Watch, Watched, Watching: Strange Times

[Corvinus85]

3 hours ago, Veltigar said:

It's so damn quotable 

I have found the little snip of the ginger soldier telling Rico "God damn bugs whacked us Johny" buried on YouTube and I have been listening to that quote on repeat. Greatest line delivery in history 

EDIT: Also Denise Richards in her prime is just... I know her acting isn't great but... 

No doubt, but I've always liked Dina Meyer more and hated it when she was killed off.

#TeamDizzy, #JusticeforDizzy 

[Mexal]

 

22 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I rewatched Starship Troopers for the first time in many years, provoked by the great honest trailer for the film. This film is just great, clearly Verhoeven's best. As a kid I loved the gung-ho militarism (cool guns), but now that I'm old enough to understand all the fascist signaling I can appreciate it on a whole new level. Even the stiff acting fits in, it's such an effective satire

We watched it a month or so back and it's still glorious. I've seen it maybe 4-5 times, my wife hadn't seen it and she couldn't stop talking about it. We then watched Total Recall the following week. I still think the latter is his best movie, but I'm all about Starship Troopers.

But let's talk about Verhoeven for a second because he doesn't really get talked about enough. The dude has made some REALLY good movies and has shown a level of versatility that not a ton of other directors can match. RoboCop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Showgirls (gets a bad rap but very good film), Starship Troopers - all fantastic movies with different themes and subject matters. Then you have his dutch movies, which I haven't seen, but are supposedly really good (Black Book, Elle). We'll just ignore that Hollow Man exists. Still, when looking at his filmography, pretty impressive.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

46 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

No doubt, but I've always liked Dina Meyer more and hated it when she was killed off.

#TeamDizzy, #JusticeforDizzy 

She could be the perfect live action Ms. Frizzle. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

49 minutes ago, Mexal said:

Showgirls (gets a bad rap but very good film), 

Very good film might be a stretch, but it's no where near as bad as some say. It's a good, honest film about the subject it's speaking about. Some of the scenes are way too over the top, but it laid the tracks for Black Swan, which was a far better film.

[Mexal]

9 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Very good film might be a stretch, but it's no where near as bad as some say. It's a good, honest film about the subject it's speaking about. Some of the scenes are way too over the top, but it laid the tracks for Black Swan, which was a far better film.

I think it aged well when we watched it last year. Agreed it has some very over the top scenes but that's also Verhoeven's style. The acting is very hit or miss though...

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

2 minutes ago, Mexal said:

I think it aged well when we watched it last year. Agreed it has some very over the top scenes but that's also Verhoeven's style.

I agree it's aged well, but that's in part because it was so maligned when it came out. A lot of people were so uncomfortable with it. Magic Mike, while different from how the story goes, is not really that different on the subject. It was widely celebrated, even though the characters in many ways are a lot worse morally in the film.

Male privilege 101. 

[Cas Stark]

Showgirls?  I recently tried to watch it for the camp factor, and it was too stupid to finish even watching.  Truly atrocious.  

[williamjm]

5 hours ago, Mexal said:

Then you have his dutch movies, which I haven't seen, but are supposedly really good (Black Book, Elle).

I did see Black Book a few years ago which I thought was a good second world war drama.

[dbunting]

9 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

Showgirls?  I recently tried to watch it for the camp factor, and it was too stupid to finish even watching.  Truly atrocious.  

Yeah I'm in this camp. I want to watch it for the pervy factor but it's just so bad.

[RumHam]

Rewatched Jurassic Park. I still love the movie but there are some questionable editing decisions.

So the helicopter lands  at the dig site and and the pilot points to the trailer and Hammond is somehow already in there rummaging through their fridge.  Wtf?

But my favorite is that they make a point of how the T-rex shakes the ground when it moves. But then at the end of the movie it somehow sneaks up on everybody INDOORS. 

I want to visit the alternate universe where Cameron did it instead of Titanic. 

[Teng Ai Hui]

Recently, I have been watching a British panel show / game show called Taskmasters.  I find it to be hilarious.  I just wish American comedies could make me laugh like this.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

9 hours ago, RumHam said:

Rewatched Jurassic Park. I still love the movie but there are some questionable editing decisions.

So the helicopter lands  at the dig site and and the pilot points to the trailer and Hammond is somehow already in there rummaging through their fridge.  Wtf?

But my favorite is that they make a point of how the T-rex shakes the ground when it moves. But then at the end of the movie it somehow sneaks up on everybody INDOORS. 

I want to visit the alternate universe where Cameron did it instead of Titanic. 

JP is probably my favorite movie, so sometimes you don't want to ask questions, but how the hell did where the Rex broke the fence turn into a giant cliff?

[Cas Stark]

BTW, Schindler's List is Spielberg's best movie and it isn't even close.  I would probably put Jaws as my #2 because its such a fantastic example of creating suspense.  I'm also partial to AI and Minority Report, but frame for frame there are probably better Spielberg films. 

[DMC]

45 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

BTW, Schindler's List is Spielberg's best movie and it isn't even close.  I would probably put Jaws as my #2 because its such a fantastic example of creating suspense.

Nero, James Bond, and Mance Rayder are coming for you.

[l2 0 5 5]

8 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

JP is probably my favorite movie, so sometimes you don't want to ask questions, but how the hell did where the Rex broke the fence turn into a giant cliff?

I've never understood this... fenced in wilderness turns into a pit of death after a couple minutes.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

18 minutes ago, l2 0 5 5 said:

I've never understood this... fenced in wilderness turns into a pit of death after a couple minutes.

How did the dilophosaurus get in the car?

JP has deep flaws all over it, but fuck it, who cares. It's the best dinosaur movie ever made, and some of the things you just have to go with. Like just the path the cars go on. How does that make any sense? 

[Leofric]

1 hour ago, l2 0 5 5 said:

I've never understood this... fenced in wilderness turns into a pit of death after a couple minutes.

I assumed they thought of the cool stunt of the car lodged in the tree first and then after filming it realized a T-Rex with his stubby arms couldn't throw a car up into a tree.    Therefore car had to fall onto the tree, so they added the cliff.

[ithanos]

If you could only watch movies from one director then Spielberg would probably be close to the top of the list of candidates, if not the top of the list. His quality, range and productivity over the last 50 years is probably unmatched - though I'd be intrigued if there are other suggestions.  

Spielberg movies were a major part of my childhood. Close Encounters of the Third Kind was my introduction to Spielberg. My primary school had a reel copy and we probably watched it half a dozen times over about 3yrs.

Raiders of the Lost Ark was one of the first movies I ever saw in cinema. I recall my dad dropping my friend & I off to watch it one Saturday afternoon and then near the end of the movie we could hear some old guy snoring and when I turned to see who it was, it was my dad - he had turned up early to pick us up again and the old guy looking after the foyer told him to just go on in for the end of the movie.  

E.T. I'll always remember because my mom took us kids to watch it and I remember her crying at the ending.

As I got older and my world view began to expand so did Spielberg's offerings. The Summer blockbuster, which he ushered in with Jaws (always a TV for me) was replaced with period dramas. The Color Purple was initially a difficult watch but I've watched it a few times now - Glover, Winfrey and Goldberg were great. Empire of the Sun, with a young Christian Bale was quietly enjoyable.

Then to bring out Jurassic Park and Schindler's List in the same year is insane.  

 

[DMC]

35 minutes ago, ithanos said:

If you could only watch movies from one director then Spielberg would probably be close to the top of the list of candidates, if not the top of the list. His quality, range and productivity over the last 50 years is probably unmatched - though I'd be intrigued if there are other suggestions.  

I'd suggest Kubrick or even Nolan.  Quality over quantity.  ETA:  Oh, and Scorsese, duh.  Probably Tarantino too.

[ithanos]

28 minutes ago, DMC said:

I'd suggest Kubrick or even Nolan.  Quality over quantity.  ETA:  Oh, and Scorsese, duh.  Probably Tarantino too.

Quality over quantity is fine, but variety is the spice of life. Of those listed, if I had to pick one, I'd probably take Scorsese - simply because he's delved into scopes outside of his signature gangster movies.  I particularly like his psychological thrillers like the Cape Fear remake and Shutter Island. From Mean Streets to Kundun to Bringing Out the Dead to Hugo, its a wide range of work.