What movie(s) did you last see?

[Range_This11]

This is an interesting blog entry that someone wrote called Seventeen Ways of Criticizing Inception: http://bigother.com/2010/08/08/seventeen-ways-of-criticizing-inception/

 

The author is much less diplomatic as I try to be, but makes really good points.

[obfuscator]

My biggest gripe (and I am echoing others who have said this) with Nolan is that he allows his characters to be in total control of their world. Now, I know we should and do suspend reality when we watch a film, but the point of fiction--be it film or literature--is that it has realistic elements. It is a false story, but it offers us an insight into our own lives. As humans, we do not have total control of our environments. How, then, are Nolan's characters supposed to resonate on a human level with the audience if they are devoid of all the characteristics that make us human?

 

I don't know that I agree with this, or even understand what you're getting at. Care to provide an example?

 

EDIT: Saw your new post...will read

 

Whenever Nolan makes a film, you can almost certainly be sure that he is going to use an exciting plot twist at the end of the film. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, having that as the central pillar of a film can be troublesome. A second viewing of the film is much less compelling than the first viewing. A great director would create a film that allows viewers to learn something new each time they view it. Also, Nolan's films are busy, glitzy, and filled with CGI. Again, not necessarily a bad thing, but something a great director would not need to use as a crutch.

 

I've never felt that the plot twists were really the central point of his films, although to be honest I never noticed the pattern at the time. In retrospect you're quite right. I will say that I don't think that phenomenon is uncommon among directors, or even authors...so it seems odd to deliberately point out him doing that.

 

Perhaps his usage of CGI is more of a reflection on the subject matter of his movies than it is of his directing style?

 

All that said, I don't think Nolan is a totally godawful director. While I wholeheartedly disagree with his approach to film from an intellectual and theoretical standpoint, he is a very knowledgeable director--but his films are like candy. It tastes great, and you could eat it three times a day, but what the body really needs is a good steak and some potatoes. Many people laud Nolan as the best director of our generation and I feel like it's my duty to have a dissenting opinion.

 

I just enjoy ripping on him as much as I possibly can.

 

I definitely wouldn't call him the best director of our generation, but I do think he's generally good. I'll also agree that his films are most enjoyable on the first viewing (but most of hollywood films fall into that category).

[Nom]

At risk of sounding like a colossal wet blanket, I also have to say that I don't care for Nolan's films. The only one I've truly enjoyed is Memento. I just get this really . . . cold feeling from them. I like Range's explanation of why characters always ring false--because to me, they do. If I think about Inception it's to think about the crazy dream shit, not the characters or emotional power. It took me repeat viewings (and honestly, people want to watch that movie way too damn much) to even remember DiCaprio's character's name. Even now I only have his last name. And while I do think the Batman films are decent they seem to have been a self-fulfilling prophecy due to all the hype. Good advertising, I guess.

 

And I really wish he wouldn't put that stupid DRAMATIC BASS THUMPING in every single scene. Makes it pretty much impossible to hear anything, at least for me, and cheapens any actual drama.

[obfuscator]

Read that article. It made some pretty good points, although parts of it struck me as a little nit-picky (like the dialogue bit. Whenever I hear a claim of "bad dialogue", I instantly compare it to a James Cameron script to see how it holds up, and Inception holds up pretty well to that).

 

 

[DownToFletch]

Death Race 2/3 were okay

 

8/10 because of the tight clothing and excessive amounts of breasts. :twss:

[nine naked men]

iron man 3 - leagues better than the pile of shit that was iron man 2, reasonably better than iron man. lot funnier too. pretty decent ish action scenes. some of it was even not predictable which is a first for most superhero movies. he straight up kills a bunch of dudes in it too which is kind of rare. the plot bullets got kind of obnoxious though. its nice the avengers film was kinda continuous. i still think the whole after credits scenes are the dumbest thing moviemakers have ever thought up, though.

 

ben kingsley as usual, so good. don cheadle is still pretty great too.

 

also the whole anxiety attacks thing was kind of obnoxious

 

though it does seem very politically confused i guess is how i would put it

[Alg]

though it does seem very politically confused i guess is how i would put it

 

Thought that was the point, really. I got the impression that the villain's whole plot was basically set up to hit every imaginable buzzword as a way to hide who he really was and what he was really after.

 

[nine naked men]

though it does seem very politically confused i guess is how i would put it

 

Thought that was the point, really. I got the impression that the villain's whole plot was basically set up to hit every imaginable buzzword as a way to hide who he really was and what he was really after.

 

 

not the actual plot, i just felt the overall themes didnt mesh w/what was demonstrated in the previous films and its commendable messages came across as kind of... i dunno, clunky. also the whole "haha this government funded hitman just threatened a room full of innocent people based on faulty intel how wacky" was kinda eh

 

looking back i guess a lot of people didnt really get the movie

[Alg]

Ah. In that case, agreed. It really felt like they were trying too hard to be 'relevant'.

 

Still, saw it earlier today and enjoyed it.

[Resistance]

Just seen flight, a thoroughly enjoyable film. Definitely worth a watch. Did not like the ending.

 

 

 

hate it when characters make stupid choices like he did. It's not a sacrifice for anything, it's just a straight up metaphorically shooting himself in the head.

Ending made me really happy, even though he was locked up. Would have been nice to see him come out of jail.

 

[Racheya]

Looper: 8/10 -good action with a nice concept. Liked the ending and found the film to have a lot of unexpected emotion to it.

 

Star trek the original motion picture: 5/10 - pretty naff, probably nice for the time but despite being a trekkie I've never been into TOS. Far too many slow pans and scenes with nothing seemingly happening.

 

Star trek 2: the wrath of Khan: 7/10 - much better film, great balance of action and plot. Better acting, better plot, just all around better.

 

Star trek Into Darkness: 5/10 - I had the misfortune of watching this abomination in the cinema. It was a good action film with some solid acting performances but it didn't even vaguely resemble a Star Trek film. The opening truly angered me and from there the film just leaped from one trailer-previewed action piece to another. The plot was average and I'm just left extremely disappointed, especially since I liked the 2009 reboot film. Cant say I expected anything better from a film called 'into darkness' by a director who admits he doesn't even like Star Trek. [/rant]

[Kaida23]

Star Trek films have always been one good, one bad. The first one sucked, second one was awesome but then the third was even worse than the first (do yourself a favor and never watch The Search For Spock; watch The Wrath of Kahn again instead).

 

The first time around it was the even numbered ones that were good. Looks like it'll be the odd numbered ones this time.

[Randox]

At the risk of appearing to be on a bandwagon, I only like the first of Nolans Batmans. I have seen that one a few times. I have seen the second one once, and while enjoyable, the destruction of the bat mobile is unforgiveable, and I am selective about my over the top action (literally every part of that movie).

 

As a point to both inception and the batman films, Nolan actually seems to really dislike CGI. Things like all the fruit being launched or the rotating gravity in inception aren't CGI, that's all real (walking around with the fruit hanging in midair is two separate takes combined). Off the top of my head, the semi trailer going over itself in the second batman was done for real as well, among other things. There is quite a bit that gets done that people credit to CGI (from many directors) that actually isn't.

 

The point about charecters is interesting. Frankly, I don't like batman because I hate the self doubt story arc (I skip scenes when I rewatch Iron Man 2 to cut a lot of that out).\

 

For the newest Star Trek, the consensus seems to be pretty clear, which is that the trailer was pretty much spot on. Generic (and good) action film that takes place in the star trek universe for some reason. I...don't think I want to see that. I've pretty much managed to forget the last one (it was alright, no need to see it again), and I'm pretty much happy to leave it at that. Also, I like all four of Generations, Insurrection, Nemesis, and First Contact Kaida :P

 

 

While not really a movie, started watching the fourth season of Community (and by start, I mean the first 8 episodes because I have the self control of a five year old). Still liking it.

[Jonanananas]

The first batman movie was the one I didn't like out of the three, I sorted it into my "another superhero movie" category(Though it's been ages since I've seen it). I really liked TDK and enjoyed TDKR, though it was nowhere as good as its predecessor. Out of the other Nolan films, I liked Shutter Island. Memento and Insomnia I didn't care for overly much tbh. Inception was enjoyable on its first watch, but the action sequences were kinda weak and somewhat useless, while the whole Maud storyline didn't really make me care. The focus should have been shifted there a bit. I also haven't been able to come up with a proper explanation how the limbo stuff is supposed to work.

[Alg]

Shutter Island was Scorsese, not Nolan. :razz:

[Jonanananas]

Ouch, you're right of course. Now that I think of it, that's interesting considering it was the only film out of the list where I did really care for the character. I wouldn't have called this out as Nolan's problem on my own, but considering that...

[obfuscator]

I watched Jack Reacher yesterday. I wasn't expecting much, and I got what I was expecting. 5/10

[Resistance]

I just saw Primer, I had to watch it twice before I actually got the timeline. It's a little like Memento.

[Jonanananas]

The departed. 7/10 I'd say. Good movie, but I've expected a bit more.

[nine naked men]

for every one who's seen the new star trek: is there a line in the movie that's like "we must embark on a star trek... into darkness" because if there is im probably going to have to go and see it but i'd honestly rather not

 

basically i am a fan of movies that awkwardly shoehorn their titles into dialogue

[Resistance]

for every one who's seen the new star trek: is there a line in the movie that's like "we must embark on a star trek... into darkness" because if there is im probably going to have to go and see it but i'd honestly rather not

 

basically i am a fan of movies that awkwardly shoehorn their titles into dialogue

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_86-_upiFbY

[Low Levelled]

The departed. 7/10 I'd say. Good movie, but I've expected a bit more.

 

I actually watched it the other day too.. Did you feel the resolution was a bit underwhelming?

[Resistance]

The departed. 7/10 I'd say. Good movie, but I've expected a bit more.

 

I actually watched it the other day too.. Did you feel the resolution was a bit underwhelming?

I thought the ending was good, but there was no sort of foreshadowing so while it made sense in the story it just felt unnatural. If they had hinted towards it, it would have been far better.

[obfuscator]

The ending was pretty good. I didn't see it coming, but I try not to analyze movies for endings while I watch them.....unless they're really shitty.

[Jonanananas]

The departed. 7/10 I'd say. Good movie, but I've expected a bit more.

 

I actually watched it the other day too.. Did you feel the resolution was a bit underwhelming?

 

I did like the ongoing duality between Billy and Sullivan, and the ending was pretty good, imo, ( I may or may not have shouted "What the [bleep]!" when he got shot in the elevator), but on the whole the movie felt a bit unnatural. I didn't buy Costello trusting Bill that much, for example. There were a lot of scenes (on both sides) where someone seems suspicious of either Bill or Sullivan and then decides he does trust him anyway. I guess these kind of scenes were worked in to create suspense, and in that respect it worked, but it made the whole product feel unnatural too. And there's some more stuff, where I question character motivation - most of it is pretty small, but in total it was a bit bothersome.

 

I hope that explanation made a bit of sense...