Movies You've Watched Recently

Spiddy: I can see why that'd bug you. Given, I think they tried their best to not make it too pedophile...y, but you're right, they didn't particularly put a scene or a line that really put their foot down. Probably just wasn't deemed an important enough detail maybe because they assumed their audience wouldn't assume the worst (which is asking for a lot of humanity from the audience). I remember remarking about it when I saw it but it didn't ruin it for me.

I'm rewatching Fellowship of the Ring...does anyone else think the design they had for Gollum in Fellowship was WAY better than what they ended up using? Gollum's meant to be kind of, scary. So the first design had smaller/shining, eyes, was WAY more spindly. The opening shot in the prologue always makes me think "I WANT THAAAT". And when Gollum shows up in Moria he's a lot more intimidating too.

OR, the non-CG alternative, when he's having his little transformation sequence at the start of Return of the King, the inbetweeny bit where he's not human but he's not CG looked WONDERFUL I thought. Just made me wonder why they didn't go with that in the end. It almost felt like Gollum had to be completely CG as a gimmick to draw in customers.

As spiddy said, not trying to shit on the movie or anything, especially FotR (LOVE IT) just something to think about.

Watched Paranorman...I thought it was fantastic. One of the better kid's films I've seen in a while. It doesn't completely avoid the kid's movie trap of the "be yourself" message (even the Lego movie has it a little bit), but it does good things with it.

And god damn, stop motion never looked so good.

Glad you liked it T-Wolf. I really love that movie.

The only thing I felt a bit off was the weird mix of a kid-oriented story (not in that adults can't enjoy it but logically it was from a kid's POV) and the mix of teenage humor. But a minor point in an otherwise great film.

I teared up when

Spoiler:

That movie's surprisingly good at making you feel sad. Any time Norman speaks you can tell how alone that kid feels. Also can we agree that last scene with Mitch and Courtney was incredible?

YES! I looked into the film a little bit afterwards (cuz I do that with films I like) and apparently some reviewer was like "I don't want my kids asking questions about things like that after I see a cartoon." To which I reply: fuck you lady, that was awesome!

Watched the original Ninja Turtles for the first time. Really fun movie, full of awesome action and really funny bits. Especially loved how the turtles were goofing around most the fights. Only thing I didn't like was Casey Jones. He was a little too douchey and unnecessary

Finally checked out The Raid 2. The action, as always was fucking awesome. Some really impressive stuff there and cool setpieces. But, like a lot of modern martial arts films its attempt at a story was pretty weak, and there was too much of it, with actors who aren't really actors in the first place. But yeah, it's snowing, then it's sunny, then we're in some weird red room. I mean, the set pieces were really cool and all but the way they're strung together by this plot is slapdash.

Then like...who are these characters?! There's like, the cop dude, and then the crazy hobo-looking dude, it was when the deaf dude comes out that I just thought "just put these guys into a super stupid over the top script with the same action and it would a way better movie". But like there were stupid little things that if it took itself a bit less seriously I wouldn't be asking like: "Why has the woman ordered tea in the restaurant if she intended on leaving right away" "Why didn't the guy escape from the train car when he was right next to the door and why wouldn't one of the 100 other passengers hit the emergency stop?", "Why can the dude suddenly not walk after being hit in the back by a baseball? Did the baseball cripple his spine?"

Things that can be fixed in the script, stupid things, but when the film takes itself so seriously its noticeable.

That said, some surprisingly good cinematography. All together, I was entertained and the action scenes were awesome and brutal, but would have been more entertained if they trimmed the fat and just focused on the action. It's 2 and a half hours long, which is about 45 minutes longer than it needs to be.

To me, the characters' actions and motivations are understandable and on display. You sound like you're getting tripped up by small things that I'm sure you (and I) have overlooked or shrugged off in other films. We think of these things as plot holes or logical inconsistencies but in a lot of cases (especially in those where the film works regardless) they happen not because they're logically sound but because they have dramatic impact.

So when there's a scene where its snowing in Indonesia (which the director, who's lived there for over a decade, knows doesn't happen much, if at all), the snow is there for a dramatic purpose, to accent the corresponding conflict.
Whether or not the target escapes the subway train, it doesn't matter: Hammer Girl still gets him.
Does Baseball Bat Man actually inflict enough damage with those ball hits? No. Does it matter? His targets are still doomed.

Could there have been more logical solutions to certain scenes? Yes. Would they have made them better? No. Not for the film that Gareth Evans was making.

Yeah, but it's still not a good plot. The action is great, it's well shot, but the script is weak. You say that the set pieces are their own justification, well...fine, but the way they frame it in a realistic crime drama doesn't make those set pieces work, it just makes them stand out as weird.

I point out small issues as signs of much much larger ones in terms of plot but you're right the things I specifically noted were small. My (and your) ability to suspend your disbelief generally comes from things logically working within the world that is presented to us. My argument is, the action scenes are so over the top (so over the top as to take place in these etherial worlds that don't really mesh with the real setting), and yet the drama on display here is trying to be fairly realistic and have, at least to some degree, an air of subtlty. The two paired together really makes the failings of the drama stand out. The action is top notch, and then it's put next to this ineffectual crime drama. To me, the whole movie could have been simplified. Hell, GREATLY simplified and been just as good.

I love martial arts movies, I'm not watching them for the drama, but there's just a lot of it in this film. It's a two and a half hour movie and the vast majority of that is this crime drama. I found myself checking my watch waiting for the next action sequence instead of getting invested.

All of this said though, the direction and cinematography are great. Almost 100% of my problems are with the script. And CG Blood. Pet peeve because I hate CG blood.

volvocrusher wrote:Watched the original Ninja Turtles for the first time. Really fun movie, full of awesome action and really funny bits. Especially loved how the turtles were goofing around most the fights. Only thing I didn't like was Casey Jones. He was a little too douchey and unnecessary

I like everything about this comment.

Saw Snowpiercer, definitely my film of the year. Also a great introduction to Korean cinema, in so much as this is the first film I've seen by an asian director with western actors that feels completely like that director's style. It's got all of the absurd and dark humor that makes Korean cinema great, along with that wonderful cinematography and just...playfulness in general. Feels like one of those high concept sci fi films in the 70's or 80's where the how's why's don't matter so much as the people dealing with the situation.

The third act is admittedly kind of meh, but I enjoyed myself immensely. Also Tilda Swinton is awesome in this.

I think I'm going to finally watch The Room. I mean, playing GZ has me interested in people's fucked up imagination. I've held off watching because it looks so surreal, but now, after Kojima's latest shit, I think I'm prepared to brave that rabbit hole. Anyone else interested in discussing it?

@T-wolf: I'm glad you reminded me about Snowpiercer. I know nothing of the comic but the trailers looked cool. It kind of got lost in all of the Guardians of the Galaxy hype. And the way you describe it has me interested even more.

Watched Blazing Saddles. It was amazing. Felt like if you took that hood scene from Django and made it the basis for a movie.

Glad you liked it Greenie, Blazing Saddles is awesome.

"Where the white women at" is still one of the best comedic routines in any movie.

- Are we awake?
- That depends. Are we.....black?
- Yes, we are.
- Then I guess we're awake...if not a little puzzled.

I'm going to try and make it through the second half of The Room. The wife and I were laughing uncontrollably and had to cut it off last night. She's convinced Tommy Wiseau is really an alien trying to understand the hu-man race through film. I think that it's a shady money-laundering scheme to the tune of the $6 million budget.

Either way I can definitely see where it would be considered the Citizen Kane of bad movies. I can't really say much about it after that. It's so bad that even a person like me, who loves awful, awful movies, could only make it through half in one sitting. It may be a better experience if you have a viewing party and involve some alcohol or something. I don't know, it is kind of beyond words at how magnificent it is in its clusterfuck glory.

Good luck to anyone who tries to watch it. And I don't mean that sarcastically. For serious, good luck.

That's the type of movie you watch with friends...and drink.

Watched Ghostbusters in theaters. Awesome. Now I just need to find somewhere that's showing Back to the Future and I'm set. Also watched Frozen. It was pretty good. Songs and heroes were fun. Villain was painfully boring and predictable. Those troll guys felt really out of place and underdeveloped.

Figured I'd check into what this Kurosawa guy the kids are raving about is like and I stumbled into a full version of Rashomon on youtube.

It was actually quite good. You'd think a movie that mostly consists of retelling one event might get boring, but it only got more interesting each time. You get the weird unnatural behaviour that you'll see in any film of the time but I feel like the structure helped me forgive that a bit.

And now I feel bad for watching it on youtube, of all things. If I watch another of his films I'll give it a proper viewing

Sometimes youtube is the only way to watch certain things. 4 or 5 years ago the only way I could watch Phantasm 2 was on youtube, so I didn't feel bad about doing it that way. It's better to watch art for free than not at all.

That's awesome, aj. I have a similar story about how I discovered his films; When IFC was a fledgling cable-box channel, I caught Seven Samurai and couldn't believe how I'd never heard of his films before. It really opened my eyes to a whole new concept of movie making.

That's cool Rashomon was you first. Good on ya, mang^^

I watched The Raid. I think it contends with Die Hard in all around badassery.

I recommend 7 Samurai aj!

Also, I watched Come and See and thought it was fantastic but...damn. Just...damn. Doesn't really do anything to fight Trip's theory that I hate fun though >_>

Swashank Redemption was fantastic.

Lego Movie, GotG, and DoFP are all incredible. Not sure which is my fave. This is a badass year.

Lego Movie gets my vote for sure. After that GotG. X-Men would probably trail behind Caps 2 and HttYD2

GotG is finally coming next week so I'm pretty stoked for that.

No one asked me but, fuck it, here's my top 10 so far.

1. The Lego Movie
2. Under The Skin
3. Life Itself
4. Jordorowsky's Dune
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel
6. Boyhood
7. The Raid 2
8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
9. Guardians of the Galaxy
10. X-Men: Days of Future Past

Saw Boyhood earlier today. Another brilliant film from Richard Linklater. Longish but this film is about the passage of time over the life of a young man and his family and its so worthwhile.