What Movies are you Watching?

[the_wolfs_howl]

It's Thanksgiving break, which means: WATCH ALL THE MOVIES!!!

I started with the ShakespeaRe-told version of Much Ado About Nothing. Just like with Macbeth, it was a brilliant adaptation into a modern-day setting, this time placing the story in the recording studio of a news channel. Again, the impact was a lot easier to feel in this context, and there were some parts that were just absolutely hilarious.

The Prestige was calling my name, so I caved in a watched it for the umpteenth time.

Then I rewatched Amazing Grace, because now I finally know who Benedict Cumberbatch is, and think it's funny that I never recognized him in this movie before.

Ju-On: Black Ghost - Nowhere near as good as the previous Ju-On movies, of course, but still creepy and interesting to watch. It felt closer in style to the first Ju-On than to the second one. (And don't get me wrong; Ju-On 2 is one of my absolute favorite horror movies out there.)

[Crossfire]

Wait, this is the first time you've seen it?
I grew up with Jurassic Park, watching it at much too young of an age, in my opinion.

Yes, this is the first time I have ever seen it. My parents were very cautious of what I watched, even now, I watched it with clearplay as I don't take bloody scenes too well. I don't know how you could have watched this at 'too young of an age' as it is quite a disturbing film.

I don't know. My parents let me watch "violent movies" at a young age, and it's not like it scarred me for life or whatever. I think the first gorefest I saw was the original Robocop when I was six, followed by stuff like Saving Private Ryan, Master and Commander, and Kingdom of Heaven when I was nine. Watched the latter in a public school of all places, multiple times. I loved history class back then.

Going back to Robocop, I would highly recommend viewing it as it does a pretty decent good job of delivering a satirical view of the modern world... but that being said the excessive violence and what not is a pretty crucial part of the atmosphere, so I don't know if it would be worth watching an extremely watered-down version.

[Ante Bellum]

On closer inspection some of the writing is a bit cheesier than I originally thought, and the "analog" bit still drives me up the wall for technical reasons

I swear you've already seen Giant Robo.

[MomentOfInertia]

On closer inspection some of the writing is a bit cheesier than I originally thought, and the "analog" bit still drives me up the wall for technical reasons

I swear you've already seen Giant Robo.

I have seen it. (Ought to watch it again come to think of it...)

And I know the parallel being drawn; my problem is the way the reference is made, I know the point line was supposed to make, and it makes sense that things would work that way within that world*. I take issue with the way the line was phrased, it needed to be buried under at least one more level of technobable.

I think the real issue might be that my popcorn-sci-fi started using terms I know and is using them wrong.


*Headcannon justification:
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Gypsy used a nuclear Fission reactor for power whereas the others were powered by nuclear Fusion systems. When the EMP went off, every electronic system within range crashed. On board Gypsy this was a nuisance, no more, the fusion reactor(fission being a reaction that continues whether or not anyone is watching it) continued to provide power as the computers came back up. On the others though, when the systems controlling the fusion reaction cut out the reaction itself decayed very quickly (fusion being a reaction that is very delicate and contrived at any scale smaller than a star), and there was nothing to restart the computers, or the reaction with.

Mark VI Jaeger's will fix this weakness by a) going back to fission power, b) shielding their power cores, c) fitting a secondary power system with enough energy to cold-start the entire Jeager, or d) some combination thereof.

Either that or the wave shattered all the dilithium crystals in the city, whatever floats your boat. (or should that be 'powers your robot/mecha/Jeager' in this case )

[Crossfire]

Just watched Iron Sky. It was so ridiculous that it was incomprehensibly awesome, and the vehicle designs were pretty neat to boot.

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: We did it! Those ships belong to North Korea!

[Banana Lobster]

I didn't mean to at first, but I ended up watching Red 2, which was cool.

[Ante Bellum]

On closer inspection some of the writing is a bit cheesier than I originally thought, and the "analog" bit still drives me up the wall for technical reasons

I swear you've already seen Giant Robo.

I have seen it. (Ought to watch it again come to think of it...)

And I know the parallel being drawn; my problem is the way the reference is made, I know the point line was supposed to make, and it makes sense that things would work that way within that world*. I take issue with the way the line was phrased, it needed to be buried under at least one more level of technobable.

I think the real issue might be that my popcorn-sci-fi started using terms I know and is using them wrong.


*Headcannon justification:
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Gypsy used a nuclear Fission reactor for power whereas the others were powered by nuclear Fusion systems. When the EMP went off, every electronic system within range crashed. On board Gypsy this was a nuisance, no more, the fusion reactor(fission being a reaction that continues whether or not anyone is watching it) continued to provide power as the computers came back up. On the others though, when the systems controlling the fusion reaction cut out the reaction itself decayed very quickly (fusion being a reaction that is very delicate and contrived at any scale smaller than a star), and there was nothing to restart the computers, or the reaction with.

Mark VI Jaeger's will fix this weakness by a) going back to fission power, b) shielding their power cores, c) fitting a secondary power system with enough energy to cold-start the entire Jeager, or d) some combination thereof.

Either that or the wave shattered all the dilithium crystals in the city, whatever floats your boat. (or should that be 'powers your robot/mecha/Jeager' in this case )

I wasn't expecting that reply, but I like it. Let's watch Robo.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Ju-On: White Ghost - Much scarier than Black Ghost, for some reason, though it followed a similar premise. A wonderful addition to the series.

Othello - Watched this again, great to see Kenneth Branagh as Iago. Somehow, he's absolutely perfect for the role.

Hamlet - A really good adaptation, I thought. Mel Gibson brought out all the confusion and passion that can be hard to grasp when you're just reading the play.

Twelfth Night - Interesting, a bit awkward, and rather funny. It was amazing how much Viola and Sebastian resembled each other.

The Island - Had to watch it again; I just love this movie so much.

Ink - I'd forgotten how much I love this movie, but it's really great. A wonderful message, and a really unique setting. My favorite character is the Pathfinder "One-two-three-branch! One-two-three-branch! Hello, dirt. And how are we today?" "We meet again."

[Xeno]

Just watched The Hunger Games because Netflix won't stop screaming "HEY YOU'RE REALLY GOING TO LIKE THIS (and we paid a lot to license this so please make it worth the cost)!" at me.

Came away with a few impressions. Firstly, it's not that bad of a film. Secondly, I would really like for them to explain something, really anything. Because I don't know anything that is happening in the backstory aside from little tidbits that are dropped throughout. There are scenes that seemingly have no context, and I can only assume that I'd understand this movie better if I'd read the book prior.

That said, I came off it conflicted as to whether seeing the second one is worth it. I was wrong in my assumption that this would be as bad as Twilight (because it is certainly better), but if everything is vague, then I'll just watch Evangelion again.

[drill]

Just finished watching one of the greatest movies of all time, It's a Wonderful Life. The acting, the story, everything is well done in this movie. No wonder I watch it every year.

[ClaecElric4God]

So I succumbed to the 11-hour plane ride and watched a couple movies.

A Midsummer's Equation - This was pretty good. I'll probably watch it with my family, because I know my mom will like it. It was well-done and surprisingly unboring, and I liked how everything came together in the end.

Secretly, Greatly - A 2013 Korean film. I honestly don't know what I think of this movie. All I can say is...watch it. It's awesome and at the same time awful. I love it and hate it. It's really well done, really good acting, really great story and very cool. But it was also really disappointing and frustrating. So basically it was Shingeki no Kyojin. Anyways, I can't explain it without giving it away. I'm probably going to watch it with my sister because it's awesome and our kind of movie, but I'll probably regret it. Ah, well. Life is confusing.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Saw a version of Measure for Measure set in the army, and it was atrocious. The lines, taken directly from the play, clashed horribly with the setting and made no sense in context, and the actors were poor all around. Not recommended in the slightest.

[Panda4christ:3]

The Hobbit: Desolation Of Smaug.

So despite being nothing like the book, I still loved it. Though I'm not completely happy with where their taking the next movie :T

[GeneD]

Watched Desolation Of Smaug too and enjoyed it a lot, moreso than the first one.

[ClaecElric4God]

Watched The Prestige. Hated it. A lot. Would never watch it again. Sorry to all you Prestige fans.
But yeah, an unbiased review would be, it's well done and an awesome and unique story and any normal person would love it.
But I hated it.

[Adie]

Just watched Saints and Soldiers with my mom. I enjoyed it a lot!
I also recently watched Disney's Hercules, just 'cause I needed to watch something fun. "I Won't Say I'm In Love" is still one of my favorite Disney songs.

[Panda4christ:3]

So I feel like the only person who didn't read the book for Ender's Game and still effectively hated it.

[the_wolfs_howl]

I've seen The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in theaters twice now. I detest the completely unnecessary and stupid love triangle they constructed, but love everything else. Smaug is ald;kgja;sldkjgsd;flkjsd;lk Can't wait for the next one!

I also rewatched Ink twice, because it's just that awesome, saw Monsters University again, and showed Much Ado About Nothing to my family. Good fun.

Then I watched Salt, which is just another action flick about a secret agent. I was a little disappointed with the way it ended up, because it was much less surprising than I thought it would be, but it was worth a watch.

I also saw Solomon Kane, which was...interesting. It was cool for fantasy action fun, and had a nice dark antihero kind of feel, but I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. Especially when SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Solomon gets crucified towards the end. Not exactly sure what they were trying to say with that symbolism.

Most recently, I rewatched Court Jester, which is just as fun as ever "The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle...."

[ClaecElric4God]

Most recently, I rewatched Court Jester, which is just as fun as ever "The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle...."

And the flagon with the dragon has the brew that is true.
That's awesome! I'm glad somebody else enjoys this movie. Seems like nobody takes time to watch the gold nuggets of the past anymore.

[Mullet Death]

Watched The Croods with my parents and grandparents, which was an enjoyable family film. Nick Cage plays a good mid-life-crisis caveman. Perhaps it was typecasting?

[ClaecElric4God]

Watched The Croods with my parents and grandparents, which was an enjoyable family film. Nick Cage plays a good mid-life-crisis caveman. Perhaps it was typecasting?

My sister and I were discussing this, and we had a hard time feeling like he fit the part. Then we realized that, in live-action or animation, he virtually always plays a really smart/educated/researchy character.

[DecooPunk]

I watched the newest Wolverine movie. I can't remember what it was actually called. I just remember that I completely hated it.

[ClaecElric4God]

I watched the newest Wolverine movie. I can't remember what it was actually called. I just remember that I completely hated it.

Yeah, I wouldn't watch it again. The only reason I watched it in the first place was because it was set in Japan, which I thought was awesome. I had fun seeing places and people and being like "that's totally Japanese looking, awesome!" and listening to the Japanese voices and loving it. But overall, I kind of hated it too.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Yeah, I wouldn't watch it again. The only reason I watched it in the first place was because it was set in Japan, which I thought was awesome. I had fun seeing places and people and being like "that's totally Japanese looking, awesome!" and listening to the Japanese voices and loving it. But overall, I kind of hated it too.

Aw, I liked The Wolverine. Completely unnecessary, but fun.

Anyway, I finally got around to seeing The Nightmare Before Christmas for the first time, and I really liked it! It's absolutely gorgeous claymation, and the story was fun and unique. I'll probably have my kids watch this if I ever have any.

I also got around to watching The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey Extended Edition. There weren't a whole lot of extra scenes, but it was great to see it again. My favorite extended scene was the one with baby!Bilbo attacking Gandalf

[the_wolfs_howl]

I saw Ender's Game in the dollar theater last week, and was very impressed. I was expecting a mediocre adaptation of one of my favorite books, so I was delighted to discover that they did justice to the spirit of the book and kept in all the important points, only cutting out what they had to for time's sake. I was especially glad that they kept in the mind-game parts, because that's possibly my favorite part of the book. I thought for sure they'd deem it "unnecessary," but they recognized how vital it is for character development, and kept it in! I thought all the acting was excellent, especially Asa Butterfield. Definitely going to keep an eye out for him in future movies! My only regrets are that they cut out almost all of Peter's scenes (though it's understandable, since it's not directly relevant to Ender's struggle, and they'd have to jack up the rating if they had his squirrel-molesting stuff), and they portrayed Petra wrong, if memory serves. She seemed a lot more kick-butt in the book. Or at least more practical and less "pretty girl who is only not the love interest because we're like ten years old." But yeah, other than those minor gripes, I thought this was an excellent movie.

[SierraLea]

I saw that new Lego movie in theaters. Not entirely bad, but not very memorable in my opinion.

[the_wolfs_howl]

The Machinist - An absolutely stunning, beautiful movie. It reminded me a lot of Memento in the way the story was told, almost-but-not-quite backwards, and really hard to tell what's going on and who's telling the truth. It was also extremely painful to watch, because the main character is a severe anorexic and insomniac. I was greatly impressed and a little aghast at what Christian Bale was able, and willing, to do to his body to pull off the part. (He did it under the guidance of a nutritionist, thank God, but still....) I definitely recommend this movie, though potential viewers should be aware that there is some pretty foul language, one or two disturbing moments of gore (I had to look away), and a sex scene with female nudity afterwards. (Yikes, all that makes it seem a lot worse than it actually was.... <_<) None of it was just stuck in there to make the film more "edgy" or whatever; it was all in there for a reason.

[SierraLea]

Just finished Ender's Game. For the limited amount of time they had, they covered all the important points, still portrayed some of Ender's agony, and cut all the other characters short. Oh well, can't have everything. I thought it was pretty good!

Does anyone besides me find a lot of resemblance between Ender and his crew and Mustang and his crew? (FMA)

[MomentOfInertia]

Just finished Ender's Game. For the limited amount of time they had, they covered all the important points, still portrayed some of Ender's agony, and cut all the other characters short. Oh well, can't have everything. I thought it was pretty good!

Just saw it last night myself. I think it survived the adaptation surprisingly well. All the high points are there, battle school got severely condensed, command school got moved to coincide with the location for the epilogue. I would have liked to see more of the details from the book make it but all in all it was a good movie and exceptionally faithful to the source material.

My parents, who have not read the book, also thought it was good.

[Troy]

I just watched Robocop in IMAX yesterday. It was good but Robocop is one hero I wouldn't want to be LOL.