Last movie you saw?

Started by tmw89, December 27, 2012, 03:03:47 AM

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Mono no aware

Quote from: The Theosist on August 05, 2020, 12:14:50 PMhe cannot even recognise that the film is the work of a consummate master of his craft or draw attention to virtuosic aspects, is pathetic.

If that's the case, then I simply don't care for the craft, such as it as.  It's like what  Martin Scorsese said about comic book movies, which also rely overmuch on bombast: whatever they might be, they're not cinema.

As for "the feeling of being thrown into an experience," that reminds me of the story that when the earliest movie audiences were shown a scene of a train barreling down the tracks, seemingly right towards them, their first instinct was to cower under their seats.  I'm sure this was experiential for those audiences, but that was far from a great movie, whatever it was.  I mean, there are teenaged girls who scream at certain moments in awful horror films.  And then there's "3-D."  Doubtless this is all of a "craft" of some sort, and I suppose there must be masters of it. 

The Theosist

#3121
Quote from: Pon de Replay on August 05, 2020, 05:44:46 PM
Quote from: The Theosist on August 05, 2020, 12:14:50 PMhe cannot even recognise that the film is the work of a consummate master of his craft or draw attention to virtuosic aspects, is pathetic.

If that's the case, then I simply don't care for the craft, such as it as.  It's like what  Martin Scorsese said about comic book movies, which also rely overmuch on bombast: whatever they might be, they're not cinema.

As for "the feeling of being thrown into an experience," that reminds me of the story that when the earliest movie audiences were shown a scene of a train barreling down the tracks, seemingly right towards them, their first instinct was to cower under their seats.  I'm sure this was experiential for those audiences, but that was far from a great movie, whatever it was.  I mean, there are teenaged girls who scream at certain moments in awful horror films.  And then there's "3-D."  Doubtless this is all of a "craft" of some sort, and I suppose there must be masters of it.

Then don't care for the craft. But whatever comic book movies are, they are cinema. The Dark Knight is even great cinema. Scorsese's claims are themselves bombastic, as are his movies, and as for his lastest fare in movie-making, I couldn't think of a more formulaic effort. Franchise films? The Irishman is a franchise film. And casting Pacino, De Niro and Pesci in the same gangster flick is, frankly, fan service.

Mono no aware

#3122
Quote from: The Theosist on August 06, 2020, 12:30:35 AMThen don't care for the craft. But whatever comic book movies are, they are cinema. The Dark Knight is even great cinema. Scorsese's claims are themselves bombastic, as are his movies, and as for his lastest fare in movie-making, I couldn't think of a more formulaic effort. Franchise films? The Irishman is a franchise film. And casting Pacino, De Niro and Pesci in the same gangster flick is, frankly, fan service.

I do not disagree on the subject of Martin Scorsese.  He has a tendency to mine the same ground over and over, and The Irishman was almost something like self-parody.  As a rule, old men do not tend to make great movies.  But they can make accurate assessments of comic book movies.

Comic book movies are part of the reason why I agree with Hitchens that cinema has been bottoming out over the last thirty years.  Here we must disagree: you say the The Dark Knight is great cinema, I say it's Michael Bay with pretensions to high brow.  The whole "comic book superhero" enterprise is creepy to me.  There's something homoerotic and almost demonic about it, what with the musculature and the masks.  I think the two best evidences for the existence of the demonic are dancing and comic book movies, but that would be to go off-topic.



The Theosist

Quote from: Pon de Replay on August 06, 2020, 05:48:36 AM
Comic book movies are part of the reason why I agree with Hitchens that cinema has been bottoming out over the last thirty years. 

I don't disagree that most of them are, in a sense, trash. But then so are Jane Austen novels. It's nothing new. What were most of the gangster movies of the 1930s? Or 1950s westerns? Trash with a few gems sprinkled in. It's still cinema, whose primary purposes seem to be profit, entertainment and social engineering.

QuoteHere we must disagree: you say the The Dark Knight is great cinema, I say it's Michael Bay with pretensions to high brow.

And there I must disagree, especially in the broader context of his films. The man is touching on and dealing with ideas whose meaning is simply lost on the uninitiated and appear as trite.

QuoteThe whole "comic book superhero" enterprise is creepy to me.  There's something homoerotic and almost demonic about it, what with the musculature and the masks.  I think the two best evidences for the existence of the demonic are dancing and comic book movies, but that would be to go off-topic.

I'd certainly call much dancing demonic in the original Greek sense of the word. So is a lot of art. It was mostly inseparable from religious ritual, but then life was inseparable from religious ritual in a world alive with gods, daimons, and local spirits, moving in the heavens, dancing in the hearth flames, howling on the wind and found in every woodland, river and spring. That wouldn't be to say, for my part, that it originates in Satanism and is evil. The Dark Knight is demonic, but Nolans films are generally demonic.

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hwGN7678IE[/yt]

Mono no aware

Quote from: The Theosist on August 06, 2020, 07:22:32 AMThe man is touching on and dealing with ideas whose meaning is simply lost on the uninitiated and appear as trite.

Now we have to have a gnostic take on Christopher Nolan, to cover up for the fact that it's mostly just the titillation of choreographed violence and loud explosions?  I suppose you can offer a gnostic take on anything if you want to, really.  People who believe in the Illuminati are able to find hidden references to the occult in the lyrics of vapid pop music.

Quote from: The Theosist on August 06, 2020, 07:22:32 AMI'd certainly call much dancing demonic in the original Greek sense of the word. So is a lot of art. It was mostly inseparable from religious ritual, but then life was inseparable from religious ritual in a world alive with gods, daimons, and local spirits, moving in the heavens, dancing in the hearth flames, howling on the wind and found in every woodland, river and spring. That wouldn't be to say, for my part, that it originates in Satanism and is evil. The Dark Knight is demonic, but Nolans films are generally demonic.

Just look at the comic book illustration itself in that scene you embedded.  Hideously exaggerated male musculatures, skin-tight costumes, masks, and chimera heads.  Now that sort of material has overtaken the movies.  To each their own, I guess.  I think comic books, and now comic book movies, have been suggestive all along of this disturbing trend of the transgendered and surgical body modification.  Whatever's going on, it's not a delirium of the woodlands and rivers and springs anymore.  It's industrial, synthetic, and unnatural.  And one thing that seems suspiciously lost in this mix is a proper reverence for female beauty.  I'm going to pass, thanks.

Kent

The discussion reminds me of this:



Nolan (in his Dark Knight trilogy) is attempting to elevate low art to a high art status.  I think it's obvious that this is what he is doing.  The question is whether or not he succeeds, in spite of retaining some of the low art characteristics of his muse (those identified by Pon de Replay).

I would be willing to call Nolan a 'master' of Hollywood, but there's much to be said about film outside of Hollywood, and its only a relative accomplishment to be one of the best Hollywood directors.  Hearkening to his Dark Knight trilogy, it is certainly the best the superhero genre has to offer, and in truth it far exceeds and transcends that genre (at least by comparison to the conventions of your average Marvel movie).  Its style of realism appeals to me (as does realism writ large) and it presents viewers with difficult (but not impossible) to resolve dilemmas in the areas of moral and political philosophy.  Marvel-- with the notable exception of Civil War, perhaps-- just about altogether fails to do this in an engaging or believable way. 


I do profess to be no less than I seem, to serve him truly
that will put me in trust, to love him that is honest, to
converse with him that is wise and says little, to fear
judgment, to fight when I cannot choose, and to eat no fish.

Graham

Shyamalan's trilogy for all its flaws is better, but maybe it's not exactly in the superhero genre.

red solo cup

Radioactive. Not very good.
non impediti ratione cogitationis

The Theosist

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjq7Gl_hhPY[/yt]

The Terror Season 1. The trailer can't do this masterpiece justice.

Jacob

Quote from: The Theosist on August 10, 2020, 04:21:38 AM
The Terror Season 1. The trailer can't do this masterpiece justice.

My brother has long been interested in the Franklin Expedition, so we watched this.  We both agreed it would have been more interesting as a straight retelling of the real expedition.
"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game because they almost always turn out to be—or to be indistinguishable from—self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
--Neal Stephenson

red solo cup

non impediti ratione cogitationis

The Theosist

Quote from: Jacob on August 10, 2020, 10:09:01 AM
Quote from: The Theosist on August 10, 2020, 04:21:38 AM
The Terror Season 1. The trailer can't do this masterpiece justice.

My brother has long been interested in the Franklin Expedition, so we watched this.  We both agreed it would have been more interesting as a straight retelling of the real expedition.

Perhaps. The reality is more chilling than the monster. But it's based on a novel. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3974.The_Terror

Jacob

Letters from Iwo Jima

It was pretty good.  I enjoyed it.
"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game because they almost always turn out to be—or to be indistinguishable from—self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
--Neal Stephenson

red solo cup

Downton Abbey Movie. A syrupy disappointment. We get to watch Mr. Barrow kiss his new boyfriend.
non impediti ratione cogitationis

Kent

I tried to watch Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, but I was far too tired and it was far too idiosyncratically Jewish for me to finish it.
I do profess to be no less than I seem, to serve him truly
that will put me in trust, to love him that is honest, to
converse with him that is wise and says little, to fear
judgment, to fight when I cannot choose, and to eat no fish.