What was the last movie you've seen?

Talk about just about anything else that is non-gaming here, but keep it clean
User avatar
noiseredux
Next-Gen
Posts: 38148
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2008 1:09 pm
Contact:

Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by noiseredux »

Image

Image
Image
User avatar
Ack
Moderator
Posts: 22294
Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2008 4:26 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Ack »

So, did you like Neon Demon, noise?
Image
User avatar
noiseredux
Next-Gen
Posts: 38148
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2008 1:09 pm
Contact:

Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by noiseredux »

I did. I don't really know what to say about. First half was what I expected, second half was not. But I did like it.
Image
fastbilly1
Site Admin
Posts: 13775
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:08 pm

Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by fastbilly1 »

Dr Strange - 2016

Visual feast, slow disjointed plot that gets lost inside of itself. I am glad to see Benedict Cumberbatch playing a character so close to his heart - Dormammu.

Jokes aside, the film was interesting but I can easily see why people both loved and hated it. It played loose with the source material, but not as bad as some of the others, and did purport several eastern religion philosophies. But it setup a sequel very eloquently, tied the story into the Cinematic Universe perfectly, and had several solid jokes in it - the wifi password one was perfect.

Like all recent comicbook movies you have to turn your brain off for some parts, like HIPPA law compliance, but I try not to hold that against them. That said, the first fight scene was worth the price of admission. It was gorgeous.
User avatar
Fragems
Next-Gen
Posts: 5429
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:01 am
Location: Proctorville, OH

Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Fragems »

CHIPS

Actually pretty funny albeit very perverse at times and definitely not for kids :lol: . Worth a rental or matinee viewing if you want to dumb fun akin to Super Troopers or Hit and Run. There is a shitload of nudity and sex jokes though so keep the kiddies away from it. The film can easily be seen as sexist as well so if that bugs you avoid it since most of the women are portrayed as slutty and there is a lot of nudity all of which is female aside from the one scene in the trailer but the spare you from a full frontal of Dax Shepard.
User avatar
Michi
Next-Gen
Posts: 4780
Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2010 9:47 pm
Location: Florida

Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Michi »

Offerings
Image

Little John Radley had a crappy childhood. He takes his frustrations out on his pets because his dad abandoned him, his mom is abusive and the neighborhood kids pick on him because he doesn’t talk. The only nice thing in his life seems to be his lone friend, Gretchen. But even Gretchen can’t save him when one of the bullies pranks goes awry and John falls down a well, causing permanent brain damage. He’s sent off to the local psych hospital and, ten years after the accident, breaks out to return home to seek his revenge on the bullies who tormented him.

Image
He just wants to be loved, damn it!

Okay, where to start... First off, did you guys like Halloween? Because Offerings is pretty much a re-skin of Halloween with a bevy of flaws heaped upon it. They even completely ripped-off the soundtrack. John’s character is essentially Michael Myers sans-mask. He chases victims slowly like Myers. He’s essentially invulnerable like Myers. He’s silent like Myers....The only topical difference is that John hasn’t kept up his figure and the excessive scaring on his face pretty that much guarantees he doesn’t need a mask. Falling down a well makes you look like a burn victim, I guess.

Image

Unfortunately with all that, he doesn’t come across nearly as menacing as Myers. While Myers is steady and menacing, John feels more loitering and lumbering. We hear heavy breathing like in Halloween, but instead of feeling ominous it feels more like you’re listening to a nerdy mouth-breather ogling something he shouldn’t be. There’s also the fact that he has a semi-relatable motive of revenge as opposed to Myers’ (initially) inexplicable death parade.

Image
He did inherit Michael’s strange, ethereal glow, though

Then there’s the acting. It ranges from “...Okay then” to “Where the hell did you find this guy?” Everyone here is either under-acting or over acting. There really isn’t much in between. Now, to the movie’s credit, some of the over acting feels intentional, but it’s kind of hard for me to tell whether it is or not. Based on the quality of the rest of the film, I’m going with ‘not.’

Image
You might want to put the crossword down and turn
around there, Columbo


Then there are the characters themselves. I ended up liking the two female leads, but damn it all to hell if the kids in this movie didn’t make some of the most bizarre decisions. I mean, if you waited close to an hour for a pizza, only to walk out on the porch to find the pizza just sitting there (no delivery guy in sight) with some strange topping you didn’t order covering it, how many of you would just shrug and eat it? I know teens have questionable decision making skills, but even teen-me wouldn’t have done that. Then there’s the fact that the two girls decide to stay in the house once the body parts start showing up. I wouldn’t care if the tubby sheriff said I was safe. I’d be finding somewhere else to stay.

Which makes me think that an alternate title to Offerings could be How Not to Woo Your Woman. See, John doesn’t just kill off a bunch of teens. No, he kills off a bunch of teens and then leaves little pieces of them outside Gretchen’s home for her to find (or for her dog to run off with.)

Image
Just what every stalking victim wants to find on their porch

It’s actually one of the creepier aspects of the movie.

There’s also this weird semi-plot point about how Gretchen has this sort of sixth sense about the future. I honestly don’t know why it’s there. It’s not like it comes in handy when it comes to warning her about pieces of her friends winding up on her doorstep. Or when something bad happens to her dog (or the pizza delivery guy, presumably). Or when the phone's going to go out. Or, well, any point other than when she’s about to be called on in class or during the final scene. It’s really an odd, half-assed inclusion.

That being said, there are a few things about Offerings I actually liked. For starters, while the acting in the movie itself is pretty poor, and the characters make several very bizarre decisions, they also have striking moments of self-awareness. At one point during the film, two of the girls are watching a movie and comment on how dumb some of the stereotypical scenarios are, a good half a decade before Scream came along and made it popular. And, despite previously questionable moves, they’re also smart enough to arm themselves and stick together when they feel there’s a threat.

Image
Which makes their inexplicable decision to stay in the house all the more baffling.

Image
At least her friend is quick on the draw when there’s a noise.

Image
Not that one! Mom would kill us if we broke it.

Image
Fine *sigh*


I know I’ve heavily criticized Offerings, but truth be told, I actually kind of liked it. It’s like Halloween-light, with a bunch of intentional/unintentional humor that at some point feels dumbed-down and at others self-aware. Sure the characters are kooky and may all suffer from brain damage, but they do have their moments. There are even a couple of scenes that are genuinely disturbing and a decent amount of violence. Unfortunately, the film does suffer from some pacing issues. The plot meanders around the mid-way point and several scenes go on much longer than they should. There’s also some odd bits of editing, with a couple scenes looking like they were shot through a telescope.

Image

But even then, I don’t consider it too bad. It’s a step above Troma, at any rate. It probably helps that they nicked so much from Halloween. It’s just too bad that along with the music and plot, they didn’t also run off with the writers, editors, cinematographer and set designer. At least then they wouldn’t have ended up with eye-bleeding wall coverings like this:

Image
Seriously, don't stare at this too long or it'll start to hurt.

Offerings is currently streaming on Amazon Prime or you can also find it for free on Youtube.
User avatar
Ack
Moderator
Posts: 22294
Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2008 4:26 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Ack »

Fun fact: I nearly watched Offerings a couple of weeks ago but decided to watch Neon Maniacs instead. I think I made the right decision.
Image
User avatar
Michi
Next-Gen
Posts: 4780
Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2010 9:47 pm
Location: Florida

Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Michi »

Having only read your review of Neon Maniacs, I can assure you you probably did.

Though it may still be something you'd get a kick out of in some capacity.
User avatar
noiseredux
Next-Gen
Posts: 38148
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2008 1:09 pm
Contact:

Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by noiseredux »

the pizza part really grossed me out and stuck with me. We watched Offerings in 2006 or 2007 - and as soon as you posted the poster, I was like "ugh, pizza. Gross." But yeah that's totally just Halloween. I actually have it on VHS somewhere. I am pretty sure I have 3 or 4 of the recent movies you've talked about on VHS.
Image
User avatar
Ack
Moderator
Posts: 22294
Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2008 4:26 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

Post by Ack »

noiseredux wrote:the pizza part really grossed me out and stuck with me. We watched Offerings in 2006 or 2007 - and as soon as you posted the poster, I was like "ugh, pizza. Gross." But yeah that's totally just Halloween. I actually have it on VHS somewhere. I am pretty sure I have 3 or 4 of the recent movies you've talked about on VHS.


Please tell me you don't own The Night Brings Charlie. That movie was awful.
Image
Post Reply