ysbreker

Movie/TV recommendations

Recommended Posts

So, to generalize so I can at least provide something about Hateful Eight without spoilers, I'm thinking of giving it another watch alone at home.  Because the more I think of it, I could see this, but it's hard to argue from this angle when I was watching it with the audience I saw it with.  That audience seemed to be truly terrible, like having a bunch of people just fucking guffaw every time someone drops an N-word (which, with that movie, is often).  Maybe you're right about that movie being an audience critique, but if it was, the audience I saw it with was definitely treating it as a fun romp and that makes everything that made me feel gross feel 1000 times grosser.

 

I think your reaction to the racial slurs is totally valid. I wasn't in your theater, but there was a lot of the same laughter over the word in my theater. Thing is, I think audiences laugh for all sorts of reasons. Maybe they laughed because they are genuine racists, but I think it's just as likely because they were uncomfortable. I'd hate to judge them, Lord knows I laughed a lot during many of the film's more nasty moments. Not because I approved, but because the movie is so audacious and over-the-top and I felt like anything could happen at any time. 

Also my parents were sitting behind me, so that cut to intermission exploded my brain with nervous energy and I laughed HARD.

 

As far as the rest of the movie goes, I definitely responded to it so much because it made me feel like a horrible audience member.

 

As a Tarantino fan I found myself doing moral jiu-jitsu, trying to justify rooting for certain characters, or condoning their actions. "Well, she's a racist and he's a black man who's been through hell, so of course he should have punched her right out of the stage coach for that" or "Well, it's fine that the sole female character has no redeemable qualities, because she's not letting any men get the upper hand, and I bet she ends up being the biggest badass of this movie". I found myself trying to apologize for all the violence, and nastiness because I found the film so entertaining, and the paranoia of the film implied to me that some sort of reveal would come and explain why it was all ok.

 

But it never did, and by the last scene I had to look back at all my affection I had placed on Jackson and Goggins in the second half, and question if it was due to anything more than some smooth lines and charismatic acting. And one can say "Well that just means Tarantino made a gross movie that you felt bad about liking, it doesn't mean it's some meta exploration of why audiences root for nasty and violent characters".

 

Except that the film goes to such insane lengths to subvert expectations (the bombastic presentation of what could have easily been a stage play only being the start of it) that I feel it has to have a purpose. Tarantino has shown in the past that if he wants to please crowds he knows just how to please crowds. But this movie is not crowd pleasing. The crowd I was with, who hooted and hollered during all the set-up, felt totally drained and bewildered by the ending.

 

Also, I kind of think he started this kind of auto-critique with Django Unchained (view Waltz as Tarantino and you see a treatise on how he inevitably fails the black culture he always tries to elevate), another movie I find largely misunderstood. I think audiences who thought Django was a secondary character in that film severely missed the point, and also kinda failed to empathize with Django in some dubious and gross ways. But I'm in the minority there, so if you were to say I'm being generous with my readings of his films, I'd find it hard to argue.

 

BUT I think one of the reasons Hateful Eight is more effective than similarly themed films (like, say Michael Haneke's Funny Games) is because it doesn't feel like an art-film trying to deconstruct movie violence and revenge, it feels like a violent revenge movie. And not just any violent movie, but a violent movie made by the very best modern director of violent revenge movies. The appeal is obvious, which makes the point more convincing.

 

Or something. I'm still trying to work it all out in my head. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I got around to watching the Doctor Who Christmas episode. It was good, nothing special, but good. It helped me figure out something about the show: The character drama aspects of it work best when they are contained to an episode (optionally with simple background details previously established), the characters go through an arc with a beginning middle and end. Things go off the rails when the writers assume "The audience has been watching this character for two seasons, they must love and care about the character, so they'll be automatically invested in this plot". It's not just that the assumption can be wrong, the writers use the assumption to skip past writing a beginning for the character arc. When they stop to write a beginning instead of saying "You've watched two seasons, there's your beginning", you get something that works thematically, like the Christmas episode.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just watched Kin-Dza-Dza!, a 1986 soviet movie about two people who accidentally end up on a rather weird planet and are trying to get back... It's really weird, but maybe worth watching.

 

d1fa53118c10906798e98e47ad159347.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So the first film I (re)watched in 2016 was Tron: Legacy. Five years later it's still disappointing how tame and unimaginative its physical rendering of the insides of a computer is, and don't get me started on how bad young Jeff Bridges looks. Its representation of women or people of color didn't improve either. But all in all I actually liked it more this time around. Its pacing and feel are really quite unique among modern fantasy/sci-fi blockbusters, which I think largely stems from the fact that the producers decided to dial back the big action soundscapes in favor of the brooding Daft Punk soundtrack and cut the film to better fit their pieces as well. It's an impressivly coherent movie, considering the subject matter, that does a lot of world building in a really efficient way. (Kind of like The Force Awakens, but in a more relaxed manner.) Not a great film by any means, but nice enough for a lazy new years afternoon.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Besides old soviet films, I now somehow got into watching Fritz Lang movies. M was amazing, and so is Scarlet Street. I think I'll watch Metropolis tomorrow.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I also really recommend his Nibelungen movies. They are kinda like proto Lord of the Rings, in that they are epic fantasy and add up to a running time of 5 hours, which pales to the length of the Lord of the Rings movies of course, but still, they are unusually long for silent movies.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Besides old soviet films, I now somehow got into watching Fritz Lang movies. M was amazing, and so is Scarlet Street. I think I'll watch Metropolis tomorrow.

 

Ministry of Fear is essential.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@Stack Smashing If you haven't seen it the Tron Uprising series is worth checking out. Obviously geared towards young teens and the story takes awhile to get less cringey but the Art Direction alone makes it worth a viewing imo 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Interesting the spread of opinions on Nu Who...  Personally, I quite liked the last few of this season (and the finale), but thought season 8 was kind of weak for the most part, though I do like the casting of Capaldi.

While I'm on the subject - a random thought on the 50th Anniversary episode: I liked how John Hurt's "War Doctor" as the bridge between old & new Who voiced some of the curmudgeonly complaints one might expect from fans of the classic series who are annoyed by some of the new stuff...  "Timey Wimey?" and "They're screwdrivers!  What are you going to do, assemble a cabinet at them?" and so forth...  (Although that last was somewhat ruined by having them straight up use their screwdrivers as weapons when they travel into the warzone/painting towards the end of the episode.)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I saw Hateful Eight over the weekend and liked it a decent amount. I'd probably rank it as a mid tier Tarantino but if Kurt Russell and an Ennio Morricone score sounds like a thing you'll like, this has those in spades.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@Stack Smashing If you haven't seen it the Tron Uprising series is worth checking out. Obviously geared towards young teens and the story takes awhile to get less cringey but the Art Direction alone makes it worth a viewing imo 

 

 

Totally forgot that this exists. (And never knew how interesting it looks. The Art Director cutting this video to this music is promising.) Will definitely give it a chance, thanks for the recommendation!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Wow, as of today we finally have Netflix in Estonia! Also, I saw Frances Ha and it immediately made it into my Top 5 or so films of this decade!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I saw Hateful Eight over the weekend and liked it a decent amount. I'd probably rank it as a mid tier Tarantino but if Kurt Russell and an Ennio Morricone score sounds like a thing you'll like, this has those in spades.

I wrote on facebook that Hateful Eight should have been called Reservoir Django. Tarantino has always been derivative - that was one of part of what made him Tarantino - but now he's just recycling his own characters and plots.

 

And it has the worst of Tarantino's tendencies. Every time he approached making some interesting statement he would undercut it and there are just weird things that someone should have stepped in and said, "Why are you doing that?"

 

I would love to have Tarantino really push himself out of his comfort zone and do something very different for him but I doubt he will. How weirdly awesome would it be to hear that Tarantino was doing a romcom (without criminals) or a scifi movie?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I watched The Wind Rises last night and really liked it. I used to work at a company that did some defense work myself and thought a lot about so many amazing human innovations are co-opted for the purpose of murderin' dudes, which is pretty much the whole point of this movie, so it resonated with me pretty strongly. Had a few moments that were a bit too on the nose for my taste, but whatever. Also it's real pretty.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Did you see the dub? Werner Herzog is a voice actor on that film and it's very strange.

 

It's also funny hearing Jim from the office do a good job as the main character.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bah! I had no idea he was in it either, me and a friend were just watching in the cinema and when he started talking we looked at each other confused, still not quite believing it was him.

(he was the old german man in the hotel, if I remember the film right. He was just there for a few scenes)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I wrote on facebook that Hateful Eight should have been called Reservoir Django. Tarantino has always been derivative - that was one of part of what made him Tarantino - but now he's just recycling his own characters and plots.

And it has the worst of Tarantino's tendencies. Every time he approached making some interesting statement he would undercut it and there are just weird things that someone should have stepped in and said, "Why are you doing that?"

I would love to have Tarantino really push himself out of his comfort zone and do something very different for him but I doubt he will. How weirdly awesome would it be to hear that Tarantino was doing a romcom (without criminals) or a scifi movie?

He's really good at making this type of movie though. Like the score and all the performances and the cinematography were all pretty great. It was super fun to watch. I don't LOVE it but it was good and I liked it. There's more to a movie than the plot.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I thought I didn't like The Wind Rises that much when I saw it, but I find myself thinking about it occasionally and want to rewatch it. I think I watched the dubbed version, don't remember exactly.

 

Changing topic... I think mumblecore might be my thing! I really liked Frances Ha and immediately made a list of about 15 mumblecore movies I should see. Today I watched Your Sister's Sister and loved it. Although, I don't exactly think it it's a five-star movie like for some reason, although I can't pin down why. Maybe I disliked that they shot most of it indoors while having a few really gorgeous nature shots.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I saw the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie with my daughter last weekend. It was terrible and Jason Lee is a terrible actor. Don't watch this.

 

But it had the guy who plays Buster in Arrested Development doing his best Buster. I love that guy and just seeing his stupid antics almost made it worth it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Werner Herzog had a fun stint as a Rick and Morty character in season 2 FYI.

Anyway I'm just here waiting for the new Venture Bros season (31st Jan) while hoping that the Deadpool movie will be good.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Shannara Chronicles just premiered. The first episode is officially online for free (in the U.S. I believe):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPrHybyCRzw

 

It's cliché and cheesy in a lot of ways and it's not exactly deep. But it's fun, and as a fan of the Fantasy genre I think it's great that it's airing. Slade Wilson is my favourite character so far.

 

(It's based on the book series by Terry Brooks, which I haven't read.)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If you're not listening to the original language tracks in The Wind Rises, you're missing out on Anno Hideaki as Jiro, hand-picked by Miyazaki for the role. That's so much better than Werner Herzog making a cameo as Castorp!

 

(It's based on the book series by Terry Brooks, which I haven't read.)

 

I mean, you probably have read them, considering that their plots are beat-for-beat from The Lord of the Rings with only some of the serial numbers filed off. Even when I read them at age fourteen, it was still absolutely shocking to me how someone could write Tolkien, with inferior prose and changed names, and make money off of it. Then again, we have Fifty Shades of Grey today, so...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now