Film: Valerian, City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

[lennytheweedwhacker]

It's probably the obligatory original movie bomb of the summer, but this is the only thing I care about seeing.

same

[E.H. Ruddock]

I think Baywatch was the bomb of the summer

[LoathedVermin72]

That new trailer is fucking awesome

[E.H. Ruddock]

Yah this is right up my alley

[lennytheweedwhacker]

Yah this is right up my alley

let's meet biff in atl and watch it together

[LoathedVermin72]

Oh man, I loved loved loved this movie. Some of the most relentlessly imaginative and creative sci-fi in decades. The opening 15 minutes were so beautiful that I was crying in the theater.

[Orpheus]

Oh man, I loved loved loved this movie. Some of the most relentlessly imaginative and creative sci-fi in decades. The opening 15 minutes were so beautiful that I was crying in the theater.

Fuck yeah, I'm there.

[E.H. Ruddock]

Oh man, I loved loved loved this movie. Some of the most relentlessly imaginative and creative sci-fi in decades. The opening 15 minutes were so beautiful that I was crying in the theater.

Aww shit. I'm seeing it tomorrow. CAN'T WAIT

[LoathedVermin72]

Some thoughts:

Rihanna has very limited screentime, but I thought she was outstanding. Vulnerability, nuance, authority. She is always compelling.

This is beautiful CGI. It never looks "real," but it doesn't try to. And it doesn't need to because it has character and personality. That is so crucial to interesting CGI.

Desplat's score is also beautiful.

DeHaan and Delevigne are weird casting choices, and I'm not convinced they couldn't have found better actors. But they eventually grew kind of endearing in their oddball ways.

I really cannot stress enough how spectacular the opening 15 minutes are. I was overwhelmed (especially in Dolby Vision).

I felt a lot of influence from the Star Wars prequels, which I thought was kinda wonderful. It's like Lucas's vision of a computer-generated space opera without the plastic, stilted incompetence that plagued those movies. Pure imagination.

I LOVED the old-fashioned pacing. So many contemporary blockbusters just GO GO GO and are filled with so much noise. This movie leaves time for bizarre detours. It leaves time for silence and idiosyncrasy. It lets you get lost in the world.

I also felt echoes of '80s fantasy like Labyrinth and Legend, especially in the creature designs and characterizations.

[Strat]

Some thoughts:

Rihanna has very limited screentime, but I thought she was outstanding. Vulnerability, nuance, authority. She is always compelling.

This is beautiful CGI. It never looks "real," but it doesn't try to. And it doesn't need to because it has character and personality. That is so crucial to interesting CGI.

Desplat's score is also beautiful.

DeHaan and Delevigne are weird casting choices, and I'm not convinced they couldn't have found better actors. But they eventually grew kind of endearing in their oddball ways.

I really cannot stress enough how spectacular the opening 15 minutes are. I was overwhelmed (especially in Dolby Vision).

I felt a lot of influence from the Star Wars prequels, which I thought was kinda wonderful. It's like Lucas's vision of a computer-generated space opera without the plastic, stilted incompetence that plagued those movies. Pure imagination.

I LOVED the old-fashioned pacing. So many contemporary blockbusters just GO GO GO and are filled with so much noise. This movie leaves time for bizarre detours. It leaves time for silence and idiosyncrasy. It lets you get lost in the world.

I also felt echoes of '80s fantasy like Labyrinth and Legend, especially in the creature designs and characterizations.

I fucking love you.

[LoathedVermin72]

To be fair I don't really even classify the Transformers movies as blockbusters in my mind

[Stickman]

the things this poor girl has to do to get people to see the movie.

[LoathedVermin72]

the things this poor girl has to do to get people to see the movie.

Tons of people have done that series.

[E.H. Ruddock]

Just saw this. What a fun movie. Just really really well done and told. Some incredible scenes, like the opening sequence. And the market scene was fucking bonkers.

[stip]

I do want to see this, but sadly won't get to it in theaters

[Anders]

How is it compared to the Fifth Element?

[stip]

it can't possibly be as good.

[E.H. Ruddock]

How is it compared to the Fifth Element?

Two totally different movies. I'm as big a fan as it gets with 5th Element, but you can't compare the two, they are trying to do two different things. The only thing comparable is that they are both enjoyable

[Anders]

How is it compared to the Fifth Element?

Two totally different movies. I'm as big a fan as it gets with 5th Element, but you can't compare the two, they are trying to do two different things. The only thing comparable is that they are both enjoyable

It's the same director, so that's interesting. Thank you.

[LoathedVermin72]

It's a bajillion times better than Fifth. I think they're comparable; both are wacky, colorful Luc Besson space operas. But I love this one and hate Fifth.