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Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
I think the decision to split this book into 3 films will lead to parody over the entire series.
- Smoking Guns
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- Me_Wise_Magic
- Rep: 70
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
Godzilla. Wow, VERY entertaining!!
Same here man! Saw it last night with my dad. So satisfying. I'm up for more. Loved some of the original films growing up except for the '98 Emmerrch abomination.
- Me_Wise_Magic
- Rep: 70
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
Saw Interstellar and Gone Girl last week. Both very good movies. Can't go wrong with Fincher or Nolan's film making.
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
still haven't found the energy or enthusiasm to sit tho those two films ^ they just seem frightfully annoying.
Godzilla was really good!
given the season that's in it, been doing a lot of film watching lately. here's a quick recap:
big hero 6 - loved it
inherent vice - thought it was meandering & dull & really unfunny
boyhood - really liked it
birdman - loved it
whiplash - meh. decent but ridiculously overhyped.
nightcrawler - really liked it. gyllenhaal was really brilliant.
grand hotel budapest - not really my cup of tea. wes anderson isn't my cup of tea. i've sat thru all his films & haven't laughed or even cracked a smile once. it's just not me.
American sniper - one of worst, most unlikeable films I've ever seen.
also been doing other stuff like
grand theft parsons - really liked it. one of the better comedies of the past.. of this century. that's not saying much of course but it's a nice enough film, & short (coming in @ under 88mins - if you can't make a film in 90mins or less you shouldn't even bother imo!). i love gram parsons but this isn't about him. it's about the crazy story after he died which is one of the best rock n roll stories, really. johnny knoxville is actually bearable for once & michael shannon is brilliant & looks so young as to be almost unrecognisable. i love grams & this story & had serious misgivings about it (johnny knoxville chief among them w/applegate not far behind & the irreverent tone it took) but i eventually was talked into giving it a chance & i'm glad i did. defo one of the more worthy, charming comedies i've seen in a long time.
been doing lars von trier too
melancholia - i loved
nymphomaniac I - i thought was terrific
nymphomaniac II - not as good as the first part. nowhere near as good in fact.
oh yea i did this german mini-series/film, Generation War. it's melodramatic soap opera of a stupefying fictionalised account of 5 friends during the war.
i thought it was horrible, verging on whitewashing & blame shifting/deflection. i was amazed at times what i was seeing.
i found it worrisome actually, as a representation of how modern germans [may] view WWII.. a total lack of accountability & honesty. it distorted fact & tidied up german attitudes (i.e. germans = good, jew-loving. happy & generous; nazi's = bad guys - as well as the polish separatists & ukrainians - of which there is an element of truth in, but the distortion of this film puts their crimes on par w/that of the nazi's which was just one example of the lack of accountability that runs thru the film).
now a lot of it was interesting, but that stuff was mostly in the margins.
- Smoking Guns
- Rep: 330
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
Saw American Sniper. I loved it. I thought it was fantastic. Chris Kyle was a true legend.
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
Plenty of mass murderers & serial killers are legends..
Would he be a legend in your terms if he'd fought for the other side?? If someone had killed 255 Americans what would you call him?
He was an exemplary soldier, for whatever that's worth..
Not much to me.
I recognise the complexity of the character, but it's a world that's anathema to me. I hold p much the exact opposite views & excuses that Kyle embodied.
As for the film & not the person, it really turned me off. I usually love war films, inspite of what I said above, but this was one so narrow & blinkered in its view I just couldn't stomach it. Technically it was actually prob really good, but in terms of atmosphere I couldn't take it. There are now a good few Iraq war films & this is the really the first that I couldn't get on board with in any way.
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
I usually love war films,
I love war movies too, I wanna see Sniper, want to see it with an open mind. I've read its great, and I've read the guy, well, it's all been said.
Anyway I saw Lone Survivor last night. Did you see that (Wahlberg movie)? I thought it was terrible. Surprised it got some decent reviews. The story was great, ashame what happened to those guys, but I felt the movie was pretty badly made & the story was subpar. Zero character development & I felt the scene for scene almost tried to take Black Hawk Down (a great war movie imho & prolly one of my favorites) and replace parts to make it Lone Survivor. I felt there wasn't much character develpment, they didn't get into
I just didn't like it much as a movie. Which is ashame, because the story was very sad & heroic how the guy made it thru such chaos & turmoil.
- Smoking Guns
- Rep: 330
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
In lone survivor didn't they kind of blame DC for not having the back up forces? I too thought Lone Survivor was overrated. The character I liked the least was Wahlberg's... Seemed like he survived more from luck and chance while the other guys fought their asses off. It was a frustrating movie. I liked American Sniper though. And Johndivney, the Syrian sniper too was a legend.... They called him Mustafa. To me what made this guy a hero (based off the movie because I have not read the book) was everything he was as a person. As his father called him, a sheep dog.
He was a sniper because of an injury he got from bull riding that had pins in his arm or hand. So at first the military rejected him. But then after his hand healed, they said he could be a sniper. So he was basically assigned there due to an injury. Even as a sniper, he wanted to help the marines, so he would go door to door with them. He protected them and taught them some stuff he learned as a SEAL. He wanted to give back and mentor people. He wanted to protect America. He visited the VA, he tried to help people with PTSD. The Islamic Extremists are bad people, I don't think this is up for debate. They kill their own women and children. They kill anyone that doesn't think like them. Does Chris Kyle do that? It is war, somebody has to be a sniper. It doesn't make you some coward or pussy like Michael Moore wants you to believe. He served his country and sacrificed a lot.. I have nothing negative to say. He saved a lot of lives, a lot of American lives and innocent Iraqi lives from killing BAD PEOPLE.
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
there is defo truth in that ^
but one of my problems w/the film is that is all you see of kyle. you only see the heroic stuff. you don't get to see any of the flaws in his character, that are apparently in the book. the film presents such a narrow view of the man that it just doesn't sit right w/me knowing that there's more to the story than what's being shown on screen.
& what is shown on screen isn't up for debate. there's no nuance or grey area's, it's all very black & white. in that sorta regard i didn't find it a very balanced film.
e.g. you mention about him going door to door w/the marines - which is one of the things i found most interesting about the film & thought right there is a moment to properly examine what's going on: what's going on w/his superiors & what's going on in the guy's head to make him want to behave that way??
instead it's all just wrapped up nicely at the start about being the sheepdog/protector. but there must've been more to the guys determination than a couple of conversations w/his father..?? he was obv very driven, but there was no depth to it just a simple explanation at the top & the scenes on tv of the terrorists attacks that convince him to sign up. is that all there is to him? for such a steely guy it didn't seem like enough time was spent on his motivation..
& how is it such a valuable asset was allowed to put himself in that position? that decision never got a look in. but that's a minor plot hole, maybe addressed in the book?? or maybe not even a issue at all??
& i can see how & why the respect & admiration for him comes from.like i say he was clearly an exemplary soldier, there's no debate. but in terms of his make up & what made him that soldier & that person i found the film lacking. & the fact there was another side to his story that isn't touched upon at all.
even when he comes home after the fourth tour & is trying to readjust, that whole period seems to be given a short shift too.
likewise i thought Lone Survivor was a wasted opportunity. great story, rubbish film. yea again there was a lot of the story that just seemed.. vacant. like there was a story to tell but they only skimmed the surface.
& it's the reasons behind the lack of depth in this films that i find worrying. they're only presenting a small part of the stories. american sniper is defo not a warts & all biography, it actually is more of a hero/western type film than a biopic.
