Short Reviews of Stuff You've Seen Recently

I guess the thing with A Song Of Ice And Fire is that it outgrowed GRRM initial schemes. Later books are quieter in a realistic portrayal of the aftermath of a bloody chain of events but it still is able to get you in and shock you despite the denouement. But I guess it is not so satisfying for people who had to wait for an unexpected amount of time for both AFFC and ADWD books

Haw Haw Haw

Watch Dogs: The anti-GTA; takes itself very seriously, great variety in missions, not very good soundtrack, unmemorable protagonist. Sadly shares one quality with GTA 4: Quality of unpatched PC version.

Fallout New Vegas: My first WRPG was Fallout 3, and I hated a whole genre because of it. Two games redeemed it, the first being this (the second being Skyrim).

The Xposé (Bollywood): You need to watch this film. I am actually writing subtitles for this film for non-Hindi speakers. So bad it's absolutely hilarious. Imagine The Room, but without nudity, Marty Stu on steroids, a seriously pretty leading actress and worse dialogue. Laughed like a maniac in the theatre.

edited 8th Jun '14 12:22:47 PM by arcanephoenix

noisivelet naht nuf erom era srorrim

I just binge watched the (English dub) Sword Art Online anime. It has a very interesting premise, an emotionally moving and action-packed plotline that also happens to be very well thought through. And of course it features a very likable and very badass main character. It accepts and explores the ramifications of its premise (being trapped in a virtual world where virtual death results in actual death) including both the physical and emotional ramifications. The various villains are effective and terrifying and it's extremely satisfying to see them defeated. All in all it was a great experience.

Fear is a superpower.

Pacific Rim. The first half was kind of a sit, mostly due to the dialogue not being that great. However, it got its act together during the Leatherback/Otachi fight and finished strong. The acting ranged from okay (Charlie Hunnam) to really damn good (Idris Elba, Ron Perlman and the scientists). The latter three were by far my favorite characters. The effects were all fantastic. Although it wasn't perfect, I can see myself getting a few more views out of it. 3.5/5.

edited 8th Jun '14 1:25:22 PM by Mort08

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You're Next. I'm kind of glad I knew next to nothing about this going in, both because of reading about the Hype Backlash after and because it kept the twist relatively unexpected - Though I was sort of aware that two of the creators of VHS were involved, so I did have an inkling it wasn't going to be the straight-up home invasion-type movie the premise initially set up. I thought it was nothing too special, but pretty entertaining - there were some great moments of uncomfortable Black Comedy. I also like the little synthesizer leitmotif Erin suddenly picks up once her Crazy Survivalist background starts showing - it sounds like something out of a late 70's John Carpenter movie.

Yes, that movie was entertainingly bad.

I smell magic in the air. Or maybe barbecue.

Van Helsing: It sucks, but I watch it every time it's on TV.

Dune: The TV edit: I can't believe this thing is still allowed on the air. It's a cinematic Quaalude.

Of course, don't you know anything about ALCHEMY?!- Twin clones of Ivan the Great

How To Train Your Dragon 2:

• Pros: Great performances by the heroes, great development with Toothless and Hiccup, beautiful animation, fabulous soundtrack, good message. It's also very emotionally wrenching, which gets you invested in the story. This movie really makes you feel.
• Cons: Boring villain, annoying side characters, Hiccup's voice is still really weird

edited 20th Jun '14 10:44:04 AM by somerandomdude

ok boomer

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra: even my collection of GI Joes isn't as plastic and lifeless as this.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation: they tried.

Watch_Dogs: give a raise to gameplay designers, sack the script writers.

"what the complete, unabridged, 4k ultra HD fuck with bonus features" - Mark Von Lewis

To Kill a Mockingbird: There isn't a lot of courtroom drama for a novel that hugely impacted the genre.

I will most definitely be a quasi lawyer. Yup.

The LEGO Movie: Everything about this movie is awesome.

edited 30th Jun '14 5:00:43 AM by bRaHiAn1

i think i mostly want to see what happens when this whole place breaks apart

Citizen Kane: If it's not the greatest movie ever, then it's up there. Even today you can still get a sense of how people must have felt watching it when it was first released. Seinfeld Is Unfunny, you say? The cinematography is still incredibly atmospheric and haunting in a lot of places. The script is tight, the acting is top-notch, and you hardly notice the two hours go by. Definitely watch it if you haven't already.

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To Kill a Mockingbird, the movie: Dang, they cut a shitload of elements in the book.

That was never really the point of the book, though. It was more supposed to be about seeing the world through these eyes of childhood and also racism, racism's bad.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

Mulan: Fire the guy who did the transitions. Sup with the sudden fade to white cuts? The music was nice, but used inappropriately in the beginning. The plot was better than your average romance. Kudos for actually following the original ending. Nice armory designs. Camera angles were nice. Mulan actually spent 8 years of fighting before being promoted to general, so that's a nice touch.

Okay. WHO'S THE PERSON THAT CASTED VITAS? Vitas had the most WTF role in the movie. His acting was not bad, but still, Vitas just shouldn't be there.

The last show of Iron Maiden's Maiden England tour.

No new album, so no new songs. Lots of classic tunes, though, and a spectacular stage show. Eddie dressed as Custer fighting with Janick Gers was fun and giant, exploding-head Eddie with his dancing baby was just awesome.

Bruce was on top form again, dancing about in his red tunic for The Trooper. The image is so iconic now that even I, historical nit-picker extraordinaire, am willing to overlook the fact that the song is about the Charge of the Light Brigade and he's wearing an infantry uniform...

Basically: super-awesome.

edited 8th Jul '14 1:39:52 AM by InverurieJones

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

Sounds bloody wonderful, although Maiden being who they are I wonder how much they've got left.

edited 8th Jul '14 1:42:09 AM by RatherRandomRachel

"Did you expect somebody else?"

It was. Bruce's dogfight with 'a bunch of flying venetian blinds' earlier in the evening was also pretty cool, though I think some of the crowd were a bit surprised by just how slowly aeroplanes move when they are basically heavily-armed kites with motorbike engines.

Bruce said something about there being something cool in the works to look forward to in a couple of years, so I'm hopeful.

Hell, Sabbath were awesome on the Friday and they're positively geriatric.

edited 8th Jul '14 1:44:39 AM by InverurieJones

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

Avatar Last Airbender: Bored, didn't get the hype.

Hotel! Great way to spend an afternoon and features two Doctors, one of them retroactivly.

Lostie's girl, do,do, da na,na Where can i find a woman like that?

Band of Brothers.

Absolutely gorgeously and emotionally directed series, not to mention very accurate (the whole thing is based on Real Life, after all). The last episode kind of ruins the pacing, methinks, but it was all in all a very solid watch.

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

Knights Of Sidonia - Good anime about Real Robot heroes fighting Super Robot monsters. Done in decent CGI which tries to avert No Flow in CGI on a TV series' budget and does a decent job of it. Praised by Hideo Kojima as a refreshing breath of air.

If you meet me have some courtesy, have some sympathy, have some taste. Use all your well-learned politesse or I'll lay your soul to waste.

Earth to Echo:

Charming kids' flick aptly summed up as The Goonies meets E.T.. The actors, especially the kids, are solid, and I look forward to more stuff from them. (Almost entirely new faces, though Ella Wahlestedt does bear an uncanny resemblance to Chloe Grace Moretz). Echo is freaking adorable, and the movie really captures what it's like to be a kid in the 2010's. It manages to be obviously "for kids" without being immature or talking down to them. Solid 8/10.

edited 8th Jul '14 7:57:18 PM by somerandomdude

ok boomer

Kuiba: Knight of the Ghosty Dragon

Now I know why this manga will never be published in China. Overall, very good manga, even if it is very short. Plot wise, it isn't noteworthy. About half of the manga is various characters showing off their martial art skills. The twists are what you would expect from a high fantasy series. But there are no black and white villains. This series didn't start out with an underdog story—we already know the MC is the strongest character right off the bat. But what prevent the MC from becoming a Gary Stu is the amount of characterization the authors wrote in within this short series.

edited 22nd Jul '14 6:16:09 PM by KnightofNASA

Fist Of Fury (well, my copy is under The Chinese Connection). I can kind of tell why Riff Trax apparently did a take on it, because there are some highly narmy moments that are not helped by the dubbing. But I was mainly watching hoping for some crowning moments of awesome, and there were definitely enough of those.

I have too many dvds I've never actually watched right now, and might go and do a thing where I watch a movie every day until I feel sufficiently "caught up". So anticipate me either flooding this thread or the last movie you watched one.