[Movies] Talk about the last movie you saw 2: Electric Threadaloo
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figmentPez
Staff member
Damnation Alley
I watched this because it's the only Roger Zelazny novel to get turned into a movie. It wasn't MST3K awful, but it was pretty bland. It has very little in common with the book. If I remember the novel correctly, it was about drivers who routinely traveled across the nuclear storm torn regions of the US, delivering cargo between surviving areas after WW3. The movie just makes it a small number of surivors driving in search of anyone still thriving. The concept would have worked pretty well as an '80s TV series. Too bad it was a '77 movie.
I watched this because it's the only Roger Zelazny novel to get turned into a movie. It wasn't MST3K awful, but it was pretty bland. It has very little in common with the book. If I remember the novel correctly, it was about drivers who routinely traveled across the nuclear storm torn regions of the US, delivering cargo between surviving areas after WW3. The movie just makes it a small number of surivors driving in search of anyone still thriving. The concept would have worked pretty well as an '80s TV series. Too bad it was a '77 movie.
That kinda sounds like The Road Warrior series. Or something that would fit in that universe.
Also
Also
I find this part surprising.
figmentPez
Staff member
It's far more bland than that. The closest thing the movie has to bands of outlaws in fetish gear was a small group of radiation scarred rednecks hanging out at a gas station.
Not a fan of Zelazny?
I mentioned in another thread I didn't like his Amber books. Generally, I'm not impressed by his writing.
My Darling Clementine: John Ford Western Staring Henry Fonda and Vic Mature as Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. A retelling of the Gunfight at the OK Corral that gets almost every historical fact wrong. But it is a marvelous movie, I just wished they used different names and made it a generic western instead of Hollywood History.
But John Ford is the fucking man, damned near every frame of this film could hang in a fine arts museum.
But John Ford is the fucking man, damned near every frame of this film could hang in a fine arts museum.
I've often thought that I should hang some of his scenes as wall art. I'd like to get the Criterion Collection of Stagecoach.
Definitely. They always looked good, but it wasn't until a class I took in college about John Ford that I really came to appreciate the grace of his style.
Same here. I never cared about Westerns, but then I took a course on "The History of the Amercian Western" and learned to appreciate the good, the bad and the ugly of the genre. Film, novels and tv, as well as documented history. It was a great semester.
boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
...I just Turbo'd?
GasBandit
Staff member
Stories of self reliance, clear lines of morality (white hats vs black), firearm proficiency and positive portrayals of masculinity just aren't in style any more I guess. Every western I've seen in the last 10 years is either a comedic deconstruction or a grimdark subversion with anvilicious social themes.
fade
Staff member
Subversion in westerns has been around as long as the genre, though. Hell, Gunsmoke did it on a regular basis, as far back as the radio serial. Some of the best westerns (ha) are subverted or even completely inverted, like Unforgiven.[DOUBLEPOST=1421187018,1421186889][/DOUBLEPOST]To think of it, Eastwood got famous off of subverted roles, like the Man with No Name.
One of the things I love about Unforgiven is it's the straight western hero versus the subversion. I got that for Christmas; I should watch it again.
If I remember what my professor said, the American population lost it's love affair with Westerns during Vietnam. The American faultless hero didn't jive with what they were seeing on TV. Westers used to make up about 50% of movies released and during/post Vietnam, their profitability sank dramaticly.
GasBandit
Staff member
"You know, if we lost this war, I think it would have driven us crazy. It would have torn us apart. Y'know. As a country. But we didn't. Thanks to you." - The Comedian to Dr. Manhattan, Vietnam, 1971
fade
Staff member
The Paperboy
This is a classic example of "trying too hard". It was nicely filmed in parts, but even technically, it wasn't all there (cheap day-to-night filters, blood effects that looked like ketchup or paint). Nicole Kidman's "accent" was atrocious, and once again I'm reminded of how movies with "southerners" in them are a lens into what Hollywood thinks we're like. People totally gut alligators on their front yards while pregnant women walk around topless. Plus, the entire effort of the movie was made meaningless by the ending--which I suppose was the point. But it never felt like anyone went anywhere. Did you ever listen to a song where it feels like the music is building to some big break, but it never happens, much to your annoyance? That's this movie in a nutshell. That and being beat to death with the Stick of "Subtlety".[DOUBLEPOST=1421421158,1421420826][/DOUBLEPOST]Boyhood
What it says on the tin. I suspect a lot of people won't really find this movie very interesting, because it's exactly that. It's "just" a stylized peek into some random kid's life, with the clever twist of a long filming schedule. That's cool in and of itself, and it's definitely worthy of attention. It's a good watch and I recommend it.
This is a classic example of "trying too hard". It was nicely filmed in parts, but even technically, it wasn't all there (cheap day-to-night filters, blood effects that looked like ketchup or paint). Nicole Kidman's "accent" was atrocious, and once again I'm reminded of how movies with "southerners" in them are a lens into what Hollywood thinks we're like. People totally gut alligators on their front yards while pregnant women walk around topless. Plus, the entire effort of the movie was made meaningless by the ending--which I suppose was the point. But it never felt like anyone went anywhere. Did you ever listen to a song where it feels like the music is building to some big break, but it never happens, much to your annoyance? That's this movie in a nutshell. That and being beat to death with the Stick of "Subtlety".[DOUBLEPOST=1421421158,1421420826][/DOUBLEPOST]Boyhood
What it says on the tin. I suspect a lot of people won't really find this movie very interesting, because it's exactly that. It's "just" a stylized peek into some random kid's life, with the clever twist of a long filming schedule. That's cool in and of itself, and it's definitely worthy of attention. It's a good watch and I recommend it.
I wish they'd done a shooting schedule like that for an ambitious time travel story of some kind.
As for Westerns, much of what people liked about it has been repurposed and turned into SciFi. Yes, Firefly did it very openly, but even outside of that, many, many, many themes, tropes, stereotypes, etc from westerns come back in science fiction/science fantasy stories - movie, book and series. It's easy to point to Avatar and such, but even those where it's less clear. The whole "good white men, bad alien culture with different values, frontier values, "live-free-take-care-of-yourself" Americanism, style of storytelling isn't politically correct anymore and, furthermore, no longer believable in a (semi-)historic setting because of postmodern cultural lenses and cultural relativism. Turn "White American explorers" into "human explorers" (now with added token minority and female character!) and "semi-barbarian Indians with strange but valuable cultural values" into "aliens" and you're all set to go.
I think it was either GRR Martin or Isaac Asimov (yeah, I know, big difference, but...Well, that's who I'm doubting between
) who said you could take practically any story and move it over to SciFi, Western, Fantasy,... and it'd work, as long as some standard human emotions and stories are being told.
I think it was either GRR Martin or Isaac Asimov (yeah, I know, big difference, but...Well, that's who I'm doubting between
) who said you could take practically any story and move it over to SciFi, Western, Fantasy,... and it'd work, as long as some standard human emotions and stories are being told.
Dave
Staff member
American Sniper. It's okay, but be prepared for a LOT of OOH RAH hero worship. And, man was it a good thing that Kyle was there to save all those Marines who weren't trained well enough for urban welfare!
It dealt terribly with PTSD in a very movie type of way. Hollywood treats mental illness like it something that has a single cure. In most cases, multiple personalities can be cured by shooting one of them while you are arguing with it rationally ("Me, Myself, & Irene", "Fight Club"). And PTSD can apparently be cured by taking out your rivals and then helping other disabled vets. It just doesn't work that way and it would have been a much stronger movie had they actually shown someone going through severe PTSD. As it was, it was highly sanitized. I mean, we can't make Superman look bad, now can we?
2 stars.
Dave
Staff member
Here's a very, VERY good review of American Sniper and why I disliked it.
http://www.vox.com/2015/1/22/7859791/american-sniper-iraq
http://www.vox.com/2015/1/22/7859791/american-sniper-iraq
I haven't seen the movie, but have heard reviews about how audiences behave during it and they sound pretty awful.
Dave
Staff member
All movies change from right after watching them to having time to think. I was pissed even while watching it because of the whole "Marine undertrained, Navy SEALS supermen hurr hurr hurr" thing. The Vox article articulated everything I was feeling and brought it into a better focus.