501

(15 replies, posted in Off Topic)

The Brood: Opening Scene (Bad Movie, Great Scene)

For the most part, The Brood is a complete failure of a film. It's shoddily paced, populated by singularly dull characters, and utterly lacking in tension. Its ending, which is shocking and stomach-turning in classic Cronenberg fashion, stays etched into the mind, but the rest of the film doesn't earn that ending.

Oliver Reed, however, elevates every single scene he's in, playing a power-hungry psychiatrist who wields an unhealthy amount of control over his patients. Reed's performance is gripping, memorably chilling, and bears a dignified weight completely absent from the rest of the film. It's a genuinely memorable turn that he didn't need to put in the effort for, and I respect him so much for delivering it. This seems to be a common trend with Reed--he's easily the best part of the otherwise abysmal Tommy film adaptation.

This scene in particular is compelling to me. The utter cruelty and domineering power of Reed's performance are arresting, and his unfortunate patient doesn't do half-bad either. It's a marvelous introduction to a film that unfortunately doesn't live up to it.

Branagh's Hamlet: "To be, or not to be..." (Great Movie, Even Greater Scene)

Now, don't get me wrong. I love me some Branagh, and this is a great movie, my favorite of 1996 in fact. But as it's a four hour full-text adaptation of the play, it's obviously gonna be somewhat uneven. It's also in many places played very broadly, which works and is highly entertaining, but that makes this scene stand out all the more.

The simple device of having Hamlet deliver the soliloquy to himself in a mirror is utterly brilliant and utterly cinematic. On top of that, Branagh's delivery is passionate and engaged but far more subtle than his more energized performance in the rest of the film. His inflections are just superb--no matter how many times I watch the scene, his reading of "But in that sleep of death, what dreams may come," simultaneously rapturous yet fearful, always gives me chills. It's a perfect example of how text that, while intrinsically brilliant, can come across as flat on the page springs to life in the hands of a talented, committed actor.

Ringu/Ring: The End (Bad Movie, Great Scene)

Yeah, so, unpopular opinion time... Ringu kinda sucks. Like, really kinda sucks. But by god, the ending makes me wish it didn't.

Trumbo: I Make Garbage (Bad Movie, Great Scene)

(Not the full version of the scene, unfortunately.) Want to add life to your desperately stale period piece? Throw in John Goodman wrecking shit with a baseball bat.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Nick Fury Car Chase (Bad Movie, Great Scene)

In a universe that almost never feels like anything more than guys in costumes straining against the godawful scripts they're given, this scene is a breath of goddamn fresh air.

Crimson Peak: The Wheelchair (Good Movie, Great Scene)

Not long enough to merit a video clip, but in a film that's mostly unconcerned with being scary and more with being a lovely Gothic throwback, the nicely foreshadowed bit where

SPOILER Show
Tom Hiddleston casually brings in a wheelchair for Mia Wazikowska's character
gave me the chills.

fireproof78 wrote:

Star Trek (2009): Opening Scene

I love the rest of the movie too, but I wish to god J.J. would fill his films with more lyrical, contemplative stuff like this scene and the quieter bits of The Force Awakens. In preparation for the latter I rewatched all of Abrams' films, and I was still fighting back tears when I got to this scene despite having seen the movie two or three times before.

502

(20 replies, posted in Off Topic)

The Kickstarter has ended with $14,815 raised by 708 backers, meaning every stretch goal for the permanent edition of the book has been reached! Thanks so much to those of you who contributed, and happy reading!

503

(20 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Mwahahaha, my evil plan is working. Soon the neoreactionaries will be crushed and young Maggot will be one of us.

http://dontforgetatowel.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/palps-smile-finally-we-know-emperor-palpatine-s-real-name.jpeg

504

(20 replies, posted in Off Topic)

fireproof78 wrote:

Hey, Praxus,
I'm interested in the "Guided by the Beauty of their Weapons" collection. Is that still available? Thanks in advance big_smile

It is indeed! It's $7 for the ebook, the paperback is pricier at $20 but I'd very much recommend it, it's a great book to hold in your hands.

505

(20 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I know my audience. wink

506

(20 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Yeah, Phil's books always end up looking gorgeous. I'm a particular fan of the cover for his essay collection Guided by the Beauty of Their Weapons , which is a lot like The Chronoliths in its style.

https://williamshawwriter.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/guided.png?w=863&h=0&crop=1

And all the installments of his TARDIS Eruditorum series are also lovely.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zqP2Qvc6L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hZ94XanYL._AC_UL320_SR208,320_.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51TNNkY%2BL2L._AC_UL320_SR208,320_.jpg

507

(20 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Bumping!

So my author friend Phil Sandifer is publishing Neoreaction a Basilisk, a book on, among other things, the neoreactionary movement, Roko's Basilisk, William Blake, Hannibal Lecter, and how all those things go together. If anyone here is remotely interested in politics, philosophy, preposterous evil artificial intelligences, arcane art, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, or lizard people, I'd highly advise getting in on the Kickstarter while there's still time--not only is more content added to the book's final version for every stretch goal hit, backers can get really cool special editions of the book modeled to look like 80s conspiracy zines.

http://www.eruditorumpress.com/media/uploads/cover.jpeg

508

(670 replies, posted in Creations)

I'm going to hell.

509

(1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)

This is one of the best re-edited trailers I've ever seen.

510

(670 replies, posted in Creations)

A.) Nicely done.
B.) Haven't been keeping up with GoT lately, so it's incredibly refreshing to see them holding on a shot longer than a third of a second during a fight scene.

Nah, AotC is genuinely worse. Its central plot is a mystery that is never even remotely resolved, and unlike TPM which at least had Neeson to carry it there's not a single character who's entertaining or engaging to watch. It has none of the visual appeal of TPM due to its flat quality, its pacing is utterly dire. And as the romance was billed as the centerpiece it's a pretty big problem for it to fail so spectacularly.

I'd say it is incoherent. Anakin claims Obi is like his father, but we never, ever see that in any meaningful sense besides Obi lecturing Anakin pedantically. And "not true to Guinness but consistent within itself" (which, again, I don't agree with) is still a problem, as these are supposed to be prequels to the movies he was in and depicting a relationship that's faithful to the one he described.

I totally buy the friendship in RotS. It's one of the better parts of the film. But in AotC it's nonexistent.

^I'd say the romance is indicative of lots of things about AotC--namely, how horrid the other relationships in it are.

Anakin and Obi-Wan's relationship may be the single most disappointing aspect of that movie for me. Every bloody time we see them on screen together it's just cringe inducing how utterly awful it is. It's painful to watch how George takes something that was supposed to be a great friendship and reduces it to petty sniping. Any other relationships are...basically nonexistent, really, besides Anakin and his mom, who gets all of one scene.

513

(10 replies, posted in Off Topic)

The Witch is the best film of the year that I've seen thus far, followed by 10 Cloverfield Lane.

Zootopia was surprisingly good.

The Revenant and Hail, Caesar! were both good fun. Well, that's the wrong word for The Revenant.

Still really looking forward to Voyage of Time, which now has an October release date!!! Also Passengers, Lights Out, Knight of Cups, Weightless, and The Neon Demon. Also also, need to see Green Room.

What are those beliefs, though? That's something that comes up in the fan community as well, but I've never heard a good explanation of what exactly makes Qui-Gon a maverick and what he feels so strongly for without bringing in the EU to help. He believes in the prophecy of the Chosen One, sure, but no one on the Council seems to not believe in it, so that's not particularly helpful.

What is this country coming to, I ask you, when a man can't express himself at the proper metaphorical volume on an internet forum? This is how the Roman empire fell.

FUCK YES AUDIOBOOK



(insert lower-case letters here since I can't do all-caps posts apparently)

This semester, I've taken part in the insanely fun class Shakespeare in Film, which is basically an excuse for all of us lit majors to relax a little and watch some Shakespeare movies with our prof. Straight adaptations, derivatives, the works. For our final assignment, we had to pitch our own Shakespeare adaptation to the class. Pretty much anything was an option as long as it featured the Bard in some respect. So, as someone whose film opinions were largely begun by his discovery that the Star Wars prequels weren't that good, I decided to rewrite one of them.

The text below is basically just my notes for when I relayed the plot to the class. This isn't perfect—for the sake of the class I had to constrain it to Richard III's plot more than I would have liked (the Padme bit, specifically), and certain elements of it would be changed were I writing this pitch as a whole trilogy rather than one installment. Nevertheless, I had fun with it and thought I'd post it here.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The setting: Coruscant, a planet covered entirely with city architecture that is a mix of the neo-medieval and the futuristic. Anakin Skywalker (Andrew Garfield) is a Jedi, our Richard III (he is not yet deformed, unlike his Shakespearean antecedent—this will only come in his battle with Obi-Wan Kenobi [Ewan McGregor]) He is working for Palpatine, the former Chancellor of the Republic who has used the opportunity of the Clone Wars to reform the government into the first Galactic Empire. What Anakin's Jedi colleagues don't know is that the Emperor is really an adept in the dark side of the Force, and has in secret converted Anakin to the Dark Lords of the Sith. Shortly after the film opens, the Emperor's shuttlecraft is apparently destroyed by remnants of the enemies from the Clone Wars, throwing the Empire's political situation into turmoil. Anakin sees an opportunity and begins plotting to seize control of the galaxy.

Lady Anne is Padme (Rooney Mara), a senator from Alderaan, whom Anakin wishes to wed in order to ensure that planet's political support. He ultimately wins her not through the dubious persuasion Richard displays in the original play but through the power of the Force. Obi-Wan is a conflated version of Clarence and Richmond; he appears to die after Anakin orders him killed by bounty hunters, but in fact survives and goes into hiding, preparing for the time when he will have to kill his former apprentice.

With Obi-Wan out of the picture, Alderaan's wealthy economy on his side, and the Emperor seemingly dead, Anakin seizes power. He begins a campaign against the Jedi, killing thousands of adults and children and imprisoning others within the skeletal beginnings of the Death Star (rather than the Tower of London). Anakin's friend Luke, a new character created specifically for the film, takes the place of Buckingham, initially serving to assist Anakin in his transition to the throne but growing increasingly dubious about this unholy alliance. He eventually defects, locating the exiled Obi-Wan and persuading him to lead a resistance against the new tyranny.

Anakin begins losing his grip on the situation, becoming increasingly paranoid due to dreams of his victims and worries about Obi-Wan returning to destroy him. These worries are vindicated when an army of the few remaining Jedi, led by Obi-Wan and Luke, moves on the strategically important planet of Mustafar. Anakin manages to capture and execute Luke, but Obi-Wan has begun his siege of the Empire's holdings on the lava planet and Anakin must lead the force that confronts him. During a heated bombing run against the Jedi forces, Anakin's starfighter is crippled (“A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!”), and he is forced to eject, injuring himself in the process. Anakin makes his way to Obi-Wan, who in a brutal lightsaber duel is able to overpower his weakened friend, remove several of his limbs, and cast him into a pit of lava. Despite the loss of their leader, the Empire rallies and the Jedi are forced into retreat.

Back on Coruscant, Obi-Wan comes to Padme and asks her to come away with him. She does so, revealing she is pregnant with Anakin's twins, and Obi-Wan resolves to hide these children from the Empire. We last see him using the Force to make contact with Yoda, who has long been a monk on the remote planet of Dagobah, and telling him that his teaching skills will someday be necessary once again. On Mustafar, we cut to the final moments of a horrifically painful surgical process. Anakin, who managed to use the Force to survive the lava despite terrible injuries, has been placed in the suit of Darth Vader, and out of the shadows walks Emperor Palpatine. Palpatine reveals that his death was faked and his absence from events was intentional, designed to lure Anakin into a position where he would be exposed and crippled so he could never pose a true threat to his master's rule. Vader rages, but can do nothing. In one last ironic cruelty, Palpatine stations his rechristened apprentice aboard the skeleton of the Death Star, the same place he imprisoned so many Jedi, to oversee construction.

518

(649 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Apologies for the several minutes of dead air, Faldor. Next time I'll check and make sure Audacity is functioning properly throughout. tongue

519

(356 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Can't believe I haven't said it before: Gillian Welch is a goddess.



So.... having now seen both, I prefer Burn After Reading to No Country for Old Men. In fact, the latter isn't even in my top five Coen Bros. films. All the yes to Javier Bardem though, he is one scary motherfucker.

This seems to be part of a growing trend when it comes to me and the Coens. My favorites of their films, Inside Llewyn Davis and True Grit, are nowhere near the most "major" of their filmography, and I place Fargo at #7 on my ranked list of their movies. I can't really articulate why this is a thing, because there's nothing I dislike about Fargo or No Country.

(For the record, my ranked list of the eight Coen Bros. films I've seen thus far is 1. Inside Llewyn Davis 2. True Grit 3. The Big Lebowski 4. O Brother, Where Art Thou? 5. Burn After Reading 6. No Country for Old Men 7. Fargo 8. Hail, Caesar!)

521

(7 replies, posted in Creations)

SPOILER Show
clap
doty

I'm gonna have to get used to seeing your name as Edward. As long as you were rebranding you should've gone with Ned like you talked about on DiF a few times. tongue

522

(123 replies, posted in Episodes)

God fucking damn it. AMC CEO open to allowing texting in some theatres.

523

(51 replies, posted in Off Topic)

So exciting! Sent in a question, can't wait to hear your guys' dulcet tones again. big_smile

Yeah, I was a little surprised at how breakneck the pacing was because J.J. actually said he was taking inspiration from Terrence Malick in how he directed the film. If there's one thing Malick films aren't it's a race to the finish line. You can see glimpses of what J.J. is talking about in certain shots and moments, but I would've loved to see him try to go outside his (mystery, whackity-schmackity-doo) box and stretch more things out.

drewjmore wrote:

Got a heavily spoken-over re-watch this past weekend courtesty of Amazon streaming. The friends on my couch discussed and opined over the whole running time, but we never were able to nail down (or ret-con) how a stormtrooper could suddenly decide to, "do the right thing." What have you guys got for that?

I'd say he's acting more out of fear than anything for the first half hour of the movie, and indeed a good portion of the rest of the running time. Couple that with imprinting on Rey and I buy the face-heel turn, especially since we're not given any signs that he bought into the First Order's ideology to begin with. He'd committed no offenses beforehand and was an exceptional soldier, that doesn't equate to being a fanatical purist.