I've had Everlasting Moments on my ever-growing pile of things to watch for a while, but that doesn't exactly make me more eager to watch it. No matter - I'm still on my Bergman Trek and will be so for a while, so I'm covered with respect to Swedish drama.
Tonight I'll be seeing my first Bela Tarr, namely The Turin Horse, which they're showing at a neat local cinema where you can take a glass of wine and/or a coffee to your seat. I have to say I'm a bit apprehensive; I generally like slow, pensive films, but I have my limits. Then again, it's not like we're going to see Satantango.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
I would've liked to start with The Werckmeister Harmonies (my brain keeps wanting to call it Werckmeister Chronicles or Werckmeister Prophecies...), since I've got that on Blu-ray, but it hasn't happened. The Turin Horse is the only one they're showing. Well, they did show Satantango one or two years ago, split into half, with one part showing in one cinema, then everyone walks to the second cinema where they show the second part. It did sound quite neat, but I couldn't fit it in.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
Finally got to watch Idi Amin: A Self Portrait. Very straightforward, scary film. That last scene where he loses it is something else. There's murder in his eyes.
I do believe we had this conversation not too long ago in this thread, so therefore I am quite certain one of you is Mikey. So, The Matrix is probably my favorite movie. Movies with Mikey is probably the only YouTube movie talker that I can say I like. Here they are together!
Haha yeah, of course it’s yes. It’s a good video though.
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-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
The sequels, though...
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine will be playing Bill and Ted's daughters respectively in the upcoming B&T movie.
I'm glad Weaving is getting more roles, I like her, and hopefully they'll be playing mid 20 something daughters and not something horrible like smart aleck teen daughters.
It's the basket-themed sequel to The Ring I never knew I always wanted.
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
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jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine will be playing Bill and Ted's daughters respectively in the upcoming B&T movie.
I'm glad Weaving is getting more roles, I like her, and hopefully they'll be playing mid 20 something daughters and not something horrible like smart aleck teen daughters.
Except at the end of the last movie, we met their sons. So that's odd.
Don't get me wrong, The Raid is really good, but the two pretty much only have some basic story structure beats in common. It's far more of an action and choreography display than a movie. The story is okay but simple, and there are pacing problems where the action set pieces overstay their welcome.
Don't get me wrong, The Raid is really good, but the two pretty much only have some basic story structure beats in common. It's far more of an action and choreography display than a movie. The story is okay but simple, and there are pacing problems where the action set pieces overstay their welcome.
They both have plot twists, too.
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LegacyStuck Somewhere In CyberspaceThe Grid(Seattle)Registered User, ClubPAregular
The Dead Don't Die was just...so weird. And good. A very slow, methodical movie with very odd scenes and odd performances, but I kinda liked it a lot? Adam Driver makes the movie for sure. The reviews on this are going to be SO mixed...
Can we get the chemicals in. 'Cause anything's better than this.
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
The Dead Don't Die was just...so weird. And good. A very slow, methodical movie with very odd scenes and odd performances, but I kinda liked it a lot? Adam Driver makes the movie for sure. The reviews on this are going to be SO mixed...
It's Jarmusch, I'd be surprised if it wasn't.
As much as he made my favorite movie ever(Ghost Dog), his repertoire is all over the place. I either love his films(Paterson, Stranger Than Paradise, Night On Earth), or am left totally ambivalent(Down By Law, Mystery Train).
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Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
Just got out of Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
All the Godzilla bits? Love them. As much as I enjoy the cheese of guys in rubber suits and plaster-and-foam cities duking it out while people throw dirt around, modern CG tech does a really great job of conveying the massive scope of these monsters and imbuing them with personality. And this film had a fair bit more screentime given over to crazy over-the-top monster sequences rather than the last one, which was a huge improvement. The first film was mostly teaser bits until a rather unimpressive final fight, and this one is not even remotely shy about throwing monsters on-screen. Tons and tons of shots you just would not be able to do with the old rubber-suit approach, and the environmental effects are awesome. And when they roll out the classic theme music, it's the fucking best.
About 50% of the people bits? I'm just wondering why the hell we have people in the movie. Some of the stuff is keeping up the proud Godzilla movie traditions, like twins working with Mothra (with a Toho movie veteran, even!), whacked-out organizations, and the usual eco messages. And yeah, you kinda have to have people around to give a proper sense of scale to these monsters, so you can't just ditch people completely.
But holy shit do I not care about things like Random Squad getting in trouble repeatedly or what traitor person has to say about anything at all or that Government People want to yell at Monarch. While I did find these human bits in this film far less annoying and groan-worthy than in the prior film, it still spends way too much time on people flailing around trying to deal with monsters instead of just ignoring the people to have some city-smashing fun. There's a lot of people scenes that you could snip from the film and lose nothing but runtime, if not outright improve the movie by keeping the focus on the monsters for longer instead of breaking it up with human scenes.
So overall, a major improvement over the last film, but there's still loads of room for improvement for the next movie. That's the one where I think they might really finally get something altogether solid, because it's lining up to have some pretty great stuff in it.
Just got back from Godzilla. So much fun. I can see why a lot of people didn't like it. I felt Kong struck the best balance of monsters and humans. I was interested in the people. Here I wasn't. I don't think it hurts the movie, but I admit it could of been better.
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Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
Just got back from Godzilla. So much fun. I can see why a lot of people didn't like it. I felt Kong struck the best balance of monsters and humans. I was interested in the people. Here I wasn't. I don't think it hurts the movie, but I admit it could of been better.
Yeah, I wasn't that interested in the people in Skull Island either, but I was still more interested in them than here. The people elements in Skull Island also had a fair amount of dealing with the terrors of the island, which do make for solid action sequences on a human scale. When the monsters are several times bigger and can shrug off missiles and naval artillery, it's kinda pointless focusing in on people stuff at all for an action sequence.
The big annoying bit of the movie for me is when
the mass-murdering mother runs off to save her kid and we get a hugging scene out of it. The lady is literally the person directly responsible for what must be at least several million deaths, not to mention setting up her colleagues at several locations to get brutally murdered and basically attempting to murder her husband. I get that her super-terrified kid would just want to hold on to her parents, but there's also a collection of soldiers just standing around and not saying anything about the lady who has probably gotten several of their family members slaughtered by this point.
And then all of that leads to a time-sucking sequence about the dang monster pager. While the end result is that at least the super-murder mom gets either stomped or vaporized, it was just a dumb waste of time diverting from the monsters. Would've been far better off if the lady just got a chump death running back to the chopper or something, instead of trying to make her sympathetic in the end.
But it's also neat to get some Godzilla movies that really are actual sequels to each other, rather than just being sort-of-sequels or even completely unrelated. They also actively embracing the absurdity of the Godzilla history, complete with things like
Ghidorah actually being an alien life form, and setting up the next movie for Mecha-Ghidorah
.
Which is great! These are Godzilla movies, no reason to hold back. Go monster crazy!
Unsurprisingly, The Turin Horse may not be the best film to watch when you're tired from work and the cinema in question (which is in a large attic room in an old house) has become pretty warm. I wasn't best able to take in the film, but I still found it intriguing and compelling, though in its very own, minimalist way. I'm curious about watching some of Tarr's other films now.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
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AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
I’ve only seen Werckmeister, but it’s an amazing, amazing movie.
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VariableMouth CongressStroke Me Lady FameRegistered Userregular
The Dead Don't Die was just...so weird. And good. A very slow, methodical movie with very odd scenes and odd performances, but I kinda liked it a lot? Adam Driver makes the movie for sure. The reviews on this are going to be SO mixed...
this is pretty much what I'd want to hear, "slow" and "methodical" on top of which driver is pretty much my favorite actor to watch right now.
I’ve only seen Werckmeister, but it’s an amazing, amazing movie.
I've only seen one scene, but that scene was absolutely gorgeous. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the whole film. A friend of mine really liked Satantango, but that one is quite the commitment, as it's 7 1/2 hours long.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
We watched First Man last night, and it was good. Nickie didn't know Armstrong had lost a daughter though, so there was a short intermission for some light crying and her waking up our daughter to annoy her by hugging her.
Then at the end, when Armstrong
drops the bracelet in the crater
I'm like, no, don't cry again, that's apocryphal! There's no evidence it happened! "I don't care!" and some more light crying.
We watched First Man last night, and it was good. Nickie didn't know Armstrong had lost a daughter though, so there was a short intermission for some light crying and her waking up our daughter to annoy her by hugging her.
Then at the end, when Armstrong
drops the bracelet in the crater
I'm like, no, don't cry again, that's apocryphal! There's no evidence it happened! "I don't care!" and some more light crying.
It seems like we might know for sure next year?
the bracelet scene comes from conjecture in Hansen's book about Armstrong.
"After four years of research and extensive conversations with Neil and [his ex-wife] Janet, and sister June, and Neil's kids, Jim Hansen basically starts to have this hunch that maybe Neil left something of Karen's on the moon," Singer told me. "Part of the reason is because ... leaving mementos for loved ones or lost ones is something astronauts did."
For instance, Charlie Duke, who in 1972 became the tenth person to walk on the moon, left a photo of his family there, according to Singer. Buzz Aldrin brought a pouch that belonged to the Apollo 1 astronauts as a memorial to them. That got Hansen wondering whether Armstrong left something for Karen on the moon.
"So [Hansen] asked Neil for the manifest for his PPK, personal property kit," Singer explained. "Neil claimed that he had lost it, which we now know is not true because when Neil's archives were donated to Purdue, they have that manifest, which is actually under seal until 2020."
Hansen thought it was very out of character for Armstrong to have lost such an important possession, so, according to Singer, he asked Armstrong's sister, June Hoffman, whether her brother had left something for Karen on the moon. June's response: "Oh, I dearly hope so."
Just saw a YouTube ad for a movie called 'Ad Astra.'
So, Brad Pitt is aging into Actual Robert Redford but actually good at acting.
And you all could not possibly... possibly understand how nice it is to see Ruth Nega credited above Liv Tyler. Like, it just puts a song in my heart.
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AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
I like The Hateful Eight a little more every time I see it, and I already liked it decently the first time. Perversely slow paced yet meticulously detailed in plot, performance, and direction, it's such a mean, gory play that weaves the usual QT references (the paranoia and claustrophobia of The Thing, the American dialectic of Stagecoach) into a microcosmic depiction of a nation that will forever be post-Civil War.
The big twist is one of Tarantino's best metaphors: all of the odd things about the environment (the stray piece of candy, the broken door) and off-kilter behavior (Joe Gage's standoffishness, the old man's refusal to get up from his chair) are explained--defined, really--by a racially-tinged bout of violence whose perpetrators remain in the room and whose motivation literally waits under the floorboards, whether you knew it was there or not, to strike again at the worst possible moment. No simplistic racial moral fable this. Sam Jackson creates one of his most memorable characters in Major Warren, a smart man who knows how to survive and thrive in a racist society, and also a cruel man who murders an old enemy by inflaming racial tensions; and the film's conclusion, somehow both baroquely grim and strangely sweet, shows how the lie of the American ideal is still capable of inspiring comfort and maybe even progress, however slim on both accounts.
Form marries perfectly to function, from the arch structure of the play in four acts to the use of split diopter shots to suggest tenuous cooperation between unlikely allies on either side of the frame. Is it as rich or as easily pleasurable as most of his other films? Not really. But what feels almost tossed off from a master filmmaker would be a feather in the cap of any lesser director: an excellent little movie. A good Western.
I like The Hateful Eight a little more every time I see it, and I already liked it decently the first time. Perversely slow paced yet meticulously detailed in plot, performance, and direction, it's such a mean, gory play that weaves the usual QT references (the paranoia and claustrophobia of The Thing, the American dialectic of Stagecoach) into a microcosmic depiction of a nation that will forever be post-Civil War.
The big twist is one of Tarantino's best metaphors: all of the odd things about the environment (the stray piece of candy, the broken door) and off-kilter behavior (Joe Gage's standoffishness, the old man's refusal to get up from his chair) are explained--defined, really--by a racially-tinged bout of violence whose perpetrators remain in the room and whose motivation literally waits under the floorboards, whether you knew it was there or not, to strike again at the worst possible moment. No simplistic racial moral fable this. Sam Jackson creates one of his most memorable characters in Major Warren, a smart man who knows how to survive and thrive in a racist society, and also a cruel man who murders an old enemy by inflaming racial tensions; and the film's conclusion, somehow both baroquely grim and strangely sweet, shows how the lie of the American ideal is still capable of inspiring comfort and maybe even progress, however slim on both accounts.
Form marries perfectly to function, from the arch structure of the play in four acts to the use of split diopter shots to suggest tenuous cooperation between unlikely allies on either side of the frame. Is it as rich or as easily pleasurable as most of his other films? Not really. But what feels almost tossed off from a master filmmaker would be a feather in the cap of any lesser director: an excellent little movie. A good Western.
Re: The Ending
I never really read it as sweet or inspiring of progress. It seemed to me like a black man and a white man finally coming together ... to murder a women was kinda grim in it's assessment of america and it's ideals.
Saw Godzilla last night. I liked it a lot overall but it might actually be my least favorite of the Monsterverse movies?
I think I liked the monster fights in Godzilla 2014 because they were mostly taking place on the ground? There was lots of flying in this one and I stopped caring about anonymous fighter jets and helicopters being smashed after the first couple.
Gidorah is just so big and indestructible that I kind of found myself not caring when Godzilla was fighting him. It was obvious from the get go that it would take some Deus Ex Machina to beat him, not a regular monster fight, so I was a little checked out of the fights.
The human stuff was ok. I loved the Monarch weirdness. The hidden base, the giant plane, the bunkers, the Atlantis Godzilla Temple, all cool as hell. I gave zero shits about the Monarch vs. Terrorists conflict though. I do not go to a Godzilla movie to watch humans shoot at other humans. I also thought it was kind of ridiculous how close the monsters got to the main characters literally any time they were on the ground. Godzilla 2014 did a much better job with that. Godzilla can be a block or two away and still be imposing and big, he doesn't have to be literally straddling the human characters all the time. Also if you can be underfoot during a massive titan fight for like 20 minutes and not get squished, it kinda removes the sense of danger, doesn't it?
But anyway, Godzilla still rules, Monsterverse still rules, I hope they make a bunch of these movies, I'll go see them all.
I like The Hateful Eight a little more every time I see it, and I already liked it decently the first time. Perversely slow paced yet meticulously detailed in plot, performance, and direction, it's such a mean, gory play that weaves the usual QT references (the paranoia and claustrophobia of The Thing, the American dialectic of Stagecoach) into a microcosmic depiction of a nation that will forever be post-Civil War.
The big twist is one of Tarantino's best metaphors: all of the odd things about the environment (the stray piece of candy, the broken door) and off-kilter behavior (Joe Gage's standoffishness, the old man's refusal to get up from his chair) are explained--defined, really--by a racially-tinged bout of violence whose perpetrators remain in the room and whose motivation literally waits under the floorboards, whether you knew it was there or not, to strike again at the worst possible moment. No simplistic racial moral fable this. Sam Jackson creates one of his most memorable characters in Major Warren, a smart man who knows how to survive and thrive in a racist society, and also a cruel man who murders an old enemy by inflaming racial tensions; and the film's conclusion, somehow both baroquely grim and strangely sweet, shows how the lie of the American ideal is still capable of inspiring comfort and maybe even progress, however slim on both accounts.
Form marries perfectly to function, from the arch structure of the play in four acts to the use of split diopter shots to suggest tenuous cooperation between unlikely allies on either side of the frame. Is it as rich or as easily pleasurable as most of his other films? Not really. But what feels almost tossed off from a master filmmaker would be a feather in the cap of any lesser director: an excellent little movie. A good Western.
Re: The Ending
I never really read it as sweet or inspiring of progress. It seemed to me like a black man and a white man finally coming together ... to murder a women was kinda grim in it's assessment of america and it's ideals.
Well, if you strip the characters of every characteristic and circumstance, ignore the setup and the plot of the film, you could get to that conclusion. I honestly wouldnt have thought of that reading in a million years.
Yes, with a quick verbal "boom." You take a man's peko, you deny him his dab, all that is left is to rise up and tear down the walls of Jericho with a ".....not!" -TexiKen
I like The Hateful Eight a little more every time I see it, and I already liked it decently the first time. Perversely slow paced yet meticulously detailed in plot, performance, and direction, it's such a mean, gory play that weaves the usual QT references (the paranoia and claustrophobia of The Thing, the American dialectic of Stagecoach) into a microcosmic depiction of a nation that will forever be post-Civil War.
The big twist is one of Tarantino's best metaphors: all of the odd things about the environment (the stray piece of candy, the broken door) and off-kilter behavior (Joe Gage's standoffishness, the old man's refusal to get up from his chair) are explained--defined, really--by a racially-tinged bout of violence whose perpetrators remain in the room and whose motivation literally waits under the floorboards, whether you knew it was there or not, to strike again at the worst possible moment. No simplistic racial moral fable this. Sam Jackson creates one of his most memorable characters in Major Warren, a smart man who knows how to survive and thrive in a racist society, and also a cruel man who murders an old enemy by inflaming racial tensions; and the film's conclusion, somehow both baroquely grim and strangely sweet, shows how the lie of the American ideal is still capable of inspiring comfort and maybe even progress, however slim on both accounts.
Form marries perfectly to function, from the arch structure of the play in four acts to the use of split diopter shots to suggest tenuous cooperation between unlikely allies on either side of the frame. Is it as rich or as easily pleasurable as most of his other films? Not really. But what feels almost tossed off from a master filmmaker would be a feather in the cap of any lesser director: an excellent little movie. A good Western.
Re: The Ending
I never really read it as sweet or inspiring of progress. It seemed to me like a black man and a white man finally coming together ... to murder a women was kinda grim in it's assessment of america and it's ideals.
Well, if you strip the characters of every characteristic and circumstance, ignore the setup and the plot of the film, you could get to that conclusion. I honestly wouldnt have thought of that reading in a million years.
I'm not sure how what I said involves any of that.
I'm with shryke on that one. At the time I absolutely thought that the grimness was fully intended, but I'd have to rewatch the film to say for sure. With Tarantino, it's sometimes difficult for me to say where I'm reading a critique into what he's doing and where it's actually there.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
I like The Hateful Eight a little more every time I see it, and I already liked it decently the first time. Perversely slow paced yet meticulously detailed in plot, performance, and direction, it's such a mean, gory play that weaves the usual QT references (the paranoia and claustrophobia of The Thing, the American dialectic of Stagecoach) into a microcosmic depiction of a nation that will forever be post-Civil War.
The big twist is one of Tarantino's best metaphors: all of the odd things about the environment (the stray piece of candy, the broken door) and off-kilter behavior (Joe Gage's standoffishness, the old man's refusal to get up from his chair) are explained--defined, really--by a racially-tinged bout of violence whose perpetrators remain in the room and whose motivation literally waits under the floorboards, whether you knew it was there or not, to strike again at the worst possible moment. No simplistic racial moral fable this. Sam Jackson creates one of his most memorable characters in Major Warren, a smart man who knows how to survive and thrive in a racist society, and also a cruel man who murders an old enemy by inflaming racial tensions; and the film's conclusion, somehow both baroquely grim and strangely sweet, shows how the lie of the American ideal is still capable of inspiring comfort and maybe even progress, however slim on both accounts.
Form marries perfectly to function, from the arch structure of the play in four acts to the use of split diopter shots to suggest tenuous cooperation between unlikely allies on either side of the frame. Is it as rich or as easily pleasurable as most of his other films? Not really. But what feels almost tossed off from a master filmmaker would be a feather in the cap of any lesser director: an excellent little movie. A good Western.
Re: The Ending
I never really read it as sweet or inspiring of progress. It seemed to me like a black man and a white man finally coming together ... to murder a women was kinda grim in it's assessment of america and it's ideals.
Well, if you strip the characters of every characteristic and circumstance, ignore the setup and the plot of the film, you could get to that conclusion. I honestly wouldnt have thought of that reading in a million years.
I'm not sure how what I said involves any of that.
Hateful Eight
The woman character was a convicted murderer who had tried to kill both of the other characters. And one of the characters was a sheriff, so it was more of an execution than a straight up murder. I think those are the characteristic and circumstances you have to strip away to get "Two men murder a woman" out of that ending.
I agree it's grim, but I don't think it's meant to be commentary on American ideals.
I like The Hateful Eight a little more every time I see it, and I already liked it decently the first time. Perversely slow paced yet meticulously detailed in plot, performance, and direction, it's such a mean, gory play that weaves the usual QT references (the paranoia and claustrophobia of The Thing, the American dialectic of Stagecoach) into a microcosmic depiction of a nation that will forever be post-Civil War.
The big twist is one of Tarantino's best metaphors: all of the odd things about the environment (the stray piece of candy, the broken door) and off-kilter behavior (Joe Gage's standoffishness, the old man's refusal to get up from his chair) are explained--defined, really--by a racially-tinged bout of violence whose perpetrators remain in the room and whose motivation literally waits under the floorboards, whether you knew it was there or not, to strike again at the worst possible moment. No simplistic racial moral fable this. Sam Jackson creates one of his most memorable characters in Major Warren, a smart man who knows how to survive and thrive in a racist society, and also a cruel man who murders an old enemy by inflaming racial tensions; and the film's conclusion, somehow both baroquely grim and strangely sweet, shows how the lie of the American ideal is still capable of inspiring comfort and maybe even progress, however slim on both accounts.
Form marries perfectly to function, from the arch structure of the play in four acts to the use of split diopter shots to suggest tenuous cooperation between unlikely allies on either side of the frame. Is it as rich or as easily pleasurable as most of his other films? Not really. But what feels almost tossed off from a master filmmaker would be a feather in the cap of any lesser director: an excellent little movie. A good Western.
Re: The Ending
I never really read it as sweet or inspiring of progress. It seemed to me like a black man and a white man finally coming together ... to murder a women was kinda grim in it's assessment of america and it's ideals.
Well, if you strip the characters of every characteristic and circumstance, ignore the setup and the plot of the film, you could get to that conclusion. I honestly wouldnt have thought of that reading in a million years.
I'm not sure how what I said involves any of that.
The woman character was a convicted murderer who had tried to kill both of the other characters. And one of the characters was a sheriff, so it was more of an execution than a straight up murder. I think those are the characteristic and circumstances you have to strip away to get "Two men murder a woman" out of that ending.
I agree it's grim, but I don't think it's meant to be commentary on American ideals.
But you don't have to strip any of that away.
They had all tried to kill one another at some point. Warren and Mannix spend the entirety of the movie hating each other and with good/"good" reason. And yet, in the end, they come together. Sort of.
I don't see how their history can be part part of the context of the film and not preclude that ending and yet Daisy's somehow can't.
If she was a victim, MAYBE, but she is the antagonist, I just cant see that hot take being represented in any way in the context of the movie.
Yes, with a quick verbal "boom." You take a man's peko, you deny him his dab, all that is left is to rise up and tear down the walls of Jericho with a ".....not!" -TexiKen
What makes her more of an antagonist, or less of a protagonist, than anyone else of the Hateful Eight? The title already puts them all in the same category.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Posts
Tonight I'll be seeing my first Bela Tarr, namely The Turin Horse, which they're showing at a neat local cinema where you can take a glass of wine and/or a coffee to your seat. I have to say I'm a bit apprehensive; I generally like slow, pensive films, but I have my limits. Then again, it's not like we're going to see Satantango.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Satantango's probably an easier watch, actually. Better paced, more plot driven---though this is in a strictly relative sense.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
I'm glad Weaving is getting more roles, I like her, and hopefully they'll be playing mid 20 something daughters and not something horrible like smart aleck teen daughters.
It was a solid action movie
It's the basket-themed sequel to The Ring I never knew I always wanted.
This encapsulates everything I like about Dredd, the atmosphere, acting, everything
Which is the highest form of praise.
Don't get me wrong, The Raid is really good, but the two pretty much only have some basic story structure beats in common. It's far more of an action and choreography display than a movie. The story is okay but simple, and there are pacing problems where the action set pieces overstay their welcome.
They both have plot twists, too.
It's Jarmusch, I'd be surprised if it wasn't.
As much as he made my favorite movie ever(Ghost Dog), his repertoire is all over the place. I either love his films(Paterson, Stranger Than Paradise, Night On Earth), or am left totally ambivalent(Down By Law, Mystery Train).
All the Godzilla bits? Love them. As much as I enjoy the cheese of guys in rubber suits and plaster-and-foam cities duking it out while people throw dirt around, modern CG tech does a really great job of conveying the massive scope of these monsters and imbuing them with personality. And this film had a fair bit more screentime given over to crazy over-the-top monster sequences rather than the last one, which was a huge improvement. The first film was mostly teaser bits until a rather unimpressive final fight, and this one is not even remotely shy about throwing monsters on-screen. Tons and tons of shots you just would not be able to do with the old rubber-suit approach, and the environmental effects are awesome. And when they roll out the classic theme music, it's the fucking best.
About 50% of the people bits? I'm just wondering why the hell we have people in the movie. Some of the stuff is keeping up the proud Godzilla movie traditions, like twins working with Mothra (with a Toho movie veteran, even!), whacked-out organizations, and the usual eco messages. And yeah, you kinda have to have people around to give a proper sense of scale to these monsters, so you can't just ditch people completely.
But holy shit do I not care about things like Random Squad getting in trouble repeatedly or what traitor person has to say about anything at all or that Government People want to yell at Monarch. While I did find these human bits in this film far less annoying and groan-worthy than in the prior film, it still spends way too much time on people flailing around trying to deal with monsters instead of just ignoring the people to have some city-smashing fun. There's a lot of people scenes that you could snip from the film and lose nothing but runtime, if not outright improve the movie by keeping the focus on the monsters for longer instead of breaking it up with human scenes.
So overall, a major improvement over the last film, but there's still loads of room for improvement for the next movie. That's the one where I think they might really finally get something altogether solid, because it's lining up to have some pretty great stuff in it.
Yeah, I wasn't that interested in the people in Skull Island either, but I was still more interested in them than here. The people elements in Skull Island also had a fair amount of dealing with the terrors of the island, which do make for solid action sequences on a human scale. When the monsters are several times bigger and can shrug off missiles and naval artillery, it's kinda pointless focusing in on people stuff at all for an action sequence.
The big annoying bit of the movie for me is when
And then all of that leads to a time-sucking sequence about the dang monster pager. While the end result is that at least the super-murder mom gets either stomped or vaporized, it was just a dumb waste of time diverting from the monsters. Would've been far better off if the lady just got a chump death running back to the chopper or something, instead of trying to make her sympathetic in the end.
But it's also neat to get some Godzilla movies that really are actual sequels to each other, rather than just being sort-of-sequels or even completely unrelated. They also actively embracing the absurdity of the Godzilla history, complete with things like
Which is great! These are Godzilla movies, no reason to hold back. Go monster crazy!
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
this is pretty much what I'd want to hear, "slow" and "methodical" on top of which driver is pretty much my favorite actor to watch right now.
and weird but
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Then at the end, when Armstrong
https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a23744321/first-man-fact-fiction-moon-neil-armstrong-daughter-bracelet-real/
Edit: spoiler tagging
Jafar was a bit on the snivelling side, but he had his moments(namely when he used the staff).
And I liked his added back story about him being a thief too, gave him and Aladdin some common ground.
One Jump Ahead was definitely the highlight.
Also saw Godzilla. Loved it, and didn't even mind the humans, they were sympathetic enough, and Millie was great.
Second act dragged a bit, but the monster fights, good lord. Rodan showing up had me all in.
So, Brad Pitt is aging into Actual Robert Redford but actually good at acting.
And you all could not possibly... possibly understand how nice it is to see Ruth Nega credited above Liv Tyler. Like, it just puts a song in my heart.
Form marries perfectly to function, from the arch structure of the play in four acts to the use of split diopter shots to suggest tenuous cooperation between unlikely allies on either side of the frame. Is it as rich or as easily pleasurable as most of his other films? Not really. But what feels almost tossed off from a master filmmaker would be a feather in the cap of any lesser director: an excellent little movie. A good Western.
Re: The Ending
Gidorah is just so big and indestructible that I kind of found myself not caring when Godzilla was fighting him. It was obvious from the get go that it would take some Deus Ex Machina to beat him, not a regular monster fight, so I was a little checked out of the fights.
The human stuff was ok. I loved the Monarch weirdness. The hidden base, the giant plane, the bunkers, the Atlantis Godzilla Temple, all cool as hell. I gave zero shits about the Monarch vs. Terrorists conflict though. I do not go to a Godzilla movie to watch humans shoot at other humans. I also thought it was kind of ridiculous how close the monsters got to the main characters literally any time they were on the ground. Godzilla 2014 did a much better job with that. Godzilla can be a block or two away and still be imposing and big, he doesn't have to be literally straddling the human characters all the time. Also if you can be underfoot during a massive titan fight for like 20 minutes and not get squished, it kinda removes the sense of danger, doesn't it?
But anyway, Godzilla still rules, Monsterverse still rules, I hope they make a bunch of these movies, I'll go see them all.
Well, if you strip the characters of every characteristic and circumstance, ignore the setup and the plot of the film, you could get to that conclusion. I honestly wouldnt have thought of that reading in a million years.
I'm not sure how what I said involves any of that.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Hateful Eight
I agree it's grim, but I don't think it's meant to be commentary on American ideals.
But you don't have to strip any of that away.
I don't see how their history can be part part of the context of the film and not preclude that ending and yet Daisy's somehow can't.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods