What are you watching?

[PDB]

Not a lot of people here write down movie or TV reviews in this sub forum so, I thought I'd start a simple what are you watching thread.

[PDB]

I'll start off. I finally got to see some current movies (as of March 2017) and saw Logan and Kong: Skull Island.

In Theaters

Logan- was great movie and had a significant impact on me with its themes about fatherhood. I'm very curious to see how it plays in B&W. I'd say a good 4/5.

Kong: Skull Island- had the worse character development on Earth but who cares. You went to this movie to see a goant gorilla smash things and it delivers that in spades. I was shocked that I actually liked John C.'s character who wasn't just pure comic relief. 3/5.

I also got to see the classic noir, Out of the Past on DCP. To call it perfect in my eyes would be underselling it. Love Mitchum at his prime. 5/5

[MrBrown]

I just watched the austrian Production "Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies"
..well... a bit too serious to be a "just the fun" movie, but quite gory, and certanly more professional, than the title gives away.
But it also hat some nice jokes and laughtes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD-7B7CqEjo

[Feallan]

The Expanse. Best sci-fi TV I've seen so far and I've seen a couple

[DoomBot]

Yeah The Expanse is pretty good for a scifi original show, and the CGI is very well done.

[PDB]

I really need to check out the Expanse. It seems right up my alley. Thanks for the recommendation.

So my run of seeing movies in the theater continues (after 3 years of not going)

In Theaters

I saw Logan again. Not because the movie was good (it is) but because I had the opportunity to see it in a Dolby Vision theater. I have to say the Dolby Vision was well worth the price. Not only did I notice the very black projection but the HDR color grading was amazing. But I did notice the HDR version looked radically different then the non HDR version. In the non-HDR the desert scenes where more muted and yellow whereas the HDR version was very saturated with red and oranges. Same with the forest scenes being much more saturated and green. I was surprised I wasn't as impressed by the Atmos track which was my primary reason for going in the first place.

Life (2017)- which was a funny little B-movie. Very derivative of Alien but Alien was very derivative of so many 50s era B Sci-fi films that one can hardly complain. Some of the characters acted in stupid ways to further the plot but all-in-all I went in expecting one thing and got exactly that. So 3/5. Not worth it for the theater but worth a rental on a night you have watched everything else.

Video

Also saw Blair Witch (2016) on BD. Went in expecting crap and was happy it was more then crap. That's not to say good or great but serviceable. It definitely goes the opposite direction of the original by speeding up the tension building opposed to the slow build of the original. But at least you don't have people yelling at each other in the forest for an hour and a half. Also this squeal basically shows you everything you need to see, no more filling the blanks from the original (to its fault I think). 2.5/5

[MrBrown]

I just saw "I, Frankenstein" on BD.

Well, nice action, not that shaky bad camerawork.
Just the story felt more like a comic, than a movie.
Sound indeed was very nice.
I would re-watch it with friends, some beers, but it was not that philosophical, as it could have been, with the soul or no soul theme.
Like: why the heck he suddenly has a soul? Even without necessarily stepping into religious and "God gave him one" description.
Like "his compassion and love for that human woman is his soul, that filled him, and prevented him from being possessed by a demon. But on the other hand, he loved that woman, back when he (still) could destroy a gargoyle...
Or maybe the act of even willingly sacrifice himself to protect the woman gave him the last needed... flash of getting such thing as a soul...

Well...
Okay...
Maybe it is even better, that it was not revealed...

[zoidberg]

By a strange coincidence I watched a documentary called 'The Frankenstein Complex' about special make-up effects and creature effects. Mostly talking heads but some archive footage and some pretty awesome artwork throughout. They managed to interview most of the big names in the industry, along with directors like Joe Dante, John Landis and Guillermo Del Toro. Unfortunately Rob Bottin was notable by his absence as his artwork was heavily featured throughout, but as the documentary made clear he walked away from the industry completely. It's worth a watch

[House]

The last man on earth.
The mick.
Z nation, Re-watching all seasons.
Tremors, the serie, too bad they canceled.

[spoRv]

In the last weeks, in no particular order:

• 10 Cloverfield Lane - another attempt to use a previous film popularity, this time way better than Monster: Dark Territory; even if it's the same case, where aliens are just an excuse, the story is interesting and terrifing... highly reccomended!
  
  
• Assassin's Creed - not a bad movie, but not very good either... it's kinda "empty"; probably would be appreciated by the fans of the game, and it has its moment, but, even if it's not a total waste of time, frankly I can live without it.
  
  
• Maze Runner: The Scorcher Trials - yep, a post-apocalyptic-teen movie; nice (for this genre, of course), and this time has also strange creatures and some sort of zombies... forgettable, but forgivable.
  
  
• 400 days - sorry, I quit after five minutes or so... bad acting, bad story, bad sceneries, everything bad...
  
  
• Rogue One - seen for the Nth time, the last one a 4K 10bit 4:2:2 HDR (on a normal non-HDR 1080p TV set); well, I can say it's very nice, and every time I discover some little nuances in acting that let me appreciate it even more!
  
  
• Ant Man - a little discovery; where Deadpool was excessive, this movie is an "ordinary" super hero flick; an entertaining story, with the plus of an actress I loved in Lost...
  
  
• Captain America: Civil Was - this, at the contrary, was under tone - not for the usual explosions, chasing, fighting etc. but for its too political involvement; apart this, I liked the story and all the (more or less) new heroes.
  
  
• Ghostbusters (2016) - OK, of course it can't be compared with the original one, but it's not that bad... I must admit many of the supposedly funny scene didn't work (don't know if it's me, the italian dubbing, or both), and see Thor there seemed a little odd... but few cameos and good CGI saved the day... probably.
  
  
• X-Men Apocalypse - another super heroes movie; I can't say it's bad because it's not, and I appreciated the fact that, even after so many "episodes", this franchise continue to mantain a good level; but the story seems to be not that so much original (again, probably it's me, after 10000 movies watched, it's quite difficult to surprise me with a so-called original story).
  
  
• Gods Of Egyps - many talked so bad about this movie, that I was almost forced to watch it... well, it's quite good! Alex Proyas directed few movies, and I like them all; yes, it's a CGI-feast, and an eye candy with all these colors, but all in all story is good, actors are well chosen; a good choice of watching something different if you like the super hero genre.
  
  
• Underworld: Blood Wars - yep, I love vampires, werewolves, and the main character - let's face it, I even named one of my cats Selene! - so I could be a bit biased. But, to be the fifth movie in the franchise, it works surprisingly well; far from a masterpiece, and at a lower level in comparison to the first one, its story works, while CGI is even worst, sometimes, than the very first film... unmissable for every vampire-action fans, and watchable for the others - but I suggest to watch the other four ones before this.
  
  
• Passengers - sci-fi without aliens, and it works perfectly! Don't expect a movie full of action, though; pacing is quite slow, but never boring; it makes you think, because the story is really interesting. Unmissable for every sci-fi lover, and strongly suggested to all the others!
  
  
• Arrival (2016) - to be not confused with The Arrival (1996), this is an unusual movie; be prepared for a slow pace, and an eventual second watching; with aliens, first contact, strange memories, nothing is missing from this movie to be appreciated - indeed, another super hero here as well!
  
  
• San Andreas - another disaster movie, with The Rock as star; good CGI, nice story with the usual nonsense moments found in the genre; perfect companion to 2012, for example.