The Movie Thread

[ashmie]

After gaming the living hell out of Ghost Recon Wildlands I decided to have a run of military movie watching. I recently revisited Predator, Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter.
Also watched a more recent war movie that dealt brilliantly with modern warfare and PTSD. American Sniper. Thoroughly recommended for a film that makes you think about our current situation in the world.

[Konrad]

does your missus write Trump's tweets for him, by any chance

Nope, but it is a fairly accurate summation of the plot for Logan.

Yeah, I just went and saw it. Bleak, grim, tires you out. The end comes as more of a relief than a climax. If you are a fan, you probably need to see it. But nothing there that warrants springing for the theater. If you want to see the real "superhero makes last stand" movie check out the animated "Dark Knight Returns". Just as good as the comic. They did not screw it up.

Have never seen "The Deerhunter". Should give all those a (another) look though.

[me_in_japan]

The end comes as more of a relief than a climax.

Yup, this.

That said, I did think the acting was very good. Patrick Stewart is (obviously) a very good actor, but particularly so in this movie. Also, props to the wee lassie playing chibi Wolverine - she pulls off an essentially wordless role (for the first two thirds, anyway) and manages to be both vulnerable and menacing as appropriate. If they were to make a new movie in this style with the kiddos as leads, I'd likely go watch it. (heh, that'd be interesting. They could have kid-friendly superhero movies starring adults, and totally non kid-friendly superhero movies starring kids )

re. war movies - Predator is and always will be awesome. Smeeeeellll the maaaachoooooooo. Apoc Now is...tiring. Good, but I always feel like a bit of a lie-down after seeing it. Never seen the Deer Hunter. I'm aware that I should rectify this, and will probably do so about teh same time that I watch The Godfather for the first time...

[ashmie]

I really enjoyed Logan which was surprising because superhero movies usually make me feel like I'm babysitting the producers. If you found Logan hard going stay well away from The Deer Hunter. That said it's probably one of the best war movies ever. The first hour is a wedding reception, the second is Nam and the third is them coming home changed from war both physically and spiritually. Well good film.

For a lighter option of 70s filmmaking Godfather is a must on a lazy evening with a few beers. Have fun.

Predator just gets better each time. Finally got to watch Terminator Genesis which was ace as well.
'Nice night for a walk, right.'

[me_in_japan]

Watched a couple of movies today (I wouldn't usually watch two films in a day, but I've been cleaning up a resin blood bowl team, and a bit of background entertainment helps the time go by...)

Anyway, the first was Rec. (the original, Spanish one). Meh - it was ok. Not a bad idea, and reasonably well executed. The main reporter lady was a bit annoying (perhaps intentionally) but overall it was a nice study in how to produce a tense film on a shoestring budget. Worth a watch, especially as it's only an hour and a quarter long.

(Brief synopsis: Shot entirely as a faux TV report, complete with direct talking to the camera, it tells the story of a reporter and her cameraman who do a ride-along with a fire crew called to a building due to a disturbance, only to find themselves locked in and that the disturbance is.... Well, t'aint natural, lemme tell ya...)

The second film I watched was John Wick. Actually, this was better than I expected. Good cast (including John Leguizamo, Willem Dafoe, Ian McShane*, and the lass who played Bobbi in Agents of Shield). Nice and tense, and...kind of refreshing in its straightforwardness. It felt a lot like Daredevil in its choreography and the way that characters actually looked proper knackered/beat up when they were fighting. Defo worth a watch, if you're in the mood for a nice, simple shooter.

(brief synopsis: John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is having a pretty crappy time in his life. Spoiled, twatty son-of-a-gangster (Alfie Allen i.e Theon from GoT*) fancies Keanu's car, so he breaks into his house, beats him up, kills his dog, and steals his car. Turns out this was a Massive Mistake. Keanu spends rest of movie shooting/punching/kicking his way across town to get his sweet revenge.That's pretty much it.)

*A Lovejoy AND a Greyjoy

[Konrad]

kills his dog, and steals his car. Turns out this was a Massive Mistake. Keanu spends rest of movie shooting/punching/kicking his way across town to get his sweet revenge.That's pretty much it.)

Kills his DOG! Man, I wouldn't do that to my worst enemy, or Keanu Reeves even.

[me_in_japan]

yup. Makes it easy to root for John as he murderates his way across the city.

also, Oi! I rather like Keanu these days. Haven't seen a bad Keanu film in ages, actually, now I think on it.

[Konrad]

yup. Makes it easy to root for John as he murderates his way across the city.

also, Oi! I rather like Keanu these days. Haven't seen a bad Keanu film in ages, actually, now I think on it.

He somehow ends up in really good movies, by what virtue I can not say. But if you took him out of most any of those roles and replaced him with say, a cocker spaniel, they would still be pretty good movies. Though that would have made this John Wick movie pretty short. Is he popular because he's bland enough that it's easy for the viewer to project themselves into the action maybe? That being said, he was perfect in "The River's Edge", and "A Scanner Darkly". Both roles where the character was emotionally, emotively, and empathetically stunted. Fit right in his typical range. I am one of the few guys on the planet of a certain age who has never seen "Bill and Ted's..". Would seeing that change my opinion?

[Primarch]

I am one of the few guys on the planet of a certain age who has never seen "Bill and Ted's..". Would seeing that change my opinion?

Probably not.
He does well with the choreography in his movies, but Keanu's characters come across as fairly flat. The Bill & Ted movie was ok and Speed was good, but it was really the Matrix series that made a big impact on his career IMHO. The thing is though, Matrix 1 was quite low budget and they chose Keanu because he would work for peanuts while having a vaguely recognizable name. It worked for him because of the fight sequences and action. In terms of acting, Hugo Weaving was the star.

[me_in_japan]

I really like Bill and Ted. Sure, they're dumb movies, but in a kinda clever way. You should probably watch them, but have a beer while you do. Certainly an interesting concept for a movie, no doubt. (what the hell happened to movies with interesting premises, anyway? Everything these days is either a sequel, a reboot, a superhero movie, or some combination of the above. Where are the Bill and Teds of this era, hmmn?)

Re. Keanu - I'm aware that folks generally find him flat*, but tbh I think that's sometimes an important part of the characters he plays. I think a lot of it comes down to his toooooootallllly chiiiiiiill way of speaking. Granted a great actor would modify that, but meh, I just cant help but like the guy.


*fwiw, he's not flat in B&T at all. It's all big smiley surf-bum rock dude. Over emoting all over the place.