What's the Latest Thing You've Seen at the Cinema II

Mr Underhill posted:

rackkit posted:

My mini Star Wars review - It was ok. 6/10

 

Hi Rackkit,

I can understand that rating, or others who might want to give it a higher score. I think what JJ Abrams gets right is character and relationships, and placing them in kinetic scenes. However, he does not allow science or logic to stand in the way of a yarn (good or otherwise). I know that this film, like the new Star Treks, will increasingly irritate me over time as my logical mind overcomes any positive emotionality I may feel towards the characters. However I finally assess the film it is a MILE better that the prequels, or 'Return of the Jedi' come to that.

M

It felt like a rehash of episode 4 - blowing up another Death in exactly the same way etc. I think the Empire need some new designers for their Death Stars - that model obviously doesn't work. 

Our viewing was also ruined by an exit sign right next to the screen that was the brightest thing in the whole room and cast a bight green light over a good  portion of the screen. 

I must try an recreate that effect at home by placing a green lamp in front the plasma next time. Bloody hopeless are some of these cinemas!

Mini rant over.

rackkit posted:

Our viewing was also ruined by an exit sign right next to the screen that was the brightest thing in the whole room and cast a bight green light over a good  portion of the screen. 

I must try an recreate that effect at home by placing a green lamp in front the plasma next time. Bloody hopeless are some of these cinemas!

Mini rant over.

 

My recollection of some cinemas in the UK is that they wouldn't turn the house lights down the whole way. I think it might have had something to do with H&S. But bloody distracting, being able to see the fidgeting of the audience in the foreground.

Forty years ago the theatre where I grew up was an ornate art-deco venue complete with velvet curtains that opened and closed, ushers, marble lavatories and a balcony. 'Looney Tunes' were played before the previews and popular movies were "Held Over For The Xth Week" on the neon-lit marquee outside. If the reel-changer wasn't quick on the draw he got booed by the audience and if you sat close enough to the back wall you could hear the clickety-clack of the film through the projector. John Wayne stood twenty-feet tall on the silver screen, the stunts were real, and of course there was no digital blurring.

Now Cineramas have a dozen movies playing at once. Buy your tickets from a ATM-like dispenser on the wall outside. There's probably an IMAX and 3D movie playing. Previews include courtesy reminders to mute your phone. Sound images come from every direction and can make the theatre rumble.

I'm not convinced its any better of an experience. In fact I'm inclined to prefer the former.

tonym posted:

joerand posted:

The Hateful Eight. If you're a fan of Tarantino films you won't be disappointed. If you're a fan of Westerns you should like it as well. The story would work well in any time or place. Tarantino choosing a western setting adds to the color of the eight characters.

Looking forward to this one Joe! QT can do no wrong in my book.

+1

rackkit posted:

I must try an recreate that effect at home by placing a green lamp in front the plasma next time. Bloody hopeless are some of these cinemas!

Mini rant over.

 

Perhaps you could sell the lamps as a home cinema AV accessory!

Mr Underhill posted:

rackkit posted:

I must try an recreate that effect at home by placing a green lamp in front the plasma next time. Bloody hopeless are some of these cinemas!

Mini rant over.

 

Perhaps you could sell the lamps as a home cinema AV accessory!

I sent a private message through Twitter to VUE Cinemas - i think the reply was done by a 17 year old. They really couldn't care less. 

Picked up episodes 4-6 on Blu-ray for £25 in Sainsburys. Looking forward to watching these at home plus the other half has never seen them. 

Cinema RIP

Hi Rackkit,

As you say, I think she will find them awfully familiar after watching No. 7.

I will keep on with the cinema, although I do find people talking and looking at their phones a complete PITA.

M

rackkit posted:

I sent a private message through Twitter to VUE Cinemas - i think the reply was done by a 17 year old. They really couldn't care less. 

 

 

 

Can understand your frustration, that would drive me bonkers. To be fair to Vue, they did respond to an emailed complaint of mine about the sound quality during a film we went to see last year.

Can't remember which one but 4 free tickets wasn't a bad result. And at least with Vue they allow you take in your own food and drink unlike a lot of other major chains.

Felty99 posted:

rackkit posted:

I sent a private message through Twitter to VUE Cinemas - i think the reply was done by a 17 year old. They really couldn't care less. 

 

 

 

Can understand your frustration, that would drive me bonkers. To be fair to Vue, they did respond to an emailed complaint of mine about the sound quality during a film we went to see last year.

Can't remember which one but 4 free tickets wasn't a bad result. And at least with Vue they allow you take in your own food and drink unlike a lot of other major chains.

I think i'll follow it up with an email too if that's the response you got - i wasn't happy at all with mine. You must have been dealt with by an adult! 

Fair point regarding the food & drink rules at VUE though. 

Good acting, so so story, uninspiring cinematography. Got very good reviews, my rating is three stars (out of five).

So far this season I enjoyed Hateful Eight for the acting and dialogue and Sicario for the action. For visuals and weirdness, although not my usual cup of tea, Youth was interesting. I found The Revenant to be visually impressive and quite intense but a bit long and agonizing.

We saw Brooklyn last night. Wonderful film, but it kept making me cry. What a wuss. 

Deadpool

This is a LOT of fun. Self referential, deprecatory and full of laughs, oh, and violence and swearing; definitely NOT one for the children.

The film walks a clever and successful line in being a parody but still engaging the viewer in the story it is telling. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and hope it is a huge hit.

M

The Big Short. Focused on the financial mechanisms involved in the 2008 US housing market collapse and subsequent banking failures. Good enough that the film presents a topical subject of natural interest to American adults, it gets excessive in hammering home the depravity of the banks. Good acting by Bale, Gosling and Carell, but I found their focus on the idiosyncrasies of the characters they were portraying a bit over the top. I guess theater goers expect superfluity in films these days, especially where no CGIs are involved. Pitt was unassumingly good in his role of the Wall Street guru that had consciously checked out of the system.

Mr Underhill posted:

Deadpool

This is a LOT of fun. Self referential, deprecatory and full of laughs, oh, and violence and swearing; definitely NOT one for the children.

The film walks a clever and successful line in being a parody but still engaging the viewer in the story it is telling. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and hope it is a huge hit.

M

I initially thought you were re-visiting Dirty Harry movies there, Mr Underhill 

Mike 

Hi Mike,

So did my wife .....who chose NOT to join me.

M

Last night

"The cigarette that bears a lipstick’s traces … the tinkling piano in the next apartment. Todd Haynes’s narcotic and delicious film Carol is in love with this kind of detail: the story of a forbidden love affair that makes no apology for always offering up exquisitely observed minutiae from the early 1950s."

- The Guardian

I haven't been out to see a movie in the theatre for a quite long time and yesterday I was again reminded that I should do it more often. The feeling really is so much more intense than watching anything at home regardless how good the home system is. 

Janis: little girl blue. Documentary about Janis Joplin  

Good telling of a sad story, great narration fron Chan Marshall (Cat Power), reading Janis' letters to family and friends

osprey posted:

Last night

"The cigarette that bears a lipstick’s traces … the tinkling piano in the next apartment. Todd Haynes’s narcotic and delicious film Carol is in love with this kind of detail: the story of a forbidden love affair that makes no apology for always offering up exquisitely observed minutiae from the early 1950s."

- The Guardian

I haven't been out to see a movie in the theatre for a quite long time and yesterday I was again reminded that I should do it more often. The feeling really is so much more intense than watching anything at home regardless how good the home system is. 

I always have the same sentiment, but as I have to travel and as I can't see everything due to German Audio - I am not going often enough....

Admittedly it was a late showing (10:30pm) and i was pretty tired anyway but i kept falling asleep! I still say a good film gets your attention & wakes you up - this one didn't stand a chance. It's bloody mess! 

rackkit posted:

Admittedly it was a late showing (10:30pm) and i was pretty tired anyway but i kept falling asleep! I still say a good film gets your attention & wakes you up - this one didn't stand a chance. It's bloody mess! 

A well acted but narratively impotent advertisement of things to come (technically referred to as 'world building')

cheers,

EJ

I went to a special screening last night of Miles Ahead, a Davis biography starring, directed and co-written by Don Cheadle. It's set over a period of four days just before Miles' 1981 "comeback". It is mostly fiction. And the journalist character played by Ewan McGregor was really annoying. Some of the characters are just caricatures. The jazz buffs/miles freaks I was with all hated it.

That said, I rather enjoyed it. The fast cutting and flashbacks evoked the coke paranoia of the time, the film is good-looking, well-art directed and has a great soundtrack.

I don't think it'll get good reviews when it's released, but, subject matter aside, it's a decent picture.

Trailer here:

Saw this last night. Pretty good movie with a great cast, and I am a sucker for journalistic procedurals

Like Spotlight, this got a lot of praise. Although it wasn't quite as good, an enjoyable modern movie, if not especially cinematic.

Batman vs Superman

A curate's egg.

The Good

The casting ....with one horrendous exception

Batman, Alfred and most of the choices.

The Bad

The putative kernel of discord between Batman and Superman

The fight resolution.

Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luther.

Spoilers

In common with many DC movies this was 'serious', but the plot was such that portentous line delivery did not paper over the cracks. The film opens with the destruction rained by Superman and Zod, and I could understand Bruce Wayne's anger .......but, ultimately Superman saved the Earth and billions of lives; so, while I could understand his intellectual need to rein Superman in I could NOT understand his rage. This was ultimately bought to a resolution by the fact that his Mummy had the same name as Superman's Mummy??!!

This then led onto a fight between the troll from the Mines of Moria and the heroes. As soon as I saw Doomsday I thought 'Weta being lazy', which is far from a good thing. I was glad that this led onto the death of Superman ....but, they couldn't even leave that alone.

Yes, there were many aspects that were good. However, ultimately it was overly long and wordy for a film that delivered no depth but can be summarised as:

Superheroes fight, then team up to solve a problem by pummelling it.

Frankly, this is the sort of film that will kill this genre for a generation.

M