Topic: The Movie Thread

@andreoni79 ...that does not look natural in the slightest. I knew she was a mermaid, I didn’t realise she was half-Bigfoot!

I don't know how to post tweet here, but there's a 19 seconds video about it which is hilarious.
https://variety.com/2020/artisans/news/disney-plus-splash-edi...

I continued my own journey through Disney+ and specifically to watch all the live action remakes that I was pushed away from by poor critical and fan reception when they released. This time is was Aladdin.

And I’ll try to spare everyone the details of a full review, but I was definitely pleasantly surprised. I was expecting a train wreck and the first 15-20 minutes I thought I was getting it. Then about a third of the way through (right about when Genie shows up) it became really enjoyable.

It’s a strange movie by Disney standards though. There are times when the production seems a bit ‘B-movie’ and times when the editing and effects are subpar. The acting is quite weak, with the exception of Will Smith. The magic carpet and Abu are definitely the most endearing characters. But somehow... I really, really enjoyed it.
The music was great and choreography was sharp; the leads were clearly chosen for their singing voices rather than their acting skills. Well - that, and their looks. Man, I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen a more attractive set of leads. Nevertheless, watching Aladdin and Jasmine bumble through their roles was great fun, even if it seemed like it was basically akin to watching a GQ model and a Vogue model play dress up and perform for a weekend children’s community theater. But Will Smith really shined. He single-handedly pulled the show together imo.

I said I wouldn’t go on too long, so I’ll leave it at that. But whether it was because of dampened expectations or legitimate Disney magic, either way, I finished off the show unexpectedly with a big cheeseball grin on my face, humming “A Friend Like Me.” And that’s really all I want out of a Disney musical.

@Th3solution I found some of the musical numbers a bit strange in Aladdin, like they were sped up? My main gripe with the film is that it loses what made the original such a joy to watch, in Robin Williams ability to improv most of his lines. I did not get that feeling with Will Smith who did ok, but no way near that level of his predecessor. And most of the characters were a bit dull, with only Jasmine feeling a bit more fleshed out. Again not a bad film and like all the other live action remakes, just one that I feel did not needed to be made as the original is so much better. Of course Disney are going to continue making them as it is almost like printing money for them.

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!

@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.

@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. 😂

I realised One a cut of the Dead is all on YouTube, I watched it recently and loved it if anyone is bored:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gmM9S3DpyA4&t=128s

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.

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.

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.

@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!

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 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.

@JohnnyShoulder yeah I got the third character lol. I did love midsommar, this didn’t resonate so much! But not bad either

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?

@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.

@LN78 @nessisonett Thanks for letting me know. What arthouse films would you guys recommend?

@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?

@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.