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

Joker. Wow, I was really mesmerized by this movie, something that happens so rarely these days. It does require the viewer to see it as a different universe though (which it is, but its easy to forget), because what makes sense to the characters in this world might not make too much sense to us.. Especially things like comedy and how crass people/shows are, it's very comic book-like in that sense.

The build up was much quicker than i expected. It was also way less depressing than i expected. Loved the tone of it and its easy to understand why they wanted Phoenix in every shot because he really is fantastic. It felt shorter than it is because of how straight forward it is. This origin story couldn't have been done better imo…. 10/10
 
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Joker 8/10

I found it extremely uncomfortable to watch at first, but - as vurt said - it turns around relatively fast.

Still, it's definitely not going to be for everyone.

I was worried I wouldn't enjoy it because of the ridiculously overdone hype, but thankfully - that wasn't the case.

I don't think it's the best movie ever or anything, I just really enjoy superb performances - and, as expected, Joaquin owns the role.

Finally, we get a decent take on how the Joker came to be - and why his personality is so warped.

I never liked the character in the Dark Knight - as he seemed to be psychotic just because it was fun, with zero background info.

Personally, I think you'd get the best superhero movie in the world if you kept the tone of this film - and you kept the focus on the characters over the CGI and the spectacle.

I mean, you could keep the action sequences to a minimum and, by doing that, maximize their impact - until they were way more effective than the modern CGI fests of Marvel movies, where the end result is that you become immune and numb to it all.

I mean, the couple of situations where Joker goes mad in this movie are so much more impressive because you don't really expect them - and what's supposed to be shocking is genuinely shocking.

Batman Begins was reasonably close to the kind of film I'm talking about - but the sequels took the action too far. Don't even get me started on the Disney Marvel cartoons.

Maybe that's just me?

Anyway, this was a great watch - with a fine script and excellent music, too.

That said, it was a little derivative in certain ways - and it almost felt like a remake of Taxi Driver.

An interesting take, to be sure - but, apart from Joaquin - I didn't think the film stood out quite enough, except for finally being a superhero movie I could take seriously.

Well, apart from it not having any superheroes in it :)
 
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Joker was never superhero, but supervillain.
 
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Joker also had zero super powers except for plot-armour. While Batman himself isn't a super-hero either, having no innate super-abilities, he tends to have super-gadgets and clothing that convert him into a super-being, a bit like Iron-Man.
 
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Joker was never superhero, but supervillain.

That was rather the point, which you shockingly missed.

Joker also had zero super powers except for plot-armour. While Batman himself isn't a super-hero either, having no innate super-abilities, he tends to have super-gadgets and clothing that convert him into a super-being, a bit like Iron-Man.

From Wiki:

Batman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
 
Yes, we refer to him as a super-hero, just like we do Iron-Man, but neither have any innate super-powers. It's sort-of a thing that happened because Superman spearheaded the genre so people just started calling everyone who stars in a crime-fighting comic a super-hero. A bit like the term RPG, everything's a super-hero now :D

A superhero is a type of heroic stock character, usually possessing supernatural or superhuman powers, who is dedicated to fighting the evil of their universe, protecting the public, and usually battling super-villains.

But because of plot-armour, pretty much any fictional hero came to be called a super-hero, so everyone from Robin Hood to Sherlock Holmes would fit in the genre. However, some people don't like super-hero stuff and can only take interest in heroes if they're actually human, so many people will claim to "like Batman even though I don't like super-heores" because of this.
 
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Dr. Sleep. One of the better Stephen King movies i've seen.
My Stephen King-fan friend has raved about the book so i went with him, and his 10-year old(!)

I thought the movie was pretty damn creepy, it has that atmosphere that you usually only find in Stephen King movies. There weren't any cheap jump scares, it's more the type of horror that creeps up on you, slowly, and some of it was extremely gruesome too, like small kid getting murdered very slowly with super intense screaming..

I loved the acting, even the main kid was great. One of my absolute favorites for this year and the best horror movie of the year by far (you can consider it fantasy-horror i guess) 8.5/10
 
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Courage Under Fire (1996) has some very young and fresh faced versions of Denzel Washington, Matt Damon and Meg Ryan. Washington investigates the truth of the matter regarding Ryan's posthumans Medal of Honour. Was she a hero or not?

Lots of military action in Iraq, all of which is very well shot and thrilling, but the film is slightly more about the depressing nature of who gets awarded medals and why and how bad things get brushed under the carpet in favour of hyping up the morale boosting events.

As a result the film is like the old dance routine of quick, quick, slow, quick, slow slow as we jump around between Washington's alcoholism and family life, interviewing witnesses and getting lots of flashbacks of high intensity battle scenes. A bit like Lord of the Rings Return of the King it has about five endings as a result as each aspect of the plot gets tied up.

It's classic Washington but he's done more watchable stuff since which, in retrospect, makes this film feel a bit weaker by comparison as his schtick comes across as cliché more so now than it probably did at the time. Really weird seeing Matt Damon all gangly and lanky as well, one might not even recognise him. I yawned a lot towards the end but it's mostly very watchable 3.5/5

Drive (2011) feels like an indy film, and I guess it kind of is. However, it's so full of a-list actors in a sort of 'before they were really big' situation that it also now feels a bigger picture than it probably was at the time.

Ryan Gosling stars as the stoic (boring) lead who stares at people a lot before, usually, killing them in some disgustingly brutal way. Oscar Issacs plays a good bad guy, Bryan Cranston plays a flawed father character and Ron Perlman acts tough.

I was a big fan of Gosling in Nightcrawler and when I went reading about Nightcrawler I found a lot of people taking about Drive in a very positive light, so I thought I'd give it a shot. My opinion is it's vastly inferior to Nightcrawler and Nightcrawler has probably spoiled me on this film.

The main problem is the combination of the almost utterly silent lead combined with a directorial decision to have no end of scenes drag on in silence for no other reason that atmospheric build-up. However, after the 20th scene of nothing happening but silence and scene dragging it really starts to feel like padding, offensive padding at that.

The plot isn't overly interesting and what little plot there is has managed to be delivered as confusingly as possible. Even after finishing the film I'm still not entirely sure why the mob guy needed to kill his pawns, I got no impression that such an act would have any difference to his plans other than complicate them. *shrug*. And since that's the entire basis for the film… *shrug*.

Also, our Mr. Perfect silent assassin goes all dumb at the end, which really put downer on the ending. I shouldn't be too negative though as I don't think the film sets out to be anything much more than a relatively dumb action/suspense film and in terms of entertainment the death scenes are interestingly brutal and original, the acting is good and the few scenes where our driver is actually driving are very well shot and quite glorious in places. Not sure I'd want to ever watch it again though one viewing didn't seem a waste 3/5

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) I watched back to back with Drive without realising beforehand that they were both Gosling lead films. And they were both Gosling movies where most of the film is watching Gosling silently stare at things. Lol.

So the primary issue with this film is the same as the one with Drive, only this film isn't padding out a 90 minute dumb action movie, this time it's padding out a two and a half hour heritage epic.

Blade Runner is all about atmosphere though so there's some licence here as the long pauses while we gorge on the stunningly delightful future noir scenery is precisely what people want from Blade Runner. For me I would have much preferred a two hour movie with much less dead screen time, maybe keep all the gratuitous virtual freeze frames for the extended special edition for hardcore fans.

The plot is much more interesting that the first films and the twists and turns it takes are truly wonderful. The central conceit of who is a synthetic person who's a 'real' person is interesting but ultimately pointless as I'm not even sure if we ever even saw any real people and one gets the impression everyone is a synth anyway, but that's not the plot of the film, the plot is about how much or how little the Gosling character is motivated to solve his current case and here the film shines like beacon of perfection, both in a noir sense and in an originality sense. And this is what makes Gosling's role here far more engaging than in Drive.

Apart from the mild sense of anger that the film steals half an hour out of your life for no reason, the remaining two hours compensate one with something truly memorable and, dare I say, a modern classic. Though one you really have to be in that specific mood for 4/5
 
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Courage under fire was excellent; Blade Runner 2049 was a lot of things but excellent. As for Drive - that was a movie that was a matter of taste; i can't say it was a bad movie but i didn't really enjoy it.
 
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I also thought Blade Runner 2049 was excellent in some ways. The cinematography is superb, and it does have great atmosphere.

I agree it could have been edited better. It's slightly too long for its own good and would have been superior as a shorter and more focused film.
 
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I wouldn't be so sure about that, I think that one day it will be considered at the very least on-par with the original and there'll be many who prefer 2049.
 
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2049 is a masterpiece. Although different, it's equally awsome as it's predecessor.
The only reason I prefer the first movie is the transparent plastic "jacket" rarely anyone would dare to put on even today. Once it becomes a sort of normal clothes, if, then I might go to my menu and "change preferences".
 
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Seems I can't find enough time for writing everything I'd want to so lemme comment on yet another internet list, this time named: 10 Underrated Fantasy Films From The 2010s You Have To See.
https://screenrant.com/underrated-fantasy-films-2010s/
Well, you don't. Not all.
I'll be short.

10 HUGO
Let's not lie to ourselves it's a kids movie. But with top notch production, steampunk world and famous names with some nice performances. imdb users say 7.5 and I have to absolutely agree on this score. It's above average movie that never risks anything preventing itself from becoming more. You should see it if you have kids, but with 7.5 it's not underrated, nor is a mustwatch before you die. No sir.

9 MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN
Eva Green couldn't save one of the most boring scripts I have seen in my life. If it had guts to go timeloop, maybe could be better, but production wanted disneylike mediocrity and I cannot recommend this to anyone unless you have nothing else to watch or you want to watch everything with Eva Green like I did.

8 SEASON OF THE WITCH
Cage+Pearlman, what could possibly go wrong? The director, of course.
No Del Toro = no good movie. Painfully mediocre and forgettable. Watch only if you're Robert Sheehan fan as he's showing off with a role type different from crazy superhero (Misfits, Umbrella Academy), lucky loser (Bad Samaritan) or an abuse victim (Red Riding trilogy).

7 IMMORTALS
God no. Just no. Whoever thought gold filter from dx:hr will work in greek mythology movie should visit a shrink. Watch only as a comedy due to unbelievaby idiotic hollywoodization of nonUSA mythologies, but even then only if there is no other comedy around.

6 SUCKER PUNCH
The only one from the list I plain refused to watch. The movie is about lobotomy. Whoever thought that may lure people to cinemas should take the procedure themselves. Luckily there was no action sequel about dunno, castration.

5 A MONSTER CALLS
A story about selfishness, misinterpretted by critics that it's about loss, promising during it's first half, completely ruined by it's ending. Again 7.5 on imdb, but in this case I say overrated. Even Sigourney Weaver couldn't make it look better than it is. Skippit, nothing to learn from there.

4 MORTAL ENGINES
Boooooooooooooooooooring! Just as with witch season above, watch only if Robert Sheehan fan, but his role was written by an amateur with no possibility to show any talent. They could have pick a random pedestrian for that role, it's that bad. Best to skippit and pretend it doesn't exist. Or simply note who's the scriptwriter and avoid everything they write.

3 THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS
I have absolutely no idea how Jack Black accepted to appear in this criminally written flick. When it's not boring, it's irritating. Not underrated but overrated, this thing should go on worst fantasy movies of all time list. Avoid even if your life depends on it.

2 MALEFICENT
I have to admit this one to me was fun. There is no classic hollywood's everyone and their mother gets happy ending, Angelina Jolie remains the tragic yet strong creature till the end, more human than everyone else. Metascore's 5.6% is critics being cynical, disappointed in no saccharine or not understanding anything. Definetly underrated, do watch it.

1 JUPITER ASCENDING
Twilight, Divergent, Maze Runner etc titles you should watch only if lobotomized by mentioned Sucker Punch or after some serious pot use. Idiotic script, wooden performances and no chemistry. An atrocity you should not watch and if you did, pretend you've neverheard about it.

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Now a few fantasies that aren't on the list but are IMO underrated and you should IMO watch:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1464540/ - I am #4
Fun. Fun and only fun. I wish they made it's sequel. And, of course, 36% on metacritic I bet because it's *not* yet another painfully boring mediocrity that leads nowhere. Yes, it's more sci fi than fantasy, but so it Jupiter Ascending on SR's list above, there you go.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3847642/ - Kill Order
4.1 says imdb and I say okay if we'll score only the story as it does suck, but if you saw stunts like ones in this move anywhere else except in old Samo Hung and new Iko Uwais coreographies, feel free to kill me. A movie long advertisment for a stunt group needs to be seen and IMO deserves more than 4.1.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5084170/ - Blade of the immortal
Tainted only with poor cutotus and editing choices due to the original story being too long to squeeze in only two hours movie. Otherwise IMO a nearmasterpiece. Yet imdb says 7/10. Are you kidding me? I guess they watched it with pisspoor dubs.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1224378/ - Viy
Yea I did mention this one already. What damned 5.2 imdb? Mediocre? But it isn't! It's silly in a good way, it's crazy and is more fun than mainstream yucks.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1002567 - Hansel and Gretel
Yet another Hansel and Gretel, but this time unlike any other that was ever filmed. You'll say cmon it has a nice score of 6.7 on imdb, but that's the point. It's underrated, needs to be almost 10/10 and you need to watch this ingenious adaptation.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318649 - Sahara
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179025 - The Extraordinary Adventures Of Adele Blanc-Sec
Never read books these two were based on. Sahara got 6 on imdb, Adele 6.3 but both are enormous fun adventures that should get at least 7 if not more. Plotholes? Okay, cut 1 or 2 from the maximum score because of some, but that's not a total of 6, right?

EDIT:
Oops, these of mine are not all from 2010s… Ah well, sorry. ;)
 
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A couple of trailers.

One from Disney for those into CGIing the people who died:


And one from Sony for us who desperately need stuff similar to claustrophobic Alien 3:



EDIT:

Sorry, found a bonus one for wgd… I don't watch flicks with pets in main roles so I'll skippit, but have to admit the trailer looks nice - the animated dog is on a completely different level compared to rubbish mainstream videogame dogs for example those in RDR2:
 
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This movie sucks but the book is quite enjoyable - actually the whole series. It isn't very mature and could make a decent movie but not the one that is currently available. Amazed it managed a 36

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1464540/ - I am #4
Fun. Fun and only fun. I wish they made it's sequel. And, of course, 36% on metacritic I bet because it's *not* yet another painfully boring mediocrity that leads nowhere. Yes, it's more sci fi than fantasy, but so it Jupiter Ascending on SR's list above, there you go.
 
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As for Drive - that was a movie that was a matter of taste; i can't say it was a bad movie but i didn't really enjoy it.

My older son (film student) is a huge fan of Drive, and on first viewing it really didn’t do much for me ... but watching it a second time with him and occasionally stopping and reviewing scenes I got a lot more out of it. I have never been a fan of ‘Gordon Freeman’ type protagonists, but on re-watch I found Gosling’s performance more nuanced than I could have imagined on first viewing.
 
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Just finished Rambo:Last Blood and found it to be very enjoyable, and true to it's roots. So if you hate extreme gore and violence don't watch. To bad it has a sad ending I wont spoil but you'll be in tears

.:bigcry:
 
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