What Movie Are You Watching?

Right! Time for a monthly update! As always, films in bold are bcdcdude recommended. I wish I had time to talk about these all in detail, but alas time is a luxury ill afforded for there are always films to be watched!

New films/films not seen since childhood
1) Mary Poppins / Robert Stevenson / 1964 / 3/5
2) The Front Page / Lewis Milestone / 1931 / 2/5
3) The Matrix Resurrections / Lana Wachowski / 2021 / 3/5
4) Don't Look Up / Adam McKay / 2021 / 3/5
5) Birth / Jonathan Glazer / 2004 / 3/5
6) Police Story / Jackie Chan / 1985 / 4/5
7) Petite Maman / Céline Sciamma / 2021 / 4/5

8) Police Story 2 / Jackie Chan / 1988 / 3/5
9) The Electrical Life of Louis Wain / Will Sharpe / 2021 / 3.5/5
10) Grizzly Man / Werner Herzog / 2005 / 4/5 (Documentary)
11) The King's Man / Matthew Vaughn / 2021 / 3/5
12) The Dark Past / Rudolph Maté / 1948 / 3/5
13) This Filthy World / Jeff Garlin / 2006 / 3/5 (Live show)
14) Voyage of Time IMAX Edition / Terrence Malick / 2016 / 4/5
15) Humoresque / Jean Negulesco / 1946 / 3/5
16) Resident Evil: Vendetta / Takanori Tsujimoto / 2017 / 3/5
17) Deadly Embrace / David Decoteau / 1989 / 1/5
18) Elven Days, Eleven Nights / Joe D'amato / 1987 / 2.5/5
19) Metallica: Some Kind of Monster / Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky / 2004 / 4/5 (Documentary)
20) The Navigators / Ken Loach / 2011 / 4/5

21) Possessed / Curtis Bernhardt / 1947 / 3/5
22) Night of the Creeps / Fred Dekker / 1986 / 3/5
23) Licorace Pizza / Paul Thomas Anderson / 2021 / 5/5
24) Savage Three / Vittorio Salerno / 1975 / 3/5
25) Deerskin / Quentin Dupieux / 2019 / 3/5
26) Tammy and the T-Rex / Stewart Raffill / 1994 / 4/5
27) Cyborg / Albert Pyun / 1989 / 3/5
28) Human Experiments / Gregory Goodell / 1980 / 2/5
29) Scream / Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett / 2022 / 3/5
30) Parallel Mothers / Pedro Almodóvar / 2021 / 4/5
31) Belfast / Kenneth Branagh / 2021 / 4/5
32) Sound of Metal / Darius Marder / 2019 / 4/5

33) Streets of Fire / Walter Hill / 1984 / 2/5
34) Zardos / John Boorman / 1974 / 2/5
35) In Search of the Last Action Heroes / Oliver Harper / 2019 / 4/5 (Documentary)
36) The Green Knight / David Lowery / 2021 / 4/5
37) Nightmare Alley / Guillermo Del Toro / 2021 / 4/5
38) Shaft / Godron Parks / 1971 / 3/5
39) Jabberwocky / Terry Gilliam / 1977 / 3.5/5
40) Belle / Mamoru Hosoda / 2021 / 5/5
41) Memoria / Apichatpong Weerasethakul / 2021 / 4/5

42) Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death(True)2 / Hideaki Anno et al / 1997 / 4/5
43) The End of Evangelion / Hideaki Anno & Kazuya Tsurumaki / 1997 / 5/5

Rewatched films
1) Bronco Billy / Clint Eastwood / 1980 / 4/5
2) Mirai / Mamoru Hosoda / 2019 / 4/5
3) Honkytonk Man / Clint Eastwood / 1982 / 4/5
4) Flesh For Frankenstein / Paul Morrissey / 1973 / 4/5
5) Double Impact / Sheldon Lettich / 1991 / 3/5
6) Firefox / Clint Eastwood / 1982 / 3/5

Short films
1) The Cat That Looked At A King / Dave Bossert & Peter Schneider / 2004 / 3/5
2) Shivering Sherlocks / Del Lord / 1948 / 3/5
3) Infernal Symphony / Walerian Borowxzyk / 1984 / 3/5
4) The Staggering Girl / Luca Guadagnino / 2019 / 2/5

TV Shows/Specials
1) High Score / William Acks et al / 2020 / 3/5
2) Jimmy Carr: His Dark Material / Brien Klein / 2021 / 2.5/5
3) Ronja, The Robber's Daughter / Goro Miyazaki et al / 2014 / 2/5
4) Neon Genesis Evangelion / Hideaki Anno et al / 1995+ / 5/5

Special mention to Tammy and the T-Rex for being stupidly funny and making my day when I really needed it


Streets of Fire was disappointing, but the music scenes were wonderful. Especially this song (RIP Jim Steinman)


Flesh For Frankenstein is balls to the wall insane. Bonus points for what looks like Richard E. Grant giving Sam from Lord of the Rings sage advice


And much respect to Licorace Pizza and Belle for reminding me that there will always be brilliant new films. Memoria was an experience that I won't forget...especially as it will never be released on DVD or streaming as per the directors wishes. It's slow as hell and felt like a Lynch-ian daydream.

Finally, Neon Genesis Evangelion was as brilliant as I remember, but last night was the first time I watched The End of Evangelion...fuck that was dark. I knew it was going to be grim, but crikey! I prefer the controversial original ending, but the imagery and pain of the End of Evangelion truly was special. Now on to the Rebuild of Evangelion!
 
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33) Streets of Fire / Walter Hill / 1984 / 2/5


Streets of Fire was disappointing, but the music scenes were wonderful. Especially this song (RIP Jim Steinman)

:'( Absolutely adore the film. I believe I gave it an 8/10 (or a rounded 8.5), but yeah, I much-preferred it the Warriors and I think it's a better-made film than the Warriors as well.

It's too bad you didn't like it as much as me! :'( But I totally see the flaws with the film. I thought Michael Pare was excellent and underrated, while Diane Lane was great and Rick Moranis was not only poor, but HORRIBLY-miscast.

And I didn't even see your link; the moment I saw that you gave it a 2/5, "Tonight..." started playing in my head; not a fan of that type of poppy-rock, but a fantastic tune <3
 
:'( Absolutely adore the film. I believe I gave it an 8/10 (or a rounded 8.5), but yeah, I much-preferred it the Warriors and I think it's a better-made film than the Warriors as well.

It's too bad you didn't like it as much as me! :'( But I totally see the flaws with the film. I thought Michael Pare was excellent and underrated, while Diane Lane was great and Rick Moranis was not only poor, but HORRIBLY-miscast.

And I didn't even see your link; the moment I saw that you gave it a 2/5, "Tonight..." started playing in my head; not a fan of that type of poppy-rock, but a fantastic tune <3
Yeah, it was the acting that let me down. The main fellow was so wooden and Rick Moranis was irritating (sad, as I love him). There was a sense of over-acting and trying too hard. A shame as I love the music and the set design. It was a weird mix. My music taste is all over the map, but I adore Steinman and his work with Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler etc. He does excess, but in a way that is accessible. My only criticism is that for 7 minutes, it's a bit short for him.

I'm very shy, but before lockdown I used to go to a night club called "Ultimate Power" which played power ballads all night long. I'd dress up in cosplay and sing along to these wonderful, cheesy, empowering songs for 6 hours and felt invincible. That song gives me that same feeling :)
 
Scream (2022) // 2 out of 5 -- Honestly, I didn't really care for it. I don't know, just didn't do anything much for me. I thought the killer reveal kinda sucked as too did the motivation. In fact, I kind of called who the killers were like 10 minutes into the film. And when the part about the fan backlash towards Stab 8 came up, I instantly called the motive of why they were doing it. I don't know. I know a lot of people are saying that it was taking stabs at everyone with its satire, but was it really?

Was it really trying to make fun of these tropes, or was it just being another of the thing it was mocking? I don't think it honestly could decide what it wanted to be. It's a shame. I really liked Scream 4. I think Scream 4 has some of the best social commentary the series has ever seen and I was hoping for the best from this one. But I walked out just feeling completely "meh" about it.

Jackass Forever // 3.5 out of 5 -- The best genital abuse film you're likely to ever see in a mainstream cinema! Period! It's lowbrow, crass as all hell, lowest common denominator and I love it for all those reasons! There is just something about these guys that is infectiously funny and kind of endearing in its own right. And to my surprise, Jackass Forever hasn't lost its step. I still had fun watching these idiots put themselves through all sorts of abuse for our (and their own) amusement.
 
Yeah, it was the acting that let me down. The main fellow was so wooden and Rick Moranis was irritating (sad, as I love him). There was a sense of over-acting and trying too hard. A shame as I love the music and the set design. It was a weird mix. My music taste is all over the map, but I adore Steinman and his work with Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler etc. He does excess, but in a way that is accessible. My only criticism is that for 7 minutes, it's a bit short for him.

I'm very shy, but before lockdown I used to go to a night club called "Ultimate Power" which played power ballads all night long. I'd dress up in cosplay and sing along to these wonderful, cheesy, empowering songs for 6 hours and felt invincible. That song gives me that same feeling :)

Pare is definitely wooden, but I feel it fits well for his character; a, "Soldier of Fortune," just returning from the war and needing to perform a task he has no interest in (well, initially, anyways lol). To me, a wooden performance is more-than acceptable in a sitch like that. But it's ok, we have different PsOV and that's cool ;)

I shouldn't have pressed play on your link... it's been on repeat now since yesterday morning :'(

lol, at least I've (almost!) memorised the song :LOL:
 
Ghostbusters Afterlife finally came out in Japan at the beginning of this month. I really did enjoy it but Other than that, the actress who plays does a very excellent job and she really does channel in her own unique way. If they make a sequel in the next few years, great! If not, I won't have any major issue with it despite the fact this has a lot more potential than the 2016 one, which most people know is garbage.
 
i saw dune and ghostbusters afterlife on dvd.

dune was good but i would say, if you haven't seen it, hold off watching it till dune 2 comes out and watch them both back to back.

ghostbusters afterlife was a fun film. it could of been "bigger" ( more locations etc) but i was quite happy with it..
cgi normally looks really crap but afterlife had some of the best cgi i've seen.

+ i thought this 3rd films was a nice ending to ghostbusters. i personally don't really need another movie or a reeboot.
 
Bunch of films have been watched in the past little bit, so I'll break 'em down.

Blue Streak (1999), Les Mayfield:

A diamond thief (Martin Lawrence) and his crew, break into a vault and steal a diamond worth $17 million+. When one of the crew gets greedy and kills another member of the crew, cops are alerted and Lawrence's character gets arrested. Before that, he hides the diamond in the ventilation system of a building being built. Upon being released from prison, he goes to visit his G/F and she kicks him to the curb because he went to jail and was a thief. He then returns to the building, only to see that it is a headquarters for the LAPD and he gets his forger friend to forge documents and access to the building, while he learns how to be a cop from watching Cops :LOL:. He gets teamed up with Luke Wilson's character and then hijinks ensue, as well as a bit of heartwarm and intensity.

Can't believe I haven't written about this film before, considering my wife and I have watched it at least twice (if not 3 times) since this thread was started lol. It's one of my favourite laid-back, popcorn flicks (not even close to an all-time favourite though) and it's a fun ride that doesn't get too high (save for 1 scene) or too low in the mood department and Lawrence does a really good job with things.

This was also one of Luke Wilson's first films and he shows that he can act well in a comedy environment, as well it is one of Octavia Spencer's first films (in a cameo). I always thought it was her, but for some reason, dismissed it as she wasn't really an actress at that point... but it is her! lol

Special mention to Dave Chappelle's performance as one of the crew; he doesn't have a TON of screentime, but every moment he's on screen is full of laughs and good times.

7.5/10

Baywatch (2017), Seth Gordon:

All of your faves from the TV Show are back! Except they're all played by new actors/actresses and it's 20 years later! ;) New people are recruited to the Baywatch team and a new drug is showing up on the shores of the bay, where Mitch (The Rock) is the head lifeguard. As the established team, Mitch, Stephanie (Ilfanesh Hadera), CJ (Kelly Rohrbach) and the new recruits, Summer (Alexandra Daddario), Ronnie (John Bass) and Brody (Zac Efron, the, "#2 Actor," in the film) get to know each other, they also attempt to solve where the drugs are coming from, as well as why there are a bunch of people dying in weird situations. This all culminates when a new, wealthy business-person (Priyanka Chopra) buys up all the land and businesses in the bay and her motives are questioned.

It's a fairly cut and dry film, with many tropes and plot structures employed from the word go, with a bit of lewd humour thrown in as well. As a result, those take away from the acting of the characters, which is honestly not that bad for a comedy film like this. The Rock is always awesome, Efron is hot and cold and the rest of the team is great. Hadera is actually quite a pretty woman, whereas when I saw this film when it first released, I didn't notice her as much as I did on this viewing.

Absolutely love the Cameos at the end of the film, especially one specific person ;). Not the greatest film, but like BS above, a good film to just sit back and turn off your brain.

6.5/10

Battle Royale (2000), Kinji Fukasaku:

A teenage boy named Shuya (Tatsuya Fujiwara) comes home one day, to see his father has hung himself, with his only suicide note being written on rolled paper and stating over and over, "You can do it, Shuya! Go for it, Shuya!" (it says, "Ganbat/re, Shuya," in one of Japanese scripts). The film then cuts to an empty classroom, where Kitano, the teacher (played by the man himself) is ready to leave and a young, bright-eyed girl named Nakagawa (Aki Maeda) asks where the class is (she's a good and proper student). After Kitano tells her that she's leaving, another boy, Kuninobu, stabs him in the ass and runs away, all while Nakagawa picks up the knife used to stab the teacher and holds onto it, in order not to incriminate anyone. Kitano gets up, washes the blood off his hands and just walks away (lol). We then cut to a basketball game, where all the classmates are playing and sink the game-winning shot. On the bus ride back, the students notice a bunch of military vehicles and soldiers, while the 3 students mentioned above, share time (and cookies) with each other and more friends. The bus drives through a tunnel and once it drives out, Shuya wakes up to see that everyone has been knocked unconscious. He checks on some people, while a woman (it looked like a woman) in a purple dress and gas mask, walks up to him and knocks him in the head with a club, knocking Shuya unconscious again. The students wake up in an abandoned classroom and when they come to, they see a helicopter land, with Kitano coming out. He gets in front of the class and plays a video (along with certain... events) which explains that the kids are on a deserted island and have to kill each other in a Battle Royale, with the last-remaining student being the one who can go free (and the ONLY one that can go free). If more than one student remains at the end of the 3rd day, then a bomb-collar all the kids have will activate and kill everyone remaining.

Not saying anymore, as to not give away anything, but what a superb film; like many films based on an anime/manga, I'm really interested in reading the source material now, to see its origins (apparently is 3,000 pages long lol, so that would be a TON of reading). The acting by (the majority of!) the kids is fantastic, with each student showing a range of emotions and feelings (some proclaim their love for each other, some work together, others are obsessed with staying alive so they have no loyalty, etc); the film perfectly encapsulates the Human Condition, as well as how people interact with each other in times of crisis and harmony; the themes are strong and blatant in this film and the kids were perfect subjects.

Kitano is one of the 5 stars of the film, acting-wise (not saying who the other 5 are, but 2 are mentioned above) and he is brilliant and funny as always, especially in his deadpan ways. The cinematography is brilliant and the action is well-choreographed and filmed. The mood of the film is constantly in flux, with flashbacks, callbacks, times of serenity blown up due to chaos and times of chaos where things are also calm and under control; the writing and direction are top-notch.

Definitely worth a watch, but do keep in mind that this is a very, "Japanese," film and while that isn't a bad thing at all, I know for a fact that my wife would be perplexed by a lot of the beginning of the film. Brilliant stuff though :D

9/10

Also watched Ocean's 8 (again lol) and our annual viewing of Rush Hours 1 and 2, to contented results :)
 
Battle Royale (2000), Kinji Fukasaku:

A teenage boy named Shuya (Tatsuya Fujiwara) comes home one day, to see his father has hung himself, with his only suicide note being written on rolled paper and stating over and over, "You can do it, Shuya! Go for it, Shuya!" (it says, "Ganbat/re, Shuya," in one of Japanese scripts). The film then cuts to an empty classroom, where Kitano, the teacher (played by the man himself) is ready to leave and a young, bright-eyed girl named Nakagawa (Aki Maeda) asks where the class is (she's a good and proper student). After Kitano tells her that she's leaving, another boy, Kuninobu, stabs him in the ass and runs away, all while Nakagawa picks up the knife used to stab the teacher and holds onto it, in order not to incriminate anyone. Kitano gets up, washes the blood off his hands and just walks away (lol). We then cut to a basketball game, where all the classmates are playing and sink the game-winning shot. On the bus ride back, the students notice a bunch of military vehicles and soldiers, while the 3 students mentioned above, share time (and cookies) with each other and more friends. The bus drives through a tunnel and once it drives out, Shuya wakes up to see that everyone has been knocked unconscious. He checks on some people, while a woman (it looked like a woman) in a purple dress and gas mask, walks up to him and knocks him in the head with a club, knocking Shuya unconscious again. The students wake up in an abandoned classroom and when they come to, they see a helicopter land, with Kitano coming out. He gets in front of the class and plays a video (along with certain... events) which explains that the kids are on a deserted island and have to kill each other in a Battle Royale, with the last-remaining student being the one who can go free (and the ONLY one that can go free). If more than one student remains at the end of the 3rd day, then a bomb-collar all the kids have will activate and kill everyone remaining.

Not saying anymore, as to not give away anything, but what a superb film; like many films based on an anime/manga, I'm really interested in reading the source material now, to see its origins (apparently is 3,000 pages long lol, so that would be a TON of reading). The acting by (the majority of!) the kids is fantastic, with each student showing a range of emotions and feelings (some proclaim their love for each other, some work together, others are obsessed with staying alive so they have no loyalty, etc); the film perfectly encapsulates the Human Condition, as well as how people interact with each other in times of crisis and harmony; the themes are strong and blatant in this film and the kids were perfect subjects.

Kitano is one of the 5 stars of the film, acting-wise (not saying who the other 5 are, but 2 are mentioned above) and he is brilliant and funny as always, especially in his deadpan ways. The cinematography is brilliant and the action is well-choreographed and filmed. The mood of the film is constantly in flux, with flashbacks, callbacks, times of serenity blown up due to chaos and times of chaos where things are also calm and under control; the writing and direction are top-notch.

Definitely worth a watch, but do keep in mind that this is a very, "Japanese," film and while that isn't a bad thing at all, I know for a fact that my wife would be perplexed by a lot of the beginning of the film. Brilliant stuff though :D

9/10

Also watched Ocean's 8 (again lol) and our annual viewing of Rush Hours 1 and 2, to contented results :)

The book is worth reading. I think it’s like 400 Or 500 pages. I still haven’t read the manga in its entirety though, but what I did read of the manga was somehow even more gruesome than the film 😀

I absolutely love the film though. It’s easily in my top 10 of Japanese films. By far.
 
I adore Battle Royale! And yet, even though Battle Royale 2 is kinda crap, I still can watch it a few times! I own the novel, but haven't read it in 15 years...maybe I ought to (although the book backlog....!) Incidentally, the next book i'm reading is Tarantino's adaptation of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood!

I'll do my updated list in a couple of weeks :)
 
battle royal is a cool film but i haven't seen it since 2002.

i once tracked down a copy of Battle Royale II: Requiem (2003), the movie was pretty wacky.

if i remember correctly there was a bunch of kids who were survivors of BR were acting like terrorists (?) and like the first film, some school kids abducted are dumped on this island to fight these terrorists. the whole movie is quite anti-war / anti- usa. ( if i remember correctly, there is a long rant about the usa starting wars.. or something like that lol)

it ok but it's not as good as the first film.
 
I just watched the Mass Effect anime. I generally am not one for anime but this one was decent. It's set between the first two games and has nothing to do with the game's cast. It's a side story about an Alliance Marine team defending a colony from the Collectors.
 
Another month, another list! Not as much films this time around. I blame trying to finish off 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and various other pickles. I also watched lots of DVD's from the gigantic Metallica Black Album boxset too! Do believe the hype; 'Drive My Car' was brilliant. And at 3 hours long, it's 2 1/2 hours shorter than 'Happy Hour' (also a masterpiece!)

New films i've watched
1) Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo / 2012 / Hideaki Anno, Masayuki Kojima, Kazuya Tsurumaki & Mahiro Maeda / 2/5
2) Jackass Forever / 2022 / Jeff Tremaine / 3/5
3) Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time / 2021 / Hideaki Anno, Masayuki Kojima, Kazuya Tsurumaki & Katsuichi Nakayama / 5/5
4) Shaft's Big Score! / 1972 / Gordon Parks / 3/5
5) Uncharted / 2022 / Ruben Fleischer / 3/5
6) Mother's Day / 1980 / Charles Kaufman / 2/5
7) Shaft In Africa / 1973 / John Guillermin / 3/5
8) Paris - When It Sizzles / 1964 / Richard Quine / 3/5
9) Titane / 2021 / Julia Ducournau / 2.5/5
10) Death on the Nile / 2022 / Kenneth Branagh / 3/5
11) Mur Murs / 1981 / Agnés Varda / 3/5
12) Blanche / 1971 / Walerian Borowczyk / 3/5
13) The Fly / 1986 / David Cronenberg / 4/5
14) Drive My Car / 2021 / Ryusuke Hamaguchi / 5/5
15) Texas Chainsaw Massacre / 2022 / David Blue Garcia / 2/5
16) The Duke / 2022 / Roger Michell / 3.5/5
17) House of Traps / 1982 / Cheh Chang / 3/5

Re-watched films
1) Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone / 2007 / Hideaki Anno, Masayuki Kojima & Kazuya Tsurumaki / 3/5
2) Evangelion 2 .0: You Can (Not) Advance / 2009 / Hideaki Anno, Masayuki Kojima & Kazuya Tsurumaki / 4/5
3) Once Upon A Time In Hollywood / 2019 / Quentin Tarantino / 5/5
4) Sudden Impact / 1983 / Clint Eastwood / 3/5

Short films
1) Kokutai / 2019 / Ryushi Lindsay / 2/5
2) Documenteur / 1981 / Agnés Varda / 3/5
3) Ashes / 2012 / Apichatpong Weerasethakul / 4/5

TV shows
1) Ace Attorney / 2016 / Ayumu Watanabe / 3/5
2) Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy / 2022 / Coodie & Chike Ozah / 4/5
 
THE BATMAN - Great film, and great interpretation of the characters. I always had a soft-spot for Penguin, so it was awesome to see him portrayed as a low-level monster. I remember the days when Bob Hoskins was rumored to play the character in the Dark Knight trilogy. In all honesty, I think the grimness of the film was actually a little too much for me. Not in a disturbing way, but the movie is 3 hours long. That’s a long time for constant rain and dreariness. It doesn’t quite top The Dark Knight for being my favorite Batman film (despite not caring very much for Bale’s bat suit and the ATROCIOUS fight scenes), and the BvS Batfleck will ALWAYS be my preferred live-action Batman (sorry Justice League), but Matt Reeves did an amazing, amazing job.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (2022) - I hate this movie so much.
 
The Batman -- Mixed feelings. I still think it's too long. I understood the narrative arch they went for with this but at 3 hours, it really is a bit of a slog when it comes to its singular overbearing tone. Even the other Batman movies knew when to give the audience a moment of levity to break up the tension. But Matt Reeves really has no interest in letting you breathe and instead just suffocates you with his overbearing tone for 3 hours. Maybe at 2 or 2.5 hours I may have been more forgiving but come the final act, I really was ready for it to be done.

Other thoughts? I really like the Penguin in this film. Zoe Kravitz made for a far better Catwoman than Anne Hathaway, but still doesn't dethrone Michelle Pfeiffer for me. Still, I liked Zoe Kravitz' take on the character. Robert Pattinson isn't bad and I liked his shared dynamic with Gordon as they play detective.

But yeah, mixed feelings. I still really like the hard boiled noir detective serial stuff, but all the other stuff just felt obligatory and kind of bored me. Especially the climax. I didn't feel that climax at all. Even if I understood the narrative arch it was building to, I just didn't care as much by that point. But the biggest complaint for me was just that overbearing tone. 3 hours of that one consistent tone just got to be overkill and almost bordered on parody for me.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) - I agree with you @Your Boy Leroy. Fuck this movie! Fuck this movie so damn hard! An absolute piece of shit if I've ever seen one.
 
The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the most terrifying films i've ever seen (up there with 'Funny Games') because the atmosphere is so *thick* with dread. It's absolutely stunning. Now, I even like the 2nd film where it becomes a black comedy (and Dennis Hopper going full psycho), but I really didn't like the new one.

I thought the premise was interesting in that most of the people were unlikeable, but it simply wasn't scary at all. The original is fairly bloodless and yet has this huge sense of dread. The new one is gory as hell and pretty gross in places, but I was just shruggling all the way through. I did like the bus scene where all the influencers tried to "cancel" Leatherface, but that's about the only good thing about it.
 
The ending of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre left me stunned. I first saw the movie like, 10 or 15 years ago. Heard about it, but never saw it. I was shocked. I think with it being an old movie, I wasn’t expecting the seriously disturbing atmosphere it had. No narrative, no real characters to connect with, and no other purpose than to just show you some fucked up shit. A masterpiece.
 
The Batman. Likely my favorite Batman movie. Love the cast, specially Paul Dano and Zoe Kravitz, and the story, which I liked even more than TDK. It's detective noir, grounded and dreary, with a Batman that questions his own history. It's not for everyone as it's long and slow-paced, but quite a treat for those tired of the usual superhero movies as this one doesn't even resemble one. A must for David Fincher thriller fans.
 
Just saw The Batman myself today. Really good movie, but I had issues with some scenes.
Batman taking that explosion to the face. It's just as ridiculous as Cloud getting his face shot at point-blank at the beginning of Advent Children, and all it does is knock off his sunglasses. After that, I lose all sense of danger to the action

Also, I found the riddles way too easy, unless they were intended to be.

Other than that, the performances were great. I liked how Gordon came across as a classic hard-boiled detective. Zoe Kravitz was great in the role of Selina and Robert Pattison nailed it as Batman and when you see him as Wayne, you really see how fucked up he really is. Serkins was great as Alfred and John Turturro (mostly familiar with his comedy roles) is great as Carmine Falcone. I was surprised to learn that his son is now a senior editor at DC comics.

But the thing is, I don't want another fucking
Joker
for the sequel. We need fresh blood. Why not other villains such as Hush, Calendar Man, The Holiday Killer, or Hugo Strange for once? These villains would be perfect for this version of Batman!
 
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