Movies! The movie thread

[Fishee]

Originally Posted by flybigjet

So.

I went to see Dune 2 today.

I'm probably the contrarian here, but I'm going to go with "Meh".

People are raging about it (good for them), but I was underwhelmed for a whole bunch of different reasons-- not the least of which was that the costume designers were probably dropping acid throughout the entire film production.

Let's just say that the screen blurb that said the movie was only "Based on" the book was very, very accurate.

I've read the book at least a dozen times since high school, and I had trouble following what was going on. Two (or more depending on how you count them and at least one miniseries) movies made about the book and I'm standing by my original thought that Dune is simply a story that can *not* be made into a movie. There are just too many moving parts that intertwine-- I just don't think that a movie will ever do it justice-- at least not with any coherence.

If you enjoyed it, great.... but I found myself looking at my watch repeatedly during the movie-- never a good sign.

Ymmv.

R.

I'd argue that Villeneuve's movies are primarily style over substance. So, they're only watchable once, if you're able to suspend enough disbelief to enjoy the visual spectacle (like, I could barely get through the stupidity of Arrival).
Bladerunner 2049 was the exception for me, great story, and follow up to the original.

[TXSTYLE]

Watched DUNE 2.
Hmmmmm... I was expecting much more. I found it too much of a "Drama Love Story" with a sprinkle of Action here and there and too long. 2.5/5 for me.

[nosbocaj]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

Reporting in first?

Immense cinematography! XD sound was amazing. First half of movie was pretty true to book, second they deviated a bit. Probably as much time management as anything else.

Definitely will see again!

Part 3 in 2025?

I saw it last Friday in IMAX and Saturday in a normal theater. I absolutely loved it from start to finish. As a book reader I accept the deviations. None really irked me too much and some even made a lot of sense. Villeneuve was probably the best director to take such an ambitious project and pull it off. Not only is he a brilliant director, but you can tell that he cared a lot about the source material. I hope he gets to do Messiah.

Originally Posted by flybigjet

People are raging about it (good for them), but I was underwhelmed for a whole bunch of different reasons-- not the least of which was that the costume designers were probably dropping acid throughout the entire film production.

That's interesting. I thought the costume design was great. It was certainly less ridiculous than Lynch's and not cheesy/cheap like the miniseries. Irulan's outfits were a bit much, but that's about it. To each their own though!

[M5Rick]

Ferrari on Sky Cinema now, true story of how they won the '57 Mille Miglia but it came at a cost.
Driver and Cruz are remarkable in this Michael Mann film.

* Full trailer.

[tranquility]

5lbs of Pressure, gritty, realistic. That kid playing Luke Evan's son is gonna be a star, great acting, reminds me of River Phoenix. The whole cast was great.

[flybigjet]

"All the Light We Cannot See". It's a four-part miniseries on Netflix. My wife and I *really* enjoyed it. The cats even got into it. We finished the last episode this evening.

Aria Mia Loberti, the lead actress, is pretty mind-boggling: She's essentially blind, is trained in ballet and martial arts, has a yoga certification, graduated summa cum laude with three Majors in Philosophy, Communication Studies & Political Science, two Minors in Ancient Greek Languages & Rhetoric in the Honors program, has a Master's Degree in Ancient Rhetoric with Distinction (on a Fullbright Scholarship to London, no less) and has been working on her Doctorate in Ancient Rhetoric.

Did I mention that she did all this while being functionally blind due to a genetic abnormality?

Think about what *she's* accomplished the next time you're lazing on the couch complaining about the life not being fair and that the fridge's too far away to go get a beer.

And then to top it off? She sent in a demo tape to a global casting audition for this role on a frelling whim.

And got the part.

With no acting training.

Or experience.

And it was her first audition.

*Ever*.

Hugh Laurie and Mark Ruffalo are in it as well (and you only wonder what House and The Hulk are doing in wartime France for a few minutes). The CGI isn't great but it's not central to the story so you really don't mind. Overall, it's shot in a very lovely, very warm "film" technique that doesn't give you that overly digital feel-- a lot of the movie feels like you stepped into a photo from the 1940's.

And the Nazi's? Yeah-- *Definitely* the Bad Guys. They maybe could have toned down their utter repulsiveness a bit. (But their uniforms *do* look fabulous. )

Well worth the watch! I just ordered the book for my wife.

R.

[Murf the Surf]

I'll try not to be cruel. I hate to say rubbish because some might like this movie but my wife and I watched it last night and about 10 minutes in we knew it wasn't going to be good. The following comments are my opinion and if others like the movie then ok but I found the acting to be terrible, the whole thing just missed the mark for me. 1 hour and 49 minutes of my life I won't get back. Have at it if you want but don't say I didn't warn you.

[Murf the Surf]

I'm not sure if this is better or worse than Damsel.

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by Murf the Surf

I'll try not to be cruel. I hate to say rubbish because some might like this movie but my wife and I watched it last night and about 10 minutes in we knew it wasn't going to be good. The following comments are my opinion and if others like the movie then ok but I found the acting to be terrible, the whole thing just missed the mark for me. 1 hour and 49 minutes of my life I won't get back. Have at it if you want but don't say I didn't warn you.

Ditto, the dude's a king, goes riding to try to kill the thing and he has like, what, a wimpy posse of 6 men or something? His whole freaking kingdom and he can only muster a handful of knights? Man, I dunno why I sat through that either (it's like made for kids, really), at least I sped it up to 2x speed, so I only lost ~55 mins

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Murf the Surf

I'm not sure if this is better or worse than Damsel.

Couldn't they choose anyone other than Neeson for this.

[Murf the Surf]

Definitely be watching this.

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by tranquility

5lbs of Pressure, gritty, realistic. That kid playing Luke Evan's son is gonna be a star, great acting, reminds me of River Phoenix. The whole cast was great.

Thanks. I like Luke Evans! Will watch.

[TXSTYLE]

PREPARE....

[Fishee]

Originally Posted by TXSTYLE

PREPARE....

Ugh.... do I want to be disappointed again?

[M-technik-3]

Originally Posted by Fishee

Ugh.... do I want to be disappointed again?

Yeah, hoping it's better than the last one.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

Yeah, hoping it's better than the last one.

The first two are the best, imo.

[Esteban]

There's a new Omen coming out.

I like the original one the best and I don't think this one will change that, but we'll see. Will at least give it a chance.

[tranquility]

^
^
I can't wait for these two, guys!

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by Fishee

Ugh.... do I want to be disappointed again?

You may want to read what Ridley Scott and James Cameron had to say about this entirely new vision:
https://movieweb.com/alien-romulus-ridley-scott-james-cameron-reaction/

Basically, they loved it! If it's good enough for them, it's damn sure good enough for me and fans of the franchise.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Fishee

Ugh.... do I want to be disappointed again?

I thought Covenant and Promethius were excellent and were the best since Aliens, especially the story themselves. The Romulus trailor is a worry, all i see is a movie with nothing but darkness and a ripley wannabe. Not good.

[Fishee]

Originally Posted by Esteban

The first two are the best, imo.

Nothing has ever come close to Alien and Aliens within the franchise.
Prometheus had promise, IMO it fell pretty flat. The amount of disbelief required to look past the poor dialogue, the stupidity of the characters actions, the ultra convenient origin of the xeno, the backstory of the engineers' motivation, was just too much, too distracting and annoying.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Fishee

Nothing has ever come close to Alien and Aliens within the franchise.
Prometheus had promise, IMO it fell pretty flat. The amount of disbelief required to look past the poor dialogue, the stupidity of the characters actions, the ultra convenient origin of the xeno, the backstory of the engineers' motivation, was just too much, too distracting and annoying.

I like this scene from Alien: Resurrection.