Topic: The Movie Thread

@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.

@Ralizah @nessisonett Ya know, for as revered and venerated that Spielberg is as a filmmaker, he’s made some real clunkers. In fact, I’d say you’ve got to go way back to Saving Private Ryan for a truly seminal film he’s directed. I suppose Lincoln in 2012 and maybe War Horse before that were really well respected, but I’m not sure I’d consider them modern classics. In fact, I think I fell asleep during War Horse and the greatness of Lincoln had as much to do with the epic performance of Daniel Day-Lewis as anything.

I have seen praise for The Post but it haven’t really shook the world like his older stuff like Private Ryan and Schindler’s List, Indiana Jones, E.T., Close Encounters, Jaws, The Color Purple, etc, etc. from his early career.

@Th3solution I quite like Tintin, Minority Report and AI but yeah, SPR is probably the last ‘seminal’ movie he’s made. Every director makes clunkers but Spielberg has rather a few.

@nessisonett I don’t remember much about A.I., other than I remember liking it, but the lack of any detailed impressions is telling. Also agree on Minority Report being good. At the time the visual effects were somewhat progressive too. But in the end it’s simply a good solid Sci Fi movie and not “great”. Same with War of the Worlds.

I will say that Spielberg doesn’t back down from attempting a full range of genres. He does a lot of Sci Fi and summer blockbuster popcorn flicks, but also tackles the heavy dramatic stuff too. I’ll give him that.
He’s also shown an ability to work well with a variety of high budget actors which is a talent in and of itself. Hanks, Cruise, DeCaprio, Ford, Day-Lewis, Streep, Sam L Jackson, etc in addition to the unknowns.

I need to watch Catch Me if You Can again. I remember thinking that was vastly underrated.

@Ralizah @nessisonett

They problem with Ready Player One is that it's just not that compelling of a story. I read it, because of the hype and found it fairly mediocre but thought the film could, with some alterations, improve upon the presentation of an 80s nostalgia-gasm but it honestly made it worse in some respects.

In regards to Spielberg, looking over his directing filmography, I'd agree he certainly hasn't done anything that's had the impact his earlier stuff did. Even Munich, which should have been a really powerful film, probably would have been better in the hands of someone else. And I agree with @Th3solution that it's hard not to credit DDL for Lincoln's impact.

Anyway, watched Freaky last night. Can't complain. Some fun homages to other horror classics and a good performance from Vince Vaughn (along with a couple supporting-role standouts) make it a perfectly enjoyable popcorn flick. Didn't realize it'd be quite so gory but it is Blumhouse so I guess that's on me.

@Th3solution @zupertramp @nessisonett Sounds like y'all are sleeping on Bridge of Spies.

I want to like Minority Report, but I just don't think the execution lives up to the interesting, potentially morally layered concept. Spielberg is one of the most important figures in the medium, but, IMO, he's not at his best with science-fiction (Jurassic Park is an exception because it leans into his strength of focusing primarily on character relationships, with the dinosaur stuff mostly making for an entertaining backdrop). Also, Tom Cruise. Ugh.

@Ralizah I did sleep on Bridge of Spies. Right through its runtime.

God I’m in a snarky mood. But I didn’t really enjoy that movie 😂

@Ralizah yeah I admit to not having seen it, along with most of his other work post-2000 but then, that's part of the problem I think. Very little of what he's done in the last couple decades feels like required viewing. It's just kinda there.

And I really like Minority Report but I think it could have been darker and not wrapped up so nicely (so yeah, I don't know if that's the same as more morally layered but I feel like we're on kinda the same page).

@zupertramp Yeah, Minority Report is another example of a great concept funnelled into a bit of a bog-standard narrative.

So no one is keen on Spielberg's take on West Side Story then? 😂

Few older Spielberg films that weren't mentioned but are hits, Jurassic Park, Catch Me if You Can, and one kinda recent - The Post. The Post being probably his best recent work imo. Full of drama and suspense for a film where typewriters are wielded as weapons. Especially fitting in this day and age. Would The Post respond the same way today? Very doubtful under current ownership. Have yet to see Lincoln though. Def. on my radar now.

Bridge of Spies was, and is, absolutely superb. I was glued from beginning to end.

@Snottie_Drippen I've been told I definitely need to watch The Post by a friend but I don't know, isn't it just All The President's Men?

@zupertramp from what I recall The Post can be thought of as a prequel to APM. The Post is mostly aimed at the story from view of the editors and publishers which ended up breaking the news. More of a behind the scenes movie into the build up of the whole thing as the watergate break in took place a year later.

@zupertramp The Post is like The Lion King 1 1/2 to All The President’s Men, except with the most vanilla cast imaginable.