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

[KK 3,307]

Sometimes Nolan spews just as much bullshit as Zimmer does in interviews.

Maybe. But. most often than not, he's talking about the technical stuff and mechanics of film. I doubt he'd be so arrogant to compare himself to Kubrick on intellectual level.

In fact, there was one interview (around the time we was starting working on TDKR), when someone told him he's clearly as good as Kubrick and Hitchcock and apparently he didn't take that compliment very well (i.e. uncomfortable look in his face). He's an intelligent bloke but more on a technical level, rather than auteur. And that is fine.

Karol

Oh I definitely don't think Nolan would hold himself up to Kubrick's level. Just that there are some interviews when he talks about the philosophy behind his "novel" methods and it borders on the absurd...

Having said that, Nolan's interviews are always great to watch, as you say, when he discusses the technical side of things.

This presents an interesting problem though. At what point does a person speaking with gusto about their ideas, their inner experiences, become absurd or pretentious? One is tempted to keep one's mouth shut on such matters since that point seems very easy to reach in many people's views. If Nolan and Zimmer are merely speaking passionately about these things, and I think even with Zimmer it's possible that he isn't just a BS publicity whore as you and other seem to think, who are we to decry them as weird? Can no one air their most abstract or daring thoughts without being branded a windbag? Sure, some are, but all? Don't we all have such thoughts, though kept locked away for fear of the very criticisms we perpetuate?

Well sure. But if you're literally spewing at the same anecdote, with nearly identical metaphysical, "out-there" language, in every single interview, roundtable discussion or anything with a camera filming it, then I start to doubt just how genuine it is.

[Hlao-roo 389]

But if you're literally spewing at the same anecdote, with nearly identical metaphysical, "out-there" language, in every single interview, roundtable discussion or anything with a camera filming it, then I start to doubt just how genuine it is.

It's easy to fall into the same talking points time and again when you're on a press tour.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Exactly. I find myself repeating things like that and I certainly don't do press tours.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Stop telling the same story Hans even though we keep asking the same question!

[KK 3,307]

He brings it up without the question, like just out of the blue! I remember finding him pretty annoying in this year's composer's roundtable. Nolan also wasn't that great either.

[mrbellamy 6,298]

I thought Nolan came across really well in that roundtable, actually. Probably the most outgoing and enthusiastic I've seen him. He seemed more in his element with all those other directors around, happy to be there and excited about their films.

[KK 3,307]

I thought he actually came off a bit arrogant in that roundtable. He's surrounded by others who were so humble about their work that year and really casually sharing anecdotes, while Nolan kept putting his own film and methods on a pedestal.

I usually really enjoy his interviews but that roundtable rubbed me in the wrong way.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

British twat!

[Quintus 5,399]

I haven't seen Interstellar yet, but is it worse than Prometheus?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No!

Far far better

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Both were lame.

[KK 3,307]

British twat!

Well you had the more seasoned British veteran, Mike Leigh, there. And he was quite humble and genuine with a good sense of humour. It was pleasure to hear him share about his work.

[crocodile 8,020]

I've not heard him saying anything twatty at all. Is it because he tried to engage other directors and/or the way he talks?

Karol

[Matt C 455]

Home - It's the usual DreamWorks Animation film with big stars providing the voices (rather than hire voice actors), but it's a decent time waster. Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez actually fare surprisingly well (especially surprised at the former), while Jim Parsons sticks out like a sore thumb. Every time Oh opens his mouth, it sounds like Sheldon doing a fan dub of the character. But still, not bad. It's colorful, has some funny scenes and it's over before it wears out its welcome.

[Sweeping Strings 2,365]

Avengers : Age Of Ultron - whilst this doesn't quite hit the heights of Avengers Assemble, it has a damn good try and is still a very enjoyable night at the movies.

[crocodile 8,020]

That is was.

Karol

[Sweeping Strings 2,365]

Unfriended - horror which (as you'd expect with that title) unfolds entirely across online social media. Not bad, quite tense in places with some good 'jumps'.

[Marian Schedenig 8,212]

Ex Machina

First rate Alex Garland, and also a very good AI movie. Somewhat reminiscent of Blade Runner (no surprise given the plot), but it also has a bit of a Shining vibe going on thanks to the setting. Great android design and effects, and well directed, too. I hope Garland is going to direct more of his own scripts.

[Matt C 455]

Avengers: Age of Ultron

An entertaining let-down. There's too much characters and plot that even Joss Whedon himself can't juggle properly, and the plot is just messy as can be. Furthermore, Whedon doesn't really take into account the events of The Winter Soldier (aside from a brief mention of those events plus Anthony Mackie's appearance), as this Steve Rogers bears little resemblance to the more hardened and wary Steve in that former pic. The clues leading to a Rogers and Natasha romance have been dropped in favor of a forced one between Natasha and Bruce Banner (doesn't help that Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo have no romantic chemistry) and the inclusion of Clint Barton's family life is an unpleasant surprise. Like the Natasha/Bruce pairing, it's there to give Jeremy Renner more screentime -- at the expense of other characters' development.

James Spader is wonderfully oily as nemesis Ultron, and the newer characters like Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen's Maximoff twins Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are a delight. (They have more chemistry as siblings than as Godzilla's married couple.) But maybe this is good that Joss Whedon is leaving the franchise now, and let the Russo Brothers handle Infinity War.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Cobain: Montage of Heck

Meh. They tried to put a unique spin on the tried and true formula for documentaries with these bizarre animated sequences interpreting, presumably, Cobain's writing. This thing dragged on for two hours. The interviews were sparse, but there were plenty of wacky statements by Kurt's mother and Courtney Love that had me rolling my eyes. I didn't take anything from it, really. Anyone with an interest in Nirvana and/or Kurt Cobain that had taken the time to do their own "investigation" into why he did it, what the fuck went wrong...you won't learn anything new. A pet peeve of mine is when documentaries incorporate clips we've seen a million times before. This happens a lot with film documentaries/featurettes/whatever you want to call them, where I'm just here to see the interviews and b.t.s. footage and they keep regurtitating the same old clips from the film. It happens a lot here. Old footage galore. The new home movies I just felt I shouldn't be watching. It had a good trailer, I'll give it that. But I cannot recommend it.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Did John Williams or E.T. have a cameo role in that or something?

[Jay 37,379]

Is that the doc where the guy making it found 100 new Cobain private tapes, and is going to release a Kurt Cobain "solo album" made from them?

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[crocodile 8,020]

Joss Whedon explained that wasn't flirting and that he thinks that just because Hawkeye and her are close doesn't mean they need to sleep together. And that it's a cliche of woman-man relationships. And he's right here. And no point in either The Avengers or The Winter Soldiers did I think Natasha was being serious when "flirting" (and they screened two movies just before Age of Ultron).

Karol - who thought both actors have good chemistry together (but that's just me)

[BloodBoal 7,538]

You Whedon apologist!

[crocodile 8,020]

I'm not even a fan!

Karol

[BloodBoal 7,538]

You don't have to be a fan to be an apologist!

[crocodile 8,020]

Than I do apologise. For everything Joss Whedon has ever done.

Karol

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Apology accepted, Kaptain Krok.

[A24 4,348]

You Whedon apologist!

Crocs is a monotheist, BloodBoal. To him, there can be only one (and it isn't Connor McLeod).

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Ah, yes. He only prays to the Nolan deity...

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Watched Exodus God's and Kings. Ridley Scott directed this??? He was once a director of some worth. The Ten Commandments is a classic. This film will soon and forever be forgotten.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Which film?

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Ba da ba dump

[Matt C 455]

Joss Whedon explained that wasn't flirting and that he thinks that just because Hawkeye and her are close doesn't mean they need to sleep together. And that it's a cliche of woman-man relationships. And he's right here. And no point in either The Avengers or The Winter Soldiers did I think Natasha was being serious when "flirting" (and they screened two movies just before Age of Ultron).

Karol - who thought both actors have good chemistry together (but that's just me)

I wasn't saying they do that, or resume their relationship. But the way Whedon gives Hawkeye more screentime by saying, "You know what, Clint has a wife and kids!" is obviously something Jeremy Renner asked for, and not something that was borne out of outlining the script. It felt clumsy and not well-integrated.

Another thing is that aside from events mentioned in The Winter Soldier, Steve doesn't want to find Bucky. It's frustrating.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Obviously The Avengers films can't incorporate every single story aspect from the separate film franchises. I don't have an issue with it.

[Brónach 1,302]

I suppose Whedon felt guilty about the way he used Hawkeye in the first movie.

[crocodile 8,020]

But they are looking for Bucky. They even say that. It's just that there is all this Hydra/Ultron thing going on that's more important at the moment.

As for Hawkeye, all this stuff was obviously a part of a joke that involved

"he's going to die in this film" cliche

.

Whedon talked about this a bit in a recent interview:

"I leaned so hard into that. It was a joy. I would cackle with delight. I would say, 'Let’s have a shot of him looking at a picture of his family!' Then, 'Tony should say, "One of us is definitely going to die!"' And I’d laugh and laugh.

He tells his wife, 'I’m going to fix this when I get home...'. I shot that scene two ways. I had written as, 'Go save the world, honey, and come back home to me!' Then I thought, 'Oh! I hate this.' But the studio quite liked it, and it wasn’t bad and Linda Cardellini is the secret weapon of this movie. I thought they shouldn’t say any of those things, they should just know she doesn’t want him to go. I’d shot some footage of him fixing something, a little bit on the railing... So it’s the old 'I can’t say goodbye' and she says, 'You’ll find something else to tear apart', and he goes, 'Last project, I promise.' He’s basically saying, 'I won’t do this again, I’ll come home to you darling.' You know, 'One more job, it’s perfectly safe, and then I’ll retire!' I really couldn’t have had more fun with that.

Karol

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It was well done

[BloodBoal 7,538]

And Whedon was laughing at you thinking that.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Thinking what?

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Cheap post editing, I see...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Removed a potential spoiler, actually

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I suppose Whedon felt guilty about the way he used Hawkeye in the first movie.

It humanized the movie. As much as it could.

[KK 3,307]

The Avengers: Age of Ultron

There is a lot that happens in the movie. So what you end up with is a much more uneven product than its predecessor. Having said that, it succeeds in being the more entertaining one. A large part of that has to do with the extended cast, tat includes some great new personalities. The heart of these films have always been in the natural charisma and sense of humour with the character interactions, and true to Whedon, there's plenty of that here. James Spader makes a great villain as Ultron, and is probably the most interesting villain of these Marvel films. Having said that, Ultron disappoints in the third act, when his prowess is less on display and you pretty much know he's lost, despite the 30 min of fighting that lies ahead. I dig the twins, and think the Scarlet Witch is kind of cool. Her visions were a neat touch, adding some diversity to the visual style. Vision also looks like a promising new addition to the team, despite his short screen-time. And naturally, the original cast is on top form.

But as you might have expected, this is a film of excess. Plenty of entertaining sequences, sure, but when you look back at it, you wonder how necessary it all is. Thor's side-quest was a needless distraction, at least in its present form. The Iron Man vs. Hulk was excessive. There's just a whole lot of fighting....and to think it has to blow up even bigger for the next film! To Whedon's credit though, this film doesn't really suffer from "battle fatigue", unlike the Hobbit 3, and there's a lot more fighting here. Jackson could learn a thing or two

And the Black Widow/Hulk relationship was pretty forced. I like the idea of exploring their inner demons and identifying themselves as monsters, but the romance didn't necessarily work. It would have been better I feel, to have a platonic relationship with flirting on the side as she had with Hawkeye and Captain America. As it is, this, plus Hawkeye's mysterious family, just kind of comes out of nowhere!

I was hoping they would dig deeper into a Captain America/Iron Man conflict to tease at the next film, but they disappointingly wrapped it up neatly. I chuckled at the Hawkeye red herring, largely because I knew the final outcome already (accidentally read it here).

Overall, it's a messy film. But it's one done with conviction, and it never really draws attention to its flaws. In that theatre, I was pretty entertained throughout, largely thanks to Whedon's skill at assembling a massive ensemble cast like this. So I enjoyed it more than the Avengers. Having said that, I dread how much bigger these films have to get (a friend told me, in the comic books, the Infinity War tears the universe apart or something....oh boy).

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No battle fatigue in The Hobbit 3!

Any comments on the music, KK

[BloodBoal 7,538]

So the guy who keeps on complaining about superhero films liked it more than most of us? OK...

[crocodile 8,020]

As far as I know, Cap/Stark conflict is not more developed because... it wasn't a set up for Civil War. The decision to make that film came later.

Karol

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

He seems to have gotten the spirit of it.

Like KK I do worry about these films needing to get bigger and bigger. What more is there then the Universe, Spock?

As far as I know, Cap/Stark conflict is not more developed because... it wasn't a set up for Civil War. The decision to make that film came later.

Karol

It felt like an extension of their rivalry in the first film. If anything Stark was let off a bit easy in this film.

[Jay 37,379]

As far as I know, Cap/Stark conflict is not more developed because... it wasn't a set up for Civil War. The decision to make that film came later.

Karol

Yes, the decisions to have Cap 3 be a "Civil War" adapation, and not some other Steve Rogers story, did stem from the massive success of the "dark and gritty" Winter Soldier film, which happened after Avengers 2 was already shooting. BUT, they did do reshoots to add footage into Avengers 2 to set up Civil War once that decision was made. There are articles mentioning this that I'm too lazy to hunt for right now.