal Alchemist doesn't count because it isn't true to the manga (it's fuckin better, I say! )

As for the disparity between the two timelines, I actually think they work well enough together, even though some of the periods overlap awkwardly on the calendar.
It felt to me like Kamiyama tried to actually tie them together in Solid State Society with certain themes--including Motoko's absence for several years, and

SPOILER: Click to show

the Pupeteer's insinuated origin from her time spent in the net

Even if they don't tie in together I don't think it hurts either one. Metroid Prime can be imagined in the Metroid universe even though it's non-canonical, and Xenosaga WAS a prequel to Xenogears (I've seen so much debate over this online! ) but they altered some of the connections because they were under a different production company.

So while I'd love more SAC (preferably with Dai Sato involved for the philosophical thematology he oozes at the pores), I'd be quite happy with a continuation from Innocence as well, or even a new locus.

[AllenSmithee]

Naw, all I was saying was that I thought you were saying SAC was a sequel to the movies.

[Mutagene]

The King of Fighters (2010).

That was a beautifully horrendous train wreck.

[Lenalia]

Aug 4, 2011 17:59:20 GMT -5 Raison D'etritus said:

A more serious gripe is that nothing's been done with this excellent series in over five friggin' years. The concept certainly has vastly more potential to be molded long before becoming stale. I think at least another series or set of movies are warranted.
I guess only the concepts that are shallow to begin with get dragged out indefinitely and beaten to death.

Agreed, definitely. I can't exactly fault the people who worked on the series for wanting to want to work on something else, but I thoroughly enjoyed all of GitS: SAC and can't exactly say I'd mind someone else stepping up to the plate to work on it. (I haven't watched the movies yet -- other than Solid State Society, anyway -- but I probably will in the near future.)

[Deleted]

Ok, I think I seen all the hottest movies of this summer, including porn 2011

Harry Potter The Deathly Hollows 2 takes the throne as my number one movie followed by Fast & Furious Fast Five. I had low expectations for Fast Five considering I really didn't like the previous installments, but this one completely took me off guard even the critics gave it high ratings. It really is non-stop action from start to finish, a man-movie.

Third... Thor! and fourth, X-Men First Class. Both these movies are very good, definitely must see also.

Oh yeah, Super 8, I completely pirated that movie DVD screener. I really liked that movie too had no idea that was Dakota's sister... but I can see the resemblance now.

That concludes my opinion of this summer 2011

[Raison D'etritus]

Finished the Satan's Sword version of Daibosatsu Toge.
It was the best iteration of the trilogy, in my opinion. --Sword of Doom is by far the best of the first movie (good enough to be widely considered one of the best pieces of Japanese cinema), but. . . with a cliffhanger ending and no sequels, it's hardly "complete."

In some ways I think Satan's Sword actually surpassed SoD, though. The story was more fleshed out, with a more drawn out dramatic look at some of the auxiliary characters and interweaving sidestories. It sacrificed the tension and ambiance of SoD's focus on Ryunosuke's madness for a more embellished narrative.
It EASILY surpassed the Souls in the Moonlight iteration of the trilogy for that very reason. Instead of having an erratic plot with missing scenes, assuming you read the books and don't even need the movies, it filled in all the blanks and showed a much more cohesive story.
. . .
Except the third. I noticed right off there was a drop in production quality, and sure enough, it turns out it was helmed by a different director. Worse than small directing issues, it seemed more like a remake of Souls in the Moonlight's third movie than a remake of the book opposite Souls in the Moonlight.
With the exception of a slightly more dramatic ending, it seemed almost exactly like its counterpart, where the first two movies were vastly different.
--of course, the superior casting still made it better, overall. Raizo Ichikawa was MUCH better suited for Ryunosuke than Chiezo Kataoka. . . not that that's saying much. I do believe Tatsuya Nakai could devour them both simultaneously though, and think that Sword of Doom was actually his best performance (SUCK IT, Kagemusha!).

Now I just need to find an importer of foreign books so I can get the Necronomicon, and reanimate Mifune, Nakadai, and Okamoto to finish Sword of Doom book(s) that spawned all these damn movies, and just read the source material in all its gloriously complicated kanji.

[AllenSmithee]

y'all suck for having not seen drive

i'm gonna go see it twice more this week. once with ROMANTIC INTEREST (who i started talking to in anticipation for the film and mutual love of ryan goslin (pa pa power pa pa power) and again with a group of my best bitches

see it

best soundtrack

best acting (bryan cranston and ryan goslin and carey mulligan all in one film? <3 <3)

best direction

[AllenSmithee]

oh ya i also watched the quest with jcvd that was a jcvd movie

[lailmith]

I think I watched Disney Robin Hood on saturday-sunday night..

[Red Hairdo]

"I think"?