Films

[charlierc]

I'm still yet to see the Phantom-Clones-Sith trilogy - only bothered with the originals and newest, as I heard many terrible things about the prequel run. Maybe that can be next on the list after seeing Rise of Skywalker, though the challenge now I'm guessing is avoiding spoilers for RoS - something I have historically been dreadful at.

Not that I can see myself seeing Cats, at least not if I have to pay to go in. The trailer looked faintly ludicrous enough and I don't think any mass release film this year has had such a bad reaction on arrival.

Edited December 21, 2019 by charlierc

[eastynh]

Well I enjoyed the last Jedi. Can't wait for baby Yoda to find those lightsabres when playing in the sand, in the next one.

[pryce]

Rouge one is a great film, I like to remember that more than these new ones 

[Rufus Gwertigan]

It's a Wonderful Life never gets old for me. 

[Gromite]

19 hours ago, pryce said:

Rouge one is a great film, I like to remember that more than these new ones 

Rogue One is a fantastic film, probably my favourite Star Wars after Empire and ROTJ. 

[TheGayTent]

2 hours ago, Gromite said:

Rogue One is a fantastic film, probably my favourite Star Wars after Empire and ROTJ. 

It’s better than ROTJ. 
 

This last instalment, did what it needed to do I guess. It could have been an awful lot better.
 

Finn was underused, though the biggest issues are the Rylo Ken/Ben and Rey storyline, together with Adam Driver’s acting ability. 

[Gnomicide]

Just back from RoS, I sort of enjoyed it but it was far from great. The little guy that hacked C3PO was the best thing in it. 

[Wooderson]

19 hours ago, TheGayTent said:

together with Adam Driver’s acting ability. 

That he was underused?

[pink_triangle]

Saw 2 very good films over the weekend. Capernaum (probably spelt wrong) was one of the best child acting performance I have seen, apparently boy had no experience which makes it even more impressive. Very hard hitting film that made real impact.

Bumblebee was probably the most surprised I have ever been with a film. My expectations were low and not much a fan of modern Blockbusters. To me they did this one perfectly where investment in characters was far more important than special effects.

[charlierc]

On 12/21/2019 at 10:49 AM, charlierc said:

I'm still yet to see the Phantom-Clones-Sith trilogy - only bothered with the originals and newest, as I heard many terrible things about the prequel run. Maybe that can be next on the list after seeing Rise of Skywalker, though the challenge now I'm guessing is avoiding spoilers for RoS - something I have historically been dreadful at.

Leaving aside the fact browsing Wikipedia for information about characters lead to me accidentally spoiling RoS already, I tried Revenge of the Sith the other day. It just felt to me to be average, even if Ewan McGregor was good as Obi-Wan, not to mention drenched in CGI that looks strangely very aged given its only 14 years old.

[priest17]

Love Star Wars, didn't mind the new trilogy but its so much potential wasted. If When they bring out a new trilogy I hope they think it out a bit better, its such a fun world to be in when they nail it.

Been worth putting up with the lot of it to get The Mandalorian.

[Amy Lawn]

On 12/24/2019 at 9:33 AM, pink_triangle said:

Bumblebee was probably the most surprised I have ever been with a film. My expectations were low and not much a fan of modern Blockbusters. To me they did this one perfectly where investment in characters was far more important than special effects.

I absolutely loved Bumblebee. Only seen one Transformers film before (the one where they end up at the Pyramids and John Tuturro is in it) and it was incomprehensible nonsense; indecipherable plot and visuals so busy with grey CGI that you couldn't tell at all what the fuck you were looking at. Went to watch Bumblebee because for some reason my partner's mum really digs the Transformers films and we took her to the pictures and for tea as her Christmas present last year. Really wasn't looking forward to it, but from the opening scenes I could tell it was nothing like the other Transformers stuff I'd seen. I had a real whale of a time watching it, and in fact if it hadn't been for the excellent Knives Out it would've been the best 2019 film I went to see. Only found out afterwards that it was directed by Travis Knight who directed Kubo & The Two strings and had a prominent role in the other Laika studios films, all of which I love. If he's taking over Transformers here and Michael Bay has got the boot, then please hook it up to my goddamn veins.

[Gnomicide]

Also really enjoyed Bumblebee, wasn't surprised to see Spielberg's name as executive producer at the end, the characterisation felt very much like one of his earlier films.

[jump]

10 hours ago, Gnomicide said:

Also really enjoyed Bumblebee, wasn't surprised to see Spielberg's name as executive producer at the end, the characterisation felt very much like one of his earlier films.

It's a token producer credit as he set up Dreamworks who made the film, he's had his name on all of the Transformers films including the shit ones. The biggest say he's had in those films when he had Megan Fox fired from the franchise when she compared Michael Bay to Hitler which didn't go down well since he's Jewish with multiple family members having died in the Holocaust.

Speaking of Hitler, Jo Jo Rabbit looks great. It's from Taika Waititi who did Thor Ragnarok and What We Do in the Shadows. It's a story about a Hitler Youth who's imaginary friend is Hitler and finds out his parents are hiding Jewish people.   

[philipsteak]

28 minutes ago, jump said:

 

Speaking of Hitler, Jo Jo Rabbit looks great. It's from Taika Waititi who did Thor Ragnarok and What We Do in the Shadows. It's a story about a Hitler Youth who's imaginary friend is Hitler and finds out his parents are hiding Jewish people.   

Seems to have divided critics, but some of his earlier NZ stuff did too and I really like that so looking forward to this.

 

Edit

Actually, just checked and it was only really Eagle vs Shark that wasn't liked but I loved that film

Edited December 30, 2019 by philipsteak

[clarkete]

16 minutes ago, philipsteak said:

Actually, just checked and it was only really Eagle vs Shark that wasn't liked but I loved that film

Also Hunt for the Wilderpeople is bloody great and he directed one of the episodes of the Mandalorian.

[charlierc]

Just caught Rise of Skywalker... it was alright. Rey was pretty good, Isaac got to do more than I recall in the first 2 movies, agreed above Finn hadn't really got much to do, special effects were good, dialogue was frequently unintentionally hilarious, and plot felt like a mess.

So much of the new trilogy has kinda felt reactionary - like Last Jedi felt like it was going more out there just because Force Awakens was criticised for just being A New Hope 2.0, while this felt like it played far too safe due to Last Jedi getting slagged off for being sometimes iconoclastic. The same people presumably behind the scenes have been integral to making this happen but its still felt like a mess.

[kingbadger]

Just back from seeing Rise of Skywalker. Fuck they pissed over The Last Jedi, which is probably the best Star Wars film since Empire Strikes Back (Rogue One aside which is also excellent). 

As if JJ Abrams wasn't done with rehashing A New Hope so had a go at doing Empire/RotJ at the same time in this one. 

None of the character arcs made sense, the turns/shocks were either laughable or rendered immediately useless. 

What made Last Jedi and Empire so great was expanding the world beyond having the saga seem like a family quibble. Then they've retconned that entirely, rehashing everything to the point there are now so many questions posed without satisfactorily completing anyone's journey. Finn was so hard done by especially.

Not sure I'm actually that disappointed as it's pretty much what I expected given how toxic Star Wars fans are and the fact they couldn't stomach a film which made the saga more than about like 5 people. 

[jump]

13 hours ago, philipsteak said:

Seems to have divided critics, but some of his earlier NZ stuff did too and I really like that so looking forward to this.

 

Edit

Actually, just checked and it was only really Eagle vs Shark that wasn't liked but I loved that film

I skimmed the rotten tomatoes bad reviews summaries and it seems the complaints are mostly about how his odd humour is being applied to a serious subject matter. 

I've got my tixs booked to see it on New Years Day as a way to force myself out of my bed rather than nursing a hangover all day.

[philipsteak]

18 hours ago, jump said:

I skimmed the rotten tomatoes bad reviews summaries and it seems the complaints are mostly about how his odd humour is being applied to a serious subject matter. 

I've got my tixs booked to see it on New Years Day as a way to force myself out of my bed rather than nursing a hangover all day.

My 7am shift will do that for me. Probably go after work

[ThomThomDrum]

Anyone do a 4XD experience?

[1986]

On 12/23/2019 at 12:24 PM, TheGayTent said:

It’s better than ROTJ. 
 

This last instalment, did what it needed to do I guess. It could have been an awful lot better.
 

Finn was underused, though the biggest issues are the Rylo Ken/Ben and Rey storyline, together with Adam Driver’s acting ability. 

[1986]

I've seen TROS twice now. Both felt like very different experiences.

The first was a midnight showing, and although the pace and characters always kept it fun (and more importantly I didn't fall asleep) I was totally bummed coming out by how much TLJ retconning that happened. Because that film is one of the masterpieces of the series. And once again it turned into a story about one or two specific bloodlines rather than explore what Johnson set up about anyone being able to be a hero. 

Saw it again last weekend and I feel much more enthusiastic about it. Everything hit me harder, the emotion, the action, the friendships. I even shed a tear once or twice. Everything I was after from that first viewing. The problems I have are still there. But I do find it to me more coherent as an ending than I first thought. 

I do echo the lamenting of a lack of a through line between the three films. and I feel like the ending could have been more special if Johnson returned. But one thing the baton passing tactic has done is allow for each film to almost stand on its own in a weird way. So I know I can chuck on TLJ and enjoy it as a highlight and enjoy that films themes in more of a vacuum. 

I'm also glad this is the last film for a few years at least, really looking forward to the shows and am loving the Jedi Fallen Order game. 

[charlierc]

Jojo Rabbit was an odd one - when you got beyond the shock sight of Waititi in that costume, various early jokes and dark turns, the plot became kinda ordinary. Sam Rockwell's jaded local leader was great, particularly when paired with Rebel Wilson, and Scarlett Johansson was good too.

[Luke Routledge]

Went to see 1917 last night. One of the best cinema experiences for me in recent memory. Couldn't recommend it more!