Seen any good films lately? [3]

I saw the trailer for that & even that seemed over the top & little more than a paint job of the 1st film.

azriel wrote:I saw the trailer for that & even that seemed over the top & little more than a paint job of the 1st film.

Yeah it was more of a retread than a taking-the-story-forward sequel i.m.o, I don't think the original is a great film by any means, but it was damn fun and packed of 90's cheese, the sequel was sadly just 20 years two late I think, or maybe I'm just more cynical and looking at things through nostalgia goggles...

They actually set things up for a third film...

Yeah, I havent seen the film but, I expect better & if they are cooking up a 3rd well, good luck. Where's all the imaginative writers gone ?? I remember centuries ago if you went out for the night you couldnt choose which film to watch as they were all good, No wonder downloads have taken off, the price of a night out &, if the film is crap, you feel cheated.

I've never actually seen the original Independence Day but it's always sounded like a cheesy, fun kind of movie. Did the sequel try to make things more serious and "dark" time around?

Eldorion wrote:I've never actually seen the original Independence Day but it's always sounded like a cheesy, fun kind of movie. Did the sequel try to make things more serious and "dark" time around?

Er...I'm not really sure, the dialogue, acting, set pieces, humour etc were every bit as OTT as you'd expect from an Roland Emmerich film, so although the film did feel slightly darker and there were a few vague points made about the cost of the first invasion it was so dumb it was hard to take much of it seriously (though it does kill off a couple of the major characters from the first film)

You should definitely watch the first one, as big, dumb disaster film 90's blockbusters go it's one of the best.

Of course, up against competition like Godzilla and... well I can't think of any other big dumb blockbusters from the 90s. Anyway, the point is that compared to other good 90s blockbusters like Jurassic Park or Terminator 2 the Independence Day film just blows.

On another note, I saw The Shallows the other day. It had a bit of the horror-film-stuff-happens-to-beautiful-people trope with the main actress being so attractive, but I think it also had enough character to not be simply a dumb shark movie. 

In the end I wished that the main character was a little more interesting. When I first saw the teaser trailer I thought it was some kind of remake of Cast Away, and I was mentally comparing Tom Hank's performance with Blake Lively's in this. She's really not that interesting in comparison. But I suppose that isn't quite fair.

On a technical level there were some odd face-swapping CGI shots in the film, and some obviously-fake dolphins, and the cove's waves had an odd tendency to switch between relatively calm to breaking thunderously.

The shark I thought looked very good however.

I also saw Room last night with my family. I really liked the first half of the film, but the second half seemed to go on quite a long time and deal with the realities of the story in a way that was, although realistic and compelling, not nearly as charming as the story-book-like beginning. I suppose that was intentional on the filmmaker's part, and mimics Jack the child's experience as the story progresses. Anyway, excellent film of course. I found it a tad depressing, but I think it had lots of charm too (especially in the first half!).

So I recently took over paying for the DVD-by-mail Netflix account, and found that since 2005 we've received 776 discs in the mail from Netflix. 

On the one hand it's a lot, but on the other hand we sure could have made more us of our account.  

By my calculation, that's about 65 discs per year, or 5 and a half discs per month. The price per month has been something like... 12 dollars I think? On average over the years. It may be more. Anyway, that's $2.19 per disc. 

The first movie was 2005's King Arthur. The one with Clive Owen and Kiera Knightley in it.


Somehow or other we have 5 discs out at a time, even though we're only paying for 3. Perhaps it's some kind of grandfathered-in deal.  

M, a 1931 classic by Fritz Lang about a pedophile who is castigated by members of the Berlin underground. I haven't gotten around to watching it yet, but apparently the main character is sympathetic, despite his perversion.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022100/

Room, 2015



Into the Abyss, a 2011 documentary by Werner Herzog about a murderer in, I think, Texas, those affected by his crime, and the fate that awaits him.



The Man Who Would Be King, 1975
A Sean Connery and Michael Caine classic! I prefer the book's themes, I think. But I wanted to re-watch this with the family.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073341/?ref_=nv_sr_1


Monty Python's Flying Circus: Vol. 14
Includes: "Hamlet", "Mr. Neutron", and "Party Political Broadcast".

talking of The Abyss, that was a great film I really enjoyed. by James Cameron. got Ed Harris.

My dad used to have a DVD-by-mail Netflix account. It's how I watched the LOTR Extended Editions for the first time as well as the first nine or ten seasons of The Simpsons. Fun times.

Same for me actually! 

I can tell you with great precision that I watched the trilogy's EE first in 2007, and again in 2011. And then I was given them for Christmas in 2015. So I guess that's how long it takes for me to want to watch them again: a good four year period.

Interesting that you mention those years. I also watched them for the first time in 2007, though I then watched the whole EE trilogy about once every six months until 2011, at which point I too took a four year break before watching them again in late 2015.

I've been starting to feel the urge to watch them again recently. I think I might finally try watching all three in one day. That's always been something I thought would be fun to try. And considering that my last viewing was drawn out over more than two months it'd be a nice change.

Oof, so much LotR. 

But now I kind of want to try that...

11 Hours 12 minutes.  

Maybe not!

I just watched about 3/4 of The Man Who Would Be King with my mom and one of the farm interns. They seemed to think that the film was intended to be taken seriously or something. Or at least the humour didn't work for them.  



...And therefore after about an hour of awkward silence from my mom and my amusement at the film's antics, she announced that she "thought the film was boring" and was going to go do other stuff. 

Anyway, whatever. Perhaps that's justified. It happens. Sometimes I think a movie is boring. I mean, when I do it's because it's a piece of shite, but hey whatever floats the boat. I guess I'm frustrated because I'm tired of her and my sister "not getting" movies like this or, most famously, the work of Werner Herzog: a director I find greatly comforting and enjoyable. 

I've always gotten along better with my dad's taste in films. He's not so seemingly-sheltered as my mom is, and we can laugh over films like The Big Lebowski just fine or Monty Python, while she thinks those sorts are either silly or gross.  

Ah well.

P.S.
I sound like a film snob.

I've had similar experiences with my mom in the past. It was worse when I was a teenager; nowadays we're able to watch (for example) Tarantino films together without her getting offended. The tables were fully turned when we watched Fellini's 8 1/2 a couple years back, though. She was getting really into it and I couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Fellini's difficult. You have to view his films as brief vignettes to be enjoyed, not as a story.

The Man Who Would Be King is a total departure from John Huston's typical films. I think given his style some people have a hard time reading it as comedy.

Forest Shepherd wrote:I just watched about 3/4 of The Man Who Would Be King with my mom and one of the farm interns. They seemed to think that the film was intended to be taken seriously or something. Or at least the humour didn't work for them.  



...And therefore after about an hour of awkward silence from my mom and my amusement at the film's antics, she announced that she "thought the film was boring" and was going to go do other stuff. 

Anyway, whatever. Perhaps that's justified. It happens. Sometimes I think a movie is boring. I mean, when I do it's because it's a piece of shite, but hey whatever floats the boat. I guess I'm frustrated because I'm tired of her and my sister "not getting" movies like this or, most famously, the work of Werner Herzog: a director I find greatly comforting and enjoyable. 

I've always gotten along better with my dad's taste in films. He's not so seemingly-sheltered as my mom is, and we can laugh over films like The Big Lebowski just fine or Monty Python, while she thinks those sorts are either silly or gross.  

Ah well.

P.S.
I sound like a film snob.

The Man Who Would Be King is one of my favourite films of all time. Its magical, Caine and Connery are superb.

I Totally disagree that's its a comedy. its no way a comedy, its a melancholic and poignant study in Victorian manhood. There may be comedic scenes like the invention of Polo, but the whole thing is a romantic epic.

I tend to think of it more as an adventure story, but I suppose the themes of Kipling's work that make their way through into the film tend to make it more than just an adventure story.

it reminds me of Lost Horizon by Frank Capra. This film haunted my imagination when I was young. Not that I was young in the 1930s of course. I was young in the 1830s.

Oh goodness, that modern? I was under the impression you grew up in the 1790s...

{{{You may need this Forest- }}}

fawh! my fine friend. who could live in a world before bustles?

This looks good. Im very fond of Tom Hanks, I think he must be my favourite actor of all.

unfortunately I haven't seen any good films lately.

I've been having some fun watching new vs. old double billings. Just watched 'Spotlight' and 'All the President's Men' and compare newsrooms then and now. Both really good movies, but I've got to give the win to AtPM.

Well yeah I suppose that's fair David!

That Sully film is a Clint Eastwood film, which I usually enjoy, and Tom Hanks is the best!
I just rewatched Cast Away, in fact, an excellent performance of his in my opinion. I used to watch that film for the plane crash and the dynamics of survival on the island, but now that I'm older than before I find the story of his separation from Kelly to be a powerful part of the film.