/r/movies
The goal of /r/Movies is to provide an inclusive place for discussions and news about films with major releases. Submissions should be for the purpose of informing or initiating a discussion, not just to entertain readers. Read our extensive list of rules for more information on other types of posts like fan-art and self-promotion, or message the moderators if you have any questions.
Upcoming AMAs/Q&As:
Guest & Job Title | Date/Time | Movie |
---|---|---|
Stephen Follows, Writer | Monday 10/28 at 3:00 PM ET | HorrorMovieReport |
Caroline Lindy, Director | Tuesday 10/29 at 3:00 PM ET | Your Monster |
Desmin Borges & Matt Cascella & Jen Cordery Actor, Director, Writer | Wednesday 10/30 at 1:00 PM ET | Hangdog |
Benjamin Ree, Director | Wednesday 10/30 at 3:00 PM ET | The Remarkable Life of Ibelin |
Mary Dauterman & Grace Glowicki, Director, Actress | Thursday 10/31 at 2:00 PM ET | Booger |
Yassir Lester, Isaiah Lester, Co-Directors | Tuesday 11/5 at 2:00 PM ET | The Gutter |
Paddington Bear, Actor | Thursday 11/7 at 1:00 PM ET | Paddington in Peru |
Jessica Michael Davis, Director/Writer | Friday 11/8 at 2:00 PM ET | Escaping Ohio |
Mikael Hafstrom, Director | Monday 11/11 at 1:00 PM ET | Stockholm Bloodbath |
Filter Posts by Link Flair
Use spoiler tags
Click 'spoiler' after posting something to give it a spoiler tag! The post will then be hidden like this.
For leaked info about upcoming movies, twist endings, or anything else spoileresque, please use the following method:
>!Twas the butler!<
Helpful subreddits
/r/movies
The Haunted Mansion (2003) has definitely become one of my guilty pleasures.
I’ve probably watched it around eight times now, first on TV when it came out, then on various Streaming Platforms over the years. Every rewatch reminds me why it’s such a nostalgic favorite for me, especially around Halloween. I never understood the criticism it got back then (or still get´s today) because honestly, it’s just plain fun!
To me, the characters are one of the movie's biggest strengths.
Eddie Murphy as "Jim Evers" is hilarious as the somewhat clueless real estate Agent, and his character stays funny without ever crossing into annoying territory. He keeps you laughing from start to finish, and the rest of the cast brings their own charm, too. Really liked Terence Stamp as "Ramsley", or Jenifer Tilly as "Leota".
Every character has their place, and even if some actors stand out more than others, they’re all likable and add to the movie’s fun vibe.
And let’s not forget the set design, seriously impressive. The Great Hall and the Crypt look straight out of a classic haunted mansion, creating a perfect atmosphere without going overboard. Every room in these Scenes feels carefully crafted. The creature designs were also really cool, cause they add a creepy but fun vibe that feels right for this kind of family-friendly horror. Some of the CGI Effects aged not that great, but they didn´t go overboard with it so it doesn´t bothered me too much.
Also the story itself is easy to follow, and it has a good flow from start to finish. It doesn’t feel overloaded with random twists or characters, which is one of the main reasons i prefer it over the 2023 version, which felt scattered by comparison. The 2003 movie keeps things simple, which makes it much more enjoyable.
Mark Mancina’s score is another highlight. The music is haunting and atmospheric, always setting a perfect tone for both the spooky and funny parts.
And, of course, there are those classic scenes that make The Haunted Mansion unforgettable for me:
The Opening Scene, the Singing Busts, the Crypt, Madame Leota’s Séance. These are the moments that stay with you, and they’re a big part of why i keep coming back to this movie. They make it memorable in a way the 2023 Version could not, even though it tried to throw in almost every character from the ride.
Now, i just watched it again for Halloween 2024, and it hasn’t lost any of its charm.
I honestly don’t get the hate. It’s entertaining from start to finish. If i had to pick, i would watch this over the new 2023 Version any day. And i gave the new Version a chance. But i can´t remember anything about it other then the cast was good (and that it was very dark).
That said, i’d still love to see someone take a shot at adapting Phantom Manor from Disneyland Paris.
With its darker, more mysterious vibe, it could make for an incredible companion movie to the 2003 Haunted Mansion.
What fight scene with in a movie made no sense?
Whether a battle or two people going out of tooth and nail, which fight sequence just defies logic even with in the movie itself.
For me it is the cops vs Bane's mercenary army. Cops had batons and maybe some body armor. The mercs had light tanks and automatics which failed to kill the first dozen or so cops. When during the flight, Bane even takes to punching a few policemen who get to close yet next to him is a mercenary with a gun who doesn't use it.
To say they were low on ammo doesn't work. They could have demanded munitions from the army for a guarantee that they wouldn't donate the bomb.
There was a video I saw on YouTube that was filmed many years ago of James Gandolfini being followed by a cameraman when he was taking his son, Michael, out for trick or treating. James got fed up with the cameraman, smack the camera and frustratingly threatened to "break his fucking face" afterwards. (original video for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5lqTLqmI0Q)
Now, people would usually see what he did as typical behavior, but the way he handled the paparazzi like that kind of interested me, as his behavior and voice was eerily similar to that of his most memorable character, Tony Soprano. And if you've heard anything about James' work ethnic from anyone who's worked with him on "The Sopranos" in the past, they always make it very clear about how committed he was to authentically portray a conflicted and quick-tempered mobster for 100+ hour-long episodes. The fact that he was insistent on getting so deep into such a character like Tony for a certain amount of years alone just makes me wonder how much of him he might've absorbed into his real life.
Are there any other instances of an actor, either in movies or TV, get so deep into a performance so well that the role that they're performing as later ended up becoming their reality in some cases?
I want to rewatch it and Netflix says that’s it’s available, but when I try to watch it, Netflix takes me to a signup page, even though I’m already a member and asks for a login and then I’m stuck. I’m on Apple tv and when I select the movie it just freezes on the sign up part. No other movie does this. I can’t even buy it on Apple TV. What is going on with this movie?! I have disconnected and reconnected, but nothing works. I can watch anything on Netflix except for this.
For context, I'm a huge Interstellar fan, probably my favorite movie ever. I've been seeing a lot of "2001 A Space Odyssey is much better than Interstellar" posts, with almost everybody fully agreeing on 2001 being a superior movie and one of the best movies of all times. So I said "hell, let's watch it tonight".
I gotta say, the technical aspect and direction of this movie is literally unbelievable, I would keep asking myself "how the hell did they do that in 1968?". Now, how in THE WORLD is this better than Interstellar and one of the best movies ever? I am in disbelief of how weirdly bad and underwhelming the film was. I started watching it thinking it was quite beautiful and intriguing, slow pacing and all. The moon conflict and the monolith were genuinely interesting and I was really invested, then we got to all the Jupiter stuff and the pacing got SO SLOW, I tried to be intrigued by all the rogue AI stuff but the pacing got worse and worse, then HAL gets disconnected, epilepsy, random aging scene, the end. I can truly see how this is one of the most revolutionary films ever but it was just so unenjoyable, I need some explanation from you guys setting it up so high. Also yes I looked for some explanations on the monolith stuff and the aging scene.
Timothy Olyphant’s character in Justified. Physically, he is good enough for a fist fight. Fast and damn near perfect shot. Outfit is always on point. Humor that could make the devil laugh. Not to bad on the 👀 if you dig what I’m saying. Together we would run that town.
Breakdown your pick for me. Give it to me I can take it.
In my previous post I had spoken about how I fell in love with the movie 'Rush' once I looked past my bias of not knowing F1 and not liking the poster of the movie (yeah I do judge movies based on their posters xD)
Once I was curious and did some searching I came across 'Senna'. What a documentary. What a legend. Very few sports personalities with that kind of morals and beliefs ever existed.
Next movie I watched was Schumacher.
Then on I got a hang of F1.
The opening credits state that this is the movie that Andy watched which sparked the toy brand in the movie universe. Everything about the style and context around buzz lightyear feels like a fun action packed space adventure, yet, the actual movie starts us right off with a wordy bush whacking scene that plays like a meta-satire. Then leading to buzz lightyear crash landing his giant life support ship and then playing out a tragic interstellar-esque scene where buzz outlives the only few characters we are introduced to. This is only the first 30 minutes of the movie. But if I were Andy I would not see this being a fun movie.
The film is about Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes (Andy Griffith) who is a drifter who gets discovered by a producer Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal) of a small-market radio program in rural northeast Arkansas, and who rises to great fame and influence on national television. Eventually Lonesome’s ego, arrogance and womanizing threaten his rise to the top. I really enjoyed this film, Andy Griffith gave a great performance as Lonesome Rhodes and it’s a character you will never forget, the laugh he does is iconic and I thought the chemistry between him and Marcia was very enjoyable. Also later on with Lonesome’s ego it shows what fame and money could do to you. The film is definitely worth watching.
Does anyone remember this documentary about the 'War On Terrorism'? I think I've got it burned to DVD, but I can't seem to find it.
Anyway, I've been searching high and low looking for streaming locations and information about the film, but it has seemingly vanished from the internet. I know this isn't the Mandela Effect in action - I know I saw it. EDIT: found it! Still would like to know more about it.
The John Wick franchise is pretty successful but many just talk about the fights. Let's remove that aspect and say John Wick's fight choreography were the same as many other cliche films before it.
Is the John Wick franchise only good because of the fights? Would it suck if it did NOT have unique fight choreography? Why or why not??
Ever watch a movie that made you mad? Or a character whose behavior drive you angry?
I was watching the movie Contact, it was a repeat watch but after a long time, and just never realized how much I hated James Wood in that movie. He is so good playing unlikeable characters, though can't say I'm a big fan of him in real life either, lol.
But anyways, James Wood plays a character named Michael Kitz who is the head of national security and tries to take control of the facility where Jodie Foster (Dr. Ellie) is doing research. He dismisses her findings with a kind of indifference and sarcasm and doesn't even bother try to understand things, just tries to come and take control, that's all. Everything about him just screams "I'm an a*hole and proud of it."
I hope I'm not breaking any rules here, sorry if I am!! I'm trying to find a movie that I saw on TV in the mid 2000s and I've exhausted all my other options. It was on either Disney channel or the like, and it was a live action kids/family movie about this boy and this girl who uncover some secret scheme these people have to kidnap their dogs.
Eventually, the dogs do get kidnapped (not really a spoiler from what I remember). I don't remember much else in terms of plot because I was really young but I do remember there being some kind of factory/warehouse where the dogs were being kept. I also remember distinctly hearing the girl call her does Tessa.
If anyone knows what movie this might be, please please lmk!!!
Thank you!
I recently went with my children to see a production of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty. Watching the ballet, with its dreamy color choices for lighting and costuming, I couldn’t help but remember the soft palates yet dramatically designed layouts of the film, set to the same musical score. I decided on nostalgia alone to rewatch the film with my kids off of Disney+, if only as a conversation starter comparing how each told the same story.
The film is gorgeous. Just…..gorgeous. Every frame is saturated in color with a palate rich and deep. The use of lines and other bold design choices of the layout continues still makes it a standout film nearly 75 years after it was made. And the effects of lighting and shade, when Philip is riding his horse in the forest! The layering of movement, just in the opening scene of the people visiting the baby princess! I never noticed this as a kid, but now that I have about four decades of watching animation I can appreciate the level of detail the animation team did on this film. Props to the Disney team on this high res restoration, because it’s a work of art. Hope you check it out.
Two scenes come to mind for me:
In The Hobbit when Thranduil is interrogating the orc and the orc just takes centre screen and deeply groans “your world will buuuurn” and then the trailer leaves out the part where he gets decapitated.
The other one I’d go with is in Silent Hill 2 when Alessa and Sharon are on the merry go round and Sharon says “go to Hell!” and the sound disappears and Alessa just goes “we’re already here.”
I can’t prove it but these scenes just FEEL like they were added in for the cool trailer moments. Both are sort of tone-setting moments but in the scenes they’re in they feel a little… not necessarily out of nowhere but very kind of blunt statements of subtext that’s already in those scenes anyway and that viewers already understand. They’re just very in your face hamfisted exposition. But they make for good trailer moments
Just saw a post about under-appreciated character actors and while thinking of David Morse it led me to think of how many GREAT character actors are in the insanely underrated 1998 thriller The Negotiator
Here is the stacked ensemble of character actors in this movie:
JT Walsh, David Morse, 90s Paul Giamatti, Paul Guilfoyle, Siobhan Fallon, Dean Norris, Michael Cudlitz, Carlos Gomes, John Spencer, Nester Serrano, Robert David Hall and Ron Rifkin
Another movie like this that comes to mind is The Rock
What other movies have a great roster of character actors?
Recently I came across a post here made 4 years ago. At the same time, a big anime(Japanese animation show) has celebrated its 25 years of being in the air by producing a special episode called "One Piece Fan Latter". And I couldn't help but connect both, I hope you all forgive me as I am going to talk partially about something that isn't a movie.
The special is a side story that has nothing to do with the main story, instead tells the story of a group of normal people that in one way or another were affected positively by the main characters of the main story. From just being a fan of their music, being inspired by them, or straight up thanking them for the life of his brother as they gave him the strength to save his young sibling in the middle of a war.
The episode keeps using the symbolism of those people putting their "puzzle piece" of a jigsaw as they remember what the main characters have done to them, how they were inspired by them all to form a light, a path to a better future you could say. At one point, even one of the characters talks about how every single thing that happens has led him to the path he is now. This immediately reminded me of one of the quotes of one of my favorite movies "Men think they're each alone in this world. That is not true. One act can one day affect all"
"The Lady in the Water"- M Night Shyamalan, 2006 is a movie that is often misunderstood and polarizing. I am not saying that what the user HolyGonzo posted that day 4 years ago is wrong, because it isn't, but they miss or didn't put too much emphasis on a single detail. The fact that the Co-protagonist is literally called Story. Stories have a power that is only there for those who find it. They may even have the power to overcome adversities in the lives of people.
The movie tells the story of a man, Cleveland, running a department building and how he is suffering from the tragic loss of his family Until the day he finds (a) "Story". Metting this "Story" helped him cope with his loss and help him in healling himself and cope with his lost. When he first thought he was going to help the "Story" he discovered that in the process she was the one that helped him. Did you get the symbolism now?
The movie talks about the power of a story, how it can literally change lives and maybe one day even affect the whole world in ways we might not even be aware of. As the movie explains with the example of "The cooking book".
HolyGonzo's post explains how the characters in the story represent different aspects of the recovering and self-healing of Cleveland but I think it has another layer we can get a meaning of when we talk about stories.
- The Guild not only represents the people who will support us but also I think it represents a fandom. A group of people we go online for and talk about our favorite stories and how they can genuinely help us in life.
- The Symbolist not only drives meaning in the mundane and thus helps in finding meaning in life but it also represents us as a fandom making theories and symbolism about our favorite shows and movies or even us as we find joy or meaning on mundane stories.
- The Guardian not only represents the strength to overpass traumas but it represents the power we find in stories that are important to us.
- Finally, the Healer being the role of the main character of the movie not only represents us as we ultimately are the ones with the power of healing ourselves but also how stories can help in that process of self-healing.
- The movie critic in a meta way represents exactly that, a critic who doesn't see beyond his experience as a critic. He dismisses the metaphors and symbolism people believe are in a story, symbolism that may or may not be intended by the authors of the stories but that can help us move through life.
This is where I go back to One Piece Fan Letter. One Piece was first realized in 1997 as a comic. This means that One Piece as a story has been around for almost 30 years and its fandom keeps getting bigger and bigger every year.
Ergo One Piece Fan Letter is not only about this group of fictional characters being inspired by other fictional characters in the same universe but is about how these fictional characters have affected us in real life. The internet is not short of videos and posts talking about how One Piece has changed their life. The longevity of this story have make this very clear. A year ago or so I remember a post rooming around about a fan diagnosed with cancer and how his biggest regret was not being alive for the finale of One Piece.
I think this is a perfect example of what The Lady in the Water is about. How stories, fictional or not, help us in many ways. Stories have power, do not let any critic change your mind or change the meaning that you find in them. We all are connected, I do to believe that the action of someone can one day change the world and a story is the perfect way to do so.
TL;DR- The Lady in the Water is about how stories can help us overcome real life adversities. How the small action of writing a story can save the lives of many people only if we accept them first and we do the first step in the process of self-healing.
For whatever reason I started watching The Core, and in the beginning Major Childs and her crew save the day by safely landing a space shuttle despite the odds being against them. A few scenes later, she is being chastised for "crashing" a space shuttle and told her career is basically over. This trope is used time and time again in movies where it is obvious the characters involved avoided an unavoidable disaster, but they are not recognized for it, and many times end up pay severe consequences for their actions. What other movies besides The Core do this to their characters?
I've seen the trailer for Danny Dyer's new movie Marching Powder several times in the theatres and it just looks bloody marvellous. Like the ultimate Danny Dyer movie, just sort for Danny dicking about and parodying this awesome character he's cultivated over time.
He's even reunited with The Football Factory director Nick Love. This trailer was so balls to the walls funny. Looks even better. Bear in mind, I was kind of expecting it to be shit, to be honest.
I'm surprised there's so little info about it and discussion online. It's not even on his Wikipedia page when I tried to look up the details.
Not sure where else to post this but here, however trying to watch Cars has made me want to rant about this.
I am getting so incredibly sick and tired of subscription streaming services like Disney+ and the like. It feels like we've just come full circle back to cable and blockbuster. The whole point of digital streaming was to make it cheaper and easier to access movies and television, emphasis on cheaper. Now you have to subscribe to 3 different streaming services just to be able to watch all of the movies from your childhood, and some streaming services don't even guarantee that you get the movie (looking at you Prime Video).
It all just feels like a scam. And I don't believe a single person that says this is healthy for the industry and says that it puts more money in the hands of artists, because we all know it doesn't. It's just a way for these greedy studios to squeeze as much money from you as they can, regardless of their public image, and put more money into the hands of execs and figureheads. They're "too big to fail" because they have people who support every decision they make regardless of how it affects them. I just want to see these companies taken down a peg. Remind them that they would be nothing without their employees or their fanbase.
(Edit) The amount of people defending these studios for charging $15-20 a month when they were just fine licensing their media to netflix is astonishing.
Miguel Ferrer absolutely kills it in Robocop and Twin Peaks. Just so gloriously charismatic and obnoxious in both those roles. Man, I'm so annoyed he died of cancer relatively young.
Anyway, I don't see much discussion about him...yet I feel like he played two really iconic characters, who he managed to make likeable and hilarious, mostly from his performance. He truly made a meal out of these characters who could have otherwise just come across as horrible.
Anyone got more examples?
Hi everyone, does anyone know the name and the artist for the “love scene” song in The Card Counter”?, i tried with Shazam but it cant find it, i also asked some Ai like chat GPT but it can’t get it either, it’s when the card counter goes into the hotel room of his love interest and they kiss,if anyone please, thank you much.
Hello I'd like some recommendations for some scary movies fory 6 year old daughter. She likes scary and spooky things but I don't want to give her nightmares. I had her watch a bunch of Disney Halloween movies they didn't scare her at all. I also had her watch Beetlejuice and she loved it but she wasn't afraid. She loves vampires a lot and loved the Little Vampire. I just want to make sure not to show her anything inappropriate or too scary. Thank you for any recommendations!
This movie is so goofy it’s actually a really good movie. But the serial killer is so annoying. I’m supposed to believe this man has killed many women. But the one he’s trying to kill in the movie he is so sloppy. Like I swear this man couldn’t kill anyone because of how dumb he is. It’s like watching a super villain in some superhero movie.
This is my first Nicholas Cage movie and OMG it's wild!
The acting is borderline awful and yet genius all at the same time. Cage's performance keeps giving me American Psycho vibes. Even some of his descent into madness part of the storyline is giving me Patrick Bateman. 10/10 recommend for the alphabet scene alone.
P.S. poor Alva!
As someone who has a lot of video rendering experience, including 3D and video games, there are clear indications of low resolution rendering that was likely upscaled through interpolation after the fact.
My assumption is they ran into time constraints or hardware limitations, but I'm quite curious of the actual reason.
Aside from the dithering, aliasing, and other rendering reductions such as in ray trace passes and detail (blurred reflections, hair, etc), it appears they took a completely different route stylistically with lowered contrast and increased gamma.
The directors, Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic are best known for their work on the animated series Teen Titans Go.
Chris Meledandri, the producer, is the founder and CEO of Illumination that produced the Despicable Me series.
Shigeru Miyamoto, the other producer, is the legendary creator of Mario and other iconic Nintendo characters.
All of those works are bright, vibrant artistic styles, so why the sudden change, except to resolve a production timeline issue?
I'm hoping the next one will be able to produce clear, vibrant, high contrast art that is more true to its original art form.
Genuinely ever since I've seen Pitch Black on TV a couple years after it came out, and shortly after I played Escape from Butcher Bay, every couple years or so I do a Riddick Marathon where I set about beating the games, watching the movies, and check out the side media again. I'm not like a MASSIVE fan of this series or anything, but I am a big enough fan to replay some games I love, and watch some old nostalgic movies relatively often. I know it's not a ground breaking franchise, and I know a lot of people think both it and/or Vin diesel isn't that great. But I gotta say, If you like Sci-fi I personally think all of it is worth a try. With that being said, here's a fans ranking of what's Best to Worst, split into the good and the not so good:
The Good:
#1. Pitch Black. (Movie 1, Chronologically the third Chapter of the series atm) It's an underrated masterpiece and one of the best Sci-Fi movies within 2-3 years of either side of it (Obviously barring the Matrix 1, lol). The way it ends on you not really knowing if Riddick is the good guy, or the bad guy is amazing and pretty much every entry in the series sort of sullies how astonishing Pitch Black is for its budget and how understated the Sci-Fi and horror elements are in the overall plot of it. It's a lot like a late 1990's version of Alien, plus Riddick's there, lol. Absolutely amazing movie. Albeit with some weird editing choices at times, that can for sure be overlooked. Virtually everything in the series after this focus's really hard on making Riddick look bad ass, because he was just badass in this, seemingly without even trying, and then, I'm not going to lie, in everything after this it does feel like they get progressively a bit more tryhard-ish making him look cool. Still love the series, but to me it does feel like that, and like this movie is almost a stand-alone film to rest of the series. A real must watch Sci-fi IMO and I personally hold this movie on a super high pedestal. Even Dark Fury, which I highly praise, is a fair bit below this in my standings even though it's the second best entry in the series in my opinion.
#2 Dark Fury. (OVA/Short Animation 1, Chronologically the fourth Chapter of the series atm) This one's the real bridge gapper in the series, unlike some other side media that is meant to bridge a gap in the series. The Furyian stuff is present in this one, but nothing like in Chronicles. I'll admit, before saying what I'll say next, that the early 2000's 3D animation they used in some parts does suck (minus the color monsters like half way through the movie, those fuckers are cool as shit even in early 2000's 3D, great use of colors in that part). But, with that being said, this shit looks amazing. In comparison, this is gunna sound weird lmfao, I think this looks like a combination of Baki the Grappler's art style, with Jacki Chan adventure's lmfao. Sometimes the faces, specifically Riddick, are way over detailed, like in some Baki shots lol, but it's always in this sort of classic western anime art style that looks like Jackie Chan Adventures (or even the old Men In Black Anime/Cartoon LOL) on steroids, if you get what I mean. Anyways, what I mean by this being the real bridge gapper is that this one feels both like Pitch Black, and the Chronicles, and the design of some of the stuff too really fits well into the games also. This is the one piece of Riddick media that fits well with all the rest somehow, and I really like it. Maybe it's because it's an anime that I think it all works really well together, like I mention below that Chronicles would fit better as a game, this one just works so well as an anime and fits so damn well into the series to boot. I also love the bad guys in this one, unique motive from the rest of the series and cool designs. But yeah, this one is super stylish and one of the best entries in the series.
#3 Assault on Dark Athena. (Game 2, Chronologically the second Chapter of the series atm) Amazing stealth-action-narrative game, and for the time of it's release it's super impressive in terms of lighting and cinematics. The same can be said about the first game, but this one refined so much, and the level design and story are much better, with a lot less load screens. I'd say personally between the games and Dark Fury, it's the closest we see Riddick as he was in Pitch Black... And in my personal opinion the stories in this and the first game are a lot more like Pitch Black and Dark Fury than the Chronicles and they're far better since they don't really have anything to do with the Necromongers, or his Furyian roots, which I think are two of the weaker aspects to the series. Totally worth playing if you really like this series, even if your not into video games, since it's only about 6 hours long and is cutscene heavy.
#4 Escape from Butcher Bay. (Game 1, Chronologically the start of the series atm) Like the second game it's an amazing stealth-action-narrative game, and for the time of it's release it's even more impressive in terms of lighting and cinematics, since it came out on the original Xbox. But anyways, this game is pretty good too, but I feel like the story and gameplay are a little weaker. There's a lot more friction in this game too, more frustrating parts, a little bit of confusing level design here and there, a lot more loading screens, and it's just in general a little less satisfying experience than Assault on Dark Athena, that being said, I love the amount of interaction you get with Johns in this game, as he's my other favorite character in the series other than Riddick himself. I also love that Butcher Bay is explicitly mentioned in the Chronicles, meaning this game is referenced to in both Pitch Black and the Chronicles, which as far as I can remember Assault on Dark Athena only ever references the movies, the movies never reference its events like they do Butcher Bay's. It just adds something to both the game and the movies when you hear the references. All in all still a great game and well worth the 6-ish hours it takes to get through too, and it's still one of the best entries in the series even with all the friction I mentioned.
#5 Riddick. (Movie 3, Chronologically the sixth Chapter of the series atm) This one is kind of only marred by the fact that it's a sequel to Chronicles. The first 25 minutes and the last 5 minutes are time solely dedicated to following up the Chronicles story and I feel like these parts are really weak. While the rest of, and a majority of the movie is a self contained story, that feels far more like a sequel to Pitch Black than to the Chronicles, and I'm here for it, and it's so much better for it. They take the premise of the first movie, switch some stuff around, change the characters up, and make Riddick more of a threat to the main group, but sadly replace the ending that left you guessing in the Pitch Black, with a more "satisfying" one where the deuteragonist and Riddick see eye to eye and actually do help one another, for a more "feel good" ending if you get what I mean. It's not bad, it's just not as good or memorable is all I'm saying. And I still don't think it's as good as Pitch Black or Dark Fury at all, but this one really is a good follow up, whether you liked Pitch Black or Chronicles. The ending that happens after the ending... The last 5 minutes with the Necromonger storyline is kinda wonky though, setting up for another chapter set around the Nercomongers, the Underverse, and Vaako. Which I thought was the weakest chapter in the series so far, and it seemed like even this movie wanted to remove itself from Chronicles with how it all "resets to zero" at the start and then pretty much dive into an entirely different movie that sequels the first movie instead of the second. In all honesty I think I may even say this movie is better than the games if the Necromonger stuff and everything referencing Chronicles was removed. It would feel like another loosely tied in story to Riddicks long and storied past, a nice follow up to just Pitch Black.
The Not So Good:
#6 The Chronicles. (Directors Cut). (Movie 2, Chronologically the fifth Chapter of the series atm) This one I'm mixed on so it's gunna be longer. As I mentioned I only watch the Directors Cut because the Theatrical, and Netflix Cuts just aren't as good, period. I think the best parts of the movie take place at the start and middle though. The mercs hunting Riddick, and then the prison lockup and escape. These to me are the parts that are a lot more of what I like about the Riddick series, and I like that they connect to Dark Fury. These parts still aren't perfect though, and feel like a country mile from the style and understatement of it all we got in Pitch Black. But those parts, to me, do still make it feel like a Riddick movie. That being said, I kinda hate the Necromongers, how it got turned into a pseudo-space opera, and how much fantasy was incorporated into this movie, with things like the race of Elementals, and the Underverse being a real place that exists outside our universe, and through its powers you can literally pull someone's soul out... And how it ends too... Those things were just too far gone from Pitch Black, or even the games for me to like at all, and I also really didn't enjoy how much they got into Riddick's roots, and how overplayed the Furyian stuff is. The Furyian stuff pretty much goes 0 to 100 in this movie. The whole series goes from 0 to 100 so fast in this movie if you've only ever watched Pitch Black before it too, which was most peoples experience when this movie first came out. Anyways, about the Furyian stuff, I liked it better when Riddick was a dark mysterious killer who we only knew had a long and storied passed throughout multiple galaxies seemingly (As he is in Pitch Black, the Games, and Dark Fury). But them getting this deep with him and making him like, a chosen one, survivor, vision seer, messiah, kinda thing, last of his race, in Chronicles is just a huge leap from Pitch Black or the games, or even Dark Fury that I just don't get why they went there really. Anyways, it's still a fun watch. My main gripes with it is how far separated from the rest of the series this one seemed, where Pitch Black is so good it almost seems stand alone, this one isn't necessarily so bad it seems stand alone... It's just so far removed from Pitch Black, which I adore, that it seems stand alone to the series since almost everything else shoots for feeling kinda like Pitch Black. Even the Riddick movie which is Chronicles direct sequel only spends like 15 of the first 25 minutes removing itself from Chronicles and then becomes an entirely different movie more like the rest of the series, if not more like Pitch Black itself. Like if you skip the start of Riddick and jump to the 23/24 minute mark where he says "it resets to zero" then really Chronicles would have almost nothing to do with the rest of the series barring being the return of Jack. So for that I think this is the weakest movie in the series even if it's the most well known. And I also want to put it out there that this seems like a story that would be better served in one of the games. The Necromongers, Vaako, and the Lord Marshal all seem like way cooler video game enemies than Riddick movie bad guys, plus the race of Elementals and stuff fits better into something like a video game too; I think; Rather than a series of movies that started off as understated as Pitch Black. (Also, last point here, just wanna mention, oh my god, Thandi Newton looks so damn good in this movie, if there's any reason this movie is superb amongst the rest of the series, it's Thandi Newton.)
#7 Slam City. (Motion Comic 1, Originally this Chronologically shared being the first Chapter of the series with Into Pitch Black, But is no longer cannon to the main Chronology) Quick and dirty animation, with no voice over, so you gotta read it, explaining how Riddick got his eyes and a couple other things leading into Pitch Black, but not really how he got his eyes, or how things lead into Pitch Black. Worth a watch/viewing if you really don't wanna play the games to find out how he got his eyes and a few other things, since this isn't THAT far off. But really the games are worth 6 hours of your time more than this is worth 20 mins of your time and the real way he gets his eyes IS different canonically now. It's just not THAT different so if you want you CAN read/watch this instead of playing the games.
#8 Blindsided (Motion Comic 2, Originally this was Chronologically the sixth Chapter of the series, But is no longer cannon to the main Chronology) Quick and dirty animation that's almost a publicly released storyboard for a flash back within the first 20 minutes of the Riddick movie explaining why the series is set back from the Necromonger space opera we got, and Chronicles ending the way it did, to how we're now at a more localized and self contained story about Riddick searching for Furya, without most of the Necromonger plot inconveniences. At like 6 minutes of run time, even if you really like the series, it's still not really worth watching before Riddick since the events in this take place in that, with some cannon changes. And largely the explanation is kinda dumb anyways, it's just Riddick VO'ing that he got bored as Lord Marshal and after an attack on his life he leaves Vaako as the commanding officer, on bad terms to search for Furya. So if you did wanna skip this in lieu of the movies summary, you could and wont miss out on anything since that movie covers this.
#9 Into Pitch Black. (Short Film/Television Special 1, Originally this was Chronologically the third Chapter of the series, as well as shared being the first Chapter of the series with Slam City, and second chapter with Pitch Black [it covers before, during, and after the events of Pitch Black], But is no longer cannon to the main Chronology) IMO It feels like a fan or student film that isn't done well. The actors aren't very good, and the story itself isn't very interesting, and the cinematography and editing is nausea inducing. I mentioned before that Pitch Black has some weird editing. But you wont believe this short film. Essentially it's about an investigation into the crash that happens at the start of Pitch Black and Riddick himself since he was lost in the crash. It's really not worth watching in my opinion. The two good things about this movie are the total babe that plays the merc, and the footage from Pitch Black. You gotta really love the series to check this one out all the way through IMO.
#10 The Merc Files. (Third game, largely negligible to the chronology of the series) This game is entirely different than the original 2 games, as its a touch screen, mobile game. Largely negligible story, not very good gameplay. Don't bother, even if you like the series.
What I mean by that, is what are some movies that, either through a series of scenes or through the entire premise, involve a character or multiple characters coming up with elaborate and clever ways to set up traps for attackers where we get to watch the plan, setup, and execution?
I think getting to see the setup and payoff of these sort of things is incredibly satisfying everytime I see it, and I’d love to watch more movies with these sort of scenes in them.
Also, what the hell would you call those types of scenes? Is there a word that I should be using here? I keep thinking “booby trap” but that doesn’t quite convey what I mean, I think.
The last 10 minutes of the film helped a little, but I still have no idea what I just watched. The characters were linked somehow, but each story was separate, I think. Or maybe it was all one story in a multiverse? Each story had a person that died and that detail seemed important, but I couldn't relate it to anything.
I need an ELI5 explanation for this mind fuck of a movie, couldn't find much online.
This is a very specific question target to very specific people.
Shaun of the Dead is not only my favorite comedy, but is probably my favorite film of all time. I also adore Hot Fuzz. I think it is an amazing movie that does everything it tries to do near perfectly.
The general consensus seems to be that Hot Fuzz is better than Shaun of the Dead, so I want to know (primarily from people who love both) what elevates Hot Fuzz over Shaun of the Dead for you?
I'm not looking to spark an argument, just a legitimate discussion. I want to understand what I may be missing as well as talk about my own feelings on the topic to explore my own opinions. After all, these are two my favorite movies. It would be dumb to get heated over it.
I don't expect this to get a lot of traction and it will probably get down votes for being such a niche topic, so if you see this and know someone that could answer this, please direct them to this post.