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Last movie watched...

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

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Richmond Clements

Quote from: JOE SOAP on 22 August, 2011, 07:46:52 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 22 August, 2011, 07:07:32 PM
Ridely Scott's Robin Hood. It really is indescribably bad. And I do not enjoy saying that- I like most of old Ridley's stuff, but this was a total mess. And it was the apparently better director's cut we watched too.


It's no wonder he's goin' back to the well that granted him his career. Hopefully his next efforts are more than an old crooner singing cover versions with a lyric prompter.

Funnily enough, I did comment last night that it was no surprise his next work is a not-sequel to his best loved work. Funny he picked that now, just after a string of flops.
Although I will say that I love the extended cut of Kingdom of Heaven.

JOE SOAP

#991
The cosmetics/sonics/aesthetics of Blade Runner are relatively faultless and these are the main- I would say only- reasons admirers return to it. Certainly they're the only reasons I stuck with it since it's release and they're the elements that have been most influential in the sci-fi produced by the generation that followed.

Most of the enduring conversations/discussions concerning story/meaning are generally of a philosophical bent mostly because of it's connection to Dick and the source material rather than it being particulary developed dramatically in the film. The is he/isn't he a replicant has always been a red-herring and messy add-on that brings nothing to the film and more than likely reduces any message it has.






As far as Blade Runner goes I hope Scott recognises the film's biggest faults:

Virtually no pacing- for a slow film not having a sense of pace/rhythm is death. Believe me I like slow, measured films but BR is not a good example of one, Ridley Scott isn't Bill Forsyth and Blade Runner is no Local Hero. Takeshi Kitano films and 70's films like Electra Glide in Blue, Chinatown are excellent examples of the slow-burner.


Lacking in incident- stretching what feels like enough material for an 80/90 minute film out to 2 hours doesn't help.


Make the mood/opressivenes/aesthetics of the scenes an asset rather than a hindrance that weigh the film drama down too much in artistic voyeurism. Se7en is a nice example of the aesthetics being a character of the story rather than just being a nice picture that's more interesting than the drama.







One of the underused elements of Blade Runner was the animal factor -the sense of magical realism in the background akin to Night of the Hunter- Scott seemed to draw little out of this or exploit it in the narrative which is a pity since animals play such a major part in the book and had the most interesting dramatic possibilities concerning status/plot.











Keef Monkey

Watched a handful over the weekend (I got mild food poisoning so was on the couch in between voms for most of the weekend).

Dreamscape, which I think I first saw mentioned on here so put it on my rental list. It's very dated, in that way that '80s movies just seem to be a different language to current movies. Still enjoyably cheesy though and with some nice moments (I liked the Harryhausen-esque effects in places and the ideas are very proto-Inception). Good fun.

The Road. Everyone was heading out clubbing for Amy's birthday but as I still felt awful a mate offered to stay in too and watch a movie with me. It was very thoughtful, and the sentiment cheered me up, even if his choice of movie didn't. Seriously, that's a real downer of a movie. I'd read the book and found it a bit of a chore, aside from the admittedly powerful writing the story just didn't get me the way I thought it should. With the movie missing that prose it just felt empty, even if it did look stunning in places. I've never been one to criticize a movie for being too much of a downer (and I've been known to wallow in some dark films when I'm feeling blue) but for some reason The Road just lacks something to me. I find the ending, as with the book,[spoiler] far too convenient and a bit of a cop-out too[/spoiler]. There was a lot right there though, like the brilliant Cave/Ellis score, some nice cinematography and a fantastic performance from Mortenson. Part of me suspects that the reason I don't like it is because it strikes some sort of nerve in me that I can't put my finger on, which would probably suggest it's actually brilliant. It confuses me basically.

Black Dynamite, which I'd seen and Amy hadn't. She fell asleep halfway through, and to be honest I didn't find it anywhere near as amusing as I did the first time, but it still has some great moments. For an 80 minute movie the joke definitely wears surprisingly thin though.

Albion

Quote from: Albion on 14 August, 2011, 03:13:07 PM
Next up is Yogi Bear, not expecting much from that either but I'll give it a go. It can't be as bad as the second Chipmunks movie........can it?

Oh yes. Yogi Bear is even worse than Chipmunks 2. Awful, just awful.
Still waiting for the "grandsons" to lend us Rango. I likes the look of that.

I have also recently seen Bob The Builder in 4D at Legoland. Much better than crappy Yogi and a lot shorter too.

I might watch a film for people over 5 soon too but I'm not sure I want to tax my brain too much.
Dumb all over, a little ugly on the side.

Van Dom

Yogi Bear is diabolical. Really. Eventhe lovely Anna Faris couldn't help me get through this one. Even my kids got bored and went to bed.
Van Dom! El Chivo! Bhuna! Prof T Bear! And More! All in Vanguard Edition Three, available now. Check the blog or FB page for details!

VANGUARD COMIC!

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Definitely Not Mister Pops

Why oh why did John Hammond breed Velociraptors? No one had ever heard of them, they were never popular, and they are evidently evil, vicious bastards who deserved extinction. He should have stuck to Brachiosauruses. Maybe just one T-Rex.

Super.
Now there's a film that is very very wrong in many many ways. It's very funny one minute and then the tone shifts in very jarring fashions. It was good craic nonetheless.
You may quote me on that.

Richmond Clements

QuoteSuper.
Now there's a film that is very very wrong in many many ways. It's very funny one minute and then the tone shifts in very jarring fashions. It was good craic nonetheless.

It's a strange on. My review should be going up in the next couple of days.

TordelBack

#997
Quote from: pops1983 on 23 August, 2011, 02:28:32 AM
Why oh why did John Hammond breed Velociraptors?

He didn't though, did he?  The ones in the book are clearly Deinonychus, the ones in the films more like a small Utahraptor (infamously only discovered during the film's production).  Velociraptor mongoliensis* was about the size of a large turkey, but Crichton liked the name.  Also, as all the animals in the book are actually a cross between dinosaurs/pterosaurs and frogs, species may be irrelevant...

And Deinonychus was always pretty popular round my way!



*The species name used in the book.

Hawkmumbler

Quote from: TordelBack on 23 August, 2011, 09:32:28 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 23 August, 2011, 02:28:32 AM
Why oh why did John Hammond breed Velociraptors?

He didn't though, did he?  The ones in the book are clearly Deinonychus, the ones in the films more like a small Utahraptor (infamously only discovered during the film's production).  Velociraptor mongoliensis* was about the size of a large turkey, but Crichton liked the name.  Also, as all the animals in the book are actually a cross between dinosaurs/pterosaurs and frogs, species may be irrelevant...

And Deinonychus was always pretty popular round my way!



*The species name used in the book.
Utahraptor's discovery was just about 22 years before Jurassic park was released.
Acording to some resorces I have read claim said Dromeosaur played a big role in the design of the Velocoraptors in JP.
What interested me was how in JPIII the Raptors had feathers, as if the production mean had payed attention to revolutions in China when some species where found with feathers. Doesn't stop the fact i HATE JPIII!

TordelBack

#999
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 23 August, 2011, 12:32:14 PM
Utahraptor's discovery was just about 22 years before Jurassic park was released.

As far as I can remember, Utahraptor elements were indeed first recovered in the '70s by 'Dinosaur' Jim Jensen (along with just about every other North American dino), and thus these would be the type-specimen, but the genus wasn't named or described until a spate of finds in the early '90s. The story sticks in the mind because the species (I think there's only one) was to be named U. stephenspielbergus or something similarly cringeworthy, in return for research dosh and reciprocal publicity.  Mercifully I don't think this ever happened.

You may well be right about the Dromaeosaurus - still a good bit smaller than the ones in the film, though.

And welcome, Hawkmonger - I think I missed your intro thread last week.  I trust you're salivating at the prospect of the new Flesh trade as much as I am?

Professor Bear

Nerds.

The Bonds in order over a slow work week, and so far I've got through Dr No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, Man With the Golden Gun, the Spy Who Loved Me, and Moonraker.
All terribly dated in technology, politics (not just the Cold War stuff, but DAF's pro-South African diamond miners plotline) and attitudes (such as Bond's "run along now, love"/slaps bottom "man talk"), but I'm more resolute than ever that Connery's Bond wasn't all that, if only because he never smoked a cigar while hang gliding as Moore's did.
The thing that strikes me about the films is that they tend to drag on a bit, especially OHMSS, which could have been much better if it was at least forty minutes shorter so stuff like the stock car race and bobsleigh showdown could make it seem like the ludicrous action movie it really is rather than an unconvincing espionage thriller.  I get the impression Diana Rigg isn't held up as one of the better Bond girls but I don't know why as she looks great and her response to being threatened isn't to call for Bond's help but to smash the end off a bottle and try to stab the nearest thug in the face with it, while the look on her face as she drives some crappy eurocar into the middle of a stock car rally is fantastic - not worried in the slightest beyond winning the race.  Lazenby is okay as Bond, but the lengthy middle of the film where he's impersonating someone else goes on forever and distracts from his decent turn.  Moonraker is still pretty good fun, but marks where the series had overtly lapsed into cartoonish self-parody, particularly in Jaws turning from a menace into a buffoonish foil.

Machete - not enough of the grindhouse sensibility to be a stone classic, but full of moments like Machete abseiling down a building via a still-living thug's intestines and some funny deaths.  Worth a watch at least once, but only if there's nowt else on.

Hawkmumbler

Quote from: TordelBack on 23 August, 2011, 01:17:17 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 23 August, 2011, 12:32:14 PM
Utahraptor's discovery was just about 22 years before Jurassic park was released.

And welcome, Hawkmonger - I think I missed your intro thread last week.  I trust you're salivating at the prospect of the new Flesh trade as much as I am?
Of cause!
Can't blooming wait!

I watched three episodes of Mystery science theator 300o today!
622-Angels revenge
903-Pumaman
319-war of the colossal beast
"Bless you mr Servo"!

Keef Monkey

Watched Possession this morning, and it was pretty interesting. I was maybe a bit too dazed to get a great deal out of it though, as I did find it a bit of a slog. It's definitely a unique movie, and there's plenty in there to chew on, but I expected to be a bit more riveted than I was.

radiator

We watched the final episode of Freaks and Geeks the other day.

Can't quite express how much I love that series, it's just amazing. Just so well observed, well acted and authentic. Laugh out loud funny, but so sweet and heartfelt. Unbelievable that it got pulled off the air before the season even ended. Bittersweet that there are no more episodes to watch, but perhaps it's for the best that it stands alone as a perfect TV series. The 'ending', while obviously left open for a continuation, actually works perfectly as it is, capturing that transient, melancholic sense of being a teenager and making your way in the world.

Highly recommended!

Keef - I know you're a fan of the Apatow movies - if you haven't seen F&G, you really, really need to see it!

JOE SOAP

There was the 'sequel' Undeclared, nowhere near as good but worth a look.