ysbreker

Movie/TV recommendations

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Last night I watched "Big Trouble in Little China".

It has definitely broken into my Top 5 Favorite Movies.

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Yeah but where the fuck can you watch the Gilliam movie? I've been waiting for a theatrical release since last year.

 

Heh, I came across the movie yesterday whilst browsing through new blurays in a store and thought "When was this in theaters?"

 

Apparently it wasn't, at least not in Finland. And the bluray cost less than 10 euros. 

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I always thought it was an urban legend, but today I learned that the skeletons used during the ending of the still fantastic Poltergeist are indeed real. They were used because they were cheaper than buying model skeletons, which is hilarious to me since the whole deal with that movie is that whatshisface was disrespecting the dead for the sake of saving money.

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it would only be disrespect if those the people who contributed their skeleton did not receive credit

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Saw Guardians of the Galaxy yesterday and man.. that was a fun movie! Everything just sort of clicked with me, I guess, so I just walked out of it extremely satisfied.

 

I can see how if the humour falls flat on you, you would not like it a whole lot. (that sentence probably goes straight to the pedantry thread..)

 

I didn't even mind the huge amount of characters, because it always felt a bit like one big joke..

 

Except the weird shot of John C. Reilly's family at the end.. Why do I care about this side character who had almost no part in anything really..? And the villain was pretty boring save for his delightful reaction to Quill's stupid dance. But man, everything else! The music! Rocket! Ahh.. it was good fun. What a waste of Peter Serafinowicz' comic abilities, though..

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I'm super bummed I can't see Mood Indigo. Drafthouse Films is unfortunately publishing it and it has continuously been pushed back from a May release until next week in Austin. I can't see it because it's only there for one week in the screens far out of the city and I will be in Ireland. Yet Mood Indigo is still out today in the indie theatres of most major cities, many with a two week time frame. The Austin schedule was just quietly changed yesterday. Just another case of how Alamo Drafthouse just sucks in Austin. Apparently it's getting pushed because people need to keep paying for Guardians of the Galaxy and they need those screens. Recently Cinemaapocolypse, a major one time only event, was moved to their smallest theatre in the downtown location for Guardians of the Galaxy as well. Alamo in Austin is like AMC or Regal everywhere else. It's silly how the Alamo in Houston is functioning exactly how it's supposed to, since there's many theatres you can see Guardians there. If I didn't have a ton of homework I might consider driving to Houston to see Mood Indigo this weekend.

 

I guess I'll wait for the DVD/Blu-ray release for next year to finally see it.

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I've been watching Deadwood, and it's hit that same plateau that Hell On Wheels did for me, where I've enjoyed the introduction of the characters and setting, but now it's all just pretty dull and repetitive. It's just endless machinations and threats with nothing really happening.

 

Oh, I watched the first ep of Utopia and really enjoyed it.

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I really enjoyed the opening sequence for Utopia, but the story is so poorly written it just made me feel embarrassed for the people involved. I give it credit for trying to do something unique visually, but it feels like it's trying to pander to nerd/comic culture in the same way that 90's hacker movies used to. (while also not having a real strong understanding of what they're pandering to. eXistenz anyone?) And it's not that the story is bad per se, but it too willingly engages in silly stereotypes, while also not fleshing out the story at large. Like what is really going on? The premise is hard to grab once you get past that badass opening scene. And I understand it's supposed to be a "mystery" of sorts, but mystery works best when the viewer/reader has as close to complete understanding of what is going on as possible, or else instead of feeling intrigued they just feel confused and put off. At least that's my personal reaction. 

Maybe I need to watch more of it though. I feel I should, just because I really do like the visual style. 

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What, Existenz is amazing. I wouldn't call it pandering to anyone considering how it meshes with Cronenberg's work before that movie.

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Guardians of the Galaxy was super fun. I knew it was basically going to be Farscape: The Movie and I was mostly not disappointed. The only downer was the end was more what you'd expect from a Marvelverse movie and not the high stakes heist / hairbrained sceme that gives the villain and the hero an excuse to chew scenery at each other without a gun fight breaking out like you'd get from Farscape. Though, I guess you do get a tiny bit of that.

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I was a little disappointed with Guardians. The plot was sooo paper thin and they devoted too little time to developing it and the characters, and too much time to the action, which seemed to take up like 90% of the runtime. I would have liked to have seen more non-action interplay between the guardians and also maybe have a little bit of an understanding as to what the main villain's deal was. There were a lot of fun moments in the movie and I really liked the tone of it but I guess I left wishing it had a bit more substance.

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Maybe it's just because I watch and enjoy a lot of sci-fi already, but I definitely didn't feel like anything was under-explained, besides Thanos. But I know Thanos is part of the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe plot, so I tolerate that.

 

Anyway I loved the movie. Easily my favorite Marvel movie to date.

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...also maybe have a little bit of an understanding as to what the main villain's deal was.

 

I don't mean to sound dismissive, but I've tried writing this post three times and can't shake the tone, so I'll just apologize at the beginning. I have literally no understanding of why people keep saying that Ronan's motivations were unclear. It's not just here I've heard it, but also in professional reviews. And yet, the first time we see him, he says right out that he finds the peace treaty between the Kree and Xandar to be unacceptable after a thousand years of bloodshed, so he'll keep fighting the war on his own in order to force the hands of both governments. It's a very straightforward motivation, but not one that lacked explanation or plausibility for me.

 

Thanos, on the other hand, is a pointless wrinkle in the movie's script and I wish the "overall Marvel Cinematic Universe plot" didn't demand that he appear for thirty seconds total to grumble and prove himself irrelevant.

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Thanos, on the other hand, is a pointless wrinkle in the movie's script and I wish the "overall Marvel Cinematic Universe plot" didn't demand that he appear for thirty seconds total to grumble and prove himself irrelevant.

 

It'll all be worth it when he finally gets to be the actual main villain of a movie in... The Avengers 3... in 2019...  :wacko:  :tdown:  :fart:  :getmecoat

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It's not that his motivations are unclear, just that they lack any depth. Maybe some (any) clarity on the war and the peace treaty would have helped. What caused a war that's gone on for a thousand years and why did Ronan find the treaty so unacceptable? If it's just that Ronan is a war crazed maniac, why are the rest of the Kree government cool with him going around committing mass murder left and right and in the process jeopardizing this obviously very big deal treaty?

 

I didn't bring the Thanos thing up because I didn't want to seem more negative on the movie than I am, but yeah he was a total throwaway character. Spoiler I guess?

Considering Ronan keeps the stone for himself anyway, why even bother having Thanos in the movie at all? Especially since he just vanishes after being betrayed. Some threat! Also, and this is admittedly nitpicky, why is Ronan able to hold the stone when it kills just about everyone else. The only reason Starlord is able to handle it for a little bit is because he's half god or something.

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I don't think that kind of depth to an explanation for Ronan would've really made the movie better. I'd argue it would make it worse, in fact. The last thing I would want is for the movie to get bogged down in loresplanations. The only thing we care about is the rad rag-tag (rad-tag?) group of Han Solos taking on the Big Bad!

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For me, this is the first celebrity death that really hurt.

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