RA Movie Thread (Read 5918 times)


SheCan

    Desolation of Smaug (2013) - wow, that's long.  There's tons of filler.  I mean, it's nice, but the wife and I started at 7pm and by 9:30, when the Dragon stuff was going on, we had toothpicks in our eyelids to keep them open.  Odd.  It wasn't boring -- or maybe it was.  If I were to see it again, I'd break it into two after the Barrel Escape. (3/5)

     

    Very pretty, though.

     

    +1  .... This movie would have been much better if it were properly edited with the fluff cut out.  I swear, editing has become a lost art for the cinema.

    Cherie

    "We do not become the people who this world needs simply by turning our backs on anyone we don’t like, trust, or deem healthy enough to be in our presence. "  ---- Shasta Nelson

    RunJasonRun


      Desolation of Smaug (2013) - wow, that's long.  There's tons of filler.  I mean, it's nice, but the wife and I started at 7pm and by 9:30, when the Dragon stuff was going on, we had toothpicks in our eyelids to keep them open.  Odd.  It wasn't boring -- or maybe it was.  If I were to see it again, I'd break it into two after the Barrel Escape. (3/5)

       

      I thought that the scenes that went in-depth about the internal politics of Esgaroth (Lake-town) stopped this movie dead in its tracks.  I thought that the Lake-town sequences would never end.

       

      I probably would have enjoyed The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug better, though, had I not seen it in a high frame rate showing.  With the high frame rate, the movie looked like a daytime soap opera with orcs and dragons.  Every single scene blatantly looked like a sound stage, and it completely took my mind out of the movie.  The 48fps rate made even the outdoor scenes appear as though they were filmed on massive indoor sound stages.

       

      I hope that most movies continue to utilize the 24fps as a standard, because the 48fps high frame rate just does not look like cinema at all.

      Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues.

      stadjak


      Interval Junkie --Nobby

        Knights of Badassdom (2013) -- I don't usually like movies that make fun of some minority feature of culture (specifically, I think the movies of Christopher Guest are mean hearted and unfunny).  But this movie pokes fun at Live Action Roleplaying (LARP) from the inside.  It's really good humored, and silly w/o making the characters seem pitiful.  Even the opening scene is a hoot: a bunch of LARPers getting ambushed by a bunch of adult paintballers.  (3/5) +1 for Summer Glau.

        2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

           I think the movies of Christopher Guest are mean hearted and unfunny

           

          They may be a bit on the mean-hearted side. But I think they can be pretty damn funny.

          Dave

          FSocks


          KillJoyFuckStick

             

            I thought that the scenes that went in-depth about the internal politics of Esgaroth (Lake-town) stopped this movie dead in its tracks.  I thought that the Lake-town sequences would never end.

             

            I probably would have enjoyed The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug better, though, had I not seen it in a high frame rate showing.  With the high frame rate, the movie looked like a daytime soap opera with orcs and dragons.  Every single scene blatantly looked like a sound stage, and it completely took my mind out of the movie.  The 48fps rate made even the outdoor scenes appear as though they were filmed on massive indoor sound stages.

             

            I hope that most movies continue to utilize the 24fps as a standard, because the 48fps high frame rate just does not look like cinema at all.

             

            While I liked DoS I agree about the higher frame rate being a distraction.  Couple that with the ludicrous elf-fighting CGI and it became comical during some scenes.  Though I have to admit Smaug turned out better than I hoped for.  I had envisioned something like Pete's Dragon and I was internally cringing.

            You people have issues 

            BeeRunB


               

              I didn't know that you live in Atlanta.  I live in Smyrna.  I used to work right up the street from Margaret Mitchell's house when I went to Georgia Tech during the early 1990s, and they've restored it even more since then.  There's a Gone with the Wind Museum in Marietta, and, although I've always wanted to go, I have not yet been.

               

              I will, however, be going to see Gone with the Wind on the big screen at Fox Theatre this summer, because it was just announced as a part of their Summer Film Festival.   The movie that I'm most excited about seeing at that festival, though, is Double Indemnity.  I've always wanted to see a classic black-and-white film noir on the big screen.

               

              I live within the Perimeter not far from Dekalb Airport in Chamblee/Doraville area. Thanks for the heads up on GWTW at The Fox. I like to run in Smyrna (bike trail),  Julia and Eric Roberts are from there I do believe.

               

              I didn't know Marietta had a museum. We eat and listen to bluegrass at the Australian Bakery in Marietta. Nice little town.

              bhearn


                No interest in seeing Desecration of the Hobbit, at any frame rate.

                 

                We just watched In Bruges on Netflix the other night. Wow! What a movie. A couple of hit men (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) are ordered to hole up in Bruges, Belgium for a while by their boss (Ralph Fiennes) after a botched job. It's a dark comedy that has some real depth and excellent acting. And an (ultimately) non-gratuitous use of a funny midget.

                stadjak


                Interval Junkie --Nobby

                  We just watched In Bruges on Netflix the other night. Wow! 

                   

                  I didn't really like that movie, but absolutely loved the whole reason the boss gave for sending them to Bruges in the first place.

                   

                  As for high FPS: I feel the same way about B&W digital photography -- lost its soul in pursuit of fidelity.

                  2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

                     

                    We just watched In Bruges on Netflix the other night. Wow! What a movie. A couple of hit men (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) are ordered to hole up in Bruges, Belgium for a while by their boss (Ralph Fiennes) after a botched job. It's a dark comedy that has some real depth and excellent acting. And an (ultimately) non-gratuitous use of a funny midget.

                     

                    Yes. Awesome movie, I agree it has all those things. One of those rare movies which (for me) far exceeded expectations. Whenever it is brought up, I can only think: Splat. (That should be sufficiently meaningful for anyone who saw it, without really being a spoiler.)

                    Dave

                    BeeRunB


                       

                      Yes. Awesome movie, I agree it has all those things. One of those rare movies which (for me) far exceeded expectations. Whenever it is brought up, I can only think: Splat. (That should be sufficiently meaningful for anyone who saw it, without really being a spoiler.)

                       

                      Fine performances, good film. Bruges looks like a nice place to visit.

                         

                        Bruges looks like a nice place to visit.

                         

                        I have, and it definitely is.

                        Dave

                        stadjak


                        Interval Junkie --Nobby

                          Hit and Run (2012) - This is a fun film with a lot of good witty and quirky dialog.   The on screen chemistry of the main actors is a delight.  (4/5)

                          2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

                          RunJasonRun


                            Ace in the Hole (1951)

                             

                            This is one of the most cynical movies ever made, but Billy Wilder's directorial skills keep it fun.  Kirk Douglas is amazing as a cocky, but alcoholic and down-on-his-luck news reporter who goes for his chance at fame by covering a story about a man trapped by a cave-in at a remote abandoned silver mine.  The ensuing media circus is appalling to watch, but it's oddly prophetic in terms of predicting our contemporary "If it bleeds, then it leads." news mentality.  Unethical journalists and the opportunistic public that funds them are both appropriately placed on the chopping block.  Jan Sterling is outstanding as the wife of the trapped man, and I've always liked her brand of trashy allure in these old film noir movies.

                            Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues.

                            RunJasonRun


                               

                              I took advantage of a rainy afternoon to go see Blue Ruin at the Plaza Theatre here in Atlanta earlier today. 

                              Dwight is a bedraggled vagrant who sleeps in his rusty Pontiac Bonneville near a beach resort, scrounges food from garbage dumpsters, and makeshis meager living by picking up abandoned bottles for cash. When he learns that Wade Cleland, the accused murderer of his parents, is about to be released from prison, Dwight jumps into action by returning to his childhood home, stalking Wade, and brutally stabbing him to death. This crude killing results in a chain of riveting events when he realizes that Wade's entire family of ruthless hillbillies is now targeting him, along with his estranged sister. Dwight is no action hero, and his amateur ineptness gives this a tensely feral revenge thriller an immediacy that had me on the edge of my seat. The visceral violence reminded me of the first time that I saw a Quentin Tarantino movie back in the early 1990s, and the story also draws comparisons to the first Coen Brothers film, Blood Simple. The fact that Dwight's hometown friend is played by Devin Ratray, who starred as the bully older brother, Buzz, in Home Alone, and a woman in the Cleland clan is played by Eve Plumb, who starred as the middle sister, Jan, in The Brady Bunch, lends a surreal touch to the proceedings. 

                              Blue Ruin was partly funded by a Kickstarter campaign, but the movie's haunting visuals and fierce momentum belie its low budget, and it was awarded at last year's Cannes Film Festival. Director Jeremy Saulnier and actor Macon Blair are an impressive team, and I look forward to seeing more of their work in the future. 

                              Highly recommended, if you have the stomach for this type of movie.

                              Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues.

                              zoom-zoom


                              rectumdamnnearkilledem

                                As for high FPS: I feel the same way about B&W digital photography -- lost its soul in pursuit of fidelity.

                                 

                                Except even high-end DSLRs generally have less fidelity than even 35mm film, even shooting RAW.

                                 

                                /Photo geek

                                Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                                remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                                     ~ Sarah Kay