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[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

I disagree. You said "twist toward the end", this is not wholly accurate and downplayed Arrival's grestness. Arrival had a logical build up that was cleverly deceptive. The movie played the audience's expectation of chronological order very well with a structure that mirrored its plot and our viewing experience, it had much more than just "so-so" execution.

I agree the chronology twist was nice, but the twist I was referring to was the rather absurd suggestion of what the alien language actually does and the notion humans in general would accept such a relationship to time.

That and the characters were largely flat and the ending with the phone call quite silly.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

I still think the opening number was the best part of La La Land. A bombastic large-scale musical in that regard, elongated, would be glorious. o_o

Speaking of musicals, just did a half-rewatch and Anne's I Dreamed a Dream in Les Miserables gets me everytime...Fantine is such a tragic character. *cries into hanky*

I love Anne's rendition. I thought it was exactly the type of performance that role called for. It's done completely differently in the musical, almost more uplifting or hopeful, whereas Anne sings it with all the raw "holy shit my life went off the rails" emotion it calls for. In my opinion it's the superior version of the song.

Spoiler

My wife disagrees with me.

I thought the concept of the opening number was fine, but I just finished watching the movie a few hours ago and remember "City of Stars" and the one Emma Stone sings in her audition. The music was super duper forgettable, whereas the editing in the finale of the movie is very, very strong.

Opening number, audition and City of Stars. Those are the three I remember from when I saw it back in Feb. I liked the movie quite a bit. I'm usually a sucker for a happy ending but the way they worked how jazz works into the ending really caught the writer in me. It's a good movie, not a great one. Still stunned Emma won an Oscar for this while Amy Adams wasn't even nominated for Arrival.

 

[TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared]

What a boring, useless film. The worst kind of film really, cos there's so little reaction to get from it.

Sleepless is a boring overly told yet under developed police corruption story with Jamie Foxx doing a poor job as our main character Vincent Downes as a Cop who of course is estranged from his family and who we're supposed to believe is a good guy despite having no personality at all. Michelle Monaghan is supposed to be a tough internal affairs Cop (something something Meg Ryan is a helicopter pilot) and there's a whole bunch of other characters who either make no sense or don't get enough development to be interesting or important.

The action scenes are all boring and rubbish, the story is incoherent and makes no sense. There isn't an ounce of nuance in the whole film, or in any characters. It's badly shot, over edited to the point of lunacy, and really was just awful rubbish. Avoid.

 

[TheFlow]

finished Aliens. will post impressions later but

Aliens>alien. Though both are kinda different movies with the same concept.

 

[Icolin]

finished Aliens. will post impressions later but

Aliens>alien. Though both are kinda different movies with the same concept.

My man.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

finished Aliens. will post impressions later but

Aliens>alien. Though both are kinda different movies with the same concept.

My man.

Fight me

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

AVP: Alien vs. Predator: Total schlock but Paul WS Anderson has fun with it and makes sure you do too. It gets increasingly more ridiculous as it goes on, from slow-no filled WWE alien smack downs to a straight up interspecies buddy team-up full of wistful looks. The biggest drawback besides being dumb as all hell is that the editing sucks, it's not shot super well (despite some pretty fun shot transitions), and poor CGI. The practical stuff, of which there is an abundance of, is pretty solid though. I got a big kick out of the Indian Jones moving temple stuff too, and it fit right in with the other fast-paced action adventure none-sense this throws at you.

I also legit lol'd once I realized how close Prometheus is to this movie in a lot of respects. I can just imagine Ridley Scott angrily watching this film with a glass of wine clutched feverishly in his hand, muttering to himself about how much better he could do this premise. I think Anderson got the last laugh.

*tips hats*

 

[TheFlow]

Aliens 1986
★★★★★
Aliens sacrifices some of the horror and mystery to deliver an action fueled joyride. Lot of great scenes, the stacks are upped, and we learn more about the mysterious Xenomorphs. Basically everything I wanted in a sequel. Think T1 to T2 when it comes to sequel improvements.

My Akira Kurosawa ranking is finished. I feel like I learned a lot watching his films, and appreciate good camera use because of it.

https://letterboxd.com/carlislegendary/list/akira-kurosawa-ranked/

 

[MidnightCowboy]

But T1 is better than T2

 

[Count Dookkake]

AVP: Alien vs. Predator: Total schlock but Paul WS Anderson has fun with it and makes sure you do too. It gets increasingly more ridiculous as it goes on, from slow-no filled WWE alien smack downs to a straight up interspecies buddy team-up full of wistful looks. The biggest drawback besides being dumb as all hell is that the editing sucks, it's not shot super well (despite some pretty fun shot transitions), and poor CGI. The practical stuff, of which there is an abundance of, is pretty solid though. I got a big kick out of the Indiana Jones moving temple stuff too, and it fit right in with the other fast-paced action adventure nonsense this throws at you.

I also legit lol'd once I realized how close Prometheus is to this movie in a lot of respects. I can just imagine Ridley Scott angrily watching this film with a glass of wine clutched feverishly in his hand, muttering to himself about how much better he could do this premise. I think Anderson got the last laugh.

Anderson is the contemporary king of schlock.

And fwiw, he's directed fewer bad Alien movies than has Scott.

 

[TheFlow]

But T1 is better than T2

never said T2 was better than T1..

 

[AngmarsKing701]

But T1 is better than T2

Story-wise this is true, but T2 holds up better. Some of the most suspenseful parts of T1 look like ass now.

 

[MidnightCowboy]

never said T2 was better than T1..

I interpreted "Think T1 to T2 when it comes to sequel improvements" wrong.

 

[big ander]

What a boring, useless film. The worst kind of film really, cos there's so little reaction to get from it.

Sleepless is a boring overly told yet under developed police corruption story with Jamie Foxx doing a poor job as our main character Vincent Downes as a Cop who of course is estranged from his family and who we're supposed to believe is a good guy despite having no personality at all. Michelle Monaghan is supposed to be a tough internal affairs Cop (something something Meg Ryan is a helicopter pilot) and there's a whole bunch of other characters who either make no sense or don't get enough development to be interesting or important.

The action scenes are all boring and rubbish, the story is incoherent and makes no sense. There isn't an ounce of nuance in the whole film, or in any characters. It's badly shot, over edited to the point of lunacy, and really was just awful rubbish. Avoid.

The French original is a worthwhile action thriller

 

[TheFlow]

I interpreted "Think T1 to T2 when it comes to sequel improvements" wrong.

All good.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Prometheus is just monumentally frustrating, and for some reason I've seen it 3 times now, in search of answers. No, not answers to the plot, but answers as to who in their right mind makes a script about the origins of the Xenomorph and that weird Giger sculpture thing from Alien 1, and comes up with this? How? HOW, FAM? EXPLAIN TO ME! The whole thing is just an incongruous mix of conflicting motives and tones, never settling into one groove and allowing it to play out. One minute it's a space adventure movie, one minute it's a zombie movie, one minute it's a slasher flick, one minute it's ASKIN DA BIG KWESTIONS. Just wat. To top it all off, these characters are so unbelievably dumb. Like "Please kill all these stupid teens, Jason" dumb. How did any of them get clearance to be aboard the ship, much less have the audacity to call themselves scientists? And I know I'm preaching to the choir, and I've made this exact post in one of these threads before but...

Le sigh

This movie doesn't deserve the C-section scene. That's honestly one of Ridley's best visceral sequences, and it sticks out like a beautiful sore thumb.

There's no way Alien: Covenant is worse than this, right? Right?

 

[TheFlow]

Don’t Think Twice 2016
★★★★
This movie went under the radar in 2016, which sucks because it is a solid film. Improv is one of my favorite things, and to see one of my favorite comedians (Mike Birbiglia) make this movie is awesome. The drama is real, and actually caught me off guard towards the end. Don't overlook this gems, it is worth the admission.

 

[Icolin]

Prometheus is just monumentally frustrating, and for some reason I've seen it 3 times now, in search of answers. No, not answers to the plot, but answers as to who in their right mind makes a script about the origins of the Xenomorph and that weird Giger sculpture thing from Alien 1, and comes up with this? How? HOW, FAM? EXPLAIN TO ME! The whole thing is just an incongruous mix of conflicting motives and tones, never settling into one groove and allowing it to play out. One minute it's a space adventure movie, one minute it's a zombie movie, one minute it's a slasher flick, one minute it's ASKIN DA BIG KWESTIONS. Just wat. To top it all off, these characters are so unbelievably dumb. Like "Please kill all these stupid teens, Jason" dumb. How did any of them get clearance to be aboard the ship, much less have the audacity to call themselves scientists? And I know I'm preaching to the choir, and I've made this exact post in one of these threads before but...

Le sigh

This movie doesn't deserve the C-section scene. That's honestly one of Ridley's best visceral sequences, and it sticks out like a beautiful sore thumb.

There's no way Alien: Covenant is worse than this, right? Right?

Never doubt Ridley.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

The C-section scene is terrible, I have never seen so anatomically and physiologically clueless a scene in a supposedly serious movie. She is running within minutes!

 

[Cripplegate]

I like Aliens, but learning more about the xenomorphs has been a huge problem for this franchise. The deeper down that rabbit hole we go, the worse this stuff gets. Prometheus actually made me long for the days of "they're just bugs."

The more I think about it, the more I think the Alien franchise is actually kinda the worse thing out there. The Terminator franchise gives it a run for its money, though. Their universes are just an absolute, incoherent mess, and they've seen more bad movies than good.

And fwiw, he's directed fewer bad Alien movies than has Scott.

Oh my god it's true.

 

[MidnightCowboy]

Isn't Covenant supposed to be decent?

 

[Fancy Clown]

The C-section scene is terrible, I have never seen so anatomically and physiologically clueless a scene in a supposedly serious movie. She is running within minutes!

Eh she gets fucking jammed full of sci-if future painkillers and is lasered and stapled shut so I can honestly overlook that. Everything from Michael Fass telling her "you're pregnant...it's not exactly a traditional fetus" to her getting sutured up is hot fire. Certainly one of his best scenes. It's just sandwiched into a gigantic (aesthetically pleasing) turd of a movie.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

The C-section scene is terrible, I have never seen so anatomically and physiologically clueless a scene in a supposedly serious movie. She is running within minutes!

I'm talking about the pure intensity of the scene. The post-cesarean running is idiotic, of course, but the visceral energy of what the scene tries to do works 100%, with the Evil Dead fluids, and the thing pulled out, and the claustrophobic confines. As a little intense set piece, it works.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

I recall the scene being about as dumb, just in a different, schlockier way, as the rest of the movie. Maybe I'm wrong, but finding that out would require rewatching Prometheus again, which, lol.

 

[Fancy Clown]

It's definitely schlocky and kinda dumb, but it still had me pretty tense even on my 3rd (wtf and i doing with my life) watch as well. It knows it's being perverse and gross and tabloid magazine "woman gives birth to SQUID BABY", and it mostly works. The amniotic sack bursting as it wriggles to life, Shaw having to yank the umbilical cord out of herself, and then scoot past her lovcraftian horror baby and inch away from her nose...it's pretty visceral.

 

[overcast]

About to watch Lost City of Z.

Never said this before but Hunnam better come through.

 

[Atraveller]

I agree the chronology twist was nice, but the twist I was referring to was the rather absurd suggestion of what the alien language actually does and the notion humans in general would accept such a relationship to time.

That and the characters were largely flat and the ending with the phone call quite silly.

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was brought up in the middle of the movie, with ominous imagery suggesting something is aloof. Again, it's really not an out-of-left-field twist. As for the premise being an extreme interpretation of said hypothesis, it's no more absurd than, say, a drug that enables users to share dreams without neural connections in Inception, fully sentient, unchecked AIs as commerical services in Her, somehow clones are more cost efficient than automated machines in Moon, and global infertility in Children of Men.

Louis being melancholic and muted was part of the ruse, it woudlnt work if she was a vibrant character.

 

[Borgnine]

Something Wild: 6/10. Really weird. Not all that funny and then takes this weird third act turn which was the best part of the movie. Melanie Griffith was a little before my time but damn she was BANGIN. It felt like Demme was getting too much attention after he died, I liked his stuff all right I guess but he's not one of the greats. Lambs is a stone cold classic but I don't know about the rest. I've got Rachael Getting Married in the queue. We'll see.
Inherent Vice rewatch: 8/10. Still great. Fucking hilarious. I don't really know how else to say this but I need to put a baby in Katherine Waterson. Her nipples alone should have received top billing. I was hoping #panakaku would enter the popular lexicon but I guess it's not going to happen. Should I read Gravity's Rainbow?
Wanda: 6/10. Meanders way too much for my taste but still interesting. Someone threw it up on youtube if you want to check it out.
Get Out: 7/10. White person here. It's true. All of it. Seems like I should have more of an opinion on this since it exploded for some reason. It's solid filmaking, funny, entertaining, not sure what else to say. Definitely some horror elements, mostly because they cast the scariest looking white girl in the world. Has she ever looked in to some sort of jaw shaving operation? When did Lemon Lyman get so old?
I Am Your Negro: 8/10. Best thing I've seen in a while. Highly effecting, near tears. It's all still here just below the surface, but we knew that didn't we. I only watch movies with posters that have close ups of black people's eyes.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

mostly because they cast the scariest looking white girl in the world. Has she ever looked in to some sort of jaw shaving operation?

smh this is why everyone on Da Gram looks like a lost Kardashian. Borgnines of the world out here advocating for more pointless fixes.

HHH_scust.gif

 

[MidnightCowboy]

What's wrong with a little extra chin

 

[Borgnine]

No no its not chin it's on the sides. Like someone jammed a slider too far to the right in Oblivion. Ah fuck nevermind.

 

[Messofanego]

Get Out: 7/10. White person here. It's true. All of it. Seems like I should have more of an opinion on this since it exploded for some reason. It's solid filmaking, funny, entertaining, not sure what else to say. Definitely some horror elements, mostly because they cast the scariest looking white girl in the world. Has she ever looked in to some sort of jaw shaving operation? When did Lemon Lyman get so old?
I Am Your Negro: 8/10. Best thing I've seen in a while. Highly effecting, near tears. It's all still here just below the surface, but we knew that didn't we. I only watch movies with posters that have close ups of black people's eyes.

Borgnine on the path to getting woke.

I Am Not Your Negro is awesome.

 

[Icolin]

Ex Machina

God, where to even begin? This movie is one of the most detailed, thought provoking, and tightly paced films of recent memory; the moment to moment tension is
by far the most palpable in any movie of the past 5 years or so. The lead performances are great, the music is KILLER, and the visuals are stunning. And the ending is fantastic.

I went in expecting a pretty good movie but this is one of the best movies I've seen in a long ass time. This movie and Her are the gold standard for what modern sci-fi movies should strive to be. Definitely going to be seeking out the Blu-ray for this, and I am now eagerly anticipating Alex Garland's next film Annihilation.

Been watching a lot of great movies recently, so now seems like the perfect opportunity to watch a shit film like Prometheus in preparation for a movie that is either shit or completely mediocre and forgettable!

 

[karasu]

The Witch- basically, I'm never going into the woods again. It's impossible for me to feel much for the family though. I mean, they owned a plantation.

 

[Atraveller]

Ex Machina

God, where to even begin? This movie is one of the most detailed, thought provoking, and tightly paced films of recent memory; the moment to moment tension is
by far the most palpable in any movie of the past 5 years or so. The lead performances are great, the music is KILLER, and the visuals are stunning. And the ending is fantastic.

I went in expecting a pretty good movie but this is one of the best movies I've seen in a long ass time. This movie and Her are the gold standard for what modern sci-fi movies should strive to be. Definitely going to be seeking out the Blu-ray for this, and I am now eagerly anticipating Alex Garland's next film Annihilation.

Been watching a lot of great movies recently, so now seems like the perfect opportunity to watch a shit film like Prometheus in preparation for a movie that is either shit or completely mediocre and forgettable!

There's a 4K Blu-ray release coming in June, I'm eager to read it's Blu-ray review. I hope it'll be a good master.

 

[lordxar]

No no its not chin it's on the sides. Like someone jammed a slider too far to the right in Oblivion. Ah fuck nevermind.

Was she in ME Andromeda by chance?

 

[Count Dookkake]

Alien: Covenant, despite giving us more dumb scientists and not having aesthetics quite as sharp as its predecessor, is a much better film than Prometheus. It's a trashy, flashy b-movie that builds to a delightfully malicious conclusion.

Spoiler

WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE FETUSES!!!

. Scott deserves kudos for being as nutty and as brave as Lucas by avoiding the obvious fanboy route with his prequels.

My main complaint is with nomenclature. Both films, or neither, should have the Alien prefix. Also, given the

Spoiler

mad scientist/Frankenstein

angle, perhaps this one should have been called Prometheus.

EDIT: It also has a great, but perhaps unintentional, reference to one of the more bizarre scenes in Airplane!

 

[UrbanRats]

Ex Machina

God, where to even begin? This movie is one of the most detailed, thought provoking, and tightly paced films of recent memory; the moment to moment tension is
by far the most palpable in any movie of the past 5 years or so. The lead performances are great, the music is KILLER, and the visuals are stunning. And the ending is fantastic.

I still don't get what is so "thought provoking" about this movie, tbh.
It's an entertaining and well polished sci fi, tho.

 

[brianjones]

I still don't get what is so "thought provoking" about this movie, tbh.
It's an entertaining and well polished sci fi, tho.

I feel u.. its not exactly tarkovsky

 

[overcast]

Lost City of Z was pretty great even with some flaws. Could have been longer, don't find myself saying that often.

Think I'll be watching FWWM for the first time before Twin Peaks season 3. As a huge fan of Twin Peaks and Lynch this one has just escaped me for years. How do you guys like it?

 

[WiseguyMVP]

Anybody else think movies seem too long lately? Maybe I'm getting old and have a shorter attention span? I know when a movie is good you may not want it to end but some of these movies are 2+ hours and I can't figure out why. They need some editing IMO.

When I watch at home I've been fast forwarding through some movies because of it. My time is valuable...lol

 

[JoduanER2]

Anybody else think movies seem too long lately? Maybe I'm getting old and have a shorter attention span? I know when a movie is good you may not want it to end but some of these movies are 2+ hours and I can't figure out why. They need some editing IMO.

When I watch at home I've been fast forwarding through some movies because of it. My time is valuable...lol

I think u are just really impatient.

 

[Pachimari]

I rewatched The Avengers and spent the 3-4 hours with it yesterday analyzing it. And I remember the first time watching it coming out of the cinema not impressed, and almost disliking it but now on every rewatch it has grown on me again and again and I quite like it now. I appreciate the small details but can also see it halts in the second act and the pacing can be off at times.

 

[Discotheque]

Lost City of Z was pretty great even with some flaws. Could have been longer, don't find myself saying that often.

Think I'll be watching FWWM for the first time before Twin Peaks season 3. As a huge fan of Twin Peaks and Lynch this one has just escaped me for years. How do you guys like it?

I just saw it in theaters today. Which was a dope experience.

You'll get divisive opinions but personally I think it was a pretty good glimpse into the horrors that Laura endured. Makes a lot of sense of that super sketchy back story she has in the show where you constantly find out the shady shit she was involved in

The tale of sexual and

Spoiler

domestic abuse

filtered through lynchian horror worked really well.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

No no its not chin it's on the sides. Like someone jammed a slider too far to the right in Oblivion. Ah fuck nevermind.

:jnc

 

[Fancy Clown]

Alien: Covenant, despite giving us more dumb scientists and not having aesthetics quite as sharp as its predecessor, is a much better film than Prometheus. It's a trashy, flashy b-movie that builds to a delightfully malicious conclusion.

Spoiler

WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE FETUSES!!!

. Scott deserves kudos for being as nutty and as brave as Lucas by avoiding the obvious fanboy route with his prequels.

My main complaint is with nomenclature. Both films, or neither, should have the Alien prefix. Also, given the

Spoiler

mad scientist/Frankenstein

angle, perhaps this one should have been called Prometheus.

EDIT: It also has a great, but perhaps unintentional, reference to one of the more bizarre scenes in Airplane!

word

 

[TheFlow]

Hmm I got 28 more Ozu films to go

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Lost City of Z was pretty great even with some flaws. Could have been longer, don't find myself saying that often.

But did Hunnam come through?

 

[Borgnine]

I still don't get what is so "thought provoking" about this movie, tbh.
It's an entertaining and well polished sci fi, tho.

Totally agree. Rewatched a couple months ago and I was like yeah cool but not really mind blowing. Only thing it provoked was the urge to hit the dance floor.

 

[Cripplegate]

Think I'll be watching FWWM for the first time before Twin Peaks season 3. As a huge fan of Twin Peaks and Lynch this one has just escaped me for years. How do you guys like it?

I say this every time, but it's the best film ever made on the topic of abuse. It's top tier Lynch for me.

I'd like to rewatch Twin Peaks before S3 hits but I don't think I'll have time. I might just skim a few of the important episodes as a refresher.