Saturday, December 5, 2020

Weekend Open Thread

21 comments:

  1. I rewatched The Hobbit trilogy (after i watched the Lindsay Ellis video essays for the 20th time), i kinda enjoy them, but they are problematic and try way too hard to be like Lord Of The Rings. I mean, lets face it, The Hobbit is just a bunch of dwarves going home (and creating havoc everywhere they go), while LOTR they're litterally saving the world. And yet, the epicness and importance of both trilogies is about on the same level. Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't connect in my mind

    Anyway, now i want to watch LOTR

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    1. I think the 4k releases for the LotR trilogy is out now. Definitely a good time to revisit them.

      However, I've always wanted to get my hands on the non-extended versions to try and compare them to the longer ones. The theatrical versions have completely disappeared from my memory, as i suppose they have from most people.

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    2. I'm curious about the 4K versions, but not enough to get them. I don't have a 4K tv and i don't want to buy another 100$ box set that i already have

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    3. I hear you, Kunider. I'm 4K ready, but have no interest in (or the budget to re-purchase) the new 4K re-releases. Own the "LOTR" Extended Edition trilogy on Blu-ray and "The Hobbit" trilogy on 3D Blu-ray. I'm good 'till the new 4K sets are ready for half-off Amazon flash sales. :-)

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    4. I prefer the extended Fellowship, but the theatrical TTT+RotK. The theatrical Fellowship is too hectic and action-heavy, but the extended 2nd and3rd films are just too meandering. (Unfortunately, the extended Fellowship blu-ray has an obtrusive green tint not found on the DVD or the new 4K discs, but I have a fan preservation that restores its proper color scheme to complement my officially purchased extended blu ray disc, so I don't need to buy the new version.)


      While there are some good bits in the extended 2nd and 3rd films, one big problem with RotK's Saruman death scene is the good guys just win too damn much. In TTT, the Ents destroy Isengard, and the heroes hold Helm's Deep. In RotK, Gondor calls for aid and Rohan answers, Aragorn gets his ghost army, Minas Tirith is saved, Sauron and Mordor are destroyed, and not a single good main character perishes after Boromir in the first movie. (Theoden is a secondary character who gets a heroic end, so that's no dramatic setback.) When you take all that baked-in winning and then add Saruman getting killed at the start of the third film, how is the audience supposed to believe in Sauron's threat? The only thing the heroes really lose in the second and third parts is an outpost that's already ruined. Jeez!

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    5. Despite being a fan of The Hobbit as a novel, I have not felt a need to watch the films. Three parts seemed a bit of overkill; the story is pretty straightforward. I also did not like how the films looked.

      I cannot even remember which LOTR films I have seen. I read the novels in 2004 and still have vivid memories of that experience. The story gets quite dark in ways that would be hard to convey cinematically, especially in such a big story. I got the impression that Middle-earth was under threat from Sauron for a long time before the action of novels happens. The fight for Minas Tirith in the novel is a desperate affair, full of reverses for the human forces before victory is achieved. In both The Hobbit and LOTR, Tolkien communicated a sense of sacrifice in warfare.

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    6. About the 4K thing. I'm in no hurry of upgrading. I'm not as excited about it as i was when i made the jump to bluray. I've seen plenty 4K stuff to know what it looks like, and it is pretty, but at some point i feel we lose why we watch movies to how we watch movies. I don't go to the theater anymore (before covid) because a big screen don't impress me anymore. As long as the movie is good, i'm perfectly happy with my 40 inches tv with stereo speakers

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  2. Anyone check out Gemini Man in 60fps, either in the theater or on 4K Blu Ray? Not a great movie but the 60fps presentation is the most mind-blowing thing I've ever seen in my life of watching home viewing evolve. This is a must for those with a 4K setup, just as a tech demo. The High Frame Rate seems to draw universal criticism, but I think the right filmmaker could do something really special with that format.

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    1. Yes to both, theaters and 4K home viewing. Waited 'till
      "Gemini Man" 4K disc dropped to $10 (right before Black Friday), because as much as the 60 fps effect is killer and truly immersive (a little gimmicky but the movie around it supports the tech demo) it wasn't worth the initial $30 asking price.

      Wish there were more directors than Peter Jackson and Ang Lee pushing the 60 fps bandwagon. "Alita: Battle Angel" would have been a perfect vehicle to marry 60 fps with a world, technology and premise working in tandem with one another. Oh well. :-(

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  3. This sad news got overlooked last weekend, but it merits mention on this site: R.I.P. Daria Nicolodi. :'(.

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    1. I caught that news a few days after it was announced. Yet another person from the world of Italian cinema gone. Even in death she seems overlooked, her family life mentioned more often than her film work in the articles I read. Suspiria would not have come into existence without her. I intended to watch one of her films during the week but did not get around to it. Definitely next week.

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  4. I just watched the first half of "Novecento" aka "1900" which is stunning to watch and a drag at the same time. Robert De Niro and Gerard Depardieu play well, yet there is a lot of silliness, weird and pretty graphic sexuality (in a totally non-hot way) and overacting going on. I'm unsure about this, but will watch the second half of this 5 hours long movie.

    The other movie I've seen was Krampus - and this was a lot of fun. Nice costumes, fun monsters, great cast (who play it straight) and a finale, that I haven't seen coming. I liked it a lot.

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    1. Long European arthouse films from the 1960s and '70s can be tough to get through. My tolerance for them varies depending on my mood. I probably would not have the patience to watch 1900 at this time.

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    2. Saw "1900" a lifetime ago, when l wasn't mentally, intellectually or physically (despute being younger) ready for it. Whenever l'm tempted to give it another shot l look at the running tim, Blu-ray price and my age. Then l cry. 😭πŸ₯ΊπŸ€ͺ

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    3. Yeah - pricings are hard for this one... But you'll get a lot of movie for it, at least... :D

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  5. Hope everyone is doing well.

    My watches this week made it seem a little like Junesploitation. With too much time on my hands, I was following links on Amazon Prime that intrigued me. There were several DVR watches as well.

    HARDCORE (1979, dir. Paul Schrader) – This film is many things at once, a plot tangle that Schrader does not succeed in bringing together. Still worth a watch. George C. Scott portrays his traditional midwestern father role beautifully. You feel his pain as he watches his daughter engage in sexual acts on film. On the other hand, he also behaves brutally toward other people in his myopic search for his daughter. The quest for the daughter is the most effective aspect, a journey into the various realms of sexual amusement available in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the late 1970s.

    FEAR AND DESIRE (1953, dir. Stanley Kubrick) – How do you judge a debut film, especially when it comes from one of the great directors? Kubrick was in his mid-twenties with only a couple of short documentaries in his credits when he made this hour-long feature. The basic story is of a small group of soldiers caught behind enemy lines when their plane crashes. While it does not work completely as a war film or a philosophical film, the roots of Kubrick’s predominant themes are there. On Prime.

    BABYFACE (1933) – A masterpiece of Hollywood’s pre-code era, delving into sleazy realms that outraged the moral watchdogs of the 1930s. Barbara Stanwyck plays a young woman determined to use her intelligence and her body to get what she wants in life, even if she has to destroy some of the men she uses in the process. Stanwyck could play tough like no other actress of that period while pulling off the glamour (look at those gowns!) when needed. She does both in Babyface.

    MOTEL HELL (1980) – “It takes all kind of critters…” Considering what they do, it is surprising how sympathetic Vincent and Ida are as characters. Having watched this a long time ago, it was like seeing the film for the first time. It is an effective black comedy that makes its crazy premise work by playing everything straight.

    WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (1956, dir. Fritz Lang) – As a serial killer attacks women in their apartments, a change in leadership at a New York City newspaper creates tension and rivalry among the staff. A great cast makes the fill come alive, notably Vincent Price as the newspaper’s new owner. The production code was undeniably cracking when this was made.

    SAVAGE SISTERS (1974) – A mediocre amalgamation of 1970s Filipino exploitation tropes that manages to entertain a little. There are lots of familiar Filipino exploitation actors, including Vic Diaz and a very hammy Sid Haig dressed like a Mexican bandit. The sleaze is really toned down.

    THE WARRIOR QUEEN (1987) – A forgettable and nonsensical sword and sandal film that borrows an enormous amount of footage from other films considering its short running time. Things happen in Pompeii until Mt. Vesuvius erupts. The End.

    THE WARRIOR AND THE SORCERESS (1984) – Although there is not much quality in this sword and sorcery film, the jumble of influences and fast pace undoubtedly entertained me. The extent to which it rips off A Fistful of Dollars (itself a rip-off) frequently elicited chuckles. David Carradine’s charisma carries much of the film. If I was a teenager in the mid-1980s, I would have been delighted to find this bit of trash on cable tv or at the video store.






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    1. DECEMBER-SPLOITATION! l like that. πŸ˜ƒπŸ‘Ή☠πŸ‘½

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  6. Silverado is still just an...adorable, delightful movie.

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    1. kid me crushed on scott glenn in this. adult me crushes on Kevin Kline.

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  7. Finally the Popeye movie got a bluray release. And not just some crap dumped on the disc. It's actually a very good transfer and a couple, albeit short, extras. It's not a perfect movie, far from it, but it's weird enough to be entertaining. And it's definitely a Robert Altman movie, which i'm a fan of.

    And it's a musical, so there's that going for it

    And the bluray is super cheap ;)

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    1. Will wait for the never-coming-out 4K version. πŸ˜‰πŸ™€

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