Jump to content

What ELSE (other than KUNG FU) has everyone been watching?


Guest kenichiku

Recommended Posts

  • Member
DragonClaws

The Pledge Directed- by Sean Penn starring Jack Nicholson

Homeboy Directed by- Michael Seresin starring Mickey Rourke, Christopher Walken

Secret Window Directed by- David Koepp starring Johnny Depp

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
Secret Executioner
some spoilers for Birdman:

Watched Birdman last night (and I'm caught up again on Best Picture winners having seen them all.) One thing I noticed (and later confirmed when I read some comments from the director) is how much the film Russian Ark influenced the camera movement and idea of long takes in the cinematography. I loved the acting in the film and liked the cinematography. Some of the references were too easy (pot shots at popular actors doing costume characters) and the flip-flop of west coast and east coast acting philosophies got a little annoying (I don't think the director was taking a stance either way.)

It went for that sort of Being There ending, but it didn't quite work for me. Honestly I thought the film could have ended after the gunshot. The magical moments in Birdman could always be explained in that film until that last shot (when he does that magical flying around, later a taxi driver comes to collect money from him for example) -- so that does make it different from the rest. It does seem that (along with the nose) truly turns into Birdman. In a way that shot reminds me of the shot in Fight Club (along with the presence of Norton -- one of his jokes also seems to come directly from that film as well.) The shot doesn't kill, but jars the protagonist into another way of thinking.

I recommend the David Bordwell article (BIRDMAN: Following Riggan’s orders) on this film where he goes over quite a bit of the technical details and structure of the film. One of the best reads on the movie.

Been considering checking it out to know what the deal was with this one (been hearing of it for quite a while now, though it came out in French theaters only a few days ago), but lemme tell you, your post made me think I REALLY have to watch it. Sounds like a great movie. :nerd:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
masterofoneinchpunch
Been considering checking it out to know what the deal was with this one (been hearing of it for quite a while now, though it came out in French theaters only a few days ago), but lemme tell you, your post made me think I REALLY have to watch it. Sounds like a great movie. :nerd:

Note: when I wrote "east coast vs. west coast" I was referring to the long standing sometimes feud between theatre and filmmaking (many actors do both of course, but since film began there has always been a divide among those two with major differences in philosophies, the film espouses some of them, mostly for humor.)

It is an interesting movie. I'm not sure it will be in my top 10, but I found it worth watching if mainly for the acting performances and the use of camera (though I do recommend watching Russian Ark to see a major influence on this movie's cinematography.)

Now, I was really annoyed by Emma Stone's performance (or possibly the director's use of her.) Especially the "You hate bloggers, you mock Twitter, you don’t even have a Facebook page. You’re the one who doesn’t exist. . . . You’re not important. Get used to it." speech which didn't even have an intelligent response to (I know this is not an Eric Rohmer film, but still witty banter can work). Given the later scenes (the results of the underwear walk which is probably the most well known scene in the movie) the director seemed to even agree with these statements. I'm still wondering how having a Facebook page makes you more relevant especially considering how many Facebook and Twitter accounts of stars are often ran by other people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
masterofoneinchpunch

The Boxtrolls (2014: Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi):

The style of the animation is definitely grotesque, sometimes a bit too much I think with characters look like they were taken from Oliver Twist and given severe cases of typhoid. But it gives it a uniqueness that is memorable and effective. There are some moments that are definitely icky with one scene definitely inspired by The Meaning of Life (would you like a mint, its wafer thin.) This is definitely not for younger kids as it will disturb them or make them want to consume mass quantities of cheese (hard not to think of the Wallace and Gromit influence here.)

Archibald Snatcher (voiced with gravitas by Ben Kingsley) has a plan to obtain a white hat. The white hat represents a small group of lazy aristocrats who plan the town’s affairs but mostly consume mass quantities of cheese. Apparently cheese is valued more than currency. Snatcher is allergic to cheese and he needs leeches to remedy the swelling (these scenes are nasty looking), but he wants to sit at that table and be somebody in his eyes. He hatches a plan to not only obtain that hat but creates a nighttime of martial law. There are these trolls who use boxes as their attire and come out and steal things. One night a baby was stolen, the dad was eaten and that was the impetus to not only create the night curfew and with his crew of three hooligans (well two of them, voiced by Nick Frost and Richard Ayoade, contemplate their existentialist role in this affair and are not completely bad making them fun and interesting) but talk the town’s white hats into giving him a white hat if he finds all the trolls and disperses with this wave of evil.

We later see the baby Eggs aka the Trubshaw baby (so called because of the cardboard box that he partially lives in) being raised by the trolls (can a human survive off of bugs and where did they poop?) and the mechanically inclined lives they lead. Ten years later while the troll population is dwindling Eggs makes his appearance on the surface to obtain much needed tools and knick-knacks (shouldn’t they get more food.) He is spotted by Winnie (Elle Fanning), the ignored daughter of the main white hat Lord Portley-Rind (Jared Harris.) I think there will be a connection there.

[some spoilers here] The main theme is that of acceptance. Of course it does help not to jump to conclusions too quickly. But if you did not there would not be a story. Now one might wonder about the minor theme of Snatcher having a dream to get ahead to a higher economic/political/social class and then having that dream ultimately unrealized (reminding me somewhat of John Steinbeck’s The Pearl) because of his social status as well as allergies to cheese. But he is a bad guy and he is ugly (even worse when he dresses as a woman which is quite disturbing) so we will just ignore the resistance to class mobility for that character.

This was nominated for an Academy Award Best Animated Oscar (Big Hero 6 would win, though I am not sure why The Lego Movie was not nominated.) I understand why it has its fans, I overall liked it. Though this might be my least favorite full-length Laika feature (the other three are Corpse Bride, Coraline and ParaNorman). I just did not find it as moving as ParaNorman, not as creepy as Coraline or as aesthetically pleasing as the animation in Corpse Bride. But the animation is memorable, the voices are well done and it is overall a worthy artistic ride.

The ending is my favorite moment of the film which is existential, clever and ultimately has nothing to do with the film’s preceding plot. There is no extra after the credits.

Found my ParaNorman review:

ParaNorman (2012: Chris Butler, Sam Fell) ***/****

Laika, who also produced Coraline and Corpse Bride, are making well-made animated and stop-motion macabre films. All of these are too scary for the youngest ones and will be more appreciated by older viewers. I tend to like the aesthetics of design more than the storylines as well. Here we have an oft used plot of a boy Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who can see and communicate with dead people like in The Seventh Sense. He is a confused and isolated boy who is mocked by his schoolmates and bullied by Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) who reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes comic strip bully Moe. Luckily he is befriended by the corpulent Neil (Tucker Albrizi) who is an unbelievably optimistic force and is one of the funniest characters in the movie.

Norman looks like a younger version of Matt Dillon. He also has a bizarre zombie obsession though you would think he would get enough of the ghosts in his life including his grandmother who sits on the coach and occasionally spies on the family. Does she ever have to use the bathroom? Maybe he prefers rotting corpses to the translucent, but better looking, ghosts that comprise his everyday existence. Maybe I am over thinking this. Norman also has to deal with a Mr. Prenderghast (John Goodman, his voice is so easy to recognize) his crazy uncle with a bad heart who is pestering him about some curse upon the town that only he can solve. Norman has a lot of problems.

I wonder about the overuse of dysmorphism in character body design. There is a grotesque effect that distracts more than enhances the characters in this film like Norman’s sister’s bizarrely huge hips and her love interest Mitch (Casey Affleck) whose legs are insanely small compared to his bodybuilder upper physique but whose anvil shaped chin seems the most abnormal. I do not know what to think of Norman’s dad’s missile shaped head. Early on I paid more attention to the bizarreness of the appearance than the plot, backgrounds and more important aspects of the film.

ParaNorman is an enjoyable and breezy affair. The humor is somewhat dark for youngsters, but not for us curmudgeon and surly movie lifers who have been scarred by everything from Rob Zombie, Takashi Miike to Michael Bay. So I definitely enjoyed much of the jokes. Also, its heart is in the right place with a not-so-subtle parable about how you should not treat others who are different than you because you might cause their death and a gigantic curse will be put upon your decomposing carcass.* Sometimes the plot seemed to cover too much worn territory, especially after the zombie’s come in. But toward the end the most effective and emotional scene was with Norman and the young witch which is incredibly sad if you think about it. Here is a young child who was murdered for what she saw. Then you start thinking about how in real life there would be no coming back. That is depressing. But I am a fan of stop-motion cinematography (the Wallace and Gromit shorts and films are some of my favorites) and I liked this movie. If you liked Coraline I think you will like this as well.

There is an additional scene at the end credits. It is a small “building of Norman’s character” vignette that has nothing to do with the storyline but will be on an interest in those who want to see a quick buildup of a stop-motion armature or those that feel they must see everything to get their money’s worth.

* The zombies seemed rather well preserved given the amount of centuries they have been under ground, but disconnected bones attacking you are not as scary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
Secret Executioner

A couple of the Batman: The Animated Series episodes from the DVD I bought recently (which seems to be called The Legend Begins according to the menu).

The episodes I saw were:

"On Leather Wings": a bat-like creature is causing trouble in Gotham, leading some to believe the Batman is responsible. But it turns out it's a different kind of a bat...

"Nothing To Fear": the university is the target of attacks committed by a masked criminal called The Scarecrow who uses a fear-inducing toxin. Turns out he seeks revenge as he used to be a professor who was ridiculed and ultimately fired.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
wongfeihung62

Just been to see IT FOLLOWS and really liked it. Without giving anything away. Imagine if John Carpenter teamed up with Hideo Nakata and decided to make a retro horror movie, it could be something like this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
masterofoneinchpunch
Any Bogart fans? Watched this last night. First time in about a decade. Solid war drama.

I'm a Bogart fan. But I still have yet to see Sahara (the most famous one I have not seen is The Desperate Hours). Looking at a list of Bogart films I've seen 27 movies with Bogart. Now some of them like The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca I've seen multiple times. But I am a fan. I generally can watch anything he is in.

I did read Bogart: In Search of My Father by his son. It mainly covers the end of Bogart's life and is an interesting but depressing read.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator
KUNG FU BOB
Any Bogart fans? Watched this last night. First time in about a decade. Solid war drama.

Yes, I'm a Bogie fan. Never saw this one though.

Watched NIGHTCRAWLER over the weekend. Fantastic and disturbing. I think Jake Gyllenhal should have received a Best Actor nomination for his role, playing a guy as disturbing/disturbed as TAXI DRIVER's Travis Bickle. 9/10

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
Secret Executioner

Birdman (USA, 2015)

Really interesting movie. Some parts were interesting, especially the various jabs the current state of the industry - the money grossed being more important than the quality of the product, the constant exaggerations in special effects to amaze the audience, the current trend of superhero/comic book movies that are everywhere when people already did that before...

Some elements I found were nice touches also concern the main character: he used to play a superhero and declined another sequel and it all ended in 1992. Check out Michael Keaton's background and... His last Batman movie was in 1992 and he bailed out of a Batman sequel (though the guy from Birdman declined making the fourth one for unclear reasons). Figured this sort of mirroring between Keaton and his character was interesting.

Concerning Emma Stone, I'd agree with masterofoneinchpunch. She's obnoxious and I'd go as far as to call her a trouble teen cardboard: drug issues, parent issues and being young in the 2010s, she HAS to advocate all things social network. She disappeared just when she was getting in an interesting character act with Edward Norton - and just when I stopped wishing a Birdman villain showed up and threw her off the Brooklyn Bridge (nothing to do with the fact she played Gwen Stacy in a bunch of Spiderman movies recently).

masterofoneinchpunch also mentionned the final scenes feeling unnecessary. I'd agree, I thought ending with a theater audience (so educated, as opposed to the people going to the movies who only care about violence and pornography - that's the way a critic in the film puts it, though she has points when she mentions blockbusters only being about making money - I mean, just look at the way movies are discussed: we hear more of the box-office and how much films gross than about the impact movies have on the audience) applauding and showing approval to something that would rather fit in a blockbuster or even a low-brow movie (thus something they reject) would have been very appropriate, at least to showcase some hypocrisy on these people's part.

The few scenes showcasing the title character - the superhero Birdman, cause he appears though I assume it must be fantasy scenes as the character seems to be a sort of alter ego to the actor who played him - were kinda cool and I came to some kind of thought: this movie shows us Hawkman would look awesome in a live-action film. Really, look at Birdman: it's pretty much a Hawkman knock-off (especially obvious seeing the helmet and the wings). Weird to think that if the Snyder movies mess him up, Fox will end up having the best Hawkman movie with this film, which isn't a Hawkman movie nor even a superhero movie... :squigglemouth:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
masterofoneinchpunch
Birdman (USA, 2015)

... (nothing to do with the fact she played Gwen Stacy in a bunch of Spiderman movies recently).

...

No nothing to do with that :D.

Good point about Hawkman. I'm looking at images of him right now.

For an esoteric reference when I think of Birdman I think of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNo_EESRbYM.

Some spoilers:

The final scenes give it that magical realist happy ending (I do recommend Being There if you haven't seen it, a somewhat similar ending.) It's somewhat crowd pleasing and possibly helped with the overall good feel of it for some viewers. Probably not as outrageous as "dying for art" which I thought the film might have been going for or might have tackled.

Still found one scene pretty funny where Norton's character is explaining how New York is his town and then the older lady comes up to Keaton's character and asks him for a picture ignoring Norton's character.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
Secret Executioner

Yeah, Keaton's character is supposed to be a nobody has-been, yet everyone seems to recognize him and to remember him as Birdman (many people calling him Birdman rather than his name).

Also, the "actor who got known for only one part" reminded me of Adam West and Batman, though I don't think Adam West would have been a fitting choice for this movie - not that I doubt his acting abilities, but between the rather campy version of Batman he portrayed and his whacky persona in Family Guy it wouldn't have seemed right. Who knows, maybe in some 15/20 years Robert Downey Jr. will be Iron Man and nothing else for the general public.

I think the movie also addresses this issue with major successes in that some actors are remembered for one part and no matter what they did before or do later on, they remain the guy who played this certain character in that very movie. For instance, I think the late Eli Wallach was actually more famous for playing Tuco in The Good, The Bad And The Ugly than for any other role he played in his carreer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
masterofoneinchpunch
Yeah, Keaton's character is supposed to be a nobody has-been, yet everyone seems to recognize him and to remember him as Birdman (many people calling him Birdman rather than his name).

Also, the "actor who got known for only one part" reminded me of Adam West and Batman, though I don't think Adam West would have been a fitting choice for this movie - not that I doubt his acting abilities, but between the rather campy version of Batman he portrayed and his whacky persona in Family Guy it wouldn't have seemed right. Who knows, maybe in some 15/20 years Robert Downey Jr. will be Iron Man and nothing else for the general public.

I think the movie also addresses this issue with major successes in that some actors are remembered for one part and no matter what they did before or do later on, they remain the guy who played this certain character in that very movie. For instance, I think the late Eli Wallach was actually more famous for playing Tuco in The Good, The Bad And The Ugly than for any other role he played in his carreer.

There are so many actors known for just one part, though sometimes that just happens over time. It makes sense (not to us cinema fans but in general) because when you get a whole new populace of movie watchers they tend to stick mainly with the new and occasionally go back to older films. So it is kind of hard to hard a good knowledge of cinema, you have to work at it. Downey Jr. is such a good actor that it would be to his chagrin if he was just known for the Iron Man role (a series of films I do like.) But in a way it makes sense for the reasons I stated earlier plus massively popular films will always have more influence on normal movie watchers (we're not normal.) How many actors we know that might go unnoticed to others if they walked down where we lived.

It would be weird yet interesting to see Adam West in Keaton's role in this film. Of course he has faced typecasting because of that television series. I do think Keaton is quite a good actor though and his performance here really helps the film out.

I certainly think of The Good, The Bad And The Ugly when I think of Wallach, though I've seen some great performances from him including The Misfits and The Lineup (I really need to see Baby Doll which I have read great things about.)

Sometimes an actor has too good of a performance like Anthony Perkins in Psycho. That was one of the ultimate examples of what you mention. We could find many others.

Some like Vincent Price and Boris Karloff eventually accepted and later appreciated the fame they got from their horror roles. Both did good work outside of the genre (look at all the non-horror work Price did before House of Wax), but most of it is not as well known today. I think ultimately as an artist you would like to be known for something, even if all your talents are not necessarily appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
Secret Executioner

Keaton certainly delivers in this film, no doubt about it.

I'm not a big connaisseur of US cinema so my knowledge of Robert Downey Jr.'s material is limited to his Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes movies.

Concerning what you said on Vincent Price, I saw the 1961 peplum Nefertiti, Queen Of The Nile - one of his most obscure movies - some time ago. I purchased the DVD mainly because I saw it had Vincent Price in it. Kinda strange to see this actor in a movie about Ancient Egypt and without moustache, but it was a nice performance nonetheless - I still prefer him in horror movies like the Dr. Phibes films or Monster Club (yes, I love this little anthology film - actually, the scenes in the club are pretty funny and I find them much better than the stories narrated by the vampire Vincent Price plays).

About Boris Karloff, I saw him mainly in horror films like Bride Of Frankenstein and Black Sabbath, but I also saw him as the bad guy in a Dick Tracy movie from the 1940s and at a point, a witness describing his character mentions he looked like Dr. Frankenstein's monster. :tongue:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
masterofoneinchpunch
... Concerning what you said on Vincent Price, I saw the 1961 peplum Nefertiti, Queen Of The Nile - one of his most obscure movies - some time ago. I purchased the DVD mainly because I saw it had Vincent Price in it. Kinda strange to see this actor in a movie about Ancient Egypt and without moustache, but it was a nice performance nonetheless - I still prefer him in horror movies like the Dr. Phibes films or Monster Club (yes, I love this little anthology film - actually, the scenes in the club are pretty funny and I find them much better than the stories narrated by the vampire Vincent Price plays).

About Boris Karloff, I saw him mainly in horror films like Bride Of Frankenstein and Black Sabbath, but I also saw him as the bad guy in a Dick Tracy movie from the 1940s and at a point, a witness describing his character mentions he looked like Dr. Frankenstein's monster. :tongue:

For pre-horror films from Vincent Price check out The Baron of Arizona, Laura and His Kind of Woman three of Price's favorite earlier films. Since Price did not start off as horror and did a variety of roles beforehand for years you can see a nice range in his acting.

Boris got typecast pretty quickly with Frankenstein (1931) in the sound era (he was acting for over 10 years at this point mostly in smaller roles) though it is fun to see him in atypical roles such as John Ford's The Lost Patrol (this has some influence on of all films Seven Samurai) Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936). NOTE: I still haven't seen any of his films from the Wong series.

Now I do love the horror films from both of these actors. No doubt about that, especially when they are together :D (kind of like when Karloff and Lugosi are together.)

Regarding Downey Jr., check out his performance in Chaplin, a film I'm not as high on as many critics but I do like his performance a lot. I am still missing some of his more critically appraised roles like The Singing Detective.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

Maniac Cop.

I love Bruce Campbell, 80s B movies, and slashers.. So naturally, this was a great 80s B movie to me. Bruce actually wasn't in it much til the end, id say Tom Atkins was more like the lead, but I'm sure most 80s horror fans like that too! When you finally see the killer, the faces he makes are hilarious! Eerie music plays almost constantly, even when not building up to a suspenseful moment, which was also funny to me.

Yeah it's bad, but it's bad and old, which generally at least means enjoyable!:tongue:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
Secret Executioner

Since we have threads for the fu, figured we could also discuss the non-fu movies we've been watching lately.

Saw Gamera vs Guiron (Japan, 1969) today. Decent movie with enjoyable lead characters, creative settings for the alien planet, nice monster sequences and good villains. Some stuff gets hokey and doesn't feel that great, but it's still a nice kid-friendly monster movie.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great topic idea.

The last non-MA movie I watched was ...

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

Saw it in the theaters. I'm sure you're assuming the main reason I would of seen this was due to taking a child, you would be correct in your assumption.

My wife and I took our 6 year old son. Saw it in 3D. He loved it. Before that we took him to see Paddington.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
Maniac Cop.

I love Bruce Campbell, 80s B movies, and slashers.. So naturally, this was a great 80s B movie to me. Bruce actually wasn't in it much til the end, id say Tom Atkins was more like the lead, but I'm sure most 80s horror fans like that too! When you finally see the killer, the faces he makes are hilarious! Eerie music plays almost constantly, even when not building up to a suspenseful moment, which was also funny to me.

Yeah it's bad, but it's bad and old, which generally at least means enjoyable!:tongue:

Atkins is the fucking man! Have you seen Night of the Creeps?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator
KUNG FU BOB
Great topic idea.

The last non-MA movie I watched was ...

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

Saw it in the theaters. I'm sure you're assuming the main reason I would of seen this was due to taking a child, you would be correct in your assumption.

My wife and I took our 6 year old son. Saw it in 3D. He loved it. Before that we took him to see Paddington.

Believe it or not, I've never even seen a complete episode of Sponge Bob. But the movie looked funny, did you and your wife enjoy it too?

How was PADDINGTON?

I recently watched NIGHTCRAWLER- about independent news cameramen trawling for footage- and it was fantastic. Sleazy, harrowing, but brilliantly done with an amazing lead performance from Jake Gyllenhall.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
Atkins is the fucking man! Have you seen Night of the Creeps?

I have not, but I just watched the trailer and it looks great. Unfortunately it isn't on either Hulu or Netflix, ergh.

Have you seen Maniac Cop?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator
KUNG FU BOB
Atkins is the fucking man! Have you seen Night of the Creeps?

For me, NIGHT OF THE CREEPS is just perfect! Love this movie. I think that Detective Ray Cameron is the role Tom Atkins was born to play. Now... "Thrill me!" :nerd:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
Have you seen Maniac Cop?!

Many times, part two is even better! But yeah, definitely check out Night of the Creeps if you can.

For me, NIGHT OF THE CREEPS is just perfect! Love this movie. I think that Detective Ray Cameron is the role Tom Atkins was born to play. Now... "Thrill me!" :nerd:

I recently got one of these...:bigsmile:

main-thrill-me_01.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use

Please Sign In or Sign Up