Random Movie Thoughts Thread

[The Cat]

This is true. And one where my ponytailed doppelgänger wins at the end

It is really cool how much you resemble Charles Dance in that movie, kinda hot too.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

I can't see Stallone doing a good job as a Terminator. Can't buy him as an unstoppable killer robot.

His version probably bombed in his universe. But Schwarzenegger’s Rocky probably bombed as well, since audiences wouldn’t buy a muscle bound Austrian as a down and out Philly boxer and mob strongman

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

This movie deserves more kinky fan fic

I liked her with Tim Curry much more than Tom Cruise. They were a much better couple.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

It is really cool how much you resemble Charles Dance in that movie, kinda hot too.

I hope I look like Tywin Lannister when I’m a senior.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I hope I look like Tywin Lannister when I’m a senior.

Well you should know I think The Golden Child is a better movie than Big Trouble in Little China. We've argued about this before.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Well you should know I think The Golden Child is a better movie than Big Trouble in Little China. We've argued about this before.

I’m blinded by my nostalgia for Big Trouble, plus I love Carpenter. I’ll have to give Golden Child another watch though, I’ve been known to change my mind. I used to prefer Top Gun but now I am in the Iron Eagle camp

But nothing changes my mind that Big Trouble is definitely one of Carpenter’s best, better than Halloween and at least as good as The Thing. He could have had a career as a major blockbuster action director if it hadn’t bombed. Audiences were not ready for that type of crossover comedy action yet (why Golden Child also didn’t do as well as it should have). He paved the way for people like Tarantino

 

[The Cat]

I liked her with Tim Curry much more than Tom Cruise. They were a much better couple.

Like Bowser and Peach also. Like as much as I like the forest and the unicorn. it would be really difficult for me to go back to Tom Cruise after the opportunity to be shall we say filled by darkness in that dress he brought me. God young Tim Curry is so smexy.

 

[The Cat]

I’m blinded by my nostalgia for Big Trouble, plus I love Carpenter. I’ll have to give Golden Child another watch though, I’ve been known to change my mind. I used to prefer Top Gun but now I am in the Iron Eagle camp

But nothing changes my mind that Big Trouble is definitely one of Carpenter’s best, better than Halloween and at least as good as The Thing

I dont think they can really be put in a better than the other they're both gloriously just 80's aesthetic porn. Big Trouble works because everyone leans into the rediculousness and plays it serious while also chewing through the scenes and hamming it up.(Not to mention the practical effects that Carter is such a pro with making feel more real than most modern cgi) The Golden Child works because Eddie Murphy is watching the same movie we are and knows its...just rediculous, and his character bugs bunny's through the movie as if he's in a dream he expects to wake up from any minute. Another film that works like these two is Buckaroo Bonsai. Jeff Goldblum as a cowboy presented without comment. These are movies that can seemingly only exist in the place and time from wence they come.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Like Bowser and Peach also. Like as much as I like the forest and the unicorn. it would be really difficult for me to go back to Tom Cruise after the opportunity to be shall we say filled by darkness in that dress he brought me. God young Tim Curry is so smexy.

I thought of Bowser and Peach as analogous about half an hour ago. Great minds think alike.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I dont think they can really be put in a better than the other they're both gloriously just 80's aesthetic porn. Big Trouble works because everyone leans into the rediculousness and plays it serious while also chewing through the scenes and hamming it up.(Not to mention the practical effects that Carter is such a pro with making feel more real than most modern cgi) The Golden Child works because Eddie Murphy is watching the same movie we are and knows its...just rediculous, and his character bugs bunny's through the movie as if he's in a dream he expects to wake up from any minute. Another film that works like these two is Buckaroo Bonsai. Jeff Goldblum as a cowboy presented without comment. These are movies that can seemingly only exist in the place and time from wence they come.

I think I prefer Golden Child because I find what Eddie Murphy was doing funnier than what Kurt Russell was doing.

Golden Child doesn't have a beholder, though. But it does have a snake lady, which more than makes up for it. I love the snake lady.

I watched Buckaroo after I got my wisdom teeth out, eons ago. I was doped up on anaesthetic/painkillers. I found myself befuddled by it. I understood what was going on with the plot more or less but everything else was just too much. I need to give it a rewatch.

 

[The Cat]

I think I prefer Golden Child because I find what Eddie Murphy was doing funnier than what Kurt Russell was doing.

Golden Child doesn't have a beholder, though. But it does have a snake lady, which more than makes up for it. I love the snake lady.

The closet we'll likely come to its like in the current cinemascape is a new dead pool movie.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

The closet we'll likely come to its like in the current cinemascape is a new dead pool movie.

Haven't seen any of those. Do they have snake people?

 

[The Cat]

Haven't seen any of those. Do they have snake people?

They have a character aware of the rediculousness of the movie theyre in.

I dont know that serpent people are going to be easily brought back into the modern cinemascape even in D&D due to some of the more unstable elements in the society trying to put that specific conspiracy theory drivel into the actual political landscape, and but im sure if they knew it would generate revenue rather than stymie it we'd see a re reboot of V in a heart beat.

 

[The Cat]

Most cinematic fantasy is just six degrees of seperation from Robert E Howard anyway...

 

[The Cat]

*buys the thread a round*

 

[Totenkindly]

Watched Incendies (2010, Villeneuve) -- beautifully framed and constructed, a few hard twists, a few scenes that left me in sobs/tears and were hard to watch. (It's rare for me to have that response.) I can see why some call this his best picture, before he started making bigger budget items. I tend to love all of his films, honestly, although it's been a really long time since I have watched Polytechnique (the one I recall the least about). I liked also that this film covered a period of time when I was alive and heard some of these words / events flying around but had no clue what any of them were. It's ironic how much we miss in the world because it's either not personally relevant or non-local (and this was before Internet).

The main storyline: It leaves you wondering how much we really know other people, even people we see daily or are related to. How much of their story don't we know? Would it change how we view them if we did know their story more deeply? Why don't we know these things or aim to be that invested in others enough to know them deeply?

 

[Totenkindly]

In the list of films I didn't like as much on first viewing but grew on me as I aged + watched more times: A.I. (Artificial Intelligence). It was pretty common for this film to be misunderstood upon release, in terms of the story's aims, the identity of the creatures at the end (no, they are NOT aliens although unfortunately they look like aliens from some of Spielberg's earlier works -- they are evolved mecha and the last remnant of humanity that survives), and the influence of each director on the film.

The whole crux of the story is summarized in the initial opening ("What responsibility do human beings have towards mecha, if we imprint them upon us and thus make them vulnerable while not promising anything in return?" It's an ethical dilemma), as the protagonist is basically imprinted onto a mother that cannot commit to being his mother, yet his whole purpose of being is to be a child who yearns for a mother's love.

The whole point of David's journey is to transcend the prior limitations of mecha and bridge the gap to humans -- doing things of their own volition and inner drive, rather than because they were programmed... at least to the degree of humans. David does things in the film once imprinted on Monica that fly against what might have been expected from his programming, it seems to transcend a mere mother-bond instinct. It is like the epic hero's journey just shown through the eyes of a mecha boy. EVEN WHEN HE FINDS OUT HIS JOURNEY IS IMPOSSIBLE (the terrible revelations after he reaches Professor Hobby), he can't and/or won't quit. Personally, I love the ending in this regard, because it's so bittersweet -- the best that can be done, and yet for him it is perfect because it is everything he ever wanted.

The camera framing, odd imagery (like David originally reflected in various surfaces or through non-uniform windows to look inhuman), production design, costume design, is just amazing. The blue fairy statue is perfect. Acting is stellar. Jude Law just moves so perfectly in this film -- graceful while remaining mechanical in its perfection. I'm still kind of in awe of it. This is one of John Williams' most unique scores that I can recall.

I was triggered to watch it after seeing Incendies, because the emotional palette felt similar to me. the special voice cast (Angel, Williams, Streep, Kingsley) are just so perectly cast, and the Dr. Know section left me in tears when he issues his final answer about the Blue Fairy because Williams' voice totally changes to something remarkable, and it's hard in conjunction with losing him so early in life. Kingsley is especially good as the bookend voice of the Specialist as well. There are horrific moments in the film (Monica and David in the woods, the Flesh fair), and then just beautiful moments of longing and loss and unmet desire, or even just the transcendent moments when David refuse to stop because his desire is so strong that it doesn't matter what makes sense or what constraints are placed on him, he refuses to quit in his journey - even his momentary fling with suicidal depression is a human response to unmet longings.

I dunno. I am glad people have revisted their initial impressions of this film over the last twenty years. It is also in the middle golden period for Spielberg (1998-2005 or so) where all or almost all of his films were just so stellar. I'm kind of indifferent to many of films after that (until the Fabelmans).

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I dunno. I am glad people have revisted their initial impressions of this film over the last twenty years. It is also in the middle golden period for Spielberg (1998-2005 or so) where all or almost all of his films were just so stellar. I'm kind of indifferent to many of films after that (until the Fabelmans).

I thought this movie was beautiful when I first saw it. I remember everyone trashed it. I remember one critic couldn't get past the fact that David would love someone as distant and unlikable as Monica, which I think was missing the point.

For some reason, I haven't seen it since it came out. I'm now compelled to rewatch.

I just watched West Side Story and didn't think it was as good as the original.

 

[Totenkindly]

I thought this movie was beautiful when I first saw it. I remember everyone trashed it. I remember one critic couldn't get past the fact that David would love someone as distant and unlikable as Monica, which I think was missing the point.

yeah, totally. It's his mother. This is a totally human thing, for kids to want the love of a parent who can either not give it or can't give it to the degree desired.

To be honest, Monica wasn't a terrible mom once she initiated the imprinting (she then needed more time to grow into it), and she was the only one who was attached to him in that family -- the husband never gave a crap about David, just using him to make his wife feel bad (so he himself could be happier) and as soon as David became an inconvenience and/or potential threat, he just wanted to dumpster him. She's the only one who tried to save him, versus having him junked, even if her response was pretty underwhelming and/or hurtful from David's perspective.

I thought the other juxtaposition was really intriguing -- Professor Hobby was almost truly his dad (the god figure, like JHWH supposedly creating humanity), as he was basically creating David to replace another David in his life if you scan all the pics in his office.

And he actually seems really sympathetic to David at first, and appreciating him -- but the way things are left, it feels like David was still just a kind of "breakthrough" for him, subsumed into his obsession with his own ability to (re)create life, and was totally missing how devastated David was with the drives that Hobby actually instilled in David that allowed him to be imprinted. Like, Hobby might have created David, but he didn't actually understand how deeply those longings ran and thus wasn't really a useful god figure to David nor someone looking out for David's ultimate well-being.

EDIT: Just found this online. Kind of interesting essay!

https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncw/f/grissettj2005-6.pdf

I just watched West Side Story and didn't think it was as good as the original.

I watched both versions about the time I knew I'd get to see the new one, so I could compare. Ultimately I think the original was better, even with the new sets / great production design. I thought the original Tony (and the singer they matched him up with) was a lot more compelling than Ansel Elgort -- Elgort can sing but not in a way that felt alive for this version, it was very underwhelming. I probably have reviews here somewhere.

EDIT:
West Side Story (1961) review
West Side story (2021) review

 

[Totenkindly]

'Cocaine Bear' gets high with $23.1M, 'Ant-Man' sinks fast

The gonzo R-rated horror comedy “Cocaine Bear" sniffed up $23.1 million in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, while Marvel's “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” shrank unusually quickly in its second weekend. “Quantumania” was still No. 1 with an estimated $32.2 million...

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