Last Film You Watched? (use spoiler tags in this topic)

[TacticalNeuralImplant]

Mr. Vampire (1985)

Super fun chinese vampire movie. They hop. They can be immobilised by sticky rice.

[Hubbs]

The Avengers

SPOILER WARNING!

Yep I'm using the original US title for the film and not the lame Euro version 'Avengers Assemble' which sounds like a cartoon, all because the powers that be seem to think we're all dumb enough to mistake this new film with another rather old TV series and its mega budget flop film counterpart. Deal with it.

So lets do this thing...the first MEGA blockbuster of the year, how does it fare you ask, well its pretty good says I, not quite as GOOD as I have been led to believe (hyper hype) but its good.

We all know the score so why review it, the 'backup' films to this entry were all solid to great films with most having their favourites, my personal fav is easily the Iron Man films. So with all the guys together for the first time the film does start at a slow pace...for quite some time its gotta be said, I was getting a little twitchy in my seat. Allot of dialog and pacing around very metallic looking military facilities with a whole load of comicbook sci-fi jargon I really don't understand haha. The team are introduced one by one and things feel familiar a they should, a quick bit of action from Black Widow doesn't help though as it looks tacky and stupid in a Milla Jovovich type of way.

Honestly the film didn't really kick into gear for me until we get our first Hulk moment on board that huge flying aircraft carrier thingy (a bit too G.I.Joe there?), this is our first team action and its good, its very good everyone looks good and the action is sharp, slick and clear.
For me the whole film is all about certain characters and how they come across in battle, in general all the team battles in this film are really very good, as said by many all the characters get their time to shine and no one is left in the cold but clearly some characters just work so much better.

The finale is a firestorm of cgi action and really does blow your balls off with non-stop Avenger ass kicking, its not even hard to follow either, you can see what's happening and there's no silly shaky camera to make you ill, its all precise. Best action from a character goes to Hulk for me with some earth shatteringly pumped destruction going on, they really nailed him good in this one, of course Iron Man gets second spot. The cgi overall is excellent but its not like we haven't seen this kind of thing before though its hardly ground breaking but it looks way better than the 'X-Men' 'Spider Man' 'Fantastic 4' films, I also liked the huge flying alien metallic dragon things, some nice design work there, the alien soldiers didn't look much (never got a good look really) but those big space dragons were ultra cool.

For me its all about Iron Man, easily the best character in the team, he looks fudging sweet, has great tech, the cgi looks best with him and Downey Jr is by far the best thing about this film. The guy carries the film when there is dialog with his witty comments and subtle sarcasm, the other players can't seem to put across the right angle, Ruffalo and Hiddleston are probably the best of the rest with Hiddleston giving Loki a slightly 'Joker-ish' play with his wry smiles.

As for the superheroes well they all look spotless, Iron Man as I said is my personal best and looks awesome, Hulk is a close second looking the best he's ever been here and actually appearing like Ruffalo facially so you can actually believe he transformed into this green monster, Loki hasn't changed much from 'Thor' and looks good whilst Thor also stays pretty much the same and looks fine. Now this is where I get picky folks, Black Widow (Johansson) looks sexy, a nice tight ass shot whilst she speaks with an incarcerated Loki I enjoyed muchly, but in this day and age her look simply doesn't cut the mustard anymore, its been done soooooo many times you think she could have been plucked from any number of films.
Captain America...what the hell did they do to his suit!? it was fine in his first film so why make it look so childish looking for this!? the hood part looks dreadful, thought so when I first saw pics of it. We all know of Fury so this leaves Hawkeye, probably the dullest looking character, I didn't like him.

Some niggles do come to mind, I wouldn't say its totally perfect but these maybe my own personal niggles hehe. Its clear Black Widow and Hawkeye are the weak litter in this film, neither really do a great deal and neither really look all that much to be honest, very dull. Hawkeye just seems like a silly character to use for this day and age, I know he's part of the original team but come on the guy runs around using a bow n arrow for Christs sake haha guns, guns, guns, knives, other worldly powers and super strength and this guy fires arrows! kinda funny really.
Plus he seems to be able to hit targets from high up without any consideration for weather, range, trajectory, altitude etc...it also takes him along time to actually run out, am I looking into this too much?.
Black Widow just doesn't really fit in the team for me, sure she's sexy and can fight but she carries two small handguns and that just comes across as rather pathetic in the midst of all out superhero war, like bringing a water pistol to a knife fight.

The other thing was Loki and his alien buddies, I presume Loki's exile was him falling into that abyss at the end of 'Thor'? how did he meet that alien race? how did he get to earth through the portal or get to the portal? and why does he even want to rule Earth? what does he get out of it?
I must also ask what the 'Chitauri' are exactly, when Iron Man downs the big mothership they all just drop, so are they robotic? or somehow connected to a central brain or something?. Trivial but hey that's how I roll.

So yes this film is very good and probably the best its gonna get for superhero team flicks and even superhero flicks to a degree, and when I say superhero flicks I mean superheroes which involve magic, sorcery, space, aliens etc...Batman, Blade, Punisher etc...are different beasts. I still wasn't blown away completely I must admit but for an eye popping mindless comicbook adaptation you can't really get much better, it does what its suppose to do with good cgi, good humour and great continuity from the previous films. Definitely a one off and historical moment as we get the first real superhero team movie, I can't see 'Justice League' topping it.

Ps. No need to stay right to the end of the credits, but don't leave straight away

[jonnyhiboy!]

Originally Posted by Sunfrogolin

Dare because Jonnyhiboy reccomended it, and now my mom thinks I'm gay.

I'm not gay, but I'd highly recommend it. Performances, direction and script are top notch and it explores the complexities of teenagers without making anything glamorised like most teen dramas. It's a real shame that this gem of a movie is not more well known. Also see the film Kaboom, similar themes, more crazy.

[Pelicula]

Kaboom is fab.

[jonnyhiboy!]

Originally Posted by Pelicula

Kaboom is fab.

Indeed. I still need to see two of the director's other films Smiley Face and Mysterious Skin, his others seem to be borderline adult/porn films.

[Hubbs]

Masters of the Universe (1987)

Oh my how delicious is this piece of 80's panto, some of the best badly adapted hokey nonsense I've seen yet somehow its so damn good

Where to start! this really is your typical fantasy film of the era, every cliche every funny little niche is here as you would expect and the funny thing is it was actually meant to be a blockbuster. I have since found out there were many problems in creating this film and it does show some what, the film is really nothing like the original He-Man cartoon in any way.

Effects wise this sorta stumbles through with some interesting ideas, some of the makeup is actually quite good, 'Skeletor', 'Beast Man' and 'Saurod' all have pretty nice makeup appliances and costumes which fit the He-Man universe. Other effects are laughably terrible with some awful bluescreen work, nasty models of which most seem ripped straight outta 'Star Wars', faded poor laser blast effects and some of the most hilariously bad stunts and fight choreography you will see. Most kicks and punches clearly (and I mean CLEARLY) don't make their intended contacts lol!

The cast are actually a mix of decent character actors which is the funny thing, some of these performances saved the film and gave it cult status. Of course Langella as 'Skeletor' is the co de gra of cheesy villains with his snarling voice and bellowing cries lusting for power. For me the best and most amusing performance was James Tolkan as the no nonsense cop 'Lubic' with his sharp tongue, gotta love that guy and his baldness.
Along for the ride is steady character actor Jon Cypher, fantasy actor regular Billy Barty, Meg Foster as the quite sexual 'Evil-Lyn' in her lovely tight barbarian-esq outfit with luscious lips (oh yeah!) and last of all Courtney Cox, yes THAT Courtney Cox of 'Friends' fame and as you would expect she's still annoying as hell even back then.

So yes the film is practically a joke with its Punch n Judy style and completely awful effects, fights etc...but it has gained allot of notoriety for just that. Even when I saw this back as a kid I knew the film bared no resemblance to the original material, it always bewildered me why the creators thought to create new bad guys when there were so many rich villains to use, who the hell was 'Blade', 'Karg' and 'Saurod' suppose to be!? where was 'Trap Jaw' 'Tri-Klops' 'Mer-Man' or 'Man-E-Faces'? the same could be said for the heroes also. Then there was the question of who on earth were all these stormtrooper type foot soldiers clad in black armour that were an idea rip from so many films!?.

I have since found out they were stuck in so 'He-Man' could kill things without becoming too violent for the kids as He-Man wasn't suppose to kill. I can see that now but it still doesn't work right does it, I can't believe Lucas never sued frankly haha even with the almost identical ending to 'ROTJ'.

Its funny to look back and laugh, even more so to think films like this actually made it to the cinema and were meant to be big money spinners hehe. I actually love how the film just goes off on its own tangent completely ignoring the source material, its so far gone its brilliant in such a bad way. Gotta love 'Skeletor's' golden coloured horned silver foil battle mask getup when he transforms at the end which seems to be a rip off from 'Big Trouble in Little China'!, the way Tolkan swears oh and the fact 'Teela' seems to be wearing a thin thong if you look closely as well kids film?.

[jonnyhiboy!]

After being touted as one of the goriest films ever - Braindead was absolutely fantastic whether that's true or not is entirely debatable. Although I'm sure some crazy Japanese film has more gore in it. It was a real feast for the eyes and venturing into the horror/comedy genre. It grabbed me and didn't let go until the utterly creative, fun, original and crazy mad ending. Utter brilliance, a real gorgy! Along with Poltergeist, The Evil Dead, Misery and The Cabin in the Woods, being tough to say what would be my favourite horror, there are many more. Of course i forgot Scream (1,2+4) and Jeepers Creepers.

[Pelicula]

It's not really gory in the sense it's disturbing, it's comedic gore and so over the top that it helps when watching it and doesn't seem as gory/or the goriest film ever. If you get what I mean.

[jonnyhiboy!]

Originally Posted by Pelicula

It's not really gory in the sense it's disturbing, it's comedic gore and so over the top that it helps when watching it and doesn't seem as gory/or the goriest film ever. If you get what I mean.

Definitely, that's probably why people would debate it more, although with the IMDB trivia fact that towards the end of the movie they were spewing over five gallons of blood a second is pretty impressive! Did you enjoy it?

[Pelicula]

I do like Braindead, haven't seen it for about 14 years though. I didn't like it as much but try Jackson's other film Bad Taste, came out before Braindead: