Random Movie Thoughts Thread

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Was there? If it did, I don't remember it at all or it was a minor element. Guess I'll have to dig out the book. Was it just a one line reference? I don't recall any plot or description around one, which is why I was all wtf when watching the movie.

You felt the first movie had less additional fluff? Man... I mean the whole closing sequence was an add, with the head white orc guy, the wizard I'm forgetting his name of with the rabbit sleigh (uggh)....

Goblin-town


As for Radagast, he's mentioned a few times, but not seen.

Yeah, to me it did feel like they added less stuff, and what they did add didn't drag to me.

 

[Totenkindly]

Was there? If it did, I don't remember it at all or it was a minor element. Guess I'll have to dig out the book. Was it just a one line reference? I don't recall any plot or description around one, which is why I was all wtf when watching the movie.

You felt the first movie had less additional fluff? Man... I mean the whole closing sequence was an add, with the head white orc guy, the wizard I'm forgetting his name of with the rabbit sleigh (uggh)....

Yeah, Jackson decided to fold in some of the Istari lore (Radagast barely appears in LotR, maybe in one or two book sequences? And he's not a little goofball druggie gnome either, he's taciturn and human-size), including the raid on the Necromancer, where studious Elrond instead is a sword-wielding in-your-face action here and Galadriel is STILL freaking stuck on her green glowy evil elf-spirit schtick -- all terrible, not even beautiful, because Jackson came from schlock horror and likes to throw in ghost effects. This is a case where his films might have had more long-term resonance if he had been a little less on the nose and more suggestive/ambiguous like Lynch, or something more like A24 indie horror.

Bolg and Azog both become characters in this trilogy, although Azog died at the hand of Dain, long before The Hobbit timeline, and Bolg shows up I think just in the Battle of the Five Armies (he's Azog's son) and is killed by Beorn.

The Goblin Town sequence in the first film is pretty crazy esp in extended edition (I think? Or did it show up in the theatrical?) There's like a whole escape sequence where the dwarves are doing crazy silly shit like a video game action sequence to get away from the Goblin King. In the book, they were all taken, but Bilbo gets away in the process and ends up getting lost where he finds Gollum, whereas Thorin and the others held captive are rescued by Gandalf right as the Goblin King tries to eat Thorin.

I dunno. I can't delineate cleanly and say all the "new" stuff was bad, there is some of it I like. I think basically (1) adding things for character development / drama is better and (2) adding stupid actiony shit to "make the film more exciting" is worse.

I do love him for adding back in the Arkenstone. It's such an important part of the story and main point of contention between Bilbo and Thorin. It's how the other armies get leverage on Thorin and why things fall apart between him and Bilbo. (Basically, because Thorin is being stubborn, Bilbo steals the most important treasure in the mountain and hands it over to the other leaders for bargaining power, to "right" things.)

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I also tend to give a movie a little bit of a pass if I find it's visually interesting, which this movie certainly was.

Like the angular-gothic-almost steampunk nature of the dwarf forge; I was a sucker for that. If a movie shows me something cool like that, I'm going to give it some extra points.

 

[cascadeco]

It's kind of cool reading other people's takes on things. I can respect and see those views, even though my experience was evidently one of being grossly offended (lol)in comparison and thinking I'd entered some crazed Alternate Hobbit Universe. The Hobbit: As It Wasn't Written.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Totenkindly]

Piercing -- The dark irony of this story drives the film (a compulsive killer with too much empathy to be successful, plus biting off more than he can chew), and there's surprisingly a lot to be amused by... but aside from building up this really weird story of two characters who remain unclear on each other's purpose for about 75% of the film (leading to some really amusing misunderstandings), it's like "Piercing" never really knew where to go in the end or how to wrap things up, leaving me feeling dissatisfied when the credits began to roll. You always have to stick the landing with this kind of film, and Pesce less bumbles the landing and more just hops off the balance beam without even attempting a proper dismount.

America The Motion Picture -- yeah, it's not actual history, because that would get in the way, just a pastiche of various characters (some out of their normal time location) all trying to thwart King George and Benedict Arnold after the disastrous non-signing of the Declaration of Independence. Lots of pop culture reference thrown in, plus sex, blood, gore, violence (all very fast-paced), and an ongoing gush of seasoning of the F word, as if you just took the top off the salt shaker and poured the entire container directly on your food. Nothing much lingers after, and some of the jokes aren't as funny as planned, but actually has a number of laughs throughout.

A Space Jam -- never watched this before now. Bill Murray unfortunately steals the movie in whatever scene he's in. Not nearly as funny as it should have been with Looney Tunes as source material, although every so often something made me LOL. Jordan is okay in front of the camera but sucks in any reaction shots or scenes with cartoon characters, so I blame the director for that for not conveying properly what needed to be done. And yeah, Lola is heavily sexualized, to the bit of being disturbing in 2021, only about 30% of her role treats her as a regular person and the rest is either her being a strumpet or having male cartoons drooling over her for a kiss. The only comparable scene of a male cartoon being treated similarly is when Bugs fakes popping out lots of muscles and another male character goes "nice pecs" (but again, all male centric). The thing is, it doesn't necessarily mean her treatment in the new film improved even with the sex dropped out -- so I'll be watching that later to compare.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Piercing -- The dark irony of this story drives the film (a compulsive killer with too much empathy to be successful, plus biting off more than he can chew), and there's surprisingly a lot to be amused by... but aside from building up this really weird story of two characters who remain unclear on each other's purpose for about 75% of the film (leading to some really amusing misunderstandings), it's like "Piercing" never really knew where to go in the end or how to wrap things up, leaving me feeling dissatisfied when the credits began to roll. You always have to stick the landing with this kind of film, and Pesce less bumbles the landing and more just hops off the balance beam without even attempting a proper dismount.

America The Motion Picture -- yeah, it's not actual history, because that would get in the way, just a pastiche of various characters (some out of their normal time location) all trying to thwart King George and Benedict Arnold after the disastrous non-signing of the Declaration of Independence. Lots of pop culture reference thrown in, plus sex, blood, gore, violence (all very fast-paced), and an ongoing gush of seasoning of the F word, as if you just took the top off the salt shaker and poured the entire container directly on your food. Nothing much lingers after, and some of the jokes aren't as funny as planned, but actually has a number of laughs throughout.

A Space Jam -- never watched this before now. Bill Murray unfortunately steals the movie in whatever scene he's in. Not nearly as funny as it should have been with Looney Tunes as source material, although every so often something made me LOL. Jordan is okay in front of the camera but sucks in any reaction shots or scenes with cartoon characters, so I blame the director for that for not conveying properly what needed to be done. And yeah, Lola is heavily sexualized, to the bit of being disturbing in 2021, only about 30% of her role treats her as a regular person and the rest is either her being a strumpet or having male cartoons drooling over her for a kiss. The only comparable scene of a male cartoon being treated similarly is when Bugs fakes popping out lots of muscles and another male character goes "nice pecs" (but again, all male centric). The thing is, it doesn't necessarily mean her treatment in the new film improved even with the sex dropped out -- so I'll be watching that later to compare.

Depsite my loving the Looney Tunes as a kid in the 90s, I never saw Space Jam ( I think I was a little too old by the time it dropped). Do they at least give Wile E. Coyote things to do (I'm content with a couple of gags; he's not really known for his speaking)? If not, then I can confirm the movie is garbage.

 

[Totenkindly]

Space Jam (2): A Legacy.



Con's

1. Nothing in this film justifies a two hour run-time. Nothing.

2. The IP dump is absolutely shameless, WB saturates the film with their entire film catalog without almost any of it being relevant to the story. (Ready Player One did something similar, but at least there it was tied to the players purposefully reflecting pop culture influence. Here it honestly feels like a WB promotion reel.) Like, I even like some of their other properties, and I was getting pretty sick to my stomach by the end. It's ham-fisted and I don't understand why anyone thought this was a good idea. Keep it f*cking relevant.

3. The plotting makes little sense much of the time and needs to be overlooked or you'll go nuts. Motivations sometimes don't really explain the plot choices, especially in regards to an AI who is supposed to be smart. Let alone how you digitize a bunch of human beings through their cell phones -- I didn't think my Galaxy had that option yet, it's still trying to get fingerprint ID down.

4. Much of the film is not funny and is only at best "cute". Tied to this is a feeling like it's written and plotted for 8 years olds, whereas the Looney Tunes property appeals to older viewers and I'd say the first Space Jam targeted a 12+ year old audience. I did laugh, just not nearly enough for an LT film. (I guess if you want animated laughs, go watch the Lego film franchise. Or, hell, America the Motion Picture.)

5. Poor Don Cheadle. He does work hard for his paycheck, though; Sonequa Martin-Green is criminally underused.

6. Some of the Toon voices are noticeably off -- including Bugs, unfortunately (both tonally and energy-wise). Like, if you're gonna use these characters PLEASE get voice actors who can actually do them. I know there's always room for reinvention, and no one can ever be Mel Blanc; but damn, if I spend 75% of the film thinking, "That's not Bugs Bunny" because the tone and the energy are off, that's not good.


Pro's

1. LeBron James is actually decent in front of the camera (especially compared to Michael Jordan). He might actually be able to be in some other films. He's got much more natural ability than Jordan did. I'd watch him in something else.

2. While the film isn't very funny (for a two-hour run-time), the emotional heart of the story redeems it a bit and doesn't feel like a cop-out: Basically a dad who had to do certain things to succeed, but doesn't understand that the world has different ways to success now and that his kids might have other gifts than the ones he perfected. It works as a lighter family drama you might see on cable TV and is a bit touching. (This is a case where maybe the way the film is marketed, as a sequel to SJ1, might be creating false expectations.) I know Ryan Coogler was involved and this bit shows.

3. The whole main cast is black and that's cool, in terms of representation... although it's kind of lame that the two WB execs are white (Sarah Silverman) and Asian (Stephen Yuen) and they suck on the level of cliche. But I think this is a good thing to expand the content of films and the stories being told.

4. Lola actually exists as her own person rather than as a dumping ground for female character cliche. Her body proportions have also undergone the Lara Croft transformation to be more in line with actual normal anatomy.

5. The animation itself is actually really good much of the time, despite lacking good humor pacing and voicing. I know that's a weird thing to say because the whole package needs to be there for it to work properly. I don't feel like the energy is there, but the actual art is pretty great.

6. Some of the characters do get more moments than they did in SJ1, including someone's beloved coyote.

Depsite my loving the Looney Tunes as a kid in the 90s, I never saw Space Jam ( I think I was a little too old by the time it dropped). Do they at least give Wile E. Coyote things to do (I'm content with a couple of gags; he's not really known for his speaking)? If not, then I can confirm the movie is garbage.

Space Jam itself is more of a basketball movie, just using Looney Tunes characters. SJ1 didn't really use Wile E, very much, I think. SJ2 actually gives him a few funny things to do that actually align with his cartoon roots, which was a nice change. However, if you want real Looney Tunes, then watch the cartoons. Even the newer toons they've created for HBO Max (or watching Animaniacs) are better.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Space Jam (2): A Legacy.



Con's

1. Nothing in this film justifies a two hour run-time. Nothing.

2. The IP dump is absolutely shameless, WB saturates the film with their entire film catalog without almost any of it being relevant to the story. (Ready Player One did something similar, but at least there it was tied to the players purposefully reflecting pop culture influence. Here it honestly feels like a WB promotion reel.) Like, I even like some of their other properties, and I was getting pretty sick to my stomach by the end. It's ham-fisted and I don't understand why anyone thought this was a good idea. Keep it f*cking relevant.

3. The plotting makes little sense much of the time and needs to be overlooked or you'll go nuts. Motivations sometimes don't really explain the plot choices, especially in regards to an AI who is supposed to be smart. Let alone how you digitize a bunch of human beings through their cell phones -- I didn't think my Galaxy had that option yet, it's still trying to get fingerprint ID down.

4. Much of the film is not funny and is only at best "cute". Tied to this is a feeling like it's written and plotted for 8 years olds, whereas the Looney Tunes property appeals to older viewers and I'd say the first Space Jam targeted a 12+ year old audience. I did laugh, just not nearly enough for an LT film. (I guess if you want animated laughs, go watch the Lego film franchise. Or, hell, America the Motion Picture.)

5. Poor Don Cheadle. He does work hard for his paycheck, though; Sonequa Martin-Green is criminally underused.

6. Some of the Toon voices are noticeably off -- including Bugs, unfortunately (both tonally and energy-wise). Like, if you're gonna use these characters PLEASE get voice actors who can actually do them. I know there's always room for reinvention, and no one can ever be Mel Blanc; but damn, if I spend 75% of the film thinking, "That's not Bugs Bunny" because the tone and the energy are off, that's not good.


Pro's

1. LeBron James is actually decent in front of the camera (especially compared to Michael Jordan). He might actually be able to be in some other films. He's got much more natural ability than Jordan did. I'd watch him in something else.

2. While the film isn't very funny (for a two-hour run-time), the emotional heart of the story redeems it a bit and doesn't feel like a cop-out: Basically a dad who had to do certain things to succeed, but doesn't understand that the world has different ways to success now and that his kids might have other gifts than the ones he perfected. It works as a lighter family drama you might see on cable TV and is a bit touching. (This is a case where maybe the way the film is marketed, as a sequel to SJ1, might be creating false expectations.) I know Ryan Coogler was involved and this bit shows.

3. The whole main cast is black and that's cool, in terms of representation... although it's kind of lame that the two WB execs are white (Sarah Silverman) and Asian (Stephen Yuen) and they suck on the level of cliche. But I think this is a good thing to expand the content of films and the stories being told.

4. Lola actually exists as her own person rather than as a dumping ground for female character cliche. Her body proportions have also undergone the Lara Croft transformation to be more in line with actual normal anatomy.

5. The animation itself is actually really good much of the time, despite lacking good humor pacing and voicing. I know that's a weird thing to say because the whole package needs to be there for it to work properly. I don't feel like the energy is there, but the actual art is pretty great.

6. Some of the characters do get more moments than they did in SJ1, including someone's beloved coyote.


[quote

Space Jam itself is more of a basketball movie, just using Looney Tunes characters. SJ1 didn't really use Wile E, very much, I think. SJ2 actually gives him a few funny things to do that actually align with his cartoon roots, which was a nice change. However, if you want real Looney Tunes, then watch the cartoons. Even the newer toons they've created for HBO Max (or watching Animaniacs) are better.

Ok, so screw that movie.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Stepfather 2 is such a huge disappointment after Stepfather 1. I can understand why Terry O'Quinn didn't come back for part 3, as there really wasn't much to do with his character after the first movie. One thing I do enjoy about it is how it shows more of his vetting and grooming process vs part 1 where he's already established in a new family when we meet him. Part 3 is just atrocious. Laughably bad. It's basically a cheap remake of the first movie.

 

[Totenkindly]

I rewatched Talledega Nights. Honestly, if I had to listen my top favorite comedy films, that would make the cut. I can't help but laugh every time... and I don't even like Nascar.

Ok, so screw that movie.

Trump apparently hates LeBron. Want to reconsider?

I read a review of the director of the first space jam busting on the second film, which just made me bust a gut. Honestly, neither is good... and Michael Jordan can't act worth shit, although he might be a lovable guy and icon. No ill will meant, but LeBron acted circles around him.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Trump apparently hates LeBron. Want to reconsider?

Lol, no.

 

[Burning Paradigm]

North by Northwest is the most entertaining Hitchcock movie, but I'm between Psycho and The Birds as his greatest. I also think the cinematography of Vertigo is underrated.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

North by Northwest is the most entertaining Hitchcock movie, but I'm between Psycho and The Birds as his greatest. I also think the cinematography of Vertigo is underrated.

What he did with color was really interesting. There actually seems to be a deep meaning to it I could ramble on and on about.

 

[Totenkindly]

Just watched Chaos Walking. Kind of a big let-down.

- Book was apparently highly acclaimed but lots of changes from the book from what I can tell.

- Writer's hell (started with Kaufman script but like eight other writers eventually), followed by production hell (bad test screenings, lots of reshoots, really late release date)

- Kind of "eh" plotwise, it's not very memorable and we're seen it so much better in other films.

- I like two other Liman films -- The Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow -- like a LOT... but this is one of his misfires. However, there's a few decent action sequences in how they are shot even if short-lived. He does get a kinetic feel to his camera work when necessary.

- The script is just fairly bad, it's hard to care about anyone and it's not very compelling.


The thought effects are actually really annoying for the first twenty minutes of the film, after which it gets better. The most interesting part is how many things we "think" in our heads all the time but we can typically cloak them from others and typically we are judged and reacted to only by what we actually say and do. Here it's interesting to see how many complicated or embarrassing things that could be exposed to others, and how people would have to learn and accept that reality of people. I mean, the reality is that we are already this way in terms of what goes through our conscious minds -- however, the rest of the world typically doesn't have access to it all.

Likewise, the reverse -- when people DON'T project their thoughts for all to see, this can be very threatening or at least disconcerting because they appear opaque to others, and who knows what they are thinking or planning?

But it was a hard drudge for me. I did finish the film, but nothing here that hasn't been done a lot better elsewhere, really. I think only the cast shone, and there were about 6-8 decent actors in this film. The material wasn't really worthy of them, though.

 

[Totenkindly]

So this is irksome: I purchased the 4K release of Donnie Darko from Arrow, which just released last week although it took Amazon an entire week to get it to me. (That's irksome too -- it's been sitting around the city since Friday but didn't arrive until last evening.)

So I was excited and sat down to watch the Theatrical Cut again -- and it looked jerky in the opening credits starting with the production company logos. I didn't remember that. Then the visuals of the film started after the blackscreen credits... and there looked to be a frame rate issue, it's like instead of a smooth camera movement it consistently was skipping frames so the "smooth pan" was a stutter. It made the film unwatchable and disorienting.

I thought maybe it was my viewer because the disc certainly couldn't be bad throughout the entire film, right? So I tried the Director's Cut, that version was fine in 4K. I then tried a different 4K disc. That worked fine too. I then got out the old bluray by Arrow and that one, the production company logos all were smooth and the TC was fine. It really looked like the disc or even the transfer itself was an issue (since it wasn't just for a few seconds, it looked consistent throughout while still operating).

So then I Googled this problem and lo and behold, people have been complaining since the film released last week about it. DC is fine, TC is messed up on some systems. I think Sony players were handling it fine but a lot of other players were having issues -- significantly so that it's been a widely known thing. I just didn't know because my web site I normally read about it on was down for a week and I got my disc so late.

Arrow is apparently aware. The consumer base strongly feels they need to issue a free replacement disc for the TC once they discover the root of the issue as it's not even a physical disc issue from what can be seen but an actual presentation issue that should have been screened out during the transfer prep. It is also shaking faith in Arrow since QC should have caught this but apparently they did not test adequately across different chipsets. I am not aware of another 4K release going south like this, so obviously the big companies are doing a proper review of their releases. Apparently there was an issue with another Arrow release or two recently as well. (They actually put out nice packages, getting up there with Criterion, but mainly for niche and horror films running back into the 1980's, even some giallo films.)

tl;dr The Donnie Dark 4K TC is apparently hosed on many regular 4K systems, depending on chip manufacturer, widescale.

I am currently watching the DC version, although it's one of those rare releases where I prefer TC over the DC cut.

Welcome surprise today: My new Theatrical Cut disc arrived unceremoniously in my mailbox, professionally replaced by Arrow. Works fine. hooray?

 

[Lexicon]

I would really like a remake of JAWS 3D with a Trailer Park Boys crossover to happen someday.
God it would be beautiful.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I would really like a remake of JAWS 3D with a Trailer Park Boys crossover to happen someday.
God it would be beautiful.

I'd like Jaws and Towering Inferno mixed up. A Sea World type place in a skyscraper that catches on fire with a shark on the loss.

 

[SD45T-2]

I would really like a remake of JAWS 3D with a Trailer Park Boys crossover to happen someday.
God it would be beautiful.

Uhh ... Mrs. Altimeter?

 

[ceecee]

I don't know what to make of the House Of Gucci. It looks partially great and partially bad all at the same time although, Gaga looks fabulous.

 

[Totenkindly]

Watched "Scott Pilgrim vs The World" again last night. I have to say, this is a film that does its own thing and actually ends up cool, versus the very recent "Gunpowder Milkshake" that tries really hard to be cool but is mostly just derivative. Wright just has mad creative skills, he knows how to put together a scene that would be silly or clumsy in another's hands and make it work somehow. This film just pops with energy, crackling goofy dialogue deliveries, and just the seven evil exes chew up the scenery. A lot of the fight scenes might have good, frenetic action, but they're really well-supported by the great audio and visuals.

We also know Michael Cera' deal at this point, but he still does it well here.

Also Alison Pill. She is just not really meant to be a "nice" person in a show or film, I really hated how flat her character was on Picard although that could just be that show in general. But give her the opportunity to be acerbic (here), cold (DEVS), or edgy (In Treatment) and she just seems to pop out of the screen.

This film also seems to have a bunch of people who weren't as well known at the time, including Brie Larson who was probably only about 21 at the time. Of course, Chris Evans is now truly a world-wide name after playing Captain America (I always get a kick of watching him play an asshat, playing against pop culture type). Brandon Routh is playing a jerk here. I think it was sheer genius casting Jason Schwartzman as the BBEG and he just plays this part for breakfast, he dominates the screen whenever he's on with a perverse manic glee. I don't know where he gets all that energy from.

I don't know what to make of the House Of Gucci. It looks partially great and partially bad all at the same time although, Gaga looks fabulous.

I don't know much about it, but I saw the talk today of how Jared Leto is virtually unrecognizable... Now I need to look it up. I really thought Gaga was amazing in "A Star is Born."