Movies You've Seen (or would like to see) Recently

[kellyon]

The Day The Earth Stood Still - 8.5/10
 
Excellent movie from the 50s, watched it alone yesterday night. I liked the message behind it, kind of relates to today's day.

[ShadySands]

Not sure if this should go here or in the TV thread because I saw it on Netflix and didn't bother to look up if it ever had a theatrical release or not. Also, it's movie length and since I'm already here...

 

The Farthest: Voyager in Space

 

 

PS I liked it a lot. Learned a bunch of stuff too.

Edited January 7, 2018 by ShadySands

[Raithe]

Caught Bladerunner 2049 last night.  Interesting, enjoyable in its own way. Definitely that slow paced, drawn out story. But I think it's one I'm going to have to let settle in my mind a few days before I can really consider its positives and negatives.

[Serrano]

Caught Bladerunner 2049 last night.  Interesting, enjoyable in its own way. Definitely that slow paced, drawn out story. But I think it's one I'm going to have to let settle in my mind a few days before I can really consider its positives and negatives.

 

I fell asleep when I saw it, on a date. Had some nice ideas and some really good scenes I just think as a whole it's too, um, boring. The holographic girlfriend was really cool though, loved that character, that relationship and those scenes. Should I be concerned about that? Am I subconsciously one of those virtual waifu people?

[Gfted1]

Downsizing

 

Damn, that was awful.

[Malcador]

You could not tell from the commercials

[injurai]

Now begins the march towards Oscars.

 

Who has baited the academy this time?

Edited January 8, 2018 by injurai

[Blarghagh]

So, browsing movies I came across a film starring Michael Shannon, Ron Perlman, Christina Hendricks, Ian McShane and Judy Greer. The name Pottersville didn't mean anything to me, but I figured just this should be worth it by cast alone, right?

 

Well, so far I've realized it's a christmas movie... Somehow. It also started with nice guy Michael Shannon coming home to surprise his wife, Christina Hendricks, only to find her in the bedroom with his best friend, Ron Perlman. Only at first, you don't recognize them because they're furries.

 

So he gets angry drunk, improvises a gorilla costume and heads off. Cut to him waking up and remembering nothing, but news crews are all over town because dozens of people saw Bigfoot.

 

That's the first 15 minutes. This is either going to be amazing or horrific, but either way I'm strapped in for the ride.

 

Edit: Ian McShane is a local hunter who promises to catch the beast. There's also a TV Ghost Hunter style dude trying to make an episode of his show, and he just did bits of Christian Bale's infamous rant verbatim to one of his crew. What is this?

 

Edit Edit: It was awful. What a shame.

[LadyCrimson]

"IT" (2017)

 

I liked the first half or so, it felt very promising, but it semi-lost me in the 2nd half. That said I think it did pretty well at trying to shove half a huge novel into a 2 hour film and if I'd never read the book I probably would have liked it a lot more. But since I am someone who's read the novel maybe 12 times over 30 years, every tiny thing that's different really stands out/distracts (including updating the time period).  I'll be curious how the adult-segment of the next movie fares.

 

(edit: essentially TV version, imo, did better at choosing and depicting pieces from the book that gave it a flavor that felt more like the book - at least with the kids side of the tale)

 

Things I'd pick bones with:

--changing the "historian" role to Ben instead of Mike. I'd like to know the reasoning for that. Wait, maybe I don't want to know...

--too much "R horror" and jump scares and not enough heart in the latter half. They tried but I didn't really feel it. What I want is Stand by Me flavor only with a creepy killer clown (which is how the book felt, to me, in a way), and I think the TV mini-series gave me more of that feeling. But the TV version was terrible when it switched to the adults. "Is that you in there Bev, or is that the clown??" Gah. If the movies can do better with the adult part, I'll be happy.

--The rock fight between the two groups of kids was really anti-climatic and for the big moment of Mike appearing/joining the "group," was poorly done. TV series did a lot better with that.

--Did the kids ever say "beepbeep" to Richie? I know I heard the clown say it once but I don't recall the kids ever saying it. Lost reference...or my failed hearing.

Edited January 15, 2018 by LadyCrimson

[algroth]

Now begins the march towards Oscars.

 

Who has baited the academy this time?

 

I would say Darkest Hour and The Post look like the baitiest films in contention this year, but neither seems to be a top contender and what's more, I predict personally that at least one of them will very likely get shafted come nomination announcements. I did my predictions for most categories the other day, and suppose it'll look a bit like this this year (in the order of probability of winning or getting nominated IMO):

 

Best Picture

 

Lady Bird

Get Out

Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri

The Shape of Water

Call Me by your Name

Dunkirk

The Florida Project

The Post

Phantom Thread

 

Best Actor

 

Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)

Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread)

Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out)

Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name)

Tom Hanks (The Post)

 

Best Actress

 

Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird)

Meryl Streep (The Post)

Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water)

Margot Robbie (I, Tonya)

 

Best Supporting Actor

 

Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project)

Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water)

Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Armie Hammer (Call Me By Your Name)

 

Best Supporting Actress

 

Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird)

Allison Janney (I, Tonya)

Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water)

Mary J. Blige (Mudbound)

Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread)

 

Best Director

 

Jordan Peele (Get Out)

Guillermo Del Toro (The Shape of Water)

Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk)

Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)

Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name)

 

Adapted Screenplay

 

Call Me By Your Name

The Disaster Artist

Molly’s Game

Mudbound

The Death of Stalin

 

Original Screenplay

 

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Lady Bird

The Big Sick

Get Out

The Shape of Water

 

Cinematography

 

Blade Runner 2049

Dunkirk

The Shape of Water

Darkest Hour

Mudbound

 

Film Editing

 

Dunkirk

Get Out

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Baby Driver

 

Production Design

 

Blade Runner 2049

The Shape of Water

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

 

Costume Design

 

Phantom Thread

Darkest Hour

The Shape of Water

Victoria and Abdul

Beauty and the Beast

 

Original Score

 

The Shape of Water

Dunkirk

Darkest Hour

Phantom Thread

The Post

 

Sound Editing

 

Dunkirk

Blade Runner 2049

Baby Driver

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Get Out

 

Sound Mixing

 

Dunkirk

Blade Runner 2049

Baby Driver

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Get Out

 

Visual Effects

 

Blade Runner 2049

War for the Planet of the Apes

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

The Shape of Water

Dunkirk

 

Documentary

 

Jane

Strong Island

Faces Places

City of Ghosts

Human Flow

 

Foreign Language Film

 

Foxtrot (Israel)

A Fantastic Woman (Chile)

The Square (Sweden)

Loveless (Russia)

The Wound (South Africa)

 

Animated Feature

 

Coco

The Breadwinner

Loving Vincent

In this Corner of the World

The Lego Batman Movie

 

As with last year I reckon 'diversity' will be a trending topic for the nominations, and bound to cause some hashtag outrage or another come nomination time, from either side of the discussion. I think Phantom Thread has been gaining a little traction lately and might etch its way into a BP nom though it could just as well be overcome by the baitier Darkest Hour - also I can see a world where Martin McDonagh or Steven Spielberg could make the best director shortlist, and by rule of 'inclusion' Gerwig, Guadagnino and Peele would force Nolan out of the group yet again, which ought to be cause for lighting a few torches amidst the tweeters. Also this is all independent about how I personally feel about these films, and what I would nominate instead - amidst what I'm wishing to see but don't expect happening is Logan getting some acting nods for Jackman, Keen or Pat-Stew, or even for writing, though again I seriously doubt it.

 

All in all it looks like another very interesting year for the nominees, however - all of the top contenders look like genuinely great films, and what's more, there so far doesn't seem to be a legitimate top contender, rather it is shared between about four films or so rather evenly. I suspect there is always one or two that emerges amidst the rest as a clear favorite in the weeks between the nominations announcement and awards, and so far I reckon the one that's been gaining the most traction is Get Out, but... I wouldn't bet entirely on it either. Again, interesting, and glad to see many of these films up for contention too.

[injurai]

I just want to say, Coco was an adorable film and one of Pixar's best to date.

[algroth]

I've never been too big on Pixar though Coco looks like their most interesting film since Up or Toy Story 3 to my eyes. I'll have a look at it when I can.

[Katphood]

I'm watching Night of The Twisters(1996). Pretty awesome stuff. Maybe I'll read the book someday.

Edited January 15, 2018 by Katphood

[Bartimaeus]

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984). I watched this on a whim - saw it in somebody's top 100 movies list, and something about it caught my eye, and I read it was by Studio Ghibli, so I decided to give it a try. Something to know in advance is that I freaking hate anime, and the only other Studio Ghibli movie I've seen is Grave of the Fireflies...which I watched in Japanese and hated. This time, I stuck with the English dub (with Patrick Stewart - yes, that Patrick Stewart, I was surprised to learn - of all people playing one of the main characters). It was surprisingly...decent? Not perfect: it had a few weird timing issues characteristic of animes as per usual, but it was actually rather enjoyable. Very strange, but enjoyable. I might try another Studio Ghibli movie after this.

 

Also, it struck me how gigantically huge of a reference Dark Souls made to this movie with the Blighttown -> Great Hollow - Ash Lake connection. Good lord. There's no way that isn't a reference, especially with all the bug creatures and poison terrain in Blighttown - no way.

Edited January 16, 2018 by Bartimaeus

[Sarex]

Seen the new Blade Runner and I must say that I really liked it. It was a little on the long side, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

[injurai]

Nausicaa is a personal favorite of mine. I'm sure you'd enjoy at least a handful out of the rest of Miyazaki's films. Not sure what to recommend though, because you might enjoy that which is inline with Nausicaa or that which is more differentiated from it.

[Bartimaeus]

I looked at some of their other films, and Only Yesterday seemed like it would be the best choice to try next.

 

(e): Although I see now that that's technically not a Miyazaki movie, but someone else from Ghibli.

Edited January 16, 2018 by Bartimaeus

[SonicMage117]

I just want to say, Coco was an adorable film and one of Pixar's best to date.

I've been wanting to see it so bad!

[algroth]

I looked at some of their other films, and Only Yesterday seemed like it would be the best choice to try next.

 

(e): Although I see now that that's technically not a Miyazaki movie, but someone else from Ghibli.

Ghibli was founded by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, both whom are masters in their own right with pretty unique styles and an incredible, if not too expansive, body of work to their name. Isao Takahata made Only yesterday as well as Grave of the Fireflies (why did you hate it? You're the first I've come across who's been quite as vehement about it - it's an all-time favorite of mine) and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya amidst others. The two of these which you've yet to see I can very eagerly recommend.

 

Also I'm the sort who wouldn't touch an English dub with a ten-foot pole, not just because of general "sub not dub" purism but also because in my experience with several dubs in different languages, the English ones have usually been far and away the worst here, even when they've involved the most well-known cast too. I feel the American companies tend to also meddle with the script in their dubs a *lot* more than just about everyone else, which at times leads to fundamental changes in the themes and narrative in said piece (see the ending of Kiki's Delivery Service as a particularly egregious example). But if it works for you, feel free to watch it that way.

 

I was also wondering if it was perhaps my own list where you might have seen Nausicäa mentioned, but I didn't include it. It was close though. Here it is, just to share it again. https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-100-films/

Edited January 16, 2018 by algroth

[Bartimaeus]

One, I watched it with someone else (in person) who was trying very hard to convince me to like anime when I've very explicitly never liked anime (the art styles and the way characters tend to be written and the film-making conventions that seem to go with it), so that was already going to make it very difficult for it to work out. Two, I watched it in Japanese, and I have since learned (as it's been some years since I tried to watch Grave) that I seem to utterly despise Japanese dubs of pretty much all nature. Listening to Japanese people actually talk in a normal manner, I don't have too much of a problem, but whenever I hear Japanese entertainment (TV, movies, games, whatever), it seems like their enunciation just goes completely over-the-top, which activates my misophonia in the most extreme of manners, to the point where I'd honestly rather listen to silence with subtitles than Japanese dubs. It doesn't help that the casting choices for Japanese VA always seem laughably ludicrous...but given that that seems to be a problem in everything Japanese I've ever heard, I'm assuming that there's just a cultural difference in the way people's voices sound there that I'm simply unable to get over. Three, all I remember from that movie is a whole lot screaming and crying, and that I was utterly miserable throughout the entire thing.

 

For most other languages, I would tend to stick with the original dub. Russian, Polish, Hungarian, German, Spanish, Greek...I'm fine with all of those. Japanese and Chinese, and to a lesser degree French*, are the ones that I know of that tend to make me want to gouge my ears out.

 

*Funnily enough, I tend to like French when it's sung, though...and actually, I don't automatically despise Japanese singing, either, now that I think of it.

Edited January 16, 2018 by Bartimaeus

[injurai]

I think most of the Ghibli English dubs are really good. They are mostly handled by Walt Disney Animation.

 

I've seen most in both English and Japanese dubs, and I don't really have a strong preference. But English allows me shut off the reading part of my brain and get more into the material. I think you're fine sticking with English and I'd even further recommend it for your particular tastes.

[majestic]

Also I'm the sort who wouldn't touch an English dub with a ten-foot pole, not just because of general "sub not dub" purism but also because in my experience with several dubs in different languages, the English ones have usually been far and away the worst here, even when they've involved the most well-known cast too. I feel the American companies tend to also meddle with the script in their dubs a *lot* more than just about everyone else, which at times leads to fundamental changes in the themes and narrative in said piece (see the ending of Kiki's Delivery Service as a particularly egregious example). But if it works for you, feel free to watch it that way.

 

There's also often some cutting involved. I remember discussions with fellow posters way back about Sailor Moon and I was a bit surprised in just how much content disappeared in the english dub (e.g. the first season finale going from a two-parter to a single episode where nothing much makes sense).

[Bartimaeus]

I read that the original American cut of Nausicaa, Warriors of the Wind, was quite the butchering, too. Hilariously bad cover art that should tell you enough about it:

 

[injurai]

Dafuq?

[LadyCrimson]

I loved Grave of the Fireflies, but it's not a movie I have any desire to watch a 2nd time. I don't mind sad movies but GotF doesn't give me any personal motivation to suffer through the sad again. Once was enough.