In a total yolo move, I went ahead and finally watched the Harry Potter films. I figure, they're cultural monoliths and why not? I was a bit out of the age range when they first hit so I just kind of didn't bother.
To sum it up: The first 3 films are hellishly annoying and cringe-worthy. Ugh. They're kind of exactly why I didn't want to see these.
The 4th one is about half good. The latter half. To be honest, if it hadn't picked up by the end of Goblet, I was probably going to bin the entire series.
The next 4 are really good, even if I was getting a bit bored in the wandering scenes of Deathly Hallows 1. The ending was mostly satisfying, but I felt kind of a cop out in regards to Harry.
I don't think I'll ever have the itch to watch these again, but I'm not really regretting watching them. Alan Rickman is a treasure. I can understand why these films resonate with people, however.
Really? I had the opposite reaction; I thought the first two movies were delightful and held very true to the novels, whereas the later movie diverged enough from the source material so as to make them unpleasant. I stopped watching after the fourth.
Yeah, anything past the second film is a hard stop for me, they try way too hard to push a more mature tone after that point. Same issue as the books, really, except the movies hit that wall by the third film instead of by around the 5th-6th book. The first two are bright and colorful, then everything after that point is drowned in blue filter.
I think there was a director change between 2 and 3 as well, which covers the sudden shift in presentation. He got a lot more free with changing things from the books as well, and not in ways that generally improved the story or characters.
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FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
The Post is a great damn movie
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jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
In a total yolo move, I went ahead and finally watched the Harry Potter films. I figure, they're cultural monoliths and why not? I was a bit out of the age range when they first hit so I just kind of didn't bother.
To sum it up: The first 3 films are hellishly annoying and cringe-worthy. Ugh. They're kind of exactly why I didn't want to see these.
The 4th one is about half good. The latter half. To be honest, if it hadn't picked up by the end of Goblet, I was probably going to bin the entire series.
The next 4 are really good, even if I was getting a bit bored in the wandering scenes of Deathly Hallows 1. The ending was mostly satisfying, but I felt kind of a cop out in regards to Harry.
I don't think I'll ever have the itch to watch these again, but I'm not really regretting watching them. Alan Rickman is a treasure. I can understand why these films resonate with people, however.
Really? I had the opposite reaction; I thought the first two movies were delightful and held very true to the novels, whereas the later movie diverged enough from the source material so as to make them unpleasant. I stopped watching after the fourth.
Never read the novels, really don't see much of a need to.
I thought the first 3 films were basically recycled repeats of each other.
The thing to understand is that the first couple of books were written for very small children - the (first time) author's, in fact. They are simple stories for children. An adaption of those can be entirely faithful and not of much interest to anyone over the age of majority.
The thing to understand is that the first couple of books were written for very small children - the (first time) author's, in fact. They are simple stories for children. An adaption of those can be entirely faithful and not of much interest to anyone over the age of majority.
Plus Chris Columbus is never gonna do anything interesting with them.
I only disagree with the assessment of movie three, it's the best overall book and probably the best overall movie with some actual style in direction. Doesn't own best scene though, that goes to the tent scene in 7 part 1
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BlackDragon480Bluster KerfuffleMaster of Windy ImportRegistered Userregular
Fury Road absolutely holds up on a TV. If you have decent speakers too, that adds a lot and it'll give them a hell of a workout.
Good idea, I've had a hectic month after the holidays and have just started to plan out which of my growing group of UHD blu-rays to start running through in my down time. I watched Fury Road once in 4K last year, but my dad gave me just a slight upgrade to my home theater soundscape for Christmas:
The split-level I'm sharing with a couple of friends has a really high ceiling (peaks at nearly 18 feet) in the "entertainment" room, so we have quite a bit of space for it to fill. And it does a great job
No matter where you go...there you are. ~ Buckaroo Banzai
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AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
I’m rewatching them slowly the past few weeks.
I actually like the first one a lot—even if the kids can’t act yet, it’s so iconic and filled with a warm sense of whimsy and real wonder. An excellent children’s movie about hope, friendship, and the possibility of belonging. As the sweet, wholesome beginning it’s actually key to the whole series—these are the memories on which we look back when life gets darker and more complicated.
The second one is probably the weakest of the bunch, too cartoonish (poor Ron is reduced to making the “can we panic now?” face the whole time), not enough character growth.
The third movie is a real film with things to say about early adolesence, about light and dark, good and evil (and mischief), and when to take a stand against authority, all lessons that serve the kids in good stead later on when the stakes are higher. It mainly suffers from having to rush the false climax, to the point that the film never clarifies the genesis of the map, or what that means to the adults playing out their teenaged dramas decades later—nor does it draw the appropriate parallels to our heroes and how their current actions may have huge consequences down the line. The visual style and sense of more mature wonder is key to making this one of the most beautiful and lyrical of the series. (I wish it didn’t end on a freeze frame, though. C’mon, Cuaron!)
The fourth movie has a lot of problems, but they’re mostly Rowling’s problems, as her extended metaphor for adolescence isn’t matched by any real originality or heart to the actual portrayal of romance (awkward and perfunctory, as if Harry is annoyed at getting older instead of actually developing in a real and passionate way) or the interpersonal drama (quickly manufactured and just as quickly dropped, when it should have lasted a lot longer and had more of an impact) associated with the onset of puberty. The ending is still a killer, though, a great villain entrance onto the stage in earnest after the long build up of the first three movies.
I still need to watch the other four, but as I recall, 5 is a mixed bag, 6 is actually very well done and features some of the best character and performance work, 7-1 is the best of the series and 7-2 wraps things up with a decently exciting action finale.
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minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
In a total yolo move, I went ahead and finally watched the Harry Potter films. I figure, they're cultural monoliths and why not? I was a bit out of the age range when they first hit so I just kind of didn't bother.
To sum it up: The first 3 films are hellishly annoying and cringe-worthy. Ugh. They're kind of exactly why I didn't want to see these.
The 4th one is about half good. The latter half. To be honest, if it hadn't picked up by the end of Goblet, I was probably going to bin the entire series.
The next 4 are really good, even if I was getting a bit bored in the wandering scenes of Deathly Hallows 1. The ending was mostly satisfying, but I felt kind of a cop out in regards to Harry.
I don't think I'll ever have the itch to watch these again, but I'm not really regretting watching them. Alan Rickman is a treasure. I can understand why these films resonate with people, however.
Really? I had the opposite reaction; I thought the first two movies were delightful and held very true to the novels, whereas the later movie diverged enough from the source material so as to make them unpleasant. I stopped watching after the fourth.
I think they were just all over the place in quality. From horrible to fantastic, and everything in between. With no real order to the quality. Deathly Hallows pt 1 was the best film in the series (followed by Prisoner of Azkaban), and the dance scene in the tent was the best scene in the whole series.
I feel like I've ranted about that before.
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
Girl 6 is Spike Lee's 9th feature film, and his first real misfire. Lee has a reputation for being inconsistent, but I feel that's something he's acquired in the twenty years since this film, as all his films prior to this effort are good to great.
This one's just a mess, but I can't say it isn't inspired: the story of a black woman trying to break into the film industry, becoming frustrated with the mistreatment, then working as a phone sex operator. Lee employs different formats (different grains of film, VHS), and lots of different visual and dramatic strategies, but it doesn't cohere. The script wants to partly be a satirical comedy about the day-in-day out absurdity of being a sex worker, but it just isn't very funny; almost all of the scenes played for humor fall flat and feel out of place given the ambitions of the rest of the story, which are scattered left and right, realized in more than a couple poorly-drawn subplots. It's all over the place, and yet it doesn't have momentum.
It was fun seeing Tarantino play an especially sleazy version of himself though.
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jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
The thing to understand is that the first couple of books were written for very small children - the (first time) author's, in fact. They are simple stories for children. An adaption of those can be entirely faithful and not of much interest to anyone over the age of majority.
I understand. The way the books grew in scope and depth as the audience got older was a brilliant bit of creativity. I just can't enjoy them much.
I really liked the 6th film. The cinematography is pretty great. The character moments in 7-1 are fantastic though.
The way they wrote Snape in and his eventual full story reveal was my favorite part of the entire series.
I watched the biography of Toshiro Mifune on Netflix and the only one of his movies I'd actually seen was Yojimbo. I'm not a hard core cinefile, but I'd like to see some of his other work. What would the thread recommend?
Fury Road absolutely holds up on a TV. If you have decent speakers too, that adds a lot and it'll give them a hell of a workout.
Good idea, I've had a hectic month after the holidays and have just started to plan out which of my growing group of UHD blu-rays to start running through in my down time. I watched Fury Road once in 4K last year, but my dad gave me just a slight upgrade to my home theater soundscape for Christmas:
The split-level I'm sharing with a couple of friends has a really high ceiling (peaks at nearly 18 feet) in the "entertainment" room, so we have quite a bit of space for it to fill. And it does a great job
Kind of puts my £100 (and that was a few years ago) Philips soundbar & discrete sub in the shade! Although that is still a vast, vast improvement over built-in TV speakers. It's more than earth-shaking enough for my little place
I watched the biography of Toshiro Mifune on Netflix and the only one of his movies I'd actually seen was Yojimbo. I'm not a hard core cinefile, but I'd like to see some of his other work. What would the thread recommend?
Anything directed by Akira Kurosawa. :razz:
If you want a film that doesn't involve samurai, try The Bad Sleep Well.
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BlackDragon480Bluster KerfuffleMaster of Windy ImportRegistered Userregular
Fury Road absolutely holds up on a TV. If you have decent speakers too, that adds a lot and it'll give them a hell of a workout.
Good idea, I've had a hectic month after the holidays and have just started to plan out which of my growing group of UHD blu-rays to start running through in my down time. I watched Fury Road once in 4K last year, but my dad gave me just a slight upgrade to my home theater soundscape for Christmas:
The split-level I'm sharing with a couple of friends has a really high ceiling (peaks at nearly 18 feet) in the "entertainment" room, so we have quite a bit of space for it to fill. And it does a great job
Kind of puts my £100 (and that was a few years ago) Philips soundbar & discrete sub in the shade! Although that is still a vast, vast improvement over built-in TV speakers. It's more than earth-shaking enough for my little place
Hilariously, the sub alone more than doubled the net worth of my home theater, considering I built everything but my center channel myself (6 total speakers, over about 2 years, finding good, consistent magnet stock can be a pain) and I'm rocking a sub $600 Denon A/V receiver.
No matter where you go...there you are. ~ Buckaroo Banzai
I just found the Harry Potter movies ... forgettable. They were never bad, except maybe #7.5 which was a big long thing that wasn't that interesting imo. But except for 7.0 I never felt like they were all that good either. They were all just kinda there. Decent movies with a cast and source material 6 notches above the quality of the script and direction. I don't mind watching them if I have to but I have no desire to ever see them again and I'd try and find something else if they came on TV.
I would say I mostly agree with Astaereth's rankings above, just probably with like a full star lopped off the top and a few of them tweaked here and there. I think less of 6 and more of 2. 7.0 is by far the best and much of it made me wish it was a completely different film so I could get excited for where the whole thing was going and looking forward to more like it instead of knowing it was gonna be the end of the series.
I watched the biography of Toshiro Mifune on Netflix and the only one of his movies I'd actually seen was Yojimbo. I'm not a hard core cinefile, but I'd like to see some of his other work. What would the thread recommend?
Drunken Angel, I Live in Fear, and High and Low have my three favorite Mifune performances. Other than Yojimbo I should say.
Rewatching Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy... seventeen minutes in and I'm pretty sure Gary Oldman just had his first line.
mister tinker
i gave you all the tailors
you could have soldiered spy
MalReynolds on
"A new take on the epic fantasy genre... Darkly comic, relatable characters... twisted storyline."
"Readers who prefer tension and romance, Maledictions: The Offering, delivers... As serious YA fiction, I’ll give it five stars out of five. As a novel? Four and a half." - Liz Ellor My new novel: Maledictions: The Offering. Now in Paperback!
Holy shit, there's an uncut, not region locked, German (in original English language), blu-ray for the most Rutger Hauer-iest Rutger Hauer sci-fi cult classic Split Second. This is pure Rutger Hauer gold, ladies and gents.
Holy shit, there's an uncut, not region locked, German (in original English language), blu-ray for the most Rutger Hauer-iest Rutger Hauer sci-fi cult classic Split Second. This is pure Rutger Hauer gold, ladies and gents.
Some people mistakingly believe Roy Batty was the role Rutger Hauer was born to play, and those people are wrong. Some even believe The Hitchiker was Rutger Hauer at his most psychotic, they are wrong as well. A few believe Blind Fury is the Hauer's greatest display of chewing through a role, by they too are wrong.
None of those Hauer experiences can ever compare to his guano loco, Pacman power-pellet devouring, smart ass gushing, violence loving, coffee swilling, chocolate chomping Harley Stone. It is his grand masterpiece.
There was an 80s sci-fi movie about a man who discovered he was actually a Terminator robot as he was hurt. Broke a leg and the leg turned out to be a robotic leg. The movie ended with him surviving a stroll in a gas chamber, going full robot. What movie was this?
On the first two Harry Potter movies: IMO they had great production design and casting, but Columbus' direction makes my face go to sleep within five minutes. In that respect, I enjoy The Philosopher's Stone as Hogwarts - The Ride, but as a film that tells a story I find it a real snooze.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
On the first two Harry Potter movies: IMO they had great production design and casting, but Columbus' direction makes my face go to sleep within five minutes. In that respect, I enjoy The Philosopher's Stone as Hogwarts - The Ride, but as a film that tells a story I find it a real snooze.
My fav thing about the DVDs for the first two Harry Potter films were the 'virtual tour' special features. They let you enjoy the movies' fantastic set design, without having to sit through Chris Columbus's leaden direction or the Home-Alone-style camera-mugging he has the kids do.
I remember hiring a lot of Rutger Hauer movies from the video rental place when I was a kid. Salute of the Jugger, Split Second, Blind Fury. All good stuff.
Some people mistakingly believe Roy Batty was the role Rutger Hauer was born to play, and those people are wrong. Some even believe The Hitchiker was Rutger Hauer at his most psychotic, they are wrong as well. A few believe Blind Fury is the Hauer's greatest display of chewing through a role, by they too are wrong.
None of those Hauer experiences can ever compare to his guano loco, Pacman power-pellet devouring, smart ass gushing, violence loving, coffee swilling, chocolate chomping Harley Stone. It is his grand masterpiece.
The best part of Split Second is definitely his diet of chocolate, coffee and cigars. It explains a lot.
It is a pretty fun movie, or at least it was 25 years ago.
I watched the biography of Toshiro Mifune on Netflix and the only one of his movies I'd actually seen was Yojimbo. I'm not a hard core cinefile, but I'd like to see some of his other work. What would the thread recommend?
While 7 Samurai and the rest of the Akira Kurosawa films are amazing and classic I would not watch them with an eye for Mifune. As you will find that he is upstaged in every film by Takashi Smiumra*. (There is a reason Ikiru is widely considered his best film). Yojimbo is your best bet of the ones that Takashi is in, followed by the Hidden Fortress or Throne of Blood (of the Samurai films). In general the later films rely more on the younger Mifune.
I haven’t seen High and Low, The Bad Sleep Well, or Stray Dog so cannot comment on them but my guess is they’re pretty similar
My suggestion is Samurai Rebellion. (Not by Kurosawa, 4/4 from Ebert)
*when I was first starting to watch old Japanese Samurai films I thought he was Mifune, since I had seen the starring lines and so just assumed that the best and most prominent actor of the most famous movie would be Mifune. I did not figure it out that he was not until I looked at the cast list for Ikiru and discovered that Mifune was not in it.
Something else from that which I thought was very funny. While Hauer does a bit of slight of hand to disguise flipping the the cigar the intent of the scene is that he puts the lit end into the guy’s mouth. (Complete with “putting out cigar sound effect). The guy just fucking smokes it anyway and Hauer is suitably confused
Watched a cure for wellness. The movie was genuinely creepy and interesting for 2/3 of the movie. The last 1/3 was batshit insane which spoiled the whole thing for me.
Agreed. I really loved the overall aesthetic and vibe of that movie but the end went in a really weird direction.
That said, it did make me aware of Mia Goth as an actress to which I am thankful.
Watched the National Treasure movies back to back, best part was having a nice, well spoken Canadian actor play the president, something every American dreams of, either openly or secretly.
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Yeah, anything past the second film is a hard stop for me, they try way too hard to push a more mature tone after that point. Same issue as the books, really, except the movies hit that wall by the third film instead of by around the 5th-6th book. The first two are bright and colorful, then everything after that point is drowned in blue filter.
I think there was a director change between 2 and 3 as well, which covers the sudden shift in presentation. He got a lot more free with changing things from the books as well, and not in ways that generally improved the story or characters.
Never read the novels, really don't see much of a need to.
I thought the first 3 films were basically recycled repeats of each other.
Plus Chris Columbus is never gonna do anything interesting with them.
I only disagree with the assessment of movie three, it's the best overall book and probably the best overall movie with some actual style in direction. Doesn't own best scene though, that goes to the tent scene in 7 part 1
Come Overwatch with meeeee
The split-level I'm sharing with a couple of friends has a really high ceiling (peaks at nearly 18 feet) in the "entertainment" room, so we have quite a bit of space for it to fill. And it does a great job
~ Buckaroo Banzai
I actually like the first one a lot—even if the kids can’t act yet, it’s so iconic and filled with a warm sense of whimsy and real wonder. An excellent children’s movie about hope, friendship, and the possibility of belonging. As the sweet, wholesome beginning it’s actually key to the whole series—these are the memories on which we look back when life gets darker and more complicated.
The second one is probably the weakest of the bunch, too cartoonish (poor Ron is reduced to making the “can we panic now?” face the whole time), not enough character growth.
The third movie is a real film with things to say about early adolesence, about light and dark, good and evil (and mischief), and when to take a stand against authority, all lessons that serve the kids in good stead later on when the stakes are higher. It mainly suffers from having to rush the false climax, to the point that the film never clarifies the genesis of the map, or what that means to the adults playing out their teenaged dramas decades later—nor does it draw the appropriate parallels to our heroes and how their current actions may have huge consequences down the line. The visual style and sense of more mature wonder is key to making this one of the most beautiful and lyrical of the series. (I wish it didn’t end on a freeze frame, though. C’mon, Cuaron!)
The fourth movie has a lot of problems, but they’re mostly Rowling’s problems, as her extended metaphor for adolescence isn’t matched by any real originality or heart to the actual portrayal of romance (awkward and perfunctory, as if Harry is annoyed at getting older instead of actually developing in a real and passionate way) or the interpersonal drama (quickly manufactured and just as quickly dropped, when it should have lasted a lot longer and had more of an impact) associated with the onset of puberty. The ending is still a killer, though, a great villain entrance onto the stage in earnest after the long build up of the first three movies.
I still need to watch the other four, but as I recall, 5 is a mixed bag, 6 is actually very well done and features some of the best character and performance work, 7-1 is the best of the series and 7-2 wraps things up with a decently exciting action finale.
I think they were just all over the place in quality. From horrible to fantastic, and everything in between. With no real order to the quality. Deathly Hallows pt 1 was the best film in the series (followed by Prisoner of Azkaban), and the dance scene in the tent was the best scene in the whole series.
I feel like I've ranted about that before.
This one's just a mess, but I can't say it isn't inspired: the story of a black woman trying to break into the film industry, becoming frustrated with the mistreatment, then working as a phone sex operator. Lee employs different formats (different grains of film, VHS), and lots of different visual and dramatic strategies, but it doesn't cohere. The script wants to partly be a satirical comedy about the day-in-day out absurdity of being a sex worker, but it just isn't very funny; almost all of the scenes played for humor fall flat and feel out of place given the ambitions of the rest of the story, which are scattered left and right, realized in more than a couple poorly-drawn subplots. It's all over the place, and yet it doesn't have momentum.
It was fun seeing Tarantino play an especially sleazy version of himself though.
I understand. The way the books grew in scope and depth as the audience got older was a brilliant bit of creativity. I just can't enjoy them much.
I really liked the 6th film. The cinematography is pretty great. The character moments in 7-1 are fantastic though.
The way they wrote Snape in and his eventual full story reveal was my favorite part of the entire series.
Kind of puts my £100 (and that was a few years ago) Philips soundbar & discrete sub in the shade! Although that is still a vast, vast improvement over built-in TV speakers. It's more than earth-shaking enough for my little place
Steam | XBL
Anything directed by Akira Kurosawa. :razz:
If you want a film that doesn't involve samurai, try The Bad Sleep Well.
Hilariously, the sub alone more than doubled the net worth of my home theater, considering I built everything but my center channel myself (6 total speakers, over about 2 years, finding good, consistent magnet stock can be a pain) and I'm rocking a sub $600 Denon A/V receiver.
~ Buckaroo Banzai
I would say I mostly agree with Astaereth's rankings above, just probably with like a full star lopped off the top and a few of them tweaked here and there. I think less of 6 and more of 2. 7.0 is by far the best and much of it made me wish it was a completely different film so I could get excited for where the whole thing was going and looking forward to more like it instead of knowing it was gonna be the end of the series.
Drunken Angel, I Live in Fear, and High and Low have my three favorite Mifune performances. Other than Yojimbo I should say.
Come Overwatch with meeeee
mister tinker
i gave you all the tailors
you could have soldiered spy
"Readers who prefer tension and romance, Maledictions: The Offering, delivers... As serious YA fiction, I’ll give it five stars out of five. As a novel? Four and a half." - Liz Ellor
My new novel: Maledictions: The Offering. Now in Paperback!
3DS: 1521-4165-5907
PS3: KayleSolo
Live: Kayle Solo
WiiU: KayleSolo
"They've seen the future; now they have to kill it" is a hell of a tagline and I don't know how I haven't heard it before.
3DS: 1521-4165-5907
PS3: KayleSolo
Live: Kayle Solo
WiiU: KayleSolo
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Blind Fury.
"What are you blind?"
"Yeah what's your excuse!"
pleasepaypreacher.net
None of those Hauer experiences can ever compare to his guano loco, Pacman power-pellet devouring, smart ass gushing, violence loving, coffee swilling, chocolate chomping Harley Stone. It is his grand masterpiece.
3DS: 1521-4165-5907
PS3: KayleSolo
Live: Kayle Solo
WiiU: KayleSolo
3DS: 1521-4165-5907
PS3: KayleSolo
Live: Kayle Solo
WiiU: KayleSolo
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
For shame
Yes, it's shame it's still on DVD. Streaming services are doing their part already.
Well, all "good" stuff.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
The best part of Split Second is definitely his diet of chocolate, coffee and cigars. It explains a lot.
It is a pretty fun movie, or at least it was 25 years ago.
While 7 Samurai and the rest of the Akira Kurosawa films are amazing and classic I would not watch them with an eye for Mifune. As you will find that he is upstaged in every film by Takashi Smiumra*. (There is a reason Ikiru is widely considered his best film). Yojimbo is your best bet of the ones that Takashi is in, followed by the Hidden Fortress or Throne of Blood (of the Samurai films). In general the later films rely more on the younger Mifune.
I haven’t seen High and Low, The Bad Sleep Well, or Stray Dog so cannot comment on them but my guess is they’re pretty similar
My suggestion is Samurai Rebellion. (Not by Kurosawa, 4/4 from Ebert)
*when I was first starting to watch old Japanese Samurai films I thought he was Mifune, since I had seen the starring lines and so just assumed that the best and most prominent actor of the most famous movie would be Mifune. I did not figure it out that he was not until I looked at the cast list for Ikiru and discovered that Mifune was not in it.
The “big fucking guns” guy (Alastair Duncan) does a really good job! He should have been in more things!
Agreed. I really loved the overall aesthetic and vibe of that movie but the end went in a really weird direction.
That said, it did make me aware of Mia Goth as an actress to which I am thankful.