OT: Let's talk about movies (and TV shows)... Part XX

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Ya, I thought they wasted Byrne a bit. He wasn't really involved much. Could have had a complete no name, it wouldn't have changed much.
Too bad, Byrne earned infinite praise from me since that restaurant scene in End of Days. Being a 16yo boy back then, holy crap that was a serious power move.
Of course, in today's context, you'd feel guilty for just liking that scene, but I loved Byrne ever since..lol

I thought there was going to be a bit more to the story...and I'm still not sure what the connection with the mom-friend came from...but maybe that's because my gf kept asking me what's going on every 5 minutes...so I might have missed something.

I started liking Byrne a few years earlier when I saw The Usual Suspects.

I thought he was really good in some of the scenes, but both Collette and the kid steal the show.

 

[Kriss E]

I don't understand how people expect characters to behave "normally" when you have completely abnormal and surreal things happening around them. You have a satanic cult floating headless bodies around and you expect everyone to have 'normal' reactions. In a surreal environment, everything will likely be surreal.

Hereditary was incredible.

Ya, I expect people to react in a scared manner, not sweep that crap under the rug.
I mean, weird things are happening around you, your wife is losing her mind telling you there's presence from another world, you do this ritual where a freaking glass moves by itself, then a candle lights up, when you're challenging it then a window breaks, drawings appear in your dead kids book, your son is barely sleeping, he smashes his own face on a desk, you discover headless body in your attic, your wife tells you about this girl that approached her, who showed her the ceremony and now she's found in pictures with your mother in law....I mean....W-T-F. So the reaction is..."nothing is going on here...and I still don't believe you"...
Sorry man, I don't buy it. There is a limit.

I thought it was good, still entertaining, a bit disappointed with plot twist and these cliche horror movie character reactions "hey let's split up" type...but still enjoyed the watch.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

There's a pretty connected guy in Hollywood and his friend said to him that he read the Watchmen script for the upcoming HBO show and he said it was a mess.

It's probably a mess because it's based on the Before Watchmen prequel that came out in the early part of the decade, part of the New 52 DC revival, of which the Dr Manhattan books were written by no other than J. Michael Straczynski. The Dr Manhattan part in the prequels is complicated because it has to do with time travel and quantum mechanics, probabilities and quantum entanglement. That part is gonna be hugely complicated to be put into screen. Straczynski has a nack for that.

 

[mitchmagic]

Ya, I expect people to react in a scared manner, not sweep that crap under the rug.
I mean, weird things are happening around you, your wife is losing her mind telling you there's presence from another world, you do this ritual where a freaking glass moves by itself, then a candle lights up, when you're challenging it then a window breaks, drawings appear in your dead kids book, your son is barely sleeping, he smashes his own face on a desk, you discover headless body in your attic, your wife tells you about this girl that approached her, who showed her the ceremony and now she's found in pictures with your mother in law....I mean....W-T-F. So the reaction is..."nothing is going on here...and I still don't believe you"...
Sorry man, I don't buy it. There is a limit.

I thought it was good, still entertaining, a bit disappointed with plot twist and these cliche horror movie character reactions "hey let's split up" type...but still enjoyed the watch.

Again, you can't expect people to react normal in abnormal situations. Especially in one where ghosts, the underworld, and satan exists.

It's like watching Game of Thrones and being pissed off that people can ride the dragons.

 

[Kriss E]

Again, you can't expect people to react normal in abnormal situations. Especially in one where ghosts, the underworld, and satan exists.

It's like watching Game of Thrones and being pissed off that people can ride the dragons.

Hmm..Isn't that proving my point? You see a show full of magic and mythical things...so seeing Dragons is perfectly normal and acceptable...exactly.

That is essentially what I am suggesting should happen. Your analogy works to my favor.
It's a pretty good one, along with white walkers, as both "dragons'' and "white walkers" are meant to be mythical creatures. A lot of the people in GoT do not believe in them, until they actually see them...
So it would be as if Jon Snow after seeing the white walkers, just goes for a nice sleep and wakes up the next day thinking he just imagined it all, none of it happen. Nah, he knows shit is going down and he acts on it.
When they finally see dragons, well they stop doubting their existence and they accept it.

Same thing here. With all the f***ed up crazy crap going around, trying to argue like none of it is happening is pretty freaking silly.

 

[Laurentide]

A mess because it wasn't exactly like the comic book?

Pardon my barely veiled sarcasm, I don't know if your friend's friend is or not, but comic book purists are the worst, right after GoT book purists

Actually the worst of the worst are people who insist that they aren't actually just long-form comic books but rather "graphic novels" because they know how pathetic it looks for a supposed adult to be reading comic books. Same goes for people who talk about "story lines" and "plots" when discussing video games that they should have stopped playing about the same time they first touched a girl's boob.

If they ever got that far, of course. You never know with video game/comic book/sci-fi geeks.

 

[sandviper]

Did you watch the uncut/ultimate version? If you like Watchmen, you have to watch that version.

And I agree. I still see it as the best superhero movie of all time.

Snyder captured the spirit of Watchmen extremely well, its anthological hommage to the Silver age of comic books, the style and delivery. I've never seen a comic adaptation so beautifully done. There aren't a lot of subjects in the comic world that could give a director such a direction. That's why it's so unique. Watchmen is a very unique comic book, and Snyder translated it perfectly into a very unique movie.

Not sure about it being the greatest superhero movie of all time, but I enjoyed it. Agreed that Snyder captured the spirit and it was beautifully shot. I really liked the portrayal of Rorschach in the movie.

The only person I am sure who hated it was Alan Moore, the original creator of Watchmen because he just hates Hollywood. My only criticism of the movie was it had to cut out so much from the comic because the movie would have been 5 hours long.

As great as the MCU movies in general have been, to me the Nolan Dark Knights are the best comic book movies. Maybe helps he’s one of my favorite characters and I generally prefer super hero movies without super powers ironically enough.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Not sure about it being the greatest superhero movie of all time, but I enjoyed it. Agreed that Snyder captured the spirit and it was beautifully shot. I really liked the portrayal of Rorschach in the movie.

The only person I am sure who hated it was Alan Moore, the original creator of Watchmen because he just hates Hollywood. My only criticism of the movie was it had to cut out so much from the comic because the movie would have been 5 hours long.

As great as the MCU movies in general have been, to me the Nolan Dark Knights are the best comic book movies. Maybe helps he’s one of my favorite characters and I generally prefer super hero movies without super powers ironically enough.

As much as I like Nolan's work, when I watch the trilogy ten years later, by far the best batman movies and among the best superhero movies, still for a trilogy that prides itself on its realism, it's full of plot holes, filled with cheap plot devices, campy repetitive dialog (so. many, repeated. lines.) and perspective gimmicks right out of cheap B horror movies (where the character's perspective should make him aware of something, but instead he's relegated to having our perspective and can't see or hear what he should obviously do).

By far, Heath Ledger's performance and the much needed realism is what elevates it among all Batman movies and most superhero movies, but it's not the best IMO.

 

[sandviper]

As much as I like Nolan's work, when I watch the trilogy ten years later, by far the best batman movies and among the best superhero movies, still for a trilogy that prides itself on its realism, it's full of plot holes, filled with cheap plot devices, campy repetitive dialog (so. many, repeated. lines.) and perspective gimmicks right out of cheap B horror movies (where the character's perspective should make him aware of something, but instead he's relegated to having our perspective and can't see or hear what he should obviously do).

By far, Heath Ledger's performance and the much needed realism is what elevates it among all Batman movies and most superhero movies, but it's not the best IMO.

No, that’s fair. Just saying as a whole, I found them the best but recognize they were far from perfect and had holes big enough to drive the Batmobile through.

 

[ArtPeur]

I'm one of the few who don't like much the MCU movies, even greatest hits like the Avengers and Ragnarok. It's kinda the same for Wonder Woman though I like the main theme and she's hot

That said. I need to know something, GoT fans.

Do they even talk a bit about the "God of Fire" and his eternal fight against the "God of Darkness". I don't think I've ever heard anybody talking about this and Melisandre's role take so more much sense

 

[mitchmagic]

Hmm..Isn't that proving my point? You see a show full of magic and mythical things...so seeing Dragons is perfectly normal and acceptable...exactly.

That is essentially what I am suggesting should happen. Your analogy works to my favor.
It's a pretty good one, along with white walkers, as both "dragons'' and "white walkers" are meant to be mythical creatures. A lot of the people in GoT do not believe in them, until they actually see them...
So it would be as if Jon Snow after seeing the white walkers, just goes for a nice sleep and wakes up the next day thinking he just imagined it all, none of it happen. Nah, he knows **** is going down and he acts on it.
When they finally see dragons, well they stop doubting their existence and they accept it.

Same thing here. With all the ****ed up crazy crap going around, trying to argue like none of it is happening is pretty freaking silly.

All I'm saying is that in a film where things are fantastical (horror, fantasy, magic realist, wtv), you can't expect anything based in reality to happen -- and that extends to human emotions and reactions. Sure, we've grown up seeing horror films where people run and scream from ghosts, zombies, demons, and killers, but what is even more unsettling and terrifying, to me, is the actors' odd behaviour in Hereditary. It's understandable that we expect the "run and hide" reaction since it's what has been fed to us in horror. But in Hereditary it ends up being more of a comment on this family dynamic rather than "running and screaming from the spooky stuff."

Hereditary falls much more in line with stuff like Suspiria, The Witch, Eraserhead, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, and Rosemary's Baby.

 

[sandviper]

I'm one of the few who don't like much the MCU movies, even greatest hits like the Avengers and Ragnarok. It's kinda the same for Wonder Woman though I like the main theme and she's hot

That said. I need to know something, GoT fans.

Do they even talk a bit about the "God of Fire" and his eternal fight against the "God of Darkness". I don't think I've ever heard anybody talking about this and Melisandre's role take so more much sense

I don't recall much about that eternal fight either on the show. To be honest though, while I am a fan, I am more a show fan as I never read the books. As the show comes out every 18 months it seems, I lose track so maybe this was covered, but I don't think so.

 

[ArtPeur]

I don't recall much about that eternal fight either on the show. To be honest though, while I am a fan, I am more a show fan as I never read the books. As the show comes out every 18 months it seems, I lose track so maybe this was covered, but I don't think so.

I was arguing with a friend after season 2, I believe he liked the whole plot about the "game" of thrones: all the intrigues, plotting against each other, etc. I felt like the books, especially the whole Melisandre and other priests parts, went a bit deeper on the religion side. Basically, the White Walkers were driven by the so-called God of Darkness and the Priests of Fire were actually there to battle them/push them back.

I stopped watching the show long ago, haha, and it's also been a whole since I read the books

 

[TT1]

Been enjoying Castle Rock thus far.

 

[Kriss E]

All I'm saying is that in a film where things are fantastical (horror, fantasy, magic realist, wtv), you can't expect anything based in reality to happen -- and that extends to human emotions and reactions. Sure, we've grown up seeing horror films where people run and scream from ghosts, zombies, demons, and killers, but what is even more unsettling and terrifying, to me, is the actors' odd behaviour in Hereditary. It's understandable that we expect the "run and hide" reaction since it's what has been fed to us in horror. But in Hereditary it ends up being more of a comment on this family dynamic rather than "running and screaming from the spooky stuff."

Hereditary falls much more in line with stuff like Suspiria, The Witch, Eraserhead, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, and Rosemary's Baby.

I'm not sure I agree. The mom is definitely losing her crap and the son is also scared shitless.
The dad is the only one who remains completely skeptical and it just does not add up. I'm not expecting a "run and hide", I simply expect the man to recognize all the craziness around. Why is he skeptical at that point? What more would he need to see to believe? It goes back to my point about dragons in GOT, when all the skeptics see one, well their skepticsm disappears.
The Mom in hereditary was completely skeptical when she gets to Joan's place right? But that changes quickly.
I'd expect the Dad and any human being to pretty much react the same.

As for what we've been tought from Horror movies, actually, very odd and unrealistic behaviour have been part of these movies for as long as I can remember. That's why there are so many horror spoofs.
There always has to be that one guy who no matter what will remain skeptical, until he usually dies. That was the dad in this flick.

 

[sandviper]

Been enjoying Castle Rock thus far.

Been meaning to check the show out.

 

[Kimota]

A mess because it wasn't exactly like the comic book?

Pardon my barely veiled sarcasm, I don't know if your friend's friend is or not, but comic book purists are the worst, right after GoT book purists

Well if anything the guy that said this is more a TV guy than a comic guy. So maybe he either didn't understand the material or he coldly thought as a show it didn't work.

If I were them, I would keep it simple like a murder mystery with super-heroes. You could have other things sick things that Roarchak could investigate in the super-heroes/villains underworld.

 

[Kimota]

Against my better judgement I got talked into going to The Meg, I have a new entry into my all time top 10

Worst movies that is

I challenge any director to pull together another dozen actors/actresses that have zero on-screen chemistry and when Statham is by far your most talented you're in trouble.

I went in with my brain firmly checked at the door and still couldn't find a moment of enjoyment

Anyone wondering if its the next Jaws it's closer to Piranha 3D

Piranaha 3-D without the gore which makes it pretty forgettable. And it's true, Statham was the best actor in it. I don't think that in a negative way, it's just that the material is so bad for everybody that he comes off better because his tough guy charisma can make up for having nothing interesting to say.

Really felt like a lazy endeavor from the script to the directing, effects were weak, actors were giving no efforts. It's beyond me how a movie costing 150 million to make(as much as that to market) was done so half-ass. If I'm the studio bosses I'm like "where did the money go"?

 

[Kimota]

Ya, I expect people to react in a scared manner, not sweep that crap under the rug.
I mean, weird things are happening around you, your wife is losing her mind telling you there's presence from another world, you do this ritual where a freaking glass moves by itself, then a candle lights up, when you're challenging it then a window breaks, drawings appear in your dead kids book, your son is barely sleeping, he smashes his own face on a desk, you discover headless body in your attic, your wife tells you about this girl that approached her, who showed her the ceremony and now she's found in pictures with your mother in law....I mean....W-T-F. So the reaction is..."nothing is going on here...and I still don't believe you"...
Sorry man, I don't buy it. There is a limit.

I thought it was good, still entertaining, a bit disappointed with plot twist and these cliche horror movie character reactions "hey let's split up" type...but still enjoyed the watch.

I didn't see the movie but I agree fantasy tv shows and movies especially in horror, you have to have people react in a realistic manner for people to buy into it. Cause then the audience can easily detached itself from what they are seeing, it takes you out. This is why films like Jaws and the Exorcist works so well.

 

[overlords]

Actually the worst of the worst are people who insist that they aren't actually just long-form comic books but rather "graphic novels" because they know how pathetic it looks for a supposed adult to be reading comic books. Same goes for people who talk about "story lines" and "plots" when discussing video games that they should have stopped playing about the same time they first touched a girl's boob.

If they ever got that far, of course. You never know with video game/comic book/sci-fi geeks.

You say this, presumably as an adult who spends time watching other adult males whack around a vulcanized piece of rubber on a sheet of ice. Some perspective, please.

If anything should be outgrown around adolescence, it should have been your propensity to hand wave entire spheres of expression away based on nothing but ignorance.

 

[Kriss E]

I didn't see the movie but I agree fantasy tv shows and movies especially in horror, you have to have people react in a realistic manner for people to buy into it. Cause then the audience can easily detached itself from what they are seeing, it takes you out. This is why films like Jaws and the Exorcist works so well.

Ya, that's essentially what happens with me. I understand how sometimes people can react in a bizarre and unpredictable manner due to shock. But 99% of the time, that's not what is happening in these movies. It's just completely senseless behavior. If all these crazy things are going on left and right...denying it doesn't make the slightest bit of sense, no matter how abnormal the situation.

 

[Laurentide]

You say this, presumably as an adult who spends time watching other adult males whack around a vulcanized piece of rubber on a sheet of ice. Some perspective, please.

If anything should be outgrown around adolescence, it should have been your propensity to hand wave entire spheres of expression away based on nothing but ignorance.

What is there to be ignorant about? I've read comic books...when I was 12. And even then, I was smart enough to realize that they are disposable and frivolous. I grew up and moved on to read actual literature. Adults who read comic books aren't advancing any "sphere of expression". They're just man-children who need to grow up. Same goes for video game nerds, one of whom freaked out and went Leroy Jenkins on some people over the weekend because he lost a game and lacked the necessary maturity to handle life's disappointments.

I stand by my earlier remarks. Anyone who refers to a comic book as a "graphic novel" and talks about it like it's actual literature is a pretentious fool trying to legitimize their own immaturity. I'm not saying that reading them on occasion is a problem, just don't try to elevate them into something they're not just so you don't have to feel guilty about still reading them long after most people have moved on from them. People who have comic books in their proper perspective don't refer to them by anything other than that: comic books. Because that's all they are or ever were. People who need comic books to be more than that probably spend far too much time on them. If you're not in the comic book industry making your living from them, you shouldn't spend that much time on them.

The same goes for sports. It's okay to watch grown men whack around that vulcanized piece of rubber on a sheet of ice, just as long as you don't organize your entire life around it.

 

[Laurentide]

I didn't see the movie but I agree fantasy tv shows and movies especially in horror, you have to have people react in a realistic manner for people to buy into it. Cause then the audience can easily detached itself from what they are seeing, it takes you out. This is why films like Jaws and the Exorcist works so well.

Why do you think those spoofs like "Scary Movie" do so well? Because the joke is in the clichés and stupid, unrealistic reactions that characters in horror movies need to have in order to advance the plot. If someone or something is chasing you, why would you go UP the stairs instead of OUT of the building? Because the plot needs the character to become cornered with no means of escape. Some people can watch and not think about how stupid that is, but I just get annoyed with the characters and stop caring about their survival. In fact, I start rooting for them to die because at least in the movies there are consequences to pay for being a dumbass.

 

[Brainiac]

What is there to be ignorant about? I've read comic books...when I was 12. And even then, I was smart enough to realize that they are disposable and frivolous. I grew up and moved on to read actual literature. Adults who read comic books aren't advancing any "sphere of expression". They're just man-children who need to grow up. Same goes for video game nerds, one of whom freaked out and went Leroy Jenkins on some people over the weekend because he lost a game and lacked the necessary maturity to handle life's disappointments.

I stand by my earlier remarks. Anyone who refers to a comic book as a "graphic novel" and talks about it like it's actual literature is a pretentious fool trying to legitimize their own immaturity. I'm not saying that reading them on occasion is a problem, just don't try to elevate them into something they're not just so you don't have to feel guilty about still reading them long after most people have moved on from them. People who have comic books in their proper perspective don't refer to them by anything other than that: comic books. Because that's all they are or ever were. People who need comic books to be more than that probably spend far too much time on them. If you're not in the comic book industry making your living from them, you shouldn't spend that much time on them.

The same goes for sports. It's okay to watch grown men whack around that vulcanized piece of rubber on a sheet of ice, just as long as you don't organize your entire life around it.

I don't always agree with you, but that's a very sensible and thoughtful post there.

Cheers

 

[Spring in Fialta]

What is there to be ignorant about? I've read comic books...when I was 12. And even then, I was smart enough to realize that they are disposable and frivolous. I grew up and moved on to read actual literature. Adults who read comic books aren't advancing any "sphere of expression". They're just man-children who need to grow up. Same goes for video game nerds, one of whom freaked out and went Leroy Jenkins on some people over the weekend because he lost a game and lacked the necessary maturity to handle life's disappointments.

I stand by my earlier remarks. Anyone who refers to a comic book as a "graphic novel" and talks about it like it's actual literature is a pretentious fool trying to legitimize their own immaturity. I'm not saying that reading them on occasion is a problem, just don't try to elevate them into something they're not just so you don't have to feel guilty about still reading them long after most people have moved on from them. People who have comic books in their proper perspective don't refer to them by anything other than that: comic books. Because that's all they are or ever were. People who need comic books to be more than that probably spend far too much time on them. If you're not in the comic book industry making your living from them, you shouldn't spend that much time on them.

The same goes for sports. It's okay to watch grown men whack around that vulcanized piece of rubber on a sheet of ice, just as long as you don't organize your entire life around it.

I don't read comics - outside of Calvin and Hobbes - and devour literature at a rapid pace. This take is awful. There is no such thing as high-art or low-art. There are high works and low pieces but each medium can be a vessel for high-art.