The All-Things Cinema thread

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

20 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I'm trying to think what the last "big" live-action blockbuster movie that I've seen was, since I literally never watch stuff like that anymore. I was forced to watch the horrid live action Beauty and the Beast a few years back? ...But that still came out in like 2017, so even that's still some time ago. Emma Watson in a singing role when she can't sing, what brilliant decision-making on the part of Disney. ...Most of The Force Awakens? Oh my, that was in 2015 - hard to believe that was that long ago already. Yeah, I don't think I'm going to go back to watching that kind of crap anytime soon.

I guess for me it was Judas and the Black Messiah, but I don't think that's really the same thing as Star Wars or a Disney flick. I dunno, I was drug to see The Rise of Skywalker (which just like the force awakens, was a remake of one of the original trilogy but dumber) so I guess that's it. Eh, I'm not really interested in that sort of stuff anymore and when I am I'll just watch some silly cartoons, maybe I'm just turning into a curmudgeonly old man prematurely because the pandemic aged me over 20 years.

[Keyrock]

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

I'm trying to think what the last "big" live-action blockbuster movie that I've seen was, since I literally never watch stuff like that anymore. I was forced to watch the horrid live action Beauty and the Beast a few years back? ...But that still came out in like 2017, so even that's still some time ago. Emma Watson in a singing role when she can't sing, what brilliant decision-making on the part of Disney. ...Most of The Force Awakens? Oh my, that was in 2015 - hard to believe that was that long ago already. Yeah, I don't think I'm going to go back to watching that kind of crap anytime soon.

For me I guess it was Thor Ragnarok and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. However, I didn't enjoy it because of the giant CGI action scenes, but rather in spite of them. The performances of Cate Blanchett and Jeff Goldblum carried that movie. Cate is a terrific dramatic actress, but I enjoy it when she's in a role where she gets to ham it up a bit. As for Jeff Goldblum, he chews the scenery so ****ing hard in that movie and it's delightful.

[Amentep]

Eh, CGI is a tool, neither good or bad.  It can be used badly, though, and I think sometimes, to paraphrase Jurassic Park, the filmmakers were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should

I saw Black Widow.  it was okay, but the H2H combat was about what you get from the other Marvel films, IMO.  The strength of the film is really Johansson-Harbor-Pugh-Weiss and their character interplay.  But Ray Winstone's Russian accent was all over the place (possibly a product of reshoots).

[Bartimaeus]

14 minutes ago, Amentep said:

Eh, CGI is a tool, neither good or bad.  It can be used badly, though, and I think sometimes, to paraphrase Jurassic Park, the filmmakers were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should

I saw Black Widow.  it was okay, but the H2H combat was about what you get from the other Marvel films, IMO.  The strength of the film is really Johansson-Harbor-Pugh-Weiss and their character interplay.  But Ray Winstone's Russian accent was all over the place (possibly a product of reshoots).

I've heard that a number of times before and I used to agree, but I'm not sure that I do as much anymore, especially as I've moved almost entirely into watching only either smaller (and usually more independent) films that make little to literally no use of CGI...or straight-up purely animated stuff. I'm usually not watching anything these days that would really have much of a budget for CGI in live-action...but I guess occasionally I do watch something that makes some use of it for odd and ends in a more low-key manner, like The Lighthouse, so there is that.

Edited July 15, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Amentep]

52 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I've heard that a number of times before and I used to agree, but I'm not sure that I do as much anymore, especially as I've moved almost entirely into watching only either smaller (and usually more independent) films that make little to literally no use of CGI...or straight-up purely animated stuff. I'm usually not watching anything these days that would really have much of a budget for CGI in live-action...but I guess occasionally I do watch something that makes some use of it for odd and ends in a more low-key manner, like The Lighthouse, so there is that.

Most modern US films use some CGI, even if its just to eliminate things from the image that shouldn't be there (excepting maybe the most micro-budgeted of independents).

I think the problem can come when the CGI starts to do all the heavy lifting of the film - acting, visual narrative, action etc.  There's something positive to the use of practical effects, in camera images and physical sets that perhaps is lost when your actors, your set and everything else is generated from heavily processed mo-cap and/or out and out in computer creation.  

[Keyrock]

I'm fine with CGI when it's used in concert with practical effects. It's when you have scenes that are entirely computer-generated and actors are just acting in front of a green screen, that's what I have grown to disdain. No matter how good an actor is at reacting to nothing, it's not the same as when there is a tangible object or puppet or another actor in a suit to work with.

[Gromnir]

not a cgi complaint or defense, so apologies, but in the music thread there were a condemnation o' 80s style which we found odd. in one o' those weird synaptic non-sequiturs, we couldn't help but think o' the end credits for buckaroo banzai, which from our admitted skewed and personal notions o' fun and kewlness, were  achieving near pinnacle status w/o the need for any kinda complex practical or cgi effects.

HA! Good Fun!

[Amentep]

But why does Rawhide show up in the end credits...?

[Gromnir]

Just now, Amentep said:

But why does Rawhide show up in the end credits...?

you gonna be the guy to tell clancy brown he can't be in the credits?

that said, the wardrobe change for perfect tommy were the thing which triggered our ocd.

HA! Good Fun!

[Amentep]

I'd forgotten about the wardrobe change.  I really need to watch the whole film again - its been a few years...!

[LadyCrimson]

3 hours ago, Gromnir said:

in the music thread there were a condemnation o' 80s style which we found odd

Condemnation? That's a rather strong turn of phrase. You take me way too seriously at times.

That said

 

[Amentep]

 

 

[Gromnir]

42 minutes ago, LadyCrimson said:

Condemnation? That's a rather strong turn of phrase. You take me way too seriously at times.

That said

 

 

you are as bad as gd.

that said, rest assured, we do not take you serious, if that were a genuine concern. at times bemused? definite. serious? anything but.

HA! Good Fun!

[LadyCrimson]

^ So maybe it's actually that you are not taking me seriously, then I take you too seriously, then you take me seriously (in a certain way), then I don't take you seriously, then you don't take me seriously either and then I take you seriously ... this could get worse than a badly written time loop!

Anyway ... that scene with Eddie Murphy is funny yet kind of ironic (?), because in his stand up specials Delirious (before BH Cop) and Raw (after BH Cop), he dressed almost like that on stage. I always saw that scene as him poking self-aware fun at both that trend and himself. Or something.

Edited July 17, 2021 by LadyCrimson

[BruceVC]

1 hour ago, LadyCrimson said:

^ So maybe it's actually that you are not taking me seriously, then I take you too seriously, then you take me seriously (in a certain way), then I don't take you seriously, then you don't take me seriously either and then I take you seriously ... this could get worse than a badly written time loop!

Anyway ... that scene with Eddie Murphy is funny yet kind of ironic (?), because in his stand up specials Delirious (before BH Cop) and Raw (after BH Cop), he dressed almost like that on stage. I always saw that scene as him poking self-aware fun at both that trend and himself. Or something.

Now I am utterly confused....who is taking who too seriously 

Gromnir doesn't discern humor very well, its well known and generally he takes things as a real point and doesnt recognize when someone is just joking 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irresistible_(2020_film)

But more importantly I watched this highly recommended movie last night. Its a parody on the current state of the US political landscape and its hilarious and accurate in some of its framing of how political parties sometimes conduct themselves

Its got some  of the actors from " The Office " in it so you know it will be good 

[Keyrock]

I watched The Mystery of Chessboxing, this is my 3rd or 4th time watching this movie; it absolutely still holds up. Ghost Face Killer is such a badass villain; no one can ever top White Brows in terms of wuxia villains, but Ghost Face Killer ranks highly.  A generous amount of training montage goodness always makes me happy. It's interesting that the movie has 2 comedy characters, one a villain and the other the main hero. The comedy character is more often than not one of the hero's friends and/or classmates. The dynamic works here. There are some pretty noticeable cuts in the action, but I'm willing to forgive that when the fight choreography is this spectacular. I can't expect them to consistently get scenes this intricately choreographed in 1 take. The final battle is freakin' awesome and, in true wuxia fashion, the movie freeze frames and ends immediately when the death blow is landed.

[Gromnir]

6 hours ago, BruceVC said:

 

Gromnir doesn't discern humor very well, its well known and generally he takes things as a real point and doesnt recognize when someone is just joking 

 

the problem is we got a good bs detector. just a couple examples, but ask self, where is true neutral or sharp_one? we confronted 'em 'bout their s'posed jokes, and they got angry. clear their jokes were more serious than claimed or they wouldn't have had their little apoplectic events. fact gd says he is joking 'bout they are all bad, then defending that very same point in multi-page threads over and over again is not a particular strong defense that he is joking, yes? sure, he finds funny that the right or the left doesn't realize like he does that they are all corrupt, but he is in fact quite serious 'bout the point that they is all bad.

bruce ain't been paying attention. 

and no, we don't take lcrimson serious. am self aware enough not to make rocket's mistake. 

HA! Good Fun!

ps added the movie clip to keep relevant to the thread. 

[InsaneCommander]

The Wheel of Time Is Getting a Movie Trilogy Now, Too.

An Age of Legends trilogy. There is barely enough material for that so it could be good or another GoT S8. Ok, maybe not necessarily as bad as that, but three movies? Doesn't sound like a good idea o me.

[BruceVC]

1 hour ago, InsaneCommander said:

The Wheel of Time Is Getting a Movie Trilogy Now, Too.

An Age of Legends trilogy. There is barely enough material for that so it could be good or another GoT S8. Ok, maybe not necessarily as bad as that, but three movies? Doesn't sound like a good idea o me.

Lets be positive ....lets say cautiously optimistic. That way we cant be disappointed if the trilogy is a disappointment, its  a win win  

[Raithe]

24 minutes ago, BruceVC said:

Lets be positive ....lets say cautiously optimistic. That way we cant be disappointed if the trilogy is a disappointment, its  a win win  

The trouble is, that the people behind Red Eagle are apparently involved in the movies, and it is going to be somewhat uninvolved with the tv series adaption.

The first movie will be set several millennia before the time of the books, in a period known as the “Age of Legends”— a futuristic utopia powered by a magical force shared by men and women known as the “One Power.” When an unspeakable evil is unleashed upon the world, civilization descends into chaos, and war blankets the globe. When men using the One Power become insane and destroy much of the planet, a small band of women unite under the White Tower, and are humanity’s last hope of survival.

Screenwriter Zack Stentz (Thor, X-Men: First Class, Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous) will take on screenwriting duties for the first film. “I’ve been a fan of Robert Jordan’s work for many years, and it is especially his allusions to the origins and backstory of The Wheel of Time that I have always found most intriguing. I’m excited to be bringing this era Robert Jordan conceptualized to life,” Stentz said in a statement. “A fusion of the fantasy and science-fiction genres, the Age of Legends is a tale of paradise lost, as a futuristic Garden of Eden devolves into a dangerous and broken world.”

[Bartimaeus]

Belle de Jour AKA Beauty of the Day (1967). Did not realizes Luis Bunuel was the director of this until after I'd seen it - I've seen his Exterminating Angel and Viridiana as well. Exterminating Angel I couldn't really get into at all because it was like social commentary specific to the place and time it was made in and did not really offer much in the way of anything else or so I thought, but I did love Viridiana - this one was more in between the two. Wish I'd liked it a little better, but this result was predictable as soon as I figured out what kind of character the singular protagonist (who plays a young, unaffectionate wife that's attempting to learn how to...love her husband, no matter the cost) was going to be playing. She's basically in a perpetual state of great inner conflict that unfortunately reduces her to a sort of wishy-washy incomprehensibility where she's confident yet meek, totally into what she's doing yet still full of "oh, I couldn't possibily!"s, etc., and completely unable to deal with the consequences of her own inanity. Although a pretty different kind of movie that also wasn't necessarily as exciting or Hollywood-ish, I appreciated Jeanne Dielman (1975) a bit more which tackles some of the same general subject matter.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Raithe]

Why 1994's The Shadow Starring Alec Baldwin Is Worth Watching (collider.com)

Sometimes you have to go back to the classics...

[Amentep]

11 hours ago, Raithe said:

Why 1994's The Shadow Starring Alec Baldwin Is Worth Watching (collider.com)

Sometimes you have to go back to the classics...

Ugh...that article...ugh.  Not saying the film isn't worth watching as I enjoyed it (even took my parents to see it, the last film they saw in theaters), but I take issue with the article anyway.

• I wouldn't consider the film a satire.  Not that it isn't funny, but to me the funniness is built on character and situation in the film (for example the Brooks Brothers dialogue between Cranston and Khan).
• "It’s written as what a child’s perception of a tough guy would be, a clever interpretation of a character originally created as a “darker” take on a costumed character that was still aimed at children." This line is almost nonsensical, but if I parse what its saying correctly, its wrong.  The character wasn't originally created as 'a darker take on a costumed character that was still aimed at children', he was created because Street & Smith wanted a radio show to advertise their Detective Stories Magazine and the narrator they created proved to be popular (people showing up at the newsstand asking for that 'shadow' magazine).  Note that the Shadow predates what we think of costumed superheroes (5 years before THE PHANTOM in comic strips, 7 years before SUPERMAN in comic books) and would only have literary and film antecedents of people with disguised personas (Scarlett Pimpernel, Zorro) and a few literary proto-superheroes (Hugo Danner from Wylie's GLADIATOR), with possibly the most direct antecedent being from French cinema (Judex; however I'm not sure how strong that connection really is).  We can argue all day long about who the pulps were aimed at, but I wouldn't say the were particularly aimed at children; Detective Stories Magazine almost certainly wasn't; a hero pulp like The Shadow most likely was aimed at teens and young men, not kids specifically (even if kids ended up reading them).  Many pulps were probably too lurid in subject matter for kids to read with their parent's knowledge.
• "Margo Lane ... easily sees through Baldwin’s outwards personna (sic) and uncover (sic) his secret."  Because she's latently telepathic.  Not saying the character isn't good or anything, but the sentence implies a savviness the character didn't have, particularly given that she's confused about what is going on for much of the film.  That said Baldwin and Miller sell the connection and generally speaking the cast is great (Tim Curry, Ian McKellen, and John Lone are mentioned in the article, but Peter Boyle and Jonathan Winters (plus a number of good actors in smaller parts).
• "With Highlander the precision of the sword fights made sense given the film’s focus on ancient warriors, and in The Shadow it is effective given the more primitive early television stunt work the film is emulating." - Wut?  Where did television ever enter into this?  At worst it could be seen as emulating the work of earlier film serials (there were 4 Shadow serials) and maybe 30s Crime Drama films (2 Shadow films were made in the 30s).  Not really sure where the television comes in at (early television didn't have the kind of stunt work you might see in the mid-to-late 50s and most of that is because of the studio serial production units becoming tv production units).
• "...the credits song “Original Sin” from Taylor Dunne surprisingly fit within the nostalgic soundtrack." It's Taylor DAYNE.  Also points off to Universal for allowing the Original Sin music video to show the end of the film.  But the soundtrack is good (just don't know why anyone would okay the end of the film footage for the official music video).

[Raithe]

I've been on a bit of a bumpf on my classic pulp call back films. So even when there are glitches or I disagree with some comments made, I do like to re-post and share links to folks who are showing the love for them.

It's one of my geek things that I'm always surprised by how few people are aware of The Shadow and that early genre.

Orson Welles chuckle...

 

[Amentep]

"The Weed of Crime bears Bitter Fruit!"

I love the pulp heroes (Shadow, Doc Savage, The Avenger, and The Spider particularly, but I've read a few others).  

That said I'm not really all that surprised about the lack of knowledge of the characters.  Their original runs all ended in the late 1940s or earlier (73+years ago), the lass mass market reprints ended in the late 1980s or 90s (25+ years ago) and while there have been comic adaptions, they've been lost in the glut of superhero comics in the specialty shops (it doesn't help that - at least IMO - most of these weren't very good, either).

The fact that the last attempt for movies for The Shadow and Doc Savage seem to have both went to development hell means that there really hasn't been a lot of ways younger folk can find the characters. Character need to constantly have something come before the public eyes to continue being a part of the public pop culture.