The General Chat thread

[Master Gunner]

Well you get this anyways:

[viscomica]

Awww thanks!

[Bebop Man]

You know you only get sexier with age, Vis.

[viscomica]

Totally!

[Jamfalcon]

So in an uncharacteristic twist, I've actually been watching a bunch of movies recently. Been going for "classics," to varying degrees of quotation marks. All of them for the first time. So I thought I'd share my thoughts, in the order I watched them:

First Blood: I wanted a silly 80s action movie. This wasn't it. The main reason I watched it was because it was filmed primarily in places that I've actually been, and I wanted to see them on film. It was... okay. Definitely didn't knock my socks off. It seemed overdone in some parts, but not in a way that made it fun to watch.

Hackers: Watched this immediately after Rambo, still looking for something cheesy. It served the role much better. I get some more jokes and references now, although I was surprised how few scenes I recognized considering certain events that took place in a game thread here.

Alien: Not generally a fan of more horrory sci-fi, but I wanted to see it for myself. It was definite a tense experience, and I'm glad to have seen it, even if I did know the broad strokes of the plot. It didn't thrill me, but it held my attention, and I can certainly see why it was so influential. Too much mumbling in the first act, though.

Aliens: Much more up my alley than the original, and again, helped me get the context for a lot of common references. I felt like they were too quick to take the menace out of individual aliens, and relied too heavily on the vague threat of incoming swarms, but it was a lot of fun, and probably the only movie on this list I'd rewatch in the future.

Commando: In my continuing quest to find some fun 80s cheese, I saw this was on Netflix. Knowing nothing about it, I was a bit worried it would be too Ramboesque, but my fears were quickly quashed as my desires were fulfilled. It certainly wasn't a good movie, but it was exactly the sort of mindless, one-liner filled silliness I wanted to watch and make fun of. The last act did drag on with violence less interesting than the earlier action scenes, but the absurdity certain never went away. Although other movies on this list are clearly better films, this was the one I had the most fun during.

[viscomica]

When you said "classics" I was expecting something like Casablanca and such. Then kind of realised you meant csi-fi classics?

[the_lone_bard]

I recommend Escape From New York. Everything about that movie is cheesy 80s action.

[empath]

Oh YEAH; if anyone ever asks me for "a silly 80s action movie" to watch, Commando is RIGHT AT THE TOP of my list for them

Escape From New York is there, but it's not quite as campy and outright silly...but still great. I think they realized the camp factor and milked it with the sequel.

[the_lone_bard]

There's a sequel?!

And I know a lot of it is played seriously... But, Snake is dressed like a stereotype of a commando. His background is "The most badass who went rogue." he has an eye patch, he 1 handed hipfires a lazer scoped rifle for the first 1/4 of the movie. And he speaks in "the batman voice" (Even though he predates Chris... Whats his face who plays batman now, by like 25 years.)

Yeah the movie doesn't go fully silly action movie until after the half way point, but I'd say Snake alone is enough to consider it a silly action movie the entire time.

[Jamfalcon]

Escape From New York was one that, despite knowing next to nothing about it, I'd checked Netflix for! It isn't on there, but I'll have to look for it elsewhere.

When you said "classics" I was expecting something like Casablanca and such. Then kind of realised you meant csi-fi classics?

Yeah, "classic" might not be quite the right word. "Frequently referenced" is probably a better description.

And tonight I decided to see if I could carry on the Arnold Schwarzenegger streak successfully, with his only other movie on (Canadian) Netflix that I hadn't seen, Red Heat. It was... not as good. Considering it was trying to be, in part, a comedy, I found it way less funny than Commando, and the very straight-forward jokes fell flat. But worse than that, I was just bored, which is not something that should happen in a movie like that. For 105 minutes, it reeeeally dragged.

[empath]

There's a sequel?!

And I know a lot of it is played seriously... But, Snake is dressed like a stereotype of a commando. His background is "The most badass who went rogue." he has an eye patch, he 1 handed hipfires a lazer scoped rifle for the first 1/4 of the movie. And he speaks in "the batman voice" (Even though he predates Chris... Whats his face who plays batman now, by like 25 years.)

Yeah the movie doesn't go fully silly action movie until after the half way point, but I'd say Snake alone is enough to consider it a silly action movie the entire time.

Yeah, Escape from L.A.; it's set in the same 'crapsack future' as the first film, and given the fifteen-year change in culture and trends, it's very much a campy, retro homage.

Jam - if you want campy Arnie movies, True Lies was...both silly at times and actually pretty good in its own right. I think The Running Man was sufficiently tongue in cheek, as was Total Recall (which IS on our Netflix) , but while it was deliberately campy, The Last Action Hero...well, I feel it kinda tried too hard.

[viscomica]

Escape From New York was one that, despite knowing next to nothing about it, I'd checked Netflix for! It isn't on there, but I'll have to look for it elsewhere.

When you said "classics" I was expecting something like Casablanca and such. Then kind of realised you meant csi-fi classics?

Yeah, "classic" might not be quite the right word. "Frequently referenced" is probably a better description.

And tonight I decided to see if I could carry on the Arnold Schwarzenegger streak successfully, with his only other movie on (Canadian) Netflix that I hadn't seen, Red Heat. It was... not as good. Considering it was trying to be, in part, a comedy, I found it way less funny than Commando, and the very straight-forward jokes fell flat. But worse than that, I was just bored, which is not something that should happen in a movie like that. For 105 minutes, it reeeeally dragged.

I was told "they live" is good. Also "big trouble in little china" as far as cheesy 80s movies go. You probably watched them already, though.

[Jamfalcon]

Jam - if you want campy Arnie movies, True Lies was...both silly at times and actually pretty good in its own right. I think The Running Man was sufficiently tongue in cheek, as was Total Recall (which IS on our Netflix) , but while it was deliberately campy, The Last Action Hero...well, I feel it kinda tried too hard.

Oh yeah, I do need to see Total Recall. I skipped it because my brother, who I was watching with, had already seen it and didn't want to rewatch. Based on what I've heard, I should definitely check out The Running Man.

I was told "they live" is good. Also "big trouble in little china" as far as cheesy 80s movies go. You probably watched them already, though.

I haven't, actually! Big Trouble in Little China was on the shortlist this week, but I know next to nothing about it, so I'll have to make that out! Not heard much of They Live, but I'll look into it.

Thanks for the suggestions, both of you!

[Elomin Sha]

All you need to know about Big Touble in Little China; Kurt Russel.

[AdmiralMemo]

You want a cheesy Arnie movie? Try Eraser.

[Bebop Man]

Cheesy movies? Anything ever written by Joe Eszterhas, writer of Flashdance, Basic Instinct, Showgirls, Jade, etc.

[Jamfalcon]

Watched Big Trouble in Little China tonight. It was certainly weird, but I had fun watching it and would certainly recommend it to someone looking for the same sort of thing.

Probably not going to have a lot of time to watch movies for a little while now so this may be the end of my reporting on them here, but thanks for the suggestions everyone, I'll bookmark this page to come back to in the future.

[viscomica]

Watched Big Trouble in Little China tonight. It was certainly weird, but I had fun watching it and would certainly recommend it to someone looking for the same sort of thing.

Probably not going to have a lot of time to watch movies for a little while now so this may be the end of my reporting on them here, but thanks for the suggestions everyone, I'll bookmark this page to come back to in the future.

I love just how much Jack Burton loves his truck, haha.

[ch3m1kal]

The Stallone version of Judge Dredd is also just a gigantic ball of cheese and it's wonderful, and for that matter so is Demolition Man.

And if you want to go full on schlock, try the lesser known Class of 1999, which is a film about killer military cyborgs re-purposed as high school teachers. It's a magical time, and one of the cyborgs is played by Pam Grier!

[Elomin Sha]

Bloodsport, AWOL two cultish Van Damme films. If you ever want to see the best scene ever shot in cinema of the Muscles from Brussles in the tightest red speedoes you'd ever seen, watch Bloodsport.

[betsytheripper]

Oh, They Live is the movie that Duke Nukem stole all his famous lines from! It's a so-terrible-it's-bad movie, definitely worth a look.

[empath]

Heck, you mentioned JCVD...so I ran through his filmography in my head, and came up with a FANTASTIC campy action film: Street Fighter.

Raul Julia's final performance (which he half did for his kids' satisfaction) in that - he chewed the scenery, and yet was EPICALLY HAMMY in it and kinda made the film reach the 'so bad it's good' threshhold.

...which means I have to bring up the Addams Family films, for the same damn reason. (they drift a little from the 'action movie' category, but yeah, they'll fill you appetite for HAM.

[Master Gunner]

This thread is giving me a serious craving for pork right now.

I'm perfectly ok with that.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

Sex thread -> that way.

Oh you meant food...

[the_lone_bard]

Wait, you can have a craving for pork?.. You mean you don't just want pork all the time?