Random Movie Thoughts Thread

[Totenkindly]

Finally watched Snowpiercer (2013), it was free on Amazon Prime.

Honestly I think the performances might be the best part of this film, although some of the train lore is interesting. The early standout is Tilda Swinton, as Wilford's representative to the train's tail end. She's just hilarious and her versatility here (considering the breadth of her other work) is just incredible. She had a lot of fun with this role. Chris Evans gets his moments to shine later in the film. There's some other names in here too, like Octavia Spencer, Jamie Bell, John Hurt, Ed Harris; Alison Pill has a brief cameo as a semi-deranged K-grade teacher which is kind of amusing. Some of the action sequences are harrowing; Grey (Luke Pasqualino) perhaps has some of the gutsiest fight moments.

kind of some lessons here to learn as well, for example there are many good reasons why someone might come up with to keep the train moving, but once you look at them in detail or perspective, the detriments really leap out.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

I forgot how funny this moment was. Why was this even in the movie? That being said I prefer the other movie with the "filmed at a Renaissance festival vibe", Deathstalker. David Warner is a great actor, but we get so much more scenery chewing from Thom Christopher. He does the same thing in Wizards of the Lost Kingdom.

The Christmas Dragon from season 13 has Renaissance festival vibes, too, but it seems like not many people have seen it. It's the only Christmas movie I've seen where characters travel throughout the landscape in what appears to be June. They must have known how it would look, so I'm curious about why we have these characters going on their harrowing winter journey in the most verdant foliage I've ever seen. Undercuts the theme of magic beijg gone when everything looks like an elven glade, also.

how do I watch season 13?

 

[Totenkindly]

Anna Kendrick Outdoes Herself With Disturbing Directorial Debut ‘Woman of the Hour’: Movie Review

Woman of the Hour, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival, earns 3.5 stars (out of 4) from Us Weekly movie critic Mara Reinstein. We already know Anna Kendrick is a talent. For 15 years, the Oscar-nominated actress has flashed her sly comedic strengths in too many movies to...

www.yahoo.com

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

how do I watch season 13?

https://www.slashfilm.com/1222695/y...e-theater-3000-season-13-for-free-on-plutotv/

I watched it by paying or the season pass which was upwards of $100. Not cheap, I suppose, but I had money at the time. My favorite one in this is The Mask, which is actually spooky and trippy and therefore not that bad of a movie. Least favorite was Munchie which I don't think I'll watch again, much like Carnival Magic. Some of these kids movies can be brutal.

I don't think The Bubble that's bad. It seems like someone was a fan of Ray Bradbury and trying to tell a story in that vein on a low budget. I finished a collection of his short stories recently and there are so many things that remind me of this movie. The Manos (which should really be the Red Zone Cuba, IMO) of this season is Munchie, not this.

I like Demon Squad, a lot. @The Cat would probably call it a rip off of the Dresden Files. I also like Dr. Mordrid, and I'm sure you'd appreciate as a Trekkie due to the appearance of Jeffrey Coombs.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

https://www.slashfilm.com/1222695/y...e-theater-3000-season-13-for-free-on-plutotv/

I watched it by paying or the season pass which was upwards of $100. Not cheap, I suppose, but I had money at the time. My favorite one in this is The Mask, which is actually spooky and trippy and therefore not that bad of a movie. Least favorite was Munchie which I don't think I'll watch again, much like Carnival Magic. Some of these kids movies can be brutal.

I don't think The Bubble that's bad. It seems like someone was a fan of Ray Bradbury and trying to tell a story in that vein on a low budget. I finished a collection of his short stories recently and there are so many things that remind me of this movie. The Manos (which should really be the Red Zone Cuba, IMO) of this season is Munchie, not this.

I like Demon Squad, a lot. @The Cat would probably call it a rip off of the Dresden Files. I also like Dr. Mordrid, and I'm sure you'd appreciate as a Trekkie due to the appearance of Jeffrey Coombs.

Who hosts? Is Jonah still there or did that girl Emily get to do it?

Edit nevermind I looked it up and they did a shared hosting thing. Excited to see Joel return for riffing. He’s my favorite host

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

I just looked at the roster and there’s a gamera film in season 13!

 

[Totenkindly]

Okay, I ended watching Elemental (2023, Pixar) on Disney+ now that it dropped.

One easy comment: The animation is so freaking beautiful. Like, the animators did a hell of a job with the world building and then handling the elements of fire, water, and air in ways that just pop and scintillate -- and having lead characters made of different elements, they just really captured the look, feel, movement, etc. I kinda want this on 4K because I just loved looking at it, it was absolutely beautiful. The music is also both dreamy and soothing. I know it was Thomas Newman and it kinda fits with a bit of the synth stuff he did for Wall-E but leaps beyond it. The whole experience of this film is one of the most lovely things Pixar has done.

As far as story: The first hour, I trying to engage but having some trouble. My general comment is that it seems to have multiple storylines that flip back and forth and it's not clear what the focus of the story is. Is it a love story between two teens from different worlds? Is it a story of immigration trials and tribulations, and integration into other cultures where you are a minority and what that means? Is it about living up to parental expectations? Is it just an exploration of different cultures? I noticed a lot of reviewers also got hung up on this, so I wasn't surprised when I had a similar experience. Also, how Ember and Wade meet is kind of clumsy and I didn't really take to Wade right away, he seemed kind of hard to connect with at first.

Watched the last 1:15 hours today and my experience was totally different. Aside from a bit of manufactured drama before the climax, to set it up (it's disappointing, it's a minute or two that feels less real than the rest of the film?), I was strangely moved and I cried multiple times. Not sure if it would be universal, but it taps into some personal feelings I have about what it means to be true to one's past as well as one's self, what it feels like to honor one's legacy even while the legacy rejects you, expectations and hopes for those who come after you, terror of change or new directions and not knowing what might come next if you go beyond what you know -- and then finding beauty and amazement where you feared loss.

So in the end, despite some bits being kind of average or jarring me a bit out of the story, there are other things that were just so transcendent for me I would definitely watch this again. And I ended up really being floored by the characters. I think Ember is more consistent and easier to fathom (she's really the main POV character, Wade's character revolves around her rather than the opposite), but Wade ends up getting better and better as the story moves forward. I think Ember also changes more than Wade does; Ember is the changer, Wade is more the catalyst for change. So I think that lessens the story impact a bit.

 

[The Cat]

Okay, I ended watching Elemental (2023, Pixar) on Disney+ now that it dropped.

One easy comment: The animation is so freaking beautiful. Like, the animators did a hell of a job with the world building and then handling the elements of fire, water, and air in ways that just pop and scintillate -- and having lead characters made of different elements, they just really captured the look, feel, movement, etc. I kinda want this on 4K because I just loved looking at it, it was absolutely beautiful. The music is also both dreamy and soothing. I know it was Thomas Newman and it kinda fits with a bit of the synth stuff he did for Wall-E but leaps beyond it. The whole experience of this film is one of the most lovely things Pixar has done.

As far as story: The first hour, I trying to engage but having some trouble. My general comment is that it seems to have multiple storylines that flip back and forth and it's not clear what the focus of the story is. Is it a love story between two teens from different worlds? Is it a story of immigration trials and tribulations, and integration into other cultures where you are a minority and what that means? Is it about living up to parental expectations? Is it just an exploration of different cultures? I noticed a lot of reviewers also got hung up on this, so I wasn't surprised when I had a similar experience. Also, how Ember and Wade meet is kind of clumsy and I didn't really take to Wade right away, he seemed kind of hard to connect with at first.

Watched the last 1:15 hours today and my experience was totally different. Aside from a bit of manufactured drama before the climax, to set it up (it's disappointing, it's a minute or two that feels less real than the rest of the film?), I was strangely moved and I cried multiple times. Not sure if it would be universal, but it taps into some personal feelings I have about what it means to be true to one's past as well as one's self, what it feels like to honor one's legacy even while the legacy rejects you, expectations and hopes for those who come after you, terror of change or new directions and not knowing what might come next if you go beyond what you know -- and then finding beauty and amazement where you feared loss.

So in the end, despite some bits being kind of average or jarring me a bit out of the story, there are other things that were just so transcendent for me I would definitely watch this again. And I ended up really being floored by the characters. I think Ember is more consistent and easier to fathom (she's really the main POV character, Wade's character revolves around her rather than the opposite), but Wade ends up getting better and better as the story moves forward. I think Ember also changes more than Wade does; Ember is the changer, Wade is more the catalyst for change. So I think that lessens the story impact a bit.

Sometimes I wish they'd do more music symphony projects where dialogue is not featured but other sounds musical tonation melody and animations are used to convey dialogue and emotion. Fantasia worked because it tells stories that transcend dialogue and tap into the raw subconscious of the audience touching them on an entirely different level than can be conveyed with words, no matter how tightly written or not. Music is less confusing. I always understand music. Even though I don't understand how I do. I wish I could wield music the way i do in my dreams.

 

[Totenkindly]

Just finished Tarkovsky's Solaris (1972), which I had to watch in two separate sittings because I'm tired lately and I keep zoning out. The stuff that is great about Tarkovsky is sometimes the same things that makes his films hard to sit through, and the very slow pacing without cuts where nothing is happening is part of that. Tarkovsky did what he could without special effects to realize this novel and did well for the time from what I could tell. Weirdly it looks like two of the male leads had other voices dubbed in (not the actual actors), although other parts had the actual actors speaking.

I have seen the Soderbergh version as well (I actually saw it in the theater when it came out, on my birthday weekend), which to me now feels like a very stripped down version of Tarkovsky's film with a tighter focus on the relationship between Kelvin and his wife. I'm still kind of torn between which I like better, because Tarkovsky's film just seems to have a lot of dead space, but that is what also makes it rather meditative even if I feel it's not as honed in on the story and characters.

I think if I feel up to it, I'd really like to read Lem's actual book and see for myself what the differences are and how each film pulled from the book source (if they did). I guess there was also a Soviet TV film version but I don't know much about that.

Between Stalker and Solaris, I prefer the former. I feel like it is more interesting, more happens, the artistic shots actually had some real movement in them, and so forth, where I felt like a lot of the Solaris shots were not that interesting or just repetitive.

It's rather interesting with remakes/sourced films, because my impression is that Annihilation (Alex Garland) is heavily sourced from Stalker.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

It's rather interesting with remakes/sourced films, because my impression is that Annihilation (Alex Garland) is heavily sourced from Stalker.

That's interesting about Stalker. I've heard it referenced often as a classic of world cinema. Annihilation is awesome.

 

[Totenkindly]

That's interesting about Stalker. I've heard it referenced often as a classic of world cinema. Annihilation is awesome.

Annihilation is one of those films I can rewatch repeatedly. Scott Rudin's reputation has dropped considerably since MeToo-style info came out about him, but he did something really stellar when he used his power of Final Cut to prevent the studio from mucking with Garland's vision during editing. He dug in, and refused to budge.

Maybe the film was a box office thud but it's one of the films that will long endure far past financial profits to linger for decades as an artistic film. It's kind of a hidden treasure. Those kind of dividends are worth far more than any small bit of money it might have gotten from box office receipts. (Kinda on par with "Under the Skin.")

I would like to rewatch Stalker soon, I just can't do it so close to plowing through Solaris.

EDIT:

‘Annihilation’: Behind-the-Scenes of a Producer Clash and That Netflix Deal (Exclusive)

In one corner is Scott Rudin (‘The Social Network,’ ‘Lady Bird’). In the other sits David Ellison, the head of Skydance Productions.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Due to a poorly received test screening, David Ellison, a financier and producer at Skydance, became concerned that the film was "too intellectual" and "too complicated", and demanded changes to make it appeal to a wider audience, including making Portman's character more sympathetic, and changing the ending. Producer Scott Rudin sided with the director, who did not want to alter the film. Rudin, who had final cut privilege, defended the film and refused to take notes from Ellison.[4]

On December 7, 2017, it was announced that due to the clashes between Rudin and Ellison, and the shift in Paramount's leadership, a deal was struck allowing Netflix to distribute the film internationally. According to this deal, Paramount would handle the American, Canadian and Chinese release, while Netflix would begin streaming the film in other territories 17 days later.[4]

I've read more in-depth articles about the whole blow-up. But it was definitely a victory for the director/filmmaker side, versus a studio victory. Still, they bailed on International releases to the theater and just went through streaming networks because they thought they would lose money overseas.

 

[Saturnal Snowqueen]

I'm watching Vivarium and it is actually kinda terrifying. First it was just eerie terrifying with the fak-o clouds and green houses, almost aesthetic, but when the boy kept screaming all of a sudden it was pretty heart and gut wrenching. Also, I don't think it was intentional, but the boy almost seemed autistic in a way, it was interested how he came off as this boy wise beyond his years, and also he also seemed to stim in a way by going "Woof" whenever he heard the word, "dog".

 

[Totenkindly]

Apparently it was DC that tried to force the "DC UNIVERSE" on the filmmakers, instead of allowing for more standalone / Superman-focused films.

Releasing a list of 20 films over the next ten years, before the universe even got off the ground? That's hilarious. Someone was vying for a raise and then planned to leave for elsewhere, it sounds like...

‘Man of Steel’ Writer Says ‘It Was Crazy’ How WB and DC Tried to Build Their Own MCU, Reveals David Fincher’s Two-Hour ‘Blade’ Meeting

David Fincher had around 50 pages of art books that detailed the look of his axed "Blade" movie.

variety.com

 

[Totenkindly]

Thor’s Mjölnir Kept Its Name Thanks to Kevin Feige’s Insistence

The magical hammer that Chris Hemsworth's Thor wields in the MCU could have had a different name, but Kevin Feige made sure that Mjölnir wouldn't be changed for the screen.

www.yahoo.com

I can't believe Branagh even had to ask. Like, he would have ever suggested changing Andromache's name to Becky or something, when doing Shakespeare. Yeah, Mjonir is a little hard to pronounce if you are just reading it, but this is also a movie -- not a book -- and viewers will immediately hear how to pronounce it. Plus, your fan base already knows the name.

(side note: it's "myol neer".)

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Thor’s Mjölnir Kept Its Name Thanks to Kevin Feige’s Insistence

The magical hammer that Chris Hemsworth's Thor wields in the MCU could have had a different name, but Kevin Feige made sure that Mjölnir wouldn't be changed for the screen.

www.yahoo.com

I can't believe Branagh even had to ask. Like, he would have ever suggested changing Andromache's name to Becky or something, when doing Shakespeare. Yeah, Mjonir is a little hard to pronounce if you are just reading it, but this is also a movie -- not a book -- and viewers will immediately hear how to pronounce it. Plus, your fan base already knows the name.

(side note: it's "myol neer".)

I think it's interesting that apparently the thing that got Portman interested in that movie was that she thought Branagh doing it would be really weird and that would be reason enough. Unfortunately the result is rather bland, and there's not much in the way of a director putting his own weird individual stamp (even if that's just treating every character like they're in Shakespeare), on it or anything like that; I'm reminded of latter day Burton.

 

[Red Herring]

I think it's interesting that apparently the thing that got Portman interested in that movie was that she thought Branagh doing it would be really weird and that would be reason enough. Unfortunately the result is rather bland, and there's not much in the way of a director putting his own weird individual stamp (even if that's just treating every character like they're in Shakespeare), on it or anything like that; I'm reminded of latter day Burton.

I was long undecided as to what to think of Branagh. I just knew him as a somewhat selfenamoured Shakepearean actor and unfaithful exhusband of my beloved Emma Thompson (but that just suggests he's a bit of an ass as a person, he could still be great at his job).

Then I saw what he did to Poirot in Murder on The Orient Express. He sexed him up and even had him fire a gun! Branagh is just an absolute egomaniac with no respect at all for the material he is handling.


And I am saying that as someone who has zero interest in either Marvel or DC (nor Star Wars for that matter, it is all a completely foreign world to me and I just don't see the appeal). If he ruined Poirot for me I can totally see how he would ruin Thor for you guys.

 

[Totenkindly]

I was long undecided as to what to think of Branagh. I just knew him as a somewhat selfenamoured Shakepearean actor and unfaithful exhusband of my beloved Emma Thompson (but that just suggests he's a bit of an ass as a person, he could still be great at his job).

Then I saw what he did to Poirot in Murder on The Orient Express. He sexed him up and even had him fire a gun! Branagh is just an absolute egomaniac with no respect at all for the material he is handling.

And I am saying that as someone who has zero interest in either Marvel or DC (nor Star Wars for that matter, it is all a completely foreign world to me and I just don't see the appeal). If he ruined Poirot for me I can totally see how he would ruin Thor for you guys.

Thanks for sharing that, since I haven't seen that film and am not as knowledgeable with Christie. Honestly, he's not one of my favorite actors, I don't think, "Hey, I need to see that," when he does something and am usually indifferent to his presence. Emma Thompson OTOH has always been great -- and it's kind of ironic since you bring her up, since perhaps my earliest memory of him was seeing a film called, "Dead Again" that they were both in and the twist at the end. I had also missed all the reports of his cheating, which immediately now reminds me of "Love Actually" in terms of Thompson's role.

There's very little where he stood out to me. He did a decent job with Kevin Kline in, "The Road to El Dorado" (but more because of the interplay between the characters, Kline is more memorable in general), and he managed to direct one of the best Disney live action adaptions ("Cinderella") mainly because it simply didn't suck like most of them but is a straight-forward adaptation with no surprise changes otherwise. I think people appreciated his appearance in the HP films but hey guess what -- his character (Lockhart) is a pompous self-seeking narcissistic douchebag, so....hmmm... It's really funny that my least favorite Christopher Nolan film (Tenet), he's the lead villain in. "Belfast" was an Oscar-worthy movie from what I heard, but weirdly it's the one of the Best Picture noms from that year I did not see.

The Thor film he directed in general was just so flat and boring as to be unmemorable, and it was improved only by the fact that Thor 2 was so awful in comparison. Thor was typically my least favorite Avenger in the films, though.

I'm realizing I might not be a real Star Wars fan because I like the concepts of it (some of the world building) but hate almost all of the execution of the films and shows and they are rarely satisfying. Maybe they are not making these shows for me. I've had to face that with the MCU as well; I felt like most of the Phase 1-3 properties were cut from different cloth, but pretty much Phase 4+ has been total garbage, yet some of the fan base seems to love them... and I no longer fit. But that is like regular comics too, I guess, my dedication was typically dependent on the specific writer and/or artist, not on the property itself, and what little time I spend in comics nowadays is usually picking up some kind of off-beat or independent efffort.

 

[Totenkindly]

I ended up watching Gravity again last night, with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. I had forgotten it actually won seven Oscars (out of ten noms) that year. Not sure it deserved ALL of those, but in the things it did well it was spectacular. I would really do anything to see this film again in 3D in a theater. It was one of the few films to really use 3D theater to the most effective capabilities. (Another was, interestingly enough, Hugo (by Scorcese).) Instead of making things pop out of the screen as a cheap gimmick, it was used to deepen the visual image so that you actually felt like you were in orbit around the earth and it was utterly breathtaking.

Gravity is notoriously underwritten. I wish there had been a little more meat on the bones, the film could have endured another 5 minutes of dialogue / backstory and only clocks in around 90 minutes as-is. I would have liked more of Ryan's psychology expressed on screen about how she dealt with loss -- it's clear that losing her daughter has left her in a half-life for some years, she can't move on, and the whole film is really about her being stripped back and then reborn (there's imagery suggesting this, like her floating in a fetal position at one point and then emerging from water and standing upright at film's end).

Whatever the arguments of whether the fate of Clooney's character was necessary, the whole film is pretty harrowing and shows some ingenuity in the face of constant battling against Murphy's Law. But Bullock is great, and her physicality in this film surprised many in terms of the image on screen.

I was kinda surprised to realize the end of the film is in Arizona, not Asia. The terrain actually looks more Indian/Asian overall.

 

[Marcel]

I adore the director Darren Aronofsky, especially his films Mother and Black Swan. But the last time I watched Menu for the first time, I was so impressed. It has a great story, cast, cinematography and direction, constant tension throughout the film and an unexpected ending. Highly recommend for those who love psychological thrillers

 

[Stigmata]

The Flash:

Perhaps some of the worst CGI ever put out by a major studio, rivaled only by another DC/WB dud in Green Lantern. The CGI looked like a fan edit done by a 13 year old middle school student for a Computer Science class project.

The DCEU is an absolute unmitigated disaster, and proof that just throwing money at projects with famous IPs doesn't necessarily equate to success when you have a bunch of talentless suits running the show with no connection to the actual source material, nor any respect for their audience. Kind of amazing how they managed to bring Michael Keaton back as Batman after 30 years, yet have it also feel uninspired and unimpactful to the film -- clearly noone at DC/WB took notes from Spiderman: No Way Home on how to successfully do a multiverse surprise Wrestlemania entrance.