NEW: List some movies you've watched recently. Theatre, rental, TV... and give a */10

[GodisanAtheist]

Started watching Rings of Power on Amazon, only made it through the first two episodes.

Classic 7/10 for casuals, 5/10 for Tolkien nerds.

It's a generic fantasy show wearing the trappings of LotR, it has great production values and I am interested in a couple of the storylines (The halflings and the Elven ranger have my interest at the moment) but it feels tone deaf to the source material, lacks any kind of grace, and despite the visuals has a much stronger "low fantasy" vibe despite being about the quinticential high fantasy setting (second age, no less).

I think the whole production is deeply informed by Game of Thrones for the worse.

-Alright, watched all 8 episodes of Rings Of Power.

Going to modify my score a bit: 7.5/10 casuals, 4.5/10 for the nerds.

It's a fun watchable show if you're tangentially into LOTR, watched the movies a few times, that kind of thing. The bad guys are a bit more complex, the good guys are a bit more anti-hero, but you'll recognize the names and places. The twists will catch you off guard etc. Production values are fantastic.

I can completely understand the complaints of folks that are *into* LOTR though. The Dwarves are sufficiently dwarvy, and the harfoots are hobbity enough, but the elves behave more like people with pointy ears than beings a half step removed from angels and that's no bueno cause they're a huge part of the show.

The actual plot/lore is more or less cut from whole cloth. Not sure what part of those appendices Amazon bought with all that money.

Anyhow, worth a watch if you're sort of into LOTR for fun, and worth a watch if you're really into LOTR for the rage.

 

[mikeymikec]

I can completely understand the complaints of folks that are *into* LOTR though. The Dwarves are sufficiently dwarvy, and the harfoots are hobbity enough, but the elves behave more like people with pointy ears than beings a half step removed from angels and that's no bueno cause they're a huge part of the show.

Humanising them makes more sense though; for example them being duped by Sauron is canon and making that believable is crucial to keeping the (human) audience engaged.

I think if one wanted to write about the true nature of elves then the series would need to be entirely dedicated to that; maybe other races are involved but only to the extent that it helps flesh out the character of the elves. A bit like what TNG did with building the character of the Klingons as a race, it took at least 8 episodes to achieve it well, and elves are likely to be somewhat more subtle than Klingons. I think it would take a good writer to make elves likeable.

----

Andor Season 1

People who complained about Rings of Power being slow-paced surely are not going to like Andor. At least with RoP, each episode had a fairly self-contained plot (which also contributed to the season plot) and at the end of each one you felt like you had received a story with a beginning and an end. Andor seemingly takes 3-4 episodes to do this and I think I only stuck it out because it has been received as apparently better than most Star Wars stuff.

One thing I particularly like about the series so far (I've just watched episode 7) is that it seems to be showing a cross section at multiple levels of society about what a building rebellion looks like. It's also building the male protagonist's character from Rogue One which I very much appreciate.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Humanising them makes more sense though; for example them being duped by Sauron is canon and making that believable is crucial to keeping the (human) audience engaged.

I think if one wanted to write about the true nature of elves then the series would need to be entirely dedicated to that; maybe other races are involved but only to the extent that it helps flesh out the character of the elves. A bit like what TNG did with building the character of the Klingons as a race, it took at least 8 episodes to achieve it well, and elves are likely to be somewhat more subtle than Klingons. I think it would take a good writer to make elves likeable.

----

Andor Season 1

People who complained about Rings of Power being slow-paced surely are not going to like Andor. At least with RoP, each episode had a fairly self-contained plot (which also contributed to the season plot) and at the end of each one you felt like you had received a story with a beginning and an end. Andor seemingly takes 3-4 episodes to do this and I think I only stuck it out because it has been received as apparently better than most Star Wars stuff.

One thing I particularly like about the series so far (I've just watched episode 7) is that it seems to be showing a cross section at multiple levels of society about what a building rebellion looks like. It's also building the male protagonist's character from Rogue One which I very much appreciate.

-Andor really is a gem in a mountain of Disneyfied Star Wars bullshit, that's for sure.

I'm very certain I've read that the show runner specifically has 2 seasons of story to tell and is then done with the show, which suggests we might actually get something that ends well instead of being dragged 3-4 seasons passed it's prime to the point of spoiling.

I suppose Andor also has the benefit of having a hard narrative stop at Rogue One, but that hasn't really stopped Disney from filling in every other gap between mainline movies with half baked garbage.

 

[DigDog]

i watched

A Most Violent Year - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2937898/reference/

directed by the same guy who did Margin Call three years prior, a film that i had initially reviewed negatively, but which has since grown on me. (still not a masterpiece, but worthy)

And it failed to hold my interest.

According to wikipedia it had very good reviews, but it's currently on 7/10 on IMDb. And maybe with repeat watchings it gets better, but i'm not sure that you're mean to watch a film 3/4/5 times just to enjoy it.

Sort-of-good-guy Abel (Oscar Isaac) is a aspiring oil tycoon - he sells industrial fuel, but has been the target of several tanker hijackings. He's in the process of closing a risky deal where he stands to lose a lot of money, OR acquire a fuel depo of great importance.
The film stresses as much as it can that this is a race against time and against the odds .. as it should .. but i feel the subject matter isn't really engrossing.
And Abel isn't a great character. He passes half for mafioso, half for honest businessman to a fault, so i'm not sure if we are to root for the mafioso or for the businessman.
(if you're thinking Michael Corleone, no, absolutely not)

He's got shady competitors, a half-crooked DA, greedy moneylenders and a lunatic employee to deal with. They all serve to put further pressure on the plot, but we're never explained WHY we should care about Abel, and it gets to the point where i can feel the pressure as very artificial.

The film is reasonably well acted, but the dialogues are nothing spectacular, actually they are quite mundane. I watched about an hour and didn't find any scenes worthy of note.
The production is decent, but the photography - while it has *some* color - it insists on a weird yellow tinge that becomes very noticeable and irritating over time.
The soundtrack is nonexistent.

frankly i'm tempted to give this a bad vote, but i'm gonna say i haven't watched enough of it and leave it at that.

NO VOTE/10

 

[DigDog]

i also watched the lovely

Dark Alibi - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038452/

yep; it's in the public domain since 2021, so they can post it on youtube 100% legitimately.

Frankly i found it hilarious. I guess this was at some point a mystery / crime film, but Sidney Toler in yellowface, spouting "ancient chinese wisdom" is better than most comedies i have seen recently.

no .. i mean that. seriously.

If you like stuff like Blazing Saddles or Airplane!, or maybe Juice In The Hood, then this is right up your alley. I know i'm saying this is "so bad it's good", but it's actually good. Think of garum, the roman fish sauce. Throw a bunch of rotting fish entrails in a barrel, forget about them for a *few* years, and voila'! you got amazing fish sauce from something that earlier was complete shit.

7/10 - inadvertently hilarious

 

[stargazr]

The Maltese Falcon 10/10

Brilliant film, probably the best detective movie ever that still has an influence in this genre to this day. Directorial debut by the great John Huston, who also wrote it. Great cast and acting. It does have a few uneven moments, but overall not predictable with a kind of unusual ending. I've watched it many times and can still enjoy it.

 

[stargazr]

Harper 7/10

1966 film starring Paul Newman as a private detective on a missing person case. "Star studded" cast including Lauren Bacall, Robert Wagner, Janet Leigh and Shelly Winters. I'm familiar with most of Newman's work but somehow missed this one. Very well done; well paced and entertaining.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

On this day 7yrs ago, we lost Bill Paxton, who's most memorable role may just have been Coconut Pete in Club Dread.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

On this day 7yrs ago, we lost Bill Paxton, who's most memorable role may just have been Coconut Pete in Club Dread.

Bill Paxton was often times the best part of whatever he was in.

 

[Micrornd]

The Prestige 8/10

 

[mikeymikec]

The Maltese Falcon 10/10

Brilliant film, probably the best detective movie ever that still has an influence in this genre to this day. Directorial debut by the great John Huston, who also wrote it. Great cast and acting. It does have a few uneven moments, but overall not predictable with a kind of unusual ending. I've watched it many times and can still enjoy it.

Would you say you have a soft spot for any of the elements that this film includes, say for example Humphrey Bogart? I have to say you've piqued my curiosity, but for example I cannot stand 'Casablanca'.

 

[stargazr]

Would you say you have a soft spot for any of the elements that this film includes, say for example Humphrey Bogart? I have to say you've piqued my curiosity, but for example I cannot stand 'Casablanca'.

Yes, I always liked Bogie. His character here has some quite outrageous moments that I still find amusing. But aside from that, the other actors were very good as well, other than a bit of over acting at times from Peter Lorre. I especially liked Mary Astor's performance as a seemingly sweet, harmless woman who plays a deeper part in the mystery. I felt it was a good story that holds your interest. And FWIW I also like Casablanca.

How The Maltese Falcon Helped Shape Film Noir - SlashFilm

You know, just the stuff that dreams are made of.

www.slashfilm.com

 

[DigDog]

Would you say you have a soft spot for any of the elements that this film includes, say for example Humphrey Bogart? I have to say you've piqued my curiosity, but for example I cannot stand 'Casablanca'.

dude ...

 

[mikeymikec]

dude ...

To give you an idea of what I mean, I watched Casablanca for the first time about ten years ago. I realised maybe a third of the way through that I was starting to predict what was going to happen next with alarming accuracy. I couldn't help but laugh when I said to my wife (who wasn't watching it), "I bet it's going to do that 'remembering a memory shimmer effect' now..." and it did. Probably because a load of films that followed it ripped it off in various ways ("it was influential") but I just didn't find anything of redeeming value in it.

I wouldn't quite put Casablanca and Gone with the Wind into exactly the same pigeon hole; GwtW is an experience I absolutely never want to repeat again, whereas maybe I'll give Casablanca another shot at some point purely out of curiosity to see if I'm being too hard on it.

 

[DigDog]

To give you an idea of what I mean, I watched Casablanca for the first time about ten years ago. I realised maybe a third of the way through that I was starting to predict what was going to happen next with alarming accuracy. I couldn't help but laugh when I said to my wife (who wasn't watching it), "I bet it's going to do that 'remembering a memory shimmer effect' now..." and it did. Probably because a load of films that followed it ripped it off in various ways ("it was influential") but I just didn't find anything of redeeming value in it.

I wouldn't quite put Casablanca and Gone with the Wind into exactly the same pigeon hole; GwtW is an experience I absolutely never want to repeat again, whereas maybe I'll give Casablanca another shot at some point purely out of curiosity to see if I'm being too hard on it.

ok i see what you mean.
actually what you said here is essentially what i argued with @zinfamous regarding the orson welles films - revolutionary back then, but then they permeated into the common filmmaking tropes, and *i've already seen it* even though i never saw the OG they derive from.

i first saw Casablanca when i was maybe 17 and the tough, bitter & broken hearted antihero of Rick caught me by surprise, but i accept that's nothing new if you have been watching films in the last 20 years.

 

[DigDog]

I wouldn't quite put Casablanca and Gone with the Wind into exactly the same pigeon hole; GwtW is an experience I absolutely never want to repeat again, whereas maybe I'll give Casablanca another shot at some point purely out of curiosity to see if I'm being too hard on it.

Also i forgot to reply to this bit.
When i was young GWTW was everyone's N1 bestest film ever made, my parents raved about it so i just kinda took it at face value. Now that i can form an opinion for myself, jesus rollerblading christ what a fucking slog, to give Clark Gable that minuscule character arc of going from a classic hollywood lover, to a "frankly i don't give a damn".
Now, we have to understand that this was 1939 and this scene HAD to end with the two loves uniting into a passionate embrace and the words THE END coming up on screen, and the opposite happening was mindblowing to the male audience of the time, but i guess we're not all simps nearly a hundred years later so we've come to accept that a strong, independent man who don't need no woman isn't so far fetched an idea. GWTW *is* a romantic film, but the protagonist Scarlett O'Hara is what today we would call a Ho, pining for an already-married man while being married to another for her convenience. And GWTW is nothing if not a Male-Liberation film. Obviously we've progressed a bit further in the last (*math*) 80 years, so it may not seem so relevant now, but for the time it was revolutionary.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Priscilla - I shouldn't really rate it because I was only halfway paying attention while doing stuff on my laptop but I guess I'd give it a 5/10. I don't even know if I'd ever rewatch it. I didn't know Elvis was 10 years older when they first met in Germany. And she was in the 9th grade! Pretty gross although, at least from what I gathered in the movie, they didn't knock boots until she was a little older or maybe even of age. Still, I never realized how much of a controlling jerkoff Elvis was until this movie.

 

[MrSquished]

The new Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part I - this blockbuster series still has it. It was fun, and the overall theme of the enemy is quite relevant today.

 

[igor_kavinski]

i first saw Casablanca when i was maybe 17 and the tough, bitter & broken hearted antihero of Rick caught me by surprise, but i accept that's nothing new if you have been watching films in the last 20 years.

Seen that movie where the female teacher falls in love with her teenage student? It was from the 60s too I think. I felt touched by her predicament and thought about it for many days afterwards. What's a soul to do if they fall hard for another soul in a younger body, especially young enough that society would simply not allow it? I felt her pain.

 

[igor_kavinski]

The new Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part I - this blockbuster series still has it. It was fun, and the overall theme of the enemy is quite relevant today.

It's weird especially how they repeat stuff about the IMF and such purely for the young members of the audience to let them know the backstory. It was mildly annoying but I guess they really wanted the young ones to become fans.

The actress, she is charming, ain't she? Probably the best pairing with Ethan Hunt in the entire series.

 

[MrSquished]

It's weird especially how they repeat stuff about the IMF and such purely for the young members of the audience to let them know the backstory. It was mildly annoying but I guess they really wanted the young ones to become fans.

The actress, she is charming, ain't she? Probably the best pairing with Ethan Hunt in the entire series.

Yeah there was good chemistry there.

In some close up shots of Cruise, it looks like his cheek area is plastic, which it probably is. That shit ain't gonna age well.

 

[DigDog]

Seen that movie where the female teacher falls in love with her teenage student?

https://www.imdb.com/search/keyword/?keywords=female-teacher-male-student-relationship ?
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls059787680/ ?

 

[igor_kavinski]

https://www.imdb.com/search/keyword/?keywords=female-teacher-male-student-relationship ?
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls059787680/ ?

Couldn't find it coz there's no 1960s movie in there.

I saw it on the TV a few times (or maybe twice? not sure) and always caught it towards the end when things started to get bad for both of them (actually more for her since she had more to lose). Don't remember the movie name or the actress's name. But I remember she spoke just like 1960s actresses speak where they say "oh" and you can just feel their emotion in that "oh". I really wish I could see that movie in full.

 

[igor_kavinski]

ChatGPT being useless and twisting the facts:

 

[igor_kavinski]

Tried unsuccessfully by prolonging the prompt until it came to this and still nothing:

Spoiler: THE PROMPT

movie released before 1968 where teacher cares too much about her young male student who has never had a girlfriend. the movie is not goodbyte mr chips and it is not the prime of miss jean brodie and it is not good morning miss dove and it is not miracle worker and it is not to sir with love and it is not children's hour and it is not the corn is green and it is not the teacher's pet (1958) and it is not lonely passion of judith and it is not lolita and it is not goodbye mr dixon and it is not titfield thundebolt and it is not the member of the wedding and it is not up the down staircase and it is not the man who knew too much and it is not the night of the iguana and it is not the world of henry orient and it is not the chapman report and it is not the graduate and it is not the cautionary tale of numero cinco and it is not the caretakers and it is not pretty poison and it is not "summer and smoke" and it is not the subterraneans and it is not the outsider and both teacher and student are white and it is not the strange one and it is not the bachelor party and it is not goobye mr dixon and it is not the trouble with angels and it is not the baby the rain must fall