A few films recently watched.

  On 1/21/2010 at 12:20 AM, kokoon said:

  On 1/20/2010 at 11:57 PM, Awepittance said:

is it just me or dd the Road get significantly less attention in this thread than the Book of Eli? thats the opposite of what i would have expected out of the film faggery of watmm

i rarely go to the cinema and i went to see the book of eli solely because i got the tickets for free. i didn't even know the movie existed. and didn't know about "the road" until today.

 

anyways, i couldn't get past the really heavy christian theme in the book of eli, so i tried to research my hypothesis some more - and i ended up here: http://www.christianforums.com/t7434585/

 

it deals with some semi-interesting questions.

 

but apart from that... i'm leaning towards the conclusion that the movie itself is completely and absolutely worthless.

i didn't read the film that way. i felt like it was more a criticism of religion being misinterpreted. it was ridiculous, i pointed that out, and i don't think it's a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but i didn't have some kind of kneejerk "this is a christian film and i hate organized religion!" reaction while watching it. i thought the idea of there only being one bible left in the world was an interesting twist on the usual hunt for oil/resources plot in a post apocalyptic movie.

quite frankly i just found the road incredibly tedious and boring. it looked fine, it had good acting, but in the end i don't see how it was any stronger. or less religious actually. if you've read the book the road is a pretty heavy christian allegory, as are most of mccarthy's ramblings. i'd rather have fun. and the book of eli was fun.

to answer your question though: i liked how it lingered on characters. it developed them and made me care, which was a reason for me to watch it, beyond the visuals, which were pretty great. and i liked that it explored something that i'm not used to seeing in a post apocalypse movie. it was very genre. it worked for me. that's all i can say really.

Moon - 8.6 or so /10

  On 1/21/2010 at 5:42 AM, zaphod said:

  On 1/21/2010 at 12:20 AM, kokoon said:

  On 1/20/2010 at 11:57 PM, Awepittance said:

is it just me or dd the Road get significantly less attention in this thread than the Book of Eli? thats the opposite of what i would have expected out of the film faggery of watmm

i rarely go to the cinema and i went to see the book of eli solely because i got the tickets for free. i didn't even know the movie existed. and didn't know about "the road" until today.

 

anyways, i couldn't get past the really heavy christian theme in the book of eli, so i tried to research my hypothesis some more - and i ended up here: http://www.christianforums.com/t7434585/

 

it deals with some semi-interesting questions.

 

but apart from that... i'm leaning towards the conclusion that the movie itself is completely and absolutely worthless.

 

i didn't read the film that way. i felt like it was more a criticism of religion being misinterpreted. it was ridiculous, i pointed that out, and i don't think it's a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but i didn't have some kind of kneejerk "this is a christian film and i hate organized religion!" reaction while watching it. i thought the idea of there only being one bible left in the world was an interesting twist on the usual hunt for oil/resources plot in a post apocalyptic movie.

quite frankly i just found the road incredibly tedious and boring. it looked fine, it had good acting, but in the end i don't see how it was any stronger. or less religious actually. if you've read the book the road is a pretty heavy christian allegory, as are most of mccarthy's ramblings. i'd rather have fun. and the book of eli was fun.

 

to answer your question though: i liked how it lingered on characters. it developed them and made me care, which was a reason for me to watch it, beyond the visuals, which were pretty great. and i liked that it explored something that i'm not used to seeing in a post apocalypse movie. it was very genre. it worked for me. that's all i can say really.

you are a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma

for a religious themed movie about the end of the world, it was pretty fun. the road was a depressing trudge nowhere. like, if i wanted to watch something fun, i'd put on ferris beullar's day off, but within this context, the book of eli is fun/stupid/entertaining/whatever else.

  On 1/21/2010 at 5:53 AM, zaphod said:

for a religious themed movie about the end of the world, it was pretty fun. the road was a depressing trudge nowhere. like, if i wanted to watch something fun, i'd put on ferris beullar's day off, but within this context, the book of eli is fun/stupid/entertaining/whatever else.

i agree, but you're still a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma

  On 1/21/2010 at 5:37 AM, karmakramer said:

  On 1/21/2010 at 4:41 AM, lumpenprol said:

  On 1/21/2010 at 4:35 AM, karmakramer said:

 

you liked a three hour movie that blew its visual effects load by the 45 minute mark? once you get the idea that a) the family isn't going to die, cause what story would be told if they did b) the earth is either falling apart from earth-quakes, melting from lava, or flooding from water, so once you have seen all three, its basically a repetition of the same outcomes c) despite this being the most horrific mass elimination of humans ever, there was little violence shown. Independence day shits all over it cause you got Jeff Goldblum talking about science and shit

 

 

if you expect me to argue the merits of 2012 I'm not quite that debased yet

 

if dicks and cocks are the butt of most of the conversations at these parts then yes, I am asking you to indulge me

ok...I didn't like Independence Day because it had too much jingoist American bullshit in it, plus the ending with uploading the virus to the alien craft was pretty dumb even for an Emmerich movie. I didn't like Day After Tomorrow (even though I worked on it) because it's basically a film that takes place in a library, and the enemy is..frost. I expected 2012 to be filled with the typical Emmerich cartoon characters, but at least in this case they were multi-ethnic and a bit more imaginative - I liked Harrelson's conspiracy nut, and especially the Russian tycoon guy. I thought the fact that the arks were being made in China was an amusing (and realistic) twist. I liked the idea that all the world governments bonded together to try to save their asses. I thought it was Emmerich's best film yet, which isn't saying a whole lot, but I wasn't bored. And the effects were good. The only part I disliked was the whole underswater struggle to get the wrench out of the gears of the ark, that went on too long and was annoying. Plus John Cusack.

I think the reason it can't be easily compared to Avatar is Avatar was trying to be much more than just a popcorn flick.

id see 2012 if it was in 3d

  On 1/21/2010 at 5:42 AM, zaphod said:

i didn't read the film that way. i felt like it was more a criticism of religion being misinterpreted. it was ridiculous, i pointed that out, and i don't think it's a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but i didn't have some kind of kneejerk "this is a christian film and i hate organized religion!" reaction while watching it. i thought the idea of there only being one bible left in the world was an interesting twist on the usual hunt for oil/resources plot in a post apocalyptic movie.

quite frankly i just found the road incredibly tedious and boring. it looked fine, it had good acting, but in the end i don't see how it was any stronger. or less religious actually. if you've read the book the road is a pretty heavy christian allegory, as are most of mccarthy's ramblings. i'd rather have fun. and the book of eli was fun.

 

to answer your question though: i liked how it lingered on characters. it developed them and made me care, which was a reason for me to watch it, beyond the visuals, which were pretty great. and i liked that it explored something that i'm not used to seeing in a post apocalypse movie. it was very genre. it worked for me. that's all i can say really.

that's all right. i guess it was exactly that kneejerk from it being a christian film that disabled me of seeing it as i should. i mean - if you're making a film about christian faith, at least use the movie to present it valuable in any way. i'm quite the non-fan of christianity, but i guess i could see it as something positive and worth fighting for - if at least the film tried to make it look good.

the guy killed tens, probably hundreds of people, just to preserve the holy bible "for the future generations" (i could also say "for his own interest"). but how does the movie justify those casualties? and i'm not talking about all the things "the holy bible" implies, i'm talking about what's inside the movie! what if that book wasn't the holy bible, but some made-up sacred tome? would the crusade he performed still be acceptable?

those questions bother me very much, and have prevented me from appreciating the film on any level other than aesthetic, which was mildly appealing.

so i had to come up with that interpretation of my own: the movie problematizes and possibly even criticizes the actions in the name of religion, possibly even christianity. or maybe faith?

well, if nothing else, at least my wife and i had a really nice discussion about this after the movie :)

  On 1/21/2010 at 5:42 AM, zaphod said:

  On 1/21/2010 at 12:20 AM, kokoon said:

  On 1/20/2010 at 11:57 PM, Awepittance said:

is it just me or dd the Road get significantly less attention in this thread than the Book of Eli? thats the opposite of what i would have expected out of the film faggery of watmm

i rarely go to the cinema and i went to see the book of eli solely because i got the tickets for free. i didn't even know the movie existed. and didn't know about "the road" until today.

 

anyways, i couldn't get past the really heavy christian theme in the book of eli, so i tried to research my hypothesis some more - and i ended up here: http://www.christianforums.com/t7434585/

 

it deals with some semi-interesting questions.

 

but apart from that... i'm leaning towards the conclusion that the movie itself is completely and absolutely worthless.

 

i didn't read the film that way. i felt like it was more a criticism of religion being misinterpreted. it was ridiculous, i pointed that out, and i don't think it's a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but i didn't have some kind of kneejerk "this is a christian film and i hate organized religion!" reaction while watching it. i thought the idea of there only being one bible left in the world was an interesting twist on the usual hunt for oil/resources plot in a post apocalyptic movie.

quite frankly i just found the road incredibly tedious and boring. it looked fine, it had good acting, but in the end i don't see how it was any stronger. or less religious actually. if you've read the book the road is a pretty heavy christian allegory, as are most of mccarthy's ramblings. i'd rather have fun. and the book of eli was fun.

 

to answer your question though: i liked how it lingered on characters. it developed them and made me care, which was a reason for me to watch it, beyond the visuals, which were pretty great. and i liked that it explored something that i'm not used to seeing in a post apocalypse movie. it was very genre. it worked for me. that's all i can say really.

I couldn't agree more. I think you're looking a little too hard for something that isn't there, Kokoon. This film is basically a post-apocalyptic Zatoichi film with some Christian subtext sprinkled in.

The Brothers Bloom 4.5/10 - Kinda disappointing. For a movie about grifters/con artists it was pretty boring and didn't really have a sense of fun to it. It felt like they mistook "quirkiness" for fun. Mark Ruffalo was decent in it. At least, he didn't seem like he was on quaaludes like he does in most films. Rinko Kikuchi nearly steals the film and she only speaks a couple times throughout. Pluses: the set design, cinematography was gorgeous, the use of actual locations. Minuses: Rachel Weisz. She basically plays Zoe Deschanel in this. I don't know why people keep casting her as love interest in films. She's not a great actress and she doesn't exude any kind of sensuality.

Big Fan 7.5/10 - This was better than I was expecting. Patton Oswalt is a decent actor. Although I would have loved to see what the movie would have been like if Oswalt and Kevin Corrigan had switched roles. Some of the minor characters come off like they border on parody but otherwise the film felt pretty true to life. Also, while I enjoyed the ending it really didn't fit, in tone, with the rest of the film.

i'm probably giving the movie more credit than i should in thinking it was actually a deft criticism of blind faith. but i'd like to think it was.

Watched eXistenZ last night. What started as kind of a cheesy sci fi flick quickly became really involving, I was so glad Cronenberg stayed away from doing some over the top 3d effects which I kind of expected from a film made in 99. Ended up loving it, sure it's silly and maybe takes itself a bit too seriously, but it really worked. Also it's the first time in film history that awkward acting improved the film, some of the characters reminded me of NPC's in Oblivion which of course fit perfectly.

  On 1/21/2010 at 11:14 AM, Obel said:

Watched eXistenZ last night. What started as kind of a cheesy sci fi flick quickly became really involving, I was so glad Cronenberg stayed away from doing some over the top 3d effects which I kind of expected from a film made in 99. Ended up loving it, sure it's silly and maybe takes itself a bit too seriously, but it really worked. Also it's the first time in film history that awkward acting improved the film, some of the characters reminded me of NPC's in Oblivion which of course fit perfectly.

i was skeptical of the movie at first, the cover looked really sleazy but i ended up loving it.

  On 1/21/2010 at 12:11 PM, Awepittance said:

  On 1/21/2010 at 11:14 AM, Obel said:

Watched eXistenZ last night. What started as kind of a cheesy sci fi flick quickly became really involving, I was so glad Cronenberg stayed away from doing some over the top 3d effects which I kind of expected from a film made in 99. Ended up loving it, sure it's silly and maybe takes itself a bit too seriously, but it really worked. Also it's the first time in film history that awkward acting improved the film, some of the characters reminded me of NPC's in Oblivion which of course fit perfectly.

 

i was skeptical of the movie at first, the cover looked really sleazy but i ended up loving it.

Yeah! That's what I thought!

Also it captured the idea of virtual reality in the best way I've seen a film represent it yet. I've always thought VR was a thing used badly in films. Doesn't help that it's spelt "eXistenZ" though, as shallow as it sounds it almost puts you off seeing it.

  On 1/21/2010 at 12:16 PM, Obel said:

  On 1/21/2010 at 12:11 PM, Awepittance said:

  On 1/21/2010 at 11:14 AM, Obel said:

Watched eXistenZ last night. What started as kind of a cheesy sci fi flick quickly became really involving, I was so glad Cronenberg stayed away from doing some over the top 3d effects which I kind of expected from a film made in 99. Ended up loving it, sure it's silly and maybe takes itself a bit too seriously, but it really worked. Also it's the first time in film history that awkward acting improved the film, some of the characters reminded me of NPC's in Oblivion which of course fit perfectly.

 

i was skeptical of the movie at first, the cover looked really sleazy but i ended up loving it.

 

Yeah! That's what I thought!

 

Also it captured the idea of virtual reality in the best way I've seen a film represent it yet. I've always thought VR was a thing used badly in films. Doesn't help that it's spelt "eXistenZ" though, as shallow as it sounds it almost puts you off seeing it.

This is one of the films I always end up recommending to friends who are big into sci-fi and video games. I love this scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lYRoF0PYVs

existenz is really underrated. i think its one of cronenbergs better films actually

the mirror (tarkovsky) - 1/10

You're hilarious!

cause its boring and artsy fartsy

  On 1/21/2010 at 10:34 PM, Z_B_Z said:

existenz is really underrated. i think its one of cronenbergs better films actually

i agree, im not a fan of his recent non supernatural movies so i think probably that was his last really great film. Actually i take that back i enjoyed Spider a lot too, the ones he made after that didn't do it for me though besides the few scenes of extreme gore they could have been made by any other filmmaker and i wouldn't have noticed (history of violence and eastern promises).

  On 1/22/2010 at 12:56 AM, Awepittance said:

  On 1/21/2010 at 10:34 PM, Z_B_Z said:

existenz is really underrated. i think its one of cronenbergs better films actually

 

i agree, im not a fan of his recent non supernatural movies so i think probably that was his last really great film. Actually i take that back i enjoyed Spider a lot too, the ones he made after that didn't do it for me though besides the few scenes of extreme gore they could have been made by any other filmmaker and i wouldn't have noticed (history of violence and eastern promises).

the thing with cronenberg is that maybe his genre has changed but his themes remain the same. he was never a "sci fi" directer imo. but his themes lend well to tat genre.

yeah i agree, some of his most interesting films are not scifi just really surreal like Dead Ringers.

just saw a Serious Man again, holy shit this film kicked my ass the 2nd time. 9.5/10 , similar to Synecdoche, i couldn't really go with the flow the first time i saw it but afrer a 2nd viewing all of the pieces fell into place for me beautifully. It also seems to have more philosophical themes than any other coen brother movie. highly recommend it. I kind of wish i was more into it the first time because i would have told everyone i know to go see it while it was still in the theatre, practically no one i know had even heard about it.

ive only seen a serious man once but i can definitely see how it resonated with you. im gonna watch it again with my brother and can only see it growing on me... the best films leave you waiting to see them again and i certainly got that feeling with a serious man.

yeah at first my natural reaction is to get kind of pissed when i'm sad a movie is over so quickly but in retrospect i think it's usually a good thing

I'm about to watch A Serious Man for a second time. Last I saw was in a theater, then the day after I read the script... I'm looking forward to what I can find this time around.

The Killing - 9/10 - I loved just about every bit of it spare the narration bits. Compared to other heist films of around the same time like Bob the Gamber or Rififi I can say I hold The Killing above them.