Watch, Watching, Watch -- Why do movies have to end so soon?

[Heartofice]

43 minutes ago, Week said:

The Last Duel was complete trash. Poorly acted, scripted, directed. The duel itself - mostly the joust - was the only worthwhile part. 

Add one more to the against column for Last Duel.

[Veltigar]

42 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Add one more to the against column for Last Duel.

Don't you think creating a second account to trash the film goes a bit far @Heartofice 

20 hours ago, Week said:

I can't read or hear 'A24' without finishing - "A...24 year old man would like this movie" which was a dumb Twitter joke.

I don't think it is particularly true considering that I think I, a dozen years older now, like their movies more now than I would've back then when I was younger. Still, it makes me laugh each time.

So is it okay for me to feel smug about watching A24 movies or not? I don't get the joke 

[Week]

1 hour ago, Veltigar said:

So is it okay for me to feel smug about watching A24 movies or not? I don't get the joke 

It's almost more of a funny turn of phrase. I unabashedly enjoy most A24 movies.

[Nictarion]

Gomorrah episode 5x02 - damn Genny is cold…

[DireWolfSpirit]

All right time for me to get my S5 Gomorrah on before one of ya'll slips a spoiler out here.

I'm just declaring in advance I'm gonna love it.

Also maybe everyone realizes it, but there's a Cirro movie out there called "Immortal" that should be enjoyable for most Gomorrah watchers, if by chance anyone has missed it thus far.

[WarGalley]

Goddamnit. I need to hurry up with my Netflix watching so I can cancel and switch over to HBO Max. I haven't even seen S4 of Gomorrah..

[briantw]

1 hour ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

Also maybe everyone realizes it, but there's a Cirro movie out there called "Immortal" that should be enjoyable for most Gomorrah watchers, if by chance anyone has missed it thus far.

I'd say it's required watching between seasons four and five.

[Kalbear]

Watched the first few episodes of Vox Machina. I like it, I don't love it. Animation quality is great, voice acting is great, but the plot and comedy isn't super awesome yet.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

Knives Out.

It's been a while since I've seen it so I decided to give it another chance. My opinion is unchanged. A good but massively overrated film. I still don't understand the critical praise this thing got when it came out. 

[Argonath Diver]

I thought it was a delightful mix of 50s pulp murder mystery fun with some great dark humor. I thought everyone in the cast aced it, and I am really excited to see what the sequel's like. Johnson has made it clear that he wants to do more with Benoit Blanc than a mansion mystery. I have high hopes for the Mediterranean setting; hopefully it's visually arresting as well as a fun romp.

Anyway, I have heard my fair share of people that didn't care for it, so despite super high critical acclaim, it's not a total home run among watchers.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

Watched the first 3 episodes of The End of the F***ing World.

I really like this. Darkly comedic. Indie film vibe. Great performances from the leading duo. It's almost shaping up to be some kind of teenage Bonnie and Clyde or something.  Though it's probably not going anywhere obvious. Great show. 

[Werthead]

Station Eleven lands in the UK today on Starzplay, a subchannel on Amazon Prime. But, and I can't believe they're being this dumb, they're releasing it weekly despite the whole thing being out in the USA for several weeks.

Finished the first season of Kevin Can F Himself. Slow start but by the fourth episode it's firing on all cylinders. Annie Murphy and Mary Hollis Inboden are on fire throughout and the sitcom scenes, which start bogging the show down at the midway point, either reduce in quantity or become tied to the "real world" plot in much more interesting ways towards the end.

Quote

Watched the first few episodes of Vox Machina. I like it, I don't love it. Animation quality is great, voice acting is great, but the plot and comedy isn't super awesome yet.

Episodes 1 and 2, which were written especially for the show, are not great. They're somewhat illogical (7x Level 7 characters should be toast fighting a blue dragon, unless it's a very juvenile one) and feel edgy for the sake of it.

Episode 3, where they start directly adapting Critical Role itself (which I've not seen outside of clips, not having 650 hours to dedicate to one season of something), was a huge step up in quality. Hopefully the rest of the season is in that vein.

I'm also puzzled on if they got permission from Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro to adapt the thing, because if not their creature designs are very on the edge of getting them into legal trouble.

[Heartofice]

8 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Station Eleven lands in the UK today on Starzplay, a subchannel on Amazon Prime. But, and I can't believe they're being this dumb, they're releasing it weekly despite the whole thing being out in the USA for several weeks.

I’m assuming this is so they can squeeze a couple months worth of subscription out of people. I might pay up to watch the latest season of The Great , but there is almost nothing else on there 

[Isis]

2 hours ago, Werthead said:

Station Eleven lands in the UK today on Starzplay, a subchannel on Amazon Prime. But, and I can't believe they're being this dumb, they're releasing it weekly despite the whole thing being out in the USA for several weeks.

Urghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

ETA: I hate the name Starzplay as well. It sounds like a karaoke game for teenagers. 

[Veltigar]

I rewatched Van Helsing (2004) yesterday. It had been on my mind for months now, but I was always able to fight the urge. Yesterday I finally caved and damn it, I just do not understand this movie. How can the same film be so awesome and so dumb at the same time?

It's a damn contradictio in terminis or paradox or whatever you want to call it. A shame this didn't do well at the box-office, because I would absolutely turn up for a sequel. I love how it is incredibly campy (the fake Ruritarian accents, Kate Beckinsale's outfit, the Vatican equivalent to Q's workshop in Bond, etc.) and deadly serious at the same time (the dark tone, the epic themes, Van Helsing as the avenging angel send by God and of course the fact that 

Spoiler

Kate Beckinsale dies at the end of it all.)

I also feel like the CGI and performances have held up remarkably well for a film that is almost 20 years old now. Anyways, you all probably know the film already, but it is still as fun as when I first saw it.

Aside from that I also managed to finish My Fair Lady (1964). I think I started it a fortnight ago, eager to delete another classic from my watchlist, but it is such an utterly repugnant film that I had to switch it off a few times and then let it rest for a lazy Sunday before I could finish it. 

I know I'll probably get flack for this, as it is seen as one of the great classic films, but I was flabbergasted throughout the entire thing. Seldom have I ever seen a film that was this brazen about its noxious ideology. They should just rename this to "MRA: The Movie" or "Red Pill Origins" or something along those lines because that is pretty much what it boils down too (although it also has some hideous things to say about class and linguistics).

Every incel should probably have a poster of the lead male character Henry Higgins on his walls because that guy is living their dream. He behaves like an entitled, arrogant and self-indulgent tool throughout the film and at the end he is rewarded with a beautiful, ideal and submissive woman whom he naturally had to create for himself, as you can't expect the girl to do that herself. I really felt a little bit dirty thinking that this film is not even 50 years old and that at that time it was popular enough to win major awards and break the box office.

It's also curious to see how this is still watched without some pretty big caveats. No one today would even think of recommending e.g. Birth of a Nation (1915) or Triumph des Willens (1935) without some serious introductory commentary on the ideas behind the films. This however gets a free pass, which is a shame, as unlike the others it is also just a pretty poor film without any major contributions to the art of cinema.

It's glacially paced, every set looks fake and the songs are just completely forgettable. Audrey Hepburn is also insufferable in perhaps the entire first quarter of the film, shrieking like a hellish vampire bride from Van Helsing rather than behaving like a real person. The one saving grace for me comes from the costuming department. Hepburn wears some outfits in the latter half of the film that are just outstanding.

[GallowKnight]

I braved the outside world yesterday and went to the cinema to see the new Scream movie. The Scream series holds a special place in my movie-watching-heart but I have never seen one on the big screen before, so I though it was worth it (plus there ended up being only six people on the theatre).

I had a blast and really enjoyed the movie. It's not quite up the with the first two movies but still very good. Even for a Scream movie this one was meta as fuck, which made it a bit predictable at times but still good time. It seem pretty clear from the movie itself and the box office numbers that the plan is for the series to continue (will they call the next one Scream 2 though?) and I am excited to see what they'll do next.

Spoiler

However the new main character not really that interesting outside of her visions of Billy Loomis and can't really see her a a new anchor for the series going forward. Her little sister was great though as was the niece and nephew of Randy.

Also the killer were really brutal and efficient when in costume but as soon as they were revealed they turned into complete fucking clowns which soured the finale a bit. I did really like their motive though, taking on toxic fandom by having them kill to make a new blueprint for their favourite move franchise going forward.

For a moment there I really though they would go for three killers and I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't.

It also had quite a nice tribute to Wes Craven that apparently included some ADR from previous cast-members from the franchise.

[Zorral]

19 hours ago, Nictarion said:

Gomorrah episode 5x02 - damn Genny is cold…

Woo, in the second ep -- not spoiler following -- the location of Genna and Ciro's meeting on the river, the post industrial, post modernist architecture of the background bridges, the thunder and lightning of the approaching storm -- did you think too, "Holy cow, a show down of the gods! This is going to be Very Bad for Very Many."

Got through as far as the first half of the third episode, before my better sense told me to shut down, so I could arise at a decent hour this morning.

[Zorral]

2 hours ago, Veltigar said:

The one saving grace for me comes from the costuming department. Hepburn wears some outfits in the latter half of the film that are just outstanding.

And that's why we watch it to this very day.  I.e. w/ all you say.  Right down to Hepburn herself, whom I used to think and adorable actor and now I go, "Why does she always look like she's drunk a quarter bottle of scotch and taken two sleeping pills?  But she is so beautiful, and wears those clothes as if they were made for her. Ha!

But I always hated Higgins even in High School, reading Shaw in class.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

3 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I rewatched Van Helsing (2004) yesterday. It had been on my mind for months now, but I was always able to fight the urge. Yesterday I finally caved and damn it, I just do not understand this movie. How can the same film be so awesome and so dumb at the same time?

It's a damn contradictio in terminis or paradox or whatever you want to call it. A shame this didn't do well at the box-office, because I would absolutely turn up for a sequel. I love how it is incredibly campy (the fake Ruritarian accents, Kate Beckinsale's outfit, the Vatican equivalent to Q's workshop in Bond, etc.) and deadly serious at the same time (the dark tone, the epic themes, Van Helsing as the avenging angel send by God and of course the fact that 

My sister once told me the story of seeing that in the theater. She made a joke about "the great vampire pop" to her friend and a few people around them must have heard because they also started giggling... which started a localized chain reaction of sorts. Everyone was united in mocking this thing. It was one of those magical moments that can only happen in a movie theater. 

3 hours ago, Veltigar said:

...My Fair Lady (1964)...

Not that I ever paid much attention, but I've never heard this criticism before. I have half a mind to see this now. 

[Heartofice]

I haven’t actually seen My Fair Lady but I do remember seeing others discuss it and there being a sense that it isn’t the sexist movie that it sometimes is painted as by some. 
 

https://time.com/3525216/my-fair-lady-1964/?amp=true

Quote

From Ancient Greece to Edwardian England to 1960s Hollywood, the narrative remains the same: an overbearing male “genius” who transforms a pliable (read: vulnerable) woman from her meager, inadequate self into his personal ideal of womanhood. But thanks to Lerner and Loewe’s songs, My Fair Lady critiques that narrative as much as it upholds it. Their musical is not about a genius attempting to transform a weak woman. It’s about a strong woman attempting to retain her identity in spite of the controlling machinations of a small-minded man.

I’ll let others decide whether it’s true or not.