Movie Recommendation Thread

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I think all the Jokers we’ve got in film have been influenced heavily by The Killing Joke and The Dark Knight.
I really, really wish film makers would stop reading Dark Knight Returns as if it's some Holy Grail of Batman. And not a random off shoot from a grimmer, darker time. And, controversial opinion here, The Dark Knight isn't ll that. It's too long, with a good 25 minutes of it being utterly redundant.
 
I’ve only watched The Dark Knight once. My preferred level of grim Batman is DCEU level.
 
I really, really wish film makers would stop reading Dark Knight Returns as if it's some Holy Grail of Batman. And not a random off shoot from a grimmer, darker time. And, controversial opinion here, The Dark Knight isn't ll that. It's too long, with a good 25 minutes of it being utterly redundant.
I find The Dark Knight has pacing issues. While I really liked it the first time, I don't think I have ever watched it all through a second time. Either I will drift away from it or end up fast-forwarding through to a few key scenes. It's a good movie, but for me to consider something a truly great movie, it has to suck me in every time I see it.
 
Ledger's performance was great, but otherwise Dark Knight was pretty meh. Then again, I don't really like comic book movie (even though I love comics), so...
 
I'm just going to admit it. I like Solo: A Star Wars Story. I think I'm even going to get the BluRay so I can watch it once Disney yanks it from Netflix.

I consider it's title a case of false advertising. Han Solo appears nowhere in this movie. It isn't a "Star Wars Story" even though Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, the Millennium Falcon, Stormtroopers, TIE Fighters, and a Star Destroyer all appear. I guess all that stuff was just visiting.

No, what it is is a fun Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone sort of movie. It's a case of what if one of those early 80s sci-fi movies heavily inspired by Han Solo and Star Wars actually had a budget.

My one comment about the plot? Han Solo would have deviated from the plan long enough to help Chewbacca free those wookies. That would have also made those characters return a few minutes later have a lot more impact instead of just being convenient to the plot.

And I have to admit that even though I think the whole "Han shot first" geek rage is pretty stupid, I thought the movie's pandering to that bit of nerd rage was pretty awesome.
 
I was going to say something about Romero refusing to shave his mustache for the role. When I was a kid, I never noticed it. Years later, when I found out that tidbit, I couldn't watch the show without it almost distracting me.
 
I was going to say something about Romero refusing to shave his mustache for the role. When I was a kid, I never noticed it. Years later, when I found out that tidbit, I couldn't watch the show without it almost distracting me.

It jumps out much more on modern TVs. It really wasn't as prominent back in the day on the smaller screens of the CRTs.
 
The best Joker voice is Mark Hamill, by far.

Yeah, that was a definitive performance in an overall definitive adaptation. I think Ledger's performance is one of the best in film overall (I mean all films), and I'm looking forward to the new one with JP, but Hamill WAS The Joker, it was the comic brought to life.

But that's also why it depresses me that they screwed up The Killing Joke so bad. That should have been the penultimate Conroy vs Hamill story
 
Yeah, that was a definitive performance in an overall definitive adaptation. I think Ledger's performance is one of the best in film overall (I mean all films), and I'm looking forward to the new one with JP, but Hamill WAS The Joker, it was the comic brought to life.

But that's also why it depresses me that they screwed up The Killing Joke so bad. That should have been the penultimate Conroy vs Hamill story

I haven't seen The Killing Joke yet because I read it was awful.
 
Clearly the best Joker of all time is Jared Leto, am I right?


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I'm just going to admit it. I like Solo: A Star Wars Story. I think I'm even going to get the BluRay so I can watch it once Disney yanks it from Netflix.

I consider it's title a case of false advertising. Han Solo appears nowhere in this movie. It isn't a "Star Wars Story" even though Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, the Millennium Falcon, Stormtroopers, TIE Fighters, and a Star Destroyer all appear. I guess all that stuff was just visiting.

No, what it is is a fun Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone sort of movie. It's a case of what if one of those early 80s sci-fi movies heavily inspired by Han Solo and Star Wars actually had a budget.

My one comment about the plot? Han Solo would have deviated from the plan long enough to help Chewbacca free those wookies. That would have also made those characters return a few minutes later have a lot more impact instead of just being convenient to the plot.

And I have to admit that even though I think the whole "Han shot first" geek rage is pretty stupid, I thought the movie's pandering to that bit of nerd rage was pretty awesome.

It is a great movie.

It is also very much a Star Wars Story in all ways that matter.

It's Lawrence "The Empire Strikes Back" Kasdan's baby and it shows. A magnificent space Western.

You mean the ass who wouldn't shave his mustachios for the role? Yeah, unfortunately still remember despite trying very hard to forget

The Henry Cavill of his day!
 
I really, really wish film makers would stop reading Dark Knight Returns as if it's some Holy Grail of Batman. And not a random off shoot from a grimmer, darker time. And, controversial opinion here, The Dark Knight isn't ll that. It's too long, with a good 25 minutes of it being utterly redundant.

I think Dark Knight Returns is brilliant but not a blueprint for all Batman forever either. No more than Red Son is for all Superman.
 
Captain Battle is an actual Golden Age superhero that fell into the public domain, but it is funny the film makers had to insert a Red Skull type. He actually had some interesting villains of his own they could have used.
 
Captain Battle is an actual Golden Age superhero that fell into the public domain, but it is funny the film makers had to insert a Red Skull type. He actually had some interesting villains of his own they could have used.
They only used the name and general look. Secret ID and backstory are different. The movie Captain Battle injects himself with a serum that gives him superstrength and fights undead neo-Nazis. The comic book Captain Battle used gadgets. But since Marvel stole the name Daredevil, they shouldn't complain!
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This is totally not Black Widow
 
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Speaking of public domain superheroes, I really want to see how bad this is:
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The issue with bad films these days is anyone can shoot a shitty movie on digital. Back in the days of film it took real committment to make a shitty movie on 16 or 35mm.
True; that's part of what I admire. A lot of the "B-movies" now are just "look, we're making a cheesy bad movie, ha ha!" Nowadays a lot of bad movies are deliberately bad and self-consciously trying to be "so-bad-it's-good," which is why crap like Sharknado doesn't have the laughs and charm of something like Plan 9 from Outer Space. Ed Wood was trying to make a good movie.

If you know your movie is bad, it can't be good and can't be so-bad-it's-good; if you think your movie is good it can be good, bad, or so-bad-it's-good.
 
True; that's part of what I admire. A lot of the "B-movies" now are just "look, we're making a cheesy bad movie, ha ha!" Nowadays a lot of bad movies are deliberately bad and self-consciously trying to be "so-bad-it's-good," which is why crap like Sharknado doesn't have the laughs and charm of something like Plan 9 from Outer Space. Ed Wood was trying to make a good movie.

If you know your movie is bad, it can't be good and can't be so-bad-it's-good; if you think your movie is good it can be good, bad, or so-bad-it's-good.

You guys are so right about this. One thing I dig about trash cinema is the sheer ingenuity on display.

In Deadbeat at Dawn, Jim VanBebber crashes through (non-prop) windows, rappels down parking garages, and hangs off moving cars.

For Scalps, the mother of a crew member made a cover for a noisy camera out of pot holders.

Etc., Etc.
 
True; that's part of what I admire. A lot of the "B-movies" now are just "look, we're making a cheesy bad movie, ha ha!" Nowadays a lot of bad movies are deliberately bad and self-consciously trying to be "so-bad-it's-good," which is why crap like Sharknado doesn't have the laughs and charm of something like Plan 9 from Outer Space. Ed Wood was trying to make a good movie.

If you know your movie is bad, it can't be good and can't be so-bad-it's-good; if you think your movie is good it can be good, bad, or so-bad-it's-good.

John Waters talks about the impossibilty of purposefully making a 'so-bad-its-good' film. He, Russ Meyer, Paul Bartel, Jack Hill, Nicholas Ray, James Whale and Jonathan Demme made some purposefully campy films but that is distinct I think from a bad film.
 
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It's on Youtube, so feel free :tongue:

I wouldn't even rate these as B-Movie. D at best. Some of these make Roger Corman movies look like B-Movies (and most of them definitely were not!)
Well, the B in B-movie isn't a letter grade. It derives from a record's B-side as it was a designation for a low-budget companion film to the main attraction at a double feature. So a "D" movie could still be a B-movie while an A-movie could be an "F" movie. :clown:
 
Well, the B in B-movie isn't a letter grade. It derives from a record's B-side as it was a designation for a low-budget companion film to the main attraction at a double feature. So a "D" movie could still be a B-movie while an A-movie could be an "F" movie. :clown:

Fully aware of what a B-movie is. Since most of these never came out in a theater, they still don't rate as one. :wink:

Found the proper term for these: Z movies (which I only just learned about, but the term supposedly goes back to the 1960's)
 
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The Amazing Bulk! That movie is astounding. It had to have been made by folks who had no clue how movies are actually made, but had a clip-art cgi folder of animations and an ...."imaginative"...approach to composing shots (almost like a grade school play-approach, and I don't mean that cool Alien one). For example, people in cars are sitting on a couch with the cartoon-rendered cgi vehicle is painted around them. From the General's bizarre soliloquy about dust (the three words "Dust; it's everywhere" still crack me up) to that just insane ending chase scene where the director just said "Frell it" and dumped in every stock animation image they had left (you really have to see it to understand), I'd put Bulk on the level with The Room.

Best. $1.50 I ever spent.
 
The Amazing Bulk! That movie is astounding. It had to have been made by folks who had no clue how movies are actually made, but had a clip-art cgi folder of animations and an ...."imaginative"...approach to composing shots (almost like a grade school play-approach, and I don't mean that cool Alien one). For example, people in cars are sitting on a couch with the cartoon-rendered cgi vehicle is painted around them. From the General's bizarre soliloquy about dust (the three words "Dust; it's everywhere" still crack me up) to that just insane ending chase scene where the director just said "Frell it" and dumped in every stock animation image they had left (you really have to see it to understand), I'd put Bulk on the level with The Room.

Best. $1.50 I ever spent.

You spent money on that? It was free on Prime Video at one point, and I spent all of 5 minutes on that before saying "Nope!".
 
Early reviews of Avengers: Endgame are overall very positive. I have to admit, I'm very non-cynical and hyped for this movie. I think the MCU movies leading to this point represent an unprecedented achievement in cinema. It's not just the sheer number of movies and total budget - it's the audacity to plot a blockbuster movie arc over twenty-two movies based on comic books and to arrive at the other end with real pathos and soul. It's even a little sad to be at the end of it.

I got tickets for Monday at a theater with reserved seats - perfect seats, praise the One-Above-All. I also splurged for the big stupid 3D with these crazy chairs that lurch around and occasionally spray you with water. They're moronic, but it will be a part of the big dumb crowd-pleasing entertainment that I'm looking forward to.
 
Here's Agent Beetle, a take on the original Blue Beetle iirc:


Captain Battle:


Thunderstorm: The Return of Thor (based on one of the Golden Age comics versions):


Rise of the Black Bat:
 
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You spent money on that? It was free on Prime Video at one point, and I spent all of 5 minutes on that before saying "Nope!".

This was way back before Netflix or Prime was a thing in my life.
 
Early reviews of Avengers: Endgame are overall very positive. I have to admit, I'm very non-cynical and hyped for this movie. I think the MCU movies leading to this point represent an unprecedented achievement in cinema. It's not just the sheer number of movies and total budget - it's the audacity to plot a blockbuster movie arc over twenty-two movies based on comic books and to arrive at the other end with real pathos and soul. It's even a little sad to be at the end of it.

I got tickets for Monday at a theater with reserved seats - perfect seats, praise the One-Above-All. I also splurged for the big stupid 3D with these crazy chairs that lurch around and occasionally spray you with water. They're moronic, but it will be a part of the big dumb crowd-pleasing entertainment that I'm looking forward to.
I got a little burned out on Marvel movies a few years ago (mostly brought on by Age of Ultron and Civil War), but I watched Thor: Ragnarok with my nephews this weekend, and that got my enthusiasm for the franchise back. I might catch up on the movies in time to catch Endgame in the theater.

One of my growing complaints with Marvel movies was the blandness of the locations. It's great that we have moved past the days when superheroes all has to wear black leather, but in Age of Ultron and Civil War (which have blurred together in my mind), it felt like half the movie was taking place in the Avengers corporate office, which I am pretty sure was just the set of NCIS with a blue filter on it. Every now and then, they'd venture out to a gray parking garage or a gray airport tarmac (which admittedly was a fun scene). I get the setting is largely modern-day Earth, but Earth is actually a pretty colorful place.

Thor: Ragnarok was like a movie designed to respond to my complaints. That was the most Marvel-looking Marvel movie I have ever seen. Adding a Mark Mothersbaugh soundtrack was just a bonus.
 
I got a little burned out on Marvel movies a few years ago (mostly brought on by Age of Ultron and Civil War), but I watched Thor: Ragnarok with my nephews this weekend, and that got my enthusiasm for the franchise back. I might catch up on the movies in time to catch Endgame in the theater.
As much as a fanboy as I am towards the MCU, I feel the breakdown of the 21 movies is approximately 1/3 must-see, 1/3 see if you want and 1/3 don't bother unless you've got nothing better to do. None of them were actively awful, but the bottom third can make the franchise seem pretty pointless. Here is my list of the must-sees in the order that they occur to me:
  • Iron Man
  • Captain America: Winter Soldier
  • Thor: Ragnarok
  • Avengers
  • Avengers: Civil War
  • Avengers: Infinity War
  • Ant Man
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
The middle group is probably the biggest, and there are a few borderline movies that could arguably fit in the first category like GotG2, Ant Man and The Wasp, Black Panther and Spider-Man: Homecoming. Of course, YMMV.

So if you see the wrong ones, I can understand not being into the MCU. If I had to watch all the Thor 1 and 2, followed by Iron Man 2 and 3, that might easily sour me on the franchise, for example.
 
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