Movies

[Melon]

I... I wrote a long post about what drove me mad about the Dark Knight, but the forum eated it. :(



I was invited to do a podcast as the "other side" of the Dark Knight Rises is the movie of Forever conversation but I'm not sure when he's going to do it, so that means it will happen never.





Oh well, when I'm bored I'll type it again.

[yuzuriha]

We watched "The Hunger Games"...it wasn't horrible, but there were some things I would have done differently. Also, I realize they kinda had to, since it was already like two hours long, but it seemed incredibly rushed.

[Sabaku Ika]

I saw the Total Recall remake. I thought it was entertaining enough to be worth seeing, but I regret spending $11 to see it on a big screen.

[Melon]

Watched Band Baaja Baaraat. It's a cute movie and is a play by the numbers Yash Raj movie. For those who aren't acquainted with his films, they all follow a basic formula - girl and guy don't like each other, forced to live/work/whatever together, have relationship level up (in the modern movies that means sex, which makes the ending even more obvious because no way our pure virginal heroine is going to marry the guy who didn't take her virginity), girl accepts romance, guy doesn't, big fight when the guy fucks up and almost loses girl until he steals her back at the very end. Cue credits with wedding scene. And that is exactly what happened in this film.



I really have to be in a certain mood to watch those movies, but they're on point when the stars are aligned. For films like these, the actors are what turn the lackluster plots into good flicks. As for this one, the female lead is charming but the dude's voice annoyed me and he wasn't fun to watch at all. It may have worked better with a different male lead. I'd rate it 2.5/5.

[aine]

Ace Attorney - wow, what a turd. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/sick.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sick:' /> Having high expectations of a game-based movie has been proven to be a bad idea a countless times, but this one stinks particularly bad. Maybe not because it's worse as a movie than some bad western adaptations, but because of the great source material and actual potential that it had, not being based on another action game.



It fails really bad at translating itself from one medium (game) to another (film). The writers had no idea how to show the game mechanics in the movie, but they still tried. With a poor result. For anyone not familiar with the games it will appear as a bizarre, incomprehensible mess. For people who played the games and have a clue what's going on, it will be just drawn-out, boring, and completely unengaging.



On top of that there are some very poor casting decisions. Gumshoe is completely miscast, he's too young and has nothing of his goofiness. Maya on the other hand is too old and has a completely different temper. The rest of the cast either fits more or less, or is just too negligible to matter (Judge). And all of them collectively deliver flat, uninspired performances that almost force you not to care about them. I love the games and the characters, and I was cringing at how bad they were executed.



Von Karma (Ryo Ishibashi) is the only character who delivers something that could be called a performance (especially towards the end), but it just jarringly stands out against the horrible everything else. As I said, I love the games and was willing to forgive this movie a lot and just enjoy the ride with the familiar themes, but it was just too much. In the end, it took us 3 evenings to suffer through the whole length (over 2 hours!) of this torture.



Only after watching I remembered that this is a Takashi Miike film. This makes it even more disappointing. It might have been passable as a low-budget, self-conscious parody of itself made straight to video, and in a few scenes it did seem like it was, but unfortunately in the end it takes itself dead serious.



Fail on pretty much all levels. Time to replay the games. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/nono.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':nono:' />

[Ap2000]

@aine; I don't care about the games, but I read up on the movie. It's done by Miike Takashi. You should always go into Miike movies with the lowest possible expectations. haha

1 out of 3 times he amazes you and the other two times he just confuses and/or bores you to death.

[aine]

I must have been lucky to only watch his amazing movies until now then. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> I'm just surprised they allowed him to screw up such a big franchise so badly.



And you should care about the games, they're amazing on their own and have a very retro feel to them as well which you should appreciate.

[Melon]

Continuing my Yash Chopra spree~ this time with a movie starring my Goddess, Rani Mukherji, and my husbando, Shahid Kapoor. It follows the standard YRF plotline, with the "twist" that Rani's character, Veera, becomes Veer for most of the film. And she's a beautiful woman, but the male version of her is fugggglllyyy. And even more hilarious is that she's rather petite at only 1.6m so all of the other males are twice her size. Like it wasn't obvious she was a girl! (that and you can see that Rani basically wore a sports bra to flatten the goods) So with this genderbending twist, instead of the guy messing the relationship up, it's the "guy" version of Veera. The movie's plot is stupid, but I liked the music sequences and appreciate that the studio is attempting to go outside of their box. And yes, it doesn't help that I love the two actors who play the leads. But I know what I love and what should be viewed objectively, so I give it a 3/5.

[Tsuki]

That's funny, I had the complete opposite reaction to the Ace Attorney movie. I thought it was the best video game (true to original source) as possible that I've ever seen. It did sag a bit in the middle, and it probably ran too long, but I liked how serious everything was, because with those hairstyles, outfits, and actual facial expressions from the game going on, it would have been too much. It would have been another Street Fighter or Mario. The game was silly, but it had its serious moments, and it would have been way too whiplash-y to incorporate both the game's outlandish humor (a lot I think were liberties taken by the localization team, as well) as well as its very serious treatment of murder, conspiracy, and loss. I do agree that Gumshoe was a bit of a miscast and Maya could have stood to be a bit younger, but her seriousness I think was appropriate for her having lost her only family and having to cram all the first game's cases into two hours instead of the longer timespan we had in the game. It would have been too strange for Maya to suddenly be upbeat and quirky.



I thought the movie was visually stunning, and barring some scenes that dragged (the Gumshoe and Phoenix silhouette scene in the garage comes immediately to mind), I thought the movie managed to incorporate all the plotlines without ultimately sacrificing characterization for the limited amount of time they had for a game that spanned so many different cases and layers of evidence and testimony. I don't see how else Miike could have done it.

[yuzuriha]

I LOVE THE SUPER MARIO BROTHERS MOVIE THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT

[Melon]

Watched Jab We Met that stars Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor. I don't like Kareena Kapoor. This movie was bad-okay at best. The songs were meh, the leads didn't have chemistry, and the plot was dumb. The last is a given with these movies, but the quality of the leads and songs can bring it up another notch. Eh. 1/5.



Watched a Korean flick to wash the taste of Jab We Met out of my mouth called Sunny. This film is GOOD.

Wiki for plot:

Sunny (Hangul: 써니; RR: Sseoni; MR: SSŏni) is a South Korean film about a group of middle aged women going through various mid-life struggles, seeking to reunite with each other. The film goes back and forth from their 1980s high school selves, when they first became friends, and their present day selves. It is the second film by director-screenwriter Kang Hyeong-cheol the director of Speedy Scandal.^[1] The film was released in May 2011, and it was the first film to sell over 5 million tickets in South Korea during the 2011 calendar year and is the twelfth highest grossing film in South Korean history.

Watch it. It's a wonderful film. (And it's on Netflix Streaming~)

[neshcom]

Watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi on Netflix. It follows Jiro, the head chef of Japan's most prestigious sushi restaurant. Meals cost over $300, reservations must be made over a month in advance, and it only seats 10 people. It's super interesting, but it's shot rather weakly. Some rather easily avoidable mistakes, but it's compelling and has a good amount of tension. You should definitely see it.

[al kusanagi]

Indie Game: The Movie is now on Netflix.



More like Hipster Douchebag: The Movie. Seriously, I find the subject fascinating, but every time some of those "developers" opened their mouths I wanted to punch them in the face. "If people like AAA titles, that's fine. They like shit games. I don't make shit games."

[yuzuriha]

[quote name='neshcom' timestamp='1349290619' post='135114']

Watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi on Netflix. It follows Jiro, the head chef of Japan's most prestigious sushi restaurant. Meals cost over $300, reservations must be made over a month in advance, and it only seats 10 people. It's super interesting, but it's shot rather weakly. Some rather easily avoidable mistakes, but it's compelling and has a good amount of tension. You should definitely see it.

[/quote]





Ryan just watched it too, he liked it. It just made me really want some sashimi.

[Ap2000]

Expendables 2 was ballsy.

Schwarzenegger, Willis and Stallone circlejerking for 2 hours. It was beautiful testosterone gallore.

Van Damme and Norris can come too.



Now please get me Kevin "Hercules" Sorbo and Steven Segal for part 3.

[yuzuriha]

haha THAT WOULD BE AMAZING!

[al kusanagi]

Finally saw Prometheus.



Sorry, George Lucas. Ridley Scott has taken your title of "Franchise Self-Raping Director" away from you.

[al kusanagi]

Netflix has added quite a few new Japanese movies.



I watched "Salvage Mice," a cute and sometimes disturbingly violent movie starring Mitsuki "I did an awesome job growing up" Tanimura and the debut of the adorable Julia Nagano, who is basically Riho if she was a lethal weapon. It's about a cat burglar that "steals" items and returns them to their rightful owners, and what happens to her when things go bad. Also, the ending theme is by MomoCloZ, so there's that too.

[Melon]

[quote name='Al Kusanagi' timestamp='1349291466' post='135115']

Indie Game: The Movie is now on Netflix.



More like Hipster Douchebag: The Movie. Seriously, I find the subject fascinating, but every time some of those "developers" opened their mouths I wanted to punch them in the face. "If people like AAA titles, that's fine. They like shit games. I don't make shit games."

[/quote]



Watched this last night. Oh god I wanted to punch several of their |...*~artistic~*...| faces. The only person I thought was chill and friend-able is the second half of Meat Boy (the chubby Guillermo del Toro lookalike) because he was the only one that was normal and genuine. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />



"I don't care about the sales. I made it for me!" BS you care about the sales if you want to make it in the industry. :|



[quote name='Al Kusanagi' timestamp='1350963429' post='136202']

Netflix has added quite a few new Japanese movies.



I watched "Salvage Mice," a cute and sometimes disturbingly violent movie starring Mitsuki "I did an awesome job growing up" Tanimura and the debut of the adorable Julia Nagano, who is basically Riho if she was a lethal weapon. It's about a cat burglar that "steals" items and returns them to their rightful owners, and what happens to her when things go bad. Also, the ending theme is by MomoCloZ, so there's that too.

[/quote]



Will watch this!

[Melon]

Oh Hollywood, why would you do a racist thing like yellowface when there's so many hawt azn menz to choose from? Especially Korea, home of hawt azn menz from movies I lurve?



For reals, that shit ain't tolerated with me. FUCK everyone involved in that project.



I'm sick of races that aren't white being shit in American media. That's why I watch primarily animation. That's why I watch mostly foreign films. FUCK YOU Hollywood.



And yes, I'm so pissed about Kingsley getting the yellowface for the Madarin (they said they weren't going for that look liars) I'm debating skipping IM3, and for the record it stars my favorite actor in the world AND it's my favorite super hero.

[al kusanagi]

You do realize the reason it's Kingly and not a Chinese actor is because of China, right?



The Chinese of government was a producer on the film, a concession that Marvel made in order to shoot there I guess, and China requested he not be Chinese due to an agreement they had that no negative portrayals of Chinese people in it.

[Melon]

[quote name='Al Kusanagi' timestamp='1351300838' post='136448']

You do realize the reason it's Kingly and not a Chinese actor is because of China, right?



The Chinese of government was a producer on the film, a concession that Marvel made in order to shoot there I guess, and China requested he not be Chinese due to an agreement they had that no negative portrayals of Chinese people in it.

[/quote]



Now I can watch IM3 without guilt. Thanks Al! :D

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Petit Hulk' timestamp='1351299104' post='136443']



Oh Hollywood, why would you do a racist thing like yellowface when there's so many hawt azn menz to choose from? Especially Korea, home of hawt azn menz from movies I lurve?



For reals, that shit ain't tolerated with me. FUCK everyone involved in that project.



I'm sick of races that aren't white being shit in American media. That's why I watch primarily animation. That's why I watch mostly foreign films. FUCK YOU Hollywood.



And yes, I'm so pissed about Kingsley getting the yellowface for the Madarin (they said they weren't going for that look liars) I'm debating skipping IM3, and for the record it stars my favorite actor in the world AND it's my favorite super hero.

[/quote]



Before reading Al's comment, I've looked up some picks of him as that character and he looked cool, so I don't know what put you off about it.

However, he didn't seem asian at all in that pic I saw.

[Melon]

[quote name='Ap2000' timestamp='1351302548' post='136453']

[quote name='Petit Hulk' timestamp='1351299104' post='136443']

Oh Hollywood, why would you do a racist thing like yellowface when there's so many hawt azn menz to choose from? Especially Korea, home of hawt azn menz from movies I lurve?



For reals, that shit ain't tolerated with me. FUCK everyone involved in that project.



I'm sick of races that aren't white being shit in American media. That's why I watch primarily animation. That's why I watch mostly foreign films. FUCK YOU Hollywood.



And yes, I'm so pissed about Kingsley getting the yellowface for the Madarin (they said they weren't going for that look liars) I'm debating skipping IM3, and for the record it stars my favorite actor in the world AND it's my favorite super hero.

[/quote]



Before reading Al's comment, I've looked up some picks of him as that character and he looked cool, so I don't know what put you off about it.

However, he didn't seem asian at all in that pic I saw.

[/quote]



I should have worded my post better.



The first half of the rant (pre-IM3) is about Cloud Atlas from the Wachowskis. They use the same white actors for different parts(it doesn't make sense since in the book the only thing tying them together was a birthmark), and put them in yellowface for the Korea segment. (Which in another even more racist move, the makeup to make the white actors look more asian was simply "squinting" their eyes, while the asian actors that had to appear more Caucasian went through a longer and more laborious makeup)



The second half relates that to my dismay over IM3, which is something I love, but hated that they would also use the same principle. Zoe Saldana was cast in a biopic for a black person, which is insulting to me because 1. She's not black and 2. They're putting prosthetics on her face to make her look more black.

[Shoujo Q]

Watching Airplane!, I think I've seen it 100 times already, but it's been awhile. I love old comic movies. The ones that come out these days have no class.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Shoujo Q' timestamp='1351637181' post='136671']



Watching Airplane!, I think I've seen it 100 times already, but it's been awhile. I love old comic movies. The ones that come out these days have no class.

[/quote]



Unfortunately, indeed.

Tropic Thunder was pretty much the only good one in that department, that comes to mind in the last years.

I do realize it's not as non-stop-gags as Airplane or Hot Shots (who I still consider the best).

[Shoujo Q]

I agree, Tropic Thunder was comical. I think it made me appreciate Robert Downy Jr even more to be honest.



Airplane and Hot Shots as well as some of Mel Brooks' films usually are movies I could see over and over again without getting bored of them.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Shoujo Q' timestamp='1351642142' post='136678']



I agree, Tropic Thunder was comical. I think it made me appreciate Robert Downy Jr even more to be honest.



Airplane and Hot Shots as well as some of Mel Brooks' films usually are movies I could see over and over again without getting bored of them.

[/quote]



I was/am largerly indifferent to RDJ, but he was damn good in Tropic Thunder.



Reliving our childhood memories of seeing them the first time !

[al kusanagi]

Hot Tub Time Machine was one of the few funny comedies I've found in recent years, but since it's basically an 80s throwback, it doesn't quite count. Oh yes, and Black Dynamite is comedy gold, but it's a 70s throwback.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Al Kusanagi' timestamp='1351651098' post='136683']



Hot Tub Time Machine was one of the few funny comedies I've found in recent years, but since it's basically an 80s throwback, it doesn't quite count. Oh yes, and Black Dynamite is comedy gold, but it's a 70s throwback.

[/quote]



There certainly were some good comedies even in the 2000s, but not many that are in the vain of Hot Shots.

Black Dynamite is, similar to Tropic Thunder, also certainly a great movie. That's why I bought the BR !