The Movie Thread

[Primarch]

Wierd, I was just talking to a student about Event Horizon on Thursday...

[me_in_japan]

So since I had to stay home this evening instead of joining in the revels in Nagoya, I decided to spend it watching Annihilation on Netflix.

Hooooly shazbut. That was a good film. Go watch it now.

Excellent pacing, direction, storyline, and ultimately the final segment delivers even more than the body of the film promises. For those unaware, Annihilation is a Netflix-only (with cinema release in the US only) movie, written-for-the-screen and directed by Alex Garland, starring Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac. A low budget TV movie this is not. I won't actually say anything about the plot, but suffice to say it is SF at its best. Tense, smart, occasionally 'orrible, always thought provoking. I've also just read on t'internet that it's based on book one of a trilogy. I am now offski to buy said book, with the intention of buying the other two if it's anything but disastrously written.

Very much recommended.

[me_in_japan]

I've seen a couple of movies at the cinema this past week. The first was Pacific Rim Uprising, which I took my kids (age 4 and 6) to. Both enjoyed it, and to be fair it's pretty much just giant robots smashing the bejeezus out of other robots/alien monsters. It's actually pretty fun, and would most likely be best seen on a big screen. John Boyega is solid as the lead, and the rest of teh cast are fine, too.
I went to see Ready Player One this evening, and would definitely recommend it. Lots of fun, shiny as all hell, and possessed of a great deal of swoosh. And pop culture references up the wazoo. Srlsy. If you took out all the pop culture stuff youd be left with a five minute, boring movie. This is not actually a problem, though. Also, good soundtrack. Definitely one to watch before it goes.

Incidentally, re. previous post, I have since read aforementioned book. Laaargely unrelated to the movie, but still a very good read. Could do with being a bit more defined in some parts, but that's just me liking a nice clear story. Opinions may vary.

[kojibear]

Not sure if people have already mentioned this somewhere but this guy made a 40k movie of Helsreach:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUplioG2DC4

[Dekana]

Not sure if people have already mentioned this somewhere but this guy made a 40k movie of Helsreach:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUplioG2DC4

Thank you for that!
Now to download it before GW issues an exterminatus on the youtube channel...

[me_in_japan]

Not technically a movie, but holy crap it feels like one. I just started playing Hellblade:Senua's Sacrifice. It really does astound me what developers are doing with computer games these days. The basic premise of the game is Senua, a viking lass, has gone to hell to save a bloke who I assume is her lover. It's still early days in the game, but that's what I gather. The thing is, Senua has voices in her head. There's a constant chitchatter of these voices while Senua wanders around a frankly jaw-droppingly pretty swamp/beach/rainy mountain top. The atmosphere is one of constant slinking dread, with the voices arguing in the background about whether youre going to die, succeed, should turn around, whatever. The design of the game world, characters, and particularly music, is top notch. I felt kinda the same way about resi 7, although it being a definitely-horror-game, I felt I knew more what to expect. With this, I genuinely have no idea what's coming next. Thumbs up for Senua so far. FWIW, it's made by Ninja Theory, who also did the most recently DMC game, which was also extremely well designed.

I look forward to Senua's future travels through Helsheim...

http://www.hellblade.com/

[Konrad]

I'm not a (video) gamer, but I took a look at some Hellblade shots. The line between video games and movies is increasingly becoming more and more blurred. My kids don't play games, but they will spend hours watching Minecraft videos or survival/horror game douga on Youtube.
And speaking of Hell, I watched that Helsreach fan flick. Surprisingly good. I liked the scratchy, sketchy style used at the beginning better than when it gets more polished in the later sections. It's a good trick to have a fully helmeted and armored figure convey feeling and mood with only posture and gesture and a tilt of the head. That and Grimaldus' "kind eyes". Dude! Smoooooth! (fist bump)
And speaking of more hell, watched "The Death of Stalin". One of the funniest films I've ever seen and in spite of that, like watching Ledger's Joker, I think I only laughed once. Those poor people....Those horrible people....Those poor, horrible people......

[Konrad]

And second that "holy shazzbat" for "Annihilation". Not your usual, goopy-stuff-from-alien-meteorite-taking-over-the-world flick. Layers and layers of nuance and psychology and philosophy. You need to keep your eyes open and your turn your brain on for this one.

[me_in_japan]

I've managed to squeeze in quite a lot of movie watching recently, specifically:

The Ritual: lost-in-the-woods-being-picked-off-one-by-one horror movie. Sounds predictable, but is saved by two things. First, the cast are all British blokes about our age (late 30s or so), and generally make sensible decisions, unlike in a lot of horror flicks. At least, when they make bad decisions it's kinda more understandable - by that point lack of sleep, exhaustion etc have clearly set in. Also, there's a nice sub plot about guilt and acceptance which is a cut above the usual horror schlock. Good cinematography, too. The woods are reet oppressive. Principally, imho, the best bit of the movie is the end sequence, which (and this is high praise) made me want to immediately go into my hobby room and start converting stuff as a tribute. I wants me one o those, precious! @Konrad in particular - if you havent seen this movie, you defo should.

Planet Terror: Robert Rodriguez does zombie flick. Dumb, but like all of Rodriguez's stuff, is a lot of fun. Speaking of which, I crack up laughing every time Danny Trejo pops up in Spy Kids as Uncle Machete. Just happened to be watching it with the kids today, is all

Death Proof: Tarantino flick about a dude (Kurt Russel) who kills chicks with his car, except it's actually more about the chicks. Actually, this is a bloody good movie. Tbh, Tarantino could write/direct a movie called "A bunch of people sitting around talking for two hours" and it'd be a bloody good film, most likely. This partic'lar movie almost feels like two separate stories, but both are very good. Good casting, and a special nod of respect goes to Zoe Bell, who I had never heard of before, but plays herself in this film. She's a stuntwoman by profession, and there is a most awesome car chase at the end that showcases her abilities to great effect. Definitely one worth watching.

Enemy at the Gates: WW1 movie set in Stalingrad. Two snipers get all psychological at each other. Meh, it was ok. Decent cast, but suffered a bit from Hollywood-itis. (ie a bunch of extra characters that didnt matter, and a not very interesting romantic sub plot.) Still, worth a watch if war movies are your thing.

Deadpool 2: Very good. Go see.

Solo: Good, i think, but I was kinda distracted making sure my kids weren't bothering anyone else. They both lost interest completely during the movie, which is interesting because they were both riveted by The Avengers and The Last Jedi. So, there must be something about Solo that isn't good for kids. Certainly, there was a lot of chat, followed by a lot of chat, with the shooty bits kinda slotted in around it, so that may have been the issue. I'd like to watch it again at home with a bit of peace and quiet to really form a proper opinion. Oh, and fwiw, I completely approve of a certain cameo near the end. More of that, please!

[Konrad]

I'll have to give "The Ritual" a look. Summer is the season for horror in Japan after all.
A buddy of mine does a movie podcast http://theaccidentalfilmclub.libsyn.com/ and recommended "Ghost Rider 2:Sprit of Vengeance. No really.
It was a lot better than the 17% it on the Tomatometer. Well, actually it probably does deserve that, but it is one of those movies that is so bad it's good, in the "Evil Dead" vein of things. Or occasionally in an old Hammer horror movie vein. There are a couple of scenes that just scream low-budget horror. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if they had had Christopher Lee in it somehow. It was that sort of flick. What budget they had they spent on Nicholas Cage, who Cages all over the place at 150 mpg on the Cage-o-meter, and on a big, fiery, fight scene involving big, fiery construction equipment. It also had Idris Elba, who is Bond-class cool. I've only seen him in the Marvel stuff, and I can see now he dials his cool back as a courtesy to the main actors.If he revved it up to 100%, Robert Downey Jr. would give himself a stroke trying to keep up. Maybe not a film for everyone, but I really had fun.