Topic: The Movie Thread

Forgot to post my horror check in yesterday - but I promise I did watch something! A film called You'll Never Find Me. If you have a very high tolerance for slow burners then maybe give this one a go, it is well made (especially the sound design) and the last 20 minutes felt like they could have made a solid horror short on their own. But overall, I got what it was going for but just don't think it achieved really anything it set out to do. As such, I just found it boring and a waste of time. It is why I just kinda forgot to check in to be honest, cause the moment it was over my brain ejected it from memory to make room for something more interesting.

@Pizzamorg There is indeed a thin line between slow burn and boring, yes. Too bad that one fell on the wrong side

I love the fact that they just didn’t test Joker 2 with audiences at all. Probably why it’s sitting at a D CinemaScore, which is one of the lowest I’ve seen for a blockbuster. It does also mean that when test audiences were told they were watching an R rated musical, they were actually watching the Robbie Williams biopic where he’s played by a CGI monkey.

The Usual Suspects

Following on from the classic, LA Confidential, I picked another top shelf film to spend a couple of hours with. A long time since I've seen it, but age hasn't harmed it one bit. Brilliant film.

Tonight's movies are PREY and Puppet Master: The littlest Reich. Looking forward to finally watching both!

@MightyDemon82 I have still yet to watch Prey! Puppet Master seems like a fun film to watch, let me know how they are!

Ima watch another horror film today, just don't know which one yet. Have so many to choose from!

@Malaise that's 2 from my collection that I should probably also watch again. LA, Confidential especially. Although I don't think I've really dipped that much into any of my movie collection recently, which is weird, as most of them are much better than modern releases.

Can't even remember the last time I used a disc drive for media of any kind 😬

I suppose you could do a lateral and veer from Kevin Spacey to Guy Pearce and get Memento lined up next.

@Ravix Sometimes you have to reset the baseline after watching a bunch of crap (often enjoyable, but crap nonetheless) by taking in some absolute classics! To be fair you can't really go wrong with either actor, but Memento is a great shout. Even better, I see it's free on Tubi. I watched the other two free on YouTube. You might have just sorted tonight's late entertainment. I'll bring the snacks!

Checked out the new science fiction themed VHS they just dropped on Shudder. Kate Siegel's and Jordan Downey's shorts were both great, everything else was pretty skippable, Virat Pal’s short especially was pretty awful. Just watch the original or VHS 85, they were so much better.

@Pizzamorg I've only recently warched the first two VHS films and was surprised how much I enjoyed the first film.

EDIT: Turns out it is only recent ones I've seen, 94 and 99 lol. Need to hunt down the first two films then!

@JohnnyShoulder I think most people like the second one the best, I personally didn't care for that one. The two 90s ones (I think it was 94 which was hard carried by short 'The Subject' which seems to be what Stork is trying to do in Beyond to a lesser success, but its still a lot of fun) are when Shudder tried to revive VHS, I think they are both alright, but I thought the best one under Shudder was 85, however, I know some people really don't like that one. I think Beyond is the weakest one since Shudder's revival of the franchise and that does seem to be a fairly consistent note I've seen in the early reviews.

@Malaise no idea what Tubi is, but go for it haha. I think it was on the BBC recently here, so might be on there which means I could watch it without having to put some weird circular shiny thing in an electric box.

I feel like I'm due a good bit of cinema and a nice glass of hard liquor to sip along with it. It might be breaking into the Tarantino or Coen collection, though, I'll have to see. Sunday is a bit sports crazy, so it might not be then.

I'm actually going to watch the last Rings of Power now, so that is like the antithesis of good cinema, but i can't deny I'm actually quite enjoying it, for what it is 😅😅 bring on deaged Orlando Bloom or whatever they have planned next 😳

I'm actually thinking maybe I want to watch The Long Goodbye. I feel like I remember it being pretty darn good, and I imagine it was massively ahead of its time too, based on the trailer I'm watching hahaha. 1973 (wow) starring Eliot Gould. No idea when I last saw it, some late night airing on UK TV once, I guess.

@Ravix Ah, it's just one of those free streaming services with ads. They get some good stuff on there. Can't go wrong with either one of those directors. I watched The Hateful Eight recently, very long but didn't feel like its actual length. Tarantino films are just so compelling. He's a master of prolonged tension.

@Malaise I added a little to my last comment. Elliot Gould, underrated and barely ever cast 😅

But yes. I keep promising to make people watch The Hateful Eight on a cold wintery night, but we keep not having cold wintery nights the last few years and then it never comes to fruition 💀 I might just have to watch it this year regardless.

Maybe a Push Square film club 🤔

@Ravix I have never seen The Long Goodbye. Looks great, I'll definitely look to watch it!
First rule of Film Club. Do not talk about Film Club. 😅

Hot take, I guess?

Just got back from Joker: Folie à Deux, and it absolutely doesn't deserve the terrible reviews it has been getting. If anything, it's a far less morally muddled film than the original Joker was, and is, frankly, closer to being one of the nuanced character studies the director was gunning for with the original (which ended up feeling more like self-parody at times).

It's not perfect, of course. This film isn't nearly as tight as the original was in terms of its focus and is arguably still much too self-indulgent with its stylization, like the original. But thematically there is quite a bit more nuance here, and it works far better as a "character study," even if it ends up being a much less pleasant experience as a result.

And, oh boy, I'm not surprised this has ticked off so many people. I absolutely love it when artists directly challenge their audiences, and Philips took a baseball bat to the legacy of that original film. He really does seem to genuinely be horrified by the audience he inadvertently pandered to with the original film's questionable script.

I still don't think Joker needed a sequel, but, in this case, I think there's a level of artistic merit to correcting the thematic legacy of that film.

Also, as a technical production, this really is a gorgeous film.

@Ralizah joker’s existence is pretty bizarre period. I won’t beat around the bush and also just tackle this from a comic book geek’s perspective. Joker is a weird character to make a movie for, period. But see that’s what I liked about the first movie before watching it; it was novel. After watching it…. Yup, it’s definitely novel…. [apply different connotation here].

I’m happy to hear the director did something unique with the second film though! It actually makes it interesting to know it’s taking advantage of its unique position. You piqued my curiosity.

@Yousef- I dunno. The Joker is a pretty iconic character. There's a reason The Killing Joke is such a beloved GN.

Unfortunately, the original film didn't really know what it wanted to say, which is probably why it ended up resonating with some worrying crowds (which triggered the frankly ridiculous media scaremongering about it potentially causing an increase in incel violence).

Joker 2 is a decent film in its own right, but is very interesting on a metatextual level. Definitely not a lazy sequel. If anything, it's a sequel that will play best with people who had major reservations about the original.

Today's horror movie was another mixed bag, a movie called Trim Season. Feel like it deserves props as its set up like a billion other stoner comedy come slasher horror movies before it, but they don't go in that direction. I am just not sure the direction they went in was necessarily better. Generally well made, but not well written, paced or performed. Some gory payoff at the end.

@Ralizah I should’ve expanded on my take there. Meant a solo film. So Killing Joke wouldn’t apply to my previously unexpanded claim. Joker thrives off the dynamic he has with Batman. There’s plenty of stories where joker saves Batman just so it’d be him who’d finish him off, as well as theories that if Batman died, joker would quit crime. There’s a reason joker’s origins were intentionally left ambiguous, with the canonicity of even the killing joke being called into question. Hence why I initially took issue with the premise, but wasn’t necessarily against it, per se.