nooooooo it can't be true!Originally Posted by divemaster
nooooooo it can't be true!
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First, a word about process:
I tend to watch most movies with the family members that are always around (wife + 1 daughter). We all enjoy horror movies, although I enjoy them more than they do. One consequence is that I will record (DVR) movies that everyone agrees they want to see, but then it takes time (sometimes a year!) before everyone is ready to watch.
On to the movies:
About two weeks ago, we finally got around to watching Get Out, which I'd recorded around a year ago (and which has since begun appearing on broadcast TV). We all liked that, so we watched Us the following night (an impromptu Jordan Peele weekend).
In both movies, the presence of racial subtext is perfectly obvious, but isn't why I watch any horror movie. Still, in Get Out, it's impossible to avoid thinking about ordinary non-horror movie bad things that Chris could've had to deal with...
Spoiler:
...but aside from thinking about Get Out only in racial terms, any horror movie that makes intelligent use of ordinary features of the environment to add to the dread is generally well-written, as this was, and the background of a highly socially awkward environment in which the outsider - in this case, Chris, as a black boyfriend introduced to a white family and large circle of white friends - must feel unsure of every move, and in which no one quite knows what to say, is an absolute perfect backdrop against which to build an increasingly tense narrative that allows for the viewer to wonder how much he/she is imagining and what is real.
Which is all to say, ignoring whatever analysis Get Out inevitably invites, it was a hell of a horror film - it even handled humor in the right ways, with Rod's funny moments - and immediately made me interested in Peele and his future work (and made me weep - okay, "weep" is a bit strong, but anyway - weep for the introduction to Suntup's Rosemary's Baby that we didn't get (not that I have a copy of that - I don't, and I don't expect to); I'm really interested in what he has to say.
It's always a pleasure to watch a movie in which another viewer might say "nothing is happening," all the while I can't tear my eyes from the screen (Signs is my favorite example of this) - that is great film making.
Also:
Spoiler:
Random thoughts:
- It was amusing to see Bradley Whitford basically playing his liberal self during the pre-"reveal as baddie" part of the film; this wasn't acting, this is who he is, ready to suck Obama's toesat a moment's notice.
- Jeremy Armitage was really f*cking annoying, wasn't he?
Spoiler:
Anyway, on to Us:
Although I preferred Get Out, I very much enjoyed Us (my two co-viewers, however, didn't enjoy it as much, despite finding it interesting). Having said that, the argument for Us as the superior film could easily be made, given all that it did - this was no sophomore slump; this was another very strong movie. (And given how good these were, it doesn't matter which is better).
Same general thoughts about it being a great horror film with racial subtext etc., and wildly unpredictable (not that Get Out was predictable) - things developed too fast to allow time for building intelligent theories about what was going on and why (for me, at least).
I did like the end, and it made for an interesting contrast with Get Out, in that:
Spoiler:
To sum up: I love good horror movies, but find it difficult to find ones I really like, and these not only were great to watch (I should add: the acting was top-notch in both), but excited me for Peele's future in the genre.It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
Those are some great write ups, Troy. Even though Get Out is on a slightly higher rung of the ladder than Us, both are fantastic films. To think that these are Peele's first two films and he's already found a strong directorial voice should bode well for us, the movie going public. Can't wait to see what he does next.
Yes! "Strong directorial voice" - that's it; I felt like I was in the hands of a professional the whole time, with both.
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
I'm really strict about what I consider a horror film. Both Us and Get Out are more thrillers to me than horror films.
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I definitely felt the same, and I'm excited to see more films from him.Yes! "Strong directorial voice" - that's it; I felt like I was in the hands of a professional the whole time, with both.
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
I agree with that statement.
Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality. Edgar Allan Poe
Thrillers with horror elements.
Sorry, Jean!nooooooo it can't be true!
I thought it started out interesting, and had promise through the middle, but I just couldn't buy in to the whole premise of the "virus" or whatever. Once it lost me, I started seeing the flaws. (I'm typically blind to flaws if I'm enthralled with a movie). Although I didn't care for the last 30 minutes very much, I still see that I gave it 3 stars (out of 5), which is a pretty decent rating on my scale.
And because of this site I watched Pontypool and enjoyed the different take/aspect of it. I really enjoyed it.nooooooo it can't be true!
Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality. Edgar Allan Poe
Pontypool is great.
I wish I could say the same for the 1995 adaptation of The Scarlet Letter starring Demi Moore. Move over, The Lost World, this is officially the worst adaptation I have ever seen. Literally the first near 80 minutes of the movie aren't from the novel, then basically everything about the novel has changed. The acting is pretty poor, the editing is atrocious, and nothing about this movie works. Roger Ebert started his review of this film with this sentence: "This will not do". I quite agree.
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Thelma - 3/5
Moonlight - 4.5/5
Moonlight only a 4/5? :'(
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I updated it to 4.5, that's more accurate. There's just a couple of things that kept it from being a perfect film. The film lost a strong driving force after Ali's exit in the first act, and some of the child actors couldn't quite convey the gravitas needed in some scenes. Everything else was great though, such a powerful film.
I still need to take the scene where Chiron walks into the school and the camera follows him the whole way into the classroom and add Goldberg's theme over it.
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LMAO. Dude, please do!
Under The Shadow - 4/5
Speaking of Vietnam. Da 5 Bloods. This may be the best movie the summer without much going on in theatres! We loved it. Highly recommend this movie.
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That's about what I felt about it. I really enjoyed the story itself, but I wish it had more on the horror end. I like dramatic horrors, but I want more horror than that one.
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I finally got around to watch Eighth Grade, which was a very delightful coming of age story about kids growing up these days. It really made me reflect quite a bit in how much things have changed in the 20 years since I was in middle school...middle schools doesn't even EXIST here anymore. All the schools went Kindergarten to Grade 8...my grade 7 year was the last grade 7 year in a middle school and I was in a K-8 school to finish elementary school. Burnham does a solid job with letting images and the performances do the talking so it's pretty underwritten, mostly saving what the film is trying to saying for Kayla's vlog posts on YouTube which are peppered throughout the movie, which functions quite well as a narrative device. There's quite a bit of humour, a few scenes that tug at the heart strings, a few disturbing moments along the way as well.
This is the kind of film that I think is very important for young kids to watch so they can reflect on their own life during this period of transition into adolescence, but it's probably more important for their parents to watch it to really get a grasp of the massive world their kids exist in. My generation is about the last generation who grew up on the internet yet also knows of the world without the internet, or at least a world not dominated by the internet. The kids growing up now don't have that dichotomy of real world and digital world...it's all one in the same for them.
I'm not quite sure if Eighth Grade is a 4 or a 5 until I watch it. For not I'm giving it a tentative 4/5.
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We watched a different movie.
Movie theaters are closed. I haven't been to a movie in over 3 months. Just typing that out seems weird to me still. When I heard that Spike Lee's new joint was going to drop on Netflix, I was instantly excited. A new film from a name brand director, sign me up. I really enjoyed the trailer as well. It gave me Three Kings vibes, a film I really adore.
Unfortunately, Da 5 Bloods is an absolute mess from the start to the very end of its bloated 2 and a half plus hours. I love Lee's work, but this effort is a shell of his previous films. Bad dialogue, poor plotting, clunky scene transitions, ridiculously convenient twists. Many of the plot devices are telegraphed from a mile away. There's a death scene that I actually laughed at because it felt like it was a Monty Python sketch. You could also see it coming from a mile away.
Da 5 Bloods can't decide if it wants to be a heist film, a war film, a documentary, or a geriatric buddy comedy. Maybe one of the biggest missteps for me was using the same aged actors in the flashback scenes with no de-aging. It just looked plain silly. Da 5 Bloods is one of the bigger disappointments for me in a long time.
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I'm tryna watch that this week. In the mood for a good heist film with some Spike-powered social commentary.
Yeah, it needed just a bit more impetus on the horror front but I still enjoyed it. The war torn setting definitely helped.That's about what I felt about it. I really enjoyed the story itself, but I wish it had more on the horror end. I like dramatic horrors, but I want more horror than that one.
stop it. don't ruin another movie for me.We watched a different movie.
Movie theaters are closed. I haven't been to a movie in over 3 months. Just typing that out seems weird to me still. When I heard that Spike Lee's new joint was going to drop on Netflix, I was instantly excited. A new film from a name brand director, sign me up. I really enjoyed the trailer as well. It gave me Three Kings vibes, a film I really adore.
Unfortunately, Da 5 Bloods is an absolute mess from the start to the very end of its bloated 2 and a half plus hours. I love Lee's work, but this effort is a shell of his previous films. Bad dialogue, poor plotting, clunky scene transitions, ridiculously convenient twists. Many of the plot devices are telegraphed from a mile away. There's a death scene that I actually laughed at because it felt like it was a Monty Python sketch. You could also see it coming from a mile away.
Da 5 Bloods can't decide if it wants to be a heist film, a war film, a documentary, or a geriatric buddy comedy. Maybe one of the biggest missteps for me was using the same aged actors in the flashback scenes with no de-aging. It just looked plain silly. Da 5 Bloods is one of the bigger disappointments for me in a long time.
It does have its flaws.. but I embraced where you didn't. The death scene? LOVED IT! Best Ive seen in some time. And I really thought it was a good play to show them the same age back in Nam..... it was something Ive not seen before and for me? It worked. We watched the same movie... just with a different mindsetWe watched a different movie.
Movie theaters are closed. I haven't been to a movie in over 3 months. Just typing that out seems weird to me still. When I heard that Spike Lee's new joint was going to drop on Netflix, I was instantly excited. A new film from a name brand director, sign me up. I really enjoyed the trailer as well. It gave me Three Kings vibes, a film I really adore.
Unfortunately, Da 5 Bloods is an absolute mess from the start to the very end of its bloated 2 and a half plus hours. I love Lee's work, but this effort is a shell of his previous films. Bad dialogue, poor plotting, clunky scene transitions, ridiculously convenient twists. Many of the plot devices are telegraphed from a mile away. There's a death scene that I actually laughed at because it felt like it was a Monty Python sketch. You could also see it coming from a mile away.
Da 5 Bloods can't decide if it wants to be a heist film, a war film, a documentary, or a geriatric buddy comedy. Maybe one of the biggest missteps for me was using the same aged actors in the flashback scenes with no de-aging. It just looked plain silly. Da 5 Bloods is one of the bigger disappointments for me in a long time.
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Insomnia #459
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Can you say something funny right this minute?
I doubt it.
seeking: anything DT related #246
ANYTHING DT Related #246
Dead Zone First Edition F/F or NF/NF
I recently saw (most of) Mary Poppins Returns. I say "most of" because, although I was in the room the entire time, I wasn't paying super close attention the whole time (until maybe the last 30 - 45 minutes), because I'm not Mr. Happy Disney Movie.
I have to say that I generally think it's pointless to revisit uber-classics like Mary Poppins - you can't win, you can only embarrass yourself by trying. (I also saw that it was over 2 hours long and thought "way too long for this kind of thing.") Well, this movie did not embarrass itself, and it made efficient and extravagant use of the running time. The story was enough of its own thing to justify a second movie, but of course, connected enough to the original to make sense in the first place. The visuals, the sets, the songs; absolutely everything worked, particularly one action scene that combined live action, old-school style animation, and a more realistic style of animation - but it would be wrong to single any scene out, given the wide variety: trees flowering to an extent that strained the imagination, boundless skies, darkened, gas-lit streets, and others. It was strange to think that a film trafficking entirely in unironic charm could be made these days, let alone work.
And I was blown away when...
Spoiler:
Now, the thing is, I'm not really the type that loves this kind of thing (my wife and daughter are, and they liked it even more than I did), but even I thought this was pretty special.
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
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