28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Henry Gale]

I've got a question about the ending of the Matrix Reloaded:

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Show Spoiler

At the end, when the sentinels about to kill Neo, Trin and Morph as they are exiting the ship... Neo stops and says: "I can feel them" and proceeds to (at least what it looks like) to show off new powers to stop the sentinels. He passes out into the coma and the Hammer ship arrives seconds later. Since seeing this movie in 2003, I've always believed it was the Hammer using their EMP device to kill the sentinels. Did Neo really use his powers there?

The only reason I ask is i was reading the wiki plot after the talking about Revolutions in the The Grandmasters thread, and the wiki article states that Neo was using new powers. Is this the canon censuses?

]

Well he definitely got those first few, after that, I can't say I remember.

[Qrazy]

IMO Neo stopped them. It's fucking stupid but oh well.

[MadMan]

I think Casablanca, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and In A Lonely Place are are great, classic films. I'd say the best of the three would be In A Lonely Place, but I'm not entirely sure if The African Queen or In A Lonely Place features Bogart's best performance.

[Spinal]

Sierra Madre is the best Bogart performance I have seen. I have not seen In a Lonely Place. But it's the one performance I've seen where he really stretches himself.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I've got a question about the ending of the Matrix Reloaded:

[

Show Spoiler

At the end, when the sentinels about to kill Neo, Trin and Morph as they are exiting the ship... Neo stops and says: "I can feel them" and proceeds to (at least what it looks like) to show off new powers to stop the sentinels. He passes out into the coma and the Hammer ship arrives seconds later. Since seeing this movie in 2003, I've always believed it was the Hammer using their EMP device to kill the sentinels. Did Neo really use his powers there?

The only reason I ask is i was reading the wiki plot after the talking about Revolutions in the The Grandmasters thread, and the wiki article states that Neo was using new powers. Is this the canon censuses?

]

I think the theory is that Neo has wi-fi powers. All the weirdness in the trilogy can be explained in terms of computers.

[Ezee E]

Can any of you point me to some film noir assassination movies? Trying to think of some.

[B-side]

Can any of you point me to some film noir assassination movies? Trying to think of some.

Depends on what type of assassination you mean. Political?

[Ezee E]

Depends on what type of assassination you mean. Political?

Preferably. But I'll take anything where it's a plot to kill someone.

[B-side]

Preferably. But I'll take anything where it's a plot to kill someone.

Isn't that the plot of most film noirs? Or do you mean where the protagonist is trying to kill someone?

[Ezee E]

Isn't that the plot of most film noirs? Or do you mean where the protagonist is trying to kill someone?

Let's go with political assassinations for now. I can't articulate it properly. I'm tired.

[MadMan]

I'd suggest Z, but that's more of a political drama/semi-dramatized style faux documentary.

All I really got is The Manchurian Candidate (1962), but I'm sure you've seen that.

[MadMan]

Sierra Madre is the best Bogart performance I have seen. I have not seen In a Lonely Place. But it's the one performance I've seen where he really stretches himself.

Check out In A Lonely Place sometime Spinal. I think it would be right up your alley.

[B-side]

Let's go with political assassinations for now. I can't articulate it properly. I'm tired.

Ha, no worries, I just wanted to see if I could help. I'm no noir expert, so I wanted a clearer picture to see if I could dig back and find any examples. Coming up blank on political assassinations right now, unfortunately.

[DavidSeven]

Preferably. But I'll take anything where it's a plot to kill someone.

Double Indemnity.

[B-side]

Interweaving two ancient Greek plays, Young Aphrodites features two love stories placed side by side. A bunch of herders come upon a village near the sea to rest their animals and wait for the rain, and in the meantime two of them break off and enter into small affairs. One is a man, likely in his 30s or so, attempting to seduce a reticent 20-something woman with a husband away and the other is a pre-pubescent boy -- likely 11 or 12 -- and his sexual initiation and first love with an androgynous teenage girl. Both stories contain outsiders threatening their relationships; a husband in the case of the older two and a slightly older boy, more the girl's age, in the case of the younger two. The women must be chased and "won" and the guys are a bit brutish but determined breadwinners, demonstrated with them both seeking out birds to give to the ladies as gifts. Before the boy decides to find the dead goose she'd been keeping in a hideout, an oddly touching moment occurs between them in which the boy grabs a goose and swings it around by the leg, and after he stops, she speaks her first words in the film: "I could never love you." A fine summation of her natural tenderness. The older woman similarly has a fondness for birds. As each character is constantly peering and chasing, the film adopts a rather animalistic approach to sexuality. A simple return to basics in the wilderness a la Walkabout. Granted, this film is certainly not as good as that one, but it's a good one regardless. I enjoyed the relatively small amount of dialogue. Shame the film is so utterly average on the technical/formal front.

[Dukefrukem]

Well he definitely got those first few, after that, I can't say I remember.

IMO Neo stopped them. It's fucking stupid but oh well.

I think the theory is that Neo has wi-fi powers. All the weirdness in the trilogy can be explained in terms of computers.

He probably did stop them. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to see

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Show Spoiler

Smith as Bane.

]

[Yxklyx]

Preferably. But I'll take anything where it's a plot to kill someone.

We did this some pages back - a whole list of films about hired killers.

[Boner M]

Good Dick is one of the most emotionally fraudulent films to ever pass itself off as 'raw' and 'honest', with tacked-on Sundance Lab indie-quirk only making matters worse, and the reduction of serious emotional trauma to a third-act 'ah-hah!' revelation the piss-icing on the shit-cake (and the involvement of Tom Arnold in said revelation being the icing upon that icing). Fortunately it has decent performances, otherwise nothing would ring true. Feel like I need to watch Minnie & Moskowitz again to wash out the bad taste it's left. Blech.

[StanleyK]

A revisit of Pan's Labyrinth was a bit unkind to it. As much as I love the warped fairytale angle, I'm not sure it excuses its one-dimensional characters (granted, the Captain is so over-the-top evil that it has to be intentionally reflecting a simple children's book bad guy, but still...) or dialogue which obviates their emotions and the themes. The filmmaking is pretty good when it's being flashy, less so when it's just pasting together medium shots of folks talking (the side-screen wipes, which I used to find obnoxious, are actually a quite charming invocation of pages turning). It's a great story and clearly a labor of love for del Toro; I don't find it as impressive as I once did, but it's still an engrossing and emotionally engaging film.

[D_Davis]

I've got a question about the ending of the Matrix Reloaded:

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Show Spoiler

Did Neo really use his powers there??

]

That's what I always thought.

[Our Aurora]

That's what I always thought.

As did I... but Duke's take on it...

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Show Spoiler

The Hammer sending out its EMP

]

definitely heightens the idea of believing Neo is the one.

Faith in an individual -- or individuals -- who can achieve the unimaginable is what drives a revolution.

[Qrazy]

If Neo didn't do it why would he have entered Limbo? And his threat to the machines would have been meaningless in Revolutions if he wasn't capable of buggering them over. He did it.

Anyway who cares, shitty movie is shit.

[D_Davis]

As did I... but Duke's take on it...

[

Show Spoiler

The Hammer sending out its EMP

]

definitely heightens the idea of believing Neo is the one.

Faith in an individual -- or individuals -- who can achieve the unimaginable is what drives a revolution.

That's true, and a good point of discussion. I've been wanting to rewatch these, and I think I will soon. It's been awhile.

[MadMan]

I still enjoy the Matrix trilogy, even though I don't think any of them are great movies.

[Qrazy]

I still enjoy the Matrix trilogy, even though I don't think any of them are great movies.

The first one is a great genre film. It is not a particularly deep film and there are plenty of valid criticisms. However, say what you will about the silliness of some of the concepts or general attitude of the film but the storyboarding, pacing and general visual flow of that film is impeccable.