How in the world did Deathly Hollows 2 get on so many peoples lists?
I can't really take it as a singular film, or even the second half of a film. Thinking about it in the context of a series that's been around for a decade, it was a hell of a satisfying finish, and the best-paced film in the series. A ton of pure action, but there were pretty much seven full movies of pure exposition before it. I was pretty awed in the theater watching DH2.
It was well paced but I found the Climax and fights to be wholly unsatisfying and unclear. It ruined several good moments from the book and I don't feel it replaced them with anything good.
And if they end up rebooting the series in 20 year I hope the director and writer have the sense to do more with combat then this series did.
For me Deathly Hallows (and actually all the films from about the fifth) has the problem of the climax feeling undeserved. If I ignore the books I just can't find a good reason why I should give a fuck about these people. They're based way too much on informed sympathy, not shown sympathy.
It varies from character to character and situation to situation, but the best example is Neville. The films just left out any reason as to why I should give a fuck about him. He is just suddenly cool because the book said so, but the book at least gave us a background and a fucking reason.
The Harry Potter films will be the best example of how we shouldn't film a book-series before the it's actually done. (Game of Thrones at least got a huge amount of stuff to go through.)
WERST EVAR:
The adaptation of Atlas Shrugged released earlier on in the year was a part 1
Conan the Barbarian
Why is Twilight still a thing
Seth Rogan
Number of movies about a rogue CIA operative continues to be a rising trend
The eventual FILM FEST 2011 - Horror Movies
Cars 2, in relation to other Pixar films so I guess it's not so bad
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo hit foreign shores two years ago. Two. Years.
They made a movie about this
Atlas Shrugged is getting a sequel. Guess the producers don't believe in the free market, after all. :?
No, it wasn't. Cap was better but it's still a great film. I can't believe they nailed the concept so perfectly. Thor was the most difficult film Marvel had to execute and they delivered.
I'm not gonna get into this with you. If you actually wanna debate this you can cite problems you have with the movie but otherwise its not worth bothering.
I personally loved it and the general buzz is positive with its\ RT score being 77% critically and 80% audience which isn't bad.
Just saw Contagion, kinda loved it actually. It was pretty great. I loved how it handled the whole pandemic thing so realistically.
Also, Jude Law must be the greatest actor ever. He's like some sort of cinematic chameleon; I never notice that it's him in a film until someone points it out to me.
What's there to cite? The failed experiment with the romantic subplot, the lackluster fights that did little more than show off the super powers and special effects, the pointless scenes... I mean, the set pieces were great, and at least we got a good Thor out of it with Chris Hemsworth, but the movie was just boring.
But then, right. Captain America came out last year too, didn't it? Guess I should qualify that statement.
edit: Well, since my dinner's all over the floor now, what do you mean 3rd movie? They're making this thing into a goddamn trilogy? For Atlas Shrugged?
naengwen on
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VariableMouth CongressStroke Me Lady FameRegistered Userregular
I didn't really see anything that wouldn't end up on my top list so it's not worth making one. don't think I even saw ten movies in the theater.
Linespider5ALL HAIL KING KILLMONGERRegistered Userregular
I'm quite confident a second Thor movie will erase any concerns about the first one.
The only complaint I really had was there's the moment where Thor gets his hammer back and his costume suits up and his beating up the Destroyer, and suddenly it cuts to Sif with this dorky look of glee on her face-I think she might have actually been clapping-and then it goes back to Thor smashing the Destroyer. Which felt awkward, in a Tinker Belle made Peter Pan fly again, kids kind of way.
I was quite impressed that the script managed to be entertaining with a partially amnesiac, underpowered Thor in a small town. They made me laugh with a scene with Thor at a Pet Store, for crying out loud.
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AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
Thor was awful, with paper-thin characters, a fill-in-the-blanks "romance", and a complete waste of several talented actors. The sci-fi was underdeveloped, the action was pointless and perfunctory, and what plotting there was was slapdash at best.
During the parts of Captain America where he had a character, it was a significantly better movie. In between his first major victory and the last five minutes, it's also awful.
I didn't have a problem with Thor, I left the theater thinking "That was pretty good," but looking back, I don't really remember a thing about it, except that Stringer Bell guarded some Rainbow Road
Thor was awful, with paper-thin characters, a fill-in-the-blanks "romance", and a complete waste of several talented actors. The sci-fi was underdeveloped, the action was pointless and perfunctory, and what plotting there was was slapdash at best.
During the parts of Captain America where he had a character, it was a significantly better movie. In between his first major victory and the last five minutes, it's also awful.
x meets y, x isn't particularly interested in y but feels an urge to help out y, y doesn't care about x at all but x learns more about y as they enter the belly of the whale and suddenly, true love! And everything was better.
Then y makes a promise to x and immediately breaks it. DRAMA! The end, to be continued in the next installment where y does something incredibly stupid to make it up to x. And since its Joss Whedon, x/y/xy will probably die in the process.
Or maybe he'll neglect it completely, and nobody will fault him for it.
x meets y, x isn't particularly interested in y but feels an urge to help out y, y doesn't care about x at all but x learns more about y as they enter the belly of the whale and suddenly, true love! And everything was better.
Then y makes a promise to x and immediately breaks it. DRAMA! The end, to be continued in the next installment where y does something incredibly stupid to make it up to x. And since its Joss Whedon, x/y/xy will probably die in the process.
Or maybe he'll neglect it completely, and nobody will fault him for it.
In all of Buffy and Angel Whendon killed like 7 major characters. His reputation is a little inflated by one certain death.
As for the romance that isn't what happens. In fact one thing I liked about it is that the characters are never implied to be "in love". They are treated as two people with an obvious attraction to each other that want to explore things further. Thor's promise "I'm coming back" isn't meant to be "I'll return and we'll live happily ever after. Its presented as " I'll be back, I wanna explore this" which was a completely realistic response for the two.
And if you really think that Jane will be mad about Thor not coming back your both being a little silly and probably skipped the last ten minutes of the movie.
Thor just felt insubstantial to me. Like, things happened but it all felt rushed and yet none of it stuck with me at all.
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GreasyKidsStuffMOMMM!ROAST BEEF WANTS TO KISS GIRLS ON THE TITTIES!Registered Userregular
edited February 2012
I saw a decent amount of movies but I have to think pretty hard to make any kind of notable list. Rango was great. Thor was also highly enjoyable, and I'll pick it as my superhero flick of the year over Captain America. The latter was also fun, but Thor felt stronger as whole in my opinion. I was really taken away by its aesthetic and loved it start to finish.
Drive is an obvious one. I would really like to watch it again now that it's out on DVD. Well-crafted, great soundtrack that I still listen to, etc etc. Pretty sure we have shouted enough praise for it in this thread.
One I forgot about until I looked at a release list was Source Code. Not perfect, but I love science fiction and it satisfied an itch.
The Muppets was so incredibly heartwarming I'd be silly to leave it off this "list". But I think I need to stop it here because I honestly can't say any other films I saw are worth making a end-of-year list. Saw a lot of older films that I've missed out on though, including a good chunk of Cronenberg's filmography. Videodrome, The Fly, and Spider were all seen at some point, as well as The Thing start to finish for the first time (not Cronenberg but fits that body horror mold).
JacobkoshGamble a stamp.I can show you how to be a real man!Moderatormod
I saw Cold Weather last night. It's been mentioned in this thread before, but for the record, it's a mumblecore-ish thriller about a disaffected ex-forensic science student who moves back to the Pacific Northwest from Chicago after a breakup, moves in with his sister, and gets a dead-end job at an ice factory. He makes a friend at work, they bond over Latin music and Sherlock Holmes, and then his ex from Chicago joins them in Portland for job training. The friend starts dating the ex, the guy is fine with it, and the four of them make an intimate, plausible little social circle.
Then, forty minutes into the movie, mystery strikes. Someone disappears - possibly abducted - and our main character gets a chance to show off his skills. Some of this is played for laughs and some of it is genuinely tense and thrilling; at all points, though, it's scrupulously plausible and low-key. This feels like the sort of mystery a real person could actually get involved in. The conversations, the sets, they all convince utterly. And by the end, I was as wrapped up as in any $40 million thriller. It's interesting to me, also, to contrast this with the other big unconventionally-indie genre flick that came out this year.
It's not a perfect movie. The general mumblecore conceit - fastidious realism, where unknown actors with ordinary-ish faces deliver lines that trail off and go on weird tangents like actual conversations, and where the stakes are deliberately kept low and the emotional temperature cool - is interesting to me but it's certainly not the only way to skin a cat. There are little moments throughout where a bit more artifice on the part of the actor or director, a smoother line delivery, a bit more considered fictioneering, would have raised my involvement in the proceedings. Narratively, I was disappointed that a couple characters do not feature much in the last act at all. I don't think it would have been a betrayal of the ethos to show us their reactions to what has happened.
But all that said, it's pretty terrific. It's not a perfect movie, but it is a very good movie, and I'd recommend it to anyone in the mood for something a little quieter and more laid-back than usual.
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BeezelThere was no agreement little morsel..Registered Userregular
edited February 2012
So uh. Is The Goon film still a thing or is that dead as the dodo?
I saw Cold Weather last night. It's been mentioned in this thread before, but for the record, it's a mumblecore-ish thriller about a disaffected ex-forensic science student who moves back to the Pacific Northwest from Chicago after a breakup, moves in with his sister, and gets a dead-end job at an ice factory. He makes a friend at work, they bond over Latin music and Sherlock Holmes, and then his ex from Chicago joins them in Portland for job training. The friend starts dating the ex, the guy is fine with it, and the four of them make an intimate, plausible little social circle.
Then, forty minutes into the movie, mystery strikes. Someone disappears - possibly abducted - and our main character gets a chance to show off his skills. Some of this is played for laughs and some of it is genuinely tense and thrilling; at all points, though, it's scrupulously plausible and low-key. This feels like the sort of mystery a real person could actually get involved in. The conversations, the sets, they all convince utterly. And by the end, I was as wrapped up as in any $40 million thriller. It's interesting to me, also, to contrast this with the other big unconventionally-indie genre flick that came out this year.
It's not a perfect movie. The general mumblecore conceit - fastidious realism, where unknown actors with ordinary-ish faces deliver lines that trail off and go on weird tangents like actual conversations, and where the stakes are deliberately kept low and the emotional temperature cool - is interesting to me but it's certainly not the only way to skin a cat. There are little moments throughout where a bit more artifice on the part of the actor or director, a smoother line delivery, a bit more considered fictioneering, would have raised my involvement in the proceedings. Narratively, I was disappointed that a couple characters do not feature much in the last act at all. I don't think it would have been a betrayal of the ethos to show us their reactions to what has happened.
But all that said, it's pretty terrific. It's not a perfect movie, but it is a very good movie, and I'd recommend it to anyone in the mood for something a little quieter and more laid-back than usual.
Fuck yes! I was curious to see if you were going to end up watching this, I'm thrilled you liked it. Pretty spot-on assessment, especially re: the last bit of the film.
I don't really know how to reconcile the same complaint about two of the major characters dropping out in the last bit, with the fact that I really dug how it ended. Part of what I took out of it was that the film was a lot more about the main character and his sister than I had maybe realized. If I had an actual decent sibling relationship I probably would have got a bit more out of it on that front. I think my disappointment was not with the ending, but that it ended. I really liked these people, and wanted to follow them around for more adventure.
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AtomikaLive fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered Userregular
I get writing up "Disappointed"-lists, but "utterly overrated". That just reeks of juvenile arrogance.
So.. please tell us where everybody's been wrong and "utterly overrated" a film.
The Descendants, for one.
It's a horrible, mean-spirited, shallow exercise in narcissism and entitlement that has the gall to think it's both clever and heartfelt. Despite being blandly shot and flatly written, it then won a bunch of awards because Sad George Clooney wets the pants of old people.
I get writing up "Disappointed"-lists, but "utterly overrated". That just reeks of juvenile arrogance.
So.. please tell us where everybody's been wrong and "utterly overrated" a film.
The Descendants, for one.
It's a horrible, mean-spirited, shallow exercise in narcissism and entitlement that has the gall to think it's both clever and heartfelt. Despite being blandly shot and flatly written, it then won a bunch of awards because Sad George Clooney wets the pants of old people.
That's how "overrated" works, I think.
I'm reasonably sure that wet-pantsed old people aren't really this board's demographic (although I might of course be wrong), so I'm not quite sure whose critical assessment you're rallying against. The use of the word "overrated" just rubs me the wrong way in this thread, because it carries this sense of "I know better than the unwashed masses" and I don't really see the need for that here.
I get writing up "Disappointed"-lists, but "utterly overrated". That just reeks of juvenile arrogance.
So.. please tell us where everybody's been wrong and "utterly overrated" a film.
The Descendants, for one.
It's a horrible, mean-spirited, shallow exercise in narcissism and entitlement that has the gall to think it's both clever and heartfelt. Despite being blandly shot and flatly written, it then won a bunch of awards because Sad George Clooney wets the pants of old people.
That's how "overrated" works, I think.
I'm reasonably sure that wet-pantsed old people aren't really this board's demographic (although I might of course be wrong), so I'm not quite sure whose critical assessment you're rallying against. The use of the word "overrated" just rubs me the wrong way in this thread, because it carries this sense of "I know better than the unwashed masses" and I don't really see the need for that here.
You might want to consider decreasing the sensitivity setting on your grumpometer.
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Linespider5ALL HAIL KING KILLMONGERRegistered Userregular
I was down with the stomach flu all weekend which meant I watched A LOT of movies, one of which I'm ashamed of. The list goes as follows:
1. Ray
2. The Human Centipede 2
3. The Waiting
4. Gamer
5. The Reef
6. Not movies, but Season 1 and the prequel season of Spartacus.
Obviously the film I'm ashamed of is the Human Centipede 2. I just always feel compelled to watch films that provoke strong reactions. Unfortunately, this did not. It was just a bad and boring movie with shitporn. Gamer was terrible too but I think it knew how bad it was. HS2 actually seemed to think it was doing something artistic. It seemed clear that Tom Six was trying to rip off the same feeling in Eraserhead but all he demonstrated was that he has no idea what that film was about (admittedly neither do I). Honestly, the gore wasn't even that impressive. There was maybe one effectively gory scene (if you've seen it you probably know what I mean) that brought out a reaction from me. Other than that it was effectively 2 Girls,1 Cup with an Adult rating. Horrid.
Edit: REALLY enjoyed The Reef though. That was like a palate cleanser after eating the shit of HC2.
I'm reasonably sure that wet-pantsed old people aren't really this board's demographic (although I might of course be wrong), so I'm not quite sure whose critical assessment you're rallying against. The use of the word "overrated" just rubs me the wrong way in this thread, because it carries this sense of "I know better than the unwashed masses" and I don't really see the need for that here.
"I liked this film less than most people" takes longer to say.
I get writing up "Disappointed"-lists, but "utterly overrated". That just reeks of juvenile arrogance.
So.. please tell us where everybody's been wrong and "utterly overrated" a film.
The Descendants, for one.
It's a horrible, mean-spirited, shallow exercise in narcissism and entitlement that has the gall to think it's both clever and heartfelt. Despite being blandly shot and flatly written, it then won a bunch of awards because Sad George Clooney wets the pants of old people.
That's how "overrated" works, I think.
I'm reasonably sure that wet-pantsed old people aren't really this board's demographic (although I might of course be wrong), so I'm not quite sure whose critical assessment you're rallying against. The use of the word "overrated" just rubs me the wrong way in this thread, because it carries this sense of "I know better than the unwashed masses" and I don't really see the need for that here.
You might want to consider decreasing the sensitivity setting on your grumpometer.
Online machismo in a film nerd thread. That's cute.
Thor was awful, with paper-thin characters, a fill-in-the-blanks "romance", and a complete waste of several talented actors. The sci-fi was underdeveloped, the action was pointless and perfunctory, and what plotting there was was slapdash at best.
I absolutely agree. My biggest complaint is that Loki had no continuity of characterization. He would constantly setup one plan, only to arbitrarily change to a contradictory plan in the next scene. The worst example to me was in the first 15 minutes.
He tricks Thor into attacking the giants with reverse psychology. "Oh, attacking them would be a TERRIBLE idea (/sarcasm)". And then he spends the entire attack bitching about how terrible of an idea it is.
When the Trickster God's plans don't make any sense, there's a problem.
Overall, I thought Thor was the worst superhero movie last year (with X-Men being the best and Captain America the second best).
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KalTorakOne way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered Userregular
Posts
This whole post combined with you hating the marvel movie. Just, man. What?
What? Thor was awful.
For me Deathly Hallows (and actually all the films from about the fifth) has the problem of the climax feeling undeserved. If I ignore the books I just can't find a good reason why I should give a fuck about these people. They're based way too much on informed sympathy, not shown sympathy.
It varies from character to character and situation to situation, but the best example is Neville. The films just left out any reason as to why I should give a fuck about him. He is just suddenly cool because the book said so, but the book at least gave us a background and a fucking reason.
The Harry Potter films will be the best example of how we shouldn't film a book-series before the it's actually done. (Game of Thrones at least got a huge amount of stuff to go through.)
Atlas Shrugged is getting a sequel. Guess the producers don't believe in the free market, after all. :?
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/atlas-shrugged-part-2-prduction-april-286633
Nope!
No, it wasn't. Cap was better but it's still a great film. I can't believe they nailed the concept so perfectly. Thor was the most difficult film Marvel had to execute and they delivered.
I personally loved it and the general buzz is positive with its\ RT score being 77% critically and 80% audience which isn't bad.
Also, Jude Law must be the greatest actor ever. He's like some sort of cinematic chameleon; I never notice that it's him in a film until someone points it out to me.
The next one will be slightly more interesting. There are action scenes and a snarky badass pirate.
edit: The third movie will be the worst. It's got to only be Galt's speech.
But then, right. Captain America came out last year too, didn't it? Guess I should qualify that statement.
edit: Well, since my dinner's all over the floor now, what do you mean 3rd movie? They're making this thing into a goddamn trilogy? For Atlas Shrugged?
The only complaint I really had was there's the moment where Thor gets his hammer back and his costume suits up and his beating up the Destroyer, and suddenly it cuts to Sif with this dorky look of glee on her face-I think she might have actually been clapping-and then it goes back to Thor smashing the Destroyer. Which felt awkward, in a Tinker Belle made Peter Pan fly again, kids kind of way.
I was quite impressed that the script managed to be entertaining with a partially amnesiac, underpowered Thor in a small town. They made me laugh with a scene with Thor at a Pet Store, for crying out loud.
During the parts of Captain America where he had a character, it was a significantly better movie. In between his first major victory and the last five minutes, it's also awful.
Anyways, I just got back from Act of Valor
I have...issues with that film
Fill in the blanks romance?
Then you see Hawkeye's cameo in the movie and it's all like what oh hey you're here now you're going bye?
EDIT:
x meets y, x isn't particularly interested in y but feels an urge to help out y, y doesn't care about x at all but x learns more about y as they enter the belly of the whale and suddenly, true love! And everything was better.
Then y makes a promise to x and immediately breaks it. DRAMA! The end, to be continued in the next installment where y does something incredibly stupid to make it up to x. And since its Joss Whedon, x/y/xy will probably die in the process.
Or maybe he'll neglect it completely, and nobody will fault him for it.
In all of Buffy and Angel Whendon killed like 7 major characters. His reputation is a little inflated by one certain death.
As for the romance that isn't what happens. In fact one thing I liked about it is that the characters are never implied to be "in love". They are treated as two people with an obvious attraction to each other that want to explore things further. Thor's promise "I'm coming back" isn't meant to be "I'll return and we'll live happily ever after. Its presented as " I'll be back, I wanna explore this" which was a completely realistic response for the two.
And if you really think that Jane will be mad about Thor not coming back your both being a little silly and probably skipped the last ten minutes of the movie.
Drive is an obvious one. I would really like to watch it again now that it's out on DVD. Well-crafted, great soundtrack that I still listen to, etc etc. Pretty sure we have shouted enough praise for it in this thread.
One I forgot about until I looked at a release list was Source Code. Not perfect, but I love science fiction and it satisfied an itch.
The Muppets was so incredibly heartwarming I'd be silly to leave it off this "list". But I think I need to stop it here because I honestly can't say any other films I saw are worth making a end-of-year list. Saw a lot of older films that I've missed out on though, including a good chunk of Cronenberg's filmography. Videodrome, The Fly, and Spider were all seen at some point, as well as The Thing start to finish for the first time (not Cronenberg but fits that body horror mold).
So.. please tell us where everybody's been wrong and "utterly overrated" a film.
Then, forty minutes into the movie, mystery strikes. Someone disappears - possibly abducted - and our main character gets a chance to show off his skills. Some of this is played for laughs and some of it is genuinely tense and thrilling; at all points, though, it's scrupulously plausible and low-key. This feels like the sort of mystery a real person could actually get involved in. The conversations, the sets, they all convince utterly. And by the end, I was as wrapped up as in any $40 million thriller. It's interesting to me, also, to contrast this with the other big unconventionally-indie genre flick that came out this year.
It's not a perfect movie. The general mumblecore conceit - fastidious realism, where unknown actors with ordinary-ish faces deliver lines that trail off and go on weird tangents like actual conversations, and where the stakes are deliberately kept low and the emotional temperature cool - is interesting to me but it's certainly not the only way to skin a cat. There are little moments throughout where a bit more artifice on the part of the actor or director, a smoother line delivery, a bit more considered fictioneering, would have raised my involvement in the proceedings. Narratively, I was disappointed that a couple characters do not feature much in the last act at all. I don't think it would have been a betrayal of the ethos to show us their reactions to what has happened.
But all that said, it's pretty terrific. It's not a perfect movie, but it is a very good movie, and I'd recommend it to anyone in the mood for something a little quieter and more laid-back than usual.
"...only mights and maybes."
Fuck yes! I was curious to see if you were going to end up watching this, I'm thrilled you liked it. Pretty spot-on assessment, especially re: the last bit of the film.
The Descendants, for one.
It's a horrible, mean-spirited, shallow exercise in narcissism and entitlement that has the gall to think it's both clever and heartfelt. Despite being blandly shot and flatly written, it then won a bunch of awards because Sad George Clooney wets the pants of old people.
That's how "overrated" works, I think.
I'm reasonably sure that wet-pantsed old people aren't really this board's demographic (although I might of course be wrong), so I'm not quite sure whose critical assessment you're rallying against. The use of the word "overrated" just rubs me the wrong way in this thread, because it carries this sense of "I know better than the unwashed masses" and I don't really see the need for that here.
You might want to consider decreasing the sensitivity setting on your grumpometer.
No money, no film. Everyone's willing to be in it and make it, but nobody's willing to actually back the enterprise for distribution. Apparently.
1. Ray
2. The Human Centipede 2
3. The Waiting
4. Gamer
5. The Reef
6. Not movies, but Season 1 and the prequel season of Spartacus.
Obviously the film I'm ashamed of is the Human Centipede 2. I just always feel compelled to watch films that provoke strong reactions. Unfortunately, this did not. It was just a bad and boring movie with shitporn. Gamer was terrible too but I think it knew how bad it was. HS2 actually seemed to think it was doing something artistic. It seemed clear that Tom Six was trying to rip off the same feeling in Eraserhead but all he demonstrated was that he has no idea what that film was about (admittedly neither do I). Honestly, the gore wasn't even that impressive. There was maybe one effectively gory scene (if you've seen it you probably know what I mean) that brought out a reaction from me. Other than that it was effectively 2 Girls,1 Cup with an Adult rating. Horrid.
Edit: REALLY enjoyed The Reef though. That was like a palate cleanser after eating the shit of HC2.
Online machismo in a film nerd thread. That's cute.
I absolutely agree. My biggest complaint is that Loki had no continuity of characterization. He would constantly setup one plan, only to arbitrarily change to a contradictory plan in the next scene. The worst example to me was in the first 15 minutes.
When the Trickster God's plans don't make any sense, there's a problem.
Overall, I thought Thor was the worst superhero movie last year (with X-Men being the best and Captain America the second best).
Didn't Green Lantern come out last year?
Yep. By process of elimination you can figure out where I thought it fell...