General Entertainment ~Rate The Last Movie/TV Show You Watched Thread~

[Keyser_Soze]

[blu-ray]

 

Joker: 8/10

 

From the director of Road Trip and The Hangover trilogy comes a mostly serious Joker origin movie. With the way people talked this up recently I was expecting something awful but I quite enjoyed it. Now I don't know much about the Jokers from the comics but the movie certainly paints a picture of a life of abuse and torment that many people could relate to in some form or another. Kids destroying your sign and your boss asking you to reimburse the business for it, coworkers acting like they're doing your a favor but actually throwing you under the bus, the list goes on. All of this leading to a "down with the wealthy" type of message that has only gained popularity IRL. it feels like the perfect antithesis to a Batman movie where you're supposed to sympathize with Batman. Maybe he was the bad guy all along. One might laugh at Joaquin Phoenix being in this movie but he totally sells it. I think the only issue I had with the movie was that the thing with the mom kind of undermines the idea of the movie. But other than that I was pleasantly surprised with how the movie turned out.

[Keyser_Soze]

[viki.com]

 

Queen for Seven Days (7일의 왕비): 8/10

 

Generally I'm not into historic dramas but after watching this I feel like I know more about Korean history than @thewhyteboar

It takes place in the Joseon era and the real life story of two brothers and a woman who becomes the Queen for seven days before she is deposed. Lee Yung, the older brother, is king. But his father created an order for him to abdicate the throne for his younger brother, Lee Yeok, when he becomes old enough. However, the king is an insecure and tyrannical ruler and has no plans to let anyone else take over the throne so instead he'd rather assassinate his brother. Very Crusader Kings type stuff here. So the show is a lot of the younger brother trying to get his older brother out of power which seems a lot harder than it seems, especially with crooked advisors pulling the strings behind the scenes. Park Min-young play's the love interest, supposed to be an ugly ducking sort of person but I'm not buying it. She's so beautiful I'd slap @Greatoneshere across the face with a wet fish just to wave hello to her. In any case she's really the only person who can reason with the king but is obviously in love with the prince. It's a very dramatic show, there are double crosses and crisscross on top of zigzags or whatever. One would think going in this was a romantic show but it's pretty sorrowful through the whole thing. Not that it's a bad thing but don't think going in you're going to have a fun filled time.

[thewhyteboar]

I don’t think I’ve seen Park Min-young in anything before. 

[Keyser_Soze]

48 minutes ago, thewhyteboar said:

I don’t think I’ve seen Park Min-young in anything before. 

 

Her Private Life is on Netflix. You can correct your mistake.

[Dre801]

The Flash - 6.5/10.  Wasn't bad.  Good cameos.  Post credit scene was lame.

[Keyser_Soze]

[blu-ray]

 

A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop: 6/10

 

From Chinese director Zhang Yimou (Hero / House of Flying Daggers) comes a wacky adaptation of Blood Simple. The film opens with four goofballs buying a weapon from a Persian trader. The woman (known as Wang's Wife) buys a gun from the trader because she has a desire to have powerful weapons. The real reason turns up later in the movie. In any case this scene establishes a few plot points. The Persian fires a cannon which attracts the "police" to investigate and then we are introduced to a very good detective. In any case the owner of the shop, Wang, abuses his wife regularly but suspects his wife of cheating and asks the detective to kill the pair and if you've seen Blood Simple you know a comedy of errors is to follow. I would say its a mostly accurate retelling of Blood Simple except with the weird silly characters and whatnot. This didn't turn me off of the movie as much as some people but it does set up weird expectations early on. Beyond that the film does have a very striking visual style which is awesome but only makes the silly tone more odd.

[Greatoneshere]

10 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

From Chinese director Zhang Yimou (Hero / House of Flying Daggers) comes a wacky adaptation of Blood Simple. The film opens with four goofballs buying a weapon from a Persian trader. The woman (known as Wang's Wife) buys a gun from the trader because she has a desire to have powerful weapons. The real reason turns up later in the movie. In any case this scene establishes a few plot points. The Persian fires a cannon which attracts the "police" to investigate and then we are introduced to a very good detective. In any case the owner of the shop, Wang, abuses his wife regularly but suspects his wife of cheating and asks the detective to kill the pair and if you've seen Blood Simple you know a comedy of errors is to follow. I would say its a mostly accurate retelling of Blood Simple except with the weird silly characters and whatnot. This didn't turn me off of the movie as much as some people but it does set up weird expectations early on. Beyond that the film does have a very striking visual style which is awesome but only makes the silly tone more odd.

 

This is definitely one of Zhang's weaker films but most of his older movies are definitely worth going back and watching. I'd just start from the beginning of his filmography with Red Sorghum and go from there. 

[SoberChef]

Began FINALLY watching 'Spaced' the 99/00 comedy series w/ Simon Pegg & Nick Frost, w/ Edgar Wright directing. Oh this show is a bloody freaking blast!!!

[TheLeon]

Alien 3 - doing a full Fincher rewatch along with the Blank Check podcast leading up to The Killer. This is pretty clearly his worst movie, but considering how much the deck was stacked against him, it’s not that bad. If nothing else, it’s impressive that a major studio franchise movie starts off this incredibly bleak and never really lets up. 

[Greatoneshere]

5 hours ago, TheLeon said:

Alien 3 - doing a full Fincher rewatch along with the Blank Check podcast leading up to The Killer. This is pretty clearly his worst movie, but considering how much the deck was stacked against him, it’s not that bad. If nothing else, it’s impressive that a major studio franchise movie starts off this incredibly bleak and never really lets up. 

 

Curious if you watched the Fincher work print version that's available or just the straight up butchered theatrical version (or the extended cut, which is still butchered)?

[TheLeon]

45 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

Curious if you watched the Fincher work print version that's available or just the straight up butchered theatrical version (or the extended cut, which is still butchered)?

I knew that was gonna be your question when I saw you quoted this.  My cheap DVD set just has the theatrical. I’m aware of the changes made for the Assembly Cut, and I’m sure it’s a lot better, but I understand there was still only so much Fincher could do with that script and the time/budget he was given. I’ll seek it out at some point, probably whenever I do a full Alien franchise rewatch next. 

[Greatoneshere]

3 hours ago, TheLeon said:

I knew that was gonna be your question when I saw you quoted this.  My cheap DVD set just has the theatrical. I’m aware of the changes made for the Assembly Cut, and I’m sure it’s a lot better, but I understand there was still only so much Fincher could do with that script and the time/budget he was given. I’ll seek it out at some point, probably whenever I do a full Alien franchise rewatch next. 

 

These are very important questions!  Whenever you do another rewatch I definitely recommend it. It's the best version of the film (that can probably be created out of the footage shot based on the shooting script Fincher had to shoot) even if the transfer is understandably rough at times. Note that the assembly cut is not an approved version by Fincher, it is literally the assembly cut he presented to producers and the studio back in the day before further/additional requests and changes. So the work print version is inherently compromised as well, but at least less so. 

[EternallDarkness]

If you want to know what the real vision for Alien 3 originally was then you need to check out Alien 3 the Unproduced Screenplay by William Gibson, novelized by Pat Cadigan. 

 

http://www.amazon.comdp/B08T19ZGHF/

 

 

[Keyser_Soze]

[blu-ray]

 

R100: 6/10

 

Strange doesn't even begin to describe this movie. It follows a middle aged man who visits a bondage company (literally called Bondage) and signs a year long contract that allows a dominatrix to show up anywhere he's at to humiliate him. So it's like a dominatrix version of The Game and girls show up randomly at his work or while he's eating and force him to eat smashed sushi. Every time it happens he's pleased with the results, there is some unexplained face morph thing to convey his euphoria. In any case, he decides he wants to cancel, which he can't do, and after an accident the stakes get deadlier, and also weirder.

I guess this is supposed to be a comedy but it really doesn't do anything humorous, it's just strange in a lot of ways and if a movie getting weird is supposed to be funny, well it's not that funny. The first half the plot plays out pretty normally, but it feels like they got bored halfway through and just said escalate the strangeness. It's interesting to see where it goes but doesn't necessarily make for a good movie.

[EternallDarkness]

saw A Haunting in Venice. Decent, though I preferred the previous flicks. The decision to play up the horror angle was a really poor marketing decision 

[Keyser_Soze]

[Netflix]

 

One Piece (Season 1): 8/10

 

I've mentioned some of this in the other thread so I don't want to repeat myself too much here but I enjoyed the Once Piece live action version. I don't have too much familiarity with the manga/anime beyond the look and maybe a quick rundown of the story so I can't get into any specifics of what they left out or what they got wrong but to me it feels like a very faithful adaptation. While overall I'm really not a fan of manga/anime turned into live action that's mostly because it feels unneeded and that a live action version is unable to capture the magic of an anime. While things like Ghost in the Shell and Cowboy Beebop missed the mark in many ways I feel like One Piece landed in a lot of ways.

This show embraces being an anime instead of trying to turn it into something normal. They poured a lot of money into the show and I think it paid off because the overall aesthetic resembles the source material even capturing the small details like the snail phones and the birds that carry the bags and whatnot. Even accurate hair colors for the characters. I think the biggest takeaway from the show is that even though the story is over 25 years old a lot of the story and plot points feel fresh even today so even if you've never followed the source material you will still be compelled by what's happening in the show. So yeah I enjoyed it and I welcome more episodes, whenever those show up. Maybe even inspired to watch the anime too...

[silentbob]

19 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

[Netflix]

 

One Piece (Season 1): 8/10

 

I've mentioned some of this in the other thread so I don't want to repeat myself too much here but I enjoyed the Once Piece live action version. I don't have too much familiarity with the manga/anime beyond the look and maybe a quick rundown of the story so I can't get into any specifics of what they left out or what they got wrong but to me it feels like a very faithful adaptation. While overall I'm really not a fan of manga/anime turned into live action that's mostly because it feels unneeded and that a live action version is unable to capture the magic of an anime. While things like Ghost in the Shell and Cowboy Beebop missed the mark in many ways I feel like One Piece landed in a lot of ways.

This show embraces being an anime instead of trying to turn it into something normal. They poured a lot of money into the show and I think it paid off because the overall aesthetic resembles the source material even capturing the small details like the snail phones and the birds that carry the bags and whatnot. Even accurate hair colors for the characters. I think the biggest takeaway from the show is that even though the story is over 25 years old a lot of the story and plot points feel fresh even today so even if you've never followed the source material you will still be compelled by what's happening in the show. So yeah I enjoyed it and I welcome more episodes, whenever those show up. Maybe even inspired to watch the anime too...

 

Im right there with you with your thoughts and potentially watching the anime at some point. Although I liked it even more than you and would have bumped it up to a 9. Some effects came off looking a bit cheap which is maybe why I deducted the point, but I loved that everyone played their role. I loved that they really had their own personality, beliefs, darkness and dreams to follow. Plus the backstory setups of characters were probably my favourite moments of the show. Too bad the next season is going to take forever to get here with the strike happening

[EternallDarkness]

On 9/19/2023 at 3:01 AM, Keyser_Soze said:

[Netflix]

 

One Piece (Season 1): 8/10

 

I've mentioned some of this in the other thread so I don't want to repeat myself too much here but I enjoyed the Once Piece live action version. I don't have too much familiarity with the manga/anime beyond the look and maybe a quick rundown of the story so I can't get into any specifics of what they left out or what they got wrong but to me it feels like a very faithful adaptation. While overall I'm really not a fan of manga/anime turned into live action that's mostly because it feels unneeded and that a live action version is unable to capture the magic of an anime. While things like Ghost in the Shell and Cowboy Beebop missed the mark in many ways I feel like One Piece landed in a lot of ways.

This show embraces being an anime instead of trying to turn it into something normal. They poured a lot of money into the show and I think it paid off because the overall aesthetic resembles the source material even capturing the small details like the snail phones and the birds that carry the bags and whatnot. Even accurate hair colors for the characters. I think the biggest takeaway from the show is that even though the story is over 25 years old a lot of the story and plot points feel fresh even today so even if you've never followed the source material you will still be compelled by what's happening in the show. So yeah I enjoyed it and I welcome more episodes, whenever those show up. Maybe even inspired to watch the anime too...

 

I enjoyed the hell out of it. As for watching the anime...I actually think in some ways it's superior to the anime as the anime really drags some stuff out waaaaaaaay to long.

[silentbob]

THE FLASH (4K/ATMOS) 4/5

This is a very comic book type of movie. Yes the opening rescue is odd but gave me Justice League cartoon bribes of what that Flash would do in battle. Yes some of the CGI is pretty glaringly bad (running on water bing my standout moment) I liked how they played off the Speed Force with it all being a stand still running in one spot but seeing the ripples occur with each choice made. Plus it was great seeing Keaton back as Batman and I fucking love his Glider. They have cameos throughout and enjoyed several of them but some were, again, some ok CGI version of them. The disc looks overall great and HDR comes in nicely with all them lightning effects. Plus I really thought the Atmos was consistently engaged and always felt like I was in the scene with the atmosphere it created. It’s too bad Ezra has their mental health issues become the story before the movie release. Plus killing off the entire DC Snyderverse before this was release didn’t help either. Sadly it’s probably the best of the entire series and tons of people are gonna keep on ignoring it.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Strays - 7/10

It was funny for the most part, but some really dumb bits in there. 
 

Barbie - 8/10

I’ll probably never watch it again, but I’m glad I got to see what all the hype was about. Entertaining. 

[Keyser_Soze]

[dvd]

 

Anastasia: 7/10

 

Don Bluth, ever heard of this guy? The interesting thing about his productions are they are like a Disney movie but with some ugliness to it. Anastasia is a lot like that. It's a beautifully animated musical with a cute puppy and a cool bat, but also about a real duchess murdered in a Russian revolution. This movie is like a what if story. It begins in 1916 right before Rasputin curses the Romanov family and the revolution splits up the family. Anastasia's grandmother escapes on a train to Paris while Anastasia gets amnesia and grows up in an orphanage, her only clue to her past is her necklace given to her by her grandmother. She then goes on a quest to discover her past, meeting some folks along the way that will help take her to Paris. Rasputin is still alive though and attempts to put a wrench into her plans (aka murder her).

 

As a story it is fine, nothing too shocking happens. As a kid's movie seems kind of iffy. Like I said there are cute characters but the whole idea of making a children's movie about trying to murder a family is maybe not too kid friendly. That and Rasputin's limbs falling off, his skin being sucked from his body. Only the cool kids saw this right? It's got a lot of songs but I really only enjoyed a handful of them, I think the versions in the credits were actually better. In any case it's an alright movie, with some fun characters, an actually good cast, and nice animation (and good CG for the time).

[Keyser_Soze]

[blu-ray]

 

Dog & Scissors: 6/10

 

This is a show about a guy, Kazuhito Harumi, who loves reading books especially a series of books from his favorite author, Shinobu Akiyama. He declares he can't die until he reads the final novel of a series written by her. But tragically he's murdered in a cafe trying to protect a woman, Kirihime Natsuno. He's given a second chance as he is re-incarnated as a dog and the woman that he helped protect adopts him. Turns out though that she's a scissor wielding sadist and loves to punish others by cutting them up. It also turns out that Shiobu Akiyama is the pen name of Kirihime Natsuno. Now as far as storytelling goes that's about it. There really is no overarching story, it's kind of a series of mini tales, mostly nonsense.

 

There is an eccentric cast of characters that appear on the show. Natsuno's rival and opposite is Maxi, a pop idol and author who wears a lot of white and "shines". There's Natsuno's editor who's a masochist who loves being abused by her. A maid that dances in the park and her broom doubles as a bladed weapon. The characters are probably the highlight of the show as odd as they are. The show usually involves one of these characters in some way but it really never comes together to make a compelling story. As for the cover art it's at total jebait. There's no fan service like that on the show. Kazuhito says he's not attracted to women and is more interested in books. To top everything off an ongoing joke on the show is that Natsuno is flat-chested so that puts a damper on any kind of raunchy activity. But overall the biggest flaw of the show is there really is no story, it's like they had a concept but never put it into a compelling story.

[best3444]

@Keyser_Soze if you don't mind me asking, what nationality are you?

[Keyser_Soze]

[Plex]

 

Wolf Creek: 5/10

 

Wolf Creek is one of those rare horror films you see that are based on a true story. This one is set in Australia, terrifying enough on it's own. It follows three people who go out on a drive to Wolf Creek, a huge crater. Early on there are musings of extraterrestrial activity. When they return to their car they find their watches have stopped, their car won't run either. They are stranded. But overnight some lights emerge from the darkness, could it be aliens? No, we are not so lucky. instead it's some Aussie hick who offers to fix their car for free, of course they have no choice but to accept. Turns out the guy isn't such a good Samaritan as he drugs them all and torture / murders them all.

 

The movie is quite effective at setting up a creepy atmosphere in parts but it's filled with your typical horror movie idiocy. There were plenty of opportunities for the victims to succeed and they just fail. Not to mention other nonsensical nonsense. Then it feels like the movie ends prematurely so you feel a bit underwhelmed by the end. If you're into movies where a normal guy kills women then this movie might be for you but for everyone else it's not that great. What I'm saying is if this movie was about an alien abduction it would be a lot better.

[Mercury33]

On 9/24/2023 at 5:13 AM, Keyser_Soze said:

[dvd]

 

Anastasia: 7/10

 

Don Bluth, ever heard of this guy? The interesting thing about his productions are they are like a Disney movie but with some ugliness to it. Anastasia is a lot like that. It's a beautifully animated musical with a cute puppy and a cool bat, but also about a real duchess murdered in a Russian revolution. This movie is like a what if story. It begins in 1916 right before Rasputin curses the Romanov family and the revolution splits up the family. Anastasia's grandmother escapes on a train to Paris while Anastasia gets amnesia and grows up in an orphanage, her only clue to her past is her necklace given to her by her grandmother. She then goes on a quest to discover her past, meeting some folks along the way that will help take her to Paris. Rasputin is still alive though and attempts to put a wrench into her plans (aka murder her).

 

As a story it is fine, nothing too shocking happens. As a kid's movie seems kind of iffy. Like I said there are cute characters but the whole idea of making a children's movie about trying to murder a family is maybe not too kid friendly. That and Rasputin's limbs falling off, his skin being sucked from his body. Only the cool kids saw this right? It's got a lot of songs but I really only enjoyed a handful of them, I think the versions in the credits were actually better. In any case it's an alright movie, with some fun characters, an actually good cast, and nice animation (and good CG for the time).

Lol this is how tons of kids movies played out in the 80’s. Lots of really dark tones. Honestly I can’t remember anyone making anything of how dark or scary parts of it were when it came out. That’s just kinda how it was haha. One of my favorite animated movies ever. 
 

Genuine question because I honestly don’t know. Are you to young to have a seen a lot of the non Disney animated films that came out in this time period? I only ask cause I could give you a list of others that are really good(at least in my memory) that by todays standards have much more adult themes and imagery. 

[Keyser_Soze]

1 hour ago, Mercury33 said:

Genuine question because I honestly don’t know. Are you to young to have a seen a lot of the non Disney animated films that came out in this time period? I only ask cause I could give you a list of others that are really good(at least in my memory) that by todays standards have much more adult themes and imagery. 

 

If anything I'm too old. After The Lion King I was largely not interested in Disney movies or non-disney children's movies after that (1994) and Anastasia is among those movies that came out after that time (1997) and I do like Don Bluth's other movies, basically anything from Rock-a-Doodle back but yeah just grew out of those types of movies by that time rolled around.

 

Basically when 1995 rolled around anime was the cool thing. I probably saw Akira for the first time around then, Ghost in the Shell, like whoa. Schwartzenegger was getting huge, True Lies, Eraser, Last Action Hero. Gimmie that. Who's watching Anastasia? Nobody.

[Mercury33]

Gotta be honest, I was about 10 years off for when I thought Anastasia was released 😂😂😂

[thewhyteboar]

On 9/1/2023 at 10:05 AM, thewhyteboar said:

August (this was a fun month for me! A lot of really good ones)

 

A Place in the Sun 4/5 I'm a big Montgomery Cliff fan, and he's great in this. This might be the first Elizabeth Taylor movie that I've seen. Absolutely stunning. I love the ending.

The Conformist 4.5/5 I read the book previously, so it was fun to see the differences. The cinematography is gorgeous, especially the way buildings and interiors are shot. The contrast between the hollow, spacious, and cold fascist Italian buildings and the warm, crowded, gregarious French buildings really stands out. 

Dog Day Afternoon 4/5 Al Pacino's best role? Think so.

The Last Waltz 5/5 Watched this due to current events. Robbie Robertson's charisma just pops out of the screen.

The Misfits 3.5/5 This was fine. Maybe a bit disappointing because of the talent involved (Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Eli Wallach, and John Huston). But a nice rumination on the ending of a certain kind of live.

Sorcerer 4/5 Also watched this due to current events (too many deaths recently!). It's better than Wages of Fear, but I do think Wages of Fear does a few things better (mainly creating a friendship between the main pair). But this one has some of the tautest and most intense scenes. Great soundtrack too.

Harlan County USA 4.5/5 A documentary! Kind of rare for me, I don't watch them a ton. Watching this should make you furious; companies are doing the same bullshit now that they are doing then, just unions are now a whole lot weaker. Love the use of music, some incredible folk and protest songs throughout. 

The Red Shoes 5/5 Wow. I might have a new favorite movie. The Archers are geniuses and I will be watching every single thing that they've made (I've already seen Black Narcissus and I'm currently watching Colonel Blimp now!). It is gorgeous, it is dramatic, it is funny, the colors and soundtrack are great, and it has a 15 minute ballet scene in the middle of the film that is as compelling as any scene of any movie. 5 stars, 10 out of 10. Highly recommend, will watch again.

 

September: 

 

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp 5/5 Incredible, full of life, while avoiding cloying sentimentality. Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, and Colonel Blimp are possibly the greatest trio of movies from anyone? Very few directors can match that.

A Canterbury Tale 4.5/5 I kept rolling with the Archers. This is really lovely with some great shots. I'd love to watch this with my daughter as a holiday film when she gets older.

I Know Where I'm Going! 4/5 The last of the Archers that I watched. Solid rom/com. Roger Livesey kicks ass.

Henry Fool 2.5/5 Did not connect with this one. Thought the humor was way more full of misses than hits. 

The Wild Bunch 5/5 Rewatched this as I decided to also read a biography of Sam Peckinpah. No greater master at crosscutting or editing than he. 

The Last Run 3.5/5 Fun car chase movie with George C. Scott. Some really lovely jackets. Peak fashion.

Do The Right Thing 4.5/5 I'd never seen this before. What a cast, what a story, what an always-timely message. 

White Lighting 3/5 Fun seeing a bunch of guys who pop up in Peckinpah movies.

Gloria 2.5/5 I really wanted to like this, I like John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands, but I just think it didn't really work.

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters 5/5 Gorgeous. Just gorgeous. I particularly liked the score (Philip Glass), but this is a movie where everything (set design, costumes, cinematography) just comes together perfectly. 

[Keyser_Soze]

[Netflix - (obviously)]

 

Castlevania: Nocturne: 9/10

 

I always thought the original series was pretty good but somehow they achieved the impossible and improved on the original in every way. The animation is better than ever and it feels like they took all the things you're familiar with from the previous seasons and was able to hop right back into the fire. But more impressive than that is the show deals with subject matter (as Kal put it) way deeper than just killin' them vampires. I think I saw in the credits they had someone solely there to check on diversity issues (or something similar) and I feel like they picked the appropriate writers for the task. I was very impressed with episode 3 in particular and check out who wrote it, Zodwa Nyoni, a Zimbabwean poet / playwright / writer / director. They nailed it. Along those same lines Temi Oh, a very similar background (Nigerian parents) wrote another one. The voice cast was also appropriately cast, no whitewashing, purely authentic. Needless to say I'm very much looking forwards to the continuation of this series.

 

[EternallDarkness]

Watched the first few episodes of The Devil's Plan, a Korean show on Netflix. I'm assuming it's an intelligent version of Big Brother. I say I assume because I've never seen a full episode of BB, only caught little clips which were enough to tell me I had no desire to watch. But the show has like12 or 13 people living in a house, competing in intelligence based competitions. 

[Keyser_Soze]

[Plex]

 

Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis: 5/10

 

This is the 4th film in the Return of the Living Dead franchise, a franchise that is supposed to be mostly on the silly side. While Necropolis is silly, it's not a "ha ha" silly it's more of a "this is dumb" silly. It's also the type of movie that doesn't want to you to think about anything, just live in the moment, which is difficult to do at a certain point. The idea is that Hybra Tech is the savior of corporations, they make your food, they cleaned up the Chernobyl disaster and they even cured zombie outbreaks (so zombies are something known in this world). But despite these heroic efforts a scientist at Hybra Tech, Charles Garrison, is still experimenting with zombie stuff. He's also the uncle of some high school kid, Julian, who lost his parents in a car crash. The film builds this up as a matter of significance early on because he's still haunted by the memories of their death. In any case he's friends with a bunch of other high school kids that love to motorbike, one of the dudes gets hurt and taken to the hospital but turns out he was turned over to Hybra Tech for some experimentation.

 

So this gang of high school kids make up plans to rescue him out of this highly secure building. One of his friends works there already, Katie (played by Jana Kramer), and the rest of it is just hacking skills or something. Now on the way there they find some zombie guys and act like they have no idea what a zombie is. But by the time the get in the building and find out the whole zombie plot, they know what zombies are. Also, let's say that at this point he discovers what really happened to his parents and then it's kind of nothing. All of this build up and it feels like a waste of time. But this is the biggest flaw of the movie, it spends so much time on the story it forgets to focus on what it's good at, the good ol' zombie bits. The gore is quite nice but it's unfortunately so focused on it's flawed story which starts out stupid and ends up being frustrating. Anyone find it disturbing all these high school kids know how to shoot guns? This is the type of movie you don't expect the best writing ever but this movie felt like an insult to people's intelligence.

[gamer.tv]

The Reckoning - I’ve just watched episode one and it’s so, so bleak.

 

If you aren’t aware of Jimmy Saville, watch the Louie Theroux documentary  (the first one), then read about his life, then watch this. A truly horrible person that was held on such high regard. Another phrase would be ‘a monster hidden in plain sight’.

[Dre801]

Working through Castlevania: Nocturne.

[johnny]

No One Will Save You 4/5

Bottoms 4/5

The Nun II 1.5/5

Ballerina 3/5

Totally Killer 3.5/5

[Keyser_Soze]

[Plex]

 

Return of the Living Dead - Rave to the Grave: 6/10

 

ROTLD: Rave to the Grave is a strange movie. A direct sequel to Necropolis but acts like it's not at the same time. Peter Coyote returns briefly as Uncle Charles along with Cody and Julian from the preceding movie. Uncle Charles AKA Charles Garrison is having what appears to be a shady meeting with a couple of suits, he's there to offload the barrels of Trioxin-5 he made off with after Necropolis. But they needed proof it was the real deal so they tested it on dead bodies and of course they came back to life and killed a bunch of them including Charles. Then we are reintroduced to Julian who's now in college. He's informed of the news of his Uncle's passing and is upset. Now, this is why the movie is weird because if this movie had any continuity Julian would remember that his Uncle was responsible for a zombie outbreak and horrifying experiments not to mention keeping the fate of the death of his parents a secret from him. In any case he's at his uncle's house, finds some barrels of Trioxin and takes it to school to run experiments on because he doesn't remember the previous movie and also Cody and Julian's girlfriend Jenny are both scientists. Jenny's brother tastes some after the tests make it sound like it's a drug and he trips out but doesn't zombify. So Cody decide to make drugs out of it and there is a rave later and everyone turns to zombies, the end.

 

So as a zombie movie this is better than Necropolis. Dumb things still happen, like these are supposed to be smart college kids but are dumb as rocks. The frustrating part is acting like the previous movie didn't happen. The gore is on par if not better than the other movie and has an increased amount of zombies overall making it much better. Also, the title is no joke, up there with Breakin 2 Electric Boogaloo as great movie title names. Realistically this is more of a 5 and Necropolis is a 4 but I had to rate this one higher because it is better yet still kind of not good.