What Movie Did You Just Watch? ...Rises

Discussion of non-Disney entertainment.
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Post by Lazario »

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Dead End Drive-In (1986 / directed by: Brian Trenchard-Smith)

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Since the world is going mad for The Hunger Games, I found myself in the mood to watch its' 1986 Australian equivalent. That is to say- a shitty combo rip-off of The Warriors and Footloose about a bunch of nowhere "punks" whom the film's government decides are too wild and crazy to let roam the street free. Or maybe it's the other way 'round, that they're not tough enough. So they cart them off to drive-in theater lots which now function as tenement ghettos, trap them in so they can't escape, and use coercion techniques to make them want to stay. That's where one of my major problems with the movie lies- its' idea of coercion. Well, that and its' idea of street punks. And its' idea of a government conspiracy. Imagine that it cares about something. Now imagine some tacky executive of a movie studio willing to throw money at it, if the filmmaker 80's-fy it to the hilt. So, yeah: beat-heavy pop tunes, neon lights everywhere, huge frizzy hairdos, leather clothes, 80's club-hopping posers dressed like bikers who think they're Irish backalley streetfighters or something, and fast food paraphenalia. It's a dump heap movie trying to look like a sleek 80's Hollywood flash thing and trying to act like a sincere, meaningful social commentary. About... apathy? Until the racial disharmony subplot rears it's braindead head.

This movie can't do anything right other than look good. I suppose on a technical level, it looks about what you'd expect knowing that it's extremely tacky and extremely 80's. And extremely pretentious. I'm not even sure that's the right word. This isn't a smug movie- it's actually worse. It thinks it can have a group of characters dress like punks and act crude off in the distance and that makes a statement about the disintegrating attitudes and behaviors of teenagers / 20-somethings. It's a big psych-out is what it is. The movie features a kinda skinny little guy, small brother to this hulking beefy just stud of an older brother who has to fight off car-part thieves who swoop down on crash sites to loot WHILE ambulances and tow trucks are there, being trapped in the circumstance I've already outlined. He is swarmed upon by guys I can only describe as pretty much as small as he is and I gather they're trying to figure him out. And he quickly shows them that while they play like cricket games and run around trying to intimidate everyone else by acting like West Side Story's general idea of a gang (making silly faces, hooting and hollering, and impersonating mentally handicapped people) he's ready to slice them up with broken bottles and bash their heads in with bricks.

So, he's trapped in a theater of posers and can kick all their asses. Even though on the outside, we're meant to believe he couldn't handle himself (he was this other guy's little brother and his defining character arc is that he's little, bored, and full of energy). He should be the guy who actually does something in the movie and it takes him forever to do anything. He spends the "trapped" portion of the movie observing and trying to understand. This works for some movies which have substance and depth in them. This movie has none. I don't know about anyone else who saw it but: it's really an action movie (no matter what it's pretending to be), everything is "future sucks, law is impotent, street crime rules," and you have to wait until the last 12 minutes to see the pressure cooker boil over. And even then, I was disappointed by the lack of fucking carnage a film like this makes you want to see take place. It was playing the chase, crash, and killings for suspense. But who cares if anyone lived or died? There are 2 things this movie had any hope of accomplishing. Look good. Check. Have the idiot characters die and many quality random explosions and crashes take place for our amusement. Fail.
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Post by PeterPanfan »

Some movies I've seen recently:

Ghost World - I last watched this when I was about fourteen or fifteen. Now, as a seventeen year old, I related so much more to aspects of it. Despite my love of Thora Birch in other films, I found the character of Enid to be slightly lacking. She was annoying and very hypocritical and pretentious, and sometimes just mean. Still, that is an accurate characterization of many "lost" high school souls, including my own self at times. I found Scarlett Johannson's Becky much more relatable.

Prête-moi ta main (I Do: How to Get Married and Stay Single) - This was a delightful French romantic comedy starring the amazing Charlotte Gainsbourg. It was nice to see her do a comedy since she usually does pretty heavy dramas. Her voice is so awesome... she's definitely one of my favorite actresses, as she delivers a flawless performance in literally everything she does.
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Post by Lazario »

PeterPanfan wrote:Ghost World - I last watched this when I was about fourteen or fifteen. Now, as a seventeen year old, I related so much more to aspects of it. Despite my love of Thora Birch in other films, I found the character of Enid to be slightly lacking. She was annoying and very hypocritical and pretentious, and sometimes just mean. Still, that is an accurate characterization of many "lost" high school souls, including my own self at times. I found Scarlett Johannson's Becky much more relatable.
It doesn't matter if we find her likable or relatable. What we have to do is understand her and her view of the world. Anyway, Ghost World is a rare masterpiece and still probably the best film of this millennium.
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Post by TheSequelOfDisney »

Over the weekend, I've watched:

The Muppets
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (with Fincher's commentary)
Casablanca
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Post by PeterPanfan »

Lazario wrote:It doesn't matter if we find her likable or relatable. What we have to do is understand her and her view of the world. Anyway, Ghost World is a rare masterpiece and still probably the best film of this millennium.
What exactly do you mean? I said I understood her view, and have found myself feeling the same way. She doesn't mature or grow up, however, and I know that's the antithesis of the film's message, but I completely understand why it's difficult for most adults to relate to this movie in any way.
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Post by Lazario »

PeterPanfan wrote:She doesn't mature or grow up, however, and I know that's the antithesis of the film's message
What did you think the film's message was? (You didn't think this movie was a drama, did you?)
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Post by PeterPanfan »

Lazario wrote:
PeterPanfan wrote:She doesn't mature or grow up, however, and I know that's the antithesis of the film's message
What did you think the film's message was? (You didn't think this movie was a drama, did you?)
I didn't think it was a drama, but it didn't seem entirely satirical, either. At least, it didn't seem like it was satirizing Enid and Becky. I thought the message was basically about the importance of individualization, but to a lesser extent, the importance of understanding and appreciating teenager's mindsets, and the realization that maturity will come. Which is what confused me, since Enid didn't mature, but Becky did... yet everyone loves Enid more than Becky...
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Post by Lazario »

Well, in my opinion- there are plenty of lesser movies (and, come to think of it, television shows) about characters maturing. I don't care who likes Becky and who doesn't like Enid. Ghost World was far more compelling, interesting, and open-ended.
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Post by PeterPanfan »

Lazario wrote:Well, in my opinion- there are plenty of lesser movies (and, come to think of it, television shows) about characters maturing. I don't care who likes Becky and who doesn't like Enid. Ghost World was far more compelling, interesting, and open-ended.
Well, what did you think the message was? I'm interested, since no one else I know has seen it.
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Post by slave2moonlight »

Dreamchild - I had always wanted to see this film about the real Alice of Alice in Wonderland and her relationship with the real Lewis Carroll, originally more because of Jim Henson's involvement than anything, but eventually just as much because of the Alice in Wonderland subject matter. I found it to be a fascinating film, and I go back and forth still on how I feel about the portrayal of their relationship. It is somewhat ambiguous, and yet... not. I suppose that is appropriate, as the real story is not as clear as a researcher might wish either.

Incidentally, while Amelia Shankley (sp?) (whom I always adored later on in the role of Red Riding Hood) looked much like the real Alice, I didn't think Ian Holm looked anything like Carroll, nor that he looked 30 yrs. old. I don't know how old he was, but he looked 40-something to me. Maybe that's just how he has always looked, ha. Great performances all around though, and amazing creature effects, though I didn't love the Caterpillar.
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Post by Lazario »

PeterPanfan wrote:Well, what did you think the message was? I'm interested, since no one else I know has seen it.
I didn't think there was a message. The film was open-ended. You were meant to take from it what you were inclined to. Enid said there was no bus on that route anymore and it turns out she was wrong. But, did you get the impression that she was right and there wasn't supposed to be a bus? It's not a simple case of she was wrong again, I think the movie was stating implicity that there wasn't supposed to be a bus in that place at that time. But there was.
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Post by PeterPanfan »

The Black Dahlia - I had been wanting to see this for years since the Elizabeth Short story has always fascinated me and I like the actors involved. While it wasn't as horrendous as other people have made it out to be, it could have been so much better. Aaron Eckhart, Josh Hartnett, and Scarlett Johannson seemed bored the entire film and Hilary Swank was so creepy and weird that it was hard to watch. Honestly, the only actor I thought was exceptional was Mia Kirshner, which is odd since she is known only because of her mediocre television roles, yet is pitted against several Oscar winners/nominees and is able to not only hold her own, but "out-act" them. It's worth checking out only if there's nothing else on or you're a fan of Hollywood murders (morbid much?).
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Post by slave2moonlight »

Purple Rain - I had never seen it before, but I found it mostly silly and underwhelming overall, though it had some moments that were stylistically nice, and the love interest was quite easy on the eyes in her nude scenes and some of her outfits, and Prince showed what an impressive performer he is. I just didn't get much out of the story and acting and all; Was starting to lose interest near the end.
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Post by Avaitor »

The actual movie itself isn't much to admire, but I still think that the soundtrack for Purple Rain contains some of the greatest pop music ever recorded.

Got two films to talk about here. One is A Place for Lovers, which is, to put it lightly, fucking awful. Watching it, I couldn't believe that such a competent director as Vittorio De Sica, responsible for Bicycle Thieves and Two Women, was behind this. It's such an insipid love story full of dumb ideas and terrible, terrible lines. Even the camera work is bland. Not only is the great director wasted, but it contains some fine actors that give off dreadful performances. Faye Dunaway is a great actress, but she's completely shrill and unlikable here, and Marcello Mastroianni, a great Italian actor, just seems lost in his English-speaking performance. Really, the only saving grace this film has is the brief shot of Faye's ass we get.

The other is High and Low, by the incredible Akira Kurosawa, which fared far better for me. It's a real oddity in his career- a present day thriller, as opposed to Kurosawa's typical feudal Japanese masterworks. It still works though, since the story is original and clever enough to make it stand up to the best of the Hollywood thrillers that fascinated Kurosawa so, and his keen sense on how to examine the human psyche in times of turmoil work perfectly for the film. It works so well, and contains a great cast of actors.
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Post by slave2moonlight »

I am nearly done with the second part of the 3 part The Tenth Kingdom right now. I have heard fairy tale lovers rave about this TV miniseries, but I never managed to actually see it. I am having a lot of fun watching it, I gotta say! I really love the romance between Wolf and the lovely Kimberly Williams, and John Larroquette is always fun. The Wolf character is a hoot and really carries the film for me, naturally, with my personal interest in wolf/werewolf characters. The troll trio was annoying, and it kinda sucks that they are back at this point, ha. There are a few over the top moments ("We Will Rock/Sheer You"...), but besides that, I am loving almost everything in this. Pretty good when you have no new "Once Upon a Time" episodes to watch. I hope it continues to be great. I'm quite amazed with some of the stuff in this film actually making it to Network TV at the time. Then again, I don't remember when this aired and I haven't watched much Network TV in a long time, aside from a few very specific shows (like, currently, Once Upon a Time is the only show I watch from among the big networks).
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Post by Dr Frankenollie »

I've watched a few Kubrick films in the past two days - A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Odyssey. (I plan on watching Dr Strangelove tonight).

Orange is a masterpiece; Malcolm McDowell is wonderful as Alex, who despite having a boyish face and youthfulness is a sadistic monster. A lot of the creepiness of Alex is his voice, because McDowell uses cheerful, enthusiastic tones. He is also a fascinating character, not caring about money or power, but simply finding pleasure in hurting others. I also love how Kubrick makes us feel sorry for Alex in the second act, because he makes us see the dystopian world through his eyes and because most of Alex's victims are portrayed as unlikable. The tracking shots are gorgeous, the editing is inspired and the supporting actors - especially Patrick Magee - are very good.

The first time I watched 2001, I was bored to tears by it. Now that I've watched it again, I can say it's not as bad as I first considered it, but I'm uncertain of what I think of it. Douglas Rain is very good as Hal 9000, the visuals are ahead of their time, and it can be thought-provoking; yet the characters are one-dimensional, it goes at an agonisingly slow pace, and it can be very vague and pretentious. Put simply, I have very mixed feelings about it.
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Post by yamiiguy »

2001 is my favourite movie and possibly, one of the best. Dave is intentionally a one dimensional character because he's not really a character at all - he is a representation of the entire human race. The film has a cold atmosphere and doesn't try to keep your attention but by marrying the music, visuals and philosophical themes it becomes one of the very few pieces of art that is transcendent.

Not everybody's cup of tea, mind you! I'm not a big fan of the 'slow' cinema that Bela Tarr makes but Kubrick's vision was enough to captivate me.

Re: De Sica's A Place for Lovers, I've never seen it but I've heard it was terrible. De Sica made some terrific films (Bicycle Thieves, Miracle in Milan, Umberto D., Garden of the Finzi-Continis) but the majority of his work (that I've seen) didn't compare.

Quite a few directors are like that - Godard, Renoir, maybe even Bergman. Nevertheless, they belong on the list of best directors. Very few directors never made a bad film. Tarkovsky, Melville, Bresson...any others?
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Post by slave2moonlight »

I didn't find the pace of 2001 to be something that made it unwatchable for me, but I can't comment too much on if it was uncomfortable for me, as it was a long time ago that I saw it. I can usually handle slow stuff, if it is not unreasonable. I think the worst movie I have ever seen was "The Fountain", and its pacing was one of its biggest problems. It's the most pretentious, boring, slow piece of repeating sludge I've ever seen. A big, embarrassing disappointment, as the trailers were intriguing enough that I brought my parents with me to see it, and they were never big on going to the movies. It was torturous. Ugh. Sad thing is, it must have had a good idea at its heart. If I try to describe the plot to people, even I think it SOUNDS really good. Just HORRIBLE execution, I guess, despite stars I usually like. The advertising was totally misleading though.

Anyway, I just finished Tenth Kingdom. I really loved it over all, though I wasn't a big fan of the Snow White/Cinderella casting, ha. I also didn't love the mention in the end of how Virginia and Wolf didn't have a happily ever after. It was more implying that they had further crises to deal with, as in, further adventures, seemingly to make way for a sequel that never happened (or TV series or something), but after all that, especially since they already shook things up by letting the wolf get the girl and having them go back to the city, I think some confirmation that they at least stayed together and were somewhat happy ever after would have been more favorable.
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Post by yamiiguy »

I'm one of the few people in the world that actually liked The Fountain. One of the only films that I couldn't stand the pace and pretentiousness of is Terrence Malick's The New World. I like Malick, I think he's one of the best directors working today but that film just put me to sleep.
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Post by slave2moonlight »

Incidentally, I never mentioned it, but shortly after I bought the Muppets recently, I also bought Hop and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, but I forgot to comment on them here.

A lot of people will lump those films together, a lot of people (here and in general) who just hate these types of movies, often without even being willing to see them before attacking and labeling them. I'm of course talking about family films that mix live-action with CGI characters, especially when they are based on old cartoons like The Chipmunks. I have always insisted that is not the right way to judge movies, especially when a lot of the hate for those based on old cartoons is just some misplaced loyalty to one particular incarnation of whichever character(s) are in question. For example, with the Chipmunks, A: It's not like the 80's version was the only version of these characters to ever exist, and B: Those who see these new CHipmunk films as sooo different from that version must have rose-colored hindsight. I'll grant that the feature film was awesome and pandered less to kids than the new films, but even there I'm thinking more about the sequels. The first of the new films was actually really good. The second film, actually, might be the worst of the three, even though everyone right now likes to say Chipwrecked is the worst. I blind-bought Chipwrecked because I like the Chipmunks and because the original cast was all back again, even David Cross (whether he regrets it or not), and I don't regret it. It is a crazy, silly movie about CHipmunks. There are 2 or three unpleasant moments where the humor gets tacky, but most of the time it is just a lot of fun with the characters we know and love. Yeah, the plot is more contrived than ever, but these are comedic films about characters, not plot. It's not about how or why characters get into ridiculous situations, or perhaps I should say how believable it is, it's about watching how these ridiculous, comedic characters behave in such situations. Really, this latest film reminded me more of the 80's Chipmunks than the other two, so it's amazing how much fans of that show were displeased with the third. Of course, they still turned out in droves.

As for Hop, I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's a delightful, practically perfect Easter movie for when you want a break from the religious stuff. I love so many things about it. I especially like that they were ballsy enough to not have a love interest for any of the characters. I like that instead they have family issues, which is a big part of Easter, after all. It's very much a family holiday. I also love the lead human character, and I related to him so much. I thought 99 percent of the humor was excellent, I thought the Pink Berets were adorable, I loved all the secular Easter visuals and themes. Maybe they could have left out references to Santa Claus or toned down some of the similarities, maybe they could have thrown in at least a background nod to the religious aspects just to make it an Easter film that doesn't miss a beat, but I still loved it. My only hardcore complaint is that it is one of those films, like Salem's Lot, that gives away one of the best and most significant aspects of the ending at the beginning of the film! What's up with movies doing that?!! Why give away one of the best little twists in your film at the very beginning?!!! Why give away the ending in or before the opening credits? I didn't understand that about Salem's Lot, and I don't get it here, either. I think it would have been much more effective to save it, even though I enjoyed seeing the various Easter Bunny portraits at the beginning topped off by the Fred one. They could have saved the Fred portrait for the end of the film though.
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