Okay, let's do this. I've seen a good amount of movies since I last got to talk about them, so hopefully today allows me to BS about movies.
87 thoughts on “Movie Day”
Game of Thrones season five ended and caught up or surpassed book five. The thing that every book reader knew was going to happen happened and now everyone gets to wait to find out the outcome. It's already known Winds of Winter won't come out in 2015 and season six of Game of Thrones is going to start April 2016 so Martin has a three month window to beat season six. I'm just happy there's now a date where it finally gets resolved.
And those of us not reading the books got a shock.
Shame! Shame!
That part was way too long.
Agreed. I can understand why it was done, but yeah.
This was my feeling on it. Maybe trim it to 75%,so it's felt, but not so much so that it drags or feels exploitative.
I'm guessing they thought long and hard on how long that part needed to go so you would actually start to feel bad for her. Just like how they manipulated us into kind of liking Stannis.
Thought it was a pretty well done season all in all!
Well, that part wasn't the shock, it was just added commentary on my part.
That is how I interpreted it but jumped off the shame part to comment on that.
I'm way behind on the series, but I've heard what's been going on. I've also heard both the actors portraying Catelyn and Jon Snow have said, nope, that's it, they're dead. Obviously there's the open question of Snow's death, but the whole zombie Cat thing has been sidestepped so far. I'm curious if that's true/that's what they were told/that's what they were told to say.
The showrunners, Benioff and Weiss, have said he's dead. In the books, it's clearer than dying isn't permanent, but the show skipped Stoneheart (a.k.a. zombie Cat) completely and barely covered Beric Dondarrion. And that misses the show's mythology regarding Azor Ahai.
Short version, Snow is almost certainly dead. He almost certainly is not done as a character, albeit it might not be as Jon Snow.
Right, but I have trouble with the fact that they took the time to introduce Dondarrion at all. With so much ground to cover, why go there if you're not going to use him? Also, we're shown in the show that even a Maester has the ability to resurrect the dead.
I think you're correct, Snow is dead, but his character isn't. Rhetorical questions, I'm sure it wouldn't be (and won't be) tough to debunk/answer these but ...
1. What's the point of going through five seasons (& books) with Jon, developing him into one of the few unambiguously good characters in that world, removing basically every other sympathetic character from the Wall & Castle Black*, showing us the menace that is the White Walkers and introducing dragon glass & Valyrian steel, but leaving no one up there to employ them?
2. Why does the show send Melisandre back to the castle?
3. Why spend that much capital on the story line at the Wall if we end up with no one redeeming left up there to root for?
4. Why keep Snow alive this long if he's not part of the end game, especially now that Stannis & his army are gone?
Also, it would be remarkable of Kit Harington (Jon Snow) to compromise one of the most anticipated resolutions in one of the biggest franchises (book & television) in history, whether he knows the truth about the character or not. What would he gain from that?
It seems to me there is just a whole lot of attempted misdirecting going on with the show creators and Kit Harrington. To me (a book reader, haven't seen past season 2 of the show because no HBO), it really doesn't make any sense for Jon Snow to not be a Targaryen and "Azor Ahai Reborn", which I think is less an actual prophesized person and more an idea, with Melisandre using Jon Snow as the symbol for it. In other words, Stannis could have been "Azor Ahai Reborn" but he wasn't killed at the Wall like Melisandre may have thought he would be when urging him north. (This is just a theory I just came up with in the last two minutes, though.)
But yeah, all the stuff you said about the investment into Jon Snow in the story line. If he really is dead and gone then I think that will significantly impact my enjoyment of the books because it will dump the plot lines into a disjointed mess.
My favorite speculation about Snow is what you pointed out, that he's really the child of Rhaegar Targaryen & Lyanna Stark. There's a lot of circumstantial evidence to support the theory out there, so I won't run through it all. Probably the biggest one for me is how a guy like Eddard, so bound by honor & conviction & duty that he died for it, would ever be unfaithful.
Also, the idea that Jon is Daenerys's nephew is pretty amusing.
Prediction: final battle will involve them riding dragons and destroying white walkers. Season 7 (or maybe 8), episode 8 or 9. I hope HBO gives them a blank check.
That would be so awesome. I am really hopeful Benioff and Weiss don't take too many liberties, but at this point, I'm excited to see where it goes (and I'm far from the only one). They deserve a ton of credit for that.
Never read the books.
Didn't live every direction the show took. There are times where I want to take the writer (be it Martin or show writer), shake them a bit and shout "THIS IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE SUBSTITUTE FOR GOOD STORYTELLING".
That said, I liked where a lot of the story lines ended up for the season - with one exception.
Dorne. Not a fan. I'm really hoping that pays off next season in some meaningful way,because the scenes there throughout the season were bad enough (how do you make a storyline with Jamie and Bronn that blared boring??), but the payoff just felt like pointless misery (she acknowledges him as her father and embraces him...seconds before she dies). Just didn't like it.
I'm pretty excited for next season still.
I spent way too much time in a slack thread about GoT this week, but having read the books I'm satisfied with what has changed for the show, though the books (hopefully since we're probably missing thousands of pages) tell a more complete story. But it'd make for boring tv, so yeah looking forward to 6 with or without Winds of Winter being read.
I was more pissed off last season with some of the "visuals" or was Oberyn this season.
Also the funny thing about the Lady Stoneheart is that she was zombying it up quite a while ago, but now there are a ton of "zombie" shows/movies.
Same here regarding season 6 with or without Winds.
Watching the series with my wife who keeps saying that she'd like to read the books. I keep telling her that they're a fun read, but that (knowing her) I think she'd get fed up with how much ... uhm ... nuance & exposition Martin employs compared to the show.
I actually saw some movies in the past month before signing my life away to this adorable little guy.
* Interstellar - Borderline great, it goes in directions that I never expected, and had a pretty good emotional climax. Sorry of a new space odyssey.
* Birdman - I alternated between living and hating this movie. Fun meta context, and I absolutely love the direction. Something about it left me a little cold, though.
* Guardians of the Galaxy - What everyone else said. Lots of fun.
* Tucker and Dale Versus Evil - I laughed so very hard. It's dumb and the ending is sort of just... there, but it's fun.
I keep choosing other movies over Interstellar & Birdman... I definitely want to see them though.
Oh man, I love Tucker and Dale Versus Evil so much. It might be my second favorite horror movie behind Cabin in the Woods.
It reminded me of that movie quite a bit. Not as sharp with the satire, but A LOT funnier.
I saw Birdman as well. My favorite line I saw about the movie was "Birdman is a fascinating conversation...with itself. It doesn't shut up long enough to let the viewer form an idea." I liked it a lot...I think. I'm thinking about it, which is good.
Ugh, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. This is one of the most illogical movies I've ever seen. Plus, all the kids were the same character on the page, so the director had to fake differences by dressing them up as different archetypes. I'm convinced this is a terrible script, executed very well by an able director and a couple of good actors in important roles (Tudyk, more than anything).
"Birdman is a fascinating conversation...with itself. It doesn't shut up long enough to let the viewer form an idea."
This is it exactly, I think.
I do love how you sot of realize a little ways into the movie that they're framing it as a single shot. I mean, it's obviously not even trying to fake it (time lapse, characters teleporting, etc) but it's so enjoyably audacious.
RE:Tucker and Dale, it's practically parody, so some of the things you mention (all the kids seeming the same) fall within my definition of acceptable breaks from reality. Tudyk definitely brings it to another level, though.
Man, ten years ago I used to watch a movie just about every night.
So going to Birdman with my partner in crime from a decade ago was sure a treat. I just geeked out on all the tricks and inner-inner-conversations and such. It's why I tell people I loved it, but I can't fairly recommend they see it.
Yeah. I'm certainly not surprised the industry loved it.
I remember that I watched Tucker And Dale vs. Evil, but I don't remember much else about it. I guess that means it was kind of forgettable for me? I think I liked it, but... not enough to stand out, I guess.
Wild - Makes me very thankful that my wife was in a much better place when her mother succumbed to cancer. Reese Witherspoon did a great job with this role, something I knew she was capable of, but probably the darkest thing of hers I can recall. Quite the progression from Legally Blonde (which I loved btw). **** The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - I'm disappointed that this project is over, but sort of relieved too. That said, I thought this was marginally better than Desolation. *** Lucy - Pretty cool movie premise and well executed special effects, but unsatisfying. It was fine. **½ Kill the Messenger - Jeremy Renner is great and the story it's based on - CIA complicit in the drug trade in order to finance the Contras - is really compelling, so much so that I wanted to know if actual outrage was warranted (being a child in the 80's, my knowledge of the Reagan years is limited). In the end, my enjoyment of it was a bit diminished by researching the real-life events & people. ***½ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - This was surprisingly good. Even my wife enjoyed it and she's not typically a fan of sci-fi flicks. ***½ Rush - Really enjoyable movie. Hemsworth & Brühl were perfect, the racing action sucks you in, the storyline and character development top notch. Ron Howard did a great job on this. ****½ Pride - Unexpectedly awesome movie. Great actors giving amazing performances within the context of an interesting story. GLBT group supports striking miners in Scotland circa 1984. It didn't feel like it tried too hard to be touching; no forced inspirational messages, just well done all around. *****
[not here]
Continuing to watch episodes of Foyle's War ("season" six); was mildly amused by a character named Adam Wainwright.
saw two movies this past month or so at the theater:
Avengers: Age of Ultron scratched that itch. I was disappointed that they killed off Pietro. I mean, WTF? But I liked the Scarlet Witch character and I'm enthusiastic about Vision. Looking forward to Ant Man next month and to whatever the future holds for the Avengers franchise as they switch out some of the old stand-bys for some new team members. (I guess this was back in May)
Mad Max: Fury Road. Visually stunning. The story was thoroughly stupid, but it was a great car chase movie with awesome stunts and special effects. But calling this a feminist film is almost as stupid as the bitching about Black Widow's self-pitying/loathing in Avengers. It's an action flick with a bad-ass female lead.
Tomorrowland: House was kind of fun as the "bad" guy, and the girl who played Athena was great. But we all wanted our money back. It was thoroughly stupid and insipid, and really, really, really determined to beat your head to a pulp with "message." A stupid message, btw. Good god, that movie sucked.
Yeah, so...not all of us have seen Age of Ultron yet. Now I don't have to!
John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln at the theater. Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK and acted alone.
Yes, well I can certainly see how presidential assassinations are easily comparable to story beats in movies.
Plus the difference in time elapsed from those events.
really?
A:AoU was released on April 13. Did I really need to spoiler that on June 18? Okay then.
While you see a lot of movies in the theater and I envy this a great deal, I average maybe one per year. I'm fairly sure my last trip was for Frozen, and it's not like that one was my call.
...Frozen, and it's not like that one was my call.
Uh-huh ... suuure.
😉
Huh. I guess my impression was that you were an active movie-goer, out of professional obligation.
I really don't see that many movies in the theater. A handful per year.
I didn't spoiler because (a) the film has been out for two months and (b) been discussed at length both here and across the net. It did not occur to me that this was a plot point that still required spoilering around here. Sorry.
Because I constantly live at least 6-8 months in the past as far as film is concerned, I've generally become an expert at avoiding spoilers. I suppose I'm surprised I didn't already know about this death, but I didn't.
Now that it's out there, I both dislike and understand with the choice to kill the character. There are probably contractual obligations for the main cast, so if Whedon wanted to kill someone off to give the main villain some weight, I'm not surprised it was a character without much history with the casual audience. (And a character with no film franchise of his own).
I don't care, some people may. I think that drawing an equivalence from something that is two months old to things that are 50+ years old doesn't strengthen the argument that it's okay to spoil it. Some of us have a difficult time in making time to watch movies or have to wait until it comes out on video. Age of Ultron isn't out on video yet so I think some care is warranted. If you want to spoil all of Interstellar, something that has been available on DVD since March 31, that's different.
Ok, ok.
I'm just in a grumpy mood, I guess. comes from making the mistake of getting involved in BookFace arguments and sitting on my ass at home....
I think I beat you into submission. You need to cry "Uncle!"
UNCLE!
Nah. I made the mistake of commenting on a thread about the horrible South Carolina church shooting/terrorist attack.
White men rule over a world destroyed by greed and warring over oil, and oppress women through their reproductive freedom. A group of women literally destroy a patriarchy, with the help of two men who aren't looking for a pat on the back. All the men's rights activists having piss fits over the film was pretty hilarious, but I think that there's a lot more feminist to the film than that.
Well, yea, the "feminist" story is pretty obvious. I guess I just don't have a need to make a big deal about the feminist angle. Good guy (Furiosa) hatches a plan to Fight the Power and Save Innocents. It's a universal story. The only thing feminist about it, per se, is the gender of the hero(ine).
by the same token, Terminator should be seen as a feminist film. Is it? I mean, Sarah Connor is the hero of that story.
I actively make a big deal out of it in the hopes that the word "feminist" stops being used as a pejorative, mostly. It is incredibly frustrating to see that happen over and over.
True, true.
I certainly didn't mean it in a negative light, but rather that, unlike, say, Tomorrowland, this flick was not beating the audience over the head with a "feminist message," whatever that is supposed to mean.
If the viewer wants to read it as one, ok. But it's certainly not necessary to make a big deal out of Furiosa as a feminist action hero. She's just an action hero. She's a good guy, fighting for freedom for herself and others against bad guys. If it were just Max fighting to free the Brides, it would be standard trope -- Heroic Male Fighting Against Monsters to Free the Damsels in Distress.
That some knuckleheads have somehow latched onto the substitution of a female lead in the standard trope as somehow emasculating is...sad.
Bummed to hear that about Tomorrowland. Sounds like Brad Bird can make a stinker?
Veep, season 4.
JLD is a national treasure. I didn't realize it when I discussed it before, but she's won three Emmy's for this show. Richly deserved. My only quibble is that when a show has just 10 episodes a season, the story has to move ahead without proper treatment of issues that are raised. But her relentless cynicism and conniving is just so delicious.
Now that I've caught up on Silicon Valley, I think I'm going to watch this.
Only saw one actual movie, Mad Max: Fury Road, which I mentioned after seeing it. I really don't see how I'll see a better movie this year.
I haven't really had much time to watch anything else, although I watched the first couple of episodes of Attack on Titan and I'm in. I need to find time to watch more of it.
Somehow I still have about 8-10 episodes left. I keep thinking I'll find a time for a marathon, but I'm still reasonably far from the end.
I'm hoping to do some late night marathons during weekends. I wish my kids were older so I wouldn't have to wait until they are sound asleep before watching the things I want to watch.
They'd have to be much older for AOT. I have to wait until my wife is sound asleep.
She's watched a bit of FMA with me, though she thinks it's ridiculous.
RIP Rick Ducommun, probably known here most for Groundhog Day or maybe The 'burbs. Director Joe Dante tweeted about it, and then pulled it, so the whole thing is...I don't know.
More interesting, to me, is that Ducommun hadn't appeared in a movie since 2004. I wonder why.
Jurassic World - This was a movie that knew what it was, and did it well. The dinos were excellent, the characters were fun, and there was a healthy dose of humor. I was surprised how tense I got during the tense moments. I think a small rewrite would have turned "very good" into "nearly perfect."
Was turn the Bryce Dallas Howard character into more of the "President's Press Secretary from Independence Day" thing. Strong woman, capable, but making the right decisions, not the wrong ones. Then they could have had her advising people to listen to the Chris Pratt character, which gives their relationship a bit more pull, instead of the "they went out on one date" thing. Like, it could be like it was with Goldblum and the Press Secretary in Independence Day, where they have more history, and they fight, but they respect each other's abilities.
I highly recommend it.
General comment about spoilers: assume that there's a good share of people who haven't seen it (me) and would maybe like to, once there's a way to that doesn't avoid babysitters and extra cash layouts.
I haven't watched Avengers or Guardians or much else.
I still spoiler things on TV programs I'm watching that are a decade old.
There has never in human history been more content available and never in my history less time a day to watch things rated above PG.
Also, I might read folks' comments about whether to actual choose that movie.
P.S. I still know next to nothing about some shows like Lost or The Wire that I may pick up some day if I have a serious injury and have to draw on my STD coverage.
Plus, I first got streaming in January 2015, so I've got one heck of a backlog.
Meh, ignore Lost. It will only frustrate you.
Meh, ignore this comment. Lost is great.
Philo had the correct take on this.
yeah. And it's LOST.
For five seasons, I LOVED Lost. It was the greatest TV show ever. Then Season 6 happened.
If you watch the first 5 seasons, and pretend that it's over after that, then go ahead and watch.
Zen, dude -- it's the journey, not the destination
If any season should be dropped, make it 2. Very little was added to the narrative.
I thought Season 6 was brilliant. That was where the best philosophy of the show came from (Spooky's contrary opinions on it's depth be damned). And the acceptance of all that came beforehand.
Let me say, there were some problems with Season 6 certainly.
It felt like there was too much of a rush to get things on the island in the main time thread resolved in a definite way, and the rampaging, indiscriminate, smoke monster was... less compelling than it had been previously.
But the sideways flashes. Those were brilliant.
I have to give the edge to season five, I think. The sci-fi aspects were played up, and it was a lot of fun.
Season three's back half was great, as well,even if the first half sort of carried over the wheel spinning of season two.
I'm in the same boat as you in terms of being a person who hasn't seen most things but might like to one day once circumstances allow.
However, I am unlikely to ever abbreviate "short term disability" as you did. Took me a little while to figure that one out, as my first thought was something rather different, though I suppose it could result in a short term disability?
hey now, this is a family site.
Families and STDs come from the same place, right?
my cousins are adopted
Well played sir. Well played.
And it took me a while to determine who you were really replying to 😉
That said, hip replacement only got me through a couple eps of Foyle's War, so don't depend on that as an aid.
I thought of undoing that because of the alternate meaning, but why ruin the fun that might ensue?
I finished Fullmetal Alchemist. It almost felt like it rushed to the ending. There was some things that showed up late and I didn't feel they were quite earned. Overall, I really liked the series.
I keep wanting to use “Koka tokan” in conversation, but no one else knows it. I’ve introduced the concept to my older two kids, just so I can say “you want something from me? Give me something in return” in a more creative manner.
I finished Attack on Titan. I'm excited to see that others outside of Zack and I are watching it. I hope it's no surprise, but in case
It's not finished, more episodes still to be made in Japanese. Then dubbed, then brought to streaming services. I read a bit too far in one place and I know something that's coming, but I was quick to avert my eyes.
I am amazed at this show's willingness to develop characters and kill them off. Notice all of these new characters we're introducing to you now? See how they're developed and the backstory? Now they're all dead! None of the "Redshirt" phenomenon that old Star Trek had, where the new unnamed characters will die.
I suspect at the end that only two of Eren, Armin, and Mikasa survive, plus Jean.
I watched all of the "Battle of Trost" episodes in one night. When I got to the end, I started over, looking for foreshadowing and stuff.
Both programs have an interesting subtext of dealing within fascistic dictatorships. (The leader in FMA is actually called “Fuhrer Bradley”.) In both series, the government structure is generally assumed and unquestioned at first (by all), and doubts arise only later. I assume that Imperial Japan’s early 20th century history has something to do with that.
I'm watching these shows exclusively in Japanese with subtitles. (Our secondhand Blu-ray doesn't do closed-captioning or multiple audio tracks for NetFlix, but luckily defaults to Foreign Language + Subtitles.)
It does make it tricky when one dozes off for a ten seconds, because missing a little bit of heard dialog, you can remember bits and piece it together. But if you miss some subtitles, you’ve got to rewind.
I wish these manga came in fewer volumes. I don't think I should buy them... maybe the library?
I'd like another series of about similar size to watch, anyone have suggestions?
I've started Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (a re-telling of the same story, sortof). I'm finally through season one, and the story seems to have suddenly diverged significantly from the original.
I don't like the music as much, and the comic anime tropes are even more jarring. But overall, I'm quite happy with it and excited to see another way the story could have played out.
I will reply to this with a handful of recs later tonight. Just need to see what else is on Netflix.
[I thought I lost that last comment to the Bad Gateway, and I re-created it. I brought my better-expressed thoughts into an edit on the old comment.]
I also watched: Jack Reacher. Decent enough movie, my favorite part was that Werner Herzog was cast as a villain.* I love hearing his voice, and I wonder how many movies he has to turn down villain roles in. Five per day? Ten? If I had enough money, I’d hire him to be the narrator and/or villain for my life. [Imagining I’m super-rich and at some point I get sued. “I’ll pay you $X Million if you allow Werner Herzog here to be your attorney.”]
*No spoiler, he’s listed in the opening credits, and you know he's not one of the good guys. Plus, he's a villain from the moment his voice is heard; it's not like he's disguised or revealed.
Game of Thrones season five ended and caught up or surpassed book five. The thing that every book reader knew was going to happen happened and now everyone gets to wait to find out the outcome. It's already known Winds of Winter won't come out in 2015 and season six of Game of Thrones is going to start April 2016 so Martin has a three month window to beat season six. I'm just happy there's now a date where it finally gets resolved.
And those of us not reading the books got a shock.
Shame! Shame!
That part was way too long.
Agreed. I can understand why it was done, but yeah.
This was my feeling on it. Maybe trim it to 75%,so it's felt, but not so much so that it drags or feels exploitative.
I'm guessing they thought long and hard on how long that part needed to go so you would actually start to feel bad for her. Just like how they manipulated us into kind of liking Stannis.
Thought it was a pretty well done season all in all!
Well, that part wasn't the shock, it was just added commentary on my part.
That is how I interpreted it but jumped off the shame part to comment on that.
Shame!
...uhm yeah, me too.
Makes sense to me.
That would be so awesome. I am really hopeful Benioff and Weiss don't take too many liberties, but at this point, I'm excited to see where it goes (and I'm far from the only one). They deserve a ton of credit for that.
Never read the books.
Didn't live every direction the show took. There are times where I want to take the writer (be it Martin or show writer), shake them a bit and shout "THIS IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE SUBSTITUTE FOR GOOD STORYTELLING".
That said, I liked where a lot of the story lines ended up for the season - with one exception.
I'm pretty excited for next season still.
I spent way too much time in a slack thread about GoT this week, but having read the books I'm satisfied with what has changed for the show, though the books (hopefully since we're probably missing thousands of pages) tell a more complete story. But it'd make for boring tv, so yeah looking forward to 6 with or without Winds of Winter being read.
I was more pissed off last season with some of the "visuals" or was Oberyn this season.
Also the funny thing about the Lady Stoneheart is that she was zombying it up quite a while ago, but now there are a ton of "zombie" shows/movies.
Same here regarding season 6 with or without Winds.
Watching the series with my wife who keeps saying that she'd like to read the books. I keep telling her that they're a fun read, but that (knowing her) I think she'd get fed up with how much ... uhm ... nuance & exposition Martin employs compared to the show.
I actually saw some movies in the past month before signing my life away to this adorable little guy.
* Interstellar - Borderline great, it goes in directions that I never expected, and had a pretty good emotional climax. Sorry of a new space odyssey.
* Birdman - I alternated between living and hating this movie. Fun meta context, and I absolutely love the direction. Something about it left me a little cold, though.
* Guardians of the Galaxy - What everyone else said. Lots of fun.
* Tucker and Dale Versus Evil - I laughed so very hard. It's dumb and the ending is sort of just... there, but it's fun.
I keep choosing other movies over Interstellar & Birdman... I definitely want to see them though.
Oh man, I love Tucker and Dale Versus Evil so much. It might be my second favorite horror movie behind Cabin in the Woods.
It reminded me of that movie quite a bit. Not as sharp with the satire, but A LOT funnier.
I saw Birdman as well. My favorite line I saw about the movie was "Birdman is a fascinating conversation...with itself. It doesn't shut up long enough to let the viewer form an idea." I liked it a lot...I think. I'm thinking about it, which is good.
Ugh, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. This is one of the most illogical movies I've ever seen. Plus, all the kids were the same character on the page, so the director had to fake differences by dressing them up as different archetypes. I'm convinced this is a terrible script, executed very well by an able director and a couple of good actors in important roles (Tudyk, more than anything).
This is it exactly, I think.
I do love how you sot of realize a little ways into the movie that they're framing it as a single shot. I mean, it's obviously not even trying to fake it (time lapse, characters teleporting, etc) but it's so enjoyably audacious.
RE:Tucker and Dale, it's practically parody, so some of the things you mention (all the kids seeming the same) fall within my definition of acceptable breaks from reality. Tudyk definitely brings it to another level, though.
Man, ten years ago I used to watch a movie just about every night.
So going to Birdman with my partner in crime from a decade ago was sure a treat. I just geeked out on all the tricks and inner-inner-conversations and such. It's why I tell people I loved it, but I can't fairly recommend they see it.
Yeah. I'm certainly not surprised the industry loved it.
I remember that I watched Tucker And Dale vs. Evil, but I don't remember much else about it. I guess that means it was kind of forgettable for me? I think I liked it, but... not enough to stand out, I guess.
Wild - Makes me very thankful that my wife was in a much better place when her mother succumbed to cancer. Reese Witherspoon did a great job with this role, something I knew she was capable of, but probably the darkest thing of hers I can recall. Quite the progression from Legally Blonde (which I loved btw). ****
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - I'm disappointed that this project is over, but sort of relieved too. That said, I thought this was marginally better than Desolation. ***
Lucy - Pretty cool movie premise and well executed special effects, but unsatisfying. It was fine. **½
Kill the Messenger - Jeremy Renner is great and the story it's based on - CIA complicit in the drug trade in order to finance the Contras - is really compelling, so much so that I wanted to know if actual outrage was warranted (being a child in the 80's, my knowledge of the Reagan years is limited). In the end, my enjoyment of it was a bit diminished by researching the real-life events & people. ***½
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - This was surprisingly good. Even my wife enjoyed it and she's not typically a fan of sci-fi flicks. ***½
Rush - Really enjoyable movie. Hemsworth & Brühl were perfect, the racing action sucks you in, the storyline and character development top notch. Ron Howard did a great job on this. ****½
Pride - Unexpectedly awesome movie. Great actors giving amazing performances within the context of an interesting story. GLBT group supports striking miners in Scotland circa 1984. It didn't feel like it tried too hard to be touching; no forced inspirational messages, just well done all around. *****
[not here]
Continuing to watch episodes of Foyle's War ("season" six); was mildly amused by a character named Adam Wainwright.
saw two movies this past month or so at the theater:
Avengers: Age of Ultron scratched that itch. I was disappointed that they killed off Pietro. I mean, WTF? But I liked the Scarlet Witch character and I'm enthusiastic about Vision. Looking forward to Ant Man next month and to whatever the future holds for the Avengers franchise as they switch out some of the old stand-bys for some new team members. (I guess this was back in May)
Mad Max: Fury Road. Visually stunning. The story was thoroughly stupid, but it was a great car chase movie with awesome stunts and special effects. But calling this a feminist film is almost as stupid as the bitching about Black Widow's self-pitying/loathing in Avengers. It's an action flick with a bad-ass female lead.
Tomorrowland: House was kind of fun as the "bad" guy, and the girl who played Athena was great. But we all wanted our money back. It was thoroughly stupid and insipid, and really, really, really determined to beat your head to a pulp with "message." A stupid message, btw. Good god, that movie sucked.
Yeah, so...not all of us have seen Age of Ultron yet. Now I don't have to!
Spoiler alert:
Yes, well I can certainly see how presidential assassinations are easily comparable to story beats in movies.
Plus the difference in time elapsed from those events.
really?
A:AoU was released on April 13. Did I really need to spoiler that on June 18? Okay then.
While you see a lot of movies in the theater and I envy this a great deal, I average maybe one per year. I'm fairly sure my last trip was for Frozen, and it's not like that one was my call.
Uh-huh ... suuure.
😉
Huh. I guess my impression was that you were an active movie-goer, out of professional obligation.
I really don't see that many movies in the theater. A handful per year.
I didn't spoiler because (a) the film has been out for two months and (b) been discussed at length both here and across the net. It did not occur to me that this was a plot point that still required spoilering around here. Sorry.
Because I constantly live at least 6-8 months in the past as far as film is concerned, I've generally become an expert at avoiding spoilers. I suppose I'm surprised I didn't already know about this death, but I didn't.
Now that it's out there, I both dislike and understand with the choice to kill the character. There are probably contractual obligations for the main cast, so if Whedon wanted to kill someone off to give the main villain some weight, I'm not surprised it was a character without much history with the casual audience. (And a character with no film franchise of his own).
I don't care, some people may. I think that drawing an equivalence from something that is two months old to things that are 50+ years old doesn't strengthen the argument that it's okay to spoil it. Some of us have a difficult time in making time to watch movies or have to wait until it comes out on video. Age of Ultron isn't out on video yet so I think some care is warranted. If you want to spoil all of Interstellar, something that has been available on DVD since March 31, that's different.
Ok, ok.
I'm just in a grumpy mood, I guess. comes from making the mistake of getting involved in BookFace arguments and sitting on my ass at home....
I think I beat you into submission. You need to cry "Uncle!"
UNCLE!
Nah. I made the mistake of commenting on a thread about the horrible South Carolina church shooting/terrorist attack.
As if there's less passion involved in sports arguments.
And yet Interstellar still has a queue waiting to check it out from the library, so yeah spoiler that
Yup.
I think Fury Road was a pretty unequivocally feminist film, which is part of why I loved it so much.
Well, yea, the "feminist" story is pretty obvious. I guess I just don't have a need to make a big deal about the feminist angle. Good guy (Furiosa) hatches a plan to Fight the Power and Save Innocents. It's a universal story. The only thing feminist about it, per se, is the gender of the hero(ine).
by the same token, Terminator should be seen as a feminist film. Is it? I mean, Sarah Connor is the hero of that story.
I actively make a big deal out of it in the hopes that the word "feminist" stops being used as a pejorative, mostly. It is incredibly frustrating to see that happen over and over.
True, true.
I certainly didn't mean it in a negative light, but rather that, unlike, say, Tomorrowland, this flick was not beating the audience over the head with a "feminist message," whatever that is supposed to mean.
If the viewer wants to read it as one, ok. But it's certainly not necessary to make a big deal out of Furiosa as a feminist action hero. She's just an action hero. She's a good guy, fighting for freedom for herself and others against bad guys. If it were just Max fighting to free the Brides, it would be standard trope -- Heroic Male Fighting Against Monsters to Free the Damsels in Distress.
That some knuckleheads have somehow latched onto the substitution of a female lead in the standard trope as somehow emasculating is...sad.
Bummed to hear that about Tomorrowland. Sounds like Brad Bird can make a stinker?
Veep, season 4.
JLD is a national treasure. I didn't realize it when I discussed it before, but she's won three Emmy's for this show. Richly deserved. My only quibble is that when a show has just 10 episodes a season, the story has to move ahead without proper treatment of issues that are raised. But her relentless cynicism and conniving is just so delicious.
Now that I've caught up on Silicon Valley, I think I'm going to watch this.
Only saw one actual movie, Mad Max: Fury Road, which I mentioned after seeing it. I really don't see how I'll see a better movie this year.
I haven't really had much time to watch anything else, although I watched the first couple of episodes of Attack on Titan and I'm in. I need to find time to watch more of it.
Somehow I still have about 8-10 episodes left. I keep thinking I'll find a time for a marathon, but I'm still reasonably far from the end.
I'm hoping to do some late night marathons during weekends. I wish my kids were older so I wouldn't have to wait until they are sound asleep before watching the things I want to watch.
They'd have to be much older for AOT. I have to wait until my wife is sound asleep.
She's watched a bit of FMA with me, though she thinks it's ridiculous.
RIP Rick Ducommun, probably known here most for Groundhog Day or maybe The 'burbs. Director Joe Dante tweeted about it, and then pulled it, so the whole thing is...I don't know.
More interesting, to me, is that Ducommun hadn't appeared in a movie since 2004. I wonder why.
Jurassic World - This was a movie that knew what it was, and did it well. The dinos were excellent, the characters were fun, and there was a healthy dose of humor. I was surprised how tense I got during the tense moments. I think a small rewrite would have turned "very good" into "nearly perfect."
I highly recommend it.
General comment about spoilers: assume that there's a good share of people who haven't seen it (me) and would maybe like to, once there's a way to that doesn't avoid babysitters and extra cash layouts.
I haven't watched Avengers or Guardians or much else.
I still spoiler things on TV programs I'm watching that are a decade old.
There has never in human history been more content available and never in my history less time a day to watch things rated above PG.
Also, I might read folks' comments about whether to actual choose that movie.
P.S. I still know next to nothing about some shows like Lost or The Wire that I may pick up some day if I have a serious injury and have to draw on my STD coverage.
Plus, I first got streaming in January 2015, so I've got one heck of a backlog.
Meh, ignore Lost. It will only frustrate you.
Meh, ignore this comment. Lost is great.
Philo had the correct take on this.
yeah. And it's LOST.
For five seasons, I LOVED Lost. It was the greatest TV show ever. Then Season 6 happened.
If you watch the first 5 seasons, and pretend that it's over after that, then go ahead and watch.
Zen, dude -- it's the journey, not the destination
If any season should be dropped, make it 2. Very little was added to the narrative.
I thought Season 6 was brilliant. That was where the best philosophy of the show came from (Spooky's contrary opinions on it's depth be damned). And the acceptance of all that came beforehand.
Let me say, there were some problems with Season 6 certainly.
I have to give the edge to season five, I think. The sci-fi aspects were played up, and it was a lot of fun.
Season three's back half was great, as well,even if the first half sort of carried over the wheel spinning of season two.
I'm in the same boat as you in terms of being a person who hasn't seen most things but might like to one day once circumstances allow.
However, I am unlikely to ever abbreviate "short term disability" as you did. Took me a little while to figure that one out, as my first thought was something rather different, though I suppose it could result in a short term disability?
hey now, this is a family site.
Families and STDs come from the same place, right?
my cousins are adopted
Well played sir. Well played.
And it took me a while to determine who you were really replying to 😉
That said, hip replacement only got me through a couple eps of Foyle's War, so don't depend on that as an aid.
I thought of undoing that because of the alternate meaning, but why ruin the fun that might ensue?
I finished Fullmetal Alchemist. It almost felt like it rushed to the ending. There was some things that showed up late and I didn't feel they were quite earned. Overall, I really liked the series.
I keep wanting to use “Koka tokan” in conversation, but no one else knows it. I’ve introduced the concept to my older two kids, just so I can say “you want something from me? Give me something in return” in a more creative manner.
I finished Attack on Titan. I'm excited to see that others outside of Zack and I are watching it. I hope it's no surprise, but in case
I watched all of the "Battle of Trost" episodes in one night. When I got to the end, I started over, looking for foreshadowing and stuff.
Both programs have an interesting subtext of dealing within fascistic dictatorships. (The leader in FMA is actually called “Fuhrer Bradley”.) In both series, the government structure is generally assumed and unquestioned at first (by all), and doubts arise only later. I assume that Imperial Japan’s early 20th century history has something to do with that.
I'm watching these shows exclusively in Japanese with subtitles. (Our secondhand Blu-ray doesn't do closed-captioning or multiple audio tracks for NetFlix, but luckily defaults to Foreign Language + Subtitles.)
It does make it tricky when one dozes off for a ten seconds, because missing a little bit of heard dialog, you can remember bits and piece it together. But if you miss some subtitles, you’ve got to rewind.
I wish these manga came in fewer volumes. I don't think I should buy them... maybe the library?
I'd like another series of about similar size to watch, anyone have suggestions?
I've started Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (a re-telling of the same story, sortof). I'm finally through season one, and the story seems to have suddenly diverged significantly from the original.
I don't like the music as much, and the comic anime tropes are even more jarring. But overall, I'm quite happy with it and excited to see another way the story could have played out.
I will reply to this with a handful of recs later tonight. Just need to see what else is on Netflix.
[I thought I lost that last comment to the Bad Gateway, and I re-created it. I brought my better-expressed thoughts into an edit on the old comment.]
I also watched: Jack Reacher. Decent enough movie, my favorite part was that Werner Herzog was cast as a villain.* I love hearing his voice, and I wonder how many movies he has to turn down villain roles in. Five per day? Ten? If I had enough money, I’d hire him to be the narrator and/or villain for my life. [Imagining I’m super-rich and at some point I get sued. “I’ll pay you $X Million if you allow Werner Herzog here to be your attorney.”]
*No spoiler, he’s listed in the opening credits, and you know he's not one of the good guys. Plus, he's a villain from the moment his voice is heard; it's not like he's disguised or revealed.