Let's All Go to the Lobby

Posted by: @ronclinton

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THE DOG STARS, Ridley Scott's film adaption of Peter Heller's fantastic book of the same title (and recently reprinted in deluxe format by Lividian), is due out August 28th. I hope it's good, and I hope, too, that it's able to capture the same quiet themes of humanity and hope that the book did, and not be a paint-by-numbers, loud apocalyptic action film. The trailer seems to suggest it does ramp up the violence and drama, which is understandable for film, but I just hope it's able to retain a fair balance of the other as well.

The Dog Stars | Official Trailer | In Theaters August 28

I saw the trailer for The Dog Stars the other day, and it definitely looks like they've bumped up the action.

But, damn, I got to say, that trailer got me excited to see the movie.

I thought it looked great, and it never hurts that Margaret Qualley is involved.

B

Posted by: @mike

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Ron, I said it looks like they took a quiet book and made it a very loud movie.  By the way, a friend of mine told me they are making a movie of A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World.  I know you were lukewarm on it, but I have hopes.

I haven't read the book, but we saw the trailer for THE DOG STARS this past weekend, and my wife and I both groaned, lol. How many post-apocalyptic films and TV shows can they make that all look alike? It looks like every MAD MAX film had sex with THE LAST OF US and this is the baby. Much like the Zombie genre, if I never saw another post-apocalyptic film or read another post-apocalyptic book, I would be thrilled.

These types of films are my weakness. I'm a sucker for anything end of the World. 

It's a weird thing I have going on with these things. They are usually pretty bad, linear stories, and not much (if any) depth, but I have always loved them. Since Night of the Living Dead I've been hooked. 

Posted by: @dannyboy121070

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Much like the Zombie genre, if I never saw another post-apocalyptic film or read another post-apocalyptic book, I would be thrilled.

Finally watched this one last night. It had my interest for the 1st hour. the next 45 minutes regressed to nonsense, and the final 20 plus minutes was flat out nonsensical stupidity. 

This had potential, it certainly had the history of a good history, and just failed on level after level. Drama, nope. Action, Nope. Thoughtful dialogue, Nope. 

The only reason I watched the whole thing is I was hoping something would occur that would pull the movie together. This never happens. 

Posted by: @sock_monkey

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but I finally got around to The Running Man (2025)

I'm not a huge anime guy, but today I rewatched Akira (1988). For those who don't know, the film is set in a future Tokyo after World War III, it follows a biker gang as one of their members get dragged into a military experiment trying to unlock psionic powers (telekinesis, telepathy, etc.) in children. Unleashing gang member Tetsuo's latent powers, it's a three-way battle between the almost-infinitely powerful Tetsuo, the military, and Tetsuo's best friend Kaneda for the fate of Tokyo.

The first time I watched this had to be around 35 years ago back on the Sci-Fi Channel. I remember thinking it was pretty cool, but not quite getting it. This time around, I had a really good time with it.  The 4k remaster looks amazing--I always feel animation gets the biggest bang from a 4k remaster, though the 4k of A Few Good Men makes it look like a brand new film--and some of the sequences are nightmarish. Overall, I had good time with it.

The rewatch also piqued my curiosity regarding the manga. The movie is a little over two hours long, but the manga is over two thousand pages, which makes me wonder how much is left out of the film.

I haven't seen Akira in ages. Last time had to have been in 1995 or so when I lived in San Diego. Probably rented the Criterion LaserDisc to watch it.

While I don't have the 4k, I do have the Bluray. I really should revisit it.

Posted by: @sock_monkey

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I'm not a huge anime guy, but today I rewatched Akira (1988). For those who don't know, the film is set in a future Tokyo after World War III, it follows a biker gang as one of their members get dragged into a military experiment trying to unlock psionic powers (telekinesis, telepathy, etc.) in children. Unleashing gang member Tetsuo's latent powers, it's a three-way battle between the almost-infinitely powerful Tetsuo, the military, and Tetsuo's best friend Kaneda for the fate of Tokyo.

The first time I watched this had to be around 35 years ago back on the Sci-Fi Channel. I remember thinking it was pretty cool, but not quite getting it. This time around, I had a really good time with it.  The 4k remaster looks amazing--I always feel animation gets the biggest bang from a 4k remaster, though the 4k of A Few Good Men makes it look like a brand new film--and some of the sequences are nightmarish. Overall, I had good time with it.

The rewatch also piqued my curiosity regarding the manga. The movie is a little over two hours long, but the manga is over two thousand pages, which makes me wonder how much is left out of the film.

 I read the manga a few decades ago, so I can't be specific, but I remember the comic and the film being VERY different. Great film, but I think I enjoyed the comic more. 

28 Years Later: 3.5 out 5. The last few minutes dropped this a full star. That whole scene just pulled me right out of the world they had worked so hard to build. 

At the end of the day this is still just a zombie/monster movie. But it was a well done one. 

Posted by: @benstaad

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28 Years Later: 3.5 out 5. The last few minutes dropped this a full star. That whole scene just pulled me right out of the world they had worked so hard to build. 

Spoiler

Spoiler

I found myself pulled into this story and wanting to know more about it. Of course there are holes in the story but not enough to be a deal breaker to me. They leaned into the film I am Legend a bit for their creature development but it still worked for me. The nudity didn't bother me and the over the top head ripping was intense. 

I greatly appreciated the story of love between son and mother which was set against this unrelenting backdrop of death. The grating soundtracks worked well, tied back into the earlier series, setting a tone which I thought was creative. 

At the end of the day this is still just a zombie/monster movie. But it was a well done one. 

 

 

 Watch THE BONE TEMPLE, which pays off the weird final scene. I thought it was the best of the series since the original.

Boom! Watched it today and loved it. 

Posted by: @dannyboy121070

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Watch THE BONE TEMPLE, which pays off the weird final scene. I thought it was the best of the series since the original.

Posted by: @benstaad

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Boom! Watched it today and loved it. 

Spoiler

Being a long time fan of Iron Maiden that scene near the end will stick with me for a while. It was fantastic and that storyline payoff was perfect. That little line where Jimmy asked for his mum was pretty potent. 

 

Posted by: @dannyboy121070

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Watch THE BONE TEMPLE, which pays off the weird final scene. I thought it was the best of the series since the original.

 

 Glad to hear that you liked it! It seems to have been pretty divisive, and it flopped pretty hard at the box office. Came out during a weekend where there were bad winter storms, and the advertising had a lot of people thinking it was the same 28 YEARS LATER that they had just seen a few months ago. Still not sure if they'll finish out the new trilogy or not...