Dominion Strategy Forum

Miscellaneous => General Discussion => Topic started by: KingZog3 on August 13, 2014, 08:10:44 pm

Title: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 13, 2014, 08:10:44 pm
I'm pretty interested in film. I'll be starting an animation degree in september, and recently have been watching some movies an really watching the directing, colour choices and composition. After I watched Drive (amazing movie), I watched Only God Forgives, which is Nicolas Winding Refn's movie made after Drive.

EDIT: Also, if anyone else has good recommendations for movies or wants to talk about a movie in depth (or less in depth), feel free to post about those movies. Just keep things in spoilers so that people who haven't seen it can watch before reading.

I was wondering, firstly, if there are any other people here who really enjoy movies (I know people do) and are interested in things like directing, cinematography and writing in films? And secondly if anyone else has seen Only God Forgives and what did they think of it? I really enjoyed it, but I know it got mixed reviews, and some people really hated it, or really liked it. It's definitely more of an artistic film, not meant as a blockbuster.

I'll put what I thought in spoilers as not to ruin anyone who is going to watch it. And don't read it if you haven't seen it. It's meaningless if you haven't seen the movie. If you are going to watch it, just know that there is gore and violence. Drive was just over the top gore, and not too much of it. OGF is really messed up. It's not easy stuff to handle, just so you're warned.

Without question, the directing, colour choices and pacing are all great. The movie is not meant to be fast paced, and I found many of the scenes suspenseful and extremely tense. The lack of dialogue is one thing that is really interesting. Drive also had little dialogue, but this was taken to another level with OGF. So much about the main character Julian is told without words through things he does, and the "visions" he has about himself. His presumably incestual relationship with his mother, his inability to form normal connections with other people, or to have a normal sexual relationship. These are shown by the way he acts, and the way he see's himself in his visions. This is one point where I thought the movie was weak. The "visions" certain characters have are not well distinguished from the reality in the movie making it a little difficult to tell the difference at first. I'll have to watch it again sometime, since now I'm aware of what was real or not. I'll come back to this when I do. Perhaps I'll have a little more to say.

Another really strong point of the film was the music. I think it's the same writer for the music as in Drive? I'm not sure I'll have to look it up. But both Drive and OGF have great scores. The interesting thing in OGF is the Thai karaoke singing. I had to look it up, since it appears multiple times in the movie. Apparently it's an almost religious experience in Thailand, and a big part of the culture. I think if I had known that while watching it would have made more of an impact, since it's the ex-cop (God) who is singing at the karaoke bar. I'll have to watch it again with this knowledge.

The movie is pretty heavy on symbolism, the main one being hands, which there are a lots of shots of. While watching it's really hard to tell what the meaning of the hands are. My analysis is this. I think they represent the motives of the characters, in a sense. Or their ambitions. Early in the movie Julian raises his hands in a fighting pose next to the martial arts statue, believing himself a fighter, someone of strength. When he fights the ex-cop he raises his hands to fight, while the cop does not, showing both of their intentions. Julian is ready to fight, the cop has no intention of hurting him. Only after thoroughly beating Julian does the cop raise his hands, showing that now he is angry, ready to fight Julian and his mother, who has witnessed the fight. We also get shots of the same statue, showing who really the statue is representing. At the end of the movie, when Julian finds his mother dead, he puts his hand inside her stomach, presumably her womb. He feels the need to undo what he has done, to be reborn again. At the end, the cop cuts off Julian's hands, which is fulfilling his rebirth. Julian accepted losing his hands, finally finding peace with himself. There's more to this I'm sure, as there are other scenes where hands seem to be on important.

Anyway, those are mostly first impressions. I watched the movie a couple days ago, so I had some time to think about it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 13, 2014, 08:52:59 pm
I tried watching Nicolas Winding Refn's Valhalla Rising a few years ago, but it was a bit too much for me to handle at that age. It seemed like a pretty powerful movie though, both aesthetically and thematically, maybe I should give his works another try.

A movie that has recently intrigued me a lot is M dot Strange's Heart String Marionette. It's... intriguing. I would like to say that it's my favorite movie, but I still don't understand it well enough to be sure. Definitely recommend it, though it should be noted that you might have to watch it at least twice before it starts making any sense.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 14, 2014, 12:41:21 am
My mom worked part time for 3 video stores from the late 80s to the early-mid 90s. I worked for Hollywood Video from 1999-2001. I worked for General Cinemas from 2001-2002. I worked for Blockbuster from 2002-2003. I worked for Loews (then AMC) from 2004-2007. I've worked for Atlas Cinemas from 2007-now. One might say I enjoy movies.

My entire college/university education is in civil engineering.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 14, 2014, 01:14:18 am
My mom worked part time for 3 video stores from the late 80s to the early-mid 90s. I worked for Hollywood Video from 1999-2001. I worked for General Cinemas from 2001-2002. I worked for Blockbuster from 2002-2003. I worked for Loews (then AMC) from 2004-2007. I've worked for Atlas Cinemas from 2007-now. One might say I enjoy movies.

My entire college/university education is in civil engineering.

Well then mr. movie man, got any good ones I should see?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 14, 2014, 02:01:49 am
Guardians of the Galaxy.

Honestly though, I enjoy movies enough to understand that a lot of what I like is not what movie snobs consider artistic. I also know that most of those artistic films, while great in structure and story, don't need a 30-60 foot wide screen to make their point.

I think Avatar was grossly overrated, but everything it did was done with style most appreciated in the experience of a cinema.

I think Christopher Nolan, M. Night Shamalanadingdong, and Michael Bay think THEY are why people see their movies, and shove it in your face that you are watching one of their movies every chance they get.

I immensely enjoy the recent Marvel Studios franchise.

I am a huge Disney fan. From the parks to the animation to the decision to bring Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm under the mouse ears.

I think the AFI lists are good starting points for quality content connoisseurs. I think the IMDB top 250 is a good starting point for those wanting a taste of American Blockbusters.

So what do I suggest you see? It depends on what you like. If you like Guy Ritchie, watch Snatch. If you like Kubrick, watch Dr Strangelove. If you like Spielburg, watch Raiders of the Lost Ark. If you like James Cameron, watch Abyss.

Give me a clue and I can help find something you enjoy. And if you enjoy anything, watch The Room.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Davio on August 14, 2014, 04:14:41 am
I enjoy a wide variety of movies.

From the ancient IMDB top dogs like Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon and 12 Angry Men to 00's action pulp like Transformers.
I even watched 7 Samurai on DVD which has a fifteen minute break burned into the movie. Out of respect I decided to take that break and grab some popcorn. It's over 3 hours long, so that break was much appreciated.

I don't watch that many movies lately, but I tend to watch the superhero ones, because if you want a guaranteed box office hit, just make Batman 12 or Superman 7. I'm still waiting for Aquaman with Vincent Chase as the lead.

I'm not particularly snobbish about the movies I watch and like. I like James Bond and Disney movies (especially the old ones), sometimes a romantic comedy with the Mrs or a good documentary.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 14, 2014, 10:23:37 am
Guardians of the Galaxy.

Honestly though, I enjoy movies enough to understand that a lot of what I like is not what movie snobs consider artistic. I also know that most of those artistic films, while great in structure and story, don't need a 30-60 foot wide screen to make their point.

I think Avatar was grossly overrated, but everything it did was done with style most appreciated in the experience of a cinema.

I think Christopher Nolan, M. Night Shamalanadingdong, and Michael Bay think THEY are why people see their movies, and shove it in your face that you are watching one of their movies every chance they get.

I immensely enjoy the recent Marvel Studios franchise.

I am a huge Disney fan. From the parks to the animation to the decision to bring Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm under the mouse ears.

I think the AFI lists are good starting points for quality content connoisseurs. I think the IMDB top 250 is a good starting point for those wanting a taste of American Blockbusters.

So what do I suggest you see? It depends on what you like. If you like Guy Ritchie, watch Snatch. If you like Kubrick, watch Dr Strangelove. If you like Spielburg, watch Raiders of the Lost Ark. If you like James Cameron, watch Abyss.

Give me a clue and I can help find something you enjoy. And if you enjoy anything, watch The Room.

I do enjoy a lot of movies too. The marvel superhero movies are really fun to watch. Snatch is one of my favourite movies, as is Lock, Stock, and Two Smocking Barrels. I enjoy good writing, probably above other things, but really I want to watch pretty much anything that people think is good. I've seen some Kubrick (Clockwork Orange and Space Odyssey). Seen a lot of Tarantino. I mean, anything really, just I have no ideas of what to watch on my own. I'm not snobbish either about movies, I enjoy thinking about them though, and Marvel movies, while really entertaining (could watch wolverine beat up everyone 5 times over), are't really thought provoking.

I enjoy a wide variety of movies.

From the ancient IMDB top dogs like Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon and 12 Angry Men to 00's action pulp like Transformers.
I even watched 7 Samurai on DVD which has a fifteen minute break burned into the movie. Out of respect I decided to take that break and grab some popcorn. It's over 3 hours long, so that break was much appreciated.

I don't watch that many movies lately, but I tend to watch the superhero ones, because if you want a guaranteed box office hit, just make Batman 12 or Superman 7. I'm still waiting for Aquaman with Vincent Chase as the lead.

I'm not particularly snobbish about the movies I watch and like. I like James Bond and Disney movies (especially the old ones), sometimes a romantic comedy with the Mrs or a good documentary.

12 Angry men is good. I read the play too. And the revamped Aquaman is really cool, I agree he needs a movie :P.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 14, 2014, 10:31:07 am
Mulholland Drive!

And everything Lynch.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jack Rudd on August 14, 2014, 10:42:33 am
Nine of my film recommendations, in a handy Alignment Chart for reference:

(https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t1.0-9/1653703_10152247729496180_1162251729_n.jpg)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 14, 2014, 10:45:56 am
12 angry men, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, uh don't know it, nope, no, don't recognise it, can't recognise it. Title's please?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 14, 2014, 11:06:57 am
Is Chaotic Evil Hard Candy?

Nuetral Good is Shawshank Redemption,
Chaotic Good is Les Miserables
Lawful Evil is The Professional (so awesome)

True Neutral looks like Natalie Portman.. but not sure which one
Is Neutral Evil Johnny Dangerously?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 14, 2014, 11:11:22 am
The Natalie Portman one is Beautiful Girls (I looked it up).  Still not sure on the other Neutrals.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Lekkit on August 14, 2014, 12:16:19 pm
Neutral Evil is Bugsy Malone.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LastFootnote on August 14, 2014, 12:19:41 pm
I don't know the movie, but the quote is a pretty crappy Lawful Neutral. It's way more Neutral Good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on August 14, 2014, 01:26:39 pm
I recommend buffing your movies with Sunfury Protector.  Everyone will go see them after that.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: jsh357 on August 14, 2014, 01:38:03 pm
I'm not a buff.  I get bored of most arty/intellectual movies too easily, have to be really committed to get through them.

Am also a big fan of Disney, like many here.  They get a bad rap, especially by people who are offended by stereotypes and can't look past them, which makes me feel bad since I have so many great memories associated with those movies.

I am not a fan of superhero movies, and never was from the beginning of the trend.  Some of them have been good (guardians of the Galaxy was great) but I'm never excited to go see them anymore.  I feel like action scenes have lost 100% of their appeal to me over the years.

My favorite films are:
The Princess Bride (the only movie that gets better every time I watch it somehow), Seven Samurai, The Good/The Bad/& The Ugly, Back to the Future, The Lego Movie, Mean Girls (I know this should be a 'guilty pleasure' but I do actually think it's fantastic), Gran Torino, ParaNorman, Pulp Fiction, and Toy Story.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: theory on August 14, 2014, 01:44:51 pm
I recommend buffing your movies with Sunfury Protector.  Everyone will go see them after that.

Most movie theaters I go to have a strict policy of silence, so I'm not sure how effective Sunfury Protector will be.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on August 14, 2014, 01:47:59 pm
I'm not a movie buff, but I did just go see Boyhood. It was good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 14, 2014, 01:55:30 pm
I feel like action scenes have lost 100% of their appeal to me over the years.

Most hollywood action I find boring too. Just seeing a big explosion isn't satisfying, which is why the expendables movies are terrible and not even "entertaining terrible".

I'm not super into crazy arty movies either. I've seen Salvador Dali's movie, which is mostly random sequences of images, but it didn't do anything for me. But some movies really are made in a way that's different than major movies. The pacing, the dialogue, the characters and/or the directing and composition are unique. Tarantino often makes his movies with shots that you don't normally see. Inglorious Basterds had a lot of prolonged shots, which is unusual to see anymore as most shots last about 1-5 second maybe. Music is also a big thing for me, and I can't stand movies that just rehash the usual suspects of music styles. It's one of the reasons I like Guy Ritchie's movies a lot, besides Sherlock Holmes. His music choice is fantastic, and often based on the characters. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly also has a similar approach, with a melody based on each character.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on August 14, 2014, 02:41:21 pm
Having a musical theme for each character is something a billion TV shows and movies do though, don't they ? NOt saying it's bad, but it's hardly unusual.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 14, 2014, 02:47:10 pm
Having a musical theme for each character is something a billion TV shows and movies do though, don't they ? NOt saying it's bad, but it's hardly unusual.

Best use of this ever is Twin Peaks.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jack Rudd on August 14, 2014, 06:55:36 pm
Twelve Angry Men, Shawshank Redemption, Les Miserables
Imagine Me And You, Beautiful Girls, Rent
Leon, Bugsy Malone, Hard Candy
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: mail-mi on August 14, 2014, 07:42:28 pm
The Lego Movie
best movie ever
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: scott_pilgrim on August 14, 2014, 08:08:17 pm
Unsurprisingly, my favorite movie is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.  I don't know anything about art, but Scott Pilgrim has a pretty unique visual style, so you might be interested in it if you haven't seen it already.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 14, 2014, 08:13:44 pm
I couldn't get into it. I felt the pacing was terrible. As for the characters, apparently you needed to already know the characters before seeing the movie. I'm pretty sure that pink haired girl was, well easy. With that in mind, I couldn't see her ex's as evil but rather as unfortunate.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 14, 2014, 09:39:19 pm
Unsurprisingly, my favorite movie is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.  I don't know anything about art, but Scott Pilgrim has a pretty unique visual style, so you might be interested in it if you haven't seen it already.

I watch SP vs. the world with my now ex. She loved it, I really didn't like it. I wasn't a fan of the comic book style, which is a similar reason I didn't like Kill Bill. I also don't really like movies that falsify how people act. I mean yeah, it's stylized and cartoonish, but none of the people in the movie say or do anything that is really how people act. I just had a hard time believing in the unbelievableness.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 14, 2014, 11:05:27 pm
My train of thought:  Scott Pilgrim vs. the World -> Kieran Culkin -> Igby Goes Down -> Everyone should watch Igby Goes Down
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on August 14, 2014, 11:19:07 pm
All films Kurosawa.  Dreams for the artsy, Yojimbo for the westerns, The Hidden Fortress for the Star Wars buffs.

Casablanca is the most overrated film of all time.  That and The Princess Bride.  They are the Titanics of Titanics.

Ghibli is great, too.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 14, 2014, 11:35:31 pm
It's been so long since I've seen the Princess Bride. I know the book is funny though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LastFootnote on August 14, 2014, 11:47:44 pm
I think The Big Lebowski is probably the finest film I've seen. The Truman Show is a close second. The Princess Bride was a childhood favorite, and I still enjoy it. I agree that book is also fun.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: 2.71828..... on August 15, 2014, 07:39:21 am
It's been so long since I've seen the Princess Bride. I know the book is funny though.

well, you should probably watch it again in that case.  It is just so good. 

But the same as jsh, I am way to casual of a movie watcher to enjoy the "arty/intellectual" movies.  I am a big fan of the whole Marvel series, and absolutely loved the Lego Movie.  Another fun movie that no one else has mentioned yet: Pitch Perfect.  The first time I saw it was with a bunch of friends and I had pretty low expectations.  But I surprised myself and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on August 15, 2014, 02:15:38 pm
All films Kurosawa.  Dreams for the artsy, Yojimbo for the westerns, The Hidden Fortress for the Star Wars buffs.

Casablanca is the most overrated film of all time.  That and The Princess Bride.  They are the Titanics of Titanics.

Ghibli is great, too.

The Princess Bride is overrated??!

You are dead to me.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Titandrake on August 15, 2014, 02:23:06 pm
I read the book for The Princess Bride before the movie.

The book is so, so much better. I can see why people like it if they haven't read the book, but it really pales in comparison. That's probably true for most books turned movies though, with the exception of Jaws perhaps.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: jsh357 on August 15, 2014, 02:26:05 pm
I disagree, I think the movie is better overall, though I do respect the style the book is written in.  The actors added a lot to the characters for me.  Plus the author worked on the screenplay anyway, so it was adapted very well.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 15, 2014, 02:30:11 pm
I read the book for The Princess Bride before the movie.

The book is so, so much better. I can see why people like it if they haven't read the book, but it really pales in comparison. That's probably true for most books turned movies though, with the exception of Jaws perhaps.

I heard the book Contact was not any good, though I (as well as the person that said that book was poor) really enjoyed the movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Titandrake on August 15, 2014, 02:32:30 pm
I'm not saying the movie is bad, but I really liked the backstory of Inigo and Fezzik that got cut out of the film. It's talked about a bit, but all the details are gone. The framing device in the movie is less intrusive, I'm ambivalent between the two of those.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on August 15, 2014, 02:47:51 pm
I read the book for The Princess Bride before the movie.

The book is so, so much better. I can see why people like it if they haven't read the book, but it really pales in comparison. That's probably true for most books turned movies though, with the exception of Jaws perhaps.

I heard the book Contact was not any good, though I (as well as the person that said that book was poor) really enjoyed the movie.

The book was much better than the movie, but the movie was still a damned good adaptation.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: theory on August 15, 2014, 02:59:11 pm
I prefer the book too, but The Princess Bride's movie adaptation was about as good as any movie adaptation could have been.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 15, 2014, 03:06:55 pm
I prefer the Lord of the Rings movies to the books. I find Tolkien saps all suspense from his writing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 15, 2014, 03:07:26 pm
I prefer the Lord of the Rings movies to the books. I find Tolkien saps all suspense from his writing.

Eh, suspense is ....

overrated!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Dsell on August 15, 2014, 03:19:46 pm
Princess Bride is good, but it seems like everyone in my generation (young 20 somethings) thinks it's just the BEST EVAR and want to watch it all the time. Consequently, I've probably seen it more times than any other single movie besides The Emperor's New Groove (which is amazing).

I'm kind of a wannabe film buff. I really like movies, but I haven't seen enough to consider myself an expert.

I think Avatar was grossly overrated, but everything it did was done with style most appreciated in the experience of a cinema.

I think Christopher Nolan, M. Night Shamalanadingdong, and Michael Bay think THEY are why people see their movies, and shove it in your face that you are watching one of their movies every chance they get.

Tron: Legacy was also a pretty bad movie, but it was quite an audio/visual cinematic experience. I think I've only watched it once since, but I saw that one 2-3 times in theater.

Christopher Nolan is so right, I'll watch anything with his name on it. M. Night used to be right (his first 4 major films are some of my absolute favorites) but since his most recent flops he hides his name as much as possible. Michael Bay is probably right for most people, but wrong for many who lament the success of the Transformers franchise. Although, I am tempted to cough up the cash to see the newest installment just to see Optimus Prime wielding a sword while riding a robotic T-Rex. Because that's pretty much what all of film history has been leading towards, right?

My favorite films are:
The Princess Bride (the only movie that gets better every time I watch it somehow), Seven Samurai, The Good/The Bad/& The Ugly, Back to the Future, The Lego Movie, Mean Girls (I know this should be a 'guilty pleasure' but I do actually think it's fantastic), Gran Torino, ParaNorman, Pulp Fiction, and Toy Story.

Gran Torino, that movie is really great but I tend to forget about it. Totally agree about Mean Girls (written by Tina Fey!), Lego Movie and Toy Story too, so good. Although imo in the Toy Story franchise each movie was better than the last.

Ghibli is great, too.

Yes.

Some of my favorites, stream-of-consciousness style: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Rat Race; Shawshank Redemption; Gladiator; any of Shyamalan's first 4 movies, especially Signs; Fight Club; Les Miserables (musical); The King's Speech; 12 Years a Slave; Rear Window; Babette's Feast (look it up - really unusual but so beautiful); anything by Chris Nolan, especially Dark Knight, Inception, and Mememto (need to watch again); The Matrix; A Beautiful Mind; The Fault in Our Stars/A Walk to Remember (They're interchangeable, right?); A Knight's Tale (The better Princess Bride); Gravity (Largely for the physical stress it put you through in theaters); and Avatar: The Last Airbender (kidding...is anyone still reading?)

Also, I get really invested in movies so I usually hate leaving during a movie and can never fall asleep if one is on. But I couldn't get more than 35 minutes into Dr. Strangelove. I had heard all these great reviews but it just failed to deliver in a big way for the group I was watching with.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on August 15, 2014, 03:20:19 pm
I prefer the book too, but The Princess Bride's movie adaptation was about as good as any movie adaptation could have been.

Much like 2001, it's really helpful when the person writing the screenplay and the person writing the book are the same person.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on August 15, 2014, 03:22:52 pm
Princess Bride is good, but it seems like everyone in my generation (young 20 somethings) thinks it's just the BEST EVAR and want to watch it all the time.

As someone from the previous generation who feels the same way, and knows lots of people who feel the same way in this generation... I think perhaps that speaks to the staying power of the movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Dsell on August 15, 2014, 03:26:26 pm
Princess Bride is good, but it seems like everyone in my generation (young 20 somethings) thinks it's just the BEST EVAR and want to watch it all the time.

As someone from the previous generation who feels the same way, and knows lots of people who feel the same way in this generation... I think perhaps that speaks to the staying power of the movie.

It is good, yeah, and even timeless to a degree. But I don't think it's SO great. I'll watch it for a dozenth time, and I'll laugh, but let's tread some new ground. Maybe it gets brought up a lot because it's a sure crowd-pleaser.

Edit: and QUOTEABLE! This is probably the best thing about the movie. I haven't been to a wedding in the last ten years where someone hasn't said "Mawwiage...is what bwings us togevah...today..."
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 15, 2014, 03:29:03 pm
I prefer the Lord of the Rings movies to the books. I find Tolkien saps all suspense from his writing.
The reason why I prefer the movies is that Tolkien was going to write a sequel for a children's book and that's how he wrote the beginning, but then it got out of hand at some point and the result was suboptimal — it doesn't really hurt the story, but it hurts the experience. PJ, on the other hand, knew what he was going to direct, so the movies feel less separate. Silmarillion doesn't have this problem, it's exactly as massive as it is since the beginning (and neither does The Hobbit, but I prefer the movies anyway because I like the "bigger" approach).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 15, 2014, 03:45:44 pm
Also, I get really invested in movies so I usually hate leaving during a movie and can never fall asleep if one is on. But I couldn't get more than 35 minutes into Dr. Strangelove. I had heard all these great reviews but it just failed to deliver in a big way for the group I was watching with.

Watch Drive. I'm interested to know if you find the pacing too slow. It's really well done though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Dsell on August 15, 2014, 03:53:20 pm
Also, I get really invested in movies so I usually hate leaving during a movie and can never fall asleep if one is on. But I couldn't get more than 35 minutes into Dr. Strangelove. I had heard all these great reviews but it just failed to deliver in a big way for the group I was watching with.

Watch Drive. I'm interested to know if you find the pacing too slow. It's really well done though.

I just IMDB'd this and I totally watched this last year! I didn't mind the pacing at all. This was not exactly what I was expecting, but I liked it a lot. Gosling's character was frustrating because he was so inscrutable, but that kinda fueled the intrigue. A very interesting watch. I was expecting straight-up action but got a much more introspective movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 15, 2014, 04:12:13 pm
Also, I get really invested in movies so I usually hate leaving during a movie and can never fall asleep if one is on. But I couldn't get more than 35 minutes into Dr. Strangelove. I had heard all these great reviews but it just failed to deliver in a big way for the group I was watching with.

Watch Drive. I'm interested to know if you find the pacing too slow. It's really well done though.

I just IMDB'd this and I totally watched this last year! I didn't mind the pacing at all. This was not exactly what I was expecting, but I liked it a lot. Gosling's character was frustrating because he was so inscrutable, but that kinda fueled the intrigue. A very interesting watch. I was expecting straight-up action but got a much more introspective movie.

In many scenes though you can see how he is thinking. When he is with his neighbour, those are the only times he smiles in the movie. The elevator scene also a cool change, where he rages at the hitman, but when he turns to the women, his expression becomes one of innocence, like there's these 2 sides to him.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Davio on August 16, 2014, 03:10:12 am
I prefer the Lord of the Rings movies to the books. I find Tolkien saps all suspense from his writing.
I tend to agree here.

The problem with the books is that Tolkien has a habit of scarcely mentioning characters and assuming you know who they are.
There are more minor characters than in Game of Thrones!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 16, 2014, 12:05:25 pm
I watched Pulp Fiction again last night with my mother. She didn't remember any of it. My conclusion is that I still really like it and her's was it was kind of weird and didn't need to see it again.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 16, 2014, 12:39:38 pm
I prefer the Lord of the Rings movies to the books. I find Tolkien saps all suspense from his writing.
I tend to agree here.

The problem with the books is that Tolkien has a habit of scarcely mentioning characters and assuming you know who they are.
There are more minor characters than in Game of Thrones!

Neither of those compare to Erikson.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: DG on August 16, 2014, 04:50:16 pm
Dr Strangelove gets better the more times you see it. I find that a lot of the old black and whites do live up to their reputation. If you catch them in the right mood they are still fantastic. As previously mentioned, the Coen Brothers and Tarantino have made plenty of good films, and in a similar vein Planet Terror is great if you want grindhouse comedy.

For some non-US films you could try Pan's Labyrinth, City of God, Run Lola Run, The cook the thief his wife and her lover, Brazil, and Braindead.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 16, 2014, 06:34:13 pm
I'm kind of a wannabe film buff. I really like movies, but I haven't seen enough to consider myself an expert.

[...]

Christopher Nolan is so right, I'll watch anything with his name on it.
This makes me sad. Sure he has had a few good movies, but I can't justify the ones that are not good simply because his name is on it. Dark Knight, without Ledger, is an awful movie. I don't think Bale was the right choice for Batman. Memento was good, and Inception was creative.

The only Shyamalan films I enjoyed were Unbreakable and Signs. I thought that The Sixth Sense was too predictable and everything after Signs was terrible.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Dsell on August 16, 2014, 06:48:05 pm
I'm kind of a wannabe film buff. I really like movies, but I haven't seen enough to consider myself an expert.

[...]

Christopher Nolan is so right, I'll watch anything with his name on it.
This makes me sad. Sure he has had a few good movies, but I can't justify the ones that are not good simply because his name is on it. Dark Knight, without Ledger, is an awful movie. I don't think Bale was the right choice for Batman. Memento was good, and Inception was creative.

Well ok, I'm not watching it because it has his name on it, but because I trust him as a director. I thought the Dark Knight trilogy was incredible, the defining superhero movies (or at least movie franchise) of our time. Ledger was unbelievable in that role, but I wholly disagree that it would have been awful without him. Bale is probably not my favorite choice for Batman, but he's a capable actor and I think he did well with it.

Inception was indeed creative but also very well-made. I need to watch the Prestige again but I remember being very impressed. His only other major movie as director is Insomnia, I believe, which was a long time ago. I haven't seen it.

I'm excited for Interstellar!

The only Shyamalan films I enjoyed were Unbreakable and Signs. I thought that The Sixth Sense was too predictable and everything after Signs was terrible.

Unbreakable and Signs are terrific, but The Sixth Sense is amazing too! I am really bad at seeing things coming, though, even if it's predictable to others. So it works for me. I also loved The Village but I know that's a very contentious title. Since then, I liked Devil alright but it's generally all awful.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 16, 2014, 07:46:25 pm
I'm kind of a wannabe film buff. I really like movies, but I haven't seen enough to consider myself an expert.

[...]

Christopher Nolan is so right, I'll watch anything with his name on it.
This makes me sad. Sure he has had a few good movies, but I can't justify the ones that are not good simply because his name is on it. Dark Knight, without Ledger, is an awful movie. I don't think Bale was the right choice for Batman. Memento was good, and Inception was creative.

Well ok, I'm not watching it because it has his name on it, but because I trust him as a director. I thought the Dark Knight trilogy was incredible, the defining superhero movies (or at least movie franchise) of our time. Ledger was unbelievable in that role, but I wholly disagree that it would have been awful without him. Bale is probably not my favorite choice for Batman, but he's a capable actor and I think he did well with it.

Inception was indeed creative but also very well-made. I need to watch the Prestige again but I remember being very impressed. His only other major movie as director is Insomnia, I believe, which was a long time ago. I haven't seen it.

Inception literally made no sense. The test for the map maker lady is to make a maze, but then he lets her try over and over again? She can't do it man, try someone else. Secret totem to know if you're in a dream or not, but he shows her his secret totem. What? I agree though the action was cool, especially the hallway fight, but otherwise it wasn't worth the hype in my opinion.

And the 3rd batman movie was terrible. I can accept crazy things for superhero movies, but when they try to make it somewhat realistic, the whole blow up every bridge, lock every cop underground at once, know where the secret R&D section of Wayne enterprise is and missiles not blowing up the truck with the nuke at the end kind of make me wonder why they tried to make it seem realistic when in reality they just want to make the most ridiculous plot that isn't even that good in comic book standards.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 16, 2014, 09:25:43 pm
First, I need to clarify there is a severe difference in a good movie, and an enjoyable movie. Things I like, may not be good.

I'm kind of a wannabe film buff. I really like movies, but I haven't seen enough to consider myself an expert.

[...]

Christopher Nolan is so right, I'll watch anything with his name on it.
This makes me sad. Sure he has had a few good movies, but I can't justify the ones that are not good simply because his name is on it. Dark Knight, without Ledger, is an awful movie. I don't think Bale was the right choice for Batman. Memento was good, and Inception was creative.

Well ok, I'm not watching it because it has his name on it, but because I trust him as a director. I thought the Dark Knight trilogy was incredible, the defining superhero movies (or at least movie franchise) of our time. Ledger was unbelievable in that role, but I wholly disagree that it would have been awful without him. Bale is probably not my favorite choice for Batman, but he's a capable actor and I think he did well with it.

Inception was indeed creative but also very well-made. I need to watch the Prestige again but I remember being very impressed. His only other major movie as director is Insomnia, I believe, which was a long time ago. I haven't seen it.

Inception literally made no sense. The test for the map maker lady is to make a maze, but then he lets her try over and over again? She can't do it man, try someone else. Secret totem to know if you're in a dream or not, but he shows her his secret totem. What? I agree though the action was cool, especially the hallway fight, but otherwise it wasn't worth the hype in my opinion.

And the 3rd batman movie was terrible. I can accept crazy things for superhero movies, but when they try to make it somewhat realistic, the whole blow up every bridge, lock every cop underground at once, know where the secret R&D section of Wayne enterprise is and missiles not blowing up the truck with the nuke at the end kind of make me wonder why they tried to make it seem realistic when in reality they just want to make the most ridiculous plot that isn't even that good in comic book standards.
I can't tell if he's a Nolanite or a Nolanoid. Nolanoids tend to be a pain in the arse about Nolan movies...

Anyways. Batman Begins was good. It gave a new gritty feeling to the superhero movie. Dark Knight started off strong, but fizzled out so quickly, and I enjoy the movie. I should say, however, that nearly half of my viewings of TDK have ended after the hospital is destroyed. Rises, on the other hand, I did not feel drawn into at all. Bane was a weak villian, and the M Night twist was completely unnecessary and felt forced. Rises was the Cars 2 of Nolan's directing career.

Inception tried so hard to be clever that it just felt dull. I wanted to enjoy it. The concept was there and the cinematography was there, but the delivery and story were lacking in so many places. I am hoping Interstellar doesn't turn into Contact by Christopher Nolan.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Dsell on August 16, 2014, 10:04:50 pm
I'm kind of a wannabe film buff. I really like movies, but I haven't seen enough to consider myself an expert.

[...]

Christopher Nolan is so right, I'll watch anything with his name on it.
This makes me sad. Sure he has had a few good movies, but I can't justify the ones that are not good simply because his name is on it. Dark Knight, without Ledger, is an awful movie. I don't think Bale was the right choice for Batman. Memento was good, and Inception was creative.

Well ok, I'm not watching it because it has his name on it, but because I trust him as a director. I thought the Dark Knight trilogy was incredible, the defining superhero movies (or at least movie franchise) of our time. Ledger was unbelievable in that role, but I wholly disagree that it would have been awful without him. Bale is probably not my favorite choice for Batman, but he's a capable actor and I think he did well with it.

Inception was indeed creative but also very well-made. I need to watch the Prestige again but I remember being very impressed. His only other major movie as director is Insomnia, I believe, which was a long time ago. I haven't seen it.

Inception literally made no sense. The test for the map maker lady is to make a maze, but then he lets her try over and over again? She can't do it man, try someone else. Secret totem to know if you're in a dream or not, but he shows her his secret totem. What? I agree though the action was cool, especially the hallway fight, but otherwise it wasn't worth the hype in my opinion.

And the 3rd batman movie was terrible. I can accept crazy things for superhero movies, but when they try to make it somewhat realistic, the whole blow up every bridge, lock every cop underground at once, know where the secret R&D section of Wayne enterprise is and missiles not blowing up the truck with the nuke at the end kind of make me wonder why they tried to make it seem realistic when in reality they just want to make the most ridiculous plot that isn't even that good in comic book standards.

I think it's unfair to say Inception made "literally no sense," I think it had an approximately equal number of plot holes as any other similarly-themed movie. With the totem, my understanding was that he couldn't let anyone else touch it, not see it...anyway, that's beside the point. I loved it and I don't think that's like, an unreasonable opinion. Oh and I could listen to the soundtrack all day.

First, I need to clarify there is a severe difference in a good movie, and an enjoyable movie. Things I like, may not be good.

Wholeheartedly agree here. Similarly, objectively well-made movies don't always thrill me.

I can't tell if he's a Nolanite or a Nolanoid. Nolanoids tend to be a pain in the arse about Nolan movies...

I, uh, didn't realize I was either, maybe I need to join another forum somewhere to gush.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 16, 2014, 10:46:41 pm
I, uh, didn't realize I was either, maybe I need to join another forum somewhere to gush.
Try IMDb... The Nolanoids there are awful. Nolanites I can deal with, as they are just fans. Nolanoids are fanatics.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Titandrake on August 16, 2014, 10:50:58 pm
I think my movie standards are a good deal lower, in that I'm more willing to accept silly plot if the action is nice, and I'm getting the impression that some point demand both.

In terms of plot and questions raised, I put Dark Knight > Batman Begins > Rises.
In terms of action, Rises > Dark Knight > Batman Begins, but Rises wins by a very small margin.

I liked Inception a lot, but I'm a fan of all things meta. There are definitely plot holes, ones which I noticed during the movie, plus the entire movie depends on requiring a kick in both the dream level and the level above it - which is entirely different from how the kick is explained, and how it works in the opening, and it's never even touched on, but that closes up some of the major holes. I saw the map-making test as a test of how fast she could pick things up instead of a test of existing skill, since it's not like many people have experience with his line of work.

As for movies that haven't been mentioned yet, I liked Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Adaptation is...weird, it's the kind of movie where you have to pick up on the clues before realizing how good it is, and I needed help on that part. There's a German film called The Lives of Others which is also very good
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 16, 2014, 11:08:03 pm
Inception is completely contained within a dream that he has while he is on a flight to visit his children. Now it has no plot holes.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on August 17, 2014, 12:01:50 am
I can't tell if he's a Nolanite or a Nolanoid. Nolanoids tend to be a pain in the arse about Nolan movies...

I don't know about him, but I'm a Nolanate.  I have one more oxygen atom per ion than a Nolanite.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on August 17, 2014, 12:08:57 am
Unbreakable and Signs are terrific, but The Sixth Sense is amazing too! I am really bad at seeing things coming, though, even if it's predictable to others. So it works for me.

Is it even possible to watch the Sixth Sense without knowing the plot twist beforehand? I thought it was about as widespread a spoiler as Vader being Luke's father.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LastFootnote on August 17, 2014, 12:38:31 am
Unbreakable and Signs are terrific, but The Sixth Sense is amazing too! I am really bad at seeing things coming, though, even if it's predictable to others. So it works for me.

Is it even possible to watch the Sixth Sense without knowing the plot twist beforehand? I thought it was about as widespread a spoiler as Vader being Luke's father.

I felt clever when I figured it out halfway through the movie. There was just one awkward scene where I was like, "Oh, I get it."
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Dsell on August 17, 2014, 12:44:44 am
Unbreakable and Signs are terrific, but The Sixth Sense is amazing too! I am really bad at seeing things coming, though, even if it's predictable to others. So it works for me.

Is it even possible to watch the Sixth Sense without knowing the plot twist beforehand? I thought it was about as widespread a spoiler as Vader being Luke's father.

I was fortunate enough to see it before I knew, but it's everywhere, yeah. I also hate spoilers and love that movie so that's a very unfortunate situation. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 17, 2014, 02:58:52 am
I figured it out by the second preview. Not that the story was bad, but the entire reveal of "hey I fooled you!" just seemed insulting to the audience.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 17, 2014, 04:00:07 am
Unbreakable and Signs are terrific, but The Sixth Sense is amazing too! I am really bad at seeing things coming, though, even if it's predictable to others. So it works for me.

Is it even possible to watch the Sixth Sense without knowing the plot twist beforehand? I thought it was about as widespread a spoiler as Vader being Luke's father.

Dude. Spoiler tags.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on August 17, 2014, 06:07:45 am
Unbreakable and Signs are terrific, but The Sixth Sense is amazing too! I am really bad at seeing things coming, though, even if it's predictable to others. So it works for me.

Is it even possible to watch the Sixth Sense without knowing the plot twist beforehand? I thought it was about as widespread a spoiler as Vader being Luke's father.

Dude. Spoiler tags.

Hehe, I knew someone would say this.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 17, 2014, 11:03:19 am
Unbreakable and Signs are terrific, but The Sixth Sense is amazing too! I am really bad at seeing things coming, though, even if it's predictable to others. So it works for me.

Is it even possible to watch the Sixth Sense without knowing the plot twist beforehand? I thought it was about as widespread a spoiler as Vader being Luke's father.

Dude. Spoiler tags.

Hehe, I knew someone would say this.

Dumbledore dies
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on August 17, 2014, 12:03:03 pm
Unbreakable and Signs are terrific, but The Sixth Sense is amazing too! I am really bad at seeing things coming, though, even if it's predictable to others. So it works for me.

Is it even possible to watch the Sixth Sense without knowing the plot twist beforehand? I thought it was about as widespread a spoiler as Vader being Luke's father.

Dude. Spoiler tags.

Hehe, I knew someone would say this.

Dumbledore dies

Snape is Keyser Soze.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on August 17, 2014, 12:54:00 pm
Unbreakable and Signs are terrific, but The Sixth Sense is amazing too! I am really bad at seeing things coming, though, even if it's predictable to others. So it works for me.

Is it even possible to watch the Sixth Sense without knowing the plot twist beforehand? I thought it was about as widespread a spoiler as Vader being Luke's father.

Dude. Spoiler tags.

Hehe, I knew someone would say this.

Dumbledore dies

Snape is Keyser Soze.

Bruce Willis was a sledge all along

I think it would be better if I specified the movie I am spoiling: The Sixth Kane.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 17, 2014, 01:28:26 pm
Unbreakable and Signs are terrific, but The Sixth Sense is amazing too! I am really bad at seeing things coming, though, even if it's predictable to others. So it works for me.

Is it even possible to watch the Sixth Sense without knowing the plot twist beforehand? I thought it was about as widespread a spoiler as Vader being Luke's father.

Dude. Spoiler tags.

Hehe, I knew someone would say this.

Dumbledore dies
Would it be odd for me to say I've never seen a full HP movie?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: 2.71828..... on August 17, 2014, 01:31:26 pm
Unbreakable and Signs are terrific, but The Sixth Sense is amazing too! I am really bad at seeing things coming, though, even if it's predictable to others. So it works for me.

Is it even possible to watch the Sixth Sense without knowing the plot twist beforehand? I thought it was about as widespread a spoiler as Vader being Luke's father.

Dude. Spoiler tags.

Hehe, I knew someone would say this.

Dumbledore dies
Would it be odd for me to say I've never seen a full HP movie?
yes.  At least, it would be more odd than saying you have never seen a HP movie.  The specific movie doesn't make it odd, but I just don't get people who can only watch half a movie, or parts of a movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 17, 2014, 01:44:49 pm
Well, I never attempted to watch any HP movies. I just happened to catch parts of various films through other people watching, or from the projection booth back when film was still widely used.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on August 17, 2014, 01:48:01 pm
Well, I never attempted to watch any HP movies. I just happened to catch parts of various films through other people watching, or from the projection booth back when film was still widely used.

The books are better anyway.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Eevee on August 17, 2014, 03:46:33 pm
Well, I never attempted to watch any HP movies. I just happened to catch parts of various films through other people watching, or from the projection booth back when film was still widely used.

The books are better anyway.
So much better.

Can we talk about movies in general here? I just went to see guardians of the galaxy, how is this well liked? What am I missing? I'd give it maybe 3/10 and even that's generous and mostly due to a couple of excellent one-liners.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on August 17, 2014, 04:24:07 pm
Well, I never attempted to watch any HP movies. I just happened to catch parts of various films through other people watching, or from the projection booth back when film was still widely used.

The books are better anyway.
So much better.

Can we talk about movies in general here? I just went to see guardians of the galaxy, how is this well liked? What am I missing? I'd give it maybe 3/10 and even that's generous and mostly due to a couple of excellent one-liners.

I haven't seen it yet, but I'm just going to link this review:

http://www.schlockmercenary.com/blog/guardians-of-the-galaxy-movie-review

Frankly, it just sounds... fun.  Which would be nice after all of the gritty reboots of everything.  I swear, soon enough we'll be seeing a gritty reboot of Princess Bride.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Eevee on August 17, 2014, 04:30:56 pm
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/guardians-galaxy-2014-movie-review/ (http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/guardians-galaxy-2014-movie-review/) This review sums up my thoughts pretty well. Couldn't disagree more with the praise of that other review. It was fun at times, I can give it's fans that. But it wasn't brilliant or well-written. The story made no sense, the characters either made no sense or were completely one-dimensional.

Edit: How badly am I missing out, never having seen Princess Bride?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on August 17, 2014, 04:36:14 pm
Edit: How badly am I missing out, never having seen Princess Bride?

Really, really badly.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Lekkit on August 17, 2014, 04:43:38 pm
Edit: How badly am I missing out, never having seen Princess Bride?

Really, really badly.

Not that badly. It's still a decent movie. And well worth watching.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Dsell on August 17, 2014, 05:25:53 pm
I thought Guardians was really funny, so funny that it's probably better watched as a comedy. Other than a few moments that took themselves a liiittle too seriously, it viewed to me almost like a satire or maybe even parody of the superhero genre.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LastFootnote on August 17, 2014, 06:25:07 pm
How badly am I missing out, never having seen Princess Bride?

You are missing out badly by not having seen it as a child. Unfortunately, you cannot change that now.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 17, 2014, 06:28:56 pm
How badly am I missing out, never having seen Princess Bride?

You are missing out badly by not having seen it as a child. Unfortunately, you cannot change that now.

Might as well throw in the towel.  It's over for you.  Find a wife, make a child of your own, raise him/her on the movie, and live vicariously through his or her happiness. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 17, 2014, 06:49:55 pm
Guardians of the Galaxy has been widely well received. At the time of this post:

IMDb - 8.7 / 10
Metacritic - 76 / 100
Rotten Tomatoes -
 - Critics 92% positive (7.7 / 10)
 - Viewers 96% positive (4.5 / 5)
And US domestic box office gross over $200M (worldwide over $400M)

I felt like Star-Lord was very aware of how absurd the situations were, as he is originally from Earth. The humor in the movie seemed to add to the characters, as you are given very little time to establish them in the film.

I am not at all surprised Dsell didn't care for Guardians; most Nolan fans hate the Marvel Studios MCU films. The Dark Knight trilogy put a lot of focus on the villians and their motives, while the MCU films focus on the heroes and give a sense of something bigger happening outside what you see on the screen.

In fact, considering superhero movies a genre at this point is misleading. Guardians was clearly more space-opera. Winter Soldier was more espionage-thriller. Very few superhero films are following superhero standards. Even the Dark Knight was a crime-drama.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Dsell on August 17, 2014, 09:50:51 pm
I am not at all surprised Dsell didn't care for Guardians; most Nolan fans hate the Marvel Studios MCU films. The Dark Knight trilogy put a lot of focus on the villians and their motives, while the MCU films focus on the heroes and give a sense of something bigger happening outside what you see on the screen.

What have I gotten myself into.

I loved Guardians, just like I love most Marvel movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 17, 2014, 10:50:03 pm
Good to hear. Now avoid the IMDb boards, they suck all the joy from movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Titandrake on August 17, 2014, 11:12:47 pm
I remember seeing one review for Guardians on Rotten Tomatoes, saying "It's Star Wars, but all the protagonists are Han Solo." It's actually pretty accurate.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 17, 2014, 11:19:54 pm
I remember seeing one review for Guardians on Rotten Tomatoes, saying "It's Star Wars, but all the protagonists are Han Solo." It's actually pretty accurate.

Man, that should be the movie poster tag line.  Everyone would be like "... yeah I'd see it".
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on August 17, 2014, 11:24:17 pm
I remember seeing one review for Guardians on Rotten Tomatoes, saying "It's Star Wars, but all the protagonists are Han Solo." It's actually pretty accurate.

Man, that should be the movie poster tag line.  Everyone would be like "... yeah I'd see it".

Indeed.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 17, 2014, 11:44:21 pm
I've come across a significant number of people that balk when you compare it to Star Wars. Those would be the people that did not enjoy any of the Star Wars movies, in which case they may or may not enjoy Guardians.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 18, 2014, 01:22:42 am
In other news: Tropic Thunder was my movie of the day. Downey cracks me up as a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on August 18, 2014, 10:49:48 am
Well, I never attempted to watch any HP movies. I just happened to catch parts of various films through other people watching, or from the projection booth back when film was still widely used.

The books are better anyway.

The end of the series was just so horrifically terrible that I hate it all now.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on August 18, 2014, 10:50:13 am
In other news: Tropic Thunder was my movie of the day. Downey cracks me up as a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude.

Tom Cruise steals the show in that flick.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on August 18, 2014, 12:11:26 pm
Well, I never attempted to watch any HP movies. I just happened to catch parts of various films through other people watching, or from the projection booth back when film was still widely used.

The books are better anyway.

The end of the series was just so horrifically terrible that I hate it all now.

Dead. To. Me.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 18, 2014, 12:35:30 pm
Well, I never attempted to watch any HP movies. I just happened to catch parts of various films through other people watching, or from the projection booth back when film was still widely used.

The books are better anyway.

The end of the series was just so horrifically terrible that I hate it all now.

Dead. To. Me.

The whole premise of book 3 which involved time travel, which would be SO USEFUL in all the other books, makes no sense as all time travel stuff makes no sense, and geez, why can't they use this stuff in other situations? I'd love to fight Voldermort using time travel, or slowing down time, which ever it is. Book 4 was a bit silly. There was no reason to let Harry compete just because the goblet put his name out. They could just, you know, say he's too young and figure out what was wrong with the goblet, because clearly that isn't supposed to happen! Don't let him fight a dragon ya morons! Literally no reason to put his life in danger. Also the worst evil plan in history. He could have died so many times before getting to the middle of the maze. And the whole Pensive thing is weird. You can take your memories out of your head so that you can forget them to make room for more, but then wouldn't you just forget about them completely? Like, how does Dumbledore know what's in his pensive unless he regularly looks at it, in which case he's just remembering that same things. Either way he still has to remember it. It's a bit silly. Also, I kind of don't like villains that are evil just for the sake of being evil, which I felt Voldemort was. Also Umbridge was totally evil for the sake of being evil and man, what a weak character. And in book 5 (or 6?) when he goes to get his prophecy from the ministry, why is it that only people who the prophecy is about go and pick it up? It's a terrible safety measure. It's just as dangerous for one person to know their future than it is for other people to know about other people's future. That place should have armed guards 24/7 protecting the room that stores some of the most dangerous weapons ever. But no, instead it's just some riddle typed rooms that a bunch of students can easily get around.

And I agree the ending was fairly poor. It's so expected. We knew Harry was going to live, beat Voldemort and be happy in the end. But it seems the only twist JK Rowling could come up with was just killing a bunch of characters we like, and cutting someone's ear off (or did that happen in book 6?). Also, it was fairly jesus-y if I remember correctly. Harry dies then comes back to life right? He's a saviour, all praise Harry woohoo. And the last chapter with Harry being married kind of has no real purpose. I didn't like it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: markusin on August 18, 2014, 12:38:37 pm
How badly am I missing out, never having seen Princess Bride?

You are missing out badly by not having seen it as a child. Unfortunately, you cannot change that now.
I started watching it once from the part where the Zoro guy confronts the Sicilian in a battle of wits. Classic.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LastFootnote on August 18, 2014, 12:42:32 pm
And I agree the ending was fairly poor. It's so expected. We knew Harry was going to live, beat Voldemort and be happy in the end. But it seems the only twist JK Rowling could come up with was just killing a bunch of characters we like, and cutting someone's ear off (or did that happen in book 6?). Also, it was fairly jesus-y if I remember correctly. Harry dies then comes back to life right? He's a saviour, all praise Harry woohoo. And the last chapter with Harry being married kind of has no real purpose. I didn't like it.

Yeah, happy endings suck. Personally, I'd prefer every story to be a tragedy and to always feel depressed.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 18, 2014, 12:48:05 pm
And I agree the ending was fairly poor. It's so expected. We knew Harry was going to live, beat Voldemort and be happy in the end. But it seems the only twist JK Rowling could come up with was just killing a bunch of characters we like, and cutting someone's ear off (or did that happen in book 6?). Also, it was fairly jesus-y if I remember correctly. Harry dies then comes back to life right? He's a saviour, all praise Harry woohoo. And the last chapter with Harry being married kind of has no real purpose. I didn't like it.

Yeah, happy endings suck. Personally, I'd prefer every story to be a tragedy and to always feel depressed.

It's not whether it's a happy ending or not, it's that it was totally unsurprising. Like, from book 2 I knew it would end like this. There's not twist, and I don't find predictability entertaining in books I read.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: markusin on August 18, 2014, 01:01:02 pm
Well, I never attempted to watch any HP movies. I just happened to catch parts of various films through other people watching, or from the projection booth back when film was still widely used.

The books are better anyway.

The end of the series was just so horrifically terrible that I hate it all now.

Dead. To. Me.

The whole premise of book 3 which involved time travel, which would be SO USEFUL in all the other books, makes no sense as all time travel stuff makes no sense, and geez, why can't they use this stuff in other situations? I'd love to fight Voldermort using time travel, or slowing down time, which ever it is.

I'm glad I watched the third film. It is such a good example of why pre-fated paradoxical time-travel is bad for story telling. The intial cleverness wears off, and then most of the suspense for the rest of the story is removed. The book 3 time travel is best left forgotten, on even retconned.

Back to the future style time travel has issues too. Namely, it breaks my willing suspension of disbelief. Chaos theory should apply.

How it should be: Marty steps foot into 1955, altering the wind flow and causing a different sperm to fertilize the egg he was conceived in, and thus Marty is never born.

Alternate timeline, paradox-free time travel is the only time travel I won't get annoyed with.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on August 18, 2014, 01:07:58 pm
Alternate timeline, paradox-free time travel is the only time travel I won't get annoyed with.

I recommend Connie Willis's Fire Watch universe, in particular To Say Nothing of the Dog, as a "pre-fated" time travel that nonetheless maintains suspense.  And in the case of TSNotD, ridiculousness and humor.

On the subject of time travel in HP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsYWT5Q_R_w
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 18, 2014, 01:21:20 pm
Also, the reason, from what I remember, why Harry didn't die the night he he was almost murdered as a baby was because his mother sacrificed her life her him. Through the power of love his life was saved. But with all the murders ever committed in the wizard world, how has no one ever killed someone who loved someone else? I feel this should happen a lot more frequently.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LastFootnote on August 18, 2014, 01:39:47 pm
Man, speaking of time travel and foreign films, I recommend Los Cronocrímenes (Timecrimes). I am not going to spoil anything, but if you like time travel movies, check it out.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Eevee on August 18, 2014, 01:46:01 pm
It wasn't that she loved him. It was that she willingly sacrificed her life for him. She didn't have to die, due to promise made to Snape.

Anyways, of course it's full of plot holes and inconsistencies, it started as a bedtime
story for her kid. The plot isn't the point of the books, it's the atmosphere and magical world
she created.

I can't for the life of me understand why people would bring the movies
to the discussion. They are obviously very bad, and I doubt all eight would even
have been made if the book series wasn't so universally loved.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 18, 2014, 01:55:24 pm
It wasn't that she loved him. It was that she willingly sacrificed her life for him. She didn't have to die, due to promise made to Snape.

Again, I have a hard time imagining that in the history of ever this hasn't happened before.

Anyways, of course it's full of plot holes and inconsistencies, it started as a bedtime
story for her kid. The plot isn't the point of the books, it's the atmosphere and magical world
she created.

Actually, this is a good way to put it. As children's books they are very good. I guess I just feel people see them as adult books, and they just aren't of that calibre. I appreciate no plot holes, and consistency between books, but I know that may be less important for some people.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: scott_pilgrim on August 18, 2014, 02:14:34 pm
My biggest problem with the Harry Potter series is that the universe it takes place in is just so silly it's impossible for me to suspend my disbelief.  Two wizards fighting is just the most anticlimactic thing ever, there are so many ridiculously overpowered spells that it's just a matter of who can pull out their wand first.

But the thing that really drives me crazy is, it's never clarified (that I'm aware of) whether spells are created or discovered.  If they're created, you would think learning how to create spells would be the main topic of study for wizards, you would be going to school to learn how to come up with new spells or improvise useful spells for whatever situation you're in.  If they're just discovered, then 1. it's a bizarre coincidence they all have Latin roots, but more importantly 2. the process of discovering them is just hilariously stupid.  I can imagine a bunch of ancient wizards standing around waving their wands in random patterns saying random gibberish until something happens, and then when something finally does happen trying to figure out what they said and how they moved their wand.

I also hate the ending.  I don't mind so much that Harry wins, but the whole thing where he dies and then comes back and kills Voldemort, that just seemed really bad.  If it had been "Harry kills Voldemort but he has to kill himself to do it", I think that would have been a lot more consistent/believable, as well as just a more interesting ending.

There are some things HP does really well, it's fun and some of the characters are really well done I think.

Also time travel is dumb.

Alternate timeline, paradox-free time travel is the only time travel I won't get annoyed with.

I think what you're talking about is the same kind of time travel that I also decided was the only thing that was acceptable (like, you just switch over to another timeline and the world continues as if it had been on that timeline all along).  I watched about 12 episodes of Stein's Gate which uses that same kind of time travel, but I stopped watching it when the main character can apparently retain his memories after time traveling, which is completely inconsistent with the way they describe time travel in earlier episodes.  (I never finished the series so maybe they explain that later, but I can't imagine what kind of explanation they could give that would be satisfying.)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 18, 2014, 03:25:48 pm
Stories to not have to have believable or justifiable plot development points, they only need to be told well.

The Harry Potter stories were told well.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 18, 2014, 05:07:21 pm
Stories to not have to have believable or justifiable plot development points, they only need to be told well.

The Harry Potter stories were told well.

I very much disagree. No, they don't need to be realistic, but I most certainly need to believe they are happening. The characters need to act in ways that seem normal given the context. When you write a story/book or anything, the audience needs to believe what is happening, not that it can happen, but that it is happening in the story. You need to convince them that this story is happening. Otherwise they feel disconnected and don't care for the characters. If a person sees a dragon they need to react in a believable way. If they jump up and down yelling "pizza," and there's no context to this, no matter how well it's told I won't believe it and the universe of the story breaks down in my mind.

In Harry Potter, Dumbledore constantly just says things crypticly, doesn't explain anything, and even when he does there are often parts left unexplained. This doesn't convince me that this is happening. the sillyness of some of the plots also take away from how believable this is. Game of Throne has magic, but the people in it act in ways that seem appropriate and complete goals that are within their means. Not like HP, where students seem to be able to fight through government defences and professional evil people.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: DG on August 18, 2014, 05:56:52 pm
Quote
Not like HP, where students seem to be able to fight through government defences and professional evil people.

It's a children's story. What do you expect? Children always outsmart adults in children's stories (nearly always, sometimes animals outsmart the adults instead).

The Harry Potter films are not really worth discussing as works of art but they are certainly worth a cinema ticket. The story and characters hold up whether it is in a film or in a book. I imagine they will also keep their popularity over the next decade or more whilst all the superhero films will get dated quickly, even the best ones.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 18, 2014, 06:40:18 pm
Quote
Not like HP, where students seem to be able to fight through government defences and professional evil people.

It's a children's story. What do you expect? Children always outsmart adults in children's stories (nearly always, sometimes animals outsmart the adults instead).

My post before said that they are good children's books. However, that last post that you quoted was written because Witherweaver said a story doesn't need to be believable to be good, and the previous discussion was about HP. So I mixed to two. My claim was that stories need to be believable, otherwise you will lose the audience. If your target audience is children, then HP is fine, but as an adult I am not riveted to it because it is not believable, not the story nor the characters even if it is told well. In fact, I'd go as far as saying telling a story well means that you are telling it in a believable way.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 18, 2014, 07:07:09 pm
It wasn't that she loved him. It was that she willingly sacrificed her life for him. She didn't have to die, due to promise made to Snape.

Anyways, of course it's full of plot holes and inconsistencies, it started as a bedtime
story for her kid. The plot isn't the point of the books, it's the atmosphere and magical world
she created.

I can't for the life of me understand why people would bring the movies
to the discussion. They are obviously very bad, and I doubt all eight would even
have been made if the book series wasn't so universally loved.
Not all of the movies are bad. I rather like the 3rd and the 4th. The fifth one, though, is undoubtedly one of the worst movies I've ever seen and definitely the worst adaptation of anything ever.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 19, 2014, 11:20:52 am
These threads are always good ways for me to learn about movies I absolutely must watch.

I'm kind of snobbish about movies, but I'm not a very elite snob. I prefer my movies to have good stories and characters while shrugging off mindless action. I like action, but it's much more enjoyable if it's smart action (the first Matrix movie was pretty smart).

It is noticeable when a director does a long shot. Tarantino was mentioned in this thread for that reason, and I do dig when he can pull off those long shots (or more accurately, when his actors can pull off those long shots). While I felt Irreversible was too slow and ponderous, I respect the fact that each sequence was shot in a continuous scene, which may explain why it felt like the taxicab scene just kept going in circles. And the long-shot appreciation doesn't stop with movies. Weird Al's "Tacky" video was well done as well as just about every video from OK Go.

I'm often not too keen on movies that are more style than substance, but sometimes the style is so interesting that I will forget the lack of substance. Scott Pilgrim has great style, and I can forgive the fact that the story could really have been told in half an hour without all the weird nuances. It's like winking to the audience, and I enjoyed that. A more subtle approach is how they handled English subtitles for Nightwatch. The subtitles helped convey the mood and were actually a part of the movie.

I think Marvel Studios is doing a phenomenal job. I suspect that the reason that Marvel Studios is doing so well with the Marvel characters compared to Sony and Fox is that the writers are fans of the comics and so are the producers. Sony doesn't care about Spider-Man. They just want to make money and are willing to jack with canon. To Fox, X-Men is just a way to cash in on Ian McKellan's and Patrick Stewart's popularity. Marvel Studios seems to actually take the source material to heart. They may change canon, but they do it in a way that is pleasing to the fans. I found Hulk and Iron Man 2 and 3 kind of shruggable, but I enjoyed them regardless. Everything else lately has been happy for me. I'm really looking forward to Ultron.

I suppose I should reconsider my top 5 movies. I hate top 5s. I like too many movies, but people tend to ask what your favorite five are, so I composed one back in the 90s. My list consisted of:
* Reservoir Dogs
* Brazil
* Shallow Grave
* The Usual Suspects
* Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

And even then, my list would be shaky due to Leon: The Professional; Dr. Strangelove; and the Cook, the Thief, his Wife, and her Lover. And now there are newer movies like Fight Club, Inception, and Memento to really muck with my list.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 19, 2014, 11:35:29 am
When I do favorite movies, I need genre/content clarification. It's very similar to answering "what's your favorite roller coaster?"

With that in mind, I can't really openly think of 5 off the top of my head that I enjoy more than a hundred others.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 19, 2014, 11:45:07 am
A top 5 is hard I'm still watching and replacing movies, but Snatch is up there a Ive seen it many times and still enjoy it. Fight club is good, but the twist wears off I find. Still up there though. Inglrious bast weds was really good, and recently Drive makes it in the list. But there are other whih all are good in various that I can't really put them in order.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on August 19, 2014, 11:57:06 am
The Science of Sleep
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on August 19, 2014, 11:59:22 am
Recently sat down and in the rarest of moments decided I wanted to watch a Rom-Com. My Idiot Brother turned out to be exactly what I was wanting to see. Can't say I recommend Rom-Coms in general but if your in the mood I found it enjoyable.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LastFootnote on August 19, 2014, 12:05:37 pm
Recently sat down and in the rarest of moments decided I wanted to watch a Rom-Com. My Idiot Brother turned out to be exactly what I was wanting to see. Can't say I recommend Rom-Coms in general but if your in the mood I found it enjoyable.

Hey, thanks, I've been on the fence about watching this on Netflix.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 19, 2014, 12:06:31 pm
Recently sat down and in the rarest of moments decided I wanted to watch a Rom-Com. My Idiot Brother turned out to be exactly what I was wanting to see. Can't say I recommend Rom-Coms in general but if your in the mood I found it enjoyable.

Note quite rom-com, but this series is the best romantic type movies I've ever seen:

Before Sunrise
Before Sunset
Before Midnight
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 19, 2014, 12:23:44 pm
It's very similar to answering "what's your favorite roller coaster?"
I don't think that's a difficult question at all, I instantly thought of this one (http://rcdb.com/3916.htm). Well, I haven't tried a lot of roller coasters since the options in Finland are fairly limited, though.


My top 5 favorite movies would probably be, in some order: Heart String Marionette, the Madoka Magica movies, Dancer in the Dark, Mononoke-hime, and The Act of Killing (wow, that's a lot of ways to ruin your day, now that I think of it). It's a huge shame to leave LOTR/TH out, but as entertaining as they are, they stop keeping me immersed when they end.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 19, 2014, 12:39:40 pm
It's very similar to answering "what's your favorite roller coaster?"
I don't think that's a difficult question at all, I instantly thought of this one (http://rcdb.com/3916.htm). Well, I haven't tried a lot of roller coasters since the options in Finland are fairly limited, though.


My top 5 favorite movies would probably be, in some order: Heart String Marionette, the Madoka Magica movies, Dancer in the Dark, Mononoke-hime, and The Act of Killing (wow, that's a lot of ways to ruin your day, now that I think of it). It's a huge shame to leave LOTR/TH out, but as entertaining as they are, they stop keeping me immersed when they end.

So I tried to watch heart string marionette, but it was 2 am and I was playing dominion with FTTW. I decided to watch it when it wouldnt keep me awake from being scared.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on August 19, 2014, 01:47:05 pm
Interesting timing, as over the past week I just watched all the Harry Potter movies (the last few for the first time). I enjoyed them as a whole. Yeah, it would have been a stronger ending if the prophecy basically said that Harry and Voldemort's lives were bound together in such a way that neither could die unless they both did, and then Harry sacrifices himself to kill Voldemort. Kind of like a really great anime series that I won't name so that I don't spoil it; but anyone who's seen it probably knows what I'm talking about.

I like how as the movies went on, you learned more and more about the past with Voldemort and Snape and Harry's family. I like how they got darker and more adult as it went on. Yeah, there were all sorts of unexplained things and plotholes and stuff; but I don't think it was ever meant to be a believable story. I liked the movies while acknowledging that they aren't all that great.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 19, 2014, 01:48:29 pm
This feels like the right place to proclaim how terrible of a movie Avatar was, and how everyone involved was bad and should feel bad.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 19, 2014, 02:08:12 pm
I wouldn't go with terrible, but it definitely wasn't original. I never would have guessed it would be as popular as it was. Then again, I didn't find Titanic to be all that incredible either. Cameron just knows how to make money.

(Can't wait til Avatar 2-3-4...)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on August 19, 2014, 02:33:17 pm
Top 5

1 - The Shining
2 - The Princess Bride
3 - Natural Born Killers
4 - Four Rooms
5 - The Usual Suspects

I think... if I tried too hard I'd get analysis paralysis.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on August 19, 2014, 04:40:39 pm
I'm entirely certain I couldn't do a top five.  Even just among SFF films.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on August 19, 2014, 04:49:25 pm
I'm entirely certain I couldn't do a top five.  Even just among SFF films.

Yeah, I think I really went by most viewed and shared amongst general acquaintances although The Shining is actually on the list regardless.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 20, 2014, 01:08:02 am
Tonight's post-work feature: Good Morning Vietnam
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 20, 2014, 08:33:07 am
It looks like Terry Gilliam's Zero Theorem is finally hitting the US theatres next month. I'm eager to watch it, though I am saddened by the negative reviews. On the whole, I enjoy Gilliam's works. He has a delightfully mad quality about his films.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LastFootnote on August 20, 2014, 09:03:18 am
It looks like Terry Gilliam's Zero Theorem is finally hitting the US theatres next month. I'm eager to watch it, though I am saddened by the negative reviews. On the whole, I enjoy Gilliam's works. He has a delightfully mad quality about his films.

You've brought back memories of Tideland. *shudder*
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 20, 2014, 09:22:06 am
It looks like Terry Gilliam's Zero Theorem is finally hitting the US theatres next month. I'm eager to watch it, though I am saddened by the negative reviews. On the whole, I enjoy Gilliam's works. He has a delightfully mad quality about his films.


!!!!

Gilliam movies always get negative reviews, because people suck.  But they're always worth watching.  I'm really excited for this one.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LastFootnote on August 20, 2014, 10:14:58 am
Gilliam movies always get negative reviews, because people suck.  But they're always worth watching.  I'm really excited for this one.

Have you seen Tideland?

I will agree that most of his films are good times.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 20, 2014, 10:30:22 am
Gilliam movies always get negative reviews, because people suck.  But they're always worth watching.  I'm really excited for this one.

Have you seen Tideland?

I will agree that most of his films are good times.

I think that's the only one I haven't, actually.  Well, maybe that an a couple obscure ones.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LastFootnote on August 20, 2014, 10:32:24 am
Gilliam movies always get negative reviews, because people suck.  But they're always worth watching.  I'm really excited for this one.

Actually, a glance at Rotten Tomatoes shows that you're wrong. Most Gilliam movies have gotten overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Here are just the ones I've seen:

98% Brazil
97% Monty Python and the Holy Grail
96% Monty Pyton's Life of Brian
94% The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
92% Time Bandits
90% Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
88% Twelve Monkeys
50% Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
38% The Brothers Grimm
29% Tideland

With the exception of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (which I think deserves better), those ratings are spot-on. The Brothers Grimm freaked me the fuck out and I didn't enjoy it at all. Tideland is physically painful to watch; it should actually be lower.

The Zero Theorem has 54%. There's a good chance it's just a mediocre film.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 20, 2014, 10:37:10 am
Tonight's post-work feature: Good Morning Vietnam

I watched that that other day too. It was pretty good. Robin Williams mostly being himself in a lot of scenes.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 20, 2014, 10:38:56 am
I don't know, I thought Brother's Grimm was perfectly fine.  I guess I was mostly thinking of that and Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.  I recall a decent amount of negative hearsay about the films when they were coming out, and I thought both were great.  The others (From Twelve Monkeys up through Brazil), had all been out for a while before I saw them, and this was before internet message boards were common. 

So I guess I was only basing my statement on the last few films.  But you're right, in the films over all are reviewed well.  Which is good, because they're cool :)

I do want to see Tideland, and I doubt it's as bad as people say.  I also haven't seen Adventures of Baron Munchausen.  And I only watched part of Jabberwocky (I had a hard time getting into it at the time), and I missed Fisher King as well.

Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LastFootnote on August 20, 2014, 10:41:10 am
I do want to see Tideland, and I doubt it's as bad as people say.  I also haven't seen Adventures of Baron Munchausen.  And I only watched part of Jabberwocky (I had a hard time getting into it at the time), and I missed Fisher King as well.

Whoa, you should really see The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Do yourself a favor and skip Tideland. I am not exaggerating when I say your life will be better for it.

EDIT: Let me elaborate and say that i disliked Tideland for different reasons than I disliked The Brothers Grimm. I didn't like the Brothers Grimm because I just don't like scary stuff, but that movie has other merits. Tideland is disturbing in other ways, and it doesn't really have other merits to make up for how disturbing it is. It's just disturbing and then it's over.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 20, 2014, 10:44:11 am
I do want to see Tideland, and I doubt it's as bad as people say.  I also haven't seen Adventures of Baron Munchausen.  And I only watched part of Jabberwocky (I had a hard time getting into it at the time), and I missed Fisher King as well.

Whoa, you should really see The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Do yourself a favor and skip Tideland. I am not exaggerating when I say your life will be better for it.

Haha. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LastFootnote on August 20, 2014, 10:59:12 am
Do yourself a favor and skip Tideland. I am not exaggerating when I say your life will be better for it.

Haha.

I'm not kidding. This is my serious face.  :(

See it if you want. It's "artistic", for what that is worth. It's not entertaining.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 20, 2014, 11:02:48 am
Gilliam movies always get negative reviews, because people suck.  But they're always worth watching.  I'm really excited for this one.

Actually, a glance at Rotten Tomatoes shows that you're wrong. Most Gilliam movies have gotten overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Here are just the ones I've seen:

98% Brazil
97% Monty Python and the Holy Grail
96% Monty Pyton's Life of Brian
94% The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
92% Time Bandits
90% Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
88% Twelve Monkeys
50% Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
38% The Brothers Grimm
29% Tideland

With the exception of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (which I think deserves better), those ratings are spot-on. The Brothers Grimm freaked me the fuck out and I didn't enjoy it at all. Tideland is physically painful to watch; it should actually be lower.

The Zero Theorem has 54%. There's a good chance it's just a mediocre film.
I thought The Brothers Grimm was good. Not like the best movie ever or anything, but worth watching and rewatching.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 20, 2014, 01:59:29 pm
I am really intrigued by Tideland now. I won't dispute anyone's claims that it's a bad movie, but now it's on my bucket list.

Then again, I also purposefully watched Shock Treatment and the Forbidden Zone (and even own them on DVD), so my tolerance for bad movies is higher than usual, despite my normally elitist behavior.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on August 20, 2014, 02:13:12 pm
So, you guys into depraved and disturbing have seen The Sinful Dwarf, right? It's not the most depraved and nowhere near the most disturbing but it may be the best combination of the two.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 20, 2014, 02:20:41 pm
So, you guys into depraved and disturbing have seen The Sinful Dwarf, right? It's not the most depraved and nowhere near the most disturbing but it may be the best combination of the two.

No, but now I want to
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on August 20, 2014, 02:26:59 pm
While I was ruminating on the disturbing and depraved (The Piano Teacher comes to mind and then there is this (http://whatculture.com/film/10-most-depraved-films-youve-never-seen.php)) I was reminded of The Girl Next Door which, being based on a quite true happening, disturbed me quite a bit.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 20, 2014, 02:27:38 pm
While I was ruminating on the disturbing and depraved (The Piano Teacher comes to mind and then there is this (http://whatculture.com/film/10-most-depraved-films-youve-never-seen.php)) I was reminded of The Girl Next Door which, being based on a quite true happening, disturbed me quite a bit.

That link is depraved because it keeps popping up animated adds.

And because you have to load a new page for each element of the list
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on August 20, 2014, 02:30:53 pm
NoScript
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 20, 2014, 02:57:52 pm
While I was ruminating on the disturbing and depraved (The Piano Teacher comes to mind and then there is this (http://whatculture.com/film/10-most-depraved-films-youve-never-seen.php)) I was reminded of The Girl Next Door which, being based on a quite true happening, disturbed me quite a bit.

That link is depraved because it keeps popping up animated adds.

And because you have to load a new page for each element of the list

AdBlock
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on August 20, 2014, 03:00:37 pm
One is proactive the other reactive.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 20, 2014, 03:01:22 pm
One is proactive the other reactive.

And they both work just as well I'm guessing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on August 20, 2014, 03:03:33 pm
One is proactive the other reactive.

And they both work just as well I'm guessing.

One keeps you from ever seeing them or getting drive by crap installed or getting tracked by cookies and scripts you never wanted. The other lets you take it to the face first and try to sort it out later and hope they don't change anything to circumvent it. Personally, I think NoScript makes far more sense.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 20, 2014, 03:04:53 pm
One is proactive the other reactive.

And they both work just as well I'm guessing.

One keeps you from ever seeing them or getting drive by crap installed or getting tracked by cookies and scripts you never wanted. The other lets you take it to the face first and try to sort it out later and hope they don't change anything to circumvent it. Personally, I think NoScript makes far more sense.

Firefox only?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on August 20, 2014, 03:05:36 pm
One is proactive the other reactive.

And they both work just as well I'm guessing.

One keeps you from ever seeing them or getting drive by crap installed or getting tracked by cookies and scripts you never wanted. The other lets you take it to the face first and try to sort it out later and hope they don't change anything to circumvent it. Personally, I think NoScript makes far more sense.

Firefox only?

quite possibly
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 20, 2014, 03:19:40 pm
Yeah, NoScript is FF only. And since I use Opera 12, I don't even have AdBlock.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Titandrake on August 20, 2014, 04:51:17 pm
What are your opinions on rewatching movies in the theater?

I'll rewatch movies after they come out on DVD, usually through, uh, totally-legal means, but I know people who've bought another movie ticket just to see it again. To me, it feels like a waste.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 20, 2014, 04:55:24 pm
What are your opinions on rewatching movies in the theater?

I'll rewatch movies after they come out on DVD, usually through, uh, totally-legal means, but I know people who've bought another movie ticket just to see it again. To me, it feels like a waste.

There are specific movies I've done this for.. sometimes because a different friend wants to see it and I have a justifiable reason to see it again.. I really enjoyed it, or I want to think about some aspect while watching again.  I saw The Dark Knight in theaters at least twice.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 20, 2014, 04:58:39 pm
Depends on the movie. For most movies, it's not only a waste of money, but also a waste of time to watch them again soon after just seeing them for the first time. But then there are some movies that really require at least two viewings, and for those movies, it's definitely worth it if the movie is good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 20, 2014, 05:36:38 pm
Most of the time I watch a movie only once in a theatre. If I go twice, it's usually because a) it has many layers that warrant a second viewing, b) it is so kickass that it has to be watched again, or c) my buddy wants to go see it so I'll tag along.

Some obvious movies that come to mind that I've seen twice in the theatre are Memento, Snowpiercer, and Pulp Fiction.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 20, 2014, 05:40:41 pm
I want to see Snowpiercer, but I'm a little worried it's too much politically oriented, or trying to make a social statement, or something.  I haven't explored too much because I'd rather go into it knowing less.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 20, 2014, 06:15:17 pm
I want to see Snowpiercer, but I'm a little worried it's too much politically oriented, or trying to make a social statement, or something.  I haven't explored too much because I'd rather go into it knowing less.

It makes about as much of a political statement as any other dystopian movies. It's as subtle as a brick.

But do not worry about environmental concerns. While the premise of the movie is that people freaked out about global warming, it's really just a vessel to introduce the real story. The premise and "science" of the movie are really quite laughable, but they do frame dystopia in a unique fashion.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 20, 2014, 06:44:53 pm
Even if a movie warrants a second viewing, I really think you need to space the viewings out. That way you go in with fewer preconceived notions I find. I kind of forget a lot of details over time, so waiting on a second viewing sort of lets me rewatch a movie I know I loved the first time without it being boring.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Galzria on August 21, 2014, 01:02:30 am
A quick ctrl-f didn't find any of the following "three", so I'll name drop them as favorites that I've watched many a time over - even if I don't get myself too involved in the current conversations.

Any/All of The Thin Man movies.
Champagne for Ceaser
Bringing Up Baby

And no, I don't have any special love for old black and whites over the newer stuff, I just find the stories to those "three" to be especially enjoyable
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 21, 2014, 10:22:08 am
It's probably not fair for me to answer how many times I watch something in theaters, as I don't pay for tickets. I know my top two are WALL•E (9) and Dark Knight (8, if you include the times I left after the hospital scene)

I also watched Brave three times before it came out. Avengers and Guardians twice before they came out.

I've never watched a preview to any of the LotR or Hobbit movies, they would spoil way too much. I already struggle to enjoy them as it is.

I also play my Xbox in the theater. Actually, the only reason I have an Xbox was the ability to play in a theater.

And yesterday's post-work film was What If. My first Daniel Radcliffe movie. It was chaos.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 21, 2014, 11:12:41 am
I suppose I saw Rocky Horror more than 50 times, but that's a special case. That was really just a party where a movie breaks out. I used to tape ticket stubs together and hang them on my wall.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 21, 2014, 03:22:19 pm
Rocky Horror is a strange animal. It didn't do all that well in the initial run, but has had countless rereleases over the last ~40 years.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on August 21, 2014, 04:35:38 pm
I've never seen a movie in a paid theater more than twice; but I almost never go to actual movie theaters, because I have a movie theater in my house.  ;D
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 21, 2014, 05:00:44 pm
If I didn't have a megaplex at my disposal, I too would have a theater in my house. I actually have a 10x15ft vinyl banner that I plan on using for a screen eventually.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 21, 2014, 06:31:41 pm
Anyway watch The Woodsman?  Kevin Bacon, Mos Def.  I was really impressed with Mos Def in this movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 21, 2014, 06:58:19 pm
Mos Def is actually quite good in most of his movie roles. I'd like to see him cast in more big Hollywood productions.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on August 21, 2014, 07:27:27 pm
Mos Def was the only remotely decent thing about season 6 of Dexter, which is the only thing I've seen him in. If he can be even half-decent with that kind of material, I'd say he's pretty good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on August 21, 2014, 10:41:52 pm
Anyway watch The Woodsman?  Kevin Bacon, Mos Def.  I was really impressed with Mos Def in this movie.

I forgot that Mos Def was in that. Saw it a long time ago; thought it was ok but could have been better.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 24, 2014, 12:47:57 pm
Friday's post-Waldameer movie: Jumanji
Yesterday's post-work movie: The Hunger Games

Both of which put me to sleep. (I'm hoping because they followed long days.)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 24, 2014, 12:56:18 pm
Friday's post-Waldameer movie: Jumanji
Yesterday's post-work movie: The Hunger Games

Both of which put me to sleep. (I'm hoping because they followed long days.)

Mayb for Jumanji, but the Hunger Games was pretty bad.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Davio on August 25, 2014, 11:26:40 am
I thought the Hunger Games was decent enough, but I liked Battle Royale (Battoru Rowaiu in Japanese???) better.

They're both about a deathmatch put in place for various reasons (celebration of beating down the resistance vs... bad teenagers), but a subject like that just works better in a Japanese dystopian version than a Hollywood blockbuster.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LastFootnote on August 25, 2014, 11:32:21 pm
Recently sat down and in the rarest of moments decided I wanted to watch a Rom-Com. My Idiot Brother turned out to be exactly what I was wanting to see. Can't say I recommend Rom-Coms in general but if your in the mood I found it enjoyable.

Hey, thanks, I've been on the fence about watching this on Netflix.

I have now seen it! Thanks for the recommendation. Hard to watch in parts, but a good film.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 26, 2014, 01:35:21 am
Tonight's after work movie was Guilt Trip. Parts of it were really enjoyable, even if a bit predictable.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 31, 2014, 10:20:11 am
Guardians of the Galaxy is officially the #1 movie of 2014. It likely won't have a challenger until Mockingjay. It also has potential to outgross both Iron Man and Iron Man 2.

In other news: The new movies this week are doing less business than Guardians on week 5, and Turtles on week 4.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on August 31, 2014, 01:54:06 pm
Guardians of the Galaxy is officially the #1 movie of 2014. It likely won't have a challenger until Mockingjay. It also has potential to outgross both Iron Man and Iron Man 2.

In other news: The new movies this week are doing less business than Guardians on week 5, and Turtles on week 4.

We went to see Guardians last night... our first movie in a theater in four years.  Absolutely loved it.  Some small problems, but nothing major.

I don't know that I care to see another 3D movie though; it felt gimmicky and unnecessary.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 31, 2014, 02:07:19 pm
All 3D movies suffer the same problem.

Is it a good movie because of 3D or without 3D?

Basically, if it needs 3D then it's probably not good, and if its good then it probably doesn't need 3D.

There were two scenes in Guardians that I felt 3D really added something.
The end where Quill grabs the stone and the purple swirlyness camera move. And the title scene with Quill in the ruins.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 31, 2014, 02:07:33 pm
Guardians of the Galaxy is officially the #1 movie of 2014. It likely won't have a challenger until Mockingjay. It also has potential to outgross both Iron Man and Iron Man 2.

In other news: The new movies this week are doing less business than Guardians on week 5, and Turtles on week 4.

We went to see Guardians last night... our first movie in a theater in four years.  Absolutely loved it.  Some small problems, but nothing major.

I don't know that I care to see another 3D movie though; it felt gimmicky and unnecessary.

Most of the time it is gimmicky and unnecessary. I hate the extra cost associated with it, and I'd rather just see it in 2D.

That being said, I saw Guardians in 3D but only because it was part of a package. For $25 a person, I got to eat a brisket dinner, enjoy four beers, and take in a movie. I was perfectly content with that price and did not mind the 3D one bit.

In general, I'll go for the cheaper 2D. Even Avatar, which has been heralded as great 3D didn't really do much for me with those glasses.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 31, 2014, 02:11:43 pm
All 3D movies suffer the same problem.

Is it a good movie because of 3D or without 3D?

Basically, if it needs 3D then it's probably not good, and if its good then it probably doesn't need 3D.

There were two scenes in Guardians that I felt 3D really added something.
The end where Quill grabs the stone and the purple swirlyness camera move. And the title scene with Quill in the ruins.

The annoying thing is that I didn't have the (practical) option to see it on an IMAX screen that wasn't in 3D.  I prefer not 3D always.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 31, 2014, 02:27:32 pm
Too bad you aren't in the Cleveland area. We've got a secret weapon in Euclid.

www.atlascinemas.net/xxdxp.aspx
Quote
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At over 60 feet wide, the XXDXP screen is the largest DIGITAL screen in the Cleveland market. At Atlas Cinemas Lakeshore 7 in Euclid you can get an experience similar to IMAX© or XD© -AT NO EXTRA CHARGE! Have you experienced XXDXP?
Check out this feature at Atlas Cinemas in XXDXP!
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Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 31, 2014, 02:37:35 pm
All 3D movies suffer the same problem.

Is it a good movie because of 3D or without 3D?

Basically, if it needs 3D then it's probably not good, and if its good then it probably doesn't need 3D.
But if it needs 3D and it's good with 3D, isn't it just good then?


I prefer 3D in theaters, since I can always get the 2D experience later when I'm home.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on August 31, 2014, 02:43:48 pm
That's exactly the dilemma. You get the very rare films like Avatar and Gravity where people prefer seeing it in 3D, but most of the time 3D attendance is about half non-3D attendance.

As for cost, anything with "Real D" attached has a contract (same with IMAX) where cinemas MUST charge an additional cost over their normal ticket prices. In our case, the minimum difference for Real D is $3 per ticket.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on September 02, 2014, 05:46:23 pm
So there's a thing on FB about listing 15 movies that stuck with you...not necessarily movies that are your favorites (though I do have a lot of overlap with those two lists). I thought I'd share mine. If others have their own influences, feel free to share. Maybe 15. Maybe not.

1. Shallow Grave - First movie I've seen with Ewan McGregor and Christopher Eccleston. I still love the ending.
2. Reservoir Dogs - Back when I didn't even know who Tarantino is. I still consider this his best. Perhaps it's because this movie was not tainted by the rush of being told he's awesome.
3. Brazil - It warped my little brain, but it made me appreciate the absurdity of real life. I saw it before I entered the cube farm, and now that I'm in a cube farm, everything is so vivid. I'm a fan of dystopian stories, and this is one of them.
4. The Re-Animator - Not a great movie, but it was amusing because my friend and I snuck out during class to watch this in the AV room. It was the unrated version, so zombified cunnilingus was there in its full glory.
5. Heavy Metal - This movie is so dated, and it's so schlocky and testosterone-ridden, but it was my first adult animated movie. John Candy delivered some of the best lines.
6. Alien - Technically, Jaws would have been my first horror film, but I was way too young to understand what was happening. Alien, however, was on HBO during a time in my life when I understood what was happening, and it scared the shit out of me. My tummy did flip-flops during the scary scenes, so I stood behind a chair so it couldn't see the TV. You can guess that it didn't work.
7. Little Shop of Horrors - I think this was the first musical I saw in a movie theatre. I didn't know it was a musical going in. I kind of wish it had the stage version's ending, but it's a good movie regardless.
8. American History X - There are plenty of examples of bigotry, and they aren't necessarily in works of fiction, but I am glad this is a fictional story. The curb-stomping scene still makes me cringe, but the whole hatred thing just really oozes off the screen, and it makes you angry and sad at once.
9. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover - Probably not my first Helen Mirren movie, but it's the first one where I learned who she was. Made me really appreciate the sexuality of women over 40. This movie was a great blend of music and colors to portray mood along with story. I hate how the choir boy's song overpowers everything and wish for a version where his role is muted. The ending is still one of the most haunting murals of hatred today.
10. Near Dark - I think this was my first taste of nontraditional vampires. No nosferatu or creepy Christopher Lee. This was good old-fashioned redneck vampires in a Winnebago. It also showed just how cavalier they considered life when they slaughter the bar patrons.
11. Tommy - The visuals were pretty wild in this one, so that's unfair. When I was old enough to understand the story, it stuck with me. A Messiah who gets rejected by his own followers when he no longer teaches a path they like.
12. Star Wars trilogy - My first sci-fi love (even though it's not sci-fi). I saw all three in the theatre, though I was quite young. I vaguely remember even seeing A New Hope. I remember specific scenes from Empire Strikes Back. Return of the Jedi might have been the first movie in theatres I saw since my father died (who was with me the other two times), so there is still a soft spot for this series, even though I hated the way Boba Fett died.
13. Memento - I like mindfucks, and this one stuck with me for a while. Technically, it's not entirely filmed in reverse order (such as Irreversible), but the backwards storytelling really put you in the mindset of the protagonist. After watching this movie, I would wake up in the middle of the night and ask myself where I was.
14. Fight Club - This movie really drove home that marketing sucks. I ignored this movie because the trailer looked like another Van Damme wannabe with a bunch of testosterone-laden fights. There was testosterone, all right, but it was in different places. I watched this movie wondering why it was such a big deal for a brainless action movie and realized it was much more than that.
15. Cabin in the Woods - This movie is so meta, it hurts. Deconstructing all your favorites (and yelling-at-screen nonfavorites) in horror tropes. It really becomes a different movie after a certain point, and it has so many quotable lines.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on September 06, 2014, 12:56:38 pm
God Help the Girl is finally out; playing at Village East Cinema in New York:

http://www.villageeastcinema.com/angelika_film.asp?hID=166&ID=4816973.z030630690316q82j5.77

Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on September 14, 2014, 02:26:54 am
Guardians of the Galaxy became the first 2014 film to reach $300M domestic.

And I got the soundtrack as an anniversary gift. :)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on September 16, 2014, 10:26:19 am
So I caught Ender's Game last night on HBO.. only half-watched while I was doing other things.  I wouldn't say it's bad, persay, just sort of.. flat and uninspiring.  I'm not sure if I would feel different if I paid more attention to it, but I had trouble getting immersed the way I had with the books.  I'm also not sure if I would have felt any different if I hadn't read the books.  In the books you really get kind of connected to Ender, and the revelation that His battle school "tests" were really actual battles in the war hit a lot harder.  (Maybe a lot of book readers predicted that.. I didn't see it until right before it was explicitly said in the book.)  So I don't know.. just left me feeling kind of "eh".
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on September 16, 2014, 10:44:12 am
I read Ender's Game and got punched in the gut with that revelation.

Since I read the book first, I cannot say if the movie had the same punch, but I got the feeling it didn't. It just didn't seem to build up to it properly, but I think that may have been because the book had more training exercises than the movie. In the movie's defense, if it showed more training exercises, then it'd get really tedious.

It also doesn't help that I feel the trailer gave away too much of the ending. It didn't come right out and tell you, but I think it was made easier to see what was coming.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on September 16, 2014, 12:06:57 pm
I never saw Enders Game but the preview did indicate a "twist" and since it focused on the young boy making severe decisions, it followed that those decisions were real.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on September 16, 2014, 01:31:33 pm
I hate it when trailers give too much away.

I really hated the marketing for Terminator 2, because they came out and said that this time, Arnold is the good guy. The way the movie is laid out, it really was unclear who would be the good guy. They changed things up a little bit from the first movie. In the first movie, Arnold killed upon arriving in the 20th century while Reese did not (though his entrance was violent too). In the second movie, the T1000 killed upon arriving while Arnold did not (again, this was also violent). So they really missed their chance to wow the audience with a middle-of-the-movie twist because of marketing. Jerks.

It was still an awesome movie, but it would have been much cooler to go, "Wait…he's helping him? Wha?"
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on September 21, 2014, 01:18:00 am
Finally, the Zero Theorem came out in the US this weekend. I managed to watch it this afternoon.

True enough, as a Gilliam fan, I enjoyed the whole movie, even the slow parts. I'm not sure how to movie looks to non-Gilliam fans. It can be slow and ponderous, which could be a turn-off for some people. And it had enough weird random bits that leave some viewers scratching their heads.

Even though this isn't a sequel to Brazil or anything, there are still very strong elements in common. Replace government intrusion with corporate intrusion.

I didn't like the portrayal of "hacking." Granted, it's an alternate universe where things are done differently, so maybe cutting and pasting a Word document in this universe would require flying the paragraph between towering documents before placing it in its new home. Mostly, the maneuvering of blocks with mathematical formulas just came off as an unnecessary gimmick.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on September 22, 2014, 01:19:23 pm
So I went to an animation festival in Ottawa and saw a number of really cool short films and two talks from animators. One that really stood out for me was this one, so I thought I'd share.

EDIT: It's explicit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7OP2r8kY9E
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on September 24, 2014, 01:19:46 am
So after The Prestige discussion in the Random thread, I decided to finally watch it tonight. I must say, although I didn't quite figure the twist, I did suspect something was up with Bale's assistant, simply because of the lack of screen time compared to Caine's character. It felt like he should have been more important.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Qvist on October 02, 2014, 05:16:25 pm
I just watched the new David Fincher movie Gone Girl (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2267998/combined) which is another excellent movie from him. Go see it.

Also it has a little Easter Egg in it. Both Dominion and Race for the Galaxy are depicted in the movie. I was really surprised seeing those games prominently in the middle of the screen.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 07, 2014, 12:24:25 pm
Continuing a discussion from television to movies.

In general, I find the bits that I have seen [of David Lynch's movies] to be visually engaging. And sometimes aurally engaging too (loved the Spanish version of "Crying" in Mulholland Drive). So I would say they're worth watching at least once, though I do have my reservations about recommending Eraserhead. I may even give Lost Highway another shot, even though I got bored of it the first time I tried to watch it. 

I suppose Lynch being considered "overrated" depends on the crowd you talk with. I have my mainstream discussions and I have my cult classic discussions. Lynch's name came up often when talking about the likes of early Kevin Smith, Peter Jackson, and Coens. I guess I was just used to people talking him up so much that I started doing it too. After all, these were people who routinely talked about Doom Generation, Reservoir Dogs, and Heavenly Creatures. So if they talked about Lynch as reverently as those movies, then what's not to love?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on October 07, 2014, 08:32:00 pm
I feel like his career peaked with Mulholland Drive. I can't say much of his work stands out as being "overrated" as I've rarely heard it being praised.  Directors tend to lose my interest if they try too hard to separate themselves from the mainstream. It comes off as forcefully fake and distracting. Tarantino is one of the few who has a noticeable style without making the movie suffer.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on October 08, 2014, 10:04:31 am
I watched Cloud Atlas a while ago. Was pretty good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: AndrewisFTTW on October 13, 2014, 03:00:53 pm
A clip from Whiplash. Dumb. Really dumb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ_6VUs2VCk
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on October 13, 2014, 03:55:37 pm
A clip from Whiplash. Dumb. Really dumb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ_6VUs2VCk

That's not how you learned to play? Weird.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 13, 2014, 04:27:46 pm
I watched Cloud Atlas a while ago. Was pretty good.

I loved Cloud Atlas.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 13, 2014, 04:59:02 pm
That's not how you learned to play? Weird.

"Why did I throw a chair at your head?"

"Um, because you're a fucking psycho?"
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on October 14, 2014, 12:01:37 am
That's not how you learned to play? Weird.

"Why did I throw a chair at your head?"

"Um, because you're a fucking psycho?"

because abuse teaches kids better than actually teaching them.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 26, 2014, 01:26:33 am
Saw Birdman tonight.  Really, really good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 27, 2014, 08:14:48 am
I saw the Maze Runner. It has decent enough tomatoes, but I'm not sure it's that good a movie. The interaction and mystery at the beginning was pretty good. They tried to explain what was happening at the end, but I don't think it really succeeded. I may need to look up fan sites to see what was trying to be conveyed. Maybe this was just an unsuccessful translation of the book.

I felt kind of weird that my wife and I were the only adults in the audience. A lot of teenaged girls apparently want to see this movie. I can't complain, though. They were actually quiet during the film, which exceeds my expectations.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on October 28, 2014, 08:43:30 am
So, my thoughts on Interstellar and the way the studio is handling the release:

169 minutes. I guess theaters only need to show it 3 times per day. It's called editing, cut out the one hour of flat dialogue in the middle.

Early release on FILM or IMAX. Okay, so the industry pushes exhibitors to change to digital projection, and is now rewarding those who did not? Unless you are paying an IMAX license, so XD, RPX, and any other large format digital screens are SOL.

4-Week minimum hold. Are you kidding me? Smaller venues are going to be stuck with this picture during the thanksgiving release week? And if it fails, what then? I sense no studio confidence in the film to carry itself.

Man, I already had no expectations for this movie, I don't need any other reasons to doubt it. Give me two showings of Big Hero 6 any day over this.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 28, 2014, 09:53:31 am
So, my thoughts on Interstellar and the way the studio is handling the release:

169 minutes. I guess theaters only need to show it 3 times per day. It's called editing, cut out the one hour of flat dialogue in the middle.

Early release on FILM or IMAX. Okay, so the industry pushes exhibitors to change to digital projection, and is now rewarding those who did not? Unless you are paying an IMAX license, so XD, RPX, and any other large format digital screens are SOL.

4-Week minimum hold. Are you kidding me? Smaller venues are going to be stuck with this picture during the thanksgiving release week? And if it fails, what then? I sense no studio confidence in the film to carry itself.

Man, I already had no expectations for this movie, I don't need any other reasons to doubt it. Give me two showings of Big Hero 6 any day over this.

What?  I haven't seen the movie, but I would not want a movie like this cutting out dialogue.  I don't see a problem with 169 minutes from a viewer standpoint. 

Though I take it you're talking more from a film business standpoint. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on October 28, 2014, 10:55:16 am
The other 109 minutes are also mostly dialogue. As I understand it, this just feels like Contact 2014.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 28, 2014, 11:07:13 am
I'm okay with that.  I want dialogue in movies.  Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight are entirely dialogue and (I think) some of the best movies made.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 28, 2014, 11:21:19 am
What?  I haven't seen the movie, but I would not want a movie like this cutting out dialogue.  I don't see a problem with 169 minutes from a viewer standpoint. 

Depends on the dialogue. I felt that Death Proof was far too long of a movie (and it was only half of one!). The dialogue really dragged on, and I was so bored of it. And this is coming from someone who enjoys Tarantino's quirky dialogues. I was cool with the diner scene of Reservoir Dogs, the Thurman/Travolta banter in Pulp Fiction, and the Nazi monologue at the beginning of Inglourious Bastards. But somehow, the dialogue in Death Proof just needed to be trimmed. I guess it just wasn't as interesting as the others. While those other scenes may be viewed as Quentin masturbating feverishly into a script, they at least were still interesting.

I've not seen Interstellar, so I have no opinion on that matter.

And theatres could still show it more than three times, but it would cost them an additional screen, which is not a small sacrifice.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on October 29, 2014, 12:43:31 pm
So this seems exciting:

Marvel Studios—2015 to 2019
Avengers: Age of Ultron - May 1, 2015
Ant-Man - July 17, 2015
Captain America: Civil War - May 6, 2016
Doctor Strange - November 4, 2016
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 - May 5, 2017
Thor: Ragnarok - July 28, 2017
Black Panther - November 3, 2017 (starring Chadwick Boseman)
Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 - May 4, 2018
Captain Marvel - July 6, 2018
Inhumans - November 2, 2018
Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 - May 3, 2019

Because Sony owns Spider-Man rights, will Black Panther take his place in the Civil War storyline?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on October 29, 2014, 01:32:57 pm
So this seems exciting:

Marvel Studios—2015 to 2019
Avengers: Age of Ultron - May 1, 2015
Ant-Man - July 17, 2015
Captain America: Civil War - May 6, 2016
Doctor Strange - November 4, 2016
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 - May 5, 2017
Thor: Ragnarok - July 28, 2017
Black Panther - November 3, 2017 (starring Chadwick Boseman)
Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 - May 4, 2018
Captain Marvel - July 6, 2018
Inhumans - November 2, 2018
Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 - May 3, 2019

Because Sony owns Spider-Man rights, will Black Panther take his place in the Civil War storyline?

Looking up a trailer for Ant-Man I found a fake fan made one that looks very real except that it uses the Robots from I Robot, which tipped me off. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-JtSSSthJ8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-JtSSSthJ8) I don't know if I'm actually excited about Ant-Man or just nervous, but that trailer did not help.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on October 29, 2014, 04:29:22 pm
That was pretty awful. And obviously fake because Edgar wright is not directing. I'm sure we'll know more by the time Age of Ultron comes out in may.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on October 29, 2014, 08:17:19 pm
Because Sony owns Spider-Man rights, will Black Panther take his place in the Civil War storyline?

I think there are talks of Marvel Studios/Sony working together to bring the universes together.

But yes, Black Panther is part of Civil War, from my understanding.  The three of them (actors) were on stage together at the announcement.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on October 29, 2014, 10:27:41 pm
The other 109 minutes are also mostly dialogue. As I understand it, this just feels like Contact 2014.

I'm not certain what the problem is there.  Contact was one of the better book adaptations I've seen.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on October 29, 2014, 11:39:54 pm
The other 109 minutes are also mostly dialogue. As I understand it, this just feels like Contact 2014.

I'm not certain what the problem is there.  Contact was one of the better book adaptations I've seen.

Mostly it was confusing that Agent Starling was in space for some reason.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on October 31, 2014, 07:51:39 am
I just saw Interstellar. It was great, though I could see people having problems with the last half-hour. Regardless, everything before that I just loved unequivocally.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on October 31, 2014, 11:10:08 am
That's good to hear. The last description of the movie I heard was "Inter mediocre"
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on October 31, 2014, 09:14:08 pm
That's good to hear. The last description of the movie I heard was "Inter mediocre"

I should note I had no particular expectations for it and knew next to nothing about it. I'm not a Nolan fan or hater (loved Inception, liked the Dark Knight, meh on Batman Begins, hated Dark Night Rises), and that the movie isn't perfect by any means, it just worked perfectly for me, especially on a visual level.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 31, 2014, 09:48:08 pm
How'd you get to see it so early?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on October 31, 2014, 11:06:16 pm
Press and promotional screenings are quite popular.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Ichimaru Gin on November 01, 2014, 01:36:43 am
hated Dark Knight Rises
I completely agree. A lot of people I knew were touting it as the best movie of the year at the time, but I had a hard time sitting in the theater to finish watching it. Pretty sad because the Dark Knight was so incredible. Heath Ledger's performance in that movie was unparalleled and also very tragic in light of his death.

I am not sure of the accuracy that Ledger's role in that movie was inspired by Tom Waits. But after watching this interview with Tom Waits, the similarity is pretty striking. I had fun seeing it at least. You can skip to about 1:30 in the video if you just want to get straight to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCSc6E4yG9s
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on November 01, 2014, 02:12:03 pm
How'd you get to see it so early?

It was an advance screening, there was even an interview with Nolan before the movie (it was in Paris). I think the movie comes out next Wednesday here.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Ichimaru Gin on November 08, 2014, 03:48:18 pm
Anyone see Big Hero 6?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on November 08, 2014, 03:50:14 pm
Anyone see Big Hero 6?

I want to see it. Looks like it'll be fun to watch, but no I haven't had time to figure out when I'll go see it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on November 08, 2014, 08:25:50 pm
Anyone see Big Hero 6?
Oct 17th and Nov 4th

Excellent both times. :)

(and of course, being a Marvel-based story, Stan Lee has his cameo.)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kirian on November 08, 2014, 10:59:03 pm
Anyone see Big Hero 6?
Oct 17th and Nov 4th

Excellent both times. :)

(and of course, being a Marvel-based story, Stan Lee has his cameo.)

What would be your lower age limit for appropriateness?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Ichimaru Gin on November 08, 2014, 11:46:38 pm
Anyone see Big Hero 6?
Oct 17th and Nov 4th

Excellent both times. :)

(and of course, being a Marvel-based story, Stan Lee has his cameo.)
Nice. I saw it last night (it only just came out in the States). I thought it was really good.
And man, Stan Lee is awesome! Such a creative person who came up with so much great fiction it's almost unbelievable.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on November 09, 2014, 12:12:52 am
Anyone see Big Hero 6?
Oct 17th and Nov 4th

Excellent both times. :)

(and of course, being a Marvel-based story, Stan Lee has his cameo.)

What would be your lower age limit for appropriateness?
Depends on the board child.

Well, there is a bit of action-violence similar to Incredibles. There are also a couple suspenseful scenes that may bother younger children. I'd put it about the same level as the recent How to Train Your Dragon movie. Definitely not as dark as Maleficent. Considerably darker than Lego Movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Titandrake on November 09, 2014, 12:17:01 am
Anyone see Big Hero 6?
Oct 17th and Nov 4th

Excellent both times. :)

(and of course, being a Marvel-based story, Stan Lee has his cameo.)

What would be your lower age limit for appropriateness?

I saw it, thought it was really good too. For appropriateness, it doesn't pull any punches, but it isn't anywhere close to Coraline in pushing the PG rating.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Beyond Awesome on November 09, 2014, 01:36:19 am
Saw Birdman tonight.  Really, really good.

Saw this a couple weeks ago too WW. Great film. What did you think of Interstellar?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 09, 2014, 01:53:52 am
Saw Birdman tonight.  Really, really good.

Saw this a couple weeks ago too WW. Great film. What did you think of Interstellar?

I just got back from it.  I thought it was great, intense the entire time. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on November 09, 2014, 10:13:31 am
Anyone see Big Hero 6?
Oct 17th and Nov 4th

Excellent both times. :)

(and of course, being a Marvel-based story, Stan Lee has his cameo.)

What would be your lower age limit for appropriateness?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2245084/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on November 09, 2014, 11:15:16 am
You forgot to use spoiler tags!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: 2.71828..... on November 09, 2014, 02:45:15 pm
I saw Intserstellar in IMAX Friday, and agree completely with Teproc about his analysis.  Coming in with no real expectations (probably more of an expectation that I wouldn't really like it), I was pleasantly surprised by the movie and really enjoyed it.  Obviously with IMAX made the visual experience amazing, but I would watch it again just regular.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on November 09, 2014, 03:33:57 pm
I'm glad to hear people enjoy it. Seems like advertising gave us less to look forward to, instead of too much like Inception.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 09, 2014, 03:45:00 pm
I'm glad to hear people enjoy it. Seems like advertising gave us less to look forward to, instead of too much like Inception.

I think the trailers did a great job about building interest without really giving anything away.  Going into the movie I had no idea how the plot would move along.  I knew the general premise, but was really left wondering the entire time I was watching.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on November 09, 2014, 04:59:31 pm
I saw Intserstellar in IMAX Friday, and agree completely with Teproc about his analysis.  Coming in with no real expectations (probably more of an expectation that I wouldn't really like it), I was pleasantly surprised by the movie and really enjoyed it.  Obviously with IMAX made the visual experience amazing, but I would watch it again just regular.

Just watched it in a normal cinema, knowing only the most basic premise. Some very powerful stuff all the way to the last half an hour, which turned out to be less bad than it looked like it was going to be, so yay?

One character absolutely steals every scene s/he is in. TARS. I've you've seen the movie, you probably don't need to check the spoiler to know who I am talking about.

Also, can somebody explain what the fuck was Dr. Mann's plan? He had planned to kill whoever came to his rescue, as demonstrated by the fact that he must have rigged his robot before going into cryosleep. But he didn't want to go back to Earth, as his last dialogue shows. So if he just wants to ensure the continuation of the Human Race, why not just not send any message at all, and let the Lazarus mission go check Edmund's planet directly?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on November 09, 2014, 06:05:04 pm
Well that's the whole point of his speech to Cooper when they're fighting. If he does what you say, he's not rescued, he never sees another human face again, and he's not the one who saves humanity. The way he planned it, he would have overseen the colonization of Edmund's planet and would've been the hero. Plus, he gets to see people, which he indicated as being a pretty big motivator.

By the way, I hadn't seen any trailers but did people know Matt Damon was in this movie ? I sure didn't, so seeing him pop up was pretty great.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on November 09, 2014, 06:08:08 pm
On another note, I just saw Life of Pi on DVD. I know, I'm a little late to the party, but man that movie is great, even without the 3D (which I was a little worried about).

It occured to me at several moments that this is what a Miyazaki live action movie would look like.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on November 09, 2014, 06:20:05 pm
Well that's the whole point of his speech to Cooper when they're fighting. If he does what you say, he's not rescued, he never sees another human face again, and he's not the one who saves humanity. The way he planned it, he would have overseen the colonization of Edmund's planet and would've been the hero. Plus, he gets to see people, which he indicated as being a pretty big motivator.

By the way, I hadn't seen any trailers but did people know Matt Damon was in this movie ? I sure didn't, so seeing him pop up was pretty great.


I didn't know Matt Damon was in the movie, and I was actually not 100% sure it was him, so every scene he was in was quite distressing.

If he just wanted to see another human face, planning to kill the rescue team doesn't strike me as particularly coherent... He could just have recognized he lied, it's not like they would have left him there.
I didn't gather either that he wanted to be a hero. His final words are that he doesn't care whether any of them live or die, just that the Human Race is saved. Forcing the final Ranger to go down onto his planet seems to go against that objective.
Wanting to be a hero would make sense, but I didn't get that impression at all. He seemed fine with being a coward, but an alive one. Trying to kill the rescue team seems to be an unnecessary risk for someone who at that point seems to be motivated only by his survival instinct.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 09, 2014, 06:31:47 pm
Well that's the whole point of his speech to Cooper when they're fighting. If he does what you say, he's not rescued, he never sees another human face again, and he's not the one who saves humanity. The way he planned it, he would have overseen the colonization of Edmund's planet and would've been the hero. Plus, he gets to see people, which he indicated as being a pretty big motivator.

By the way, I hadn't seen any trailers but did people know Matt Damon was in this movie ? I sure didn't, so seeing him pop up was pretty great.


The Matt Damon thing was actually hidden.  Nolan kept it secret until release.  See http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816692/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 09, 2014, 06:34:28 pm
Well that's the whole point of his speech to Cooper when they're fighting. If he does what you say, he's not rescued, he never sees another human face again, and he's not the one who saves humanity. The way he planned it, he would have overseen the colonization of Edmund's planet and would've been the hero. Plus, he gets to see people, which he indicated as being a pretty big motivator.

By the way, I hadn't seen any trailers but did people know Matt Damon was in this movie ? I sure didn't, so seeing him pop up was pretty great.


I didn't know Matt Damon was in the movie, and I was actually not 100% sure it was him, so every scene he was in was quite distressing.

If he just wanted to see another human face, planning to kill the rescue team doesn't strike me as particularly coherent... He could just have recognized he lied, it's not like they would have left him there.
I didn't gather either that he wanted to be a hero. His final words are that he doesn't care whether any of them live or die, just that the Human Race is saved. Forcing the final Ranger to go down onto his planet seems to go against that objective.
Wanting to be a hero would make sense, but I didn't get that impression at all. He seemed fine with being a coward, but an alive one. Trying to kill the rescue team seems to be an unnecessary risk for someone who at that point seems to be motivated only by his survival instinct.


Well, he had already lied to get people to come to his planet, by sending out the beacon that his planet had promise.  I'm not exactly sure what his plan was once he got off and took control of the main ship, though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on November 09, 2014, 08:47:24 pm
He does say something about never even considering that his planet wouldn't be the right one. That's where I get the idea that he wanted to be the one doing the actual colonization, as well as the fact that he lead the first expedition originally. I don't think that's necessarily contradictory with his survival instict.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Beyond Awesome on November 09, 2014, 09:14:01 pm
He does say something about never even considering that his planet wouldn't be the right one. That's where I get the idea that he wanted to be the one doing the actual colonization, as well as the fact that he lead the first expedition originally. I don't think that's necessarily contradictory with his survival instict.

His plan wasn't to kill the crew. He didn't want to die alone, and as he stated, he thought his planet would be the one. He couldn't live with the fact that his wasn't and that he would die alone, so he sent a beacon saying his planet was good, and he probably figured that they could repopulate another planet as well. Cooper was planning on taking the shuttle back to Earth but insisted on seeing the "atmospheric" part of Mann's planet that could host terrestrial beings. Dr. Mann realizes that Cooper will likely go back home instead of going to Edmund's planet, so he tries to kill Cooper. He realizes he f'd up though, so he maroons Dr. Brand and the other guy, well, explodes.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on November 10, 2014, 05:14:23 am
He does say something about never even considering that his planet wouldn't be the right one. That's where I get the idea that he wanted to be the one doing the actual colonization, as well as the fact that he lead the first expedition originally. I don't think that's necessarily contradictory with his survival instict.

His plan wasn't to kill the crew. He didn't want to die alone, and as he stated, he thought his planet would be the one. He couldn't live with the fact that his wasn't and that he would die alone, so he sent a beacon saying his planet was good, and he probably figured that they could repopulate another planet as well. Cooper was planning on taking the shuttle back to Earth but insisted on seeing the "atmospheric" part of Mann's planet that could host terrestrial beings. Dr. Mann realizes that Cooper will likely go back home instead of going to Edmund's planet, so he tries to kill Cooper. He realizes he f'd up though, so he maroons Dr. Brand and the other guy, well, explodes.

The problem with that theory is that it assumes that Dr. Mann decides to kill the crew after they arrive, but that is false. He booby-trapped KIPP before he went to cryosleep.
I missed the part where he said that he had never considered that his planet wouldn't be the one. That makes a little bit more sense. It still doesn't really justify trying to kill the crew, but I guess it's good enough.


Still discussing Interstellar in those spoilers, in case anyone is wondering.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 10, 2014, 02:26:31 pm
More Interstellar:

Since 23 years outside the influence of Gargantua transpired while they were on the water planet, they spent about 3 hours (say, 3.4) on the water planet.  But the entire sequence once they got back on the ship and rode the huge wave seemed to have no time cuts, and only lasted a few minutes.  He asks how long until the engines drain and TARS (or whomever) tells him 45-50 minutes.  Then arguing and all of the sudden 5 minutes.  Am I misremembering there being no time cut?  I saw this brought up on another forum as well.

And, even if that full 50 minutes passed, that only makes up a third of the three hours.  Some time was spent getting down to the planet and back, but that must not have been that long, since they didn't plan to be gone decades.  I got the impression they only intended on spending 15 minutes total (~2ish years).  So riding the wave itself took time, but probably not an hour.  Presumably some more time passed from when the wave went down to the "45 minutes to drain engines" mark, but I don't recall evidence that that time elapsed.

Anyone else notice this?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Eevee on November 11, 2014, 05:56:33 pm
Just went to see Interstellar. It's pretty amazing how little I liked it considering it had my favorite actor as the lead, my favorite director and composer and a very elite supporting cast.

I'm not a sci-fi guy by any stretch of imagination, so that might be a part of it. I wish they had a camera there to capture my facial impression when I realized what the last 30 minutes were going to be like, though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on November 12, 2014, 09:53:55 am
I saw Big Hero 6. Fun little movie. It has heartbreak, comedy, and action. Pretty good stuff.

Shockingly, not a romance. Well, that's probably for the best, since the main character is a 14-year-old boy, but the rest of the team are coed college students, and there wasn't a single love blossoming. I actually found that refreshing, as it does get tiresome to see the obligatory romance. And there certainly were opportunities for it to happen.

But it was enjoyable. It also portrayed an interesting fusion of American and Japanese cultures. Cue 'Murica outrage in 3, 2, …eh.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on November 12, 2014, 10:28:15 am
Welcome to San Fransokyo!

I did enjoy seeing some of the future tech that is currently in R&D show up in this movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Titandrake on November 12, 2014, 11:05:26 pm
I saw Big Hero 6. Fun little movie. It has heartbreak, comedy, and action. Pretty good stuff.

Shockingly, not a romance. Well, that's probably for the best, since the main character is a 14-year-old boy, but the rest of the team are coed college students, and there wasn't a single love blossoming. I actually found that refreshing, as it does get tiresome to see the obligatory romance. And there certainly were opportunities for it to happen.

But it was enjoyable. It also portrayed an interesting fusion of American and Japanese cultures. Cue 'Murica outrage in 3, 2, …eh.

They probably reached their quota with Baymax/everyone. Seriously, Baymax is too cute.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on November 19, 2014, 10:33:46 pm
Did anyone ever see Snowpiercer?  I know it's old now, but I saw ads for it on iTunes and was intrigued.  I'm wondering if it's worth it, or if it's just Divergent on a Train.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on November 19, 2014, 10:49:10 pm
I enjoyed it quite a bit more than Divergent. It has obvious political messages in it, but I quite liked it dispite that.

Nightcrawler was not what I expected. But it was quite good.

Interstellar was not stellar, but it was made well.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on November 25, 2014, 12:16:29 pm
Did anyone ever see Snowpiercer?  I know it's old now, but I saw ads for it on iTunes and was intrigued.  I'm wondering if it's worth it, or if it's just Divergent on a Train.

Snowpiercer is a really fun movie. I was a little wary of it because the concept is so ludicrous.

But you know, if you accept the ridiculousness of the premise, it has a pretty powerful class story. Kind of reminds me of Brave New World in that regard.

You have to go in ready to appreciate the sociopolitical story and not the "sci-fi" story. Also avoid other things like what the hell are the rich doing to deserve to be rich? Then again, that can be part of the message. Many people are rich today that didn't do anything to deserve it. They were just born in the right conditions to be considered rich.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on January 08, 2015, 09:42:27 pm
I just watched RockNRolla and Revolver, two Guy Ritchie movies that I hadn't seen before. I enjoyed them, despite Revolver getting terrible reviews when it came out.

I also watched Psycho for the first time. It's got amazing shots, and Norman Bates is played really well. But the horror doesn't stand the test of time, at least for me. The best line is at the end when they are discussing why he dresses up like his mother, and a police officer yells loudly "He's a transvestite!"
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: AndrewisFTTW on January 09, 2015, 01:44:55 am
Speaking of vintage horror, have you guys seen Nosferatu? It's pretty goddamn creepy.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on January 11, 2015, 11:08:31 pm
Speaking of vintage horror, have you guys seen Nosferatu? It's pretty goddamn creepy.
I either own it or have it in my Amazon cart. It is pretty impressive considering how old it is.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on January 12, 2015, 01:21:26 am
Speaking of vintage horror, have you guys seen Nosferatu? It's pretty goddamn creepy.
I either own it or have it in my Amazon cart. It is pretty impressive considering how old it is.

Yeah, I've been meaning to watch it. The Shining too. Haven't seen it and I need to.

Actually on the topic of horror, I watched "What we do in the Shadows." It was very funny, and I thought it was fairly original. I really enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on January 27, 2015, 06:54:47 pm
Finally caved to all the pressure and watched Gravity. Was pleasantly surprised. Only let down was Sandra surviving.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on January 27, 2015, 06:59:46 pm
Finally caved to all the pressure and watched Gravity. Was pleasantly surprised. Only let down was Sandra surviving.

It was decent. Certainly the visuals were the best part.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on January 27, 2015, 07:03:57 pm
Finally caved to all the pressure and watched Gravity. Was pleasantly surprised. Only let down was Sandra surviving.

Um, spoiler alert ?

I mean I probably won't ever see it because I don't see the point of seeing it on DvD, but still...
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Ichimaru Gin on January 27, 2015, 07:12:43 pm
Finally caved to all the pressure and watched Gravity. Was pleasantly surprised. Only let down was Sandra surviving.
I'll put spoilers just in case.
My favorite part was probably the end, when she finally makes it back to earth. That change in feeling between the rest of the movie with her floating in space and relative greyness and to return to the relative safety, color, and solidness of earth--it was pretty amazing.
Google gave it away for free not to long ago, which was pretty awesome.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on January 27, 2015, 08:13:22 pm
Yeah, I got the free copy which went a long way towards convincing me to watch a Sandra Bullock film. Visuals were certainly A+ but the dialogue and thematic elements carry the movie. I watched it on an iPad while juggling a baby so I can assure you there was a lot more to such a simple premise than visuals to make the movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on January 27, 2015, 09:03:32 pm
I watched my first Jon Favreau film a week or so ago.  It was really well executed, and a great story, and well acted.  Whether you are a foodie or not, I recommend Chef.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 27, 2015, 10:28:36 pm
I watched my first Jon Favreau film a week or so ago.  It was really well executed, and a great story, and well acted.  Whether you are a foodie or not, I recommend Chef.

Swingers!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on January 27, 2015, 11:24:16 pm
I watched my first Jon Favreau film a week or so ago.  It was really well executed, and a great story, and well acted.  Whether you are a foodie or not, I recommend Chef.

Swinger's!

No apostrophe.

But yes, absolutely.  Greatest movie ever.

You'd never know it was actually their second movie together.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on January 28, 2015, 12:24:11 pm
I watched my first Jon Favreau film a week or so ago.  It was really well executed, and a great story, and well acted.  Whether you are a foodie or not, I recommend Chef.

Swinger's!

No apostrophe.

But yes, absolutely.  Greatest movie ever.

You'd never know it was actually their second movie together.
Second time who and who were together?  Favreau and the director?  Favreau and Vince Vaughn?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Ozle on January 28, 2015, 12:59:21 pm
I watched Expendables 2 the other night. Great Movie. Can I join in the discussion?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 28, 2015, 01:39:16 pm
I watched Expendables 2 the other night. Great Movie. Can I join in the discussion?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imhcq5s9OLs
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on January 28, 2015, 01:41:51 pm
I watched my first Jon Favreau film a week or so ago.  It was really well executed, and a great story, and well acted.  Whether you are a foodie or not, I recommend Chef.

I loved Swingers, but could not get into Chef. Everything just seemed to wrap up too neat and perfectly for him. I dunno, maybe I just expected something more complex. I don't think it helped that I'd recently seen The 5-Year Engagement though, which has an incredibly similar plotline for the career of the male lead (with the digression of working at a bakery in between the A-->Z).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on January 28, 2015, 08:32:14 pm
I watched my first Jon Favreau film a week or so ago.  It was really well executed, and a great story, and well acted.  Whether you are a foodie or not, I recommend Chef.

Swinger's!

No apostrophe.

But yes, absolutely.  Greatest movie ever.

You'd never know it was actually their second movie together.
Second time who and who were together?  Favreau and the director?  Favreau and Vince Vaughn?

Favs and Vaughn.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on January 28, 2015, 08:33:21 pm
I watched my first Jon Favreau film a week or so ago.  It was really well executed, and a great story, and well acted.  Whether you are a foodie or not, I recommend Chef.

I loved Swingers, but could not get into Chef. Everything just seemed to wrap up too neat and perfectly for him. I dunno, maybe I just expected something more complex. I don't think it helped that I'd recently seen The 5-Year Engagement though, which has an incredibly similar plotline for the career of the male lead (with the digression of working at a bakery in between the A-->Z).

I enjoyed it as a happy, fun movie to watch with the wife.  Some chuckles, some smiles.  I think a prequel would be interesting, with lots of Iron Man in it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on January 31, 2015, 05:07:52 pm
So I've just thrown on Edge of Tomorrow, with Tom Cruise.  I'm taking a break to put dinner in the oven, and the movie is at the point where I've just discovered this is a Groundhog Day redux.  Is this movie worth continuing, or is it a waste of another hour and 30 minutes?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on January 31, 2015, 08:32:25 pm
I never saw it but I heard very good things about it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on February 01, 2015, 03:23:14 pm
I never saw it but I heard very good things about it.

Same.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on February 01, 2015, 03:45:56 pm
I watched the rest of it. Meh.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on February 01, 2015, 03:47:58 pm
So I've just thrown on Edge of Tomorrow, with Tom Cruise.  I'm taking a break to put dinner in the oven, and the movie is at the point where I've just discovered this is a Groundhog Day redux.  Is this movie worth continuing, or is it a waste of another hour and 30 minutes?

I wouldn't have ever thought of that as a spoiler; I thought it was a well-known basic plot of the movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on February 01, 2015, 03:51:28 pm
I prefer to err on the side of caution.  Also, we often rent movies knowing absolutely nothing about the movie's plot.  My wife really doesn't like knowing anything about what might or might not happen, and she picked this one out.  When I saw the cover, I thought the name was Live, Die, Repeat, but somehow that didn't sink in.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on February 01, 2015, 11:03:13 pm
I watched the rest of it. Meh.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I liked that it didn't take itself TOO seriously, while still being about as serious as you can be with such an outlandish premise.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Ichimaru Gin on February 14, 2015, 02:42:12 pm
Just saw Jupiter Ascending last night. I had really low expectations for it having skimmed a few reviews, but I actually found it pretty enjoyable.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on February 14, 2015, 03:51:25 pm
I watched The Equalizer with Denzel Washington last night, and found it entertaining.  I'll watch Denzel in anything, and this was slightly above average.

Has anyone seen the new Dawn of the Planet of the Apes?  I seem to be in action movie mode lately, and am wondering if it is worthwhile.  I liked the one from 3 or 4 years ago.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on February 14, 2015, 04:27:15 pm
Has anyone seen the new Dawn of the Planet of the Apes?  I seem to be in action movie mode lately, and am wondering if it is worthwhile.  I liked the one from 3 or 4 years ago.

I watched it, and thought it was alright, if not as good as the previous one. It really feels like they were mainly setting up the following movie, while the other one, IMHO, could perfectly stand on its own. The bad guy gets a couple of brilliant scenes, though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on February 14, 2015, 07:31:00 pm
I prefer to err on the side of caution.  Also, we often rent movies knowing absolutely nothing about the movie's plot.  My wife really doesn't like knowing anything about what might or might not happen, and she picked this one out.  When I saw the cover, I thought the name was Live, Die, Repeat, but somehow that didn't sink in.

So the name of that movie was actually changed for the DVD release. It's weird.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on February 17, 2015, 11:47:32 am
I saw Kingsman over the weekend. It's pretty decent. I've not read the source material, so I cannot say how true to the original it is.

One negative I read about this movie is that it seems to be split between two genres: grim violence or schlocky superspy. I didn't mind it so much, but I can see how some people were turned off by it.

I was really impressed with how Samuel L. Jackson can portray such a nonintimidating persona while still presenting the threat of destruction. A villain doesn't have to exude evil to be nasty; he just needs the will to follow through on his crazy scheme. The kid did a pretty good job. Colin Firth also did a pretty good job; he really sold the action spy character. Michael Caine, unfortunately, was just underused. And I don't mean in terms in screen time. He's a phenomenal actor, but the few scenes he had were just kind of flat. Honestly, they could have inserted just about any actor for 1/10 the price.

For the most part, I enjoyed the movie, so I just have a small list of gripes.

I thought the church scene went far too long. In a sense, that scene was a success because it shows just how nasty Valentine's mind rays can be, even going so far as to affect those who are sworn to protect the world. I was surprised at Galahad just flat-out murdering that woman, and I was waiting for the reveal that he knew she was an enemy spy all along or something. Nope, he simply fell victim to the very plot he was investigating. After that slaughter, it made sense for Galahad to be killed because the movie was just a little too light-hearted to show him dealing with the wracking guilt of mass murder. Valentine shooting Galahad was plenty dark (and yet they still threw in humor with his fear of blood). Regardless of how successful the scene was, it could have been cut by at least 2/3. It's cool to watch the action hero take down soldiers. It's a little uncomfortable watching the action hero murder innocent victims (even if they were all dicks, which was a nice touch to make the audience not feel too sorry for them).

The end gag really seemed out of place. Yeah, there are plenty of jokes and bad language around, but the banter between Eggsy and the princess felt too forced. I can get the homage to previous spy films where the action hero gets the girl, but it just felt like this scene was played up for the sake of being vulgar and not clever. The rest of the film was so clever, so this scene was kind of jarring.

The fireworks were…well, it was an awesome scene, but the CGI fireworks accompanying the exploding heads looked off. This was obviously a very expensive movie, and it just looks like they didn't want to mess with rigging up multiple exploding heads. Maybe that's true, and I couldn't fault them for wanting to give that a miss. Maybe it was just cheaper to superimpose colorful puffs of smock, but it also looked like it. Still, while it looked cheap, it was a very effective scene with Pomp and Circumstance playing.

The setup was a bit slow-going. The 1997 opening was a sloppy introduction to the characters. It didn't help they were dressed in a way that made them hard to recognize. Who is Galahad? Well, apparently he's this guy in 2015, and fortunately we know that because he said so. To be honest, I couldn't tell you if the other characters in 1997 were one-shots or recurring characters. And then there's the building up of Eggsy. It's a helluva training montage, but it was hard to gauge time passing, though the use of the puppies did help with that. That was probably the most clever part of the training montage.

Finally, I leave this hilarious review of the movie: http://www.moviechambers.com/2015/02/12/movie-review-kingsman-the-secret-service/

I say hilarious because this guy seems to think that the choices made during the film are some right-wing conspiracies. I had a laugh over the claims that V for Vendetta was criticizing Bush, so it's only fair that I laugh at this. Yes, the villain is an eco-freak, but I view it as just another motivation for a crazy megalomaniac. I mean, does Die Hard demonize capitalism because the villain is stealing money? Furthermore, so what if Obama is shown as having joined the dark side? Of all the world leaders, Obama is the most recognizable to Americans (no idea if the film in other countries may show other leaders, but I'm sure Obama is still pretty recognizable to them). The conspiracy goes to the very top, and what better way to show that than with the "leader of the free world" casting his lot with Valentine? They sure couldn't have shown Bush or Clinton. And while having fake presidents can work (see 24), it only works if you introduce that character as the president, which would have added more time to an already-long movie. So I feel this reviewer missed the mark and has his opinions clouded by the bogeyman.

Would I go see it again? Perhaps as a matinee. I don't foresee myself owning this movie, but it was pretty fun, flaws and all.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on February 17, 2015, 12:07:09 pm
I'm so used to watching movies for free that I've started to forget people need value worth more than just their time. I do want to see Kingsman. I'm not a huge fan of excessive violence, but I rather enjoy most every spy movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on February 17, 2015, 12:14:44 pm
I'm so used to watching movies for free that I've started to forget people need value worth more than just their time. I do want to see Kingsman. I'm not a huge fan of excessive violence, but I rather enjoy most every spy movie.

Many reviewers have compared the violence in Kingsman to that of Kick-Ass. Apparently, they're both done by the same director. I would agree that Kick-Ass is a pretty good litmus test. If you were not uncomfortable with the degree of violence and language in Kick-Ass, then that won't bother you in Kingsman. As an added bonus, Kingsman does not feature a 12-year-old girl constantly being put into mortal danger, though there is a toddler who is put in danger in one scene (and it's best not to think about how many other children were killed during the incident; the ramifications of this plot are quite huge).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on February 18, 2015, 08:46:31 pm
I finally got to watch TMNT on a flight recently.  It lived up to expectations.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on February 18, 2015, 10:00:24 pm
I finally got to watch TMNT on a flight recently.  It lived up to expectations.

Which were very low I imagine.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on February 19, 2015, 09:20:03 am
I finally got to watch TMNT on a flight recently.  It lived up to expectations.
TMNT from ten years ago? Or the live action film from last year?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on February 19, 2015, 02:42:45 pm
I watched a movie last night that is still on my mind today.  The premise was unusual, enveloping, and as it turns out, haunting, possibly in a disturbing way.

The movie was In Time, with Olivia Wilde (small part), Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried.  I just can't get it out of my mind.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on February 19, 2015, 02:49:24 pm
The premise was cute, but the movie itself was toying with the "So bad, it's good" line.

Case in point, the following quote:

"NO ONE should be immortal, if even one person has to die", delivered as a one-liner.

Think about it two seconds.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on February 19, 2015, 02:49:46 pm
I watched a movie last night that is still on my mind today.  The premise was unusual, enveloping, and as it turns out, haunting, possibly in a disturbing way.

The movie was In Time, with Olivia Wilde (small part), Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried.  I just can't get it out of my mind.

Oh, I remember seeing previews, but I couldn't tell if it was cool Sci Fi or gimmicky Sci Fi.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on February 19, 2015, 02:55:58 pm
The premise was cute, but the movie itself was toying with the "So bad, it's good" line.

Case in point, the following quote:

"NO ONE should be immortal, if even one person has to die", delivered as a one-liner.

Think about it two seconds.

When did the price go up? Yesterday it was one second.

And I didn't hear it delivered as a one liner, on either occurrence.  I thought it was a simple remonstration against stealing someone else's allotted time just so you could add to yours - a morality prounouncement.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on February 19, 2015, 03:04:29 pm
I only remember it being delivered once, by Timberlake just after he learns about the whole scheme; it was a one-liner in the sense that it was used to shut down the other guy's rant. Then again I watched it a long time ago, so I might have forgotten.

I know what he was trying to say. It's just that what he ended up saying was mindboggingly dumb. I was using it as proof of the quality of the writing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on February 19, 2015, 03:30:28 pm
This year I decided to watch all the movies nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars (and Césars but I expect no one here cares about that). I'm not sure why I did it, it's not like I believe the Oscars are an actual representation of the best movies have to offer, but it's nice to be able to follow the conversation. A brief summary (in order of how good they - objectively of coure - are). Apologies in advance for the wall of text.

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel. Man that was a fun movie, one I anticipate rewatching, which is not something I usually do. It's very funny, moves along at a breakneck pace and looks gorgeous. If the word "whimsy" doesn't bother you, you should absolutely see this. Definitely the most fun movie of the year (GOTG comes close but drags at times).

2. Boyhood. I had the chance to see this back in the summer when it hadn't been hyped to death. It's really great. It is perhaps a tiny little bit too long, but the actors are great (even the kids), the story is deeply relatable and I love the choice made to skip past the "big" moments and focus more on everyday life, in a way. That makes it sound boring I suppose, but it really isn't. Don't expect to be blown away though, it's not really that kind of movie, and I feel a lot of the backlash it's received was by people who were mislead by the hype.

3. Whiplash. I honestly wasn't entirely convinced about that one before the final scene, which is just amazing and significantly elevated the whole thing for me. It's an incredibly intense movie, and I don't think you have to particularly enjoy jazz or drumming to like it. Don't expect a "fun time" per se though, as I said it's very intense and fairly dark.

4. Selma. I like the trend of biopics focusing on a specific part of the person's life, and this does it very well, going pretty deep on the amount of strategizing that went into planning the Selma march. I don't think the movie is great as its attempts to make me care about MLK's relationship with his wife completely failed (not that I ddn't want to, I just think the movie only does it half-heartedly), but it's definitely worth watching.

5. The Theory of Everything. I fully expected to be bored to tears because I don't generally enjoy biopics, but this worked for me. Its nothing special and there's certainly nothing new, but the performance by Eddie Redmayne (who plays Stephen Hawking) is amazing and makes the whole movie work and kept me engaged throughout.

6. The Imitation Game. This is what I mean when I say I don't generally enjoy biopics. I don't really have a specific criticism to make about te movie, but I was bored, very bored. On paper it should have been much more thrilling that The Theory of Everything, with Enigma serving as an actual story to be told rather than just the Turing's life, but nope. I also completely disagree about a moment the movie tries to play as heroic but that actually is incredibly pretentious on the main character's part.

7. Birdman. Now this is an interesting movie, no doubt about that. The visual aspect of it, how it looks like it's shot in one take and the music are both amazing. However it's all an empty shell. The movie tried to be both a satire and a glorification of Hollywood, you never quite know if the actors are doing self-parody or if you're actually supposed to take them seriously, and that's because te movie quite simply has nothing to say about anything, despite being very pretentious about it. It looks like it's likely to win too, which pisses me off a bit.

8. American Sniper. I don't really buy the controversy about it glorifying the Irak War, because I just don't think this movie aims to pick any side. On anything. It's basically an action movie that seems like it also wants to talk about PTSD for a minute, until it decides PTSD isn't really that big a deal and that real Americans just decide to get better one day. Even the actions scenes are sometimes a little ridiculous. The only good thing about it is Bradley Cooper's performance, but that's it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on February 19, 2015, 03:46:45 pm
I don't remember if I brought this up here or not, but if you liked Boyhood, the same director did Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight.  All starting Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.  Some of my favorite movies.

Birdman was extremely good, probably my favorite movie I saw last year.  Boyhood was close as well.  I only saw the last portion of The Grand Budapest Hotel while flipping through channels one night, but what I saw was quite good.  The others I haven't seen, but I really want to see The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game, partly because they're supposed to be good, but primarily because I'm interested in the subjects.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on February 19, 2015, 03:52:08 pm
Yeah I know about the Before movies, I'm definitely interested in seeing them, probably will a some point.

Since you loved Birdman : what did you take away from the movie, aside from the technical/visual achievment ?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on February 19, 2015, 04:13:08 pm
Yeah I know about the Before movies, I'm definitely interested in seeing them, probably will a some point.

Since you loved Birdman : what did you take away from the movie, aside from the technical/visual achievment ?

Well, there was a lot of, uh.. self reference?  Symbolism?  I mean... having Keaton play a famous superhero actor who was remembered for his one favorite role but was internally struggling to do something meaningful, while Keaton himself is primarily known for his Batman role and has fallen out of the spotlight in recent years.  Having Edward Norton play a character who has a quirky acting style and is notoriously hard to work with, while those same kind of rumors surround him in real life.  And both Norton and Emma Stone have been in superhero movies (Norton played Hulk, Emma Stone was in one of the Spidermans).  Moreover, Keaton essentially created the realization of the super hero movie.  These movies existed before Batman, but Batman was the first one that reached a big audience and made it possible (i.e., money-making) for others.  And now superhero movies dominate the box office.  So in itself the premise of an actor that popularized the superhero business in an "artsy" film about an actor that played a popular superhero that wants to now do something serious amuses me.

I think a big thing was issues of self-worth and identity.  Obviously, Keaton's character was struggling to remain meaningful, to do something that was fulfilling to him.  And there was a struggle between being successful and doing something worthwhile, that he could actually be proud of.  Birdman in a way represented selling out.  And also, while he was successful as Birdman, he was a failure at his personal life (divorced, estranged daughter). But also Norton's character portrayed the identity crisis of an actor.. the who are you really if you just pretend to be people? kind of thing.  He basically blatantly said this, plus the thing with the impotence and only being able to get an erection on the stage.  And the entire real-life/fantasy ambiguity is probably symbolic of the identity crisis.

But aside from that.. man, it was just awesome to watch.  I think the acting was tremendous, the storytelling kept me wanting to see what would happen next the entire time, and it was very funny at times. 

And, the entire time I was watching it I simply had no idea what was going to happen or where they were going.  I like movies that do that (while still managing to make sense at the end).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on February 19, 2015, 04:13:57 pm
Everyone I've talked to says Birdman was amazing, both film people and people who know nothing about film. I have yet to see it though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on February 19, 2015, 04:26:22 pm
while Keaton himself is primarily known for his Batman role

Great, now I feel old.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on February 19, 2015, 05:08:40 pm
I feel your pain (plus my arthritis).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on February 19, 2015, 05:10:38 pm
But aside from that.. man, it was just awesome to watch.  I think the acting was tremendous, the storytelling kept me wanting to see what would happen next the entire time, and it was very funny at times. 

And, the entire time I was watching it I simply had no idea what was going to happen or where they were going.  I like movies that do that (while still managing to make sense at the end).

Ok, well I agree with that first part (with a caveat on Keaton's performance), not so much with the "still making sense" part.

@Kuildeous : What else would Keaton primarly be known for ? The next biggest movie I can think of would be Jackie Brown, but it's more recent so I doubt that's what you're referring to.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on February 19, 2015, 05:11:10 pm
Johnny Dangerously!  And Beetlejuice. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Donald X. on February 19, 2015, 05:18:13 pm
@Kuildeous : What else would Keaton primarly be known for ? The next biggest movie I can think of would be Jackie Brown, but it's more recent so I doubt that's what you're referring to.
Once, he had mainly been in comedies. When he was cast in Batman, there was backlash from fans; that guy from Mr. Mom, you've gotta be kidding me, he can't be Batman.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on February 19, 2015, 05:34:41 pm
Johnny Dangerously!  And Beetlejuice.
Michael Keaton = Beetlejuice will always be true for me.

I don't really fall into the "Mr. Mom can't be Batman" category, but I was definitely not interested in seeing him play the role.  Although, I guess I'm not interested in seeing anyone play the role, now that I think about it.

Fun fact: His given name was Michael Douglas.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Ozle on February 19, 2015, 07:29:39 pm
!  And Beetlejuice.

That's twice now...
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on February 19, 2015, 09:46:54 pm
!  And Beetlejuice.

That's twice now...

What, Beetlejuice?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on February 19, 2015, 09:47:20 pm
I finally got to watch TMNT on a flight recently.  It lived up to expectations.
TMNT from ten years ago? Or the live action film from last year?

The live action film from last year.  Or, as some call it, the Megan Fox vehicle.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on February 20, 2015, 08:44:29 am
Once, he had mainly been in comedies. When he was cast in Batman, there was backlash from fans; that guy from Mr. Mom, you've gotta be kidding me, he can't be Batman.

This was the big hubbub at the time. Keaton wasn't the first actor to transition from comedy actor to action hero, but that was one of the largest foofaraws considering how well known Batman was. Sure, Bruce Willis did the same thing, but his comedic offerings weren't quite as big as Keaton. Also, Die Hard wasn't drawing on already established material.

Going from Mr. Mom to Batman stretched a lot of our imaginations. And then there's the fact that the mainstream idea of Batman was the schlocky show from the 60s. There were people seriously expecting Michael Keaton with cartoonish onomatopoeia plastered everywhere. Thank goodness Tim Burton was able to twist it to his own vision. No, Jack Nicholson's portrayal was not as grim as Heath Ledger's, but ole Jack did bring about a twisted sadism not before seen in mainstream Batman.

And thanks to Keaton shattering preconceptions about him, I generally do not pass judgment on actors taking on roles that differ from what they're known for. Sometimes the actor shouldn't have tried to go outside his comfort zone, but he/she should at least be given the chance to fail before passing judgment.

Michael Keaton brought the mainstream a whole new Batman, and he's still the best in my mind. Christian Bale could possibly beat him out except that I really don't like the super gruff Batman voice he did. That gripe is probably more aptly aimed at Christopher Nolan, though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on February 21, 2015, 11:21:26 am
Yeah, the most recent Batmans are really good and I really enjoyed the first two, not the third. Until I noticed just how gruff that batman voice is and then it's kind of ridiculous.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on February 21, 2015, 03:13:52 pm
Yeah, the most recent Batmans are really good and I really enjoyed the first two, not the third. Until I noticed just how gruff that batman voice is and then it's kind of ridiculous.

You didn't notice the voice in the first two movies ? I'm jealous.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on February 21, 2015, 03:32:18 pm
Yeah, the most recent Batmans are really good and I really enjoyed the first two, not the third. Until I noticed just how gruff that batman voice is and then it's kind of ridiculous.

You didn't notice the voice in the first two movies ? I'm jealous.

I noticed it in the second. But I didn't the first time I watched Batman Begins.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on February 22, 2015, 01:51:40 am
Yeah, the most recent Batmans are really good and I really enjoyed the first two, not the third. Until I noticed just how gruff that batman voice is and then it's kind of ridiculous.

You didn't notice the voice in the first two movies ? I'm jealous.

I noticed it in the second. But I didn't the first time I watched Batman Begins.
Batman Begins is easily the best of the three. His voice is also much more human than the other two films.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Beyond Awesome on February 25, 2015, 03:07:11 am
I liked Birdman. The acting was great. The dialogue was great. But, I don't feel it wsa Best Picture worthy, at least not this year.

All 8 nominated films were good though. This was the first year I liked every single one of them. However, I have a gut feeling that tells me 20 years from now that Boyhood will be considered a classic up there with Godfather and Citizen Kane.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on March 14, 2015, 08:38:57 pm
Just watched What We Do in The Shadows... everyone must see this movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on March 15, 2015, 09:53:25 am
Just watched What We Do in The Shadows... everyone must see this movie.

Agreed. It's a really fun movie. I've been telling all my friends to see it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on March 26, 2015, 12:00:16 pm
Just watched What We Do in The Shadows... everyone must see this movie.

I did see What We Do in Shadows. Very Spinal Tap feel, though it doesn't succeed in looking like a real documentary, but it couldn't, could it? At least not with that storyline. And it's a hilarious documentary spoof.

And now there's an explanation for why vampires prefer to eat virgins. It's so obvious now.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on March 26, 2015, 01:55:55 pm
Just watched What We Do in The Shadows... everyone must see this movie.

I did see What We Do in Shadows. Very Spinal Tap feel, though it doesn't succeed in looking like a real documentary, but it couldn't, could it? At least not with that storyline. And it's a hilarious documentary spoof.

And now there's an explanation for why vampires prefer to eat virgins. It's so obvious now.

It felt kind of like a reality show. They talked to the camera and had mini interviews.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on March 26, 2015, 01:58:13 pm
Just watched What We Do in The Shadows... everyone must see this movie.

I did see What We Do in Shadows. Very Spinal Tap feel, though it doesn't succeed in looking like a real documentary, but it couldn't, could it? At least not with that storyline. And it's a hilarious documentary spoof.

And now there's an explanation for why vampires prefer to eat virgins. It's so obvious now.

Man, the theater *EXPLODED* in laughter at that.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on March 30, 2015, 10:38:28 am
I need more people on here to watch It Follows and discuss it with me. I could discuss on the IMDB boards, but I have a higher opinion of the people on here. That might not stop me from discussing it on IMDB anyway.

Anyway, I saw this movie 3 days ago, and I think it's set in enough for me to say I really like it. I enjoyed it after my initial viewing, which is nice, but it stayed with me, which is better.

I recommend the movie, but I warn people that it's slow and ponderous. The six negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes mostly addressed the pace and disjunction (one went on a tirade about misogyny). Despite the negative points, each of those critics admits that the film was beautifully shot, so it's not like they trashed the movie (save the misogyny one).

If you didn't see the commercials, go on in with a clean slate. I had no idea about the premise, so I went in with complete ignorance. It was nice to be surprised like that. The opening scene was baffling to me. Why was the girl dressed like that? Why did she move like that? Those questions actually tugged at me more than the obvious question of what happened to her. And that scene makes more sense as you understand the rules of the movie.

Has anyone else here seen it? I often talk to brick walls, but I do prefer to go back and forth.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on March 30, 2015, 04:36:02 pm
I need more people on here to watch It Follows and discuss it with me. I could discuss on the IMDB boards, but I have a higher opinion of the people on here. That might not stop me from discussing it on IMDB anyway.

Anyway, I saw this movie 3 days ago, and I think it's set in enough for me to say I really like it. I enjoyed it after my initial viewing, which is nice, but it stayed with me, which is better.

I recommend the movie, but I warn people that it's slow and ponderous. The six negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes mostly addressed the pace and disjunction (one went on a tirade about misogyny). Despite the negative points, each of those critics admits that the film was beautifully shot, so it's not like they trashed the movie (save the misogyny one).

If you didn't see the commercials, go on in with a clean slate. I had no idea about the premise, so I went in with complete ignorance. It was nice to be surprised like that. The opening scene was baffling to me. Why was the girl dressed like that? Why did she move like that? Those questions actually tugged at me more than the obvious question of what happened to her. And that scene makes more sense as you understand the rules of the movie.

Has anyone else here seen it? I often talk to brick walls, but I do prefer to go back and forth.

I will watch it tonight if I have some time, which I think I will. It sounds interesting to say the least :P Its movies like this that made me start this threat, one movie in particular, but movies that sometimes take more than 1 viewing to fully appreciate.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on April 25, 2015, 09:17:42 pm
I finally watched the Lego Movie. Nice movie. I can see why people liked it.

Kids watching this movie may find reading Brave New World to be something very familiar. I approve of this.

And having finally seen the movie, I am really questioning the use of "Everything is Awesome" during the Oscars. When I saw it at the time, I thought the song was utter shit. And now I see why I came to that conclusion. Even the movie treats it like the shit it is, and the people of the Oscars deemed it worthy to play?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on April 25, 2015, 11:27:50 pm
Lego Movie was fantastic. Chris Pratt really fits the character very well.

Also,

I watched Age of Ultron last week. Our European crowd should have it available now. We American's have to wait a few more days still.

It's going to break more opening records. If you guys don't hear from me for the first few days of May, it's because I went into hiding.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on April 26, 2015, 05:45:25 pm
Does anybody know what Enfynet's job is?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on April 26, 2015, 05:57:40 pm
Does anybody know what Enfynet's job is?
I do!  8)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on April 26, 2015, 05:59:52 pm
You've missed your chance to answer "Huh, please".
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on April 29, 2015, 04:48:56 pm
They forgot to include the ubiquitous swirls for Burton, though I suppose that's just understood.

(http://www.cheekylicious.net/resources/content/photos/140723183449_comic_strip21_web_ori.jpg)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on April 29, 2015, 04:50:48 pm
I'm not sure the implication that Michael Bay is not as bad as Uwe Boll is accurate.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on April 29, 2015, 04:59:49 pm
Michael Bay should have CGI food.

Where's the Joss Whedon equal blend of many flavors?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on April 29, 2015, 05:07:47 pm
Michael Bay should have CGI food.

Where's the Joss Whedon equal blend of many flavors?

And Steven Spielberg should have some CGI dessert or something.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on April 29, 2015, 05:08:48 pm
Michael Bay should have CGI food.

Where's the Joss Whedon equal blend of many flavors?

And Steven Spielberg should have some CGI dessert or something.
Lucas should bring you a new version of the meal just as you start enjoying the one you have.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on April 29, 2015, 05:26:28 pm
Was Spielberg not involved with the prequels?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on April 30, 2015, 07:33:17 am
I watched A Most Violent Year a few days ago and thought it was extremely well acted, with a main character that was well developed.  It's not quite an action flick, so it feels like the beginning is a  little slow, but the protagonist's internal consistency was extremely interesting to watch.

Albert Brooks was in it too, which is a bonus IMO, though his part was small-ish.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on April 30, 2015, 12:39:08 pm
Last night I watched Mullholland Drive. It certainly was strange. It was good though, in a strange movie that makes sense if you think about it kind of way.

It was very creepy though, with the ambiance soundtrack really giving me the spooks. Not to mention that the man behind the diner made me jump in my seat.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on April 30, 2015, 12:45:43 pm
Last night I watched Mullholland Drive. It certainly was strange. It was good though, in a strange movie that makes sense if you think about it kind of way.

It was very creepy though, with the ambiance soundtrack really giving me the spooks. Not to mention that the man behind the diner made me jump in my seat.

I suggest watching it multiple times.  The first time I watched it, it was very, very creepy.  I watched it late at night (like, around midnight or so), and the person I was watching it with had fallen asleep close to the beginning.  So I had this weird feeling of not being alone, but actually feeling alone.  I was lost as mesmerized the entire time.  I didn't even know what to think after I finished watching.  I'm not sure a movie has left me feeling quite as strong of an impact before, though Black Swan is close.

The day after, I had a class in the morning.  (I was still in college.)   I spent the entire class looking up explanations and discussions of the movie on the internet.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on April 30, 2015, 01:05:58 pm
It is indeed an interesting and different movie, that bears re-watching.  It stayed with me for several days after I saw it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on April 30, 2015, 09:59:48 pm
Just watched the documentary Life Itself about the life of film critic Roger Ebert.  Well worth watching.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: werothegreat on May 01, 2015, 06:55:43 pm
Everyone I know in my area is studying for finals, so I'm sitting in a movie theater by myself waiting for Avengers to start at the moment.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on May 02, 2015, 12:34:26 am
Everyone I know in my area is studying for finals, so I'm sitting in a movie theater by myself waiting for Avengers to start at the moment.
Still there? There's nothing at the end.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on May 06, 2015, 08:03:33 am
Everyone I know in my area is studying for finals, so I'm sitting in a movie theater by myself waiting for Avengers to start at the moment.
Still there? There's nothing at the end.
Is that a spoiler for (or review of) the movie?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 06, 2015, 08:16:44 am
The satire was too effective. I keep getting "Everything is Awesome" stuck in my head. Damn you, Legos.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on May 06, 2015, 08:26:32 am
The satire was too effective. I keep getting "Everything is Awesome" stuck in my head. Damn you, Legos.
Now I'm confused.  How is the new Avengers (Age of Ultron) related to the Lego movie?  I've seen neither.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 06, 2015, 08:59:55 am
The satire was too effective. I keep getting "Everything is Awesome" stuck in my head. Damn you, Legos.
Now I'm confused.  How is the new Avengers (Age of Ultron) related to the Lego movie?  I've seen neither.

I wasn’t talking about the Avengers (but it's a fun movie).

In the Lego Movie, there is a dystopian world (Huxley would be proud…or horrified) where the denizens were mindlessly placated with a popular song "Everything is Awesome." It's an insipid song with a beat, which means it is on par with most songs on Top 40 radio. It's poking fun at pop culture, but the stupid song is stuck in my head now.

I finally got to see Oblivion on HBO. I remember being so utterly disinterested in the movie when watching the trailers. Needless to say, it turned out better than I expected. I'd say the plot is actually worthy of a Phillip K Dick story. The first half was pretty slow; they could have gotten to the big reveal much sooner, but I don't think that the pacing ruined the movie or anything.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 13, 2015, 02:23:15 pm
So, the men's rights activists are calling to boycott Mad Max. The last I saw, it has 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. I think I'll let the good reviews sway me more than the wave of butthurt. Well, if the movie was getting lousy reviews, I would likely ignore it but not because whiny alpha males demand a boycott.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on May 13, 2015, 03:13:27 pm
So, the men's rights activists are calling to boycott Mad Max. The last I saw, it has 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. I think I'll let the good reviews sway me more than the wave of butthurt. Well, if the movie was getting lousy reviews, I would likely ignore it but not because whiny alpha males demand a boycott.

Well now that I know men's rights activists are calling for a boycott I basically have to see it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on May 13, 2015, 03:17:45 pm
What the heck are "men's rights activists"???
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on May 13, 2015, 03:30:02 pm
What the heck are "men's rights activists"???

They're more or less like feminists but focused on men's "rights" instead of women's "rights".
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 13, 2015, 03:55:18 pm
Further discussion about what MRAs are probably deserves its own thread in RSP.

In short, the rants I've heard (from a pretty tiny minority, I understand) say that the Mad Max film is being used as Hollywood propaganda to further the cause of feminism, so it must be boycotted.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 14, 2015, 02:56:19 pm
I'll likely be hitting the drive-in this weekend, and Mad Max is one of the movies we'll see. The other movie pairing could be either Age of Ultron or Furious 7. We've already seen AoU, though we're not opposed to seeing it again. Furious 7 does not really interest me, but it has pretty good tomatoes, so it must be better than I give credit for. Maybe I will actually watch a Furious movie.

My question is if I should have seen any of the prequels or know what's going on to enjoy Furious 7. Has anyone seen it that can give some insight?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on May 14, 2015, 04:19:52 pm
Fast and Furious movies are mindless silly action. You might miss a reference, but I'm sure the plot will be easy to understand, along with the fake looking CGI.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on May 15, 2015, 07:49:50 am
I was sick for basically the whole week (feeling a little better now) and thus found myself with some idle time... and decided to watch the whole MCU in order, after recently having seen Avengers 2. Soo...

I'd wall of text it but I'm lazy, so short version (I had already seen Iron Man, Avengers and Guardians, all the others were new to me) :

Iron Man : Good
The Incredible Hulk : Awful
Iron Man 2 : Very bad
Thor : Mediocre
Captain America : The First Avenger : Bad
The Avengers : Excellent

Iron Man 3 : Bad
Thor : The Dark World : Mediocre
Captain America : The Winter Soldier : Very good
Guardians of the Galaxy : Very good
The Avengers : Age of Ultron : Pretty good

Man, phase 1 was disappointing. They're on a decent streak right now though, hope  that continues.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 15, 2015, 08:19:15 am
www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-avengers-are-bad-guys-marvel-movies/

This may be of interest to you, since you mostly did the same thing. What I find hilarious is that so much happened globally in a single week, and there isn't some weird media buzz going on.

That's why when the Daredevil series shows a newspaper clipping about the alien attack in New York, it helped put you back into the Marvel universe, though only briefly.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: werothegreat on May 15, 2015, 11:10:33 am
MAD MAX WAS AWESOME

GO SEE IT

NOW
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on May 15, 2015, 11:49:24 am
I actually think they're wrong about the Avengers. Both movies specifically take the time to show the Avengers saving civilians to establish them as heroes. This is even arguably the whole point of Age of Ultron. The whole thing they go on about every problem being caused by the Marvel characters is also adressed in Age of Ultron.

The rest boils down to : these movies aren't consistent and mostly don't make sense. Which, yeah.

They do get at a significant problem in phase two though, specifically in The Dark World and Winter Soldier which is that having monumental threats to humanity in the individual movies is a bad idea because itbreaks the willing suspension of disbelief that these guys wouldn't just call each other up to deal with problems. That didn't happen so much in phase 1 : Captain America is in WW2 so no one to call there, Iron Man is mostly dealing with dudes who want to kill him specifically, Thor's problems are also all Asgard-centric, and The Hulk is also fighting for survival.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 15, 2015, 12:06:40 pm
Yeah, the plotline for Winter Soldier was epic enough that it could have been another Avengers movie.

And it's not like Cap couldn't have trusted calling Tony for some help. He may not like him much, but he trusts him (though Age of Ultron strains that because Tony). So some disbelief had to be suspended for Winter Soldier. It's a great story that assumes that Cap and Natasha were the only heroes affected by this. As a Marvel movie, it flounders a little.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on May 15, 2015, 01:36:42 pm
I actually think they're wrong about the Avengers. Both movies specifically take the time to show the Avengers saving civilians to establish them as heroes. This is even arguably the whole point of Age of Ultron. The whole thing they go on about every problem being caused by the Marvel characters is also adressed in Age of Ultron.

The rest boils down to : these movies aren't consistent and mostly don't make sense. Which, yeah.

They do get at a significant problem in phase two though, specifically in The Dark World and Winter Soldier which is that having monumental threats to humanity in the individual movies is a bad idea because it breaks the willing suspension of disbelief that these guys wouldn't just call each other up to deal with problems. That didn't happen so much in phase 1 : Captain America is in WW2 so no one to call there, Iron Man is mostly dealing with dudes who want to kill him specifically, Thor's problems are also all Asgard-centric, and The Hulk is also fighting for survival.
The Earth-Threatening events in The Dark World happen within a matter of hours. Even The Avengers need more time to respond than that. The local military is the first on the scene.

The Winter Soldier takes place over maybe 2 days, of which SHIELD is basically crippled so there isn't much open communication. Until the climax, the rest of the world is probably being told by SHIELD to stay out of it.

Iron Man 3 is probably the most expansive of the Earth-bound Phase 2 movies, and no one complains about The Avengers not showing up because Tony has his Iron Legion thing going on.

In contrast, The Avengers and Age of Ultron have the team together well before the climax. They are actually pursuing the threat together.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on May 15, 2015, 01:39:06 pm
..

Ang Lee Hulk was a good movie.  I don't understand why it got so much hate.  (I know you were talking about the MCU Incredible Hulk, but it made me think of this.)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on May 15, 2015, 07:37:12 pm
Teproc is back! :D I missed you!


I was sick for basically the whole week (feeling a little better now) and thus found myself with some idle time... and decided to watch the whole MCU in order, after recently having seen Avengers 2. Soo...

I'd wall of text it but I'm lazy, so short version (I had already seen Iron Man, Avengers and Guardians, all the others were new to me) :

Iron Man : Good
The Incredible Hulk : Awful
Iron Man 2 : Very bad
Thor : Mediocre
Captain America : The First Avenger : Bad
The Avengers : Excellent

Iron Man 3 : Bad
Thor : The Dark World : Mediocre
Captain America : The Winter Soldier : Very good
Guardians of the Galaxy : Very good
The Avengers : Age of Ultron : Pretty good

Man, phase 1 was disappointing. They're on a decent streak right now though, hope  that continues.

I actually thought Iron Man 3 was reasonably good! The funniest of the non-ensemble movies. And tGotG was definitely better than the Avengers.

Iron Man 2 and Captain America: First avenger are tied for worst movie (but I haven't seen either Thor).

..

Ang Lee Hulk was a good movie.  I don't understand why it got so much hate.  (I know you were talking about the MCU Incredible Hulk, but it made me think of this.)

Preach it. Although to be fair it's nearly a different genre altogether.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 16, 2015, 01:41:30 am
Oh man, Furious 7 is such a bad movie. Rotten Tomatoes, you have let me down.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on May 16, 2015, 03:23:43 am
I've never seen a single Fast/Furious movie, and I can't think of a compelling reason to.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on May 16, 2015, 05:48:40 am
So I was just thinking, in Age of Ultron, Tony Stark says something to the effect of he saw (in the vision) the end of the path he set them on.  When I heard this line in the trailer, I thought he was referring to that he created Ultron.  However, in the movie he says it before that actually happens.  So what did he mean, exactly?  Does he consider himself responsible for bringing Superheroes (and, therefore, supervillians) "out in the open"?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on May 16, 2015, 06:08:15 am
I was left from Age of Ultron feeling a little bit apprehensive, and here's why.  Nobody dies.  Yeah, yeah, except him, but I don't mean him---I mean the thousands of people constantly at danger with bullets and lasers and buildings falling down.  We only ever see superheroes saving people; never failing.  You mean to tell me there was only a single fatal shot from hundreds of Ultron bots wrecking havoc for like an hour, and even that was blocked from hitting a civilian?  (Also, I'm sure he could have either pushed them out of the way, or actually leaped and knocked over the Ultron bot, but whatever.)   I think we should have seen scores of people dying in the background, either from direct hits from Ultrons (I guess they purposefully didn't want to kill people, except for that one time when they tried?) or from having buildings fall on them or falling off of things and no superhero was around to save them.  I mean, it was an entire city; the group of them can't be everywhere.

I know it's probably because of the rating and "family" aspect of the film, but still I think the viewer should feel that something is actually at stake; that this stuff is really dangerous.  Otherwise it's just a bunch of special effects and short quips.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on May 16, 2015, 10:14:50 am
Really, most of your concerns can be addressed by a PG13 rating. They make a point to show people being saved because that is what the heroes are trying to do. At the end of The Avengers, we see news footage of New York including a memorial for civilians that died in the battle. In Age of Ultron the group goes into hiding after the Hulkbuster ordeal because they ARE being held accountable. Just because they don't show civilian death doesn't mean they ignore it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on May 16, 2015, 11:26:22 am
I know it's been a while already, but lets avoid unspoilered spoilers? Please?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on May 16, 2015, 11:31:46 am
I know it's been a while already, but lets avoid unspoilered spoilers? Please?

Titanic sinks.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pedroluchini on May 16, 2015, 11:43:45 am
Marty McFly goes back to the future.

Sleeping Beauty actually wakes up. Twist ending!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 16, 2015, 11:47:00 am
I'm not sure this is really spoiler material, but I'll oblige.

In general, the grotesque realities of mass violence get glossed over in superhero movies. For a foe to be able to stand up to Superman or Thor, he'd have to have enough power to level cities, and there would surely be splash damage because villains tend to not give a fuck about the well-being of bystanders. So yeah, the nature of Ultron's machinations would result in several messy deaths with viscera flying all over the place. But that's not the type of experience people pay for to watch these movies.

On the other hand, there are movies for that experience. Daredevil (technically a show) is gritty and pulls no punches in showing how people get hurt, though there really haven't been any planet-shaking plots yet on the scale of the Avengers.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 16, 2015, 11:51:55 am
I've never seen a single Fast/Furious movie, and I can't think of a compelling reason to.

Stay on that path.

Now granted, my enjoyment of Furious 7 was, I'm sure, blunted by the fact that I hadn't seen the others. It shows. They were wrapping up previous character arcs, and it was obvious. Still, I could figure out why it was a big deal that this guy has a kid. I could tell that she was dealing with some sort of trauma from the previous movies. The problem wasn't with following the plot; I feel they actually handled that gap fairly well.

But the writing was terrible, and the actors looks embarrassed to deliver those lines. Even Kurt Russell tried really hard to ham it up, and it just fell flat. And while I respect Vin Diesel for being a jock who games, I cringed every time he opened his mouth.

I couldn't even finish the movie. After the ridiculous air drop scene, I turned to my wife to ask her if she'd seen enough only to see that she fell asleep. So that answered that question. I am so glad I did not go to see Furious 7. I just wish that my drive-in money went entirely to Mad Max, but I'm guessing it gets split between both movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on May 16, 2015, 01:57:15 pm
@pacovf : Of the Marvel movies I'd consider bad (so anything that isn't Avengers 1/2, Iron Man, GotG and Winter Soldier) Iron Man 3 is certainly the only one that aspires to be more than just a by-the-books superhero flick. It does try to put Iron Man in a new situation and explore the ramifications of what happened in The Avengers... I just think it fails pretty badly. There's also the problem that the villain, aside from the very funny twist, is forgettable, and to be honest I couldn't even tell you what he was really trying to achieve, which is a pretty huge flaw of the movie.

I think The Avengers and GotG are pretty close, ultimately I give Avengers the edge because the inevitable 30 minutes of huge CGI action at the end were done in a much more interesting way than in GotG (or any other Marvel movie).

@WW : Well they're family movies so they won't show people being brutally murdered, but in Age of Ultron, when Hulk goes berserk, there's a clear implication of numerous civilian casualties that cause the Avengers to get out of the public eye. IN the finale with Ultron, unquestionably thousands of people die, and I don't think the movie tries to hide that, it just won't show you that specifically because, again, family movies. I have no particular problem with that either, not everything needs to be sper dark and gritty.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on May 16, 2015, 02:12:16 pm
There's also the problem that the villain, aside from the very funny twist, is forgettable, and to be honest I couldn't even tell you what he was really trying to achieve, which is a pretty huge flaw of the movie.
Killian is working with the Vice President. As for who was in charge of what, I'm not sure. But those two were definitely playing together.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on May 16, 2015, 03:13:37 pm
Well, watching Ultron, I didn't get the impression that people were really at danger, that death was happening.  I only got the impression that everyone was saved, happy day.  I knew it had to be happening, but I didn't feel it---I didn't get engrossed.  I compare it to, say, The Dark Knight, which had a PG-13 rating.  In there I felt like lives were really in danger.  People could die, decisions mattered.  Though, most/all of the deaths were off-camera, so there was nothing gruesome and gory.  So you don't have to be Daredevil to show the gravity of the situations our heroes face.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on May 16, 2015, 03:30:12 pm
It's much easier to show a boat full of people in danger as compared to an entire city.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: werothegreat on May 16, 2015, 06:13:00 pm
I'm not sure this is really spoiler material, but I'll oblige.

In general, the grotesque realities of mass violence get glossed over in superhero movies. For a foe to be able to stand up to Superman or Thor, he'd have to have enough power to level cities, and there would surely be splash damage because villains tend to not give a fuck about the well-being of bystanders. So yeah, the nature of Ultron's machinations would result in several messy deaths with viscera flying all over the place. But that's not the type of experience people pay for to watch these movies.

On the other hand, there are movies for that experience. Daredevil (technically a show) is gritty and pulls no punches in showing how people get hurt, though there really haven't been any planet-shaking plots yet on the scale of the Avengers.


That's actually what I liked about Man of Steel - it showed them fucking up the whole city - there were consequences.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on May 17, 2015, 01:47:05 am
I'm not sure this is really spoiler material, but I'll oblige.

In general, the grotesque realities of mass violence get glossed over in superhero movies. For a foe to be able to stand up to Superman or Thor, he'd have to have enough power to level cities, and there would surely be splash damage because villains tend to not give a fuck about the well-being of bystanders. So yeah, the nature of Ultron's machinations would result in several messy deaths with viscera flying all over the place. But that's not the type of experience people pay for to watch these movies.

On the other hand, there are movies for that experience. Daredevil (technically a show) is gritty and pulls no punches in showing how people get hurt, though there really haven't been any planet-shaking plots yet on the scale of the Avengers.


That's actually what I liked about Man of Steel - it showed them fucking up the whole city - there were consequences.
Pretty sure Captain America: Civil War will be about accountability.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on May 17, 2015, 04:36:04 am
Well yeah The Dark Knight and Avengers work in two very different registers. The Dark Knight is dead serious all the time, Avengers wants to be fun. NOt that it should absolve the movie of any responsibility of having stakes etc. but I think the difference you're describing is that The Dark Knight wants you to think about those deaths, whereas The Avangers : AoU wants you to know they exist, but focus on the cool stuff happening and the interplay between characters. They're very different movies, one is not necessarily better*, they just have very different goals.

*in this case The Dark Knight is better but I'd argue that the first Avengers movie is better than The Dark Knight, but then again I don't have the same adoration for The Dark Knight as many people do. It's a good movie, but it has flaws, like the whole Harvey Dent plot doesn't really work for example.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on May 18, 2015, 10:39:03 pm
MAD MAX WAS AWESOME

GO SEE IT

NOW

I did. It was fine. Maybe it was all the hype that's building up around the movie, but I wasn't really impressed. Sure, the art direction (or whatever you want to call it) was top-notch and one of the best I've ever seen, but there's only so many car fights the body can take before it saturates, and two hours of it was clearly too much. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had seen the previous installments?

Oh, and what happened to the Warlord's baby?

EDIT: A quick Wiki check shows that he dies at birth. It wasn't entirely clear in the movie, it's sort of hard to understand them at times.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 18, 2015, 11:23:37 pm
I picked up on the baby's death from the movie, but I guess I was so starved for dialogue that I clung to anything I could find.

I did enjoy the movie, but the story wasn't much. It was mostly Max versus these boss villains with their very distinctive cars (which was also cool).

I don't think watching the previous movies would have mattered. They pretty much encapsulate the premise of the first movie in a 20-second voiceover.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 21, 2015, 09:44:34 am
Heh, I happened across a review I gave of Repo! The Genetic Opera. I said that I rate it 2 out of 10, but that score jumps to 7 if you mute the movie.

I remember looking forward to seeing it and being bummed that it popped up for a week and then vanished. I watched it on rental and was floored by how bad the songs were. I mean, when Paris Hilton is not the most disappointing part of the movie, you know something's wrong.

Still, I recall it being a visually striking work, and I kind of want to see it again just for that. I don't know if I can handle the music again, though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on May 21, 2015, 10:15:35 am
I just watched that first 2 mad max movies last night. The premise isn't really explained much. Just that fuel is scarce and civil order is breaking down. It's not much backstory, but road warrior had some fun action.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 23, 2015, 02:31:46 pm
Here is a pretty good breakdown of the four Mad Max movies and the morals of their stories.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/20/mad-max-how-mras-killed-the-world.html

Max really is a tragic figure in this franchise. It's like a war movie that's actually anti-war.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on May 24, 2015, 08:49:11 pm
So I caught Dawn of the Planet of the Apes on HBO.. only kind of half-watching it, but I was a little bothered by the apes' sudden ability to aim extremely well with machine guns.  I mean, we seem to need pretty extensive training to become a good shot, and they seemed to figure it out like immediately?  Or was there some war in the interim between the two movies where they learned how to fight with guns?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 28, 2015, 01:41:11 pm
So my wife had her eyes dilated, which has the effect of making her nauseated. I put her on the couch and sought out on Netflix a movie that she knew well enough that she didn't need to open her eyes. And I came across 9 to 5.

It was a movie I watched the hell out of as a kid since it was always on HBO, and the realities of it really sink in now that I'm an adult. The work place isn't generally as bad as that now, but it was disgusting to see Mr. Hart's abuses of power portrayed in a nonironic way. And I'm sure some of those examples can still be found in the American workplace in some sectors. They really piled it on to make sure that everyone knew Hart was the villain.

One of those scenes that I could remember as a kid was Violet's response to Hart and his boss. I didn't understand the context in which it was presented. I could decipher every emotion behind her line yesterday. After Hart's boss lavished praise on Hart for selling him the idea he stole from Violet, he innocuously asks from the elevator if Violet and Roz were going up. Violet fixed a steely gaze and said, "No, we're going down." The true meaning of that statement never resonated with me as a kid.

Classic film. A few outrageous scenes, but it was the '80s. Hijinks had to be had.

And the "Attagirl" woman still cracks me up.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 28, 2015, 09:49:50 pm
Ah, hell, it finally came out today. It's not as mind-blowingly awesome as I had hoped, but it's still a hoot.

Also, I grew up in the '80s. Everything that happened is true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS5P_LAqiVg
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on May 30, 2015, 09:24:53 pm
It took forever, but I finally watched Age of Ultron! The Bad Guy was quite a bit funnier than I expected from the trailers, that was cool.

I was a bit disappointed about Quicksilver. In Days of Future Past, he is one of the most powerful beings on Earth, and he has to get benched just so that the rest of the cast gets to do anything. In Age of Ultron, he's kind of a wuss, and he dies just because someone had to die? Huh.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: eHalcyon on May 30, 2015, 09:47:57 pm
It took forever, but I finally watched Age of Ultron! The Bad Guy was quite a bit funnier than I expected from the trailers, that was cool.

I was a bit disappointed about Quicksilver. In Days of Future Past, he is one of the most powerful beings on Earth, and he has to get benched just so that the rest of the cast gets to do anything. In Age of Ultron, he's kind of a wuss, and he dies just because someone had to die? Huh.

When I watched it with my friends, we theorized that his death was Marvel's way of benching him.  Super speed is just too strong of a power that if he were around, the stakes re: civilians would be way lower all the time.  Just consider how many people he must have saved.  I think there's a similar issue in The Flash (TV series) where...

you have to work a little harder to suspend your disbelief, simply because he is so fast that very few things should actually give him trouble.  Like, Captain Cold?  The show tried really hard to make him a threat, but if you think about it, there's no way he should stand a chance because he should never be able to shoot Flash.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 30, 2015, 09:48:46 pm
It took forever, but I finally watched Age of Ultron! The Bad Guy was quite a bit funnier than I expected from the trailers, that was cool.

I was a bit disappointed about Quicksilver. In Days of Future Past, he is one of the most powerful beings on Earth, and he has to get benched just so that the rest of the cast gets to do anything. In Age of Ultron, he's kind of a wuss, and he dies just because someone had to die? Huh.

Well, part of that may be it's because it's Joss Whedon, and people have come to expect someone to die. I'm not sure if Whedon decided to give into that expectation or if he really wanted to kill someone. Certainly it can make the struggle more real when there is death, though that shouldn't be necessary.  It seems a little out of place for a superhero movie.

I did not expect as much humor from Ultron either. I didn't read too much about him growing up, but my limited exposure to him showed a basic ruthless villain who just wanted to win. I don't remember much banter from him, but that was years back.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Roadrunner7671 on May 30, 2015, 09:58:16 pm
Black Fish is a really good documentary about orcas in Seaworld, I would for sure recommend it, but be warned! It's pretty heavy...
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on May 31, 2015, 12:27:37 am
It took forever, but I finally watched Age of Ultron! The Bad Guy was quite a bit funnier than I expected from the trailers, that was cool.

I was a bit disappointed about Quicksilver. In Days of Future Past, he is one of the most powerful beings on Earth, and he has to get benched just so that the rest of the cast gets to do anything. In Age of Ultron, he's kind of a wuss, and he dies just because someone had to die? Huh.

Well, part of that may be it's because it's Joss Whedon, and people have come to expect someone to die. I'm not sure if Whedon decided to give into that expectation or if he really wanted to kill someone. Certainly it can make the struggle more real when there is death, though that shouldn't be necessary.  It seems a little out of place for a superhero movie.

I did not expect as much humor from Ultron either. I didn't read too much about him growing up, but my limited exposure to him showed a basic ruthless villain who just wanted to win. I don't remember much banter from him, but that was years back.

Being that it is Marvel, we don't know if Quicksilver is actually dead. Coulson isn't. And there is even a line in the movie, before the fight; "Get killed, walk it off." So he may or may not be back. I'm okay with either decision at this stage. Plus we still need the Soul Gem and the Time Gem, which may also aid the ability to bring characters back.

As for Ultron and his banter: The scene with Ulysses Klaue basically explains where this dialogue comes from.

Ultron: But I always say, "Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich, and wait to find out which is which."
Ulysses Klaue: Stark...
Ultron: What?
Ulysses Klaue: Tony Stark used to say that... to me. You're one of his.
Ultron: What? I'm not... I'm not! You think I'm one of Stark's puppets, his hollow men? I mean, look at me, do I look like Iron Man? Stark is not...
Ultron: I'm sorry. I am sor... Ooh! I'm sure that's going to be okay. I'm sorry, it's just I don't understand... Don't compare me with Stark! He's a sickness!
Tony Stark: Aww, Junior, you're going to break your old man's heart...

This here tells me that a lot of Ultron's behavior can be explained as as extreme version of Starks. Shortly after that is the line about making an omelette, which Tony quickly sounds off that he would have said the exact same thing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on May 31, 2015, 12:47:28 am
It took forever, but I finally watched Age of Ultron! The Bad Guy was quite a bit funnier than I expected from the trailers, that was cool.

I was a bit disappointed about Quicksilver. In Days of Future Past, he is one of the most powerful beings on Earth, and he has to get benched just so that the rest of the cast gets to do anything. In Age of Ultron, he's kind of a wuss, and he dies just because someone had to die? Huh.

Well, part of that may be it's because it's Joss Whedon, and people have come to expect someone to die. I'm not sure if Whedon decided to give into that expectation or if he really wanted to kill someone. Certainly it can make the struggle more real when there is death, though that shouldn't be necessary.  It seems a little out of place for a superhero movie.

I did not expect as much humor from Ultron either. I didn't read too much about him growing up, but my limited exposure to him showed a basic ruthless villain who just wanted to win. I don't remember much banter from him, but that was years back.

Being that it is Marvel, we don't know if Quicksilver is actually dead. Coulson isn't. And there is even a line in the movie, before the fight; "Get killed, walk it off." So he may or may not be back. I'm okay with either decision at this stage. Plus we still need the Soul Gem and the Time Gem, which may also aid the ability to bring characters back.

Man, I hope they don't revive Quicksilver. I was sort of expecting that, given that Helen had already shown being able to basically regrow a body. But they don't revive him during the movie, so I expect him to stay dead. Coulson dying was an emotional moment of the first Avengers. He's a character you care about, it reminds you that Loki is a monster. I was horrified to learn that they resurrected him for Agents of Shield. It absolutely cheapens that moment.


Quote
As for Ultron and his banter: The scene with Ulysses Klaue basically explains where this dialogue comes from.

Ultron: But I always say, "Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich, and wait to find out which is which."
Ulysses Klaue: Stark...
Ultron: What?
Ulysses Klaue: Tony Stark used to say that... to me. You're one of his.
Ultron: What? I'm not... I'm not! You think I'm one of Stark's puppets, his hollow men? I mean, look at me, do I look like Iron Man? Stark is not...
Ultron: I'm sorry. I am sor... Ooh! I'm sure that's going to be okay. I'm sorry, it's just I don't understand... Don't compare me with Stark! He's a sickness!
Tony Stark: Aww, Junior, you're going to break your old man's heart...

This here tells me that a lot of Ultron's behavior can be explained as as extreme version of Starks. Shortly after that is the line about making an omelette, which Tony quickly sounds off that he would have said the exact same thing.


Yeah, they sort of hammer the point home during the movie. Still, you wouldn't have expected that just from looking at the trailer. But again, I am not complaining. He gets some of the best lines in the movie (my personal favourite being Nick's "You kiss your mother with that mouth?").
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: eHalcyon on May 31, 2015, 01:16:04 am
I was horrified to learn that they resurrected him for Agents of Shield. It absolutely cheapens that moment.

It's a huge plot point even into the second season though.  They made it work.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 31, 2015, 02:06:52 am
I was horrified to learn that they resurrected him for Agents of Shield. It absolutely cheapens that moment.

It's a huge plot point even into the second season though.  They made it work.

Yeah, it's not like they decided that the story element sucked and just retconned it. Maybe they did, but the point is that while it was reversed, it was a pretty huge plot point. It's not like they hand-waved it away.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on May 31, 2015, 02:16:38 am
I was horrified to learn that they resurrected him for Agents of Shield. It absolutely cheapens that moment.

It's a huge plot point even into the second season though.  They made it work.

Yeah, it's not like they decided that the story element sucked and just retconned it. Maybe they did, but the point is that while it was reversed, it was a pretty huge plot point. It's not like they hand-waved it away.

Ok, I am sure it works in the series. I am also pretty sure they did it because it was a known face that would help the series take off.

My point is, knowing that his death was only temporary cheapens the moment. Maybe I would be happier with it if either I watched the series or never learned it in the first place. But one cannot be undone and I don't really watch series anymore, so what can I do.

</rantover>

In a lighter tone, a friend of mine and I concluded that the most busted superpowers are always related to time manipulation, with the only powers that are remotely close being mind manipulation and teleportation. As such, it is usually extremely hard to write situations in which characters with such powers don't just instantly solve all the problems thrown at them, and writers usually just have them behave "stupidly" instead. Quicksilver has a sort of time manipulation power (super speed), which explains why his portrayals are rarely satisfying, IMHO.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on May 31, 2015, 09:28:30 am
Re : AoU and the Marvel Universe in general. As somene who watches Agents of SHIELD, I'm glad to have Coulson, but I agree that it absolutely cheapens the whole emotional arc of Avengers, and that's a problem. Whedon knows it too, that's very likely the reason Coulson doesn't happer in Avengers : AoU, or any other post-Avengers Marvel movie for that matter. And this goes to a larger problem in the MCU which is that people, and especially good people, simply do not stay dead. I can't think of a single sympathetic character in the whole MCU that has died for good, which means that when you see someone die in a Marvel movie, you know it means nothing.

As for AoU specifically, it kinda worked for me because clearly the whole movie seemed to be building up to Hawkeye's death : we get to meet his family for God's sake. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had said something to the effect of it being his last mission before retirement, that's how heavily it was foreshadowed. So when Quicksilver dies instead of him, I initially liked because it was a subversion of expectations... but yeah, now that I think about it, there's just no way he's going to stay dead, and that annoys me to no end. Movies and comic books are different things, and maybe reviving people all the time works in the comics, but it certainly doesn't in the movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silvern on June 17, 2015, 05:32:21 pm
Anyone who has Studio Ghibli's last movie playing in their city, I highly recommend.
(They still have been making high-quality stuff, even with Miyazaki gone.)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 18, 2015, 03:05:26 am
In this entire thread, there hasn't been a single mention of Martin Scorsese. Marty is probably the best director still making movies today (although recently, I quite disliked wolf of wall street).  Do people here not watch his stuff, or not particularly like his stuff? Mean streets, taxi driver, raging bull, goodfellas, gangs of NY, departed, shutter island, are all phenominal.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on June 18, 2015, 03:57:39 am
That's probably because we've mostly focused on what we've seen lately, though I haven't seen that many Scorcese movies, off the top of my head only Goodfellas and The Departed, which I both remember as being great. Definitely need to watch more, Raging Bull and Taxi Driver especially.

In other news, I saw Ex Machina. It was flawed but very interesting, generally well acted and very engaging throughout.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on June 18, 2015, 08:40:22 am
I started Taxi Driver a few weeks ago, and it moved so torturously slow I gave up after a few minutes.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Eevee on June 18, 2015, 08:53:09 am
I saw The Prestige yesterday. I'd rank it much better than Interstellar, slightly better than Inception but significantly worse than Memento. I liked the Christian Bale character reveal/arc a lot, the Hugh Jackman "twist" felt a little too Deus Ex Machinaey to me.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 18, 2015, 09:17:47 am
That's probably because we've mostly focused on what we've seen lately,
right so I think this thread means different things for us. It certainly became primarily a discussion of movies people have just seen/are about to see, but I read the entire thread last night and the beginning of it and also the op in particular are more about what are some of the great movies that everyone should see, and scorsese was never brought up!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 18, 2015, 09:20:58 am
I started Taxi Driver a few weeks ago, and it moved so torturously slow I gave up after a few minutes.
really? I urge you to try again. Taxi driver in particular I think is his best work. I dpnt remember it being too slow in the beginning, de niro's narration is just so hypnotizing that I was almost immediately sucked in.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on June 18, 2015, 09:22:29 am
In this entire thread, there hasn't been a single mention of Martin Scorsese. Marty is probably the best director still making movies today (although recently, I quite disliked wolf of wall street).  Do people here not watch his stuff, or not particularly like his stuff? Mean streets, taxi driver, raging bull, goodfellas, gangs of NY, departed, shutter island, are all phenominal.

I think everything he does is good; Gangs of New York and The Departed are among my favorite movies.  I haven't seen the original movie The Departed was based on ("Infernal Affairs" or something?), but I think it's supposed to be good as well.  I didn't see any issues with Wolf of Wall Street. (Though, I didn't watch the entire thing start to end.)

Some of the older stuff (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull), I've only seen mots of; like I was flipping through channels and caught them part of the way in.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 18, 2015, 09:31:10 am
Well with 'wolf' I felt there was an unrealistic amount of sex (or maybe im just naive) and he was doing it completely for shock value. So much was completely irrelevant to the story and seemed to just be thrown in for no good reason. Also, there were at least two times in the middle where leo started explaining the scam they were running and then before he got anywhere, he interrupted himself with something like "eh nevermind, you won't understand it anyway, but basically it's illegal." I found that very insulting to my intelligence, and moreover a huge letdown because that's the main aspect that intrigued me and made me want to watch it. Overall it was just very disappointing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on June 18, 2015, 09:33:01 am
Well with 'wolf' I felt there was an unrealistic amount of sex (or maybe im just naive) and he was doing it completely for shock value. So much was completely irrelevant to the story and seemed to just be thrown in for no good reason. Also, there were at least two times in the middle where leo started explanating the scam they were running and then before he got anywhere, he interrupted himself with something like "eh nevermind, you won't understand it anyway, but basically it's illegal." I found that very insulting to my intelligence, and moreover a huge letdown because that's the main aspect that intrigued me and made me want to watch it. Overall it was just very disappointing.

Hm, it was based on that guy's book about his own life, and if you look into him (I Googled a bit of his story), I don't think it's actually that far out there.  And the way Leo acts.. well, just Google the guy.  He just looks like that much of an ass.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 18, 2015, 09:40:47 am
Well with 'wolf' I felt there was an unrealistic amount of sex (or maybe im just naive) and he was doing it completely for shock value. So much was completely irrelevant to the story and seemed to just be thrown in for no good reason. Also, there were at least two times in the middle where leo started explanating the scam they were running and then before he got anywhere, he interrupted himself with something like "eh nevermind, you won't understand it anyway, but basically it's illegal." I found that very insulting to my intelligence, and moreover a huge letdown because that's the main aspect that intrigued me and made me want to watch it. Overall it was just very disappointing.

Hm, it was based on that guy's book about his own life, and if you look into him (I Googled a bit of his story), I don't think it's actually that far out there.  And the way Leo acts.. well, just Google the guy.  He just looks like that much of an ass.
alright, but not all the sex involved him. That swiss banker got it on with that big guys wife, jonah hill started jerking off at a party..... I mean, that second one was clearly an attempt at comedy, and idk, I didn't find it at all funny. And I wasn't really taking issue with leo acting like a jerk, if his character wouldn't explain something, then he shouldn't. That's no excuse to not tell me what's going on, work in some other way of explaining to the viewers the scams being run. But I suspect that leo 's character acted like that not because it was in character, but because they didn't want it in the movie, for whatever reason, which is frustrating because it was important to me
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on June 18, 2015, 09:47:25 am
I haven't seen the original movie The Departed was based on ("Infernal Affairs" or something?), but I think it's supposed to be good as well.

I watched the three movies. The departed is based mostly on the first one, IIRC. They are good, but very different (as you would expect from something done in Hong Kong, rather than Hollywood). More... understated?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on June 18, 2015, 09:57:05 am
Well with 'wolf' I felt there was an unrealistic amount of sex (or maybe im just naive) and he was doing it completely for shock value. So much was completely irrelevant to the story and seemed to just be thrown in for no good reason. Also, there were at least two times in the middle where leo started explanating the scam they were running and then before he got anywhere, he interrupted himself with something like "eh nevermind, you won't understand it anyway, but basically it's illegal." I found that very insulting to my intelligence, and moreover a huge letdown because that's the main aspect that intrigued me and made me want to watch it. Overall it was just very disappointing.

Hm, it was based on that guy's book about his own life, and if you look into him (I Googled a bit of his story), I don't think it's actually that far out there.  And the way Leo acts.. well, just Google the guy.  He just looks like that much of an ass.
alright, but not all the sex involved him. That swiss banker got it on with that big guys wife, jonah hill started jerking off at a party..... I mean, that second one was clearly an attempt at comedy, and idk, I didn't find it at all funny. And I wasn't really taking issue with leo acting like a jerk, if his character wouldn't explain something, then he shouldn't. That's no excuse to not tell me what's going on, work in some other way of explaining to the viewers the scams being run. But I suspect that leo 's character acted like that not because it was in character, but because they didn't want it in the movie, for whatever reason, which is frustrating because it was important to me

I think it's all a little bit appropriate, actually.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/12/31/wolf_of_wall_street_true_story_jordan_belfort_and_other_real_people_in_dicaprio.html

http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/the-wolf-of-wall-street.php

Edit: Well, I guess my point is that the focus of the story wasn't on the actual scam itself, it was on the people and their behavior.  It's not particular relevant whether the people were real or not, but they did happen to be (mostly).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 18, 2015, 10:14:44 am
Well with 'wolf' I felt there was an unrealistic amount of sex (or maybe im just naive) and he was doing it completely for shock value. So much was completely irrelevant to the story and seemed to just be thrown in for no good reason. Also, there were at least two times in the middle where leo started explanating the scam they were running and then before he got anywhere, he interrupted himself with something like "eh nevermind, you won't understand it anyway, but basically it's illegal." I found that very insulting to my intelligence, and moreover a huge letdown because that's the main aspect that intrigued me and made me want to watch it. Overall it was just very disappointing.

Hm, it was based on that guy's book about his own life, and if you look into him (I Googled a bit of his story), I don't think it's actually that far out there.  And the way Leo acts.. well, just Google the guy.  He just looks like that much of an ass.
alright, but not all the sex involved him. That swiss banker got it on with that big guys wife, jonah hill started jerking off at a party..... I mean, that second one was clearly an attempt at comedy, and idk, I didn't find it at all funny. And I wasn't really taking issue with leo acting like a jerk, if his character wouldn't explain something, then he shouldn't. That's no excuse to not tell me what's going on, work in some other way of explaining to the viewers the scams being run. But I suspect that leo 's character acted like that not because it was in character, but because they didn't want it in the movie, for whatever reason, which is frustrating because it was important to me

I think it's all a little bit appropriate, actually.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/12/31/wolf_of_wall_street_true_story_jordan_belfort_and_other_real_people_in_dicaprio.html

http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/the-wolf-of-wall-street.php

Edit: Well, I guess my point is that the focus of the story wasn't on the actual scam itself, it was on the people and their behavior.  It's not particular relevant whether the people were real or not, but they did happen to be (mostly).
I get this. And in fact most scorsese movies value characters and not plot. But these characters didnt seem as interesting as the ones in goodfellas or gangs of new york. And in casino, they at least make sure you understand whats going on. In the links it explained the basics of 'pump and dump', which I understood. But there seemed to be more going on and I felt in the dark. Even if the exact story isnt the focus, it's still something I feel I deserve after investing upwards of 2&1/2  hrs.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on June 18, 2015, 10:21:48 am
Well, I agree that these characters were not that interesting, but I think that's more because of the characters themselves and not the actual movie production.  I mean, I can't invest much interest in a drug-addicted, sex-addicted, douchebag.  But a cleaver-wielding, bushy-mustached, tophat wearing savage lobbing knives around? Now that's a guy I want to watch.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 18, 2015, 10:26:21 am
Yeah DDL really was fantastic in that movie. And I loved gangs of new york overall, but I think scorsese could have cut most if not all of cameron diaz. That part felt thrown in and unnecessary in an already long movie. But every scene with Bill the butcher, yeah they were all great
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on June 18, 2015, 11:09:32 am
So, for those not following the box office. Jurassic World passed The Avengers for opening week. Plus did a first ever $500M worldwide opening weekend.

And it was enjoyable too.

--

Does MScorcese know how to end movies? I thought he usually killed everyone then rolled credits.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on June 18, 2015, 11:21:31 am
So, for those not following the box office. Jurassic World passed The Avengers for opening week. Plus did a first ever $500M worldwide opening weekend.

And it was enjoyable too.

--

Does MScorcese know how to end movies? I thought he usually killed everyone then rolled credits.

That sounds exactly like knowing how to end movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 18, 2015, 02:15:19 pm

Does MScorcese know how to end movies? I thought he usually killed everyone then rolled credits.
um, alec baldwin didn't die in the departed, so clearly you're mistaken
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on June 19, 2015, 08:39:13 am
Well with 'wolf' Gangs of NY I felt there was an unrealistic amount of sex butchery (or maybe im just naive) and he was doing it completely for shock value. So much was completely irrelevant to the story and seemed to just be thrown in for no good reason.
FTFY
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 19, 2015, 11:02:48 am
Well with 'wolf' Gangs of NY I felt there was an unrealistic amount of sex butchery (or maybe im just naive) and he was doing it completely for shock value. So much was completely irrelevant to the story and seemed to just be thrown in for no good reason.
FTFY
there wasn't thaaat much butchery. And when there was, it was really cool, he was throwing around knives. In fact, im not sure I understand your point. The violence in the movie wasn't pointless imo. And it wasnt gratuitous.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on June 19, 2015, 11:03:52 am
The sex in Wolf of Wall Street wasn't pointless or gratuitous, either.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 19, 2015, 11:37:22 am
The sex in Wolf of Wall Street wasn't pointless or gratuitous, either.
idk, I don't really think it's comparable. I assumed it was gratuitous. I highly doubt that everything in the movie actually happened. There was a bunch that your links failed to confirm. If it all did actually happen, well, then I guess my criticism was wrong. Maybe it wasn't a good movie because it's just extremely hard to make good movie around these characters and this plot.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on June 19, 2015, 11:39:41 am
The sex in Wolf of Wall Street wasn't pointless or gratuitous, either.
idk, I don't really think it's comparable. I assumed it was gratuitous. I highly doubt that everything in the movie actually happened. There was a bunch that your links failed to confirm. If it all did actually happen, well, then I guess my criticism was wrong. Maybe it wasn't a good movie because it's just extremely hard to make good movie around these characters and this plot.

My point wasn't so much that it all actually happened, but that the movie was representing and focusing on these characters and what they did, how they acted, etc., and having crazy wild sex parties (among other things) is kind of a major point, so it's not really gratuitous.  More like just not what you want the movie to be about, which is fine.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 19, 2015, 11:52:06 am
The sex in Wolf of Wall Street wasn't pointless or gratuitous, either.
idk, I don't really think it's comparable. I assumed it was gratuitous. I highly doubt that everything in the movie actually happened. There was a bunch that your links failed to confirm. If it all did actually happen, well, then I guess my criticism was wrong. Maybe it wasn't a good movie because it's just extremely hard to make good movie around these characters and this plot.

My point wasn't so much that it all actually happened, but that the movie was representing and focusing on these characters and what they did, how they acted, etc., and having crazy wild sex parties (among other things) is kind of a major point, so it's not really gratuitous.  More like just not what you want the movie to be about, which is fine.
well it's not too major a point if it didn't actually happen and the movie is supposed to be a true story
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on June 19, 2015, 12:25:50 pm
The sex in Wolf of Wall Street wasn't pointless or gratuitous, either.
idk, I don't really think it's comparable. I assumed it was gratuitous. I highly doubt that everything in the movie actually happened. There was a bunch that your links failed to confirm. If it all did actually happen, well, then I guess my criticism was wrong. Maybe it wasn't a good movie because it's just extremely hard to make good movie around these characters and this plot.

My point wasn't so much that it all actually happened, but that the movie was representing and focusing on these characters and what they did, how they acted, etc., and having crazy wild sex parties (among other things) is kind of a major point, so it's not really gratuitous.  More like just not what you want the movie to be about, which is fine.
well it's not too major a point if it didn't actually happen and the movie is supposed to be a true story

Do you think a movie based on a true story should only depict things that actually happened ?

Because if so, I would advise against watching ANY movie based on a true story. Except Fargo.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 19, 2015, 12:44:11 pm
The sex in Wolf of Wall Street wasn't pointless or gratuitous, either.
idk, I don't really think it's comparable. I assumed it was gratuitous. I highly doubt that everything in the movie actually happened. There was a bunch that your links failed to confirm. If it all did actually happen, well, then I guess my criticism was wrong. Maybe it wasn't a good movie because it's just extremely hard to make good movie around these characters and this plot.

My point wasn't so much that it all actually happened, but that the movie was representing and focusing on these characters and what they did, how they acted, etc., and having crazy wild sex parties (among other things) is kind of a major point, so it's not really gratuitous.  More like just not what you want the movie to be about, which is fine.
well it's not too major a point if it didn't actually happen and the movie is supposed to be a true story

Do you think a movie based on a true story should only depict things that actually happened ?

Because if so, I would advise against watching ANY movie based on a true story. Except Fargo.
well, obviously that's not what I think. If Bill the butcher was really Bill the actuary then that's something I'm glad they changed. But in wolf the changes only seemed to make it less enjoyable
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 19, 2015, 01:05:58 pm
And yeah fargo was quite good
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on June 19, 2015, 01:58:50 pm
And yeah fargo was quite good

And 100% faithful to the true story it was based on, amazingly.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 19, 2015, 02:11:10 pm
And yeah fargo was quite good

And 100% faithful to the true story it was based on, amazingly.
I like the coen brothers in general very much. I think the big lebowski is their best and its one of my favorite movies ever, and no country for old men is also top notch although the ending really pissed me off for a while. Inside llewyn davis was really good too. I was very surprised when it didn't get an Oscar nomination.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on June 19, 2015, 03:27:27 pm
I was disappointed by The Big Lebowski actually. It was good, but it didn't click with me beyond that, it's probably my least favorite films of theirs actually. It felt a little too light compared to their other stuff, and even in that style I preferred Burn After Reading which is also a comedy but has an amazing energy to it.

Maybe it's just that I don't smoke weed, I don't know.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on June 19, 2015, 04:20:01 pm
Because if so, I would advise against watching ANY movie based on a true story. Except Fargo.

Now that's just mean.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 19, 2015, 06:06:10 pm
I was disappointed by The Big Lebowski actually. It was good, but it didn't click with me beyond that, it's probably my least favorite films of theirs actually. It felt a little too light compared to their other stuff, and even in that style I preferred Burn After Reading which is also a comedy but has an amazing energy to it.

Maybe it's just that I don't smoke weed, I don't know.
I just loved the attitude the dude takes towards everything and everyone. You know from that very first scene where he visits the supermarket in his bathrobe, opens a quart of milk to make sure it's not expired, walks up to the cashier with a milk mustache, makes out a check for 89¢, and brings home his milk to make a white russian, that this is the role Jeff Bridges was born to play.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Donald X. on June 19, 2015, 06:19:23 pm
I was disappointed by The Big Lebowski actually. It was good, but it didn't click with me beyond that, it's probably my least favorite films of theirs actually. It felt a little too light compared to their other stuff, and even in that style I preferred Burn After Reading which is also a comedy but has an amazing energy to it.
I was also disappointed by Lebowski. Part of it is that it came at the end of this ridiculous run of great movies: Miller's Crossing, Hudsucker Proxy, Barton Fink, Fargo. It's not bad but it just didn't compare.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 19, 2015, 06:49:27 pm
I was disappointed by The Big Lebowski actually. It was good, but it didn't click with me beyond that, it's probably my least favorite films of theirs actually. It felt a little too light compared to their other stuff, and even in that style I preferred Burn After Reading which is also a comedy but has an amazing energy to it.
I was also disappointed by Lebowski. Part of it is that it came at the end of this ridiculous run of great movies: Miller's Crossing, Hudsucker Proxy, Barton Fink, Fargo. It's not bad but it just didn't compare.
can someone explain Barton Fink to me? It was like visual gibberish.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on June 19, 2015, 07:46:11 pm
I actually saw it very recently... and I'm not sure I can. I loved it, but I didn't fully understand it, and I really want to rewatch it (which is rare for me). John Goodman is amazing in it, that I'm certain of.

I mean clearly it's a morality tale and Barton Fink is experiencing some version of Hell, but I'm not sure where the lines are drawn between reality and hallucination/allegory. I'm sure the New York scenes are real, after that... I need to rewatch it. I want to say the scene where he completely and blatantly ignores anything Charlie has to say (their first scene actually) should be real, because it feels like that pretentious self-involvment is what he pays for in the rest of the movie, but I'mnot sure where the wallpaper thing starts to come in, as that's the first clear sign that the film is going in a surrealist direction.

And sure, The Dude is a nice character to be around, but he wasn't that fascinating to me.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on June 20, 2015, 08:32:45 pm
I'm a big Cohen Coen :-[ Bros fan; I own all their movies except Hudsucker which I've never seen but is in my wish list. Just recently saw Llewyn Davis.

I really love Lebowski; I'm pretty sure it's the movie I've seen the most number of times out of any movie. I can't really compare it to their other work though; it's so different. But I never tire of it.

I did not really like Barton Fink, but remembering how I felt about it, I seem to remember the ending in some ways being similar to the endings of A Serious Man or Llewyn Davis. Or even Lebowski. So maybe I need to watch it again without expecting a "Hollywood" ending.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on June 20, 2015, 09:19:35 pm
Pretty sure it's Coen, though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on June 20, 2015, 09:36:44 pm
Pretty sure it's Coen, though.

Such a huge fan that I can't even spell their name!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 20, 2015, 10:25:14 pm
I'm a big Cohen Coen :-[ Bros fan; I own all their movies except Hudsucker which I've never seen but is in my wish list. Just recently saw Llewyn Davis.

I really love Lebowski; I'm pretty sure it's the movie I've seen the most number of times out of any movie. I can't really compare it to their other work though; it's so different. But I never tire of it.

I did not really like Barton Fink, but remembering how I felt about it, I seem to remember the ending in some ways being similar to the endings of A Serious Man or Llewyn Davis. Or even Lebowski. So maybe I need to watch it again without expecting a "Hollywood" ending.
all their endings are somewhat similar, that I've seen. Except maybe Oh Brother Where Art Thou? which has a happier ending.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 20, 2015, 11:21:04 pm
Has anyone seen High Fidelity? It's on the Netflix and im wondering if it's any good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on June 21, 2015, 12:13:43 am
Has anyone seen High Fidelity? It's on the Netflix and im wondering if it's any good.

Yes, watch it. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 21, 2015, 02:52:29 am
Has anyone seen High Fidelity? It's on the Netflix and im wondering if it's any good.

Yes, watch it.
was really good. Although I didn't like the gratuitous raining.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on June 21, 2015, 08:56:37 pm
Jurassic World: Product placement done right.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Titandrake on June 21, 2015, 10:08:33 pm
Jurassic World: Product placement done right.

A week after seeing the movie, I can't remember what got product placement and what didn't, but it's probably still going to influence me in subtle ways. Whereas I can still remember cringeworthy Dasani and Victoria's Secret product placement from Age of Extinction, which came out a year ago.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on June 21, 2015, 11:41:27 pm
Jurassic World: Product placement done right.

A week after seeing the movie, I can't remember what got product placement and what didn't, but it's probably still going to influence me in subtle ways. Whereas I can still remember cringeworthy Dasani and Victoria's Secret product placement from Age of Extinction, which came out a year ago.

Well, in thinking about it, it had annoying ad placement as usual (Mercedes and Kawasaki come to mind), but the way it handled how theme parks handle sponsorship was amusing. Samsung and Verizon are especially fitting for what the movie was portraying.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on June 22, 2015, 02:15:34 am
I haven't seen the original movie The Departed was based on ("Infernal Affairs" or something?), but I think it's supposed to be good as well.

I watched the three movies. The departed is based mostly on the first one, IIRC. They are good, but very different (as you would expect from something done in Hong Kong, rather than Hollywood). More... understated?
just saw this. i liked the ending better in this one than in the departed, actually.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on June 22, 2015, 11:26:36 am
Saw the end hour of Looper on tv last night. The best part was the design of the semi futuristic elements mixed with current infrastructure. The ultra thin phones, flowery toichscreens for stuff. It was very watchable.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on June 22, 2015, 10:14:25 pm
Saw the end hour of Looper on tv last night. The best part was the design of the semi futuristic elements mixed with current infrastructure. The ultra thin phones, flowery toichscreens for stuff. It was very watchable.
I watched this last week, and also thought it was well done.

Tonight I watched Exodus with Christian Bale.  Pretty cool special effects.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on June 22, 2015, 10:50:21 pm
The main thing I disliked about Looper was how inconsistent Time Travel was. I am more or less ok with movies that have Time Travel that doesn't make much sense when you think about it (e.g., back to the future), or where we have so little information about the mechanics that it's hard to say what exactly is going on (e.g., Terminator), or where the difference instances of Time Travel are so far away from each other that it's whatever.

But one movie that presents the same exact situation twice, and has different results for each? No, thanks.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on June 23, 2015, 07:09:19 am
Tonight I watched Exodus with Christian Bale.

Oh, you know him?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on June 23, 2015, 08:18:24 am
Tonight I watched Exodus with Christian Bale.

Oh, you know him?

Well if by "know" you mean "sat behind him in the theatre occasionally clipping hair samples during the noisy parts of the film" then yeah.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on June 23, 2015, 09:41:45 am
Tonight I watched Exodus with Christian Bale.

Oh, you know him?

Well if by "know" you mean "sat behind him in the theatre occasionally clamping hair samples during the noisy parts of the film" then yeah.

Fixed that for you.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on June 24, 2015, 08:38:04 am
Tonight I watched Exodus with Christian Bale.

Oh, you know him?
Well if by "know" you mean "sat behind him in the theatre occasionally clipping hair samples during the noisy parts of the film" then yeah.

There were cameras INSIDE the theater!?!?!? 

And you missed the more obvious joke, given the subject matter of the movie.

                                                                                Moat                                                                     

Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on June 28, 2015, 01:31:48 am
Just finished watching all three original Mad Max movies. The second one was pretty good. The third one had some gems, but was marred by a nonsensical plot. The first one was too much of a B movie for my taste, although it already has some hints of what's to come (and also, Saw).

But now I think that Fury Road is a remake of Road Warrior. I am not really complaining though. I am curious what the next one will be like.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on June 28, 2015, 02:03:19 am
Just finished watching all three original Mad Max movies. The second one was pretty good. The third one had some gems, but was marred by a nonsensical plot. The first one was too much of a B movie for my taste, although it already has some hints of what's to come (and also, Saw).

But now I think that Fury Road is a remake of Road Warrior. I am not really complaining though. I am curious what the next one will be like.

I had the same thoughts watching the original movies. But I though the third was just terrible. There really wasnt anything good about it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on June 28, 2015, 03:20:08 am
But two men enter; one man leaves!

Okay, I admit that my fondness of Thunderdome likely lies with the fact that I watched the hell out of that movie growing up. I probably haven't seen it in 25 years, and I fear that I would see it for what it really is if I rewatch it now. Therefore, I wrap myself in my cocoon of ignorance and will never rewatch that movie.

Road Warrior was still pretty badass. I need to rewatch Mad Max. I remember it being so different in tone than the others.

And, well, Fury Road was pretty awesome, which is amazing for me to say considering the dialogue and story-building is only enough for a half-hour movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on June 28, 2015, 09:04:56 am
But the secondary story is good, because Im not there to see a silly story. I'm there to see cars and explosions and action.

Two men enter; one man leaves! Except they chant this one Master goes it help Blaster, so there's 3 men who entered. It makes no sense!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on June 28, 2015, 04:53:41 pm
I thought MasterBlaster was great, although he certainly needed more polish. The Thunderdome was pretty cool, in an over-the-top, completely ridiculous kind of way. The story of the lost tribe was nice. And Jedediah and Jedediah Jr cracked me up. Then there were some small design choices, like putting the huge head on Max when they sent him to the "Gulag".

The big problems with the movie were the broken plot, the huge tone shift halfway through (from something in between Road Warrior and For a fistfull of dollars, to a mix of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Captain Hook), and Tina Turner.

Ironbar is also kind of annoying. It struck me by the end of the movie that he is supposed to be a comic relief character, not a credible threat to the main characters, and that's kinda silly.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on July 01, 2015, 12:49:33 pm
I just saw Victoria. It's unfreakingbelievable, absolutely amazing. One of the most thrilling movies I've ever seen.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on July 01, 2015, 03:17:34 pm
I just saw Victoria. It's unfreakingbelievable, absolutely amazing. One of the most thrilling movies I've ever seen.
A single take that lasts 140 minutes!?  That's impressive in its own right.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on July 01, 2015, 03:52:50 pm
I just saw Victoria. It's unfreakingbelievable, absolutely amazing. One of the most thrilling movies I've ever seen.
A single take that lasts 140 minutes!?  That's impressive in its own right.

Yep, the technical feat is very impressive, but what's even better is that I honestly forgot about it at several points in the movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on July 10, 2015, 09:09:19 am
I just rewatched Twilight Zone: The Movie. So very '80s. But then the original source material is older and filmed in the style of their times too.

I had forgotten just how utterly offensive the racist is in the first story. Just a continuous stream of racial slurs in a public place. He was lucky the table of black men nearby were pretty mellow (but not so lucky later on obviously).

It was pretty neat to watch the third one with someone who had never seen the movie or the original show with Ron Howard. My wife just kept uttering, "What the fuck," which is a pretty good testament to how the story builds up. My wife kept yelling at the TV, "Don't go in there. Can't you see the cars?"
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 10, 2015, 05:01:10 pm
Isn't that Twilight Zone movie bad? I do recall the reboot television show was terrible in comparison to the original.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on July 10, 2015, 07:20:18 pm
Movies i just like:
The Shining
The Nightmare before Christmas
The Dark Knight
The Truman Show
Memento
The Great Mouse Detective
Addams Family Values
A Clockwork Orange
The Birds
Terminator 2

Movies i want to see:
Dracula (the old one)
That Soylent Green movie
Alien 1-3
The Godfather
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
The Fog
American Psycho

Movies that i don't think are good but still enjoy:
Hook
Mrs Doubtfire
Batman Returns

Worst movie i found enjoyable:
Dude, where's my car?

Movies that i think are good but have seen too often:
Mary Poppins
Forrest Gump

Movies i watched recently and can recommend:
Kingsmen
Rango

Movies i find overrated:
Avatar
Psycho
Up!

Movies that make me want to become deaf and blind:
Underworld
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 10, 2015, 07:23:35 pm
Movies i find overrated:
Avatar

Woah, woah, woah. Who is saying Avatar is good?

(http://i.imgur.com/cMKR2DU.png)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on July 10, 2015, 07:49:06 pm
Avatar was godawful.  The James Cameron one, not Last Airbender... I mean, it might be, but I didn't watch it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on July 10, 2015, 08:09:42 pm
Tonight I watched Exodus with Christian Bale.

Oh, you know him?

Well if by "know" you mean "sat behind him in the theatre occasionally clamping hair samples during the noisy parts of the film" then yeah.

Fixed that for you.

Why doesn't this have any upvotes?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on July 10, 2015, 10:41:04 pm
Tonight I watched Exodus with Christian Bale.

Oh, you know him?

Well if by "know" you mean "sat behind him in the theatre occasionally clamping hair samples during the noisy parts of the film" then yeah.

Fixed that for you.

Why doesn't this have any upvotes?

(Feel free to upvote the original post.) Note period INSIDE the quote marks as the sentence is a complete one.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on July 10, 2015, 11:46:43 pm
Tonight I watched Exodus with Christian Bale.

Oh, you know him?

Well if by "know" you mean "sat behind him in the theatre occasionally clamping hair samples during the noisy parts of the film" then yeah.

Fixed that for you.

Why doesn't this have any upvotes?

For serious.  As a matter of point, why don't all my posts have more upvotes?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on July 11, 2015, 10:04:48 am
Avatar is pretty correctly rated, as in "great visuals, nice world, awful story and boring characters". At least that seems to be the consensus from my PoV, and I mostly agree.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on July 11, 2015, 10:13:20 am
I'm surprised nobody expressed disagreement with my critizism of Psycho and Up, yet.

I mean, those are far from being as bad as Avatar, but i consider Up's story to be weak and episodical for Pixar standards, while Psycho has awesome moments and actually is a movie i like, but has such an unsatisfying solution that it harms its overall score and is far from as "brilliant" as cineasts make it to be.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: eHalcyon on July 11, 2015, 10:25:10 am
Up is good.  You are Psycho.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 11, 2015, 10:34:47 am
I'm surprised nobody expressed disagreement with my critizism of Psycho and Up, yet.

I mean, those are far from being as bad as Avatar, but i consider Up's story to be weak and episodical for Pixar standards, while Psycho has awesome moments and actually is a movie i like, but has such an unsatisfying solution that it harms its overall score and is far from as "brilliant" as cineasts make it to be.

Only move that beats up is The Incredibles. Maybe Toy Story too, I haven't seen those movies since I was 4.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Eevee on July 11, 2015, 10:41:17 am
Toy Story 3 is incredible.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Darth Vader on July 11, 2015, 11:36:43 am
There has been excitement for the new Star Wars movie. Have you felt it?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: 2.71828..... on July 11, 2015, 11:42:23 am
Movies i watched recently and can recommend:
Kingsmen

Yes. This movie was excellent.  One thing about it, it was a very self-aware movie, so some parts were over the top, but I think they had a good balance.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on July 11, 2015, 01:26:25 pm
I'm surprised nobody expressed disagreement with my critizism of Psycho and Up, yet.

I mean, those are far from being as bad as Avatar, but i consider Up's story to be weak and episodical for Pixar standards, while Psycho has awesome moments and actually is a movie i like, but has such an unsatisfying solution that it harms its overall score and is far from as "brilliant" as cineasts make it to be.

Only move that beats up is The Incredibles. Maybe Toy Story too, I haven't seen those movies since I was 4.

Really? I hated, hated, hated Toy Story. The cowboy was driven by nothing but envy, and later maybe the instinct to save his shiny plastic skin. The spacemen was a deluisional moron. And both were so very, very in love with themselves. Plus, the humans were very ugly. I found Toy Story to be a depressing, boring movie where i couldn't relate to any of the ethically repulsive protagonists at all.

It's like Aladdin, which i adore, but the fact that Al was such a liar and got himself in deeper all the time was not understandable to me as a child.

Toy Story 2 is a different thing, but i watched that when i was allready an adult, so that was under other circumstances.
Edit: haven't seen part 3, but i had the impression it went on where 2 left
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on July 11, 2015, 02:07:15 pm
I think Psycho is a good movie but doesn't really age well. The sort of fumbly ending and explanation was probably shocking at the time, but because it's a movie that has set up so many cliches it now feels kind of like a poor excuse for the whole plot.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on July 12, 2015, 06:12:46 pm
I'm surprised nobody expressed disagreement with my critizism of Psycho and Up, yet.

I didn't see any criticism of those movies. I only saw you said they were overrated, which is fine. Whether or not a movie is overrated is a personal thing. Did you see a shitload of hype and then thought the movie didn't live up to the hype? I can't tell you you're wrong.

Now if you actually said some negative things about the movies, then we can have something to base a discussion on.

I for one thought Psycho was a bit slow in getting to the point (though the shower scene at the beginning was plenty shocking, especially when you consider that up until then, movies simply didn't do that). It's still a cool story with some good shots.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on July 12, 2015, 08:14:08 pm
I watched John Wick lat night and it was surprisingly watchable. The action wasn't made terrible from too many cuts, and in fact a lot of the action was shot in longer shot letting you actually see what's happening.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on July 16, 2015, 11:00:54 am
Holy crap, there's a dramatic telling of the Stanford Prison Experiment. I must go see this!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 16, 2015, 11:13:35 am
Holy crap, there's a dramatic telling of the Stanford Prison Experiment. I must go see this!

Is that the experiment where every kid went dark when they got power and prisoners actually went dark too?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on July 16, 2015, 11:52:16 am
Holy crap, there's a dramatic telling of the Stanford Prison Experiment. I must go see this!

Is that the experiment where every kid went dark when they got power and prisoners actually went dark too?

I'm not sure what you mean by going dark.

It did show that people's behaviors changed when placed on either end of a power relationship.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 16, 2015, 12:10:21 pm
Holy crap, there's a dramatic telling of the Stanford Prison Experiment. I must go see this!

Is that the experiment where every kid went dark when they got power and prisoners actually went dark too?

I'm not sure what you mean by going dark.

It did show that people's behaviors changed when placed on either end of a power relationship.

Yes, that experiment went pretty dark from my understanding of it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on July 16, 2015, 09:38:31 pm
Holy crap, there's a dramatic telling of the Stanford Prison Experiment. I must go see this!

I have seen the german original of the movie and it wasn't very good. Just too much added to the truth. In case you are talking about the american remake, which i assume, i can't say much, but i read the critics were even worse.

Edit: Oops, sorry, there seems to be a third movie. I don't know anything about that one. The others were called "Das Experiment" and "The Experiment". I think the third is "The Standford Prison Experiment".
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Dsell on July 16, 2015, 10:57:31 pm
Ant Man was so good! It far surpassed my expectations. It has the same vibe as Guardians of the Galaxy, but is much better in my opinion.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 16, 2015, 11:04:37 pm
Ant Man was so good! It far surpassed my expectations. It has the same vibe as Guardians of the Galaxy, but is much better in my opinion.

Wow, really? I thought that movie was going to suck ass from the trailer.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Dsell on July 16, 2015, 11:12:18 pm
Ant Man was so good! It far surpassed my expectations. It has the same vibe as Guardians of the Galaxy, but is much better in my opinion.

Wow, really? I thought that movie was going to suck ass from the trailer.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was applause in the theater after it ended. It was everything I wanted from a comic book superhero movie. There's definitely some cheese, but it's very self-aware. And Paul Rudd is awesome.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Spellbound on July 17, 2015, 01:42:01 am
There isn't much discussion about films at all in my country. I pretty much like to join :)

About Ant Man. I'm disappointed that Wright isn't the director, and I think the reason is his self parody style doesn't suit Marvel's. I've not seen the film, maybe I will.

I have watched this weird film, Angst. I would recommend this film to none but film buffs as it is offensive. It is a really good experience no other film can offer.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on July 17, 2015, 02:48:24 pm
I have watched this weird film, Angst. I would recommend this film to none but film buffs as it is offensive. It is a really good experience no other film can offer.

If you like art movies, I suggest you watch Nicolas Winding Rafn. His movies are very strange.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on July 17, 2015, 02:55:47 pm
I have watched this weird film, Angst. I would recommend this film to none but film buffs as it is offensive. It is a really good experience no other film can offer.

If you like art movies, I suggest you watch Nicolas Winding Rafn. His movies are very strange.

Seconded. I also recommend M dot Strange's movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Spellbound on July 17, 2015, 03:16:38 pm
I have watched this weird film, Angst. I would recommend this film to none but film buffs as it is offensive. It is a really good experience no other film can offer.

If you like art movies, I suggest you watch Nicolas Winding Rafn. His movies are very strange.

I've watched only Drive and Only God Forgives. I really like his style but I'm having hard time deciding which films of him to watch next.

Drive is really cool but I kind of think that it doesn't have much meaning behind it (not that it is needed to be, but if there is I would like to know).

Only God Forgives is so weird, but I like it. What do you make of that creepy sword guy? I think he is guilt.

My favorite art film is Mulholland Drive and There Will Be Blood. Actually I enjoy any films at all that offer something new and daring.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Spellbound on July 17, 2015, 03:22:38 pm
I have watched this weird film, Angst. I would recommend this film to none but film buffs as it is offensive. It is a really good experience no other film can offer.

If you like art movies, I suggest you watch Nicolas Winding Rafn. His movies are very strange.

Seconded. I also recommend M dot Strange's movies.

Never heard of that before. Surely would give it a try!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on July 17, 2015, 08:26:52 pm
I have watched this weird film, Angst. I would recommend this film to none but film buffs as it is offensive. It is a really good experience no other film can offer.

If you like art movies, I suggest you watch Nicolas Winding Rafn. His movies are very strange.

I've watched only Drive and Only God Forgives. I really like his style but I'm having hard time deciding which films of him to watch next.

Drive is really cool but I kind of think that it doesn't have much meaning behind it (not that it is needed to be, but if there is I would like to know).

Only God Forgives is so weird, but I like it. What do you make of that creepy sword guy? I think he is guilt.

My favorite art film is Mulholland Drive and There Will Be Blood. Actually I enjoy any films at all that offer something new and daring.

I wrote a big blurb about Only God Forgives in the original post. Refn has said that the police officer represents God, and Julian is in a struggle with what he does and who he wants to be, which is why he is always at odds with the police officer (aka God). There's a lot more in the movie, such as the symbolism with the characters hands.

Drive has meaning in the sense of the subtle ways that The Driver shows his emotions. But this is really interesting on Drive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsI8UES59TM
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Titandrake on July 19, 2015, 04:47:00 am
Re: Ant Man, I prefer Guardians of the Galaxy over it, but it was still entertaining. The plot's pretty cliche and cheesy, but it doesn't bother taking itself very seriously at all and has some pretty good self-aware humor.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on July 20, 2015, 11:06:37 am
I was pleasantly surprised by Ant-Man. I wasn’t holding out a lot of hope, and that probably helped. It was a goofy movie, and they had a pretty fun mix of epic fighting and silly jokes at the end.

It also had an unexpected cameo that definitely cemented the movie as part of the MCU. It was goofy and fun.

And the character growths were pretty good too. Nice.

I especially like how this is an origin story, but it comes at it from the angle that there's already been an Ant-Man. A little bit fresher than the radioactive spider schtick that every Spider-Man story has to tell.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on July 29, 2015, 12:59:05 am
Interview with the vampire is not very good at all.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 29, 2015, 01:01:12 am
I just watched Age of Ultron. Ask me anything.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on July 29, 2015, 09:32:41 am
Interview with the vampire is not very good at all.

(http://i.imgur.com/byQh1OH.gif)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on July 29, 2015, 12:34:44 pm
Interview with the vampire is not very good at all.

(http://i.imgur.com/byQh1OH.gif)
that line made no sense, because neither g-d, nor the vampires in the movie, killed indiscriminately, and anyway killing indiscriminately doesn't make killing much less bad.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: UmbrageOfSnow on July 29, 2015, 04:57:25 pm
For better movies with vampires, did anyone see Only Lovers Left Alive?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on July 30, 2015, 09:03:46 am
Saw Irrational Man last night.  I went in not really knowing much of what it was about (except the backdrop of philosophy), and I really enjoyed it.  I definitely recommend it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on July 30, 2015, 05:52:10 pm
Anybody ever watch "Stand by Me"? Is it any good?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on July 30, 2015, 07:31:50 pm
Anybody ever watch "Stand by Me"? Is it any good?
belay that. It was good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on July 30, 2015, 11:44:54 pm
Anybody ever watch "Stand by Me"? Is it any good?
belay that. It was good.

It's a good movie :P
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on July 31, 2015, 12:25:14 am
Anybody ever watch "Stand by Me"? Is it any good?
belay that. It was good.

It's a good movie :P
thx. Nobody responded quickly enough, so I just looked it up on imdb (which I hate doing because they're terrible all the time but wtvr, had no choice) and it had a high rating, so I went for it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 31, 2015, 12:33:14 am
Anybody ever watch "Stand by Me"? Is it any good?
belay that. It was good.

It's a good movie :P
thx. Nobody responded quickly enough, so I just looked it up on imdb (which I hate doing because they're terrible all the time but wtvr, had no choice) and it had a high rating, so I went for it.

imdb is fine. At least it's not Rotten Tomatoes.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on July 31, 2015, 02:17:12 am
Anybody ever watch "Stand by Me"? Is it any good?
belay that. It was good.

It's a good movie :P
thx. Nobody responded quickly enough, so I just looked it up on imdb (which I hate doing because they're terrible all the time but wtvr, had no choice) and it had a high rating, so I went for it.

imdb is fine. At least it's not Rotten Tomatoes.
I've been burned by imdb before
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on July 31, 2015, 09:11:13 am
I came across The Drop late at night last weekend.  I missed the first part of it, but I thought it was really good.  Well, slow, kind of brooding, so you have to like that, but I definitely recommend it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on August 02, 2015, 03:29:29 pm
Anybody ever watch "Stand by Me"? Is it any good?

One of the all-time greats. We actually had to watch it as part of summer "reading" in high school. Everyone should see this movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 02, 2015, 04:58:07 pm
I watched Horns last night.  You should all do the same.  Well, not last night, since it's too late for that.  But some other night.  Or day.  Or whatever.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: UmbrageOfSnow on August 02, 2015, 04:59:54 pm
Have you read the book?  (You should all read Horns, by the way.)

I didn't go to see the film because I'd just finished the book at the time and was worried it would bias me.  But it's been long enough now I'll try to watch it sometime soon.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on August 02, 2015, 05:08:48 pm
Anybody ever watch "Stand by Me"? Is it any good?

One of the all-time greats. We actually had to watch it as part of summer "reading" in high school. Everyone should see this movie.
I wouldn't consider it an all time great, but I did enjoy and would recommend it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 02, 2015, 05:47:48 pm
Have you read the book?  (You should all read Horns, by the way.)

I didn't go to see the film because I'd just finished the book at the time and was worried it would bias me.  But it's been long enough now I'll try to watch it sometime soon.

No.  I didn't even hear of the book.  I had heard of the movie, saw a couple previews, and knew that I wanted to see it.  Just got around to it last night.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: AndrewisFTTW on August 03, 2015, 12:29:29 pm
Anybody ever watch "Stand by Me"? Is it any good?

One of the all-time greats. We actually had to watch it as part of summer "reading" in high school. Everyone should see this movie.
I wouldn't consider it an all time great, but I did enjoy and would recommend it.

I saw it recently and I don't get why it's considered a classic. A bunch of kids go to see a dead body and Keifer Sutherland says he's gonna git 'em someday. Fin.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 03, 2015, 12:40:40 pm
Anybody ever watch "Stand by Me"? Is it any good?

One of the all-time greats. We actually had to watch it as part of summer "reading" in high school. Everyone should see this movie.
I wouldn't consider it an all time great, but I did enjoy and would recommend it.

I saw it recently and I don't get why it's considered a classic. A bunch of kids go to see a dead body and Keifer Sutherland says he's gonna git 'em someday. Fin.

Ha, classic Keifer.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 03, 2015, 12:51:02 pm
Anybody ever watch "Stand by Me"? Is it any good?

One of the all-time greats. We actually had to watch it as part of summer "reading" in high school. Everyone should see this movie.
I wouldn't consider it an all time great, but I did enjoy and would recommend it.

I saw it recently and I don't get why it's considered a classic. A bunch of kids go to see a dead body and Keifer Sutherland says he's gonna git 'em someday. Fin.

I mean, it's about the boys growing up together, and going through this experience. But I wouldn't say it's the best movie ever. It's good though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on August 03, 2015, 05:46:27 pm
I watched Horns last night.  You should all do the same.  Well, not last night, since it's too late for that.  But some other night.  Or day.  Or whatever.
I didnt think it was that good. Very depressing. Acting wasn't particularly good. and also a bit of a cop out at the end when they made a cartoonishly evil guy for us to all be pissed at and revel mutually in his greusome death.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 04, 2015, 10:41:59 am
For better movies with vampires, did anyone see Only Lovers Left Alive?

I am now intrigued by this. I may have to check it out.

My favorite vampire movie is Near Dark. It's not a great movie, but it's a neat portrayal of vampires. Vampires tend to be shown as really elegant or downright bestial. While these vampires are closer to bestial, they are also well developed characters. Maybe a little too close to caricature, but I could overlook that.

imdb is fine. At least it's not Rotten Tomatoes.

Interesting. I found my experiences the opposite. IMDB scores are set by the general populace. Rotten Tomatoes aggregates critics' scores. Does anyone else find IMDB rating more accurate than RT?

In general, I've found that RT scores of 70+ are often enjoyable to me while scores of 40 or less are not. Those in the middle depend on how much appeal the concept has for me. But RT did steer me wrong with Furious 7. Thank goodness I was only there to watch Fury Road and could leave in the middle of Furious 7.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on August 04, 2015, 11:08:15 am
I find IMDB is better than Tomatoes in general. Critics can hate a movie for the stupidest of reasons, and they're paid to watch movies all the time. They've seen everything. A good movie won't have as good an impact on them anymore. They also quite often get bored and rate a movie lower than it deserves in order to be funny, as witnessed by bad reviews with a line where they reference something in the movie to how bad it is, like 'if I had a time machine, I'd go back in time and not watch movie about time machine'. IMDB isn't always correct either, but I feel like the reviews are on average more honest. If I really want to gauge a movie, I'll check both sites out but my first choice is usually IMDB.

EDIT: IMDB has a problem with rating movies too high sometimes, as witnessed in Interstellar being rated as like #20 as the best movie of all time. I love Interstellar, but I don't think it's that good...? I don't know. They're both shoddy really.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 04, 2015, 11:21:48 am
EDIT: IMDB has a problem with rating movies too high sometimes, as witnessed in Interstellar being rated as like #20 as the best movie of all time.

Well, if Interstellar being #20 is too high, that doesn't mean IMDB has a general problem with rating movies too high. It just means that some other movie that should really be the #20 is rated too low.

If anything, IMDB has a problem with giving all movies a rather mediocre rating, which is not really surprising when you consider how many people are rating them.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 04, 2015, 11:22:58 am
The problem with IMDB is that the more popular something is, the more stupid trolls deteriorate the message boards.  For lower-key shows, or even fairly popular ones that aren't in the spotlight, there are people there making interesting discussions.  The boards for True Detective and Hannibal were actually pretty interesting and enlightening towards the very beginning (first half or so of Season 1 of True Detective, and maybe the first season or two of Hannibal).  Now you have to wade through endless posts of people trying to start arguments and call each other idiots. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 04, 2015, 11:43:36 am
I went to see the new Mission Impossible. It was do dumb. And the action wasnt even that great. Mad Max kicks it's butt so hard.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 04, 2015, 11:51:31 am
I went to see the new Mission Impossible.

There's your problem right there.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 04, 2015, 12:50:51 pm
I find IMDB is better than Tomatoes in general. Critics can hate a movie for the stupidest of reasons, and they're paid to watch movies all the time. They've seen everything. A good movie won't have as good an impact on them anymore. They also quite often get bored and rate a movie lower than it deserves in order to be funny

I'd rather have a critic hate a movie for some weird reason than a thousand people hate a movie because they didn't get it. It's because a critic has seen everything that I can appreciate his point of view. And yeah, I may disagree with a specific review (I was unable to forgive Ebert for his trashing of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, but he's dead now, so it's really silly to hold that against the man), but that's where the aggregate score of Rotten Tomatoes is useful. Someone may have a stupid reason for liking or disliking a movie, but there are 70-200 other critics who affect the final score, and not all of them have the dumbest of reasons.

So yeah, there may be a critic who bases his review on how witty he can make it sound, but they get drowned out. That 98% movie might have been unanimous except for that one guy who wants to stand out, but I'm not listening to just his review. I do actually read it, though. I always read the dissenting reviews of a product that gets great reviews. Maybe the dissenting review is being unreasonable, but maybe it's a matter of the emperor's new clothes. Reading those reviews gives me an idea of which.

I have noticed a higher amount on sequels that I wouldn't expect. Mission Impossible is sitting at 93% right now. I was bored of the original and never watched the sequels. I don't see myself watching this, and I'm intrigued by the fact that 186 reviewers marked it high. But I can't judge that movie since I've not watched it. On the other hand, Furious 7 has 81%, and I cannot figure out what these critics were watching. The only thing I can think of is that many people don't want to shit over the final movie of that actor who died. Here, IMDB failed us as well, giving a score of 75%.

But looking at IMDB stats, I am reminded of another aggregate review site: Metacritic. I generally don't use Metacritic, but it is something I've looked at before. It has much harsher criteria. For example, it rated Furious 7 at 67, which is still way too high, but it presents a more realistic approach. I think the reason why Metacritic seems to be lower than RT is that RT uses a binary system of thumbs up/thumbs down, while Metacritic uses a more robust scoring system that allows for gradation. Because of that, I lower the bar when looking at Metacritic. While I start to question a movie's value when it rates at lower than 70% on RT, I do not question it on Metacritic.

Just for fun, I pulled some scores of movies I've seen.
Memento
MC: 80. IMDB: 85. RT: 92
Guardians of the Galaxy
MC: 76. IMDB: 81. RT: 91
Fury Road
MC: 89. IMDB: 84. RT: 98
Interestingly enough, this is a rare moment where the Metacritic score is actually higher than IMDB.

At least all three of the scores of these movies are fairly close. It's hard to say if IMDB scores are unfairly bumped by trolls or fanboys.

Heh, let's look up Hudson Hawk. RT has 24%. IMDB has 57. Metacritic has 17. As much as I love the movie, it's not great, and IMDB's score is obviously based on nostalgia or love of cult classics and not on quality. I have to agree with RT and Metacritic here. Of course, I'd still watch the hell out of the movie. I even have it on DVD. I have no regrets in watching it in the theatre, but yeah, it's bad. And that's okay.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: UmbrageOfSnow on August 04, 2015, 03:12:36 pm
For better movies with vampires, did anyone see Only Lovers Left Alive?

I am now intrigued by this. I may have to check it out.

My favorite vampire movie is Near Dark. It's not a great movie, but it's a neat portrayal of vampires. Vampires tend to be shown as really elegant or downright bestial. While these vampires are closer to bestial, they are also well developed characters. Maybe a little too close to caricature, but I could overlook that.

My favorite vampire move is the original Swedish "Let the Right One In"
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on August 07, 2015, 01:26:30 pm
Anyone see Elizabethtown? I thought it was really good, not as good as almost famous or Jerry Maguire, but still really good, but it seems to be widely considered a bad movie. Huh.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on August 17, 2015, 11:42:28 pm
Just re-watched the end bit of The French Connection. Probably one of the best and earliest uses of shaky-cam in cinema. I forgot how good this movie was. by the end it feels like gene hackman's character has completely lost any sense of right and wrong. He chases criminals because he is a cop and they are criminals. It's become his way of life, and not something he does because he necessarily believes it is moral, but just something he does. anyone else feel this way?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on August 18, 2015, 05:52:00 am
A movie that's so awful it's amazing to watch is an interesting beast. Do you rate it higher because you enjoyed it more or do you rate it lower because it's obviously so shitty compared to all the other movies?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 18, 2015, 08:03:04 am
A movie that's so awful it's amazing to watch is an interesting beast. Do you rate it higher because you enjoyed it more or do you rate it lower because it's obviously so shitty compared to all the other movies?

I will rate those movies low. I can face the facts that enjoyable != good.

For example, if someone asks me for a score, I would rank Hudson Hawk 2 stars. I love the hell out of that movie: cheesy candy bar nicknames, ball gags (not to be confused with ball gags), using a song as a timer, crucifix radios, and even Sandra Bernhardt's abrasive personality (though barely). But you know, it's not really a good movie. While kind of charming, it really seems to have no idea if it's trying to be an action movie or a slapstick movie. A movie could be both (see Kung Fu Hustle), but I don't think Hudson Hawk really captured both adequately.

So I'll rate it low, but I'll asterisk that by saying that I found it enjoyable despite those flaws.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on August 18, 2015, 05:57:19 pm
A movie that's so awful it's amazing to watch is an interesting beast. Do you rate it higher because you enjoyed it more or do you rate it lower because it's obviously so shitty compared to all the other movies?

I will rate those movies low. I can face the facts that enjoyable != good.

For example, if someone asks me for a score, I would rank Hudson Hawk 2 stars. I love the hell out of that movie: cheesy candy bar nicknames, ball gags (not to be confused with ball gags), using a song as a timer, crucifix radios, and even Sandra Bernhardt's abrasive personality (though barely). But you know, it's not really a good movie. While kind of charming, it really seems to have no idea if it's trying to be an action movie or a slapstick movie. A movie could be both (see Kung Fu Hustle), but I don't think Hudson Hawk really captured both adequately.

So I'll rate it low, but I'll asterisk that by saying that I found it enjoyable despite those flaws.

Man, I don't know. A movie can be absolutely terrible and yet be an amazing movie you would recommend to your friends. Sure, it should get demerits on an official scale, but there should be a separate score for bad movies specifically on how fun they are. When I get around to copying RedLetterMedia and JonTron and creating my own interactive media about movie reviews on YouTube, I might just implement such a scale.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on August 18, 2015, 06:00:37 pm
Oh! Speaking of bad movies, I watched Batman and Robin yesterday. That was NOT a fun bad movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on August 18, 2015, 06:04:33 pm
A movie that's so awful it's amazing to watch is an interesting beast. Do you rate it higher because you enjoyed it more or do you rate it lower because it's obviously so shitty compared to all the other movies?

I will rate those movies low. I can face the facts that enjoyable != good.

For example, if someone asks me for a score, I would rank Hudson Hawk 2 stars. I love the hell out of that movie: cheesy candy bar nicknames, ball gags (not to be confused with ball gags), using a song as a timer, crucifix radios, and even Sandra Bernhardt's abrasive personality (though barely). But you know, it's not really a good movie. While kind of charming, it really seems to have no idea if it's trying to be an action movie or a slapstick movie. A movie could be both (see Kung Fu Hustle), but I don't think Hudson Hawk really captured both adequately.

So I'll rate it low, but I'll asterisk that by saying that I found it enjoyable despite those flaws.
im not sure what you're saying here. What's the difference between a movie being good and a movie being enjoyable? Surely you don't mean "good" as in objectively good? It's just good in your opinion. The Godfather is good in a lot of people's opinions, but that doesn't make it objectively good. So if "good" and "enjoyable" are both subjective terms, then what is the difference?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on August 18, 2015, 06:22:34 pm
A movie that's so awful it's amazing to watch is an interesting beast. Do you rate it higher because you enjoyed it more or do you rate it lower because it's obviously so shitty compared to all the other movies?

I will rate those movies low. I can face the facts that enjoyable != good.

For example, if someone asks me for a score, I would rank Hudson Hawk 2 stars. I love the hell out of that movie: cheesy candy bar nicknames, ball gags (not to be confused with ball gags), using a song as a timer, crucifix radios, and even Sandra Bernhardt's abrasive personality (though barely). But you know, it's not really a good movie. While kind of charming, it really seems to have no idea if it's trying to be an action movie or a slapstick movie. A movie could be both (see Kung Fu Hustle), but I don't think Hudson Hawk really captured both adequately.

So I'll rate it low, but I'll asterisk that by saying that I found it enjoyable despite those flaws.
im not sure what your saying here. What's the difference between a movie being good and a movie being enjoyable? Surely you don't mean "good" as in objectively good? It's just good in your opinion. The Godfather is good in a lot of people's opinions, bit that doesn't make it objectively good. So if "good" and "enjoyable" are both subjective terms, then what is the difference?

Good is in terms of a good story, good writing and originality, good acting, good direction, good post-production, etc. E.G. The Godfather is generally considered a great movie, moving it close (though never completely) to objectivity. I still have to work out the 'enjoyable' factor and call it something different, but I generally know what it will measure.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on August 23, 2015, 10:28:46 am
I watched Primer yesterday.

...I think this sentence is a perfect synthesis of the experience.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 23, 2015, 11:23:21 am
I watched Primer yesterday.

...I think this sentence is a perfect synthesis of the experience.

Oh man. Primer is something else. I got to the end of it and thought "What?".
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on August 23, 2015, 12:05:58 pm
I started thinking "what?" well before the end.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on August 23, 2015, 12:32:16 pm
I usually have trouble following alternate universe style time travel stories, and this one went full bananas with the premise. It doesn't help either that it's unclear what sort of time travel story this was until the very end. Nor does it that I couldn't quite make out what they were saying at times...

I've read some explanations online, and I still don't really understand what's up with Aaron's motivations. I didn't even know there was a character called Joseph Platts until I read those explanations!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 23, 2015, 01:38:07 pm
It's supposed to be a challenge to figure out.  You don't even know which Aaron is narrating.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 23, 2015, 01:41:37 pm
It is supposed to be confusing. But at the same time I think there was a little too much packed into the movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 23, 2015, 01:48:35 pm
I don't think so at all.  I think it was fantastic.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on August 23, 2015, 01:59:48 pm
Speaking of movies I didn't understand, did anybody see Revolver?  I had not a clue what was going on, but I still thought it was pretty good fun.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 23, 2015, 02:27:45 pm
Speaking of movies I didn't understand, did anybody see Revolver?  I had not a clue what was going on, but I still thought it was pretty good fun.

The Guy Ritchie movie? I saw it. I understood it by the end. It was meant to be confusing because the main character didn't know what was happening. If I remember correctly Jason Statham was set up by two guys in prison who conned him into thinking they were going to bust him out or something. It's been a while since I saw it. And it was a long con to get him to get money for them or something.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on August 23, 2015, 02:37:21 pm
Speaking of movies I didn't understand, did anybody see Revolver?  I had not a clue what was going on, but I still thought it was pretty good fun.

The Guy Ritchie movie? I saw it. I understood it by the end. It was meant to be confusing because the main character didn't know what was happening. If I remember correctly Jason Statham was set up by two guys in prison who conned him into thinking they were going to bust him out or something. It's been a while since I saw it. And it was a long con to get him to get money for them or something.
yes. This part I got. But there was a host of other nonsense going on.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 23, 2015, 02:46:55 pm
Speaking of movies I didn't understand, did anybody see Revolver?  I had not a clue what was going on, but I still thought it was pretty good fun.

The Guy Ritchie movie? I saw it. I understood it by the end. It was meant to be confusing because the main character didn't know what was happening. If I remember correctly Jason Statham was set up by two guys in prison who conned him into thinking they were going to bust him out or something. It's been a while since I saw it. And it was a long con to get him to get money for them or something.
yes. This part I got. But there was a host of other nonsense going on.

I'd have to watch it again. I don't remember all the other stuff. I took a few minutes after i watched it and got most of what was happening.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on August 23, 2015, 03:19:21 pm
Speaking of movies I didn't understand, did anybody see Revolver?  I had not a clue what was going on, but I still thought it was pretty good fun.

The Guy Ritchie movie? I saw it. I understood it by the end. It was meant to be confusing because the main character didn't know what was happening. If I remember correctly Jason Statham was set up by two guys in prison who conned him into thinking they were going to bust him out or something. It's been a while since I saw it. And it was a long con to get him to get money for them or something.
yes. This part I got. But there was a host of other nonsense going on.

I'd have to watch it again. I don't remember all the other stuff. I took a few minutes after i watched it and got most of what was happening.
Just read the Wikipedia page for the movie. After I read that, I still didn't know what had happened.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 23, 2015, 05:52:07 pm
If we're taking confusing movies, anyone seen Inherent Vice?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on August 23, 2015, 06:48:06 pm
If we're taking confusing movies, anyone seen Inherent Vice?
no, but I want to
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on August 23, 2015, 07:57:49 pm
Just saw Schindler's List. I think I'm going to be sick, I've never seen anything as exploitative, manipulative and borderline xenophobic. How is this an acclaimed movie ?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 23, 2015, 08:26:41 pm
Just saw Schindler's List. I think I'm going to be sick, I've never seen anything as exploitative, manipulative and borderline xenophobic. How is this an acclaimed movie ?

I don't follow.  I only saw it in high school, so I don't have too strong a memory of it.  Who is it xenophobic against?  Germans?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on August 23, 2015, 08:41:53 pm
Just saw Schindler's List. I think I'm going to be sick, I've never seen anything as exploitative, manipulative and borderline xenophobic. How is this an acclaimed movie ?

I don't follow.  I only saw it in high school, so I don't have too strong a memory of it.  Who is it xenophobic against?  Germans?

Yes. The whole movie is by English-speaking actors speaking with terrible German accents (that's annoying but not bad in and of itself)... except for when soldiers are killing Jews during the Krakow massacre : THERE they're speaking Germans. It honestly shocked me.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on August 23, 2015, 10:36:56 pm
Just saw Schindler's List. I think I'm going to be sick, I've never seen anything as exploitative, manipulative and borderline xenophobic. How is this an acclaimed movie ?

I don't follow.  I only saw it in high school, so I don't have too strong a memory of it.  Who is it xenophobic against?  Germans?

Yes. The whole movie is by English-speaking actors speaking with terrible German accents (that's annoying but not bad in and of itself)... except for when soldiers are killing Jews during the Krakow massacre : THERE they're speaking Germans. It honestly shocked me.
yeah, I guess maybe you're right? Still a good movie. Ray Fiennes was still excellent. I don't know any Germans so I have nothing to offer on whether he did a good accent.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on August 24, 2015, 12:32:43 am
I've seen Primer at least 5 times. Most recently just last month. I still have trouble following it. But it's awesome.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on August 24, 2015, 08:52:18 am
Just saw Schindler's List. I think I'm going to be sick, I've never seen anything as exploitative, manipulative and borderline xenophobic. How is this an acclaimed movie ?

I don't follow.  I only saw it in high school, so I don't have too strong a memory of it.  Who is it xenophobic against?  Germans?

Yes. The whole movie is by English-speaking actors speaking with terrible German accents (that's annoying but not bad in and of itself)... except for when soldiers are killing Jews during the Krakow massacre : THERE they're speaking Germans. It honestly shocked me.
yeah, I guess maybe you're right? Still a good movie. Ray Fiennes was still excellent. I don't know any Germans so I have nothing to offer on whether he did a good accent.

Well I haven't heard many Germans speak English so maybe his accent was good, but it was distracting to me, it added a level of artificiality.

Mostly I felt that this movie about the Holocaust was constantly trying to add stakes and manipulate emotionally when... I mean it's the Holocaust, you really don't need to add anything to make it emotionally involving.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on August 24, 2015, 10:54:07 am
I half remember Spielberg saying that he had to tone down the story because otherwise he expected viewers to think he was overdoing it. So it's kinda funny that you say that.

Plus there's Liam Neeson crying at the end because he could have saved more people. How could you resist that.  :(
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 26, 2015, 01:42:56 pm
An interesting criticism of It Follows by another film-lover, Quentin Tarantino:
http://www.vulture.com/2015/08/how-quentin-tarantino-would-fix-it-follows.html

There's a lot more in that article than his criticism of the movie, but that was the most interesting part.

I mostly agree with him on this. The theatre scene didn't bug me at first because I didn't know what was going on. After the movie, I realized that the dude was really way too dégagé about the situation. He really should have been freaking out.

And yeah the characters could have handled some scenes better, but that's the luxury we have as movie audiences. We see the big picture, and we are nice and calm in our seats. We can think up better ways to handle something when we're not being chased by a monster. So in that regard, I have to disagree with QT on this criticism.

But it's clear that the director loves movies. There were some really good shots in It Follows.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 30, 2015, 03:44:05 pm
I finally saw Edge of Tomorrow. Good movie. Quite a few elements from Starship Troopers, Paycheck, and Run, Lola, Run.

But that ending was the coppiest-out of cop-outs as I ever did see.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: eHalcyon on August 31, 2015, 08:13:29 pm
I watched Cloud Atlas this weekend.  I liked it, but I suspect that it would have been a bit too confusing if I hadn't read the book before.  Also, some of the makeup/prosthetics were cringe-worthy, like when Halle Berry played an old Asian man.  I'm also not sure whether they followed the book with the protagonist in each story being the same reincarnated soul (minus one) or whether they meant for the audience to consider each actor representing the same soul in each story.  I suspect the latter, and I guess that's an OK change for the film adaptation (although that would raise a question of what happened with Hugo Weaving's character, who is not an actual being but a vision or hallucination in the sixth story).  I did like the way they weaved all six stories together instead of using the nest structure of the book, which is great for prose but probably would not have worked for visual media.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on August 31, 2015, 08:33:17 pm
I finally saw Edge of Tomorrow. Good movie. Quite a few elements from Starship Troopers, Paycheck, and Run, Lola, Run.

But that ending was the coppiest-out of cop-outs as I ever did see.

The ending was awful. This movie was great until the very end.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on August 31, 2015, 08:48:47 pm
The only good part of the film was the one with the publisher and the nursing home. And that one was great. Everything else wanted to be a 25 min movie, and failed. Sometimes resoundingly.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: eHalcyon on August 31, 2015, 09:34:18 pm
The only good part of the film was the one with the publisher and the nursing home. And that one was great. Everything else wanted to be a 25 min movie, and failed. Sometimes resoundingly.

Did you read the book?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on August 31, 2015, 11:49:30 pm
No. You think my opinion would change if I had?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on September 01, 2015, 11:43:48 am
Watched Nightcrawler last night. It was very watchable, besides the ending that felt rushed. Jake Gyllenhall did a pretty job I thought.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on September 01, 2015, 12:01:34 pm
Grave of the Fireflies/Hotaru no Haka is incredible. Also, very sad. But also very beautiful. You should watch it.

I'm intrigued by Cloud Atlas having watched and mostly liked Sense8. Am I correct in assuming it's pretty similar to that show in spirit ?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on September 01, 2015, 12:04:23 pm
Grave of the Fireflies/Hotaru no Haka is incredible. Also, very sad. But also very beautiful. You should watch it.

I was just thinking of this movie the other day. I watched it when I was 7. I was never the same again.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on September 01, 2015, 12:06:24 pm
I really liked Cloud Atlas.  I haven't read the book, but I thought the movie was very well done, especially in terms of storytelling. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on September 01, 2015, 12:16:16 pm
Watched Nightcrawler last night. It was very watchable, besides the ending that felt rushed. Jake Gyllenhall did a pretty job I thought.

I liked Jake in it, but the story itself felt a bit disjointed, like it didn't really know where it wanted to go. Just show the depths to which his character is willing to stoop (i.e., any and all)? Ok, I guess...

Grave of the Fireflies/Hotaru no Haka is incredible. Also, very sad. But also very beautiful. You should watch it.

Dunno, I watched it not so long ago, and I felt like it was trying too hard. Plus, the kid was kind of an arse, so I never got emotionally involved in the story, which doesn't help any.


...Man, I am giving so many negative reviews lately.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: eHalcyon on September 01, 2015, 12:24:31 pm
No. You think my opinion would change if I had?

Maybe.  Or you might enjoy the book a lot and still find the film lacklustre.


@Teproc, you could give it a look.  It's got similar visual flair (of course) but the separate threads/characters are not as connected as in sense8.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on September 01, 2015, 01:07:37 pm
Cloud Atlas would be worth watching for the visuals alone. The story is very good, too (in the sense that I like how it conveys the things it's probably supposed to convey; the literal story itself is not all that important IMO). I haven't seen Sense8 though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on September 01, 2015, 02:31:00 pm
Grave of the Fireflies/Hotaru no Haka is incredible. Also, very sad. But also very beautiful. You should watch it.

Dunno, I watched it not so long ago, and I felt like it was trying too hard. Plus, the kid was kind of an arse, so I never got emotionally involved in the story, which doesn't help any.

An arse ? I mean, he makes bad decisions, but he's never mean. I get the "trying too hard" part, that often stops me from enjoying things (e.g. Schindler's List), but it worked here because I'm a sucker for Ghibli basically.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on September 01, 2015, 04:57:01 pm
I had a hard time deciding who I disliked the most, him or the aunt. I understand that his situation sort of excuses his being so spiteful and self-destructive, but at the end of the day, that doesn't make him any more endearing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on September 01, 2015, 05:45:10 pm
I had a hard time deciding who I disliked the most, him or the aunt. I understand that his situation sort of excuses his being so spiteful and self-destructive, but at the end of the day, that doesn't make him any more endearing.

I don't read him as spiteful at all. His aunt is right, but she's a real dick about it, considering they're two kids who just lost their mother.

Obviously (well, for me at least), the real emotional weight of the movie is on the girl anyway, but I felt for the boy as well. Sure he makes mistakes, and is arguably responsible for everything bad that happens eventually, but that doesn't detract from how powerful the story is for me.

To be clear I'm not trying to convince you, that'd be rather pointless, I can see how this can ruin the movie for someone, but I don't see it as flaw in and of itself.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on September 03, 2015, 10:44:08 pm
Birdman

or

So You Want to Watch Black Swan but Hate Ballet
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on September 04, 2015, 12:11:08 am
Birdman

or

So You Want to Watch Black Swan but Hate Ballet

I think birdman suffered from not being weird enough. I was really intrigued at the start if the film, when he's floating in his room, with the ambiguous images that flash on screen. But then they just explain everything. It would have maintained the intrigue if they cut the bad CGI, and kept the strange composition and ambiguousness of the birdman persona.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on September 04, 2015, 12:57:43 am
I thought Birdman was perfect.  And there was ambiguity through the ending.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on September 04, 2015, 10:25:01 am
I thought Birdman was perfect.  And there was ambiguity through the ending.

Don't get wrong I liked it, I just liked the start of the movie much than once they explain everything clearly. It felt like an art movie that was rewritten to be a regular movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on September 08, 2015, 10:37:01 am
I've seen This is Where I Leave You twice for some reason.

It's pretty good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on September 08, 2015, 02:31:11 pm
I went to see Song of the Sea, an animated film. It's a children's movie, but the style was very pleasant and it was charming. I recommend it, especially if you like 2D animation.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Titandrake on September 10, 2015, 02:05:18 am
Rewatched The Lego Movie today on a whim. Wow, I forgot how good that movie was. (Good as in entertaining/fun, there are movies with better artistry, although I would argue Lego Movie has some really cool shots.)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on September 20, 2015, 07:45:26 am
Hey, for a year or so I'm really into movies. I caught up with quite a few of essential stuff that I've missed, and I try to watch all kind of stuff now.
I've recently made a letterboxd account and starting writing reviews. They are not much and I am not really confident in my writing skills (especially in English) but well, it can't really hurt and I'm having fun.

So, here are the two I've written so far (Wolf of Wall Street and Unforgiven) http://letterboxd.com/grujah/films/reviews/
You can also see my account there and the movies that I've watched.  (ratings are a work in progress)

I would REALLY APPRECIATE recommendations - you can see what I've watch, so anything that isn't on that list is fine. genres, age, country - doesn't matter. Anything that I might like, and I do appreciate hidden gems more than some familiar titles (Many of which I have on my "watchlist" :P ) I can't really watch this years movies ATM though as I don't have a good cinema nearby.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on September 20, 2015, 02:11:33 pm
I'm on lettebox'd too, I'll follow you right away.

As for recommendations... I think you'd like Blood Simple, I think I saw good ratings for some Coen Bros. films in there. Blood Simple is their first film and it is astoundingly good, one of their best even though you don't hear about is as much.

Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on September 20, 2015, 02:18:58 pm
I recomend Drive. It's a really well done film. A lot of my other favorites you've already watched, but I didn't see The Sting. It's a great Paul Newman/Robert Redford movie.

EDIT: I also recomend the new Dredd movie. And John Wick :P Both good action movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on September 20, 2015, 02:37:47 pm
I'm on lettebox'd too, I'll follow you right away.

As for recommendations... I think you'd like Blood Simple, I think I saw good ratings for some Coen Bros. films in there. Blood Simple is their first film and it is astoundingly good, one of their best even though you don't hear about is as much.

Yeah, i love coen bros! Big Lebowki and Fargo got me, but Burn After Reading is what aealed the deal.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on September 20, 2015, 02:43:11 pm
I recomend Drive. It's a really well done film. A lot of my other favorites you've already watched, but I didn't see The Sting. It's a great Paul Newman/Robert Redford movie.

EDIT: I also recomend the new Dredd movie. And John Wick :P Both good action movies.

drive is on my list. Ive seen the sting, as newman / redford duo is what msde butch and sundance so memorable. Redford was great in sting, but i think the movie itself didnt age so well, as the whole hustle thing is a pretty standard thing today so the thrill just wasnt there.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: yuma on September 20, 2015, 03:17:09 pm
A favorite of mine of late is Gaslight. Ingrid Bergman. And it coined a Psychological term, that I won't explain given its relevance to the plot. But it was psych class that interested me in the first place and it ended being pretty good. Somewhat Hitchcockian...
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on September 21, 2015, 09:38:04 am
Watch Swingers.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on September 21, 2015, 02:19:03 pm
@grujah, great reviews, I agree with a good deal of your points. But I'd have to say you're underrating The Sting quite a bit. It's basically the movie that is responsible for contemporary con movies such as Ocean's 11, Inside Man, Matchstick Men, and I'm sure there are others I can't think of as well. Even something like Inception is deeply rooted in The Sting.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on September 21, 2015, 03:13:52 pm
I understand that, and I actually did enjoy watching it as it has that old school charm that I like. I can see it from historical point how it was something new and fresh, but you know, Hustle has done the same elaborate schemes every week for 8 seasons, so, you are kinda used to the whole plot.

But for example, one movie that I did very much enjoy, and it is this same "old school con movies" is the original Italian Job, with Micheal Kane.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on September 21, 2015, 03:15:12 pm
Sneakers ~
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on September 21, 2015, 03:37:50 pm
I understand that, and I actually did enjoy watching it as it has that old school charm that I like. I can see it from historical point how it was something new and fresh, but you know, Hustle has done the same elaborate schemes every week for 8 seasons, so, you are kinda used to the whole plot.

But for example, one movie that I did very much enjoy, and it is this same "old school con movies" is the original Italian Job, with Micheal Kane.

Hustle also did an episode which was literally The Sting but done way worse. Hustle is a fun show, but it has far less character development that the Sting has. The film has the tension of Redford's character with the older generation of conmen.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: yuma on September 21, 2015, 03:38:14 pm
@grujah, great reviews, I agree with a good deal of your points. But I'd have to say you're underrating The Sting quite a bit. It's basically the movie that is responsible for contemporary con movies such as Ocean's 11.

actually, the original ocean's eleven came out 13 years before the sting. sinatra, martin, sammy davis jr.

but really the clooney/pitt version is way better
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on September 21, 2015, 07:10:30 pm
I'm with Grujah on The Sting. It's a pretty fun movie, but not much more. It might be influential, but that's beside the point if you're judging the movie for itself, otherwise the best movie of all time would be "L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat" (the Lumière film with the train, first public screening of a film).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on September 21, 2015, 07:27:01 pm
@grujah, great reviews, I agree with a good deal of your points. But I'd have to say you're underrating The Sting quite a bit. It's basically the movie that is responsible for contemporary con movies such as Ocean's 11.

actually, the original ocean's eleven came out 13 years before the sting. sinatra, martin, sammy davis jr.

but really the clooney/pitt version is way better
you're right of course. I knew that, but I've never seen it so I guess it just slipped my mind.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on September 21, 2015, 08:33:46 pm
I understand that, and I actually did enjoy watching it as it has that old school charm that I like. I can see it from historical point how it was something new and fresh, but you know, Hustle has done the same elaborate schemes every week for 8 seasons, so, you are kinda used to the whole plot.

But for example, one movie that I did very much enjoy, and it is this same "old school con movies" is the original Italian Job, with Micheal Kane.

Hustle also did an episode which was literally The Sting but done way worse. Hustle is a fun show, but it has far less character development that the Sting has. The film has the tension of Redford's character with the older generation of conmen.

Film has things going for it, I do not deny that. Redford's character is being chased by so many different parties during the movie and getting away is probably my favourite part. It's just that the scam plot nowadays doesn't really hold water anymore.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on September 21, 2015, 09:44:47 pm
On the subject of movies, thoughts on the upcoming Steve Jobs?  There have been a lot of movies about him, and I've seen none of them, and don't really have any interest in him.  However, it is written by Aaron Sorkin (he wrote The Social Network along with a bunch of TV shows (e.g., Sports Night)), and directed by Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Sunshine, Slumdog Millionaire, etc.).  Also Michael Fassbender is in it.  So I'll probably see it (Danny Boyle being the biggest reason).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on September 21, 2015, 10:02:26 pm
I pretty much hate the Cult of Jobs, so, I am probably skipping it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on September 21, 2015, 10:27:51 pm
I pretty much hate the Cult of Jobs, so, I am probably skipping it.

But the cult of Danny Boyle...
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on September 22, 2015, 04:52:16 am
Cult of Aaron Sorkin for me, I'll definitely be watching it.

And the only thing more annoying to me than people idolizing Steve Jobs are the ones demonizing him. We'll see which way the film goes, hopefully somewhere in the middle.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on September 24, 2015, 08:33:56 am
Showing Rocky Horror Picture Show at a drive-in theatre.

Bad idea or worst idea?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on September 24, 2015, 09:29:42 am
Showing Rocky Horror Picture Show at a drive-in theatre.

Bad idea or worstBest idea.

Fixed that for you
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on September 24, 2015, 09:48:59 am
I've never seen RHPS.

I've listened to all of Bat out of Hell I and II, though, so that's the same, right?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on September 24, 2015, 09:51:07 am
I've never seen RHPS.

I've listened to all of Bat out of Hell I and II, though, so that's the same, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMRl55U0eDw
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on September 24, 2015, 10:00:52 am
On the subject of movies, thoughts on the upcoming Steve Jobs?  There have been a lot of movies about him, and I've seen none of them, and don't really have any interest in him.  However, it is written by Aaron Sorkin (he wrote The Social Network along with a bunch of TV shows (e.g., Sports Night)), and directed by Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Sunshine, Slumdog Millionaire, etc.).  Also Michael Fassbender is in it.  So I'll probably see it (Danny Boyle being the biggest reason).

So I'm not a fan of Danny Boyle. I can appreciate that he has a talented and unique style; I just happen to not like that style. Like I did think 127 Hours was great, but there were some scenes where it was just like "oh, here's that Danny Boyle style now". I'll see the new movie some day anyway, on DVD. I actually really liked Jobs; I thought Kutcher was really good in it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on September 24, 2015, 10:15:32 am
On the subject of movies, thoughts on the upcoming Steve Jobs?  There have been a lot of movies about him, and I've seen none of them, and don't really have any interest in him.  However, it is written by Aaron Sorkin (he wrote The Social Network along with a bunch of TV shows (e.g., Sports Night)), and directed by Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Sunshine, Slumdog Millionaire, etc.).  Also Michael Fassbender is in it.  So I'll probably see it (Danny Boyle being the biggest reason).

So I'm not a fan of Danny Boyle.

You may see yourself out.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on September 24, 2015, 10:15:59 am
Seriously though, have you seen 28 Days Later and Sunshine?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on September 24, 2015, 10:32:05 am
Or Shallow Grave. That was my first introduction to Boyle. And the two male leads, for that matter.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on September 24, 2015, 11:03:23 am
28 Days Later is phenomenal.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on September 24, 2015, 11:19:15 am
I didn't particularly like The Beach, but Trainspotting and Slumdog were fantastic.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on September 24, 2015, 12:01:10 pm
Seriously though, have you seen 28 Days Later and Sunshine?

Yup. I can't blame my non-enjoyment of 28 Days Later on Boyle; I pretty much don't really like any zombie-genre movies. But Sunshine just really annoyed me with the "Boyle style". I plan to watch it again sometime; I expect to like it better now that I know what it is. But when I first saw it, I was expecting a more typical disaster-type film; and instead it was all visuals and artiness. I down own and will see Slumdog Millionaire at some point.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on September 24, 2015, 12:03:13 pm
I didn't particularly like The Beach, but Trainspotting and Slumdog were fantastic.

I didn't realize that The Beach and Trainspotting were Boyle. I haven't seen them, but I've been interested in seeing them for a while.

I suppose I haven't seen nearly enough Boyle to fairly say "I don't like Boyle". All I can say is that in both 127 Hours and Sunshine, I was wanting a more typical/direct storytelling instead of a visual art-piece.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on September 26, 2015, 01:10:51 am
Just watched Snowpiercer (finally).  I liked it quite a bit.   People have talked about the political thing, but I don't think that matters for the enjoyment of the film.  It's more, like, just a cool, original experience. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 04, 2015, 09:24:23 pm
I kind of want to write a thesis about how The Princess Bride is one of the worst love stories ever.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on October 07, 2015, 12:37:43 am
I kind of want to write a thesis about how The Princess Bride is one of the worst love stories ever.
will you mention that it's a good movie?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 07, 2015, 08:02:42 am
I kind of want to write a thesis about how The Princess Bride is one of the worst love stories ever.
will you mention that it's a good movie?

I feel like it's such a good movie that it shouldn't need that caveat, but I imagine some might assume that criticizing the love story as a criticism of the movie itself.

And one could argue that the movie is about a storybook and that the outrageousness of the romance is satire. I'm not all that familiar with those types of storybooks, so I don't know if such an abusive relationship is the standard. If so, then the movie is all the more brilliant for showcasing that. Still, holding this up as a great love story is like holding up Phantom of the Opera as romantic.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on October 07, 2015, 08:19:56 am
I kind of want to write a thesis about how The Princess Bride is one of the worst love stories ever.

Will you mention that it is the most overrated movie ever?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 07, 2015, 08:57:33 am
I kind of want to write a thesis about how The Princess Bride is one of the worst love stories ever.
will you mention that it's a good movie?

I feel like it's such a good movie that it shouldn't need that caveat, but I imagine some might assume that criticizing the love story as a criticism of the movie itself.

And one could argue that the movie is about a storybook and that the outrageousness of the romance is satire. I'm not all that familiar with those types of storybooks, so I don't know if such an abusive relationship is the standard. If so, then the movie is all the more brilliant for showcasing that. Still, holding this up as a great love story is like holding up Phantom of the Opera as romantic.

Labyrinth depicts a more abusive relationship.  I mean, he stopped time for her!  That ungrateful girl.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 07, 2015, 10:30:08 am
Ah yes, there's a couple that's fit for the Springer show. He's a manipulative control freak, and she's a spoiled brat. Match made in Hell.

Labyrinth depicts a more abuse relationship.  I mean, he stopped time for her!  That ungrateful girl.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Qvist on October 19, 2015, 08:35:46 am
No mention of "Inside Out"? You have to watch it, it's another Pixar masterpiece.

Also, I have recently watched "Les diaboliques", wow I was amazed how tense it was, definitely another masterpiece.

Other movies I recently watched and enjoyed quite a bit:
- Carnage: I think you either love it or hate it. I laughed very often even though it's not funny. I just disliked the abrupt ending.
- Mr. Nobody: Another movie you'll either love or hate. It's a philosophical movie of a man who lives all the possible lives of a decision. I was especially impressed how well the woman with depression was portrayed in only a couple of scenes.
- Micmacs à tire-larigot: Movie by Jean Pierre Jeunet that I liked more than Amelie.
- Birdman
- La vita è bella
- Tall Man: It's not a great movie by itself, but if you like movies with twists, it might be perfect for you.
- 21 Jump Street: Finally a good comedy
- A History of Violence
- Safe House: I generally am not a fan of Action movies, but this one I enjoyed quite a lot

And I'm looking forward to see "The Martian", probably next week. Anyone seen it yet?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on October 19, 2015, 09:20:20 am
I like Micmacs à tire-larigot a lot, but better than Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain ? Now that's crazy talk.

I'm very intrigued by Mr. Nobody after likin Le tout nouveau testament (also by Jaco van Dormael) a lot; I'd recommend that one, probably.

I'm seeing The Martian tomorrow night, very excited for it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 19, 2015, 09:25:28 am
No mention of "Inside Out"? You have to watch it, it's another Pixar masterpiece.

Also, I have recently watched "Les diaboliques", wow I was amazed how tense it was, definitely another masterpiece.

Other movies I recently watched and enjoyed quite a bit:
- Carnage: I think you either love it or hate it. I laughed very often even though it's not funny. I just disliked the abrupt ending.
- Mr. Nobody: Another movie you'll either love or hate. It's a philosophical movie of a man who lives all the possible lives of a decision. I was especially impressed how well the woman with depression was portrayed in only a couple of scenes.
- Micmacs à tire-larigot: Movie by Jean Pierre Jeunet that I liked more than Amelie.
- Birdman
- La vita è bella
- Tall Man: It's not a great movie by itself, but if you like movies with twists, it might be perfect for you.
- 21 Jump Street: Finally a good comedy
- A History of Violence
- Safe House: I generally am not a fan of Action movies, but this one I enjoyed quite a lot

And I'm looking forward to see "The Martian", probably next week. Anyone seen it yet?

The Martian was great.  Science was even not terrible.  Actually, pretty good.  Only a couple of stretches/inconsistencies.  Overall it was well made and well acted.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 19, 2015, 09:28:57 am
Oh, and A History of Violence.  I really liked that.  It was one of the more... tame, and seemingly straightforward, Cronenberg movies. 

Have you seen Cosmopolis?  It got pretty poor reviews, but I thought it was great. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Qvist on October 19, 2015, 09:32:22 am
Have you seen Cosmopolis?  It got pretty poor reviews, but I thought it was great.

No, but it's already on my watchlist.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on October 19, 2015, 12:25:09 pm
I saw the Martian too. It was ok, but I didn't like how American it was, as if the entire world would be on the edge of their seats for the American astronaut to make it home.

EDIT: sicario was a much better film. I recommend that more than the martian.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 19, 2015, 12:51:03 pm
I haven't seen the Martian, so I can't say if the response would be overblown. But if this was the first manned expedition to Mars, would the world not be entranced by it regardless of nationality?

Though that still wouldn't justify the pretty Ameri-centric stance of our movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on October 19, 2015, 02:57:41 pm
I haven't seen the Martian, so I can't say if the response would be overblown. But if this was the first manned expedition to Mars, would the world not be entranced by it regardless of nationality?

Though that still wouldn't justify the pretty Ameri-centric stance of our movies.

It was the 3rd or 4th mission to mars.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 19, 2015, 03:02:31 pm
I haven't seen the Martian, so I can't say if the response would be overblown. But if this was the first manned expedition to Mars, would the world not be entranced by it regardless of nationality?

Though that still wouldn't justify the pretty Ameri-centric stance of our movies.

It was the 3rd or 4th mission to mars.

I kind of got the impression that it wasn't a huge world-wide issue until later on.  The issue about the lone person being alive and stranded on Mars is kind of a big one; doesn't really matter that he was American. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on October 19, 2015, 06:22:56 pm
I haven't seen the Martian, so I can't say if the response would be overblown. But if this was the first manned expedition to Mars, would the world not be entranced by it regardless of nationality?

Though that still wouldn't justify the pretty Ameri-centric stance of our movies.

It was the 3rd or 4th mission to mars.

I kind of got the impression that it wasn't a huge world-wide issue until later on.  The issue about the lone person being alive and stranded on Mars is kind of a big one; doesn't really matter that he was American.

But they showed London and people out in the streets waving american flags and stuff. Even if they were out on the streets watching him on big screens, waving american flags? Really? And in China too? I know they helped get him back, but why wave american flags? No Chinese flags? But this is a long running thing with me that I very much don't like hollywood films that act like the US is the king of all countries.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on October 20, 2015, 03:36:25 pm
Is Fight Club worth watching when you've already got the twist spoiled?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 20, 2015, 03:52:11 pm
Is Fight Club worth watching when you've already got the twist spoiled?

Yes, it's a great movie. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: gkrieg13 on October 20, 2015, 03:54:13 pm
Is Fight Club worth watching when you've already got the twist spoiled?

Yes, it's a great movie.

Ugh will you guys quit talking about fight club!  Don't you know the rules?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 20, 2015, 03:55:28 pm
Is Fight Club worth watching when you've already got the twist spoiled?

Considering I rewatch it several times, I suppose so.

It's a gritty, visceral, nihilistic story, and I think it's told pretty well. Even though you know the ending, try to watch it with the mindset of not knowing what's happening, but even knowing the story, that shouldn't change things.

The beginning is pretty much a narration of consumerism gone wild. It has a very jaded point of view, and it's interesting to see how the story evolves from insomnia to domestic terrorism, though it does seem like a pretty outrageous jump. 

And Brad Pitt and Ed Norton do great jobs. I'm not a Brad Pitt fanboy, but I do admire how he's so good-looking, but he's more than willing to take on ugly roles, such as Seven Years in Tibet, Snatch, 12 Monkeys, and of course Fight Club. This was also my first exposure to Helen Bonham Carter, before she became a Tim Burton regular. Her portrayal was good but also creepy because I once dated a girl like her. Not quite as bad but pretty close. That was exhausting (in the good and bad ways).

It makes me wonder about the character who got the fight clubs started. It's one thing when some stranger sees two guys punching each other, and he says he wants to be next, but it's something entirely different when he sees one guy punching himself repeatedly and says he wants to be next. Who the fuck thinks that's a good idea to make eye contact with a whacko like that?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 21, 2015, 09:22:34 pm
I finally found out where this meme came from:

(http://i.imgur.com/SCelG.gif)

I've been wanting to watch Spirited Away for a long time, but finally got around to it last night.  I didn't know this was from it; when I saw the scene I cracked up.

PS: Great movie; everyone watch it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on October 22, 2015, 03:22:32 am

I've been wanting to watch Spirited Away for a long time, but finally got around to it last night.  I didn't know this was from it; when I saw the scene I cracked up.

PS: Great movie; everyone watch it.

And then watch it again.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on October 24, 2015, 07:59:17 pm
- Mr. Nobody: Another movie you'll either love or hate.
I didn't love or hate it, just thought it was sort of decent-ish
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 29, 2015, 09:28:33 am
So I watched Steve Jobs.  I really recommend it, for writing, acting, directing, general movieness.  It is, of course, fictional in the sense of plot, though the major events are true.* In terms of "accuracy", it's kind of like The Social Network; it's meant to be enjoyed as a movie and not a historical piece.

*I should say, I know basically nothing about Steve Jobs, so I'm saying this based on a little bit I looked up. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on October 29, 2015, 02:56:01 pm
Watched Crimson Peak yesterday. Meh. Nice visuals, and far more enjoyable than that terrible jumpscare collection known as "The woman in black". Still a relatively weak and unoriginal, story-wise. At least it has style.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on October 29, 2015, 03:09:18 pm
I watched the extended edition of the third Hobbit movie recently. I had high expectations for it after the cinema edition felt a little bit too short, and it did not disappoint.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on October 30, 2015, 12:45:40 am
I watched the extended edition of the third Hobbit movie recently. I had high expectations for it after the cinema edition felt a little bit too short, and it did not disappoint.

*holds in rage about how the hobbit movies are terrible cinema, terribly done action, and use terrible CGI to spoon feed fans cheap film making with nothing but expected punches and plot twists worthy of a 5 year old writing their first script.*
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on October 30, 2015, 12:48:20 am
Watched Crimson Peak yesterday. Meh. Nice visuals, and far more enjoyable than that terrible jumpscare collection known as "The woman in black". Still a relatively weak and unoriginal, story-wise. At least it has style.

I was told that it was a romantic film with some ghosts, but that it looked very nice.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on October 30, 2015, 03:28:47 am
I watched the extended edition of the third Hobbit movie recently. I had high expectations for it after the cinema edition felt a little bit too short, and it did not disappoint.

*holds in rage about how the hobbit movies are terrible cinema, terribly done action, and use terrible CGI to spoon feed fans cheap film making with nothing but expected punches and plot twists worthy of a 5 year old writing their first script.*

It's not supposed to be an action movie, the CGI is super good (for a live action movie; obviously animated movies still look a lot better), and the plot in Tolkien's works is usually mostly just an excuse to explore the amazing world.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on October 30, 2015, 05:56:07 am
Watched Crimson Peak yesterday. Meh. Nice visuals, and far more enjoyable than that terrible jumpscare collection known as "The woman in black". Still a relatively weak and unoriginal, story-wise. At least it has style.

I was told that it was a romantic film with some ghosts, but that it looked very nice.

It's a film about love, but i didn't feel it was very romantic. The movie even lampshades how love stories are always forced into a plot, which was one of the details i appreciated when watching.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on October 30, 2015, 10:49:24 am
I watched the extended edition of the third Hobbit movie recently. I had high expectations for it after the cinema edition felt a little bit too short, and it did not disappoint.

*holds in rage about how the hobbit movies are terrible cinema, terribly done action, and use terrible CGI to spoon feed fans cheap film making with nothing but expected punches and plot twists worthy of a 5 year old writing their first script.*

It's not supposed to be an action movie, the CGI is super good (for a live action movie; obviously animated movies still look a lot better), and the plot in Tolkien's works is usually mostly just an excuse to explore the amazing world.

Not an action movie? 4/5ths of the third movie was people twirling around choppin off orcs heads. There was no uniqueness to any of the action. And the CGI is not good. That scene where Legolas jumps on the falling rocks of the tower? It looked like he was flailing through glue. Mad Max is an example of good CGI, because you thought Mad Max was a good example of practical effects :P It has so much CGI but you hardly noticed it because it's blended with the practical effects so well. But The Hobbit just puts lots of generic orcs getting their head lopped off by peasants with no training, and has that run for like 2 hours of the film.

Am I supposed to be aroused when Legolas does something cool? That's why he's there. Or look, a fake CGI Legolas uses a bird to fly up a tower, crash it down to create a bridge than ride a troll into battle. This is a good video of how to do good action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ)

And here is a recent movie that follows a lot of what is said in the video above. Longer, clearer shots with a lot of good pacing. They even throw in a joke, just like the cheesy Jackie Chan movies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cYDsVamQqU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cYDsVamQqU)


I do actually agree that the plots is more about exploring Tolkien's world. I just felt the third movie didnt explore anything. It was all just these armies fighting at one place. The first Hobbite movie I liked more because you saw a lot of the world.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on October 30, 2015, 03:36:22 pm
Not an action movie? 4/5ths of the third movie was people twirling around choppin off orcs heads. There was no uniqueness to any of the action. And the CGI is not good. That scene where Legolas jumps on the falling rocks of the tower? It looked like he was flailing through glue. Mad Max is an example of good CGI, because you thought Mad Max was a good example of practical effects :P It has so much CGI but you hardly noticed it because it's blended with the practical effects so well. But The Hobbit just puts lots of generic orcs getting their head lopped off by peasants with no training, and has that run for like 2 hours of the film.

Am I supposed to be aroused when Legolas does something cool? That's why he's there. Or look, a fake CGI Legolas uses a bird to fly up a tower, crash it down to create a bridge than ride a troll into battle. This is a good video of how to do good action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ)

And here is a recent movie that follows a lot of what is said in the video above. Longer, clearer shots with a lot of good pacing. They even throw in a joke, just like the cheesy Jackie Chan movies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cYDsVamQqU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cYDsVamQqU)


I do actually agree that the plots is more about exploring Tolkien's world. I just felt the third movie didnt explore anything. It was all just these armies fighting at one place. The first Hobbite movie I liked more because you saw a lot of the world.

Well, there is lots of action, but it's also not a romcom even though it has elements of romance and comedy. And it's not like those are particularly unique or well done either, but it doesn't matter all that much because it's not the point.

What's the point of CGI if it doesn't even look like CGI? I think the Madoka movies have some of the best CGI I've ever seen, but if we restrict it to live action movies, then there still are better looking movies than BOFA out there (Cloud Atlas and Life of Pi come to mind), but at least it does look good, which is already pretty amazing for a live action movie.

Yes, the armies are fighting at one place, but the armies are from various places and I like how that's portrayed.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ehunt on October 30, 2015, 03:39:30 pm
Watched Crimson Peak yesterday. Meh. Nice visuals, and far more enjoyable than that terrible jumpscare collection known as "The woman in black". Still a relatively weak and unoriginal, story-wise. At least it has style.

im with you. i was surprised by the good reviews. it's billed as a suspenseful romantic horror film but it's not suspenseful or romantic and all the twists are completely obvious. other than visuals it has nothing going for it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 30, 2015, 11:51:27 pm
It's lovely to see someone just stop giving a shit when typing up descriptions.

Saw: Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) holds two men (Leigh Whannell, Cary Elwes) captive and forces them to choose who will live and who will die — and who will saw off his own foot.

Saw II: Jigsaw ups his kidnapping game to eight strangers in one room.

Saw III: Jigsaw takes on a protégé named Amanda (Shawnee Smith). It’s great to have someone carry on traditions.

Saw IV: Jigsaw is dead, but he’s still wreaking havoc in the form of a tape the police find in his stomach. Who eats tapes?

Saw V: Congratulations, you’ve watched five Saw movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on October 31, 2015, 08:43:31 am

What's the point of CGI if it doesn't even look like CGI?

This is one if the weirdest things I've heard. The point of CGI is to make it look like things are happening that you can't actually make happen in real life. Same as the point of practical effects, though you can do a lot more with CGI. Good CGI absolutely should not look like CGI. Not in that context anyway. I mean you can have animated films that aren't supposed to look real, and that's a different story. But it's definitely a bad thing if the CGI in your film looks fake. The reason it's being used is to make the audience believe they are actually seeing a certain thing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on October 31, 2015, 09:55:29 am
This is one if the weirdest things I've heard. The point of CGI is to make it look like things are happening that you can't actually make happen in real life. Same as the point of practical effects, though you can do a lot more with CGI. Good CGI absolutely should not look like CGI. Not in that context anyway. I mean you can have animated films that aren't supposed to look real, and that's a different story. But it's definitely a bad thing if the CGI in your film looks fake. The reason it's being used is to make the audience believe they are actually seeing a certain thing.

But stuff that looks real is super boring. I see stuff that looks real all the time IRL, I don't need to watch a movie for that. Good art in general is supposed to have more artistic value than just being a replication of real stuff, and that includes CGI in movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on October 31, 2015, 10:31:47 am
Well some great movies only show things that could actually happen in real life, but that's not what I meant. If there's a CGI dragon on screen, that's something you couldn't see in real life. But it's much better if the movie makes you believe that you're actually seeing a dragon.

There's a reason the tag line for the original Superman was "you'll believe a man can fly", not "you'll see some artistic representation of a man flying".
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on October 31, 2015, 10:50:50 am
Well some great movies only show things that could actually happen in real life, but that's not what I meant. If there's a CGI dragon on screen, that's something you couldn't see in real life. But it's much better if the movie makes you believe that you're actually seeing a dragon.

There's a reason the tag line for the original Superman was "you'll believe a man can fly", not "you'll see some artistic representation of a man flying".

Well, there's really no way I'm going to believe that I'm actually seeing a dragon. It's a movie, it makes me believe that I'm seeing a movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on October 31, 2015, 10:56:14 am
Well some great movies only show things that could actually happen in real life, but that's not what I meant. If there's a CGI dragon on screen, that's something you couldn't see in real life. But it's much better if the movie makes you believe that you're actually seeing a dragon.

There's a reason the tag line for the original Superman was "you'll believe a man can fly", not "you'll see some artistic representation of a man flying".

Well, there's really no way I'm going to believe that I'm actually seeing a dragon. It's a movie, it makes me believe that I'm seeing a movie.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief

I mean it's fine if you personally prefer to go to a movie for the purpose of feeling like your watching a movie. But for most people, suspension of disbelief is a big part of the entertainment/value of watching a movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on October 31, 2015, 11:00:34 am
Well some great movies only show things that could actually happen in real life, but that's not what I meant. If there's a CGI dragon on screen, that's something you couldn't see in real life. But it's much better if the movie makes you believe that you're actually seeing a dragon.

There's a reason the tag line for the original Superman was "you'll believe a man can fly", not "you'll see some artistic representation of a man flying".

Well, there's really no way I'm going to believe that I'm actually seeing a dragon. It's a movie, it makes me believe that I'm seeing a movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL6hp8BKB24

This is what we mean by CGI. Obviously you don't believe dragons exist, or that Iron Man's Suit is real, but it looks real in the movie.

If the CGI looked like a game from 90's, all blocky, you'd say "Hey! that looks bad!" So of course animated movies aren't supposed to look real, but a movie where it just looks like a bunch of people in front of a green screen does not look good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on October 31, 2015, 01:22:43 pm
This is what we mean by CGI. Obviously you don't believe dragons exist, or that Iron Man's Suit is real, but it looks real in the movie.

If the CGI looked like a game from 90's, all blocky, you'd say "Hey! that looks bad!" So of course animated movies aren't supposed to look real, but a movie where it just looks like a bunch of people in front of a green screen does not look good.

Yeah, the Iron Man's suit looks real within the setting of the movie, but it super doesn't have to. While I agree that you should be aware of the computer's limitations, I think that you should not only try to get around the limitations, but also embrace them, because that's when you have to get creative and come up with more interesting and unique solutions which make the movie much more worth watching.

I wouldn't necessarily say that CGI that looks like a game from 90's looks bad. For instance, this looks pretty good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Kgf9t51j8
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on October 31, 2015, 03:33:17 pm
I totally agree it depnds on what te film. I'm studying animation, and many of my peers films would be terrible if they were realistic. I should have clarified I was talking about CGI in Hollywood films that use it as special effects to replace practical effects. In fact, the clip I posted addresses exactly this, that people forgive bad effects if the film is good.

I would argue though that if you're using 3D effects as a style for your film, then realism is of course no the intention. But Legolas jumping and all the hobbit cgi was meant to look real, not stylized, and that's why it's bad.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on October 31, 2015, 05:06:24 pm
I totally agree it depnds on what te film. I'm studying animation, and many of my peers films would be terrible if they were realistic. I should have clarified I was talking about CGI in Hollywood films that use it as special effects to replace practical effects. In fact, the clip I posted addresses exactly this, that people forgive bad effects if the film is good.

I would argue though that if you're using 3D effects as a style for your film, then realism is of course no the intention. But Legolas jumping and all the hobbit cgi was meant to look real, not stylized, and that's why it's bad.

Well, there were a couple of little things in BOFA that were clearly just mistakes, like the physics of some orcs in the fight scenes (the Legolas one didn't really bother me), but I think the overall visual look of The Hobbit, which the CGI plays a big role in, is a little bit stylized. Clearly it's still intended to be accessible for mainstream audiences and it's playing it fairly safe, but there is something more and something less to it than just looking as real as possible, which I really like and which the movies have been needlessly criticized for.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 31, 2015, 05:20:32 pm
I think one should keep in mind that The Hobbit was stylistically much different than Lord of the Rings.  The Hobbit was written for kids, and it read like it.  The narrative was much simpler and more like someone sitting you down and telling you a story.  It makes sense for the movies to represent this difference, too.  The Hobbit movies are a little more cartoony and "fun adventure", and I think that works out alright. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on October 31, 2015, 11:51:09 pm
I think one should keep in mind that The Hobbit was stylistically much different than Lord of the Rings.  The Hobbit was written for kids, and it read like it.  The narrative was much simpler and more like someone sitting you down and telling you a story.  It makes sense for the movies to represent this difference, too.  The Hobbit movies are a little more cartoony and "fun adventure", and I think that works out alright.

No I'm not criticizing the more "fun adventure" style of the movies. But when Legolas jumps on falling rocks, I want to think "That's Legolas jumping on falling rocks!" and not "Hey that's not Legolas but instead a poorly done version of him in CGI that doesn't even have his proportions!" Things like the barrels in the rapids in the second movie I won't criticize because that's part of the fun adventure style.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on November 09, 2015, 10:44:23 am
I also had seen Crimson Peak. It was on my list of movies I'm willing to watch but not go nuts over. Alas, the Martian was sold out, so we saw this instead.

Definitely more style than substance. The story was really bland. The metadiscussion of romance shoehorned into a ghost story was amusing, but it didn't strike me as self-referential, as this movie had the opposite. There were ghosts shoehorned into a mystery story. Seriously, the ghosts did not contribute to the movie. They led the protagonist to some clues, but the script could have easily been written so that she finds the clues on her own. The ghosts did nothing to advance the plot, especially the ghost in the opening sequence. The end ghost had a way for her to say goodbye, but that was still unnecessary, especially considering the huge betrayal she experienced.

I wasn't even that fond of how the ghosts looked. The smoky tendrils weren't very wispy so it was like parts of their bones were twisting upward. That could be a cool effect too, but I interpreted the effect to have meant to be wispy. I did enjoy the effects of the clay, though even that seemed heavy-handed at times. Does clay really behave that way? In one scene, it was just oozing down the wall like blood (intentional, no doubt).

Kind of disappointed, and I’m glad we used free tickets to see it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 09, 2015, 10:49:31 am
I'm kind of surprised; I expect Guillermo del Toro movies to be good.  Have you seen The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labryinth?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on November 09, 2015, 11:29:54 am
I'm kind of surprised; I expect Guillermo del Toro movies to be good.  Have you seen The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labryinth?

I'm a little surprised too. I expected better. I did enjoy Pan's Labyrinth. I have not seen the Devil's Backbone, but I'll add that to my list.

I also saw Mimic. It was okay. It didn't strike me as a really good movie.

The guy does excellent visuals. I don't know how much of the script was del Toro's fault. He was a co-writer, so it's anyone's guess.

As far as the mystery story, del Toro shot it pretty well. There were tense moments with the key ring and the gramophone. It's just that the whole story could have been told without the ghosts. In fact, if you remove the ghost scenes, then you show a woman who probably acts a little insane but has an uncanny ability to conveniently find clues. Clever writing could smooth those scenes over entirely.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 09, 2015, 11:34:06 am
Well, I guess style is his thing. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on November 09, 2015, 01:17:49 pm
Huh, this reminds me of the Shining (movie), where the boy's special ability doesn't do that much, either. It just calls for a guy who comes to help them and is immediately killed. But maybe that's an intentional "Bet you didn't expect that" effect a lá Psycho.

Having said that, i think The Shining is a pretty good movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: eHalcyon on November 09, 2015, 01:22:18 pm
I finally watched Inside Out.  It is great, as expected.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on November 09, 2015, 01:23:10 pm
I think we talked about Coen Brothers earlier in the thread, but I just finally saw The Hudsucker Proxy. Absolutely amazing; high up on my list of Coen Brothers movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on November 09, 2015, 01:23:45 pm
I think we talked about Coen Brothers earlier in the thread, but I just finally saw The Hudsucker Proxy. Absolutely amazing; high up on my list of Coen Brothers movies.

Easily the best.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on November 09, 2015, 01:36:37 pm
Huh, this reminds me of the Shining (movie), where the boy's special ability doesn't do that much, either. It just calls for a guy who comes to help them and is immediately killed. But maybe that's an intentional "Bet you didn't expect that" effect a lá Psycho.

Having said that, i think The Shining is a pretty good movie.

I think the idea was to downplay all the super natural stuff in The Shining. The book just makes everything caused by the supernatural. The movie played with what was really supernatural and what was reality. The boy's powers are used more to give an atmosphere to the hotel with the stuff he sees that clearly isn't there.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on November 09, 2015, 02:20:21 pm
I think we talked about Coen Brothers earlier in the thread, but I just finally saw The Hudsucker Proxy. Absolutely amazing; high up on my list of Coen Brothers movies.

Easily the best.

While I have not seen it, I am somewhat doubtful that it is "easily" the best.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on November 09, 2015, 02:50:50 pm
The Shining is kind of similar in that regard. The power does nothing to help Danny. In fact, it just serves to make him even more miserable. I viewed the shining as just another curse. It allowed him to revisit these horrible scenes. It's kind of like the Sixth Sense except that Danny was never given the opportunity to help the ghosts. These things just wanted to kill/terrify/madden. I suppose that is why I accept Danny's shining to the ghosts in Crimson Peak. The ghosts in the Shining were all part of this malignant force that worked to get Jack to murder his family. Crimson Peak's ghosts were just sad imprints that tried to get justice on their killers by pointing to clues—very much similar to the little girl in the Sixth Sense.

Ooh, Inside Out. It was a good movie. I was pleased to see so much of my psychology classes show up here. I'm no parent, but I bet this would be a good movie for parents and preteens to watch together so that the preteen won't feel alone when going through mood swings and maybe will confide in the parent? Sound reasonable?

I think Hudsucker Proxy is my favorite Coen. I've not seen them all, and it's hard to top Lebowski. But Hudsucker amuses me because of the absurd brush used to paint corporate America. It's not as absurd as Brazil, but it has plenty of moments that are laughable and cringeworthy. And hey, Bruce Campbell. Bonus. I think my favorite gag is the moment of silence they make everyone observe and then dock their pay of that minute they were forced to take.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 09, 2015, 02:54:56 pm
Hm.. it's been a while since I read the book, but I believe Danny's Shining was pretty pivotal.  It ultimately gave him the strength to fight (or at least outlast) his father.  Also the metaphor for alcoholism and how it ruins a family is a lot heavier. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on November 09, 2015, 03:17:40 pm
I read that Stephen king doesn't like the movie version, and even think jack Nicholson was badly cast for the role.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on November 09, 2015, 04:59:53 pm
Hm.. it's been a while since I read the book, but I believe Danny's Shining was pretty pivotal.  It ultimately gave him the strength to fight (or at least outlast) his father.  Also the metaphor for alcoholism and how it ruins a family is a lot heavier. 

It's been a while for me too, but yes I believe that the shining was more important in the book. I want to say that it was Danny who foresaw the problem with the boiler, which allowed his father to buy enough time for Wendy, Danny, and you-know-who to escape.

Also, one may argue that the shining woke up Danny in time to avoid getting horribly stung by the wasps, but I may be stretching it there. But yeah, in the book, Danny's shining was closer to the Dead Zone.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 09, 2015, 05:02:18 pm
I read that Stephen king doesn't like the movie version, and even think jack Nicholson was badly cast for the role.

Yeah.  There was a made-for-tv movie that he supported (and maybe wrote the screenplay for).  It had the guy from Wings in it.  It's generally regarded as far inferior. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on November 10, 2015, 12:15:39 am
I read that Stephen king doesn't like the movie version, and even think jack Nicholson was badly cast for the role.

Yeah.  There was a made-for-tv movie that he supported (and maybe wrote the screenplay for).  It had the guy from Wings in it.  It's generally regarded as far inferior. 

Like many King books, the Shining has scenes that are difficult to translate to screen. Even Kubrick's vision is rather out there for a movie version.

I haven't seen that version yet, but I remember the topiary scene in the book freaking my shit.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on November 10, 2015, 12:21:45 am
I read that Stephen king doesn't like the movie version, and even think jack Nicholson was badly cast for the role.

Yeah.  There was a made-for-tv movie that he supported (and maybe wrote the screenplay for).  It had the guy from Wings in it.  It's generally regarded as far inferior. 

Like many King books, the Shining has scenes that are difficult to translate to screen. Even Kubrick's vision is rather out there for a movie version.

I haven't seen that version yet, but I remember the topiary scene in the book freaking my shit.

I know the topiary was only cut because of special effects reasons. They didn't want it looking terrible, and it was difficult to do, so they cut it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 10, 2015, 09:20:28 am
I read that Stephen king doesn't like the movie version, and even think jack Nicholson was badly cast for the role.

Yeah.  There was a made-for-tv movie that he supported (and maybe wrote the screenplay for).  It had the guy from Wings in it.  It's generally regarded as far inferior. 

Like many King books, the Shining has scenes that are difficult to translate to screen. Even Kubrick's vision is rather out there for a movie version.

I haven't seen that version yet, but I remember the topiary scene in the book freaking my shit.

Kubrick's  movie is pretty brilliant.  Read the IMDb FAQ.  There are a lot of subtle things, like whenever a supernatural presence is there, there is some indication, such as a chair moved implying that the "presence" is sitting in it.  Lots of things like that throughout the movie. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 11, 2015, 11:19:23 pm
So I just watched Wild at Heart.  I don't even know what to say about it.  It's certainly an experience.  I guess it's more like Blue Velvet than Mulholland Drive/Lost Highway/Inland Empire/etc.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ehunt on November 12, 2015, 04:05:08 am

Definitely more style than substance. The story was really bland. The metadiscussion of romance shoehorned into a ghost story was amusing, but it didn't strike me as self-referential, as this movie had the opposite. There were ghosts shoehorned into a mystery story. Seriously, the ghosts did not contribute to the movie. They led the protagonist to some clues, but the script could have easily been written so that she finds the clues on her own. The ghosts did nothing to advance the plot, especially the ghost in the opening sequence. The end ghost had a way for her to say goodbye, but that was still unnecessary, especially considering the huge betrayal she experienced.

If I were the protagonist's mother, I feel like I would've found a better way to warn her than to
- scare the bejeezus out of her
- use only an obscure nickname of the place that she's never supposed to go, instead of you know, spelling it out in a little detail
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on November 13, 2015, 02:20:54 am

Definitely more style than substance. The story was really bland. The metadiscussion of romance shoehorned into a ghost story was amusing, but it didn't strike me as self-referential, as this movie had the opposite. There were ghosts shoehorned into a mystery story. Seriously, the ghosts did not contribute to the movie. They led the protagonist to some clues, but the script could have easily been written so that she finds the clues on her own. The ghosts did nothing to advance the plot, especially the ghost in the opening sequence. The end ghost had a way for her to say goodbye, but that was still unnecessary, especially considering the huge betrayal she experienced.

If I were the protagonist's mother, I feel like I would've found a better way to warn her than to
- scare the bejeezus out of her
- use only an obscure nickname of the place that she's never supposed to go, instead of you know, spelling it out in a little detail

I could see ghosts simply being terrifying to behold, even if they mean no harm. That's a trope I can get behind. Death just really sucks.

But yeah, that warning does no good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on November 18, 2015, 11:59:43 am
http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2008/nov/05/action-films-bad-editing

I had read a similar article about this subject. After having caught Winter Soldier on Encore last night, I am convinced that this would be included in the article if it wasn't 7 years old.

This is one of those things you can't unsee—much like kerning. I'm starting to notice rapid-fire action sequences. In the beginning of Winter Soldier, Black Widow and Captain America assault a ship filled with pirates. I counted five jumps within 2 seconds while Black Widow was kicking someone's ass. Other scenes didn't look much better.

Fortunately, this means that I can appreciate skillfully shot action scenes more. Though I felt the big fight in Oldboy was gratuitous and ponderous, it had a lot of style, and I can appreciate that. The Daredevil series had a couple of really great shots that stood out. One was the fight in the hallway that was all one continuous shot (like Oldboy). There was another great nonaction shot of a man sitting in a cab while the camera orbited him and created tension that way.

So yeah, now that I'm more aware of rapid-fire cuts, they're starting to annoy me. Now it's stuck with me, so I must pass it to others, like the Ring.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on November 18, 2015, 01:21:33 pm
I honestly hope the acclaim that hallway fight scene in Daredevil received has some impact on Marvel movies. I can't think of many other action scenes in Marvel productions that people talk about much, but I hope they realize that their action scenes are lacking and start chasing good ones. It might be impossible to do with some of their current casting choices, but maybe they'll start thinking about it?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on November 18, 2015, 01:40:07 pm
I honestly hope the acclaim that hallway fight scene in Daredevil received has some impact on Marvel movies. I can't think of many other action scenes in Marvel productions that people talk about much, but I hope they realize that their action scenes are lacking and start chasing good ones. It might be impossible to do with some of their current casting choices, but maybe they'll start thinking about it?

Add me to the list of Daredevil-hallway-scene fans out there.  Great stuff.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on November 18, 2015, 02:12:46 pm
I just rewatched the Winter Soldier elevator fight, which is a really cool and innovative action scene, but it could have been so much better if it hadn't jump cut every half second.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: eHalcyon on November 18, 2015, 04:57:02 pm
http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2008/nov/05/action-films-bad-editing

I had read a similar article about this subject. After having caught Winter Soldier on Encore last night, I am convinced that this would be included in the article if it wasn't 7 years old.

This is one of those things you can't unsee—much like kerning. I'm starting to notice rapid-fire action sequences. In the beginning of Winter Soldier, Black Widow and Captain America assault a ship filled with pirates. I counted five jumps within 2 seconds while Black Widow was kicking someone's ass. Other scenes didn't look much better.

Fortunately, this means that I can appreciate skillfully shot action scenes more. Though I felt the big fight in Oldboy was gratuitous and ponderous, it had a lot of style, and I can appreciate that. The Daredevil series had a couple of really great shots that stood out. One was the fight in the hallway that was all one continuous shot (like Oldboy). There was another great nonaction shot of a man sitting in a cab while the camera orbited him and created tension that way.

So yeah, now that I'm more aware of rapid-fire cuts, they're starting to annoy me. Now it's stuck with me, so I must pass it to others, like the Ring.

Reminds me of this video, specifically the bit about the difference between American and Hong Kong (maybe specifiically Jackie Chan) film editing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ

In Chan's films, they do a double cut for hits -- there's a wide shot of the hit happening, then a closer shot of it happening again, which breaks continuity, but it's cut in such a way that the viewer perceives it as one seamless, powerful blow.  In American editing, however, they jump cut from action to reaction and don't actually show the hits at all, making them feel a lot emptier.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on November 18, 2015, 05:09:09 pm
Yeah, Kingzog linked that a couple weeks ago in this thread. I think that's why eHalc was talking about that article here.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on November 18, 2015, 06:53:34 pm
I've shown a lot of people that video :P It definitely is something that is impossible to un-see. But it makes me love action movies that have good action even more. John Wick, and The Raid, even the Matrix movies, are great action films that show you what is happening. I feel that directors that put tons of cuts don't want to spend the time (or can't spend the time) to hire competent actors and stunt people.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on November 18, 2015, 07:01:41 pm
Huh, I didn't see that video the first time. But then, I rarely watch videos linked in here. I'm usually reading these forums in a place where I can't watch videos or don't have time to stop and watch a video. Obviously I made an exception with this 9-minute video, but apparently I didn't the last time it was linked, so I'm glad it was linked this time.

I didn't realize the trick for using two cuts to make one blow look more powerful. I didn't realize that American cameras tend to move to make it look powerful. Very interesting stuff.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on November 18, 2015, 11:22:14 pm
I could never pin point why certain action was exciting and other action wasn't. After starting studying film and finding this channel I now have a really hard time watching most American Hollywood movies. Not just action, but all genres.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: eHalcyon on November 19, 2015, 05:22:55 am
Yeah, Kingzog linked that a couple weeks ago in this thread. I think that's why eHalc was talking about that article here.

I wasn't talking about the article, Kuildeous was.  I re-linked the video.  I wasn't sure if it was linked here before; I think I actually watched it first on Tumblr much longer than a couple weeks ago.  It's a neat enough video to post twice though!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on November 19, 2015, 11:50:50 am
Yeah, Kingzog linked that a couple weeks ago in this thread. I think that's why eHalc was talking about that article here.

I wasn't talking about the article, Kuildeous was.  I re-linked the video.  I wasn't sure if it was linked here before; I think I actually watched it first on Tumblr much longer than a couple weeks ago.  It's a neat enough video to post twice though!

Using two posts does make it seems stronger.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on November 30, 2015, 10:27:09 pm
After quite a lot of pause, I finally saw a few ones.. Path of Glory, Southpaw, Gattaca, Dark City, Barton Fink..

.. and Gran Torino.

Damn, I cannot help but love Eastwood. It's Unforgiven all over again, tho in reverse :D
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on December 01, 2015, 03:00:13 am
Gattaca was interesting. I found it memorable, but it's been a while since I've seen it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on December 01, 2015, 07:43:02 am
Gattaca was interesting. I found it memorable, but it's been a while since I've seen it.

I have a soft spot for dystopian stories. Brazil is probably my favorite, but Gattaca was pretty good too. And it raised some important questions about genetic modification and class. It kind boiled down to a less absurd Brave New World.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on December 01, 2015, 08:22:06 am
Gattaca was interesting. I found it memorable, but it's been a while since I've seen it.

I have a soft spot for dystopian stories. Brazil is probably my favorite, but Gattaca was pretty good too. And it raised some important questions about genetic modification and class. It kind boiled down to a less absurd Brave New World.

Brazil is so, so awesome, just my kind of thing.
Gattaca was pretty good, the dystopian story was done great, what I didn't enjoy (without spoiling) was the "big reveal" as that particular character interaction wasn't really developed all that well so it was a bit underwhelming.

Speaking of dystopias, I find this thing which makes you wonder how close we are to one:
https://www.soylent.com/

:D

Edit: before-mentioned Dark City is another dystopian one, tho quite a bit weird.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on December 01, 2015, 09:16:26 am
Dark City was awesome especially since it plays at being a dystopian society but is really a giant rat maze for humans. That reveal is awesome and would have been even better if the director wasn't forced to capitulate to Hollywood and give away the plot in the opening. I wonder how much more I would have enjoyed the movie if the opening voiceover was struck. Whenever I expose someone new to Dark City, I fast forward to the hotel scene and skip the spoiler voiceover. Make the audience as confused as the protagonist (a trick that also endeared me to Memento).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on December 01, 2015, 09:34:51 am
After quite a lot of pause, I finally saw a few ones.. Path of Glory, Southpaw, Gattaca, Dark City, Barton Fink..

.. and Gran Torino.

Damn, I cannot help but love Eastwood. It's Unforgiven all over again, tho in reverse :D

Gran Torino was awesome.  So was Dark City, and Gattaca.  I haven't seen the other ones, though I want to see Barton Fink particularly. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on December 01, 2015, 09:36:35 am
Dark City was awesome especially since it plays at being a dystopian society but is really a giant rat maze for humans. That reveal is awesome and would have been even better if the director wasn't forced to capitulate to Hollywood and give away the plot in the opening. I wonder how much more I would have enjoyed the movie if the opening voiceover was struck. Whenever I expose someone new to Dark City, I fast forward to the hotel scene and skip the spoiler voiceover. Make the audience as confused as the protagonist (a trick that also endeared me to Memento).

I first saw Memento by walking into it while my college roommate was watching about halfway through.  So I watched it from the middle to the end.  Then I went back and watched it from the beginning.  So I actually saw it more in order than others.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on December 01, 2015, 09:53:28 am
Dark City was awesome especially since it plays at being a dystopian society but is really a giant rat maze for humans. That reveal is awesome and would have been even better if the director wasn't forced to capitulate to Hollywood and give away the plot in the opening. I wonder how much more I would have enjoyed the movie if the opening voiceover was struck. Whenever I expose someone new to Dark City, I fast forward to the hotel scene and skip the spoiler voiceover. Make the audience as confused as the protagonist (a trick that also endeared me to Memento).

Huh, I just checked the intro on youtube, I actually watched verison without the voiceover on start.  ;D
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on December 01, 2015, 11:02:25 am
Dark City was awesome especially since it plays at being a dystopian society but is really a giant rat maze for humans. That reveal is awesome and would have been even better if the director wasn't forced to capitulate to Hollywood and give away the plot in the opening. I wonder how much more I would have enjoyed the movie if the opening voiceover was struck. Whenever I expose someone new to Dark City, I fast forward to the hotel scene and skip the spoiler voiceover. Make the audience as confused as the protagonist (a trick that also endeared me to Memento).

Huh, I just checked the intro on youtube, I actually watched verison without the voiceover on start.  ;D

Bonus! There is a director's cut of the movie. Perhaps that is what you saw.

Well, after having seen the intro, do you feel that they gave away too much? I feel like they did.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on December 01, 2015, 11:17:21 am
Dark City was awesome especially since it plays at being a dystopian society but is really a giant rat maze for humans. That reveal is awesome and would have been even better if the director wasn't forced to capitulate to Hollywood and give away the plot in the opening. I wonder how much more I would have enjoyed the movie if the opening voiceover was struck. Whenever I expose someone new to Dark City, I fast forward to the hotel scene and skip the spoiler voiceover. Make the audience as confused as the protagonist (a trick that also endeared me to Memento).

Huh, I just checked the intro on youtube, I actually watched verison without the voiceover on start.  ;D

Bonus! There is a director's cut of the movie. Perhaps that is what you saw.

Well, after having seen the intro, do you feel that they gave away too much? I feel like they did.

They definitely did. They didn't give the "big reveal", but the big part of the movie is slowly trying to figure out what the hell is going on (similar to the main character, who also has no idea), and it gives away the most part.
The version that I've saw, open with a starry sky, pans down to city skyline and further down t oDr. Shreiber (?) looking at his watch and slowly walking away.. fade out, production logo, fade in, hotel scene. No voiceover, no additional minute of spoilers. Much better, I'd say. :)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on December 01, 2015, 01:18:12 pm
I don't know if I agree necessarily. There's something to be said for knowledge when you're going into a movie. I don't always want to have to puzzle everything out as I'm going through things, which sometimes means watching the movie again and again or more likely just reading up on it after the fact. They might have given away a little bit too much in the Dark City intro monologue, but not way too much. If we'd gotten nothing I think it would have been too alienating, and they either would have had to put more of that info later in the movie (where it might have felt awkward) or just left it out entirely, and the movie already has enough ambiguity (or at least I recall it having a fair amount of deliberately confusing scenes, but it's been awhile since I saw it).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on December 05, 2015, 05:14:22 am
One of the smaller tv stations here in germany has a format called "Schlefaz" ("Schlechteste Filme aller Zeiten"), which means "Worst movies ever". They show a movie so bad it's good again and passes right through to being bad again, and have two comedians banter about how horrible it is after the breaks. Last time i watched it they gave us Blackula, a blacksploitation movie about, you guessed it, a black Dracula. It was pretty bad. Yesterday they brought us "Hentai Kamen", a japanese movie about some kid who gets perverted super powers(?) when he puts a worn woman's panty over his face. It was a train wreck and made Blackula seem like a masterpiece, allthough i think that partly it's a parody and in fact the insanity got a genuine laugh or two out of me. Still it was one of those movies that become watchable only if your primary fun is mocking the movie, or doing a drinking game. In yesterday's Schlefaz' case, the game was "Drink when Hentai Kamen attacks somebody with his privates". I assume people who played that game were drunk later.

Thank you for reading. Please don't use this post as a reference for what you are giving for christmas this year.

Edited for typos.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on December 05, 2015, 10:09:33 am
Saw Legend last night.  Highly recommend seeing it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on December 06, 2015, 02:55:28 pm
Just saw Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. Pretty funny movie!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on December 13, 2015, 11:35:29 pm
I haven't seen the trailer for the Independence Day sequel yet, but I've seen gushing over it. I kind of wish they just rebooted it rather than make a sequel to such a crummy movie. Hell, the story is so generic now that you can give it a new name and no one would know it's a reboot, though the reboot would make more money.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on December 13, 2015, 11:43:26 pm
I haven't seen the trailer for the Independence Day sequel yet, but I've seen gushing over it. I kind of wish they just rebooted it rather than make a sequel to such a crummy movie. Hell, the story is so generic now that you can give it a new name and no one would know it's a reboot, though the reboot would make more money.
it wasn't thaaat bad a movie. And Goldblum is in the sequel too so there's that.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on December 14, 2015, 10:31:07 am
I haven't seen the trailer for the Independence Day sequel yet, but I've seen gushing over it. I kind of wish they just rebooted it rather than make a sequel to such a crummy movie. Hell, the story is so generic now that you can give it a new name and no one would know it's a reboot, though the reboot would make more money.
it wasn't thaaat bad a movie. And Goldblum is in the sequel too so there's that.

Goldblum... finds a way.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on December 14, 2015, 12:43:24 pm
I haven't seen the trailer for the Independence Day sequel yet, but I've seen gushing over it. I kind of wish they just rebooted it rather than make a sequel to such a crummy movie. Hell, the story is so generic now that you can give it a new name and no one would know it's a reboot, though the reboot would make more money.
it wasn't thaaat bad a movie. And Goldblum is in the sequel too so there's that.

If by "it wasn't thaaat bad a movie" you mean it is the greatest movie ever made, then I agree.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on December 14, 2015, 03:03:04 pm
I haven't seen the trailer for the Independence Day sequel yet, but I've seen gushing over it. I kind of wish they just rebooted it rather than make a sequel to such a crummy movie. Hell, the story is so generic now that you can give it a new name and no one would know it's a reboot, though the reboot would make more money.
it wasn't thaaat bad a movie. And Goldblum is in the sequel too so there's that.

If by "it wasn't thaaat bad a movie" you mean it is the greatest movie ever made, then I agree.
it was ok. There were too many parts when Goldblum wasn't on-screen, though admittedly less of those parts than movies that don't star the Goldblum at all. Like Se7en. (Se7en would have been greatly improved with the addition of some Goldblum.)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on December 14, 2015, 03:39:23 pm
I haven't seen the trailer for the Independence Day sequel yet, but I've seen gushing over it. I kind of wish they just rebooted it rather than make a sequel to such a crummy movie. Hell, the story is so generic now that you can give it a new name and no one would know it's a reboot, though the reboot would make more money.
it wasn't thaaat bad a movie. And Goldblum is in the sequel too so there's that.

If by "it wasn't thaaat bad a movie" you mean it is the greatest movie ever made, then I agree.
it was ok. There were too many parts when Goldblum wasn't on-screen, though admittedly less of those parts than movies that don't star the Goldblum at all. Like Se7en. (Se7en would have been greatly improved with the addition of some Goldblum.)

They already made Se7en with Goldblum.  It was called Jurassic Park.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on December 14, 2015, 04:42:37 pm
I haven't seen the trailer for the Independence Day sequel yet, but I've seen gushing over it. I kind of wish they just rebooted it rather than make a sequel to such a crummy movie. Hell, the story is so generic now that you can give it a new name and no one would know it's a reboot, though the reboot would make more money.
it wasn't thaaat bad a movie. And Goldblum is in the sequel too so there's that.

If by "it wasn't thaaat bad a movie" you mean it is the greatest movie ever made, then I agree.
it was ok. There were too many parts when Goldblum wasn't on-screen, though admittedly less of those parts than movies that don't star the Goldblum at all. Like Se7en. (Se7en would have been greatly improved with the addition of some Goldblum.)

They already made Se7en with Goldblum.  It was called Jurassic Park.
have you seen se7en?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on December 14, 2015, 04:47:46 pm
I haven't seen the trailer for the Independence Day sequel yet, but I've seen gushing over it. I kind of wish they just rebooted it rather than make a sequel to such a crummy movie. Hell, the story is so generic now that you can give it a new name and no one would know it's a reboot, though the reboot would make more money.
it wasn't thaaat bad a movie. And Goldblum is in the sequel too so there's that.

If by "it wasn't thaaat bad a movie" you mean it is the greatest movie ever made, then I agree.
it was ok. There were too many parts when Goldblum wasn't on-screen, though admittedly less of those parts than movies that don't star the Goldblum at all. Like Se7en. (Se7en would have been greatly improved with the addition of some Goldblum.)

They already made Se7en with Goldblum.  It was called Jurassic Park.
have you seen se7en?

Both the original and the Goldblum.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on December 14, 2015, 05:09:41 pm
Jurassic Park was released 2 years before se7en.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on December 14, 2015, 05:22:15 pm
Jurassic Park was released 2 years before se7en.

It was the original upon which Se7en was based, per Fincher.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on December 14, 2015, 05:27:57 pm
Jurassic Park was released 2 years before se7en.

It was the original upon which Se7en was based, per Fincher.
ah that makes the sense
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on December 14, 2015, 06:16:09 pm
Anyone else excited about H8ful Eight?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on December 14, 2015, 06:19:20 pm
Anyone else excited about H8ful Eight?

I think you know the answer to that one.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on December 14, 2015, 06:21:29 pm
I just dont think I'll have the opportunity to see it in full 70mm Panavision widescreen here where I live :(
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on December 14, 2015, 06:26:32 pm
Anyone else excited about H8ful Eight?
yes, despite a veritable lack of Goldblum.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on December 14, 2015, 06:31:16 pm
If only Goldblum were in the Star Wars prequels :(
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Donald X. on December 15, 2015, 04:29:06 am
They already made Se7en with Goldblum.  It was called Jurassic Park.
Oh man. That scene where they're in the middle of nowhere and a box is delivered, and they open it up and there's a Velociraptor inside.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on December 15, 2015, 01:13:16 pm
They already made Se7en with Goldblum.  It was called Jurassic Park.
Oh man. That scene where they're in the middle of nowhere and a box is delivered, and they open it up and there's a Velociraptor inside.


I like the scene where they're in the middle of nowhere and a T-Rex opens a box and there's a lawyer inside.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on December 15, 2015, 01:52:36 pm
They already made Se7en with Goldblum.  It was called Jurassic Park.
Oh man. That scene where they're in the middle of nowhere and a box is delivered, and they open it up and there's a Velociraptor inside.


I like the scene where they're in the middle of nowhere and a T-Rex opens a box and there's a lawyer inside.
dudes. Spoiler tags please
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on December 15, 2015, 10:47:44 pm
Goldblum plays Darth Plagueis in the new Star Wars.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on December 16, 2015, 12:08:56 pm
I've seen The Force Awakens. Don't worry, I'm not a dick. It was very fun ! Not without its flaws, but fun.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on December 16, 2015, 12:28:34 pm
I've seen The Force Awakens. Don't worry, I'm not a dick. It was very fun ! Not without its flaws, but fun.

How was Goldblum?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on December 16, 2015, 01:36:33 pm
I've seen The Force Awakens. Don't worry, I'm not a dick. It was very fun ! Not without its flaws, but fun.

How was Goldblum?
Exactly as you'd expect.

I'd put this one on par with Jedi, but it felt most like Empire.

By no surprise, Solo's story ends here. It was expected, but they did it well.

I did not like the Chasm ex-machina between Kylo and Rey though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on December 16, 2015, 01:39:31 pm
I've seen The Force Awakens. Don't worry, I'm not a dick. It was very fun ! Not without its flaws, but fun.

How was Goldblum?
Exactly as you'd expect.

I'd put this one on par with Jedi, but it felt most like Empire.

Really ? There are many, many explicit references to the original in it. Like, shots that are made to look like the ones in Star Wars, not to mention the plot similarities. I get that the end is Empire-y, but it clearly is Star Wars 2.0 to me.

I'd rank it second below Empire Strikes Back, but I like the original less than most people.

@WW : I wouldn't pick Goldblum, whoever he is, out of a lineup so...

Gollum was pretty good though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on December 16, 2015, 02:11:31 pm
I'd personally put this below empire and star wars, but ahead of Jedi. I knew it would mimic a lot from the original.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on December 16, 2015, 02:15:56 pm
I am officially avoiding this thread like the plague for a week or so.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on December 16, 2015, 02:20:19 pm
I am officially avoiding this thread like the plague for a week or so.

AKA the reason I went to see it first opportunity I had. Sorry about that.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on December 16, 2015, 02:29:19 pm
Actually, could spoilers be put in the Star Wars thread? I am avoiding that until I see the movie. No sense in avoid this thread. We all know the Star Wars thread will be covered in more slobber than a lollipop in a playpen full of toddlers (I had a NSFW analogy brewing but I'll be good). We can continue to use this thread for movies that are not Star Wars.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on December 16, 2015, 03:40:14 pm
Actually, could spoilers be put in the Star Wars thread? I am avoiding that until I see the movie. No sense in avoid this thread. We all know the Star Wars thread will be covered in more slobber than a lollipop in a playpen full of toddlers (I had a NSFW analogy brewing but I'll be good) blood than a Jedi temple full of slaughtered younglings. We can continue to use this thread for movies that are not Star Wars.

Fixed that for you.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on December 16, 2015, 10:47:10 pm
It will have more spoilers than Skywalker had midi-chlorians?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Ozle on December 17, 2015, 01:47:40 pm
I'm not reading this thread in case there are sw spoilers in it.

I just wanted to say that I am a movie buff
Well, I watch movies in the buff anyway



(I may have already done that joke, no apologies though, get some new threads)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on December 17, 2015, 01:54:55 pm
I'm not reading this thread in case there are sw spoilers in it.

I just wanted to say that I am a movie buff
Well, I watch movies in the buff anyway



(I may have already done that joke, no apologies though, get some new threads)

Get a new forum to make jokes in.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on December 17, 2015, 01:56:07 pm
And here I thought you were like me and really into buffing your movie collection until it is nice and shiny.

Edit: Anyone know a good varnish for Laser Disc?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on December 17, 2015, 02:00:31 pm
And here I thought you were like me and really into buffing your movie collection until it is nice and shiny.

Edit: Anyone know a good varnish for Laser Disc?

I first watched Time Bandits on Laser Disc.   True story.  Not a significant story, but nevertheless a true one. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on December 20, 2015, 09:59:10 pm
I just saw Victoria. It's unfreakingbelievable, absolutely amazing. One of the most thrilling movies I've ever seen.

I just watched the movie based on remembering this comment from skimming the thread.

I'm a bit confused about Victoria's character, and the "harmless" part of the movie stretched on for maybe a bit longer than I'd have liked, but otherwise it was pretty great. I value credibility highly in movies, so that's a big plus.

The style just makes me wonder why there aren't more movies out there with fewer cuts.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on December 21, 2015, 12:21:25 am
I just saw Victoria. It's unfreakingbelievable, absolutely amazing. One of the most thrilling movies I've ever seen.
The style just makes me wonder why there aren't more movies out there with fewer cuts.

This. Movies that hold shots but aren't boring get points in my book. Very tricky to do, but it's so much better than tons of cuts.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on December 21, 2015, 07:21:58 am
I just saw Victoria. It's unfreakingbelievable, absolutely amazing. One of the most thrilling movies I've ever seen.

I just watched the movie based on remembering this comment from skimming the thread.

I'm a bit confused about Victoria's character, and the "harmless" part of the movie stretched on for maybe a bit longer than I'd have liked, but otherwise it was pretty great. I value credibility highly in movies, so that's a big plus.

The style just makes me wonder why there aren't more movies out there with fewer cuts.

Sweet, glad you liked it. I loved the first half (especially the piano scene), but it really is two different movies in a way. I do agree that it gets a bit long by the end.

I think the first part makes it pretty clear who Victoria is and why she does what she does afterwards : she's just completely lost and looking for a purpose in her life. She's also attracted to Whatshisname, but I think her main motivation for helping him is that she's looking for something to fill her life.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on December 21, 2015, 08:40:58 am
Sweet, glad you liked it. I loved the first half (especially the piano scene), but it really is two different movies in a way. I do agree that it gets a bit long by the end.

I think the first part makes it pretty clear who Victoria is and why she does what she does afterwards : she's just completely lost and looking for a purpose in her life. She's also attracted to Whatshisname, but I think her main motivation for helping him is that she's looking for something to fill her life.

Ah, I see. I sort of thought, okay she's never had any real friends, so the contact to this guy is special to her, but that neither explained why she almost jumped off the roof, nor why she was suddenly okay with a bank robbery when she previously objected to stealing from a store. that's a pretty big commitment, when she has really no obligation to.

It all makes more sense if you replace 'never had any friends' with 'never had any purpose'.

I kept expecting the roof scene to foreshadow a suicide in the end, but that would've been much worse of an ending.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on December 21, 2015, 02:38:57 pm
Has anyone watched Anomalisa yet? I'm very much looking forward to the release in my country
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on December 21, 2015, 04:07:37 pm
Has anyone watched Anomalisa yet? I'm very much looking forward to the release in my country

Never heard of it before, but the reviews are all great. I should maybe watch it too.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on December 21, 2015, 09:52:31 pm
Has anyone watched Anomalisa yet? I'm very much looking forward to the release in my country

Never heard of it before, but the reviews are all great. I should maybe watch it too.

Have you seen other movies with Kaufman as director/screenwriter? If not, I envy you.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on December 22, 2015, 12:14:58 am
Has anyone watched Anomalisa yet? I'm very much looking forward to the release in my country

Never heard of it before, but the reviews are all great. I should maybe watch it too.

Have you seen other movies with Kaufman as director/screenwriter? If not, I envy you.

I haven't, but Being John Malkovich has been on my "to watch" list for a while.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on December 22, 2015, 04:07:36 pm
Has anyone watched Anomalisa yet? I'm very much looking forward to the release in my country

Never heard of it before, but the reviews are all great. I should maybe watch it too.

Have you seen other movies with Kaufman as director/screenwriter? If not, I envy you.

I haven't, but Being John Malkovich has been on my "to watch" list for a while.

I hadn't heard of Anomalisa until just now. But I've seen all other Kaufman things (I think). Just recently finally saw Synecdoche, New York. I thought it was a masterpiece; almost came here to post about it.

I love Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine as well.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on December 22, 2015, 04:15:13 pm
I love Being John Malkovich

You're John Malkovich?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Qvist on December 22, 2015, 04:18:51 pm
I've seen all Charlie Kaufman movies beside of Human Nature.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Adaptation are both great and all other movies are good.
I'm stoked for Anomalisa. It has a great IMDB rating so far.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on December 22, 2015, 04:20:47 pm
I watched Oldboy last week (the original Korean one).  Man, it's pretty amazing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on December 22, 2015, 04:52:54 pm
Being John Malkovich is actually my favorite movie to this day. You should watch it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on December 22, 2015, 05:05:41 pm
I watched Oldboy last week (the original Korean one).  Man, it's pretty amazing.

One of about 4 movies that has left me in my seat in stunned silence for several minutes after it ended.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on December 22, 2015, 05:11:02 pm
Glad to see more Kaufman fans on here!

I agree with Synecdoche, NY being a masterpiece. But I needed a second watch to even begin to fathom its depth. There is also a great series by Yourmoviesucks on Youtube on it. It's a shame it failed commercially.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is almost on par with Snecdoche in my opinion. A well deserved Oscar for sure. These two are definitely in my top 5 of favourite movies so far.

Malkovich and Adaption are also pretty great in my opinion, with Human Nature a bit behind.

And I blame Clooney for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on December 22, 2015, 05:12:47 pm
I watched Oldboy last week (the original Korean one).  Man, it's pretty amazing.
yeah
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on December 22, 2015, 06:05:53 pm
And I blame Clooney for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is one of my favourite movies. It might just be that its Kaufman and Sam Rockwell at the same time though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on December 22, 2015, 06:41:17 pm
It's not bad, but I would have loved to see Kaufmans original script
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on December 22, 2015, 07:10:40 pm
I watched Oldboy last week (the original Korean one).  Man, it's pretty amazing.

There's a non-Korean one ?

Also, yes.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on December 22, 2015, 08:20:24 pm
I watched Oldboy last week (the original Korean one).  Man, it's pretty amazing.

There's a non-Korean one ?

Also, yes.

There's a junky american remake. Also an India film remake.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on December 22, 2015, 09:33:39 pm
It might just be that its Kaufman and Sam Rockwell at the same time though.

Whhaaa? Why have I not seen this movie??
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on December 23, 2015, 12:07:10 am
It might just be that its Kaufman and Sam Rockwell at the same time though.

Whhaaa? Why have I not seen this movie??

I dunno? I think it's really good. It's based on the autobiography of the guy who hosted The Gong Show, which people think is probably a work of fiction... probably.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on December 28, 2015, 06:29:00 am
It might just be that its Kaufman and Sam Rockwell at the same time though.

Whhaaa? Why have I not seen this movie??

I dunno? I think it's really good. It's based on the autobiography of the guy who hosted The Gong Show, which people think is probably a work of fiction... probably.

Sam Rockwell hasn't done anything worth watching since Galaxy Quest.  Man I hate that guy.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Qvist on December 28, 2015, 07:14:19 am
It might just be that its Kaufman and Sam Rockwell at the same time though.

Whhaaa? Why have I not seen this movie??

I dunno? I think it's really good. It's based on the autobiography of the guy who hosted The Gong Show, which people think is probably a work of fiction... probably.

Sam Rockwell hasn't done anything worth watching since Galaxy Quest.  Man I hate that guy.

Whoa, he is amazing in Moon. Have you not seen it? It's great.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on December 28, 2015, 09:13:16 am
It might just be that its Kaufman and Sam Rockwell at the same time though.

Whhaaa? Why have I not seen this movie??

I dunno? I think it's really good. It's based on the autobiography of the guy who hosted The Gong Show, which people think is probably a work of fiction... probably.

Sam Rockwell hasn't done anything worth watching since Galaxy Quest.  Man I hate that guy.

Whoa, he is amazing in Moon. Have you not seen it? It's great.

I have not seen (or heard of) Moon.  Is it a US film?

Sam Rockwell is second only to Cary Elwes as the most overrated actor on the planet, in my opinion.  Both should never be allowed to make another movie ever again.

Unless it's Galaxy Quest 2.  Rockwell can do that.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on December 28, 2015, 01:43:57 pm
Moon is absolutely amazing. (It's this (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/) one. US film 2009)

He was also pretty good in Confessions and The Way Way Back.

I haven't seen like every movie he's been in, but I don't see how he could be overrated as he's not really in that many movies or at least not big roles in many movies. Maybe it's just that when he does a good performance it's really good.

Also do people think Cary Elwes is great? I thought they just liked The Princess Bride.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on December 28, 2015, 01:47:01 pm
He was also awesome in 7 Psychopaths.  And Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on December 28, 2015, 05:46:06 pm
Moon is absolutely amazing. (It's this (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/) one. US film 2009)

He was also pretty good in Confessions and The Way Way Back.

I haven't seen like every movie he's been in, but I don't see how he could be overrated as he's not really in that many movies or at least not big roles in many movies. Maybe it's just that when he does a good performance it's really good.

Also do people think Cary Elwes is great? I thought they just liked The Princess Bride.

Moon sounds interesting.  Will check it out.

Can you like PB without liking Elwes?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on December 28, 2015, 10:23:29 pm
It might just be that its Kaufman and Sam Rockwell at the same time though.

Whhaaa? Why have I not seen this movie??

I dunno? I think it's really good. It's based on the autobiography of the guy who hosted The Gong Show, which people think is probably a work of fiction... probably.

Sam Rockwell hasn't done anything worth watching since Galaxy Quest.  Man I hate that guy.

Green Mile. Conviction. Matchstick Men. The Assassination of Jesse James. Hitchhikers's Guide.

I didn't know until now that he was in Moon. I wanted to see that already, now I want to more.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on December 28, 2015, 10:25:23 pm
Moon is absolutely amazing. (It's this (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/) one. US film 2009)

He was also pretty good in Confessions and The Way Way Back.

I haven't seen like every movie he's been in, but I don't see how he could be overrated as he's not really in that many movies or at least not big roles in many movies. Maybe it's just that when he does a good performance it's really good.

Also do people think Cary Elwes is great? I thought they just liked The Princess Bride.

Moon sounds interesting.  Will check it out.

Can you like PB without liking Elwes?

I've never heard people talk about Elwes as a great actor or amazing or a reason to go see a film. He's in plenty of good movies; but that says nothing about him as an actor.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on December 29, 2015, 09:41:21 am
Moon is absolutely amazing. (It's this (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/) one. US film 2009)

He was also pretty good in Confessions and The Way Way Back.

I haven't seen like every movie he's been in, but I don't see how he could be overrated as he's not really in that many movies or at least not big roles in many movies. Maybe it's just that when he does a good performance it's really good.

Also do people think Cary Elwes is great? I thought they just liked The Princess Bride.

Moon sounds interesting.  Will check it out.

Can you like PB without liking Elwes?

I've never heard people talk about Elwes as a great actor or amazing or a reason to go see a film. He's in plenty of good movies; but that says nothing about him as an actor.

Unlike other Robin Hoods, he can speak with an English accent.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on December 29, 2015, 02:33:34 pm
It might just be that its Kaufman and Sam Rockwell at the same time though.

Whhaaa? Why have I not seen this movie??

I dunno? I think it's really good. It's based on the autobiography of the guy who hosted The Gong Show, which people think is probably a work of fiction... probably.

Sam Rockwell hasn't done anything worth watching since Galaxy Quest.  Man I hate that guy.

Green Mile. Conviction. Matchstick Men. The Assassination of Jesse James. Hitchhikers's Guide.

I didn't know until now that he was in Moon. I wanted to see that already, now I want to more.

So Stephen King schlockfest, don't know conviction, nick cage crap, haven't seen Jesse, terrible adaptation of a great book. 

Maybe all the ones I haven't see are awesome, but this argument isn't working for you on me.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Davio on December 30, 2015, 06:21:24 am
Watched The Martian yesterday, felt like some weird prequel to Interstellar, at least set in the same universe with Matt Damon alone on a planet. Well, more like a mix between Gravity and Interstellar. It was a fine movie, didn't get bored, what I found peculiar is why they had to cast Sean Bean as that NASA guy. As an upside, he didn't die, but it was such a simple role, they could've cast anyone, man, just get Ed Harris or something and leave Sean Bean for epic dying roles.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 02, 2016, 11:23:17 am
So I just (finally) watched Trollhunter.  It's pretty awesome, definitely worth seeing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 02, 2016, 11:47:42 am
Recent movies I've seen that I thought were good. 

In theaters:
*The Big Short (very interesting, and entertaining)
*Legend (Tom Hardy is awesome)
*Steve Jobs (I mentioned it before; very entertaining even if you hate Apple (which I do))
*The Martian (talked about here)
*Irrational Man (altogether brilliant and hilarious)

I also saw Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  All were entertaining, though I don't know if they had a great impact on me.  I actually think my judgement on The Force Awakens will depend on how it ties into the following movies.

On TV/Netflix/etc.:
*Spirited Away (amazing)
*Princess Mononoke (also awesome)
*Totoro (probably not as impactful as Spirited Away, but good in its own right)
*The Drop (did I mention Tom Hardy is awesome?)
*Trollhunter (mentioned above)
*Wild at Heart (among a few David Lynch movies that I had not gotten aorund to seeing.  Caught it late at night on television (MGM network or something).  It's definitely something.  I have no idea what that thing is, but it's some thing.)
*Oldboy (amazing, mentioned above)
*Seven Psychopaths (hilarious)

Movies I missed/haven't seen yet that I want to see:
*The Revenant
*The Hateful Eight
*Mad Max: Fury Road
*Macbeth
*Mr. Holmes
*The End of the Tour

Maybe also Ex Machina and Self/less (Tarsem Singh, apparenlty)

Altogether, I think this was a rather weak year for movies.  I don't know what the best movie out this year would be... maybe Irrational Man?  Maybe Steve Jobs.

Edit: forgot some.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on January 02, 2016, 12:01:08 pm
Ugh, I hated Irrational Man so much. Joaquin Phoenix's character is supposed to be this big shot, and all we see is him explaining Kant 101 to a bunch of people ... like, I got that from my philosophy teacher in high school, it's really basic stuff. The point he raises against the categorical imperative is literally the first thing any teacher will say after explaining it, and we're supposed to think he's reinventing the wheel here. Makes Emma Stone's character look incredibly dumb, which I certainly don't think was intended.

Ex Machina is pretty great, you should indeed watch it.

I actually like Totoro the best of the three Miyazaki masterpieces, but they're all great.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 02, 2016, 12:47:35 pm
Ugh, I hated Irrational Man so much. Joaquin Phoenix's character is supposed to be this big shot, and all we see is him explaining Kant 101 to a bunch of people ... like, I got that from my philosophy teacher in high school, it's really basic stuff. The point he raises against the categorical imperative is literally the first thing any teacher will say after explaining it, and we're supposed to think he's reinventing the wheel here. Makes Emma Stone's character look incredibly dumb, which I certainly don't think was intended.

I don't think that's really the point.  Like, The Big Bang Theory has post-doc level physicists talking about things high school physics students know as if they're novel.  House has nothing to do with medicine, physics in every sci-fi movie is at best implausible, etc.  This stuff is just the back-drop.  The more you know about a subject, the more of a distraction it is, but it's not what the show/movie is about.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 02, 2016, 12:48:40 pm
Also, in the case of Irrational Man, all the characters were kind of fake posers, so this sort of thing seems reasonable.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 02, 2016, 01:21:14 pm
Also, in Good Will Hunting, there is a part where the professor is looking over some of  Will's work and says, "I see you used Maclaurin here," to which Will responds something like, "Well, I don't know what you call it."  Well we don't have enough context to know what they're talking about, but Maclaurin here seems to be used as a bit of a name drop because everyone knows Maclaurin series from high-school Calculus.  That result is so basic that it wouldn't make sense for the professor to point out at the level they're doing, and Will certainly has to know the standard name, because there's no way that he's read as much as he has and doesn't know it.

There are a few other results attributed to Maclaurin, but still responding that he doesn't know the standard name for the it (implying that he came up with it on his own) doesn't make sense for any of these commonplace results. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on January 02, 2016, 01:45:21 pm
Movies of the year so have been for me: Carol, End of the Tour, Mistress America and  A pigeon sat on a branch reflecting on existence.

Some movies I wasn't able to watch just yet that I expect to be just as good: Mustang, Komiko the treasure hunter, spotlight, Anomalisa, the lobster and Queen of Earth
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on January 02, 2016, 03:55:03 pm
Also, in the case of Irrational Man, all the characters were kind of fake posers, so this sort of thing seems reasonable.

I agree they were posers, but I don't think that was Allen's intention at all. I think we were meant to find Phoenix's character deep and insightful, and would posit that the whole film kind of relies on that. Because again, if he's a poser, then Emma Stone's character is incredibly stupid. And who cares about what happens to them ? If it was funnier it could have worked, but bleh. I liked the music though.

Here is my top ten :

1. The Martian (Ridley Scott) => You guys know about this one
2. Victoria (Sebastian Schipper) => That german one-take film.
3. Umimachi Diary (Hirokazu Kore-eda) => Japanese family drame-dy. Very heartwarming.
4. Taxi (Jafar Panahi) => A film from that guy who's not allowed to make films. He's in a taxi riding aroudn Tehran, picking up people as it goes along and it's great.
5. La glace et le ciel (Luc Jacquet) => Documentary about the people who explored the Antarctica and discovered that Earth was warming up too quickly. Not too preachy, mostly focused on the tremendous accomplishment that is exploring Antarctica, with impressive archive footage
6. Ex Machina (Alex Garland) => You guys know about this one
7. Mustang (Denis Gamze Ergüven) => The Virgin Suicides in Turkey (I'm told, haven't watched the Virgin Suicides, only know the amazing Air soundtrack).
8. Mon roi (Maïwenn) => French film about a toxic/exhilarating relationship. Vincent Cassel is amazing in it.
9. L'hermine (Christian Vincent) => French courtroom drama, where the judge is the main character, and because this is a French movie, he also sleeps with one of the jurors (played by the Prime Minister in Borgen). Better than it sounds.
10. Vingt et une nuits avec Pattie (Arnaud & Jean-Marie Larrieu) => French dramedy in the middle of nowhere, hard to describe but very funny/unsettling/uplifting, with a great score.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Donald X. on January 02, 2016, 04:21:54 pm
Recent movies I've seen that I thought were good. 
Yes, but what music are you listening to? That's what the world really wants to know.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 02, 2016, 05:02:56 pm
Recent movies I've seen that I thought were good. 
Yes, but what music are you listening to? That's what the world really wants to know.

All I hear is the voice deep in the back of my head telling me that I'm not good enough.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 02, 2016, 07:37:29 pm
Self/less

That movie is pretty bad. The first 20 minutes are okay, and the rest is a huge letdown, selling the entire premise to deliver a perfectly generic action story. You can see every twist and the ending from a mile away. Also, the actor does absolutely not sell the idea of him being the same person as the old guy at the start

Although, the one thing that I find absolutely amazing about this movie is the title. It sounds great, can be interpreted in at least 3 different ways which all fit the movie, and thinking about it is all together more interesting than anything that actually happens when you watch it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 02, 2016, 07:54:52 pm
Self/less

That movie is pretty bad. The first 20 minutes are okay, and the rest is a huge letdown, selling the entire premise to deliver a perfectly generic action story. You can see every twist and the ending from a mile away. Also, the actor does absolutely not sell the idea of him being the same person as the old guy at the start

Although, the one thing that I find absolutely amazing about this movie is the title. It sounds great, can be interpreted in at least 3 different ways which all fit the movie, and thinking about it is all together more interesting than anything that actually happens when you watch it.

The director (The Fall, The Cell, Immortals) if very much style driven, so this isn't so surprising. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Donald X. on January 02, 2016, 08:13:39 pm
Recent movies I've seen that I thought were good. 
Yes, but what music are you listening to? That's what the world really wants to know.

All I hear is the voice deep in the back of my head telling me that I'm not good enough.
It can be hard to communicate clearly on the internet.

I went to the songs thread and scanned it for people who liked stuff I liked. You had some of those things, excellent. You also had Noah and the Whale, whoever they were. I tried them and liked them. That was a while ago though. Now I need another new band. Chop chop.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on January 02, 2016, 09:07:32 pm
I just watched 12 Monkeys for the first time. Very Gilliam-esque future. Not as good as Brazil, but I thought the acting was really good and it was pretty entertaining.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 03, 2016, 02:17:32 am
Recent movies I've seen that I thought were good. 
Yes, but what music are you listening to? That's what the world really wants to know.

All I hear is the voice deep in the back of my head telling me that I'm not good enough.
It can be hard to communicate clearly on the internet.

I went to the songs thread and scanned it for people who liked stuff I liked. You had some of those things, excellent. You also had Noah and the Whale, whoever they were. I tried them and liked them. That was a while ago though. Now I need another new band. Chop chop.

Noah and the Whale was great in their first album.  Their subsequent ones I liked less.. apparently the lead singer/writer was dating a female member of the band (cello I think) and they broke up.  Their second and third albums were much more slow and depressing, and missed the sound she added.  (This story is from memory so I may not have all the facts correct.). I'm pretty sure the band broke up recently.

Belle and Sebastian's latest album (Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance) is quite good.  I also saw them live at Radio City when they toured it.  I also recently saw Stephin Merritt at City Winery performing with his celloist from Magnetic Fields, playing mostly Magnetic Fields songs with a few from other ventures.  He was great, and really funny in person.

Unfortunately, I haven't found much new music I really like lately.  I've been looking into The Smiths.  I still have a couple of their albums to pick up, but I liked their first one more than the later ones I tried.

For random interesting that you may not have heard of, look up Spacehog, album Resident Alien.  Another great album is Underachievers Please Try Harder by Camera Obscura.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on January 03, 2016, 08:26:42 am
For random interesting that you may not have heard of, look up Spacehog, album Resident Alien.  Another great album is Underachievers Please Try Harder by Camera Obscura.

I'm pretty sure anyone my age and older, at least, has heard of Spacehog.  That must include DXV.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on January 08, 2016, 11:14:52 am
*obligatory rant about derailing the thread and being the most nauseating forum on the internet*

Now, back to movies: How did you like Brooklyn? I have seen it just now and while the plot was decent, the score and Saoirse Ronan were absolutely amazing. I expect an Oscar for the latter as best female leading role.

On another note, I didn't like the Lobster. I loved the premise, but I did expect to see a different kind of movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on January 08, 2016, 12:55:33 pm
What's the Lobster? I have not heard anything about this. *one google search later*

What didn't you like about it? It looks super weird and has all sorts of directions it could be going in.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on January 08, 2016, 01:34:38 pm
On another note, I didn't like the Lobster. I loved the premise, but I did expect to see a different kind of movie.

So you didn't like it because it didn't adhere to your expectations ?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 08, 2016, 01:42:22 pm
So you could just watch it again, and then like it, right?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on January 08, 2016, 02:01:06 pm
On another note, I didn't like the Lobster. I loved the premise, but I did expect to see a different kind of movie.

So you didn't like it because it didn't adhere to your expectations ?

I was unclear, that is not what I meant. I like it when a movie toys with my expactations or takes a different route than what I expected.

What I meant was that I loved the premise so much I was already prepared to love the movie. Unfortunately for me, it evolved into a genre I can't get anything out of. And yes, I've tried.

So you could just watch it again, and then like it, right?

I honestly doubt it, the film had its genuinely funny moments and a few nicely edited scenes, but I'd rather watch another movie from the same director than watching this one again.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on January 10, 2016, 11:20:34 am
I happened to stumble upon Where the Dead Go to Die on imdb, and I noted that while it had overwhelmingly bad reviews, those reviewers were mostly focused on how offended they were and the only people talking about the actual merits of the movie were the few people who gave it positive reviews. And it was horror and animation, and the people who liked it also liked Heart String Marionette (which, I realized during the credits, might have been partially because HSM's director had a voice acting role in it). So I just absolutely had to see it.

I'm not entirely sure what to think of it, but it was most interesting, and certainly not a bad movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on January 10, 2016, 11:39:19 am
Watched "My neighbor Totoro" recently. Given how famous it is, i expected something clever or touching, but it was just a straightforward children's movie. I was disappointed.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on January 10, 2016, 11:48:42 am
Watched "My neighbor Totoro" recently. Given how famous it is, i expected something clever or touching, but it was just a straightforward children's movie. I was disappointed.

There's somewhat convincing speculah that it's metaphorically about the Sayama Incident (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayama_Incident).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 10, 2016, 11:58:58 am
Watched "My neighbor Totoro" recently. Given how famous it is, i expected something clever or touching, but it was just a straightforward children's movie. I was disappointed.

I found it very touching. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on January 10, 2016, 03:00:46 pm
Watched "My neighbor Totoro" recently. Given how famous it is, i expected something clever or touching, but it was just a straightforward children's movie. I was disappointed.

You monster.

The Hateful Eight : if you like Tarantino, you will love it. If you're even a slightly conflicted about him, probably not.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on January 10, 2016, 07:35:12 pm
Watched "My neighbor Totoro" recently. Given how famous it is, i expected something clever or touching, but it was just a straightforward children's movie. I was disappointed.

You monster.

The Hateful Eight : if you like Tarantino, you will love it. If you're even a slightly conflicted about him, probably not.
I love Inglorious Basterds. I really enjoy Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Django Unchained. Was pleased with Jackie Brown and From Dusk til Dawn. Did not care for Deathproof or Kill Bill.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on January 11, 2016, 10:15:13 am
Huh, Kill Bill is an unusual one not to like. Hateful Eight does have Kill Bill-like amounts of gore at certain points if that's what bothered you.

Mostly what I mean is that Tarantino's best scenes tend to be people sitting down and talking with some kind of underlying tension and threat of violence implied. The Hateful Eight is that for about three hours.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on January 11, 2016, 10:57:24 am
Huh, Kill Bill is an unusual one not to like. Hateful Eight does have Kill Bill-like amounts of gore at certain points if that's what bothered you.

Mostly what I mean is that Tarantino's best scenes tend to be people sitting down and talking with some kind of underlying tension and threat of violence implied. The Hateful Eight is that for about three hours.

I didn't like Kill Bill either because I felt it didn't have those Tarantino moments of tension during long conversations. It was just silly action and lots of gore.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on January 11, 2016, 11:20:09 am
Yeah, I'd say that Tarantino does a couple of scenes really well. He has conversation scenes that could be about mundane crap that grabs your attention (Reservoir Dogs). He also has action scenes that are homages to other genres (Kill Bill). And sometimes he'll combine them (Inglorious Basterds).

As much as I appreciate QT's handling of dialogue, I will say that I got pretty fucking sick of Deathproof. For the first time I wanted a QT conversation to just end and get to the next stage. And then the next stage was disappointing for me too. It probably would have been less disappointing if the gab wasn't cranked up to 17 (11 is as high as I'll go).

I'm looking forward to seeing the Hateful Eight. Sounds like it does what QT does well, and the fact that one of them is Samuel Jackson is additional icing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 12, 2016, 07:50:33 pm
So I saw The Revenant this weekend, highly recommend it.  If you haven't seen it, I suggest going into it without reading anything about it or really knowing how other people reacted to it.  Not for spoilerage reasons or anything, but just because I think it's something that should be experienced without having many preconceptions or expectations.

I also saw Mad Max: Fury Road last night.  I missed it in the theaters.  Ultimately I really enjoyed it.. not sure I'd put it up among "top movies", but definitely worth watching.  And Tom Hardy is always awesome. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on January 12, 2016, 10:51:05 pm
I want to see the Revenent. Instead I just saw Star Wars. I don't get the hype. It's just JJ Abrams' Star Trek movies with the title Star Wars, terrible dialogue, boring action and a plot that is basically just lots of coincidences. Very underwhelming.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on January 13, 2016, 01:13:53 am
What you mean is:

JJ Abrams Star Trek movies were more Wars than Trek, so his Star Wars felt like a Star Wars movie.

You have seen Star Wars before, right?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 13, 2016, 09:37:25 am
I still never get the "coincidence" argument for why a movie is bad.  I always wonder if people have the same criticism for a novel like Great Expectations.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on January 13, 2016, 09:40:50 am
I still never get the "coincidence" argument for why a movie is bad.  I always wonder if people have the same criticism for a novel like Great Expectations.

If it wouldn't have anything else going on, then yes.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on January 13, 2016, 10:15:07 am
I still never get the "coincidence" argument for why a movie is bad.  I always wonder if people have the same criticism for a novel like Great Expectations.

I guess it's okay if coincidences are added for symmetry and structure, and it's done well. Such as when in A Clockwork Orange, Alex meets all the people he was cruel to before, and they pay him back. It's intentional - the repetition and reversal is celebrated, like the chorus of a musical piece you know after two people appeared, that now the third will appear. It's for art, for making a statement, not to drive the story.

In Great Expectations the coincidences are cheap, out-of-nowhere deus-ex-machinas to make sure good boy Pip gets rewarded in the end. It's so arbitrary and has so little to do with the rest of the story that i couldn't help feel i wasted too much of my time reading the book. And i like reading.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on January 13, 2016, 10:25:11 am
I still never get the "coincidence" argument for why a movie is bad.  I always wonder if people have the same criticism for a novel like Great Expectations.

Me too. A lot of people complained about it in Star Wars. But to me, movies in general do that, because interesting events pretty much by definition have a low chance of happening. What people seem to miss is that for every 1 event that happens in a movie, there's a million other possibilities that didn't happen, which didn't get movies made out of them. Because they weren't interesting.

It's kind of like saying "what are the odds that John McClain would just happen to be in the right building at the right time when terrorists came to attack the building?" Well they are very low... it's quite a coincidence that he was there. But it wouldn't be an interesting story if he weren't there.

The fact is that extremely unlikely events occur all the time. If I ask my computer for a random number between 1 and a million, and it gives me 447,423, well, there was only a 1 in a million chance that that would occur. But no matter what number it gives me, there was only a 1 in a million chance of it occurring.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on January 13, 2016, 10:28:40 am
So you could just watch it again, and then like it, right?

This happens to me. 1408 is a good example. Based on the previews, I was expecting a typical horror film. At the end, I was disappointed because it wasn't really scary. But I realized that it really was more along the lines of psychological thriller than horror. And I love psychological thrillers. So I watched it again at some point, and really enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on January 13, 2016, 11:31:56 am
I was talking about the "coincidence" thing just the other day. Movie in question was Fury.. like, yeah, so out of all 5 tanks, it's them that survive, how convenient?

Well, if it was another tank (Murder Inc or w/e) that survived the skirmish, we would be watching a movie about them and not about Fury, wouldn't we?
You can't really follow this 5 guys in a tank, have them die 30 minutes in, and than go over to these other 5 guys in this other tank that managed to survive.  ;D

And I actually saw a lot of movies since I last posted (also trying to get 100 movies in 2016, am at 7 atm), including the discussed H8ful 8, from which I expected a bit more (more intrigue, to be honest), but was a hit anyway. Also SW, Inside out but some older stuff too like Cool Hand Luke which was pretty fun.

Edit: did anybody see "Love Exposure" ? I am getting some good reviews but it's 4 and a half hours long adn I don't have that much time to spend on something I will regret halfway in.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 13, 2016, 11:56:59 am
I still never get the "coincidence" argument for why a movie is bad.  I always wonder if people have the same criticism for a novel like Great Expectations.

I don't know Great Expectations.

A plot with too many coincidences is bad because it's not believable. Lack of believability means lack of immersion and, if it's too much, lack of me caring. Real life is not an alignment of 1/10000 odds that all come true. It also makes the plot predictable.

The fact is that extremely unlikely events occur all the time. If I ask my computer for a random number between 1 and a million, and it gives me 447,423, well, there was only a 1 in a million chance that that would occur. But no matter what number it gives me, there was only a 1 in a million chance of it occurring.

That's missing the point.

You can explain every event away by listing a number of possible outcomes that all have equal probability and saying 'all outcomes have been equally likely!'. For example, if you buy a lottery ticket, you could say that it's not particularly unlikely that you got everything right, because the set of numbers that were selected has been exactly as likely as any other set.

What matters for a judgement of 'likely' or 'unlikely' is how you grouped/would group your sets of probabilities before the event happens. If you buy a lottery ticket, you'll group them in 'loss' and 'win' and 'win' is a lot less likely, so if it happens, it's an unlikely coincidence, whereas 'loss' is really likely, and you don't really care how exactly the loss came to pass.

Similarly, in your number example, if you generate 447423, that's not an unlikely coincidence. If you had gone up to it saying 'I want it to generate the number 447423 and then it does it, that would be an unlikely coincidence. Similarly, if you draw 4 cards and they're all aces, that's an unlikely coincidence, because you perceive aces as something special. If you draw 4, 7, J, J in three different colors, that's not an unlikely coincidence, because you had just grouped it in with a ton of other outcomes as 'nothing special'.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on January 13, 2016, 12:00:52 pm
A plot with too many coincidences is bad because it's not believable. Lack of believability means lack of immersion and, if it's too much, lack of me caring. Real life is not an alignment of 1/10000 odds that all come true. It also makes the plot predictable.

That's the entire point of fiction, though. If you want something to feel realistic, there's this "real life" thing, have you tried that? It's pretty boring in my experience though, so I can't really recommend it too much.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 13, 2016, 12:05:00 pm
But to me, movies in general do that, because interesting events pretty much by definition have a low chance of happening.

I don't think that's really true, but it depends on what you think is interesting.

In any case, coincidences are not a polar thing. Some stories manage good plots with much fewer of them than others. Take Game of Thrones, and then take TFA.

And it also matters how and when they happen. Particularly, if you have one extremely unlikely event and then everything after that is believable, that's great. The one won't bother me, because it makes sense: the movie shows this particular person because something super unlikely happened to exactly this person. But if that unlikely thing is followed up by another string of unlikely things, then that's bad.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 13, 2016, 12:07:44 pm
I still never get the "coincidence" argument for why a movie is bad.  I always wonder if people have the same criticism for a novel like Great Expectations.

I don't know Great Expectations.

A plot with too many coincidences is bad because it's not believable. Lack of believability means lack of immersion and, if it's too much, lack of me caring. Real life is not an alignment of 1/10000 odds that all come true. It also makes the plot predictable.

I don't really agree with this.  Why should a movie be believable?  Maybe you want to watch something believable, that's fine.  But that's not relating to quality.  Maybe they film makers are going for a particular general/feel/immersion where adherence to reality is important, okay.   But generally the events that take place don't have to be believable.  I mean, watch a David Lynch film.  It's not believable, but it represents something real about life.  The immersion is not lost.  In fact, the surrealism enhances the immersion.  Or many other films.  Old Boy was entirely unbelievable.  It was immensely immersive.

I also do not understand the criticism of predictability.  I could easily make a movie with an unpredictable plot.  I will simply string together five-minute clips from a random selection of movies.  Predictability and nonpredictability is about stylistic choices.  Narrative is inherently predictable; that's why we do things like foreshadowing and have Checkov's gun.  If the sequel does not follow logically from the beginning, then people will complain that the beginning was a waste of time.

Watching movies isn't about plot.  The plot is simply a backdrop for you to experience storytelling.   
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 13, 2016, 12:10:17 pm
But to me, movies in general do that, because interesting events pretty much by definition have a low chance of happening.

I don't think that's really true, but it depends on what you think is interesting.

In any case, coincidences are not a polar thing. Some stories manage good plots with much fewer of them than others. Take Game of Thrones, and then take TFA.

And it also matters how and when they happen. Particularly, if you have one extremely unlikely event and then everything after that is believable, that's great. The one won't bother me, because it makes sense: the movie shows this particular person because something super unlikely happened to exactly this person. But if that unlikely thing is followed up by another string of unlikely things, then that's bad.

If you want a story that doesn't rely on any kind of coincidence, watch Mad Men.  Well, that's a TV show so in a sense it's a collection of stories, but it still applies.  Game of Thrones is not the best example.  There are quite a few chance encounters on roads there.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on January 13, 2016, 12:15:05 pm
It's hard to explain the coincidence thing. Of course crazy things happen in movies, but it's about suspension of disbelief. The plot in the new star wars movies happens all in like 3 hours in the characters time. So stormtrooper guy crash lands on a planet and HAPPENS to be within walking distance of the droid he's looking for, which also HAPPENS to be where the millenium  falcon is blah blah blah. It goes on with crazy things and after a while I just think "Wow, this would never happen even in their world." And it's not like Clockwork Orange where the coincidence is for dramatic effect. In Star Wars it's jut because they could be bothered to write a good plot. It's just "Hey, we need this to happen so let's make it dumb luck."

EDIT: I think it's this. The characters in the movie have plans. But their plans are so dumb because they rely on the craziest coincidences to happen. Fin had to find the droid at the start of the movie, but that should logically take months because a planet is HUGE! But it takes all of 20 minutes. But the rest of the story relies on him doing that, and meeting Rey. As opposed to a coincidence happening and the characters deal with the consequences of it. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels is mostly coincidences, but none of the chracters planned on them. They happen and then the characters deal with the aftermath. They don't make dumb plans that require these improbable things to happen.

Also, when you see a lot of movies, you start to want something more than just the whatever story thrown together. When I can guess the dialogue, I wonder why I'm paying to see the movie and not being paid to make movies. It doesn't need to be some crazy story, or super weird, but at least put some effort into the writing. Movies like Drive have a super normal story. Nothing special about it, but you can't guess each line of dialogue like it was coming out of a computer program. Man, even John Wick had better dialogue than the Star Wars movie, and that's saying something.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 13, 2016, 12:22:37 pm
I don't really agree with this.  Why should a movie be believable?  Maybe you want to watch something believable, that's fine.  But that's not relating to quality.
What I said was more meant as 'this is why I don't like unlikely coincidences' not as 'they are bad'.

If you talk about 'quality', it touches on the issue of whether or not you believe in objectivity. I think (like I said in the starwars thread) that the terminology isn't defined, so whether or not it relates to quality just depends on how you would define quality. Since I think that, I also think that every reaction you have to a movie is equally valid. So I'm not saying you have to be bothered by it.

For me, it really depends on what the story is going for. A hijackers guide to the galaxy, for example, isn't trying to construct a believable story, it's trying to be funny and thought provoking. Coincidences there aren't a bad thing.

TFA awakens, though, is trying to construct a believable story (or, I guess you could argue that it's not, but if it's not, then it's not really doing anything). The plot just feels like really lazy and poorly written to me.

I also do not understand the criticism of predictability.  I could easily make a movie with an unpredictable plot.  I will simply string together five-minute clips from a random selection of movies.  Predictability and nonpredictability is about stylistic choices.  Narrative is inherently predictable; that's why we do things like foreshadowing and have Checkov's gun.  If the sequel does not follow logically from the beginning, then people will complain that the beginning was a waste of time.
That's again depending on what the movie is going for.

If the plot is predictable, then there is no suspense. If the movie never tried to get me to feel suspense but does other things instead, that could be fine. Let's take, uh... Kung Fury is the best example that comes to mind. There is zero suspense in that movie, but it's hilarious and fun.

Back to TFA, I really feel like the movies tries to make you feel suspense. But it totally fails. And if it doesn't try that, well the movie isn't funny, it's not thought provoking, it's not scary, so what is it?

Narrative is inherently predictable
That's not true. Game of Thrones isn't predictable. Being John Malkovich isn't predictable either. Both have narratives.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on January 13, 2016, 12:23:32 pm
One of five tanks surviving or rolling a 4 on a 10-sided die are not coincidences, they are just incidents. That's legitimate. Although there ARE movies where the main character dies a few minutes in and perspective is switched after that. It's one of the things that make Psycho, although not perfect, a remarkable movie.

But if coincidence meets coincidence, things become implausible. American cinema gives us total heroism in the face of total hopelessness, and then total triumph over total villains. In it, all is perfect. A good example is Han Solo shooting first - it was edited out because it's not perfect enough. Coincidences in american cinema too often serve the purpose of allowing the heroes to perfectly win in a perfectly desperate situation. That's what i dislike about it in movies.

In Great Expectations, yes, the coincidence is totally possible. It just doesn't make much sense in my eyes to tell a story about someone getting rich because he got lucky. It's not a story about him, but about a coincidence/incident. You could just as well tell a story about somebody winning the lottery. Or about rolling a 4.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on January 13, 2016, 01:06:04 pm
Any time a plot bothers you, it's either because :
a) the film isn't holding your interest
b) you care too much about dumb things like plot

Often a combination of the two (plot isn't always dumb, but it is by far the most overrated/overdiscussed/whateveryouwanttocallit aspect of film). Obviously if something takes you out of the movie, then that's a problem, and obviously it's likely going to lead to you not liking the film very much.

And then we get to the fact that people need every movie they don't like to be bad and every movie they like to be good. There's no such thing as a good or bad movie, that's like saying there's a good or bad fruit. Just because you like oranges doesn't mean they're a good fruit. It just means you like oranges. Good for you !

Now I do get that fruits actually have some qualities that make them good or bad, in that they can be healthy or not. And in fact a similar thing can be said for movies : some films are "good" because they have a positive impact on society, some are bad because the reverse is true. But that's another aspect entirely that has nothing to do with the film itself and your experience with it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on January 13, 2016, 01:11:43 pm
To be clear, my point isn't just that everything is subjective, it's more that we spend way too much time worrying about what makes a "quality" film or not, when that doesn't matter. All that matters is what makes a film work for you or doesn't. That's where you get interesting discussions : if you can explain what reaction a movie (true of any work of art really but this is a film thread) you had and why, then it's interesting to see why other people had a similar reaction or not. Trying to find what's good and what isn't... it's not that interesting, to me at least.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 13, 2016, 01:30:46 pm
Do we disagree on anything? @Teproc
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on January 13, 2016, 01:33:35 pm
And then we get to the fact that people need every movie they don't like to be bad and every movie they like to be good. There's no such thing as a good or bad movie, that's like saying there's a good or bad fruit. Just because you like oranges doesn't mean they're a good fruit. It just means you like oranges. Good for you !

But there is such a thing as a good movie and bad movie. Oranges are a good fruit, I just don't like them.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 13, 2016, 01:36:23 pm
It's hard to explain the coincidence thing. Of course crazy things happen in movies, but it's about suspension of disbelief. The plot in the new star wars movies happens all in like 3 hours in the characters time. So stormtrooper guy crash lands on a planet and HAPPENS to be within walking distance of the droid he's looking for, which also HAPPENS to be where the millenium  falcon is blah blah blah. It goes on with crazy things and after a while I just think "Wow, this would never happen even in their world." And it's not like Clockwork Orange where the coincidence is for dramatic effect. In Star Wars it's jut because they could be bothered to write a good plot. It's just "Hey, we need this to happen so let's make it dumb luck."

Man, but that's the point of fantasy/imagination.  It's adventure, it's excitement, and really you want these kinds of things to happen. Them stumbling across the Millennium Falcon makes for better story telling than if they had found some random ship.  There is something alluring about destiny, fate, amazing things, etc... it's the kind of stuff you imagine as a kid.   Would it really be any better if coincidence/luck wasn't involved?  I don't think so. 

I see the point about dialogue.  You want that to be interesting and engrossing. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 13, 2016, 01:38:00 pm
I don't really agree with this.  Why should a movie be believable?  Maybe you want to watch something believable, that's fine.  But that's not relating to quality.
What I said was more meant as 'this is why I don't like unlikely coincidences' not as 'they are bad'.

If you talk about 'quality', it touches on the issue of whether or not you believe in objectivity. I think (like I said in the starwars thread) that the terminology isn't defined, so whether or not it relates to quality just depends on how you would define quality. Since I think that, I also think that every reaction you have to a movie is equally valid. So I'm not saying you have to be bothered by it.

For me, it really depends on what the story is going for. A hijackers guide to the galaxy, for example, isn't trying to construct a believable story, it's trying to be funny and thought provoking. Coincidences there aren't a bad thing.

And, obviously perfectly rationally explained, because you have an improbability drive.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on January 13, 2016, 01:39:13 pm
In other news, I've been watching /x/'s favorite horror movies lately. Kairo was disappointing, Banshee Chapter was excellent.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on January 13, 2016, 01:47:35 pm
Did I just miss a discussion about the believability of Star Wars?

Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on January 13, 2016, 03:15:14 pm
Do we disagree on anything? @Teproc

I quite like The Force Awakens !
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 13, 2016, 03:22:25 pm
Not sure I'm making my point clear regarding predictability.  A narrative inherently has sequel follow from premise, so is inherently "predictable".   There is of course misdirection, twists, etc., put those are simply utilizing this.  In the sense that something is "predictable" because you've seen the same thing unfold so many times before, then the criticism is probably better expressed as "unoriginal" or "not innovative".  But originality and innovation in regards to plot is not the most important thing.. as Teproc said, plot is not what storytelling is about; it's just like a medium. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on January 13, 2016, 03:32:47 pm
In the particular case of TFA re: predictability : history repeating itself is actually a major theme in Star Wars. Does TFA push it a little further than it should ? Probably. But it's not an accident, and works with the general idea of this being a new generation dealing with the past generation's mistakes and/or achievments.

As far as believability goes... Star Wars was never really concerned with believability, shaping itself more like a fantasy story than a sci-fi one : the fact that it takes place "a long long time ago" pretty much tells you everything you need to know there.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on January 14, 2016, 09:11:22 am
Movies in general just got worse, with the passing of Alan Rickman.  :'( I've always looked forward to seeing his performances.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on January 14, 2016, 09:55:52 am
Movies in general just got worse, with the passing of Alan Rickman.  :'( I've always looked forward to seeing his performances.

Yeah, I envisioned him making movies all through old age—like Ian McKellan. Rickman really knew how to command the screen. I bet his stage performances were awesome too.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on January 15, 2016, 10:59:12 pm
Watched Hateful Eight. Definitely not the best Tarantino movie, but it had its moments. Tim Roth was channeling Christoph Waltz hard, wasn't he?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on January 17, 2016, 11:32:55 pm
Just watched The Judge. Wow, so good. Duvall, Downey, and D'Onofrio all give amazing performances.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on January 21, 2016, 08:02:11 am
So the TV happened to be on a station that was showing Southland Tales. My friend and I missed the first 52 minutes, but the movie was weird enough to draw us in.

It had weird elements, much like Crimewave, the Big Lebowski, and Repo Man, that were enough to draw me in but not overly interesting. After watching it through to the end, we felt like it was worth watching, but we had no interest in watching it from the beginning. It was like there was an unspoken requirement to watch the film, and now that we did that, we were under no obligation to deal with the film again. I did rewind to the part where the Baron was making a deal with the Prime Minister of Japan because that scene was awesome and bad, especially since the Baron was played by the Sicilian from Princess Bride.

And that's another weird thing about this movie. It had a huge cast. Dwayne Johnson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, John Larroquette, Christopher Lambert, Jon Lovitz, Seann William Scott, and a bunch of other people I have surely forgotten. Yet despite such a cast, I was not familiar with this movie. How could this have slipped under my radar for the past 10 years?

The timing of the movie is appropriate. It was filmed in 2006, five years after the World Trade Center attack. This movie has biting commentary on the War on Terror and American chauvinism. It also makes some jabs at hyper-consumerism. You can tell this is an intelligent piece of work, but the pacing was off.

I'll still need time to digest it. It was on Encore, and I recently sent my cancellation, so I don't know if I'll have another chance to watch it. I could set it to record and see if watching the first 52 minutes makes a little more sense. I suspect not.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on January 21, 2016, 09:06:20 am
A long time ago i watched 12 Angry Men. I always thought it was a well-made, but incredibly questionable movie. You have one person, who talks 11 other jury members into changing their mind on a decision in court (the suspect is implied to have all evidence against them - the crime in question is murder). A few of the points he makes work, but in the end the last jury member standing against him still thinks the suspect is guilty - because a woman made an oath that she saw him.

In the movie, our "hero" actually manages to convince that last jury member that it's "reasonable" to assume the woman lied about having seen the suspect, because she might be short-sighted, because she might actually be wearing glasses, because she rubbed over her nose in court, and those glasses might be so strong she couldn't have seen something, and she might not have told the court about the glasses because she might be vain. It's a parody. If you can't trust a person that has no reason to lie when they are on oath (and there is NO evidence saying your suspect is not guilty), the whole concept of court and justice flies out of the window.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on January 21, 2016, 10:04:59 am
It's called reasonable doubt. That's what the film is about. The burden of proof is on the accuser, not on the defense.

In 12 Angry Men, the guy is still most likely guilty, if only because there's no other alternative. If he didn't do it, who did ?

But that's not how justice works : again, the burden of the proof in on the accuser. 12 Angry Men is a more morally/ethically complex film than appears at first glance. There wouldn't be a need to glorify values such as the rule of law if they were instinctively easy to follow, and the case perfectly exemplifies that.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on January 21, 2016, 10:46:34 am
It's called reasonable doubt. That's what the film is about. The burden of proof is on the accuser, not on the defense.

In 12 Angry Men, the guy is still most likely guilty, if only because there's no other alternative. If he didn't do it, who did ?

But that's not how justice works : again, the burden of the proof in on the accuser. 12 Angry Men is a more morally/ethically complex film than appears at first glance. There wouldn't be a need to glorify values such as the rule of law if they were instinctively easy to follow, and the case perfectly exemplifies that.

So, if you go to court, and swear an oath that you saw Mister X murder a person, it wouldn't trouble you at all if a jury member talked the others into discarding your observation? Why even go there at all?

What if you went to court, told people you saw some guy murder another man and then somebody in the jury chamber said: "Did you see how tired he looked, and confused, i bet he's a druggie, he probably dreamt that." And if another responded "He didn't look confused or tired to me.", that guy would say: "Well, isn't it possible you just missed it? Isn't there reasonable doubt? And if we can't absolutely exclude that he was tired and confused, how can we say for certain he didn't do drugs and just dream all of it? How can we know 10000000% sure the murder even happened? How can we know things fall down because of gravity? How is there no reasonable doubt i'm not a space monkey from venus?"

No, i stand with my claim the movie is a parody. The guy in it abuses his position as a jury member to take law into his own hands, and he does it well enough to get a murderer free. The fact that you can never know something with 100% certainity is a philosophical issue - using it as an argument in court is unethical.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on January 21, 2016, 11:12:31 am
Thinking about it, i guess the question is mostly where you draw the line of what is reasonable. We both will agree that questioning a witness who has good reason to lie is reasonable. We also agree that going for a space monkey theory is not reasonable. We differ on whether doubting a witness who swore an oath and has no apparent reason to lie is reasonable. I say it's not, you seem to say it is. My point is that when one goes with your position, calling witnesses into court at all is a farce.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on January 21, 2016, 11:38:25 am
It's been a while since I've seen it, so you might be right about certain specifics being a bit far-fetched (and I do remember it getting a bit too close to "the truth is unknowable anyway"). So maybe in this specific case Fonda's character is stretching the definition of reasonable doubt, but that's not because it's a parody, I (reasonably) doubt you really believe that. The reason is simply that it makes for better suspense : you're presented with what seems like unsurmountable evidence and then you see Fonda's character tear it apart, which I found to be very enjoyable. It sounds like you didn't really think he was effective at tearing some of those apart, fair enough.

As for your specific points : discrediting witnesses is a thing, you must be aware of that right ? Maybe the glasses thing is a bit far-fetched, but it's something that happens all the time in those situations, and with reason : people's memories are unreliable. That doesn't mean you can't ever trust a witness because you'll always find something : you don't have to go from one extreme to the other.

There's also another aspect in 12 Angry Men, which is the death penalty. The reason Fonda has a pretty loose definition of what constitutes reasonable doubt also has to do with the, well, final quality of the sentence.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on January 21, 2016, 12:51:54 pm
As for your specific points : discrediting witnesses is a thing, you must be aware of that right ?

It is a thing, but isn't that the attorneys' place to determine the relevancy of that?

It's been a real long time since I read it, but I seem to recall that the jury was doing detective work in the realm outside of the court case. If the attorney didn't think her vision was relevant to the case (and he'd speak up if he did), then is it reasonable for the jury to go that extra mile?

I dunno. Maybe it's time to cast Summon Theory. IANAL, but I'll continue to giggle every time I type that out.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on January 21, 2016, 01:21:17 pm
It's been a while since I've seen it, so you might be right about certain specifics being a bit far-fetched (and I do remember it getting a bit too close to "the truth is unknowable anyway"). So maybe in this specific case Fonda's character is stretching the definition of reasonable doubt, but that's not because it's a parody, I (reasonably) doubt you really believe that. The reason is simply that it makes for better suspense : you're presented with what seems like unsurmountable evidence and then you see Fonda's character tear it apart, which I found to be very enjoyable. It sounds like you didn't really think he was effective at tearing some of those apart, fair enough.

As for your specific points : discrediting witnesses is a thing, you must be aware of that right ? Maybe the glasses thing is a bit far-fetched, but it's something that happens all the time in those situations, and with reason : people's memories are unreliable. That doesn't mean you can't ever trust a witness because you'll always find something : you don't have to go from one extreme to the other.

There's also another aspect in 12 Angry Men, which is the death penalty. The reason Fonda has a pretty loose definition of what constitutes reasonable doubt also has to do with the, well, final quality of the sentence.

I said "Parody" in the sense that i think it's outrageous, not that it actively tries to make fun of something. Maybe i misused the word, it might lack the reading it has in my mother tongue. Maybe i should have said "Travesty"? And Kuildous makes another point that i just touched - the jury member does an attorney's work. I think that's not okay and actively dangerous. When i saw the movie i couldn't help feeling he had a hidden motive and was just good at manipulating people. I take it you wouldn't accept his behaviour if he was trying to make others believe the subject was guilty, right?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on January 21, 2016, 01:24:49 pm
Isn't it adressed though ? Specifically the knife thing is way outside a juror's prerogative, and I do believe that is discussed there. Not that satisfactorily though, you're right. Again a case where the director went for drama over thematic coherence, which I'll admit is somewhat problematic when you're making that kind of film.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on January 21, 2016, 03:12:44 pm
Isn't it adressed though ? Specifically the knife thing is way outside a juror's prerogative, and I do believe that is discussed there. Not that satisfactorily though, you're right. Again a case where the director went for drama over thematic coherence, which I'll admit is somewhat problematic when you're making that kind of film.

The thing is, i don't disagree with the topic of the movie at all - a person shouldn't be found guilty only because you can't prove their inncocence, even if there is evidence, be critical of it, etc.. I just think the movie overdoes it, and by doing so, harms its own point.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on January 21, 2016, 03:47:15 pm
As for your specific points : discrediting witnesses is a thing, you must be aware of that right ?

It is a thing, but isn't that the attorneys' place to determine the relevancy of that?

It's been a real long time since I read it, but I seem to recall that the jury was doing detective work in the realm outside of the court case. If the attorney didn't think her vision was relevant to the case (and he'd speak up if he did), then is it reasonable for the jury to go that extra mile?

I dunno. Maybe it's time to cast Summon Theory. IANAL, but I'll continue to giggle every time I type that out.

Yes, if you do outside investigation, you are probably going to be relieved of jury duty. You are not allowed to read the papers (i believe), and private investigation goes beyond that. So yes, Fonda goes beyond what is in the duty of a juror.

But I don't really think it matters. As Teproc said, it is a movie about morality. The other people just accept that he has done it and want to go on with their lives, Fonda has deeper, almost philosophical approach. The details might not fit perfectly, but I don't think it makes the movie that much worse.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on January 24, 2016, 04:42:11 pm
Watched Hector and the Search for Happiness this weekend. Went into knowing nothing about it and liked it for an easy watch. Found out later the Internet doesn't care toomuch for it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on January 24, 2016, 10:07:24 pm
Okay, I finally caught the Hateful Eight. I liked it. I can certainly see how critics of QT would dislike it. It is long, and there are long periods where nothing happens. It is a QT movie.

The characters were interesting, though a couple of them really could have used some more attention just so that they didn't feel like background characters.

The mystery aspect was fun, and I had no idea what to expect, so while I wasn't wowwed by the reveal, it was still pleasing to see it unfold. I honestly had no idea what it was going to be. There was the perfect set-up for Chris being involved. Just because he was about to drink the coffee did not preclude him being culpable. The murderer could have easily watched the people drinking coffee and then conveniently time his approach to the coffee in order to look innocent. I was actually expecting that, but I'm kind of glad QT didn't try to milk that twist.

I would definitely say that fans of Reservoir Dogs would love the Hateful Eight. It had the same elements of betrayal, mistrust, and focus on conversation.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on January 24, 2016, 10:13:14 pm
I actually also saw the Hateful Eight tonight. I really liked it, but yeah, it will feel slow if you don't like slow movies. For me it felt short. It flew by and I was interested the whole time. I do agree some of the characters  could have used a bit more development, but at the same time it's nice that there is still mystery to them. It's not all explained, and there's still an air of mysticism about the whole thing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on January 25, 2016, 03:29:50 am
Finally watched The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2576852/).  If you go into it hoping for Miyazaki, you will be sorely disappointed.  You could definitely feel Takahata's influence, especially the scenes in the countryside, but in a lot of ways the pacing and story reminded me more of popular Japanese period soap operas than a slightly fantastical folk tale retold.

The art is purposefully drawn, and other than one scene where Kaguya runs, it isn't very interesting to me.  There were some beautiful shots in the beginning, with the shining light and the bamboo, but overall I was underwhelmed.  There is a nod to Spirited Away during the end sequence, though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on January 25, 2016, 08:58:01 am
On The Hateful Eight; I thought the final scene where they hang Daisy was brilliant and had me laughing out loud in the theatre.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on January 25, 2016, 03:18:59 pm
I recently rewatched "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" and I can't decide if that movie or Memento is my absolute favorite film. Speaking of Memento, I am positively furious that a remake is already being created (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/christopher-nolans-memento-get-remake-840587), but I am not surprised.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on January 26, 2016, 03:06:32 pm
Turns out I walked through the middle of a John Wick 2 scene they are shooting here a few times yesterday and today.  Didn't see Keanu anywhere.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Qvist on January 26, 2016, 04:39:54 pm
I just finished watching the 5 original Planet of the Apes movies.
The first one was great, I enjoyed it a lot.
But the second one I nearly stopped watching. The telepathic bomb-worshipping humans were just ridiculous. We were lauging so hard.
#3-#5 had also some flaws, but weren't as bad as #2.

Now to watch the Tim Burton one and the two new ones.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on January 26, 2016, 05:42:26 pm
Turns out I walked through the middle of a John Wick 2 scene they are shooting here a few times yesterday and today.  Didn't see Keanu anywhere.

Maybe I'll see you in it when it comes out. It better r as good as the first one.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on January 27, 2016, 03:03:20 am
Turns out I walked through the middle of a John Wick 2 scene they are shooting here a few times yesterday and today.  Didn't see Keanu anywhere.

Maybe I'll see you in it when it comes out. It better r as good as the first one.

Oddly enough, they had a fake NYC taxi here.  Hot dog stands, etc.  I don't know if they were trying to make it look like NYC, but if so, they failed miserably.  Maybe camera angles will help.

But why not just shoot in the States?  Or Canada?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on January 27, 2016, 07:54:30 am
Turns out I walked through the middle of a John Wick 2 scene they are shooting here a few times yesterday and today.  Didn't see Keanu anywhere.

Maybe I'll see you in it when it comes out. It better r as good as the first one.

Oddly enough, they had a fake NYC taxi here.  Hot dog stands, etc.  I don't know if they were trying to make it look like NYC, but if so, they failed miserably.  Maybe camera angles will help.

But why not just shoot in the States?  Or Canada?

There are lots of reasons.  Could be that only part of the movie was set in NYC so moving production wasn't efficient.  Could have been various scheduling or other logistical issues.  Probably ultimately financial.  You also have to get through all kinds of red tape stuff to film in a city.

I know some cases of locations being affected by taxation.  Iowa has very averse laws for movie production because of taxes, so almost no movies (recently, last I know of is Field of Dreams) are made there.  Ironically there was a movie called Cedar Rapids (my home town), which was not even filmed in Iowa at all, but rather, I think Wisconsin (or Minnesota).  I believe this was the main reason.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on January 27, 2016, 10:22:22 am
I saw shooting for a scene in Vancouver for one of the Mission imposiible movies once. It was supposed to look like India. It didn't, but with editing, special effects and only being on the street for like 1 second, it was pretty convincing. So my guess is that NYC scene is either short, or full of close ups.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on January 27, 2016, 10:59:57 am
From ground level, they can do a lot of things to make any city look like NYC. Look at downtown Cleveland in the Avengers movie. Both Stuttgart, Germany and New York City were filmed on the same street. The next block over was used for Washington DC in Winter Soldier.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on January 27, 2016, 11:11:27 am
I saw shooting for a scene in Vancouver for one of the Mission imposiible movies once. It was supposed to look like India. It didn't, but with editing, special effects and only being on the street for like 1 second, it was pretty convincing. So my guess is that NYC scene is either short, or full of close ups.

Vancouver, and I think Toronto as well, are pretty chameleon-esque for movie shoots. There's a lot you can do when you know the right neighbourhoods and alleys to make something look like another city. Plus the Canadian dollar sucks right now so American productions have a great incentive to come across the border. Pretty sure Deadpool is not set in Vancouver, but it was shot entirely here. Ditto X-Men 3, and like a zillion other movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on January 27, 2016, 11:15:12 am
I saw shooting for a scene in Vancouver for one of the Mission imposiible movies once. It was supposed to look like India. It didn't, but with editing, special effects and only being on the street for like 1 second, it was pretty convincing. So my guess is that NYC scene is either short, or full of close ups.

Vancouver, and I think Toronto as well, are pretty chameleon-esque for movie shoots. There's a lot you can do when you know the right neighbourhoods and alleys to make something look like another city. Plus the Canadian dollar sucks right now so American productions have a great incentive to come across the border. Pretty sure Deadpool is not set in Vancouver, but it was shot entirely here. Ditto X-Men 3, and like a zillion other movies.

And basically all television shows.

I know they did some John Wick 2 shooting in NYC because it was on the Internet.  The shooting here was in front of the Modern Art Gallery, including coming down the front steps, which are going to be pretty specific to the location.  But then again, who knows?  I'll have to watch the movie I guess.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on February 03, 2016, 12:46:07 pm
On The Hateful Eight; I thought the final scene where they hang Daisy was brilliant and had me laughing out loud in the theatre.

I saw it earlier this year, and it was me + a friend + his girlfriend. We both share the similar tastes in movies and comics, so we both liked it. She hated it tho, and also noticed that we were the only ones laughing out lound, especially during that last scene. :D
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on February 20, 2016, 07:21:35 pm
I recently rewatched "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly"

I just watched it for the first time and thought it was... . . . .  ???

dumb. very dumb. can you explain the appeal? I don't get why anyone would like it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on February 20, 2016, 07:35:13 pm
I recently rewatched "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly"

I just watched it for the first time and thought it was... . . . .  ???

dumb. very dumb. can you explain the appeal? I don't get why anyone would like it.

Uh... what?  It's amazing.  The use of music alone makes it one of my favorite movies.  It's a rare mix of drama with comic relief that not many movies can really pull off.

Also, it's maybe better to watch A Fistfull of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More first.  They're a kind of a trilogy.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on February 20, 2016, 08:03:28 pm
I don't think it's better to watch the trilogy, Fistful and Few More are not nearly as good.

Good, Bad, Ugly is incredible. I watched it pretty much expecting I won't like it actually, but it was amazing. Cinematography/Photography is incredible. Score I don't think needs word, Ecstasy of Gold is probably the most memorable piece in cinema history. Story ain't really that important as it is mostly character driver, you got these three no-gooders at each other necks, and all 3 of the are so hard-boiled, and it's the gist of it. Eastwood and Wallach kill it. It both defies the genre (at least what was seen as quintessential western at times, John Ford / John Wayne Noble Loner Hero style) and defines it at the same time, as later it became the quintessential western. There's no moral highground, it's just Wild West all the way. I seriously don't know how somebody can NOT like it.


Earlier this week I saw Deadpool (which disappointed at first, but got back on track, was pretty much as I expected it), and saw Carnage tonight, which was cool but it is very obvious at being an adapted play and as such has some problems with the big screen format.

Actually trying to get to 100 this year, January was fine (10), February not so (only 2 so far).. need to catch up! :D
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on February 20, 2016, 08:10:04 pm
I actually prefered "a fistfull of dollars" to "the Good, the Bad and the Ugly". I thought that the whole part with the Civil War armies didn't really add much to the story.

Then again, in this world there are two kinds of people my friend.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on February 20, 2016, 08:14:30 pm
I actually prefered "a fistfull of dollars" to "the Good, the Bad and the Ugly". I thought that the whole part with the Civil War armies didn't really add much to the story.

Then again, in this world there are two kinds of people my friend.

I agree Civil War armies (the battle about that bridge) was odd and the worst part of the movie. The dusty uniforms, but, tho, was GOLD.

Fistful is good (even tho a ripoff :P) but doesn't match GBU, Few More I didn't really like that much.

Anybody saw Korean "The Good, The Bad, and the weird"? It's pretty DAMN awesome.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on February 20, 2016, 08:19:47 pm
The problem is that all three of the characters are malicious criminals. I don't sympathize with any of them, so I don't care about any of them, so there is zero tension. I don't really care about Action, the movie wasn't funny, and music alone is hardly enough, so there aren't a lot of things left that make it worth watching.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on February 20, 2016, 08:30:19 pm
You don't need to sympathize with them. You bath in badassery :D
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on February 20, 2016, 08:31:48 pm
@silverspawn did you see new Mad Max? Did you like it?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on February 20, 2016, 08:48:05 pm
You don't need to sympathize with them. You bath in badassery :D

But that doesn't substitute liking any of them. At least not for me. If it does for normal people, then I guess that explains why the movie is so popular.

@silverspawn did you see new Mad Max?
No - should I watch it?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on February 21, 2016, 12:44:49 am
I think the new mad max is very worth watching.

I saw the little Prince last night. It was... underwhelming. I wanted more stop motion, but they did so much in generic 3D that it kind of lost that personal touch that a couple of the sections in the movie had. Worth seeing if you've seen all the other movies you wanted to see.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on February 21, 2016, 06:46:39 am
@silverspawn did you see new Mad Max?
No - should I watch it?

It's another movie where I think you should focus on cinematography, visuals/sound and (and in Max's case) world building and forget all the rest (like the non-existant story). Just curious what you think of it, but if you didn't see it, nevermind :D
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on February 22, 2016, 08:00:02 am
I presume you're talking about Mad Max: Fury Road. If you mean the original, then I'll change my statement. Fury Road is remarkably lacking in story. The story could easily be spooned into a half-hour show with room for another story arc. But it was a phenomenally done movie. It draws you in in a manner that makes you forget that there's not that much of a story. I normally poo-poo action movies for sacrificing story for visuals, but Fury Road is one of the few exceptions.

I've seen other people dislike movies because of unlikable characters. I can see that viewpoint. Sometimes you just want to find a character to relate to and feel a connection with. The recent Hateful Eight has some pretty despicable characters. Even Samuel L. eat-some-motherfucking-scenery Jackson's character was deplorable, and you kind of hate yourself for finding yourself liking him. I'm generally okay with a movie with all amoral characters (see Snatch), but even sometimes I might not be in such a mood and will shrug off a movie because I just didn't care for any of the characters. I'm trying to think of a recent example, but I'm failing to grasp at one.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on February 22, 2016, 08:36:27 am
I presume you're talking about Mad Max: Fury Road. If you mean the original, then I'll change my statement. Fury Road is remarkably lacking in story. The story could easily be spooned into a half-hour show with room for another story arc. But it was a phenomenally done movie. It draws you in in a manner that makes you forget that there's not that much of a story. I normally poo-poo action movies for sacrificing story for visuals, but Fury Road is one of the few exceptions.

Yeah, Fury Road was in queston, and I agree with pretty much all you said.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on February 22, 2016, 05:50:33 pm
I just finished watching the 5 original Planet of the Apes movies.
The first one was great, I enjoyed it a lot.
But the second one I nearly stopped watching. The telepathic bomb-worshipping humans were just ridiculous. We were lauging so hard.
#3-#5 had also some flaws, but weren't as bad as #2.

Now to watch the Tim Burton one and the two new ones.

I did that same thing last year; just recently finally got to Dawn. Yeah, agree with you on part 2, although I thought the very ending was awesomely epic. How many movies just end with "yeah, the whole world just blew up and earth is now gone"?

I think Rise was my favorite out of all 8.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Qvist on February 22, 2016, 06:29:09 pm
I now watched all 8. I think Dawn and the original one I liked best with Rise close behind. I was interesting to watch all of them in a short period of time, I don't regret it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on February 22, 2016, 07:40:35 pm
I just rewatched "Who framed Roger Rabbit" after having it seen the last time when i was about twelve. The movie has a lot of things i wouldn't expect to see in a disney production today, like obvious sex-references and cigar-smoking babies. Which is to say, wow, i always thought this one was Warner Bros with Disney characters appearing, while it apparently is the other way around. A classic.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on February 22, 2016, 10:21:42 pm
I just rewatched "Who framed Roger Rabbit" after having it seen the last time when i was about twelve. The movie has a lot of things i wouldn't expect to see in a disney production today, like obvious sex-references and cigar-smoking babies. Which is to say, wow, i always thought this one was Warner Bros with Disney characters appearing, while it apparently is the other way around. A classic.

One of the best movies ever
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on February 22, 2016, 10:26:08 pm
I just saw Absentia. It was absolutely amazeballs, probably my favorite horror movie to date. It reminds me very much of Frictional's survival horror games, especially Penumbra, in more than one sense (incredible production values with a relatively small budget, horror based on the fear of unknown rather than what is explicitly shown, not excessively relying on gore, and an intriguing plot that leaves a lot of ambiguity and room for wildly different interpretations), and it also pulled all of that off really well in my opinion.

EDIT: In other news, looks like someone else has pretty accurately described how I feel about Disney's The Little Mermaid (for the record, the original story is my favorite fairy tale).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex_dIzH4_ec
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on February 24, 2016, 08:56:22 pm
The Oscars are awarded this weekend! Independant on what you think of the awards ( I don't think they have much merit but I still like watching them), what do you think of the nominees and who should win in your opinion?

Best picture is difficult to decide for me, I don't have a clear favourite. I haven't seen the Revenant yet but I will do so soon. I'm probably not going to bother with Bridge of Spies, so far I haven't heard anything about the movie that justifies a Best Picture nomination. I'll be disappointed if either Mad Max or Martian win because of their lack of...substance? I don't know how to describe it, I found them very bland which is not what I'm looking for in a movie. Mad Max is atleast moderately nice to look at. I quite liked Brooklyn, it's the first "crowdpleaser" in a while that I genuinely liked. It's mainly because of Saorsie Ronan, though.
I found Spotlight great aswell, I really liked how they dealt with the subject matter. Some people said that they were too nice about the whole child abuse thing, but I'm really glad that the director trusted me enough to be disgusted by the whole affair without visual aid. It was indeed very safely shot, though so I don't know if it can be considered Best Picture of the year.
The Big Short surprised me the most. I thought that I didn't want to see a film about the subject but they did it very well. I like the two protagonists even though what they do is not as nice as the movie tries to make it, but I imagine that it was really hard to find a "good guy" on this whole issue. The movie is also very funny, my favourite line of the year comes from that movie: Why is he confessing?! from Steve Carrell's character.
Room is probably my close favourite compared to the two above. I have nearly no complaints about the movie the only thing I remember disliking are two short parts in the script which is rather a personal problem than a problem with the script. You should go all watch this movie if you can.
Movie that totally should have been nominated: Carol, Anomalisa

Best Actor/Actress: I'm rooting for Fassbender and Ronan, altough I'm very fine with Larson. I'm pretty confident that Ronan continues to act amazingly and she can get a Oscar for a better movie.
Also Rooney Mara best "Supporting actress" even though she has the most screentime in Carol.

Best Foreign Film: My favourite is Mustang, but I haven't seen Son of Saul which is supposed to be very good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on February 25, 2016, 01:33:01 pm
I like the Oscars, I don't swear but it, but you mostly know what the Award entitles, so when you watch an "Oscar nominated/winning movie" you know what you are getting yourself into most of the time.

Now, from the Best Movie nominees, I saw Mad Max, Room, Spotlight and The Big Short, (all except Max in last 3 days) and will try to squeeze in a one or two more till sunday.

Now, Big Short actually disappointed me. The whole movie is so confusing and disjointed, and it doesn't really go anywhere. It's basically 3 stories that are not connected in any way except that all 3 of them deal with shorting the stocks. Narative is also all over the place, it is interjected by these wierd slidehows, by characters breaking 3rd wall, and this explanations of the whole shebang, CDOs, AAA properties, etc. And that is the worst part, I think they've tried to explain the whole deal to me like 5 times all together, and the whole time I was still struggling to get it, and by the end I both still didn't understnad most of it, and didn't care at all.
Steve Carrell is fucking great and that is about the only good thing I  can say. Bale getting the nomination and not him is an error for sure.

Spotlight is pretty good. My main "problem" (even tho it's not really a problem) is that is is just so un-kinematographic (it lacks things like character progression and flow that you usually expect of the movies) that if feels more like a documentary. Subject is very touchy and I don't think that being non-explicit was bad, I feel that showing the victims and showing the range of emotions that main characters (reporters) go through the movie has nailed how the viewer feels as well, at that was great. It had some really strong scenes, my favouirte ones are when A guy "leans" on Robby in a bar (near the end) and Robby is completely in disbelief, realzing how this whole thing escalated as much as it did and When he argues how they are as responsible as the lawyers, as nobody noticed, especially him who had the list years ago in his desk.. Also Ruffalo is surprisingly good.

The Room was a big surprise. I actually expected a it to be much more light and more of a standard "bestseller adaptation" (like Girl with Dragon Tattoo and the like), but it hit hard. It takes a while to realize what exactly is going on and the movie makes a good use of that time, also both Mom's and Jack's mental state after they get out is, I believe, done so believable, as well as the reaction of the people/family. It's a great movie, and a emotional rollercoaster for sure.  ;D

Now, Mad Max. I saw it 3-4 times for sure. I love the movie. The world that George Miller made is superb. Every small detail of it, he nails. The technologies, the lingo, the society, every single thing I was amazed by. I already spoke of the movie before, I am not going to. I am not sure that this can win it (But LOTR and Avatar did it), but I secretly hope so.  :P Spotlight or Room taking it, I don't mind either.

Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on February 25, 2016, 01:39:07 pm
I really liked The Big Short.  I thought all the storytelling mechanisms worked really well.  I didn't mind the separate story lines; I found all the characters interesting. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on February 25, 2016, 01:39:51 pm
Tom Hardy is excellent in everything.  I don't follow awards, but he should get something for Legend.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on February 25, 2016, 03:18:06 pm
For the record, Avatar didn't win, it was the favorite but got beaten by The Hurt Locker.

LOTR did win, but it took three tries, I don't see MM:FR doing it, specifically because it didn't win any of the industry awards (as opposed to critics awards). It seems to be between Spotlight, The Big Short and The Revenant. The latter just came out here, not sure I'll be able to see it before Sunday, but between the other two I'm very much rooting for Spotlight.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on February 25, 2016, 03:21:45 pm
I think the Revenant might win, but I didn't think it was amazing. Tom Hardy was better in it than Decaprio, and it felt very long.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on February 25, 2016, 03:35:02 pm
For the record, Avatar didn't win, it was the favorite but got beaten by The Hurt Locker.

LOTR did win, but it took three tries, I don't see MM:FR doing it, specifically because it didn't win any of the industry awards (as opposed to critics awards). It seems to be between Spotlight, The Big Short and The Revenant. The latter just came out here, not sure I'll be able to see it before Sunday, but between the other two I'm very much rooting for Spotlight.

I don't reeeeeally think MM:FR can take it, I just love the movie too much to completely disregard that option.
Spotlight taking it I would support. It would be second one in a row to have Keaton starring (Reventant would be second one in row by same director). Interesting in both cases  :P.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on February 25, 2016, 06:18:23 pm
Now, Big Short actually disappointed me. The whole movie is so confusing and disjointed, and it doesn't really go anywhere. It's basically 3 stories that are not connected in any way except that all 3 of them deal with shorting the stocks. Narative is also all over the place, it is interjected by these wierd slidehows, by characters breaking 3rd wall, and this explanations of the whole shebang, CDOs, AAA properties, etc. And that is the worst part, I think they've tried to explain the whole deal to me like 5 times all together, and the whole time I was still struggling to get it, and by the end I both still didn't understnad most of it, and didn't care at all.
Steve Carrell is fucking great and that is about the only good thing I  can say. Bale getting the nomination and not him is an error for sure.

I liked The Big Short, but instead of the smarmy cynical explanations from celebrities, I would recommend that anyone who is actually interested in what happened during the financial crisis and wants it explained by a movie should watch The Inside Job. It's a documentary, but it's very well done, covers a lot of the same ground as The Big Short, but without trying to wrap a Hollywood bow on the whole thing. To be honest I actually liked The Big Short even though I felt that most of the characters in the movie were at best amoral. I had trouble rooting for anyone in the movie except for Steve Carrell who I wish they'd focused on more. The rest of the characters were just smart guys who saw an opportunity to make some money, they weren't heroes. That said I admired that they were trying to make a movie about the subject even if it ended up feeling like a mess at the end.

I haven't seen all the nominees just Mad Max, Room and Big Short, but Mad Max and Room were both great I'd be happy if either of them won. Brie Larson should probably win for Best Actress. I didn't watch the Revenant because honestly I just don't like watching Leonardo Di Caprio. I find him completely unlikeable and haven't liked a movie he's been in since Inception (and I don't really credit that to his performance). I've seen so many movies he's been in and he always seems so humourless. I don't really get why people like his movies so much.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on February 25, 2016, 07:46:13 pm
Kind of related, i recently read A Clockwork Orange, and it gave me the weird feeling that many things the movie left out were left out for the better. Although i admit i didn't originally understand all that happened (especially in the second part, where he's "cured"), so he extra clarity was good. Also, it's interesting how the book kind of remotes yourself from the ultra-violence by using nadsat (the fictional youth slang), while the movie does so by using classical music. Other than that, they were really close. A few things are made more acceptable in the movie, like raising the age of the girls he invites home and makes drunk, or a few scenes missing. The only thing i don't get about the movie is the use of the song "Singing in the Rain". While the book is timeless by simply inventing a time, the movie uses this specific song. Weirdly enough, the book also has something in common with a favourite of mine, "Crime and Punishment" - it has a much-too-positive last chapter that changes things around in a way i didn't like (artistically speaking). In Clockwork, it's Alex growing tired of his violent ways and growing up, which the movie (again for the better) leaves out. It's much more threatening this way. Still, i liked the book. It's just not that much new to learn from reading it.

Also, just watched "Soylent Green" for the first time, and was underwhelmed. Especially after hearing about what the book amounts to, it felt too mild.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on February 25, 2016, 08:29:29 pm
What annoys me with The Big Short is reading reviews of people saying they still don't get exactly what the financial crisis was all about.

First of all, it's really problematic that anyone didn't know already. I mean, we've been over this. In 2008/2009, the press was full of explainers about it.

More importantly though : the basics of it aren't THAT hard to grasp, and the film freaking explains everything not once, not twice, but three times ! I thought McKay was completely overdoing it, but it appears I underestimated people's willingness to pay attention to something they don't have an natural interest in for over five seconds.

Also Christian Bale s pretty awful and the camerawork is all over the place. I like the film fine overall, but it's my least favorite of the ones I've seen so far.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on February 25, 2016, 09:05:36 pm
Also Christian Bale s pretty awful and the camerawork is all over the place. I like the film fine overall, but it's my least favorite of the ones I've seen so far.

I agree that Bale wasn't good.

But man, I just don't get it. Ok, maybe it has to do with the fact that I don't live in USA, use 100% cash only and have almost never even been in a bank. I don't really know what a bond is. And yes, they did too much of the explaining, yet, I still dont get it completely. It's just completely nowhere near my alley.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: yuma on February 25, 2016, 10:15:58 pm
EDIT: In other news, looks like someone else has pretty accurately described how I feel about Disney's The Little Mermaid (for the record, the original story is my favorite fairy tale).

On a whim I bought Ponyo, a Hayao Miyazaki film based on the Little Mermaid tale, for my daughter and she and I completely loved it. Completely and totally bizarre and wonderful. It doesn't completely follow the fairy tale either, but I think is much better than the Disney version (although technically I think Ponyo was distributed by Disney).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: A Drowned Kernel on February 25, 2016, 11:18:46 pm
It doesn't completely follow the fairy tale

I love Ponyo but this is something of an understatement.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LastFootnote on February 26, 2016, 12:01:19 am
I think Ponyo was pretty underwhelming, as Miyazaki movies go. I have no desire to own it at this time.

I hope Porco Rosso will someday be sold for a reasonable price, but it's not looking promising.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: yuma on February 26, 2016, 07:35:37 am
I think Ponyo was pretty underwhelming, as Miyazaki movies go. I have no desire to own it at this time.

Truth be told this was the first Miyazaki movie I had seen and still the only one I have seen. I should probably remedy that at some point as I know many love his movies... Maybe the next time I see one in the $5 bin.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on February 26, 2016, 03:14:32 pm
I think Ponyo was pretty underwhelming, as Miyazaki movies go. I have no desire to own it at this time.

Truth be told this was the first Miyazaki movie I had seen and still the only one I have seen. I should probably remedy that at some point as I know many love his movies... Maybe the next time I see one in the $5 bin.

Princess Mononoke is my absolute favorite, but buy My Neighbor Totoro today and watch it a million times with your daughter.  She'll relate to Mei now, then Satsuki when she's older.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on February 26, 2016, 03:18:13 pm
I think Ponyo was pretty underwhelming, as Miyazaki movies go. I have no desire to own it at this time.

Truth be told this was the first Miyazaki movie I had seen and still the only one I have seen. I should probably remedy that at some point as I know many love his movies... Maybe the next time I see one in the $5 bin.

Princess Mononoke is my absolute favorite, but buy My Neighbor Totoro today and watch it a million times with your daughter.  She'll relate to Mei now, then Satsuki when she's older.

And when she's old enough to go on the Internet, she'll find out about the Sayama incident and it will blow her mind.

Princess Mononoke is super good though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on February 26, 2016, 03:54:26 pm
I can see the death theory about Totoro (though I don't see the connection to the grisly Sayama Incident, this was the first I'd heard about the two connecting).

The death theory being that both girls die at some point in the movie and Totoro is actually some sort of death god, and that the Cat Bus takes their ghosts to the afterlife/heaven.

Studio Ghibli has apparently debunked the death theory so I doubt the Sayama Incident theory holds more water.  (http://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/06/02/studio-ghibli-producer-kills-theory-of-death-subtext-in-my-neighbor-totoro/)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on February 26, 2016, 04:13:53 pm
Studio Ghibli has apparently debunked the death theory so I doubt the Sayama Incident theory holds more water.  (http://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/06/02/studio-ghibli-producer-kills-theory-of-death-subtext-in-my-neighbor-totoro/)

Death of the author, especially when it's about the studio's mascot character representing a god of death.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 02, 2016, 09:39:54 am
I watched The Tunnel yesterday. It wasn't as substantial as some of the other horror movies I've liked a lot recently, but it was certainly one of the scariest, and not in a particularly cheap way either.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on March 02, 2016, 10:25:48 am
I think Ponyo was pretty underwhelming, as Miyazaki movies go. I have no desire to own it at this time.

Truth be told this was the first Miyazaki movie I had seen and still the only one I have seen. I should probably remedy that at some point as I know many love his movies... Maybe the next time I see one in the $5 bin.

Princess Mononoke is my absolute favorite, but buy My Neighbor Totoro today and watch it a million times with your daughter.  She'll relate to Mei now, then Satsuki when she's older.

And when she's old enough to go on the Internet, she'll find out about the Sayama incident and it will blow her mind.

Princess Mononoke is super good though.

I bet there's not a single country on earth where no child was murdered in the last five years. If i make a movie where a child gets lost, is it automatically about the most recent incident in my country?

Actual murder-in-Japan-influences-pop-culture-story: The japanese edition of the video game Crash Bandicoot 2 lacks a death animation where, when the titular character is crushed by a pillar, he gets reduced to his head and shoes. It was removed for the japanese release, as, at that time, Japan had a serial killer who used to leave his victim's heads behind next to their shoes.

The difference between those stories: One's confirmed and makes sense, the other's denied and thrives only of a similarity which is remarkably likely to happen randomly.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 02, 2016, 11:31:26 am
One's confirmed
the other's denied

Death of the author, especially when it's about the studio's mascot character representing a god of death.


thrives only of a similarity which is remarkably likely to happen randomly

The two sisters are named May (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mei_(given_name)) and May (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satsuki), respectively. The Shichikokuyama location in the movie is based on Hachikokuyama, which actually exists and is one of the Sayama Hills. I shouldn't even have to state that the movie is also full of what is pretty undeniably death related symbolism (aside from the missing shadows which could have been missing for animation reasons), and from that point of view, it makes perfect sense in the context of the Sayama incident. Sure, it wouldn't be unreasonably likely to happen randomly, but the movie wasn't generated randomly, it was created by people who made these decisions consciously.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on March 02, 2016, 12:25:22 pm
There's no right way to read a movie (or any piece of art), regardless of what the author intended. It's an interesting theory, and it sounds like it works on paper, but I don't see it at all when I watch it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on March 02, 2016, 02:51:00 pm
One's confirmed
the other's denied

Death of the author, especially when it's about the studio's mascot character representing a god of death.


thrives only of a similarity which is remarkably likely to happen randomly

The two sisters are named May (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mei_(given_name)) and May (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satsuki), respectively. The Shichikokuyama location in the movie is based on Hachikokuyama, which actually exists and is one of the Sayama Hills. I shouldn't even have to state that the movie is also full of what is pretty undeniably death related symbolism (aside from the missing shadows which could have been missing for animation reasons), and from that point of view, it makes perfect sense in the context of the Sayama incident. Sure, it wouldn't be unreasonably likely to happen randomly, but the movie wasn't generated randomly, it was created by people who made these decisions consciously.

Please, tell me more about why Jar Jar is actually a Sith Lord. Creating a theory that fits given facts is an easy task. I could make up an alternate interpretation ifor any given movie in half an hour. It requires only the tiniest bit of creativity. All you have to do is find reasons why your interpretation doesn't contradict things that happen. Hey, part of the movie is just a dream. Uh, how you see that? Um, uh, because character/symbol/place X does(n't ) appear in the section, and because person/culture Y regarded X as a symbol for Z, its absence/presence implies it's not reality. Person W who worked on the movie was a fan of Y, so it's likely they did it on purpose.

I could make up a story about how Spirited Away is actually about the Witch dying (getting "spirited away"), and Chihiro is actually Death, and No-face is whatever other entity i can fit in, and the name stuff represents severing ties with the living (Chihiro remembers hers because she's not living), or it represents Alzheimer's, and the bathing represents washing sins away, and the creatures represent slowly going to heaven, or a delirium, and the other witch represents the other self she has to accept, and she herself actually stands for a relative/friend/pen pal of producer/director/artist Whatshisname, who died during the production of the movie. He/she had to hide the hints carefully, which is why it's denied by the studio today, yadda yadda.... I'm making this up on the spot, and it's garbage. Whenever someone tells me why it's wrong, i can change it a bit, until noone finds anything anymore. That's when we arrive at "It's about the Sayama incident." It's not about the Sayama incident.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 02, 2016, 03:22:41 pm
Please, tell me more about why Jar Jar is actually a Sith Lord. Creating a theory that fits given facts is an easy task. I could make up an alternate interpretation ifor any given movie in half an hour. It requires only the tiniest bit of creativity. All you have to do is find reasons why your interpretation doesn't contradict things that happen. Hey, part of the movie is just a dream. Uh, how you see that? Um, uh, because character/symbol/place X does(n't ) appear in the section, and because person/culture Y regarded X as a symbol for Z, its absence/presence implies it's not reality. Person W who worked on the movie was a fan of Y, so it's likely they did it on purpose.

I could make up a story about how Spirited Away is actually about the Witch dying (getting "spirited away"), and Chihiro is actually Death, and No-face is whatever other entity i can fit in, and the name stuff represents severing ties with the living (Chihiro remembers hers because she's not living), or it represents Alzheimer's, and the bathing represents washing sins away, and the creatures represent slowly going to heaven, or a delirium, and the other witch represents the other self she has to accept, and she herself actually stands for a relative/friend/pen pal of producer/director/artist Whatshisname, who died during the production of the movie. He/she had to hide the hints carefully, which is why it's denied by the studio today, yadda yadda.... I'm making this up on the spot, and it's garbage. Whenever someone tells me why it's wrong, i can change it a bit, until noone finds anything anymore. That's when we arrive at "It's about the Sayama incident." It's not about the Sayama incident.

That's a straw man argument. There is nothing about the canon of Spirited Away that hints towards it being about the Sayama incident (actually, it's about prostitution). There are several connections to the Sayama incident in the canon of My Neighbor Totoro.

Besides, why do you keep caring about what the studio does or doesn't deny? It doesn't matter unless they include that statement as a part of the actual movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on March 03, 2016, 09:54:15 am
Please, tell me more about why Jar Jar is actually a Sith Lord. Creating a theory that fits given facts is an easy task. I could make up an alternate interpretation ifor any given movie in half an hour. It requires only the tiniest bit of creativity. All you have to do is find reasons why your interpretation doesn't contradict things that happen. Hey, part of the movie is just a dream. Uh, how you see that? Um, uh, because character/symbol/place X does(n't ) appear in the section, and because person/culture Y regarded X as a symbol for Z, its absence/presence implies it's not reality. Person W who worked on the movie was a fan of Y, so it's likely they did it on purpose.

I could make up a story about how Spirited Away is actually about the Witch dying (getting "spirited away"), and Chihiro is actually Death, and No-face is whatever other entity i can fit in, and the name stuff represents severing ties with the living (Chihiro remembers hers because she's not living), or it represents Alzheimer's, and the bathing represents washing sins away, and the creatures represent slowly going to heaven, or a delirium, and the other witch represents the other self she has to accept, and she herself actually stands for a relative/friend/pen pal of producer/director/artist Whatshisname, who died during the production of the movie. He/she had to hide the hints carefully, which is why it's denied by the studio today, yadda yadda.... I'm making this up on the spot, and it's garbage. Whenever someone tells me why it's wrong, i can change it a bit, until noone finds anything anymore. That's when we arrive at "It's about the Sayama incident." It's not about the Sayama incident.

That's a straw man argument. There is nothing about the canon of Spirited Away that hints towards it being about the Sayama incident (actually, it's about prostitution). There are several connections to the Sayama incident in the canon of My Neighbor Totoro.

Besides, why do you keep caring about what the studio does or doesn't deny? It doesn't matter unless they include that statement as a part of the actual movie.

How is it a straw man argument?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 03, 2016, 10:09:47 am
Please, tell me more about why Jar Jar is actually a Sith Lord. Creating a theory that fits given facts is an easy task. I could make up an alternate interpretation ifor any given movie in half an hour. It requires only the tiniest bit of creativity. All you have to do is find reasons why your interpretation doesn't contradict things that happen. Hey, part of the movie is just a dream. Uh, how you see that? Um, uh, because character/symbol/place X does(n't ) appear in the section, and because person/culture Y regarded X as a symbol for Z, its absence/presence implies it's not reality. Person W who worked on the movie was a fan of Y, so it's likely they did it on purpose.

I could make up a story about how Spirited Away is actually about the Witch dying (getting "spirited away"), and Chihiro is actually Death, and No-face is whatever other entity i can fit in, and the name stuff represents severing ties with the living (Chihiro remembers hers because she's not living), or it represents Alzheimer's, and the bathing represents washing sins away, and the creatures represent slowly going to heaven, or a delirium, and the other witch represents the other self she has to accept, and she herself actually stands for a relative/friend/pen pal of producer/director/artist Whatshisname, who died during the production of the movie. He/she had to hide the hints carefully, which is why it's denied by the studio today, yadda yadda.... I'm making this up on the spot, and it's garbage. Whenever someone tells me why it's wrong, i can change it a bit, until noone finds anything anymore. That's when we arrive at "It's about the Sayama incident." It's not about the Sayama incident.

That's a straw man argument. There is nothing about the canon of Spirited Away that hints towards it being about the Sayama incident (actually, it's about prostitution). There are several connections to the Sayama incident in the canon of My Neighbor Totoro.

Besides, why do you keep caring about what the studio does or doesn't deny? It doesn't matter unless they include that statement as a part of the actual movie.

How is it a straw man argument?

Because your argument consists of showing how Spirited Away is not about the Sayama incident, and I never said that it was.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: yuma on March 03, 2016, 01:08:47 pm
Man. You guys are really making me want to watch My Neighbor Toroto. I mean... this is like what I look for in a movie...
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on March 03, 2016, 01:24:16 pm
Man. You guys are really making me want to watch My Neighbor Toroto. I mean... this is like what I look for in a movie...

Watch it; it is enjoyable. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on March 03, 2016, 01:27:28 pm
Man. You guys are really making me want to watch My Neighbor Toroto. I mean... this is like what I look for in a movie...

The whole "they were dead all the time" thing ?

You might be disappointed then. You might see it if you're looking for it, but otherwise it's as light as it gets. It's also great, like really great and my favorite Miyazaki, but going into it with expectations of watching a movie about death might not work out so well. If you've seen Grave of the Fireflies, Totoro is basically the reverse side of that coin.

Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on March 03, 2016, 02:44:35 pm
Man. You guys are really making me want to watch My Neighbor Toroto. I mean... this is like what I look for in a movie...

The whole "they were dead all the time" thing ?

You might be disappointed then. You might see it if you're looking for it, but otherwise it's as light as it gets. It's also great, like really great and my favorite Miyazaki, but going into it with expectations of watching a movie about death might not work out so well. If you've seen Grave of the Fireflies, Totoro is basically the reverse side of that coin.



Yeah, despite Awaclus's assertions, I really don't think the ties to death that can be read into it really matter as it doesn't seem to be trying to be a movie about death (or at least not in that regard). It's fun, and it's about children dealing with difficult issues (like moving and parental illness). I've always thought of it as a movie that tries to explain how children are effected by difficult transitions in life and it's also just beautiful and has some amazing moments of imagination.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on March 03, 2016, 02:59:32 pm
I would go broader and say it's about childhood. In a sense, My Neighbour Totoro is about childhood in peaceful times (with some menace and incertainty looming, but mostly focused on the wonders of childhood), while Grave of the Fireflies is about childhood in war times (with some of that same sense of wonder intact and present amidst the tragedy). That Ghibli released those two films in the same year is amazing to me, and I'd recommend to anyone who liked one to see the other.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on March 03, 2016, 03:48:09 pm
I would go broader and say it's about childhood. In a sense, My Neighbour Totoro is about childhood in peaceful times (with some menace and incertainty looming, but mostly focused on the wonders of childhood), while Grave of the Fireflies is about childhood in war times (with some of that same sense of wonder intact and present amidst the tragedy). That Ghibli released those two films in the same year is amazing to me, and I'd recommend to anyone who liked one to see the other.

I had never considered the two movies as a pair like that, but you're right! Further on that Totoro feels fun and uplifting, wheres Fireflies feels depressing and tragic.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on March 03, 2016, 05:21:16 pm
Yes, I guess I failed to mention that because I forget everyone isn't super familiar with Ghibli (they should !), but they are ostensibly very much opposites in that way (hence the "two sides of the same coin" analogy"). Fireflies is among the saddest movies ever (not an exaggeration), while Totoro is joyful and sweet.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on March 03, 2016, 05:56:28 pm
Please, tell me more about why Jar Jar is actually a Sith Lord. Creating a theory that fits given facts is an easy task. I could make up an alternate interpretation ifor any given movie in half an hour. It requires only the tiniest bit of creativity. All you have to do is find reasons why your interpretation doesn't contradict things that happen. Hey, part of the movie is just a dream. Uh, how you see that? Um, uh, because character/symbol/place X does(n't ) appear in the section, and because person/culture Y regarded X as a symbol for Z, its absence/presence implies it's not reality. Person W who worked on the movie was a fan of Y, so it's likely they did it on purpose.

I could make up a story about how Spirited Away is actually about the Witch dying (getting "spirited away"), and Chihiro is actually Death, and No-face is whatever other entity i can fit in, and the name stuff represents severing ties with the living (Chihiro remembers hers because she's not living), or it represents Alzheimer's, and the bathing represents washing sins away, and the creatures represent slowly going to heaven, or a delirium, and the other witch represents the other self she has to accept, and she herself actually stands for a relative/friend/pen pal of producer/director/artist Whatshisname, who died during the production of the movie. He/she had to hide the hints carefully, which is why it's denied by the studio today, yadda yadda.... I'm making this up on the spot, and it's garbage. Whenever someone tells me why it's wrong, i can change it a bit, until noone finds anything anymore. That's when we arrive at "It's about the Sayama incident." It's not about the Sayama incident.

That's a straw man argument. There is nothing about the canon of Spirited Away that hints towards it being about the Sayama incident (actually, it's about prostitution). There are several connections to the Sayama incident in the canon of My Neighbor Totoro.

Besides, why do you keep caring about what the studio does or doesn't deny? It doesn't matter unless they include that statement as a part of the actual movie.

How is it a straw man argument?

Because your argument consists of showing how Spirited Away is not about the Sayama incident, and I never said that it was.

My argument consists of showing how trivial it is to make up a "plausible" conspiracy theory about a movie even if it holds no water at all. Claiming i did something else is, however, a strawman argument.
Edit: I can see now why you thougt my post was meant that way. I mean, i'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here, which i probably shouldn't do, but in case you actually read something different than what i meant out of it, no, that wasn't what my post was about. I was just making up nonsensical claims about another movie to show how easy it is to do stuff like that. The fact that there's an alternate interpretation that fits a few elements of a story means nothing. I can make up such a story any time, for any movie, and each time someone points out a mistake, i change a little detail, until arriving at a rather compelling, but still arbitrary and useless "truth behind the story". Claiming the Sayama incident is reflected in Totoro is such a bit, and it has no credibility only because someone found a few details that appear to match. Give me a little time and a blog and i can make people believe Spirited Away is about the Witches death, as you apparently were made to believe Totoro was about the Sayama incident.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 03, 2016, 06:51:02 pm
My argument consists of showing how trivial it is to make up a "plausible" conspiracy theory about a movie even if it holds no water at all. Claiming i did something else is, however, a strawman argument.
Edit: I can see now why you thougt my post was meant that way. I mean, i'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here, which i probably shouldn't do, but in case you actually read something different than what i meant out of it, no, that wasn't what my post was about. I was just making up nonsensical claims about another movie to show how easy it is to do stuff like that. The fact that there's an alternate interpretation that fits a few elements of a story means nothing. I can make up such a story any time, for any movie, and each time someone points out a mistake, i change a little detail, until arriving at a rather compelling, but still arbitrary and useless "truth behind the story". Claiming the Sayama incident is reflected in Totoro is such a bit, and it has no credibility only because someone found a few details that appear to match. Give me a little time and a blog and i can make people believe Spirited Away is about the Witches death, as you apparently were made to believe Totoro was about the Sayama incident.

It's irrelevant to show how trivial it is to make up a "plausible" conspiracy theory about a movie even if it holds no water at all. That's like having the premise that it's trivial to make a bad electro house song (which is demonstrably true) and, based on that alone, concluding that Animals must be a bad song. In other words, it doesn't make any sense at all.

You can't make people believe anything about a piece of art. There is nothing to believe, because it's not something that might or might not be objectively true. Your own personal experience and viewpoint changes what the piece of art means to you, and to someone else, it means something different. You could probably make some people decide that Spirited Away is about the Witches death though, and then, for those people, it would be.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on March 04, 2016, 05:46:52 am
My argument consists of showing how trivial it is to make up a "plausible" conspiracy theory about a movie even if it holds no water at all. Claiming i did something else is, however, a strawman argument.
Edit: I can see now why you thougt my post was meant that way. I mean, i'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here, which i probably shouldn't do, but in case you actually read something different than what i meant out of it, no, that wasn't what my post was about. I was just making up nonsensical claims about another movie to show how easy it is to do stuff like that. The fact that there's an alternate interpretation that fits a few elements of a story means nothing. I can make up such a story any time, for any movie, and each time someone points out a mistake, i change a little detail, until arriving at a rather compelling, but still arbitrary and useless "truth behind the story". Claiming the Sayama incident is reflected in Totoro is such a bit, and it has no credibility only because someone found a few details that appear to match. Give me a little time and a blog and i can make people believe Spirited Away is about the Witches death, as you apparently were made to believe Totoro was about the Sayama incident.

It's irrelevant to show how trivial it is to make up a "plausible" conspiracy theory about a movie even if it holds no water at all. That's like having the premise that it's trivial to make a bad electro house song (which is demonstrably true) and, based on that alone, concluding that Animals must be a bad song. In other words, it doesn't make any sense at all.

You can't make people believe anything about a piece of art. There is nothing to believe, because it's not something that might or might not be objectively true. Your own personal experience and viewpoint changes what the piece of art means to you, and to someone else, it means something different. You could probably make some people decide that Spirited Away is about the Witches death though, and then, for those people, it would be.

It's you who makes no sense, and deliberately, as usual. If you go around telling people that learning about the Sayama incident would "blow their mind" if they watched Totoro before, you're implying the Sayama incident has some significance or connection to the movie. It doesn't. Your headcanon is not a measure for the outside world or other people, no matter how clever you think it is. It certainly won't blow someone's mind. Some people might come to the conclusion it makes sense, but the expression you used states a big reveal, a truth that will change everything. Just your story is neither a truth, nor a reveal, nor is it changing anything. It's just headcanon. It's not like you said "A popular theory is that..." or "The movie has some similarities with...". You said "It's about the Sayama incident." and "It'll blow her mind". You are selling your arbitrary opinion as an objective truth. As usual.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 04, 2016, 06:01:23 am
It's you who makes no sense, and deliberately, as usual. If you go around telling people that learning about the Sayama incident would "blow their mind" if they watched Totoro before, you're implying the Sayama incident has some significance or connection to the movie. It doesn't. Your headcanon is not a measure for the outside world or other people, no matter how clever you think it is. It certainly won't blow someone's mind. Some people might come to the conclusion it makes sense, but the expression you used states a big reveal, a truth that will change everything. Just your story is neither a truth, nor a reveal, nor is it changing anything. It's just headcanon. It's not like you said "A popular theory is that..." or "The movie has some similarities with...". You said "It's about the Sayama incident." and "It'll blow her mind". You are selling your arbitrary opinion as an objective truth. As usual.

It is the objective truth that it's about the Sayama incident [for some people]. I think it should be pretty clear that I didn't mean that knowing about the Sayama incident will literally make her head explode.

I really don't know why you're so butthurt about this. It's just a movie, and not even one of the greatest movies ever made or anything.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on March 04, 2016, 08:01:37 am
It's you who makes no sense, and deliberately, as usual. If you go around telling people that learning about the Sayama incident would "blow their mind" if they watched Totoro before, you're implying the Sayama incident has some significance or connection to the movie. It doesn't. Your headcanon is not a measure for the outside world or other people, no matter how clever you think it is. It certainly won't blow someone's mind. Some people might come to the conclusion it makes sense, but the expression you used states a big reveal, a truth that will change everything. Just your story is neither a truth, nor a reveal, nor is it changing anything. It's just headcanon. It's not like you said "A popular theory is that..." or "The movie has some similarities with...". You said "It's about the Sayama incident." and "It'll blow her mind". You are selling your arbitrary opinion as an objective truth. As usual.

It is the objective truth that it's about the Sayama incident [for some people]. I think it should be pretty clear that I didn't mean that knowing about the Sayama incident will literally make her head explode.

I really don't know why you're so butthurt about this. It's just a movie, and not even one of the greatest movies ever made or anything.

It's not about Totoro. Every third thread on this forum has a post of you stating some opinion of yours as if it was objective truth, often at the expense and ridicule of people who try to have an actual discussion. Your opinions are opinions, and you are not clever for claiming they were facts. You are also not clever for deliberately misunderstanding the meaning of "objectively" and "blow s.o.'s mind" for the sake of convincing yourself that you were right after all.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 04, 2016, 08:04:58 am
It's not about Totoro. Every third thread on this forum has a post of you stating some opinion of yours as if it was objective truth, often at the expense and ridicule of people who try to have an actual discussion. Your opinions are opinions, and you are not clever for claiming they were facts. You are also not clever for deliberately misunderstanding the meaning of "objectively" and "blow s.o.'s mind" for the sake of convincing yourself that you were right after all.

That's just you stating your subjective opinion as if it was objective truth.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: yuma on March 04, 2016, 08:10:57 am
Asper, These two quotes help me in times like this.

So, you are verifying once and for all what an incredible waste of time it is for anyone to try to argue about this with you.

and oh fuck it why do I even bother talking this is just going to get a pointless response to lead to more pointlessness.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on March 04, 2016, 09:18:15 am
Branching off, there is such a thing as 'correct' vs. 'incorrect' interpretations of a piece of art, in the sense of 'validly supported' or 'invalidly supported'.  I remember one of my literature teachers in college was telling us about someone's interpretation of Great Gatsby's 'obviously masturbatory ending'.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on March 05, 2016, 03:29:16 am
I just read the Wikipedia article on the Sayama incident.  I've probably seen Totoro a hundred times and the only "connection" I can find is the setting of a rural area.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 10, 2016, 04:16:02 am
I just watched Livid. It was a very good looking film and it did have some legitimately scary moments during the first half, but unfortunately, the writing was completely awful. This excerpt from the Wikipedia article pretty much summarizes the entire film: "[character] finds himself in an operating room with no door and no idea how he got there. He is killed by veiled ballerinas who appear out of nowhere". Stuff just happens out of nowhere and you never have any idea how or why anything happens. And then it kind of just tries to hide that by appearing as though it was one of those more experimental movies that are super ambiguous on purpose (which, as a reminder, I am a massive fan of), but really, Livid was more like arbitrary than ambiguous. I was literally just laughing for the majority of the latter half of the film, even (and especially, considering how ridiculous some of those scenes were) when major characters were getting brutally killed, and that was not exactly the kind of mood I was hoping for when I chose to watch a horror movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 15, 2016, 11:22:32 am
I was just completely blown away by Exhibit A. Be it known that I'm a huge fan of films with imaginative visuals, incredible "only in fiction" plot developments and a good amount of ambiguity and room for different interpretations, and Exhibit A, being a found footage family drama film, is exactly the kind of movie that I'm not so inclined to be a huge fan of. Despite this, I super loved it.

I would recommend it to everyone even if you're (like me) not a fan of the genre and style because it's just so good, but not without a word of caution: it is unbelievably disturbing and painful to watch at times.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on March 15, 2016, 06:26:30 pm
Thoughts on Dirty Dancing?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on March 15, 2016, 06:41:59 pm
Thoughts on Dirty Dancing?

Nobody puts baby in the corner? Forrrr some reason?

Honestly it's one of those weird movies that I've seen all of, but never in one sitting. It constantly seems to be on TV, I would be over at people's houses when they were watching it, but I would leave and do something else part way through it or they'd have already started it when I got there or turn it off part way through. I can see the appeal I guess, but it's not for me?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on March 15, 2016, 07:26:11 pm
I watched The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock today. This will sound completely loony, but I think of it like a well made Michael Bay film. There's not much of a story, not much of a resolution. Just pure suspense, thrills, and action. There's even a Michael Bay explosion at one point. I laughed my head off when that happened. This movie did not age well at all, but I still liked it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: yuma on March 15, 2016, 07:37:00 pm
Thoughts on Dirty Dancing?

I liked it. But I tend to like "chick flicks" as fluffy content plus I felt that this one went a bit deeper into social morales than most do.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: DG on March 15, 2016, 08:33:11 pm
Here is a real movie buff question. Has anyone got a link to the original "Backstroke of the West", not the more recent "Backstroke of the West: The Third Gathers"? Search engines are full of results for the latter so I can't track down the original.

For those who don't know, "Backstroke of the West" was a very famous US film, illegally dubbed into a Chinese version for Chinese cinema, and then given English subtitles (and the new name) based on the Chinese. See if you can guess the original name.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on March 15, 2016, 10:46:05 pm
Thoughts on Dirty Dancing?

Not sure I like you that way.  Thanks though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on March 16, 2016, 07:52:34 am
Here is a real movie buff question. Has anyone got a link to the original "Backstroke of the West", not the more recent "Backstroke of the West: The Third Gathers"? Search engines are full of results for the latter so I can't track down the original.

For those who don't know, "Backstroke of the West" was a very famous US film, illegally dubbed into a Chinese version for Chinese cinema, and then given English subtitles (and the new name) based on the Chinese. See if you can guess the original name.

You mean George Lucas's ill-fated 6th directed disaster?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on March 16, 2016, 08:56:59 am
Thoughts on Dirty Dancing?

That movie used to be on HBO all the time, and I watched a lot of HBO growing up, so I got my fill of this movie.

It's not your typical '80s romance fluff. It has some interesting looks at affluent white society. Baby represents the sheltered child who learns about adulthood rather quickly by ingratiating herself in a struggling class. The abortion scene really showcases this disparity. Baby just blithely assumes that it can be fixed, while the staff members are suffering from the result of a cheap, unethical doctor.

The ending is unfortunately typical fluff. Love conquers all and all that jazz. I like how Family Guy pokes fun at this by showing a more realistic version. I don't know a father who would allow a man to talk back to him about his teenaged daughter. The movie does a pretty good job of chronicling her evolution from being naïve and innocent to confident and strong, but it fell flat with the father. It could have been a story about him evolving from stuffy and stodgy to understanding and accepting, but they pushed it too far, and he just comes off as demure.

But you know, pretty good movie actually. And it holds up well over time. The music is anachronistic, but that isn't a horrible thing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on March 16, 2016, 09:07:57 am
Thoughts on Dirty Dancing?

That movie used to be on HBO all the time, and I watched a lot of HBO growing up, so I got my fill of this movie.

It's not your typical '80s romance fluff. It has some interesting looks at affluent white society. Baby represents the sheltered child who learns about adulthood rather quickly by ingratiating herself in a struggling class. The abortion scene really showcases this disparity. Baby just blithely assumes that it can be fixed, while the staff members are suffering from the result of a cheap, unethical doctor.

The ending is unfortunately typical fluff. Love conquers all and all that jazz. I like how Family Guy pokes fun at this by showing a more realistic version. I don't know a father who would allow a man to talk back to him about his teenaged daughter. The movie does a pretty good job of chronicling her evolution from being naïve and innocent to confident and strong, but it fell flat with the father. It could have been a story about him evolving from stuffy and stodgy to understanding and accepting, but they pushed it too far, and he just comes off as demure.

But you know, pretty good movie actually. And it holds up well over time. The music is anachronistic, but that isn't a horrible thing.

Plus, if you learn how to do the move, it's a sure way to seal the deal when you take a girl back to your place.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 16, 2016, 09:13:00 am
Has anyone here seen Jisatsu Circle? I saw it today and it was a bit of a mindfuck, I will probably have to watch it a few more times in the future, but in the meantime, I thought I'd ask for others' opinions regarding it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on March 16, 2016, 03:58:37 pm
Here is a real movie buff question. Has anyone got a link to the original "Backstroke of the West", not the more recent "Backstroke of the West: The Third Gathers"? Search engines are full of results for the latter so I can't track down the original.

For those who don't know, "Backstroke of the West" was a very famous US film, illegally dubbed into a Chinese version for Chinese cinema, and then given English subtitles (and the new name) based on the Chinese. See if you can guess the original name.

I believe you are referring to "Revenge of the Sith". I saw clips from it once and it was spectacular. The scene where Vader pops out of his shackles and shouts "Do not want" is unrivaled in my memory as an accidental joke.

I didn't save any of the content when I originally saw it though (probably about 10 years ago now). I didn't know there was a new version, but no I don't know how to find the original. Good luck!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on March 16, 2016, 04:30:49 pm
This page (http://starwarsfans.wikia.com/wiki/Star_War_The_Third_Gathers:_The_Backstroke_of_the_West) seems to indicate that "The Third Gathers" tag on the title "Backstroke of the West" is actually the original version, just a longer more ?formal? title. So the versions you are finding are probably the original.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on March 16, 2016, 04:32:04 pm
All your base are belong to us.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on March 16, 2016, 04:32:15 pm
Thoughts on Dirty Dancing?

That movie used to be on HBO all the time, and I watched a lot of HBO growing up, so I got my fill of this movie.

It's not your typical '80s romance fluff. It has some interesting looks at affluent white society. Baby represents the sheltered child who learns about adulthood rather quickly by ingratiating herself in a struggling class. The abortion scene really showcases this disparity. Baby just blithely assumes that it can be fixed, while the staff members are suffering from the result of a cheap, unethical doctor.

The ending is unfortunately typical fluff. Love conquers all and all that jazz. I like how Family Guy pokes fun at this by showing a more realistic version. I don't know a father who would allow a man to talk back to him about his teenaged daughter. The movie does a pretty good job of chronicling her evolution from being naïve and innocent to confident and strong, but it fell flat with the father. It could have been a story about him evolving from stuffy and stodgy to understanding and accepting, but they pushed it too far, and he just comes off as demure.

But you know, pretty good movie actually. And it holds up well over time. The music is anachronistic, but that isn't a horrible thing.

Plus, if you learn how to do the move, it's a sure way to seal the deal when you take a girl back to your place.

Ryan Gosling/Emma Stone style.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on March 16, 2016, 04:33:04 pm
Thoughts on Dirty Dancing?

That movie used to be on HBO all the time, and I watched a lot of HBO growing up, so I got my fill of this movie.

It's not your typical '80s romance fluff. It has some interesting looks at affluent white society. Baby represents the sheltered child who learns about adulthood rather quickly by ingratiating herself in a struggling class. The abortion scene really showcases this disparity. Baby just blithely assumes that it can be fixed, while the staff members are suffering from the result of a cheap, unethical doctor.

The ending is unfortunately typical fluff. Love conquers all and all that jazz. I like how Family Guy pokes fun at this by showing a more realistic version. I don't know a father who would allow a man to talk back to him about his teenaged daughter. The movie does a pretty good job of chronicling her evolution from being naïve and innocent to confident and strong, but it fell flat with the father. It could have been a story about him evolving from stuffy and stodgy to understanding and accepting, but they pushed it too far, and he just comes off as demure.

But you know, pretty good movie actually. And it holds up well over time. The music is anachronistic, but that isn't a horrible thing.

Plus, if you learn how to do the move, it's a sure way to seal the deal when you take a girl back to your place.

Ryan Gosling/Emma Stone style.

I'm glad someone got the reference; I thought I was going to need to explain it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on March 16, 2016, 04:34:08 pm
All your base are belong to us.

Classic memes.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on March 16, 2016, 04:40:12 pm
All your base are belong to us.

You're on Newgrounds too?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: DG on March 16, 2016, 05:15:34 pm
This page (http://starwarsfans.wikia.com/wiki/Star_War_The_Third_Gathers:_The_Backstroke_of_the_West) seems to indicate that "The Third Gathers" tag on the title "Backstroke of the West" is actually the original version, just a longer more ?formal? title. So the versions you are finding are probably the original.

It's not immediately obvious, but "Backstroke of the West" is .... "The Empire Strikes Back". That was the original movie that was bootlegged, dubbed into Chinese, and subtitled back into English. The person who created/found/redubbed "The Third Gathers", Star Wars Episode III, must have known about the original and appended "Backstroke of the West". Unfortunately, that film clogs all the searches for the original.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on March 16, 2016, 08:05:18 pm
This page (http://starwarsfans.wikia.com/wiki/Star_War_The_Third_Gathers:_The_Backstroke_of_the_West) seems to indicate that "The Third Gathers" tag on the title "Backstroke of the West" is actually the original version, just a longer more ?formal? title. So the versions you are finding are probably the original.

It's not immediately obvious, but "Backstroke of the West" is .... "The Empire Strikes Back". That was the original movie that was bootlegged, dubbed into Chinese, and subtitled back into English. The person who created/found/redubbed "The Third Gathers", Star Wars Episode III, must have known about the original and appended "Backstroke of the West". Unfortunately, that film clogs all the searches for the original.

Are you sure that even exists? I've never heard of that and looking around on the internet seems to indicate that "Empire" wasn't ever called that, though I did find this (https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/2blycf/episode_iii_backstroke_of_the_west_where_can_i/cj6yyax), which makes me think you might be under the same assumption as InscrutableTed.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: DG on March 16, 2016, 08:41:52 pm
Are you sure that even exists? I've never heard of that and looking around on the internet seems to indicate that "Empire" wasn't ever called that, though I did find this (https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/2blycf/episode_iii_backstroke_of_the_west_where_can_i/cj6yyax), which makes me think you might be under the same assumption as InscrutableTed.

I did indeed watch the original, many years ago, long before Episode I was made let alone Episode III. I only found out that the Third Gathers existed by searching for the original a couple of weeks back. Although my memory loses details over the decades I instantly knew this one was different because it had good picture quality, dubbing back into English, I'd never seen Episode III before (in any version), and this contained a lot less swearing!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on March 16, 2016, 08:57:15 pm
Yes, I guess I failed to mention that because I forget everyone isn't super familiar with Ghibli (they should !), but they are ostensibly very much opposites in that way (hence the "two sides of the same coin" analogy"). Fireflies is among the saddest movies ever (not an exaggeration), while Totoro is joyful and sweet.
If you are a Ghibli fan, have you seen When Marnie was There -- if so, what do you think?


I just saw Absentia. It was absolutely amazeballs, probably my favorite horror movie to date.
Gonna watch this now...
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on March 17, 2016, 12:39:20 am
I just saw Absentia. It was absolutely amazeballs, probably my favorite horror movie to date.
Gonna watch this now...

Okay. I really appreciate the 'we just will not explain, period' thing since I read the series of unfortunate events. it's refreshing compared to conventional storytelling and I've even experimented with it myself.

And... under a lot of aspects, this is a pretty good movie.

But at the same time... for a horror movie, it's not that scary, it's honestly mostly depressing and sad. I respect it, but I dunno if I like it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 17, 2016, 01:27:19 am
But at the same time... for a horror movie, it's not that scary, it's honestly mostly depressing and sad.

Well, that is pretty much true (although I think it does have some parts that are also scary to an extent), but I think it's fine for a horror movie to be just depressing and sad. Those are still negative emotions, after all.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on March 17, 2016, 04:36:17 am
Yes, I guess I failed to mention that because I forget everyone isn't super familiar with Ghibli (they should !), but they are ostensibly very much opposites in that way (hence the "two sides of the same coin" analogy"). Fireflies is among the saddest movies ever (not an exaggeration), while Totoro is joyful and sweet.
If you are a Ghibli fan, have you seen When Marnie was There -- if so, what do you think?


I haven't seen that one.  Have you see The Tale of the Princess Kaguya?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on March 17, 2016, 05:58:18 am
Yes, I guess I failed to mention that because I forget everyone isn't super familiar with Ghibli (they should !), but they are ostensibly very much opposites in that way (hence the "two sides of the same coin" analogy"). Fireflies is among the saddest movies ever (not an exaggeration), while Totoro is joyful and sweet.
If you are a Ghibli fan, have you seen When Marnie was There -- if so, what do you think?

I have not. Really I've only seen half of their films because I'm waiting for a good boxset to come out so that I can buy that.

Would you recommend it ?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on March 17, 2016, 11:05:17 am
Zootopia is really good. I encourage people to see it. It made me laugh out loud more than once, which is more than Deadpool did.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on March 17, 2016, 11:12:29 am
Yes, I guess I failed to mention that because I forget everyone isn't super familiar with Ghibli (they should !), but they are ostensibly very much opposites in that way (hence the "two sides of the same coin" analogy"). Fireflies is among the saddest movies ever (not an exaggeration), while Totoro is joyful and sweet.
If you are a Ghibli fan, have you seen When Marnie was There -- if so, what do you think?
I haven't seen that one.  Have you see The Tale of the Princess Kaguya?
No, I'm a total noob when it comes to Ghibli, I've only seen this one movie. Probably going to watch more in the near future, though.

Would you recommend it ?
Again, I have no context of other Ghibli movies, but... yeah, I think so. It's difficult not to like, because it's so beautiful in terms of both art and story. It's also weird though... that's why I was interested to hear other opinions about it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 17, 2016, 11:15:35 am
It's difficult not to like, because it's so beautiful in terms of both art and story. It's also weird though... that's why I was interested to hear other opinions about it.

That's pretty much what you can expect of almost every Ghibli movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on March 17, 2016, 01:15:49 pm
Are you sure that even exists? I've never heard of that and looking around on the internet seems to indicate that "Empire" wasn't ever called that, though I did find this (https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/2blycf/episode_iii_backstroke_of_the_west_where_can_i/cj6yyax), which makes me think you might be under the same assumption as InscrutableTed.

I did indeed watch the original, many years ago, long before Episode I was made let alone Episode III. I only found out that the Third Gathers existed by searching for the original a couple of weeks back. Although my memory loses details over the decades I instantly knew this one was different because it had good picture quality, dubbing back into English, I'd never seen Episode III before (in any version), and this contained a lot less swearing!

Oh cool, well let me know if you find it! I'd never heard of that.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on March 18, 2016, 10:47:44 am
EDIT: COMPLETELY wrong thread, oops. :(
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Titandrake on March 18, 2016, 10:32:29 pm
Are you sure that even exists? I've never heard of that and looking around on the internet seems to indicate that "Empire" wasn't ever called that, though I did find this (https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/2blycf/episode_iii_backstroke_of_the_west_where_can_i/cj6yyax), which makes me think you might be under the same assumption as InscrutableTed.

I did indeed watch the original, many years ago, long before Episode I was made let alone Episode III. I only found out that the Third Gathers existed by searching for the original a couple of weeks back. Although my memory loses details over the decades I instantly knew this one was different because it had good picture quality, dubbing back into English, I'd never seen Episode III before (in any version), and this contained a lot less swearing!

Oh cool, well let me know if you find it! I'd never heard of that.

I'm not sure I believe this, because "Backstroke of the West" has always made sense to me based on my understanding of Chinese. If you translate "Sith" phonetically, the closest character is "xi", which means "west" when translated back. See http://dictionary.hantrainerpro.com/chinese-english/translation-xi_west.htm So, a bad translation turns "revenge" into something into "Backstroke", and "sith" into 西 into "west".

Similarly, "Anakin" turns into "Allah Gold". "Ana" is phonetically close to "Allah", and "kin" is close to "jin", a Chinese surname that also means gold. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_%28Chinese_surname%29).

I'm pretty sure "Backstroke of the West" has always been Episode III, but the re-dub is definitely new. The version I watched was original English with bad subtitles, not redubbed with the bad subtitles.

Edit: also yes Zootopia is really, really good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: 2.71828..... on March 25, 2016, 12:37:45 pm
Sitting in the theater waiting for Batman v superman to start. A little skeptical, but we will see.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on March 25, 2016, 01:04:58 pm
I have a new quest. Through playlists on YouTube, I have stumbled across a song from Phantom of the Paradise. I looked it up to learn more. It's a 1974 opera that draws heavily from Phantom of the Opera and the Portrait of Dorian Grey. And it looks like it has all the pageantry of the '70s.

It tanked in the theaters, and I'm sure it's not a good movie, but I am curious about it now.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on March 25, 2016, 01:05:03 pm
Sitting in the theater waiting for Batman v superman to start. A little skeptical, but we will see.

Spoiler:             The movie sucks.         
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: yuma on March 25, 2016, 03:44:05 pm
Sitting in the theater waiting for Batman v superman to start. A little skeptical, but we will see.

Spoiler:             The movie sucks.         

https://youtu.be/cwXfv25xJUw
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Tables on March 25, 2016, 05:18:53 pm
Just saw Batman V Superman DoJ today. It's alright. Wouldn't go too far out of your way to see it. It feels very contrived.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: 2.71828..... on March 25, 2016, 05:41:15 pm
Just saw Batman V Superman DoJ today. It's alright. Wouldn't go too far out of your way to see it. It feels very contrived.

yeah.  I mean, I wasn't going in with big expectations.  It was just about what I expected.  I am not a very refined movie-goer (and I don't know the comic books so nothing to be disappointed by from that angle) so I was able to sit back and enjoy the movie.  What can I say, I enjoy the whole marvel/x-men/and now DC movies and TV shows. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on March 26, 2016, 07:09:05 am
I just saw the trailer of "Sausage Party", and man, do i dislike it. It's a movie with the premise "What if our food was alive?" by people who apparently became so detached from real life they forgot that it's not a premise at all, as most of our food, in fact, is alive. "Oh, no, food is going to find out the disturbing truth that they will get eaten!" Let's not even bother about the disturbing truth that sausages are animal corpses grinded up and shoved into their own organs. It's something that kind of bothered me in "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs", but that was just fun for kids and didn't try to make a statement. Suasage Party thinks it's clever for its dark twist, when it clearly fails to recognize the actual darkness one can see in food. "You will die and be made food, cow. But, oh no, your humanized corpse parts will find out something bening that we sell as horrible!" Yuk. Not even a vegitarian, i just find it painfully dumb and ignorant.
/rage
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Grujah on March 26, 2016, 08:45:07 am
I mean, it's Seth Rogen, what did you expect?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on March 26, 2016, 10:11:00 am
I mean, it's Seth Rogen, what did you expect?

Without trying to make a point, i don't know who that is. After your statement, i don't want to learn it, either.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on March 26, 2016, 11:52:25 am

that sounds like something that I would think.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on March 28, 2016, 07:54:43 am
Forgetting that Google gave me a free month of Showtime as compensation, I started watching it in the final week of my freebie. I stumbled across Reeker.

The opening scene bugged the hell out of me. A woman was driving her family down the highway when she hits a deer. I think she pressed on the brakes once, but mostly she spends at least 2-3 seconds fumbling for the windshield wipers. By the time she got the wipers working and the gore wiped off, she should have already been stopped, because who the hell keeps speeding down the highway with an obstructed view?

I almost did not watch the rest of the movie because of that stupidity. After the movie, it occurred to me that there was a reason why they showed her still driving rather than stopped. It was tied to the fates of the college students that get hunted down and slaughtered like in most slasher flicks.

This movie was a fairly pedestrian horror flick, but as I thought about the ending, I realized that the movie was being rather clever. The problem is that you cannot tell how clever it was being until after the movie is over. So while I recognize the effort the filmmakers made to develop something interesting and neat, you're distracted by how uninspiring the movie looks when the scenes are being played out.

I walked away from this with the opinion that I would not recommend the movie to anyone. I still wouldn't say it was a great movie, but I gained an appreciation for what the filmmakers were trying to do, even if I feel they didn't quite reach their goal.

This movie came out in 2005, and I never heard of it. I'd have to think it was released theatrically, but I have no memory of any trailers. It made not even a whimper. Has anyone else heard of this movie?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on April 03, 2016, 01:57:12 pm
Quote from: Kuildeous link=topic=11628.msg583041#msg583041

This movie came out in 2005, and I never heard of it. I'd have to think it was released theatrically, but I have no memory of any trailers. It made not even a whimper. Has anyone else heard of this movie?

I heard about this movie about 5 seconds ago on this message board for this interesting deck building game.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on April 03, 2016, 03:04:45 pm
I saw Midnight Special last night.  Overall worthwhile watch I would say.  I think maybe it was hyped as a little more.. significant than it was, but still it was good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on April 11, 2016, 03:16:13 pm
I saw Midnight Special last night.  Overall worthwhile watch I would say.  I think maybe it was hyped as a little more.. significant than it was, but still it was good.

Jeff Nichols is a really promising director, I quite liked Take Shelter and I'm looking forward to seeing Midnight Special.

That said, has anyone seen Hail,Caesar!? It hasn't been so well received like I thought it would, but I really loved it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: A Drowned Kernel on April 12, 2016, 12:59:35 am
I saw Midnight Special last night.  Overall worthwhile watch I would say.  I think maybe it was hyped as a little more.. significant than it was, but still it was good.

I saw it without having heard anything at all about it and quite liked it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: yuma on April 22, 2016, 10:53:49 pm
I think Ponyo was pretty underwhelming, as Miyazaki movies go. I have no desire to own it at this time.

Truth be told this was the first Miyazaki movie I had seen and still the only one I have seen. I should probably remedy that at some point as I know many love his movies... Maybe the next time I see one in the $5 bin.

Princess Mononoke is my absolute favorite, but buy My Neighbor Totoro today and watch it a million times with your daughter.  She'll relate to Mei now, then Satsuki when she's older.

Finally watched this. On sale at Costco helped prompt us to get it. Somehow I missed that the youngest daughter's name is the same as my daughter (different spelling) but it meant that she was completely and totally enamored with the show. Major success. We will be watching it over and over again for many years to come I would guess.

And the best part is that the movie was really quite good (probably a heretical statement to make, but I actually liked Ponyo more...) I had forgotten most of the previous conversation here and actually ended up interpreting the movie as being about death. But rewinding and comparing the sandals changed my mind. Not that I would really mind the movie being about that and don't mind that others interpret it that way.

Favorite part was the seed growing dance.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on April 23, 2016, 10:05:01 am
I think Ponyo was pretty underwhelming, as Miyazaki movies go. I have no desire to own it at this time.

Truth be told this was the first Miyazaki movie I had seen and still the only one I have seen. I should probably remedy that at some point as I know many love his movies... Maybe the next time I see one in the $5 bin.

Princess Mononoke is my absolute favorite, but buy My Neighbor Totoro today and watch it a million times with your daughter.  She'll relate to Mei now, then Satsuki when she's older.

Finally watched this. On sale at Costco helped prompt us to get it. Somehow I missed that the youngest daughter's name is the same as my daughter (different spelling) but it meant that she was completely and totally enamored with the show. Major success. We will be watching it over and over again for many years to come I would guess.

And the best part is that the movie was really quite good (probably a heretical statement to make, but I actually liked Ponyo more...) I had forgotten most of the previous conversation here and actually ended up interpreting the movie as being about death. But rewinding and comparing the sandals changed my mind. Not that I would really mind the movie being about that and don't mind that others interpret it that way.

Favorite part was the seed growing dance.

I fully support more kids growing up watching Studio Ghibli movies.  In America, most children grow up with standard princess Disney movies.  But I think Ghibli is way way way way better, and the kind of movies that children should grow up watching.  They're (I think) accessible to children, but layered enough that there is something to get from it as you grow up and understand more. 

I just really dislike Disney.  I'm also still bitter that this girl I was dating made me watch Frozen.  She would also listen to the music over and over.  And she was in her late 20's.  We don't date any more.

And, yes, the seed growing dance was awesome.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: yuma on April 23, 2016, 10:16:15 am
I think Ponyo was pretty underwhelming, as Miyazaki movies go. I have no desire to own it at this time.

Truth be told this was the first Miyazaki movie I had seen and still the only one I have seen. I should probably remedy that at some point as I know many love his movies... Maybe the next time I see one in the $5 bin.

Princess Mononoke is my absolute favorite, but buy My Neighbor Totoro today and watch it a million times with your daughter.  She'll relate to Mei now, then Satsuki when she's older.

Finally watched this. On sale at Costco helped prompt us to get it. Somehow I missed that the youngest daughter's name is the same as my daughter (different spelling) but it meant that she was completely and totally enamored with the show. Major success. We will be watching it over and over again for many years to come I would guess.

And the best part is that the movie was really quite good (probably a heretical statement to make, but I actually liked Ponyo more...) I had forgotten most of the previous conversation here and actually ended up interpreting the movie as being about death. But rewinding and comparing the sandals changed my mind. Not that I would really mind the movie being about that and don't mind that others interpret it that way.

Favorite part was the seed growing dance.

I fully support more kids growing up watching Studio Ghibli movies.  In America, most children grow up with standard princess Disney movies.  But I think Ghibli is way way way way better, and the kind of movies that children should grow up watching.  They're (I think) accessible to children, but layered enough that there is something to get from it as you grow up and understand more. 

I just really dislike Disney.  I'm also still bitter that this girl I was dating made me watch Frozen.  She would also listen to the music over and over.  And she was in her late 20's.  We don't date any more.

And, yes, the seed growing dance was awesome.

Right. The main reason we were attracted to Ponyo, knowing nothing except what we read on the back cover was that it was about a young girl (instead of a teen or grown woman) trying to find fun and happiness and childlike love instead of trying to find her man. My daughter likes the Little Mermaid, but adores Ponyo. Same thing with Totoro. Very few shows feature young, young children that are watchable for adults.

Speaking of which... Anyone watch, or watch with their kids, Pocoyo? TV show, so different thread. But it is completely brilliant.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on April 23, 2016, 10:24:16 am
Oh yeah, Disney is cancer.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on April 23, 2016, 11:41:51 am
I second that Ghibli is great. I saw Spirited Away recently, and thought it was a masterpiece.

Disney, dunno, I like Frozen.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on April 23, 2016, 12:14:40 pm
Ghibli is the best.

Disney (even without accounting for Pixar) is better than its reputation, just very inconsistent
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on April 23, 2016, 12:34:08 pm
Disney is fine, why do people even complain about Disney. They can't all be the best animation studio ever.

Seriously though, I love the Lion King, Hercules, Aladdin. I feel like the movies with a female protagonist are a bit more hit-and-miss, though, but I don't know if that's just because I am a guy or because they are indeed more unequal.

On the other hand, the lack of a cohesive plot in (most?) Ghibli movies really bothers me.

I just really dislike Disney.  I'm also still bitter that this girl I was dating made me watch Frozen.  She would also listen to the music over and over.  And she was in her late 20's.  We don't date any more.

Dunno, that sounds like being annoyed at someone because they still like video games in their late 20's. To each their own.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on April 23, 2016, 12:40:52 pm
Live Action family Disney movies are hot garbage and all deserve to burn in a fire. You know the ones, the movies based on the TV shows that they have on their channel that are just horrible and lame, or the remakes of the old cartoons like Cinderella and Peter Pan. And no, I'm not including the acquisitions like Marvel and Lucas Arts in this list of Live Action family Disney movies, though I don't know how to really differentiate them from the movies I despise from Disney with my current definition, since they're all tecnically live action family Disney movies in the first place.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on April 23, 2016, 01:28:09 pm
I think Ponyo was pretty underwhelming, as Miyazaki movies go. I have no desire to own it at this time.

Truth be told this was the first Miyazaki movie I had seen and still the only one I have seen. I should probably remedy that at some point as I know many love his movies... Maybe the next time I see one in the $5 bin.

Princess Mononoke is my absolute favorite, but buy My Neighbor Totoro today and watch it a million times with your daughter.  She'll relate to Mei now, then Satsuki when she's older.

Finally watched this. On sale at Costco helped prompt us to get it. Somehow I missed that the youngest daughter's name is the same as my daughter (different spelling) but it meant that she was completely and totally enamored with the show. Major success. We will be watching it over and over again for many years to come I would guess.

And the best part is that the movie was really quite good (probably a heretical statement to make, but I actually liked Ponyo more...) I had forgotten most of the previous conversation here and actually ended up interpreting the movie as being about death. But rewinding and comparing the sandals changed my mind. Not that I would really mind the movie being about that and don't mind that others interpret it that way.

Favorite part was the seed growing dance.

I fully support more kids growing up watching Studio Ghibli movies.  In America, most children grow up with standard princess Disney movies.  But I think Ghibli is way way way way better, and the kind of movies that children should grow up watching.  They're (I think) accessible to children, but layered enough that there is something to get from it as you grow up and understand more. 

I just really dislike Disney.  I'm also still bitter that this girl I was dating made me watch Frozen.  She would also listen to the music over and over.  And she was in her late 20's.  We don't date any more.

And, yes, the seed growing dance was awesome.

Dude, watch Wreck It Ralph.  It is awesome.  Your Disney hate is uncalled for.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: 2.71828..... on April 23, 2016, 01:31:09 pm
Dude, watch Wreck It Ralph.  It is awesome. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on April 23, 2016, 02:09:52 pm
Disney is fine, why do people even complain about Disney. They can't all be the best animation studio ever.

The only thing I'm wondering is why don't more people complain about Disney. They've completely butchered a lot of the original stories some of their movies are based on, some of their (even pretty new) movies like Aladdin and Pocahontas are frustratingly ethnocentric, and then there's the whole issue with how their merchandise is produced and human rights and all that stuff. I mean, I probably have some products made in sweatshops as well, but that's out of necessity, and I don't feel like it's at all necessary to support Disney in any way (I also try to avoid financially supporting anything Ghibli related, although I have no issue with their movies so I still watch them and give them the credit that I think they deserve).

I just really dislike Disney.  I'm also still bitter that this girl I was dating made me watch Frozen.  She would also listen to the music over and over.  And she was in her late 20's.  We don't date any more.

Dunno, that sounds like being annoyed at someone because they still like video games in their late 20's. To each their own.

Being annoyed at someone because they still like video games in their late 20's is like being annoyed at someone because they still like animation in their late 20's. Being annoyed at someone because they still like Frozen to that degree in their late 20's is more like being annoyed at someone because they still always order the Happy Meal at McDonald's in their late 20's (the sweatshop thing being roughly comparable in this case, too).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on April 23, 2016, 02:49:03 pm
Disney is fine, why do people even complain about Disney. They can't all be the best animation studio ever.

Seriously though, I love the Lion King, Hercules, Aladdin. I feel like the movies with a female protagonist are a bit more hit-and-miss, though, but I don't know if that's just because I am a guy or because they are indeed more unequal.

On the other hand, the lack of a cohesive plot in (most?) Ghibli movies really bothers me.

I just really dislike Disney.  I'm also still bitter that this girl I was dating made me watch Frozen.  She would also listen to the music over and over.  And she was in her late 20's.  We don't date any more.

Dunno, that sounds like being annoyed at someone because they still like video games in their late 20's. To each their own.

But video games have intricate stories, character development, drama, story telling.  Frozen had.. a mildly entertaining snow man.  It's more, like, Disney keeps rehashing the same story with the same princess but with slightly different skin tone, and the same love interests with slightly differing levels of 'charming scoundralness'.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on April 23, 2016, 02:50:35 pm
I think Ponyo was pretty underwhelming, as Miyazaki movies go. I have no desire to own it at this time.

Truth be told this was the first Miyazaki movie I had seen and still the only one I have seen. I should probably remedy that at some point as I know many love his movies... Maybe the next time I see one in the $5 bin.

Princess Mononoke is my absolute favorite, but buy My Neighbor Totoro today and watch it a million times with your daughter.  She'll relate to Mei now, then Satsuki when she's older.

Finally watched this. On sale at Costco helped prompt us to get it. Somehow I missed that the youngest daughter's name is the same as my daughter (different spelling) but it meant that she was completely and totally enamored with the show. Major success. We will be watching it over and over again for many years to come I would guess.

And the best part is that the movie was really quite good (probably a heretical statement to make, but I actually liked Ponyo more...) I had forgotten most of the previous conversation here and actually ended up interpreting the movie as being about death. But rewinding and comparing the sandals changed my mind. Not that I would really mind the movie being about that and don't mind that others interpret it that way.

Favorite part was the seed growing dance.

I fully support more kids growing up watching Studio Ghibli movies.  In America, most children grow up with standard princess Disney movies.  But I think Ghibli is way way way way better, and the kind of movies that children should grow up watching.  They're (I think) accessible to children, but layered enough that there is something to get from it as you grow up and understand more. 

I just really dislike Disney.  I'm also still bitter that this girl I was dating made me watch Frozen.  She would also listen to the music over and over.  And she was in her late 20's.  We don't date any more.

And, yes, the seed growing dance was awesome.

Dude, watch Wreck It Ralph.  It is awesome.  Your Disney hate is uncalled for.

Okay, they aren't all bad.  I haven't actually seen Wreck It Ralph, but I wanted to.  I'd believe that it was god.  Lion King was not bad.

And Pixar movies are generally okay; I wasn't including those in 'Disney', if there is indeed a relation.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on April 23, 2016, 02:58:40 pm
I'll vouch for Zootopia, too, which is surprisingly awesome.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on April 23, 2016, 03:14:51 pm
On the other hand, the lack of a cohesive plot in (most?) Ghibli movies really bothers me.

A wise man once said that Plot is overrated.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on April 23, 2016, 04:12:12 pm
On the other hand, the lack of a cohesive plot in (most?) Ghibli movies really bothers me.

A wise man once said that Plot is overrated.

More like madman. Plot is everything!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on April 23, 2016, 04:20:46 pm
On the other hand, the lack of a cohesive plot in (most?) Ghibli movies really bothers me.

A wise man once said that Plot is overrated.

More like madman. Plot is everything!

Thus, everything is overrated.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on April 23, 2016, 04:21:22 pm
On the other hand, the lack of a cohesive plot in (most?) Ghibli movies really bothers me.

A wise man once said that Plot is overrated.

More like madman. Plot is everything!
Then it makes even less sense that you don't like attack of the clones!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on April 23, 2016, 05:03:18 pm
Then it makes even less sense that you don't like attack of the clones!

The plot is god awful. I also realized I made a slight error in my statement. Characters are the best thing about a movie. If I don't care about the characters, how can I care about anything else? But you seem to think ST: AotC has some amazing plot, so let me explain it:

The Trade Federation's Nute Gunray wants Padme dead for revenge reasons, which is completely counter-productive to the Separatist agenda, because Padme didn't want an army to fight the Separatists at all, and she's got a lot of sway in the Senate. Can't you set your little thirst for revenge until a bit later, dude? You could kill her later you know. Idiot.

Okay, so the bad guys try to kill Padme, and then the whole decoy switcheroo thing happens. But Padme's not a Queen anymore. She's a senator. (Sorry Anakin) So do all the politicians get decoys, or is it what I think it is, just a Naboo thing? You don't see anybody else doing it, and it was introduced in Episode 1 as some Naboo thing for the Queen. Does Palpatine get a decoy too, since he's from Naboo? He clearly doesn't have one, and if he had one, it could have been so much better, I think. The whole decoy thing with Padme felt like some sort of set-up for me, but that never got used later on, so even including it in the movie made sense less the more I thought about it.

Okay, so Padme is under threat, so Anakin and Obi-Wan are both sent to protect her. Anakin gets creepy with poor writing, and he immediately whines to Padme and says really inappropriate things to her within the first hour of meeting. He continues to be a complete jerk throughout the entire movie, and you're telling me this strong independent woman is still going to fall in love with this desperate selfish cuck? Yeah, right. I don't believe the whole love angle plot wise at all, since Anakin was written so poorly.

So Jango Fett hires an assassin even though he's an assassin (...?), and Anakin saves Padme and whatever, so Obi-Wan sees Jango Fett and follows him to Kamino, where he discovers the planet was hidden and that the Jedi ordered some clone army even though they really didn't, so it's obviously completely shady. But it's okay, Yoda! Use that army! Don't look into the shady stuff going on at all. Some wise man you are.

So I cannot believe Padme falls in love with Anakin at all. He's not even a likable guy. Wasn't Anakin supposed to be great friends with Obi-Wan anyways? Obi-Wan acted like it in Episode 4, but the whole time, Anakin just whines and bitches about how oppressed he is. And then Anakin slays a bunch of sand people. (Best scene in the entire movie. It's actually believable, and I wish it went on a lot longer, just to show the nature of his brutal slaying. I want to see that, man. I want to see the beginning of the descent into the dark side. I also want to see Anakin as a likable guy, someone to root for. He shouldn't even be the main character, but whatever, at least make him likable.)

So Anakin admits that he slayed all those kids and stuff, and Padme is completely cool with it, and marries him a day or two later. Yeah, I believe that. Obi-Wan gets captured, the whole arena battle thing happens, and it looks cool and everything, but man, the whole movie is just complete cancer. Mindless droids fight mindless clones. Who knows, who cares. Shoot shoot shoot. Special effects. Look, the plot is advancing, even though we never explained the Clone Trooper angle. I guess the Jedi don't care either.

So the movie ends, Dooku (horrible name) gets away, Anakin gets married, blah blah blah. I barely went through the plot, and I found like 1,000 things to complain about. I could have gone way more into detail, too.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on April 23, 2016, 05:08:36 pm
Aladdin and Pocahontas are frustratingly ethnocentric

How is Aladdin ethnocentric?

being annoyed at someone because they still always order the Happy Meal at McDonald's in their late 20's

Man, by your late 20's I would say you can be considered an adult already. If you really want a Happy Meal, you go and get it, and fuck everyone that has a problem with that. Worrying about what other people think of you, or hiding the things you really like because you are afraid of public opinion, seems more like teenage thinking than adulthood.

But video games have intricate stories, character development, drama, story telling.  Frozen had.. a mildly entertaining snow man.  It's more, like, Disney keeps rehashing the same story with the same princess but with slightly different skin tone, and the same love interests with slightly differing levels of 'charming scoundralness'.

Again, this still just seems to be "my hobbies are more deserving of attention than yours". If she liked Frozen that much, who cares what the critics say, good for her! Nobody needs people to tell them what they have the right to like or not. If I meet somebody that thinks that Monopoly is the best game ever, I will try to introduce them to "actual" boardgames, but if it doesn't catch their attention and keep thinking that Monopoly is the best way to spend an afternoon, well, cool. I don't have to play with them anyway.

That being said, singing "Let it go" 24/7 will quickly get grating. Mostly I take issue at the "and she was in her late 20's" part.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on April 23, 2016, 05:49:08 pm
On the other hand, the lack of a cohesive plot in (most?) Ghibli movies really bothers me.

A wise man once said that Plot is overrated.

Was that me ? I was about to post that.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on April 23, 2016, 05:51:16 pm
How is Aladdin ethnocentric?

It has stereotypes everywhere and it's culturally inaccurate. Western movies depicting other cultures can feel like they genuinely respect the foreign culture for its differences, but watching Aladdin feels like going to a zoo in order to look at funny looking weird things.

Man, by your late 20's I would say you can be considered an adult already. If you really want a Happy Meal, you go and get it, and fuck everyone that has a problem with that. Worrying about what other people think of you, or hiding the things you really like because you are afraid of public opinion, seems more like teenage thinking than adulthood.

No, worrying about what other people think of you is certainly an adult thing. The majority of the development in the human brain during the very late stages (i.e. before it starts to deteriorate in the late 20's) affects mostly the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for worrying about "correct" social behavior. Teenagers are more likely to do whatever they want and not care too much about the consequences.

And even if you don't care about what I think of you, man, I'm still going to find it extremely strange if you eat Happy Meals on a regular basis and I also think I'm perfectly justified in doing so.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on April 23, 2016, 06:00:55 pm
Again, this still just seems to be "my hobbies are more deserving of attention than yours". If she liked Frozen that much, who cares what the critics say, good for her! Nobody needs people to tell them what they have the right to like or not. If I meet somebody that thinks that Monopoly is the best game ever, I will try to introduce them to "actual" boardgames, but if it doesn't catch their attention and keep thinking that Monopoly is the best way to spend an afternoon, well, cool. I don't have to play with them anyway.

Yes, and I didn't have to watch movies with her anyway. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on April 23, 2016, 06:22:41 pm
On the other hand, the lack of a cohesive plot in (most?) Ghibli movies really bothers me.

A wise man once said that Plot is overrated.

Was that me ? I was about to post that.

yes  :P
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on April 23, 2016, 06:27:44 pm
Again, this still just seems to be "my hobbies are more deserving of attention than yours". If she liked Frozen that much, who cares what the critics say, good for her! Nobody needs people to tell them what they have the right to like or not. If I meet somebody that thinks that Monopoly is the best game ever, I will try to introduce them to "actual" boardgames, but if it doesn't catch their attention and keep thinking that Monopoly is the best way to spend an afternoon, well, cool. I don't have to play with them anyway.

Yes, and I didn't have to watch movies with her anyway.

Dude, just let it go.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on April 23, 2016, 06:30:24 pm

See, though, most of those aren't actually complaining about the plot, and most of the ones that are are relatively small things, whereas the sixth movie's plot is just one huge predictable contrivance.

I really think it comes down to this:

Characters are the best thing about a movie. If I don't care about the characters, how can I care about anything else?

Which is really the opposite of what you said initially. So you really find characters >> plot, which seems to be the real reason why you dislike AOTC
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on April 23, 2016, 06:37:14 pm
No, worrying about what other people think of you is certainly an adult thing. The majority of the development in the human brain during the very late stages (i.e. before it starts to deteriorate in the late 20's) affects mostly the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for worrying about "correct" social behavior. Teenagers are more likely to do whatever they want and not care too much about the consequences.

We are not talking about the same thing. Anyway, I am derailing the thread.

On the other hand, the lack of a cohesive plot in (most?) Ghibli movies really bothers me.

A wise man once said that Plot is overrated.

Was that me ? I was about to post that.

yes  :P

We had this discussion before already, yes. I need a certain amount of coherence in my plots for me to enjoy them, at least if the movie wants to take itself seriously. I understand that not everybody agrees.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on April 23, 2016, 06:45:49 pm
Worrying about what other people think of you, or hiding the things you really like because you are afraid of public opinion, seems more like teenage thinking than adulthood.

I... do that a lot. The worrying part, anyway, not the hiding part. Too much, actually.

Frozen - so... is there a consensus about it in this forum? I really thought it was clearly a good movie, though not an amazing one. It was subversive of stereotypes, it was self-aware, smart, pretty, adorable, and funny. And it has a good message. I can't help suspecting that dislike comes in part from disliking Disney, which I'm free off because I've never seen anything else from Disney.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on April 23, 2016, 07:28:02 pm
Frozen - so... is there a consensus about it in this forum? I really thought it was clearly a good movie, though not an amazing one. It was subversive of stereotypes, it was self-aware, smart, pretty, adorable, and funny. And it has a good message. I can't help suspecting that dislike comes in part from disliking Disney, which I'm free off because I've never seen anything else from Disney.

I haven't seen it, but based on a couple of YTPs, the visuals don't seem very compelling to me.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jack Rudd on April 23, 2016, 07:44:33 pm
Frozen - so... is there a consensus about it in this forum? I really thought it was clearly a good movie, though not an amazing one. It was subversive of stereotypes, it was self-aware, smart, pretty, adorable, and funny. And it has a good message. I can't help suspecting that dislike comes in part from disliking Disney, which I'm free off because I've never seen anything else from Disney.
I'm a fan. I find characters like Elsa fun to write, and fun to watch.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: yuma on April 23, 2016, 08:36:23 pm
I feel that in isolation Frozen was an average movie. Nothing really special, but not necessarily bad. But because the bar has been set so low for "Princess" Disney movies this one just flew so far over the others that it appeared to be much better than it actually was.

But I don't think it is a bad movie for what it is or what it was intended to be. I guess my question is why we (as in the world at large, I know why Disney need's them as it is a guaranteed profit for them) still need movies like this about princesses in the first place? Maybe they felt they needed to make one that wasn't completely ridiculous and will never make another princess movie again...? But I doubt it.

Edit: Brave was actually, I think much better than Frozen when it comes to "Princess" movies. But Brave was Pixar. So that was probably why.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on April 24, 2016, 03:13:59 am
I feel that in isolation Frozen was an average movie. Nothing really special, but not necessarily bad. But because the bar has been set so low for "Princess" Disney movies this one just flew so far over the others that it appeared to be much better than it actually was.

But I don't think it is a bad movie for what it is or what it was intended to be. I guess my question is why we (as in the world at large, I know why Disney need's them as it is a guaranteed profit for them) still need movies like this about princesses in the first place? Maybe they felt they needed to make one that wasn't completely ridiculous and will never make another princess movie again...? But I doubt it.

Edit: Brave was actually, I think much better than Frozen when it comes to "Princess" movies. But Brave was Pixar. So that was probably why.

To have a reasonable answer to your question (why do we need so many "princess" movies), I think you need to consult the Muses or whomever is in charge of "stories" in general -- Disney didn't invent most of their princess stories, they've been around sometimes for 100s of years.  Whether their adaptations of those stories are well done or terrible is subjective, but it isn't like Disney sits around making up princess stories.

Hua Mulan's story has been told since the 6th century; Badroulbadour (Jasmine) is hundreds of years old; Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and Snow White are from Grimm; the oldest known Cinderella comes from China in 860 (Ye Xian).  Even Tiana is based on Grimm, and I thought that was one of their best, most "original" princesses in a long time.  As for Elsa -- she's from Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen.

All in all, I know it's normal to group all of the "princess" movies together, but I don't think a lot of viewers think about them in the historical literary context from whence they came.  These are modernized animated versions of sometimes ancient stories -- and ancient stories that last this long to be retold over and over have survived for a reason: they resonate with humankind.

TLDR: Disney Princess movies are no different from Shakespeare's plays -- eternal retelling of stories for the entertainment of the masses that have stood the test of time.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: yuma on April 24, 2016, 10:29:08 am
To have a reasonable answer to your question (why do we need so many "princess" movies), I think you need to consult the Muses or whomever is in charge of "stories" in general -- Disney didn't invent most of their princess stories, they've been around sometimes for 100s of years.  Whether their adaptations of those stories are well done or terrible is subjective, but it isn't like Disney sits around making up princess stories.

Hua Mulan's story has been told since the 6th century; Badroulbadour (Jasmine) is hundreds of years old; Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and Snow White are from Grimm; the oldest known Cinderella comes from China in 860 (Ye Xian).  Even Tiana is based on Grimm, and I thought that was one of their best, most "original" princesses in a long time.  As for Elsa -- she's from Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen.

All in all, I know it's normal to group all of the "princess" movies together, but I don't think a lot of viewers think about them in the historical literary context from whence they came.  These are modernized animated versions of sometimes ancient stories -- and ancient stories that last this long to be retold over and over have survived for a reason: they resonate with humankind.

TLDR: Disney Princess movies are no different from Shakespeare's plays -- eternal retelling of stories for the entertainment of the masses that have stood the test of time.

Those are fair points and is certainly a reasonable answer, but probably not good enough for me. There are plenty of non-princess stories out there that Disney isn't touching, or at least weren't touching very often (maybe they feel that Pixar stories are enough?). Or when they do a Princess story they butcher it into something almost unrecognizable (Little Mermaid). I read the Andersen and Grimm fairy tales a while back and there were a bunch (can't really remember as they all blend it after a certain while) that were brilliant that didn't involve the stereotypical princesses.

And I don't really consider Mulan to be a Princess story. And, I had forgotten about The Frog Princess--I did enjoy that one. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on April 24, 2016, 06:08:45 pm
Again, this still just seems to be "my hobbies are more deserving of attention than yours". If she liked Frozen that much, who cares what the critics say, good for her! Nobody needs people to tell them what they have the right to like or not. If I meet somebody that thinks that Monopoly is the best game ever, I will try to introduce them to "actual" boardgames, but if it doesn't catch their attention and keep thinking that Monopoly is the best way to spend an afternoon, well, cool. I don't have to play with them anyway.

Yes, and I didn't have to watch movies with her anyway.

Dude, just let it go.

I can't  :(  If it wasn't for her I wouldn't even get that reference!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on April 29, 2016, 07:53:39 am
Squeed like a girl when I saw Fury Road on HBO last night. I was busy doing chores, so I only had it on in the background, but I recorded it for later scrutiny.

Man, I missed so much when I first saw it. Drive-in theatres should have captions. They just aren't ideal places to listen to a movie. At home, with the closed-captioning on, I was able to catch a lot more: McFeasting in Valhalla, bullets as antiseeds, Barry and Larry, and the interplay between the three tribes. And that was just what I caught while I was engrossed in my chores.

That movie is just insane with its characters and vehicles. The language was tweaked to remind us we were in an alien setting ("You traited him!").

Now that I know about the filming style of the movie, I paid attention to it and marveled at how much effort was put into bringing the focus to the center.

Makes me so happy I resubscribed to HBO this month (well, and Game of Thrones).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on May 14, 2016, 04:24:49 pm
After rewatching the X-Men trilogy, and at the cost of any reputation I may or may not have as a cinephile, I can declare that the correct ranking for them is (with a significant margin between each of them) :

1. X-Men: The Last Stand
2. X-Men
3. X2

And while I can maybe comprehend why The Last Stand rubs people the wrong way, I cannot for the life of me understand how X2 came to be so revered.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on May 14, 2016, 04:54:22 pm
Looking through Amazon movies to pay to watch in tonight. Narrowed down to High Rise or The Invitation. Any f.ds reviews before we decide?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on May 14, 2016, 05:49:22 pm
Invitation has higher ratings, but High Rise is sci-fi. Tough choice.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on May 14, 2016, 05:58:04 pm
but High Rise is sci-fi

Well, clearly being sci-fi isn't enough to make it a better movie since it has lower ratings.

Actually it doesn't make it any better at all — it's a genre, not a measure of quality.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on May 14, 2016, 06:11:22 pm
but High Rise is sci-fi

Well, clearly being sci-fi isn't enough to make it a better movie since it has lower ratings.

Actually it doesn't make it any better at all — it's a genre, not a measure of quality.

Seprix is making the (entirely reasonable given the demographics of this forum) assumption that "sci-fi" is a draw regardless of quality... besides, "quality" doesn't exist in art, but that's another debate. And if it did, "higher ratings" wouldn't be a great indicator of it either.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on May 14, 2016, 06:17:58 pm
The reviews on Amazon often run counter to my own opinions so I really felt the reviews weren't as valuable as input here. That Invitation is a thriller is very attractive to me.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on May 14, 2016, 06:22:29 pm
Even bad sci-fi can be interesting sometimes, because it could have some cool idea or concept that even when executed poorly, sort of works. I'm a little sad that there are so many dystopian movies now stemming from the success of The Hunger Games (which is perfectly fine, though I liked Gregor the Overlander by the same author more), which of course means sci-fi is now probably going to suffer a little long term. That being said, I like the sci-fi genre more in general than say, a rom-com.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on May 14, 2016, 06:44:35 pm
High Rise was written in 1975 so I'm not sure it has a whole lot to do with Hunger Games unless you mean the fact it was adapted at all.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: DG on May 14, 2016, 06:52:25 pm
Even bad sci-fi can be interesting sometimes, because it could have some cool idea or concept that even when executed poorly, sort of works.

You mean good sci-fi in a bad movie?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 16, 2016, 08:29:43 am
After rewatching the X-Men trilogy, and at the cost of any reputation I may or may not have as a cinephile, I can declare that the correct ranking for them is (with a significant margin between each of them) :

1. X-Men: The Last Stand
2. X-Men
3. X2

And while I can maybe comprehend why The Last Stand rubs people the wrong way, I cannot for the life of me understand how X2 came to be so revered.

It's a bold stance to take, but kudos on you taking it.

I also don't get the X2 love. I mean, I liked it. It plays into the government paranoia thing. X2 was nice in that it didn't need to introduce too many characters. The first X-Men showed us the genesis of Magneto and Rogue. Then they showed us how Rogue met Wolverine, how Rogue met Storm, how Wolverine met Phoenix, and so on. While X2 and X3 did introduce some new characters, they were a bit more organic. There was no need to pause the story for introductions.

I suppose that the reason I consider X2 to be overrated is that I feel Wolverine is overrated, and this movie was mostly about Wolverine. Yes, Hugh Jackman plays him wonderfully, but he gets so much screen time that the other characters are just begging to tell their stories.

That being said, I do disagree with your list. I feel X3 belongs on the bottom, but I don't feel it is as bad as others make it out to be. It's not a great movie, and it suffers some flaws, but I don't change the channel when it comes on. It probably has the most comic-book feel to it. C'mon, Magneto redirecting the Golden Gate Bridge? Lovely. And I enjoyed the interaction between Kitty and Juggernaut (though the "I'm the Juggernaut, bitch" line seemed forced).

My biggest gripe about X3 is how quickly Magneto turned his back on Mystique. I suppose this was to polarize (heh) Magneto. It's not enough that mutants no longer be marginalized. Mutants are the only breed worth keeping. It took a complex character played by Ian McKellan and made him more into a caricature. I saw the relationship in a way where at best, Magneto would still value his friendship , and at worst, he would use her as a pawn. For as brilliant as he was, he was pretty indiscriminate about letting the government get a hold of a valuable resource.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on May 16, 2016, 09:50:34 am
Yes, Magneto is in full-supervillain mode in that film, and him leaving Mystique behind is a clear signal of that. But... it's very impactful, it's not like the film plays it off as if nothing happened (and it comes back to bite him).

I should say I'm not a comic book reader at all, so I don't really care about this being "true to Magneto" or whatever. It's an evolution of the character that I buy and find interesting : just because he's more extreme doesn't mean he's not interesting !
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on May 28, 2016, 05:05:51 pm
I just saw Girls und Panzer der Film for the second time (I saw it for the first time on Thursday) and it's fucking amazing. I'm probably a little biased because I think that tanks are just super cool to begin with, but I actually think that a lot of the strategic/tactic elements of senshado (the fictional sport of WWII-era tank fighting that GuP is all about) would probably appeal to a lot of this forum's userbase, because the strategy is the main focus and it's incredibly well done — you can easily follow what's going on, but it's also really clever.

If I managed to get you interested, which I'm only trying to do because I super loved the experience so I want to share it with others as well, you can start by watching the TV show or the movie first; the movie is a continuation but the events aren't directly connected so the order doesn't matter that much and they both are 10/10 by the standards of their respective formats in my opinion.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on June 09, 2016, 09:34:13 pm
I recorded Snakes on a Plane. Should I watch it? I have plenty of other things on the DVR to watch, so if the movie is blah, then I could skip it.

But if it's truly awesome, I'll make it a point to watch.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on June 10, 2016, 02:23:02 am
I recorded Snakes on a Plane. Should I watch it? I have plenty of other things on the DVR to watch, so if the movie is blah, then I could skip it.

But if it's truly awesome, I'll make it a point to watch.

From what I understand it's not good. But in a way that you can laugh at it being so bad. I feel like it would be a movie to watch as a group.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on June 10, 2016, 08:16:15 am
I recorded Snakes on a Plane. Should I watch it? I have plenty of other things on the DVR to watch, so if the movie is blah, then I could skip it.

But if it's truly awesome, I'll make it a point to watch.

Just wait until you suddenly exclaim, "I'm sick of these motherfucking Snakes on a Plane on my motherfucking DVR!". Then watch it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on June 11, 2016, 03:21:31 am
I recorded Snakes on a Plane. Should I watch it? I have plenty of other things on the DVR to watch, so if the movie is blah, then I could skip it.

But if it's truly awesome, I'll make it a point to watch.

It's a very self aware movie that is terrible, or to put it another way: it's a very well made terrible movie. If that appeals to you I'd watch it. If not give it a pass. It's a fun movie to watch with a group of people who are socializing and making fun of it. Alcohol doesn't hurt in this situation. I would not recommend sitting down by yourself to watch the movie for the quality of its story.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on June 13, 2016, 12:17:19 pm
I saw The Lobster this weekend.  I'm still digesting it.  My initial reaction is that it's pretty brilliant, though.  Evem without the questions that it leaves you with, it's just entertaining to watch (if you like that kind of quirky humor, I guess).  I guess I mean, it's entertaining to watch even if you don't understand it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on June 14, 2016, 12:24:53 pm
I saw The Lobster this weekend.  I'm still digesting it.  My initial reaction is that it's pretty brilliant, though.  Evem without the questions that it leaves you with, it's just entertaining to watch (if you like that kind of quirky humor, I guess).  I guess I mean, it's entertaining to watch even if you don't understand it.

I saw it with a few people who walked out on it, and me and one other person who liked it. I think it's a great movie too, although I did think it was a little too long. But it's really funny, and one of the most awkward movies I've ever seen (awkward in a good way though).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on July 18, 2016, 05:52:03 am
So, what are your favourite releases so far this year?

These are mine:

Hail, Caesar!: Coens homage to Classical Hollywood cinema, told through different substories which are all connected by the main protagonist whose job it is to "care" for the studio employees (read: avoid bad press). All of it is overly ridiculous that some people came to the conclusion that this film is critiquing the film business but I think it's very well-spirited. Also, did I mention that it is absolutely hilarious? Basic knowledge about the Classical period and about film theory (Marxist) may enhance the experience, but it is absolutely not necessary. How the Coens made such a well looking film with this huge cast for only $20 Million is beyond me.

Mustang: Technically a 2015 release but not in my country. A drama set in contemporary Turkey (no politics) showing the life of five young girls in a rural village sorrounded by the conservative relatives who do not value freedom and self-expression as much as the girls would like. Each girl has their own way of dealing with their situation, with varying degree of success. The only problem I had with the movie is that the opposition is portrayed too "villainy" (you'll know it when you see it), setting up a bit of a strawman. Besides that, the girl actors are pretty good/amazing and their relations are really moving. Also amazing editing at the end, it made watching the film so rewarding. One of my favourite movies already and I haven't even rewatched it.

Love&Friendship: Whitman's adaption of the Jane Austen novella "Lady Susan". Absolutely delightful, as the Brits would say. The film had me smiling all the way through, not only because it's very funny, but also because it caused a genuine feeling of happiness. The ensemble cast was great, with Kate Beckinsale doing such a good job at playing the protagonist that the character just works so well (If she didn't perform, the film would have fallen apart). You might say that a period drama based on a Jane Austen novella is not for you, but trust me, I wouldn't have thought it was for me, either. To quote Kermode: "Here's the test whether or not the film works for you: Take two fingers and put them on the inside of your wrist. Do you feel a pulse? If so, then go [see it]!

Sunset Song: My first Terrence Davies, just saw it recently. I don't know how to put what I saw into words. It felt very honest, someone called it "humanistic" which I find very fitting. It follows a girl/women through the beginning of the 20th century in Scotland going through a cycle of hardships and good times. Another drama that was really moving to me.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 18, 2016, 12:36:11 pm
Basic knowledge about the Classical period and about film theory (Marxist)

Do you mean the Soviet Montage Theory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_montage_theory)? That theory may be one of the greatest things to come out of Communism. The Soviet Montage Theory is a critical cornerstone of modern cinema. Not to mention there was a guy named Eisenstein who helped solidify all of the details, which is pretty gosh darn awesome.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on July 18, 2016, 01:24:43 pm
Basic knowledge about the Classical period and about film theory (Marxist)

Do you mean the Soviet Montage Theory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_montage_theory)? That theory may be one of the greatest things to come out of Communism. The Soviet Montage Theory is a critical cornerstone of modern cinema. Not to mention there was a guy named Eisenstein who helped solidify all of the details, which is pretty gosh darn awesome.

No I meant the socioeconomic theory. Formalism is always important!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 18, 2016, 02:03:17 pm
Who here saw Ghostbusters? Nobody? Well, you're all obviously sexist then!  ;)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on July 18, 2016, 02:12:17 pm
Who here saw Ghostbusters? Nobody? Well, you're all obviously sexist then!  ;)

That conversation can just move on down to RSP. I know it already.

Since my wife was out of town this weekend, we didn’t have a chance to see it yet. We’re actually taking a vacation day on Wednesday just to unwind, so we’re going to see it then. Matinee even.

A friend of mine said that it’s worth it to see it in 3D IMAX. I normally dismiss 3D movies since they weren’t made for 3D anyway. I also had a miserable time watching Attack of the Clones in IMAX aside from the fact that I was watching Attack of the Clones. That movie was just terrible on IMAX because it had so much movement.

So any thoughts on Ghostbusters in 3D?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on July 18, 2016, 02:30:32 pm
I hate things in 3D in general, whether or not the movie was designed for them.

Ghostbusters looks poor. I don't like any of the leads, and the humor seems a lot of pop culture gags instead of funny things.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 18, 2016, 02:41:16 pm
I didn't mean to start an RSP conversation. It's just a conclusion I've seen from some media outlets lately.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on July 18, 2016, 04:00:48 pm
I didn't mean to start an RSP conversation. It's just a conclusion I've seen from some media outlets lately.

I’ve been hearing them too, and it’s a funny jab. I’m just returning the jab.

I can’t imagine that people on here would follow that tripe. Someone here who doesn’t like the movie probably does so for legitimate reasons.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on July 19, 2016, 03:35:22 pm
I'm arguably the most sexist bastard here and even I wouldn't take it that far. If a movie sucks, it sucks, not because it has female leads. Women make outstanding actresses.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on July 20, 2016, 06:02:06 pm
Finally saw Ghostbusters. It was enjoyable, but it's not great. It's definitely worth watching at least once. I wouldn't bother with 3D, as it did nothing for me. A couple of scenes work for it, especially projectile vomiting.

Overall, it was a pretty good story with competently played characters. The humor factor is not as high as I'd had hoped. I got some laughs out of it, but I wouldn't call it rip-roaring. I felt the best character was Holtzmann with her mad scientist vibe. Sadly, she was also the weakest in terms of story; we know nothing about her. The relationship between Erin and Abby was pretty solid. Patty brought in her street smarts, because every group of nerds needs someone with street smarts. The receptionist, Kevin, was a caricature of idiocy and vapidness. The over-the-top stupidity of the character rivaled Chris Pratt in Parks and Rec but without the charm.

I felt the opening scene was a little disjointed. It presented an air of malice and danger with a murderous spirit that didn't really mesh with the overall light-hearted feeling of the movie. The fight in Times Square also felt odd to me since the proton packs were used in ways I wasn't anticipating, but if you view it without any comparison to the original movie, then why not use the proton packs that way? Also, our mad scientist invents other devices for incapacitating ghosts. Those scenes were the only ones that really stood out as subpar to me, and honestly the Times Square scene was short enough that it was not unwelcome. When you compare it to really tedious fight scenes like the Matrix or Snowpiercer, this is really nothing.

There are plenty of homages to the original. The fire station makes an appearance. Each principal living actor from the original minus Moranis made an appearance (I guess Peck wasn't principal enough or that actor declined to appear). Seeing them each was a cute little zinger as you recognize the actor--which does detract a bit. As much as I wanted to enjoy each one, I really didn't like Aykroyd's cameo. The others were pretty good. And yes, you'll see the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man and Slimer. The movie is very cognizant of its fanboys and fangirls, and it pays us plenty of lip service.

The villain was the weakest link, I felt. We could have learned more about him. His plot was straightforward enough, and we could gather his motivation, but he was really just a one-dimensional plot device. Deleted scenes of his background may make this a stronger part of the movie.

So I suppose I'd probably give it a 7 or 8 out of 10. I'm leaning toward 8, but I tend to nitpick movies a bit after watching them. Whether it does get downgraded to a 7 will depend on how it stands up to that post-viewing nitpicking.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on July 20, 2016, 06:07:45 pm
Finally saw Ghostbusters.

Only took you 32 years.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: tripwire on July 21, 2016, 02:53:32 pm
Finally saw Ghostbusters. It was enjoyable, but it's not great. It's definitely worth watching at least once. I wouldn't bother with 3D, as it did nothing for me. A couple of scenes work for it, especially projectile vomiting.

Overall, it was a pretty good story with competently played characters. The humor factor is not as high as I'd had hoped. I got some laughs out of it, but I wouldn't call it rip-roaring. I felt the best character was Holtzmann with her mad scientist vibe. Sadly, she was also the weakest in terms of story; we know nothing about her. The relationship between Erin and Abby was pretty solid. Patty brought in her street smarts, because every group of nerds needs someone with street smarts. The receptionist, Kevin, was a caricature of idiocy and vapidness. The over-the-top stupidity of the character rivaled Chris Pratt in Parks and Rec but without the charm.

I felt the opening scene was a little disjointed. It presented an air of malice and danger with a murderous spirit that didn't really mesh with the overall light-hearted feeling of the movie. The fight in Times Square also felt odd to me since the proton packs were used in ways I wasn't anticipating, but if you view it without any comparison to the original movie, then why not use the proton packs that way? Also, our mad scientist invents other devices for incapacitating ghosts. Those scenes were the only ones that really stood out as subpar to me, and honestly the Times Square scene was short enough that it was not unwelcome. When you compare it to really tedious fight scenes like the Matrix or Snowpiercer, this is really nothing.

There are plenty of homages to the original. The fire station makes an appearance. Each principal living actor from the original minus Moranis made an appearance (I guess Peck wasn't principal enough or that actor declined to appear). Seeing them each was a cute little zinger as you recognize the actor--which does detract a bit. As much as I wanted to enjoy each one, I really didn't like Aykroyd's cameo. The others were pretty good. And yes, you'll see the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man and Slimer. The movie is very cognizant of its fanboys and fangirls, and it pays us plenty of lip service.

The villain was the weakest link, I felt. We could have learned more about him. His plot was straightforward enough, and we could gather his motivation, but he was really just a one-dimensional plot device. Deleted scenes of his background may make this a stronger part of the movie.

So I suppose I'd probably give it a 7 or 8 out of 10. I'm leaning toward 8, but I tend to nitpick movies a bit after watching them. Whether it does get downgraded to a 7 will depend on how it stands up to that post-viewing nitpicking.

I think we must thinking of a rating out of 10 differently. I also would likely give it an 8 out of ten, but I liked a lot of things that you didn't. I considered the inconsistency of tone (ghosts were menacing but the movie was often ridiculous) to be a feature, not a flaw. I also liked Kevin a lot when he was being absurd and not just normal stupid ("which one of these photos makes me look more like a doctor?"). Finally, I enjoyed the action scene in Times Square. Like you said, it didn't overstay its welcome, and like a good Marvel movie the "action" was often character motivated and just looked like people were having fun (I was gleeful when Holtzmann goes to town).

I agree with you that I wish Holtzmann was explored more (especially after a moment towards the end suggests that she really is more than a caricature). I also had issues with the villain. In addition to not being very developed, I thought his motivations were too unsubtle.

Finally, I just liked the look of the movie. Colors looked great, supernatural stuff that periodically broke the frame of the film was fun, and I enjoyed the designs of the original ghosts. Throwbacks to the earlier film (slimer, stay puft, the logo ghost) on the other hand, all felt uninspired and out of place. The cameos were a mixed bag. I liked Aykroyd's, but Weaver's just felt like ticking a box.

In general, nothing groundbreaking, but good fun. I enjoyed myself and so did others in the theater (some people clapped after the film).


Nothing to do with Ghostbusters, but which Matrix action scenes did you find tedious? Revolutions is definitely a snore throughout, but Reloaded's action scenes are the only good part of it and I love almost every aspect of the first film.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 21, 2016, 02:55:57 pm
I think Ghostbusters would have been much better if there were no cameos or call-backs or anything. I think it would have been better if it was just entirely fresh.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on July 21, 2016, 02:56:10 pm
yeah, you should think about what your ratings mean (not saying you haven't, but it varies widely). For me what you wrote sounds like a weak 6.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 21, 2016, 02:58:11 pm
Rating systems are completely arbitrary. Someone's 5 could be someone else's 7, or someone's A could be someone's C. It's completely covered in bias. I think the only system that works more consistently is pass/fail and liked/didn't like.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: tripwire on July 21, 2016, 03:30:03 pm
Rating systems are completely arbitrary. Someone's 5 could be someone else's 7, or someone's A could be someone's C. It's completely covered in bias. I think the only system that works more consistently is pass/fail and liked/didn't like.

For movies, I generally agree. I'm much more a fan of rottentomatoes than metacritic.

But pass/fail for schooling would be terrible.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 21, 2016, 03:30:49 pm
Rating systems are completely arbitrary. Someone's 5 could be someone else's 7, or someone's A could be someone's C. It's completely covered in bias. I think the only system that works more consistently is pass/fail and liked/didn't like.

For movies, I generally agree. I'm much more a fan of rottentomatoes than metacritic.

But pass/fail for schooling would be terrible.

There's a system in place at school. There's a difference.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on July 21, 2016, 03:44:38 pm
pass/fail is just as arbitrary. Being arbitrary does not imply being useless. You just have to define it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on July 21, 2016, 03:53:02 pm
I think Ghostbusters would have been much better if there were no cameos or call-backs or anything. I think it would have been better if it was just entirely fresh.

It could have stood on its own without the cameos. I interpret the cameos to be tacit approvals by the original cast. Basically they were saying, “Yeah, we know it’s not the original, but we can all still have fun.” Well, except for Ramis. We won’t know what his take on it was, but considering how close he was with the others, I’d have to think he was on board.

What I wanted to judge them on was how will this look to someone who doesn’t know the original? Bill Murray, Annie Potts, and Ernie Hudson all played their roles pretty well, and I think those scenes would stand on their own even if they weren’t knowing winks to the audience. Sigourney Weaver didn’t thrill me, but I didn’t think she was out of place. Aykroyd’s cameo was the only one that stuck out like a sore thumb. It was like a random scene that wasn’t even really that funny except that he said the movie’s motto.

I feel like if someone sat down with this movie and was told that there were cameos, but the person had no idea who the actors were, he would have picked out Aykroyd’s as the obligatory cameo. He may not realize the other scenes were.

I felt that referencing the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man was appropriate for where it was. Again, if someone who never saw the original watched this scene, I imagine he would just tie it to the other characters and not think anything about it. I don’t feel the same way about Slimer. It did feel a little ham-fisted. When he first shows up, it’s just another random ghost who annoys the Ghostbusters. When they introduced his girlfriend….well, that was pretty silly.

I actually liked how they came up with the logo. The artist felt a little odd to me, but I kind of liked the organic process of building the logo. And despite me not liking the hyperstupidity of Kevin, I found his sketch of the hot dog pretty funny. Also the response to his sketchbook.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on July 21, 2016, 03:56:02 pm
but which Matrix action scenes did you find tedious?

I refer to the lobby scene. By the time that comes up, we know how much training they’ve had. It was just a scene of beating up mooks. They got to showcase some of the nifty tricks they learned, but all of this could have been accomplished in 20% of the time.

It’s why I’m glad the Times Square scene in Ghostbusters was brief. It made its point and was done. It might not have sat well with me completely, but I can’t argue about the length.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: tripwire on July 21, 2016, 04:03:52 pm
I actually liked how they came up with the logo. The artist felt a little odd to me, but I kind of liked the organic process of building the logo.

Oh, I liked that moment too. I was trying to not give spoilers, but ended up just being unclear. I meant the design of the final ghost that the ghostbusters fight, when Rowan becomes a giant version of the logo
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on July 21, 2016, 06:01:30 pm
I actually liked how they came up with the logo. The artist felt a little odd to me, but I kind of liked the organic process of building the logo.

Oh, I liked that moment too. I was trying to not give spoilers, but ended up just being unclear. I meant the design of the final ghost that the ghostbusters fight, when Rowan becomes a giant version of the logo

Ah, yeah, that didn't overly thrill me. It was kind of like using their own power against them, so to speak. It reminds me of the "choose your doom" from the original Ghostbusters. They took something innocent and made it monstrous. It looked a lot like Oogie Boogie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Qvist on July 22, 2016, 02:33:48 pm
Rating systems are completely arbitrary. Someone's 5 could be someone else's 7, or someone's A could be someone's C. It's completely covered in bias. I think the only system that works more consistently is pass/fail and liked/didn't like.

Or you could order all the movies in a single ordered list.  ::)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 22, 2016, 02:43:15 pm
Rating systems are completely arbitrary. Someone's 5 could be someone else's 7, or someone's A could be someone's C. It's completely covered in bias. I think the only system that works more consistently is pass/fail and liked/didn't like.

Or you could order all the movies in a single ordered list.  ::)

What?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: jonts26 on July 22, 2016, 10:04:58 pm
Rating systems are completely arbitrary. Someone's 5 could be someone else's 7, or someone's A could be someone's C. It's completely covered in bias. I think the only system that works more consistently is pass/fail and liked/didn't like.

Or you could order all the movies in a single ordered list.  ::)

What?

Or you could order all the movies in a single ordered list.  ::)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on July 22, 2016, 10:36:38 pm
Well I have done that! But I also have rated them all.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 22, 2016, 10:47:54 pm
Rating systems are completely arbitrary. Someone's 5 could be someone else's 7, or someone's A could be someone's C. It's completely covered in bias. I think the only system that works more consistently is pass/fail and liked/didn't like.

Or you could order all the movies in a single ordered list.  ::)

What?

Or you could order all the movies in a single ordered list.  ::)

There is a problem with that. That hulking huge list would eventually just be too big to keep lugging around. I suppose you could just categorize it all on a page and then reference where on the list it ranks, but that is still very cumbersome. Even with the incorrectness of the rating system, there is still a desired sleekness to it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on July 24, 2016, 07:49:33 am
So I saw Star Trek on Friday.  Overall entertainment level is high, physics level is low, but of course that is expected.  I wasn't bothered too much by all the questionable situations, but I did get caught up with the following (it's at the end, so spoilering it):

In the final fight, where Kirk has to go chase down the bad guy, anyone at the base could have beamed either of them away at any time.  They could have simply beamed bad man to a cell or something before he ever got there, and even if not they could have beamed Kirk away from danger after the thing was disposed of.  I try not to get too hung up on this stuff, but the danger was very artificial here.

At any rate, high points were acting and comedic dialogue.  Could have used more philosophy, character drama, etc. and less action, but hey the action was pretty fun here.  Karl Urban as Bones was particularly good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ehunt on July 24, 2016, 08:16:30 am
The Conjuring 2 was really good. My only criticisms would be: it's very close in plot/feel to The Conjuring (which is not particularly surprising) and something makes me a little uncomfortable where it's based on a "real story" which is a likely hoax, although that's also a criticism of The Conjuring, and at the end of the day it's your own fault if you take it too uncritically.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on July 24, 2016, 09:26:35 am
So I saw Star Trek on Friday.  Overall entertainment level is high, physics level is low, but of course that is expected.  I wasn't bothered too much by all the questionable situations, but I did get caught up with the following (it's at the end, so spoilering it):

In the final fight, where Kirk has to go chase down the bad guy, anyone at the base could have beamed either of them away at any time.  They could have simply beamed bad man to a cell or something before he ever got there, and even if not they could have beamed Kirk away from danger after the thing was disposed of.  I try not to get too hung up on this stuff, but the danger was very artificial here.

At any rate, high points were acting and comedic dialogue.  Could have used more philosophy, character drama, etc. and less action, but hey the action was pretty fun here.  Karl Urban as Bones was particularly good.

Are you talking about Beyond, or the first new Star Trek? If Beyond, how did you feel it compares to the first two?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on July 24, 2016, 11:30:43 am
So I saw Star Trek on Friday.  Overall entertainment level is high, physics level is low, but of course that is expected.  I wasn't bothered too much by all the questionable situations, but I did get caught up with the following (it's at the end, so spoilering it):

In the final fight, where Kirk has to go chase down the bad guy, anyone at the base could have beamed either of them away at any time.  They could have simply beamed bad man to a cell or something before he ever got there, and even if not they could have beamed Kirk away from danger after the thing was disposed of.  I try not to get too hung up on this stuff, but the danger was very artificial here.

At any rate, high points were acting and comedic dialogue.  Could have used more philosophy, character drama, etc. and less action, but hey the action was pretty fun here.  Karl Urban as Bones was particularly good.

Are you talking about Beyond, or the first new Star Trek? If Beyond, how did you feel it compares to the first two?

Beyond.  Um.. a little weaker I think, but it's not like those issues I had weren't in the others.  The first one I liked quite a bit.. it felt.. refreshing.  The second gets a lot of points just for Benedict Cumberbatch.

Overall I liked Beyond.. I was genuinely amused by the funny parts, even laughed.  Though I think I would have liked it better if I didn't see it in 3D.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on July 28, 2016, 09:56:24 am
So I saw The Neon Demon last night.  There are definitely words to describe this film... I just don't know what those words are.

I was left somewhat confused after.  The more I think back and the more I read other people's thoughts on it, the more I like it.

I'd suggest it if you like, for example, Lynch, though it's not exactly his style.  There are some similarities, maybe even slight nods. 

I haven't seen the other movies this director has done (Drive, Bronson, etc.), though now I really want to  see them.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on July 28, 2016, 05:13:19 pm
I saw the neon demon is theatres twice. I liked it both times, although some of it felt a little self indulgent. There's no denying that Refn makes beautiful movies, but the plot was a little, silly? It's not better than Drive, that's for sure. But it's on the same level as Only God Forgives.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on July 28, 2016, 05:23:49 pm
I saw the neon demon is theatres twice. I liked it both times, although some of it felt a little self indulgent. There's no denying that Refn makes beautiful movies, but the plot was a little, silly? It's not better than Drive, that's for sure. But it's on the same level as Only God Forgives.

Well, in a sense the plot is silly, sure.  But it is (as I see it) supposed to be more metaphorical/symbolic.  It is representative of something that the filmmaker sees in real life (and I think something that many others would agree is there).  So that's kind of not the point.  The plot of, say, American Psycho is silly, too.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on July 28, 2016, 08:17:32 pm
Of course it's meant to be metaphorical, but after the second viewing it just seemed a little thin. I did like the movie, but it's just far from perfect.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on July 30, 2016, 10:41:33 pm
I saw Star Trek Beyond.

It was a movie. It had Spock in it.

I could talk about it if anybody wanted.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 04, 2016, 08:21:49 am
I watched the Gallows yesterday. I somehow got the impression over the past year that this would be an interesting movie, but I don't recall where. It certainly didn’t come from Rotten Tomatoes, which lists it at 16%. In general, I'll avoid movies that fall under 30% unless it's a premise I really want to see.

I found nothing great about the movie. It had a few good things about it, but I do not protest the 16% it received. Thankfully, the movie is only 80 minutes long, so it's really just a super-long Tales from the Crypt episode.

Overall, the story was pretty good. In 1993, an actor in a school play is killed by a set mishap. Twenty years later, the school decides to put on the same play that killed one of their students. This struck me as incredibly bad taste, but a review I read stated that the intent was to honor the memory of the killed student. Either they did a crappy job of conveying that to the audience or I got distracted. Neither of those are glowing reviews. But despite that horrible idea on behalf of the drama department, the show goes on with a jock getting the lead in order to impress a theatre nerd and his jock buddy heckling him all the while in a manner that makes you root for the murderous ghost. The awkward relationship between the jock and the theatre nerd was actually kind of endearing, and I found myself hoping for their success.

The bad taste in presenting the same play that took a student's life was a highly questionable decision. So was requiring jocks to be in the school production. Both of these can easily have an explanation, and I do not know if the film's creators were sloppy in giving that explanation or figured that the audience should be smart enough to piece it together. Another issue I had was knowing that Reese would be in the theatre that night, but this could also be explained away as them planning on killing him during the show and taking advantage of this newfound opportunity. Again, this could benefit from an explanation that may or may not be implied.

While the overall story was kind of neat, the execution needed a lot of work. For one, this is yet another found-footage film. This format is difficult to pull off well, and this movie isn't one of them. It's a little different in that the movie pieces together scenes from multiple cameras where appropriate. It starts off with the douche jock recording everything at school, which I guess teens do nowadays? Certainly, I could see someone filming everything in school. When the kids break into the school that night (to trash the set and save the lead jock's reputation by canceling the play), the use of the camera is really contrived. Sure, I can appreciate that they're using the built-in light to pierce the darkness, but would the camera be recording the entire time? This stretches the found-footage trope, and it just shows that a traditional format would have been more effective.

The twist at the end is kind of neat. It raises questions that the audience should be asking, and those questions are answered with police body cams later that evening(?). But while all your questions are answered in that final scene, it was hideously schlocky.

It was entertaining, but it ran too long—even at 80 minutes—for the story it told. The jump scares were all clichéd. Nothing about this movie was original, but if you are looking for revenge porn against the people who bullied you in high school, this may provide a little thrill. There are much better movies for that, though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Darth Vader on August 04, 2016, 12:59:47 pm
I just rewatched Star Wars. It was amazing, as always.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 09, 2016, 05:58:49 pm
I just rewatched Star Wars. It was amazing, as always.

Which one? The most recent one? Because that was trash.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on August 09, 2016, 06:01:26 pm
I just rewatched Star Wars. It was amazing, as always.

Which one? The most recent one? Because that was trash.

(http://d22zlbw5ff7yk5.cloudfront.net/images/stash-1-50672295296ba.jpeg)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on August 09, 2016, 06:26:01 pm
Let's have another star wars discussion. we didn't have enough of those recently.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on August 09, 2016, 06:42:08 pm
Let's have another star wars discussion. we didn't have enough of those recently.

If you want.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on August 10, 2016, 02:59:00 am
Let's have another star wars discussion. we didn't have enough of those recently.
The odds of successfully navigating through the movie thread without hitting a Star Wars conversation are approximately 3,720 to 1.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: jonts26 on August 10, 2016, 08:45:15 am
Let's have another star wars discussion. we didn't have enough of those recently.
The odds of successfully navigating through the movie thread without hitting a Star Wars conversation are approximately 3,720 to 1.

Well someone has to take the bait.

(http://img.picturequotes.com/2/51/50634/never-tell-me-the-odds-quote-1.jpg)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 10, 2016, 08:57:22 am
I like Star Wars, especially when Mal skillfully piloted the Jupiter-1 against the Cylons. Great movies!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on August 10, 2016, 10:22:12 am
I like Star Wars, especially when Mal skillfully piloted the Jupiter-1 against the Cylons. Great movies!

(http://reactionimage.org/img/gallery/890514891.jpg)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 10, 2016, 10:49:31 am
Aw, c'mon, man, as Neo said in Episode 5, "Live long and prosper."
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on August 10, 2016, 08:41:04 pm
Aw, c'mon, man, as Neo said in Episode 5, "Live long and prosper."

"Last night, Darth Vader came down from Planet Vulcan and told me that if I didn't take Lorraine out, that he'd melt my brain."
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: skip wooznum on August 11, 2016, 12:17:55 am
Aw, c'mon, man, as Neo said in Episode 5, "Live long and prosper."

"Last night, Darth Vader came down from Planet Vulcan and told me that if I didn't take Lorraine out, that he'd melt my brain."
heavy
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 11, 2016, 12:15:08 pm
Let's have another star wars discussion. we didn't have enough of those recently.
The odds of successfully navigating through the movie thread without hitting a Star Wars conversation are approximately 3,720 to 1.

I'd say they are approximately 90-93%.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 20, 2016, 07:13:58 am
Has anyone seen Nerve? I'm considering seeing it because it has a somewhat intriguing concept, but somehow I worry that now that I know the concept, there's little point in seeing the actual movie. Is there, like, anything more to the setting of the film that gets more thoroughly explored during the movie or is it just the resolution of the things that were already presented in the trailer?

Any spoilers would be very highly appreciated.

EDIT: I went and saw it anyway. The answer to my question would have been that yes, it is just the resolution of the things that were already presented in the trailer. Furthermore, that resolution was also very disappointing. However, it had remarkably great music, good-looking visuals, some legitimately funny jokes and the action scenes were not as dull as I had expected. In retrospect, I certainly wouldn't pay for the film, but at least I don't particularly regret spending my time on it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 29, 2016, 10:53:48 am
So I saw Suicide Squad last Friday.

It's certainly not as bad as people are saying.  Actually, pretty enjoyable.  Just doesn't quite hit the mark.  It's fairly generic in its story line, plot structure, and unveiling of the story.  Lot of very standard action movie tropes.  And that's too bad, because the characters are the cool thing here; more time should be spent on the development.  But that's a big challenge since you have so many of them. 

I think Jared Leto was great, but the scenes didn't work as well as they should have.. it's hard to say why.  Everything with him felt very rushed.  Actually the entire movie felt very rushed.  Maybe a better director, or possibly cinematographer or editor, could have made it far better.  At any rate, Leto's Joker felt truly insane.. he was the first live portrayal I've seen that was just crazy for the sake of being crazy. 

It would have been cool if, before this movie, there was a Joker and Harley Quinn movie, like very dark and sinister, that focused on Joker corrupting her.  Like it wouldn't have been some standard action/superhero flick, where there's an origin story, then an introduction of a big baddie (or maybe big goodie in this case), then a triumphant victory over the adversary, with some lesson learned along the way thrown in.  Rather, a long psychological drama about descent into madness.  And it would have been so cool if it was never advertised as a DC/comic book movie at all, but rather as just some drama about a psychiatrist and her patient.. like the patient is never seen in any preview/set pictures/etc., and even not seen for the first half hour or hour of the movie.  Then there's a big reveal, hey it's the Joker.

Anyway, entertaining action flick, suffers from formulaic movie tropes, needed more character development, but hey go ahead and watch it anyway.  Visually, it was pretty neat. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on August 29, 2016, 10:57:42 am
I do want to watch it, even though it will probably be awful.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 29, 2016, 10:59:56 am
It's not awful; it's just really trendy to say how terrible things are, so people like to do that.

It's not high-caliber, though.  It just has parts that are good, and parts that are bad.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on August 29, 2016, 11:16:36 am
Just saw Boyhood, thought it was fantastic.

Also just saw The Butler, fantastic as well.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 29, 2016, 11:18:18 am
Just saw Boyhood, thought it was fantastic.

Also just saw The Butler, fantastic as well.

Boyhood was great.  Have you seen the Before Sunset/Sunrise/Midnight series?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on August 29, 2016, 11:22:00 am
Just saw Boyhood, thought it was fantastic.

Also just saw The Butler, fantastic as well.

Boyhood was great.  Have you seen the Before Sunset/Sunrise/Midnight series?

Not yet; I've always been a little interested in them, and now I'm really wanting to see them.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on August 29, 2016, 11:28:18 am
Just saw Boyhood, thought it was fantastic.

Also just saw The Butler, fantastic as well.

Boyhood was great.  Have you seen the Before Sunset/Sunrise/Midnight series?

Not yet; I've always been a little interested in them, and now I'm really wanting to see them.

I highly recommend them; they're among my favorite movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on August 29, 2016, 09:35:03 pm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festen

This is one of the most fucked up movies you will ever watch. It's one of my all time favorites, and I just watched it for the first time.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on August 29, 2016, 11:42:33 pm
Do you like Dogme95 in general or did you just stumble into it? I'm partially sympathetic to their efforts but haven't really gotten into it yet.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on August 30, 2016, 02:52:07 am
I watched Snowpiercer the other day. I liked it quite a lot (except for a few scientific inaccuracies). The less you know about the movie, the better, in my opinion. But it has a lot of good surprises and some good directing too.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Qvist on August 30, 2016, 04:10:35 am
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festen

This is one of the most fucked up movies you will ever watch. It's one of my all time favorites, and I just watched it for the first time.

I agree that this is a really good movie, but I haven't seen other Dogme95 movies either yet.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 30, 2016, 08:02:29 am
I do want to watch it, even though it will probably be awful.

I think “awful” is a strong word for Suicide Squad, but I begrudge no one for saying it. It is definitely not a great movie.

Really, it’s the Deadshot and Harley buddy movie. The other villains were just set dressing, though one of them does serve a bigger (and greatly overused) role. It was like, why bother?

I didn’t like how the Joker was used. He served as great backstory for Harley (duh), but he was integrated too much into the main plot. I really could have done without that.

Deadshot’s story was more interesting than I expected. Of course, this is because Will Smith draws enough revenue that they’re going to base the movie around him, but he handled it well.

Harley did not annoy me as much as I thought she would. She still had her moments, but it’d be really easy to make her go too over-the-top, and I was glad that it didn’t get worse.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 30, 2016, 08:05:43 am
I watched Snowpiercer the other day. I liked it quite a lot (except for a few scientific inaccuracies). The less you know about the movie, the better, in my opinion. But it has a lot of good surprises and some good directing too.

The science of Snowpiercer is laughable, but as you watch it, you realize that it’s not a sci-fi movie about believable technology and ecology. It’s a sci-fi movie about people and governments. Kind of Brave New World-ish in that regard. I enjoyed it immensely and found I didn’t care about the scientific inaccuracies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on August 30, 2016, 10:15:32 am
Do you like Dogme95 in general or did you just stumble into it? I'm partially sympathetic to their efforts but haven't really gotten into it yet.

I watched one Dogme95 film in class, which was that one. After watching this one, I will probably be inclined to watch other ones in the future. I think some of the restrictions are silly, and that people should make whatever they want to make. But I did like that film for certain.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on August 30, 2016, 02:43:21 pm
Do you like Dogme95 in general or did you just stumble into it? I'm partially sympathetic to their efforts but haven't really gotten into it yet.

I watched one Dogme95 film in class, which was that one. After watching this one, I will probably be inclined to watch other ones in the future. I think some of the restrictions are silly, and that people should make whatever they want to make. But I did like that film for certain.

The good thing is even the founders don't take it seriously and break their own rules constantly :)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on August 30, 2016, 02:47:53 pm
Do you like Dogme95 in general or did you just stumble into it? I'm partially sympathetic to their efforts but haven't really gotten into it yet.

I watched one Dogme95 film in class, which was that one. After watching this one, I will probably be inclined to watch other ones in the future. I think some of the restrictions are silly, and that people should make whatever they want to make. But I did like that film for certain.

The good thing is even the founders don't take it seriously and break their own rules constantly :)

I'm just saying, I'd break the Vow of Chastity.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on September 01, 2016, 10:06:03 am
I was flipping through Netflix, and I came across Journey to the West. The accompanying picture looked weird, and the story sounded interesting, so I watched it.

The style looked familiar, and I realized it was because it was directed by Steven Chow, who did Kung Fu Hustle. Okay, that deserves more watching.

I…liked it, but it had problems. The very opening was engaging enough, but the rest of the opening got pretty tedious. It had the same type of slapstick as Kung Fu Hustle—maybe a little bit subdued.

The introduction of the Pig Demon was beautiful. It was definitely the best scene of the entire movie. I also liked how the main character was able to see through the illusions.

The “romance” was weird and awkward. It was still funny, and it’s amusing to see the steps she takes to try to win him over. The blood spray was hilarious. If you don’t care about seeing the movie, she staged an elaborate abduction to win him over, including a couple of people being “killed.” One of her companions had a collar that sprayed an outrageous amount of blood. Even when the charade was up, his collar was malfunctioning, so he just sprayed blood the whole time.

The movie really fell apart with the Monkey King. The actor did a good job, I felt, but everything just crawled to a snail’s pace. And even when we had the final battle, it just didn’t work, even though I loved the various demon hunters.

I don’t regret watching it. It presented everything consistent with Chinese mythology (not sure if these were actual demons or fabricated by Chow). The middle was really quite fun, but it was sandwiched by tedium.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on September 01, 2016, 12:46:20 pm
Aren't the earlier episodes of Dragonball heavily based on the traditional story Journey to the West? I think a lot of motives were taken from there.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on September 01, 2016, 02:01:27 pm
Aren't the earlier episodes of Dragonball heavily based on the traditional story Journey to the West? I think a lot of motives were taken from there.

I never watched Dragonball, but if it involves people of different abilities getting together and beating up different demons, I can see some serious overlap.

I wanted to like the movie, and I actually had a big grin on my face while watching the movie charmingly play out. I was ready for a nap during the second half.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on September 01, 2016, 02:07:54 pm
Aren't the earlier episodes of Dragonball heavily based on the traditional story Journey to the West? I think a lot of motives were taken from there.

I never watched Dragonball, but if it involves people of different abilities getting together and beating up different demons, I can see some serious overlap.

I wanted to like the movie, and I actually had a big grin on my face while watching the movie charmingly play out. I was ready for a nap during the second half.

Well, there's this monkey-tail kid whose name (Son Gokū) is based on the name of the monkey king (Sun Wukong), and who got a size-changing staff and rides on a cloud.

But saying it was heavily based on it was probably a lie - it's losely based on it, and that's it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on September 01, 2016, 04:03:52 pm
Just saw Porco Rosso.

That, that was something else. Hihi..hi ...  :D ;D xD :_))_***=))*

My second favorite Ghibli movie so far. But I'm on a qust to watch them all.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on September 07, 2016, 10:12:37 am
Drsteelhammer told me to talk about movies more here, and seeing that I am going to have an editing degree soon, I will try to post here more often.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on September 07, 2016, 10:00:49 pm
Recently watched Dead Pool. Went in with very low expectations since I never heard anything good about it. I thought it was great, I laughed the whole way through.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on September 08, 2016, 02:34:07 pm
Saw Joshy last night. It has a nice mix of humour and heart. Would recommend it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on September 10, 2016, 01:37:54 pm
Recently watched Dead Pool. Went in with very low expectations since I never heard anything good about it. I thought it was great, I laughed the whole way through.

It was ok. I found Zootopia much more funny, and I saw them almost back to back.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on September 10, 2016, 03:19:55 pm
About a third of the way through The Turin Horse. I will give my thoughts on it when I finish it some other day.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on September 22, 2016, 08:06:47 pm
Recently watched Dead Pool. Went in with very low expectations since I never heard anything good about it. I thought it was great, I laughed the whole way through.

It was ok. I found Zootopia much more funny, and I saw them almost back to back.

Interesting, Zootopia I thought was just okay. I know which one I'd rather my kids be watching, though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on September 22, 2016, 09:56:25 pm
About a third of the way through The Turin Horse. I will give my thoughts on it when I finish it some other day.

I said I'd talk about this. It wasn't a terrible movie. I want to know what others thought about this movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on September 23, 2016, 09:46:01 pm
I don't remember much from Turin Horse unfortunately, but speaking of Bela Tarr I watched Werckmeister Harmonies yesterday and that was a truly amazing movie. I'm a sucker for long takes, and it doesn't get more extreme than this :) The whole movie, which is 140minutes consists of 40 shots or so. Furthermore, it has a certain rhythm to it, that you can find all the way through, even in the snychronized footsteps of the protagonists. It is not only visually appealing, but also emotionally impactful that I can not recommended enough to anyone interested in film who has a little bit of patience.

Speaking of great films I saw recently: I rediscovered Terence Malick for myself. While Tree of Life was impressive, I didn't get too emotionally invested in it for some reason. Now I watched Days of Heaven and Knight of Cups and both of them were just a joy. It's a ride you have to get on, but I would encourage everyone to watch atleast two Malick movies. Getting on Malicks wavelength allows for a cinematic experience I haven't had anywhere else I believe.

Knight of Cups is surely one of my favourite movies at the moment.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 07, 2016, 09:26:08 am
So they're remaking Death Race 2000. It'll be named Death Race 2050. For some reason I am actually thrilled about this.

Now I feel like I need to watch the original again just for all its cheese. C'mon, one of Sylvester Stallone's earliest roles.

Oh, and the remake has Malcom Macdowell. That usually piques my interest.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on October 07, 2016, 10:16:58 am
So they're remaking Death Race 2000. It'll be named Death Race 2050. For some reason I am actually thrilled about this.

Now I feel like I need to watch the original again just for all its cheese. C'mon, one of Sylvester Stallone's earliest roles.

Oh, and the remake has Malcom Macdowell. That usually piques my interest.

Hopefully it'll be better than the crappy Jason Statham remakes.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 07, 2016, 10:55:30 am
So they're remaking Death Race 2000. It'll be named Death Race 2050. For some reason I am actually thrilled about this.

Now I feel like I need to watch the original again just for all its cheese. C'mon, one of Sylvester Stallone's earliest roles.

Oh, and the remake has Malcom Macdowell. That usually piques my interest.

Hopefully it'll be better than the crappy Jason Statham remakes.

I haven't seen any of those. From what I understand of the plot, it can hardly count as a remake. Sounds more like a movie version of Car Wars.

But if you're going to attach Roger Corman's name to anything, it should be schlocky as hell, so I'm hoping that'll happen with Death Race 2050. Thou shalt not use Corman's name in vain. Or vein, depending on which movie you're remaking.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on October 07, 2016, 11:14:50 am
So they're remaking Death Race 2000. It'll be named Death Race 2050. For some reason I am actually thrilled about this.

I read the synopsis, and I'm certain RLM reviewed the movie on one of their Best Of The Worst episodes. It sounds really familiar, a dystopian America with death racing as a form of entertainment.

Anyways, I hope it's not just going to be a racecar version of The Hunger Games.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 07, 2016, 12:53:24 pm
I read the synopsis, and I'm certain RLM reviewed the movie on one of their Best Of The Worst episodes. It sounds really familiar, a dystopian America with death racing as a form of entertainment.

Anyways, I hope it's not just going to be a racecar version of The Hunger Games.

It should sound familiar. That's what the original pretty much was.

I couldn't say about the remake, but the original wasn't much like the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games was about pitting contestants against each other in a battle royale (almost like there was a similar movie of that name). Death Race was about racking up points on the "playing field." In this case, the playing field was all the roads. There was heavy competition between the racers, and certainly taking one out is a great way to improve your chances.

I really need to go back and watch the movie. I don't remember too much about it. I just remember the crowd's favorite skipping the free big points in order to teach the vultures a lesson.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 26, 2016, 04:43:32 pm
So I watched the recent Rocky Horror remake ('The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again').  It was, well, highly missable.  I think it was done as if it were a stage production.  I mean, I know it was originally a stage production, but the original movie was filmed as a movie, not as if there was a live audience.  For instance, the audio makes it sound like you're in a live theater; lots of shots are done with the entire cast facing the same direction (towards the 'audience'). Especially the dinner scene, where they're all on the same side of the table, facing outward.  (In the original movie, they were sitting around the table in a usual manner.)  Also the entire set looked like it could have been made on a stage. The original didn't feel that way.

It also comes through in the acting.. it's definitely a different style than normal movie acting (and from the original), and it feels more like stage acting.  I've never seen a live production of the show, so I'm not sure how it compares to that.  Here, though, it felt a lot more like people reciting lines, not like actual characters on the screen.

There is also cutaways to an audience watching the 'movie'; I suppose to reinforce this effect.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on November 06, 2016, 10:18:16 am
I watched Doctor Strange, and I highly recommend it. It's a refreshing Marvel Studios movie in that it's not the same thing as all the other ones. The visuals are actually incredibly stunning.

The main character Doctor Strange (played by lovable Benedict Cumberbatch who absolutely killed in this role) was easily relatable and you understood him. The supporting cast was fantastic, even the love interest of Strange (who was one of the weak points of the movie, although this has to do with poor writing more than anything).

Even the villain of the movie was freaking cool. I took him seriously. I didn't want to fuck with that guy. He wasn't that typical "Batman Begins Liam Neeson thrown in because origin story needs a villain". He stood on his own, and I would actually want him to hopefully return in another movie although this isn't terribly likely for spoiler reasons. They didn't give him much backstory, but he didn't need it.

I want to talk about the film's beginning though. Strange's beginning story arc was just perfect. Go from the beginning to making him lose the use of his hands. You can make a movie out of just that. The love interest would obviously play a bigger role, and this didn't even have to be a superhero movie. It's such a well written beginning. It's incredibly intriguing and well done. It's so good. I almost wish this wasn't a Doctor Strange movie but instead a drama about a man learning to cope with losing the use of his hands. Yes, I love the beginning that much. Kudos to the screenwriter for knowing his shit.

This is a movie I want to watch again some day, and I don't say that about a lot of movies. I'm not sure if this movie beats The Winter Soldier for best Marvel Movie, but it is close.

I did have some gripes with the movie.
1. The love interest was underwritten. I don't want some sort of Damsel in Distress, and she wasn't cliche or anything, but she didn't feel terribly important to the plot. Doctor Strange already lost use of his hands, so he already had the drive to go and do Mysticism stuff. She was just kind of thrown in the script because it needs a love interest to garner more interest, which was a complete shame. This movie didn't need that, and if it did, they didn't put enough work into it.

2. This is relatively minor, but the villain kicked ass. He killed just about everyone really quickly. Doctor Strange is pretty new with all of this, but he put up a serious fight that seemed a bit inconsistent. I mean, it wasn't killing the movie, but I did find it a bit unbelievable. What I am trying to say is that Doctor Strange didn't get his ass kicked well enough in the first outing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: scott_pilgrim on November 06, 2016, 11:23:13 am
I just saw Dr. Strange yesterday as well, and yeah, it was incredible.  It's definitely my favorite Marvel movie and maybe my all-time favorite movie.  Here's what I liked about it:

1. The "magic" made sense.  I think Dr. Strange has the most believable "magic" universe I've ever seen (previously I would have given the title to the Avatar the Last Airbender series), because it mostly works exactly like how you would expect it to.  It's not like there's some long list of spells that can be cast by saying or thinking the right words and moving your wand in a particular way.  You get the feeling that the laws of magic are built into the laws of nature in a simple and elegant way, even if no one (none of us and none of the people in that universe) really understands exactly how they work (just like how we think scientific laws are probably very simple even though we don't understand them fully yet).  Magic is about bending the laws of nature, time, space, and consciousness.  That being said, that was all stuff that I was expecting to get going into the movie, so there are a few things that didn't quite live up to my expectations.  I didn't like slide rings serving the function of wands (you would think you would not need some special object to perform magic).  I also didn't like the cloak, but I'll get into that more later.

As sort of a sub-point (this is very slightly spoiler-ish): I really liked the way time-based magic worked, because 1. there was a reason not to do it too much (because you didn't want to break the universe), and 2. it only applied to certain spatial regions where it was being directed, so you didn't feel like, hey, why is that guy going forward in time when everything else is being manipulated weirdly, or why is he maintaining his memories when he goes back in time, or whatever.  It's very rare for movies or shows to do stuff with time in a way that I can still suspend my disbelief, so they did really well there.

2. The visuals are just absolutely incredible.  I'm not sure what else to say about that, but I hope the brevity of this point doesn't downplay how emphatic I want to be about it.

3. The plot and characters are good, and there's stuff that happens within the context of that universe that keeps things unique and interesting.

4. Like most Marvel movies, they do a good job of integrating humor into a serious and exciting story.  There are a few moments that are pretty funny.

Here are some things I didn't like about it:

1. The cloak serves as a deus ex machina throughout the movie.  There are several points where he's just magically saved by the cloak.  This is made worse by the fact that it goes completely unexplained.  The movie is only 115 minutes, so I think they definitely could have afforded to spend some time talking about it.  Mostly it seemed like the only things it really added to the movie were comic relief in a few places, and otherwise it seemed like it was just there because it was probably important in the comic books.

2. Sort of going off of that, the pacing felt a little off to me.  It felt like they weren't really sure whether they wanted the movie to just introduce you to Dr. Strange and the other characters and backstory and universe, or if they wanted it to have a more standard save-the-world plot happening, and it felt like they didn't have enough time to fit both of those things together, which is odd, because again, it was only 115 minutes.  I think it could have been better if they would have spent an extra 30 minutes or so going a little deeper into the backstory and explaining the universe (especially the cloak), so you could get a better sense of exactly why we care about all the things that are happening.

3. I thought it was a little unreasonable how quickly Dr. Strange went from being a complete newbie to superhero status, but I guess the timing was never really implied, so I justified it to myself by thinking, everything that the movie is showing us is taking place over months or years.  Except then why did the villains take so long to accomplish things, so I don't know.

Overall a really fantastic and unique movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on November 07, 2016, 02:37:30 pm
Agree with the comments on the cloak. I forgive it because it was genuinely funny in a few places (mostly because of how disjointed the tone is), but still.

I have no problem about the love interest. I think she is important to the beginning of the movie, to see what kind of person Strange is. It broke my suspension of disbelief a little bit to see how unfazed she was by all the weird stuff going around though.

Speaking of which, the character development in the movie is a bit tilted. I actually did not find him very believable before Kathmandu. Cumberbatch has been typecast already, but I think he plays the unaware jerk a whole lot better than the unrepentant jerk. He is believable during the middle of the movie, but then at the end he seems strangely ok with dooming the bad guy to a fate worse than death? That's a big turn from his initial refusal to harm people. Also, Mordo's change of heart at the end felt very forced, even though they warn you about it.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the humour in the movie.

The visuals were stunning, and I was grinning all the way through the opening scene and the "eye-opening" scene. I wonder whether they will be able to reproduce that sort of thing in the second movie. Or maybe they will just keep Strange as a secondary character in new movies, sort of like Hulk. If that means he gets as much care as, say, Quicksilver in the recent X-Men movies, I would be ok with that.

@Scott: the training clearly happens over a long period of time, judging by the reaction from Palmer. I would like to think years, to explain why he is so damned proficient, but probably more like months. I imagine the reason why the bad guys took so long to strike was because they needed time to prepare for the ritual.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: tripwire on November 07, 2016, 07:33:59 pm
I watched Doctor Strange, and I highly recommend it. It's a refreshing Marvel Studios movie in that it's not the same thing as all the other ones. The visuals are actually incredibly stunning.

I really agree with both the first and third sentences here, but could you explain why Doctor Strange seemed so different to you? Personally I felt like this was one of the most formulaic MCU films in a while (not necessarily a bad thing; it's a pretty fun formula.)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on November 07, 2016, 08:15:22 pm
I watched Doctor Strange, and I highly recommend it. It's a refreshing Marvel Studios movie in that it's not the same thing as all the other ones. The visuals are actually incredibly stunning.

I really agree with both the first and third sentences here, but could you explain why Doctor Strange seemed so different to you? Personally I felt like this was one of the most formulaic MCU films in a while (not necessarily a bad thing; it's a pretty fun formula.)

I haven't seen a lot of MCU movies as of late, because I've gotten sick of them. Maybe it's just that, but I actually found this movie compelling, say versus Thor: Dark World.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: tripwire on November 10, 2016, 05:13:34 pm
I watched Doctor Strange, and I highly recommend it. It's a refreshing Marvel Studios movie in that it's not the same thing as all the other ones. The visuals are actually incredibly stunning.

I really agree with both the first and third sentences here, but could you explain why Doctor Strange seemed so different to you? Personally I felt like this was one of the most formulaic MCU films in a while (not necessarily a bad thing; it's a pretty fun formula.)

I haven't seen a lot of MCU movies as of late, because I've gotten sick of them. Maybe it's just that, but I actually found this movie compelling, say versus Thor: Dark World.

Fair enough. That being said, I definitely consider Dark World to be the MCU low-point so far.

My fave so far would be Civil War, although I'm not sure if you would consider it "compelling" or not.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on November 10, 2016, 07:46:04 pm
The good ones are Iron Man, Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, with notable mentions to Antman, Avengers, Hulk (that one was so trippy). The bad ones are the incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Captain America, and I hear that both Thors. Dr Strange is definitely somewhere up there, it's just lacking a slightly less formulaic plot.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on November 10, 2016, 11:19:51 pm
I liked Captain America! What was wrong with it? It was charming to me, from when I watched it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on November 18, 2016, 07:55:11 pm
You all should watch Arrival btw. It's a pretty great scifi movie by denis villeneuve, starring Amy Adams. It's not only very entertaining, but also rich in themes and has some interesting things to say. It's also pretty beautiful, the sound design especially was phenomenal.

It's probably my third or fourth favourite film this year.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on November 18, 2016, 09:31:02 pm
I just watched "Once Were Warriors", a New Zealand film about the modern Indians there. Holy shit, that movie was completely fucked up. If you ever want a reason to lose faith in humanity, you should go watch that movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on November 18, 2016, 09:55:32 pm
I just watched "Once Were Warriors", a New Zealand film about the modern Indians there. Holy shit, that movie was completely fucked up. If you ever want a reason to lose faith in humanity, you should go watch that movie.

Okay, I'm sold, downloaded...
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 18, 2016, 09:56:44 pm
I just watched "Once Were Warriors", a New Zealand film about the modern Indians there. Holy shit, that movie was completely fucked up. If you ever want a reason to lose faith in humanity, you should go watch that movie.

Do you mean aboriginals?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on November 19, 2016, 11:14:49 am
I just watched "Once Were Warriors", a New Zealand film about the modern Indians there. Holy shit, that movie was completely fucked up. If you ever want a reason to lose faith in humanity, you should go watch that movie.

Do you mean aboriginals?

I suppose that is the correct term.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on November 19, 2016, 12:17:03 pm
I just watched "Once Were Warriors", a New Zealand film about the modern Indians there. Holy shit, that movie was completely fucked up. If you ever want a reason to lose faith in humanity, you should go watch that movie.

Do you mean aboriginals?

He most definitely doesn't, the natives of NZ are called Maori
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on November 19, 2016, 12:34:05 pm
'Aboriginal' is a weird term anyways. It means "away from the original", and aren't they like the original people there? It seems derogatory, and looking it up it practically was when Britain colonized Australia.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on November 19, 2016, 12:34:48 pm
I just watched "Once Were Warriors", a New Zealand film about the modern Indians there. Holy shit, that movie was completely fucked up. If you ever want a reason to lose faith in humanity, you should go watch that movie.

Do you mean aboriginals?

He most definitely doesn't, the natives of NZ are called Maori

And yeah, it's from New Zealand, not quite Australia.  8)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 19, 2016, 12:47:14 pm
I just watched "Once Were Warriors", a New Zealand film about the modern Indians there. Holy shit, that movie was completely fucked up. If you ever want a reason to lose faith in humanity, you should go watch that movie.

Do you mean aboriginals?

He most definitely doesn't, the natives of NZ are called Maori

Uh, am I using the word wrong or something?  Aboriginal means original inhabitants/indigenous people.   In New Zealand these are the Maori people. 

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aboriginal

Okay I see, the other definition is specifically about Australia, but that's not the base use of the word. 

'Aboriginal' is a weird term anyways. It means "away from the original", and aren't they like the original people there? It seems derogatory, and looking it up it practically was when Britain colonized Australia.

I have no idea where you're getting that.  My searching shows the etymology as:

From aborigine +‎ -al, aborigine being from Latin ab origine ‎(“from the beginning”).

(Just the wiki page.)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 19, 2016, 12:54:58 pm
For the record I know the Maori are native people of New Zealand; Seprix said 'modern Indian', so I was asking if he was using that phrase to mean 'native people', and there is a word for that in general, and it's 'aboriginal' (or other synonyms).  Or there is a connection between New Zealand and India that I knew nothing about.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on November 19, 2016, 01:12:56 pm
ab means 'away from' in terms of prefixes.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 19, 2016, 01:13:55 pm
ab means 'away from' in terms of prefixes.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ab_origine

Edit: and https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ab#Latin

Can also just be 'from', as in, the source.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on November 19, 2016, 02:41:42 pm
I just watched "Once Were Warriors", a New Zealand film about the modern Indians there. Holy shit, that movie was completely fucked up. If you ever want a reason to lose faith in humanity, you should go watch that movie.

Do you mean aboriginals?

He most definitely doesn't, the natives of NZ are called Maori

Uh, am I using the word wrong or something?  Aboriginal means original inhabitants/indigenous people.   In New Zealand these are the Maori people. 

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aboriginal

Okay I see, the other definition is specifically about Australia, but that's not the base use of the word. 

'Aboriginal' is a weird term anyways. It means "away from the original", and aren't they like the original people there? It seems derogatory, and looking it up it practically was when Britain colonized Australia.

I have no idea where you're getting that.  My searching shows the etymology as:

From aborigine +‎ -al, aborigine being from Latin ab origine ‎(“from the beginning”).

(Just the wiki page.)

Interesting. The German word "Aboriginie" has nothing to do with NZ, maybe it's a language thing. My bad!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on November 23, 2016, 10:17:03 am
So I saw The Handmaiden  (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4016934/?ref_=nv_sr_3) over the weekend.  Really slow, but really good.  It's by Chan-wook Park (Old Boy), and there are some similar themes, but it's a different kind of movie. 

I haven't seen his other films except Oldboy, but I want to see his other stuff.  They all look pretty interesting (especially, Lady vengeance; Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance; Thirst; I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK). 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on November 29, 2016, 02:38:57 am
I watched an incredibly shitty foreign film called The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi. It was made in 2003 and it feels like a student film. The sound design was horrendous, there were an incredibly high amount of questionable edit cuts, the music was a MIDI piece of shit, the story was all over the place, the climax of the film was shit, the plot twist upon plot twist upon shitty plot twist was horrifying, the special effects were horrific, and the character motivations and dialogue was just horrible.

And then Roger Ebert gives this movie a fucking 3.5 out of 4. Is Roger Ebert a FRAUD!? He must have been high writing such high praise for this godawful movie. http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-blind-swordsman-zatoichi-2004

In fact, I see nothing but high praise for this incredibly shitty action flick. There are people out there who like it because it's unconventional, and I'm okay with unconventional. I like unconventional. But it has to work. And this movie simply does not work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu6QrGkRdJo

Watch this 2 minute clip and tell me that's not utter shit. And I don't mind a shitty post-production movie if the story is good. It's not.

The movie started off well enough. It fooled me into thinking it was a decent movie for the first 5 minutes, even with the awful fake CGI blood they decided to go with for some reason.

Spoilers, I'm going to talk about the plot and it's not worth watching so don't worry.

Basically there's this blind man named Zatiochi who is a Samurai and he walks into this town where the Gizno gang runs things. There's an incredible amount of cringy exposition in the dialogue the further along this movie goes. It's like the screenwriter got lazy after the first 20 pages or so. So anyways, off track.

 There's this Samurai referred to as the Bodyguard who is basically the main Vader type bad guy who does all the grunt work like a badass, and he has a wife or girlfriend who is sick, which is why he's being a bodyguard for the bad guy Giznos. She hates him killing people, and they mention this a few times, but she ends up taking a back seat to the rest of the film, despite her worries being a possible interesting side story for the movie. She also conveniently commits suicide unprovoked near the end of the film. I shit you not. She just pulls out a knife and ends it all, Japanese-style. No dialogue involving her for the last half hour before that. Just a shitty suicide with NO MOTIVATION. AAAAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH did a third grader write this shit

So what kicks this movie off is that the people are complaining that the Gizmos are stealing all their money through a protection racket. The blind guy ends up going gambling and he's perfect at it. He meets some deadbeat nephew or cousin of the landlady the blind guy is staying with, whom they explain using a horrible horrible transition effect, putting the image of him gambling over them talking, an effect they never repeat again in the film, so don't say it's some stylistic shit.

So anyways, the blind guy meets up with the nephew and they make a shit ton of money off gambling, and they go to get some hookers. Well, the nephew guy does, the blind guy just tags along because why not, old guys gotta get some action too. So they pick up some ladies, and they go in, and then the ladies are ambushing them but the blind guy has perfect reflexes so they back up and say "sorry we didn't mean to, listen to this story YOU WON'T BELIEVE" and instead of being normal and leaving, the main characters stick around with these two highly unconvincing people who literally just tried to kill them. Great script, morons. Maybe rewrite it?

So the story ends up being the driving force behind the movie's excuse of a plot. The two women (one who ends up actually being just a man who dresses up as a woman for the entire movie and then ends up just sticking with the look at the end of the movie, whoops spoilers) talk about their backstory, where they go out in the middle of the night as kids and while they do that a gang goes out and kills everyone inside, stealing all the loot. They know there are two kids missing but they're like whatever, might as well not look for them, let's leave!

So what ends up happening is that the two people who had a sad backstory want revenge on the bosses. Through some incredibly cringy and highly unlikely coincidences and dialogue, the two end up finding out that some guy they danced for is one of the people who killed their family. So they want to go back and kill him now, even though they suck at fighting. So that's kind of the premise, and a lot of stupid shit happens in this movie. I'm so mad I have to write a 3-page paper for this pile of shit.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on November 30, 2016, 01:10:52 pm
Aside from the fact that you keep saying it's terrible nothing you described really sounded that bad and the clip makes it look interesting anyways. I haven't seen this movie, but I've always heard good things about Takeshi (the director's) work. Maybe you're being too critical?

Anywho, the reason I came on was to say that I'd seen Inherent Vice and the more I think about it, the more I like it. The plot, told through the lens of two drug-addled narrators, is difficult to follow, but it all made sense in the end. The acting was great, there were lots of amazing individual scenes and my only complaint was that it felt like it dragged on a bit too long. Maybe could've upped the pacing a bit, but then some of the plot points might have fallen apart. There's lots of fantastic cameos though in the movie and it felt like a movie that landed somewhere between The Master, Chinatown and the Big Lebowski.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on November 30, 2016, 01:19:17 pm
the clip is kind of dumb imo
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on November 30, 2016, 05:08:18 pm
Aside from the fact that you keep saying it's terrible nothing you described really sounded that bad and the clip makes it look interesting anyways. I haven't seen this movie, but I've always heard good things about Takeshi (the director's) work. Maybe you're being too critical?

I can tell you all about the movie if you like. Or better yet, you can go watch it yourself on Amazon for only like $3.99. It starts off okay and you think it'll be an alright movie, just warning you. I wanted to like this movie. I came in hoping it would be good. Some dumb stuff happened, and I was like "okay, I like good schlock films too, I can get into this." Really, I love a good bad movie. This movie was awful, but it's ineptitude is actually pretty hilarious sometimes so if you love bad movies, this is a good one to watch.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on December 01, 2016, 06:15:10 am
oooor you could rewatch a good movie and actually have fun!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on December 01, 2016, 02:01:29 pm
oooor you could rewatch a good movie and actually have fun!

Why would your default thing be rewatching a movie? I mean, I rewatch stuff pretty often (for instance, I've seen Madoka 29 times and I want to watch it again pretty soon), but that's because I specifically want to do so in order to better understand complex symbolism in a movie or to return to the atmosphere from the movie when I really feel like it. If I just want to have fun without any specific goal in mind, I definitely want to get exposed to something I've never seen before, and ideally something that's not very widely known so that if I like it, I can tell my friends about it, because I think it's a huge waste when lots of great art gets largely ignored just because most people never discovered it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on December 01, 2016, 03:06:16 pm
you can also watch a new movie that you don't already suspect to be bad, sure.

rewatching has advantages of availability and guaranteed quality.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on December 01, 2016, 03:09:14 pm
you can also watch a new movie that you don't already suspect to be bad, sure.

rewatching has advantages of availability and guaranteed quality.

Also, when rewatching I can pick up on a lot more details. It's always amazing how much foreshadowing is provided by the director.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on December 02, 2016, 06:15:56 am
I completely agree with Awaclus, you need a good excuse to rewatch a movie- there are just so many great ones you've never heard of that it's really a waste of potential when you're rewatching a lot. Of course you should revisit interesting movies from time to time, but making it the default watching would be saddening.

Unrelated, but relevant to the thread: Anyone who likes comed and hasn't seen an Ernst Lubitsch film should immediately correct their mistake. (starting with a Hollywood one)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on December 02, 2016, 10:44:29 am
I think "Shiny" from Moana is my favorite Disney musical number now. He's a goofy villain, but he sells it.

Also has a real strong David Bowie vibe, especially his "Life on Mars?" song.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on December 03, 2016, 03:47:29 am
Perhaps some background would help you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zatoichi

Beat Takeshi is quite an accomplished director and actor in Japan -- his Zatoichi won the Silver Lion in Venice that year.  I can see it wasn't your style, but you are in the minority in lambasting it.  Not just Ebert, but many well-known film critics gave it high praise.

I bought the DVD back when it came out.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on December 05, 2016, 03:09:59 pm
Perhaps some background would help you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zatoichi

Beat Takeshi is quite an accomplished director and actor in Japan -- his Zatoichi won the Silver Lion in Venice that year.  I can see it wasn't your style, but you are in the minority in lambasting it.  Not just Ebert, but many well-known film critics gave it high praise.

I bought the DVD back when it came out.

It's not just the style. It's the production quality and the screenwriting. I could live with the artistic choices they made, but what killed it for me was the bad music/sound design, questionable cuts, and ultimately flat characters and motivations.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on December 12, 2016, 05:27:41 pm
I'm thinking about seeing Silence, since it is getting rave reviews. Anyone seen it here?

Also, I'm obviously going to go watch the film that pertains to a certain sci-fi series that you may or may not have heard about.

You know the one.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNTkxMjkxNzg3Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNjUyMDI3NjE@._V1_UY268_CR9,0,182,268_AL_.jpg)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on December 13, 2016, 04:50:59 pm
I watched Doctor Strange, and I highly recommend it. It's a refreshing Marvel Studios movie in that it's not the same thing as all the other ones. The visuals are actually incredibly stunning.

I really agree with both the first and third sentences here, but could you explain why Doctor Strange seemed so different to you? Personally I felt like this was one of the most formulaic MCU films in a while (not necessarily a bad thing; it's a pretty fun formula.)

This was my feeling as well. I enjoyed the movie; but the actual story/plot felt very formulaic. The visuals and action and acting made it good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on December 14, 2016, 12:51:04 am
I'm thinking about seeing Silence, since it is getting rave reviews. Anyone seen it here?

Also, I'm obviously going to go watch the film that pertains to a certain sci-fi series that you may or may not have heard about.

You know the one.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNTkxMjkxNzg3Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNjUyMDI3NjE@._V1_UY268_CR9,0,182,268_AL_.jpg)

You're going to watch Jodorowsky's Dune? If you weren't planning on it I would recommend it. Excellent documentary.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on December 16, 2016, 02:16:22 pm
A friend of mine who already saw Rogue One posted that it was good but recognizes that it's not for everyone.

I curiously asked who it's not for. He said people who were confused by A New Hope.

I would wager that most movies are not for those types of people. I think that Ace Ventura might be too complex for them.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on December 16, 2016, 03:53:42 pm
A friend of mine who already saw Rogue One posted that it was good but recognizes that it's not everyone.

Thank god Rogue One is not everyone! I would hate to be Rogue One, for instance.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on December 16, 2016, 04:10:01 pm
A friend of mine who already saw Rogue One posted that it was good but recognizes that it's not everyone.

Thank god Rogue One is not everyone! I would hate to be Rogue One, for instance.

Goddamn fingers. You had one job!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Eevee on December 16, 2016, 05:57:29 pm
I just got home from seeing Rogue One, and I would say it's a strong contender for the worst film I've ever seen (I don't watch a lot of movies).

There were people leaving the theater 15 minutes into the movie, and also 15 minutes before the end, which I found amusing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on December 19, 2016, 05:07:07 am
Does anyone know any good modern (like, less than 3 years old or so) indie low budget films that you can just watch on YouTube (or vimeo or other similar sites)? Preferably ones that still have pretty good production values.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on December 19, 2016, 05:24:00 am
like Kung Fury? :P
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on December 19, 2016, 05:34:58 am
like Kung Fury? :P

Well, possibly. Primarily, I meant even lower budget though — like, something that could be someone's art school project or something.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LaLight on December 19, 2016, 05:35:40 am
Does anyone know any good modern (like, less than 3 years old or so) indie low budget films that you can just watch on YouTube (or vimeo or other similar sites)? Preferably ones that still have pretty good production values.

When I need something like this I watch Oscar-winning animated movies.

PPE: 1
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on December 19, 2016, 06:18:58 am
Does anyone know any good modern (like, less than 3 years old or so) indie low budget films that you can just watch on YouTube (or vimeo or other similar sites)? Preferably ones that still have pretty good production values.

When I need something like this I watch Oscar-winning animated movies.

PPE: 1

Oscar-winning animated movies are probably the #1 thing I don't need right now. Not least because I don't think very highly of the Academy Awards in general and especially the animated movie award (there are literally judges voting for the animated movie who hold the opinion that people who are over 6 years old shouldn't watch animation), but also because I'm mostly looking for the kind of movies that wouldn't even qualify for the Oscars in the first place.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on December 19, 2016, 06:21:00 am
This is pretty good. What's actually going on might not be clear on first viewing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qgmyItv6xg

Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on December 19, 2016, 07:55:50 am
This is pretty good. What's actually going on might not be clear on first viewing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qgmyItv6xg

This is more like what I was looking for.

EDIT: But I'm still looking for more of this kind of a thing, so if anyone has any recommendations, I'd gladly hear them.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on December 20, 2016, 11:28:21 pm
Why does have to be from the last three years?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on December 20, 2016, 11:41:11 pm
Why does have to be from the last three years?

It can be a little bit older than that, but the point is that pretty decent cameras and computers have gotten a lot cheaper and software has gotten a lot better over time, so it's more realistic to expect people to be able to put together pretty good looking stuff on a low budget.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on December 21, 2016, 12:04:10 am
Saw Rogue One, and it was alright.  Had some good points, some flaws.  I think it got better after the first half.  The pacing in the beginning felt off, and I think character development suffered.  Dramatic and tense moments didn't have a big effect, because there wasn't enough build up to them, or enough investment in the characters.  It really felt quite rushed.

The other odd thing was.. cinematography?  Or camera shot/editing choices.  Shots were super quick, cutting between lots of things, none of which had clear (to me) focus.  Made action scenes hard to watch and non action scenes... confusing, maybe.

I like that we're seeing more actual war in Star.... Wars.  Like real, people in danger kind of war, not just flashy explosions with lots of smiles.  Not to say that there wasn't that, but it is a least a shift towards a darker narrative. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on December 21, 2016, 01:18:04 pm
It did feel more war-like in Rogue One. Perhaps because you could see the bigger picture rather than just a band of heroes swashbuckling through war-like backdrops.

I agree that the character development didn't do much for me. I didn't really feel any attachment to many of the characters until later on in the movie.

My sample size is admittedly small, but I feel Rogue One was the best prequel I've seen. It was like the writers pored over the original movies and worked backwards to make sure that everything in Rogue One was consistent with what happens in the originals. Other prequels could learn a thing or two (*cough* Episodes I, II, and III).

I even found the gratuitous cameo to be humorous, though I normally am not a fan of gratuitous cameos.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on December 22, 2016, 08:00:01 am
Why does have to be from the last three years?

It can be a little bit older than that, but the point is that pretty decent cameras and computers have gotten a lot cheaper and software has gotten a lot better over time, so it's more realistic to expect people to be able to put together pretty good looking stuff on a low budget.

I don't know if they are available on youtube, but I'd recommend the early films by Alex Ross Perry.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: DG on December 22, 2016, 12:34:28 pm
A few less mainstream films I've seen recently on Netflix and wherever:
Victoria - Interesting mostly because it was shot in one take, a good movie about a girl meeting some men on a night out and things happen. Not the best movie, still good though. German+English.
7 Annos - First class movie. Spanish. Films don't need car chases and explosions to be exciting.
The Devli's Backbone - Good movie. Spanish horror by Guillermo Del Torro. Not as good as Pan's Labyrinth but what is?
Lobster - A British version of a French surrealist movie? It is a comedy and it is funny as well as being a satire on society. Won't suit everyone but it I thought it was excellent.
Convenience - Low budget British movie about a couple of idiots robbing a convenience store. Not the best movie ever but it's funny, taps into the same low life humour as Clerks.


Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on December 22, 2016, 01:29:58 pm
A few less mainstream films I've seen recently on Netflix and wherever:
Victoria - Interesting mostly because it was shot in one take, a good movie about a girl meeting some men on a night out and things happen. Not the best movie, still good though. German+English.
7 Annos - First class movie. Spanish. Films don't need car chases and explosions to be exciting.
The Devli's Backbone - Good movie. Spanish horror by Guillermo Del Torro. Not as good as Pan's Labyrinth but what is?
Lobster - A British version of a French surrealist movie? It is a comedy and it is funny as well as being a satire on society. Won't suit everyone but it I thought it was excellent.
Convenience - Low budget British movie about a couple of idiots robbing a convenience store. Not the best movie ever but it's funny, taps into the same low life humour as Clerks.

The Lobster was the best movie this year, I think.  Devil's Backbone was cool, though I saw it quite a long time ago.  I haven't seen the other ones.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on December 22, 2016, 04:26:10 pm
Talking about best movies of the year, here are my favourites:

Paterson (Jarmusch): A film about the poetry writing busdriver Paterson living in Paterson. Somebody described it being about the "poetry of every day life" which is quite fitting in my opinion. The score and cinematography produce a very gentle environment where the characters are allowed to be unnaturally kind to each other, but you fully believe them. I think I just felt joy for the whole duration of the movie. Extra shoutout for the minor appearance of the Moonrise Kingdom kids.

Exilé (Phan): A poltical essay film, from a Cambodschian emigrant trying to make peace with his experiences during the Khmer Rouge. It uses feature footage + an actor being staged in one room. It was a very personal movie and you could feel it. Saw it on a festival, I don't have much hope for a wide release  :'(

Certain Women (Reichardt): A feminist movie about the experiences of three women living in Montana. You only see a small, yet meaningful excerp of their lives in contemporary (midwest?) American society. Quite moving, especially the last part, featuring Lily Gladstone (and Kristen Stewart).

Hail, Caesar! (Coen brothers): A movie celebrating classical Hollywood aswell as incorporating the blacklisted socialists. Throw a clueless actor between them and you'll get an absolutely hilarious movie out of it.

Some awesome 2015 movies that are German 2016 ones and would have made this list: Anomalisa (Kaufman), Knight of Cups (Malick) and Mustang.

Runner ups of 2016 films that are still awesome: Love & Friendship, Nocturnal Animals, Captain Fantastic, Elle and Frantz

Still have to catch up with some movies that might make the list, mainly: The Handmaiden, Moonlight, La la Land and Manchester by the Sea. Maybe I'll go watch I, Daniel Blake after Christmas aswell.

Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: The_Wine_Merchant on December 28, 2016, 11:29:34 am
La la Land

Went and saw this over the weekend. Liked it. Friend that I saw it with actually knew one of the dancers (he was a dance instructor that he has done workshops with). Was a surreal moment for him.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on December 28, 2016, 03:27:28 pm
Hail, Caesar! (Coen brothers): A movie celebrating classical Hollywood aswell as incorporating the blacklisted socialists. Throw a clueless actor between them and you'll get an absolutely hilarious movie out of it.

I enjoyed this movie. Not my favorite Coen Brother film, but it was nicely done. I just love that there really was a communist plot within Hollywood. Gave me a great chuckle.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on January 02, 2017, 07:18:48 pm
Today, I saw The Martian and Catfish. I had high-ish expectations for both, and both of them exceeded my expectations.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on January 02, 2017, 08:09:12 pm
I did catch the Martian on HBO. It was very enjoyable. I normally am not interested in the person-vs-environment trope. For example, while Gravity was excellently shot, the story dragged on for my taste.

But the Martian handled the person-vs-environment trope while also shifting focus to Earth and the spaceship. Therefore it did not drag on for me.

I also saw Batman vs Superman on HBO. Yeah, that was dreadful.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 24, 2017, 03:35:19 pm
Thoughts on Grave of the Fireflies?

I heard it described as one of the saddest movies ever made, but I found it quite underwhelming, especially compared to the Tale of Princess Kaguya. The story is captivating, but the way it's written makes it so you see everything coming, so it's all part of the plan. I was still waiting for it to really get into the hard feelings when it ended.

Still a good movie, the usual Ghibli purity with everything feeling authentic and no usual hoolywood BS. But low impact compared to most other Ghibli movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on January 24, 2017, 03:46:36 pm
I could not get attached to the main character, so it had no effect on me. He was just making poor decision after poor decision out of pure stubbornness? Plus, I guess a childhood of watching gritty movies about civilians trying to get through our Civil War just made Grave of the Fireflies feel exploitative.

Recently watched Kubo though. Found it enchanting and full of personality, despite the predictable twists and a somewhat underwhelming finale. Also, dat While my guitar gently weeps cover.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 24, 2017, 03:54:31 pm
He was just making poor decision after poor decision out of pure stubbornness?

Yeah, there's that, too.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on January 24, 2017, 04:58:00 pm
Thoughts on Grave of the Fireflies?

I heard it described as one of the saddest movies ever made, but I found it quite underwhelming, especially compared to the Tale of Princess Kaguya. The story is captivating, but the way it's written makes it so you see everything coming, so it's all part of the plan. I was still waiting for it to really get into the hard feelings when it ended.

Still a good movie, the usual Ghibli purity with everything feeling authentic and no usual hoolywood BS. But low impact compared to most other Ghibli movies.


I watched it at 8, having never seen a sad movie. I might think it sucks now, who knows.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on January 24, 2017, 06:59:45 pm
Suicide Squad is nominated for an oscar. Ugh.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on January 24, 2017, 08:10:43 pm
Suicide Squad is nominated for an oscar. Ugh.

WHAT
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on January 25, 2017, 06:40:36 am
The criticism of the film usually didn't involve the Make-up so maybe you ca forgive them being nominated for an Oscar
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on January 25, 2017, 06:52:15 am
Why do people care about the Academy Awards?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on January 25, 2017, 11:24:25 am
Why do people care about the Academy Awards?

Because their lives are so empty they desperately need something to attach to.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 25, 2017, 11:30:50 am
I watched it at 8, having never seen a sad movie. I might think it sucks now, who knows.

I'm sure you wouldn't think it sucks! It's a good movie. It was only a disappointment because I came into it expecting something comparable to the Tale of Princess Kaguya, which is an incredibly high bar.

I watched a youtuber I follow talk about Academy Awards just yesterday, who basically asked the same thing: why do they matter? It's just a bunch of people, who do have a certain taste, choosing their favorite movies, and the same types of movies keep being chosen.

The fact that Spirited Away is the only anime to ever win best animated film is pretty ridiculous and shows a clear bias I'd say... let alone that it didn't win best picture.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on January 25, 2017, 11:40:36 am
I watched a youtuber I follow talk about Academy Awards just yesterday, who basically asked the same thing: why do they matter? It's just a bunch of people, who do have a certain taste, choose their movies, and the same types of movies keep being chosen.

The fact that Spirited Away is the only anime to ever win best animated film is pretty ridiculous and shows a clear bias I'd say... let alone that it didn't win best picture.

It's not just taste either, there are also commercial interests at play. As for why the best animated film award is especially worthless, the judges who vote for the best animated film don't really care about animation at all, and quite a large number of them don't even bother watching any of the movies they're supposed to be voting for.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on January 25, 2017, 12:55:38 pm
So since almost everything I watch is from my own DVD/Blu-ray collection, I'm often seeing movies long after other people. That being said, a couple movies I saw recently that were amazing but not big names...

Predestination (2014) - So creative. One of those movies that just leaves your head hurting in a good way when you think about what you just saw.

Triangle (2009) - This was like a cross between Cube (great movie), Dead End (great movie), and Predestination (great movie). A horror/thriller that's actually clever.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on January 25, 2017, 02:04:31 pm
Why do people care about the Academy Awards?

Because their lives are so empty they desperately need something to attach to.

I think the point is that this makes it obvious that the Academy awards are kind of a sham. But you know, we're also shallow people.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on January 26, 2017, 08:04:48 am
Recently watched Kubo though. Found it enchanting and full of personality, despite the predictable twists and a somewhat underwhelming finale. Also, dat While my guitar gently weeps cover.

I actually rather liked the finale. It bucked against the expected outcome of these types of movies. Kind of like how Dr. Strange's final battle was atypical.

Speaking of finales, I enjoyed the Book of Life at first, and it's a fine 2/3 of a movie, but that battle scene is just too kitschy for me. The silliness of the battle just seems at odds with the charm of the rest of the movie. Sure, the first part of the movie had silly moments, but it just seemed to fall apart in that finale. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LaLight on January 26, 2017, 06:37:03 pm
So since almost everything I watch is from my own DVD/Blu-ray collection, I'm often seeing movies long after other people. That being said, a couple movies I saw recently that were amazing but not big names...

Predestination (2014) - So creative. One of those movies that just leaves your head hurting in a good way when you think about what you just saw.

Triangle (2009) - This was like a cross between Cube (great movie), Dead End (great movie), and Predestination (great movie). A horror/thriller that's actually clever.

Predestination is one of the best movies I ever saw in a way that you mentioned. Funny story is that I accidentally found the story based on that film that was like the whole plot in 2 sentences beforehand.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Darth Vader on February 01, 2017, 12:20:21 pm
Rogue One was cool. I was in it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on February 01, 2017, 01:50:10 pm
I have to say, that last scene with Darth Vader almost entirely justified the whole movie by itself.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on February 01, 2017, 04:58:55 pm
I just saw Blair Witch (2016). It was good, definitely better than you would expect for the kind of thing that it is. I even thought it was somewhat better than the original. Not a mind-blowingly amazing movie though, just pretty decent. Recommended if you liked the original, also recommended if you wanted to like the original but didn't find it very scary (like me), but there's probably no point in watching it if you're not particularly a fan of horror movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on February 18, 2017, 03:10:33 pm
I have recently seen Session 9 and The Others. Session 9 was good and The Others was really good.

EDIT: And I just watched The Uninvited, which is funny because a couple of days ago, I was picking out movies to watch and I had considered Janghwa, Hongryeon based on some recommendations but it didn't seem that interesting so I skipped it. But somehow I ended up choosing The Uninvited, and just now I realized that it's a remake of Janghwa, Hongryeon and now I feel kind of stupid. Either way, the remake was an amazing enough movie that I'll have to watch the original as well.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on February 19, 2017, 05:30:53 pm
Today, I watched Let The Right One In. I think that might have been legitimately the worst movie I've ever seen and I'm just dumbfounded at all the critical acclaim it has gotten. The one explanation that I can think of is that, at the time of its release, I suppose it would have been compared with Twilight a lot, whereas I can't help but to compare it with Monogatari instead. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Like, it had a pretty okay premise... and then it just kind of dragged on for almost 2 hours with very little development to the plot or the characters, to the point where you could foresee the ending within the first quarter of the movie, and there wasn't anything even remotely interesting going on in the middle, either.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on February 19, 2017, 08:07:51 pm
Today, I watched Let The Right One In. I think that might have been legitimately the worst movie I've ever seen and I'm just dumbfounded at all the critical acclaim it has gotten. The one explanation that I can think of is that, at the time of its release, I suppose it would have been compared with Twilight a lot, whereas I can't help but to compare it with Monogatari instead. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Like, it had a pretty okay premise... and then it just kind of dragged on for almost 2 hours with very little development to the plot or the characters, to the point where you could foresee the ending within the first quarter of the movie, and there wasn't anything even remotely interesting going on in the middle, either.

Maybe you saw the American remake?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on February 19, 2017, 11:47:29 pm
I liked Let the Right One In, though I would say it was overrated.

Except for that cat scene. That was...simply awful.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on February 20, 2017, 03:47:47 am
Today, I watched Let The Right One In. I think that might have been legitimately the worst movie I've ever seen and I'm just dumbfounded at all the critical acclaim it has gotten. The one explanation that I can think of is that, at the time of its release, I suppose it would have been compared with Twilight a lot, whereas I can't help but to compare it with Monogatari instead. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Like, it had a pretty okay premise... and then it just kind of dragged on for almost 2 hours with very little development to the plot or the characters, to the point where you could foresee the ending within the first quarter of the movie, and there wasn't anything even remotely interesting going on in the middle, either.

Maybe you saw the American remake?

No, this time I made sure I saw the original.

I liked Let the Right One In, though I would say it was overrated.

Except for that cat scene. That was...simply awful.

Why did you like it? I mean, at least the cat scene was ridiculous enough to make me laugh so I would say it was one of the most entertaining scenes in the film.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on February 20, 2017, 11:05:07 am
It was a decent enough story about an outsider boy having a crush on the neighbor girl who happened to be a vampire. And then there was the story of her caretaker. It wouldn't hit my Top 5 list, but it was enjoyable to watch.

I did feel that the ending was forced. I mean, when people who want to do you harm won't bother to go into the water after you, then you can stay out there for a while, especially when you've built up some endurance. So why go to the bully? It was a sloppy way to progress to the bloody scene.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on February 20, 2017, 11:21:17 am
It was a decent enough story about an outsider boy having a crush on the neighbor girl who happened to be a vampire.

I mean, it's a decent enough premise. The problem is that the entire story is spent on the boy slowly discovering that she's a vampire (and proceeding to hardly react at all when he finally learns the truth — you would think that something like that would have quite dramatic effects on their relationship), which is not very interesting to the audience since the audience has known that she's a vampire since the very beginning of the film.

And then there was the story of her caretaker.

Which is super unbelievable. I mean, he's supposed to be a serial killer, but based on what we see in the movie, he sucks at being a serial killer so much that it takes all the believability out of it. I mean, is the police even trying?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: smarttony on March 09, 2017, 09:23:01 am
The last movie I have watched was the La La Land.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on March 09, 2017, 09:29:06 am
I watched Logan last night.  Very good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: DG on March 09, 2017, 09:55:36 am
Today, I watched Let The Right One In. I think that might have been legitimately the worst movie I've ever seen and I'm just dumbfounded at all the critical acclaim it has gotten. The one explanation that I can think of is that, at the time of its release, I suppose it would have been compared with Twilight a lot, whereas I can't help but to compare it with Monogatari instead. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Like, it had a pretty okay premise... and then it just kind of dragged on for almost 2 hours with very little development to the plot or the characters, to the point where you could foresee the ending within the first quarter of the movie, and there wasn't anything even remotely interesting going on in the middle, either.

You seem to have misread their relationship so it's not surprising that you found the film dull. She has been grooming him to be her next caretaker from the very start. The psychological horror comes from comparing the innocent boy with the caretaker he will become. That is the character development you missed.

Intelligent films always suffer from an audience that is too stupid or too clever. A stupid audience can't understand enough to appreciate it. A clever audience will find all the developments and revelations to be predictable. (I think the same is also true for viewers reading the emotions of characters in films.)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 09, 2017, 10:32:39 am
Today, I watched Let The Right One In. I think that might have been legitimately the worst movie I've ever seen and I'm just dumbfounded at all the critical acclaim it has gotten. The one explanation that I can think of is that, at the time of its release, I suppose it would have been compared with Twilight a lot, whereas I can't help but to compare it with Monogatari instead. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Like, it had a pretty okay premise... and then it just kind of dragged on for almost 2 hours with very little development to the plot or the characters, to the point where you could foresee the ending within the first quarter of the movie, and there wasn't anything even remotely interesting going on in the middle, either.

You seem to have misread their relationship so it's not surprising that you found the film dull. She has been grooming him to be her next caretaker from the very start. His entrapment is the character development. This provides the psychological horror.

I don't think it's possible to misread a piece of art. With that being said, I didn't really think of it that way at all, but more so than having missed it, I think I just didn't care because as I said, the old caretaker is so incompetent at what he's trying to do that I didn't spend a single thought on how horrible it must have been for him to live his life that way — instead, I was focusing on how unbelievable it was that he would still suck so much even after he's presumably been her caretaker for a pretty long time, and how unbelievable it was that he hadn't gotten caught any sooner, as well as a bunch of unrelated unbelievableness that was also going on. So it didn't hit me that it could be a horrible fate for the boy to end up in the same spot, especially since he also was apparently totally fine with her being a vampire given his almost complete lack of reaction when he found out.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: tripwire on March 09, 2017, 11:13:25 am
I don't think it's possible to misread a piece of art.

I haven't sen the film you are discussing, so I don't know if I would characterize your reaction as a "misreading," but it is definitely possible to misread art. Certainly there is a range of viable readings possible, but then they are others that just ignore major aspects of that work.

For example, Moby Dick probably has an infinite range of supportable interpretations, but if I said it's a book about selling cotton candy on the moon then I am objectively wrong. That is a misreading.

(Although I could definitely be convinced to read a book about that)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on March 09, 2017, 11:15:42 am
I don't think it's possible to misread a piece of art.

I haven't sen the film you are discussing, so I don't know if I would characterize your reaction as a "misreading," but it is definitely possible to misread art. Certainly there is a range of viable readings possible, but then they are others that just ignore major aspects of that work.

For example, Moby Dick probably has an infinite range of supportable interpretations, but if I said it's a book about selling cotton candy on the moon then I am objectively wrong. That is a misreading.

(Although I could definitely be convinced to read a book about that)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl4Z7F0Cl24
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 09, 2017, 11:28:31 am
For example, Moby Dick probably has an infinite range of supportable interpretations, but if I said it's a book about selling cotton candy on the moon then I am objectively wrong.

Not really. If you say that it's a book about selling cotton candy on the moon, you are wrong because you don't really believe that yourself, not because it can't be a book about selling cotton candy on the moon. Perhaps someone has had a deeply emotional experience while selling cotton candy on the moon, and Moby Dick reminds him of his cotton candy selling adventure so much that he interprets the story in the light of his experiences — I would say that it's a perfectly valid interpretation.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on March 09, 2017, 11:36:07 am
How can you call any movie the worst movie you've seen if you disallow any objective statement to be made about it?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 09, 2017, 11:57:14 am
How can you call any movie the worst movie you've seen

I said that's what I think. A lot of people think it's very good and that's fine too, I just don't understand why.

Besides, there are also objective things that you can say about movies, in regards to their quality.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: AndrewisFTTW on March 09, 2017, 12:12:59 pm
For example, Moby Dick probably has an infinite range of supportable interpretations, but if I said it's a book about selling cotton candy on the moon then I am objectively wrong.

Not really. If you say that it's a book about selling cotton candy on the moon, you are wrong because you don't really believe that yourself, not because it can't be a book about selling cotton candy on the moon. Perhaps someone has had a deeply emotional experience while selling cotton candy on the moon, and Moby Dick reminds him of his cotton candy selling adventure so much that he interprets the story in the light of his experiences — I would say that it's a perfectly valid interpretation.

There's a difference between Moby Dick reminding someone about selling cotton candy on the moon and Moby Dick being about selling cotton candy on the moon.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 09, 2017, 12:18:21 pm
There's a difference between Moby Dick reminding someone about selling cotton candy on the moon and Moby Dick being about selling cotton candy on the moon.

But if he interprets it that way, then there's no difference.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: tripwire on March 09, 2017, 12:37:40 pm
For example, Moby Dick probably has an infinite range of supportable interpretations, but if I said it's a book about selling cotton candy on the moon then I am objectively wrong.

Not really. If you say that it's a book about selling cotton candy on the moon, you are wrong because you don't really believe that yourself, not because it can't be a book about selling cotton candy on the moon. Perhaps someone has had a deeply emotional experience while selling cotton candy on the moon, and Moby Dick reminds him of his cotton candy selling adventure so much that he interprets the story in the light of his experiences — I would say that it's a perfectly valid interpretation.

Here's a quick question: if someone's interpretation or "reading" relies on a mistake (for example, they mishear the lyrics to a song or only watch the first half of a movie) is their interpretation not a "misreading"?

Now here's my longer response that most likely should be ignored, but I teach literary analysis so I can't not say it:

Likely this is a case of me operating under a different definition of "interpretation" than you are. I would say what you describe is a valid response to Moby Dick but not a valid interpretation. For me, and I would argue for most critics of various arts, interpretation involves translating the meaning of a text so that other people can recognize that meaning too. Just think of the other ways "interpreter" are used in other contexts, for example a sign-language interpreter. Also, the etymology of "interpret"  suggests this same reliance on communication to others. So an interpretation operates as a mediation between a "text" and other "readers."

As a result, interpretations that rely on idiosyncratic and personal experiences are not useful interpretations. An interpretation must point to objective details about a work (its "textual" or formal elements, its context, its relationship to other texts, etc.) in order to be valid.

A response, like the one this hypothetical cotton candy salesperson has, can be valuable because they can point readers in the direction of valid interpretations, but are not valid interpretations in and of themselves. So maybe after considering the connections between Moby Dick and their experience, the cotton candy reader recognizes what the book says about capitalism or living in a strange and alien world. In that case, they can claim that Moby Dick is about capitalism and thus is relevant to selling cotton candy on the moon. But that doesn't mean that the book is about cotton candy on the moon.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: AndrewisFTTW on March 09, 2017, 12:43:30 pm
There's a difference between Moby Dick reminding someone about selling cotton candy on the moon and Moby Dick being about selling cotton candy on the moon.

But if he interprets it that way, then there's no difference.

I interpret what you just said to mean "AndrewisFTTW is correct and Awaclus is wrong". I guess that means I'm right. End of discussion.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: tripwire on March 09, 2017, 12:46:23 pm
I watched Logan last night.  Very good.

Saw it on Tuesday. I also agree. For me it really understands what makes Wolverine and Professor X great characters, and pushes those qualities to the Nth degree.

That said, I felt there were possibly some inconsistencies between the messaging of the film and its presentation, but I also need to remind myself that this is a big blockbuster, and just because Fury Road stands up to that level of scrutiny doesn't mean that all other big action films need to.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on March 09, 2017, 01:24:04 pm
There's a difference between Moby Dick reminding someone about selling cotton candy on the moon and Moby Dick being about selling cotton candy on the moon.

But if he interprets it that way, then there's no difference.

I interpret what you just said to mean "AndrewisFTTW is correct and Awaclus is wrong". I guess that means I'm right. End of discussion.

Isn't that the subtext? The author's arguments rely on relativism, and by presenting his own points in a way suited to make them seem entirely absurd, he intentionally gives the message that, in relativism, arguing about truth values, and therefore his own post, is pointless and futile. It's the art of absurdity, brought to the perfect conclusion. He cannot possibly make a statement, as his statement is the valuelessness of statements, and this desperation is brought in grotesque, comical form. So in a way, he does indeed say that you are correct and that you aren't. It's true beauty in the void of reason. Da capo!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 09, 2017, 01:34:35 pm
Here's a quick question: if someone's interpretation or "reading" relies on a mistake (for example, they mishear the lyrics to a song or only watch the first half of a movie) is their interpretation not a "misreading"?

That's an interesting question, but I'd say that it isn't. It might be an interpretation that is going to change over time, but that doesn't make it an invalid one. Certainly, there are songs that I keep mishearing even though I know what the lyrics are supposed to say (such as the popular song Nakkivene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9-Lwpgfd1E) by Rudimental), and the way I experience those songs is according to the misheard lyrics, not the intended ones. And there are movies that very intentionally contain information that many people are going to miss, such as untranslated speech in a foreign language that some people might understand and others won't, or text written in a fictional alphabet that fans had to decrypt (http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Deciphering_the_runes), and I guess if you can't consider an interpretation based on only seeing parts of the movie a valid one, very few people would be able to interpret these kinds of movies, which sounds wrong to me.

Likely this is a case of me operating under a different definition of "interpretation" than you are. I would say what you describe is a valid response to Moby Dick but not a valid interpretation. For me, and I would argue for most critics of various arts, interpretation involves translating the meaning of a text so that other people can recognize that meaning too. Just think of the other ways "interpreter" are used in other contexts, for example a sign-language interpreter. Also, the etymology of "interpret"  suggests this same reliance on communication to others. So an interpretation operates as a mediation between a "text" and other "readers."

As a result, interpretations that rely on idiosyncratic and personal experiences are not useful interpretations. An interpretation must point to objective details about a work (its "textual" or formal elements, its context, its relationship to other texts, etc.) in order to be valid.

A response, like the one this hypothetical cotton candy salesperson has, can be valuable because they can point readers in the direction of valid interpretations, but are not valid interpretations in and of themselves. So maybe after considering the connections between Moby Dick and their experience, the cotton candy reader recognizes what the book says about capitalism or living in a strange and alien world. In that case, they can claim that Moby Dick is about capitalism and thus is relevant to selling cotton candy on the moon. But that doesn't mean that the book is about cotton candy on the moon.

I didn't even realize that interpret and interpret are technically the same word in English until now. Finnish has two separate words; one for explaining the meaning of something to other people (tulkata) and another one for explaining the meaning of something to yourself (tulkita). I'm talking about the latter one here — it's almost exclusively the word people use when talking about the meaning of art in Finnish. Actually, I don't really think that a piece of art can mean the exact same thing to multiple different people, because everyone has their own personal experiences and they interpret everything in the light of them.

I interpret what you just said to mean "AndrewisFTTW is correct and Awaclus is wrong". I guess that means I'm right. End of discussion.

Except I don't believe that you really interpret it that way.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: tripwire on March 09, 2017, 02:04:32 pm

I didn't even realize that interpret and interpret are technically the same word in English until now. Finnish has two separate words; one for explaining the meaning of something to other people (tulkata) and another one for explaining the meaning of something to yourself (tulkita). I'm talking about the latter one here — it's almost exclusively the word people use when talking about the meaning of art in Finnish. Actually, I don't really think that a piece of art can mean the exact same thing to multiple different people, because everyone has their own personal experiences and they interpret everything in the light of them.


That's extremely interesting, and it probably suggests that you should use a different word than "interpret." I suggested "respond," but I guess you could say "interpret a personal meaning," or something like that.

I guess my big question now is, why would Finnish art critics focus on "tulkita" rather than "tulkata"? From my perspective that makes art criticism almost entirely useless.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: AndrewisFTTW on March 09, 2017, 02:36:43 pm
Except I don't believe that you really interpret it that way.

Your belief has no bearing on my interpretation. Using your own logic, my interpretation is not only valid but correct. Thus, I am irrefutably right and you are wrong.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on March 09, 2017, 02:51:28 pm
There's no way this conversation will be not productive.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 09, 2017, 03:07:50 pm
I guess my big question now is, why would Finnish art critics focus on "tulkita" rather than "tulkata"? From my perspective that makes art criticism almost entirely useless.

They don't really focus on either of those things. It's usually more about the quality than the meaning of the work. To the extent that they talk about the experience they had, it's always implied that they're talking about their own personal experience, and they might explain why they think they had that experience too. I never really noticed the difference between Finnish movie reviews and English language ones that I read online, but now that I actually directly compared a couple of Finnish reviews with one from The Guardian and another one from Roger Ebert (i.e. the top two Google search results), it really is kind of funny. The English language reviews focus solely on the meaning of the film and even explain a lot of things that were never explicitly stated in the film, whereas the Finnish ones quickly explain the very basic premise and only cover as much as what was explicit, and talk more about stuff like how well the original novel sold in Sweden, how the director is utilizing his inexperience in the horror genre to create a groundbreaking film, how talented the actors are, how good the cinematography was, etc.

I actually think that's significantly more useful, because that's what I need to know in order to decide whether or not it's a movie I want to spend my time on. The meaning is what I want to focus on after I've seen the movie, and I'd rather have a discussion with other fans than a review at that point.

Your belief has no bearing on my interpretation. Using your own logic, my interpretation is not only valid but correct. Thus, I am irrefutably right and you are wrong.

My belief has no bearing on your interpretation, but the fact that you don't really have the interpretation does.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: AndrewisFTTW on March 09, 2017, 03:15:38 pm
Your belief has no bearing on my interpretation. Using your own logic, my interpretation is not only valid but correct. Thus, I am irrefutably right and you are wrong.

My belief has no bearing on your interpretation, but the fact that you don't really have the interpretation does.

You don't know that. And nowhere did you say whoever has an alternate interpretation needs to be subject to interrogation to determine whether their interpretation is legitimate in the eyes of Awaclus.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 09, 2017, 03:21:12 pm
You don't know that. And even if I didn't actually interpret what you said in that way, I would still be right and you would still be wrong. By your logic of course.

I do know that with 90-93% certainty. I mean, it's pretty damn obvious. And by my "logic" (which is not logic, but a wholly different branch of philosophy), an interpretation is valid if and only if there's someone who really believes in it.

EDIT:

And nowhere did you say whoever has an alternate interpretation needs to be subject to interrogation to determine whether their interpretation is legitimate in the eyes of Awaclus.

To address your edited post, alternate interpretations don't need to be subject to interrogation to determine whether it is legitimate in my eyes. They simply need to exist, and existing hypothetically for the sake of an argument isn't enough because the fact that you're using it hypothetically for the sake of an argument inherently shows that you don't really believe in it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: AndrewisFTTW on March 09, 2017, 03:26:19 pm
You don't know that. And even if I didn't actually interpret what you said in that way, I would still be right and you would still be wrong. By your logic of course.

I do know that with 90-93% certainty. I mean, it's pretty damn obvious. And by my "logic" (which is not logic, but a wholly different branch of philosophy), an interpretation is valid if and only if there's someone who really believes in it.

No you don't, and that's beside the point. You legitimized a theoretical person interpreting Moby Dick as someone selling cotton candy on the moon and somehow you deem that acceptable and correct but not my interpretation of your comment. Probably because it places you in the wrong. You are not the ultimate authority on interpretations. You don't have the right to decide which is legitimate and which isn't. You either commit to what you posted earlier and admit that you're wrong based on my smartass comment, or just admit that what you posted is false.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: AndrewisFTTW on March 09, 2017, 03:28:08 pm
And nowhere did you say whoever has an alternate interpretation needs to be subject to interrogation to determine whether their interpretation is legitimate in the eyes of Awaclus.

To address your edited post, alternate interpretations don't need to be subject to interrogation to determine whether it is legitimate in my eyes. They simply need to exist, and existing hypothetically for the sake of an argument isn't enough because the fact that you're using it hypothetically for the sake of an argument inherently shows that you don't really believe in it.

Just because I pass something off as hypothetical doesn't mean it's not what I actually believe. And again, that's beside the point.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 09, 2017, 03:35:15 pm
No you don't, and that's beside the point. You legitimized a theoretical person interpreting Moby Dick as someone selling cotton candy on the moon and somehow you deem that acceptable and correct but not my interpretation of your comment. Probably because it places you in the wrong. You are not the ultimate authority on interpretations. You don't have the right to decide which is legitimate and which isn't. You either commit to what you posted earlier and admit that you're wrong based on my smartass comment, or just admit that what you posted is false.

I am being 100% consistent here. See:

If you say that it's a book about selling cotton candy on the moon, you are wrong because you don't really believe that yourself
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: AndrewisFTTW on March 09, 2017, 03:43:31 pm
Here's the full quote:

For example, Moby Dick probably has an infinite range of supportable interpretations, but if I said it's a book about selling cotton candy on the moon then I am objectively wrong.

Not really. If you say that it's a book about selling cotton candy on the moon, you are wrong because you don't really believe that yourself, not because it can't be a book about selling cotton candy on the moon. Perhaps someone has had a deeply emotional experience while selling cotton candy on the moon, and Moby Dick reminds him of his cotton candy selling adventure so much that he interprets the story in the light of his experiences — I would say that it's a perfectly valid interpretation.

You don't know they don't really believe that and there's no way you can prove they don't. So you are saying this theoretical person's interpretation of Moby Dick as that of a story about selling cotton candy on moon is valid. Ok, cool. So how come my interpretation of your comment:

There's a difference between Moby Dick reminding someone about selling cotton candy on the moon and Moby Dick being about selling cotton candy on the moon.

But if he interprets it that way, then there's no difference.

I interpret what you just said to mean "AndrewisFTTW is correct and Awaclus is wrong". I guess that means I'm right. End of discussion.

is not valid? And again, don't say I don't really believe that to be true, because that is impossible for you to prove.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 09, 2017, 03:47:38 pm
is not valid? And again, don't say I don't really believe that to be true, because that is impossible for you to prove.

Whether or not I'm able to prove it is irrelevant. It's enough that you do, in fact, not believe it to be true.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: AndrewisFTTW on March 09, 2017, 03:57:06 pm
is not valid? And again, don't say I don't really believe that to be true, because that is impossible for you to prove.

Whether or not I'm able to prove it is irrelevant. It's enough that you do, in fact, not believe it to be true.

It is absolutely relevant. If you can't prove I don't believe it to be true then stop insisting upon it.

You've been beating around the bush for a while now. Assuming I do believe it to be true, then my interpretation of your comment (that I am right and you are wrong) is valid and correct. Yes or no?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 09, 2017, 04:27:26 pm
Assuming I do believe it to be true, then my interpretation of your comment (that I am right and you are wrong) is valid and correct. Yes or no?

Yes. And that would mean either I sucked at wording my post or I chose a wrong target audience for it.

However, I fail to see how that's relevant as long as you don't believe it to be true.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: AndrewisFTTW on March 09, 2017, 04:36:56 pm
Assuming I do believe it to be true, then my interpretation of your comment (that I am right and you are wrong) is valid and correct. Yes or no?

Yes. And that would mean either I sucked at wording my post or I chose a wrong target audience for it.

However, I fail to see how that's relevant as long as you don't believe it to be true.

I interpret this to mean "Plan 9 From Outer Space is the best movie ever made. Period. Forever."
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on March 09, 2017, 04:37:30 pm
Assuming I do believe it to be true, then my interpretation of your comment (that I am right and you are wrong) is valid and correct. Yes or no?

Yes. And that would mean either I sucked at wording my post or I chose a wrong target audience for it.

However, I fail to see how that's relevant as long as you don't believe it to be true.

I interpret this to mean "Plan 9 From Outer Space is the best movie ever made. Period. Forever."

I don't believe you do.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: tripwire on March 09, 2017, 05:54:12 pm
Anybody got further thoughts on Logan? Witherweaver, what'd you like about it? I can detail my critiques in more detail later if anybody's interested.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on March 09, 2017, 07:11:16 pm
Wait some time? People try to avoid spoilers in this thread.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on March 09, 2017, 08:37:55 pm
I suffer from a slightly damaged fusiform gyrus, which basically means I easily confuse faces.

Take the movie Heat. I was confused as hell until halfway through I realized Deniro and Pacino were two different people/characters. I had to start over and rewatch it.

I would classify my first take as an actual, inarguable, misreading.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on March 09, 2017, 08:50:43 pm
I suffer from a slightly damaged fusiform gyrus, which basically means I easily confuse faces.

Take the movie Heat. I was confused as hell until halfway through I realized Deniro and Pacino were two different people/characters. I had to start over and rewatch it.

I would classify my first take as an actual, inarguable, misreading.

No way; they're the same person.  That's the twist.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on March 09, 2017, 10:06:16 pm
Anybody got further thoughts on Logan? Witherweaver, what'd you like about it? I can detail my critiques in more detail later if anybody's interested.

Well, I feel like people should see it without knowing anything.  So I guess if you haven't seen it don't read.

So first, for me it was intense from start to end.  Like I was tensed and intrigued the entire time.  I particularly liked the juxtaposition between the high-energy, vivid moments (i.e., everything with Laura in action) and the low-energy, drab, deteriorating world around (and also including Logan and Professor X, who are literally dying in front of our eyes, and also Caliban, who is a very soft, subdued character).  And especially the moment when Wolverine takes the serum and just explodes with energy.  That scene actually got my heart rate to increase..

There was a lot of emotion in the film, and it was done well.  Most superhero movies have done an okay job at keeping the emotion genuine, but this was more like a real drama.  Logan is a man who has experienced and lives with so much (emotional) pain, and on one level I guess the deterioration of his healing factor is a physical embodiment of all that he has done catching up with him.

Also, the girl that played Laura was really incredible.  The other performances were also very good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on March 10, 2017, 08:49:01 am
I suffer from a slightly damaged fusiform gyrus, which basically means I easily confuse faces.
 

I tend to do this in movies too. Unless the filmmakers make an effort to differentiate between characters with interesting clothing or hair choices, it can take me some time to separate the actors.

For example, the actors in Inception that were not Leo or the lady pretty much were interchangeable for me at the beginning. I still don't know who it was in the alley in Rogue One, though a rewatching of that movie may resolve it for me.

But I suppose it helps me get lost when anonymity or confusion is intentional, such as in Dark City or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (though I can so easily pick out Roth and Oldman now that it's hard to believe I could ever get those two confused).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on March 11, 2017, 05:14:42 pm
If you've liked any X-Men movie, you owe it to yourself to watch Logan. Stewart in particular was absolutely great.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on March 12, 2017, 01:13:08 pm
Baby Driver, a new Edgar Wright film, has two trailers out now. Premise is that Baby is the best getaway driver, but he needs to listen to music while doing his job. (meaning every car chase scene will be synced to music). I'd recommend this one (the international one) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2z857RSfhk) which seems more aimed at the director's fans as opposed to the other one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfoWyZvDCEc) which appears to be aimed at people who don't know the director.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on March 30, 2017, 01:33:36 pm
So the trailer for It (2017) came out (can find on imdb page (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1396484/?ref_=nv_sr_1)). I'm pretty exited for it.  I liked the miniseries, but it was made for TV, and not of the highest production with effects and such.  Though it's dated feeling does help the creepiness factor, I think. 

They are breaking it up into two movies (kids and adults), so the first one is the story of the kids, which is updated to take place in the 80's (i.e., the corresponding past of present day).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on March 30, 2017, 02:57:15 pm
They are breaking it up into two movies (kids and adults), so the first one is the story of the kids, which is updated to take place in the 80's (i.e., the corresponding past of present day).

I misunderstood what you said at first. I thought you were saying they were making a kid-friendly version of the movie as well, which was blowing my mind.

I liked how the book (and the miniseries) jumped back and forth between 1957 and 1984. It would feel pretty weird to see all of the kids' stories being told and then the adults'.

And part of that is the way the story was told. King did a pretty good job of revealing just what was necessary. He also essentially introduced the child and the adult at the same time, so you had a strong connection to the two of them. The biggest example of revealing as necessary was working in how the kids defeated Pennywise and keeping that fresh as the adults confronted Pennywise again. It would feel a little odd to me to show Pennywise being defeated and then talk about their adult lives.

But who knows how much of that is based on nostalgia? I liked the storytelling method because that's how I read it. I'm sure the story could be told in a linear fashion. I may still prefer the flashbacks, but I'll hope for the best with this method.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on March 30, 2017, 03:12:47 pm
The miniseries didn't really recreate the intertwining of timelines that were in the book, though.  The first half had the adults, but only introducing them to remember the events of their childhood.  The actual narrative was separated into kids (50's) and adults (80's). 

Unless I'm misremembering.  But I'm pretty sure Part 1 of the 90's tv series ends with them defeating It in the sewers as kids ('This is battery acid, you slime!').  In the book, you experience the climax of both stories at the same time (the sewer part jumps between past and present, so it's like the battles are simultaneous).  I'm not sure you can really recreate that in a movie/series.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on March 30, 2017, 03:28:49 pm
I think you're right that the miniseries didn't conflate the two battles like the book did. It still had flashback moments, even though the introduction of the adult selves were actually rather brief.

I liked how the miniseries showed Eddie's relationship with the pharmacist and then shortly after had adult Eddie visit the drugstore.

But you know, that's what writers are for. I'm sure the screenwriters will take King's material and massage it into a format that better fits the linear model.

Of course, one reason why some movie adaptations of books fail is because the writers couldn't put the book into the right format. I get the feeling that with so much riding on this, they're going to have some accomplished writers.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on April 29, 2017, 01:18:08 pm
I just saw Kimi No Na Wa (aka your name.) in the cinema and that was a really good film. I didn't think it would turn out to be as good as it did because the premise sounded super dubious, and I still think the premise was dubious but the film was so good that there was a point at which I stopped caring. Super powerful scenes and the animation was some of the best ever, topping even Ghibli I think.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on April 30, 2017, 02:11:06 pm
Speaking of animation, I just saw 9. One of the best animated movies I've seen in a long time. Everything from the story to the animation was just great.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 01, 2017, 09:01:39 am
Speaking of animation, I just saw 9. One of the best animated movies I've seen in a long time. Everything from the story to the animation was just great.

I feel like 9 was a vastly underappreciated film. My memory is a bit hazy since I hadn't seen it since it came out, but I remember really enjoying the look and feel of the movie. I need to rewatch that and refresh my memory.

I remember people missing the point of the ending. Since my memory of it is not perfect, I cannot speak of it very well right now, but I recall people griping about the ending. They drew what I felt was the wrong conclusion about the necessity of the ending.

Someone else I know went to see Your Name. Hearing yet another positive review for it has gotten my attention, even though I know nothing about it (sometimes that's the best way to go into a movie). I'll keep the silly premise in mind. I felt the same way about Snowpiercer. The premise of that movie is absurd as shit, but the storytelling and the social dynamic are what really made that movie. I think I can almost respect a movie more if it managed to be good in spite of a ridiculous premise.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on May 05, 2017, 02:49:39 pm
I just saw Kimi No Na Wa (aka your name.) in the cinema and that was a really good film. I didn't think it would turn out to be as good as it did because the premise sounded super dubious, and I still think the premise was dubious but the film was so good that there was a point at which I stopped caring. Super powerful scenes and the animation was some of the best ever, topping even Ghibli I think.

I just saw it again and damn it's good. Like top 5 movie ever good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on May 09, 2017, 01:26:14 pm
I just saw Kimi No Na Wa (aka your name.) in the cinema and that was a really good film. I didn't think it would turn out to be as good as it did because the premise sounded super dubious, and I still think the premise was dubious but the film was so good that there was a point at which I stopped caring. Super powerful scenes and the animation was some of the best ever, topping even Ghibli I think.

I just saw it again and damn it's good. Like top 5 movie ever good.

So, I checked on this one and it's anime. Now, I don't hate the format that is anime but I have yet to see anime I didn't hate. So, if this is typical anime (which is summarizing many, many things) then I doubt I am going to like it. If this is pure awesomeness that just happens to be in an anime format I might give it a try. I will say I found the premise compelling.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on May 09, 2017, 01:30:56 pm
I just saw Kimi No Na Wa (aka your name.) in the cinema and that was a really good film. I didn't think it would turn out to be as good as it did because the premise sounded super dubious, and I still think the premise was dubious but the film was so good that there was a point at which I stopped caring. Super powerful scenes and the animation was some of the best ever, topping even Ghibli I think.

I just saw it again and damn it's good. Like top 5 movie ever good.

So, I checked on this one and it's anime. Now, I don't hate the format that is anime but I have yet to see anime I didn't hate. So, if this is typical anime (which is summarizing many, many things) then I doubt I am going to like it. If this is pure awesomeness that just happens to be in an anime format I might give it a try. I will say I found the premise compelling.

What anime did you see that you hated?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on May 09, 2017, 01:37:10 pm
I just saw Kimi No Na Wa (aka your name.) in the cinema and that was a really good film. I didn't think it would turn out to be as good as it did because the premise sounded super dubious, and I still think the premise was dubious but the film was so good that there was a point at which I stopped caring. Super powerful scenes and the animation was some of the best ever, topping even Ghibli I think.

I just saw it again and damn it's good. Like top 5 movie ever good.

So, I checked on this one and it's anime. Now, I don't hate the format that is anime but I have yet to see anime I didn't hate. So, if this is typical anime (which is summarizing many, many things) then I doubt I am going to like it. If this is pure awesomeness that just happens to be in an anime format I might give it a try. I will say I found the premise compelling.

What anime did you see that you hated?

The only one I recall the name of for certain was Ghost in the Shell. I don't know if DragonBallZ, Pokemon, etc. count but those go at the bottom of the heap of my hatred.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on May 09, 2017, 01:39:25 pm
Naruto, yes, I hated that one. Also Princess Mononoke (sp?).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on May 09, 2017, 01:43:37 pm
You hated Princess Mononoke?

That would lead me to believe that you very likely do in fact have a problem with the medium itself, and might dislike an anime even if you would like a live action movie with the same story.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on May 09, 2017, 01:45:22 pm
I think what I hate most are the fans telling me how much I should love it.

If Perfect Hair Forever counts as anime then I can tell you one that I do like.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on May 09, 2017, 01:46:19 pm
You hated Princess Mononoke?

That would lead me to believe that you very likely do in fact have a problem with the medium itself, and might dislike an anime even if you would like a live action movie with the same story.

The funny part is I am a huge fan of cartoons (which, incidentally, is how I've come into exposure to anime).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on May 09, 2017, 01:48:27 pm
New trailer out for It.  I think it looks very promising.

Also, Bladerunner 2049.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on May 09, 2017, 01:58:17 pm
I like princess Mononoke less than (counting) ... 4 other Ghibli movies I've seen. Still, I think it's hard to dislike it for non-genre related reasons.

I don't find it strange that you like cartoons but not anime. They may be similar from technical perspective level but quite different from a consumer perspective. I'd honestly not waste any more time giving anime chances if I were you.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on May 09, 2017, 02:03:53 pm
I like princess Mononoke less than (counting) ... 4 other Ghibli movies I've seen. Still, I think it's hard to dislike it for non-genre related reasons.

I don't find it strange that you like cartoons but not anime. They may be similar from technical perspective level but quite different from a consumer perspective. I'd honestly not waste any more time giving anime chances if I were you.

It's interesting that you call it a genre as opposed to a format. I don't disagree.

My wife used to claim to hate sci-fi and westerns. And she is hard pressed to like them but from time to time when we are clearly enjoying a movie I like to poke her and whisper, "you know, this is a western/sci-fi". Sometimes, she is shocked to realize the fact because she has written off the genre as inherently bad.

I'd like to not make that mistake and keep my mind open to the idea that an entire genre can contain something that appeals to me.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on May 09, 2017, 02:21:08 pm
@pingpongsam: Well, I think I would dare to recommend it in that case. What's noteworthy is that a lot of the stuff you mentioned is pretty old and targeted towards children or middle schoolers (which is the case for almost all anime that ever got popular in the west, really). Kimi No Na Wa is much more like 2010s late night anime — there is a world of difference between anime in the 90s and anime in the 2010s, and there is another world of difference between late night anime and stuff intended for younger audiences. And then Kimi No Na Wa is just insanely good at that.

I wouldn't really say that anime is a genre though. It just means animation that was made in Japan, which includes stuff like Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt but excludes stuff like RWBY.

As far as Ghibli is concerned, they don't really represent anime at all. No other studio is anything remotely like them.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on May 09, 2017, 03:13:57 pm
As far as Ghibli is concerned, they don't really represent anime at all. No other studio is anything remotely like them.

I completely agree. They are far better than any other studio.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on May 09, 2017, 03:29:26 pm
I completely agree. They are far better than any other studio.

Well, I wouldn't really say that. I certainly think that SHAFT, A-1 Pictures, Kyoto Animation and Silver Link. are better than Ghibli off the top of my head. Also Inu Curry if they count as a studio.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on May 09, 2017, 06:46:07 pm
For what it's worth, I don't have anything against anime per se, yet I don't like Studio Ghibli. I don't particularly dislike them either, but their plots just don't do it for me. I've seen Totoro, Nausicaa, Howl's Moving Castle, and Grave of the Fireflies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on June 01, 2017, 01:46:41 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTYesNj_sBg

Pretty excited for this. Certainly not least because it was shot at the military base that I served at, but the trailer looks promising as well.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on June 05, 2017, 07:37:37 pm
I do agree Ghibli is different than other anime in practically every way. I saw two that I liked (Mononoke & Spirited Away), and two that left me disappointed (Totoro and Kingom of the Cats), so I wouldn't call them better or worse. To me they are to anime what Disney is to western animation: Formally belonging there, but with clear distinctive features of their own. Not that that's limited to Ghibli or Disney - both anime and western animation are very broad. Spirited Away, Dragon Ball and Love Hina have as much in common as Aladdin, Animaniacs and The Smurfs do.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on June 06, 2017, 02:28:32 am
To me they are to anime what Disney is to western animation

I'm not sure whether that's supposed to be an insult to Ghibli or western animation.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on June 06, 2017, 12:18:40 pm
To me they are to anime what Disney is to western animation

I'm not sure whether that's supposed to be an insult to Ghibli or western animation.

I interpreted it as both. It certainly didn't help foster interest in Ghibli.

If by Disney you mean Pixar then it is far less insulting.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on June 06, 2017, 12:38:34 pm
If by Disney you mean Pixar then it is far less insulting.

I'm not sure I agree with this. (And I'm a big fan of Pixar). Yes, Disney has had plenty of problems, and they've had some pretty big dry spells in terms of quality. But they're also the studio that brought us Snow White, Aladdin, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Meet the Robinsons, and Zootopia. They have some pretty important contributions to western animation.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on June 06, 2017, 03:21:19 pm
I really don't like Disney's animation, or Disney films in general.  I find the Studio Ghibli animation much more interesting.  Part of it is probably the factor of it being something different from what I always saw when I was growing up, but I don't think that's all of it.  Studio Ghibli movies, in general, fill me with a kind of wonder.  Disney movies fill me with a sense of.. waiting for it to get over and get on with it.  It's like the journey doesn't provide anything.

I think of Disney as the fast food of animated things.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on June 07, 2017, 05:47:23 pm
My statement was not supposed to be an insult. Ghibli movies always have certain things in common. The animation is the most obvious, but the stories also have a certain air to them. This is very different from what you will observe in other anime. Similarly, Disney feature films at least have a very different feel to them than you will find in some other western animation. Automatically taking this as a judgement of quality goes besides my actual point.

Either way, as we are comparing quality now, apparently: You all are very familiar with the Disney tropes and clichees, and obviously they annoy you. But has it never occured to anyone here that some people who grew up with Ghibli might find its recurring topics, twists and style just as tiring? That for some people, Disney is a fresh and unexpected deviation? Totoro and Kingdom of the cats being implausible non-stories is excused with magic and wonder here, but the all-too-obvious morals and a black-and-white morality kill Disney movies? I don't think it's a fair comparison if you give something bonus points just for it being new to you. Ghibli movies are not perfect. They don't have the same shortcomings as Disney movies, but they do have shortcomings.

That said, I think it's perfectly fair to say "I don't like Disney movies as much because they can never surprise me.". But that's something else.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on June 07, 2017, 07:33:01 pm
Personally I've found a lot of ghilbli movies feel like run on sentences to me. The world of Howl's moving castle is very rich, but all the way through Im still getting shown new characters that are not only important to the plot, but have a history with other characters I already know. I makes it seem like the movie never really knows which story it wants to tell, and doesn't know which sections to cut out and put into another story about the same world. Many people aren't bothered by that, and they feel it's just a detailed world. But I do agree that ghibli movies still have their own pace and style.

I don't like Disney either. But that's not really related to liking ghibli movies or not.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on June 07, 2017, 11:40:53 pm
I think of Disney as the fast food of animated things.

Well, for the most parts, that's a pretty accurate comparison. Both are super easy and convenient, bad for you, bad for your environment and questionable in regards to human rights. I guess the main difference is that fast food is an enjoyable experience.

My statement was not supposed to be an insult. Ghibli movies always have certain things in common. The animation is the most obvious, but the stories also have a certain air to them. This is very different from what you will observe in other anime. Similarly, Disney feature films at least have a very different feel to them than you will find in some other western animation. Automatically taking this as a judgement of quality goes besides my actual point.

I wasn't really trying to represent what you were saying in any way, I just saw and took the opportunity to remind everyone that Disney is cancer.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on June 08, 2017, 09:42:54 am
Case in point: Pixar was great until Disney bought it.

I saw Wonder Woman a couple of days ago. It doesn't deserve all of the praise it is getting, but it's not an entirely bad film either. It had fun moments, although I'm still struggling on whether or not to recommend it?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ThetaSigma12 on June 09, 2017, 12:52:03 pm
I don't like Disney either.
But Episode VII was so good!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on June 09, 2017, 09:36:08 pm
I don't like Disney either.
But Episode VII was so good!

Remove the so and I will agree with you.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: O on June 09, 2017, 11:10:54 pm
For what it's worth, I don't have anything against anime per se, yet I don't like Studio Ghibli. I don't particularly dislike them either, but their plots just don't do it for me. I've seen Totoro, Nausicaa, Howl's Moving Castle, and Grave of the Fireflies.

One of these movies is not like the others


And Kimi No Wa was good but not great IMO. 8.5/10 surface entertainment but doesn't really attempt to make any artistic statement. Definitely fits into the category of Kids movie I guess, which isn't inherently a knock on it.

It didn't help that there were all the glaring similarities to five centimeters per second at the ending..
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on June 10, 2017, 04:40:35 am
And Kimi No Wa was good but not great IMO. 8.5/10 surface entertainment but doesn't really attempt to make any artistic statement.

Does it really have to make an artistic statement though?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: O on June 10, 2017, 05:04:05 am
And Kimi No Wa was good but not great IMO. 8.5/10 surface entertainment but doesn't really attempt to make any artistic statement.

Does it really have to make an artistic statement though?

That's a tough statement. It definitely doesn't need to make an artistic statement, but that's still what I generally reserve my "favorite" designations for. It had a goal and fulfilled it excellently but I don't know if I ever will view it in the same way that I view Grave of the Fireflies.

I'm one of those people that's overly generous with my ratings, mostly on a 5-10 schema. I'd never really give a film like Kiwi No Wa 10/10, 9/10 is where stuff like that's capped for me (I gave Kiwi No Wa 8/10 on my personal scale).

I also only gave Grave of the Fireflies an 8/10 too I guess, because it was a relatively worse film in terms of storytelling but far more evocative in terms of art and in terms of how much I thought about the film after watching it.



Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on June 11, 2017, 12:07:39 am
What did you see in Grave of the Fireflies? I know it's been discussed before in this thread, but I am curious. Among other flaws, I just couldn't get past how unlikeable the main character was.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: O on June 11, 2017, 12:25:10 am
What did you see in Grave of the Fireflies? I know it's been discussed before in this thread, but I am curious. Among other flaws, I just couldn't get past how unlikeable the main character was.
inc. mini essay warning


The main character is somewhat unlikable because he's accurately resembling a kid, which is somewhat accurately based off of the authors own experiences (obviously he survived in real life, but his sister did starve). I don't expect a kid whose mother dies in a fire and whose standard of living suddenly plummets to act like an angel.

Grave of the Fireflies shows WW2 from a perspective that is ignored in other films in many other ways. Saving Private Ryan shows a solitary soldier's U.S. military perspective. Midway kind of shows the war from the Macro sense of the military side. Schindler's List shows the individual suffering of Jews in WW2 but both 1. demonstrates it and contextualizes it as a direct result of a "villian" enemy and 2. is primarily a film about Jews being saved, not about Jews dying.

GotF shows the perspective of the horrific, unavoidable cost of the incidental deaths of war. It's not a film about war heroics, it's not a film about soldiers, and it's not a film about villians or the enemy. It is about the pointlessly unnecessary deaths of a boy, his sister and his mother because from their perspective that is all that is really relevant. The war happened, and the war (mostly) caused this absurd suffering, irrespective of soldiers countries or bigotry.

Even if one accepts some macro-focused "need" for military intervention it's still important to truly accept and consider the perspective, and GotF does that excellently both with the direct, simply story and the well placed metaphorical imagery.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: drsteelhammer on June 11, 2017, 07:12:05 am
What did you see in Grave of the Fireflies? I know it's been discussed before in this thread, but I am curious. Among other flaws, I just couldn't get past how unlikeable the main character was.
inc. mini essay warning


The main character is somewhat unlikable because he's accurately resembling a kid, which is somewhat accurately based off of the authors own experiences (obviously he survived in real life, but his sister did starve). I don't expect a kid whose mother dies in a fire and whose standard of living suddenly plummets to act like an angel.

Grave of the Fireflies shows WW2 from a perspective that is ignored in other films in many other ways. Saving Private Ryan shows a solitary soldier's U.S. military perspective. Midway kind of shows the war from the Macro sense of the military side. Schindler's List shows the individual suffering of Jews in WW2 but both 1. demonstrates it and contextualizes it as a direct result of a "villian" enemy and 2. is primarily a film about Jews being saved, not about Jews dying.

GotF shows the perspective of the horrific, unavoidable cost of the incidental deaths of war. It's not a film about war heroics, it's not a film about soldiers, and it's not a film about villians or the enemy. It is about the pointlessly unnecessary deaths of a boy, his sister and his mother because from their perspective that is all that is really relevant. The war happened, and the war (mostly) caused this absurd suffering, irrespective of soldiers countries or bigotry.

Even if one accepts some macro-focused "need" for military intervention it's still important to truly accept and consider the perspective, and GotF does that excellently both with the direct, simply story and the well placed metaphorical imagery.

Comparing it to Spielberg films is not really fair. Spielberg has nothing interesting to say in his "war" movies at all.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: O on June 11, 2017, 07:46:53 am
What did you see in Grave of the Fireflies? I know it's been discussed before in this thread, but I am curious. Among other flaws, I just couldn't get past how unlikeable the main character was.
inc. mini essay warning


The main character is somewhat unlikable because he's accurately resembling a kid, which is somewhat accurately based off of the authors own experiences (obviously he survived in real life, but his sister did starve). I don't expect a kid whose mother dies in a fire and whose standard of living suddenly plummets to act like an angel.

Grave of the Fireflies shows WW2 from a perspective that is ignored in other films in many other ways. Saving Private Ryan shows a solitary soldier's U.S. military perspective. Midway kind of shows the war from the Macro sense of the military side. Schindler's List shows the individual suffering of Jews in WW2 but both 1. demonstrates it and contextualizes it as a direct result of a "villian" enemy and 2. is primarily a film about Jews being saved, not about Jews dying.

GotF shows the perspective of the horrific, unavoidable cost of the incidental deaths of war. It's not a film about war heroics, it's not a film about soldiers, and it's not a film about villians or the enemy. It is about the pointlessly unnecessary deaths of a boy, his sister and his mother because from their perspective that is all that is really relevant. The war happened, and the war (mostly) caused this absurd suffering, irrespective of soldiers countries or bigotry.

Even if one accepts some macro-focused "need" for military intervention it's still important to truly accept and consider the perspective, and GotF does that excellently both with the direct, simply story and the well placed metaphorical imagery.

Comparing it to Spielberg films is not really fair. Spielberg has nothing interesting to say in his "war" movies at all.

i mean i just went for critically acclaimed ones, i wasn't specifically going for Spielberg. and beyond that I disagree on Schindler's list. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on June 20, 2017, 02:42:23 am
What did you see in Grave of the Fireflies? I know it's been discussed before in this thread, but I am curious. Among other flaws, I just couldn't get past how unlikeable the main character was.
inc. mini essay warning


The main character is somewhat unlikable because he's accurately resembling a kid, which is somewhat accurately based off of the authors own experiences (obviously he survived in real life, but his sister did starve). I don't expect a kid whose mother dies in a fire and whose standard of living suddenly plummets to act like an angel.

Grave of the Fireflies shows WW2 from a perspective that is ignored in other films in many other ways. Saving Private Ryan shows a solitary soldier's U.S. military perspective. Midway kind of shows the war from the Macro sense of the military side. Schindler's List shows the individual suffering of Jews in WW2 but both 1. demonstrates it and contextualizes it as a direct result of a "villian" enemy and 2. is primarily a film about Jews being saved, not about Jews dying.

GotF shows the perspective of the horrific, unavoidable cost of the incidental deaths of war. It's not a film about war heroics, it's not a film about soldiers, and it's not a film about villians or the enemy. It is about the pointlessly unnecessary deaths of a boy, his sister and his mother because from their perspective that is all that is really relevant. The war happened, and the war (mostly) caused this absurd suffering, irrespective of soldiers countries or bigotry.

Even if one accepts some macro-focused "need" for military intervention it's still important to truly accept and consider the perspective, and GotF does that excellently both with the direct, simply story and the well placed metaphorical imagery.

Sorry, somehow missed that you answered the question.

I guess the fact that the story is pseudo-autobiographical changes things a bit, but whether or not the kid's behaviour is realistic does not affect the fact that I simply can't find him relatable. Sure, he is a kid, he doesn't know better, etc., but the movie clearly presents all the bad things that happen to him as a consequence of his poor decisions after his mother's injury/death gives him agency. As far as I remember, all of the other families we are (briefly) shown are not doing great but they are still getting by. So the movie makes a very weak point about the war itself and more on the obvious and inevitable consequences of his lack of wisdom when exposed to adversity. Yes, it's not his fault both his parents die, and his aunt is a bit of a witch and should have felt more responsible about their well-being, but ultimately he is the one severing that connection.

As I mentioned last time, most of my exposure to war movies while growing up were about the Spanish Civil War. Not a single story about the "front" there, just terse, soul-crushing accounts of how, in that situation, sometimes all possible choices for a family ranged somewhere from bad to horrible, and the things fear makes people do to each other. So I guess that set different expectations than growing up watching Private Ryan. I could understand liking the movie in that case.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on June 20, 2017, 04:46:38 am
As I mentioned last time, most of my exposure to war movies while growing up were about the Spanish Civil War.

Any good ones you'd recommend? I haven't seen any on that topic and it could be interesting.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on June 20, 2017, 05:01:43 am
I think we've had this discussion before pac, but yes, the boy is responsible for everything bad that happens. He's, what, 15 ? Maybe a bit older ? In any case, he's rather young, he just lost his mother in a horrific manner and his aunt - while justified in some ways - doesn't handle the situation well at all.

The key point in the film is when he decides not to tell his sister about the mom's death. This is what guides all his actions in the rest of the film: he just lost his innoncence, lost his childhood, and he refuses to let it happen to his sister. Everything he does, he does it to allow his sister to remain in the garden of Eden that is childhood. But of course, that can only exist if responsible adults take care of everything, and he's not able to do that, so he fails.

The film constantly pushes and pull in that way, with moments of bliss and innocence contrasted with both the overall context and where it actually ends. That is the power of the film: it evokes that longing to stay carefree, but the impossibility to do so.

The novel might be about war, but Takahata made a film about the tragic but necessary loss of innocence that comes with adulthood.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on June 20, 2017, 08:26:56 am
I just watched Don't Breathe. Very apt name for the movie.

The gist is that these three kids burgle homes and thought they found the perfect score with a blind shut-in veteran in an abandoned neighborhood. Terrible things happen.

The story was pretty good. I didn't have too much trouble with the performance. I found the douchebag to be extremely unlikable, so he fulfilled the horror movie trope.

There was one shocking revelation that made the audience stop feeling pity for the victim. In one sense it was great because it added a layer of (icky) complexity to this guy you knew very little about, but once they did that, they chose to follow every horror trope out there. I could have done without that.

There were some unanswered questions that could probably be hand-waved away. One question implies that the shut-in must have some pretty close friends. Another one depends on how unobservant or overworked the Detroit police department is.

Enjoyable movie but nothing groundbreaking once you get past the blind man who is scary in close-combat fighting.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: DG on June 20, 2017, 10:58:55 am
As I mentioned last time, most of my exposure to war movies while growing up were about the Spanish Civil War.

Any good ones you'd recommend? I haven't seen any on that topic and it could be interesting.

Pan's Labyrinth is an excellent film from Guillermo Del Torro showing the perils of the Spanish Civil War and the same director also made Devil's Backbone.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on June 20, 2017, 04:51:48 pm
As I mentioned last time, most of my exposure to war movies while growing up were about the Spanish Civil War.

Any good ones you'd recommend? I haven't seen any on that topic and it could be interesting.

Pan's Labyrinth is an excellent film from Guillermo Del Torro showing the perils of the Spanish Civil War and the same director also made Devil's Backbone.

Interesting enough, it's also about a child being incapable of dealing with grim reality.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on June 21, 2017, 12:56:00 am
As I mentioned last time, most of my exposure to war movies while growing up were about the Spanish Civil War.

Any good ones you'd recommend? I haven't seen any on that topic and it could be interesting.

I believe the first one I saw as a kid was La lengua de las mariposas (Butterfly's tongue), and it's one that often comes up on the topic. There's both more and less depressing than that one. If you are into that, I hear that, for a pitch-black story of loss of innocence, Pa Negre (Black bread) is up there, though I haven't watched it (came out right after I left Spain); it is set right after the war, not like it changes much. Uplifting movies that are neither contemporary propaganda nor written by foreigners are rare, though they do exist.

I would be curious to hear what you think if you end up watching either.

Pan's Labyrinth is a... different way of approaching the topic, though it is probably the most internationally well-known movie set during the Spanish Civil War now. Note that Guillermo del Toro is Mexican.

I think we've had this discussion before pac, but yes, the boy is responsible for everything bad that happens. He's, what, 15 ? Maybe a bit older ? In any case, he's rather young, he just lost his mother in a horrific manner and his aunt - while justified in some ways - doesn't handle the situation well at all.

The key point in the film is when he decides not to tell his sister about the mom's death. This is what guides all his actions in the rest of the film: he just lost his innoncence, lost his childhood, and he refuses to let it happen to his sister. Everything he does, he does it to allow his sister to remain in the garden of Eden that is childhood. But of course, that can only exist if responsible adults take care of everything, and he's not able to do that, so he fails.

The film constantly pushes and pull in that way, with moments of bliss and innocence contrasted with both the overall context and where it actually ends. That is the power of the film: it evokes that longing to stay carefree, but the impossibility to do so.

The novel might be about war, but Takahata made a film about the tragic but necessary loss of innocence that comes with adulthood.

Maybe it's a personal failing of mine, maybe you are all kinder than me, maybe I expect too much from young kids. I don't know. I can sympathize with his attempt to shield his sister (his one redeeming quality), but everything else was revealing not just of his youth and condition, but of his poor character. If it's pseudo-autobiographical, I can understand the author being harsher on himself than he should, but that's about it.

Anyway, it's good to have you around again, Teproc :)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on June 21, 2017, 09:16:51 am
I mean, most people aren't smart, so I don't see why this wouldn't be a perfectly realistic version of how things play out, right?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on June 21, 2017, 09:27:46 am
Not saying it's not realistic, just saying I couldn't get engaged with the story due to it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on June 21, 2017, 09:29:33 am
I watched Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 over the weekend.  It was entertainingish, but seemed weaker (writingwise) than others.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on June 25, 2017, 07:05:18 pm
I believe the first one I saw as a kid was La lengua de las mariposas (Butterfly's tongue), and it's one that often comes up on the topic. There's both more and less depressing than that one. If you are into that, I hear that, for a pitch-black story of loss of innocence, Pa Negre (Black bread) is up there, though I haven't watched it (came out right after I left Spain); it is set right after the war, not like it changes much. Uplifting movies that are neither contemporary propaganda nor written by foreigners are rare, though they do exist.

I would be curious to hear what you think if you end up watching either.

I just saw La lengua de las mariposas. It's not exactly what I thought I'd be getting into when I was thinking of war movies about the Spanish Civil War. I mean, I was more interested in the combat and how the war was experienced by the soldiers and everyone else who was directly involved in it, and also a little interested in the political details and stuff, but the film didn't really have combat in it at all and the politics were not really covered in a lot of detail either.

But it was an okay cute film. Wasn't really at all depressing, though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on June 25, 2017, 10:36:09 pm
Ah, well, we were talking about Grave of the Fireflies, so that's what I was comparing it to. Can't think of any movie about the "war" proper, sorry.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on July 08, 2017, 04:43:53 pm
Has anyone seen Okja?  Really brilliant movie.  Don't want to say much about it.. it is by the same guy that did Snowpiercer.  Better to see without knowing much, I think.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on July 08, 2017, 06:49:34 pm
Has anyone seen Okja?  Really brilliant movie.  Don't want to say much about it.. it is by the same guy that did Snowpiercer.  Better to see without knowing much, I think.

Glenn.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on July 08, 2017, 06:58:42 pm
Best movie I've seen this year (out of 47 movies that I saw for the first time this year): Prisoners. Yes, I often only get around to seeing things a few years later. But it was amazing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on July 10, 2017, 07:08:03 pm
Baby Driver is pretty good. Not Edgar Wright's best movie, but it's fun, and well put together.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on July 11, 2017, 09:07:34 pm
Kizumonogatari is fucking amazing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on July 12, 2017, 12:14:08 pm
Kizumonogatari is fucking amazing.

Well the wikipedia page on it sure is a big ole wtf.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on July 12, 2017, 01:38:31 pm
Kizumonogatari is fucking amazing.

Well the wikipedia page on it sure is a big ole wtf.

The Wikipedia page for Kizumonogatari does a really poor job at describing it because it just basically tells you the plot and the plot, at face value, is pretty much irrelevant. Basically it's an outstanding adaptation of an avant-garde novel centered around suicide symbolism, character interactions, word play, metahumor and fan service.

Actually the Wikipedia article is even slightly wrong in that Kizumonogatari doesn't exactly translate to "Wound Story" but rather, it's a portmanteau of kizumono (damaged goods) and monogatari (story).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ThetaSigma12 on July 14, 2017, 11:32:30 am
Just saw Spiderman Homecoming. Good stuff.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on July 17, 2017, 09:51:58 am
Saw The Big Sick last night.  Highly recommend it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on July 17, 2017, 03:07:05 pm
It's been a long ass time since I last saw the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I just rewatched it with my niece recently and it was a surprisingly disappointing experience to be honest. I remembered them being super awesome movies, but while they have many super awesome aspects to them, there's a lot of stuff that just sticks out as really awkward and embarrassing. The complete lack of moral ambiguity gets also a little irritating in the long run; Sauron is just basically pure evil and then there are the guys who are on Sauron's side, and then there's everyone else who can be varying degrees of stupid and/or corrupted by Sauron but other than that they're all perfectly good.

I actually think that The Hobbit movies, which I've seen recently due to the fact that they were released pretty recently, are significantly better and much easier to take seriously, speaking as someone who's not the biggest fan of high fantasy but doesn't hate it either.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on July 17, 2017, 03:16:19 pm
This is such an Awaclus thing to say. There is A and there is B which is markedly worse but for some reason you come out in favor of B over A. If it was anyone else I'd suspect trying to provoke reactions (in your case I have no doubt it's genuine).

I've rewatched LotR fairly recently and thought they were great (though I do agree about them being morally simplistic). Or rather, I thought #1 and #3 were great and #2 pretty good. Hobbit movies are 100% soulless action, not worth watching.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on July 17, 2017, 03:50:29 pm
Hobbit movies are 100% soulless action, not worth watching.

What do you mean? They're amazing. I guess the theatrical editions are a bit too rushed here and there, but I only have a couple of very minor complaints about the extended editions. They look great and feel great, the speculah was a ton of fun and the movies never disappointed in that regard.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on July 18, 2017, 05:07:47 am
Tip of the iceberg: there is a bridge currently in the process of collapsing, and legolas jumps ON THE PIECES as they break away and makes it back to safety.

I think the movies have lost any claim to be taken seriously.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on July 18, 2017, 05:40:01 am
Tip of the iceberg: there is a bridge currently in the process of collapsing, and legolas jumps ON THE PIECES as they break away and makes it back to safety.

I think the movies have lost any claim to be taken seriously.

Haven't seen The Hobbit movies, but the LOTR movies do feature Legolas surfing on oliphants, so...
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on July 18, 2017, 07:33:29 am
Tip of the iceberg: there is a bridge currently in the process of collapsing, and legolas jumps ON THE PIECES as they break away and makes it back to safety.

I think the movies have lost any claim to be taken seriously.

Legolas is clearly depicted as being able to pull off impossible things due to him being an elf (and not just any elf but himself specifically) throughout both trilogies and that's just another example of that. If you are fine with Gandalf catching up with his sword when he was falling during the balrog fight, there's no reason why you shouldn't be fine with that scene from The Hobbit as well since in both cases it's a character with magic powers doing physically implausible stuff.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on July 18, 2017, 10:45:10 am
Tip of the iceberg: there is a bridge currently in the process of collapsing, and legolas jumps ON THE PIECES as they break away and makes it back to safety.

I think the movies have lost any claim to be taken seriously.

I think if this is the kind of argument you want to make against a specific movie, you should just say "there is Legolas" and stop.  His existence just as ludicrous as jumping on broken pieces of a bridge.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on July 18, 2017, 11:13:29 am
Tip of the iceberg: there is a bridge currently in the process of collapsing, and legolas jumps ON THE PIECES as they break away and makes it back to safety.

I think the movies have lost any claim to be taken seriously.

Haven't seen The Hobbit movies, but the LOTR movies do feature Legolas surfing on oliphants, so...

While that was stretching it, I think there is still about one order of magnitude difference in believability.

Oliphants are at least fairly big, this scene afaik took a bit of time and Legolas does have slightly superhuman agility.

Do you think the movies are similar in quality?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on July 18, 2017, 12:14:51 pm
Tip of the iceberg: there is a bridge currently in the process of collapsing, and legolas jumps ON THE PIECES as they break away and makes it back to safety.

I think the movies have lost any claim to be taken seriously.

Haven't seen The Hobbit movies, but the LOTR movies do feature Legolas surfing on oliphants, so...

While that was stretching it, I think there is still about one order of magnitude difference in believability.

Oliphants are at least fairly big, this scene afaik took a bit of time and Legolas does have slightly superhuman agility.

Do you think the movies are similar in quality?

Legolas doesn't have "slightly superhuman agility", he has magic powers. He doesn't see the uruk-hai taking the hobbits to Isengard because his physical eyesight is that good, he does because magic.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on July 28, 2017, 11:22:37 am
Dunkirk - Intense is the best way to describe it. One of those movies that actually is stressful to watch. In a way that shows how well the film was made. The most visual and action oriented storytelling movie I've seen; outside of maybe Fury Road. Not the kind of movie I look forward to seeing again soon; but the kind I'm really glad I saw in theaters.

I saw it in 70mm, but not IMAX.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Jorbles on July 29, 2017, 09:07:20 pm
Saw The Big Sick last night.  Highly recommend it.

Just saw it last night. I really liked it. It was a great combination of funny and heartfelt. My silly description of it is it's like if While You Were Sleeping made more sense and starred a Pakistani standup comic who was under a lot of family pressure.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 02, 2017, 06:02:40 pm
I have recently seen 5 Centimeters per Second and The Garden of Words (both from your name.'s director, Makoto Shinkai). The former was okay, but it really didn't live up to my expectations at all. The latter very much did, and with a very convenient run time of 46 minutes I bet I'll be rewatching it a ton.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ashersky on August 03, 2017, 08:26:59 am
I have recently seen 5 Centimeters per Second and The Garden of Words (both from your name.'s director, Makoto Shinkai). The former was okay, but it really didn't live up to my expectations at all. The latter very much did, and with a very convenient run time of 46 minutes I bet I'll be rewatching it a ton.

Garden of Words is on Netflix, right?  I have that on my list.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 03, 2017, 08:51:37 am
I have recently seen 5 Centimeters per Second and The Garden of Words (both from your name.'s director, Makoto Shinkai). The former was okay, but it really didn't live up to my expectations at all. The latter very much did, and with a very convenient run time of 46 minutes I bet I'll be rewatching it a ton.

Garden of Words is on Netflix, right?  I have that on my list.

Seems so.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on August 17, 2017, 09:41:45 am
I managed to go see Baby Driver. I had no interest in the movie at first. It looked like your typical heist film involving fast cars and stunt driving. Well, first off, I wouldn't call it a heist movie. The heists themselves were not very interesting, and in fact, the heists were barely shown. The director took great pains to gloss over the actual heist and focus more on the aftereffects. In one scene, the crew were hitting an armored truck. Baby (the titular character) pulls forward in the car so the armored truck is no longer in frame. A moment later, Baby backs up, and you see the criminals running back to the car with one of the guards killed. This was a sticking point for Baby, as he did not prefer violence.

Nothing in this movie is unpredictable. In fact, before we decided to see it, my wife narrated the film based on the trailers only. She was pretty accurate. But the movie is good to watch. The director put a lot of love into it. You can see it in each purposeful shot. In the laundromat, the wall was full of front-loaded washers where each washer contained only one color. You had this patchwork grid behind the characters. In another shot, the camera was at the base of a building looking up. A double yellow stripe running along the building made it look like a road.

The director blended music well into the movie. A friend of mine told us as we were going in to watch the music. It didn't make sense at the time, but it became obvious during the movie. Many scenes were set to the music. Even how Baby arranges four coffee cups in a carrier was done to a beat.

You'll see nothing new in the story of Baby Driver, but I think it's worth a viewing to appreciate the direction's love of cinema.


I also finally watched the Simpsons movie. First off, I can't believe it came out 10 years ago, but that's really a me issue. I found it rather lackluster. The production quality was nice. It had a polished feel compared to the weekly episodes, but that's not why I was watching it. The humor didn't really grab me. Honestly I can't think of a scene that made me laugh. I think I chuckled a bit at the penis scene because of how absurd and sudden it was.

But the movie's quality didn't really surprise me. Recent seasons have been mediocre. Some of those episodes do give me a laugh, which is why the movie was overall disappointing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on August 17, 2017, 12:38:03 pm
The only thing wrong with Baby Drive is that Tarantino didn't direct it. You are correct that it is film for film's sake.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on August 19, 2017, 01:09:05 pm
I just watched both The Silence Of The Lambs and Hannibal a couple of days back. They are vastly different films. The Silence Of The Lambs is not as good a movie as people hype it up to be, but it is a solid flick that's interesting because of its character studies more than the plot. It had a nice simplistic premise to it, and a nice contrast to where Hannibal (the incredibly sick man) treats the main character like a human being while everyone else simply sexualizes her. Overall a good film.

Hannibal is a weirder film that is very slow paced and methodical, and it has a distinct European feel to it. I really enjoyed the first half of the film, when it was slow paced and very artistic. Parts of it were a bit silly, and I had major problems with the writing of Hannibal in that film. He seemed... Not himself. He was much less analytical, and he put Claire through a bunch of shit at the end that I think he wouldn't have actually done. He has respect for Claire, he treated her like an equal. I really don't think he'd kiss her or do weird shit like he did at the end. Anyways, the second half of the film was horrifying and weird and I think ultimately ruined the film for me.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: jonts26 on August 19, 2017, 04:58:59 pm
The only thing wrong with Baby Drive is that Tarantino didn't direct it. You are correct that it is film for film's sake.

Don't you dare disparage Edgar Wright.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 19, 2017, 07:26:00 pm
I recently saw The Seven Samurai, which was honestly pretty mediocre. I get that it must have been quite groundbreaking for its time, but by modern standards it's really just barely meeting those standards. Like if I go read an overwhelmingly positive review of the movie (which is apparently a lot of them), the reviewer is praising the film for things that you can take for granted when you go see a movie today. I'm not saying that it completely sucked or anything, I just found it to be a very underwhelming experience for the hype.

I also recently saw Interstellar, which I was also disappointed by but not nearly as much. It had some very excellent sci-fi moments during the first half (maybe first 2/3?) of the movie, and then it went totally crazy and I didn't appreciate the total lack of explanation for how that science was supposed to work, and the happy ending felt kind of forced and didn't work so well for this film. But it also had nice music.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on August 19, 2017, 09:56:30 pm
I didn't appreciate the total lack of explanation for how that science was supposed to work

That's because such an explanation doesn't exist. He would have died. Even assuming he doesn't, what happens afterwards makes zero sense from a scientific point of view. It works better if you think of it as an homage to 2001, maybe?



Unrelated, but I only saw Spiderman: Homecoming recently. I liked it! I liked what they did to the characters, especially how they reimagined the bad guys. The vulture was a menacing, no-nonsense villain, that worked well to raise the stakes for Peter Parker while staying grounded and local (I was only slightly taken aback by how cavalier he is about Shocker #1 death). Also, that scene before the Homecoming party was great. Main gripes are:
- why is Shocker #2 at the party? Vulture didn't know about Peter Parker before the ride, nor could he have called him afterwards, since Peter darts out pretty much instantly
- Tony's Stark position about what is and what isn't acceptable for Peter to do seems completely random and shifts depending on which act of the movie we're in.
- Peter Parker is basically immune to death from great heights. It's fairly ridiculous.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 21, 2017, 12:34:20 pm
I saw Dunkirk in the theaters today. Was pretty good, I don't really have any complaints about it, I guess it didn't exactly resonate within me as much as it could have but it was definitely entertaining enough.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Qvist on August 21, 2017, 08:19:35 pm
Oh yeah, regarding Dunkirk, I think I have seen pretty much every Nolan movie he made, but I'm not really interesting in war movies in general. So I wonder (without spoiling anything of course), does it have something special what makes it worth watching anyway? Or is it just a generic well made war movie?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Dsell on August 22, 2017, 01:25:51 am
Oh yeah, regarding Dunkirk, I think I have seen pretty much every Nolan movie he made, but I'm not really interesting in war movies in general. So I wonder (without spoiling anything of course), does it have something special what makes it worth watching anyway? Or is it just a generic well made war movie?

In my opinion it had about a half scoop of the Nolan special sauce. I would not say it's just like any old war movie, but it doesn't stand out as mind-bending or genre-bending either. I think it's worth seeing because it it very good, but don't expect it to be your favorite Nolan film.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on August 22, 2017, 05:38:47 am
Oh yeah, regarding Dunkirk, I think I have seen pretty much every Nolan movie he made, but I'm not really interesting in war movies in general. So I wonder (without spoiling anything of course), does it have something special what makes it worth watching anyway? Or is it just a generic well made war movie?

In my opinion it had about a half scoop of the Nolan special sauce. I would not say it's just like any old war movie, but it doesn't stand out as mind-bending or genre-bending either. I think it's worth seeing because it it very good, but don't expect it to be your favorite Nolan film.

Yeah, that's pretty much how I feel about it too. I'm also interested in war movies in general and it's not my favorite war movie either.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on August 22, 2017, 08:45:56 am
Oh, it is from Nolan? I'm a big fan of his discography, although I think every movie since The Prestige has been weaker than the one before. Sorta disappointed he made a war movie next, though I haven't seen it yet so I shouldn't judge.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on August 22, 2017, 10:50:46 am
Oh, it is from Nolan? I'm a big fan of his discography, although I think every movie since The Prestige has been weaker than the one before. Sorta disappointed he made a war movie next, though I haven't seen it yet so I shouldn't judge.

As a huge Nolan fan, I can definitely say that Dunkirk was very different than his other works. Primarily in that most Nolan movies are very heavy on dialog; not so much expositional dialog, but dialog dealing with the weight of the situations. Dunkirk has very few lines; it is pretty much pure visual storytelling (sound plays a huge role as well, but not dialog).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Darth Vader on September 09, 2017, 08:37:13 pm
So Star Wars Episode 8. The Last Jedi. Kyle Ren or whatever my grandsons name is is better not mess it up. It's only one Jedi. That should be easy.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Qvist on September 09, 2017, 09:33:23 pm
In Germany, the "last" in the title is plural, sounds like bad news for you.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Darth Vader on September 09, 2017, 10:59:23 pm
In Germany, the "last" in the title is plural, sounds like bad news for you.

Uh oh.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on September 10, 2017, 09:08:40 am
it's not like you care at all... with you being dead  :P
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on September 10, 2017, 03:58:41 pm
For the past week I was wondering just how can they cram Stephen King's It into a 2-hour movie. The answer is that they cannot. I was unaware that this is only Chapter 1. That does make sense, and I'm not mad, bro.

The film was very competent. There were some pretty good shots, and the actors all seemed to do pretty well. As to be expected, some scenes did not make it into the movie, and I missed them terribly, but a newcomer likely wouldn't notice.

So far the gripes I have about it are few. Due to the setting change, Richie's fear was also changed. I understand why they abandoned the Wolfman, but they could have chosen a better target. Also, the lone "beep-beep" line was really out of place since they changed that up too. And finally, the resolution was more physical than spiritual. Leaving this vague for anyone not familiar with the story, but let me just say that the battery acid will be missed.

But pretty good movie. Will watch Chapter 2.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: 2.71828..... on September 10, 2017, 04:14:44 pm
For the past week I was wondering just how can they cram Stephen King's It into a 2-hour movie. The answer is that they cannot. I was unaware that this is only Chapter 1. That does make sense, and I'm not mad, bro.

The film was very competent. There were some pretty good shots, and the actors all seemed to do pretty well. As to be expected, some scenes did not make it into the movie, and I missed them terribly, but a newcomer likely wouldn't notice.

So far the gripes I have about it are few. Due to the setting change, Richie's fear was also changed. I understand why they abandoned the Wolfman, but they could have chosen a better target. Also, the lone "beep-beep" line was really out of place since they changed that up too. And finally, the resolution was more physical than spiritual. Leaving this vague for anyone not familiar with the story, but let me just say that the battery acid will be missed.

But pretty good movie. Will watch Chapter 2.

As someone who has not seen/read other versions of the story, I thought the movie was very well done. Maybe it was the atmosphere...there was an overwhelming majority of 14-18 year-olds in a packed theater. When the jump-out-at-you scary parts happened we had our fair share of shouts, etc. But I could definitely tell that this was a well crafted story based on a good book. It wasn't too funny, too horror, too serious, but a well balanced story that touched on several emotions throughout the story. I had no expectations of really enjoying it going in, but I was pleasantly surprised by it and enjoyed the movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on September 10, 2017, 09:23:50 pm
That answers my question, e. I was wondering how it holds up to people who didn't know the story. As someone who read the book, I was able to fill in the gaps of the movie with knowledge of the book (for example, Eddie was told about his situation by the adult himself and not his daughter, though I guess it provides another vehicle for Greta to be a bitch). So obviously I couldn't view the movie with a clean slate. It's good to hear that someone unfamiliar with the story was able to appreciate it. It felt rushed to me, but of course it would.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on September 10, 2017, 11:47:47 pm
In an attempt to procrastinate my thesis, I recently saw a bunch of movies:

28 days later. Enjoyable, although some of the effects made me cringe (smoke over a city didn't move in sync with camera). I like if this kind of movie stays slightly scary throughout its run without ever getting tedious or too much for me to handle, and this movie hit the sweet spot.

Zombieland. Enjoyable. A bit too silly for my liking, and with one or two rather absurd plot holes imo. But it's not a Shakespearean drama, I think.

Alien. Also enjoyable. I was actually pretty scared at parts even though I knew almost everything (like, the same way everybody knows Darth Vader is Luke's father without having seen any Star Wars movie). Also I learned the artist who did the Alien design was a Swiss surrealist.

The mist. I wish I hadn't known how this one ends before. Pro tip: Don't take your horror movie suggestions from Youtube, where they'll spoil everything.

The thing. Also enjoyable. Not necessarily something I would watch again, but I think seeing it at least once can be recommended.

Smurfs - the lost village. Surprisingly good. I always hated the look of the life-action/cgi Smurf movies, but this one hits right into the nostalgia. Also, Smurfette is actually a relatable character in this one, which was the movie's greatest achievement.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on September 11, 2017, 03:29:01 pm
I recently looked into the mist and found it pretty awful... like, they go to this other store to get supplies or whatever and stick around a minute longer for absolutely no reason except to satisfy their curiosity and then someone gets killed. I remember being impressed the first time, though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on September 11, 2017, 07:07:50 pm
I recently looked into the mist and found it pretty awful... like, they go to this other store to get supplies or whatever and stick around a minute longer for absolutely no reason except to satisfy their curiosity and then someone gets killed. I remember being impressed the first time, though.

Admittedly, parts of the movie didn't make that much sense to me, either. I assumed I had just missed something because I had the movie running in the background while preparing graphs for my thesis, so I shrugged it off.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on September 23, 2017, 04:16:31 pm
So I watched the new It today; I was very impressed.  The kids were all pretty much spot on, and it stayed fairly close in-line with the book's 1957/1958 events. , modulo some of the more 'spiritual' (or whathaveyou) parts from the book).  The things that were changed/updated mostly seemed good (though, I'm disappointed we did not get This is battery acid, you slime!).

The sound balancing seemed really odd in the beginning; like all the music and effects were overly loud.  I didn't notice it later on, though, so maybe I got used to it or it was just an aberration.

Looking forward to the second part.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on September 23, 2017, 04:34:31 pm
One thing I think this movie did well is carry over the idea of It as a metaphor for systemic evil in real-world societies.  People are generally complacent with terrible things happening as long as they're done behind closed doors.  The movie didn't really spell it out, but they kept enough relevant scenes and content from the book for that to come through.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on October 09, 2017, 06:47:41 pm
In prep for the new Blade Runner, I rewatched the old one. And well, the visuals hold up well. The rest of it? Not really. The plot very thin, Decker hardly has any character, and the theme of him feeling empathy for the replicants is undermined by the fact that after having sex with one, he then goes and murders a bunch of other replicants without a second thought.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: DG on October 09, 2017, 09:14:45 pm
In prep for the new Blade Runner, I rewatched the old one. And well, the visuals hold up well. The rest of it? Not really. The plot very thin, Decker hardly has any character, and the theme of him feeling empathy for the replicants is undermined by the fact that after having sex with one, he then goes and murders a bunch of other replicants without a second thought.

I think you missed an important point here. There is no big reveal in the movie but there are clues to Decker also being a replicant. This changes the perspective of everything. This sci-fi theme has been explored elsewhere so perhaps it isn't as novel as it used to be but few movies explore the sci-fi so artfully.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Beyond Awesome on October 09, 2017, 10:10:06 pm
Have you guys seen the new Star Wars trailer.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: O on October 09, 2017, 11:03:53 pm
In prep for the new Blade Runner, I rewatched the old one. And well, the visuals hold up well. The rest of it? Not really. The plot very thin, Decker hardly has any character, and the theme of him feeling empathy for the replicants is undermined by the fact that after having sex with one, he then goes and murders a bunch of other replicants without a second thought.

I think you missed an important point here. There is no big reveal in the movie but there are clues to Decker also being a replicant. This changes the perspective of everything. This sci-fi theme has been explored elsewhere so perhaps it isn't as novel as it used to be but few movies explore the sci-fi so artfully.

The new movie expands on the themes, visuals and music in awesome ways (10/10). The plot is still a secondary consideration (6/10) and outside of the main character / maaaybbeee his love interest / Decker there's not particularly strong characters (5/10).

I would strongly recommend BR 2049 for any Scifi/cyberpunk fans though and would argue that KingZog3 suffered a bit from Seinfeld Is Unfunny (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeinfeldIsUnfunny) and that's a bit less likely to be true for the new sequel.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: 2.71828..... on October 09, 2017, 11:37:50 pm
Have you guys seen the new Star Wars trailer.

Yes
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: 2.71828..... on October 09, 2017, 11:39:02 pm
Have you guys seen the new Star Wars trailer.

Yes

I am really looking forward to episode 8
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on October 10, 2017, 12:01:13 am
About Blade Runner: agree the visuals were impressive, the plot was a bit subpar, the music was good but could have used less blaring horns.

I also liked the police chief.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on October 10, 2017, 05:51:40 am
Have you guys seen the new Star Wars trailer.

No.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on October 10, 2017, 07:11:26 am
Have you guys seen the new Star Wars trailer.

It still puzzles me why anyone watches trailers of films they already know they're going to see, so no.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on October 10, 2017, 07:14:10 am
Anything that suffers from SeinfeldIsUnfunny wasn't that great in the first place. Many great works have transcended their time period you know. The original Blade Runner is a great achievment in design and mood, in the service of a poor story with a checked-out actor playing an uninteresting actor, which is all the more evident when a much more interesting character comes in and gives a great monologue about how you'd have had a much better time watching the movie about him.

To mitigate the above; art is subjective in nature so I'm not saying Blade Runner is "dated" or anything silly like that, but I personally was very underwhelmed by it. Looking forward to 2049 though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: O on October 10, 2017, 07:28:14 am
Many great works have transcended their time period you know.

It's not a time period thing, it's a genre-defining thing. Blade runner helped define cyberpunk, and almost all cyberpunk in the 90s can be said to be influenced by it.

I can't really name anything from the 80s that held up better than Blade Runner... Neuromancer I guess? i personally was nonplussed by it. Akira if we're counting Japanese media (which we probably should, as it's cyberpunk)... but even then I feel like Akira is outclassed by the 90s contributions.

Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on October 10, 2017, 07:38:36 am
The Lord of the Rings was genre-defining and it's still a great read. To me, that Blade Runner was influential is interesting and a testimony to its place in the history of cinema/art in general, but completely irrelevant as far as it concerns what it is now, and I'd say what is is now is a very flawed film with great design.

I do like Akira more, FWIW. It actually has characters I can care about as well as visual style.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: O on October 10, 2017, 09:08:45 am
Funny thing about bringing up Lord of the Rings... Tolkein was the one to argue that Beowulf should be considered "a good piece" and forced it into the English canon for being the first literary work of it's kind, valuing works for their contributions at their time of creation over their current enjoyment. And god does Beowulf suck to read.

The only problem with what you're saying is "wasn't that great to begin with". It was great. Then people built more upon it and it's become somewhat outdated. Maybe it's not great now. It doesn't retroactively erase the innovation or the feeling of the moment.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on October 10, 2017, 09:31:04 am
Right, well the way I see it is that there are two ways to approach a work of art

a) Historically, where one considers the context it was made in and the influence it had. This actually has little to do with the work itself, it's just about how it was perceived and what it meants to people at the time.
b) Artistically, where one considers it for itself, independent of its context.

Blade Runner is undoubtely major in the first approach, but I'd argue it's minor in the second approach. I don't doubt many people watching Blade Runner still find it great though, so that's just me. My "wasn't that great to begin with" was a bit of a flippant generalization to the Seinfeld thing, because I think it's not super productive to say "well, you should find it good because they did it first"... I mean by that metric, the Lumière shorts are the greatest movies of all time, they invented the whole thing !
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: DG on October 10, 2017, 10:25:26 am
I saw a list of 'best sci-fi movies of the 21st century' recently and few of them explore their sci-fi concept as well as Blade Runner. I'm looking at Donnie Darko, Inception (for novelty rather than clarity), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Those are all great films. Blade Runner was never a blockbuster. It was intelligent sci-fi that made itself into a cult film.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ThetaSigma12 on October 13, 2017, 02:44:22 pm
Just finished episode 2 of Ken Burns' The Vietnam War. Wow is it a good documentary, looking forward to episode 3. I doubt I'll make it through the whole thing though.

EDIT: Wait, would this actually count as a TV show?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: tripwire on October 14, 2017, 01:23:27 pm
Right, well the way I see it is that there are two ways to approach a work of art

a) Historically, where one considers the context it was made in and the influence it had. This actually has little to do with the work itself, it's just about how it was perceived and what it meants to people at the time.
b) Artistically, where one considers it for itself, independent of its context.


As someone who studies literature, I  feel like I need to jump in and point out that these can't be so easily separated. Often, one needs to have an understanding of a work's context in order to understand or appreciate it "artistically".  Furthermore, I'd argue that your "historical" approach most often requires "artistic" evaluation and analysis. And finally, what is "artistically" valued changes over time, so it is inherently context-dependent.

Now, to be less pedantic:

The original Blade Runner is a great achievment in design and mood, in the service of a poor story with a checked-out actor playing an uninteresting actor, which is all the more evident when a much more interesting character comes in and gives a great monologue about how you'd have had a much better time watching the movie about him.

I love how your criticism here is one of my favorite things about the movie. The movie ends with the realization that we've been following and caring about the wrong characters, which I find to be a powerful moment that recolors the entire film on subsequent viewings (and enables the "Deckard is the villain" interpretation (http://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/theres-something-about-blade-runner) that I find really interesting).

I really really enjoyed 2049, and think it can be considered a better movie in a lot of ways, but one thing I felt like it was missing was this kind of unsettling ambiguity.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Teproc on October 14, 2017, 04:01:27 pm
I don't disagree that the things that are valued in a work of art evolve over time. They also evolve over... space ? What I mean is that I don't believe in the objective value of art (well, art in general maybe, but I don't believe any individual work of art is intrisically good or bad). The distinction I'm putting forward is there, between the purely subjective (what one's individual reaction to an individual work of art is at a given time) and the (pseudo-)objective, which includes the context in which it was made and the context in which it was and is received by the public at large.

Think of it this way: when I watch something like Citizen Kane, I can appreciate it for its historical value, in particular in terms of what its influence was, but that has no bearing on my appreciation of it as a work of art I'm interacting with. That is, if someone tells you "I don't like Citizen Kane because X and Y", responding "but it's important and it invented such and such" is completely missing the point. It's also interesting and also relevant and worth dicsussing, but these are two different discussions.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: KingZog3 on October 14, 2017, 06:22:05 pm
I do have one more point on Blade Runner that wasn't discussed, and that's the "romance" scene, which is basically sexual assault. I think that's important to note, as it seems glossed over by many fans. It doesn't take away from the historical relevance, nor do I think the new one (which I do intend to see when I have the time) is going to have it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on October 14, 2017, 10:51:43 pm
New Project: I watch all of the old Tim Burton Batman movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 15, 2017, 11:05:51 am
New Project: I watch all of the old Tim Burton Batman movies.

That's only 4 hours. Sounds more like a task than a project.

I know people crapped on Danny DeVito's portrayal of the Penguin, but at least it was a way to humanize him. Prior to that, we had the Batman TV series with a caricature. But then the movie had rocket penguins at the end, so the caricature did come back.

It was a different time then.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 15, 2017, 11:07:22 am
I do have one more point on Blade Runner that wasn't discussed, and that's the "romance" scene, which is basically sexual assault. I think that's important to note, as it seems glossed over by many fans. It doesn't take away from the historical relevance, nor do I think the new one (which I do intend to see when I have the time) is going to have it.

I remind people of this at times. It sadly fits with the noir setting. It's still awful. Fortunately, I received confirmation that the sequel is far less rapey than the original, so I'm glad to hear that.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on October 16, 2017, 10:26:57 am
New Project: I watch all of the old Tim Burton Batman movies.

I'll admit that even with Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker being more "realistic" and "dark", I still found him less threatening than Jack Nicholson. At least he seemed honest in his attitude. I never bought the humor from Nicholson, which made him much creepier in my opinion.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 16, 2017, 10:29:22 am
New Project: I watch all of the old Tim Burton Batman movies.

I'll admit that even with Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker being more "realistic" and "dark", I still found him less threatening than Jack Nicholson. At least he seemed honest in his attitude. I never bought the humor from Nicholson, which made him much creepier in my opinion.

Huh, I think a similar effect can be seen with Tim Curry's Pennywise vs. Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on October 16, 2017, 10:41:36 am
I guess the difference is also whether you "believe" Nicholson's Joker or not. Otherwise he just seems campy.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on October 16, 2017, 02:42:50 pm
New Project: I watch all of the old Tim Burton Batman movies.

I'll admit that even with Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker being more "realistic" and "dark", I still found him less threatening than Jack Nicholson. At least he seemed honest in his attitude. I never bought the humor from Nicholson, which made him much creepier in my opinion.

Huh, I think a similar effect can be seen with Tim Curry's Pennywise vs. Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise.

In what direction would you apply that? Because I felt Tim Curry was more threatening. To me it had a lot to do with the color scheme, though. The new one looked so much like "this is a scary movie" with his pale colours that I felt "Yeah, this is not real, I'm not scared.". Tim Curry's red hair and colorful costume made him seem much more like a living person, in clown attire, which I felt amplified the effect. I was actually going to write about this here, but my phone ate the post.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Asper on October 16, 2017, 02:51:16 pm
I guess the difference is also whether you "believe" Nicholson's Joker or not. Otherwise he just seems campy.

I actually think that's part of it. I don't buy Nicholson being the Joker, and as a result the character he's playing makes no sense to me. Heath Ledger's joker made sense however, which meant he was more, uh, relatable to me, I guess?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on October 16, 2017, 03:01:50 pm
New Project: I watch all of the old Tim Burton Batman movies.

I'll admit that even with Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker being more "realistic" and "dark", I still found him less threatening than Jack Nicholson. At least he seemed honest in his attitude. I never bought the humor from Nicholson, which made him much creepier in my opinion.

Huh, I think a similar effect can be seen with Tim Curry's Pennywise vs. Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise.

In what direction would you apply that? Because I felt Tim Curry was more threatening. To me it had a lot to do with the color scheme, though. The new one looked so much like "this is a scary movie" with his pale colours that I felt "Yeah, this is not real, I'm not scared.". Tim Curry's red hair and colorful costume made him seem much more like a living person, in clown attire, which I felt amplified the effect. I was actually going to write about this here, but my phone ate the post.

Well I think Curry and Nicholson were similar, and Ledger and Skarsgard were similar.

Tim Curry felt more threatening in a way that his appearance was more 'normal', but wrong enough to give a very disturbing feel. He also at times was overly clowny, in the same manner that real clowns are.  He was more like a psychopath.. he could fit in the normal world (inasmuch as clowns are normal), but secretly he ate children.

Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise always seemed like a monster and never a person. I think Ledger's Joker was similar. Though I agree that in some ways Ledger was more realistic, he didn't seem like someone who, if you came across on the street (without makeup and scars), you would feel comfortable around. Nicholson, though, seemed more like the kind of psychopath you may expect to see in politics or running a company. All smiles, articulate, educated , but under the surface absolutely insane. So if you were to meet him, you might at first think he's a regular outgoing person.

I don't think any one is better than the other in either case; they both have different effects.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on October 16, 2017, 04:39:03 pm
I think I'm in the majority of thinking that Ledger's joker was way more creepy and dark and scary and believable.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: enfynet on October 20, 2017, 02:58:12 pm
(https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/22279912_10214383433684430_693042252300533961_n.jpg?oh=1e6a5856a1ee4e8f84f4c4f9229010b7&oe=5A74C629)

A little thing I'm doing for fans up in NEOhio. Sundays at 9pm.
10/22 The Phantom Menace
10/29 Attack of the Clones
11/05 Revenge of the Sith
11/12 Rogue One
11/19 A New Hope
11/26 The Empire Strikes Back
12/03 Return of the Jedi
12/10 The Force Awakens
12/17 The Last Jedi

+--+

Also, Ragnarok fits the Marvel mold very well. Matt Damon was excellent.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on November 18, 2017, 05:16:45 pm
I went to see The Unknown Soldier (2017) today. It was very good, definitely one of the better war movies I've seen and the best Finnish movie I've ever seen. I think it captured the perspective of an individual soldier incredibly well, especially in the context of a lost war. I was also pretty happy about the level of accuracy in the details — I actually didn't notice anything weird at all.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on December 08, 2017, 09:23:07 am
I finally saw Get Out. I was afraid that I'd be let down by the hype, but that movie was really well done. I'm not afraid to say that it lived up to the hype for me. One reason it worked for me is that it all felt very natural. Not the weird people. That felt jarring and unnerving, which was exactly the point. The story starts off with such a mundane premise, and the veneer of normalcy flakes away after each disconcerting encounter. It also helps that I watched the movie knowing absolutely nothing about it with the exception that it involves race issues.

There was a point where the movie almost lost me because that's not how hypnotism works. But once I realized that Get Out is really a sci-fi movie, the exaggerated nature works.

It's interesting because there are some scenes that support the climax of the film. For example, while Rose's indignation at the cop asking for Chris's ID seems in line with the characters social championing, it's really a ploy to ensure the police can't trace his disappearance to the house. Also, the family's strong condemnation of his smoking really makes sense. It also explains the blind man's fascination with him, but since he was played by Stephen Root, you knew his character would be important.

Sadly, not everything can be roses in this movie. I had a few problems with it, which are not enough to detract from my enjoyment of the movie, but they're there. I'm not sure how Stephen Root's blind character was supposed to follow along in the mute auction. I'm just going to have to assume that someone nearby conveyed the hand signals to him, but that wasn't made clear. Also, the revelation that Rose lied about bringing black men to the house didn't seem to fully click with Chris. He still kept trusting in her to find the keys. I suppose this could be chalked up to shock and irrational denial that the woman he loves couldn't betray him. But the one thing I can't find a rationale for is why he chose to carry around a deer head as a weapon. Surely he could have found something better than that. It felt like they shoehorned that in because they wanted a cool death involving a deer head. I could've done without that.

But great movie. My wife hasn't seen it yet, and I think I may rewatch it so I can see what other hints I may have missed.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on April 05, 2018, 09:40:00 am
So I saw Ready Player One. It was fun. Pretty predictable and not particularly deep but a fun romp. It was made for my generation—or at least felt like it, which would be an even bigger praise if they can pull that off for everyone.

I've not read the book, so I don't know how much I would have groused if I had. I know some scenes were left out for the movie. It's a shame because seeing Joust on the screen would be pretty cool.

My favorite scene apparently wasn't in the book at all: an homage to Kubrick's The Shining. It was really well done and quite enjoyable to watch. I question how the scene plays for people not familiar with the movie, but then the whole scene revolved around not seeing the movie.

I'm glad that the plot wasn't that deep because it allowed me to focus on picking out pop culture references. I may possibly have to see it a second time to look for more references, which I'm sure is all part of their evil plan.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Chappy7 on April 05, 2018, 04:56:05 pm
Has anyone seen Unsane? It looks really cool but I want to hear from some other people before I spend money to see it in the theater
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on April 05, 2018, 05:14:18 pm
Has anyone seen Unsane? It looks really cool but I want to hear from some other people before I spend money to see it in the theater

Pretty sure someone has seen it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on April 06, 2018, 09:15:55 am
Has anyone seen Unsane? It looks really cool but I want to hear from some other people before I spend money to see it in the theater

Pretty sure someone has seen it.

Nope, Unsane is unseen.

I had to say it.

I'm interested in this movie as well.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: scott_pilgrim on April 28, 2018, 03:58:26 pm
So uh...is anyone going to talk about the elephant in the room?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Witherweaver on April 29, 2018, 06:47:20 am
So uh...is anyone going to talk about the elephant in the room?

I've never really seen the allure of Dumbo.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Seprix on April 29, 2018, 07:33:11 am
So uh...is anyone going to talk about the elephant in the room?

DefInfinity for sure.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on April 29, 2018, 08:25:11 am
Well, I guess this thread is back to “don’t read till you watch X” status.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Tables on April 30, 2018, 02:31:52 am
I saw Infinity War last night with a friend. It was very entertaining, although looking back, I think it would probably be pretty awful as a standalone film if you haven't seen most of the Marvel stuff preceding it. Which I suppose makes sense, but still, most films give enough context to be entertaining on their own merit.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on April 30, 2018, 09:01:51 am
I saw Infinity War last night with a friend. It was very entertaining, although looking back, I think it would probably be pretty awful as a standalone film if you haven't seen most of the Marvel stuff preceding it. Which I suppose makes sense, but still, most films give enough context to be entertaining on their own merit.

I wonder if there should be a rating system for whether it's a movie or an episode. Infinity War was certainly an episode. And that worked for it. It couldn't have done all that it did if it worried about exposition. At this point, it's assumed you saw all of the other movies in the MCU. Well, most of them anyway. There were some that you could've skipped, and I'm sure someone has already compiled a list of movies in order that you must watch prior to seeing Infinity War. Friend of mine realized in the first 5 minutes that she hadn't gotten around to watching Thor: Ragnarok. Oops.

So, a better episode than a movie. And that's all right.

Most characters seemed to have their moment to shine, which is an amazing feat in itself, but there were some castaways. Poor Mantis only really had one useful thing to do and was relegated to comic relief otherwise.

I know there are some people depressed by the outcome of this movie, but comic books have a history of retconning, especially when you deal with huge, cosmic forces like the reality stone and the time stone. This is really just the dark moment in act 2. I'm sure that the next movie will resolve this especially with Captain Marvel being brought into the fold. If I read about the movie timeline correctly, there's a standalone film with her meeting Nick Fury in the 1990s shortly before part 2 of the Infinity War. Perfectly good segue.

There are lots of comic book tropes happening here, and I have no doubt that we'll see the biggest one yet in part 2. Undoubtedly, people will call it a cop-out, and I can't disagree. But it's at least consistent. What would amaze me is if they don't fall back on it, which would impact future movies.

I was sad to not see Ant-Man, and I actually wonder where he and Wasp will fall in the timeline. Will this take place during the great purge of humanity? Perhaps we'll see him in part 2.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on April 30, 2018, 11:12:57 am
Without any spoilers, please advise... I've seen every MCU movie except for Black Panther. I was planning on watching that before Infinity War, but just found out that it won't be on DVD for another 2 weeks. So... if I go see Infinity War without having seen Black Panther, will I be missing anything important; anything that won't make sense in Infinity War?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Chappy7 on April 30, 2018, 11:18:02 am
Without any spoilers, please advise... I've seen every MCU movie except for Black Panther. I was planning on watching that before Infinity War, but just found out that it won't be on DVD for another 2 weeks. So... if I go see Infinity War without having seen Black Panther, will I be missing anything important; anything that won't make sense in Infinity War?

Not really, you should be fine.  There are a couple characters that won't be familiar, but honestly, with so many superheros running around in this movie, they aren't on screen for that long.

All you need to know is that Wakanda has lots of vibranium and technology. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on April 30, 2018, 12:33:11 pm
I concur. While there's a lot of Black Panther material in Infinity War, you can easily follow along what's happening. You may see some characters that you'll know survived to the end of Black Panther, but those aren't terribly spoilery.

I had a conversation with a co-worker about must-sees. Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and 2 are pretty major, as are the Avengers movies and the Captain America movies.

The ones that could be missed (but go back and watch them) would be Ant-Man, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Dr. Strange. The last one surprised me, but honestly his origin story isn't going to add much to Infinity War. His MacGuffin will be blazingly obvious. Come to think of it, I don't know about how much the Captain America movies are needed. Knowing what happens at the end of Civil War will make scenes in Infinity War less confusing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: scott_pilgrim on April 30, 2018, 07:23:41 pm
I was sad to not see Ant-Man, and I actually wonder where he and Wasp will fall in the timeline. Will this take place during the great purge of humanity? Perhaps we'll see him in part 2.

Ant Man and the Wasp is supposed to take place before Infinity War.

Edit: And yeah Captain Marvel is supposed to take place in the 90's, but I haven't heard anything about the Netflix series. I assume they are just going to avoid having anything happen between the end of part 1 and the beginning of part 2, but it would be interesting (though probably not a good "interesting") if that wasn't the case.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on May 03, 2018, 03:41:23 pm
I have recently seen a bunch of movies:

It (2017)
I haven't read the book so I wouldn't know how good of an adaptation it was, but overall I think it was a pretty good movie. I think the cinematography was outstanding, the movie had a pretty distinctive visual style which is super rare for live action movies. I didn't find it super scary, but it had its moments when it was a little scary and it was also thought-provoking (which is presumably thanks to the source material). Recommended for everyone, including people who have a hard time watching some of the more extreme horror movies because this isn't one.

Get out
This is one of the weirdest movies, it exists on so many different levels and people interpret it in completely different ways and still it seems like everyone enjoys the movie. I'm not even convinced the creators intended for it to work like that but it does anyway. Some of the VFX was so bad that it was hilarious, which I thought was supposed to be a part of the experience but your kilometerage may vary. Also recommended for everyone.

A Tale of Two Sisters
So earlier ITT I mentioned that I liked The Uninvited, which is (supposedly) a Hollywood remake of this. I finally got around to watching the original Korean version, and now I think that The Uninvited is more like an entirely different movie than a remake, really. Whereas The Uninvited is clever but straightforward and really more like a detective story with some horror elements than an actual horror story, A Tale of Two Sisters is a mindfuck and an actual horror story, and the respective plots have hardly anything in common, other than that they're both really good. The pacing is very slow, especially at the very beginning, and I was actually quite bored for quite a while before it got going and the pace was still slow after it did. Recommended for people who liked movies such as Donnie Darko and Suicide Club.

Leap!
I was visiting my sister and her family and they have a tradition that each Friday, they rent a movie (apparently going to the physical video rental shop is a part of the experience for them) and they take turns deciding which movie to watch together, and this was chosen by my niece. I didn't have very high expectations but it was actually one of the better children's movies I've seen, definitely way better than anything Disney. The visuals look great, the story has a lot of substance, the main character is very relatable but the other characters aren't really very well developed, it also has all the mandatory children's movie clichés, I don't know how the voice acting was since we watched the Finnish dub. I wouldn't really go as far as to recommend it to adults, but I certainly wouldn't feel stupid if I was watching it on my own, and it's a pretty decent choice if you're watching a movie with children.

Coraline
This was recommended to me by one of my friends who's also a huge fan of animation, so I downloaded it from the Internetz and I also watched it with my sister's family. I liked this the most out of all of the movies on this list, it was seriously creepy and it also looked great, had great music, and a great atmosphere. My only complaint is that there was one moment in the movie where it felt like they were holding back to keep it more suitable for children where it would have felt more natural if it had been more intense. Recommended for fans of animation and dark fantasy.

A Quiet Place
I saw this in the movie theater. It was alright, but it suffered from the pretty common flaw of horror movies that is stupid characters. I was constantly annoyed by the characters doing something obviously stupid, and it was amplified by the fact that these characters had survived under those circumstances for like 16 months and I would have been able to make way better decisions after 20 minutes of watching the movie, as well as the fact that they got away with their stupid decisions much more than what was believable. One aspect of acoustics that the movie just outright ignored was the fact that you can tell the shape and even the material of your surroundings by listening to the reverberations (even humans are capable of this with a little training), and the blind monsters didn't really seem to be able to do that based on how bad they were at finding people who were hiding nearby, which is borderline plausible if their brains aren't very advanced, but I would have appreciated if it had been at least addressed along the lines of "this is a thing but the monsters can't do that because they're dumb". The music was remarkably good, but it was overused since the entire point of the movie is centered around being silent, and the music was annoyingly covering up that silence too often. On the other hand, they actually used a lot of other acoustics related concepts very cleverly and accurately, and the movie was extremely intense and scary, so it could have been an amazing film if only it didn't have all the flaws that it has, but now it's just alright. Recommended for horror fans.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 03, 2018, 04:06:47 pm
I also didn't think that It was all that scary either. I know people who have a real freak-out over clowns, which I do not fully understand. And I'm sure the room full of clowns was really terrible for them.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on May 03, 2018, 04:19:09 pm
I have recently seen a bunch of movies:

Coraline
This was recommended to me by one of my friends who's also a huge fan of animation, so I downloaded it from the Internetz and I also watched it with my sister's family. I liked this the most out of all of the movies on this list, it was seriously creepy and it also looked great, had great music, and a great atmosphere. My only complaint is that there was one moment in the movie where it felt like they were holding back to keep it more suitable for children where it would have felt more natural if it had been more intense. Recommended for fans of animation and dark fantasy.


My own review of Coraline after finally seeing it a couple months ago:

Quote
Coraline - Stunning and unique visuals, a dark and wonderfully executed story; a good mystery that keeps you guessing; haunting and beautiful music... and deep-seeded symbolic overtones. Not sure if that last part actually meant anything. What I'm saying is that this was excellent. I loved it. I also found it genuinely scary in some parts; was surprised that it's only PG. The Anaglyph 3D was bad though... I should have just watched it normally, but I couldn't resist the fact that I opened up my DVD case and it had 3D classes in it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: weesh on May 03, 2018, 06:12:39 pm
I also didn't think that It was all that scary either. I know people who have a real freak-out over clowns, which I do not fully understand. And I'm sure the room full of clowns was really terrible for them.

I once told someone "'Life Expectancy' is the best book I've ever read about creepy clowns", and would then go on to clarify that it was the only such book.  They said "oooh, can I borrow it?"

I have no idea why people go for that.  I only read the book because I wanted to be nice to the person that gave it to me.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on May 05, 2018, 06:55:55 pm
I have seen Infinity War. Went in with low expectations, and was positively surprised. Although I don’t think Marvel studios knows how to do heavy scenes. I thought the opening scene was awkward and forced, and Thanos/Gamorra’s “sacrifice” was unearned.

I felt Starlord was jarring. They tried to keep the same tone with him and his crew than in their movies, but it simply didn’t work for me. Thor, on the other hand, managed to mostly keep the humour from Ragnarok without it feeling forced.

Any thoughts on Thanos motivation? In previous movies, it looked like they were actually going for the “court Death” plan, but finally he’s just some dude who actually thinks that killing half the population of the Universe would actually be a good thing for everyone. Which is ok, I guess, that way the movie gets the occasional scene where they try to make him relatable. But I would have preferred the original motivation, if they had found a way to make it work (I assumed they didn’t)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on May 09, 2018, 03:46:13 pm
I was sad to not see Ant-Man, and I actually wonder where he and Wasp will fall in the timeline. Will this take place during the great purge of humanity? Perhaps we'll see him in part 2.

I have read that Ant-Man and Wasp will take place before Infinity War; after Civil War. I was also assuming that he/they would be in part 2.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on September 18, 2018, 09:53:12 am
I followed up on a recommendation to watch Train to Busan, and I'm glad I did. It was a pretty good movie.

I think the zombie theme is getting really overplayed lately, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this movie was well done. There are little subplots going on, but mostly the story is about a man and his strained relationship with his daughter and zombies. The movie was expertly made in a technical sense, and I felt a fondness for some of the characters. And there's a real shithead of a character that you're going to hate.

You may think this is a mix of 28 Days Later and Snowpiercer, though it really has more in common with the former. What it has in common with the latter is that they both take place on trains, though this movie does address the class gap.

The only gripe I have is that there's one scene that is more action-oriented than I expected. And it's not much of a gripe really. And I can't tell if modern trains just aren't that pitch black in tunnels like they were when I rode in the '80s, or if they pulled back on the darkness in order to show what's happening. But I remember tunnels being pitch black.

But pretty good movie. There's talks of a sequel, though it's supposed to be different characters in a different region. In that case, I'm not sure that Train to Busan 2 would be an accurate title. It may have a different title when it's released though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Robz888 on September 21, 2018, 09:10:03 pm
Anybody else see the brief teaser for the Joaquin Phoenix "Joker" movie and think it actually looked pretty damn cool?

https://twitter.com/wbpictures/status/1043184618160021505

Admittedly, my expectations are so low after Jared Leto's abysmally bad portrayal of the Joker in Suicide Squad (not entirely his fault, but dear lord) that probably anything would excite me, but yeah. I think Phoenix could pull this off.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on October 26, 2018, 12:36:51 pm
I saw a lot of movies this past week.

Koe no Katachi / A Silent Voice was incredible. I didn't expect it to live up to the hype, but it totally did. Great looking animation, great voice acting, and I think the direction conveys the touching story really well. It's not quite as good as some of the other anime films I've praised before, but it's definitely better than anything by Ghibli.

The Breadwinner was a bit of a disappointment. It had a really cool premise with a rarely seen perspective into the war in Afghanistan, the story was good and the art and the animation was good, and the music track, which was entirely done in a traditional Afghani music style using their traditional instruments (at least whenever I paid attention to it), was really cool and unusual. I personally wasn't very impressed with everyone speaking English with what I assume was supposed to be a Persian sounding accent, I think it would have been better to just have the characters speak the language and subtitle it in English or just have them speak English normally. The main problem with the movie was the direction, because it overwhelmingly felt like I was watching a children's movie throughout the entire film, and it made me feel really stupid for watching it with no children present. It felt like they toned everything down as much as they could, and then the whole emotional impact of the movie was very underwhelming as a result, which is exactly the opposite of what it should have been on a movie with this premise and this plot.

No Country For Old Men was pretty okay. It had interesting characters, it had some action scenes that were pretty cool, and it was ever so slightly thought-provoking at the surface level, and there was nothing really wrong with it per say, but I just expect movies to be better.

The 12th Man was interesting. I wasn't familiar with the true story that it's based on, so it was interesting to see for that reason, but also it occasionally left me wondering how much of it actually took place, and which parts were just the creators using some artistic liberties to make it a more entertaining film. The cinematography was super good, and they managed to make the main character very relatable.

Nightcrawler was pretty good. The characters were interesting, the action scenes were actually intense, the camera work was pretty interesting at times, and the story was pretty cool too. What I didn't like about it was the color grading, which made it a bit irritating to watch with all the contrast and saturation in every scene.

Snowden was neither amazing nor disappointing. Pretty much everything in the movie was done sufficiently well and it was entertaining enough to watch.

28 Days Later was another pretty okay film. Not really at all moving or thought-provoking in any way, but I had fun enough watching it.

Paprika was also good. I might get a better understanding of it if I watch it again later, but on the other hand, I'm not sure I liked it enough to warrant watching it again.

I also re-watched Exhibit A, Garden of Words, and K-On! Movie, all of which were still exactly as good as I thought when I saw them for the first time respectively, as well as The Tunnel, which wasn't as good as I remembered but it was still pretty good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 31, 2018, 12:21:59 pm
A couple friends of mine were talking about Irreversible. Since he left midway through the movie, one guy was uncertain if he should classify it as a horror movie. I thought I'd share my response, considering how infamous this movie is.

I would not classify Irreversible as a horror movie. It does, however, qualify as a movie to endure. Most of that is due to how it was shot. Some good and some bad.

What makes this movie stand out—aside from its reversed chronology—is that I understand that each scene was filled with a single take. I haven't scrutinized it with a magnifying glass, but that sounds right to me. But that means that the improv scenes really stand out—and not in a good way. You can tell the points where the actors are just filling in gaps while waiting for something to happen. It was more awkward than horrifying.

The film opener is especially uncomfortable because of how they filmed it. They used subsonic pulses in the background that instigate nausea. Combined with shaky-cam in a twisting labyrinth, this scene is discombobulating and uncomfortable. There's also some FX that is sickening as well, even for gore aficionados. It wasn't the grossest thing to see, but combined with the lights and sounds of the movie, it was particularly nauseating. I'll give the director props on making this scene literally gut-wrenching.

The scene of infamy is also really uncomfortable. I mean, it's a terrible topic anyway, but the continuous take makes this even more uncomfortable to watch. But it wasn't just the act itself. There are a couple of things happening in the background which adds to the atrocity. Kudos to the cast and crew for being brave enough to tackle this, but I imagine they felt just as awful as the audience afterwards.

I'm not certain that it's a great movie, but it does take a vile and uncomfortable topic and shoves it in the audience's face. It forces us to look at it, and the fact that it's shown in reverse causes a huge sense of sorrow because it starts off really bad and then progresses to more innocent scenes. It reminds us that even on our best days we're only one tragic confluence of events away from being irreversibly damaged. It does make you think, but it is definitely a movie to endure.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on December 16, 2018, 04:29:18 pm
Is there any horror movie out there that is actually really frightening? I've been trying to find one, but so far haven't really succeeded. I've seen Insidious 1-3, the Mist, various Final Destinations, Eden Log, Absentia, and more recently The Cabin in the Woods and the Thing (the 1982 movie), because someone mentioned them as being among the best of the genre. And I'd agree that the Cabin in the woods was pretty great, but not really based on being frightening. The Mist frightened me a lot at the time, but it's been a while, and when I watched a snippet more recently I thought it was pretty bad.

So I'm still searching. Is there anything scarier than all of the above? What's the scariest movie you've ever seen, or alternatively, the best horror movie you've seen?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on December 16, 2018, 04:41:11 pm
Is there any horror movie out there that is actually really frightening? I've been trying to find one, but so far haven't really succeeded. I've seen Insidious 1-3, the Mist, various Final Destinations, Eden Log, Absentia, and more recently The Cabin in the Woods and the Thing (the 1982 movie), because someone mentioned them as being among the best of the genre. And I'd agree that the Cabin in the woods was pretty great, but not really based on being frightening. The Mist frightened me a lot at the time, but it's been a while, and when I watched a snippet more recently I thought it was pretty bad.

So I'm still searching. Is there anything scarier than all of the above? What's the scariest movie you've ever seen, or alternatively, the best horror movie you've seen?

Not many. Kubrick’s The Shining is the scariest one I know. The new It had some good moments. Other recent ones that I found pretty scary include It Follows and Mama. The Babadook is excellent, but not for how scary it is.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on December 16, 2018, 06:16:24 pm
Is there any horror movie out there that is actually really frightening? I've been trying to find one, but so far haven't really succeeded. I've seen Insidious 1-3, the Mist, various Final Destinations, Eden Log, Absentia, and more recently The Cabin in the Woods and the Thing (the 1982 movie), because someone mentioned them as being among the best of the genre. And I'd agree that the Cabin in the woods was pretty great, but not really based on being frightening. The Mist frightened me a lot at the time, but it's been a while, and when I watched a snippet more recently I thought it was pretty bad.

So I'm still searching. Is there anything scarier than all of the above? What's the scariest movie you've ever seen, or alternatively, the best horror movie you've seen?

I can't think of any movie I'd describe as "actually really frightening", like I've had to take breaks from playing a horror video game because it gets too intense but I don't think that has ever happened with a movie for me. The Tunnel is probably the scariest that I know of.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LaLight on December 17, 2018, 04:00:39 am
The one and the only movie that frightened me so very much was The Exorcist. Other than that Mirrors is pretty good and I was afraid of looking into the mirrors for a month. There's also Silent Hill (first part) which was not too frightning, but I like the graphics a lot
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Chappy7 on December 19, 2018, 04:41:20 pm
Is there any horror movie out there that is actually really frightening? I've been trying to find one, but so far haven't really succeeded. I've seen Insidious 1-3, the Mist, various Final Destinations, Eden Log, Absentia, and more recently The Cabin in the Woods and the Thing (the 1982 movie), because someone mentioned them as being among the best of the genre. And I'd agree that the Cabin in the woods was pretty great, but not really based on being frightening. The Mist frightened me a lot at the time, but it's been a while, and when I watched a snippet more recently I thought it was pretty bad.

So I'm still searching. Is there anything scarier than all of the above? What's the scariest movie you've ever seen, or alternatively, the best horror movie you've seen?

The ring is quite popular among Horror movies.  It is scary, but not crazy scary in my opinion.  Hereditary was pretty scary and very good.  And if you have netflix the Haunting of Hill house is a really good scary show.  But again, non of these are like utterly terrifying to most horro fans.  Maybe to someone who isn't used to scary stuff.

If you really want scary, just pull out your box of Intrigue and check out Harem. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on December 19, 2018, 04:51:49 pm
Is there any horror movie out there that is actually really frightening? I've been trying to find one, but so far haven't really succeeded. I've seen Insidious 1-3, the Mist, various Final Destinations, Eden Log, Absentia, and more recently The Cabin in the Woods and the Thing (the 1982 movie), because someone mentioned them as being among the best of the genre. And I'd agree that the Cabin in the woods was pretty great, but not really based on being frightening. The Mist frightened me a lot at the time, but it's been a while, and when I watched a snippet more recently I thought it was pretty bad.

So I'm still searching. Is there anything scarier than all of the above? What's the scariest movie you've ever seen, or alternatively, the best horror movie you've seen?

The ring is quite popular among Horror movies.  It is scary, but not crazy scary in my opinion.  Hereditary was pretty scary and very good.  And if you have netflix the Haunting of Hill house is a really good scary show.  But again, non of these are like utterly terrifying to most horro fans.  Maybe to someone who isn't used to scary stuff.

If you really want scary, just pull out your box of Intrigue and check out Harem.

I recently saw both The Ring (the Japanese one) and Hereditary and I can confirm that they're good movies but not utterly terrifying. Hereditary especially had a pretty heavy atmosphere throughout the entire movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Chappy7 on December 19, 2018, 05:02:32 pm
Is there any horror movie out there that is actually really frightening? I've been trying to find one, but so far haven't really succeeded. I've seen Insidious 1-3, the Mist, various Final Destinations, Eden Log, Absentia, and more recently The Cabin in the Woods and the Thing (the 1982 movie), because someone mentioned them as being among the best of the genre. And I'd agree that the Cabin in the woods was pretty great, but not really based on being frightening. The Mist frightened me a lot at the time, but it's been a while, and when I watched a snippet more recently I thought it was pretty bad.

So I'm still searching. Is there anything scarier than all of the above? What's the scariest movie you've ever seen, or alternatively, the best horror movie you've seen?

The ring is quite popular among Horror movies.  It is scary, but not crazy scary in my opinion.  Hereditary was pretty scary and very good.  And if you have netflix the Haunting of Hill house is a really good scary show.  But again, non of these are like utterly terrifying to most horro fans.  Maybe to someone who isn't used to scary stuff.

If you really want scary, just pull out your box of Intrigue and check out Harem.

I recently saw both The Ring (the Japanese one) and Hereditary and I can confirm that they're good movies but not utterly terrifying. Hereditary especially had a pretty heavy atmosphere throughout the entire movie.

Yeah Hereditary was actually pretty disturbing. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Dsell on December 19, 2018, 05:27:01 pm
I watched The Favourite last night and it is my favorite movie of 2018 (and there were a lot of strong contenders this year). It's deeply strange, but the acting, directing, and general aesthetic of the movie were all sublime.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on December 20, 2018, 03:11:13 pm
Is there any horror movie out there that is actually really frightening? I've been trying to find one, but so far haven't really succeeded. I've seen Insidious 1-3, the Mist, various Final Destinations, Eden Log, Absentia, and more recently The Cabin in the Woods and the Thing (the 1982 movie), because someone mentioned them as being among the best of the genre. And I'd agree that the Cabin in the woods was pretty great, but not really based on being frightening. The Mist frightened me a lot at the time, but it's been a while, and when I watched a snippet more recently I thought it was pretty bad.

So I'm still searching. Is there anything scarier than all of the above? What's the scariest movie you've ever seen, or alternatively, the best horror movie you've seen?

The ring is quite popular among Horror movies.  It is scary, but not crazy scary in my opinion.  Hereditary was pretty scary and very good.  And if you have netflix the Haunting of Hill house is a really good scary show.  But again, non of these are like utterly terrifying to most horro fans.  Maybe to someone who isn't used to scary stuff.

If you really want scary, just pull out your box of Intrigue and check out Harem. 

It's great to live in Germany for many reasons, but Netflix isn't one of them. The US version seems to have a much larger collection :(
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on December 25, 2018, 03:57:29 pm
Just watched Into the spiderverse. It's the most excited I've been about a superhero movie in a long while. If you are even just mildly interested by animation or superhero movies, you should watch it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ThetaSigma12 on December 25, 2018, 05:06:51 pm
Just watched Into the spiderverse. It's the most excited I've been about a superhero movie in a long while. If you are even just mildly interested by animation or superhero movies, you should watch it.

It's a very good movie. Like, a really good movie. The only reason I would suggest not watching it is if you hate animation, particularly lots of flashing and moving lights/colours. The credits at the start and final act are a little seizure-inducing at points. Also, I felt like the hip-hop/rap music was overused and overplayed a bit, but that's in line with Miles' character so it's not a very legitimate complaint. The only "problem" I have is that the third act really dragged on. Kingpin and Miles fighting after all the goodbyes felt awkward. The plot in general felt a little thin. Still a really good movie, and I loved the score.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on December 26, 2018, 08:31:27 am
The only "problem" I have is that the third act really dragged on. Kingpin and Miles fighting after all the goodbyes felt awkward. The plot in general felt a little thin.

Agreed. That didn't feel nearly as climactic. But it was short-lived, so it was good for me.

I'd say this was the most comic-book movie made. That sounds like a strange adjective to put on there, but there is a nod to the medium that live-action movies like the Avengers and X-Men don't quite capture. And that's a choice obviously. I get making the Avengers more into a mainstream movie with conventional filmmaking methods.

But Into the Spiderverse embraces its heritage and melds comic book with movie. The closest I've seen up until now would be Scott Pilgrim vs the World, but that pales in comparison to Spiderverse.

I was enamored by the animation. It was vibrant and evocative. I wouldn't mind seeing more movies like this.

I want my wife to watch this, but she has severe arachnophobia. While there aren't many spiders on the screen, they enter the scene rather suddenly without warning, and that can cause problems.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Chappy7 on December 26, 2018, 12:14:12 pm
I was surprised at how good it was and how funny it was.  I mean, I expected humor, but I was laughing a lot. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on December 26, 2018, 01:13:05 pm
I was expecting to be annoyed by Spider-Ham. He was just in small enough doses that I was able to accept him.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on December 28, 2018, 02:04:35 pm
So. Bandersnatch.

How was your ending?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on December 31, 2018, 04:02:27 pm
For those of us who don't do Netflix, can someone explain how a "choose your own adventure" thing works? Assuming that each "differing path" is basically the same thing as a different "episode" of a TV show... is it as simple as "pick one of these two episodes to watch next"?

Well no, I guess it can't be, because then your choices after that couldn't be different depending on what you picked. Is this just some technology built into Netflix where certain "episodes" of shows are only available if you just finished watching certain other "episodes"? Is there no way to simply watch any specific "episode" that you want?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on December 31, 2018, 05:53:13 pm
For those of us who don't do Netflix, can someone explain how a "choose your own adventure" thing works? Assuming that each "differing path" is basically the same thing as a different "episode" of a TV show... is it as simple as "pick one of these two episodes to watch next"?
want?

No.

Something in the episode will happen that confronts the main character with a decision. Two choices appear at the bottom of the screen, and a timer telling you how long you have to decide. (https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/graIbBBmC0T-o41EFZ8Zlb0oUBQ=/0x0:3840x2160/920x613/filters:focal(1613x773:2227x1387)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62756910/BM_Bandersnatch_9.0.jpg) You have to click on one choice to lock it in. Afterwards, the movie will continue with the character doing what you told him.

Since it's black mirror it's not quite that simple, either. It's not just a tree, there are dependencies, sometimes you need to have done X earlier in order to have choice Y at a later point. And it's canon that you are controlling the main guy; him realizing this is part of the story. It's also a meta thing, because the episode is about the m/c developing a game where you have multiple choices. In one ending, he explains how he only built the illusion of free will into the game, but in truth he's deciding the ending.

But yeah, it's a legit branching story, even if the number of paths remains manageable.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: UmbrageOfSnow on January 01, 2019, 03:09:49 pm
I just saw Spiderverse last night and The Favourite this morning. I really liked both of them but can hardly imagine a more different pair of movies to watch almost back-to-back.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on January 01, 2019, 11:32:05 pm
Ok, so I saw 110 films for the first time in 2018. My top 10 personal favorites; in the order that I watched them in:

Psycho
The Founder
Coraline
The Lego Batman Movie
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Before Sunrise
Avengers: Infinity War
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Training Day
Arrival

Honorable mentions: these two movies left a big impression on me, but I'm hesitant to out-right recommend them to just anyone, due to the fact that both can be difficult to watch.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
A Cure for Wellness

*Edit* Oops; I missed Arrival when going through my list! It bumps Before Sunrise, as good as that was.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on January 02, 2019, 09:51:34 am
For those of us who don't do Netflix, can someone explain how a "choose your own adventure" thing works? Assuming that each "differing path" is basically the same thing as a different "episode" of a TV show... is it as simple as "pick one of these two episodes to watch next"?
 

All of what Silverspawn said.

The technology is only available on some devices. I launched the movie on Google Fiber, and it played a different "movie." It was a collection of clips from Black Mirror of the various characters saying "sorry." Then the voiceover explains that the current device does not support interactive television. Various suggestions are made.

But I do have a smart TV, which was one of the suggestions. So I logged into Netflix through that. There's an icon to show that the Netflix title has interactive capabilities (I expect to see this a lot in kids' shows in the future). It's pretty smooth, though if you're the type to get sucked into the moment, then these branching trees will suck you right out. Still, it's a neat concept, and this particular episode of Black Mirror works perfectly for it. I wouldn't try this experiment with any other episode.

It's a really long, drawn-out Dragon's Lair. You have your "death scenes" where you have to go back and make different choices. There are multiple endings.

My favorite is how the episode completely mocks you if you don't make any decisions. As a matter of course, I chose the default option (often the first) so I could better identify where I need to branch off in subsequent viewings. Well, if you only choose the default option, then that's functionally the same as letting the episode run with no interaction. And you get roasted for being so boring. It was brilliant.

I went through the episode twice, and I'm done. I'm starting to get tired of seeing some of the same scenes over and over, and if I can't figure out how to get to a path I wanted to try again such as telling Kitty that Colin jumped instead of just turning my back on her then I don't really want to sift through it so fastidiously. It'd be better if I can actually fast-forward through the scenes to the decision point, but I cannot.

So kudos to those people who are obsessed with finding every little path, including the hidden golden eggs. I have no doubt that those require some revisiting to other scenes where you may do the same thing twice or even more. But I'm not interested in following it that closely. From what I read online, I've hit most of the known endings, and I’m pretty good with that. Though I am bemused by the claim that one ending apparently has Jerome F. Davies (I think that's his name) kill you in the past. I mean, how does that ending come about? 

But you know, I may watch it a third time in a few months.

For some reason, I just really dig Colin's voice and speech pattern here.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Cuzz on January 02, 2019, 12:48:26 pm
I was expecting to be annoyed by Spider-Ham. He was just in small enough doses that I was able to accept him.

John Mulaney is a national treasure.

This movie was fantastic, and gives further evidence that basically everything from Lord/Miller is worth watching. There was even a Clone High billboard easter egg in the background!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 02, 2019, 02:05:05 pm
I went through the episode twice, and I'm done. I'm starting to get tired of seeing some of the same scenes over and over, and if I can't figure out how to get to a path I wanted to try again

You can use the "skip 10 seconds" button repeatedly, but it's still tedious.

Also there's a graph (https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13655264/Bandersnatch_Map_2.png)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: UmbrageOfSnow on January 02, 2019, 02:27:50 pm

Honorable mentions: these two movies left a big impression on me, but I'm hesitant to out-right recommend them to just anyone, due to the fact that both can be difficult to watch.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

I absolutely loved Three Billboards, one of my favorite movies recently, I don't think you should hesitate to recommend great but hard-to-watch movies!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on January 02, 2019, 02:43:28 pm

Honorable mentions: these two movies left a big impression on me, but I'm hesitant to out-right recommend them to just anyone, due to the fact that both can be difficult to watch.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

I absolutely loved Three Billboards, one of my favorite movies recently, I don't think you should hesitate to recommend great but hard-to-watch movies!

Maybe "not for everyone" is a better fit than "hard to watch", especially in the case of Three Billboards. Here's my write-up from another forum:

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Wow... not at all what I expected. A powerhouse of emotion; so much more than a simple story of a mother trying to get justice for her murdered daughter. Many things were exaggerated for effect; it chose shock value over realism. Sometimes this seemed good; other times it seemed like it was trying too hard. Ultimately, it's a story about the journey of several characters, moreso than a murder mystery. I don't think it quite lives up to how much I liked In Bruges, but I still liked it a lot. Glad McDormand and Rockwell got the Oscars for it. I didn't think Lucas Hedges as the son was all that good... someone like Tye Sheridan would have been a boost. Overall, an excellent movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 02, 2019, 03:00:58 pm
@Horror Movies: I watched The Woman in Black, The Ring, Paranormal Activity I, and The Shining. The first because it was on Netflix and I just clicked on a random thing, and 2-4 following recommendations for scary movies.

Paranormal Activity is definitely the scariest movie I've seen so far. Which is particularly impressive because it's incredibly low budget, just 15 000 according to wikipedia. I still think it should be possible to make something more frightening than that, though. It was fairly intense, particularly near the end, but... still not so much that I had to turn it off. And the ending kinda only works because the guy is being an idiot. He could just have some people over, or at least stay up all night. He knows without a doubt that there's something supernatural there at that point, and just does nothing. Which is a minus. But still, it's good.

The Ring and the Shining didn't manage to really scare me, but they were both fun to watch nonetheless. The Ring has some great imagery.

The Woman in black was the second scariest, but also the weakest one out of the four. It's scary in the least creative way possible (old abandoned house, noises from other rooms, etc), and it doesn't have anything else going on. Also, it's significantly less scary than PNA, which has literally 0.1% of the budget.

Still planning to see The Exorcist, but I'm having trouble finding a good way to do so.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on January 02, 2019, 04:07:52 pm
Paranormal Activity is definitely the scariest movie I've seen so far.

Seriously? How?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 02, 2019, 04:22:55 pm
No idea how to answer that  :P

Clearly the degree to which something frightens you also varies from person to person, though certainly not as much as how much you like something.

I've somehow missed the Tunnel, I'll look for that one, too. Otherwise, I assume that you thought PNA was less scary than other things I've mentioned?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on January 02, 2019, 06:22:22 pm
I've somehow missed the Tunnel, I'll look for that one, too. Otherwise, I assume that you thought PNA was less scary than other things I've mentioned?

More like I don't even understand how Paranormal Activity is scary at all.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 02, 2019, 06:40:43 pm
Well, neither do I, really.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: UmbrageOfSnow on January 11, 2019, 05:24:15 pm
I saw Burning last night and really loved it. I think it's the kind of movie people should go into completely blind, so I guess the summary is: Korean with subtitles, awkward masturbation scenes, awkward main character, people being jerks, more exciting than it sounds if you go in for an awkward drama about a depressed guy, less exciting if you want Spider Man.

Anyway, I really loved it, and I think it improves on the short story, which you absolutely should not read first if you are interested in seeing the movie and haven't read it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pingpongsam on January 16, 2019, 10:09:34 am
I saw Burning last night and really loved it. I think it's the kind of movie people should go into completely blind, so I guess the summary is: Korean with subtitles, awkward masturbation scenes, awkward main character, people being jerks, more exciting than it sounds if you go in for an awkward drama about a depressed guy, less exciting if you want Spider Man.

Anyway, I really loved it, and I think it improves on the short story, which you absolutely should not read first if you are interested in seeing the movie and haven't read it.

Not selling me on this one at all.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: UmbrageOfSnow on January 16, 2019, 11:43:26 am
I saw Burning last night and really loved it. I think it's the kind of movie people should go into completely blind, so I guess the summary is: Korean with subtitles, awkward masturbation scenes, awkward main character, people being jerks, more exciting than it sounds if you go in for an awkward drama about a depressed guy, less exciting if you want Spider Man.

Anyway, I really loved it, and I think it improves on the short story, which you absolutely should not read first if you are interested in seeing the movie and haven't read it.

Not selling me on this one at all.

It was great, but the kind of great where half the people I'd talk to would complain it was boring. Don't really know how to describe that kind of movie appealingly, but I have hated when I've pushed those kind of movies on people who are always going to hate them and then they don't want to listen to me about horror or other "exciting" genres of movie.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on January 16, 2019, 11:50:31 am
Unbreakable is also really boring for certain crowds, but it was also a really good movie.

I'm intrigued by Burning. I like going into good movies blind, though even those movies tend to have a bit more information than this. But I can't ask for more information without spoiling something presumably.

The weird scenes mentioned are probably more like content warning. If awkward scenes do bother you, then maybe that movie won't bother you. But I've also seen Irreversible and Spanking the Monkey, so I can usually handle uncomfortable scenes. Maybe I won't enjoy it, but I won't avoid it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: UmbrageOfSnow on January 25, 2019, 06:53:26 pm
Saw Shoplifters last night, quite good.

Reminded me of After the Storm quite a bit, the 2-movies-ago-movie by the same director, moreso than his most recent one before this. Also reminded me of Leave no Trace from last? year, fiction movie basically about poor families and how the system can fail them.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on February 28, 2019, 10:47:16 am
Back to the horror discussion; I finally saw Hereditary. I did actually find it scary, which is rare for horror movies. Perhaps disturbing more than scary is a better word. But it has a really good build; where there's just nothing scary for a while, then it gradually gets more and more intense. A lot of people seem to complain that they should have stuck to a more psychological and ambiguous angle; but if you want that, watch The Babadook instead. Hereditary was more in your face and scary; but less clever and subtle.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Chappy7 on February 28, 2019, 05:56:30 pm
Speaking of Horror, I'm planning on watching the VVitch this weekend with my brother.  Is it any good? Looks like it got pretty good ratings, but I often don't trust those.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on March 28, 2019, 03:42:01 pm
I went and saw Us this week. I would not agree that it lived up to the hype, but very few movies could handle that kind of hype anyway.

I felt it was a really excellent 3/4 of a movie. It started off strong and dove into the insanity fairly quickly. Once there, it remained intense throughout.

But the ending raised more questions than it answered, and I felt like the only way to reconcile this movie was to accept that weird, magical effects were possible. I mean, when the villains show up, you have to assume that, but the way to reconcile the ending required an even bigger assumption.

It felt to me like they crafted a great scene with wonderful parallels and suitable foreshadowing. But then when asked what caused all this awesomeness, they just shrugged their shoulders and gave some weak reasoning.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed watching it. I still enjoyed the ending even though I recognized how anemic it was. The immediate questions I had were:

How do you feed that many rabbits over 33 years?
Was this lab physically under the hall of mirrors, or is it like some dimensional pocket?
Did staying in the lab make Real-Abbie dependent on the Shadow-Abbie's movements?
How did the Shadow-Abbie get up the operational escalator at the same rate that Real-Abbie descended the stairs?
Where did all the other shadows exit the lab? Did they pour out of the hall of mirrors at once? Just the Santa Cruz ones?
If her family lived elsewhere, then were their shadows lurking in a different lab and move to Santa Cruz?


And that's just scratching the surface. Most of these questions could be answered with "it's magic," but I wanted more. I suppose if they explained it that way, I would've been satisfied. It's just that the movie didn't show much in terms of the magic, so I was left wanting.

It was a really well done movie with a great cast. I just wish it didn't have the feeling of, "This is awesome, but now I don't know how to get to it, so whatever."
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on April 30, 2019, 01:10:05 pm
So... nobody is going to mention Endgame?

Without spoiling anything (in case you opened this without knowing better), I thought it ended some storylines nicely, and didn’t have toooooo many plot holes. I am also hoping that some of the biggest consequences of this and Infinity War will stick for the future movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on April 30, 2019, 01:27:17 pm
So... nobody is going to mention Endgame?

Without spoiling anything (in case you opened this without knowing better), I thought it ended some storylines nicely, and didn’t have toooooo many plot holes. I am also hoping that some of the biggest consequences of this and Infinity War will stick for the future movies.

6 hours until I see it!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on April 30, 2019, 02:14:55 pm
Endgame had about the same rate of plot holes as any other MCU movie, which is to say that I found the movie acceptable. I don't expect perfection from them. The plot holes may be intensified a bit due to the nature of their solution, but I've learned to just stop criticizing movies and shows for taking that route. You're never really going to get that right anyhow.

It was certainly a fun ride.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: werothegreat on April 30, 2019, 10:00:22 pm
I just wish the time heist was the entire movie.  I could have done without the big battle at the end, honestly.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on May 01, 2019, 12:04:55 am
I just wish the time heist was the entire movie.  I could have done without the big battle at the end, honestly.

Gotta super disagree. I thought the first half was just fine, but the second half was where it got really great.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on May 01, 2019, 01:41:50 am
I just wish the time heist was the entire movie.  I could have done without the big battle at the end, honestly.

Gotta super disagree. I thought the first half was just fine, but the second half was where it got really great.

The Time heist was great as a trip down memory lane, to remind the characters how much they’ve evolved, and the audience how far the series has gone. It’s good to give a sense of closure to the characters that will need it by the end of the movie. “I am still worthy” gave me chills. It also has some cute ideas here and there, but I don’t think the franchise could handle too much of it without breaking more stuff than they already have. It also doesn’t survive very thorough scrutiny.

The final battle was epic, but also very fan-service-y. It’s also ultimately just people punching people in a darkish setting. I can see it both ways, why people would like it or not.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 01, 2019, 08:08:27 am
I just wish the time heist was the entire movie.  I could have done without the big battle at the end, honestly.

I'm in the same boat, but I also was bored during most of the recent Game of Thrones episode and the big lobby shootout scene in the Matrix. So I may not be the ideal audience for that.

Mind you, this movie did not bore me. I just wouldn't have missed some of the scenes at the end if they were removed. There were interactions that moved the story along, so that was nice.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Chappy7 on May 03, 2019, 11:03:15 am
Endgame had about the same rate of plot holes as any other MCU movie, which is to say that I found the movie acceptable. I don't expect perfection from them. The plot holes may be intensified a bit due to the nature of their solution, but I've learned to just stop criticizing movies and shows for taking that route. You're never really going to get that right anyhow.

It was certainly a fun ride.

Normally, I don't have problems with action movies with plot holes.  But I thought they were pretty egregious in this movie.  It actually bothered me while I watched it. Why doesn't Ant Man get tired after getting big? That was a big point in Ant Man and the Wasp. Also how is Thor still worthy even though he is a complete bum? Are they really going to ignore the thousands of parallel universes they created, like the one where Loki has the Tesseract? Why are Hawkeye's kids a different race than him and his wife? (Not a plot hole, I'm just ranting now.  He probably just adopted) How did Rocket and Hawkeye survive that massive explosion without any injuries at all? That was just really stupid. 
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 03, 2019, 11:19:23 am
They certainly undid some bits from previous movies. Those are pretty glaring plot holes.

As mentioned, Scott seemed to handle being big for a long time a lot better than before. One could conjecture that part of the time period when they were improving his suit and skills while he was harvesting healing particles in the quantum realm, some modifications were made either A) to the suit or B) to Scott so that he could stay big longer. But that's a stretch to assume.

And also, the gauntlet was such a big deal. You had to go to this race of dwarves to harvest the power of a star to forge it. Or you can be Tony Stark and make your own damn glove. While Tony Stark is not completely a Mary Sue, the fact that he can solve just about any problem puts him pretty darn close.

And of course, time travel weirdness, but that's not really an inconsistent part of the movie. It didn't contradict other rules they set up. How it interacts with the rest of the rules is a different story.


And yes, I agree that there was a remarkable number of survivors (like 100%) at ground zero of such a cataclysmic explosion. I mean, yeah, it's a superhero movie, but that explosion was pretty major, and there are a lot of characters who aren't Thor, Carol, Hulk, etc.

It would've been a pretty good scene if they had something akin to Violet Parr from the Incredibles. That would be a pretty good plot explanation.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on May 03, 2019, 12:11:24 pm
Are they really going to ignore the thousands of parallel universes they created, like the one where Loki has the Tesseract? 

No, they aren't going to ignore it; in fact they are going to turn it into a new TV series. Seriously. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9140554/
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on May 03, 2019, 02:52:20 pm
By my count, they created two very divergent parallel universes (Loki escapes with the Tesseract in one, Thanos and his army flat out vanish in another), and then maybe 3 with minor divergences (stolen Pym particles in 1970, Jane attacked by a racoon in Asgard, and Cap staying in the past in some other universe).

The plotholes that bothered me were Thanos and his whole army going through time with no Pym particles, despite that being a major plot point for our protagonists. Iron Man figuring out time travel in a frickin afternoon. All of Peter Parker's friends being dusted? And then Thanos's power compared to the main cast fluctuates scene to scene, but I've come to expect that by now. And a minor one: where did Valkyrie get the pegasus?

I know there was one more thing that bothered me, but I don't remember it right now.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on May 03, 2019, 02:59:12 pm
The plotholes that bothered me were Thanos and his whole army going through time with no Pym particles, despite that being a major plot point for our protagonists.

The Russo's actually addressed this one in an interview (https://www.reddit.com/r/marvelstudios/comments/bj0it4/joe_russos_qa_about_the_plot_of_avengers_endgame/):


Q: How did Thanos bring his army to the future?

A: There is a guy called Maw in his army, he was a great wizard. Thanos himself was a brilliant genius as well. Those two easily reverse engineered and mass produced Pym Particles.


My full but brief review, copied from my other forum (http://forum.pittersplace.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&p=27112#p27112):

Avengers: Endgame - Spoilers will be in spoiler markings. There's a reason I waited a couple days before writing this up... so much to unpack. Did it live up to the hype? Mostly. It was a very good and enjoyable film... but what stands out the most about it is just how much it is sticking with me. You know how sometimes you hear a catchy song, and then it's stuck in your head and you can't get it out? That's what this movie has been doing to me for the past day and a half. It's messing with me on a subconscious level; I find myself constantly drifting back to it.

So it's long. And it's pretty distinctly divided into 3 parts. In the first part of the movie, you can feel the length; certain scenes are clearly moving very slowly. But it's intentional; it makes perfect sense given the things that are happening. You feel the weight of what the characters feel. But still, about a third of the way through, I found myself thinking "yeah this is fine, but not nearly the amazing thing I was hoping for".

The second part is an enjoyable heist film. It does a lot of interesting things, and there's a lot happening at once. It's still nothing amazing or huge.

Then the third part... there is one singular defining moment when the movie turns into the biggest, most epic, and hype movie I've seen in a very long time. For me, that moment is When you see Cap with the hammer. It's just so good. I suppose the third part starts a bit before that actual moment, but it's a slower ramp up up to that point.

Is it a perfect movie? No. But it succeeds in a big way at 2 important things: Being a huge epic film filled with as much weight and importance as the LotR films, and being a very good ending to a 22-film saga. I really don't know if you could ask for a better way to really wrap up all of the previous 21 films.

So one thing I didn't like as much: I didn't like that they went with a time travel route at all. Sure we all knew that it was a likely possibility of what the movie would be about... but given the way that they actually ended up doing everything; it turns out the writers didn't even need time travel. I am glad that they didn't just use time travel to change the past and undo everything that happened... that would have been worse. But since the plan was never to alter the past so that things never happened that way, then the same basic heist movie could have happened without time travel.. just make it so that instead of Thanos destroying the stones, he hid them somewhere. And then instead of fighting past Thanos at the end, they would be fighting present Thanos again. I can't say for sure that that would have been a better movie... I'm no writer. It's just that there's always so much extra complexity when you have time travel that they probably could have done without.

So anyway... I'm planning on seeing it again next week. I think the last time I saw a movie twice in theaters was Return of the King. It's not something I do generally. But I really feel that this film needs a second watching. There is just so much there. I'm actually not sure whether I liked it more than Infinity War or not, but considering that Infinity War was one of the 10 best movies I saw last year, that's a lot to live up to.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on May 03, 2019, 03:03:48 pm
By my count, they created two very divergent parallel universes (Loki escapes with the Tesseract in one, Thanos and his army flat out vanish in another), and then maybe 3 with minor divergences (stolen Pym particles in 1970, Jane attacked by a racoon in Asgard, and Cap staying in the past in some other universe).

I think your third "minor" is actually a major.

Cap marrying Peggy changes her whole life. She originally would have gotten married to someone else; so that drastically changes that guy's life as well. Also, there is now a non-frozen Cap from 1945-2012. We don't know for sure what he did other than married life, but he's still a super hero. Everything he did for the next however long while he was living there would have been an impact that would make that timeline different than the prime timeline.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on May 03, 2019, 03:45:35 pm
The plotholes that bothered me were Thanos and his whole army going through time with no Pym particles, despite that being a major plot point for our protagonists.

The Russo's actually addressed this one in an interview (https://www.reddit.com/r/marvelstudios/comments/bj0it4/joe_russos_qa_about_the_plot_of_avengers_endgame/):


Q: How did Thanos bring his army to the future?

A: There is a guy called Maw in his army, he was a great wizard. Thanos himself was a brilliant genius as well. Those two easily reverse engineered and mass produced Pym Particles.

WTF. At the very least, this "explanation" should have been in the movie. It doesn't take long, just a few seconds to have Thanos tell Maw to study the Pym particles.


By my count, they created two very divergent parallel universes (Loki escapes with the Tesseract in one, Thanos and his army flat out vanish in another), and then maybe 3 with minor divergences (stolen Pym particles in 1970, Jane attacked by a racoon in Asgard, and Cap staying in the past in some other universe).

I think your third "minor" is actually a major.

Cap marrying Peggy changes her whole life. She originally would have gotten married to someone else; so that drastically changes that guy's life as well. Also, there is now a non-frozen Cap from 1945-2012. We don't know for sure what he did other than married life, but he's still a super hero. Everything he did for the next however long while he was living there would have been an impact that would make that timeline different than the prime timeline.

Well, there is also a time-travelling Cap in the prime timeline. While I don't remember it being spelled out, it's implied that he did the same as the Cap that left the prime timeline: marry Peggy and live in the down low. He says that he took the piece of advice from Tony to get a life seriously, so I don't think he does any more superhero work after returning the stones and getting back to Peggy. If this Cap didn't affect the prime timeline, then the Cap that leaves this shouldn't change the one he goes to either. By the way, note that we don't know when exactly he goes back. Could have been 1945, could have been 1970, who knows.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on May 03, 2019, 04:18:08 pm
Well, there is also a time-travelling Cap in the prime timeline. While I don't remember it being spelled out, it's implied that he did the same as the Cap that left the prime timeline: marry Peggy and live in the down low. He says that he took the piece of advice from Tony to get a life seriously, so I don't think he does any more superhero work after returning the stones and getting back to Peggy. If this Cap didn't affect the prime timeline, then the Cap that leaves this shouldn't change the one he goes to either. By the way, note that we don't know when exactly he goes back. Could have been 1945, could have been 1970, who knows.

I don't quite get what you mean. There is only one Cap who travels through time, assuming you don't count being frozen and waking up in the future as traveling through time. In the prime timeline, Cap gets frozen in 1945, Peggy goes on to marry someone else, Cap wakes up in 2012 when Peggy is old. Now there's a new timeline in which Cap (from the prime timeline) shows up at some point (some point before Peggy gets married presumably), and marries Peggy and lives a life with her.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on May 03, 2019, 05:26:42 pm
There are two time-travelling Captains. The one that disappears at the end of the movie, and the old man that reveals himself right after, who is also a time traveller. Since in the MCU, you cannot travel to your own past, old man Steve has to be a different Captain from a different timeline. It's just implied that his timeline was basically identical to the prime one, so that the protagonists can get some closure on prime-timeline Captain.

EDIT: Read the link to the interview you provided. Apparently the Russo brothers say old Steve is the same Steve as the one that just jumped to another reality, and is only now stopping by, after living a full life in that reality, to give the shield to Wilson and give everyone some closure. This is... terribly unclear in the movie. If it was the same Cap, I would expect him to appear back in the platform, since that's how they've been back to their timeline every time before. It works so much worse than having it be a Captain from a different timeline altogether...
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Chappy7 on May 03, 2019, 06:34:57 pm
Are they really going to ignore the thousands of parallel universes they created, like the one where Loki has the Tesseract? 

No, they aren't going to ignore it; in fact they are going to turn it into a new TV series. Seriously. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9140554/

Didn't know this! Cool!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: AJD on May 03, 2019, 07:39:37 pm
So one thing I didn't like as much: I didn't like that they went with a time travel route at all. Sure we all knew that it was a likely possibility of what the movie would be about... but given the way that they actually ended up doing everything; it turns out the writers didn't even need time travel. I am glad that they didn't just use time travel to change the past and undo everything that happened... that would have been worse. But since the plan was never to alter the past so that things never happened that way, then the same basic heist movie could have happened without time travel.. just make it so that instead of Thanos destroying the stones, he hid them somewhere. And then instead of fighting past Thanos at the end, they would be fighting present Thanos again. I can't say for sure that that would have been a better movie... I'm no writer. It's just that there's always so much extra complexity when you have time travel that they probably could have done without.

I really disagree with this!

I think the use of time travel is really valuable for the movie for two reasons. The first is basically: It's Fun. Time-traveling back to earlier movies, especially Avengers 1, allows them to work in a lot of fanservice and easter eggs. There's callbacks to and jokes on recognizable earlier scenes (what does Peter Quill's hunt for the Power Stone look like to someone who's not in Quill's head? What happens when Steve is stuck in an elevator with a bunch of Hydra agents?); they get to feature cameos from actors whose characters were killed off or written out several movies ago, like Natalie Portman, Robert Redford, and Tilda Swinton, broadening the epic sweep of the films. Without time travel you don't get Cap wielding Mjolnir, let alone Cap fighting Cap. Having a heist take place in the backgrounds of other movies is way more fun than a heist in other locations where Thanos hid the stones. And I honestly love that there's exposition dialogue whose purpose is just to tell the viewer "No, shut up, time travel in this movie works in the way we, the writers, say it works, so that we can make the movie we want to make."

And then, also, in addition to just allowing some goofy fun, I think it really contributes to the overall themes of the film: Without the time travel plot, we don't get the stunning anticlimax of the Avengers just flat-out executing Thanos in the first ten minutes of the movie and then being like, well, now what—which lays the groundwork for one of the main themes the movie is working with: what really matters isn't just killing the bad guy; what matters is our connection to the people we love. Killing Thanos by itself isn't worth anything, so the movie makes it really easy. And then the use of time travel allows the movie to build on that theme of connection and love: it's how we get scenes between Stark and his dad, and between Thor and his mom; it allows Nebula to return the favor by helping Gamora turn against Thanos, just as Gamora helped her do the same. It also lets us see directly how much the characters have grown over the course of these movies: not only Nebula, but also Steve and Hulk, and even Thanos I guess, get juxtaposed with their past selves so we can be reminded of how they've changed.

It's a lot like the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, where Picard time-travels back to the first episode of the series—it helps increase the scope of the movie to really feel like the finale of a whole series by tying the earlier stage in its history directly into the capstone story.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ThetaSigma12 on May 03, 2019, 09:45:59 pm
Also how is Thor still worthy even though he is a complete bum?
That's not really a plot "hole" per se, just a disagreement with the movie's interpretation. You can't explain it away without saying "he's just worthy because the movie said so". Why I like that choice though, is because I think it shows redemption for Thor. He never lost his worthiness, only doubted himself. It wasn't tied to success or victory, just to the attitude of his heart.

Are they really going to ignore the thousands of parallel universes they created, like the one where Loki has the Tesseract?
Apparently multiverses are supposed to be the driving plot behind FFH, or so it has been rumoured.

How did Rocket and Hawkeye survive that massive explosion without any injuries at all? That was just really stupid.
Rocket is a little inexcusable I guess, but didn't War Machine have his armour on?

They certainly undid some bits from previous movies. Those are pretty glaring plot holes.
Excuse me? The whole point of time travel in Endgame is that it creates diverging timelines and you can't undo anything from previous movies. I thought they made that pretty clear.

And also, the gauntlet was such a big deal. You had to go to this race of dwarves to harvest the power of a star to forge it. Or you can be Tony Stark and make your own damn glove. While Tony Stark is not completely a Mary Sue, the fact that he can solve just about any problem puts him pretty darn close.
More or less fair enough, but I don't think that the gauntlet was a huge deal. If they had mentioned it had to be forged at Navaldier or wherever it would be a hole, but I don't think they mentioned that. It feels implausible but not inexcusable.

Honestly, I thought the movie was really tight. To me, there weren't any plot holes, just plot contrivances. Tech seemed to be developed about as fast as the plot needed, and the power of characters was inconsistently strong. That's been an issue with the MCU for a while now I guess.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ThetaSigma12 on May 03, 2019, 09:49:12 pm
EDIT: Read the link to the interview you provided. Apparently the Russo brothers say old Steve is the same Steve as the one that just jumped to another reality, and is only now stopping by, after living a full life in that reality, to give the shield to Wilson and give everyone some closure. This is... terribly unclear in the movie. If it was the same Cap, I would expect him to appear back in the platform, since that's how they've been back to their timeline every time before. It works so much worse than having it be a Captain from a different timeline altogether...

On the contrary, I thought that was terribly clear in the movie, and I'm a bit surprised it's a sticking point for so many people. Different minds I guess.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on May 03, 2019, 11:20:26 pm
There are two time-travelling Captains. The one that disappears at the end of the movie, and the old man that reveals himself right after, who is also a time traveller. Since in the MCU, you cannot travel to your own past, old man Steve has to be a different Captain from a different timeline. It's just implied that his timeline was basically identical to the prime one, so that the protagonists can get some closure on prime-timeline Captain.

EDIT: Read the link to the interview you provided. Apparently the Russo brothers say old Steve is the same Steve as the one that just jumped to another reality, and is only now stopping by, after living a full life in that reality, to give the shield to Wilson and give everyone some closure. This is... terribly unclear in the movie. If it was the same Cap, I would expect him to appear back in the platform, since that's how they've been back to their timeline every time before. It works so much worse than having it be a Captain from a different timeline altogether...

Wow yeah, I never would have thought of interpreting it the way you did!

I’m fact, I did misinterpret a part of that scene; but quite different from you.

I originally thought that the old man Cap didn’t time travel to get to that bench at that time, but rather had simply naturally aged to that point; after having gone 70 or so years into the past. And then just waited until the right day and time to go to that bench. This doesn’t work though; because Cap would have been living out his life in an alternate timeline (universe where Peggy marries him instead of original husband). So 70 years later, he wouldn’t arrive in a 2023 where the avengers were waiting for him; he would have arrived in an alternate 2023 instead. So rather than him just waiting until that moment to show up; he has to have time jumped again to get there.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on May 03, 2019, 11:25:21 pm
So one thing I didn't like as much: I didn't like that they went with a time travel route at all. Sure we all knew that it was a likely possibility of what the movie would be about... but given the way that they actually ended up doing everything; it turns out the writers didn't even need time travel. I am glad that they didn't just use time travel to change the past and undo everything that happened... that would have been worse. But since the plan was never to alter the past so that things never happened that way, then the same basic heist movie could have happened without time travel.. just make it so that instead of Thanos destroying the stones, he hid them somewhere. And then instead of fighting past Thanos at the end, they would be fighting present Thanos again. I can't say for sure that that would have been a better movie... I'm no writer. It's just that there's always so much extra complexity when you have time travel that they probably could have done without.

I really disagree with this!

I think the use of time travel is really valuable for the movie for two reasons. The first is basically: It's Fun. Time-traveling back to earlier movies, especially Avengers 1, allows them to work in a lot of fanservice and easter eggs. There's callbacks to and jokes on recognizable earlier scenes (what does Peter Quill's hunt for the Power Stone look like to someone who's not in Quill's head? What happens when Steve is stuck in an elevator with a bunch of Hydra agents?); they get to feature cameos from actors whose characters were killed off or written out several movies ago, like Natalie Portman, Robert Redford, and Tilda Swinton, broadening the epic sweep of the films. Without time travel you don't get Cap wielding Mjolnir, let alone Cap fighting Cap. Having a heist take place in the backgrounds of other movies is way more fun than a heist in other locations where Thanos hid the stones. And I honestly love that there's exposition dialogue whose purpose is just to tell the viewer "No, shut up, time travel in this movie works in the way we, the writers, say it works, so that we can make the movie we want to make."

And then, also, in addition to just allowing some goofy fun, I think it really contributes to the overall themes of the film: Without the time travel plot, we don't get the stunning anticlimax of the Avengers just flat-out executing Thanos in the first ten minutes of the movie and then being like, well, now what—which lays the groundwork for one of the main themes the movie is working with: what really matters isn't just killing the bad guy; what matters is our connection to the people we love. Killing Thanos by itself isn't worth anything, so the movie makes it really easy. And then the use of time travel allows the movie to build on that theme of connection and love: it's how we get scenes between Stark and his dad, and between Thor and his mom; it allows Nebula to return the favor by helping Gamora turn against Thanos, just as Gamora helped her do the same. It also lets us see directly how much the characters have grown over the course of these movies: not only Nebula, but also Steve and Hulk, and even Thanos I guess, get juxtaposed with their past selves so we can be reminded of how they've changed.

It's a lot like the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, where Picard time-travels back to the first episode of the series—it helps increase the scope of the movie to really feel like the finale of a whole series by tying the earlier stage in its history directly into the capstone story.

All interesting points. Stuff I’ll keep in mind for my second viewing next week.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on May 03, 2019, 11:30:33 pm
Has anyone complained here yet about how Ant-Man was freed? That really bugged me. Such a lame deus ex machina. I would have loved it so much more if it had been Louis who freed him; with some line about how he’d been trying to track down the van for years.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on May 04, 2019, 01:15:38 am
EDIT: Read the link to the interview you provided. Apparently the Russo brothers say old Steve is the same Steve as the one that just jumped to another reality, and is only now stopping by, after living a full life in that reality, to give the shield to Wilson and give everyone some closure. This is... terribly unclear in the movie. If it was the same Cap, I would expect him to appear back in the platform, since that's how they've been back to their timeline every time before. It works so much worse than having it be a Captain from a different timeline altogether...

On the contrary, I thought that was terribly clear in the movie, and I'm a bit surprised it's a sticking point for so many people. Different minds I guess.

It goes against the time travel rules they had implied until then. They admittedly never really explain them, besides saying you can’t change your past. But then they also focus quite a bit on the quantum “platform”, and it seems that you can only go back to your timeline through it. Like some sort of dimensional anchor. So when Cap leaves on the platform, but never comes back through it, I had to assume old Steve was a different Steve. They could have had old Steve reappear on the platform, their interpretation would have been a lot clearer that way, at least to me.

Has anyone complained here yet about how Ant-Man was freed? That really bugged me. Such a lame deus ex machina. I would have loved it so much more if it had been Louis who freed him; with some line about how he’d been trying to track down the van for years.

It didn’t bother me. It could have happened in countless other ways (someone moving the van to another storage, or reappraising for a sale, or a janitor touching it by accident... whatever. The rat was representative of random chance over an extremely long time (5 years). It didn’t have to be a rat, it’s just what ended up happening.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ThetaSigma12 on May 04, 2019, 06:58:21 am
Has anyone complained here yet about how Ant-Man was freed? That really bugged me. Such a lame deus ex machina. I would have loved it so much more if it had been Louis who freed him; with some line about how he’d been trying to track down the van for years.

I interpreted it as Dr. Strange's doing. He chose the exact world where that random event would happen precisely when it needed too.

EDIT: Read the link to the interview you provided. Apparently the Russo brothers say old Steve is the same Steve as the one that just jumped to another reality, and is only now stopping by, after living a full life in that reality, to give the shield to Wilson and give everyone some closure. This is... terribly unclear in the movie. If it was the same Cap, I would expect him to appear back in the platform, since that's how they've been back to their timeline every time before. It works so much worse than having it be a Captain from a different timeline altogether...
On the contrary, I thought that was terribly clear in the movie, and I'm a bit surprised it's a sticking point for so many people. Different minds I guess.

It goes against the time travel rules they had implied until then. They admittedly never really explain them, besides saying you can’t change your past. But then they also focus quite a bit on the quantum “platform”, and it seems that you can only go back to your timeline through it. Like some sort of dimensional anchor. So when Cap leaves on the platform, but never comes back through it, I had to assume old Steve was a different Steve. They could have had old Steve reappear on the platform, their interpretation would have been a lot clearer that way, at least to me.
Yeah, the portal thing was a bit weirder and I wish they would have clarified that. I guess I can see how that would trip people up.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on May 04, 2019, 04:16:17 pm
Yeah, the portal thing was a bit weirder and I wish they would have clarified that. I guess I can see how that would trip people up.

Yeah, I think that's maybe the reason I originally misinterpreted the scene, and thought that Old Cap did not time travel to be there, but rather simply waited and aged through normal time until arriving at the right spot at the right time.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 06, 2019, 10:09:10 am
They certainly undid some bits from previous movies. Those are pretty glaring plot holes.
Excuse me? The whole point of time travel in Endgame is that it creates diverging timelines and you can't undo anything from previous movies. I thought they made that pretty clear.
 

Well, no, I wasn't referring to time travel undoing anything. I just mean that the movie undoes some of its own internal consistency, mainly Giant-Man lasting longer than usual and the Infinity Stones being wielded in a mundane gauntlet.

Which you already addressed.

For the former, there could be a nebulous period of time off-screen where he practices this mode and is doing better at it. And I suppose one could argue that the latter wasn't really that safe to begin with, which is why we have that ending. I could concede that point.

As for the rat, I think it's fine. The whole movie is predicated on lucky events. Actually, just about any movie is predicated on luck. Raiders of the Lost Ark would've gone differently if Marion's medallion didn't fall into the fire. Star Wars would've gone differently if that R5 unit hadn't malfunctioned. Back to the Future would've gone differently if Marty hadn't been carrying that clock tower flyer with him (though that opens a whole new can of worms on that plot hole).

So a wild animal stepping in the right place at the right time doesn't really bother me, especially since given a long enough time, such an event was likely to happen anyway. It's just the timing that could be questioned, though not by me. I was cool with it. At the very least, it resulted in some pretty funny movie posters with the true hero of the story.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on May 06, 2019, 10:15:51 am
So I finally watched Shazam! over the weekend. That movie turned out much better than I expected. The marketing did not do this movie justice.

It was really just a fun movie, and I wouldn't have placed it in the DC universe if I didn't already know it was there—well, and all the various references to DC lore, which was part of what made it so fun.

I'm not a kid person, but even I found the foster home to be utterly charming. If this movie doesn't create a bunch of new foster homes because of how it's been portrayed, then I'll be surprised. Of course, maybe some people will try to host foster kids who shouldn't, but that's a different matter. It was a really heartwarming piece of the movie.

It pretty much was Big but with a Superman-like character. That comparison was not lost on the filmmakers as they inserted an homage to Big.

And I liked how they resolved the ending because the movie avoided the trope of the hero being outclassed but then inexplicably gets good enough to defeat the villain.

I highly recommend this film. It's a bit of a YA escapist fantasy, but then again, many comic book stories are.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on October 09, 2019, 08:57:28 pm
So I just watched Joker yesterday, and a question has been bouncing in my head since then. Staying vague to avoid unmarked spoilers: does Arthur Fleck become the Joker by the end of the movie, or just turn into a vaguely Joker-like character? I’ve been leaning towards the later (or rather, he’s still missing something by the end of it), but I am also wondering if there’s a meaningful difference between the two. Thoughts?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: ThetaSigma12 on October 13, 2019, 09:26:20 pm
So I just watched Joker yesterday, and a question has been bouncing in my head since then. Staying vague to avoid unmarked spoilers: does Arthur Fleck become the Joker by the end of the movie, or just turn into a vaguely Joker-like character? I’ve been leaning towards the later (or rather, he’s still missing something by the end of it), but I am also wondering if there’s a meaningful difference between the two. Thoughts?

Aren't all the Jokers "Joker-like characters" though? It's such an iconic character and there have been hundreds of different takes on him in movies, television, comic runs, etc. Is there even some baseline you can argue defines the joker anymore?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pacovf on October 13, 2019, 11:56:40 pm
I think the reason why I bring up the difference is that, if you want to make a story about the origin of a character, then the story must cover the characteristics that are common to most of the previous interpretations, or at least justify any large deviations. If you miss something, then on some level the story failed for me. For example, if somebody makes an origin story for Batman, but doesn’t explain his refusal to kill, then that’s a problem.

What I thought was missing from Joker was his manipulative side. Arthur Fleck wears his emotions on his sleeve, and mostly kills when his anger takes hold of him. However, something common in Joker portrayals is that he likes to toy with his victims, either going back and forth on whether he kill tell them, bringing them to their emotional breaking point, or something else. He also controls his minions through some combination of mind games and fear. Nothing of the sort is shown in this movie. Arthur, through sheer luck, finds himself at the centre of a violent social movement, but I see no reason to believe he can leverage that into larger scale crime. We’re shown the origins of a serial killer, but the Joker is more than that.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on October 16, 2019, 05:31:45 pm
Okay, I saw the Facebook ad for the Banana Splits movie, and I instantly set the DVR. I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch this, but I eventually braved it.

It was…better than I expected. Of course, my expectations were low, so that’s faint praise. The family’s story was actually pretty decent. Not overly deep but clearly some writers spent a bit of time crafting the tale. A few of the supporting characters devolved into caricatures. I will say that the two kids they cast in the lead roles did a really good job considering their ages. The casting was a good call.

Honestly, when the horror started, I found it a bit pedestrian. It was a step up from a Troma film. There’s the trope of the person running away from danger in a straight line, which was, of course, completely avoidable.

Turning the Banana Splits into animatronic robots was amusing. I’ve seen accusations that they couldn’t get the rights to Five Nights at Freddy’s, and I could certainly see it. Honestly, does it matter which intellectual property they use? Freddy’s, Showbiz, Disney’s Hall of Presidents? The movie probably would’ve stayed the same. The big difference is attracting the audience. Having Freddy’s name would’ve brought in some audience members, but so does having the Banana Splits’ name. At least it worked for me in that morbid curiosity sort of way.

The important thing here is: Simpsons did it.

The movie does allow for a sequel. I hope they don’t try it, but it’s not up to me.

In all, I enjoyed the movie. There was zero groundbreaking going on here. It was your typical slasher fare with the bonus of having a story that doesn’t suck. Was my enjoyment enhanced by the inclusion of the Hannah-Barbera content? Maybe. I would’ve certainly only had a passing interest in this movie if it was about some generic animatronic band. Attaching the Banana Splits caught my attention. While I liked Five Nights at Freddy’s, even if they did release a movie based on that, I’d probably shrug it off. This is likely a cash grab, and it worked on me (assuming I bought anything as a result of their commercials).
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on October 18, 2019, 06:46:30 pm
I just saw Parasite by Bong Joon-ho. That was one hell of a movie.

Truth be told, the main reason why I watch movies these days is when I'm with people and we don't have anything less awkward to do together. I find that it's just so rare for even very highly hyped movies to be worth my time these days, unless my time is temporarily not worth very much due to being with people and not having anything less awkward to do — like yeah sure I can keep myself entertained by watching movies, but if I'm by myself and I have a full-length movie's worth of time on my hands, there's other stuff that I can do instead which is beyond entertaining, either because it's actually useful or because it's moving, inspiring, thought-provoking, etc, which movies can also be, but few of them are more than very mildly so compared to some other forms of media such as music or visual novels.

Parasite is one of those movies.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on October 20, 2019, 06:56:28 pm
I feel like many movies are slipping sideways into an alternate reality where communication is just extraordinarily difficult. X wants to say something important to Y but then Y says something at the wrong moment and so X doesn't get to say the important thing. Not something that ever happens in real life, but common in movies. Or something super weird happens and for some reason, the characters only talk about it for half a minute. And various stuff similar to that. Particularly common in movies that start from a fairly normal situation in the present.

I don't think I'm super hard to please, I mostly just want my characters to not be doing obviously stupid and unrealistic things. But often that's too much to ask!

There should be like a test for this. A movie fails this test when there's a situation where it would obviously be a good idea to sit down and have a real discussion and yet that's not happening. A shocking amount of stuff would fail that test. Or maybe I'm just watching the wrong things.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on October 21, 2019, 06:31:43 am
Expanding on this thought... some youtuber I'm following, when talking about Quentin Tarantino, said that his movies are obviously motivated by autism or something to that effect. I think there might be something to that.

In Quentin Tarantino movies, there are often scenes where some character explains their current take on the situation fairly elaborately and in very basic, easy-to-understand terms. King Schultz does this several times in Django Unchained, Warren does it in The Hateful Eight, Oswaldo also does it in The Hateful Eight, Hans Landa does it in Inglorious Bastards, and there are lots of other examples. This is in some sense also a parallel reality, because people IRL don't tend to do this as much, and not in this particular way. The important difference, though, is that it's behavior that actually contributes to the character's goals.

In every QT movie, every character always actions in a way that reasonably contributes to their current goal set. They're not always doing the smartest thing, but they're always doing something where you know how they think it's sensible. Without fault. The kind of behavior I was complaining about has never happened in a QT movie, and I'd bet a lot of money that it never will.

The connection to autism would then be that people who have some kind of autism but are also very smart tend to have a more logically coherent world view, because they're lacking the social intuition about lots of things, and thus have to reconstruct a lot of stuff from first principles. And so they won't slip sideways into an alternate reality that doesn't survive any serious thought. This is my reformulation of what the aforementioned youtuber said, anyway. I certainly know too little about autism to make this anything but speculation. And granted, there are other directors and shows that are never guilty of this stuff.

But this could go some way in explaining why QT's movies are so good (or at least popular, but I think they're quite good). Ostensibly he's not doing anything special. What's special about the plot or setting of the Hateful Eight? But I take what happens far more seriously than when most other films do it. It feels like everything has more gravity.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Titandrake on October 22, 2019, 02:27:47 am
I feel like many movies are slipping sideways into an alternate reality where communication is just extraordinarily difficult. X wants to say something important to Y but then Y says something at the wrong moment and so X doesn't get to say the important thing. Not something that ever happens in real life, but common in movies. Or something super weird happens and for some reason, the characters only talk about it for half a minute. And various stuff similar to that. Particularly common in movies that start from a fairly normal situation in the present.

I don't think I'm super hard to please, I mostly just want my characters to not be doing obviously stupid and unrealistic things. But often that's too much to ask!

There should be like a test for this. A movie fails this test when there's a situation where it would obviously be a good idea to sit down and have a real discussion and yet that's not happening. A shocking amount of stuff would fail that test. Or maybe I'm just watching the wrong things.

I think this is an easy trap to fall into writing-wise, where you can manufacture a lot of conflict if people fail to communicate with each other, and writers want the conflict for the plot, so they make people act like fake people instead of real people.

I feel the problem is that writing real people is hard.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pubby on October 22, 2019, 01:52:45 pm
Funnily enough Silverspawn, I think autistic people would write the opposite kinds of stories that you want. People with autism often have a hard time imagining the viewpoints of other - see for example the "sally-anne" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally%E2%80%93Anne_test) test which most autistic children fail. Characters created by autistic people tend to be pastiches of existing characters with their motives and actions templated by cliches and prior work. I'm not ragging on them though - most people are bad at writing characters!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on October 22, 2019, 04:03:39 pm
That seems compatible. I'm saying people who have autism but are smart enough to figure out how people think anyway are going to be less likely to make these mistakes. If you don't figure it out, well then you of course can't write other people.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 19, 2020, 11:29:49 am
Can we talk about Frozen II? I thought it was legit amazing.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on January 19, 2020, 11:48:27 pm
Speaking of really good sequels, I just saw Creed II. Awesome.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: scolapasta on February 10, 2020, 02:28:39 pm
And the Oscar for most Themed Kingdom goes to...

So, watching last night, it occurred to me that it would be fun to design a Dominion kingdom in honor of the Oscars, with one pile corresponding to each of the Best Pictures nominees. Here's what I came up with (hopefully these make sense if you've seen the movies; I don't give further detail, in order to minimize spoilers):

Marriage Story: Advisor
Ford v. Ferrari: Chariot Race
Joker: Jester
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Cultist
Parasite: Mountebank
Irishman: Rabble
1917: Messenger
Jojo Rabbit: Hideout
Little Women: Storyteller

And for the 10th pile and Landscape cards:
the Academy and SAG: Acting Troupe, Academy, Guildhall

Some Honorable Mentions:
Worker's Village, Guardian (Irishman)
Secret Passage (Parasite)
Tournament (Oscars)
Triumph (and the Winner is...)
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on February 11, 2020, 02:00:04 pm
I finally got to see One Cut of the Dead.

When the credits first rolled, I sat there thinking, “Well, yeah, it was an amazing feat of technical skill, but why on earth did people rate this movie so highly?” Then it was what followed the credits that I realized what a wonder this movie was—enough to prompt me to rewatch the earlier scenes that I had dismissed before. Nicely done.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on April 27, 2020, 03:34:05 pm
I watched Green Room finally. I had been interested in it when it came out since how often do you see Patrick Stewart play a neo-Nazi scumbag? It was a good movie, but the bland characterization did not help my face blindness at all. I couldn't tell the band members apart aside from the fact that one is a woman. I couldn't see much difference between the neo-Nazis except for god Stewart. As a result, it was a bit difficult for me to pick up on the nuances of the story. But it was a brutal story that worked well. I noticed that while the pit bull was a credible and brutal threat, its portrayal was sympathetic. I wonder if that was influenced by Stewart's love of pit bulls.

I also watched the Endless based on a Netflix ad. It was an interesting movie about UFO death cults, mysterious video tapes, and time distortion. I was unaware that it's a soft sequel to Resonance, though sequel is not the right term for it based on what I read. Even though I had not seen Resonance, I got the gist of the Endless. Resonance is not required viewing for the Endless, but there apparently are crossover moments between the two. Interestingly, while the Endless contains Easter eggs for Resonance, there are Easter eggs in Resonance as well, even though it was filmed 5 years earlier. I find this shared mythology interesting, and I'll have to check out Resonance now.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on April 27, 2020, 04:50:10 pm
Green Room was fairly entertaining.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on August 20, 2020, 01:53:24 pm
I'm a few decades late, but I watched Lawrence of Arabia recently. I think it every bit lived up to the hype. My brief review:

Quote
Loved it! Everyone talks about how great the cinematography is; but what I wasn't ready for was just how non-stop filled with amazing shots it was. Like a lot of movies with good cinematography have a handful of scenes that I notice as beautiful; this just seemed like constant shot after shot of amazing work. The music was so good; even if a little repetitive. It didn't even feel too long; like I can't think of anything I wish had been cut. The story itself was fine; more character-driven than event-driven, which I tend to not like as much. But I was never board. The dialog as a whole didn't stand out a lot; but there were a few really great lines throughout.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on December 09, 2020, 05:16:57 pm
People need to talk more about movies around here. I just saw A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and really loved it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on December 09, 2020, 06:38:00 pm
Actually [i'm thinking of ending things] is one of the greatest things I've ever seen, go watch it it's on Netflix.

I think the best way to choose movies may be by screen writer, rather than by actors or even by director. The movies I've seen that have been written by Charlie Kaufman are Being John Malkovich, Her (not actually directed by Kaufmann), Adaptation, and this one, and I found all of them phenomenal.

Unrelated, how do other people watch non-Netflix movies? Do you just buy them?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on December 09, 2020, 08:07:00 pm
Unrelated, how do other people watch non-Netflix movies? Do you just buy them?

The same way I watch Netflix movies. I just buy a ProtonVPN subscription.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on December 09, 2020, 10:35:29 pm

Unrelated, how do other people watch non-Netflix movies? Do you just buy them?

http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=5259.0

2275 movies on DVD and counting.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on December 09, 2020, 10:38:30 pm
I'm a huge Kaufman fan, but I haven’t seen Ending Things yet.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 01, 2021, 03:42:08 pm
Unrelated, how do other people watch non-Netflix movies? Do you just buy them?

The same way I watch Netflix movies. I just buy a ProtonVPN subscription.

Because it's cool to randomly resume discussions months later.

How does having a VPN solve the problem? I have one too -- it lets me watch m ore stuff on Netflix, but not on not-Neflix.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on January 02, 2021, 07:57:09 am
Unrelated, how do other people watch non-Netflix movies? Do you just buy them?

The same way I watch Netflix movies. I just buy a ProtonVPN subscription.

Because it's cool to randomly resume discussions months later.

How does having a VPN solve the problem? I have one too -- it lets me watch m ore stuff on Netflix, but not on not-Neflix.

It lets me watch more stuff on Rutracker.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: LostPhoenix on January 03, 2021, 07:34:30 pm
Watched Inception for the first time last night. Probably the best movie I've seen in a long time.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on January 03, 2021, 09:23:38 pm
Watched Inception for the first time last night. Probably the best movie I've seen in a long time.

Welcome to 2010!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 04, 2021, 07:59:40 am
Unrelated, how do other people watch non-Netflix movies? Do you just buy them?

The same way I watch Netflix movies. I just buy a ProtonVPN subscription.

Because it's cool to randomly resume discussions months later.

How does having a VPN solve the problem? I have one too -- it lets me watch m ore stuff on Netflix, but not on not-Neflix.

It lets me watch more stuff on Rutracker.

Wait, those are torrents, aren't they? I'm scared. Afaik, using torrents is the one illegal thing you can do on the internet that actually has pretty high chances of getting you caught.

I guess a VPN reduces that probability to 0? But if you live in Finland, you probably have nothing to fear anyway?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on January 04, 2021, 01:11:30 pm
Unrelated, how do other people watch non-Netflix movies? Do you just buy them?

The same way I watch Netflix movies. I just buy a ProtonVPN subscription.

Because it's cool to randomly resume discussions months later.

How does having a VPN solve the problem? I have one too -- it lets me watch m ore stuff on Netflix, but not on not-Neflix.

It lets me watch more stuff on Rutracker.

Wait, those are torrents, aren't they? I'm scared. Afaik, using torrents is the one illegal thing you can do on the internet that actually has pretty high chances of getting you caught.

I guess a VPN reduces that probability to 0? But if you live in Finland, you probably have nothing to fear anyway?

Using torrents is legal! Downloading and seeding copyrighted works or illegal materials is not.

Your IP address is visible to everyone who connects to you, but connecting the dots from your IP address to your identity is something that requires the cooperation of your ISP, or your VPN provider if you use a VPN. In Finland, there is a law that can require ISPs to reveal your identity to the copyright owners if you've been caught seeding a torrent, but without a specific law like this, they can't just go and reveal your private information to random people who request it even if they happen to represent some company who owns a bunch of copyrights. There isn't a similar law for VPN providers and there isn't one in Switzerland either (where ProtonVPN is based) so it would be legally impossible for them to acquire that. ProtonVPN also doesn't keep any unnecessary data around, so even if they were required to hand it over, they wouldn't have anything to hand over, unless they have your payment info for automatic monthly payments. So it kind of depends on what laws your country has, what laws your VPN provider's country has, and how much you can trust what the VPN provider says about what data they keep, but in practice it probably should be impossible for the copyright owners to catch you torrenting with a VPN.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: anordinaryman on January 14, 2021, 11:28:49 pm
Actually [i'm thinking of ending things] is one of the greatest things I've ever seen, go watch it it's on Netflix.

I think the best way to choose movies may be by screen writer, rather than by actors or even by director. The movies I've seen that have been written by Charlie Kaufman are Being John Malkovich, Her, Adaptation, and this one, and I found all of them phenomenal.

Unrelated, how do other people watch non-Netflix movies? Do you just buy them?

Kaufman did not write Her, although lots of people described the movie as Kaufman-esque. Movies by Kaufman that are absolutely worth watching you haven't mentioned are

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Synecdoche, New York

Both are phenomenal films. Roger Ebert called Synecdoche, New York his favorite film of the decade (it came out 2008), and although it did not perform well in the box office, critics did love it. It is definitely the richest and most difficult of his films, but it's absolutely worth it. Just don't try to understand what is happening on a first watch, you'll enjoy it more. It's a lot better on subsequent watches, at least for me, as I started to unpack more of it and resonate more and more with it.  trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIizh6nYnTU). The trailer can't really spoil this movie.

And Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is also amazing, a great gut-punch romance film. I recommend most people watching it before Synecdoche, New York. trailer (http://youtube.com/watch?v=yE-f1alkq9I).

He also wrote Anomalisa, which is a claymation movie, but I have not seen that yet.

Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on January 15, 2021, 12:10:12 am
Funny, I also had it in my mind that “Her” was Kaufman. I guess because Spike Jonze has directed a couple Kaufman movies so I get their respective works mixed up.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: pubby on January 15, 2021, 02:32:35 pm
I tried to watch Synechdoche New York years ago and hated it so much I turned it off halfway. It seemed very full of itself in a pretentious way, and it came without enough plot substance or acting/directing talent to keep me interested. I suspect the reason some critics love it is because it's about a self-absorbed theater schmuck and they identify with that.

FWIW I liked most of Kaufman's other films. Being John Malkovich is probably my favorite.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on January 15, 2021, 05:28:43 pm
Funny, I also had it in my mind that “Her” was Kaufman. I guess because Spike Jonze has directed a couple Kaufman movies so I get their respective works mixed up.

Yeah, that was the reason for me.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on January 25, 2021, 03:01:49 pm
Finally bought a 4K player; over 2 years after I bought a 4K projector and 4K Receiver... so I'll finally get to use those for actual 4K movies!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on February 07, 2021, 01:45:15 pm
Gotten around to watching Eternal Sunshine... . I think it was the worst Kaufman movie I've seen so far, which is to say, it was really really good.

Something I've realized -- all of his movies (or rather, the four I've seen) have a theme in common, and that's male loneliness. None of them tackles it in the obvious way, but it's there in all of them.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on June 10, 2021, 01:29:07 pm
Just watched Swiss Army Man. It was amazing. Really, really loved it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on June 11, 2021, 09:48:44 am
Just watched Swiss Army Man. It was amazing. Really, really loved it.

Between this, Guns Akimbo, and the Miracle Workers series, I'm really digging Daniel Radcliffe's freedom to film whatever madness he wants as he cashes his Harry Potter checks. Dude is living the dream (I hope; I haven't dug into his personal life to see if it sucks).

SAM was a fun, whimsical film. It did get rather sad and downright creepy at the end.

How many actors can proudly put on their CV that they played a great corpse?
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on June 11, 2021, 02:12:05 pm
Just watched Swiss Army Man. It was amazing. Really, really loved it.

Between this, Guns Akimbo, and the Miracle Workers series, I'm really digging Daniel Radcliffe's freedom to film whatever madness he wants as he cashes his Harry Potter checks. Dude is living the dream (I hope; I haven't dug into his personal life to see if it sucks).

SAM was a fun, whimsical film. It did get rather sad and downright creepy at the end.

How many actors can proudly put on their CV that they played a great corpse?

Also loved Guns Akimbo. The last 5 minutes of SAM were my least favorite part of the movie; but it wasn't bad enough to ruin it for me.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on June 11, 2021, 02:23:42 pm
You know, I didn't love the ending of SAM either. I'm generally okay with weird, ambiguous endings, but this one didn't do it for me. Felt almost like they had to wrap things up without a clear direction. But the reveal was nice.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on January 10, 2022, 04:25:48 pm
A year in movies...

I watched far fewer films in 2021 compared to 2020. 136 total; 68 for the first time. Of the first-time movies; my top 10, in the order I watched them in:
Honorable mentions:
My number one of the year was definitely Swiss Army Man. I can't say it's for everyone, so you might not like it. But I loved every minute of it.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: victor11 on February 28, 2022, 07:02:28 am
If anyone of y'all a fan of thriller movies, go watch Run (2020).
I bet you, you'll become a fan of Sarah Paulson once you watch it. Her face is made for such thriller movies man
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Tables on March 11, 2022, 06:10:55 pm
My partner and I have recently watched all 9 main series star war films, in release order. There will be some spoilers throughout. Here are our rough opinions on them:

* IV: A New Hope - Incredible film, slightly soured by Lucas' insistence on "improving" things with mostly awkward edits (why do we need the exact same Han Solo scene to play out twice, with Jabba and Greedo?). Action scenes are a little awkward at times, but the story is great. My 2nd favourite in the franchise.

* V: The Empire Strikes Back - Even better than the original, which it builds on well. We of course knew the big reveal with Vader at the end but it's still so well done. Action scenes and lightsaber duels are better done than the original. My favourite of the nine.

* VI: Return of the Jedi - Not as good as the first two, I feel like the Leia is Luke's sister reveal is just a little... forced in the context of the first two films. Like they wanted to replicate the success of the Vader reveal but couldn't quite do it right. Otherwise it's a really great film. My 4th favourite.

* I: The Phantom Menace - It's prequel memes time! Qui-gon and Obi-Wan are the real strength of this film, Anakin and everything around him is the biggest issue. Bigger than Jar-Jar. Like... little 9 year old slave boy, somehow able to build his own pod racer, using... what money? How does he afford to do this? And his ship is somehow able to compete with all these competitive (and cheating) racing experts with ships built by adults. Simultaneously along with his magic slave money tree he also builds a droid. What kind of droid? One to help him and his mum as they are destitute... nah just kidding he builds a translator droid, of course. And somehow little 9 year old Anakin convinces a teenage queen to semi-fall in love with him, not creepy at all. Yeah, there's issues here. On the plus side, from this point on the lightsaber duels tend to be much better, which is cool.

* II: Attack of the Clones - More memes. Despite watching this less than a month ago I honestly barely remember the overall plot. Teenage Anakin is arrogant, creepy and angsty, which honestly is exactly how he should be portrayed. His dialogue maybe could have been improved but he's well acted I feel. Obi-Wan carries the film again, though.

* III: Revenge of the Sith - I remember saying to my partner of this one, it feels like they ran out of plot to write and so substituted in more action packed lightsaber duels. I lost count of how many there are, at least 6 I think (Dooku, Obi vs Grievous, Anakin vs Grievous, Windu + Anakin + Palpatine, Yoda vs Palpatine, Obi vs Anakin). Anakin's switch in the Windu and Palpatine scene feels very sudden. Like he was building up to betrayal at that point but he just switches from "he should stand trial" to "Ima kill all Jedi now" in about 3 seconds. The Padme birth scene at the end is hilariously bad. Overall not good.

* VII: The Force Awakens - It feels somewhat generic. I don't really like the way Kylo Ren acts in this one, it feels like they're trying to force another Vader character but without it building up the respect it needs. And in general Ray and her situation feels quite contrived, with how it builds up. The map macguffin plot also feels quite weak, like... can you really not identify that area of space? But somehow R2D2 had a near perfect map of everything else and that's what you needed? The Han death scene was excellently done, and I feel like that really helped sell Ren's character as something good.

* VIII: The Last Jedi - Okay, controversial opinion time. This is the 3rd best Star Wars film. I went in with low expectations and I was blown away. The plot was constantly unpredictable with little twists and surprises throughout, yet they rarely felt random or just thrown in for the sake of it. After most of these twists I immediately went, "Ah, that's what was being foreshadowed". Luke's character I feel was done very well, and fits what you'd expect of someone who had huge burdens and expectations placed upon them which they catastrophically failed to reach. Kylo manages to become a truly interesting character and Rey develops alongside him, and I loved the reveal about Rey's parents. And the final Luke vs Ren fight scene was done so well, with a great twist reveal - there was hinting he wasn't really there, and that's why he was dodging everything, as well you can't interact through space. The film wasn't perfect, the Leia floating into the airlock scene in particular was dumb. But overall, it was a great film with a few dumb moments.

* IX: The Rise of Skywalker - I had heard lots of bad things about this film, even more than VIII so again went in with low expectations, and it managed to drop below them in about the first 5 minutes. Bringing back Palpatine was dumb. Changing Ray's lineage to try and pull a "Vader" moment was VERY dumb and just cheapened the big reveal from The Last Jedi. Ray and Ren suddenly being able to physically interact through a distance felt super dumb and inconsistent after VIII, where it was a pretty plot point that you CAN'T do that. And while I know Force Healing is a thing in the extended Star Wars universe, Rey suddenly being able to use it here felt pretty ridiculous as well. The entire plot was built around a silly macguffin as well. The Leia scenes all felt very fake, they did not do Carrie Fisher justice. Still, some of the lightsaber duels were great, and the moment that Rey handed Ren the lightsaber was at least internally consistent, which made for a pretty cool scene. Overall, it was a dumb film with a few great moments.

Overall, the original series was the best, the Prequels are badly written but have cool worlds and stories, the sequels, watch 7+8 and just don't bother with 9.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on March 12, 2022, 01:58:04 pm
* VIII: The Last Jedi - Okay, controversial opinion time. This is the 3rd best Star Wars film. I went in with low expectations and I was blown away. The plot was constantly unpredictable with little twists and surprises throughout, yet they rarely felt random or just thrown in for the sake of it. After most of these twists I immediately went, "Ah, that's what was being foreshadowed". Luke's character I feel was done very well, and fits what you'd expect of someone who had huge burdens and expectations placed upon them which they catastrophically failed to reach. Kylo manages to become a truly interesting character and Rey develops alongside him, and I loved the reveal about Rey's parents. And the final Luke vs Ren fight scene was done so well, with a great twist reveal - there was hinting he wasn't really there, and that's why he was dodging everything, as well you can't interact through space. The film wasn't perfect, the Leia floating into the airlock scene in particular was dumb. But overall, it was a great film with a few dumb moments.

Controversial perhaps, but still 100% correct.

I didn't particularly like any of the new trilogy, but VIII was for sure the best.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: J Reggie on March 12, 2022, 03:21:05 pm
I agree with pretty much all of that analysis, except for the part about TLJ. For me, TLJ is hands down the best of the 9. Even people who liked the movie seemed to universally dislike a few scenes (Canto Bight and Leia flying through space) which I thought were particularly good. The whole idea of her being able to tap into that power when she needed it the most, like someone lifting a car to save a child, was compelling to me.

TRoS had many good points, including C3PO finally being an enjoyable character, but its main problem was that it broke the #1 rule of improv. It's totally fine that they went into the trilogy without a clear plan for all three movies; apparently it wasn't even decided that Vader was Luke's father until writing the script for ESB. But if you do that, you have to follow the "yes and" rule and not just undo a major plot point of the previous film.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: silverspawn on March 12, 2022, 04:43:33 pm
The only thing I remember about VIII was that they pulled the double twist on Ray's parents, which I found just so very lame. But that may in fact make it one of the better movies since I don't remember something that really pissed me off, which is true for e.g. IX
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: spineflu on March 12, 2022, 05:22:43 pm
TRoS had many good points, including C3PO finally being an enjoyable character, but its main problem was that it broke the #1 rule of improv. It's totally fine that they went into the trilogy without a clear plan for all three movies; apparently it wasn't even decided that Vader was Luke's father until writing the script for ESB. But if you do that, you have to follow the "yes and" rule and not just undo a major plot point of the previous film.

yeah IX didn't even commit to its own yes-ands - just immediately walk back chewbacca death, babu frik dying, C3P0 getting wiped, even kylo dying. The most child-playing-with-action-figures star war.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on March 16, 2022, 10:53:07 am
So The Batman was quite good.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Kuildeous on March 16, 2022, 02:00:47 pm
I felt that Kylo Ren was the Anakin we deserved. While prequels Anakin was okay, Kylo really epitomized the sense of entitlement and rage that goes along great with a Sith.

For all the flaws of the prequels, though, I felt they were redeemed by the Clone Wars. Even Jar Jar was only mildly bothersome in the series. And as incredible as it sounds, they made Darth Maul to be infinitely more interesting than the blah villain in Phantom Menace.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: spineflu on March 18, 2022, 11:01:26 am

For all the flaws of the prequels, though, I felt they were redeemed by the Clone Wars. Even Jar Jar was only mildly bothersome in the series.

yeah that Jar Jar/Mace Windu arc in s5(?) was the buddy comedy i didn't know star wars needed


 And as incredible as it sounds, they made Darth Maul to be infinitely more interesting than the blah villain in Phantom Menace.

yeah good thing they absolutely squandered the end of that in Rebels
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Glitters on March 26, 2022, 01:57:20 pm
Finally watched Moana and fell in love with computer-drawn tropical isles :'(
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: vidicate on March 26, 2022, 08:48:09 pm
Finally watched Moana and fell in love with computer-drawn tropical isles :'(
Shiny!
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: GendoIkari on August 02, 2022, 11:28:27 pm
I just watched Upstream Color last week (finally). And then just watched it again tonight. It's wonderful, and definitely something that needs to be watched more than once. Not something that's for everyone, though.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on September 13, 2022, 12:33:52 pm
I just rewatched the extended Hobbit trilogy and after all, I wouldn't say they're better than the LOTR movies. The story is fundamentally much more appealing to me because of how much of the conflict is not strictly good versus evil but a bunch of sides with conflicting selfish but somewhat justified motivations, visually the movies are beautiful with the exception of a couple of bizarrely weak looking VFX shots in Desolation of Smaug in the barrel fight scene and with the molten gold in Erebor (bizarre because of how much VFX there is, with almost all of it looking great, including stuff which I am under the impression should be a lot more difficult to get to look good), and considering of the scope of the source material it's really impressive to what level they were able to elevate it, but overall the LOTR movies are like consistently on a very high level that I think An Unexpected Journey can mostly match but the other two largely can't quite, except during some of their strongest moments.

Nonetheless, I still think a lot of the hate the Hobbit trilogy got was for stupid reasons and it's definitely a very worthwhile addition to the LOTR films. I'll probably rewatch the extended LOTR movies next and see if I still think this after that.
Title: Re: Movies: Any movie buffs?
Post by: Awaclus on September 25, 2022, 04:53:03 pm
Having now rewatched the extended LOTR too, yeah that was a pretty good assessment. I think the main reason why the theatrical editions I watched a few years ago felt so disappointing was simply how much content is left out and how much of it is actually super important, especially in Two Towers. Fellowship of the Ring actually felt a bit rushed even with the extended edition, not necessarily because I'm missing the content from the book that wasn't included, it's more that the scenes that are there aren't long enough to really convey the length of the journey or the gravity of some of those situations.

Official ranking of all of the six extended movies: Return of the King > Two Towers > Unexpected Journey > Fellowship of the Ring >>> Battle of the Five Armies > Desolation of Smaug, with Desolation of Smaug still being really good.