Topic: The Movie Thread

@LN78 Interested I suppose as you say, from the improvements but I would rather have that done to the original without additional edits. It is a bit like the Star Wars original trilogy in that Lucas refuses to remaster the original cuts which annoys me.

@LN78 @Rudy_Manchego I on the other hand would highly recommend the Star Wars Despecialised edits. Really clever work.

Fan edits aren't straight up piracy, but certainly a legal gray area in most territories. Personally, I've never acquired a fan edit of something that I didn't own as a commercial release. I'm yet to hear of a studio (even for Star Wars) actually going after creators or consumers of a fan edit.

Easily the best one (and hardest to get) I've seen was for the Billy Zane Phantom film, which I love anyway - but the edit was done in black & white with a few smart edits here & there to manage the tone a little better.

@LN78 Urgh... The Hobbit(s).

I still have the mid 2000's SE DVDs that came with the original Laserdisc transfers, but they do look pretty shocking, certainly not as good as the late 90's VHS releases that cleaned up the originals.

@LN78 @KALofKRYPTON Yeah, that Hobbit fan edit would be interesting to see since the production value of the prequels was great, as was the acting, music, and just about everything else except for the bloated runtime and unnecessary additional plot (looking at you, Tauriel). The performances were top notch, imo — Martin Freeman was endearing, Richard Armitage was convincing, and even Evangeline Lilly was well cast even if her character was completely unnecessary. An edit to just trim all that fat off the trilogy into a single 3-4 hour episode is a great idea.

On the subject of editing movies you own, not sure if you know of the lawsuits with VidAngel, but the very no man’s land you speak of has been fought over and so far the deep pockets of Disney, Fox, et al seems to be winning. Granted the idea of selling the consumer a copy of the movie, then editing it for them, letting them watch it how they want (namely to allow for editing out violence, language, sex, etc), then buying back the movie from them is a bit of a loophole, but VidAngel’s whole claim was that if they actually sell the movie to the consumer before editing it then they were within their rights. Well, the courts made VidAngel shut down that practice. Now they apparently subsist on editing shows only via streaming services, but the original idea was more of a buy, edit, watch, and sell back model where effectively it was like renting the movie.

@Th3solution That's pretty interesting - I'd never heard of VidAngel. I can't really see how it differs particularly from broadcast television channels screening safer edits of movies.

@KALofKRYPTON Yeah, I just realized that it’s an American company so it likely isn’t a factor in the UK, Europe, or elsewhere. It’s is US district courts that are handling the suit, and I have no idea how this effects things internationally. But yeah, if you’re interested then google VidAngel lawsuit, or something similar and you’ll see quite a bit on it.
Rumor has it that one of the attorneys even changed sides and joined the VidAngel camp early on since the law seemed to be in their favor. But so far they are still under a “cease and desist” type of order, as far as I know. I don’t claim to know or understand the law, but yeah - I’m not sure why network TV is allowed to show an edited version. Perhaps those are all worked out on a case by case basis and there are royalties involved that might be the issue. But at its core, VidAngel wasn’t stealing anything, they were buying a copy of every movie that they edited and could distribute them if the customer didn’t want to sell it back after watching it. (Similar to what Red Box and other rental services do). The difference is that the movie was able to be edited. Apparently filmmakers don’t like you modify their artistic vision. It’s an interesting quandary.

Since you guys are discussing fan-edits and the like, I thought I'd point you towards Steven Soderbergh's blog, specifically this page, where he experiments with combining Raiders of the Lost Arc with Reznor/Ross' score for Girl With the Dragon Tattoo : http://extension765.com/soderblogh/18-raiders

Technically it's not an edit per se, but if you're a filmmaker (as I am) or student of film in general it's a fascinating watch. I recommend taking a look.

Oblivion (Blu-Ray) - Sci-Fi film that sees Tom Cruise in the role of Jack, a man left behind on an Earth ruined after a war between man & alien invaders. It's his job to repair the battle drones used to hunt down the remnants of the alien invaders, but when he comes across another survivor who he has dreamt about, he begins to question his reality.

• While the story doesn't quite have the same oomph after you know it's twist, it's still an interesting premise, and the ending is satisfying every time.
• It's an absolutely stunning looking film. The Sci-Fi tech has really slick designs (even if the CG is starting to show it's age in spots), and the wide, naturalistic environment shots are gorgeous.
• The action has a real oomph to it. I enjoy the dogfight with the drones every time, the fight at the base during the climax is intense.

Overall, while it's probably not a must watch sci-fi film, it is one I like going back to from time to time.

With that, I've finished up my first batch of Blu-Rays, and have just placed the order for my next:

• Alien - I've seen this in parts before on TV, and while I get into it each time, I've never had the chance to finish it before, so I figure it's time to change that.
• Godzilla 1984/5 - My Japan related film in this batch. They either didn't have the other Japanese films I was looking for, or they were more expensive than I was looking for, so I settled for this. I remember my brother used to have this on Video Brick (yes, I know that's not what they're called, lol), so it'll be a bit of a nostalgia trip.
• National Lampoon's European Vacation - I know this is the black sheep of the original Vacation films, but I still enjoy it from time to time.
• Octopussy - The next Bond film in line. I think I enjoyed For Your Eyes Only the most out of my last batch of films, so I'm looking forward to this.

@Th3solution Apparently TV edits are done by the film studio and not the TV/Cable stations. I assume it is done at certification, when they edit the film for home viewing.

Well I just learned the next Suicide Squad is rebooting it already. Screw you DC. I liked the first one and don’t care to see one of the most unnecessary reboots ever made. They really need to get their act together and keep a decent plan for the DC movie universe. They have a decent, weakened with Justice League, and now they’re just forgetting about it. The first Suicide Squad did a really good job of keeping up n the movie universe too while telling it’s own story.

@RogerRoger What a great run through of your recent Indiana Jones viewing. I watched them not too long ago as well. I loved some of your break down of the oft maligned Temple of Doom. You really struck on some good observations of both films.
And yes, the dark themes of ToD are presented in a very digestible form, especially considering how gore, violence, shock, and horror have ramped up several notches in the last 30
years since it was made. Ripping out someone’s still beating heart is rather ho-hum nowadays. 😜
But seriously, I had never thought about the movie in that light, with the bookends of levity and lightheartedness that balance out the creepiness of the occult and child slavery.

@RogerRoger I am not a fan of Crystal Skull and My main complaint is not necessarily it is a bad movie but that it has a central emotional core that doesn’t work for me. The father son relationship just doesn’t gel because it feels like what it is, an attempt at a spin off franchise. It feels out of touch with the other movies. I also think there is too much almost winking at the camera nods to the Indy legacy that is out finally. Lastly the previous films were very practical effects heavy and it felt like too much CG.

That said, I recommend everyone to YouTube the Shia Labeouf song. Safe for work btw.

@RogerRoger Don’t worry I wasn’t trying to argue! Too many people think discussions are about trying to change minds. I, for one, think Last Crusade is the best Indy though that may be because I had it on VHS as a kid.

@RogerRoger I very much enjoyed reading your thoughts on the latter two IJ movies. I had to smile as your review brought back memories of some of the great moments. And you needn’t feel as if you’re coming across defensive, because A) you’re not, and B) we all have opinions and we all respect each other’s preferences, and C) if there’s one thing you do well is explain with supportive points why you feel the way you do. It would be one thing to come here and say “Crystal Skull is the bomb, dewd, and you’re all idiots for not agreeing with me!” But it’s quite another to say you enjoyed something and then taking us through the thought process and emotions that take you to that conclusion. I also feel like you’re honest with yourself when something in the film doesn’t click or when you just enjoy something out of simple personal preference, and you bring up some great insights and it makes me want to watch the films again. Alas, I have a mountain of MCU I’m trying to make it through though 😉 (Speaking of feeling defensive against the popular opinion)

The other thing that reading these reviews of Indiana Jones does for me is that it makes me really want another Uncharted game.

@Th3solution You mean another Nathan Drake game?

@JohnnyShoulder Lol, yeah but it will probably be a “Nathan Drake game but without Nathan Drake in it”, or likely “a Nathan Drake game with his daughter in it” in the words of Papa Shoulder. 😂

@LN78 Oh man - that is going on my Christmas wishlist now!

@Th3solution Ha Ha or the film with young Nathan Drake in it.

@RogerRoger Lol, well the marathon is more of a slow trickle, perhaps ‘water torture’ would be an apt description. 😜 But actually it has been enjoyable. I’ve only made it through 3 more since my last report. Still 7 to go. From my last few - Age of Ultron, Ant Man, and Civil War - I have seen a real acceleration of the mega-plot of the stones and where this is going with Thanos’s big plans. Seeing the post credits scene after Ultron really makes a lot more sense after seeing the latter movies. Also that he was behind all the goings-on in that movie was a revelation to me this time around.
I do have to say, as much as I enjoyed Ant Man the first time I watched it, this time I can’t help but be a little put off by the complete disregard for physics that it employs. Yes, yes... I know all these Superhero shows are so far from reality that I shouldn’t be picky, but the idea of Ant Man is that he shrinks due to the Pym particle somehow making his atoms closer together. I can swallow that — it’s just standard fare for super hero traits and I don’t really feel like I need more of an explanation there..., BUT they say he maintains his mass and power so that he is then able to hit and throw full sized enemies. It’s a point they specifically state in the story that the advantage of the shrinking is also in the concentration of mass and power, and he is shown hitting other guys when he’s small and knocking them over even when he’s ant sized. ... and then he jumps on his flying ant and rides off?! If he kept even a fraction of his original mass after shrinking, then he would crush that ant. 😅 It certainly wouldn’t be flying off with him on its back. How can he knock over a full-sized man, but ride on the back of an ant without squishing it? It’s just one example of the inconsistency of the rules and laws of nature in the film.
But, yes... I know if you pick apart 90% of fantasy / superhero movies then the laws of the world that is created ends up being inconsistent. I suspend disbelief usually, but this go around with Ant Man it broke the immersion a little bit to see that. And never mind the scene where he actually grows big during the airport fight in Civil War and lumbers around like he weighs 1000 tons.🙄

Oh, and I also noticed this time around that— Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch accent is awful.

@LN78 Yeah, that line was a bit on the cringey side. 😂
But the introduction of Hawkeye’s family was a good plot piece I thought, especially as a pay-off several movies later during the finale.
I’m a little torn about Age of Ultron. The movie is all over the place, the action is frenetic at times, new characters come at breakneck speeds with nonsensical motives, the dialogue sometimes feels forced (as evidenced by Hawkeys’s wife, not to mention the awkward budding romance between Banner and Natasha), and some of the logic is rushed. For example, I understand that Tony Stark has a fear that they are not prepared for another alien invasion and that he had the vision of all the Avengers dead except him, so he’s driven to create Ultron — but it all seems contrived, even for his foolhardy personality. Nevertheless, so many of the action set pieces are visually stunning and really fun to watch. And the movie is quite central to everything that happens after. The Sokovia Accords is the central conflict producing the Civil War; Visions creation and existence is crucial until the final moments of End Game due to the mind stone residing within him. Age of Ultron is one of the most crucial movies as far as the whole series making sense. Too bad it wasn’t better produced.