Movie Discussion Thread

I watched this a week or two ago and agree completely. Heartbreaking and beautifully shot.

 

Fully agreed. M.Scorsese does very unique, distinguishable work.

 

New Tomb Raider isn't worth sitting through.

 

I've heard that multiple times, and I have a few friends who are hell-bent on dragging me to it this weekend.

 

It felt like a small budget, almost made for TV film. Not much entertainment value really.

 

I've heard the same and that's a pity. Though the latest Lara Croft adventure is prolly better than previous ones... right?

 

^I didn't think so.

 

Watched Mother! tonight.

So. Freaking. Good.

The fact that it got no Oscar nominations is one more nail in the coffin of their credibility.

 

The Shape of Water.

Not exactly what I expected, yes the visuals are great and I like that Guillermo del Toro is taking paths less threaded by mainstream Hollywood. I'm all for writers and directors trying new things and attempting to break the mold. But the story here is honestly pretty illogical, predicable and cliché. Even for a fantasy setting the logical leaps are pushing the limits.

It's a pretty incoherent world in terms of what might realistically happen and what might not. One minute we are in logical government land where laws of physics apply, guns kill people and cars function like cars, then the next moment we are in dreamy Disney sea-world land where the protagonists exist in there own little shielded bubble and everything goes their way.

The film also seemed very slow and also quite dark at times, and with not much humor in there either. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind dark films, and not every film needs to be funny. But if you expected Wes Anderson this is not that. It's not exactly a family film, there is masturbation, torture, murder, bestiality etc.. I mean was the film really made better by the masturbation and interspecies sex? Who is this film for? It's certainly not a family film and it's not exactly a lighthearted date movie either. I suppose the people who are supposed to appreciate this film the most are film buffs, but they've probably see it all (like myself) and will probably find the story somewhat lacking.

Then I have to wonder, did they really have to make the antagonist so stereotypically evil and depraved? Did it really make the film better? What if he was just incompetent? What if he changed his mind along the way? What if he was more of a comic relief? Was the film really made better by having him as a stereotypical sadistic and power-hungry white male? I also have to admit I'm getting a little tired of the "white men in power are evil" stereotype propagated by Hollywood lately. Yes, equality is good and all that but that doesn't mean that all white men in power have to be either rotten to the core or flat out incompetent.

Overall it's a bit of a weird film honestly, and I don't mean just the intended weirdness. I mean that it's a confused film in terms of story telling, setting and overall message. It seems that Pan's Labyrinth will remain Guillermo del Toro's best work to date, at least in my opinion.

 

The film was intentionally over the top. It's a strength, not a flaw. And Michael Shannon...that guy...possibly the most underrated actor of our time.

That said, it was NOT the movie of the year.

And, I agree. It doesn't stand up to Pan's Labyrinth.

 

Yupp, he's pretty underrated. Also Doug Jones, great work by him.

I generally don't mind over the top films.... it's just that I found the film somewhat unfocused in the writing department. In my opinion 30-50% of all the government and Russian stuff could have been left on the cutting room floor and no great loss probably. Going into the film I was probably expecting more "Pan's Labyrinth magic" and less "generic bad guy cold war thriller". Oh well..

 

Im not sure if I missed the discussion back in this thread but I just watched Wind River and thought it was excellent. Entertaining with nuanced social commentary and a great performance by Renner & Olsen showing me range that I didn't know they had. Some people have spoken about a couple of jumps in logic/plot that may be there but honestly it doesn't get in the way of the story telling at all.

Also the newest Star Wars film was awful (as were the last 4) and it's been difficult watching critics laud it as wonderful. Goes to show where media is headed these days.

 

I think the films are more similar than not.

Fantasy films with the backdrop of real historical events (Spanish civil war/Cold war).

And, they both speak to evil/power being overcome by those considered to be unimportant or fringe (children, rebels, mutes, homosexuals, the "help" - in both films).

In both films you even have people on the "inside" that are not what they seem - the doctor in one movie and the Russian scientist on the other.

One of them simply worked better for me than the other.

As an aside, I have no problem with the white male villian. Most people in power are white males after all. What bigger villian could there possibly be? Seems like an accurate portrayal of a patriarchal society moreso than a trend in Hollywood.

 

I read it and can't wait. Some I know are at the midnight showing tonight.

Please, no spoilers.

 

I just signed up for moviepass because it's on sale for $90 a year.. I'll let you know how it goes!
I saw pacific rim uprising this week.. story retarded but the action was even better than the first film and like people said, less fights at night so you can see the action better and it definitely benefited from advances in cgi quality..
see it if all you want is cool robot fights, not a coherent plot or acting though.
seeing ready player one on friday!

 

Folks, have you watched Phantom Thread (Daniel Day Lewis yay!)? Heard it's worth it, hence the question: is it?

 

I have not, but it's one of my favorite directors. I'm sure it's fantastic and it's certainly on my shortlist of things to see.

 

I get back to The Last of the Mohicans once in a while and this will probably never change. A really good movie is the one to get back to, I guess.

 

I hated Pan's Labyrinth. It was heavy handed as hell and had none of the magic of the of the film that inspired it.

 

Michael Shannon was wonderful in this movie.