I actually am not against all demonic stuff in a movie, just not really excessive stuff. It’s not offensive or anything, I just don’t find it enjoyable to watch. I’ll add your recommendations to my list, they look good.
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You’re right, there’s a million stupid, forgettable horror movies about a demonic kid, or doll or mirror or a demonic house and they’re all dumb.
I thought the witch was phenomenal. Genuinely spooky, not just the shock or gore shit that masquerades as scary these days.
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“Spooky” is the right word. The creepiness, isolation and tension keep building and building.
I watched it because dudes here recommend it.
Have you seen “The Lighthouse” with Willem Dafoe, by the same director? It was a good watch too.
I haven’t! Willem’s a great actor. Looks like it got great reviews too - thanks for the recommendation!
This is IMO a good and legit scary movie. Been a bit since I’ve seen it, but I liked it at the time. I also like the horror mixed with sci fi element.
Another good one is the cube movie. This was super low budget, but I was entertained all the way through. Not the best acting, but the theme was just interesting to me. Kinda like an early saw movie, but the solving the puzzle element was more prevalent.
On a side note, I saw brokeback mountain for the first time. Going in I expected some gay stuff, but was not prepared for the soft core gay scenes (bit uncomfortable. I don’t have an issue with people being gay just to be clear). It was well done, and is different. I appreciated the complex dynamics between the different characters, and the story of the difficulties of being gay in the past. 6.5/10.
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The “hell” scene(the footage of the previous crew) scared the living shit out of a Baptist friend of mine. He was going on and on like “if a mortal can film a version of hell so scary, the real hell must be 10x worse” or something lolololol. Fucking entertained me to no end.
The Witch is awesome.
Hollllly shit dude. Just YouTubed that shit, then was like “What the fuck was that,” (not knowing what the plot was at all) found a slowed down video of the hell scenes, again, “What the hell is this,” haha.
Plus, I’m at work right now. Just me and my coworker and bosses sitting in a pretty much silent room, so the video is muted, but right at the end the phone started ringing and for some reason just startled me enough to make me jump and knock my book off the desk, hahaha.
Wasn’t even actually scary, I just was not expecting those scenes and had no idea what they entailed.
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@T3hPwnisher, @Frank_C - I’m assuming you guys are fans, but I’m posting this in this thread since it seems appropriate and maybe someone else can answer.
Watched the first episode of The Punisher series on Netflix. What am I getting into here? Is there some backstory I need to be aware of? I am vaguely aware of the Daredevil show and see on Wikipedia that The Punisher appears on that. I don’t read these things too closely 'cause I don’t want to spoil anything for myself.
I also know there’s a few movies earlier in the 2000’s but I got Spiderman vibes from what I saw of those…basically telling the same story but with different actors. Perhaps I’m wrong.
I’m digging the character, now that I know about him. What all should I watch?
The second season was WAY better than the first, but honestly, the best portrayal of the character in Netflix was in Season 2 of Daredevil.
The movies and shows all sort of show the character in his own confined universe, and that’s because he has to keep being young. The real Punisher was a Vietnam War Vet, so he’d be like 70 or 80 now. That said, Punisher Max (comic) DID keep him that age and did an awesome job with the character. Garth Ennis has been one of the best writers for The Punisher.
Which is interesting, because Punisher War Zone (movie) was probably the closest portrayal OF the comic, and it was an awful movie. Seems to just not translate well to film.
So if you’re up to read some comics, I HIGHLY recommend Garth Ennis “Punisher Max”. For viewing, Daredevil Season 2, then Season 1 of Punisher JUST to understand what’s going on in Season 2. As far as movies go, the 2004 movie was the best of the bunch, but still doesn’t really knock it out of the park.
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We got a version that was like 70% censored because the government dogs… oops I mean civil servants hadn’t figured out a rating system for movies other than PG exists.
Daredevil will help you get the introduction of Frank. I made my wife watch all of the Daredevil episodes before we move into the The Punisher.
I was just bored and turned it on one day and she said she wanted to watch it, too. I’m too type A for my own good and told her she wouldn’t understand without getting the back story. We fired up Daredevil and I suffered through season one for her sake. Again, I couldn’t let her start at season two because she wouldn’t know what was going on in that series.
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Love that movie! I even liked Hypercube and the prequel, but the first was the best of them. I wish they’d make another one of those.
Dirty Hearts (2011), a movie about Japanese farmers in a small provincial town in Brazil refusing to believe that Japan had lost the war.
The actual historical events on which the movie was based are fascinating - a terrorist organization led by a deranged ex Imperial Japanese Army officer that executed Japanese “defeatists” - those who believed actual newspaper reports - with samurai swords , produced doctored images showing Japanese “victory” and even sold plots of land to Japanese farmers in supposedly newly conquered California.
However, despite mentioning all of this in passing, they decided to make it basically a feature-length soap opera episode, focusing on the inevitable breakdown of the marriage between a village photographer turned katana-wielding assassin and his teacher wife.
How the fuck do you mess this up and turn it into a Brazilian TV novela episode with arguably better production? So much wasted potential, inexcusable considering the super interesting topic, 3/10.
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I turned it off after the action scene right after the intro. It’s the kind of movie you know is going to suck in the first 10 mins. Never read the comics, though but I did buy one issue - I think it was Punisher #75 - as an “investment” in my teens but it’s still not worth crap today lol. Never even opened the wrapping.
There was one with Thomas Jane that wasn’t too bad.
I never got into the Daredevil and Punisher TV shows but I’ve seen clips of the fight scenes and they’re mindblowing. Korean dramas are starting to copy them now but the actors/stunt guys never look like they’re really being hit hard.
For movies, I think the only one that came remotely close to those extended one shot scenes in Daredevil was one of those early 2000s Tony Jaa movies(Thailand) about elephants or something but it really wasn’t even in the same ballpark. One recent HK movie (SPL 2) tried and it failed miserably even with obvious hidden cuts and cgi.
EDIT:
I think there was one in The Raid 2(Indonesia) starring that guy from Wu Warriors and directed by the Welsh guy who did Apostle(US 2018 - fucking underrated movie) but they also did it at the expense of depicting the actors/stunt guys being hit hard.
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Regarding 90s movies, it would be a travesty to not bring up Starship Troopers(1997). Probably the best Hollywoood movie Paul Verhoeven(Robocop, Total Recall) ever made. I still can’t believe it flopped. 8.5/10
The sequels were so horrific they’re actually worth checking out for “bad movie” fans. Seriously, the climax of part 3 made me LMAO big time. It’s one of those things that has to be seen to be believed. 0.5-1/10
The Thomas Jane movie wasn’t great, but he’s my favorite punisher as a stand-alone.
I thought Robocop and Total Recall were both pretty good. Total Recall featured a muy caliente appearance from a young Sharon Stone.
I read the book Starship Troopers, which is probably why I never watched the movie; the movies always fall short of the book imo unless they take a totally different tack.
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Yeah, I think it’s probably because the dude really looked like how the Punisher would look like IRL. Dolph Lundgren was a joke. The guy in the TV series isn’t bad but he’s too ugly.
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They were great. 8/10 and 7/5/10 respectively. Starship Troopers was just better. From what I’ve read, it’s nothing like the book.
Speaking of Sharon Stone, Paul Verhoeven also made Basic Instinct lol.