What Is The Last Film You Watched? (2020 films)

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

How is it these filmmakers think crappy mastering looks any good??

[Quintus 5,399]

I was watching clips of Jackson's 4K HDR (re)mastering of Lord of the Rings on YouTube. Holy shit the Rohirrim at the Pelennor is a serious upgrade. 

[Chen G. 3,943]

On 12/5/2020 at 3:50 AM, Edmilson said:

Not exactly hyped for Mank, it looked for me like one of those "Oscar bait" movies

 

You said it!

 

Looks like a film made FOR Academy voters. Fincher could just as well film himself begging for a gilded statuette: its the same idea.

[A24 4,326]

What are some typical traits of an Oscar bait movie? This one is very emotionally distant and not for the casual viewer. 

[Quintus 5,399]

It is immediately obvious that Netflix furnished the sequel to last Christmas's The Christmas Chronicles with a much more generous budget this time, because it really shows in what is a pleasingly lively adventure and a clear improvement over the lacklustre original. A proper Crimbo movie, me and the kids had a total scream with Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn and some likeable child performances, who are all given plenty to do. Chris Columbus was brought in to direct this time, and it shows: this is a highly competent family adventure film, and suddenly I'm thinking maybe I have always been too quick to dismiss his clearly reliable skills and ability to deliver the goods. Would have done well on the big screen, given the chance. Bags of heart, funny and inventively written, I'd say watch it if you're lacking xmas feels so far this 2020 holiday.

[KK 3,307]

Interesting. We watched the original last night and I was quite surprised by how half-assed most of it seemed, especially on the budget end.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

10 hours ago, AC1 said:

What are some typical traits of an Oscar bait movie? This one is very emotionally distant and not for the casual viewer. 

There is no such thing as an " Oscar bait movie".

It's a term invented by Internet losers who only want to watch MCU and DCEU movies

14 hours ago, The Big Man said:

How is it these filmmakers think crappy mastering looks any good??

They think if they make a film that LOOKS like KANE, critics will hail THEM as a genius.

😝😜😛😅

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

But it doesn't even look like CK. CK wasn't so dark and miserable looking. It had highlights, as they used back then because they knew the necessity of contrast. But that Mank shot above looks like indistinct grey mush.

[A24 4,326]

Could it be some kind of HDR compatibility problem?

 

(For the record, I didn't correct the shot, somebody else did)

[bruce marshall 1,315]

14 hours ago, AC1 said:

 

 

He should have used those dreadful filters that Soderbergh used in TRAFFIK.

6 minutes ago, The Big Man said:

But it doesn't even look like CK. CK wasn't so dark and miserable looking. It had highlights, as they used back then because they knew the necessity of contrast. But that Mank shot above looks like indistinct grey mush.

I should have said "...if they TRY to make a film..."

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

They obviously need to try harder.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

Nth

I'm tired of filmmakers who try to make films LOOK like the era they.depict.

There have been a bunch of late Sixties early Seventies films that employ this gimmick.

Most look like garbage

8 minutes ago, The Big Man said:

But it doesn't even look like CK. CK wasn't so dark and miserable looking. It had highlights, as they used back then because they knew the necessity of contrast. But that Mank shot above looks like indistinct grey mush.

I should have said "...if they TRY to make a film..."

[A24 4,326]

Mank also has the 'cue marks' in the upper-right corner, you know, like in them olden days.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Ooooo like in Fight Club

[Quintus 5,399]

Fight Club looks more like The Boys (or visa versa). 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,498]

1 hour ago, AC1 said:

Mank also has the 'cue marks' in the upper-right corner, you know, like in them olden days.

You mean "cigarette burns"? 

[KK 3,307]

 

Mank

 

There is more substance here than I suspected there would be. It's dense, full of heavy Hollywood politik mixed in with plenty of clever zingers that makes a Sorkin screenplay seem like lightweight Marvel. But it's messy. Between the uneven flashback structure and the massive ensemble of characters that never stop talking, you're pretty much drained trying to discern the narrative's key dramatic beats. Its meandering, repetitive first half is ultimately rescued by the third act. And while I can appreciate what it's trying to do, there is an air of phoniness around it. In its meticulous style, endless Hollywood cameos/name-dropping and self-congratulatory propaganda, it manages to leave me pretty cold by the end.

 

It will, of course, go home with Best Picture next year.

 

P.S. Reznor and Ross's score pretty much just plays as anonymous wallpaper music for most of it.

[Jay 37,287]

9 minutes ago, KK said:

Reznor and Ross's score pretty much just plays as anonymous wallpaper music for most of it.

 

For the parts that don't fall into the "most", what stood out for you?

[KK 3,307]

It's really just the "main theme" and the opening suspense cue that I still remember. But they don't feel uniquely tailored for the scenes they play in imo. They kind of just play in the background.

[Jay 37,287]

Cool.  I'll hopefully watch Mank this weekend

[crocodile 7,984]

On 12/8/2020 at 10:53 PM, KK said:

 

Mank

 

There is more substance here than I suspected there would be. It's dense, full of heavy Hollywood politik mixed in with plenty of clever zingers that makes a Sorkin screenplay seem like lightweight Marvel. But it's messy. Between the uneven flashback structure and the massive ensemble of characters that never stop talking, you're pretty much drained trying to discern the narrative's key dramatic beats. Its meandering, repetitive first half is ultimately rescued by the third act. And while I can appreciate what it's trying to do, there is an air of phoniness around it. In its meticulous style, endless Hollywood cameos/name-dropping and self-congratulatory propaganda, it manages to leave me pretty cold by the end.

 

It will, of course, go home with Best Picture next year.

 

P.S. Reznor and Ross's score pretty much just plays as anonymous wallpaper music for most of it.

I don't mind phoniness as much because it works well with the stylised 1940's setting (as opposed to realistic) which work quite well as a sort of parallel to Welles' film.

 

It also wasn't heavy-going for me at all.

 

Karol

[A24 4,326]

 

Secret agents, exotic locations, big set pieces, a supervillain, ... It's a James Bond movie with some science fiction thrown into the mix. If John David Washington was British, the Broccoli family would have found their first black James Bond. Watchable even though the 'inverted' concept is confusing. Göransson's electronic score works. 6/10

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I couldn't stand it.

[A24 4,326]

Because of the perplexity that it causes? Or did you hate everything?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,498]

Wow. TENET is an older film?

[A24 4,326]

Time doesn't stand still.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

31 minutes ago, AC1 said:

Because of the perplexity that it causes? Or did you hate everything?

 

I couldn't work out what the fuck was happening. My friend who I saw it with kept taunting me that was "dopey" for not getting it, and she seemed to have a firm grasp on all the technical, plotty sci-fi stuff, but I struggled with it.

[A24 4,326]

It helps if you don't try to grasp the 'inversion' thingy at all (all though I can't say I enjoyed the final battle with the two teams).

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I had no idea what was happening. Or even what the movie was all about.

 

Didn't help that the film was so loud, I was wearing ear plugs. But doing that, I could hardly hear the dialogue, which was mixed stupidly low.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

1 hour ago, AC1 said:

Because of the perplexity that it causes? Or did you hate everything?

The latter.

26 minutes ago, The Big Man said:

I had no idea what was happening. Or even what the movie was all about.

 

Didn't help that the film was so loud, I was wearing ear plugs. But doing that, I could hardly hear the dialogue, which was mixed stupidly low.

Every Nolan film gets the same criticism of the soundtrack mix.

Then I watch the home version and it sounds just fine.

??????

54 minutes ago, The Big Man said:

 

I couldn't work out what the fuck was happening. My friend who I saw it with kept taunting me that was "dopey" for not getting it, and she seemed to have a firm grasp on all the technical, plotty sci-fi stuff, but I struggled with it.

Sounds like INCEPTION,  which sucked.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

25 minutes ago, bruce marshall said:

Every Nolan film gets the same criticism of the soundtrack mix.

Then I watch the home version and it sounds just fine.

??????

 

I had the same problem with TDKR. So many actors were just mumbling their lines, I had trouble comprehending what was happening. Yet, the home video version was fine.

[Chen G. 3,943]

It’s very much in the vein of Inception, just more belabored and even more impersonal.

 

Nolan’s crashing an actual 747 is one of the most underwhelming things ever: you’d imagine a bit crash, but instead they just gently taxi-d the plane into a wall. Zzzz...

 

28 minutes ago, bruce marshall said:

Sounds like INCEPTION,  which sucked.

 

[bruce marshall 1,315]

Maybe it's IMAX .

I saw TDKR in that forum and found the dialog a bit hard to get.

The blue sounds fine.

I saw DUNKIRK in non- IMAX 70mm and it was fine. Folks who saw it in IMAX complained!

3 minutes ago, The Big Man said:

 

I had the same problem with TDKR. So many actors were just mumbling their lines, I had trouble comprehending what was happening. Yet, the home video version was fine.

I found Matthew McGonehy hard to understand in INTERSTELLAR. But, I think it's the actor not sound recording.

[Edmilson 7,392]

Tenet is Nolan's worst film so far. It has its moments, but the script overall is really bad.

[A24 4,326]

43 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Tenet is Nolan's worst film so far. It has its moments, but the script overall is really bad.

 

The script is definitely the weakest link. It's basically a series of big set pieces with almost nothing going on in between, it's just characters preparing for the next gigantic set piece. To care for them is virtually impossible. The villain is bluntly drawn, he's just evil in a simplistic way and lacks any form of subtlety or humor. Some of the character interactions are badly handled, the ones with the older Indian woman in particular. The shot where she said "We're at war with the future" is a good example of that.

[Edmilson 7,392]

Nolan might be a talented director, but he never was a great screenwriter. And the quality of the scripts of his films dropped considerably once he stopped collaborating with his brother Jonathan.

[KK 3,307]

Huh. That's a surprisingly generous score from Alex.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Tenet just sucked. 

 

Time ti pull out Die Hard, 4 versions of Scrooge(A Christmas Carol) since the weekend starts today. Looking forward to a full plate of Christmas films. 

[KK 3,307]

Just now, JoeinAR said:

Tenet just sucked. 

 

Probably the best way to sum it up, yes.

[A24 4,326]

14 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Nolan might be a talented director, but he never was a great screenwriter. And the quality of the scripts of his films dropped considerably once he stopped collaborating with his brother Jonathan.

 

PTA and l liked Dunkirk.

 

13 hours ago, KK said:

Huh. That's a surprisingly generous score from Alex.

 

I didn't hate it, unlike Inception.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

BB...TDK..TDKR....DUNKIRK..

Four classics.

Not a bad track record.

[Edmilson 7,392]

1 hour ago, AC1 said:

PTA and l llked Dunkirk.

 

 

Dunkirk might be a good movie, but not because of Nolan's script. 

 

The script is the most problematic aspect of that movie.

[KK 3,307]

1 hour ago, AC1 said:

I didn't hate it, unlike Inception.

 

Interesting. Since Tenet is like the worst parts of Inception, but on steroids.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,498]

3 hours ago, JoeinAR said:

Looking forward to a full plate of Christmas films. 

 ...including:

 

BRAZIL

 

THE WILD GEESE

 

DIE HARD 2

 

GREMLINS

 

BATMAN RETURNS

 

L. A. CONFIDENTIAL

 

STAR TREK GENERATIONS

(sort of)

 

THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

 

MONTY PYTHON'S LIFE OF BRIAN

 

HOME ALONE

 

HOME ALONE 2

 

MIRACLE ON 34th ST.

(the proper one)

 

NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION

 

PLANES, TRAINS, AND

AUTOMOBILES

 

HOOK

[Brundlefly 2,385]

Tenet is a great movie, however, the broad audience that apparently got used to emotional fastfood had demands on the movie that the movie has never even placed on itself. The dialogues and actions of the characters were never ever intended to be natural, but abstract. The critique of a movie needs to be in line with the movie's general premise and intention (important: not the maker's intention!). It is not a coincidence that the protagonist is called the "protagonist" in Tenet.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

If you criticize the audience for not " getting " TENET ( haven't seen it), how do explain the enormous box office results for INCEPTION?

[Brundlefly 2,385]

???

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

Bruce is like performance art. It's not meant to be understood, but to be relished for its supposed beauty.

[Edmilson 7,392]

[Chen G. 3,943]

38 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

The critique of a movie needs to be in line with the movie's general premise and intention (important: not the maker's intention!). It is not a coincidence that the protagonist is called the "protagonist" in Tenet.

 

Just because a choice is intentional doesn't mean it works.