Random Movie Thoughts Thread

[Tellenbach]

I like the 4 actors from the 2016 film, but they were given a shit script. Most of the jokes fall flat to me. They feel like they were written for the lowest common denominator.

Yep, the cast was fine, but the writing is all-important and it fell far short of the original. The characters lacked camaraderie and the writing failed to create an emotional bond with the audience (the same critique with Mulan). Basically, it lacked everything that made season 1 of Stranger Things so appealing. You'd think that Hollywood would know by now what makes a good film, but apparently not.

 

[Totenkindly]

Agree that cast itself was fine, with main issues being miscasts and/or writing issues. (For example, Kristen Wiig was either miscast as her character despite her talent, and/or the writing didn't write a part that fit her skills and the expected tone of the film.) Kate McKinnon was the highlight of the film, and Chris Hemsworth synced up in his bit role; but the rest was pretty flat.

There were no memorable lines from the film, which is bad when you are rebooting a film that is full of them. Again, writing issue. Overall, just major problems with the writing/direction of the film and what exactly it wanted to accomplish.

Another big problem -- making it a reboot instead of a hand-off... and they cast original cast members in roles other than their well-known roles from the first film. If you're going to get these guys in the film, build off their legacy rather than eradicating it by rebooting the film with an inferior product. It was adding insult to injury in this case.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Agree that cast itself was fine, with main issues being miscasts and/or writing issues. (For example, Kristen Wiig was either miscast as her character despite her talent, and/or the writing didn't write a part that fit her skills and the expected tone of the film.) Kate McKinnon was the highlight of the film, and Chris Hemsworth synced up in his bit role; but the rest was pretty flat.

There were no memorable lines from the film, which is bad when you are rebooting a film that is full of them. Again, writing issue. Overall, just major problems with the writing/direction of the film and what exactly it wanted to accomplish.

Another big problem -- making it a reboot instead of a hand-off... and they cast original cast members in roles other than their well-known roles from the first film. If you're going to get these guys in the film, build off their legacy rather than eradicating it by rebooting the film with an inferior product. It was adding insult to injury in this case.

I didn’t understand the reasoning behind making it a reboot/remake. Then, some of the trailers rubbed salt in that wound with the misleading “30 years ago, 4 scientists saved New York”. What?

 

[Totenkindly]

I didn’t understand the reasoning behind making it a reboot/remake. Then, some of the trailers rubbed salt in that wound with the misleading “30 years ago, 4 scientists saved New York”. What?

LOL! I totally don't remember that, but yes that's horrible.

There's a lot of sequel stuff coming out /planned that I'm just not that enthusiastic to see. Even Matrix 4... I feel like i've already seen everything I needed to see in that trilogy, what more can be said? Especially if you are casting dead characters in it? If it had been a continuation with all new characters, I'd be more interested as long as it's not some repetitive hackneyed regurgitation of the first three films.

I dunno. I suppose it sounds weird coming from me, but I haven't cared a lot for the Wachowski's stuff except for Bound, the first Matrix, and Cloud Atlas (which has flaws in its individual pieces but adds up to something bigger than itself for me). The rest has been kind of laborious and noisy.

 

[cascadeco]

I thought it was nuts that Ellen Burstyn didn't win best actress for 'Requiem for a Dream' during the awards for that year. Just recently watched the movie and halfway through I was already in awe of her performance, so I looked it up and saw Julia Roberts won for 'Erin Brockovich' instead. Now I don't actually have anything against Roberts or how she did in that film, but come on.

 

[Jaguar]

Sorry Steven, I can't deal with your shooting Schindler's List in black and white.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

I thought it was nuts that Ellen Burstyn didn't win best actress for 'Requiem for a Dream' during the awards for that year. Just recently watched the movie and halfway through I was already in awe of her performance, so I looked it up and saw Julia Roberts won for 'Erin Brockovich' instead. Now I don't actually have anything against Roberts or how she did in that film, but come on.

I have a suspicion a lot of academy awards are given based on back room politics, favors, connections.

Looking back, there’s a lot of inexplicable “spoilers” like that. For instance, Forrest Gump got best picture over Pulp Fiction and Shawshank Redemption. Now, Hanks getting best actor for that film was fair, but the movie itself was overhyped and didn’t age well compared to the competition. It’s basically a glorified nostalgia trip.

 

[cascadeco]

I have a suspicion a lot of academy awards are given based on back room politics, favors, connections.

Looking back, there’s a lot of inexplicable “spoilers” like that. For instance, Forrest Gump got best picture over Pulp Fiction and Shawshank Redemption. Now, Hanks getting best actor for that film was fair, but the movie itself was overhyped and didn’t age well compared to the competition. It’s basically a glorified nostalgia trip.

That's a good example - it should not have won best picture. Even back in the 90's when I saw those films, I liked and rewatched Pulp Fiction and Shawshank (Shawshank back then was a favorite movie of mine ) but even at the time found Forrest Gump kind of hokey and cheesy and there would be no compelling reason for me to rewatch it and I still have no desire to watch it again. Maybe it won because they wanted to honor a more wholesome feel good movie and chose that as the emotional tone for the year, or something (which would tie to politics, etc).

 

[cascadeco]

You know what my favorite mid 90's movie as a late teen was? 'Sneakers'. I think it's probably fallen into the dust by now, as I never see it in online catalogs. There's nothing award worthy of it, it was just a good ocean's 11 style movie with I thought a great cast. I remember being mesmerized by some of the scenes, even if as with these sorts of movies, they may have been unrealistic. It was just a fun movie. If it ever falls into Netflix or hbomax I'll rewatch it.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

That's a good example - it should not have won best picture. Even back in the 90's when I saw those films, I liked and rewatched Pulp Fiction and Shawshank (Shawshank back then was a favorite movie of mine ) but even at the time found Forrest Gump kind of hokey and cheesy and there would be no compelling reason for me to rewatch it and I still have no desire to watch it again. Maybe it won because they wanted to honor a more wholesome feel good movie and chose that as the emotional tone for the year, or something (which would tie to politics, etc).

I think you probably nailed it. I remember how HUGE Forrest Gump was when it came out. It really tapped into that huge market selling feel good nostalgia to the boomer demographic. You see this general trend of celebrating the 60s starting around the late 80s, and I think it’s fair to say Gump represented the peak of that trend. Cultural nostalgia tends to look back about 30 years. So as the 60s receded further into history from the present, any product specifically designed to tap into that nostalgia was going to see decreasing returns, its cultural impact gradually fading from memory. And once that aspect fades, certain products (films) specifically designed to tap into nostalgia suddenly are a lot easier to evaluate on other merits, and any flaws are no longer hidden under a shiny outer layer

It’s telling that we’re now seeing the rise in nostalgia for the 80s and 90s

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

You know what my favorite mid 90's movie as a late teen was? 'Sneakers'. I think it's probably fallen into the dust by now, as I never see it in online catalogs. There's nothing award worthy of it, it was just a good ocean's 11 style movie with I thought a great cast. I remember being mesmerized by some of the scenes, even if as with these sorts of movies, they may have been unrealistic. It was just a fun movie. If it ever falls into Netflix or hbomax I'll rewatch it.

Probably can find a used DVD of it for a few bucks on amazon, unless it was not widely released on home video at the time of release

 

[Totenkindly]

You know what my favorite mid 90's movie as a late teen was? 'Sneakers'. I think it's probably fallen into the dust by now, as I never see it in online catalogs. There's nothing award worthy of it, it was just a good ocean's 11 style movie with I thought a great cast. I remember being mesmerized by some of the scenes, even if as with these sorts of movies, they may have been unrealistic. It was just a fun movie. If it ever falls into Netflix or hbomax I'll rewatch it.

I actually saw this about a year back, when I visited a friend who had a cache of streaming films they had collected over the years. But i don't remember seeing it around otherwise recently. It did have a lot of familiar faces in the cast.

Edit: amazon has a $10 bluray. Maybe some other sites have it.

 

[Jaguar]

Mel Gibson's new flick.

 

[Population: 1]

An interesting theory. I enjoy stories that contain elements of magic even while being firmly rooted in an otherwise realistic setting. The Hospitaller was one of my favorite characters from KoH along with Tiberias. His words to Balian at 11:39 sum up the entire theme of the movie imo. People can do and say things in the name of powers deemed greater than themselves and miss the entire intent of the message.

The presenter does a character vid about Boromir from LOTR that I’m checking out next.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Yul brynner was a cool dude

 

[Coriolis]

Yul brynner was a cool dude

An old comic strip defined "balderdash" as a foot race between Yul Brenner and Telly Savalas.

 

[Totenkindly]

An old comic strip defined "balderdash" as a foot race between Yul Brenner and Telly Savalas.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Perhaps you saw him in westworld. He acted like a robotic cowboy. It was his best roll, I cannot deny it

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

An old comic strip defined "balderdash" as a foot race between Yul Brenner and Telly Savalas.

It took me a while to get that.

Well done.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]