Movies You've Seen Recently

[kirottu]

 

I saw Suicide Squad the Extended Edition or whatever it was called.

 

I didn't like it. My main problem with it was that the story wasn't using the characters. Like was there any reason for the boomerang guy? He wasn't needed in any situation. The story didn't even use the crocodile guy properly in the underwater scene. How can you mess that up? Either have him be the only survivor after the fight and set up the bomb or show him protecting the navy seal while navy seal sets up the bomb. But no.

 

1) Boomerang guy had surveillance boomerangs (which he used to spy on Incubus).  He was also a fair fighter and shown to be able to break into places, so not without some skill.

 

All of those are things those no-name SEAL guys could do. Well, not with boomerangs, but, like, they could have a surveillance drone or something.

 

2) Croc was still fighting when the SEAL guy left with the bomb to set it up.

Did they show that? I might have dozed off at that point.

Edited January 13, 2017 by kirottu

[Amentep]

They did show it, he's fighting with them as Sealeastwood swam off.

[Volourn]

Live By Night - Fantastic film running on the strength of the actors. Almost brought down by the otherwise excellent Ben Affleck's modern SJW 'sensibilities'. Still, a great watch with some H0TTIES. 8/10

[Raithe]

I was half tempted to put this in the funny things thread...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qBX4Cpp4Ek

[Hiro Protagonist]

Rogue One. Great movie. Now If I watch the original trilogy, I'll be including Rogue One at the start before them.

[Amentep]

SPLIT. Thought it worked as a thriller in the vein of Cloverfield. If you go to see it I recommend not reading spoilers; it us a Shyamalan film and has its share of twists.

[algroth]

I saw three films the other day at the cinema...

 

Arrival - pretty much my favorite film of the year. Extremely affecting, engrossing, sensitive study on communication and language, and the perception of time. Highly recommended to any fan of sci-fi.

 

Train to Busan - the zombie apocalypse genre gets the South Korea treatment. It's a very enjoyable and creative genre piece with plenty of very likable characters, each with their compelling story arc, and plenty of black humour to boot. I reckon it ranks a little underneath other Korean genre films I've seen of its ilk, the likes of Joon-ho Bong's The Host for example, inasmuch as I find that film to be a bit more creative in its style and set-pieces, but this is hardly any less entertaining. If there is one thing that does bother me about it, is that as with many films of its ilk things seem to get a lot more screwed because one character starts acting extremely stupidly, all for the sake of driving the conflict forward. Those who've seen the film will know the character I'm talking about, I think, and I wish we could have done without him as he was pretty unneeded, all things considered. This aside, a must for fans of the genre and horror/action in general.

 

Hacksaw Ridge - new Mel Gibson film that seems to behave the way all Mel Gibson-directed films do: it's a very classic, Oscar-baity melodrama that seems to differ from the norm only for Mel's eye for spectacle and his fetishism for gore. Kudos to him for even managing to frame the first romantic encounter around it, what with it happening in a hospital and protagonist Desmond Doss getting to know the love of his life Dorothy by offering himself as a blood donor (following a grisly car accident, of course). Without a doubt the battle sequences through the second half of the film are fantastic and it's where it soars the most, but I can't help feel the film treads the fine line between old-fashioned and anticuated a little too much in its more melodramatic half, often falling clearly in the latter category. Most of the non-war stuff is post-produced in this same Hallmark-esque golden glimmery style, the green screens look awful what with the edges being extremely visible, and the last ten or so minutes are, formally speaking, an utter train wreck, one shot in particular irking me to no end where a satchel is thrown into a pit, and the image is zoomed in digitally before being digitally panned to a corner in the strangest, most Sony Vegas style possible. There are moments of great formal mastery here mixed alongside amateurish blunders like that which make you question how much of that "genius" is not just some happy accident instead. I have to admit that I do like Mel a lot but I think Hacksaw Ridge right now is acting a bit like an all-too-necessary and all-too-asked-for "return to form" for him, from the community and media's side. I don't use this word often but I do feel it's being overrated due to this factor - everyone is approaching it with a lot of good will and they're wanting it to be great, and thus are forgiving its flaws all too readily; but they are there, and they do seriously hamper the overall work. It's a satisfying, oddly positive and feel-good film in the end, about the power of faith in the midst of conflict and sticking to one's beliefs against great adversity and so on, filled likewise with a lot of Gibson's usual Bible thumping, and not discounting its flaws it's an overall enjoyable if mixed bag.

Edited January 21, 2017 by algroth

[Tale]

SPLIT. Thought it worked as a thriller in the vein of Cloverfield. If you go to see it I recommend not reading spoilers; it us a Shyamalan film and has its share of twists.

It's the first good Shyamalan since Unbreakable, so I'm really impressed. I kind of liked Devil a little, but he was only a producer and wrote the original story.

 

Honestly, I thought it was really good. I'll probably even out after my hype dies down, but I'm optimistic about my long-term appraisal.

 

4 stars out of 5, would enjoy watching again.

[Tale]

Star Wars VIII has been titled. The Last Jedi

 

http://www.starwars.com/news/the-official-title-for-star-wars-episode-viii-revealed?cmp=smc%7C785924754

[Blarghagh]

Not very imaginative and it kinda ruins The Return Of them, but at least it's no The Phantasmal Malevolence.

[Lexx]

Do we get a Star Wars movie per year now?

[Raithe]

Do we get a Star Wars movie per year now?

 

That's Disney's plan.

The series ones every two years, and the "independent" films between them.

[Keyrock]

Why is Matt Damon suddenly an archer in China? I'm being assaulted by trailers for this movie and he just looks so ridiculously out of place in it. 

[Oerwinde]

Why is Matt Damon suddenly an archer in China? I'm being assaulted by trailers for this movie and he just looks so ridiculously out of place in it. 

 

Mercenaries as I understand it. There has been a bunch of outcry about it, as the chinese director of the chinese funded movie casting Matt Damon is Hollywood whitewashing or something.

[Keyrock]

 

Why is Matt Damon suddenly an archer in China? I'm being assaulted by trailers for this movie and he just looks so ridiculously out of place in it. 

 

Mercenaries as I understand it. There has been a bunch of outcry about it, as the chinese director of the chinese funded movie casting Matt Damon is Hollywood whitewashing or something.

 

I don't care about any racial implications, or anything like that, I just can't get over how goofy it looks.  It's like here's a bunch of warriors fighting monsters along The Great Wall of China, cool!  And now here's Matt Damon...  wait, what?

 

A paycheck is a paycheck, I guess.  Now part of me want Matt Damon to star in a string of seemingly random crappy films ala Nic Cage (no hate, I love Nic Cage).

 

Edit: An an aside, I don't think you can call it whitewashing if he's playing a European mercenary.  A European mercenary would be white.  Now, if Matt Damon had been cast as Cao Cao in The Fall of the Han Dynasty, THAT would be whitewashing.

Edited January 24, 2017 by Keyrock

[Amentep]

 

 

Why is Matt Damon suddenly an archer in China? I'm being assaulted by trailers for this movie and he just looks so ridiculously out of place in it. 

 

Mercenaries as I understand it. There has been a bunch of outcry about it, as the chinese director of the chinese funded movie casting Matt Damon is Hollywood whitewashing or something.

 

I don't care about any racial implications, or anything like that, I just can't get over how goofy it looks.  It's like here's a bunch of warriors fighting monsters along The Great Wall of China, cool!  And now here's Matt Damon...  wait, what?

 

A paycheck is a paycheck, I guess.  Now part of me want Matt Damon to star in a string of seemingly random crappy films ala Nic Cage (no hate, I love Nic Cage).

 

Edit: An an aside, I don't think you can call it whitewashing if he's playing a European mercenary.  A European mercenary would be white.  Now, if Matt Damon had been cast as Cao Cao in The Fall of the Han Dynasty, THAT would be whitewashing.

 

 

Oerwinde is correct, though, that people complained of whitewashing ('why'd they make the character European rather than Chinese?') as well as being accused of doing the "white person saves the Chinese' trope.  Apparently they were actualy trying to address issues of pandering by creating an film for the international market but with a largely Chinese based creative types.  Damon was seen as a start that could help the movie play internationally and they didn't won't his role to be a glorified cameo in an otherwise Chinese film.

[Amentep]

AMPAS's Oscars nominees list is out.  http://oscar.go.com/nominees

 

Biggest surprise to me?  Finding Dory didn't get a nod for Best Animated Picture.  Its success, it being from Pixar and it not being a bad film (even if I didn't think it the strongest of the animated films I've seen last year) all meant I thought it'd get a nod (even figured it'd get one over Zootopia which I thought was a better film).

[Gromnir]

AMPAS's Oscars nominees list is out.  http://oscar.go.com/nominees

 

Biggest surprise to me?  Finding Dory didn't get a nod for Best Animated Picture.  Its success, it being from Pixar and it not being a bad film (even if I didn't think it the strongest of the animated films I've seen last year) all meant I thought it'd get a nod (even figured it'd get one over Zootopia which I thought was a better film).

am kinda surprised by how little recognition there is for silence. is kinda a natural contrast to lala land as scorsese's work (vanity project) has almost no music and is brutally introspective. sure, lala land can drag a bit in the middle, but the 2 hours and 41 minutes o' spiritual angst which is silence will no doubt feel like actual religious penance to many viewers. even so, silence is the kinda flick we expect to see recognized. 

 

am s'posing hacksaw ridge fills the niche silence might otherwise occupy.  

 

*shrug*

 

have been increasing less curious 'bout oscars in recent years.  our onset o' curmudgeondom leaves us with little patience for the politics o' the academy. channeling our inner carl?  too young... hope.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRAfm5glLFY

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited January 24, 2017 by Gromnir

[Amentep]

I used to stay up and watch the Oscars for many years, but stopped a few years ago as my interest waned (also I had to get up at a reasonable time in the morning after I changed jobs).
 

I've heard a lot of positive things about Silence but I confess, that the way those reviews were constructed, it didn't seem to generate a feeling in me that people were going to recognize it for Oscar time.

[Volourn]

Wow. Lots of racism with those noms yet I doubt there'll be much compaints. balcks at eoevr presented and where are all the Latrinos, Asians, Arabs, Indians, etc.? But, hey, black people ( most iof them well deserved), so it's all good this year right.

 

P.S. Denzel Washington and Viola Davis are 100% legit noms, imo. Damn good jobs but the process is clearly tainted by racism. All those minorities that got screwed over.

[algroth]

Wow. Lots of racism with those noms yet I doubt there'll be much compaints. balcks at eoevr presented and where are all the Latrinos, Asians, Arabs, Indians, etc.? But, hey, black people ( most iof them well deserved), so it's all good this year right.

 

P.S. Denzel Washington and Viola Davis are 100% legit noms, imo. Damn good jobs but the process is clearly tainted by racism. All those minorities that got screwed over.

Indian actor Dev Patel got nominated for Lion, and Fire at Sea deals with Middle Eastern immigration to Europe via Lampedusa.

 

I don't see a problem with any of these films being nominated outside of Hidden Figures which does sound like a lot of audience-pandering nonsense. Moonlight is one of the year's best, Fences and Loving both have a lot of hype behind them and aren't really bad choices to have in competition at all. So yeah, no racism here, really, just a very very good year for the black community in film all in all. La La Land is pretty much locked in for one of the biggest Oscar sweeps though.

 

I think the animation list of nominees is pretty ideal, and am perhaps most annoyed by the snubbing of Amy Adams who was great both in Arrival and Nocturnal Animals. Johann Johannson's score for Arrival was also far more worthy than the likes of Thomas Newman's for bloody Passengers. Silence and Nocturnal Animals should have received more attention too, the fact that they're tied with Suicide Squad for the number of Oscar nominations is at once hilarious and pathetic.

[Volourn]

I agree with fences. It looks terrific. I haven't seen yet (because it takes A LOT to egt me to go tot the theatre to watch drama since I'd rather watch that at home and pay attention) but like I said above Washington and Davis are absolkutely looking terrific in it so personally  I'm gload they're nominated.

 

I'm just pointing out how when people whine about 'lack of colour' they largely mean 'lack of blacks' even though blacks are only around 13% of the US population so they are way over represented espciailly compared to other minorities like latinos. It is pretty clear though some people were gonna vote for black stars no matters. Thankfully, at least, Washington and co deserve it.

 

Just like the whitey mcwhite stars who got nominated last eyar deserved it as well (though I was hoping that Will Smith woulda got nominated last year for his work).

 

The bottom line is this just proves that racism does exist racism against latinos and racism in favor of blacks.

 

P.S. I think Will Smith did a great job in SS as well.

[BrotherFerg]

I'm rewatching the Matrix there is a theory going around that Agent Smith is the ONE. Tonight I'm watching reloaded.

[algroth]

I agree with fences. It looks terrific. I haven't seen yet (because it takes A LOT to egt me to go tot the theatre to watch drama since I'd rather watch that at home and pay attention) but like I said above Washington and Davis are absolkutely looking terrific in it so personally  I'm gload they're nominated.

 

I'm just pointing out how when people whine about 'lack of colour' they largely mean 'lack of blacks' even though blacks are only around 13% of the US population so they are way over represented espciailly compared to other minorities like latinos. It is pretty clear though some people were gonna vote for black stars no matters. Thankfully, at least, Washington and co deserve it.

 

Just like the whitey mcwhite stars who got nominated last eyar deserved it as well (though I was hoping that Will Smith woulda got nominated last year for his work).

 

The bottom line is this just proves that racism does exist racism against latinos and racism in favor of blacks.

 

P.S. I think Will Smith did a great job in SS as well.

I was very much opposed to #OscarssoWhite last year because I thought the issue was not really with the awards, and more with the industry and the lack of a strong or varied pool of films by minorities. Of all the black people involved in film last year the only one I could say was "snubbed", based on the buzz and so on, would have been Idris Elba for Beasts of No Nation, and even so I think this snub had a lot more to do with the film being a Netflix feature that got a multi-platform release (which also implied a pretty short and weak theatrical release) and not because Elba was black. That is, *if* we're trying to assign some external factor to the performance itself affecting his snub. This was a symptom related a lot more to the lack of a diverse film industry than the lack of representation at the Oscars to me and the fact that every year it seems the hopes of minorities in film hinge around one or two options that may or may not prove successful; if they aren't, then you can't blame the Oscars for not recognizing a film that is either undeserving, or simply does not exist.

 

Accusing the AMPAS of racism against latinos is a very weird thing too considering that they're neither a very defined ethnicity (Alfonso Cuarón would technically be a latino despite being no less white than the likes of Tom Cruise), and that this is the first year in a long time in which they haven't had a major showing in the Oscars: through the last three years, the Best Director award has gone to Mexican filmmakers (once Cuarón, twice Iñárritu). Though, agreed here that of all ethnic minorities at the Oscars, blacks are if nothing else historically the best-represented of all - but as to how many of them were so "unfairly" and because of an AMPAS racial bias, that's a very iffy matter to look at too, as it's very much up to opinion. It's problematic when people assume that their own perception of who should have been nominated over who not coinciding with the Academy's implies some foul play in the works, and it is exactly what leads to #Oscars outcries.

Edited January 25, 2017 by algroth

[algroth]

John Hurt, one of the greatest actors of all time, has just passed away. R.I.P.