Topic: The Movie Thread

I was able to get into one of the early access premieres of Gran Turismo. For those interested, my impressions are below:

Overall, it’s a decent movie. I would say I liked it in the neighborhood of about a 7 out of 10. At its core, it’s a rendition of the story of Jann Mardenborough, who became a professional race car driver through excelling in the Gran Turismo video game. Although it’s a biographical account, it’s also a celebration of gaming, and specifically for Sony’s flagship PlayStation product. During many of the racing sequences I couldn’t help but have a grin on my face, recognizing all the little PlayStation references. But objectively speaking, as far as cinematic quality it’s fair to rate the movie as mediocre in many aspects. I’ve looked over reviews for the movie, and they’re all over the map. Interestingly, some of the movie critics mention how the game sheds its gaming references early and then gets right into its racing story, which is only partially true, as fans of the game and more specifically of the most recent entry GT7, will see and hear the specific video game references throughout.

So, if you’re considering watching it, having an interest in the Gran Turismo IP will help a lot. Even if GT7 is the only entry you’ve played then you’ll have a blast seeing parts of the game depicted on the silver screen. Or if you’re a fan of “true story / rags to riches” and underdog genre stories then that will carry the film a long way and you’ll probably be able to forgive some of the disjointed script and lazy dialogue.

Although I know next to nothing about motorsports, I’ve been enamored with the Gran Turismo games since the PS1 and have played nearly all mainline entries GT1-7. I have an appreciation of how the game really makes you calculate corners, be tactical about your lines, and react quickly to subtle changes in the track. I loved how the movie really highlighted how cerebral and mentally taxing racing can be. Unfortunately the script falls into movie tropes in order to keep the racing exciting, and makes some of the sequences a little too “Fast-and-the-Furious”, but I can forgive that. The dramatic moments which often include confrontations with vilified rivals also feels very “Hollywoodized” and probably was magnified for dramatic effect.

I have always been interested in amazing true stories, because often truth is stranger than fiction. And I do like a good film showcasing “against all odds” scenarios which champion the common man or woman. And I think most of us do like these feel-good stories. The audience at my theater did some whooping, gasping, and cheering when the bad guys got their due. The friend I attended the viewing with has almost no gaming experience and has never played GT. But they were able to enjoy the movie due to the interesting true human story and the characters.

And to be fair, the script plays fast-and-loose with many of the true life details. After watching the movie I did a little research and there are definitely some deviations from Jann’s story that were done for effect, including time-shifting of some events. But these disparities are no more egregious than what you’ll find in any other “based on a true story” portrayal. As a small and minor example (and I’ll spoiler tag it just in case, although it’s not really that much of a spoiler) the game has clear references and depictions of Jann playing and competing within the latest Gran Turismo entry, GT7, but in actuality the events depicted occurred in 2011-2015, over 10 years ago, back in the inaugural GT Academy competition on PS3, so Jann was certainly playing GT5 most likely. Yet early in the film he references being able to beat everyone “at the Cafe”, which of course as most fans know “the Cafe” is the hub from GT7 and wasn’t in earlier versions of the game. When the movie shows him actually playing the video game, it’s clearly GT7.

This is my first Neill Blomkamp movie, and so I don’t know what to compare it to. I wasn’t a fan of the often shaky cinematography, but I understand they really went out of their way to have the racing sequences shot in real cars under real conditions with the cars literally speeding around a track and used new special Sony cameras to accomplish cockpit views whilst mixing in stunt drivers. (Incidentally the real Jann Mardenborough did some of the stunt driving and apparently was on set a lot to help with other story details). So the races can be bumpy and frenetic feeling. My problem though is that even the non-racing camera work was too kinetic and had the feeling of someone running around behind the actors with a phone cam collecting video footage. I understand the motivation of trying to make the movie feel more lively this way, and like the viewer is as much a participant as they are an observer to the action, but it really becomes distracting.

The actors did well, especially Harbour, Bloom, and of course Madekwe. The secondary characters were much more paper-thin and cliche recreations of pals, rivals, corporate heads, and romantic interest.

In summary, if you have more than 50 hours invested in GT7, go see it. Definitely go see it. If you absolutely love Sony PlayStation studios, go see it. It you loved the likes of Rocky, Miracle, Rudy, Seabiscuit, The Karate Kid, Cool Runnings, Invincible, Hoosiers, The World’s Fastest Indian, and Ford vs Ferrari then at least consider watching it when it drops to streaming and video.

@nessisonett That’s an interesting observation. Yeah, I liked how by the end, there was little ambiguity left as to what actually transpired. This lets the audience appreciate the nuance of perspective and thus wrestle with the moral opponent that is empathy.

@Th3solution Glad to hear it’s not a disaster! I’ve been intrigued by what I’ve seen. Not sure I’ll catch it in theatres though. The erratic camera is a Blomkamp staple at this point. If you’re ever looking to explore some of his best work, I’d highly recommend District 9.

@Jimmer-jammer Yes, I have District 9 on my watchlist. I watched some of the post-credits interviews and Blomkamp admits this movie out of his usual wheelhouse.

If you do get around to seeing it, then I’ll be interested in what you think. It’s one of those movies with overall “rotten” scores from critics on Rotten Tomatoes but positive reviews from viewers. I feel like the movie will be on streaming services pretty quickly, so waiting is certainly a reasonable approach.

And as an aside, I hadn’t realized that even though the mass release date in the US isn’t until this next weekend, the movie has been out a couple weeks in Europe and the UK. So the sneak preview wasn’t really early, globally speaking. US release was delayed due to something about the writers’ strike supposedly.

Well it looks like Disney have realised that they're leaving money on the table by not releasing their Disney+/Huiu streaming exclusives onto physical media. As well as the previously announced "Prey" they are also putting "The Mandalorian" and "Wandavision" (and presumably all the other "Star Wars" and MCU shows) out on Blu-ray and 4K. Great news.

@LN78 Will hopefully mean I won't have to subscribe to Disney+ to watch the odd show I'm interested in, as I can just watch them through my physical rental service.

I wonder if this means the 4K box set of the original Star Wars trilogy will go back on sale?

@JohnnyShoulder I had no idea that set had been delisted to be honest - if there was a way to do it you could have my 4Ks because I only watch the bootleg "de-specialized" versions these days.

@LN78 Lol, negotiations must be going real well for the studios. Physical copies will mean that many staff get the residuals they deserve for these shows.

@nessisonett Really well. Bloody Americanisms do my head in. 🤣.

Yeah, Bob Iger is searching high and low for additional revenue streams so that he can meet his targets and get his bonuses before the greedy writers and background actors steal all the money. Luckily for us, he realized that there is still a market for physical releases amid enthusiasts and collectors out there, so there will even be steelbooks for these releases (I've been known to be a sucker for steelbooks).
Loki s1 will be out in September already, Wandavision and Prey drops in October and Mandalorian s1 and s2 are set for December. All the D+ series can be pre-ordered from August 28th. Not sure about pre-order date for Prey.
(Steelbook enthusiasts outside US may be disappointed to know that the Prey steelbook is a BestBuy exclusive and they don't ship outside US/Canada... No word on steelbook releases in other markets that I have found, yet)

@FuriousMachine Just noticed that the Netflix exclusive "Sandman" series is also available for pre-order on Blu-ray. Fascinating.

@LN78 Interesting. Netflix aren't typically interested in releasing on physical, but I suppose it's WB pulling the strings on this one. So far it only seems to release in the UK, and only on Blu and DVD, which I thought was a bit weird.

@FuriousMachine Apparently there's some confusion about when (or if) "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" will be coming to physical media - it's out to buy digitally next week. Disney have a ton of money to recoup on that one!

The Banshees of Inisherin — this was an interesting one for me. It’s a beautiful movie, wonderfully acted. Such a strange and simple narrative. And yet.. the more I ponder it, the more complex I think the story really is. If you take the plot at face value it seems shallow, but I think there’s quite a bit of metaphor there with the backdrop of the civil war. I’ll admit I know next to nothing about Irish history, but I know civil war. The movie also has a lot to say about friendship and social interactions, which I think we can all relate to. I think most of us have either tried to sever ties with a friend who we don’t really like but we’re unfortunately their best friend. 😅. I could relate.

Anyways, it’s a great film, if nothing else to see the picturesque backdrop.

@LN78 Yeah, it was hardly a box-office hit, but could it have tanked so badly that they're reticent to invest in the production of physical, maybe? I thought it at least did fairly OK, but I haven't been paying attention, so for all I know it was a massive bomb. Well, Iger, if you're reading this, I'll buy a copy on UHD, should you deem to release it

@FuriousMachine If some of the reported production budgets were anywhere near accurate then it could have lost close to $300M. Ouch.
PS Just saw this on one of my favourite YT channels -

@Th3solution Sorry, for some reason I was unable to log into the site for a bit. Finally restarted my phone (duh moment) and all seems good now.

I think it comes out this weekend here so you definitely had an early screening from where I’m sitting! As for the scores, if nothing else, it seems to have a relentlessly hopeful message, which may just resonate well with folks these days. I’ll be sure to post my thoughts when I get to it!

@LN78 Oof, that's an insane amount of money to lose. Great video, the dude is not wrong. And, as he points out, Disney could actually recoup some of that money by releasing Dial on disc. I'd buy one and you can be sure there are many others out there that are bigger Indy fans than me that would buy one in a heartbeat. Still, there is an upfront production cost, so I suppose they are afraid to put more money into it in order to make a (possibly small) amount of it back, which is understandable, in theory (I say "in theory" as I have no insight into what these costs or any other risks in this particular case looks like; for all I know they are negligible in the grand scheme of things)

I am happy about the discs they are releasing, though. I've wanted a physical release for most of these shows from the beginning, but didn't fret too hard about it until Disney also started removing shows from their service. I loathe bootlegs and piracy, but i do take some comfort in knowing that these shows are available, should Disney+ yank them from the service or D+ even cease to exist.

@FuriousMachine What baked my noodle was the announcement of these disc releases in the US coupled with the outright cancellation of the entire Disney physical media business in Australia. How is that supposed to work? I'm completely with you on the piracy and bootleg issue with the sole exception of the untampered with versions of the original "Star Wars" trilogy. I've paid for those movies so many times in their various home media incarnations that I reckon I'm owed a freebie.😉.

@LN78 Agreed, I was also puzzled by that. Why single out Australia? Are there taxes/tariffs on these over there that Disney finds prohibitively expensive? Or is it a culture war thing (ie: Australia won't let us do a so we'll deprive them of b, see how they like that)? Whatever the reason, it makes absolutely no sense from where I'm sitting.

And I'll grant you the Star Wars thing. Funny thing is, this is Disney themselves creating a market and a legitimately good reason for bootlegs/piracy: withholding content that is clearly in demand.

(This baffles me with some of the streamers as well: If you have a paid service, why not open it for global audiences? For me, if I want to watch Twisted Metal, Poker Face, Justified. City Primeval , Walking Dead: Dead City, to name a few, piracy is my only option; at least for now. Some are rumored to come later in the year and Poker Face is apparently coming to physical, but still...)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with this one, Rogen and company can be pretty hit or miss for me. Thankfully, they knocked it out of the park. It doesn’t hit the emotional highs of, say, Across the Spiderverse, but it also doesn’t try to. This is a really straightforward story about finding your way, told with all the grungy and gross out gusto one would expect to see from this universe. A lot of little, smart creative decisions (such as the titular turtles actually behaving like kids) go a long way to making this an enjoyably grounded and relatable gag fest of imaginatively slimy proportions. Special shout out to the amazingly realized overall aesthetic of the film.

Eighth Grade - This film captures the awkwardness of this awkward stage of life with an unflinching earnestness. Performances, pacing, writing - it’s honestly a perfect film. For all the ways this could have careened into a train wreck, I’m kind of in awe of how such a simple ‘slice of life’ narrative and stripped down approach says so much by just being exactly what it wants to be. Brilliant film.