Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread

[Mupepe]

I can totally blame them as long as they keep throwing money at fucking Battleship.

Battleship will probably do like 300 Million before it even all the major territories.

Look, I love Del Toro and wish he could get billion dollar budgets (and fuck classy hoes) on a daily basis but if I was universal, I'd have a hard time throwing $150 Million at an H.P. Lovecraft film most kids wont be able to see (R rating or not) and can't sell any (real) merchandise of.

Meanwhile, you know Battleship action figures, pajama sets, updated board game and a video game are already being worked on. Hell, I'm sure someone is thinking up Battleship: The Animated Series right now.

I bet Battleship is going to tank.  And recent rumors circling around say that the production budget has ballooned upwards of 270 million.  I think they'll be lucky to break even.  They're expecting a Transformersish wonder out of Battleship and I think Universal is going to end up taking it in the ass.

I'm not saying at the mountains of madness is an easy sell at 150 million, I'm saying I can blame Universal for the spot they're in because they've been making stupid and shitty decisions for years.

[Dickie Dee]

Is it pure gore that would've given it an R? (i'm not that familar with it)

“Madness,” as he imagined it, would not be particularly gory, but he insisted that he needed the artistic freedom “to make it really, really uncomfortable and nasty.”

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/03/guillermo-del-toro-madness-has-gone-dark.html

Doesn't the MPAA just have checkboxes they use? If it's not gory, no nudity (?), and they keep the cussing down.... I guess I don't get it *shrugs*

[Phoenix Dark]

Why does it have to be rated R? They couldn't just do a PG-13 film? I haven't read the novel, but if it's anything like Lovecraft's other stuff it's just "it was so horrible, oh lord it's so big and the fear of god entered my lungs and the abomination looked at me with its eye and I fell to my knees and its shadow engulfed me and then I ran but my legs felled me and the horror took over me - the end." I see no reason for an R

spoiler (click to show/hide)

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[Phoenix Dark]

I was expecting you to shit on Black Swan. Glad I was wrong

jarosh

[Cormacaroni]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/ref=pe_37760_19078630_pe_00_head/?ASIN=B0026L7H20
OMG!!! LOTR Extended edition blu-rayyyyyyyy

Bastards making me triple-dip on this shit, aargh. And didn't Manabyte say this was never gonna happen because of the rights? smh

[cool breeze]

 

[Great Rumbler]

Wow, that looks like some bad photoshop you'd see on deviantART. 

[Diunx]

[Diunx]

I still can't believe those things are actually real

[Herr Mafflard]

[youtube=560,345]TVVgHq3vVIQ[/youtube]

[Mupepe]

those xmen posters are really official??  no fucking way.  no.fucking.way.

[Diunx]

The Last Godfather = movie of the year.

[Robo]

The Baader-Meinhof Complex - about the formation of the Red Army Faction extremist group and subsequent trial of its founders.  I thought it was pretty goddamn excellent.  Not sure of the extent of fictionalization, but I imagine at the very least, it's heavily dramatized.

[Great Rumbler]

[youtube=560,345]TVVgHq3vVIQ[/youtube]

Ugh, Corky Romano flashbacks. 

[Great Rumbler]

The Baader-Meinhof Complex - about the formation of the Red Army Faction extremist group and subsequent trial of its founders.  I thought it was pretty goddamn excellent.  Not sure of the extent of fictionalization, but I imagine at the very least, it's heavily dramatized.

I thought it was really good too, especially how their cause went from youthful protesters trying stop the oppression of the government to just outright terrorists. Very compelling and never really seemed to drag despite being two and a half hours. It also got me interested in reading up on the history of West Germany.

[Dickie Dee]

Dragon Wars

holy shit, I'd completely forgotten about that

[Great Rumbler]

[youtube=560,345]-B4FsnBw9bY[/youtube]

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

those X-Men posters look familar, oh yeah.



Fox needs to spend more on graphic design.

[Cravis]

Fox Poster Designers dick around all day and then realize at a quarter till 5:00 that they need a poster. "Quick! We'll just throw some faces on there. That'll be a quick sell."

The posters in the 80s were so badass. John Carpenter probably had some of my favorites, both on extreme sides of the spectrum... The Thing poster was so simple but effective. Big Trouble in Little China had so much crap going on but it all made sense and looked cool as hell.

[Robo]

That's because the early 80s/late 70s had Drew Struzan at the height of his powers, who uncoincidentally did both of those John Carpenter posters, and also nearly every single other amazing, iconic movie poster from that time period.

[Himu]

Rewatched Karate Kid 2010 and it's still awesome. Fantastic kung fu movie.

CLASSIC JACKIE CHAN

[BlueTsunami]

Blade Runner: The Final Cut

What else can I say, shits good. And the lack of narration really impacts those scenes that lack dialog (in the very best way).

Also...





I don't think I've ever watched a movie that has such beautiful and dramatic lighting. It seems that these futurescapes allow for interesting lighting scenarios that just look odd to us. I wish the movie industry would revisit this type of movie with the technology we have now but maybe not, there's something to the non-cg wizardry in Blade Runner that may not translate into a modern CG laden movie.

[Raban]

Blade Runner, my favorite film

Whip It

Loved it. I usually hate Ellen Page in stuff, but she was good in here. Kristen Wiig was the shit.

Also Whip It

[Great Rumbler]

I actually got to see Blade Runner: Final Cut while it was still in its limited theatrical run.

[Eric P]

Four Lions

fucking.
hilarious.

[CajoleJuice]

I actually got to see Blade Runner: Final Cut while it was still in its limited theatrical run.

Me too. At this theater:

[Great Rumbler]

I saw it at this theater:

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/dallas/inwoodtheatre.htm

[TEEEPO]

i saw it here
http://cinematreasures.org/theater/70/

35mm 

[Cormacaroni]

Finally watched Fantastic Mr. Fox. Was nice. Enjoyed it. More so than Darjeeling Limited, think so

I had to turn that film off after 10 minutes, it was abominable. Nothing worse than a film that slaps you in the face and exclaims that it is just so, so so, much more clever than you. Which is why I think Wes Anderson needs to be face fucked with a Sidewinder Missile.

I am absolutely with you on this, Sceneman. I did exactly the same.

I may well just have been in the wrong mood for it, I guess. Certainly enough people whose opinions I respect think it's great. Maybe I'll try it again drunk and love it.

Also, I grew up with the book so was appalled at it as an adaptation. That kind of thing doesn't normally throw me off so much though.

[Mupepe]

I started watching the final cut of blade runner last night but I got sleepy (and i've seen it before).  Such an awesome fucking movie.

[T-Short]

I watched Into Eternity on Youtube. Very nice footage and some amusing interviews, but kind of ruined by the incredibly pretentious narration by the director, especially those he does face to face with the camera.

[Himu]

Blade Runner on netflix is the theatrical cut right? Never seen that one.

[Mupepe]

Blade Runner on netflix is the theatrical cut right? Never seen that one.

Don't.  the narration is so bad.  Harrison Ford sounds really bored.

[Great Rumbler]

Blade Runner on netflix is the theatrical cut right? Never seen that one.

Don't.  the narration is so bad.  Harrison Ford sounds really bored.

And the ending is the worst thing ever.

Narration also drowns out the music, so there's that too.

[CajoleJuice]

But it's hilarious.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Finally watched Fantastic Mr. Fox. Was nice. Enjoyed it. More so than Darjeeling Limited, think so

I had to turn that film off after 10 minutes, it was abominable. Nothing worse than a film that slaps you in the face and exclaims that it is just so, so so, much more clever than you. Which is why I think Wes Anderson needs to be face fucked with a Sidewinder Missile.

I am absolutely with you on this, Sceneman. I did exactly the same.

I may well just have been in the wrong mood for it, I guess. Certainly enough people whose opinions I respect think it's great. Maybe I'll try it again drunk and love it.

Also, I grew up with the book so was appalled at it as an adaptation. That kind of thing doesn't normally throw me off so much though.

I have a friend whose favorite book was FMF and he loved the movie

It's definitely Wes Anderson's best ... if you don't like his movies though this is probably not going to change your mind

[Great Rumbler]

I really liked the music in the movie:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[youtube=560,345]fmXvCSsjU10[/youtube]

[youtube=560,345]LKdTyjiZ3CY[/youtube]

[youtube=560,345]WR9LFStCTVs[/youtube]

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[The Sceneman]

I just watched Tremors and Aliens.

Two absolute classics

[Dickie Dee]

However, not much is known about Pacific Rim yet, other than it’s about giant monsters and will allow del Toro to create a “new world” of beastly creatures. That’s only halfway accurate. This project will give the Hellboy filmmaker the opportunity to create two worlds.

The first is an alternate version of Earth in the near future, decades after a historic date in November 2012 when the first kaiju, a towering Godzilla-like beast, emerged from a hole in the Pacific Ocean and attacked the city of Osaka, Japan. The second is “The Anteverse,” another universe on the other side of that gaping portal, 5 miles below our ocean’s surface.

Since the first attack, the rim has been “spitting out” a variety of gigantic monsters at an increasing rate, which then stride out of the ocean and begin destroying sea-bordering cities, like Tokyo and Los Angeles. In order to combat these monstrous, otherworldly menaces, the military developed the “Jaeger” program, which trains teams of two pilots to jointly operate massive, building-sized mechanized suits of armor and high-tech weaponry.
Within the first act alone, we are given enough detailed background on the god-like Jaeger systems, its shared neural piloting system (called “pons”), and the relentless beasts. But Beacham is an absolute master at immediately establishing characters and their conflicts.

The central character is Raleigh Antrobus, 23, a skilled Jaeger pilot still wrestling emotionally with the loss of his co-pilot and biological brother, Yance, during a mission a year earlier. The ordeal has wreaked havoc on his mind spirit, leaving him with ghostly nightmares of the battle from the shared “pons” experience. After the initial setup, the damaged hero is recruited to re-join the task force in Tokyo, where pilots are in demand, and team with a fellow “leftover,” 22-year-old female Japanese pilot Mako Mori. Naturally, the language barrier (among other things) presents an issue for the out-of-sync duo, meaning an even steeper learning curve for the unprecedented pairing.

Meanwhile, Felicity “Flick” Kincaid, a journalist and Yance’s former fiancée, circles the globe (ours) to discover answers about this mysterious rift and the origins of its intensifying threat.

Without ruining any more surprises (past the first act), there are several different species of towering kaiju, each with their own unique characteristics, and the clashes between monster and machine are epic in scale. Beacham has even developed his own glossary and lingo for his characters, a blend of scientific and military jargon used to describe the elements of this fully fleshed out reality, much like the shorthand in Cameron’s Avatar or the developing mecha-warrior versus aliens movie All You Need is Kill.
The concept and Beacham’s script are unbelievable. With the right budget and creative control, this could very well be Guillermo del Toro’s Jurassic Park, a visual marvel with a pseudo-science backbone and massive, kaiju-sized appeal. Hell yes. Bring it on.

JIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[Great Rumbler]

LIVE-ACTION MECHA?!

[Great Rumbler]

Yeah, holy shit that sounds awesome. Which is why I doubt it gets made.

It'll be a much easier sell than Mountains of Madness.

[Diunx]

Sounds like evangelion.

[Great Rumbler]

Sounds like evangelion.

That thought did cross my mind as well. Pacific Rim has adult characters though.

[Phoenix Dark]

Awesome, another Del Toro movie that will be delayed, canceled, then revived as a PG-13 fart fest before he moves on to another nerd dream project

[ManaByte]

Awesome, another Del Toro movie that will be delayed, canceled, then revived as a PG-13 fart fest before he moves on to another nerd dream project

It's already PG-13.

[Great Rumbler]

And it's a big-budget scifi action movie, which isn't exactly the hardest thing to sell these days.

[ManaByte]

Oh god, the GAF thread about Pacific Rim is pathetic

"Japan will probably be very sensitive to mass destruction sequences given the recent events. I predict some re-writes."

"Bad Timing: The Motion Picture"

" wholly inappropriate given the circumstances"

"Yeah very bad timing."

The movie was announced BEFORE the earthquake and even the article linked was written before it.

[Phoenix Dark]

Japan was doing mass destruction films a little more than a decade after Hiroshima. I doubt they give a shit

[Mr. Gundam]

Sounds like evangelion.

I'm getting Eva and RahXephon vibes, but essentially it sounds like every single mecha vs. monsters anime ever made.

And the twist? Oh yeah, the mechas are actually kaiju.

[Diunx]

They did called them giant suits of armor

[fistfulofmetal]

double feature for me tonight.

The Silent House
I was really looking forward to watching this. From what I remember I believe I first heard about it shortly after my viewing of [REC]. What caught my attention was that apparently a good portion of the movie was shot in long single takes. This intrigued me. Then i read a few impressions from early screenings that were positive. I think that was originally about 2 years ago so i've been wanting to watch it for quite some time.

Unfortunately it ended up being a disappointment. It's got a good mood to it and the single take style is impressive but it just doesn't deliver strong enough scares. The entire time all we're getting is tension without any decent payoff. It's just that every single scare is just a horror movie cliche and you can see them a mile away. Also: the story twist the occurs at the end is silly and doesn't make a lick of sense.
really sad this didn't turn out better
thumbs down

Right At Your Door
this was recommended to me earlier in this thread. It's not bad. The setup is strong and the beginning chaos is pretty gripping. When things settle down tho it starts to slow to a crawl. I almost feel the movie is too long. This is mostly because it seems that the story is just delaying the inevitable... only to then twist on us at the last moment. Another fucking twist. Silly and unnecessary.

The ending aside, I do think it's worth a watch for the character moments. Just not as strong as I wanted it to be.
thumbs kinda up

[Great Rumbler]

Mars Needs Moms cost $150 million to make, opened on 3,117 theaters, and made a whopping $6.8 million on opening weekend.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Also Beastly was a bust and Red Riding Hood had a really mediocre opening.

[close]

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

yes but Rob Zemeckis is gonna take most of the heat on account of it coming from his (now defunct) performance capture/animation movie company.

on the plus side, it looks like the company got shut down before he got his Yellow Submarine remake off the ground.

[Phoenix Dark]

The guy who directed it also directed The Prince of Egypt, An American Tail, and Balto 

[Great Rumbler]

I thought Brenda Chapman directed The Prince of Egypt alone?

Whatever, seems like Balto and Mars Needs Moms are the only films dude had ever directed alone (he was also part of American Tail 2, which wasn't very good).

Sounds like he sucks.

He directed Balto and Mars Needs Moms on his own. American Tail 2, We're Back: A Dinosaur's Tale, and Prince of Egypt were all as part of a directing team.

Wells also did the screenplay for MNM.

[Smooth Groove]

How come nobody mentioned Armond White's brilliant trashing of Black Swan by comparing it to Kanye West's work? 

Armond White, the ultimate troll. 

http://www.nypress.com/article-21905-black-sheep-vs-black-swan.html

[TEEEPO]

thanks for that article. i thought he was actually on point with his criticisms, given that he share many of the same ones i had, though i did enjoy the film, but i'm even more impressed by how he managed to juxtapose it with runway and have it make sense in the process. it's a rather "audacious" piece, but offers insight that entirely counters what is generally perceived for both works.

then again i've been reading armond white for years and i've always respected his opinion before the rest of the internet discovered him. so maybe i'm part of the problem.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

Darren Aronofsky is offsky of Wolverine.

"As I talked more about the film with my collaborators at Fox, it became clear that the production of ‘The Wolverine’ would keep me out of the country for almost a year. I was not comfortable being away from my family for that length of time," Aronofsky said in a statement announcing his decision to step away.

"I am sad that I won't be able to see the project through, as it is a terrific script and I was very much looking forward to working with my friend, Hugh Jackman, again."

I'm just gonna guess that's all code for "Doing a big budget film for Fox sucks ass."  Or perhaps he realized that he doesn't have to be a gun for hire in the wake of the biggest commercial success of his career.

[Diunx]

He probably got rad scare.

[Diunx]

Smh.