What Is The Last Film You Watched? (Newer Films)

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I don't even know Meth Damon's real name!

[Jay 37,346]

It's Jesse Plemons.

[nightscape94 965]

I had such high hopes for Black Mass.  Shame.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

It's Jesse Plemons.

 

Jesse!

[A24 4,331]

 

Fat Damon is very good in Fargo S2.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

8 hours ago, Quintus said:

This isn't a major spoiler is it? 

I hesitated to post it at first, but I don't think it gives away anything about the narrative. It's my interpretation and definition of some of the story telling techniques Innaritu uses. 

[A24 4,331]

Bone Tomahawk:

 

 

Not bad but not as good as you think it it will be. Almost plays as a Western road movie but ends in a fully-fledged gory horror flick. The Indians seem to come straight out of a nightmare. 6/10

 

 

 

[Jay 37,346]

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

 

I saw it for a second time Tuesday evening in IMAX 3D.  I liked it much more than I did the first time I saw it back in December.

 

The first time I was extremely disappointed in numerous ways, but mostly by the re-treaded plot, some extremely non-sensical plot elements, and the way-to-fast, relentless pace that gave almost nothing a chance to breath in.  I liked the new characters, the special effects, the production design, the score, but overall thought it was a failure.

 

This time, I realized it was actually pretty easy to look past the utterly stupid features of the film (like the whole Starkiller thing, but especially that it sucks up a sun in a few hours, and shoots out a beam that destroys 5 planets in a few minutes that can been seen from the ground of Maz's planet...ugh, so bad!) and just enjoy the good parts, like the characters, their interaction, the great chase and action and fight scenes, and of course the score.

 

Really, the best thing this film does is set the franchise back on the right course.  In and of itself in isolation, this film is not that special - yes they found some great new actors and assembled really snazzy production qualities, but the story when examined at all completely falls apart for numerous, numerous reasons.  But who cares: Star Wars is back, they've assembled a great new cast of characters and I genuinely want to see where the storyline goes next, and what all these characters get up to next.  And that overall makes the film more good than bad.

 

The IMAX was not very impressive, but that could have been because I got there late due to a freaking snow storm, only arriving during the opening crawl.  That meant I couldn't sit in the center, so I constantly had to adjust my head so the 3D didn't get wonky, and I was too close to the screen to see it all at once.

 

It was nice though, noticing a bunch of cool background details that I didn't notice on first viewing.  They absolutely put a lot of detail and effort into all the physical sets, creatures, props, and costumes.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

 

2 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

(like the whole Starkiller thing, but especially that it sucks up a sun in a few hours, and shoots out a beam that destroys 5 planets in a few minutes that can been seen from the ground of Maz's planet...ugh, so bad!)

Agreed.  That plot-hole ruined the entire movie for me.  Up until then, the Star Wars films had been reasonably grounded in reality.  

[Jay 37,346]

I know you're being sarcastic but that whole thing is really really really stupid!!

 

The film didn't even need the superhero angle to succeed.  They had everything set up for a big ending without using that angle at all.  Shame they included it.

[Romão 2,274]

While I do agree with you concerning The Starkiller, truth be told and to their credit, the filmmakers did not focus on it too much. It's merely incidental in the overall plot

[nightscape94 965]

Not sure I understand the Starkiller either.  I would have assumed it just needed a bit of the star's energy to recharge.  But if it soaks up the entire star then how did it charge initially, and how will it charge again?  It's an immovable planet...

 

Unless I missed something.

[Jay 37,346]

The whole thing makes no sense but like I said, on my second viewing where I didn't let myself be annoyed by all the stupid plot elements (the Starkiller is just one of them), the film was much easier to enjoy.  It's really a quite charming film.

 

It's still paced too fast, though.  The film should have been maybe just 5 minutes longer, with scenes throughout the whole picture gotten just a little bit more breathing room.

[Romão 2,274]

Like you say, the movies does capture one's good will.

 

And the main cast is so good and so likeable, they can easily rest of the trilogy on their shoulders. And that's quite an achievement in itself

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

4 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

It's still paced too fast, though.  The film should have been maybe just 5 minutes longer, with scenes throughout the whole picture gotten just a little bit more breathing room.

That I actually agree with.  

[Jay 37,346]

I think as the post-production process went on he just kept whittling it down and whittling it down and he went too far.  Some scenes just have no time to breath because we're quickly shuffling off to the next scene.  Some more dialogue that probably would have gone a long way to improving understanding of some things was probably axed, etc.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

2 minutes ago, Jay said:

I think as the post-production process went on he just kept whittling it down and whittling it down and he went too far.  Some scenes just have no time to breath because we're quickly shuffling off to the next scene.  Some more dialogue that probably would have gone a long way to improving understanding of some things was probably axed, etc.

It's a real shame that J.J confirmed there would be no extended cut.  A big mistake IMO.

[Jay 37,346]

Fans will assemble their own with the deleted scenes that are released.

 

The problem is that the deleted scenes feature will likely focus on longer, entire scenes that were cut, and all the little trims and missing dialogue won't be in there.

[mrbellamy 6,278]

9 hours ago, Romão said:

While I do agree with you concerning The Starkiller, truth be told and to their credit, the filmmakers did not focus on it too much. It's merely incidental in the overall plot

 

Yeah, I'm with you here. It's definitely a rehash and probably the single weakest aspect of the movie, but at the same time the fact that it's just kind of there and sidelined is also a weird strength of the film. I just think about how there could have been so much time and focus on this dumb Starkiller thing and how dull that would have been. If they had to have something like that, they gave the minimum possible amount of attention to it. I have the same feeling about the Rathtars, just when I'm about bored with the sequence, it starts wrapping up which is pretty rare for me in action movies.

 

As far as breathing room goes, I think that like the Starkiller storyline, that's both a flaw and a strength, because again it never forces you into slogging through something that could have been incredibly dull. Also a few scenes that have loads of dialogue when you think about it are made to be amusingly rapid-fire (thinking of that entire scene with Rey, Finn, and BB-8 before Han and Chewie arrive).

 

At the same time, especially as the film gets into the second half, you wish it would slow down. But I do think that somehow, because of the film's relentless pace, that meant that whenever it did stop in its tracks it really stood out to me. I'm thinking of portions of Jakku, Rey's vision and conversation with Maz, the interrogation/mind trick, the death scene, Rey connecting with the force during the duel, and obviously the Jedi Steps. The way that the film would pretty often take the time in important character scenes to just hold on a close-up of an actor not speaking...that kind of stuff went a long way for me. I felt a surprising number of strong moments of intimacy in this movie. Maybe I'm giving it too much of a break because I've been so disappointed with genre movies over the years, but this was actually pretty refreshing to me in the "breathing room" department.

[publicist 4,643]

THE REVENANT

 

If the sight of bearded men with earnest faces heavily grunting and puffing doesn't disturb you and you like the woods, this film is for you. A more puzzling question is why all the breathtaking sights are leavened with juicy doses of torture porn, all in the service of another eyebrow-raising 'revenge' story (was there anything to be said on this topic after 'Jaws - The Revenge'?).

 

Still, the photography is gorgeous, there is a bear attack to end all bear attacks and...did i mention the photography? But - to be quite honest - it's a daffy picture. It might make for the greatest LSD trip after 2001 but as it is, it would need an actor the size of Charles Bronson fighting Lee Van Cleef to forgive the blood-and-soil-silliness of the story.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

It's certainly the most "cinematic" film of the year though and that's enough for me.  It's a rare feeling these days.  

[King Mark 3,631]

went to the cinema and chose on the spot...Joy. it had Jennifer Lawrence so I figured what the heck.  It was super boring

[publicist 4,643]

4 hours ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

It's certainly the most "cinematic" film of the year though and that's enough for me.  It's a rare feeling these days.  

 

As i said, silliness and brilliance go really hand in hand. Though totally ignoring the story and the aesthetic means by which it is told, this i couldn't do.

[Quintus 5,399]

A bear attack even more terrifying than Bart's in The Edge? 

 

Screw that! 

[publicist 4,643]

Easily.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I don't know, the CGI took me out of it a bit.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

10 hours ago, king mark said:

went to the cinema and chose on the spot...Joy. it had Jennifer Lawrence so I figured what the heck.  It was super boring

 

Another boring David O. Russel flick starring all the same people.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[JoeinAR 1,949]

 Used my movie gift card to see The Force Awakens again. I have to stay tied with Stefan with 4 viewings.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Good....GOOOOOD!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Why? It'll be out on tape soon.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I have nothing to play a tape on.

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Nor does Drax.

[Wojo 2,453]

There are two working VCRs at my parents' house. 

 

It's rather sad that all these people who are so proud to not have kept their VCRs must have never had home movies on VHS. 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

2 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Nor does Drax.

 

Yes I do. I have a Sony VCR in my movie room and a Sansui VCR in my bedroom.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Hipster. 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Not so. I've just kept them all these years because there's still so much I have on tape that I can't be bothered digitising.

 

And I shave daily.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Smooth as an android's bottom!

[publicist 4,643]

 

The Big Short

 

Wickedly funny workup of the absurdities of modern capitalist economy, if a bit too long. With all the stuff i've been seeing lately (Bone Tomahawk is another good one) 2015 shapes up us not too bad.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

As a strong believer in free market capitalism, I'll approach this film with caution.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Capitalism failed us in 2008.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[publicist 4,643]

6 minutes ago, Drax said:

As a strong believer in free market capitalism, I'll approach this film with caution.

 

Free market has got nothing to do with it. If human stupidity on a global scale needed a pointed prime example, this would be it.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Don't spend what you don't have, don't borrow what you can't pay back!

 

 

[Quintus 5,399]

 

41 minutes ago, publicist said:

 

The Big Short

 

Wickedly funny workup of the absurdities of modern capitalist economy, if a bit too long. With all the stuff i've been seeing lately (Bone Tomahawk is another good one) 2015 shapes up us not too bad.

 

Anything like Glengarry Glen Ross? 

[publicist 4,643]

More like 'It's a Mad Mad Mad World'.

[Quintus 5,399]

I should have known looking at the screenshots!

[Jay 37,346]

 

Bridge of Spies

 

Eh.  It's not bad, it's not great, it just... is.  I haven't seen many cold war films (are there many cold war films?) so it was nice to learn a little bit about what it was like back then.  But the film in and of itself isn't terribly compelling.  It has a kind of dreary atmosphere and the stakes are never set up to be that engaging.  There were some cool transition shots (a falling pilot fading into a spinning fan, a judge saying all rise and it cuts to children standing up to state the pledge of allegiance, etc.  But there were no cool shots that stood out or anything.

 

Overall, its not a bad or poorly made film or anything, its just..... It's just that when you have a big director like Spielberg, who can assemble the best casts and crews around, you just want him to do really interesting and compelling projects, to put those resources to good use.  This is nothing special.  He's been attached to so many more interesting sounding films in the last 15 years, and I don't know what makes him leave so many and do something like this instead!

 

Newman's score was completely fine for the movie, and I doubt terribly different from what we would have gotten from Williams.

 

Oh, and Mark Rylance was great!

[Jay 37,346]

 

 

Joy

 

An interesting story completely over-directed by David O Russell.  The story of  a housewive who invents a handy new mop, then has to struggle to get it made, then has to struggle to get it sold, then has to struggle to get her fair share of the profits and a fair production deal, could certainly make for a compelling two hour fair.  But Russel fills the movie up with way too many pointless directorial tricks as well as outright confusing ones.

 

For example, there are multiple scenes where a group of characters are all watching something or someone, and the camera lingers on all their faces for way too long, before we've even seen what it is they are looking at!  Or a new character is introduced, and we only seen their hands and their back until a ways in, after they've already had a lot of dialogue.

 

And its just filled with long lingering close-ups of Lawrence, like he's in love with her or something.  And the blocking and staging of many shots is just awkward and weird.

 

So a great cast goes to waste in what could have been a little interesting film, but is instead just an odd hodge-podge of weirdness.  Oh well.

[KK 3,307]

That film is just all over the place. Had potential though.

6 hours ago, publicist said:

 

The Big Short

 

Wickedly funny workup of the absurdities of modern capitalist economy, if a bit too long. With all the stuff i've been seeing lately (Bone Tomahawk is another good one) 2015 shapes up us not too bad.

 

Yup. This was good stuff, for the most part. One of my favourites of the year actually.