28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Boner M]

Haven't seen it. Just glad it wasn't Tsai.

[StanleyK]

35 Shots of Rum underwhelmed me. It was honestly quite dull. I'm sure I missed all of its thematic qualities, but I didn't get anything from it on an immediate, visceral level either- meaning that outside of a few neatly framed shots (particularly in its most engaging sequence, the slow dance at the bar) the filmmaking didn't do much for me.

[Spinal]

3D Lion King is #1 at the box office earning $29 million.

My question is ... how will Roger Ebert spin this into another 'death of 3D' article?

[Henry Gale]

3D Lion King is #1 at the box office earning $29 million.

My question is ... how will Roger Ebert spin this into another 'death of 3D' article?

8% of it was 2D tickets. I'll assume most of those were by mistake. But I am curious to see how this actually looks, being a traditionally animated film converted with actual three-dimensional shapes, sometimes even within solid colours and lines. I remember having a Lion King Viewmaster set when I was a kid, so I'll just assume it's a slightly better, feature-length version of that.

I'd rather wait until Beauty & the Beast 3D, assuming the success of this pushes them to finally release it in more than just the El Capitan and Blu-ray 3D.

[Winston*]

Rewatching Lagaan for a class. This is definitely the best sports movie ever.

Now the Indians have got to make 323 runs so they don't have to pay triple tax to the evil English. Will they do it?!

[Ezee E]

Rewatching some of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind...

Still respecting it, but what is it that Clemetine even likes about Joel to keep on pursuing him in the first place? What a loser.

[Lucky]

Rewatching some of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind...

Still respecting it, but what is it that Clemetine even likes about Joel to keep on pursuing him in the first place? What a loser.

He's nice. A safe target for a girl like that who likely has a sordid dating history. I always took it as more of a predator/prey relationship in the beginning.

[Irish]

My question is ... how will Roger Ebert spin this into another 'death of 3D' article?

He won't have to. The $29 million says more about the long term viability of the Lion King than anything about the viability of 3D.

How many kid/ family movies were released or are in play right now? So there's that.

Edit ps: the studios, otoh, will take this as an indication that 3d is still very much in demand. Queue Disney prepping every single film from their renaissance for 3d transfer.

[Ezee E]

He won't have to. The $29 million says more about the long term viability of the Lion King than anything about the viability of 3D.

How many kid/ family movies were released or are in play right now? So there's that.

Edit ps: the studios, otoh, will take this as an indication that 3d is still very much in demand. Queue Disney prepping every single film from their renaissance for 3d transfer.

I'm really hoping Dumbo makes that list.

[Ivan Drago]

I'm really hoping Dumbo makes that list.

Having never seen Dumbo, but knowing of famous sequences from it makes me hope this too.

[Lucky]

Do you think they would cut the scene where Dumbo trips to accomodate the modern family audience?

[Idioteque Stalker]

Do you think they would cut the scene where Dumbo trips to accomodate the modern family audience?

Nope, this one:

[youtube]ZIDl8Wb1va0[/youtube]

[Lucky]

I didn't watch the whole thing, but because of the cigar smoking crow?

[MadMan]

Hall pass is kinda lame, but what isn't are Alyssa Milano's boobs. Christ, I didn't even recognize her until during the end credits because I figured only porn starlets would have boobs this inflated. It was a thrilling sight.

I liked that movie, and it was sold enough, but I don't recall her being in the movie at all. But then again it wasn't really worth remembering all that much.

[Mysterious Dude]

I didn't watch the whole thing, but because of the cigar smoking crow?

I assume it's because the crows are black caricatures. It doesn't seem all that offensive to me, but I'm not black.

[Ezee E]

The movie is only 63 minutes long. Cutting anything would be an awful idea.

[Winston*]

Replace them with new scenes where the mouse lectures the audience about substance abuse and racism.

[Ezee E]

Replace them with new scenes where the mouse lectures the audience about substance abuse and racism.

Followed by the pink elephants scene. Perfect.

[MadMan]

I guess I don't have any problem with the crows either because I'm whitey, too. *shrugs*

It would be far worse for the amazing pink elephants scene to get cut instead. That's one of the best parts of the movie.

[chrisnu]

Netflix has the "Director's Cut" of Amadeus available for instant viewing. I've never seen the film before. Should I watch this, or try to get a copy of the theatrical cut?

[Sven]

Toy Story 3 is a wan whimper next to The Brave Little Toaster. Ken's scenes were gold, though.

[Fezzik]

Went to see The Lion King last night (2D). Seeing it on screen again brings back soooo many memories.

As for the film, it holds up incredibly well. The stampede sequence (all the way through Simba leaving) is just an incredibly well designed scene. It's intensely emotional, intense and brilliantly framed.

Some details I noticed this time that made it even better: Simba's shifting eyes as he frantically searches for Mufasa in the stampede, the perfect match of music to camera as Zazu dives into the gorge and swoops over to Simba hanging on the branch. Little things.

And I'm not bashful in saying that I think the score of the film is Zimmer's best work. Its by far his least derivative and at times its somewhat hard to believe he did it at all. Its ethereal and poetic, and the African undercurrents help a lot.

Most importantly, though, seeing the film in theaters again made me miss hand drawn animation even more than i did already.

I love the shit out of Pixar to the point that I'm an unapologetic fanboy, but there's something beautiful about hand drawn cel animation that CGI will never be able to emulate.

[Mara]

By the way, I showed The Iron Giant to a 16-year-old and 13-year-old this weekend and they both flipped out over it. Good kids.

And, personally, I think I love it a little bit more every time I see it. It's almost like I forget how great it is.

The youngest kid there (11) didn't want to see it and watched The Last Unicorn instead, and then we had to have a whole conversation about tree boobs. That's what you get.

[Fezzik]

By the way, I showed The Iron Giant to a 16-year-old and 13-year-old this weekend and they both flipped out over it. Good kids.

And, personally, I think I love it a little bit more every time I see it. It's almost like I forget how great it is.

It's a pinnacle, that's for sure. It's still one of the best films, animated or otherwise, I've ever seen. And to this day, it seems to be one of the few movies where it seems socially acceptable for guys to cry at.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I assume it's because the crows are black caricatures. It doesn't seem all that offensive to me, but I'm not black.

Agreed. I get that it's racist, but the film really loves those characters. They're cheery and fun and helpful. I mean, it's not Birth of a Nation we're talking about here.