What movie did you last see?

[TheGentlemanBastard]

I've been watching a fairly large assortment of movies just lately while waiting for the new job to start.

Some that are worth commenting on, in no particular order:
"Alita: Battle Angel." Fairly predictable, but still enjoyable tale of a young(?) girl who is a total body replacement cyborg. The eye candy was stunning even if the story left a bit to be desired. The ending is an obvious setup for a sequel (or two, or ten, knowing Hollywood) that left me disappointed instead of eager for the sequel.

"Trainspotting." Actually, a re-watch. Haven't seen it since '09 or '10. Still one of the best movies about drug addiction (it doesn't get all preachy) ever made, with a nice little twist ending. The detox scene is still one of the most disturbing scenes I've ever seen from Hollywood.

"T2: Trainspotting." One of the most anticipated, and feared (because sequels of this type so often suck), sequels Hollywood has made and the reason for the "Trainspotting" re-watch. 20 years after the events in "Trainspotting," Mark "Rent Boy" Renton returns to Edinburgh and reconnects with his old mates. I was really worried this one was gonna suck so I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out nearly as good as the first.

"Gravity." While it wasn't a bad film, in fact it was pretty good, I wound up rooting for gravity to win the day and not Sandra Bullocks too stupid to live character. One major problem I had with the film was the speed the debris was moving at. According to Houston, the Russians created a debris field moving at 20,000 mph (relative to what is never mentioned) by shooting down one of their own satellites, which then caused a chain reaction. Judging by the speed at which the debris field hits the shuttle mission, it's 20,000 mph in relation to them, which makes no fucking sense. The debris field should have stayed in orbit in roughly the same place as the original satellites, especially considering the 90 minute orbital period of the debris field, which matches that of the ISS, their nearest "neighbor" in orbit, and their first destination when attempting to get back to earth.

"Ghost in the Shell." This one was definitely a 'watch once and forget it' film. I was warned, so I have no one to blame but myself. Still, it had Scarlett Johansson  providing eye candy, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Then again, why in the holy hell was Johansson playing the part of a Japanese cyborg, built by a Japanese company, in Tokyo?!? Another total body replacement cyborg movie that would have seriously benefited from waiting until "Alita" was released to get some pointers on how to make a good, even if it wasn't great, film.

"Aquaman." This one surprised me. I was expecting second rate schlock and instead got a decent time waster. It's no academy award winner, but it had good eye candy, a plot that didn't suck, acting that was mostly tolerable and some really good action sequences, though some of them were over the top.

Finally got around to "Brave." I've been dodging this one mainly because I really don't like giving Disney my money. But, a loan from the local library... It certainly was no "Incredibles," but it wasn't a complete waste of time either. Like "Alita," it was quite predictable. The 'strong female lead' felt like it was written for a man and Disney swapped genders and tweaked the script to appease the feminist movement, and the whole bear thing was actually done better in "Brother Bear." Still, it had a decent premise and some touching moments, even if they weren't moving moments.

And finally, "Independence Day: Resurgence." Same plot, mostly same cast, cliched 'just in the nick of time" ending. Worth seeing once for the eye candy and the action sequences, but if you've seen the first one, you've already seen this one, but done better.