rate the last film you watched

LoyalXenite

Well-known member
The Platform
6.75/10
A very interesting concept, though it got a little too happy with biblical references which got rather annoying. But it had me very interested for the majority of it.
 

FountainandFairfax

in a VAN down by the RIVER
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Fade To Black 8/10

A quirky, 1980 horror movie about a downtrodden guy obsessed with film. Following a mental breakdown he goes on a killing spree dressed as his favorite characters, taking revenge on all who ruined his life.

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FountainandFairfax

in a VAN down by the RIVER
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Pieces 8/10

An over-the-top slasher that borders on parody, about a disturbed young man who grows up to hack women into pieces. Set on a Boston college campus, the mystery focuses on three main suspects and gradually narrows things down to the revealing conclusion. Great gore effects in this one, I'd post pics but they're pretty shocking.

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Phoenixx

Well-known member
I've been getting back into watching some shows on Netflix recently and have been wanting to post what I watch.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Seasons 1 - 4) - 8/10
Yep the show, not the movie. I have never seen the apparent hot garbage that is that film and I know better to stay far away from it. I don't know why it took me so long to watch this animated series, but I'm glad I finally got around to it because now I know what the hype is about. So good! Not even going to describe what this is about because it's been around awhile and I'm pretty sure everyone knows about it to some extent.


The Dragon Prince (Seasons 1 - 3) - 8/10
After seeing that this series is also made by the same co-creator (Aaron Ehasz) as ATLA, I definitely had to give it a go. It's a completely different story, which takes place in the magical land of Xadia and the war between that magical land and the human kingdoms. It follows the journey of two princes and an elf assassin - who was originally sent out to kill the King of Catalis and his two sons - who discover a secret within the Kingdom of Catalis that may wind up ending the war between humans and magical beings that has been going on for hundreds of years. A couple episodes in, I wasn't totally sure what to make of it, as some of the dialogue I found to be a little tacky, and the art style seemed a little... I don't know... wonky? I'm assuming because it may have been a new program that was being used by the producers. Anywho, by the end of the first season I was completely hooked. For a supposed "children's" show - which honestly, I don't think I'd even call it that - the storyline and plot twists aren't as predictable as you assume them to be, and there are elements in which you don't expect to see out of such a show, like the portrayal of same-sex relationships/marriages and the whole concept of death and spirituality, also the sight of blood and war. While it's not gory by any means, blood, death, and war are concepts and scenes that are not hidden away or barely shown (like many Disney films for example) and this is very apparent by the end of the third season. It's a great show with a bit of a cute front that unexpectedly has a darkness to its story (pun intended) and it's definitely worth a watch, especially if you love animated shows and fantasy themes.


Beastars (Season 1) - 7/10
What in the fresh furry hell did I just watch? And I enjoyed it???? I never watch anime. I honestly don't even like anime much at all. As a teenager I tried watching Naruto, but really couldn't get into it. I grew up as a kid watching Pokemon and Sailor Moon, but even then I didn't get THAT into them as shows. This particular show though.... I'm a sucker for watching talking animals in just about anything (thanks Disney), even moreso watching animals with more human elements applied. I'm a huge fan of Zootopia, I loved that film. This show is basically taking that film, but pushing the throttle to the floor and venturing into more mature themes.

I'm not even talking about sexuality here, and while there are definitely sexual elements (even going as far as touching base on promiscuity and how females [even in this world] are shamed for what they do with their bodies), it's not even totally about that at all. Honestly, what makes this so good is the social diversity and cultural divide that exists between herbivores and carnivores in a modern world filled with anthropomorphic animals and how these themes are approached with its story. The characters are so well fleshed out, their personalities are not always what you always expect them to be. I'm really not even sure where to go about describing this show as there's so many different elements that I can touch base on. But I guess the short blunt version of this is: at a high school that's divided between carnivores and herbivores the main character, a wolf, begins to investigate the sudden murder of a classmate while also discovering his own predatory instincts and struggles with his feelings towards another classmate, a dwarf rabbit. While I know that description literally does nothing for the show, trust me when I say it's actually good and quite deep. The story itself also moves right along, never to get too hung up on minor details or move too fast where you don't know what's going on.
 

Phoenixx

Well-known member
The Umbrella Academy - 8/10

This show is apparently based on a comic book series by Gerard Way. Had no idea he even wrote one until watching this, so I went into this completely unaware and not knowing what to expect. I still am not entirely sure of the background, but I will try my best to sum it up: The setting for this show takes place in New York City (?), as do most superhero stories. It's about a family of misfit adopted children who each have their own unique powers. Seven of these children were adopted by this mysterious billionaire who had plans to train them into controlling their powers and using them to help save citizens in danger (like stopping bank robberies, but instead of capturing the bad guys they just killed them) and eventually save the world. He coined his team of special children as The Umbrella Academy. However his "training" methods were questionable and considerably abusive, to the point where each character now has their own issues and demons they deal with 20 years later as adults. Each character moved on away from the Academy, to try and live their own lives despite their pasts, only to find themselves brought together again after the death of their "father" (aka the billionaire). Coming together only seems to bring dysfunction, as they have to deal with family secrets coming to the surface, plus their own issues with themselves, meanwhile in just 8 days the apocalypse will come and wipe out everyone and everything and they have to find a way to stop it.

I like superhero stories and films, although admittedly I think the genre is getting a little tiresome. (Thanks Disney) However this show has a fresher and darker theme, which I enjoy. I was expecting this show to be a predictable good vs evil, a group of misfit superheroes coming together to defeat some evil and once that evil is defeated there's always another threat to come, but it's not even that at all, and that's what I absolutely love. At first it seems there's just bad guy vs good guy, but the narrative consistently flip-flops through the whole series. There's no concrete good guy, bad guy. Rather there's just people trying to do what they think is the right thing, or things that would seem to label them as a bad person, but looking at their backstory you can't help but have a little bit of sympathy even if one character tried to kill another. The growth of the characters is great, as it doesn't move too fast and isn't so blase. There's no "you did this thing so now I hate you for the rest of the series!" or "you apologized, all better!" The character growth and emotions feel reasonable, like they make sense. And I like that. Nothing ruins a show (or movie) for me more than shallow character growth and predictability. Which also brings me to the storyline and plots -- they're entirely unpredictable. I found myself trying to think ahead and guess what would happen, only to be proven wrong, and I love that. It's not often I find myself complete caught up in the emotions and shocked over a scene where I didn't expect something to happen. But in quite a few scenes I actually caught myself gasping over something that had happened. If a show can make me feel that, I'm already sold.

Based on other reviews I've read, this show apparently fits in the rare category of the show being better than the book. I don't know how many books there are, I'm assuming a few volumes since Season 2 of this show comes out at the end of the month. So I'm assuming Book 1 = Season 1, Book 2 = Season 2...? Either way, I'm making note to not read the series anytime soon. Don't really want to ruin (or spoil) what great feelings I already have about this show.
 

FountainandFairfax

in a VAN down by the RIVER
The Umbrella Academy - 8/10

This show is apparently based on a comic book series by Gerard Way. Had no idea he even wrote one until watching this, so I went into this completely unaware and not knowing what to expect. I still am not entirely sure of the background, but I will try my best to sum it up: The setting for this show takes place in New York City (?), as do most superhero stories. It's about a family of misfit adopted children who each have their own unique powers. Seven of these children were adopted by this mysterious billionaire who had plans to train them into controlling their powers and using them to help save citizens in danger (like stopping bank robberies, but instead of capturing the bad guys they just killed them) and eventually save the world. He coined his team of special children as The Umbrella Academy. However his "training" methods were questionable and considerably abusive, to the point where each character now has their own issues and demons they deal with 20 years later as adults. Each character moved on away from the Academy, to try and live their own lives despite their pasts, only to find themselves brought together again after the death of their "father" (aka the billionaire). Coming together only seems to bring dysfunction, as they have to deal with family secrets coming to the surface, plus their own issues with themselves, meanwhile in just 8 days the apocalypse will come and wipe out everyone and everything and they have to find a way to stop it.

I like superhero stories and films, although admittedly I think the genre is getting a little tiresome. (Thanks Disney) However this show has a fresher and darker theme, which I enjoy. I was expecting this show to be a predictable good vs evil, a group of misfit superheroes coming together to defeat some evil and once that evil is defeated there's always another threat to come, but it's not even that at all, and that's what I absolutely love. At first it seems there's just bad guy vs good guy, but the narrative consistently flip-flops through the whole series. There's no concrete good guy, bad guy. Rather there's just people trying to do what they think is the right thing, or things that would seem to label them as a bad person, but looking at their backstory you can't help but have a little bit of sympathy even if one character tried to kill another. The growth of the characters is great, as it doesn't move too fast and isn't so blase. There's no "you did this thing so now I hate you for the rest of the series!" or "you apologized, all better!" The character growth and emotions feel reasonable, like they make sense. And I like that. Nothing ruins a show (or movie) for me more than shallow character growth and predictability. Which also brings me to the storyline and plots -- they're entirely unpredictable. I found myself trying to think ahead and guess what would happen, only to be proven wrong, and I love that. It's not often I find myself complete caught up in the emotions and shocked over a scene where I didn't expect something to happen. But in quite a few scenes I actually caught myself gasping over something that had happened. If a show can make me feel that, I'm already sold.

Based on other reviews I've read, this show apparently fits in the rare category of the show being better than the book. I don't know how many books there are, I'm assuming a few volumes since Season 2 of this show comes out at the end of the month. So I'm assuming Book 1 = Season 1, Book 2 = Season 2...? Either way, I'm making note to not read the series anytime soon. Don't really want to ruin (or spoil) what great feelings I already have about this show.

Another great review, I need to check this out.
 

Phoenixx

Well-known member
Another great review, I need to check this out.
If you're into strange dark superhero shows and aren't burnt out of them, definitely worth a watch! The first few episodes in it can be a little hard to follow as it doesn't do the best job covering the background details, but by the end of the series it'll all come together and make sense. I think that's also what I like. It's a slow burn. Doesn't throw everything at you all at once, like a lot of book-based shows/movies do. It leaves you asking questions after every episode but in the way in which you're intrigued and want more, not in the way where you're wondering wtf is going on and you ask yourself, "Why am I watching this?" :LOL:
 

vj288

not actually Fiona Apple
The Umbrella Academy - 8/10

This show is apparently based on a comic book series by Gerard Way. Had no idea he even wrote one until watching this, so I went into this completely unaware and not knowing what to expect. I still am not entirely sure of the background, but I will try my best to sum it up: The setting for this show takes place in New York City (?), as do most superhero stories. It's about a family of misfit adopted children who each have their own unique powers. Seven of these children were adopted by this mysterious billionaire who had plans to train them into controlling their powers and using them to help save citizens in danger (like stopping bank robberies, but instead of capturing the bad guys they just killed them) and eventually save the world. He coined his team of special children as The Umbrella Academy. However his "training" methods were questionable and considerably abusive, to the point where each character now has their own issues and demons they deal with 20 years later as adults. Each character moved on away from the Academy, to try and live their own lives despite their pasts, only to find themselves brought together again after the death of their "father" (aka the billionaire). Coming together only seems to bring dysfunction, as they have to deal with family secrets coming to the surface, plus their own issues with themselves, meanwhile in just 8 days the apocalypse will come and wipe out everyone and everything and they have to find a way to stop it.

I like superhero stories and films, although admittedly I think the genre is getting a little tiresome. (Thanks Disney) However this show has a fresher and darker theme, which I enjoy. I was expecting this show to be a predictable good vs evil, a group of misfit superheroes coming together to defeat some evil and once that evil is defeated there's always another threat to come, but it's not even that at all, and that's what I absolutely love. At first it seems there's just bad guy vs good guy, but the narrative consistently flip-flops through the whole series. There's no concrete good guy, bad guy. Rather there's just people trying to do what they think is the right thing, or things that would seem to label them as a bad person, but looking at their backstory you can't help but have a little bit of sympathy even if one character tried to kill another. The growth of the characters is great, as it doesn't move too fast and isn't so blase. There's no "you did this thing so now I hate you for the rest of the series!" or "you apologized, all better!" The character growth and emotions feel reasonable, like they make sense. And I like that. Nothing ruins a show (or movie) for me more than shallow character growth and predictability. Which also brings me to the storyline and plots -- they're entirely unpredictable. I found myself trying to think ahead and guess what would happen, only to be proven wrong, and I love that. It's not often I find myself complete caught up in the emotions and shocked over a scene where I didn't expect something to happen. But in quite a few scenes I actually caught myself gasping over something that had happened. If a show can make me feel that, I'm already sold.

Based on other reviews I've read, this show apparently fits in the rare category of the show being better than the book. I don't know how many books there are, I'm assuming a few volumes since Season 2 of this show comes out at the end of the month. So I'm assuming Book 1 = Season 1, Book 2 = Season 2...? Either way, I'm making note to not read the series anytime soon. Don't really want to ruin (or spoil) what great feelings I already have about this show.

I watched this *checks Netflix history* about a year ago exactly and also liked it quite a bit. The new season is coming out this coming week, so unlike me you don't have to wait a whole year to see what happens next! :D

I remember after watching this it started a trend for me of watching off-beat Netflix shows that are either based off comic books (er, or graphic novels) or similar to shows that are based off of off-beat comic books. I could just list them, but considering the thread I'm in, why not rate them!

So here are some shows I watched when I was craving more Umbrella Academy.

The End of the F***ing World - 9/10

Perhaps my favorite of the bunch, a dark comedy about a kid who thinks he wants to be a serial killer. Maybe? He thinks so. Who knows. Tackles some heavier topics throughout, but I would put it more in the comedy genre. Off-beat, dark, and I loved it.

Stranger Things - 8.5/10

No review needed I imagine at this point. Not formally based off any comics, but might as well be. Fun fact, Ingrid Michaelson's newest album Stranger Songs is filled with songs inspired from the show, so if you weren't sold by the show's mass appeal I would hope you are now!

Sex Education - 7/10

Also not based on a comic book, or including anything supernatural whatsoever for that matter, but its tone reminds me so much of The End of the F***ing World I felt obligated to include it. If you liked that one, this is similar except with a slightly lighter tone. The basic premise is a high school kid with a Sex Therapist for a mom who decides to use his own knowledge to teach the sex crazed kids at his school how to, uh, sex safely and stuff.

I Am Not Okay With This - 7/10

This one came out more recently, so you caught me I didn't watch it that close to when I first watched Umbrella Academy. This one is based off a comic book though! I don't want to spoil to much, but it includes a girl who gets super powers, and it's clearly a metaphor for something else which I thought was excellently done. Comic books and super powers are so great at serving as vessels for other important topics, and this is a great example of that. It's pretty short though (8 episodes, 20-30 minutes each) so it's hard to fully formulate feelings about the show until a second season I feel.

Locke & Key - 6/10

This one I have the most mixed feelings about. In tone it is least similar to the rest in that it is a drama and takes itself fairly seriously. Still has that Netflix-teen show feel if you know what I mean, but not light. And is probably draws inspiration from one of the more prominent graphic novels.
My mixed feelings do not come from that though. It comes from the things it does well, it does very well. It sets a great atmosphere for what the show is, which is a eerie New England mystery/suspense. As someone from New England, I can attest to that. A major feature of the show is all these different keys that each have a special trait, and some are pretty cool, so I loved that aspect. And then you have the villain for the show who is great. I think it's really hard to create a pure evil villain without it feeling forced or fake, but this show did a really good job with it. I very surprised and impressed, well done.

But the plot suffers from one major downfall, which I like to call "Everyone is stupid". Why do I call it that? Well, basically every episode I felt the characters at one point or another went out of their way to defy reason and be stupid. Everything around these moments was okay, but at times it was incredibly jarring to watch a character act unrealistically for the sake of plot development. It made the show feel like a burnt $1000 steak at times. Great ingredients cooked poorly.


So yes, those are shows I watched.
 
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Phoenixx

Well-known member
I watched this *checks Netflix history* about a year ago exactly and also liked it quite a bit. The new season is coming out this coming week, so unlike me you don't have to wait a whole year to see what happens next! :D
Definitely looking forward to Season 2! I have been craving more Ellen Page since watching this. I thought she was pretty incredible in this series.

Sex Education - 7/10

Also not based on a comic book, or including anything supernatural whatsoever for that matter, but its tone reminds me so much of The End of the F***ing World I felt obligated to include it. If you liked that one, this is similar except with a slightly lighter tone. The basic premise is a high school kid with a Sex Therapist for a mom who decides to use his own knowledge to teach the sex crazed kids at his school how to, uh, sex safely and stuff.
I love this show. I personally don't care for tv shows with a lot of sexual themes, but this one is well done and it's actually funny and not all that perverted.

Locke & Key - 6/10

This one I have the most mixed feelings about. In tone it is least similar to the rest in that it is a drama and takes itself fairly seriously. Still has that Netflix-teen show feel if you know what I mean, but not light. And is probably draws inspiration from one of the more prominent graphic novels.
My mixed feelings do not come from that though. It comes from the things it does well, it does very well. It sets a great atmosphere for what the show is, which is a eerie New England mystery/suspense. As someone from New England, I can attest to that. A major feature of the show is all these different keys that each have a special trait, and some are pretty cool, so I loved that aspect. And then you have the villain for the show who is great. I think it's really hard to create a pure evil villain without it feeling forced or fake, but this show did a really good job with it. I very surprised and impressed, well done.

But the plot suffers from one major downfall, which I like to call "Everyone is stupid". Why do I call it that? Well, basically every episode I felt the characters at one point or another went out of their way to defy reason and be stupid. Everything around these moments was okay, but at times it was incredibly jarring to watch a character act unrealistically for the sake of plot development. It made the show feel like a burnt $1000 steak at times. Great ingredients cooked poorly.
Good review, I was curious about this one. My last little venture into Barnes and Noble, I saw this on the shelf and realized that it was the same as the Netflix show. I was curious about watching it, but after seeing the trailer I passed because it just didn't capture me. And now seeing your "Everyone is stupid" remark (lulz :LOL:) I can definitely say I'll pass on this entirely.
 

vj288

not actually Fiona Apple
Personally I quite enjoyed Locke & Key

While my mixed feelings review did lean a little on the negative, overall I liked it more than I didn't, and I'm definitely watching the second season. I really wanted to give specific examples, but couldn't without spoiling the show. Like one of the best aspects of the show was all the twists, especially in the last couple episodes. I didn't see at any point the possibility of Gabe and Dodge being the same person, and that reveal at the last episode completely blew my mind. That part of the plot was so perfectly done.

The parts I didn't like, which was only parts and I don't think the whole show, I think can be epitomized in one of the episodes where Dodge comes to the Locke house and demands the Head Key. At this point in the show Dodge doesn't know which keys the Locke kids have found (or if she does she doesn't indicate she does.) The Locke kids plan to avoid giving her the Head Key is to instead show her all the other keys, say "these are all the keys we have, see no head key!" and then hope she leaves. That's not illogical, that's a good plan. But as opposed to giving her all 5-6 keys they have at that point, it'd have made WAY more sense to show her like, 1 or 2 keys and keep the good ones to themselves to use later on. Instead, by the end of the episode Dodge has all the keys. Drove me crazy. Basically anything surrounding the transition of keys between Dodge and the Locke's (which seemed to happen a lot) never made sense to me. Like if I had super magical keys and was either a Demon trying to release my friends or a bunch of kids trying to make sure that doesn't happen, I'd try much, much harder to not lose possession of the keys.

To say I am annoying and nitpicking over unimportant details may also be fair though :p I try not to be one of *those* fans who brushes over everything with a fine toothed comb to make sure it makes sense, but every once and a while I can't help but notice something and it ruins the better parts that I like.
 

LoyalXenite

Well-known member
While my mixed feelings review did lean a little on the negative, overall I liked it more than I didn't, and I'm definitely watching the second season. I really wanted to give specific examples, but couldn't without spoiling the show. Like one of the best aspects of the show was all the twists, especially in the last couple episodes. I didn't see at any point the possibility of Gabe and Dodge being the same person, and that reveal at the last episode completely blew my mind. That part of the plot was so perfectly done.

The parts I didn't like, which was only parts and I don't think the whole show, I think can be epitomized in one of the episodes where Dodge comes to the Locke house and demands the Head Key. At this point in the show Dodge doesn't know which keys the Locke kids have found (or if she does she doesn't indicate she does.) The Locke kids plan to avoid giving her the Head Key is to instead show her all the other keys, say "these are all the keys we have, see no head key!" and then hope she leaves. That's not illogical, that's a good plan. But as opposed to giving her all 5-6 keys they have at that point, it'd have made WAY more sense to show her like, 1 or 2 keys and keep the good ones to themselves to use later on. Instead, by the end of the episode Dodge has all the keys. Drove me crazy. Basically anything surrounding the transition of keys between Dodge and the Locke's (which seemed to happen a lot) never made sense to me. Like if I had super magical keys and was either a Demon trying to release my friends or a bunch of kids trying to make sure that doesn't happen, I'd try much, much harder to not lose possession of the keys.

To say I am annoying and nitpicking over unimportant details may also be fair though :p I try not to be one of *those* fans who brushes over everything with a fine toothed comb to make sure it makes sense, but every once and a while I can't help but notice something and it ruins the better parts that I like.

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:
 
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