KoopahTroopahThe koopas, the troopas.Philadelphia, PARegistered Userregular
I really like the Mission Impossible title cards, they give you a preview flash of the mission's important moments without directly spoiling the movie before it plays.
The Intouchables also has a really good opening but it might lose points because it's directly connected to the opening scene for context, below shows most of it (yes it's spanish dub of a french movie youtube lets me down on this one)
I was thinking of discrete title sequences, not opening scenes. At the most, opening scenes that incorporate the titles in an interesting way, like the Alpha Papa scene. Best opening scene is a different discussion entirely.
https://youtu.be/Ze9-wg9k7AU
Still holds ups quite well as a title sequence, and surprisingly scientifically accurate which isn't something you see every day in movies.
Edit: heh, all of these are from 1999/2000. I watched like every movie in theater those couple of years. That’s what I get for being 17/18 with a full time job and basically no expenses.
Zombieland always jumps to mind when it comes to title sequences. It basically gets the outbreak out of the way so the premise can start. It's also funny and absurd. 3 legged race with zombies? Gets me every time.
One of my favorite opening credits sequences is from Z, which is pretty short, but a great primer for the film itself, its rhythm, its montage of medals and orders filled with religious, monarchical, and militaristic iconography, then transitioning to a speaker comparing leftist ideas to mildew to a room of very bored generals. I especially like the disclaimer that ends the credits which translates to: "Any resemblance of real events, to persons living or dead, is not accidental. It is DELIBERATE."
Fargo's deceptively simple opening immediately establishes the film's sense of momentous events taking place in a physically and emotionally cold landscape:
Establishing a world that's almost our own and yet significantly different. A load of backstory delivered quickly and stylishly.
It also gives immediate weight to the Comedian's death in the actual opening as the audience now have a sense of who he is.
Steam / Xbox Live: WSDX NNID: W-S-D-X 3DS FC: 2637-9461-8549
+27
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
The Vanishing is the best movie I've seen in 2019, because of course it's got my main man Gerry B in it innit, a fiddle dee dee a Lucky Charms. But what makes it good and somber is how it very much feels like a modern Korean noir movie, bleeding all that gray into the story and just having a compelling slow burn. Follow Mike Banning and Jacob Snell and some younger dude as they are lighthouse operators off the coast of Scotland in early 1900's where you work alone for six weeks and rotate off. Outside of the hazards and cabin fever of being lighthouse operators, they find a body washed on the rocks with a chest full of gold bars. And then the paranoia kicks in. And then it zigs at the right moment and isn't willing to let scenes go on longer than they need to. I think what sells it is the sense of fearing and needing the other person in the trio for various reasons, and that lets the film ride the slow burn more than other similar thrillers. Butler shows he can act beyond stabbing people in the brain and Peter Mullan really does make a man out of you and own every scene he's in being the elder lighthouse operator and the younger guy works as being brash and naive but not bad.
All in all a good movie, the kind you watch on streaming when it's a dreary day outside or when the rain comes through (this is directed by the dude who does those despondent shows like Taboo and The Killing). One of those you might be on the fence to actually rent and could be better off waiting for Netflix.
Fight Club has one of my favorite openings of a movie. God of War though I think is the tops, like from the opening spastic Nicolas Cage, to the deadly serious finish.
The Replacement Killers and blade had a similar "club shoot out" openings that were cool.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Venckman's behavior doesn't age well with me. He comes across much more as a dickhead these days, rather than a lovable scamp. Everything else is pretty airtight and timeless.
He's a narcissistic sleezeball, but even so he's way more scrupulous than so many other 80s comedy protagonists. He respects consent and the inability to give consent!
Venckman's behavior doesn't age well with me. He comes across much more as a dickhead these days, rather than a lovable scamp. Everything else is pretty airtight and timeless.
He's a narcissistic sleezeball, but even so he's way more scrupulous than so many other 80s comedy protagonists. He respects consent and the inability to give consent!
Didn’t he sleep with a lady mind controlled?
I thought he actually declined when offered because she wasn't in control of herself? Or am I thinking of a difference scene?
I think the funniest part about the fight club titles is I believe Fincher had to get them approved post doing the film. Like they were expensive to make and they didn't want to spend the money if the movie sucked. I swear they talked about that in the commentary.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Venckman's behavior doesn't age well with me. He comes across much more as a dickhead these days, rather than a lovable scamp. Everything else is pretty airtight and timeless.
He's a narcissistic sleezeball, but even so he's way more scrupulous than so many other 80s comedy protagonists. He respects consent and the inability to give consent!
Didn’t he sleep with a lady mind controlled?
I thought he actually declined when offered because she wasn't in control of herself? Or am I thinking of a difference scene?
Venkman turns Dana down. Louis and Dana knock some out, but both are possessed at the time.
Just remember that half the people you meet are below average intelligence.
Welp, in these dark, edit-less times, I finally wrote up a post I was reasonably happy with my first draft of, and confidently posted it in the wrong thread. Cross-posting from the Trailer thread while I hang my head in shame:
Finally saw Unbreakable, in my slow process of working through to Glass, which is something I'm not even sure why I'm doing now since Glass apparently was pretty bad.
Uh, I'm not sure what other people really see in the movie? Like I feel comfortable saying it's up there as some of Shyamalan's best work, but that kind of feels like damning the movie with faint praise. Maybe I let myself believe that it was going to a better movie than people actually ever said it was.
Unbreakable has this weird and frustrating thing of sometimes accidentally coming together really well. I say accidentally because Shyamalan has this unique style across all of his movies where he likes to (or can't help but) depict an empty, quiet world, where not many people seem to really live. Spaces are big and lonely, everything moves slowly and methodically, people speak in a monotone and measured pace. It usually doesn't make sense and sucks to watch. Sometimes here it's awesome! David is a reserved, sad man, self sacrificing his own potential because he thinks that's what people want of him. He keeps everyone at a distance, and fails to reach out or open up when asked. The cinematography and general feel of the movie works really well when it focuses on him and his struggle to bloom. The problem is that when the movie is doing anything else, or focusing anywhere else, it still feels like that, because it wasn't a conscious decision and the director just seems to make movies that way.
I say this every time Unbreakable comes up. The final action set piece is some of the best fighting work around. It looks like a real fight with life or death stakes.
I say this every time Unbreakable comes up. The final action set piece is some of the best fighting work around. It looks like a real fight with life or death stakes.
I'll definitely agree with that. The climactic fight was excellent and surprisingly grounded.
Also while I thought the set-up for the bit where
he nearly drowns in the pool
was pretty clumsy, the scene itself is really effective and uncomfortable to watch.
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AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
Unbreakable has a consistent style even when not applying that style specifically to the main character not because those choices are defaults but because that’s how you establish and maintain a coherent tone, world, and thematic approach.
+7
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AtomikaLive fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered Userregular
Unbreakable has a consistent style even when not applying that style specifically to the main character not because those choices are defaults but because that’s how you establish and maintain a coherent tone, world, and thematic approach.
Unbreakable has a consistent style even when not applying that style specifically to the main character not because those choices are defaults but because that’s how you establish and maintain a coherent tone, world, and thematic approach.
Ehhhh, it doesn't work for me. Applying completely the same sparse mood to the entire movie actually made its message less coherent for me, because it detached the tone from the situations in which it was applicable. If that makes sense.
Like, look at Jurassic Park. It's not a horror movie 100% of the time, but scenes in it are frightening. It's not a movie about the beautiful spectacle of nature 100% of the time, but there are scenes in it where the park works its impossible magic on the characters and we feel it, too, because if we didn't feel what the characters were feeling, the movie wouldn't work. The pace of the movie and the feelings it evokes are shaped for the appropriate circumstances. A movie that feels the same through its entire runtime isn't necessarily more coherent, it's simply more boring. There are moments in Unbreakable which I think are supposed to be building tension, but those moments don't, because they feel the same as the previous moment, and the moment after.
This does remind me of a bit that actually does work for me, and I felt was a legitimately neat use of familiar film language. Vague not-really-spoilers:
David and Audrey are having some disagreement, and Audrey turns to walk away from the conversation, and she walks towards the audience, and the camera tracks backwards with her, away from David, and he recedes into the background as he tries to find the strength to say the right thing that will bring her back. He moves like he's about to say something, and experience tells us he'll say something, and the camera will stop moving, and the issue will be resolved. But he doesn't say anything, and bows his head, and you feel deflated along with him. That worked really well.
The movie has good parts, but I was ultimately unimpressed with the whole picture. This is all separate from the parts of Unbreakable that were outright dumb, like ending the movie on two freeze frames with white "where are they now" text in the middle of the screen.
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Twitch: KoopahTroopah - Steam: Koopah
and the gengars who are guiding me" -- W.S. Merwin
And while the movie itself is nowhere near as good as the first one, OSS 117: Lost In Rio has a fantastic opening title sequence:
The Intouchables also has a really good opening but it might lose points because it's directly connected to the opening scene for context, below shows most of it (yes it's spanish dub of a french movie youtube lets me down on this one)
Thor Ragnarok (3) (oh no Thor's in a cage)
The Dark Knight (bank robbery)
The Dirty Dozen
And just one of my favorite hitchock movies - Rear Window
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Still holds ups quite well as a title sequence, and surprisingly scientifically accurate which isn't something you see every day in movies.
Fight Club Title Sequence:
Go opening credits (I could only find commentary track version):
Memento opening:
The Matrix opening scene:
Edit: heh, all of these are from 1999/2000. I watched like every movie in theater those couple of years. That’s what I get for being 17/18 with a full time job and basically no expenses.
Love the Thor Ragnarok opening. Sometimes I just pull up Netflix and watch it.
xbl - HowYouGetAnts
steam - WeAreAllGeth
Twitch: KoopahTroopah - Steam: Koopah
Se7en, which was pretty revolutionary at the time for being deliberately scuzzy:
Scott Pilgrim, a perfect intro to that film's riotous energy:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, another imaginative Fincher entry:
Fargo's deceptively simple opening immediately establishes the film's sense of momentous events taking place in a physically and emotionally cold landscape:
Reservoir Dog's slow motion walk redefined cool:
To Kill a Mockingbird's opening titles, along with that classic score, immediately returns us to bittersweet thoughts of our own childhood:
The Conversation's title scene is the whole film in miniature:
I've always had a fondness for the titles from Pi, which just make me want to launch into the rest of the movie:
Establishing a world that's almost our own and yet significantly different. A load of backstory delivered quickly and stylishly.
It also gives immediate weight to the Comedian's death in the actual opening as the audience now have a sense of who he is.
All in all a good movie, the kind you watch on streaming when it's a dreary day outside or when the rain comes through (this is directed by the dude who does those despondent shows like Taboo and The Killing). One of those you might be on the fence to actually rent and could be better off waiting for Netflix.
The Replacement Killers and blade had a similar "club shoot out" openings that were cool.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Didn’t he sleep with a lady mind controlled?
too bad the rest of the movie is just.... meh
I am very glad I read the comic first.
I thought he actually declined when offered because she wasn't in control of herself? Or am I thinking of a difference scene?
pleasepaypreacher.net
Venkman turns Dana down. Louis and Dana knock some out, but both are possessed at the time.
Steam | XBL
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
...Except that the original movie's credits are even cooler and have better music.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
This is good, but without the opening from Nic Cage its not the full awesome.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Even so.
Steam | XBL
Start at 2:02 if it doesn't do it for you.
Steam | XBL
I'll definitely agree with that. The climactic fight was excellent and surprisingly grounded.
Also while I thought the set-up for the bit where
God if Aquaman did this it’d be a lot better
Still not great, of course
Ehhhh, it doesn't work for me. Applying completely the same sparse mood to the entire movie actually made its message less coherent for me, because it detached the tone from the situations in which it was applicable. If that makes sense.
Like, look at Jurassic Park. It's not a horror movie 100% of the time, but scenes in it are frightening. It's not a movie about the beautiful spectacle of nature 100% of the time, but there are scenes in it where the park works its impossible magic on the characters and we feel it, too, because if we didn't feel what the characters were feeling, the movie wouldn't work. The pace of the movie and the feelings it evokes are shaped for the appropriate circumstances. A movie that feels the same through its entire runtime isn't necessarily more coherent, it's simply more boring. There are moments in Unbreakable which I think are supposed to be building tension, but those moments don't, because they feel the same as the previous moment, and the moment after.
This does remind me of a bit that actually does work for me, and I felt was a legitimately neat use of familiar film language. Vague not-really-spoilers:
The movie has good parts, but I was ultimately unimpressed with the whole picture. This is all separate from the parts of Unbreakable that were outright dumb, like ending the movie on two freeze frames with white "where are they now" text in the middle of the screen.
The Great Race (nostalgia wrapped in nostalgia)
2001: A Space Odyssey (a classic of course. Simple, but effective):
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (and now for something completely different)