"Ogata, humans are weak animals. Even if I burn my notes, the secret will still be in my head. Until I die, how can I be sure I won't be forced by someone to make the device again?
"Oh Peace, Oh Light, Return... The prayer for peace that took place all over the country today... Here we see the Tokyo chapter of this event... Listen to the young voices as they put the strength of their lives into their song..."
"I can't believe that Godzilla was the only surviving member of its species... But if we continue conducting nuclear tests... it's possible another Godzilla might appear somewhere in the world again."
This is not a monster movie. This is not a Godzilla movie. This is a post-war horror film. This is a drama masterpiece that displays the horrors of nuclear weapons and the results such weapons have on the planet. Godzilla is a direct symbol of an atomic explosion. Godzilla is our fault. We did this to ourselves, and now we suffer the devastating consequences.
It's such a damn shame, even though I'm loving where the new Godzilla films are going with Kong Vs. Godzilla, we will never get an American Godzilla film this insanely deep or politically important. The closest Godzilla film that's gotten close tone wise to this is Gareth Edwards' masterpiece in 2014 and Anno's 2016's 'Shin Godzilla.' That film was about the horrors of the 2011 tsunami and incompetence of the Japanese government during that event.
The acting is perfect. The script is perfect. The music is perfect. The themes of post-war fear are perfect. It's groundbreaking. It's heartbreaking. It's amazing. It's the original Godzilla.
In 2015, Hideaki Anno said anime as an industry is dying and only has about 5 years left, then it might go through a resurgence.
jump ahead 3 years
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 is finally announced for release in 2020. OH FUCK. Anno is going to kill the entire industry by releasing the final Evangelion movie. The madman will do the deed himself. Just more of what you'd expect from the master.
This treasure of quality atmospheric horror is flat-out one of the best films I've EVER watched. It's now almost been 10 years since it was originally released and I've only grown to appreciate it more as time moves on. No other such movie has peaked my interest in real events such as Centralia and Chernobyl quite like this one. It's not a turn-your-brain-off and enjoy jump-scare popcorn shit-fest like some recent studio releases in the past couple of years. This right here is an extremely rare case. Not many movies come out like this anymore. Think about it: It's a video game adaptation that's good, a horror movie that's more about the tone than the scares, and a think piece that requires some thought while watching. Even today, I'm still learning new things about this movie and it's production. Roger Avary, who most know as the co-writer of Pulp Fiction, was the lead writer alongside director Christophe Gans, both of whom are extreme fans of the video games, which is very important in making a faithful yet standalone adaptation. The two amazingly put together such a great ride. GoodBad Flicks made a fantastic video summarizing everything you should know and why you should watch it. I recommend this movie hardcore. It's an underrated and underappreciated masterpiece.
GoodBadFlicks' video: youtu.be/CfEnsMWYisI
He just wants to be your friend.
Jacob Chase has entered my shortlist for upcoming young horror directors. This was masterful. Roque Baños' score is some of his best work, even above his collaborations with Sam Raimi. While the timely message of our screens becoming a substitute for real life companionship, something that Pulse already tackled back in the day, turning the concept in to a creepypasta style horror film works wonders. The jumpscares are organic and inoffensive, the cinematography and use of the creature in his scenes are devilishly stylish, and little Azhy Robertson acted his ass off. The film handles his autism very tastefully, and I can speak to that since I have one brother who is exactly the same as him. It's a scary idea, that while his attachment and use for his devices are a necessity, they could be doing more damage than good beneath the surface; And that we've become overreliant on technology to solve our problems. I don't get what the backlash behind the film is geared at, but I think those are just looking for something to be upset about. The ending is what got me, nearly made my eyes water.
When Norman Bates ran in the room dressed as the dead mother while the soundtrack played, I legit got chills. I was disturbed to my core. I've never seen a movie so effectively freak me out that quickly and that deep. I almost started shaking when I saw that image.
Does anyone know what happened to Henry Selick? I've looked all over this site, wikipedia, and IMDB, but I haven't found any results for films past 2009. It says he's working with Pixar on projects, but he's not credited with anything past 2009. Is he under a contract with Disney now? What exactly is he doing? Animating? Then why is he not getting credit? I want to know, because I love this man, and I'm not seeing more of his talent come out.
I'm so glad I heard about it and had the pleasure of watching it. I haven't seen a movie break my heart that good in a long time. It's not usual for me to get actual tears going down my face.
'Train to Busan' is an incredibly rare horror movie that puts actual emotional investment into the characters, what I mean is, you actually care about who's going to live or die. This isn't a world-building movie, but one that devotes it's entire run-time to building an emotional attachment between the audience and the main cast. Not many modern Hollywood blockbusters and horror flicks do this motion, as they figure most people are just simply there for the thrills and the cheap jumpscares. 'Train to Busan' reminds me something. It reminds me how absolutely important it is to have characters you want to root for. The fact I actually cried for the main characters in this movie automatically puts it well above other horror and zombie movies that don't bother with this essential character development.
I loved it. I truly loved it. It's easily one of my new favorite zombie movies of all time, maybe even one of my new favorite dramas of all time. Watch it. It deserves your time and especially money.
Going to see Alien: Covenant right after this, I will have a review up hopefully soon.
I love the atmosphere in this movie. I'm a really huge fan of slow-burn silent kind-of creepy horror films that really souly on building suspense and building the world, rather than resorting to action or jumpscares. I think this is why I prefer Alien to Aliens, and The Terminator to Terminator 2. True horror movies, to me based on what I find scary, is relatable or likable characters being put in genuinely terrifying or claustrophobic situations.
What makes Alien effective is the location. Imagine yourself in Ellen Ripley's situation. Alone on an abandoned ship about to blow up, in very narrow corridors with no one else around, while an unstoppable killing machine is out to get you. That idea alone makes the movie, but the way Ridley Scott executes it, through the sound effects, lack of music, and pacing makes it one of the most tension-filled finales I've seen in a horror movie.
The rest of the movie is great too. There isn't much that happens in terms of story, but you grow attached to these characters as they get picked off one by one. You're constantly on the edge of you're seat anticipating what's going to come next. It's a constant up-hill battle as these group of characters try to figure out how they're going to defeat the alien life-form that's now loose on the ship. Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, and Tom Skerritt are my favorites out of the cast of exceptional actors. They all do a good job with the material given to them, especially considering how dialogue-heavy the movie ends up being.
There isn't much else I can say, other than it's one of the best horror movies in history, with it's wonderful atmosphere and great setting, which many of follow-up movies tried to copy, but most end up failing to capture.
This is one of the greatest films ever created, the one that made me a hardcore Charlton Heston fan. I know, the runtime can be a turn-away for casual viewers, but I don't view this as a movie. I've now seen The Ten Commandments twice in the theater and it's an experience. Through this four hour epic, we're introduced to the location of Egypt and every character imaginable, as they're woven into the story re-telling of the Book of Exodus. It's a tightly constructed, but vast world-building film that makes the audience feel like they're there with the slaves and Moses, as the days and months pass in the film's length. The special effects and green-screen composites are cheese and outdated by modern technology, but hold an old-time charm to them, a quality lost in new remakes, like Exodus: Gods and Kings. Cecil B. DeMille doesn't just slap together a shitty historical movie to make money like with shit such as Gods of Egypt, but pays respect and with great care, creates one of the best epics of all time. It's hard to explain everything in such a short review, so I won't bother but just tell you to watch this if you haven't. It's a must. Make some snacks and some drinks and sit down and watch this. It's well-worth your time and you won't regret experiencing the whole thing. Ideally, I'd say see it in a theater with an actual intermission, but that's hard to do, waiting for a re-release and all.
Heavy spoilers ahead, I'd just like to talk about the movie. Oh yeah, seeing it again in it's original Japanese version helped quite a bit. I caught a lot more stuff this time, including stylistic choices I didn't pick up on previously. All comparisons to Ponyo are only valid on surface level. The movie's tone and messages are unique to it's own. I really appreciated the flashbacks done in a tasteful way, like they're child drawings from the perspective different to each character. The story is excellently told, able to tell the history of the town, and tell the stories of a number of people, some barely getting screen time, but their resolutions being surprisingly emotional. A couple beats I missed: Kai is developing the final song throughout the entire movie, and only sings it at the end, after gaining his confidence from Lu (Somehow I didn't pick up on that from the English dub). One inspiration I just picked up driving home, was Lu could be interpreted as the Mary Poppins archetype. She comes to this broken town, covered in shadows from a curse, wants everyone to become friends, and by the end, once all is fixed, she moves on. Some may not like the romantic involvement between her and the boy, but... love is strange like that. Kai first sees her as reminder of his mother, which inspires him to express himself again, then grows a child like genuine fondness to her. It's actually quite remarkable this pulled off giving backstories a large selection of the cast, and teaching some heavy life realities in the process. Your initial dreams may not work out like you planned, but other opportunities you didn't expect will come. My heart grows heavy just thinking about it. The style is expressionist and lively, almost copying decades old animation, a welcome return. And the four child leads are just so endearing. The scene of Lu and Kai walking around town to the guitar cover of Naoko's theme is especially magical; not in a spectacle way, but something about the playful dichotomy of these two really moves you. The imagery and dialogue makes for a heavy sequence. If there was ever a one-shot anime movie I would love to see a sequel for, it's this. One of my new favorite movies of all time. I'll edit this review if I think up anything else to say.
It's odd, I write longer reviews for movies I don't like, but rarely for ones I love. I guess it's hard for me to express the feelings I get from watching a truly great work of art without sounding like I'm full of myself. Night is Short, Walk on Girl came out early last year, but I just caught it for the GKids fathom events in the theatre. Seeing Masaaki Yuasa's mug on screen for the after credits interview is an image I'll never forget. This Science Saru masterpiece deals with a lot of themes; the ever increasing passage of time that seems to go faster as you age, the dangers but also carefree excitement of adult life, love at first sight, etc. It's one of the craziest, but also extremely heartfelt journeys that I think a lot of us have felt in our lives at least once. Going back to American Graffiti or even Ferris Bueller, doing everything you see in sight to take advantage of the moment, because you have to leave and grow up. It's that crazy prom night you look back on with fond memories, remembering all the stuff you did, wanting to recapture that magic. Yuasa's fluid style really lends itself to this fast paced narrative, moreso than Lu Over The Wall, and the use of physical renderings to emulate emotions, like a court room scene symbolizing a conflict of emotions that's happening in a head, and flowers blooming from the stomach to capture that bubbly feeling you can get from drinking. It's hard to pick on scene I love the most, it's all so memorable, like one night, the entire journey is the best moment. The girl with black hair, mirroring her counterpart from The Tatami Galaxy, is just on a quest to become an adult, so she goes across town to different bars just drinking and meeting all these odd assortment of people. Each of them have their own strange romantic stories they're still a part in, and little does the girl know, she's in one too. The first three fourths of the movie is just a wild, crazy, silly extravaganza across the city, but the last half hour takes a more restrained tone as the girl starts to visit people who have gotten colds, laying in their beds, each of who's story has found some kind of end. Seeing the girl mature throughout the story is one of the greatest experiences I've seen on screen, and it's surprisingly funny too. If you're in the mood for just some crazy animation, but a story with all of life in it, you may want to pop it up, by chance.
They're playing this timeless music video in front of The House With A Clock In Its Walls right now, in IMAX 3D no less. The remastering done to it is exquisite. For example, you can see the individual particles of dust in the shines of light peering into the house. You can see the dirt and gravel on the street. The detail is out of this world, and it belongs on the giant screen. The 3D effect was an interesting little bonus, but only added depth of field, and not much of a pop. The short film and music video is classic, a staple of pop culture, so there's no sense in me reviewing it specifically. It's the embodiment of classic horror and the overall mood of the 1980's. I can see why Universal sought to put this in front of Eli Roth's film, which heavily relies on a classic aesthetic, using the 70's Universal and Amblin logo to add to the atmosphere. I welcome the addition and I welcome showing an amazing music video like Thriller in the theater. Let's do more of these, please!
All the people giving this film lower reviews legit don't understand it. This is one of the greatest blockbusters ever crafted, not just in it's visuals, but writing.
This is honestly pure art. One of the best anime films ever made.
The second best superhero film of the last twenty years or so, right behind Batman v Superman.
The philosophical questions it asks about being a superhero were pretty ambitious for the time. It makes for a fantastic story about Peter Parker having trouble dealing with his personal life, and his unassigned duty as Spider-Man, something that's expected of him by the people of New York.
It's a great film, especially an action film too. Highly recommended by me, and I'm not much of a fan of superhero stories.
"How big is an F5?"
"Finger of God."
This is a great fast-paced and tense action flick. The late Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Dusty and the late Bill Paxton are both fantastic actors in this. Each of the characters have unique and extremely lovable personalities. Their quest to finally be able to study tornadoes accurately is a good enough reason to root for these hilarious scientists.
Please give it a shot. It's full of great practical and digital effects that still hold up years, it has outstanding performances from the entire cast, and some great music from Mark Mancina.
Today, on February 26th, 2017, we say goodbye to "The Extreme." The one, the only, Bill Paxton. I love him so much in everything he's in, but this is the one role that stands out to me the most.
R.I.P. Bill Paxton
"I know you feel bad about the deer, but it's not your fault. Things die. That's part of life. It's bad to kill, but it's not bad to die."
"Souls don't die."
The smartest animated movie ever crafted and blessed onto movie-goers. Brad Bird delivers the magnum opus of his career and he hasn't topped it since. He blew his creative load out into his first feature and it really shows. The meaning of life, the uselessness of war, death, fear-mongering, and parting of a loved one are all topics tackled wonderfully in this seemingly "made for kids" movie. Who knew a movie like this would be able to talk about 50's war propaganda in such a revealing and hard-hitting way that most movies wish they could dream of doing?
But on top of it's extremely mature themes, it's a fun adventure comedy movie for people of any age. Hogarth Hughes is an instantly lovable boy who just wants a friend, and eventually gets one who happens to be a 50-foot giant robot. Dean McCoppin is a junkyard owner who gave us one of the best memes on the internet, and Kent Mansley manages to deliver some amazing gags in-between his war-mongering freakout moments.
I love the setting the concept artists chose. The 50's look isn't just for aesthetic, as it does serve the time period to hit home the anti-war message, but it's just as fun to look at as ever. The Duck-And-Cover nuclear bomb classroom video, the classic diner with all the waitresses in dresses, the cheesy black-and-white horror movies playing late at night, etc. etc. It's such a fun movie to look at, just for the time period it's set in.
The Giant, I don't even need to elaborate on. Everyone's already written 20 page essays on why he's the greatest silent character ever animated, but I'll just repeat it in a sentence. You cry for a giant metal robot who only says a few words the whole movie.
It's a brilliantly crafted and gorgeous movie that actually manages to make adults cry at 2D drawings. The best written and animated movie ever made.
HAPPY 25th ANNIVERSARY to ALIEN 3
Hell yeah, as of today, Alien 3 was unleashed onto the world exactly 25 years ago. Now unfortunately, audiences were not treated to the amazing assembly cut, which I've already strongly recommended, but nonetheless, David Fincher's first film was released into theaters with a largely mixed reaction. It wouldn't be until 2001 that a proper fully recut version of the movie would be released, which is now available on the Alien Anthology Blu-ray box set.
I'm not going to write a super long review for this one, as I'm burnt out after that Alien: Covenant four page angry rant, but I'll write just a little on why this is one of my favorite movies of all time.
A lot of people are very quick to dismiss this movie, as one the surface, they judge the critical plot point that happens in the first 5 minutes of the movie, in which Hicks and Newt from James Cameron's Aliens are unceremoniously killed off-screen with a word of dialogue or screen-time. I wonder if audience members just tuned out after that scene and refused to accept and enjoy the movie with such a "FUCK YOU!" moment like that so early on. I personally don't mind it, as it perfectly sets the depressing tone the movie goes for. Put those characters to rest, as they're not the focus of the Alien universe. Ripley is the focus of the franchise.
Just a brief synopsis, Ripley is the soul survivor of an escape pod crash as she lands on a distant prison planet, Fiorina "Fury" 161. She's rescued and put with the other prisoners, where they must soon join forces as they face off an alien loose in the lead refinery prison plant, which stoad aboard the crashed escape pod.
I love the thematic elements Fincher tries to go for, mostly stuff that only appears in the assembly cut. A lot of people have pointed out all the religious symbolism that vapors over the entire movie, in it's imagery and storyline. Ripley comes to the planet almost like a Jesus figure. In this bleak and terrible environment, a group of people who are criminals and rapists, the prison inmates have converted to a kind of Christian religion, but are thrown off when a temptation figure, a woman, arrives on the planet. They question their own religion and existence even further with the presence of an evil figure, the xenomorph. By the person Ripley is, she forgives and atones for their sins, and ultimate sacrifices herself at the end for the good of mankind, destroying the last alien and even forming the crucifix at the end as she throws herself in the lava.
But besides it's rather heavy use of themes, it's a perfect sequel to the masterpiece Alien. Because it's not an action movie, it has the chance to recapture the close encounters claustrophobic and chaotic attitude the finale the first movie originally had. It's an incredibly nightmarish experience, in mood and events. Ripley has had to witness everyone she's ever known be killed and hasn't gotten a break since the first film. Even at the end of Alien 3, when human Bishop lies to Ripley that he'll kill the xenomorph chestburster and she can go live a normal, she can tell through his words his dishonesty, and decides she's had enough with the horror and "bullshit" she's had to endure. It's not a pleasant movie by any means, but the dark and terrible nature of the story and atmosphere makes it a true horror movie. The music by Elliot Goldenthal is on the same level as James Horner's score for Aliens. It's hopeless attitude and Alien-like sound makes it a true work of art for a movie soundtrack.
I'll take a religious-heavy, brilliantly written, visually terrifying, and wonderfully executed horror downer any day. I love this kind of shit. The characters are all interesting, especially Morse, who has a wicked dark sense of humor. Ripley's character is brought to a final close, and I consider this movie to be the true finale to the Alien franchise, and it really works. Trying to bring her back in Resurrection just screamed cash-grab. This is a fantastic film. Yes, it's depressing as hell and it's not for everyone, but that's to be expected going into a HORROR movie. PLEASE give it a chance, watch past the opening scene. It's not meant to have a happy ending where it's all smiles. Ridley Scott should've followed this movie for Alien: Covenant.
Reddit has no idea what they're missing out on, they're too busy circlejerking the shit out of Fury Road.
This is the movie where Daniel Day-Lewis truly shines. Easily his best performance role to date, with Lincoln and There Will Be Blood respectively going after. I don't have time now to do a full review, I'll update this later, but go watch this movie! I'm actually shocked at how few people have seen this. Incredible display of acting talent.
Oh boy, another movie I'm in the minority opinion of... or am I? I actually don't know this time, I think this movie has like a cult following or something. Which says a lot about this movie more than other horror remakes that are brought up. I've seen other people on here give excellent reviews explaining why this movie works more than what the common viewer gives it credit for, but I'll just share a couple random thoughts of mine.
This movie does not in any way tarnish the original movie or "ruin" what John Carpenter's movie created. I personally believe Rob Zombie took a run-of-the-mill slasher film, upped it a few notches, and tried to explore characters much further. I give Carpenter all the credit in the world for all he did for the horror genre; his music and movies completely revolutionized the medium, for better or worse. But what Zombie was able to bring was a little more humanity to the picture, yes, I'm actually saying that. The scene at the hospital where Michael Myers screams in his mother's face, like emotionally gutted me. Imagine your a mother, and you see this child, your son, that you've raised all your life to love and be a good kid, just murder someone right in front of you and scream in your face when you try to console them. Imagine the guilt and failure that goes on in her head. That whole sequence with the sirens going off and the slow-motion happening is one of the most brilliant scenes in a horror movie I've seen. Captivating and mesmerizing. Great work all around.
Zombie knew just all the right elements to make this unique, yet also play perfect homages to the original classic. I can understand this over-the-top white-trash style not working for some people, I agree with that, but it's hard to argue the amount of brilliance seen in this. It's one of the smartest horror remakes ever made. Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Lumis? Come on, that not perfect casting? I might post some more thoughts later after I watch the four hour documentary on this Blu-ray, but I wanted to get things out. I wasn't sure how I'd dig this, but I'm really leaning towards loving it. Rob Zombie did a commendable job paying tribute while expanding the universe. In fact, I believe Zombie enhanced the original and the character.
Easily one of the best movie making documentaries ever to be created. Even if you don't care for Zombie's movie, the level of detail that was put into this FOUR HOUR bonus feature is astounding. I want to keep reliving the first time watching. Just a seriously fantastic compilation. Screw those nerdwriter1-esque video essays on Youtube, if you want to actually get into making movies and understanding the business for real, watch this now. It's like you're experiencing everything in real time.
Holy lord, that was the best experience I've ever had in a theater. Went dressed up as Tommy Wiseau, took a picture with a fan, and stood up in front of the entire audience because I was the only one in costume. I would just like to thank the man himself for gracing the world with such an entertaining movie. How can the movie be that bad if it's that enjoyable? The entire audience was getting in on it, pointing out inconsistency errors, reciting quotes, and even throwing spoons (Which caused the police to come into the theater, so we had to stop). It's a sight to behold. Yeah, the movie from a technical perspective has some of the most amateur direction, blocking, scene set-ups, transitions, just everything. Every single little thing is done wrong, but in result, creates for a fantastic viewing party. Love this movie and you should love it too. Remember, if a lot of people love each other, the world would be a better place to live. Glad I didn't get kicked out of the theater for looking like a creepy homeless man who stole a tuxedo. The officers gave me looks as I went to the restroom, I was holding back laughter.
I'm spinning with all kinds of emotion, but I loved it. Alita is one of my favorite protagonists of the last decade or so, and she's all in service in one of the most genuine, exciting, and traditional blockbusters I've seen in years. No wonder critics hate this film, it goes against what they've been trying to prop up for years. It's not the same, it's not what they've come to expect, it goes in deep with it's anime roots in ways I'm amazed the studio allowed to let pass. I wonder just how much hand James Cameron had in pushing the heads to keep it exactly how he and Rodriguez wanted. It has the adventure, the epic scale, the mystery, drama, and anxious moments I've been longing for in films for awhile. It doesn't even feel like a film that should exist, not in this year, and that's why I'm so happy. I, like, actually cared about the characters, it has Cameron's touch of cinematic storyelling, translating it's original manga source material to his style. This is how empowered characters should be written. The visual cues, development, deeply emotional moments, just, aw, I was tense the whole time. It has a Back To The Future era bar sequence. It has it all. I'll write more later, or discuss it in our podcast, but Alita is a fantastic movie from an unfortunately bygone era.
"For me, Godzilla represents our need to look outside ourselves, for me as a person opening up my horizon and realizing that there's hope in nature, and nature gives us the option to do the right thing at all turns, and it's up to us to follow it's voice, and to listen to something bigger than ourselves, listen to God, whatever that means to each one of us."
"If you want to look at Godzilla from, a strictly entertainment value, you can, that's great. It's like, if you want to swim in the shallow end of the pool, that's fine. If you want to go in to the deeper end of the pool and really peel back his layers, and look at him as a mythological figure, it only makes him that much cooler."
This is the Batman v Superman of Kaiju films, and I mean that in the best way possible. I want to autistically rant about this movie's reception later.
This is one of the best video game to movie adaptations ever made. Such a campy classic. I love this movie, even if it has some obvious flaws.
That sequence where Glenn Howerton walks slowly through the house while the Mama Tried vinyl plays, and the killer follows behind him, makes this movie worth a watch just for that. A couple of unnecessary slow sequences, but goddamn, there's some nuggets of sheer brilliance locked in this movie. A little more work on the writing would've helped, but overall, the direction and choice of music was superb. I'll be revisiting this movie just for some of the great scenes scattered throughout.
Surprisingly enjoyable, passionate film about redemption of the body through the soul. This isn't a Hallmark film that's cheaply made and thrown out into the market. I haven't read the original book, but the production quality and acting from up-and-coming stars like Logan Marshall-Green and Abigail Cowen steal the show. Sets looks great, cinematography is rich, and the film is paced decently even at it's 2+ hour runtime. Very bleak, taxing story that goes into some dark places; child prostitution, abortion, death, brothels, cheating, and more. It's a rewarding experience though.
I can officially confirm the mid to late 90's was the golden age of animated movies.
I'm not going to bother writing a 10 page essay on why this film has deep meanings or some bullshit like that, but I'll just say, it's pretty damn shocking.
The fact they got a 12 year-old little actress to stab her vagina with a crucifix until it's bloody while yelling, "Fuck me!" is pretty damn ballsy, especially for the time period.
Great performances, haunting music, tense final act with the exorcism, and it leaves you feeling dirty. It's not the scariest movie I've ever seen, but it's one of the most shocking.
