The All-Things Cinema thread

[Guest]

41 minutes ago, majestic said:

I'm having a hard time coming up with a top 10 list.

I had my girlfriend watch The Fountain, 21 Grams, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind when we first started dating, just to see if we were going to be movie-compatible. I think that's the closest thing I have to a top 10 list.

[Amentep]

35 minutes ago, Sarex said:

My guilty pleasure is so guilty I couldn't bring myself to post it. I need to rewatch that movie and see if I will cringe as much as I think I will.

My biggest guilty pleasure is probably Disney's THE BLACK HOLE. 

Yes, the science is wrong. Yes characters walk through space without space suits (apparently some were built, but like Alien the suits fogged up and made it impossible to see so they ditched them), yes its clear that they hadn't planned the end, yes no one was fooled by not putting Roddy McDowall and Slim Pickens' name in the credits and yes Yvette Mimieux looked ridiculous in the perm given to her so they didn't have to worry about her hair in weightlessness...

...and yet I love the initial mystery. The ships, the Cygnus and Palomino are great (the Cygnus may be my favorite movie spaceship of all time). The take on the robots is great, with a whole robotic subsociety hinted at.  The idea of robotic-human telepathy is a proto-cyberpunk idea (and was Reinhardt driven mad by trying to forge his own connection with Maxmillian?) The cast is top notch late 70s casting - Maxmillian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Mimieux, Earnest Borgnine, McDowall and Pickens, Robert Forster and Joseph Bottoms.

I've probably watched the film every 2-3 years since it came out on home media.

[Raithe]

3 minutes ago, Achilles said:

I had my girlfriend watch The Fountain, 21 Grams, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind when we first started dating, just to see if we were going to be movie-compatible. I think that's the closest thing I have to a top 10 list.

I've introduced several girls to Cary Grant films - both the original screwball rom-coms and the more action/thriller-Hitch**** ones and they've ended up fairly addicted. Maybe I have a knack for picking them, or maybe those films are just universally appealing.

 

And re: The Black Hole just wins on those visuals for the time...

 

Edited October 14, 2021 by Raithe

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Raithe said:

I've introduced several girls to Cary Grant films - both the original screwball rom-coms and the more action/thriller-Hitch**** ones and they've ended up fairly addicted. Maybe I have a knack for picking them, or maybe those films are just universally appealing.

Funny enough, more than a few of the ones she sent me had Cary Grant in them (I think I only needed Philadelphia Story to pass)

[majestic]

1 minute ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yeah, I wasn't going to get into animated stuff, since most people in here wouldn't have any idea what any of it was, plus animated stuff is a pretty different medium from live-action. But yes, Whisper of the Heart is the best Ghibli...followed by Only Yesterday, and then Grave of the Fireflies, . But everything else you said that wasn't Sakura were all terrible choices. How embarrassing!

I don't really buy that you've seen either Wanted or Indien, so I'll just disregard that last statement there.

Whisper of the Heart isn't just the best Ghibli film, it's legitimately one of the best films I had the pleasure of watching, even with that not so great ending. Have you watched Dark Star yet and not posted about it? That bad? Did it get turned off?

I also realized by reading the other posts that I forgot Memento. Yes, the film is by far and large "just" its gimmick, but that worked surprisingly well. It's Nolan's best film, and the only one I would truly consider excellent. The others all have issues, even though everyone seems to love The Prestige, for instance. Inception was fine-ish, great visuals, but there's something off about DiCaprio's and Ellen Page's acting, or maybe I'm projecting something on Ellen Page there. 

Guess compared to the rest of the DC movies the Batman films were decent enough, but even them... eh, dunno. Begins was all right, the others increasingly confusing, and the last one pretty bleh.

6 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

...I'm trying to think of what the movie I've watched the most is, not accounting for stuff I watched a lot as a young kid just because it was on. Most of the movies I listed I've seen between 1 and 2 times...I guess I've seen 12 Monkeys and Heathers around 4-5 times, so probably those. I don't make a habit of re-watching stuff very often.

Here's the funny thing - as a general rule, I don't rewatch much either. It took me close to 25 years to have another go at Sailor Moon. Having seen Star Wars as much as I did comes from a time where I had a lot of free time, only a handful of video tapes, two channels on TV (neither of which showed anything worthwhile for me, at the time) and a good bunch of books that I already went through twice. They were my Frozen, I guess.

[Amentep]

You can't go wrong with Cary Grant most of the time. Well, maybe hold off on WALK, DON'T RUN.

I also should mention John Barry's wonderful THE BLACK HOLE soundtrack, another reason to love the film.

[Keyrock]

Fun Fact: The Black Hole gave me nightmares when I was a wee lad.

[majestic]

12 minutes ago, Achilles said:

I had my girlfriend watch The Fountain, 21 Grams, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind when we first started dating, just to see if we were going to be movie-compatible. I think that's the closest thing I have to a top 10 list.

It's a bit weird to say I'm having a hard time coming up with a top ten and then ramble on about the many movies that didn't make the list, but there are only so many that really stand out for some reason, and not many at all are readily explainable. There's no real reason why I should like Dark Star so much, yet I do.

My wife is absolutely not movie or TV show compatible with me. Didn't stop us though. She hates almost everything I watch. It's kind of funny, actually.

edit:

The Black Hole is a film I regret rewatching. It wasn't nearly as good as I remembered it to be. Eh.

Edited October 14, 2021 by majestic

[Raithe]

2 minutes ago, majestic said:

The Black Hole is a film I regret rewatching. It wasn't nearly as good as I remembered it to be. Eh.

Next you'll say the same about Flash Gordon.

 

[Amentep]

GORDON'S ALIVE?!?!????!!!!

[majestic]

1 minute ago, Raithe said:

Next you'll say the same about Flash Gordon.

Most likely not. I can't rewatch what I haven't seen, right? I assume you mean the movie, not the black and white serial, because that was pretty goofy.

[Bartimaeus]

14 minutes ago, majestic said:

don't really buy that you've seen either Wanted or Indien, so I'll just disregard that last statement there.

I don't think I saw literally anything else that you mentioned that wasn't Star Wars or The Thing, but you did mention a lot of things, so don't quote me on that, .

14 minutes ago, majestic said:

Begins was all right, the others increasingly confusing, and the last one pretty bleh.

My feelings on Nolan's Batmans were that I liked Begins, Dark Knight is close enough to it if a little difficult to follow, and the last one felt like a significant step down in literally every way possible to the point where I didn't like it at all.

Speaking of Frozen, I've seen Frozen a handful of times of my own free will as well - it helped re-kindle some interest in animation after a looong vacation from it, after being starved out by Disney's very lacklustre 2000s and my long-held general dislike for Pixar and the kind of material they put up.

Edited October 14, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Bartimaeus]

13 minutes ago, majestic said:

Whisper of the Heart isn't just the best Ghibli film, it's legitimately one of the best films I had the pleasure of watching, even with that not so great ending. Have you watched Dark Star yet and not posted about it? That bad? Did it get turned off?

Yeah. I mean, no. ...No, I haven't seen Dark Star yet, that was going to be the next one, but I was persuaded by someone not on these forums to change my pick to Little Trouble in Big China, which unfortunately turned out to be a ludicrously terrible idea. Not sure when/if that'll happen. Also, yes, Whisper of the Heart, .

Edited October 14, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Amentep]

I like some Pixar, but a number of their films seem just to be maudlin.

[Raithe]

6 minutes ago, majestic said:

Most likely not. I can't rewatch what I haven't seen, right? I assume you mean the movie, not the black and white serial, because that was pretty goofy.

This calls for an emergency trailer.

 

[majestic]

1 minute ago, Bartimaeus said:

I don't think I saw literally anything else that you mentioned that wasn't Star Wars or The Thing, but you did mention a lot of things, so don't quote me on that, .

There are some worthwhile things in there, regardless. I mean, obviously, you should not try Masters of the Universe, that's the epitome of bad 80ies action shlock and it's not even liked by anyone appreciating such things. Just by me. Well, and maybe @Raithe who understands the greatness that is Skeletor in the film.

3 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

My feelings on Nolan's Batmans were that I liked Begins, Dark Knight is close enough to it if a little difficult to follow, and the last one felt like a significant step in literally every way possible to the point where I didn't like it at all.

I can agree with that, more or less (Dark Knight was too messy for me). Begins had the easy task of measuring up to the prior Batman failures, so hey, not sure how much that... worked in its favor. Probably a lot.

5 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Speaking of Frozen, I've seen Frozen a handful of times as well - it helped re-kindle some interest in animation after a looong vacation from it, after being starved out by Disney's very lacklustre 2000s and my general dislike for Pixar and their material.

Fun fact, I haven't seen it at all. My nephew's go-to film was Cars, and I've seen that a god damned amount of time, and I consider Cars to be the... most wanting of the Pixar films, out of which I liked A Bug's Life and Finding Nemo, and A Bug's Life was more due to the improvement over prior computer animated films.

I don't think I've watched any Western animation films since Finding Nemo. Not counting being subjected to Cars, I mean. Well, the Steven Universe movie, so that's one at least.

[majestic]

12 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yeah. I mean, no. ...No, I haven't seen Dark Star yet, that was going to be the next one, but I was persuaded by someone not on these forums to change my pick to Little Trouble in Big China, which unfortunately turned out to be a ludicrously terrible idea. Not sure when/if that'll happen. Also, yes, Whisper of the Heart, .

Ah, I see. There's a goodly chance that Dark Star will turn out to be a bad idea either, but at least you're not going to be annoyed by any action.

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, Amentep said:

I like some Pixar, but a number of their films seem just to be maudlin.

My kids were becoming "theatre-ready" just as Pixar was really hitting their stride. Compared to a lot of other "family fare", Pixar was just shy of godliness.

Sadly, I think they've become more of a hit-and-miss studio, but nothing lasts forever, I suppose.

[Amentep]

5 minutes ago, majestic said:

There are some worthwhile things in there, regardless. I mean, obviously, you should not try Masters of the Universe, that's the epitome of bad 80ies action shlock and it's not even liked by anyone appreciating such things. Just by me. Well, and maybe @Raithe who understands the greatness that is Skeletor in the film.

It's a fun film. Langella's Skeletor is great - you can tell he's enjoying it. Hyper-Skeletor aka God Skeletor is a cool design, Meg Foster is a great Evil Lyn, Billy Barty us his usual reliable self as Gwildor and Dolph isn't bad as He-Man...

[Raithe]

5 minutes ago, majestic said:

Ah, I see. There's a goodly chance that Dark Star will turn out to be a bad idea either, but at least you're not going to be annoyed by any action.

 

[Amentep]

1 minute ago, Achilles said:

My kids were becoming "theatre-ready" just as Pixar was really hitting their stride. Compared to a lot of other "family fare", Pixar was just shy of godliness.

Sadly, I think they've become more of a hit-and-miss studio, but nothing lasts forever, I suppose.

I liked the first Toy Story, disliked the second, loved The Incredibles, liked A Bug's Life and Ratatouille, thought Monsters, Inc, Cars and Finding Nemo was okay, outright hated WALL-E and UP, after which they stopped being must see films for me.

[Bartimaeus]

26 minutes ago, Amentep said:

I like some Pixar, but a number of their films seem just to be maudlin.

A few big problems for me with Pixar: 1. I seem to never feel any kind of emotional connection with their characters. This may be because they overwhelmingly prefer young male protagonists, which I have previously noted a number of times as being anathema for me. Between the time Pixar was founded and the time Frozen came out, they had exactly...one? female protagonist, and that was in Brave, and Brave... 2. Their worlds/settings are utterly fantastic without even the slightest bit of being grounded that severs any ability for me to treat them the least bit seriously. Disney may have really annoying animal companions that are way too human for their own good, but that's something I can at least kind of head canon away if I'm invested in the other characters and the world. 3. The structure and emotional cores of their stories are very formulaic, and while this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's pretty serious when nothing else in their films really interest or grab me. 4. Their character art style is generally hideous, and while that shouldn't really matter, and I am a noted art style snob. ...There are probably other things, but these are the biggest things that constantly annoy me about their films. The only Pixar film I really like is WALL-E, and it has all sorts of problems that I'm going to completely overlook because it's the only one I really like, . (e): Perfect timing with Amentep saying he hates WALL-E, .

22 minutes ago, majestic said:

god damned [...] Cars

I'm so sorry.

Edited October 14, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Amentep]

Brave didn't have a sequel; I guess Joy (in Inside Out) and Dory (in Finding Dory) were their next Female main leads.

[Bartimaeus]

11 minutes ago, Amentep said:

Brave didn't have a sequel; I guess Joy (in Inside Out) and Dory (in Finding Dory) were their next Female main leads.

And I disliked Finding Nemo back even when I saw it right after it came out so I am not particularly tempted to try Finding Dory (especially since I didn't have positive memories of her as a character from having seen Finding Nemo), and I have been told by others repeatedly to watch Inside Out...but I never got around to it, .

14 minutes ago, Amentep said:

UP

I like the first ~5 minutes of Up, but I couldn't tell you about the rest of it because I think I fell asleep watching it. Something about...a bird...and a talking dog.

Edited October 14, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

4 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

(e): Perfect timing with Amentep saying he hates WALL-E, .

Looks like I lied with my assessment there. I have seen WALL-E too. It was fine. 

10 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I'm so sorry.

I felt like that poor tractor. More than once.

 

18 minutes ago, Amentep said:

It's a fun film. Langella's Skeletor is great - you can tell he's enjoying it. Hyper-Skeletor aka God Skeletor is a cool design, Meg Foster is a great Evil Lyn, Billy Barty us his usual reliable self as Gwildor and Dolph isn't bad as He-Man...

It also never bothered me that it plays mostly on Earth - or that they visit Earth at all. I watched the He Man cartoons when they were on, but there was always something else I liked more.