Watch, Watched, Watching: From Scott Civil Wars to Christmas Movie Wars

[Heartofice]

Saltburn is excellent .

[Ran]

3 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Saltburn is excellent .

Part way through but had to take a break to do other stuff. Did not expect to see Rosemund Pike and Carey Mulligan in the roles of Edina and Patsy from AbFab... Enjoying it so far. Have premonitions it may get sloppy, though, towards the end.

Edited December 22, 2023 by Ran

[Heartofice]

3 minutes ago, Ran said:

Part way through but had to take a break to do other stuff. Did not expect to see Rosemund Pike and Carey Mulligan in the roles of Edina and Patsy from AbFab... Enjoying it so far. Have premonitions it may get sloppy, though, towards the end.

Rosemund Pike in maybe a career best performance, she was hilarious.

[polishgenius]

Quite enjoyed Rebel Moon. Obviously it's very like Star Wars, but as others have said there's nothing inherently wrong with that. It's a hell of a lot better than TRoS anyway. Also than other post-2000s new space epic properties like Avatar and Jupiter Ascending. 

I will say that- thanks to the overt Seven Samurai influence- there's a lot more effort to introduce the middle-of-nowhere village than Star Wars ever has done. Quite liked the way it was done, with things happening because of genuine well-meant mistakes rather than some big betrayal. 

Kind of interesting to compare it in my head to Chronicles of Riddick too. Possibly comes out to about equal in the end (though I dunno if this'll have the rewatch value for me that did). Lot more interesting and technically competent visually and partly because it's so beholden to existing ideas it doesn't have the lumpen qualities Riddick's overall story did - but that had much better dialogue in places, and more interesting ideas for action set-pieces even when the execution was mixed. Kind of arrived in a similar point even though their relative strengths and weaknesses are opposite to each other. 

 

It is too long, though. Largely because the writing is just so clunky that there's very little room for inferring anything- everything has to be exactly spelled out and shown to us and that takes up a shocking amount of time. And yet at the same time there's clearly stuff missing- character development happens off-screen, like, a lot. 

Edited December 22, 2023 by polishgenius

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

15 hours ago, Veltigar said:

When Deadlines dreams about the Snyder Cut, he isn't dreaming of an extended version of the Justice League! 

Oh, my.

3 hours ago, polishgenius said:

Quite enjoyed Rebel Moon. Obviously it's very like Star Wars, but as others have said there's nothing inherently wrong with that. It's a hell of a lot better than TRoS anyway. Also than other post-2000s new space epic properties like Avatar and Jupiter Ascending. 

I will say that- thanks to the overt Seven Samurai influence- there's a lot more effort to introduce the middle-of-nowhere village than Star Wars ever has done. Quite liked the way it was done, with things happening because of genuine well-meant mistakes rather than some big betrayal. 

Kind of interesting to compare it in my head to Chronicles of Riddick too. Possibly comes out to about equal in the end (though I dunno if this'll have the rewatch value for me that did). Lot more interesting and technically competent visually and partly because it's so beholden to existing ideas it doesn't have the lumpen qualities Riddick's overall story did - but that had much better dialogue in places, and more interesting ideas for action set-pieces even when the execution was mixed. Kind of arrived in a similar point even though their relative strengths and weaknesses are opposite to each other. 

 

It is too long, though. Largely because the writing is just so clunky that there's very little room for inferring anything- everything has to be exactly spelled out and shown to us and that takes up a shocking amount of time. And yet at the same time there's clearly stuff missing- character development happens off-screen, like, a lot. 

My main criticism of it is the polar opposite of my main critique of Dune Part 1. That movie was a bit too thin on exposition and some stuff would have come out of the blue for people not familiar with the story. I have heard that from at least one commentator who hadn't read the books.

Rebel Moon is the other way. Way too much and it's kind of clunky at times. On the one hand, they get a lot of worldbuilding done. One the other, they could have been more economical with that stuff and the film would have benefitted from it.

Visuals: forget it. Amazing.

Ed Skrein's Noble is an amazing villain. He utterly nails it. What was he doing with that tentacle creature? Don't know but it probably wasn't very Christian. 

I remember thinking (of the Bloodaxe siblings) why are they speaking like that? And then I thought, "Oh shit, they're doing PG-13 Spartacus or Rome." Royalty definitely has their own thing going on in this. 

I could be wrong but I think this is the second Snyder film where Harvey Weinstein makes an appearance. 

That's about the limit of my processing ability right now. Bring on the Extended cut. Bring on part two. 

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

1 minute ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Oh, my.

My main criticism of it is the polar opposite of my main critique of Dune Part 1. That movie was a bit too thin on exposition and some stuff would have come out of the blue for people not familiar with the story. I have heard that from at least one commentator who hadn't read the books.

Rebel Moon is the other way. Way too much and it's kind of clunky at times. On the one hand, they get a lot of worldbuilding done. One the other, they could have been more economical with that stuff and the film would have benefitted from it.

Visuals: forget it. Amazing.

Ed Skrein's Noble is an amazing villain. He utterly nails it. What was he doing with that tentacle creature? Don't know but it probably wasn't very Christian. 

I remember thinking (of the Bloodaxe siblings) why are they speaking like that? And then I thought, "Oh shit, they're doing PG-13 Spartacus or Rome." Royalty definitely has their own thing going on in this. 

I could be wrong but I think this is the second Snyder film where Harvey Weinstein makes an appearance. 

That's about the limit of my processing ability right now. Bring on the Extended cut. Bring on part two. 

Was it better than The Force Awakens ?

[IlyaP]

34 minutes ago, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

Was it better than The Force Awakens ?

Jeez dude, that's a low bar. That's like asking if it's better than Highlander II.

[A True Kaniggit]

14 minutes ago, IlyaP said:

Jeez dude, that's a low bar. That's like asking if it's better than Highlander II.

The Force Awakens was a good start.

I like it as a movie. (Except for the big weapon at the end)
 

The other two bring it down. (Especially 3)

Edited December 23, 2023 by A True Kaniggit

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

1 hour ago, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

Was it better than The Force Awakens ?

Subjective. And, I'm reluctant to go there.

I remember seeing TFA and being very satisfied, even if I had a few complaints; some of which I couldn't quite put my finger on. It only occurred to me sometime later that I just watched an ANH remake. 

Then again, given my attitude toward SW at the time, It could have been 2 hours of Luke Skywalker igniting a lightsaber and jangling keys and I'd have been happy if it was well written. What can I say, I got hype.

Now? My view on the hole stinking mass has been corrupted by the insanity of what's happened since. Season 1 of Ahsoka was the final final straw for me. I don't care if I ever see any of it ever again, TFA included. 

I have the OT. I even have the prequels, warts and all, and I have seven seasons of Clone Wars that, on balance, is still the best thing to come out of Lucasfilm IMO. I'm good. 

Edited December 23, 2023 by Deadlines? What Deadlines?

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

28 minutes ago, IlyaP said:

Jeez dude, that's a low bar. That's like asking if it's better than Highlander II.

My son, I actually paid for a fucking movie ticket for that one. 

The horror. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

52 minutes ago, A True Kaniggit said:

The other two bring it down. (Especially 3)

Sorta. TLJ isn't good and TRoS is so bad I've never been able to see it in one sitting, but TFA isn't good either and puts a downer on the trilogy from the jump. I liked it when I first saw it, but once you stop and think about it you notice just how flawed it is. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Whoa, I didn't know Tim Roth turned down the chance to play Snape. Add that to the list of actors who made bad choices. 

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

2 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Whoa, I didn't know Tim Roth turned down the chance to play Snape. Add that to the list of actors who made bad choices. 

Biggest is Sean Connery turning down Gandalf and Dumbledore..dude would’ve raked in money. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

5 minutes ago, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

Biggest is Sean Connery turning down Gandalf and Dumbledore..dude would’ve raked in money. 

But he did say yes to Zardoz! 
 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

10 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Whoa, I didn't know Tim Roth turned down the chance to play Snape. Add that to the list of actors who made bad choices. 

Oh, shit. "Snape". I thought you misspelled "Snoke". 'Took me a minute.

'Hard to imagine anyone other than Alan Rickman. Why would he turn that down?

2 minutes ago, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

Biggest is Sean Connery turning down Gandalf and Dumbledore..dude would’ve raked in money. 

Connery had no problem keeping the pool heated. Believe me. 

Christopher Reeve. I thought his lack of significant roles had to do with being typecast as Superman, But it turns out he either had scheduling conflicts or he was just really really picky about choosing roles. 

Quote

Following the first Superman movie, Reeve realized Hollywood producers wanted him to be an action star. He later said, "I found most of the scripts of the genre poorly constructed, and I felt the starring roles could easily be played by anyone with a strong physique." In addition, he did not feel he was right for the other films he was offered and turned down the lead roles in American Gigolo, The World According to Garp, Splash, Fatal Attraction, Romancing the Stone, Lethal Weapon, and Body Heat. Katharine Hepburn recommended Reeve to David Lean for the role of Fletcher Christian in The Bounty, a film version of Mutiny on the Bounty starring Anthony Hopkins. After considering it, Reeve decided he would be miscast, and the film was eventually made with Mel Gibson. After his 1995 accident, Reeve turned down the role of Mason Verger in Hannibal, which was played by Gary Oldman.

 

[polishgenius]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

But he did say yes to Zardoz! 

 

The great tragedy is that he turned down Morpheus and Gandalf because he didn't really get the scripts. So when he got the script for LXG, he didn't understand it either, but took the role on the basis that he's clearly out of touch with what's working for Hollywood but it'd probably be good anyway. 

And it led him directly into retirement. 

 

4 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Rebel Moon is the other way. Way too much and it's kind of clunky at times. On the one hand, they get a lot of worldbuilding done. One the other, they could have been more economical with that stuff and the film would have benefitted from it.

 

 

What's most frustrating for me I think is that there are things Snyder tried to imply rather than just tell us, but the balance is all wrong. Like a lot of character motivation that could have given some  strong scenes is thrown away in one line or just hinted at with oblique looks. We almost never see any actual camaraderie-building between the group. Meanwhile we get multiple minutes-long 'as you know' dialogues most of which could have been a lot shorter or themselves covered via implication.

 

I think the most egregious example of this is 

Spoiler

when Kara explains her backstory to Gunnar, including a lot of detail about the princess etc that's irrelevant to the point she's actually making, then ends with 'I know they'll destroy your village because I'd do that'... and the revelation that she used to be a genocidal warlord isn't even responded to. 

 

also: fucking lol
 

 

Edited December 23, 2023 by polishgenius

[DireWolfSpirit]

Enjoyed a new A.I. movie streaming called "Creator."

Denzel W's son is the lead actor.

[Ran]

Finished Saltburn. Some beautiful production design and cinematography (by Linus Sandgren), some razor-sharp writing from Emerald Fennel, Barry Keoghan is an absolutely fearless performer as the much-buzzed-about last scene proves, Jacob Elordi is very good at playing the charming n'er-do-well (and by god, he's a broad-shouldered guy -- someone of his body type would be perfect for Duncan the Tall), Rosemund Pike is hilariously good (but she really is channeling Eddie from Absolutely Fabulous; particularly the scene where she talks of her daughter's eating disorder), Richard E. Grant is terrific ... I mean, the performances can't be faulted. 

But. It does the very obvious in the last twenty minutes or so, and I fear at the end it ends up being just rather jejune in its narrative. There's a famous film based on a novel that this will remind a lot of people of, I suspect, but it's nowhere near as good, because the story lets it down in the end. 

Shame. But a beautiful watch, with some fun class-skewering satire here and there, and Keoghan's very, very good.

[IlyaP]

11 minutes ago, Ran said:

But. It does the very obvious in the last twenty minutes or so, and I fear at the end it ends up being just rather jejune in its narrative. There's a famous film based on a novel that this will remind a lot of people of, I suspect, but it's nowhere near as good, because the story lets it down in the end. 

The trailer and certain details* didn't give it away?

Spoiler

* The Maze.

 

[Ran]

Sure, but I lived in hope that the film would take a different turn than what I suspected.