Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched

[Xprimentyl]

How To Train Your Dragon (2025 Live Action): Same / Great

Live-action version of the already great and too soon to be reimagined 2010 animated film.

I didn't want or need to see this. We own the Blu-ray of the original, but I paid $40 plus concessions to watch it live-acted because Money McMoneymakers can't be bothered to make something new or original, and my girlfriend insists on romanticizing everything into a "date." It's 99% a point-for-point copy of the original film, so I enjoyed it, but felt like I was being condescended to the whole time. What makes it worse is that the "CGI" Toothless looks basically the same as he does in the animated version, so we've got these animated dragons flying around in a "real" world, and it just felt stupid. (Side story, I was going to make a comparison to the '70s film Pete's Dragon, and when I went to look it up, saw that it too was remade in 2016, for fuck's sake..)

I thought the live-action Snow White that flopped harder than a limp donkey dick would be the wakeup call the "animated to live-action" industry needed to back off, and I'm guessing this was in production just long enough alongside that sunk cost made scraping the project a non-option, but they need to stop. Like, NOW. Enough is enough.

In summation, if you've not seen the original 2010 version, you'll enjoy this. If you have seen the 2010 version, you've enjoyed this.

 

[Gordon_4]

How To Train Your Dragon (2025 Live Action): Same / Great

Live-action version of the already great and too soon to be reimagined 2010 animated film.

I didn't want or need to see this. We own the Blu-ray of the original, but I paid $40 plus concessions to watch it live-acted because Money McMoneymakers can't be bothered to make something new or original, and my girlfriend insists on romanticizing everything into a "date." It's 99% a point-for-point copy of the original film, so I enjoyed it, but felt like I was being condescended to the whole time. What makes it worse is that the "CGI" Toothless looks basically the same as he does in the animated version, so we've got these animated dragons flying around in a "real" world, and it just felt stupid. (Side story, I was going to make a comparison to the '70s film Pete's Dragon, and when I went to look it up, saw that it too was remade in 2016, for fuck's sake..)

I thought the live-action Snow White that flopped harder than a limp donkey dick would be the wakeup call the "animated to live-action" industry needed to back off, and I'm guessing this was in production just long enough alongside that sunk cost made scraping the project a non-option, but they need to stop. Like, NOW. Enough is enough.

In summation, if you've not seen the original 2010 version, you'll enjoy this. If you have seen the 2010 version, you've enjoyed this.

There are two reasons I'm okay this HTTYD getting this treatment.

Number 1; to see how far Dragons as characters have come in terms of on-screen realisation in live action. Dragonheart is still the fucking film to beat for this and no one's done it yet.

Number 2; to take a mulligan on the fuck-awful third act bullshit in the third movie. Fuck all of that, with a pineapple, sideways.

 

[Xprimentyl]

There are two reasons I'm okay this HTTYD getting this treatment.

Number 1; to see how far Dragons as characters have come in terms of on-screen realisation in live action. Dragonheart is still the fucking film to beat for this and no one's done it yet.

The dragons are fundamentally identical to their original, animated versions in nearly every respect.

Number 2; to take a mulligan on the fuck-awful third act bullshit in the third movie. Fuck all of that, with a pineapple, sideways.

There's absolutely nothing here to give any hopes it might be correcting any wrongs you felt in the original animated films. If you've see the animated How To Train Your Dragon, you've seen the live-action remake, i.e.: if you hated the animated third installment, and they live-actioned it similarly to this one, you'd hate it too.

 

[Gordon_4]

The dragons are fundamentally identical to their original, animated versions in nearly every respect.

Not what I meant.

There's absolutely nothing here to give any hopes it might be correcting any wrongs you felt in the original animated films. If you've see the animated How To Train Your Dragon, you've seen the live-action remake, i.e.: if you hated the animated third installment, and they live-actioned it similarly to this one, you'd hate it too.

Well, time and money will see if this bears out. It probably will, but weird things happen sometimes.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Just watched Sinners, and that was a nice little movie. It was a shame the visuals were just a tad washed out. Nothing that looked bad, but just not as clear as I would've wanted it to be. Think There Will be Blood or Django Unchained. It couldn't quite match that level of visual quality, and unfortunately it was always in the back of my head while watching.

The first act was probably my favourite part, eventhough it's really just the introduction to the setting and characters, and lacking any sign of the vampires yet to come. Though I do have a love of a good build up/anticipation to a party in movies, so maybe that's why.

There was a confussing moment where it seemed there were suddenly a lot more survivors during the last stand then we saw initially. There was seemingly only Smoke, Sammie, Delta Slim, Pearline, Annie, and Lisa, but when the vamps bust in there were random other people getting attacked in the club. Don't know if I just didn't notice them before, or if the movie just pulled them of of its ass.

There's more to talk about that I can't really speak on for obvious reasons. The music was very good, and the final vampire kill was a highlight, which is a must for any vampire movie.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Not what I meant.

Then I'm not sure what you meant. There's no meaningful characterization of dragons in this movie beyond how they were characterized in the 2010 animated film. If your socks weren't blown off in 2010, then feel free to leave your shoes on for this affair.

Well, time and money will see if this bears out. It probably will, but weird things happen sometimes.

Stranger things have happened, but this one doesn't bode for any substantive revolution in the ideal of remaking movies. If you liked the original, you'll like this one because they are the same film, just with live action transposed over where animation once was.

Long story short, it's a good movie for anyone who's not seen the original, because it is the original, beat for beat.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★★ review of The King's Man (2021)

“Reputation is what people think of you. Character is what you are.” This film was announced to be in active development in 2018. Made as a prequel to the first two films in the series, this was intended to be filmed back-to-back with a third Kingsman movie, but the latter seems to have not...

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[Johnny Novgorod]

Preparing for 28 Years Later, naturally by rewatching Paul W.S. Anderson's seminal underrated kino Resident Evil Apocalypse (2004).

It takes the Nemesis over 400 minigun rounds, plus an RPG, to wipe out a platoon of 13 people who're just kinda standing in front of him, none of whom think of shooting the thing in the head. Sloppy on both parties, really.



Still probably more kills than the Nemesis gets in the game, right?

 

[Bedinsis]

The Hidden Fortress (1958)

A samurai flick that prior to watching I only knew inspired the original Star Wars. For that reason I kept the run time of the movie looking for analoges to said film. It's a film set in the aftermath of a war lost by a Samurai clan, where the initial plot follows to farmers who has lost everything living as vagabonds.

These characters are the equivalents to R2-D2 and C-3PO, but the difference between them and said robots is that they have basically the same personality, but their personalities mostly reminded me of Tuco from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, in that they are greedy and self-serving. And no matter the scene, they are never on the top of their game, a character introduced relatively early often ends up as the guy that has fix things after they have screwed things up. Said character I think is the actual protagonist, a leading figure from the losing side of the defeated Samurai clan.

The plot turns out to be a series of mini adventures as they travel from point A to point B, and it is quite entertaining. I didn't however engage much emotionally with the characters; most of the nobility are in stoic samurai mode and the two farmers' emotions and goals are at odds with the goal of the samurai folks, which is the true story of the film.

 

[Gordon_4]

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - 10/10

Yep, still fucking amazing.

 

[Phoenixmgs]

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - 10/10

Yep, still fucking amazing.

It's mainly an allegory that Disney is evil to boot.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★★★★½ review of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

“Matthew, I’ve lived in this city all my life, but somehow today, I felt everything had changed. People were different. Not just Geoffrey, but everybody. Yesterday, it all seemed normal. Today, everything seemed the same, but wasn’t. It was a nightmare.” A remake of the original film from 1956...

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[BrawlMan]

Plane (2023) - Another mid 90s throwback action movie featuring Gerald Butler and Luke Cage!. Just a regular good film. Nothing too special. The action works, is used practically, and well shot. This one of Butler's better movies and I find so much better than the Has Fallen trilogy and majority of the straight to DVD garbage he's done. I don't know how this man became the go to of, we need him to play in the most generic named action movies of all time. Gamer, Hunter Killer, etc. It's a 8/10 for me. I won't be re-watching it too much, but will play it again sometimes when the mood suits me.

​

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

28 Years Later

A weird, folksy coming of age melo set against the zombie post apocalypse. It's a far better sequel to 28 Days Later than the 2007 cash grab, and a far more interesting legacy sequel than Trainspotting's for that matter.

It's also very... gamey, for lack of a better word. Like the opening 30 minutes or so feel like a slick, cinematic demo or tutorial for a game you won't get to fully play. There's a hitstop effect whenever a zombie gets killed, and there're new zombie varieties, each with their own moniker. Case in point: "alphas", which are essentially boss fights.You'll know an alpha because they run around naked and sport footlong schlongs and like to pull fatalities on puny humans.

I had my issues with some of the movie's notions about zombies. I'm firmly in the camp that zombies are abominations best treated to a crowbar or baseball bat, and won't be swayed by this movie's New Age reconceptualization of them as creatures who deserve to be around. If I see a zombie give birth, I'm immediately dashing that thing's head against the kitchen counter.

So moral quandaries aside, I really enjoyed the movie.

 

[Casual Shinji]

A ★★★★½ review of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

“Matthew, I’ve lived in this city all my life, but somehow today, I felt everything had changed. People were different. Not just Geoffrey, but everybody. Yesterday, it all seemed normal. Today, everything seemed the same, but wasn’t. It was a nightmare.” A remake of the original film from 1956...

letterboxd.com

Whether it's this, The Exorsist, or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre there's something about the mise-en-scene of 70's horror that's suffocatingly uncomfortable.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I already talked about it, but the more I think on Sinners the more I like it. Especially Remmick, his whole deal makes him a pretty fucking captivating villain.

 

[thebobmaster]

Whether it's this, The Exorsist, or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre there's something about the mise-en-scene of 70's horror that's suffocatingly uncomfortable.

The director actually said that he thinks timing more than anything is what made Invasion of the Body Snatchers a box office success. It came out not that long after Jonestown, and he thinks the fact that everyone's mind being already on the cult mentality and people seeming to mindlessly group together made the film resonate a lot more than even he intended it to.

 

[Bartholen]

28 Days Later, 8/10

In preparation for the new sequel I decided to finally check out the 2002 classic. It holds up pretty damn well. This was one of those peudo-mythical movies to me, because as a kid I remember seeing this in video rental stores and market DVD racks among other horror movies that I was way too young to watch, but seemed like the most hardcore thing ever. Turns out this is actually rather tame in terms of its content. It is intense, but not some relentless, non-stop bloodbath. If anything, it's thematically way more disturbing than visually.

Despite not having experienced this at the time myself I can still totally understand how this was unlike anything ever seen in the zombie genre. With just some simple makeup, stage blood and body language this movie created an entire new type of zombie and changed the course of horror cinema. It is damn impressive and creative low-budget filmmaking, which goes for its visual style as well. The low-quality footage actually works in its favor, because it both hides the imperfections in the filmmaking and gives it this grotty look, like the film is something not meant to be watched, like a dark web video or CCTV footage. The fact that it's only sorta kinda post-apocalyptic still makes it stand out visually, because civilization's not in ruin yet, it's still in the middle of crumbling. It feels like a lot of zombie properties just jump straight into total downfall mode, when there's so much to be explored in the familiar turning uncanny.

It's well written, well paced, well acted, well shot, it's just all around excellent filmmaking. I wouldn't call it exactly scary, but there were scenes of proper tension and emotional impact. I was also taken aback by the ending, because it was so unexpectedly hopeful. I guess I've just been conditioned to expect nothing but nihilism and misery from horror movie endings these days, so some proper wholesomeness felt nice for a change.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★★★★½ review of Reservoir Dogs (1992)

“Are you going to bark all day, little doggie? Or are you gonna bite?” This film, the feature-length directorial debut for Quentin Tarantino, had a few bumps in production, as you might expect given his style combined with his lack of experience. At first, he intended to make a very low budget...

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[Casual Shinji]

28 Days Later, 8/10

In preparation for the new sequel I decided to finally check out the 2002 classic. It holds up pretty damn well. This was one of those peudo-mythical movies to me, because as a kid I remember seeing this in video rental stores and market DVD racks among other horror movies that I was way too young to watch, but seemed like the most hardcore thing ever. Turns out this is actually rather tame in terms of its content. It is intense, but not some relentless, non-stop bloodbath. If anything, it's thematically way more disturbing than visually.

Despite not having experienced this at the time myself I can still totally understand how this was unlike anything ever seen in the zombie genre. With just some simple makeup, stage blood and body language this movie created an entire new type of zombie and changed the course of horror cinema. It is damn impressive and creative low-budget filmmaking, which goes for its visual style as well. The low-quality footage actually works in its favor, because it both hides the imperfections in the filmmaking and gives it this grotty look, like the film is something not meant to be watched, like a dark web video or CCTV footage. The fact that it's only sorta kinda post-apocalyptic still makes it stand out visually, because civilization's not in ruin yet, it's still in the middle of crumbling. It feels like a lot of zombie properties just jump straight into total downfall mode, when there's so much to be explored in the familiar turning uncanny.

It's well written, well paced, well acted, well shot, it's just all around excellent filmmaking. I wouldn't call it exactly scary, but there were scenes of proper tension and emotional impact. I was also taken aback by the ending, because it was so unexpectedly hopeful. I guess I've just been conditioned to expect nothing but nihilism and misery from horror movie endings these days, so some proper wholesomeness felt nice for a change.

As different as this is as a zombie movie it can't help but fall into the same issue as other zombie movies, which is; How the hell do we end this?! Because like most zombie fiction it's about how the world pretty much ended, so you're stuck trying to make a somewhat satisfying ending within that setting. And in 28 Days Later's case this is 'I guess they got picked up by the military'. 3rd acts in zombie movies always have a very difficult time.