@Ralizah@Th3solution He's one of the guys who's working on the computers. Don't know how you guys could've missed him, but at least @RogerRoger remembers him lol.
@Ralizah One of my problems with watching old movies is that a lot of the times, they just don't hold up in terms of effects. For example, I didn't enjoy the original trilogy of Star Wars at all, the effects were just awful and it ruined the immersion. But I was genuinely impressed by how the dinosaurs looked in Jurassic Park.
@LtSarge For me, it's genuinely annoying how Lucas kept going back and adding in modern special effects to the original SW trilogy, as they clash with the look of the rest of the film, which was created in a pre-CG era. The practical stuff in those movies still looks fine, but then you see all of the glitzy computer stuff next to clearly decades-old film... ugh.
Jurassic Park was a perfect little jewel when it came out. Despite being an effects-driven spectacle (seriously, the Dinos in the 1993 original look better than ones in modern films like Jurassic World), it somehow never loses sight of the characters or the simple, resonant story it's trying to tell. It features some of the most iconic setpieces of all time. The pacing is great. And, like other classic films, it was all elevated by an amazing Williams score.
Never enjoyed any of the sequels, but the original is timeless.
Also, obligatory, although I recommend not watching it somewhere where salty language will get you in trouble
@Th3solution@RogerRoger Oh yeah, I think I vaguely remember that character, but it never registered for me that it was SLJ. I'm also glad I wasn't the only dufus here!
@LtSarge@Ralizah See, this is why I genuinely love y'all. You automatically assumed that I remembered Mr. Jackson being in the film, and not that I read your discussion, quickly typed "Samuel L. Jackson Jurassic Park" into Google and then embedded the first available GIF for the lols.
Full disclosure? I always remember him being in the film now, but that's only because I've exclaimed "Holy heck, Mace Windu's in this?!" during dozens of previous re-watches.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Guess I'm reposting here. Nice to see the old thread back.
Saw Scream a few days ago in a theater. Actually, it was Scream 5, but Hollywood really likes to confuse future audiences by creating sequels with identical names to past entries, for some reason. This is the first entry not directed by Wes Craven, I believe (on account of him being dead), but it... turned out rather well. It feels like a really solid Scream film. Maybe the best since the original. Of course, it's up for debate how much of the 'chirpy, self-aware teen chatter about horror movie tropes combined with a semi-legitimate attempts at making the film an actual slasher in its own right' formula works in 2022 versus 1996, but you can't fault it for trying to stay faithful to the larger franchise. Of course, they've updated it to talk about the state of Hollywood filmmaking circa 2022, with a lot of self-deprecating jokes about sequels that prey on the nostalgia of audiences by combining old and new elements together, but it's unavoidable that this type of movie just isn't fresh anymore.
As mentioned, though, it broadly works as a Scream film, has some satisfyingly brutal kills, and ratchets up the tension big time in the second half of the film.
It works for what it is. If you like Scream films in general, you'll probably like Scream 2022.
@Kidfried Yeah, I noticed it'd started infecting PlayStation games as well. At least Ratchet and Clank was an actual remake, so using the original's name made sense there.
I watched Buffalo '66 this week. What a weird movie... cult of the cult for sure! Anybody watched it?
@Ralizah And Ratchet & Clank was also the name of the movie, so that was a pretty decent name altogether. However, God of War's title is pretty annoying. I can not refer to that game without also naming its release date. The 2018 one is one of my favorite games of all time, whereas the original one might not even make if to the top 50 of its gen.
The Batman’s theme’s now up on Spotify and is really quite brilliant. Interestingly, there’s a whole lot of the Medal of Honor: Frontline OST in there which makes sense given it’s Michael Giacchino. I reckon most people who were playing those sorts of games back in the early 00s will hear quite a few of those riffs in The Batman’s full OST, Giacchino does have a certain style after all for his ‘adult’ projects.
@nessisonett Mr. Giacchino is one of those composers who I always kick myself for pre-judging, because I used to think all of his work ended up sounding too similar, but he really knows what works for certain characters and situations. I really like his new bat-theme and sure, I can hear some influences from his previous projects, but that's less of a criticism from me nowadays.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Rookie of the Year - More of a kid centric Baseball film that sees 12 year old Henry able to pitch at the professional level after recovering from a broken arm, and his talents may just be the answer to the Cubs ailing season.
It's ultimately just fluff & a bit uneven (for example his mom's boyfriend seems like a nice enough guy at the start, then they seemingly forget about him for a large chunk of the movie so the mom can form a romance with one of the Cubs players, only to randomly drop him back in again later as a mustache twirling villain conspiring to end the mom's budding romance & trading the kid off to another team for a big payout for himself without much of a buildup between the two), but hey, I like going back and watching these old 90's movies I missed as a kid, and it makes a nice change of pace from all the meticulously produced modern blockbusters.
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
Just had the opportunity to see Mamoru Hosoda's newest film, Belle, in a theater and... wow.
I don't usually gush over films, even if I like them. But I'm gonna gush over this one.
I'm actually not the biggest fan of Hosoda's work. Several of his films are conceptually or thematically interesting, but fail to really grab me, or can seem a bit self-serving. His best films were enjoyable, but lacked the real emotional punch I needed to fall in love with them. But Belle was, finally, that film for me. I wasn't sure I'd like it, considering it's at least partially a science-fiction treatment of Beauty and the Beast, and it makes prominent use of the horrible Metaverse concept that keeps popping up these last few years. The treatment of the Oasis/Second Life-esque digital environment in this film, called U, is consistent with a similar digital environment in what was probably his second best film, the sci-fi thriller/family drama Summer Wars. The film achieves a level of dramatized insight about the way people express themselves online, though, that allows me to fully forgive its utilization of this concept.
More importantly, the film does an amazing job of tethering the main character's experience in U as a breakout popular artist and her more mundane, everyday high school life together effectively. Its exploration of themes related to identity, emotional expression, self-acceptance, love, abuse, the paralyzing effects of profound grief, etc. is really, really well-done, and while I was afraid the Beauty and the Beast element was going to be gimmicky and detract from the film, I actually felt very much the opposite by the end. I've not read the original story, but I am a massive fan of the Disney adaptation, and have always been mildly troubled by its themes, which seem to encourage young women to draw out the 'prince' in the 'beast'ly men in their lives. Transform them with love, and all that. Fine for an idealized fantasy setting, but advice that's guaranteed to lead to years of needless pain and suffering. Without going too far into it, the film totally recontextualizes the relationship of this film's "Belle" with its "beast" in a way that is far more relatable and emotionally realistic and engaging. Rather than being a weird gimmick imposed on a sci-fi story, it really binds together other themes in the film and elevates them.
Something that always bothered me about science-fiction is we rarely get visions of how technology can help to draw out the best in people. It also draws out the worst aspects, as we see in the film, but Belle suggests that humans can find spiritual resonance in even the more ostensibly artificial spaces around them.
Modern humans often live large chunks of their lives online, and though interacting with the technology around them, and this is usually very poorly portrayed in TV and cinema. We see the 'outside' lives of people, and we usually only see technology to the extent that people use it to shut themselves out from the world. Phone bad. Go touch grass! Belle does a great job of conveying how people live their lives with one foot in the mundanity of physical existence, and another in a more abstract space of youtube videos, text messages, online conversations, etc. The film's director has spoken about how people venture 'out into the world' in digital spaces as much as they do IRL, and he does a fantastic job of exploring that in this film.
There's a subtle 'female empowerment' vibe to this film, but one that develops very naturally along with the narrative and without doing so by creating an adversarial dynamic with the male characters in the film. Hosoda accomplishes what modern Disney struggled with and ultimately failed at with their recent remake by taking the Beauty and the Beast story and turning it into something meaningful for modern girls and women.
Presentation-wise, it's just gorgeous. All of Hosoda's films since The Girl Who Leapt Through Time have been lookers, but this really takes everything to the next level visually. And aurally. While it's not necessarily a musical, music is central to the film, and it's filled with several powerful vocal performances that really benefitted from the theater setting.
We'll see if the film survives multiple viewings, but, on at least this first viewing, I was really swept up by it. Great time all around.
@Ralizah I’ve heard loads of great stuff about Belle, mostly from genuine movie critics than just the anime crowd. Like you, I’m not a massive fan of a lot of Hosoda’s stuff, it always feels like there are one too many concepts stuffed in his movies, a bit like Steven Moffat or M Night Shyamalan in that regard. Considering the praise from such diverse critics though, I’m well up for giving it a watch.
@nessisonett This movie is a little on the busy side too, but I feel like there's an emotional and thematic core to it that really makes it work for me in a way a lot of his other films didn't.
Definitely recommend giving it a watch. It's the best anime film since Your Name, and one of the best films released in the last several years period. I'm not surprised it's getting rave reviews.
Just finished watching the second Jurassic Park movie 'The Lost World' and it was pretty good overall. I was glad to see that Jeff Goldblum was the protagonist this time around since we got to see more of him. I was also glad to see that Peter Stormare was in this movie, but I was very disappointed that they didn't give him a bigger role. I feel like he was always getting small roles back then considering I watched Bad Boys II a couple of weeks ago and he also had a small role in that movie.
Anyway, my biggest issues with the movie is just how stupid some scenes were. The most notable one being how the team Jeff was with decided for some reason to abduct the baby T-rex, which led to the parents following them, destroying their vehicle and killing one of their friends. What was the point of that? Why not just leave the baby alone? Not to mention how long they dragged it out when they were hanging from the vehicle off the cliff. Then we have the ship scene towards the end, like can someone explain to me how the crew died? At first I thought some velociraptors had accidentally gotten on board and killed them, but apparently not because we only saw the baby T-rex and its parent. So how did they die? I feel like the whole ship crashing into the harbour was just so stupid because it wasn't explained well. There's one more scene that bugged me: when Jeff and his girlfriend brought back the baby T-rex to the ship, why did they jump into the water and then got back up again onto the ship? Why didn't they just stay on the ship? I genuinely feel like so many scenes were just so poorly put together.
Other than that, this was a good movie but definitely not on the same level as the first one, which was just so good.
the Good Dinosaur - I don't think it'll go down as anything particularly memorable, but it decent enough time with a few chuckles & cute moments, and the almost photorealistic environmental shots were absolutely gorgeous.
Blank Check - It's not realistic in the slightest, but I think if you were a kid in or around the 90's I think there's some fun to be had in the way it absolutely indulges in all the materialistic fantasies a kid of the era would have. While I wouldn't go as far to say I found it offensive, I will say the "romantic" subplot simply doesn't make much sense (I can't imagine the intended audience would care about it in the slightest), and his obsession with it would have made more sense if he was his older brothers' age (lamenting that he's only a couple sweet years away from adulthood & all that). I think it's also somewhat compounded by the fact that while he's supposed to be 12(?) he could easily pass as under 10.
Currently Playing:
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PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
Wanted to post my thoughts on some movies I've seen from the past two days. I know I never post on here (I do check the thread frequently though), but I just had to get my thoughts out somewhere.
The Naked Spur (Blu-Ray) Director: Anthony Mann
Western about a former rancher who's trying to capture an outlaw and take him back to Kansas, but ends up getting help from two strangers along the way. I'll admit I like Westerns that are a bit dark, so this is right up my alley. This film is very psychological, although there a few quality action scenes. Most of this film is Robert Ryan trying to find a way to escape by any means. Ryan plays a terrific villain. He looks the part and his character is a real slimeball, willing to get into the other characters heads if it means escaping. James Stewart also does a great job playing against type. It's almost hard to believe that this is the same guy who played the likes of Jefferson Smith or George Bailey. He's determined to get Ryan back to Kansas by any means necessary, even if it means being just plain nasty! The film also does a great job explaining his motivations so he's more than just a simple jerk and you can somewhat sympathize with him. The rest of the supporting cast does a fine job, but the film belongs to Ryan and Stewart. The film was shot in Colorado and the it looks outstanding (if it's a Western, it better look good). I'm also glad the film was shot in color. The pacing is great as well. It may only be around 90 minutes, but it never feels too short. The ending feels a bit contrived, but that's old Hollywood for you. Ditto for the romance between Stewart and Janet Leigh's characters. With that being said, I think that this is one of the better Westerns to come out of the '50's. 8/10
The Fortune Cookie (Blu-Ray) Director: Billy Wilder
Dark comedy about a cameraman who suffers a minor injury from a football player. His lawyer brother-in-law convinces him to fake a serious injury so he can sue for a million dollars. I thought this was pretty good. The premise is good and I liked how at the beginning of each scene there was a title that introduced it like a chapter in a book. Jack Lemmon plays the cameraman and I enjoyed his role. He isn't really sure whether he wants to go through with the lawyers plans or not. There's also the football player who adds some drama to the film and the only character I felt any pity for. The real highlight for me though is Walter Matthau as the lawyer. Wilder has had some pretty cynical and even sleazy characters in his films, but Whiplash Willie has go to be up there with Chuck Tatum from Ace in the Hole as the worst (at the least the cameraman's life isn't in danger like the poor guy stuck in the cave). In one part of the movie, he says he's going to sue a fruit company because his client slipped on a banana peel and the company didn't print a warning! Most of the funny dialog comes from the lawyer. The screenplay in general is great, but that's to be expected by Wilder. As far as complaints go, I thought the film slowed down some when an important character enters the scene. Overall while I wouldn't rank this amongst Wilder's very best like Sunset Boulevard, The Lost Weekend or Ace in the Hole (to be honest I thought this was one of his weaker films) I thought it was worth a watch. 7.5/10
Days of Wine and Roses (HBO Max) Director: Blake Edwards
Drama about a couple who slowly succumb to alcoholism. Unsurprisingly, this is a pretty downbeat and depressing film so stay away if you're in a negative mood (although if you want to feel worse, this is an excellent film to watch). I think one of the strengths of this film is the realism. I'll admit I don't know any alcoholics but from what I've read this is a pretty accurate portrayal of how they act (although there is one scene that's a bit over the top). Let's be honest though, the real reason this film is worth watching is because of the performances of the two main actors. Jack Lemmon does an excellent job in a more dramatic role. Ditto for Lee Remick. I thought they did a convincing job (apparently they both suffered from alcoholism when the film was made). My biggest complaint about this film is that it's a bit slow starting out. I understand why they did this they wanted to portray the leads while they were still leading normal lives, but I personally didn't find the early parts too interesting. I also don't think the film is as good as The Lost Weekend which has a similar subject matter. With that being said this is a great film that's worth watching, especially if you like great acting. 8/10
I also watched Foreign Correspondent, Bringing Up Baby and Casablanca (all HBO Max). Already seen those, so I'm not going to talk about those. However, I do recommend them although I imagine most of you folks have already seen Casablanca.
Jesus is the only way.
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Watched Dune(2021) for the third time. Boy, do I love this movie. It’s science fiction of the highest calibre. I appreciate its focus on political, religious and cultural themes over technology and it leaves a lot to ponder. It’s beautifully shot, well written and performances are strong across the board (although there is a head scratcher of a moment in Stephen McKinley’s delivery of an unintentionally hilarious line). Costume design is extremely interesting and well executed. Rising above everything however is the absolutely stunning soundscape. Watch it loud. The various themes throughout, from the off kilter, ragingly patriotic, bagpipe infused Atreides theme to the disturbingly hypnotic Bene Gesserit number who’s whispers slowly envelope everything around it…it’s really cool stuff. Can not wait for Part II.
@Jimmer-jammer I need to watch it again. I did enjoy it in the cinema but my nephew kept disappearing (he left his seat about 5 times) I later found out he was checking football scores 😡🤬
@MightyDemon82 I found it better with each viewing, hopefully it’s the same for you…it’s definitely not a popcorn flick! I can understand how someone may not find it overly exciting, as even it’s action has a slower, more methodical pace to it. I thought it was no less thrilling for it though. I’m already looking forward to my fourth watch 😂
“Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.” C.S. Lewis
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