Movies you've just watched

[dan76]

I just watch three big hollywood movies.

Intersteller: OK, I kind of agree with everything Skykid has said about the film, but I still enjoyed a lot of it. I think the story is so ridiculous it's like a scoring system in a shump that you can happily ignore and just play for survival. I thought the performances were good and it was well directed. I was surprised how conservative the visuals were, not over blown, very matter of fact. Loved the use of models - there's a particular shot where the camera is mounted on a model of the ship and front projection is used for the star field, amazing. I liked a lot of the design, the robots etc. I thought it was a complete world, I just wish the script was something completely different.

Structuraly once in space I thought it was a mistake to keep cutting back to stuff happening on earth. That sense of isolation and time was lost. I guess this had to happen in order to tell the story but the film would've been better if all that stuff was handled via video messages - or cut out all together. I still don't know about Nolan, his films are overly complicated in one way, and dumb in another. He should stick to making genre pictures - have a stab at a Bond movie, or Star Wars.

Guardians of the Galaxy. It was an ok romp. Enjoyable for what it was. A digital mess that didn't matter because it made no attempt to look real. This should be the standard for these types of films. It's not particularly great, but not shit either. The only reason I can think that people raved about it is because we are so starved of good films that anything that doesn't suck balls gets heralded as a masterpiece - see No Country for Old Men.

Godzilla. Rubbish. I think the guy who directed this is up for one of the Star Wars films which is pretty bad news. Dreadful script - awful way to start a film -

Spoiler

why kill off two characters in the first 20 minutes, then be left with a lunk sleeping through the rest of the film, who does nothing to move the plot along, doesn't force any change in the story.

Really poor, it reminded me of a 90's action movie, seemed dated in a way - not a good old Godzilla movie way... Shit.

I also watch Terrence Malick's To the Wonder. The guy is still trading off Badlands and Days of Heaven - which is ok because they're that good. Don't know what to make of it other than it's the same as his last film. I can't find anything that links his early work to this other than "pretty" visuals - which, taken on their own are meaningless. He needs to find a story, a plot to show what he wants to say rather than having internal monologues for two hours.

[KindGrind]

I also watch Terrence Malick's To the Wonder. The guy is still trading off Badlands and Days of Heaven - which is ok because they're that good. Don't know what to make of it other than it's the same as his last film. I can't find anything that links his early work to this other than "pretty" visuals - which, taken on their own are meaningless. He needs to find a story, a plot to show what he wants to say rather than having internal monologues for two hours.

As much as I loved most of Malick's movies, I can't vouch for his 2 last ones. To the Wonder was an empty shell, pretty but soulless, and The Tree of Life got lost in its gargantuan ambition. Days of Heaven is my favourite of his (and incidentally one of my favourite movies ever), followed by Badlands, Thin Red Line and The New World, which I really liked and thought was excellent, despite what the naysayers will tell you.

[JBC]

I agree with Dan76 about Interstellar jumping back to earth a lot. If you're gonna do a space exploration movie, go balls out & leave only one human element to relate to. Of course, we can't expect much bravery on Hollywood's part.

On a similar but separate line of thinking, I feel it's a damn shame the silent film isn't a thing in today's climate of good film quality & awesome sfx. It would be easy for a space exploration movie to be carried solely on it's visuals & music. Most people don't talk to themselves when they are alone. 2001 is probably the closest we've ever come to anything like that.

[system11]

Picked up the BR of Sin City 2. The original film is one of my favourites ever, a top 3 pick.

This one has many of the same ingredients, but the magic, pacing, dialogue, story composition even the CGI work all seems inferior. There's little to remember here aside from Eva Green, even returning actors/characters seem to pretty much phone in their performance except for Jessica Alba.

Stick with the first one, it's just better.

[CMoon]

Watched Hobbit 1 + 2 mega edition marathon style with some friends. Red Letter Media sums it up pretty well, although they ultimately ended up liking them despite the confused identity and excess of the films. I can't be as generous with them and overall felt Jackson was widely missing his mark. Obviously I haven't read the hobbit in decades, but even the cartoon has a bit more moral and political complexity than these movies do. I'm not even sure how the third one will pan out since that's where it becomes clear that Thorin is wrong in a lot of ways.. I also think the incessant need to reconnect everything back to Sauron almost undermines the story at times. Again, back to Red Letter Media, their first impression seems dead on: PJ wants to do epic LOTR, and the little happy hobbit is there in the mix somewhere...and at times completely lost.

I think I'm also just getting sick of these extended action sequences that don't really add anything to films. I'm not saying I just want exposition, but PJ's action sequences to me feel like some hybrid between The Matrix and the Star Wars prequels, which is to say they are cluttered with all sorts of unrealistic, improbable junk. I felt like most of the action scenes were a mess and instead of drawing me into the film pushed me away. Perhaps it is all the CG (there's plenty of great action scenes in other movies), or everything being green screened. That comparison to the SW prequels is starting to seem more and more real. all the time.

A lot of people said they liked the second film more, but most of the problems with the first film were still present in the second. I guess its all better than Bakshi's LOTR, but that's setting the bar really low. I doubt I will be bothered to go out and see the third film over my break unless a friend wants to go. Like the Harry Potter movies (I've never actually seen part 2 of the last one), my overwhelming feeling toward these films is one of indifference.

[jonny5]

Sushi Girl

Great stuff. Didn't see the ending coming at all

[Lord Satori]

Saw the last Hobbit movie. It's alright I guess. It was cool to see how Sauron lost his body or whatever, but I would've liked a bit more coverage on that. The first 45 minutes or so was pretty good, but almost the entirety of the film after that was mindless action with the occasional "omg there's another army coming!" The action itself was pretty cool but after awhile it got tiring.

Spoiler

Also, Smaug died within the first 10 minutes or so.

The death itself was pretty cool and dramatic but I'm pretty sure they could've done that in the previous film. On that note, I'm not sure why they needed three films in the first place. It's still worth seeing if you saw the first two or if you like mindless action.

edit: Spoilered. Not spoilering Sauron because you should've realized that he's gotta become that massive eye that you see in the main series.

[BIL]

The Colour Out Of Space (2010) (original title "Die Farbe") Didn't know this existed until the recent Lovecraft tangent in the movie taglines thread. German adaptation of the HPL favourite. It shifts details around in order to transplant the story's events from 1880s-1920s Massachusetts to 1930s-70s Bavaria, but the bulk of the material is unaltered and seamlessly fits the new setting.

It's certainly not a bad watch - quite a strong adaptation for the most part. Two particular flaws really hurt it, though. First is stylistic - it's shot in black and white, which is cool, and I'd hoped this would extend to the malignant, indescribable "colour" itself. Nope. It's a luscious shade of Energon purple and looks ridiculous. Second is a huge narrative liberty, in an attempt to install a LATE TWEEST:

Spoiler

turns out Ammy made a bunch of shit up, the colour had actually landed in his property, possessed his mind and compelled him to chuck his neighbours the Gardners down his well. this is all established in a five second montage.

It's totally superfluous, only reductive to the blunt horror and unknowable threat of the source material. I guess movies are required by law to have twists these days, or something. Not bad. Not great. Ehh.

[GaijinPunch]

Saw the last Hobbit movie. It's alright I guess. It was cool to see how Sauron lost his body or whatever, but I would've liked a bit more coverage on that. The first 45 minutes or so was pretty good, but almost the entirety of the film after that was mindless action with the occasional "omg there's another army coming!" The action itself was pretty cool but after awhile it got tiring. Also, Smaug died within the first 10 minutes or so. The death itself was pretty cool and dramatic but I'm pretty sure they could've done that in the previous film. On that note, I'm not sure why they needed three films in the first place. It's still worth seeing if you saw the first two or if you like mindless action.

Spoiler alert, dip shit.

[GaijinPunch]

Die Hard

[Xyga]

Die Hard

[Squire Grooktook]

Saw the last Hobbit movie. It's alright I guess. It was cool to see how Sauron lost his body or whatever, but I would've liked a bit more coverage on that. The first 45 minutes or so was pretty good, but almost the entirety of the film after that was mindless action with the occasional "omg there's another army coming!" The action itself was pretty cool but after awhile it got tiring. Also, Smaug died within the first 10 minutes or so. The death itself was pretty cool and dramatic but I'm pretty sure they could've done that in the previous film. On that note, I'm not sure why they needed three films in the first place. It's still worth seeing if you saw the first two or if you like mindless action.

Spoiler alert, dip shit.

Does anybody not know the story at this point? I read the book when I was like 8.

[nasty_wolverine]

Does anybody not know the story at this point? I read the book when I was like 8.

Does it even follow the book?

[drauch]

I used to know The Hobbit, yeah.

Oh, it follows the book, but takes a few unexpected turns, shortcuts, footnotes, combines other stories, and just plain ol' adds some tasty FLUFF. You're actually much better off knowing the spoilers in The Slobbit so you don't have to invest all 10 hours into that nonsense.

That said, seeing the third film this week because I hate myself.

[CMoon]

You're actually much better off knowing the spoilers in The Slobbit so you don't have to invest all 10 hours into that nonsense.

That said, seeing the third film this week because I hate myself.

I feel like this summed up everything perfectly. That said, Drauch, don't you have better films to watch?

[drauch]

My backlog spans multiple lives of seclusion and dedication for film, knowing fully well I'll never see everything I want to. But I'm also a masochist and I love the pain.

But yeah, family tradition of visiting the theater on Christmas Eve. Still, they're at least enjoyable, just very frustrating and ugly to look at. Worst thing I ever sat through during the family event was Meet the Fockers, which I'd rather sit through all of Jackson's CGI abortions a thousand times over then endure again.

[BIL]

Finally got around to watching this.



Heaven is here inside my soul.

[Immryr]

Woah that sounds amazing. Before I moved house a couple of years ago I used to own a lot of cannon films on VHS. Most of them from charity shops getting rid of VHS tapes for 10 for £1, the cannon logo was always a sure sign of quality!

[drauch]

WHOAH. So many good movies on the cover there! My buddy is a Cannon super-fan and has the logo emblazoned on his right shoulder for life. I'll round that bastard up and watch this with glee!

[Vexorg]

So what are they supposed to call the sequel to that?

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Spoiler

It was cool to see how Sauron lost his body or whatever, but I would've liked a bit more coverage on that. [...] Also, Smaug died within the first 10 minutes or so.

Thanks for the spoilers, "Lord Satori", you dumb asshole.

[Lord Satori]

If you've seen the first two hobbits and the original Lord of the Rings movies it's only logical to assume that he changed into that gigantic eye somehow. ie: losing his body. I admit I shouldn't have said when Smaug died. (it was a rough estimate) I spoilered it for the rest of you.

Really though. If you consider what I said about Sauron a spoiler, that's on you for not making the connection that he had a body in the second hobbit when he showed up, and didn't have one in the main series. Don't blame me.

[Stevens]

Jack Frost. One of the best/worst movies I've seen.

[Mischief Maker]

Jack Frost. One of the best/worst movies I've seen.

The slasher, or the Michael Keaton movie?

I think Birdman won that argument.

[Stevens]

Jack Frost. One of the best/worst movies I've seen.

The slasher, or the Michael Keaton movie?

I think Birdman won that argument.

Sorry. The slasher.

[BrianC]

Last movies I watched were Elf, It's a Wonderful Life, and Miracle on 34th Street.

[drauch]

Jack Frost. One of the best/worst movies I've seen.

The slasher, or the Michael Keaton movie?

I think Birdman won that argument.

Sorry. The slasher.

(GOAT NOISE) "Go away, we're busy!"

"I made special!"

[GaijinPunch]

If you've seen the first two hobbits and the original Lord of the Rings movies it's only logical to assume that he changed into that gigantic eye somehow. ie: losing his body. I admit I shouldn't have said when Smaug died. (it was a rough estimate) I spoilered it for the rest of you.

Really though. If you consider what I said about Sauron a spoiler, that's on you for not making the connection that he had a body in the second hobbit when he showed up, and didn't have one in the main series. Don't blame me.

We put up w/ your horrible taste in films. At least let us have some surprises in said horrible films.

[GaijinPunch]

A Christmas Story

[JBC]

Little Shop of Horrors


Ellen Greene myyyyyy godddd