rate the last film you watched

vj288

not actually Fiona Apple
I am a fine toothed comb type of fan when its a beloved book now movie type of situation, it took me years to accept the harry potter movies because of the changes they made :LOL:. But for situations like the one you mentioned I try and chalk it up to youth/scared/adrenaline response/ too honest or innocent to think of that in the moment type of things, it makes it easier to accept :LOL:

It's funny you use Harry Potter as an example, as I remember when the first one came out (and I was about 11) I was so upset at the minute differences between the movie and the books I vowed out of 11-year-old rage never to watch another Harry Potter movie after that. Now as a more flexible, understanding fan I can appreciate a book adaptation that deviates greatly from the specifics of a book, but my stubbornness has refused to allow me to go back on that vow I made as an 11 year old, and I still haven't watched any Harry Potter movie except the first. My nerd rage from back then was so strong it has transcended time to the point of arbitrary ridiculousness :p
 

LoyalXenite

Well-known member
It's funny you use Harry Potter as an example, as I remember when the first one came out (and I was about 11) I was so upset at the minute differences between the movie and the books I vowed out of 11-year-old rage never to watch another Harry Potter movie after that. Now as a more flexible, understanding fan I can appreciate a book adaptation that deviates greatly from the specifics of a book, but my stubbornness has refused to allow me to go back on that vow I made as an 11 year old, and I still haven't watched any Harry Potter movie except the first. My nerd rage from back then was so strong it has transcended time to the point of arbitrary ridiculousness :p

That is very understandable, it took me years to finish the movies and I hated them quite a bit, it was actually only in the last few years that I could enjoy them and a big part of that is because of all the memes about them :LOL:

I try to be a more understanding fan, but I remain a harsh critic when its a book adaptation of any books that I loved. I have to try and trick myself into watching the film first then reading the books (did this with hunger games and I love both the films and books - though the books are of course superior)
 

Phoenixx

Well-known member
The Umbrella Academy (Season 2) - 9/10

The first season was good, but the second season was even better. Racism, cultural differences, coups, murders, wars, more secrets, new abilities, more family (???), alien dad (???), and time traveling galore. That's all I'm saying. Talk about a wild trip, and I'm ready for the next one. (y) And that soundtrack? Freaking amazing! :love:
 

LoyalXenite

Well-known member
The Umbrella Academy (Season 2) - 9/10

The first season was good, but the second season was even better. Racism, cultural differences, coups, murders, wars, more secrets, new abilities, more family (???), alien dad (???), and time traveling galore. That's all I'm saying. Talk about a wild trip, and I'm ready for the next one. (y) And that soundtrack? Freaking amazing! :love:
The Umbrella Academy (Season 2) - 9/10

The first season was good, but the second season was even better. Racism, cultural differences, coups, murders, wars, more secrets, new abilities, more family (???), alien dad (???), and time traveling galore. That's all I'm saying. Talk about a wild trip, and I'm ready for the next one. (y) And that soundtrack? Freaking amazing! :love:

I love that show! And loved the latest season! Who is your favourite?
 

Phoenixx

Well-known member
High Score - 7/10

Not a movie, but a Netflix documentary series about the history of early video games. It was good, a little jumpy with the timeline which made it slightly hard to follow. Really disappointed they didn't elaborate on more games or other consoles besides Nintendo and Sega either. There's more to video games besides the two major trendsetters, but it was still a good series revolving around *their* history. A nice nostalgia trip.


Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga - 6/10

I don't even know where to begin with this and I don't even know what the point of this movie was honestly. If it wasn't for a friend recommending we watch it, I wouldn't have even bothered. I'm not the biggest fan of Will Farrell, and oftentimes his movies are either hit or miss for me. In recent years a lot of his comedies have been pretty dumb and shallow and really not all that funny. That being said, I actually didn't wind up hating this as much as I thought I was going to. I never would've thought to pair Rachel McAdams with Will Farrell on-screen, but honestly it kind of worked in some weird way....? I really can't describe it because even I still don't understand how this wound up actually being somewhat enjoyable. Granted, there were some really stupid scenes, and the fake accents got on my nerves after a while, but the music throughout was actually decent. Like most Americans, I don't know much about Eurovision other than it seems like a much more grandiose music contest than any of the garbage we produce here in the states. Have to say I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it's also a movie filled to the brim with cameos of actual singers that have either won or were featured on Eurovision. Pretty neat! It's worth a watch if you're in the mood for a tacky comedy with good music on a boring weekend afternoon, but otherwise you're not missing much if you pass it up.
 

Phoenixx

Well-known member
Schitt's Creek - 10/10

One of the best shows I've watched this year and pretty much forever. Jumped on the bandwagon and I can completely understand the cult following with this show. It's extremely well written, funny without trying too hard, and the character development is phenomenal! *chef's kiss* The series as a whole was wrapped up nicely, leaving you wanting just a little bit more, but not to the point where you're left playing 20 questions wondering what could've and should've been. For a show with only 20 - 30 min. episodes and only 6 seasons long, with 13ish episodes per season, they crammed a lot of story in a little package and that's not always an easy thing to do. I definitely consider this series a must-watch for everybody. Even if it doesn't capture you in the first couple episodes, stick with it. You won't be disappointed.


Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (Season 7) - 8/10

This seemingly long running show finally came to an end this year. I am relieved honestly, as well as satisfied. This season was all about the continuation of time travel and space travel, because we apparently didn't get enough of that in the last season (or two) and given how broad of a theme it can be, I feel it had to be dragged out further in order to be wrapped up efficiently. But how everything was wrapped up neatly in a two-part finale was well done. It certainly wasn't perfect -- I felt Daisy's story could've been more than just her finding a love interest. That's honestly a little ironic given how independent her character actually is. And bringing back an old character from a previous timeline just to purely serve that purpose felt lazy to me. Sousa could've been so much more, written so much better because he seems like a really interesting character, however, he was only brought in to tie a loose end. Regardless of that main gripe, the finale was surprisingly quiet, but bittersweet. The team splitting up and going their separate ways was expected, and not just because of the several hints that were dropped all throughout the latter half of the season. After what everyone has been through the last couple seasons, plus introducing and playing out a whole new timeline, only for Fitz to show up and be like, "Hey, we get to go home now!", it was all kinda expected/predictable. That's not always a bad thing though, and again, I really liked how it was all wrapped up.
 

vj288

not actually Fiona Apple
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (Season 7) - 8/10

This seemingly long running show finally came to an end this year. I am relieved honestly, as well as satisfied. This season was all about the continuation of time travel and space travel, because we apparently didn't get enough of that in the last season (or two) and given how broad of a theme it can be, I feel it had to be dragged out further in order to be wrapped up efficiently. But how everything was wrapped up neatly in a two-part finale was well done. It certainly wasn't perfect -- I felt Daisy's story could've been more than just her finding a love interest. That's honestly a little ironic given how independent her character actually is. And bringing back an old character from a previous timeline just to purely serve that purpose felt lazy to me. Sousa could've been so much more, written so much better because he seems like a really interesting character, however, he was only brought in to tie a loose end. Regardless of that main gripe, the finale was surprisingly quiet, but bittersweet. The team splitting up and going their separate ways was expected, and not just because of the several hints that were dropped all throughout the latter half of the season. After what everyone has been through the last couple seasons, plus introducing and playing out a whole new timeline, only for Fitz to show up and be like, "Hey, we get to go home now!", it was all kinda expected/predictable. That's not always a bad thing though, and again, I really liked how it was all wrapped up.

After Captain America: Civil War blew up the whole show I didn't think it would be able to function well, but looking back I'm happy and impressed with how good of a job they did all the way to the finish. I do wonder with the next Doctor Strange movie dealing with the multiverse, if there isn't a chance we'll see some of the characters again, even if just a cameo.
 

Phoenixx

Well-known member
Bonding (Seasons 1 & 2) - 7/10

For a show clearly about BDSM and sexual fetishes, it honestly isn't so much raunchy as it is adventurous, funny, and fairly light-hearted. Admittedly, I didn't watch season 1 in entirety, as I just so happened to be a passerby in my own house and saw my husband watching it and catching snippets. As such, those snippets drew me in and before I knew it I was finishing the season and going right into season 2.

In season 1 there is some drama, but it's not so drawn out or weighed down that it takes away from the main story. While I did find Tiff, the main character, a little cliched with the whole "I'm a mysterious girl with walls and I can't open up to anyone" persona, she's still a good character. The relationship between her and Pete -- again I found to be another cliched character of simply being the funny gay friend/sidekick -- is well portrayed and their character development as a whole is satisfying. The first season is fast-paced and funny and made me really look forward to season 2.

Season 2 I found to be vastly different from season 1. I know a lot of viewers complained about this, but honestly I don't think I hated it as much as everyone else did. It is a lot more dramatic, possibly to the point where it does weight everything down too much. The overall story with Tiff trying to find herself and be a more open person while also learning from her past mistakes was slightly dull and drawn out, but not bad. I didn't totally understand why they sent Pete the direction they did though, him going his separate way to achieve his goals as a stand-up comedian while also leaving a mess behind with quite literally ALL of his relationships. I felt that drama wasn't exactly necessary, but it still left for an interesting turn of events, in my opinion. With everything that happened this season, it does slightly irks me that they tried so hard to fit all of it in the 15 mins they have per episode, with only 10 episodes for the entire season. It was almost like the writers gathered around and said, "Hey let's see how much stuff can we fit into 150 minutes of show, then let's try to connect the dots in some random way! What if we had Pete (a character originally written to be caring and mindful) out his boyfriend to his conservative homophobic father at work. This way he's single and can have his own story. We don't know what exactly we're going to do with him, but we'll figure that out later." Regardless, the end of the season left me wanting more, but I haven't quite figured out if that's a good thing or not.


Good Girls (Seasons 1 & 2) - 9/10

To simply put it, this is a "dramedy" about three women who are mainly struggling financially and decide to rob a grocery store to get the money they need. Little do they know that doing so opens a door to a life of crime by getting caught up in a gang and having to do their leader’s bidding in order not to get killed, or caught by the FBI. When first watching the previews for this show, I was expecting it to be like a chick-flick comedy sort of show. Thankfully it’s none of those things. For a drama, it definitely touches some deeper topics -- rape culture, racism, misogyny, transexuality to name a few -- but doesn’t weigh the whole show down that the funny parts aren’t funny or it’s leaving you feeling so anxious it’s not enjoyable. Speaking of comedy, it’s “funnier” scenes flow well and don’t try too hard with funny dialogue or situations. They don’t feel forced, rather it feels like a nice breath of fresh air within the show and I like that.

While Season 1 was absolutely fantastic, I think Season 2 fell just a little short. It was still good, nonetheless, but there were times it left me saying, “Why did Beth do that? Why didn’t she do this instead? That would’ve made more sense.” One thing I don’t like about dramas -- and this happens often with so many shows, which is why I really don’t care for a lot of dramas -- is that I feel like sometimes the writers write out common sense from the characters and have them play stupid just to have something big screw up simply for the “drama”. It’s different when that character is written to be not very smart or to screw up a lot. But in this case, Beth is the shining star here. She’s a do-good housewife who has spent the last 10 years supporting her husband and kids, cleaning house, cooking meals, running errands, basically the whole 1950s perfect wife ensemble. She’s overall viewed as a naive woman who can’t do no harm, but she’s out to prove them wrong, and maybe herself too a little bit. This whole transition is honestly what drove her to become addicted to her life of crime, to (eventually) prove to others that she’s a complete badass, she’s incredibly smart and knows how to work the system. I absolutely love how she’s written, so when she started making some stupid mistakes in Season 2, it just felt pretty out of character for me.

Another gripe I had with Season 2 was the finale. It was good, but it wasn't as good as it could've been. I feel like the whole end scene (spoilers) with the whole showdown between Turner, Rio, and Beth could've been so much better. I felt like they missed the suspense here. Those three people who have been playing cat and mouse (dog-cat-mouse?) for over an entire season finally wound up in a standoff, wondering who was going to kill who. They should've played the whole scene out, drawn out that suspense, but instead it was broken up into a couple transition scenes. After watching the first episode of Season 3, I can now see why they did the ending the way they did. But still, I was hoping for a finale as good as the first season and it fell short.

I just started Season 3, so hopefully some of this writing picks up like it did in Season 1.
 

Phoenixx

Well-known member
Croods: A New Age - 6/10

It was decent. Had some pretty funny parts, but overall didn't totally feel like a sequel. I found the story to be all over the place honestly, and the plot wasn't fleshed out well and was fairly dull. Props to some of the quirky bits though. Completely random, really had nothing to do with the story, but was funny enough to keep me entertained. If it wasn't for the humor and of course Dreamworks' continuing to showcase their natural talent in making magical environments vibrant with color and textures -- which was probably the best part of the film for me, the creative direction; some of those landscapes were just gorgeous -- this movie would've really flopped.

A Quiet Place -- 7/10

Been wanting to watch this for a while now. Especially since I was living in the town at the time where much of the sequel was filmed. (No I never got to randomly run into John Krasinski the whole time the crew was there and I was extremely disappointed; The company my partner works for did provide some equipment for their sets though which was really cool. The team was so supportive to the small town community and I absolutely loved seeing that.) This was pretty good, and definitely different to a lot of the thrillers I've watched. It's a nearly quiet film, obviously from the title, and it goes to show you really don't need to fill a movie with constant words and dialogues in order to tell a story. I'm not one for scary movies, and I definitely wouldn't call this a horror movie, but I did really enjoy the tension of this. I found myself often playing with the volume just because I wasn't sure how loud a scene was going to be with it being such a quiet movie and didn't need to pee myself or blow out my eardrums, haha.

As much as I did enjoy this movie and its creativity, it's far from perfect. I think I was left with more questions than answers honestly. Why do these creatures exist? Where did they come from? Why are they here? Where do they live? How do they appear out of nowhere? Why in the world would you risk getting pregnant in an apocalypse? Do you want your newborn child to become a quick snack for these things? Do they even eat humans or do they just kill them because they kill anything that makes noise? I do hope the sequel (which comes out next month!) addresses a lot of these questions and delves deeper into how this apocalypse came to be and what else the family will come up with to survive, even though they already figured out how to kill them.

On another note, I think my most major gripe for this film would be the death of the main character. (Won't say which one) Their death honestly provided nothing to the story and made zero sense to me. It wasn't even a ticket towards the solution to the whole issue. Even if they didn't die, they still would've figured out the solution. They didn't even have to die for the reasons they did either. I honestly think they could've saved themselves while saving the others too. I won't go into detail on how they could do that as I don't want to spoil anything. But hey, would it really be a true thriller/near-horror movie without a senseless death?
 

LoyalXenite

Well-known member
As much as I did enjoy this movie and its creativity, it's far from perfect. I think I was left with more questions than answers honestly. Why do these creatures exist? Where did they come from? Why are they here? Where do they live? How do they appear out of nowhere? Why in the world would you risk getting pregnant in an apocalypse? Do you want your newborn child to become a quick snack for these things? Do they even eat humans or do they just kill them because they kill anything that makes noise? I do hope the sequel (which comes out next month!) addresses a lot of these questions and delves deeper into how this apocalypse came to be and what else the family will come up with to survive, even though they already figured out how to kill them.

On another note, I think my most major gripe for this film would be the death of the main character. (Won't say which one) Their death honestly provided nothing to the story and made zero sense to me. It wasn't even a ticket towards the solution to the whole issue. Even if they didn't die, they still would've figured out the solution. They didn't even have to die for the reasons they did either. I honestly think they could've saved themselves while saving the others too. I won't go into detail on how they could do that as I don't want to spoil anything. But hey, would it really be a true thriller/near-horror movie without a senseless death?

These things bugged me a little too, not enough to stop me from being keen to check out the sequel. But enough that they definitely kept popping up in my mind as I watched
 

Phoenixx

Well-known member
The Mitchells vs The Machines - 9/10

This was one of the best animated films I've watched in a long time. It was quirky, the animation was different, it actually made me laugh out loud at a lot of scenes -- especially the furby one 😆, and overall just a great story. You can tell the producers and writers had a lot of fun with this film. It shows through the whole movie. I feel like a lot of animated films these days have fallen flat with recycling themes geared more towards children, not families as a whole, and therefore lacking in originality. Not this one. I have heard Sony Animations has been the production company to watch recently for animated films and now I can see why. If this comes out as a physical release I'll be picking it up to add to the collection.

Now I need to get around to watching Into the Spiderverse.
 
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