Review The Last Thing You Watched

[Apollo the Just]

I watched How to Train Your Dragon, for the first time (I think) since around when the sequel came out. It's been quite a while.

I finished the book series and was crying so hard I didn't know what to do with myself, so I thought it would be a good outlet for my Feelings. Having finished the books, I was more aware than previously of all the cute and clever homages to the book world: the Terrible Terrors representing book Toothless, the end credit art depicting Book Hiccup and the Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus, the dragon 'stats' like those listed in the books.... the movie really took on a life of its own, inspired by names and themes in the books but completely writing its own story.

The soundtrack is still as phenomenal and touching as it has always been, and I am still in awe of the care and love that went into animating the movements of people and dragons to make them truly feel alive. And while I still do appreciate a lot of the dialogue, I am now able to admit that Hiccup's constant awkward narrating is kind of annoying sometimes and there are some scenes that would be more powerful silent; overall it's still such a fantastic movie.

I should re-watch the sequel because I only saw it twice when it was in theaters. There are DEFINITELY some later book parallels in that one, but it's hard to tell whether they're intentional or coincidental because of how enormously different the two stories are at this point. I REALLY want to see how the movie series ends, because if it ends at all similarly to how the books did I'm going to cry because I was sobbing so hard I gave myself a headache at the last book.

I love dragons you guys I **** LOVE DRAGONS

[Deku Tree]

John Wick 2 is so good. How is the action always so satisfying?

[Galefore]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I'll be honest, I'm a Charlie Kaufman newb, though my experiences with Radiohead have ensured I can't be unfamiliar with Gondry. It should not be surprising that I loved this. It took every notion I had about how a film with its plot concept could work, and the tour- de- force screenwriting carefully keeps its characters rooted in real human pathos. The cinematography, though, is what sells the whole thing. Gondry has truly represented dream and memory and the human mind with spotlights and disappearing set pieces and nightmare imagery slipping in and out. The camerawork and editing brilliantly creates the illusion of fading in and out of lucidity and traveling, often suddenly, from location to location within one scene. The picture is pure passion and master craft from bottom to top. It's powerful without being manipulative, and it draws a beautiful conclusion about the effort and acceptance that truly makes love work. This is a classic for so many reasons.

The Talented Mr. Ripley. I read The Disaster Artist recently, and this film features heavily as a backdrop piece referenced as, believe it or not, a big influence on The Room. With my mind set on not missing out on context, I caught this one. By God, I would love to shake Greg Sestero's hand, because this film is brilliant brilliant brilliant. Tom Ripley is a character brought from the pages of the source novels into beautifully vivid reality, a man with complexes and realities and interwoven lies fogging his mind so deeply he has become something entirely unpredictable. This is a truly terrifying story about deception and identity and envy and greed, loaded with powerful imagery and shot in almost too- gorgeous- to- be- real Italy. The performances here are marvelous too, Jude Law's rich kid turned rebellious and wild- spirited pretty boy being the standout for me even over Matt Damon and Philip Seymour Hoffman's incredible work. Paltrow and Blanchett are so killer here too, both conveying confused affection and inner conflict masterfully down to the tiniest details (Paltrow's facial expressions are so loaded with emotion she almost doesn't need lines, she could have told the story with her mastery of body language alone). Another picture I just **** loved.

[Apollo the Just]

I re-watched the sequel after my earlier post. It's an improvement over the first in a lot of ways (which is saying a lot since I love the first so much), with the only downside being that its pacing drags more than the first one's does. Both are great movies.

Also, having read the whole book series there are DEFINITELY shared themes between this movie and the books as well (even though, also like the first, 80% of it is just its own original content do not steal)

[Galefore]

Two great Seeso pilots, My Brother, My Brother and Me, and Harmonquest. Look, it isn't hard to hook me with the McElboys and Dan Harmon, two of my current favorite podcast-writer-comedian phenomena. These are both **** unbridled laughs. Dig em.

I also caught this weird recent two-parter from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia entitled "The Gang Goes to Hell". Basically, the group goes on a church-sponsored cruise at Mac's behest, and, hey, since they're basically the cast of 8-Bit Theatre, the obvious happens. Except this time, even moreso than usual, the script and framing of the episode (which is pretty much a bottle episode) work together to create laser focus on the fatal (and oddly self-embraced) flaws of each character. This episode flat out confronts each character's clear-cut hubris, and then slaps you with some of the most uncomfortable scenes followed by hilarious and quick **** that flies by and then suddenly jerks slow again, stopping to examine what makes an impression racist or not at one point. It's this push and pull two-parter that left me feeling exhausted in a good way. I love this show for flat-out embracing and constantly punishing these awful people, but... somehow it has stayed fresh and relevant and hilarious this entire time. S'pretty rad.

I watched Get Out today. Holy **** wow. I just... WOW. I really really liked this one, and delving into some of the nitpicky stuff, I find myself actively seeing even the weaker elements of the film forming a brilliant whole around this tense, tense horror-thriller. I appreciated the levity (I'm trying to be vague here because, trust me, just see it now. It may be a biiiiiit overhyped, but it is absolutely a great film and it is worth your eyes for a couple of hours) and the shocks, the skull-punch shocks in this one... I was a **** wreck. It's not all hype, believe me, this one is worth seeing and talking about and chewing on. It's a new classic in my eyes all day every day.

And lastly, I just finished a Bill Hicks documentary (American: The Bill Hicks Story). This thing is lovingly crafted and it gives me a whole new perspective on Hicks, who, I admit, I fell into the trap of seeing as a raging drunk whose cathartic, politically charged sets were too serious and not high-concept enough for me. But honestly, it don't get much higher than some of Hicks' universal concepts and his message of love over fear. I have a new and powerful respect and admiration for this dude, troubled like so many others, but living in love and overflowing with love, angry because he cared... That's beautiful. A legend indeed.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

Harmonquest is neat.

[CaptHayfever]

Hicks is one of those performers who's hard to get into because he has a lot of really freaking obnoxious fans.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[Galefore]

^Yeah, for sure. That was the hardest barrier to jump for me, the polarized response his work inevitably gets. But I do think he was a brave performer, and people like that attract some seedier types who latch onto their ideas, but take home none of the nuggets of hope, just the bitterness underscoring the whole thing. And they view Hicks as some king troll, when he never wanted to be that and seriously never was that, he just wanted people to, well, **** be good to each other. I do think that gives him a legacy worth looking past the obnoxious cult of personality it spawned.

[Calamity Panfan]

i'm seeing get out tomorrow and i'm **** amped

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

[MEDIA=youtube]zrmVGoP_XlI[/MEDIA]

Boy that looks bad.

"how feels??"

"cannt move? :( "

"ur parlyzd"

"nao senk into flor"

"wait wut"

"SANK"

*couch eats hem*

What am I supposed to take away from that poorly acted scene from the commercial? I couldn't tell if it was serious.

[Apollo the Just]

Get Out is one of the best horror movies I've ever seen.

It is genre-savvy but not in the obnoxious way, rather it is aware of common tropes and expectations of the genre and instead of delivering what we expect is incredibly fresh. I loved the comment the protagonist makes about epilepsy and seizures given how 99% of bad horror movies just fear-monger and misrepresent mental illness; that was so good.

As a horror movie it's fresh and captivating, with interesting imagery and sound. As a social commentary it is SO GOOD and relevant. This movie is incredibly well made, well acted, well conceptialized and well executed. It's funny but also striking and #real. 10/10 would recommend.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

Well the commercial failed at selling any of that.

[Spoiler] SINK[/SPOILER]

[Calamity Panfan]

At this point I've learned to never trust trailers.

[CaptHayfever]

^Case in point: New Ghostbusters. I swear, it's like the marketing campaign was designed to tank the movie.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

Doesn't that imply it's a good movie?

[CaptHayfever]

^Yeah, it turned out to be pretty good.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[Calamity Panfan]

new ghostbusters was solid

my review of Get Out: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHA HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhh

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

I'm with AVGN on that movie.

[Apiary Tazy]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I saw John Wick 2 and even though I never saw the first one it was really good on its own. There were some amazing fight scenes, and what little down time they had was also used to its fullest. Very solid, would recommend to anyone that likes pure action.

[Galefore]

Two stand- up specials, Bill Hicks' Revelations and Mike Birbiglia's Thank God For Jokes. They're both brilliant, of course, with Hicks ending this particular special with a **** tear jerker life quote of a final statement, and Birbiglia still making laser- focused one man shows that are by equal turns hilarious and poignant.

Also, The Room. There is truly no amount of preparation and context, as I have woefully come to find out, that can prime you to actually sit down and watch this sequentially. Oh sure, I've seen every key scene more than once back when this film was first catching on, and I've read the resulting book, watched films that give it its own sort of unique presence... nothing takes away the pain of sitting through this. Like Sonic 06 before it, it is truly so specially bad that only experiencing it, only sinking into its greasy, giggling, mysterious and strangely odious mire can possibly get across the suffering.