The Movie Thread - Film Lover's Delight

[Essias]

The name of the game is "no spoilers." Well, to be precise, use spoiler tags if you're going to discuss spoilers in a film. For a precise definition of what a spoiler constitutes, please refer to the following:

an idea or unique circumstance whose unfortunate expression outside of the source film will result in a diminished experience for the second party upon watching the movie for the first time.

Basically, anything related to narrative should be put in spoiler tags. Anything else (cinematography, specific shots, sets, etc) can be discussed freely and openly bro.

For starters, and I couldn't start with anything else:

Django Unchained might just be my film of the year. It was at all times hilarious and badass. Christoph Waltz somehow managed to be just as good as he was in Inglourious Basterds. Jamie Foxx was the essence of cool. Leonardo DiCaprio was incredible (though I suspect people might not appreciate the role as much as the other characters). The use of color was awesome, if only for comedic effect. It's easily my second-favorite Tarantino movie, my god was it great.

Also, the entire segment centering around Don Johnson was some of the sharpest writing about the dumbest-possible joke I've ever seen. Just look at his brilliance.

 

[Titmar]

Yea i just got back from seeing it. It was so fucking amazing. A complete package. It did everything right.
I loved all of the characters, the dialogue, the action... EVERYTHING!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! I want to see it again already.

 

[Lights]

Saw this on NYE in the afternoon. And I will be seeing it again soon. It was incredible. SO funny and SOOOO badass. Christoph Waltz is an effing genius. So many great performances. Samuel L Jackson was great. Hell, even Jonah Hill was awesome.

 

[Essias]

Yeah I saw it opening night, had to wait an hour in line too, but it was totally worth it.

I loved the pacing too. Classic Tarantino-esque dialogue, then action, then dialogue, then action. It was awesome.

 

[corduroyCHUCK]

yeah the pacing was spot on, and Tarantino hasn't nailed that since before Kill Bill. Fucking Christoph Waltz, the way he paces his speech is legendary... him in the opening act of Inglourious Basterds still tops my list of greatest scenes i've ever seen in a theater

last year was so good for movies. Any favorites from you dudes?

 

[Nobody Worthy]

Looper was a good time travel themed movie.

 

[Essias]

I think you mean the first half of Looper. Speaking of pacing, during Looper I audibly said "holy fuck the pacing in this is perfect" then it hit the farm.

The very end of Looper was well-thought out but literally everything surrounding it was like the writer got stuck on a tangent and lost interest in the story he was telling but still had that "well-thought ending" just sitting there that could kind of act as a capstone to bring the tangent story back around.

As for amazing monologues and pacing, Javier Bardem's introductory scene in Skyfall was incredible.

 

[Nobody Worthy]

Yeah the farm bit kind of nulled it. But it did end on a neat note.

 

[Titmar]

I really didnt mind the farm bit... I thought it was all great.

Another great movie that just came out was:

if you're into that sort of thing that is.
it was hilarious and charming, the animation was great and the particle effects were super badass.

 

[Essias]

I can understand people liking the farm, but as a fan of Rian Johnson (seriously the dude has INCREDIBLE vision) and as someone who lives and breathes time-travel ideas, I was really disappointed by how he abandoned it midway through. He could have had the same effect the farm was trying to achieve while still sticking to what the first half was doing.

It doesn't help that the only sympathetic character (imo) was a side character. The Joes weren't even proper anti-heroes, they really had no redeeming qualities or growth as characters. Of course this could all be eschewed if that was the point of the narrative but given what he was doing in the latter half of the film, I doubt it.

As for Rise of the Guardians, we got it in the mail, superb movie. It was much better than I expected it to be.

 

[Lights]

It seems like Johnson meant for time-travel to be merely the backdrop for the story he wanted to tell. The landscape. And he did a good job of establishing it. It was just a shame that the farm story wasn't up to par with the awesome groundwork he laid for the world.

Still really enjoyed it, though.

Other good movies from 2012 include (but this is obviously limited to just the ones I saw):
21 Jump Street
Prometheus - wasn't quite as good as I had hoped it would be, but still an enjoyable flick.
TDKR - cause OBVIOUSLY
The Avengers

Really wish I'd seen Argo, Skyfall, and Wreck-It Ralph

 

[Shanon]

Wreck-It Ralph was surprisingly good.

Not my favorite animated film, but it is worth a watch. especially if you grew up in an arcade. The story was a little "eh" and I wish really wished they'd explore into more games in the arcade.

It did have some great characters that I found myself investing in, which I find to be difficult in an animated film.

 

[corduroyCHUCK]

oh my god, a whole movie thread of people with taste! amazing! i mean that.

i was really lacking in seeing all the good animated movies last year, i realllly wanted to see Paranorman

also i'm surprised that TDKR is an obvious strong point to so many people. I thought it was great, but the more i think about it the more i can't believe people didn't hate it. There's a lot to pick on in it, from the small things like Bane's voice coming over every single theater speaker, to the big things like the plot itself being the most overdone thing ever. and as usual with Nolan films: Themes were glorious, and the things captured on camera were astounding, and the action editing was a goddamn mess. Really i'm just channeling my confusion of how The Hobbit got hated on so much and TDKR was hailed as a masterpiece by the moviegoing public. Help me figure this out titmar, you're my only hope.

that wasn't supposed to be a rant when i started...

 

[Titmar]

tolkien > batman, thats how.

 

[Essias]

TDK > TDKR for so many reasons. Haven't seen the Hobbit. I own Paranorman.

Coraline is a much better movie, but Paranorman was damn good. The stop-motion is godly too.

 

[Lights]

Just went up to target and purchased Looper. About to get my second watch on.

 

[Tedium]

Really wish I'd seen Argo, Skyfall, and Wreck-It Ralph

Wreck-it Ralph hasn't even come out in the UK. Why? Just... why wouldn't it be out yet? I don't understand... why they have to wait until February...

 

[Insane54]

I absolutely loved Brave. I thought the pacing, story, characters, the whole thing was awesome and incredibly well done. Wildly underrated, in my opinion.

 

[Shanon]

I absolutely loved Brave. I thought the pacing, story, characters, the whole thing was awesome and incredibly well done. Wildly underrated, in my opinion.

Same same same.

My Mom is a manager at a Disney store and she had a customer say she hated the movie because she thought the main character was a lesbian.

 

[Essias]

I didn't like Wreck-It Ralph. It was too shallow for the universe it had created. Too much time spent in one specific world when they had a wealth of others to explore.

Brave was pretty good, though not as good as other Pixar movies.