Topic: The Movie Thread

Watched "The Current War" in theaters. It was interesting. Nice, very morally grey study of a brilliant man (Thomas Edison) and his competition with George Westinghouse to convince various investors and the public at large to adopt his direct current-based lighting system. Does a good job of depicting how various events come about, for the most part, including Edison's role in popularizing electricity as a form of execution in order to smear Westinghouse and his AC-based system, as well as the formation of General Electric. Tesla also features in the film, and we also get the details of their relationship in all its ugly glory (including the $50,000 "joke" at Tesla's expense).

@Ralizah How does it to compare to real-life accounts?

I know many biopic type films tend to take a few liberties here and there, but my recent experiences with some of these films felt like they were really taking the p***. (The Imitation Game being one of the worst culprits).

@KALofKRYPTON It takes a few liberties. All "historical dramas" do. Edison's second wife isn't mentioned or seen. A meeting between Edison and Westinghouse near the end never actually took place. A civil war encounter between Westinghouse and a confederate soldier seen in a flashback and used for thematic purposes was invented. A couple of minor historical characters were combined for dramatic effect in the film. But, broadly, the film is historically accurate.

EDIT: Based on the bit of research I did. I'm not a historian.

Watched The Lighthouse in theaters yesterday and... I genuinely don't know what to say about it. Aside from the often graphic sexual and violent content, it could be mistaken for some long lost horror movie from the early 1940's. It's ostensibly about two men in some unspecified point in the past, shady newcomer Ephraim Winslow, played by an utterly unrecognizable Robert Pattinson, and bizarre and possibly mad veteran Thomas Wake, played by a more recognizable Willem Dafoe, manning a lighthouse and gradually going mad once a storm strands them. The entire film feels like some long, frequently disturbing fever dream. There's little recognizable structure to it apart from the gradual unmooring from any semblance of reality these men might have been clinging to (whether they were ever moored to begin with is an open question, though).

Expect lots of striking black and white cinematography, hallucinatory imagery, violent homoerotic tension between Pattinson and Dafoe, a score that sounds less like music and more like the grinding of gears in hell, literary and mythological allusions and parallels throughout, and lots of hammy, insane, and highly theatrical monologues and rants from Dafoe. Both men act their little hearts out in this film, and I take back any nasty things I might have ever said about Pattinson.

Arthouse horror doesn't get much better.

@LN78 It's funny you mention von Trier, because there was more than one moment in the film where I mentally flashed back to Antichrist while watching this. Without the lampshaded misogyny and cringy nihilistic talking fox, of course.

I wasn't a huge fan of The VVitch, even though it was utterly dripping in atmosphere, but I think the director has really mastered the art of the slow burn with this film. Really exciting to see so many accomplished young auteurs like Eggers, Aster, and Peele creating worthwhile dark cinema these days, considering how stale cinematic horror has become.

@LN78 "Us" is... interesting. I liked it. But it's tonally uneven, and doesn't really fit the bill if you're looking for a horror film. I think it's worth watching, although I didn't like it as much as Get Out. It feels like a unique but failed attempt at sociopolitical satire, but with fewer of the genre trappings that Get Out utilized to decent effect.

Midsommar is amazing, btw. Absolutely see it when and if you get the chance. It's an intense and sometimes overwhelming film with gorgeous cinematography. Interestingly, it's also not REALLY a horror film in the conventional sense, which might be why your friend didn't like it. If you go in expecting anything like Hereditary, you'll be disappointed. I think, in its own way, it's as good as that film was, however.

I don't have high hopes, but Terminator: Duck Fat will actually be my next film this coming Sunday. Before the family and I go see it, we're rewatching the first two Terminator films at home.

@LN78 I enjoyed 'Us', it felt more of a typical horror flick then Get Out but less heavy handed on the social commentary, although there is a bit of that. It had the same eerie, uncomfortable feeling that Get Out had, that I like so much.

I bought Alien 40th Anniversary Edition and Black Hawk Down on UHD today. Really looking forward to seeing them. Was impressed with the HD version of Alien and not seen BHD in years.

@LN78 Oh yeah, Halloween '78 is a must.

I'm one of those weird people who thinks Halloween: Water was a more satisfying sequel to the original than the latest one. Wouldn't mind hearing what you thought of it, though!

@LN78 Weirdly large number of parallels between H20 and the recent one. But, where they contrast, I generally find H20 to be a stronger film.

No Halloween sequel deserves to even lick the dirt from the boots of the first film, imo, but, when push comes to shove, it's the only sequel I'm not wholly disappointed by.

Well, OK, I also kind of like Halloween Resurrection. I'm not a fan of bad horror movie, but I AM a fan of really, really, really bad horror movies.

@LN78 Never watched it, or the sequel. I really dislike Zombie's tasteless, mean-spirited white trash horror films.

I hear the Nightmare on Elm Street reboot was pretty bad as well. No surprise there.

Speaking of Scream, did you ever watch Wes Craven's New Nightmare? It kickstarted the meta-fictional fixation that the Scream films eventually became famous for, and it's still an interesting film in its own right.

@LN78 I've also got Gladiator on UHD too, so I've inadvertently become a Ridley Scott fan boy! Shame his recent output has only been so-so in my eyes.

@LN78 He is one of those actors I find that even in a bad film or one that you did not enjoy, manages to still deliver a good performance. It's rare that you hear him putting in a bad one.

Joaquin "don't leave him alone in a room with his sister or elderly father" Phoenix

Watched Terminator: Dark Fate. Wasn't expecting much but it was alright. Definitely better than the third, fourth and fifth movies, though. Wished the CGI for the Rev-9 had looked more interesting, at times the special effects reminded me of Venom.

@WanderingBullet

I was wondering if anyone would bother. The trailers have been pretty crap. Reheated themes for a film conceived for the sole purpose of making money.

The media reviewer talking points are very much pushing the 'best sequel since T2' line - which is next to meaningless.

I won't be paying to see it.

Just watched Life for the first time.

That was... Disappointing to say the least. I knew it wasn't original at all but I figured I'd get some enjoyment out of it.

Well... "Calvin" was nicely animated and the way it killed Ryan Reynolds made me wince. The face it got eventually made more ugly cute in my opinion rather then scary. But other then that.

The moment I really switched off though was when Rebecca Ferguson was making a statement to base control About how everyone did the best they could to stop Calvin and should be commended

I don't know what she was witnessing because they were without a doubt the most incompetent space crew I've ever seen in a film! There was at least 5 times they could've stopped it and they bloody messed it up every time! 😂

I understand there was a spooky alien and we wouldn't have much of a film otherwise but...

I couldn't tell you ANY of the characters names and the performances were ok but incredibly forgettable... I wouldn't recommend it at all

I wanted to watch a spooky movie today, and the 1990 version of It was on TV (both parts 1 and 2), so I gave it a go.

The movie involves a group of people encountering the evil clown Pennywise, who likes to scare people before feasting on them. Tim Curry's version of Pennywise may not look visually as scary as the more recent film adaptions, but his good acting means that it is still an intimidating adversary.

In terms of scariness, it wasn't that bad. Anything gruesome is generally implied instead of being shown in full detail. And there were places where the film had more of a Goonies vibe than of a horror vibe. Pennywise is still scary though. It uses people's fears against them, and creating mysterious situations where it's not known what will happen next. It's more of an unsettling kind of horror instead of a run for your lives kind.

The acting was good. The adults did a fine job in their parts, and the kids were really good at their roles. The main group of characters were likeable and quirky enough to remember who they were and to care about what happens to them.

Overall, it was rather enjoyable. I've not watched the 2017 version yet, so can't compare it to that. The 1990 version had a fairly low budget, so some people may find it a bit dated compared to more recent bigger budget super scary horror movies.

@KALofKRYPTON Just wait for it to be on TV. Personally, I give it just a 5 out of 10.

Halloween was movie night with the family. Watched Terminator 2 (we saw the first film again last night) and, of course, Halloween '78.

It was a good time, because both films are masterpieces of their respective genres.

Terminator 2, along with Die Hard, is the model that I judge other action films against. It's conceptually interesting, has a number of interesting character dynamics (John & Arnie, with a touching father/son dynamic; Arnie & Sarah, which grows from almost instinctive distrust on Sarah's part to a wary mutual respect between both parties; Sarah & John, who share a frayed but honest emotional connection; Arnie's developing sense of selfhood throughout the film, once he's switched out of "Read Only" mode), the action setpieces are dynamic, violent, and often desperate, the writing is intelligent, and, most importantly, the film emphasizes the vulnerability and mortality of its human characters. While the liquid metal special effects of the T-1000 are a little iffy today, almost everything in the film just looks fantastic, and the combination of CG and practical effects has led to the film aging like wine. Contrast this with the original and its ridiculous-looking animatronic Arnie and stop-motion Terminator skeleton near the end. Like any good sequel, it improves on the original by analyzing the emotional implications of its events and expanding on the worldbuilding in a way that makes the cinematic universe that much more engaging. Also notably present in this film is a sense of impending doom: The Terminator feels much more like a conventional thriller, whereas T2 feels downright apocalyptic throughout. The film means this to be the case, of course, which is why it opens on disturbing imagery like a playground that is engulfed in flames. Like the graphic novel Watchmen, the fear of nuclear war and the existential threat it poses is baked into every frame of this film.

Halloween isn't nearly as well-balanced a film, on the other hand, but it redeems itself by choosing to do one thing, and doing it EXTREMELY well. I could, of course, go on about the genius use of subjective viewpoint and the recently invented Steadicam at the start, or the brilliantly minimalistic score, but I wanted, instead, to focus on the centrality of The Shape throughout the film. Generally, in "slasher" films like this, or in most horror films, really, a status quo of safety and comfort is established before the monster or maniac or whatever arrives and upends it. This status quo never exists in this film, however, and is quite effectively deconstructed throughout. It really dawned on me, while I was watching it tonight, just how clever it is that The Shape is in virtually every single scene in this film. The first scene is the initial murder he commits as a child. IMMEDIATELY afterwards, it jumps to him fleeing the asylum and stealing the car Loomis was riding in. We then transition to a sunny Illinois town, which is when most horror films would busy themselves with establishing an atmosphere of normality. Not Halloween, though. In pretty much every daylight, scene-building part of this movie, The Shape is lurking somewhere in the background, stalking main character Laurie Strode after she drops off a pair of keys at the old Myers house. Oftentimes, the film announces this with a creepy score, indicating the presence of the shape as he lurks around the periphery of the screen. Just as often, though, he's barely noticeable, and receives no musical accompaniment: a distant figure staring at Laurie Strode outside of the school, who disappears the next time she glances out of the classroom window; a ghostly face haunting the edges of the screen as he prepares to kill his next victim; or even just a car that happens to be closely following behind one of Laurie's friends. A sense of unease and suspicion is cultivated throughout, so that, even in the brightest hours of ordinary daylight, things don't feel right, and, like Laurie herself, we never feel particularly safe. Things COULD happen at any time, and, even though violence only really happens at the very beginning and near the climax of the film, the viewer feels menaced throughout.

@crimsontadpoles See, the thing with horror movies is that lower budgets generally result in better films. At least, that's the case with competent directors. They can't throw everything on-screen as much as they might want, and they have to take a "less is more" approach. There's a reason a lot of the best horror films ever made were made a shoestring budget.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yeah, Life was absolutely disappointing. Conceptually empty (anyone who has seen Alien or any other space horror film, really, has seen a better version of this plot), and without the skill needed to carry a film on execution alone. One of the worse Jake Gyllenhaal films I've seen.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yeah life was a bit pants. Found it really predicable and like you said most of the crew were annoyingly incompetent.

@Ralizah Thanks for reminding me about Midsomer, I had totally forgotten about so I've just added to my rental list.

I've got Avengers Endgame to watch, but I've not seen Captain Marvel yet. How important is to watch CM before Endgame?