What movies are you watching?

[LoathedVermin72]

Watched Nine Lives yesterday. Wtf did Barry Sonnenfeld do to deserve this?

Sonnenfeld directed Wild Wild West and produced Space Chimps, so I'd say he's right where he belongs.

[epilogue]

Moonlight is a wonderful film.

i really want to see it...it premieres here in about two weeks.

Another movie I never plan on watching

Though it has a strong sense of theme and outstanding visuals, I do think your instinct here is probably correct. It is a slow character study, the kind of thing you tend to pull away from in cinema. However, IF there is a movie of its kind that could surprise you and offer you something, it's Moonlight. The way it handles things like judgement and culture and cynicism is so exact and inspiring. There's plenty here that you COULD potentially enjoy/find moving.

But, yeah, if I had to put money down, I'd guess it's ultimately not a film for you.

[Orpheus]

Why is that a movie you'd never watch? Just curious.

[bune]

Watched Nine Lives yesterday. Wtf did Barry Sonnenfeld do to deserve this?

Sonnenfeld directed Wild Wild West and produced Space Chimps, so I'd say he's right where he belongs.

Jesus, I totally forgot about Space Chimps. That was a Barry S production? Ugh.

[LoathedVermin72]

Moonlight is a wonderful film.

i really want to see it...it premieres here in about two weeks.

Another movie I never plan on watching

Though it has a strong sense of theme and outstanding visuals, I do think your instinct here is probably correct. It is a slow character study, the kind of thing you tend to pull away from in cinema. However, IF there is a movie of its kind that could surprise you and offer you something, it's Moonlight. The way it handles things like judgement and culture and cynicism is so exact and inspiring. There's plenty here that you COULD potentially enjoy/find moving.

But, yeah, if I had to put money down, I'd guess it's ultimately not a film for you.

Why is that a movie you'd never watch? Just curious.

A few things.

One: I have become deeply suspicious of any movie that gets the amount of hype and praise Moonlight has, and that's for one simple reason: they almost always - ALWAYS - suck. That has nothing to do with being contrarian or anything; it's just based on my own tastes, how most of film culture reacts to certain things, and previous experiences with similarly hyped movies. Sure, there are exceptions, but they are extremely rare, and I have grown tired of wasting my time on shitty movie after shitty movie.

Two: All the sources I trust and tend to share at least a good amount of my tastes with have told me this movie is awful.

Three: The whole movie just reeks of the kind of indie/arthouse liberalism and identity politics I find absolutely insufferable. Victimization, characters reduced to social figureheads, a sociopolitical agenda, a generic contemporary indie/arthouse aesthetic, etc. Everything I have read and heard about this movie all but assures me it takes no risks and does nothing interesting.

Like I said, there are exceptions. Every once in a while, a movie like this surprises me (Birdman). But I would be fucking shocked if this one did. And it's just not worth the effort of subjecting myself to this stuff anymore. Who has the time?

[epilogue]

Three: The whole movie just reeks of the kind of indie/arthouse liberalism and identity politics I find absolutely insufferable. Victimization, characters reduced to social figureheads, a sociopolitical agenda, a generic contemporary indie/arthouse aesthetic, etc. Everything I have read and heard about this movie all but assures me it takes no risks and does nothing interesting.

Very few of these things are at issue in Moonlight. We may differ on how we define "risk" but that would be the only point on which I could potentially agree.

The film is interesting. It does avoid victimization, characters reduced to social figureheads, and indie/arthouse liberalism. It's one of the great things about the movie. It's a character drama that happens to have sociopolitical overtones because how could it not given the themes and where our society is right now? But it's not an agenda film, by any means. Far from. I believe you'll dislike what you call "generic contemporary indie/arthouse aesthetic." I made reference to that in an earlier post. Again, I'd disagree with that description. It's a beautiful film, shot with heart, subtlety and craft. But I know you'll be bothered by that aspect, whatever your description actually means.

[LoathedVermin72]

Three: The whole movie just reeks of the kind of indie/arthouse liberalism and identity politics I find absolutely insufferable. Victimization, characters reduced to social figureheads, a sociopolitical agenda, a generic contemporary indie/arthouse aesthetic, etc. Everything I have read and heard about this movie all but assures me it takes no risks and does nothing interesting.

Very few of these things are at issue in Moonlight. We may differ on how we define "risk" but that would be the only point on which I could potentially agree.

The film is interesting. It does avoid victimization, characters reduced to social figureheads, and indie/arthouse liberalism. It's one of the great things about the movie. It's a character drama that happens to have sociopolitical overtones because how could it not given the themes and where our society is right now? But it's not an agenda film, by any means. Far from. I believe you'll dislike what you call "generic contemporary indie/arthouse aesthetic." I made reference to that in an earlier post. Again, I'd disagree with that description. It's a beautiful film, shot with heart, subtlety and craft. But I know you'll be bothered by that aspect, whatever your description actually means.

Well you are the only person who said this so I don't know Joey

[epilogue]

Three: The whole movie just reeks of the kind of indie/arthouse liberalism and identity politics I find absolutely insufferable. Victimization, characters reduced to social figureheads, a sociopolitical agenda, a generic contemporary indie/arthouse aesthetic, etc. Everything I have read and heard about this movie all but assures me it takes no risks and does nothing interesting.

Very few of these things are at issue in Moonlight. We may differ on how we define "risk" but that would be the only point on which I could potentially agree.

The film is interesting. It does avoid victimization, characters reduced to social figureheads, and indie/arthouse liberalism. It's one of the great things about the movie. It's a character drama that happens to have sociopolitical overtones because how could it not given the themes and where our society is right now? But it's not an agenda film, by any means. Far from. I believe you'll dislike what you call "generic contemporary indie/arthouse aesthetic." I made reference to that in an earlier post. Again, I'd disagree with that description. It's a beautiful film, shot with heart, subtlety and craft. But I know you'll be bothered by that aspect, whatever your description actually means.

Well you are the only person who said this so I don't know Joey

Again, I fully expect you to disagree. I don't think you should see the movie. I don't think you'll like it. But I was impressed by the lack of the things you describe above. Maybe I'm just a goddamn idiot. But here we are.

[Orpheus]

I said it too. I thought it was a great film.

Honest question: Is there a danger you're developing a bit of an echo chamber that could make you miss some great stuff, just like someone only going off of something like RT? I've said this before, but it seems to me that people get really weirdly in their heads about marketing and what they think a movie is going to be like vs. just seeing it. We all do it, but it seems to be getting stranger and more pervasive lately. And this is by no means what I think you're doing LV, just something I've noticed in general.

[epilogue]

I wonder about those things, too, Orpheus. But I'm the same way. Horror, for example, as a genre holds little to no interest for me. I didn't see the horror films this year that people raved about because I've seen a lot of horror in the past and very little of it has been meaningful or valuable to me. Maybe that's my fault. Maybe Don't Breathe and Lights Out are brilliant films that would end up being great examples of why I should keep seeing horror films despite my aversion to the genre as a whole. But I just can't seem to get excited about those movies, no matter how much people rave about them.

[LoathedVermin72]

Don't worry, they're not brilliant.

[LoathedVermin72]

I said it too. I thought it was a great film.

Honest question: Is there a danger you're developing a bit of an echo chamber that could make you miss some great stuff, just like someone only going off of something like RT? I've said this before, but it seems to me that people get really weirdly in their heads about marketing and what they think a movie is going to be like vs. just seeing it. We all do it, but it seems to be getting stranger and more pervasive lately. And this is by no means what I think you're doing LV, just something I've noticed in general.

For me, at this point in my life, it almost just comes down to math. Sure, there are the rare gems, but I hate such a massive amount of them, is it worth sifting through all the shit? Do those few gems make it worth hours and hours of boredom and frustration? I dunno. I'm tired of trying.

[dimejinky99]

Just watched moonlight I really didn't like it. My other half loved it.

Watching captain fantastic. A great film. Hope Viggo gets some awards recognition for it.

[Simple Torture]

I watched Fantastic Planet and now plan on doing drugs.

[Jorge]

Like I said, there are exceptions. Every once in a while, a movie like this surprises me (Birdman). But I would be fucking shocked if this one did. And it's just not worth the effort of subjecting myself to this stuff anymore. Who has the time?

It's a shame because I very much enjoy reading the posts where you go all-out on a movie, even when it's one I really loved.

For me, I very rarely hate a movie so completely that I can't bear to make it through it; usually I'll be able to latch on to something that I enjoy (something like the score, the art direction, a performance, sometimes even a specific character) that it'll be enough to pull me through even the most tedious nothings. There are some things I've hated on a visceral level, yeah, but at the end of the day, I'm still sitting on a comfortable chair watching a movie. That's one of my favorite things to do.

[LoathedVermin72]

Considering how much I love movies, this might sound kind of odd, but I generally dislike the process of watching a movie for the first time. I like having SEEN the movie. I like thinking about it afterward. I like rewatching movies I enjoy. It's pretty rare that I get really into the act of watching a movie the first time around.

[Rangi Guy]

Watched Silence the other night. Really enjoyed this - sparked up a big discussion at the end with Mrs Rangi, that's kinda still going, so I guess that's a sign that it left an impression

Watched Inferno last night - pretty forgettable, but better than The Davinci Code

[Kaius]

Watched "Split" the other night. I think this was pretty good, maybe even great. Without getting too in depth: I am fascinated by the science behind DID and I think Shyamalan did a very respectable job (to be brief), but James McAvoy was the big takeaway. Only one viewing, but I'm fairly confident his work here will hold up as one of my favorite performances ever.

[Rangi Guy]

Manchester by the Sea - pretty solid acting all round

[epilogue]

Considering how much I love movies, this might sound kind of odd, but I generally dislike the process of watching a movie for the first time. I like having SEEN the movie. I like thinking about it afterward. I like rewatching movies I enjoy. It's pretty rare that I get really into the act of watching a movie the first time around.

This reminds me of that old quote (I'm not sure who actually said it; the internet has attributed it to way too many different people) that goes, "I don't like to write, I like to have written."

I don't think that's an uncommon impulse and I understand where you're coming from. As in most things we discuss on these hallowed forums, I'm probably the opposite. I enjoy the experience of watching a movie for the first time so much that I started to get out of critical analysis and fell back on sheer entertainment. I did this for a very long time. It's only now, this past year, 2016, allegedly the worst year in movies in however long if you listen to everybody on the internet, that I've started LOVING the analytics of film making and criticism again.

You're a part of that. McP is certainly a part of that. Alamo Draft House is a part of that, too. Regardless... I get what you mean, but I hope it doesn't stop you from wanting to engage critically here on RM. Because that's something I really value. It would be a shame to lose that.