Movies + TV series: Past and New Recommendation

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Mr. Perfect
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by Mr. Perfect »

All it was for me was big robots with big monsters in big settings at max budget, beyond that not very much to say. It looked as good as you could do, technically. Subjectively, when I saw Avatar I by halfway through I thought to myself that I could do what I was watching with his budget, with this movie I just watched.

The rapid fire action editing attributed to Matt Damon movies hopefully is now all over, the point is to see what happens. The latter transformer movies completely blew on that basis.
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Typhoon
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by Typhoon »

NapLajoieonSteroids wrote:
Mr. Perfect wrote:Pacific Rim was ghastly as a script, if you can even call it that, but the visuals were well beyond anything I'd seen before.
I don't know about the visuals. Yeah, the script was atrocious and the actors/director didn't help it in any way.

Outside of a few scenes though, it wasn't Del Toro at his best. The opening sequence in the water was great- there is that wide shot two shot where the camera pans around with the waves that really stood out to me- but it seemed he had trouble deciding how to use many of the visual B-movie monster spectacle tropes. Most of it was rather boring and cheesy; and by the character designs, I have a hunch that there was a bit of movie studio pressure for the Transformer/Gundam/Power Rangers style. Idris Elba was okay, the guy who looked like Heath Ledger and Rinko Kikuchi weren't. Her basic understanding of English probably hindered her performance some but overall there was no chemistry or charisma. It didn't help that half way through the uncanny Heath Ledger look alike started creeping me out.

It needed more Ron Perlman. They should have stuck with making another Hellboy.

That's more critical than I intended. :P
A personal preference, but no amount of state-of-the-art CGI can overcome an incoherent script and save a movie for me.

I thought Kikuchi Rinko did a far far better job in the English-language movie The Brothers Bloom.

Wonderful screen presence despite, or because, she only uttered two words during the entire movie:

KGNnVbN6AM4

Also Babel.
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YMix
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by YMix »

Typhoon wrote:A personal preference, but no amount of state-of-the-art CGI can overcome an incoherent script and save a movie for me.
This. I have no use for eye candy movies.
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Mr. Perfect
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by Mr. Perfect »

For me cinematography defines a movie over some other story delivery system. A great "script" can be a great book, watching people act can be seen at your local playhouse, the point of movies is to bring in the camera, it's always been a part of it for me. A lot of times I phase out of the story and just watch what they do with the camera. But like anything else it can be done well and poorly.
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NapLajoieonSteroids
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by NapLajoieonSteroids »

I wanna say that I don't know what you're talkin' about with all this "it needs a good and coherent script" jive happening. I can't though, because I understand the sentiment. There's just one little nagging thing about it: it's terribly wrong. And not the subjective, "eye of the beholder" kind of wrong, I mean you may as well be telling me that skydiving without a parachute is not as risky as it seems. It's the complaint of smart people who rightly notice that something is wrong with the usual dreck being put out there but have no understanding of cinematic language.

This is a visual medium and we're gettin' hung up on scripts here?
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YMix
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by YMix »

NapLajoieonSteroids wrote:This is a visual medium and we're gettin' hung up on scripts here?
Yup. Good story or GTFO.
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
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NapLajoieonSteroids
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by NapLajoieonSteroids »

YMix wrote:
NapLajoieonSteroids wrote:This is a visual medium and we're gettin' hung up on scripts here?
Yup. Good story or GTFO.
How well a movie tells a story has almost ZERO to do with the script. If you have good directors/editors/actors; you probably don't even need the script for anything but a jumping off point.

some movies with terrible (or non-existent) scripts which told "good" stories:

-Annie Hall (editor made that film)

-Ghostbusters

-Casablanca

-Directors cut of Kingdom of Heaven (actually made worse by the original editing)

-Alien

-Raiders of the Lost Ark

-Caddyshack

-Clockwork Orange (terrible script like most Kubrick films- made up for in all other areas)

-The Godfather (pulpy books/script- excellent story driven movie)

-Jason and the Argonauts

-a lot of film noir

-all the early Godard work

-36th Chamber of the Shaolin

-Back to The Future
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Nonc Hilaire
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by Nonc Hilaire »

Part of the problem is the dependence on the international market, which prefers classic action films.

I loved Dangerous Liasons, Babette's Feast, My Dinner with Andrė but crisp dialog does not necessarily translate well. Films for intelligent westerners are really a limited market.

I also doubt that film is primarily a visual medium. Studies have shown that the music determines the emotional response more than the visuals. Film is an immersive medium, and music, visuals, dialog, casting and narrative are all critical.
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YMix
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by YMix »

NapLajoieonSteroids wrote:stuff
Casablanca and The Godfather told good stories? :lol:

I can't say anything about the rest of the films on the list because I haven't seen most of them. I think I saw bits of Ghostbusters and Alien long time ago, but can't recall much about them.
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
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NapLajoieonSteroids
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by NapLajoieonSteroids »

Nonc Hilaire wrote:Part of the problem is the dependence on the international market, which prefers classic action films.

I loved Dangerous Liasons, Babette's Feast, My Dinner with Andrė but crisp dialog does not necessarily translate well. Films for intelligent westerners are really a limited market.


Which is one of the points I was going to get to. The international scope of the big guys in the industry really put a damper on a lot. It's also a high dollar entry point if you want to make anything beyond guerilla/street level filmmaking. I recently watched the latest "complete-edition" of Metropolis. Amazing movie, visually and aurically- despite cliches- still out of my price range.

My Dinner With Andre is very good but it is very much an exception to all the rules- that's why it stands out so much. If not for how unusual it is, I don't know if we'd be using a film that some think of being dull, pretentious, and pseudo-intellectual.
I also doubt that film is primarily a visual medium. Studies have shown that the music determines the emotional response more than the visuals. Film is an immersive medium, and music, visuals, dialog, casting and narrative are all critical.
I speak too loosely by saying visual medium. All that does indeed play a role- my point still stands that the dialogue (the script in general) isn't anywhere important as the other aspects. Not even in the same ballpark. Bad, cheesy lines and contrived narration can be made to work with the right director/cast/editor.
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NapLajoieonSteroids
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by NapLajoieonSteroids »

YMix wrote:
NapLajoieonSteroids wrote:stuff
Casablanca and The Godfather told good stories? :lol:

I can't say anything about the rest of the films on the list because I haven't seen most of them. I think I saw bits of Ghostbusters and Alien long time ago, but can't recall much about them.
yeah they did (as long as we are not expecting good to mean perfect) and I think if not for the hype of both movies, they'd not be looked down upon.

Casablanca hadn't a finished script when they started filming, 12 people worked on it altogether and the ending sequence is totally winged. The dialogue and premises/narratives (by themselves) are corny and melodramatic but the actors beautifully underplayed it, elevating it above its source. It's drama- not melodrama- done extremely well. Arthur Edeson's cinematography is the best of his storied career (better than the Maltese Falcon and All Quiet on the Western Front) and establishes the mood and iconography of the film. The director and editor did not flub a single second of this movie. It has a lot of sentiment but is not sentimental; something that its fashionable critics seem notoriously incapable of distinguishing. And it has a very complicated romance between three muddled (and unlikable?) characters while not being at all conventional. It is profoundly antipathetic to the kinds of emotional self-indulgence often seen on film- there is no romanticism going on here; despite what may be said.

As for the Godfather, a lot can be said. Something is taken away from it because of its pop culture visibility and the franchise aspect of it (I personally don't care for part II, forget about part III) but as a standalone film: they took a little and took a lot out of it. Everyone talks about Brando; but Al Pacino acts the lavander out of that role. His transformation is thoroughly engaging. Almost every character in that film in not only made interesting by their actors but you come to sympathize with some pretty sketchy dudes. The only thing I'd change is the silly Sonny death scene.
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Typhoon
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by Typhoon »

Mr. Perfect wrote:Ok I'm gonna go a little weird on you here, but really I don't know what else to do.

. . .

I have a tremendous respect and fascination with pronoprono. In our prono culture it can be hard to avoid. However I can't remember ever seeking it out, actually watching other people do that makes me queasy. I don't like public sexuality. I'm fascinated that people can do that in front of a camera and photographers, etc, in that to me it's as impossible as relieving oneself in front of other people. I don't know how you could do that and your desecendants now for generations will be able to watch their grandparent fornicate with hired strangers. I can't wrap my mind around that. I have a lot of respect for the chix. Hollywood bimbos strike me as really asexual. Nowadays they race to get nude but they won't do the full monty, the full thing, the deed. The prono chiks, they'll go all the way. The hollywood bimbos seem to me like they like the ego attention, perceived status, money, female competitiveness and so forth and have no interest in the actual thing, it's just a tease. We are told celebrities are the most beautiful people in the world but whenever I'm at a community college or my wife's salon I see women as good looking as any women who have won Time Magazine "most beautiful woman in the world" Gwyneth Paltow whatever. But they all seem frigid, ie the most beautiful people alive can't keep a sex partner for more than 10 minutes. Lotta passive aggressive stuff going on there.

. . .
When I compare Japanese AV* actresses to N Am pr0n stars,

I wonder why the AV actresses look mostly like attractive regular gals, yet the N Am actresses look mostly hard-edged?

Is it just different local preference?

*AV = audiovisual: J-euphemism for pr0n.
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noddy
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by noddy »

they do have the jaded, meth drawn stripper look most of the time, its not attractive, especially with the absurd non aesthetic boobs and big hair.

the bit im finding amusing is how hard its becoming for the paid-for-pron industries due to the amount of young tarts who do it for free, to get attention :)

not so amusing if i was a dad to a young tart, then again, id be shocked if thats how it turned out anyway.
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Nonc Hilaire
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by Nonc Hilaire »

Watched "Catching Fire" in a LieMax theater this weekend. Found out there are two kinds if IMAX -the real ones which are six stories tall and the LieMax which are just slightly larger than a normal theater screen but advertised as IMAX nonetheless.

I highly recommend seeking out the authentic IMAX. Catching Fire was disappointing, but with a gang of 12 yr olds and the fact that the series was our bedtime reading we had to see it. All were a bit let down, but connection with popular culture is important for youth.

The Divergent series is coming out on the screen (another popular juvenile novel series embraced by retarded adults) but it may be a good film series. The 'novels' are essentially movie scripts and stink as literature, but the movies may be good. Especially by adolescents who are still seduced by classical hero plots.

On another level, I read "Great Expectations" has been produced on film 38 times. The BBC miniseries still seems the best ; the others cut out so much to fit the time format.

Why is it the cinema cannot work with a truly complex serial narrative? TV does it well - Game of Thrones, Deadwood - I don't get it.
“Christ has no body now but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks among His people to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses His creation.”

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Endovelico
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Terrible movies and actors

Post by Endovelico »

I came across, by accident, the movie Tales of Ordinary Madness. After watching about 30 minutes of that piece of cinematic garbage, I came to the conclusion that it must be one of the worst films ever made, with one of the worst actors - Ben Gazzara - who ever lived. Can anyone beat this for the worst film ever made?...
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Typhoon
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Re: Terrible movies and actors

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Endovelico wrote:I came across, by accident, the movie Tales of Ordinary Madness. After watching about 30 minutes of that piece of cinematic garbage, I came to the conclusion that it must be one of the worst films ever made, with one of the worst actors - Ben Gazzara - who ever lived. Can anyone beat this for the worst film ever made?...
The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak

Director: Just Jaeckin
Writer: Just Jaeckin
Stars: Tawny Kitaen

[was a red flag clue]

Marketed as an "Indiana Jones" type of adventure movie.

Any movie made in Hong Kong choosen at random.
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by Simple Minded »

noddy wrote:.....

the australian film industry is a classic for not understanding this, they constantly make these depressing dramas about problem families and druggies and then claiming the australian population is too stupid to understand their insightful artistic depth when in reality this crap is our neighbours, it is our relatives and its only sheltered middle class arts students who find it interesting or new.....
:lol: damn little difference tween Stralians and Merikans

reminds me of my niece's statement regarding Inglorious Basterds:

"It is an excellent film about a justified war, but I doubt anyone outside of NYC will be smart enough to understand it!" :lol:

Everyone I know who has lived in NYC and left says the same thing "You never realize it while it is happening to you.... it must be something in the water!"

I always tell the newbie furreigners that before you can understand the US, you have to watch My Cousin Vinny a few times...
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Nonc Hilaire
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by Nonc Hilaire »

We knew how to enjoy these movies in the 70's. Smoke a lot of pot, put one on with the sound off and a second with the picture off to provide the soundtrack.
“Christ has no body now but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks among His people to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses His creation.”

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Typhoon
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Re: Movies and stuff

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noddy wrote:.....

the australian film industry is a classic for not understanding this, they constantly make these depressing dramas about problem families and druggies and then claiming the australian population is too stupid to understand their insightful artistic depth when in reality this crap is our neighbours, it is our relatives and its only sheltered middle class arts students who find it interesting or new.....
Seconded, with regards to many nation's "art house" films.

A type of risk free voyeurism.
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Endovelico
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by Endovelico »

Am I crazy? I just watched "Generation Um...", with Keanu Reeves, on television, and I was fascinated by it. It got the Rotten Tomatoes award. What's wrong with me?...
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YMix
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by YMix »

Anybody else watching True Detective?
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
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kmich
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Re: Movies and stuff

Post by kmich »

How a culture can become immersed and oblivious to a narrative that mythologizes events that, from an outsiders point of view, are an irredeemable evil. That is, of course, until the direct human suffering of malevolent actions are faced, then the myth starts to peel away. Deeply disturbing but highly recommended.

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Typhoon
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Re: Movies: New Release Recommendations + Scenes from the P

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ctCGA0VVaak

ld_tg4W7Hf8
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Nonc Hilaire
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Re: Movies: New Release Recommendations + Scenes from the P

Post by Nonc Hilaire »

The movie "Noah" looks promising. Historically, flood stories do occur not just in the ME but even in the Delaware tribes of North America and many other myths. I personally do not care much how well Aronofsky follows the biblical text, but from what I have read about the film it is about what he imagines the interactions to be between Noah and his family and their community.

I would recommend this be viewed as a disaster epic by renowned director and not as a biblical reenactment. The Genesis version was not meant to be a reenactment either.
“Christ has no body now but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks among His people to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses His creation.”

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