Random Movie Thoughts Thread

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

The Nick Cage cameo is kind of embarrassing. I remember the digital effects looked kind of shoddy. Maybe they've tweaked it by now.

Did it look better or worse than the bees at the end of The Wicker Man?

 

[Totenkindly]

Did it look better or worse than the bees at the end of The Wicker Man?

I am sad to say I have never actually seen the remake of "The Wicker Man" with Cage in a cage.

 

[The Cat]

I need to watch that Flash movie someday because of that, but I'm sure he's not in the movie that much. There's also Nicolas Cage, apparently,

Masochist.

 

[The Cat]

So.. A Quiet Place franchise...

​

You mean to tell me, there were NO feedback loops whatsoever until that girl put her hearing aids to the mic?

I don't buy it.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Mascohist

Well, didn't you once say that I seek out pain and that I seemed like the type to open the Lament Configuration? Or something along those lines?

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

So.. A Quiet Place franchise...

​

You mean to tell me, there were NO feedback loops whatsoever until that girl put her hearing aids to the mic?

I don't buy it.

I don't know what it is, but something about these movies irritates me. It's the same deal as far as I'm concerned for Birdbox. I haven't seen any of them; I get this impression from the trailers. Are these movies making a point about how humanity treats nature? That would be worth a watch.

I would assume these things can't detect the breath or heartbeats, or else everybody would be dead. Do they address that in these movies at all? What about birds and other critters? Do the creatures go after the noisy beasts of nature?

 

[The Cat]

I don't know what it is, but something about these movies irritates me. It's the same deal as far as I'm concerned for Birdbox. I haven't seen any of them; I get this impression from the trailers. Are these movies making a point about how humanity treats nature? That would be worth a watch.

I would assume these things can't detect the breath or heartbeats, or else everybody would be dead. Do they address that in these movies at all? What about birds and other critters? Do the creatures go after the noisy beasts of nature?

Birdbox is kinda fun. It's a unique twist on cosmic horror. But it feels like a miniseries event over a movie. You can see some of the ills of modern streaming content in some of the "twists" werent actually twists, the audience just had the information withheld till they're ready to just tell you. IMO for a twist to be a twist, the audience needs to have all the evidence presented visually on the screen at some point, but i digress.

 

[Totenkindly]

Okay -- 45 minutes into Rebel Moon Director's Cut.

While a viewer's response is partially going to be based on whether they even like Snyder's typical tone, and there's some typical and excessive Snyder garnishes (the violence is pretty explicit here), the RMDC p1 is like an actual professional film. It lets the scenes breathe, there's actual plot and character arcs. The first 20 minutes is actually spent framing Atticus and Aris as characters, which help explain what we see later, and what follows in the farming village actually shows Kora as more nuanced and conflicted about what she wants -- aside from her being terrified of being found. Gunnar is kind of a pragmatic opportunist who doesn't intend harm but actually causes harm -- and it's clear he's interested in Kora but not comfortable enough to actually make an overt bid.

The grain thing makes more sense, as in part it seems like Atticus has a secret purpose in coming to their location in terms of finding the rebels Devra and Darian (the 20 minute prelude is also Atticus laying waste to a capital city in order to locate them, so it's believable he would come here as well since I suspect he was aware that someone had been selling them food). Them asking for all the food is not just to "feed his men" but can also be read as an opportunity to prevent the rebels from having those resources + punish whoever in the area was selling them the grain. Also, it gives a reason for them to actually SEEK the help of Devra and Darian later in the film, versus just being random people they go to for help; the village had helped them, now maybe they want to provide some support?

There is also actual world detail / building stuff that makes the universe feel a little more fleshed-out. I kinda want to know what exactly the priests are doing with the teeth and the picture of the missing princess. It's kinda creepy; every death adds to the tableau.

Unbelievable, really? Like, things actually make more sense? The scenes breathe? I think some of the violence is gratuitous but it also is simply describing Atticus' brutality and making him even more intimidating as a villain (he's a pretty sick pup); and the sex scene (while probably more than some viewers want to see) still was paced well and kept suggesting that Kora has some really bad scars on her lower back and side -- I kept straining to see the extent of it and Snyder just teases you and never quite shows enough or long enough for it to register in detail how badly she's been wounded. Also, it establishes how ambivalent Kora actually is to having a relationship and/or "officially becoming part of the community" ... mainly because of her past trauma.

Anyway, I can't tell whether Dody Dorn also edited the Director's Cut, but that first assembly that was trotted out on Netflix barely deserved to be called a movie. I'm not even sure if I can credit it as being "amateur," it was so terrible. At least this (so far) is a film that could have released in a theater aside from its length, and although it's not high art, it's actually been enjoyable so far.

I think it actually feels more polished than the storywriting on Star Wars. Which is sad. It's just not as marketable (esp to kids).


Netflix sucks for forcing them to make a shitty earlier cut. Pretty unbelievable how bad that was, and it ruins enthusiasm for the full films. This is getting close to the bastardized Justice League (Whedon) vs Snyder's actual version that came out years later.

edit: Finished the first part. It's definitely watchable now, if long -- I took a few breaks. I'm having trouble remembering how specific moments matched up with the earlier version. But Ray Fisher is still the GOAT. And of course always give us more Bae Doona.

I think there were a few missed opportunities (in how a scene might have played out), and at times people talk too on-the-nose, they would understate things rather than wrapping it all up in a nice philosophical bow.

But I like that there are unique features of this universe now that I'm kind of fascinated by, with the gigantic mechanical personification of the Dreadnought, the teeth thing and the priests, the staff also had meaning. The characters have backstories developed more which helps position them for later parts of the story. Jimmy actually is more fascinating in this version, he's like a robot reinventing himself after finding kindness in the support of Sam. etc.

 

[SearchingforPeace]

Okay -- 45 minutes into Rebel Moon Director's Cut.

While a viewer's response is partially going to be based on whether they even like Snyder's typical tone, and there's some typical and excessive Snyder garnishes (the violence is pretty explicit here), the RMDC p1 is like an actual professional film. It lets the scenes breathe, there's actual plot and character arcs. The first 20 minutes is actually spent framing Atticus and Aris as characters, which help explain what we see later, and what follows in the farming village actually shows Kora as more nuanced and conflicted about what she wants -- aside from her being terrified of being found. Gunnar is kind of a pragmatic opportunist who doesn't intend harm but actually causes harm -- and it's clear he's interested in Kora but not comfortable enough to actually make an overt bid.

The grain thing makes more sense, as in part it seems like Atticus has a secret purpose in coming to their location in terms of finding the rebels Devra and Darian (the 20 minute prelude is also Atticus laying waste to a capital city in order to locate them, so it's believable he would come here as well since I suspect he was aware that someone had been selling them food). Them asking for all the food is not just to "feed his men" but can also be read as an opportunity to prevent the rebels from having those resources + punish whoever in the area was selling them the grain. Also, it gives a reason for them to actually SEEK the help of Devra and Darian later in the film, versus just being random people they go to for help; the village had helped them, now maybe they want to provide some support?

There is also actual world detail / building stuff that makes the universe feel a little more fleshed-out. I kinda want to know what exactly the priests are doing with the teeth and the picture of the missing princess. It's kinda creepy; every death adds to the tableau.

Unbelievable, really? Like, things actually make more sense? The scenes breathe? I think some of the violence is gratuitous but it also is simply describing Atticus' brutality and making him even more intimidating as a villain (he's a pretty sick pup); and the sex scene (while probably more than some viewers want to see) still was paced well and kept suggesting that Kora has some really bad scars on her lower back and side -- I kept straining to see the extent of it and Snyder just teases you and never quite shows enough or long enough for it to register in detail how badly she's been wounded. Also, it establishes how ambivalent Kora actually is to having a relationship and/or "officially becoming part of the community" ... mainly because of her past trauma.

Anyway, I can't tell whether Dody Dorn also edited the Director's Cut, but that first assembly that was trotted out on Netflix barely deserved to be called a movie. I'm not even sure if I can credit it as being "amateur," it was so terrible. At least this (so far) is a film that could have released in a theater aside from its length, and although it's not high art, it's actually been enjoyable so far.

I think it actually feels more polished than the storywriting on Star Wars. Which is sad. It's just not as marketable (esp to kids).


Netflix sucks for forcing them to make a shitty earlier cut. Pretty unbelievable how bad that was, and it ruins enthusiasm for the full films. This is getting close to the bastardized Justice League (Whedon) vs Snyder's actual version that came out years later.

Thanks. I was not going to watch the extended version because the orginal one was so awful. Now I will.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Birdbox is kinda fun. It's a unique twist on cosmic horror. But it feels like a miniseries event over a movie. You can see some of the ills of modern streaming content in some of the "twists" werent actually twists, the audience just had the information withheld till they're ready to just tell you. IMO for a twist to be a twist, the audience needs to have all the evidence presented visually on the screen at some point, but i digress.

Are there boxing chickens?

 

[Totenkindly]

I did see the first A Quiet Place and Birdbox (the latter of which I almost did not watch). My detail memory of both films is hazy; AQP had a great opening and a few harrowing sequences. Birdbox (which was a book adaptation) was about what you didn't see, so nothing had to be seen on screen and everything was suggested, which gave it some power. I remember it being BETTER than I expected, although I only gave it a 7/10.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I did see the first A Quiet Place and Birdbox (the latter of which I almost did not watch). My detail memory of both films is hazy; AQP had a great opening and a few harrowing sequences. Birdbox (which was a book adaptation) was about what you didn't see, so nothing had to be seen on screen and everything was suggested, which gave it some power. I remember it being BETTER than I expected, although I only gave it a 7/10.

Would you say that Birdbox was the better of the two?

 

[Totenkindly]

Would you say that Birdbox was the better of the two?

No, I thought it was worse. I gave AQP an 8/10. It actually had some polished sequences with relationships between the characters that gave it more stake, and there was that interesting guilt/blame miscommunication between father and daughter -- so it's pretty cathartic when he does what he does at the end, even if bittersweet.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

No, I thought it was worse. I gave AQP an 8/10. It actually had some polished sequences with relationships between the characters that gave it more stake, and there was that interesting guilt/blame miscommunication between father and daughter -- so it's pretty cathartic when he does what he does at the end, even if bittersweet.

Hmmm, I wouldn't say I'm moving it to the top of my queue, but maybe I'll watch it in Spooktober.

 

[The Cat]

I lol. I kinda like this movie.
It's schlocky B- to C+ pulp sci fi trash, but the cast seems to be people who get that and are just sort of having fun like Forest Whittaker, Barry Pepper, and Kim Coates, even John Travolta kinda chews up the scenery, but at the same time seems to take it seriously, which

When you realize that all his character motivation is that he just hates his job/is hated by his coworkers and employers(but he's actually good at his job on paper) and is willing to DO ANYTHING to get out of it...
The movie becomes a pretty fantastic Dark workplace comedy.

It has some legitimately funny dialogue, the practical effects are still the mainstay and the cgi is still low key, so it doesnt feel like watching a live action cartoon like some of the modern sci fi/marvel films do.

A lot of the criticism of this movie stems from. The aliens are so stupid, how did they overthrow the whole planet. To which for me adds a certain element of realism to the movie. The bad guys are an evil alien mega corporation that runs and operates exactly like an evil human mega corporation. Making sensible sustainable choices is not what they do, they make money, and do whatever it takes to make as much of it as they can and fuck everything else.

(This was a serious scene, someone was proud enough of that line they put it in a motion picture)
If you partake...do so before watching.

 

[Totenkindly]

You actually watched Battlefield Earth?
How did you manage to get through it?

 

[The Cat]

You actually watched Battlefield Earth?
How did you manage to get through it?

 

[Totenkindly]

Well, glad to hear someone was infected by mental earworms while watching "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" as a kid

 

[SearchingforPeace]

Ok, finished Rebel Moon part 1, director's cut. Much better movie, real characters, story arcs, etc. Still too much slow motion battle scenes to showcase "epic" glimpses, but how can Snyder do anything else.
To anyone that skipped the orginal ones, you are lucky. But the director's cut was enjoyable.

 

[The Cat]

Sometimes I think Zac Snyder must lose his temper in an amusing way to studio executives because they seem to butcher his movies from what Ive observed.