S-T

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  2. Every Film You've Watched in 2023

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Ma - I have been meaning to watch this one for a while. This was very good but kind of went off the rails in the third act. I am not sure what the villain's plan was when she ramped everything up at the end, or how she thought she would get away with it. The movie does do a good job of keeping her sympathetic while also not making her so sympathetic that she's not clearly a villain.

    The Substitute - Decent action movie. The high school students were played by actors who are very clearly too old to still be in high school, but that is a pretty common thing in Hollywood. Ernie Hudson was excellent as a villain.

  3. Every Film You've Watched in 2023

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    One other thing:

    Spoiler

    The criminal fraudsters' ringleader (Cecilia Pederson) reveals she knows John is Jigsaw.

    And you still defrauded him, knowing who he is? You didn't call the cops as soon as you realized who he was? Was it public knowledge at this point? If so, why is Jigsaw allowed to run around in public and go to coffee shops and such? Hoffman didn't kill the entire police department until Saw VII.

    By the way, where is John's wife, Jillsaw?

  4. Every Film You've Watched in 2023

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Saw 10 - As a stand-alone film, it is bad. As a sequel/prequel, it is even worse, as well as incomprehensible.

    This must take place between Saw 1 and Saw 2. It could potentially take place between Saw 2 and 3, but is most likely is the former. The movie is not clear when it happens.

    But as I said when I addressed the trailer, both Jigsaw and Amanda look 20 years older than they should be for the timeline of this movie, because Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith are twenty years older than they were when the first movies were made. Same with Hoffman, who shows up in a mid-credits scene. If you made a movie with me in 2004, I would not look the same either. I have a bald spot that I didn't have then, my hairline is farther back, and I have a lot more gray than I did when I was 31. People age. They made no effort to hide that at all.  

    And again. Is this the treatment that would have saved him in Saw VI? If not, why choose this shady operation (which looks straight out of InfoWars) instead of the option from 6? Is Jigsaw a big fan of Alex Jones? Is Jigsaw afraid that Big Pharma is conspiring to kill him?

    Something else I considered: Jigsaw is an American serial killer. He goes to Mexico and kills people. Seems like the Mexican government would want a piece of him.

    Now to spoilers.

    Spoiler

    The eye trap, which is the featured trap, takes place only in Jigsaw's imagination. Ridiculous bait and switch.

    Jigsaw tortures his cab driver, who gives up the location of the medical scammers. Shockingly, he actually survives his trap. So what happens to him? Why doesn't he come back in Saw 2 and beyond? Doesn't he want revenge? Doesn't he want to contact the police?

    A woman has to cut her own leg off and suction bone marrow into a device or her head gets cut off. She has three minutes to do this, or she dies. She would either pass out from the pain of cutting her own leg off, or she would bleed to death. There is no way to survive this trap.

    A man has to cut off a piece of his own skull and yank out a piece of his own brain. Yes. That happens. Just like the woman, he has three minutes to do this. Obviously, he fails. There's no way any human being could physically do this to himself without passing out, having a seizure, or disabling his own brain in a way that he would be unable to function. This is self-parody.

    Jigsaw again claims he is not a murderer. He gives people the chance to live. That's nonsense. Someone who wants people to live would not put a three minute timer on these things.

    Amanda has compassion for a drug addict, her relationship with Jigsaw is built up so she can continue his "work." Why? We know she fails to follow the rules, and she fails her game in Saw 3. What is the point of doing this, when we know how it ends?

    The woman who was the ringleader for the whole scam is left alive at the end of the movie. Why doesn't she show up in any movie that takes place after this one, from Saw 2 onward? Seems like she would want revenge on Jigsaw. What happens to her? Does Hoffman or Amanda put her in an inescapable trap?

    Putting a child in a deathtrap, where he gets waterboarded with blood, is cheap heat in the extreme. No reason for it at all.

    Jigsaw gives him all of the cash the fraudsters stole. Because they wouldn't have that money in a Swiss bank account or something. They would have it in cash. Does the criminal fraud operation - which operates a paramilitary unit, by the way - go to this boy's house and take the money back? What happens to the paramilitary unit? Why don't they come back?

    A bunch of people applauded at the end.

    I hope @James D. and @Missy review this one.

  5. Reviving the show

    in Tranquil Tirades

    Posted

    On 9/17/2023 at 9:42 PM, James D. said:

    Hey, all.

    I've been wanting to revive the podcast for years, but with everything that's happened over the last few years, I haven't been able to. 

    I'd like to do a show every two to three months, possibly with a revolving door of co-hosts.

    @Donomark, I think we briefly tossed around doing Mortal Kombat 2021?

    @Missy, would you be up for Jigsaw? (I totally understand if you don't want to. 🤣)

    If anyone else would like to record an episode down the road, let me know. You can post in this thread suggestions on movies you'd want to review with me.

    I'm also down for three-host episodes if we can somehow schedule that.

    I wrote a 1670 word review of Jigsaw when it came out in 2017. Bad as the movie was, it was a great theater experience with a full theater of people laughing at it. Even the trailer for Saw X is filled with plot holes.

  7. Saw 10

    in Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy

    Posted

    The trailer for Saw X is up. @Missy posted about it on Twitter.

    Oh dear.

    Where do I start?

    It's not a sequel. It's another prequel. All indications are that this takes place before Saw 1, and presumably before Jigsaw (Saw 8).

    Obvious problem, before we even get into plot holes: Tobin Bell is clearly 19 years older than he was when the first movie came out in 2004. At least in Star Wars: Rouge One, they de-aged Carrie Fisher with CGI back to what she looked like 39 years earlier. The CGI was not very good, but at least they tried. There's no effort to de-age Tobin Bell whatsoever.

    Now, on to the premise: Jigsaw goes to Mexico to get treatment for his cancer, and it turns out they charged him for the treatment without actually removing the tumor. So naturally he puts all of them in deathtraps.

    So where is Dr. Gordon in all of this? Does he appear at all? This directly contradicts Saw 1, where the cancer was inoperable from the beginning.

    This also directly contradicts Jigsaw (Saw 8) where it is revealed that Kramer could have gotten treatment much earlier, but Logan mixed up the x-rays. Logan's mistake caused the cancer to grow undetected, and by the time the error is discovered it is too late for treatment. Kramer retaliated by putting Logan in a deathtrap, and Logan was so grateful for being put into a deathtrap that he became the very first member of the Jigsaw Cult - before even Amanda or Hoffman or Dr. Gordon.

    Will Logan appear at all? Will this plot hole be addressed, or will it be ignored?

    What about the treatment that Kramer was seeking in flashbacks in Saw 6? The experimental treatment in Europe that could have cured him? This is the treatment the evil insurance company denied, and Jigsaw said he could afford the treatment without their approval, because he was loaded. Is that going to be addressed at all? Are we retconning that movie out of existence?

    They are not even trying to keep continuity straight anymore.

    Best line of the trailer: "This is not retribution. It's a reawakening."

    It's not retribution. Sure. You just want to make them appreciate their lives. Right. Whatever.

    If this is a reboot, fine. The plot holes don't really matter in that case. Since they are calling it "Saw X" and keeping Tobin Bell, it does not appear to be a reboot.

    Think about this for a minute: I just wrote over 370 words on how the trailer makes no sense and directly contradicts eight previous movies. If the trailer is that bad, imagine how bad the movie is going to be.

  8. Every Film You've Watched in 2023

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Becky - Kevin James shows his range and is believable as an intimidating villain. I wasn't sure Paul Blart: Mall Cop would be believable in that role, but I was wrong.

    It is a little strange how a 13 year old girl becomes Rambo at the flip of a switch. Maybe there was a line of dialogue that said she had survivalist training, but if there was I missed it.

  9. Everything Marvel

    in Comic Book Adaptations

    Posted

    I'm putting the whole thing in a spoiler tag. I don't think my post spoils anything but better safe than sorry.

    Spoiler

    This would explain how Rhodey healed so quickly from the catastrophic back injury he sustained in Civil War.

    https://www.ign.com/articles/secret-invasion-big-reveal-marvel-fans-freaking-out

    I still can't believe Marvel spoiled War Machine's return in the TRAILER for Infinity War.

    Such disrespect for the character!

    I've been a Rhodey fan since he was Iron Man in the 1980's. He was the one wearing the armor on Battleworld in the Secret Wars storyline.

     

  11. Every Film You've Watched in 2023

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Shazam: Fury of The Gods - A lot of fun. Worth watching.

    Michael Gray, who played Billy Batson in the 1970's TV show, has a cameo. That's awesome. I recognized him as soon as he appeared on screen, even though I was a kid when I last saw that show.

    The number of people who would recognize him is pretty small, but it was a great addition for those of us old enough to remember it.

  15. Every Film You've Watched in 2023

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    The Flash: I have seen a bunch of people talking trash about this one, but it was actually fun to watch. I think some of it comes from people hating on the DCEU generally and some of it probably comes from dislike of Ezra Miller personally.

    Spoiler

    It does acknowledge the rich history of DC movies and TV shows, placing all of them within the DC Multiverse. The Batman TV show from the in the 60's and the George Reeves Superman was a nice addition.

    Spoiler

    I am not sure how many people know about the failed project casting Nic Cage as Superman, so I suspect non-nerds would be a little puzzled.

    Spoiler

    Bringing in George Clooney at the end was really fun, and apparently shuffles Ezra Miller's Flash out of the DCEU and into his own reality for good.

    The CGI was bad. It looked really fake and unfinished. They had two and a half hours for this movie, so they could have cut the parts with the bad CGI out and would not have lost anything.

    But even with the bad CGI, this is worth watching. Maybe not worth spending $20 to see in the theater, but at least worth renting to watch at home. I groaned when I saw it was two and a half hours long, but it did not feel nearly that long.

    One plus over Black Widow: They actually cast actors who are old enough to be Miller's mom and dad, respectively. The actors who played Black Widow's adoptive parents were 14 and 9 when Scarlett Johansson was born.

  16. Every Film You've Watched in 2023

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Black Widow: So does Black Widow have super powers in the MCU? Because the amount of punishment Natasha Romanoff is taking in this movie is insane. She was taking ridiculous hard hits and falls. There's no way a human being without superpowers takes that kind of punishment and is not seriously injured or dead. If Brock Lesnar can't walk it off, your human hero can't either.

    I have problems with male characters taking ridiculous punishment and no-selling it too. I've complained about the various killers in Scream not showing physical signs of the abuse they take, and the no-selling of the severe hand injury in The Crazies drove me... well... crazy!

  18. What are you watching and enjoying?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I made it through most of Season 9 of The Walking Dead before losing interest. I didn't actively dislike it, I just wasn't motivated to keep going. Now my Netflix plan doesn't carry it.

    Oh well.

    But I got to see Michonne's katana at the Smithsonian Museum of American History when I was in Washington D.C. last week.

    I marked out.

    2023-06-21_american_history_museum_3.thumb.jpg.523f195842c2f24ea886e7ff36640aed.jpg

  24. Every Film You've Watched in 2023

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Transformers: The Last Knight - This is not the worst Transformers movie, by far, but it is 18,000 dinglehoffers more incomprehensible than the others.

    I asked this before, but why do they bleed? They are robots. Grimlock actually vomits at one point. It's a robot. Why would a robot puke?

    Bumblebee can disassemble and reassemble himself at will. Fireball!

    Why is the John Goodman robot fat? And why is he smoking a cigar? Why does he have a beard?

    No one mentioned Merlin and his staff in TWELVE HOURS of movies before this? No one mentioned that Earth was actually Unicron in TWELVE HOURS of movies before this?

    There are baby Dinobots? How are there baby Dinobots? Do Transformers reproduce sexually?

    After Megatron has tried to destroy the human race multiple times they are now trusting him and working with him. I literally burst out laughing when that alliance was announced. The humans are working with the Decepticons to hunt the Autobots. Of course, Megatron turns on the humans the first chance he gets. The human characters get dumber with every movie. Not even Sam Witwicky was this stupid.

    And "was" is the operative word. This movie confirms that Anthony Hopkins is the last surviving Witwicky. They even show a photo of Shia LaBeouf as Sam. Sadly, we don't get to see him die, as he died offscreen. He is probably in Robot Heaven.

    I was really hoping when the knights came back to life at the very end that they would break into a song and dance routine singing the "knights of the round table" song from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. If that happened I would give this movie a quarter of a star!

    They cannot stand for Megatron to be the top bad guy, can they? They have to make him a henchman of the primary bad guy.

    It was bad, but the others are worse. Not exactly a high bar.

  25. Every Film You've Watched in 2023

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    On 6/1/2023 at 11:09 PM, Donomark said:

    If he can terrorize a Korean shopowner but kills a cartoon nazi, that means that his racism against the shopowner was justified, in the movie's eyes. It's one thing for himself to see a difference, but with that scene the movie tries to have it both ways.

    I thought the same thing when I re-watched it three years ago. They want to have it both ways. No, D-Fens is a villain. You can't redeem him by having him kill a gay-bashing neo-Nazi. Especially given how he treats his family.

    I was in high school when this came out, and my co-workers at the supermarket joked that D-Fens reminded them of me because I also had a flat top and glasses. I can't do the flat top these days, as it would look silly with the bald spot and receding hairline.