Recently watched movies!

[lhb412]

Did you guys know that a new Rocky movie, featuring Micheal B. Jordan as Apollo Creed's son with Rocky as his trainer, is coming out later this month? I hope to rewatch the the entire series before then, so I started with Rocky (even though I watched it only a few months ago). It still surprises me how little actual boxing there is in this movie. It's really more of a drama and love story, but since I'm sports illiterate the Rocky series probably wouldn't interest me if it were totally boxing intensive.

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

[lhb412]

^ BOOOOOOOO!

Rocky's awesome.

[DannyBeane]

Yeah with the exception of Roky 5 where he beat the guy with AIDS, The Rocky series is really fun with the first one being critically good even.

[Dr Kain]

It's not that they are bad movies, I just don't care for boxing. Boxing is more boring than soccer.

[klen7]

Watched Mockingjay Pt 1.. this feels like such a money grab. 2 hours with very little to show for it. The climax was a rescue a mission that we dont get to see and the cinematography is sooooo blah. Maybe the lack of Capital scenes keeps the movie grey and overcast, but even the scenes we do get are super sterile and bland.

[jellydonut25]

[O.Supreme]

[XvGojira]

[The Shadow]

So, I just finished watching THE DEATH OF "SUPERMAN LIVES": WHAT HAPPENED? It's a truly fascinating documentary -- fragments of the unmade movie have made their way onto the internet over the years which I think have built up an off kilter image. The documentary puts the flotsam and jetsam into perspective by getting a chance to hear the story from the horse's mouth by those involved in the project.

For instance the infamous picture of Nic Cage in costume was taken at a costume test (and mid-blink no less) just for costume designers gauge progress on the costume. The documentary leads off with the account of Bryan Singer keeping a copy (maybe multiples) of this unflattering picture when making SUPERMAN RETURNS and used it as leverage, for better or for worse, whenever the studio suits questioned his decisions. The clear iridescent costume would have only been on screen for a couple three minutes tops, when we see Superman in the regeneration pool. Jon Peters really did put some of the concept artists in a headlock during a meeting -- between that and Kevin Smith recounting Peter's spider fixation I get the feeling there are a lot more crazy Jon Peters stories out there.

After seeing the documentary, how the visuals that start off wild and steadily refine back towards their comic starting point and some of the interesting ideas for characters in the movie; I think SUPERMAN LIVES just might have kicked off the superhero movie trend a year or two early. If nothing else, I think if we could have seen the SL made it would have been a better Superman movie than SUPERMAN RETURNS.

There is some cussing in the documentary, Kevin Smith is in it so if you've seen any of his talks (E.G. AN EVENING WITH KEVIN SMITH) you have a good idea of what to expect.

Bottom line, I recommend watching THE DEATH OF "SUPERMAN LIVES": WHAT HAPPENED? if you are at all interested in the topic. It just might change your mind on what the movie could have been if it had been made.

[lhb412]

[klen7]

[lhb412]

Finally watched my Criterion version of Chaplin's City Lights. I'm ashamed to say that this film doesn't really do it for me like his other films. The world is just so cruel to Charlie in the story, and while that's a running theme in all his movies for some reason it stings more in this one. In other movies the cruelty can be more exaggerated (like the machines that torment him in Modern Times or the surreal sight gags in The Gold Rush), or he has a loved one who he can share uplifting scenes with (like Paulette Goddard in The Great Dictator and Modern Times, or the eponymous kid in The Kid)... I mean, he has a love interest in this one, but the blind flower girl character is, in my opinion, drawn pretty thin. This movie is held in such high regard by the Chaplin fans that I suppose I'm just waiting for that rewatch where it really clicks for me.

Laughed like hell during the boxing scene, though.

[jellydonut25]

[The Shadow]

The filmmaker is there in the interview footage (EG standing with Kevin Smith, sitting down with Jon Peters) but even during the interviews the documentary cuts to concept art, and models, test footage for costumes, and footage recorded as the costumes were being made and camera tests of costumes, etc. There's a goofy moment when Peters gets a phone call mid interview where they let the cameras run and you get a couple shots of the filmmaker drinking from a bottle of water, but that all happens across several seconds to a minute tops.

If the documentary maker was trying to put himself front and center he didn't do a good job of it. To me the process the filmmaker chose to use when doing the interviews seemed a pretty typical documentary/interview format, nothing stood out as unusual.

Oh, in reading back I may unintentionally have given the impression that the documentary is a pro-Superman Lives sort of piece. The documentary sticks close to it's core reason of telling the story of what happened to the Superman Lives from starting up to ultimately getting cancelled by WB executives. In going through the process you get to see where some things could have been pretty cool to see on screen to some other things that may not have worked all that well, even to the degree of what camps are behind certain concepts.

I watched the documentary on one of the Showtime channels (recorded it last night to watch), so if you get Showtime you can catch it there. Showtime's schedule shows it running on Showtime Showcase Wed. 5:15 PM (Eastern I assume, the webpage doesn't specify) (although the cable channel guide doesn't show the documentary running then). And apparently it should be available to watch on Showtime OnDemand but I don't see it on see it via my local TWC SOD listings.

[klen7]

[lhb412]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Okay, there are certain weaknesses in this movie related to things happening and people behaving in ways that are entirely unnatural except for extremely obvious plot reasons... but the story of Caesar and the rest of the apes is just so engrossing that you kind of forgive that other stuff. Also: who doesn't love John Lithgow?

[jellydonut25]

Revenge of the Sith - this movie, like all the prequels, still has major flaws. Awkward and unnecessary dialogue, stilted acting among the very worst in the series (which is probably its most crippling flaw as we're not bought into the fall of Anakin/Vader since he's never that "high" for us in the first place), nauseating space battles that clutter up the screen with so much crap it's impossible to see what's going on, and a final battle that starts off cool, but gets WAY too crazy and its ultimate end is woefully unsatisfying.

That said, it's the one prequel that has solid pacing, doesn't wander off into wholly unnecessary sub-plots (I waffle a little on whether Grievous is necessary, given how little he's utilized, but ultimately it's a useful plot point), and feels like it has a real reason for existing; unfortunately, the prequels don't expand the universe as much as I'd like, instead focusing on characters we already know, but at least this time, something interesting happens to them. Also, while the characterization is still sketchy to me at times, in terms of remaining true to the core of the characters (Obi Wan is often a tad too reckless, and I'm never going to be a fan of Yoda actually fighting, ESPECIALLY not in a standard war battle like the one on Kashiik), ultimately I feel like we don't have anything that flies in my face as badly as Obi Wan jumping out a damned window in Attack of the Clones and then chastising Anakin for being too reckless.

This is a movie that definitely gets better in its second half when it cuts out its political stuff and gets to the meat of its story. I ENJOY it, more or less, but it's not really a GOOD movie. It's just a sort of ultimately somewhat decent, flawed sci-fi movie. If this were the worst of the prequels, I'd view them much more favorably. Unfortunately, it's by FAR the best.

In context with the other prequels, this takes a bit of a hit, and I'd rate it as a 2.5/5, because none of this feels as impactful as it should due to the previous failures. On its own merits though, I'll give it a 3/5 and say it's at least entertaining enough with a DECENT enough script to overcome its flaws and directorial laziness.

[Dr Kain]

I was so mad at Grievous in this movie. The first Clone Wars cartoon made him out to be a badass and he was going to become my favorite SW character, but then in the movie he was a cowardly whimp and did nothing. It was like the writers of the cartoon did not even discuss what Grievous was supposed to be like to the writers of the movie. God that pissed me off. Moreso that I was constantly trying to think of reasons why he had such a big personality change to justify why he was still a badass.

Add on top that killing off Dooku was a terrible idea because he is the prequel's Boba Fett. A worthless lackluster character that served no purpose and is only memorable because of his actor (or suit design in the case of Boba).

Thankfully the amazing duel on Mustapharr more than makes up for its short comings. Oh my god the choreography is just cinematic there. Not to mention its exquisite soundtrack.

[O.Supreme]

This is going to get a little OT here, but yeah generally I think most fans agree Episode III is the "tolerable" entry of the prequel trilogy. Although I agree about Grevious, initially, I think in late 03/04 when the episodes by Genndy Tartakovsky were being written & animated, the character of Grevious had not been fully fleshed out in George Lucas' mind (no pun intended). Although having read the novels explains his constant coughing in Episode III("Labrynth of Evil" follows very closely chapter 25 of the Clone Wars cartoon, though with some slight differences). But I would think having your chest crushed by Mace Windu would not result in cowardice...I don't know. Plus the line by Windu... "Grevious will run and hide as he always does" doesn't really mesh with what was presented in the cartoon prior. But thanks to Disney, none of that is canon anymore...so I guess that makes Grevious an even more lame character. Also I always viewed Darth Maul as the "Boba Fett" of the Prequels -Badass villain with almost no dialogue, that you don't really get to know. Dooku had plenty of dialogue and his personality and motivations were all explained, despite whether they were relevant or not. But in any case I agree, he should not have been killed 10 minuets into the film.

[jellydonut25]

[klen7]

While i mostly agree with Jelly-D, i'd say the most over-the-top thing in that film was Anakin killing the younglings. He turns on the Jedi because he wants to save people he loves from dying... so he murders a bunch of 5 year olds. wtf.

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]