What are ya watch'n [MOVIES]

[Sudy]

Yeah it's been over twenty years since I tried that one but it didn't hit me like the magic that is Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise, Down by Law, or Dead Man. Or the original Coffee and Cigarettes short films. Dead Man's one of my favourite films of all time.

Or am I thinking of Mystery Train?

[Kraken]

Seeing Gus Fring as a young jive-talker named Yo-Yo in a silly hat is almost worth the price of admission.

[Kraken]

Air Force (1943), dir. Howard Hawks. Starring John Garfield, John Ridgely, Gig Young, Arthur Kennedy, and Harry Carey. As you can tell from the date, this is a patriotic flag-waver, and it tells a better story than some Hollywood propaganda of the time. The crew of a B-17 Flying Fortress (including a guy named Tex, a tough guy from the Bronx, a Minnesota farm boy, and a bad boy who comes through when it counts) is sent on a routine training mission from San Francisco to Honolulu. The flight of nine B-17s is fully tricked out with everything except ammunition. They arrive at Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, to find the aftermath of a little situation. With little sleep, they're forced on a tour of the Pacific theater where there's no safe haven anywhere, but they exemplify all that's good about America and so they persevere. The movie doesn't dehumanize or ridicule the Japanese, which is not to say that they're portrayed in a good light.

IMDB says "Aerial scenes were filmed in Texas and Florida because airplanes appearing to be Japanese were not allowed on the west coast due to a fear of Japanese invasion." Combat scenes are quite good overall.

[Kraken]

The Omega Man (1971). Charlton Heston, some other people. In 1975 a Russian-Chinese border war leads to biological warfare and near extinction; our story begins two years later. Interesting take on a post-apocalyptic world is hampered by some cheesy dialog, often badly delivered, and oy, that soundtrack. I was going to call it "stuck in the '70s" but it's really closer to the '60s. Enjoyable enough on a camp level, but it's not a very good movie.

The opening credits feature the credit "Based on a book by Richard Matheson", and does not give the title of the actual book, I Am Legend. I like everything else Matheson ever wrote so I have to assume that the book is better than the movie. Wiki says "The Omega Man is the second adaptation of Matheson's novel. The first was The Last Man on Earth (1964), which starred Vincent Price. A third adaptation, I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, was released in 2007, and appropriated this film's tagline." I dimly remember being underwhelmed by the Will Smith version, and now I'm curious about the Vincent Price version.

[YellowKing]

Starve Acre, a Shudder exclusive.

Slow-burn folk horror starring Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark. This is not going to be a film for everybody, but I loved it because I love slow, cinematic folk horror. This one probably misses some opportunities to be scarier, but I don't think it's really trying to be that kind of a film. It's less of a horror film than one designed to put you into a constant sense of uneasiness. With a lesser cast it might have been pretty mediocre, but I found the two stars riveting.

[hepcat]

The Omega Man (1971). Charlton Heston, some other people. In 1975 a Russian-Chinese border war leads to biological warfare and near extinction; our story begins two years later. Interesting take on a post-apocalyptic world is hampered by some cheesy dialog, often badly delivered, and oy, that soundtrack. I was going to call it "stuck in the '70s" but it's really closer to the '60s. Enjoyable enough on a camp level, but it's not a very good movie.

The opening credits feature the credit "Based on a book by Richard Matheson", and does not give the title of the actual book, I Am Legend. I like everything else Matheson ever wrote so I have to assume that the book is better than the movie. Wiki says "The Omega Man is the second adaptation of Matheson's novel. The first was The Last Man on Earth (1964), which starred Vincent Price. A third adaptation, I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, was released in 2007, and appropriated this film's tagline." I dimly remember being underwhelmed by the Will Smith version, and now I'm curious about the Vincent Price version.

I’ve seen them all. The Vincent Price version is a little closer to the book in the middle and in the general atmosphere, while Omega Man is a little more true to Matheson’s original ending where we find out who the legend is and to whom.

[Kraken]

The Missouri Breaks (1976). Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Harry Dean Stanton, Randy Quaid. Nicholson and gang are down on their luck horse rustlers. A member of their gang is caught and hanged in the opening scene. Our gang takes an elaborate revenge on the land baron who lynched their friend; he, in turn, hires Brando for protection. Wiki says the movie was not well received in its day, but I think it's quite good.

[dbt1949]

I just finished with the Final Countdown. Amazon has a lot of grade A oldies that are fun to watch. I like the cinematics from those days better the the ones produced in the last 20 years.

[Kraken]

The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959). Harry Belafonte, Inger Stevens, Mel Ferrer, and nobody else. While coal miner Belafonte was trapped underground in a cave-in, an unnamed country released clouds of radioactive isotopes into the stratosphere. It circles the globe, kills everybody, and then fades away because it had a very short half-life. When he realizes that rescuers have stopped digging, Belafonte manages to claw his way out and finds an empty world. I guess those isotopes must have evaporated corpses, because we never see any.

Released just five years after the beginning of the Civil Rights movement, this film is all about race. Ultimately, it has nothing meaningful to say. TCM's Ben Mankiewicz said the cast wanted to include an interracial kiss but the producers squashed that as too radical. If you overlook the wishy-washy racial conflicts, it's a fairly decent last-man-on-earth movie. Belafonte's character is an engineer, and he sets up a plausibly comfortable oasis.

[Punisher]

I just finished with the Final Countdown. Amazon has a lot of grade A oldies that are fun to watch. I like the cinematics from those days better the the ones produced in the last 20 years.

If that is the one where the aircraft carrier goes back in time, it's one of my favorites

[Daehawk]

I just finished with the Final Countdown. Amazon has a lot of grade A oldies that are fun to watch. I like the cinematics from those days better the the ones produced in the last 20 years.

If that is the one where the aircraft carrier goes back in time, it's one of my favorites

Love that movie. Seen it many many times. Go Kirk go!

[Skinypupy]

Watched My Neighbor Totoro with the kids tonight. Probably haven’t seen it in 15-20 years.

While the parts with Totoro and Catbus (especially Catbus) are fantastic and well worth the price of admission, the rest of the film is really pretty dull, tbh. The animation is beautiful (as always), but you’re mostly just left eagerly waiting the next time the fantasy characters show up.

[Rumpy]

Speaking of Studio Ghibli movies, The Boy and The Heron is quite dark and depressing. Their movies have always had dark parts to them, but I felt this one took it on a different level. Beautiful animation as always, but holy shit. Also one of their more complex stories as it involves time travel.

[disarm]

Speaking of Studio Ghibli movies, The Boy and The Heron is quite dark and depressing. Their movies have always had dark parts to them, but I felt this one took it on a different level. Beautiful animation as always, but holy shit. Also one of their more complex stories as it involves time travel.

If you think that one is dark, be wary of ever watching Grave of the Fireflies. It's an artistically beautiful and emotionally moving film, but it's also one of the saddest things I've ever watched.

[Rumpy]

I can't remember if I'd seen that one or not. But the Heron creature in The Boy and the Heron was downright creepy.

[Kraken]

Gunga Din (1939). Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., loosely based on the 1890 poem of the same name by Rudyard Kipling combined with elements of his 1888 short story collection Soldiers Three. The title character is played by Sam Jaffe in dark makeup because the Indian actor they meant to hire was unavailable; that wouldn't fly today, obviously. Good adventure yarn/buddy film with comedic overtones. In the final scene "Mr. Kipling" reads a few lines of his poem at a military funeral.

[dbt1949]

One of my all time favorites. I watched the Final Countdown last night. What a fun movie. It would have been even more fun if they let the Nimitz attack the Japanese fleet for real.

[Sudy]

Novocaine is a fun concept executed near-flawlessly. The main character has CIPA (congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis); comedic action hijinks ensue. Likely not medically accurate, but it's a great time. The trailer kind of exaggerates its tone; while it is absolutely irreverent, it's not nearly so Deadpooly or John-Wicky. And thank goodness. This is a heartfelt, much (relatively) smaller-stakes story that's quirky without being completely over the top.

The leads are great and have wonderful chemistry, and the script is frequently amusing and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. It doesn't over-rely on its action sequences, which don't even begin until the second act. That isn't to say it's slow--it's briskly paced with an abundance of crunchy action. It's just finely tuned, in balance with its comedy and dramatic heart. It's frequently but appropriately gruesome and visceral given its subject. (Almost tasteful compared to something like Crank, if that makes sense.)

Yeah, there are some unlikely contrivances and it's obviously trying to do as much as it can with its gimmick. But it shows a level of restraint I appreciated. A lot of these smaller-scale B-list action comedies disappoint me, but this one exceeded my expectations. I think what bugged me most was that it's too neatly tied up with a bow at the end. The denouement requires faith in a world that's inherently good and reasonable, which seems jarring right now. But that's reality's fault, not the film's.

6.64 tentacles out of 8. Really, really solid. It's not as poetic as something like Drive, but it knows what it's doing with its limited resource and is never smug. I think its biggest weakness is that its villain is completely unsympathetic, but that's not a big deal because they're really not the focus.

[Daehawk]

I watched Section 31. I'd heard bad things about it but I completely enjoyed it. Nice Star Trek action movie.

[Max Peck]

The Omega Man (1971). Charlton Heston, some other people. In 1975 a Russian-Chinese border war leads to biological warfare and near extinction; our story begins two years later. Interesting take on a post-apocalyptic world is hampered by some cheesy dialog, often badly delivered, and oy, that soundtrack. I was going to call it "stuck in the '70s" but it's really closer to the '60s. Enjoyable enough on a camp level, but it's not a very good movie.

The opening credits feature the credit "Based on a book by Richard Matheson", and does not give the title of the actual book, I Am Legend. I like everything else Matheson ever wrote so I have to assume that the book is better than the movie. Wiki says "The Omega Man is the second adaptation of Matheson's novel. The first was The Last Man on Earth (1964), which starred Vincent Price. A third adaptation, I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, was released in 2007, and appropriated this film's tagline." I dimly remember being underwhelmed by the Will Smith version, and now I'm curious about the Vincent Price version.

TubiTV: The Last Man on Earth

[Kraken]

The Omega Man (1971). Charlton Heston, some other people. In 1975 a Russian-Chinese border war leads to biological warfare and near extinction; our story begins two years later. Interesting take on a post-apocalyptic world is hampered by some cheesy dialog, often badly delivered, and oy, that soundtrack. I was going to call it "stuck in the '70s" but it's really closer to the '60s. Enjoyable enough on a camp level, but it's not a very good movie.

The opening credits feature the credit "Based on a book by Richard Matheson", and does not give the title of the actual book, I Am Legend. I like everything else Matheson ever wrote so I have to assume that the book is better than the movie. Wiki says "The Omega Man is the second adaptation of Matheson's novel. The first was The Last Man on Earth (1964), which starred Vincent Price. A third adaptation, I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, was released in 2007, and appropriated this film's tagline." I dimly remember being underwhelmed by the Will Smith version, and now I'm curious about the Vincent Price version.

TubiTV: The Last Man on Earth

Thanks! I'll definitely watch that in the next week or so.

[Skinypupy]

If you think that one is dark, be wary of ever watching Grave of the Fireflies. It's an artistically beautiful and emotionally moving film, but it's also one of the saddest things I've ever watched.

Grave of the Fireflies is a movie that I think everyone needs to see. Once. Your soul wouldn't survive multiple viewings.

I still need to watch Boy and the Heron. I generally adore Miyazaki films but haven't gotten around to that one yet, for some reason.

[Rumpy]

I don't know if it's only in Canada, but we have most of the Studio Ghibli movies available on Netflix, so maybe look there. It's where I saw it.

[disarm]

Most of the Studio Ghibli stuff is on Max in the US, including The Boy and the Heron. GotF isn't there though...that one is actually on Netflix I think.

[Daehawk]

I 'kinda' have to the urge to watch the 80s movies I loved as a teen in the same style of Weird Science. Trouble is there were SO MANY of them and a lot of them were so close as to be the same movies I cant remember what Id want to watch lol.

[ImLawBoy]

Watched a couple of animated movies.

First up is Flow, which just won the Oscar for best animated feature. A massive flood forces a group of animals to band together to survive, with a cat being our primary star. There are also a dog (and sometimes his pack), a capybara (boy twin's favorite), a lemur, and a secretary bird. It's a dialogue free movie, but we tried it out with Audio Description on. This was to help my oldest kid, who has vision issues and can't always focus on a screen or see clearly. Basically, someone is describing the action on the screen. You'd think it would be distracting, but it's really not bad. We also tried this recently with him watching Age of Ultron, and that was interesting because the description has to be squeezed between the dialogue. Anyway, interesting accessibility feature. Oh, and the movie was great - whole family enjoyed it.

Also watched The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, although I broke this up into multiple viewings. It's an inessential story set in Rohan some time before the events of the true Lord of the Rings saga. I didn't much care for the anime style animation, although that might be a draw for others. It got better as it went along, but I almost didn't return to it because the beginning was pretty bad. I can't really recommend this one.

[Daehawk]

Watched Transformers One. Nice movie ..fun...and funny.

[Kraken]

The Omega Man (1971). Charlton Heston, some other people. In 1975 a Russian-Chinese border war leads to biological warfare and near extinction; our story begins two years later. Interesting take on a post-apocalyptic world is hampered by some cheesy dialog, often badly delivered, and oy, that soundtrack. I was going to call it "stuck in the '70s" but it's really closer to the '60s. Enjoyable enough on a camp level, but it's not a very good movie.

The opening credits feature the credit "Based on a book by Richard Matheson", and does not give the title of the actual book, I Am Legend. I like everything else Matheson ever wrote so I have to assume that the book is better than the movie. Wiki says "The Omega Man is the second adaptation of Matheson's novel. The first was The Last Man on Earth (1964), which starred Vincent Price. A third adaptation, I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, was released in 2007, and appropriated this film's tagline." I dimly remember being underwhelmed by the Will Smith version, and now I'm curious about the Vincent Price version.

TubiTV: The Last Man on Earth

Thanks! I'll definitely watch that in the next week or so.

The 1964 Vincent Price version of this story is much better than the 1971 Heston remake, and unfolds more like a Matheson story. Wiki says "Richard Matheson co-wrote the film's screenplay, but was unhappy with the results. To keep receiving residual income from the film, though, he had to be credited, so he used the name "Logan Swanson", a combination of his wife's mother's maiden name and his mother's maiden name. Matheson said: "I was disappointed in the film, even though they more or less followed my story. I think Vincent Price, whom I love in every one of his pictures that I wrote, was miscast. I also felt the direction was kind of poor. I just didn't care for it."

It does suffer from a low-budget feel and some weak acting, but overall it's worth a watch.

[Isgrimnur]

Oh, and there was a preview for A Complete Unknown, the upcoming Timothee-Chalamet-as-Bob-Dylan movie.

When the preview first showed that it was Chalamet, I stage-whispered "Lisan al Gaib!"

I think at least one person chuckled.

Up on Hulu