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and the Johnny Knoxville character is still primarily there to be annoying.
And he vanishes about half-way through without mention, if I recall correctly. That sort of thing pisses me off, especially considering he was all henchman-like until then.
BigDamnArtist wrote:and the Johnny Knoxville character is still primarily there to be annoying.
And he vanishes about half-way through without mention, if I recall correctly. That sort of thing pisses me off, especially considering he was all henchman-like until then.
I'm not sure, I was mostly trying to pretend like he didn't exist at all. However now that you mention it yah. He does his whole schtick with the ballchinian and the other bad guys going to get K, then basically disappears. I guess once she got all her uber bad guys back from MIB Serleena ditched him.
A line would have been nice. Annoying or not, he was one of the bad guys and he gets to walk free. Maybe he was a casualty of the re-filmed ending but it's still pretty sloppy.
True, like I said, it definitely has some problems.
I got round to watching Thor: The Dark World the other day. I thought the first was alright, but I wasn't a fan of this one at all. I know quick cutting is a thing in big action blockbusters these days, but bloody hell, it's like they just went cut happy in this movie.
6.5/10
I would like an explanation of this rating because I seem to recall it being pretty bad. Bearing in mind that I know nothing of the books or anything of the franchise (can it be called that?) but it just felt rote to be my the end. I usually do not use the term "hate" for a film but this one almost nets an "I hate this film!" from me.
Men in Black 2:
Ran accross this on netflix and was in a "fuck it, why not?" mood, haven't seen it in years and years. I remember it being really truly terrible. Don't get me wrong there's still A LOT wrong with it, but on the whole I found myself really enjoying it this time.
There's still some pretty serious problems, Will Smith Will Smith's all over the place a little too much at times, some of the action scenes cross the wacky line into full blown stupidity, and the Johnny Knoxville character is still primarily there to be annoying. But all that said, I actually really enjoyed watching it this time. A lot of jokes landed really well, there's a lot of really well tied in call backs and references to the first movie while not feeling bogged down by them or them being out of place. And for whatever reason the things that really stuck out in my memory as ruining the movie for me the first time were just not an issue, and actually found myself enjoying them this time. And it still managed to do it's own thing that wasn't just a rehash of the first movie.
All in all, I was very pleasantly surprised. Would I rather watch this over the first one? No. But would I look forward to a double feature? Sure. It's fun, has it's own thing going on, and if you can mentally polish over the few rough spots it's legitimately entertaining.
*warning* Possibly offensive statements ahead *warning*
I honestly liked this one a little bit more than the first in some places (ducks the thrown items). One of the reasons that I can see BDA and I disagreeing is I actually like Will Smith being Will Smith. There is a bit of the straight man style from Tommy Lee Jones coming through with his whole dealing with the giant worm at the beginning, to his dealing with the villains at the end. Some of the humor fell a little flat and the fact that they brought Jones back at all was kind of irritating (not surprising-just irritating) but the performances were good and it is a lot of fun.
Overall, it depends on my mood which one of the three I will watch. MIB 2 is one of the few sequels that I enjoy as much as the original.
A lot of the hype was Harvey Weinstein being a master of hyping his BP nominees. Clearly he knows how to work that thing in the run-up to Awards Season.
Few recent BP winners deserve the distinction. (The King's Speech was not the best film of that year, nor was Argo, etc.) That said, I actually feel The Artist is one of the more defensible winners in recent memory. It's, at least, a movie everyday people actually enjoyed. It also took big chances that paid off--a silent, B & W film in which the two leads and director were people American audiences probably never heard of. Weinstein distributed it anyway. Its success is remarkable when you consider that. When I look at the nominees that year, I still have no problem with The Artist's win.
I am curious as to what you think should have taken BP instead of The King's Speech?
The Social Network is a modern classic, and will be remembered long after the boring, poorly-directed King's Speech has been forgotten.
Last edited by Doctor Submarine (2014-03-25 03:52:51)
The Social Network would have gotten my vote. What killed me about The King's Speech's win is that I thought nearly every other film nominated was better. Toy Story 3--better. Winter's Bone--better. Even The Kids Are All Right, which I didn't love, I thought was better. And the kicker is that I liked The King's Speech. Saw it again recently and liked it a lot.
The Social Network was such a deft portrait of where we were and what we were as a culture in the aughts. It was so well done at every level. It's been a few years now, and you don't really hear people bringing up The King's Speech very much. People still talk about The Social Network.
One of the reasons that I can see BDA and I disagreeing is I actually like Will Smith being Will Smith.
There's a reason I added the modifier to that statement that I did. I like Will Smith being Will Smith, but there's a difference between letting Will Smith bring his Will Smithness to a scene, and having an entire scene be nothing but Will Smithness.
There were just a couple points where the scene could have ended or been cut in half by not letting Will Smith be so much Will Smith. (using peoples names as verbs is so much fun, not confusing at all) Which I would honestly pin on it being a sequel and being so reliant on Will Smith being the central role and the filmmakers not trusting the words on the page to carry the story.
TL;DR: I love me some Will Smith but come on guys...seriously?
Last edited by BigDamnArtist (2014-03-25 04:13:20)
The Social Network would have gotten my vote. What killed me about The King's Speech's win is that I thought nearly every other film nominated was better. Toy Story 3--better. Winter's Bone--better. Even The Kids Are All Right, which I didn't love, I thought was better. And the kicker is that I liked The King's Speech. Saw it again recently and liked it a lot.
The Social Network was such a deft portrait of where we were and what we were as a culture in the aughts. It was so well done at every level. It's been a few years now, and you don't really hear people bringing up The King's Speech very much. People still talk about The Social Network.
This is where I must live in a different world. I could care less about Social Network yet find more application and memorable lines/moments from The King's Speech in my day to day life.
Again, that is just me. Some things hit you were you live.
I did enjoy both The King's Speech and The Social Network, but the latter wins for me. I didn't see The King's Speech until a few years after it winning Best Picture though, so I may have been 'Oscar-hyped' a bit too much for it.
Dragged along to Divergent. Embarrassed to say I didn't hate it. Super contrived premise, makes you wonder how the events of the film don't happen every day. Nice VFX work fucking up my city. Young adult fare, better than both Twilight and Hunger Games Part 1. I'd have to watch it again to give it a proper review, but I can't say I'm sufficiently motivated.
It's undeniably a Kubrick film. And a pretty good one, if you don't mind the usual Kubrickian pacing. The story kept me interested despite the considerable length. Classical music is used nicely throughout the movie. But the best thing about Barry Lyndon is the cinematography - it's just as beautiful as we've come to expect from Stanley.
A sweet, heartwarming tale, but I wouldn't call it one of the all-time masterpieces. So why did Driving Miss Daisy win the "Best Picture" Oscar? My guess is that the Academy once again went with the safer choice. Oh well... It's been known to happen (Annie Hall vs. Star Wars for 1977, The Departed vs. Children Of Men for 2006). I'm not trying to say that Annie Hall and The Departed are bad (both movies work very well for me), but Star Wars and Children Of Men have proved more influential (it's a crime that Children Of Men wasn't even nominated).
Rob wrote:The Social Network would have gotten my vote. What killed me about The King's Speech's win is that I thought nearly every other film nominated was better. Toy Story 3--better. Winter's Bone--better. Even The Kids Are All Right, which I didn't love, I thought was better. And the kicker is that I liked The King's Speech. Saw it again recently and liked it a lot.
The Social Network was such a deft portrait of where we were and what we were as a culture in the aughts. It was so well done at every level. It's been a few years now, and you don't really hear people bringing up The King's Speech very much. People still talk about The Social Network.
This is where I must live in a different world. I could care less about Social Network yet find more application and memorable lines/moments from The King's Speech in my day to day life.
Again, that is just me. Some things hit you were you live.
And I wholeheartedly think Winter's Bone should've taken it, but only because Rabbit Hole wasn't even nominated. Is it just me, or was 2011 a pretty good year for movies?
Dragged along to Divergent. Embarrassed to say I didn't hate it. Super contrived premise, makes you wonder how the events of the film don't happen every day. Nice VFX work fucking up my city. Young adult fare, better than both Twilight and Hunger Games Part 1. I'd have to watch it again to give it a proper review, but I can't say I'm sufficiently motivated.
Just saw it. With the stuff they shot on Wacker, I believe one of the things that wasn't CG was the birdshit beneath the El tracks. It's the same birdshit that was stuck to the sidewalk when Ferris, Cameron, and Sloane were there, and when Jake and Elwood were there. Stuff is caked on. Fucking Rahm.
And I wholeheartedly think Winter's Bone should've taken it, but only because Rabbit Hole wasn't even nominated. Is it just me, or was 2011 a pretty good year for movies?
Winter's Bone should have gotten more love and Rabbit Hole was seriously good.
I know I'm a decade late on this, but holy fuck Magnolia is an amazing movie. The amount of creativity and inventiveness in the filmmaking keeps you off balance and engaged so the whole 3 hours just fly by, and on top of that the performances are amazing. Why is John C Reilly stuck doing comedies when he's this compelling as a dramatic actor.
+1
Is he stuck doing comedies? I got the feeling that he was doing pretty much anything he liked, both comedic and dramatic.
I watched Goon for the first time the other day and I quite liked it. If anyone needs to channel their inner Canadian, this is the film to watch. Normally I don't like Seann William Scott but I think he really nails the character he plays and gives him a lot of heart. If you like (rather violent) hockey, vulgar humour, strong characters, or some combination of the three, I'd recommend it. Also, it's sitting at 82% on RT if that means anything to you.
Another Earth
Had this recommended by a friend. It sounded like something that would be right up my alley, but it just ended up really annoying me. The idea behind the film has a lot of promise, but the execution just did not deliver for me. It seemed to fall in to the trap of 'show character looking sad = DRAMA!!!' way too much. I'm glad I checked it out though, but I can't say I'd recommend it.
Last edited by Owen_Ward (2014-03-28 05:23:36)
I'll say it again, you can't hotlink imdb images.
And yep, that's pretty much exactly how I felt after Another Earth. There's some cool ideas, but it felt like it was waaay to focused on being a capital -I "Indie" movie, where it's about Feelings and Peeeoooople, for serious guys. And ultimately there just wasn't anything there to make it worth it.
Whoops, changed it. I don't pop in this thread much, didn't know it was an issue. Took a good few tries to get an image that worked.
I think you hit the nail right on the head there., it's a hollow movie that tries to give itself more depth than it has. A lot of these type of flicks seem to be that way, where it seems like the idea of simply being philisopphical is more important than y'know...actually saying something.
Also, white balance guys!
Just returned from the screening. Glazer did a brief Q&A afterward. He's boring. His movie is damn good.
It's a fresh take on the old aliens-come-to-Earth-to-harvest-humans-for-whatever-reason story. What most impressed me was how it sidesteps the tropes and even the tone we might expect from alien movies. It's very much doing its own thing.
Like 2001, UTS leaves out certain details from the novel. This makes the narrative of the film more mysterious in a way that works. If we knew why, for example, Johannson's character is doing what she's doing, it's not as interesting. The actual reason given in the novel is straightforward and, actually, kind of dumb. In reference to this, Glazer said "the question is more interesting than the answer," and on this point he's right.
The visuals are unforgettable. Johansson is outstanding. The music and sound design, also outstanding. It's a little slow in spots, but it's good hard sci-fi. If that's your bag, this is not one to skip.
What's really cool is allegedly how they shot a lot of the scenes of her picking up/stalking guys by having her actually just walk into a bar and filming real people and their interactions. I'm wondering how much of that comes across in the finished product.
10 / 10
After the King's Speech discussion above, I decided to check out some other Oscar-nominated films from various categories for that year, which led me to Biutiful. I have a lot of love for this one and was genuinely surprised that it's Rotten Tomatoes score was only in the mid-60s. I was also very glad to see Javier Bardem in this movie, because I hate No Country for Old Men but really wanted to see him in something I could like. This movie feels tailor-made for me, and I enjoyed every minute of it.
5.5 / 10
I thought about giving this one at least a 6, but that would imply that I might watch this movie again sometime, and that is highly unlikely. I thought Natalie Portman's character was really dull, and even though her life was supposed to be spiraling out of control, she never got any more interesting. I kept waiting for her to get more interesting, but it just never happened; and there were all these questions in my head that the film just wasn't interested in answering.
Because I have a lot of friends who are ballet dancers, the controversies over dance doubles and the portrayal of the ballet world proved a lot more interesting. I know that Portman worked her butt off training for this film, but the fact that she's not actually a dancer meant that the camera is always very tightly framed. It was always arm work or leg work, but rarely both, in a way that felt incredibly artificial and claustrophobic but failed to lend any menace to this supposed thriller.
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