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Posted

Since we're on the subject of Terry Gilliam and Brazil, I'll also go ahead and make a weird rec in case it interests you guys. If you liked the overall tone and style of Brazil, and enjoy surrealism and the absurd in general, I'd also very eagerly recommend a Polish film called The Hour-Glass Sanatorium, directed by Wojciech Jerzy Has. It's surprising to see just how acutely this film seems to predict Gilliam's style, a whole decade earlier than the likes of Brazil or The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (also superb in case you haven't seen it yet). A copy of it can be found on YouTube though I'm not sure I'm allowed to post it here, so here's a fragment instead:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_dro2RL0lU

My Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/alephg

Currently playing: Roadwarden

Posted

Hey, if we're allowed to post song videos uploaded by people who don't own the copyrights, I don't see any reason we shouldn't be allowed to post movie videos uploaded by people who don't own the rights. :)

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.

Posted

Really enjoyed Star Trek Beyond. They could bring in the alien girl to replace Chekov in a sequel.

The area between the balls and the butt is a hotbed of terrorist activity.

Devastatorsig.jpg

Posted

Zootopia, pretty good film. And now I see that Kung Fu Panda 3 is also on Netflix, so that's next.

"Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater."
Posted

Into Darkness. Inexplicably moving up the list three spots to fifth-best behind Wrath of Khan, Voyage Home, Nemesis, and Beyond. Followed by, since you asked, Generations, Star Trek 2009, Undiscovered Country, Search for Spock, First Contact, Insurrection, The Motion Picture, and Final Frontier. 

All Stop. On Screen.

Posted (edited)

The Birds (1963).

 

I was...not very impressed, to be honest. The best and worst part of this film was Tippi Hedren - the best because she's enjoyable to watch (and listen to!) for the most part, the worst because I find it somewhat unbearable for an otherwise strong female protagonist to instantly go into either hysterics or a catatonic state at the slightest sign of danger, both of which she does plenty of throughout this movie. Gosh dang, that gets annoying real quick. Is it a Hitch**** thing, or simply a product of the times? Why are all the female characters (...children included) in this movie totally losing their minds instantly whenever there's danger? How the heck did people think that was a good idea? ...But besides that, I guess it was a decent movie.

 

Thank you for censoring "Hitch****", Obsidian forums. These word filters really need to be improved...:p

Edited by Bartimaeus
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.

Posted (edited)

Into Darkness. Inexplicably moving up the list three spots to fifth-best behind Wrath of Khan, Voyage Home, Nemesis, and Beyond. Followed by, since you asked, Generations, Star Trek 2009, Undiscovered Country, Search for Spock, First Contact, Insurrection, The Motion Picture, and Final Frontier. 

 

I've never seen any of the movies, but I've (very casually and somewhat incidentally) seen a lot of the shows (the original series and TNG) - are they generally considered better/the pinnacle of the series, or what?

Edited by Bartimaeus
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.

Posted

I don't particularly think the movies are better than TNG as a whole but they make decent companion pieces. I do however think the TOS movies are probably more watchable if not actually better than the series they are based on if for no other reason than being 20 years newer and much bigger budget

 

The pinnacle of Trek to me was DS9, which never got a movie, as it was more ambitious with the narrative but I believe the general consensus is that TNG is the best 

 

I've been meaning to rewatch all the TOS movies so thanks for the reminder

 

PS I find the "New Trek" movies to be entertaining but somewhat hollow

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Free games updated 3/4/21

Posted

I don't think there is a consensus on whether TNG or DS9 was the better series. I know I preferred DS9. The movies were largely pretty good in my opinion, though the Motion Picture and Final Frontier were pretty terrible.

  • Like 1
The area between the balls and the butt is a hotbed of terrorist activity.

Devastatorsig.jpg

Posted

The Birds (1963).

 

I was...not very impressed, to be honest. The best and worst part of this film was Tippi Hedren - the best because she's enjoyable to watch (and listen to!) for the most part, the worst because I find it somewhat unbearable for an otherwise strong female protagonist to instantly go into either hysterics or a catatonic state at the slightest sign of danger, both of which she does plenty of throughout this movie. Gosh dang, that gets annoying real quick. Is it a Hitch**** thing, or simply a product of the times? Why are all the female characters (...children included) in this movie totally losing their minds instantly whenever there's danger? How the heck did people think that was a good idea? ...But besides that, I guess it was a decent movie.

 

Thank you for censoring "Hitch****", Obsidian forums. These word filters really need to be improved... :p

 

Arguably its a product of its time (or perhaps, more simply, a product of the time that Hitch**** was from; he was born at the tail end of the Victorian era after all).  That said I'm not sure how "strong" Melanie is supposed to be - she starts the movie as an irresponsible, prank-loving socialite who hasn't really dealt with any serious problems.  That said, she does pretty well for herself (getting through the attack at the school and the attack at the diner).  Its only after she gets attacked at the home (where she's left with the birds for an unknown amount of time) that she goes into shock (as an aside, Hedren, under the strain of an overworked shooting schedule and Hitch**** using (and having crew throw) live birds at her for the final attack, collapsed and was wisely given a week off to rest and recover; I've always wondered if it effected the end scene at all).

 

While they all have moments of fear, I'd argue that Melanie, Lydia, Cathy and Annie all deal with the situation about as well as Mitch does.

  • Like 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

Posted

I wouldn't say the attack at the diner would be the best example of "doing pretty well for herself": she loses her mind in the phone booth for no real reason. It's so incredibly painful to sit through scenes like that, when there's no real explanation for why a person, especially her (since she literally just got done telling everyone in the diner about the attacks, and she'd powered through a couple already), would act like that. I guess it's part of the genre, but eugh. I think Annie was probably the strongest of the women, but she died off screen somehow while we were left with the sniveling child...so that sucked. Annoying and poorly written and/or acted child actors/actresses...o' how I loathe thee, especially when it's a combination of all three.

 

...You'll note, based on the various things I've written in this topic, that I'm not really the sort of person that easily ignores the things I don't like, sadly. :p

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.

Posted

I saw Dr. Strange on Friday. Good, not great. At no previous point in the Marvel films has the existence of a formula felt so obvious. My biggest complaint is about the titular characters arc. It's not believable. Not because I don't see why he changed, but because I never really felt where he started off. The Surgeon Strange never felt like a real person to me. So when he changed, for very little reason, it didn't matter much.

 

Still, it was a good film. And the way the villain is defeated was simply fantastic.

 

It also sets up what I hope to be one of Marvel's next great villains. Because the villain of this one was terribly shortchanged. Rumor is that Mads Mikkelsen had a bunch of scenes cut and I buy it. There's something in the existing dialogue and portrayal that hints at depth for the character well beyond what we got.

"Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater."
Posted

I'm looking forward to Doctor Strange. Not necessarily the biggest fan of the MCU (definitely agree that their films feel like they are sticking very closely to a formula) but I enjoy the character and the general premise does give some room for some great visuals and interesting ideas. Unfortunately, it's not out in Argentina till the last week of November. Any chance I can ask people to warn beforehand if they're gonna write spoilers for it?

My Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/alephg

Currently playing: Roadwarden

Posted

As far as generic blockbuster action movies go, I have to say I really like the MCU movies. They are unabashedly generic, and geared towards huge demographics but, for all the watering down that entails, the movies are really well done for what they are, even the worst ones like Thor and Hulk.

 

MCU movies are certainly much better than any Michael Bay movie, for example.

  • Like 1

"My hovercraft is full of eels!" - Hungarian tourist
I am Dan Quayle of the Romans.
I want to tattoo a map of the Netherlands on my nether lands.
Heja Sverige!!
Everyone should cuffawkle more.
The wrench is your friend. :bat:

Posted

I personally don't think Whedon's The Avengers is much better than a Michael Bay movie (it shares many parallels with them actually), but overall I'm in agreement. I watch them because most are entertaining enough... I just wish they'd be a little more, and coming from a time in which the likes of Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy films and (despite all the franchise's inconsistencies) Bryan Singer's X-Men series already existed and dominated the medium, one does sort of expect that to be the case. But they are in the end films made for the widest commercial appeal possible, and for what they are they are usually very reliable and consistent.

 

Personally I'm much more interested with the Defenders side of the MCU - that's where the meat and ambition of the franchise seems to be going, and so far the series have been pretty great.

My Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/alephg

Currently playing: Roadwarden

Posted

 

Is missing the Major's veil to make it look believable

Why has elegance found so little following? Elegance has the disadvantage that hard work is needed to achieve it and a good education to appreciate it. - Edsger Wybe Dijkstra

Posted (edited)

I wouldn't say the attack at the diner would be the best example of "doing pretty well for herself": she loses her mind in the phone booth for no real reason. It's so incredibly painful to sit through scenes like that, when there's no real explanation for why a person, especially her (since she literally just got done telling everyone in the diner about the attacks, and she'd powered through a couple already), would act like that. I guess it's part of the genre, but eugh. I think Annie was probably the strongest of the women, but she died off screen somehow while we were left with the sniveling child...so that sucked. Annoying and poorly written and/or acted child actors/actresses...o' how I loathe thee, especially when it's a combination of all three.

 

...You'll note, based on the various things I've written in this topic, that I'm not really the sort of person that easily ignores the things I don't like, sadly. :p

She recovers from the phone booth pretty well and I think defends herself in the diner well.

 

Always bugged me that Annie got killed off screen, to be honest, given that she seemed pretty savvy and aware of what's going on. Her dearh seemed to warrant a better justification.

 

As for kid actors, Veronica Cartwright was one of the better ones (and ~15 years later would do well in INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and ALIEN...)

Edited by Amentep

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

Posted

For the distraction from politics...

 

I'd heartily recommend Women in Gold for anyone in the mood for a serious film. Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds doing a based on the true story.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu9JeTX6Sdw

"Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."

Posted

A Fantastic Fear of Everything is a real fun movie.

 

I started Hector and the Search for Happiness hoping it'd be more of the same. Got bored of that one rather fast.

"Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater."
Posted

I really, really hope this won't suck but I'm not optimistic.

 

 

http://youtu.be/PxH45ivUomw

  • Like 2

"My hovercraft is full of eels!" - Hungarian tourist
I am Dan Quayle of the Romans.
I want to tattoo a map of the Netherlands on my nether lands.
Heja Sverige!!
Everyone should cuffawkle more.
The wrench is your friend. :bat:

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