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The Films You Watched Thread VI: The Undiscovered Movie

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    The Films You Watched Thread VI: The Undiscovered Movie

    Time for the next thread to begin and having not updated since before the Christmas window we're going in with a very large update to start us off. Are we sitting comfortably? Good, then I'll begin.

    Once Upon a Time...

    Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse
    Watching this for the second time and on the smaller screen did this a lot of favours. It really lowered the visual styles scale which make it easier to focus on the action but that being said we had to stop twice because the bold styling gave my missus a migraine each time we tried to continue. That being said she enjoyed it, just wishing they'd gone for an easier on the eye visual style, whilst I got a lot more out of it this time around and it really feels like this film shows how much lower the bar has been for the MCU Spider-Man films which this easily outclasses narratively, in direction and in action.

    Planes, Trains and Automobiles
    It remains just as strong a film now as it has been for years. Martin and Candy are just the perfect casting choices and it holds you even when Candy exits the frame at times with the ending still paying off even though you know what's coming.

    Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

    I mean, it's Raiders, it's still for me the second best entry which I know is sacrilege to some but it does have some dry moments due to the more serious tone than the films that follow it but it's small fries comparison when the film is so damned good and so far beyond the curve of its contemporaries back in its day or even today.

    Splash
    I haven't seen this for many years but I have seen it many times as a kid, seeing it now though the quirkiness isn't as strong as it once felt but the appreciation of the work Hannah does underwater is much higher. Pre-CG days it's not hard to imagine how hard this film must have been for her to film and yet it's stronger than any modern day equivalent would put out. The film (though released earlier) is incredibly close to Little Mermaid in many places too whilst Candy is somewhat wasted.

    Footloose
    I've never seen this despite how well known it is and it's fascinating to actually see Bacon in a film like this. It's effectively an earlier form of Dirty Dancing I guess but man, it's a rough film that isn't very enjoyable beyond the unintentionally amusing warehouse montage dance.

    Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

    Still also a great film even if it's a dip to third best in the series. A lot less action which I always forget before viewing it again but being more comedic in tone it's light and breezy and Ford has absolutely nailed the role down by this point.

    Uncle Buck
    Another one which is just still good fun to experience because it's just Candy being Candy which is always entertaining enough in of itself. You take him out of the film and the whole thing would collapse in on itself in an instant.

    The Christmas Chronicles

    Still solid enough fun on rewatch, Russell is always solid.

    The Polar Express
    Still a weird film. The animation design is both lovely and ugly at the same time whilst the story is decent for literally half the film before the kids reach the North Pole and the film falls apart.

    Gremlins
    I remain far too informed by the sequel, forgetting again how many queues this takes from horror films so we quickly held it till the kids were in bed.

    Romancing the Stone
    I remember enjoying this as a kid but this time it felt really sluggish and slow. It's still weird to see Douglas in this kind of role and he's surprisingly decent at it but there's far too little going on for too long.

    The Christmas Chronicles Part II
    We entered keen to see what the sequel would offer but despite the Russell/Hawn combo it's massively weaker in every single way to the first film.

    Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Adventure
    Don't let the subtitle fool you, Xmas has little to do with this tale which is Netflix trying to capture some Greatest Showman magic in a bottle for itself and failing miserably. It looks cheap, doesn't really go anywhere for much of the runtime and ends low key with the songs just coming across as cheap forgettable knock offs.

    Tenet
    As previously discussed in the other thread, it's not complicated merely badly written with little and weak action. All of Nolan's worst excesses exposed.

    Soul
    Solid but overall middling effort.

    Die Hard 2: Die Harder

    Because it too is an Xmas film! Still sillier than the original but still a fun and solid follow up with some great moments.

    Wonder Woman 1984
    I've seen it twice now and to be honest I do have issues with it but the furore over it still seems hugely overblown and half the time woefully misinformed by viewers who failed miserably to pay attention. A certain amount of blame can be levied at the film for failing to hold attention spans but far too often, thanks to its digital release, I've read comments from people who comment on the whole film whilst also bragging of skipping entire sequences every 15 minutes or quitting 45 mins in yet somehow feel able to comment on the overall film. Likewise questioning moments that are clearly explained within the film or within its own canonical logic also. There are plot holes, there are issues as well but there's also a huge amount of nonsense spouted as well. WW84 is a very middling superhero film, one that's bizarrely not been tightened up in its 18 months on a shelf when the opportunity was there to as well but it has its moments too.

    #2
    From the last thread:
    Originally posted by QualityChimp View Post
    I love Pale Rider, Jazz.

    I watched Disney's The Black Hole (Via Disney+) for the first time in yeeeears and I still love it.
    A weird time where Star Wars' computer-aided camera control on miniature filming was taking over, but Disney's access to animation and matte painters was phenomenal.
    Amazing cast too - Dominic Santini, Norman Bates and Cornelius the chimp.
    That John Barry score is still epic.
    Didn't realise just how many times I'd watched it as a kid because I knew the music and a loooad of dialogue.
    Watched it with my son, which was nice.
    Loads of cool robots, but it gets pretty dark at times with some of the themes.

    He then started Tron, but we had to stop for tea.

    I also watched Die Hard in a couple of sittings, because I wanted to.
    I don't think I'll ever tire of this film, even as Willis just phones in his performances of late.

    Comment


      #3
      I've only seen Pale Rider once. It was decent. Wasn't Richard Kiel in it, too?

      Just thinking of DT's music recall thang, there's a bit in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE where Alex is getting humiliated on a stage and there's this medieval-type tune playing in the backdrop and it gives off this really taunting atmos.

      Yeah, that medieval choon. Etched into my brain permanently!

      Comment


        #4
        In an amendment for my comments on WW84:

        Case in point


        Wonder Woman 1984 has a simple plot, but there are many holes in Patty Jenkins' narrative as Diana tries to stop Max Lord.



        01 - She kind of does, but it's more through poor handling of the story. The context is established as to why she would overlook it early in the film but it's poorly framed.

        02 - It's never established Steve's host has one either

        03 - Wonder Woman never flew against Ares, she doesn't fly in the Superman sense in WW84 either

        04 - It's 1984, not 2014, there's no reason an abundance of impromptu camera equipment would be around to capture her or that the public would know of her via the actions in the film beyond the heresay established during the mall scene.

        05 - Steve wouldn't and there would be little to track down Diana either especially in the aftermath of the overall events

        06 - She only really noticeably shows heavy signs during the above battle. After this she picks it up so no issue there.

        07 - False, again nothing is shown to suggest WW has made that call and simply says 'I'm sorry' before electricuting her.

        08 - False again, he made one wish that was granted. Simply saying the words doesn't mean you get more than one and even if it did Max showed that once he had the powers of the stone he controlled them in full. The only person who explicitly gets two wishes is Barbara who's conversation carries out largely off screen, presumably she renounced her first wish allowing Max to grant her a replacement one to become Cheetah

        09 - Actually unknown. The last time we see Barbara is on a cliff top, Max is with his son a short time after the films climax, we are never shown if they are apprehended or not so it's an omission more than anything.

        There are other things being thrown around too.

        -That Justice League says Diana was out of action for 100 years. A niggle but Jenkins has never made any secret of the fact she couldn't give a toss what the rest of the DCU is made up of or says happened, she's only concerned with the canon of the WW films.

        -That she doesn't fly in Justice League, again not an issue, there's no scene where she'd need to.

        -That there's no way everyone would revoke their wish. They don't need to, only Max has to in order to revoke every single wish that has been granted since his which adds more weight to the possible Cheetah explanation.

        -That Diana wishes to have Steve back. It's a wistful wish made in passing so there's no issue at all in her character making it, she doesn't even know she's making a real wish when it happens.




        It goes on and on too. Again, not side stepping the actual issues the film has but the level of moronic dissecting the film is getting shows either the dangers of releasing these things by streaming or the extent to which people will now go to KO anything not MCU related.

        Comment


          #5
          I haven’t seen the film so I can’t comment on any of that but I can say that CBR seems to be awful and that there are always loads of plot hole articles that aren’t plot holes but are instead just parts where people weren’t paying attention or they want explanations on things that never required them as part of the story.

          I think I forgot to mention in that other thread that I rewatched Galaxy Quest over the holidays. It’s pretty much a perfect movie. So much fun and so much heart all in one. It’s brilliant.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Dogg Thang View Post
            I think I forgot to mention in that other thread that I rewatched Galaxy Quest over the holidays. It’s pretty much a perfect movie. So much fun and so much heart all in one. It’s brilliant.
            I watched Galaxy Quest over Christmas too! However, it was the first time of watching it!

            It's aged really well apart from some of the cast who are but children in it, but today are grandparents, and it makes you realise how old it is.

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              #7
              Did you love it?!

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Dogg Thang View Post
                Did you love it?!
                Of course I did!
                There were a few plot parallels with The Mandolorian that I started watching soon after though!

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                  #9
                  Behind Galaxy Quest

                  I found this fascinating.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by QualityChimp View Post
                    Of course I did!
                    There were a few plot parallels with The Mandolorian that I started watching soon after though!
                    "And THEN exploded???!!!"


                    Hilarious. Weaver's wardrobe rearrangements as the film progresses are also funny. The whole thing is so on-point.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Never seen it myself! Think I kinda lumped it in with MARS ATTACKS!, which I found to be a big, unfunny, chaotic mess. HATED it.

                      Whereas, everyone seems to like this so it seems I was wrong to dismiss it.

                      If it pops up on the Freeview listings, will someone give us a tap on the shoulder?

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by JazzFunk View Post
                        Never seen it myself! Think I kinda lumped it in with MARS ATTACKS!, which I found to be a big, unfunny, chaotic mess. HATED it.

                        Whereas, everyone seems to like this so it seems I was wrong to dismiss it.

                        If it pops up on the Freeview listings, will someone give us a tap on the shoulder?
                        I think it's on Prime?

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Don't have that at the mo, sadly. Have seen it turn up a few times on Freeview in the past so I'm sure it'll come round again, at some point.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            It's on Netflix.

                            I think it's strongest point is that it has a lot of heart.

                            Mars Attacks just seems to be goofy for the sake of being goofy and cramming in a load of cameos.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Yeah, I guess I can see how you might lump them into similar categories based on premise alone but I love Galaxy Quest and don't care for Mars Attacks one bit. To me, they are worlds apart in terms of what they are trying to be.

                              Comment

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