The Film Thread: Page 360 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

The Film Thread

Tony Montana

That's because white people run Hollywood so they see themselves first.

Mirth

You'll probably find that changing once more investment flows in from China to Hollywood anyway. See 'The Great Wall', 'Transformers 2017' and 'Independence Day 2' for an emerging trend - shit movies, mind but crafted for mainstream appeal and no doubt that will spread to other projects.

goon

Not seen the other two but it kind of defeats the purpose in Independence Day 2, certainly didn't help the realism aspect and I was very aware of it as a marketing tool.

Mirth

It would have defeated the purpose in Blade runner as well. Granted, the story was set in California but my takeaway was that the idea of unique nations and identities were already eroded in the Blade Runner world in favour of hyper urbanisation and corporations. In fact, I don't think there's any overt reference to the US or any other country, one way or another - I would have much rather seen the space colonies that they alluded to instead and it's not something I even considered till it got brought up in this thread.

Claudius

West is so the normal in most media that we consume that I did not interrogate this aspect when watching Blade Runner. It never actually felt like an issue to me, and I thought they built their world quite well. I felt immersed, especially as I saw it on an IMAX 3D, which I recommend.

On this topic, must bring up Ghost in the Shell which took an iconic Japanese property, anglicized the lead character, and then diluted everything from the world they had thrust her into, turning a complex existential story into little more than a run of the mill Hollywood revenge plot. And to remind us it was shunning its heritage it had these awkward scenes where the lead character would listen to everyone around her speaking in Japanese and she would respond in English, not once conforming. The whole experience was unsettling, and compounded to ruin a movie that should have been a landmark event

banduan

While I do think it was stark in GitS I think Blade Runner gets away with being less diverse. It's rooted in its original setting which was not that diverse a world to begin with. Sure it's California, but it could really be just anywhere with anyone and the themes transcend whatever homogeneity the show had.

It does however make one appreciate the moments where Hollywood does correctly address the issue of diversity. There was a backlash against the apparent 'forced' diversification of Spiderman Homecoming, but those protests ran completely ignorant of the fact that Spiderman is set in Queens, one of the most cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse places in America. Any modern retelling in this setting must also update its cast of characters to suit.

Burnwinter

Yeah, I agree Blade Runner 2049 gets away with going back to LA and Vegas for reasons of its noir heritage.

But I felt that by doing that, as well as by keeping the (now proven to be wrong) future speculations of the original Blade Runner, 2049 turned itself more into an inward-looking nostalgia piece.

I would've been captivated by a variation of the film set in a Chinese megacity, with an appearance based on the next few decades' evolution of the current technologies being used to build them.

These sorts of decisions make the difference between great and merely good.

Burnwinter

Have just read Armond White's review of BR 2049 and I think it's an excellent critique, even though White's a massive edgelord.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/452384/blade-runner-2049-dystopia-boring-predictable

QuincyAbeyie

goon wrote:
Not seen the other two

Don't.

Mirth

Thor: Ragnarok

One of the better Marvel movies, fully recommend watching it.

banduan

Ragnarok begins as a convoluted mess but ends very very well. The humour is more natural than GotG2, if sometimes misplaced. Action sequences are quite engaging despite some surprisingly shoddy CG. Overall the visuals are beautiful.

I was taken aback though by characters I'm accustomed to be Shakespearean (from first two Thor) suddenly reduced to modern day parodies. Heimdall has an Idris Elba accent and I'm not sure why.

QuincyAbeyie

Haven't seen it myself, but Waititi has pretty much admitted that he doesn't care much about how things were before. I find it quite refreshing that they're letting a director just do his own thing for once. Too bad they couldn't do Wright the same service.

Burnwinter

Wondering if it'll be as good as Hunt For The Wilderpeople. Loved that film, had a bit in common with Edgar Wright but it was significantly better due to the lighter touch of the humour.

Gazza M

I enjoyed thor. Its a complete 180 in terms of tone, but what they were doing before wasn't really working so i don't mind that thor is now a wise-cracking live action cartoon character

Daz

Burnwinter wrote:
Wondering if it'll be as good as Hunt For The Wilderpeople. Loved that film, had a bit in common with Edgar Wright but it was significantly better due to the lighter touch of the humour.

I have recommended that movie to so many people. Love it.

QuincyAbeyie

Definitely the most fun I've had watching a Marvel movie in a long, long time.

jones

Watched Legend with Tom Hardy in a lead twin role last night. Not sure what I expected but the pacing was well off and the story telling a bit shit

Coombs

Turned that one off after about five minutes. Total garbage.

QuincyAbeyie

Looks fairly ordinary from the trailer, but looking at the casting list... It's so stacked 😆 Spielberg directing a movie with Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Sarah Paulson, Carrie Coon, Bruce Greenwood, Alison Brie, Jesse Plemons, Bradley Whitford and Matthew Rhys.

goon

Daz wrote:
Burnwinter wrote:
Wondering if it'll be as good as Hunt For The Wilderpeople. Loved that film, had a bit in common with Edgar Wright but it was significantly better due to the lighter touch of the humour.

I have recommended that movie to so many people. Love it.

I finally got around to watching it after hearing so many rave reviews. It’s a cute movie with lots of laughs but can’t help but feel it’s a little overrated.

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