View Poll Results: Chronicle (Josh Trank)

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Thread: Chronicle (Josh Trank)

  1. #51
    Alone again, naturally eternity's Avatar
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    That was a 75-minute facepalm.

  2. #52
    dissolved into molecules lovejuice's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Kurosawa Fan (view post)
    That point is most certainly the party and the vomit scene, as at that point, even after the two of them having a nice moment on top of that building, Andrew pushes Steve away multiple times and then completely loses control.

    It is, without a doubt, his breaking POINT.
    Strangely I have no problem with that. Even though it has been over a decade, I still vividly remember my own sexual frustration, and how important sex is for a pubescent male. (The film anticipates that very well by having Andrew being a virgin.)

    Telekinesis probably adds extra hormonal instability to his body as witnessed by the constant bloody noses. Great power comes with great sexual urge and the biggest blue ball anyone of us can ever imagine. :P
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  3. #53
    Since 1929 Morris Schæffer's Avatar
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    It's half weird that it takes such a low-budget movie to finally, persuasively, paint a truly engaging picture of the dark side of being a superhero. Or perhaps not because big summer movies just wouldn't venture off into this direction. And that's ok I suppose. But for all the praise lavished upon Ruffalo's tormented version of Hulk, he's got nothing on Andrew. But maybe this is the apples and oranges discussion again. Anyhow, pretty good flick. I should say that I hadn't expected it to get quite so action-packed by the end although it was pretty awesome. Also, like K-Fan said, Andrew certainly seems to go berserk quite rapidly over the course of 82 minutes and the found footage angle feels somewhat forced here. But when it soars, like when the guys discover, and experiment with, their nascent powers, it's exhilarating, refreshing, and then it becomes a little scary too.
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  4. #54
    Sunrise, Sunset Wryan's Avatar
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    Wow Chronicle is an amazing piece of work. They really nailed the way I feel teens would handle such a scenario. Add a little good ol' fashioned domestic abuse/sick family member, and you have a nicely escalating narrative. Dane DeHaan is extremely good. I liked that they stuck with the conceit of the camera, even if they have to resort to increasingly stretched filming sources in order to capture the action. Felt pretty successful, though. This was pretty damn good.
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  5. #55
    Ain't that just the way EyesWideOpen's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Henry Gale (view post)
    SPOILERS

    Just as with The Grey, I'm glad I had only seen a couple of brief TV spots going into this, because I had few expectations as to what I was going to see and ended up loving the journey.
    Agreed. I can see some of the points people are bringing up about the filmmakers forcing things to fit in the "found footage" angle but I just accept it's a movie and don't let it bother me.
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  6. #56
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    I liked this, but have no real strong feelings towards it. It just kind of is, and while I enjoyed Dane DeHaan's performance quite a bit, the film had some technical problems that distracted me from the quality script and characters.

    I was really impressed with how believable these characters were - not only the way they reacted to getting these powers, but also their relationships outside of the powers plot.

    I'm not as hot on it as some are here, but I enjoyed it. I just wish they had either dialled down on some of the effects (due to their being unconvincing), or found ways around their use. For example I found the flying scene exhilarating when it was just a first person shot zooming through the clouds. The second they started looking at each other and I saw the poor effect, it ruined it for me.
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  7. #57
    A fascinating film. More thoughts later, but it strikes me as a companion piece to Holy Motors more than anything.

  8. #58
    Since 1929 Morris Schæffer's Avatar
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    I haven't seen Holy Motors, know of it though, and am wondering how the hell one would make that comparison.

    So tell me if you like.
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  9. #59
    Guttenbergian Pop Trash's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Boner M (view post)
    A fascinating film. More thoughts later, but it strikes me as a companion piece to Holy Motors more than anything.
    Hmm...maybe I should see this.
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  10. #60
    It's all in the caffeine EvilShoe's Avatar
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    Quite good, but I don't think the found footage aspect adds anything to the film. The gimmick can do wonders for a horror franchise such as Paranormal Activity, as it skips through character development we've seen multiple times already, to just focus on creating thrills.

    Here though, I found myself quite invested in the relationship between the two characters. I would've preferred a more traditional approach. I feel it would've increased the emotional resonance, which gets hampered here by the constant justification of a camera in place.

    Mostly curious how Trank's next feature will go. He's definitely talented.
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  11. #61
    I guess I just can't down with the 'found-footage-gimmick-adds-nothing' camp. Partly because this isn't a 'found' footage film per se, and that the title refers to the verb rather than noun use of the term - it's merely told through the myriad recording devices that are integral to the lives of young people today more than ever (I usually hate pandering zeitgeist-y movies, but this one earns the right to stake the claim), and that instil a desire to 'perform' or at least live in a more heightened fashion among teens more than anyone else. Also, because the visual texture - moving from mock-artlessness to actual artfulness - is so exciting and fresh and adds to the psychology of Andrew in the moments he lets the camera do flights of fancy. The amount of god's eye view / crane-ish shots, however unsubtle, really hit home his desire to step outside his life and live on through the media that captures him in an attempt to salvage something from his ongoing torment - I thought there was enough backstory to him (however rudimentary) and DeHaan's performance strong enough to make his downfall seem credible in the film's context.

    As for the Holy Motors comparison, I won't go into too much depth/spoilers for a film that y'all've yet to see, but there's one scene in that film where Oscar (Denis Lavant) laments that the cameras used to film him have become so small and invisible that there's less 'beauty' to his performances now, now that the spectator/performer relationship has become so imperceptible. I could help but think of those curmudgeonly lines being in response to Andrew's summoning all the city's cameras and iPhones to film his rampage.

  12. #62
    Since 1929 Morris Schæffer's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting EvilShoe (view post)

    Mostly curious how Trank's next feature will go. He's definitely talented.
    He's apparently attached to videogame adaptation 'Shadow of the Colossus.'

    Which'll be a tough nut to crack.
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  13. #63
    pushing too many pencils Rowland's Avatar
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    Went into this kinda anticipating myself to turn out as a dissenter, wound up really digging it instead. Yay for upsetting expectations and such.
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    Hard Times (Hill) ****½
    Another 48 Hrs. (Hill) ***
    /48 Hrs./ (Hill) ***½
    The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (Besson) ***
    /Unknown/ (Collet-Serra) ***½
    Animal (Simmons) **

  14. #64
    Quote Quoting Rowland (view post)
    Went into this kinda anticipating myself to turn out as a dissenter, wound up really digging it instead. Yay for upsetting expectations and such.
    ritch:

  15. #65
    White Tiger Field Stay Puft's Avatar
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    Well, y'all convinced me to give this a shot. I'll rent it next time I have a weekend to spare.
    Giving up in 2020. Who cares.

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  16. #66
    Guttenbergian Pop Trash's Avatar
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    I'm leaning towards the pro side of this, even if I don't think it quite transcends its myriad of influences. Cloverfield/Blair Witch are obvious ones, but also Marvel (particularly X-Men & Spider-Man), The Incredibles, and Joe Dante's Explorers.

    That said, it's watchable and engaging. I did think of KF's problems with the "found footage" thing. I mean...does it really matter if this footage is "found" or if it is just "watched" like any other movie as it goes along? If it is "found" then who edited all these various sources together? God?
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  17. #67
    pushing too many pencils Rowland's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Pop Trash (view post)
    I mean...does it really matter if this footage is "found" or if it is just "watched" like any other movie as it goes along.
    Your kinda-sorta question serves as its own answer, touché.
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    /48 Hrs./ (Hill) ***½
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    Animal (Simmons) **

  18. #68
    Guttenbergian Pop Trash's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Rowland (view post)
    Your kinda-sorta question serves as its own answer, touché.
    haha, guess that sentence does need a question mark.
    Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:

    Top Gun: Maverick - 8
    Top Gun - 7
    McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
    Crimes of the Future - 8
    Videodrome - 9
    Valley Girl - 8
    Summer of '42 - 7
    In the Line of Fire - 8
    Passenger 57 - 7
    Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6



  19. #69
    Quote Quoting Spinal (view post)
    I don't really understand the positive buzz on this one. It's pretty dopey.
    Yep. Silly movie is silly.

  20. #70
    The Pan Scar's Avatar
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    I give it a solid 'Eh.'
    “What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”

  21. #71
    i am the great went ledfloyd's Avatar
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    this was kind of awful. i'm shocked it got the praise it did on here. i just don't get it.

  22. #72
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting ledfloyd (view post)
    this was kind of awful. i'm shocked it got the praise it did on here. i just don't get it.
    There's a few of us that think this way. Not many.

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  23. #73
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting ledfloyd (view post)
    this was kind of awful. i'm shocked it got the praise it did on here. i just don't get it.
    I can only assume it's because it was released at a time of the year (February?) when expectations are generally pretty low.
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  24. #74
    pushing too many pencils Rowland's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Spinal (view post)
    I can only assume it's because it was released at a time of the year (February?) when expectations are generally pretty low.
    There is ample evidence in this thread contrary to your ever-so-slightly condescending assumption.

    Also, can I rightly assume that you only kinda-liked the absolutely terrible After.Life because of low expectations?
    Letterboxd rating scale:
    The Long Riders (Hill) ***
    Furious 7 (Wan) **½
    Hard Times (Hill) ****½
    Another 48 Hrs. (Hill) ***
    /48 Hrs./ (Hill) ***½
    The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (Besson) ***
    /Unknown/ (Collet-Serra) ***½
    Animal (Simmons) **

  25. #75
    This really felt like one of the longest 80-90 minute movies I've seen, which is especially surprising considering how much of the runtime is devoted to impressively rendered action. It just speaks to how poorly told the underlying story is. There's irony in how contrived and phony these characters feel in this "found footage" film -- the one dimensional drunk dad, the absurdly hot video blogger, the evil looking kid who unsurprisingly TURNS EVIL, etc.

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