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Post by klawrencio79 on Jun 13, 2022 12:45:25 GMT
Barry season finale. Wow! Everyone in this thread keeps raving about this show, maybe I need to give it a second chance. I watched the first episode and I thought it sucked. Dude, in a year where we have had one great show after the next, this season of Barry may have been the best of the bunch.
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Post by Winston Wolfe on Jun 13, 2022 12:56:50 GMT
Barry season finale. Wow! Yeah. Wonder how they’re gonna dig themselves out of this.
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Post by screamingtreefrogs on Jun 13, 2022 13:24:26 GMT
Yes! This bear scene just gave me goosebumps
Time for a marathon
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Post by masterofallgoons on Jun 13, 2022 13:26:42 GMT
Yes! This bear scene just gave me goosebumps
Time for a marathon
As much as we clearly don't need yet another inferior Predator sequel/prequel/requel/reboot/whatever, this is a cool idea and could make for a cool movie.
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Post by masterofallgoons on Jun 13, 2022 13:39:02 GMT
Barry season finale. Wow! Yeah. Wonder how they’re gonna dig themselves out of this. No spoilers!
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Post by tristramshandy on Jun 13, 2022 13:58:41 GMT
I watched “I Am Thinking of Ending Things”, the latest movie by Charlie Kaufman. Charlie Kaufman, for those who may not know, is the screenwriter who gave us “Being John Malkovich”, “Adaptation” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, among others. He also wrote AND directed “Synecdoche, New York” and the animated movie “Anomalisa”, which I haven’t seen. This is only his third movie as a director. The story starts with a couple driving out to the country for the girl to meet his parents for the first time. The guy is played by Jesse Plemons and the girl by Jessie Buckley. But something is not right – not in a horror movie kind of way, more in a psychological drama way. Slowly things become increasingly surreal, as might be expected from this particular director. I really liked it, but I can see how many viewers might be turned off by the craziness (on the surface) of what we see on the screen. It is not easy to understand what it all means, and I confess that I had to read up on it after I finished watching for things to click fully. Anyway, if you like Charlie Kaufman, I recommend it. If you are just looking for light entertainment that can be watched with your brain in Off, keep looking! If the quality of a film is measured on how it lingers in your mind after you are done watching it, "I Am Thinking of Ending Things" is an all-time classic. I kept thinking about it a month after I had watched it. Will definitely watch it again (although it feels like a winter movie to me).
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Post by tristramshandy on Jun 13, 2022 14:05:01 GMT
I watched “I Am Thinking of Ending Things”, the latest movie by Charlie Kaufman. Charlie Kaufman, for those who may not know, is the screenwriter who gave us “Being John Malkovich”, “Adaptation” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, among others. He also wrote AND directed “Synecdoche, New York” and the animated movie “Anomalisa”, which I haven’t seen. This is only his third movie as a director. The story starts with a couple driving out to the country for the girl to meet his parents for the first time. The guy is played by Jesse Plemons and the girl by Jessie Buckley. But something is not right – not in a horror movie kind of way, more in a psychological drama way. Slowly things become increasingly surreal, as might be expected from this particular director. I really liked it, but I can see how many viewers might be turned off by the craziness (on the surface) of what we see on the screen. It is not easy to understand what it all means, and I confess that I had to read up on it after I finished watching for things to click fully. Anyway, if you like Charlie Kaufman, I recommend it. If you are just looking for light entertainment that can be watched with your brain in Off, keep looking! I watched this a few months ago and I feel the exact same way. The movie really crystalized for me after I, like you, read up on it afterwards, as it's loaded with literacy references and allegories that are sometimes apparent but other times rather esoteric. You're right, this is not an easy Friday evening watch, but anything written by Charlie Kaufman is appointment viewing for this guy. Side note, I randomly watched an episode of Breaking Bad with young Jesse Plemons. He was skinny as anything in that show, and then he just ballooned up, and stayed ballooned up. I wonder if there's something more there, but he has really put together a nice little career for himself since BB. To each their own when it comes to what fulfills them. But to cross over multiple threads: he's choosing better roles at 12 (All the Pretty Horses) than Johnny Depp was at 40. Breaking Bad, Fargo, The Master, The Irishman, El Camino, Judas and the Black Messiah, The Power of the Dog, I'm Thinking of Ending Things - - love his resume.
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Post by tristramshandy on Jun 13, 2022 14:12:19 GMT
Barry season finale. Wow! I'm only through the first five episodes of this season. I'm trying to hold onto a good thing . . . but I might cave here soon. It's been fantastic. When he's nonchalantly trying to console Sally at the end of episode five with what he could do to her ex-boss . . . he seems pretty irredeemable. Henry Winkler has been great this season as well.
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Post by masterofallgoons on Jun 13, 2022 14:30:57 GMT
I watched this a few months ago and I feel the exact same way. The movie really crystalized for me after I, like you, read up on it afterwards, as it's loaded with literacy references and allegories that are sometimes apparent but other times rather esoteric. You're right, this is not an easy Friday evening watch, but anything written by Charlie Kaufman is appointment viewing for this guy. Side note, I randomly watched an episode of Breaking Bad with young Jesse Plemons. He was skinny as anything in that show, and then he just ballooned up, and stayed ballooned up. I wonder if there's something more there, but he has really put together a nice little career for himself since BB. To each their own when it comes to what fulfills them. But to cross over multiple threads: he's choosing better roles at 12 (All the Pretty Horses) than Johnny Depp was at 40. Breaking Bad, Fargo, The Master, The Irishman, El Camino, Judas and the Black Messiah, The Power of the Dog, I'm Thinking of Ending Things - - love his resume. Well... He didn't choose his roles at 12. Nobody does. He took what he could get, that's how it works. At 12 years old he wasn't turning down parts and trying to develop his Cormac McCarthy adaptation as a passion project. He was a kid trying to get a job. He didn't choose that role that any more than Depp chose to do A Nightmare on Elm Street. And as a side note; Jesse Plemons isn't even in All the Pretty Horses. His scenes were cut... I'd love to see that director's cut some day... And when Johnny Depp was able to choose projects after 21 Jump Street he went on a legendary run of quality and risky projects with interesting directors. And we all learned fairly recently that a lot of the stuff he's been doing in the last several years has a lot to do with financial issues, some of which stemmed form... I'm not sure if anybody has heard of this: a bad marriage. I get that he's a fun punching bag these days, and while it's a lame joke at this point, I get why that's fun. But still... be accurate.
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Post by tristramshandy on Jun 13, 2022 14:49:39 GMT
To each their own when it comes to what fulfills them. But to cross over multiple threads: he's choosing better roles at 12 (All the Pretty Horses) than Johnny Depp was at 40. Breaking Bad, Fargo, The Master, The Irishman, El Camino, Judas and the Black Messiah, The Power of the Dog, I'm Thinking of Ending Things - - love his resume. Well... He didn't choose his roles at 12. Nobody does. He took what he could get, that's how it works. At 12 years old he wasn't turning down parts and trying to develop his Cormac McCarthy adaptation as a passion project. He was a kid trying to get a job. He didn't choose that role that any more than Depp chose to do A Nightmare on Elm Street. And as a side note; Jesse Plemons isn't even in All the Pretty Horses. His scenes were cut... I'd love to see that director's cut some day... And when Johnny Depp was able to choose projects after 21 Jump Street he went on a legendary run of quality and risky projects with interesting directors. And we all learned fairly recently that a lot of the stuff he's been doing in the last several years has a lot to do with financial issues, some of which stemmed form... I'm not sure if anybody has heard of this: a bad marriage. I get that he's a fun punching bag these days, and while it's a lame joke at this point, I get why that's fun. But still... be accurate. I'd watch the top ten things that Plemons did off of anything that Depp has done since he turned 35. That's accurate. And believe me, Amber Heard wasn't old enough to be dating when I started to have this opinion about Depp. His is a resume filled with dreck and with the power he had, he chose that resume.
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Jun 13, 2022 15:10:05 GMT
Some quick thoughts on Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I watched with my son recently. He's seen bits and pieces over the years, and we've been to the stunt spectacular as Disney World twice now, but this was the first time he watched an Indy movie start to finish. We actually watched the final half hour or so of Temple of Doom the other night, and he said he wanted to watch the franchise from the beginning. I'll try to split this up into my observations as a fan, and then as a parent.
Needless to say the movie still holds up. It's Spielberg coming off a loss with 1941, and if he needed a win, boy did he get one here. The movie oozes Spielberg in the best possible ways, but it's carried by Ford's presence. The fact that it was an homage to old fashioned serials when it came out gives it a timeless feel, so it's essentially impossible for it to get dated. The minor subplot of Marion being angry with Indy for their previous relationship is largely unnecessary, but it adds some tension to their initial interactions which gives a little depth to both characters. I'm the millionth person to point it out, but it is kind of wild that the protagonist in an action/adventure film clearly had a prior relationship with an underage girl. Even she thinks it was fucked up in retrospect. "I was a child!" Indy brushes it off, "You knew what you were doing." Needless to say, this stuff is left out of the script if it's written today.
It would also move a little faster if written today, but considering the era it's from, it's paced very well. There isn't a ton of downtime, in fact the only real complaint I could see is the repetitive nature of Indy coming up against Belloq, getting captured, escaping, and facing off with him again. Feels like it happens six different times. Sooner or later you'd think Belloq would just shoot him on the spot. The action beats are so much fun, maybe even more so today. After being inundated with CGI and incredibly choreographed martial arts sequences (both of which I also love, it should be said), it's fun to watch this dude trade haymakers with guys, swing across pitfalls on a whip, hang on to a truck etc. and have it all feel real.
And with the iconic John Williams score blaring, you can't not smile as you're watching these set pieces. I have to say, it's officially my favorite theme song, and I don't make that statement lightly. There are plenty of legendary themes out there, several of them from Williams himself. But the Indy theme is king for me.
Belloq makes for a much more interesting villain than the generic Nazi officers as individuals, but the shadow of the evil empire hangs over the story and everyone in it, which again adds tension and stakes to the story. All of the characters are fun, even the monkey with shifting loyalties. The monkey bit is probably overused if they made it today (and it would be 100% CGI), I think they kept it under control in Raiders.
The observation has been made that the plot resolves itself whether Indy is involved or not; I'd like to push back on that. Indy is the one who found the Ark. The Nazis were in the vicinity, but there's no guarantee they find it. And although Belloq wanted to open it up before he brought it to the Berlin, maybe he puts some safeguards in place if he isn't constantly being harassed by Indy? Belloq's judgment was definitely compromised when it came to Marion, I think it's fair to suggest he made several bad decisions due to her (and ultimately Indy's) involvement. And bottom line, if Indy isn't there, who cleans up the mess and gets the Ark into US government hands? Wouldn't another Nazi unit simply come to the base and bring the Ark to Berlin before too long?
Trivia that we all know: As great as Ford is, Tom Selleck was actually lined up for the role, but couldn't get out of Magnum PI. Look, I'm the world's biggest Indiana Jones fan, and I can't imagine anyone doing it as well as Ford. But I don't think Selleck would've been terrible. It's an interesting what if as opposed to an 'ewww' what if, at least to me. George Lucas originally wanted to call him Indiana Smith, I think it was Spielberg who suggested 'Jones' as an alternative, and I have to agree it's the better sounding of two of the most generic names. In the end, Indiana Jones as played by Harrison Ford is the best possible rendition of the concept that I can imagine.
As a parent I've been dying to watch Indy with my son since forever. When he was very young, he used to call Indy, "the cowboy," when he couldn't remember his name. He got a kick out of the stunt spectacular both times, and it was fun watching Raiders because many of the stunts were inspired by sequences in this movie, of course. So I guess he kind of experienced these things as callbacks in reverse. He loved the movie, which I consider to be no small feat considering the lack of CGI, dance routines, animation and whatever other blinking lights he's accustomed to in today's programming. Of course I had to put on my hat (you're not really surprised I have one, are you?) for him after the movie, and we made a whip out of some rope in the workshop.
From the they grow up so fast department: At one point during the movie somebody was refencing something that happened earlier on and I started to explain it to him, and he cut me off, "I know what's going on." Translation, "I'm not 4 anymore, I'm 7, Dad." Keeping in mind that he's 7, I did warn him just before the Ark was opened that it would get scary for a minute. He's seen Ghostbusters movies and a few other spooky things, but the Ark scene is pretty intense with faces melting and stuff. At the very end of the scene he asked to shut it off, but it was over at that point. Hilariously, we went to dinner at the grandparents last night and they were talking about the new Jurassic World movie. His grandmother told him he might have to wait a few years because the dinosaurs were scary. He replied with 100% earnestness, "I've seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, I can handle it." My wife and I just laughed.
It's always a blast to watch Indy. Easily on my short list of all time favorites, I don't even hate Crystal Skull as much as most. Though I do worry about this upcoming project. An 80 year old Indy running around is disconcerting, and I have no idea what the plot will be. We're 40 years on from the original films, wouldn't it have to take place in the 1970s? You know what doesn't go together? Indiana Jones and the 1970s. Cringe.
But let's end on a positive note. Raiders is still incredible after all these years. Indiana Jones helped inspire my love of travel, history, and of course adventure. I had fun watching it, and even more fun knowing my son is into it now, too.
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Post by klawrencio79 on Jun 13, 2022 15:49:02 GMT
Some quick thoughts on Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I watched with my son recently. He's seen bits and pieces over the years, and we've been to the stunt spectacular as Disney World twice now, but this was the first time he watched an Indy movie start to finish. We actually watched the final half hour or so of Temple of Doom the other night, and he said he wanted to watch the franchise from the beginning. I'll try to split this up into my observations as a fan, and then as a parent. Needless to say the movie still holds up. It's Spielberg coming off a loss with 1941, and if he needed a win, boy did he get one here. The movie oozes Spielberg in the best possible ways, but it's carried by Ford's presence. The fact that it was an homage to old fashioned serials when it came out gives it a timeless feel, so it's essentially impossible for it to get dated. The minor subplot of Marion being angry with Indy for their previous relationship is largely unnecessary, but it adds some tension to their initial interactions which gives a little depth to both characters. I'm the millionth person to point it out, but it is kind of wild that the protagonist in an action/adventure film clearly had a prior relationship with an underage girl. Even she thinks it was fucked up in retrospect. "I was a child!" Indy brushes it off, "You knew what you were doing." Needless to say, this stuff is left out of the script if it's written today. It would also move a little faster if written today, but considering the era it's from, it's paced very well. There isn't a ton of downtime, in fact the only real complaint I could see is the repetitive nature of Indy coming up against Belloq, getting captured, escaping, and facing off with him again. Feels like it happens six different times. Sooner or later you'd think Belloq would just shoot him on the spot. The action beats are so much fun, maybe even more so today. After being inundated with CGI and incredibly choreographed martial arts sequences (both of which I also love, it should be said), it's fun to watch this dude trade haymakers with guys, swing across pitfalls on a whip, hang on to a truck etc. and have it all feel real. And with the iconic John Williams score blaring, you can't not smile as you're watching these set pieces. I have to say, it's officially my favorite theme song, and I don't make that statement lightly. There are plenty of legendary themes out there, several of them from Williams himself. But the Indy theme is king for me. Belloq makes for a much more interesting villain than the generic Nazi officers as individuals, but the shadow of the evil empire hangs over the story and everyone in it, which again adds tension and stakes to the story. All of the characters are fun, even the monkey with shifting loyalties. The monkey bit is probably overused if they made it today (and it would be 100% CGI), I think they kept it under control in Raiders. The observation has been made that the plot resolves itself whether Indy is involved or not; I'd like to push back on that. Indy is the one who found the Ark. The Nazis were in the vicinity, but there's no guarantee they find it. And although Belloq wanted to open it up before he brought it to the Berlin, maybe he puts some safeguards in place if he isn't constantly being harassed by Indy? Belloq's judgment was definitely compromised when it came to Marion, I think it's fair to suggest he made several bad decisions due to her (and ultimately Indy's) involvement. And bottom line, if Indy isn't there, who cleans up the mess and gets the Ark into US government hands? Wouldn't another Nazi unit simply come to the base and bring the Ark to Berlin before too long? Trivia that we all know: As great as Ford is, Tom Selleck was actually lined up for the role, but couldn't get out of Magnum PI. Look, I'm the world's biggest Indiana Jones fan, and I can't imagine anyone doing it as well as Ford. But I don't think Selleck would've been terrible. It's an interesting what if as opposed to an ' ewww' what if, at least to me. George Lucas originally wanted to call him Indiana Smith, I think it was Spielberg who suggested 'Jones' as an alternative, and I have to agree it's the better sounding of two of the most generic names. In the end, Indiana Jones as played by Harrison Ford is the best possible rendition of the concept that I can imagine. As a parent I've been dying to watch Indy with my son since forever. When he was very young, he used to call Indy, "the cowboy," when he couldn't remember his name. He got a kick out of the stunt spectacular both times, and it was fun watching Raiders because many of the stunts were inspired by sequences in this movie, of course. So I guess he kind of experienced these things as callbacks in reverse. He loved the movie, which I consider to be no small feat considering the lack of CGI, dance routines, animation and whatever other blinking lights he's accustomed to in today's programming. Of course I had to put on my hat (you're not really surprised I have one, are you?) for him after the movie, and we made a whip out of some rope in the workshop. From the they grow up so fast department: At one point during the movie somebody was refencing something that happened earlier on and I started to explain it to him, and he cut me off, "I know what's going on." Translation, "I'm not 4 anymore, I'm 7, Dad." Keeping in mind that he's 7, I did warn him just before the Ark was opened that it would get scary for a minute. He's seen Ghostbusters movies and a few other spooky things, but the Ark scene is pretty intense with faces melting and stuff. At the very end of the scene he asked to shut it off, but it was over at that point. Hilariously, we went to dinner at the grandparents last night and they were talking about the new Jurassic World movie. His grandmother told him he might have to wait a few years because the dinosaurs were scary. He replied with 100% earnestness, "I've seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, I can handle it." My wife and I just laughed. It's always a blast to watch Indy. Easily on my short list of all time favorites, I don't even hate Crystal Skull as much as most. Though I do worry about this upcoming project. An 80 year old Indy running around is disconcerting, and I have no idea what the plot will be. We're 40 years on from the original films, wouldn't it have to take place in the 1970s? You know what doesn't go together? Indiana Jones and the 1970s. Cringe. But let's end on a positive note. Raiders is still incredible after all these years. Indiana Jones helped inspire my love of travel, history, and of course adventure. I had fun watching it, and even more fun knowing my son is into it now, too. What a glorious post this is, thank you. A lot of my more cinephile-y friends often hail this movie as a "perfect movie," for all the reasons you mentioned. It just all clicks. The set pieces, the pacing, the score, the acting, the mechanics of each scene flowing into the next. While we can argue about that all day long, the truck-chase sequence is definitely among the best staged and scored action sequences I've ever seen. Great stuff dude.
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Post by fjenkins on Jun 13, 2022 15:50:26 GMT
I am on the latter part of season 5 of Breaking Bad, my fourth time watching the whole show. Enjoyed it probably even more than the first three times. Just a tremendous, well written well cast show. As soon as I finish (probably later this week) I'll rewatch El Camino again and see how it stacks up as a continuation.
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Post by tristramshandy on Jun 13, 2022 16:12:37 GMT
It's Spielberg coming off a loss with 1941 Financially and critically it was a loss. I have a big soft spot for 1941. It isn't on cable/satellite a lot, but anytime it is, I stop and watch.
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Post by Jep Gambardella on Jun 13, 2022 16:39:51 GMT
It's Spielberg coming off a loss with 1941 Financially and critically it was a loss. I have a big soft spot for 1941. So do I. When it came out I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. Of course I was a young teenager at the time, so that partially explains it.
I just realised that the movie 1941 (which was released in 1979) is closer to the year 1941 than to the year 2022!
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Post by masterofallgoons on Jun 13, 2022 19:11:29 GMT
Well... He didn't choose his roles at 12. Nobody does. He took what he could get, that's how it works. At 12 years old he wasn't turning down parts and trying to develop his Cormac McCarthy adaptation as a passion project. He was a kid trying to get a job. He didn't choose that role that any more than Depp chose to do A Nightmare on Elm Street. And as a side note; Jesse Plemons isn't even in All the Pretty Horses. His scenes were cut... I'd love to see that director's cut some day... And when Johnny Depp was able to choose projects after 21 Jump Street he went on a legendary run of quality and risky projects with interesting directors. And we all learned fairly recently that a lot of the stuff he's been doing in the last several years has a lot to do with financial issues, some of which stemmed form... I'm not sure if anybody has heard of this: a bad marriage. I get that he's a fun punching bag these days, and while it's a lame joke at this point, I get why that's fun. But still... be accurate. I'd watch the top ten things that Plemons did off of anything that Depp has done since he turned 35. That's accurate. And believe me, Amber Heard wasn't old enough to be dating when I started to have this opinion about Depp. His is a resume filled with dreck and with the power he had, he chose that resume. It's accurate that you prefer something over something else? Ok... I have no idea why you'd make this comparison between the two, but Plemons has only been able to choose his roles, really, for like 2 years now, maybe 3. His 12 year old self was taking whatever job he got.
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Post by Jep Gambardella on Jun 13, 2022 19:19:19 GMT
I went to see the new Jurassic World movie on Saturday. Objectively speaking it is not a very good movie; there are plenty of plot elements that make little sense when you stop to think about it. Still, I enjoyed it for what it is: a big summer adventure movie with spectacular (if often preposterous) action and visual effects. But frankly, even though I enjoyed it, at this point I hope they just stop milking those dinosaurs. Enough is enough.
As an aside, I don’t think I had ever seen so many people in a movie theatre playing with their phones so often and for such long periods. You always have one or two idiots checking their phones once or twice during the movie, but this time it was several people several times and for what felt like lengthy periods. I don’t know if they all thought the movie was boring so might as well do something else, or maybe because they lost the habit of going to movie theatres after the pandemic and are now behaving as if they were at home. Either way, it’s a disgrace!
And then yesterday I saw a movie that purports to answer the question of who would win in a fight between James Bond and Bryan Mills (from the “Taken” trilogy): “Seraphim Falls”, a western in which Liam Neeson relentlessly chases Pierce Brosnan, seeking revenge for something that happened years earlier during the Civil War. The movie is from 2006, and yet I had never heard of it until it appeared on Netflix, in spite of the two big names in the cast. It’s a decent western, although there is a strange shift in tone towards the end, when it goes from a story that couldn’t be more straight-forward to something with metaphorical? metaphysical? meta something elements.
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Post by masterofallgoons on Jun 13, 2022 20:09:33 GMT
I went to see the new Jurassic World movie on Saturday. Objectively speaking it is not a very good movie; there are plenty of plot elements that make little sense when you stop to think about it. Still, I enjoyed it for what it is: a big summer adventure movie with spectacular (if often preposterous) action and visual effects. But frankly, even though I enjoyed it, at this point I hope they just stop milking those dinosaurs. Enough is enough. As an aside, I don’t think I had ever seen so many people in a movie theatre playing with their phones so often and for such long periods. You always have one or two idiots checking their phones once or twice during the movie, but this time it was several people several times and for what felt like lengthy periods. I don’t know if they all thought the movie was boring so might as well do something else, or maybe because they lost the habit of going to movie theatres after the pandemic and are now behaving as if they were at home. Either way, it’s a disgrace! And then yesterday I saw a movie that purports to answer the question of who would win in a fight between James Bond and Bryan Mills (from the “Taken” trilogy): “Seraphim Falls”, a western in which Liam Neeson relentlessly chases Pierce Brosnan, seeking revenge for something that happened years earlier during the Civil War. The movie is from 2006, and yet I had never heard of it until it appeared on Netflix, in spite of the two big names in the cast. It’s a decent western, although there is a strange shift in tone towards the end, when it goes from a story that couldn’t be more straight-forward to something with metaphorical? metaphysical? meta something elements. I'll probably go see the new Jurassic, but I didn't see either of the previous 2 in theaters and was kinda glad I didn't. I thought Jurassic World was pretty bad and the follow up was down right terrible. But with lowered expectations I might just be happy to see a big dumb movie, and to see Sam Neil/Jeff Goldblum/Laura Dern themselves to this big dumb movie. People playing with phones in a theater is so fucking annoying. Some people have an issue with food and drink being served, but I'm very thankful for the Alamo Drafthouse no talking/no phones policy. People actually adhere to it and creates a higher class of audience, as obnoxious as that sounds. I've heard of the title Seraphim Falls, but I wouldn't have had any idea who was in it. Worth a watch?
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Jun 13, 2022 20:21:55 GMT
I went to see the new Jurassic World movie on Saturday. Objectively speaking it is not a very good movie; there are plenty of plot elements that make little sense when you stop to think about it. Still, I enjoyed it for what it is: a big summer adventure movie with spectacular (if often preposterous) action and visual effects. But frankly, even though I enjoyed it, at this point I hope they just stop milking those dinosaurs. Enough is enough. As an aside, I don’t think I had ever seen so many people in a movie theatre playing with their phones so often and for such long periods. You always have one or two idiots checking their phones once or twice during the movie, but this time it was several people several times and for what felt like lengthy periods. I don’t know if they all thought the movie was boring so might as well do something else, or maybe because they lost the habit of going to movie theatres after the pandemic and are now behaving as if they were at home. Either way, it’s a disgrace! And then yesterday I saw a movie that purports to answer the question of who would win in a fight between James Bond and Bryan Mills (from the “Taken” trilogy): “Seraphim Falls”, a western in which Liam Neeson relentlessly chases Pierce Brosnan, seeking revenge for something that happened years earlier during the Civil War. The movie is from 2006, and yet I had never heard of it until it appeared on Netflix, in spite of the two big names in the cast. It’s a decent western, although there is a strange shift in tone towards the end, when it goes from a story that couldn’t be more straight-forward to something with metaphorical? metaphysical? meta something elements. I'm boycotting this, as I did the last one. I'm a Crichton fan and Jurassic Park was one of my favorite books. I can't tell you how I excited I was to learn they were making a movie of the original. I must've seen it close to ten times in the theater. The sequels were pretty lousy, I don't think I've ever revisited either of them. Then came the Jurassic World franchise. I remember a guy I worked with giving me the plot synopsis he found online years before the movie came out. We laughed, it was so ridiculous. It had to be a joke. Nope. Trained raptors. Made up dinosaurs that can turn invisible. And the worst part, the characters were all cardboard cutouts. It was a bad facsimile of the original; a demented clone, one might say. Never bothered with the last one, couldn't avoid this movie hard enough. I wondered why all of the dialog in the trailers was about our extinction as dinosaurs are gobbling people up left and right. Are there no firearms, explosives, etc. in this world? It's not like these are the creatures from a Quiet Place or something. They're dinosaurs. Shoot them. The truth is I don't care enough to find out. The trilogy has been garbage from the beginning. My in-laws saw it and pretty much shared your view (I won't hold that against you!). I'm sure it's goofy fun if you allow it to be, I'd just want more out of it. I did think it was funny when my mother in law insisted my son shouldn't watch it. He's seen the original, years ago now. If anything the stuff I'm seeing in these trailers make it look downright cartoonish in comparison. The fact that people dying is played for laughs is an interesting shift in tone from the original. I guess when there isn't any commentary to be made about the circumstances by the film, and the characters are all imbeciles, you just want to see them get eaten so that something actually happening onscreen. Agreed with your take on Seraphim Falls. It's decent, though something felt off about it by the end. Like the filmmakers were trying to recreate that classic Western feel but also add their own slant to it.
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Post by Jep Gambardella on Jun 13, 2022 20:49:55 GMT
And then yesterday I saw a movie that purports to answer the question of who would win in a fight between James Bond and Bryan Mills (from the “Taken” trilogy): “Seraphim Falls”, a western in which Liam Neeson relentlessly chases Pierce Brosnan, seeking revenge for something that happened years earlier during the Civil War. The movie is from 2006, and yet I had never heard of it until it appeared on Netflix, in spite of the two big names in the cast. It’s a decent western, although there is a strange shift in tone towards the end, when it goes from a story that couldn’t be more straight-forward to something with metaphorical? metaphysical? meta something elements. I've heard of the title Seraphim Falls, but I wouldn't have had any idea who was in it. Worth a watch? It's not must-see but I think it's worth watching it if you like westerns.
I don't know about Netflix US but on Netflix Canada it will no longer be available past the end of June.
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