I'm going to watch it tomorrow. It was shown on Saturday on the IMAX here in Berlin last weekend, but it seems not any more. I'll just see it in 3D then, non-IMAX.
I didn't see it in IMAX and still had a helluva time!
Gravity is not a science fiction movie. Instead it is the first fictional disaster movie where the action takes place in space. Apollo 13 was a disaster movie where the action takes place in space, but it wasn't fictional.
Just because there are scientific inaccuracies (so many!) that also doesn't make it science fiction any more than all the scientific inaccuracies in every other disaster movies make those science fiction. And just because the Explorer shuttle orbiter doesn't exist, or that the Chinese space station isn't that big yet, that doesn't make it science fiction. The Poseidon cruise liner doesn't exist either, and nobody calls any Poseidon movie science fiction.
I think it's awesome where someone can make a movie set entirely in space and it not be science fiction. It'll be a while before there's enough new shit up in space to do something that doesn't look like a rip-off of Gravity, but I hope there will be more non-science fiction space movies. The next step is, of course, a movie filmed entirely in space, not something relying on special effects.
Just watched Pacific Rim. This movie met all of my expectations. I did find it funny that the scientist that wanted to mind meld with the brain didn't consider the two way nature of the system.
I had watched Olympus has Fallen a while ago, and it was terrible. Took itself way too seriously, and had horrible suspension-of-disbelief-breaking cliches.
I thought I should probably watch its counterpoint movie, White House Down, just to see if something could be salvaged from the genre. OH MANS, SOMETHING WAS. This movie rides the line perfectly without falling into either of the pits (way too serious action movie / total goofoff hackneyed parody) on each side.
Seriously, it's really fun.
P.S. What should we call movies that come out together and have the same basic plot? I like the phrase "counterpoint movies," but I'm totally open to suggestions.
I've watched three very important documentaries recently that I'd like to recommend.
1) Samsara, 2011. An experimental documentary about reiterative patterns in human existence, the increasing overlap between ancient human behaviors and new technologies, and the way in which the technologies humanity uses manifest new reiterative behaviors of their own.
2) Manufactured Landscapes, 2006. A documentary about the work of photographer Edward Burtynsky, who takes photos of landscapes radically altered by human activity. A good way to contextualize the enormous societal engine that gave you the device you are reading this post on.
3) Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, 2012. A documentary about Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. An interesting study of how the internet can catalyze societal changes while also complicating the ways in which they proceed. Also a fascinating study of one of the greatest artistic minds of our time and the totalitarian regime in which he persists.
I had watched Olympus has Fallen a while ago, and it was terrible. Took itself way too seriously, and had horrible suspension-of-disbelief-breaking cliches.
I thought I should probably watch its counterpoint movie, White House Down, just to see if something could be salvaged from the genre. OH MANS, SOMETHING WAS. This movie rides the line perfectly without falling into either of the pits (way too serious action movie / total goofoff hackneyed parody) on each side.
Seriously, it's really fun.
P.S. What should we call movies that come out together and have the same basic plot? I like the phrase "counterpoint movies," but I'm totally open to suggestions.
Hell yeah, White House Down was way better. I love Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum in an elevator shaft.
P.S. What should we call movies that come out together and have the same basic plot? I like the phrase "counterpoint movies," but I'm totally open to suggestions.
I don't know what to think about the fact that there are apparently two Halloween porn parodies that came out same year. There just being two or even just one porn parody of Halloween is weird enough for me.
I don't understand why you'd make a porn parody of a scary movie. I mean, Star Trek, yeah definitely. But Scream? That's not my cup of jackoff tea.
EDIT: Disclaimer: I've seen the popular Star Trek porn parody, and it's really not a good movie. I don't recommend it, though in principle I could see how it would've been good.
Man of Steel starts boring, becomes interesting, then turns very boring again.
Also, this is the worst movie ever for indiscriminate killing of citizens in cities. ID4 got it right, killing people and smashing cities is the low point of the movie. In Man of Steel and all other more recent city-smashing-spectacle-movies it is at the climax/triumph/ending. That's the wrong place!
I thought it was surprisingly insightful for an Aliens related franchise. Had some silly / unnecessary bits and characters in it but it was really the level of sci-fi horror that I got from the original "Alien".
I actually went into it now knowing that it was Aliens related which added so much value to the reveals in the film.
Prometheus was the worst movie I saw this year. I actually felt angry watching it.
That was this year? Feels like it is years old already.
Last year. It's one of those movies where I automatically didn't like the characters or motive of the story, however, the look and action was enough to make me like it. Like all the bullshit saying David doesn't know emotions when clearly he does.
I saw other movies that made me more mad. Even better movies. But Luke isn't alone with people who hate that movie.
I just got back from Escape Plan. It's a movie that stars both Sylvester Stallone AND Arnold Schwarzenegger. As an added bonus, Kanye West also makes an appearance.
I went in expecting this to be as dumb as hell and IT PAID OUT IN SPADES. We have 2 hours of Stallone pretending to be an actor and Arnold delivering some choice lines. I rate this movie as dumber than hell, 10/10 would watch again.
Last night, I saw The 400 Blows as was suggested to me by my teacher. I wasn't particularly moved emotionally, but I was extremely impressed by how well-crafted it was both on a technical level and storytelling level. Anyone who is serious about film needs to see this, as it is the beginning of the French New Wave.
Be warned though, that is a film that isn't a walk in the park, you have to put a little effort into watching it.
I saw Thor 2 last night. It's solid, but most of the plot is predictable in the standard ways. I think they should have pulled about 10 minutes of fight scenes in order to give others some more dramatic impact. There's only one major plot point that's getting on my nerves at the moment, which is better than most movies.
The writing itself is good, though, and the bits of comic relief are absolutely fantastic, which is why I'm not going to pass it off as just another shiny superhero movie. If you like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's definitely worth seeing.
Apocalypse Now. Good parts, but too much blank space. I mean, I understand the point of it, but somewhere around the 2 hour mark you're pushing it, and when you hit 3 hours its just over the top.
I really enjoyed Thor 2, and Ro and I actually saw it a second time (in 2 days no less), which is the first time we have done that since The Hobbit part 1.
Comments
Holy shit! Good movie! Really good!
Gravity is not a science fiction movie. Instead it is the first fictional disaster movie where the action takes place in space. Apollo 13 was a disaster movie where the action takes place in space, but it wasn't fictional.
Just because there are scientific inaccuracies (so many!) that also doesn't make it science fiction any more than all the scientific inaccuracies in every other disaster movies make those science fiction. And just because the Explorer shuttle orbiter doesn't exist, or that the Chinese space station isn't that big yet, that doesn't make it science fiction. The Poseidon cruise liner doesn't exist either, and nobody calls any Poseidon movie science fiction.
I think it's awesome where someone can make a movie set entirely in space and it not be science fiction. It'll be a while before there's enough new shit up in space to do something that doesn't look like a rip-off of Gravity, but I hope there will be more non-science fiction space movies. The next step is, of course, a movie filmed entirely in space, not something relying on special effects.
Meh.
I thought I should probably watch its counterpoint movie, White House Down, just to see if something could be salvaged from the genre. OH MANS, SOMETHING WAS. This movie rides the line perfectly without falling into either of the pits (way too serious action movie / total goofoff hackneyed parody) on each side.
Seriously, it's really fun.
P.S. What should we call movies that come out together and have the same basic plot? I like the phrase "counterpoint movies," but I'm totally open to suggestions.
1) Samsara, 2011. An experimental documentary about reiterative patterns in human existence, the increasing overlap between ancient human behaviors and new technologies, and the way in which the technologies humanity uses manifest new reiterative behaviors of their own.
2) Manufactured Landscapes, 2006. A documentary about the work of photographer Edward Burtynsky, who takes photos of landscapes radically altered by human activity. A good way to contextualize the enormous societal engine that gave you the device you are reading this post on.
3) Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, 2012. A documentary about Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. An interesting study of how the internet can catalyze societal changes while also complicating the ways in which they proceed. Also a fascinating study of one of the greatest artistic minds of our time and the totalitarian regime in which he persists.
All of these are on Netflix. Go watch them!
EDIT: Disclaimer: I've seen the popular Star Trek porn parody, and it's really not a good movie. I don't recommend it, though in principle I could see how it would've been good.
Also, this is the worst movie ever for indiscriminate killing of citizens in cities. ID4 got it right, killing people and smashing cities is the low point of the movie. In Man of Steel and all other more recent city-smashing-spectacle-movies it is at the climax/triumph/ending. That's the wrong place!
I thought it was surprisingly insightful for an Aliens related franchise. Had some silly / unnecessary bits and characters in it but it was really the level of sci-fi horror that I got from the original "Alien".
I actually went into it now knowing that it was Aliens related which added so much value to the reveals in the film.
I saw other movies that made me more mad. Even better movies. But Luke isn't alone with people who hate that movie.
I went in expecting this to be as dumb as hell and IT PAID OUT IN SPADES. We have 2 hours of Stallone pretending to be an actor and Arnold delivering some choice lines. I rate this movie as dumber than hell, 10/10 would watch again.
Be warned though, that is a film that isn't a walk in the park, you have to put a little effort into watching it.
The writing itself is good, though, and the bits of comic relief are absolutely fantastic, which is why I'm not going to pass it off as just another shiny superhero movie. If you like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's definitely worth seeing.