KarthXLR Free of STD's ... lolwut? Posts: 9,927 Joined: May 2008 |
12-23-2015, 04:05 AM
(12-22-2015, 02:07 PM)FlyingMongoose Wrote: [spoiler]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-abramson/40-unforgivable-plot-holes-in-star-wars-the-force-awakens_b_8850324.html this is entertaining[/spoiler] One of my biggest pet peeves is people using the phrase "plot hole" when it's not a plot hole. A plot hole is something in the story that happens SPECIFICALLY against the logic of the film, such as showing a vampire shot with bullets who is unphased and then later killing the same vampire with the same bullets. If your complaint is "Why don't the just buy a gun to kill the guy instead of using a sword", that's bad writing, not a plot hole. Literally half of these aren't even inconsistencies, it's just the author nitpicking certain choices. Like, christ, you're allowed to complain about a movie just don't fucking say it's a plot hole if you don't even know what a fucking plot hole is. Not to mention it doesn't even seem like the author saw the movie [spoiler]Just because I'm a pedantic asshole who has way too much time, I'll take a couple of points here:
I HATE clickbait articles like these. They're shittily written and done for a quick fan rage while simultaenously putting some of the worst fucking criticisms you could give against a movie like this. And don't mistake me for some blind fan, The Force Awakens has its issues, but these are absolutely pathetic and a waste of space. Christ. Anyhow. The Force Awakens Spoilers: [spoiler] I was real nervous about going to see this, but I'm pretty satisfied with the result. A certain childlike joy was on my face once the closing credits hit, and I was thinking to myself "Oh man, I hope the next one is good too!" There were a lot of small changes to the universe which I liked, such as Storm Troopers not being useless anymore, the idea these struggling forces still at war, despite the both of them being well past their prime, and all those goddamn practical effects. Beautiful. And BB-8. Because they knew everyone was going to love him and he's the most goddamn cool thing since that one white-and-blue trash can on wheels. Like I said before, it's not without its problems. The pacing of the first act is not great. It takes what feels like an hour to get off Jakku and is WELL past the point of introducing our characters. I do think they tried to do a bit too much, as we have to balance on 3 separate plot lines at once all within the first half-hour, compared to Star Wars where there was really only one at a time during the first act. Something I was afraid of also made it into the movie. JJ is notorious for nostalgia baiting (I mean, he made an entire movie about nostalgia baiting called Super 8), and it's no surprise there's quite a bit of pandering here. Some of it is welcome, such as the falcon, but when we see the space chess from A New Hope pop up for no other reason than "Hey, remember this from Episode 4?" is annoying. I spotted this type of stuff every so often during the movie. That and the fact they made a "biggerer and betterer" death star kind of made me roll my eyes. Like...no one noticed that a fucking planet got hollowed out? I mean...how long does it take to build something like that? How the hell did it stay secret? But, whatever, it happened. Overall though, I think JJ and company did a great job. I'm hoping they don't try to copy the original trilogy too much, as I think everyone wants a NEW star wars, not the last one with better effects. [/spoiler] I'd recommend The Force Awakens to just about anyone and I was pretty dern satisfied with it. But...oh man, with Rian Johnson at the director's chair for Episode VIII, I'm not sure if they can keep it up. Here's hoping for the best.
(This post was last modified: 12-23-2015, 12:22 PM by KarthXLR.)
|
||
|
Eschatos Jack Thompson Fan Club Member Posts: 4,447 Joined: Mar 2008 |
01-09-2016, 12:01 AM
Just saw the Force Awakens. Overall I was kinda disappointed. Half because I'm not 8 anymore and I can spot everything that doesn't make sense, and half because the stuff that didn't make sense REALLY didn't make sense.
[spoiler]Most obvious: why is there even a resistance? The good guys won in episode 6. The resistance should be the republic. They didn't even make the effort to justify it with a paragraph of text at the opening saying that the Republic got complacent and didn't want to spend resources hunting down the remnants of the empire that killed billions of people. [/spoiler] |
||
|
KarthXLR Free of STD's ... lolwut? Posts: 9,927 Joined: May 2008 |
01-09-2016, 02:39 AM
Saw Hateful Eight the other day. I usually at least enjoy Tarantino's work...but this one was just really not very good. Profoundly ugly and just vile-feeling. On top of that it is quite literally almost 30-minutes too long. It makes me wonder "Why does this story need to be told? Why is it interesting?"
I figured it might just be me since I wasn't a huge fan of Django Unchained either (I still liked it, though I think the third act is terrible), but even friends who are Tarantino-crazy seem pretty lukewarm or in-denial about this one. |
||
|
Luinbariel Snailcat ..@:3 Posts: 4,520 Joined: Jun 2008 |
01-09-2016, 12:26 PM
(01-09-2016, 12:01 AM)Eschatos Wrote: Just saw the Force Awakens. Overall I was kinda disappointed. Half because I'm not 8 anymore and I can spot everything that doesn't make sense, and half because the stuff that didn't make sense REALLY didn't make sense. This probably doesn't need a spoiler tag but just in case. [spoiler]Well, the Empire was huge. Although they took down the Death Star twice, it was just one (albeit huge) facility. Their supporters and their numbers were still galaxy-wide and still massive. Many people still saw the Empire as correct and were happy to support it. Remember where the Empire got it's roots, as well. The destruction of the Death Star (and of course the apparent deaths of the Emperor and Darth Vader) didn't instantly dismantle the Empire as a whole. All of their members, many of whom were very willing participants, didn't suddenly decide "welp we lost, time to become the New Republic!" It takes a massive effort to tear down something that large, and at the same time, build the New Republic and repair as much of the damage done as possible while still being able to protect their members. The New Republic simply could not do it all, and it's only been about 20 years. To un-do all that will take generations more. There would still be attacks, still be attempts to gain resources and to take advantage of the New Republic as much as possible by the remaining Empire. As far as I know, the Empire would still have been in possession of massive ship building facilities and huge, already built fleets that were just elsewhere in space doing whatever. And now, their command structure was interrupted, so many took their fleets for their own and tried to make themselves the new hot thing. That's a LOT of things to try and keep tabs on.[/spoiler] Quote:“Would you…do you think you would like to go to the dance with me?” she asked sportsball captainback. Quote:sportsball captainback (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ |
||
|
[SiN] Merc BRB, Posting Posts: 2,304 Joined: Aug 2010 |
02-02-2016, 02:57 PM
Watched almost all of Mel Brooks' library yesterday. I love how it still holds up so well.
HULKMANIA'S RUNNIN' WILD, BROTHER! |
||
|
FlyingMongoose Uninstalling Posts: 2,633 Joined: Apr 2008 |
02-02-2016, 04:58 PM
(02-02-2016, 02:57 PM)[SiN] Merc Wrote: Watched almost all of Mel Brooks' library yesterday. I love how it still holds up so well. Can confirm, still hilarious |
||
|
KarthXLR Free of STD's ... lolwut? Posts: 9,927 Joined: May 2008 |
02-09-2016, 02:56 PM
Saw Hail Caesar this weekend. Expected the usual brilliant performances and story with great theming wrapped in a disappointing ending, got a weak core of a story with sort of amusing vignettes anchored between really strange casting choices instead.
Also got to see "What We Do in the Shadows", a hilarious mockumentary about vampires living in New Zealand. Really funny, and also kind of endearing. Highly recommend. |
||
|
Surf314 Seriously, this week I'll play PS Posts: 12,078 Joined: Mar 2008 |
02-09-2016, 10:21 PM
(02-09-2016, 02:56 PM)KarthXLR Wrote: Saw Hail Caesar this weekend. Expected the usual brilliant performances and story with great theming wrapped in a disappointing ending, got a weak core of a story with sort of amusing vignettes anchored between really strange casting choices instead. I am at the opposite end of you on Hail Caesar. It was easily one of my top Coen brothers movies. I know you technically know movies more than me so sorry if I get this all wrong but I think Hail Caesar was a masterpiece of cinema. The Coen brothers have never really done plot well. If you look at all of their good movies, none of it really has a plot. What they do well is two things: 1) they do people better than almost anyone; and 2) they do scenes better than most with the exception of maybe Tarantino and a few others. As to point #1. They really know how to put their actors in absolutely absurd situations and somehow have real genuine people shine through. This is something that I think really draws people The Big Lebowski and I think the nailed even better with Hail Caesar. All of these ridiculous things are happening but no matter how crazy things get you get the feeling like whoever you are watching on screen could be someone that you've met before. This is really surprising because in most other movies, especially comedies, the people are totally not real. They are contrivances to make the movie work. With Coen brothers movies its the opposite, the weird crazy things happen to real people and the real people deal with it. As to point #2. Coen brothers do movies as art in such subtle but important ways that it really blows my mind. The choice of color in Hail Caesar is really incredible. Most of the shots look like it was shot in technicolor or kodachrome. The scenes are these crazy set pieces that feel so period appropriate and yet always end up in some hilarious and off-kilter place. They also do repetition and have these thematic elements tucked away in every shot. It often feels like a poem or some other work of art. I honestly just don't know how they do it so effortlessly. I'm drunk so excuse my rambling. |
||
|
WaR1761 Lurker Posts: 417 Joined: Nov 2009 |
02-19-2016, 07:03 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-19-2016, 07:04 PM by WaR1761.)
|
||
|
Mission Difficult BRB, Posting Posts: 1,771 Joined: Mar 2008 |
02-20-2016, 03:19 PM
(02-09-2016, 10:21 PM)Surf314 Wrote:(02-09-2016, 02:56 PM)KarthXLR Wrote: Saw Hail Caesar this weekend. Expected the usual brilliant performances and story with great theming wrapped in a disappointing ending, got a weak core of a story with sort of amusing vignettes anchored between really strange casting choices instead. I'm pretty much where you are with this, Karth. I felt like the story was pretty sloppy and ultimately not very rewarding. It was pretty to look at and if you're a fan of old Hollywood then I'd recommend it. It really did feel like a series of vignettes with Eddie Mannix being a common thread. As for the Coen brothers not doing story well, look at Raising Arizona or Blood Simple. |
||
|
KarthXLR Free of STD's ... lolwut? Posts: 9,927 Joined: May 2008 |
02-21-2016, 11:20 PM
(02-20-2016, 03:19 PM)Mission Difficult Wrote:(02-09-2016, 10:21 PM)Surf314 Wrote:(02-09-2016, 02:56 PM)KarthXLR Wrote: Saw Hail Caesar this weekend. Expected the usual brilliant performances and story with great theming wrapped in a disappointing ending, got a weak core of a story with sort of amusing vignettes anchored between really strange casting choices instead. Apologies about the late reply, I've been away from a solid internet source. I would agree that the Coen bros are actually usually totally on-point with plot. They understand theming, metaphor, character writing, and pacing perfectly. They are really damn good at writing and directing movies. What I don't like about them is that their endings tend to be samey in a "It was all for naught" way. It feels like the movies ultimately don't matter a majority of the time. They even make fun of themselves for it in The Big Lebowski. What disappointed me about Hail Caesar is that it left me asking "so what?" so much. Why bother having these long scenes about movies if they don't contribute anything to the main plot? Why bother with Jonah Hill's character if he's just in one scene? Why bother with the communist subplot if it doesn't contribute to the main plot at all? Why, why, why? It's all shot beautifully and the actors do their best with the material, but it just feels really dull most of the time. And I would agree with Mission Difficult, the Coens have some masterfully crafted stories in their repertoire. They can do story just fine. Endings on the other hand... |
||
|
FlyingMongoose Uninstalling Posts: 2,633 Joined: Apr 2008 |
03-03-2016, 10:29 AM
Well... Here it is... The first Official Trailer
https://youtu.be/w3ugHP-yZXw Also they're bringing back Ecto-Cooler Hi-C Sent from my interplanetary personal communicator
(This post was last modified: 03-03-2016, 10:30 AM by FlyingMongoose.)
|
||
|
Luinbariel Snailcat ..@:3 Posts: 4,520 Joined: Jun 2008 |
03-03-2016, 11:05 AM
This feels really flat to me. I didn't care for what I saw at all.
Quote:“Would you…do you think you would like to go to the dance with me?” she asked sportsball captainback. Quote:sportsball captainback (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ |
||
|
KarthXLR Free of STD's ... lolwut? Posts: 9,927 Joined: May 2008 |
03-03-2016, 05:00 PM
I've been waiting for the trailer since the whole internet has been going "FUCKING WOMEN DON'T BELONG IN GHOSTBUSTERS", but that trailer was pretty stale.
Seems like an obligatory remake as opposed to an inspired one. |
||
|
FlyingMongoose Uninstalling Posts: 2,633 Joined: Apr 2008 |
03-03-2016, 11:37 PM
I kind of got the following
"Hey it's girls now! And they can Be quirky and funny! Oh and here's a stereotypical black chick from the city".
(This post was last modified: 03-08-2016, 10:35 AM by FlyingMongoose.)
|
||
|
matter11 BRB, Posting Posts: 1,968 Joined: Jan 2011 |
03-08-2016, 08:07 AM
Zootopia was better than I thought.
As expected, lots of good little animal puns/jokes that you have to look for in the background |
||
|
Surf314 Seriously, this week I'll play PS Posts: 12,078 Joined: Mar 2008 |
03-08-2016, 10:44 AM
(03-08-2016, 08:07 AM)matter11 Wrote: Zootopia was better than I thought. I really enjoyed everyone's a little bit racist, furry edition. |
||
|
|