Random Movie Thoughts Thread

[Doctor Cringelord]

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

I'm going to do a Clone Wars marathon starting with Attack of the Clones. The TCW series did not actually air in 100% chronological order so I need to find that guide on how to watch them. Then I'll finish with Revenge of the Sith. Right now I'm watching AotC on Disney+.

I feel Disney is missing an opportunity in not including the old Droids animated series, Ewoks animated series, and the 2 Ewoks TV movies on Plus. I wonder if they simply don't have the rights to those for some reason, or if they decided to only include canon films and shows. Still, they could present them as the "nostalgia collection" or even as part of the "Legends collection" that would consist of all non-canon shows. Even if those Ewok movies are not canon now, I still like to believe Wilford Brimley was a living, breathing part of the SW canon. Same goes for Chewie's family from the Holiday Special.

 

[Stigmata]

You ever see someone play a role too well? That's how I feel about Michael Fassbender in 12 years a slave. I feel like meeting him could somehow cause my civil liberties to be jeopardized. If I find out that dude even owns a farm I'm gonna freak out...

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

^

De Niro in Cape Fear is kind of unsettling

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Jackie Brown feels like the forgotten Tarantino movie. It’s the one I always forget about. It came between Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, I wonder if that has to do with it being one of the less discussed QT films. I like it, even if it feels a little more low key than most of his movies.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

I think Heath Ledger did it. And it cost him himself.

It’s a triumph when an actor can be so terrifying in a PG 13 movie too.

 

[Totenkindly]

I have seen "The Parent Trap" remake a number of times but finally noticed a piece of foreshadowing in what is typically a straightforward film.

When Hallie goes with her mom Elizabeth James to the wedding photo shoot in England, Liz asks Hallie to choose either a white top hat or black top hat to go with the model's white wedding gown. They decide to go with the white top hat, and there's an ongoing montage of shots with the bridal with the white top hat affixed with the veil.

Shortly after when they cut to Annie out in CA with her dad, the very first shots we get of Meredith the potential "evil stepmother" (where her face is typically hidden from the camera), she is wearing a form fitting seductive white dress showing off her legs (so already we have a counterpart between "wholesome bride" vs "seductress" in the white dress style)...but a black wide-brimmed hat. Aside from the black/white cliche color meanings, the forces of good/coherency choose a matching dress/hat color, while Meredith chooses a hat in stark opposition to her outfit, signifying she doesn't really align with the lead character's views. It's not really accidental, because it's kind of unexpected for Meredith to be wearing a white dress anyway when there was quite a range of color she could have been garbed in for the outdoor shots.

It's interesting in that it's mostly just snuck in, without pointing much attention to itself and the film doesn't really have many examples of that. It's more of a peripheral detail.

 

[Totenkindly]

I find name choices interesting in the art of stories, sometimes they are meant as pointers to similar ideas in other works.

Was rewatching "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" this week and noted that Mary's last name seems pretty unique (Svevo), so I googled it. (Mary is the receptionist for the doctor performing the memory wipes.) Svevo is the pseudonym for an author who was a contemporary / friend of James Joyce. I found this tidbit interesting regarding Svevo's works:

...There is a final connection between Svevo and the character Cosini. Cosini sought psychoanalysis, he said, in order to discover why he was addicted to nicotine. As he reveals in his memoirs, each time he had given up smoking, with the iron resolve that this would be the "ultima sigaretta!!", he experienced the exhilarating feeling that he was now beginning life over without the burden of his old habits and mistakes. That feeling was, however, so strong that he found smoking irresistible, if only so that he could stop smoking again in order to experience that thrill once more.

Which is kind of interesting, in that with this cottage business of memory removal, people wipe their minds in part to escape pain (perhaps tied to past relational mistakes, or broadened to loss of some kind, whether through death or abandonment or whatever else) but also to lend potency to experiencing those things as if for the very first time, as if it were fresh and new. There is also a sense of liberation from one's past bad choices. And yet it is also a trap, because one is drawn right back into experiencing them yet again -- it could become an addictive kind of behavior, an inevitable dance where the moth spirals right back into the flame... which is an apt description of plot paths in the film.

 

[Stigmata]

Jackie Brown feels like the forgotten Tarantino movie. It’s the one I always forget about. It came between Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, I wonder if that has to do with it being one of the less discussed QT films. I like it, even if it feels a little more low key than most of his movies.

Jackie Brown is definitely high up on my list of Tarantino films. It was a bit less intense than some of the movies which came before it while having more of a laid-back and humorous feel to it, yet still has enough edge to maintain interest throughout. Top notch soundtrack that perfectly matches the tone of the film as well.

I feel like Inglorious Bastards gets lost in the shuffle as well as his film catalog expands -- the bar scene with Michael Fassbender showcases his masterful ability to slowly build tension in a scene over the course of several minutes. That, plus the Theater scene in the end is just absolutely amazing (the layer of detail to have Shoshanna's face appearing through the smoke filled room just blows my mind everytime...)

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Jackie Brown is definitely high up on my list of Tarantino films. It was a bit less intense than some of the movies which came before it while having more of a laid-back and humorous feel to it, yet still has enough edge to maintain interest throughout. Top notch soundtrack that perfectly matches the tone of the film as well.

I feel like Inglorious Bastards gets lost in the shuffle as well as his film catalog expands -- the bar scene with Michael Fassbender showcases his masterful ability to slowly build tension in a scene over the course of several minutes. That, plus the Theater scene in the end is just absolutely amazing (the layer of detail to have Shoshanna's face appearing through the smoke filled room just blows my mind everytime...)

Fassbender is amazing. It's like someone created a hybrid of Laurence Olivier and Daniel Day-Lewis. He made me enjoy Prometheus and Alien Covenant so much more than I should've. They're kind of eye candy garbage to me with very badly written characters but nice visuals and themes.

My favorite Tarantino....might be Django. Or Hateful 8. Which is basically his take on John Carpenter's The Thing. I like how he's matured into using a real score on Hateful 8. It had me on edge first time I saw it. I'm not sure how I feel about Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. It was kind of satisfying but it felt anticlimactic. Maybe that was his point, I dunno

 

[highlander]

I watched a movie called Enemy the other day. What a weird and strange movie. Didn't like it especially the ending.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Order 66 viewed through the eyes of a Padawan:

 

[Totenkindly]

I watched a movie called Enemy the other day. What a weird and strange movie. Didn't like it especially the ending.

Lol, I loved it (it's a Denis Villeneuve film and an adaptation of a book)... but yeah, the ending feels kind of out of left field, doesn't it? Plus, I have a phobia, so I think I about fell off my chair.

Jake Gyllenhaal did an excellent job with distinct personalities.

I think the value comes in when you try to analyze the film and what exactly is happening. There are various interpretations aside from the literal plot view, but it definitely won't appeal to everyone especially with that abrupt ending.



All that being said, it might be my "least favorite" Villeneuve film, although I have liked all of his films so far a great deal and am looking forward to his version of Dune that is currently in post-production.

 

[highlander]

[MENTION=7]Totenkindly[/MENTION] that ending like what the hell was that supposed to mean? I was almost starting to like the movie until that point

 

[Totenkindly]

[MENTION=7]Totenkindly[/MENTION] that ending like what the hell was that supposed to mean? I was almost starting to like the movie until that point

The best interpretations suggest it is allegorical and referring to the views of the lead character towards a relationship with the opposite gender -- which then forces one to reconsider the entire film in terms of whether it is literal or some kind of internal psychological split within the protagonist....

 

[Jaguar]

Lol, I loved it (it's a Denis Villeneuve film and an adaptation of a book)... but yeah, the ending feels kind of out of left field, doesn't it? Plus, I have a phobia, so I think I about fell off my chair.

Jake Gyllenhaal did an excellent job with distinct personalities.

I think the value comes in when you try to analyze the film and what exactly is happening. There are various interpretations aside from the literal plot view, but it definitely won't appeal to everyone especially with that abrupt ending.

I'm at 15 minutes in and this is worse than watching paint dry. It better pick up or I'm giving him the axe.
Edit: 23 minutes. He got the axe.

 

[Totenkindly]

I'm at 15 minutes in and this is worse than watching paint dry. It better pick up or I'm giving him the axe.
Edit: 23 minutes. He got the axe.

Lol. Like I said... not for everyone. I think some of Villeneuve's other films are far more accessible.

 

[Stigmata]

I'm not sure how I feel about Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. It was kind of satisfying but it felt anticlimactic. Maybe that was his point, I dunno

I'll say this: when I saw it in theaters I felt very tempted to walk out simply because I had no idea what the purpose to any of what I was seeing was (I'm annoying to watch movies with because I'm always trying to dissect the plot and/or figure out what's going to happen next, as opposed to just enjoying it for what it is in the moment) -- outside of the sharon tate/mason family side story which slowly converges into the main plot. After doing some research on that, plus coming to understand that the film is really just his own visual love letter to the golden age of hollywood, I've enjoyed it more and more after each viewing (I watch the same movies multiple times because I'm a loser).

It really is a bit slice of life-ish, set in 1960s Hollywood, and when you kinda take a step back and realize just to what lengths Tarantino went through to masterfully recreate that era, it allows you to appreciate it a bit more.

I also enjoyed the ending a great deal, as it was another instance in which he recreates history with his own directorial vision as to how it would've played out in his mind. Plus it just completely caught me off guard how intense it was given how subdued (for him, at least) the film had been upto that point. It was if he'd tried to hold back as his proclivity for violent massacre ending scenes for the most of the film, yet at the in just couldn't resist anymore and just let his imagination run wild.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I'll say this: when I saw it in theaters I felt very tempted to walk out simply because I had no idea what the purpose to any of what I was seeing was (I'm annoying to watch movies with because I'm always trying to dissect the plot and/or figure out what's going to happen next, as opposed to just enjoying it for what it is in the moment) -- outside of the sharon tate/mason family side story which slowly converges into the main plot. After doing some research on that, plus coming to understand that the film is really just his own visual love letter to the golden age of hollywood, I've enjoyed it more and more after each viewing (I watch the same movies multiple times because I'm a loser).

It really is a bit slice of life-ish, set in 1960s Hollywood, and when you kinda take a step back and realize just to what lengths Tarantino went through to masterfully recreate that era, it allows you to appreciate it a bit more.

I also enjoyed the ending a great deal, as it was another instance in which he recreates history with his own directorial vision as to how it would've played out in his mind. Plus it just completely caught me off guard how intense it was given how subdued (for him, at least) the film had been upto that point. It was if he'd tried to hold back as his proclivity for violent massacre ending scenes for the most of the film, yet at the in just couldn't resist anymore and just let his imagination run wild.

i was confused because wasn't brad pitt a baby in the 60s?

 

[Stigmata]

i was confused because wasn't brad pitt a baby in the 60s?