Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread

[ToxicAdam]

Aronofsky doing an Evel Knievel biopic? Yes, please.

http://deadline.com/2015/09/darren-aronofsky-evel-knievel-channing-tatum-1201527258/

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

[...] a big-budget Chinese film that's critical (not overwhelmingly, but its there) of the Cultural Revolution. That would have been unthinkable not so long ago, I guess things do change over time.

Can I take this to mean the film is the paean to race essentialism and fascism the book deserves? 

kinda, what I meant was more so that they let a white guy who had a previously (and highly) critical film of China on his resume into the country to head any film production again. There's definite critique of the CR in the film, but also a begrudging respect for authoritarianism in it as well. As for people, well, honestly the wolves in the movie get as much or more character development then the people in the film do (and probably more close up shots), there's little room for racism when you're always wondering what the wolves are thinking.

[Tasty]

Looks legit.

[king of the internet]

Just endured both The Avengers 2 and the Entourage movie on the same night #masochism #hatewatch

[Madrun Badrun]

The Avengers 2 was great you scum. 

[Tasty]

Rewatched it Sunday and I'm much more positive I was than shortly after the first time. The movie works on a lot of levels. The third act is a shame (in that it's another big dumb "save the world" thing) but if any movie was gonna have that, it'd be the Avengers sequel.

Hella looking forward to Civil War tho. #TeamCap

[Steve Contra]

Just endured both The Avengers 2 and the Entourage movie on the same night #masochism #hatewatch

Did you have to do this in order to score some dope a la Jennifer Connelly and "ass to ass"?

[VomKriege]

Watched The Other Guys. Was okay, good even considering Will Ferrel gets a bit on my tits. The film also scores some bonus points for the ending and credits, even if the whole pamphlet about the Wall Street bailout is only very loosely connected to the plot.

[Take My Breh Away]

Finally got to sit down and watch The Raid 2

[Madrun Badrun]

I really like what they did for the raid 2.  It would have been so easy just to do another cramped-location movie instead of something new.


Also the best part of Harry Potter 1 is when Ron is like 'You think this mirror shows the future?' and Harry says back in a venomous way 'How can it.  My parents are dead.'

[Crash Dummy]

a single man. really liked this a lot, the costume/clothing was as great as you'd expect and colin firth's character is utterly endearing and sympathetic.

as an aside, i don't like that in the last three movies with colin firth

spoiler (click to show/hide)

has ended up dead. please don't be the new sean bean!

[close]

[Tasty]

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2015/09/16/is-guillermo-del-toros-pacific-rim-2-in-trouble/

You just got Del Toro'd

[Great Rumbler]

[Mandark]

*Jungle Book trailer*

Looks legit.

I love Bill Murray and all, but how did we not get John Goodman as Baloo?

[Joe Molotov]

*Jungle Book trailer*

Looks legit.

I love Bill Murray and all, but how did we not get John Goodman as Baloo?

You just want to see John Goodman in a fursuit. #nojudgement

[brob]

[...] a big-budget Chinese film that's critical (not overwhelmingly, but its there) of the Cultural Revolution. That would have been unthinkable not so long ago, I guess things do change over time.

Can I take this to mean the film is the paean to race essentialism and fascism the book deserves? 

kinda, what I meant was more so that they let a white guy who had a previously (and highly) critical film of China on his resume into the country to head any film production again. There's definite critique of the CR in the film, but also a begrudging respect for authoritarianism in it as well. As for people, well, honestly the wolves in the movie get as much or more character development then the people in the film do (and probably more close up shots), there's little room for racism when you're always wondering what the wolves are thinking.

I was just being snooty because the book is wild . It doesn't surprise me that the film mainly concerns itself with animals since Annaud's best effort in characterization is a god damned bear. I can't really recall a film of his I find particularly compelling tbh. Also when the chinese censor bans someone from the film industry it's usually a timed affair, although I'm not sure I can recall another instance of a foreigner being banned and then being allowed back.

[Madrun Badrun]

http://www.themarysue.com/pacific-rim-2-halted-indefinitely/

[Yeti]

I hope he does Hellboy 3 now.

[Joe Molotov]

Now it's At the Mountains of Madness's time to shine!

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

That is a bit weird and highly unfortunate. Nobody else gets to waste as much pre-production time as GDT (Hobbit, Mountains of Madness).

Thought this was interesting, as Terminator Genisys is raking it in in China, but as it turns out its actual take is probably much higher then what it will actually make overall.

[VomKriege]

Now it's At the Mountains of Madness's time to shine!

Not to be a cynic but it's probably never gonna be made, at least in the form Del Toro wanted before. He basically planned to do a very SFX heavy, epic but unsettling (but horror lite, but rated R... Yeah you lost me there) adventure film budgeted in the 150 millions zone (according to what leaked of former attempts to get this going). IIRC Tom Cruise was on board at one point and maybe he could have helped greenlight such a peculiar project, maybe...

On a personal note, I really don't think Lovecraft makes for good screen material and GDT might not be the best guy to do it (despite Hellboy's ending) if his vision of that is a blockbuster SFX fest

Apparently the Legendary-Universal clash is rough, Universal is rumored to not be happy with Crimson Peak (Current film by Del Toro) and Warcraft, and the Skull Island project has been moving camp to Warner.

Also C.Nolan rumored to do the Akira live movie 

[toku]

I'm sure I'll enjoy Crimson Peak but nothing about it screams numbers.

[Phoenix Dark]

yea the CGI set pieces look atrocious. It looks like a corny attempt to artificially re-create a similar aesthetic to Coppola's Dracula or Branagh's horror films.

[Tasty]

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2015/09/17/bryan-singer-reveals-next-film-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

Black Mass-Eh, good enough. Everybody who's not Johnny Depp gets the short shrift, but fortunetly he (and his character) are plenty dang compelling on his own. At times felt like a supersized, expensively cast Law and Order episode with R-rated violence and language, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films is pretty good, but really, I could have gladly watched a documentary that was twice as long. Many very fascinating subjects and anecdotes are glossed over, but there's still a wealth of fun showbiz stories here. Like this one...

[Tasty]

SOOOOO fucking excited for Black Mass, holy shit

[VomKriege]

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films is pretty good, but really, I could have gladly watched a documentary that was twice as long. Many very fascinating subjects and anecdotes are glossed over, but there's still a wealth of fun showbiz stories here. Like this one...

I also felt it was a bit short on some points, as I remember after the decline is told about, the doc is almost over as it is. Still I think it did a good job, I'm fairly familiar with the Cannon but didn't know about that Bo Derek erotic torero flick. Overall, very good paced and seems pretty balanced.

[Bebpo]

So I think since I don't watch Netflix that often and since they keep axing shows in my watch list, the movies I watch on Netflix each month are just gonna be the ones getting de-listed. 

The Skeleton Twins - This was nice.  Very understated indie family drama.  First movie I've actually liked Kristin Wiig in, and this was the most I've liked of Bill Hader in a film.  It's hard for a movie to do a lip-sync dance number just right, but this pulls it off and pulls the movie together with it.  Luke Wilson is also kind of ok here.

next up is going to be Blue Velvet, can't believe they're getting rid of that one on Oct 1st!  Only Lynch film I still haven't seen.  They're also delisting Robert Redford's All is Lost silent film at sea movie which I should probably watch even if the concept sounds really boring to me.

[ToxicAdam]

Somehow got dragged to The Scorch Trials this past Friday.

Never saw The Maze Runner, but I was easily able to decipher the story. It's a weird mashup of Mad Max/The Hunger Games/The Last of Us. The storyline demands that there are zombies (called Cranks), so you are unfortunately forced to have a cliched zombie chase scene every 20 minutes as they wander around the desert. Which never really gives the characters time to interact or develop. But they do have time to give hokey monologues about their motivations. For a world that has collapsed and is being overrun by desert, you vaguely ever experience or feel that danger. Somehow everyone (not turned into a zombie) is able to keep their model haircuts and good looks.

It's really impressive what they were able to accomplish on a (relatively) small budget (61 million) though. The movie looks great and the bit roles played by the adults are excellent.

Worth a rental.
 

[Samson Manhug]

Loved The Visit. As far as I'm concerned M Night is back.

[Tasty]

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2015/09/23/ridley-scott-plans-three-prometheus-sequels/

[Barry Egan]

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2015/09/23/ridley-scott-plans-three-prometheus-sequels/

(Image removed from quote.)

If they take Lindelof out to the woodshed I will watch these. 

[Great Rumbler]

Lindelof has definitely overstayed his welcome, although he's still a couple tiers above Orci and Kurtzman.

[Rufus]

Ridley Scoot could be dead before even the second Prometheus movie is finished so who cares.

[chronovore]

http://imgur.com/gallery/ibs1o

Gorgeousness.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

Fast and Furious 8 in trouble, still no director attached.

if I were Universal, I'd just cut a check to somebody with chops who needs a break (would Neil Marshall or Benny Chan say no, and its ridiculous that direct to video champs John Hyams and Issac Florentine still haven't scored a studio gig), but they'll probably find some hapless TV show director to bully around and end up with a mediocre film a couple of years hence from now.

[chronovore]

Fast and Furious 8 in trouble, still no director attached.

if I were Universal, I'd just cut a check to somebody with chops who needs a break (would Neil Marshall or Benny Chan say no, and its ridiculous that direct to video champs John Hyams and Issac Florentine still haven't scored a studio gig), but they'll probably find some hapless TV show director to bully around and end up with a mediocre film a couple of years hence from now.

With as huge as it's been in Asia, I wonder if they'd consider putting a Chinese director on it.

[Madrun Badrun]

Honestly it seems like there would be no way to top 7 and anyone who directs 8 and it ONLY makes 1 billion will take a hit for it. 

[Tasty]

Surprised James Wan isn't coming back.

[Great Rumbler]

Fast and Furious 8 in trouble, still no director attached.

if I were Universal, I'd just cut a check to somebody with chops who needs a break (would Neil Marshall or Benny Chan say no, and its ridiculous that direct to video champs John Hyams and Issac Florentine still haven't scored a studio gig), but they'll probably find some hapless TV show director to bully around and end up with a mediocre film a couple of years hence from now.

John Hyams with an actual budget would be amazing.

[toku]

Fast and Furious 8 in trouble, still no director attached.

if I were Universal, I'd just cut a check to somebody with chops who needs a break (would Neil Marshall or Benny Chan say no, and its ridiculous that direct to video champs John Hyams and Issac Florentine still haven't scored a studio gig), but they'll probably find some hapless TV show director to bully around and end up with a mediocre film a couple of years hence from now.

With as huge as it's been in Asia, I wonder if they'd consider putting a Chinese director on it.

Johnnie To's Fast 8 would be weird as fuck but I'd watch it. It'd also probably be romantic as hell so it'd work in the franchise.

[Joe Molotov]

Neveldine/Taylor time!

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

With as huge as it's been in Asia, I wonder if they'd consider putting a Chinese director on it.

Johnnie To's Fast 8 would be weird as fuck but I'd watch it. It'd also probably be romantic as hell so it'd work in the franchise.

With big parts for Simon Yam and Lam Suet, I'd watch the shit out of that.

Benny Chan, Stephen Fung, Ronny Yu, Herman Yau, Corey Yuen, and yes, Johnnie To are all English fluent and most of them would jump at the chance to sell out two years of their lives to make a huge Hollywood film.

[Great Rumbler]

Then throw in Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Lucy Liu, Chow Yun Fat, Andy Lau, Michelle Yeoh, and a few others for a car-racing, kung-fu epic and we got something here.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Now that's a plot twist

[chronovore]

The Last Rites of Ransom Pride: A surprising number of stars, including The Dinklage, Scott Speedman, Lizzy Caplan, Kris Kristofferson, and Dwight Yoakham, appear to make up the bulk of this movie's $8M budget. Maybe costumes as well. But there is crap-all for sets and locations, and some really abhorrent choices in editing (and subtitling, for god's sake) make this just about unwatchable. Someone thought they were editing for MTV-style quick-cuts, but a steadier hand would allow things to be more coherent -- thought it's possible the story itself may have prevented that anyway. Scott Speedman is literally in it for one scene, and Dinklage had another couple of years before GoT came along and gave him an actual break.

I got this in one of those packages of 20 western movies in those questionable DVD collections.

Next up: One-Eyed Jacks, directed by and starring Marlon Brando. Things are already looking up.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Akira doesn't need a live action remake and Christopher Nolan's talents would be better spent doing something else.

Chronicle was basically a live-action Akira without Japan-jank.

imo they should get that director to do the live-action Akira

[Tasty]

Akira doesn't need a live action remake and Christopher Nolan's talents would be better spent doing something else.

Chronicle was basically a live-action Akira without Japan-jank.

imo they should get that director to do the live-action Akira

The gritty Fantastic Four reboot chap?

[Tasty]

Tron 3 “Not Totally Dead,” Says Garrett Hedlund



WE IN THIS

[chronovore]

Tron 3 “Not Totally Dead,” Says Garrett Hedlund

(Image removed from quote.)

WE IN THIS

From TFA:

“I haven’t been told it’s totally dead,” Hedlund said of Tron 3.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[Tasty]

“Who knows, maybe it’ll be like Legacy was to the first Tron, it’ll be 30 years, and I’ll have my young Flynn CGI face, who knows?” he said with a laugh. “But they could do it anytime from now, and I would of course jump back in. Something like that could be quite fun, though!

Glad to see Hedlund being such a good sport. Not that he's irreplaceable but I value continuity between sequels really highly.

[chronovore]

Just finished Interstellar. I don't know what's wrong with the haters. This movie was great. Only real crime was rendering a tesseract as three-dimensional plaid. I got teary several times from the parent/child stuff, and quite liked the austere tones the SFnal tropes took.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

John Hyams is directing a Nicolas Wending Refn produced remake of Maniac Cop.

Wow, they're gonna have to invent a new rating to express how violent this is likely to be. With an Ed Brubaker script too (excited squeal)! Can we have Van Damme in the Tom Atkins role, pretty please.

[toku]

Hyams Jr. finally getting that break! I'm so fucking excited. I'm huge Hyams AND Brubaker fan.

[Stoney Mason]

Just finished Interstellar. I don't know what's wrong with the haters. This movie was great. Only real crime was rendering a tesseract as three-dimensional plaid. I got teary several times from the parent/child stuff, and quite liked the austere tones the SFnal tropes took.

I liked the science-y bits more than the family stuff but in general I liked it.

[Samson Manhug]

New Bond theme song for Spectre is

Adele forever

Edit: People who should do the next Bond theme song:

Lana Del Rey
James Blake
Nick Cave
Sia

[Tasty]

Yeah, it's not great. But then again I'm a weirdo who doesn't mind Jack White's QoS theme or Madonna's theme.

In terms of Craig era:

You Know My Name > Skyfall >>> Another Way to Die > Writing's on the Wall

I'm warming up to WotW the more I listen, it's not horrible but it's way different that's for sure. Biggest knock is it seems to be building up to something but never gets there at all.

[Quaker]

Black Mass - I don't like judging a movie for what it's not, but it really made me appreciate the personality and...snappiness that Scorsese brings to his crime dramas. It just felt very...flat to me.

(I'd like to give it another shot when it comes out on video, though. Usually crime movie + period setting/costumes + Boston would be enough to get my attention. I had a similar issue with that Michael Shannon "Iceman" crime movie, and I *love* Michael Shannon.)

[Phoenix Dark]

Sam Smith has a good voice for a Bond theme so I'd be more apt to blame the songwriting than the choice for him to sing.

Adele had a perfect song and the perfect voice to bring it to life.

[Dickie Dee]

Yeah, all points were nailed, all boxes checked...except for it being a half-decent song 

kind of a shame