Random Movie Thoughts Thread

[Totenkindly]

That's about where I'm at. I get so bored in front of a screen unless I'm gaming or watching a select handful of old favorite movies.

I'm really glad my kid is past the age of me having to sit through crap like the smurfs and trolls movies and I'm thankful I won't have to watch the minecraft movie. I don't know why they used live action actors. Momoa and Leslie Jones look absolutely bored to be in the film. The green screen effects look like shit. The CGI world looks like shit compared to the game, a lot of people are saying it looks AI-generated and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

I've spent much of my time rewatching old films this year. There might be some indie stuff that was good this year but I don't really expect anything from blockbusters or franchise films anymore -- except for maybe the final Spider-Verse film when it eventually releases.

 

[Totenkindly]

 

[Totenkindly]

Well, a pleasant surprise -- I just watched Inside Out 2 which I did not see in the theater. Another Disney winner, thank god -- they seem to be few and far between nowadays.

It's a little reminiscent of the first film in where Joy realizes she's been off-target (in the first film, it was because she wasn't leaving room for Sadness in Riley's life), this one is a bit more about what she's been cultivating over Riley's childhood.

It was actually a hard watch for me, because out of the batch of new emotions, Anxiety takes center stage and I could relate faaaaaar too much to what was happening. While I always seem chill on the surface and reasoning through things as my approach to life's problems, no one ever really sees my inner landscape -- and it started out pretty much a smoking battlefield peppered with bomb holes and debris from anxiety trying to plan for every eventuality, worrying about getting everything right, and feeling like I'm not good enough. Nowadays I've just kind of detached from it, realizing I cannot control every outcome and I have to find pleasure in what I'm doing regardless and not worry as much about the rest. But I had to pause the film a few times because it was all too much for me to relive.

Still, this is a true Pixar film -- where the expected resolution suddenly gets turned on its head to become something else, and all of the emotions are affirmed and have their place. I'm glad they pulled this one off.

Also, maybe Maya Hawke is a nepo baby, but it doesn't mean she didn't pull off this role. She was excellent. I expect she had great director coaching on how to deliver her best performance. If there was a flaw, it was Aya Edobiri being criminally underused.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

I've spent much of my time rewatching old films this year. There might be some indie stuff that was good this year but I don't really expect anything from blockbusters or franchise films anymore -- except for maybe the final Spider-Verse film when it eventually releases.

Yep, I prefer to stick with little indie horror films and stuff like that. I’ll watch the occasional big IP thing if it is something like a new Star Trek or Halloween. I still haven’t even seen the latest Indiana Jones and I gave up on following Star Wars a while ago. It just doesn’t hold my interest like it used to and it’s such a big time commitment to invest when these IP franchises like Marvel require you to sit through 20+ movies and multiple series to know what’s going on or to understand every little reference. It’s telling that Marvel has run through most of their A list heroes and are now scraping the barrel for every obscure, niche character at this point. I’m not even fully caught up on all of the newish Star Trek series yet. Maybe I’m just getting old

 

[The Cat]

Yep, I prefer to stick with little indie horror films and stuff like that. I’ll watch the occasional big IP thing if it is something like a new Star Trek or Halloween. I still haven’t even seen the latest Indiana Jones and I gave up on following Star Wars a while ago. It just doesn’t hold my interest like it used to and it’s such a big time commitment to invest when these IP franchises like Marvel require you to sit through 20+ movies and multiple series to know what’s going on or to understand every little reference. It’s telling that Marvel has run through most of their A list heroes and are now scraping the barrel for every obscure, niche character at this point. I’m not even fully caught up on all of the newish Star Trek series yet. Maybe I’m just getting old

It ain't the years, its the mileage.

 

[Totenkindly]

Naw, Marvel sucks. Case in point -- aside from all the other problems with DS2 (like setting up alternate versions of famous characters just to murder them all), they have a credits scene introducing Charlize Theron (in about 60 seconds) as Cleo. Will they ever follow up on this? They did the same for Pip the Troll and Starfox at the end of The Eternals, and The Marvels had a multiverse version of Binary except cast as the alternate Captain Marvel (Maria Rambeau) and a version of Hank McCoy. Or credits version referencing Blade as part of the Black Knight character arc. Or their crappy introduction for Super-Skrull in the rather lousy Secret Invasion where they also kill off two major characters without much fanfare or need -- or the retcon of Rhodey which not only was needless but actually ruins prior films he was in.

This is what passed for story and character development in their post Endgame films -- 5-second attention span related to just throwing stuff at the wall and then moving on. Who gives a shit anymore? You're not wrong to not care. You don't actually NEED to watch all the content either because... none of it matters.

Maybe things will change once X-Men and FF are released, but I'm not betting on anything.

I stopped caring about Star Wars too at this stage.

I did see all the Indiana Jones films. You might have a different opinion since you're probably more knowledgeable than me about that franchise in terms of details. The 20-25 minute opening with the "de-aging" of Harrison Ford was actually done super-well, but all that time and money was spent on something that didn't necessarily have to be shot as part of this story. While I don't dislike Phoebe Waller-Bridge and she can be a great punch-up scripter, I hated her character here and she felt like such a downer/drag on this film -- didn't seem to fit the IJ tone. I didn't feel like the ending made sense either. But I hope it is all done now.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

I'll probably get around to Indy eventually. I was one of those geeks that actually slightly preferred Indy to Star Wars back in the day. Used to watch the Young Indy Chronicles, there are probably tens of fans of that series I didn't even think Crystal Skull was all that terrible (not great either, of course).

 

[The Cat]

I'll probably get around to Indy eventually. I was one of those geeks that actually slightly preferred Indy to Star Wars back in the day. Used to watch the Young Indy Chronicles, there are probably tens of fans of that series I didn't even think Crystal Skull was all that terrible (not great either, of course).

Me too! I also really got into that brief reboot of old golden age pulp and radio heroes like the Phantom and the Shadow.

 

[Totenkindly]

I'll probably get around to Indy eventually. I was one of those geeks that actually slightly preferred Indy to Star Wars back in the day. Used to watch the Young Indy Chronicles, there are probably tens of fans of that series I didn't even think Crystal Skull was all that terrible (not great either, of course).

Weirdly, I kinda had same reaction to the Crystal Skull too. I was kinda indifferent, but couldn't understand why everyone was bemoaning it as a world-ending catastrophe.

I did kinda laugh at the audacity of the South Park bit about Lucas and Spielberg but mostly because it was so obnoxious.

 

[The Cat]

Weirdly, I kinda had same reaction to the Crystal Skull too. I was kinda indifferent, but couldn't understand why everyone was bemoaning it as a world-ending catastrophe.

I did kinda laugh at the audacity of the South Park bit about Lucas and Spielberg but mostly because it was so obnoxious.

My ex father in law explained it in soul sucking detail. Suffice it to say it was a complaint of changing magic to aliens. I was indifferent to it but I didnt hate it. Growing up I read the Indiana Jones Novels so I felt a little less robbed I guess. Personally I would have rather the Crystal Skull be utilized like it was in the books. A mystery that Indy got involved with that he never wanted to talk about, something that he found, then hid for years, from somebody or something. But I guess slapping some Majestic 12 and Russians on a plot that is essentially a continuous chase scene works too. And I mean it essentially does exactly what it says on the tin. Indiana Jones is there. There is a Kingdom and A Crystal Skull. Many chases, humor, Harrison Ford looking like his character would rather be doing something other than nearly dying and getting hit, checkarino.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Well, a pleasant surprise -- I just watched Inside Out 2 which I did not see in the theater. Another Disney winner, thank god -- they seem to be few and far between nowadays.

It's a little reminiscent of the first film in where Joy realizes she's been off-target (in the first film, it was because she wasn't leaving room for Sadness in Riley's life), this one is a bit more about what she's been cultivating over Riley's childhood.

It was actually a hard watch for me, because out of the batch of new emotions, Anxiety takes center stage and I could relate faaaaaar too much to what was happening. While I always seem chill on the surface and reasoning through things as my approach to life's problems, no one ever really sees my inner landscape -- and it started out pretty much a smoking battlefield peppered with bomb holes and debris from anxiety trying to plan for every eventuality, worrying about getting everything right, and feeling like I'm not good enough. Nowadays I've just kind of detached from it, realizing I cannot control every outcome and I have to find pleasure in what I'm doing regardless and not worry as much about the rest. But I had to pause the film a few times because it was all too much for me to relive.

Still, this is a true Pixar film -- where the expected resolution suddenly gets turned on its head to become something else, and all of the emotions are affirmed and have their place. I'm glad they pulled this one off.

Also, maybe Maya Hawke is a nepo baby, but it doesn't mean she didn't pull off this role. She was excellent. I expect she had great director coaching on how to deliver her best performance. If there was a flaw, it was Aya Edobiri being criminally underused.

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That's actually one I'd like to see because I was kind of excited when I found out they were adding anxiety and embarrassment, both feelings I've had to feel and struggle with a lot more than I'd like to admit. I am glad they don't treat anxiety as something that needs to be ignored or eradicated by the sounds of it (a co-worker spoiled the entire movie for me not long ago, although

Weirdly, I kinda had same reaction to the Crystal Skull too. I was kinda indifferent, but couldn't understand why everyone was bemoaning it as a world-ending catastrophe.

I did kinda laugh at the audacity of the South Park bit about Lucas and Spielberg but mostly because it was so obnoxious.

Fans expected another Last Crusade. You're not going to replicate the experience because a lot of it is wrapped up in nostalgia, and also many saw Last Crusade when they were younger so they weren't really looking at Crystal Skull through the same eyes that watched the original trilogy

 

[The Cat]

Also it was The *Last* Crusade. There wasn't going to be anymore of them. Anything that came after would just be a new adventure. That was the beauty of the Title. A clue to the plot, and a statement about the film series.

 

[Totenkindly]

That's actually one I'd like to see because I was kind of excited when I found out they were adding anxiety and embarrassment, both feelings I've had to feel and struggle with a lot more than I'd like to admit. I am glad they don't treat anxiety as something that needs to be ignored or eradicated by the sounds of it (a co-worker spoiled the entire movie for me not long ago, although

Yeah, they've been pretty good about embracing all emotions as relevant depending on the situation, which I am glad for. All of them can typically be used for good or bad, depending on how they are channeled and whether they are kept in balance.

Fans expected another Last Crusade. You're not going to replicate the experience because a lot of it is wrapped up in nostalgia, and also many saw Last Crusade when they were younger so they weren't really looking at Crystal Skull through the same eyes that watched the original trilogy

I guess I was 21 or so when Last Crusade came out, and I wasn't extremely attached to it, which probably helped me not to get too connected to it to resent further films.

I just rewatched the South Park episode. Spielberg was reportedly really pissed off at his depiction in the show and I understand that.

But if you break down the episode, it's actually saying something different, as it's in "The China Problem" episode, where Cartman and Butters take over a PF Chang's to initiate the "American Liberation Front" to deny China a foothold in the USA. Their behavior is so offensive on that level (especially since their disguises and fake Chinese accepts masquerading as Chinese is on par with Mr. Yunioshi in "Breakfast at Tiffany's") that it's basically making more fun of the fans who were literally treating the Crystal Skull as if Spielberg and Lucas WERE rapists -- basically the racism against the Chinese is being overshadowed by the fan reactions to a mere film, pulling in famous rape scenes from "The Accused" and "Deliverance" and at the episode's end, the entire standoff at PF Changs is forgotten as all the cops hug because Spielberg/Lucas have now been brought to justice while Cartman and Butters walk off. The show is just pointing out how ridiculous the fan response was, in a world where actual rape and racism is occurring regularly on absurd levels.

 

[The Cat]

They thought about calling it Satire Park, but they were worried people wouldnt understand.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I like Temple of Doom over The Last Crusade, because it doesn't follow the formula of the first movie. Willie Scott is pretty annoying, though.

The thing that bothers me with The Crystal Skull is the ancient aliens bullshit. Yes, the memes are great, but I'm going to be the guy I usually try not to be and point out that ancient alien tropes are usually a little bit racist (and it qualifies in this film). It helps that nobody really cares about this movie. Nobody's really defending it; they're only saying "it's not that bad."

I saw a meme not all that long ago that explains it perfectly. I believe it was framed as a guide to the History Channel, and it chart like those paint chips you can get at the hardware store, only with various skin tones on it. Basically, for light the skin tones, it's a "miraculous feat of engineering" like with Roman architecture, and the darker the skin tone, it's just "aliens!" I can let the lousy geography/archaeology slide, but I don't like the inclusion of ancient aliens (and I don't care if they were technically extra-dimensional). It's my suspicion that Lucas probably lead to the inclusion of this element, because at one point this was supposed to be Indiana Jones and the Invasion of the Saucer Men because he was pushing for the 50s trope of UFOs. This is of course despite the fact that nobody wants to see Indiana Jones deal with aliens; what they want is for him to deal with mythology and folklore.

I know people might say that it's an arbitrary line to care about, but the world of this character is about a certain thing, and you can't just decide it's about something else. Everyone knows that stories and legends like the Sankara stones, the Grail, the Ark, weren't true, what Indiana Jones presupposes is that maybe they were?

Making this about the modern mythology of aliens, ancient or otherwise, is entirely a different beast.

I haven't seen Dial of Destiny either, but they should have made this after Crystal Skull. Crystal Skull was pushing it just a little. This one is asking too much of me because of the very premise. I'm also not interested in seeing him tramp around 60s New York and maybe running into characters from Spielberg's underwhelming West Side Story remake. I don't consider NYC an exotic location. It's an interesting place, but not an exotic one.

I know part of it takes place in Greece, so I suppose that's something.

 

[Red Herring]

I like Temple of Doom over The Last Crusade, because it doesn't follow the formula of the first movie. Willie Scott is pretty annoying, though.

The thing that bothers me with The Crystal Skull is the ancient aliens bullshit. Yes, the memes are great, but I'm going to be the guy I usually try not to be and point out that ancient alien tropes are usually a little bit racist (and it qualifies in this film). It helps that nobody really cares about this movie. Nobody's really defending it; they're only saying "it's not that bad."

I saw a meme not all that long ago that explains it perfectly. I believe it was framed as a guide to the History Channel, and it chart like those paint chips you can get at the hardware store, only with various skin tones on it. Basically, for light the skin tones, it's a "miraculous feat of engineering" like with Roman architecture, and the darker the skin tone, it's just "aliens!" I can let the lousy geography/archaeology slide, but I don't like the inclusion of ancient aliens (and I don't care if they were technically extra-dimensional). It's my suspicion that Lucas probably lead to the inclusion of this element, because at one point this was supposed to be Indiana Jones and the Invasion of the Saucer Men because he was pushing for the 50s trope of UFOs. This is of course despite the fact that nobody wants to see Indiana Jones deal with aliens; what they want is for him to deal with mythology and folklore.

I know people might say that it's an arbitrary line to care about, but the world of this character is about a certain thing, and you can't just decide it's about something else. Everyone knows that stories and legends like the Sankara stones, the Grail, the Ark, weren't true, what Indiana Jones presupposes is that maybe they were?

Making this about the modern mythology of aliens, ancient or otherwise, is entirely a different beast.

I haven't seen Dial of Destiny either, but they should have made this after Crystal Skull. Crystal Skull was pushing it just a little. This one is asking too much of me because of the very premise. I'm also not interested in seeing him tramp around 60s New York and maybe running into characters from Spielberg's underwhelming West Side Story remake. I don't consider NYC an exotic location. It's an interesting place, but not an exotic one.

I know part of it takes place in Greece, so I suppose that's something.

I pretty much agree with all this and still have to watch the last installment...which at least has Phoebe Waller-Bridge in it (sort of a wild card as I like her but this feels like a mixture of elements again)

 

[The Cat]

I love this movie.​

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I love this movie.​

It's a great Thanksgiving movie.

I watch the Grand Budapest Hotel around Christmas.

I'm not sure what a good summer or spring Wes Anderson movie might be. Maybe Moonrise Kingdom and the Royal Tannenbaums? That would be a realistic spring, though, and not an idealized spring. The movie feels like a thaw and yet I remember everything being kind of gray and rainy.

 

[Totenkindly]

farewell, McGonagall -- you were one of the best.

 

[The Cat]

RIP Granny Wendy.