The Movie Thread

[me_in_japan]

Haven't seen Dunkirk, and truth be told don't really feel inclined to do so. I'm sure it's very well done, and all, but I dunno. Just not that keen *shrug* to each their own, ne. I quite fancy seeing Alien:Covenant, mind you, which nobody else seems to want to go near.

Anyway, recently I watched Moana with the wife and kids. As with all things Disney, it's as slick as the interior of a very shiny sea shell. Very pretty visuals, peppy songs and amusing one-liners. I particularly liked the Mad Max: Fury Road homage bit, which is honestly not something I thought I'd ever write about a Disney flick. But it's there, nonetheless, and completely appropriate to the movie, too. Worth a watch, if you don't mind getting The Rock singing "you're welcome" stuck in your head for ever 'n ever 'n ever.

[Primarch]

@All - Please disregard this pedantry.

Pilots flying in the tropics often flew with canopies open too.

Having crossed the channel (on a ferry) in mid-summer, I can confirm that it is not tropical. It's fairly warm, but not tropical.

A couple of my own nit-picks.
The RAF used three letter ID codes on the sides of their planes, the planes in Dunkirk only have two characters on their flanks.
The yellow nosecones on Messerschmitts were only used from the Battle of Britain onwards I think. (Prior to that German planes had yellow tags on their tails).
Hardy's plane had no engine. At the end of the movie you can clearly see the propeller attached to a long wooden rod, with an empty space where the engine block should be.

Also I think (but I'm not 100% on this as the film didn't focus on them clearly) that some of the trucks seen behind the beaches are the more common, later models. This is perhaps due to the fact that most of the original, earlier models were... left on the beaches at Dunkirk.



It is a good movie, probably better if you aren't a rivet counter like Pikey or myself.

I quite fancy seeing Alien:Covenant, mind you, which nobody else seems to want to go near.

The franchise really peaked at the first film. Not to say that Aliens wasn't a good sequel, but the whole acid-drooling chest-poppery hasn't really been done any better despite (does a quick count) er... 7 additions to the story?
The review I heard from some friends who had seen it was roughly 'Random nobodies arrive on a planet, face-hugging happens, everybody dies. If that is your thing, you'll enjoy the movie.'
I think it is hard for the studios to do anything with the series beyond repeating roughly the same formula without alienating (see what I did there?) the fans.
Personally, I find Giger's creations quite disturbing and therefore have never really enjoyed the movies that much, certainly not enough to pay to watch them in a cinema. But as you say, to each their own. I hope that you enjoy it if you get to see it.

[YellowStreak]

I saw Alien Covenant on a plane, I guess I'd sum it up as 'better than prometheus'. IMHO nothing that Alien or Aliens did better...

I liked Dunkirk, not being a 'rivet counter', things like the yellow noses on Messerschmitts wasn't a problem for me . The gliding 'kill' at the end seemed a little daft, and i do agree that it certainly didn't feel like more than a few thousand men on the beaches, but given the aforementioned practicalities I could overlook it.

I'm glad I saw it in IMAX with the chest-reverberating sound, as I think it really added to the film (the scream of the dive bombers is still ringing in my ears!) and I think it would have lost something watching it at home on tele - kind of like watching Saving Private Ryan at the cinema.

[AndrewGPaul]

I saw Blade Runner 2049 in IMAX 3D last Saturday. I'm not sure if it's better than Blade Runner or not, but there's certainly some interesting themes (and different to Blade Runner, not just a retread or an expansion). Visually and sound-wise, it's stunning. Even more than the first film, you get a real feel of what a hellhole Earth has become - like in Elysium, but with more rain.

[Konrad]

I saw Blade Runner 2049 in IMAX 3D last Saturday. I'm not sure if it's better than Blade Runner or not, but there's certainly some interesting themes (and different to Blade Runner, not just a retread or an expansion). Visually and sound-wise, it's stunning. Even more than the first film, you get a real feel of what a hellhole Earth has become - like in Elysium, but with more rain.

I am looking forward to that. I just watched Blade Runner the other day, first time in 20 years or so. Lovely bit of noir.
I've been catching up on horror films recently. Watched "Friday the 13th". No really. It was actually Friday 13th and I thought I'd start with a bad one to set a base to work from, so to speak. Finally got around to "The Blair Witch Project". Oh man. Never seen anything like that. If ever you need proof that "less is more" you have it there. Also watched "It Follows" and "Don't Breathe". "It Follows" should be typical teen-exploitation, slasher fare, but is several levels smarter than that. Has real actors too. Doesn't hurt that. "Don't Breathe" is half heist/crime, half horror/suspense and manages to keep you excited/horrified at the same time.

[me_in_japan]

Yon Blade Runner isn’t showing at the cinema in Tsu, which means I need to drive to the next town over to see it. Razzin Frazzin Aeon Cinemas

[YellowStreak]

Looking forward to Blade Runner. The original is one of my favourites.
I saw Wonder Woman and the new Spiderman back-to-back on the plane. While both were entertaining and pretty good, watching them together really highlighted a stark difference between Marvel and DC films. While Wonder Woman was somewhat hamstrung by having to spend screen time on introducing the character, while visually very nice and well acted the story was kind of flat and the villain generic -- "He's evil because he's an evil god" -- and the final fight was a blur of CGI.
Spidey Homecoming was much better than I'd expected. Well acted, glossed over most of the origin story and got into the adventure. The villain was probably Marvel's best yet in terms of character development and motivation. Right amount of comedy and drama - all the things that have made the better Marvel films really good. Possibly the best Spiderman film to date...and there's been a few!

[Konrad]

Looking forward to Blade Runner. The original is one of my favourites.
I saw Wonder Woman and the new Spiderman back-to-back on the plane. While both were entertaining and pretty good, watching them together really highlighted a stark difference between Marvel and DC films. While Wonder Woman was somewhat hamstrung by having to spend screen time on introducing the character, while visually very nice and well acted the story was kind of flat and the villain generic -- "He's evil because he's an evil god" -- and the final fight was a blur of CGI.
Spidey Homecoming was much better than I'd expected. Well acted, glossed over most of the origin story and got into the adventure. The villain was probably Marvel's best yet in terms of character development and motivation. Right amount of comedy and drama - all the things that have made the better Marvel films really good. Possibly the best Spiderman film to date...and there's been a few!

Anyone besides me ever read "Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep"? It's the Phillip K. Dick book the original "Blade Runner" is based on. Absolutely not even a little bit like the movie and a total find-muck. Hollywood seems to love PKD, but the movies are never anything like the books. Notable exception, "A Scanner Darkly" which is such an absolutely a perfectly cast and crafted version of the original that I think Philip K. Dick somehow projected Kenau Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harelson, and Winona Rider from his imagination across space and time to manifest in our continuum for the sole purpose to illustrate his vision in film.

I have not seen "Homecoming" yet, but do want to. Maybe once I come out of my downward spiral of horror movies. Spider man was always one of my favorite heroes as a kid. I caught Wonder Woman in the theater actually. I was surprised it was a good as it was. The back story and villain was a bit of a convoluted "huh?", but I did like how well they captured Diana's initial hero's innocence ("I'll just go and stab the bad guy and save everyone.") and her coming of age on the battlefield. Good actors, well directed, and that Gal Godot is a dish.

[Primarch]

I watched Dracula Untold the other day (Dracula Zero here in Japan), a movie about how Ol' Vlad was a decent chap who decided to become a vampire to save his family and his kingdom from an invading army of Turks. The movie is about 85 minutes long and ok I guess. It's more of a fantasy action flick than any kind of horror movie. For reasons I can't figure, the Turks always seemed to attack at night, so most of the action happens in pitch black environments and is therefore almost impossible to see.

[YellowStreak]

Anyone besides me ever read "Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep"? It's the Phillip K. Dick book the original "Blade Runner" is based on. Absolutely not even a little bit like the movie and a total find-muck.

Certainly have! There are some of the basic elements there, and reading the book helps explain some of the details lost (or only implied) in the film - like the lack of real animals. But yeah, otherwise it's nothing like the book!
An equally interesting story is how the name 'Blade Runner' came from another book or script treatment (don't recall exactly) about some kind of underground doctors is a dystopian future - hence the 'blade' being the doctor's scalpels.

I haven't seen "A Scanner Darkly" in ages - need to rewatch that one! On the PKD train - did you watch the 'man in the high castle' TV show? Not a like-for-like adaption, but still worth watching I think.