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Black Abyss Babe
CriedWhenJanickCutHisHair
Get stuck in, we're gonna win ...
I'd almost forgotten how totally brilliant this series is
I'd almost forgotten how totally brilliant this series is
The_7th_one
Ancient Mariner
TheMercenary
Ancient Mariner
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
Watched John Wick 4 like 2 weeks ago. I was going to write about it then, but I literally forgot I had seen it. Upon reflecting as to why that may have been I realized it was because it was, well, forgettable. John Wick 1 was brilliant, the Gun-fu was fun while grounded, the action never felt too over the top, and you rooted for Wick all the way through. The second movie was fun in a more-of-the-same in a good way. The third one lost me when he survived falling from a building. The 4th one is just that, the ending of 3 for like 2+ hours. The gun-fu no longer awes, just more of the same, John Wick gets brutally beaten only to get back up, never mind it's irrelevant how old the character is supposed to be, Keanu is like... 60? ok just checked, he's 58.... like... come on. A professional boxer doesn't have that kind of endurance and stamina. Such a waste of a cast with Donny Yen, Bill Skaarsgard, Ian McShane, etc... just... so sad. I wonder if The Continental prequel series will be any good.
TheMercenary
Ancient Mariner
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
Maturin
Sköldpadda
Saw The Creator (2023), directed by Gareth Edwards, at the pictures tonight.
There isn't an abundant supply of good science fiction-films at the moment - so it's always nice to go and see and support the original ones coming out. This is a story about a war between AI and humanity, with a nice twist to it. Not the usual story at all. References to other films were there, but subtle. In the filmmaking itself as well as the narrative-choices made, I see a great many similarities to Rogue One - A Star Wars Story which I liked a lot.
If I were to be critical of something it's the pace. This felt like a 2:45-3 hour something film cut down a little too much, clocking in at 2:13. A lot of stuff happens, and then something blows up - which got repetitive. I would have liked to stay a bit longer in some places and let it breathe a bit.
The emotional core of the film is, however, sound and I quite liked it. It is far from perfect though, but only time will tell if it's forgettable or actually pretty great. Right now I feel it could go either way for me personally.
There isn't an abundant supply of good science fiction-films at the moment - so it's always nice to go and see and support the original ones coming out. This is a story about a war between AI and humanity, with a nice twist to it. Not the usual story at all. References to other films were there, but subtle. In the filmmaking itself as well as the narrative-choices made, I see a great many similarities to Rogue One - A Star Wars Story which I liked a lot.
If I were to be critical of something it's the pace. This felt like a 2:45-3 hour something film cut down a little too much, clocking in at 2:13. A lot of stuff happens, and then something blows up - which got repetitive. I would have liked to stay a bit longer in some places and let it breathe a bit.
The emotional core of the film is, however, sound and I quite liked it. It is far from perfect though, but only time will tell if it's forgettable or actually pretty great. Right now I feel it could go either way for me personally.
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
Watched the first two episodes of Michael Flannigan's The Fall of the House of Usher. I was looking forward to it since I remember being floored by the short story in high school, I'm not a huge Poe geek, but I have read quite a few of his stories. I still don't know how I feel about it though.... minor spoilers ahead:
So again, don't now how I feel about it. I was hoping for a more straight forward adaptation, but it being a mini series I guess I was an idiot for expecting that. I'm still going to watch it. I've enjoyed everything his done so far, but then again, I've never read The House on Haunted Hill nor The Turning of the Screw which he adapted into The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor respectively. Now I'm questioning those adaptations with all I've noticed just with the little Poe I've actually read. I wonder how many other references are flying right over my head.
I remember the story being much more literal, like... the house literally falls down and something about his wife or sister or some crazy lady buried in the basement comes out screaming bloody murder. But this show takes a metaphorical fall. It takes the story of Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family and transposes it to the Ushers. Big family, made millions selling Oxycontin, er, I mean... "Logidone," and the D.A's office was never able to pin anything on them until Richard Sacker, again, my bad, " Roderick Usher" confesses to everything. This... "confession" takes us through the downfall of the family and how he ends up burying all his kids.
It has easter eggs for Poe fans, like ravens make an appearance here and there, one of the grandkids is named Lenore, one of the labs is named Roderick Usher Experimental or something like that "R.U.E" for short where they... get this, experiment on monkeys before human trials and it was knicked named "The Rue Morgue." Get it? do you get it? Wink WINK! So on and so forth.
It has easter eggs for Poe fans, like ravens make an appearance here and there, one of the grandkids is named Lenore, one of the labs is named Roderick Usher Experimental or something like that "R.U.E" for short where they... get this, experiment on monkeys before human trials and it was knicked named "The Rue Morgue." Get it? do you get it? Wink WINK! So on and so forth.
So again, don't now how I feel about it. I was hoping for a more straight forward adaptation, but it being a mini series I guess I was an idiot for expecting that. I'm still going to watch it. I've enjoyed everything his done so far, but then again, I've never read The House on Haunted Hill nor The Turning of the Screw which he adapted into The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor respectively. Now I'm questioning those adaptations with all I've noticed just with the little Poe I've actually read. I wonder how many other references are flying right over my head.
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
I was scrolling through Facebook and found an article titled, "The Exorcist's Unofficial Sequel is definitely worth your time." Clickbaity? You bet. Did I click on it? Damn straight! I'm a sucker for most things The Exorcist. Now, I've never seen the movie The Exorcist II: The Heretic, or something like that nor have I seen the new movie. I have read and watched the Exorcist and Legion (The Exorcist III) and saw the first season of the short lived Exorcist series. I also so one of the shitty prequels that takes place in Africa.
So it turns out it is about William Peter Blatty's movie The Ninth Configuration. Apparently he reworked an earlier novel of his, Twinkle Twinkle "Killer" Kane, and made it the second of what he himself calls his, "Spiritual Trilogy," made up of The Exorcist, The Ninth Configuration and the Exorcist III.
The best way to describe the movie is Shutter Island well before Shutter Island, except with a bigger emphasis on faith. I'm convinced Blatty became a horror Icon by accident. What I mean is, The Exorcist is definitely a horror book and movie, but Legion, the book, wasn't scary. Much more in line with this movie, characters exploring their inner faith and struggles when faced with external horrors which are all too real. In the case of Legion, we follow detective Kinnerman (sp?) from the first book/movie as he explores the ideas of Heaven, Hell, angels and demons in the face of horrific murders. In The Ninth Configuration we have a psychiatrist being challenged by his patients who are Vietnam War vets suffering from all sorts of mental disorders due to the war.
It's a very.... 70s film. Kinda like the original Westworld movie. Short, to the point with some odd shots. Jason Miller comes back as one of the loonies which means he is in all three of Blatty's movies. It was interesting, but can't say I recommend it unless you're into that kind of discourse. Might look for the book if it's still in print, if not I'll have to scour the second hand stores.
So it turns out it is about William Peter Blatty's movie The Ninth Configuration. Apparently he reworked an earlier novel of his, Twinkle Twinkle "Killer" Kane, and made it the second of what he himself calls his, "Spiritual Trilogy," made up of The Exorcist, The Ninth Configuration and the Exorcist III.
The best way to describe the movie is Shutter Island well before Shutter Island, except with a bigger emphasis on faith. I'm convinced Blatty became a horror Icon by accident. What I mean is, The Exorcist is definitely a horror book and movie, but Legion, the book, wasn't scary. Much more in line with this movie, characters exploring their inner faith and struggles when faced with external horrors which are all too real. In the case of Legion, we follow detective Kinnerman (sp?) from the first book/movie as he explores the ideas of Heaven, Hell, angels and demons in the face of horrific murders. In The Ninth Configuration we have a psychiatrist being challenged by his patients who are Vietnam War vets suffering from all sorts of mental disorders due to the war.
It's a very.... 70s film. Kinda like the original Westworld movie. Short, to the point with some odd shots. Jason Miller comes back as one of the loonies which means he is in all three of Blatty's movies. It was interesting, but can't say I recommend it unless you're into that kind of discourse. Might look for the book if it's still in print, if not I'll have to scour the second hand stores.
TheMercenary
Ancient Mariner
On TV. 
The_7th_one
Ancient Mariner
The best
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
Watched a couple of movies in the last couple of weeks or so. The first one was Into the Mouth of Madness from John Carpenter, starring Sam Neil. I watched it, because once again I was reading an article that said it was perfect for Alan Wake fans. I really enjoyed it, the SFX are very dated, obviously, but it didn't take away from the movie, it's still highly enjoyable.
The second was the new animated TMNT movie. They changed a little bit of the origin story, but, for me at least, it was a welcomed change. I really liked the art style, the voice acting was great and it was a very engaging movie.
I am a tad behind on some movies I want to watch like Top Gun Maverick, Creed III, The Nun II, etc, but unlike when I was younger and spent a lot of time actively watching movies, I don't feel in any rush to get to any of those. The only movie I'm looking forward to at the moment is the announced Kingdom for the Planet of the Apes. Well, that and the Japanese Godzilla movie that I think just hit theaters.
The second was the new animated TMNT movie. They changed a little bit of the origin story, but, for me at least, it was a welcomed change. I really liked the art style, the voice acting was great and it was a very engaging movie.
I am a tad behind on some movies I want to watch like Top Gun Maverick, Creed III, The Nun II, etc, but unlike when I was younger and spent a lot of time actively watching movies, I don't feel in any rush to get to any of those. The only movie I'm looking forward to at the moment is the announced Kingdom for the Planet of the Apes. Well, that and the Japanese Godzilla movie that I think just hit theaters.
Maturin
Sköldpadda
Just came home from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023).
Pretty decent film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games prequel. There might be a few issues with pacing and characters, but still probably the best film in the franchise by a long shot.
This is how you do a prequel.
Pretty decent film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games prequel. There might be a few issues with pacing and characters, but still probably the best film in the franchise by a long shot.
This is how you do a prequel.
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
I'm conflicted, I usually read the books before watching the movies and more often than not end up hating the movie LOL. The Hunger Games was a great example, the first movie in the trilogy was absolute garbage. So I kinda want to watch it to enjoy it on it's own merits and then read the book.