Best Godzilla movie I have ever seen that didn't have Mothra in it.
Trufus. Just got back from seeing it, really liked it. I am also of the opinion that based on this movie, Anno's favorite episode of EVA was probably episode 6, mostly because that's where they stole about 80% of the finale.
In other news, I would desperately love to play a mega game about handling tokyo during the first godzilla attack.
Pretty good. Critics didn't appreciate it, but I saw an indulgent series of vignettes about the studio era of Hollywood tied thinly by the thread of our earnest and skilled protagonist. I loved how it would use what another movie would take as an establishing shot (e.g., actors starting up a musical number on a soundstage) and then just actually show the entire number in full studio-era detail.
It was also quite funny and a bit surreal. No highs, but also no lows. The lulls fit the pacing well.
It's not a particularly memorable movie, but it was consistently enjoyable and reliably amusing throughout.
An "Honest Trailer" for it turned up in the YouTube recommendations and Juliane said she hadn't ever seen it. But it was on Netflix, so that was easily fixed.
Also, I watched "Unchained: The untold history of freestyle motocross" which was a lot of fun. I loved watching that stuff in the early 2000's on Extreme TV in the UK, so it was fun to see the short history of what came before (though I'd seen the original VHS that sparked the whole scene) and what came after I stopped following it so much.
We watched Netflix's ARQ. It was an enjoyable little time loop movie, but lacked character development. Also, the characters ignored some obvious, though not ideal, solutions to their dilemma. I would have preferred this story in a black box theater setting to emphasize the immediacy of the action and the time limitations, but it wasn't bad.
Godzilla Resurgence absolutely blew me away. The 2014 Movie treated Godzilla like a natural disaster, but this was more a political and military procedural, with self interested foreigners and the value of innocence deteriorating further into the crisis.
In other news the new Batman Return of the Caped Crusaders was kind of boring. I would have liked if they aged Batman, Robin, Catwoman, and the villains to make it seem a little more believable. To me every joke fell flat except one in the final act of the movie. It's not like the performers aren't talented, it seemed like dull writing.
For years now, the only thing I really knew about Meet Joe Black was that it was a super long movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt, and when it originally came out in theaters, the Star Wars Special Edition trailer was in front of it, so apparently a ton of geeks went to the movie just to see the trailer, and then left without actually staying for the movie proper.
It turns out that it's actually a really good, if long, movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt.
10 Cloverfield Lane, featuring Walter and Ramona in a bunker. I really liked this one! The soundtrack was a bit much sometimes, overemphasizing the drama that it distracted from the tension, but I could get past it.
I totally understand why some people said it goes down hill in the last act, but because I knew that was a problem, I was ready for it, and actually enjoyed it quite a bit, even if it was as strong as the earlier part of the movie.
10 Cloverfield Lane, featuring Walter and Ramona in a bunker. I really liked this one! The soundtrack was a bit much sometimes, overemphasizing the drama that it distracted from the tension, but I could get past it.
I totally understand why some people said it goes down hill in the last act, but because I knew that was a problem, I was ready for it, and actually enjoyed it quite a bit, even if it was as strong as the earlier part of the movie.
Katie and I just watched this last night as well for our Halloween movie. My thoughts are pretty much the same, I loved the first two-thirds and knew what was coming in the final act so it didn't throw me off that much. Not so with Katie, she was quite frustrated with the holes that it left in the story and couldn't stop "ugh"ing over it the rest of the night.
The Jungle Book (2016) started off as a background movie, but then got my full attention as it went on. There was one song too many (could do without Louis singing) but otherwise really solid.
Doctor Strange was not only a good superhero movie, but a solid film full stop. As is obvious from the trailers, it is visually interesting. However, many film goers have seen such Escher-esque visuals in relatively recent films so that may not be as much of a draw as it might have been ten years ago. The movie offered a truly interesting main character and vivid side characters. It was surprisingly moving, funny, engaging, the music was lovely, and the action sequences never felt too long or dull. That last bit may seem counterintuitive, but I get bored in long action sequences no matter how interesting or well done they may be.
The whitewashing of The Ancient One did not sit well with me, but neither does the magical Asian trope that Marvel employed when creating the The Ancient One. At least Tilda Swinton gave a strong performance and the character was a controlled Celtic woman in a position of power who never took on a motherly role.
The whole experience was a very moving for me, as I saw it with my father. His two favorite comic book character as a child was Doctor Strange. He has eagerly awaited this film and near giddy while watching it. All I knew about Doctor Strange was that he was a magician trained by The Ancient One. I knew nothing else about the character's backstory, so I couldn't understand the draw for him.
At the age of two, a fluke accident caused my father crawl through hot coals. Most of his feet and legs were covered with third-degree burns. He was lucky to be alive, but he spent a large portion of his childhood and adolescent years in hospitals for skin grafts and dealing with near constant infections. Doctors told my Grandmother that he would likely never walk. Whether because he was naturally bookish and musical or became so to fill dull and painful months in a hospital, I do not know. I do know that my father became an avid reader, a compulsive autodidact, and an obsessive musician. He was also stubbornly determined to be more physically active and capable than most of his friends. Through sheer will and constant endurance of extreme pain, my father was walking and running by the age of ten, and later a star tennis and football player in high school. He still fights with the pain of old skin grafts and a host of musculoskeletal issues which only intensify with age. Yet, he excels at his physically demanding jobs and spends the majority of his free time working in his yard, woods, and gardens. The only sign he ever shows of his pain is the occasional wince. I would ask if he is in pain, but I know that he is never not in pain. He endures and forces his body to do things that most of his doctors have told him it should not be able to do. So in watching Doctor Strange with him, I not only see the draw for him, but I witnessed how concepts that he consumed at a young age inspired and informed him to become the man I know.
So, yeah, I think this might be my favorite superhero movie of all time.
Doctor Strange is a really damn good film. Easily the best visual movie I've seen since Fury Road. I saw it in 3D and it was absolutely worth it. It deserves a special medal alone for explaining magic and alternate realities/dimensions without being convoluted. The evolution of Strange as a character was great and I loved the way he handled the villains. I do have issues at the beginning with the scene of the accident and some of the acting, but it's pretty high up there. Not as good as Winter Soldier or Civil War, but in the tier of Iron Man and Guardians.
Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One is absolutely sublime. She might be a stand out best quality of any MCU ever in my opinion. She delivers her lines beautifully and talks about philosophy on an approachable, earnest level. She does have an otherworldly/ephemeral presence in every scene. The casting with her replacing the source material is a no-win situation in just about any case because the character's Tibetan origins, but I would argue this is the best case scenario from the performance.
Shout out to my man C. Robert Cargill transitioning between film critic to screenwriter. You've done good.
We saw it on the IMAX 4K dual laser projection screen with 11 channels of sound and 17 speakers. How do I know the technical specs? They told us about how good it was on three different occasions before the movie started, with different demos and whooshes and countdowns.
And you know what? the IMAX was totally worth the extra money!
There wasn't a lot bad with the movie, though I have some issues with some clunky plotting and Wimbledon Tennismatch's accent was a bit off at times. All of that was forgivable due to the overall enjoyableness.
Other said it deserves best special effects oscars already, and I going in I was a bit "yeah yeah yeah, but how good will it be really..."
I was blown away! It wasn't 100% effective or seamless, but this felt like the first truly post-CGI movie. As in, everyone says that with CGI you can put anything on the screen. But most filmmakers take this to mean "We have this story, so we're going to need this element and this element" but all those elements are real things like dinosaurs or robots or space ships or whatever. They are not "anything" they are "some things".
But Doctor Strange just took the challenge head-on. Forget the story, forget what is possible, forget what makes sense physically or logically. We want to portray MAGIC. What does that look like? It looks like ANYTHING you want it to.
Sure, that means at times it looked a bit like Inception and a bit like the Matrix and a bit like a lot of other movies... but also it could look like things I've not seen before at all. Which was a refreshing movie-going experience.
Adam and I saw Kubo and the Two Strings in 3D at a second run theater. The story was sweet, if a bit thin and at times crossed the line from playful to nonsensical. The aesthetics were impressive even by Laika's high standards, and the film was enhanced by 3D without the usual murky quality of the diminished colors. I wish the songs had been more memorable and that the climax of the film made a bit more sense, but overall I enjoyed it.
Seeing Dr. Strange tonight, but in the polar opposite of IMAX: A drive-in movie theater.
While drive-ins are fun for the novelty, they are a shitty movie experience. The projectors are often weak sauce, and light pollution washes out the image. The audio is even worse. Not to mention being hot/cold/uncomfortable in your car.
Seeing Dr. Strange tonight, but in the polar opposite of IMAX: A drive-in movie theater.
While drive-ins are fun for the novelty, they are a shitty movie experience. The projectors are often weak sauce, and light pollution washes out the image. The audio is even worse. Not to mention being hot/cold/uncomfortable in your car.
Nah man, the drive-in I used to go to was rad. When the movie started, they'd kill all the lights, they had a crazy good projector, the speakers were quality and well maintained. Roll up, back the van up point the arse at the screen, crank up the back door, lay out on the mattress+couch cushions I'd throw in the back for the purpose, it was brilliant. Sure, maybe still not objectively the best movie experience, but hey, I'm not the best movie viewer.
Sure, maybe still not objectively the best movie experience, but hey, I'm not the best movie viewer.
How do you know though? What if you actually are the best movie viewer but you've been hampering your ability to perform by forcing yourself into bad movie watching experiences?
Sure, maybe still not objectively the best movie experience, but hey, I'm not the best movie viewer.
How do you know though? What if you actually are the best movie viewer but you've been hampering your ability to perform by forcing yourself into bad movie watching experiences?
I've never seen a drive in that nice, but would love to.
Well, it was pretty recent and modern at the time(nearly 10 years ago now), so it's not the typical drive-in. The guys who owned the place were real movie lovers, so they wanted the best drive-in experience you could get, not just to chuck films on a screen and bank on nostalgia.
Still, I'm surprised with how few people ever figured out that with some cushions, the back of a van is basically a giant couch.
I'm more surprised that people haven't figured out that adding a projector, screen, receiver, HTPC and speakers to a single entry room will turn it into their own home theatre.
Which you can later also turn into a VR room, as discussed at Walker's Donughts at 1am.
Comments
In other news, I would desperately love to play a mega game about handling tokyo during the first godzilla attack.
Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” has been sitting in the fridge for far too long. Fortunately, with Janus Films’ stunning 4K restoration.
http://www.indiewire.com/2016/10/tampopo-trailer-janus-films-restoration-ramen-1201737301/
Having never watched the original, I would really like to see this.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475290/
Pretty good. Critics didn't appreciate it, but I saw an indulgent series of vignettes about the studio era of Hollywood tied thinly by the thread of our earnest and skilled protagonist. I loved how it would use what another movie would take as an establishing shot (e.g., actors starting up a musical number on a soundstage) and then just actually show the entire number in full studio-era detail.
It was also quite funny and a bit surreal. No highs, but also no lows. The lulls fit the pacing well.
It's not a particularly memorable movie, but it was consistently enjoyable and reliably amusing throughout.
An "Honest Trailer" for it turned up in the YouTube recommendations and Juliane said she hadn't ever seen it. But it was on Netflix, so that was easily fixed.
In other news the new Batman Return of the Caped Crusaders was kind of boring. I would have liked if they aged Batman, Robin, Catwoman, and the villains to make it seem a little more believable. To me every joke fell flat except one in the final act of the movie. It's not like the performers aren't talented, it seemed like dull writing.
It turns out that it's actually a really good, if long, movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt.
I totally understand why some people said it goes down hill in the last act, but because I knew that was a problem, I was ready for it, and actually enjoyed it quite a bit, even if it was as strong as the earlier part of the movie.
The whitewashing of The Ancient One did not sit well with me, but neither does the magical Asian trope that Marvel employed when creating the The Ancient One. At least Tilda Swinton gave a strong performance and the character was a controlled Celtic woman in a position of power who never took on a motherly role.
The whole experience was a very moving for me, as I saw it with my father. His two favorite comic book character as a child was Doctor Strange. He has eagerly awaited this film and near giddy while watching it. All I knew about Doctor Strange was that he was a magician trained by The Ancient One. I knew nothing else about the character's backstory, so I couldn't understand the draw for him.
At the age of two, a fluke accident caused my father crawl through hot coals. Most of his feet and legs were covered with third-degree burns. He was lucky to be alive, but he spent a large portion of his childhood and adolescent years in hospitals for skin grafts and dealing with near constant infections. Doctors told my Grandmother that he would likely never walk. Whether because he was naturally bookish and musical or became so to fill dull and painful months in a hospital, I do not know. I do know that my father became an avid reader, a compulsive autodidact, and an obsessive musician. He was also stubbornly determined to be more physically active and capable than most of his friends. Through sheer will and constant endurance of extreme pain, my father was walking and running by the age of ten, and later a star tennis and football player in high school. He still fights with the pain of old skin grafts and a host of musculoskeletal issues which only intensify with age. Yet, he excels at his physically demanding jobs and spends the majority of his free time working in his yard, woods, and gardens. The only sign he ever shows of his pain is the occasional wince. I would ask if he is in pain, but I know that he is never not in pain. He endures and forces his body to do things that most of his doctors have told him it should not be able to do. So in watching Doctor Strange with him, I not only see the draw for him, but I witnessed how concepts that he consumed at a young age inspired and informed him to become the man I know.
So, yeah, I think this might be my favorite superhero movie of all time.
Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One is absolutely sublime. She might be a stand out best quality of any MCU ever in my opinion. She delivers her lines beautifully and talks about philosophy on an approachable, earnest level. She does have an otherworldly/ephemeral presence in every scene. The casting with her replacing the source material is a no-win situation in just about any case because the character's Tibetan origins, but I would argue this is the best case scenario from the performance.
Shout out to my man C. Robert Cargill transitioning between film critic to screenwriter. You've done good.
We saw it on the IMAX 4K dual laser projection screen with 11 channels of sound and 17 speakers. How do I know the technical specs? They told us about how good it was on three different occasions before the movie started, with different demos and whooshes and countdowns.
And you know what? the IMAX was totally worth the extra money!
There wasn't a lot bad with the movie, though I have some issues with some clunky plotting and Wimbledon Tennismatch's accent was a bit off at times. All of that was forgivable due to the overall enjoyableness.
Other said it deserves best special effects oscars already, and I going in I was a bit "yeah yeah yeah, but how good will it be really..."
I was blown away! It wasn't 100% effective or seamless, but this felt like the first truly post-CGI movie. As in, everyone says that with CGI you can put anything on the screen. But most filmmakers take this to mean "We have this story, so we're going to need this element and this element" but all those elements are real things like dinosaurs or robots or space ships or whatever. They are not "anything" they are "some things".
But Doctor Strange just took the challenge head-on. Forget the story, forget what is possible, forget what makes sense physically or logically. We want to portray MAGIC. What does that look like? It looks like ANYTHING you want it to.
Sure, that means at times it looked a bit like Inception and a bit like the Matrix and a bit like a lot of other movies... but also it could look like things I've not seen before at all. Which was a refreshing movie-going experience.
Also, your movie reviews are enjoyable to read, Luke.
What if you actually are the best movie viewer but you've been hampering your ability to perform by forcing yourself into bad movie watching experiences?
Still, I'm surprised with how few people ever figured out that with some cushions, the back of a van is basically a giant couch.
Which you can later also turn into a VR room, as discussed at Walker's Donughts at 1am.