How did you like that movie / TV show / book?

Nice collection Nic.
 
We watched Predators last night ... well 3/4 of it before giving up! Absolute rubbish.

A group of elite warriors parachute into an unfamiliar jungle and are hunted by members of a merciless alien race.
I guess like a bunch of other 80's & 90's films of that type, the first film was enough fun (almost a self-parody, really) to make it a pretty good watch, but there wasn't much left to build upon in future films.

"Alien" and "Terminator" were a couple of the rarish exceptions, I think. The sequels were just as good, and in both cases, I personally would have been better off just leaving well enough alone instead of hoping for lightning to keep striking in the same spot.

Maybe I'm not being completely fair to Ripley, though. She had a pretty crazy, wrenching, time-spanning arc, after all. Shades of Forever War and stuff like that.

@LeeVanCleef!
 
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Now for a real top classic australian movie with some of our greatest actors ever a great escape over 50 years in the making...


Solid nine for me at least nine for laughs and tears..stupid ratings perhaps a bit long though lifes like that.
 
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My true confession is that I only really liked one of the Alien movies, and that's the second one. I dug the first one when it came out, watched it a couple of times, but nowhere near as many times as I've seen Aliens. Everything that followed Aliens I've seen one time each, which is too many for some of those. The last of those "prequel" movies, Alien Covenant, I think?... was so bad I stopped watching halfway through.
I'd say the same about the Terminator movies. I liked the first one well enough, really liked the second one... and then... Jesus what was Terminator 3? I have no memory of it at all. It's not the one with Emilia Clarke... Daenerys Targaryen, Queen of the Andals, Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains. That was Terminator: Genisys and she hated it. And it's not the one where Christian Bale screamed at that one poor bastard... Wow. I haven't listened to that Christian Bale rant in a while. He really did a "Tommy from Goodfellas" thing on that poor bastard.
 
"Aliens" really was a masterpiece of its art. For some reason something's always kept me on the fence in terms of James Cameron, but (for example) re-reading the description of Avatar, it does look like a great premise, and worth a watch. I don't think anything's ever going to be bring me to watch "Titanic" though, sorry.

Wow... that was a good little rant, huh? Yet Bale seems to be widely-respected by his peers, and that rant almost an (antihero?) example of how seriously he respects his craft. Plus, he'd been hanging out the night before with Russell Crowe, I suspect.

Hmm. Daenerys Tardigrade... Daenerys Tardigrade... oh, right!

daenerys.jpgdaenerys tardigrade.jpg
 
When Avatar was released, I bought the BluRay disc as it sounded fantastic ... sadly, for me, it didn't reach the dizzy heights I'd expected. A re-watch also didn't 'grab me' either. So I decided to leave it a few years and try again ... nope, that didn't work either.

Incredible scenes, colours, concept but it failed for me. Oh, and way too long ... could have cut an hour and been much better. But it's all rather subjective. Others feel that it could have been even longer ... heaven forbid!
 
You had to see Avatar in 3D at an IMAX theater to enjoy it. It overwhelms you with the visuals which helps to overcome the somewhat weak story. ...But then I liked Disney's John Carter which flopped at the box office.
 
...But then I liked Disney's John Carter which flopped at the box office.
I really loved that pulp series, and was disappointed to hear the movie sounded so mediocre.

John Carter seems like a solid choice for a movie franchise, except maybe with the rise of blockbusters, it really isn't. The audience's appetite for spectacle and movie magic are going to necessarily lock it in to a high price range, and as some thoroughly antiquated sc-fi, it's hard to see a studio recouping those costs very easily.

There's also the problem that audiences have been increasingly conditioned to super-high production values, whereas a lot of what made the book series so great is that it relied on rough imagination and a sort of basic amusement over the clash of chivalrous values versus crudeness and callousness. I don't think the Barsoom series fits American values any more, so to speak.

A cable mini-series would have been more practical, I think. It could serve as a lower-cost test run, and if it worked out, then you have almost a dozen books of material to choose from if you want to keep going.
 
I read ERB's book A Princess of Mars. I thought the movie was reasonably close to the book. It might be why I liked the movie. ...But then I am definitely in a minority.
 
Ah Avatar lot of hype about that movie, that said I found it rather good about a 7.5 sure not the greatest though better then half of the Star Wars episodes.

That said for sfx I rate the Aquaman movie as the best I have experienced in resent times and the storyline almost as good an eight for me.

 
Star Wars... now there's a twisty tale of movie-making that's had my cheering and jeering at points. Also had me kind of revising my mind over the years as I've observed and learned.

For example, I was pretty dang excited by the potential of the new Star Wars movies. I figured they'd be a significant improvement on the prequel trilogy. I figured Disney had the potential to take all the best of Lucas' ideas and remove stuff that was downright ridiculous or annoying, like JarJar, or too many bland battle scenes, or poor casting choices such as the Anakin actors.

My thinking was that the new movies didn't have to approach the originals to be good. They could simply be authentic and well-done, and that could be enough. But then they just tossed all of Lucas' notes for the 7 - 9 films and made up all new stuff. At least... that's my understanding of how it worked, anyway.

It's not just that Snoke came off as such a contrived character, or that the new movies were clearly formulaic (I think six of the nine movies ended by the heroes blowing up a huge base), or that Palpatine regenerating himself was such a Marvel / DC move. It was also that the main characters and chemistry just never came close to the original trilogy, despite their best ape-like intentions.

This particular article was a big eye-opener for me in that last regard:
 
I've watched "The 5th Element" movie recently. I loved it many years ago and I can't say anything but buy the 4k hdr version.

I still love everything about it: The soundtrack (especially the techno-opera), the wardrobe, the jokes, the cast (was perfect for the movie) and even the shot the the cat's face watching the ads on TV :D

It's a great sci-fi and it never looked or sounded better.

Regarding SW's.. I have them all... I still default to the 1st trilogy and didn't even see the last 4 (maybe 5).

But hell, even my dvd versions are still remasters of remaster of remixes of limited editions of anniversary editions of whatever terms they come up with to sell you one more copy.

I have read about it a couple of years ago that there's an independent group buying original film tapes (and from different regions because nearly all are in bad state in one way or another) to try and remake the ORIGINAL theater releases but in 4k. Now THAT I want to see because it's probably the only version I haven't seen.
 
I don't think anything's ever going to be bring me to watch "Titanic" though, sorry.

What? You've never seen Titanic? Never, ever, ever? Look, you've gotta see it just for the boat-sinking. I know you dig that briney-grave shipwreck stuff as much as I do... and it's an extremely realistic look at how that ship went down. I probably saw it three times at the theatre before I started thinking "Hey... the story built around this cool ship-sinking is kinda trite!" That's the problem with Avatar, as well. Yes, I get the tired symbolism of how much humans love their Manifest Destiny to wipe out primitive societies. Avatar is nothing but Return of the Jedi with hotter Ewoks. It sure is pretty to look at, but that's about all it's worth in the long run.
I'd give Aquaman a 5... at best. It loses points on Patrick Wilson alone. Every time I see his face pop up on a screen, I want to punch him. And then there's the baggage that Amber Heard brings. All in all, DC hasn't squeezed out a good superhero movie since the last Bale Batman. And even it wasn't that great.
 
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The one thing that stands out in my mind about Marcia Lucas was her appearance in Peter Biskind's definitive book on '70s cinema Easy Riders and Raging Bulls, when she said that Francis Ford Coppola was "a pussy hound." HA! That's a phrase that's just not used enough anymore! But, yeah... a really good editor. American Graffiti is one of my all-time favorites.
This is the 40th anniversary of the last good Star Wars movie, what I'd say is the best Star Wars movie, Empire Strikes Back. Everything that came after it was a varying degree of a garbage fire.
I can't say I'm that slavishly devoted to the "original" Star Wars films. At the end of the day, the movies belong to the guy who made them and if he wants to diddle with them and add stuff, more power to him. The changes, especially in the first film, were enhancements Lucas said he would have made to begin with if he had the budget or the technology. What disappointed me was that no amount of current technology could save Return of the Jedi. Like the part when Luke was fighting the rancor and the blue-screening is so painfully obvious. There's a lot of cheesy blue-screen shots in that film and some patented atrocious Lucas dialogue. What a disappointment.
 
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I've watched the Youtube compilations of the changes Lucas made to eps 4-6, and nothing stood out too much to me. Adding the reconditioned scene of Han Solo stepping on Jabba's tail was cute. The added ships in the rebel armada made sense, as they looked borderline pitifully small in some original shots.

For most people, the one certain area where George badly screwed the pooch was in changing it to have Greedo shoot first in the cantina. Having Han shoot first originally was such a cool, golden age Wild West film move.

Actually there's some pretty funny deleted scenes up there, too. Any fan will want to check them out for the various movies. Empire's is pretty good just for having a wampa break in to the rebel base and grab a hapless stormtrooper. :)


The one thing that stands out in my mind about Marcia Lucas was her appearance in Peter Biskind's definitive book on '70s cinema Easy Riders and Raging Bulls, when she said that Francis Ford Coppola was "a pussy hound." HA! That's a phrase that's just not used enough anymore! But, yeah... a really good editor. American Graffiti is one of my all-time favorites.
I recall reading that Biskind book on a road trip with friends around 20 years ago. That's the kind of thing that helped get me interested in thinking of movies and watching 'making of' / fX shows more than watching the actual movies themselves so much. (other than Starship Troopers, of course)

But yeah, 'Graffiti' and Star Wars ep4 are such masterpieces (personally ep5 doesn't hold up quite as well as a discrete movie for me), and *The Battle for Endor* was such an awkward film in so many ways, that it really hammered home what was lost when Marcia Lucas departed. I.e., her gifts for editing, influencing the plot, and for humanising the dialog (IIRC).

George just never seemed to understand how important someone like that was to the process, hence his movie direction generally looking so dreadful awkward after she left. I'm assuming a lot of course about various behind-the-scenes stuff, but if it was something other than the lack of Marcia, do tell.
 
Btw, I really like this little TNG series:

(this is deffo one of the best ones; not all are as cute)

 
Yeah, I have to agree with that. That "Greedo shot first" crap was bullshit.
 
Now for a real top classic australian movie with some of our greatest actors ever a great escape over 50 years in the making...


Solid nine for me at least nine for laughs and tears..stupid ratings perhaps a bit long though lifes like that.
Late reply; just noticed this post. Bad Ike, bad!

I do love the concept of this movie, and was just adding it to my list until I read the reviews. Well, shit.... it does seem rather formulaic, based on what the critics say. :/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/never_too_late_2020

Now yeah, I know many like to hand-wave "the critics" away, but: 1) for better or worse, I do tend to agree with body of critics in general, and 2) putting an hour and a half in to concentrating on something isn't as easy as it used to be for me. I'll just leave it at that for now.

Having bitched the above, Never Too Late does sound like a nice feel-good movie, and it's been ages since I saw my last Aussie film. Hum. What to do, what to do...
 
I'm trying to think of the last Aussie film I saw. I'm 98% sure it probably had the word "Max" in the title.
Steve, I know you're a fan of the superhero genre and, I have to say, that Harley Quinn cartoon show is pretty damn great! I wasn't that thrilled the first time I watched it a year or so ago. I figured it was as empty as DC wanting to do a Batman show where they got to say "fuck" a lot. But I gave it another shot, and it's really got some funny moments! And a great cast, as well. My favorite is Tony Hale (better known as Buster Bluth) playing Dr. Psycho, who's forced down the ranks of supervillains after he's caught calling Wonder Woman "the 'c' word" on live TV! It's the best thing DC Animation has done in decades. I've always looked at it as they made a great Batman cartoon series in the '90s... and then just decided to call it a day. Very little evolution in style or plotting since then, certainly nothing near as mind-blowing as Spider-man:Into the Spiderverse. So it's nice to see they're finally working outside their comfy-yet-stagnant little box.
 
So, I reread "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" recently, and started to write up some thoughts for the PKD (Philip K. Dick) sub, and realised... man, that book is depressing.

For instance, at the time of the novel, Earth has had medium-to-weak radioactive fallout for decades, and if you don't want to watch yourself slowly erode (so to speak), you can instead emigrate to colonies around the Solar system. You'll even be gifted a high-functioning organic-robotic slave to help you manage the sheer loneliness of living off-planet. Of course even if you've only seen the movie, that kind of thing can also backfire rather hellishly.

On other example-- Most species are extinct at this point, but since humans still desire pets and need other life forms around them, people tend to invest in some kind of artificial life form... which are still prey to breakdowns, theft and vandalism. Or if you save up months or years of salary, you might be able to buy one of the few living species, like a cat or maybe... a sheep, or a goat. One can certainly see the normal attraction of all that, but at the same time, it also becomes a never-ending obsession for people. They're constantly worrying about the welfare of their pet, worrying over how others will judge them, but also secretly hoping to upgrade to a larger, more ostentatious pet some day... even (or especially?) when that's nothing but a pipe dream.

At the same time, DADOES is still a great novel, with lots of fascinating ideas in play. I think when I was younger, I tended to be more oblivious about the downer aspects, and focused more on the other stuff, such as a really wicked, but still respectful commentary on religious belief.

In terms of the movie, I used to be disappointed in some ways that Blade Runner stripped out so much of the interesting content, but in retrospect, I'm satisfied with how it worked out. Indeed, Ridley Scott created a hell of a great film using only bits and pieces of the novel for inspiration, altho of course keeping the organic-slave angle as the main point. But turning Roy Batty from an overconfident, hulking Mongolian in to what Rutger Hauer beautifully portrayed? Turning J.F. Sebastian from a mere "chickenhead" in to senior designer at Tyrell Corp? Just brilliant. Indeed, all the actors involved were pretty damn superb IMO.

In fact, the bleakness in DADOES is really pretty typical of PKD's work, even as most screen adaptations neatly transform that in to qualities that work well for the format, such as lurking danger, quick plot turns, and novel ideas about how technology changes peoples lives in unexpected ways. It's an odd marriage I guess, but after something like maybe two dozen movie and TV adaptations of his stuff, clearly a successful one.
 
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