Movies you've just watched

[Xyga]

SkyKid, you lived all those years without watching Braindead !?

That movie should be mandatory part of school programs I tell you.

[Skykid]

SkyKid, you lived all those years without watching Braindead !?

That movie should be mandatory part of school programs I tell you.

Film school programs certainly. The movie is so rich in invention it's as dissectible for analysts as the dissections that occur as a byproduct of the splatter. It's fucking disgusting, occasionally retch-worthy, but its carnage is a visual orchestra of intestines and severed appendages shot with an urgency that would make Raimi give a standing ovation.

The one thing that really stood out for me was structuring of events. It kept upping the ante after a fairly pedestrian - perhaps even mundane - beginning, by shovelling on the gore in progressively larger leaps/heaps. But nothing prepared me for the house party climax. I didn't honestly think it would reach that kind of high; I didn't think the budget would go that far. What a spectacle!

[soprano1]

Braindead / Dead Alive is the one with the Kung Fu Irish priest, right?

[Skykid]

Braindead / Dead Alive is the one with the Kung Fu Irish priest, right?

Yep!

[Tarma]

Blade Runner - Criterion Collection

On something of an early 1980's sci-fi kick at the moment...

[Strider77]

Aged like fine 80s wine. Campy, fun, well cast and performed, holds up far better than I expected it to.

I re-watched that a few years ago totally expecting my childhood memories to be ruined. My brother and I watched this countless times when we would stay at our dad's on the weekend from time to time. I remember we had a game we played that centered around that scene with "evil ed" trying to break into the house and getting a crucifix to the forehead. My brother did a amazingly hammy job of screaming "what have you done to me!"....

To my surprise it was still quite fun... it's campy sure, but it's still alot of fun.

[BrianC]

I object to that statement. This is quite clearly the pinnacle of Cage's career as an actor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lct6x-XqWrw

Bugs Bunny did it better

[Some-Mist]

Raising Arizona is fucking wonderful. The only movie where Cage was manipulated by superior filmmakers into being well cast and giving an able performance. That film is a riot.

adaptation by charlie kaufman?

cage was passable if not decent in ridley scott's matchstick men too..

Passable arguably, decent no.

just for matchstick men... right?

adaptation feels like a movie crafted specifically for cage, even acting as both fictional charlie kaufman and his brother donald kaufman - cage does a better job at playing the pessimistic, desperate, and hermit charlie kaufman and I'm sure most would agree with that. raising arizona is in my top 3 coen brothers films, and I think cage might be better in adaptation. But to be completely honest, I can't tell if that's because cage is actually better in it, or I'm blinded because I just like the film more so I'd probably have to rewatch both back-to-back.

If you haven't seen it, at least check out the opening monologue.. I'm not sure if you'd actually like it, but if you take it at face value, it's about charlie kaufman during the filming of being john malkovich being assigned the project of adapting the book "The Orchid Thief" into a film.

[Vexorg]

Daddy's Home: **

A "There's nothing good in the Redbox but we've gotta' watch something" selection by my wife. Pretty standard "Will Ferrell Plays a Bumbling Idiot" movie, albeit improved over his usual fare by the fact that he's playing merely a standard bumbling idiot, and not a crude misogynistic bumbling idiot like he usually does. In this one, he plays a stepfather to two kids who go from outright hatred to kind of trusting him, at which point the biological father (played by Mark Wahlberg) shows up to try to steal his family back from him. Not completely terrible, but loaded with gratuitous "We're not even trying to hide this" product placement (they literally throw in a car commercial within the first two minutes and a resolution to the plot so contrived you can tell the exact point where the writers gave up on it, scribbled a few things on paper and headed out to make their 1pm tee time.

[Skykid]

If you haven't seen it, at least check out the opening monologue.. I'm not sure if you'd actually like it, but if you take it at face value, it's about charlie kaufman during the filming of being john malkovich being assigned the project of adapting the book "The Orchid Thief" into a film.

Fucking useless. That monologue is read in a completely non-committal fashion. It would be almost identical if you or I - non-trained actors - read it from a script. There's almost no sense that the words being read have any genuine personality. It just sounds detached, as if he walked into a room, got handed a piece of paper, and was told "read this real quick".

He's crap, really. To answer your question I haven't seen Adaptation but I have seen Matchstick Men.

[emphatic]

Skykid: Ever watched Starship Troopers with the Director's Commentary? It's worth your time.

[Mischief Maker]

If you haven't seen it, at least check out the opening monologue.. I'm not sure if you'd actually like it, but if you take it at face value, it's about charlie kaufman during the filming of being john malkovich being assigned the project of adapting the book "The Orchid Thief" into a film.

Fucking useless. That monologue is read in a completely non-committal fashion. It would be almost identical if you or I - non-trained actors - read it from a script. There's almost no sense that the words being read have any genuine personality. It just sounds detached, as if he walked into a room, got handed a piece of paper, and was told "read this real quick".

He's crap, really. To answer your question I haven't seen Adaptation but I have seen Matchstick Men.

No, that monologue is read in a quiet, rapid, desperate fashion because it's the voice of procrastination. He's not going to do any of the amazing things he's talking about and he knows it. He's just trying to motivate himself and failing.

Adaptation is without a doubt Nicholas Cage's best performance. Case in point, you never find yourself wondering who is Charlie and who is Donald.

I suppose you need to actually watch the movie to get it. Why the hell haven't you seen it yet? Put down the Transformers and watch something great for once!

If it makes you feel better, I'll totally agree that the credit for these two performances may lie entirely with the directors squeezing a good performance out of Cage like Nicholas Meyer did with William Shatner in Star Trek II.

[Opus131]

Put down your Transformers and watch pretentious hipster crap instead.

[Mischief Maker]

Put down your Transformers and watch pretentious hipster crap instead.

You're just jealous because hipsters are better than you.

[emphatic]

Put down your Transformers and watch pretentious hipster crap instead.

You're just jealous because hipsters are better than you.

Lol.

[Skykid]

Who's watching Transformers?

In absolute isolation that monologue is poorly read. I didn't get any sense of "quiet, rapid desperation" whatsoever. That sounds like wishful interpretation to me. The content may have required quiet rapid desperation but the delivery is flat. There's no belief behind the words because Cage is unable to become the character or personality. He doesn't possess the means.

That said I do believe a great director can squeeze a good performance out of a poor actor, but that wasn't a good example of the fact.

[Some-Mist]

There's no belief behind the words because Cage is unable to become the character or personality. He doesn't possess the means.

you're not supposed to believe Charlie

Put down your Transformers and watch pretentious hipster crap instead.

would you mind explaining what's pretentious and hipster about it? granted it was only about 35mil in the box office, but I always thought adaptation was pretty straight forward. and it's directed by spike jonze starring nic cage, meryl streep, and tilda swinton.

g

[Skykid]

and it's directed by spike jonze starring nic cage, meryl streep, and tilda swinton.

Not sure why anyone would consider that a desirable lineup.

Prometheus

Watched again at the behest of another, this movie gets steadily worse with every repeat viewing. Indeed almost none of the intrigue I felt on first watch when I entered the movie theatre with the lowest possible expectation remains - this is truly one of the poorest scripts I can remember in recent years.

There are scripting faults almost minute for minute. It's possible to write a thick and detailed analyses on errors and faults with just about every spoken line and the negative knock-on ramifications for the credibility of its character's completely inane motivations. I was half tempted to grab a notepad and go to town on it.

We all know about the terrible casting, the Scottish woman, the stupidity of almost everything, and Idris Elba's appalling American accent, but it goes far worse in overall cohesion and believability. It's one of the dumbest smart SciFi movies I've ever seen.

Its intriguing ideas are still fairly compelling. Just a shame they weren't done justice by getting someone other than a monkey with a paintbrush to draw the rest of it to life.

[Some-Mist]

and it's directed by spike jonze starring nic cage, meryl streep, and tilda swinton.

Not sure why anyone would consider that a desirable lineup.

bar nic cage, I take it you're not a fan of meryl streep or tilda swinton? which would be surprising because they're both fantastic actresses. spike jonze isn't top tier, but he's a an adequate director too. the first thing that always hops into my head is "girl - yeah right".

and then of course his work on the jackass films, his backlog of music videos, and other films like being john malkovich and her.
there's a reason that many people refer to adaptation as nic cage's best work, and part of it is because he isn't really a believable actor. the film is based primarily on someone who isn't sure of himself which is pretty fitting.

production meeting
donald's movie pitch

[Leandro]

Really great. Watched the first one a while ago and liked it too. Can't wait to see the last.

[Mischief Maker]

Turbo Kid

Yaaay! I've been on such a losing streak with movies lately, here's a film that's genuinely delightful. It's a lovefest to 80s sci fi action and synth music, but still has a heart and likeable characters. It's also ridiculously gory to the point of slapstick ala. early Peter Jackson. This movie has me smiling ear to ear.

[EmperorIng]

I wanted to see that one. I was worried because if an 80s tribute is too self-aware ( e.g. Far Cry Blood Dragon or Kung Fury) it can suck all the fun out of it.

To quote Those Damn Yankees, "ya gotta have heart."

[Skykid]

spike jonze isn't top tier, but he's a an adequate director too. the first thing that always hops into my head is "girl - yeah right".

I like Spike Jonze, I think he's one of the better directors out there. Above adequate in my opinion.

Its the rest I don't care for much.

[Mischief Maker]

Well I don't want to argue with you too much about Adaptation before you see it because I'll just ruin it. Once again I will totally give all the credit for Cage's performance in the movie to Charlie Kaufman's script and Spike Jonze's directing. It's a fantastic movie that I highly recommend and by all means let's talk about it once you've seen it!

I wanted to see that one. I was worried because if an 80s tribute is too self-aware ( e.g. Far Cry Blood Dragon or Kung Fury) it can suck all the fun out of it.

To quote Those Damn Yankees, "ya gotta have heart."

Without delving into spoiler territory, the difference here is that Kung Fury is just a string of reference jokes one after another, Turbo Kid is a fully fledged movie with character arcs and everything liberally sprinkled with references.

Kung Fury is eating frosting straight from the can, Turbo Kid is a cake with frosting.

[xxx1993]

I just saw Batman v Superman, I liked it. I couldn't take Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor seriously, he was funny as hell. Especially with his final warning, where he says, "The bell can't be unrung, ding ding ding!"

[BIL]

Spectre Had to really compel myself to sit down with this. I've liked the Craig films, but wasn't feeling up to more tag-teamed existential mopings re: Bond and his profession's mutual disintegration ATM. Was pleasantly surprised to get a markedly less morose film. Still overly introspective, but improved contrast avoids numbing gloom and actually lets its darker passages - particularly the bleak fate of a longtime Craig fixture - stand out. It also has some fun with good old-fashioned supervillainry, conjuring surreally diabolical atmospheres around Blofeld. Usual checklist of improbable vehicle setpieces, tastefully implied mad shaggings and enjoyments of fine tailoring/food & drink ran through with aplomb, if not all that memorably.

Not bad.

[Vexorg]

Spectre Had to really compel myself to sit down with this. I've liked the Craig films, but wasn't feeling up to more tag-teamed existential mopings re: Bond and his profession's mutual disintegration ATM. Was pleasantly surprised to get a markedly less morose film. Still overly introspective, but improved contrast avoids numbing gloom and actually lets its darker passages - particularly the bleak fate of a longtime Craig fixture - stand out. It also has some fun with good old-fashioned supervillainry, conjuring surreally diabolical atmospheres around Blofeld. Usual checklist of improbable vehicle setpieces, tastefully implied mad shaggings and enjoyments of fine tailoring/food & drink ran through with aplomb, if not all that memorably.

Not bad.

In general I liked Spectre, but I thought the handling of the character of Blofeld was rather weak in this one. To me, it seemed like all that separated the character of Blofeld from the parade of Villian-of-the-Week types that populate most of the Bond films was a few thin plot threads and the assumption that you would know the history of the character from the eariler films. Really, you could have done the same plot with some generic villain, and most people wouldn't have noticed anything.

[BIL]

Oh no, particularly with Christoph Waltz dialling in a Hans Landa redux, Blofeld himself was nothing special ("It was me all along, James!"). But I found some of the scenes surrounding him supremely enjoyable - stylish and affectionate riffs on the classic "boardroom of death" kitsch.

Spoiler

The debut with its inky shadows, uneasy silences and ritual slaughter has the air of a black mass. The hallway of dutifully typing drones that abruptly plunges into the same cultish aspect as the workstations cut and all turn in unison to stare at Bond from the faceless dark. And the overpoweringly bright, clinical terror of the torture sequence, a world away from the grim horror of Casino Royale's docks to be sure... but after Quantum and Skyfall's diminishing returns, I was okay with some old-fashioned supervillainy. Even the improvised "chamber of nightmares" that concludes things was great fun, truly feeling like something cobbled together by the same evil force from beyond its still-smouldering grave.

edit: spoilered as it's just received home release here, and I'm surely not the only one who couldn't be bothered to see it in theatres.

Also, best scene:

Spoiler

[Skykid]

I thought Spectre was pretty poor. I concur with the general critical consensus on that one.

I just saw Batman v Superman, I liked it.

That's a surprise. Everyone else seems to think it's garbage of the highest order.

[EXEXEX]

I think those who have avoided that spoilerfest trailers should really like BvS.