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Watch, Watched, Watching: Those Bloodthirsty Gods!


RedEyedGhost

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There are three films I've seen since my last post:

Lost City of Z (Amazon Prime) - Um, a bit disappointed in this one given the praise it's gotten in this thread. It was slow paced and the dialogue was a bit cringy in places. The Robert Pattinson character felt underwritten, as of course were Percy's two youngest kids. However, I felt like it did a pretty good job of showing motivation for the three main characters. Tom "Spider-Man" Holland as Percy's elder son was a wonderful surprise, and he was maybe my favorite thing about the third act. It was shot beautifully, and I like the ambiguous ending given that the real explorers did mysteriously disappear. Overall, grade of B-.

Jerry Before Seinfeld (Netflix) - Jerry basically does an autobiographical stand-up special with a few filmed cut-aways. I applaud him for trying something different with the format of a traditional comedy stand-up routine special. However, it didn't keep my interest even though it's only about an hour long. It took me three viewings to get through. I'd say this is more for hardcore Seinfeld fans and not just for someone looking to see a full comedy routine like with a Louis C.K. or Chapelle special. Grade of C+.

Lady Gaga: Five Foot Two (Netflix) - In the hands of a slightly better director this could've been one of the all time great music documentaries. (For an example of perfection in this genre see HBO's The Defiant Ones). I'd call myself a casual fan of Lady Gaga, I own her first album and her latest, Joanne, which this doc focuses on. The weakness in this doc lies in the feeble narrative structure and the anti-climactic ending of Gaga's Superbowl 51 performance. Gaga is a savvy self promoter, and this doc is no exception. She's shown being vulnerable, but only to a degree. Gaga ironically talks to her "fashion team" about how she wants to tone down the glam for her next promo tour whilst being topless. (Get it?) She talks a lot about her ex-fiancee and the emotional pain of that break up, but never once is the man she's currently dating shown or mentioned. She mentions Madonna's beef with her twice, but not once is the Perez Hilton feud discussed. She is clearly someone suffering from a level of anxiety and stress that would benefit from therapy, but not once is anxiety or mental health treatment ever mentioned in the doc. (However, a place people can go to seek help & info for "anxiety" is mentioned in the credits.) So this doc is a curated vulnerability and not as "raw" a look at her life as it would lead you to believe. The best and most emotionally authentic scene in this doc comes around the 34 minute mark when Gaga and her father visit her grandmother and play her the album's finished mix of the title track, "Joanne." If you don't know the story behind Joanne, I won't spoil it for you. I suggest you watch the doc to find out, as it is a truly emotional story and my favorite part of the whole doc. Overall grade: B+.

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5 hours ago, Theda Baratheon said:

who wants to talk about cloud atlas

:wub: I have a great deal of love for that film. I saw it before reading the book and while there are changes made I still think it's a good adaptation and I love how the Wachowskis approached it. I go back and forth on which story works the best, I think it depends what mood I am in. The Ghastly Ordeal always makes me laugh, both book and film...Jim Broadbent was a wonderful cast there imo. I also though Bae Doo-na was great as Somni. 

Think Luisa's story interested me the least in both versions (though it was still good). 

And the score was fantastic!

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1 minute ago, HelenaExMachina said:

:wub: I have a great deal of love for that film. I saw it before reading the book and while there are changes made I still think it's a good adaptation and I love how the Wachowskis approached it. I go back and forth on which story works the best, I think it depends what mood I am in. The Ghastly Ordeal always makes me laugh, both book and film...Jim Broadbent was a wonderful cast there imo. I also though Bae Doo-na was great as Somni. 

Think Luisa's story interested me the least in both versions (though it was still good). 

And the score was fantastic!

Somni and Zachry are my fave stories but I think it's because i'm a big softie who loves romances LOL but I love the cyberpunk Neo Seoul and the post-civilisation valley. Cool science fiction settings. Luisa Rey is also my least fave which I feel sort of bad about really. Great actors, great cast and adore how love is a huge theme and how it transcends time and certain souls are destined to meet again and again. Really love it. 

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34 minutes ago, Theda Baratheon said:

Somni and Zachry are my fave stories but I think it's because i'm a big softie who loves romances LOL but I love the cyberpunk Neo Seoul and the post-civilisation valley. Cool science fiction settings. Luisa Rey is also my least fave which I feel sort of bad about really. Great actors, great cast and adore how love is a huge theme and how it transcends time and certain souls are destined to meet again and again. Really love it. 

I think I'd agree about Luisa's section being the weakest, although it's still good, I think maybe it's inevitable because it's told in a pulp thriller style that's maybe a bit lacking in depth. Sonmi and Zachry's stories are my favourites as well.

I watched Cloud Atlas a few weeks ago for the first time in years, and I thought it held up well. If I'd known beforehand I'd have been nervous about the structural change where they switch between stories every scene but it works surprisingly well and still manages to remain coherent despite the continual jumping around. I think it's probably about as good an adaptation of the story as you could get in a single film, I think it manages to capture the key points from the various stories even if they inevitably have to cut a lot of the details and some of the subplots.

47 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

:wub: I have a great deal of love for that film. I saw it before reading the book and while there are changes made I still think it's a good adaptation and I love how the Wachowskis approached it. I go back and forth on which story works the best, I think it depends what mood I am in. The Ghastly Ordeal always makes me laugh, both book and film...Jim Broadbent was a wonderful cast there imo. I also though Bae Doo-na was great as Somni.

Broadbent was great as Timothy Cavendish. Overall, I thought the acting was good although there were times when trying to include the same actors in every story got a bit distracting with some of the smaller cameos.

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9 hours ago, williamjm said:

I think I'd agree about Luisa's section being the weakest, although it's still good, I think maybe it's inevitable because it's told in a pulp thriller style that's maybe a bit lacking in depth. Sonmi and Zachry's stories are my favourites as well.

I watched Cloud Atlas a few weeks ago for the first time in years, and I thought it held up well. If I'd known beforehand I'd have been nervous about the structural change where they switch between stories every scene but it works surprisingly well and still manages to remain coherent despite the continual jumping around. I think it's probably about as good an adaptation of the story as you could get in a single film, I think it manages to capture the key points from the various stories even if they inevitably have to cut a lot of the details and some of the subplots.

Broadbent was great as Timothy Cavendish. Overall, I thought the acting was good although there were times when trying to include the same actors in every story got a bit distracting with some of the smaller cameos.

What do you both think of the same actors playing different genders and ethnicities ??? Because I actually like it despite how bizarre it is on the first watch but I think it's an interesting way to show the same ~soul~ in different people I haven't read the book tho so I may be way off 

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Finished Season 7 of the Walking Dead. Jeffrey Dean Morgan's version of Negan saves the show. Reminds me of the breath of freshness that Russell Edgington gave True Blood. Can't imagine where the show will go after him. Without Negan, the show is a bunch of cheesy bonding scenes and artificially forced dramatic moments that lectures us on the despair of the characters and their moral struggles. I just don't care about the priest, Morgan, or Rosita. I definitely didn't understand Sasha's motivations and Daryl and Jesus didn't get enough screentime. The only character I was interested in aside from Negan was Carl and maybe Dwight. 

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9 hours ago, Theda Baratheon said:

What do you both think of the same actors playing different genders and ethnicities ??? Because I actually like it despite how bizarre it is on the first watch but I think it's an interesting way to show the same ~soul~ in different people I haven't read the book tho so I may be way off 

I found it a bit hit and miss. Often it worked fine, but there were times when it was a bit distracting. I think reusing the same cast for the different time periods might help it feel more like a single story. Compared to the book I think they're taking an idea that was hinted at (in every story one of the main characters has a distinctive comet-shaped birthmark) and making it a much more fundamental part of the way the story is told.

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I am also very hyped for Blade Runner 2049. I haven't watched any trailers since maybe the first teaser and full one. All I know is the two leads. That's it. Read one review that was perfectly vague and got me even more excited. I am in media and forum blackout mode (including this thread for awhile ;) ) until opening night.

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