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Movies You've Seen Recently |OT| May 2017
- Thread starter Divius
- Start date
Net_Wrecker
Member
Just went through this Blackhat Director's Cut on my dvr, and yeah it's an improvement. This isn't a Kingdom of Heaven DC style revelation that will have people flocking to it as a surprise late career masterpiece, but it's better. The one big difference-
- gives the mystery a better sense of escalation, and more momentum in the 2nd half with
Oddly though, if you're like me and stan enough to notice, there are a few new very small edits that actually lend the movie a bit more white space, on top of a completely new sequence (
), and small new scenes added or removed to work alongside the big swap I mentioned before. Also, the
is gone. All of this helps the movie flow better where it might have felt strange before. There are some soundtrack adjustments as well, most of them minor, the biggest being the song after
replaced completely in favor of what might be a new Atticus Ross off-kilter atmospheric synth piece.
So anyway, if you're one of the 7 1/2 people who liked the original cut, give this a shot if FX airs it again or if it's ever released. It doesn't recontextualize and improve the movie to the degree that the recent Ali: Commemorative Cut did, but it's solid.
swapping the major hacks
the big shootout and the nuclear reactor hack happening back to back.
4-5 minute tail evasion when they arrive in HK
"change the meet" phone call before the ending
Viola Davis gets got
So anyway, if you're one of the 7 1/2 people who liked the original cut, give this a shot if FX airs it again or if it's ever released. It doesn't recontextualize and improve the movie to the degree that the recent Ali: Commemorative Cut did, but it's solid.
Discotheque
Banned
That Blackhat directors cut didn't air in Canada so I didn't get a chance to see it. Will definitely have to see if I can find a screening in a school to watch it though :3
The theatrical version was on TV a few weeks ago though and I was watching some of it after browsing the channels a bit and man, it was as enthralling as ever for me. I still stand by that being a top 5 of the year it came out. Got the new Heat bluray in too today, will watch again soon. Its got the Nolan panel on it too as an extra which is dope.
Guardians of the Galaxy 2
This one suffers from throwing everything at a wall hoping it sticks. Particularly the humor. As funny as this movie is (and I found it often pretty great in this department) there are also quite a number of jokes that completely fall flat too.
Also I appreciate that they decided to reach for more character drama from the main guardians. But I can only count on one hand the amount of superhero movies that are emotionally engaging and this damn sure wasn't one of them. Chris Pratt in particular is so out of his element when he has to act vulnerable, god damn this aint in his bag. Its especially glaring when he's opposite Kurt. Shit is like night and day in quality. The dramatic scenes in the movie were mostly misfires, but I really liked the ending.
As for what I loved about it, well a good portion of the humor is still as good as ever. I liked that we got more out of Gamora and especially Yondu in this one. Oh and Kurt Russell, his plan is usual end the universe stuff but man he's great in this. Especially when the movie leans into his laid back nonchalant delivery which is hilarious. Good on them for casting him (and it was great seeing Sly in here too, I forgot he was in it until I saw the opening credits)
Certainly a fun time in theaters and definitely my favorite mcu movie since the last guardians, but it falls short of that one for me. This one feels longer and has more missteps despite also improving on some things from the first, it won't be as breezy to rewatch as GOTG 1 was.
The theatrical version was on TV a few weeks ago though and I was watching some of it after browsing the channels a bit and man, it was as enthralling as ever for me. I still stand by that being a top 5 of the year it came out. Got the new Heat bluray in too today, will watch again soon. Its got the Nolan panel on it too as an extra which is dope.
Guardians of the Galaxy 2
This one suffers from throwing everything at a wall hoping it sticks. Particularly the humor. As funny as this movie is (and I found it often pretty great in this department) there are also quite a number of jokes that completely fall flat too.
Also I appreciate that they decided to reach for more character drama from the main guardians. But I can only count on one hand the amount of superhero movies that are emotionally engaging and this damn sure wasn't one of them. Chris Pratt in particular is so out of his element when he has to act vulnerable, god damn this aint in his bag. Its especially glaring when he's opposite Kurt. Shit is like night and day in quality. The dramatic scenes in the movie were mostly misfires, but I really liked the ending.
As for what I loved about it, well a good portion of the humor is still as good as ever. I liked that we got more out of Gamora and especially Yondu in this one. Oh and Kurt Russell, his plan is usual end the universe stuff but man he's great in this. Especially when the movie leans into his laid back nonchalant delivery which is hilarious. Good on them for casting him (and it was great seeing Sly in here too, I forgot he was in it until I saw the opening credits)
Certainly a fun time in theaters and definitely my favorite mcu movie since the last guardians, but it falls short of that one for me. This one feels longer and has more missteps despite also improving on some things from the first, it won't be as breezy to rewatch as GOTG 1 was.
Yes, saw this for the first time a few months ago and it's really wonderful. The Archer's finest hour i'd say.
Net_Wrecker
Member
It didn't air in a lot of places. Strange way to debut a Director's Cut to the masses in 2017. I hope there's a blu-ray around the corner because I can't go back to the theatrical cut.
And yeah, ditto your GOTG2 thoughts, but especially this. GOTG1 sags in the 3rd act with the mind numbing Marvel Ending™ which hurts it, but I don't know if the sequel will hold up at all
_______________________
Rewatched Unbreakable and Split over the weekend, and yo, M. Night is about to have a top 10 of 2017 movie for me. I was wondering if Split would lose anything with a rewatch now that the luster of the post-release hype is gone, but nope, I still really, really like the movie. Not only is it just as entertaining as it was the first time thanks to James McAvoy putting the movie on his back, but the way the ending makes you rethink about what the movie really is makes it even better. Sure there's some clunky writing, but on the whole it really works for me.
I hope Glass delivers.
Glass Rebel
Member
What's with all those new cuts of Mann films recently? Not that I'm complaining.
# M A N N B O Y Z
# M A N N B O Y Z
Discotheque
Banned
I'd love it if McAvoy was nominated for split although there is no chance that happens thanks to voter bias against genre films.
His mannerisms range from freaky as hell to hilarious. Those stupid faces he makes as "Patricia" in particular killed me haha.
Time is catching up to him, so much like Malick he's prolly got a fire in him to kick up his output
Waiting on that Ferrari movie to officially start with Jackman. I need it
His mannerisms range from freaky as hell to hilarious. Those stupid faces he makes as "Patricia" in particular killed me haha.
Time is catching up to him, so much like Malick he's prolly got a fire in him to kick up his output
Waiting on that Ferrari movie to officially start with Jackman. I need it
Thom Yorke is scoring the Suspiria remake. Interesting! I don't have much interest in the movie but hope the soundtrack gets a release.
Walbrook's monologue toward the end of the film is one of the most moving scenes in cinema, in my opinion.
The Earrings of Madame de... (1953): Commemorating the centenary of the great French actress Danielle Darrieux, I revisited what is probably her greatest film performance, her third and final outing with director Max Ophüls.
Opulent in its production and costume design, as is typical of the director's work, his gliding camera has never been put to better use. A particularly superb montage of ballroom dances shows us the progression of the relationship between Louise (Darrieux) and the handsome Italian diplomat Count Donati (Vittorio de Sica, most famous these days as a director). Compared to Ophüls' earlier film with Darrieux, La Ronde (which I watched for the first time a few days ago), The Earrings of Madame de... is more conventional in its storytelling, but it's a deeply felt romantic tragedy, albeit leavened by some of the same whimsical humour found in La Ronde (witness the running joke of the jeweler who is regularly reselling the titular earrings).
If this is a story about a woman who learns that her feelings are "only superficially superficial", it's also about a woman who never quite manages to be honest, even in what might otherwise seem like a moment of deepest despair. She can't
help but keep bargaining with the Almighty, even if in the last instance it's in the service of a more humane cause, and even in the course of doing so she can't admit that she's transgressed in more than thought.
Darrieux never spent much time in Hollywood (I'm familiar with her primarily through her collaborations with Ophüls and Jacques Demy), but the film also serves as a showcase for Charles Boyer, who I was otherwise familiar with primarily through English-language roles like Gaslight. In Hollywood he was cast as a foreigner; it feels rather different to see him speaking in his native tongue.
Glass Rebel
Member
Saw King Arthur. It's basically Guy Richie lite (the best parts of the movie) mixed with some generic Hollywood fantasy. One thing that will immediately stand out is the way two of the main characters speak. Charlie Hunnam gives his worst Jason Statham in Snatch impression and Astrid Burgers-Frisbee sounds like an alien using human language for the first time. I am not exactly sure what they were going for but the combination of gangster shenanigans and (supposedly) epic fantasy is rather jarring. Moments of greatness here and there but they never quite get it right. Also the fights are terrible and look video gamey in the very worst way. It reminded me of the awful Superman vs Zod fight in Man of Steel cranked up to 11.
I like it better than the Kiera Knightley film but that's not a huge achievement. This could have been pretty cool. Sadly it's just ok.
I like it better than the Kiera Knightley film but that's not a huge achievement. This could have been pretty cool. Sadly it's just ok.
Fancy Clown
Member
Not as hype as Johnny Greenwood, but Yorke's never done a score before so that could be cool!
As strange as it sounds, I've really liked a lot of the choices they've been making with this remake thus far. The original is certainly informing it, but it's not dictating and the folks here are content to do their own thing.
Dead or Alive 2: Birds: What better way to follow up the first film than to make a... quietly contemplative and melancholy glimpse on friendships from long ago, nostalgia for simpler times and the damage that separation can cause at a young age?! Miike takes a hard left turn when everyone else was going right, denying viewers the film that they thought they signed up for after the introduction involves a big gang hit and several magic tricks (courtesy of an inspired cameo appearance from sometime actor/sometime director Shinya Tsukamoto, delivering one of the funniest visual aids that I can think of) as the locale changes to the island that most of the film transpires on. A chance meeting between the two hitmen on that job (once again Show Aikawa and Riki Takeuchi as the leads) reconnects the two as their hideaway of choice happens to be the town where they both grew up in, and it's here that Miike pulls off the unthinkable: the personal drama being so strong and refreshingly gentle (innocent might be pushing it with the wild school play that our heroes stage, but hey!) that you almost don't welcome the return of things like necrophilia, computer readouts of real time head shot trajectories and yard-long dick worship into the proceedings (in keeping with tradition on my last review, yes, these are all things that happen). It's not to say that they don't have a positive impact, especially as those more outrageous moments serve a nice contrast for the personal mission that both men go on once they reconnect and become literal avenging angels (what, you thought the subtitle was just for show?) to make the world a little bit of a better place for future generations. It's a great take on the concept of soul searching, especially as the frequent appearance of a title card that reads, in plain English, "where are you going?" winds up having a lot of weight to it by the end, nailing the bittersweet tone that the film had been building for its entire length. So yeah, it does deliver the "goods" one expects, but they're garnish compared to the hearty main course Miike is actually serving here, and it all goes down rather well.
Discotheque
Banned
Interesting choice. It has a lot to live up to following up Argento/Goblin. And I think it will fall short tbh but at least they got some pretty good people behind the remake.
Makkhi I do believe this is my first Bollywood film. Which if there is more like this I really need to dig in cuz this was awesome!
So a Looper video showed up in my Youtube recommendations called hidden Netflix gems and I checked it out. Now when a film is described as a combination of John Wick, A Bugs Life and La La Land you kind of take notice. I mean a dude gets killed and resurrects as a fly bent on revenge. So I hit Netflix almost immediately and watched the glorious insanity that is Makkhi. The cgi was kind of bad in a good way, I mean everything in here is out there absurd...why not. If you have any interest in way out there and completely off the wall insanity revenge flicks then this is for you, run don't walk to stream this. It is a bit long but I loved every bit.
So a Looper video showed up in my Youtube recommendations called hidden Netflix gems and I checked it out. Now when a film is described as a combination of John Wick, A Bugs Life and La La Land you kind of take notice. I mean a dude gets killed and resurrects as a fly bent on revenge. So I hit Netflix almost immediately and watched the glorious insanity that is Makkhi. The cgi was kind of bad in a good way, I mean everything in here is out there absurd...why not. If you have any interest in way out there and completely off the wall insanity revenge flicks then this is for you, run don't walk to stream this. It is a bit long but I loved every bit.
Is there the potential problem of things being hard to see? In the trailers there were certain shots that looked insanely dark, and depending on the screen and especially 3D glasses, I can see the movie being a nightmare at points.
Glass Rebel
Member
I saw the movie in 3D but I never had a problem making out things because of the darkness. Might depend on the quality of your cinema, I dunno. However, as I said, there's one or two fight scenes in the movie that are so overladen with CGI and exaggerated camera movement making them unnecessarily hard to follow.
Glass Rebel you telling me this new King Arthur movie is better than this
Disco confirm this?
I guess your mileage may vary depending on how much you like Ritchie but I clearly prefer the new one.
He mentioned on tour recently he was listening to some weird shit to get in the mood, which by his standard must be pretty fucking out there.
Dead or Alive: Final: For a film set 300 years into the future that centers around a villain's plot to turn the whole world gay so that true love can blossom (villainous to the GOP, I imagine), it's surprising as to how dull and uninspired a lot of this final installment feels. In what I can only imagine as being the byproduct of being one of eight films he was working on for that year (now there's a true challenge in the making: running Miike's entire filmography!), there's a sense that Miike spread himself a little too thin, as the precious few moments of inspiration, including surprisingly competent hand-to-hand action, go by with a lot of long stretches of visually uninspired dialogue exchanges and plot twists in a film that barely has a plot to begin with. There's a lot of stuff in the film, but it rarely ever elevates itself past just being stuff. Even the dependable duo of Show Aikawa and Riki Takeuchi both appear lost and bored most of the time and are hanging around just to have fun in the aforementioned fight scenes where they get to do a lot more than merely brood. Is there much to recommend here? Well, it's hard not to like the ending, if only for the thoughts one will have with regards to the CG animator that had to come up with "that thing" to end the movie on, and there are a couple of scenes that I could feel a genuine sense of interest from Miike, particularly a lovely little scene involving a pair of young boys trying to be friends and getting lost briefly as they screen a film on a projector. Scenes like those are sprinkled throughout to ensure that you don't feel like it's a complete waste of your time, but after the infectious swagger of the first film and the sequel's rather successful leap into richer thematic territory, getting a finale that doesn't come close to matching either of those films' strengths takes a lot of the wind out of the sails.
Escape Goat
Member
There really wasn't anything to get in Dreamcatcher. It's just a shit sandwich.
nailbombxx
Member
Akira
All I can say is
Jacob's Ladder
Now this was a great movie. A very intelligent and atmospheric psychological thriller. Much of the movie is viewed through the lens of a man with mental illness, in a way that I could describe as "visceral". Some genuinely disturbing imagery too but surprisingly conservative on shock factor.
All I can say is
TETSUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOO
Jacob's Ladder
Now this was a great movie. A very intelligent and atmospheric psychological thriller. Much of the movie is viewed through the lens of a man with mental illness, in a way that I could describe as "visceral". Some genuinely disturbing imagery too but surprisingly conservative on shock factor.
Discotheque
Banned
Glass Rebel you telling me this new King Arthur movie is better than this
Disco confirm this?
Yeah. It's not good but it's more entertaining than that one easily. The Ritchie style parts are good
Excalibur and Monty Python (if that counts) still the GOAT tho
I believe you two. and yea I can't disagree with you on Monty Python.
Fancy Clown
Member
Probably a combination of low frequency hums and babies crying
Net_Wrecker
Member
Would make a dope Max Payne soundtrack.
True Savior
Member
How did the blade runner trailer thread became a cesspool of idiocy?
@Net_Wrecker, did Mann kill the romance in the DC?
@Net_Wrecker, did Mann kill the romance in the DC?
Infernostew
Member
What's going on in that one? Haven't dipped my toes in it yet.
Cipher Peon
Banned
I haven't seen any films recently, but I do have something I think you guys might think is interesting. In one of my Film classes, every group was assigned two films and asked to rate it and here are the results!
We've also seen Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and Tokyo Story in class. Lots got done and the group who did Tampopo did such a killer job in selling it that I look forward to watching it in the future!
We've also seen Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and Tokyo Story in class. Lots got done and the group who did Tampopo did such a killer job in selling it that I look forward to watching it in the future!
Net_Wrecker
Member
The only differences there are
the Koreatown restaurant conversation having a few more lines in it, and the sex scene getting a few more passionate shots added while having the brief dialogue and prison flashback removed completely.
brianjones
Member
tampopo owns.. just watched it last night
True Savior
Member
Twilight Samurai 5? Burn that Cipher.
Hyperbolic shitposting (or maybe it's not!). Star Wars fans discovered movies have colors.
Hyperbolic shitposting (or maybe it's not!). Star Wars fans discovered movies have colors.
Just watched El Aura from 2005 by Fabián Bielinsky who dided a year after it was released. I absolutely loved the pace of the film with great acting by Ricardo Darín
great neo-noir, highly recommended
That cover reminded me: When the hell is Without Name coming out? I'm tired of waiting for it.
The trailer was ages ago.
Baron von Loathsome
Member
I oughta get around to watching Tampopo, too. My folks love it and recently got the Criterion Blu-Ray.
pauljeremiah
Gold Member
Saw Lady MacBeth last night. Really liked it. Has some fantastic performances and is beautifully shot.
Infernostew
Member
Lucky. I was really excited to see it since it was playing at my local film festival last Friday. Unfortunately, I didn't expect anyone else to take notice and somehow the showing sold out and I waited too long to try and get a ticket.
That cover reminded me: When the hell is Without Name coming out? I'm tired of waiting for it.
The trailer was ages ago.
The trailer reveals so much but I still wanna see it
pauljeremiah
Gold Member
I refuse to watch trailers anymore, and I've found my enjoyment of films has dramatically increased.
I should do this more
brianjones
Member
I hate when ur watching a movie you've seen the trailer for and can anticipate a certain scene coming up.. kinda kills it for me.. happened with a few gaurdians scenes (groot with the button and mantis scene).. everyone laughing and all I can think is didn't you guys see this in the trailer
I try not to go out of my way to watch them but I also go to the movies quite a bit and am always early for the previews
I try not to go out of my way to watch them but I also go to the movies quite a bit and am always early for the previews
pauljeremiah
Gold Member
Don't get me wrong i do watch trailers when at the cinema, but what I mean is I stopped watching trailer online, and then spending ages pouring over them and dissecting them. If I see a trailer at the cinema, I'm not going to be able to remember every detail outside of he odd shot or two, but by the time the film itself comes around the movie is a completely fresh to me.
I always find I it annoying when people go, "oh there was this shot in the trailer and it wasn't in the film, or they used a different take in the film cut."
Also I detest reaction videos to trailers that seem to be all over YouTube now.
Puck Beaverton
Banned
Avoiding trailers for small movies is easy for me (still haven't an ad for Lost City of Z)
With something like Guardians it feels impossible to avoid.
With something like Guardians it feels impossible to avoid.
pauljeremiah
Gold Member
Oh it's quite simple, when I see a YouTube link or GAF thread saying, new trailer for X movie, I just don't click on it.
Trailers are unavoidable for me, given that they play before the movies start.
I'm personally fine with seeing trailers. If all a movie has to offer are the things seen in the trailers and nothing beyond that, then the movie's probably not very good, whether or not you've seen the trailers or not.
Baron von Loathsome
Member
That's when you get popcorn.
Or, in my case, eat all the popcorn before the movie starts.