Topic: The Movie Thread

I'm still busy with Freddy vs Jason for DVD this weekend but I was checking the Tubi app on my Playstation 4 and noticed Tubi just added some new DC animated movies which are Batman Dark Knight Returns 1 and 2 and the Green Lantern First Flight animated movie.

hot damn lol

"Escape to Victory" - a disparate group of WW2 POW's (including Michael Caine, Sly Stallone and Pele) formulate an escape plan under the cover of a football match with their German captors. Absolutely preposterous - if you believe that the dwarven Sylvester Stallone would make a competent goalkeeper then you'll believe anything. No wonder he went straight back to the safety of the "Rocky" series after this one.

"8mm" with Nicholas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix and Catherine Keener in what must be the single most thankless role of her career. Joel Schumacher tries to be David Fincher with predictably awful results - what was presumably intended to be a trawl through the darkest recesses of the human psyche ends up being about as insightful in that regard as a WWE promo video. Depressing in all the wrong ways.

Woman in Gold (Blu-Ray) - Thrift store pick up. Not something I'd usually go for but glad I gave it a watch because it was pretty interesting.

True story about an Austrian-American Jewish woman who sued the Austrian government over ownership of a painting of her aunt (the titular "Woman in Gold"), after it ended up in an Austrian gallery after being stolen by the Nazi's in WWII.

Watched Dune again last night and what an excellent movie that is. It's funny; it had in no way diminished in my mind since I saw it in the theatre back in the day, but even then it sort of took me by surprise a little bit how much I enjoyed it again. Brilliant stuff! It was the first time I watched my 4K disc and that Atmos soundtrack really allowed my AVR to flex its muscles.

And now, in only a few hours, Dune 2 in IMAX awaits and I'm as giddy as a kid on Christmas morning

@FuriousMachine Hope it lives up to the hype! I've got my tickets booked for next Wednesday.

@JohnnyShoulder @FuriousMachine Dune Part 2 is really good. If you enjoyed the first then you’ll like the sequel.

My only complaint is the pacing is sometimes odd. The 2:45 hr runtime goes by fast and I think it’s more engaging than the first movie (which I felt was a teeny bit slow sometimes) but the sequel generally keeps the action and plot moving along at breakneck speeds, but occasionally at the expense of exposition. And yet, there’s still time spent on scanning the beautiful and mesmerizing landscapes and on giving the excellent acting time to really blossom. But what that means is that they don’t have time to fill in a few little narrative gaps which I felt made for interrupted flow every once in a while. It seems like they really made an effort to be as true to the book as possible, so there’s a slight feeling of things being crammed in there for the sake of accuracy.

I think you can probably enjoy it more if you’ve read the book. The first movie was a little like that too, because of the sheer uniqueness of the world and the plot. Since I haven’t read the book, I had to ask my friend what was going on sometimes, or what exactly was the background for a situation, what was the motivation for this character to do this or that, how the characters got to a particular point, etc.

So for that reason, it is important, in my opinion, to have a recent rewatch of the first movie, especially for people who haven’t read the book. It essentially just picks up from the first movie with little to no narrative catch-up. If someone were to jump straight into Part 2 without seeing the first (I don’t know why one would do that but I’m sure it happens) then they’d be totally lost. So for me, I was grateful I did a second viewing of the first movie a couple weeks ago.

It motivates me to read the books. Maybe I will someday. I want to see what happens next!

@JohnnyShoulder I absolutely loved it! Pre-ordered the 4K as soon as I got home

@Th3solution Yeah, I'm glad I watched the first one again yesterday. Been a while since I read the books so there were quite a few details gone from my memory (from both film and book). I think maybe they changed Chani a bit from the books in this one, but whether or not they did change her (or anything else), I felt it all worked wonderfully!

And you may not have to read the books to see what happens next, Villeneuve has more or less confirmed Part III, to be based on Dune Messiah (which I didn't really like; not because of any story beats or anything like that, but because the entire story is told through conversations between people telling each other what happened... I found that didn't work for me as a storytelling device)

@FuriousMachine Glad you enjoyed it.

So the ending of Dune part 2 correlates to the ending of the first Dune book?

@Th3solution @FuriousMachine I was a bit cooler on Dune than you two it seems. It was a decent watch but I didn't think it was amazing or anything like that. But I do want to go to the cinema a bit more often and bit less picky with the films i see.

@JohnnyShoulder Was there’s anything specific about it that didn’t land for you? I’m not questioning your taste, as like I said, I had my own issues with the pacing and the way the movie assumes you know certain things from the book. The weird language and naming conventions, the sheer number of names they use to refer to the protagonist was confusing by itself. 😅 I was just curious if there were similar issues you had or was it just more about the story wasn’t interesting to you?

@Th3solution Yeah I think the story and characters didn't really do much for me from the first film. Still looking forward to see part 2 at the cinema next week though.

At least I found it easier to follow than the David Lynch version, which always ended confusing the hell out of me lol.

I've not read the books, no.

I am a bit notorious for always getting characters names mixed up in stuff. Especially in fantasy or Sci-fi when the names can be a bit wierd and wonderful, or have a large cast. Something like Game of Thrones was a nightmare for with all the similar names! 😂

@JohnnyShoulder Oh, I misunderstood — I thought you already saw Part 2. Yeah, as far as a movie to experience on the big screen, Dune Part 2 is definitely a good choice. I’ll be curious to see if you like this one better.

@JohnnyShoulder I started going more often to the cinema last year, too. I used to only go to see "large" movies with a spectacle of sound and images, but at one point last year I guess I got hooked on the experience alone, so I started actively looking for films to go see if there wasn't anything I already had on my radar showing. Wound up even seeing a documentary and a French drama on the big screen, which would have been unthinkable in years past

Sure, they can't all be winners, but there were a few nice surprises, and, as mentioned, I enjoy the experience.

Anyway, hope you'llhave a good time with "Dune Part Two" on Wednesday. Curious to hear what you think when it's done

@Th3solution Yeah, the movie ends pretty much exactly like the book. There was indeed a change to Chani (I had to look it up), but I won't go into that as it's heavy spoiler territory for both this movie and what comes next. As I said, though, I think it worked very well and I read that Frank Herbert was a bit miffed about some misconceptions readers had and the change Villeneuve made sort of irons that out.

@FuriousMachine I've only been going once or twice a year, so will probably only go and see films which I feel seeing at the cinema will enhance the experience.

I used to go alot more often, about twice a month, but ended up getting a bit fed up with it. So I doubt I will be going that often again.

Pre-ordered the new 4K Blu ray for Aliens just yesterday off of Walmart tonline.

Should be getting it next week real soon

I feel like the only tough pick in the major Oscars categories is Lily Gladstone or Emma Stone for best actress. "Oppenheimer" is clearly (and deservedly) going to clean up elsewhere.

Jonathan Glazer proving why he’s one of my favourite directors. What a guy, and what a movie. Honestly if it got the push that Oppenheimer got, I would expect a Best Picture win.

In the major categories I got Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress wrong - I thought Lily Gladstone might just pip it at the post. Emma was brilliant in "Poor Things" though, so fair enough.

Wasn't able to see the ceremony live, but glad to see Oppenheimer clean up. Probably the best thing I saw in the theatre last year, and it's cool to say that I've seen a best picture winner during it's theatrical run.

Also super glad to see Godzilla Minus One pick up the VFX award. I was hoping either it or the Creator would take it home given that they managed to craft stunning worlds with a fraction of the budget blockbusters tend to carry, so that's pretty awesome.

Definitely need to get around to seeing the Boy & the Heron as well. I honestly thought Across the Spider-Verse was one of the best films I watched last year so I was rooting for it, but I won't begrudge a Ghibli win.