NOW CLOSED ; List some movies you've watched recently. Theatre, rental, TV... and give a */10

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shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
17,365
136
What Peter Jackson did with LOTR was rare. For a studio to throw in another 100 million for a dune 2 before knowing if the first movie will do well is a lot of risk, and they clearly decided against it.

The better the revenue is for dune the better investment we get in the franchise, not just a dune 2 but perhaps more.
The lord of the rings trilogy was a lot cheaper than some people assume.

Those fucking hobbit movies were terrible money pits!

 

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
30,160
3,300
126

kn51

Senior member
Aug 16, 2012
695
111
106
The trouble with Prometheus is the franchise got too aware of it's own mythology. It was crippled by it's own portentiousness, The first one worked brilliantly because it stayed resolutely unpretentious and stuck with 'blue collar guys aka space-truckers, dealing with a scary monster". And the second miraculously managed to keep that going, by switching genre and being a sort of Vietnam-move-in-space. Even the third, weak as it was, more-or-less retred the first one, with a prison instead of a truck.

But Prometheus had all the baggage of a '"mystical ultimate origin story that's going to explain deep and serious things" weighing it down and causing them to lose track of the need for believable characters and a logical storyline.

Alien3 assembly cut redeems it quite a bit.

Prometheus has somewhat grown on me, probably by looking past some of its flaws. Covenant...egads, I find it a hot mess.
 

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
21,004
19,444
136
The lord of the rings trilogy was a lot cheaper than some people assume.

Those fucking hobbit movies were terrible money pits!


They still committed to nearly $300 million dollars in production costs for all 3 movies vs a 1/3 of that for just the first. So to risk another 200 million dollars if the first movie flopped was a sizeable risk more than just taking the hit for one movie.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,444
2,084
126
you would be glad to know that i suffered through nearly 3/4 of Dune 2021

and obviously had a loooong paper describing what i did and didnt like in each scene, on its own and compared to what i shall refer to as The Masterpiece, but by 1:40 my entire review shrunk to:

a netflix-quality film for 2021.

today there are two Dune films. 20 years from now there will be only one.
 

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
21,004
19,444
136
you would be glad to know that i suffered through nearly 3/4 of Dune 2021

and obviously had a loooong paper describing what i did and didnt like in each scene, on its own and compared to what i shall refer to as The Masterpiece, but by 1:40 my entire review shrunk to:

a netflix-quality film for 2021.

today there are two Dune films. 20 years from now there will be only one.
Well this was to be expected and I can breathe a sigh of relief, the world is still spinning the correct way on its axis.

Man I can't wait for Friday's IMAX experience!
 

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
30,160
3,300
126
Dune (2021) 8/10

3 plotholes:
1) Why is everyone fighting with knives when they have hand held lasers that can cut through EVERYTHING?

2) Personal shields seem weak?!
Can't withstand 1 slice of a knife by Aquaman?

3) WTF that easy to sabotage defenses?
kinda far fetched...
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,444
2,084
126
Its because the book was written by a normal.
Not a nerd.
this is absolutely correct and must be kept in mind by peopl who compare Herbert to Tolkien - he's got a lot of stuff that nice in passing, but does not hold up to scrutiny, for instance: the ornithopters. Right now my stance is that book orni, Dune 1 orni, and Dune 2 orni, are all shit for their own reasons.

I even went back to watch the last 20 minutes and i can say that the film stands on its own provided that one has never seen D1. D2 still has problems and lacks many things that i find compelling in D1 but for someone who has read the book but not seen D1, D2 could be a good surprise, despite everything.

D2 does not have anything that i find BAD as, idk, the SW prequels, or many many modern film. I dont hate films made today as Abraham Simpson would, but i see that hollywood studios have yet perfected the tenique of churning out soulless products, and they have forgotten the "art" of making film that people have sweat and cried over in the years past. D1, for example, whatever your gripes may be with it - the wooden acting, the voiceovers, despite these it's good film, there's an experienced crew of lightmen, model sculptors, sound designer, etc all who have a deep knowledge of film technique minutiae, instead of modern "visionary" directors.

My problem with "visionary" directors, is that they end up with ... well D2 is a clear example of it. Long takes where the entire screen is grey. Or olive drab. Villeneuve KNOWS how to film color, but doesn't, probably for the same reason that made George Lucas shit out the prequels - too much "vision".

D2 has a medieval-military vibe to it. D1 has a bio-gothic vibe, which i much prefer. D2 has a "real life" feel to it, D1 feels alien. D2 is basically Iraq, D1 is Arrakis.


some things i even liked.


I liked the bagpipes.

I liked the new Duke Leto, which is unsurprising since D1's Duke Leto is one of the worst characters ever put to film.

I liked the sound design, but i didnt like the music - too obtrusive.
i liked Skarsgard's Baron. This is a character that is so fucking cool, it is impossible to ruin it. And Skarsgard was phenomenal. I would not replace the D1 baron with the D2 baron, but only because one does not fit in the world of the other, but otherwise, stellar performance.

In today's climate i would give Dune (2021) a 6.5/10 provided this is the first time you see a Dune film. I would not recommend it over Dune (1984), which i rate 8.5/10
 

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
30,160
3,300
126
Digdug,

no comprende
which dune versions are you talking about for d1 or d2?
movie dune? tv dune? picard Dune?

back to dune 2021:
why go through all this facade just to take down Duke Leto?
why not just wipe him out at his home planet and save the $billions$ in expense?
(i havent read the books and dont remember past dune productions)
 
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sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
94,684
14,935
126
Digdug,

no comprende
which dune versions are you talking about for d1 or d2?
movie dune? tv dune? picard Dune?

back to dune 2021:
why go through all this facade just to take down Duke Leto?
why not just wipe him out at his home planet and save the $billions$ in expense?
(i havent read the books and dont remember past dune productions)

Err far easier to kill him on Arrakis than Caladan. Harkonnens built the city on Arrakis, they obviously know it well. Leto was no longer vital to the Bene Gesserrit's genetic program, the sister s figure Paul would be easier to control without his father around.

I think I read Dune last at least two decades ago.
 

SMOGZINN

Lifer
Jun 17, 2005
14,202
4,401
136
Dune (2021) 8/10

3 plotholes:
1) Why is everyone fighting with knives when they have hand held lasers that can cut through EVERYTHING?

2) Personal shields seem weak?!
Can't withstand 1 slice of a knife by Aquaman?

3) WTF that easy to sabotage defenses?
kinda far fetched...


In the books they explain this rather well. The shields are off-shoot tech of their FTL drives. It changes the maximum speed of things (as in the universal maximum speed anything is allowed to go - The speed of light in normal space), set one way this allows for faster then light travel, set another it prevents anything from moving faster then the maximum speed set.

Shooting a shield set to lower the max speed with a laser weapon created a nuclear explosion, and it is random if the shield explodes or the gun. So, firing a laser at someone wearing a shield is paramount to suicide.

The shields can also be set to have different levels of protection, but it works both ways. Set your shield too dense and you are limited to moving at the speed the shield is set to. So, personal shields are set to a medium level to stop projectiles while allowing the wearer to move. That means that a slow stab can still get through.
 
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DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,444
2,084
126
Digdug,

no comprende
which dune versions are you talking about for d1 or d2?
movie dune? tv dune? picard Dune?

back to dune 2021:
why go through all this facade just to take down Duke Leto?
why not just wipe him out at his home planet and save the $billions$ in expense?
(i havent read the books and dont remember past dune productions)

D1 is obviously Lynch's 1984 Dune.
D2 is Villeneuve's 2021 Dune.

Both Gedi Prime and Caladan are off-limits to any kind of war. The current state-of-affairs of the empire is called the Landsraad, a group of houses each representing their own planet. There are complex rules in place for warfare, as a result of the period of instability following the Butlerian Jihad and the subsequent War Of Assassins.
Harkonnen invading Caladan is a no-no.

None of the .. none of the MAJOR houses actually cares - Herbert only names a few, but it is understood that there are as many as there are populated planets - but it's pro-forma, even the Harkonnen don't want to be seen breaking the rules.
Note that the Harkonnen are deeply in bed with the Emperor.
In the book, the whole reason for the hatred between Harkonnen and Atreides is a long-standing feud; in the Lynch version (praise be his name) the Atreides have developed the Weirding Module technology, which allows non-Gessertis to use the Voice, which would dominate in the aforementioned world of holtzman shields.
The Atreides are also substantially less dicks to everyone which is why some of the Landsraad would back them for a claim to the throne. The position of Emperor is elective.

You really need to go back a bit to understand the background of Dune. In the beginning, there is a sprawling universe populated by mankind, in a state of splendour. They eventually degenerate into little more than open mouths, and eventually a galaxy-wide religious rebellion explodes, called Butlerian Jihad. This results in the destruction of every intelligent machine, AI, or any sort of sophisticated computer, and plunges the gamaxy into a dark age, regressing to feudalism.

Following the Jihad, humanity starts to assemble into Houses and Guilds - although i use the term "guild" meaning a group of people, so for instance, the Bene Gesserit are a "bene", or a guild. Also, to compensate for the lack of AI, these guilds develop human talents to replace the thinking machines. So you got guilds that dedicate themselves to being human computers (Mentats), warrior guilds like the Sardaukar, the Navigator guild, etc.
Again at the same time there is a long period called the Assassin's War, where non-intelligentg but still sophisticated machines are used to target individual nobles. After several thousand years of extremely bloody conflict, the Landsraad has stabilized; therefore, general fuckery is NOT welcome because nobody wants to go back to the War. Same reason why the Hunter Seeker is important, it's forbidden technology.

The entire universe of Dune is set into a milieu of obscurantism, similar to what WH40K has (minus the orks). Ignorance abunds, technology cannot be replaced, etc.

Finally, there is a subplot where the Bene Gesserit have both been manipulating native cultures to create a common "saviour" myth, and at the same time manipulating the bloodlines of various Landsraad nobles so that at a certain time, they know the combination of genes will produce a supreme human, the Quizats Haderach, whom the Bene Gesserit want to control.

Paul was meant to be a female. B.G. have various powers, including chosing what sex to procreate. Lady Jessica was planned to birth a girl - she is a concubine, NOT a wife - but fell in love with Leto and to please him she birthed a boy. Obviously the B.G. are not at all happy about this ..
 
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Charmonium

Diamond Member
May 15, 2015
8,787
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SEE on Apple TV with Jason Momoa - 8

JM killing folks gets it an automatic 7.

Haha, fooled ya.

I'm almost finished with season 2 and I'm still not really sure how I feel about this show

I have some issues with the basic premise, that being that there are only a few million people left on earth virtually all of whom are blind as a rock. You can mostly compartmentalize that though. At least until season 2 where even daylight scenes seem to be filmed under heavy cloud cover. I'm sure it's probably due to some photographic technique I'm too much of a cretin to know about but I do have to say that's it's getting on my delicate nerves. And there are also, I would say around 50% of the scenes in S02 that are filmed in virtual darkness.

I regrettably own an older LG OLED with some heavy burn in. But for the 90% of the screen that isn't affected, the black on black contrast is still pretty amazing. And even with that . . . I just gotta say nope.

And yes, of course I will watch S03 (???)
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,388
5,256
136
Howl's Moving Castle 10/10

Fathom Events is having another Ghibli Fest this year, that's my jam!


It was AWESOME on the big screen! And the surround-sound was even better! I wasn't expecting true surround-sound, but when they knocked on the door in the beginning at the portal door, it sounded like it was in the room haha! The art was definitely meant to be experienced on the big screen!

1635473717081.png
 
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MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
21,004
19,444
136
The French Dispatch - 8/10 - Possibly Wes Anderson's most visually cool film I have seen, or tied with The Grand Budapest Hotel at least. Gorgeous stuff. Three cool stories and a couple small 'articles'. It's just fun because it's different and quirky and very well done.
 

Dr. Detroit

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2004
8,143
608
126
Nobody - 7/10 - Great Popcorn action flick.

John Wick, but different. A family man who's life is interrupted by the Russian Mafia and goes on a vengeful killing spree. A bit of "Red" (Bruce Willis) movie in there as well. Well paced and quick 90-minute movie.
 
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ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,135
2,445
126
Ya know, Army Of Thieves of Netflix was actually pretty good. I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

Basically, the premise of the movie is this:

"You, know that weird safecracker guy from Army Of The Dead? He was pretty cool."
It's too bad that he died in that movie.
"You know what? We should make a prequel of that movie where we show his origin story, and we can make him even quirkier than he was in the original movie."

If that sounds cool to you, you'll probably like this movie. If not, skip it.
 

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
17,577
9,268
136
Hocus Pocus (1993)

I watched it for the first time yesterday. I thought there were a couple of amusing bits in it (the witches' interactions with adults). Otherwise, well I'll just say it's not often that I think I'll want alcohol to get me through this film (my wife wanted to watch it).

I wonder if I had watched it as a child for the first time whether I would have experienced nostalgia etc when watching it again as an adult.

I'm also wondering in its time and in America the 'virgin' running gag would have been generally considered hysterical.
 

Ajay

Lifer
Jan 8, 2001
15,332
7,792
136
Ya know, Army Of Thieves of Netflix was actually pretty good. I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

Basically, the premise of the movie is this:

"You, know that weird safecracker guy from Army Of The Dead? He was pretty cool."
It's too bad that he died in that movie.
"You know what? We should make a prequel of that movie where we show his origin story, and we can make him even quirkier than he was in the original movie."

If that sounds cool to you, you'll probably like this movie. If not, skip it.
We watched that last night. I'd give a 7/10 as well. It was fun and had some awkwardly funny bits I like.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,834
5,713
126
Justified Seasons 1 & 2. 7/10

I was really looking forward to this given the consistently positive reviews but it was just sort of good but not great. As far as police shows go, The Shield and Bosch stand out ahead of it IMO.
I thought Justified was fantastic. I did watch it as it aired though. It definitely doesn't take itself too serious though. Nothing like The Shield from that standpoint.

I wasn't a fan of Bosch myself though. I watched season 1 and that was it. I didn't want to keep watching. I didn't hate it or anything, I just didn't think it was anything special and lost interest to watch any more of it.

The Shield though is definitely my all time favorite FX show. I loved that show and watched that as it aired after binge watching seasons 1-2 and getting caught up to what was airing at the time.
 

Ajay

Lifer
Jan 8, 2001
15,332
7,792
136
Dune (2021),
I was prepared for a horror show but, 8/10. As per usual, I rate sci-fi movies higher simply because it's my preferred genre.
Some stuff like the spacers guild were completely omitted, not even an FTL scene was shown. There are a bunch of nit-picky thing that were clearer in the 1984 Dune, but I'll leave it to someone else pull it apart. In general, there was something lacking in the script, directing or acting that seemed to dull, the edge in this version - it was a bit too 'Star Wars' I guess.
 

Muadib

Lifer
May 30, 2000
17,914
838
126
Dune (2021),
I was prepared for a horror show but, 8/10. As per usual, I rate sci-fi movies higher simply because it's my preferred genre.
Some stuff like the spacers guild were completely omitted, not even an FTL scene was shown. There are a bunch of nit-picky thing that were clearer in the 1984 Dune, but I'll leave it to someone else pull it apart. In general, there was something lacking in the script, directing or acting that seemed to dull, the edge in this version - it was a bit too 'Star Wars' I guess.
I saw this yesterday , and give it a 7/10. With the omissions, and little action, I can give it no more. Hopefully part two makes up for what's missing.
 

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
21,004
19,444
136
Dune (2021),
I was prepared for a horror show but, 8/10. As per usual, I rate sci-fi movies higher simply because it's my preferred genre.
Some stuff like the spacers guild were completely omitted, not even an FTL scene was shown. There are a bunch of nit-picky thing that were clearer in the 1984 Dune, but I'll leave it to someone else pull it apart. In general, there was something lacking in the script, directing or acting that seemed to dull, the edge in this version - it was a bit too 'Star Wars' I guess.

The more I think about it, the more I feel they should have just made it a bit longer. I know that's over 2.5 hours for a movie, and that's like a hard line for the bigwigs and mass audiences, but LOTR movies were 9.3 hours of runtime total, so just over 3 hours each. If they had bigger balls they would have done it.

I think crucial character and world building stuff was left out. The traitorship of Yueh, the Harkonnens weren't fleshed out enough, Paul's specialized training was shown too quickly, and more....
 
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