Cinema and Movie Thread: coming at you at 24fps

[Bartimaeus]

15 hours ago, Raithe said:

To be fair to the 1984 version, it's not the cut that Lynch wanted. He's pretty much refused to talk about the Dune film because of how much interference the studio gave and messed around with what was kept and cut from the film. So he filmed it for a specific vision and then didn't get to edit it to that vision.

Such is the joy of battles between Directors and Studio films.

I thought I read that he had 4 hours of usable footage, but his initial rough cut brought it down to 3 hours, which he submitted to the studio and they were like "this is still too long", so he went back and re-shot some too long/complicated scenes and was able to pare it down to the eventual theatrical cut, which he did approve of. @majestic mentioned "Alan Smithee" directing the film (for anyone who doesn't know, Alan Smithee is the name used by directors not wanting credit for their own film), but that was only the case for the 3 hour TV cut that he didn't have control over. He's rejected Universal's attempts to get him to make a director's cut, and from my own impression of the film, I don't really think there was anything that anyone could've done to save it: there are certainly some cool things in it, but it seemed to be a production that just didn't even nearly satisfactorily come together for various reasons, and no amount of editing or inserting/removing scenes was going to change that. Lynch is kind of the guy known for making things extra long as he feels necessary, so I can't see why in the world he would refuse to make a director's cut if he thought the film could actually be fixed.

9 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

I think she's very beautiful but I don't disagree re: disproportion vs. average. I've (initially/first glance) reacted similarly when someone has the opposite - a very tiny mouth vs. rest of face - as well. We tend to expect certain average measurement points (ratios?) in faces, seemingly beyond only culture bias. It's why a haircut can sometimes dramatically change what others think of appearance - the hairstyle changes perceived ratios.  All kinds of videos/articles/studies on that stuff.

With regards to hair styles, that doesn't surprise me based on my own experiences of how drastically I perceive change in people's faces when they change their hair.

[bugarup]

The Zone of Interest, that one about the Auschwitz commandant's family life. Very disturbing for a film that's about a group of highly unpleasant people doing nothing. That background churning sound was an actor in itself, I hope it got some sort of reward. 

All of us strangers. One of the most horrifying horror films I ever had a dismal pleasure to see. For some reason critics on Internet label this chilling horror as ~emotional drama~ or some sh†t and that really baffles me. (heavy spoilerinos ahead)

Spoiler

There's this sad sack of a dude who cannot get over death of his parents for 30+ years. Understandable and relatable. He's a writer -> good imagination + worst kind of grief -> he manifests his dead folks into some sort of sideways reality. Sad, but not horrifying. Parallelly, dude's neighbour knocks at his door one night, being all drunk and sad and flirty, but Sad Sack closes the door on him, I guess because he's been lonely for time long enough to get used to it and a perspective of human contact spooked him? Also sad and a bit relatable. Anyway, later he changes his mind, hooks up with that neighbour dude and eventually that relationship helps him say goodbye to his ghost mum and dad.  Sweet, right?

Anyway, Sad Sack goes to his bf's apartment to share good news of letting go and guess what he finds there? Why, but a rotting corpse of said bf, what else. Apparently the neighbour, after Sad Sack turned him down that very first night, went home and overdosed on drugs and booze, so Sad Sack, who as we know by now has a very brittle psyche, a) had the whole romance going entirely in his head, b) his survivor guilt is now replaced with "I could have saved a life" one and I honestly do not know which is worse. Try as the ending might to pull wool over eyes with ghost spooning and sad song, Sad Sack is as done as Black Swan's ballerina. How very romantic.

 

So all in all great movie weekend, though I probably should've also replayed SOMA or Pathologic to complete that wondrous sensation of bleak misery. 

[Amentep]

 

[Gorgon]

On 3/16/2024 at 1:07 AM, Sarex said:

It was pretty similar in the book too, if anything they showed more of the battles in the movie.

A movie doesn't run on the same clock as a book though. It seemed comical the way the fremen won the battle and ran straight into the emperors ships and flew off on the great Jihad all in the space of a few minuites.

[Keyrock]

Deep Rising (1998) - A group of soldiers attempts to rob the vault of an ultra luxury cruise ship in the middle of the South China Sea. Unbeknown to them there is another thief already on board the vessel and, more importantly, giant sea monsters. When they arrive on the cruise ship they take part in an Aliens ripoff rather than the Ocean's Eleven ripoff they were planning on.

This movie stars Treat Williams and Famke Janssen and it's good, old fashioned, mid-budget action horror schlock. As mentioned, this movie very much borrows from Aliens; a ragtag paramilitary group fights to survive against monsters while stranded in a remote location. This is maybe the best Aliens ripoff I've seen. It's not as good as Aliens, but it's a thoroughly enjoyable movie. The movie is tense, it's very well paced, the acting is solid, the action is exciting, there is some really awesome gore, and the CGI, while obviously dated, is significantly better than what I expected from a mid-budget movie from 25 years ago. We spend just enough time with the cast and get just enough character development with each of them so that we care about them when the monsters inevitably kill them. Speaking of monsters, the movie does well to display the power and the threat of the monsters without actually revealing them until nearly an hour in, and only a partial reveal at that, the full reveal is almost at the very end.

This is just a good ass movie. I very much recommend it to anyone that likes Aliens and movies like it.

Edited March 19 by Keyrock

[Amentep]

I love Deep Rising, Stephen Sommers film before THE MUMMY (1999). 

That said, they could have not killed Una Damon's character so early as I liked her banter with Kevin J. O'Conner and Treat Williams and it'd have been nice to keep the crew together for longer.

Loads of fun actors in support too (Wes Studi, Jason Flemyng, Anthony Held, and Djimon Hounsou from the top of my head).

[Keyrock]

15 minutes ago, Amentep said:

That said, they could have not killed Una Damon's character so early as I liked her banter with Kevin J. O'Conner and Treat Williams and it'd have been nice to keep the crew together for longer.

Yeah, I too was bummed when she was killed so early on.

[Gfted1]

 

[Sarex]

It looks so bad...

[Keyrock]

Not the worst trailer I've ever seen, plus George Miller is 4 for 4 in this universe... 3 1/2 for 4... I'm more positive on Beyond Thunderdome than most people; it's not a great movie but I've watched in probably 4, 5, maybe even 6 times at this point. It's one of those movies that when I happen by it I'll just watch it and after I'll feel mildly entertained and like I didn't completely waste the previous 2 hours, which is more than I can say about some movies. Anyway, I'm totally down for The VVitch vs Thor, this is the crossover event I didn't know I needed in my life.

I am curious, though, will this movie focus on Furiosa, because it certainly seems so from the trailer. That may seem like a stupid question for a movie called Furiosa, but Max isn't the main character of his own movies. He's the thread that connects them all, but he's just a drifter that passes through people's lives, it's those people who the movies are really about. Max is just some guy and then he's gone. He's more a force of nature than anything.

[Lexx]

Max won't be in this movie at all.

Not sure what to make of the CGI. I do think it looks kinda terrible in some of the trailer scenes. On the other hand, trailer itself doesn't mean that much anyways... Maybe in the actual movie I won't even notice.

[Amentep]

 

[Keyrock]

Tim Burton hasn't made a good movie in nearly 30 years so I'm assuming that Beetlejuice 2 will suck. I'll be quite happy to be proven wrong, but I probably won't.

[InsaneCommander]

 

[LadyCrimson]

Alien: Romulus - this only makes me think of Star Trek.  And the word "nope."  Although, there's always the chance it won't suck ... but still, nah.
I idly wonder however what an Alien and Star Trek universe crossover would be like.  *pause* nvm, just stick with the Borg.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - Hm. Well, the title joke is amusing and at least they have original director/actors involved. And Danny Elfman. I loved the first one back then, it was fun, but not sure my nostalgia wanted more. Although, there's always the chance... <---that's my mantra re: everything, now.

[Zoraptor]

7 minutes ago, LadyCrimson said:

I idly wonder however what an Alien and Star Trek universe crossover would be like.

The last episode/ cliffhanger of Star Trek Strange New Worlds S2 was pretty close to/ derivative of Aliens and one of the 1st season (Ep9 "All Those Who Wander", apparently) pretty derivative of Alien; using Gorn instead of the Aliens. They were both good overall, or excellent for nuTrek.

[LadyCrimson]

   I don't think I'd associate Alien with Gorns, but nuTrek ... are the Gorn something a lot more scary now or something? Besides being very strong I mean.

*google*

...oh.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Sexy Beast (2000)

A stylish and lean crime drama that packs an incredible punch. It's got both Ian McShane and Ben Kingsley in it and they are just incredible, and Ray Winstone nails the look of a retired criminal whose settled down. There's several dreamlike sequences that go into surreal territory which make for a nice break from the slice of life and crime drama parts of the film, sort of acting as a bridge between them. Sound is also completely on point, and there's more than a few scene transitions that will stick with me for a while.

[Hurlshort]

Beetlejuice looks fantastic.

Aliens looks like dumb people will do dumb things, but this time on space station, instead of an alien planet.

[Lexx]

I'm the inverse of this. Alien looks interesting to me, but like Keyrock said, Burton hasn't made a good movie in a bazillion years - don't have any hopes for this one either. At least that new Alien movie is not made by Ridley Scott this time. Pretty much lost all faith in him by now.

Edited March 22 by Lexx

[Amentep]

I think Alien and Beetlejuice sequels look good.  Hoping for the best for both of them.

[Hurlshort]

I know we had this conversation before, but Tim Burton hasn't even made that many movies in the last 30 years, and they've been pretty much all over the map in terms of style and content. The idea that he's somehow lost his mojo seems overstated to me. He's made 12 films since '94 and I'd say the only rough ones were Dark Shadows and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Maybe it's just Johnny Depp?

No doubt Keaton will nail it with Beetlejuice, so I'm probably going to the theaters for this one. 

Edited March 22 by Hurlshort

[Hurlshort]

Roadhouse 2024 - The Patrick Swayze version isn't exactly high art, and this one is on thay same level. It basically relies on a charismatic lead character, which Jake Gyllenhaal is. So he is fun to watch while he punches people, or just looks like he is going to punch people. Connor McGregor is as crazy in the movie as he seems to be in real life. It was very much a peak into Florida life. 

I did hear the director was upset it went straight to streaming. He is wrong. This is a classic direct to DVD type flick. Nothing wrong with that and the production quality was good, but it was silly fun.

[Amentep]

 

 

[Amentep]