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MetlaNZ
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 07, 2022 7:27 am 
 

Watched Terrifier 2 tonight, pretty good but like Barbarian not quite as good as the hype would have you believe.
I liked the first Terrifier, brutal, no holds barred, ruthless stuff. Like Halloween Kills it's sometimes all I want. It came from out of nowhere and Art was a cool character, story be damned.
Terrifier 2 however maintains the gore and savagery (in fact it's so over the top you become numb to it all) but tries to develop a story and characters to varying levels of success over it's rather excessive run time of about 140min (I'd trim 20 or 30min easy off it) and in doing so sets up a franchise. All in all tho it's worth a watch if you like your gory horrors.

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pyratebastard
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 09, 2022 3:01 pm 
 

I watched The Woman King yesterday. I thought it was quite enjoyable; the portrayal of Dahomey was awesome, though I cannot say if it was accurate or not. Historically, it is not very accurate, but few history-inspired films are. I thought the acting was well done, and the story was engaging.

I also watched The Death of Stalin finally. This movie was quite hilarious at times, but then again I am regularly a sucker for British comedy. Historically, there are only a couple elements that reflect reality, but I don't think this film intended to be a documentary. Steve Buscemi is always a pleasure, but Jason Isaacs as Zhukov was goddamn fantastic.
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Bishop_Drugsalot
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 09, 2022 5:38 pm 
 

pyratebastard wrote:

I also watched The Death of Stalin finally. This movie was quite hilarious at times, but then again I am regularly a sucker for British comedy. Historically, there are only a couple elements that reflect reality, but I don't think this film intended to be a documentary. Steve Buscemi is always a pleasure, but Jason Isaacs as Zhukov was goddamn fantastic.

Isaacs is amazing but I think Simon Russell Beale is the MVP of this film although I'm a sucker for him anway after his take on Falstaff in the Hollow Crown...

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oldmetalhead
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 09, 2022 7:59 pm 
 

The Elvis movie sucked so bad I had to turn it off 2/3rds through it. Whoever wrote the screenplay, directed and produced, all need to be shamed and should never get a project like that again.

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kazhard
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 12, 2022 4:40 am 
 

I watched Salò tonight, it was horrifying but as Empyreal pointed out, it is a masterpiece. It is in fact so elegant that you can almost forget all the depravity and violence. By today standards it is laughable but fuck, I can only imagine the scandal it must’ve caused back in 1975.
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pyratebastard
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 15, 2022 2:40 pm 
 

Bishop_Drugsalot wrote:
pyratebastard wrote:

I also watched The Death of Stalin finally. This movie was quite hilarious at times, but then again I am regularly a sucker for British comedy. Historically, there are only a couple elements that reflect reality, but I don't think this film intended to be a documentary. Steve Buscemi is always a pleasure, but Jason Isaacs as Zhukov was goddamn fantastic.

Isaacs is amazing but I think Simon Russell Beale is the MVP of this film although I'm a sucker for him anway after his take on Falstaff in the Hollow Crown...


He was absolutely fantastic as Beria, no doubt. I'll have to watch the Hollow Crown; him playing Falstaff sounds like a good time.
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ChineseDownhill
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Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2013 11:19 am
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 22, 2022 5:16 pm 
 

Smile - This certainly wasn't bad but I don't get why it became an international mega-hit raking in over $200,000,000. The acting was fine and there was a well executed jump scare, sure. It just didn't rise above the many other horror movies in which the main character has to figure out how to escape a curse: The Ring, Final Destination, It Follows (if you're in the majority who liked that one more than me). Smile was also nearly 2 hours and I definitely felt it dragging in parts. 5 / 10

Here's where it lands in my tier list of 2022 theatrically released horror.
Kinda bad: X
Average: Smile, Halloween Ends (improved on re-watch)
Good: Terrifier 2, The Black Phone
Great: Barbarian
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MetlaNZ
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 26, 2022 10:43 pm 
 

Went and saw Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery last night. Absolutely loved every minute of it and will say it's one of my favorite films of the year. Stellar cast, cool murder mystery and very funny. Great fun all round, go see it, especially if you liked the first movie.

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kovner1972
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Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2022 3:33 pm
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2022 7:05 am 
 

Barbarian was one of the stupidest, un-scarry, hyped, ridiculous movies I have ever seen. My fucking god, what a waste of time. And those final scenes, oh fuck.

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henkkjelle
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2022 8:18 am 
 

I liked Barbarian, although it may have been slightly overhyped as tends to happen with popular movies. If you expected a regular horror movie I can see the disconnect but in my eyes it did a great job making you experience how different people - particularly men versus women, experience the same situations. It's as much a social satire/critique as a horror movie.
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Jonpo
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2022 3:48 pm 
 

Smile felt like a movie born from a dare. It was just one horror cliche or trope after another. The hitch is they were all executed well. I do agree it started to drag towards the final 3/4 and it felt like I was constantly being forced to think about other horror movies. I enjoyed it but wouldn't ever watch it twice or make a strong recommendation to a friend.

Spoiler: show
The Aliens 3 homage was unexpectedly hilarious.
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Empyreal
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2022 3:49 pm 
 

I just never get how "overhyped" is a meaningful thing to say. I saw Barbarian the weekend it came out with no knowledge if it would be good or not and no expectations. I liked it a lot personally. But that's beside the point - I'm just saying hype is its own thing and separate from the work.

Caught Banshees of Inisherin and Killing Them Softly over the past week - really fucking good the both of em. Banshees is such a wry, carefully done, smart, funny movie, poignant and also just off the wall at times. Brilliant characters and settings. You feel like you always knew em.

Killing... was this super cold, hard-assed mob movie. Bluntly political. Andrew Dominik is onto something with these. Just badass.

Oh and yeah, Smile was enjoyable but I find it questionable when I see people saying that's the kind of stuff we need more of in horror. It was goofy fun. It used to be way worse when we had 1000 of those movies every year.
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Lord_Of_Diamonds
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2022 1:52 am 
 

I saw Wakanda Forever today. A fine movie, with plenty of respect and tribute to Chadwick Boseman's memory.

Spoiler: show
I was amazed at how much stuff they fit into the movie, yet kept it within a typical Marvel runtime. I particularly liked the radically different spin they gave the Sub-Mariner's story when compared to what he is in the comics. I gotta say, the final fight scene was a little anti climactic, though. They tried to do a comic book style defeat strategy (drying Sub-Mariner out to weaken him) that worked too fast and too well for how the fight was paced, and I was really hoping for Shuri to kill him (especially after her vision of Killmonger in the ancestors' home), breaking the sparing trope. But that didn't happen. I suppose they want to bring the character back if they ever make a new Fantastic Four movie.
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Curious_dead
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2022 10:01 pm 
 

Saw Wakanda Forever too. Loved it. The Marvel Logo being just images of Boseman was a great tribute.

Spoiler: show
I'm glad they didn't kill Namor. Marvel has three issues plaguing their movies: 1) They're formulaic; 2) The villain dies at the end; 3) Badly timed jokes. This one avoided 2 and 3 and isn't exactly the most formulaic movie; it's not novel but it's not like Dr Strange which hits the same beats as Iron Man, for instance. I'm glad Namor lived to come back again.

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MetlaNZ
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 2:20 am 
 

Saw The Menu on Sunday night. Delicious movie that's billed as a horror/comedy but it wasn't particularly scary or gory. It did however have on the menu a very cool story full of dark humor, sporadic violence and a great cast. This and Glass Onion made it a very tasty weekend of movies. Totally recommended, go see it.

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Jonpo
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 5:37 am 
 

Finally saw The Green Knight. I always expected to love it but damn. Gotta be one of my favorites ever. Atmosphere piled to the heavens. Not much action but I wasn't expecting any. Such a cool, otherworldly mythological feeling. So smitten.
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Empyreal
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 10:11 am 
 

Green Knight was stunning. I don't get the mixed reactions at all. A wondrous psychedelic trip.

The Menu was entertaining - total insane schlock, but it kept my attention for all of it. Fiennes hams it up and Anya Taylor Joy works as a sort of understated foil. Some enjoyably batshit moments and some decent wry humor. Not really a great movie but it was an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon and was admirable for how garishly crazy it could be.

A Wounded Fawn - This is like MEN in that it has a bit of a preachy social commentary element to it, but it leans less on that then the other movie does. The plot doesn't seem too outwardly appealing - another serial killer stalker sort of tale set in a remote cabin? But they really ramp up the nightmare fuel. The images and visuals in this are a serious kaleidoscope of occultic, wild insanity. Some of this stuff will really make you go what the fuck. It's not cliche and they always do something different with it. The story stays simplistic but satisfying - the imagery becomes this doorway to something wholly other and it's wonderful.
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Gravetemplar
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 11:50 am 
 

When I understood the ending of The Green Knight my mind was blown. Or at least, one of the multiple interpretation of the ending and the one I like the most.

Spoiler: show
The Green Knight tells him 'Off, with your head' while touching his neck, which is a wordplay I didn't get the first time around. Touching the neck is the wound the knight inflicts to Sir Gawain, nothing more since Sir Gawain finally has the courage to be a better man and accepts his fate while restoring his honor. In the ending titles, you can see his children playing with the crown: he marries Essel and his children now lives with honor too.

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Empyreal
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 7:53 pm 
 

^ Yeah that's something. I really thought it had a lot of resonance and metaphor - a really deep story and character when it didn't really have to be. It had layers. Dev Patel really delivered and made that character into a three-dimensional, quite subtle guy to watch - all this nervousness and hesitation, the fear of commitment, the worry of the future. Very human.
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ChineseDownhill
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 12, 2022 10:06 am 
 

We're just days away from Avatar 2, the sequel to what is arguably the most successful movie of all time. And my excitement level is about the same as for the next Saw movie: 'Yeah, I mean, I guess I'll have to watch it eventually?'

Anyway the past few movies I've seen have been solid to very good.

Emily the Criminal - Gritty drama with compelling main character. 7 / 10

Bed Rest - Went in with low expectations because it's a Tubi Original and the title lets you know it'll do the low budget limited location thing. Was surprised that by the end I actually cared about the characters. Respectable 6 / 10

The Northman - Enjoyed The Witch, didn't like The Lighthouse, enjoyed this almost as much as The Witch. Like Mandy (Nicolas Cage) the visuals kept me interested. 7 / 10

Thirteen Lives - Fascinating recreation of the 2018 Thai cave rescue operation. 8 / 10
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Zelkiiro
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 12, 2022 11:22 am 
 

ChineseDownhill wrote:
We're just days away from Avatar 2, the sequel to what is arguably the most successful movie of all time. And my excitement level is about the same as for the next Saw movie: 'Yeah, I mean, I guess I'll have to watch it eventually?'

Good news is, early critic buzz says that it's vastly better than the first film and focuses more on the characters.
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CoconutBackwards
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 12, 2022 2:06 pm 
 

I have zero interest in Avatar 2 and I just saw James Cameron talking about Avatar 5 the other day.
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ChineseDownhill
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 12, 2022 2:46 pm 
 

The first Avatar is entertaining for what it is, but my opinion on its franchise potential hasn't changed in 10 years. Basically I wish the first movie had been successful enough (let's say a $1 billion worldwide gross) that Cameron could have requested a $200M to $300M budget to direct another original movie for like a 2013 release, and any studio would have agreed.

But no! Avatar had to do so amazingly well, making close to $3 billion (and yeah that includes re-releases), that Cameron said "Screw everything else, I'm spending the rest of my days making Avatar sequels." I get it, it's his life, he can do whatever he wants. But for me as a viewer I would rather have seen him direct 4 more totally different movies instead of 4 Avatar sequels.

Of course if Avatar 2 pulls an Empire Strikes Back and surpasses the first movie I'll admit I was wrong to doubt him.
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Zelkiiro
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 12, 2022 7:25 pm 
 

ChineseDownhill wrote:
Basically I wish the first movie had been successful enough (let's say a $1 billion worldwide gross) that Cameron could have requested a $200M to $300M budget to direct another original movie for like a 2013 release, and any studio would have agreed.

He did.
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ChineseDownhill
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 12, 2022 8:17 pm 
 

I liked that movie and I know Cameron played a crucial role in getting it made. Robert Rodriguez ended up directing it though, which kind of reinforces my point. From the link:

Quote:
In August 2010, Cameron stated that [Alita: Battle Angel] was "still on [his] radar", but he did not know when he would make it. However, that October, he confirmed that his next films would be two Avatar sequels instead of Battle Angel.

So back when Avatar was "only" going to be a trilogy it was already delaying other projects and eventually causing JC to step down from directing a non-Avatar film.
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lennonlikesmetal
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 15, 2022 7:16 pm 
 

Empyreal wrote:
Killing... was this super cold, hard-assed mob movie. Bluntly political. Andrew Dominik is onto something with these. Just badass.


Have you only just seen this?

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Empyreal
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 15, 2022 7:27 pm 
 

Yup. I was enthralled by his new one Blonde and had to go see the old stuff. I was surprised I'd never seen any of his movies before that one.

The Fabelmans - If anyone but Spielberg did this movie, it wouldn't have worked. Maybe that's the secret to doing biopic-style movies - make your own fucking biopic. Maybe the passion comes out easier.

I didn't know really anything about Spielberg's childhood going into this, but the richness of detail, the attention to cinematic excellence like any of the classic movies, and the well-done characterizations, it's hard to fault any of this. It was gorgeous to watch and had just the right amount of substance and layers to it all. Maybe not subtle, but it was made with care like your mother's chocolate chip cookies. Spielberg has our number.

It isn't to say it has a lot of stakes - it's just him telling you his own story, however privileged that may have been. You could find movies that dig into more difficult or thorny parts of life easily. But damn if it isn't just so gratifying and enjoyable to watch all this. A genuine pleasure. He's earned it.

Violent Night - Just awful. This is like an AI tried to make an early 2000s gimmick action comedy. The action is poor for the most part, not violent and poorly lit. The story is a confusing half-ass cobble, trying to reference both the DIE HARD hostage plot and a quasi-SUCCESSION or some other rich people-related show with bickering class-war stuff. And they throw in some really corny old "Christmas is magical" storylines which you can find done better by movies decades ago. The message is basically nonexistent, the tone veers all over the map like a car on black ice, the dialogue is awful - especially from John Leguizamo, who ought to fire his agent. They try some jokes and none of them land, like the worst open mic stand-up comic you've ever heard. It mostly felt like nobody tried on this at all - a soulless drudgery, something made of spite and resistance rather than any real artistic expression. There's something really cynical and awful about all of it. Nothing matters. Maybe it was some sort of tax evasion scheme.
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lennonlikesmetal
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 15, 2022 9:12 pm 
 

Empyreal wrote:
Yup. I was enthralled by his new one Blonde and had to go see the old stuff. I was surprised I'd never seen any of his movies before that one.


The Assassination Of Jesse James got me into him. It's shot so beautifully you can watch it with the sound off.

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Empyreal
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2022 6:17 am 
 

That's definitely on my list to watch when I get time soon.
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aaronmb666
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2022 12:17 pm 
 

I read that James Cameron blames Terminator Dark Fate's flop for casting Arnold and Linda, meaning theyre too old. I personally liked most of it, but for me, what hurt it was the first few minutes , where
Spoiler: show
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CoconutBackwards
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2022 1:10 pm 
 

Empyreal wrote:
Violent Night - Just awful. This is like an AI tried to make an early 2000s gimmick action comedy. The action is poor for the most part, not violent and poorly lit. The story is a confusing half-ass cobble, trying to reference both the DIE HARD hostage plot and a quasi-SUCCESSION or some other rich people-related show with bickering class-war stuff. And they throw in some really corny old "Christmas is magical" storylines which you can find done better by movies decades ago. The message is basically nonexistent, the tone veers all over the map like a car on black ice, the dialogue is awful - especially from John Leguizamo, who ought to fire his agent. They try some jokes and none of them land, like the worst open mic stand-up comic you've ever heard. It mostly felt like nobody tried on this at all - a soulless drudgery, something made of spite and resistance rather than any real artistic expression. There's something really cynical and awful about all of it. Nothing matters. Maybe it was some sort of tax evasion scheme.


This is pretty disappointing to hear.

I'm going to see it next week with a buddy. Hopefully, I'll find something in it to enjoy.
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ChineseDownhill
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2022 2:21 pm 
 

aaronmb666 wrote:
I read that James Cameron blames Terminator Dark Fate's flop for casting Arnold and Linda, meaning theyre too old.

At this point in the Terminator franchise I don't know what approach would result in another truly successful entry. Ditch Arnold entirely because he's too old? We already had an Arnold-less Terminator movie called Salvation. The most entertaining thing about it was leaked behind-the-scenes audio of a Christian Bale meltdown.

Maybe make a PG-13 movie, with Arnold, and cast a 20-something actress as Sarah Connor? Oh yeah, that was called Genisys. Dark Fate was better than that.

Blah. If I'm a studio bigwig looking for the next franchise I could resurrect, the rights to Terminator would be near the bottom of my wishlist. I'd rather roll the dice on a $5,000,000 - $10,000,000 budget Elm Street or Friday the 13th relaunch.
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Empyreal
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2022 2:23 pm 
 

CoconutBackwards wrote:
Empyreal wrote:
Violent Night - Just awful. This is like an AI tried to make an early 2000s gimmick action comedy. The action is poor for the most part, not violent and poorly lit. The story is a confusing half-ass cobble, trying to reference both the DIE HARD hostage plot and a quasi-SUCCESSION or some other rich people-related show with bickering class-war stuff. And they throw in some really corny old "Christmas is magical" storylines which you can find done better by movies decades ago. The message is basically nonexistent, the tone veers all over the map like a car on black ice, the dialogue is awful - especially from John Leguizamo, who ought to fire his agent. They try some jokes and none of them land, like the worst open mic stand-up comic you've ever heard. It mostly felt like nobody tried on this at all - a soulless drudgery, something made of spite and resistance rather than any real artistic expression. There's something really cynical and awful about all of it. Nothing matters. Maybe it was some sort of tax evasion scheme.


This is pretty disappointing to hear.

I'm going to see it next week with a buddy. Hopefully, I'll find something in it to enjoy.


It's not as bad as the Orphan prequel but that only tangentially counted as a movie for me. Definitely worst thing I've seen in theaters in ages.

Please no more Terminator, Alien, etc sequels unless they can do something fresh like Prey did this year.
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CoconutBackwards
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2022 4:09 pm 
 

I just finished Prey yesterday and really liked it.

Spoiler: show
I liked all the tie ins they had with the original. It's too bad there's nothing that happened or was said in the original that could directly tie this movie to it.
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Luvers
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2022 7:05 pm 
 

ChineseDownhill wrote:
aaronmb666 wrote:
I read that James Cameron blames Terminator Dark Fate's flop for casting Arnold and Linda, meaning theyre too old.
At this point in the Terminator franchise I don't know what approach would result in another truly successful entry. Ditch Arnold entirely because he's too old? We already had an Arnold-less Terminator movie called Salvation. The most entertaining thing about it was leaked behind-the-scenes audio of a Christian Bale meltdown.
Salvation not only DID feature Arnold (CGI I Know) but it also only failed in its last act. Bale was a worthy John Conner (at a time he could really nail the role) and the movie was visually impressive. Even though the movie had its faults, I admit, it is the best sequel based solely on the fact that it dared to be different.

If they wanted to bring Arnie back, why not have him be the same man who the likeness of the T-800's were based on, like in T3. You would not even need to keep T3 cannon, it could be the same exact plot point but done in an entirely new and creative way. Since they love to cast Arnie in Terminator so he could die the heroic death, they could still have him do it by being a mere mortal. Have him go out in a truly badass way. Perhaps even play with technology and have him take out a once identical T-800 as the winning blow like he always does but as a badass "balls of steel" kind of hero. Who better to play that part but Arnold?

Yes it is a bit convoluted and it is not guaranteed to work but it is definitely better than both ruining Arnold and the once terrifying T-800 like in Dark Fate. Even though Dark Fate is better than Genysis and T3, its biggest sin was not just that they ruined the T-800, they ruined Sarah Conner. If there was one franchise that did not need the Mary Sue identity politics in it would be the one that already had an incredible female hero. You know, the morally complex and thematically rich Sarah Conner. The actual savior of humanity.

What Terminator needs, more than anything else, is to go back to its roots. The original was just James Cameron (who is good friends with John Carpenter and collaborated on Escape From New York) re-imagining the original Halloween, with a sci-fi twist. The T-800 is Michael Myers, Sarah Conner is Laurie Strode and Kyle Reese is Samuel Loomis. An unstoppable killing machine, in other words, a slasher.

#MakeTerminatorHorrorAgain
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aaronmb666
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Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2005 3:37 am
Posts: 2834
PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2022 11:59 pm 
 

ChineseDownhill wrote:
aaronmb666 wrote:
I read that James Cameron blames Terminator Dark Fate's flop for casting Arnold and Linda, meaning theyre too old.

At this point in the Terminator franchise I don't know what approach would result in another truly successful entry. Ditch Arnold entirely because he's too old? We already had an Arnold-less Terminator movie called Salvation. The most entertaining thing about it was leaked behind-the-scenes audio of a Christian Bale meltdown.

Maybe make a PG-13 movie, with Arnold, and cast a 20-something actress as Sarah Connor? Oh yeah, that was called Genisys. Dark Fate was better than that.

Blah. If I'm a studio bigwig looking for the next franchise I could resurrect, the rights to Terminator would be near the bottom of my wishlist. I'd rather roll the dice on a $5,000,000 - $10,000,000 budget Elm Street or Friday the 13th relaunch.


They really screwed up with Genisys, since it's it was intended to be a trilogy(half the movie didnt make sense). Not to mention the PG-13 turned off a lot of people(highly doubt teenagers know about Terminator).

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Waltz_of_Ghouls
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:24 am
Posts: 855
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 10:39 am 
 

Watched Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio the other night and it was great. The visuals alone are worth the watch, the stop-motion animation and the sets are mind-blowing. Great voice works from the cast too.
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CoconutBackwards
Bullet Centrist

Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2016 2:02 pm
Posts: 1777
PostPosted: Mon Dec 19, 2022 9:34 am 
 

I really enjoyed Bullet Train.

I remember seeing a preview for it in theaters and thinking it looked dull and forgettable, but I was wrong.
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Valandil_79
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2022 1:16 pm
Posts: 71
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2022 5:29 am 
 

Apparently, Denis Villeneuve's Dune is well on its way to completion, and will be released within the next 12 months. It could go the way of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, and really take off, same way The Dark Knight did.

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Empyreal
The Final Frontier

Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 6:58 pm
Posts: 35140
Location: Where the dead rule the night
PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2022 2:21 pm 
 

Reminder - The Children (2008) is a pretty fucking first-rate Christmassy horror movie. Fast paced, vile, holiday-themed evil. Wonderfully macabre.
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