What's The Latest Film You Have Seen?

dankrsta · 12-08-2010, 02:23 PM

Oops, I'm a little late with my replies and I promised last night I'll explain myself more...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conan

Are you saying there was too much exposition in this film? I didn't find that to be the case. I thought it has the necessary amount to keep it comprehensible.

Way too much explaining of the plot and the rules. But that's what happens when Nolan makes his plot and his puzzles seem too convoluted. Under this superficial complexity this film is not hard to get. Actually there's nothing to get here, that's my big gripe with it. The only engagement it asks of its viewers is to carefully follow plot points, not to miss anything and to remember the rules of the game.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackhammer

I only watched Inception myself for the first time last night and I do agree with Dankstra on a lot of points.

I absolutely commend a director working within a hugely commercial arena wanting to add gravitas to a film but stripped down I found the film an action film in disguise and less about psychological machinations and more about the spectacle and although it was a film with great visuals I didn't find a huge amount to actually get me thinking as there is always the excuse that 'it's just a dream' thrown at me.

It is a very good film but it could have been absolutely superb if it remained oblique enough- as dreams often are.

Yeah I can agree with this and give him the respect for trying, but I believe he doesn't have the sensibility for that. Matrix (the first one) did it much better and without the pretension that it represents more than it actually is, an exciting sci-fi movie. This false gravitas and complexity of the pseudo-psychology is actually hurting the film's fun sci-fi element. We're too busy following the plot points to actually enjoy the film.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheCunningStunt

I don't think it was a film for the arthouse community, I don't think it was a film for people who want to see a film to think about the ideas presented.
I think it was an ambitious film and because it was a film on such a grand scale, if Nolan made it too oblique I think it would have flopped financially (maybe not critically) and I don't think he could take that risk but I think it remains ambiguous enough for it not to be a typical run of the mill film.
I don't think it was a film meant to be overly thought provoking, I just think it was a summer blockbuster that had more ambition and substance than a lot of other blockbusters. I think if you're looking for your mind to be tested you're going to be disappointed, but if you're looking to be enthralled by a brilliant action/heist/thriller then you've watched the right film.

I can see why people think it folds in on itself due to it's ambition, but IMO Nolan manages to pull it off.

I didn't expect it to be an arthouse film either, but I remember when it came out it was praised as a masterpiece on every level. I knew then that was a lot of rubbish, but I was hoping it'd be at least intriguing, in the vein of Prestige, but on a larger scale. The bold part is also a problem for me, 'cause I didn't find the movie exciting even as an action/heist and I blame the complex plot for that. As I said, we're too busy picking up plot lines and learning the mechanics of dreams. The whole film is mechanical and sterile. And don't get me started on those dreams. Even if they're constructed they should have some elements and feel of real dreams and not be this literal. I've read somewhere an interesting comment, something like 'maybe Nolan dreams mechanical manuals'. Hilarious and so true. Even dreams in A Nightmare on Elm Street, a ****ing horror movie are more dream-like than here. That's why I ask: what's the point in putting his story in dreams? They certainly feel more like some virtual, video game reality, but yeah Matrix did that and much better. I will have to watch Paprika and Dark City and see how they compare to Inception. (Actually I've seen Dark City long time ago, but I need to remind myself.)

adidasss · 12-08-2010, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheCunningStunt

The last film I saw:

Absolutely brilliant.

Nice to see other people appreciating Korean cinematography. I liked it too...(:

Just saw and am currently in the middle of the second disc of:

One of the best films I've seen. The detail of the production is mindblowing.

FaSho · 12-08-2010, 03:42 PM

Grossest. Movie. Ever.

**Janszoon** · 12-08-2010, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FaSho

Grossest. Movie. Ever.

Great though.

stevensp · 12-08-2010, 05:07 PM

I am again watching the whole batman collection
the last one I saw was Batman, from 1989, great movie
wonderful atmosphere ^^

Right before that I saw Machete, which was an awesome movie aswell!

Fatt Matt · 12-09-2010, 11:03 AM

jackhammer · 12-09-2010, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adidasss

Nice to see other people appreciating Korean cinematography. I liked it too...(:

Just saw and am currently in the middle of the second disc of:

One of the best films I've seen. The detail of the production is mindblowing.

Probably the best DVD boxset out there too. Any film that has a 3 hour+ documentary on the film and still remain utterly watchable is fine by me. One of the best soundtracks too.

MoonlitSunshine · 12-10-2010, 05:26 AM

Right.

Two days ago, I had the fortune of being handed three tickets to go see a preview of Tron Legacy and was told to find two friends and enjoy. Before I say anything else, enjoy I did.

For anyone who hasn't seen Tron, first of all, Shame on you. This is a classic damnit, and the first film to properly utilise computer graphics. This Film is the mother, father and essential progenitor of every goddamn computer generated special effect that is used in almost every modern film you will see. If only for that, it should be seen. Secondly, you could enjoy Tron Legacy without seeing Tron (some might argue that you would enjoy it more, but I'll get to that later), but in all honesty, I think that given the amount of references and the lack of general explanation of the finer details, it's really a must-see before this.

That said, Tron Legacy is a Scifi Cheesefest. If you can name a nerdy scifi classic, there's probably a reference to it somewhere in it. Don't worry, it's not overly done, it's actually great the way they do it, but I think the more you know, the more amusing the entire film is going to be.

But regardless of whether you have seen any of these films, you will understand at this point that if there's one thing that's associated with Tron, it's Computer Graphics, and dear god, is this film beautiful. Every inch of the landscape of The Grid looks like it was lovingly crafted by hand by an artist whose entire way of life was inspired by the original film. Some things have stayed the same in essence, and just given (one hell of) a graphics update, some things have been reimagined and upgraded, but every change, every new thing, was an inspired choice. When I saw Avatar, one of the things that hit me was that it was wonderful to watch, but that it relied too much on 3D in order to be pretty. Tron Legacy? Well, they have 3D, and they use it pretty effectively, but the crux of its majesty is in the depth and the clarity of how awesome the graphics are. So pretty. And I haven't even started talking about Olivia Wilde :P

Speaking of Olivia Wilde, the acting is (for the most part) first class. I mean, this film has two Jeff Bridges. Two! that's twice the awesome already. Garrett Hedlund is for the most part good, he's no Jeff Bridges, and there are points where he borders on annoying, but generally he plays a believable protagonist. It's only really in hindsight that I'm really noticing that he wasn't amazing, and any mediocrity on his part if more than made up for by Wilde's utterly captivating facial expressions. The support characters are all suitably fantastic, any any film that manages to actually include Daft Punk in the cast list is in my good books.

Speaking of Daft Punk: the Soundtrack. Daft Punk fans already know they'll enjoy this, and personally I think its integration into the film is seamless. From the moment of the first beats, to the point that you realise that you're actually listening to a Daft Punk Orchestral piece (as many of you know, they go very LOTR at points). Not only that, but as one of my friends said to me in hushed tones in the cinema: "Man, I never thought I'd hear Daft Punk do minimal." It all fits well, and if at times the music rises to the level of the voice acting (I heard some mutters of complaint about not being able to hear them, I didn't notice), They were in a club, damnit.

You may have begun to notice at this point that I have described everything about the film except for the plot. This is largely because I don't want to spoil anything, but more because... well, there isn't much of a plot, which is the only downside to this movie. Unfortunately, it's what keeps it from being amazing in my eyes. Don't misunderstand me, there is a story here, you'd pretty well hope so considering it's two hours long! But it doesn't really go anywhere with any particular gusto. Perhaps this was due to a lack of animation of one of the main characters, perhaps this was due to a lack of any serious "Story", but the plot just never really gets off the ground.

But enough beating around the bush, me, what was it actually like? Well, it's good. I enjoyed watching it, and I would definitely watch it again, but this is no Tron, for a number of reasons. Tron was way ahead of its time, it was avant garde, it was new, and man was it cheesy. Tron Legacy stays true to that cheese, but the problem is that a world entirely generated by computer graphics is no longer an artsy idea, it's totally mainstream. In order to stay true to the original idea of the film, the producers, in my opinion, had no choice but to accept it, and make it what a modern Tron would be: an Action Flick.

And that's what this is! It's nerdy, it's nostalgic, it's cheesy, it's ever so pretty, but at the end of the day, this is a hollywood action film, complete with flashy fight scenes and thrilling chases. If you go looking for something that emulates the underlying thoughtfulness of Tron, you might find it hard to find underneath all the flash, but if you go to this expecting a fun, action packed, beautifully rendered sci-fi cheesefest, you will not be disappointed. As I said earlier, perhaps in some ways if you hadn't seen Tron before seeing Tron Legacy, you might enjoy it more (due to lower expectations), but I'll have to wait and see if anyone does to see if that's true.

To Conclude:

Tron walked up to the cliff edge, standing beside his youthful counterpart as he stared into the glowing sunset. Moments passed as the two appreciated the scene before them, the silence only slightly tainted by the air of apprehension emanating from the younger of the two. At last, Tron sighed, and turned to face his companion.

"Well boy, I won't deny it; you had a lot to live up to. Fans have treasured me since their childhood, grown up with me at their side, pushing them to achieve their dreams. They had high hopes for you, hopes that were going to be hard to fulfill in this new world of flash and action. But whatever the critics say, you did a good job with what you had. You may not be the next sci-fi classic, you may not be the herald of a new age of film, but when it comes down to it, you did good, Son. I'm proud of you."

End Of Line

loveissucide · 12-10-2010, 05:53 AM

And superb it was too.Really gets my love of medieval witch-burnings, gloomy Swedish cinema,and existentialism spot on.

Bulldog · 12-10-2010, 03:14 PM

^ This film was absolutely feeble. Technically it's pretty terrible, looking like was shot by a bunch of film students barely out of school, the plot is so thin it's almost non-existant, it's riddled with inaccuracies, the ending's dreadful, and the characters are thrust on us with literally no back story, making it hard to care about them and actually want them to get in harm's way just to spice up this hideously overlong borefest of a movie. Seriously, about 90% of the run-time consists of the two characters bobbing up and down in the ocean and NOTHING HAPPENING TO THEM.

I'd say it was a waste of my time but, hey, it's not like I had anything better to do.

^ This wasn't half bad though. Nothing amazing, but nothing bad either. The plot's a tad underworked and therefore confusing, and the twist at the end seemed kinda contrived to me. The premise was interesting, the sets looked pretty cool, and at points this thing did manage to pull off a genuinely chilling vibe. It was just good entertainment to me really - I didn't exactly go into this expecting to have mind blown as well.

12-08-2010, 05:07 PM	#8705 (permalink)
stevensp Groupie Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Brussels Posts: 5	I am again watching the whole batman collection the last one I saw was Batman, from 1989, great movie wonderful atmosphere ^^ Right before that I saw Machete, which was an awesome movie aswell! __________________ My blog/portfolio http://stevenspapen.tumblr.com

12-09-2010, 11:03 AM	#8706 (permalink)
Fatt Matt Groupie Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Montgomery, Alabama Posts: 48	__________________ Fatt Matt Remember That “One good thing about music, when it hits- you feel no pain” - Bob Marley

12-10-2010, 05:26 AM	#8708 (permalink)
MoonlitSunshine Dat's Der Bunny! Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Ireland Posts: 1,088	Right. Two days ago, I had the fortune of being handed three tickets to go see a preview of Tron Legacy and was told to find two friends and enjoy. Before I say anything else, enjoy I did. For anyone who hasn't seen Tron, first of all, Shame on you. This is a classic damnit, and the first film to properly utilise computer graphics. This Film is the mother, father and essential progenitor of every goddamn computer generated special effect that is used in almost every modern film you will see. If only for that, it should be seen. Secondly, you could enjoy Tron Legacy without seeing Tron (some might argue that you would enjoy it more, but I'll get to that later), but in all honesty, I think that given the amount of references and the lack of general explanation of the finer details, it's really a must-see before this. That said, Tron Legacy is a Scifi Cheesefest. If you can name a nerdy scifi classic, there's probably a reference to it somewhere in it. Don't worry, it's not overly done, it's actually great the way they do it, but I think the more you know, the more amusing the entire film is going to be. But regardless of whether you have seen any of these films, you will understand at this point that if there's one thing that's associated with Tron, it's Computer Graphics, and dear god, is this film beautiful. Every inch of the landscape of The Grid looks like it was lovingly crafted by hand by an artist whose entire way of life was inspired by the original film. Some things have stayed the same in essence, and just given (one hell of) a graphics update, some things have been reimagined and upgraded, but every change, every new thing, was an inspired choice. When I saw Avatar, one of the things that hit me was that it was wonderful to watch, but that it relied too much on 3D in order to be pretty. Tron Legacy? Well, they have 3D, and they use it pretty effectively, but the crux of its majesty is in the depth and the clarity of how awesome the graphics are. So pretty. And I haven't even started talking about Olivia Wilde :P Speaking of Olivia Wilde, the acting is (for the most part) first class. I mean, this film has two Jeff Bridges. Two! that's twice the awesome already. Garrett Hedlund is for the most part good, he's no Jeff Bridges, and there are points where he borders on annoying, but generally he plays a believable protagonist. It's only really in hindsight that I'm really noticing that he wasn't amazing, and any mediocrity on his part if more than made up for by Wilde's utterly captivating facial expressions. The support characters are all suitably fantastic, any any film that manages to actually include Daft Punk in the cast list is in my good books. Speaking of Daft Punk: the Soundtrack. Daft Punk fans already know they'll enjoy this, and personally I think its integration into the film is seamless. From the moment of the first beats, to the point that you realise that you're actually listening to a Daft Punk Orchestral piece (as many of you know, they go very LOTR at points). Not only that, but as one of my friends said to me in hushed tones in the cinema: "Man, I never thought I'd hear Daft Punk do minimal." It all fits well, and if at times the music rises to the level of the voice acting (I heard some mutters of complaint about not being able to hear them, I didn't notice), They were in a club, damnit. You may have begun to notice at this point that I have described everything about the film except for the plot. This is largely because I don't want to spoil anything, but more because... well, there isn't much of a plot, which is the only downside to this movie. Unfortunately, it's what keeps it from being amazing in my eyes. Don't misunderstand me, there is a story here, you'd pretty well hope so considering it's two hours long! But it doesn't really go anywhere with any particular gusto. Perhaps this was due to a lack of animation of one of the main characters, perhaps this was due to a lack of any serious "Story", but the plot just never really gets off the ground. But enough beating around the bush, me, what was it actually like? Well, it's good. I enjoyed watching it, and I would definitely watch it again, but this is no Tron, for a number of reasons. Tron was way ahead of its time, it was avant garde, it was new, and man was it cheesy. Tron Legacy stays true to that cheese, but the problem is that a world entirely generated by computer graphics is no longer an artsy idea, it's totally mainstream. In order to stay true to the original idea of the film, the producers, in my opinion, had no choice but to accept it, and make it what a modern Tron would be: an Action Flick. And that's what this is! It's nerdy, it's nostalgic, it's cheesy, it's ever so pretty, but at the end of the day, this is a hollywood action film, complete with flashy fight scenes and thrilling chases. If you go looking for something that emulates the underlying thoughtfulness of Tron, you might find it hard to find underneath all the flash, but if you go to this expecting a fun, action packed, beautifully rendered sci-fi cheesefest, you will not be disappointed. As I said earlier, perhaps in some ways if you hadn't seen Tron before seeing Tron Legacy, you might enjoy it more (due to lower expectations), but I'll have to wait and see if anyone does to see if that's true. To Conclude: Tron walked up to the cliff edge, standing beside his youthful counterpart as he stared into the glowing sunset. Moments passed as the two appreciated the scene before them, the silence only slightly tainted by the air of apprehension emanating from the younger of the two. At last, Tron sighed, and turned to face his companion. "Well boy, I won't deny it; you had a lot to live up to. Fans have treasured me since their childhood, grown up with me at their side, pushing them to achieve their dreams. They had high hopes for you, hopes that were going to be hard to fulfill in this new world of flash and action. But whatever the critics say, you did a good job with what you had. You may not be the next sci-fi classic, you may not be the herald of a new age of film, but when it comes down to it, you did good, Son. I'm proud of you." End Of Line __________________ "I found it eventually, at the bottom of a locker in a disused laboratory, with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the Leopard". Ever thought of going into Advertising?" - Arthur Dent Last edited by MoonlitSunshine; 12-10-2010 at 10:02 AM.

12-10-2010, 05:53 AM	#8709 (permalink)
loveissucide Himself Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Leuven ,Belgium, via Ireland Posts: 1,325	And superb it was too.Really gets my love of medieval witch-burnings, gloomy Swedish cinema,and existentialism spot on. __________________ www.last.fm/user/p-mccusker http://www.mixcloud.com/pmccusker www.valjester.wordpress.com

12-10-2010, 03:14 PM	#8710 (permalink)
Bulldog why bother? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: UK Posts: 4,840	^ This film was absolutely feeble. Technically it's pretty terrible, looking like was shot by a bunch of film students barely out of school, the plot is so thin it's almost non-existant, it's riddled with inaccuracies, the ending's dreadful, and the characters are thrust on us with literally no back story, making it hard to care about them and actually want them to get in harm's way just to spice up this hideously overlong borefest of a movie. Seriously, about 90% of the run-time consists of the two characters bobbing up and down in the ocean and NOTHING HAPPENING TO THEM. I'd say it was a waste of my time but, hey, it's not like I had anything better to do. ^ This wasn't half bad though. Nothing amazing, but nothing bad either. The plot's a tad underworked and therefore confusing, and the twist at the end seemed kinda contrived to me. The premise was interesting, the sets looked pretty cool, and at points this thing did manage to pull off a genuinely chilling vibe. It was just good entertainment to me really - I didn't exactly go into this expecting to have mind blown as well.