@LN78 I was still fairly young when the first one came out and the whole 3D thing meant that it was brilliant on the big screen. I later watched it on DVD and was bemused at how bad the movie actually was. This sequel is not for me 😂
Avatar: the Way of Water (IMAX 3D) - the blue cat people are back, now joined by new & improved green cat-fish people.
First time I've ever been to an IMAX screening, and this was an absolutely magnificent theatre experience.
Story was pretty simple in themes like the first (family drama, can't run away from your problems, obvious environmental angle), however it worked to hold things together, though there were a few interesting wrinkles as well. Without getting into spoiler territory, they made a decision about a certain character I wasn't expecting them to commit on, and in expecting sequels one of their adopted kids (Kiri) has a mysterious origin & abilities that weren't fully explored here.
Of course being an Avatar movie it was absolutely triumphant from a technical & visual standpoint. I'm a bit undecided on how I feel about the enhanced framerate (not that it's an inherent negative, but at times it felt like a video game cutsene, albiet one several generations ahead of what's currently available), however the 3D is magical and a few steps above found in the original. From an aesthetic/artistic perspective I'm not sure how they're going to top the underwater scenes in this one though. It often felt like a religious experience & I want to give a special shout-out to a scene from inside a mini sub who'se immersion was bordering on what VR provides.
Really interested in how it's going to hold up in a 2D home viewing though. While the climax is an absolute tour de force that'll probably still entertain in that inferior viewing arrangement, the middle of the film (where the family is learning "the Way of Water"â„¢) I could see being a lot slower without that 3D magic elevating it.
Also, crab mechs.
Currently Playing:
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PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
@nessisonett It's really not for anybody who understands what a well written, well paced movie is. There is literally nothing to recommend except the pretty visuals.
Last night we watched "Office Christmas Party" starring Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston - I suspect that hernia surgery is funnier - and then the 4K blu-ray of "Home Alone". I still root for the burglars every time. This trawl through a massive pile of Xmas themed movies is becoming quite the challenge - most of them are bloody terrible. "Elf" and "The Holiday" starring Jack Black and Kate Winslet later. The review blurb on the box says "Bridget Jones without the big knickers!" I have no idea what that means, but it sounds terrifying.
@LN78 I like The Holiday as a solid block of Christmas cheese. Just watch out for the absolute cringiest moment in a movie of all time. You’ll know it when you see it.
@nessisonett I wasn't looking forward to it before, now I'm pretty much dreading it. At least we're on fairly firm footing with "Elf". It's not too saccharine and James Caan's performance is a sarcastic delight.
@WanderingBullet It's funny because, as good as the ongoing storyline of the Mission: Impossible films can be at times, the primary reason I watch 'em is to see what ridiculous nonsense Tom Cruise is gonna put himself through next. CGI has finally reached the point where you could convincingly fake almost anything you wanted to nowadays, and sticking an ever-ageing A-lister's face on a digital double has become laughably commonplace, so thanks for posting that reminder that there's still an absolute nutter out there doing it for real. I'm getting really, really excited to see those movies!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@LN78 Most of The Holiday isn’t all that bad, but that one Jude Law moment always makes me want to claw my eyes out. Then again, I love the first Bridget Jones so depending on how much mileage you get from that, this could be your worst nightmare!
@RogerRoger Exactly this. In the world of CGI/special effects it’s even more special when actors do their own stunts. Dedication and efforts like this need to be appreciated more. Not to mention, the guy's 60 this year!
A pair of more unconventional Christmas flicks last night. The first was "Go" - a late 90's (very late 90's as it turns out) teen caper comedy, best described as "Pulp Fiction" twinned with "Human Traffic". It was directed by Doug Liman, post "Swingers" but pre "Bourne Identity" and features a roster of then hot stars like Katie Holmes and a young (and spectacularly coiffed) Timothy Olyphant. A few intensely annoying performances aside, it's a very well made and very entertaining (moreso if you were there at the time) time capsule of a film - one or two of the needle drops (including Len's superb earworm "Steal My Sunshine") had me grinning like a loon.
The second film was the Spielberg (and Henry "Fonzie" Winkler!) produced "Young Sherlock Holmes" - a project more famous for its pioneering use of CGI (in this case a stained glass window hallucinated into life) than anything else. I really enjoyed it - in no small part thanks to the excellent lead performances (Alan - son of Brian - Cox plays Watson), a great evocation of Victorian London (all around tip-top production values,really) and massive vibes from two other more successful films - "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (the script for this was written by future "Potter" director Chris Columbus) and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (the original title of the movie being "Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear"). Obviously intended as a franchise starter (there's even a sequel baiting post credits scene - in 1985!!) the dark tone (mummification of live victims included) and lack of reverence for the source material (Arthur Conan Doyle famously described the first meeting of Holmes and Watson and it did not involve a prep school infiltration of a nascent Egyptian death cult) saw to it that critics panned it and very few people went to see it. A shame, really - it's significantly better than other Spielberg produced smaltz-fests of the time like "Batteries Not Included" - any film that includes an assault on a lead character by a bakery full of homicidal cream cakes (seriously) gets my vote.
@LN78 two films that, while not classics I’ve enjoyed multiple viewings of over the years. Particularly Young Sherlock Holmes… as a kid I’d always make sure to watch it if it was on TV.
Also, I’ll always have a soft spot for Go as I’d never heard Magic Carpet Ride before… and as a result of it featuring in the film it became one of my favourite songs.
@colonelkilgore That was the other needle drop I was referring to! The Vegas car chase is really well done - it must've been an homage to the similar sequence in "Diamonds Are Forever". Also a shout out to the psychic cat gag. That was a great little bit.
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