Movies you've been watching...

[KnightBrolaire]

The Invitation- a toothless boring mess of a vampire movie. It COULD have been fun had they seriously amped up the violence and sex to ridiculous levels, but as is it's like Twilight levels of sexless and boring. It's a shame as it has some great framing/cinematography and a suitably gothic vibe overall. Hard pass.


The Forever Purge- easily the best of the series with verrry blunt social commentary condemning white supremacists and xenophobia. It's near nonstop action and most of it is surprisingly tense/well done. There are some headscratching bits (why the fuck are both of the main characters proficient with guns?) but outside of that it's solid.
The other entries besides Election Year are pretty weak overall imo.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

The Forever Purge- easily the best of the series with verrry blunt social commentary condemning white supremacists and xenophobia. It's near nonstop action and most of it is surprisingly tense/well done. There are some headscratching bits (why the fuck are both of the main characters proficient with guns?) but outside of that it's solid.
The other entries besides Election Year are pretty weak overall imo.

I've seen the first one, and I am kind of surprised it has had as many (or frankly any) sequels. It is an interesting tangent, but making a franchise out of it is kind of redundancy meeting unnecessary.

 

[MFB]

What're they trying to shoehorn in? I'm sure they're doing so with all of the agility and grace of a drunken Chris Farley attempting to be funny.

Maybe they'll do a Mary Jane solo film and she can make equal pay to Tobey Maguire as Peter fucking Parker.

They show Peters parents, like his REAL parents not Uncle Ben and Aunt May, and Adam Scott in the movie is actually playing Ben; so he's gonna be a real young dying uncle considering he looks to be mid-30s or so in this.

They also seem to be going the Spider Totem route that they did during the Spiderpocalypse storyline IIRC, and I THINK it showed up in the 90s show too?

I just got to a point in the film where they show her mom's backstory, and my God is it just, so on the nose with expositions. It's ALL tell and zero show, every time, assuming the audience is full spy mode.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

I've seen the first one, and I am kind of surprised it has had as many (or frankly any) sequels. It is an interesting tangent, but making a franchise out of it is kind of redundancy meeting unnecessary.

The sequels really dial in the social commentary and are way more insightful compared to the original.They're also not as self contained as the original. It's one of the few modern horror franchises where it got way better after the second film.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

The sequels really dial in the social commentary and are way more insightful compared to the original.They're also not as self contained as the original. It's one of the few modern horror franchises where it got way better after the second film.

I think I'll pass.

 

[nightsprinter]

It's been many years since I last watched THERE WILL BE BLOOD and I watched it again last night. Absolute masterclass by Daniel Day Lewis who I easily exalt as one of the best actors of all time. Every single movie I have seen him in has been top shelf.

 

[MFB]

Forgot that after watching Madame Web, I needed a palette cleanser, so I re-watched Moneyball because holy fuck does that movie go hard.

I also watched a Clive Owen movie called Anon, a dystopian sci-fi where everyone records their life via augments/enhancements/etc and a person is killing people and erasing themselves from the person they killed so they're essentially non-existent; it was quite underwhelming honestly, the same BS every dystopian comes down to, "it's not that I don't want the government watching me, it's that I don't want to show them what I'm doing" blah blah.

Same for 21 Bridges, another fucking cop movie where they're in on it the whole time in the least surprising way possible.

 

[SalsaWood]

I actually liked Anon. I saw it as more of a Ghost in the Shell meets Minority Report variation with overtones about the dangers inherent to expecting more from others or industrialized schemes than we do from ourselves, and the resultant concerns of individual freedom in the face of incorporated or governmental capabilities which claim to strictly play to the greater good.

I also liked 21 Bridges though, so grain of salt lol.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

Three Thousand Years Of Longing

I was supposed to see Furiosa tonight, but had to cancel due to certain home obligations, so I'll see it tomorrow. But I did get to catch up seeing the George Miller movie made between it and Mad Max Fury Road, that very few people saw.

Three Thousand Years Of Longing is Miller's take on The Djinn In the Nightingale's Eye, and structurally works more as an anthology of stories than a cohesive narrative. It's just as much about Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba having a conversation in a room that it is about the djinn's experiences throughout the Ottoman history. Aesthetically, this movie is gorgeous, much like his previous movie, Mad Max Fury Road, full of virbrant colours, all scenes beautifully filmed. Tonally, it's on the other end of the spectrum; a relaxed tale about stories and the love of storytelling. All being augmented by amazing performances by both Swinton and Elba in their respective roles.

What makes George Miller so compelling is his versatility to tell stories in incredibly diverse styles. Not many people got to see Three Thousand Years Of Longing during its release, but now may be the best time to see it. Along with the Mad Max movies, of course. And Witches of Eastwick. And Lorenzo's Oil. Hell, even the Happy Feet and Babe movies, just go through his whole filmography anyway.

 

[narad]

Three Thousand Years Of Longing

Nice, they finally made a documentary about Daemoness.

 

[nightsprinter]

Just rewatched Stalker (1979) and it's still in my hall of fame of movies that make me feel hopeless and bummed out alongside The Road, Into The Forest, etc etc

Weird vibes.




Also, I heard Blood Meridian is being made into a movie. That book made me feel like total shit too, so I'm curious about how badly they're gonna fuck up the adaptation.

 

[brector]

Just rewatched Stalker (1979) and it's still in my hall of fame of movies that make me feel hopeless and bummed out alongside The Road, Into The Forest, etc etc

Weird vibes.

This is on my watchlist, might move it up a bit. Thanks!

 

[wankerness]

Three Thousand Years Of Longing

I was supposed to see Furiosa tonight, but had to cancel due to certain home obligations, so I'll see it tomorrow. But I did get to catch up seeing the George Miller movie made between it and Mad Max Fury Road, that very few people saw.

Three Thousand Years Of Longing is Miller's take on The Djinn In the Nightingale's Eye, and structurally works more as an anthology of stories than a cohesive narrative. It's just as much about Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba having a conversation in a room that it is about the djinn's experiences throughout the Ottoman history. Aesthetically, this movie is gorgeous, much like his previous movie, Mad Max Fury Road, full of virbrant colours, all scenes beautifully filmed. Tonally, it's on the other end of the spectrum; a relaxed tale about stories and the love of storytelling. All being augmented by amazing performances by both Swinton and Elba in their respective roles.

What makes George Miller so compelling is his versatility to tell stories in incredibly diverse styles. Not many people got to see Three Thousand Years Of Longing during its release, but now may be the best time to see it. Along with the Mad Max movies, of course. And Witches of Eastwick. And Lorenzo's Oil. Hell, even the Happy Feet and Babe movies, just go through his whole filmography anyway.

He only made the sequel, Babe: Pig in the City, which is awesome. There's even a chase scene that you can see some of the Mad Max DNA in. He was a producer/writer on the first one but the direction's definitely way more pedestrian than the sequel's.

I didn't know he did Witches of Eastwick. I thought that movie was boring when I saw it way back in the day when I was on a Cher kick (seriously she was an amazing actress in the 80s). That sort of makes me want to rewatch it.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

He only made the sequel, Babe: Pig in the City, which is awesome. There's even a chase scene that you can see some of the Mad Max DNA in. He was a producer/writer on the first one but the direction's definitely way more pedestrian than the sequel's.

I didn't know he did Witches of Eastwick. I thought that movie was boring when I saw it way back in the day when I was on a Cher kick (seriously she was an amazing actress in the 80s). That sort of makes me want to rewatch it.

Miller didn't direct the first Babe movie, no. He's still involved in it, credited as screenwriter and producer, and apparently was a turbulent production with Chris Noonan. Pig In The City, correct, that's definitely all Miller.

Come to think of it, 3000 years and Babe are structured similarly, like a storybook/anthology. So I wouldn't be surprised if that's Miller's touch.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

Furiosa: A Md Max Saga

...and now I've seen it. Furiosa rules.
It has an extremely difficult task to go after one of the undisputed greatest blockbusters of the past decade, but George Miller and co do a damn fantastic job.

Granted that this is a prequel, and so comes all the heavy baggage that comes with being a prequel and an origin story for the titular character. Expository plot points, world building, and lots of minor characters and references to Fury Road that take their time to help build Furiosa into the dark heroine she will eventually become. These minor quibbles add up and weigh the movie down somewhat, but they're you'll stop caring about them as much as the movie itself does.

Like Fury Road and Three Thousand Years Of Longing before it, Furiosa is visually dazzling: the perfect Australian post-apocalyptic dystopia complety realised, you are reminded why the Mad Max franchise was so universally influential. The cast are having the time of their lives playing characters completely out of their minds. Anya Taylor Joy does a fantastic job driving the movie with scowls and raw emotion with little dialogue, and Chris Hemsworth is amazing as a classical Mad Max warlord.

It's tough to follow up Fury Road. Very few films can. And Furiosa may be a little bloated, but it's s still a bone crushingly great time.

 

[BlackMastodon]

Going to see Furiosa tonight. Will read Inferno's post after.

 

[SalsaWood]

Three Thousand Years Of Longing is Miller's take on The Djinn In the Nightingale's Eye, and structurally works more as an anthology of stories than a cohesive narrative. It's just as much about Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba having a conversation in a room that it is about the djinn's experiences throughout the Ottoman history. Aesthetically, this movie is gorgeous, much like his previous movie, Mad Max Fury Road, full of virbrant colours, all scenes beautifully filmed. Tonally, it's on the other end of the spectrum; a relaxed tale about stories and the love of storytelling. All being augmented by amazing performances by both Swinton and Elba in their respective roles.

Watched this last night and thought it was very well done for the reasons you mention. Not really my kind of movie, but not for lack of quality.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

Watched this last night and thought it was very well done for the reasons you mention. Not really my kind of movie, but not for lack of quality.

Fair enough. The movie is a languid experience, and it does go much longer than it should so it requires some patience. And it's an extreme shift for anyone who knows the director for only the Mad Max franchise.

But perhaps that's also why I respect George Miller so much. That and being in Australia. I loved the Mad Max movies, and even The Witches of Eastwick, which I probably shouldn't have watched as a kid. Then Babe blew up and it was EVERYWHERE. I wasn't paying attention to directors at the time but it blew my mind that they were all done by the same guy. And I'll always respect creatives doing their own thing.

 

[SalsaWood]

It being about djinn and having Idris got me in the door, the cinematography definitely delivered though. I think I was half expecting another Gunslinger/Dark Tower type of movie, and it totally was not- thankfully. Languid is a great way to put it, for so many reasons. Ultimately I liked it a lot, but probably will not rewatch it just on a lark down the road.

I swear Idris needs to be the next Bond. Get this man a decent franchise already.

 

[nightsprinter]

Speaking of djinns, I watched this last year and I liked it for what it was.