Robards is terrible in this, though. He looks like a wax dummy next to Diana Rigg and Robert Vaughan.
Yeah, he's not the first actor I think of when considering actors for a Shakespeare adaptation. Eugene O'Neill, absolutely, but acting Shakespeare is a very different beast. Perhaps he would've been well suited to a role like Lear in his latter years, but his delivery, which works brilliantly in his best parts, has never made me think that he would've been good at Shakespeare.
Thirith on
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Lockout was less a die hard and more an escape from new york retool.
But was it an Escape from L.A. movie?
I think we all hope not. I wonder if Escape from L.A. could have turned out better had it been less rushed. So much of it ended up being so bad though that I can't tell if it's because the whole thing was rushed or if it was just a bad idea.
I saw the trailer for A Wrinkle in Time and it appeared to be a Hollywood cersion of a classic book that misses the point and has no soul. The trailer reminded me of the abysmal The Dark is Rising movie. I hope I am wrong about it.
Not familiar with the property but it made me think of A Rickle in Time. And now I want a big budget Rick & Morty movie.
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AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
I’ve seen a fair number of noirs shot in color, but only 1990’s After Dark, My Sweet feels like black and white. Based on a story by Jim Thompson, that poet of hard times and bad ideas, the movie could be set anywhere in the American desert, anytime after the depression and before cell phones, and plays like a Coen bros movie, only slower and sadder. That is a compliment.
The film is squarely in the tradition of Double Indemnity and other fatalist noirs in which destiny and sexual desire spur hopeless men to ill-advised crime. In this version the man, Collie, is an ex-boxer and drifter who essentially chooses to entangle himself with Fay, a widow who maybe only has a drinking problem because it fills the days. What also fills the days is an idle scheme concocted with “Uncle Bud,” a scheme they probably never would have actually carried out without Collie’s involvement. Alone each of three lead small and meaningless lives; together they have just enough evil between them to do something terrible, and just enough good between them to know it.
What makes the film fascinating, besides the spare, flat camerawork and doomful score, are the performances, and especially Jason Patric’s Collie, as a man whose deep guilt leads him to both mistrust the world, expecting its punishment, and go along anyway, because he feels he deserves it. His relationship with Fay is the heart of the movie; the question of trust, the lure of sex, and sense in which he is being offered a chance to supplant the dead husband in all ways—including the symbolic formation of a family unit. That’s not something you can keep, when you haven’t earned it, and in a way Collie finds the ending he always suspected he would reach—still small, but maybe a little more meaningful.
I didn't think Get Out was predictable? Apart from the standard horror story arc, it actually has some good twists in it and turns on it's making fun of stereotypes into a pretty good narrative.
Had a random day off yesterday so against my better "I'm super fucking afraid of clowns" judgment, I watched IT. What a great movie! I really enjoyed it, and had no idea the story was more than just "creepy murderous clown". Finn Wolfhard was super good in it too. Complete opposite of how I'm used to seeing him in Stranger Things.
Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
Some kind of ancient evil that feeds on children every 27 years
seems a little Lovecraftian. I don't really know anything about IT(I mean, I do now), so I dunno what's appropriate to put in spoilers. Better safe than sorry, tho!
Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
I read the original story, and it doesn't speak anything to love craft. IT is a king style monster, that being the fears of a child/adult, it never comes across as some kind of unknowable horror from beyond the beyond.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Lovecraft monsters aren't just unknowable, they're also unknowing. They don't understand people nor do they care to, because people are ants to them. They don't try to hurt or scare people any more than water tries to get people wet, it just does as its nature. Even the most human of Lovecrafts stories involve the monsters/villains just not giving a fuck who they hurt, and any injury/death/madness resulting is more of a side effect, not a goal.
In IT the horror comes from the fact that the monster very much knows and understands people, as a predator does its prey, and goes out of its way to hurt and torment them. It does it with deliberate glee and malice which Lovecraft horrors do not possess. The fear and pain are very much the goal of IT, done on purpose and relished.
So no, IT isn't Lovecraftian at all.
Before following any advice, opinions, or thoughts I may have expressed in the above post, be warned: I found Keven Costners "Waterworld" to be a very entertaining film.
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daveNYCWhy universe hate Waspinator?Registered Userregular
Lovecraft monsters aren't just unknowable, they're also unknowing. They don't understand people nor do they care to, because people are ants to them. They don't try to hurt or scare people any more than water tries to get people wet, it just does as its nature. Even the most human of Lovecrafts stories involve the monsters/villains just not giving a fuck who they hurt, and any injury/death/madness resulting is more of a side effect, not a goal.
In IT the horror comes from the fact that the monster very much knows and understands people, as a predator does its prey, and goes out of its way to hurt and torment them. It does it with deliberate glee and malice which Lovecraft horrors do not possess. The fear and pain are very much the goal of IT, done on purpose and relished.
So no, IT isn't Lovecraftian at all.
There are heaps of Lovecraft critters who are quite aware of humanity. Azathoth and Yog-Sothoth are tho only ones who leap to mind as unknowing and uncaring.
In the novel (haven't seen the movie) the kids have a vision of an asteroid crashing into Derry umpteen years ago, presumably carrying IT. That's straight up The Colour Out of Space origin there. Plus the moral decay of the inhabitants of Derry as they willingly (if subconsciously) sacrifice their children and partake in atrocities in return for prosperity is Lovecraftian too.
Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!
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AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
The film downplays most of the Lovecraftian aspects, but it does feature a clown that feels more legitimately alien than the TV film. There’s not enough of it but what’s there is super creepy in a darkly funny way.
Which films are you guys and gals most looking forward to in 2018? I find that I'm mostly looking forward to the films that have made it onto the big Best of 2017 lists but that haven't yet been shown in Switzerland, especially Call Me By Your Name, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Shape of Water and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Yesterday I went on a bit of a trailer binge and there seem to be so many good films I've yet to have the opportunity to see.
Shane Carruth's next movie might finally come out next year. Upstream Color is an absolute fave of mine, so I'm pumped.
Lovecraft monsters aren't just unknowable, they're also unknowing. They don't understand people nor do they care to, because people are ants to them. They don't try to hurt or scare people any more than water tries to get people wet, it just does as its nature. Even the most human of Lovecrafts stories involve the monsters/villains just not giving a fuck who they hurt, and any injury/death/madness resulting is more of a side effect, not a goal.
In IT the horror comes from the fact that the monster very much knows and understands people, as a predator does its prey, and goes out of its way to hurt and torment them. It does it with deliberate glee and malice which Lovecraft horrors do not possess. The fear and pain are very much the goal of IT, done on purpose and relished.
So no, IT isn't Lovecraftian at all.
Yeah, that's pretty much Nyarlathotep.
The only real thematic difference is that HP Lovecraft's protagonists don't beat the evil. The best they can hope for is to run away with a fraction of their sanity intact.
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AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
2018 I am super excited for Isle of Dogs. Every new Wes Anderson movie is a cause for celebration, a stop-motion one doubly so.
2018 sees the release of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, which is meant to release within days of the 10 year anniversary of smash hit musical Mamma Mia!
edit: in seriousness, I like waiting for Ioncinema to do their Through the Looking-Glass feature in January, which is one of the best resources for upcoming films---especially festival prospects.
Tenzytile on
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minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
I've got some real strong feelings about some Wes Anderson movies.
Foremost in my mind right now is that the opening sequence of The Royal Tenenbaums is one of my favorite bits of any film, especially because of the cover of Hey Jude that swells and sinks throughout the vignettes.
The wide angles, long pans, odd framing, and claustrophobic interiors. It's basically the best distillation of Wes Anderson over the course of 6 minutes.
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
Here's a thought experiment for you all - gender swapped Die Hard. How do you cast it, set it up, etc.
It's a game but the first SE Tomb Raider felt like a gender swapped Die Hard in a lot of ways.
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AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
A real list of 2018 movies that are exciting:
-moderately excited to see if Ryan Coogler can get a good Black Panther movie through the Flaming Ring of Marvel Bullshit
-Alex Garland, a really good writer and also director of Ex Machina has a new movie out, Annihilation
-Tomb Raider reboot with Alicia Vikander? Could be really good.
-Soderberg has a new movie out, Unsane
-Ready Player One, which will be exciting if Spielberg actually tries
-God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness, because the God is Not Dead franchise needs to continue
-The New Mutants, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and Deadpool 2, probably the last Fox X-Men movies before Disney’s clutches are fully clutched around the franchise
-Where’d You Go Bernadette, the new Linklater
-Incredibles 2
-MI:6
-Barbie, starring Anne Hathaway, which I assume is about Klaus Barbie the Nazi
-Scarface, written by the Coen bros
-The House with a Clock in its Walls, because I love the books it’s based on, even though Eli Roth is a terrible choice to direct a darkly whimsical horror movie aimed at children
-Bad Times at the El Royale, the new Drew Goddard of Cabin in the Woods fame
-Venom, because fucking Venom
-Creed 2
-Wreck-It Ralph 2
-Mortal Engines, the new Peter Jackson deal
(From Wiki’s film in 2018 list)
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JacobkoshGamble a stamp.I can show you how to be a real man!Moderatormod
TO ME, MY MOVIE THREAD
@visiblehowl 's mom is going on a very long international flight and needs movies to watch. She likes "light mysteries" with "a good story." By light, we have established that she doesn't mean comic. We're not talking Clue here. I think the idea is, you know, no graphic serial killer bullshit. By a good story we mean she likes stuff that's not just popcorn but has some character development or interesting themes. For instance, she is bringing along Get Out.
VH didn't have many examples off the top of his head but she really likes Mamet's House of Games. By which I take it she doesn't just mean strictly mystery-type mysteries but dramatic thrillers, and possibly cerebral dramatic thrillers, but they shouldn't be too heavy on the mayhem. However, she is still watching movies on a plane, so I think it's a good idea to keep the complexity from getting too high, and I feel like fun things will probably go over best in that situation. Certainly you don't want too much quiet, whispery dialogue and pregnant pauses.
VH is putting the movies on a drive for her, so space is not really an issue. We can spoil her for choice. Here are my suggestions. I am also curious what @Bogart and @Thomamelas and others would add that I have missed.
In alphabetical order:
- Changing Lanes
- Dead Again
- Devil in a Blue Dress
- The Game
- Gosford Park
- Michael Clayton
- Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
- No Way Out
- The Rainmaker
- Red Rock West
- Sneakers
- The Spanish Prisoner
- Spy Game
- Zero Effect
The Usual Suspects, Jagged Edge, Blood Simple, Memento, The Third Man, North by North West, The Verdict, Presumed Innocent.
Presumed Innocent is actually good? I've never seen it but I have read one or two Scott Turow novels in my youth and he kind of felt to John Grisham as Frederick Forsyth was to Tom Clancy
Here's a thought experiment for you all - gender swapped Die Hard. How do you cast it, set it up, etc.
It's a game but the first SE Tomb Raider felt like a gender swapped Die Hard in a lot of ways.
Tomb Raider is gender swapped Indiana Jones.
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AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
Now that the regular thread is back it is worth updating y’all that Astaereth’s Movie List (of everything worth watching, determined via exhaustive IMDB search + reviews; also my own top tens and seen lists) is now updated for 1990, 1979 and 1978. 1991 is in progress and will be added as usual when complete.
Posts
pleasepaypreacher.net
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Lockout was not a die-hard movie it was an escape from new york movie.
But was it an Escape from L.A. movie?
I think we all hope not. I wonder if Escape from L.A. could have turned out better had it been less rushed. So much of it ended up being so bad though that I can't tell if it's because the whole thing was rushed or if it was just a bad idea.
PSN : Bolthorn
LA isn't in space, duh.
Angel Has Fallen
The Irishman
These are all that matter for 2018
Not familiar with the property but it made me think of A Rickle in Time. And now I want a big budget Rick & Morty movie.
The film is squarely in the tradition of Double Indemnity and other fatalist noirs in which destiny and sexual desire spur hopeless men to ill-advised crime. In this version the man, Collie, is an ex-boxer and drifter who essentially chooses to entangle himself with Fay, a widow who maybe only has a drinking problem because it fills the days. What also fills the days is an idle scheme concocted with “Uncle Bud,” a scheme they probably never would have actually carried out without Collie’s involvement. Alone each of three lead small and meaningless lives; together they have just enough evil between them to do something terrible, and just enough good between them to know it.
What makes the film fascinating, besides the spare, flat camerawork and doomful score, are the performances, and especially Jason Patric’s Collie, as a man whose deep guilt leads him to both mistrust the world, expecting its punishment, and go along anyway, because he feels he deserves it. His relationship with Fay is the heart of the movie; the question of trust, the lure of sex, and sense in which he is being offered a chance to supplant the dead husband in all ways—including the symbolic formation of a family unit. That’s not something you can keep, when you haven’t earned it, and in a way Collie finds the ending he always suspected he would reach—still small, but maybe a little more meaningful.
I never imagined Agent K could be such a punch-able hipster.
To the point where the Luc Besson lost a plagiarism lawsuit because of it.
I didn't think Get Out was predictable? Apart from the standard horror story arc, it actually has some good twists in it and turns on it's making fun of stereotypes into a pretty good narrative.
Twitch: KoopahTroopah - Steam: Koopah
pleasepaypreacher.net
Spoiler
pleasepaypreacher.net
In IT the horror comes from the fact that the monster very much knows and understands people, as a predator does its prey, and goes out of its way to hurt and torment them. It does it with deliberate glee and malice which Lovecraft horrors do not possess. The fear and pain are very much the goal of IT, done on purpose and relished.
So no, IT isn't Lovecraftian at all.
There are heaps of Lovecraft critters who are quite aware of humanity. Azathoth and Yog-Sothoth are tho only ones who leap to mind as unknowing and uncaring.
In the novel (haven't seen the movie) the kids have a vision of an asteroid crashing into Derry umpteen years ago, presumably carrying IT. That's straight up The Colour Out of Space origin there. Plus the moral decay of the inhabitants of Derry as they willingly (if subconsciously) sacrifice their children and partake in atrocities in return for prosperity is Lovecraftian too.
Shane Carruth's next movie might finally come out next year. Upstream Color is an absolute fave of mine, so I'm pumped.
Yeah, that's pretty much Nyarlathotep.
The only real thematic difference is that HP Lovecraft's protagonists don't beat the evil. The best they can hope for is to run away with a fraction of their sanity intact.
I'm not a big Wes Anderson fan but I'm just glad he's out there, doing his own crazy thing.
Steam | XBL
edit: in seriousness, I like waiting for Ioncinema to do their Through the Looking-Glass feature in January, which is one of the best resources for upcoming films---especially festival prospects.
Foremost in my mind right now is that the opening sequence of The Royal Tenenbaums is one of my favorite bits of any film, especially because of the cover of Hey Jude that swells and sinks throughout the vignettes.
The wide angles, long pans, odd framing, and claustrophobic interiors. It's basically the best distillation of Wes Anderson over the course of 6 minutes.
Hmm, so 2015 and 2011. I'm sure there's more, but most don't make a splash because, well, Shakespeare isn't that popular.
It's a game but the first SE Tomb Raider felt like a gender swapped Die Hard in a lot of ways.
-moderately excited to see if Ryan Coogler can get a good Black Panther movie through the Flaming Ring of Marvel Bullshit
-Alex Garland, a really good writer and also director of Ex Machina has a new movie out, Annihilation
-Tomb Raider reboot with Alicia Vikander? Could be really good.
-Soderberg has a new movie out, Unsane
-Ready Player One, which will be exciting if Spielberg actually tries
-God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness, because the God is Not Dead franchise needs to continue
-The New Mutants, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and Deadpool 2, probably the last Fox X-Men movies before Disney’s clutches are fully clutched around the franchise
-Where’d You Go Bernadette, the new Linklater
-Incredibles 2
-MI:6
-Barbie, starring Anne Hathaway, which I assume is about Klaus Barbie the Nazi
-Scarface, written by the Coen bros
-The House with a Clock in its Walls, because I love the books it’s based on, even though Eli Roth is a terrible choice to direct a darkly whimsical horror movie aimed at children
-Bad Times at the El Royale, the new Drew Goddard of Cabin in the Woods fame
-Venom, because fucking Venom
-Creed 2
-Wreck-It Ralph 2
-Mortal Engines, the new Peter Jackson deal
(From Wiki’s film in 2018 list)
@visiblehowl 's mom is going on a very long international flight and needs movies to watch. She likes "light mysteries" with "a good story." By light, we have established that she doesn't mean comic. We're not talking Clue here. I think the idea is, you know, no graphic serial killer bullshit. By a good story we mean she likes stuff that's not just popcorn but has some character development or interesting themes. For instance, she is bringing along Get Out.
VH didn't have many examples off the top of his head but she really likes Mamet's House of Games. By which I take it she doesn't just mean strictly mystery-type mysteries but dramatic thrillers, and possibly cerebral dramatic thrillers, but they shouldn't be too heavy on the mayhem. However, she is still watching movies on a plane, so I think it's a good idea to keep the complexity from getting too high, and I feel like fun things will probably go over best in that situation. Certainly you don't want too much quiet, whispery dialogue and pregnant pauses.
VH is putting the movies on a drive for her, so space is not really an issue. We can spoil her for choice. Here are my suggestions. I am also curious what @Bogart and @Thomamelas and others would add that I have missed.
In alphabetical order:
- Changing Lanes
- Dead Again
- Devil in a Blue Dress
- The Game
- Gosford Park
- Michael Clayton
- Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
- No Way Out
- The Rainmaker
- Red Rock West
- Sneakers
- The Spanish Prisoner
- Spy Game
- Zero Effect
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
Presumed Innocent is actually good? I've never seen it but I have read one or two Scott Turow novels in my youth and he kind of felt to John Grisham as Frederick Forsyth was to Tom Clancy
Oh hey that reminds of another one from the same era: Suspect.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
Charlie’s Theron for Joan McClane. But who for Gruber?
Tomb Raider is gender swapped Indiana Jones.
Hopefully people find this useful!