Movie/TV recommendations

[marblize]

Film Crit Hulk also works in the industry, so there's usually a limit on how negative he goes.

He does tend to write his giant essays on things that excite him in positive ways, though there's always the occasional "wow, this movie is incredibly mean" for jurassic world or "this movie is so all over the place it fails on nearly every level" for birdman

[syntheticgerbil]

Saw that Shaun the Sheep movie yesterday and it was nice to see a kids movie the way I remember kids movies. I think the only thing that took me out of it is it had one or two jarring pop songs, but I guess according to the awful trailers for CG movies I had to sit through, kids love Lady Gaga.

 

The intense craftsmanship is the usual Aardman fare, but I find it extremely interesting to watch a "silent" cartoon movie in this day and age. The only other ones I can think of in recent times are Triplets of Belleville and Illusionist, both which I also love. There were a lot of quainter Charle Chaplin style laughs in Shaun compared to the humor in those two. One part in the restaurant scene had me in tears.

[root]

Yuck anyone's yum is my new favorite thing.

 

Reminds me of "from can til can't", to describe the period of time spent working on a task in a day.

[Reyturner]

What's the point of having a Canadian Netflix if they're not going to have any goddam Cronenberg movies >:|

[Erkki]

Anyway watching the first one has gotten me in the mood to re-watch Goodbye Pork Pie and maybe even Shaker Run if I can dig up the copy of that we still have lying around.

Anyone have any recommendations for weird car movies? 

Downloading Goodbye Pork Pie and just watched a chase clip of Shaker Run on YouTube. Not going to watch that whole movie, but the chase was kind of ok.

 

I didn't think of any that I really liked immediately, but there's The Cannonball Run. I recently saw The Fast and the Furious (1955)

There's also Cannonball ('76) with David Carradine, that I haven't seen.

[Erkki]

Anyway watching the first one has gotten me in the mood to re-watch Goodbye Pork Pie

 

Whoa, I just watched it. Pretty cool movie in some ways. I wonder if the scene following "What a lovely day" in Fury Road could actually be referencing the ending of Goodbye Pork Pie?

[Ben X]

As I don't know the two movies Moddy cited, I don't know what kind of weird car movies we're talking, but Repo Man, the original Gone In Sixty Seconds, Grand Theft Auto (the Ron Howard one), Two-Lane Blacktop and Vanishing Point spring to mind.

[Ben X]

The concept of Inside Out seems really gimmicky and limited to me, so I'm surprised it's getting generally very good response.

 

What a relief this was due to the trailers not really capturing the spirit of the movie. As long as you don't expect everything going on in the "feelings" scenes to map one-to-one psychologically to the girl's experience, it's a very entertaining, inventive and touching film. As did someone else here, I cried at the end and was belly-laughing at a few points.

[Mawd]

Whoa, I just watched it. Pretty cool movie in some ways. I wonder if the scene following "What a lovely day" in Fury Road could actually be referencing the ending of Goodbye Pork Pie?

Huh that's interesting. Maybe? It's one of NZ's most famous movies for a certain age group; it probably would have been seen by George Miller at some point because it's the type of do your own car stunt movie that he and his friends like. So there's some premise at least. But it could just be reaching

Shaker Run isn't a fantastic movie by itself it's just one I know a little bit about because I have fam in the NZ film industry. I think I was just caught up when I mentioned it because I too made it as far as that chase clip from YouTube haha.

In other news we've started on Humans and just like with Mr Robot my partner and I've had to negotiate when to watch it since I like doing 1-2 a day and he's super keen to see it all right away.

But yeah it's a lot of fun.

As I don't know the two movies Moddy cited, I don't know what kind of weird car movies we're talking, but Repo Man, the original Gone In Sixty Seconds, Grand Theft Auto (the Ron Howard one), Two-Lane Blacktop and Vanishing Point spring to mind.

Thanks I'll add those to the list.

I might just be overusing weird but I'm interested in car movies that are full of quirks and aren't just about dudebros with cars like the newer F&F franchise.

Goodbye Pork Pie is worth a watch or just a trailer browse. It does have it's faults. But it's also a stunt car movie starring a 1970's Mini Cooper.

[Mangela Lansbury]

Saying that the scene is wholly decontextualized does a disservice to the plotting up to that point. The main villain is obviously doing something at the church to try something out. It's set up very well. That you don't know the specifics of how this is happening doesn't mean you don't know the specifics of why this is happening -- it's happening because the villain has set it up to happen and he has won in this moment, and because this is the lead-in to the all-is-lost moment so the hero can prove himself. It's isn't decontextualized and meaningless violence unless you, like, ignore the lead up to it, ignore any fore-knowledge of the structure of modern film, and ignore the culture that it exists in and has been made to appeal to. I guess in a vacuum, you could consider what he says to be true, but nothing exists in a vacuum. At the very least, this scene exists within the movie, and the movie gives meaning to the violence it portrays.

 

I don't agree with his read on the scene at all. But, again, I haven't watched it in long enough that I can't really argue with it meaningfully. I just don't think the movie is good art, so it's not worth the effort to put that much thought into it.

 

I was bored tonight and had nothing better to do, so I rented this to A-B function the weird council housed and violent boy with his shirt off that I like more than I should, and I disagree with the me who existed a few days ago.

 

Me, you were wrong in a few ways, but that's okay and you shouldn't feel bad about it.

 

Film Critic Hulk's interpretation of that scene was not without merit. I don't agree with it, but I now see where he was coming from and understand his take on the scene. I do still think he was giving it too charitable a view, and it still sits with me the wrong way, but I now see where he's coming from when he says that your opinion of the scene says something about you.

 

EDIT: Also, to not be completely off topic and talking to myself, go see the Lobster if you get a chance to see the Lobster. And there's a short named Keshinomi from a director that I guess is trying to break into the North American scene that is also very, very good -- see that if you can, too.

[Erkki]

Huh that's interesting. Maybe? It's one of NZ's most famous movies for a certain age group; it probably would have been seen by George Miller at some point because it's the type of do your own car stunt movie that he and his friends like. So there's some premise at least. But it could just be reaching

Yeah, not that sure myself that it could be a reference, just reminded me of it. Here's a comparision of a few frames:

 

[Patrick R]

The second best Peter Lorre horror film ever (because what can top M?) is Mad Love. Fast-paced and stylish "the killer's hands transplanted onto an unsuspecting innocent" story (maybe the first film version of that story?), with Lorre playing an incredibly perverse surgeon who is sexually aroused by death. Way more kinky and grotesque than you'd ever expect from a 30's film.

 

[Justin Leego]

Mockngjay 2 trailer, you guys.

Feelings.

F E E L S.

[Bjorn]

Promotional plug for a friend (Ethics in LGBTQ Documentaries!)

 

So a friend of mine is having a documentary made about him, how he came out as gay in Kansas in the 90s while both being a Christian (whose childhood pastor was heavily involved with banning same sex marriage in Kansas, and the film will apparently feature a conversation between the two) and a football player, so two cultures which at the time were not known as welcoming places.  Burt is now a medical doctor, and without a doubt one of the smartest people I've ever met, he should make a terrific subject for a film.

[Erkki]

Mockngjay 2 trailer, you guys.

Feelings.

F E E L S.

I CAN'T FEEL IT!? Am I dead outside?

 

The first movie was kind of watchable, but not something I'd seek out. Should I see the others? I'm not sure if I have a stomach for most of this YA stuff. Maze Runner seems to get OK ratings, but to me it was AWFUL. It disgusts me to see people saying it is their favourite movie

[Spenny]

Hunger Games 2 is a bit of a slog, kind of just retreads the first without doing anything interesting. Mockingjay Part 1 was probably the most tonally consistent of the films, but I can't really recommend any of them beyond being a simple indulgence.

 

Apparently I'm actually all caught up in the YA-Hunger Games-alikes. Maze Runner was pretty meh, competent Hollywood story telling and production, but certainly reveals itself to be the most obvious thing. Divergent was kind of cool, given its post post apocalypse Chicago setting, but the main character typified the bland, project yourself onto her archetype, and the society it depicts doesn't holistically make a lot of sense. Its follow up Insurgent totally wraps up every plot line and world mystery from the first, and only asks new questions in the last 5 minutes of the movie. It's kind of shocking, and not very satisfying.

[Ben X]

Yeah, given your lack of enthusiasm for the first film, I doubt you'll find the others worth your time. They don't surpass "kind of watchable".

[brkl]

I saw the new TMNT. I liked it fine. I thought the action was all right and it made me chuckle a few times. It's dumb but so are a lot of action movies that are far more well liked. Two stars out of four, goes well with whiskey.

[Erkki]

After my statement I kind of felt bad for YA so I googled something like "best young adult movies" and at the end of a list there they had put "The Fault in Our Stars", which stood out from all the others. I guess this doesn't qualify in the same YA category as Hunger Games (being not fantasy?), but it seems pretty good based on the first 15 minutes!

[Reyturner]

John Greene is the hottest new genre in Hollywood.

[root]

After my statement I kind of felt bad for YA so I googled something like "best young adult movies" and at the end of a list there they had put "The Fault in Our Stars", which stood out from all the others. I guess this doesn't qualify in the same YA category as Hunger Games (being not fantasy?), but it seems pretty good based on the first 15 minutes!

 

I think after the success of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games as film adaptations, Hollywood has collectively decided in standard risk-averse fashion to adapt as many YA books as possible to screen since those are supposed to be big sellers right now.  And of course not all of them stand up to the process too well.

 

I liked the hunger games as books, but even though they read like they want to be movie scripts, it's real hard for me to care about them as movies, too.

[Ben X]

Maze Runner was pretty meh, competent Hollywood story telling and production, but certainly reveals itself to be the most obvious thing.

 

Just watched it (the first one), and totally agree with you. It's the first 45 minutes of a movie, stretched out to fill an entire feature.

[Ben X]

Oh and we tried to watch Pitch Perfect but had to switch it off after 20mins. Seriously boring shit.

 

You made the right choice.

[Reyturner]

George Miller said that the best version of Fury Road was in black and white and with no dialogue.

So here ya go: https://blackandchrome.wordpress.com/

Get it while it's available. I've watched the first 20 min and its shockingly good.

[Ninety-Three]

George Miller said that the best version of Fury Road was in black and white and with no dialogue.

So here ya go: https://blackandchrome.wordpress.com/

Get it while it's available. I've watched the first 20 min and its shockingly good.

 

My friends have been telling me that I ought to watch Fury Road already, is this the sort of thing one should watch after the "original", or does the idea work for a first viewing?