Films The Official bit-tech Movie Thread - What have you seen lately?

Hmm. I quite like long films. For me, a film should always be at least 2 hours long. Though still appreciate films with shorter running times if they're good.

 

Might I suggest the film Resan (The Journey) - with a run time of a mere 14 and a half hours.

 

They did a Jaws night not so long ago, Jaws screening followed by a night time swim

 

Yeah that sounds about right.

 

Poor Things - A Fantastic Modern Fairy Tale for Adults/10

Content warning up front. This movie has a lot of Emma stone naked and having sex. That's not a criticism or celebration. It just is what's there and I think people should know that before deciding to watch or not.

This movie is incredibly intentional in every word, shot, action, set design, etc. It's not going to be for everyone, but if you can leave a few immediate issues at the door, it's a really great movie. There are a ton of great feminist themes that are explored in an interesting coming-of-age, modern Frankenstein sort of way. There are a ton of little nods to philosophy and developmental milestone markers that Emma Stone's character goes through. I thoroughly enjoyed the film.

 

Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse and Spiderman:No Way Home. Both an absolute riot, right up my street.

 

They are so good. MCU is mostly dead to me now but No Way Home was the exception. Like a lot of people I cried twice while watching it (if you've seen it you already know which 2 scenes.)

Into the Spiderverse was so off the wall and artistically creative, I loved that it was just its own thing. Gave me Big Hero 6 vibes, but with more flair.

No. Not that. Anything but that.

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Seriously though, is it Black Swan sort of vibe? People got very hot under the collar at the prospect of Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman getting it on, but credit to the director, he managed to make it terrifying, disturbing and unsexy. I was impressed by the integrity of the exercise.

The Favourite pulled a similar feat off, managing to make Emma Stone so scary that she ceased to be erotic, even as she was fingerbanging the Queen of England. Well played, movie makers. Tough luck, male audiences.

 

Definitely not Black Swan vibes. It's not horror at all. I'd definitely say fairy tale vibes. Almost more Shape of Water if I had to make a tonal comparison. Also, similar to Shape of Water, the set design and setting are so distinct and interesting in building the world the characters live in.

Also, Emma Stone was a producer of the movie, so while the sex is quite explicit, it's not without purpose and Emma Stone has spoken out in defense of it. This was her choice, not something she was pressured into. I think that's really important given how scummy Hollywood can be.

 

Careful now, you’re starting to sound a bit woke there…

I am being highly sarcastic, because I also think it’s important to do this stuff right. For decades women in acting have been subject to all sorts of pressure and abuse about doing sex scenes or getting their kit off. To say nothing of scumbags like Weinstein, who would have actors basically blacklisted if they said no when he demanded that they have sex with him. And yes, it happened/happens to men as well, it’s not a gender-exclusive issue.

On a related tangent, I was glad to learn that they hired intimacy coordinators when making Baldur’s Gate 3. The voice actors for the origin characters also had to do motion capture - including for the explicit scenes (yes, even the one with the bear!). It might not be their face on film, but they still had to act out the scenes. None of the actors were pressured into doing explicit scenes if they weren’t comfortable with it.

 

Barbie - Goodness Me/10
Watched it with the houseful of opposite chromosomes. It was funnier than I was expecting, to the point where I stayed in the lounge past the end of my lunch. Rather enjoyed it, actually. You're only going to get one single sub-text from this film but it wasn't terrible when viewed with company. It is very pink though, apart from the rollerblades, which nearly burnt my TV screen in.

 

That scene kinda took me out of the film the most, if I'm honest. If there were two people dressed like that rollerskating along Venice Beach then people wouldn't be gawping at them, no one would bat an eyelid! It's Venice Beach in LA, fercryin'outloud

 

Barbie was a curious example of the disconnect between internet culture and all other culture, because everyone I know who's seen it - progressives, social conservatives and anti-woke types alike - just thought it was a pretty good, inoffensive film, as you say ModSquid. Yet every time I watch a clip online there are legions of outraged regressives and progressives alike finding things to be furious at. I can't go on YouTube without the algorithm throwing videos of Ben Shapiro explaining how Barbie signals the downfall of Western civilisation or some ****.

I wonder to myself who these people are, because I've never met one IRL (not since undergrad uni, anyway). Maybe it's just a disinhibiting effect of being online, a kind of roleplay exercise.

Meanwhile I've just added The Witch (2015) to my list because it sounds neat, and then The Lighthouse because it looks completely bonkers. Then a bunch of other films with Robert Pattinson in them because I watched this



and he seems to really have his **** together, going on a sort of Shia LaBeouf arc of churning out great performances to try to bury the early naff stuff he's remembered for.

 

Aliens UHD - ****ing wow

I have seen this film so many times that its one of those ones that I never get bored of, last month it got a UHD release and ho-ly ****, I've yet to watch it on my G3 but I cant get over just how good it looks and sounds, I thought the 4k release I saw last april was good, this; this is ****ing spectacular.

I've a list of films I want to sit through when I finally finish the theatre; this has jumped into the top 3

 

The Mist (2007) 7/10

Another horror that somehow managed to pass me by until now, I was surprised by this one. Aside from being rooted in Stephen King's lore, which obviously sets the narrative on a firm footing, the writing and script are strong and the character development is compelling. Without spoiling anything, I have to say that this film has possibly THE MOST BRUTAL ending I've ever seen, even more so than Oldboy . It left me with my jaw on the floor, and tbh I'm still recovering from it - the epitome of "Did that really just happen?" moments. Some of the CGI effects compositing is not great, but mostly it's very good for its time. The consensus seems to be that the movie is better than the series, so I'm glad I chose the former.

 

Oh yeah the mist is spectacular, King himself said that he'd wished he'd originally wrote that ending in the book.

 

I liked The Mist! Bit gruesome for me, but very King. Most adaptations of his stuff suck, so it was nice to see one pan out.

Most of his stories just don't adapt well, the horror is all psychological and conceptual. Duma Key was a great read but it'd be a naff film I reckon.

 

Yup, one of the greatest twists ever. But I have no desire to ever watch it again...

 

IMO most SK adaptations flop because of woefully poor execution rather than inapt source material, but yes there are definitely some that work better as prose. Some of my favourite movies are adaptations of King's work:

The Shawshank Redemption
Carrie
The Shining
Misery
IT (the newer ones)
The Green Mile
Stand By Me
1408
The Running Man
Cujo

And let's not forget the excellent Storm of the Century, a three-part mini series from 1999.

 

I think I gave it a 4/10, when I saw it, many moons ago. Some of the acting was shockingly bad, as were a lot of the effects - I remember one guy being "gored" by an alien/monster claw, but it looked like someone dragging a rubber dog toy across a wet tissue. Again, if memory serves, there was a scene with a guy still talking despite the fact his entire head had been hollowed out by alien spiders. The whole thing was bad enough that suspension of disbelief just wasn't even on the table.

iirc, the brutal ending (the one thing I did give it some respect for) was immediately followed by a clearing of the mist and an armoured column rolling by, a few scant seconds later; which, I suppose, does kinda amp up the brutality score.

I wouldn't have given it half decent B movie status - it was memorable, but for all the wrong reasons. It was just bad.

 

Used to be a massive SK fan, before he had his accident, for me none of his horror books ever translated well into film but Shawshank, Stand By Me and The Green Mile are all excellent films.

The Stand (original) wasn't a bad TV series either.