Sulphur on 16/10/2018 at 16:58
Quote Posted by Renzatic
There's really only one thing I thought the ball was dropped on. It's not a deus ex machina, but given that it's treated somewhat as a background event throughout the show, mostly mentioned, rarely shown, never really focused upon, it's sudden importance at the end loses a lot of its impact. You'll know what I'm talking about when you get to it, I'm sure.
Beyond that, the story is fine. Really honestly, so is the ending. None of the family ever act out of character, doing random stupid things primarily to further the plot. If anything, it subverts your expectations by having them all do things that actually make sense, given the circumstance. This nice streak of people not acting like total idiots doesn't fall apart by the end. The two siblings who do the wrong things were the most effected by the house in the past, and are severely emotionally compromised in the present. When it comes to the ending, it's not the structure or reasoning exactly, so much as the tone of it. My problems with it are entirely subjective, I'll admit, but I don't think it ends the way a good horror story should.
Sounds good. Oculus was also generally better at depicting a sibling relationship, so it's good to see that they've focused more on what they're good at. It has the knock-on effect of making those things that go bump in the night scenes more unsettling when they do happen, because the contrast is more stark when the bulk of the runtime is relatable familial tension. And as a bonus, you tend to care more about who the scary stuff's happening to because of all the time spent on the characters (in theory, anyway - horror and long-form serialisation still strikes me as a formula easily prone to fatigue at some point).
henke on 21/10/2018 at 11:38
A live-action remake of Jin-Roh popped up on Netflix yesterday, just like that. So I watched it. It's called Illang: The Wolf Brigade now, for some reason.
[video=youtube;WGyCTpvCHbg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGyCTpvCHbg[/video]
The story is about North and South Korea reuniting, and as they do so a terrorist organizaiton called Sect arrises to try to put a stop to the reunification. In response a "Special Unit" is formed to fight Sect, and also within the Special Unit there's a unit called The Wolf Brigade. After a Special Unit soldier kills a young girl who's a Sect member he feels guily, seeks out the girl's sister to try to set things right. Look, the story is kind of unweildy, and at two and a half hours the whole thing is kind of a flabby mess. On the plus side, it's directed by Jee-woon Kim (who also did "The Good, The Bad, and the Weird", and "A Bittersweet Life"), so at least you know it has some nice action scenes, and it's also gorgeously shot and lit.
It's been ages since I saw Jin-Roh, the anime it's based on, so I can't really compare it. Tho IIRC I wasn't a huge fan of the anime either.
Also seen:
Hardcore Henry - this was fun and inventive, tho light on plot.
Hold The Dark - Very cool ambiance(pun intended because I'm very clever), but overall it's just... ok.
Kodachrome - On my "Best Netflix Originals of 2018 - Bad Dad category" list, this is second after Kristen Bell/Kelsey Grammer double-header "Like Father", but ahead of David Spade-vehicle "Father of the Year".
Operation Finale - A movie about Israelis hunting down Nazi war criminals. Fine performances, but this is also a Netflix Original, so of course it has that certain sheen of blandness seemingly required of all of their movie productions.
I've been watching a lot of these Netflix Originals recently, will have to do a Best of 2018 list at some point. Spoiler: none of them are great, except "Annihilation".
henke on 21/10/2018 at 16:53
Just came back from seeing A Star Is Born. It was great. :)
henke on 27/10/2018 at 10:49
Daredevil S3, ep 9. This is bleak. o_______o
henke on 27/10/2018 at 20:36
For some spooky Halloween-viewing I watched Errementari.
[video=youtube;V1E240HdoR0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1E240HdoR0[/video]
Which, eh, didn't really turn out to be spooky at all. It was pretty fun though. It has a theatrical and sometime silly Sam Raimi-kinda vibe to it. Slapstick comedy where people fall head-first into beartraps, demons with faces for butts, etc. Good stuff.
Harvester on 27/10/2018 at 22:07
I watched Hereditary for Halloween. It's genuinely creepy but don't expect any jolts out of your chair like you see in jump-scare movies. It's just as much a family drama as it is a horror movie, and the dramatic scenes are well done. The acting, sets and cinematography are excellent and it has a hauntingly creepy score. The girl in the movie gives other creepy girls like Esther from Orphan a run for their money.
I liked it but I think the hype surrounding it where they were talking about 'scariest movie ever' is a lot of hyperbole. 8/10
uncadonego on 31/10/2018 at 21:42
Ok, I'll mention that I just binged on Suits on Netflix for the sake of asking a question. Does anyone know why Netflix is missing the last 6 episodes of season 7? Do they have some agreement with USA Network to stay a full calendar year behind first runs of the show or something? I was frustrated by the sudden stop. I'd like to know if those last six episodes are going to come around.
Also, how is season 8 going without Patrick and Meagan?
Tommyph1208 on 1/11/2018 at 09:13
Watched Bohemian Rhapsody last night and it was great.
I quite like Queens music, and you are treated to plenty of their hits in the movie (incl an almost full length remake of their 1985 Wembley Stadium Live Aid 20 min. concert at the end).
The movie focuses by far mostly on Freddie, his talent, sexuality, partners etc. with the rest of the band members being mostly there because... well... They were part of the band... Freddie was a great and very charismatic artist, but a tiny part of me feels its a bit of a shame when considering the personalities of all of these people and potential for storytelling lost. Most Queen fans probably know that eg. the lead guitarist Brian May, as a teenager, built his own electric guitar with his father in their garage using wood from an old fireplace mantle, and an oak dining table (Worm holes plugged with matchsticks). fitted it with home built or modified electronics, a home built and designed tremolo system from an old hardened steel knife, etc.
A guitar he would go an to almost exclusively use during Queens "reign", and still uses to this day (where he btw now also holds a PhD in astrophysics)... Maybe (probably) including stories like those would make the story much more messy, I dunno.
If I had to give any critique, the movie, at times, paints a bit of a glossy picture of Freddie and the band as these perfect genius and ingenious musicians, just pulling what would go on to be absolute masterpiece classics, out of their asses and being, if not solely responsible, then at least very much responsible, for the large amount of donations given at the live aid concert etc.
Al_B on 1/11/2018 at 21:34
Quote Posted by uncadonego
Ok, I'll mention that I just binged on Suits on Netflix for the sake of asking a question. Does anyone know why Netflix is missing the last 6 episodes of season 7?
That must be very frustrating and I can only imagine it's to do with USA Network rights as you suspect. It's probably not much consolation but they're up to date on the UK version of Netflix through to season 8 - perhaps a holiday, physical or virtual is in order?
Quote Posted by uncadonego
Also, how is season 8 going without Patrick and Meagan?
It pretty much continues the trend about the show being about the characters and less about the cases that they may be involved with. Obviously the tone has changed with two of the main characters not being there but it probably was due a bit of a refresh anyway and I'm finding it enjoyable enough - far better than I'd expected given how integral those characters were to the show originally.
SubJeff on 3/11/2018 at 08:26
I, on the other hand, started watching The Good Wife on Amazon.
I cannot watch Suits anymore. In comparison it's so, so vapid. Season 8 is really dull imho. Without Mike it's much weaker.
It already went downhill since they stopped caring about his memory. The start was interesting because it was like a lowkey superpower. Now it's just posing and not even good posing. And Lewis would get thrown out the window in RL.
The Good Wife, on the other hand, is great. Really great.