On December 28 2021 02:17 KwarK wrote: I also enjoyed the meta critique of algorithms driven content and how the unreal world was driven by a need for constant engagement which had to be ultimately unsatisfactory and hollow to keep the users on the content treadmill.
It probably would have been better as a spin-off rather than a sequel. There was a lot to be said there, there’s far more to be said about the lives we live online and the virtual spaces we inhabit now than there was in 1999. But it was sidetracked by the resurrection of Neo/Trinity and their attempts to get back together, plus returning faces from the original three. Something set in the same universe but otherwise fresh would have had less baggage and more room to operate.
This is the exact criticism i had of Matrix 2/3. I just don't think the Wachowskis were that into the idea of making movies about Neo and Trinity (obviously they didn't have the choice, because $$$), and the world building stuff like the Animatrix was easily the best stuff they did after the original movie.
I really loved the fact that they brought so many of the actors from all the previous versions into this film. Amazing Spider-Man's redemption arc had me in tears.
Interesting movie, I really love the concept, the movie takes place almost entirely within the Encanto, a magical town/village cut off from the rest of the world, and within the Encanto it mostly takes place in the magical house of the magical family, the Madrigals.
First, the music, there are two songs that I think are bangers, 1. We Don't Talk About Bruno, and 2. The Famiy Madrigal. They're great, top tier stuff, what I crave from good Disney movies. The rest are kind of forgettable to me, they're not bad per se, theyre just... not the kind of intensely satisfying ear worm that a movie like Moana had. I bring Moana up because both Moana and Encanto's songs are Lin Manuel Miranda songs, and I think that Moana's are mostly better. Encanto's songs vary between forgettable and excellent, the highs are high and the lows are pretty meh. I think the songs are at their best when they have that Latin mix going, when the songs are more generic-pop-song they lack the kind of personality and vibrancy from the best songs.
We Don't Talk About Bruno is really great though, love it.
Second, about the story, I have some mixed feelings. Some of it felt kind of inconsistent, kind of "things are happening because we need a plot but dont want to explain much," in particular the rules behind the Encanto felt very "just cause," in the end it turns out the matriarchal Abuela's expectations were crushing the members of the Madrigal's and this causes the magic to go away. I don't really know why though, I get that its because the magic doesnt like the family strife, but all of this deterioration seems to really come up all at once despite the fact that Abuela's crushing expectations aren't strictly linked to any recent even and seem to have been a problem for years. The Encanto just... didn't care until it became convenient to for the movie? Why does Mirabel not have a power? If we accept that the Encanto doesnt like family strife, okay, but... she doesn't cause any family strife, why was she rejected for a superpower? Her parents aren't like the disgraced Bruno, they're perfectly happy and well integrated into the family, shes well integrated into the family (except for not having a power which is the fucking Encanto's own fault, so) I don't get it. Why is she the only one who doesnt get a super power other than to have the movie happen in the way it does?
The movie also doesn't give enough breathing room to most of the family, in my opinion, her sisters reveal their insecurities basically once it becomes plot convenient and then thats kind of it, they serve the plot more so than serve as interesting characters on their own. Its a shame because I think there was so, so, so much potential in this idea, and it feels kind of squandered. A study of a family, or the people in the family, within a small set could have been a really nice change up from the usual beautiful Disney set pieces that span huge spaces. A chance for a really intimate and beautiful story. Instead the movie doesn't let itself get that intimate with it's characters for very long, it goes, "okay heres their problem, great, now the problem is out there, the plot goes on, moving on now!"
The movie needed to be longer, or focus more intently on fewer characters (and rearrange the relationships, Bruno being Mirabel's father would make WAY more sense given him causing strife within the family actually giving a reason for Mirabel to not have a power,) or focus mainly on Mirabel with the family serving as its own big complicated background character. I loved Bruno though, I think hes the most fascinating character in the movie and I love him.
Maybe Im being too harsh because of how in love I am with the setting and a lot of the bones of the movie, so Im projecting some idealized form of the movie, but it kind of killed me that this movie wasn't a Moana/Zootopia level movie.
It's still a solid B+ because its gorgeous, the powers are fun, has some really phenomenal songs, and a lot of whats there is still pretty good. You want a magical Colombian family in their sweet ass magical house? You want some heart? This movie has these things, even if they're not as strong as they could be.
On December 24 2021 23:25 xM(Z wrote: it's disappointing ... on purpose? ... i think; so that the 5th and 6th movies would seem/look better.
Very possible. Seen in the first six minutes of the film:
It's pretty janky. The first thirty minutes is like a different film- somebody liked Adaptation (2002) a bit too much and tried it out for a bit and then abandoned ship for the rest because it's not so easy to sustain for the whole film. But it's screenwriters writing about screenwriting so that's catnip for movie critics. But the allegory is too obvious and too dominant to be entertaining for me. Brainstorming sessions on what is essential to a Matrix sequel is all well and good, but should probably be left out of the actual film. Or at least it could be relegated to a short film where the idea could be sustained from beginning to end rather than tossed away for Action.
For a movie that keeps talking about agency and 'my choice', Neo sure lacked it, being dragged here and there by others and then finally he's off on someone else's plan. The biggest choice he needs to make is to not make one but Trinity needs to. Okay then. Maybe blue-haired chick would make for a better protagonist as she's at least making moves.
There had to be a more interesting idea than retreading the first Matrix for the first half (and thereby rescuing Neo, again and in more or less the same manner. But characters in the film are lampshading that we are doing it, hee hee. So that makes it clever.) And then we spend the second half rescuing Trinity (Except she doesn't need rescuing, Oh Snap!).
There is an interesting idea- an alliance with some machines and a Machine civil war, but that's just told to us. The imprisonment of Neo is so short it might as well not happened. In fact nu-Zion- Io? could have been cut without loss. But that too was a more interesting idea. Nu-Zion has found a new balance. We've got machine allies and programs that can manifest in the real world now, sure why not? Neo is reborn into the Matrix somehow and returns to his mission of freeing the humans- Dragon Reborn is going to Dragon Reborn. But it is upsetting the new alliances (during the machine civil war no less). So he's rescued from his pod... but by Zion member that wish to imprison him permanently. They don't wish to upset the new balance- so what's the way forward? Alliance/ symbiosis with the machines (nu-Zion's current) or Total freedom (Neo)... or some third path (after all, this film keeps wanting to break the binary... though it end with one, so lol.) It's one of the few interesting ideas that wasn't a complete retread, but it's breezed over in one conversation and then gone.
Other jankiness. Zion general is Very Against going up top (and that amounts to nothing, easily ignored.) They come back and she is again Very Against going up top. Then Dolphin/Lamp Ray bot arrives, one conversation later and they are in the exact same spot with the general organizing going up top with a gifted plan out of basically nowhere. The conflict in nu-Zion is so perfunctory. Not enough space is given to it and it's so easily resolved that it feels like contrived conflict because conflict is needed for this part of the film.
First fight back with the Exiles feels about as perfunctory- as about as essential as a random encounter. (The DM had some favourite old mini-figures he wanted to get into the session.) If the film had sustained its meta-narrative, no doubt somebody would pop in and say, "Not only are you predictable but aren't films (I mean video games) predictable because here we are, halfway through after a bunch of boring talky bits and so we thought we throw in an action scene with some old characters you might remember from the previous three. Just to spice things up."
The film is strangely both over-explained and under-explained. Lots of explaining what could better be shown and then very little explanation for what not-Smith's motivation is, which turns out to be rather important as they are about to die and then not-Smith comes in and takes a dump on nu-Matrix Bosses plan for no apparent reason- at least not hinted at prior. Foreshadowing is really not this film's strong suit.
I'm not really sure we gained that much from having not-Smith and not-Morpheus as opposed to just new programs doing their own thing.
In short, the film is a snake consuming itself. It could have gone off in new directions but instead decided to rehash the old. It tried to be clever at the beginning by making references to the inanity of sequels, but then proceeded to just as inane. It's really not that far off from Lion King II with a dash of Lion King 1.5 at the beginning as far as creativity is concerned.
If this film was made under protest, I would not at all be surprised.
On December 27 2021 23:55 FreakyDroid wrote: Dont Look Up Pretty cool movie that describes the polarized society we live in and our inability to agree on the most basic facts. I think it manages to capture the absurdity of it and how political and business elites are taking advantage of it for personal gains. 8/10
Agreed. The movie Don't Look Up is a phenomenal parody on our national priorities during the climate change crisis, and the cast is amazing. Highly recommend it.
On December 24 2021 23:25 xM(Z wrote: it's disappointing ... on purpose? ... i think; so that the 5th and 6th movies would seem/look better.
Very possible. Seen in the first six minutes of the film:
It's pretty janky. The first thirty minutes is like a different film- somebody liked Adaptation (2002) a bit too much and tried it out for a bit and then abandoned ship for the rest because it's not so easy to sustain for the whole film. But it's screenwriters writing about screenwriting so that's catnip for movie critics. But the allegory is too obvious and too dominant to be entertaining for me. Brainstorming sessions on what is essential to a Matrix sequel is all well and good, but should probably be left out of the actual film. Or at least it could be relegated to a short film where the idea could be sustained from beginning to end rather than tossed away for Action.
For a movie that keeps talking about agency and 'my choice', Neo sure lacked it, being dragged here and there by others and then finally he's off on someone else's plan. The biggest choice he needs to make is to not make one but Trinity needs to. Okay then. Maybe blue-haired chick would make for a better protagonist as she's at least making moves.
There had to be a more interesting idea than retreading the first Matrix for the first half (and thereby rescuing Neo, again and in more or less the same manner. But characters in the film are lampshading that we are doing it, hee hee. So that makes it clever.) And then we spend the second half rescuing Trinity (Except she doesn't need rescuing, Oh Snap!).
There is an interesting idea- an alliance with some machines and a Machine civil war, but that's just told to us. The imprisonment of Neo is so short it might as well not happened. In fact nu-Zion- Io? could have been cut without loss. But that too was a more interesting idea. Nu-Zion has found a new balance. We've got machine allies and programs that can manifest in the real world now, sure why not? Neo is reborn into the Matrix somehow and returns to his mission of freeing the humans- Dragon Reborn is going to Dragon Reborn. But it is upsetting the new alliances (during the machine civil war no less). So he's rescued from his pod... but by Zion member that wish to imprison him permanently. They don't wish to upset the new balance- so what's the way forward? Alliance/ symbiosis with the machines (nu-Zion's current) or Total freedom (Neo)... or some third path (after all, this film keeps wanting to break the binary... though it end with one, so lol.) It's one of the few interesting ideas that wasn't a complete retread, but it's breezed over in one conversation and then gone.
Other jankiness. Zion general is Very Against going up top (and that amounts to nothing, easily ignored.) They come back and she is again Very Against going up top. Then Dolphin/Lamp Ray bot arrives, one conversation later and they are in the exact same spot with the general organizing going up top with a gifted plan out of basically nowhere. The conflict in nu-Zion is so perfunctory. Not enough space is given to it and it's so easily resolved that it feels like contrived conflict because conflict is needed for this part of the film.
First fight back with the Exiles feels about as perfunctory- as about as essential as a random encounter. (The DM had some favourite old mini-figures he wanted to get into the session.) If the film had sustained its meta-narrative, no doubt somebody would pop in and say, "Not only are you predictable but aren't films (I mean video games) predictable because here we are, halfway through after a bunch of boring talky bits and so we thought we throw in an action scene with some old characters you might remember from the previous three. Just to spice things up."
The film is strangely both over-explained and under-explained. Lots of explaining what could better be shown and then very little explanation for what not-Smith's motivation is, which turns out to be rather important as they are about to die and then not-Smith comes in and takes a dump on nu-Matrix Bosses plan for no apparent reason- at least not hinted at prior. Foreshadowing is really not this film's strong suit.
I'm not really sure we gained that much from having not-Smith and not-Morpheus as opposed to just new programs doing their own thing.
In short, the film is a snake consuming itself. It could have gone off in new directions but instead decided to rehash the old. It tried to be clever at the beginning by making references to the inanity of sequels, but then proceeded to just as inane. It's really not that far off from Lion King II with a dash of Lion King 1.5 at the beginning as far as creativity is concerned.
If this film was made under protest, I would not at all be surprised.
wow!, ... holy hell, ... it's like, ... exactly what i said.
i have an explanation thou', for all of it. so, are you ready?!, here it comes - BOOM+ Show Spoiler +
EMOtions
they forwent logic, reason and entropy and have driven everything in the movie off emotions and feelings. so, if you're not in tune with those internal subjective mental elements, you're done; and you can't be in tune with them because well, you're not the writer(s), and rationalization can only get you ... there.
you were supposed to feel the movie, not try and understand it ...
On December 27 2021 23:55 FreakyDroid wrote: Dont Look Up Pretty cool movie that describes the polarized society we live in and our inability to agree on the most basic facts. I think it manages to capture the absurdity of it and how political and business elites are taking advantage of it for personal gains. 8/10
Agreed. The movie Don't Look Up is a phenomenal parody on our national priorities during the climate change crisis, and the cast is amazing. Highly recommend it.
Just saw it and thought it was equally funny and depressing. A really well down satire. I also found the last major scene at the dinner table, perhaps oddly, intensely moving. Definitely recommend it.
On December 27 2021 23:55 FreakyDroid wrote: Dont Look Up Pretty cool movie that describes the polarized society we live in and our inability to agree on the most basic facts. I think it manages to capture the absurdity of it and how political and business elites are taking advantage of it for personal gains. 8/10
Agreed. The movie Don't Look Up is a phenomenal parody on our national priorities during the climate change crisis, and the cast is amazing. Highly recommend it.
Just saw it and thought it was equally funny and depressing. A really well down satire. I also found the last major scene at the dinner table, perhaps oddly, intensely moving. Definitely recommend it.
I thought it was ok. As far as satire goes, it was about as subtle as a sledgehammer, but fairly on point anyway. I would dock it 2 points for the absolutely earthshatteringly shit music. A couple of moments i found a little cringey. Films like this don't need preachy monologues because the point should be there in the satire, so DiCaprio's rage filled speech really turned me off. Also I found the montage scenes to be very weirdly edited and it kinda gave me a headache, and not in a fun way. 5/10
Overall I enjoyed it, but Adam McKay is gonna Adam McKay. It's more a collection of cool scenes, and for me it doesn't quite work as a feature length film. It's not really subtle at all, but at this point it's safe to say that trying to go for subtlety is doomed. I really wonder how this would've ended up if not for the pandemic.
Needed another major editing pass to cut down maybe 30 minutes from it.
Midway, 2019
Emmerich usually does big budget disaster films, and hoo boy does it show. Long, meandering, unfocused. Most of the runtime I was simply considering switching over to Saving Private Ryan. But apparently it's a pretty realistic depiction of WW2 era carrier fleet battles, so maybe it works for some history buffs? And it was one of the most expensive indie productions ever made, which is an interesting detail.
The French Dispatch, 2021
A brilliant piece of film making craft, left me somewhat cold and detached from the actual stories. I enjoyed the experience, there's a lot to chew on, but at the same time I felt distanced from the story and the characters because Anderson keeps pushing his style ever more. Still absolutely worthy a watch, though.
The Last Duel, 2021
And one of my absolutely recent favorites, and one of Scott's best. It's bold, it's strong, there's layers of subtext. The costuming is on point, performances are on point, the production design is on point, the locations are great, the titular duel is spectacularly filmed. Really highly recommended, and very topical. Unlike Don't Look Up, this earns its runtime and then some.
Aniara, 2018
Utterly bleak and depressing, just a long, slow journey towards the inevitable. In that way I suppose it's also very Nordic. Not that it's a bad movie, mind you. The production design reminded a lot of the Baltic sea cruise ships, which I found very funny, nice reference. Maybe not the best movie to watch in 2022 after the doom and gloom of the past two years.
I watched Nightmare Alley at the cinema and it was really really good! 8/10 maybe 8.5 Also saw sing 2 with my daughter, really enjoyed that one too. a solid movie for kids 7/10 7.5/10 Spiderman No way home was ok too, a 6/10 for me or maybe a 7.
Speaking of TV series, Arcane blew me away. Great characters, really good animation capturing all the small facial twitches, very interesting camera angles, original music, and the constantly surprising writing. Best videogame to movie/series ever made. And I don't even play League of Legends.
On February 25 2022 03:05 polgas wrote: Speaking of TV series, Arcane blew me away. Great characters, really good animation capturing all the small facial twitches, very interesting camera angles, original music, and the constantly surprising writing. Best videogame to movie/series ever made. And I don't even play League of Legends.
Oh yeah, its amazing how they make that show make League cool. Especially because they showed GREAT restraint to not lean into the League of Legends aspect of the story. It never felt like League of Legends: The Show which is probably where a lot of game adaptations fail at.
On February 25 2022 03:05 polgas wrote: Speaking of TV series, Arcane blew me away. Great characters, really good animation capturing all the small facial twitches, very interesting camera angles, original music, and the constantly surprising writing. Best videogame to movie/series ever made. And I don't even play League of Legends.
Oh yeah, its amazing how they make that show make League cool. Especially because they showed GREAT restraint to not lean into the League of Legends aspect of the story. It never felt like League of Legends: The Show which is probably where a lot of game adaptations fail at.
Agreed. Just enough ties to the game but have the freedom to write a coherent story out of it.
The Batman was excellent. I freaking love the TAS approach where all these characters and villains are already out in the world, so we don't have to deal with origin stories every two seconds.
EPT
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... there.
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