Recently watched "the last duel" with the wife, it was an interesting film.

Going to get the 6 year old to watch "fellowship of the ring" for the first time soon, that should be fun.

Quote from: Ratman_tf on March 27, 2025, 11:57:52 PM

Quote from: Bedrockbrendan on March 27, 2025, 09:06:22 PMYou guys have definitely sold me on Prey.

Yeah T2 and Aliens were rare (they also both had the common denominator of James Cameron. Honestly, this is probably a very unpopular opinion but I kind of wish the Terminator series ended with the first movie because that one is so perfect

As much as I love T2, I agree. The sequel was great, but once Cameron opened up the can of worms that the future could be changed, I had a mental image of a long line of Terminators and resistance fighters waiting patiently for their turn to use the time machine to try to alter history.

Yeah for me T1 is so perfect in terms of mood, tone and emotional pay off. I really like T2, and can't deny how entertaining it is. But it feels more like a summer blockbuster type film and it's kind of jarring when you compare that to the feel of the first. Additionally the first movie feels like a nice closed time loop but T2 opens up the messiness that started to plague the series. All that said the third movie wasn't bad (not great, but I rewatched it not too long ago and still had a good time). But it doesn't come close to the first two

We started the first half of Friends of Eddie Coyle last night. I have a much better appreciation for Mitchum's accent seeing it on the heels of Night of the Hunter. I haven't seen it in a few years but this is my wife's first time. It was made in '73, and I grew up in the 80s, but Boston still largely looked like it did in this film at that time, so I have been having fun explaining local trivia to her. Also never noticed before that the guy who plays Jackie Brown, the gun guy, was in the first Death Wish as the son-in-law.

Watched Hardcore Henry last night, not to be confused with Hardcore Harry.

This one is an action movie from 2015, filmed entirely in first person. It's about a thug who gets killed, then brought back to life through the power of awesome cyborg parts, and gets sent on his way to wreck those what wronged him.

Henry doesn't say one word through the entirety of the film (which is explained early on), but he doesn't need to. It's action straight through from start to finish - people getting torn apart, people getting shot repeatedly, lots of shit getting blown up, cars flipping, a tank getting assaulted by the hero, nudity.

Sharlto Copley plays Jimmy, who acts as the quest giver and main narrator. There are a ton of different Jimmys (which is also explained), each unique, and he is very entertaining.

The bad guy looks and acts like a character from Metal Gear Solid - he's got telekinetic powers and likes to use them, levitates himself and wrecks up things up and people. The final fight with him is pretty spectacular and ends in a very satisfying way.

I put this one right up there with the Crank series among my favorite action movies - it just keeps ramping up and getting crazier as it goes along. Some of the stunts are amazing when you consider they had to plan it for a first person view. That gimmick is a potential dealbreaker for a lot of people, but it didn't bother me. Would love a sequel, but I don't think it's gonna happen.

Awesome fun, chock-a-block with Russian baddies getting massacred, and Sharlto Copely being great.

Watching Dark of the Sun (1968) https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjNj8_soq6MAxU2rlYBHVeQBsYQFnoECBcQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Ftitle%2Ftt0062863%2F&usg=AOvVaw3DL-Mi_g8HQ8ue6naUl6d8&opi=89978449 to get more into the mindset for my FGU Merc game I'm running this weekend at the university's library. 2nd session tonight til dawn...

This armored train is really cool - 5 x .50 cals, NOT fucking around. 

Quote from: Bedrockbrendan on March 28, 2025, 04:14:06 PM

Quote from: Ratman_tf on March 27, 2025, 11:57:52 PM

Quote from: Bedrockbrendan on March 27, 2025, 09:06:22 PMYou guys have definitely sold me on Prey.

Yeah T2 and Aliens were rare (they also both had the common denominator of James Cameron. Honestly, this is probably a very unpopular opinion but I kind of wish the Terminator series ended with the first movie because that one is so perfect

As much as I love T2, I agree. The sequel was great, but once Cameron opened up the can of worms that the future could be changed, I had a mental image of a long line of Terminators and resistance fighters waiting patiently for their turn to use the time machine to try to alter history.

Yeah for me T1 is so perfect in terms of mood, tone and emotional pay off. I really like T2, and can't deny how entertaining it is. But it feels more like a summer blockbuster type film and it's kind of jarring when you compare that to the feel of the first. Additionally the first movie feels like a nice closed time loop but T2 opens up the messiness that started to plague the series. All that said the third movie wasn't bad (not great, but I rewatched it not too long ago and still had a good time). But it doesn't come close to the first two

I get this, but I think thematically, T2 had a good reason to be open loop rather than closed. It was about Sarah Connor as a parent wanting to make a better world for her son. There a fatalistic element to closed-loop time travel, and I think T2 nicely portrays the consequences of that fatalism and the issue of predestination.

Really, the plot of Terminator hinged on both the travelers thinking that history could be changed. So there's a nice symmetry to how T1 goes from trying to change to discovering the closed loop, and T2 goes from closed loop into hope for the future.

Yeah, T2 set a precedent for other bad sequels, but really sequels happen regardless of plot - based purely on ticket sales. I appreciate T2 on its own merits, and dismiss the other sequels on their merits.

I saw a T1/T2 double feature at a revival house a few years ago. It was really suddenly obvious how different the movies were and how much I prefer the first. The first is pure borderline B-movie '80s grit (adore it) and the second has such a washed out "palette" and is so bland to look at.

The stop motion and eye scene/fake head never really held up in T1 and for some reason the early CGI does hold up in T2 (as opposed to almost all other uses of CGI) but T1 is still a much more enjoyable movie for me. 

I now have the best version of T1 on Laserdisc and that's all I need. I'm not even bothering to find out if the blu ray stripped the grain or not, the LD looks perfect to me.