This has to be an Onion article. It has to be. On a serious note, do they really think reducing a story about a black sheriff overcoming racism to a f*cking animated movie about cats and dogs is a good idea? In this day and age? I’m pretty sure the treatment of African-Americans in the late 19th century is somewhat more complex than “haha, cats and dogs don’t get on because they’re different species”. Oh man, this one is horrific. Almost as backhandedly terrible as Ocean’s 8, where they apparently couldn’t even find 11 actresses.
@TheFrenchiestFry In fairness, there's an established trend of classic Western films adapting storylines from historical samurai films, and, to a lesser extent, visa versa, like The Magnificent Seven westernizing The Seven Samurai, or that Japanese samurai remake of Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven.
But, even in that light, turning a Mel Brooks satire into a cartoon about samurai cats is still very random.
@nessisonett Remaking a classic Mel Brooks film that deals with subject matter that's practically nuclear-grade in this social climate as a milquetoast CG cartoon about samurai cats and dogs? Yes, that's both poorly judged and very deeply weird.
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@Ralizah I’ve seen a lot of MAGA types using Blazing Saddles as a sorta ‘what will you censor next’ argument but I never really understood it. It’s a pretty progressive movie in its themes and makes the racists seem laughable in comparison to the sheriff, who’s a generally great guy and deals well with the awful conditions he inherits. While it might be somewhat wobbly in its execution through today’s eyes, its core message is one of “why the f*ck would you be racist” and one that stands the test of time. Also worth noting that the black sheriff is also the main character, if it was a mainstream Hollywood movie then it would follow a white family who are the only kind family in town and how the father reconnects with his son by making a very nice black friend, who happens to be the sheriff. Yes, I’m looking at you, Green Book, Driving Miss Daisy and Intouchables.
@Ralizah Yeah but at least when Magnificent Seven was made they kept the general theming and structure of Seven Samurai but recontextualized it in a Western setting, which is what makes it an apt way to adapt a specific story to suit a Western audience
There's like next to no correlation between a satirical black comedy Western film and an animated comedy for kids about dogs and cats being samurai
I’ve decided to embark on the impossibly long task of attempting to watch every movie in the National Film Registry. Some will take 5 seconds such as one about a guy sneezing but some will take many, many hours. First on the list is 12 Angry Men so at least I’m starting with a goodie!
@nessisonett 12 Angry Men is such an impossible kind of film that shouldn't have worked in concept but Sidney Lumet managed to make a film so engaging while taking place in the exact same room for the entire duration
We don't even know the names of the large majority of the Jurors and they're completely fleshed out and immaculately acted
@nessisonett It's interesting to note that, circa 2017, Brooks didn't think he'd be able to make a film like Blazing Saddles today. I imagine that is even truer in the current political climate.
I’ve decided to embark on the impossibly long task of attempting to watch every movie in the National Film Registry. Some will take 5 seconds such as one about a guy sneezing but some will take many, many hours. First on the list is 12 Angry Men so at least I’m starting with a goodie!
@Ralizah Fred Ott’s Sneeze is apparently a 5 second movie from 1894 of one of Edison’s assistants taking some snuff and sneezing. It has a score of 5.4 on IMDB.
@Ralizah@nessisonett 5.4 is quite generous for that. I can find depth and symbolic meaning in nearly any form of video or literary entertainment, but this.... I got nothing.
Definitely needed more character development.
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I've heard tell of a "Johnson Cut" where the man doesn't sneeze at all after using the snuff, but yawns instead. Critics at the time found it to be a refreshing change of pace from the fan-pleasing but predictable "man using snuff and then sneezing" genre, and were delighted by how the director played with the expectations of the genre. Hardcore sneeze-film enthusiasts were enraged, however. It's currently considered lost.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Blu-Ray) - It's been a couple months since I last watched a Blu-Ray, and I realized this was the last film in my last batch I had yet to watch.
Maybe it's just because it's been a couple months and I had gotten used to the slightly compressed HD image on cable & streaming, but I thought the picture quality on this one was absolutely stunning (the opening space battle & Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader were particularly striking IMO).
As for the film itself I found it to be a great watch and the most enjoyable of the prequel films. All the political maneuvering of the past 2 films finally comes to a head in what is the most action packed film in the trilogy, with some epic large scale battles & great light saber duels. Also, I feel that it's reliance on CGI doesn't hold it back as much as it's brethren as it seems a lot more modern in that regard (the last two films, particularly AotC, had a few CGI setpieces that looked terribly out of date or cheap), as everything looked fantastic and even drew a couple of "wows" from me. The worldbuilding continues to be a strong suit as well, with the introduction of many new worlds (though some are only seen for a few moments) that are awe inducing. The acting won't win any awards ("Ultimate Powah!!!"), but it generally does it's job and is simply a fun watch, and I like the fact that it still has a sort of "movie making pulpy feel" to it (for a lack of a better way to phrase it), that I feel is missing from modern Hollywood.
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