Now Watching, Films/ movies discussion Options

[mALX]

Guess what I'm streaming for the millionth time, bitch? Wait, I'll quote a few lines:

I AM the one who knocks!

Stay out of my territory!


Say my name!


WOO HOO !!!! I love this show! Lol.


But actually; I streamed "Shitz Creek" last week, it was my first time seeing it = Loved it!

[Decrepit]

I watched Goodfellas last night with one of my neighbors. Still a good movie. What I really noticed this time watching it was how how Henry Hill (the protagonist) described the mafia was the same a cult. You only associated with other people in the mob. Your wife only associated with other mob wives. Everything he did, everything he was, was due to the mob. It was his sole way of measuring his accomplishments, his worth, his identity. That really put a much creepier spin on the whole thing.

I'm pretty sure I saw this in a cinema when it was new and shiny. I remember thinking it pretty good. Reminds me I really ought to watch Once Upon a Time in American again. Thankfully, I own it with scenes in their proper non-chronological order, not the chronological edition that first toured the US.

Goodfellas is definitely one of the best mob movies ever made. I never saw Once Upon a Time in America. Maybe I should check it out.

Opinions vary of course, but I certainly recommend it. If you take the plunge, double-check and insure you are getting the non-chronological version, which is... Never mind, here's a Wikipedia entry about the film and its distribution history:

(link) Wikipedia - Once Upon A Time in America (link)

(Ignore the article's lengthy plot synopsis, lest you spoil things for yourself.)

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Jan 24 2021, 12:12 PM

[SubRosa]

I watched Goodfellas last night with one of my neighbors. Still a good movie. What I really noticed this time watching it was how how Henry Hill (the protagonist) described the mafia was the same a cult. You only associated with other people in the mob. Your wife only associated with other mob wives. Everything he did, everything he was, was due to the mob. It was his sole way of measuring his accomplishments, his worth, his identity. That really put a much creepier spin on the whole thing.

I'm pretty sure I saw this in a cinema when it was new and shiny. I remember thinking it pretty good. Reminds me I really ought to watch Once Upon a Time in American again. Thankfully, I own it with scenes in their proper non-chronological order, not the chronological edition that first toured the US.

Goodfellas is definitely one of the best mob movies ever made. I never saw Once Upon a Time in America. Maybe I should check it out.

Opinions vary of course, but I certainly recommend it. If you take the plunge, double-check and insure you are getting the non-chronological version, which is... Never mind, here's a Wikipedia entry about the film and its distribution history:

(link) Wikipedia - Once Upon A Time in America (link)

(Ignore the article's lengthy plot synopsis, lest you spoil things for yourself.)

I started watching it last night. Egads, is this a long movie! Just under 4 hours. And in that entire time I think there was about 10 lines of dialogue. I am not sure if I am going to watch any more of it. I have seen 40 minutes of it, and everything in there could have easily been done in 10 minutes. But it is not just the glacial pace. The movie seems to work hard at being confusing and inscrutable. It took 35 minutes or so for me to figure out that someone stole a million dollars from someone else, and that presumably that was the reason for all the murders in the beginning. Given that one guy was burned to a crisp, and the others not, I am guessing that he faked his death by substituting the burned corpse of someone else, and he took the money.

[SubRosa]

I am looking forward to watching the Live Action Wednesday series. Tim Burton is making it for Netflix, and it stars a late teenish Wednesday Addams as she goes to magic school (or something like that), develops psychic powers, fights crime, and solves a supernatural mystery. Sounds like a lot of fun!

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I am looking forward to watching the Live Action Wednesday series. Tim Burton is making it for Netflix, and it stars a late teenish Wednesday Addams as she goes to magic school (or something like that), develops psychic powers, fights crime, and solves a supernatural mystery. Sounds like a lot of fun!

That sounds neat! I didn’t even know this was going to be a thing!

[treydog]

RIP Yaphet Kotto. His most iconic role (for me, at least) was as Lt. Giardello ("G") in Homicide: Life on the Street. He had a long and varied career, showing off incredible range as an actor. Some notable movies are:

"Raid on Entebbe", "Brubaker", and "Alien".

But for me- he will always be "G". Gone now to that game of Hearts in the break room.

[SubRosa]

RIP Yaphet Kotto. His most iconic role (for me, at least) was as Lt. Giardello ("G") in Homicide: Life on the Street. He had a long and varied career, showing off incredible range as an actor. Some notable movies are:

"Raid on Entebbe", "Brubaker", and "Alien".

But for me- he will always be "G". Gone now to that game of Hearts in the break room.

That is sad to hear. I will always remember him from Alien.

[SubRosa]

I watched Zack Snyder's new version of Justice League last night. I really had low expectations. I guess I can say because of that I was not disappointed?

First off, it is 4 hours long. So strap yourself in. Return of the King was that long, and it delivered for all four hours. ZSL does not really. In the first hour especially, it flails. Where the original theatrical version was a lot tighter, and much better focused on what was going on, especially at the start.

Second off, it is filmed in 4:3. Yes, the old TV screen size from 50 years ago. Why? I do not know. But it definitely hurt the movie in big eye-candy scenes.

Third off, the color is all desatured. It is not black and white. But there are no bright colors anywhere. Nothing that pops in your eye, and makes having a 4K television worth it. I expected this. Being darker is a Snyder trademark. Not just metaphorically, but literally.

Fourth off, the music is bad. It is just... bad. I guess Hans Zimmer was busy. Because this version of the movie was really lacking his presence. (Unless that was him, and he did it in his sleep, or a heroin-induced stupor).

I expected Snyder to cut out the humorous scenes. Which he did almost entirely. That is his shtick. But I was surprised at some of the non-funny things he also took out. For example, the original starts (I think) with a scene in Gotham with Batman catching a thief, and using his fear to attract a parademon, which Batman then fights. He gets a tease of the mother boxes, and learns that the parademons really hate a certain high pitched frequency. This not only sets up the plot, but it also lays out a weapon Batman later uses against the parademons. This is now gone completely. Even the later sonic weapon. In fact, Batman is barely in the first hour.

Snyder also took out the scene where the team argues about the morality and ethics of resurrecting Superman. With Wonder Woman pointing out that necrmoancy is bad, and the Flash mentioning Pet Semetary. This is gone, and replaced by a scene where they all go "great, lets bring him back from the dead." Aquaman does have second thoughts right before they do it, but by then it does not matter.

There are some new scenes. Obviously since the movie is now twice the original length. Some of the original scenes are just lengthened out by a few minutes here and there. Some entirely new scenes are added whole cloth. Like with Diana retrieving the burning arrow that her mother shot into the ancient Greek temple to warn her after the first mother box was taken. That was interesting, but really redundant. As we later get the entire story anyway.

The main villain gets a big visual overhaul. Now Steppenwolf has a suit of weird armor, made up of hundreds of little spikes. They normally lay together flat to make a smooth surface. But when he gets his dander up they swing out, and form a prickly hide around him. I am not sure it was really better, or necessary, over the original look.

The biggest new thing is Darkseid. In the Snyder version he is very present. In the original it was just Steppenwolf. Here it is very plain that he is just the lackey of the much more powerful ruler of Apokolips. First through Desaad, then Darkseid himself. This was good, really, really good. Darksied never takes any direct action in the movie. Steppenwolf just reports to him. But it makes it plain that this is not just a standalone film, but rather the beginning of a long term project. It reminds me of how we glimpsed Thanos in the first Avengers movie in a similar way.

However, the whole Darkseid plot also introduces some confusion. His interest is in the secret of Anti-Life, which we learn is apparently on Earth. This only serves to muddy the water in a story that is already about mother boxes. That part of it winds up being distracting, and I think would have been better left to be introduced in a sequel.

Also, the Martian Manhunter is introduced! I loved this, as I am a big fan of how they have done his character in the Supergirl TV show. But he is only in some small scenes at the end. He does nothing to effect the plot. Basically they are setting him up for future movies.

This version also gives a lot more time to Cyborg and the Flash, which was definitely appreciated. However, it also removed some character building scenes. Like the one of Aquaman inadvertently sitting on the Lasso of Hestia and pouring his heart out in a soliloquy that was not only fun, but really honest and heartfelt (Lasso of Truth and all). It also removes a part of the team's first real fight, where the Flash is uncertain about what to do. He is just a regular guy, who moves fast, and occasionally pushes people after all. Batman tells him to save one person. Then after that, he would know what to do. Which he then did, and did. It was a great, simple way of showing the character grow into the role of being a superhero. But now gone. I wonder if Snyder did not like these scenes because they showed the heroes possessing vulnerabilities? Which IMHO is a good thing, not a bad one.

Gone too are scenes showing Batman and Wonder Woman bonding, and arguing with one another. Especially a scene where she helps him take off his tunic, revealing his body as one giant bruise underneath. I really liked that, because it showed that he was just a mortal man, seriously punching over his weight here. But also one determined to right his wrongs, and defend the world. You know, hero stuff.

Also included are more dreams/visions that Batman has of an apocalyptic future where the world is in ruins and Superman is a bad buy serving Darkseid. This hearkens back to a similar dream in Batman Vs Superman. Jared Leto playing the Joker makes a big appearance here. He even makes a remark about Batman destroying countless alternate universes because he could not save Lois Lane. So the implication is that at some point in the future she dies, and Superman becomes evil because of it. It also hints that Batman's dreams might not be dreams, but rather memories from alternate timelines.

So clearly there is an overall story arc that Snyder has in mind. I think I have seen it referred to as Knightmare. But could be wrong. It is hard to say where it would have went. It sounds like maybe trying to go back in time and alter a dystopian future. Gee, that sounds familiar... *cough* Avengers Endgame *cough*. Whether we will ever see any of it is up in the air. DC cancelled its multiverse plans years back, and instead decided to just concentrate on individual stories. But if the Snyder Cut does well, who knows? He might get the green light to do more Justice League movies following his plan.

In the end, I think I prefer the original version of Justice League however. It was tighter, had a more optimistic mood over all, and was just nicer to look at. The Snyder cut definitely has its good points however. The Darkseid stuff is just fantastic for the most part. If you are a Snyder-stan you will like it. If not, then maybe don't bother.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I can not imagine trying to sit through 4 hours of superhero movie. Ew.

[treydog]

Just finished watching "Searching for Sugar Man". Fascinating documentary about an obscure musician. Will not give away too much, as it is something of a mystery/detective story. Highly recommended.

[SubRosa]

I just watched the new Mortal Kombat movie. It was fun. It had some cool monsters, gruesome "Fatalaties!", neat character designs, and lots of martial arts. It was definitely better than the previous MK movies from the 90s. This is a movie about a video game, so it is obviously not cinema verite. But it does deliver what you expect.

I also saw Black Widow. It was good. I really liked how they went back in time to show her with her "family", and how that "family" dynamic carried through the movie. I am using air quotes because they are not her biological family of course, or even adopted ones. But you will see if you watch the movie. The characters were good. I liked how they did Taskmaster a lot. The story fills in the background that the Widow never had when her character was alive. So right on time there Marvel... Other than being 10 years too late, it was a fun superhero film.

[Pseron Wyrd]

I also saw Black Widow. It was good.

I liked it too. And I say this as someone who has never watched an Avengers movie and has never read a comic book. So this is my first experience with Black Widow. Surprisingly (to me), I cared about the story and the characters and thought the two leads had good chemistry together. I thought the film had a good mix of serious moments, action and humor. I was very pleased with the film and plan to watch it again in the future.

[Adella]

I was extremely annoyed that they chose to kill Black Widow in the Avengers storyline to get the soul infinity stone.

The choice was between Hawkeye…whom I like a lot, and Black Widow, whom I like a lot. Either death was bad for me….and Why? Did the writer need to kill them off? No! It was all for shock value and emotional investment.

If we had to lose someone I would have rather it been the implausible Ant Man (who loses mass despite having the same number of atoms) or Anthony Mackie’s bird man thing or one of the other low level filler heroes.

What did the plot gain with BW’s death? Anyone? Bah!

If I get to write an epilogue I’ll do the convenient time machine thing and retcon BW into being saved!

A.

[SubRosa]

I felt the same way about them killing both Widow and Gamora in that movie. It was way too Women in Refrigerators for me.

With the TV show Loki they focus on alternate timelines, and the alternate versions of people in those other universes. So there is a lot of room there to still have Scarjo or even someone else playing the same character as a variant. There might even be an alligator Black Widow.

But I suspect that they were grooming Florence Pugh (her 'sister' Yelena in the movie) to carry on the role as a new Black Widow. Or any of the slew of other Widows in that film.

[Decrepit]

I watch movies so seldom these days that I forget to mention it here when I do. I recently watched "Life of Brian". I saw it once before, ages ago. Soon after its premiere, I suspect. I recall not being overly impressed at the time. This time round, I absolutely adored it, start to finish! Even more than Holy Grail. Never thought I'd say that.

I afterward watched a bunch of Life of Brian movie reactions on YouTube.

[macole]

Has anyone watched any of the Epic NPC Man Adventures? This one I recently found is pretty good.

Baelin's Route - An Epic NPC Man Adventure - YouTube

[Decrepit]

For decades, I was sure I saw the original Night of the Living Dead back in the day. Not long ago I decided to see it again, in preparation for watching YouTube NotLD 'reaction' videos. To my great surprise, it was not at all familiar to me. I now suspect that what I saw those decades ago was a clone or sequel. As to the film itself, I was impressed, far more so than anticipated. It's a very good movie. Some reactors aren't thrilled by the acting, especially the main female protagonist, but I have no complaints in that regard whatsoever. I find it well done in all aspects, and better at treating its subject matter 'seriously' than most of its countless successors.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

For decades, I was sure I saw the original Night of the Living Dead back in the day. Not long ago I decided to see it again, in preparation for watching YouTube NotLD 'reaction' videos. To my great surprise, it was not at all familiar to me. I now suspect that what I saw those decades ago was a clone or sequel. As to the film itself, I was impressed, far more so than anticipated. It's a very good movie. Some reactors aren't thrilled by the acting, especially the main female protagonist, but I have no complaints in that regard whatsoever. I find it well done in all aspects, and better at treating its subject matter 'seriously' than most of its countless successors.

Yeah, the original NotLD is great! “They’re coming to get you, Barbara!”

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Not watching, but there is news about a new The Crow movie. Apparently it’s staring Bill Skarsgård, recently of It fame. I would much rather see a new The Crow film with a female protagonist, but maybe he’ll do ok. His casting might suggest that they intend to go with a more creepy feel for the character rather than just edgy. I do like that he’s not a beef cake like Mamoa, who was rumored to be staring in a The Crow a while ago.

Here is a link to an article about it.

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: May 12 2022, 03:05 AM

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Vampire: The Masquerade pen and paper live play LA By Night. It’s kinda silly, but it’s fun!