What's The Latest Film You Have Seen?

Lisnaholic · 01-03-2022, 08:17 AM

^ Welcome to MB, RMNT !

We have very few members from Eastern Europe, so I hope you will stick around to give us some international perspective.
Sorry to rather jump past your post on this occasion, but I really wanted to continue the discussion about this movie that has recently turned up on the streaming website, Netflix. Do you have Netflix in Lithuania?

Quote:

Originally Posted by adidasss

Don't look up (2021)

Critics are apparently divided on this one so I came into it a bit apprehensive but I ended up enjoying it. Depends on how you feel the satirical humour. For me it worked, I thought it correctly portrays what could (and does) realistically happen with human civilization if/when faced with a potentially catastrophic event. It could be applied to the pandemic, climate crisis, a world ending meteor headed towards Earth. Human stupidity + never ending pursuit of profit = disaster. An apt depiction of our times and state of mind.

Thanks, ando, for articulating a vague disappointment I was feeling with this movie: "No consistent visual style".

But in other respects I thought it was a very good movie. It tackles yet another "imagine this" apocalyptic scenario, but neatly avoids all the usual clichés. (The one that springs to mind being "Hero desperately helps loved ones escape disaster".)

If you've seen the movie, you may find Brian Cox's comments interesting. (and if you are wondering who BC is, I would describe him as the British N deGrasse Tyson). This clip is well worth watching imo. It's not a nerd's nitpicking about "That rocket has the wrong type of bi-lateral stabilizer"; instead BC gives us some calmly-explained insights into "life, the universe and everything" (to quote Douglas Adams).

ando here · 01-03-2022, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

If you've seen the movie, you may find Brian Cox's comments interesting. (and if you are wondering who BC is, I would describe him as the British N deGrasse Tyson). This clip is well worth watching imo. It's not a nerd's nitpicking about "That rocket has the wrong type of bi-lateral stabilizer"; instead BC gives us some calmly-explained insights into "life, the universe and everything" (to quote Douglas Adams).

I enjoy watching (and listening to) Cox save the program he did on Gustav Holst's famous musical suite, The Planets. Avoid. Cox is a scientist, not an artist. His interpretations induced laughter, then slight contempt. I don't think he has the disdain (not to mention, misunderstanding) for astrology that Carl Sagan possessed but he ignored it altogether when considering each of Holst's movements/planets. Yet astrological definitions inform the very tone and structure of each musical idea. Nerds.

ando here · 01-03-2022, 01:27 PM

That said, Cox's series, The Planets, minus Holst is pretty fascinating.

Series link

Plankton · 01-03-2022, 01:38 PM

Darkest Hour

After watching quite a few doc's about WWII over the course of the last 2 years, this came as a nice compliment to Dunkirk and some of the other events leading up to WC's famous speech. Sure, there are a few liberties taken, and Gary Oldman's portrayal isn't exactly flawless, but it's damn good.

Lisnaholic · 01-04-2022, 06:44 PM

^ I enjoyed that movie too. It was only about half-way through that I realised that Churchill was being played by Gary Newman, so in that sense his performance was pretty good.
Right now I'm watching "WWII In Colour", but as that's a series, not a movie, I mustn't mention it here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ando here

That said, Cox's series, The Planets, minus Holst is pretty fascinating.

Series link

You know a lot more about Brian Cox than I do, ando! Many thanks for the link as that should be an interesting series.

Plankton · 01-05-2022, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

^ I enjoyed that movie too. It was only about half-way through that I realised that Churchill was being played by Gary Numan, so in that sense his performance was pretty good.
Right now I'm watching "WWII In Colour", but as that's a series, not a movie, I mustn't mention it here.

You know a lot more about Brian Cox than I do, ando! Many thanks for the link as that should be an interesting series.

Maybe if he were in a car he'd have felt safest of all.

I zipped though WWII In Color last year or maybe 2020, then got hooked and watched a few others, like The Battle of Midway, WWII IC Road to Victory, The World at War, and then some WWI docs too.

Lisnaholic · 01-05-2022, 10:30 AM

^ oops!

Yep, I've watched most of those war documentaries you mention too. What happened during the course of the Battle of Midway was just extraordinary; the twists and turns, the strokes of luck, the bad decisions. And of course it's all played out at the cost of human lives.

Plankton · 01-05-2022, 10:32 AM

True dat

**Frownland** · 01-07-2022, 12:11 AM

Fear of a Black Hat - Spinal Tap but about 90s hip hop and it's ****ing side-splitting.

Tokyo Story - Insanely gorgeous visuals. Strong plot that nails the slice of life approach but I felt like it could've been stronger.

Teorema - Thought the ending was wild and loved the soliloquy on artistry. There were a lot of mid points though. Idk, maybe seducing a whole family was more provocative at the time, I feel like these days people have a D.E.N.N.I.S. system about it.

Synecdoche, New York - Much funnier than I expected, honestly. The main theme of confrontation of life and death messaging is well-done, but I was mostly thinking about what Kaufman's writing process must be like. I think it goes like this

Step 1: Sincerely write the sentimental, seminal, semen-filled Important Work you want to with no worry about self-indulgence or cliche.
Step 2: Merciless mock what you wrote in step 1.
Step 3: Rewrite step 1 to subvert what step 2 mocked it for.
Step 4: Merciless mock the outcome of step 3.
Step 5: Feed the scripts from steps 3 and 4 to your ouroboros.
Step 6: Write a script mocking the ouroboros feces.
Step 7: Take the most important moments from all of the above steps and combine them without sacrificing what you were going for in step 1 then send it to the director.

La dialectique peut-elle casser des briques? (Can Dialectics Break Bricks?) - A kung-fu movie dubbed in French, turning it into a story about anticapitalist revolution. The overarching joke has surprisingly long staying power and it made my reading list even more annoyingly long and dense. Good **** and has a bunch of good non-theory-based zingers to boot.

ando here · 01-07-2022, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frownland

Fear of a Black Hat - Spinal Tap but about 90s hip hop and it's ****ing side-splitting.

Tokyo Story - Insanely gorgeous visuals. Strong plot that nails the slice of life approach but I felt like it could've been stronger.

Teorema - Thought the ending was wild and loved the soliloquy on artistry. There were a lot of mid points though. Idk, maybe seducing a whole family was more provocative at the time, I feel like these days people have a D.E.N.N.I.S. system about it.

Synecdoche, New York - Much funnier than I expected, honestly. The main theme of confrontation of life and death messaging is well-done, but I was mostly thinking about what Kaufman's writing process must be like. I think it goes like this

Step 1: Sincerely write the sentimental, seminal, semen-filled Important Work you want to with no worry about self-indulgence or cliche.
Step 2: Merciless mock what you wrote in step 1.
Step 3: Rewrite step 1 to subvert what step 2 mocked it for.
Step 4: Merciless mock the outcome of step 3.
Step 5: Feed the scripts from steps 3 and 4 to your ouroboros.
Step 6: Write a script mocking the ouroboros feces.
Step 7: Take the most important moments from all of the above steps and combine them without sacrificing what you were going for in step 1 then send it to the director.

La dialectique peut-elle casser des briques? (Can Dialectics Break Bricks?) - A kung-fu movie dubbed in French, turning it into a story about anticapitalist revolution. The overarching joke has surprisingly long staying power and it made my reading list even more annoyingly long and dense. Good **** and has a bunch of good non-theory-based zingers to boot.

I've yet to watch Black Hat. In my queue. Thanks.

01-03-2022, 01:27 PM	#23883 (permalink)
ando here Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2020 Location: NY, NY Posts: 1,802	That said, Cox's series, The Planets, minus Holst is pretty fascinating. Series link __________________ "A musician plays music. Other people name it." - Artie Shaw

01-03-2022, 01:38 PM	#23884 (permalink)
Plankton Just Keep Swimming... Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: See signature... Posts: 7,765	Darkest Hour After watching quite a few doc's about WWII over the course of the last 2 years, this came as a nice compliment to Dunkirk and some of the other events leading up to WC's famous speech. Sure, there are a few liberties taken, and Gary Oldman's portrayal isn't exactly flawless, but it's damn good. __________________ See location...

01-05-2022, 10:30 AM	#23887 (permalink)
Lisnaholic ...here to hear... Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: He lives on Love Street Posts: 4,444	^ oops! Yep, I've watched most of those war documentaries you mention too. What happened during the course of the Battle of Midway was just extraordinary; the twists and turns, the strokes of luck, the bad decisions. And of course it's all played out at the cost of human lives. __________________ "Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

01-05-2022, 10:32 AM	#23888 (permalink)
Plankton Just Keep Swimming... Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: See signature... Posts: 7,765	True dat __________________ See location...

01-07-2022, 12:11 AM	#23889 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,541	Fear of a Black Hat - Spinal Tap but about 90s hip hop and it's **ing side-splitting. Tokyo Story - Insanely gorgeous visuals. Strong plot that nails the slice of life approach but I felt like it could've been stronger. Teorema - Thought the ending was wild and loved the soliloquy on artistry. There were a lot of mid points though. Idk, maybe seducing a whole family was more provocative at the time, I feel like these days people have a D.E.N.N.I.S. system about it. Synecdoche, New York - Much funnier than I expected, honestly. The main theme of confrontation of life and death messaging is well-done, but I was mostly thinking about what Kaufman's writing process must be like. I think it goes like this Step 1: Sincerely write the sentimental, seminal, semen-filled Important Work you want to with no worry about self-indulgence or cliche. Step 2: Merciless mock what you wrote in step 1. Step 3: Rewrite step 1 to subvert what step 2 mocked it for. Step 4: Merciless mock the outcome of step 3. Step 5: Feed the scripts from steps 3 and 4 to your ouroboros. Step 6: Write a script mocking the ouroboros feces. Step 7: Take the most important moments from all of the above steps and combine them without sacrificing what you were going for in step 1 then send it to the director. La dialectique peut-elle casser des briques? (Can Dialectics Break Bricks?) - A kung-fu movie dubbed in French, turning it into a story about anticapitalist revolution. The overarching joke has surprisingly long staying power and it made my reading list even more annoyingly long and dense. Good ** and has a bunch of good non-theory-based zingers to boot. __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x