I thought Lone Ranger was pretty good. At least as good as the average of the Pirates trilogy. It had some funny gags, spectacle, great VFX, fancy camerawork, and an occasional serious tone. It didn't deserve it's 'biggest bomb since Carter' tag. Why has Prometheus got DOUBLE the Rotten Tomato meter score that Lone Ranger has? Nature is out of balance.

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(100 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Ewing wrote:

I made this thread 3 fucking years ago. FINALLY, the trailer is out.

http://www.mediafire.com/watch/80t812mp … Vishnu.mp4

I'm still in line for Ghostbusters 3.

redxavier wrote:
Doctor Submarine wrote:

"Frustrating?" How do you mean? I think that season 4 is one of the best seasons of television ever, and definitely Breaking Bad's best.

I found there was a lot of repetition in the character dynamics going on, and felt that we were going over the same territory. Once again, our two leads are at odds with each other, in spite of how they start off having literally killed people for each other. And I found nearly all of the characters became so antagonistic towards each other that a lot of the drama seemed contrived. Walter, especially, vascilates between persuasive and abusive too often and seems to sometimes say stuff just to keep the drama going. Such that the split with Jesse seemed unconvincing to me, since it mostly relied on Jesse's stupidity and naivety (which comes and goes depending on the needs of the plot). Then it seemed to get even more improbable when the only solution a really smart person could conceive was apparently to poison a child and blame it on Gus, which is so batshit crazy I couldn't buy it.

I thought Gus was a good foil, but that he ultimately chose to go with the junkie he wanted killed over the master chemist that wanted to do business was a bit of a reach to me, especially since the only reason why Gus' relationship had broken down with Walt in the first place was due to this same junkie he wanted killed...

The fifth season also had similar problems. Once again, Jesse's going through a long bout of self-pity and depression (except this time I honestly didn't understand why) and again Skylar and Walt are back in the same space (which again gets reversed).

That's a good critique, redxavier, and all valid points usually lost in the orgiastic praise for the show. It fell a few notches for me when Walt blathered to Hank at the dinner table that Heisenberg is still out there, just when Hank gave up. And why would anyone leave the inscribed Walt Whitman poetry book on the can, when their brother-in-law is DEA?

It'd summarize my principle grief as 'inconsistent characterization'. Hank is both panicked blow-hard buffoon and hardened super-sleuth. Walt is ruthless criminal mastermind and stoopid idiot. Jesse is oversensitive EMO and willing gangster. Skyler is righteous with indignation and conspiratorial. Gus is uber-careful and then throws his lot in with the clearly unstable Jesse.

So much of the dramatic situations could have been avoided (were it real life) if people just talked. The entire Gus-Walt-Jesse-Mike dynamic, for instance. The minimalist dialogue is paired down with long pauses and intense stares. Who acts like that in real life?

Trey wrote:

Looks like Jesse turned out okay...

https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/7831609344/hD5A497AD/

Well, if you see Aaron Paul in the trailer to Need for Speed, it transitions nicely from the final shot of him in Breaking Bad.

http://cdn01.cdnwp.celebuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/25/aaron-paul-need-for-speed-400x300.jpg

Doctor Submarine wrote:

But don't distract from the main storyline with some sappy romantic subplot between him and Elf-vangeline Lilly. A subplot which, by the way, looks to be wholly lifted from the Aragorn/Arwen story from LOTR, with the elf chick's father warning her not to go gallivanting off with the handsome rogue.

Studio execs: we need something for the chicks, because they don't wanna just see 3 hours of cartoon action. Insert Twilight scene here, here and here.

Rob wrote:

Not only does Nolan show Bruce on that reverse angle, but it's a Bruce that looks pretty damn spry for having been literally tethered to a nuclear bomb at the moment it detonated. My personal retcon is that it's the ghost of Master Wayne come back to haunt Alfred. There's your sequel, Zach Snyder.

Yes, he looks healthier than he's ever been in the trilogy. If you look closely, Bale also breaks the fourth wall, as a signing off to the audience. Frodo did the same thing the last time you see him at the Grey Havens. For a split-second, he looks straight down the camera and nods. Thanks for sticking with me y'all.

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/2183/aary.jpg

http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/5448/fde.gif

Zimmer's pulsating strings, swelling to that climax is just a superb cue. Like Williams' Star Wars scores, Zimmer imbues the Dark Knight trilogy with a gravitas that perhaps the material doesn't deserve on its own.

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(2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Invid wrote:

I rented, for the hell of it, Room 237, the conspiracy movie about The Shining. Got twenty minutes or so in. There was a review of the film in either Skeptic Magazine or Skeptical Inquirer, which made the interesting observation that because the film covers ALL these different people with their different views on what the movie is saying, it manages to, in fact, disprove all of them, almost as if that was the intended goal of the film. I can't speak to that, as I don't think I'll be watching more of this. The movie takes the incredibly annoying tact, at least at the start, of using clips from many movies and inserting them where you would usually show the interview footage of the person talking. Thus, we see footage of Tom Cruise looking at a poster for The Shining and going into a theater while a guy talks about when he saw the film. I'm assuming neither Tom Cruise or Robert Redford actually endorse the beliefs in this movie.

I turned off when one guy seemed to be SERIOUSLY saying Kubrick staged the moon landings and there are clues all through The Shining.

Keep Typing Bitch!!!

There are quite a few problems with the plot of the movie, but this fix is only for the final montage.

It could be enhanced with fewer shots. Sure, have the eulogy, the will, the statue unveiling, etc.

But these shots needed to have been removed:

1. The memorable and dramatic 'Not Everything, Not Yet' line is undermined by having the autopilot fixed months ago. So remove the reference to Fox and the autopilot fix. Or handle it more ambiguously such as a technician saying that a fix is possible.

2. Given that we have Ben Affleck cast as Batman, there's no need to include the 'handing the keys over to Robin' moments in the final montage. So remove the entire Robin entering the batcave sequence.

3. When Alfred sits down at the Florence cafe, have him look over and see someone at another table WHO COULD BE Bruce Wayne. Bale is shot from behind and there are people in front, it's not quite in focus, etc. Was it him? We're not sure. The sacrifice could have been real.

[Kevin Smith says the movie should have ended on Alfred's face lighting up when he breaks the fourth wall. The music also indicated Bruce Wayne was alive before we saw him for the final time. That's all you need to indicate he might be alive].

I'll be there in IMAX 3D HFR for the VFX CGI porn.

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(2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Phi wrote:

Kon-Tiki (2012)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0b/Kon-tiki_2012_Poster.jpg/420px-Kon-tiki_2012_Poster.jpg

Makes a good double feature with Trollhunter. Norwegians be crazy.

I think it makes a good double-feature with Life of Pi. Lots of similarities.

Dorkman wrote:

Jesse has just gone through the most unhinged "Scared Straight" program in history. He's not gonna so much as jaywalk for the rest of his life.

He's got serious self-esteem issues. Parental rejection. He's always been the loser. Everyone told him he's no good. Cooking >95% pure meth is now his one great in-demand highly-respected skill.

He was put through the ringer in Seasons 1,2,3 and still reverted to crime.

I can't see him going to college so he can teach chemistry.

BBQ wrote:

What is Jesse a wanted fugitive for? He was busted earlier in the season for throwing the cash out of the window, but other than that, he's basically clean. The DEA never found the tape (I guess they could find it at the Nazi camp? Loose end) and with Walt dead on the floor of the Nazi lab, I imagine all the blue meth Jesse was making for Jack's crew would get pinned on Walt.

At close of credits, Marie, Skyler, Lydia, Huell, Skinny Pete, and Badger, know of Jesse's involvement and could be induced to tell. Marie would have a huge motivation. There's the confession tape. And there'd be his fingerprints all over the Meth Lab. Investigations into how he bought the house would reveal something dodgy too. Gomez could even have told people at the cop shop.

Jesse is free, but his position is precarious, and it's questionable how resourceful he is. And he's not going to trust Saul because of the Brock incident. To Alaska via the vacuum man to become another Chris McCanless?

Has Jesse undergone some transformative redemption? Will he revert to stoner/slacker/druggie/comatose culture? Cook for the Czech cartel? I'd watch a spin-off show.

I wonder how long Jesse can last on the run. He's a wanted fugitive. No money. Not a hardened criminal mastermind. Just a highly strung out kid.

Maybe he finds a bag of Todd's cash in the car. That'll buy him some time.

Or maybe he's captured by the Czech cartel and made to work. Stayed tuned for Season 6 - Prague Nights.

Is this an Onion parody? The effort required to fake it is greater than the effort require to film it for real.

Finale's cancelled...

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/arts … 3092479725

Saniss wrote:

And right after that, we have Gretchen who says "The sweet, kind, brilliant man that we once knew long ago, he's gone". Walt's reaction to that, that simple glance, tells me he accepts this idea. Walter White is dead. Only Heisenberg remains. And he wants revenge, because Heisenberg's only motivations are his greed and his ego.

Next week's episode's true title? Heisenberg goes on a rampage.

But Heisenberg was never a weapons-trained super-villain that could storm a secure compound Arnie style. He's a cancer-ridden school teacher. We saw Mike do it with that rival cartel, but Walt is not military trained. How many goons does Jack have? It would be a bit false to his character to suddenly turn Mr White into the T-800.

My prediction: Jesse is going to have to thin out their numbers with some explosion or fumes. Nazis getting gassed. There's your theme right there.

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(83 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Sly as Rocky in I & II. As appropriate for him as the T-800 for Arnie.

595

(14 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Zarban wrote:

Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. A role for a young actor to die for, the stuff literally of which legends are made, and Lucas casts a good looking kid who can't even play AWKWARD convincingly.

True, but it wouldn't have mattered if Lucas had cast the world's greatest actor. The prequels did have some kickass actors (Neeson, MacGregor, Portman, Jackson, et al) - all of whom have noteworthy credentials, but Lucas' direction flattened them all out to monotone line-readings.

596

(44 replies, posted in Episodes)

Dark Crystal? I didn't know Nolan got the rights to the Breaking Bad movie.

Or a very right wing message that you too can join the 1% if you leave the teachers' union, embrace the can-do entrepreneurial spirit, and work hard. Look what can be achieved if the socialist government rules don't get in the way.

Doctor Submarine wrote:

Well, Gilligan's said from day 1 that his original pitch for the series was that he was going to take Mr. Chips and turn him into Scarfade

That's a better pitch than saying I'm going to take innocent young Anakin and turn him into Darth Vader.

Trey wrote:

I could give Gilligan the benefit of the doubt and say those early wacky episodes were just to get a greenlight, and the master plan was always there, but I rather suspect it was an organic process of figuring out what the show was.

Yes, I'd agree with that. Dean Norris was on the last Talking Bad saying how his character has changed from asshole/comic relief to something much more complex. And of course the story that everyone knows is that Pinkman was going to be bumped off in Season 1, so it's the actors that can make or break the trajectory of a character. There's obviously no master plan.

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(83 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Some good selections here: Tim Curry as FnF, Depp as Sparrow, Viggo as Aragorn. Talk about nailing it.

I'd like to nominate Anthony Hopkins for two roles which are essentially the same character i.e. the world-weary intellectual billionaire that's always thinking about something greater than what the current conversation is about, so he has a far-off look that seems like he's only giving you some of his attention. The movies are The Edge and Meet Joe Black.
Hopkins has got that character down pat - he can phone it in and still be 100X as good as anyone else. Effortless presence. Some people just have it. No need for animated histrionics.

Compare De Niro in HEAT with Pacino in HEAT. Cool, calm and intense trumps showy shouting.