What Was The Last Movie/Anime You Watched?

[muntyjack]

Last time I watched "Female brain" on Netflix. The movie is awesome. But I had some problem with streaming 'cause of my vpn. So I found an alternative way to connect to Netflix with a private proxy, https://buy.fineproxy.org/eng/3000proxy.html . I have read many positive reviews and the price is pretty the same.

[kamikazekeeg]

Just a great time.  It's just as funny as the first movie, but now we got more characters to play around with.

[turf]

Just a great time.  It's just as funny as the first movie, but now we got more characters to play around with.

I'm glad to hear that.  I was afraid it wouldn't live up.  I can't wait to see it.

[kamikazekeeg]

Trying to collect and watch more of the other non-godzilla Kaiju films, there isn't really a whole lot of them that are easily available on DVD and Blu-Ray, but figured I'd grab King Kong Escapes.  The King Kong vs Godzilla movie really wasn't anything that great, it didn't help that the King Kong suit was kinda awful.  It's a tad better here, but still, the face still doesn't look great.

I was also hoping to like Mecha King Kong abit more, as I'm a huge fan of Mecha Godzilla, but the suit is pretty basic in comparison.  One thing I'll never not love is all the models and obvious little vehicles lol It's the charm of giant monster movies that never is lost for me.  The lack of Japanese audio as an option kinda sucks as I generally find it better than most of the English dubs, especially from this era.  There's also an issue with some blur that pops up at times.  Not sure if that is a problem with the original version or the the transfer perhaps.  I hate the sound "Element X" or whatever it is make, it's just a loud high pitched sound.  Why does an ore or whatever it is make a freaking noise anyways?  Super annoying and kinda ruins the movie when it is happening.

Not that I'm expecting high end quality from this era, it's a very silly time, but I still find some fun in it.  I also bought the old Gamera movies, so I'll be checking those out soon.

[kamikazekeeg]

Going for a big leap into kaiju cinema history after having mostly watched everything that is easily available related to Godzilla and a few others.  I got 8 Gamera films to watch, which is everything up to his 90's trilogy that was actually pretty good.

Starting it off with Gamera: The Giant Monster.  Going all the way back to 1965 with this one.  Still in black and white, even though Godzilla had already gone color by this point.  I assume it was cheaper for them to do, but black and white works well for this era I think, much like it did for the original two Godzilla films.  Gamera right off the bat has a pretty good design I think.  Yeah it's a giant turtle with tusks that flies around by spinning through the air on rocket feet, but it's a distinct look and the suit is pretty alright, though the flat front sorta make him a tad weird, even if it is how that is supposed to be for a giant turtle.

As for the movie itself, the plot is pretty rushed.  It's competent enough for an 80 minute movie, but it's really sloppy.  The scientists are practically in charge over the military, Japan is given American land based nukes out of nowhere to use with their very first encounter with Gamera, and Gamera's behavior is real weird.  I have no clue how they suddenly figure out the "Z Plan" to use on Gamera.  They made a rocket large enough to capture Gamera and send him to Mars.  And it just ends with no real fuss.  Gamera's behavior in particular is a sticking point as during the movie he saves a kid he nearly kills, but then goes on to straight up murder hundreds, if not thousands in Tokyo.  Crushing buildings purposefully and specifically wanting to burn people alive.

I think the movie is okay, watchable enough, but it's almost like they had two movie ideas in mind for him.  They wanted to make him classic Godzilla, mindlessly killing, but was also dabbling in that "Friend of the Children" idea that came to be in that time for monster movies like Godzilla.  Couldn't figure out which one it wanted to be or got rewritten to be a more straightforward monster flick. 

Feel like scoring these, so I'm gonna say...5/10.  It's not unwatchable, the general Kaiju stuff is well done, the movies plot is just kind of all over the place.

Gamera vs Barugon from 1966 is next, and it's in color which is nice.  Pretty goofy start with how he gets out of the capsule heading to Mars, but I guess they gotta find some way to bring him back lol The movie is definitely a step up from the last one.  Just a much more coherent plot overall with some real drama, though the forced romance between the lead and native woman is so bad and makes no sense. 

Barugon himself is okay, I guess meant to be a horned chameleon in general design, but I found his eyes abit dopey and his freeze breath that comes out of his extending, stiff, tongue, looks pretty dumb...THOUGH NOT AS DUMB AS HIS RAINBOW ATTACK! Boy, seeing that come out of his back and some how target with it is super dumb lol  I do like that they have him get pretty bloodied up though.  Gamera does defeat him and flies off, though there's no like "Oh shit, well he got Barugon, but he's still around and he's a mass murderer too!".  The movie just ends after he is done. 

Definitely a step up from the first movie.  I'd rate it a 7/10.  Some bits of sloppiness here and there, but just having a generally competent narrative helps a ton.

[muntyjack]

Book Thief
No game no life

[kamikazekeeg]

The next Gamera film, Gamora vs Gyaos, involves what I think is considered one of his more well known enemies, kinda like Godzilla's Rodan.  Itshows back up in the 90's reboot.  Can't say I particularly love his design here a ton, it's really angular  and the jaw is so thin, it just sorta seems more like a flap.

Story seems like abit of a step down from the last one, which had a good narrative with the jewel thieves and how Barugon came to be.  Also way too much to do with a kid, more so than the first movie.  I think they are trying to cement his "friend to children" idea here more after they kinda botched it with the first film.  Their plan to stop or stall Gyaos is pretty ridiculous even in the case of a lot of normal kaiju movies.  They gotta stop Gyaos long enough to keep him outside in the sun, so what do they use? A giant net? Maybe they capture him like they did Gamera in the first film?  Do they knock him out with gas or a sleep poison? Nope, just spin him like he's on the merry ground till he's dizzy and can't move! lol

While this does seem abit more family friendly than the last one, I do like that they aren't against showing blood, even if it is purple and green.  Helps sell the monsters abit more.

Overall I think this one is okay, probably a 6/10 as it's just a competent Kaiju film and didn't do a ton to stand out.

Gamera vs Viras is next and things got so much worse.  They are not only going full tilt into "Friend to Children" Gamera, but they are reusing footage from the past three movies, lots of it.  They are pulling an All Monsters Attack so damn hard, making this just the worst one yet, especially when the footage they reuse is from a black and white movie and they don't even try to hide it.  Like the first movie is filled with sloppy writing, but it was at least original for what it was.  This is just having no budget and it focuses entirely on two kids stuck on a ship.  The writing gets real dumb too in how the kids stop the aliens.  This is just bad.

Viras sucks as monster too.  The design is like a banana crossed with a squid.  It's absolutely terrible and the creature is actually one of the aliens, who grows by absorbing the other aliens.  It looks god dang terrible, especially on land, where you can tell it's just a guy standing in a bad suit.  It is kinda cool when Gamera gets completely skewered, but makes no sense that he isn't dead from it either, as it would be like if you got stabbed with a full size traffic cone and you just kept on moving.  They don't address that he got stabbed either.

This movie sucked.  So much of it was rehashed footage or being stuck on the lame alien ship with two kids.  3/10.  It's a functional movie, but its just not a good watch.  A better monster could've maybe saved it a tad, but definitely not Viras.

[kamikazekeeg]

Took me awhile to get to Batman Ninja as Amazon screwed up their digital release of the movie and the English dub was some busted audio version and I had to get a refund on it and in the end, I could only get a DVD at Redbox, which sucks, because the visuals sell this thing. 

This is a movie that epitomizes style over substance.  The story gets really dumb, especially in the final act.  It's just not good writing at all, but man the visuals in this are top quality. I could understand not liking the CG, it's an acquired taste as it's never as smooth as regular animation, but that art style is incredible.  Everyone has just a real cool or unique Japanese design to them and it's really fun.  On top of that, the action is really great.  No matter how dumb the story is, there's a lot of exciting action going on. 

So much of this makes no sense, but I still had a real fun time with it.

[kamikazekeeg]

This is actually the first time I've watched The Incredibles in a very long while, not sure when I last saw it.  Ever since it was released, I considered it my favorite Pixar film, even 14 years later.  They made good stuff, but I'd always fall back on Incredibles being at the top.  I just remember it looking great, the story was so well done, the characters are funny, it was a great super hero movie.  I'm seeing the sequel today, so figured I needed to check it out again, see what I felt about it this many years later...

Still holds up real well.  Visually a lot still looks pretty nice.  There's a few areas where it starts to look its age, with secondary characters, some of the city scenes feeling a tad barrenn, and a few other moments, but overall I was impressed how much a lot of the characters hold-up, primarily the main cast.  The art style really helps I feel.  Story is still great and you don't realize when you are younger, but the story is actually kinda dark.  Superheroes are killed off by Syndrome, kids are getting shot at by legit guns, Mr. Incredible ready to snap Mirage's neck...It all works really great.

Still my favorite Pixar film so far.  Haven't seen Coco, but pretty sure this will win out there.  Kinda hoping the sequel can be on Parr (eh?Eh?EH?!) or maybe even better than the first one, so we'll see.



And watched Coco, because I saw it was on Netflix.  It's a very sweet film, very colorful, even got me tearing up a little bit towards the end.  I wasn't expecting too much out of it, but I enjoyed it.

[kamikazekeeg]

I wasn't entirely sure about starting the sequel off literally right after the first movie from 14 years ago, but they did a great job with the film.  Looks great of course and it's just as fun as the first movie.  It's kinda like the reverse of the first movie, with Helen taking the lead and Bob watching the family, but they did a good bit to make the non-hero side more fun this time around.  Great to have a sequel to one of my favorite Pixar films still be just as good.

[bikingjahuty]

in light of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom coming out next week I decided to rewatch all four movies before seeing it. I've been in love with this franchise ever since I was a kid when it first came out. I saw it for the first time with my mom and a neighbor girl and while it did terrify me it also was the most amazing movie I'd ever seen at the time. I loved it so much that I decided for my 6th birthday party to go see it again with my friends and loved it yet again. In all I saw the original Jurassic Park seven times during its original theatrical run, and an eighth time several years ago when they brought it back to theaters briefly around 2012 or so. This series is up there with Star Wars, Alien, and some of my other most beloved movie franchises and I am very hyped for the newest entry.

So without further delay, Jurassic Park is still the best in the series in terms of story and plot. Its one of those amazing movies that still looks good over a quarter century later and I still find hugely entertaining despite seeing it countless times. There are some minor flaws that my more critical eye has spotted over time, but they do little to distract from what's a great film. Of course the Dinosaurs are the biggest stars of the show and the mix of practical effects and very well done CG has made it still very visually pleasing all these years later. I'd go as far as to say this is one of my favorite movies of all time given its timeless quality to me and many others. I'll be watching The Lost World tomorrow night which I know isn't as good, but we'll see if I still find it enjoyable and fun like I did when I was younger.

[kamikazekeeg]

Nice, I was thinking of doing the same as I'm gonna be watching Fallen Kingdom on Thursday and I haven't rewatched the movies in awhile.  I actually generally liked Jurassic World when it came out so it'll be interesting to see it all back to back.

[bikingjahuty]

Nice, I was thinking of doing the same as I'm gonna be watching Fallen Kingdom on Thursday and I haven't rewatched the movies in awhile.  I actually generally liked Jurassic World when it came out so it'll be interesting to see it all back to back.

Jurassic World gets a lot of hate, but I thought it was entertaining as hell. You do have to leave your brain at the door mostly, but then again its a disaster movie where dinosaurs escape and cause death, chaos and destruction. Not necessarily the definition of high brow entertainment.

[kypherion]

I saw Incredibles 2 today, so good.

[bikingjahuty]

Had a Jurassic Park double feature tonight and watched The Lost World and also Jurassic Park III as part of me rewatching all the Jurassic Park/World movies before I see Fallen Kingdom this Thursday.





The Lost World is probably the Jurassic Park movie I saw the longest ago, probably about 10-years ago if I had to venture a guess. I remember enjoying the movie when I last saw it, however the thing I remember bothering me the most was what the screenplay writers did to Ian Malcom's character, effectively neutering him of his quarks and odd charm in the first movie. Luckily I didn't feel this way upon rewatching The Lost World tonight, but actually felt his more reserved and less gregarious mannerisms made sense in the context of a guy who's reputation and character had been dragged through the mud for the last four years as Ingen and the media painted him as a lunatic who claimed he and the others were attacked by Dinosaurs on a secret island. Despite feeling differently about Dr. Malcom, there were several plot holes and inconsistencies throughout the movie that slightly bothered me, but nothing that really bothered me too much. The only thing that did bother me quite a bit this time around was Malcom's girlfriend Sarah, and how annoying, hypocritical and just plain stupid she is in this movie while sitting on her high horse throughout it. Regardless of all these changed observations and feelings towards this movie, I still enjoyed The Lost World about as much as I have for the past 15-years which is quite a bit. It is undeniable that the first Jurassic Park is better, but The Lost World is a great movie in its own right and mostly a worthy sequel to the first film.





Wow, where do I begin with Jurassic Park III?


I guess I'll start with what I liked about the movie, which isn't a whole lot. I liked the dinosaurs in the movie and thought the raptors looked the coolest they've looked in any Jurassic Park movie to date in this film. I also thought the inclusion of a real dinosaur that was the T-Rex's superior was a cool touch as well. Special effects are good overall and there are a few genuinely tense action scenes in this movie. For better or worse, this movie also heavily perpetuates the Jurassic Park theme that raptors are these insanely intelligent dinos capable of way more that anyone could ever imagine. This theme was carried over into  Jurassic World, but Jurassic Park 3 definitely crosses that line into nearly comical absurdity several times in regards to raptor intelligence.


Now for the bad, which is nearly everything else about this movie. The characters are all bad, except Dr. Grant, but on a few occasions they do sweep him up into the whole stupidity of the story and other characters. Speaking of the story and plot, it is pretty weak overall and is overall poorly written, inconsistent, and non-sensical during much of the running time. While watching I barely felt like I cared what would happen to the characters as they struggled to survive and get off the island. The directing in Jurassic Park 3 is also pretty bad, with several scenes not making any sense in the context of what we just saw or heard, and a few parts contributing little or nothing to the plot at all. I remember enjoying this movie when it first came out and even a time after that, but now rewatching it again, the cool dinosaurs can't even make me enjoy watching Jurassic Park 3. It isn't the worst movie, far from it, but it is definitely the worst Jurassic Park series film and one I am content with ignoring for another decade or so.


Tomorrow, or Tuesday, I plan on watching Jurassic World again, despite it being the Jurassic movie I saw the most recently before I began this rewatch goal.