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Author Topic: Movies in the Theater  (Read 106616 times)

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Disposable Ninja

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #920 on: December 21, 2011, 04:50:55 PM »

Caught a couple of movies: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

Tattoo Girl was much better than the Swedish version. Daniel Craig was good, of course, but damn, they really knocked it out of the park with the titular Girl. Rooney Mara pulled off the weird, anti-social, incredibly vindictive characterization well enough, and they did the show a service by actually allowing her to be unconventional-looking most of the time and downright ugly and terrifying at other times. [spoiler]The rape scene was pretty disturbing and hard to watch, but holy fuck, her revenge was four times more fucked up. I actually kind of felt bad for the autist-raping, power abusing, vile and greasy legal guardian.[/spoiler]

Plus, and I feel this is totally worth mentioning creepy though it may be, I couldn't help but notice during the [spoiler]consensual[/spoiler] sex scenes that she has amazing tits. The girl has the chest of a virgin goddess. I've only ever felt this way about one other woman's breasts, that's how perfect Mara's are.

As for Sherlock Holmes, well, it's a lot less stable than the first movie. Whereas the first was pretty good all throughout, Game of Shadows' ranged from high points far surpassing the first movie's general quality while its low points were pretty... well... shit. Especially egregious was [spoiler]Irene Adler's apparent death 15 minutes into the movie. I kept expecting the movie to rewind and show us how she survived drinking tuberculosis tea, but it never did. I still half expect her to return in the sequel, though.[/spoiler] On the other hand, Holmes' inevitable winning tactic at the end was sufficiently fist-pump-inducing.
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Malikial

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #921 on: December 21, 2011, 06:19:05 PM »

My favorite thing about Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows' end was [spoiler]the fact that Sherlock, for all intents and purposes just committed suicide and he was calm and serene about death (even though he didn't die he probably still wasn't 100% sure he'd survive the CAULDRON OF SWIRLING DEATH under the waterfall) whilst Prof. Moriarty was screaming and terrified of his doom.[/spoiler]
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Bongo Bill

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #922 on: December 29, 2011, 10:48:13 AM »

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol was one of the best Apple commercials I've ever seen.

Tintin was one hell of an adventure; the only complaint I can muster is that while the combination of mocap, high texture detail, and Hergé proportions mostly works, Tintin himself, who is the least exaggerated, sometimes looks like a weird giant baby.
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Mongrel

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #923 on: December 29, 2011, 05:22:23 PM »

Should be going to see Tintin on Tuesday with my brother. A lot of the complaints from professional critics seem to be along the lines of "The last half is way too action-packed and it's exhausting." but a good pulp story should be full of Adventure, so hopefully it's fine. Most regular viewer reviews seem to be well-pleased, so that's another good sign.
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Healy

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #924 on: December 30, 2011, 05:32:11 PM »

Just got back from Tintin, it ruled. Best comic book adaption ever? Probably, unless there are some really good ones I'm forgetting about.

Some thoughts I had about the movie:

* One of my favorite things about Tintin is that it never really took itself too seriously. A gently odd humor seems to permeate the entire movie. I think this may be because of the influence of the original Tintin comics, although I haven't read them recently, so I'm not quite sure.
* Speaking of influence from the comics, I like how the movie captured the "one-thing-right-after-another" feel and pacing the comics had. I remember reading somewhere that Herge liked to end every page with a cliffhanger (because, I think, his comics used to be serialized by the page). That made me think of how Spielberg made Indiana Jones as a tribute to the serials he loved as a child, with all the cliffhanger pacing and whatnot that entails. I think a film theorist could get some good mileage out of that.
* As SpoonyBard mentioned in Bizarro Brontoforumus, the movie loses a bit of steam after [spoiler]THE GREATEST CHASE SCENE EVER[/SPOILER], but that's more because it's [spoiler]THE GREATEST CHASE SCENE EVER[/spoiler] and not due to any fault of the movie.
* Speaking of [spoiler]THE GREATEST CHASE SCENE EVER[/spoiler], it's really something that justifies the movie being mo-capped. It's really not something you could pull off in live action. Which reminds me, the [spoiler]FORMER GREATEST CHASE SCENE EVER Castle of Cagliostro - Char Chase[/spoiler] was also animated. Could just be a coincidence, could be not.
* While we're on the subject of animation, I think Tintin is the first wholly mo-capped film that didn't fall into a freaky uncanny valley for me, although there were a few spots where it could have, mostly in the beginning of the film, and mostly involving Tintin. It's still kind of a neither-fish-nor-fowl situation though, as they were parts that looked very much animated, and other parts where it looked like live-action. I read one person's opinion of the film on a message board who said it reminded him of marionette-mation, like the old Thunderbirds. I think that's a good way to describe the film, but it still doesn't really stick for me.

TL;DR: One of the best films, with the best chase sequence. A must-see.
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Burrito Al Pastor

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #925 on: January 02, 2012, 09:44:54 PM »

How much edge-of-your seat pulse-pounding nonstop action is too much edge-of-your seat pulse-pounding nonstop action?

About two hours and fifteen minutes, I'd say.

Luckily, Tintin clocks in at just under two hours in length.


It's absolutely phenomenal and I loved every minute. It's a perfect adaptation, too - there's a hundred little allusions to other stories ("Black Isle" appears on a train destination board, there's a crate that breaks full of cans of crab, there's a cameo by a familiar-looking wooden idol, etc.) and the characters feel exactly right.

Also, the animation is amazing. There are extras who appear who I was not honestly convinced were animated - and yet they still didn't feel out-of-place.
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Thad

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #926 on: January 24, 2012, 07:23:35 AM »

The Artist is pretty great!

You know, I like silent films.  And I'm disappointed that people don't really make them anymore.  And it's one of those cases where, you know, new technology didn't REALLY make this art form obsolete -- I mean, sure, it negated the need for a piano player in the theater, but you know, you CAN still make a movie where people don't talk very much.

I've been griping for years that cartoon characters talk too damn much, and then Pixar went and made Wall-E.  (Plus Aardman's got a Shaun the Sheep movie coming.)  But hell, you can still make a good live-action silent feature too.

It makes me think about the cases where new technology HASN'T supplanted old.  Thirty years out, we've seen that rumors of the radio star's death were greatly exaggerated -- and when's the last time you saw a music video?  That WASN'T just made by some guy on YouTube?

Anyhow.  Silent films are an all-but-dead art, and The Artist makes a case not just that this was a tragedy for the actors who lost their careers, but for auteurs and audiences alike.

The film's clever in how it challenges assumptions.  Certainly silent film acting is necessarily different from acting in a talkie (or on a stage, where you have to project to the audience, which is itself different from a stage in a small venue where the audience is closer).  I tend to think of silent film acting as exaggerated, and the film plays with that -- there's a line about mugging, and certainly there's a fair amount of it in this film.  But it's not JUST exaggeration, not JUST mugging -- Jean Dujardin spends much of the movie doing some incredible, subtle facial acting.

Indeed, the movie plays with the contrast between exaggerated and subtle acting, particularly in one scene where Dujardin is having an argument with his wife -- she's crying and waving her arms and contorting her face, and he's sitting there with a restrained expression.  And you can read him as well as you can read her.

Something else I noticed: I know what John Goodman and Malcolm McDowell sound like, and I was filling in their voices.  But I didn't know what any of the REST of the cast sounded like, and was making up their voices in my head without even thinking about it.  I think that's likely a deliberate choice on casting.

And that, of course, gets to another reason that talkies killed people's careers: a lot of silent film actors didn't have marketable voices.  (To this day I don't know what Chaplin sounded like; I know he did some talkies but I  haven't seen them -- except Modern Times, which was a talkie but which HE didn't talk in.)  Look at a cast whose leads are named Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo and it's easy to see one of the advantages of silent films: you can cast anybody, regardless of where they're from or how they sound, and distribute them internationally with only a few modifications to the dialogue cards.

The Artist is funny and brilliant and sad.  It makes you think, if you want to, but if you don't it's a perfectly straightforward movie with the sort of presentation you don't see anymore.  It's been limited-release up to this point but it just got a slew of Oscar noms, so I'm guessing it'll be easier to find now.
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Mongrel

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #927 on: January 24, 2012, 08:28:44 AM »

Actually, you might know what Chaplain sounds like because his Great Dictator speech has been posted on the boards like five times.
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Pacobird

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #928 on: January 24, 2012, 05:38:29 PM »

Ryan Gosling was snubbed last year after delivering far and away the best lead actor performance of 2010, and said, "well, okay; I'll bring in TWO really great lead performances in otherwise mediocre movies in 2011, in addition to a solid supporting performance in dog shit!  Surely the Academy won't ignore me this year!"

Also Hugo and the Artist aren't bad movies I guess but if we are going to whole hog on this obnoxious twee shit where is The Future?  that move is twee as fuck and does not care who knows it and actually says pretty powerful stuff about stuff

much better meaning of life movie than tree of life and i actually liked tree of life more than the other best picture noms

nom nom noms
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Mongrel

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #929 on: January 24, 2012, 10:24:58 PM »

Oh, you're preaching to the choir about the Oscars here. I stopped giving a damn after 1994's Shawshank snub.
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Lottel

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #930 on: January 24, 2012, 10:44:32 PM »

That one lady from the Bridesmaids movie is up for something?

Jesus fuck. She was the worst part of that movie. And that movie had a scene where they all pooped fire in dresses.
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Kayma

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #931 on: January 26, 2012, 10:10:31 PM »

God, finally. I was beginning to think I was the only person who didn't love Bridesmaids.
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Thad

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #932 on: February 15, 2012, 07:24:17 AM »

The best thing about The Descendants is the photography.  I've never been to Oahu or Kauai, but I've been to Maui and the movie takes me back there.  It's cloudy, it's wet, it's green, and people end there sentences with ", yeah?"

Aside from being pretty, it's a movie full of understated performance.  It's a movie about people trying to keep their shit together even as they're coming apart inside.  To that end, it's really put together well; it's easy for an actor to scream, it's a lot harder for him to look like he wants to but is choking it back.

The script fits that pretty well, mostly.  There are a couple of bits that get a little overbearing (like where Clooney as narrator makes a simile between families and archipelagos), but for the most part it's smart enough to let things go unsaid.

So I'd say the dialogue is mostly pretty good even if the plot really isn't there.  There are no surprises in this movie.  No twists.  You know everything that's going to happen within the first few minutes, and it doesn't do anything to subvert the formula or do anything unexpected with it.

I wouldn't call it a great movie.  Don't watch it over, say, Hugo or The Artist; THOSE are great movies.  But it's pretty and it's well-acted and it's worth checking out, and there's an appeal to seeing those beautiful shots in a theater rather than waiting for video.
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Burrito Al Pastor

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #933 on: February 20, 2012, 11:22:37 PM »

Secret World of Arietty is pretty darn good.

But when we're talking about Arietty, we're really talking about two things - the original movie (what you see) and the localisation (what you hear.) Localisation is easier, so let's start there.

Some of the voice casting is great. Arietty is fantastic, as is her father. The human boy - Sean, I think his name was? - is not particularly good, but part of the issue here is that he has to deliver everything very deadpan because of the character's conceit and animation. The soundtrack is good, but there's two or three original songs, which are war crimes. The incidental sound effects are curious; there's a lot which don't make logical sense, but which still sound 'right'. (For example, Arietty picks up a needle, which she carries around like a sword; they use a metal-sliding-on-metal sheathing sound for it, even though she "sheathes" it by poking it through her dress, no other metal involved. It makes no sense, but it feels right anyways.)

The animation is spectacular, news at 11. The art direction is typical Ghibli - impossibly lush landscapes and idyllic countryside homes. (In this regard, as well as in the regard of the theme that the main human character is in the countryside for health reasons, is a real return to Totoro, which is an interesting subject to explore.) The story is good, but weirdly structured towards the end; there's no resolution for certain supporting characters, and a really awkward exposition speech from the human.

The single best thing about this movie is the "set" design, and the "oh man, look at that" bits for what the Borrowers are using in their home.

Worth seeing, in any case. Orders of magnitude better than Ponyo.
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Joxam

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #934 on: February 21, 2012, 12:02:59 AM »

I have a hard time getting over Will Arnett being the dad. Don't get me wrong, I love Will and maybe he did a good job but when we had an ad for this movie at our theater I could not get over how much the smug attitude he exudes in all of his live action rolls is so noticeably apparent in his voice and at the time I figured it'd probably take away from my enjoyment of the movie.
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Niku

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #935 on: February 21, 2012, 03:16:29 AM »

Solution: import the UK version which has an entirely different voice cast.
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Kayma

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #936 on: February 21, 2012, 08:36:20 AM »

I was sort of surprised how much Will Arnett's voice didn't bother me, when I fully expected it to. Arrietty and her mother's voices were great, as was Hara's. The boy's was the weakest for sure, but it was serviceable.

The original music certainly falls under warcrime, but, well, it could have been worse.

Whatever you think of the voice cast, this movie should absolutely be seen in the theater.
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Catloaf

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #937 on: February 21, 2012, 12:14:18 PM »

The original music certainly falls under warcrime

So, the opposite of what happened with Ponyo?
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Kayma

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #938 on: February 21, 2012, 03:48:45 PM »

Oh, that Ponyo song is an affront to... well, everything. The version they sing straight up is cute, but then

PONYO song (FULL+Lyrics) - Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas
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Mongrel

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Re: Movies in the Theater
« Reply #939 on: February 23, 2012, 09:53:44 PM »

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