What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

CHAPPiE - I wanted to catch this film when it was in theaters, but I never got around to it. I'm sorry I missed it because this was a really enjoyable film. Sure the film takes it's inspiration from Robocop and Short Circuit...among others. That doesn't mean it's derivative or unoriginal. I think the film bombed and most critics hated it. It's not perfect. In fact it's sort of a mess with a shit-ton of ideas. I love it when a director really goes for it though and Blomkamp has shown that he isn't afraid to pack in as many cool ideas as possible. For better and for worse. CHAPPiE is mostly good though. I'm a sucker for a good AI story and this one pulled me in real good.

So the main hook of the film is that the cops in Johannesburg South Africa are using droids to help them out. The main creator of these droids is secretly working on a project to create a droid with a conscience. He obviously succeeds and thus CHAPPiE is born. Except he isn't raised and nurtured by his intelligent creator. Nope, he is born into the slums under the care of three dipshit hoodlums (played by Die Antwoord).

For me this is where it gets interesting. It's like the movie Precious mixed with Short Circuit, mixed with Robocop. Alot of the users on these forums have children. Imagine them at 5 years old. Now imagine them having their child-like, 5 year old, mind while being a fully grown adult. That is basically CHAPPiE. He knows nothing of the world except what he learns from these thugs...who obviously manipulate him. It's funny, heartbreaking and pretty well done overall. The concept is interesting and the film really fucking goes for it. It's at times heavy handed, but again I enjoyed it all.

I've seen lots of folks complain about the inclusion of Ninja and Yolinda from Die Antwoord. I know nothing about them, but they were fine for me. Also, Hugh Jackman hams it up as the badguy. He rocks a fierce mullet and is a God fearin' man. He is also working on this Metal Gear, ED209 prototype and the droid robots are holding up the greenlight for this project. So you know...he goes all evil and whatnot.

My first impressions of the film are very positive. As a fan of Blomkamp I think this is another solid film. Really hoping the studio just lets him run wild with his upcoming Alien film. I'm hoping they re-write Alien 3 and Resurrection as a bad dream of Ripley while she is sleeping in her pod.

The Hugh Jackman character is the only part of Chappie that I thought really stuck out as awful. The rest of it was halfway decent.

Egg Shen wrote: Ninja III: The Domination is a bad film...but it's great

Just saw this and wanted to say "thanks!" for shouting out one of my all-time favorite B-movies. The 15 minute opening gambit with the ninja attack on the golf course and the cop slaughter, my god. A sublime movie.

Great review, Egg. Is Neil really getting Alien V?

That's great news. I can't wait to hear Die Antwerp say, "they're coming out of the damn walls man!" with his awesome accent.

Yeah...thats the word. Apparently, while Sigourney Weaver was working on Chappie they started talking about ideas for an Alien film. So he began working on it as a pet project. I'm pretty sure the movie studio eventually liked what they saw and greenlit the project. He has released some concept art online. Here was the latest one from a few days ago.

Hicks got sprayed in the face? I don't even remember that.

And since when did Master Chief join the Corps?

btw if that were a video game, I bet there is stuff in those crates behind them if you break 'em


oh, and may I make a quick call on how Neil could pull a Lucas on this one? If he puts any Marines in a loader just to fight aliens. It would totally be like when Lucas had all the younglings training with blast shields on. Totally ruining what was originally conceived as an impromptu moment working with what you got.

Just saw some anti-abortion movie with John Schneider as the "star power". Not a bad film. Wife cried. I was playing Star Command, so I wasn't really in it 100%

October Baby was the film.

Incidentally, after looking up the name just now, I found this:
www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/john-schn...dukes-hazzard-306023

Kind of interesting perspective on things, and I like the ex-Duke boy more now than I ever did.

I'm sure I don't have to tell this crowd about it, but I watched Battle Royale for the first time after hearing about it on the podcast The Canon (which is also pretty good, by the way). Great movie. Far better Hunger Games than Hunger Games.

I talked about Ant-Man in another thread already, but I think the best things one can say about it is that Paul Rudd is amiable, there are some nice surprises in the third act, and the movie isn't as bad as it could've been (or probably was in script form at one point or another). The Marvel formula is down so pat right now that you could basically replace all the characters with other ones and change the name for all the settings and you'd probably have an equally passable movie. I'm not the biggest Guardians fan on this board, but those two films are night-and-day different in terms of the artistry and sense of vision brought to bear.

Minions ... Hardly an instant classic, but there were plenty of chuckles to get me through, and I like slapstick a fair bit. (The Minions' homage to "Make 'Em Laugh" from "Singin' in the Rain" was pretty cute, for instance.) I'm not actually bothered by the fact that the bad guys' efforts to hang the Minions from a noose went awry, but I'm surprised someone let that get through into a kids' movie (not so much for the nonviolence of it but for the imitation factor). More bothersome was the narration, which, at least early on, kept mentioning that the Minions were looking for a new "master." At other points, the narrator says "villain" or "boss," but the tone-deafness of "master" was more than a little grating.

Black Barney wrote: oh, and may I make a quick call on how Neil could pull a Lucas on this one? If he puts any Marines in a loader just to fight aliens. It would totally be like when Lucas had all the younglings training with blast shields on. Totally ruining what was originally conceived as an impromptu moment working with what you got.

Great point, Barney! I never caught that, but you're right. It makes no sense for the younglings to have blast shields...

I watched Fellowship of the Ring again last night while assembling some minis. I still enjoy watching these and _still_ enjoy the key lines. "One doesn't simply...", "And my Axe!", "I ain't been droppin' no eaves sir, honest", etc. Love quoting those in the privacy of my home...

i know the messages in these films are beat over your head, but I dig 'em. Make the most of your time here, 'little' people can make a difference too, etc. As opposed to Star Wars one big message...people are born into greatness. Yeah, I'm throwing shade on Star Wars again, but i just don't feel the same about that franchise after LotR.

I'll probably watch Two Towers later this week.

Agreed, the Rings films still hold up, Peter Jackson did a great job in selling the relatively simple thematic messages embedded in the books, even if he didn't quite get the world building that was Tolkien's forte. But I don't think that's possible in a film, even long ones like these. Nor would it be very entertaining to most.

White, the fact that blast shield helmets come in child -size was another problem with that scene. It's my favorite scene of all the prequels when you're looking to show what Lucas has done wrong

I just like the idea of a dozen or so five-year-olds blindfolded and swinging around light sabers in close proximity. That Yoda is a sick fuck.

I watched all three LotR movies, extended editions, in a row...twice. (several months apart)
I don't really have any desire to ever see the movies again. It was fun, but...yeah.

I liked Chappie, but it's essentially an R-rated family film. Not a great financial move, I don't think.

I made a mistake.

Painted some minis and watched two movies I haven't seen. Inglorious Basterds and Expendables 3.

I should have watched Two Towers...again...