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

Spoiler

Yup, the alternate 5 year mission starts alot earlier at the end of the iInto Darkness.

 

Has this now turned into the demote thread?

 

The Great Gatsby 5/10

It's a good storyline and great effects but I've never seen a film where I hate each and every character

 

because we're all bitter *******s.

 

hehe

 

2012

8/10

Brilliant effects, and was thoroughly enjoyable ( I like seeing people die ) up until the last half hour or so when it suddenly went from epic disaster movie to silly sci-fi movie. Also, Dr Phlox

 

Even Owl Eyes?

I am wondering how they portray the characters, because in the book, each one has an ambiguous character: Gatsby's a man in love with a shady past, Nick's the narrator you can't really trust, Jordan is witty but devious, and Daisy's just plain old Daisy.

Although, Owl Eyes is the biz.

 

Fast and the Furious 6 - 8/10

Utterly implausible
Deeply silly
Ridiculous plot
Predictable "twists"

But also

Terriffic fun

Just be aware it'll shave about 5-10 points off your IQ

sidenote: It was unspeakably weird seeing a "Fast and Furious" around areas of London I know well

Star Trek - Into Darkness - NotSure/10
This is a difficult one for me - on the one hand its very flashy and entertaining, and the casting work remains genius, and on the other its too self-referential and predictable.

If you don't think about it its an easy 9, but once you start thinking about the plot and everything else it drops to like a 5.

 

Battleship

7/10

Why does everyone say this is a terrible film? Effects were very good, plot was thin & Liam Neeson was way under used, but ti was a thoroughly enjoyable beer & pizza movie. I think it just suffered mainly from being called 'Battleship'- if they didn't claim it was based on the toy game, then it woudl have done a lot better....

 

I think it's a case of fantastic cast, terrible script. I imagine that crew could make an hour long film about repairing the Enterprise toilet watchable because they work so well (even cpt Squinty), but really the film is deathly dull and predictable.

By contrast.

Iron Man 3 (something)/10

Incredibly silly but quite cool too, easily the most complete of the three Iron Man films and Pepper gets a proper awesome moment of awesomeness to rival anything Stark and Rhody have done. The Mandarin might be the best bad guy in all the Disney Marvel films to date...

 

Hell yes! the world has been whining about him but I thought he was brilliant.

 

If they hadn't tried to shoehorn the whole "playing the Battleship game in real life" scenes into the movie, it would have been a lot better. Just doing that meant they created a lot of plot holes, which in turn irritated a lot of people - hence the saying its a terrible movie.

/2cents

 

Cars 2: **** it/10

Only Pixar movie I've turned off halfway through, utterly soul less and not even Michel Cain can redeem it. avoid.

 

Ocean Waves 7,5/10

There's always something magical about Studio Ghibli films. I can't exactly tell what it is, but there's always this distinct feeling of happiness (with the exception of Grave of the Fireflies of course…). The animation and, as usual, the details in the background are truly exceptional.
The story's very simple - if you read the plot you'd expect it to be pretty boring I think - yet it manages to somehow still captivate and entertain.
Recommended if you have some spare time and just want to see a calm, lighthearted film that makes you feel happy.

 

Agree 100%. They had 3 guided missile destroyers to attack the aliens with, so they try firing their 3" guns instead, then wait until they only have one ship left to start actually firing missiles...

Makes sense.

 

Pirates of the Caribbean: On stranger tides

7/10

Much better than the 3rd one, more straight forward without the extra dozen sub-plots. Maybe a bit too straightforward though with several predictable twists, and no Keira Knightley ( shut up I like her- she got married recently too )- not so keen on Penelope Cruz but she was okay.

 

Bullet to the Head 4/10

As nice as it is to see Stallone back on the silver screen I found this to be flat and rather dull due to the supporting actor being as useless as a condom with a hole in it and a director who lack vision.

 

I'm going to give The Great Gatsby two ratings, the first for general viewers, the second for Gatsby purists, or Gatsbyites.

General Public: 8/10

Gatsby, a name synonymous with decadence, wealth and the American Dream, has returned to the Silver screen.

The story is timeless, and so do not fear for a poor plot. Leo was made for Gatsby: I cannot an envisage a man who plays the eponymous hero in such a way that is so true to the book, yet adds his own elegance.

The effects are dazzling, with 3D being much more that some cheap after effect. The spectroscopic variety of West Egg glitters on the screen.

A small warning: this interpretation is very much a love story.

Gatsbyites: 5/10

Prepare for some pretty big spoilers. This is aimed at those who know the story well, and so some things which seem like minor annoyances may seem overinflated, but I truly believe they detract value from the film.

Spoiler

Okay, first things first, he's demonstrated as a man in a psychiatrist's office. Now, many have whined to the stars about it, but I don't believe it really affects the story.

It's all a tad too obvious. The famous opening lines are cruelly cut short, instead of enabling the viewer to form their own abilities to make judgement as to Nick's narration and whether he really doesn't pass judgement, just tells them "I have a limit."

Next, one of the key parts of the book, it's true beauty comes from the mind of Nick. It's his descriptions of the parties, the romanticism of the love, and the horror of the situation that really vividly forms the film. But I just don't feel these translate it into film. The parties don't evoke wonder, the Valley of the Ashes provokes no sorrow. Despite all this glamour, it just feels hollow.

Some of the characters, I feel, are a bit off, or lacking their ambiguity. Tom is accurate enough, in fairness. Daisy is too one-sided: except, perhaps once at the very end, do we think that Daisy is only interested in money, but instead we see her as a victim, unable to control her path. Nick is too reliable, and too involved. He's supposed to be on the outskirts, he's an outsider. Jordan is cruelly cut to nothing: the romance isn't in this depiction, and her glorious wit and quirks are lost. Frankly, she just seems to be a pretty face. A very pretty face at that. Owl Eyes is no longer that drunken scholar and profit, but a man who straightout says "Gatsby's an illusion." Way to blunten the story. Myrtle is a bit hollow, but there isn't much to be said about her in the book.

As said earlier, Leo steals the show. His depiction of Gatsby is blissful, and he conveys his key aspects: the smile, the charm, the mannerisms. But he's awfully limited by a shoddy cutting down of the plots.

This is solely a love story. That's it. One man's endless rampage to acquire the woman of his dreams. How does he lose her? He becomes violent and attacks Tom. This is almost a crime. Think of how different the story would be if Jesus chose to not face crucifixion, but instead attacked the Roman guards. That's how awful it is. There's no discussion of how money or class separated them, just a hope that Gatsby could turn back time, which, frankly seems like a more likely alternative than getting over the class hurdles in the book.

I don't think class is examined at all. A key part of the book is Gatsby's lack of aristocratic blood, but it doesn't really show in this film. He's put on the same pedestal as the rest of them.

Finally, the end is too rushed. The funeral is practically omitted, as is the fact that Tom believes Gatsby killed Daisy. We never see how only his father and Owl Eyes turn up.

Overall, it just feels, shallow. It has the magic of Gatsby in Leo, but not the magic of Fitzgerald in the film.

 

The Grey

6.5/10

There wasn't really a lot to this film- acting was fine, effects were good, but very predictable in places and just seemed a bit underwhelming compared to many other survival stories ( wolves or otherwise ).

 

Battle: Los Angeles

7/10

A lot of people didn't like this film- not really sure why as I thought it was pretty good. A little lacking in terms of story or plot with some predictable moments, but it was alright really. Not a patch on far more epic invasion films, but still, pretty solid.