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Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (2 Viewers)

Absolutely loved Prisoners. Two and a half hours and not a dull moment. Great performances all around. Don't really want to say much to give anything away. 4/5

He should have clocked the old lady as they went out of the house. Perfect opportunity.

I must have missed an explanation but by the newspaper headline it looks like Paul Dano was a previous abduction and he was reunited with his family?

The wife was so broken up by her missing kid but didn't seem too upset by her missing husband. I know they don't come close, just an observation.
Loved it as well. As far as your spoiler goes

I had a couple back and forths on Prisoners with someone else a month or so ago in this thread, wont be hard to find if you want to look into some unclear parts. Not that Im sure of everything either.

Dano was the kid who was originally abducted, from the house the 2 girls were kidnapped in front of, Gyllenhaal interviewed the grandma who only had the video tape. Thats what the headline is referring to. He wasnt Melissa Leo's son, nephew, etc.

As far as wife being upset on Jackman missing, Id chalk it up to too much too soon. Plus, he's someone you'd expect to take care of himself. In such a short timeframe, that never really occurred to me.
Woah! Yeah, the house and the videotape. Awesome. So gripping how you just felt Dano wasn't the guy but you just never knew. Just an observation with the wife since I thought it was a bit of an overreation (although who could know what that would be like) and she seemed kinda fine afterwards with her husband still missing.
I rarely watch movies a second time but this will probably be one of them.

I'm just getting something now too. Don't know if it's right. The little black girl got away. There was a note about being let go if you figure out the puzzle. Was the guy that killed himself also a former prisoner that got away? Is that how the first girl got away?
I thought with the guy who killed himself, and the fondling priest, and maybe 1 other character Im forgetting about were mostly brought into the film to continue with the child abduction/killing/wrongdoing theme, but people not involved with Jackman and Howard's daughters actual kidnapping. Now that you say it, you could be right about the guy who killed himself, but IIRC, Dano was supposed to be one of if not the first kid Leo&spouse abducted, so if that was the case, the guy who killed himself seemed to old to be a victim of theirs.
 
Short Term 12:

This one vaulted into the 1op 10 of the year for me. It is about a group of of kids in a 1/2 way house inbetween foster families (that might not be entirely accurate) and the counselors in charge of them. Great performances all around and thought it was a pretty realistic look at what it is like to interact with teens like that - you have the moments of breakthrough clashing up against moments of great heartbreak. There was one scene that didn't quite work for me, but overall I thought the movie was great and it really sucked me into the lives of these people for 90mins. 8/10
I felt the same way. A really good film, and quite easily one of my top 5 favourites of the year so far. Curious, what scene was it that didn't work for you? For me it was:

When Grace broke into the house and took the baseball bat to the girl's father's room. Too over the top compared to the rest of the film imo.
 
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Saw The Conjuring.

Thought it was pretty good. Some true scares/creepiness without all the blood and guts and also good acting.

 
Short Term 12:

This one vaulted into the 1op 10 of the year for me. It is about a group of of kids in a 1/2 way house inbetween foster families (that might not be entirely accurate) and the counselors in charge of them. Great performances all around and thought it was a pretty realistic look at what it is like to interact with teens like that - you have the moments of breakthrough clashing up against moments of great heartbreak. There was one scene that didn't quite work for me, but overall I thought the movie was great and it really sucked me into the lives of these people for 90mins. 8/10
I felt the same way. A really good film, and quite easily one of my top 5 favourites of the year so far. Curious, what scene was it that didn't work for you? For me it was:

When Grace broke into the house and took the baseball bat to the girl's father's room. Too over the top compared to the rest of the film imo.
Bingo.

 
Short Term 12:

This one vaulted into the 1op 10 of the year for me. It is about a group of of kids in a 1/2 way house inbetween foster families (that might not be entirely accurate) and the counselors in charge of them. Great performances all around and thought it was a pretty realistic look at what it is like to interact with teens like that - you have the moments of breakthrough clashing up against moments of great heartbreak. There was one scene that didn't quite work for me, but overall I thought the movie was great and it really sucked me into the lives of these people for 90mins. 8/10
I felt the same way. A really good film, and quite easily one of my top 5 favourites of the year so far. Curious, what scene was it that didn't work for you? For me it was:

When Grace broke into the house and took the baseball bat to the girl's father's room. Too over the top compared to the rest of the film imo.
Bingo.
:thumbup:

 
Speaking of top 5 and top 10 films, don't people usually post their top 10 movies of the year in here? I don't recall seeing any lists for 2013 yet, so I guess I'll start. In rough order:

American Hustle

The Past

Short Term 12

Don Jon

Upstream Color

The Great Beauty

The Company You Keep

Drinking Buddies

Only God Forgives

Blue Jasmine

Still have yet to see the majority of the Oscar nominated films or very many 2013 foreign films though.

 
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Speaking of top 5 and top 10 films, don't people usually post their top 10 movies of the year in here? I don't recall seeing any lists for 2013 yet, so I guess I'll start. In rough order:

American Hustle

The Past

Short Term 12

Don Jon

Upstream Color

The Great Beauty

The Company You Keep

Drinking Buddies

Only God Forgives

Blue Jasmine

Still have yet to see the majority of the Oscar nominated films or very many 2013 foreign films though.
I did about 3 pages ago, but was the only one that posted a list so far I think. I posted more based on dvd releases, I think there were some lists in the Oscar thread based on theatrical release.

keep forgetting about the company you keep- need to watch that soon.

 
Speaking of top 5 and top 10 films, don't people usually post their top 10 movies of the year in here? I don't recall seeing any lists for 2013 yet, so I guess I'll start. In rough order:

American Hustle

The Past

Short Term 12

Don Jon

Upstream Color

The Great Beauty

The Company You Keep

Drinking Buddies

Only God Forgives

Blue Jasmine

Still have yet to see the majority of the Oscar nominated films or very many 2013 foreign films though.
Going to be watching these 2 over the next day or so.Thanks for the list.

 
Saw The Conjuring.

Thought it was pretty good. Some true scares/creepiness without all the blood and guts and also good acting.
I cant think of a better "scary" movie in the last couple years.
The Cabin in the Woods
this is the reason for scary in quotes. this is the better movie, but many american horror movies lately get the tension right.

conjuring, first 1/2 of insidious, and maybe sinister were the ones that came to mind off the top of my head.

 
Speaking of top 5 and top 10 films, don't people usually post their top 10 movies of the year in here? I don't recall seeing any lists for 2013 yet, so I guess I'll start. In rough order:

American Hustle

The Past

Short Term 12

Don Jon

Upstream Color

The Great Beauty

The Company You Keep

Drinking Buddies

Only God Forgives

Blue Jasmine

Still have yet to see the majority of the Oscar nominated films or very many 2013 foreign films though.
Some standouts for me.

Nebraska

12 Years a Slave

Prisoners

Rush

Before Midnight

 
SmoovySmoov said:
KarmaPolice said:
Mr. Mojo said:
Saw The Conjuring.

Thought it was pretty good. Some true scares/creepiness without all the blood and guts and also good acting.
I cant think of a better "scary" movie in the last couple years.
The Cabin in the Woods
I don't count Cabin In the Woods as a scary film. It was entertaining and fun but didn't really have jump out of your seat type suspense.

 
SmoovySmoov said:
KarmaPolice said:
Mr. Mojo said:
Saw The Conjuring.

Thought it was pretty good. Some true scares/creepiness without all the blood and guts and also good acting.
I cant think of a better "scary" movie in the last couple years.
The Cabin in the Woods
I don't count Cabin In the Woods as a scary film. It was entertaining and fun but didn't really have jump out of your seat type suspense.
I didn't either, but my point was that he was trying to think of a better "scary movie" (his quotes, not mine). Personally, I didn't find The Conjuring scary, either. I was just commenting that, out of all the "scary movies" that have come out in, oh the past ten years, the one that I enjoyed the most was Cabin in the Woods.

 
Life Of Pi

Kinda avoided watching it for a while for whatever reason.

I thought it was good, definitely some great visuals.

3.5/5

 
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Life Of Pi

Kinda avoided watching it for a while for whatever reason.

I thought it was good, definitely some great visuals.

3.5/5
Ive avoided this one for awhile as well, but after watching All Is Lost a few days ago, Im guessing Pi is similar but with better visuals and more of a storyline.

 
I think 12 years was the most best film of the year. Wolf of Wall Street takes the silver and Rush gets the bronze for me. Rush was such an underrated movie, I haven't heard many critics even talk about it at all.

 
Ninth Configuration by William Peter Blatty of The Exorcist, an interesting mix of psychological mystery with some black comedy mixed in (avail on youtube*). Stacy Keach in probably his best role playing a flashback haunted psychologist that was a former commando, given a new assignment in a mental institution where not everything is as it seems.

Some Stephen King novels adapted to the screen, Fire Starter and Dead Zone.

Thief a great neo-noir with James Caan.

Scanners, one of my favorites by Cronenberg with Videodrome.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZCcjzOeXlM

 
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Ninth Configuration by William Peter Blatty of The Exorcist, an interesting mix of psychological mystery with some black comedy mixed in (avail on youtube*). Stacy Keach in probably his best role playing a flashback haunted psychologist that was a former commando, given a new assignment in a mental institution where not everything is as it seems.

Some Stephen King novels adapted to the screen, Fire Starter and Dead Zone.

Thief a great neo-noir with James Caan.

Scanners, one of my favorites by Cronenberg with Videodrome.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZCcjzOeXlM
Thief is criminally underrated.

 
Saw Catching Fire last night. Felt like it was MUCH better than Hunger Games. You can tell that they pumped a lot more money into this one and it showed. Great performances all around, and a nice twist at the end. Good action sequences.

4/5

 
I watched Inside Llewyn Davis last night. Overall, I liked it. There were a couple of laugh out loud moments. I wouldn't put it in my Top 5 of Coen Brother movies, though. Worth a watch. Wouldn't watch it again. 3/5

 
Ninth Configuration by William Peter Blatty of The Exorcist, an interesting mix of psychological mystery with some black comedy mixed in (avail on youtube*). Stacy Keach in probably his best role playing a flashback haunted psychologist that was a former commando, given a new assignment in a mental institution where not everything is as it seems.

Some Stephen King novels adapted to the screen, Fire Starter and Dead Zone.

Thief a great neo-noir with James Caan.

Scanners, one of my favorites by Cronenberg with Videodrome.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZCcjzOeXlM
Can't believe you (or anybody else) saw 9th Configuration, Bob.

I saw it in the theater as a kid- when it was called "twinkle, twinkle, killer-kane". I enjoyed the movie quite a bit as a kid (mind-blown by the twists) but not quite sure it would hold up (Shakespeare performed by dogs, IIRC?).

Also interesting that Scorcese's Shutter Island ... ahem... rips it off. I knew from the first scene exactly what was happening in Shutter Island, which kind of ruined it for me.
eta: added a bit of that to a spoiler, in case somebody wants to watch 9th Config.

 
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Ninth Configuration by William Peter Blatty of The Exorcist, an interesting mix of psychological mystery with some black comedy mixed in (avail on youtube*). Stacy Keach in probably his best role playing a flashback haunted psychologist that was a former commando, given a new assignment in a mental institution where not everything is as it seems.

Some Stephen King novels adapted to the screen, Fire Starter and Dead Zone.

Thief a great neo-noir with James Caan.

Scanners, one of my favorites by Cronenberg with Videodrome.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZCcjzOeXlM
Thief is criminally underrated.
You stole my thought.

 
Has anyone seen Spring Breakers? It looks terrible, but I've recently heard good things.
Uneven. Gets weird at times, but overall I found it boring and humorless. Franco was great, none of the other performances stood out. Cinematography/Editing were good, film has a slick look and feel.

Can't recommend it though. Outside of Franco, it looks like a film made for 12 year olds.

 
Ninth Configuration by William Peter Blatty of The Exorcist, an interesting mix of psychological mystery with some black comedy mixed in (avail on youtube*). Stacy Keach in probably his best role playing a flashback haunted psychologist that was a former commando, given a new assignment in a mental institution where not everything is as it seems.

Some Stephen King novels adapted to the screen, Fire Starter and Dead Zone.

Thief a great neo-noir with James Caan.

Scanners, one of my favorites by Cronenberg with Videodrome.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZCcjzOeXlM
ICan't believe you (or anybody else) saw 9th Configuration, Bob.

I saw it in the theater as a kid- when it was called "twinkle, twinkle, killer-kane". I enjoyed the movie quite a bit as a kid (mind-blown by the twists) but not quite sure it would hold up (Shakespeare performed by dogs, IIRC?).

Also interesting that Scorcese's Shutter Island ... ahem... rips it off. I knew from the first scene exactly what was happening in Shutter Island, which kind of ruined it for me.
eta: added a bit of that to a spoiler, in case somebody wants to watch 9th Config.Yeah, El Floppo, that was the original title of the novel.

I was checking out his wiki page, and Blatty actually had a background in comedy, of all things, before the Exorcist.

It held up for me, but I liked the black comedy* elements, and I thought Keach was great in it. It takes some patience, I guess it is dated in the sense there aren't explosions and special effects every few minutes like Transformers (not that that is your kind of movie, just to illustrate your point, I agree it definitely wouldn't be for everybody), or the contemporary epilepsy-inducing, staccato, ten per second, speed edits of the Bourne trilogy. I also liked the atmosphere of the remote gothic castle, a lot of character actor faces from the seventies and the twists... for me, the payoff was worth it, though of course it is a different experience rewatching a movie like that. What other movie could combine theological discussions with the best bar fight ever?

* That reminds me, the greatest black comedy I've ever seen, and it isn't close, if you like that kind of thing, is Kind Hearts and Coronets. It was from the British Ealing Studios (also did The Lady Killers and The Lavender Hill Mob). Dennis Price plays an urbane serial killer who needs to take out over a half dozen relatives to assume some kind of title or inheritance. The relatives, in a tour de force performance, one of his best ever in a comedy, are all played by Alec Guiness, who submerges and recesses himself deeper and deeper into the characters (makes Peter Sellers multiple roles in a Pink Panther movie look like a piker in comparison).

** a good article on the The Ninth Configuration. The (re)title comes from a scene at about the 45:45 mark in the above link (which I think may be based on a flawed take on molecular biochemistry - the permutations space of physical organization possibilities is far from random).

http://www.moviefanfare.com/believing-or-not-in-the-ninth-configuration/

 
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Saw Catching Fire last night. Felt like it was MUCH better than Hunger Games. You can tell that they pumped a lot more money into this one and it showed. Great performances all around, and a nice twist at the end. Good action sequences.

4/5
Spot on. The thing that I love about this movie is that even though the material could easily drift into "Twilight" territory, Jennifer Lawrence brings everything she can to the role. She could so easily just cash a big paycheck and sleepwalk through the film, but she really elevates the material. Love watching her work in almost anything.

 
Has anyone seen Spring Breakers? It looks terrible, but I've recently heard good things.
Uneven. Gets weird at times, but overall I found it boring and humorless. Franco was great, none of the other performances stood out. Cinematography/Editing were good, film has a slick look and feel.

Can't recommend it though. Outside of Franco, it looks like a film made for 12 year olds.
This is what I suspected.

 
Saw Catching Fire last night. Felt like it was MUCH better than Hunger Games. You can tell that they pumped a lot more money into this one and it showed. Great performances all around, and a nice twist at the end. Good action sequences.

4/5
Spot on. The thing that I love about this movie is that even though the material could easily drift into "Twilight" territory, Jennifer Lawrence brings everything she can to the role. She could so easily just cash a big paycheck and sleepwalk through the film, but she really elevates the material. Love watching her work in almost anything.
I didn't see the first movie and I haven't read the books, but I really enjoyed Catching Fire.

 
Scanners, one of my favorites by Cronenberg with Videodrome.
Saw this in the theater a million years ago. Great movie.
The lead in Scanners may be the worst actor in the history of acting
You are right, Drifter.

Cronenberg admitted he may have made a mistake, and claimed he cast him because he thought he had piercing eyes. :)

Though not too many serious thespians or future Oscar winners in the Troma Team productions (Toxic Avenger, but than that was being played for laughs). Wooden would be a complement (though he was playing a kind of burn out, so it sort of worked in that role). It also has the hard case guy from V and Starship Troopers (Michael Ironside), and the head exploding scene was iconic for horror/sci fi movies. I also like the score by Howard Shore (who may have scored all of Cronenberg's movies, especially the early ones, before he became famous with the Lord of the Rings).

 
Saw Catching Fire last night. Felt like it was MUCH better than Hunger Games. You can tell that they pumped a lot more money into this one and it showed. Great performances all around, and a nice twist at the end. Good action sequences.

4/5
Spot on. The thing that I love about this movie is that even though the material could easily drift into "Twilight" territory, Jennifer Lawrence brings everything she can to the role. She could so easily just cash a big paycheck and sleepwalk through the film, but she really elevates the material. Love watching her work in almost anything.
I didn't see the first movie and I haven't read the books, but I really enjoyed Catching Fire.
That seems odd. I can see not reading the books but not reading them AND going to the second film without seeing the first? Seems like you really put yourself in a position to have little to no context.

 
jdoggydogg said:
Statorama said:
Usual21 said:
Saw Catching Fire last night. Felt like it was MUCH better than Hunger Games. You can tell that they pumped a lot more money into this one and it showed. Great performances all around, and a nice twist at the end. Good action sequences.

4/5
Spot on. The thing that I love about this movie is that even though the material could easily drift into "Twilight" territory, Jennifer Lawrence brings everything she can to the role. She could so easily just cash a big paycheck and sleepwalk through the film, but she really elevates the material. Love watching her work in almost anything.
I didn't see the first movie and I haven't read the books, but I really enjoyed Catching Fire.
Catching Fire was a huge improvement. It's too bad the 3rd book sucks and, split into two movies, I don't see how they can make the 3rd movie not awful.

 
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Bob Magaw said:
Drifter said:
jdoggydogg said:
Bob Magaw said:
Scanners, one of my favorites by Cronenberg with Videodrome.
Saw this in the theater a million years ago. Great movie.
The lead in Scanners may be the worst actor in the history of acting
You are right, Drifter.

Cronenberg admitted he may have made a mistake, and claimed he cast him because he thought he had piercing eyes. :)

Though not too many serious thespians or future Oscar winners in the Troma Team productions (Toxic Avenger, but than that was being played for laughs). Wooden would be a complement (though he was playing a kind of burn out, so it sort of worked in that role). It also has the hard case guy from V and Starship Troopers (Michael Ironside), and the head exploding scene was iconic for horror/sci fi movies. I also like the score by Howard Shore (who may have scored all of Cronenberg's movies, especially the early ones, before he became famous with the Lord of the Rings).
Cronenberg also has a strange fascination with shotguns in that movie. Every single gun is a shotgun

 
Chaka said:
jdoggydogg said:
Statorama said:
Usual21 said:
Saw Catching Fire last night. Felt like it was MUCH better than Hunger Games. You can tell that they pumped a lot more money into this one and it showed. Great performances all around, and a nice twist at the end. Good action sequences.

4/5
Spot on. The thing that I love about this movie is that even though the material could easily drift into "Twilight" territory, Jennifer Lawrence brings everything she can to the role. She could so easily just cash a big paycheck and sleepwalk through the film, but she really elevates the material. Love watching her work in almost anything.
I didn't see the first movie and I haven't read the books, but I really enjoyed Catching Fire.
That seems odd. I can see not reading the books but not reading them AND going to the second film without seeing the first? Seems like you really put yourself in a position to have little to no context.
My son and his cousins wanted to go, so we took them.

 
jdoggydogg said:
Statorama said:
Usual21 said:
Saw Catching Fire last night. Felt like it was MUCH better than Hunger Games. You can tell that they pumped a lot more money into this one and it showed. Great performances all around, and a nice twist at the end. Good action sequences.

4/5
Spot on. The thing that I love about this movie is that even though the material could easily drift into "Twilight" territory, Jennifer Lawrence brings everything she can to the role. She could so easily just cash a big paycheck and sleepwalk through the film, but she really elevates the material. Love watching her work in almost anything.
I didn't see the first movie and I haven't read the books, but I really enjoyed Catching Fire.
I'm still mad at these movies. Not enough explanation of the Sci behind the SciFi. Everyone's like "You gotta read the books to understand", and I say "F that, that's why I'm at the movies. Movies should be internally consistent & self-contained within themselves."

 
jdoggydogg said:
Statorama said:
Usual21 said:
Saw Catching Fire last night. Felt like it was MUCH better than Hunger Games. You can tell that they pumped a lot more money into this one and it showed. Great performances all around, and a nice twist at the end. Good action sequences.

4/5
Spot on. The thing that I love about this movie is that even though the material could easily drift into "Twilight" territory, Jennifer Lawrence brings everything she can to the role. She could so easily just cash a big paycheck and sleepwalk through the film, but she really elevates the material. Love watching her work in almost anything.
I didn't see the first movie and I haven't read the books, but I really enjoyed Catching Fire.
I'm still mad at these movies. Not enough explanation of the Sci behind the SciFi. Everyone's like "You gotta read the books to understand", and I say "F that, that's why I'm at the movies. Movies should be internally consistent & self-contained within themselves."
Sure. If there's something really fascinating in the book that didn't make it on screen, that's a shame. Although perhaps it wasn't filmable.

 
jdoggydogg said:
Statorama said:
Usual21 said:
Saw Catching Fire last night. Felt like it was MUCH better than Hunger Games. You can tell that they pumped a lot more money into this one and it showed. Great performances all around, and a nice twist at the end. Good action sequences.

4/5
Spot on. The thing that I love about this movie is that even though the material could easily drift into "Twilight" territory, Jennifer Lawrence brings everything she can to the role. She could so easily just cash a big paycheck and sleepwalk through the film, but she really elevates the material. Love watching her work in almost anything.
I didn't see the first movie and I haven't read the books, but I really enjoyed Catching Fire.
I'm still mad at these movies. Not enough explanation of the Sci behind the SciFi. Everyone's like "You gotta read the books to understand", and I say "F that, that's why I'm at the movies. Movies should be internally consistent & self-contained within themselves."
Explanations of what Sci? You want to know how the Hunger Games arena actually works?

 
jdoggydogg said:
Statorama said:
Usual21 said:
Saw Catching Fire last night. Felt like it was MUCH better than Hunger Games. You can tell that they pumped a lot more money into this one and it showed. Great performances all around, and a nice twist at the end. Good action sequences.

4/5
Spot on. The thing that I love about this movie is that even though the material could easily drift into "Twilight" territory, Jennifer Lawrence brings everything she can to the role. She could so easily just cash a big paycheck and sleepwalk through the film, but she really elevates the material. Love watching her work in almost anything.
I didn't see the first movie and I haven't read the books, but I really enjoyed Catching Fire.
I'm still mad at these movies. Not enough explanation of the Sci behind the SciFi. Everyone's like "You gotta read the books to understand", and I say "F that, that's why I'm at the movies. Movies should be internally consistent & self-contained within themselves."
Sure. If there's something really fascinating in the book that didn't make it on screen, that's a shame. Although perhaps it wasn't filmable.
I'm more talking about the basic rules of the in-movie universe that go unexplained.

It's pretty much the basis of SciFi that you set up this alternate world, but to be good SciFi, you have to be consistent within your story. That is, if you're making Star Trek, and one episode says "going past warp 10 means you go back in time", and you establish point A is like 10 years of warp 10 away from point B, you can't have them go to warp 11 in a later episode to get there faster because you need them to for the plot. It's bad continuity. There's a ton of Hunger Games where they just never explain the science rules of the universe, so there's just no continuity. Stuff can just happen, because. Because... the plot needs it to happen? I don't know. But I just hate the movie-going experience that assumes you're fluent in rules that are never going to be explained (or, if they are, remain internally consistent). And every time I ask someone conversant in the rules to explain what happened, they just shrug and say "it makes sense in the book" and they start going into a long tangent that never actually delivers an explanation. "But... why?" I ask, and they just shrug again.

 
jdoggydogg said:
Statorama said:
Usual21 said:
Saw Catching Fire last night. Felt like it was MUCH better than Hunger Games. You can tell that they pumped a lot more money into this one and it showed. Great performances all around, and a nice twist at the end. Good action sequences.

4/5
Spot on. The thing that I love about this movie is that even though the material could easily drift into "Twilight" territory, Jennifer Lawrence brings everything she can to the role. She could so easily just cash a big paycheck and sleepwalk through the film, but she really elevates the material. Love watching her work in almost anything.
I didn't see the first movie and I haven't read the books, but I really enjoyed Catching Fire.
I'm still mad at these movies. Not enough explanation of the Sci behind the SciFi. Everyone's like "You gotta read the books to understand", and I say "F that, that's why I'm at the movies. Movies should be internally consistent & self-contained within themselves."
Explanations of what Sci? You want to know how the Hunger Games arena actually works?
Yeah. I guess I'd start there. Is it like the Holodeck on Star Trek? What's real? Are the trees, birds, and those Ghostbusters-like Terror Dogs from the first movie actual living creatures, or simulations, or what?

Edit: It's been a while since I've seen either film and I've mostly forgotten the questions, but that was definitely one of them because of how it ties into the whole concept.

 
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I'm more talking about the basic rules of the in-movie universe that go unexplained.

It's pretty much the basis of SciFi that you set up this alternate world, but to be good SciFi, you have to be consistent within your story. That is, if you're making Star Trek, and one episode says "going past warp 10 means you go back in time", and you establish point A is like 10 years of warp 10 away from point B, you can't have them go to warp 11 in a later episode to get there faster because you need them to for the plot. It's bad continuity. There's a ton of Hunger Games where they just never explain the science rules of the universe, so there's just no continuity. Stuff can just happen, because. Because... the plot needs it to happen? I don't know. But I just hate the movie-going experience that assumes you're fluent in rules that are never going to be explained (or, if they are, remain internally consistent). And every time I ask someone conversant in the rules to explain what happened, they just shrug and say "it makes sense in the book" and they start going into a long tangent that never actually delivers an explanation. "But... why?" I ask, and they just shrug again.
Do you have any examples you can think of?

 
I'm more talking about the basic rules of the in-movie universe that go unexplained.

It's pretty much the basis of SciFi that you set up this alternate world, but to be good SciFi, you have to be consistent within your story. That is, if you're making Star Trek, and one episode says "going past warp 10 means you go back in time", and you establish point A is like 10 years of warp 10 away from point B, you can't have them go to warp 11 in a later episode to get there faster because you need them to for the plot. It's bad continuity. There's a ton of Hunger Games where they just never explain the science rules of the universe, so there's just no continuity. Stuff can just happen, because. Because... the plot needs it to happen? I don't know. But I just hate the movie-going experience that assumes you're fluent in rules that are never going to be explained (or, if they are, remain internally consistent). And every time I ask someone conversant in the rules to explain what happened, they just shrug and say "it makes sense in the book" and they start going into a long tangent that never actually delivers an explanation. "But... why?" I ask, and they just shrug again.
Do you have any examples you can think of?
Like I said, it's been a while. But if the people of this universe have the ability to summon Terror Dogs and birds out of nowhere... can't they summon, like, cows too, for food? The structure of this society should be markedly different if they have some of these powers. I get that they're being punished, but, I don't get why everyone goes along with it I guess. The motivations for the characters aren't necessarily logical as presented in the film.

In the second movie, how come sometimes they could escape a trap by walking from one section to another, but other times, they couldn't? The control room seems to be able to create things out of nowhere... and can even control the trees, so are they simulations? Is it like the Holodeck on Star Trek? And if so, how come...

...at the end of Catching Fire, when she breaks the arena, those things are still there? If even the trees are under the control of Philip Seymour Hoffman's crew, that implies they're simulations, yet when the power plug is pulled, they remain. Why? How does that place work? And why does it continue to work after it breaks?
 
I was actually surprised that enjoyed the first Hunger Games a good bit. I liked the unique futuristic yet not qualities it had had. I watched Catching Fire the other night and while I thought it was entertaining, the storyline seemed much weaker. It basically felt like 15 minutes in, they threw them all into Hungerville, have them die/evade death, and then a big plot move in the last 10 minutes - essentially for the next film. Granted, I was pretty drunk the other night which is why I didnt post a review on it because I figured Id watch it again, but thats how that viewing came across.

 
Bob Magaw said:
El Floppo said:
Bob Magaw said:
Ninth Configuration by William Peter Blatty of The Exorcist, an interesting mix of psychological mystery with some black comedy mixed in (avail on youtube*). Stacy Keach in probably his best role playing a flashback haunted psychologist that was a former commando, given a new assignment in a mental institution where not everything is as it seems.

Some Stephen King novels adapted to the screen, Fire Starter and Dead Zone.

Thief a great neo-noir with James Caan.

Scanners, one of my favorites by Cronenberg with Videodrome.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZCcjzOeXlM
ICan't believe you (or anybody else) saw 9th Configuration, Bob.

I saw it in the theater as a kid- when it was called "twinkle, twinkle, killer-kane". I enjoyed the movie quite a bit as a kid (mind-blown by the twists) but not quite sure it would hold up (Shakespeare performed by dogs, IIRC?).

Also interesting that Scorcese's Shutter Island ... ahem... rips it off. I knew from the first scene exactly what was happening in Shutter Island, which kind of ruined it for me.
eta: added a bit of that to a spoiler, in case somebody wants to watch 9th Config.

Yeah, El Floppo, that was the original title of the novel.I was checking out his wiki page, and Blatty actually had a background in comedy, of all things, before the Exorcist.

It held up for me, but I liked the black comedy* elements, and I thought Keach was great in it. It takes some patience, I guess it is dated in the sense there aren't explosions and special effects every few minutes like Transformers (not that that is your kind of movie, just to illustrate your point, I agree it definitely wouldn't be for everybody), or the contemporary epilepsy-inducing, staccato, ten per second, speed edits of the Bourne trilogy. I also liked the atmosphere of the remote gothic castle, a lot of character actor faces from the seventies and the twists... for me, the payoff was worth it, though of course it is a different experience rewatching a movie like that. What other movie could combine theological discussions with the best bar fight ever?

* That reminds me, the greatest black comedy I've ever seen, and it isn't close, if you like that kind of thing, is Kind Hearts and Coronets. It was from the British Ealing Studios (also did The Lady Killers and The Lavender Hill Mob). Dennis Price plays an urbane serial killer who needs to take out over a half dozen relatives to assume some kind of title or inheritance. The relatives, in a tour de force performance, one of his best ever in a comedy, are all played by Alec Guiness, who submerges and recesses himself deeper and deeper into the characters (makes Peter Sellers multiple roles in a Pink Panther movie look like a piker in comparison).

** a good article on the The Ninth Configuration. The (re)title comes from a scene at about the 45:45 mark in the above link (which I think may be based on a flawed take on molecular biochemistry - the permutations space of physical organization possibilities is far from random).

http://www.moviefanfare.com/believing-or-not-in-the-ninth-configuration/
fantastic stuff, bob :thumbup:

now I'll HAVE to see it again... somehow.

 

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