Movies

[neshcom]

Maybe The Matrix series? The first one was out in early '99, but it pushed cinema visual effects and didn't mind screwing up cyberpunking an impressionable generation to venture from their basements with ill-fitting dusters and video cameras.

[Madara]

My review of the new anime feature, WOLF CHILDREN, is up on Otaku USA's website:



http://www.otakuusamagazine.com/SearchA ... _5014.aspx



It was directed by Mamoru Hosoda, who also directed THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME and SUMMER WARS. I interviewed him last Monday and the interview will be in an upcoming issue of the magazine.







The director was at the screening I attended and drew cartoons and signed posters for hundreds of fans afterwards:

[Shoujo Q]

I'm going to the movies on Wednesday. Which of the following movies should I see?





The Incredible Burt Wonderstone



Oz The Great and Powerful



The Call



Identity Thief



Dead Man Down



21 and Over



Silver Linings Playbook



Jack the Giant Slayer 3D



Kai Po Che



The Attacks of 26/11 (Hindi)



Life of Pi 3D



Safe Haven

[yuzuriha]

I say Burt Wonderstone but I am in love with Jim Carret AND Steve Carrell so I might be just a teensy bit biased.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Shoujo Q' timestamp='1363557931' post='147186']

I'm going to the movies on Wednesday. Which of the following movies should I see?





The Incredible Burt Wonderstone



Oz The Great and Powerful



The Call



Identity Thief



Dead Man Down



21 and Over



Silver Linings Playbook



Jack the Giant Slayer 3D



Kai Po Che



The Attacks of 26/11 (Hindi)



Life of Pi 3D



Safe Haven

[/quote]



Considering I only know two, I'd say Life of Pi might be the only one worth watching.

[aine]

I'll second Life of Pi. It was decent enough, visually awesome, and from reading the descriptions of the other choices it has way more going for it than them.



I only had a chance to see it in 3D, and while at first it made no sense and seemed a pure gimmick, it made a good use of it later on. At least my second-best 3D experience after Avatar, if not beating it slightly, judging by 3D alone.

[Melon]

Kai Po Che is also Hindi lol. I'd say Life of Pi because I liked it. My cousin saw Oz and said it was the worst movie he'd ever seen.

[Madara]

I reviewed Studio Ghibli's latest animated feature, FROM UP ON POPPY HILL, on the Otaku USA website. Here's the link:



http://www.otakuusamagazine.com/SearchA ... _5025.aspx

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Ap2000' timestamp='1361197389' post='144675']

I just came across this 43 mins long speech about "Inception and philosophy"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ginQNMiRu2w



You thought you figured this movie out ? Even after reading some posts about it here and there ? You have no clue just how twisted this movie is.

[/quote]



Yes Anderei, everybody frogurt about it already. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ryalot.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':cryalot:' />

But I guess that's the the path of the righteous man that I've got to beset and is on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men beset,

[Ap2000]

What are your most favourite movie trailers of all time ?

Because of structure, disguise, cutting, music or whatever, doesn't matter !

Let this be a 100% completely on the spot freely thought up list.



Before you read on, think for yourself plox and create your top 3~5, AFTER THAT continue reading...





[spoiler2]

I very well know it is pretty hard to think about this topic without thinking about movies you absolutely love and/or trailers that are kinda ambiguous, and yet these are my top fives right now...



#1 Simply put, there is no other trailer or "music used in a trailer" that has been more influental in the past ~5 years than the second Inception trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66TuSJo4dZM

You constantly hear the influences, even if it's just generic BRRRM and soon on, in about three out of four current movie trailers in one way or another.



#2 The official English trailer for Hanabi was more than just a re-capture of what the movie itself was going to be, but a statement on what Kitano at that time was in terms of a breakthrough "Japanese cinematographer for the west":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHpV5-pRwHU

Same spirit, different movie, Kids Return trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvY6JCFCrQk

It might seem like just another generic Japanese half-indie movie trailer, but if you've seen the movie, just as with the Inception trailer, it makes a lot more sense.



#3 The initial Cloverfield reveal trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... fCPoF6o5wA

It had everything that a really well thought out trailer needed. The build up, the turn-around and the mystery box (© J.J. Abrams). Also, everything was 1:1 in the actual movie, which, unfortunately is a rare occurence nowadays in trailers.

Runner-Up #1: District 9 - Trailer 2: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6PDlMggROA&hd=1 - Rarely a trailer in itself actually bears the message of the movie.

Runner-Up #2: Monster Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_-gL3U1T5Y



#4 Heat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbBLJ1WGwQ

The Suspense - The Movie. There is so much right with this movie and I'd even call it the epitome of movie trailers from the 90s, any explanation would ruin it.

However, feel free to type out your (dis)agreeing opinion about this "nomination".

Runner-Up: Michael Mann's Miami Vice remake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTxvXDwoHMw



#5 This is a tie, either Stanley Kubrick and his Milk cows or Indiana Jones as a cyborg !

Blade Runner trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lW0F1sccqk (especially 2:00 onwards)

Clockwork Orange trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmm5jeeH8mY





Bonus clip: Jackie Brown - AK47:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEJR5lsYlrg

[/spoiler2]

[Purin-chama]

[quote name='Petit Hulk' timestamp='1363611743' post='147254'] My cousin saw Oz and said it was the worst movie he'd ever seen.

[/quote]

My husband loved it. He's a big James Franco fan, though. I thought it was okay. It was too similar to the Wizard of Oz for my liking, though!



Oh! And Bruce Campbell made a cameo, but then again, it was directed by Sam Raimi. Almost didn't recognize him.

[aine]

[quote name='Ap2000' timestamp='1363925905' post='147790']

What are your most favourite movie trailers of all time ?

Because of structure, disguise, cutting, music or whatever, doesn't matter !

Let this be a 100% completely on the spot freely thought up list.[/quote]

Alien - Nothing will ever come close to its greatness.



Prometheus - This first teaser could be considered a worthy ancestor of the above, but we all know how it ended...



Evangelion: Death and Rebirth - I have a soft spot for the first two trailers in this set, because you can't go wrong with Ode to Joy and Dies Irae.

[aine]

Watched rifftraxed Twilight New Moon, and even with the commentary it was hardly bearable. How the fuck does rubbish like this exist? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... popper.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':popper:' />

[Wapiko]

I went and saw an early showing of Spring Breakers last night and damn, it was all sorts of terrible. James Franco was top notch as usual, but the writing was bad, the acting of the main characters even worse, and a lot of it was just gratuitous tit shots and sex scenes.



I'm pretty surprised it's getting good ratings, because the general consensus of everyone in the showing I was in was "What the fuck did I just watch!?"

[Melon]

I can't believe Dreamworks hasn't put their 4 traditional animation films on Bluray. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... adwall.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':headwall:' />



I don't want DVD, I want Blu-ray. :whine:



That said, I've been thinking about the animation studios and I have reached a point where I would rather see a Dreamworks animated film than Pixar. I'd rather watch Disney than Pixar. I'm so burnt out on Pixar and their ~artistic snowflake~ persona. ANd I'm sick of them hogging the awards because they're ~PIXAR~.



Yes, I'm still pressed over Toy Story 3 winning the Oscar over How to Train Your Dragon. TS3 was not even half as good as TS2 was, and HTTYD is one of the best animated films I've ever seen. Everything is pitch perfect in that film. HMPH. BITTER BITTER RANT.



The last movie I watched was Life of Pi. I loved it.



I got my Lawrence of Arabia restored blu in but for some reason it doesn't show the video when I press play. It shows the menus and the like just fine, but when I hit play it goes black. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ryalot.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':cryalot:' />

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Petit Hulk' timestamp='1364475132' post='148215']



That said, I've been thinking about the animation studios and I have reached a point where I would rather see a Dreamworks animated film than Pixar. I'd rather watch Disney than Pixar. I'm so burnt out on Pixar and their ~artistic snowflake~ persona. ANd I'm sick of them hogging the awards because they're ~PIXAR~.

[/quote]



I'm pretty much fed up with all the 3D animation movies, really.

I certainly do not need more than 1 every ~2 years, yet it feels as if there are 10+ shat out every year.



I think the last one I've watched was Wall-E, which was superb, but still...

[yuzuriha]

[quote name='Petit Hulk' timestamp='1364475132' post='148215']



Yes, I'm still pressed over Toy Story 3 winning the Oscar over How to Train Your Dragon. TS3 was not even half as good as TS2 was, and HTTYD is one of the best animated films I've ever seen. Everything is pitch perfect in that film. HMPH. BITTER BITTER RANT.



[/quote]





Off topic but...my sister's dog looks like toothless. I said it as soon as I saw previews and she's like NUH UH. But then one day she watched the movie and was like OH HEY HE LOOKS LIKE NOODY and now she's obsessed with Toothless. Also...noody is missing teeth.

[Purin-chama]

[quote name='Petit Hulk' timestamp='1364475132' post='148215']

I'm so burnt out on Pixar and their ~artistic snowflake~ persona. ANd I'm sick of them hogging the awards because they're ~PIXAR~. [/quote]

[quote name='Ap2000' timestamp='1364479906' post='148224']

I think the last one I've watched was Wall-E, which was superb, but still...

[/quote]

I've never really enjoyed PIXAR too much. I love UP and Monsters Inc. Toy Story was decent. Brave was a really good mother-daughter movie, but I know it wasn't well received. Everything else was just kind of eh for me. I never got why people liked Finding Nemo and Wall-E. I thought they were both horribly boring. I wanted to turn Wall-E off! Kung Fu Panda came out at the same time as it, and I liked that so much better. How to Train Your Dragon I was obsessed with. I would take anyone who would go see it with me to the theater. I ended up going about 4 or 5 times. Then, bought the movie as soon as it came out. I made my nephew watch it last week, and he was scared half the movie. Maybe that was why it wasn't as well received? Toothless always reminded me of Stitch. That said, my husband and I almost went to the first showing of The Croods last weekend. Has anyone seen it?



Oh the Incredibles wasn't too bad either. I forgot that was PIXAR...

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Myst' timestamp='1364485135' post='148242']

[quote name='Petit Hulk' timestamp='1364475132' post='148215']

I'm so burnt out on Pixar and their ~artistic snowflake~ persona. ANd I'm sick of them hogging the awards because they're ~PIXAR~. [/quote]

[quote name='Ap2000' timestamp='1364479906' post='148224']

I think the last one I've watched was Wall-E, which was superb, but still...

[/quote]

I've never really enjoyed PIXAR too much. I love UP and Monsters Inc. Toy Story was decent. Brave was a really good mother-daughter movie, but I know it wasn't well received. Everything else was just kind of eh for me. I never got why people liked Finding Nemo and Wall-E. I thought they were both horribly boring. I wanted to turn Wall-E off! Kung Fu Panda came out at the same time as it, and I liked that so much better. How to Train Your Dragon I was obsessed with. I would take anyone who would go see it with me to the theater. I ended up going about 4 or 5 times. Then, bought the movie as soon as it came out. I made my nephew watch it last week, and he was scared half the movie. Maybe that was why it wasn't as well received? Toothless always reminded me of Stitch. That said, my husband and I almost went to the first showing of The Croods last weekend. Has anyone seen it?



Oh the Incredibles wasn't too bad either. I forgot that was PIXAR...

[/quote]



I've seen Wall-E, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, Ratatouille and A bug's life. The others I never cared for at all.

Wall-E is clearly my favourite.

Incredibles, Finding Nemo and Ratatouille were all fun, eventhough a bit drawn-out at times.

A bug's life and Monsters I consider neither worth watching.

I think Toy Story is complete and utter garbage. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/sick.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sick:' />



On the other hand, I hate Shrek with a passion. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/sick.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sick:' />

I usually keep these two opinions to myself, because I most often get a "if you hate Toy Story/Shrek, you must be a Dreamworks/Pixar fanboy" reply, which is obviously untrue.

In general, I have a rather negative opinion about Dreamworks, eventhough I haven't seen that many of their movies. They all just seem like copies of eachother.

I've only seen Shrek 1 (and parts of 2), Madagaskar and Over the Hedge. Madagaskar was very entertaining, Over the hedge was OK, Shrek being horribad.



We've had the same discussion some time ago and I remember posting the following picture, which I think still holds true.

Dreamworks mostly makes ordinary movies where the characters could easily be replaced with normal humans. Pixar on the other hand seems to be able to justify why the main character(s) is/are fish, rats, toys, monsters and so on.

[yuzuriha]

NEMO IS MY FAVORITE I HAVE FOUR NEMOS.

[Madara]

FINDING NEMO is the only Pixar movie I enjoyed without any qualms. WALL-E had a really good opening 40 minutes or so before it got silly. I have very specific complaints about many of the others.



I prefer Ghibli to Pixar and I prefer anime in general. I like 2-D animation better than CGI/3-D animation. Especially pre-1998 when it was all done in paint and ink on cells and paper. Since then even 2-D animation in Japan has been done digitally (pencil drawings scanned into a computer and then filled in with color and backgrounds done digitally).

[Melon]

There's obviously some sort of A,B,C team set up in Dreamworks and I'm first to admit that. But I still enjoyed their films as a whole more than Pixar. They also don't want their films to have a set style, and that's why they're so different from film to film. I imagine they give their staff more freedom than Pixar, who I think has more pressure to keep on with their current image than Dreamworks does. Oh, and I still haven't forgiven them for what they did to Brave and Chapman. Sure, she has a "credit" but they essentially forced her off and let her keep the credit for her contribution to the initial concept. In fact, guess where she is now? Dreamworks. Good for her.



I wish they did Crood's artstyle the way it was drawn (It's the same guy who did Lilo and Stitch, so you can imagine my horror when I saw the renders and realized they completely fucked up his proportions) But it's directed by him as well, so I hope that despite the shaming of his beautiful designs it's filled with the same heart and soul. (He also directed HTTYD)

[Sabaku Ika]

Just watched Wreck It Ralph finally and it was kind of great. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... adwall.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':headwall:' />

That smiley was to express wrecking, not frustration.

[showraniy]

I just saw Tyler Perry's Temptation this morning. It was a big disappointment for being reeeaally simple plot-wise (I knew the major plot-twist the moment the focal character for it was introduced), and it was overly heavy-handed with the religious morals behind it. It's a shame because I've really, really liked other Tyler Perry movies for being complex in both their plots and not-so-black-and-white moralities ("Good Deeds"). They all come down to being Biblical parables, but they're at least usually well done ones IMO.



No one else is probably interested in seeing it, but I'm just throwing it out there that I expected more but it was entirely predictable for the most part. Oh, but Kim Kardashian was great, and if she didn't have a reality show where I wanted to push her off a building, I would've been a big fan. Her character was hilarious and she wasn't bad at all at acting.

[Madara]

Annette Funicello was my favorite in the Mickey Mouse Club when I was a kid but I truly loved her in the Beach Party movies. I got to see her once when she made a personal appearance at a local theater when I was ten.



She died yesterday at the age of 70, a victim of a decades-long struggle with multiple sclerosis.



I wrote about her today on my film blog:



http://briandanacamp.wordpress.com/2013 ... #more-1159



In preparation for it, I watched a TV movie about her from 1995 called "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story." As I watched the scenes of her auditioning for the Mickey Mouse Club and Walt Disney coaching her career at various points and Dick Clark getting involved at some point, I couldn't help but think of Tsunku and Morning Musume.



Here she is with Frankie Avalon in BEACH PARTY:

[al kusanagi]

I just watched The Campaign, and holy crap is was hilarious! It definitely helps that I live where it takes place, but it's been a while since I've laughed out loud so many times at a single movie.

[Noa]

I went to see The Croods last night and I absolutely adored it. And I might have teared up a couple times.

[aine]

Oblivion (spoiler-free review, unlike apparently some of the official trailers) - great piece of sci-fi that was unfairly shat upon by the critics. I loved just about every minute of it. If you love the classic Hard SF novels from the 60s and 70s (yes, novels, not campy movies) then this is a must see. If you don't, then you should watch it too, because it may be your new-found love. While it didn't outright flop, I'm sure it will become a silent hit some time down the line, because it gets way less appreciation than it should while still in theatres.



It's not revolutionary or particularly original, but still a very refreshing and immersing production. And it's as far from dumb action sci-fi shoot'em-up or super-hero crap as possible, while still remaining accessible enough to general audiences, unlike, say, Tarkowski's pieces.



I mention Tarkowski on purpose, because the first half of the movie is pretty much a contemplative two-person psycho-drama that totally gives off a strong Solaris vibe. But it doesn't get boring for a second, and the tension buildup towards the second half is great. Because after all, sci-fi is about human nature down at its core, and the performances from all the principal cast give this truth a great justice. I'm not a fan of Tom Cruise as a person to say the least, but his delivery combined with the rest made me forget about his bs cult and other unrelated crap for 2 hours. This is how science fiction should be, and after the Cloud Atlas I'm now giddy as a little boy seeing that the genre is making a comeback.



It's failures are few and far between. There are a few potential plot holes. A few scenes seem rushed and left unexplained as if trimmed in editing, making you wish for a director's cut at least 30 minutes longer. Finally, you may be put off by the sometimes a bit too obvious references / homages to / rip-offs of ^* the classic sci-fi titles (^* select one). But most of them only come to you when you start thinking about it later and at least for me they didn't break my immersion to spoil the pleasure of watching.



Finally, it's definitely worth watching in a good theatre. The visuals are stunning and the landscape photography (which makes up a huge part of the film) aspire to the Lawrence of Arabia tier. CGI is purely utilitarian and used in very conservative way. In the couple of scenes where it dominates the screen you could almost argue that they have put less effort/money into it than expected to drive a point that it's the plot that's importaant.



It deserves a solid 8/10. Or 9/10 even, if you can forget the faults I mentioned. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... umbsup.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[Ap2000]

[quote name='aine' timestamp='1366637180' post='149952']



Finally, it's definitely worth watching in a good theatre.

[/quote]



I personally would never pay for a Tom Cruise movie anymore just because he's in Scientology.

And giving him (and thus also Scientology) even more exposure and support by seeing his movies, I consider morally wrong.

[Madara]

[quote name='aine' timestamp='1366637180' post='149952']

Oblivion (spoiler-free review, unlike apparently some of the official trailers) - great piece of sci-fi that was unfairly shat upon by the critics. I loved just about every minute of it. If you love the classic Hard SF novels from the 60s and 70s (yes, novels, not campy movies) then this is a must see. If you don't, then you should watch it too, because it may be your new-found love. While it didn't outright flop, I'm sure it will become a silent hit some time down the line, because it gets way less appreciation than it should while still in theatres.



It's not revolutionary or particularly original, but still a very refreshing and immersing production. And it's as far from dumb action sci-fi shoot'em-up or super-hero crap as possible, while still remaining accessible enough to general audiences, unlike, say, Tarkowski's pieces.



I mention Tarkowski on purpose, because the first half of the movie is pretty much a contemplative two-person psycho-drama that totally gives off a strong Solaris vibe. But it doesn't get boring for a second, and the tension buildup towards the second half is great. Because after all, sci-fi is about human nature down at its core, and the performances from all the principal cast give this truth a great justice. I'm not a fan of Tom Cruise as a person to say the least, but his delivery combined with the rest made me forget about his bs cult and other unrelated crap for 2 hours. This is how science fiction should be, and after the Cloud Atlas I'm now giddy as a little boy seeing that the genre is making a comeback.



It's failures are few and far between. There are a few potential plot holes. A few scenes seem rushed and left unexplained as if trimmed in editing, making you wish for a director's cut at least 30 minutes longer. Finally, you may be put off by the sometimes a bit too obvious references / homages to / rip-offs of ^* the classic sci-fi titles (^* select one). But most of them only come to you when you start thinking about it later and at least for me they didn't break my immersion to spoil the pleasure of watching.



Finally, it's definitely worth watching in a good theatre. The visuals are stunning and the landscape photography (which makes up a huge part of the film) aspire to the Lawrence of Arabia tier. CGI is purely utilitarian and used in very conservative way. In the couple of scenes where it dominates the screen you could almost argue that they have put less effort/money into it than expected to drive a point that it's the plot that's important.



It deserves a solid 8/10. Or 9/10 even, if you can forget the faults I mentioned. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... umbsup.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[/quote]



I'm down for serious sci-fi on screen and not action with sci-fi trappings. You're making me want to see this.



Last year, on my way to work using a shortcut through the Empire State Building lobby I was stopped at the Fifth Avenue side and told to turn back because they were filming a movie outside. I was about to say, "But I'm Tom Cruise," but decided not to bust the chops of a building worker merely doing his job. So I had to go out and walk up 33rd Street and cross the street to the other side of Fifth. A co-worker was standing there watching the filming and said "Did you see Tom Cruise?" No I hadn't, but he was there filming a scene for this movie. I didn't have my glasses on, so I couldn't tell which one he was from across the street.