The New Film Thread: Page 18 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

The New Film Thread

banduan

Coombs wrote:
Saw Dune. Pleasantly surprised by a lot of it, actually. It was mostly drivel but some great tableaus and it captured aspects of the book I didn't expect it to.

For all of its in-yoir-face understatedness, some things were just so camp, especially in dialogue and art direction, that it left me longing for the opticals in Lynch's effort. Soundtrack was out of control in a bad way, and the sound design was alienating and overly indulgent. Someone needs to slap Hans Zimmer for that score.

Staring at Zendaya's lens-flared face for what must have totaled 45 minutes and Ferguson having to act the helpless and hysterical mother in-between scenes of seemingly unstoppable power and authority are typical of Villeneuve's casual machismo.

The worst part, though, was that the whole thing felt like an interminable knife fight. Seriously, get on with it.

Have to add that Isaac was excellent. I can only imagine both he and Bardem ignored whatever Villeneuve said and just did a professional job of it.

I guess it's much a matter of opinion and preference where I disagree with much of this. I do agree it suffers from Villenuevitis where so many scenes are unnecessary or overwrought. But I thought the score is part of what made the film. I also thought Ferguson was the best part of the show and Isaac appeared as peripheral as he was meant to be.

Tam

Asterix wrote:
Thanks Quincy

[spoiler] No other 007 has met that fate. I know the stories aren't linear between actors but it still felt wrong to me to kill him off. Yes there was a narrative reason, but it's James Bond. Not happy. Everything else though I liked. Except maybe Rami - that felt a bit contrived. ANd I don't like it when they brings kids into the mix, but they handled it pretty well this time. [/spoiler]

[spoiler] I feel very similar to you Asterix. It did give it a bit of extra tension at the end as I didn't believe it would happen right until it did, but I was disappointed at the ending of what I thought was an otherwise enjoyable film for the most part.

I'm very much pro keeping Bond as a white male character. That is the character to me, that is Bond. But this feels very much like a clean break designed to make it easier to move away from that. [/spoiler]

Coombs

Quincy Abeyie wrote:
Coombs: [Spoiler]Zendaya's screentime is seven minutes.[/spoiler]

And it would have been a better movie if it were seven minutes shorter.

Burnwinter

I didn't mind the score until I started paying attention to it. Once I did, I didn't like Zimmer's creative decisions. The use of vocals felt extremely pick-'n'-mix Orientalist, which it shouldn't have been. Appreciate that he's an old warhorse that studios just get in to do the sound on every Nolan, Scott "visual masterpiece", but a score that emphasised systemic or architectural feelings would've been more apposite to the DUNE I would've liked to see.

Agree with your take in general Coombs, I felt disappointed but didn't dislike the end product. I expected to hate it more.

Although it is a marvellous technical achievement in certain ways (see for example the use of "sandscreens" by Fraser to create plausible reflected light in the CG scenes), this video really hammers home the crazy cocktail of technical stretches that went into Lynch's effort, and its eclectic charms and relative fearlessness regarding the source material and Lynch's own creative obsessions.

goon

Coombs wrote:
Quincy Abeyie wrote:
Coombs: [Spoiler]Zendaya's screentime is seven minutes.[/spoiler]

And it would have been a better movie if it were seven minutes shorter.

😆

Asterix

Saw Dune last night. Having just seen the second Blade Runner movie a month ago on the big screen really brought home the directorial similarities. He loves those fog horn sound effects that rumble up through your bum. The colour palette was similar too.

I couldn't hear some of the quieter dialogue which was annoying. And while there was a lot of exposition there were still plenty of things I had to explain to my family afterwards. I guess it's a very difficult book to translate to film. I enjoyed it a lot; my family were a bit more nonplussed by some of it. Part of that is because it ends halfway through the book. Part is because I think there was more focus on production and imagery than there was on story and dialogue.

Sicario

Saw the new Spider-Man.

Possibly best worst movie I’ve ever seen. First half is like a kids movie with a dodgy storyline but the movie dramatically gets saved about half way in. Won’t give any spoilers away. Amazing special effects though.

Burnwinter

Think I already saw the spoiler in a tweet somewhere—sounds like an interesting concept if I'm correct, but might be one to save for streaming.

Anyone seen WEST SIDE STORY? Thinking we might go catch it while we're on holiday today.

Mirth

Sicario wrote:
Saw the new Spider-Man.

Possibly best worst movie I’ve ever seen. First half is like a kids movie with a dodgy storyline but the movie dramatically gets saved about half way in. Won’t give any spoilers away. Amazing special effects though.

I can see where you're coming from. Most Marvel movies are closer to a theme park ride than a movie and this is at the extreme end of that. I enjoyed going along for the experience though.

[spoiler]It feels like it's taken them 3 movies to fully plot out Tom Holland's Spider-man and give him a proper origin story - his introduction in Civil War was nonsense to begin with and they've had to fix that. I'm satisfied that the movie took us back to canon in the end.[/spoiler]

Gazza M

it had some of the most blatant plot contrivances of any marvel movie, possibly even more than endgame which pushed the envelope on that front. the second half of the movie saves it from being too much of a mess

banduan

Spidey 3 was a pure popcorn flick and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It definitely cheats with its main conceit and I can totally get people hating it.

Mirth

Gazza M wrote:
it had some of the most blatant plot contrivances of any marvel movie, possibly even more than endgame which pushed the envelope on that front. the second half of the movie saves it from being too much of a mess

[spoiler]I think Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina save the movie. In a movie so convoluted you need to really sell characters like the Green Goblin as a legitimate threat to keep you feeling that there really is still something at stake[/spoiler]

Clrnc

Spiderman is more of just enjoying the ride. Don't know why it is so highly rated though. Predictable and messy as always with every marvel show.

I like Kingsmen more even though this is the worst of the 3 parts imo

Pepe LeFrits

I absolutely loved No Way Home.

QuincyAbeyie

They've chosen to delay it in Norway until further notice due to restrictions that there can't be more than 50 people per showing. Avoiding spoilers is not easy for this one, but managed it so far. 🙂

mentalvortex

Very much enjoyed the new spider man movie.

Miles better than any other Marvel flick which came out this year (Shang chi/Black Widow/Eternals).

KingslandBarge

Ended up watching 'Embrace of the Serpent' this weekend and really enjoyed it. It in a familiar colonial thematic context which past films have covered but still unique in how delves in.

Burnwinter

Yeah, that's an immense film mate. His follow-up BIRDS OF PASSAGE is incredible too, highly recommend it.

I saw this new Verhoeven flick BENEDETTA at the movies the other day, pretty enthralling and thought-provoking film. Billed as "the lesbian nun film" but honestly, not a great choice for date night. Definitely worth a watch though.

KingslandBarge

Burnwinter finally got around to watching BoP last weekend. Though EotS left a more lasting impression on me, I enjoyed this!
From the get go it was a visually lush and pretty film; the traditional dresses, the humid and arid Colombian scenery, the almost surrealist gemeinschaft locale in the middle of nowhere. It felt like the drug business was the plot vessel with which to explore the shift from tradition to modernity, the simultaneous erosion of the family unit and its key traits seeping away like sand between fingers. May have to go by arawakan dictionary next time I'm at the bookstore!

Burnwinter You stumped me initially with this one, and I had to cast my mind back to the movie and actually contemplate the metaphorical significance a bit more critically. Wherever I got to, it made me appreciate the move more.
In talking Korean cinema with a mate a couple months back, he recommended The Wailing - totally different genre and style, it was engrossing and pretty enjoyable so worth a watch. Though it seems to be highly revered with a big cult following.

KingslandBarge

Birds of Passage looks absorbing, will definitely give that a look! Among several reflections EotS has me longing to dedicate myself this year to uncover more about the household and community customs of my grandparents, breathing new life and lineage into things that may otherwise be lost for good.

QuincyAbeyie

Pepe LeFrits wrote:
I absolutely loved No Way Home.

I liked it a lot as well, watched it in IMAX today and it was a great experience.

Watched Eternals last night too but that was proper boring. An ensemble movie without a single charismatic character.

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