The Movie Thread

[gillan1220]

RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY - Official Trailer (HD) | In Theaters Nov 24

[James G]

I went to watch Dune the other night. I'm glad I had a quick read-up on the backstory first. It would have been very confusing otherwise.
Visually spectacular. Not sure if I liked it but didn't hate it.

[gillan1220]

Now watching: Zombieland Double Tap

[Don Quijote]

I watched The Day of the Jackal for the first time on Saturday night. Quite dark - of course I knew it was about an assassination plot, but the killings en route to the main event are fairly coldblooded. The occasional humour tends to come from the British side of the investigation, more detached from events than their stressed French counterparts. Edward Fox is perfect as the Jackal himself, in the role that has probably defined his career, while the late Michael Lonsdale is his dogged (and ever so slightly eccentric) pursuer, Deputy Commissioner Lebel. Contrary to what I expected, De Gaulle himself is very much a background figure and barely seen until late in the film.

This is the second Frederick Forsyth adaptation that I've seen, the other being The Odessa File, and definitely the better of the two. 8.5/10

[gillan1220]

The Lowest Rated Movie EVER (Disaster Movie)

[Zyobot]

I watched The Eternals a few nights ago with my dad and brother. Quite an... intense movie, though knowing Marvel, it's ultimately only a "stepping stone" leading to a larger culmination or story arc.

[Zyobot]

Jan 26, 2022 18:38:04 GMT Zyobot said:

I watched The Eternals a few nights ago with my dad and brother. Quite an... intense movie, though knowing Marvel, it's ultimately only a "stepping stone" leading to a larger culmination or story arc.

Also, forgot to mention that I watched Spider-Man: No Way Home in theaters last Friday. Which was likewise intense, as is probably to be expected from post-Endgame movies and TV.

[gillan1220]

Some famous movies that turn 20 this year:
- Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
- Resident Evil
- 28 Days Later
- Scooby Doo
- SpiderMan
- The Wild Thornberrys Movie

[gillan1220]

20 Years Later: A Look Back At The History Of The First RESIDENT EVIL Film Adaptation

[gillan1220]

I watched Jurassic World: Dominion on June 20, 2022.. Let's just say it was a lukewarm movie.

[Don Quijote]

A couple of days ago I watched Stalag 17, the PoW classic directed by Billy Wilder. It's nearly Christmas 1944, and some caged American airmen think it's still worth trying to make a break for freedom. When it all goes wrong, it's racketeer Sgt Sefton (William Holden) who falls under suspicion of being the barracks informant. Sefton does himself no favours by keeping up close relations with the Germans, and almost meets a nasty end at the hands of his fellow inmates. Life goes on however, with Robert Strauss and Harvey Lembeck providing doubtful light relief along the way, until matters come to a head with the arrival of a special new prisoner. Sefton's been lying low, but whichever side he's on, his next move will mark out his real loyalties.

The narrator mentions in his opening that nobody had made a prisoner of war film before - evidently he missed the excellent The Wooden Horse in 1950, but there certainly was an uptick over the next decade. Stalag 17 seems to have a good reputation across the Atlantic, but speaking as a Briton, I don't think it compares so well with British PoW films. Holden is perfect in the role of Sefton and deserved his Oscar, but the trouble is that he carries the film. The rest of the cast are mid-table at best, and Strauss' nomination for Best Supporting Actor is a complete mystery to me - his performance as 'Animal' was more embarrassing than funny. On the subject of comedy, the film's influence on Hogan's Heroes is even greater than I thought, right down to the name of Sgt Schultz, though the anonymous/uncredited guards are rather more trigger happy, to a slightly implausible degree. 

All told, I'd give this a 7/10, with Holden's efforts pulling it up from a 5.5.

[gillan1220]

Just watched Valley of the Dead on Netflix. It's about a zombie outbreak set in the Spanish Civil War. It has some Sniper Elite and Inglorious Bastards aesthetics into it.

I'd give it an 8.5/10. It's not everyday you get to see a movie set in this period of history.

[gillan1220]

Two weeks ago, I watched a Japanese film called Aegis (Japanese title: Bôkoku no îjisu). The plot is about foreign agents posing as JMSDF officers which they smuggle an experimental American chemical weapon aboard a Kongo-class guided-missile destroyer. The foreign agents plan to use the chemical weapon to hold the entirety of Tokyo hostage as the chemical weapon can kill 13 million people in the Bay Area. It's up to one chief petty officer and a covert Japanese agent to stop the terrorists from succeeding.

A fairly enjoyable movie. It had Under Siege feels in it especially when the chief petty officer has to battle the bad guys as a one-man army. The bad guys are your typical stateless mooks in jumpsuits, SWAT vests, and suspenders. No country was implied where their origin was, but I assumed it was either China or North Korea. The gore factor was there too. The Japanese don't hold back when it comes to graphic effects.

7.5/10

More information
- Bôkoku no îjisu on IMDB
- Aegis on Asian Wiki

[stevep]

   Just came across this from Defector on the mess that a lot of the studios and TV stations are making of using 'Visual Effects' in film and TV series.  Basically the old problem of the idiots at the top making stupid decisions and ignoring the consequences.

[melanie]

the Omen was actually a pretty low budget picture - costing just $2.8 million.

Just did some inflation adjusting, apparently $2.8 million in 1976 would be worth $10.9 million in 2006 when the Omen remake came out. That film cost $25 million but looks an awful lot cheaper than the original.

where does al the money go?!