The Movie Thread

[Balor]

6 hours ago, MacabreEternal said:

I watched IT - Chapter 2 on NYE.  It wasn't a patch on the first (new) one.  All the menace of Pennywise was gone.  Although it stayed largely true to the book I don't think they justified the content of the literature well in the movie and I was just left underwhelmed.

I think that part one was better than the sequel, and it was pretty shocking how graphic this one got.  I am still not entirely convinced that the new It movies are better than the 90s tv version.

[Natassja]

Just watched Joker, what an awesome film, Joaquin Phoenix was amazing. 

[Parker]

I recently acquired some interesting movies. "Kolberg" is a German movie released in 1945. Think about that, within a few months of totally losing the war, they were still making, distributing, and showing new movies in the handful of remaining theaters. Not only that, they diverted hundreds of troops to serve as extras in this movie, and used sh*t loads of real ammunition to bombard a replica of the town. All this when they knew they would loose the war. As for the film, most of it was rather bland. There was much dialog about never surrendering, and your material defeat is a symbolic, moral victory, or something like that, I guess. But, I must say, the end of the movie, when the town is bombarded, is a pretty good payoff, after the earlier dullness. All that aside, it's worth watching just because it's in Agfa Colour, an early German coloring process that produced vivid colors that make everything look like a fairy tale book.

The other movie was "Stosstrupp 1917" a German movie released in 1934. It's B&W, but the copy I have has a very clean, clear picture. The film pretty much glorifies war (WWI), while simultaneously showing the horrors of war, if you can rap your head around that. It was fun to watch, a lot more interesting than "Kolberg," because it was fast paced and full of action. Again, real ammunition was used in the battles, and for most of the movie you can hear bombs falling and exploding, usually in the distance, but often enough close by. Of the two, I would recommend "Stosstrupp 1917," if weird old propaganda movies is your thing. 

[Abronsius]

Thanks for this. I don't normally go for older war films but these sound interesting. 

What are your favourite war films? I quite like:

Panfilov's 28 men, The Cross of Iron,  Enemy at the Gate, Inglorious Basterds (over the top I know, but still good), Downfall, Das Boot. Many more but can't think right now........

[Parker]

3 hours ago, Abronsius said:

Thanks for this. I don't normally go for older war films but these sound interesting. 

What are your favourite war films? I quite like:

Panfilov's 28 men, The Cross of Iron,  Enemy at the Gate, Inglorious Basterds (over the top I know, but still good), Downfall, Das Boot. Many more but can't think right now........

Enemy at the Gate, Downfall and Inglorious Basterds are great, haven't seen the others you mentioned but would like too. Saving Private Ryan is really good, as well as the mini-series Band of Brothers. I really enjoyed The Fall of Berlin, a two part Soviet propaganda movie shot on captured German Agfa color film. "5 artillery and infantry divisions, 4 tank battalions, 193 planes, and 45 German trophy Panzers, as well as 1.5 million liters of fuel, were used in staging its panoramic battle scenes."

As for other wars, Apocalypse Now is breathtaking, Alexander Nevsky, with its soundtrack by Prokofiev, is mesmerizing,  and I probably love plenty of others I can't think of right now. Hopefully I will soon acquire Stukas (1941), and The Battle of Orel (Kursk) (Documentary) (1943) and will report back.

[Abronsius]

Sounds like you know your old war films!

Yeh definitely check out The Cross of Iron - a Sam Peckinpah masterpiece and probably the best second world war film ever made. The Fall of Berlin sounds amazing though!

[Parker]

4 hours ago, Abronsius said:

Sounds like you know your old war films!

Yeh definitely check out The Cross of Iron - a Sam Peckinpah masterpiece and probably the best second world war film ever made. The Fall of Berlin sounds amazing though!

I'll have to check that out.

[Natassja]

Recently watched Midsommar and The Neon Demon again. Quite enjoyed Midsommar. Neon Demon is bizarre. 

Other films I've watched recently includes Hereditary, really got into it but I was kinda wanting more of an ending..Toni Collette was great.

[Fraser]

Currently watching the Icelandic film Metalhead. Brilliantly shot and the main character acts very well. 8/10 so far 

[Abronsius]

Yeh brilliant film! Such a fresh idea and the scenery's great to boot!

[Fraser]

The Snowtown murders is tonights pick 

[FatherAlabaster]

We're watching the cast of the Princess Bride doing a script read over Zoom. It's utterly ridiculous and just about as fun as I hoped. 

[Natassja]

Started watching The Lighthouse, looked quite interesting but got distracted by some other stuff so I'm gonna give it another go tomorrow night. A24 seem to have some good movies.

[Fraser]

Just watched I See You. Not bad at all. Decent twists and a decent story line. Worth a watch. 7/10

[Natassja]

1 hour ago, Fraser said:

Just watched I See You. Not bad at all. Decent twists and a decent story line. Worth a watch. 7/10

I saw the trailer for this, does look good. My Uncle lent me Digging Up the Marrow earlier, so I'll be watching that tomoz.

[MacabreEternal]

7 hours ago, Natassja said:

I saw the trailer for this, does look good. My Uncle lent me Digging Up the Marrow earlier, so I'll be watching that tomoz.

This sounds like a really gory version of Gardener's World.

[Fraser]

Midsommar for me tonight

[Fraser]

Ok so Midsommar is by far the strangest most fucked up film i have watched. And I have watched many many films of a stranger nature. Not saying the film is good but it is just off the charts crazy. Il probably watch it again as it is just that mental 

[Natassja]

On 10/8/2020 at 8:50 AM, MacabreEternal said:

This sounds like a really gory version of Gardener's World.

It was hilarious

On 10/9/2020 at 9:27 AM, Fraser said:

Ok so Midsommar is by far the strangest most fucked up film i have watched. And I have watched many many films of a stranger nature. Not saying the film is good but it is just off the charts crazy. Il probably watch it again as it is just that mental 

It's a trip eh lol.

Got Raging Bull on at the moment.

[Sardonicist]

Another Round 2020. The philosophical reasons to drink alcohol. 

Oxygen 2021. The best kind of condensed minimalist science fiction. 

Couple of movies that seemed worth the time. 

 

[FatherAlabaster]

All kids' movies around here lately - Coco, Luca, 100% Wolf, Spy Cat. Who needs Hitchcock and Bergman when you can have these thrill rides, I ask.

[AlSymerz]

^ I know the feeling I don't even remember the name of half the kids movies, they just blend into each other. I did watch Jungle Cruise last night, it wasn't too bad, at least it wasn't just another sequel or a reboot.

 

[FatherAlabaster]

Just went out to see Dune last night. I'm a huge fan of the books and I wasn't disappointed - I liked it a lot - but I left hoping that they'll release a director's cut with a few more scenes. It's a two and a half hour movie, it only went through the first half of the story in the novel, and the narrative still felt compressed and almost rushed at times. I get the sense that they cut some character development to keep the plot moving; I think a little more character development would have helped the plot feel more emotionally coherent. I guess that's a testament to just how much is really going on in the book, and how much of it is difficult to film. Ultimately my feelings about all of it will be determined by how they finish it up in the next film.

But there's a lot they got right! The visuals and sound were beautiful, stunning, shocking at times. There were a couple curveballs in the casting but they all worked. Jason Momoa made a surprisingly great Duncan Idaho. I wonder if they'll make another 10-15 Dune movies starring him as they cover the rest of the series? I bet that green light is just around the corner...

[AlSymerz]

I watched Dwellers last week, the movie from David Ellefson's production company. If you were considering it don't bother, it's pretty terrible.

[NokturnalBoredom]

15 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Just went out to see Dune last night. I'm a huge fan of the books and I wasn't disappointed - I liked it a lot - but I left hoping that they'll release a director's cut with a few more scenes. It's a two and a half hour movie, it only went through the first half of the story in the novel, and the narrative still felt compressed and almost rushed at times.

I've only read the first three. I want to see it, but now it sounds like I'm going to be disappointed compared to the David Lynch one from the 80s. Sting made a great Fayd Rautha and I'm curious to see who they picked for this one, if he's even in the movie considering you're saying that it only goes through the first half of the novel.

I'm a big fan of the books thusfar. I was going to start reading God Emperor of Dune, but I actually want to finish William Gibson's sprawl trilogy first because I feel like those books are more pertinent to the world that's being created before our eyes, what with raw corporate power becoming more powerful than governments and whatnot just the way it is in Neuromancer & Count Zero. I have a copy of Mona Lisa Overdrive, I just haven't started it yet. I used to read a lot more than I do now because I'm almost always listening to music when I'm not at work.

I've noticed that there is a lot of Dune stuff at my town's Books a Million now. Posters, graphic novels, Funko pop figurines... typical tie-in stuff that is plastered all over the store every time a big movie comes out. I went there looking for Punisher graphic novels last week and completely struck out on them. Not a single Punisher trade paperback to be found but plenty of Dune stuff.