Movie Thread

[PFiDC]

“Nobody” in theaters today. I’m interested...but not going to a theater.

#1 on my list of movies to see but I also won't go to a theater for it.

[meecrofilm]

Recently watched. No actual spoilers, they're just there so this post is readable:

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

This movie is John Carpenter's answer to the question clearly on everyone's minds back in 1976: what if you made a zombie movie, but replaced the zombies with blood-thirsty gang members? All the beats are followed, down to the inciting incident, as well as the "infected" individual that brings the hordes upon everyone. It even elicits the same verbal reactions one might shout while watching a zombie movie ("What are you doing? Get away from that door!!") And being that these are actual people (albeit, nameless, non-speaking-role ones), the ante is upped a bit, as they obviously move with more pace than a zombie.

Helping elevate the proceedings is Darwin Johnson, who delivers a very charismatic, yet still understated, turn as notorious criminal Napoleon Wilson. He's got good chemistry too with Laurie Zimmer's Leigh, who isn't given much to do, but absolutely makes the most of it.
Of course, being a Carpenter film, the score absolutely kicks. Coming in at 91 minutes, this baby is lean, mean, and everything you could want out of an action film.

Shame

The second full-length film from Steve McQueen sees him re-teaming with Michael Fassbender, who plays Brandon, a sex addict living in NYC. Things get a bit complicated when his oft-neglected sister Sissy, played by Carrie Mulligan, crashes his place. In short, this one just didn't work for me. The production is on point, with a dreary, grand but vapid NYC serving as the perfect backdrop for Brandon's lifestyle and state-of-mind. However this results in the film almost amorphously moving from one scene to the next in a cloudy haze, so much so that even shortly after viewing it, I struggled to recall specifics. Carrie Mulligan's full-length turn singing "New York, New York" which goes on so long it's almost comedic, is, for better-or-worse, a standout scene. I only wish the movie would've taken a couple more unexpected swings like that.

There's no real ground-breaking stuff in terms of what it says about addiction, though to be fair, it's hard to do so with such a commonly touched-upon topic. Though addiction may be tough on those experiencing it, it's often those around you who end up suffering more.

Chinatown

Chinatown draws you in by immediately throwing you into the action (and by extension, the shoes of detective J.J. "Jake" Gittes, a deftly delivered performance from Jack Nicholson). The viewer is then left to decipher the mystery in real-time with Jake, subject to every twist-and-turn unpacked from a deliciously soupy screenplay. Not too much to say about this one that hasn't already been said: expertly-paced and thoroughly rewarding, Chinatown is a thoroughly rewarding and intriguing mystery that deserves its status as a classic.

Toy Story 4

I initially was never planning on seeing this one, as I felt it to be fairly irrelevant in its existence (I know I know, $$). The film introduces and hastily abandons some pretty heavy thematic ideas through the character of Forky ("Is who we are defined by where we're from? Can you truly escape your beginnings? Does pre-destined purpose exist?), which is quite disappointing, and ultimately leads it to being a fairly inconsequential affair.

However, the one thing this movie has going for it, is that it's one of the funniest Pixar movies ever. Big kudos goes to Keanu Reeves performance as French-Canadian stuntman toy "Duke Kaboom," and to the comedic duo of Key and Peele, who are part of a bit which includes a truly inspired piece of heightening I would've never expected to see from a Pixar movie. I "felt" less, but I laughed more, so I suppose as long as a movie is eliciting something positive out of you, well done.

Dredd (2012)

I made the mistake of finally watching this after having just re-watched The Raid: Redemption not too long before. The similarities in the plot between the two movies (even down to the main baddie getting on the PA to give residents the lowdown) were a little distracting -- pretty incredible they came out so close to each other given what they both share.

Still, absolutely got what I wanted out of it. Kick-ass action, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. "Slo-mo" is beautiful to look at. Surprised Olivia Thirlby didn't take off after this, but given that it made zero noise at the box office, it makes sense. Probably would've done better in a post-John Wick world.

[PFiDC]

Re Dredd and The Raid: yeah that was dumb lol. I thought the same thing when I finally saw The Raid which was not too long ago. The Raid is such a good movie.

[NTP66]

Yes Day was a decent family movie night movie.

[nocera]

The thing of it is, you have a book with very interesting real people and you bring them all along for the movie, but focus on the fictional characters leaving the good stuff in the background. Just didn't work for me.

Finally watched this and had the complete opposite reaction. Having never read the book, I wanted much more Frances McDormand and much less real characters. I want to see a great actor act more than real people fumble their way through a scene for the sake of “realism.”

[shmenguin]

Recently watched. No actual spoilers, they're just there so this post is readable:

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

This movie is John Carpenter's answer to the question clearly on everyone's minds back in 1976: what if you made a zombie movie, but replaced the zombies with blood-thirsty gang members? All the beats are followed, down to the inciting incident, as well as the "infected" individual that brings the hordes upon everyone. It even elicits the same verbal reactions one might shout while watching a zombie movie ("What are you doing? Get away from that door!!") And being that these are actual people (albeit, nameless, non-speaking-role ones), the ante is upped a bit, as they obviously move with more pace than a zombie.

Helping elevate the proceedings is Darwin Johnson, who delivers a very charismatic, yet still understated, turn as notorious criminal Napoleon Wilson. He's got good chemistry too with Laurie Zimmer's Leigh, who isn't given much to do, but absolutely makes the most of it.
Of course, being a Carpenter film, the score absolutely kicks. Coming in at 91 minutes, this baby is lean, mean, and everything you could want out of an action film.

Shame

The second full-length film from Steve McQueen sees him re-teaming with Michael Fassbender, who plays Brandon, a sex addict living in NYC. Things get a bit complicated when his oft-neglected sister Sissy, played by Carrie Mulligan, crashes his place. In short, this one just didn't work for me. The production is on point, with a dreary, grand but vapid NYC serving as the perfect backdrop for Brandon's lifestyle and state-of-mind. However this results in the film almost amorphously moving from one scene to the next in a cloudy haze, so much so that even shortly after viewing it, I struggled to recall specifics. Carrie Mulligan's full-length turn singing "New York, New York" which goes on so long it's almost comedic, is, for better-or-worse, a standout scene. I only wish the movie would've taken a couple more unexpected swings like that.

There's no real ground-breaking stuff in terms of what it says about addiction, though to be fair, it's hard to do so with such a commonly touched-upon topic. Though addiction may be tough on those experiencing it, it's often those around you who end up suffering more.

Chinatown

Chinatown draws you in by immediately throwing you into the action (and by extension, the shoes of detective J.J. "Jake" Gittes, a deftly delivered performance from Jack Nicholson). The viewer is then left to decipher the mystery in real-time with Jake, subject to every twist-and-turn unpacked from a deliciously soupy screenplay. Not too much to say about this one that hasn't already been said: expertly-paced and thoroughly rewarding, Chinatown is a thoroughly rewarding and intriguing mystery that deserves its status as a classic.

Toy Story 4

I initially was never planning on seeing this one, as I felt it to be fairly irrelevant in its existence (I know I know, $$). The film introduces and hastily abandons some pretty heavy thematic ideas through the character of Forky ("Is who we are defined by where we're from? Can you truly escape your beginnings? Does pre-destined purpose exist?), which is quite disappointing, and ultimately leads it to being a fairly inconsequential affair.

However, the one thing this movie has going for it, is that it's one of the funniest Pixar movies ever. Big kudos goes to Keanu Reeves performance as French-Canadian stuntman toy "Duke Kaboom," and to the comedic duo of Key and Peele, who are part of a bit which includes a truly inspired piece of heightening I would've never expected to see from a Pixar movie. I "felt" less, but I laughed more, so I suppose as long as a movie is eliciting something positive out of you, well done.

Dredd (2012)

I made the mistake of finally watching this after having just re-watched The Raid: Redemption not too long before. The similarities in the plot between the two movies (even down to the main baddie getting on the PA to give residents the lowdown) were a little distracting -- pretty incredible they came out so close to each other given what they both share.

Still, absolutely got what I wanted out of it. Kick-ass action, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. "Slo-mo" is beautiful to look at. Surprised Olivia Thirlby didn't take off after this, but given that it made zero noise at the box office, it makes sense. Probably would've done better in a post-John Wick world.

Cartoon talk from the PDT moved here...

Toy Story 4 was my favorite. Mainly because 1-3 are the same movie. Old thing becomes obsolete and doesn’t take it well. Goofball hijinks ensue.

The 4th was interesting because the villain became unwanted because of disability - not obsolescence. Better story. More sympathetic. Also liked the side characters like the dummies and duke kaboom.

The magic of the first one and the nostalgia of Andy’s room...I admit that makes it close.

[tifosi77]

Finally got around to watching Blade Runner 2049. Excellent film. Loved everything about it. Could it be a better film, story-wise, than the original?

I know the original was foundational for many things - production design, special effects, world-building, and so on - but the story is a bit weak.

Hot take, inbound: My opinion of the original was formed on the basis of the Criterion laserdisc, which was (at the time) already the fourth different edit of the film. But it still had the voice over narration and the 'happy ending' (giggity), and I did not like the movie at all. Honestly, as a teenager, I didn't understand what the fuss was about. I mean, visually I got the fuss - it remains to this day one of the maybe 3 or 4 most important films ever in terms of the overall visual design of its world. But I thought the actual movie part of the movie was pretty meh.

Flash forward 20 years. I had to do marketing clearance for a 10-minute clip of 2049 that was available on PSVideo when we started taking pre-orders. And that piqued my curiosity about the film again, so I bought the OG movie...... but by this time The Final Cut was available, so that's the movie I watched.

It's like not even the same movie.

Sure, there are characters that all have the same names, and they do broadly all the same stuff in the same order I remembered. But striking that infernal voice over, and adding the unicorn dream, and cutting to black when the elevator door closes......... it's just a tremendously better movie.

[nocera]

Once the cool factor of Mank wears off, the story is straight up boring. I didn’t expect that.

[AuthorTony]

Once the cool factor of Mank wears off, the story is straight up boring. I didn’t expect that.

He really should have made another season of Mindhunter instead.

[eddy]

Once the cool factor of Mank wears off, the story is straight up boring. I didn’t expect that.

He really should have made another season of Mindhunter instead.

[Dickie Dunn]

Once the cool factor of Mank wears off, the story is straight up boring. I didn’t expect that.

He really should have made another season of Mindhunter instead.

I refuse to watch Mank strictly because it **** over Mindhunter.

[meecrofilm]

Finally got around to watching Blade Runner 2049. Excellent film. Loved everything about it. Could it be a better film, story-wise, than the original?

I know the original was foundational for many things - production design, special effects, world-building, and so on - but the story is a bit weak.

Hot take, inbound:

I was expecting a hot take. Is not the general consensus that the Final Cut is the definitive version? I am disappoint.

[meecrofilm]

Re Dredd and The Raid: yeah that was dumb lol. I thought the same thing when I finally saw The Raid which was not too long ago. The Raid is such a good movie.

Yeah the first Raid is pretty much a perfect action movie. No chaff. Great pacing. Intense action.

I think the second has the better individual fights (the massive fight in the club/restaurant, and the showdown at the end in the kitchen. Both are just tops), but it suffers a bit from an overblown scope and is too long. Still great though. I'm glad the Hammer Girl actress made her way to The Night Comes For Us. Surprised she hasn't gotten more work since then.

[tifosi77]

Finally got around to watching Blade Runner 2049. Excellent film. Loved everything about it. Could it be a better film, story-wise, than the original?

I know the original was foundational for many things - production design, special effects, world-building, and so on - but the story is a bit weak.

Hot take, inbound:

I was expecting a hot take. Is not the general consensus that the Final Cut is the definitive version? I am disappoint.

It certainly is, but the film had already been a sci-fi/cult classic for 20 years prior to that cut. I was immune to its charms.

[tifosi77]

The Raid is pure bonkers cinema.

[meecrofilm]

I was expecting a hot take. Is not the general consensus that the Final Cut is the definitive version? I am disappoint.

It certainly is, but the film had already been a sci-fi/cult classic for 20 years prior to that cut. I was immune to its charms.

Ahh, gotcha

[PFiDC]

I thought The Raid was gonna be your run of the mill action movie. I got a martial arts masterpiece with good characters and enough gore to make me happy.

[shafnutz05]

Moving the Up discussion here--let me preface this by saying I really liked that movie a lot. That said, I will also admit that the later plot of the movie was a bit of a letdown after the impactful beginning, which I would argue is the most beautiful 5-10 minutes of footage Pixar has ever put together. I would put the last 10-15 minutes of Toy Story 3 up in that echelon as well.

[eddy]

Go watch some of the animation Tomm Moore is doing from Ireland. Everything I've seen from him is right up there with pixar's best if not better

[shmenguin]

Moving the Up discussion here--let me preface this by saying I really liked that movie a lot. That said, I will also admit that the later plot of the movie was a bit of a letdown after the impactful beginning, which I would argue is the most beautiful 5-10 minutes of footage Pixar has ever put together. I would put the last 10-15 minutes of Toy Story 3 up in that echelon as well.

Up was maybe the first (?) high-budget animated film about grown up problems. It was a disruptor, which is why it got critical acclaim.

But there’s a reason my kids never wanna watch it. It’s not good.

Like...do you guys who like it so much re-watch Up? You grit through the opening scene and then...can’t wait until old guy #2 does the weirdest deus ex machina ever?

[shmenguin]

Actually wait a tic. The beginning of Up. There’s an infertility issue, which is really too bad. But then they live a colossally happy life together. I’d rate the guy’s overall life score as above average - even though he chooses to sell balloons, which has made him poor I guess? Like...a childless couple can’t afford a vacation to a waterfall for some reason? The f*** were they spending the balloon money on?

But then she gets old a dies. Was she supposed to live forever?

Is it sad because the human condition is sad when you condense it together or do you actually think this guy lived a bad life? Found love early and lived a full life. Seems ok.

[nocera]

I feel like the themes of Up went over your head like a house with balloons attached to it.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

I feel like the themes of Up went over your head like a house with balloons attached to it.

where is the like button when you need it

[shmenguin]

Lol...the themes. I put it in the PDT (ha).

It’s nice to hear about thematic analysis from folks who liked how game of thrones ended.

But...the themes of up are simple. What the child means...what the adventure means...why would you think this is a gotcha?

[nocera]

When your analysis of Up is "But then she gets old and dies. Was she supposed to live forever?" I think you missed the entire point of the movie.