Recently watched movies!

[jellydonut25]

Sucker Punch - the insane vitriol this film received made me never really check it out until it came up in a discussion I was having recently.

WHY do people hate this movie? Because it's action-packed? Because it's absurd? Because it's got crazy characters? Because people hate fun?

[Dr Kain]

[MekaGojira3k]

[jellydonut25]

There's payoff, there's plot, there are characters.

And I dunno, but I certainly wasn't SUFFERING through the "boredom" of rail gun wielding samurai giants and steampunk Nazi zombies. And there's a story. The ending revealing that it all happened in a moment doesn't invalidate it as a story. The John Hamm scene at the end, where he's the High Roller gives all the payoff and point and everything. It's unfortunate that it was evidently cut from the theatrical release, but it's a great scene and hits the point of the whole thing home (and I was enjoying the movie on a stylistic level without that moment). I think it actually says a lot about women and feminism and the power of the female and the male gaze and it's over the top absurd on purpose. I actually think people who say it's just testosterone-fueled garbage are reading it wrong, like the people who think Fight Club is embracing fight clubs and over-the-top violence instead of damning it.








Plus the chicks are hot (see what I did there?)

[klen7]

[jellydonut25]

You too cannot think of a reason? Well, seems we're two peas, good sir.

[klen7]

[Dr Kain]

[klen7]

If JD had said he enjoyed the movie, i'd understand... what i don't understand is elevating the movie as a subversively clever satire when all evidence points to it being the most egregious offender of the content he claims it is lampooning.

So to answer the question on why I dislike the film. It is because it is an incoherent, joyless mess of film that strings together a bunch of unrelated special effects shorts and tacks on an ending that purports the film to be something other than the adolescent fetish collage that it was. To top it off, this films message seems to posit that exploitation can be empowerment.

[Psycho Soldier]

I've seen Zack Snyder described like this: he reveres big themes, but doesn't understand them. The only movie I've seen of his is 300, so I don't feel qualified to back up that description, but it comes to mind when I hear about Sucker Punch and Man of Steel.

[MekaGojira3k]

[jellydonut25]

I think you are over-simplifying the movie characterizing it that way. I think if that were ALL it were, it wouldn't be so blastedly OBVIOUS about it.

I don't want to over-read into it, because it's a mess, and it's defintely got moments of SUPREME stupidity (sometimes at the exact same time as its moments of brilliance), and none of you seem very willing to go on the ride with me but consider:
-Bland characters who are just stereotypes/archetypes? Maybe, but at the same time, we're viewing this movie essentially inside Baby Doll's deranged fantasy universe. If each character is an archetype then it's an archetype that gives us insight into the overall character of babydoll.
-style over substance? I won't doubt that exists at times, but I think there's some substance here. There's some really clever foreshadowing, parallelism, and a level to the dances that I think most people don't think about: that when you pull it all the way back to where it's "supposed" to be (a mental asylum) these aren't "dances": they are her role-playing therapy sessions and thus the action going on within the action scenes is actually indicative of Baby Doll's personality itself...and actually we're aren't really TECHNICALLY inside Babydoll's head. This isn't her story. We're inside Sweet Pea's head because this is her story and Babydoll is her "angel" as the film's opening suggest. So really, we're seeing things as Sweet Pea thinks Babydoll sees them, because Babydoll is such an important catalyst for Sweet Pea's eventual escape.
-Masturbatory fanservice? I mean, yeah, the girls are hot and wear skimpy clothes, but they aren't just objects over which we drool. They're women with initiative, struggling to fight against a corrupt system that doesn't acknowledge them as real people. They're owning their sexuality, but at the same time, Snyder's trying to say that maybe just doing an "F me" dance isn't enough, and maybe that's where Snyder just trips up because he fumbles a bit when it comes to getting that point across eloquently and/or interestingly through his visual cues similar to those used throughout the film prior to the third act. The movie gets much more straight-narrative and can't quite manage to keep its delicate "Sexuality is empowering, but there's a double-edge sword to it" message in tact.

And if I look at Snyder's body of work, the only movie that I feel is just PURE style with no substance is 300. Of course, I've never seen Owls of Gaouheool, but 300 is the only movie of his that impressed me on a first viewing and then in subsequent viewings felt increasingly vapid and without teeth. I actually thought some of what he did improved upon Watchmen, which I personally thought was a really overrated read (which isn't to say not good; just not AS good as I feel I'd been led to believe)

[XvGojira]

That Owls movie was great in my opinion. The only detraction was that damn pop-song shoved into it.

[Dr Kain]

[lhb412]

The Babadook

I don't watch many modern horror films, but the buzz for this one was too loud to ignore. It's a classic example of smart, perfectly pitched horror on a tiny budget, and it's carried pretty much entirely by Essie Davis' astounding lead performance.

Also, this has to be the first memorable, original movie monster in forever, right?

[jellydonut25]

The scene where she's hiding under the blankets waz TERRIFYING.

I think it had a couple slight missteps in the climax but the build was glorious and I love that it's more than just a movie about a spooky monster; the relationship metaphor may be a TAD blunt but it works.

[lhb412]

The Freshman (1925)

Brilliant Harold Lloyd comedy and probably the archetype for all college and sports movies to follow. This movie is precise in it's perfection: the opening shot, the scene where Lloyd meets his love interest, the scene where the hero is reduced to his lowest point (before winning it all in the finale, of course), even the final shot is perfect! This is an awesome movie.

[lhb412]

Thunderbirds Are Go

Really enjoyed this! The models are gorgeous, and this whole miniature world is just captivating. The ships! The Buildings! The swank '60s style! Ticking clocks! Models exploding! My exposure to this series is rather light: I caught a few TechTV reruns back in the day, but my enjoyment of this movie makes me think I'll be needing that complete series Blu-Ray coming out soon.

Of course, often TV shows translate to feature form with some awkwardness and that's the case here: it's really just two, linked Thunderbirds episodes: in the first International Rescue prevent the sabotage of the launch of a Mars mission by their nemesis The Hood (boo! hiss!), and in the second that same Mars mission (after fighting giant monster snakes on Mars, like you do) has systems failure on re-entry and all the Tracy brothers are mobilized to save the crew before they crash to Earth.

[Dr Kain]

Captain America 2 - Now THIS is how you do a super hero movie!! This movie is just down right fantastic and easily the best Marvel movie to date. It has the perfect balance of action, plot, drama, comedy, and character development. There is so much that it does right that even the little bits of its faults are easy to ignore. Oh, and the music for Winter Soldier is down right phenomenal. I give this movie a 9/10 stars.

[lhb412]

^ I'd rather another Bucky-centric movie over Civil War. That's what I came out of the theater wanting after seeing Winter Soldier.

Bell, Book and Candle

Kim Novak and James Stewart's non-Vertigo movie. She's part of a secret scene of witches and warlocks in Manhattan (seemingly based on the gay scene of the time), and she casts a love spell on Stewart. Honestly, this is one of those old movies where there's not much to the story, just an excuse for a bunch of charming actors to be charming for an hour and a half. Movie's beautifully shot, too

[MekaGojira3k]

Mad Max
Well, I mean, it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't very interesting. I guess it being so profitable was why there was a sequel. The thing that struck me is that it takes SO long
before Max becomes proactive about Toe-Cutter. I kept checking where I was in the movie going because his family was still there. Then we get a less than 20 minute montage of him killing everybody. If I had to rank it, it'd be some kind of C probably. I mean, I still enjoyed bits of it, I thought that there was this insane/cartoony edge that only seemed to blossom during the opening chase with Night Rider and some of the Toe-Cutter moments, but the rest was pretty tame. I dunno. I'm still gonna continue to watch the series because I'd like to have seen these before I go see Fury Road.

[klen7]

I think Road Warrior is by far the best of the series.

[Dr Kain]

Never seen any of them.

[XvGojira]

[Dr Kain]

Guardians of the Galaxy - Like the others, I haven't watched this since I saw it in theaters. Surprisingly, this movie is just as amazing the second time around as it was the first time, so I definitely have to give it pointers for that. The characters are fun and while they don't have the greatest amount of development, everything has been crafted so well that it takes nothing away from the overall enjoyment of the movie. It isn't as good as Winter Soldier, but better than Avengers. I give it an 8/10.