What Was the Last Movie You Watched?

[Milk Tray Guy]

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Beginning (2002)

Animated pilot movie comprising the first three episodes of the 2002 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe reboot. First shown on TV on 16th August that year, before being broken down into individual episodes beginning on 30th August. This version runs at just over an hour.

The animation is a big step-up from the 1980s original. Character movements are far more fluid, and there's hardly any reused/stock footage. Artwork is good; many backdrops are quality paintings in their own right (Snake Mountain is beautiful), whilst the character designs are updated - yet wholly recognisable - versions of their 1980s selves (and for the first time there's a noticeable difference between Prince Adam and He-Man!). Colours are strong, whilst not being distractingly over-bright, and the whole look is pretty cinematic. The only downer for me visually is that the fights have a definite Anime feel to them, with a lot of jump-flying that feels shoehorned in. I enjoy Anime - but that style of combat seems out of place here. Some of the fight choreography is also a little confusing at times.

Voice work is fine, and whilst it's strange hearing different actors' voices coming from He-Man, Man-At-Arms, etc, the performances are a good fit (have to say though that Brian Dobson's Skeletor is very close to Alan Oppenheimer's original). Storytelling is good, with a real sense of world-building even at this early stage. And we get full origins for both He-Man and Skeletor - something not done on the original show.

Looking online it seems that fans of the original show on the whole embraced this version (both currently rate at 7.5 on IMDb). For me it doesn't quite have the charm of the original, but it's certainly fun. 7/10

 

[Web-Head]

 

[Ash J. Williams]

 

[Frodo]

Bad Influence (1990)

 

[Dave McFly]

F9: The Fast Saga the ONLY F and F film I have not seen it was insane in all kinds of ways now I am honestly looking forward to Fast X next month.

 

[signalman]

FLAMINGO ROAD. B
Joan Crawford is a bit old for the role but she is compelling.
Greenstreet is menacing as the crooked sheriff.

 

[Sculder]

Carry on Regardless (1961)
Kommissarie Späck / Inspector Späck (2010)
On the Buses (1971)
Mutiny on the Buses (1972)
Holiday on the Buses (1973)
A Bill of Divorcement (1932)
A Burlesque on Carmen (1915)

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special (1985)

Animated Filmation Christmas TV movie, originally broadcast December 1985. Running time 45 minutes.

Princess Adora has travelled from Etheria to Eternia, along with many of her friends, to celebrate hers and Prince Adam's birthday. As final preparations are underway at the royal palace, Orko accidentally travels to Earth in a space shuttle built for spying on Skeletor, arriving (unbeknownst to him) at Christmas time. There he encounters two lost children. When Man-At-Arms eventually transports Orko back to Eternia, the children come with him. As the children try to explain to everyone what Christmas is, Horde Prime becomes aware of their presence. Worried that 'Christmas spirit' could weaken his power, he dispatches Skeletor and Hordak to bring the children to him. When Adam and Adora become aware of Horde Prime's scheme they decide that He-Man and She-Ra will have to make sure it fails.

The animation is on a par with the He-Man and She-Ra TV shows that were running at the time, and it retains all their voice actors. It's clearly a 'feel good' movie for the whole family, to be watched alongside all the other Christmas TV specials. And to that end it does what it's intended to do. Nothing here advances the overarching plots of He-Man or She-Ra; it's more of a time-out from their regular adventures. That said, it does a good job of not seeming out of place, with many supporting characters from both shows getting at least a visual appearance, and some even a few lines. We get a nice 'adventure within an adventure' as She-Ra journeys back to her own world to find a rare crystal to power Man-At-Arms' teleportation device, recruiting more of her allies. But the highlight is undoubtedly Skeletor, trying to resist an Ebeneezer Scrooge-like transformation, being appalled at the very idea of being 'nice'! Some chuckle out loud lines there!

Harmless Christmas nostalgia. 6/10

 

[KaijuDude1992]

 

[Morg]

Time Bandits

 

[Dave McFly]

The Menu now that is a batcrap insane movie wow

 

[Wildcard]

 

[Filmfreak]

 

[Gothamsknight]

 

[Dave McFly]

to this day IT is one of my ALL TIME fave Tim Curry roles ever

 

[Gothamsknight]

to this day IT is one of my ALL TIME fave Tim Curry roles ever

As a kid I loved it and then years later I read the book during the lead up to It chapter 1 in 2017. While I loved chapter 1 at the time, I rewatched it recently and was kind of meh oh it. I actually thought chapter 2 was much better. As a whole, I prefer IT 1990. Liked what Skarsgard did, but I kinda felt like they were trying to make that version scary rather than it be deceiving like curry's was.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

to this day IT is one of my ALL TIME fave Tim Curry roles ever

As a kid I loved it and then years later I read the book during the lead up to It chapter 1 in 2017. While I loved chapter 1 at the time, I rewatched it recently and was kind of meh oh it. I actually thought chapter 2 was much better. As a whole, I prefer IT 1990. Liked what Skarsgard did, but I kinda felt like they were trying to make that version scary rather than it be deceiving like curry's was.

I remember watching Curry's version when it was first shown. I didn't know he could be that downright creepy and chilling! I thought Skarsgard was okay, but Curry was a standout.

 

[Wildcard]

 

[CaptainWagner]

Blood Diamond (2006) - d.Edward Zwick

A misguided movie that would have wholly collapsed into a pile of tasteless exploitation if it weren't for Honsou's incredible performance and Zwick's skill with action sequences. Connelly is as hot as ever but has nothing to do here. This could have worked had it just been her with Honsou as the protagonists and had more of an edge to its critique of capitalism and its role in Western "intervention." Instead Zwick spins a tackily optimistic tale that surely must have felt deluded even back in the political climate of '06. Also of note - The soundtrack that pivots from sweeping Hollywood score to African rap every time the rebels show up to sow mayhem. Oof. 3/5

Captain Philips (2013) - d.Paul Greenglass

How the heck did Tom Hanks not get an Oscar nom for this? It's easily his best work since Castaway. Greenglass does an incredible job directing a tense true-life thriller where the editing and score are his strongest tools to keep audiences on the edge of their seat for the whole runtime. Also, Barkhad Abdi is a revelation here, and I don't think I've seen him in anything else? He deserved to be booked and busy after this. Liked this a lot more than I expected. 4.5/5

 

[ObiWanCon]

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

 

[Immortalfire]

I watched all three of these



I consider them to be the holy trinity of superhero origin films.

 

[Gothamsknight]

I watched all three of these

View attachment 64593

I consider them to be the holy trinity of superhero origin films.

I love the first iron man, but replace it with Batman Begins and I'm in total 110% agreement.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

I'm not a Star Wars fan but that poster's quite funny!

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

I can see why this pretty much bombed at the box office. 4/10

 

[KaijuDude1992]