Topic: The Movie Thread

Watched Mulholland Drive for the first time last night. Brilliant but a very surreal experience.

@JohnnyShoulder definitely surreal. I've seen it many times but never really made much of an attempt to "figure it out." I just enjoy the bewildering ride. And that Rebekah del Rio version of Crying is hauntingly beautiful.

@zupertramp Interesting to find out that it was intended to a TV series as a follow up or spin off to Twin Peaks, but ABC rejected it so eventually Studio Canal picked it up. It does have a very similar vibe to Twin Peaks, although I remember little of that.

@JohnnyShoulder I’m a huge Lynch fan… and Mulholland Drive is probably my favourite of his movies. He did actually end up doing a sequel to Twin Peaks 25 years after it originally ended, I think it aired around two or three years ago… and it was for me at least, phenomenal. I’m not a massive fan of comedy and tend to get my laughs from black comedy or just funny weird stuff that happen in other genres. The recent series of Twin Peaks is one such example of tickling my funny-bone. It made me laugh more than anything has in a decade… so good.

@Jimmer-jammer you are more than welcome jj… and agreed The Nice Guys was excellent. So disappointing that it bombed financially, as I would have loved a sequel or two. Pretty great movie all around from what I can remember, in fact, I’m probably overdue a rewatch.

I watched The Importance of Being Earnest, the 2002 one. Really enjoyed it actually, it’s a hard play to adapt and they did a great job. Colin Firth and Rupert Everett play off each other brilliantly.

Space Jam: A New Legacy is legitimately one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Nonsensical premise, terrible balancing of the real life and cartoon bits, at least thirty minutes longer than it needs to be, a horrid script, cursed CG renderings of the characters during the competition (whatever is happening in this film barely even resembles basketball), unfunny humor, and huge chunks of the film feel like WB just turned this into a big commercial showcasing its catalogue of IPs. Why in hell were Austin Powers, Harry Potter, and The Matrix being extensively and gaudily featured in what's supposed to be a Space Jam sequel?

The dialogue, character relationships, EVERYTHING feel totally forced and artificial. This movie was painful to watch.

@Ralizah Oof, that does not sound good. You know, I don't think I've ever seen the original. Whenever it's been on, I've never been able to sit through it all. Can't say I'm in a rush to see either movie.

Really hope this doesn't come to anything. Some of my favourite films of recents times are from A24, not keen on them potentially being locked behind Apple TV+.

@Ralizah this seems to be the consensus. only difference is Lebron appears a more capable actor than Jordan. So I've heard at least... I'll probably skip this, and I don't remember the first one, and I don't want to rewatch it... so I'll never know I guess.

@JohnnyShoulder but there's always DVDs/Blurays, no?

@zupertramp What are those?

@JohnnyShoulder Ha... Well, I mean I'm sure you can still purchase them digitally or something right? I'm actually not even sure these days.

Reminds me, I was just in a vintage thrift shop a couple days ago and my kids ran across the CDs and their amazed reaction confused me because like, do they not sell those anymore either lol?

@zupertramp Yeah I'm not sure tbh, maybe the odd show or film but I don't think the majority of their content becomes available on physical media. Sure you can still buy them digitally, but that means paying a premium for them. I wouldn't know if they have any sales or anything, cos I've never used the service or owned an Apple product.

@Th3solution Speaking of live action/animated efforts, what did you think of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? That was one that worked, right? With the late, great Bob Hoskins, who delivered an excellent performance considering that his co-star, as far as he could tell, was essentially thin-air and a voice! If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend giving it a spin.

@TheBrandedSwordsman I have seen Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and although I thought it was okay, I’ve considering it a bit overrated. Bob Hoskins (didn’t know his name until you referenced him) was good in it, but I just didn’t care for the movie as a whole. I can’t deny the trailblazing effect that it had for the mixed animation genre.

Space Jam 2 is decent compared to first. Less nba players involved w smaller roles than 1. Less laughs as well(no Bill Murray). James may be a slightly better actor than jordan, jordan is the better basketball player. Solid pg movies that are entertaining for hoop fans or the looney tunes fans.

Now if you want to watch a good movie...a quiet place ii.

@JohnnyShoulder I think the original Space Jam holds up pretty well, although I imagine a large part of its fandom is due to childhood nostalgia from people like me who watched it when we were tots.

@Kidfried There's not much in the way of memorable music in the actual movie. Definitely no bangers like in the first one. Dunno if there's decent music in the OST that didn't make it's way into the movie itself, though.

@zupertramp I guess LeBron is a better actor. Jordan is very obviously acting badly in front of a green screen. But the imaginative visuals, excellent pacing, etc. keep it from being much of an issue (although, I'll admit, the CG in the scene where Michael Jordan is squashed and turned into a basketball did not age well at all).

Too bad the rest of the movie around LeBron is so bad. The father/son storyline is fairly standard, tropey stuff, although I could definitely forgive it if it was charming or humorous like the original. It's awful, though. One long commercial for other properties. Ever wanted to see Pennywise the Dancing Clown, Superman, and Dr. Evil poorly integrated into a Space Jam sequel? Here you go.

Imagine if Ready Player One was only composed of its absolute worst bits, and it has no reverential nostalgia or context for any of the million references to other properties it makes.

@Ralizah Ready Player One wasn’t composed of its absolute worst bits? Could have fooled me!

(mild spoilers for a couple of The Purge films, I guess)

I watched The Forever Purge. This latest film continues the series' trend of downplaying the exploitation-lite and shlock action-horror elements in favor of explicit satire about white supremacy and fascism. Which is unsurprising, I guess, given that a society's art will often reflect on current fears and anxieties. Unfortunately, the latest films' suggestion that American society has something deeply rotten at the core of it and will continue to spiral downward in a vortex of racist violence and tribalistic instability until it literally explodes into civil war seems depressingly prescient. The film is a direct sequel to 2016's Election Year, and while the Purge is initially outlawed and the fascist NFFA party is deposed, they're eventually voted back into power anyway. The set-up of The Forever Purge is different, though: after the Purge happens in this film, it doesn't stop. The Purge, as revealed in the fourth prequel film, was really just a front by the fascist NFFA party to ethnically cleanse non-white populations, but it turns out that the white supremacist/far-right wing militias they've empowered to openly murder people in the streets over the years have designs to keep purging until America is "cleansed" of its non-white and immigrant populations.

Probably the best sequel in this series to date after Anarchy, although I'm not really sure how much more they can do with the concept at this point.

@nessisonett Yeah, I expected someone to snark on my wording. Still amazed Spielberg directed that. It's a small mercy that Spielberg left out the part in the novel where the Evangelions shows up.