Sulphur on 30/1/2023 at 18:08
I liked Hereditary and The Witch exactly because they had no qualms about making parables out of decent people out of their depth, but they weren't mean films for the sake of it. At least, The Witch wasn't to my mind, because it was about what happens when external forces and injustice push a person too far; Hereditary seemed to be about the same, but tilted all the way into anarchy and inescapable malevolence winning over any human actor, as those opening tilt shift/diorama shots categorically cast everyone into the role of dolls or puppets being moved around -- in service of a very unpleasant and unsatisfying ending, but saying something all the same.
Anyway, moving on to something completely diametrically opposed to both, episode 3 of The Last of Us just demonstrated one of the most tender relationships I've seen in a show. I've liked Nick Offerman since Parks & Rec, but I never for a second imagined that he'd be wringing out as emotionally affecting a performance in, well, anything. I would be disappointed if there weren't awards coming down the pipe for this one.
Tocky on 30/1/2023 at 19:05
Hereditary was awful. I don't mean it was bad, it was just scarring mentally. The characters behaved so strangely. Sure, the cause was revealed, but that one scene was bizarre. You know the one. To act that way even in shock was unfathomable. I'm glad I watched it once but it's not one to watch again. Dark spirited indeed.
I watched "House of Darkness" on Hulu recently and found it interesting. It telegraphs intentions all the way through and even the lead being named Hap, he is indeed hapless, and female lead being named Nina (Harker?) point to what will happen. No surprises. It's still interesting in that the theme is, although the story is old, a new one. Retrofitted but logically so with the direction male and female fears have gone lately in terms of hookups. It's the new "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" from a different perspective.
It plays on the fear of men paying for the sins of other men and it's one I fully understand having paid such. I don't think it fair what happens to clueless hopeful Hap. He is no worse than most clumsy and awkward men and wanting sex is NOT AN EVIL. If it were then women too would be vilified with the same broad brush. But men today are more fearful they will be the villain for wanting it. In certain female circles today they are judged to be, this one being a cross between Renfeilds bedroom scene in Dracula and the sort of woke feminist man hating lesbian forum found on Reddit. I often feel those are damaged by the true evil men and take it out on all men as in this movie. They even have a sneer for those who say most are not like that so take heart. The whole "not all men" was tailor fit to discount a fact and tamp down any effort of defense for men as a whole. Truly there are indefensible men, and this shows a bumbling man paying for that.
Cipheron on 31/1/2023 at 04:39
Quote Posted by rachel
I feel that way about all the Director's Cuts of Cameron movies that I've seen (
T2,
Aliens and
The Abyss). The theatrical cut is better.
Yeah, the Aliens' directors cut adds in some footage of the colonists at the start, filling you in on what happened to them. I felt this part *really* detracted from the movie because the viewer loses the suspense of discovering that backstory for themselves, along with the main characters. However other than that I didn't really shot for shot compare the two versions so I'm not 100% sure what else he added in there.
Pyrian on 31/1/2023 at 05:03
The auto-turrets, lol. A lot more xenomorphs die on-screen in the director's cut.
...Not sure I see any suspense in terms of what happened to the colonists... On the other hand, that part lengthens the movie without really adding anything, IMO.
Sulphur on 31/1/2023 at 06:19
It also had the scene where she learns about her daughter, which is the entire justification for Alien: Isolation's story even existing (thank god, because it's also the best Alien game ever made). I thought it was a decent moment, definitely one that enhanced the rest of the story and makes everything about her and Newt resonate beyond just implied maternal instincts.
RE: The Abyss, I think that was the point where you could see what the entire trajectory of Jim Cameron's career would look like - two-dimensional characters welded to a hammy storyline with a gimmicky plot in service of amazing technical craftmanship, from beginning to end (are you glad I didn't make a depth/shallow pun? I'm not! It was going to be abyssmal.). For what it's worth, I didn't find the anti-nuke thing as hammy as the aliens deciding to salvage Ed Harris' marriage, because obviously they're basically underwater E.T.'s.
Cameron is an amazing action director, I wish he'd stick to fast character beats in service of the plot and action, instead of trying to make anything that requires actual complexity and character texture.
Renault on 31/1/2023 at 06:51
Re: the Aliens DC, there was also that scene before Ripley goes off to find Newt and fight the Queen, where Hicks and Ripley share their first names. I always wondered why they cut it out of the theatrical version, it's only about 20 seconds long and it's a nice little dual farewell (Ripley thinks she'll probably die and Hicks never speaks again after that). It's short enough that it doesn't really detract from the action going on around them, IMO.
Tocky on 1/2/2023 at 03:58
Quote Posted by Sulphur
Anyway, moving on to something completely diametrically opposed to both, episode 3 of The Last of Us just demonstrated one of the most tender relationships I've seen in a show. I've liked Nick Offerman since Parks & Rec, but I never for a second imagined that he'd be wringing out as emotionally affecting a performance in, well, anything. I would be disappointed if there weren't awards coming down the pipe for this one.
During the first kiss I was wondering if I could stand to watch the episode but by the end I was trying so hard not to cry that I made it worse. Someone said it was the most effective love story since the beginning of UP and I agree.
Sulphur on 1/2/2023 at 10:25
That's a good reference point. I'd also thought it was reminiscent of Up's opening, and it didn't need a Michael Giacchino score to stand on its own.
Cipheron on 2/2/2023 at 23:59
Finally got around to seeing the Troll "trilogy".
"Troll" is ok, cheesy 1980s low budget horror comedy, ridiculous but a lot of fun.
"Troll 2" is infamously bad, and it deserves the reputation. It doesn't have any trolls in it, that name was to cash in on the completely unrelated film "Troll". For aficionados of bad movies, it's definitely a must-see film. There's also a documentary about this, "Best Worst Movie", made decades later by the little kid who starred in the movie, and is actually by far the best actor in the thing.
"Troll 3" is just bad, and not in a notable way. It's also unrelated to either of the first two movies, and had many names (the creepers, the crawlers, contamination .7). It's by far the most boring of the three, and most importantly, unlike the first two movies, it contains no trolls or supernatural creatures of ANY type.
EDIT: Aaaand I just discovered my Troll 2 journey has not ended, after seeing the 2009 documentary. It turns out a 2020 official sequel to Troll 2 was released, so no I need to track that down and watch it.
Hit Deity on 3/2/2023 at 05:12
Anyone mention Nobody, with Bob Odenkirk and Christopher Lloyd in it? Loved that movie. One of the best I've seen in a while. Some of the scenes in it were a tad forced at times, but I still loved it.