Movie opinions thread (what have you seen, what did you think?)

[SouthtownKid]

Finally saw Under the Silver Lake, now that it's hit Netflix. Holy shit, wow. I can see why there would be backlash toward it, as it becomes a cult movie like the overrated Donnie Darko. But it's solid. It's a nice blend of David Lynch and Richard Sala by the writer/director of It Follows, which I also like.

Looking online, I've noticed that people into the movie are overly concerned with decoding the various ciphers, and not enough concerned with the actual theme of the movie, but oh well. I very much liked it.

 

[evil wasabi]

Finally saw Under the Silver Lake, now that it's hit Netflix. Holy shit, wow. I can see why there would be backlash toward it, as it becomes a cult movie like the overrated Donnie Darko. But it's solid. It's a nice blend of David Lynch and Richard Sala by the writer/director of It Follows, which I also like.

Looking online, I've noticed that people into the movie are overly concerned with decoding the various ciphers, and not enough concerned with the actual theme of the movie, but oh well. I very much liked it.

It’s a typical a23 film. Which means yeah, it’s going to be solid.

 

[100proof]

Also saw Jojo over the weekend. I think I respect it much more than I actually enjoyed it. Respect it because it takes a big fucking swing: genre-bender where Hitler is portrayed as a goof and comedy is mined from the inherent stupidity of fascism released during a time when nobody has a sense of humor about fascism and the movie essentially has to be carried by a child's performance with a bunch of great smaller performances by adults (Rockwell, Stephen Merchant, ScarJo). And it largely all works... if this movie was Taika Waititi cashing in his Marvel points to try something bold, kudos to him.

I just didn't give a shit about any of the main character arc (the kid being scared of, making friends with and ultimately falling for the Jewish girl) and all of the goofiness and satire completely undermined any of the more serious moments for me. Other movies can balance those tonal shifts pretty well but in this case, it just left me cold. I'm willing to accept that some of that's on me (most people seem to love the movie) but I might just be out on Taika Waititi. WWDitS was anathema for me (but I loathe all mockumentaries) and his Thor movie, while certainly better than the previous two, just turned Thor in to yet another Iron Man Lite.

 

[evil wasabi]

Coma
russian movie with a lot of CGI, feels like The Matrix plus inception slash vanilla sky. ultimately cheesy. Better than the russian movie with the guy who turned into a soldier bear? Da.

 

[terry.330]

Tusk- I know why Smith made it and all the backstory etc. It's pretty much exactly what I expected. A bizarre mess with too much dialogue and serious pacing issues.

 

[Rocko]

Coma
russian movie with a lot of CGI, feels like The Matrix plus inception slash vanilla sky. ultimately cheesy. Better than the russian movie with the guy who turned into a soldier bear? Da.

That one sounds like a must watch.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Russia has come out with maybe two or three good movies, ever. Russia spent 70 years quashing any kind of creative thought or expression, and it will be at least another 100 before they recover from it and start producing anything of worth. Other than Andrei Tarkovsky, who the hell in Russia has ever made any movie that means anything? It's a miracle even that he managed to somehow exist.

 

[pixeljunkie]

Now you are ready to discus metaphysics with PixelJunkie.

ha! just caught this - Cronenberg is [chefkiss] and yes The Brood is great metaphysical primer lol

 

[evil wasabi]

Russia has come out with maybe two or three good movies, ever. Russia spent 70 years quashing any kind of creative thought or expression, and it will be at least another 100 before they recover from it and start producing anything of worth. Other than Andrei Tarkovsky, who the hell in Russia has ever made any movie that means anything? It's a miracle even that he managed to somehow exist.

Russia is only 29 years old. Before that it was part of the now dissolved USSR. But we can presume you meant the soviet union quashed expressionism and creativity. To a large degree, yes. And today I don't think we have a lot of good russian film, because media is merely a vehicle for the oligarch to present his fucktoy du jour.

But there have been a lot of good film from the Soviet Union, and Russia. You can find them on Amazon Prime or Youtube for free. Here's what I am have seen that I liked.

The White Sun of the Desert
Brat (Brother)
Brat 2
Leviathan
Viy (split up as a tv series on Amazon, but was a trilogy in Russia)
Dovlatov

I haven't seen Burnt by the Sun or Russian Ark, but apparently they are good as well. There is a series of comedies about a guy named Shurik that are fun, but I don't think that they are worth going out of your way for unless you're into Soviet film.

Modern cinema is dead. So if you wait 100 years I don't think we will have anything better than Tarkovsky's Solaris. What Russia lacks in quality film, they make up for in income polarization and microcosmic spheres of influence.

 

[Rocko]

Andrey Zvyagintsev does excellent movies. Seen them all. They are never very uplifting though.

Idi i smotri is a good "soviet movie" though.

 

[oliverclaude]

Other than Andrei Tarkovsky, who the hell in Russia has ever made any movie that means anything?

The Color of Pomegranates by Parajanov is more worth than most Hollywood "classics" put together, though it may be controversial to consider it Russian. Chukhrai 's Ballad of a Soldier is very good, saw it once and it made a lasting impression. Never saw The Cranes Are Flying, but it's considered good, too. On the whole I agree, every good Soviet movie feels like an exception, that proves the rule, but those exceptions are really worth it.

 

[evil wasabi]

Andrey Zvyagintsev does excellent movies. Seen them all. They are never very uplifting though.

Idi i smotri is a good "soviet movie" though.

can't hear idi i smotri without imagining russian dub of Ramsay Bolton saying "come and see!"

 

[jro]

Tusk- I know why Smith made it and all the backstory etc. It's pretty much exactly what I expected. A bizarre mess with too much dialogue and serious pacing issues.

The scene with the fight while the actual song "Tusk" plays almost makes it all worth it. Almost.

Watched 7500 - it was okay. Levitt single-handedly kept me watching it, without his performance I think I'd have been too bored to stick with it.

 

[famicommander]

John Wick Chapter 5 has been confirmed, and they will start filming immediately after they wrap production on Chapter 4. Chapter 4 is slated for a May 2022 release.

They're also still doing that Ballerina spin off film and the Continental prequel TV series. Keanu Reeves will appear in the TV show, which is set 5 years before the first film. Chris Collins is the showrunner. He has previously worked on The Wire, the Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy, The Man in the High Castle, and Crash. No word on a release for The Ballerina yet as they've not cast a lead actress yet.

Not hard to see why they're going in so hard on this franchise:

John Wick - 89 million dollar box office on a 30 million dollar budget, 87% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chapter 2 - 172 million dollar box office on a 40 million dollar budget, 89% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chapter 3 - 326 million dollar box office on a 75 million dollar budget, 90% on Rotten Tomatoes

I will keep watching them as long as they can maintain the quality. They have been able to maintain mostly the same core creative group (director Chad Stahelski, writer Derek Kolstad, Producer/co-director David Leitch, writer Shay Hatten) so that helps.

 

[oliverclaude]

I watched Nashville, Robert Altman's alleged cult film from 1975, and though it comes with the usual strikes of genius by the master, it also left me with a lot of mixed emotions. I'll use this quote from wikipedia, because it nails it

...many (country music) artists believed it ridiculed their talent and sincerity. Altman felt they were mad because he chose not to use their music in favor of letting the actors compose their own material.

And perform it, too. Yeah, the film does all that, hence feels insincere and seriously lacks authenticity. The songs are a joke, the actors performing them do so with drab voices and witless parodic gestures. Altman's take on country music reminds me of someone, who'd want to depict the Neo Geo with a three hour long Panavision epic - and based his views solely on NGEV Team releases.

But let's forget the implausible country music theme and we're left with a fascinating blueprint of Altman's future ensemble masterpieces like The Player or Short Cuts, films dealing with more familiar grounds for the director, who seems to know infinitely more about California, then he does about Tennessee. Plus you get Jeff Goldblum on an Easy Rider Tricycle and Shelley Duvall as "L.A. Joan", with looks that defined female anime characters for decades to come. All in all, it's worth to have a look at.

 

[fake]

John Wick Chapter 5 has been confirmed, and they will start filming immediately after they wrap production on Chapter 4. Chapter 4 is slated for a May 2022 release.

They're also still doing that Ballerina spin off film and the Continental prequel TV series. Keanu Reeves will appear in the TV show, which is set 5 years before the first film. Chris Collins is the showrunner. He has previously worked on The Wire, the Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy, The Man in the High Castle, and Crash. No word on a release for The Ballerina yet as they've not cast a lead actress yet.

Not hard to see why they're going in so hard on this franchise:

John Wick - 89 million dollar box office on a 30 million dollar budget, 87% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chapter 2 - 172 million dollar box office on a 40 million dollar budget, 89% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chapter 3 - 326 million dollar box office on a 75 million dollar budget, 90% on Rotten Tomatoes

I will keep watching them as long as they can maintain the quality. They have been able to maintain mostly the same core creative group (director Chad Stahelski, writer Derek Kolstad, Producer/co-director David Leitch, writer Shay Hatten) so that helps.

Uhg. I love the series, but what are the odds they can pull off two more? Maybe 4 will be a cliffhanger and 5 is the death of John Wick. If it pans out like that, this could be decent. But I hope they don't milk it dry / turn this into Fast & Furious.

 

[evil wasabi]

Uhg. I love the series, but what are the odds they can pull off two more? Maybe 4 will be a cliffhanger and 5 is the death of John Wick. If it pans out like that, this could be decent. But I hope they don't milk it dry / turn this into Fast & Furious.

First off, that was Famicommander’s best post of all time. It read like a real entertainment news article.

Second, I don’t think The Ballerina is a good idea, at all. It’s presented as a ballerina seeking revenge for the murder of her family. How processed food is that? It’s like regurgitated sausage. We have tasted this story way too many times. And let’s call the series (After the first film) what it is: a second attempt to pull off the shitty assassins creed concept. If you play assassins creed, you’re already a homo faggot. If you support the direction of the wick series? Just cut your dick off, turn on your oven, and crawl inside.

The first wick was genius. After that, the value is in a few scenes that are well made (unlimited knife throwing fight, killing ufc fighter with a book, any scene with Ruby Rose).

 

[neo_mao]

Knives Out this has been coming up as a recommended title for quite some time on Prime so finally watched it. I liked it. I wouldn’t have guessed the ending but i’m kind of thick.

Big Fish i’ve seen parts of the movie before but never the whole thing in its entirety. Finally watched it and loved it. Cried at the end. Like LoneSage said I got daddy issues. I’m also gay for Eddie Vedder.

 

[famicommander]

After watching her struggle through a season of Batwoman, the decision to make Ruby Rose's character in Wick mute looks very wise in hindsight.

You know it's bad when your acting stands out in a bad way compared to other CW DC lead actors.

Cress Williams (Black Lightning) > Grant Gustin (The Flash) > Melissa Benoist (Supergirl) > Caity Lotz (White Canary) > Stephen Amell (Arrow) > Ruby Rose (Batwoman)

Amell is basically an animated block of wood so being worse than him is an accomplishment.

Still beats that pussy crying in a barn for 10 seasons of Smallville, though.

 

[evil wasabi]

I turned off batwoman when she kissed a girl in the opening episode. That was that.

It’s not a problem for people to be gay, but lately it feels like the gay stuff is being shoved down our throats. It’s hard to digest any more of it.

 

[famicommander]

I turned off batwoman when she kissed a girl in the opening episode. That was that.

It’s not a problem for people to be gay, but lately it feels like the gay stuff is being shoved down our throats. It’s hard to digest any more of it.

Did you not know who Batwoman was?

At least the character was gay from the start in the comics and they didn't just change a historically straight character so they could pat themselves on the back for being progressive.

 

[fake]

Did you not know who Batwoman was?

At least the character was gay from the start in the comics and they didn't just change a historically straight character so they could pat themselves on the back for being progressive.

To be fair, Batman is unambiguously gay. But no guys kiss him. At least on screen.

 

[evil wasabi]

Did you not know who Batwoman was?

At least the character was gay from the start in the comics and they didn't just change a historically straight character so they could pat themselves on the back for being progressive.

Never read girl comics. And any previous display of batwoman I have seen wasn’t gay.

Unlike the Silver Age Kathy Kane, who was romantically attracted to Batman, the new version of Kane is a lesbian,[3] as well as Bruce Wayne's maternal cousin.[4] Her sexual orientation was announced at the same time the character was revealed in the spring of 2006.[5]

Oh, it’s fake batgirl, created to appeal to glaad.

 

[evil wasabi]

To be fair, Batman is unambiguously gay. But no guys kiss him. At least on screen.

This would mean that he’s clearly gay. But any gayness is ambiguous.

 

[LoneSage]

Big Fish i’ve seen parts of the movie before but never the whole thing in its entirety. Finally watched it and loved it. Cried at the end. Like LoneSage said I got daddy issues. I’m also gay for Eddie Vedder.

Might be my favorite movie of the 2000s. If you don't cry at the end then you're not human.