LTT Movie Club!

[Takumidesh]

Let's start a movie club! Weekly/Monthly movie viewings, reviews, analysis, discussion, or anything else about classics, new releases, b-movies, z-movies, foreign films, cult classics, and more!

 

The cinema is open and the floors aren't too sticky.

 

MAKE SURE TO MARK SPOILERS!!

 

LTT Movie Club Trakt.TV profiles!: (Message me your profile if you want to add it to the list!)

Takumidesh

 

 

 

LTT Forums Reviews: (I will probably make a google doc or spreadsheet for this)

Ambulance @Spotty

Haiku Reviews (multiple) @Radium_Angel

Blacklight @Spotty

 

Some ideas for the thread:

•  LTT Forums recommends: a comprehensive recommendation list for various movie fans (horror, action, home theater testing/showoff, etc)
• Movie of the week (or month): A poll or special choice movie to watch and discuss

 

[Avocado Diaboli]

Just now, Takumidesh said:

I will start. Recently I watched John Carpenter's The Thing for the first time. It has quickly raised through the ranks for me as one of the all time greats and after watching it once, I am already wanting to watch it a second time.

The Thing is one of my all-time favorite films, but it took me an unflattering amount of rewatches to notice the massive gaping plot hole in the middle.

[Takumidesh]

6 minutes ago, Avocado Diaboli said:

The Thing is one of my all-time favorite films, but it took me an unflattering amount of rewatches to notice the massive gaping plot hole in the middle.

Do tell! It won't ruin it for me, I am typically pretty fine in suspension of disbelief.

[Avocado Diaboli]

1 minute ago, Takumidesh said:

Do tell! It won't ruin it for me, I am typically pretty fine in suspension of disbelief.

 

It hasn't ruined the movie for me either, it's still a high water mark for both practical creature effects as well as expertly crafted atmosphere. But here's where it doesn't make sense:

Spoiler

The movie goes to great lengths to show that there are only two people with access to the fridge containing the blood packs and they even mention that the lock on the fridge is completely unharmed. It turns out later that both of the two were still human at that point, so it's still a complete mystery who destroyed the blood packs and why.

 

[Takumidesh]

13 minutes ago, Avocado Diaboli said:

Spoiler

The movie goes to great lengths to show that there are only two people with access to the fridge containing the blood packs and they even mention that the lock on the fridge is completely unharmed. It turns out later that both of the two were still human at that point, so it's still a complete mystery who destroyed the blood packs and why.

 

Oh that is interesting, I may watch this weekend and try to pay more attention to this.

 

Admittedly I have only seen the film once, so far my takeaway was

Spoiler

We are not supposed to know or for it to even make sense, since the paranoia of the characters could have lead to unreliable narratives and therefore inducing paranoia for the audience as well.

The entire crew is pointing fingers because it really doesn't seem possible (and maybe it isn't possible) and that makes the audience point fingers too.

 

[Spotty]

16 minutes ago, Avocado Diaboli said:

It hasn't ruined the movie for me either, it's still a high water mark for both practical creature effects as well as expertly crafted atmosphere. But here's where it doesn't make sense:

  Hide contents

The movie goes to great lengths to show that there are only two people with access to the fridge containing the blood packs and they even mention that the lock on the fridge is completely unharmed. It turns out later that both of the two were still human at that point, so it's still a complete mystery who destroyed the blood packs and why.

It's been a few years since I've seen The Thing but I don't remember this scene. I'm going to have to give it another watch some time this week and keep an eye out for it.

 

36 minutes ago, Takumidesh said:

Let's start a movie club! Weekly/Monthly movie viewings, reviews, analysis, discussion, or anything else about classics, new releases, b-movies, z-movies, foreign films, cult classics, and more!

I'd be interested in a movie club. I'm always struggling to choose something to watch. Pick a movie every week or so for people to watch and we all give reviews of it and share opinions. May as well make The Thing (1982) the first movie. There's probably a bunch of people who haven't seen it, or like me haven't watched it for a few years.

[Takumidesh]

3 hours ago, Spotty said:

It's been a few years since I've seen The Thing but I don't remember this scene. I'm going to have to give it another watch some time this week and keep an eye out for it.

 

I'd be interested in a movie club. I'm always struggling to choose something to watch. Pick a movie every week or so for people to watch and we all give reviews of it and share opinions. May as well make The Thing (1982) the first movie. There's probably a bunch of people who haven't seen it, or like me haven't watched it for a few years.

Ok let's do it then! I vote for the Thing on this weekend, as a trial run, and can then do a new movie for next week, or do it every two weeks depending on what how anybody may want to do it. I will edit the first post.

 

When I get home tonight, I will whip up a google form to allow submissions for the next week. That way the movie of the week can be community decided.

[Spotty]

Just gave The Thing (1982) another watch and I had honestly forgot just how much I enjoyed this movie. Even though I had seen it a few times in the past and while it had been a years since I watched it it still managed to keep me in suspense the whole way through. Compared to slasher horror movies of the 80s which now just seem cheesy I think the thing still manages to hold up well even 40 years later.

 

Spoiler

The opening shot with the heli trying to shoot the dog does a fantastic job of setting the scene of how isolated they are while also building the mystery. 

 

The paranoia between the men who aren't able to trust each other is great at keeping the tension throughout the film.

 

All of the characters share the same common goal (self preservation and preventing the thing from escaping) but the distrust for each other is the obstacle they have to overcome to achieve that goal. They don't know who to trust so they act out their own plans, but the others who aren't trusting of them easily mistake those actions as threats. (eg. Blair trying to sabotage the helicopter, Childs reaching for the gun even though you later find out he's human, the guy who tries to stab Macready thinking Macready is the thing and gets shot)

 

 

23 hours ago, Avocado Diaboli said:

 

It hasn't ruined the movie for me either, it's still a high water mark for both practical creature effects as well as expertly crafted atmosphere. But here's where it doesn't make sense:

  Reveal hidden contents

The movie goes to great lengths to show that there are only two people with access to the fridge containing the blood packs and they even mention that the lock on the fridge is completely unharmed. It turns out later that both of the two were still human at that point, so it's still a complete mystery who destroyed the blood packs and why.

 

Yeah, I can't really say that's explained in the movie. I wonder if there was maybe a deleted scene or something that gave clues to who did it. 

 

Something else that I noticed as well...

Spoiler

Blair is locked in the shed outside. It's later revealed that Blair was building a space ship in a cave under the shack using scrap from the helicopter. It's mentioned that the door to the shack was bolted shut from the outside.

It isn't explained how Blair managed to get outside the shack to get scrap from the helicopter to build the ship or escape.

 

It is interesting that when Macready talks to Blair in the shack and Blair begs to be let back inside you can see a rope noose tied, suggesting that Blair was intending to kill himself. Blair was human when he went in to the shack - since he was put in there after sabotaging the radio trying to prevent the thing from making it off Antarctica - and it seems that he was going to kill himself before the thing took over. When Macready talks to him and he's begging to let him back inside you can tell the thing had already taken over him because the real Blair who wanted to kill himself to prevent the thing from escaping wouldn't want to be let back in amongst the others. At this stage though he's still locked in the shack so it's not clear how the thing was able to get to him. Other then Macready who we know wasn't infected from the blood test later in the movie, I don't think anybody else visited the shack to see Blair? 

I'm not sure how The Thing managed to get to him.

 

Also seems pretty unbelievable that the thing managed to carve out the cave and build a space ship in just a few hours.

I think just having Blair escape the hut would have served the same purpose and the cave and space ship were unnecessary. You could have instead had Blair (the thing) seen trying to repair the heli he sabotaged to use to escape and it would have served the same narrative purpose.

 

[Takumidesh]

12 hours ago, Spotty said:

Compared to slasher horror movies of the 80s which now just seem cheesy I think the thing still manages to hold up well even 40 years later.

I think this is a great comparison. For comparison Friday the 13th is only 2 years older than The Thing, yet it feels 10 years older.

 

 

12 hours ago, Spotty said:

Spoiler

It is interesting that when Macready talks to Blair in the shack and Blair begs to be let back inside you can see a rope noose tied, suggesting that Blair was intending to kill himself. Blair was human when he went in to the shack - since he was put in there after sabotaging the radio trying to prevent the thing from making it off Antarctica - and it seems that he was going to kill himself before the thing took over. When Macready talks to him and he's begging to let him back inside you can tell the thing had already taken over him because the real Blair who wanted to kill himself to prevent the thing from escaping wouldn't want to be let back in amongst the others. At this stage though he's still locked in the shack so it's not clear how the thing was able to get to him. Other then Macready who we know wasn't infected from the blood test later in the movie, I don't think anybody else visited the shack to see Blair? 

I'm not sure how The Thing managed to get to him.

 

Also seems pretty unbelievable that the thing managed to carve out the cave and build a space ship in just a few hours.

I think just having Blair escape the hut would have served the same purpose and the cave and space ship were unnecessary. You could have instead had Blair (the thing) seen trying to repair the heli he sabotaged to use to escape and it would have served the same narrative purpose.

 

 

Spoiler

My personal headcanon or interpratation is that blair was already infected when he made the noose, and it was actually the thing making an appeal to the rest of the crews emotions. once they still wouldn't let him back in, the appeal switched to pleading. But I know that is maybe a stretch.

 

I agree I think repairing the heli that he earlier sabotaged could have been a great way to reveal that he is confirmed infected.

 

 

My meme review of The Thing:

Spoiler

Wut da dog doin? and "The real thing is the friends we made along the way."

 

[Takumidesh]

In the interest of SPOOKY HALLOWEEN TIME. I am resurrecting this thread in hopes to find the perfect spooky movie for the weekend!

 

I am staying with some friends in a literal cabin in the woods out in the mountains this weekend and am trying to pick the perfect movie or two to watch.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

[Avocado Diaboli]

I assume quite a few people would recommend "Cabin in the Woods", though I honestly have to say I absolutely hated that movie for a number of reasons. My pick would easily be "Evil Dead", though if you also want to have a laugh, skip directly to "Evil Dead 2", which is a quasi-remake and sequel to the first one but with much more comedic overtones. Or watch the 2013 remake, which was surprisingly great, considering the typical quality of modern horror remakes of landmark movies. And if you want something that subverts horror similar to what "Cabin in the Woods" didn't almost completely fail to do, I recommend "Tucker & Dale vs. Evil", a charming and subversive take on the whole "trapped in a cabin in the woods surrounded by murderous hillbillies" concept.

[Spotty]

1 hour ago, Takumidesh said:

I am staying with some friends in a literal cabin in the woods out in the mountains this weekend and am trying to pick the perfect movie or two to watch.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

Cabin Fever (2002) is decent. 

The cabin in the woods is worth a watch.

The daddy of cabin in the woods movies The Evil Dead 1 & 2 with Bruce Campbell. 

Tucker & Dale vs Evil is a comedy but it's still worth adding to the list.

The original Friday the 13th if you're in the mood for a slasher.

 

You could also side track a bit and go with movies like Misery or The Shining (the hotel is basically just a huge cabin).

There's Dreamcatcher which is another based on a Stephen King book set in a cabin but that movie can be very weird and isn't that great despite having some decent actors. Some people might like it, other people will absolutely hate it.

[Blue4130]

7 hours ago, Avocado Diaboli said:

I assume quite a few people would recommend "Cabin in the Woods", though I honestly have to say I absolutely hated that movie for a number of reasons. My pick would easily be "Evil Dead", though if you also want to have a laugh, skip directly to "Evil Dead 2", which is a quasi-remake and sequel to the first one but with much more comedic overtones. Or watch the 2013 remake, which was surprisingly great, considering the typical quality of modern horror remakes of landmark movies. And if you want something that subverts horror similar to what "Cabin in the Woods" didn't almost completely fail to do, I recommend "Tucker & Dale vs. Evil", a charming and subversive take on the whole "trapped in a cabin in the woods surrounded by murderous hillbillies" concept.

100% with you on all evil dead points. 

[wasab]

i need a good horror movie for the halloween 

[Takumidesh]

23 hours ago, Spotty said:

Cabin Fever (2002) is decent. 

The cabin in the woods is worth a watch.

The daddy of cabin in the woods movies The Evil Dead 1 & 2 with Bruce Campbell. 

Tucker & Dale vs Evil is a comedy but it's still worth adding to the list.

The original Friday the 13th if you're in the mood for a slasher.

 

23 hours ago, Avocado Diaboli said:

"Cabin in the Woods", though I honestly have to say I absolutely hated that movie for a number of reasons. My pick would easily be "Evil Dead", though if you also want to have a laugh, skip directly to "Evil Dead 2",

I have been trying to get my wife to watch evil dead 1, 2, and army of darkness for a while. Maybe this is a good time to do it.

 

Otherwise, Me like an idiot, literally just watched cabin in the woods and Friday the 13th part 1 and 2. Instead of just waiting for the cabin weekend .

 

I actually haver never seen cabin fever or Ticker & dale, though I have heard about both of them, so maybe I will give those a try.

 

10 minutes ago, wasab said:

i need a good horror movie for the halloween 

Have you seen The thing? lol.

 

Another one that I really liked recently was Midsommar, though it doesn't have the spooky halloween vibes.

 

Silent Night Deadly Night 2 is good if you want pure schlock (and like bad movies).

 

 

[Guest]

On 10/26/2022 at 4:00 PM, wasab said:

i need a good horror movie for the halloween 

Conjuring series. 

Except nun, that was dumb lol

[Spotty]

Just watched Ambulance (2022).

 

It's 2 hours of Michael Bay police chases and explosions with the least amount of story possible to progress the plot from one cop car exploding to the next. I normally like Jake Gyllenhaal so I was willing to cut it a bit of slack but this was definitely a misfire. By about half way in I was just playing on my phone waiting for it to end.

 

Synopsis (spoilers)

Spoiler

Jake Gyllenhaal convinces his black brother to rob a bank with him to steal 32 million dollars. The heist goes wrong when a cop comes in to the bank during the heist to flirt with the teller. 

Their accomplices the getaway driver, definitely not Mel Gibson, and hippy dude get killed. Jake Gyllenhaal and his black brother take the cop hostage but end up shooting him. To escape they steal an ambulance and take the dying cop with them for the paramedic to save so they don't get charged with killing a police officer. Discount Megan Fox plays an asshole paramedic who according to her colleague is supposedly the best paramedic in the city spends most the movie wondering why the cop is dying and bleeding so much from a gunshot to the leg before realising that he was actually shot twice and for the entire movie he had an untreated wound to his abdomen and a ruptured spleen. Jake Gyllenhaal and his black brother drive the ambulance around LA while the police chasing them display ineptitude constantly driving their cars off the road and crashing causing a steady stream of unnecessary and unbelievable explosions to meet the quota that Michael Bay requires in his contract. 

 

Probably the most annoying thing about the movie was the sarcastic female officer that served no purpose other than to make smartass remarks throughout the chase.

 

It seems like a lot of scenes were filmed by drone. It works in some places but it's definitely over used and it's obvious there's scenes that they only filmed because they thought they could get cool drone shots. There's also some weird transition shots where the camera flies up in the sky spins around and comes back down that are just unnecessary. There's a scene at the beginning of the movie where it's Jake Gyllenhaal talking to his brother where for about two minutes the camera just does spins rotating around the two and constantly cutting back and forth and spinning clockwise and counterclockwise. It's nauseating. Imagine this but way worse.

 

4/10. The story is the bare essentials and really only serves as an excuse to have a 2 hour long police chase with lots of shooting and explosions. I've seen GTA RP streams that had more tense police chases with better stories than this.

[wseaton]

Funny how The Thing wasn't much of a thing when it made its theatrical run. Its now considered a classic, and deservedly so. Its diabolically clever and creepy. 

 

If you liked The Thing you will also probably like "Splinter".

 

There's an award winning short story called The Things that tells the story from the perspective of the alien organism. Worth a read.

 

The original Paranormal Activity gets my vote for doing a lot with a little. My GF at the time got really bugged out and agitated at the film. Its an example of how different things get under the skin of the genders differently.

 

30 days of night for a really bleak vampire flick with some different twists.

 

 

[Radium_Angel]

On 10/14/2022 at 11:04 AM, Avocado Diaboli said:

 

It hasn't ruined the movie for me either, it's still a high water mark for both practical creature effects as well as expertly crafted atmosphere. But here's where it doesn't make sense:

  Reveal hidden contents

The movie goes to great lengths to show that there are only two people with access to the fridge containing the blood packs and they even mention that the lock on the fridge is completely unharmed. It turns out later that both of the two were still human at that point, so it's still a complete mystery who destroyed the blood packs and why.

 

This may help

 

 

[Radium_Angel]

and my (very old) contributions for movie reviews

 

 

[Spotty]

Watched Blacklight a Liam Neeson film. 

 

Synopsis

Spoiler

Liam Neeson works for the FBI getting undercover agents out of tricky situations. After a political candidate is murdered an agent tries to go to the press to reveal the FBI is killing people, while Liam Neeson tries to bring him in. There's a reporter who is trying to write a story about the murdered candidate. When the agent is killed Liam Neeson begins to question if the FBI is responsible.

There's a whole side story about Liam Neeson's family and granddaughter that slows the movie to a boring crawl. Liam Neeson's character also suffers from OCD and it's really just a gimmick tacked on. 

 

Between all the scenes of Liam Neeson's family and eager journalist who keeps trying to write stories without any proof or facts based on her hunches dealing with a toxic male boss the movie is twice as long as it should have been. The assassination plot, the family issues, and the journalist writing a story is just one element too many to work for the movie. The movie could have cut the entire family plotline and significantly reduced the journalist's scenes and I'm sure it would have been better for it. 

 

The movie is set in Washington DC but strangely it was filmed in Australia. It's weird seeing obvious Australian buildings, streets, or driving Australian cars while character's are making references to American locations and roads. It gives the movie a cheap feeling of inauthenticity. I'm from Australia so it's probably more noticeable for me, it might not bother everyone, though I would imagine people from America would also notice that something is off.

 

Liam Neeson really phones this one in. The action scenes, which are few and far in-between, are rather flaccid. Instead of fight scenes it mostly just relies on Neeson talking with his tough grunty voice. The fight scenes there are mostly just have Neeson setting up an ambush and the bad guys walking in to it. It's trying to show how experienced he is and how he's outsmarting them but honestly I suspect it's more just because the movie didn't want to ask much of him for the more action focused scenes. There is a scene where he's chasing after someone and it looks like he's struggling to run, doing more of an old guy shuffle than a run you would expect from a highly trained agent chasing a suspect.

 

The story lacks any suspense with the conspiracy spelled out for the viewer early in the movie, it has clunky forced dialogue from the supporting cast, and the pacing makes it feel like a chore to finish watching. I'm struggling to think of any redeeming qualities the movie had. I'd give it a 4/10. 

 

Watching this makes me wonder is Liam Neeson done? Or at least done portraying the gruff the tough guy hero? Taken and The Grey were good films, Non Stop and Commuter (which are basically the same movie in a different setting change my mind) were okay. Another recent movie he did for Amazon called Memory was better than Blacklight but still not up to the standard of his other films. The Ice Road was one of the worst movies I've seen in a while.

In the last few years his movies seem to have just been straight-to-video low budget stuff where he's putting minimal effort in or he just isn't given the content to work with. Looking it up he's 70 years old. That explains why the action scenes aren't asking much of him. Hopefully he picks up more supporting roles but I think I'll steer clear of the new movies with him as the lead action star from now on.

 

Seems like we never got a new generation of action stars after the 80s and 90s. Everybody playing the tough guy hero these days is 50+ years old. 

Edited November 13, 2022 by Spotty

[Takumidesh]

On 11/13/2022 at 8:34 AM, Spotty said:

The movie is set in Washington DC but strangely it was filmed in Australia. It's weird seeing obvious Australian buildings, streets, or driving Australian cars while character's are making references to American locations and roads.

This happens all of the time in the US as well, just with LA and Georgia. Movies set anywhere from the middle east to canada, yet filmed in obvious california.

On 11/13/2022 at 8:34 AM, Spotty said:

Liam Neeson really phones this one in. The action scenes, which are few and far in-between, are rather flaccid.

Liam Neeson really seems to be going the way of Steven Seagal for me. I expect a decent into more and more B action movies with increasingly small budgets that ride on his name for a while still. I always wonder why guys like him don't seem to enjoy retirement.

[Takumidesh]

Some of the stuff I watched recently:

Hocus Pocus 2:

I literally fell asleep, which I am apt to do on occasion. I made it a few minutes into the second act, however my wife said it was dreadful, and had none of the charm of the original.

 

Uncharted:

I enjoyed the movie for what it was. I like the game series, and tried to approach the movie with a pretty open mind. There was a large flip-flopping on the quality of the special effects, with some scenes being jaw dropping and others looking like they ran out of money 75% of the way through. The A line was serviceable, and the B line was not, I didn't buy into any of the emotions or feel any bonding with the cast, but did enjoy the action nonetheless. The puzzles they had to solve were weak and almost laughable at times.

Spoiler

Really the keyhole is behind glass in a pizza shop wall for 2 thousand years, and nobody thought to take a look into it?

 

Gravity:

A re-watch for me, I watched it in the cinema on release. While the antics are not believable (for the most part) This movie in my mind remains an amazing feat of special effects. Endearing enough to feel invested in the mission, though there is something to be desired in terms of development of the characters. I definitely recommend if you are looking for a spectacle.

Side note: the sound design is excellent, while loud at times, the film makes your rear + side channels work overtime and is not shy to rumble your seats, making for an exciting experience for those equipped with a decent sound system.

[Guest]

No spoilers plx!

 

All quiet on the western front by ..

*Cringe* Netflix... *Vomit face*

 

Is it good? 

I don't know the German director's past movies. 

This YouTuber I recently discovered calls himself "the critical drinker" and declared it was outstanding before he got into spoilers and I shut off. 

 

 

[Radium_Angel]

14 minutes ago, fpo said:

No spoilers plx!

 

All quiet on the western front by ..

*Cringe* Netflix... *Vomit face*

 

Is it good? 

I don't know the German director's past movies. 

This YouTuber I recently discovered calls himself "the critical drinker" and declared it was outstanding before he got into spoilers and I shut off. 

 

 

It's fantastic...but as he said, watch the subtitled one.

 

I am a huge fan of small budget horror/sci-fi films...but I am critical and won't just watch anything and praise it. I'm pretty picky actually. Having said that, allow me a list of horror/sci-fi films that are worth watching and re-watching:

 

Death Machine: One of the best Brad Dourif (of Chucky voice fame) sci fi flicks around. You must watch the "theatrical release" version. the director's cut is terrible.

Alien Outpost

Botched: An amusing Eastern European "horror" comedy.

Chernobyl: Technically not "horror" but horrific enough. A must watch mini-series.

Crawlspace (the recent aussie flick) one of my fav ozploitation flicks, in spite of some really naff SFX.

Dead Snow and the Sequel: Norwegian zombies. Highly tongue in cheek

Deathwatch/The Outpost/2/3/Overlord/Frankenstein's Army: ww1/2 supernatural horror/zombie stuff. (warning: FA is POV shaky cam for parts of it)

Dog Soldiers: Best werewolf film ever made.

Event Horizon: Fuses sci-fi and horror very well. A perennial fav. of mine.

Harbinger Down: A mixed bag, but almost pure practical FX.

Howl: Danish (IIRC) werewolves. Well done.

Juan of the Dead: Cuba(!) zombie flick. Interesting if for no other reason than a horror flick from an unlikely source.

La Horde: French Zombie flick. The subtitles are terribly done sadly, and lets the film down in parts. Track down the original French if you can understand it.

Let Us Prey: Scottish (again, IIRC) police horror flick.

Mr. Frost: Good luck finding a copy of this. Very very old. Jeff Goldblum plays....something (creepy flick)

 

That should get you guys started.