Film Review & Discussion

[Captain Peregrin]

Black Mirror sounds like a sort of spiritual successor to The Twilight Zone - I might check it out whenever I get Netflix xD

From what I've gathered, the new Death Note is just dumb fun. As far as "whitewashing" goes, at least they committed to the Americanization. Personally, I find a situation like Ghost in the Shell way more offensive (where they try to justify the whitewashing in-story). My sister was saying that it would be interesting to see them do something like that with Fruits Basket. Even if it would inevitably be terrible, it would be a fascinating kind of terrible!

[Salsaverde]

Has anyone else seen It yet? If so, thoughts? I'm not much into horror, but I thought the plot was decently entertaining, although for the most part predictable. Only jumped once really. Too much language/suggestive content for my taste as well.

[polerberr]

Has anyone else seen It yet? If so, thoughts? I'm not much into horror, but I thought the plot was decently entertaining, although for the most part predictable. Only jumped once really. Too much language/suggestive content for my taste as well.

I'm seeing it tomorrow.

I'm pretty hyped. Everyone I know who's seen it has said good things, and it's getting positive reviews. I'm mostly hyped because I was a huge fan of the older version with Tim Curry. Me and my best friend when we were kids would watch it at sleepovers and it kind of became a joke. We would quote the movie a lot, and she once made me a face cloth with "BEEP BEEP, [my name]" embroidered on it, which is a quote from the older movie.

Not sure how I'll react to the actor who plays It. I really love Tim Curry.

I just came back from catching one of the last showings of Spiderman Homecoming. I really enjoyed it a lot more than the usual Marvel movies. I think the actor fits the role, and the color grading was not terrible, which is surprising for Marvel. The screen was actually nice to look at.

I'm also going to see Pocahontas tomorrow at the cinema, which will be cool. It's not my favorite Disney movie by a stretch, but I've always liked the songs, and it's been a while since I last saw it.

[polerberr]

Ok, so I watched It today.

First off, I loved it. Just right off the bat, initial reaction to the whole movie. I enjoyed the story, the characters, the production value, and the cinematography.

Most horror movies I've seen have been pretty bland. The jump scares are fun for cheap thrills, but take away the monster of the movie and you're left with a pretty lame set of characters. This is something It doesn't have an issue with. If you took the killer clown out of the picture, you'd still be left with a movie that has potential as a more Goonies-style film. The kids have distinct personalities and backgrounds and play along really well with each other. There's a great dynamic, like the kids in Stranger Things.

So you already have a movie with some meat to it, and then you throw a clown-monster-thing into the mix, and you get some top notch entertainment. This is the main reason why I love It. You could take away the monster and it would still be good.

I don't think It is a movie you should take too seriously. I remember watching the original with my best friend when I was a kid and we thought it was hilarious. There were moments during this new version that had me trying to contain myself because of how ridiculous it was. It's really a movie you watch to have fun. I don't think it's the scariest horror movie out there in terms of jump scares, but in terms of creepy "what the heck" moments that put you on the edge of your seat it's fantastic, and there might be some scenes that get your heart racing if you're not desensitized to horror movies already. So I'd say it's a scary movie, but not in a jump scare way like Insidious, for example. (BTW Insidious has my favorite jump scare ever.)

What I particularily like about It is that it plays on each kids' individual fear, keeping the monster interesting. You want to see how each kid experiences the monster and how they react to it. I was engaged for the whole length of the movie.

I think the actor who played It did a good enough job. I wasn't blown away by the performance, but I can say I was satisfied with it. I guess no one will top Tim Curry for me.

The biggest change between the old version and this version is that the old version had both the story of the kids and the story of when they were adults. IIRC they were woven between each other but I could be wrong. In any case, I really appreciate how this version only handled the part of the story where they're all kids, and the part where they're adults will be handled in a sequel. Because Hollywood loves squeezing as many movies out of one story as possible. P:

But I totally understand why it was done like that and I think it works a lot better, keeping the two parts of the stories separate. I'm really looking forward to Chapter II!

[Salsaverde]

Ok, so I watched It today.

First off, I loved it. Just right off the bat, initial reaction to the whole movie. I enjoyed the story, the characters, the production value, and the cinematography.

Most horror movies I've seen have been pretty bland. The jump scares are fun for cheap thrills, but take away the monster of the movie and you're left with a pretty lame set of characters. This is something It doesn't have an issue with. If you took the killer clown out of the picture, you'd still be left with a movie that has potential as a more Goonies-style film. The kids have distinct personalities and backgrounds and play along really well with each other. There's a great dynamic, like the kids in Stranger Things.

So you already have a movie with some meat to it, and then you throw a clown-monster-thing into the mix, and you get some top notch entertainment. This is the main reason why I love It. You could take away the monster and it would still be good.

I don't think It is a movie you should take too seriously. I remember watching the original with my best friend when I was a kid and we thought it was hilarious. There were moments during this new version that had me trying to contain myself because of how ridiculous it was. It's really a movie you watch to have fun. I don't think it's the scariest horror movie out there in terms of jump scares, but in terms of creepy "what the heck" moments that put you on the edge of your seat it's fantastic, and there might be some scenes that get your heart racing if you're not desensitized to horror movies already. So I'd say it's a scary movie, but not in a jump scare way like Insidious, for example. (BTW Insidious has my favorite jump scare ever.)

What I particularily like about It is that it plays on each kids' individual fear, keeping the monster interesting. You want to see how each kid experiences the monster and how they react to it. I was engaged for the whole length of the movie.

I think the actor who played It did a good enough job. I wasn't blown away by the performance, but I can say I was satisfied with it. I guess no one will top Tim Curry for me.

The biggest change between the old version and this version is that the old version had both the story of the kids and the story of when they were adults. IIRC they were woven between each other but I could be wrong. In any case, I really appreciate how this version only handled the part of the story where they're all kids, and the part where they're adults will be handled in a sequel. Because Hollywood loves squeezing as many movies out of one story as possible. P:

But I totally understand why it was done like that and I think it works a lot better, keeping the two parts of the stories separate. I'm really looking forward to Chapter II!

I have never seen the original version or read the book so I had no idea going into the movie what it was about. I agree that I thought the story had more meat to it than the usual horror movie, but I really have no clue because I literally have seen maybe two horror movies, including It, in my lifetime.

I can honestly say though that I think this is a movie that only certain people will enjoy. Towards the end of the movie, I was getting a bit bored just because horror movies don't do anything for me. I want to get something out of a movie, like a message or a heartwarming feeling. Instead, I kind of just felt relieved that it was over. For me, it was just one of those movies that I'm glad I got to watch, but doubt I'll watch again for a long time, if ever.

But I agree with the majority of your post. I liked the characters and how each kid had to face what felt like a different It. I think the character I liked the most was the kid who broke it arm just because that would be me if I was in those terrifying situations.

[Captain Peregrin]

Finally saw Wonder Woman. It was good! It's not the best superhero movie ever, but it's solid and unique enough to stand out from the crowd. I'm actually not that surprised that we finally got a good female superhero movie, though - female-led action/adventure flicks are so common now, it was really only a matter of time.

I was more surprised this came out of DC, but when I actually thought about it, it totally makes sense. This is what DC has been trying (and failing) to make since the Dark Knight trilogy: A superhero story that's more about ideas than characters. Before Wonder Woman, their movies just came across as "pretentious mess". Here, the ideas were combined with solid character writing to create an engaging (if simple) story. Still not sure what to think about Justice League, though.

[autumnal.]

Has anyone seen the LEGO Ninjago movie? Is it any good? People seem to be really split on it, but a lot of them are mostly saying that it's just bad in comparison to the other LEGO movies, and they honestly set the bar fairly high.

[polerberr]

Has anyone seen the LEGO Ninjago movie? Is it any good? People seem to be really split on it, but a lot of them are mostly saying that it's just bad in comparison to the other LEGO movies, and they honestly set the bar fairly high.

I haven't seen it, and unless I see a lot of amazing reviews, I'll probably pass.

I have the feeling that LEGO is just trying to ride off of the success of The LEGO Movie. Squeeze a few more bucks out of it. Most people went to the Batman one because Batman is a huge part of geek pop culture. I don't know what Ninjago is, so I'm just not as interested. I also didn't think that The LEGO Batman Movie was nearly as good as The LEGO Movie itself, so I don't have high hopes.

I think it's best to just not see each LEGO movie as one film franchise in the same sense of other ones like Pirates and Harry Potter where the movies can be watched in a specific order to tell a linear narrative. I wouldn't link the Ninjago movie to the Batman movie or to the LEGO movie. I see them all as separate things that the LEGO company is pushing out, if that makes sense? Some things are better quality than others, some are just made for one specific audience, some are for the general public.

Still, though, it might be fun.

[horchata]

I also didn't think that The LEGO Batman Movie was nearly as good as The LEGO Movie itself, so I don't have high hopes.

yeah, i felt exactly the same. the lego movie i found pretty genuinely funny and it had a decent narrative, whereas with the lego batman movie the humour felt pretty...forced? (like the relationship between batman & the joker was played off as some 'old married couple' kind of thing but i don't think it was very well executed tbh but that could just be me)

i mean it did have some funny parts (i can think of two times where i laughed lol) but i really don't think the lego batman movie compares to the lego movie, but i did have fairly high expectations (since a few people said that it was better than the lego movie?) i mean it definitely wasn't an awful movie, i just didn't find it that great

[polerberr]

A few days ago I got to see Mad Max: Fury Road Black and Chrome Edition at the cinema. I was expecting to get a little tired of seeing only in black and white, but because this was digital black and white, and not shot with a black and white camera, it actually ended up looking really cool for the whole length of the movie. Everything still managed to look fresh, and, well, shiny.

Can't say much about the movie itself. I personally think it's a lot of fun. I like how all the exposition is squeezed into the beginning of the movie, and from there it's mostly just insane car chases. It doesn't have much depth, but that's ok. It's entertaining.