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The [Movie] Thread: Where the term "projection" is A-OK!

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  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    Velvet Buzzsaw (Netflix) was good but that's sort of grading it on the Netflix curve; if you're expecting another Nightcrawler mixed with a bit of American Psycho you'll be disappointed, it's very much more a TV movie of an Outer Limits or Twilight Zone episode with some Blumhouse teen horror going on, all the way down to the bog standard camerawork, and at this point seeing the same actors from Netflix shows and movies appearing all the time in their stuff is feeling a bit cheap and lazy, like a bad knockoff of the old studio actor setup from the 40's.

    What you get is more of a weak satire of the asshole and incestuous nature of modern art/critic industry in California and the discovery of a recently deceased artist whose copious pieces evoke all the feels from people who see his work, and his rather hidden past is revealed through his works and how some of the cast interacts with them and it changes them with sometimes violent results. It's a rather good setup for a story but it goes for a rather safe route, and that's where the TV movie feel really takes hold. Gyllenhaal, Collete, and Russo are all having fun (Malkovich is just there for a paycheck bonus likely from doing Bird Box), but it feels a bit like they're hamming it up to see if someone would stop them no one complained. Collette really feels this way especially if you've already seen Hereditary where she really delivered above and beyond for that role, even Gyllenhaal when compared to Nightcrawler (who has the facial reactions down pat but it feels like he was still a bit jacked from Southpaw so his body sort of betrays his character type).

    What was really annoying was that it was sort of presented as a Gyllenhaal movie, but about a third of it is him, another third being some supporting cast and the final part being about the character Josephina, who is the one who found the artwork and sort of being the example of the industry and the art corrupting her but she's not really pulling off the role to make me either like her or hate her and he parts could have been reduced a lot more with minimal story change. Plus the camerawork was really weak and never felt like a movie, to the point where there's some blatant establishing shots that feel like they were bought from some stock footage company. I'm also deducting a few points because the artist's name in this movie is called John Dease but there is no "Dease nutz" joke and it's so, so disappointing.

    There is a good running joke with Natalie Dyer throughout the movie and that's really the only standout for the whole thing, ultimately making it a decent streaming watch but again, the whole thing feels like everyone charging Netflix full price for producing a movie where they're only really trying to give it the old Rotten Tomatoes 60% try and don't even bother with anything else. It lacks any real biting commentary or teeth in both physical and mental aspects of the whole art scene, and I'm kind of feeling more bleh about the film as I write this, don't even think I'd click thumbs up on the rating for it.

  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    Agreed. Saw it last night. Chintzy, toothless, gives its pie away for breakfast. Not smart enough to be satire, instead seems like an outsider looking into a world they don’t understand and going, “ha, lookit them pretentious weirdos!”

    Major disappointment given everyone from Nightcrawler involved, a film I loved thoroughly.

  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    edited February 2019
    I watched Bad Times at the El Royale, and it was disappointing in a very curious way. The set design and acting and story and cinematography are all very good, and the whole time it feels like you're watching a great movie, and then you get to the end and realize it wasn't really that great.

    Even now, it's hard to say what was missing. It definitely wasn't the story, which was tense and interesting and delivered reveal after reveal in a way that really makes you want to see what happens next. Characters show up, and they interact, and then you're like OH SHIT THAT JUST HAPPENED and then the next bit explains why stuff is happening and then another OH SHIT THAT JUST HAPPENED and so on. Just really expertly plotted.

    I think part of the problem may have been a lack of character growth. Only one or two of the characters really undergo any change between the beginning and the end. They wind up in different situations than they started in, but in the way that, say, if your house burned down. You go from having a house to not having a house, but that's not character growth. It's just a change of scenery.

    A related issue is that the characters are all pretty thin. They're well acted, but they feel more like archetypes than people.

    That said, it's a decent time. I just expect more from Drew Goddard at this point, and i don't think this was his A game.

    ElJeffe on
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  • BloodySlothBloodySloth Registered User regular
    So, Green Book was fine. It was fine. Very much an Oscar Movie About Race Made By White People. The two main characters were performed really well. It's put together adequately, even if it doesn't really feel remarkable ever. Viggo's arc is pretty bad, where it's mostly resolved at the flick of a switch early on in the movie, and while he continues to progress from there, it's not by much.

    It feels very much like a movie that gets a lot of Oscar buzz, picks up a few awards, and then is never seen by anyone ever again.

    Jesus Christ though, to cast stark relief on the picture, there was an old couple in the theater at the time who would laugh, loudly and excessively, at every super racist thing that happens in the movie. Like everything that was really, really racist was there for comedy. Way funnier than the actual, intended jokes. Like, fuck, man.

  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    I watched Bad Times at the El Royale, and it was disappointing in a very curious way. The set design and acting and story and cinematography are all very good, and the whole time it feels like you're watching a great movie, and then you get to the end and realize it wasn't really that great.

    Even now, it's hard to say what was missing. It definitely wasn't the story, which was tense and interesting and delivered reveal after reveal in a way that really makes you want to see what happens next. Characters show up, and they interact, and then you're like OH SHIT THAT JUST HAPPENED and then the next bit explains why stuff is happening and then another OH SHIT THAT JUST HAPPENED and so on. Just really expertly plotted.

    I think part of the problem may have been a lack of character growth. Only one or two of the characters really undergo any change between the beginning and the end. They wind up in different situations than they started in, but in the way that, say, if your house burned down. You go from having a house to not having a house, but that's not character growth. It's just a change of scenery.

    A related issue is that the characters are all pretty thin. They're well acted, but they feel more like archetypes than people.

    That said, it's a decent time. I just expect more from Drew Goddard at this point, and i don't think this was his A game.

    This is generally how I felt. There’s some kind of throughline there about choosing between good and evil but it’s pretty superficial and muddled.

    It’s a gorgeous film with a killer cast, but the script is a weird jumble of divergent stories going nowhere interesting with plot lines we’ve seen better done in films like Natural Born Killers and Smokin’ Aces, which is exactly how the film plays: a Frankenstein’s monster of other films trying to just be “cool” and walking into the party wearing five popped collars at once.

  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    edited February 2019
    I'm thinking a bit more about El Royale, and I think Atomika has the right of it regarding the story. It really isn't that interesting, in hindsight, though it's put together well enough that it's easy to miss. But when you look at the individual stories, none of them are really anything special.
    Emily and Rose are on the run from the weird cult. They get caught by the cult, Emily is killed, Rose tries to help Billy and is killed.

    Jon Hamm is an FBI agent doing... FBI things? He tries to save Rose and dies.

    Miles works at the motel. He gets shot in the face and captured by the cult. Then it turns out he's an awesome sniper who regrets killing people but then he kills the cult.

    Contrast this with Pulp Fiction (and no, it's not really fair to compare something with Pulp Fiction, but then maybe don't make a movie that really wants to be Pulp Fiction), where every part of it works great as a standalone story. In Pulp Fiction, clever editing combines a bunch of great stories into a superlative whole that enriches all of them. In El Royale, a bunch of barely-stories are pasted together to distract from the fact that they're barely stories.

    The style of the piece is fun enough that it still makes it worth watching, but the more I think about it, the sadder I get.

    (It didn't help that I watched it in 4K, and it was the first film I've seen where the higher resolution and expanded color palette didn't seem to add anything.)

    All in all, the experience was a bit like someone telling you "Omigod, I'm going to take you to the best steak house in the world, this shit will blow your mind," and then they take you to Outback. I mean, that's fine, they serve a fine enough steak, but I was expecting more.

    ElJeffe on
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  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    I would say it’s more akin to going to an extremely fancy steakhouse and being served a meatloaf in the shape of a steak, but yeah. It’s a pretty hollow experience, done extremely well.

  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    I'm now going to go to like Morton's and order a meatloaf shaped like a steak just to see what they do.

    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.
  • TNTrooperTNTrooper Registered User regular
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    I'm now going to go to like Morton's and order a meatloaf shaped like a steak just to see what they do.

    Probably give you as Salisbury Steak.

    steam_sig.png
  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    I'm now going to go to like Morton's and order a meatloaf shaped like a steak just to see what they do.

    I was actually picturing Morton’s when conjuring that analogy ♥️

  • ThirithThirith Registered User regular
    edited February 2019
    It's very much a movie carried by the strength of its performances and delightfully vulgar dialogue (similar to Armanda Iannucci's work in that sense), as the storyline is not really something that sticks with you and seems mostly besides the point.
    I pretty much disagree 100% with the second half of that statement. Yes, the performances and dialogue are great, but they're means to the end of telling a story about the three leads, in particular how Abigail's actions result in her nominally having she has what she wants but in the process she has destroyed everything. I find it a compelling, if pretty horrible story, but definitely not something that is beside the point: all these power games have a very clear point for each of the characters.

    Thirith on
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    "Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
  • TenzytileTenzytile Registered User regular
    edited February 2019
    Watched Four Steps in the Clouds as part of my 1942 watchlist. It's a film I've wanted to see for some time, as it's thought of as one of the immediate predecessors to Italian Neorealism, and it's interesting in the ways that it anticipates but is also quite different from the films that defined that movement.

    Right off, it isn't as free or as gritty as Neorealist films. It's studio work, with sets and trained actors and a pretty standard shooting style. Going back a decade or so into Italian film, there are films (What Scoundrels Men Are, Treno Popolare) that showcased excellent location work and a visual style much closer to the movement. What it gets right, and what makes the film a good one, despite prosaic craft and some pacing issues, is its focus in subject and theme. Like many Italian films that would follow it in the late and post war years, it's finely attuned to the life of the working class. Our protagonist is a struggling salesman whose travels are upset by unfortunate circumstances, and see him traveling with an even worse off young woman who's pregnant and afraid of being disowned by her family. He's asked by her and agrees to play the man in an act to maintain her image returning home, and it's to the strength and sincerity of the film that he's never shown to be acting out of anything other than compassion. And it's compassion that's the most profound thing about the film, how it's difficult and meaningfully acting on it often requires a sacrifice of things we hold as important, like personal image or honesty or honour. At the end of the film, he returns back to his life, which is perhaps made a little worse given he didn't get to sell anything to support his family. It's these smartly detailed and credibly felt human truths that made the movement what it was.

    Tenzytile on
  • honoverehonovere Registered User regular
    I got the feeling that Bad Times at the El Royale was too much concerned with
    trying to be a clever version of Judgement Day with the false prophets, parting of sinners and saved ones to left and right, etc.
    that the movie kinda lost sight of other importand aspects of being a good movie.

  • KoopahTroopahKoopahTroopah The koopas, the troopas. Philadelphia, PARegistered User regular
    edited February 2019
    Atomika wrote: »
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    I'm now going to go to like Morton's and order a meatloaf shaped like a steak just to see what they do.

    I was actually picturing Morton’s when conjuring that analogy ♥️

    Oh my god, get a room!
    JK, keep being cute.

    KoopahTroopah on
  • flamebroiledchickenflamebroiledchicken Registered User regular
    Thirith wrote: »
    It's very much a movie carried by the strength of its performances and delightfully vulgar dialogue (similar to Armanda Iannucci's work in that sense), as the storyline is not really something that sticks with you and seems mostly besides the point.
    I pretty much disagree 100% with the second half of that statement. Yes, the performances and dialogue are great, but they're means to the end of telling a story about the three leads, in particular how Abigail's actions result in her nominally having she has what she wants but in the process she has destroyed everything. I find it a compelling, if pretty horrible story, but definitely not something that is beside the point: all these power games have a very clear point for each of the characters.

    I was mostly referring to the politics and machinations of statesmanship being besides the point (i.e. the movie doesn't care if the war with France continues or not, it's not about that), but I also felt like where Abigail ended up was mostly a foregone conclusion, the fun was in watching it unfold, not wondering where the story was going to go next.

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  • Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    Has anyone watched They Shall Not Grow Old? It's in the theaters for another couple days and I'm wondering if it's worth a theater watch or just wait till Bluray.

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    So, Green Book was fine. It was fine. Very much an Oscar Movie About Race Made By White People. The two main characters were performed really well. It's put together adequately, even if it doesn't really feel remarkable ever. Viggo's arc is pretty bad, where it's mostly resolved at the flick of a switch early on in the movie, and while he continues to progress from there, it's not by much.

    It feels very much like a movie that gets a lot of Oscar buzz, picks up a few awards, and then is never seen by anyone ever again.

    Jesus Christ though, to cast stark relief on the picture, there was an old couple in the theater at the time who would laugh, loudly and excessively, at every super racist thing that happens in the movie. Like everything that was really, really racist was there for comedy. Way funnier than the actual, intended jokes. Like, fuck, man.

    Reminds me of the adage about drama versus comedy.

    People with reprehensible views can watch dramas that ostensibly critique and condemn those views, but they can still derive enjoyment out of the film and even find them inspiring.

    But they don't find any such joy in watching a comedy mercilessly mock their views.

  • flamebroiledchickenflamebroiledchicken Registered User regular
    DarkPrimus wrote: »
    So, Green Book was fine. It was fine. Very much an Oscar Movie About Race Made By White People. The two main characters were performed really well. It's put together adequately, even if it doesn't really feel remarkable ever. Viggo's arc is pretty bad, where it's mostly resolved at the flick of a switch early on in the movie, and while he continues to progress from there, it's not by much.

    It feels very much like a movie that gets a lot of Oscar buzz, picks up a few awards, and then is never seen by anyone ever again.

    Jesus Christ though, to cast stark relief on the picture, there was an old couple in the theater at the time who would laugh, loudly and excessively, at every super racist thing that happens in the movie. Like everything that was really, really racist was there for comedy. Way funnier than the actual, intended jokes. Like, fuck, man.

    Reminds me of the adage about drama versus comedy.

    People with reprehensible views can watch dramas that ostensibly critique and condemn those views, but they can still derive enjoyment out of the film and even find them inspiring.

    But they don't find any such joy in watching a comedy mercilessly mock their views.



    Everyone thinks they're Dumbo

    y59kydgzuja4.png
  • Inquisitor77Inquisitor77 2 x Penny Arcade Fight Club Champion A fixed point in space and timeRegistered User regular
    I'm gonna store that quote for future use.

  • DanHibikiDanHibiki Registered User regular
    Thor doesn't. Even though he so is.

  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    edited February 2019
    DanHibiki wrote: »
    Thor doesn't. Even though he so is.

    No, Thor is what happens when an angel and a pirate have a baby.

    ElJeffe on
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  • BlackDragon480BlackDragon480 Bluster Kerfuffle Master of Windy ImportRegistered User regular
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    DanHibiki wrote: »
    Thor doesn't. Even though he so is.

    No, Thor is what happens when an angel and a pirate have a baby.

    No, you're a dude. This...this is a man.

    No matter where you go...there you are.
    ~ Buckaroo Banzai
  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    This was an interesting video (and an interesting way to do reviews of sequels that aren't really sequels), but I didn't realize how much of a clusterfuck American Psycho 2 really was:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMX-wa3mVkc

    Like damn, it's like someone tried to push Veronica Mars and Dexter in a blender and then Lionsgate slapped the American Psycho label on it, I remember seeing it in Blockbuster back in the day and going "WTF nope I hate you '00s."

  • AstaerethAstaereth In the belly of the beastRegistered User regular
    Live Action Oscar nominated short films. Four of them are good, one of this is crazy racist garbage.

    Mother:
    Simple but riveting and very well acted. A mother and daughter are preparing to go out when the daughter gets a phone call from her 6 year old son, who has been left alone on a beach by his father. Not a big fan of the ending, which is too much implication, not enough resolution, but until then this is a very tense movie, despite the fact that’s just a couple of people talking on their phones. Feels like a technical exercise, but a strong one.

    Fauve:
    My favorite one of the bunch. Two young boys are running around a vacant construction site, making up ways to compete with one another. Then they get in over their head. A powerful, well-filmed short story.

    Marguerite:
    A sweet, if somewhat slow film about Marguerite, an old woman, and Rachel, the young woman who comes by once a day to check on her health and take care of her as needed. Their intimate relationship is clearly the best thing in Marguerite’s life, but everything changes when she learns that Rachel has a girlfriend and the old woman’s past opens up—ultimately allowing Rachel to learn what kind of care Marguerite needs. A nice short with good, delicate performances.

    Detainment:
    Controversially based on the infamous Bulger case in the UK, where two boys abducted and killed a small child. The film uses interview transcripts and court records to tell the story of the two suspects as they reveal what happened to the police.The story is compelling but the film works despite the filmmaking, not because of it; thanks to flashy editing and somewhat repetitive pacing, the film too often shades into melodrama. The filmmaker said he wanted to explore the motivation behind the killings, but he didn’t really succeed in addressing that (not that any answer would be satisfactory).

    Skin:
    This one is CRAZY RACIST GARBAGE. I don’t know how else to say it.

    It’s the story of a father and son. The father is a skinhead, SS tattoo, the works, and as the short opens the father is giving his son a buzz cut. Subsequent scenes contrast the parents’ trashiness with their clear love for their son. They teach him how to shoot, take him surfing, help him with his homework... You can see that he has a good life but also that he’s going to grow up learning that hate.

    At the store one day, the boy shares a laugh with a stranger in the next checkout aisle. His father notices the stranger is black and starts some shit. The father and his friends end up kicking the shit out of the guy in front of the victim’s horrified wife and son. The skinhead’s son sees this happening and is deeply troubled.

    If the short had ended there, it would be a perfectly fine slice of life about that moment when a kid first starts to question his parents’ problematic beliefs.

    Instead, the movie takes a hard right turn into racist fantasy land. Coming home one day, the father is abducted and hustled into a van by a bunch of scary looking black dudes. They take him to a garage, drug him, and keep him there for 10 days while they work on him with a tattoo gun. The son of the supermarket victim watches.

    Finally they dump the skinhead back out of the van on his street, where he awakens to realize he’s now tattooed black from head to toe. His wife inside thinks he’s an intruder and is about to shoot him when BLAM—the son kills his father from behind. The End.

    So half of that movie lives in reality and half of that movie lives in some demented fantasy land, but judging by the writing and filmmaking it’s not meant to be absurd. You’re supposed to take it all seriously.

    We’re just supposed to assume that this family man getting groceries has a bunch of thugs willing to kidnap a guy. We’re just supposed to accept that their vengeance is like something out of a racist Saw sequel, a concept that would have been considered outrageous 40 years ago. The black kid watching this happen is supposed to parallel with the skinhead’s kid—both youngsters are seeing their families take racial grievance too far. Except that one of those sides exists and is a problem, and the other doesn’t and isn’t.

    This is the “both sides are bad” of movies about race, and even the “ironic” ending of the father being hoisted by his own petard is sanctimonious trash. “Skin” is the worst race-based movie nominated this year and that means fucking Green Book is less offensive. Green Book! Fuck this movie.

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  • RickRudeRickRude Registered User regular
    Isn't green book based on the grenade book that African Americans used to have to use to survive trips in America ? I don't think I've seen anything from it or about it, but what's so bad about it? It would seem like it would be a good movie and show what people went through.

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    RickRude wrote: »
    Isn't green book based on the grenade book that African Americans used to have to use to survive trips in America ? I don't think I've seen anything from it or about it, but what's so bad about it? It would seem like it would be a good movie and show what people went through.

    that's just what the title is about, the actual story is like a white washed story of "and then racism was over"

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • RickRudeRickRude Registered User regular
    Preacher wrote: »
    RickRude wrote: »
    Isn't green book based on the grenade book that African Americans used to have to use to survive trips in America ? I don't think I've seen anything from it or about it, but what's so bad about it? It would seem like it would be a good movie and show what people went through.

    that's just what the title is about, the actual story is like a white washed story of "and then racism was over"

    Well Obama did get elected.... poor joke. I haven't seen a lot of trailers for it saw it getting nominations and noticed there was a lot of hate for it here. Maybe I'll watch some trailers for it.


    In other news, saw this in chat, waterworld is getting 40 minutes longer with its blu ray release

    https://m.imdb.com/news/ni62374020

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    With even more Kevin Costner drinking his own urine

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • davidsdurionsdavidsdurions Your Trusty Meatshield Panhandle NebraskaRegistered User regular
    Oh dang, I’m personally excited to watch ultra-Waterworld with my modern entertainment set up.

  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    Preacher wrote: »
    RickRude wrote: »
    Isn't green book based on the grenade book that African Americans used to have to use to survive trips in America ? I don't think I've seen anything from it or about it, but what's so bad about it? It would seem like it would be a good movie and show what people went through.

    that's just what the title is about, the actual story is like a white washed story of "and then racism was over"

    That's not what I'd heard. It's more "a white guy learns not to be racist as written by said white guy" or something.

  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    C'mon, tell me that "race-swapped Driving Miss Daisy by the guy who directed Dumb and Dumber" doesn't have Oscar written all over it.

    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.
  • BloodySlothBloodySloth Registered User regular
    edited February 2019
    RickRude wrote: »
    Preacher wrote: »
    RickRude wrote: »
    Isn't green book based on the grenade book that African Americans used to have to use to survive trips in America ? I don't think I've seen anything from it or about it, but what's so bad about it? It would seem like it would be a good movie and show what people went through.

    that's just what the title is about, the actual story is like a white washed story of "and then racism was over"

    Well Obama did get elected.... poor joke. I haven't seen a lot of trailers for it saw it getting nominations and noticed there was a lot of hate for it here. Maybe I'll watch some trailers for it.

    Like I said in my mini review, it's competent. It's not bad. I smiled when I was supposed to, and laughed, and felt pity or disgust etc etc. It's just very obviously from a white guy's perspective, and has some tone deaf elements. Like (very minor spoilers)
    there's a part where they get pulled over by cops in the deep south, and things get hairy, and then, later there's a part where they get pulled over by cops on their way back north, and things go more nicely, and I'm sure it's just intended as a light misdirect to relieve the tension the characters have been through on their adventures and have a little heartwarming "there's hope for us" moment, but because of how the two moments and their context are juxtaposed, it feels like "now we escaped the south and we're safe from racism," and there's a lot of that sort of thoughtless flattening of the issue and how we can come together through it in the movie.

    It's just super an Oscar-y movie where everything is solved at the end and we can all hug ourselves and nod proudly at how we solved this social issue and by giving it an oscar we're awarding social progress. It has very smooth edges and a sepia tone and some very strong performances where the main guy puts on an accent and plays someone with a big idiosyncratic personality.

    BloodySloth on
  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    One of the things that irritates me about the Oscars as they regard movies about social issues is that it's less "we're rewarding social progress by giving this award" and more "we are actively creating social progress by giving this award, we are so fucking great, yay Hollywood."

    The fact that the social progress movies that win awards are generally things like Green Book and The Help instead of more thoughtful critiques like Sorry To Bother You just makes it worse.

    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.
  • jimb213jimb213 Registered User regular
    Speaking of the Oscars (is this where we do it, or is there a separate thread already?), they're going to be giving the Cinematography and Editing awards during commercial breaks this year. I think I like Guillermo del Toro's comment the best about this:



    (GDT is a Hollywood director)

  • LordSolarMachariusLordSolarMacharius Red wine with fish Registered User regular
    Trajan45 wrote: »
    Has anyone watched They Shall Not Grow Old? It's in the theaters for another couple days and I'm wondering if it's worth a theater watch or just wait till Bluray.

    I saw it the other day. A little more "standard WW1 documentary" than I was expecting; it's lazer-focused on telling the story of what the average British infantryman went through in the trenches (in their own words). If you have even a little interest in history it's not going to be presenting you any new information.

    What they've done to the footage is amazing. I saw it in 3D, and the corrected frame rate, crisp definition, colour, and (especially) the created sound are something to witness. (Trigger warning that there's a fair bit of blood and dead/maimed people/horses.) If you've seen the trailer you'll have a good idea of how fascinated you'll be by it.

    I cried once, but I tend to get overwhelmed by this sort of thing.

    In theatre there was also a 30-minute post movie thing where Peter Jackson talked about the process of transforming the old footage. It said that it was exclusive to theatre screenings, but I assume it will show up on youtube. I'm glad I went to see it, but... it's very much the kind of experience that I'd be weary of recommending too broadly.

    Credit song of the year, though:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtiynnETOlM

  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    One of the things that irritates me about the Oscars as they regard movies about social issues is that it's less "we're rewarding social progress by giving this award" and more "we are actively creating social progress by giving this award, we are so fucking great, yay Hollywood."

    The fact that the social progress movies that win awards are generally things like Green Book and The Help instead of more thoughtful critiques like Sorry To Bother You just makes it worse.

    I mean, the reason those movies win awards and not the other kind is because of what you are talking about. They want movies that feel deep and make them feel like they are watching something important rather then a movie that challenges the actual status quo in any way.

  • AstaerethAstaereth In the belly of the beastRegistered User regular
    Oscar nominated short documentaries: all of them are good and interesting. Tough choice this year.

    Black Sheep:
    A black man talks about his childhood, intercut with dramatic re-enactments. It’s a really interesting story, about how his family moved outside London to get away from the crime, but ended up in a town filled with racists, and about how he ultimately changed his personality, his clothes, his accent, even his skin and eyes to try and fit in with the racist white kids at his school. The man’s account is heartfelt and the ending completely justifies the otherwise sometimes redundant re-enactments. This is really a film about a man confronting his younger self, in all his pain, shame, and fear. Very powerful.

    End Game:
    This is a tough film to watch, a Netflix doc about a San Francisco group who does holistic palliative care. You meet people at the very end of their life, people ravaged by disease, their families, their children, spouses who have to make the hard choices. Where do you want to die? How do you try and make peace with that? There’s a lot of wisdom in this one, which is simple and clear.

    Lifeboat:
    A really interesting, strong film about the people who rescue migrants who crowd onto rickety boats heading from hardship in Africa to hope in Europe. The logistical problems of dealing with thousands of people who need water, blankets, medical attention, and a ride to shore are explored. So are the reasons why they risk life and limb to come. And the film takes a hard look at the ones who don’t make it—who drown in the journey and wash up on shore to be collected and buried by yet more people who are just trying to help in their own small way. Lifeboat more than anything is about confronting a huge problem and just doing what you can to help deal with it. A powerful film with gorgeous photography and a very clear perspective. Despite some pacing issues and an overreliance on titles for exposition, this is probably my favorite.

    A Night at the Garden
    A short (7 minutes) but gripping bit of archival footage, discovered and assembled, featuring a Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden in 1939. The way the iconography marries Nazi Germany with George Washington and the American flag and what look like Boy Scouts, while 20,000 people sieg heil is just eerie as hell. A stark reminder that fascism can take root in American soil just as easily as anywhere else.

    Period. End of Sentence.
    The lightest entry in the bunch, this is still about a heavy topic—the patriarchy in India, where menstruation is a taboo subject, women on their period find it hard to go to school, aren’t allowed to pray in the temple, and are mocked for using whatever random bit of cloth they can find to deal with the bleeding. Enter a machine, crowdfunded, designed for the easy manufacture of cheap, high-quality pads. The doc shows a new company being formed that hires women to make pads and women to sell those pads to women. It’s like a feminist equality turducken, and although the film can feel a little bit like a commercial sometimes, it’s an infectiously happy look at people hopeful that they can help bring India’s women into a modern equality.

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  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    Removing cinematography and editing while still having that crappy setup of intervals for best original song, I sometimes feel bad constantly shitting on Hollywood because it's so easy but they just keep making it so easy to shit on them.

  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    jimb213 wrote: »
    Speaking of the Oscars (is this where we do it, or is there a separate thread already?), they're going to be giving the Cinematography and Editing awards during commercial breaks this year. I think I like Guillermo del Toro's comment the best about this:



    (GDT is a Hollywood director)

    What are categories the public neither understands nor cares about but are some of the most important things in cinema?

    Like, you couldn't be more blatant about showing you don't really give a shit about anything but the ratings.

  • CoinageCoinage Heaviside LayerRegistered User regular
    The viewer numbers are going to go down every year no matter what they do, I don't know why they're even bothering really

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