Bartimaeus Posted November 10 Posted November 10 (edited) The Substance (2024). The perception and treatment of aging women (including by themselves and towards each other!) in the United States is something I've long talked about as being a sad indictment upon our society, and playing off of it with addiction, self-harm, self-loathing, and other neurotic and self-destructive behaviors does make for a natural pairing...but I really just don't like anything about this as a movie, and that became very apparent to me as soon as maybe two minutes in. It's one of those things where you can sit and nitpick all the little minor things that bothered you, but no matter what you could say, it still just wouldn't really touch upon the base issue, which is that you sat through a 2 hour-plus movie where it was perfectly obvious right off the bat that some combination of the direction, editing, tone, visuals, cast et al. was conspiring to make certain that the film wasn't ever going to click with you, so there was no reality where you'd ever enjoy it even if all the themes and ideas should in theory appeal to you. If the same film were made by a different director whose style and film sensibilities I actually like, I think I could've loved this movie...but as it was, I mostly just sat there irritated the whole way through, occasionally wishing I were watching something else a little less obnoxious. Like, I'm sitting here watching probably some of the grossest body horror you'll ever see in a film, and I'm just sighing at all of it, wishing that I was into the film enough for it to have some kind of effect beyond annoying me. Spoiler Well, except for Monstro Elizasue right at the end, that was just funny and a good bit of fun, especially with the juxtaposition against phrases said earlier in the film like "pretty girls always smile". Only bit I can say that I particularly liked. And given that the film really gets down to exactly what it wants to say in the ending, I think that pretty much makes sense: I don't have any issue with what the film is saying, I just don't like the film. Edited November 10 by Bartimaeus 1 Quote How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart. In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.
majestic Posted November 10 Posted November 10 So, do you still like shrimp or has Dennis Quaid managed to turn you off? No mind to think. No will to break. No voice to cry suffering.
Bartimaeus Posted November 11 Posted November 11 1 hour ago, majestic said: So, do you still like shrimp or has Dennis Quaid managed to turn you off? Hey, I can't let a movie I didn't like ruin things I do, otherwise there would very quickly be nothing left to enjoy in this universe. 2 Quote How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart. In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.
Sarex Posted November 11 Posted November 11 "because they filled mommy with enough mythic power to become a demi-god" - KP
Amentep Posted November 11 Posted November 11 I cannot - yet I must. How do you calculate that? At what point on the graph do "must" and "cannot" meet? Yet I must - but I cannot! ~ Ro-Man
LadyCrimson Posted November 12 Posted November 12 (edited) Suzume - well lots of great reviews. I can understand the reviews, but for me it was simply nothing special. Animation is beautiful, and ofc I thought the "cat" chr was a little amusing/interesting in its small (but important) role, but story didn't do much for me and admiring the animation sequences was about it. Maybe I couldn't quite get past the talking chair. Not that there's anything wrong with human-transformed talking chair, any more than a talking cowboy toy. But I never felt like I grew interested in the chr. behind it. Actually, same with most of the chrs. Edited November 12 by LadyCrimson “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
Hurlshort Posted November 12 Posted November 12 We bought a new TV, so I was looking for a fun action movie to break it in with. We tried Infinite with Mark Wahlberg. It looked great on our TV, but it was really bad. We got about 20 minutes in before giving up. We ended up watching Chernobyl on HBO Max. Much better. 1
Gorth Posted November 12 Posted November 12 1 hour ago, Hurlshort said: We bought a new TV, so I was looking for a fun action movie to break it in with. We tried Infinite with Mark Wahlberg. It looked great on our TV, but it was really bad. We got about 20 minutes in before giving up. We ended up watching Chernobyl on HBO Max. Much better. I hear the latter got glowing reviews? 1 “He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein
Amentep Posted November 14 Posted November 14 I cannot - yet I must. How do you calculate that? At what point on the graph do "must" and "cannot" meet? Yet I must - but I cannot! ~ Ro-Man
PK htiw klaw eriF Posted November 17 Author Posted November 17 I saw The Substance several weeks ago and have a review in the pipeline, but I want to watch it again before I pull the trigger. The TL;DR is that it's probably my third favorite movie of 2024, behind The People's Joker and I Saw The TV Glow. In the meantime I saw Rebel Ridge which was just ok. Kinda lame action **** and would have been better if the protagonist.....you know what, I'm not gonna say it because out of context it could get me in legal trouble. There was also many ****ty horror movies because I've been spending time with my mom and she consumes that **** constantly. Nothing in particular sticks out. I did rewatch Phantom of the Paradise (1974) because of the Berserk manga and yeah, it's ****ing great. An incredible blend of Faust and Phantom of the Opera with the decadent 70's rock in the background. Bill Finley is capable of doing more with one eye than some actors can with their whole body and by God De Palma's direction ****ing kills it. This will probably work its way into my top movies of all time. 1 "Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman run the 21st century version of MK ULTRA." - majestic "you're a damned filthy lying robot and you deserve to die and burn in hell." - Bartimaeus "Without individual thinking you can't notice the plot holes." - InsaneCommander "Just feed off the suffering of gamers." - Malcador "You are calling my taste crap." -Hurlshort "thankfully it seems like the creators like Hungary less this time around." - Sarex "Don't forget the wakame, dumbass" -Keyrock "Are you trolling or just being inadvertently nonsensical?' -Pidesco "we have already been forced to admit you are at least human" - uuuhhii "I refuse to buy from non-woke businesses" - HoonDing "feral camels are now considered a pest" - Gorth "Melkathi is known to be an overly critical grumpy person" - Melkathi "Oddly enough Sanderson was a lot more direct despite being a Mormon" - Zoraptor "I found it greatly disturbing to scroll through my cartoon's halfing selection of genitalias." - Wormerine "I love cheese despite the pain and carnage." - ShadySands
Amentep Posted November 18 Posted November 18 On 11/16/2024 at 10:32 PM, PK htiw klaw eriF said: I did rewatch Phantom of the Paradise (1974) because of the Berserk manga ... I have no clue how these two things are connected, but the imagination boggles. I cannot - yet I must. How do you calculate that? At what point on the graph do "must" and "cannot" meet? Yet I must - but I cannot! ~ Ro-Man
PK htiw klaw eriF Posted November 18 Author Posted November 18 1 hour ago, Amentep said: I have no clue how these two things are connected, but the imagination boggles. The design for Femto is heavily inspired the Phantom. 1 "Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman run the 21st century version of MK ULTRA." - majestic "you're a damned filthy lying robot and you deserve to die and burn in hell." - Bartimaeus "Without individual thinking you can't notice the plot holes." - InsaneCommander "Just feed off the suffering of gamers." - Malcador "You are calling my taste crap." -Hurlshort "thankfully it seems like the creators like Hungary less this time around." - Sarex "Don't forget the wakame, dumbass" -Keyrock "Are you trolling or just being inadvertently nonsensical?' -Pidesco "we have already been forced to admit you are at least human" - uuuhhii "I refuse to buy from non-woke businesses" - HoonDing "feral camels are now considered a pest" - Gorth "Melkathi is known to be an overly critical grumpy person" - Melkathi "Oddly enough Sanderson was a lot more direct despite being a Mormon" - Zoraptor "I found it greatly disturbing to scroll through my cartoon's halfing selection of genitalias." - Wormerine "I love cheese despite the pain and carnage." - ShadySands
LadyCrimson Posted November 20 Posted November 20 1st reaction: "No, no, no, NO, no." 2nd reaction: "Have an open mind, have an open mind, it might be good/fun." 3rd reaction: "No, no, no, NO, no." The director is the same. Gerald's playing the dad. Director said there will be some differences vs. a straight 1-1 copy, things that weren't put in the animated originals, although for this teaser it's pretty much showing the 1-1 iconic bits side. And to me Toothless looks weird. I mean it looks like Toothless, but with some super bumpy texture map. Certainly doesn't look like a "live" dragon, even if the actors are humans. And ... it's not NEEDED. Sigh. Hollywood. "Have an open mind, have an open mind, I might enjoy it...." “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
Amentep Posted November 22 Posted November 22 I can't say the trailer did much for me. I cannot - yet I must. How do you calculate that? At what point on the graph do "must" and "cannot" meet? Yet I must - but I cannot! ~ Ro-Man
Bartimaeus Posted Saturday at 11:50 PM Posted Saturday at 11:50 PM The Primevals (2023). Filmed in 1994, but only released last year, was mentioned on RedLetterMedia, and my interest was piqued. Our characters and the story are...unfortunately dross, it's pretty much my least favorite kind of guy protagonist dude story, where our main character has an unhealthy obsession with something - yeti, for this particular movie - and is angry at a world that doesn't share his singular interest or irrational beliefs around them because he's a big dumb dip**** that can't let it go, and he ends up getting rewarded for it because surprise, it turns out that yeti are real, and that the garbage thesis he wrote in university (which was so bad that it actually caused him to fail and get kicked out of his program) about how yetis are totally real despite no evidence combined with his continued obsession on them makes him uniquely qualified to go investigate just how real they are! I genuinely loathe this kind of basis for characters being involved with a story, so the movie and I got off on the wrong foot immediately, and it didn't really get any better from there. Let's just say that while the stop-motion visual effects for the yeti are neat, the rest of the movie is kind of a dumb pile of crap, though I might be biased. 1 Quote How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart. In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.
Amentep Posted Monday at 02:43 PM Posted Monday at 02:43 PM I'm really looking forward to seeing it! I'm not surprised about unlikeable protagonists, a number of Charles Band films have that issue. lol. 1 I cannot - yet I must. How do you calculate that? At what point on the graph do "must" and "cannot" meet? Yet I must - but I cannot! ~ Ro-Man
Bartimaeus Posted Monday at 04:57 PM Posted Monday at 04:57 PM 1 hour ago, Amentep said: I'm really looking forward to seeing it! I'm not surprised about unlikeable protagonists, a number of Charles Band films have that issue. lol. I have to imagine you'll like it a lot better than I did. There's a lot that can be forgiven and I genuinely wanted to be more generous towards it, but...um, I just couldn't, . Quote How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart. In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.
Lexx Posted Monday at 06:49 PM Posted Monday at 06:49 PM (edited) Just watched The Fall Guy. Was a lot better than I expected it to be. Not something I'd see myself rewatching anytime soon, but it was good enough to fill an evening and not regret it. Edited Monday at 06:49 PM by Lexx "only when you no-life you can exist forever, because what does not live cannot die."
ShadySands Posted Monday at 07:20 PM Posted Monday at 07:20 PM We've been watching Christmas movies. Hot Frosty - Ted from Schitt's Creek is a snowman come to life Biltmore Christmas - Movie writer travels through time to find her happy ending Meet Me Next Christmas - Like Serendipity but better but that's not saying much The Merry Gentlemen - A Magic Mike Christmas A Merry Scottish Christmas - Half of a Party of Five (it's really 4 because the baby doesn't count) reunion Christmas That these movies are bad goes without saying but they were enjoyable if you like cheesy Christmas movies and we do Free games updated 3/4/21
Sarex Posted Tuesday at 11:44 PM Posted Tuesday at 11:44 PM Gladiator 2: don't believe what you read on the internet... This film is not good, the best thing I can say about it is that it's mid, but that may be a tad generous. Respect to Denzel for looking good even there. Terrifier 3, I went to keep a friend company. Oh boy was that an experience. At least you don't get bored. "because they filled mommy with enough mythic power to become a demi-god" - KP
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