What are you watching?

[SpaceOwlHoot]

I also watched Everything Everywhere All At Once the other day, and it's a wonderfully-made film with plenty of heart and laughs. I highly suggest you check that out if you haven't already, it deserves all its accolades.

I really liked this movie. I have seen the trailer so I knew what I was getting into but my girlfriend knew nothing of the movie when she watched it so she was very surprised how it was panning out lol ... she ended up really liking it, though.

 

[Angel]

ReformedWiki 2.0 on YouTube

 

[SaddlerFan]

I'm going through the good old TMNT cartoon series again. Very little about it makes sense but then I guess that's the whole point, haha.

 

[KManX89]

I saw Barbarian last weekend, I really enjoyed it. It kept me guessing every step of the way, which was a huge breath of fresh air from your average horror movie, which have become way too predictable. I was on the edge of my seat ready and anxiously waiting for whatever crazy **** they threw at the screen next and Bill Skarsgard once again killed it in a horror role. I swear, if that guy's career doesn't take off after this and the It movies, then there truly is no justice in this world.

Oh, and speaking of Barbarian... stuff, I also rented Conan the Barbarian (1982) on Prime Video a few days ago, I fully understand why it's considered a cult classic. The end duel was f*cking amazing (dat wheel kill, man) and the quest stuff with the slaves wasn't half bad, either (nice T&A, too, BTW, yeah, I'm a bit of a horndog, I can't help it). If it ever hits 4K, I'm definitely picking it up, which it deserves. Why the sh!tty reboot got one before the far better OG film that put Arnold on the map (and got it greenlit based solely on how well it sold on blu-ray), I'll never know.

We don't talk about Conan the Destroyer.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Just watched The Tomorrow War, The Terminal List, and every episode of The Rings of Power out so far. This is because they're all done by Amazon Studios and I'm on a free trial of Prime right now. They're all pretty good IMO, now if they could just fix the problems with their horrible Prime delivery service.

 

[Ikawaru]

Conan the Barbarian (1982)

 

[Ikawaru]

'The Big Heist' (2001)

I really liked it, it's a mobster made for TV movie about Jimmy Burke's crew and the Lufthansa Heist back in 1978.

Yes, Martin Scorsese did that first with 'Goodfellas' but I always thought that film, though very well made, was a bit too dark and depressing in its presentation and the acting was a bit over the top and not a 100% accurate presentation of the mobsters in question.

This film is like an antithesis to that, it is much more lighthearted in its approach and even has disco music but it is still a mobster movie and people steal and get whacked just as easily as ordering a pizza. Donald Sutherland actually brings out the 'likeable' (by mob standards of course) side of Jimmy Burke that felt absent in 'Goodfellas' which focused more on his darker nature with Robert DeNiro as his character.

The truth about mob life around that time is probably somewhere in the middle between the two films so I would recommend watching both of them as they contrast each other well and probably both of them combined would be an accurate portrayal of Jimmy Burke and his band of miscreants like Henry Hill, Tommy DeSimone, Anthony Stabile, and Angelo Sepe.

 

[KManX89]

The new Halloween movie, Halloween Ends, is pretty sh!t. It's a total mess. The issues with it have been laid out ad verbatim, so I'm not gonna go into detail ripping every single one of its flaws (and there are a lot). Instead, I think I'll just leave this here because I love it when Screen Rant/Ryan George does these videos and it hits the nail on the head, as usual :

Thank God I watched it for free on Peacock instead of paying to see this sh!t in theaters. I kinda figured it would be sh!t when the review embargo lifted hours before it technically first hit theaters (3PM on Thursday) and the day-and-date Peacock release. The writing was on the wall it would be bad, though I will say the "finish" was quite creative (without going into spoilers) even if the heralded final fight between Laurie and Michael was underwhelming.

But yeah, I can now definitively say H20 was the better "Laurie vs. Michael one last time" movie by a mile, which is actually kinda sad when you think about it. At least that actually focused on "Laurie v. Michael one last time". I won't even talk about Resurrection and how it p!ssed all that away in the stupidest way possible with that convoluted AF "twist", which honestly would've been enough to derail the movie by itself (it's that bad), and that's before all the corny Busta Rhymes/Michael Myers reality sh!t.

On the plus side, I'm wrapping up the Evil Dead series as part of my Halloween movie marathon. I'm watching Army of Darkness tonight and Evil Dead remake tomorrow followed by Sinister, the two good Conjuring movies (didn't much care for The Evil Made Me Do It) and The Exorcist on Halloween night. I made sure I saved the best for last for my Halloween marathon (I already watched the now first 2 Halloween movies in this rebooted timeline in preparation for Ends, which sadly didn't pan out).

 

[bSTAR_182]

Smile 2022
Very in tune with It Follows though not quite as good in terms of story or soundtrack.
Really enjoyed the cinematography for this movie and thought it was an entertaining horror flick to catch in theaters.
As much as it relies on the jump scare tactic, it still accomplished being unsettling. Of course, we were only two rows away from the screen which really amplified those jump scares and tense scenes.

Cruella
I have Disney Plus again so decided to give this movie a go... keeping in mind that this is more of a kid movie, it was a decent movie. The more I think about it, the more I like it as a sort of reimagining/reboot of the original source material. Emma Stone did great as a young Cruella. I also loved Paul Walter as Horace.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Cruella
I have Disney Plus again so decided to give this movie a go... keeping in mind that this is more of a kid movie, it was a decent movie. The more I think about it, the more I like it as a sort of reimagining/reboot of the original source material. Emma Stone did great as a young Cruella. I also loved Paul Walter as Horace.

Yeah Cruella took me by surprise, a very good movie and great job by Emma Stone. I couldn't stand the one Glen Close did, the constant hysterical laughing was annoying. Cruella had a more dark, realistic approach. Maybe not as much for kids, but something us grown ups can enjoy for sure.

 

[bSTAR_182]

I actually rewatched Glen Close's 101 Dalmatians and enjoyed it all over again. It stayed faithful to the classic 1961 cartoon movie (which is one of my top favorites of the classic movies) even if it is pretty cheesy at times... I think most live-action Disney movies are guilty of being cheesy though, even Cruella was no exception, for me, in this aspect. It's a good reimagining of the villain's story though.


I'm currently in the middle of season 2 of The Mandalorian and what a great season so far.

 

[Jonipoon]

I just can't stand Disney's recent obsession with reimagining all of their classic female villains as being "deeply misunderstood" or "victims of unfair treatment".

In that case, why is Jafar still 100% evil in Aladdin? Why is Gaston still a prick in Beauty and the Beast? Where are their origin films about being such deeply misunderstood characters?

 

[Frag Maniac]

I actually rewatched Glen Close's 101 Dalmatians and enjoyed it all over again. It stayed faithful to the classic 1961 cartoon movie (which is one of my top favorites of the classic movies) even if it is pretty cheesy at times... I think most live-action Disney movies are guilty of being cheesy though, even Cruella was no exception, for me, in this aspect. It's a good reimagining of the villain's story though.


I'm currently in the middle of season 2 of The Mandalorian and what a great season so far.

Yeah, agreed about Disney cheesiness being common. The Mandalorian was very good though, but is written by John Favreau, and probably why it doesn't have that Kathleen Kennedy flavor so many dedicated Star Wars fans hate. Right now I'm enjoying the Andor series by Disney, and Stellan Skarsgard is pretty good in it, and the writing is not bad.

I had worried The Mandalorian was over, but a 3rd season will debut early next year, and a 4th season is in development. The Book of Boba Fett was pretty good too, and Ahsoka will release early next year (Favreau), as well as Skeleton Crew, all of which are The Mandalorian spin offs.

Another series I'm watching, which is nothing like what Disney does, is The Peripheral. From the very first episode you find out it's about Virtual Reality, and since I'm not interested in VR PC gaming at all, I was worried I wouldn't like it. This is FAR beyond ordinary VR though, and the story is complex and interesting.

​

 

[Ikawaru]

I just can't stand Disney's recent obsession with reimagining all of their classic female villains as being "deeply misunderstood" or "victims of unfair treatment".

In that case, why is Jafar still 100% evil in Aladdin? Why is Gaston still a prick in Beauty and the Beast? Where are their origin films about being such deeply misunderstood characters?

Yeah, do you really think backstories of Captain Hook, Jafar, Gaston, etc. being dropped on their heads and/or physically/sexually abused as children then turning to a life of evil and villainy as adults would be intriguing stories? Can't say I would.

I think I'd prefer the fugly fickle nerdy girl with braces being bullied by Ms. Pretty and Popular then a bucket of blood dumping on her like 'Carrie' then transcending into dark and evil beauty, but that's just me.

 

[Jonipoon]

Nah, you're overthinking it. Applying Maleficent's take on Sleeping Beauty onto Peter Pan, for example, would essentially mean turning the story into one about fatherhood and misunderstood fathers. Captain Hook would be furious on Peter Pan because he views him as his son, and in the end it would turn out that all of the lost boys were in fact runaway kids to the pirates.

 

[LordGolbez]

I've been watching the Rings of Power on Amazon. It's not bad and I expected much worse to be frank.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I've been watching the Rings of Power on Amazon. It's not bad and I expected much worse to be frank.

Me too

I just started watching Tulsa King. Only a few episodes in so far. It too is better than I expected. For those worried about Stallone pushing it too much trying to be the tough guy at too old an age, it's done kind of tongue in cheek. It's more about an Italian mobster trying to fit in with Oklahoma cowboys, awkwardly at first, but now he's building his empire and showing them he's smarter than they thought.

It's created by Taylor Sheridan btw, the same guy behind Yellowstone, which is one of my favorite shows. The prequel 1883 was also really good, starring Sam Shepard. I'm also looking forward to 1923, starring Harrison Ford, which is the next spinoff of Yellowstone coming out soon.

 

[Springhosen]

@Jonipoon I dunno, Jafar was always just trying to save Agrabah from a childish Sultan and spoiled Princess who didn't know what they were doing and went a little crazy when his plans were almost completely thwarted by Aladdin to me.

 

[LordGolbez]

Me too

I just started watching Tulsa King. Only a few episodes in so far. It too is better than I expected. For those worried about Stallone pushing it too much trying to be the tough guy at too old an age, it's done kind of tongue in cheek. It's more about an Italian mobster trying to fit in with Oklahoma cowboys, awkwardly at first, but now he's building his empire and showing them he's smarter than they thought.

It's created by Taylor Sheridan btw, the same guy behind Yellowstone, which is one of my favorite shows. The prequel 1883 was also really good, starring Sam Shepard. I'm also looking forward to 1923, starring Harrison Ford, which is the next spinoff of Yellowstone coming out soon.

I love Yellowstone so I'll have to give it a watch.

 

[KManX89]

I saw Violent Night last weekend, I had a good time. Good mix of humor and grit with enough heart and emotional moments to keep your attention beyond all the nitty gritty, and there's plenty to go around in this film. It's Die Hard meets Home Alone with a bit of slasher horror thrown in for good measure, and of course, Santa Claus. Make no mistake, he f*cks people up John McClane-style. The kills are well-done and David Harbour nails it as Santa Claus (no pun intended), offering some nice adult wisecracks and edgy humor to boot without becoming too juvenile (looking at you, Movie 43).

But beyond that, he's the gel that holds the movie together. His presence is felt with the other characters, both family and mob like. You feel the bond in all their scenes even when he's off screen and by the end of the film, it all pays off very nicely.

Speaking of film references, there's so many other homages to Die Hard that they can't help but make meta humor on it in this. Not only do they acknowledge it, they make snide jokes about it which are cleverly-done. There's some nice throwbacks to Home Alone as well, can't really blame 'em for wanting to homage the two best Christmas movies ever in this wonderfully-done Christmas horror. And yes, Die Hard is a Christmas movie, I don't care what anybody says.