Serious Movie Discussion XLII

[Rimbaud82]

Another forum?



Don't make me go Highlander here, Rimbaud. You know there can be only Sherdog.

Tis a good forum, a boxing one but the lounge has good movie talk. But the SMD is hard to beat.

 

[europe1]

drawn out scenes that weren't nearly as interesting as they thought they were dramatically/visually

I actually really dug the tension that Villeneuve mounted in those scenes. Like in the highway boarder-crossing scene. Steady escelation and rapid payoff. It's almost like his trademark.

an air of for me frankly undeserved self importance around it with drawn out scenes that weren't nearly as interesting as they thought they were dramatically/visually and some seriously undercooks characters/plot.

While I didn't exactly joyride with the characters -- I did very much like the thematic strains that Villeneuve was conjuring in Sicario. I'm thinking the brutalization of Mexican society. The sheer unwinability and pervasiveness of the drug war. It's beautifully captured in that final sequence at the football field. The kids hear gunfire in the distance. The play on. The kid grits himself so to block out the nearness of the drug violence as he's playing. For me, that really encapsulated the strenghts of Sicario. It's not the main characters or their development per say, it's not Emily Blunts blue-eyed idealism being crushed under the realities of how the drug war is waged, it's that scene, how the ubiquitousess and normalization of violence destroys a society and the people in it.

But hey, maybe that says more about me than the film.

Another enjoyable one that I would definitely recommend, interesting blend of murder-mystery, a little bit of courtroom drama and a pervading apocalyptic tension throughout, though, of course, the ending is never fully resolved.

Man that's the movie that made me want to play the didgeridoo.

I really like the spacy, dreamlike atmosphere that that movie invokes. For me, it really is more about the mysticism of what is going on, with the rest like the murder-investigation or the courtdroom drama taking a definitive backseat. That said, while I do really like it, I remember that being one of those films that I thought should really have been better than it was.

though, of course, the ending is never fully resolved.

Well for me, I definitively bought the implications being thrown around.

 

[HUNTERMANIA]

I watched Thor: Ragnarok and I have to say... I didn't like it. I hate most of the Marvel movies because they don't have any weight to them, they're not serious at all. A couple are good, but most suck to me. It was funny, but you can't have all that fighting and it not be serious, IMO, or it just means nothing.

Like, Logan had weight to it, real consequences for the characters, brutal violence, etc. But I didn't like it at all on rewatch, which, for me, means it wasn't as good as I thought it was on first watch. Although --- my rewatchability for all movies has gone WAY down, so maybe I shouldn't be so harsh.

The one movie I wanted to see again this year was Blade Runner: 2049 because I just loved the feel of it.

I tried to watch Wonder Woman a while ago and I never finished it. I can't say if it was good or not, but me not finishing it isn't a good sign, lol.

 

[chickenluver]

Anybody follow all the drama with Orson Welles' Othello?

It looks like the original 1952 European cut is finally widely available, having received a Criterion release. There was previously a 1992 restoration supervised by Welles' daughter, who also blocked any purposed releases of the earlier cuts.

I haven't picked up the blu ray yet, but TCM aired what I assume is the same cut a little while ago, so I've got that recorded. Something similar happened when the rights issues over Chimes at Midnight cleared up last year, TCM aired it practically as soon as possible, then later the criterion came out.

On the topic of Welles, The Other Side of the Wind is finally going to be completed and netflix will release it. Good time to be a Welles fan.

p.s. fuck that greedy, self serving so-and-so Beatrice Welles.

 

[Deleted member 110072]

I actually really dug the tension that Villeneuve mounted in those scenes. Like in the highway boarder-crossing scene. Steady escelation and rapid payoff. It's almost like his trademark.

While I didn't exactly joyride with the characters -- I did very much like the thematic strains that Villeneuve was conjuring in Sicario. I'm thinking the brutalization of Mexican society. The sheer unwinability and pervasiveness of the drug war. It's beautifully captured in that final sequence at the football field. The kids hear gunfire in the distance. The play on. The kid grits himself so to block out the nearness of the drug violence as he's playing. For me, that really encapsulated the strenghts of Sicario. It's not the main characters or their development per say, it's not Emily Blunts blue-eyed idealism being crushed under the realities of how the drug war is waged, it's that scene, how the ubiquitousess and normalization of violence destroys a society and the people in it..

The highway boarder crossing had a bit of tension I'd agree but I found too often scenes which seemed to be trying to build a mood came across as rather too bland for me. I felt the same kind of thing with watching Midnight Special recently as well, its "tasteful" visually but rather lacking in ambition compared to someone like Lanthimos for example.

It makes some wider comments on the drugwar but really I think its focused on the specific characters we see and I just don't think it does anything that interesting with them. It doesn't sell its drama via mood that effectively for me and narratively their underdevolped, Blunt and Del Toro's characters really don't have much of a story to them beyond just showing naivety and cold revenge.

 

[Deleted member 110072]

I watched Thor: Ragnarok and I have to say... I didn't like it. I hate most of the Marvel movies because they don't have any weight to them, they're not serious at all. A couple are good, but most suck to me. It was funny, but you can't have all that fighting and it not be serious, IMO, or it just means nothing.

Like, Logan had weight to it, real consequences for the characters, brutal violence, etc. But I didn't like it at all on rewatch, which, for me, means it wasn't as good as I thought it was on first watch. Although --- my rewatchability for all movies has gone WAY down, so maybe I shouldn't be so harsh..

Honestly I think these two both represent the extremes of the genre done well.

Ragnarok and the Guardians films do I think both sell a setting where the humour can naturally exist plus actually deliver something that is genuinely funny. Someone like JJ Abrams on the other hand delivers tired clichéd humour(Finn in TFA is one step off Rob Schneider in Judge Dread) that actually undermines the setting he's trying to create.

There is definitely a lack of quality blockbuster cinema talking itself seriously though I'd agree.

 

[ufcfan4]

I watched Thor: Ragnarok and I have to say... I didn't like it. I hate most of the Marvel movies because they don't have any weight to them, they're not serious at all. A couple are good, but most suck to me. It was funny, but you can't have all that fighting and it not be serious, IMO, or it just means nothing.

Like, Logan had weight to it, real consequences for the characters, brutal violence, etc. But I didn't like it at all on rewatch, which, for me, means it wasn't as good as I thought it was on first watch. Although --- my rewatchability for all movies has gone WAY down, so maybe I shouldn't be so harsh.

The one movie I wanted to see again this year was Blade Runner: 2049 because I just loved the feel of it.

I tried to watch Wonder Woman a while ago and I never finished it. I can't say if it was good or not, but me not finishing it isn't a good sign, lol.

To me the sense of fun sort of underlies what you want in a comic book movie. I was never big into comic books as a kid, but the ones I did read had serious scenarios but also comical/tongue in cheek elements too. I think Marvel has the right formula- put an element of heart in there so the characters are interesting and relevant but also keep things light.

 

[ufcfan4]

Honestly I think these two both represent the extremes of the genre done well.

Ragnarok and the Guardians films do I think both sell a setting where the humour can naturally exist plus actually deliver something that is genuinely funny. Someone like JJ Abrams on the other hand delivers tired clichéd humour(Finn in TFA is one step off Rob Schneider in Judge Dread) that actually undermine the setting he's trying to create.

There is definitely a lack of quality blockbuster cinema talking itself seriously though I'd agree.

2049 is definitely the opposite end of the spectrum, taking itself extremely seriously. I don't know if there was a moment of levity in there. And if there was, it didn't even register as the rest of the film was thought-provoking, intense, and deep. And look how it performed at the box office sadly. Easily one of the best films I've seen all year and it won't crack 100 mill domestic.

 

[ufcfan4]

Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri was solid. Between the genre mashing and the presence of McDormand and Woody, I felt like it was going to be really Coen-esque, but it was it's own entity that sort of stuck too Martin McDonagh's penchant for finding the comedic within cynical and stark scenarios.

McDormand and Rockwell really kind of own the movie but Woody's presence and the caliber of his character definitely helps to hold the narrative together. It hits a little bit of a wall about midway through and then really picks up again when Dinklage comes into play and the movie starts to build toward it's resolution.

 

[Tycho- Taylor's Version]

Sicario was awesome imo. Suspense coming out the ass. I had to take a break lol.

 

[ufcfan4]

Sicario was awesome imo. Suspense coming out the ass. I had to take a break lol.

Really intense and captivating. Villenueve is a beast.

 

[UL]

Sicario is good but about 30 minutes too much

7/10 a low 7/high 6

Watching dark knight, wow... almost 10 years since its release

 

[Tycho- Taylor's Version]

Really intense and captivating. Villenueve is a beast.

His talents were certainly on display in that one.

And I definitely understand the criticisms pertaining to the lack of characterization, but my response to that as I was watching was that I didn't really need more from any of them. A deeper dive into most of the characters would have added little more than an exposure to their tropisms that would have rendered them cliche.

You might say, "well then write better characters" - fair enough - but the scope of the film seemed bigger than that, and I thought it made good use of its run-time. The true test will come with what they choose to do with the sequel.

 

[Deleted member 110072]

His talents were certainly on display in that one.

And I definitely understand the criticisms pertaining to the lack of characterization, but my response to that as I was watching was that I didn't really need more from any of them. A deeper dive into most of the characters would have added little more than an exposure to their tropisms that would have rendered them cliche.

You might say, "well then write better characters" - fair enough - but the scope of the film seemed bigger than that, and I thought it made good use of its run-time. The true test will come with what they choose to do with the sequel.

Honestly to me it comes across as a mood piece, something that looks to give weight to its characters via its atmosphere, that I don't find said atmosphere all that effecting is probably a big part of why the film didn't have a big impact on me.

I preffered Arrival and 2049 but generally I admit I do kind of get that feeling with Villenueve that he's not quite as much of a visual genius as he thinks he is, more "tasteful" than truly interesting a lot of the time.

 

[Deleted member 110072]

Looks like Margot Robbie's Suicide Squad performance will get a rather better film...

 

[ufcfan4]

Looks like Margot Robbie's Suicide Squad performance will get a rather better film...

definitely looks darkly comedic and worth a watch. I've heard Robbie is great in it as well. I don't quite recognize that actor as the bodyguard, but seems like a pretty spot on choice.

 

[Sigh GunRanger]

@Bullitt68 i havent seen daredevil ywt, but The Punisher is actually really good. I think youll like it.

 

[Bullitt68]

@Bullitt68 i havent seen daredevil ywt, but The Punisher is actually really good. I think youll like it.

I'm on Episode 5 of The Punisher right now. Why'd you skip Daredevil? You know that's where his character was introduced into the Netflix Marvel world, right? Regardless of what you think of Daredevil as a character or of the prospects of that show, if you're enjoying The Punisher, then you HAVE to go back and watch Daredevil because he completely steals the show to the point where I was getting angry when they'd cut back to Daredevil's storyline

 

[HUNTERMANIA]

I actually really enjoy all of the Marvel shows on Netflix -- I just dislike their movies.

I loved The Punisher -- my only problem with it was that toward the end he just takes TOO MUCH punishment for it to even be conceivable. But, I really enjoyed it besides that, and it IS a comic book show, so, whatever.

 

[Tycho- Taylor's Version]

I'm on Episode 5 of The Punisher right now. Why'd you skip Daredevil? You know that's where his character was introduced into the Netflix Marvel world, right? Regardless of what you think of Daredevil as a character or of the prospects of that show, if you're enjoying The Punisher, then you HAVE to go back and watch Daredevil because he completely steals the show to the point where I was getting angry when they'd cut back to Daredevil's storyline

That rooftop scene with the two of them arguing was perfection.