The Movie Thread Reloaded

[Thornhammer]

Justified: City Primeval isn't getting better. It has moved to Tuesday nights now. It's an eight episode season, so only four more to go. I might as well keep watching, but I can already see the future plot twists coming (act surprised when Raylan's daughter returns).

I didn't think it wrapped up too badly.

The last ten minutes or so of the final episode brought immense joy.

[Omega]

Came across an old anime rendition of Wizard of Oz.

Looks good and seems to swing between wanting to follow the movie, and wanting to follow the books.

[Ratman_tf]

Came across an old anime rendition of Wizard of Oz.

Looks good and seems to swing between wanting to follow the movie, and wanting to follow the books.

Sounds interesting. Got a link?

[Omega]

Came across an old anime rendition of Wizard of Oz.

Looks good and seems to swing between wanting to follow the movie, and wanting to follow the books.

Sounds interesting. Got a link?

Here is a link to the first episode. Its a bit slow to get to Oz. But gives a idea of the style and tone.

While finding that one came across another from a few years prior in 82 as a movie. Not so keen on the dub so did not poke too far through it.

[Ratman_tf]

Came across an old anime rendition of Wizard of Oz.

Looks good and seems to swing between wanting to follow the movie, and wanting to follow the books.

Sounds interesting. Got a link?

Here is a link to the first episode. Its a bit slow to get to Oz. But gives a idea of the style and tone.

While finding that one came across another from a few years prior in 82 as a movie. Not so keen on the dub so did not poke too far through it.

Ah. TY!

[Thor's Nads]

The greatest Dungeons and Dragons movie of all time. Of course I'm talking about The Hobbit, by Rankin Bass.

[Tod13]

Kevin Sorbo's Mythica movies were pretty good. They *felt* like D&D sessions, in a good way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythica_(film_series)

[jhkim]

Here is a link to the first episode. Its a bit slow to get to Oz. But gives a idea of the style and tone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbm3yuOhBm4

While finding that one came across another from a few years prior in 82 as a movie. Not so keen on the dub so did not poke too far through it.

I suspect they don't have rights to the movie, so they don't take anything too distinctive from it, but they do borrow themes like Dorothy being a wistful daydreamer. To me, it feels like the worst of both worlds.

The 1939 movie went completely contrary to the book in making Dorothy into a petulant young teenager and all her adventures just a dream -- but at least it was consistent in its vision.

[Omega]

Yes. I mentioned it swings between.

Still hunting for a copy of Journey Back to Oz from Filmation. Pretty unusual sort of sequel. Liza Minelli did pretty good as Dorothy if recall right. Been a few decades.

[Trond]

Just saw the Last Voyage of the Demeter. This one didn't work for me (nor my wife). It was actually quite predictable, perhaps except for one death. Without revealing too much, Dracula himself is remarkably bland. A more minor thing is that the voyage is set in 1897, but everything seems older. Sure, I guess the ship is old, but the guns too? The hero was a black man, so of course we got some lessons in racism. The woman on the ship is also the most willing to take action and use the guns to any effect. Yay Hollywood, never seen that before. 

[Thornhammer]

Junior wanted to watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

I enjoyed the hell out of it, despite early misgivings. Nobody phoned it in, the animation didn't get on my nerves, and not once in ever have I been saddened to have Giancarlo Esposito in anything.

Lot of fun. Diverts the origin story away from the Marvel Universe, but it all still works.

[Omega]

Junior wanted to watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

Lot of fun. Diverts the origin story away from the Marvel Universe, but it all still works.

TMNT is a Mirage product, or least was once. Marvel did some sideline comics once though. Think Image or IDW has it now?

[Trond]

A Haunting In Venice:

I actually enjoyed this one, definitely better than Death on The Nile. It has a spooky mood, some intricately interlinked murders, and less annoying CGI than the other recent Poirot movies. The acting was a bit variable (some good, some so-so) but I generally liked it! Bonus: the "murder weapon" of the first death (as it is revealed in the end) is something I have tested myself..... (insert ghost sounds here)

[Trond]

The Creator

This one was a mixed bag; very nice cinematography and special effects among things I liked. Many scenes were well done in mood and music and so on.

But oh boy is it predictable. One of the most predictable movies I've seen. Also, it feels manipulative: the people who support the robots are also the ones that are more spiritual (many robots are wearing Buddhist garb) willing to live in harmony, and in touch with nature (somehow). In contrast USA (which still exists) is shown as stern,militaristic, and cruel. I'll let you guess who the bad guys are, because who wants to spoil that impenetrable mystery? 😄

[Omega]

Been poking at some old Russian movies as I have the original Solaris movie on VHS and was looking for a replacement.

One came across is "Per Aspera Ad Astra, AKA: Через тернии к звёздам, AKA: Through the Thorns to the Stars from 1981 Soviet from a story by Kir Bulychov.

Its a rather oddball sci-fi movie about an alien woman found on a derelict space craft and brought back to Earth. There is a rather neat sequence where they are exploring the zero-G interior and to simulate this they must have filmed it under water. The first part of the movie deals with the alien girl, who has a rather interesting appearance, and her many unusual powers. After that the story takes to space and another world in trouble and apparently the girl's homeworld. It feels very Young Adult Fiction in tone. Lots of interesting camera tricks used in it.