NEW: List some movies you've watched recently. Theatre, rental, TV... and give a */10

[DigDog]

i watched The Great Debaters - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427309/reference/

Denzel Washington, BUT he just exits stage left before the end, which is instead given to the worst of the 4 protagonist characters.
1935, Jim Crow south. A group of college youths are in Denzel's debate team. They plan is to debate the heck out of every other college to push Harvard into sending them an invitation, which happens. There is also a subplot about Denzel being "a communist", involved with trying to unionize the local farmhands, but the only relevance to the plot is that he's not there for the final showdown.
And, the showdown is pretty lame. The Harvard debate team, which should pose as the villain, is weak AF, leaving the younger black boy to give a not terribly inspiring speech on civil liberties that frankly has been done better in EVERY film about black civil liberties. Watch instead, idk, The Green Book, Do The Right Thing or any Spike Lee film, Coach Carter, Hidden Figures idk literally any other film with the same theme, and you'll get a better resolution.
Film's otherwise competently done, so not like it's a complete waste of time.

6/10

 

[DigDog]

CB4 - 10/10 - A spoof of the gangsta rap movies from the early 90's starring Chris Rock as Albert & MC Gusto. Allen Payne, Charlie Murphy, Chris Elliot and Phil Hartman are also in this.

This is an all time classic for me and one of those movies that could not be made today. The writing is witty, the music is over the top, and there are life lessons to be learned.

Yeah yeah, I'm licking yer balls...

Chris Rock Considers CB4 To Be 'The First Good Rap Movie' - SlashFilm

'Any person who would defile America's pastime by wearing a baseball cap backward... well, that's an evil that speaks for itself!'

www.slashfilm.com

i ALSO watched CB4 - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106500/reference/

3 black kids *not* from the projects grow up dreaming of being rappers, but they are really bad at it. One day, they see an actual gangster getting arrested and they come up with the clever idea that totally will not come back to bite them on the ass, to steal the guy's identity and pose as a gangsta rap band "Cell Block 4". Hilarity ensues.

Decently funny if very limited Chris Rock schtik mocking all the bad things about gangsta rap. The fake music is pretty funny, but everything else is not particularly memorable. I'd rather than a Wayans bros film or a Black Dynamite. Sorry Black Dynamite, i did not mean to compare you to CB4.

6/10

 

[Dr. Detroit]

I'd rather than a Wayans bros film or a Black Dynamite. Sorry Black Dynamite, i did not mean to compare you to CB4.

6/10

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka is the Wayans at their best aside from In Living Color.

 

[RearAdmiral]

Perfect Days - Reviewed as a calm(yes) and contemplative(not burdensome) movie. Definitely a movie I could use at this point in my life with two young children and their associated chaos. This is a slow but never really boring movie about a Tokyo toilet cleaner going about his days and occasional interactions with people. It is not overbearing with art or thought. Like drifting down a calm river with an occasional dip or rock to re-ground you in the watch.

8.5/10

 

[Dr. Detroit]

The First Omen (2024) - 8.5/10 - Now Streaming on Hulu!

This movie came out of nowhere and was totally unexpected on how great it is!
The cinematography, the sense of doom/dread, the music, the costumes, the absolute fuckery that is good vs evil and the fantastic acting by the lead actress, Nell Tiger Free.
They don't resort to cheap CGI or jump scares.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Split 6/10
Finally got around to watching it, it was ok.

 

[mikeymikec]

The First Omen (2024) - 8.5/10 - Now Streaming on Hulu!

Every time I hear that film name, my mind sings it to the melody of 'The First Noel'.


---

Blue Eye Samurai S1

Overall I enjoyed it to the point of binge-watching the second half (it's a long time since I last binge-watched anything). I think it has a few flaws though:

1 - the regular conundrum of any film/series maker with a slick-shit killer protagonist: they can't go through the whole story unscathed, and they must survive the story. Therefore their injuries either have to miraculously not encumber them or they miraculously get over them without any permanent drawbacks, and the protagonist here has nothing else in their life but revenge so therefore the writers have little to fill 'downtime' with and are flirting with absurdity (especially in a medieval context where a single infected cut could kill someone). Another facet of this is in 'Taken' where Bryan Mills's shots/moves are always en-pointe until they have to take down a Big Boss. The likes of Battlestar Galactica (the newer series) managed to balance this well with story pacing allowing character injury and downtime as well as more realistic elements like significant/major characters getting maimed or sometimes getting inadvertently killed through sheer bad luck (e.g. the officer dying when he's shoved into a wall with an exposed bolt going into his temple is a great example of demonstrating the fragility of humanity). In the series 'Sharpe', the protagonist spends an entire episode on the edge of death due to an infected injury, it makes it more realistic. The character in this however is like "I got stabbed in the guts a moment ago, I'm bleeding profusely, I can barely stand" and then the plot demands her to fairly immediately take out three henchmen in quick succession and so she does. I like how the series takes itself seriously in other respects (e.g. portraying bigotry and arrogance hand-in-hand), but this flaw undermines that IMO.

2 - The pacing was good, then it seemed like the writers realised that they had to take their foot off the accelerator pedal and the pacing became a little slack. Adding backstory helped fill it out a bit (without seeming like throwaway filler), but the adjustment in pacing is noticeable IMO, it's like going from "this is a mini series with only several episodes to conclude" to "we've got to make more seasons out of this".

3 -

Spoiler

Keeping Fowler alive makes no sense IMO: It very much seems like he could take her in a straight fight yet she takes him prisoner... somehow... with no resources to do so.

I suppose at the end of the day it is only season 1, many series start with flaws that are worked on later, and even say BSG has a few WTF-level flawed moments.

 

[igor_kavinski]

(especially in a medieval context where a single infected cut could kill someone).

Not if they had access to a physician: https://theconversation.com/in-a-world-with-no-antibiotics-how-did-doctors-treat-infections-53376

And people were more resistant to infections because there were no artificial drugs to cause antibiotic resistance.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Perfect Days

It was certainly unique. Movies like this should be made for more professions. Also amazing (if true) that a professional like that can live in a decent home. In third world countries, that person would barely have a hut or mudhouse. The actor was pretty good. Tokyo looks like a nice place to be, if it weren't so expensive. Cinematographically, it was well shot.

7/10

 

[sdifox]

Not if they had access to a physician: https://theconversation.com/in-a-world-with-no-antibiotics-how-did-doctors-treat-infections-53376

And people were more resistant to infections because there were no artificial drugs to cause antibiotic resistance.

You are a quack. People often died from a simple cut. Bulbonic plague wiped out half of Europe's population.

 

[Oyeve]

The First Omen (2024) - 8.5/10 - Now Streaming on Hulu!

This movie came out of nowhere and was totally unexpected on how great it is!
The cinematography, the sense of doom/dread, the music, the costumes, the absolute fuckery that is good vs evil and the fantastic acting by the lead actress, Nell Tiger Free.
They don't resort to cheap CGI or jump scares.

Really? I thought it was complete utter garbage.

 

[MrSquished]

If Antony Starr doesn't get an Emmy for his portrayal of Homelander, there is no justice in the world. It's simply one of the best acting jobs and villain roles of all time.

 

[igor_kavinski]

If Antony Starr doesn't get an Emmy for his portrayal of Homelander, there is no justice in the world. It's simply one of the best acting jobs and villain roles of all time.

Do villains win an Emmy?

 

[igor_kavinski]

You are a quack. People often died from a simple cut.

That's more due to uncleanliness. If a person properly washed off the wound and cared for it, chances are there wouldn't be anything there to infect it. Or are you saying that the air and water back then were so full of microbes that no one stood a chance from a simple cut?

Adrian Carton de Wiart: The unkillable soldier

Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart was a one-eyed, one-handed war hero who fought in three major conflicts across six decades.

www.bbc.com

That guy survived before the invention of Penicillin, despite being shot in the arm and face.

Just because some people died from a simple cut does not mean that ALL people died from a simple cut.

 

[igor_kavinski]

By the way, The Prophecy series of Christopher Walken movies are great for the cheese factor.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Best actor award in The Boys goes to Karen F-U-Hara, for having the best superpower: the ability to act without saying a single word. She deserves her own show.

 

[sdifox]

That's more due to uncleanliness. If a person properly washed off the wound and cared for it, chances are there wouldn't be anything there to infect it. Or are you saying that the air and water back then were so full of microbes that no one stood a chance from a simple cut?

Adrian Carton de Wiart: The unkillable soldier

Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart was a one-eyed, one-handed war hero who fought in three major conflicts across six decades.

www.bbc.com

That guy survived before the invention of Penicillin, despite being shot in the arm and face.

Just because some people died from a simple cut does not mean that ALL people died from a simple cut.

Right, let's look at the exception and say it is not a big deal. He is notable because he was the exception.

 

[MrSquished]

Best actor award in The Boys goes to Karen F-U-Hara, for having the best superpower: the ability to act without saying a single word. She deserves her own show.

no way. Starr is easily one of the best performances in any TV role going on now.

 

[igor_kavinski]

no way. Starr is easily one of the best performances in any TV role going on now.

He was supposed to be "immortal" yet they are now showing that he can age. The character is losing its charm. I liked him more when he could do whatever he wanted and still stay undetected.

 

[MrSquished]

He was supposed to be "immortal" yet they are now showing that he can age. The character is losing its charm. I liked him more when he could do whatever he wanted and still stay undetected.

This show is way deeper than that, and his character is brilliant. I mean an evil piece of shit, but still a brilliant character.

 

[Oyeve]

By the way, The Prophecy series of Christopher Walken movies are great for the cheese factor.

The first one is great. Virginia madsen looking hot, stoltz in good acting form, that Hebrew hammer guy funny as hell, and Viggo Mortensen is truly creepy.

 

[soulcougher73]

If Antony Starr doesn't get an Emmy for his portrayal of Homelander, there is no justice in the world. It's simply one of the best acting jobs and villain roles of all time.

Do you think the trumpanzes even realize how much fun this show is having at their expense?

 

[MrSquished]

Do you think the trumpanzes even realize how much fun this show is having at their expense?

They finally figured it out. This season has been review bombed by negative ones from pissed off MAGA Nazis that FINALLY figured out they were the evil ones in the show. That's how dumb they are. This was easy to tell during Season 1. But they are dumb insane maniacs so they are special, so here we are at Season 4 and those trash people finally started to figure things out.

 

[zinfamous]

Do villains win an Emmy?

eh? seriously?

 

[Muse]

Best in Show (Christopher Guest, 2000) 2/10

Thorough going POS. Not funny. Stuck it out because just 90 minutes and it did improve when they finalllllly got to the show itself. Still, not funny and painfully reaching for material. Have to think the winged it mostly. This is not a movie to toss aside lightly, it should be heaved with all your might out the window.