What I've Been Watching: The Catch-All Film Thread

I'm not sure that I've ever watched a science fiction movie before with a book in hand like I did for the Last Jedi. That flick made some of the prequel movies look good by comparison. Not a movie I'd ever watch again.
 
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Myrthos said:
Feel free to discuss this further in another thread and let's get back to discussing movies again.
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Yes master, but don't forget this when most movies will be owned by Disney.
Carnifex said:
I'm not sure that I've ever watched a science fiction movie before with a book in hand like I did for the Last Jedi. That flick made some of the prequel movies look good by comparison. Not a movie I'd ever watch again.
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Worst movie ever. That is also an absolute.:evilgrin:


Alrik Fassbauer said:
Just found this linked via a fan forum : https://twitter.com/ahmedbest/status/1014222723764162561/photo/1

Apparingly the fan reactions drove the actor of Jar Jar Binks into thoughts of suicide.

And in these times, people will probably react with an "he deserved it" thing.
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While I hated Jar Jar as he was annoying I don't agree with the he deserved attitude.
 
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Watched two excellent movies over the last two days - Hotel Rwanda (2004) and Confessions (2010). Hotel Rwanda kind of changed how I feel about the whole perpetual east African civil wars nightmare, and Confessions is a great Japanese sociological horror film that has something pithy to say. I watched Sicario: Day of the Soldado in the theater last week. Good movie but wow, 11.1 channel XD surround sound really sucks compared to my home theater's simple 5.1 setup. Can barely hear the dialog because the center channels are so weak and overwhelmed. Don't think I'll ever go to the movies again, though I made this promise to myself before and broke it after nearly walking out on that Star Wars: The Last Jedi crap that some of you still suck up like milk from your mama's teat.
 
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Ripper said:
Hmm… I do like Joaquin, and I would like to see what he could do with the Joker, but the director appears to have a record of terrible films.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Phillips#Filmography
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I don't really care about the movie in itself - I will be watching it for the performance ;)

That said, you're right - those movies aren't exactly my cup of tea. Then again, sometimes directors can surprise when they're given a big opportunity.

For instance, I would never have thought Peter Jackson capable of doing LotR justice.

In fact, I expected LotR to be more or less like The Hobbit movies.

So, I guess we'll see :)
 
I would agree that it is an excellent film but I don't think I would describe it as satisfying. I think the question you have to ask is do you prefer to be chopped up as was the case in Rowanda or blown up as the case is today in Iraq.

Carnifex said:
Hotel Rwanda is a brutal and awesomely satisfying film. I've seen it twice so far, and still marvel at it.
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Carnifex said:
I meant in the sense that it tells a clear, coherent story, something that seems to be a rarity these days in many pictures.
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Definitely agree with that. For whatever reason, I do think a lot of contemporary movies lack skill in the basics of narrative, pacing, and so forth. There are still good movies being made, but I do find this is a particular weakness of this era.
 
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Exactly said, Ripper. While books have always seemed able to tell complete stories, I find more often than not that television and motion pictures rarely strike a good balance with regards to character development and narrative. It shouldn't be rocket science but it seems that way at times.
 
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Contratiempo is an yes-maybe-no truthseeking thriller. A man is accused of murder, claims it's a setup and has only 3 hours to get to bottom of it with a lawyer before getting arrested. The problem is, his story is full of holes and it won't save him from conviction.
From compassion to disgust and vice versa, from victim to villain and back again, this little spanish gem will play efficiently with your emotions or sense of morality.

You've seen similar movies already, but this one IMO tops them all. Ignore please the "problematic" spying thing, the movie is not based on true story, so…
Watch it before Hollywood makes a silly remake. AKA now please.
 
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Just re-watched Idiocracy for the tenth time, and its still frightening on how that future still might happen. The Book is still better then the movie though.

 
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There was that movie directed by Sean Penn (The Last Face) that also takes place in the turmoil of Africa (west Africa this time) starring Javier Bardem but I felt it fell apart badly by the end. But it had that incredibly honest moment where his UN doctor character makes an observation about all the oppressed becoming the oppressors when the balance of political power shifts.
 
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Yea - read up on Somalia. Basically a reporter asked them if they wanted peace and nearly everyone said yes. Then they asked them if someone from tribe x (Somalia has something like 13 tribes/fractions - look up the exact number if you care) could be part of the peace process and nearly everyone who was not a member of tribe x said no that tribe couldn't be trusted and should be killed on sight ...

JackOfOwls said:
There was that movie directed by Sean Penn (The Last Face) that also takes place in the turmoil of Africa (west Africa this time) starring Javier Bardem but I felt it fell apart badly by the end. But it had that incredibly honest moment where his UN doctor character makes an observation about all the oppressed becoming the oppressors when the balance of political power shifts.
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Couchpotato said:
Just re-watched Idiocracy for the tenth time, and its still frightening on how that future still might happen.
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imdb says comedy. Is it? Want to give it a shot, but I avoid Hollywood's comedies like a plague. And imdb sometimes completely misses the genre, that's why I ask.
 
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joxer said:
imdb says comedy. Is it? Want to give it a shot, but I avoid Hollywood's comedies like a plague. And imdb sometimes completely misses the genre, that's why I ask.
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Yes it's a comedy about idiots taking over the world.

I couldn't stop laughing the first time.:lol:
 
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you said:
Yea - read up on Somalia. Basically a reporter asked them if they wanted peace and nearly everyone said yes. Then they asked them if someone from tribe x (Somalia has something like 13 tribes/fractions - look up the exact number if you care) could be part of the peace process and nearly everyone who was not a member of tribe x said no that tribe couldn't be trusted and should be killed on sight …
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I try not to do too much research on the situation in Africa because it fills me with depressive & cynical thoughts but seeing the powerful human drama in Hotel Rwanda was a good start for me on and perhaps set me on the road to trying to make sense of it all. Beasts of No Nation (2015) looks like another interesting one on a similar theme but I'm having a hard time finding a copy with proper english subtitles.
 
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It is a comedy. The quality depends on your mood. At times I like it at times I think it is immature and stupid. The comedy portion is not subtle.

joxer said:
imdb says comedy. Is it? Want to give it a shot, but I avoid Hollywood's comedies like a plague. And imdb sometimes completely misses the genre, that's why I ask.
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Speaking of ambiguous comedies and Javier Bardem mentioned in my previous post, I thought Darren Aronofsky's Mother was a hoot. I roared with that transgressive scene with the dead baby and his sensitive poet character's hilarious response to his wife (Jennifer Lawrence). One of the few films I've seen outside of perhaps some of Luis Buñuel's stuff that truly reminded me of Jean Cocteau's saying, "Long live the young muse cinema, for she possesses the mysteries of a dream, and allows the unreal to become real."
 
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