Lucy has a silly, ridiculous premise, but it does a lot of fun things with it (including a brilliant and understated deconstruction of a mob fight scene, and really interesting visual metaphors). I recommend it!
Total Recall. The original. Why can't more modern movies do disgusting body horror like this and Robocop?
Everyone is about the flashy CGI and seeing what kind of monsters they can crank out on a computer in post these days. Nobody bothers to do practical fx and prosthetics like they did back in the 90's any more, which is a bit sad, really.
Total Recall. The original. Why can't more modern movies do disgusting body horror like this and Robocop?
Everyone is about the flashy CGI and seeing what kind of monsters they can crank out on a computer in post these days. Nobody bothers to do practical fx and prosthetics like they did back in the 90's any more, which is a bit sad, really.
This is true, but there are valid reasons to go with CG.
There's an old saying "you can't see it from your house." If you're building a set for a stage play, or a special effect for a movie, slight imperfections are not a problem. You know they are there, but nobody in the audience will ever notice.
With 1080p, and especially 4K cameras and beyond, suddenly the margin where nobody can see things is much smaller. If I went back in time to shoot Godzilla with my GH4, you would see the zipper for sure. You would see the wires on Mothra as well. Then you end up having to use After Effects to fix it up in post. A lot of times it's just easier to use the computer in the first place.
Other times, the computer just saves you a ton of fucking money. Imagine having to equip real orcish armies for LotR. Yeah...
I think there needs to be a good mix. The latest Captain America film is a good example. There's plenty of things in that movie that needed to be CGI: Giant helicarriers murdering each other, for example. But, on the Winter Soldier, he has a cool robot arm that does things. Some movies might make that entirely special effects. Most of it, however, was done with practical effects. Only the movie elbow, which they couldn't make practically, was done with CGI. However, it was created based on the physical parts of the arm that were really there. This is the kind of good blending you need.
But yeah. Decrying CGI simply for being used a lot ignores the bigger picture. We get lots of great things out of CGI. The problem is when CGI is used instead of real, emotional connections. This is why Transformers is garbage, but Pacific Rim strikes an emotional chord.
I don't mind flashy CGI. I want all of that. But I also want some good body horror stuff. Like in District 9, where the transforming guy cuts off his thumb or finger. It's really great.
But in Prometheus? They had a machine that chopped out the alien in the cleanest, painless and most perfect way. It was just bullshit. By skipping direct to CGI means the actors didn't need to do anything. No pain, no sweat, nothing. It's like Ridley Scott learned nothing from watching Alien. Oh, he made Alien? What the fuck.
Start with practical effects, and cover up any really rough edges with CGI, if needed. But spraying an actor with blood will get a real reaction that no amount of CGI after the fact ever will.
Gone Girl was a very enjoyable movie. It rode a fine line between being surprising at times, predictable in others, but the story is good and the cast knocked it out of the park. I think this movie will get a lot of traction because it absolutely provokes a reaction from the viewer. I think every person walking out of that theater was having the "what would you do in that situation?" conversation.
I have known two people who cried coming out of the movie. Then later, I had a writing discussion with a friend of mine who explained that he was emotionally invested in the movie because he has a close relationship with his brother so he really connected with the emotional hook of main character.
I have known two people who cried coming out of the movie. Then later, I had a writing discussion with a friend of mine who explained that he was emotionally invested in the movie because he has a close relationship with his brother so he really connected with the emotional hook of main character.
I'm with Starfox with this one. It was B grade acting in a fun well produced film with a huge budget.
I have known two people who cried coming out of the movie. Then later, I had a writing discussion with a friend of mine who explained that he was emotionally invested in the movie because he has a close relationship with his brother so he really connected with the emotional hook of main character.
Guys. The robots were cool, but that was it. The brother died like 4 minutes into the movie.
Oh I'm going to sacrifice myself to detonate the nuke and stop the aliens JUST KIDDING I'VE GOT AN ESCAPE POD sorry you died Australian and Stringer Bell
Also, I just found out the main dude isn't American. That explains why he sounds like he's chewing rocks the whole movie:
I actually laughed at the beginning of the movie, because they were playing up that trope of "Nope, instead of doing what we are supposed to do and look over thousands of people, let's go out and save those 10!" I didn't quite come off to me as a tragedy, just as a massive fuck up.
The two guys I know cried over the movie because of the spectacle and accomplishment of that all. It was the big, mecha, action-packed extravaganza that they hoped for and it delivered so much for them that they left in tears because it all came through. It was really hard for me to get behind characters that flat and a story that nonsensical, but my writing buddy did suggest to me an interesting concept. It was something to the degree of...
"Raleigh is meant to be the audience cipher. People want to be like Striker or Mako, but Raleigh is the one they identify with the most having lost everything and finally being able to redeem himself by coming back from those first five minutes of the massive mistake he made."
Even though my friend couldn't re-evaluate every scene of the movie (Like The Wall not having weapons or the Australians being dicks), he did make me see it in a different light that might give it more oomph the next time I watch it.
22 Jump Street. Not quite as funny as the first, and not quite as crude, but still a lot of fun. The end credit sequence is really, really, really good fun. Probably one of the best comedy movie skit in a long time.
Captain America Winter Soldier. I didn't expect much from this, but I put it on as I try to keep up with the Marvel movies so I don't get left behind. Turns out it was better than I thought it would be. It's actually a good mix of fun and serious, with interesting things happening with the overall multi-movie story. Unlike Avengers, in which everything at the end of the movie was the same as at the start, except New York was a bit tatty and there was a "team" put together (a team that since have not helped each other out at all, it seems).
Unlike Avengers, in which everything at the end of the movie was the same as at the start, except New York was a bit tatty and there was a "team" put together.
Considering the major implications that the Avengers has on the plot points for both Iron Man 3 and The Winter Soldier, I find that a bit of an overstatement.
I haven't seen Iron Man 3, so I can't comment on that one. The only thing that Avengers contributed to The Winter Soldier was that Captain America and Black Widow were on the same team. Were they fighting Loki? No. Were they fighting inter-dimensional aliens? No. It's as though those threats, or even those kinds of threats, were suddenly a non-issue. Suddenly it was a continuation of Hydra (from First Avenger) and Bucky (from First Avenger). Is Shield specific to the Avengers movie? I guess.
I guess you must have missed the analogy between 9/11 and The Battle of New York, and the subsequent power grab of military and espionage agencies in the name of "security" that is the crux of the entire movie.
The Battle of New York was in The Avengers. That the world is cannibalizing itself over the omnipresent yet unspecific threat of alien invasion is apparent throughout the entirety of Winter Soldier, and its basically stated explicitly by Nick Fury during the Conversation he has with Captain America when he shows him the fleet of new Heli Carriers.
Yeah, that's my point. In this movie, it feels as though stuff is happening because of real reasons. In Avengers, some aliens invade, they get the team together, they smash up New York a bit, and win. The end. It doesn't feel like much is going on except lots of action and one-liners. Could I explain the plot of Winter Soldier in one sentence? Nope!
The reason I like Winter Soldier much more than Avengers is because it's a far more human movie, and while it plays out in the aftermath of an alien/god invasion, the human drama progresses the plot. The humans use the alien invasion as an excuse. Nothing more. It could have been any threat, and the response would have been distorted in the same way.
I was pleasantly surprised by how little Winter Soldier was like the first Captain America movie. That said, I was unpleasantly surprised at how similar Thor Dark World was to the first Thor movie.
One day I'll get around to watching Iron Man 2 and 3.
I saw Under the Skin, I love it, as it ticked most of my lists of shit I like in movies. The soundtrack was perhaps my favorite bit, it basically made the movie. the only thing that drew me back was the obnoxious university theater crowd that was only there to see some nude Scarlett Johansson.
Talking about fantastic soundtracks, I also saw Only Lovers Left Alive recent, that one checked even more stuff of my list of shit I love in movies. It was almost like seeing a Vampire Lestat movie, with all the melancholy and flair that it brought. Tom Hiddleston really brought his game to this film, bringing what could have easily been a pathetic character in the hands of another actor to the right level of dry, world-weary and jaded needed to pull him off. My biggest gripe with the film is that it felt more like marathoning a miniseries than an actual movie, but that's just a minor thing that didn't impact my enjoyment of the film.
Finally watched the Raid 2; it's different and better than the Raid 1. That fight in the kitchen was one of the best fight scenes ever.
I definitely enjoyed the action equally if not more than the first, but after the original, I was expecting less time between action sequences. It felt a bit longer than it needed to be as well. I enjoyed it, but felt it could have been tightened up in spots.
Ooh, I missed Winter Soldier talk. I've been getting more into Marvel fandom lately, and this one is one of my favorites as far as the movies are concerned. I saw Winter Soldier a month ago and really enjoyed it. It was much less boom-bang- asplode than the Avengers, much more focused on spy stuff and NSA analogies. It also had the trope of friends who become enemies and then...don't want to spoil anything, but the " 'till the end of the line" scene got me. I hope Cap 3 has more conflicted Bucky Barnes. Also, while all the fangirls are freaking out about Stucky, they neglect to mention how hot Falcon is. His wings are so cool!
Comments
There's an old saying "you can't see it from your house." If you're building a set for a stage play, or a special effect for a movie, slight imperfections are not a problem. You know they are there, but nobody in the audience will ever notice.
With 1080p, and especially 4K cameras and beyond, suddenly the margin where nobody can see things is much smaller. If I went back in time to shoot Godzilla with my GH4, you would see the zipper for sure. You would see the wires on Mothra as well. Then you end up having to use After Effects to fix it up in post. A lot of times it's just easier to use the computer in the first place.
Other times, the computer just saves you a ton of fucking money. Imagine having to equip real orcish armies for LotR. Yeah...
But yeah. Decrying CGI simply for being used a lot ignores the bigger picture. We get lots of great things out of CGI. The problem is when CGI is used instead of real, emotional connections. This is why Transformers is garbage, but Pacific Rim strikes an emotional chord.
But in Prometheus? They had a machine that chopped out the alien in the cleanest, painless and most perfect way. It was just bullshit. By skipping direct to CGI means the actors didn't need to do anything. No pain, no sweat, nothing. It's like Ridley Scott learned nothing from watching Alien. Oh, he made Alien? What the fuck.
Start with practical effects, and cover up any really rough edges with CGI, if needed. But spraying an actor with blood will get a real reaction that no amount of CGI after the fact ever will.
Not sure if joking...
Oh I'm going to sacrifice myself to detonate the nuke and stop the aliens JUST KIDDING I'VE GOT AN ESCAPE POD sorry you died Australian and Stringer Bell
Also, I just found out the main dude isn't American. That explains why he sounds like he's chewing rocks the whole movie:
The two guys I know cried over the movie because of the spectacle and accomplishment of that all. It was the big, mecha, action-packed extravaganza that they hoped for and it delivered so much for them that they left in tears because it all came through. It was really hard for me to get behind characters that flat and a story that nonsensical, but my writing buddy did suggest to me an interesting concept. It was something to the degree of...
"Raleigh is meant to be the audience cipher. People want to be like Striker or Mako, but Raleigh is the one they identify with the most having lost everything and finally being able to redeem himself by coming back from those first five minutes of the massive mistake he made."
Even though my friend couldn't re-evaluate every scene of the movie (Like The Wall not having weapons or the Australians being dicks), he did make me see it in a different light that might give it more oomph the next time I watch it.
22 Jump Street. Not quite as funny as the first, and not quite as crude, but still a lot of fun. The end credit sequence is really, really, really good fun. Probably one of the best comedy movie skit in a long time.
Captain America Winter Soldier. I didn't expect much from this, but I put it on as I try to keep up with the Marvel movies so I don't get left behind. Turns out it was better than I thought it would be. It's actually a good mix of fun and serious, with interesting things happening with the overall multi-movie story. Unlike Avengers, in which everything at the end of the movie was the same as at the start, except New York was a bit tatty and there was a "team" put together (a team that since have not helped each other out at all, it seems).
The reason I like Winter Soldier much more than Avengers is because it's a far more human movie, and while it plays out in the aftermath of an alien/god invasion, the human drama progresses the plot. The humans use the alien invasion as an excuse. Nothing more. It could have been any threat, and the response would have been distorted in the same way.
I keep running into people who like Marvel moves but didn't see Winter Soldier because they don't like Cap, they are missing out :-p
One day I'll get around to watching Iron Man 2 and 3.
Talking about fantastic soundtracks, I also saw Only Lovers Left Alive recent, that one checked even more stuff of my list of shit I love in movies. It was almost like seeing a Vampire Lestat movie, with all the melancholy and flair that it brought. Tom Hiddleston really brought his game to this film, bringing what could have easily been a pathetic character in the hands of another actor to the right level of dry, world-weary and jaded needed to pull him off. My biggest gripe with the film is that it felt more like marathoning a miniseries than an actual movie, but that's just a minor thing that didn't impact my enjoyment of the film.
The soundtrack is pretty bitching though.
I saw Winter Soldier a month ago and really enjoyed it. It was much less boom-bang- asplode than the Avengers, much more focused on spy stuff and NSA analogies. It also had the trope of friends who become enemies and then...don't want to spoil anything, but the " 'till the end of the line" scene got me. I hope Cap 3 has more conflicted Bucky Barnes.
Also, while all the fangirls are freaking out about Stucky, they neglect to mention how hot Falcon is. His wings are so cool!