To stifle the growing dissent, we are hereby enacting emergency powers here's a movie post.
To make it topical, what's your favorite xmas movie?
229 thoughts on “Whatever Day Movie Day – Holiday Edition”
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To stifle the growing dissent, we are hereby enacting emergency powers here's a movie post.
To make it topical, what's your favorite xmas movie?
Comments are closed.
In before all the Jar Jar Adams fanboys.
It may not be a wonderful life, but it's a hell of a party town. A spirited defense of Pottersville.
Awesome. Sounds like
bourbon streetNew Orleans.Who's seen more Star Wars movies, you or me? I saw the original in the movie theater: 1977. None since.
We're tied. I saw Empire Strikes Back in the theater on a first or second date when I was in high school. Didn't see much of the movie, if you know what I mean. (Hi Dawn!) Never saw the first one, never bothered with any of the others.
Cool story
Hmmm...comments are posting here, but not on the Co'C
I take that back -- comments aren't posting that have a .png image for some reason.
http://schlogger.de/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/hgprivat/bb8_thumbsup_web.png
Schlogger? Is that some type of NYC slang?
truly
wrong place....
Coruscant is all city. 🙂
Related, I was able to attend opening weekend of a Star Wars movie with two of my daughters, which in itself is a nice memory to have stored in the ol' memory banks.
To add to this, I don't remember hearing so many people talking about a movie like people are talking about TFA. Everywhere I go I over hear people discussing it. I went to Best Buy last night (needed to buy Guardians of the Galaxy because I now have a major space opera itch. I liked it even more on my second viewing, although I think my wife thought it was weird.) and I heard it mentioned by just about everyone shopping.
Star War: I'll refrain from spoilers but I enjoyed it a lot and I'm even more excited for the Rian Johnson helmed Episode VIII. I'm going again next week with J and one of our friends.
You're The Worst Season 1: Pretty excellent. I'm very, very, very picky about comedy, and this did have some :/ things, but it was mostly good. I'm super excited to watch season 2 which is basically an exploration of a relationship with someone with clinical depression because apparently I love watching things that hit me with the feels.
Fargo Season 2: I've watched the first 7 episodes and think it's much, much stronger than season 1. I'll probably blow through the last episodes tonight while I do laundry and such.
W/ Bob & David Season 1: I was crushingly let down by this. There were some decent sketches, but they went for the low hanging fruit often and I have zero tolerance for transphobic jokes, of which there was one in at least 3 of the 4 episodes! I'm hoping they do more and have more time because I don't want this to be what I waited all these years for.
M:i-2: My friends and I are working through the Mission: Impossible films as a follow up to our run through the Fast & Furious films. This one was so much worse than I remember. The John Woo signature doves were the only good thing about the movie.
M:i:III: I knew I hadn't seen this, but I couldn't remember why (it was because 2 sucked). Surprisingly decent. Philip Seymour Hoffman stole the show, but there was some actually compelling action and it was overall a decent flick. We trudged through the first 3, and tonight we get to enjoy Ghost Protocol which is legitimately awesome. I'm excited to re-watch that.
As far as a favorite Christmas flick, my answer is pretty boring: A Christmas Story. J & I are going to go see Carol on Christmas this year, so that has a chance of ending up somewhere on the list. I'm very excited to go see it. I'd also recommend all the Bob's Burgers Christmas episodes. This year's was an absolute riot.
Ghost Protocol is my favorite M:I film. I think it's because Brad Bird directed it (big fan of Incredibles too)
I was convinced to watch it because of him directing it. And it's how I talked my group into watching the series!
Me, too. I watched 2 [or 3, I don't know, there's a motorcycle fighting scene and something at a race track and maybe Philip Seymour Hoffman?] and didn't pay attention or care and would have never watched anything from it again except "Brad Bird".
Ghost Protocol is probably my favorite, but 3 is right up there, too.
2 was horrible. So horrible.
The most amazing thing about the Mission:Impossible movies is that #2 somehow didn't kill off the franchise.
It killed my interest. I know I'll like the newer ones much more, but my motivation to see them is not high right now with all the other stuff to watch.
I rewatched #1 not all that long ago. Honestly, I didn't think it held up either. Between 1 and 2... amazing there was a third.
See, I liked #1. I still like it to this day.
I watched MI1 a few months ago for the first time.
I remember thinking something like "OK" but not much has stuck with me.
Brad Bird? See Iron Giant
Goodness, I realized I forgot a couple things too...
The Good Dinosaur: It was okay. Cute characters, nice animation. It felt more Disney than Pixar, which was somewhat disappointing. I didn't love the ending. The short before it was pretty awesome, though.
American Ultra: The premise was aggressively stupid and Kristen Stewart* starred, so I was sold. It... delivered what I wanted, which was mindless entertainment. They couldn't commit to going full action or full comedy so it kind of ended up stuck in the middle and was less good than it could've been. Walton Goggins plays an assassin named Laugher, and that's a sight to behold.
*It's very disappointing to me that Clouds of Sils Maria has not received a Blu-ray release in North America. It was a very good film, and it was beautiful, and Kristen Stewart gave an amazing performance in it. I want to re-watch it quite badly but I try to avoid buying stuff on DVD at this point.
Re: Rian Johnson.
Name didn't ring a bell, but he directed Brick and Looper.
So I assume JGL will be in Ep8. Perhaps as a Lando equivalent?
Also, I have to remember to see if Brick or Looper is Netflixy. (No and No)
Other stuff I've been watching
The Man In The High Castle - Love the premise. As the series went on, I felt it dragged a little, but overall still very enjoyable.
Broadchurch - Mystery story set in the UK. The accents are fun, and the chemistry between the two leads is fantastic.
The Maze Runner - Decent adaptation. Still don't like the ending though.
Attack on Titan - Finished the first season. Got good at the end. Started the comic, but only vol 1 so far.
Favorite Christmas movie comedic division: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (A Christmas Story is ooooh so close, but I don't quote it enough throughout the year to justify moving it ahead.)
Favorite Christmas movie dramatic division: It's A Wonderful Life.
Last year Philosofette and I watched all of the cheesy, awful, ABC Family Made-For-TV Christmas movies, that we could find on Netflix. It was gloriously bad. I highly recommend it.
My father-in-law records and watches every one of those bad Christmas movies he can find. Hallmark network has some amazingly awful ones. Not only does the rest of the room get subjected to the terrible movie, he then fast forwards through the parts he finds too slow, too sentimental, or too objectionable. I don't know how he finds something offensive on a Hallmark Family Christmas Movie, but he does. Downside: It makes a terrible movie even worse when it gets randomly sped up at various points. Upside: At least it's over sooner that way!
Mrs. A absolutely loves Hallmark Channel movies, especially the Christmas ones. It's no good to complain that they're often cartoonish and incredibly predictable--that's obviously what people like Mrs. A like about them.
Even thought they are definitely not for me, I can completely understand liking that sort of thing. Sometimes the sentiment of a movie trumps everything else, and I can understand how that could be enjoyable for someone. The strangest part to me is that my F-i-L skips so much of them that he doesn't really seem to enjoy them, either, yet he still chooses to watch them.
As I mentioned yesterday, saw The Martian. As far as translation of the events of the book went, yeah, they did a decent job with all of that. I would've done some things a little differently, but no huge complaints there.
Usually if there's a movie out before I've read something, I can't help but take on the images of the actors as those of the characters in my head . However that didn't happen with Damon, even though I knew he was playing the lead. After I finished the book, I thought that he didn't seem like the right fit. Reviews came in, said he did fine, I didn't think anything more about it. Man, was he the wrong choice for that film.
After reading this post I went down the rabbit hole of Die Hard quotes.
Master of None is great. So watch it.
We've been watching our christmas list over the last week or so. Home Alone, IaWL, Love Actually, Grinch, Frosty, Deer, etc. Thinking about Love Actually made me realize that Thomas Brodie-Sangster might be my Kevin Bacon. Love Actually, Star Wars (huh), Game of Thrones, Maze Runner/Sequel. Just kidding, but still where's the kid from Jerry Maguire now?
Not a Christmas fan in general, but my favorite movie growing up was probably Scrooged. I've heard some recently name Die Hard, which is pretty funny, but I guess technically true.
AMR: Another one I enjoy is called Tokyo Godfathers, which you might enjoy. It was made by Satoshi Kon, who I understand was a name in anime...or something. Anyway, yeah, fun flick.
RIP. Most of his films are supposed to be excellent, but I haven't seen them all.
I've heard similar things (and I haven't heard much). You would probably really like this one too. And just in time for the season!
That's the best kind of
correcttrue!People are actually picking Die Hard as a favorite Christmas Movie?
Over Gremlins?
None of those Kon movies are Netflixy. 🙁
Jessica Jones
This was a really really good show. Ritter was perfect. Colter was perfect. Tennant was perfect. There were times when the series seemed to run in place for a little bit, but I think that pacing was forgivable, because biting off even more in the season would have probably been too much. This didn't shy away from any of the hard topics, and the stakes were always high.
Goes on the same pile as Daredevil and Arrow: too dark for EAR to tolerage, and not enough grabbed me to make me want to watch it after EAR's sleeping (that's Anime time!).
* Jurassic World - I liked it well enough. The original was my favorite movie ever as a kid, but this one at least gained back some of the wonder of the original, whereas the second and third completely forgot what made the first great.
* Ex Machina - Might be my favorite movie so far this year. Domhnall Gleeson is great, as is Oscar Issac (Star Wars was a bit of a cast reunion, then... or maybe Ex Machina was, I don't know). I love the tech speak. I love the ethical quandaries, and the way the movie plays with them. I love the mood and atmosphere. Very good movie.
* A Very Murray Christmas - I don't really like Christmas specials, so I'm not sure why I watched this. It wasn't very good.
I expected more from A Very Murray Christmas than I got. People shouldn't waste their time with it.
Ex Machina is probably in my top 3 this year. I love it, and the ending is absolutely perfect. I totally forgot Oscar Isaac was in TFA, so that was a very pleasant surprise. And it reminds me that I need to get around to watching A Most Violent Year.
With that in mind, will next month be our favorites of 2015? I have a few things I really need to check out (Carol, The Hateful Eight, Sicario) before I make my list.
Ex Machina is on Amazon Prime, so I'm planning on watching it sometime in the next day or two.
Jurassic World was really fun - totally enjoyed it...
Ex Machina - Not my "favorite," per se, but everything else you said - DIDO! The ending left me anxious and ill at ease in a way that I appreciated. That feeling persisted for quite a few days after the viewing.
Jurassic Park was my sister's favorite movie. Jurassic World came out one year to the day that she died. A huge number of our family went to see it opening day. I enjoyed it much, and suspending belief was not so much a problem for me, given the situation. I was going to enjoy it, no matter what. And I did.
Suspension of disbelief has always been the signpost on the doorway to anything and everything Jurassic.
JW was fun but, really, it could've been so much better.
I also saw the last Hunger Games movie. Having read the books, it was pretty much the movie that I knew was going to be made, but it was done pretty well.
Lawrence does her thing well. Hutcherson still feels miscast to me, as does Julianne Moore. PSH is just about perfect. They don't really give Harrelson enough to do, but that was going to be impossible, anyway. Everyone else is...there.
Linds hadn't seen the books, and remarked that the two movies could easily have been condensed to one, which I don't necessarily disagree with, but there were pacing issues beyond that.
Still watching Bob's Burgers when I fold laundry. Still really enjoying it. Wife has officially declared it a turn-off. To be fair, she keeps walking in when they're talking about poop...which is often.
My wife has a sliding scale of shows I like that she doesn't. Bob's Burgers is right on the cusp between her leaving the room if it's on, and her being willing to put up with it if I already started watching. There was once that I caught her laughing about some joke (probably related to poop or butts; I think it was butts) that gave me hope she might be willing to give it a shot, but alas it was not to be.
Favorite Christmas Movie: Elf - It's goofy and heartfelt without being oversentimental. I thought the Will Ferrell & Zooey Deschanel pairing was nearly pitch-perfect.
The Walking Dead - Season 6 (through mid-season finale) - I haven't given much critical thought to this season, but could be induced to conversate if anyone's interested.
Inside Out - Extremely well done. Previously discussed here, but Pixar seems to hit a homerun with whatever they release. Kernel enjoyed it, but there were a lot of "grown-up" themes that made it even more enjoyable for my wife and me. 9/10
Run All Night - Nothing to the premise was all that fresh, but I like Neeson in the roles and Ed Harris does a good "bad guy". 6/10
John Wick - Rewatch still good the second time.
In Your Eyes - Surprisingly sweet romance (Written by Joss Whedon so, touch of sci-fi) about a man and a woman who, for reasons never explained, discover they share a telepathic connection with each other. 7/10
Oh, and Spellbound (Hitchcock, Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck) - highly entertaining, and the twist I thought I saw was not the twist that made the movie. Also, I love Ingrid Berman.
We're still working through the Star Wars movies with our oldest before seeing Episode 7, which will likely happen on Monday. We finished up episode 2 a few nights ago, so only one left to go. I had forgotten exactly how terrible Ep. 1 was, but 2 was not as bad as I remembered. Still lots of wooden acting and terrible dialog, but a clear step up from number 1. At least for number 2, I could see that if George Lucas hadn't directed it himself, it at least had a chance to be good.
We also managed to watch a couple of Redbox movies while on vacation last week:
Trainwreck: Loved this. I found it absolutely hilarious, and LeBron was actually pretty decent. I love Amy Schumer, and have liked pretty much every Apatow movie I've seen, so no surprise that I liked it so much. Right up my alley, and hits all the points I'd want from that kind of movie.
Magic Mike XXL: Really, really bad. My wife and I watch the first one a couple of years ago (coincidently, while we were vacationing at the same ski area we were at last week...) and we both really enjoyed it. The first one had shockingly good acting and story, and the look and feel of it really pulled it all together. Knowing it was a Soderbergh movie, I shouldn't have been that surprised, but I really liked the first one. XXL, however, not so much. Man, it was bad. Absolute bare minimum of a story, essentially just a framing device to get a bunch of big muscular guys to dance and take their clothes off. I know I probably shouldn't have expected much more, but since the first one was actually good, I was surprised at how terrible this was. Could be the difference between Soderbergh directing the original, versus just producing (and being director of photography) for the second, but I'm not sure any director could have saved XXL.
I'll defend Magic Mike XXL to my last breath. It's also in my top 3 this year! I was initially skeptical as all get out, because what I liked about Magic Mike was the very current, very real story about the Great Recession. That they wrapped it all up in a stripper movie was, well, brilliant! And XXL seemed unnecessary. I heard a ton of great impressions from people who I trusted and finally saw it in the theater and I'm so happy I went. The plot is basically non-existent but that's not terribly important to me, but the characters were fun the film was straight up gorgeous. The film had an incredibly deep respect for women which is (unfortunately) quite uncommon in most media. It was a blast.
I don't know if it'll change your mind or anything, but I think this is a super interesting article (probably NSFW because I mean it's Magic Mike):
That was definitely an interesting take, but you're correct, no mind changing here. I get the subtext, and framing it in that way does make me appreciate it a bit more, but still doesn't mean I enjoyed it. Using the parlance of that article, I think I was looking for and expecting more of a movie, and got too much cinema. For me, some of the individual scenes were effective, but it just didn't really come together as a whole. Considering how well the first one pulled it all off, I just wanted more of a coherent story than I got here. I guess I just need more plot that it was giving.
While watching it, I also really appreciated the way the female characters were portrayed, and especially the way they were treated by the hunky dudes. It's pretty disheartening that this seems so rare even for movies like this that are clearly marketed and directed mostly toward women.
I'm about seven episodes into Jessica Jones and I absolutely love it. Top notch acting and one of the creepiest bad guys I've ever seen. Marvel is killing it these days. The only negative is that, with the new tv the world is less immersive because the picture is too crisp.
The other night I watched Kung Fury. If you've got half an hour to spare, this would be a great use of that time (it's on Netflix). It was hilarious and the big fight scene reminded me of Streets of Rage.
I'm a few episodes into Master of None as well and I'm really liking it. Have to finish that off soon.
I almost watched Kung Fury last night, but picked... something else that wasn't too memorable, apparently, instead. Oh yeah, Odd Thomas. It had potential, and delivered at times, but was far too one-note for it's length.
All I'm going to say about Kung Fury to convince you to watch it tonight is "Triceracop".
Yup, that did it.
Tonight probably won't happen, because the list of things that needs to occur before Christmas Eve is too extensive, but it's now on my list 100%
Dude, the video game killing spree is one of the most awesome opening acts of all time.
You will get no disagreement from me, good sir.
Saw The Good Dinosaur. Visually, this movie is as good as I've ever seen from animation. We went to the 3D and unlike some others, I thought the 3D was really good. I spent the whole movie just astounded by the view. Tremendous.
The plot: recycled themes, well worn, and uninteresting.
Did I mention though, that visually, this thing was tremendous?
Forgot to mention I saw Mad Max: Fury Road as well -- Top 2 movie for the year for me.
Xmas movie: I have fond memories of watching Home Alone in the theater with my sister, my parents, and my mom's parents (both of whom are now deceased). I'm looking forward to sharing it with my boys in another year or two. I have no idea how well it'll hold up, but watching my boys laugh through the parts with the inept burglars will be worth it.
I'm not a big holiday movie person generally, but I realized today that The Nutcracker would qualify, if you expand the question to performing arts generally. I listen to the music multiple times every December, and the jalapeño and I have gone to a performance together for the last two years. This year a friend of his was a mouse, so that was a fun bonus.
When the boys are older, I'd also love to take them to see A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie.
I watched the good half of Home Alone (i.e., the part with the totally awesome, absolutely lethal traps) a couple of weeks ago, and I enjoyed myself quite a bit. It just takes so long to get there.
Yeah, it certainly isn't half the movie. We watched it with the girls last week and were shocked how long it took for the movie to become the movie we thought it was.
Yeah, the part everyone remembers is not even quite a quarter of the movie, and the lead up to it is just sort of...there.
The only saving grace for the first part: Look what ya did, ya little jerk!
The part that holds up the least is their magical journey to O'Hare and sprinting through the airport to catch their plane.
My favorite Christmas movie is either It's a Wonderful Life or the version of A Christmas Carol that features George C. Scott. Both are legacy picks, but I watched A Christmas Carol again the other day, and it mostly holds up.
My favorite is either The Muppet Christmas Carol or Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas. If we're stretching "Christmas Movie" maybe Die Hard.
Well yeah, Die Hard is the runaway winner if I get to choose that.
Watched the first two episodes of Black Mirror while wrapping gifts tonight. I'm going to watch many more soon (well, four more, I guess...). Great stuff.
Wait . . . there are men who wrap gifts?
via GIPHY
but really guys black mirror is pretty good and you should watch it if you dont already
Totes agree about black mirror. The memory grain episode really jacked me up...
Poorly, sure, but sitting up wrapping gifts and watching Christmas movies with my wife is one of my favorite times of the year. It's when things really feel like they're coming together for Christmas.
I had a job in a drug store when I was 21. One day, they put me in the customer service department. A woman bought a gift and asked us to wrap it. The results were far worse than anything you can imagine. It may have been my first time wrapping a gift.
No movies of late, although I expect to see Star Wars this weekend with the kids. But I did finally get around to catching up on last season's Agent Carter recently (in time to be ready for January's return). Enjoyable fluff with a kick-butt female lead. She only has to play up her boobs every other episode or so.
and I binged through Heroes Reborn this past week. I'm enjoying it and looking forward to its return as well.
recorded but not yet watched: Birdman, last summer's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell miniseries, and Syfy's recent production of Childhood's End.
I was going to try Strange/Norrell, but they never appeared often enough to record them. I tried Heroes Reborn but couldn't make it through the pilot. The Librarians is our particular goofy guilty pleasure
Well, I didn't see it mentioned anywhere (incl above).
We went last noght, so now I got to finally read all these spoilers!
You didn't have a closing spoiler tag so I put it at the end.
Oops, sorry about that. I blame trying to do it on my phone.
Also, the more I've thought about the movie, the more I like it. Daisy Ridley is gonna be really rich soon.
In the extended universe, iirc, Ben is the youngest of Han and Leia's three children. He gets killed off, while the older son, Jacen, goes dark.
Oops. Got that mixed up. Ben is the son of Luke and Mara Jade in the Expanded Universe. Han and Leia's son Anakin is killed off.
I think my brother Jason would have gone to the dark side too, if my parents had spelled his name like that.
Autocorrect is the best. Corrected.
I was referring to Jacen. Just spell it like it sounds, dammit.
How do you know how they meant it to sound?
Hmm, touche.
I pretty much agree with all of this.
I recommend listening to the voice-over in the first minute and then decide:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2741612825
I was going to make this post when I had time to play along with it. Working a lot of mornings these days, though.
I watched Whiplash last night. Holy cow, what a great movie. I was exhausted by the end just watching all that drumming. J.K. Simmons totally deserved that Oscar.
Watching "Empire Strikes Back" right now.
Also, the only way to damage the AT-ATs is the back of their neck... just like Titans.
That's a good point, although it's possible Yoda finished up where Qui-gonn left off, I guess.
It's also possible that Lucas is a hack.
pretty sure that's more than a possibility, actually
I always assumed that Yoda was a teacher of the younglings. So Yoda would've taught Obi-Wan early on, but later when Obi-Wan became older, he trained with Qui-Gon
This conversation is going a nice job of highlighting how bad the prequels really are. The three movies that were supposed to answer questions caused confusion while the other for created questions, for the most part, but at encouraging fun speculation.
Saw TFA for a second time. I think I liked it better than the first time. I do, however, still maintain that 3D doesn't really add anything to a movie.
It was filmed in 2D so I watched it in 2D. There was only one scene filmed in IMAX.
Fair enough. I am glad I initially saw it in 2D. We wanted to go to an early showing, though, and the only thing earlier than 10 in Oakdale was in 3D. At least it's a far better movie than the last one I saw that way (Avatar)
Since they filmed Avatar in 2D, that's the only way I've watched it:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q1QF8G47oU
I find it interesting that one of the biggest and most common reasons for why people disliked Avatar is because it had an unoriginal plot taken from another movie despite the movie placing the plot in a completely different genre (space science fiction as opposed to historical action-adventure animated musical), while TFA is basically given a pass despite basically completely replicating the plot of the original movie and having basically zero surprises in the plot. I guess it's called The Force Awakens because Ep. IV was a dream foreshadowing TFA? FYI, I enjoyed TFA, but I also enjoyed Avatar.
Well I'd say Avatar gets crap because the writing was bad and the acting/characters were terrible.
Right. I crap on Avatar because the writing was laughable (I actually laughed out loud at a few lines in the movie, which is something people say for the sake of hyperbole on occasion, but I really did).
Unobtainium ftw. Oy.
I thought that the movie was...fine,but that part made me do a double take.
So dumb. You'd think they'd have just looked for easytogetmium instead.
I cannot stop giggling at this.
Someone's got unobtanium on earth now.
I can't decide if it would be hilarious or annoying for one of those to be named that. (but I lean towards hilarious)
Technically "unobtainium" has been used since the '50s. It was even referenced in The Core. Well, that's pretty damning, now that I think about it.
1. Cheaptoy: The current abbreviations for those elements include Uut (for 113) and Uuo (for 118). I think either of those would be a good fit for Unobtanium. Just drop the middle "u" in either.
2. Rhu_Ru: Details, schmetails. I don't care if it's the actual name of an element, it sounds ridiculous and reeks of poorly-executed Dickensian naming.
well, I'm in agreement there
Sounds better than ununpentium.
How about unrepentium?
I think you're giving AMR's opinion too much weight. Avatar has a 7.9 rating on IMDb.
You're basically saying the same thing as I've been saying. And yet somehow TFA was still much more entertaining.
I didn't mind the movie but bringing up Pocohontas is such an easy critique. It's cheap, but it makes me giggle a bit each time.
I have no real interest in seeing Avatar again, or revisiting the universe the guy from Titanic invented, but I'll probably see them sooner or later.
Spooky probably has the better critique; it's a pretty ridiculous movie that's also ridiculously pretty.
EDIT: Replaced a comma in the last sentence with a semicolon.
Yeah...dumb though it was, I did reach the end for a reason.
EDIT: though I wouldn't call out the missed semicolon on THIS site, I am thrilled that you caught it.
I will certainly not argue with the visuals.
Roger Dean does.
Thinking of the Titanic thing. The director is the guy that thought
was a poignant and romantic way to finish the story. I chuckled at the theater when I saw that.
I'd say most of Avatar reflects similar tastes in storytelling.
It was a real PITA to find a 2D showing that worked with my schedule in Winnipeg, but we're going tonight at 6:45. Second time for me, first for J & our friend. Pretty juiced.
We went to a matinee at a casino in Vegas. Surprisingly half-empty theater despite it being quite affordable 2D viewing. Nice big screen though.
Saw Star Wars yesterday. Pretty much echo everyone's sentiments above. Despite it being beat for beat like Episode IV, I'll say that A New Hope was a lot creepier. The Jawas throwing the rocks. The Sand People. Even Obi Wan turning off the force field had a lot of tension. Give me more of that for VIII please.
Also saw The Big Short. Depressing beyond imagination even though there was not much I didn't already know about the housing bubble. Steve Carrell and Christian Bale are ridiculously good.
I have come at "Star Wars" as cautiously optimistic, but also not wanting to know anything about it really. I've been holding off on seeing any "Star Wars" trailers even. But with the positive reviews after it's release, I may end up seeing it in theaters after all.
Crap, lost a lengthy comment...
EAR and I watched 4 of 8 episodes of High Profits last night, a documentary series about the one Marijuana store grandfathered into Breckenridge, CO's downtown zoning laws after the state legalized pot.
Main characters are the proprietors (a married? couple), a few of their employees, the three competitors in town that have to operate in the outskirts (away from tourists), the Mayor and city council (I think each councilor is fully individualized), concerned citizens, and federal banking laws (resulting in huge piles of cash).
I had a nightmare about the show.
EAR and I have different politics about legalization, but at times we have the same opinion on who's being an idiot.
Finished it last night. Another nightmare.
Both were "stress nightmares" where I'm in a panic about everything that needs to be done and all the ways I can screw it up. I used to get them a lot over actuarial exams. Not actual visions of taking an exam, just visions of blurred-out to-do lists and forgotten priorities that I have to keep racking my brain to remember, lost important pieces of paper, etc.
The ending was... inconclusive, almost like the ending of Sopranos (which is 90% of the show I've seen). But these are real people's lives so I should be able to look up how they're doing.
The show was produced by CNN, but it contains a strong but subtle indictment of their business model (using local news reports instead of CNN reports though).
Some of the would be "subtle" editorializing throughout about liquor over weed was actually overplayed (shots of the Pot-store's enemies drinking).
So what you're saying is that watching documentary about weed induced paranoia?
#ContactPsychosis
Watched Sicario last night. Pretty disturbing. The score was fantastic, however. Benicio del Toro was fantastic. Emily Blunt was very good.
I am not much for actual secret gubmint conspiracy stuff, so I didn't buy the story as a real indictment of the U.S. drug war. But I know enough to see some plausibility in some of the depictions.
I'm currently about ten minutes into the first episode of into the badlands and I already feel like I need to watch all of it.
I watched the first two, which were free on AMC (without needing to enter a provider code). Unfortunately, the last 4 are not free, and you do need a provider code (and I don't have AMC with my subscription). So, I'm going to have to wait for Netflix/Amazon.
Hmmm, I hope my dad has AMC, then.
Like I said above...http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2741612825
But trailers aren't exactly cannon. And it's not like those lines were spoken in the film. If they had been, I'd have been totally on board. That's kind of my point.
Or canon
But is it cañon?
I'm sticking with
I'd successfully navigated the interwebz (basically just The WGOM and social media) for two weeks without an iota of non-trailer SW VII info getting past my filters. Saw it with my 12 year old nephew and Kernel (4 yrs old) on Friday afternoon and really enjoyed it. I then came here to read your spoilers.
I hate to admit it, but I'm thinking now that I shouldn't have, or that I should have seen it sooner so I could've participated. The detailed analysis, complaints (be they major or minor, valid, contrived or otherwise), and well-thought-out insights and speculation exploded my nostalgia-generated (and uncritical) enthusiasm and replaced it with a much less satisfying - though still generally positive - appreciation of the movie.
Once while talking to Beau about how someone who acts and writes has to deconstruct everything to make art, I said to him "It was only through years of careful study that I was finally able to stop enjoying movies."
In this instance at least, I can certainly empathize. Certainly sucks some of the fun out of it, eh?
It gets replaced by a different kind of fun, but my sense of wonder is essentially dead.
My brother says it's nearly impossible to watch any movie with any sorts of special effects (so basically, all of them) without visualizing what it took to create those effects. He said it hasn't ruined things for him, but it has certainly replaced the joy with appreciation, which isn't nearly as fun.
I remain a staunch defender.
I'm with Philo, pretty much word for word.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it. It's easily one of my favorite movies of the year and
parasecsmiles ahead of the prequels.I'm just saying that for me, reading (and then thinking) about the comparisons and point-by-point analysis feels like a retroactive attenuation of some of the magic ... a bit like being introduced to Midi-chlorians.
And I guess what I'm trying to say, in an overarching way, is that it isn't the movie that's to blame - the movie is magical. It's our nostalgia forcing (eh? eh?) those comparisons. We aren't disappointed because the movie didn't live up, we're disappointed because it did, and now our nostalgia needs to find a new home.
I've rewatched Episodes IV and V since seeing The Force Awakens. I like The Force Awakens better.
I think this is backwards -- nostalgia isn't forcing comparisons and causing disappointment; nostalgia is the reason I'm NOT (as) disappointed. Meanwhile, I "like" TFA better because I haven't seen it a dozen times and the FX are much better, other than that it's not a fair comparison.
Also meanwhile...
But the stated reasons for your disappointment are that it didn't deliver enough that was truly new. How can you both be forgiving because it duplicates what you love of the original and dismissive because it is duplicating?
I am less dismissive because it is nostalgic, not because it's duplicating. Nostalgia is not the same thing as duplication.
Mad Max: Fury Road was a perfect storm: a nice nostalgic tribute to the past movies, AND not a duplication of the same plot. Great acting and cinematography were the icing.
Nostalgia and duplicating aren't exactly the same thing, sure, but ultimately you're saying both that the thing you like about it and the thing you dislike about it is its similarity to what came before.
I'd also point out that this sure appears to be setting up a markedly different trilogy story, and so while this first episode hit certain similar plot points, it also set up many different future possible plot points that diverge from the original trilogy.
This was supposed to be a continuation of the story, not a stand-alone ala Mad Max. It continued the story, expanded it, and opened up new possibilities.
Like I've said... I'm a staunch defender.
points in favor of the original:
1. It was brand new (the story universe), and spectacular for its time.
2. No whiny central villian with dark, feathered hair.
3. We were kids.
points in favor of TFA:
1. It is spectacular for its time.
2. No whiny central star with blonde, feathered hair.
3. We get to be kids again.
When it opened? or when seen?
Excited to to see TFA again sometime soon. I think the critique that it follows episode 4 too closely is easy; and hopefully will be shown as such.
I turned 14 the summer of 1977.
I actually felt the opposite upon analyzing it. It may be partially that I wasn't really analyzing it so much as I was remembering fun parts - turns out this movie is a lot of fun to think about! It filled me at times with an approximation of the same giddy smile* that I got when I watched the originals. There's power to that.
* Which is a slightly different giddy smile than I got while watching this scene.
This universe is awesome.
Or, this universe is a cash grab.
I loved the movie. In fact, I saw it twice (although my old man picked up the tab for the second viewing...). I'd go see it again today, but when looking at the release schedule of the next round of star wars universe pictures has me shaking my head. Do we really need a movie devoted to the finding of secret plans to build the death star? How about a movie devoted to Boba Fett's antics? Why god why? Oh, because money.
Hey, can't it be both awesome and a cash grab? 🙂
The eight billion side quest movies upcoming does seem like it will be an overreach for Disney and definitely the biggest risk for failure. I do remain optimistic that it won't be an issue, though, since I'm good at ignoring things I dislike. Plus, Disney has a pretty good track record with Pixar and Marvel and the choice for director for episode IIX is encouraging.
I'm with you. I don't think I'll be watching too many of the side quest movies.
I read and enjoyed a lot of the expanded universe books, at least until they decided to kill off [redacted] and [redacted] and turn [redacted] to the dark side. It got too silly even for me down the stretch. But I was a sucker for the New Republic stuff. And KW Jeter's Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy was entertaining enough. Beach reading.
Plus, the plots are more original.
If you really want to troll philodough just use Courtney Barnett
Heh. I almost wrote this comment to Cheap, up above:
I'm good at ignoring things I dislike
Counterpoint: Courtney Barnett.
My point isn't to troll, all I've been stating it's a good movie, but it was hardly original. I (and many others) think it would have been over the top with a kick in a new direction.
I stopped reading the EU after they killed off [redacted]. Just couldn't read anything else knowing that happened.
If I wanted to read the EU, should I start with the Thrawn trilogy?
Yes, that's where I started*.
* Not true, I started at Truce at Bakura because I had that and the Thrawn Trilogy. Truce happens early chronologically so that was first, but Thrawn was next.
*sigh*
I started with The Crystal Star. In a related development, I didn't get very far into the EU.
I assume that I will end up with fatigue from the side stories, but I'm on so on board with Rogue One. I love that the first side story is explicitly given a female lead (yes, Rey, but that wasn't clear from the outset), I'm into the idea of a film set in the universe where none of the characters are space wizards, and it has Mads Mikkelson.
I always liked Star Wars but I'm way into this new universe. Rey, Finn, and to a somewhat lesser extent Poe and Kylo have a fantastic, interesting chemistry. I'm so excited to watch the rest of the trilogy and have more adventures with these characters. And, even if I expected I'd like the new film, I didn't expect to be this enthralled with the universe. It's a fun feeling.
I finished Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood last night (thanks, SiL's Hulu subscription).
Better finish than the first series, which felt rushed, jammed into space, and to not match the setup.
Now I can watch the movies!
I meant to ask, is anyone giving SyFy's The Expanse a shot? I'm recording it, but haven't watched any yet.
Yes. I'm liking it so far. It's the best space opera* on tv right now. I haven't read the books yet, got them as gifts for Christmas, but the wife has read the entire series.
* Might also be the only space opera on tv right now too.
The biggest downfall I've heard is that it's doing too much too soon, but I think it's trying (too) hard to get storylines established. Thanks for the input
The wife expressed similar concern yesterday. She wondered if they would be able to fit the entire first book into this season because some things from season two got pulled in. I was dubious at the time and compared it to Game of Thrones. Looking up the numbers though, she has a point. GoT had to fit in ~694 pages in ~580 minutes (10, 58 minute episodes) while The Expanse has to fit in ~582 pages in ~420 minutes. I'm still dubious they won't get everything in this season but some bigger bits could be cut.