Good or New Movies Review

[Wizz]

@auspice said in Good or New Movies Review:

He doesn't have the swagger, the cadence of voice, none of it. That's why I'm just not feeling it.

I'm gonna have to agree with Gany on this one. I mean, it's honestly hard to judge based on what are literally like two or three second clips, but there's one where he's literally swaggering through a cantina, and there are some fairly Solo-ish quotes.

Plus, I mean...

I'd accept the dude as Harrison Ford's actual younger brother or son or something, there's a fair resemblance.

[Lotherio]

@wizz

Some of Harrison, some of Benecio ...

[Wizz]

So I am suuuuuuuper late to this party, but I just saw The Shape of Water the other night. I'm aware it's received a lot of praise and has a pretty high critic rating, etc. etc. but...

...was anyone else really creeped out by Elisa and the Merdude's relationship because of how extremely lopsided their emotional and intellectual capacities were?

[Roz]

@wizz I dunno, I didn't really read him as being less emotionally or intellectually capable than her. They were struggling past a language barrier and also wildly different life experiences.

[Auspice]

@roz said in Good or New Movies Review:

@wizz I dunno, I didn't really read him as being less emotionally or intellectually capable than her. They were struggling past a language barrier and also wildly different life experiences.

This.

I actually think he was very emotionally capable. There was fear, the ability to tell the difference between a human capable of empathy and understanding vs. humans out to use/abuse him.

[MagicGirl57]

Truth or Dare was just fucking weird and not scary at all.

[Jaded]

@calindra

It was billed as a horror movie. By the amount of people laughing at it, I think our theater thought it was a comedy.

[Ganymede]

@jaded said in Good or New Movies Review:

It was billed as a horror movie. By the amount of people laughing at it, I think our theater thought it was a comedy.

Save your money. Go see A Quiet Place instead. Or Blockers.

[Sockmonkey]

A Quiet Place was wonderful. I wouldn't say it was scary -- just tense. And it was emotional. I cried (although, admitted, it doesn't take much for me to cry).

[MagicGirl57]

@sockmonkey I think I might go see it this weekend.

[Jaded]

@calindra
You will not regret it.

[Ganymede]

@sockmonkey said in Good or New Movies Review:

A Quiet Place was wonderful. I wouldn't say it was scary -- just tense. And it was emotional. I cried (although, admitted, it doesn't take much for me to cry).

This is a good way to describe it.

A Quiet Place is a thriller.

Get Out is a horror film.

I'm not sure what the fuck passes these days for "horror," but Truth of Fare ain't it. Maybe a slasher flick, I don't know.

[MagicGirl57]

@ganymede Get Out was a-fucking-mazing. 1000/10

[Lotherio]

@ganymede said in Good or New Movies Review:

I'm not sure what the fuck passes these days for "horror," but Truth of Fare ain't it. Maybe a slasher flick, I don't know.

I haven't seen Truth or Dare but more and more lately there seems to be these sort of want to be disturbing/disgusting/shock value movies and shows that keep being labelled as horror or suspense or both when clearly they are not; maybe this was their intent. I put the human centipede series in this 'genre' and even then, the disturbing factor just isn't there for me, its like meh, did they even trying (aka, did they research shock value in films to see what actually came before they tried to shock us)? Shock has its place, there can be only one Pink Flamingos, to the others, John Waters they are not says I. I'd put things like Gummo and Cannibal the Musical at or near John Waters over these newer 'shock/disturbing' ones like human centipede. (And John Waters as William Castle in Feud: Bette vs Joan was the best casting ever)

[Auspice]

Horror is an all-encompassing genre with sub-genres. It is bastard child in that they've always been shitty to it.

Get Out winning any Oscars was a big ol' middle finger to the establishment in more ways than just it being written by a black man and the content. The Oscars hate awarding horror films (other smaller, more truly artistic award shows are better about this; if you're a movie buff or want to be in the bizz, watch things like the director-guided award shows, movie festival ones, etc.... those are the ones that show which films are actually loved by the people who actually make films).

I digress.

Whereas in drama you have period drama, romantic drama, etc etc and we all naturally recognize this along with comedy having dramedy, action comedy, black comedy (not the racial, but the dark, for anyone unaware of the terminology)... and so on... we often just see horror as horror.

But horror has the supernatural, the psychological, the suspenseful...

Unfortunately, around the time of Saw, Hostel, et al... the blockbuster films fell into the laziness of the gore sub-genre. And about a decade prior to that they'd given over to the laziness of overusing the jump scare*. Which means true, good horror has been really hard to come by. We've had a few. Some of my notables are The Others, Babadook, Paranormal Activity (the first one, but a couple others haven't been bad).

Get Out knocked it out of the fucking gate as an entry back into true horror, but Hollywood is still stuck in the gore because it's easy. It's easy, it's lazy, and people get in the seats for it. The same reason they get in the seats for the lazy comedy films full of toilet humor and second-hand embarrassment. The same reason we've got 8 Fast & Furious films.

*Pro-tip: in a horror film, you always know a jump scare is coming when the music cuts off during a tense scene. If you look at the upper corner (right or left) of the screen, you can still watch out of the corner of your eye while almost completely negating any likelihood of 'jumping.' If, like me, you are a jumpy person, this is a great way to still watch without being startled or having to look away.

[Lotherio]

@auspice Loved Babadook. Also from your pro-tip. A lot of trying to capitalize on gore lately as noted, they also forget that film language isn't just some fancy way of saying look at what Hitchcock did trying to be artsy, but the language is tried and true, its developed and evolved. Not to support gore genre, but the blockbusters trying to utilize it for shock value are devaluing gore (sounds weird, like saying porn with plot is better than not-plotted porn?). Don't slop it together, no matter how much budget you have to do so, look at the actual language of the art form.

I'm finding more films lately from indie/low budget folks to be better in their genres than the blockbusters which seem to be throwing money in the wrong direction. Osiris Child is a good one in the sci-fi genre that's pretty recent. They did an amazing job with their budget, care and detail to the craft.

[Auspice]

@lotherio said in Good or New Movies Review:

Osiris Child is a good one in the sci-fi genre that's pretty recent. They did an amazing job with their budget, care and detail to the craft.

This is on my list to watch.

I forgot Cabin in the Woods on my list, shame on me. I also want to watch The Ritual on Netflix soon. The trailer for it amused me; a few pointed tongue-in-cheek lines that seem to be callouts to horror tropes.

I also love horror comedy (Hello Ash vs Evil Dead!).

Let me run down some of my other favorites in case people are looking for horror. If you want to know why something is on the list, ask!
Sunshine
Aliens (all of 'em for various reasons; even if it's just seeing the Colonial Marines at work)
Land of the Dead
The Others
The Thing (both! original and remake!)
28 Days Later (best zombie movie ever, IMO... 28 Weeks Later is on Hulu, but I prefer the 1st)
Event Horizon
The Cabin in the Woods
Slither
The Faculty
Halloween (everyone should see these)
The Ring (there's debates on American vs Japanese; I prefer the American for cinematography value alone. It was beautifully filmed. Sorry purists.)
Resident Evil (I enjoyed the first, could take or leave the rest)

Available streaming (Netflix/Hulu/Amazon)
Hellraiser
Tucker & Dale vs Evil
10 Cloverfield Lane
Heathers
The Babadook
Paranormal Activity
Friday the 13th (these should also be seen by all)
Carrie
The Witch

Okay, not a perfect list, but it's what you get between tickets at work and while I skim streaming sites. I know I forgot/missed stuff, but hey... If you're new to / looking for horror, there's prob. something in there for you.

[Ganymede]

@auspice said in Good or New Movies Review:

Unfortunately, around the time of Saw, Hostel, et al... the blockbuster films fell into the laziness of the gore sub-genre. And about a decade prior to that they'd given over to the laziness of overusing the jump scare*. Which means true, good horror has been really hard to come by. We've had a few. Some of my notables are The Others, Babadook, Paranormal Activity (the first one, but a couple others haven't been bad).

The Babadook is on my list of must-watches. My partner loves horror movies, and she's sort of pulled me into watching some real shit, but she doesn't mind going to see things that look interesting.

In the past couple of years, along with The Babadook, there are other movies that look more like classic horror films that are getting recognition. It Comes At Night is another must-watch. A Quiet Place has made it to the list, along with Get Out. Raw is delightfully squicky, and Split pretty much revived James McAvoy's career. I also liked Maggie, which included a surprising performance from Ahnold.

I'm really looking forward to Hereditary. A24 is my new favorite studio.

[Auspice]

@ganymede said in Good or New Movies Review:

@auspice said in Good or New Movies Review:

Unfortunately, around the time of Saw, Hostel, et al... the blockbuster films fell into the laziness of the gore sub-genre. And about a decade prior to that they'd given over to the laziness of overusing the jump scare*. Which means true, good horror has been really hard to come by. We've had a few. Some of my notables are The Others, Babadook, Paranormal Activity (the first one, but a couple others haven't been bad).

The Babadook is on my list of must-watches. My partner loves horror movies, and she's sort of pulled me into watching some real shit, but she doesn't mind going to see things that look interesting.

In the past couple of years, along with The Babadook, there are other movies that look more like classic horror films that are getting recognition. It Comes At Night is another must-watch. A Quiet Place has made it to the list, along with Get Out. Raw is delightfully squicky, and Split pretty much revived James McAvoy's career. I also liked Maggie, which included a surprising performance from Ahnold.

I'm really looking forward to Hereditary. A24 is my new favorite studio.

So, I finally watched Split recently. And while it redeemed Shamalamadingdong in my eyes a little (being that it's related to that other film no spoilers)... It wasn't amazing. I enjoyed it, but it's not on the list, obvs.

But I don't need anything special to McAvoy. I dig the actor.

Hereditary is def. a must see for me. I heard about it before trailers even hit because it has been a buzz in the film community since the word go. Like, I will be shocked if it doesn't knock it out of the park. Before the first trailer there was the line "This generation's Exorcist" being thrown about.

[ZombieGenesis]

Throwing my two cents into the "enjoyable horror movie" topic I've found there are a ton of really good horror movies being streamed by the big 3 (Amazon, Hulu, and Netfix). Here's just a list of movies I don't think I've seen listed here yet.

The Blackcoat's Daughter
The Monster
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
The Woman
The Taking of Deborah Logan
Clown
The Ritual (IMO one of the best horror movies in recent memory)
The Shrine is a pretty decent flick
Prodigy skirts the line of horror but is pretty good
Coherence is more sci-fi than horror but was shockingly not bad
Deadgirl was bizarre but interesting
Contracted was another bizarre but interesting movie
Absentia is a movie where I hate the name but love the actual movie itself. Low budget but very well done, IMO.

I've watched every one of these more than once. Your mileage may vary, of course. Especially with the more bizarre movies like Deadgirl and Contracted.

There's also the movie Excision which had some good ideas but was just a bit...too bizarre for me...