What Movie or TV show are you watching?
- Thread starter sopranosfan
- Start date
The Revenant (Leo gets an Oscar).
Breath-taking. The cinematography alone is worth the admission fee; I actually felt chilled to the bone multiple times because the panoramic scenery shots are so gorgeously barren and majestic in the way that only a silent, tundra-clad landscape can be. The crunching footfalls in the snow. Misting breath before the eyes. Even the almost profane whispering creaks of timeless trees looming stoically in their perennial vigil over the desolation was captured. The narrative itself is familiar, touching on the vicissitudes of frontier life in a world and era that we likely will never see or know again (for some a positive, surely). I've seen survival movies before, but the care and almost meditative character of The Revenant was profound, moving, and quite stirring to my heart. Every scene, every frame even (as far as I am concerned) served a purpose, nothing was wasted, and it was free from bloating or clunky dialogue. To that end the brevity of the dialogue itself was warranted, and served the film incredibly well; cultivating a pervasive sense of isolation, of weariness, and yet, paradoxically, an inexorable sense of something more than conscious sentience can offer. There's an inherent quality in films like this that resonate and remain long after the first (and subsequent viewings) - the stark allure of the primal world, a sense of the innately spiritual, even the notion that man need not be as gregarious and convivial (or murderously opportunistic and ruthless) as the modern world would have you believe.
It touched on aspects of post-colonial/expansion and cultural conflict, but without heavy-handed allegory or judgement. And it's one of the best slow-burn films I think I've ever seen, and I'd not anticipated such a thoroughly engrossing, heartfelt, and rewarding experience. It's a bit artsy and all that, likely not one for the popcorn supplication crowd, but a fine example of what movies can (and should) be doing in this era. Reminiscent in some ways of Ravenous, or Jarmusch's Dead Man; so I'm curious to see The Hateful Eight and see how it compares (as they can both be seen to represent aspects of post-colonial American culture and identity).
In short, it warrants an attentive viewing. Rug up too, it got damn cold in that cinema (or my imagination).
Breath-taking. The cinematography alone is worth the admission fee; I actually felt chilled to the bone multiple times because the panoramic scenery shots are so gorgeously barren and majestic in the way that only a silent, tundra-clad landscape can be. The crunching footfalls in the snow. Misting breath before the eyes. Even the almost profane whispering creaks of timeless trees looming stoically in their perennial vigil over the desolation was captured. The narrative itself is familiar, touching on the vicissitudes of frontier life in a world and era that we likely will never see or know again (for some a positive, surely). I've seen survival movies before, but the care and almost meditative character of The Revenant was profound, moving, and quite stirring to my heart. Every scene, every frame even (as far as I am concerned) served a purpose, nothing was wasted, and it was free from bloating or clunky dialogue. To that end the brevity of the dialogue itself was warranted, and served the film incredibly well; cultivating a pervasive sense of isolation, of weariness, and yet, paradoxically, an inexorable sense of something more than conscious sentience can offer. There's an inherent quality in films like this that resonate and remain long after the first (and subsequent viewings) - the stark allure of the primal world, a sense of the innately spiritual, even the notion that man need not be as gregarious and convivial (or murderously opportunistic and ruthless) as the modern world would have you believe.
It touched on aspects of post-colonial/expansion and cultural conflict, but without heavy-handed allegory or judgement. And it's one of the best slow-burn films I think I've ever seen, and I'd not anticipated such a thoroughly engrossing, heartfelt, and rewarding experience. It's a bit artsy and all that, likely not one for the popcorn supplication crowd, but a fine example of what movies can (and should) be doing in this era. Reminiscent in some ways of Ravenous, or Jarmusch's Dead Man; so I'm curious to see The Hateful Eight and see how it compares (as they can both be seen to represent aspects of post-colonial American culture and identity).
In short, it warrants an attentive viewing. Rug up too, it got damn cold in that cinema (or my imagination).
I just watched Bridge of Spies, very good movie!
Interesting episode from history, well directed by Steven Spielberg (Coen brothers script), well played by Tom Hanks and others.
Interesting episode from history, well directed by Steven Spielberg (Coen brothers script), well played by Tom Hanks and others.
Saw "Spectre" yesterday, and was not impressed with it.
Somehow it felt as if they have looked at all the old Bond movies to steal some scenes or ideas to put into the new movie.
(but not as good as the original, or half-heartedly)
Christoph Waltz as villain was a huge disappointment for me, as I really like him normally, but found him quite unremarkable in that movie. NOTHING compared to his performance in "Django" or "Inglorious Basterds".
Somehow it felt as if they have looked at all the old Bond movies to steal some scenes or ideas to put into the new movie.
(but not as good as the original, or half-heartedly)
Christoph Waltz as villain was a huge disappointment for me, as I really like him normally, but found him quite unremarkable in that movie. NOTHING compared to his performance in "Django" or "Inglorious Basterds".
The usual world domination plot was quite lacklustre. What? The bad guys ... spying on everybody?
Possibly reading your email and stealing your youtube videos. Huh.
No impending doom, nuclear bomb devastating a major city, deadly virus getting set free, gold reserves being irradiated, super-laser destroying everything, EMP pulse disabling all technology, asteroid hitting the earth, just ... 50 people, placed in a surveillance center in a meteor crater in the middle of the desert ... starting to look at all the video cameras everywhere in the world? Wow. I'm terrified.
Of course, the secret installation that had just managed to co-erce all major nations to agree with their surveillance scheme (while secretly boot-legging the tapes) was guarded by, what, 12 security guards who were easily overpowered by James Bond, once he had blown up the bad guy's torture control center. That is so ... retro (and foreseeable).
And Christoph Waltz being outed as Bond's long-believed-dead jealous adoptive brother, who then turns out to be (from his mother's side) also called Ernst Stavro Blofeld (complete with persian cat and scarred face), who has personally engineered the killing of everybody close to Bond in the past. I can not help but think they might have made much more of that than casual name-dropping to invoke Bond history.
So, for me, this marks a new lowdown of the Bond franchise, and I think I might rather watch re-runs of some old Timothy Dalton or Pierce Brosnan Bond movies instead.
Possibly reading your email and stealing your youtube videos. Huh.
No impending doom, nuclear bomb devastating a major city, deadly virus getting set free, gold reserves being irradiated, super-laser destroying everything, EMP pulse disabling all technology, asteroid hitting the earth, just ... 50 people, placed in a surveillance center in a meteor crater in the middle of the desert ... starting to look at all the video cameras everywhere in the world? Wow. I'm terrified.
Of course, the secret installation that had just managed to co-erce all major nations to agree with their surveillance scheme (while secretly boot-legging the tapes) was guarded by, what, 12 security guards who were easily overpowered by James Bond, once he had blown up the bad guy's torture control center. That is so ... retro (and foreseeable).
And Christoph Waltz being outed as Bond's long-believed-dead jealous adoptive brother, who then turns out to be (from his mother's side) also called Ernst Stavro Blofeld (complete with persian cat and scarred face), who has personally engineered the killing of everybody close to Bond in the past. I can not help but think they might have made much more of that than casual name-dropping to invoke Bond history.
So, for me, this marks a new lowdown of the Bond franchise, and I think I might rather watch re-runs of some old Timothy Dalton or Pierce Brosnan Bond movies instead.
Dalton was brilliant, though it's a little jarring going back to watch The Living Daylights and Bond's inadvertent participation in the Afghan-Soviet War, especially seeing the Afghan Mujahideen as 'good guys'. I enjoyed Spectre on a middling level; Casino Royale and Skyfall are far better films for my part. Quantum of Solace was forgettable, and I didn't care for any of Brosnan's films after Goldeneye (which, to be fair, was pretty damn fantastic).
Hoping to see Black Sails Season 3 premiere this weekend if I can find the time. Ray Stevenson as Blackbeard can only further enhance the quality of this show, and I'm still amazed that something involving Michael Bay can still be so entertaining and engrossing.
Hoping to see Black Sails Season 3 premiere this weekend if I can find the time. Ray Stevenson as Blackbeard can only further enhance the quality of this show, and I'm still amazed that something involving Michael Bay can still be so entertaining and engrossing.
I watched Oblivion last night (2013 SF flick with Tom Cruise). Really liked it .. dragged a little bit in places and could've done with 15-20 mins edited out, but it was a good story, good acting and good special effects.
I'm so behind the times when it comes to films ... when the trailer for this was on the telly yesterday afternoon I said to the Mrs "we MUST go to the cinema to watch this" to then realise it was on TV a bit later on .. I'd never heard of it before!
I'm so behind the times when it comes to films ... when the trailer for this was on the telly yesterday afternoon I said to the Mrs "we MUST go to the cinema to watch this" to then realise it was on TV a bit later on .. I'd never heard of it before!