Movies - General Discussion

[-Deborah-]

Saw Gaurdians of the Galaxy 2 today.

It was a little long of a movie and lagged in a few spots but all in all it was good.

We saw it Saturday in 3D. Overall, an enjoyable movie. The 3D experience made up for some of the long areas, but I think I still liked the first one a little better. Maybe because the first one surprised me so much. Still, some pretty cool effects (like showing Ego when he was young) and the soundtrack is awesome.

[Cody_Russell]

OH OK FUCK ALIENS I GUESS.

Ya, new blade runner has my money. Just hoping it is good.

lol just waiting to see Alien Covenant. Still over a week...
Besides, "Blade Runner" is in the same universe as "Alien."

Would mostly agree here. Alien is #1 for me. It is frightening w/o seeing a single alien. It also benefits from largest nostalgic factor/being the original. Aliens is still amazing; Ripley in a fucking mech-bot fighting the Queen -- definitely iconic sequence. Not overdone, not pretentious, not even victim of significant gore-porn scenes.

I thought Resurrection was dumbbbbbbb. But, I watched the whole thing.. So. Aliens 3 is good. All the other spinoffs are feckin' gawbidge.

Alien is brilliant with the horror theme. How most of the film is contained, shot with such claustrophobia... the cinematography in general. I think Ridley Scott does a great job with sound too.
Aliens, I'm always blown away by that scene when Ripley goes down in the elevator to save the girl and ends up fighting the Queen. I think that entire scene was done in real time. No time jumps. ... James Cameron is the master at directing sequels.
Resurrection? Some of it is so campy, I think it's at least a competent film. The director of that movie has a great r?sum?.

P.S. "Blade Runner" = the better Ridley Scott movie (than "Alien."). I know, crazy. Alien might be Scott's 3rd best film. "Gladiator" >>>

[millenwasmyfavorite]

For me, Alien and Blade Runner are his untouchables. I give credit to completely manufactured universes. Black hawk down and gladiator are total classics, but I am not a huge war movie fan and gladiator, for it being perfect in almost every way, didn't really alter how movies would be made going forward. So many genius things in Alien and Bladerunner that we see in so many films that followed. So much ambition realized in two movies by the same guy.

[millenwasmyfavorite]

Sadistically enough, the counselor will probably be talked about as much as those films twenty years from now

[Cody_Russell]

Ugh... "Jason Bourne" was a disappointment and a waste of time. AND I really like Identity and Ultimatum.
An unnecessary sequel. It actually makes me dislike Tommy Lee Jones more because of a realization of how generic his characters can be.

[jaadam4]

Ugh... "Jason Bourne" was a disappointment and a waste of time. AND I really Identity and Ultimatum.
An unnecessary sequel. It actually makes me dislike Tommy Lee Jones more because of a realization of how generic his characters can be.

I have no idea why they thought this was a good script. It was a terrible movie. Looked like a shotgun blast of shitty ideas. Matt Damon should have said F no. It ruined the whole series even if I thought the last one in the series

[Cody_Russell]

I have no idea why they thought this was a good script. It was a terrible movie. Looked like a shotgun blast of shitty ideas. Matt Damon should have said F no. It ruined the whole series even if I thought the last one in the series

They like making sequels and remakes that poison the well.
"Dumb and Dumber To" .... "Zoolander 2"... "Ghostbusters" (2016). Too many to list.

Finally saw "Sicario"... from the same director as "Arrival" and "Prisoners."
It was pretty good, but not as great as "Arrival." 7/10 or 8/10 ish. Very strong cinematography. It's more of an indication that the new Blade Runner can't disappoint.

[Mainevent]

Sicario >> Arrival, IMO. But both good movies.

Saw Dr. Strange last night. I thought it was pretty good, but the last act was weak and they underutilized Mads Mikkelson. And Chiwetel Ejiofor seemed to be just re-hashing his character from Serenity.

Agree pretty much on all points with Bourne. Plus they stretched out the "cat and mouse game in a crowded public place" scenes waaaaaay too much. A lot of wasted talent in that movie.

[millenwasmyfavorite]

It's weird because in the comics, Ejiofor's character, I think, is actually more fundamentally extreme than his character in Serenity and obviously Dr. Strange.

Hard for me to compare Sicario and Arrival. Really, only compared because of same director. Otherwise the comparison wouldn't really exist. At face value, you'd think Arrival was thematically richer, but I think the opposite is probably true. Sicario is riddled with thematic symbolism. It isn't intrusive in the slightest, making the movie literally as difficult as you'd like it to be.

[Mainevent]

It's weird because in the comics, Ejiofor's character, I think, is actually more fundamentally extreme than his character in Serenity and obviously Dr. Strange.

I'm not familiar with the comic, so couldn't say. Though the post credits scene clearly took him in that direction. So maybe it was an origin story for him as well.

[millenwasmyfavorite]

Yes. It definitely is.

Many people thought he'd actually be the villain in the film.

[Cody_Russell]

I've read a lot of mixed reviews about "Alien Covenant." Makes me think "The Martian" was an anomaly for what an old Ridley Scott can direct nowadays. Scott will be as good as his script. The Martian had a great script with the work of Drew Goddard. All of the witty/ smart dialogue? Scott doesn't do that.

Wish they can get the Alien franchise in the hands of a present day talented director. Who knows. Maybe when I see this movie over the weekend, it'll actually be decent.

[jaadam4]

I've read a lot of mixed reviews about "Alien Covenant." Makes me think "The Martian" was an anomaly for what an old Ridley Scott can direct nowadays. Scott will be as good as his script. The Martian had a great script with the work of Drew Goddard. All of the witty/ smart dialogue? Scott doesn't do that.

Wish they can get the Alien franchise in the hands of a present day talented director. Who knows. Maybe when I see this movie over the weekend, it'll actually be decent.

Ive been kicking the idea around about going to see it today but the latest fan reviews on imdb make it sound terrible.

Thats sad with all this franchise could be

[millenwasmyfavorite]

It was entertaining. Like Prometheus was entertaining.

Ridley is lost in some indulged urge to sour his movies in philosophy.

Maybe trying to recreate the subtle magic of his earlier work, ala BladeRunner

[Topweasel]

Ridley Scott suffers from a lot of the issues mid 80's and 90's directors struggle with now. A lot of the best work was them trying to pull off a shot as best they could within the confines of cost and technology. Alien is an example of a movie made better by this, Like Jaws they could only do or show so much without showing their hand that their monster was completely fake and almost hilarious in action.

Now technology has allowed them to do everything they want to do. They don't have the will power newer directors have when dealing with this (because these guys grew up on it). Which in this movie makes the movie two toned. On one hand it's a simple monster movie and on the other hand it's an extravagant action movie. On one hand it's obvious that he wanted the monsters of the movie to be stealthy and create lots of tension. But on the other hand he wants to show us things he could never have done on Alien.

The result is a better movie than Prometheus. The characters are better and smarter. The situations a little more plausible. But the end result is a minor evolution on Prometheus. One that telegraphs it horror scenes so much that it takes all the tension away. It's an entertaining watch. But Scott can do better and while he hasn't been all that great lately, it's sad to see him struggle with something he beautifully mastered back in the day.