The Best Musical or Comedy Drama Action Film thread (THIS IS THE GENERAL MOVIE STUFF THREAD)

[Gorth]

Saw Rise of Skywalker last night. It wasn't awful, but... it did feel like one big fanservice session with little to nothing to contribute on it's own whatsoever. Time to find the shovels and bury the franchise for good?

 

Some of the gags and one liners were funny, but not even a shadow of the old "chemistry" between Ford, Hamill and Fisher.

 

Edit: I think they still have to beat General Hospital or some such for long running soap operas, but even if 10 years short, it at least seems to have higher production values

 

[Zoraptor]

As a franchise SW still has a lot of potential, and not just to make Disney $$$.

 

It desperately needs new and better leadership and a proper unifying vision though.

[LadyCrimson]

2 hours ago, Gorth said:

but not even a shadow of the old "chemistry" between Ford, Hamill and Fisher.

Driver and Ridley have been getting praise for their acting in these films as is - and I thought they had some chemistry as yin and yang foils or whatever - which just makes one wish they'd had something more substantial to work/showcase their abilities with.

 

[injurai]

So what I'm hearing is...

Even though I have zero expectations for TRoS...

It will still be underwhelming...

At the end of the day, I'm just happy people with **** tastes provide a livelihood for skilled laborers who essentially make non-essential luxury goods. Every kid needs to feel like they'll grow up to be the hero before the lose all hope when they grow up to realize they live under the Empire.

[Blarghagh]

10 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

*sigh* I fail so hard at linking pictures for some reason, so I have to go primitive on you:

Rey

https://images.app.goo.gl/weFTWBWHBmpQs5Hi7

Greta

https://images.app.goo.gl/rwPripev9QMGYoGC6

Imo, similar eyes, nose, mouth. 

Similar in that they have them, or...? 

[Skarpen]

Watched Rise of Skywalker last night. It was ok, but nothing big. 40% of the movie is retconning the previous movie, 40% fanservice 5% meager attempts at humor which leaves 15% for the actual plot. So which such little time we have many things showed with broad strokes without details or explanation and with the exception of Rey and Kylo the rest of the cast are just inconsequential fluff characters. 

[kirottu]

I just came back from Rise of Skywalker.

I don't know how I feel about this movie. I don't even know if it was good or bad. It's like Schrödinger's cat of Star Wars movies.

[Hurlshort]

I don't understand why so many of you are seeing Star Wars on day 1. You all kind of seem down on it. I mean, I know I will take my kids and have a good time watching lightsaber fights and space battles, but I still don't plan on seeing it until next week some time. What is with the rush towards disappointment?

[injurai]

Must be like public speaking, volunteer to go first just to get it over with

[Gfted1]

7 hours ago, TrueNeutral said:

Similar in that they have them, or...? 

https://images.app.goo.gl/WKp7NmGjyPDL6UM4A

[Gromnir]

2 hours ago, Hurlshot said:

I don't understand why so many of you are seeing Star Wars on day 1. You all kind of seem down on it. I mean, I know I will take my kids and have a good time watching lightsaber fights and space battles, but I still don't plan on seeing it until next week some time. What is with the rush towards disappointment?

have not seen it, but am admitting we will likely be taking in a showing sooner rather than later in spite o' our relative lack o' enthusiasm. am knowing we will see eventual, regardless o' reviews and word of mouth, so is only a matter o' when and not if. unfortunate, as with past star wars films, is gonna become increasing difficult to avoid spoilers the longer we wait.  if there is a surprise or gotcha moment, having been spoiled kinda ruins the intended experience and results in us not able to give the film a fair viewing or assessment. 

literal had force awakens spoilers revealed to us at an online cooking site. "______ dies and it was so sad." wtf. we were looking for alternatives to juniper berries for our cassoulet 'cause is not as if we keep a supply o juniper berries on hand. did not expect a thread on #$%@ing juniper berry alternatives would result in star wars spoilage. sure, we waited more than a month after release to finally see while we were on vacation at one o' the smallest theatres we had ever experienced... ever. waiting a month made spoilers almost a guarantee. however, to get spoiled by our juniper berry search online were kinda surreal.

star wars, like it or not, is a cultural phenomenon. is near impossible to avoid being spoiled save by seeing immediate.

am nevertheless gonna wait a bit, but am realizing every day we wait is increasing chance we accidental read or overhear star wars spoilers.  onus is on Gromnir.

HA! Good Fun!

 

[Amentep]

3 hours ago, Hurlshot said:

I don't understand why so many of you are seeing Star Wars on day 1. You all kind of seem down on it. I mean, I know I will take my kids and have a good time watching lightsaber fights and space battles, but I still don't plan on seeing it until next week some time. What is with the rush towards disappointment?

You're nobody if you can't bitch about something in pop-culture on the internet first... 

[ShadySands]

In our case it's endless hope and a desire to see what happens before hearing about it.

Other than that I really do agree with much of what majestic said. A lot of my attachment to the series is gone so now I think I can just enjoy it as another dumb blockbuster that has little value to me beyond the spectacle.

[Malcador]

5 hours ago, Hurlshot said:

I don't understand why so many of you are seeing Star Wars on day 1. You all kind of seem down on it. I mean, I know I will take my kids and have a good time watching lightsaber fights and space battles, but I still don't plan on seeing it until next week some time. What is with the rush towards disappointment?

Gotta get it over with quickly

[majestic]

54 minutes ago, ShadySands said:

In our case it's endless hope and a desire to see what happens before hearing about it.

Other than that I really do agree with much of what majestic said. A lot of my attachment to the series is gone so now I think I can just enjoy it as another dumb blockbuster that has little value to me beyond the spectacle.

[algroth]

1 hour ago, ShadySands said:

In our case it's endless hope and a desire to see what happens before hearing about it.

In other words, FOMO, which the industry loves to exploit in such event films and so on.

[ShadySands]

I had to google that and am not really sure that's apt

Hope is just a personality flaw I can't quite shake in these cynical times and I generally prefer to watch and read things first hand without prior knowledge of everything to come

[injurai]

Missing out is ****ing rad. Nothing is worse than gauging your experiences, time spend, growth, based on fads. It's so much more enjoyable to sieve through niche but timeless things, and return to those close to you with something valuable to share together. It could be a niche art film, and timeless comedy, a book, public figure's life-story, some weird summer recipe lost to the 70's that you might just end up eating alone.

The only real things I fear missing out on, I end up missing out on due to circumstance and it hardly phases me anymore. (I'm talking mostly about live music here.) Even that isn't the worst, as I can follow my favorite artists over the year through their releases, and mixes.

I'd like to miss out on a whole lot more to be honest, because I track enough things to last me a life time, and that's without even picking up all the history books I'd wish to read.

[Zoraptor]

I disliked TLJ enough that I have zero interest in going out of my way to watch RoS. I'm almost certain not to see it in cinema at all, and since I'm also unlikely to sub to Disney+ any time soon that probably means I'll be waiting until it's on plain old bog standard broadcast television in 2 years.

[majestic]

The best part is their gloss-over explanation for actually having a final big space (sort of) battle.

 

Rebel guy(TM) actually asks why they can't pwn Palpatine's Death Star Laser Star Destroyer Fleet(also TM) with a "Holdo" maneuver and the reason is given as "this was a one in a million hit" - except Palpatine's fleet is "stationed" in the atmosphere of a planet, low enough to be able to breathe unsupported on the hull of the ships. Even a one in a million chance is good enough to actually hit a freaking PLANET with a hyperspace jump, it's not like the shockwave will take care of the rest, ey? Not to mention that Han flew precisely enough to jump behind the Starkiller's shields what seems to be a a few days back.

I'm kind of hoping that Rise of Skywalker will eventually show up on a Best of the Worst episode.

Edited December 21, 2019 by majestic

[Raithe]

I watched Rambo Last Blood the other night. The supposed "final loop in the circle" of the Rambo films.

Very slow paced start, Rambo running a ranch, the half adopted niece he's been raising as he deals with PTSD by building vietcong style tunnels all under his property but generally having found peace with himself.

Then the neice goes on a trip to Mexico to find her real father, gets snatched by some local mexican cartel to be used in the sex slave trade, thus leading to Rambo returning to wreak bloody vengeance...but he doesn't actually.   But by that point half the film has already gone, and then Rambo doesn't actually show that much tactical sense and getting the crap kicked out of him as an aging white guy in areas he shouldn't be in Mexico. It all culminates in a final 30 minute section of a cartel group running across the border to the US to invade Rambo's ranch, and the vietcong-style tunnels showing how much he remembered and got to kill of the invaders.

It had some nice moments, and some very stupid ones. All in all, it felt very unsatisfying.

 

 

[ktchong]

Cats -- a MOVIE -- is receiving "Day One" Patch after its disastrous release:

 

 

Edited December 22, 2019 by ktchong

[algroth]

55 minutes ago, ktchong said:

Cats -- a MOVIE -- is receiving "Day One" Patch after its disastrous release:

 

 

Ridiculous. As Mark Kermode points out in his review, the film was already being re-designed based on the response to the trailer and it's clear that no amount of fine-tuning would make the central conceit any better. The culprit is in the premise itself, not just the execution. Continuing to fiddle around with it at this stage is a textbook definition of "polishing a turd".

 

Edited December 22, 2019 by algroth

[ktchong]

So I watched the first episode of Netflix's The Witcher last night.  

At the end of the first episode, Geralt (the Witcher) fought a "strong, independent" woman, (i.e., a dark, evil version of Snow White, somewhat of a Mary Sue in her own right.) Geralt easily massacred her seven companions, and he clearly outmatched her in their swordfight. During their fight, Geralt slapped her once. He also repeatedly spared her life to let her walk away. Every time he defeated her and could have killed her, he stopped to show her mercy. Yet she stubbornly refused to accept defeat and kept on fighting, kept trying to kill him. At the end of the swordfight, he disarmed her. Then he turned around to walk away, but she pulled out a dagger and dishonorably trying to kill him from the back. That was when he grabbed her dagger -- and slit her throat with her own dagger. That finally ended the fight and her life.

I knew, at that moment, that all the critics and SJW's heads were gonna combust. They were not going to take that scene well: "OMG! A man defeated a strong, independent woman!  That is blasphemy!"   And I knew they would crucify the series and gave really bad reviews for that transgression.

Edited December 22, 2019 by ktchong

[algroth]

1 hour ago, ktchong said:

So I watched the first episode of Netflix's The Witcher last night.  

At the end of the first episode, Geralt (the Witcher) fought a "strong, independent" woman, (i.e., a dark, evil version of Snow White, somewhat of a Mary Sue in her own right.) Geralt easily massacred her seven companions, and he clearly outmatched her in their swordfight. During their fight, Geralt slapped her once. He also repeatedly spared her life to let her walk away. Every time he defeated her and could have killed her, he stopped to show her mercy. Yet she stubbornly refused to accept defeat and kept on fighting, kept trying to kill him. At the end of the swordfight, he disarmed her. Then he turned around to walk away, but she pulled out a dagger and dishonorably trying to kill him from the back. That was when he grabbed her dagger -- and slit her throat with her own dagger. That finally ended the fight and her life.

I knew, at that moment, that all the critics and SJW's heads were gonna combust. They were not going to take that scene well: "OMG! A man defeated a strong, independent woman!  That is blasphemy!"   And I knew they would crucify the series and gave really bad reviews for that transgression.