Movies You've Watched Recently

The people who think that way are old and dying or so secular that even the pope rolls his eyes. Meanwhile everyone is ignoring it because it's too damned stupid and pointless to debate.

That's a long-winded way of me agreeing with you. Except in the case of Han shooting first and Leia bikinis.

It's just unfortunate that those people are still in charge of ratings/theaters/studios and therefore most everything we see in the movies.

*le sigh*

PS: Having FINISHED the second Hobbit movie...man, I have some problems with that movie.

1. Characters: I still have no idea who the main character is meant to be...or the main villain. It's like there's the story of the Hobbit, but that feels secondary to the Lord of the Rings tie in they're trying to make, and the two plots don't really mesh and the characters just have motivations that are either overly simplistic or just...unknown. And this really affects the...

2. Pacing. The WEIRD pacing of this movie. There's so many threads happening that no scene organically builds up and then...finishes at a high point. Action scenes build, and then cut away to infinitely less interesting scenes, only to cut back to the action, completely killing any sense of danger or tension. You forget about story threads for long periods, or just have to witness all of these nonsequetors that have no consequence on the plot whatsoever because they're funny or...whatever. Well, frankly MOST of the film is inconsequential because the actual plot important scenes are few and far between. Also...SMAUG actually DID end up being pretty awesome and cool, much to my surprise. But then they just...cut away from him all the time so I can see Legolas, who has NO reason to be in this movie with his weird blue contacts, kill some orc who's meant to be one of the main villains of the film but we've only seen once. Speaking of the orcs...

3. What's with all the damn CGI? Look, I get this film built loads of sets as well, and there is undoubtedly more love put into this film than MOST Hollywood films. BUT, why were the very convincing, very scary looking orcs replaced with CG orcs in the Hobbit?  Even long shots of characters riding horses are mostly CG...they couldn't, with that much money, get a helicopter shot and some horses? Some of the CG just looks BAD in this film. Yeah, some stuff in the LOTR series didn't age but you know, overall they were trying to ENHANCE the amazing sets and makeup with CG...feels the other way around now. It just makes everything all shiny and unreal which leads me too...

4. The action scenes. The CG in the action scenes, the lack of stuntment doing stunts really just makes the action feel like the definition of "on rails". Things just conveniently fly to characters hands, the dwarves and fighters in this movie movie like weightless ninjas, not men in armor. There's no sense of weight to the hits. Weirdly enough the best fight in the movie was Legolas fighting near in the end in the alley since he got knocked around a bit and there was actually a sense of danger. The low point was that barrel scene...that FUCKING barrel scene. Weapons bouncing off of things int ocharacters hands just in time to strike down a dwarf. There's a quote from Pixar's rules of storytelling that comes to mind: Getting a character into trouble with coincidence is OK, getting using it to get them out of it is cheating. Everything the characters do to get through action scenes is just...coincidental. They jump from some ledge blindly and slide down and they're fine, a weapon seemingly comes from no where and htey kill the enemy. It's boring! A scene where characters are running from a giant badass dragon should not be boring! But yet Thorin Oakenbutt rides away on a sea of molten metal on a metal shield (that doesn't melt or bob around or anything) and then goes down the metal water slide and is all like "Eh, just run for it Bilbo!" Doesn't feel like the characters are dealing with a situation...just that they're on a ride, and it's not exciting.

RANT OVER.

It's not the worst movie ever by ANY means, hell parts of it were VERY entertaining. Just...was a chance to rant about stuff.

Krubixcube wrote:Casually watching the new Hobbit film it strikes me how much we let violence...pretty meaningless violence really get a pass in film but sex and other things are still huge no-no's.

So PG-13...a speaking character is decapitated, his head his kicked down some stairs and his body jerks and spasms as the protagonist steps on it to stop the movement. But show a boob or some gay people kissing and people LOSE THEIR SHIT.

Yeah, the MPAA Ratings system has always and will always be a joke, especially on this issue. In case of the Hobbit (and the LOTR films overall) I think Peter Jackson got away with it because most of the be-headings and grisly endings occurred to Orcs and different colors of blood was used (yes, blood color matters to these goofs). Even violence that has context and purpose gets weird treatment.

I still don't know how Kill Bill Vol. 1 got an R with the House of Blue Leaves sequence because making a certain part of in in black-and-white just isn't a good enough excuse. I love the sequence, don't get me wrong, but its baffling.

A lot of lobbying probably...films with equally violent/disturbing scenes will get passed or not just based on how how much money they stand ot make. It's really quite disturbing. Only because the X-Rating is essentially a theater blacklisting...if it weren't, the MPAA could give everything an X for all I care.

Ideally, something like NC-17 should work. Films aimed at adults and not "adult films". But somehow it got slapped with the porn label (in the eras of VHS, DVDs and now internet, who the hell goes to an "adult movie" theater?) and certain theater chains wouldn't show them and publications wouldn't run advertising for them. And the handful of NC-17 films I've seen don't even approach anything close to pornographic. A never-ending sea of prigs were protecting us from ourselves for no good reason other than to feel good about themselves.

Krubixcube wrote:Even long shots of characters riding horses are mostly CG...they couldn't, with that much money, get a helicopter shot and some horses?

Wait, so even the horses are CG? Will not watch

Bret is going to get so pissed when he comes on here.

Also watched The Lego Movie again, and seeing it another time, it's up there with my holy trinity Star Wars/Ghostbusters/Back to the Future. Not even saying it's close to them, I enjoyed this just as much as I enjoy those three and can see myself rewatching this so many times.

I watched Pulp Fiction today for the first time, it's also the first Tarantino film I've ever seen. I really enjoyed every aspect of it, the line that had me was "It takes 20 minutes to be there. I'll be there in 10." for its sheer badassery. I'd watch more Tarantino films this week but the person I watched it with said they want to watch 'em with me on the first viewing so it'll be a couple of months until I see them.

Saw Wolf of Wall Street. Holy fuck that movie is nuts, and I fucking loved it. I'll never look at a Popeye cartoon the same way again either.

Just got back from a screening of X-Men: Days of Future Past. I think it was a solid X-Men film: visually inventive, emotionally powerful and downright magical/impressive in how it bridged the trilogy and First Class without being incoherent or losing focus. The way it ended was just crazy (for how it wraps up and then immediately sets the stage for future films) and smile-inducing. Memorable, hilarious use of Jim Croce's "Time In A Bottle".

I can't wait to see DOFP, waiting for my bud who also wants to see it to get done with classes first. It's my favorite X-Men comic.

I don't care how much it deviates from the comic. I'm really looking forward to seeing it. My wife switched shifts with a co-worker so early next week is when we'll most likely go see it. I'm OK with waiting since a matinee during the week is the best time because good seats are still available even if you show up late to skip the previews.

Unless there are some good previews. Avid?

I've seen most of the previews online with the exception of some stupid Camerion Diaz comedy (Sex Drive) and the longer one for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (looking damn good).

I re-watched Lars and the Real Girl last night...held up really well on the second viewing. Dig that movie.

The part where he throws the flowers makes me and the wife crack up every time.

Now you should watch Rory O'Shea Was Here. I can't watch one without wanting to see the other. They have nothing in common outside of the humor and basic humanity.

Haha, I absolutely love that bit. Just the little frantic twitch he does is giggle-inducing.

Hmmm...I can go se Xmen tomorrow at 7:30 OR, wait until Wednesday and catch the matinee or 2:00 showing. I'm probably gonna wait so I can be sure to have prime seating. But damnit I want to see this so bad I might break down and chance the 7:30.

Life is hard.

Saw X-Men: DOFP. Fucking loved it. There were some stumbles with the plot, but the stuff they got right was so good I didn't care. Quicksilver was also fantastic.

I'm gonna have to catch X-Men next week. There was an impromptu family gathering today and, as I'm sure some of you can relate to this, a late lunch turned into an entire day. I'm probably shitty for saying this but I really wanted to see it today so I'm kind of disappointed. (reading that back again, yes, I am shitty for thinking that)

Gonna check out the Lego Movie tonight. Excited since greenie bows to it like he bows to...other things...greenie likes. Hm.

Looking forward to see what you think about it.

I was pleasantly surprised by it actually. I mean, it really beats you over the head with that ending but as a kid's film...that's forgivable. I thought the pacing of the first half was a bit meh, and in a radical shift of what I usually say I felt the film could have dealt with an extra 5 or 10 minutes in the beginning to establish things a little better. I also felt like in the first half characters got out of trouble with chance a bit often but that got remedied by the end so it didn't feel like a cop out (THE HOBBIT, LOOKING AT YOU!).

I loved the visuals, and how it all LOOKED lego. That was super cool. And despite how heavy-handed the twist was I dug what it was.

So yeah, I'm a bit more critical but it gets my certified "Despite my niggling problems I still really liked it" I would own it...badge.

I'd actually say one of the biggest reasons I love that movie is because of how heavy handed that message is. I want a whole generation of children to think being creative is a wonderful thing and despite that people you like and respect may tell you your ideas are stupid, just making your creative ideas a reality makes the world a better place.

Glad you enjoyed it either way.

I put in Django while doing housework and ended up watching more of it than any doings of actual housework. I have to say that Jackie Brown is a better film, but I really do dig Django more. I'm a sucker for virtuous characters and stories and how Jamie Foxx and Cristoph Waltz portray these characters sucks me in every time. I think I should retire it from my "background movie" rotation because I will just sit and watch and rewind instead of doing what needs done. Doing that gives me an excuse to buy Star Trek: ID because that movie is PERFECT background noise. (I'm not hating on the movie. I like it but, as with the Avengers, I don't get sucked in to sitting on my ass watching it)

I still haven't watched Django, and I'm ashamed of myself. Right now Wal-Mart has really cool steel tins of great movies (Pulp Fiction, Django, Saving Private Ryan, Serenity, Fight Club, etc...) for either $9.96 or $12.96. The tins are awesome. Here's an example if you want to look at them.

http://www.amazon.com/Serenity-Steelbook-Blu-ray-Digital-UltraViolet/dp/B00C6BA4SE/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1401506238&sr=1-1&keywords=serenity+steelbook

Good find, Bret! I will definitely head over and check those out. I've been wanting to upgrade both Serenity and Fight Club to Blu Ray.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a great movie. I'm not a Wes Anderson guy, but this was fantastic. Ray Feines (sp?) knocked it out of the park. Highly recommended.

I just say it today as well, and I thought it was excellent.