Film and Episodic Content Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'Random Thoughts' started by purr1n, Jan 8, 2020.

  1. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    So The Batman....

    Some people will really like this approach to the series, it's dripping in atmosphere, gorgeous to look at, it's a solid exercise in world building.

    But the movie is trash. Nothing about it worked for me (even the look and design, which is just a Se7en rip off) It's an angsty, teenage boy or naive film student's take on Batman. People who have imagination, but no maturity to understand character or story.

    The acting is good, but there's no chemistry between anyone, with the possible exception of Batman/Gordon. But I had no interest in any of the characters.

    Nothing about the story grabbed me. I was just watching a series of pretty scenes with no investment with anything going on. And at 3 hours that's a massive problem.

    Another big problem is Bruce Wayne and Batman are the same person. When Bruce takes off the suit, he is still Batman. Dark, brooding, intimidating. Where's the dichotomy? The core of the Batman/Wayne dynamic is they are two different people. Wayne is the mask (controlled, presentable to the public, stable), Batman is the real guy. In this movie there is no difference between the two... he looks miserable in the suit and he looks miserable in street clothes. He even uses the same voice.

    Catwoman is not interesting. Penguin is not interesting. Riddler is so overdone and borderline laughable (which is weird for a movie so "grounded in reality")

    The action sequences are actually well done, but in the face of a paper thin plot and characters, I really could not be bothered to give a shit. It's a movie I have zero interest in ever watching again.

    And did I mention it's long? Holy f**k. I may have actually gone easier on this if it were 2 hours... and it may have played better. But at 3 hours it's just giving itself more rope to hang itself with.
     
  2. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    I have to put in an enthusiastic recommendation for Apple TV's "Severance". This is one of the best shows I've seen and takes full advantage of its Black Mirror/Twilight Zone like setup. I would avoid exposing yourself to any spoilers.
     
  3. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    Streamed ALL THE OLD KNIVES recently on Prime. Very interesting film IMO.

    It would be child's play to poke holes in the script, the pacing, the entire setup of this story. But I got sucked far in regardless. What it came down to was two very talented actors lighting up their scenes together, over and over again, most especially the long final scene. The whole story comes down the face-to-face acting of Chris Pine & Thandiwe Newton, and it just worked for me.

    I liked Chris a lot in HELL OR HIGH WATER; I generally like him way more when he's in character/actor mode, intent on delivering the story. I liked Thandiwe Newton from the first film I saw her in (FLIRTING), and most of the ones since. She's been misused in this or that film over the years, but like Pine, when the script just lets her stand and deliver as a character actor, it's always good. She's among the best I've ever seen as a "face" actor, too.

    Sad to have missed Pine's most recent theatrical release, THE CONTRACTOR. Hope it streams soon, because I suspect he'll be just as good in that film as he is here.
     
  4. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    On that note, Knives out with Daniel Craig was also great and just recently I've watched The Batman that really was more than I imagined it would. Great stuff for fans of The Bat!
     
  5. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    One of my favorite actors EVER is Bill Nighy. Here he is, talking for over 20 minutes. I've laughed myself into a stupor watching this wonderful video:



    It turns out he's just as aridly funny IRL as on film. He's f'ing hysterical but rarely smiles. This man has the native wit to say deathlessly funny things w/o smirking:

    "They put prosthetics all over your body and then no one will have lunch with you."

    And his story about another priceless Brit actor, Emily Blunt, making cruel fun of him is one of the funniest things I've ever heard.

    I've only seen a few of Bill's films, and some are big franchise efforts that hardly show off his best acting (3 X UNDERWORLD, for example). My favorite of his films, the one that got me watching him intently to try to see him act (and never succeeding) is PAGE EIGHT. He has an extremely tense scene w/Ralph Fiennes (playing the Prime Minister, with vastly more power at his disposal than Nighy's character), and I don't think I've ever another actor own the screen so thoroughly as Nighy does, while never raising his voice or conspicuously emoting. I've seen this film 4X and would watch it again right now if only I could find it.

    Try to find PAGE EIGHT somewhere and check out Bill Nighy:

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1797469/?ref_=nmbio_mbio
     
  6. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    I havent posted one of my videos here in a while, but my latest might be be of interest.

     
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  7. roughroad

    roughroad formerly mephisto56

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    It's available for purchase on Amazon. I couldn't find it on any streaming service.
     
  8. Tchoupitoulas

    Tchoupitoulas Friend

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    JustWatch is a useful website for finding out where movies and tv shows are streaming or available for purchase: https://www.justwatch.com/
     
  9. Case

    Case Anxious Head (Formerly Wilson)

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    Good, succinct take on the OG Star Wars

    Edit: Done by a friend of mine. Inspired to post by @ColtMrFire posting.
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2022
  10. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    I love these videos and am glad to see another one--and a particularly epic one, at that.
     
  11. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    I have to agree with your central thesis in this video. Making villains more relatable via dialogue and backstory tends to rob them of their menace and power, the very things we need villains to embody.

    I'm a writer, though not of screenplays, and I can say from experience that relying on dialogue rather than behavior to illustrate characters' motivations is a loser's game, unless perhaps one is James Joyce or Shakespeare. By focusing on behavior, the writer allows us to "know" (learn at least something about) an unknowable villain via our own observations.

    There are many examples of villains who aren't in the least relatable, but about whom our feelings evolve with increasing observation. Maybe the best is Travis Bickle in TAXI DRIVER. To the very end Bickle remains inarticulate, volatile, and unknowable, completely isolated within his alienation & psychosis. The more we see of him, the less we can primly claim that he's in control of the mayhem he unleashes. It's disturbing to not be able to categorize his evil. IMO, that's the way to handle complexity in a villain...
     
  12. Case

    Case Anxious Head (Formerly Wilson)

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    Scorcese made alienation look cool. DeNiro's charisma makes, IMO, Bickle avoid appearing pathetic, which is what so often violent loners are
     
  13. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    I think Scorcese made alienation look terrifying. In 1976, when TAXI DRIVER came out, alienation was trending high & helping no one sleep better at night. By then we'd seen all those awful assassinations, race riots, Watergate, Vietnam. Paul Schrader's Bickle perfectly encapsulated the dissociative state of society at that moment.

    Schrader revisited the theme of alienation often in his screenplays, most recently in the magnificent CARD COUNTER. Alienation, just like war, pestilence, and starvation, never really goes out of style.
     
  14. Case

    Case Anxious Head (Formerly Wilson)

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    "alienation look terrifying" Yes, that's the healthy response. For others, it was a different story.
    EDIT: Thanks @Pharmaboy , nice to talk film.

    Although Taxi Driver is not a “message movie,” Bickle gets away with murder and is considered a hero. He murdered mobsters and is sitting in the same bar as the Punisher and Dirty Harry. How much more terrifying (and more realistic, psychologically) would the violence have been if Bickle had killed Betsy ?
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2022
  15. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    A very Romantic take. While a (romantic) individualism is part of the OG Star wars (Han in particular), I think 'The Force' was that which is exactly beyond a mere individualism and that was what was attractive for so many. I do like however how he focused on how the Dark Side was larger than Darth, the whole Empire being. This was reduced to Darth/Emperor later, and even further in the prequels to "midichlorians"...
     
  16. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    He's brilliant. I remember him from Underworld. This was a fun flick when it came out but it aged rather poorly. Bill's role on the other hand was one of the best things about it if someone asks me.
     
  17. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    I loved his work in UNDERWORLD. He elevated every scene he was in. He's one of the least terrifying men on earth, yet in these films, he's terrifying. It's not just due to the prosthetics--Bill Nighy really acts, even in borderline ridiculous scenarios.

    I'm fond of the UNDERWORLD films. They feature vampires and werewolves together, a treat for horror fans. And they're relentlessly dark, taking place primarily underground. I love dark films...I like them best when the darkness is metaphorical/mythic, as well as physical.

    The BLADE trilogy is different, of course, but I'm equally fond of that series. Any films that put serious effort into exploring vampirism please me. I appreciate how these series create and refine a complete societal/behavioral orthodoxy for these creatures.
     
  18. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    I'm on the same boat. The second Blade was my favorite due to shots and vibe only G. del Toro could make. But as far as bloodsuckers go, F. Coppola's Dracula with G. Oldman as the main antagonist is my top pick and quite frankly unbeatable.
     
  19. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    I didn't care for Coppola's DRACULA. Barely made it through my one viewing.

    I tend to like vampire films that are smaller & weirder. These are my faves:

    THE ADDICTION (director - Abel Ferarra): Lily Taylor, Annabella Sciora & Chris Walken as downtown NYC vampires...I'm in heaven.

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112288/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

    NEAR DARK (director - Kathyrn Bigelow): Seriously violent. Jeanette Goldstein, Lance Hendrikson & Bill Paxton are the evilest vampires you could wish for.

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093605/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

    LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (director - Thomas Albertson): A brilliant love story. Not a lot of violence, but when it comes it's fierce.

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

    NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE (director - Werner Herzog): Almost unbearably creepy vampire tale starring Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, and Bruno Ganz.

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079641/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3

    30 DAYS OF NIGHT (director - David Slade): The best thing is the most original physical/behavioral construct of vampirism. These creatures are beyond terrifying.

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389722/
     
  20. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    That was fantastic. Subscribed!
     

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