Author Topic: Movies you've seen lately (Read 591450 times)

40hz · « **Reply #425 on:** December 16, 2014, 01:36 PM »

^Anything P.K. Dick did in that era with his "Valis" concept is both intriguing - and ultimately disappointing. Radio Free Albemuth as a book ranged from barely tolerable to OK. The movie was...um...mostly less so. Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here handled that theme far better, and frankly, far more believably - no scifi or fancy tech needed to pull it off. Lewis's book should be required reading for every schoolchild in America. (I'm not holding my breath for that however.) And I'd love for someone to make it into a major motion picture. (Not holding my breath for that one either.)

Oh well. Maybe someday some brave soul will do it as a web series while we're still able to.

If you like old movies, the 1942 Keeper of the Flame adapted from I.A.R. Wylie's novel of the same name is worth watching.

Tracy and Hepburn in an unusually dark and serious setting this time out. Was the unexpected and accidental death of a beloved national war hero (and rising political juggernaut) as simple as that? Or was there something far more sinister behind it all? Very cool noire flick that was quite out of character for the movies of that period, even if there still was some of that 40s zaniness in places. Recommended. (This story is just begging for a remake.)

Also check out the big 1964 surprise Seven Days in May with screenplay by none other than Rod Serling.

A ballsy cautionary movie made in an era where you didn't talk, let alone think, about things like this as far as the United States was concerned. (What are you? One of those Commie sympathizers or something? Somebody ought to report you to the FBI, buddy!)

The official trailer is one of the biggest spoilers going. If you're in a rush (or the tl:dr type who wants to skip watching the entire film) this trailer will effectively give you the entire story in 3-minutes 43-seconds flat. You have been warned!

MilesAhead · « **Reply #426 on:** December 16, 2014, 05:36 PM »

Maybe it's also because I had trouble with how the story seemed to present virtually every male as a sexual predator
-40hz (December 16, 2014, 09:15 AM)

I had the same reaction watching it. But then I told myself this is about what can happen among the elite. There's no check on their appetites. The old canine does it because he can bit. But even if a film has cliches it is refreshing somehow that they are cliches from another culture. That's one reason I enjoy watching the original with subs. To be fair, I didn't watch the English language "cover" flick. But I did see both versions of Insomnia. The Al Pacino flick is a totally different movie than the foreign film. About all they had in common was snow and murder.

Edvard · « **Reply #427 on:** December 16, 2014, 11:54 PM »

Well, just came from a pre-release showing of 'The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Armies'.

Though I long ago abandoned any hope that Peter Jackson and company would follow the books in any semblance of exactivity (and who's to say the movies would have been better for it if they had?), but I was not disappointed. If you're a Tolkien fan and have already seen the others, don't miss this one, it's just as good (or, if you're not a fan, just as bad) as the previous installments. 'Nuff said.

Not in 3D, but it was free because my son's orthodontist does a "customer appreciation" event every year where he rents out the entire theater and only customers/patients and family can go to see the latest hit. Call me a cheap date if you will, but hey, I got to go to a movie with my wife (looooong overdue), and my son thoroughly enjoyed it.

Edvard · « **Reply #428 on:** December 17, 2014, 12:12 AM »

RE: Phillip K. Dick...
I went through a phase where I devoured everything he did that I could find. Imagine my surprise when I caught wind that Disney got the rights to produce an animated version of "King of the Elves". I thoroughly enjoyed the story as a "man completely loses touch with reality -> LOL PLOT TWIST" type of short read. I think it would do MUCH better live-acted, but I don't have an empire built on an animated rodent, so what do I know?

Anyways, I love a good PKD read, the films hit or miss, and I pray nobody in Hollywood gets a wild hair to start cinematizing Kafka.

40hz · « **Reply #429 on:** December 17, 2014, 08:48 PM »

I pray nobody in Hollywood gets a wild hair to start cinematizing Kafka.
-Edvard (December 17, 2014, 12:12 AM)

@Edvard - Too late! It happened in 1962.

Unedited and long talk by Wells on the making of The Trial (along with other things) can be found here. Wells is a fascinating character and well worth listening to. That voice alone is worth it.

And a full list of others (mostly not by Hollywood USA) can be found here.

Oh yes, the BBC took a stab at Kafka in 1993 as well:

superboyac · « **Reply #430 on:** December 29, 2014, 10:03 AM »

Well, just came from a pre-release showing of 'The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Armies'.
(see attachment in previous post)
Though I long ago abandoned any hope that Peter Jackson and company would follow the books in any semblance of exactivity (and who's to say the movies would have been better for it if they had?), but I was not disappointed. If you're a Tolkien fan and have already seen the others, don't miss this one, it's just as good (or, if you're not a fan, just as bad) as the previous installments. 'Nuff said.

Not in 3D, but it was free because my son's orthodontist does a "customer appreciation" event every year where he rents out the entire theater and only customers/patients and family can go to see the latest hit. Call me a cheap date if you will, but hey, I got to go to a movie with my wife (looooong overdue), and my son thoroughly enjoyed it.

-Edvard (December 16, 2014, 11:54 PM)

I saw this yesterday. I don't know what to say. I feel like I've graduated from something. What is this, 18 hours of Peter Jackson's Tolkien? What a journey, I was still in college when I saw (and got excited) for the first LOTR trailer. Damn. It actually bookends my entire career so far. Time flies...even the elves have aged noticeably.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #431 on:** December 29, 2014, 10:58 AM »

I was still in college when I saw (and got excited) for the first LOTR trailer. Damn. It actually bookends my entire career so far.
-superboyac

It seemed to take forever to get a decent version. When I finally watched the trilogy it was like some burden had been removed(like maybe throwing a ring into Mount Doom?) Now I feel like I can ignore LOTR stuff for the duration.

The analogous situation was the Atlas Shrugged movie part I. Except in this case I have no desire to see the remaining installments. Talk about a lackluster rendition of the story! It was like someone traversed a checklist of everything that had to be there, with no feeling about any one item in particular. What a waste. I watched the entire flick waiting for something to happen. Nothing did.

superboyac · « **Reply #432 on:** December 29, 2014, 09:05 PM »

I was still in college when I saw (and got excited) for the first LOTR trailer. Damn. It actually bookends my entire career so far.
-superboyac

It seemed to take forever to get a decent version. When I finally watched the trilogy it was like some burden had been removed(like maybe throwing a ring into Mount Doom?) Now I feel like I can ignore LOTR stuff for the duration.

The analogous situation was the Atlas Shrugged movie part I. Except in this case I have no desire to see the remaining installments. Talk about a lackluster rendition of the story! It was like someone traversed a checklist of everything that had to be there, with no feeling about any one item in particular. What a waste. I watched the entire flick waiting for something to happen. Nothing did.

-MilesAhead (December 29, 2014, 10:58 AM)

that's almost word for word what i said as i was walking out of the theater!

MilesAhead · « **Reply #433 on:** December 30, 2014, 06:07 AM »

that's almost word for word what i said as i was walking out of the theater!
-superboyac

Great minds think alike.

40hz · « **Reply #434 on:** December 30, 2014, 08:05 AM »

Finally finished seeing Peter Jackson's Hobbit. Which it really should have been called. Because that whole overblown three-part farrago most definitely was not JRR Tolkein's Hobbit. Jackson got it flat wrong in so many ways, and on so many levels, that I don't know where to begin.

So I won't.

Kudos to Martin Freeman for putting what little was worth watching into the picture(s). And also to Ian McKellen and Benedict Cumberbatch. (I was a little disappointed with Smaug however. While Mr. Cumberbatch's vocal talent and timing was superb, the Smaug character itself was a little too one-dimensional and predictable. I kept hoping for just a little more.)

Still, nice to see Evangeline Lilly and Cate Blanchett. They provided some very welcome bits of eye candy, even if there really was little other reason (or no reason at all in the case of Turiel) for either of them to be in the story.

I'm a big Tolkein fan. But, as far as this picture goes, I'm completely with Miles and Superboy. Coming out of the theater, all I really felt was relief. As my GF said: "Well...that's over."

------------------------

Note: is it just me, or does it seem to take an interminable amount of time for major characters to die in Peter Jackson movies? I thought the glacially slo-mo "death of Boromir" sequence in LOTR set a new record. (Contrast that with the very brief destruction of Sauron and the fall of Barad-Dur scene! Talk about 'fall down, go boom!' Could that have been any shorter?)

But now along comes Jackson's The Hobbit...where I almost wanted to shout: "Ok! Pathos! We get it! Now would you just die already so we can get on with the rest of this picture?"

MilesAhead · « **Reply #435 on:** December 30, 2014, 09:55 AM »

40Hz said

I thought the glacially slo-mo "death of Boromir" sequence in LOTR set a new record.

Yeah, I was invoking all the telekinetic powers at my disposal to try to shut him up. After all that for a traitor did Thorondor even get a line? The poor bird didn't even get union scale for saving the day.

He should have used a different talont agency.

40hz · « **Reply #436 on:** December 30, 2014, 07:37 PM »

He should have used a different talont agency.
-MilesAhead (December 30, 2014, 09:55 AM)

Nice. Almost crainioscopical-esque that one.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #437 on:** December 31, 2014, 05:20 AM »

He should have used a different talont agency.
-MilesAhead (December 30, 2014, 09:55 AM)

Nice. Almost crainioscopical-esque that one.
-40hz (December 30, 2014, 07:37 PM)

Heh heh.

IainB · « **Reply #438 on:** December 31, 2014, 06:59 AM »

Last night I watched:

1. the SF time-hopping paradox movie Loopers. I thought it a very good story/film.
2. the James Bond 007 movie Skyfall. Not bad, though formulaic. I wish they wouldn't make Bond's lips do that effeminate pout all the time though, it's a bit off-putting even if it is a campy joke.

superboyac · « **Reply #439 on:** January 01, 2015, 03:06 PM »

The movie was...um...mostly less so. Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here handled that theme far better, and frankly, far more believably - no scifi or fancy tech needed to pull it off. Lewis's book should be required reading for every schoolchild in America. (I'm not holding my breath for that however.) And I'd love for someone to make it into a major motion picture. (Not holding my breath for that one either.)
-40hz (December 16, 2014, 01:36 PM)

V the 1983 miniseries doesn't count?

Renegade · « **Reply #440 on:** January 01, 2015, 11:14 PM »

Not a movie, or film so much, but a BBC mini-mini series...

BLACK MIRROR.

I just saw the first episode... and holy wow... t.w.i.s.t.e.d. Like, really seriously twisted. I've seen worse, but those are few and far between. It doesn't push too far, but darn close. The start to the second episode is pretty darn good - if you didn't like the first, the second should be better.

Shades · « **Reply #441 on:** January 02, 2015, 05:57 AM »

There are 3 episodes in one season of Black Mirror. Season 3 kicks of very soon now. Some episodes are not interesting, the rest is really great (in a disturbing way).

Renegade · « **Reply #442 on:** January 03, 2015, 08:24 AM »

There are 3 episodes in one season of Black Mirror. Season 3 kicks of very soon now. Some episodes are not interesting, the rest is really great (in a disturbing way).
-Shades (January 02, 2015, 05:57 AM)

I'm not sure what you found "not interesting". Everything I've seen seems to be pretty good. Could just be personal preferences and the like there -- chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream preferences?

I took a bit of time off and watched a few eps while I had time to eat, during my "wind down time", etc...

Bloody brilliant stuff!

The Christmas episode is...

Spoiler alert - very mild, but a meta comment that could ruin the episode for some astute fiction fans

a story wrapped in a story wrapped in a story wrapped in a story.

For the non-clickers --- IT'S FANTASTIC! Just give 'er a spin.

I find that very often in non-American film production, there's an incredibly strong emphasis on the actual story and plot, and not so much on special FX. It makes for a much better product, unless you're a 13 or 14-year old boy that loves explosions. (I was there once, so I do get it.)

BUT WAIT!!!

For those sitting on the fence... there are some really good technological devices that are integral to the plot and that are absolutely fascinating. They will leave you thinking with questions.

Damn... Really good stuff they've come out with. Stuff that you can think about and chew on.

I'd highly recommend this for anyone that likes The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, The Outer Limits, and stuff that just in general provokes thought.

Shades · « **Reply #443 on:** January 03, 2015, 10:27 AM »

There are 3 episodes in one season of Black Mirror. Season 3 kicks of very soon now. Some episodes are not interesting, the rest is really great (in a disturbing way).
-Shades (January 02, 2015, 05:57 AM)

I'm not sure what you found "not interesting". Everything I've seen seems to be pretty good. Could just be personal preferences and the like there -- chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream preferences?
-Renegade (January 03, 2015, 08:24 AM)

All the episodes I have seen so far were made with very good production value. Good actors as well. I really liked where the story with the eye recorder went. The story where making a living on a home-trainer didn't. But that might be caused by my stance on watching dreck such as "reality"-TV, Dancing with the American idol's Big brother and what not.

Tech devices making a serious impact in lives and behavior...magnitudes more interesting than that kind of useless, dreary and moronic form of "entertainment". To me, at least.

And if you do like that kind of TV-shows, by all means, pitch the idea I mentioned, consider it my gift to your happy new year.

Renegade · « **Reply #444 on:** January 03, 2015, 11:26 AM »

The story where making a living on a home-trainer didn't. But that might be caused by my stance on watching dreck such as "reality"-TV, Dancing with the American idol's Big brother and what not.
-Shades (January 03, 2015, 10:27 AM)

Ah - that ep. What I saw there was the tech and how it was used, and how people behaved. I saw that ep as a dystopian future, which is a genre that I really enjoy.

I get the whole "reality show" hatred though. But that's part of what made "Idiocracy" so wonderful. A lampoon of pop culture.

Edvard · « **Reply #445 on:** January 04, 2015, 09:37 PM »

I pray nobody in Hollywood gets a wild hair to start cinematizing Kafka.
-Edvard (December 17, 2014, 12:12 AM)

@Edvard - Too late!

...

-40hz (December 17, 2014, 08:48 PM)

As good (or bad) as those films may be, at least The Trial was ripe for it, there was definite beginning, middle and end. Though as with almost ALL Kafka, you don't really know if it's the end or not, and the middle is like watching your fingers getting pinched in a vice one. quarter. turn. at. a. time.
I'm talking about his shorter, possibly more existential stuff, like In the Penal Colony (actually, that one could be made into one of those "torture porn" movies so popular lately), Josephine the Singer, or (shudders) The Burrow. When I first discovered Kafka, I immediately grasped what he was doing. You didn't want to read it, because it was so long and drawn-out and tortuous to simply turn the page, but you did, and you kept doing it even though it was no less tortuous than the last 5 pages, because dammit, it HAD TO END SOMEHOW...

Yeah, I can see DreamWorks making The Burrow as a 3-hour epic of a cute CGI rodent constantly improving his burrow with the background hum getting louder. And louder. And louder. And louder. And...

"Lying in my heap of Earth I can naturally dream of all sorts of things, even of an understanding with the beast, though I know well enough that no such thing can happen, and at the moment when we see each other, more, at that instant we merely guess at each other's presence, we shall both blindly bare our claws and teeth, neither of us a second before or after the other, both of us filled with a new and different hunger, even if we should already be gorged to bursting."

"But all remained unchanged."

On second thought, no. Dear God, no.

P.S. you missed this one:

MilesAhead · « **Reply #446 on:** January 05, 2015, 09:51 AM »

[/i] (actually, that one could be made into one of those "torture porn" movies so popular lately),
-Edvard (January 04, 2015, 09:37 PM)

Torture porn? You mean when the talent tries to read their lines like it's Macbeth? I hate it when that happens.

Edvard · « **Reply #447 on:** January 05, 2015, 07:31 PM »

Torture porn? You mean when the talent tries to read their lines like it's Macbeth? I hate it when that happens.
-MilesAhead (January 05, 2015, 09:51 AM)

UGH!! Like "Canoe" did in "My Private Idaho"? Gag. And gag again.

No, I'm talking about films like the "Saw" and "Hostel" series, "Martyrs", that sort of thing. I've never seen them, but they've been mentioned enough that I know I won't be anytime soon. But yeah, read "In the Penal Colony" and imagine what that would look like on the big screen, stretched to modern movie run-times (what's the average now, 2 hours? 2 and a half? Jeez...) and look up the word "disquieting".

wraith808 · « **Reply #448 on:** January 05, 2015, 08:55 PM »

The Equalizer with Denzel Washington.

A solid action flick. To me, it was very reminiscent of Man on Fire- which isn't a bad thing. It does give nods to the original series, but actually hails more in the way of Bronson's revenge fantasy flicks. But it does keep a brain... and a funny piece of trivia- The script originally has no back story about Robert, so Denzel Washington contributed much to the character's background and back story including Robert having obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In addition to his daily physical and fight training before filming, Washington met and interviewed several real-life OCD people as to gain insights of how to play that disorder correctly.

If you're a fan of those types of movies, then this will suit you fine.

wraith808 · « **Reply #449 on:** January 05, 2015, 08:57 PM »

UGH!! Like "Canoe" did in "My Private Idaho"? Gag. And gag again.
-Edvard (January 05, 2015, 07:31 PM)

You mean "My Own Private Idaho" with River Phoenix? I just thought that it was a nod to the fact that the whole script was a retelling of Henry IV.