Topic: The Movie Thread

@ralphdibny Interstellar’s like Avatar for me, it was an experience on the big screen but watching it at home, I noticed the flaws a lot more and didn’t enjoy it as much. Some films are just better in the cinema.

@RogerRoger Inception is a favorite for me. That soundtrack!

But another Elliot Page movie I enjoy is Tallulah. Maybe give that a go.

@nessisonett ah fair enough, I think i just like the ideas of time dilation that it attempts to show when it fits the narrative. I'm constantly seeing YouTube videos about that sort of thing!

Avatars another overrated one, it's pretty good when you watch it but it's not something I desire to revisit really

Nice thoughts on inception there @RogerRoger (I seemed to have missed all this talk yesterday)

Always quite liked the film myself and I agree on Tom Hardy and his character being quite delightful. I quite like Cillian Murphy in it too myself alongside Ken Watanabe and Levitt. (Admitedly I'm a sucker for Leo too 😅)

Have you watched Momento by Christopher Nolan per chance? That's probably one of my favourite films from him

@RogerRoger Yeah it's a Netflix film so I don't know how that works, in terms of being available to stream/rent via any other services.

@RogerRoger Great thoughts and I can’t say I disagree with any of them. All well said. I am also in the ‘Leo D is probably a bit overrated’ club. Agree that the character story is more interesting in the end than the setting (although dream science and dream fiction has always fascinated me) and the subtext of guilt and redemption is what gives it the staying power. Glad you enjoyed it to a degree and it wasn’t a total waste of time, getting to see some of Hardy, Page, and Gordon Levitt in action.

What did you think of the musical score? I know you have a proclivity for movie and gaming music and so I would value your take. Many speak highly of it, and I quite liked it too. But Hans Zimmer is fairly polarizing, and has a definite style that may not resonate with everyone.

And now I’m curious what the two anime movies in your collection are. 😄

@RogerRoger That’s Satoshi Kon’s Paprika you’re thinking of for that rather similar anime film. It really is similar, just better than Inception 😉

@RogerRoger Yep Nolan does have his favourite actors. I think Michael Caine has been in the majority of them.

@RogerRoger I’m trying to remember the movie but I specifically recall that the end sequence when the reunion occurs with the kids that the top keeps spinning, and then wavers slightly and spins some more then the picture is cut abruptly. The suggestion to me was that he was residing in an alternate reality at that time, however the top did start to shake a little bit, suggesting it was about to maybe fall? Of course the editing there is certainly intentionally vague to leave it open to viewer interpretation. Does the spinner fall down or does it keep going? I feel like the ending was a dream-state alternate reality, personally. Also the fact that at the airport ending sequence all his companions on the inception heist just kind of watch him walk by, just barely acknowledging him makes me feel they were “characters in his dream” on the previous dream layer, further emphasizing that his whole life we’ve been watching is all the madness of his own lost mind, stuck deep down in the comatose delirium of pushing his dream experiments too far. Nevertheless, the sequence where the spinning top does fall down to signify reality does throw a wrench in that theory. If so, then reality was present up to the point of starting the inception heist into the Cillian Murphy character in the plane and everything following that would be false delusions with the relative time expansion keeping him down there for an eternity. Which, I guess if he found happiness with his kids for a lifetime, despite it not being “reality” then that’s a pretty good redemption. I’m not sure though, and I might be misremembering the details and making an incorrect analysis.

And I’ll keep my eyes open for Summer Wars. Sometimes I look at the enormity of anime and just never know what’s good to start with.

@RogerRoger Yeah, that’s a good point that it’s possible the totem idea was a subconscious construct. Interesting thoughts.
@JohnnyShoulder And I do find it interesting how certain directors reuse actors over and over. I suppose there’s a certain comfort level that people get with one another, not to mention the politicking that agents probably engage in to create these relationships. I do prefer to see variety though, and when the same cast is recycled for another project it detracts a little bit, imo. It’s hard enough for me not to refer to the Robert Fisher character as “Scarecrow” and Mal as “Miranda Tate” even if the director of the two movies hadn’t been the same guy.

That's quite an interesting take, I must have missed that part in the middle 2 hours I spent asleep in the cinema so I'll keep an eye out for it if I ever get around to watching it again!

I'm not one to swoon over DiCaprio in the sense that I won't go to see a film just because he's in it, but I've found him to be genuinely excellent in every film that I've seen him in like The Beach, Django Unchained, The Wolf of Wall Street etc, but then again they are all films by amazing directors so I'm not surprised.

Also a big fan of Tom Hardy who just embodies every role he plays and Cillian Murphy who has been a favourite since I first saw him in 28 days later

Not even sure if this belongs in the movie thread or the Covid thread but, like, these entities mad at WarnerMedia... do they not read the news? I swear some days it feels like I'm the only one taking into consideration expert projections on how much longer this is all gonna last. Or at least, it's me and the folks running WarnerMedia, apparently, who I cannot at all blame for their decision to stream movies simultaneous to their theatrical release through 2021. I just... The denial is real over here.

Also Leo D is one of the best in the business. Just needed to throw that out there. Truth be told, though, I could never really stand him until I saw The Aviator. That's when I saw the light lol.

@zupertramp Yeah, the Warner Bros thing makes sense to me. Honestly, I really hate to give our multiplex (Cineworld) the money regardless. If a movie is showing in the indie cinema, I’ll go there as it actually feels like an experience, with a lovely 1940s theatre, zero sticky floors and a more curated selection of movies. Warner Bros need to make their money back and cinemas just aren’t going to get the audiences back for a good while, especially in the States.

Plus the price of food in the cinema. Oof. You spend as much on popcorn as the tickets.

@RogerRoger Ah well, to be fair, pilots fall under my definition of nomadic types and if there's one thing that's guaranteed to pique my interest, it's a film/book about people stricken with wanderlust. Still think DiCaprio is great in most films he's in though, even the ones that aren't so good.

I think it's hard to know what exactly would have happened with theaters had Covid not come along. Guess it doesn't much matter now.

I’ve always been indifferent to Leo. Could take him or leave him. I do like Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet though.

Regarding Leo D: I’ve been told I need to see What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? but I’ve just never taken the time. I also remember liking Catch Me If You Can but I probably need to try watching it again because my memory is fuzzy on it. I rewatched The Great Gatsby not too long ago (can’t remember if I posted on here my thoughts, so apologies it I’m repeating myself), and actually enjoyed it this go around. My first viewing I really disliked it. Maybe my sensibilities have changed over time. But I have to agree that despite not being a fan of his over the years I have grown to respect his work and at least give it a chance. There’s still something mildly smarmy about him though.

@Arugula shutter Island is brilliant! But I do love a good what's real/what isn't style mental health horror film. I think I feel the same but more like I could care less about DiCaprio the celebrity but I really enjoy the films he happens to be in

@Th3solution I watched catch me if you can again a few years ago but it was on TV. There's a scene in the movie where Tom hanks says "go F--- yourself" but in the TV version he says "go flog yourself" which just had me cracking up for days 😂, still makes me laugh now just thinking about it. Brilliant film though!

@Arugula 😂 indeed!

Now I'm just curious who everyone's favorite actors are. Not so much interested in the celebrity side either. Just, who best becomes the characters they play? Or whatever your metric is it doesn't much matter. Like a top five or ten.

And as we've established a few of you think Leo is overrated, what are some of your other most overrated? One of mine is probably Will Smith for example. He's not bad; super charismatic and watchable, don't get me wrong but like, he's always basically just Will Smith. They might as well just name his characters Will Smith.

I'll have to think more on the rest now.

@zupertramp There’s not many actors or actresses that I would openly go out of my way to watch, it’s more directors for me as they’re more likely to be involved in the overall quality of the picture. Thinking about actors who always bring a certain something to the role however... I adore Nicolas Cage and his energy although he himself cannot save several dreadful movies. I think Mahershala Ali is probably one of the most underrated actors out there in terms of public opinion. He’s a fantastic actor with a whole lot of great movies under his belt but I don’t think many people would put him up there in their ‘best actors’ lists. I really like Olivia Colman too, she’s hopefully going to get her moment in Hollywood after The Favourite being that brilliant and also widely loved Stateside as well. She’s consistently been up there with the best British actresses on TV over here so I do hope she’s given bigger roles after her stint as the Queen finishes.

In terms of ‘overrated’ actors, Al Pacino. Al Pacino every single day of the week. He just kinda shouts in that weird way of his. Poor Chris O’Donnell looks absolutely terrified in Scent of a Woman.