Movie Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'Random Thoughts' started by sphinxvc, Dec 29, 2015.

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  1. cizx.6

    cizx.6 Just couldn't stay away...

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    I liked Covenant a lot. I don't really care about the Alien franchise, though. I think I saw Aliens 3 when it was on cable, and I know I've seen the first two at some point. I haven't seen Prometheus, but I'm going to watch it now, since I liked Covenant. Michael Fassbender is fantastic.

    I've also never seen Bladerunner, but I did hear that Harrison Ford was a robot or whatever in one of the remakes or reissues. So yeah, he's that.
     
  2. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    Saw Wonder Woman, while I found it better written and editted than prior DC efforts it's still pretty meh. Marvel still has a better flow and methods of ending without making you go "......really???"
    like the fact that Steve chooses to suicide when they just showed the team using timed bombs, and that he just kicked a guy off with a parachute...

    Or the magical bracers that never get a mention versus "God killer" (that's also short enough at times to hide in the small of the back in a dress and yet long enough at times - we lightsaber now.)

    The ending felt very off compared to the good start.
     
  3. Mystic

    Mystic Mystique's Spiritual Advisor

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    Saw Wonder Woman tonight. Fantastic movie and deserves all the praise it gets.

    Good writing, heartfelt heroine, doesn't try to take itself so gods damn seriously to a fault like recent DC box office busts, pro-feminism, etc.

    I have to completely disagree @Grahad2. While some of Marvel's movies are very solid (looking at you Winter Soldier and Guardians) they tend to be all over the place on quality from film to film. Still, they got a much better track record than DC has post Nolan.

    Personally find Wonder Woman to be the best DC outing in the last 15 years outside of The Dark Knight.
     
  4. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    @Mystic I'd agree it's the best DC effort excluding The Dark Knight trilogy, but IMO it's not as good as the effusive praise leads one to believe - and probably contributes to the disappointment (the higher the expectation the greater the disappointment I guess). The Dark Knight is what I'd call fantastic. Wonder Woman? Great, perhaps, but not fantastic. The fight choreography, plot, etc., are at least a step down.

    RE: Marvel, yeah they have hits and misses, but probably the tools the Marvel artisans involved use to invoke suspension of believe works better on me vis-a-vis DC's artisans' toolkits. I don't get so much "...really...?" moments.
     
  5. Mystic

    Mystic Mystique's Spiritual Advisor

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    At this point I expect the worst out of every DC effort, so Wonder Woman took me by complete surprise. I still have no hope for Justice League and maybe only a glimmer for Aquaman, but only because of the director choice.
     
  6. Deep Funk

    Deep Funk Deep thoughts - Friend

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    Just watched the 2003 film "Old Boy."

    The story is complex enough. The characters are unique and the plot is bizarre. Loved the soundtrack and I feel like skipping the 2017 version.

    It was like "Amélie" in Korea with a sweet and sour nightmare twist. That ending is like "Donnie Darko's" ending and makes you wonder.
     
  7. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    True, even though the film was crap overall (well, that might be a bit harsh).
    You haven't lived, man ... :cool:
     
  8. ogodei

    ogodei MOT: Austin AudioWorks

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    Just got shipment notice for Criterion's release of Tarkovsky's "Stalker", hope it's worth the wait.
     
  9. Za Warudo

    Za Warudo Acquaintance

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    Saw Jim Jarmusch's recent film Paterson, starring Adam Driver as a bus driver named Paterson living in Paterson NJ, who is also a poet influenced by William Carlos Williams' epic poem Paterson. It's my favorite film of 2016, over major award winners like Moonlight and The Salesman, which are very good films themselves.
     
  10. ogodei

    ogodei MOT: Austin AudioWorks

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    That one's on my list, double feature with 'Stranger Than Paradise" I think. I haven't gone crazy for much of his recent stuff.
     
  11. Za Warudo

    Za Warudo Acquaintance

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    The only other Jarmusch I've seen is The Limits of Control which I disliked.

    Other top films of 2016 I've seen
    Cemetery of Splendor - Joe never disappoints
    By the Time It Gets Dark - sort of like the strange lovechild of Godard and Weerasethakul
    Love and Friendship - funniest film of the year, and Kate Beckinsale is amazing in it

    Docs:
    I Called Him Morgan - must see for any jazz fan
    Ta'ang
    I Am Not Your Negro
     
  12. cizx.6

    cizx.6 Just couldn't stay away...

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    So I saw Atomic Blonde. It's worth a watch just for Sofia Boutella, but it's pretty great overall.
    I just ordered the graphic novel it's based on to see how well it matches up.

    Spiderman was also good.
     
  13. PeteMullersKeyboard

    PeteMullersKeyboard New

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    I usually hate to reply to a thread before having read it to the end but...yes to the second. I also thought Inception was rather easy to follow, I generally think that it's become "cool" to pretend you don't get films or books or whatever...seems these days it's become almost some sort of social bonding device...now I'm rambling...

    Point being, I think the ratio of people who truly "don't get" some films to people who say they don't get them is something like 1:3....I hope...otherwise the average person is far less intelligent than I had hoped...
     
  14. muse

    muse Facebook Friend

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    I've not posted on here in months, but I feel obliged to come in here and say:

    If you haven't caught Nolan's Dunkirk yet, please do yourself a favor and watch it in a theater with IMAX* and a good sound system**.

    Not a typical war film. More a film about war. Captures the stark reality at Dunkirk and the prevailing sentiment and mood perfectly. No emotional manipulation a la SPR, so don't go in expecting a story arch revolving around complex characters with complicated backstories.

    The best film of 2017 by far.

    *No seriously. IMAX or bust. The aerial sequences throughout the film is simply unreal. You won't get a tenth of the visceral feel without it.

    **I've watched it 3 times (twice in IMAX and once in standard format) and a cinema with crap sound and/or crap acoustics will significantly degrade your experience.
     
  15. PeteMullersKeyboard

    PeteMullersKeyboard New

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    Couldn't agree more. Everyone who rags on this film seems to miss the point entirely...it's not a film for you to arrogantly insert yourself into and "identify with" , it's not a film that's designed to hit all the checkboxes...it's like a moving painting, designed to give you a large, general picture of an extremely stressful and emotional event. The entire film is about feeling and emotion, it's not about any one character. Some people seem to have a very hard time with this, and almost all the negative reviews seem to stem from that main issue. I only managed to see it once, in a rather terrible theatre, wish I had seen it in IMAX.
     
  16. muse

    muse Facebook Friend

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    Some of the negative reviews that Dunkirk got were unfair and downright infuriating. Characters having little to no backstory was entirely by design. Many people look at the war film genre and almost subconsciously demand riveting characters, the typical dialogue where two men sit in a foxhole and ruminate about the life left back at home to fight a meaningless war, or a pivotal moment of grand self-sacrifice leading to the ultimate salvation of the masses, so on so forth.

    Dunkirk really endeared itself to me because it was filmed from the honest perspective of a soldier right in the moment of battle. Characters were not connected by anything except random chance, and were united by just a singular goal of survival. To infuse emotional attachment to the characters (think Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Josh Harnett, Ben Affleck, Willem Dafoe etc.) would have been disingenuous. By detracting from the Battle of Dunkirk itself by drawing focus to practically irrelevant details such as character backstory, that would be dishonest and contradictory to what Nolan was trying to achieve with film.
     
  17. muse

    muse Facebook Friend

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    Has anybody on here caught 'It' in cinemas yet? It's been quite a long time since I've had the balls to catch a horror film and I've been feeling an itch to try one now. The premise of the films sounds quite intriguing and critical reception has been generally positive. Friends who have read Stephen King's novel have been pretty excited about this. Only problem is -- I am one of those dudes with an irrational fear of circus clowns.

    I'm also open to modern horror films, and looking for any recommendations. I'd like to request for ones that don't leave a lasting, haunting impressions, but I suppose that'd mean the film was shit.
     
  18. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    Saw it yesterday. Rather disappointing overall. Too slow, too long, too loud. They tried to capture the feel of the original while adding some new stuff. More "action-y" than the original, but you have to expect that given how Hollywood has evolved over the past 35 years. Characters were rather hollow. IMO they overdid the "slow burn" and everything felt too drawn out and forcefully slow in a painful, just fuckin' do/say it kind of way. Storyline felt like it had potential but was rather lame in the end (won't say how to avoid spoilage).

    What didn't help was the theatre turning the volume up to 11, resulting in ridiculous distortion and resonances. Rolled up tissue fully stuffed into ear canals to avoid exceeding the pain threshold, whereas I usually only need to have them lightly inserted. I always leave saying to myself, "Never going to a movie again at the cinema, it's just not worth it."

    My recommendation: Unless you're a diehard fan, wait for it to come out on your streaming service of choice.
     
  19. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

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    I saw it last Friday. Overall, I liked it, though it still pales in comparison to the first. I definitely liked the care with which the director tried to be faithful to the original, and he certainly created some beautiful imagery, but something got lost. I felt like it lacked any sort of whimsy or wonder. Too straight and serious. And yes, each scene was a few moments too long - even for someone like me who was worried they wouldn't take their time. I think nearly every scene with Jared Leto could have been drastically shortened to no ill effect, which is disappointing because I normally really like him. The overall story was OK, but shallow - it wasn't clear what questions they were asking, which made it difficult to accept whatever answers they provided. I think Mackenzie Davis was stellar in her small role, and I enjoyed Ana de Armas as well - but neither had whatever Sean Young had going on in the first. Gosling was fine and it was nice to see Ford put in some real energy.

    I am happy they made it, and I think it stands up well to most science fiction made now - certainly a nice change of pace.

    Oh, and I agree, movie theaters really need to turn the volume down. I forget who said it earlier, but I really do believe the volume is set by already deaf teenagers.
     
  20. Boops

    Boops Friend

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    @gixxerwimp @fraggler

    File this one under everyone has an opinion: Saw Bladerunner 2049 yesterday and loved nearly every minute of it. I wouldn't call the pace slow; I'd say it was deliberate. There was plenty of time to take in all the details. Small emotional beats were given space before moving on to the next bit of information. When the action and violence came, it had impact and force because of the contrast.

    I am very sorry to hear about the too loud sound, because the score of this movie is f'ing incredible. It did at least as much as the production design (which was also incredible) to put you in that world. I cannot remember the last time I was so blown away by the music in a film. I cannot wait to see this movie again and the music is largely responsible.

    The acting was great for me. I was totally locked in from the first scene with Gosling and Dave Bautista. I have somehow avoided Gosling -- this is the first movie I've seen him in -- and he was great. I'll give a shout out to Robin Wright also. @fraggler covered the rest. The only sour note for me: Jared Leto. I'm not sure what he thought he was doing, but it was weird. It wasn't weird/unsettling in a good way. It was just odd.

    Last note: I decided to completely avoid all previews for this, so I went in blind. Only visual I saw was the poster. I don't do this for all movies, but I am so glad I did it here.
     
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