Random Movie Thoughts Thread

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

So I was watching "The Matrix Reloaded" in 4K. I've only gotten up to the beginning of the highway chase sequence, right now -- basically around the mid-point of the film, because Highway Chase basically closes Act II, and then Act 3 is the infiltration of the power grid and/or Neo finding his way into the Source.

• My biggest gripe with the film is that it is poorly paced. There's an initial action dream sequence, plus a throwaway fight between Neo and three Agents to kind of frame Neo's power level and the state of the agents arrayed against him, but then there is a good 30-35 minutes of useless "nothing happens" material, a lot of mediocre dialogue, dramatic moments that don't quite pan out, and/or the entire rave sequence which can be moody or silly depending on your state of mind. There's a lot of pseudo-philosophical talk that tries to appear enlightened but is kinda content-less. Like, if you cannot do great dramatic sequences or good dialogue with real content that will help explain the film better, directly, then you should get rid of it or rewrite it. The Wachowskis tend to not do as well when they are trying to do non-action philosophy, they do better slipping aphorisms into more active sequences.
  
• Pretty much this trilogy has revolved around the efforts of impressive character actor work. Everyone loves Keanu, but he's really bad at dramatic line delivery. He does work like a dog to get his action sequences right though. Anyway, the most impressive dramatic bits in this film always come from secondary memorable characters: Monica Belluci as Persephone, Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, Lambert Wilson as the Merovingian, Gloria Foster as the Oracle, Helmut Bakaitis as the Architect, even Harold Perrineau as Link (the "everyman" viewpoint of the film). They are all distinctive and great thespians, they dominate the scenes they are in. (There's also a few other quality actors but they really did not get great dialogue/parts, so... not mentioning them.)
  
• I suspect they did some work on "old" CGI portions of the film, because even the Burly Brawl sequence didn't look as bad as I remembered due to outdated graphics. (They looked awesome for a year or two, but that was 2003-2004 (?) and CGI quickly leaped ahead, and the visuals simply did not age well.) There's only two moments now that I've noticed Neo being an obvious CGI creation now and even then he didn't look as bad as remembered (one is when he "does the Superman thing" and flies up in front of the moon, and then other is when he does a leaping spin kick in the Burly Brawl in slo-mo about 2/3 of the way through the fight). I *think* they went back through for the 4K release and added more detail to his face that 4K could handle -- basically more skin tone + the presence of 5 o clock shadow that we can clearly see on the real Keanu's face throughout that portion of the film. I think he looked way too polished/smooth and single-hued before, which is why he looked fake; but the extra detail and coloration really went a long way in improving the sequence so as to not take the viewer out of it. If someone else watches the 4K on a decent setup, let me know what you think.
  
• There were always complaints that Neo didn't fly away early in the Burly Brawl. I've never agreed with them, for a few reasons: (1) Neo didn't know there were multiple Smiths until the beginning of the fight, there were only six at the time, and he didn't know what to make of it yet, (2) he was able to handle multiple agents, he had already killed Smith himself once, and there were only six as I've noted to start with, and he was handling himself just fine, (3) as the fight commences, he slowly realizes that there are more and more Smiths, until the tally easily gets up in the 30's, but by that point he has no TIME to fly because he is hard-pressed from every side, because (4) we know he needs a few seconds to concentrate to fly, at that time in his life, it was even established at the beginning of the film that he can't just take off but has that 2-3 second buffer where he really has to focus and gather his mental energy together, and (5) the only time in the fight he had enough space/time to fly away was at the mid-point, when he's slammed back into the bricks, and instead of flying, he grabs a pole out of the concrete and proceeds to beat the Smiths senseless with it. Basically that was the one moment where he had enough space to get out, but Neo is not a strategic thinker + he hasn't yet lost a fight, so he still thinks he can deal with it -- plus he really dislikes Smith and just doesn't want to back down yet. Once it is clear that it's "inevitable" he will be overwhelmed by superior numbers, he finally creates some space and gets out of dodge. I don't recall him making any further errors in that regard after this point, he seems to take Smith far more seriously after this fight.
  
• My favorite fight is still the Château skirmish between Neo and about 8-10 of his henchmen (probably all programs left from Era 2 of the Matrix). It's impeccably choreographed with multiple things going on at once, and people are just grabbing new weapons left and right, so it has a variety of styles expressed. (In this, it reminds me of the fight in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, where Shu Lien and Jen Yu are having it out in the training room -- Shu Lien is obviously superior skill-wise and pulls weapon after weapon off the wall during this fight, but Jen Yu is using the dragon sword and it simply is capable of breaking all the lesser weapons eventually. Another strength of the Château sequence is its music, which frames and paces the action beautifully. But also the sequence serves as a thematic tie in: so far Neo has been shown in the summer of his strength, like a god, but here there's a moment where he's forced to block a two-handed sword with his bare hand (and DOES!) while kicking the guy away.... but it draws blood, dripping to the floor. "You see?" says the Merovingian, a little disdainfully. "He's just a man." It's a huge bit of foreshadowing about where the series is going -- Neo might have superman-like powers, but he's still mortal and eventually his strength is going to wane. It's such dark foreboding, hinting at the losses of Revolutions. [Persephone says the same, when talking to Trinity about her love with Neo -- "I envy you... but such a thing is not fated to last."]
  

My favorite is Morpheus' duel with the Agent on the truck. Goosebumps every time

 

[Totenkindly]

So I finished that film this evening.

• The highway chase feels a little dated and unfortunately also has the worst CGI moment remaining in the film -- the Agent leaping onto a carhood, before springing onto the car Trinity is driving. It doesn't help that it's slowed down, so you can see how clumsy and unnatural the movement was. However, at the time, it was the best that could be done for CGI.
• Conceptually though the highway sequence is pretty brilliant. Morpheus apparently has told Trinity never to go on the highway "because it's suicide" and all he can say when she mentions this, "Well, let us hope I was wrong." If you could not guess why, it quickly becomes apparent: The agents can morph into anyone (including all drivers) on the highway, so every car or truck becomes essentially a large missile that can crush you at a moment's notice, since the agents also do not care ultimately about any other human lives they snuff out in the process. Again, it's in three parts -- the initial leg where all the players are introduced (our heroes, the wraith twins, and the agents) and all are inadvertently warring with each other, then the second leg where Trinity swipes the bike and it becomes a bike/car race (since the bike is far more mobile) and then the final bit with Morpheus fighting an Agent on top of a moving tractor trailer. There's a few flaws, but basically the threat from all sides is very real, and Morpheus' duel with the agent has more emotional heft, since typically any human except Neo who fights an agent dies. (This is highlighted later when Trinity also is stuck in that scenario.) There's foreshadowing again -- like when Morpheus invites attack with his trademark hand beckon that Neo pays tribute to in the final film. Morpheus actually draws blood once, it's a powerful moment.
• Again, there's dumb little things that are off logistically in this sequence... for example, Morpheus sticks his sword in the side of the truck two feet down, yet suddenly it's 4-5' down so he can crouch on it low enough to reach the Keymaker, and then yet later it's higher enough to be within arm reach. Or when the wraith twins' truck is damaged and they throw on the brakes, there's no apparent reason for them to turn sidewise as they brake, yet suddenly they are, and it doesn't tip uniformly to expose the undercarriage, it's obviously flipped by wires. Typically the production is more polished, but every so often these things will be very noticeable and take you out of the world of the film.
• I feel bad Soren's crew really never gets names. They are just faceless cool looking peeps in sunglasses at night and boom, they're done. But fun casting truth here -- on their SHIP that is blown up, the Axel character (the limpy guy who ends up breaking the ramp eventually) is Leigh Whannel the screenwriter and director. Saw was his brainchild, and the Insidious franchise, and Upgrade -- and last year he finally did a pretty solid film all around with his version of "The Invisible Man" with Elizabeth Moss.
• I was surprised to see that the same film editor worked on this film (and Revolutions) that did the original Matrix. The third film was easily the worst in terms of dramatic editing, but elements of that show up here in the film's last third as well. I wonder if there was a time crunch that led to efficient yet unaesthetic edit pacing. Note that the film's early editing gives more room to breathe and there's a number of nicely edited scenes, including the Oracle sequence, the possession of Bane, and especially the bathroom scene with Persephone -- that last is so perfect in terms of editing feeling what was going on. But in the last third, the editing gets really choppy, scenes are being lopped off a few seconds too soon to resonate, losing dramatic power. There's the cutting of Trinity's fight with the agent interspersed with the Architect sequence -- that jumping is spotty, and also Neo's responses to the Architecture are not paced properly. It's like they are both being filmed in separate locations and not really interacting. Based on it all being backloaded in the film, I'm really thinking they ran out of time and were rushing the editing of the last act of the film to make the May 2003 release, since they also had to get the third film out by November 2003. [You'd think these franchises would learn -- remember the OTHER big franchise pic that rushed the editing as well to meet an unrealistic release and botched the film up in the process?]
• I think that the film was really written in mind of a comic book, which was the original idea for the first film as well. You can really tell in sections where there's a lot of expository dialogue. I think Reloaded still gets away with it for two reasons: (1) Wilson (Merovingian) and Bakaitis (Architect) and Foster (Oracle) and yes even Weaving (Smith) all are skilled actors who can deliver complex/bulky lines in a way that makes them still interesting, and (2) the lines manage to fit the characters they're assigned to, the Architect in particular. Yes, his vocabulary and sentence structure is so complicated and precise, making him difficult to parse, but it also fits exactly with what he is -- the machine creator of the Matrix, who constantly is sneering at humanity for being "less than" himself. But basically this kind of dense can work in a comic and you can even envision the panels -- you have time to read and savor the lines, reread when necessary, etc. It's just film is a different medium.
• Personally I think the subversion of the Hero's Journey(while essentially still being a hero's journey) is the most brilliant part of the film. What Neo finds up turns the entire role of the One on its head. What do you do when your faith is torn from you? It's a question Morpheus should be wrestling with, although the final film kinda cops out on it. It's basically the same as The Empire Strikes Back, though -- when Luke goes to kill the BBEG and discovers Darth Vader is his father. It throws everything into a tail spin -- what does a hero do with that knowledge?
• Another strength of the film is how it builds on the lore to model computer logic and scenarios. For example, the notion of multiple iterations of the Matrix (like software releases). The idea of obsolete programs that still hang out, even though the new OS isn't designed to integrate with them well. Seraph, who is a guardian program essentially. The idea of "backdoors" -- which show up as long hallways that can transport one to very disparate locations, giving secret ways into certain locations. The Keymaster is in essence a code-cracker program that can unlock guarded areas. The Merovingian is in essence a communications/information hub that can collect and broker data. And then the whole bit about Smith, who has basically become a computer virus replicating itself constantly to hijack every virtual human in the Matrix, slowly grinding the system to a halt very much like a computer worm. They really did a great job mapping computer archetypes into the characters, abilities, and functions.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

[*]Personally I think the subversion of the Hero's Journey(while essentially still being a hero's journey) is the most brilliant part of the film. What Neo finds up turns the entire role of the One on its head. What do you do when your faith is torn from you? It's a question Morpheus should be wrestling with, although the final film kinda cops out on it. It's basically the same as The Empire Strikes Back, though -- when Luke goes to kill the BBEG and discovers Darth Vader is his father. It throws everything into a tail spin -- what does a hero do with that knowledge?

Yes, I loved that it turns out the One was just another form of control. It's too bad the third movie didn't really do enough with that.

I like the idea of making peace with machines that the third movie touches on, and I like the architects reponse in the final scene. But there's something about how it all plays out that just doesn't work for me.

I'm wondering how it could be rewritten. I'm kind of thinking the best place to follow up with that idea is to do something else other than have Neo be the one who saves the day, at least in the form of a fight between Neo and Smith. I don't really like that it comes down to another fisticuffs fight between Neo and Smith, which to me is the least interesting way to do that. The idea of him sacrificing himself I do like. What if he became part of the consciousness of the Matrix in the process? Or what if we saw more of a "teamup" with the machines and Neo in the fight?
I dunno; I just know that there's something about the third movie that really doesn't stick the landing, whereas I kinda like Reloaded.

[*]Another strength of the film is how it builds on the lore to model computer logic and scenarios. For example, the notion of multiple iterations of the Matrix (like software releases). The idea of obsolete programs that still hang out, even though the new OS isn't designed to integrate with them well. Seraph, who is a guardian program essentially. The idea of "backdoors" -- which show up as long hallways that can transport one to very disparate locations, giving secret ways into certain locations. The Keymaster is in essence a code-cracker program that can unlock guarded areas. The Merovingian is in essence a communications/information hub that can collect and broker data. And then the whole bit about Smith, who has basically become a computer virus replicating itself constantly to hijack every virtual human in the Matrix, slowly grinding the system to a halt very much like a computer worm. They really did a great job mapping computer archetypes into the characters, abilities, and functions.
[/LIST]

It just hit me that the Smith thing is ironic given his speech comparing humanity to a virus in the first one.

 

[Totenkindly]

Yes, I loved that it turns out the One was just another form of control. It's too bad the third movie didn't really do enough with that.

Yeah. I mean, at that point, Neo is now off the path of the One (as the Architect designed it anyway), anyway so it no longer matters. Although the Oracle is very aware that the One's journey extends beyond the normal endpoint, and Neo is just mapping untrod terrain.

The third film drops the ball in so many ways, and it doesn't even start well. There was so much conjecture about the end of Reloaded, where Neo is basically affecting the Machines despite not being in the Matrix... and it's not even liked they picked the least interesting answer, they didn't even provide a good answer. I think I found an answer to this previously, but obviously it was so convoluted I can't even recall what it was now.

I'm wondering how it could be rewritten. I'm kind of thinking the best place to follow up with that idea is to do something else other than have Neo be the one who saves the day, at least in the form of a fight between Neo and Smith. I don't really like that it comes down to another fisticuffs fight between Neo and Smith, which to me is the least interesting way to do that. The idea of him sacrificing himself I do like. What if he became part of the consciousness of the Matrix in the process? Or what if we saw more of a "teamup" with the machines and Neo in the fight? I dunno; I just know that there's something about the third movie that really doesn't stick the landing, whereas I kinda like Reloaded.

Not sure where I would go with it either, but it's one of those things where the entire film needs a rework, even if parts could be salvaged. So much of it seems like they were trying to incorporate elements of Buddhist or Hindu thought without providing any of it as reference to the viewer. That's not how you make an engaging emotional movie. So much of the movie seems disappointing or confusing, rather than intuitive.

The third film is also way too pat. So many of its dialogue and sequences are very pat responses, nicely closed off, it doesn't feel organic or alive.

I still really like Neo getting stripped down to nothing by the film's end... and that actually being the way of salvation. In the end he has nothing left but himself and he has to give that up too -- but that is about positive detachment and letting yourself go.

I'll write more about it after I watch it again. At least Reloaded was coherent, although it might have seemed like breadcrumbs at times. But that is also kind of the gist of the film, which centers around cause and effect -- causality. Those who know what is going on are the ones with the power.

It just hit me that the Smith thing is ironic given his speech comparing humanity to a virus in the first one.

That always made me laugh. It's poetic justice of sorts.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Not sure where I would go with it either, but it's one of those things where the entire film needs a rework, even if parts could be salvaged. So much of it seems like they were trying to incorporate elements of Buddhist or Hindu thought without providing any of it as reference to the viewer. That's not how you make an engaging emotional movie. So much of the movie seems disappointing or confusing, rather than intuitive.
.

That's why I proposed the idea of him becoming part of the consciousness of the Matrix. It seems like it could tie into those themes.

At the very least I think we need more than a line of dialogue of what happens to the humans inside the Matrix at the end. We hear that the ones who want out will be set free but I think there should really be some kind of epilogue showing this, somehow depicting that some people want to stay (which would definitely be the case) and others wouldn't . The people inside the Matrix, like Neo was at the beginning of the original movie, become an afterthought and that's sort of a problem.

 

[Totenkindly]

That's why I proposed the idea of him becoming part of the consciousness of the Matrix. It seems like it could tie into those themes.

At the very least I think we need more than a line of dialogue of what happens to the humans inside the Matrix at the end. We hear that the ones who want out will be set free but I think there should really be some kind of epilogue showing this, somehow depicting that some people want to stay (which would definitely be the case) and others wouldn't . The people inside the Matrix, like Neo was at the beginning of the original movie, become an afterthought and that's sort of a problem.

well, they were experimenting with cross-media story telling at the time, so that was the launching point into the Matrix Online storyline. Of course, they did all the small historical stories (to fill in back stories) with the Animatrix. It was kind of a neat idea but if someone doesn't watch all those stories, then they might miss something. (I guess The Kid's back story for example was in the Animatrix.) And Ghost and Niobe show up in a Matrix computer game (not the MMO) that occurs before the final film, providing backstory to the Oracle's loss of her shell.

There's so much treatment I hated with the ending. It's like the Architect walks the whole way across the park just to say two lines of dialogue, then turns to go. The sunrise and everything else just felt so glossy and silly. I also have to note the Wachowskis' personal lives seemed like crap at the time, you have to wonder how much of a distraction it was on the coherence of the films.

 

[prplchknz]

I've written a few movie reviews, and plan on getting back into doing that. as it solidifies what i think and has happened in the movie all of them have major spoilers. let me know if i should keep doing this or not. Considering setting up a blog online to put them

movie reviews - Google Docs

movies i've done
-Molly's Game
-Superman:Red Son
-Bill&Ted's Excellent Adventure
-The Lakehouse
-Behind You
-Goodnight Mommy
-Never Surrender
-The Cabin in the Woods
-The Wind Rises

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I've written a few movie reviews, and plan on getting back into doing that. as it solidifies what i think and has happened in the movie all of them have major spoilers. let me know if i should keep doing this or not.

Sure! After all, this is the place for that.

 

[Totenkindly]

I own two of those. Goodnight Mommy is a kind of interesting German horror film....

Favorite part of Cabin in the Woods is the big red button. There's a Robot Chicken spoof with Bitch Puddin' being in one of those glass boxes, I was dying.

 

[Totenkindly]

Guardian Critic Called Out for ‘Creepy’ ‘Black Widow’ Review Fixated on Scarlett Johansson’s ‘Sensuous’ Voice

...Screen Rant features editor Alisha Grauso called out Bradshaw for failing the “Middle-Aged Male Film Critics Stop Being So GD F’ing Creepy When Writing About Female Characters” Challenge.

“I mean honest to God, have you ever seen a legitimate, professional female film critic writing like this about male characters/actors in a review of a Marvel movie? No,” Grauso added. “And yet crap like this about female characters and attractive actresses proliferates in reviews written by men.”

The Hill reporter Zack Budryk also chimed in: “This reads like something a serial killer would read over the phone to the detective who failed to stop him.”...

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

 

[Totenkindly]

Jolt Trailer Reveals Kate Beckinsale's Electrifying Return to Action

Amazon Studios has just released the official trailer for Jolt, a new action film starring Kate Beckinsale. Jolt follows a woman named Lindy who can only control her extreme murderous temperament with the help of a unique form of shock therapy. Lindy soon finds herself on a violent quest for revenge after her lover is murdered. The movie will debut July 23 on Amazon Prime Video.

The trailer is witty and colorful, feeling like a cross between Atomic Blonde and Crank. ..

Go, Selene!!

 

[Tomb1]

Unhinged...the iconoclast in me thoroughly enjoyed watching Russell Crowe play this complete lowlife....a great actor 'piggin' out on his acting talent and stature by taking on a role such as this and as a real life rageaholic himself he brought some believability to the role. Doing a movie like that for Russell Crowe is to me equivalent to him sitting around and devouring three pizzas, a ten pack of tacos and four milkshakes, not making a big deal about being a three-time academy award winner for best actor....definitely the junk food binger among that small circle of great actors

 

[Totenkindly]

Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch Cut Would Need an R-Rating | CBR

ReleaseTheSnyderPunch

 

[ilikeitlikethat]

That movie Scanners (1981) was on last night and is awesome!

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Stepfather is a good movie. Terry O’Quinn showcases a slimy, Bundyesque veneer. This was released in 1987, less than a decade after Bundy and Gacy made news as serial killers who had successfully masqueraded as upstanding family and/or community men

Obligatory Star Trek reference… O’Quinn also played the sleazy renegade Admiral Pressman in the TNG episode “The Pegasus” (directed by Levar Burton!)

 

[Totenkindly]

Tried to watch "in the heights" last night but I was so indifferent. Got about 40 min in. I dunno, I like Hamilton a lot but am having trouble caring much about the plotting in ITH; and also I feel like the songs don't hook as well, they're hard to remember themes from.

That movie Scanners (1981) was on last night and is awesome!

I should finally watch it, I picked up the Criterion print of it last year but I have been backlogged.

 

[Totenkindly]

Finished watching the 4K I just got of "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory". The imprints of the film have always had issues; the 4K is not perfect, considering issues with the original film itself and the time period, but it's easily the "best released" to home so far.

I find I have mixed feelings about this film:

Pro's:

1. Gene Wilder. He's just witty, quirky, terrifying, and enigmatic throughout the film. It's fun also watching him in the background of shots as the kids get into trouble, or even small gestures that can pass unnoticed (like when he starts swinging around the handbag with Mike TV in it -- a little passive-aggression there?)
2. A few memorable songs, including the Oompa-Loompa choruses that have been a part of pop culture for decades now.
3. Some quirky humor, especially in the beginning when the world is flipping out over Wonka bars.

Con's:

1. It's a little smarmy, honestly. ("Cheer Up, Charlie" is just the tip of the iceberg.)
2. It conflates happiness with "getting what you want" and reality with "receiving what you want just because you want them enough," which isn't really different than Veruca Salt, is it? Except that Charlie happens to be presented as pure in heart, he spends his work savings on his family rather than himself for example. So I guess the lesson is, if you are pure in heart, then the first thing is true; but sometimes life doesn't give you what you desire anyway.
3. It's not entirely clear why Charlie is different, because all the children break the rules but Charlie just happens to do something he can remedy on his own. So was the test to see if the children could respect the rules, or was it always about who handed over the gobstopper to Slugworth? In this case, it isn't clear whether the children who actually got one still have one to give or what they will do. The thing is, they all break the rules; but Charlie is the only one the audience is shown to be a good kid.

 

[Tomb1]

Citta Violenta ("Violent City")...1970 Italian/French film

 

[Totenkindly]

For kicks and grins, watched "The Tomorrow War" on Amazon.

it's not a very good movie from a plotting level (it's all over the map), etc.... it's goofy as well, and also has a lot of logic blips despite periodic attempts to address some questions (like, the writer thought -- oh geez, well, that doesn't make sense, here let me add some more information to plug up the gaps). But yeah, there are numerous things as silly as the first wave dropping what looks like a few hundred yards through the air and surviving by landing in a swimming pool... yeah, sorry, water doesn't work that way.

But it's also kind of amusing, the action sequences are nuts and kind of fun/silly, and the time passed quickly. The monsters are actually kind of crazy-intense and hopped up worse than rage zombies. It's just there's not a lot memorable afterwards to really want to revisit, emotionally.