General Movie thread

Justice4243 · 2012-05-19 18:55:01

Same idea as the general TV thread.

Wanna talk movies, but don't wanna make a whole new thread?

Talk about it here.

Just watched Underworld: Awakening.

It was pretty dumb. Also, someone everyone seemed kinda evil. Main characters included. Friday and I discussed it and we determined a few things about Twelve years in the future:

No one speaks English anymore, they speak Cliché.
It's trendy to drive the oldest working car you can find. So trendy, that no company has made a new car in the last decade.
Evil architecture has really taken off. The coolest dude drives a model T-Ford and lives in a mansion that he modeled of 1984's Ministry of Love.

Also, Selene still has magic guns that seem to have an unlimited amount of bullets except for when they're trying to establish dramatic tension. Her guns have a good sense of this.

Movie spoilers, below:

There was a twist towards the end I did not see coming. which was nice. But it seems like the main cast just keeps getting more and more powerful by the end of each movie. How long can the keep making up plausible threats to them? TWO hybrids and a Vampire that can walk in the day and basically resurrect people?! Why don't these guys just find a nice quiet place to settle down so the rest of the world can decide it's best to note provoke them.

Anyhow, I'll grant freezing skipping ahead 12 years may only mean the movies take place in 2015 (the first movie was made in 2003, the second movie took place immediately afterwards), but the vehicles looked old by 2012 standards.

Corporal Forsythe · 2012-05-19 19:08:53

Currently watching: The Wrestler, with Mickey Rourke

Justice4243 · 2012-05-19 19:10:57

Oh! That's a good one.

Very intense, but, you know, Darren Aronofsky...

millercross · 2012-05-19 19:19:36

I watched Blade Runner last night. I really don't like Ridley Scott but even I have to admit Runner's great. I think my only issues are that the pacing feels kinda slow at some moments and that the romance sub-plot is admittedly lame and kinda full of bizarre, almost-misogynistic moments, but it's otherwise very damn pretty and very damn well written and performed.

Corporal Forsythe · 2012-05-19 19:30:26

I'm one of those people who think Blade Runner is one of the most godawful boring movies ever put to film. When it comes to sci-fi, for me there's only one king and that's Wrath of Khan.

Also the one word everyone uses to describe Blade Runner is "cerebral". What the hell is "cerebral"? Nobody knows what the definition to THAT particular word is, but that's what Blade Runner is, apparently

millercross · 2012-05-19 19:53:19

Cerebral is, admittedly, one of those annoying buzwords that is used by people to validate their preferences (You never see people talking about cerebral dramas, but you're bound to see people describing stuff like The Dark Knight as "cerebral") bu I think that if there's one movie that fits the bill, it's the movie that spends two hours ruminating on the nature of the human condition and how maybe, just maybe, the things we consider to be uniquely human are not necessarily either unique to humans or even present in them all.

Salix Babylonika · 2012-05-19 20:34:38

Well, if it makes you feel any better, the guy from Viral Video Film School would agree with you, Forsythe.

However, I've never seen Blade Runner. Though I plan to some day.

Imipolex G · 2012-05-19 21:09:47

Blade Runner is visually intense, and for that I like it. Although it may be a little too slow-moving.

On any given day, though, I probably would rather watch Wrath of Khan...

Haven · 2012-05-19 21:22:26

Comparing Wrath of Khan and Blade Runner doesn't make a lot of sense to me. They're both superficially the same genre, but I think comparing a space opera to a cyberpunk movie is going to come down to preference since they're trying to do such different things.

Imipolex G · 2012-05-19 21:23:20

True enough.

millercross · 2012-05-19 21:46:01

Yeah, Khan's adventuruous fun and Runner's a neo-noir flick. I'd get it if the comparison was with L.A Confidential or Dark City, which are films that have much more in common with BR in terms of tone and setting, respectively.

Justice4243 · 2012-05-20 02:56:40

I like both films. Wrath of Khan a lot more, but I still enjoy Blade Runner.

Justice4243 · 2012-05-20 02:59:46

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish version) was good. A bit slow at first, but it eventually sucked me in.

Friday and I will probably polish off the other two movies in the trilogy at some point.

Tre · 2012-05-20 03:01:03

Super Lazuli said:
the guy from Viral Video Film School

BRETT! :D

I miss the old Current TV. Badly.

Funnily enough, I think I actually showed up in the background of one of the episodes. I'm not sure which one though.

Ace Rimmer · 2012-05-20 05:17:02

I watched the Wrath of KKHAAAAAAAAAN on Friday actually and the only issue I have is that McCoy comes across as being abusive to Spock when they are talking about the Genesis device.

lee4hmz · 2012-05-20 06:25:35

Watching Phelous's review of Children of the Living Dead, and HAHAHAHAHA OH MY GOD THEY SCREWED UP BAD...there's a helicopter in one scene, and you can clearly tell it's a rental, as the rental company's name and telephone number is CLEARLY VISIBLE ON THE LANDING RAILS.

Salix Babylonika · 2012-05-20 11:52:08

Tre said:

BRETT! :D

I used to love that show, but we don't have TV anymore so I couldn't watch it even if I wanted to.

I'M A BEAR

STICK YOUR HEAD IN MY MOUTH

Tre · 2012-05-20 12:13:14

Current cancelled all the good shows. SuperNews, Rotten Tomatoes, infoMania, even the stuff made by the people who watched the channel... it's all gone.

They're like Missinbic now: a progressive news station. (MSNBC) I usually agree with the viewpoints but still, IT'S NOT THE SAAAAAME.

Salix Babylonika · 2012-05-20 12:15:35

I stopped watching right around when they started pushing the DID YOU KNOW THAT IF YOU'RE NOT A VEGAN YOU'RE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL ASSHOLE? stuff.

I think we lost our cable just after they canceled Rotten Tomatoes, which was so so much better than the site attached to it.

thenamelesssamurai · 2012-05-21 01:16:13

Got to watch Le Samouraï last night.A pretty solid flick over all. It's kind of interesting to see how it compares to its American re-imagining, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. Ghost Dog makes a bigger deal of the whole code of Bushido that the main character draws from. The only overt mention in Le Samouraï is a quote that was made up by the director, while Ghost Dog reads the book Hagekure. Also, Ghost dog tells a more traditional interpretation of the crime drama genre, while Le Samouraï is a more subversive spin on the genre.

PlutoniumFist · 2012-05-21 02:24:14

Le Samourai is one of my favorite movies ever. Haven't seen Ghost Dog, but check out John Woo's The Killer for a Hong Kong take on the same story if you haven't already. It's great stuff.

Also worth noting is The Driver, which is pretty much the same thing, but American and about a getaway driver rather than a hitman. I haven't finished watching that one (it lifts scenes much more blatantly than The Killer) but it's interesting to see how it later became the catalyst for last year's Drive.

millercross · 2012-05-21 05:21:35

Speaking of Drive, it's weird, but I think that it's both one of the dullest movies in the last decade and one of the most interesting experiences I've had with a movie. It's great, but not really that great, I guess.

thenamelesssamurai · 2012-05-21 17:00:40

PlutoniumFist said:
Le Samourai is one of my favorite movies ever. Haven't seen Ghost Dog, but check out John Woo's The Killer for a Hong Kong take on the same story if you haven't already. It's great stuff.

Also worth noting is The Driver, which is pretty much the same thing, but American and about a getaway driver rather than a hitman. I haven't finished watching that one (it lifts scenes much more blatantly than The Killer) but it's interesting to see how it later became the catalyst for last year's Drive.

I'll make a note to check out The Killer and The Driver. Both sound fairly interesting. Since you're a fan of Le Samourai, if you haven't seen it yet, check out Beathless by Jean-Luc Godard.

King_Friday · 2012-10-28 11:52:17

OMG - Arnold Shwarzenegger is reprising his role as Conan the Barbarian in the next installment of the franchise. What surprises me most is that I just spelled his name correctly.

Justice4243 · 2012-10-28 13:26:48

Friday and I watched Cabin in the Woods last night.

We both where expecting a horror, but it wasn't quite that.

I was entertained, at least. I was a little confused about some aspects, but I looked up what a few things after watching the movie and it cleared some things up.

It's a good watch. I recommend watching it then looking up some of Whedon's commentary on the movie. I actually want to watch it again because I think there's a brilliance there that I missed,

It's probably good that it's a movie I like the more I think about it instead of one I dislike the more I think about it.

Justice4243 · 2012-10-28 18:07:47

I should mention that all you SCP fans out there should probably watch Cabin in the Woods on principle.

Corporal Forsythe · 2012-10-28 18:25:31

tomorrow evening I'm kicking back with Hammer's Dracula (1958 version)

Justice4243 · 2012-10-28 18:32:29

Let me know if it's any good.

The last Dracula movie I watched was the first time Christopher Lee played him (if memory serves) and it wasn't that good...

This isn't a reflection on Lee, mind you. Story-wise, it was simply a rather week version of Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Corporal Forsythe · 2012-10-28 18:54:48

Justice42 said:
Let me know if it's any good.

The last Dracula movie I watched was the first time Christopher Lee played him (if memory serves) and it wasn't that good...

This isn't a reflection on Lee, mind you. Story-wise, it was simply a rather week version of Bram Stoker's Dracula.

This is that same movie

The reason the version strayed so much from the source material was Hammer didn't want Universal dropping a lawsuit on them over their version (which itself strays quite a bit from the source material.) This became the hallmark of Hammer in time and overhauling the entire story is a trend that even Burton pays homage to in his version of Sleepy Hollow.

KJI · 2012-10-28 18:57:50

Gigli is the greatest movie of all time.

Justice4243 · 2012-10-28 19:01:01

"This is that same movie"

Balls.

I thought Sleepy Hollow was pretty awesome despite being very loosely based on the original. Helps that Crane got a number of upgrades in the movie. Harker does, too, and I guess I should give props to the director for figuring out that no one really cares, because an upgraded Harker is no match for a regular Helsing, but the movie still feels a little rushed.

I guess I can accept much of that as the movie being a product of it's time, but it's not like there are other movies from then and older that have aged better.

Justice4243 · 2012-10-28 19:03:47

KJI said:
Gigli is the greatest movie of all time.

OK, I never watched that and know it has a reputation for sucking, but:

Gigli is a 2003 romantic comedy film written and directed by Martin Brest and starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Lainie Kazan

God damnit! I've been wondering if there's a movie with these two quirky dudes in it for years now. Why the hell does it have to be in this turd?

Odradek · 2012-10-28 19:07:38

The thing you need to know about Gigli is that it contains the line "The girls on Baywatch make my penis sneeze" IIRC.

One-Winged Eagle · 2012-10-28 19:56:35

So I saw Looper last week and it one of the best movies I have ever seen. Crime, time travel, creative uses of atmosphere, gunslingers, performers I respect greatly, something to say about life itself...

There's nothing in this film that doesn't appeal to me. And you should all go see it. Right now.

King_Friday · 2012-10-28 21:06:45

Odradek said:
The thing you need to know about Gigli is that it contains the line "The girls on Baywatch make my penis sneeze" IIRC.

The thing you need to know about The Cabin in the Woods is that it contains the line "He has a husband bulge"

Odradek · 2012-10-28 21:44:07

King_Friday said:

Odradek said:
The thing you need to know about Gigli is that it contains the line "The girls on Baywatch make my penis sneeze" IIRC.
The thing you need to know about The Cabin in the Woods is that it contains the line "He has a husband bulge"

True dat.

Justice4243 · 2012-12-15 02:36:55

So the Hobbit...

Saw it in 3D and completely forgot that I was supposed to keep an eye out for that 48 per second frame rate and flip my shit over it, my shit remains unflipped. I was too busy being in awe of how gorgeous the movie was to notice something like.

It starts slow, as Gilda attributed from my description, like a very visual anthropology presentation, and then suddenly a dragon attacks and everything is fire and action and it feels like the LotR movies.

The movie stays mostly true which makes for a much more lighthearted movie than the LotR movies, and truth be told, I found it a bit dull at times with there being even more traveling it seemed than the LotR movies.There's also quite a bit elaborated upon from the book to expand out the movie, and unsurprisingly, these are often the weakest scenes with one feeling like it was straight of a a fan fic.

So, I guess my biggest complaint is that it could stand to be shorter, which is something I don't necesarily feel about the LotR movies, even the extended cuts (except for a few scenes here or there).

There where some scenes where I was in complete awe, realizing that I had never seen anything like this before, and the last bit of the movie is just pure amazing, it's pretty much just a giant action sequence between the dwarfs and two foes.

The movie also managed to be genuinely touching in places as well.

So, perhaps not quite as good as the LotR movies, but I still really enjoyed it and won't hesitate to purchase it when it comes out. Anyone who is a fan of the other movies or Tolkien in general should be able to enjoy themselves.

KJI · 2012-12-15 20:35:03

There exists a remake of Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain created entirely out of found footage of dogs.

Obā-san · 2012-12-15 20:37:01

KJI said:
There exists a remake of Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain created entirely out of found footage of dogs.

dude link?

KJI · 2012-12-15 20:45:33

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/everythingisterrible/doggiewoggiez-poochiewoochiez

Obā-san · 2012-12-15 20:50:29

thank you so much

Mr. Darcy · 2012-12-17 19:40:12

So Leigh, Friday, and I saw The Hobbit: Chapters I-VI last night.

Exactly what is Peter Jackson's problem? Does he want to make a Hobbit video game? Was he one of those people who read The Lord of the Rings first and was disappointed with it for being a children's book?

One thing his fanfic focuses on is adding depth to Thorin. For instance, he hates all elves, because they didn't attack Smaug when he attacked the Lonely Mountain. Excuse me, Erebor. Another thing he adds is lots of that constructed language stuff, including people speaking Elvish when the Dwarves get to Rivendell.

Speaking of Rivendell, apparently Galadriel and Saruman are crashing on Elrond's couch or something.

Thorin also gets a personal enemy, Azog, who's briefly mentioned in the book as a goblin killed in "the dwarf-goblin wars", one of the many allusions put in it to tweak your imagination. Peter Jackson won't stand for allusions. Here Azog is a major character, more important than the great goblin. He attacks the dwarves long before they reach Rivendell (it's his attack that forces them there, since Thorin Oakendouche refuses to set foot there). Then after the escape from the Misty Mountains, he attacks them again and has to get beaten up by eagles.

That's another thing. He felt the need to add multiple battles to chapters that didn't have them. While in a fairy tale, it works to have the heroes treed by wolves and rescued by eagles carrying them out of the trees, I guess a movie demands that the heroes come down from the trees, have an epic battle, and then eagles arrive to fight another epic battle against orcs and wolves.

Another source of padding was the addition of Radagast, who gets one mention in the book as a wizard Beorn knows. Here he's a sort of cross between Santa Claus and Fluttershy, nursing wounded animals back to health at his home in a hollow tree and riding on a rabbit-drawn sleigh. He also gets to discover that ancient kings are being brought back from the dead by a Necromancer.

His face perpetually has bird poop on it.

I just...sigh. The book takes like 5 hours to read, and these movies are going to be 9+ hours before they're done. Does Peter Jackson think he's so much better than Tolkien that people would choose to spend twice as much time wartching him tell the story?

Salix Babylonika · 2012-12-17 19:49:41

>wartching

Anonus · 2012-12-17 20:01:45

I've never read the source material or watched the movie, but The Hobbit was going to be two movies initially, then when MGM got out of bankruptcy and it got underway WB pulled a Deathly Hallows and split it in three. Struck me as a blatant money grab.

Mr. Darcy · 2012-12-17 20:15:27

^ It feels like one. There's so, so much padding. We spend a bunch of time with Frodo and Old Bilbo at the beginning, too. And there's a drawn-out subplot with a legal contract, which was just a note on Bilbo's mantel in the book.

The problem is that the story laid out in Chapter One of the book does not climax until the dwarves take the mountain. There's no way you can split this novel into three parts without the first movie being a story with a beginning, middle, and more middle.

On the positive side, the wolves and a goblin messenger are Ugly Cute, and Gollum is compelling.

Unknown · 2012-12-17 23:13:46

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Justice4243 · 2012-12-17 23:21:33

He kinda is...or at least he's adding stuff above and beyond the book to get three movies.

Tachyon · 2012-12-17 23:27:29

This is discouraging.

I was hoping he'd at least stay true to the spirit of the book.

Justice4243 · 2012-12-17 23:58:37

I think he did that, but on the other hand, I think Peter Jackson's "Dwarfs are SMELLY and vulgar!" ideas are still present while he still think Elves are "OMG! So awesome"

Mr. Darcy · 2012-12-18 00:19:59

He still thinks "OMG! Lord of the Rings elves! So awesome" He doesn't seem to have any use for the way the elves of Rivendell are depicted in The Hobbit, as merry nature spirits who sing songs with lyrics like "tra la la lally", closer to the diminutive folk of Shakespeare and the Victorians than what he made them 20 years later.

Salix Babylonika · 2012-12-18 00:22:13

Elves are criminally overused.

Though I do like the "Desert Elf" archetype that's emerged in a few places in recent years.

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