Watch Watched Watching: The Rambunctious Cinema of Terrence Malick

[williamjm]

I watched Run Lola Run, which I had previously seen about maybe 15 years ago but I'd forgotten most of the film since then. It does have a unique style and a real sense of momentum. The plot isn't up to much and it's tempting to think Lola might have been better off forgetting about Manni and just staying at home but it is a compelling film and Franka Potente is great in the lead role.

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, RumHam said:

Is it a lot better than the American version? Which is still arguably the worst thing Kevin Spacey ever did.

It's very different, and superior in ways that cannot translate into US politics.  Forget Spacey.  

[DMC]

1 hour ago, RumHam said:

Which is still arguably the worst thing Kevin Spacey ever did.

Oh I can think of worse things Kevin Spacey has done....

 

....what, I meant Pay It Forward.

1 hour ago, WarGalley said:

I thought that first season was great (HBO worth) but I never went past Season 2 due to the reviews / life.

This is exactly what happened with me.  Never saw the British version.

1 hour ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

I liked him in Moneyball and GotG, but aside from that I'm just not a Chris Pratt fan. 

Honestly his best work (that I've seen at least) is still Andy in Parks and Rec.  Awesome character.

[RumHam]

38 minutes ago, DMC said:

Oh I can think of worse things Kevin Spacey has done....

That was actually the tasteless joke I was going for. Really wasn't a fan of the show or his accent in it. But it was OK at first and then the vice president murdered someone on a subway platform and it got worse and worse from there. 

[DMC]

5 minutes ago, RumHam said:

But it was OK at first and then the vice president murdered someone on a subway platform and it t worse and worse from there. 

Well..another vice president shot a guy in the face and nearly killed him.  But yeah the Kate Mara murder is definitely when they jumped the shark.  But anyway, Pay It Forward really did suck more.

[Veltigar]

I watched a couple of things tonight. First, the fifth episode of Loki which I though was excellent. Between this and Black Widow, the MCU is on a roll as far as I'm concerned. Really wondering what episode 6 will bring. Particularly big fan of 

Spoiler

Aligator Loki and Richard E. Granti, the latter of the two really went out like a boss.

After that we watched Werewolves Within (2021), which if I'm not mistaken is the only video game adaptation with a positive score on RT. That positive score is deserved in my opinion. It might not always stick the landing, but the film makes up for that with its enthusiasm. The creature effects were quite shitty, but for the rest I really liked it. A lot of fun actors in it, cool lines. The film was buzzing with energy which I really appreciated. I bet the people who made it had a lot of fun together.

Next up was James Whale's Frankenstein (1931) with Boris Karloff. It's hard to understand these classic horror films from our modern point of view, because they are almost completely unrecognizable to us as horror. There wasn't really anything that frightened me, but you have to admire the craftsmanship and influence this film has had. I distinctly remember reading the novel many years ago and being surprised that Shelley's description of Frankenstein was completely different from the one I knew about and I hadn't even seen this film yet. It's cultural longevity is quite impressive and an enduring proof of the power of the source material. I particularly liked that this film was quite sympathetic to the monster. He's not just a mindless killing machine, but more a victim of its particular circumstances. Powerful stuff.

Lastly I watched Soderbergh's No Sudden Move  after seeing mentions of it here. I enjoyed it, but it's pretty forgettable over all. I'll probably never watch it again but it was entertaining for as long as it lasted. Didn't see the added value of the lens trick Soderbergh used, but it wasn't overly distracting. Its biggest weakness was just how convoluted it was.  I honestly think the twists in Werewolves Within were executed better, because you were more aware of all the pieces and clues on the board. No Sudden Move just dumps wave after wave of exposition on you and still manages to leave important questions unanswered. Luckily the performances are all great, by likable actors. I also liked  the political commentary and historical period it was set in. That was quite original. So yeah, recommended for fans of the genre or Soderbergh but you are definitely not missing out on anything if you decide to skip it.

[Corvinus85]

1 hour ago, Veltigar said:

I watched a couple of things tonight. First, the fifth episode of Loki which I though was excellent. Between this and Black Widow, the MCU is on a roll as far as I'm concerned. Really wondering what episode 6 will bring. Particularly big fan of 

Wait, you liked Black Widow?

[Quijote Light]

11 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

Wait, you liked Black Widow?

I did too. Not really getting the dislike in the MCU thread, but different strokes for different folks. 

[Corvinus85]

2 minutes ago, Quijote Light said:

I did too. Not really getting the dislike in the MCU thread, but different strokes for different folks. 

I just posted my short review there, and my take was meh and really an unnecessary addition to the MCU. Not that Black Widow didn't deserve her own movie, just not this.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

3 hours ago, DMC said:

Honestly his best work (that I've seen at least) is still Andy in Parks and Rec.  Awesome character.

Between this and Moneyball and GotG, it seems that he works better as part of an ensemble as opposed to a leading man. 

-

I rewatched Terminator 2. I don't know why, but I probably haven't seen that film in about 20 years. It's a bit clunkier and a bit cheesier than I remember, mostly due to Edward Furlong's performance not being as good as I remember, but this film definitely holds up. The pacing seems so unusual compared to a movie made today. It takes its time when it needs to but it doesn't feel long or boring. James Cameron definitely knows some things.

Bit of Trivia: Arnold famously rides a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy motorcycle in T2. The type of paid product placement that seems so pervasive today wasn't a thing so much back in 1991. H-D may have donated the bike, but they didn't pay to put it in the movie. This was the highest grossing movie of 1991 and the highest grossing of Arnold's career. That motorcycle features prominently in the first act and what would become an iconic action/chase sequence. It was even on the movie poster. This has to be the greatest marketing coup in history.

However, Terminator 3 represents one of the greatest marketing blunders. The producers of that film approached H-D about a product placement deal and got turned down. Instead, Indian Motorcycle did a deal and built them a police touring bike. Problem: that incarnation of Indian Motorcycle didn't build a touring bike or a police bike and, at a distance, there wasn't a lot to differentiate it from the Milwaukee product. Nor do you get a particularly good look at the bike or the Indian logo in the film. Everybody walked out of the theater thinking it was a Harley.   

[RumHam]

26 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Between this and Moneyball and GotG, it seems that he works better as part of an ensemble as opposed to a leading man. 

-

I rewatched Terminator 2. I don't know why, but I probably haven't seen that film in about 20 years. It's a bit clunkier and a bit cheesier than I remember, mostly due to Edward Furlong's performance not being as good as I remember, but this film definitely holds up. The pacing seems so unusual compared to a movie made today. It takes its time when it needs to but it doesn't feel long or boring. James Cameron definitely knows some things.

I think Furlong was dubbed over for half the movie because his voice changed during filming. John Conner seemed so awesome in the early 90's I remember wanting to hook a device up to an ATM and reprogram it to give me free money. Then years later I'd learn you didn't even need a device to get free money from many ATMs because most owners never bothered to change the default password.  Though in truth It wasn't really "free money" you just tricked the machine into thinking it was distributing 5's when it was giving out 20's.

I actually saw T2 before the first one. It was the first stolen "Pay-per-view" movie my family ever watched together! 

Cameron never disappoints when it comes to directing. He was eyeing Jurassic Park back then and I'll always wonder what his horror movie version might have been. To this day I wish they'd do a straight horror entry. 

[RumHam]

@Veltigar watch Deadwood already or suck cock by choice!

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

16 minutes ago, RumHam said:

I think Furlong was dubbed over for half the movie because his voice changed during filming. John Conner seemed so awesome in the early 90's I remember wanting to hook a device up to an ATM and reprogram it to give me free money. Then years later I'd learn you didn't even need a device to get free money from many ATMs because most owners never bothered to change the default password.  Though in truth It wasn't really "free money" you just tricked the machine into thinking it was distributing 5's when it was giving out 20's.

 You seem to know a lot about this...

I'm happy to say I saw T2 in the theater on opening weekend. Packed theater, applause, etc. Good times. My first (and I think only) experience with the first film was a 2nd or 3rd generation VHS copy. Seeing T2 on a big screen was pretty impressive after that.

 

[RumHam]

3 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

 You seem to know a lot about this...

Only what I've read. Like I said I wished I was John Conner. 

5 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

My first (and I think only) experience with the first film was a 2nd or 3rd generation VHS copy. Seeing T2 on a big screen was pretty impressive after that.

 

Oh man my dad had a VHS copying machine in the late 80's. My siblings and I lived in fear of that FBI warning. 

My first theatrical experience I can remember was crying during Start Trek: The Undiscovered Country. My older brother had to take me into the lobby and we played arcade games for the rest of the movie. 

[dog-days]

7 hours ago, williamjm said:

I watched Run Lola Run, which I had previously seen about maybe 15 years ago but I'd forgotten most of the film since then. It does have a unique style and a real sense of momentum. The plot isn't up to much and it's tempting to think Lola might have been better off forgetting about Manni and just staying at home but it is a compelling film and Franka Potente is great in the lead role.

I had the same impression of the film - very stylish, but a bit like a bubble. Not much substance under the gloss. 

[Ran]

45 minutes ago, dog-days said:

I had the same impression of the film - very stylish, but a bit like a bubble. Not much substance under the gloss. 

That's what happens 99% of the time when a perfect short film idea gets turned into a feature for no reason. Or some great short story gets adapted into a full length film.

[polishgenius]

Run Lola Run infuriates me now that I've lived in Berlin because while normally geographic infidelity isn't something I particularly notice even in places I'm familiar with, in that film her location is obviously key to the plot as is the fact that there's little off-screen cut-time for her to have gone a distance without us seeing, so it's really really noticeable that she's teleporting about all over the place. 

 

 

[Veltigar]

14 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

Wait, you liked Black Widow?

Yes I did, quite a lot more than the average MCU film in fact. 

Here is the review I posted earlier:

Quote

I went to the theatre to watch the long overdue Black Widow film. Going in, I didn't know what to expect. The first review on the Guardian gave it a 4/5, but a lot of the YouTube fanboy reviewers were shitting all over it. As per the usual, the Guardian turned out to be the closest to the truth as I was pleasantly surprised by this film.

Sure, there is a lot of meta criticism that can be leveled at it. Just like everyone else I agree that this film should have been made 5 years ago and that it is kind of weird that none of the characters in this film were mentioned in Endgame or any of the other films. Still, I cannot ignore the fact that it is one of the better MCU films out there. Up there with the likes of Ragnarok and Cap 2. 

A great deal of this film's success can be attributed to its humor and casting decisions. With the exception of Ragnarok, this is for me the funniest Marvel film by quite a large margin. Everyone is great in it, with Florence Pugh and David Harbor as the clear stand outs of the ensemble. Even the villain in this film is less forgettable than the average MCU antagonist, although that is mostly the result of Ray Winstone's presence rather than anything unique about the character.

The film also feels a lot more mature story and content wise than its peers.. For once I also completely accepted the Dominic Toretto moments in which the film made it all about family. In their limited screen time, the cast really sould the idea of this Russian family of spies to me which i thought was rather clever. The action was also rather decent. It lacks a stand-out scene like the elevator fight in Cap 2, but a lot of what they showed was pretty well done. In particular some scenes with snow and certain falls.

There are also some criticisms to be leveled at the film of course. First off, its story is just bonkers. As is the custom of these types of films, it is clear that no-one really took the time to step away seriously enough to make a true difference.  The way the villains used their powers made absolutely no fucking sense. You really feel like no one really thought the implications of the story through because they were a little bit too enamored with the political statement they wanted to make. There were some very cringy lines and dodgy effects, particularly near the end. All in all though, I'm quite happy  

 

EDIT: For spelling and the fact that I wrote this review while falling asleep 

I would add now that I did not like the post-credit scene. To quote a mate of mine who was with me:

Spoiler

No one wants to see more Hawkeye 

 

14 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

I just posted my short review there, and my take was meh and really an unnecessary addition to the MCU. Not that Black Widow didn't deserve her own movie, just not this.

They are all unnecessary if you ask me. I do think a lot of the flack this film for some reason gets would melt away if they had released this after the Winter Soldier.

11 hours ago, RumHam said:

@Veltigar watch Deadwood already or suck cock by choice!

I got stalled in season 2 of Friday Night Lights (which really is a huge drop in charm and quality in comparison to season one), so I'm sort of stuck in my old classic series discovery journey.

[KingintheNorth4]

Last night I watched Judas and the Black Messiah. It was easy to see it just praised as one of the best films of the year. The directing and performances are top notch and themes are still very relevant today.. 

[Veltigar]

Just finished the Jackie Chan classic The Drunken Master (1978). Never seen it before and I totally regret putting it on yesterday. I had to watch it dubbed and it's absolutely horrendous to listen to. The humor in it was juvenile, the sound effects seemed to come straight out of a scary movie spoof and there was no real story line to speak off. I also didn't like the fights. Perhaps this was cutting edge in the Seventies, but they just looked fake to me. I know realism isn't exactly Chan's strong suit, but in his films from the nineties there is enough inventiveness in it to make it work. Here it was just endless. Thank God for the smartphone, that was the only thing that made this mess enjoyable.