Main Menu

Last movie watched...

Started by SmallBlueThing, 04 February, 2011, 12:40:44 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

BadlyDrawnKano

The Sweatbox - An absolutely fascinating documentary about how Disney spent four years working on an animated film called Emperor Of The Sun, directed by The Lion King's Roger Alllers, with Sting providing many of the songs, only for two executives to come along and say they didn't like it. Which led to Allers being let go / fired, and a group of writers all but rewrote the entire thing where it eventually became The Emperor's New Groove. Disney have refused to release this, but it is available to watch for free on the Internet Archive - https://archive.org/details/SweatboxDocumentaryUneditedVersion - and I really can't recommend it highly enough, it's both a fantastic insight in to how Disney made movies back then, but also the brutality that takes place when two people are given too much power.

Richard

Just saw Poor Things and it's brilliant, weird, and beautiful.

PsychoGoatee

Quote from: Marbles on 21 January, 2024, 12:29:19 PMSaw The Holdovers which was excellent - warm, funny and uplifting - the perfect antidote to January blues  :thumbsup:

So good! Giamatti is the best. Also saw American Splendor (2003) recently, also great.

Colin YNWA

Ghost World so it kinda goes without saying its not as good as the comic - which I've similarly just finished. Now this might feel a bit redundant but I kinda think its important... or at least says more about comics that are important.

I'm don't watch loads of comic films as I know more often than not I won't find them as good as the comics. But I'm on quite the Daniel Clowes bender at the moment and he co-wrote the movie so I was very interested to see how it came out.

And pretty good. Not great, but fair from bad. What it can't do is what the comic does and Clowes is smart enough (by far) to know this and so makes it pretty different. In doing that though while keeping the essense of the comic in there  no surprise his own comic- it expose a lot of what mvies can't do which comics can.

There two bits of the adaptation that make it much weaker than the comic. Firstly the episodic nature of the comic allows the story to feel dislodged in time. It feels compact and timeless all at once. You aren't aware of how much time has past. Its displaced moments in an undefined period of time. The events don't seem driven my any sense of connnected plot. It all comes together as you go on but these isolated vignettes don't feel like they have any planned dstination, don't reveal a single driven story. It can be read as - stuff that happens.

This feels so true to the theme of that sense of listless drifting as the character try to define themselves and their lives outside the 'safe' confines of school. Where sharp cynicism is all you need to define your identity. It makes Enid and Rebecca's story feel so true and more powerful.

The movie haivng a singular plot drives a specific story forward. Its a fine story but feels so much more constructed in the movies. The confines of a medium that has to appeal to a wider audience, defines by a much larger pool of creators by necessity dilute the brilliant intent and invention of the comic. It just feels less honest. If you didn't know the comic I'm not sure that would feel a problem but in comparison its so there.

Then the ending. SPOILERS of course. But the move feels so much more bleak. I could read it as almost saying Enid ended her life, getting on the bus so soon after 'Norman' moved on. I saw a very clear reading of Norman having left this world and therefore Enid could well have done the same. Its  not clear, its left for interuptation of course but in the film it feels so much bleaker. Which admittedly doesn't feel true to the rest of the film.

In the comic however, while full of pathos, the same ending is able to be delivered with a curious hope. Enid has moved on. As she reflects on Rebecca as she sees her for the 'last' time so has she. She's just moving on to escape herself, her past, her final words about Rebecca showing she's learning to move past her childish teenage cynicism but needs to do that away from the past that she has so struggled to let go. In the comic its made to work, in the movie it just doesn't.

There's more but those are the two I really pulled out. None of this makes Ghost World a bad movie its a fine movies and if I hadn't read the comic I might have enjoyed it all the more. It struggles in comparison however and so I struggled to enjoy the movie as much as I otherwise might.

Comics are just a brilliant unique medium that offer so much more than movies (or different things I prefer then to be fair). So its a great movies from that perspective!


Hawkmumbler

GUNDAM SEED PREEDOM

So went to go see Gundam Seed Freedom last night with one of my best mates. He's a big Gundam head and I'm working my way through the Universal Century series over the last 6 months (banger after banger) but neither of us knew a single thing about Seed other than its reputation being kinda poor among western fans, but wanted to go for the hell of it. Seeing a victory lap movie for a series that ended 15 years ago, what could possibly go wrong? Nothing, actually. Had no fucking clue what was going on but shit went hard, turns out Seed might actually be a good show and anime fans are just pissy losers.

Barrington Boots

I watched Ghost World before I read the comic and I definitely saw the ending as a suicide one - the bus the old fella is waiting on represents death and Enid decides to seek it out after her life falls to bits. Very dark ending.

I think the comic is superior, mainly for the excellent reasons Colin explores above, but I still find myself favouring that ending - perhaps because it was the original ending for me, perhaps because of how it resonated with people I knew at the time. I think it's a strong and sad interpretation, which is one of the reasons I haven't seen it for a long time!
You're a dark horse, Boots.

pictsy

I think I need to both rewatch and reread Ghost World.

I remember enjoying the film more.

Funt Solo

Just watched Whisky Galore (the 1949 version) at the local cinema - they had a piper in, and drams. I can't remember the first time I watched it (many moons ago, at any rate), but it was well worth the second go. There's some brilliantly choreographed comedy build-ups.

I managed not to hype it up too much for the youngling (11), who was despairing that we were going to see a black and white movie, but left declaring it was one of the best movies they'd ever seen.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

GoGilesGo

Quote from: Funt Solo on 26 March, 2024, 02:28:32 AMI managed not to hype it up too much for the youngling (11), who was despairing that we were going to see a black and white movie, but left declaring it was one of the best movies they'd ever seen.

That's fantastic, hopefully a gateway to other Ealings.

I had a similar experience a decade back introducing a neophyte to Kind Hearts and Coronets (rainy afternoon in my living room rather than a cinema screening; lucky you).

The first ten minutes were filled with teeth gnashing at the B&W, and the 'funny' accents. When the credits rolled: joyous declarations of love.

Funt Solo

Quote from: GoGilesGo on 26 March, 2024, 05:47:23 AMKind Hearts and Coronets

I drifted accidentally into that one a few years ago - so good!

---

Finally got around to watching Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which I'd been avoiding because it was so clearly sun-scorched compared to the rather bucolic original Knives Out.

Anyway - it's really good! One of those rare beasts - a sequel that manages to be either as good as or better than the original. Can't talk about it, though. Spoilers!

Join the ranks:
 - The Godfather Part II
 - The Empire Strikes Back
 - Back to the Future Part III
 - Deadpool 2
 - The Suicide Squad
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

Jim_Campbell

Quote from: Funt Solo on 26 March, 2024, 06:15:14 PMFinally got around to watching Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which I'd been avoiding because it was so clearly sun-scorched compared to the rather bucolic original Knives Out.

Yep. It's great. Someone on Facebook was suggesting today that Knives Out 3 should be a Muppet movie, like Christmas Carol with Daniel Craig as the only human character... which I think is nothing short of genius. :)
Stupidly Busy Letterer: Samples. | Blog
Less-Awesome-Artist: Scribbles.

karlos

Road House (2024)

Shit house, more like

Funt Solo

Quote from: karlos on 27 March, 2024, 12:28:10 PMRoad House (2024)

Shit house, more like

Such an odd remake idea. If anyone doesn't know about the original, then Honest Trailers | Road House (1989) sums it up really well.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

karlos

I honestly love the original - I think it's is an absolute stonker.  How they got it so wrong with this remake, I'll never know. The first 10 or so minutes are fine and then it's downhill.  A shame.