Recently watched movies!

[jellydonut25]

I preferred the second one to the first.

[jellydonut25]

[klen7]

[The Shadow]

[canofhumdingers]

Colossal. What a colossal waste of an interesting idea. Of course, like many here probably, I was drawn to this because of the giant monster aspect. But I knew going in that it was a character driven film about relationships (romantic or otherwise) and that the Kaiju bits were not the main focus. And I was just fine with all that.

But when you make a character driven film, you really need to have good characters to actually drive it. I mean there's what, 4, maybe 5 main characters. And every single one of them is an absolutely awful human being. I didn't feel for or relate to any one of them. In fact, I'd say I was flat out repulsed by most of them. These are the kind of people who, in real life, I absolutely can't stand to be around.

I'll admit that they probably got the character of Oscar (Jason Sudekis) right. But he was the villain. He's supposed to make you hate him. But everyone else utterly sucked as a person too!

Blah. I was disappointed I didn't get to see this in the theater. Now I'm glad I didn't waste the money.

[Dr Kain]

The Fog - 9/10.

[jellydonut25]

[canofhumdingers]

See, I didn't find Gloria likeable because she was a selfish bum (In fact, all the main characters could have "selfish" listed as one of their primary features and the driving motivation for most of their actions and choices). I mean, she put on the pretense of trying to get her life back together. But if we're honest, she wasn't really trying very hard for most of the film. She continued to indulge her own selfish vices and interests at the expense of her own well being as well (to a lesser extent, I guess) as those around her.

If I felt anything toward her character (other than mild disgust) it was pity at how pathetic she was most of the time. But that pity was tempered by the knowledge that her patheticness was self inflicted. I get that addiction is horrible and really hard to beat once you go down that rabbit hole, but that doesn't excuse the actions or choices of the addict.

[Dr Kain]

Yeah, Colossal was a colossal disappointment. Poorly advertised and the sudden jump to abuse drama was jarring.

[lhb412]

[lhb412]

Saw Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind at the theater thanks to Fathom and GKids's Ghibli Fest.

I hope they do this again next year, and maybe branch out to include not just Miyazaki's movies.

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

[lhb412]

[eabaker]

The other night, Jenn and I finally watched both Alien: Covenant and La La Land. Thoughts on both below...


Alien: Covenant
Basically, they seem to have just recycled some philosophical stuff that had already been dealt with in Prometheus, and then intermingled it with some half-hearted attempt to, I dunno, rehash Alien but turned up to 11. The result is hollow mess. I've noticed that some people seem to really like the first half, but hate the second half; others really hate the first half, but love the second half; I'm in the camp that didn't find anything very memorable or impactful throughout. As best I can tell, this movie mostly serves to clarify the direct connections between Prometheus and Alien, for anyone who simply wasn't paying enough attention previously.


La La Land
Well, it looked gorgeous. But... Look, I'm someone who goes into a story more for the emotional/character threads than for the mechanics of plot, but that doesn't mean plot is irrelevant; without an effective plot, those character beats have no organic root. That is very much the case with La La Land; the relationship arc between the characters seems to happen not because of any natural causes, but because those are the beats that the filmmakers assigned. The result is every bit as superficial as if there was a big, convoluted plot but no emotional through-lines to track. And the songs just had no impact on us at all.

Musicals are one of those genres that I really love when they're done right, but that makes me especially rough on them when I don't think they work. I feel like La La Land really exemplifies everything that people who hate musicals accuse the genre of being. It's all sentiment with no substance.


Last night, to cleanse our pallets, we watched Alien. It's one of the movies we've watched together most often, but Jenn had never seen the 2003 cut, so we opted to watch that version instead of the theatrical.

Look, either way, Alien is a great movie, and I really like a lot of the material that Scott added back in for this cut. I mean, Alien could run three hours, and I'd be into it the whole time. The most talked-about added bit, of course, is the cocoon scene near the end, which I do enjoy, but I also find a bit jarring with the rest of the movie's tone; it's all the smaller character and logistical bits added back in that I really like. However, I don't really care for the tightening up of a lot of the more tense scenes; it is still very much a slow burn of a movie, but its almost hypnotic quality is slightly reduced by becoming a little bit choppier.

Whatever. It's Alien, and in either version it's about as near to perfection as any movie has ever gotten.

[canofhumdingers]

I agree with your assessment of LaLa Land. I thought the chemistry between the leads was really good, but that's about where my praise ends. The dance numbers were mediocre and failed to live up to the films they were homages to. And the ending, while a pretty neat montage, is such a massive downer. I don't mind downer endings if they're well done. But this one was not. They had already been through so many ups and downs in their relationship, and then they have a major melancholy moment where they go their separate ways. Then they see each other from afar, imagine what could have been but wasn't (all while remind you of all the negative things they went through) only to remain apart because she's married with kids (which is the right choice by her, but still). I dunno, it just left a really bad taste in my mouth the way it was handled. It was like the whole movie's message was, "life sucks and you'll never get what you really want from it. Oh, and don't chase your dreams because even if you achieve them, you'll still be miserable and miss out on true love."

[jellydonut25]

I loved La La Land. It was one of my favorites of the year. Gorgeous cinematography, wonderful direction, catchy songs, good chemistry between the leads, I laughed, I felt things, and I interpreted the message TOTALLY different from canofhumdingers. I think its message was that sometimes, a person is just who you need them to be at that moment, and ultimately you can achieve happiness even if a relationship doesn't work out. Both characters wound up achieving their dreams. They weren't miserable, they literally only missed out on winding up together, and neither one of them is unhappy at the end of the movie.

[canofhumdingers]

See, I took the whole ending montage as, "sigh, this is what we should have had but our own problems screwed it up for us." It seemed very clear that that's what they really truly wanted deep down: that perfect loving relationship. And they sacrificed it to achieve their career goals instead. And they had this little melancholy moment sharing what should have been and then the movie ends. I agree that the film did elicit feelings from me. It certainly succeded there (again, thanks almost entirely to their onscreen chemistry). But after going through their emotional roller coaster with all the ups and downs, it ends with a spiral down into a kind of sad fatalism starting when they go their separate ways. They spend the entire movie fighting back against the world trying to achieve their dreams and have it all, but in the end the world beats them because they miss out on the one thing they wanted most but couldn't admit to themselves: each other. It was depressing.

Most people I know (family and coworkers) who saw it interpreted it in a similar way to me.

As for the dancing and music, I will say I thought the music was rather good. The opening dance number was decent. The ending montage was well done, though most of the credit goes to the musicals it was inspired by. Other than that, the only dance number that I thought was really inspired was the one on the hilltop at night by the bench. But even it took cues from things like Singing in the Rain. And I think it would've benefitted greatly from at least one other really big dance number in the vein of the opening one somewhere midfilm.

I thought a lot about this film after I saw it because I really wanted to like it. Even as I was watching it. Then the ending just ruined whole experience. I felt rather dejected as we walked to the car after seeing it.

A lot of it probably has to do with where I am in life. I felt great empathy with them constantly beating their brows as they try to get ahead in their chosen profession only to constantly feel beaten back by the world. I love my job and career field, but despite how insanely hard I've worked to achieve my goals, it has taken (and still is) so much longer than I thought it would to get where I really want to be. And there have been SO many unexpected setbacks and there are so many corrupt and slimy people to deal with. And I've watched so many people with less experience or qualifications get ahead faster just because they were in the right place at the right time while so many other guys like myself can never seem to catch a break despite how qualified we are, how hard we work, or how many accolades and recommendations we get. It's like there's no rhyme or reason to who lands the really great jobs.

But jelly, you make a good point. As my wife and I have discussed many times as we wade our way through it all, despite not being where I really want to be in my career, I do LOVE what I do. And every job I've had has provided just what I needed when I needed it. It often wasn't what I wanted. But it was at least what I needed. Maybe that really was the movie's message. But it's definitely how it struck me while watching.

Edit:
I guess on a positive note, I feel like I did NOT make the mistake the characters made in the movie. I've never sacrificed my relationship with my wife (or now my kids) for my career. My family has always come first.

[eabaker]

I honestly didn't feel anything. Like I said above, it hit its character beats without earning them. I could see the movie trying to manipulate me, but I just never believed in these two people, their world, or their relationship.

I just found the whole thing terribly insincere.

But the cinematography was great, I'll definitely give it that.

[jellydonut25]

I didn't read it as them wanting for that, just that it's what might have happened...and also, that they have this sort of pure, untainted, perfect memory of one another. They pushed each other to achieve their dreams. They would have had each other, but they already did...and he wasn't happy being successful but not playing the music he loves, and she wasn't happy being an actress who wasn't a star. They are better for having known each other, but their relationship just wasn't meant to be...and I personally, because of how I view "true love" find that very true to life. I personally don't think there's ONE person out there for everyone: I think there are LOTS of someones, and you choose which someone you want, and when, and under what circumstances.

I think that's probably why I differ on the ending than MOST people. The notion of a soul-mate is REALLY held to strongly by probably most people. I think that's a crock. I'm not with my wife because she's the only person for me...I chose her above others and chose the life I'm in. Mia and Sebastian chose their own lives and got to have their dreams. Good for them.

[Dr Kain]

There was absolutely nothing special about La La Land. It didn't have any specialized costumes, the songs were mediocre at best (Emma Stone can not sing for crap), and the plot was so damn generic. How this got nominated for an Oscar in costume design I have no freaking idea.

Blade Runner - This is one movie that gets better with every viewing. It still has some narrative flaws, but that is about it. A 9/10.

[Dr Kain]

Beauty & the Beast - While not as bad as it could have been, some of this movie was just awful. The opening song was so lifeless that it was sad that an animated version was much more lively than what this one did. In addition, Emma Watson could not hold a tune for the life of her. There is a reason auto tune exists. Then there was a moment where the Beast sang despite that going completely against his character. Oh, and why did they go out of their way to make the outfits look as accurate to the animation if they weren't even going to bother putting effort into the infamous yellow dress? That was utterly lame! On the other hand, Josh Gad was freaking fantastic and his song when he started to spell Gaston's name was down right hilarious. There was no reason this movie needed to be over two hours, especially when some of the songs just dragged on for way too long. Overall, I give it a 7/10 because it was still a watchable movie.

[jellydonut25]

The quintessential Kain review: "It sucked. 7/10"

The Big Sick - Fantastic. Wonderful range of emotions, great leads, heartfelt and FUNNY. One of my favorites on the year for sure.

[canofhumdingers]

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders - this was actually a lot of fun. Adam West's voice showed his age, but it wasn't terribly distracting. And it's cooler that they actually got him to do it than replacing him. The movie itself did a surprisingly good job satirizing a show that was itself a satire. The story was fun, and I loved the bat-rocket.

Batman (1966) - Another fun time with Adam West and gang. This feels like the "Destroy All Monsters" of classic superheroes. It's pacing is a bit uneven, and the story is good enough but not the best. But it's an epic, "we pulled out all the stops, spared no expense" extravaganza of Batman and his most famous/notorious cast of friends and foes. Along with ample screen time for the Batcave, Batmobile, Batcycle, Batboat, Batcopter, and Penguin submarine! Great fun for all ages!

Batman (1989) - Easily my single favorite live action representation of Batman. I LOVE the art direction in this film. It defined the "look" of Batman for me as a child and while nostalgia runs strong, it's the strength of the designs themselves that have stood the test of time and I've never grown tired of them. The Batsuit, the Batmobile, the Batwing, the way Gotham is a modern (for 1989) sort of alternate reality take on the 1940's. THIS is Batman! And they were actually quite respectful of the source material. Batman is a sneaky creature of the night who uses his wits, his gadgets, his strength, his martial arts expertise; all of his assets in conjunction to fight crime. He also does the heavy lifting detective work figuring out the Joker's identity and his plan for how the Smilex beauty products combine to become toxic. I also really like Michael Keaton in the role. His Bruce Wayne is intelligent and cunning while also coming across as just crazy enough to actually go through with being the Batman. And his Batman is fearsome and rather terryifying. I also think Jack Nicholson did a great job as the Joker. And he flipping actually uses the joker poison that was in the comics since the character's very first appearance! Has any other live action joker done that? Now, I admit the film's not perfect. I don't love how they intertwined the Joker and Batman's origins. But I understand why they did it, and imo, they actually did it pretty successfully. Also, Batman kills people. Now, going back to the source material, the character DID sometimes kill people, especially in the early days. But as the character evolved his whole "no guns/no killing" stance became integral to who the character was and I kinda wish they had respected that a little more. Still, the people he does kill are often kind of indirectly or not fully intentionally (i.e. You could argue Batman was just trying to keep the joker from getting away but it ended up in his death) unlike some later film appearances... But even with its flaws, this remains my personal favorite Batman (any version, comics, games, movies, tv) and it is always great fun to watch!

Batman Returns - What happened? Batman is less Batman and more generic action star. He BLATANTLY murders people (crams a bomb in a thug's waist belt and shoves him down the sewer to blow up, purposely torches a guy with the batmobile after burner). And Bruce Wayne is more of a bumbling, indecisive idiot who trips over his own tongue every time Selina Kyle shows up. The penguin is just disgusting and is a horrible representaion of the character. Catwoman is alright, but what's with the supernatural origin? This is just a weird movie. It's definitely a Tim Burton movie with Batman characters rather than a Batman movie directed by Tim Burton. Still, it has some good stuff in it. The Batmobile sequences alone are worth watching the film once. And there's some good moments between Batman and Catwoman. I don't hate this movie, but I don't love it. There's enough cool Batman stuff in it that I like to watch it once in a blue moon. But that's about it. And I HATE HATE HATE this version of the Penguin.

[eabaker]