[static14]

About to see IT chapter 2!

[deafmetal]

So, both the kid and I were sick this last week, and she talked me into finally watching the Rupert Sanders live-action Ghost in the Shell from 2017. I really wanted to like this, but it just did not work out that way. It probably did not help that I felt Blade Runner 2049 created a much more gritty and realistic "holographic future" world than this film did. I did appreciate the heaps of nods/tributes to the original Mamoru Oshii anime film, but I don't really need to see a shot-by-shot recreation of that project. I am likely one of the biggest Masamune Shirow fans in the US, so I take all of this way too seriously, but I would have preferred all of this done with Japanese actors and dialogue -- and this is coming from somebody who dreams of nothing more than seeing ScarJo take her clothes off and make pouty faces. I think it might have been more successful if it was a new story from the GitS world, but there are already large volumes of that in anime form. Probably another reason why a live-action Akira is a bad idea, it's just too difficult to recreate that magic of the time period, and it worked so well originally because it was animated.

[inksb]

So, both the kid and I were sick this last week, and she talked me into finally watching the Rupert Sanders live-action Ghost in the Shell from 2017. I really wanted to like this, but it just did not work out that way. It probably did not help that I felt Blade Runner 2049 created a much more gritty and realistic "holographic future" world than this film did. I did appreciate the heaps of nods/tributes to the original Mamoru Oshii anime film, but I don't really need to see a shot-by-shot recreation of that project. I am likely one of the biggest Masamune Shirow fans in the US, so I take all of this way too seriously, but I would have preferred all of this done with Japanese actors and dialogue -- and this is coming from somebody who dreams of nothing more than seeing ScarJo take her clothes off and make pouty faces. I think it might have been more successful if it was a new story from the GitS world, but there are already large volumes of that in anime form. Probably another reason why a live-action Akira is a bad idea, it's just too difficult to recreate that magic of the time period, and it worked so well originally because it was animated.

I bought the UHD two years ago and I still haven't watched it. I'll get to it I swear, my expectations are so low that I may end up liking it to an extent.

[Dollarhyde]

@deaf and inks@

I caught some of it and had mixed feelings. I had read a lot of negative reviews and as you mention inks in light of that It was a little better than I was hoping (I didn't watch the whole thing), but the acting/casting was terrible. An avengers movie pretending to be anime? (The whole whitewash thing is so true)

[Dollarhyde]

Now watching Demon City Shinjuku

Can't believe I've not seen this one before. A really great horror anime , much better than I was expecting. The English dub is pretty awful, although entertaining. Would love Tigerlab to do their thing with this one also.

[maxlevel]

@inks @dolllar @deaf I had the same feelings about the watchmen shot for shot live action. Just dosnt capture the mood in the slightest, like if someone copies a Picasso using a photocopier

I have the 2017 OST with the Gary Numan and DJ Shadow on it, quite like it apart from the OTT remixes of Utah IV which again seem to miss the point despite obviously being a love letter

[inksb]

Now watching Demon City Shinjuku

Can't believe I've not seen this one before. A really great horror anime , much better than I was expecting. The English dub is pretty awful, although entertaining. Would love Tigerlab to do their thing with this one also.

I can't believe you haven't watched this one before either!!! It is quite good but not as good as Wicked City. Great animation and a good score. It took me a while but I finally tracked down a rip of the bluray, the Wicked City and Demon City bluray's are outrageously priced ($125 before shipping)

[ScoJo]

Looking for a current horror/thriller to watch, and five out of the first seven that I looked at had the same cliche as part of their synopsis...

Screen shot 2019-09-28 at 16.06.20.png (10.42 KiB) Viewed 2189 times

Screen shot 2019-09-28 at 16.05.24.png (11.44 KiB) Viewed 2189 times

Screen shot 2019-09-28 at 16.04.17.png (11.12 KiB) Viewed 2189 times

Screen shot 2019-09-28 at 16.03.49.png (12.11 KiB) Viewed 2189 times

Screen shot 2019-09-28 at 16.03.31.png (11.2 KiB) Viewed 2189 times

What the heck? There sure is a whole lot of out-of-control, spiralling and unravelling going on in this genre!

[Bezulsqy]

Good luck @ScoJo!

I have never seen this one:

[ScoJo]

@Bezzer -

O my lord, what a treat! I seriously envy you right now. You will see the sun set as a man... but see it rise as a boy ;-)

[Bezulsqy]

^ Loved it! And the score has arrived. Will check it out tomorrow!

Now this:

[Bezulsqy]

to finish the evening...

[static14]

@bez digging your viewing selections as of late. :) Fright Night and The Hitcher are both up there for me... as I’m sure you’ve guessed.

[Hatter313]

I mean, that’s a nice bill right there.

Ok, so a while back Wojciech Golczewski, who I love, released a seven inch on his score to an indie slasher called “tonight she comes” it was great. This year at mondocon suddenly the full score appears on wax from DW, bought in a NY minute. GREAT stuff. So...I decided to finally watch the film given its bonafides in the music department. And oh look! Available for streaming on Prime!

Gentleman, I implore you, from the bottom of my heart....don’t. Do. This.

As far as I’m concerned, Wojciech Golczewski wrote an album called “tonight she comes” that is very good and that’s it, nothing else, no related properties. I recommend the record without reservation.

Also I’ve started watching HBO’s 2003-2005 show Carnivale again. It was ahead of its time and likely would have gotten its full run had it come out just a little bit later, but if you haven’t seen it, it’s now on prime. If you like twin peaks, dark Americana, the dust bowl, circus things, warped mythology based loosely in esoteric Christianity of the Masonic, gnostic, and Templar persuasion, Clancy brown, the depression, etc. then I highly recommend giving the two seasons the they did produce a speedy watch.

[Bezulsqy]

I loved Carnivale. Would love to watch it again.

[inksb]

<3 Fright Night <3


Carnivale was so good. I haven't seen it since it's original run but was always disappointed that it was cancelled.

And I heard Tonight She Comes is trash from others so I ignored it.

[Bub]

^ Loved it! And the score has arrived. Will check it out tomorrow!

Bez, check out the soundtrack too. It's a fun listen & it'll make a great companion piece to the score ;)

[ScoJo]

Rambo: Last Blood is one basic bitch alright. I haven't endured a plot this perfunctory since the first Equalizer. It makes the previous Rambo instalment look like fucking Beyond Rangoon. It makes MacGruber look like Paul Greengrass.

But of course we're only here for our bloodsports, and it delivers a final reel packed with butchered Mexican prime cuts.

No idea why (legacy, or something?) but I had the highest hopes given the title that SS would reach back to the first film for inspiration with this swan song. No such luck. It seems fitting that the character's creator David Morrell has publicly slammed this POS.

[inksb]

Rambo: Last Blood is one basic bitch alright. I haven't endured a plot this perfunctory since the first Equaliser. It makes the previous Rambo instalment look like fucking Beyond Rangoon. It makes MacGruber look like Paul Greengrass.

But of course we're only here for our bloodsports, and it delivers a final reel packed with butchered Mexican prime cuts.

No idea why (legacy, or something?) but I had the highest hopes given the title that SS would reach back to the first film for inspiration with this swan song. No such luck. It seems fitting that the character's creator David Morrell has publicly slammed this POS.

The only positive thing I've seen about this film is that it's packed to the brim with gore and ridiculous action, but even that wears thin eventually.

[deafmetal]

Also I’ve started watching HBO’s 2003-2005 show Carnivale again. It was ahead of its time and likely would have gotten its full run had it come out just a little bit later, but if you haven’t seen it, it’s now on prime. If you like twin peaks, dark Americana, the dust bowl, circus things, warped mythology based loosely in esoteric Christianity of the Masonic, gnostic, and Templar persuasion, Clancy brown, the depression, etc. then I highly recommend giving the two seasons the they did produce a speedy watch.

Well said, I really enjoyed Carnivale. Great show.

[Hatter313]

Rambo: Last Blood is one basic bitch alright. I haven't endured a plot this perfunctory since the first Equalizer. It makes the previous Rambo instalment look like fucking Beyond Rangoon. It makes MacGruber look like Paul Greengrass.

But of course we're only here for our bloodsports, and it delivers a final reel packed with butchered Mexican prime cuts.

No idea why (legacy, or something?) but I had the highest hopes given the title that SS would reach back to the first film for inspiration with this swan song. No such luck. It seems fitting that the character's creator David Morrell has publicly slammed this POS.

Beyond Rangoon BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I’m gonna choke...yikes, full belly laugh on that one.

The whole Rambo series is just astounding in its unevenness, the original is legit an excellent film , it says something important without being weighed down by that importance, is small and personal in scale, we’ll acted, well shot, beautifully scored, exciting without being over the top and an all around classic. The second and thirds still rank among some of the most fun and impressive action offerings of that decade, which is saying a lot for the 80s, even if both installments sacrifice some commentary for thrills they still work, especially the second still dealing with Vietnam fallout if in a conspiratorial not entirely serious way, but it’s still there and his characters evolution makes sense through those films. The previous entry tried to bring a little bit more of the melancholy back (although I think it pretty much fails on the dramatic front, it’s a fun shoot’em up) but everything I hear about this one just sounds tired and tropey in the worst way. I’ll never need anything more than the first three, and if I’m honest I’ll never truly need anything that the original, but I’m the world of “late sequels” we’ve been living in for a bunch of years now, I’m still really waiting for someone to get it totally right. BR2049 was close, and has the the benefit of a truly visionary filmmaker behind the wheel, and I’ve enjoyed to varying degrees some of the other returns to classic franchises, but it may just be that this is a hard task to accomplish.

And scene.

[ChrisMcQueen007]

Well said, Hatter.

[inksb]

I watched a few things this weekend. I'll start with...


This landed about as flat as it could. I don't think it's poorly made, they are obviously trying but like @scojo said, the complete lack of humor makes it feel disconnected from Creepshow (and you can even lump it's psuedo sequel in here Tales From the Darkside). The first story had terrible writing, it's like they wrote the main child's role to be a 5 year old but cast an early teen in the role. The acting was flat and down right bad at times. The story itself was about as basic and bland as they come. The only redeeming aspect of the whole thing was the cool special effects. Both me and the wife were incredibly disinterested through the whole first story, she rarely picks up her phone during TV/movie watching and she had that thing in her hand with in 5 minutes. The second story was definitely better and had an interesting concept. It was just basic from set design to the actors. It wasn't bad, it was serviceable. But overall just felt flat. I'm hoping they have some good ones in store for future episodes. I don't like the comic book stuff, it looks too clean and digital, I would have appreciated more effort in making it look like classic worn comics especially since he pulled them from that old trunk at the beginning.


Return of the Living Dead 2. I am thankful I hadn't seen this before because I may have never watched part 3. This is a terrible film. I have no clue what they were going for, re-using characters from the first film yet playing up the "camp" in the worst way while completely forgetting the events of the first. The child actors are some of the worst I've ever seen. The D-grade tarman was fucking horrible. There were two close to good things in the film, one the special effects in some scenes were fun and impressive (others were terrible) and two Dana Ashbrook, trying to do the best with what he had. I'm really glad I did not spend the $30 on Scream Factory's bluray, this film has nothing worth watching.


I struggled through season 1 of Attack on Titan, it has a great premise with some excellent action but it's generic characters killed me then during the mid season epic battle they fucking cut to a flashback for two episodes before showing you the conclusion of this insane battle. It's a shitty "weekly tv" trope that made me stop watching the show entirely. Well I finally picked it back up earlier this year and finished S1, still wasn't worth the hype it was getting. I started S2 a few weeks ago and watched the final 7 episodes this weekend. It's great and I immediately started S3. I'm hoping they can continue what they set up in S2 through out the next season. I've heard good things but modern anime fans have some shit taste so it's hard to take what they say with any real truth.


Joe Bego's third film, Bliss, may be the best film I've seen this year. I knew pretty much nothing about it going in but I enjoyed his last two films quite a bit (Mind's Eye, Almost Human). This one just floored me, I know it won't be for everyone. The story isn't really anything special but it's a visual & aural treat. I feel like a lot of you around here will enjoy this one quite a bit so check it out, it's out digitally & on VOD right now, bluray early November I think.

[Bezulsqy]

@Inksb

Thanks for the info. I will check out Bliss. I have not seen any of Joe Bego's movies. How are the other two?

[inksb]

@Inksb

Thanks for the info. I will check out Bliss. I have not seen any of Joe Bego's movies. How are the other two?

Almost Human is a very low budget alien slasher film. I really like it but the low budget affair is not for everyone. I'm also a fan of Graham Skipper who is the main character.

Mind's Eye is a much better film imo. While it is still pretty low budget, the cinematography is much better, the supporting cast is better. Graham Skipper is the main character again, he's in all of Bego's movies but is only in a small role in Bliss. This one is like a unrelated sequel to Scanners. It's telekinetic craziness. He has no problem wearing his influences on his sleeve though, so it's steeped in 80's horror love but not in a "let's cash in on this popular fad" way, he obviously grew up watching the films and pays homage to them. The score is pretty good too by Steve Moore.