Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched  (Read 683989 times)

smirnoff

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3310 on: March 08, 2019, 09:02:18 PM »
I couldn't help thinking of The Graduate, when you said, "I'm just not sure I feel like he's changed and that this relationship isn't ultimately doomed after his charm wears off... and doomed for the same reasons that his first marriage fell apart."  And then I envision Harvey and Kate sitting in the back of the bus, looking at each other and saying with their eyes, "Now what?"

It's never going to happen, but it seems like there's good potential for a sequel. Rom coms don't have follow up films too often though I guess.

Sandy

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3311 on: March 08, 2019, 09:26:44 PM »
It's never going to happen, but it seems like there's good potential for a sequel.

I like thinking about how their lives were altered by finding each other. Like an altered trajectory, or wake up call.

Watching them under this new dynamic would be interesting.

Quote
Rom coms don't have follow up films too often though I guess.

Nope. Because, according to movies, stories end after marriage. :)

MartinTeller

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3312 on: March 08, 2019, 11:08:20 PM »
In a way, the live-action Cinderella is kind of the flipside of the animated original. The earlier version falls pretty flat when it comes to the central story but makes up for it in the comedy and music. The newer one largely does away with the songs and the animal hijinx, but brings a greater depth to the human characters. There are some new twists to the tale, most of which try to bring it a bit more down to earth. Some are welcome, although I wonder if trying to humanize the stepmother does more harm than good. That is, trying to justify her evil as if it were an understandable thing has the opposite effect, and ironically makes her excessive nastiness harder to believe. But I can't complain about Cate Blanchett, she does great work with what she's given, as expected. Lily James is rather bland, although at least the character is given more of a spine this time around. The real zero here is Richard Madden, a complete dud of a prince. When we first met him, I was hoping he was a decoy prince, and the REAL prince would show up later and be more interesting or charismatic. Oh well.

I do miss the comedy (I didn't find HBC's antics particularly amusing) but on the whole I enjoyed this one slightly more, and appreciated some of the novelties of the updated script. Rating: Good (71)

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3313 on: March 08, 2019, 11:14:12 PM »
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013)
★ ★ ½
Sequel to the feature debut of Phil Lord, Christopher Miller greatly misses their special magic. What's left is a fast and frantic as any other non-Disney animated movie, right down to the pickles that act and talk like Minions. Lots of food puns, but the creature design is basic instead of gleefully surreal. Everything else is cheerful but disappointingly ordinary. I like most of the characters, but there was also the return of Baby Brent (Andy Samberg), one of the most obnoxious animated characters of our lifetime.

smirnoff

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3314 on: March 08, 2019, 11:47:04 PM »
The Illusionist (Neil Burger, 2006)         7/10

I appreciated the pace of the storytelling here. It seems to just jump to what's important and doesn't mess about. Initially I was a little disappointed when plot revealed itself. Ed Norton's character stumbles upon his long lost love in Vienna and makes it his purpose to steal her away from the Emperor's cruel son. That's pretty well worn territory, so I didn't hold out a lot of hope once it became clear that was the direction we were going. But it actually told a pretty compelling story, and made the good use of the time and place to enhance the tale. Ed Norton the enigma, Rufus Sewell the unpredictable royal, and Paul Giamatti the inspector. They were all interesting characters. Rufus Sewell's incredibly fake-looking mustache was a let down however. I don't usually notice or think about make-up in a film, but this stood out to me.

All in all, not bad. It had an interesting feel to it and kept me watching to the end. I guess if it lacks anything, it's that there weren't any big wow moments for me. It's just steadily good/okay.

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3315 on: March 09, 2019, 12:33:48 AM »
The Girl on the Train (2016)
★ ★
The amount of coincidence and assorted nonsense that went into this mystery, I was prepared for two of the three women (Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson) to turn out to be the same person. There's an interesting countdown clock, but it's needlessly confused so things can be hinted at early and revealed later to change the meaning of what you think you saw. My least-favorite type of thriller manipulation because it shows no faith in the events unfolding with any natural surprise. The women (including Allison Janney and Laura Prepon) take the material too seriously while the men (Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Edgar Ramírez) treat it like a classy Skinamax project. 

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3316 on: March 09, 2019, 12:49:24 AM »
Often, Disney live-action fairy tales look like they dumped a fortune into the sets and costumes and put nothing into the substance. Cinderella has lavish touches, but Director Kenneth Branagh makes the crystal swans and butterfly accents stand out without overpowering. Same for the Oscar nominated costumes by Sandy Powell. Branagh raises things to Fairy Tale without going all-out Baroque Grotesque.

Some are welcome, although I wonder if trying to humanize the stepmother does more harm than good. That is, trying to justify her evil as if it were an understandable thing has the opposite effect, and ironically makes her excessive nastiness harder to believe.
This is one of my favorite things about the live action version, though I do think Blanchett is threading a very small needle to not be cartoonishly evil but also not sympathetic, which is what destroys Maleficent. I think of moments like her laugh or what she considers taste, she's lived a hard life but never learned the skills to rise above her hardships and cruel nature.

The real zero here is Richard Madden, a complete dud of a prince. When we first met him, I was hoping he was a decoy prince, and the REAL prince would show up later and be more interesting or charismatic. Oh well.
My wife prefers the Captain of the Guard (Nonso Anozie) who oozes charm and looks like he's having a wonderful time. Not a good match for this Cinderella, but a more interesting personality than The Prince.

PeacefulAnarchy

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3317 on: March 09, 2019, 01:53:48 AM »
The Girl on the Train (2016)
★ ★
The amount of coincidence and assorted nonsense that went into this mystery, I was prepared for two of the three women (Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson) to turn out to be the same person. There's an interesting countdown clock, but it's needlessly confused so things can be hinted at early and revealed later to change the meaning of what you think you saw. My least-favorite type of thriller manipulation because it shows no faith in the events unfolding with any natural surprise. The women (including Allison Janney and Laura Prepon) take the material too seriously while the men (Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Edgar Ramírez) treat it like a classy Skinamax project.
Sounds about right.

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3318 on: March 10, 2019, 12:10:12 AM »
Captain Marvel
★ ★ ★ - Okay
The recent wave of Marvel films have benefitted from directors with specific visions to elevate the familiar Marvel formula. James Gunn, Taika Waititi and Ryan Coogler have kept the franchise riding high, while Jon Watts, Scott Derrickson and Peyton Reed have done their best work inside the MCU. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are the first directors who seem overwhelmed and carried along by the production. I'm familiar with the formula, but I never felt like I've seen the machinery until now.

The story of Carol Danvers is similar to Iron Man and The Hulk, except she doesn't have to learn how to control her powers, she has to learn to stop holding back. There's a personal component missing. Tony Stark and Bruce Banner have psychological issues that often trip them up more than any arch villain. Carol's powers are literally blasted into her and once she starts unleashing, she's an unstoppable wrecking ball of energy. All of the character stuff that's supposedly been keeping her from reaching her full potential is wiped away. She doesn't learn to be great, the greatness is simply handed to her. She doesn't learn to get back up, she just keeps on standing and fighting. Much like the film itself, this is elevated more by cultural impact than good storytelling or exciting filmmaking.

It's never a bad movie, mostly because once we get to Earth, the back-and-forth between Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson keep it fun. Ben Mendelsohn is also really good in a character more interesting than he first appears to be. I liked some of the 90s nostalgia, but I question the songs, especially when the scenes don't cut to the music. For example, there's a fight set to "Just a Girl" (a track I just knew was going to appear.) The editing doesn't match the song at all, throwing off the excitement. It would've been better to swap out where it appears with Elastica's "Connection" and then re-cut the footage to match, or better yet plan out the fight choreography instead of sticking in the song as an afterthought.

I've read all kinds of opinions on Brie Larson's performance and I kind of agree with all of them. In some places she's strong, in others she's flat and too often she's trying too hard to present a strong image instead of just naturally embodying a character of strength, like Tessa Thompson in Ragnarok, Zoe Saldana in Guardians or all of the Themyscirans in Wonder Woman.

ProperCharlie

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3319 on: March 10, 2019, 03:57:13 AM »
The Lobster (2015)
Colin Farrell knows what his power animal is. The way Yorgos Lanthimos writes is as a child’s instructional book from a Wes Anderson mini-world. Everything is carefully reasoned and communicated clearly. Everyone speaks with the same monotone voice drained of feeling. Yet it’s a society that does not know how to communicate and anyway isn’t aware of what it’s trying to say even if it could. His characters find themselves marooned in social machines constructed of ideology and perverse punishment. Possibly solely for the delight of the director.

Free Solo (2018)
Alex Honnold is driven to free-climb things that have not been free-climbed before much to everyone else’s anxiety. He is in outstanding subject for a documentary as is the setting for his feat. One man clinging to a wall of rock on his ascent to heaven. With drone and other footage, this has the potential to be an outstanding spectacle. But it isn’t. Instead of making a work of cinema, they’ve got on-screen graphics, cut-aways to spectators, voice-overs expressing concern. This is not a sports event! Grrrr.

Thalayanamanthram (1990)
A young woman in southern India becomes jealous of her new sister-in-law's wealth. Taking its sensibilities from Bollywood and its budget from whatever could be scraped together, this simple Mollywood tale of the fallout from overspending your family budget trundles along. Encompassing comedy, drama, a couple of songs and even a brief action sequence, the construction site song is a highlight. Otherwise it does not stray far from expectations or convention. Conservative and workmanlike.

Invasion (1965)
A low budget accidental East Asian alien invasion occurs around a British hospital. Odd. Elements of this became one of the more famous Dr. Who episodes with the East Asian roles played by animated mannequins. Not sure what that’s saying, but it’s not good. That said, despite the weird use of the race of actors in this and the micro-budget, there is an ominous and oppressive atmosphere throughout this. Excellent sweating all round.

The Night We Dropped a Clanger (1959)
Brian Rix gets to play two men who look like Brian Rix. Disappointingly not the Oliver Postgate biopic we all need, this is another British WWII comedy cut through with class commentary and military pastiche. The only things that set this apart are making it about bomb disposal the use of the V1 flying bomb as a key plot element in the film. There’s not much left after that other than moustaches, rank-pulling and out and out incompetence. A trifle to be ignored.




Daddy Long Legs (1955)
Jean Negulesco frankensteins togther a Fred Astaire musical from the 1930s with another go at ‘An American in Paris’. Ick. May to September romances are one thing, when there’s an element of grooming as well? Ick. That also applies to the combination of Fred Astaire dance numbers, on amazingly large hotel balconies together with 12 minutes long dance sequences that don’t really tell a story and seem only to be there to show off Leslie Caron’s dance skills. A mess combining two eras of film musical that just don't work together.

The Martian (2015)
Matt Damon, potato farmer. A film notable for how frequently and how badly NASA PR does their job. Matt Damon has a grand old time ‘doing science’ on Mars, despite the proximity and likelihood of his demise. All the tension and drama arises from conflicts and cock-ups away from Mars. An interminable series of ethical dilemmas and press-relations decisions that left me wanting to get back to Mars to see how the potato crop was doing. Tries to be ‘Apollo 13’ but lacks the drama necessary.

Shorts of the Week

A Portrait of Ga (1952)
Margaret Tait turns her camera on her mother for a short portrait of her life in the Orkneys; a good place to grow up. Although possessing many of the qualities of more modern home movies, this definitely has more about it. Her mother dances and smokes and allows the wind from the Atlantic to gust about her. The love and admiration between mother and daughter flows between the subject and the lens. A simple film of a simple life of gardening and boiled sweets.

Christmas is Coming (1951)
Silhouette animation from Lotte Reiniger for the General Post Office. This one concerns the last postal dates for Christmas posting. Featuring a grumpy and slightly depressed Santa Claus and a much better informed St. Peter, it does have the necessary hint of seasonal jollity and lightness of touch. Also notable for the information that Santa does not put his own boots on, possibly because he can no longer reach his feet. Conjures a mood and a time of utter security and calm.

Two Bagatelles (1953)
Norman McLaren moves his animation away from drawing directly onto film to moving humans around with precise control to create smooth, uncanny effects. It’s a much older type of animation when compared to some of his other work, but here McLaren shows a degree of control from frame to frame that not only smooths movement, but the figures in both bagatelles seem to naturally emote from frame to frame as well. Ultimately throw away as the title suggests, but indicative of a master animator at work.

村祭 (1930) aka Mura Matsuri/The Village Festival
Follow the bouncing ball and sing along to the mura matsuri song. Truly charming simple animation from a time when celebrating the annual passage of the seasons meant festivals. The mura matsuri furyu is a harvest festival held every two years in the Oki islands which continues to this day. It involves a three-legged crow and a white rabbit representing by sun and moon gods changing places. There are two versions of this online. One with the soundtrack one without, and this is all about the song.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2019, 04:21:09 AM by ProperCharlie »

 

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