What Was The Last Movie/Anime You Watched?

[kamikazekeeg]

Picked up the entire series of Dragon Ball GT for super cheap at Walmart, so I'm beginning my journey back into this show.  I haven't watched it since highschool, so it's been nearly 20 years.  I know the series was not well liked, despite having some things people did enjoy (Super Saiyan 4), but I'm curious how I view it now, especially after DB Super.  I'm honestly not a big fan of Dragon Ball Super, I think in general it's very underwhelming outside of a few memorable characters and moments, so there's always a chance I enjoy it more than I did Super, but we'll see.  Could end up being totally wrong about that lol

[bikingjahuty]

Picked up the entire series of Dragon Ball GT for super cheap at Walmart, so I'm beginning my journey back into this show.  I haven't watched it since highschool, so it's been nearly 20 years.  I know the series was not well liked, despite having some things people did enjoy (Super Saiyan 4), but I'm curious how I view it now, especially after DB Super.  I'm honestly not a big fan of Dragon Ball Super, I think in general it's very underwhelming outside of a few memorable characters and moments, so there's always a chance I enjoy it more than I did Super, but we'll see.  Could end up being totally wrong about that lol

When I first got into DBZ it's when Funomation started dubbing new episodes from the end of the Namic Saga and into the Frieza Saga, so years before we got GT in the states. I remember watching 30 second clips from GT online in super low quality on Winamp player (that should date it right there), and wanting nothing more than to watch this show. I almost spent all my money from an entire summer of mowing lawns on a $300 bootleg, fan subbed set of the entire GT series off ebay, but luckily I didn't do that. By the time GT did officially get released in the US my interest in anime and Dragon Ball in general had really diminished and I've only ever watched like two random episodes of it since. I'm like 20-episodes away from finishing DBZ for the first time ever, and as soon as I do I finally plan on watching DBGT to see if it's closer to my adolescent hype or the disappointment that I hear 90% of fans calling it.

[kamikazekeeg]

When I first got into DBZ it's when Funomation started dubbing new episodes from the end of the Namic Saga and into the Frieza Saga, so years before we got GT in the states. I remember watching 30 second clips from GT online in super low quality on Winamp player (that should date it right there), and wanting nothing more than to watch this show. I almost spent all my money from an entire summer of mowing lawns on a $300 bootleg, fan subbed set of the entire GT series off ebay, but luckily I didn't do that. By the time GT did officially get released in the US my interest in anime and Dragon Ball in general had really diminished and I've only ever watched like two random episodes of it since. I'm like 20-episodes away from finishing DBZ for the first time ever, and as soon as I do I finally plan on watching DBGT to see if it's closer to my adolescent hype or the disappointment that I hear 90% of fans calling it.

I'm pretty sure I watched a good bit of it as a teen, but I don't really remember why folks didn't like it.  I know it started out as more of them trying to recapture that original Dragon Ball feel, which I think is what fans weren't really wanting at the time, but I'd have to look into that.  I only watched a few episodes so far and I do like watching this purely for being 90's anime, it's definitely nostalgic in that way.  The OP and ED right now definitely sucks though lol One thing that is still consistent though in Z, GT, and Super, is that Goku is still a terrible parent and husband lol He abandons his family to train someone for years, never visiting them once, even though the douche can freaking teleport instantly anywhere at any time lol

[redblaze57]

From what I remember the first arc was actually rather good. Kind of a throwback to the original Dragonball (being more about the adventure than the fighting) i started watching during thr baby Vegeta (i think that's what he was referred to as) and that fight looking back on it dragged on. I remember what the final arc was about but other than that during the last arc I started losing intrest to the point I was only watching it because it was between either Megas XLR or Justice League Unlimited and Ruroni Kenshin. (Back on Toonami)

[bikingjahuty]

From what I remember the first arc was actually rather good. Kind of a throwback to the original Dragonball (being more about the adventure than the fighting) i started watching during thr baby Vegeta (i think that's what he was referred to as) and that fight looking back on it dragged on. I remember what the final arc was about but other than that during the last arc I started losing intrest to the point I was only watching it because it was between either Megas XLR or Justice League Unlimited and Ruroni Kenshin. (Back on Toonami)

By this time I had stopped watching Toonami. I loved Toonami from 1998 until probably early/mid 2001 or so.

[sworddude]

Picked up the entire series of Dragon Ball GT for super cheap at Walmart, so I'm beginning my journey back into this show.  I haven't watched it since highschool, so it's been nearly 20 years.  I know the series was not well liked, despite having some things people did enjoy (Super Saiyan 4), but I'm curious how I view it now, especially after DB Super.  I'm honestly not a big fan of Dragon Ball Super, I think in general it's very underwhelming outside of a few memorable characters and moments, so there's always a chance I enjoy it more than I did Super, but we'll see.  Could end up being totally wrong about that lol

I'm a big dragonball fan and watched all series but GT is by far the worst it's not even a 6 out of 10 while the others are all enjoyable to watch.


If I could give a comparison for dragonball GT it's the same as watching the bad boring filler of say naruto shippuden. the difference with dragonball GT however is that these boring episodes are 99% of the whole thing instead of 25% like with naruto. naruto to it's credit had filler episodes that where actually good 50% of the entire series was filler but 50% filler episodes was good filler.

from the characters to the story it's pretty bad I had a hard time watching it. in the beginning it's fresh but there is a reason why fans hated dragonball GT.

while dragonball super ain't the best imo far more enjoyable than GT not to far off from dragonball Z imo. while the story is lacking the action and lovable characters are still there not to mention more comedy like the original dragonball.

GT was trying to bring back the oldschool dragonball but failed pretty hard.
The comedy aspect is far worse than the original dragonball mainly thanks to some annoying main characters.

it's interesting to see the future of characters being old etc but i don't have to many postive things to say about GT aside from some small things.

if they went through with the GT style of dragonball the series would be dead today GT was boring. It had some interesting idea's but it didnt work out to well.

Would not recommend the series at all. don't expect the quality of the original kid goku dragonball you might be dissapointed.

also i would not say super sayian 4 was really that good moreso that it was less worse in a series that was pretty bad overall wich makes it stand out more than it actually should. It's like eating pizza withouth any toppings and that you have one slice with pepperoni wich should not be that spectacular on a normal pizza but is suprisingly tasty after all those slices withouth any toppings.

[Cartagia]

Just a quick catch up post:

Avengers: Endgame
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Booksmart
Kung Fu Hustle
Avengers: Endgame
Zootopia
Casino Royale
Knives Out
Oh, Hello on Broadway

[Cartagia]

Frozen 2 is fine.  It has a more cohesive story than the first, but it still feels like there’s a lot of plot points left on the cutting room floor.  The songs are also not nearly as memorable as the first.

[kamikazekeeg]

*No spoilers of course...

Just got back from Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker and I gotta say I liked it.  I was nervous as early impressions were bringing out stuff like "Worst Star Wars movie", but The Phantom Menace exists, so I didn't put much stock in that and for good reason as generally critics kinda suck, and I would say to ignore them here too.  I don't really know how this movie will play in the fanbase, like I think in general it's a better movie than Last Jedi, where I had notable issues with it, but I don't have the same here.  Really my only complaints, without spoilers, is that the pacing is rough at the start, it's so fast and so much, that the first act is just trying to setup so much.  That along with the story kinda stretching things to make stuff work may not feel the best, but there was never a point where I was like "This sucks, I'm bored, I wish this wasn't here."

Of course as The Last Jedi showed, views will vary wildly, so me liking it won't matter to others and I honestly don't know what folks will think about it.  Like I find it confusing that there was a push recently to make The Last Jedi seem like the best one and I absolutely can't get behind that, even if I don't completely hate the film lol  I don't know yet where I'll place Rise of Skywalker in the movies, I'll need time and another watch to figure that out.

[bikingjahuty]

So here we are, the final chapter is in the Disney Wars Trilogy; notice how I didn't say Skywalker Saga like the official promotional material and the media is calling it. But more on that in a little. I got to see this movie for free through a vendor that my company works with, and if it weren't for that I'd have gladly waited for this movie to come out on Redbox before it came out; I personally don't want to give Disney another cent until there is a massive overhaul in the way they treat Star Wars films and the property in general. The Mandalorian and Jedi Fallen Order are a huge step in the right direction, but I was almost certain this movie would be crappy given the movie is follows and that 4/5 of the Disney Star Wars movies are varying degrees of terrible. And you know what, I was right.


I will say right off the bat that this movie was a lot better than The Last Jedi and Solo. There was some moments that I genuinely liked and I can at least appreciate how they tried fixing issues that were created in The Last Jedi. I got a huge grin when Lando made his first appearance, I enjoyed Poe's character a lot more than I expected, Babu Frek was hilarious and adorable, and the scene where Leia died I nearly cried. Essentially most things I liked about this movie were references and characters from the original trilogy, but sadly almost everything else was typical Disney Star Wars, a total and complete mess.


I don't want to spoil anything so I am going to keep this mini-review somewhat vague, but Disney has broken this Universe so much that unless the future of Star Wars pretends that this Trilogy doesn't exist, it's going to be hard for me to be a Star Wars fan, at least of anything new. Any argument that Rey isn't the complete definition of a Mary Sue are completely invalidated in this movie; this movie takes place about a year after The Force Awakens, and while the movie tries to explain her God-level force abilities by showing a brief training sequence and revealing her ancestry, it completely ignores everything we know about how the force works in the previous films. Beyond Rey, this movie does little to nothing to make me care about any of the new characters (with the exception of Poe), and I found their presence in this movie to be boring and uninteresting for the most part.


The plot and story is the same level of sub-bar fan fiction writing that i've become used to from Disney Star Wars. Essentially Palpatine is alive and for reasons decides to advertise his existence to the galaxy and says he's looking for revenge. The movie then becomes Rey and pals trying to track him down, by tracking down a punch of artifacts that point to his location. There are a ton of plot conveniences, deus ex machina, unnecessary detours that mess with this films pacing, and so much plot crammed into 2-hours its almost like they were trying to fit two movies into one. The result is a frenetic local hoping mess that isn't helped by the editing, which at times almost instantly transitions from one planet to another without any scene explaining how they got there or then they left. Overall it's just a mess of a film with a bunch of action scenes mixed in, and for that it's somewhat entertaining, but it all comes across as shallow and mostly uninteresting.


My main issue with this film has to do with Palpatine coming back as well as Rey (yeah, I'm not done with Rey yet). Palpatine getting killed by Vader at the end of Return of the Jedi was the end of his story arch, his redemption; the man that turned Anakin to the dark side, and whom helped rule over the galaxy with him was destroyed as Vader chose his son's life rather than his master. This movie not only destroys Anakin's story arch and redemption by bringing Palpatine back, which the don't explain btw, but also destroys Palpatine as well. Palpatine is mostly a corpse on life support for most of the film, and for the finale he looks more like the Palpatine we knew, but his demise is absolutely insulting for the greatest villain in the entire saga. That brings me to Rey. Rey is a big reason why not only this movie sucks, but also why the entire Sequel Trilogy is terrible. Her character is a complete Mary Sue that is automatically good at everything, she does not go through any conflict or adversity (this movie tries to show she does, but it is too little to late), and in the end they made the entire saga about her. Again, I'm not going to go into spoilers, but the ending of this movie should piss you off if you are a fan of the prequels and original trilogy, as it essentially makes the entire "Skywalker Saga" about her and for her despite her not even being a fraction as interesting as any of the original trilogy characters and most of the prequel characters. 


This brings me to my final grievance with this movie, it's insistence that it's the end of the Skywalker Saga. The Skywalker Saga was episodes 1 through 6, and it is about Anakin Skywalker's rise to power, his fall, and his redemption. It ended at the end of Return of the Jedi, but as a result of Disney having no cohesive plan for the sequel trilogy, Rian Johnson derailing it with his movie, and Abrams doing a half assed job at fixing it, we essentially have a movie that is trying to tell is this is the REAL end to the Skywalker Saga, which it isn't. I am going to make a seperate post about my experience and feelings about the Disney Sequel Trilogy as a whole, but these movies are terrible, not fit to even be mentioned in the same breath as the first six movies before it. The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker will be referred to me as the Disney Wars Trilogy, because they barely qualify on so many levels as being Star Wars films.


All and all, I liked The Rise of Skywalker more than The Last Jedi, quite a bit actually, but that still doesn't change the fact that it's a bad movie. The bad writing, the bloated plot, the mostly uninteresting new characters, the ruining of old characters, and its insistence on continuing to break the rules within the Star Wars universe in order to lazily elevate certain characters make this a bad movie in the end that borders passable by its special effects, inclusion of some OT characters, and a few entertaining moments. I see this movie as the end of a trilogy I now wish didn't exists, and Disney probably doesn't either at this point since it's responsible for the sad state that Star Wars is in currently. I am absolutely hoping that there is a massive change in management at Lucasfilm after this movie, and that there might still be hope in the future of Star Wars.


Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - (4/10)

[bikingjahuty]

With the Disney Sequel Trilogy wrapped up I wanted to give my final thoughts and impressions on it as whole. It has been an interesting and mostly depressing emotional rollercoaster with these movies, as well as things in general since Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012. Before I get into the sequel trilogy, I do want to say that I don't hate everything that has come out since Disney bought Star Wars. I LOVED, like really, really loved Jedi Fallen Order. Even when compared to most things I've played or read before Disney's acquisition, this game is better than most. It's actually the best Star Wars game I've ever played and one of the best video games I've ever played. I also thought Rogue One was a pretty good movie; it seems to grow on me with time, and while I do prefer the Dark Forces games that explain the same plot in a different way, it's still a cool story. And finally, The Mandalorian has been mostly a really good show, and gives me hope for the future of Star Wars. With all that out of the way, here is my take on the Disney Star Wars Sequel Trilogy.


I was genuinely really, really, REALLY excited about The Force Awakens from the very first teaser trailer. Each time a new trailer came out I went wild with excitement and rewatched those trailers over and over again. And then finally when the movie came out, I actually loved it! I loved it so much I think I saw The Force Awakens 5 times while it was in the theater. It wasn't a perfect movie, it was pretty derivative of A New Hope, and there were a lot of unanswered questions, but I had faith that this was only the beginning of a well thought out, cohesive story that would likely get better and better with each movie. I bought merchandise for it, I praised it wildly in my personal life, and I was beyond optimistic about the future of Star Wars. One more thing I wanted to mention is the character Rey, which  I absolutely adored after seeing TFA. She was unusually gifted for not knowing what the force was at the beginning of the film, but I had faith that her power, her origin, and everything else about her would be explained and make sense in the future films. Unfortunately I'd be very wrong about this and so much else.


I remember going to a local sports bar that was playing the Monday Night Football game in order to watch the first trailer for The Last Jedi since I didn't have regular TV. I sat through an entire football game, a sport I don't even like, to see the trailer and I was completely blown away after seeing it! I counted down the days until the movie came out as I couldn't wait to see the continuation of this story, as well as how various questions played out from TFA, and also I was so hyped to see Luke back since he was barely in the last movie. What I ended up getting was the worst, most demoralizing film I've ever seen.


I saw The Last Jedi opening night, and to say I felt emotionally conflicted during the movie was an understatement. Nearly every plot thread I cared about was snuffed out for the what I'd later learn was "subverted expectations." The tone of the movie didn't feel like Star Wars at all, and I saw the characters I'd loved and watched since I was a kid act in ways that were completely different then when I'd last seen them. I left the theater not knowing what to think or feel; I felt lost, confused, and disenchanted by the whole thing. I simmered on it for a few days, and each passing day I grew angrier and angrier at what I just saw, until I realized I just saw probably the worst excuse for a Star Wars movie that could have ever been made. The movie not only destroyed characters I'd loved and cared about since I first saw the original trilogy back in the early 90s, but it broke the Star Wars Universe as well. It also broke the previous movie and everything that made it intriguing, fun, and promising. I've always thought of The Last Jedi as a massive bomb that went off and the closer a movie a movie was it to canonically, the more in was damaged by this movie.


What followed was the first time I hated something having to do with Star Wars, and it even made me dislike other parts of Star Wars that i once loved. At the very least it ruined TFA since I knew what all those things I loved or had hopes for were extinguished in the next film, and at the most it made the original trilogy almost unwatchable since I knew how Luke, Leia, and Han would all be ruined eventually. I had to pretend the Disney's canon did not exist in order to enjoy the rest of Star Wars and decided that I would no longer care or watch anything post Disney acquisition beyond a morbid curiosity. Despite all this I was legitimately sad I might not be able to enjoy anything new having to do with Star Wars, but I still kept a glimmer of hope that maybe things would change.


Unfortunately the follow up to TLJ, Solo: A Star Wars Story was terrible as well, but for reasons more comical and lighthearted then the almost malicious intent present within The Last Jedi. But still, it was validation that Star Wars might be forever ruined. By the time the first news about Episode IX started to appear I was beyond having any hope of it being able to redeem the trilogy. And then, a few months ago, my hope was reignited, not by The Rise of Skywalker, but rather because of a video game and a TV show. By the time the first trailer for Rise of Skywalker came out, I was curious about it, but was all but certain it was going to be crap. However, a lot of the anger and depression I felt over what happened following The Last Jedi had subsided, and now that I had hope in other mediums for the franchise, I was willing to go into The Rise of Skywalker with an even head and at least give it a shot as long as it didn't require I spend money on seeing it.


Luckily I got free tickets through work and I got to see how this complete mess of a trilogy wrapped up. After watching The Rise of Skywalker I was vindicated in seeing that yes, it was a bad, mess of a movie, however one that made an effort to be better than the last film in the trilogy. Despite all this, the movie refused to change course on a lot of the bullshit that had plagued the franchise since The Force Awakens. There were several parts throughout that I did enjoy though, and at the end of it I wasn't as angry as I was relieved that the "Skywalker Saga" was finally over and a chance to leave it behind was finally here.


At the moment I am probably the most optimistic about Star Wars I've been since before The Force Awakens came out. I feel like the future of Star Wars is the type of story telling and care present in The Mandalorian and also Jedi Fallen Order. I say this because I'm not the only one that felt like Disney nearly killed Star Wars with The Last Jedi, and the lack of course correction within the films since has been a reflection of the mismanagement of the franchise by Kathleen Kennedy and the old guard at Lucasfilm. Star Wars is starting to gain a foothold again, no thanks to The Rise of Skywalker, but because of The Mandalorian and Jedi Fallen Order, especially the former. I dare say, I hope The Rise of Skywalker flops since it will increase the likelihood that Kathleen Kennedy's version of Star Wars becomes a bad memory, and the healing can finally begin.


But anyhow, now that I've seen all three Sequel Trilogy movies I no longer include them with the original six that came before it. The Skywalker Saga is episode 1 through 6 as they outline the Rise, Fall, and Redemption of Anakin Skywalker; it is his story. Trying to shoehorn episode 7, 8, and 9 into that equation while completely ignoring Anakin for the most part, then trying to make the entire saga, not just the sequel trilogy about Rey is just injury to insult. No, the Disney sequel trilogy is  not the conclusion to the Skywalker Saga, that happened in Return of the Jedi. The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker aren't even part of the same Star Wars universe given how blatantly they disregard the characters, rules, and lore of the movies they're supposedly based on. No, the sequel trilogy is the Disney Wars Trilogy; it isn't a sequel to those six great movies from the PT and OT, and in essence doesn't even feel like Star Wars. It is fan fiction given hundreds of millions of dollars since that is exactly how it plays out. I sincerely hope that the next Star Wars movie from Disney is actually a Star Wars movie, and not some unironic parody pretending to be part of the same universe and franchise.


Here are my scores for the sequel trilogy movies


The Force Awakens - 5/10
The Last Jedi - 1/10
The Rise of Skywalker - 4/10

[bikingjahuty]

It's been a goal of mine for the better part of a decade to watch A Christmas Story during the holidays. Lying in bed for most of the day sick with a bad cold, I thought what better time to watch it, especially with XMAS less than a week away. Like many people, I've pretty much only heard positive things about this movie and its reputation of being a cult hit amongst Christmas movies. It is also considered one of the best Christmas movies of all time by certain sources. Combine that with the fact this is an 80s Christmas movie and I thought for sure this would become a regular XMAS film for me each December. Disappointingly, I was wrong about that.

This movie oozes so heavily in boomerism that you'd be forgiven for thinking this was a much older film than it actually is. It takes place in the 50s/early 60s and it just has this very old timey feel, like your uncle telling you about Christmas when he was a kid 50-years ago. Just like those stories from your uncle, the movie was pretty boring and three quarters of it didn't even have to do with Christmas, but the main character's life leading up to it. I feel like this is definitely a movie that either old people or people who grew up with it in the 80s, maybe the 90s, would enjoy, but someone who saw it much later than that would have a hard time enjoying this film.

I didn't completely hate this movie, however. The film has an incredibly Christmasy look and feel that really gets you in the holiday mood. Also, the main characters goal of doing everything he can to get his BBgun for Christmas was very, very relatable for any kid during Christmas time wanting a certain gift or gifts. I also found a few parts genuinely funny and entertaining, but I can count these examples on one hand.


It's just too bad the film felt so outdated and boring that is actually took me out of these things for the majority of the movie. I can appreciate how a lot of people love this film, but for me it really fell flat and is something I can't see myself ever wanting to watch again. I guess at least  I can say i've seen it now.

[Cartagia]

The Rise of Skywalker was fine.  I was entertained during my time in the theater, but it’s a movie that starts to unravel the moment you start to scrutinize it, and what’s more, it unravels things across the entire ‘Saga’.  All told I’d say the Disney films are all clumped pretty closely together for me - that clump is just well below the OT while also being well above the PT.

And I’m starting to think the sequel trilogy isn’t going to have anything to do with Trade Negotiations.

[kamikazekeeg]

Saved Klaus for the holidays and it turned out to be pretty great.  Fantastic animation and its genuinely funny.  It gives off a pretty heavy Emperor's New Groove vibe to me and it the general story stuff feels like a combination of multiple story situations, like it's Emperor's New Groove, mixed with that old "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" stop motion movie, and some rather regular movie tropes, but it might be one of the better Christmas movies I've seen in recent years.

[Cartagia]

Anna and the Apocalypse.  Fun little film.  Not perfect, but did what it set out to do pretty well.

Watched Quantum of Solace for the first time since theaters.  It’s ok I guess?  Definitely the weakest of the Craig films, though.