Movie/TV recommendations

[vimes]

Hey, I watched The Apartment, which was fantastic! It manages to be smart, funny and grim without sounding artificial or conceited - the whole post-OD sequence is fantastic in that respect. The only gripe I have would be against the little of soundtrack there is, which tended to be full of pathos. My favorite part is how

by making Baxter a social chameleon and showing how he does it consciously and unconsciouly (i.e. the bits of sentences he keeps on borrowing from the nearest authority figure); the writers managed to craft a likeable character that you can empathize with but also fault for his opportunistic behavior.

I also watched Prometheus which, beside the fantastic visuals and atmosphere of the Prometheus, turned out to be just full of ... nothing. It is probably the best directorial effort of Scott since 2005 and the cast is very solid, but it felt unecessary in a slightly infuriating way : the movies doesn't have a lot to say and when it does-

'why do they hate us so much', and what is going on in the opening sequence

- it's clearly material for the sequel.

Edited June 10, 2012 by vimes

[Orv]

Does anyone else find the fiction/mythos concept of gods as sort of cosmic or deific batteries odd? I watched Clash and Wrath of the Titans in a sitting, and it struck me as either stupid or potentially pointless that a lot of fictional gods have a set limit of power they can draw on. Even the frequently omniscient ones can be drained of power, where I would think it would be more of a lightswitch concept. Switch is up, God, omniscient, capable of grand and mysterious things. Switch is down, mortal, killable, no better than a human. The idea of gods (as they are commonly portrayed) having some kind of Mega Man power meter bothers me. Thoughts, anyone?

Concerning the movie itself, when your comic relief is the best character in a movie like that, you have failed. Also amusing is the fact that the guy playing Apollo in this is the guy who played Zeus in Immortals.

I also find it hilarious that a world where-in most of the Greek myths are fact, is a real shithole. Lousy with cyclops and giant scorpions every day.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I know it's only vaguely related, but the fact that it's related at all is stupid.

Hmmm. ¬¬

what is going on in the opening sequence

- is clearly material for the sequel.

Not necessarily. The opening scene answers an important question for the audience. Without that scene there would be a big question mark hanging over the "DNA" results (if you catch me drift).

On a different note: I personally don't give two hoots about the answers she's searching for. Nothing she can uncover could actually ever be totally satisfying to us, the audience. Is it just me? :-/

[James]

Because of the reactions I've been reading and Scott's recent track record, my expectations for Prometheus were somewhat tempered. As such, I quite enjoyed it. It was quite muddled, yes, and not a patch on Alien, but I quite like that it's of a different genre. Besides, they already pretty much did that already with Aliens. But yes, old man make-up never works, and it didn't work here. Also, although I otherwise enjoyed her performance, Noomi Rapace did have a detectable accent (which she presumably wasn't meant to, given that her surname is Shaw and in her childhood memory she speaks with an English accent. That was a pretty minor thing, though, and I guess it could conceivably be explained.

With regards to the answers she's after, I agree that nothing she could find would be satisfying, but those sorts of questions are a common obsession, so I don't think it's unreasonable or uninteresting for a character to have them. Instead of prospective answers, perhaps it'd be more entertaining to contemplate people's preoccupation with the question. Or perhaps that's been done to death.

[vimes]

Well, I agree that the answer to her question might never be satisfactory for the audience, but I wish the movie was structured around 1) why are people attracted or not to that question 2) what are the possible answers and what leads people to 'believe' in one or another.

None of this is developed in the movie and as it is, it felt more like something they thought was cool to include, and nothing else. I can understand if you feel like I'm unfair in criticizing the movie for what it doesn't pretend to be, but to borrow from Duncan's review of Bioshock it felt to me like it "made an interesting statement and then refused to discuss it".

Anyway, IMO, the opening sequence is just saying that

mankind was an accident

; which if true dodges the topic in lazy way. And in any case the question of

why they wanted to erase us

is still in suspens; and it being in suspens rather than set is stone doesn't do anything to make the movie carry its point better.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Anyway, IMO, the opening sequence is just saying that

mankind was an accident

; which if true dodges the topic in lazy way.

If that scene hadn't been included it would have caused a big question mark, as I said. Specifically, when

Shaw discovered the DNA match

, it could have pointed to

us having a shared creator

. That scene closes off any other avenues of question

by explicitly inferring that we were being created in that moment.

It's a more visual way of giving information to the audience than just having

David ask the Engineer

.

My work colleague had a great theory, too:

That David told the Engineer to kill Weyland

.

Question:

Anyone know why Weylan's last words where, "There's nothing..."? David's response was equally baffling. "I know. Have a good journey, Mr Weyland."

Edit: Someone online has speculated it related to David's Lawrence of Arabia quote: "There's nothing in the desert, and no man needs nothing". Interesting.

Also, who was David checking to see a response from in the beginning of the movie?

[BigJKO]

Also the old trope of

RUNNING IN A STRAIGHT LINE DOWN THE PATH OF A GIANT OBJECT ROLLING TOWARD YOU IS A STUPID IDEA

Yes, I don't know why it bothered me so much but that was especially stupid considering

she then falls and rolls herself out of harms way.....

[ThunderPeel2001]

Ooh! I found a rather excellent piece on Prometheus. For those on the fence, it might just sway you:

http://cavalorn.live...com/584135.html

I still think the film is flawed, but I'm happy that it has the ability to be deconstructed to such a deep level.

[gregbrown]

Also, who was David checking to see a response from in the beginning of the movie?

It appeared to be a universal message sent to the moon they were visiting, like Voyager's golden disc.

Just watched Witness for the Prosecution last night, and it was really good! I saw it in high school as a treat in our mock trial class, but luckily forgotten how it played out. Are there any other cool, older mystery/surprise movies like this? I've already seen a lot of the more modern ones like The Game, etc.

[Lu]

Ooh! I found a rather excellent piece on Prometheus. For those on the fence, it might just sway you:

http://cavalorn.live...com/584135.html

I still think the film is flawed, but I'm happy that it has the ability to be deconstructed to such a deep level.

It doesn't make the movie any better for me, but that was an excellent read.

[toblix]

Oh man, I could not disagree harder.

Agreed! I tend to hate CG faces, but that long stare, and that face – it didn't feel ridiculous at all, just chilling.

[toblix]

So I watched three films/movies this weekend, The Kingdom, Take Shelter and Caché. I liked all three – though the first one the least – and thought Caché in particular was great. Has anyone seen these? What did you think?

[ThunderPeel2001]

I worked on the artwork for Cache, and I pitched some artwork for Take Shelter (we didn't get it). I haven't seen either of them, but I've been told from reliable sources that they're both very good. Especially Cache.

[Orv]

I figured out what I don't like about Thor.

- It's not two hours of Magical Norse Mythology Adventures.

- When Thor is in Asgard/Jotunheim, he speaks modern American accented English without a hitch. The moment he comes to Earth/Midgard, he's talking in Middle English, shitty Middle English at that.

- The final boss of this particular Avengers setup movie isn't a particularly interesting outside force, or particularly threatening in the end.

- Inexplicable Asian.

[toblix]

- Inexplicable Asian.

Racist.

I worked on the artwork for Cache, and I pitched some artwork for Take Shelter (we didn't get it). I haven't seen either of them, but I've been told from reliable sources that they're both very good. Especially Cache.

What does that entail, exactly, working on the artwork? Is it in the film itself, or marketing, or what? And if you worked on it, why haven't you seen it?

[Orv]

Racist.

He's the only one in the entire movie! Not even just the Asgardians, the entire movie! The fact that he is one of the Asgardians just makes it weirder. I guess I can't really complain since I think the people raging about Heimdal being black are insane.

[Chris]

Hey, I watched The Apartment, which was fantastic! It manages to be smart, funny and grim without sounding artificial or conceited - the whole post-OD sequence is fantastic in that respect. The only gripe I have would be against the little of soundtrack there is, which tended to be full of pathos. My favorite part is how

by making Baxter a social chameleon and showing how he does it consciously and unconsciouly (i.e. the bits of sentences he keeps on borrowing from the nearest authority figure); the writers managed to craft a likeable character that you can empathize with but also fault for his opportunistic behavior.

Yessss. The Apartment is one of my favorite movies, and Billy Wilder one of my favorite directors.

[Chris]

He's the only one in the entire movie! Not even just the Asgardians, the entire movie! The fact that he is one of the Asgardians just makes it weirder. I guess I can't really complain since I think the people raging about Heimdal being black are insane.

I haven't seen the film but what is different about the Asian guy as opposed to the black guy?

[Orv]

I haven't seen the film but what is different about the Asian guy as opposed to the black guy?

That's the thing, they're both relatively incongruous towards Nordic mythology (everyone that's a good guy is basically white as hell) so I can't complain about one and not the other without being crazy. The fourth point was more amusement rather than actual annoyance. I was just commenting on the asian guy over the fact that Heimdal is black because there are a couple other black guys in the movie. It is basically all white people though.

E: His characters name is Hogun, I feel bad about calling him "that Asian guy". But still, he has like three lines in the entire film, whereas Heimdal is a fairly important supporting character with plenty of cool lines.

E2: There's also the incongruities in things like Thor's power of flight via Mjolnir, and the Bifrost working perfectly fine as a bridge one moment but being a planet-killing weapon the next. Admittedly, the second point is explained in the course of the movie, but when Loki uses it as a weapon it starts chewing up Jotunheim instantaneously like some GDI ion cannon.

Whatever, it's not a good movie, Avengers is, that's enough.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Thor is a pretty good movie. You're wrong!

[Orv]

Thor is a pretty good movie. You're wrong!

Haha, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it enough to seek it out for a second watching, unlike all of the other Avengers setup movies which I just catch on TV from time to time, but it has a lot of flaws, and like I said when it first came out, I wish it was just two hours of Thor going around fighting shit. I don't like Natalie Portman.

[gregbrown]

- When Thor is in Asgard/Jotunheim, he speaks modern American accented English without a hitch. The moment he comes to Earth/Midgard, he's talking in Middle English, shitty Middle English at that.

I actually kind of dig this because that whole portion of the movie feels staged like a play—probably why they got Branagh to direct. The overall effect sort of like how you always sound super-articulate in your head, but when you write it down it turns into something less. It heightens the feeling of the Asgardian portions as almost dreamlike, the sort of psycho-drama that Mad Men also takes a turn towards at times (specifically the way

some of Don's flashbacks are staged within his own house in the first two seasons, and the whole strange trip to California in season two

).

[brkl]

When Thor is in Asgard/Jotunheim, he speaks modern American accented English without a hitch. The moment he comes to Earth/Midgard, he's talking in Middle English, shitty Middle English at that.

I haven't seen the movie, but that doesn't seem like a problem to me. I'm guessing they're not actually speaking American English in Asgard. On the other hand, when he is actually speaking English, shitty Middle English is the only English he knows.

Although having seen The Avengers I don't remember any similarities with Middle English at all. Closer to 19th century.

[James]

Question:

Anyone know why Weylan's last words where, "There's nothing..."? David's response was equally baffling. "I know. Have a good journey, Mr Weyland."

The fact that I thought it was pretty straightforward probably means I'm missing the point, but I just interpreted Weylan's line as a moment of existential resignation. He'd been in search of his creator as a kind of parental life-giver, but was instead he found a thing with apparent contempt for him. His particular search for answers and validation was a bitter disappointment. David was already familiar with the pain of having an unappreciative creator (he seemed distressed or hurt by Weylan's claim that he has no soul); hence, "I know". Basically, they've both been forsaken by their god figures. I took "have a good journey" to refer to the journey into an unknown afterlife, or into oblivion. That's probably the bit I feel is least strong about my interpretation, which may well be entirely wrong, anyway.

I've seen and enjoyed Caché, but I feel like I need to watch it again (particularly the final shot).

[toblix]

I've seen and enjoyed Caché, but I feel like I need to watch it again (particularly the final shot).

Yeah, I didn't get that one the first time around. I watched the ending twice.