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I Just Watched... (Movies/TV/DVD)

Master Thrasher

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I bought Avengers: Age of Ultron when it came out and never got around to watching until a few days ago. I really liked an antagonist with little quips. The movie could have used more Ultron.
 

Youth N Asia

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Rewatching Black Dynamite. Movie is probably even funnier on a rewatch when you’re looking for the bad line readings and purposeful mistakes.
 

RedJed

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Been watching a variety of randomness this past week....

Terror Firmer: Holy shit, I never ended up seeing this one from Troma, and honestly I thought it was fucking incredible in terms of the scale of it all. The parody level of previous Troma films, the random appearances from past Troma stars, and in general the amped up level of Troma shock and awe in this. I was really impressed at the beautiful mess this truly was.

Prop Culture: This is new series on Disney+, retrospective on various Disney properties. I think there is seven episodes so far, covering classics like Tron, Roger Rabbit, and Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Those three were my favs, but there is also Mary Poppins, Muppet Movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Narnia. Really recommend a binge on these, it's a super fun series if you are into behind the scenes stuff from film productions.

Honey I Shrunk the Kids/Honey I Blew Up the Kid/Honey We Blew Up Ourselves: This was a random binge based off of the Prop Culture series, as I was unaware there was a third "Honey" film. I enjoyed the first and second one again after decades of revisiting it, but the third one.....OYE. This was a terrible film on every level. They only could get Rick Moranis back for this one, none of the other cast returned, and this ended up being the film that was so fucking bad that he ended up retiring after this. The final product is telling how it could drive an actor to leave the business, as this was incredibly terrible. At only slightly over an hour in length too, it was as disconnected of a threequel as you can find out there, especially a Disney one.
 

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Den of Thieves 5.5/10
A film that was just way too long. The family life/personal life drama could've been cut out entirely or covered in a few lines and given the same weight. The meat of the movie is the heist plot/action and the side stuff just bogged shit down and slowed the pacing of the movie.

The
gunfight towards the end
frankly baffled me considering the movie built up how these "thieves" would not shoot unarmed civilians, only cops. Given the structure of the scene it just felt like the screenwriter/director wanted a
shootout scene
, which started working a little better when they got away from that specific area. But again, the entirety of it all was just too long and did not need to be.

Felt like the movie was not sure what it wanted to be. It wanted to be Heat mixed with a bit of Ocean's 11 or even Dead Presidents but not nearly as good.
 

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Watched Hotel Artemis over the weekend. Surprisingly strong cast for a film that had a relatively quiet release. Sadly, not everyone brought their A-game with Charlie Day as the glaring example with his horrendous acting. It was a fine film for what it was, though.

Jodie Foster is probably in my all-time top 3 actresses and it's still fun watching her show up every now and then.
 

RedJed

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I'm still on my Troma kick. Been watching through the Class of Nuke Em High franchise.

The first Nuke Em High, to me, is just a few pegs below the original Toxic Avenger in terms of cult classic quality. Lots of the same actors, same vibe, same grimy effects. Love it

Then we get to part two and three, which appears to potentially be similar to Toxie 2 & 3 in that they may have been filmed back to back with the same actors, sets, etc. Sure seemed that way at least.

Unfortunately, both of the sequels just dont hold up well at all. I don't know what exactly made these hard to watch, but it felt like both were kind of a chore to get through.

On the plus, all of these films have catchy as fuck theme songs.

Onward to the next Nuke Em High stuff.....I had just got Return to Nuke Em High Part 1 and 2 (these were recently done in the 2010 decade) on BluRay.
 

Laz

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Return... part 1 is pretty fun but incomplete. The leads are perfect, though, and might be the best leads in Troma history (outside of Terror Firmer's trio).

If you get to it, I strongly suggest giving Poultrygeist at least two viewings. I loathed it on first watch, but gave it a few days and tried it again, and ended up loving it.
 

RedJed

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Avid Warehouse Enthusiast said:
Return... part 1 is pretty fun but incomplete. The leads are perfect, though, and might be the best leads in Troma history (outside of Terror Firmer's trio).

If you get to it, I strongly suggest giving Poultrygeist at least two viewings. I loathed it on first watch, but gave it a few days and tried it again, and ended up loving it.

Poultrygeist and Surf Nazis Must Die are on my queue for a view after the Return to Nuke Em High ones.

Part two was in post-production hell because of a drop of funding from Starz I believe, so it took Troma awhile to release it, in-house. It finally got on Bluray in 2018.

Also speaking on Troma stuff, Lloyd Kaufman will be on Joe Bob Briggs show this Friday night on Shudder. Not sure what film will be showcased, but it has to be something Troma.
 

Laz

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They announced today it's going to be Troma's War, best known for having Reaganite conjoined twin villains and the line "oh no, now I've got AIDS."
 

Epic Springs

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I was going to put this in the Adam Sandler thread but I realized he had no connection to this one beyond his production company.

I forced myself to watch The Wrong Missy the other night and it wasn't completely terrible but that is solely attributed to Lauren Lapkus (who deserves a lot better than starring in nonsense like this). Not the worst way to waste 90 minutes, I suppose.
 

Brocklock

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Lirl the poster says so much about the quality of the film.

p18198899_v_v8_aa.jpg
 

King Kamala

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I feel bad that this is probably the only chance Lauren Lapkus will get to headline a semi-major movie but at least she went for it in 15 minutes I watched it with my girlfriend.

Also I'm glad we got an onscreen faceoff between Roman Reigns and David Spade.
 

Laz

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She'll get another chance. If she impressed the Happy Madison crew, then she'll be invited to other gigs. Beyond that, showing any kind of talent will make filmmakers want to cast you on some level in the days of Nerflix/Hulu/Amazon originals.
 

Brocklock

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Yeah if you join the Happy Madison family you are there for life and she can offset the amount of dudes that the Sandler crew uses.
 

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Extraction on Netflix was an entertaining watch. Chris Hemsworth is pretty much the only name as far as mainstream Hollywood actors go and he does a good job of playing the protagonist, really well crafted fights scenes and the violence is brutal. Good way to spend two hours.
 

Laz

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David Harbour is also in it, but I wish he was in it for longer.
 

Master Thrasher

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The Toxic Avenger. It's so wrong. The teenagers in the car going out and running over people in their car. Melvin being picked on.
 

HarleyQuinn

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House of Games from 1987
MV5BZTNkYmIwYjAtMDcyNy00MGYwLWJkYTAtODAyNDJjZTdmNGYxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDk3NzU2MTQ@._V1_.jpg

Written & Directed by David Mamet

Really good movie about a psychiatrist and best-selling author (Lindsay Crouse) who finds herself confronting a con man (Joe Mantegna) over debt owed by a patient of hers. Soon, she finds herself caught learning the tricks of cons from him then ends up in a situation with him & his partners that turns deadly, only for her to figure out the truth.

Strong performances throughout with appearances by William H. Macy and J.T. Walsh as well. What makes the movie really work is the fact that Mantegna's character spells out everything to Crouse's character to the point that when the situation hits, the viewer immediately starts wondering if what they are seeing is real and whether Crouse's character is actually caught up in a very long con situation instead as well as whether the entire movie was a con from the get go.
She is and it was
.

Snappy dialogue as expected. There's not really a mystery to the movie in part because the writing sets up everything foreshadowing wise but isn't quite misdirecting enough to have the viewer really buy that there's any real danger to Crouse's character and the ending seems a little hard to buy characterization wise.

7/10
 
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Master Thrasher

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I watched a bunch of stuff: the original Star Trek movies, the Friday the 13th reboot/remake, and Downfall.

The 1st Star Trek is boring but not unwatchable. They spent money on special effects and wanted to show them off. Really could have cut down on scenes.
2nd is the 2nd best movie in the franchise because of KHAN and Ricardo Montalban.
3rd one is okay. I liked Christopher Lloyd as the villain.
The 4th one I remember liking a lot more when I saw it the first time. It's kind of like the first one with a probe that will destroy all life.
The 5th is only good because of Spock's brother.
The 6th one I remember seeing in theaters and it's probably my favorite.

I got the Friday the 13th boxset years ago and watched remake back them. I rewatched it yesterday and couldn't get to the end. Jason having hostage is wrong unless he's the NES Jason. Too many filler characters die.


On a serious note, Downfall is about the last days of Hitler. You might remember those memes years ago with the subtitles and Hitler in a room with his generals. This is the movie where it comes from. The cult of personality around him is strange. He marries Eve Braun and they both commit suicide a day later. Also, Joseph Goebels and his wife are monsters. Also, it's amazing that his staff wanted to carry out his orders after he died and the country is falling apart.
 

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I’m in the process of watching Ad Astra as it premiered on HBO tonight.

I didn’t realize Tommy Lee Jones and Donald Sutherland are in this. That is two of the four Space Cowboys so now I’m pretty positive this is a sequel to that movie.
 

Master Thrasher

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Child's Play remake.

Aubrey Plaza is too young to have an 8 year old. The Buddi dolls are creepy as hell. No child would want them. Honestly having a minion that would do my dirty work for me would be awesome.
 

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Child's Play remake.

Aubrey Plaza is too young to have an 8 year old. The Buddi dolls are creepy as hell. No child would want them. Honestly having a minion that would do my dirty work for me would be awesome.

My man she's 35
 

Brocklock

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She isn't too young for the role, but having her play just a mom without doing much else in the movie is way beneath her talent level. Especially when she's like the perfect person to have as the new Tiffany/female equivalent of Chucky. I imagine she takes roles like this or Dirty Grandpa or Mike And Dave Are Annoying so she can continue to do her weirder indie movies like Safety Not Guaranteed, Life Without Beth, The Little Hours, Ingrid Goes West, or An Evening With Beverley Luff Linn.

Also, wasn't Andy in the movie like 13 or 14?
 
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RedJed

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Still on random franchise kicks during covod.....

This one was a bit more special though, as recently I was FINALLY able to go back to a theater here in MN. They have started opening to 25 percent capacity, and quite frankly, hardly anyone is attending. Went and saw The Goonies on the big screen and in a two week period got to watch all of the Back to Future films in a very plush new theater with excellent sound and picture to say the least. Screen was larger than usual too so it was a real treat. Revisiting these films (unquestionably my favorite trilogy of all time) was more enjoyable than words can probably even describe. Followed up with checking out the BTTF doc, Back in Time, on Hulu. Not too bad, but it was far from detail based on productions and more about the fandom that goes with BTTF. Anyhow, this is more my suggestion to go check out some of the classics in a theater at this point since not much new will be released til mid July. The Indiana Jones and Lord of Rings films are also regularly being screened around here. More theaters will start rolling out this weekend but I think alot are waiting until July. This includes Cinemark and AMC locally and statewide.

I also went to a drive-in a few times in the past month or so, one in Iowa and one here in MN. Beverly Hills Cop and Trading Places was the double bill at one, the other was a double feature of indy horror films The Wretched and Becky (I'll likely talk about those in the horror thread to bump it up)
 

Gert

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Currently watching The Leftovers. I really have a hard time watching series that I haven't seen because I don't have a huge attention span or I start watching series when I'm drinking late at night and forgot what I watched (during an episode)

I will get through this because I am 1/3 thru, but holy shit, the start of S1E5 may be one of the Top 3 most uncomfortable things I've ever watched on TV....
 

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Rocketman (2020) What a marvelous beautiful film. I loved the way they told to tell Elton's story with all the flourishes and musical inserts. Probably my second favorite all time musical biopic behind Bohemian Rhapsody.


Waco (2018) - I'm appalled that I've never did a more deep academic dive on this situation. The series is told from the perspective of the main negotiator and a surviving Branch Davidian. Both published books, these were the main source material for the series, so that's the viewpoint you get. I don't know at what point I saw a made for TV film about it, but I remember authorities interrogating a child who gave them the suicide instructions she was given should they be invaded. This did not happen in this series, but given the perspective source material, that makes sense (if it happened at all). All children on scene the day of April 19 died, so it could have been one of the children released earlier in the standoff. Either way, I've only always known the story from the "official" reports and was always confused as to why militant types (like McVeigh) were so ornery over the incident. My outbursts of disbelief had me simultaneously covering my phone out of fear of the NSA. Academically speaking only, I understand why a brain would develop the rage that McVeigh developed knowing the Davidian side of the story. I'm not saying I would ever be driven to the extremes that he took (shame on him x a million), but if he put out a manifesto in lieu of murder, he might have had some points with more accepted credibility than he did by committing the act he did in 1995. /tangent - I ended the series just absolutely disgusted and appalled at the information presented and find it eerily relevant to modern issues we are facing. It really shook me.
 

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In the past few weeks, I've been going back and catching up on Hitchcock movies I hadn't seen yet.

Spellbound: I didn't find this one too memorable. Michael Chekov as the old doctor is probably the best part, but all the acting is fine. Would have been interesting if the Salvador Dali-inspired dream sequences went on as long as they were originally intended.

Torn Curtain: This one was disappointing. Reading the plot description, a scientist played by Paul Newman may or may not have defected to East Germany and gotten his assistant/fiancee Julie Andrews caught up in it, it seems really exciting. The most interesting character gets killed off early on in a strange scene (reading what his intentions were, I understand why Hitchcock did it this way, but the scene still comes off weird).

Rope: The "continuous take" gimmick hurts this a little bit, I think, because it can get a bit distracting when it gets really obvious when they make the cuts, but this is still really good. I watched the half hour or so featurette on the Bluray when I was done and there's an interview with the screenwriter where he says he thinks the movie would have been better if you weren't sure if they had actually killed anyone and the tension is in whether or not there actually is a body hidden in the trunk. I disagree, though. To me, the fact that they could be caught at any time while Jimmy Stewart slowly comes around to the realization of what they've done is where the tension is.

Frenzy: His 2nd last movie. There's a couple of gratuitous nude scenes that I'm pretty sure are just there because Hitchcock was a perv, including a rape scene. Its fine, I think my favourite part though was the cop who hated his wife's cooking.

The Trouble with Harry: This is fine. I appreciate seeing Shirley MacLaine and Jerry Mathers early on.

Marnie: A little uncomfortable to watch after seeing the HBO movie "The Girl" from a few years ago. All the performances are fine and a young Bruce Dern popping up towards the end was fun to see.
 

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Knives Out (2019): Wow what an incredible movie!!! Everyone played their parts perfectly. There's twists and turns, and even when you think you've got it figured out, you're probably going to be second guessing your first 5 guesses anyway.

It's got a GREAT cast that plays all of their roles perfectly. This is my first exposure to Ana De Armas (Marta) and what a wonderful performer
and possibly the best character in cinema I've seen in awhile
. Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Daniel Craig, Don Johnson, Frank Oz, Christopher Plummer, Katherine Langford and so many more great actors across multiple generations.

I am scared if I write too much about the plot, I'll spoil something. The cinematography was beautiful, I was surprised to find out it was filmed all digital and "film" effects were added in post. The pacing was perfect.

I do have one humble brag, though. Daniel Craig's accent is distinctly not British and I was picking up on Southern notes. I was starting to sour because I thought he was going for the same bs accent movies give New Orleans. His character's name is "Benoit Blanc" so it definitely spoke to Canadian migration during the Acadian expulsion, which would be a reason for a French name with a Southern flair. But it still didn't feel Louisiana too me, so I just spouted out loud, "sounds like some Memphis or North Mississippi southern accent shit to me. I had to Google and as it turns out he was basing his accent on
Shelby Foote, born in Greenville Mississippi, died in Memphis, woo boy don't read up on that guy if you haven't heard of him. yeesh, but yeah Craig was going for what I hypothesized and I'm now answering to Henry Higgins
.
 
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