Random Movie Thoughts Thread

[Totenkindly]

Okay, I finally watched Rocky (1976) the whole way through last night, maybe for the first time.

This is probably a controversial opinion (considering it won Best Picture), but ... it was mostly just okay and I felt a little disappointed afterwards. I think the best part was the last 30-45 minutes or so. I found the opening hour really dragged for me and could have been shortened, mostly it's just about Rocky going around town and talking non-stop and I just wanted him to shut up. About 20 minutes could have been cut. The fight itself, while being the best part, was actually mostly Rocky getting his face pulverized and only about half the fight was interesting.

it's also really interesting regarding cultural value shifts, because the whole scene where he hooks up with Adrian would be viewed as problematic. It's not clear whether she likes him, and she didn't even want to go out with him but her brother and Rocky kind of twist her arm. It's complicated because she's mousy, timid, and withdrawn and it's not clear whether she likes him or not (although occasionally she will side-eyes him in the pet store).

So then starting with where he's trying to seduce her, insisting she comes into his house (which is handled with moments of humor), it's a classic case of coercing a woman to have sex nowadays. I was kinda surprised at how typically it was -- it's a good 5-10 minute sequence where she keeps saying she doesn't want to come in (4-5 times) but he plays off her sympathies so that she reluctantly enters, and the film really details how she's feeling here. Then she avoids him in the apartment, while he keeps trying to put her at ease and get her over on the sofa with him while she either quietly refuses (by redirecting to looking around his apartment, or just not doing it)... and meanwhile he's locked the door. When she decides she's done and just TRIES to leave, he physically blocks her from leaving, so there's no chance she can undo the locks and get out. He then starts trying to seduce her again (taking off her glasses, taking off her hat, telling her how good looking she is), and it's impossible to distinguish whether she's going along with it because he could break her like a twig or because she actually wants him. He left her no capacity to choose -- or, actually, she chose a good twenty times already to not come in AND/OR to leave the apartment and he just doesn't let her.

Nowadays this could have ended up with a lawsuit the next day. Instead, the film decides to view this as "She was just shy but was actually attracted to him, so it was okay." In fact, it goes the hilarious extra mile where she suddenly comes out of her shell and starts dressing a lot better -- she stops wearing the glasses and actually looks fashionable with her outfits. Because of course, under her ugly clothes, she was a knock-out beauty. (Hello, Princess Diaries!)

I think if this film had been done in the 90's, Sandra Bullock would have played Adrian.

There are other amusing things about the film, like Rocky just getting free steaks from Paulie in the meat warehouse -- and everyone's using their bare hands to touch the meat, and he's beating up slabs of meat on TV and bleeding all over them -- and there's no standards practices to come down hard on the packing plant. Like, where was the FDA? This is another thing that wouldn't fly today.

I think my favorite scene is where Mickey comes (after treating Rocky poorly) to try to woo him to let him manage him. It's actually a nuanced scene. You realize both men have a lot going on under the surface-level dialogue. Mickey actually never really broke out and/or he's kind of washed-out now, and Rocky is his last chance at relevance. Meanwhile, Rocky (who isn't that perceptive) actually perceives this and starts to rant about how Mickey never really appreciated him until he got this chance to fight Creed and (in his typical disjointed way) rants about this for awhile. And Mickey quietly leaves, realizing he screwed it up, and Rocky is right, and he honestly doesn't deserve to manage him. And then Rocky realizes he actually does want Mickey's help, now that he got to vent his feelings, and goes after him. I wish more of the film had these subtleties.

I'm feeling like 70's films must in general be either too serious or very drab, for this one to be the standout. Also, Star Wars came out at about the same time -- and it's kind of the anti-Rocky in terms of being bright, and fun, and fast, and quick -- and probably stands out again other films of the time period as well. It explains why Star Wars was so popular. I'm also feeling like film standards today are higher, because I think Creed (many many years later) was deeper and more put together but didn't win nearly the amount of praise despite being a decent film.

 

[SD45T-2]

Catching up on more horror I did not get to in October:

The Ruins (2008) -- I'm kinda surprised this film ranks lower than expected. Not that it's a top-tier horror flick, but I expected to see more like a 70% RT score on it and maybe a 60% user score. Was it because the generic expectations were not met? This has more psychological horror similar to The Descent (aka people put in really bad situations and how they psychologically respond to it and how their relationships start to break down, how they make ethical decisions, etc.) and less about jump scares. Even the gore moments (yeah, there's a few) are in support of psychological horror/disturbance, not just random bits of gore. In fact, I found a lot of it mainly creepy and at times claustrophobic (even the outdoors scenes, because they were still surrounded and had little space that felt even safe). It also involves a bit of body horror and how awful it feels to feel like the horror is inside of you, rather than external. I squirmed a lot at certain points of this film.

The four leads are actually pretty decent (most of you probably know Jena Malone, and maybe Shawn Ashmore), and despite not having a TON of details on their backstories, I felt like each of them was real, so it's tragic when things go south. (The extra characters, not as much sympathy.) And any time they seemed to make a bad decision, I would start to question it -- and then one of them would typically ask the same question. Wow, nice! I think the only bit of senselessness I noted was simply not moving ALL the shit in their location to the center, as far from the perimeter as possible.

The film length is actually appropriate for the amount of content (they might have squeezed out an additional five minutes to expand on character a bit), but it's going to linger with me for awhile psychologically.

I just watched A Simple Plan, which is the other movie written by Scott B. Smith that's based on his other novel. It's quite well made (directed by Sam Raimi) and got huge praise from critics when it came out. Watching it now made me miss Bill Paxton.

 

[Totenkindly]

I just watched A Simple Plan, which is the other movie written by Scott B. Smith that's based on his other novel. It's quite well made (directed by Sam Raimi) and got huge praise from critics when it came out. Watching it now made me miss Bill Paxton.

I miss him too. I was going to have my son watch Near Dark with me, some of the movie feels slow but Paxton owns the whole middle of that film.

I saw A Simple Plan many years ago, but don't remember anything aside from the very basic premise. I guess that's good -- I can rewatch it and experience it like it was new.

 

[Totenkindly]

Elijah Wood Would Love to Play Daniel Radcliffe in a Movie

Elijah Wood says he's on board to co-star in a movie with Daniel Radcliffe where the two actors play each other.

movieweb.com

And so a meme might become real?

 

[Tomb1]

I watched some of that movie Carter on Netflix. It analogs like a video game and presents good plot twists (but too many plot twists like a television series that needs excuses to add on new episodes and seasons), but the CGI is a bit much. CGI is like steak....cooked for too long and it cuts like a hockey puck. This CGI was definitely cooked for too long. I also took issue with the dubbing. The voices don't match what the actors are doing imo. The inflections are so stale and generic it sounds like the people who are speaking over the original are all laying around in somebody's apartment at 3 in the morning reading lines back and forth with just enough inflection that you'd never guess they just got back from the bar, buzzed, smiling and winking at each other -- seeing who could make who laugh first and break character

 

[Totenkindly]

I watched some of that movie Carter on Netflix. It analogs like a video game and presents good plot twists (but too many plot twists like a television series that needs excuses to add on new episodes and seasons), but the CGI is a bit much. CGI is like steak....cooked for too long and it cuts like a hockey puck. This CGI was definitely cooked for too long. I also took issue with the dubbing. The voices don't match what the actors are doing imo. The inflections are so stale and generic it sounds like the people who are speaking over the original are all laying around in somebody's apartment at 3 in the morning reading lines back and forth with just enough inflection that you'd never guess they just got back from the bar, buzzed, smiling and winking at each other -- seeing who could make who laugh first and break character

Wow, I totally forgot to finish that film. I've seen the first 30 min, which was pretty crazy.

I'll keep an eye out if I finish it.

 

[Tomb1]

Wow, I totally forgot to finish that film. I've seen the first 30 min, which was pretty crazy.

I'll keep an eye out if I finish it.

Style and pace was very unique.

I have not seen many South Korean films but I do want to see Oldboy (2003)....have you seen it?

I got a kick out of the Spike Lee remake

 

[Totenkindly]

Style and pace was very unique.

I have not seen many South Korean films but I do want to see Oldboy (2003)....have you seen it?

I got a kick out of the Spike Lee remake

I did see the original but not the Lee remake.

It's decent, just screws with your head a bit by the end, but I assume the Lee version revealed the ending of the original. Also has a great long tracking shot, the hallway fight sequence.

 

[Tomb1]

I did see the original but not the Lee remake.

It's decent, just screws with your head a bit by the end, but I assume the Lee version revealed the ending of the original. Also has a great long tracking shot, the hallway fight sequence.

Oh, terrific....I already have a few screws missing so that's right up my alley. : ) the remake also had a hallway fight and it did not disappoint.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Okay, I finally watched Rocky (1976) the whole way through last night, maybe for the first time.

This is probably a controversial opinion (considering it won Best Picture), but ... it was mostly just okay and I felt a little disappointed afterwards. I think the best part was the last 30-45 minutes or so. I found the opening hour really dragged for me and could have been shortened, mostly it's just about Rocky going around town and talking non-stop and I just wanted him to shut up. About 20 minutes could have been cut. The fight itself, while being the best part, was actually mostly Rocky getting his face pulverized and only about half the fight was interesting.

it's also really interesting regarding cultural value shifts, because the whole scene where he hooks up with Adrian would be viewed as problematic. It's not clear whether she likes him, and she didn't even want to go out with him but her brother and Rocky kind of twist her arm. It's complicated because she's mousy, timid, and withdrawn and it's not clear whether she likes him or not (although occasionally she will side-eyes him in the pet store).

So then starting with where he's trying to seduce her, insisting she comes into his house (which is handled with moments of humor), it's a classic case of coercing a woman to have sex nowadays. I was kinda surprised at how typically it was -- it's a good 5-10 minute sequence where she keeps saying she doesn't want to come in (4-5 times) but he plays off her sympathies so that she reluctantly enters, and the film really details how she's feeling here. Then she avoids him in the apartment, while he keeps trying to put her at ease and get her over on the sofa with him while she either quietly refuses (by redirecting to looking around his apartment, or just not doing it)... and meanwhile he's locked the door. When she decides she's done and just TRIES to leave, he physically blocks her from leaving, so there's no chance she can undo the locks and get out. He then starts trying to seduce her again (taking off her glasses, taking off her hat, telling her how good looking she is), and it's impossible to distinguish whether she's going along with it because he could break her like a twig or because she actually wants him. He left her no capacity to choose -- or, actually, she chose a good twenty times already to not come in AND/OR to leave the apartment and he just doesn't let her.

Nowadays this could have ended up with a lawsuit the next day. Instead, the film decides to view this as "She was just shy but was actually attracted to him, so it was okay." In fact, it goes the hilarious extra mile where she suddenly comes out of her shell and starts dressing a lot better -- she stops wearing the glasses and actually looks fashionable with her outfits. Because of course, under her ugly clothes, she was a knock-out beauty. (Hello, Princess Diaries!)

I think if this film had been done in the 90's, Sandra Bullock would have played Adrian.

There are other amusing things about the film, like Rocky just getting free steaks from Paulie in the meat warehouse -- and everyone's using their bare hands to touch the meat, and he's beating up slabs of meat on TV and bleeding all over them -- and there's no standards practices to come down hard on the packing plant. Like, where was the FDA? This is another thing that wouldn't fly today.

I think my favorite scene is where Mickey comes (after treating Rocky poorly) to try to woo him to let him manage him. It's actually a nuanced scene. You realize both men have a lot going on under the surface-level dialogue. Mickey actually never really broke out and/or he's kind of washed-out now, and Rocky is his last chance at relevance. Meanwhile, Rocky (who isn't that perceptive) actually perceives this and starts to rant about how Mickey never really appreciated him until he got this chance to fight Creed and (in his typical disjointed way) rants about this for awhile. And Mickey quietly leaves, realizing he screwed it up, and Rocky is right, and he honestly doesn't deserve to manage him. And then Rocky realizes he actually does want Mickey's help, now that he got to vent his feelings, and goes after him. I wish more of the film had these subtleties.

I'm feeling like 70's films must in general be either too serious or very drab, for this one to be the standout. Also, Star Wars came out at about the same time -- and it's kind of the anti-Rocky in terms of being bright, and fun, and fast, and quick -- and probably stands out again other films of the time period as well. It explains why Star Wars was so popular. I'm also feeling like film standards today are higher, because I think Creed (many many years later) was deeper and more put together but didn't win nearly the amount of praise despite being a decent film.

the date scene in his apartment always made me feel uneasy

 

[Totenkindly]

Avatar tickets are out.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Smile was good. Best scary movie ever? Not by a long shot (my son said he was seeing people refer to it as such. Best of the year? Maybe.

I really liked the score. It relied on atmospherics over the typical mickey mousing you hear in many modern horror scores where the music tells you something bad is going to happen/just happened. It dovetails nicely with the cinematography, which also goes for mood and atmosphere over shock. For a film about trauma and suicide, it relied on very few graphic gore visuals and yet that was one of the strengths--relying on mood and buildup of tension to the inevitable, instead of gore. That gives it the slowburn feel of a lot of older horror (i.e. The Shining and Alien); we already know bad things are going to happen, so there's no point cheapening that with a lot of tacky jump scares (yes, there's one or two still). I like that we see very little of the creature. I'm not sure how I feel about the final reveal at the end. Almost too much. I would have preferred never seeing its true face. That was bordering on CGI. The story itself was very predictable and I guessed every outcome. This is a mood movie, and that's fine by me. Very few newer horror movies do such a good job of building terror and dread almost entirely with sound design and camerawork, so I can forgive it for a weakish script. My one major qualm is that it takes the heroine nearly the entire film to realize what I was thinking almost from the beginning

just go kill yourself with no witnesses to see. it takes her most of the film to even think of this. I was practically screaming it at the screen. I know I am not the only person who thought of this almost as soon as they learned the nature of the creature and how it spreads

 

[SearchingforPeace]

Okay, I finally watched Rocky (1976) the whole way through last night, maybe for the first time.

This is probably a controversial opinion (considering it won Best Picture), but ... it was mostly just okay and I felt a little disappointed afterwards. I think the best part was the last 30-45 minutes or so. I found the opening hour really dragged for me and could have been shortened, mostly it's just about Rocky going around town and talking non-stop and I just wanted him to shut up. About 20 minutes could have been cut. The fight itself, while being the best part, was actually mostly Rocky getting his face pulverized and only about half the fight was interesting.

it's also really interesting regarding cultural value shifts, because the whole scene where he hooks up with Adrian would be viewed as problematic. It's not clear whether she likes him, and she didn't even want to go out with him but her brother and Rocky kind of twist her arm. It's complicated because she's mousy, timid, and withdrawn and it's not clear whether she likes him or not (although occasionally she will side-eyes him in the pet store).

So then starting with where he's trying to seduce her, insisting she comes into his house (which is handled with moments of humor), it's a classic case of coercing a woman to have sex nowadays. I was kinda surprised at how typically it was -- it's a good 5-10 minute sequence where she keeps saying she doesn't want to come in (4-5 times) but he plays off her sympathies so that she reluctantly enters, and the film really details how she's feeling here. Then she avoids him in the apartment, while he keeps trying to put her at ease and get her over on the sofa with him while she either quietly refuses (by redirecting to looking around his apartment, or just not doing it)... and meanwhile he's locked the door. When she decides she's done and just TRIES to leave, he physically blocks her from leaving, so there's no chance she can undo the locks and get out. He then starts trying to seduce her again (taking off her glasses, taking off her hat, telling her how good looking she is), and it's impossible to distinguish whether she's going along with it because he could break her like a twig or because she actually wants him. He left her no capacity to choose -- or, actually, she chose a good twenty times already to not come in AND/OR to leave the apartment and he just doesn't let her.

Nowadays this could have ended up with a lawsuit the next day. Instead, the film decides to view this as "She was just shy but was actually attracted to him, so it was okay." In fact, it goes the hilarious extra mile where she suddenly comes out of her shell and starts dressing a lot better -- she stops wearing the glasses and actually looks fashionable with her outfits. Because of course, under her ugly clothes, she was a knock-out beauty. (Hello, Princess Diaries!)

I think if this film had been done in the 90's, Sandra Bullock would have played Adrian.

There are other amusing things about the film, like Rocky just getting free steaks from Paulie in the meat warehouse -- and everyone's using their bare hands to touch the meat, and he's beating up slabs of meat on TV and bleeding all over them -- and there's no standards practices to come down hard on the packing plant. Like, where was the FDA? This is another thing that wouldn't fly today.

I think my favorite scene is where Mickey comes (after treating Rocky poorly) to try to woo him to let him manage him. It's actually a nuanced scene. You realize both men have a lot going on under the surface-level dialogue. Mickey actually never really broke out and/or he's kind of washed-out now, and Rocky is his last chance at relevance. Meanwhile, Rocky (who isn't that perceptive) actually perceives this and starts to rant about how Mickey never really appreciated him until he got this chance to fight Creed and (in his typical disjointed way) rants about this for awhile. And Mickey quietly leaves, realizing he screwed it up, and Rocky is right, and he honestly doesn't deserve to manage him. And then Rocky realizes he actually does want Mickey's help, now that he got to vent his feelings, and goes after him. I wish more of the film had these subtleties.

I'm feeling like 70's films must in general be either too serious or very drab, for this one to be the standout. Also, Star Wars came out at about the same time -- and it's kind of the anti-Rocky in terms of being bright, and fun, and fast, and quick -- and probably stands out again other films of the time period as well. It explains why Star Wars was so popular. I'm also feeling like film standards today are higher, because I think Creed (many many years later) was deeper and more put together but didn't win nearly the amount of praise despite being a decent film.

I was bored through the first hour or so of Rocky. It is very hard to look back and think this won Best Picture.

A lot of 70s era films seem to suffer from this. I rewatched Marathon Man recently. I had watched it years earlier and didn't really like it, but it was a huge hit and allegedly a classic thriller. It sucked on so many levels. Production quality was poor, story was silly, there was a problematic seduction scene, editing was weak, etc.

I have watched some other 70s era films recently and they seem to have the same problems. Older films don't seem to have this problem, but this cutting edge era had a lot of crap that just doesn't hold up.

 

[The Cat]

I enjoy the old set ups in movies, and I miss the musical numbers that usually came in the middle. It's all gone now, best forget it Jake...It's Hollywoodland.

 

[Totenkindly]

‘Strange World’ To Lose $147M: Why Theatrical Was Best Decision For Doomed Toon –Not Disney+– As Bob Iger Takes Over CEO From Bob Chapek

Death, taxes, and films that bomb at the box office. Such is life in Hollywood, and at the end of the day, the estimated $147M loss which is expected for Disney Animation’s Strange World isn’t spilt milk to cry over for the entertainment conglomerate. The bombing of the Thanksgiving family...

www.yahoo.com

Well, hey, I gotta say -- you know, the whole marketing campaign was shite?

I think I saw 1-2 trailers for this while I was in the theater for a different film and barely heard anything else about it, to the degree that I barely even remembered it came out last week. They also did not know how to advertise it; the only thing I remember from the trailer was that it looked really visually creative but don't ask me what the story was supposed to be. I learned more about the story reading a non-spoilered review of the film after it released

COVID, Thanksgiving, other films out -- how did they expect this to make money when they didn't even market it?

What is up with Disney lately?

 

[The Cat]

‘Strange World’ To Lose $147M: Why Theatrical Was Best Decision For Doomed Toon –Not Disney+– As Bob Iger Takes Over CEO From Bob Chapek

Death, taxes, and films that bomb at the box office. Such is life in Hollywood, and at the end of the day, the estimated $147M loss which is expected for Disney Animation’s Strange World isn’t spilt milk to cry over for the entertainment conglomerate. The bombing of the Thanksgiving family...

www.yahoo.com

Well, hey, I gotta say -- you know, the whole marketing campaign was shite?

I think I saw 1-2 trailers for this while I was in the theater for a different film and barely heard anything else about it, to the degree that I barely even remembered it came out last week. They also did not know how to advertise it; the only thing I remember from the trailer was that it looked really visually creative but don't ask me what the story was supposed to be. I learned more about the story reading a non-spoilered review of the film after it released

COVID, Thanksgiving, other films out -- how did they expect this to make money when they didn't even market it?

What is up with Disney lately?

Franchise bloat. Just because you own everything doesnt mean you can write anything good with it.

 

[Totenkindly]

 

[Totenkindly]

Avatar 2 this weekend. Reviews look at least decent. I guess we shall see.

All three of us watched Avatar (Special Collector's Edition, 16 mins of extra footage) yesterday. Despite just being a blu-ray, it held up visually and looked like 4K on the large screen. It's a flawed film and has its share of cheesy moments (like why did they continue to use "unobtainium" as the name of the mineral in question? It's such a placeholder name. Or Ribisi's performance is inconsistent and buffoonish, despite him being a superb nuanced actor. Worthington as lead is still kind of stilted/clunky. There's some cliche roles in the story. And so on.)

But it's got heart and is still very enjoyable. And it shows typical Cameron level of detail in its visual world-building and also his story-craft -- he sets up later beats in early beats so that things seem to fit together and you can actually track/anticipate what is going on. I'm hoping having more people involved in the scripting, but with Cameron's oversight, will give more life to the sequels.

Cameron was saying the film has to place in the top-five box office returns of all time to break even. I don't know if that is possible. People were going to see Avatar 10+ times in the theater, and I just don't know if that will happen nowadays due to 4K being in homes, COVID, and whatever else. But it is positioned to do very well in general.

 

[Totenkindly]

Popped in the steelbox 4K I just received of Pulp Fiction this week. Only watched a bit of it, but they really did a nice job with cleaning this film up for 4K. The color and grain and level of detail is really nice.

 

[Tomb1]

Prisoners (2013) is on netflix and is good....had a Mystic River vibe. That whole neo-noir thing...prisoners even moreso a creature of the film noir style