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Re: Last movie you watched

Nevahoidofit. This is what being off the grid gets you. Thanks for the heads-up.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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1,727

Re: Last movie you watched

http://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/official-bw-poster.jpg

*sigh*

It's not . . . bad, exactly—there are a coupla genuinely tense moments and the ending manages to raise the bar of the previous hour considerably—but what a bummer. It's like someone put this movie together as a deliberate contrast to everything that makes the original BWP so special.

Where the first one felt so believable precisely because it was so lo-fi, this one ceases to feel real almost instantly because of the number and quality of the cameras being used. Where the first one runs almost entirely on improv and is thus imbued with a wonderful and terrible organic quality, this one is scripted to a fault and allows almost no room for spontaneity. Where the first one was stark and spare, nothing but the two cameras and their often subpar audio, this one is scored in places and contains an irksome number of edit-jump sound effects. We also get jump scares galore as opposed to the original's staunch refusal to be cheap with its frights.

Add to that the fact that it has far too many characters, which means we never get a sense of anyone as a person like we did with Heather and Josh and Mike; the incredibly lame fact that the justification for going out to the woods again in the first place has next to no thematic resonance or purpose; and the general try-hard atmosphere of trying to one-up the scares of the first film (which completely misses the point), and we're left with a movie that in isolation is a meh film with some pretty good moments but as a sequel to one of the most perfect horror films ever made is headache-inducing.

Also, let the buyer beware: there are some things that happen in this film that I think will genuinely blunt some of the impact of the original for me.

SPOILER Show
We see the witch—in glimpses only, but we FUCKING SEE THE WITCH YOU FUCKS. And just as bad, for me, is the way in which they take the most chilling part of the original film, Mike standing in the corner, and ruin it by having it be that if you aren't looking at the witch she can't kill you. I'm not kidding. Staring at the corner is magic witch repellent, never mind the fact that Heather and Mike BOTH GO DOWN without ever seeing the witch and uuuuuuuugh I'm getting angry.
Much like Spectre and [REC] 2, I'm going to have to actively struggle to forget this whenever I rewatch its predecessor.

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1,728

Re: Last movie you watched

My favourite Blair Witch fact -- they returned the video camera to the store for a refund after shooting, someone out there has the camera and doesn't even know it.

Extended Edition - 146 - The Rise Of Skywalker
VFX Reel | Twitter | IMDB | Blog

1,729

Re: Last movie you watched

I watched the Ladies Ghostbusters film and liked it well enough, DiF talked on their commentary for the original film about how the guys were basically given a budget and a release date and left to it, this is totally the opposite in every way.

The plot could have done with some improvement, the jokes certainly could and whilst the cast was pretty flavour of the month Melissa McCarthy somehow avoided derailing the whole thing with her usual "I'm fat and vomiting" persona. which is quite the achievement.

Is it a touch on the original? not by miles, is it actually a bad movie? No. I had fun.

Extended Edition - 146 - The Rise Of Skywalker
VFX Reel | Twitter | IMDB | Blog

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Re: Last movie you watched

That's interesting Faldor, I couldn't make it through half the movie myself. I found no stakes, no tension at all, nothing to keep me interested, no arc or sense of direction to the story. Plus the only laughs I got were from Chris Hemsworth, because he looked like he wasn't trying soooooo hard to be funny at every moment, like the rest of the cast (Kate Mckinnon especially).

I found no redeeming qualities at all from the first hour I watched. The editing in particular was almost comically inept. Some scenes were ended so abruptly I started laughing to myself.

Every scare was undercut with jokes, nothing was scary. They have a scene where a ghost shows up in a subway tunnel. Constricted, cramped dark space with a ghost, potential to be pretty scary right?

Nope.

1. They walk literally about 30 feet into the tunnel, and you can still see the lit, populated platform behind them. No sense of claustrophobia or isolation.
2. The tunnel is lit to hell and back, giving no sense of atmosphere or darkness.
3. Ghost looks like a guy in a suit color-corrected blue. Not scary.

The person who encountered the ghost gets scared and runs away from the camera, and I was expecting them to be chased, because that would imply the ghost atleast being a threat of some sort. Nope, the scene just ends with the person running from a stationary camera.

The whole movie is lit like a fucking sitcom. It looks like a childrens show, color everywhere, warm and bright.


I've enjoyed Paul Feig before, I really liked "Spy" and was laughing like hell throughout that one. Why he even bothered with this one I'll never know.

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Re: Last movie you watched

TechNoir wrote:

I've enjoyed Paul Feig before, I really liked "Spy" and was laughing like hell throughout that one. Why he even bothered with this one I'll never know.

See, I turned Spy off about an hour in. wink

You are right, it does feel like a sitcom, which is not helped by the fact that all the cast are from one sitcom or SNL and usually turn up in the same handful of mainstream comedies.

I did think it odd that nothing in the first hour happened at night and the subway sequence did seem rather off.

Extended Edition - 146 - The Rise Of Skywalker
VFX Reel | Twitter | IMDB | Blog

1,732

Re: Last movie you watched

Faldor wrote:

See, I turned Spy off about an hour in. wink

Haha, fair enough.

If Ghostbusters wasn't a cash-grab of an existing property I might have felt very differently.

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Re: Last movie you watched

http://civilianglobal.com/images/sized/suspiriaposter_625_900.jpg?c2336f

"Ooh, that's pretty."
"Man, this score is rather pleased with itself."
"God, this is pretty."
"...seriously, this score needs to knock it off."
"Is there a single human being in this movie?"
"Ooh, that's even more pretty."
"Am I sure this isn't a bad dub from the Italian?" *checks internet* "Oh, wow. Okay then, guess I'll just have to deal with the awful ADR."
"Still don't seem to be many humans walking around."
"PRETTY"
"This score thinks it's making the movie scarier and it's really not."
"Man, this acting sucks but I can't blame them with the lines they're bring given."
"Oh gross."
*sigh* "Well, it sure... is... pretty."
"OH WHO GIVES A SHIT?!"

So, yeah. Gorgeous images can't compensate for an utter lack of tension and human characters. A pity.

Without this movie we'd probably never have gotten stuff like Mulholland Dr., and that'd be a shame. But I'll choose to admire it from a distance (and occasionally borrow it from the library again if I just want to run really vivid images on my TV for 90 minutes).

Last edited by Abbie (2016-10-09 05:53:25)

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1,734

Re: Last movie you watched

Yes, not a terrible movie... Taken-ish in a Breaking Bad setting. For more of the same (modern gunmen in the lawless border-badlands), check out Desierto by Alfonso Cuaron's son.

not long to go now...

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1,735

Re: Last movie you watched

I'm with you. By the end of the movie, I was thinking:
"These would be some pretty badass action figures." and
"Wait, what?"

Witness me!

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Re: Last movie you watched

Watched Assassin's Creed. Really enjoyed it. The biggest departure from the games - the armature Animus instead of just an immobile bed - was used VERY well. My favorite scene was probably the escape chase after the execution. My least favorite was the missing final act - I felt that London should have been a bigger, more action-oriented set piece.

London Show
It would have been very nice to show how synchronized Kal is with his ancestors. Dude's been accepted into the brotherhood by manifestations of his genetic ancestors, let's watch him do more than slit a throat, eh?

As it was, it still wrapped up, but with a bit too much fat for just a scene - they were obviously setting up for another. The movie being as good as it was, Ubisoft being Ubisoft and this being Assassin's Creed, I have no doubt we'll see more.

Boter, formerly of TF.N as Boter and DarthArjuna. I like making movies and playing games, in one order or another.

Re: Last movie you watched

Finally saw Captain America Civil War and got a chance to write my thoughts done about it.

First of all, the opening is well done an interesting, showcasing the Avengers as a team, working to prevent (insert action set piece here). And I like it because it makes nods to "Age of Ultron" and consequences for a lot of different characters from across the films. Which, ok, if you're going to have a "cinematic universe" that's a good way to pay that off. It also introduced Black Panther which I thought was the most enjoyable of characters. He actually had an arc too, even. Also, Spider-Man was in it and he was fun.

But, the way the consequences play out actually start out very big and world impacting and go to incredibly small, for some weird reason.

  Show
The Avengers are being manipulated by someone who has a grudge in to destroying each other. When Iron Man and Captain America get the "villain's monologue" (trademark pending) and realize they are being manipulated still end up fighting. Um, why? You're being manipulated by the bad guy and you let him continue. If Black Panther hadn't been there, the bad guy would be dead, leaving the Avengers to tear themselves apart.

So, starts out strong but the ending feels so poorly done that I'm left more confused by the result. Sorry if this has been talked about before, but this is one film that I not only left feeling extraordinarily confused but felt didn't even work as a film by the end.

God loves you!

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Re: Last movie you watched

I agree that there was a lot of "they fight, because it's in the title". I enjoyed the fighting but as MCU grows it's one I may skip in marathons. Depends on how its own actions are paid off later down the line.

Boter, formerly of TF.N as Boter and DarthArjuna. I like making movies and playing games, in one order or another.

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Re: Last movie you watched

Boter wrote:

I agree that there was a lot of "they fight, because it's in the title". I enjoyed the fighting but as MCU grows it's one I may skip in marathons. Depends on how its own actions are paid off later down the line.

OMG, imagine a MCU marathon. Hours (eventually days!) of PG13 WWE-esque consequence-less punching. Go to the can, to the fridge, have a nap, check social media, run some errands, return to the couch, and they're still punching (in between quips and sky lasers)

not long to go now...

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1,740

Re: Last movie you watched

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

I guess I've just had this movie in my head wrong, because I thought this would be a War of the Worlds-type storyline, and boy is it cooler than that. I haven't seen a movie dive into the plot this quickly since Cronenberg's The Fly — "'what have I been working on?' Why don't I show you my lab!" — and it proceeds to stay interesting for the whole damn time after that. I liked it a lot. Klaatu barada nikto.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Last movie you watched

avatar wrote:
Boter wrote:

I agree that there was a lot of "they fight, because it's in the title". I enjoyed the fighting but as MCU grows it's one I may skip in marathons. Depends on how its own actions are paid off later down the line.

OMG, imagine a MCU marathon. Hours (eventually days!) of PG13 WWE-esque consequence-less punching. Go to the can, to the fridge, have a nap, check social media, run some errands, return to the couch, and they're still punching (in between quips and sky lasers)

This is probably one of the first Marvel films that left me with more questions than anything else. Yes, I'm sure that sounds odd, given this community. But, with  most Marvel films I'm either annoyed by the end or thoroughly entertained. Even with the ones that are "meh" I can at least have some fun at the film's expense.

But, with Civil War, it had some great moments and then a really fun scene and then spiraled downward until it became a spectacular wreck. Seriously, what are you doing, movie?

God loves you!

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2f/Dark_fury_cover.jpg

An animated short that was supposed to bridge the gap between Pitch Black and The Chronicles Of Riddick... and failed at it.

There's no story to speak of. No attempt was made to soften the transition between the lived-in Alien-esque world of Pitch Black and the space opera universe of Chronicles. Riddick delivers some (supposedly) badass lines and does some (supposedly) badass things, but they're not nearly interesting enough to successfully fill the 35-minute running time.

Some character designs were apparently recycled from Peter Chung's Animatrix segment. Do all his characters look like that (I've never seen Aeon Flux)?

An utterly forgettable and unnecessary piece.

So honor the valiant who die 'neath your sword
But pity the warrior who slays all his foes...

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Re: Last movie you watched

The whole Riddick thing continues to be this fucking mystery to me. What a bizarre series of rungs to try to build a single ladder out of.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Last movie you watched

Yup. Pitch Black is the only installment that works. The whole attempt to make a franchise was a huge misfire.

I imagine that David Twohy was thinking of the Alien and Aliens dynamic when writing Chronicles. But instead of opening the universe up (like Jim Cameron did), he went overboard and changed it completely.

So honor the valiant who die 'neath your sword
But pity the warrior who slays all his foes...

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Re: Last movie you watched

Teague wrote:

The whole Riddick thing continues to be this fucking mystery to me. What a bizarre series of rungs to try to build a single ladder out of.

I personally still like Chronicles of Riddick more than any of the other films, but yeah, it is weird. I really wish Chronicles had been the start and laid the foundation a little bit differently, going full space opera from the beginning, while than having the sci-fi horror of "Pitch Black" and then space opera and then survival, with tie in properties. Well, the video game was fun.

Also, Teague, people like Prometheus and think it works perfectly as a prequel. Please figure that one out.

God loves you!

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Re: Last movie you watched

I like Prometheus, myself, but I can't explain it either.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Last movie you watched

Prometheus had me totally fooled on my first viewing (its beautiful imagery is quite seductive; the only stupid thing I noticed was the "that system has a sun" line), but subsequent viewings and the DiF commentary have revealed many problems.

Alien: Covenant can still salvage this franchise, but the script must be really solid. Ridley Scott can take care of the visuals (he was always great in that department), just don't let him screw up the story.

So honor the valiant who die 'neath your sword
But pity the warrior who slays all his foes...

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1,748

Re: Last movie you watched

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/67/Film1951-TheThingFromAnotherWorld-OriginalPoster.jpg

Better than most 1950s sci-fi movies, but still one of them. My biggest complaint is that there's no real sense of danger (the threat is undermined by the "gee whiz" '50s attitude and the fact that the monster is compared to a freakin' carrot).

The John Carpenter remake remains one of the greatest body horror movies (next to Alien and Cronenberg's The Fly) and a timeless classic. The original can only exist in the era it was made.

So honor the valiant who die 'neath your sword
But pity the warrior who slays all his foes...

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1,749

Re: Last movie you watched

The Day the Clown Cried

This is the Jerry-Lewis-is-a-clown-at-Auschwitz movie of legend, you might have heard the story: couldn't pass the laugh test, Lewis tried hard to bury it (succeeded for the most part) but recently someone's pieced together a thirty-minute or so version from random available clips. Stuff that was shown as promotional material in the '70s on various TV shows around the world, some re-enactments from the original actors, even a few places where the shot you're watching is actually taken from behind-the-scenes footage of an editor who's watching playback of that shot, etc.. It's assembled from scraps, it's entirely in German, the version I watched had sporadic subtitles, and it's at most a third of the actual movie... but it's enough to get a sense of the thing.

I dunno, maybe I was over-prepared to cringe, but this wasn't nearly as offensive as I was expecting. I mean, yes — Jerry Lewis plays a down-on-his-luck clown who crosses the wrong guy and gets sent to a camp for political prisoners, adjacent to a concentration area for jews, where he takes to doing impromptu juggling/tumbling shows for the kids next door until the guards come down hard on him for fraternizing with 'em. Spoiler alert, if you care: he eventually is given an ultimatum by which he can either A) help the guards lead the kids into the gas chamber and then leave, or B) not help the guards and join them in the gas chamber. He seems to submit to the ultimatum at first, but once he's led them to the gas chamber, a little girl gives him "aren't you coming with us?" eyes and he decides to go in with them. Door closes, roll credits.

(In this version, at least.)

Here's where the major distinction lies, and my whole read of the movie is centered on it, so if I'm mistaken with this then my whole read is wrong: I'm pretty sure this isn't a comedy and wasn't conceived of as one. If you say "and the whole thing is played for laughs!," then of course it sounds grotesque, but... to me, this simply reads like bad taste — like the proverbial "going full retard" — not grotesquery. It's not a holocaust exploitation comedy, in other words; it plays like Lewis just wanted play a tricky dramatic role that needed to be played by a comedian ('cuz clown) in what's actually a "serious" movie, meant to ask questions about moral quandary and whatnot, and it just fell flat.

I mean, they buried it for a reason, it is pretty fucking horrifying. But it's not evil or bewildering; it's mostly just a poorly-written misfire. The hype I've heard from the likes of Patton Oswalt and Harry Shearer seemed completely alien to what I saw; I'm not sure if they were drawing from a different sample, or were more just... you know, excited to tell a weird Hollywood story that most people wouldn't have an opportunity to investigate for themselves, and they got carried away with the superlatives.

In any case, let mine be another opinion you've heard: this isn't salacious enough to care about.

(Hat tip to Seth Brower.)

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Last movie you watched

Interesting. I could see that being done well but it'd have to be with a very delicate touch. Sounds like they had meant well but didn't quite have the finesse to pull it off?

Boter, formerly of TF.N as Boter and DarthArjuna. I like making movies and playing games, in one order or another.