[FullBright1]

5/5

If you've not seen this movie, then do.
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[Monsterzero]

I watched this film last night and it left my mind promptly blown.

A solid 5 outta 5. Smart, original and apparently it was filmed in 24 hours on a 50k budget. Highly recommended.

 

[AuRiMaS666]

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

9/10

It's not very often that I watch some old black and white classics, but I really dig this one and should do this more often. The acting chops and the charisma of the characters are of the chain!

 

[tdockweiler]

Moonfall - 3/10

Even as a fan of most Roland Emmerich movies, this one is awful! It doesn't even qualify as a dumb/stupid popcorn flick. What ruins it is the below average acting, bad CGI and how incredibly stupid it all is. You thought Independence Day was stupid? This is even worst. I would find this worth watching if it was at least somewhat fun. At one point I thought it was almost over but yet it had nearly 45 minutes to go!

I also love how they felt the audience was really stupid. They had to describe everything that was happening on screen for us in the dialogue.

BTW in this movie they actually borrow a Space Shuttle from a Museum and do a launch like all in one day. I think at the launch everyone had left and had gone home lol. From what I recall they also had only 2 engines working.

If you can believe this, the only good thing about this movie is the character of K.C. Houseman.
He had some funny parts and was played by the guy who was Samwell Tarly in Game of Thrones (John Bradley).

Trust me, you really don't want to know what actually happens in this movie.
There are actually people out there that believe this sort of thing to be true.

The State of Texas Vs Melissa - 10/10

Never heard of this until I saw it listed on Hulu the other day. I was really surprised how good this was.
They really screwed up on this one. She shouldn't even be in jail, yet she's been there on death row for 12 years or so?
Her daughter fell down the stairs, died and got extreme bruising from a head injury apparently.
Even her children saw this happen and they didn't even use their testimony in court.
Also look at the conditions of her interrogation and confession of some events. No lawyer, food or water and just a couple hours after her daughter's death!
It's so easy for them to coerce people into giving a false confession.
Check into "The Confession Tapes" seasons 1 and 2.
She should just be released for time served.

PS she was set to be executed recently but got a stay. Who knows how long that will last?



Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes - 9/10

This is a series from Netflix and I hope they keep making them. They're all good, but I HATE the title of this series.
Hard to believe someone like this really existed and all hiding in plain site. To his friends and family he supposedly seemed like the most normal person ever.
Apparently in the crawl space under his home they had found the bodies of 20+ people. Hard to believe.
The series isn't very graphic or too disturbing, so it's not hard to watch luckily.

The Rock - 6/10

How on earth did I ever like this movie? OK, I do like it somewhat, but I would never consider it a good movie.
Somehow i've seen it at least 5 times and I am not sure why.

 

[tdockweiler]

Jackass Forever - 5/10

Forgot one! I just saw this the other day and it's almost completely gone from my memory.
I honestly did not find much of this funny. The only fun parts for me were when they prank regular people who were not in on the jokes.
For example, the old grandpa (younger guy in costume) who gets launched into the ceiling and the power company worker who asks some random person for help.
The show "Just for Laughs" that's on Antenna TV at 3am is a lot more funny.
Are there any shows like that in Japan? I bet they'd be funny, but even more extreme.


Unrelated notes...

Watching Season 6 of Better Call Saul. There's only 3 episodes so far but i'm loving every minute of it.
I also am halfway through Season 2 of The Walking Dead....again. I can't believe how good this season is.
Everything that happens in this Season has a huge effect on things that happen in later seasons.
Some of my favorite TV characters are Shane from The Walking Dead, Chuck from Better Call Saul and Doc Martin from... Doc Martin.
LOL Shane kept bragging about how Rick wasn't built for this world like he was, yet he didn't even make it past Season 2.
I really like the conflict there was between Rick and Shane. In the comics Shane was a very small character and died earlier.
TWD for me was ruined pretty much when they made Negan a regular. Such a bad idea, but he was a popular character somehow.
People who hate horror movies like ME should really give The Walking Dead a try.
For me it's more like a series based on survival in the apocalypse.
It's pretty gory at times though for sure. A few scenes to me were a bit much.

 

[SilverEars]

Pachinko - (7.8/10)

I had high hopes for this series since it's based on New York Times best seller fiction, and it's a different kind of fiction. A fiction that is based on historical research. The author, Min Jin Lee is a former lawyer with a history major background (Yale).

I saw 7/8 episodes so far, and I didn't like how it turned out. There is no focus on the narrative of the show. The plot is all over the place. I know it's a story about 3 generation of Korean immigrants to Japan and the US, and I think they tried to pack all the different generation narratives into 8 episodes. Which is the reason why it's not focused and not so impactful of a story.

Although it's an American production, there is some of the kdrama aspects I really don't like. I find kdrama themes too cliche.

I disliked the intro of the show. It's cheezy, with the dancing.

Highlights are the cinematography. Probably one of the best I've seen on TV, and it's very fitting for the show. Acting is pretty good for the most part.

The main thing that I commend of the show is that it exposes masses to the oppressive history of what Koreans endured under Japanese occupation and in Japan. People suffering from oppression in history should never be swept under the rug or be hidden. It should be exposed for the masses so that people don't get treated like that again, and people's suffering at least get resolved in their hearts (denial will not)!

There is a plot point I really did like. I liked the story about the old lady that would not sell her home for any amount of money. I liked this because it expresses the pain she went through in life. I know human have a conscience, but people still got treated this way?! This is the kinds of story they should focus on!

I wanted to see more on the very cruel oppressive stuff people had to endure. That would have been the most interesting to see. I want to experience it. Too really nail stuff, show the pain people went through. This is the best way to have people understand and not take it lightly.

 

[the1andonly]

Although it's an American production, there is some of the kdrama aspects I really don't like.

Watched lately

The Great Gatsby

Boiler Room, very good movie

my two favorite K series to recommend are

Beyond Evil
&
Bad Guys Vile CIty

both of those show a nature of visceral acting that is almost never touched in western cinema, Koreans have all but perfected it

Both are crime/law in a distinctly Korea mixture that would be controversial at best and downright hated at worst in a western TV/movie, and extremely epic journeys that don't finish until they are damn well done

In so many ways distinctly Korean, and masterpieces

 

[SilverEars]

Watched lately

The Great Gatsby

Boiler Room, very good movie

my two favorite K series to recommend are

Beyond Evil
&
Bad Guys Vile CIty

both of those show a nature of visceral acting that is almost never touched in western cinema, Koreans have all but perfected it

Both are crime/law in a distinctly Korea mixture that would be controversial at best and downright hated at worst in a western TV/movie, and extremely epic journeys that don't finish until they are damn well done

In so many ways distinctly Korean, and masterpieces

My fav Kdrama is not really a kdrama, it's Squid Games due to it's so different from anything I've seen (and just so well thought out in terms of screenplay and production). K-cinema is where it shines.

 

[the1andonly]

My fav Kdrama is not really a kdrama, it's Squid Games due to it's so different from anything I've seen (and just so well thought out in terms of screenplay and production). K-cinema is where it shines.

it's a very good series and deserves the praise, another example of visceral Korean cinema

Classic western in blow thru the main/best plotline in 1/2 seasons keep beating a dead horse, classic Korean is everything is a slow burn epic, if they put out a season2 I have no doubt it will be as ambitious as the first season, it's already setup to be another squid game + a counter party

 

[SilverEars]

it's a very good series and deserves the praise, another example of visceral Korean cinema

Classic western in blow thru the main/best plotline in 1/2 seasons keep beating a dead horse, classic Korean is everything is a slow burn epic, if they put out a season2 I have no doubt it will be as ambitious as the first season, it's already setup to be another squid game + a counter party

I was kinda disappointed after Squid Game. There was a lot of hype on Korean content due to it's quality, and nothing that came after that reached that level, but many disappointments. I was hoping Pachinko will achieve something with it's unique-ness, but it hasn't worked.

I know romance kdramas are the rage around the world. LIke 'Crash Landing on You,' or 'Descendants of the Sun.' But, as a man, I can't understand that kind of content. lol.

I liked D.P. though. right up my alley. I know Korean content is quite good about exposing injustice, and was surprised at Pachinko not doing it so well. Perhaps due to American production?



And Signal I liked as well

 

[the1andonly]

I was kinda disappointed after Squid Game. There was a lot of hype on Korean content due to it's quality, and nothing that came after that reached that level, but many disappointments. I was hoping Pachinko will achieve something with it's unique-ness, but it hasn't worked.

I know romance kdramas are the rage around the world. LIke 'Crash Landing on You,' or 'Descendants of the Sun.' But, as a man, I can't understand that kind of content. lol.

I liked D.P. though. right up my alley. I know Korean content is quite good about exposing injustice, and was surprised at Pachinko not doing it so well. Perhaps due to American production?

DP was also fantastic, another extreme metric of discipline that wouldn't work in the west; the MC would need to be some jokey womanizing, good looking, fun guy instead of the bad guy, cannot wait for season 2..... man that ending of the first season was just brutal

also nice to see a Manwa adapted, they work better than like 95% of anime that have had crap adaptions for decade+

I just finished signal a while ago, season1 was another Epic cannot wait for season2, I can't talk about it without mentioning Tunnel which I wanted a second season of to be honest but it's better this way, both series work the way they went (so far, fingers crossed) glad to see our guy actually made it FOR ONCE(trying not to spoil) so many times I was yelling at my screen to make good use of their "time" that part was a bit too much but since it didn't take up much screen time it was still nice to watch

 

[SilverEars]

DP was also fantastic, another extreme metric of discipline that wouldn't work in the west; the MC would need to be some jokey womanizing, good looking, fun guy instead of the bad guy, cannot wait for season 2..... man that ending of the first season was just brutal

also nice to see a Manwa adapted, they work better than like 95% of anime that have had crap adaptions for decade+

I've been hearing a lot of korean movie/tv content are based on korean webtoons. Well, if we look at Japanese movie/tv production these days, it hasn't changed... You can tell motion pictures arn't the forte there. Korean content are just better at adapting from manga/manwa to motion pictures. I think Old Boy is the best example of that. Korean motion picture production and quality actually improves over time. You can actually see the significant improvements of time. It's always evolving, and it will get even better.

 

[the1andonly]

I've been hearing a lot of korean movie/tv content are based on korean webtoons. Well, if we look at Japanese movie/tv production these days, it hasn't changed... You can tell motion pictures arn't the forte there. Korean content are just better at adapting from manga/manwa to motion pictures. I think Old Boy is the best example of that. Korean motion picture production and quality actually improves over time.

Oldboy was what got it mostly started for me years ago, another good one IIRC is in English but produced in Korea is "Snowpiercer" the movie not the current tv show....

Japan cinema reminds me of walking around Kabukicho looking at the self absorbed male host adverts, to me it's a combo of their actual society being divorced from the rest of the world + the normal catering to the local market. Seoul is much more accessible to an everyday American or westerner from my experiences in many cities in Japan and Korea

 

[SilverEars]

Oldboy was what got it mostly started for me years ago, another good one IIRC is in English but produced in Korea is "Snowpiercer" the movie not the current tv show....

Big fan of Bong Joon Ho here. I think his best pieces were the old stuff, not Parasite. 'Mother' and 'Memories of Murder' are just masterpieces!

 

[the1andonly]

Big fan of Bong Joon Ho here. I think his best pieces were the old stuff, not Parasite. 'Mother' and 'Memories of Murder' are just masterpieces!

I will watch those and I agree wholeheartedly about Parasite, it was like watching the slow pace that is normal with a stunted and abrupt ending... Reminds me of these Oscar chasing movies but for appealing to a world market with sensationalism, I need to check out those I might have seen memories of murder. If your ok with extreme content try to watch Beyond Evil, it's just.... insane