Film Flam

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Or maybe a buddy-cop movie featuring Lando and Admiral Ackbar.

I'd go see this.

[P3nT4gR4m]

Put it this way, It'll need some seriously cool reviews before I'll even consider wasting a download on it. I tried episode whatever the fuck it was with Liam Neeson, cos I thought "cool - this will remind me of my childhood" Actually went to the cinema. Paid and everything. Left thinking that the story was beyond shit, even for a CGI showreel which, essentially, was all that it was.

[Faust]

There are only two good star wars movies of the six, while I am sure his movies will  be better then Lucas most recent attempts its still a series that I have no interest in because it is mangled beyond repair.

[Cain]

Some of the expanded universe materials, such as the Thrawn trilogy, might have made good films.

However, Lucas is refusing to reveal any plot details whatsoever, except that it's an original story not based on any EU materials.  So yeah, it's probably going to be terrible.  Abrams isn't bad, but I don't think he has the necessary Hollywood clout to be able to circumvent Lucas' more self-destructive tendencies.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

But still, who cares? The Campbell narritive mythos arc has been told, and then fucked up. The story is dead, finished. No amount of stapled-on subplots will save that.

Even The Lion King used it.

GIVE IT A FUCKING REST.

[Cain]

The monomyth is a useful device....for video games.

Outside of that medium, it tends to fall flat or be extremely cliche.  As well as theoretically dubious.

[Dildo Argentino]

I've recently watched the last-but-one film by Wes Anderson (I mean in the particular order I'm wathing them), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Tremendous. Surreal, whacky, actually, Discordian. His first feature, Bottle Rocket, is the only one I have yet to see. Then I'll just have to wait.

[Cain]

Watching Silent Hill: Revelations, as part of my series of trashy films.

I'm already disinclined to dislike the Silent Hill series, being a more boring, less grounded version of Jacob's Ladder.  But then, they made Sean Bean some quivering wimp who gets taken out less than 20 minutes into the film.  Sean Bean.  He doesn't actually die, but he does spend the next hour chained to a statue, doing bugger all.

I am disappoint, film.

[P3nT4gR4m]

I liked the look of the first film but, for me, the story was a pointless pile of monkeywank. Second one I didn't like the imagery (except the big guy and the nurses from the first film. Rest was gobshite.

[Cain]

Yeah, can't disagree with that assessment.

[Faust]

Watched the 1977 Equus.

Goddamn Richard Burton was an amazing actor. It's a pretty tense film and pretty nasty in parts but it's brilliant.

[EK WAFFLR]

Oz: The Great and Powerful.

L. Frank Baum is probably spinning in his grave right now. Still, it's entertaining, at times a tad touching, it looks wonderful, and is a cute little film.

[LMNO]

Saw Django Unchained.   Not quite sure what all the fuss was about.  A fun revenge movie, and naughty little Quentin used a word that was common at the time, but is quite offensive today.  Ok, he used it 110 times, but still.

Although it is interesting that he uses the "historically accurate" argument, when there is SO much wrong historically with the rest of the movie.

[Faust]

I went to see Man of Steel yesterday. I wasn't impressed. It had lots of nice elements (and was infinitely better then Sucker Punch) but overall it's a film that left me feeling cold.

The studio has had huge successes with the Christopher Nolan Batman Films, and it looks like tonally they wanted to keep this consistent. The problem with having a gritty, morose Superman film is you have to compromise the more goofy aspects of superman. What makes him superman is his boundless compassion and kindness.

So instead we get a brooding introspective Clark (before ever taking on the mild mannered reporter persona), more in line with Bruce Wayne, its a fair take on the character and can work well when examining the character closely.

In this case it is used to examine his Identity Crises in terms of his alien heritage versus his Kansas upbringing. Its intriguing, but it is the only way the character is explored in the film.

(spoilers follow)
The parts that I really liked about this concept were how irreconcilable they are. Pa Kent never encourages him to use his power, even suggesting that perhaps he should let people die rather then get found out.

On the other hand we have Jor El, who is actually the more likeable of the two paternal characters, he leaves the choice up to his son and doesn't suggest he should live one way or an other (in fact Jor El's own words on the matter imply the Kryptonians deserved what happened to them), but he offers him the choice of restoring his people (which incidentally would wipe out the human race in a horrible terraforming).

This is about as far as the exploration went, there's a couple of lines on Eugenics during the punching scenes that make the Kyrtonians look like assholes and in the final confrontation Clark makes his decision and kills Zod. This doesn't bother me.

There are a lot of people out there upset at how "Superman Never Kills", which just isn't true, he can kill whenever a writer writes him to kill. It would be completely out of character if this guy was a symbol of hope, which this movies version isn't.

The problem with it is, they throw in some sobbing afterwards and don't deal with the ramifications. It would work really well saw some of the consequences, some kind of insight into how this changes Clark.
If we got a little sense of what is going through Clarks mind. Instead the movie switches over to superman destroying a spy drone in one of the movies only light hearted scenes. Followed up with him going for the introduction to mild mannered reporter Clark Kent.

It felt waay to casual to convince me that he had no other choice. For the Incarnation of Hope Superman this is NEVER possible. Just as the Joker has Killed over 1000 people because Batman wont kill him. There was no real struggle with the decision or aftermath. It is a story without a proper conclusion and a movie without an ending.

Instead of a well thought out tense and semi tragic compromise we get: "I kill. I do what I want don't spy on me. Now I am the mild mannered reporter everyone smile."

I think Donners Script probably HAD that resolution in it which was left out for the tediously overly long fight scenes and September 11th re-enactment (which I feel too cheap an emotional exploitation for this film).

They are going to be making sequels to this, and I like the actors involved I'd just really like to see someone other then Zack Snyder make them, his films are too goddam joyless and sterile.

[Faust]

In fact my problem with this movie it is exactly the same as my problem with the watchmen: Snyder focusses in on  the climax ("I did it 35 minutes ago"), while leaving out the resolution of why that's important ("Nothing Ends, Adrian, Nothing EVER ends").