100 Movies for 2024!

[Deku Tree]

3) Dune 2 is awesome. The sound and the spectacle are outstanding. There's a certain amount of rewriting of the source material, but most of it seems to be in service of highlighting that Paul is opportunistically using a foreign planted superstition to gain power.

[Booyakasha]

^Hmmm. You know, I never really thought of Paul as overly manipulative and opportunistic, but I suppose you don't really have to be very good to be less evil than the dang Harkonnens.

I suppose it's kind of like how, like, in the old 'Ghostbusters', the Ghostbusters aren't very heroic at all, but they happen to avert the apocalypse by accident-------------they only become actual good guys in the later not-as-funny flicks.

[Deku Tree]

I've only read Dune and the House Atreides prequel, but I am given to understand that ultimately everything Paul does is necessary to eventually save humanity in the only way that it could have been saved. But I doubt he could have gotten the buy-in of the people he needed to execute a plan that kills 63 billion people if he was shooting straight with everyone the whole time.

[Booyakasha]

...never even heard of that prequel. Did Frank Herbert write it, or was it one of those 'I inherited my dad's name so now I get to use his IP and dilute his legacy' kind of things, like the phony baloney Middle-Earth stuff Chris Tolkien put out?

(EDIT: ...I shouldn't have said that. Chris Tolkien wasn't just some hacky sleazebag. His books were okay. Rather reread 'Children of Húrin' than watch one of the live-action 'Hobbit' flicks again.

[CaptHayfever]

20) The Public - B. Some significant plot points are left hanging, but otherwise really engaging & enjoyable.
21) Stand & Deliver - A-

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

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

I've only read Dune and the House Atreides prequel, but I am given to understand that ultimately everything Paul does is necessary to eventually save humanity in the only way that it could have been saved. But I doubt he could have gotten the buy-in of the people he needed to execute a plan that kills 63 billion people if he was shooting straight with everyone the whole time.

Damn, that's a lot of people lol

[Deku Tree]

...never even heard of that prequel. Did Frank Herbert write it, or was it one of those 'I inherited my dad's name so now I get to use his IP and dilute his legacy' kind of things, like the phony baloney Middle-Earth stuff Chris Tolkien put out?

(EDIT: ...I shouldn't have said that. Chris Tolkien wasn't just some hacky sleazebag. His books were okay. Rather reread 'Children of Húrin' than watch one of the live-action 'Hobbit' flicks again.

His son Brian wrote that one, yeah. Frank wrote 6 of the 7 books in the main series. I actually read, in the authors notes of House Atreides how they never knew exactly what Frank was building towards at the end, but after Brian had written a few Dune spin-off novels he stumbled across some long lost notes from his father he used to inform the writing the final book. It seemed kind of convenient. Like the kind of thing you might make up if you wanted to tap into the money to be made from finishing the main series, but you wanted to legitimize it as being consistent with Frank's vision.

At any rate, I did like House Atreides, so I'm not really complaining. Probably gonna read the copy of House Harkonnen I have at some point, but I doubt I'll get through all 26 Dune books.

[Booyakasha]

Ugh. I really shouldn't have said it. I guess at least Herbert and Tolkien had actual family members carrying on the series with their own notes and letters and all-------------any idiot who wants to can write a garbagey Conan book that screws with the canon and is completely tonally off-base with Robert Howard's stories, and there's nothing anyone can do about it but hope L. Sprague De Camp gets eaten by cannibals. Lovecraft's got it just as bad---------------I guess 'awful fandom writing awful fanfiction' is a problem way, way older than "Cupcakes" and "Fifty Shades".

[Deku Tree]

I'm being a little unfair about the notes thing. It seemed like the sort of thing that would be very easy and beneficial to simply lie about, but I read a little into the matter after I mentioned it, and it does seem like there's good reason to believe that the notes would have existed and his son would have come into their possession.

[Booyakasha]

You're not being unfair at all------------I'm the one who was being unfair and ignorant, acting like Chris Tolkien and Brian Herbert were, like, exploiting their dads' fame, marionetting their old bones around to make a quick buck, when in fact it seems a lot more like they wanted to help their dads complete their lifes' work, even if only posthumously.

I'm too negative---------too quick to assume the worst about people.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

You're not being unfair at all------------I'm the one who was being unfair and ignorant, acting like Chris Tolkien and Brian Herbert were, like, exploiting their dads' fame, marionetting their old bones around to make a quick buck, when in fact it seems a lot more like they wanted to help their dads complete their lifes' work, even if only posthumously.

I'm too negative---------too quick to assume the worst about people.

Well, based on Rings of Power I'd say there may be some basis to your cynicism.

[Booyakasha]

I wouldn't know, I haven't watched it. I assume some of the criticism it's received has been fair, but probably a lot is hyperbolic spasm from jerks. That is how things go.

[Deku Tree]

There are things that I enjoyed about Rings of Power, but it's not a faithful adaptation, and beyond that, even evaluated as a standalone work there are some distracting storytelling issues.

4) The family and I went and watched Kung Fu Panda 4. It's no better or worse than you'd probably expect if you've seen a couple of the other ones.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

I only saw the first two, they were really cool though.

[CaptHayfever]

22) You're Bacon Me Crazy - C-. Neat idea, but idiot plot.
23) Fantasia - A
24) Cool Runnings - A-

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

[CaptHayfever]

Another weekend at my in-laws means more cheap slasher films I don't like.

25) Jurassic World Dominion - C
26) Demon Island - D. Bad premise, bad script, bad visually, bad audibly, mostly bad cast...decent monster suit.
27) Vacation (2015) - B. Better than I expected, but that might've just been because it was a palate-cleanser right after Demon Island.
28) Exists - C. Thoroughly average. Solid monster suit.

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

[Booyakasha]

Ahahahaa it's a mediocre movie and it's literally called 'Exists'?!? That is just too perfect for words. That sounds like a joke, a Mitch Hedberg or Steven Wright joke. 'hey, it isn't good, it isn't bad----------it simply is there. what should we call it? what can we definitively say about it?'

[CaptHayfever]

29) Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - A-
30) Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey - C. Some really clever bits, but a lot of dull stuff between them.
31) Wonka - B-. More enjoyable than I expected, but drags at times, & some scenes just don't work. Chalamet is ok, but lacks charisma; everyone else is great.

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

[Booyakasha]

Seen a couple movies last few days-----------

'Migration'------------standard-issue workmanlike Illumination pap. Colourful, but utterly forgettable.
'Rosaline'------------fun and off-the-wall. I like a wild, wacky retread of Shakespearean biz.
'Poor Things'-------------man alive, what a trip. I've rarely seen such a weird, dark comedy. Everything about it was really good and mesmerising, if bizarre; I can totally understand all the Oscar buzz it generated.

[CaptHayfever]

I really love Rosaline, & I wanna see Poor Things.

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