Re: Seen any good films lately? [2]

by bungobaggins Tue May 20, 2014 5:25 am

Hmmm...1999, PG-13, my parents wouldn't have let me see the Brendan Fraser Mummy. Laughing

by chris63 Tue May 20, 2014 5:40 am

I see what you did there Smile

Seen any good films lately? [2] - Page 36 Monkey-shaking-head-smiley-emoticon

by Forest Shepherd Fri May 23, 2014 12:11 am

I saw Godzilla the other day. That was interesting.
It was good enough. The main flaws of the film being too much involvement of the main character, Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). The need on the part of the screenwriters to include him in so many different parts of the film, although it worked alright, felt like World War Z to me.
In the book, WWZ, the story is told through interviews of those involved in the war years after it ended. The interviews are all conducted by a UN worker. In the film, this idea is co-opted in such a way that the story-telling device of interviews is completely scrapped, and the UN worker takes on involvement in the stories he originally simply recorded from others. This means that they physically need Brad Pitt's character to zoom all over the globe to connect the delightfully varied locations of the book. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't quite capture the same feel and the globe-trotting feels a bit forced in parts.
In fact the best part of that film was having Peter Capaldi show up as a doctor at the World Health Organization (W.H.O.). Razz

(Well that and the Muse soundtrack).

But anyway, I felt Godzilla had some of that feel to it.
Much less so than WWZ, I enjoyed Godzilla more than that other film, but still.
Bryan Cranston really pushed his emotional delivery out there. I mean he got fairly deep into his material for the few scenes he had. It almost felt a bit out of place. It was like the film had these regular set-up scenes of the sci-fi elements and the family-identity. And then, punctuating the steady storytelling like a ham sandwich during oatmeal-week, Cranston comes in and delivers these emotionally character scenes.
The contrast, at least, between Cranston's delivery and Ken Watanabe's vague perpetually-in-awe performance was especially striking. I know Watanabe has emotional depth in his acting, but the director relegated him to this kind of "Oh-God-what-have-I-done" scientist role. His, and Sally Hawkin's, roles were primarily just there to reinforce the dramatic intensity of the monster sequences.
I did enjoy seeing Godzilla on-screen however. I thought it was nice that the creature design drew from the original film series, while also upping the ante on believability by a factor of about 10,000. (CGI believability, albeit, but still.) I'm still a bit mad that they included a tsunami scene. I suppose it makes sense, considering how closely linked the idea of monsters-coming-from-the-sea and tsunamis are in Japanese culture. However, I had recently watched a bunch of footage from the 2004 tsunami and felt like the placement of that scene in the film was poorly done.

Spoiler:

Regardless, pretty good film. I liked that the movie still kept some of Gareth Edwards mysterious human POV feel that he had going for him in Monsters. The scene at the end of Monsters and much of what we actually see of Godzilla and the MOTAs have a lot in common. The bridge sequence was particularly pleasing in that regard.

P.S.
I'm confused as to what to actually call the MOTA thingumms. I thought I heard MOTA in the movie, but then Mothra is a recurring character from Japanese monster movies, or something, so perhaps that is what I should be referring to them as.

by bungobaggins Fri May 23, 2014 2:39 am

They were called MUTO's.

Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms

by Forest Shepherd Fri May 23, 2014 3:29 am

Well there you go. They were very moth-like however, and must be related to the Mothra from Japanese culture thingummy.

by Lancebloke Fri May 23, 2014 8:33 am

Planning on going to see that this weekend... have held off on your spoiler for now!

by bungobaggins Sat May 24, 2014 7:10 pm

The LEGO Movie is great! Very Happy

Spoiler:

by Norc Sat May 24, 2014 11:32 pm

lego movie is great Very Happy

like, when i realized what crazy-gandalf's wand was omg Laughing

also that new x-men movie is pretty great too Very Happy

just saw it.

by Forest Shepherd Mon May 26, 2014 12:13 am

Oh my.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/x_men_days_of_future_past/
Apparently!

by Pettytyrant101 Mon May 26, 2014 1:52 am

Is saw Mark Kermodes review of it and he said it was good if you didn't think about it all too closely but in his view it wasn't the best of the x-men films.

by Forest Shepherd Mon May 26, 2014 2:21 am

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1930499/news/1930499/video-hugh-jackman-covers-justin-bieber-songs/

I wish the interviewer would stop acting so darn much though.

Edit: this video largely blows. No actual covering of Justin Bieber's horrendous music was actually undertaken by Hugh Jackman.

Here's a pleasant interview with Jack Gleeson instead!

And the Q and A:

"And that was awkward... because they were naked! I didn't know where to look." Laughing

by Lancebloke Mon May 26, 2014 9:38 am

Lancebloke wrote:Planning on going to see that this weekend... have held off on your spoiler for now!

Okay, so saw Godzilla yesterday:

Spoiler:

by Forest Shepherd Tue May 27, 2014 2:40 am

Lancebloke wrote:
Lancebloke wrote:Planning on going to see that this weekend... have held off on your spoiler for now!

Okay, so saw Godzilla yesterday:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

by Forest Shepherd Thu May 29, 2014 10:20 am

I watched the first half of Boy tonight. I've been having a great time thus far. The director has all these great creative touches in the film-making, like using a school-child's notebook illustrations for certain shots of scenes, things like that.
Because the director (Taika Waititi) is a Kiwi, I have to draw the similarities between his work here and some of Peter Jackson's earlier work (OK just between this film and Jackson's Heavenly Creatures). The short forays into the kids flights of fancy are handled with a similar feel in both films, although much more subtly in Boy.

Overall it's been great so far! Here's hoping the rest lives up to it.

P.S.
Did anyone else feel that the murder of the mother in Heavenly Creatures was the most disturbing thing Jackson has ever done? I felt like I was watching a different director's work when I first saw that scene. I haven't watched his pulpy/sci-fi gore-o-rama earlier stuff, which might explain why I couldn't reconcile the creator of such a scene from the chubby hairy director I know so well.
The Lovely Bones had some of that darkness of tone here and there, but nothing so graphic and unsettling.

by Norc Sat May 31, 2014 12:11 am

hey, Lone Ranger was pretty good. a bit long and sometimes too much Sparrow, but the horse was awesome and the action sequences were brill, especially the last one Very Happy

by Forest Shepherd Sat May 31, 2014 8:48 am

I enjoyed the Pirates of the Caribbean feel to much of the film, but the scenes involving the suicidal Indians were really very, very bad. I never finished the movie because my sister returned it, so I never saw that last action sequence. Mad

Still, I doubt it would make up for the inconsistency of the movie. It was probably a bit too long as well, I'm not sure. Johnny Depp had some great moments.

Although his one line about the pickles on the counter-top not being refrigerated was kind of a silly ad-lib. Pre-20th century, pickling basically was refrigeration. Razz

by azriel Sat May 31, 2014 9:01 am

I watched "Mrs Henderson Presents" the other night. Im glad I did. I wanted to watch one good film from Bob Hoskins, now he's passed away. He starred alongside Judy Dench, & the pair of them really clicked. Its based on a true story of a wealthy woman who bought a Theatre & what she did for the young lads before they trotted off to war.

by Lancebloke Sat May 31, 2014 2:12 pm

Going to try and get my other half to watch Saw tonight. Thought that was a great film when it came out and she hasn't seen it.

Won't be watching any of the rest of them though.

by David H Sat May 31, 2014 2:57 pm

azriel wrote:I watched "Mrs Henderson Presents" the other night. Im glad I did. I wanted to watch one good film from Bob Hoskins, now he's passed away. He starred alongside Judy Dench, & the pair of them really clicked. Its based on a true story of a wealthy woman who bought a Theatre & what she did for the young lads before they trotted off to war.

I rented that when it first came out to show to my dad and mom. Dad had spent 3 weeks in London during the War before he was deployed to France. I guess it must have brought back memories. Dad was grinning from ear to ear! Very Happy

by Mrs Figg Sat May 31, 2014 7:38 pm

Lancebloke wrote:Going to try and get my other half to watch Saw tonight. Thought that was a great film when it came out and she hasn't seen it.

Won't be watching any of the rest of them though.

by azriel Sat May 31, 2014 8:57 pm

Hee Hee Dave, do you think he MAY have known about that Theatre ? It did get saucy, scantily clad young ladies Nod

I think SAW is the better one out of how many now ?

by David H Sat May 31, 2014 10:58 pm

azriel wrote:Hee Hee Dave, do you think he MAY have known about that Theatre ? It did get saucy, scantily clad young ladies

Dad was never one to tell "war stories", but I'm sure he enjoyed his time in England. :brows:

by halfwise Sun Jun 01, 2014 5:10 am

azriel wrote:I watched "Mrs Henderson Presents" the other night. Im glad I did. I wanted to watch one good film from Bob Hoskins, now he's passed away. He starred alongside Judy Dench, & the pair of them really clicked. Its based on a true story of a wealthy woman who bought a Theatre & what she did for the young lads before they trotted off to war.

I thought this was an absolute gem. Both Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins at their best.

Spoiler:

by Forest Shepherd Mon Jun 02, 2014 2:21 am

I saw the new X-Men yesterday. And the day before that I watched Ralph Fiennes The Invisible Woman.
The first I enjoyed a lot, particularly the kitchen scene inside the Pentagon. The second was, unfortunately, a bit of a drag when it strayed from exploring the world of Victorian theatre. The somewhat oppressive quality of the romantic drama was too much at times.
But then many others have apparently found the quality of the setting (the sets, wardrobes, and attention to detail is splendid) and of the acting enough to counterbalance this gloominess.

Did anyone see the 2012 Great Expectations? Fiennes also had a role in that film as Magwitch, whoever that is. (I am unfamiliar with the story).

by Eldorion Fri Jun 06, 2014 4:51 am

My brother and I just saw the new X-Men too, Forest. We both really enjoyed it, although I don't think either of us have seen the original trilogy, just First Class. It was a ton of fun (though quite dark in places, relatively speaking). And Hugh Jackman truly is a Huge Jacked Man.