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Topic: The Movie Thread

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andreoni79

Am I the only one here going crazy when suddenly someone starts singing in a movie which is clearly not a musical movie? Last night I was really enjoying The Suicide Shop when a bunch of kids decide to act like they are on Broadway... Grrrrrr!

Praise the Sun, and Mario too.

PSN: andreoni79

Th3solution

@JohnnyShoulder Yeah, there was some interesting editing choices done during the musical numbers with the stop-motion and speed up thing. It wasn’t done inconsistently so it almost made it feel like they threw it in just when they couldn’t get the timing right for the beat and didn’t want to do another take, so they sped up of slowed down a section to make it fit. I don’t know. I have no experience with video editing nor musical choreography, but there was a definite “film student experimentation” feeling to some of the shots, especially with the musical numbers. Maybe that’s part of what I liked. It was was a little weird and jarring when they did the speed up thing but I liked the unique approach.
I thought the costuming was a little cheap looking at times, like ‘Halloween dress-up, over-the-top bright and sparkly.’ I think that would appeal to the kids more than what I would have preferred to see which is a more gritty realistic looking costuming and set pieces, like closer to what ancient Persia would have looked like, especially the early scenes in the city and market place. Once things move into the Sultan’s castle then the super colorful atmosphere fit a little better. It did look nice in 4K HDR though, once I adjusted my TV settings a little bit for the brighter backdrop.

I think I’m in the minority on Will Smith though. With all due respect to Robin Williams, I thought Smith’s rendition came pretty close, especially considering he was doing a full acting job of it and not just voice work. Granted the CG did a lot of the heavy lifting to make him shoot around and capture a lot of the gags that involved something visual, but I was happy with how he did Genie. He was significantly less interesting when he was in human form and not blue and flying around changing shape, but he was still really funny. I did think the presentation of Prince Ali to the court was even better than the original with the flubs about jam and the punchlines like “In 10,000 years I’ve never felt that awkward before”, or whatever the line was.
I definitely agree the original animated movie is better overall, no question. But I’d recommend those looking for some musical fun to still give it a shot. Actually felt it was better than The Lion King, but maybe it was just my mood.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Th3solution

@andreoni79 That’s pretty annoying. I don’t even like people singing along in a theater when it is a musical. I’m there to hear the actors and actresses, not some off-key fan who sounds like they are trying out for American Idol. 😂

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

ralphdibny

I watched a random film on netflix last night called Night Hunters. Not sure why I stuck around for it but I think it was just all the good actors in it. I think Henry cavill wasn't too bad in it either considering I've only seen him as superman and mission impossible guy which he is pretty average at.

See ya!

crimsontadpoles

I've watched a few more James Bond movies lately, so here are some quick impressions for them.

You Only Live Twice. It goes way overboard with the spy gadgets, secret bases, and enemy masterminds. It gets ridiculous, but personally I enjoy these elements. So overall I really liked this one. Also cool that we got to see more of Spectre, including finally getting a face reveal for Blofeld.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It starts off as a more serious spy thriller, but quickly becomes very goofy, and not in a good way. George Lazenby was alright as the lead role, but lacked some of the charm that Sean Connery had. Blofeld was very disappointing here. Instead of being the mysterious, deadly leader of Spectre that he was in past movies, here he acts more of a generic goofball villain. This movie is my least favourite of the old Bond movies so far.

Diamonds are Forever. Another goofy Bond movie, but I enjoyed this one more. The story drags on at first. However, this movie does have its moments. I liked the henchmen double act, Mr Wint and Mr Kidd, and the Blofeld + Fake Blofeld section.

Live and Let Die. Roger Moore's first movie as Bond. The movie doesn't take itself seriously at all, and focuses more on silly fun instead. I did enjoy the voodoo aspects along with the tarot cards, but there wasn't anything particularly great about this movie.

RR529

Godzilla VS Mechagodzilla II (Blu-Ray) - 90's effort that isn't canonically related to the 70's original (the II was added to the title in the western release).

In this release, the U.N's anti-Godzilla task force develops a new weapon by reverse engineering the future tech present in the remains of Mecha Ghidorah (whom Godzilla faced in the 90's Godzilla VS King Ghidorah), developing it into a Mechagodzilla. Humanity's titanic new hope is quickly put to the test however, as Japan becomes the battleground to history's greatest custody battle as Rodan & Big Green himself show up to compete over a baby Godzillasaur, whom has recently hatched from an egg researchers brought onto the mainland.

At the end of the day it's a "Godzilla VS" title, and you should know what to expect going in. It's no cinematic masterpiece, but it's good dumb fun for a couple hours. I have to say I really enjoyed this incarnation of Mechagodzilla, who has a pretty large arsenal of weapons to flash around.

Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)

kyleforrester87

@JohnnyShoulder I just watched Suspiria, I’m not really sure I enjoyed it to be honest. I actually struggled to follow it, think I need to read the plot summary on Wikipedia before I go to bed!

kyleforrester87

PSN: WigSplitter1987

kyleforrester87

Lol Tilda Swinton played the old man, as if. He did look like he was in makeup and his voice didn’t always sync with his lips. But that’s weird!

kyleforrester87

PSN: WigSplitter1987

JohnnyShoulder

@kyleforrester87 Yeah I can totally see why some would not like it, much like Midsommar and Hereditary. She also played a third character, do you know who that was? Apparently she wore a prothestic penis the whole time she was playing the male doctor, not just for when he was nude at the end.

Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

PSN: JohnnyShoulder

Black_Swordsman

Did anyone here see Buffalo 66 or Being John Malkovich? I got them recommended by a friend who says they're great art films, which is what I'm into. What's the verdict? Would you guys and gals agree?

"Man is the pie that bakes and eats himself, and the recipe is separation." - Alasdair Gray

PSN: Draco_V_Ecliptic

nessisonett

@Draco_V_Ecliptic Being John Malkovich is definitely a great movie to watch but yeah, it’s not exactly arthouse! That being said, it is weird.

Plumbing’s just Lego innit. Water Lego.

Trans rights are human rights.

nessisonett

@Draco_V_Ecliptic Ooh, if you really wanna go off piste then I can recommend some great lesser known gems. More obvious ones would be movies like Stalker, of which the game is loosely based on, or 8 1/2, Federico Fellini’s masterpiece. Are you fine with subtitles or should I have a look for some ones in English?

Plumbing’s just Lego innit. Water Lego.

Trans rights are human rights.

nessisonett

@LN78 I was contemplating recommending Mother! as I loved it but just couldn’t recommend since basically everybody hated it. They did kinda advertise it as a horror movie but if you know Aronofsky then you’d be expecting strange.

Plumbing’s just Lego innit. Water Lego.

Trans rights are human rights.

nessisonett

@LN78 I’m actually a fan of JLaw, I think the fact she’s an Oscar winning actress is a bit overshadowed by all the clangers she’s done. Mother! is one of those movies you’ll either be fascinated by or think is pretentious drivel and I can see both sides of the argument. It’s overblown and quite a bit bonkers but better than The Fountain, which for me felt like an absolute mess!

Plumbing’s just Lego innit. Water Lego.

Trans rights are human rights.

JohnnyShoulder

@LN78 Yeah mother! is a bit bonkers and is one of those films which is hard to reccomended. I totally didn't know what to make of it and I think that was the intention of the filmmakers to leave it open to the viewer to decide. It could be seen as a christ allegory but could also be seen as a couple of other things too. I knew nothing about the film before i saw it, which is usually a benefit when watching a film, but I kind of wish I knew a bit more about it. It can also be quite uncomfortable to watch in places and IIRC my dad walked out at on part to have a breather.

Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

PSN: JohnnyShoulder

Ralizah

Subbed to horror movie streaming service Shudder recently, so I've watched a few films I've wanted to see for a while, and... well, results aren't great so far (for the movies; the service itself is fine).

I'll be discussing some spoilers with these films, so... reader beware?

I started with recent cult horror film Mandy. I'd heard a lot about this one from people whose opinions I trust, and there are some things to like here. The latter half of the film is a great vehicle for Nicholas Cage's very particular brand of overacted cinematic insanity, and it was fun watching him lose his mind and become a sort of medieval vigilante who forges a battle axe and sets off to avenge his cruelly slain titular girlfriend. But, to get to the fun bits, one has to sit through an hour or so of pretentious, "stylized" cinematography that I guess is supposed to be establishing atmosphere, but, honestly, I found it all rather dull. Characters mumble and slur their lines in a narcoleptic haze (this was one of the few movies where I actually kept the closed-captioning turned on the entire time) and, half the time, scenes are bathed in gaudy red or purple lighting. Plot and character-wise, there's really nothing to this film. Some cult leader (dubbed a "jesus freak" and "hippy," but his cult possesses magical artifacts that can summon motorcycle riding demons, so...) happens to see Mandy, Cage's girlfriend, as he's driving by her in a van one day, and his cult, along with the clearly Cenobite-inspired biker demons as helpers, abducts her and her boyfriend to try and induct them into his cult (Mandy as a concubine, I guess). Things go south, and Nicholas Cage spends the rest of the film going on a nutty killing spree. There's a lot of potential for this to be good, and, in some respects, I did enjoy it, but it's a very uneven experience. Definitely inferior to Cage's other recent horror outing, The Color Out of Space.

The second film I watched was In the Mouth of Madness, an obviously Lovecraft-inspired flick by accomplished horror director John Carpenter about an insurance fraud investigator (played by Sam Neill, or, as most people are likely to know him, the grumpy protagonist in Jurassic Park who likes to scare children with visions of disembowelment) who goes looking for a popular horror writer who has gone missing. This writer's work is apparently causing people to become insane and violent, and the publisher wants to know where he has gone. This film has some redeeming qualities, insofar as it plays a lot with the idea of reality and fantasy becoming blurred, and the inherently subjective nature of human consciousness, but the plot becomes an incoherent, poorly written mess as it goes on. Carpenter was attempting to capture a gradual divorce from reality with its main character, but I found that the movie itself just became sort of disjointed and confusing. Perhaps this was the intent, and the structure of the film is meant to mirror its protagonist's own slipping grip on what is real, but I grew bored with this approach. The film's ending has an apocalyptic angle that I liked, but, overall, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

The last, and worst, film was acclaimed Italian splatter cinema maestro Lucio Fulci's The Beyond. While it's not his most famous film (that would be Zombi 2), many fans of this man's work (and he has a considerable cult following among horror aficionados) consider this to be his masterpiece. What better way to be introduced to his films, I thought! Or not. This is described by fans as a textured, surrealistic, and dreamlike cinematic experience, but really all it is is a borderline incoherent, poorly dubbed film that only exists to feed the director's apparent fetish for gore and eye trauma. SO much eye trauma. Want to nails gouge out eyes, of both the metal and finger variety? Want to watch tarantulas eat out a guy's eyes? Hell, want to watch a woman's face melt in acid? These setpieces, and more, are what the film exists for. They're not terribly convincing practical effects (most of the gore looked very fake to me), but this wasn't supposed to be realistic. It was supposed to be gross, and boy, is it gross. Peoples' skin peels like soft cheese, and practically any injury leads to an almost obscene amount of bloodspray and gore, like the violence you'd see in a lot of really graphic 80's era anime OVAs. The woman whose face gets melted becomes a puddle of fleshy slush leaking across the floor. There's an odd fixation on these scenes, though. The film doesn't try to make them look or feel scary, but just fixates on the practical effects. It almost feels more like a demo reel for an ambitious SFX artist. A lot of the situations don't really have much grounding in the narrative, either. The woman whose face gets melted by acid randomly faints, and then the acid TIPS ITSELF onto her. The dude whose face and eyes gets eaten by spiders just falls over after reading a cursed book, and the spiders magically appear. People randomly turn into zombies, for no reason. The plot itself apparently concerns a woman taking possession of a building that has a gateway to hell below it, but, really the film doesn't care about this plot, and there's a very thin amount of narrative material connected A to B and so on. This is the "dreamlike" aspect of the film, I guess, but as a fan of legitimately good surrealist and dreamlike cinema, it feels to me more like an excuse for the complete disregard for plot, continuity, and character this film exhibits. It would be fine if setpieces were striking enough, the atmosphere and music were evocative enough (the score is particularly drab), but unless some Italian weirdo fixating on overly grotesque and obviously fake gore thrills you, I'd urge you to give this a pass. If this is Fulci's best film, then I believe this is the end of my journey with him.

Edited on by Ralizah

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

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