28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Watashi]

I decided not to see Hereafter, but instead watch another similar movie about near-death experience and the fascination of the line between life and death after post-national disaster. I think I made the right choice. Fearless is awesome. It's only drawback is that it's a bit dated (hard to fault), but the melodrama here never feels forced or spoonfed. This is probably Bridges best work in his already illustrious career. The plane crash scene is probably one of the most intense disaster scenes ever filmed. It was masterfully directed in every way.

[Sven]

I'm going through a Carpenter bender this week.

One of the best benders one which one can be.

[Rowland]

Working hard to articulate something through writing, only to accidently lose it by closing the wrong tab in my browser, makes me never want to write anything again.

[Ezee E]

I decided not to see Hereafter, but instead watch another similar movie about near-death experience and the fascination of the line between life and death after post-national disaster. I think I made the right choice. Fearless is awesome. It's only drawback is that it's a bit dated (hard to fault), but the melodrama here never feels forced or spoonfed. This is probably Bridges best work in his already illustrious career. The plane crash scene is probably one of the most intense disaster scenes ever filmed. It was masterfully directed in every way.

Great movie indeed. My favorite from Weir by a longshot.

[Ezee E]

The concept is cool for sure, I think some of the scenes could have been cut entirely or shortened. It's a lot of build up for a very weak climax.

What I appreciate more about the movie is the character and psychology of Travis Bickle. There's a ton of shots in this movie that I didn't pick up on the first time, second time, or third time I saw it. His direction could've easily swayed him into doing something entirely different based on just a few moments. The result is obvious, but it's everything leading up to it that makes me appreciate it.

I hear there's an amazing commentary from Scorsese, but I can't find it anywhere.

[Spinal]

Going back a couple pages, I don't think it's a problem to have characters all speak English even if the film is set in a different country, so long as the characters would acually share a common language. That's just a theatrical convention that we can agree to accept, much like we can agree to accept that people will sing to each other in a musical. (Never mind that some people are unwilling to accept even this convention. They are silly people and not to be trusted in these matters.)

A bigger issue is a film like Planet of the Apes in which the space travellers are not at all surprised to find that they can understand and communicate easily with a "distant" civilization.

[Qrazy]

Now John Carpenter's Dark Star is a pretty damn cool movie I just finished watching. If it wasn't for it's technical shortcomings it might rival 2001. What is done well is some of the dark humor. But the movie doesn't age well at all. A space alien as a beach ball makes it hard to be immersed in the story.

Taxi Driver has a weak climax...

Dark Star could rival 2001...

No and no.

[megladon8]

Maybe I'm thinking of a different movie, but wasn't Dark Star supposed to be a little tongue-in-cheek?

[Qrazy]

Maybe I'm thinking of a different movie, but wasn't Dark Star supposed to be a little tongue-in-cheek?

Completely, the last scene features a guy surfing in space towards a planet.

[Kurosawa Fan]

(Never mind that some people are unwilling to accept even this convention. They are silly people and not to be trusted in these matters.)

:sad:

[MadMan]

Yeah I often don't care for musicals because they feature people randomly busting into song and dance. So I'm with yah on this, KF. Unless your thinking of something different.

I'm now curious about finally watching Dark Star. Considering I really love Carpenter. Which reminds me-I still own In The Mouth of Madness, but I haven't watched it yet.

Oh and Taxi Driver is a great movie, but I think I need to rewatch my copy of it again, as I feel I missed certain things about it. I wonder if a second viewing would result in me thinking even higher of it, or just sticking with my original rating. Travis Bickle is one of the best roles Di Niro ever played, no doubt about that.

[StanleyK]

My problem with musicals isn't that people randomly start singing, it's that most of the time, the song and dance is there merely as a show-stopper, with little bearing on the plot or themes. Like, was the 15-minute movie-within-a-movie pitch really necessary in Singin' in the Rain? I probably owe the movie a rewatch, but still.

[Mysterious Dude]

My problem with musicals isn't that people randomly start singing, it's that most of the time, the song and dance is there merely as a show-stopper, with little bearing on the plot or themes. Like, was the 15-minute movie-within-a-movie pitch really necessary in Singin' in the Rain? I probably owe the movie a rewatch, but still.

My favorite part about that is how stupidly they work it into the story. It has no resemblance at all to the movie they've already made, so the one guy suggests they make the French Revolution scenes into a dream. The hell? That's a terrible idea.

[number8]

I do not understand why anyone would have a problem with characters bursting into songs.

[Spinal]

I do not understand why anyone would have a problem with characters bursting into songs.

To me, it is as absurd as wondering why all the people in Miyazaki films look like cartoons.

[megladon8]

I don't understand why anyone would have a problem with the logic of a musical...that's just silly.

But I can understand not being particularly fond of musicals. Because I'm not particularly fond of musicals.

There are, of course, exceptions. But it's not a genre I actively seek out.

[Bosco B Thug]

My favorite part about that is how stupidly they work it into the story. It has no resemblance at all to the movie they've already made, so the one guy suggests they make the French Revolution scenes into a dream. The hell? That's a terrible idea.

Haha, yes. That's one of my biggest irks, all their celebrating and joyous love-making after coming up with this idea that's in no way guaranteed to work out at all.

[transmogrifier]

People who don't like musicals are my least favorite type of people.
People who like bad musicals are my second least favorite.

Though I like musicals with regular dialogue and the odd song and/or dance number. I hate movies that are entirely sung. It's bloody annoying and cloying - mainly because music is so subjective, and if you don't like the "tune", it's two hours of hell.

[soitgoes...]

I don't necessarily have a problem with musicals. I have a problem with Golden Age Hollywood musicals. They are usually too saccharine for my tastes.

[Winston*]

Rewatching Get Shorty on TV. This is an extremely entertaining movie.

[B-side]

Like, was the 15-minute movie-within-a-movie pitch really necessary in Singin' in the Rain? I probably owe the movie a rewatch, but still.

Arguably my favorite part of the film.

[transmogrifier]

My problem with musicals isn't that people randomly start singing, it's that most of the time, the song and dance is there merely as a show-stopper, with little bearing on the plot or themes. Like, was the 15-minute movie-within-a-movie pitch really necessary in Singin' in the Rain? I probably owe the movie a rewatch, but still.

Was the 15 minute scene with Alfred Molina in Boogie Nights really necessary?

[megladon8]

It's bloody annoying and cloying - mainly because music is so subjective, and if you don't like the "tune", it's two hours of hell.

This is something I find particularly irritating.

Very rarely do I actually like the songs being sung in musicals.

I find My Fair Lady a painful, atrocious movie due to this (and due to the fact that it's vapid and shallow). It's a film my parents, grandparents and sister love, and when it comes up on family movie night, I leave.

[DavidSeven]

Was the 15 minute scene with Alfred Molina in Boogie Nights really necessary?

Well, that brilliant extended shot on Walberg at the end of the scene is arguably the turning point in the film and the extended absurdity of the entire thing kind of leads up to that.

But I know what you're saying. It could serve no function whatsoever, and no one would complain because being awesome for the sake of awesome isn't the worst thing in the world either.

[DavidSeven]

Also, a lot of musicals just follow the formula of action films with the numbers replacing set pieces. Watching one guy chasing another guy for 15 minutes isn't exactly the most efficient way to further the plot.