Every film you've watched in 2016

[Dan]

Monterey Pop (1968): D.A. Pennebaker's documentary of the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival that kicked off the Summer of Love. On one level, it's a very successful concert film that showcases some incredible artists, including career-making performances from Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Who and Otis Redding. It's also a document of a transitional time in pop culture, as bands in full hippie regalia follow bands still wearing matching three-piece suits (or, in the case of Canned Heat, the band your high school history teacher plays bass in at the church festival), and ends with a twenty-minute performance by Ravi Shankar, an absolutely virtuosic display of the most irritating music ever inflicted on a paying audience, and is far easier to admire than actually enjoy. Otherwise, a wonderful film.

[Dread]

Gremlins: kind of overrated, actually. Kind of funny. Mostly pretty boring and rote. Phoebe Cates is ridiculously crazy beautiful. That's all. I recall liking the sequel better.

Features: 177

Shorts: 90

Documentaries: 14

[Dread]

The Legend of Tarzan: If this was a Kazar film )and with a few tweaks it could be) it would be the best Marvel movie there is. As such, it's a perfectly serviceable blockbuster with some really sharp filmmaking and fun writing. It's odd they've got Robbie but she is basically ina  Victorian dress the whole time. This movie is full-on male cheesecake. I get it. I mean, I want to bang Alexander Skarsgaard. Samuel L Jackson is great in this and Christoph Walz is pretty good too. Not a literal adaptation of a Tarzan novel, but a perfect creation of one. AGAIN: ORIGIN STORIES ARE ONLY EVER GOOD WHEN THEY'RE TOLD THROUGH TINY FLASHBACKS. This movie does that incredibly well.

The Possession Experiment:  solid. Research for a possible interview.

Features: 179

Shorts: 90

Documentaries: 14

[teenalphabro]

Mad Max: Fury Road: Still my favorite movie. 

Films Watched: 139

[dc20willsave]

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: I know Iron Man is often credited with being the film that saved Robert Downey Jr.'s career but this is definitely the film that got him role. Without this, he never would have gotten the role. It was a good bit of neo-noir and hilarious as well. Extra kudos to Val Kilmer here. Definitely my new role model for a badass gay.

The Hateful Eight: I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this movie. The performances are strong. It's beautifully shot and scored. Then there's the fact that it never didn't feel like they could have cut half the film. There were just all of these moments when I felt liek the movie didn't need these scenes. Then there was one moment where it really went overboard. Probably lower mid-tier Tarintino but at least it's pretty and well-acted.

Films: 131
Documentaries: 1
Rewatches: 4
Rifftrax Assisted: 2
Made For TV: 5

[Dread]

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: I know Iron Man is often credited with being the film that saved Robert Downey Jr.'s career but this is definitely the film that got him role. Without this, he never would have gotten the role. It was a good bit of neo-noir and hilarious as well. Extra kudos to Val Kilmer here. Definitely my new role model for a badass gay.

One of my all-time favorites.

 

[Dan]

Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four (2016): Exactly what it says on the box. Pretty much everyone involved with making the 1993 FF movie, including Corman himself, sits down and talks about making the movie and the various behind-the-scenes machinations that led to it being permanently shelved. This has been the subject of an Indiegogo campaign that's been going for ages, and it's been nice to finally see the results. Everyone involved has fond memories and remembers an awful lot about this film they shot in three weeks over two decades ago, even if a lot of them have to admit it wasn't always very good. What's remarkable is that even now, twenty-three years later, many of them are still capable of getting quite heated and upset about the way things turned out, and there's genuine confusion that someone, somewhere, holds the rights to this thing and has never seen fit to give it even a cursory DVD release (for example, as I write this, Shout Factory has just released a DVD of the 1978 Peter Hooten Dr. Strange to capitalize on the big screen version) but notes that the notoriety has undoubtedly led to far more people having acquired and viewed this film than would ever have seen it if it had gotten the announced theatrical release. Very interesting stuff for people who enjoy backstage drama and also people pointing suspiciously at Avi Arad.

[Dread]

They Look Like People: low-key mumblecore horror/sci fi (?). Solid premise. Very well-executed in many aspects, not so much in others. The tension needed a release valve instead of just floating away. It very rarely had that. That said, interested to see more form the filmmakers.

Features: 180

Shorts: 90

Documentaries: 14

[teenalphabro]

Kill Zone 2: Tony Jaa may be the closest this generation gets to Bruce Lee. 

Films Watched: 140

[Dread]

Back on the film festival stuff:

Welcome to Willits

Features: 181

Shorts: 90

Documentaries: 14

 

[Missy]

Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four (2016): Exactly what it says on the box. Pretty much everyone involved with making the 1993 FF movie, including Corman himself, sits down and talks about making the movie and the various behind-the-scenes machinations that led to it being permanently shelved. This has been the subject of an Indiegogo campaign that's been going for ages, and it's been nice to finally see the results. Everyone involved has fond memories and remembers an awful lot about this film they shot in three weeks over two decades ago, even if a lot of them have to admit it wasn't always very good. What's remarkable is that even now, twenty-three years later, many of them are still capable of getting quite heated and upset about the way things turned out, and there's genuine confusion that someone, somewhere, holds the rights to this thing and has never seen fit to give it even a cursory DVD release (for example, as I write this, Shout Factory has just released a DVD of the 1978 Peter Hooten Dr. Strange to capitalize on the big screen version) but notes that the notoriety has undoubtedly led to far more people having acquired and viewed this film than would ever have seen it if it had gotten the announced theatrical release. Very interesting stuff for people who enjoy backstage drama and also people pointing suspiciously at Avi Arad.

I came this close to renting Doomed! from iTunes last night. Might have to do it this weekend.

[You Know Who]

Batman (1966), Batman (1989), Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin.

Watched them in preparation for Batman v. Superman and in reverse chronologically. They've been reviewed in detail elsewhere, so I'll just leave a few random notes/observations:

-Does Frank Gorshin's Riddler remind anyone else of Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka?

-A sober Bruce gets Vicki drunk and sleeps with her. Ergo, he date-rapes her.

-The Batmobile is bigger on the inside. It would have to be in order to contain all that shielding when he locks it.

-Batman's ears are shorter in the final shot of the 1989 film than the rest of the movie. Owlman must have snuck into Gotham from Earth-3 at some point that night.

-Batman has his logo imprinted on his boots.

-As mangled as his characterization is, I actually walked away from the Burton-Schumacher films thinking that Two-Face is actually its most effective villain. He tries harder and comes closer to killing Batman than any of the others, murders the Graysons in cold blood, nearly kills the Riddler after he's given a very good team-up pitch, and convinces Robin to spare his life before turning a gun on him (though that's probably more indicative of Dick's stupidity than Two-Face's competence).

-Edward Nygma is unambiguously smitten with Bruce. He's very possessive and keen to impress him in their first scene together and still bitter with his rejection during the party. He also might be turned on in some fashion by Two-Face, especially when he's witnessing him shoot up the circus on TV.

-Is Batman driving the Batmobile up buildings really all that groan-worthy? I could so see the Brave and the Bold Batman do that.

-Looking at all the ridiculous sets and costumes in Batman & Robin, I have an odd sort of admiration for Schumacher & Co. for putting all time, effort, detail, and money into all that garbage.

-I forgot how forced and awful the subplot with Alfred dying was. I also expected Michael Gough to be the one actor who didn't phone it in, but lo and behold, he did too.

[Donomark]

Two-Face's opening monologue in Forever is one of my favorite moments of dialogue in the film. It's great characterization...well, except for his childish laughter.

I also never blinked twice at the Batmobile driving up the wall. Probably because they never cut to a wide shot of it.

No thoughts on Returns?

[You Know Who]

 

No thoughts on Returns?

I was pretty disengaged during it, though I did understand Penguin's disgusting sex quips(?) this time around. Pretty much agree with most of the criticisms leveled against it during the Dark Knight Discussions and your review of it with Chris, Josh, and Stella.

[Dread]

Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four (2016): Exactly what it says on the box. Pretty much everyone involved with making the 1993 FF movie, including Corman himself, sits down and talks about making the movie and the various behind-the-scenes machinations that led to it being permanently shelved. This has been the subject of an Indiegogo campaign that's been going for ages, and it's been nice to finally see the results. Everyone involved has fond memories and remembers an awful lot about this film they shot in three weeks over two decades ago, even if a lot of them have to admit it wasn't always very good. What's remarkable is that even now, twenty-three years later, many of them are still capable of getting quite heated and upset about the way things turned out, and there's genuine confusion that someone, somewhere, holds the rights to this thing and has never seen fit to give it even a cursory DVD release (for example, as I write this, Shout Factory has just released a DVD of the 1978 Peter Hooten Dr. Strange to capitalize on the big screen version) but notes that the notoriety has undoubtedly led to far more people having acquired and viewed this film than would ever have seen it if it had gotten the announced theatrical release. Very interesting stuff for people who enjoy backstage drama and also people pointing suspiciously at Avi Arad.

I came this close to renting Doomed! from iTunes last night. Might have to do it this weekend.

It's solid. You should check it out. You should also check out your email for something totally unrelated.

[dc20willsave]

Now You See Me: While I enjoyed the film, it also wasn't quite what I expected. When I see a heist movie with magicians, I figured they would be the main characters, not the investigators. Still, it was a fun movie, if one with a little too much CGI when practical would have been more applicable.

The Purge: Anarchy: I really do have to stop picking out movies that just make me more freaked out by the current political climate. That said, definitely an improvement over the original.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: It was better than around half of the original Harry Potter films. Definitely a more mature films and it benefits from not having to fit 500-900 pages of material into 2 hours. Most of the actors were terrific as well. It's only real problem comes from a very convenient ending but then they also have that sequel bait so it works out.

Films: 134
Documentaries: 1
Rewatches: 4
Rifftrax Assisted: 2
Made For TV: 5

[Dread]

Happy Gilmore: watched this with my sons. It's one of the two Sandler comedies I can stomach, and it holds up pretty well. The "you eat shit for breakfast" is probably the funniest thing my kids have ever heard. We had to pause it they were laughing so hard.

Features: 182

Shorts: 90

Documentaries: 14

[Donomark]

Macross Plus: A four part OVA and canonical first sequel to my favorite anime of all time Super Dimensional Fortress Macross/Robotech. This also has a large number of the crew from Cowboy Bebop behind it, with Shinichiro Watanabe co-directing, Keiko Nobomuto scripting and Yoko Kanno providing the music (Beau Billingsly and Steve Blum are also in the dub cast). I've heard nothing but universal praise of this film since I think even before I first watched Robotech over twenty years ago. Personally I thought it was pretty good. The animation is gorgeous, with beautiful colors and sparse but effective 3-D computer work. The music is excellent (of course, with Yoko Kanno at the helm). It has a lot going for it, but ultimately I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. It comes down to the characters, who are less likeable than Rick/Hikaru, Lisa/Misa and Minmei/Minmay by quite a bit. They're fairly recognizable Watanabe character archetypes, although Isamu Dyson was never not a dick. That guy was an utter tool throughout that the story didn't do enough to make likeable. I do like that Watanabe and Shoji Kawamori took the basic themes of the original Macross and made a Bizarro-version out of them. Beyond flipping the love triangle from one guy and two girls to one girl and two guys, the theme of love conquering hate is totally perverted into the opposite, making for a significantly darker story from this universe. I like that, and the fourth part really ramped it up by the end. Part 4 was my favorite, as the colors looked so beautiful and the visuals began to get really trippy and crazy. I also like that this takes place 28 years from when SDF-Macross left off, there are very few references to the original series aside from slight visuals and a single blink-and-you-miss it moment of fanservice. It's like Batman Beyond if it had nothing to do with Bruce Wayne at all. For the most part it was a shame that nobody was related to or even mentioned the original characters, and I think that lack of a tether kept me from enjoying it more as a Macross story, but I appreciate the near severing of the ties. It's a solid movie, but I think the characters should've been fleshed out a bit more to strengthen the story. "Do You Remember Love?" is a stronger film emotionally.

[Dread]

Features for the fest: Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories/Occupants/Ravenswood

Features: 185

Shorts: 90

Documentaries: 14

Edited November 22, 2016 by Dread

[Dread]

Be My Cat: A Film for Anne: review forthcoming, but holy shit!

Features: 186

Shorts: 90

Documentaries: 14

 

[dc20willsave]

Now You See Me 2: Okay, I take back what I said about hating that the first film focused more on the FBI and less on The Horsemen. This was only rarely fun and they spent too much time explaining how they did stuff. Lizzie Caplain was fun at least so I guess that counts for something.

Midnight Special: I'm still processing what I feel about this movie. It's definitely trying very hard to feel like Spielberg. I don't know though if that's a plus or minus to it. Other than that, it has some good performances, just, I still don't know how I feel.

Films: 136
Documentaries: 1
Rewatches: 4
Rifftrax Assisted: 2
Made For TV: 5

[Dread]

The Devil Lives Here: a pretty standard premise mashed together with some Brazilian folk horror. Review forthcoming

Features: 187

Shorts: 90

Documentaries: 14

[teenalphabro]

ARQ: Really, really good time travel/bottle episode flick. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes time travel. 

Films Watched: 141

[Dread]

Maggie: not what I expected. Review forthcoming

Features: 188

Shorts: 90

Documentaries: 14

[Donomark]

The Mechanic: Resurrection: Bog Standard, boilerplate, completely rote Jason Statham actioner that wastes Maggie Yeoh, Jessica Alba and Tommy Lee Jones. Gorgeously shot but would be a Segal film were it not for the A-list actors. Statham plays a less cool version of the Transporter so much like the Transporter, I didn't even feel the need to watch the first Mechanic.