Movies you've just watched

[GaijinPunch]

The Skeleton Twins

Probably the first movie I've seen right at release in a decade. I was very entertained. Not sure how the crew here will like it, as it definitely aims to be a heavy-weighted, dark drama with some realistic humor. For anyone expecting Bill Hader to embody Stephan, look elsewhere. While he and Kristin Wiig are funny (in a non-SNL way) they both bust out the acting chops here.

[Ixmucane2]

Lucy

Similar to Transcendence, to the point of featuring Morgan Freeman in a very similar role, but approached very differently and mostly much better.

• First, the protagonist: a level-headed random normal person with which everyone can identify, rather than a strange neurotic genius who's already quite creepy in his natural state.
• Second, the "technology": unrealistic in both cases, able to support beautiful scenes and images in both cases, but a fantasy drug that produces extreme psychic powers is more narratively flexible and harder to criticize than the contrived brain uploading, computer hacking and nanotechnology of Transcendence, which manage to be painfully wrong and illogical precisely because they have realistic roots.
• Third, the development: Lucy is a hero, threatened by evil enemies, not a global threat surrounded by victims. Guess who's the more likeable advanced being.
• Fourth, the stupid mistakes: none, because being perfectly smart and well informed is one of the easiest tricks for a superhuman intelligence. It might be a trivial concept for you, but not for the writers who devastated the credibility of Transcendence's plot to give professor Caster his tragic death.
• Fifth, the good and appropriate ending, which although not very original is better than a story about the mad scientist who forced humanity to sacrifice computers.

Weak points include excessive gun use and violence, not completely justified as excuse to show off Lucy's powers, many traditional but somewhat inappropriate action movie clichés (particularly the car chase and the ending), and Morgan Freeman.

[GaijinPunch]

Boyhood

A very ambitiously filmed indie movie, and definitely a slow burn. If you're not into long films, make sure you're in the right frame of mind for this one, as it's a whopping 165 minutes. I assume the younger kids will relate a bit more as it's more chronologically synchronous to their upbringing, but for us older guys (especially fathers... more so estranged fathers) there are some worthwhile lessons that hit home. For the handful of you guys from Texas you will see a lot of familiar sites. It was a nice stroll through my old home.

[rapoon]

Boyhood

A very ambitiously filmed indie movie, and definitely a slow burn. If you're not into long films, make sure you're in the right frame of mind for this one, as it's a whopping 165 minutes. I assume the younger kids will relate a bit more as it's more chronologically synchronous to their upbringing, but for us older guys (especially fathers... more so estranged fathers) there are some worthwhile lessons that hit home. For the handful of you guys from Texas you will see a lot of familiar sites. It was a nice stroll through my old home.

"very ambitious" is fucking right! i saw it a few weeks ago and couldn't wait for it to be over with so I could go read up.

[boagman]

"A Most Wanted Man"

Right off the bat: Phillip Seymour Hoffman is very good in it. Nice swan song, so to speak.

Decently shot, decently acted, but poor Rachael McAdams either can't act, or she's just been saddled with a less-than-stellar role, here. Unfortunately, you can see the ending from a mile away, again. I seem to be running up against this quite a bit lately.

It starts off *slowly* (sleep-inducingly so...barely stayed conscious, as did my cousin), but is far easier to handle and enjoy once the first half hour or so gets by. Once Willem Dafoe gets introduced, it's more gripping.

One more minor gripe: it can be hard to distinguish between what's being said that's actual English and other languages. Somewhat distracting, but it's usually semi-decipherable.

Other than that stuff, though? Pretty good movie. Wish the ending hadn't been so "YOU KNOW WHAT'S COMING!!!!!" though, but it's a pretty solid flick.

[Mischief Maker]

Decently shot, decently acted, but poor Rachael McAdams either can't act, or she's just been saddled with a less-than-stellar role, here.

I think her success comes from her spooky resemblance to (older) Parker Posey.

[GaijinPunch]

"very ambitious" is fucking right! i saw it a few weeks ago and couldn't wait for it to be over with so I could go read up.

I checked a few things on my phone as it went along.

1) The liquor store clerk was the same actor as the liquor store clerk in Dazed & Confused. I spotted this immediately but just had to make sure.
2) I forgot where Big Bend was (doh).

There was a lot of Texas stuff in there. Not sure if it's essential to the viewing experience, but since I have a visualization of San Marcos, and know that Stephen F Austin University is there, I gained a degree of immersion.

[rapoon]

you're absolutely right, there's a sense of immersion when the locales are familiar.

prior to watching, did you have any idea the same actors would be used throughout the entire film?

nice catch on the liquor store clerk, i completely missed that. but!! after boyhood, i watched suburbia for the first time
and there's a liquor store scene and the exchange is almost identical to the dazed and confused dialogue (underage kid buying beer, clerk asking
about football game etc).

anyways, linklater is a great director. i'm going to rewatch slacker sometime this week. =)

[GaijinPunch]

you're absolutely right, there's a sense of immersion when the locales are familiar.

This is true of a lot of his films. I actually went to a rave in the 90's where they filmed the last party scene of Dazed and Confused. Was bummed Wooderson was not there. There was a naked dude in a cowboy hat though, so yeah... that...

prior to watching, did you have any idea the same actors would be used throughout the entire film?

Yep!

nice catch on the liquor store clerk, i completely missed that.

I swore I saw this guy when I lived in Austin... which wouldn't be hard to believe b/c (of course) he used a ton of locals as extras. I asked the guy if he was in a movie, and he said yes, but it wasn't Dazed and Confused. He might have been pulling my chain though. The guy I talked to was a dead ringer for him.

anyways, linklater is a great director. i'm going to rewatch slacker sometime this week. =)

I never got Slacker... maybe I will revisit it. There's tons of his back catalogue that I'm not familiar with (somewhat shamefully) but there was a time when keeping up w/ smaller releases from across the time warp was just not feasible for me. Right now I just wait for Skykid to rip a movie and then I know that's at least a good place to start investigating if I want to see it.

[Lord Satori]

Maze Runner.

I never read the book, but I thought this was a fantastic film. The ending was the type where you aren't sure if there'll be a sequel or if it was just being ambiguous.

[Some-Mist]

I watched Lord of War for the first time just the other week, and while an average but watchable time sink, Cage was as classically useless as ever. The man is not an actor.

yep - as mentioned I really wasn't that big of a fan of the film or his acting. And I can agree that he's not an actor, but I think he has gotten lucky with a few of the other roles I mentioned.

[EmperorIng]

Cage was as classically useless as ever. The man is not an actor.

For a real good time watch Bad Lieutenant: Port Call of New Orleans. I suspect that they just filmed Nic in his daily life, and the results are nothing short of marvelous.

[Acid King]

Cage was as classically useless as ever. The man is not an actor.

For a real good time watch Bad Lieutenant: Port Call of New Orleans. I suspect that they just filmed Nic in his daily life, and the results are nothing short of marvelous.

I was just about to bring up Bad Lieutenant, I love that movie. His portrayal of the musclebound asthmatic Mafia goon in the sorta remake of Kiss of Death is pretty epic as well.

"What did you do?! What the fuck did you do!?!"
"You fuck with the bull you get the horns. That's what I did."

[Vexorg]

The Neverending Story

Surprisingly, this is one I hadn't seen until this weekend, and it's a bit surprising just how dated it looks, especially in comparison to similar effects-driven films of the time such as what was being produced by Jim Henson studios. Still, I think you would have a hard time making a movie like this today (there has been talk of a remake that more closely follows the book the film was based off of, but it seems unlikely due to rights issues.) To be honest, I'm not sure what to think of this one. I just don't think it really holds up all that well these days compared to some of its contemporaries.

[MX7]

All I can recall of The Never Ending Story is its exquisite themetune. Giorgio Moroder, along with Ennio Morocone is one of only a few individuals I can think of that count as an auteur without being a director. Top Gun, Flashdance and the absolutely amazing Electric Dreams are all arguably mediocre films given real character and narrative thrust by his compositions.

I would recommend Electric Dreams to anyone who fancies an unabashed and hyper-slick love letter to both commodity fetishism and unrelenting synth-pop. Like 2001 reimagined as a Kylie Minogue video.

ALSO:

The Machine - Recent British sci-fi, very low budget. Flawed with some head-scratching narrative jumps, but some wonderful touches. Definitely a worthy addition to the 'android as pathos/WHAT IS HUMANITY?' subgenre. Lots of cinematographic nods to Mamoru Oshii also, which is cool.

Splash - Haven't watched it in about 20 years. Daryl Hannah is lovely and has lovely hair. Realised that it has the exact same plot as Mad About Men, a 1954 lovely mermaid/proto-sex-comedy flick which I cannot recommend enough. Not enough pounding drum machines for a film from 1984 but there's loads of conspicuous consumerism and neo-liberal ideology to balk at, if that's your thing.

El Tôpo - every time i see this all is right in the world for two hours. How did this even get made? For all its surface weirdness the overarching narrative is as easy and satisfying to decode as any Spielberg. Every battle is a puzzle, solved mainly through excellent cinematography and spatial continuity as opposed to any semblance of logic. THE MAIN THEME IS SO UNBEARABLY GORGEOUS it's almost painful. The almost elegiac second half serves as a nice counterpoint to the intensity of the first half. The allegory of immigration and the anti-capitalist ideology gives it something real-world and easily identifiable to latch on to. Ultimately it's just ridiculously enjoyable. There's lots of these 'kill five people to win' films that use this exceptionally structured narrative as a springboard to mess around with every other filmic convention in the full knowledge that it'll still be fully comprehensible. Branded to Kill, Kill Bill, Shurayukihime, Tokyo Drifter, Pistol Opera, Story of Ricky etttttttttttc. Would make an awesome film festival programme.

[rapoon]

I watched Lord of War for the first time just the other week, and while an average but watchable time sink, Cage was as classically useless as ever. The man is not an actor.

yep - as mentioned I really wasn't that big of a fan of the film or his acting. And I can agree that he's not an actor, but I think he has gotten lucky with a few of the other roles I mentioned.

well sheeeeeet. guess i'm the only one who liked lord of war!

his best role will always be Wild at Heart!

[KindGrind]

The Neverending Story

Surprisingly, this is one I hadn't seen until this weekend, and it's a bit surprising just how dated it looks, especially in comparison to similar effects-driven films of the time such as what was being produced by Jim Henson studios. Still, I think you would have a hard time making a movie like this today (there has been talk of a remake that more closely follows the book the film was based off of, but it seems unlikely due to rights issues.) To be honest, I'm not sure what to think of this one. I just don't think it really holds up all that well these days compared to some of its contemporaries.

I love The Neverending Story. The SFX are dated, but I still think the movie works well nevertheless. The story is just amazing.

As a boy, I wanted to be Bastian... I had dreams about this and all. Wouldn't it be great, being part of literature in the making?

[Lord Satori]

Wouldn't it be great, being part of literature in the making?

It would be interesting, indeed, but it depends entirely on what the book is. With my luck I'd wind up in a Lovecraftian work or a terrible fanfiction of some sort.

[Mischief Maker]

Just watched 2001 again.

It's amazing what a contrast David Bowman's steel-nerved astronaut makes to Sandra Bullock's clumsy panicky spaz in Gravity.

[Moniker]

Just watched 2001 again.

It's amazing what a contrast David Bowman's steel-nerved astronaut makes to Sandra Bullock's clumsy panicky spaz in Gravity.

Well, David Bowman got to be an avenging transcendental being. Sandra Bullock got to be.. Sandra Bullock, except on land, and markedly less suicidal. Different scopes for different folks.

[Skykid]

Just watched 2001 again.

It's amazing what a contrast David Bowman's steel-nerved astronaut makes to Sandra Bullock's clumsy panicky spaz in Gravity.

Kubrick's vision of presenting an astronaut as a trained professional doesn't sit well with Hollywood's babyish desire for melodrama.

That said Gravity was it's own thing, and while the script was at times embarrassing, Bullock's character's despair in the face of death was understandable and acceptable within the remit of a disaster movie and sole survivor scenario. But if only they'd axed that fucking subtext about her dead daughter. Hollywood = melodrama. Painfully inescapable.

Of course comparing 2001 to any movie in existence is just bullying.

[Moniker]

Just watched 2001 again.

It's amazing what a contrast David Bowman's steel-nerved astronaut makes to Sandra Bullock's clumsy panicky spaz in Gravity.

But if only they'd axed that fucking subtext about her dead daughter. Hollywood = melodrama. Painfully inescapable.

Bowman was a Mr. Everyman until Hal killed his buddy. Then he became a survival-horror survivor. Think you're giving Kubrick's plotting too much credit... (Although I'm still of the mind that 2001 is a timeless classic, whereas Gravity is flash in the pan.)

I felt like Sandra's dead kid was something unusual and exceptional. In modern cinema, we're rarely presented with the death of a young'un that wasn't perpetrated by some villain or some villainous conditions. I thought that the idea of a random meaningless death of a child was a dramatic complement to the greater indifference of the universe that Gravity peddled (successfully).

Of course comparing 2001 to any movie in existence is just bullying.

Obviously.

[Skykid]

Bowman was a Mr. Everyman until Hal killed his buddy. Then he became a survival-horror survivor. Think you're giving Kubrick's plotting too much credit...

Impossible. Kubrick was a clinically meticulous lunatic for insignificant detail and a raging aggressor if his actors didn't perform exactly how he wanted them to. The mark of a great director: someone not afraid to be passionate about his art for the sake of reputation.

Bowman and all the human cast portrayals were purposely layered. In one instance the stoic, colourless performances of Bowman, Poole, Floyd etc. are a reflection of the similarly colourless and enigmatic universe that is the film's central character. On another count Bowman and Poole are astronauts and portrayed as cold professionals trained to suppress emotion and keep absolute control during an extended tour of space - the longest journey man has ever made. I can't help but think this is an accurate and truthful vision of how people dealing with long term confinement would behave.

Bowman never broke his mould to me. He was never an everyman, merely a vessel. His stripped back unemotional character is evident from the off. He exercises, plays chess, follows protocol, and doesn't bat an eyelid on receiving family transmission messages from earth.

I felt like Sandra's dead kid was something unusual and exceptional.

Not to me. And I liked Gravity, though I was more impressed by its smart spectacle than its script and casting.

The dead kid was just an overused drama weave to butter up the audience's feeling for the character. All I had to do was imagine the same movie and the same plotting with that subtext entirely extrapolated, and I could see an improved work that focussed only on the inhospitable nature of space, and that would have been more than fine.

[rapoon]

^
for me, the plot and acting are all secondary and minor in comparison to it's technical achievements. it's stunning because it's scene after scene after scene of marvelous special effects that make sense. we also have to give credit where due; kubrick was no doubt the driving force, but the stars aligned and kubrick got a call from douglas trumbull (no less meticulous and technical than kubrick) whom kubrick hired as an effects supervisor.

here's a great interview w/ Douglas Trumbull you'll enjoy

[Skykid]

^
for me, the plot and acting are all secondary and minor in comparison to it's technical achievements.

Are we talking about 2001 or Gravity?

Gravity, that's a big 'of course', 2001 that's a big 'are you nuts?'.

2001 is a work of art. Ultimate control in every facet of its being, far beyond the aesthetic. If anything I'd say the still marvellous special effects are a secondary compliment to Kubrick's genius as a craftsmen. Without him they're as crippled as a Michael Bay budget.

[blackoak]

Kubrick's vision of presenting an astronaut as a trained professional doesn't sit well with Hollywood's babyish desire for melodrama.

Well said. Another recent (and particularly abominable) example of this would be Prometheus.

[Moniker]

Bowman never broke his mould to me. He was never an everyman, merely a vessel. His stripped back unemotional character is evident from the off. He exercises, plays chess, follows protocol, and doesn't bat an eyelid on receiving family transmission messages from earth.

I guess I'm having trouble distinguishing 'everyman' from 'vessel.' Bowman never ha dmuch scripted identity, which I always interpreted as a 'vessel' (?) for the viewer to project their own feelings. Thereby, the viewer *is* David Bowman.

And when he's under pressure, he does the things the viewer wish they would have the courage & know-how to do. Again, calculated viewer projection.

Similar to Gravity. Except Bullock is technically the opposite of Bowman. An amateur who constantly grapples with a certain uselessness/hopelessness, derived equally from emotional and environmental influences.

[Skykid]

We just have differing ideas of an 'everyman' - for me that type of character embodies a sense of impartiality and heroism, who typically balances out the ills of accompanying characters around him/her.

I don't disagree that Bowman encompasses some of these traits, but with all truly great film these aspects are open to interpretation. I see him more as an equal to his counterparts, but just the guy that happens to survive by using professionalism and wit in the face of adversity.

I don't personally think he's meant to serve the viewer as a character in which to project their feelings - that's not the kind of vessel I meant. He's too cold and alien for that. To me he simply serves the narrative.

But again, any interpretation is fair game.

Bullock's character is simplistic in comparison, impressive considering Bowman's placidity - but I just think she's a character built of several generic Hollywood tropes, hamstrung by some silly scripting, plunged into a disaster/survival scenario. I didn't dislike her at all, but I'm indifferent to the idea she presented the viewer with anything overtly unique.

[Vexorg]

Blended: **

My GF picked this one to watch last night, mostly for lack of better alternatives. Seems to be a pretty standard Adam Sandler film in the fact that you pretty much know on the way in that it's going to be a trainwreck, but it at least manages to be mostly watchable. In short, this is probably the kind of movie W.C. Fields had in mind when he made his famous "Never work with children or animals" quote.

[Skykid]

Deep Rising

I'm always curious as to the science behind a legendary box office bomb, especially when the reason is rarely clear. Those that stink usually rake in profit, after all.

Anyway, a female friend who seems to only like terrible movies about sea monsters insisted I watch Deep Rising, which is pure 90s shit in every possible 90s way - frenetic creative editing, one liners that just don't work the way they did in the 80s, and massive doses of comedy and carry-on levels of stupidity. That said, it was rather good fun.

The cast lead by a likeable Treat Williams served their purpose as cliché fish food in a sinking ocean liner plagued by prehistoric sea monsters. Cue lots of aimless gunfire, rollercoaster ride set piece hopping and people saying "What the hell..." really slowly every few minutes, and beyond the Disney level dialogue, plotting, and paint by numbers acting, was a fairly enjoyable action movie rip off of Aliens and Die Hard that came at the material with a satirical sense of humour about its own intentional awfulness.

Could you ever wholeheartedly recommend this? Possibly yes. If you want a mindless monster mash gore fest set on sinking ships, some lamentable outdated CG coupled with some rather good model work, and a shot of pure 90s fun-crap, this at least fits the bill. Although approaching with beer is sensible.

But the experiment? No, in the grand scheme of really awful movies, such as the industry has been plagued by for the last fifteen years, it's certainly not doing anything obvious to deserve losing millions of dollars, much like Cutthroat Island.

Fathoming the taste of the general public is a mystery never to be unraveled.