Cinema Thread, because movies is a stupid word

[mouse]

Stoked for the New Alien coming out in August. Scott kind of made the franchise a dumpster fire with his failed attempt at mythos. This one looks like a back to the basics which IMO is great.

I have this feeling that since it's Fede Alvarez that by 'back to basics' he's gonna just lean heavier into the gore but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised...

I desperately want it to be better than just meeting what is admittedly a pretty low bar now...


Godzilla Minus One finally came to Netflix and I loved it... why can't we make movies like this?

[aurelius]

Godzilla Minus One finally came to Netflix and I loved it... why can't we make movies like this?

+1 Great movie. I really enjoyed the defeated post-WW2 Japan perspective.

[5hout]

Imagine making a movie to come out in the first half of 2024 set in a world where computers are banned b/c of AI Alignment issues/enslaving humanity and are replaced by human math wizards and you cut this entire subplot out. Still haven't seen in, but I heard someone say Villeneuve cut mentats from Dune 2 b/c he "didn't have time". Ooops!

[aurelius]

Imagine making a movie to come out in the first half of 2024 set in a world where computers are banned b/c of AI Alignment issues/enslaving humanity and are replaced by human math wizards and you cut this entire subplot out. Still haven't seen in, but I heard someone say Villeneuve cut mentats from Dune 2 b/c he "didn't have time". Ooops!

They weren't that well defined in the book beyond 'human super computer'. The book just states Paul has been trained as one but the reader is never given a glimpse into that training or what that really means other than Paul is smarter than everyone else. But I get what you are saying. In the book, Paul doesn't see the future. It isn't magic. He predicts it by creating a hyper accurate model using the totality of human genetic memory and his mentat abilities. So kinda important.

I think Villeneuve's success was doing the bare minimum of exposition (kills pacing). I don't know how you do mentats without some lengthy exposition that feels like a history lesson.

[5hout]

Imagine making a movie to come out in the first half of 2024 set in a world where computers are banned b/c of AI Alignment issues/enslaving humanity and are replaced by human math wizards and you cut this entire subplot out. Still haven't seen in, but I heard someone say Villeneuve cut mentats from Dune 2 b/c he "didn't have time". Ooops!

They weren't that well defined in the book beyond 'human super computer'. The book just states Paul has been trained as one but the reader is never given a glimpse into that training or what that really means other than Paul is smarter than everyone else. But I get what you are saying. In the book, Paul doesn't see the future. It isn't magic. He predicts it by creating a hyper accurate model using the totality of human genetic memory and his mentat abilities. So kinda important.

I think Villeneuve's success was doing the bare minimum of exposition (kills pacing). I don't know how you do mentats without some lengthy exposition that feels like a history lesson.

You're probably right, but god damn would it have fit the zeitgeist perfectly to have a bunch of "the dangers of AI" stuff in a movie released Mar 1 of 2024.

[mouse]

The First Omen was dumb and unnecessarilly retcons some of the best parts of The Omen but it wasn't the worst horror movie I've ever seen...

You can tell the entire script was built around one scene they just really wanted to shoot, but needed a movie around it to justify it...

[augeleven]

I saw Antrum last night. I loved it. It’s definitely not for you if you don’t have a love for the look and feel of 70s cinema as well as a love for William Castle-esque campy histrionics and an appreciation of shoe string budget art making.

[hector]

Season finale of The Boys is outstanding.

Makes up, and then some, for what was otherwise the slowest season.

[mouse]

Can we please just make Ryan Reynolds the czar of comic movies?

He knows what we want and apparently has the power to do so...

SpoilerShow

Gambit. Fucking finally.

[aurelius]

Deadpool and Wolverine was the best Marvel movie in a long-time. It treated the plot as an Odyssey type journey versus any coherent story. Just sit back and enjoy the deux ex machina. Which worked well given the premise.

Side Notes:
If you like Deadpool's schtick then you will love this. A lot of breaking the 4th wall (even a few 4th wall jabs at Jackman which are hilarious). I got a bit tired of the repeated gutter humor. I get it Reynolds, you can make anal sex jokes in a Disney movie. Let's move past that.
Jackman fully embodies Wolverine. Makes me want to see more Wolverine (unlikely). And carries the emotional weight of the movie effortlessly. IMO, Jackman's portrayal of Wolverine elevates this movie and is a great display of what great acting can do for a story.

[mouse]

IMO, Jackman's portrayal of Wolverine elevates this movie and is a great display of what great acting can do for a story.

Wife asked me what I thought because she stayed home with the little ones and my reply was that it was my third favorite Deadpool movie but my second favorite Wolverine movie...

Hugh Jackman really does own that character and it's so great to have had him for 20+ years when we sometimes only get a one off like Heath Ledger's Joker...

[mbasic]

For some reason, I can't watch the Alien Romulus trailers ... (they suck, for a trailer) .... it just seems awful

and therefore I bet the movie is also gonna suck as well

[aurelius]

For some reason, I can't watch the Alien Romulus trailers ... (they suck, for a trailer) .... it just seems awful

and therefore I bet the movie is also gonna suck as well

I have the opposite thought. Have tickets to see it in Imax day 1. I like the director and his previous movies. Looks like a getting back to basics for the franchise after the latest entries.

[mbasic]

For some reason, I can't watch the Alien Romulus trailers ... (they suck, for a trailer) .... it just seems awful

and therefore I bet the movie is also gonna suck as well

I have the opposite thought. Have tickets to see it in Imax day 1. I like the director and his previous movies. Looks like a getting back to basics for the franchise after the latest entries.

So its the original Alien movie, but with the (human) characters to be a GenZ boy band or some sort?

cant wait to see it

[aurelius]

So its the original Alien movie

I'm happy to get back to basics and let one of the all-time great monsters do its thing. Hoping it is done well. I for one thought Scott's attempt to explain the meaning of life through giant bald men and face huggers was pretty fucking stupid and an all-around waste of everyone's time.

but with the (human) characters to be a GenZ boy band or some sort?

Seems like you are bringing a lot of your own baggage into this.

But no point in discussing a movie neither of us has seen.

[mbasic]

sorry man, just seems like its turned into Friday the 13th Part XXVII at this point.

We get it:
Aliens scary; kill humans.
Get inside you and burst out your chest.
Lights go out and/or lots of light-flickering....
The secondary mouth parts inside the main-mouth.
Water, leaking water, gotta have a water scene.
Acid slobber.

*yawn*

[mouse]

sorry man, just seems like its turned into Friday the 13th Part XXVII at this point.

We get it:
Aliens scary; kill humans.
Get inside you and burst out your chest.
Lights go out and/or lots of light-flickering....
The secondary mouth parts inside the main-mouth.
Water, leaking water, gotta have a water scene.
Acid slobber.

*yawn*

Lets agree that it probably can't be worse than Resurrection...

I'm hoping there's secretly a good story in there somewhere as the original pitch was that it occurs after Alien but before Aliens so maybe we'll all be wrong and it'll be a dark horse Rogue One...

I mean probably not but we can hope...

[quikky]

I might be in the minority but I really wish Ridley Scott finished the third installment of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Not perfect movies by any means but I found the overall premise fascinating, especially in Prometheus.

[mbasic]

I might be in the minority but I really wish Ridley Scott finished the third installment of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Not perfect movies by any means but I found the overall premise fascinating, especially in Prometheus.

I too thought those two movies were fine
I don't know why Alien fans didn't care for either of those films (as much as they did).

I don't understand this take:

I for one thought Scott's attempt to explain the meaning of life through giant bald men and face huggers was pretty fucking stupid and an all-around waste of everyone's time.

I don't think there was really a "meaning of life theme" to those films.

It was an explanations to how life started on Earth, us looking for our roots .... not really the meaning of life.
... and some of the pitfalls/etc associated with AI .... Ash(?) fucking around trying to be a dad /creator himself...
... and the story of the evolution / origin of the Alien (in there form, in the first few movies)

Pretty meat and potatoes stuff IMO.

I thought it was pretty well established around these parts that life has no meaning .... from all the nihilist threads/posts circa 2019.

[hector]

I might be in the minority but I really wish Ridley Scott finished the third installment of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Not perfect movies by any means but I found the overall premise fascinating, especially in Prometheus.

Agreed 100%. Charlize Theron and Idris Elba killed it in Prometheus. And David/Fassbender’s below-the-surface contempt was outstanding.

But are you in the super minority who also enjoyed Alien Resurrection? (Saw it as a kid. Say what you will, it was a fun movie. And Dan Hedaya is great. Not to mention Ron Perlman!)

The movie nobody ever talks about is the prison planet one, Alien 3. I’ve meant to rewatch it for years, but never gotten around to it.