Random Movie Thoughts Thread

[Totenkindly]

I like how the elves went around waking up the trees when they first woke to themselves.... I have always wanted to know where the ent wives went. Though knowing would ruin it.

Thank god Jackson couldn't come up with an action scenario regarding the ent wives.

 

[The Cat]

Thank god Jackson couldn't come up with an action scenario regarding the ent wives.

Don't let Disney hear you say that...

Talk about a lot of slow action scenes.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Controversial statement:

I thought it was cool in the second Hobbit movie when they imagined the Dwarves as a steampunk civilization. That's not in Tolkein's text, but it makes sense with them as devotees of Aule.

I think I liked the Desolation of Smaug more than I was expecting. I barely remember that romance, however, and I was extremely disappointed by the Dol Guldur stuff. Regardless, I agree this should not have been a trilogy.

I think Saruman is gaslighting everyone so he can search for the ring himself. Somewhere in one book or another, I think it's mentioned that he started doing that kind of thing early on, I think.

 

[Totenkindly]

I think I liked the Desolation of Smaug more than I was expecting. I barely remember that romance, however, and I was extremely disappointed by the Dol Guldur stuff. Regardless, I agree this should not have been a trilogy.

It has some nice moments to it. I really thought the inside of Erebor looked really great, including the literal hills of unimaginable amounts of gold. Just mind-boggling. No wonder Smaug wanted to just dive in there and bury himself in it, I was wishing I was there so I could just flop backwards on it.

I think Saruman is gaslighting everyone so he can search for the ring himself. Somewhere in one book or another, I think it's mentioned that he started doing that kind of thing early on, I think.

Yeah, he did. I just couldn't recall whether it was before or after the Dol Guldur jaunt.

 

[Totenkindly]

 

[Totenkindly]

So I was rewatching Jackson's "Hobbit" film trilogy (I only got up to the death of Smaug, which starts out the third film).

So I finished this rewatch today (from Laketown to the end).

Again mixed feelings. There are some really moving moments that weren't really explored in the book (like Thorin's descent into gold sickness -- which is basically handled like genetically derived mental issues and how he has to fight like hell to get out of his mindset, after being challenged by the few people left in his world and he has driven them all away; it gives Thorin more agency).

There's a very minor subplot about Thranduil's loss of his wife, which has led him to be somewhat petty and callous towards everyone around, not really caring enough to engage -- but in the end he also (at least briefly) rises past it.

The whole Dol Guldur thing annoys me in that it just suggests they don't know the characters well and have to create false peril to resolve. I hate how once again we see Galadriel portrayed like some K-horror film (as she almost looks a bit like Samara from The Ring) -- talk about missing the mark, she should be terrifying in how beautiful and radiant she is, like an angel you are afraid to talk to or touch lest you be consumed (it reminds me a bit of the vision of Frodo with a fiery ring on his breast on the slopes of Mt. Doom at the end of LotR), NOT creepy green horrific ghost wraith Galadriel. (Fuck you, Jackson, for blowing that.) The story is just developed poorly there, including more fake peril for Gandalf and more rabbit shenanigans from Radagast.

More stupid shit about how Istari need their magic staves to do anything useful. They're angels, doofus, not D&D wizards. I understand the need for visualization on the screen, but this is why you need a director who is better at evoking abstractions, not Jackson who already butchered Galadriel because he's not great at this.

Legolas again performs his god-like antics. I think I can ignore most of them -- except for him running up the tumbling field of debris in freefall + how he slits the throats of 60 orcs in about 5-10 seconds while the bat he is hanging upside down from flies unerringly flies right down the twisting column of enemies.

There's also the weird bit where Azog goes into the brink, with the ball and chain around his wrist but somehow manages to float dead-like downstream without being anchored to the bottom. I'm okay with him holding his breath, but the whole thing is a bit silly and forced drama.

I think the essence of the orcs' character is summed up in that they would chop the hands and feet off the giant trolls just to replace them with balls of metal, and also blind them so as to make them dependent on their riders. Just horrific. Think about all the care and maintenance that would go into those trolls during non-war time.

I don't understand why Tauriel and Legolas only took one horse to Gundabad, it defeats the purpose of sending two elves and makes it harder to get there and return. You want two scouts so if one scout dies, the other might still return; and you want lighter horses that can run faster.

As I noted earlier, I am okay with the idea of Tauriel and Kili having a thing -- but it's never really properly set up. Kili falls in love with her in a "love at first sight" moment essentially and her curiosity is piqued, but her love for him is only ever explained as her responding to him pursuing her. There needed to be some kind of formative moment that would drive and seal that relationship, but no such moment really occurred. We need some reason while Tauriel would find this dwarf attractive to her personally (other than a really indirect callback/forward to Gimli being smitten by Galadriel's beauty in TFotR).

the battle sequences are some of the best strategically (like how the elf columns are so well-drilled they can turn on a dime as one and/or shift rows in the column), yet the big flaw of the battle is how often orcs in platemail are taken out by a single blow. It's handled differently for the one on one fights (like with Bolg), but basically platemail is a tradeoff for speed and it should provide a lot of protection. The benefit of having lighter armor or little armor is that you can maneuver much faster. But that is never handled appropriate in the film. We saw so many slashing blows to the body somehow kill a guy in plate in one blow, which is ridiculous -- and only a small percent would have found a chink in the armor. So many of those were back shots, where are no gaps in the orc armor. Bludgeoning and piercing weapons (like a morning star) would be far more effective because they either can damage what's inside the armor anyway or the piercing spike can punch through the plate.

I still think the whirling ballista "arrow killer" bolts were awesome.

Alfred doesn't bother me despite his silliness -- he's just played for comic relief. But good riddance.

More eagles and Beorn (especially Beorn!) would have been awesome. I love me some giant bear mowing down orc columns. Also seeing the dwarves mounted on giant rams and boars is great.

The moments between Bilbo and the dwarves were all pretty great, including their goodbye.

These films are a product of their times. The CGI generally holds up ten years after the last, but I'm not really interested in seeing yet another film by Jackson coming up just made for corporate cash revenue. The only intriguing thing is that Serkis (who voices Smeagol) is set to direct, and Jackson's team is only writing and producing. But... uggh. Aragorn barely talks about this. I guess he recounts for two pages or something how he had to hunt down Gollum, but not a lot of detail there. Which is good because they can just make up whatever shit they want, but bad because they can do the same. Also, the mind boggles trying to compare any of this to Amazon's Rings of Power.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Has anyone seen Loop Track? I want to be careful not to spoil too much but I like how it subverts expectations and deals with mental health issues in one of its main characters.

 

[Totenkindly]

Has anyone seen Loop Track? I want to be careful not to spoil too much but I like how it subverts expectations and deals with mental health issues in one of its main characters.

I had not heard of it so I looked it up -- 2023 horror film from NZ? It looks kind of interesting.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

I had not heard of it so I looked it up -- 2023 horror film from NZ? It looks kind of interesting.

It takes a wild turn in the 3rd act but I liked it.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Has anyone seen Loop Track? I want to be careful not to spoil too much but I like how it subverts expectations and deals with mental health issues in one of its main characters.

I haven't, and I didn't even look up what it was about before posting something about Into The Wild elsewhere. Interesting convergence.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

I think this is an underrated Bond song.

I mean, there really are few bad Bond songs. I’m not the biggest fan of the two most recent title songs though

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I think this is an underrated Bond song.

I mean, there really are few bad Bond songs. I’m not the biggest fan of the two most recent title songs though

I love No Time To Die and Writing on the Wall, actually. But I know that lots of others don't care for them. Writing on the Wall took me a while to warm up to. It seemed too gentle and romantic at first; but I decided it captured the desire to "give it all up" better than the movie did. It is romantic but it works and does heavy lifting the movie doesn't do, a little like John Williams score for Attack of the Clones. I would have liked to see the movie the song is hinting at, one that played much more at a conflict between Bond's duty and romance, where we are in tension to see if his interest will ultimately "break his fall." Ultimately, the next film traversed similar territory much better. Despite amazing sequences, Spectre was Craig's second worst film; the song hints at how it could have been a much better movie. They'd also have to do something different with Bloefeld; such shitty writing.

I don't like the song License to Kill, though, unfortunately. I have not seen the movie.

 

[Totenkindly]

Sad that they basically imploded and destroyed their career. Their indie work was great.

It's Been One Year Since The Flash – Is Ezra Miller's Career Officially Over?

One year after the disastrous release of The Flash, Ezra Miller has been forgotten by audiences and ignored by Hollywood.

movieweb.com

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I'm puzzled as to why WB shelved Batwoman and not The Flash. I know this is supposed to be an argument about woke vs. non-woke, but it seems to me that because of all the bad publicity the Flash would have been the riskier of the two. Batwoman would probably be at least as good as the Sony dreck, which still gets released.

 

[Totenkindly]

I'm sure this will be wonderful.

https://www.backstage.com/casting/2828535/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Web+%7C+PR+%7C+US+%7C+Notices+%7C+START+HERE&utm_content=Facebook_Desktop_Feed&utm_term=6578960360995&Aplus=new_customer&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0BMAABHQ3dgEgKB_ld6VAdupJadYqWff6nYXI_YXmCUcP0ihEhfszs7sKW3J6RFw_aem_q8cxnAJOo1r_1R6pbL7ahg

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Casting “The Six Pillars," a fantasy-drama series taking place in a fictional world of creatures, sorcery, and warring kingdoms. When a southern foreign king enacts a fatal assault upon a tavern hostess and her nomadic occupants to acquire her greatest asset, a drovik, he will set in motion the rise of a new kingdom and the devastation of another.

Production states "Season 1 of “The Six Pillars” is set to release in the fall of 2025 on Amazon Prime. The 15 episodic season is expected to be submitted into various film festivals as well, such as Toronto International Film Festival and Cinequest. Talent and crew should be aware that BTS footage will be recorded during filming and interviews may be held for promotion of the series."

They haven't even cast the show yet, for a supposed premier in Fall 2025, and they plan to film fifteen episodes before the end of 2024. There mustn't be much of a CGI budget lol.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I'm sure this will be wonderful.

https://www.backstage.com/casting/2828535/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Web+%7C+PR+%7C+US+%7C+Notices+%7C+START+HERE&utm_content=Facebook_Desktop_Feed&utm_term=6578960360995&Aplus=new_customer&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0BMAABHQ3dgEgKB_ld6VAdupJadYqWff6nYXI_YXmCUcP0ihEhfszs7sKW3J6RFw_aem_q8cxnAJOo1r_1R6pbL7ahg

They haven't even cast the show yet, for a supposed premier in Fall 2025, and they plan to film fifteen episodes before the end of 2024. There mustn't be much of a CGI budget lol.

The names are kind of stupid. It reminds me of The Sword of Shannara in that respect. (I do also think that book sucks, if you are wondering.) But, to quote Maz Kanata, "That's a tale for another time."

What is a drovik? Is that something you've ever come across in D&D?

 

[Totenkindly]

What is a drovik? Is that something you've ever come across in D&D?

No freakin' idea. It sounds like a made-up word for this show.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

No freakin' idea. It sounds like a made-up word for this show.

Oh, I love that. I enjoy that they're just casually throwing in made-up terms like everyone knows them.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Finally a real trailer:

I'm shocked, but...... I don't hate it!

Oh, and one other thing. I'm sure the comments are full of people complaining about how Denzel Washington being in this is "woke" even though it's not. Everyone is always getting ancient civillizations wrong...

 

[Totenkindly]

I'm shocked, but...... I don't hate it!

I kinda do, mostly because it just looks like a rehash of Gladiator. What's the actual story? Is there anything new to say?

This is another Scott film no one asked for, but the studio thinks it can make money or Scott's trying to bolster his haphazard film record lately.

Oh, and one other thing. I'm sure the comments are full of people complaining about how Denzel Washington being in this is "woke" even though it's not. Everyone is always getting ancient civillizations wrong...

I haven't seen that yet, right now most of the complaints are about using rap music.