If you think the second was cheaply made, the third will be unbearable. That series got phased out quick.
I think a thing can be cheaply made yet still have some spark of soul that carries it through. The BBC TV productions of the Narnia books of the 80's had pretty dubious production values and some truly bad costumes yet somehow were infinitely more charming and compelling than these latter day CGI soaked Peter-Jackson-LOTR-Lite monstrosities.
There’s a cartoon edition too. Not gonna make anyone watch that anytime soon. And yes, I do have a thing for the movies. Only because I’ve got a little crush on Prince Caspian. *swoons* Narnia Cartoon Edition
Ah, that anomaly. Red Dwarf is a prime example of this. But you see, naff SFX can only be forgiven when they know they’re naff. In the case of the Narnia films, they were clearly going for the big budget, epic fantasy look, and that’s why it’s cheapness / amateurishness sticks out so much.
That was a damn good film, but I’m staggered that as recently as 2003, the animal welfare people deem such treatment of horses as acceptable. Fair enough, trip wires are no longer used, but that technique the stuntmen use, where they pull quickly on one rein, to snap the horse’s head to one side, causing it to fall, doesn’t look like a whole lot of fun for the animal! And yes, once post-production is finished, and in the heat of the battle, it looks far more brutal than it probably is. But still. NB: Just read a short article on the subject, which claims these are stunt horse, trained to fall on command. Mmm, seems dubious to me.
Refreshing that you have a detailed enough eye to recognise and call out on such things. In light of the topic discussed in the other thread, this could be a good point. Hollywood always says there was no unfair treatment of animals at the end of the end credits, so they obviously acknowledge that it’s illegal to harm animals, even if they are acknowledged as “stunt horses”.
I’m going to go see the new Dune movie this coming Monday. Besides the glowing reviews the movie has received on this thread, someone else I know said they were so impressed with the movie, they went back to watch it again. Also, I’m still part way through Children of Dune, so the timing couldn’t be any more perfect. Guess I’m expecting to see something too amazing.
I rather enjoyed "The French Dispatch." It's basically three vignettes, they're only related in that they're stories of a city told by a framing device. The stories are in the final issue of this magazine (the titular title, is that redundant?). If you like Wes Anderson, you'll be impressed. If you think the height of cinema is sky lasers at the end of a CGI battle, then you'd best stay away. My favorite bit was the third story and how it becomes a cartoon. I found that funny. I've seen that trick from Tarantino and in a couple other minor movie scenes: Nic Cage in "Mandy," Takashi Miike's "First Love". Does "Sin City" count? I'm not sure . . . You've got to be at the top of your game to pull it off. I had to see "First Love" because Maimi from C-ute was in it in a minor role. Plus I like Miike. He knows his yakuza, that's for sure. Here's Maimi dancing with her group. She's the tall one with the straight hair. I'm glad these girls find life after J-pop. Becoming an actress is a common out. There was a scene at the beginning of "The French Dispatch" with a lot of drawn out female frontal nudity. I'm no prude. I'm not complaining. And the scene is vaguely funny in context. What amused me most is that these people came strolling in late to the theater and this is what they're treated to. I'm curious what they were thinking? "Are we in the wrong movie? Are we lost?" Always show up on time. Art house movies have about 15 minutes of previews. Popcorn movies have closer to 25. Special event movies sometimes have none. You have to plan ahead. Tonight, I'm watching "Antlers." I also see there's a new del Toro movie coming up. As in written and directed by, not produced by, like in Antlers. I'll be catching that opening night.
I watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, followed by Mean Girls as a pallet kleanser. Talk about whiplash. I think everyone deserved an Oscar (in Mean Girls that is). I probably love it more than I should. TGwtDT was brilliant but it was also gritty as hell; some of those scenes were quite disturbing (I’m not exactly a delicate flower either). It was incredibly gripping though. Generally this kind of psychological rape/murder/etc. shit isn’t really my thing anyway. Too depressing. But 9/10.
I’m excited about the Del Toro Nightmare Alley too. I loved the 1947 movie and I’m sure he’ll do something special with it. I’m still desperately hoping Del Toro will be able to make At the Mountains of Madness or Frankenstein.
But then what to do with all those rambunctious and highly athletic horses that love to run and jump and roll and tumble? Just as there are adrenaline junkies who become stunt performers or thrill seekers, there are animals with the same tendencies, only they're far stronger, faster, and tougher than mere puny humans could ever dream of being. My neighbor's dog loves to run as fast as she can in big looping circles around and around their yard. With horses like that it would be a form of abuse to keep them penned up and grazing gently in fields without letting them run off all that energy. Owners and trainers can tell which ones are suitable for stunt work.
Saw two movies last night. Too much free time on my hands... The first one was No Time to Die. Not bad, a little slower and less action than the average Bond film, but I understand that is the direction of Craig’s arc. The second was Awake. Nothing too surprising in the plot but it had enough energy to keep my attention throughout.
I saw Dune today. Was nice to put faces to some names, I guess. However, it was somewhat different to the book. I think in book 1, Paul’s sister Alia is born and destroys the Baron Harkonnen at the end. That’s not what happens in the movie. There’s obviously part 2 but shouldn’t that happened in part 1. I think Lord of the Rings (the movie) had the same issue. A lot of the plot got left out. Never mind, I’m just one harsh critic. If sci-fi is your genre, you should watch this movie.
The movie is more or less the first half of the first book. There were some things they changed or left out but Alia, the death of the baron, etc. all come later. I liked the movie a lot more than I expected. I appreciate the somber and foreboding mood preserved throughout. The Sardaukar ritual on their home planet was a wonderful bit of weirdness. I thought Lady Jessica was played well though I would have liked to see more of her. I had some criticisms- I thought the ship designs were very weak, the costumes were a mixed bag, a few moments of dialogue were lame, and there should have been a lot more color in general. Also the Hans Zimmer BRAAAAMM gets tiresome. But overall I thought it was pretty excellent.
these were my main criticisms of the film as well. The script was good, but the dialogue was a bit dull in some scenes when I thought it could have used a little more verve. Serviceable, though.
I also watched Dune just now, and I loved it. Wonderful aesthetics, score, and atmosphere overall. I didn't expect much, and it overdelivered to the nth degree. I guess it's time for me to actually read the book all the way through.
It feels as if this movie is the start of a very long franchise. They’ve still got Dune Messiah and Children of Dune to cover in the script but it’s obvious they still haven’t gotten through everything in the first book yet. Having watched the movie, I somehow wish I’d read the book after watching the movie too. It puts certain things in perspective eg. I had no idea that the “sand worms” were supposed to be that humongous!
Yeah, they were even bigger than I pictured them. Kind of hard to imagine living creatures on that scale. I love how the worms were portrayed in this. They really captured the intimidation factor of a dry-land Leviathan.
The only Villeneuve movie I'm familiar with (that I know he did) is Bladerunner 2049. That was visually stunning, and also in terms of the sound design and music etc, and it also had a very interesting premise and themes, but ultimately I felt let down by it. Probably because it was set up like a hero's journey but he turned out not to be the hero, at least not the way he thought. Though he did make the ultimate sacrifice to get the father and daughter together, which does make him a hero (in a very understated and tragic way), and it also showed that the replicants really are human—the only reason they and everybody else believe they're not is because of the propaganda and the brainwashing, making them and everyone else believe they're less than human. That is extremely interesting and highly relevant (always). But somehow the ending was still underwhelming and tragic. The thematic material is very subtextual, you have to dig a bit to understand it, which isn't something we're used to in a big Hollywood movie. And of course those same themes and tragic quality were there in the original Bladerunner. I'm not sure those are entirely why I felt let down by the sequel, because I didn't get the same vibe from the original. I think maybe it's because the sequel is oversaturated with sadness and a sense of futility and there's no real payoff in the end. Maybe there would be if we knew more about the Designer (or whatever she was called—Deckard's/Rachel's daughter). She's really an incidental character who turns out to be The One, which we and the main character thought he was (you know, the main character we've been invested in and identifying with throughout). Wolverine made the same kind of sacrifice at the end of Logan, but that was a satisfying movie because we got to know and love the person he made the sacrifice for, and we saw him gradually overcome his selfishness and accept that Laura was his daughter. We felt the need for him to sacrifice his miserable life (which was ending anyway) to help her and her friends. Nothing like this happened in BR 2049. The unnamed protagonist died without achieving any sense of meaning, and the overall tone of the movie and its world was bleak, hopeless and desolate.
Unless they decide to really milk the cash cow, the way they did with Peter Jackson's The Hobbit. They should have stopped after LoTR, or they should have done The Hobbit as a single movie and up to the same standards as its predecessor. But alas...
