Recent Movies You Saw

Talk about music, movies, television, books, and other media. No religious or political discussion allowed.
Zack Burner
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Joined: May 3rd, 2019, 6:01 pm

Re: Recent Movies You Saw

Postby Zack Burner » September 3rd, 2021, 9:14 pm

Found one version of the great monster movie Frankenstein (1931), just like I remember watching it as a kid, though this version had a fully restored scene of the most famous scene where the Monster plays with Maria, he unfortunately kills her by drowning her not realizing what he's doing. Most versions cut that part out. I loved watching Young Frankenstein all throughout my life, but the original 1931 version has a special place in my heart.

Another great from the same year that I love just as much is Dracula with Bela Lugosi, the definitive Dracula.
"I bid you velcome......listen to them......children of the night......vat music they make...." The immortal lines, the spooky, gothic settings, the ice cold stares, the grand finish, it all comes together beautifully.

Breaker
Posts: 605
Joined: May 13th, 2015, 7:40 pm

Re: Recent Movies You Saw

Postby Breaker » September 6th, 2021, 10:52 am

I went to a 20th anniversary showing of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone last night. I love the books, having read them all multiple times, and I've seen all the movies. I didn't get into the series until The Prisoner of Azkaban was in theaters, though, so I'd never seen the first two on the big screen.

The first two movies, and the first one in particular, are much more "kiddie" movies than the rest of the series. More attention paid to the wonder and awe of the magical world rather than the story, imho. Maybe that's right for the first film, but it feels very different than the later movies. All the actors are so young, and it is funny to hear the boys before their voices changed! I am surprised how many of the actors (the kids, in particular) were able to stay through all 8 movies.

Zack Burner
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Joined: May 3rd, 2019, 6:01 pm

Re: Recent Movies You Saw

Postby Zack Burner » September 6th, 2021, 11:13 am

Breaker wrote:I went to a 20th anniversary showing of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone last night. I love the books, having read them all multiple times, and I've seen all the movies. I didn't get into the series until The Prisoner of Azkaban was in theaters, though, so I'd never seen the first two on the big screen.

The first two movies, and the first one in particular, are much more "kiddie" movies than the rest of the series. More attention paid to the wonder and awe of the magical world rather than the story, imho. Maybe that's right for the first film, but it feels very different than the later movies. All the actors are so young, and it is funny to hear the boys before their voices changed! I am surprised how many of the actors (the kids, in particular) were able to stay through all 8 movies.


20 years, hard to believe that time has flown by! All the actors have grown up with us. Prisoner of Azkaban is my personal favorite of the series.

Last night I caught "Fantastic Mr. Fox" a nicely animated film, based on the novel by the famous Roald Dahl, featuring the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, and Michael Gambon. I remember the book all too well from my Elementary school years, and this movie went above and beyond the book. I'm sure Dahl himself would have been proud with it. I grew up watching and reading "James and the Giant Peach", I have that movie in my collection as well, it's just as good.

Zack Burner
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Joined: May 3rd, 2019, 6:01 pm

Re: Recent Movies You Saw

Postby Zack Burner » September 19th, 2021, 9:45 pm

When you think of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", two notions pop in your head, either the Disney version (with dorkiest version of Ichabod), or the gory Tim Burton version. But there's one version that stuck with me more than any other, in fact, I saw this many times while in an afterschool program decades ago. I'm talking about the 1980 made for TV version, starring Jeff Goldblum as Ichabod, Meg Foster as Katrina Van Tassel, and Dick Butkus (who's also a football player) as Brom Bones. This version, though old and rustic, captures the creepiness of the story with a few new touches, I won't reveal what fully happens though, you'll have to see it for yourself. It's on VHS, which can be hard to find nowadays, but thankfully it's on Youtube which is your best bet. Some will like it, but I'm sure purists will object to it.

DaHeckIzDat
Posts: 1992
Joined: April 9th, 2015, 1:41 pm

Re: Recent Movies You Saw

Postby DaHeckIzDat » September 21st, 2021, 11:01 pm

Zack Burner wrote:I'm talking about the 1980 made for TV version, starring Jeff Goldblum as Ichabod, Meg Foster as Katrina Van Tassel, and Dick Butkus (who's also a football player) as Brom Bones.

Holy crap, I think I've seen that one! My grandparents had a whole closet full of movies they had recorded off of tv. Is it the one where [SPOILERS!] Ichabod finds out an old guy that everyone thought was dead was alive and pretending to be a ghost? And then when the headless horseman chases after Brom, Ichabod chases after the horseman thinking it's that guy, only to find out that the old guy was somewhere else during the chase?

Anyway, I went to see Malignant today. Dead Silence is my all time favorite horror movie, but after not being impressed by Insidious 2-3, and not being a fan of his Conjuring movies (unpopular opinion, I know) I was worried that James Wan was losing his touch. Malignant was a fun and creative horror movie, though, and probably the one I've enjoyed the most in years. Also, it's absolutely insane. Like, what in the name of Satan's hairy armpit was Wan smoking when he came up with this?

Zack Burner
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Joined: May 3rd, 2019, 6:01 pm

Re: Recent Movies You Saw

Postby Zack Burner » September 22nd, 2021, 7:28 am

DaHeckIzDat wrote:
Zack Burner wrote:I'm talking about the 1980 made for TV version, starring Jeff Goldblum as Ichabod, Meg Foster as Katrina Van Tassel, and Dick Butkus (who's also a football player) as Brom Bones.

Holy crap, I think I've seen that one! My grandparents had a whole closet full of movies they had recorded off of tv. Is it the one where [SPOILERS!] Ichabod finds out an old guy that everyone thought was dead was alive and pretending to be a ghost? And then when the headless horseman chases after Brom, Ichabod chases after the horseman thinking it's that guy, only to find out that the old guy was somewhere else during the chase?


Oh yes it's that one, Winthorp Palmer's laugh scared the pants off me as a kid!

DaHeckIzDat
Posts: 1992
Joined: April 9th, 2015, 1:41 pm

Re: Recent Movies You Saw

Postby DaHeckIzDat » September 22nd, 2021, 1:31 pm

Zack Burner wrote:
DaHeckIzDat wrote:
Zack Burner wrote:I'm talking about the 1980 made for TV version, starring Jeff Goldblum as Ichabod, Meg Foster as Katrina Van Tassel, and Dick Butkus (who's also a football player) as Brom Bones.

Holy crap, I think I've seen that one! My grandparents had a whole closet full of movies they had recorded off of tv. Is it the one where [SPOILERS!] Ichabod finds out an old guy that everyone thought was dead was alive and pretending to be a ghost? And then when the headless horseman chases after Brom, Ichabod chases after the horseman thinking it's that guy, only to find out that the old guy was somewhere else during the chase?


Oh yes it's that one, Winthorp Palmer's laugh scared the pants off me as a kid!

The chase scene, and one where an old man dresses up like an Indian, are literally the only two parts I remember. Now I need to find it and watch it again!

Breaker
Posts: 605
Joined: May 13th, 2015, 7:40 pm

Re: Recent Movies You Saw

Postby Breaker » September 23rd, 2021, 8:40 pm

Zack Burner wrote:
Breaker wrote:The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Although I was just out of college when this movie came out, and I was certainly aware of the hype and marketing, I had never seen this film until this weekend. I've never read any Tolkien, either.

19 years later...I'd say it still holds up. Obviously the story is much older than that, and is another allegory for the much, much older good vs evil theme. But purely from a visual, storytelling perspective the movie still looks good. The special effects are strong and don't really look dated.

My wife and I plan to watch the rest of the trilogy, and I'm looking forward to it. That says quite a bit, in my mind.


Ah yes, good old Lord of the Rings. Glad to hear someone say it holds up! I've actually been to 2 locations where the franchise was filmed one in the north island and one in the south island. The South Island was where the trip to Minas Tirith was, where the warg attack was. I got to wear Frodo's cloack and hold Sting! the North Island was where Hobbiton was, the interiors of Bag End however were done elsewhere though.


We finally finished the third movie in the trilogy. For the most part, the visuals and special effects are still pretty strong. But, for me at least, I have never been less invested in the outcome of a movie (or, in this case, a series of movies). The only character that even remotely resonated with me was Samwise. I was ready for the film to be over after about 40 minutes. That made a long movie seen interminably long.

Can I pass? I pass.

Zack Burner
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Joined: May 3rd, 2019, 6:01 pm

Re: Recent Movies You Saw

Postby Zack Burner » September 25th, 2021, 6:12 pm

Just finished watching the first (and still the best!) Ninja Turtles movie. This has stood the test of time, even after 30+ years. The costumes are just timeless, move with grace unparalleled, and are able to express themselves flawlessly (courtesy of Jim Henson). The story line has that perfect balance between light and darkness, and there's too many great moments: Leonardo scoring a legitimate hit on Shredder, Mikey's nunchuk duel, Don and Casey Jones Insult throwing, April's diary monologue and drawings, and so much more. I forgot how frightening Shredder is in this version! Judith Hoag is a great April O'Neal, so is Elias Koteas as Casey Jones, but the show stealer here is Raphael (played body and voice of Josh Pais). Add in in Partners in Kryme's T-U-R-T-L-E Power and you've got a timeless winner!

Alucard1191
Posts: 476
Joined: November 16th, 2016, 12:55 pm

Re: Recent Movies You Saw

Postby Alucard1191 » September 25th, 2021, 7:40 pm

Zack Burner wrote:Just finished watching the first (and still the best!) Ninja Turtles movie. This has stood the test of time, even after 30+ years. The costumes are just timeless, move with grace unparalleled, and are able to express themselves flawlessly (courtesy of Jim Henson). The story line has that perfect balance between light and darkness, and there's too many great moments: Leonardo scoring a legitimate hit on Shredder, Mikey's nunchuk duel, Don and Casey Jones Insult throwing, April's diary monologue and drawings, and so much more. I forgot how frightening Shredder is in this version! Judith Hoag is a great April O'Neal, so is Elias Koteas as Casey Jones, but the show stealer here is Raphael (played body and voice of Josh Pais). Add in in Partners in Kryme's T-U-R-T-L-E Power and you've got a timeless winner!



Keep Practicing....

Agreed, the first (and only the first) film has aged really well. It's a bummer that our parents complained about the violence and overall darker side of the film so much to the studio. It really did change the trajectory of those movies.

Notes on the later movies aside, the first movie is really well done all around. Total agreement with your mini review.


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