You know what they call [The Movie Thread] in France?

Atomika

(continued from previous, part #427 in a series)


It's The Movie Thread. Not only that, it's coming up on Awards Season, my favorite part of the year, not because of the awards per se, but because that's generally when most of the year's best and most engaging films show up in our theaters, and this year is no slouch, with mega-epics like Steven Spielberg's Lincoln and Tom Hooper's adaptation of the hit musical, Les Miserables. Both films are filled to the gills with award-winning talent, from the directors on down.

Quick note #1: Specific conversation regarding the various awards and nomination for the holiday season go in the Awards Season thread.

Quick note #2: Some films, if popular enough, will likely garner their own thread. Highly anticipated films, like The Hobbit, already have their own thread.

Quick note #3: The revelation about Star Wars going to Disney and getting new films is huge news. So huge, it has it's own thread already, and that's where all things GFFA belong.


So, let's get talking. I'll start us off. Did you know they were remaking Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven? Well, they are. IN JAPAN.




Chris Nolan favorite Ken Watanabe will be playing the lead role of William Munny, though something tells me they'll probably change the name.

Capt Howdy

Japanese remake of Unforgiven? Yeah, I'd probably watch it.

Deaderinred

getting their own back for yojimbo and a fistful of dollars.

TehSpectre

in before people complain about needless japanwood remakes

SyphonBlue

You know what they call [The Movie Thread] in France?

Le Movie Thread?

Atomika

SyphonBlue wrote: »

You know what they call [The Movie Thread] in France?

Le Movie Thread?

avec fromage

rembrandtqeinstein

Recently watched Madegascar 3 with the kids. It was definitely the best of the bunch but I had really low expectations. It felt the tightest of the 3 by far and the fastest paced. Each character had his own moment in the spotlight.

I wouldn't watch it on my own but as something to watch with children it isn't bad.

Synthesis

SyphonBlue wrote: »

You know what they call [The Movie Thread] in France?

Le Movie Thread?

Cinema avec fromage

flamebroiledchicken

Saw Perks of Being a Wallflower.

I have a sort of love-hate relationship with coming of age movies, especially ones that take themselves so seriously. On the one hand, there are a lot of relatable moments where I'm like "Hey, that's just like my life! I remember feeling like being 16 years old is the most important thing in the world!". So it hits all the nostalgia triggers really well. On the other hand, I feel like those are the easiest triggers to hit. It seems very easy to make a movie like Perks. You got the troubled, socially awkward protagonist, the manic pixie dream girl, the first kiss, the indie soundtrack, etc. It felt very sincere, just not particularly original.

So, all told, it was well-told, well-acted, with some genuine heart, but also fairly predictable.

ANTVGM64

So, instead of waiting hours upon hours for a largely forgone result during last night's election, I decided to do something better with my time and I saw Cloud Atlas.
Spoiler:

Did anyone else get a weird 'Star Trek' 'Best of Both Worlds' sort of vibe from the whole thing? There were Romulan looking folks in the future, the jumping between time frames, The optimism of it all, various characters popping up in heavy makeup, etc etc...

I thought the movie was trying to hard, over all. I mean, for a movie that appeared to be anti-racism, anti-government, anti-big-oil, anti-eating people, but pro-suicide, a lot of the themes came off a bit one-dimensional.

Also, Jim Sturgess played the lead in "21" (based on a book about an Asian team of Black Jack Players) which is up there with "The Last Airbender" for 1st prize in the Hollywood cultural white-washing competition. Then, in Cloud Atlas he plays an Asian character.

Moral of the story: Why hire an Asian actor when you got Jim Sturgess? Confusing.

Raiden333

Buddies and I are going to see Wreck It Ralph today. Can't wait.

Atomika

ANTVGM64 wrote: »

So, instead of waiting hours upon hours for a largely forgone result during last night's election, I decided to do something better with my time and I saw Cloud Atlas.
Spoiler:

Did anyone else get a weird 'Star Trek' 'Best of Both Worlds' sort of vibe from the whole thing? There were Romulan looking folks in the future, the jumping between time frames, The optimism of it all, various characters popping up in heavy makeup, etc etc...

I thought the movie was trying to hard, over all. I mean, for a movie that appeared to be anti-racism, anti-government, anti-big-oil, anti-eating people, but pro-suicide, a lot of the themes came off a bit one-dimensional.

Also, Jim Sturgess played the lead in "21" (based on a book about an Asian team of Black Jack Players) which is up there with "The Last Airbender" for 1st prize in the Hollywood cultural white-washing competition. Then, in Cloud Atlas he plays an Asian character.

Moral of the story: Why hire an Asian actor when you got Jim Sturgess? Confusing.

Complaints of ethnicity are not legitimate against Cloud Atlas. Halle Berry and Doona Bae both play white women, Kieth David plays a Korean.

ANTVGM64

No, no, I think they are. In much the same way folks can criticize Jar Jar Binks for sounding like an uneducated African American slave, I think I can bring up the curiosity factor of what exactly the Asian population did to piss off Jim Sturgess.


Similarly, if you're watching the "Super future part" of that movie and *Don't* find yourself snickering to yourself about the various language foibles they apparently have (That's Tru Tru, etc) and how badly both Halle Berry and Tom Hanks handle that cadence (and how it also sounds like ye olde slaven times), slipping in and out of it depending on the scene, you probably went into this movie expecting it to be AWESOME and not really taking it with an open mind.

HamHamJ

ANTVGM64 wrote: »

So, instead of waiting hours upon hours for a largely forgone result during last night's election, I decided to do something better with my time and I saw Cloud Atlas.
Spoiler:

Did anyone else get a weird 'Star Trek' 'Best of Both Worlds' sort of vibe from the whole thing? There were Romulan looking folks in the future, the jumping between time frames, The optimism of it all, various characters popping up in heavy makeup, etc etc...

I thought the movie was trying to hard, over all. I mean, for a movie that appeared to be anti-racism, anti-government, anti-big-oil, anti-eating people, but pro-suicide, a lot of the themes came off a bit one-dimensional.

Also, Jim Sturgess played the lead in "21" (based on a book about an Asian team of Black Jack Players) which is up there with "The Last Airbender" for 1st prize in the Hollywood cultural white-washing competition. Then, in Cloud Atlas he plays an Asian character.

Moral of the story: Why hire an Asian actor when you got Jim Sturgess? Confusing.

The actual themes are quite subtle and have little to do with the incidental plots of each segment.

ANTVGM64

No, no, I think I get them, I just don't care. We're all connected, racism is bad, we reap what we sow, generations repeat themselves, all you can hope for is that whoever comes after you does it better,

it's bad to eat people

, and so on. It's so self-insistent on it's importance that you *really* don't care about looking for the subtle meaning in things, because the over-arching themes are ultimately too vapid to fill an almost 3 hour movie that shifts tone and style too often to be coherent. There are good portions of the movie, but over all it just sort of felt like someone who's smarter then you on a mushroom trip being all "We're connected man, like, all of us"

If you want a movie that'll blow your mind and not spoon feed you it's message, check out Enter the Void.

Atomika

HamHamJ wrote: »

The actual themes are quite subtle . . . .

I . . . don't think this is an accurate statement. This movie is ankle-deep and wears its heart proudly on its sleeve.

Atomika

ANTVGM64 wrote: »

No, no, I think they are. In much the same way folks can criticize Jar Jar Binks for sounding like an uneducated African American slave, I think I can bring up the curiosity factor of what exactly the Asian population did to piss off Jim Sturgess.

I don't see why you're singling Sturgess out here, and I'm no fan of Sturgess. In that same vignette, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Dancy, Kieth David, Halle Berry, and Hugh Grant all played Koreans, too.

ANTVGM64

I guess you could argue there's something about one's lineage in there, how

hanks goes from asshole to hero over the course of like 5000 years,] but it's only touched upon to allow people to say there are subtle themes, versus putting that sort of thing in there and giving us enough to form an actual solid opinion

Mad King George

Atomic Ross wrote: »

ANTVGM64 wrote: »

So, instead of waiting hours upon hours for a largely forgone result during last night's election, I decided to do something better with my time and I saw Cloud Atlas.
Spoiler:

Did anyone else get a weird 'Star Trek' 'Best of Both Worlds' sort of vibe from the whole thing? There were Romulan looking folks in the future, the jumping between time frames, The optimism of it all, various characters popping up in heavy makeup, etc etc...

I thought the movie was trying to hard, over all. I mean, for a movie that appeared to be anti-racism, anti-government, anti-big-oil, anti-eating people, but pro-suicide, a lot of the themes came off a bit one-dimensional.

Also, Jim Sturgess played the lead in "21" (based on a book about an Asian team of Black Jack Players) which is up there with "The Last Airbender" for 1st prize in the Hollywood cultural white-washing competition. Then, in Cloud Atlas he plays an Asian character.

Moral of the story: Why hire an Asian actor when you got Jim Sturgess? Confusing.

Complaints of ethnicity are not legitimate against Cloud Atlas. Halle Berry and Doona Bae both play white women, Kieth David plays a Korean.

Halle Berry also plays a male Korean doctor and an East Indian woman and a Maori. Entertainment Weekly did a feature on it, it was pretty cool.

Atomika

Mad King George wrote: »

Atomic Ross wrote: »

ANTVGM64 wrote: »

So, instead of waiting hours upon hours for a largely forgone result during last night's election, I decided to do something better with my time and I saw Cloud Atlas.
Spoiler:

Did anyone else get a weird 'Star Trek' 'Best of Both Worlds' sort of vibe from the whole thing? There were Romulan looking folks in the future, the jumping between time frames, The optimism of it all, various characters popping up in heavy makeup, etc etc...

I thought the movie was trying to hard, over all. I mean, for a movie that appeared to be anti-racism, anti-government, anti-big-oil, anti-eating people, but pro-suicide, a lot of the themes came off a bit one-dimensional.

Also, Jim Sturgess played the lead in "21" (based on a book about an Asian team of Black Jack Players) which is up there with "The Last Airbender" for 1st prize in the Hollywood cultural white-washing competition. Then, in Cloud Atlas he plays an Asian character.

Moral of the story: Why hire an Asian actor when you got Jim Sturgess? Confusing.

Complaints of ethnicity are not legitimate against Cloud Atlas. Halle Berry and Doona Bae both play white women, Kieth David plays a Korean.

Halle Berry also plays a male Korean doctor and an East Indian woman and a Maori. Entertainment Weekly did a feature on it, it was pretty cool.

Indeed. Any accusations of whitewashing or yellowface are patently absurd in the context of this film.

Nocren

Samurai remake of Unforgiven?


I'd watch the shit outta that.

Any idea who's the director and what else he's done?

Mad King George

Deaderinred wrote: »

getting their own back for yojimbo and a fistful of dollars.

Yeah, Yojimbo, which was remade by an Italian and based on a story by Dashiell Hammett. Whole lotta cross-cultural borrowing all up in.

HamHamJ

Atomic Ross wrote: »

HamHamJ wrote: »

The actual themes are quite subtle . . . .

I . . . don't think this is an accurate statement. This movie is ankle-deep and wears its heart proudly on its sleeve.

One of the central themes is basically an examination of the collective action problem, whether people can actually make a difference in their lives, all that. And each story answers this question in a different way. The lawyer makes a difference in the life of one former slave, and vice versa, and makes a broader statement at the end but in the grand scheme of Slavery, his actions are just a drop in the ocean. But does that make his life less important than that of Sonmi-451? Her actions founded a religion. There is a contrast there between each of us doing our part and building toward something, and a more Great Man approach where an indiviudal shifts heaven and earth by their actions. But we can see in her story that Sonmi has only limited agency in those events. But in the end she's the one worshipped as a god.

Luisa Rey's story is a middle ground between these two. Stopping a nuclear meltdown is a big deal, but still forgetable in the grand scheme of things. Frobisher's story seems almost irrelevant in comparison to the others, but in a way it has a very strong influence on Luisa's. Without it Sixsmith may never have had the strength to set those events in motion. And finally Cavendish's story would seem like it would be of no relevance to anyone, and yet it is it's echo through time that plants the seeds of Sonmi's story.

In addition to exploring the many ways our lives can have meaning, there is the weird reincarnation theme. Is it literal reincarnation? If so, are the actors indications of each soul? Or in this schema, are Zachry and Meronym a reincarnation of Sonmi and Hae-Joo? Or is it just a metaphorical reincarnation, that people live not so differently from their ancestors and the same human interractions are replayed through out time? I think this is basically open to interpretation.

There are other ideas in the movie, like having the courage to face things and try for something better (the closest thing to a moral in Cavendish's story, but it's repeated in the other stories). In fact, I'd say the Cloud Atlas Sextet can kind of encampsulates the formula of the movie: the same theme repeating over and over, changing slightly.

Also what's up with that Comet tatoo thing. That hints that something even stranger is going on.

Atomika

HamHamJ wrote: »

HamHamJ wrote: »

Atomic Ross wrote: »

HamHamJ wrote: »

The actual themes are quite subtle . . . .

I . . . don't think this is an accurate statement. This movie is ankle-deep and wears its heart proudly on its sleeve.

One of the central themes is basically an examination of the collective action problem, whether people can actually make a difference in their lives, all that. And each story answers this question in a different way. The lawyer makes a difference in the life of one former slave, and vice versa, and makes a broader statement at the end but in the grand scheme of Slavery, his actions are just a drop in the ocean. But does that make his life less important than that of Sonmi-451? Her actions founded a religion. There is a contrast there between each of us doing our part and building toward something, and a more Great Man approach where an indiviudal shifts heaven and earth by their actions. But we can see in her story that Sonmi has only limited agency in those events. But in the end she's the one worshipped as a god.

Luisa Rey's story is a middle ground between these two. Stopping a nuclear meltdown is a big deal, but still forgetable in the grand scheme of things. Frobisher's story seems almost irrelevant in comparison to the others, but in a way it has a very strong influence on Luisa's. Without it Sixsmith may never have had the strength to set those events in motion. And finally Cavendish's story would seem like it would be of no relevance to anyone, and yet it is it's echo through time that plants the seeds of Sonmi's story.

In addition to exploring the many ways our lives can have meaning, there is the weird reincarnation theme. Is it literal reincarnation? If so, are the actors indications of each soul? Or in this schema, are Zachry and Meronym a reincarnation of Sonmi and Hae-Joo? Or is it just a metaphorical reincarnation, that people live not so differently from their ancestors and the same human interractions are replayed through out time? I think this is basically open to interpretation.

There are other ideas in the movie, like having the courage to face things and try for something better (the closest thing to a moral in Cavendish's story, but it's repeated in the other stories). In fact, I'd say the Cloud Atlas Sextet can kind of encampsulates the formula of the movie: the same theme repeating over and over, changing slightly.

Also what's up with that Comet tatoo thing. That hints that something even stranger is going on.

I don't disagree with you except with your assertion that these themes are subtle.

These themes are electric neon klaxons.

shryke

Japanese version of Unforgiven?

Crazy timing. I just grabbed the original from the library today and am going to watch it soonish.

lu tze

Mad King George wrote: »

Mad King George wrote: »

Deaderinred wrote: »

getting their own back for yojimbo and a fistful of dollars.

Yeah, Yojimbo, which was remade by an Italian and based on a story by Dashiell Hammett. Whole lotta cross-cultural borrowing all up in.

Not even that, Yojimbo is a remake of an adaptation of a novel by Hammet.

So that makes Fistful of Dollars a Western remake of a Jidaigeki remake of a Noir film of a detective novel.

Just shows you how great of a story it is, if it can straddle across genres like that.

Dollars has the best version of this scene though, by far:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI3fN5wvMtM

Mad King George

Red Harvest's also the inspiration for Last Man Standing and Miller's Crossing.

lu tze

Miller's Crossing, now that is a good film!

Last Man Standing... not so much.

KalTorak

In Miller's Crossing, when the two guys come to kill Albert Finney, he rolls under his bed, shoots one guy in the ankle so he falls down, then puts another one in his head. O-Ren pulls the exact same stunt in the animated part of Kill Bill Vol. 1. Is Kill Bill referencing Miller's Crossing, or are they both referencing a third movie?

Raiden333

Wreck it Ralph was phenomenal. What made it even better is that I was with a group of 5, all of us really close friends and long term gamers, and we were literally the only people in the theatre, so we were able to point out cameos and make jokes and laugh as loud as we wanted. Perfect movie for that.

Major spoilers:

NONE of us called King Candy actually being Turbo, and we were all slapping ourselves for not seeing it. IT WAS SO OBVIOUS!

Julius

ANTVGM64 wrote: »

No, no, I think they are. In much the same way folks can criticize Jar Jar Binks for sounding like an uneducated African American slave, I think I can bring up the curiosity factor of what exactly the Asian population did to piss off Jim Sturgess.

The point is to have all actors play a bunch of different people of different ethnicity. So hiring a different actor wasn't an option.

Now, you could say that Sturgess' performance as Asian was itself objectionable, and not the fact that he had to play one, and that would be cool I guess. I dunno, haven't seen the movie.

Mad King George

KalTorak wrote: »

In Miller's Crossing, when the two guys come to kill Albert Finney, he rolls under his bed, shoots one guy in the ankle so he falls down, then puts another one in his head. O-Ren pulls the exact same stunt in the animated part of Kill Bill Vol. 1. Is Kill Bill referencing Miller's Crossing, or are they both referencing a third movie?

Fairly certain Miller's Crossing is the first to do that. Tarantino is known as an "homage queen".

Magic Pink

I watched The Pact last night. It weas a damn fine movie with a somewhat disappointing ending but the direction reminded me a lot of William Friedkin's and the acting was really really impressive. The main character is a freaking twin of Gillian Anderson; it's really kind of spooky.

But then the whole movie is. Definitely worth a watch.

Xenogears of Bore

So Book of Eli was on the other day and I remembered just how insulted I was by the premise of it.

I can usually take quite a bit of abuse on a dumb premise but this one has stuck with me for a few years now and I just can't shake it.

ANTVGM64

Julius wrote: »

ANTVGM64 wrote: »

No, no, I think they are. In much the same way folks can criticize Jar Jar Binks for sounding like an uneducated African American slave, I think I can bring up the curiosity factor of what exactly the Asian population did to piss off Jim Sturgess.

The point is to have all actors play a bunch of different people of different ethnicity. So hiring a different actor wasn't an option.

Now, you could say that Sturgess' performance as Asian was itself objectionable, and not the fact that he had to play one, and that would be cool I guess. I dunno, haven't seen the movie.

I'm just saying after "21" it's sort of funny / ironic.

DiannaoChong

Saw Wreck it Ralph, it was amazing, if you are a game fan it is just the best.

Is there subcontext or a plot hole where lady marines husband died, and didnt respawn? Does that mean it was "scripted" or a forced backstory to begin with? Extra tragic if so. I hate using this word this way, but it definately hit me in the feels a couple of times.I am a sucker for those moments of self realization mixed with realization of self sacrifice

Synthesis

ANTVGM64 wrote: »

Similarly, if you're watching the "Super future part" of that movie and *Don't* find yourself snickering to yourself about the various language foibles they apparently have (That's Tru Tru, etc) and how badly both Halle Berry and Tom Hanks handle that cadence (and how it also sounds like ye olde slaven times), slipping in and out of it depending on the scene, you probably went into this movie expecting it to be AWESOME and not really taking it with an open mind.

I didn't, and I actually thought the movie was pretty good--not stellar, but I would certainly buy it on BR--but I have a lot of trouble distinguishing between cadences in English as being "odd" anyway.

KalTorak

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

So Book of Eli was on the other day and I remembered just how insulted I was by the premise of it.

I can usually take quite a bit of abuse on a dumb premise but this one has stuck with me for a few years now and I just can't shake it.

looking at the wiki of the plot

yeah, seems like just a bunch of Left-Behind-esque porn.

HamHamJ

DiannaoChong wrote: »

Saw Wreck it Ralph, it was amazing, if you are a game fan it is just the best.

Is there subcontext or a plot hole where lady marines husband died, and didnt respawn? Does that mean it was "scripted" or a fake backstory to begin with? Extra tragic if so. I hate using this word this way, but it definately hit me in the feels a couple of times.I am a sucker for those moments of self realization mixed with realization of self sacrifice

It's the backstory she was programmed with.

Xenogears of Bore

KalTorak wrote: »

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

So Book of Eli was on the other day and I remembered just how insulted I was by the premise of it.

I can usually take quite a bit of abuse on a dumb premise but this one has stuck with me for a few years now and I just can't shake it.

looking at the wiki of the plot

yeah, seems like just a bunch of Left-Behind-esque porn.

It's the most common book in America. Every hotel, motel has one. Most houses have a couple. Churches, schools, libraries. People give them out for free.

It's an insult to make the whole plot of the movie about the Bible being rare.

KalTorak

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

KalTorak wrote: »

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

So Book of Eli was on the other day and I remembered just how insulted I was by the premise of it.

I can usually take quite a bit of abuse on a dumb premise but this one has stuck with me for a few years now and I just can't shake it.

looking at the wiki of the plot

yeah, seems like just a bunch of Left-Behind-esque porn.

It's the most common book in America. Every hotel, motel has one. Most houses have a couple. Churches, schools, libraries. People give them out for free.

It's an insult to make the whole plot of the movie about the Bible being rare.

Do they ever say why it's going to be of practical use in a post-apocalyptic world, to the point where all these people are fighting over it? As far as I can tell, it's the biggest MacGuffin ever that just happens to be a Bible because BIBLE!