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Spoilers What Movie Are You Watching?
- Thread starter Huntn
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The Revenant is an excellent film.
Though I'm not a fan of the director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, he nonetheless managed to pull off a very straight forward narrative this time around. None of the usual artiness for artiness sake that gummed up Birdman and Babel - - The Revenant is a revenge flick done right. DiCaprio is great as always, excelling with almost no dialogue. And the cinematography is absolute aces.
If I were picking the Academy Award for Best Picture, this would be it.
A+
Though I'm not a fan of the director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, he nonetheless managed to pull off a very straight forward narrative this time around. None of the usual artiness for artiness sake that gummed up Birdman and Babel - - The Revenant is a revenge flick done right. DiCaprio is great as always, excelling with almost no dialogue. And the cinematography is absolute aces.
If I were picking the Academy Award for Best Picture, this would be it.
A+
OH MY GOD!! I forgot how BOOOOOORRRRING THIS IS! I still like it but man does it drag!
Jurassic World. 7/10. Very entertaining, very gory, terrible acting, dull characters, extraordinarily large plot holes, elaborate but not very realistic CGI. Basically a total disaster in terms of storytelling, but the dinosaurs are rendered in greater detail than ever before.
This film is an embarrassing remake of Jurassic Park. I love sci fi films, and I'm a repeat watcher of a number of my favorite films, but this film is a truly epic disaster on numerous fronts.
1. the emoting dinosaurs. You can't anthropomorphize dinosaurs. OK, maybe you can in a G rated movie for 8 year olds. But not for a mainstream release targeted at adults. The actors they used for the motion capture were truly awful.
Andy Serkis once made a case for motion capture actors' eligibility for awards and after seeing JW, I can see why. Poor performances by motion capture actors can detract from the believability of a film to a significant degree.
2. the incredibly dull and uninteresting performances. There is no effort whatsoever to make the characters interesting. Why bother? They're all going to be eaten anyway!
3. the oddly anti-human sentiment. People exist solely as bait for the true stars of the film: the CGI dinosaurs, especially the trans-dinosaur, genetically sliced diced and recombined humongosaurus.
If you're looking for a feel good blockbuster, this ain't it.
1. the emoting dinosaurs. You can't anthropomorphize dinosaurs. OK, maybe you can in a G rated movie for 8 year olds. But not for a mainstream release targeted at adults. The actors they used for the motion capture were truly awful.
Andy Serkis once made a case for motion capture actors' eligibility for awards and after seeing JW, I can see why. Poor performances by motion capture actors can detract from the believability of a film to a significant degree.
2. the incredibly dull and uninteresting performances. There is no effort whatsoever to make the characters interesting. Why bother? They're all going to be eaten anyway!
3. the oddly anti-human sentiment. People exist solely as bait for the true stars of the film: the CGI dinosaurs, especially the trans-dinosaur, genetically sliced diced and recombined humongosaurus.
If you're looking for a feel good blockbuster, this ain't it.
Not shielded, because these are not spoilers. A functional Jurrasic Park, what's not to like?
Aren't people always the hoedurvs for the true stars in the Jurrasic Park series? I too found the characters shallow and uninteresting. For this case I'm blaming the script and the balance of action against character development. Granted these are people who we meet and suddenly are fighting for their lives, there will be character displayed, but limited development. So it boils down to character charisma which in JW is limited. And as far as a new/old idea (the old idea is the danger of breeding prehistoric carnivores for human entertainment) with the new variation of a bigger badder monster to turn up the excitement factor, but then gettin in over their heads is the way the premise of this story seems to function or there is no story. Someone must be eaten. This film has the attraction of larger than life action on the big screen, but having seen it, I'd have to recommend streaming, not buying.
Captain America: Winter Soldier. 9/10
This may very well be the best of the Avengers films, which is saying something. The 1st Avengers and the 1st Captain America are also terrific.
The only goofy aspect/s of the film are the dubious "mind wipes." As in "derp, do I know dis guy? Duh, he say he know me...."
But otherwise there are some great action sequences, and at least a few nods to real world physics and biology: gravity, blood, and injuries.
I wonder if there is a director or screenwriter out there bold enough to make an action film with "realistic" fight and action sequences? As in spectacular action with real world consequences? I think perhaps only historical films and series might fit this mold, ie Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan.
This may very well be the best of the Avengers films, which is saying something. The 1st Avengers and the 1st Captain America are also terrific.
The only goofy aspect/s of the film are the dubious "mind wipes." As in "derp, do I know dis guy? Duh, he say he know me...."
But otherwise there are some great action sequences, and at least a few nods to real world physics and biology: gravity, blood, and injuries.
I wonder if there is a director or screenwriter out there bold enough to make an action film with "realistic" fight and action sequences? As in spectacular action with real world consequences? I think perhaps only historical films and series might fit this mold, ie Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan.
I was looking for a film about robots or A.I. that didn't rely on the evil robot cliché or fit into the action genre. Eva (2011) is a Spanish film, so the director, writer, and cast were comprised of people unknown to me, but it looked promising. I was surprised to find it on Netflix and with English subtitles.
The film's protagonist is a computer programmer who is called back to work after a decade to write the software for a robot he had designed. Although everything seemed set in a time in which robot's with emotions weren't new, so I was confused about what set this potential robot and its programmer apart from others. He needs to base the robot's mind on a human's for some reason, and they never discuss brain mapping or anything—rather, he asks people questions and then messes around with a holographic interface that looks like somebody watched Iron Man and thought the suit-bulding sequence needed more marbles and glassware.
The programmer bases his robot's mind on his niece's, and then a love-triangle between him, his niece's mother, and his brother takes up a large portion of the film. It ends on a note that sort of unravels the rest of the plot. It would be like watching Fight Club if there were scenes in which Tyler an the narrator talk to other people and are referred to independently by name.
I actually liked Eva quite a bit despite the focus on a romance and inconsistent standards for robots' emotional capacities.
As far as the speculative fictional exploration of the problems with a A.I. emulating a human, how would you compare this to Ex Machina?
I love almost every Hubbs' facial reactions but I can relate to Joe more and liked his near cross-eyed reaction to the giant eyeball. And Jill is the real beauty over Lanie.
"Every band puts out at least one p**** song so they can find out who the f*****s are." - Hubbs
^ That line should be played right after SNL's "More Cowbell" skit.
Aside from focusing on the interactions between a skilled programmer and an entity named E/Ava, the two films didn't have much in common. It's really hard to discuss any aspect of Eva without giving the plot away, but Ex Machina had an element of mystery and constantly kept the viewer in a state of moral conflict; Eva did none of that. It was sort of a family/spurned-lover flick with a few robots throughout.
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Yeah, yeah - - TV is getting all the on and off screen talent these days, but that doesn't mean it gets to pollute our little movie appreciation thread.
Agreed. Fantastic movie and wonderfully acted.
And the film was incredibly capable of making me cringe on a couple of occasions.
The one particular attack was one of the most horrific scenes in film history.
The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)
I just love movies about food, and this one was really quite enjoyable. Though I'm hungry now after watching it.
B
I just love movies about food, and this one was really quite enjoyable. Though I'm hungry now after watching it.
B
I've seen a truly wonderful movie oevr the last two days: Sorcerer by William Friedkin. Alas, what a pleasure to watch and think about!! It's a remake / tribute to "Wages of Fear" and from the 70s with an amazing Roy Schneider, somebody that wasn't too high on my list - maybe because I mostly know him of this series with the dolphine I just found ridiculous. I stumbled upon that little masterpiece by pure chance: was re-discovering Tangerine Dream who wrote the fantastic score for this gem. Speaks for itself that I almost forgot about it when finally watching it.
Richly textured, great, great cinematography and a great cast. I don't want to tell too much for those that don't know it but may want to watch it but think of Werner Herzog going Apacolypse Now.
10/10
Richly textured, great, great cinematography and a great cast. I don't want to tell too much for those that don't know it but may want to watch it but think of Werner Herzog going Apacolypse Now.
10/10
@kazmac ,you know Sorcerer? I'm still giddy about it, lol. One of these rare movies I talk others into watching with me so I can see it again 'through the eyes of someone who's never seen it before'.
also one of these movies I'd like to rent a small theatre for so I can watch it appropriatly.
not that easy to get for cheap, Region2 at least. had to get the BR from France - they know what's up! Only 'problem' is that in the first third, where three of four characters are shown in their respective countries (Jerusalem, Paris, Chicago (?), I couldn't completely make out the French part since those parts are all undubbed (love that, makes movies feel so much more realistic) and that one didn't have engl. subs since, well, was the French release. Duh!
also one of these movies I'd like to rent a small theatre for so I can watch it appropriatly.
not that easy to get for cheap, Region2 at least. had to get the BR from France - they know what's up! Only 'problem' is that in the first third, where three of four characters are shown in their respective countries (Jerusalem, Paris, Chicago (?), I couldn't completely make out the French part since those parts are all undubbed (love that, makes movies feel so much more realistic) and that one didn't have engl. subs since, well, was the French release. Duh!
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@kazmac ,you know Sorcerer? I'm still giddy about it, lol. One of these rare movies I talk others into watching with me so I can see it again 'through the eyes of someone who's never seen it before'.
also one of these movies I'd like to rent a small theatre for so I can watch it appropriatly.
not that easy to get for cheap, Region2 at least. had to get the BR from France - they know what's up! Only 'problem' is that in the first third, where three of four characters are shown in their respective countries (Jerusalem, Paris, Chicago (?), I couldn't completely make out the French part since those parts are all undubbed (love that, makes movies feel so much more realistic) and that one didn't have engl. subs since, well, was the French release. Duh!
Haven't seen Sorcerer in many years, but I vaguely remember it being good.
I'm becoming perfectly okay with a few sentences of unsubbed Mandarin, Cantonese because I can generally tell what's going on. Gotta love the Hong Kong folks being so visual...
And you're not the first person to say how expensive French blu rays / dvd are. Hell, there's an exclusive swanky new print of Fulci's A Lizard in A Woman's Skin which runs about $45 and has a lot of French only supplements (both reasons why I had to skip in spite of this being my favorite Fulci film.)
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William Friedkin's masterpiece has to be "Bug." My god, what an experience!!