Movies you're watching

[Johnway]

As previously mentioned, the only real highlight for (uk) tv was Wallace & Gromit: vengeance most fowl

Sequel to the wrong trousers. Wallace and Gromit are short on cash and Wallace invents a robotic garden gnome that might be their answer to their money problems. meanwhile Feathers Mcgraw (criminal mastermind penguin) continues to seethe with the recent success of Wallace and begins his plans to escape and resolve some unfinished business, namely revenge and his lost fortune. For feathers mcgraw, the smart gnomes are the answer...

Another cracking movie. I enjoyed the animation and the puntastic movie. Well worth a watch and its great to see feather mcgraw return.

 

[isleepinabed]

Well on New Year's Day I watched Rat Race, the 2001 film. For better or for worse they certainly don't make movies like these anymore...
I enjoyed it, for nostalgia's sake, at least!

 

[Pifanjr]

I watched Deadpool & Wolverine with my wife two days ago. It was very good, I think it was better than the second Deadpool movie.

 

[Zloth]

I got Dune 1 and 2 for Christmas and watched those. Wow, you can tell a book is getting crammed into movie format! Challenges rise and get resolved stunningly fast. I'll need to watch it a second time for sure to really make sense of everything. The music and visuals are very well done!

What wasn't well done was the BluRay itself. When you stop the playback, there's no memory of where you stopped. There's no way to leave a bookmark, either. Basically: go to the scenes, find the last one you recognize, and fast forward until you find where you were. They're like the ones made 15 years ago!

 

[isleepinabed]

I saw Jackie Chan's Project A.
Not having really grown up with his movies I have to say that his Hong Kong movies like this one and Wheels on Meals are just great, and not at that similar to his parts in the west.
Action-comedy is indeed an universal language and there's as much of an hommage here to Bruce Lee than there is to Buster Keaton.
His co-stars are also great additions and very untertaining. As for the bit players, unlike in Bruce Lee's movies where stilted acting does clash with the seriousness, here it actually fits. It's the circus and slapstick. I would have loved to have seen these when I was a kid.

 

[Johnway]

I saw Jackie Chan's Project A.
Not having really grown up with his movies I have to say that his Hong Kong movies like this one and Wheels on Meals are just great, and not at that similar to his parts in the west.
Action-comedy is indeed an universal language and there's as much of an hommage here to Bruce Lee than there is to Buster Keaton.
His co-stars are also great additions and very untertaining. As for the bit players, unlike in Bruce Lee's movies where stilted acting does clash with the seriousness, here it actually fits. It's the circus and slapstick. I would have loved to have seen these when I was a kid.

I've seen Project A way back in the 90s. my favorite bits was the bar fight at the start, the bike chase/fight or the stick grenade situation when the recruits swap out the fake grenade and the instructor still believing that its fake, tosses it at his recruits....

if you haven't yet, i recommend Stephen chow's work who has a couple martial art comedy movies. Most known for kung fu hustle. But there are a few i like:

Fight Back to School
Forbidden City Cop
King of Beggars
Royal Tramp
Flirting Scholar

the last one (Flirting Scholar) is one of my personal favs when i was young. although one of the most memorable scenes was in the king of beggars where he takes part in the martial art competition where the grand final becomes a complete farce yet he still wins.

​

 

[isleepinabed]

I've seen Project A way back in the 90s. my favorite bits was the bar fight at the start, the bike chase/fight or the stick grenade situation when the recruits swap out the fake grenade and the instructor still believing that its fake, tosses it at his recruits....

if you haven't yet, i recommend Stephen chow's work who has a couple martial art comedy movies. Most known for kung fu hustle. But there are a few i like:

Fight Back to School
Forbidden City Cop
King of Beggars
Royal Tramp
Flirting Scholar

the last one (Flirting Scholar) is one of my personal favs when i was young. although one of the most memorable scenes was in the king of beggars where he takes part in the martial art competition where the grand final becomes a complete farce yet he still wins.

​

Thanks for the recommendations! I haven't seen (or heard of) any of these.
The action sequences are important and you can see their influence on later films or even the more acrobatic styles of professional wrestling.
What surprised me the most was the comedy, to be honest.
Like the mahjong scene, or some of the "sinoisms" like before that bar fight when they were making fun of Hong Kong policemen for blowing their whistles. It takes my back to a different time when pop culture was not so homogeneized... there's an identity about it - it just couldn't have been made by other people.

 

[Johnway]

Thanks for the recommendations! I haven't seen (or heard of) any of these.
The action sequences are important and you can see their influence on later films or even the more acrobatic styles of professional wrestling.
What surprised me the most was the comedy, to be honest.
Like the mahjong scene, or some of the "sinoisms" like before that bar fight when they were making fun of Hong Kong policemen for blowing their whistles. It takes my back to a different time when pop culture was not so homogeneized... there's an identity about it - it just couldn't have been made by other people.

yeah jackie chan and a lot of hong kong cinema did have its own identity when it came to comedy so when Rush hour and Shanghai noon came out there were completely different and refreshing to watch and was impressive. Whilst i remember a fair few movies, its extremely difficult to find the english names of some of the videos.

hong kong movies are probably more well known for action movies and there are some cracking good ones with jackie chan and several others and they typically also blended horror and supernatural. A couple of really cheesy ones as well that don't quite hold up by todays standards like that james bond rip off.

on a side note, it reminds me of that old xiao xaio stick fighter video which captures the type of combat.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw4wzwYeZ0Y

 

[isleepinabed]

yeah jackie chan and a lot of hong kong cinema did have its own identity when it came to comedy so when Rush hour and Shanghai noon came out there were completely different and refreshing to watch and was impressive. Whilst i remember a fair few movies, its extremely difficult to find the english names of some of the videos.

hong kong movies are probably more well known for action movies and there are some cracking good ones with jackie chan and several others and they typically also blended horror and supernatural. A couple of really cheesy ones as well that don't quite hold up by todays standards like that james bond rip off.

on a side note, it reminds me of that old xiao xaio stick fighter video which captures the type of combat.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw4wzwYeZ0Y

Haha yes..
It has somewhat of a dream-like whimsy.. like the infinite chase scenes or getting hit but not really hurting. It's violence, but it's not gruesome. Like the schoolyard fight we had in our heads.
There may be some protohuman imprint somewhere that makes these so appealing.

 

[Frindis]

I watched Gladiator 2 (2024) directed by Ridley Scott and starring Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, and Pedro Pascal...

Gladiator II (2024) ⭐ 6.7 | Action, Adventure, Drama

2h 28m | 16

www.imdb.com

This is exactly the type of movie that never needed to be made in the first place. Paper-thin story with throwbacks to Gladiator (2000), basically following the same bloody story just done much worse. What in the name of Maximus did they think (obviously they didn't) when they cast Denzel Washington as the gangster street thug in fancy clothes? It was almost like I waited to hear: "King Kong ain't got shait on me!"

Then we have these other young bad twin-looking emperors called Tweedledum and Tweedledee who run the show and look so misplaced I wanted to strangle myself. I'm sure there are some historical facts about them being complete buffoons, but come on!

The fighting scenes are well done, I'll give the movie that. Mescal and Pascal (try to say that 10 times fast) did a great job as fighters, that is about it. I'm happy to see both looking like they could have been fighters and not your typical movie 300 juiced body that would never have survived a single day on the battlefield.

As for points, I'll give it 5/10. It's good as a hangover movie, don't expect anything more.

 

[Frindis]

I watched Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997) directed by Michael Cohn and starring Sigourney Weaver and Sam Neill...

Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997) - IMDb

Schneewittchen (1997) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.

www.imdb.com

It's a pretty dark twist on the Snow White story. Sigourney Weaver plays the evil witch Claudia Hoffman who wants to eat the heart of her husband's daughter Lilli Hoffman played by Monika Keena. Why? Because she believes she will absorb her beauty. You would think there would be better ways to do this, but perhaps Claudia Hoffman is not the brightest of witches.

The husband Frederic Hoffman (Sam Neil) is clueless about what is going on because Claudia is using spells on his mind and some bed-humping. The daughter runs away and ends up with a shady group of vagabonds (including one dwarf) while she tries to dodge spells the evil witch casts on her.

The movie is not too bad and I think Sigourney Weaver does a good job as the witch and she has that evil persona throughout the movie that is kind of creepy. Sam Niel is ok too, but he is for the most part lying in bed, moaning or screaming, which is what aristocrats do.

The daughter (princess, whatever) played by Monika Keena is ok. She has this weird expression on her face a lot of the time, slightly overacting, but it works as she is experiencing a lot of terror. She is not that interesting, but thankfully Sigourney Weaver steps in with her fancy spells to make Minka Keena have to work for her money.

6/10

 

[isleepinabed]

I watched Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997) directed by Michael Cohn and starring Sigourney Weaver and Sam Neill...

Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997) - IMDb

Schneewittchen (1997) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.

www.imdb.com

It's a pretty dark twist on the Snow White story. Sigourney Weaver plays the evil witch Claudia Hoffman who wants to eat the heart of her husband's daughter Lilli Hoffman played by Monika Keena. Why? Because she believes she will absorb her beauty. You would think there would be better ways to do this, but perhaps Claudia Hoffman is not the brightest of witches.

The husband Frederic Hoffman (Sam Neil) is clueless about what is going on because Claudia is using spells on his mind and some bed-humping. The daughter runs away and ends up with a shady group of vagabonds (including one dwarf) while she tries to dodge spells the evil witch casts on her.

The movie is not too bad and I think Sigourney Weaver does a good job as the witch and she has that evil persona throughout the movie that is kind of creepy. Sam Niel is ok too, but he is for the most part lying in bed, moaning or screaming, which is what aristocrats do.

The daughter (princess, whatever) played by Monika Keena is ok. She has this weird expression on her face a lot of the time, slightly overacting, but it works as she is experiencing a lot of terror. She is not that interesting, but thankfully Sigourney Weaver steps in with her fancy spells to make Minka Keena have to work for her money.

6/10

I have absolutely no idea of this film coming out. Weird casting for the plot, at first glance..
Why did you end up watching it? Caught it randomly on TV?

 

[Frindis]

@isleepinabed I stumbled upon it while glancing at different movie genres on the net and thought it looked interesting. The cast is slightly weird for sure. For a few minutes, I even thought the dwarf was played by Peter Dinklage. It was only through a close-up that I noticed he was way older.

Michael Cohn also directed When the Bough Breaks (1994) which also has a weird casting combo with Martin Sheen and Ron Perlman.

Ermordet am 16. Juli (1994) ⭐ 5.9 | Crime, Drama, Mystery

1h 45m | 16

www.imdb.com

 

[isleepinabed]

@isleepinabed I stumbled upon it while glancing at different movie genres on the net and thought it looked interesting. The cast is slightly weird for sure. For a few minutes, I even thought the dwarf was played by Peter Dinklage. It was only through a close-up that I noticed he was way older.

Michael Cohn also directed When the Bough Breaks (1994) which also has a weird casting combo with Martin Sheen and Ron Perlman.

Ermordet am 16. Juli (1994) ⭐ 5.9 | Crime, Drama, Mystery

1h 45m | 16

www.imdb.com

Don't know if you played it but Deadly Premonition had a thing where the main character reminisced about obscure 1980s Richard Donner movies. By the looks of it, I think the 1990s might be due to be rediscovered as a decade of offbeat flicks.

TV over here (Portugal) sometimes broadcasts some odd movies, that's why I asked. For instance, on today's selection, 1998's Soldier, with Kurt Russell. There's a whiff of bargain bin DVDs somewhat

 

[Frindis]

Not played it, but that is cool. Can't remember seeing any obscure movies from Donner (maybe you know one or two?), but seen the more mainstream ones.

Solider is not too shabby, very Kurt Russel back then or very 90's should I say. He did some tough guy roles, like Escape From LA, Stargate and Tombstone. I really liked Russel in Death Proof(2007) by Tarantino. He pulled that bad-guy role off brilliantly. Bone Tomahawk (2015) he also played well. A pretty gory movie, not something you would think Russel would star in.

 

[Johnway]

1998's Soldier, with Kurt Russell. There's a whiff of bargain bin DVDs somewhat

i remember watching that on channel 5 here in the uk, it despite some top casting it did indeed have that budget feel to things. I mean, its not terrible, but its not great either. story was not existent (well its an action movie) and the action... straight to video vibes.

 

[isleepinabed]

Not played it, but that is cool. Can't remember seeing any obscure movies from Donner (maybe you know one or two?), but seen the more mainstream ones.

Perhaps "obscure" was too strong a word. I should have said "cult", or "offbeat". The one I was specifically remembering was Ladyhawke...

My compliments to this site and article, which is a nice read, and some great suggestions: https://letterboxd.com/rolyatkcinmai/list/movies-mentioned-in-deadly-premonition-with/detail/

Solider is not too shabby, very Kurt Russel back then or very 90's should I say. He did some tough guy roles, like Escape From LA, Stargate and Tombstone. I really liked Russel in Death Proof(2007) by Tarantino. He pulled that bad-guy role off brilliantly. Bone Tomahawk (2015) he also played well. A pretty gory movie, not something you would think Russel would star in.

i remember watching that on channel 5 here in the uk, it despite some top casting it did indeed have that budget feel to things. I mean, its not terrible, but its not great either. story was not existent (well its an action movie) and the action... straight to video vibes.

While we're at it, on tonight's TV menu, Mickey Rourke's pseudo-erotica Wild Orchid (1989).

 

[Frindis]

@isleepinabed Some great movies in that article! Might just watch Tremors again, such a fun movie. Funny you mention Mickey Rourke, I just recently watched Bullet (1996). The funny thing was that I was not supposed to watch it, I thought I had gotten my hands on Bullit (1968) with Steve McQueen, so you can say I was slightly surprised

 

[isleepinabed]

@isleepinabed Some great movies in that article! Might just watch Tremors again, such a fun movie. Funny you mention Mickey Rourke, I just recently watched Bullet (1996). The funny thing was that I was not supposed to watch it, I thought I had gotten my hands on Bullit (1968) with Steve McQueen, so you can say I was slightly surprised

I was going to say I had never heard of Bullet but then saw on wiki it's the one with Mickey Rourke and Tupac Shakur.. I've never watched it.

That Bullitt / Bullet thing usually happens when they announce some movie on TV but it's not the original, it's the remake. Last one that fooled me The Poseidon Adventure (remake starring Kurt Russell as it happens)

 

[siripum]

I watched Deadpool & Wolverine with my wife two days ago. It was very good, I think it was better than the second Deadpool movie.

OO, he's one of the best from last year. Finally one of the movies that isn't just for once. Like “Dead Money” about addiction to gaming 💵 , for example, yesterday a friend talked me into watching it and I was ready to fall asleep in the middle of the movie.

 

[Frindis]

Possession (1981)
Directed by Andrzej Zulawski
Starring Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill
Heinz Bennent, Margit Carstensen

The movie is about a bad divorce and some serious weird things going on with the wife Anna played by Isabelle Adjani. She is meeting someone and her relationship spirals completely out of control while her husband Mark played by Sam Neill is wondering what is going on while trying to patch things together again.

The movie is brilliantly filmed with superb coloring and some excellent camera work. The story is not what you think it is and it gets extremely grotesque. I don't want to spoil more of the story, except to warn people that this is not a movie for the faint of heart.

If you can survive the whole ordeal, then you have a brilliant movie to watch. Just a word of advice, you might want to turn down the volume while watching this one because there is a lot of screaming, like a loooooot.

8/10

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLXW-oVbTxE

 

[January's Ghost]

I don't watch a whole lot of movies, but one of my favorite songs came up in my streaming mix. It won the Oscar for best original song and I realized I'd never seen the movie it came from, so in a bit of insanity I I bought the movie on Amazon and watched it 2am.

The movie is pretty good, but the trailer is horrible I think.

View: https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z-vMsjd0ccM?si=VEDYdS8cEWaInWCQ

 

[January's Ghost]

This has nothing to do with WATCHING a movie, but about movies NOT being watched and I remember when Take Two boss wanted people to have a little faith in the Borderlands movie and one of the PC Gamer regulars, Gordon, posted nothing but a lot of HAHAHAHAHAs and I said I'd make a meme out of it and I did.

I couldn't share it on PCG's website and I just realized I can share it here..so...

 

[Frindis]

Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
Directed by Renny Harlin
Starring Geena Davis, and Samuel L. Jackson

Plot: Mother hits her head and suddenly she remembers something. The movie has decent fight scenes and dialogues and a whole lot of Michael Bay explosions. The movie is surprisingly good for what it does and I would not mind watching it again in the near future.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDuma1M09B0&t=46s

 

[isleepinabed]

Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
Directed by Renny Harlin
Starring Geena Davis, and Samuel L. Jackson

Plot: Mother hits her head and suddenly she remembers something. The movie has decent fight scenes and dialogues and a whole lot of Michael Bay explosions. The movie is surprisingly good for what it does and I would not mind watching it again in the near future.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDuma1M09B0&t=46s

I was going to ask "what ever happened to Geena Davis" but seeing your IMDB link it appears she still works quite regularly.. To me she'd just vanished after the 90s...