The Latest Movie/TV show You Watched Topic 2.0

[JAGzilla]

Apparently Toshiro Mifune was Lucas' first choice for Obi-Wan. That would have been wild.

Oh my God, that would've been amazing. I wouldn't trade Alec Guinness Obi-Wan for the world, but imagine if that had actually panned out.

[LSD Jellyfish]

I watched mother! by Darren Aronofsky the other night. Absolutely fantastic film, and I regret not seeing it sooner. One of those films that works on both a narrative and emotional level. It's also the type of film that really sticks with you, and I've been thinking about it since.

Spoiler:

I didn't immediately catch up that it was all an allusion to God and the Earth, as well as a re-telling of the events of the Bible and Jesus. Fantastic all around, and I'm curious to rewatch and reunderstand things. Most interesting and unique take I've seen on Christianity in a while.

[Rando Yaguchi]

Apparently Toshiro Mifune was Lucas' first choice for Obi-Wan. That would have been wild.

Oh my God, that would've been amazing. I wouldn't trade Alec Guinness Obi-Wan for the world, but imagine if that had actually panned out.

Right? Looks like he was considered for Vader, too. Here's what his daughter said about it:

At the time, sci-fi movies still looked quite cheap as the effects were not advanced and he had a lot of samurai pride. So then, there was talk about him taking the Darth Vader role as his face would be covered, but in the end he turned that down too.

[JAGzilla]

The Blob (1958). Hadn't seen it since I was a kid. It's alright... mostly very slow and talky, and seems longer than it is. That does get dull at times, but also adds a certain sense of realism. Rather than just experiencing the highlights, you kind of feel like you're actually following these kids through the whole event, slow 'in between' moments included. And then that does make the tense action moments all the more effective when they come. Well, some of them; the diner scene was lacking, unfortunately.

And there are some great, iconic moments sprinkled throughout. A lot of trailer-worthy lines from Steve McQueen, and the screaming crowd pouring out of the theater, in particular.

And some less great stuff, too. The doctor sending the kids to investigate instead of calling the police, for example.

[Terasawa]

While it's not really a good movie, The Blob has this almost otherworldly-ness that appeals to me. Except for 4-D Man from most of the same crew, there aren't really any classic Hollywood monster movies that feel like it: Both were shot in Pennsylvania, and while the casts featured future Hollywood stars, they just don't look, sound, or feel like Hollywood movies. So in that regard I've always favored it to the 1988 remake, which is (conventionally speaking) a better film, but not nearly as unique or charming.

[Rando Yaguchi]

Batman: The Long Halloween Parts 1 and 2 - DC once again takes a classic graphic novel and turns it into an awkward, lifeless bore. The dialogue is just painfully bad.

[Rando Yaguchi]

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - Now THAT was great. Felt a lot like Pixar, a lot of good humor with some nice cathartic moments sprinkled in, and of course the visuals were fantastic. It's not a masterpiece or anything, but it's a very fun film with heart that can be enjoyed by any age group.

[LSD Jellyfish]

The Many Saints of Newark

I’m a big Sopranos fan, and I really enjoyed it. It’s not necessary, but didn’t fuck with anything, and serves as a perfect prequel.

[Rando Yaguchi]

The Many Saints of Newark

I’m a big Sopranos fan, and I really enjoyed it. It’s not necessary, but didn’t fuck with anything, and serves as a perfect prequel.

That was my main issue with it - definitely felt more like an El Camino than a Better Call Saul, kinda pointless.

[Rando Yaguchi]

Ted Lasso (Season One) - This show has become quite the phenomenon, and dad is a huge fan of it, so we binged it the last few days. I was pretty unimpressed at first, and a lot of the humor was pretty basic boomer stuff - but by the final few episodes, the show had charmed me. I like that there's some nuance in Lasso's leadership approach - his positivity is infectious, but it has its downsides. Fun show.

[JAGzilla]

The Invisible Man (2020). All right, nicely done! I'm sure the original story was scary for 1930s audiences, but could never believably work today. If the Invisible Man made himself a public menace now, we have the technology to track him right down. But if he lays low and focuses his insanity on a single person... ah, now he becomes both plausible and terrifying. It was just a good, competent movie, too. A bit clunky early on with the protagonists all being stupid in order to isolate Cecilia, but solid otherwise. Wouldn't be a horror movie if the victims weren't making terrible decisions, anyway.

[Rando Yaguchi]

Ted Lasso (Season Two) - Meh. The humor hasn't improved, and there's a sickly sweet sentimentality to it all...but the characters are pretty well-written. These characters and actors deserve better jokes and storylines.

John Wick - A perfectly paced action movie, with a nice emotional thorough-line. Loved it.

John Wick Part Two - The plot is more intricate, the visuals more spectacular, but the narrative just isn't as satisfying. Looking forward to watching Part Three.

[JAGzilla]

The Brides of Dracula. Just as good as the other Hammer films I've seen. They did a good job making the vampires very visually striking in this one, especially the Baron and Gina. Great makeup and contact lenses and everything. The scene with the villager girl breaking out of her grave was really cool, and so was Van Helsing using the windmill to make a cross. Very clever.

[eabaker]

The Brides of Dracula. Just as good as the other Hammer films I've seen. They did a good job making the vampires very visually striking in this one, especially the Baron and Gina. Great makeup and contact lenses and everything. The scene with the villager girl breaking out of her grave was really cool, and so was Van Helsing using the windmill to make a cross. Very clever.

Yeah, that vampire "birth" is one of the creepiest scenes in any Hammer movie, for my money. It's really the characters of Greta and the baroness who sell that movie for me, each with her own strange sense of obligation or devotion to the monster.

[Terasawa]

The lasting image of BoD for me is

Spoiler:

Van Helsing's cure for his impending vampirism.

[JAGzilla]

The lasting image of BoD for me is

Spoiler:

Van Helsing's cure for his impending vampirism.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that scene. Had me on the edge of my seat for a minute, there.

[JAGzilla]

And I just got done with Poltergeist (1982). It was a bloated, confused trainwreck that seemed to have no idea what it wanted to be or do. It started off enjoyably enough, kind of if The Amityville Horror was a family movie. Then we got a few minutes of what the fuck lunacy with the tree eating Robbie and a tornado out of nowhere and Carol-Anne getting sucked into the closet. I'm sure a lot of kids were traumatized for life. Okay. Then we putter sluggishly around with the pointless proto-Ghost Busters and a psychic lecturing on the metaphysics of death for a while, until they figure out how to rescue Carol-Anne. Big dramatic rescue scene occurs, the family is reunited and getting ready to move, here would be the logical place to roll credits on a decently warm-and-fuzzy, story-concluded note.

But wait... there's more! You still needed to see Jobeth Williams take off her pants and then get dragged across the ceiling in her underwear! That feels like it belongs in the movie, right?! You still needed to see ghosts coming out of the doors and skeletons coming out of the mud and coffins bursting out of the ground and the clown attacking Robbie and the kids getting sucked into the closet again and RAWR and GRRR and BOOM and the house implodes on itself as the family drives away. Ha ha, and then the guy pushes the TV out of the hotel room.

Yeah. I get the feeling that there may have been just a little bit of last-minute studio interference involved here. Steven Spielberg is obviously capable of much better. It had its moments, though.

[GodzillavsRayquaza]

Watched Halloween Kills earlier in theaters, loved it. Not as good as 2018, but a worthy sequel. Downright terrifying, maybe the scariest Halloween yet.

[Spuro]

I introduced a group of friends to The Haunting (1963) tonight. One of my all time favorite horror films!

[eabaker]

I introduced a group of friends to The Haunting (1963) tonight. One of my all time favorite horror films!

So good! The wife and I just rewatched it last week. Every time I notice things in it I'd never caught before.