Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread

[VomKriege]

Are discounts for film productions not common in France? The Hollywood unions do it for almost every film that exists, that's why I claimed in the dumpster thread that film production is basically only unionized in name and by tradition rather than in reality.

I guess I always assumed that artist unions everywhere were like that.

On wages ? Yeah it's pretty common. But he was commenting on a film he co produced and knew full well conditions and still went for the tired old trope of painting disaffected crew members as a bunch of wealthy hypocrites using misleading figures (since he implied they were paid the full monthly normal wage).

Kechiche is kind of a dick, not just to his actresses but also to the crew (up to wages and labor conditions). There were some controversies over Blue... employment practices where he was co producing and a series of incredibly shitty, misleading statements pretty much confirmed this (Basically "why do the technicians complain about, have you seen the wages in the regulatory ladder negotiated by unions ? They're fat cats" when it's not exactly a secret that a lot of people agreed to -40% or -50% deals on their wages on shoot and that overtime pay wasn't exactly forthcoming IIRC). He also seem to have an habit of changing producers and parting ways on unfriendly terms. I guess it's partly a result of his creative process : he shoots for very long, both in terms of overall principal photography total length, daily workload or takes so it's not exactly a surprise he always ahits up planning (I'd imagine much to the horror of the production) but for the very little I know of it I'm not very sympathetic.

Yet it's hard to deny he's doing something sufficiently unique and different so

None of that has to do with the quality of the film though.

Plenty of dirtbags did some of the best art in human history, though i wouldn't argue that there's a positive correlation between the two, the overlap is still pretty strong (depending on your standards of what makes you a dirtbag, ofc. ).

Oh sure, it's all marginal commentary, none of it about the merits of the films as films. I'm not strongly opinionated on it or anything. I just wanted to comment on that, especially on the labor issue thing which get brought much less than him being a dick to actresses.

And while I dissociate art from the creator often, still there's some link between his parti pris and approach that will have some practical, economical consequences to how the films are made and produced.

[Tasty]

Damn, guess I'm catching Rocketman sometime.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Plus there's this: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rocketman-blazes-trail-as-first-major-studio-film-depict-gay-male-sex-1210947

[close]

[VomKriege]

Just to be a little exact, unions are the ones negotiating the wage scales but employment is not US style "union only on this shoot". Most crewmen (or actors) are not unionised. Grips and Gaffers have the reputation of being the loudest.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

Paramount has got some cojones to support Rocketman this way. It almost certainly won't be especially graphic, but there's punches they could have pulled regardless. I mean, hell, apparently the movie doesn't even cover at all his beard, whoops I meant marriage from the 80's.

[Great Rumbler]

Live-action Akira is really happening and they're planning on it being two movies:

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2019-05-24/live-action-akira-film-opens-on-may-21-2021/.147097

[Tasty]

Could be good, let's wait and see. I'm sure there were some reservations when the original anime adaptation was announced too. (The people who are really into the Akira manga are always REALLY into it, there doesn't seem to be a middle ground...)

[Joe Molotov]

The cool video store was having another B2G1 sale for Memorial Day, so that means time to stock up on more Blu-Rays!



The four Criterions were high on my "To Get" list and my main reason for going. They're all fantastic movies that I've seen multiple times before. But obviously you can't just get 4 things at a B2G1 sale. Drunken Master was like, I didn't even know I wanted it. It's not even on BD in the US, but they randomly had this Region Free UK import copy, and it's released by Eureka, which was a fairly well respected UK company at least the last time I was paying attention to imports. Hired to Kill, I've got no clue, but it looked fun and it was released by Arrow Video, the current undisputed champions of cult video releases. Trick r Treat is a fun movie, been meaning to pick that one up for a while. Cherry 2000 I only know the title and synopsis, but it always seemed like a movie that would be up my alley. The Emerald Forest I took a complete flier on. I know nothing about it besides what I read on the back of the box, I've never heard of it before, I have no clue how it was received at the time, it's a complete mystery. But it's directed by John Boorman and he's usually good for a laff (still need to pick up Zardoz), and I have a soft spot for 80's/90's movies of dubious quality about white people going to brown people land on a journey of self discovery, especially if that journey is described at any point by the marketing as being "erotic" (i.e. The Sheltering Sky, At Play in the Fields of the Lord, Eat Pray Love).



Sold.

[Joe Molotov]

Majestic. When I said Eureka was one of the good ones, this is what I meant. 

[Joe Molotov]

I just post my cult movie ramblings in this thread now if I feel like I have anything to say. I’m not really much of a film critic, I just know what I like.

I used to buy movies because I heard they were good, or they won Oscars, or maybe I saw it at theater and it was pretty good and I felt obligated to buy it. Then before I knew it, I had stacks of DVDs that I had no interest in watching. That’s not how I roll now. I only buy the movies that match my personal aesthetic. My Blu-Ray collection is Marie Condo as fuck, I hold it to my chest and it brings me joy.

[toku]

cherry 2000 

[Don Rumata]

Could be good, let's wait and see. I'm sure there were some reservations when the original anime adaptation was announced too. (The people who are really into the Akira manga are always REALLY into it, there doesn't seem to be a middle ground...)

How do you separate Akira from Tokyo and Japan's nuclear-phobia? Not to mention their shift from old insular Japan to post-war rebellious generations, I honestly don't give a shit that they "cast asian actors" if they keep the movie in nu-Los Angeles.
The cultural foundation for the movie just ins't there.

You can do rebellious biker gangs all over the planet, but anything past that, starts to feel phony, depending on where you set it.

I am extremely skeptical because of that reason, and also because many of the scenes in the movie/manga will look stupid as shit in live action, and this is true for many adaptations.

[Tasty]

Mmmm but how much was Blade Runner changed in its adaptation...

Certainly aspects that someone might find particularly appealing about an original work might be lost in any kind of translation or transformation, but that doesn't necessarily mean derivative works have no right to exist...

[Tasty]

Meanwhile the movie will most likely be shit but both the world and I have grown too cynical...

[paprikastaude]

So now it is trying to out-woke itself by have strong female characters fucking everywhere.

I was expecting something different from the trailer now

either way, those soy boy terminators with shit cgi

[Don Rumata]

Mmmm but how much was Blade Runner changed in its adaptation...

Certainly aspects that someone might find particularly appealing about an original work might be lost in any kind of translation or transformation, but that doesn't necessarily mean derivative works have no right to exist...

You're right about that, but i actually prefer it when an adaptation to a different medium tries to do something completely different, so hearing them talk about respecting the source material with this or that choice, just seems pointless.
You're not gonna set in in Japan, you're not gonna be able to replicate the animation, with live action... so do something vastly different.

I'm a defender of the Super Mario Bros movie, based on this principle (regardless of how the movie turned out), and i'm hoping at least they'll take a similar approach with this.
If they start recreating scenes to wank Akira fans off, it's just gonna turn out as a miserable disaster.
It's what made the Ghost in th Shell movie so bland, despite the amazing production work WETA put in.

[nudemacusers]

Could be good, let's wait and see. I'm sure there were some reservations when the original anime adaptation was announced too. (The people who are really into the Akira manga are always REALLY into it, there doesn't seem to be a middle ground...)

Having a director who has a strong POV and a good track restore is good; should minimize studio meddling. I’m not a stalwart for adhering to a structure across mediums, just stay true to the intent and themes. Or flip them a la starship troopers. But at least interact with them.

[Nintex]

Had a bunch of films lined up but my buddes insisted on Bumblebee.

I thought, oh god another horrid Transformers movie but it was a decent watch actually.

[Joe Molotov]

I can’t believe The Chappelle Show stole Consent Contracts from Cherry 2000.

[Transhuman]

Had a bunch of films lined up but my buddes insisted on Bumblebee.

I thought, oh god another horrid Transformers movie but it was a decent watch actually.

Hailee Steinfeld got skills

[Transhuman]

The perfect movie doesn't exi--

(Image removed from quote.)

https://twitter.com/sdavidmiller/status/1131713145855193090

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Blue Is the Warmest Color was legit good, btw.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Also usually Cannes walkout = Kino alert.

[close]

[close]

...but i'm a boob man...

 

[Joe Molotov]

[Shaka Khan]

I'll say that John Wick 3 was the weakest of the series. That being said, I still had a good time.

I disagree. This one had the best action scenes, best villains, and the lore has gone full on Harry Potter and I'm living for it. That said, I may be watching it for different reasons than others. What made this weaker for you?

[Don Rumata]

The Love Witch

I tend to go for movies I find interesting for arbitrary reasons over whether they're good or bad, and this is one of them. The arbitrary reason here being that it uses technicolor yet it came out in 2016. That said, I can best describe the movie as meh. Anna Biller seems to apply more to the movie than what is present to me. I can understand and see where she's going with it, but ultimately it isn't really a strong film in spite of intentions and I find the execution itself to be somewhat muted even though I know a lot of work went into it.

I will say that I get her complaints of people thinking it's a Russ Meyer flick have a few screws loose. As I never got that impression. Apparently attractive women and barely softcore nudity makes it that? I can see where she's coming from there.

It was fun, but i agree on "meh" as a general impression.
The Love Witch, is going for a slightly different vibe, a cheekier one, compared to stuff like Amer or Color of her body's tears, or even Berberian Sound Studio, but Duke of Burgundy dabbles in some similar themes, with also an ironic twist (if not as obviously comedic) but it's way more compelling.

I still enjoyed it though.

[VomKriege]

Godzilla is weirdly looking thicc on those posters.

[Joe Molotov]

Godzilla is weirdly looking thicc on those posters.

oh lawd he coming

[Quaker]

Gojira(1954)


Still a masterpiece.

Thank you. I was wanting to check this out for the first time before the new one(please don't suck). know it has the legacy of it "actually" being an indictment of nuclear weapons but I was skeptical and worried it'd be corny cheese.

I'll say that John Wick 3 was the weakest of the series. That being said, I still had a good time.

I disagree. This one had the best action scenes, best villains, and the lore has gone full on Harry Potter and I'm living for it. That said, I may be watching it for different reasons than others. What made this weaker for you?

Yep. I tried really hard to get into the first two and I've seen them two or three times each but I couldn't really get into them. I'd give them "A for effort" and it's great that they brought Keanu back but thought the movies think the action and lore are better and more clever or interesting than they actually are. The actual action and production came across a bit too slick(in an affected way) and cheap to me.

With 3, I still don't get why they think the lore is so interesting but I accepted it as a pretense to link these setpieces and scenarios together and I had a much better time. The actual action was clever and novel and there's a lot of it with great gunplay, hand-to-hand *and* sword/knife fighting. It was awesome seeing them give Halle Berry and Dacascos an opportunity to be badasses. They not only brought in the dudes from The Raid but actually didn't do them a diservice like that Star Wars bullshit. Probably my favorite action since The Raid 2 aside from the last Mission Impossible movies but even then those are apples and oranges.

Basically, it's fantastic as long as you don't go into it thinking you're getting good dialogue, story or characters and instead see it as really good action vignettes and setpieces with "gun wizards" and ninjas.

[BlueTsunami]

Fear and Loathing is magnitudes more amazing when you've pierced the veil and experienced the varied spectrum of emotions that tryptamines facilitate.  And yet it's the pivotal moments in Thompson's life, in history and culture, that he's most wistful about. The drugs intensify the version of you, be it at your peak or rock bottom. But you do not necessarily derive anything from the substance alone. If you're empty then the experience will be just as such.

[TEEEPO]

even as someone who can pinpoint the exact year of a godzilla design, i wouldn't marathon through any of the series. hell, godzilla's revenge is somewhat of a guilty pleasure of mine.


bless up wrath

[Don Rumata]

Amer was a whole lot of style with little substance, which is exactly what giallos are, though of course lacked its own identity being such an obvious tribute.
Duke of Burgundy has the style, the substance AND the identity, it's really a gem if you like those vibes.
I grew up with giallos (though to me they were just thrillers) so I guess I'm biased.

[Tasty]

Fear and Loathing is magnitudes more amazing when you've pierced the veil and experienced the varied spectrum of emotions that tryptamines facilitate.  And yet it's the pivotal moments in Thompson's life, in history and culture, that he's most wistful about. The drugs intensify the version of you, be it at your peak or rock bottom. But you do not necessarily derive anything from the substance alone. If you're empty then the experience will be just as such.

I'm gonna need to chew on this for a while.

[Tasty]

What should I watch tonight, Tokyo Godfathers or Millennium Actress?

[Tasty]

Firing up Millennium Actress just to be chronological.

[Don Rumata]

I love Giallos so I'm def checking out Duke.

You say the whole style no substance thing but I'd argue that Amer went really full on the no substance all style bent. Too bad the style wasn't all that interesting.

Felt like a music video tribute, but some elements were really spot on, like capturing the sensuality of fabrics and that morbid tactile feel some Giallos had (like Deep Red, with the extreme close ups of leather gloves, fabrics, small objects).
In general the sense of touch in something i've always felt was important in the best examples of the genre (also because it's tied with the idea of physical pain, obviously) and Amer captured that well.
In a way, the "surface" is the substance, in these films.

Firing up Millennium Actress just to be chronological.

This is the best Satoshi Kon movie in my opinion.

Millenium Actress > Perfect Blue > Paprika > Tokyo GF > Magnetic rose (if you want to include that).
Never finished Paranoia Agent.

[Tasty]

Firing up Millennium Actress just to be chronological.

This is the best Satoshi Kon movie in my opinion.

Millenium Actress > Perfect Blue > Paprika > Tokyo GF > Magnetic rose (if you want to include that).

Damn, I must be in for a treat then. Though Kon is a master so I wasn't worried anyways. I'm really excited still to see Tokyo Godfathers just by the synopsis.

Never finished Paranoia Agent.

...me either. Should fire that up again soon...

[VomKriege]

I much preferred Tokyo Godfathers to Millenium Actress

[Tasty]

Just what you'd expect from the master, Mr. Anno.

[VomKriege]

Shin Gojira is probably the most palatable version Anno could have come up of that particular type of story (notably by downsizing "crazy undecipherable Judeo Christian conspiracy" to a much more focused "mundane administrative frictions and geopolitics"). However revisiting Evangelion after watching a bunch of classic Godzilla is not a bad idea because of the obvious lineage.

[Don Rumata]

I'm thinking of firing up Duke Of Burgundy when I get back from the DMV later as Don speaks so highly of it. Plus giallo flicks are a vice of mine. Continue the godzilla shit tomorrow with King Kong Vs. Godzilla.

I hope i haven't built it up too much, although i did love it.
Probably my MOTY of 2015, just after  A pigeon sat on a branch contemplating existence.

[D3RANG3D]

[Bebpo]

Brightburn - All my horror friends liked this because it was "what if Superman was evil??? (and killed people with his superman powers)" I didn't like this because the 80 min or something was basically "what if Superman was evil??" and that's about all you get. The direction and performances are fine but the script was frankly kind of shit and the worst Gunn-related thing I've seen. It feels like an edgy short film by comic nerds in college, and that's about all it would work as, a short film or pilot for a TV show. As a movie...it just felt like it lacked substance. There were a couple points where it seemed like it might introduce some actual depth and struggle and then those ideas are never brought up again.

Chronicle is pretty close to the same movie except 100x more well done. I googled Brightburn and Chronicle afterwards to see if other people were bringing that up and yeah I found a handful of matches right away that were like Chronicle does everything Brightburn does except way better.

So to answer the question of "what if Superman was evil"
SPOILER

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Then he fucking kills everyone on earth because how the fuck would anyone stop him.

TEH END

[close]

Anyhow spoiler stuff that frustrated me

spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's not even about how a kid growing up and realizing he has powers turns bad, it's literally just OK HIT TWELVE AND EMP CHARGES FROM MY SPACESHIP HAVE TAKEN OVER MY BRAIN AND NOW I MUST KILL EVERYONE. ME BAD, THE END.

There's no internal struggle at all.
There could have been some internal struggle of the kid wanting to good but being overcome with the feeling to take over the world,
There could have been some internal struggle of the kid that he wants to murder everyone but he loves his mom,
There could have been some internal struggle like the one scene where he seems to like a girl,

But nah, no emotion-face the whole movie and just kill everyone, the end. Oh and he never even has to make the struggle choice to kill his parents because they both try to kill him first!

Everything is just so paper thin it's extremely non-satisfying story of any substance besides some gore kills which are solid.
Who the fuck are you even supposed to root for in the movie, because idk.

[close]

Anyhow I gotta see Under the Silver Lake. I really like Garfield and it's kinda sad that Spiderman killed his career  :'( It Follows was good too (even if kinda overrated), so I'm curious to check out his new thing.

[Don Rumata]

Speaking of The Duke of Burgundy

Looks fucking great.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

Looks fucking great.

Spoiler alert, it is.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[/url]
Peter Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio) makes another unclassifiable yet delightful and genuine oddity with In Fabric. Its droll as hell and very often funny but not quite a comedy, its got lots of spooky parts and a few walloping scares but it sure ain't a horror film, its more of a retro-fetishistic and horror-adjacent dry comedy with lots of low-key social and consumer commentary. So far its a genre of one but its a damned solid genre. As for plot and character, its a diptych about an evil, magical red dress and the people who come into its possession. But what its really about is being as British as possible while introducing supernatural buggedity-boos and purple prose into mundane and quite arch lives. Its really something, with uniformly strong performances and vivid cinematography and sound design. I got no friggin idea how Strickland gets funding for these things, let alone multiple films now (gotta be a hell of a pitch meeting) but I'm quite glad he is.

[close]

Also, Re: Mainlining Godzilla. Seriously, skip around the timeline, watch them occasionally. Those 70's films get kinda rough and doing them back to back will minimize their actual strengths and charms. I recently did a James Bond rewatch. Took me about two months, I think that was about right.

[team filler]

Yeah too bad that movie 5 years ago killed his career.

Think I’ll rent Hacksaw Ridge and then see Under The Silver lake tonight to mourn his career.

[I'm a Puppy!]

I'll say that John Wick 3 was the weakest of the series. That being said, I still had a good time.

I disagree. This one had the best action scenes, best villains, and the lore has gone full on Harry Potter and I'm living for it. That said, I may be watching it for different reasons than others. What made this weaker for you?

For me it was the pacing and motivation. The first was visceral, brutal and vengeful.
The second was more of "he had to" as was this. I think the pacing was off. Halle Berry's character wasn't really necessary. They could have gone straight to Bronn also the last few fights felts drawn out. Still a lot of fun, but I'd rather watch the first two.

[paprikastaude]

John Wick 1 was generic as fuck. I mean, The Raid already existed at that point

[Bebpo]

John Wick 3 had villains? I mean it had the tall guy at the start and then a goofy ass embarrassing Japanese guy but otherwise I thought it was all grunts...

Halle Berry was great though.

[Joe Molotov]

Ebirah and GMK have my waifu Mothra in them, do not skip.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

not to steer the topic towards Bond, but License to Kill was an unexpected highlight for me. Its perhaps the meanest Bond film (and Connery casts a long friggin shadow in that regard).

Speaking of excellent action movies, John Wick 3 has so many rad acts of violence that it doesn't even matter that its other main component are essentially bureaucratic meetings of its assassin underworld. They've got lots of rules to follow, and fortunately roundhouse kicks and suplexes to deliver as well. I love the nods/inclusions to other works of action cinema, I love that Mark Dacascos finally got a prominent role in a film that people will see, that the villains from

spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Raid 1 and 2 have a non-disappointing fight with Wick. Hell, Wick even convincingly beat Tiger Chen, damn Keanu that's some good work!

[close]

Its a dog and headshot loving celebration of stuntwork and neon contrast lighting. I had a stupidly great time with it.

My Son starts out great. As an estranged Dad desperately looks for answers to his son's disappearance from a wintery camp setting. The grounded, non-histrionic approach to its nightmare-ish scenario is gripping, with good actors doing some darn good acting. But as the film progresses it trades the cold and discomforting drama of terror its been for a more conventional suspense thriller. Shame. Still packs a lot of good into its brief run time.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

whoa, whoa, whoa...

skip GMK!?

that's like, the best one of the Millennium series. By far. In fact that whole run Godzilla 2000-Godzilla Final Wars is all pretty good. Megaguirus ain't great but its got an awesome score. Final Wars is terrible but also really fun

The Godzilla animes are rather disappointing tho, I'll take even the crappier live-action movies over any of them.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

Tangent upon a tangent and again...

Much as I love Godzilla (glances towards shelf with near every domestically released DVD/Blu-Ray release on it), and its a lot. I'd be remiss not to mention the hugely excellent non-Godzilla trilogies Daimajin and Gamera.

Daimajin is from the 60's, but don't let.that put you off, the effects work is largely excellent. Its also a darker, more mature series than Godzilla.The ancient stone god Daimajin will come to life only when a great injustice is visited on his lands, once active he's more of the smiting god and less of the compassionate one. There's no better (or even existent) samurai era kaiju series.



The 90's Gamera trilogy kicks an awful lot of ass. With bigger budgets than Toho was giving out, and with a less hurried production schedule, these films took a chintzy, second rate series and gave it an injection of successfully realized ambition. They're my pick for the best modern kaiju anything (all past 20 years old, suppose I should stop callkng them modern).

[VomKriege]

Heh I'm lukewarm about the Kaneko's Gameras. I saw the last one first (Revenge of Iris ?) and the two others a few years later and found them to be pretty typical of kaiju-eiga flaws, with an incredibly bland and wooden "human element", as flat as the originals in a very nineties way. The first one especially -if I'm not mistaken- is insufferable with Mister Protagonist Man droning about radioactivity or whatever the mcguffin technobabble of the Giant Turtle is every 5 minutes or so. The monster bit are a lot better (Iris has some great bits, the night fight in a railway station IIRC) and I believe the hype they brought some novelty to the genre (Gamera bleeds profusely, for instance) but honestly, for all its dumbness and hyper activity, Godzilla Final Wars aged a lot better IMO. Iris is the one I liked most but the CG effects were already shaky.

[toku]

Daimajin looks awesome. I love 60s Japanese cinema.

[Svejk]

Pretty pumped...  RAMBO WILL NEVER DIE!!!!!!!!

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Except for this movie most likely. lol

[close]

[Nintex]

Rambo: LAST BOOMER

[Nintex]

The entire trailer is basically John Rambo killing 20 to 30 something thugs with country music in the background.
Looks like Boomer revenge porn to me.

[Joe Molotov]

The entire trailer is basically John Rambo killing 20 to 30 something thugs with country music in the background.
Looks like Boomer revenge porn to me.

[Bebpo]

Seeing Godzilla in a few hours. So hyped for this I'm taking a few hours off of work to catch the first showing. Reviews are worse than Brightburn  :'(
I really hope this isn't another shitty USA godzilla. I like Michael Dougherty and the trailers have been great. I'm ok with this being a bad movie as long as it's a good godzilla movie. Plz do Mothra/Ghidora/Godzilla justice. Don't care about Rodan lol

When I was like 10 they did a Godzilla 24H marathon on TV and I watched like every Godzilla film and became a big fan. I fucking love Godzilla! I also hate every USA Godzilla so far

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

my expectations are in check, as they are really for any high budgeted film.

It can't possibly be worse than Godzilla 98'. So I'm pretty much good with whatever they make

[Bebpo]

Idk, I'd say that last USA Godzilla was worse than 98  This one better be a lot better than that or I'm raging.

Lol at all the fanboy reviews a few weeks ago being OMG THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER GODZILLA IS BACK BAYBEEEEEE and now all the ones coming out are how much it fucking sucks and they somehow made the fight scenes boring and so dark and full of rain you can barely see shit anyway.

Aka, all early review for every movie ever. I pretty much don't look at reviews until release date or the day before when there's a wide amount of reviews in.

[Bebpo]

Also to add that I'm not having weaboo bias in this, Japan has had lots of Godzilla stinkers. The most recent 3 part anime movie series is probably the worst goddamn godzilla movie ever made which is something! But they've also had some good ones. 98 was cheesy fun I guess sorta maybe, idk.

If we count Cloverfield, I'd say that's the only good western Godzilla up until now.