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Recent Viewing Part IV

Film, TV & DVD » Recent Viewing Part IV (Posts 3361 to 3390 of 5515)

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  1. I think ID4 is an enjoyable escapist scifi vehicle.

    Concerning Emmerich being German: Since 1945 many Germans have developed a taste for ersatz patriotism. Remember Obama being cheered in Berlin at he beginning of his white house campaign? Also the British monarchy has a huge fandom here.

    Volker
    Bach's music is vibrant and inspired.
    •  
      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016
    Captain Future wrote
    I think ID4 is an enjoyable escapist scifi vehicle.

    Concerning Emmerich being German: Since 1945 many Germans have developed a taste for ersatz patriotism. Remember Obama being cheered in Berlin at he beginning of his white house campaign? Also the British monarchy has a huge fandom here.

    Volker


    Also a fascination for our own monarchy in Norway, I've understood.

    I love German filmmakers nurting this fascination. Wolfgang Petersen's AIR FORCE ONE is another brilliant example.
    I am extremely serious.
  3. Yeah! AFO is just amazingly executed. Non stop thrills. And Gary Oldman is a superb villain.
    "considering I've seen an enormous debate here about The Amazing Spider-Man and the ones who love it, and the ones who hate it, I feel myself obliged to say: TASTE DIFFERS, DEAL WITH IT" - Thomas G.
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016
    Captain Future wrote
    Also the British monarchy has a huge fandom here.


    Of course they do, they're German.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteven
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016
    Thor wrote
    I meet people like you all the time, Steven. People who make easy puns at academia or film studies because of sheer and utter ignorance. That's fine. If anything, it leaves all the more to enjoy for me.


    Glad I can help.

    Still, I think you misunderstand me: I'm not making fun at academia or film studies. I've done both of those things and enjoyed them immensely. I'm making fun of you.
    •  
      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016 edited
    Steven wrote
    Thor wrote
    I meet people like you all the time, Steven. People who make easy puns at academia or film studies because of sheer and utter ignorance. That's fine. If anything, it leaves all the more to enjoy for me.


    Glad I can help.

    Still, I think you misunderstand me: I'm not making fun at academia or film studies. I've done both of those things and enjoyed them immensely. I'm making fun of you.


    Yes, because that's such a constructive strategy. rolleyes Your ridicule of academia -- or attempt to do so, anyway -- in the second paragraph there is fairly transparent, I think.
    I am extremely serious.
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016 edited
    Thor wrote
    True, it's no 2001 or SOLARIS or BLADE RUNNER or ALIEN or even STAR WARS, but nor does it aspire to. It does its own thing. That's why I fully agree with those who now put it on the Top 10 list of sci fi movies of all time. At the very least Top 15.



    Just for the hell of it here's some of my favourites...

    2001 A SPACE ODYESSY
    2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT
    THE FLY ( 1986 )
    QUATERMAS AND THE PIT
    FORBIDDEN PLANET
    THE THING ( 1982 )
    TERMINATOR'S 1 & 2
    BACK TO THE FUTURE I - III
    ROBOCOP ( 1987 )
    WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE
    THE WAR OF THE WORLDS ( 1953 )
    THE MATRIX
    ALIEN
    ALIENS
    THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL ( 1951 )
    INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS ( 1978 )
    FRANKENSTEIN ( 1931 )
    BLADERUNNER
    JURASSIC PARK
    THE TIME MACHINE ( 1960 )
    THEY LIVE
    MONSTERS
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
    •  
      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016
    I don't think I've ever attempted to make an actual list; I only know vaguely what titles would need to be there. But many good ones on yours, Timmer. Not all of them are favs of mine, and some are more horror than sci fi, but yeah. I should make a list....
    I am extremely serious.
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016
    Yes, the likes of The Fly or The Thing could be listed in both a favourite horror or sci-fi films list.

    I'm still never sure whether to list Star Wars due to the mystical elements of the films.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
    •  
      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016 edited
    Thor wrote
    I meet people like you all the time, Steven. People who make easy puns at academia or film studies because of sheer and utter ignorance. That's fine. If anything, it leaves all the more to enjoy for me.


    No pun was made that I discerned.
    And no one is somehow 'prohibiting' anyone from enjoying anything. Far from it.
    I have a great many guilty pleasures myself I'm utterly unapologetic for.

    But -with Steven- I do call bullshit when I see it.
    ID4 is just another multi-million blockbuster. There is nothing special, clever or artful about it. And if and when Emmerich wanted to make fun of the militaristic patriotism...well, I guess it depends on how much you like the man's intentions on how successful you find his attempt at satire.
    For me it falls squarely and irrevocably under Poe's Law, and I am just slightly relieved rather than amused or entertained to have learned that apparently Emmerich wasn't taking it seriously. Which was in no way selfevident.
    Take that as a comment on the state of American cinema at the time, the lack of finesse in Emmerich's work, or a poorly chosen combination of blockbuster and social commentary, as you will.
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
    •  
      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016 edited
    Timmer wrote
    Yes, the likes of The Fly or The Thing could be listed in both a favourite horror or sci-fi films list.


    Which I always do. smile The lines are not so clearly drawn, much as some would like them to be.

    For example there's always the incurable snob I meet at parties who can't help to state "oh well, I never even understood the difference between Star TREK and Star WARS. (Unsubtle implication being that all science fiction is OBVIOUSLY low art).
    When it's at a dear friend's place I always calmly explain that one is one man's utopian vision of the future, the other a mythical fable. (This often works)
    When it's not, I always calmly ask if the damp and cold under that rock they've been clearly hiding under for the last fifty years affect their internet connection.
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteven
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016
    Thor wrote
    Steven wrote
    Thor wrote
    I meet people like you all the time, Steven. People who make easy puns at academia or film studies because of sheer and utter ignorance. That's fine. If anything, it leaves all the more to enjoy for me.


    Glad I can help.

    Still, I think you misunderstand me: I'm not making fun at academia or film studies. I've done both of those things and enjoyed them immensely. I'm making fun of you.


    Yes, because that's such a constructive strategy. rolleyes Your ridicule of academia -- or attempt to do so, anyway -- in the second paragraph there is fairly transparent, I think.


    Then you've just proved you see what you want. wink
    •  
      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016
    Timmer wrote
    Yes, the likes of The Fly or The Thing could be listed in both a favourite horror or sci-fi films list.


    I was thinking more FRANKENSTEIN, but yeah -- there will always be crossover elements in many of these films.
    I am extremely serious.
    •  
      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016
    But -with Steven- I do call bullshit when I see it.
    ID4 is just another multi-million blockbuster. There is nothing special, clever or artful about it.


    Says you. I couldn't possibly disagree more, and I'm glad that there are now -- 20 years later -- more people who appreciate it for the masterpiece it is. I thought that then, and I think that now.

    But yours and Steven's reductive attitudes are nothing new to me. Just as Steven can proclaim I see "art where there is none", so too can I turn the tables around and say that he is blind to the values of a film just because it appears to be a straightforward popcorn movie, and nothing more.

    This failure to locate deeper values in certain works that are seemingly surface-oriented is one of the most common attitudes I encounter, especially among regular, non-film-interested people. But also among seemingly film-interested people, as evidenced here.
    I am extremely serious.
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteven
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016 edited
    Your artistic justifications for tripe like Independence Day is more entertaining than the film! biggrin You take explaining non-art into an artform itself. Fascinating to watch. popcorn
    •  
      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016 edited
    Well, everyone can analyze and decipher and laud the complexities of an Antonioni or Godard or Bela Tarr. Easy, peacy if you've taken a film class or two. But it's more fun and interesting to find the layers within films produced in Hollywood or mainstream cinema. Not as obvious, maybe, and it certainly doesn't apply to everything, but when there's a director with a strong voice, it's the best thing in the world (Spielberg, Scott, Bay, Emmerich, Snyder etc.)!
    I am extremely serious.
  17. So ... What does make ID4 a cinematic masterpiece?
    Bach's music is vibrant and inspired.
    •  
      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016
    Captain Future wrote
    So ... What does make ID4 a cinematic masterpiece?


    http://www.maintitles.net/forum/discuss … v/#Item_23
    I am extremely serious.
  19. Thor wrote
    But -with Steven- I do call bullshit when I see it.
    ID4 is just another multi-million blockbuster. There is nothing special, clever or artful about it.


    Says you. I couldn't possibly disagree more, and I'm glad that there are now -- 20 years later -- more people who appreciate it for the masterpiece it is. I thought that then, and I think that now.


    There was something very clever about ID4 back when it came out. A sort of live report / documentary of an invasion using footage from the film, a modern take on War of the Worlds radio broadcast by Orson Welles. This was before the internet became big, so this couldn't work anymore. But for a moment I was convinced it was happening back in '96, I was genuinely terrified. shocked

    And nothing special about that film? Well tell that to David Arnold who felt inspired enough to write something truly special. Which is a big a part of the film as anything else, whichever way you look at it. rolleyes

    To anyone who says the film blows... imagine if it had never existed at all. No big glorious David Arnold score.

    There's nothing artful sure... but since when do movies need to be artful to make a lasting impression? The film's supposed to be fun, and it provides me with 2 and a half hours of just that, I can say that without shame. cheesy
    "considering I've seen an enormous debate here about The Amazing Spider-Man and the ones who love it, and the ones who hate it, I feel myself obliged to say: TASTE DIFFERS, DEAL WITH IT" - Thomas G.
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteven
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2016
    DreamTheater wrote
    And nothing special about that film? Well tell that to David Arnold who felt inspired enough to write something truly special.


    Arnold is a professional, and drew inspiration from the scale of the film, and of course past scores. A film demonstrably does not need to be good to inspire good music.

    To anyone who says the film blows... imagine if it had never existed at all. No big glorious David Arnold score.


    To anyone who says World War 2 blows... imagine if it never happened. No invention of the Jerrycan.

    There's nothing artful sure... but since when do movies need to be artful to make a lasting impression?


    Thor, it would seem.

    It's a popcorn movie. I'm all about enjoying silly popcorn movies, but this is one where my patience doesn't quite stretch far enough. But I'm happy for anyone who does enjoy it. The thing I and my esteemed colleague Martijn are primarily contending is that it's not a sub-textual work of art. It's a fact that's self-evident, but admittedly it's amusing to see Thor painfully explain why it isn't.
    •  
      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeJun 21st 2016
    The difference between you and I in this case, Steven, is that I am able to hold two thoughts simultaneously. Yes, it's a popcorn movie, and can be enjoyed as such (I certainly do), but it also has a couple of other layers for those of us who are willing to see them. So I actually get more enjoyment from this film, on more levels, than you do. Hence I win! :D
    I am extremely serious.
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteven
    • CommentTimeJun 21st 2016
    I win every time you reply. I win when you don't. I'm bi-winning. #TigerBlood
  23. DreamTheater wrote

    And nothing special about that film? Well tell that to David Arnold who felt inspired enough to write something truly special. Which is a big a part of the film as anything else, whichever way you look at it. rolleyes


    Right, like we've never had a composer write a good or great score to a stinker before.


    To anyone who says the film blows... imagine if it had never existed at all. No big glorious David Arnold score.


    This is a false argument called the hypotehtical. In that world we could just as easily imagine he'd have have tiem to get offers on other films and one of those might have ended up be just as good or even better than the ID4 score. And in that hypotehtical reality, the DreamTheater there would be telling people we'd never have gotten that glorious score if the crap film it was attached to was never made.
    The views and opinions of Ford A. Thaxton are his own and do not necessarily reflect the ones of ANYONE else.
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeJun 21st 2016
    Thor wrote
    Timmer wrote
    Yes, the likes of The Fly or The Thing could be listed in both a favourite horror or sci-fi films list.


    I was thinking more FRANKENSTEIN, but yeah -- there will always be crossover elements in many of these films.


    Well, Frankenstein has been considered by some to be the first science fiction book. the re-animation of the dead through the use of science.

    Anyone know what may be the first horror novel? ( The Bible? wink )
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
    •  
      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeJun 21st 2016
    I don't think you're much off: stories to scare are usually found in mythology (as a cautionary tale, with the [promise of truly horrific punishment). I would argue much of Greek or Egyptian mythology could easily qualify.
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
  26. STAR TREK The Motion Picture (1979)

    The theatrical cut. First view on Blu Ray. Still my all time favourite Trek film. I savoured every minute. A feast of music, imagery, imagination and philosophy.

    smile Volker
    Bach's music is vibrant and inspired.
    •  
      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeJul 10th 2016
    Now You See Me

    I don't have much film-viewing time these days and am very sad that I wasted some of it by watching this load of old rubbish.
    http://www.movie-wave.net | http://facebook.com/moviewave
    •  
      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeJul 10th 2016
    Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

    This is also somewhat daft but clearly much better in every way. Easily the best since the first one.
    http://www.movie-wave.net | http://facebook.com/moviewave
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteven
    • CommentTimeJul 10th 2016
    Southall wrote
    Now You See Me

    I don't have much film-viewing time these days and am very sad that I wasted some of it by watching this load of old rubbish.


    It's awful. Dunning–Kruger: The Movie.
  30. Red Desert

    Was resistant at first, but Antonioni's craft won me over. The sound effects and atmosphere reminded me of Lynch -- wasn't excepting that. Antonioni is a blind spot for me. I'll be checking out more of his work now though. This was a masterful film.

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