Movie Talk!!

[Clownbot]

First image of Andrew Garfield from the upcoming Spider-Man film:

http://www.geekosystem.com/andrew-garfield-spiderman/

 

[marthsword]

I...miss posting here. The lights and sounds of films are giving me seizures. I wanted to discuss 8/12 by Fellini. But I really couldn't make it far in. So frustrating.

 

[Pluvia]

Can't multi-quote on my phone so I'll just reply to the first one:

COMPLETELY, 110% disagree with that assessment at all.

The movie, which was flawlessly directed by Duncan Jones, was a vehicle to get Sam Rockwell out there. He did the best job last year, and the fact it wasn't even nominated makes the Oscars mean nothing.

Was it well directed? Yes. Was the actor good? Yes, but anyone who has seen The Green Mile already knows he's a great actor.

The problem with that film is its incredibly predictable and slow. Be honest here, a few minutes after he reached that crashed harvester you knew exactly what was going on. The clues beforehand give it away far too easily. You hold onto the hope that maybe there will be some sort of twist and you know it's not all in his mind as there's too much flaws in that and the film heavily implies its all real.

Seriously be honest, did the theory you came up with 5 minutes after the harvester scene turn out to be correct?

 

[Luigitoilet]

Movies don't have to have twists to be enjoyable.

 

[Matt07]

I watched the Black Swan this weekend, and I really enjoyed it. I'd probably have to see it again though just to understand the whole film.

I also watched the Voyage of the Dawn Treader a couple of weeks ago, I really liked it, but I just wish movies were able to include the whole book .

Edit: @ Airgemini - I agree with the Descent as well, the first one was really well done.

 

[DerpDaBerp]

Pluvia, you're just putting words in the movie's mouth.

Spoiler

Moon doesn't expect you to hold the revealing of the clone as a pivotal twist, it only marks the beginning of a unique development of drama between a man and himself, literally. They are two seperate living things, but as the same essential person, they have to swallow their reality and (so one of them can survive) begin to realize that what they thought was "ours" was, between both of them, "mine". It's not about the twist, it's about sacrifice.

at least, that's what I took

 

[Pluvia]

Pluvia, you're just putting words in the movie's mouth.

Spoiler

Moon doesn't expect you to hold the revealing of the clone as a pivotal twist, it only marks the beginning of a unique development of drama between a man and himself, literally. They are two seperate living things, but as the same essential person, they have to swallow their reality and (so one of them can survive) begin to realize that what they thought was "ours" was, between both of them, "mine". It's not about the twist, it's about sacrifice.

at least, that's what I took

As interesting as that makes the film sound, the film doesn't hold that appeal very well. For example

Spoiler

upon waking up after the harvester crash and seeing what should be a truly life changing moment, he instead doesn't react very much. I don't even think they acknowledge that they're each other in that first scene, instead bearded him asks GERTY what's going on.

That's not how you'd react in a situation like that.

The whole plot of the film is him trying to figure out what's going on. Literally that is the plot of the film, but it is ruined by the fact that you know what's going on. My expectations were it was going to be one of the best films I've ever seen, a fantastic dark story and the questioning of what's actually going on during the film, and upon seeing the end I would be given a new light upon re-watching it. Instead I got a film that was not really dark, the answer to what was going on near the start, no new revelations by the end and characters that did not react very strongly to the life changing events. The film is so overhyped it is unbelievable.

 

[Luigitoilet]

Actually, the majority of the movie is the Sams coming to terms with their reality and trying to break the bonds that their company has them under. He knows what's going on really early on in the movie for the most part, as they spend most of the movie scheming on how to get back "home" and get a live feed with Earth going. It's a good movie, though I didn't love it like many people do. You are mainly just reacting against the popular consensus rather than making any real valid criticisms of the movie itself. "It wasn't dark" is not an inherently bad thing. Neither is "it wasn't what I expected"

 

[Pluvia]

Reacting against popular consensus? I'm not 6, I don't just hate something because it's popular, I highly dislike this film as you figure out the entire plot in 5 minutes, yet have to watch him take an hour to discover everything you already guessed. About 5 or 10 minutes before the end they decide they need to do something, and even then their plan gets as exciting as going into a pod, and programing a harvester to drive in a straight line.

Of course "It wasn't dark" isn't a valid criticism by itself, but if you expect the film to be dark and a thought provoking mystery about him questioning reality, but don't get that, then yes it and "It wasn't what I expected" is a valid criticism. The review that made me go out and buy it was from Empire, now I'm not too sure that the online reviews are the same as the magazine but even read the online review and try telling me that they don't make it sound dark.

 

[Luigitoilet]

I dunno what to tell you. I don't normally read reviews before I see a movie and if I do, I don't let that paint over my perception of the movie as I watch it.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on 2001: A Space Odyssey.

 

[Pluvia]

Never seen it.

 

[Luigitoilet]

I figured as much. I imagine you will hate it a lot.

 

[Pluvia]

It sounds interesting (though anything with AI sounds interesting to me) but I could probably tell you every scene that happens in it, you see like 20 references to it a year.

Staying on the topic of films I've never seen, as crazy as this sounds I've never seen an original Star Wars all the way through. My mum seems to have a mission to never watch it (Why? For no logical reason whatsoever) so the film was never on in our house and I never saw it.

I could probably quote every line in the films though, as you see about 20 references to it a day.

 

[Clownbot]

Wow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_World_(film) This was an amazing movie. I can never seem to properly articulate my thoughts to the point where I can review a movie and be satisfied with what I said, but I'm tempted to try doing a relatively in-depth review of this film, because it deserves the endorsement. Some of you have probably seen it already, but if you haven't then you ought to.

 

[Rychu]

Not seeing the whole original Star Wars trilogy is like never watching the Indiana Jones trilogy( although the second one was quite meh to be honest). Episode 5 remains one of my favorite movies of all time, even though I knew the whole Luke/Vader thing. I'll stop there because you could literally talk for hours about everything in episodes 3-6. 1 & 2 never happened though. That was a bad dream I had.

 

[PolarBear]

As interesting as that makes the film sound, the film doesn't hold that appeal very well. For example

Spoiler

upon waking up after the harvester crash and seeing what should be a truly life changing moment, he instead doesn't react very much. I don't even think they acknowledge that they're each other in that first scene, instead bearded him asks GERTY what's going on.

That's not how you'd react in a situation like that.

The whole plot of the film is him trying to figure out what's going on. Literally that is the plot of the film, but it is ruined by the fact that you know what's going on. My expectations were it was going to be one of the best films I've ever seen, a fantastic dark story and the questioning of what's actually going on during the film, and upon seeing the end I would be given a new light upon re-watching it. Instead I got a film that was not really dark, the answer to what was going on near the start, no new revelations by the end and characters that did not react very strongly to the life changing events. The film is so overhyped it is unbelievable.

I'm not understanding what you're trying to say. One of your arguments is that the film is predictable, which, unless you're just very good at predicting movies, isn't the case. Movies should give clues before a twist, otherwise it would be an M. Night Shyamalan disaster. With the harvester incident, how was anybody suppossed to know

Spoiler

that the situation was much bigger than a mere clone, but rather a museum of them

?

Spoiler

Also, through out the movie, they were hinting at GERTY having evil intentions, sort of like the machine in 2001 A Space Odyssey, but in the end he turned out good.

Stories aren't just about what they "are". The story of Moon can be simplified to man runs moon station, the man figures out he's lied to, the man comes to grips about his life. There's a bunch of simplified movie renditions floating around the internet, such as this humorous one. http://www.indiemoviesonline.com/watch-movies/movie-in-a-minute-the-matrix Makes The Matrix seem quite banal, doesn't it? Stories are supposed to be looked at for what they present. This story presents a dystopia of bioengineering, with existential questions on what makes up a person's humanity. There's a bigger picture to it and has much more nuances than I see you giving credit for.

Moon is not completely factually believable. The premise of a station on the moon itself isn't even reasonable, since there is no material on the moon or that can be transported to make a station possible. The movie is more philosophical than it is scientific, using science fiction only as a backdrop.

Unrelated, I saw The Green Hornet over the weekend. It was decent as far as entertainment goes. Wasn't worth $12 though.

Wow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_World_(film) This was an amazing movie. I can never seem to properly articulate my thoughts to the point where I can review a movie and be satisfied with what I said, but I'm tempted to try doing a relatively in-depth review of this film, because it deserves the endorsement. Some of you have probably seen it already, but if you haven't then you ought to.

Ghost World is a personal favorite of mine. I can relate to Buscemi's struggle against low-brow culture, even though I'm not quite as critical or sophisticated as him.

 

[Luigitoilet]

Stories aren't just about what they "are". The story of Moon can be simplified to man runs moon station, the man figures out he's lied to, the man comes to grips about his life. There's a bunch of simplified movie renditions floating around the internet, such as this humorous one. http://www.indiemoviesonline.com/watch-movies/movie-in-a-minute-the-matrix Makes The Matrix seem quite banal, doesn't it? Stories are supposed to be looked at for what they present. This story presents a dystopia of bioengineering, with existential questions on what makes up a person's humanity. There's a bigger picture to it and has much more nuances than I see you giving credit for.

Exactly. Film is not about the "what", but about the "how". As another example, both Citizen Kane and There Will Be Blood chronicle an entrepreneur's rise to tremendous wealth and in that process the loss of humanity that goes along with it. However, in terms of the presentation and the thematic elements, the films could not be more opposite from each other.

Bemoaning about "predictable twists" and getting hung up on minor workings of the plot is missing the forest for the trees.

 

[PolarBear]

Exactly. Film is not about the "what", but about the "how". As another example, both Citizen Kane and There Will Be Blood chronicle an entrepreneur's rise to tremendous wealth and in that process the loss of humanity that goes along with it. However, in terms of the presentation and the thematic elements, the films could not be more opposite from each other.

Bemoaning about "predictable twists" and getting hung up on minor workings of the plot is missing the forest for the trees.

Yep, and there's so many other elements that add to a great movie and story; mise-en-scène, editing, camera movements, etc. Most of Ingmar Bergman's films are almost devoid of plot and dialogue, yet he's made some of the most powerful films of all time.

 

[Luigitoilet]

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman
Tom Hardy as Bane

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/01/19/anne-hathaway-will-be-catwoman-in-the-dark-knight-rises/



though, I think Hathaway would make a better Harley Quinn.

I love Tom Hardy. I almost went gay for him in Inception.

 

[Clownbot]

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman
Tom Hardy as Bane

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/01/19/anne-hathaway-will-be-catwoman-in-the-dark-knight-rises/



though, I think Hathaway would make a better Harley Quinn.

I love Tom Hardy. I almost went gay for him in Inception.

Spoiler

*waits for Geto*

Hathaway actually sounds like a really good casting choice for Catwoman (Harley too, but I figured she wouldn't appear since her character revolves so much around the Joker). I'm less sure about Tom Hardy but I'm confident he'll do fine. And it's practically guaranteed that Nolan will redeem Bane's appearance in Batman & Robin.

 

[Rychu]

Bane is my god.

 

[Pluvia]

I'm not understanding what you're trying to say. One of your arguments is that the film is predictable, which, unless you're just very good at predicting movies, isn't the case. Movies should give clues before a twist, otherwise it would be an M. Night Shyamalan disaster. With the harvester incident, how was anybody suppossed to know

Spoiler

that the situation was much bigger than a mere clone, but rather a museum of them

?

Spoiler

Also, through out the movie, they were hinting at GERTY having evil intentions, sort of like the machine in 2001 A Space Odyssey, but in the end he turned out good.

Unless you expected the gathering of tons of resources on the moon to take 6 years, or the rather obvious blocking of Earth communications to be a simple technical fault, or the fact that

Spoiler

he see's a clone appear on the screen briefly in the harvester, or that the company would pointlessly waste money when they've got free labour

, then yes it is insanely obvious. All of those clues appear in the film before the crash, apart from the two I've spoiler tagged, and both of those literally take seconds to piece together using the previous evidence. And what you said about GERTY just seems lazy to me, giving the fact that you have to watch Sam spending the rest of the film figuring out things that took you 5 minutes you hope that GERTY,

Spoiler

the seemingly nice robot, will instead have previously unforeseen motives that has been subtly implied throughout the film. No, you start the film thinking he's nice, he spends the film being nice, and ends the film being nice. How exciting.

Even the trailer for the film makes it look like it'll be an exciting film that makes you question what's real and what isn't constantly throughout it, but the actual film doesn't do any of that, instead it gives you the answer near the start of the film and leaves you to watch him slowly catch up. That's definitely not 5 star entertainment in my eyes.

 

[Luigitoilet]

So what? The trailer of Inglourious Basterds makes it look like a schlocky Kill Bill style revenge film. The actual movie is more akin to a slow paced French Art film. Doesn't make the film any better or worse.

You also continue to ignore every other facet of what makes films great. You have pretty boring taste, I have to say.

anyways:

Monsieur Hulot's Holiday 1953

I love Jacques Tati. His movies are so silly and irreverent that they always cheer me up. If you want a sweet light comedy, this movie is a good choice. There are only a couple of lines of actual dialogue. The majority of the movie is visual gags and slapstick. The plot is "Mr. Hulot is on vacation at a beach resort". Yes, that's it. Pluvia would have a conniption if he saw this. Still, it's lots of fun and it's refreshing to see comedy without bitterness or cynicism.

4/5

 

[Pluvia]

LT you seem to be taking this personally. Lay off the attacks to my character yeah? We disagee, the end.

 

[Luigitoilet]

No, I'm just noting that you display a really tepid way of looking at films. It's nothing personal, just how you've come across in this thread.

 

[PolarBear]

Unless you expected the gathering of tons of resources on the moon to take 6 years, or the rather obvious blocking of Earth communications to be a simple technical fault, or the fact that

Spoiler

he see's a clone appear on the screen briefly in the harvester, or that the company would pointlessly waste money when they've got free labour

, then yes it is insanely obvious. All of those clues appear in the film before the crash, apart from the two I've spoiler tagged, and both of those literally take seconds to piece together using the previous evidence. And what you said about GERTY just seems lazy to me, giving the fact that you have to watch Sam spending the rest of the film figuring out things that took you 5 minutes you hope that GERTY,

Spoiler

the seemingly nice robot, will instead have previously unforeseen motives that has been subtly implied throughout the film. No, you start the film thinking he's nice, he spends the film being nice, and ends the film being nice. How exciting.

Even the trailer for the film makes it look like it'll be an exciting film that makes you question what's real and what isn't constantly throughout it, but the actual film doesn't do any of that, instead it gives you the answer near the start of the film and leaves you to watch him slowly catch up. That's definitely not 5 star entertainment in my eyes.

About GERTY, through out the middle of the film he's simply suspicious, there isn't anything about him that would say otherwise. His emotions are given by generic faces, he's hiding information from Sam, and his tone is monotone, I don't know how else he could appear more suspicious. All those clues you've listed simply states that there are lies given to Sam, but the specifics of the lies are not revealed in the clues. Remember that he hallucinated a little girl, so it wasn't certain whether a clone was real or imaginary.

Spoiler

I still don't see how finding out their is a clone early on relates to a factory of clones later on, as well as the other specific conspiracies, such as memories being passed down from the original Sam. Also, the motive of the healthy Sam was unknown and under suspicion. Ultimately, he helps the sick Sam escape, which is an element of the story unrelated to the clues.

Anyway, whether or not the movie gave away too many clues, which I personally think it did not, Moon is filled with interesting themes and full of emotion. The purpose of reading a story is grasping what is contained in it more so than figuring out what happens by the end. Other wise, why would we watch movies or read books more than once?

I'd be interested in if anybody else thought that Moon gave away too much with its clues, and what you think about the movie Chinatown, which is built upon a sort of similar premise as Moon with its clues.

 

[Luigitoilet]

I was kind of disappointed with Chinatown, but not for those reasons. It was just way overhyped for me. I came out of the film satisfied, but not ecstatic about what I'd just seen. I can't really even say what I didn't like specifically. It was all good, but nothing jumped out at me as true greatness.

LOVE the last line though.

"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown"

I'd also like to point out that HAL in 2001 didn't "turn evil". It was such an advanced AI that it became self-aware, and its "evil" actions are all done for self-preservation. It doesn't turn on humanity like some misanthropic robot cliche, it did what it did in order to keep itself from getting terminated. I think looking at it that way makes it a much more interesting "character" dynamic.

 

[PolarBear]

Interesting, I've only seen 2001 the whole way through once about two years ago and Hal as a "villain", which is what he's typically depicted as in pop culture, is the impression I left with. To be honest, I found it hard to pay attention to because it's such a slow paced, long movie, and I didn't grasp much critically on my first view through. This was pretty much my reaction by the end:
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/vi...asses/5-second-movies/65-2001-a-space-odyssey

I thought Chinatown was a great movie. In terms of story/screenplay, it doesn't get any better. It's just well paced, well directed, and does everything right IMO.

 

[soap]

I was kind of disappointed with Chinatown, but not for those reasons. It was just way overhyped for me. I came out of the film satisfied, but not ecstatic about what I'd just seen. I can't really even say what I didn't like specifically. It was all good, but nothing jumped out at me as true greatness.

LOVE the last line though.

"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown"

I'd also like to point out that HAL in 2001 didn't "turn evil". It was such an advanced AI that it became self-aware, and its "evil" actions are all done for self-preservation. It doesn't turn on humanity like some misanthropic robot cliche, it did what it did in order to keep itself from getting terminated. I think looking at it that way makes it a much more interesting "character" dynamic.

I agree, China-town didn't feel like anything special to me for being such a "classic". Maybe it's an era thing.

 

[Airgemini]

I went to go see No Stings Attached with my friend today.
Definitely not a movie of my tastes, but it was alright. It had Natalie Portman in it and she was pretty good. Made me want to see Black Swan ever more.

It was pretty long, though. It's not horrible, but I'm probably never going to watch it again. Ashton looked cute in some scenes though.

 

[Mr.Freeman]

I saw 12 Monkeys today. Takes that whole "questioning your reality" thing to a whole new level. I love Brad Pitt's craziness, though I'm wondering how he did the lazy eye. The

Spoiler

plot twist when it turns out its not the 12 Monkeys, and they're really just some douchebag wannabe eco-terrorists

was pretty great too.

There was also that creepy, really depressing sense of humor I sort of felt throughout the movie that I loved too, mostly with the Suite Punta del Este intro playing. Had a weird dark carnie vibe to it.

Overall, its a 5/5 for me. Even if it was a little confusing sometimes.

 

[soap]

I saw 12 Monkeys today. Takes that whole "questioning your reality" thing to a whole new level. I love Brad Pitt's craziness, though I'm wondering how he did the lazy eye. The

Spoiler

plot twist when it turns out its not the 12 Monkeys, and they're really just some douchebag wannabe eco-terrorists

was pretty great too.

There was also that creepy, really depressing sense of humor I sort of felt throughout the movie that I loved too, mostly with the Suite Punta del Este intro playing. Had a weird dark carnie vibe to it.

Overall, its a 5/5 for me. Even if it was a little confusing sometimes.

I loved 12 monkeys. Brad Pitt is hilarious.

The romance seemed at once not believable, but appropiate at the same time. Like it didn't seem that she would believe him, but she was going with her gut and I kind of just accepted it.

 

[Rychu]

So, im bored.

So, here are my thoughts on Batman 3:

Firstly, I love the villain choice. Although I am a bit disappointed at no Riddler, Hush, Scarecrow (major role instead of a cameo), or Joker recast(which, even though Heath was amazing, I feel the character could go on with another actor), Catwoman and Bane are my next favs. Bane should be done as the brilliant master strategist who figured Batman's Identity in a matter of months, instead of the embaressment Strongman bruts he's been portrayed as in TV and Movies. He's the man who broke the Bats back, after figuring out his Identity in the comics.
I have full confidence in Catwoman. Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne's relationship is an awesome parallell to Catwoman and Batman. Should be a fun time.

My only worry is that they'll go overboard with backstory...

 

[DerpDaBerp]

Has there already been a talk about Requiem for a Dream? After seeing Wrestler and Black Swan I had to backtrack and see this. Not sure I like it as much as the other two.

 

[Luigitoilet]

I love Requiem, but I really do take issue with the overblown way it approaches its subject matter. It forgoes character depth and even simple rationality for the sake of a bigger emotional reaction. This isn't always a bad thing, and for the most part it works but sometimes it takes me out of the movie

One scene in particular

Spoiler

when Jared Leto's character's arm is horribly infected, but he has to get high so bad that he injects heroin directly into the wound. This is a really effective scene until you think about it for half a second. It makes NO SENSE for someone to do that. Even the worst of junkies would find somewhere else to inject. You can inject wherever a vein is. It really takes me out of the movie because it's one part that you know they made just for shock value without even thinking about it.

However, it's still an amazing film just for the way it puts you into the mindframe of the characters. With the intense cinematography and editing, you can really feel the way they do. The end montage makes me sweat because it's so intense.

edit:

here's my Aronofsky tier list

Black Swan>Requiem>Wrestler>Pi>The Fountain

don't like Pi too much and really don't like Fountain at all

 

[soap]

^that scene did the same thing to me. I was like lol really?

 

[DerpDaBerp]

My gripe is that I thought it ended too inconclusively.

Spoiler

Like, everyone has hit rock-bottom, but there is never any sign of the downward slope ending (whether it be from them picking themselves up or ceasing to live altogether). It may have just been my expectation from the others I mentioned because those endings are more bitter-sweet in that the characters at least ended themselves with something they wanted to do. Requiem seems to just discard its characters

...a style that isn't not expected of Arnofsky.

Then again, from the perspective of just a commentary on drug abuse, I suppose the ending would be appropriate.

 

[Luigitoilet]

My gripe is that I thought it ended too inconclusively.

Spoiler

Like, everyone has hit rock-bottom, but there is never any sign of the downward slope ending (whether it be from them picking themselves up or ceasing to live altogether). It may have just been my expectation from the others I mentioned because those endings are more bitter-sweet in that the characters at least ended themselves with something they wanted to do. Requiem seems to just discard its characters

...a style that isn't not expected of Arnofsky.

Then again, from the perspective of just a commentary on drug abuse, I suppose the ending would be appropriate.

Well, the film is called Requiem for a Dream. The entire point is that any dreams and ambitions those people had are dead. Similar to Black Swan, their obsession/addiction led them to destroying themselves. It's depressing, but it's true to the novel and the base concept.

 

[Crimson King]

I love Requiem, but I really do take issue with the overblown way it approaches its subject matter. It forgoes character depth and even simple rationality for the sake of a bigger emotional reaction. This isn't always a bad thing, and for the most part it works but sometimes it takes me out of the movie

One scene in particular

Spoiler

when Jared Leto's character's arm is horribly infected, but he has to get high so bad that he injects heroin directly into the wound. This is a really effective scene until you think about it for half a second. It makes NO SENSE for someone to do that. Even the worst of junkies would find somewhere else to inject. You can inject wherever a vein is. It really takes me out of the movie because it's one part that you know they made just for shock value without even thinking about it.

However, it's still an amazing film just for the way it puts you into the mindframe of the characters. With the intense cinematography and editing, you can really feel the way they do. The end montage makes me sweat because it's so intense.

edit:

here's my Aronofsky tier list

Black Swan>Requiem>Wrestler>Pi>The Fountain

don't like Pi too much and really don't like Fountain at all

I disagree with your spoiler for one reason: Flashblood. Addiction can make people do some crazy things.

 

[Luigitoilet]

I disagree with your spoiler for one reason: Flashblood. Addiction can make people do some crazy things.

Funny thing. I was talking to my mom about this scene and she mentioned that one of our family members suffered the exact same fate for the same reasons. So apparently it isn't that unrealistic.