Random Movie Thoughts Thread

[Totenkindly]

Lol RDJr will soon take over all the main MCU parts.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I admit to giving credit to bad reviews based on how accurate they feel.

I remember this film just getting crushed vocally by the critic community when it dropped. Plus it's a Renny Harlin film that he shoved Gina Davis (his wife at the time) into. It cost about $100 million and only made $16 million -- which with advertising and whatever else caused a $150 million loss for Carolco, and the company had to CLOSE.

Yes, this fucking movie destroyed Carolco -- the company that occasionally gave us winners like:

• Terminator 2
• Basic Instinct
• Angel Heart
• First Blood (plus two less good Rambo films)
• Prince of Darkness
• They Live
• Total Recall
• Jacob's Ladder

I'm inclined to say fuck Renny Harlin and I still haven't watched this film, lol. I will give him credit for NoES 4, Deep Blue Sea, and Diehard 2 but pretty much don't care for the rest of his repertoire.

I didn't realize it was that bad that it sunk a studio.

I admit, though, that I'm tempted to see what a 90's take on a pirate movie would look like. I'm not going to be getting into Depp's offscreen behavior for this, but:

I remember when I found out they were making a movie based on Pirates of the Caribbean, and rolling my eyes. Then there was a positive buzz around it, so I saw it and the movie turned out to be extremely entertaining. I couldn't make it through the second and I was extremely drunk when I watched the third. I want to compare and contrast the original Pirates of the Caribbean with that.

 

[Totenkindly]

I admit, though, that I'm tempted to see what a 90's take on a pirate movie would look like. I'm not going to be getting into Depp's offscreen behavior for this, but:

I remember when I found out they were making a movie based on Pirates of the Caribbean, and rolling my eyes. Then there was a positive buzz around it, so I saw it and the movie turned out to be extremely entertaining. I couldn't make it through the second and I was extremely drunk when I watched the third. I want to compare and contrast the original Pirates of the Caribbean with that.

I haven't really watched the later films but the first was fun.

I think it's hilarious that it probably wouldn't be talked about today except for Depp's off-the-wall performance, which was basically his idea and I'm sure the studio was unsure about.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I haven't really watched the later films but the first was fun.

I think it's hilarious that it probably wouldn't be talked about today except for Depp's off-the-wall performance, which was basically his idea and I'm sure the studio was unsure about.

Jack Sparrow gave the movie some needed levity and the film would have probably been too serious without him. It would have entirely been centered around the romance between Will and Elizabeth which probably wasn't enough to carry the movie.

 

[Totenkindly]

Jack Sparrow gave the movie some needed levity and the film would have probably been too serious without him. It would have entirely been centered around the romance between Will and Elizabeth which probably wasn't enough to carry the movie.

Yeah, I view as Will and Elizabeth is the "straight man" in the film in terms of a two-person comedy act, holding the center so that Depp could be the zany off-his-rocker funny guy.

 

[The Cat]

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I didn't see the Mario movie that came out within the last few years. However, given that Charlie Day plays Luigi, it would be a tragic misstep if they didn't get Danny DeVito to play Wario for the inevitable sequel. That's another role he was born to play.

Maybe they could get Glenn Howerton as Waluigi. I don't know about the other two.

 

[The Cat]

I didn't see the Mario movie that came out within the last few years. However, given that Charlie Day plays Luigi, it would be a tragic misstep if they didn't get Danny DeVito to play Wario for the inevitable sequel. That's another role he was born to play.

Maybe they could get Glenn Howerton as Waluigi. I don't know about the other two.

It's not a good movie imo.

 

[Totenkindly]

Thank the gods. I had already bought a ticket (since the director's made other decent horror films already).

Empire magazine: "Alien: Romulus plays the hits, but crucially remembers the ingredients for what makes a good Alien film, and executes them with stunning craft and care. It is, officially, the third-best film in the series." Well, I know the bar was low, but whew.

I'm pretty sure I read they were focusing on practical effects. I'm glad it is paying off.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Thank the gods. I had already bought a ticket (since the director's made other decent horror films already).

View attachment 31349

Empire magazine: "Alien: Romulus plays the hits, but crucially remembers the ingredients for what makes a good Alien film, and executes them with stunning craft and care. It is, officially, the third-best film in the series." Well, I know the bar was low, but whew.

I'm pretty sure I read they were focusing on practical effects. I'm glad it is paying off.

So it might not be terrible!

I actually really liked the first half of Prometheus, when it was about them exploring the planet. It gave me a sense of wonder; I wasn't focused on how dumb the scientists were acting. The last half just felt thrown in there because they felt like they had to explicitly tie it in with Alien. It seemed as though it belonged in a different movie.

 

[Totenkindly]

So it might not be terrible!

I actually really liked the first half of Prometheus, when it was about them exploring the planet. It gave me a sense of wonder; I wasn't focused on how dumb the scientists were acting. The last half just felt thrown in there because they felt like they had to explicitly tie it in with Alien. It seemed as though it belonged in a different movie.

That's because Scott edited it to shit. He's bragged about how he trimmed it down, and in the process I think he made it confusing and a bit incoherent. (I think I've mentioned before about how the scientists actually found a life form earlier that WASN'T harmful in the same general area that looked kind of similar, so that's why they didn't expect the snake-like one to be dangerous. An example of how overediting your film can cause issues.) It kind of pisses me off that the cut before what we got actually had some really great elements that were excised.

Or like he trimmed down the scene where they meet the engineer and he ends up beating Wayland to death with David's head. The scene was far more understandable until he inexplicably trimmed out most of the dialogue. I'm getting mad now just remembering it.

The scene between Wayland and his daughter was much better in the original cut. It had power. The theatrical version is just much worse. I don't understand why he did this.

Overall, the film is gorgeous and could have been something really special.

Anyway, it looks like we got an Alien sequel now that meshes better with the original film -- or maybe the opening of Covenant. (That whole sequence in the medlab on the small transport ship is just horrifying.)

 

[The Cat]

The biggest annoyance about Prometheus as a film, is that it was ALMOST not annoying as a film. If it had been anyone but Ridley Scott i think they would have gotten a pass, but he SHOULD know better. We gave up Guiermo Del Toro's At the Mountains of Madness for this movie. The least he could have done is not over edit.

 

[The Cat]

I've always appreciated some good snarky comentary on geeky content. I feel like a lot of it kinda flirts on the edge of a fishhook so I'm leery when I go into ANY fandom commentator. There's a lot of bitter broken hearts out there making videos, but I actually enjoy Jay's takes, Her snarking actually makes me laugh. For some reason it takes me back to my theater days hanging out back stage at rehersal and talking geek with the band kids.​

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

That's because Scott edited it to shit. He's bragged about how he trimmed it down, and in the process I think he made it confusing and a bit incoherent. (I think I've mentioned before about how the scientists actually found a life form earlier that WASN'T harmful in the same general area that looked kind of similar, so that's why they didn't expect the snake-like one to be dangerous. An example of how overediting your film can cause issues.) It kind of pisses me off that the cut before what we got actually had some really great elements that were excised.

Or like he trimmed down the scene where they meet the engineer and he ends up beating Wayland to death with David's head. The scene was far more understandable until he inexplicably trimmed out most of the dialogue. I'm getting mad now just remembering it.

The scene between Wayland and his daughter was much better in the original cut. It had power. The theatrical version is just much worse. I don't understand why he did this.

Overall, the film is gorgeous and could have been something really special.

Anyway, it looks like we got an Alien sequel now that meshes better with the original film -- or maybe the opening of Covenant. (That whole sequence in the medlab on the small transport ship is just horrifying.)

I've read about the scene with the engineer. It sounds wild from what I've about it. I would like to see those scenes.

 

[The Cat]

Marketing tactics...

The message is not the problem....​

 

[Totenkindly]

Well, not the news you had hoped to hear about Alien: Romulus. Because the strongest thing about it is its ideas (not its execution), YMMV. I only gave it a 6/10. I gave a review in the spoiler that has no major or obvious spoilers, but it's hard to talk about a film without describing parts of it.

The gist is that the atmosphere is great. Alvarez tries to set up a few character arcs / relationships but then really only develops one and not as far as it could have gone. The film also has internal time issue, in terms of how it rushes some things that we know take longer. I don't feel like it has a lot of time to breathe. It's a film where a lot happens once it starts moving but it actually doesn't feel like much happens. Some of the plotting also seems unbelievable in a way that the first two films do not.

The worst moments in this film are the pop culture references back to older (and usually better) Alien films. I kind of winced/groaned with 90% of them. There's a really egregious one involving CGI that was completely unnecessary. Why? Why? Why?? The best moments of this film were the original ideas / plot moments, and it ruins most of them by throwing in a callback line or image from another film. In this case, homage was not better; and the film should have created its own special moments. It had potential but then did that shit.

Basically I agree with the premise that it is the third-best Alien film, or at least tied with the best cut you can find of Alien 3. Overall the character of Andy was pretty cool.

I was overall disappointed because there was some nice character setup that could have been utilized more, and some new and novel ideas + a few good set pieces. The atmosphere was dark and gloomy. Spaeny and Jonsson were really great.

There were a variety of problems with the film that were ultimately let-downs, however. The most blatant is how often it tried to throw a direct callback to another Alien film, which ended up feeling stupid and far less potent than the original. At best, a few lines had no impact; at worst, they resulted in some heavy eye-rolling. One of the most egregious things involved "Uncanny Valley" CGI, where it would have been better to use an unknown face and have this film build on its own heritage. Why didn't anyone criticize these things on a review of the screenplay, and allow this film to breathe for itself?

The film also has a deplorable lack of time-sense. We all know how quickly aliens can impregnate and need to gestate, but this film establishes an artificial deadline on itself and then cheats regularly to get everything in under the wire. It's a film where when the two hours is up, you feel like not much happened.

Again, getting back to character beats -- there are a few interesting ones, including between Rain and Andy, Rain and Kay, and Andy and Bjorn. Maybe the first one actually has a little time to breathe, the others really don't go anywhere substantial.

Kudos on the big crazy moment that occurs after you think the main plot has ended, leading into the film's Third Act.

This is actually an Alien film that, instead of ending with yet another stale homage (which feels thoughtless), this could have been a cool thing to end with a hypersleep wondering about the future, and then a first-person shot of the sun. Alien with a happy ending? Crazy, I know -- but when it feels earned, sure. It would definitely have made this film more memorable.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Marketing tactics..s​

I've never seen the original Crow. Question, if I see it, do I have to spend the whole day just going "caw, caw" at people?

 

[Totenkindly]

The original Crow was okay. I don't remember much about it now, aside from it being a Proyas film.

 

[The Cat]

I've never seen the original Crow. Question, if I see it, do I have to spend the whole day just going "caw, caw" at people?

See the original crow and figure it out lol

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

The original Crow was okay. I don't remember much about it now, aside from it being a Proyas film.

Many people seem to think it's a classic. I wonder what I will think. I remember it was advertised heavily on TV.