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Post by masterofallgoons on Oct 2, 2020 22:05:19 GMT
Gotta go with The Thing when the first blizzard hits. For me the first autumn must-watch is Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow is underrated. It's the perfect Halloween movie in many ways, I'll never understand why they released it in November. Yeah, not sure what else came out that October, and maybe from a business standpoint it made sense, but it does seem odd. Still, it made somewhere around 200 million bucks at the time, so I think it was considered a hit. But I absolutely love it. I'm a sucker for that story and anything related to it (I happen to live right near Sleepy Hollow these days), and even though the movie has hardly anything to do with the original story I love the approach. Such a great cast and maybe the best, or at least the most atmosphere of any horror movie ever made. Emanuel Lubezki went on to win 3 Oscars in a row for cinematography years later, but I think this might be some of his best work. |
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Oct 2, 2020 22:51:33 GMT
My must-watch 'monster' themed movies every October (though I don't always get to them): Bram Stoker's Dracula Cemetery Man The Thing (1982) Monster Squad Monster Squad was on amazon prime recently, not sure if it still is, and I watched it. Loved this as an 8 year old, but it didn't hold up very well. Fun in parts, and it's only 80 minutes, give or take, but it's just a really obvious attempt by the studios to become a horror version of the Goonies. I don't like criticizing child actors for obvious reasons, but even for kid actors pretty much everyone in this movie is terrible. Even Wonder Years' star Jason Hervey! The comedy was comprised largely of gay and fat jokes that haven't aged particularly well. (takes deep breath) Honestly, writing that last paragraph made me feel like a cantankerous prick. Maybe I was just in a bad mood when I re-watched it? Your take is dead on. It's an awful movie by modern standards. But I love it, I can't help it. You will never see a movie like that made again, and it was aimed at children! Kids making gay jokes, spying on high school girls changing, making bullets in shop class, middle schoolers smoking cigarettes; at one point Dracula holds up a 3 year old girl by the face and calls her a bitch! The fat shaming is literally the least offensive thing in the film. I keep wondering how old my son will be before I let him watch it, but I'm dreading him asking what a 'f-ggot' is. By 2020 social standards the film is basically unwatchable.
All that said, that movie was my childhood. That's what we did, rode around looking for monsters, making forts, weapons and traps, etc. Some of us still help in the fight against monsters, I can't imagine growing up any other way.
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Oct 2, 2020 22:55:30 GMT
Sleepy Hollow is underrated. It's the perfect Halloween movie in many ways, I'll never understand why they released it in November. Yeah, not sure what else came out that October, and maybe from a business standpoint it made sense, but it does seem odd. Still, it made somewhere around 200 million bucks at the time, so I think it was considered a hit. But I absolutely love it. I'm a sucker for that story and anything related to it (I happen to live right near Sleepy Hollow these days), and even though the movie has hardly anything to do with the original story I love the approach. Such a great cast and maybe the best, or at least the most atmosphere of any horror movie ever made. Emanuel Lubezki went on to win 3 Oscars in a row for cinematography years later, but I think this might be some of his best work. It's a blast, it' the perfect blend of 'spooky' and 'goofy fun.' Completely agree about the atmosphere, I feel like they rented every fog machine on Earth for that establishing scene of Sleepy Hollow. Plus, Walken!
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Post by screamingtreefrogs on Oct 4, 2020 12:38:54 GMT
Van Helsing (2004) Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale) I don't get the hate  |
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Post by Jep Gambardella on Oct 4, 2020 14:00:00 GMT
Since this is a Sports board after all, I should mention that I watched “Warrior” last night, a 2011 movie about MMA fighting with Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte. Not being particularly interested in fighting sports, I gave it a miss when it came out, but now that it’s on Netflix and that I had heard good things about it, I decided to give it a chance - and I am glad I did.
Basically it’s about two brothers, estranged from each other and from their father (Nick Nolte) who through completely different life paths end up taking part in the same high-stakes MMA tournament. It’s a pretty good drama with decent fighting as well (at least to my completely untrained eye). Not sure it’s very realistic but it certainly kept my phone-checking to a minimum while watching it.
Hey, I just thought of a new scale for rating movies. There used to be a newspaper that had a ranking system with stick figures - standing up applauding was the best, applauding while seated was next, then sitting up in attention, then slouching, and walking away was the worst. Now that most movie-watching is done at home, the rating should be related to how often you check your phone. Not once during the entire runtime - masterpiece. Every five minutes or more - garbage.
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Post by Jep Gambardella on Oct 4, 2020 14:02:11 GMT
Van Helsing (2004) Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale) I don't get the hate I never watched it again since it came out, but I agree - I remember thinking it was entertaining enough at the time.
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Post by screamingtreefrogs on Oct 4, 2020 15:30:36 GMT
Van Helsing (2004) Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale) I don't get the hate I never watched it again since it came out, but I agree - I remember thinking it was entertaining enough at the time. It's pretty much Indiana Jones meets The Wolf Man, Frankenstein and Dracula
What's not to like?
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Post by masterofallgoons on Oct 5, 2020 11:42:38 GMT
I never watched it again since it came out, but I agree - I remember thinking it was entertaining enough at the time. It's pretty much Indiana Jones meets The Wolf Man, Frankenstein and Dracula
What's not to like?
That sounds like an approach that should be a lot of fun. The resulting movie, unfortunately, has an awful script that the solid cast can't save, and looks like it was made by first year computer animation students. I always assumed that Universal would take another crack at that title, but maybe they thought they'd get there with their 'shared universe' which obviously was DOA twice over. |
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Post by screamingtreefrogs on Oct 5, 2020 14:22:13 GMT
It's pretty much Indiana Jones meets The Wolf Man, Frankenstein and Dracula
What's not to like?
That sounds like an approach that should be a lot of fun. The resulting movie, unfortunately, has an awful script that the solid cast can't save, and looks like it was made by first year computer animation students. I always assumed that Universal would take another crack at that title, but maybe they thought they'd get there with their 'shared universe' which obviously was DOA twice over. Blasphemy!
Take a look at this take on Frankenstein's Monster -
One of the better versions of the monster, no?
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Post by screamingtreefrogs on Oct 5, 2020 14:38:44 GMT
Orphan (2009) - Vera Farmiga
What a fun movie
Adopted kid turns out to be like a 60 year old psycho dwarf
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Oct 5, 2020 14:47:45 GMT
That sounds like an approach that should be a lot of fun. The resulting movie, unfortunately, has an awful script that the solid cast can't save, and looks like it was made by first year computer animation students. I always assumed that Universal would take another crack at that title, but maybe they thought they'd get there with their 'shared universe' which obviously was DOA twice over. Blasphemy!
Take a look at this take on Frankenstein's Monster -
One of the better versions of the monster, no?
Design-wise, meh. Character-wise, he was the best part of the film. Maybe a toss up between him and sarcastic Igor. The rest of the movie is trash. So much garbage CGI-- including the backgrounds--, a soundtrack as generic as it is blaring and it didn't suit the mood of the film half the time, and a terrible script. It's odd that it was clearly meant as a franchise starter while trying to cram so much into one film. It was a mess from top to bottom. As masterofallgoons mentioned, it blows my mind that these clowns can't figure out what to do with their properties. I saw both attempts to kickstart the Dark Universe in theaters, and both films are as awful as their reputations suggest.
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Post by masterofallgoons on Oct 5, 2020 14:55:52 GMT
That sounds like an approach that should be a lot of fun. The resulting movie, unfortunately, has an awful script that the solid cast can't save, and looks like it was made by first year computer animation students. I always assumed that Universal would take another crack at that title, but maybe they thought they'd get there with their 'shared universe' which obviously was DOA twice over. Blasphemy!
Take a look at this take on Frankenstein's Monster -
One of the better versions of the monster, no?
Eh, not really. And I think other people have to agree for that to be considered blasphemy. It's a good concept, but the resulting movie is really weak. The same sort of approach could have been done well. Maybe one day it will be.
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Post by screamingtreefrogs on Oct 5, 2020 14:56:08 GMT
Blasphemy!
Take a look at this take on Frankenstein's Monster -
One of the better versions of the monster, no?
Design-wise, meh. Character-wise, he was the best part of the film. Maybe a toss up between him and sarcastic Igor. The rest of the movie is trash. So much garbage CGI-- including the backgrounds--, a soundtrack as generic as it is blaring and it didn't suit the mood of the film half the time, and a terrible script. It's odd that it was clearly meant as a franchise starter while trying to cram so much into one film. It was a mess from top to bottom. As masterofallgoons mentioned, it blows my mind that these clowns can't figure out what to do with their properties. I saw both attempts to kickstart the Dark Universe in theaters, and both films are as awful as their reputations suggest. Ahhhh.
I see.
You're against CGI
Interesting.....
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Post by tristramshandy on Oct 5, 2020 14:59:08 GMT
Watched the first episode of Season 4 of Fargo. Jesse Buckley just came into my consciousness a month ago, but now she's popping up in a lot that I'm watching.
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Post by masterofallgoons on Oct 5, 2020 15:01:07 GMT
Blasphemy!
Take a look at this take on Frankenstein's Monster -
One of the better versions of the monster, no?
Design-wise, meh. Character-wise, he was the best part of the film. Maybe a toss up between him and sarcastic Igor. The rest of the movie is trash. So much garbage CGI-- including the backgrounds--, a soundtrack as generic as it is blaring and it didn't suit the mood of the film half the time, and a terrible script. It's odd that it was clearly meant as a franchise starter while trying to cram so much into one film. It was a mess from top to bottom. As masterofallgoons mentioned, it blows my mind that these clowns can't figure out what to do with their properties. I saw both attempts to kickstart the Dark Universe in theaters, and both films are as awful as their reputations suggest. I don't think they have any plans to connect these movies anymore, but The Invisible Man was surprisingly good. And Karyn Kusama, who made a great thriller/horror movie from a few years back called The Invitation (highly recommended if you haven't seen it) is working on a new Dracula adaptation which she describes as a faithful adaptation of the book (whereas The Invisible Man just took the title and created a new story). Penny Dreadful was a great series for 2 seasons, and had it been allowed to continue it could have been the perfect version of what this Universal Monsters Universe should have been.
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Post by masterofallgoons on Oct 5, 2020 15:01:45 GMT
Design-wise, meh. Character-wise, he was the best part of the film. Maybe a toss up between him and sarcastic Igor. The rest of the movie is trash. So much garbage CGI-- including the backgrounds--, a soundtrack as generic as it is blaring and it didn't suit the mood of the film half the time, and a terrible script. It's odd that it was clearly meant as a franchise starter while trying to cram so much into one film. It was a mess from top to bottom. As masterofallgoons mentioned, it blows my mind that these clowns can't figure out what to do with their properties. I saw both attempts to kickstart the Dark Universe in theaters, and both films are as awful as their reputations suggest. Ahhhh.
I see.
You're against CGI
Interesting.....
Or maybe he's just against bad CGI...
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Post by screamingtreefrogs on Oct 5, 2020 15:03:32 GMT
Design-wise, meh. Character-wise, he was the best part of the film. Maybe a toss up between him and sarcastic Igor. The rest of the movie is trash. So much garbage CGI-- including the backgrounds--, a soundtrack as generic as it is blaring and it didn't suit the mood of the film half the time, and a terrible script. It's odd that it was clearly meant as a franchise starter while trying to cram so much into one film. It was a mess from top to bottom. As masterofallgoons mentioned, it blows my mind that these clowns can't figure out what to do with their properties. I saw both attempts to kickstart the Dark Universe in theaters, and both films are as awful as their reputations suggest. I don't think they have any plans to connect these movies anymore, but The Invisible Man was surprisingly good. And Karyn Kusama, who made a great thriller/horror movie from a few years back called The Invitation (highly recommended if you haven't seen it) is working on a new Dracula adaptation which she describes as a faithful adaptation of the book (whereas The Invisible Man just took the title and created a new story). Penny Dreadful was a great series for 2 seasons, and had it been allowed to continue it could have been the perfect version of what this Universal Monsters Universe should have been. Penny Dreadful was great (kind of fell off Season 3)
Did you get to watch the new spin on Penny Dreadful with the Mexican cop?
I gave it like 2 episodes and gave up on it. Seemed like it had an interesting premise - good vs. bad angels (I love the Prophecy movies with Christopher Walken) - I just couldn't get into it - I missed all the monsters from the previous Penny Dreadful
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Post by klawrencio79 on Oct 5, 2020 15:16:22 GMT
Design-wise, meh. Character-wise, he was the best part of the film. Maybe a toss up between him and sarcastic Igor. The rest of the movie is trash. So much garbage CGI-- including the backgrounds--, a soundtrack as generic as it is blaring and it didn't suit the mood of the film half the time, and a terrible script. It's odd that it was clearly meant as a franchise starter while trying to cram so much into one film. It was a mess from top to bottom. As masterofallgoons mentioned, it blows my mind that these clowns can't figure out what to do with their properties. I saw both attempts to kickstart the Dark Universe in theaters, and both films are as awful as their reputations suggest. I don't think they have any plans to connect these movies anymore, but The Invisible Man was surprisingly good. And Karyn Kusama, who made a great thriller/horror movie from a few years back called The Invitation (highly recommended if you haven't seen it) is working on a new Dracula adaptation which she describes as a faithful adaptation of the book (whereas The Invisible Man just took the title and created a new story). Penny Dreadful was a great series for 2 seasons, and had it been allowed to continue it could have been the perfect version of what this Universal Monsters Universe should have been. Hell yeah on The Invitation. What a disturbing, under-your-skin type thriller. Give me movies like that 10 times out of 10.
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Post by masterofallgoons on Oct 5, 2020 15:26:22 GMT
I don't think they have any plans to connect these movies anymore, but The Invisible Man was surprisingly good. And Karyn Kusama, who made a great thriller/horror movie from a few years back called The Invitation (highly recommended if you haven't seen it) is working on a new Dracula adaptation which she describes as a faithful adaptation of the book (whereas The Invisible Man just took the title and created a new story). Penny Dreadful was a great series for 2 seasons, and had it been allowed to continue it could have been the perfect version of what this Universal Monsters Universe should have been. Penny Dreadful was great (kind of fell off Season 3)
Did you get to watch the new spin on Penny Dreadful with the Mexican cop?
I gave it like 2 episodes and gave up on it. Seemed like it had an interesting premise - good vs. bad angels (I love the Prophecy movies with Christopher Walken) - I just couldn't get into it - I missed all the monsters from the previous Penny Dreadful
Yeah, as much as they denied it they clearly were told it would be cancelled in the middle of season 3 and they tried to hurry to wrap things up in a totally unsatisfying way. They were clearly working like a 5 or 6 season arc and they weren't allowed to fulfill it. They tried to say that was always the plan, but they introduced Dr. Henry Jekyll in season 3 and had him working on a serum, but then never paid it off. They obviously were forced to leave a lot threads just hanging. I never saw the new version. I remember it being advertised and I meant to get around to it, but then I just completely forgot at some point... and I never heard anybody talk about in the positive or negative. I wonder how the ratings were. Seems like it didn't draw much attention.
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Oct 5, 2020 15:27:55 GMT
Design-wise, meh. Character-wise, he was the best part of the film. Maybe a toss up between him and sarcastic Igor. The rest of the movie is trash. So much garbage CGI-- including the backgrounds--, a soundtrack as generic as it is blaring and it didn't suit the mood of the film half the time, and a terrible script. It's odd that it was clearly meant as a franchise starter while trying to cram so much into one film. It was a mess from top to bottom. As masterofallgoons mentioned, it blows my mind that these clowns can't figure out what to do with their properties. I saw both attempts to kickstart the Dark Universe in theaters, and both films are as awful as their reputations suggest. I don't think they have any plans to connect these movies anymore, but The Invisible Man was surprisingly good. And Karyn Kusama, who made a great thriller/horror movie from a few years back called The Invitation (highly recommended if you haven't seen it) is working on a new Dracula adaptation which she describes as a faithful adaptation of the book (whereas The Invisible Man just took the title and created a new story). Penny Dreadful was a great series for 2 seasons, and had it been allowed to continue it could have been the perfect version of what this Universal Monsters Universe should have been. Invisible Man was a solid flick, though yeah I don't see them connecting it with traditional movie monsters. (I'd be intrigued, though. Whatever they come up with can't be worse than Dracula Untold or The Mummy.) We've talked about it before, but I really dug Penny Dreadful as well. Wish they'd take the series or at least the concept to another network. That spinoff series was absolutely unwatchable. I couldn't get through five minutes of it.
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