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The Movies Thread

Started by Sakura, May 19, 2014, 04:58:44 AM

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Crewe

Quote from: BojackHorsefella on February 26, 2020, 02:27:28 PM
Quote from: Crewe on February 26, 2020, 02:14:27 PM
HOW did I not pick up on that basketball analogy and theme?
The halftime bit is amazing to me.
The more I think about it, the more I like it. I might have to watch it again.

Isn't that article just a ton of fun? So cool.

It's stuff like that which is why I enjoyed Mother! so much in 2017. I love movies that are so open to interpretations.

I actually haven't seen Mother yet because of the mixed reviews, but now maybe Ill give it a look.


BojackHorsefella

Quote from: Crewe on February 26, 2020, 02:36:31 PM
Quote from: BojackHorsefella on February 26, 2020, 02:27:28 PM
Quote from: Crewe on February 26, 2020, 02:14:27 PM
HOW did I not pick up on that basketball analogy and theme?
The halftime bit is amazing to me.
The more I think about it, the more I like it. I might have to watch it again.

Isn't that article just a ton of fun? So cool.

It's stuff like that which is why I enjoyed Mother! so much in 2017. I love movies that are so open to interpretations.

I actually haven't seen Mother yet because of the mixed reviews, but now maybe Ill give it a look.


Is it a religious allegory? A warning about climate change? A commentary on the pitfalls of fame and celebrity? IS IT ALL OF THESE AND EVEN MORE I HAVEN'T THOUGHT OF/FORGOTTEN ABOUT SINCE SEEING THE MOVIE? MAYBE!

I really need to rewatch it. Another one the fiancee hated, haha.

Crewe

Quote from: BojackHorsefella on February 26, 2020, 03:10:15 PM
Quote from: Crewe on February 26, 2020, 02:36:31 PM
Quote from: BojackHorsefella on February 26, 2020, 02:27:28 PM
Quote from: Crewe on February 26, 2020, 02:14:27 PM
HOW did I not pick up on that basketball analogy and theme?
The halftime bit is amazing to me.
The more I think about it, the more I like it. I might have to watch it again.

Isn't that article just a ton of fun? So cool.

It's stuff like that which is why I enjoyed Mother! so much in 2017. I love movies that are so open to interpretations.

I actually haven't seen Mother yet because of the mixed reviews, but now maybe Ill give it a look.


Is it a religious allegory? A warning about climate change? A commentary on the pitfalls of fame and celebrity? IS IT ALL OF THESE AND EVEN MORE I HAVEN'T THOUGHT OF/FORGOTTEN ABOUT SINCE SEEING THE MOVIE? MAYBE!

I really need to rewatch it. Another one the fiancee hated, haha.

lol sounds like an exciting union ;-)
seriously though, I liked discussing films with my SO that she didnt like and I did because it offered view points I may not have considered.
But now all I have is my dog, and you guys lol

BojackHorsefella

I agree, she helps stop me from gatekeeping and being open to views that oppose mine when it comes to film, heh. Which is also something I'm hoping to work on in my podcast (hopefully might get a test episode done this weekend with Uncut Gems as our guinea pig, as my buddy hasn't seen it yet).


I'll go ahead and tell this story, because I'm just a strange fella.

So, around Thanksgiving last year, that movie "Last Christmas" comes out, with Khaleesi and the Crazy Rich Asians guy. SPOILER for anyone who hasn't seen it, but the big twist is that we learn the CRA guy is actually Khaleesi's hallucination basically, because the previous Christmas she received a heart transplant, and it was from him ("Last christmas, I gave you my heart").

Naturally, being EXTREMELY online in internet movie communities, I learned of the twist pretty quick (plus, the trailer basically confirmed it already), but she doesn't watch trailers and doesn't care about movies at all basically (she enjoys watching them but doesn't obsess like I do), so she had no idea. I had to convince her to see the movie still, and fortunately, her sister was visiting and wanted to see it, so it was easy to do.

Which is to say: I literally paid $70+ with tickets and concessions to take me, her, her sister and her sister's boyfriend, just so I could see my fiancee's reaction to the twist. 100% worth it too, she just goes "WHAT?!" and started laughing (most of the theater did too), so it was pretty great.

My priorities are really weird.

Crewe

lol I can appreciate that story, and dude! you're starting a podcast??

ive been thinking about having one for a while now but am having trouble narrowing down the subject matter.
At times I want an all encompassing entertainment show, other times, just devoted to movies, and sometimes even more detailed just particular scenes.
I haven't looked in to it yet, but Im guessing you could have a two person podcast without being in the same location because Ive also considered one with a friend who lives in StL

BojackHorsefella

Quote from: Crewe on February 26, 2020, 03:26:50 PM
lol I can appreciate that story, and dude! you're starting a podcast??

ive been thinking about having one for a while now but am having trouble narrowing down the subject matter.
At times I want an all encompassing entertainment show, other times, just devoted to movies, and sometimes even more detailed just particular scenes.
I haven't looked in to it yet, but Im guessing you could have a two person podcast without being in the same location because Ive also considered one with a friend who lives in StL


Yeah, the plan is me and a buddy calling each other over the phone, preferably with headsets, and recording our own selves on our PCs. That way, when we're done, he can just send me his audio file, and I can sync them up together and do edits from there where necessary. That's why we want to do a test episode, to see how practical any of this is vs theoretical.


As far as the concept, I may have mentioned it before, but the idea is "What Did We Miss" and it's all about movies we missed in theaters and just have never seen since. Preferably will be doing a lot of older movies, but since this is just a test episode, we're going with Uncut Gems since he hasn't seen it yet.

If, by some matter of fate, it blows up, I intend to do a Patreon with "What Did You Miss," which would be more of a typical "new release review" movie podcast, as well as other episodes focused around cult movies we love (After Hours, Rubber, Street Trash, etc), and possibly an entirely different spin-off with a similar premise: Doing a Bojack Horseman episode-by-episode podcast, since my friend has never watched it and I have watched and rewatched it many, many times.

Eventually, after the wedding and honeymoon and everything when I have far, far more money, I want to get actual, proper mics for recording and whatever other equipment I may need, which is why this is just a "test" to sort of understand the rhythms of our conversation in this podcast context while also testing the editing side and such. Should be fun!

BojackHorsefella

I'm dumb. I said Icarus in reference to The Lighthouse earlier. I meant Prometheus.

Crewe

#262
Quote from: BojackHorsefella on February 26, 2020, 04:48:49 PM
Quote from: Crewe on February 26, 2020, 03:26:50 PM
lol I can appreciate that story, and dude! you're starting a podcast??

ive been thinking about having one for a while now but am having trouble narrowing down the subject matter.
At times I want an all encompassing entertainment show, other times, just devoted to movies, and sometimes even more detailed just particular scenes.
I haven't looked in to it yet, but Im guessing you could have a two person podcast without being in the same location because Ive also considered one with a friend who lives in StL

Yeah, the plan is me and a buddy calling each other over the phone, preferably with headsets, and recording our own selves on our PCs. That way, when we're done, he can just send me his audio file, and I can sync them up together and do edits from there where necessary. That's why we want to do a test episode, to see how practical any of this is vs theoretical.


As far as the concept, I may have mentioned it before, but the idea is "What Did We Miss" and it's all about movies we missed in theaters and just have never seen since. Preferably will be doing a lot of older movies, but since this is just a test episode, we're going with Uncut Gems since he hasn't seen it yet.

If, by some matter of fate, it blows up, I intend to do a Patreon with "What Did You Miss," which would be more of a typical "new release review" movie podcast, as well as other episodes focused around cult movies we love (After Hours, Rubber, Street Trash, etc), and possibly an entirely different spin-off with a similar premise: Doing a Bojack Horseman episode-by-episode podcast, since my friend has never watched it and I have watched and rewatched it many, many times.

Eventually, after the wedding and honeymoon and everything when I have far, far more money, I want to get actual, proper mics for recording and whatever other equipment I may need, which is why this is just a "test" to sort of understand the rhythms of our conversation in this podcast context while also testing the editing side and such. Should be fun!

yea I need to investigate what sort of startup costs there will be because I cant go overboard on another hobby. Im hoping some of my equipment could be used but I sincerely doubt it. If yo get into looking before me, post about it :-)

BojackHorsefella

Busy weekend for me. Lets go in reverse order, shall we?

The Way Back

I'm trying to support the studio "mid-programmers," movies that would have been far more widely talked about back in the 90s than they are today, where seemingly only franchises are allowed headlines anymore. This one's a simple story about an alcoholic trying to find...well, the way back.

Most of what I'd read on it said it's a fairly by the numbers movie, and it is. It looks like a type of "the kids help the coach, the coach helps the kids" thing, but he never really helps the kids at anything more than basketball, and the basketball sort of helps him more than the kids do, so it really is just the story of this one guy. And I liked it better for it.

Considering the personal aspects that run parallel to Affleck's own troubles, it becomes an intriguing character study. Affleck's performance is really the only thing carrying the movie, as every other character is one-note.

All-in-all, I did like the movie. Again, it's nothing mind-blowing, and probably will be treated for most as a "watch when it's on netflix" type, especially with coronavirus fears right now, but worth seeing in theaters should you get the chance.



The Invisible Man

This is EXACTLY how you remake a movie. Taking a classic IP, updating it to modern times and using it to explore modern themes rather than just retell the same story again and again.

If you've seen the trailer, you sort of know the drill: Elizabeth Moss escapes from her abusive husband, only for him to kill himself. Or did he,as a...phantom menace...now seems to be stalking her around. And nobody believes her, of course.

There are stretches of this movie that are pretty slow, and your enjoyment may very depended on how tense you get staring at shadowy hallways or the empty corner of a room.

Moss' performance is fantastic, as expected. She's also been an excellent actress (I wasn't a fan of "The Kitchen," but Moss was easily the best part), and this movie's no exception. The supporting cast is good, not great, although they're not given much to do except telling Moss' character to "move on."

And while he doesn't get to do very much, the actor playing Adrian, the abusive husband (Oliver Jackson-Cohen, who was great in The Haunting of Hill House), but does enough with the time has to make you understand who Adrian was.

All-in-all, no surprise this one's a box office smash and a crowd pleaser.




Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Well, Uncut Gems is no longer my favorite movie of 2019.

Not even realizing this was an Oscar snub just about all around, it FINALLY came to theaters here, so the fiancee and I went on Friday (yup, I went to the theater three times this weekend. BRING IT, CORONAVIRUS).

A French-spoken film of which the only male characters are simply there to transport people to and from the island and have maybe 5 minutes of total screentime, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is an incredibly unique film. The four main characters, all women, are all free on this island, and yet the specter of the patriarchy haunts them.

Marianne arrives at an island, hired to paint a portrait of Heloise by Heloise's mother, La Comtesse. The portrait is intended to be delivered to a man in Milan who, if approving of the portrait, will marry Heloise, allowing La Comtesse to live in Milan as she's always dreamed. However, the previous painter, a man, was unable to get Heloise to pose.

As the film goes on we learn more of the bonds that women are bound by. I don't want to go into too much, as it's one of the few films I didn't read much about beforehand which made it a far more rewarding experience than my usual movie-going experience, but even when all the women on the island are set equally (there's a great friendship that develops between Heloise, Marianne and the servant girl Sophie), they still do not have freedom from choices made for them.

Just absolutely superb, with stellar direction by Celine Sciamma. A must watch.

Crewe

I am out of the loop. I haven't heard of any of those films  :o
A couple of those might interest me.

I sort of had a movie watch run myself....a few drive by thoughts...

Zombileland 2
it completely lost the feel and the attraction of the first one for me. I know its still a popular well liked film, but to me, it was just way too bland.
Sure, a lot of the jokes and exchanges were money. But the doppelgänger characters were just too much.
The additional character of Zoey Deutch was fine as Madison but Avon Jogiea as Berkely was weak and annoying.
Rosario Dawson is a plus in any film, but couldn't save this one for me.
It was ok, not great.

Rope
Hitchcock reared up during my weekend as he does occasionally and I love this film.
When narcissism, arrogance and murder are a theme, Im in.
The fact this film was one continuous shot in one room is simply amazing to me.

The Lady Vanishes
Ive only seen this one on Hitch's must see list of films but was always apprehensive. This weekend though, I dove in.
The first night takes place in a hotel room where our female lead (English tourist Margaret Lockwood) has (Michael Redgrave as Gilbert) tossed from his room for making too much noise. She has a friendly conversation in that moment with a Ms. Froy before retiring. After a verbal tussle in which they settle their dispute, the couple meets on the train headed to England.
Just prior, Iris (Lockwood) is accidentally bludgeoned with a flower pot on the train platform.
She is groggy but insists she be allowed on the train. Friendly and motherly, the elderly Ms. Froy says she will look after the girl.
Iris later wakes up on the train searching for her new found friend, only to discover no-one ever saw her board the train.
Now battling with her own sanity, Iris, along with Gilbert, who slowly believes her, retrace her steps while searching for Ms. Froy.
Great characters, and Hitchcock and trains man....
I really didnt think Id be much in to this film when it started as it was filmed in 1937, but it won me over.
I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone here as I doubt it would have an appeal, except maybe buc, I dunno.
This was just me purging my long time list.




BojackHorsefella

Oh man, I need to see The Lady Vanishes. They were talking about it briefly on The Next Picture Show podcast for Knives Out, since Knives Out reveals the actual murder (or, at least, why the person you immediately think did it, didn't) in a sort of turning the tables on the who-dunnit.

The point being made that, in The Lady Vanishes, as you stated, we, the audience, clearly know she met Ms. Foy, we've seen her, and it just raises the stakes that much more when nobody else believes her. I love that kind of tension.

Crewe

Quote from: BojackHorsefella on March 09, 2020, 02:57:13 PM
Oh man, I need to see The Lady Vanishes. They were talking about it briefly on The Next Picture Show podcast for Knives Out, since Knives Out reveals the actual murder (or, at least, why the person you immediately think did it, didn't) in a sort of turning the tables on the who-dunnit.

The point being made that, in The Lady Vanishes, as you stated, we, the audience, clearly know she met Ms. Foy, we've seen her, and it just raises the stakes that much more when nobody else believes her. I love that kind of tension.

you pretty much got it :-)
And I loved Knives Out!

Crewe

So I blew through Chinatown again last night.
Still love that flick. Just sayin....
Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown

Crewe

#268
Terminator: Dark Fate
Linda Hamilton, Arnie

Let me put you at ease if you dont already know. This film is a direct sequel to T2 and omits all the bullshit movies after it.

So this movie is, well, T2. The structure of the story is the same and as you know, some of the characters (Hamilton and Arnie) are the same and that's not always a bad thing.
We begin by seeing Sarah Connor's meltdown in the psych ward in T2 then jump to 1998 where we pick up Natalia Reyes who plays Daniella (Dani) Ramos, another nobody who has no clue. Sound familiar?
Following protocol, we then see the arrival of the protector, (Mackenzie Davis) Grace, who is a hybrid between human and machine.
Then comes Gabriel Luna as Gabriel, oddly enough, a Rev 9 Terminator.
We follow Dani in the spirit of T2, both future characters seeking her out, explaining what's happening while trying to survive the wrath of Gabe.
Now don't think this is a scene for scene remake because it isn't, it is in fact it's own story with the universe dictating similarities in the storytelling because the machines are executing the same plan as before, just on steroids.

Linda Hamilton represses her role as Sarah Connor who is now a wanted outlaw, but she's also a Terminator terminator.
How she knows what she knows is a mystery for a while, but in the meantime, Hamilton has seemingly no trouble charging back in to the character of Sarah. Being able to remain a heroine while passing the torch if you will, is something that is done quite well in this film. Ms. Connor fills in the holes between T2 and now while recognizing Dani's sitch is very similar to hers, keeping with the overall structure. At least it's not ignored.

Mackenzie Davis does a decent job most of the time. I think the parts that don't look so fluid are from trying to be too aggressive with CGI but that's just me I guess. I dont like the way she interprets Grace on screenful the time but its passable and not detrimental to the film.
Gabriel Luna is pretty much the same sans dialog as he doesn't speak much. You can tell they searched for a look akin to Robert Patrick in T2 and I think they found the Latino version, although Patrick was much better in his role I think.

Spoiler
You'll notice I've left out Arnold's role and that's because I couldn't find a way to discuss him with out revealing potential spoilers about him killing John or his role with the new team. I thought he did a wonderful job though, this film has everything you would expect from Arnie, including some of the best lines. I also love the fact the director pauses on him in key scenes where you just wait for his killer catchphrase, but then we cut away without hearing it. Beautiful.

Obviously there are some nods to the previous film and as I noted before, you can't not acknowledge that as it's all one story. The director really handled some potential campy scenes really really well in that respect and it made the film that much better.
As for the action, it's about what you would expect and again, similarities to 2, but hey, what can you do?
Some minor parts were kinda eye rolling in their quest for raising the CGI bar, but overall, it was well constructed, especially when you discover the Terminator can...well, you'll see.

Give this one a look, but before you do, plant yourself firmly in the mind of just having seen T2 and ignore all that shit after because it doesn't apply, at all.


---------------------------------

Rambo: Last Blood
Sly

I grew up with Rocky and Rambo and Star Wars and that's why I continually watch the sequels, even if some are better than others.
First Blood was an unexpected accepted movie for its depiction of soldiers resources for acclimatizing to society and for dealing with PTSD.
part II etc...not so much.
However, Rambo (2008) was good. We really were given some insight and development in the Rambo character, and more importantly, he had help this time. As gory as it was, it was still a good flick I thought. Incidentally, there were one or two deleted scenes that were only a couple of minutes that really added depth to the story and would have made it a much better film, but I digress.
Why do I bring all of this up?
Because Rambo is where this series should have ended.
Last Blood is awful. Every cliched plot device is weak and dry as it can be. If foreshadowing in this film were say, in a poker hand, it would be the stooge.
There's just nothing redeemable about this movie unless you just want a mindless revenge filled rage fest.
At least John Wick has depth, and much more realistic action I might add. Matter of fact, go watch those films and ignore this one altogether.
If you want Rambo, watch First Blood or Rambo 2008 and ignore the rest, especially this one.

TheNorm

#269
Was curious about Dark Fate. Not sure I like that they apparently erased everything after T2 since I actually thought T3 was decent (the other two after that by all means erase), but can see how that would make for a much different story. I'll have to check it out down the road.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShane, Mark Dacascos[/i]

This might be my favorite out of the three. So damn good and so damn entertaining. Halle Berry still looking fine, too. The fight choreography does not disappoint at all.
"But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity." - Martin Luther King, Jr