View Poll Results: 1917

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    18 90.00%
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Thread: 1917 (Sam Mendes)

  1. #26
    A Platypus Grouchy's Avatar
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    I fully bought into this and it has jumped into my favorites of 2019. I don't know what's there to complain about... the videogame cut-scene aspect of it all? It's deliberate and it's joined by some great acting (the Macaulay Culkin look-alike was wonderful), aside from being one great sweeping narrative. It was tense as fuck, Duke, even if we all knew they were getting out of the mine shaft. The letter surviving the cascade was a bit of a stretch and about the only time I was taken out of the moment by lack of proper suspension of disbelief.

    I liked the reversal that we're made to expect Colonel Mackenzie as a soulless hard-ass and he's a reasonable man fighting the same war as everybody else.
    Last edited by Grouchy; 04-02-2020 at 02:36 AM.

  2. #27
    collecting tapes Skitch's Avatar
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    This was one hell of a picture. Way more enthusiastic about it than I thought i would be.

  3. #28
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    Rewatched to marvel in Deakins’ (now Oscar-winning) magnificence on Thailand’s biggest IMAX at least once. My overall rating remains the same, but from reactions to two aspects of the film shifting in opposite directions. I may have (normally hate this word, but I guess it’s fine when related to one’s own opinions) overrated Sam Mendes first time; after the novelty of first watch wears off, the first half now appears more gimmick than narrative, which is reasonably arresting and gripping, but turn world war into a ride rather than clearly intended immersion.

    However, I had seriously underrated George McKay. By its nature, the film doesn’t have time for any text/subtext engagement about war, to its empty detriment early on. But a mid-film incident that fractures his psyche, giving him drive and sole focus, finally boosts the actor up to move in tandem and engage with its one-take trick. And he grounds it something fierce, nailing every potential off-putting dead time of the gimmick so naturally and wonderfully. Any possible resonance about existentialism and emptiness of war is etched into the anguish of his face and whole movement. It’s such a powerful physical performance, turning even hokey bits semi-working (the too-long Baby and Milk Symbolism interlude) or just plain effective (listening to the singing) through sheer will alone. Also, Richard Madden: best cameo performance of the year? (Alternately, a performer’s best use of very limited screentime?) Seeing his whole face and body trying to hold back from crumbling down completely, this time in IMAX-screen detail, is so overwhelming. 8/10
    Last edited by Peng; 02-22-2020 at 04:26 PM.
    Midnight Run (1988) - 9
    The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
    The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
    Sisters (1973) - 6.5
    Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5

  4. #29
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Grouchy (view post)
    I fully bought into this and it has jumped into my favorites of 2019. I don't know what's there to complain about... the videogame cut-scene aspect of it all? It's deliberate and it's joined by some great acting (the Macaulay Culkin look-alike was wonderful), besides from being one great sweeping narrative. It was tense as fuck, Duke, even if we all knew they were getting out of the mine shaft. The letter surviving the cascade was a bit of a stretch and about the only time I was taken out of the moment by lack of proper suspension of disbelief.

    I liked the reversal that we're made to expect Colonel Mackenzie as a soulless hard-ass and he's a reasonable man fighting the same war as everybody else.
    Looking back at it, that mine sequence is the only sequence I really had a problem with. The best tension probably being when he was crossing the river.
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  5. #30
    It’s fine, a simple story with great acting throughout, but the one-shot gimmick seriously gets in the way a lot of the time. It’s so goddamn pointless and leads to a number of contrivances to make it work (and it weakens the power of that last dash, which would have been amazing as a tracking shot if we had not just spent the last 90 minutes watching the exact same thing).
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  6. #31
    collecting tapes Skitch's Avatar
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    It's always a pointless and distracting gimmick imo, but this may be the first time ever I didnt hate it. Didnt love it either, but it didnt outright annoy me.

  7. #32
    The Pan Scar's Avatar
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    Loved it.

    Extremely tense, borderline horror movie. I yelled at the TV twice:

    “Return fire, don’t run!”
    ”Don’t make the same mistake twice!”, and of course he does.

    My SpecOps buddy said in response to that: “The problem with the draft is you get a lot of people who don’t belong in battle.”
    “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.”

  8. #33
    A Platypus Grouchy's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Scar (view post)
    My SpecOps buddy said in response to that: “The problem with the draft is you get a lot of people who don’t belong in battle.”
    Hahahah sonuvabitch

    The problem with voluntary enlistment, though, is that you wouldn't get enough people. The problem with war is that generals need cannon fodder.

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