What movies are you watching?

[LoathedVermin72]

I watched Dirty Dancing and Purple Rain for the first time today, and felt similarly about both. Both have interesting, but severely underdeveloped, ideas, and the films ultimately fail because they don't explore with enough depth and specificity. It's a shame, especially in DD, because there is so much potential there.

[Rangi Guy]

I watched Dirty Dancing and Purple Rain for the first time today, and felt similarly about both. Both have interesting, but severely underdeveloped, ideas, and the films ultimately fail because they don't explore with enough depth and specificity. It's a shame, especially in DD, because there is so much potential there.

Dirty Dancing can suck my asshole! I hate that movie with such a passion

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[LoathedVermin72]

I watched Dirty Dancing and Purple Rain for the first time today, and felt similarly about both. Both have interesting, but severely underdeveloped, ideas, and the films ultimately fail because they don't explore with enough depth and specificity. It's a shame, especially in DD, because there is so much potential there.

Dirty Dancing can suck my asshole! I hate that movie with such a passion

I liked it! I just wish it were a bit more focused and developed its characters and relationships with a bit more depth. Some of its techniques were very smart, and almost experimental (slowly transitioning into anachronistic '80s songs as it moves toward its climax). I wish the emotion of the denouement hit me with more force.

[LetMeSleep]

Charlie Countryman.

Interesting so far. Enough for me to stop working and monitor my output for a while.

[LoathedVermin72]

Shia is so good in that movie. Lots of interesting choices in that performance.

[bune]

Charlie Countryman.

Interesting so far. Enough for me to stop working and monitor my output for a while.

That's in my queue, I'm excited to see it.

[dimejinky99]

I didn't like what I was thinking after seeing Get Out. Or how it made me feel.

I'm hearing it's meant to have an element of satire. That passed me by totally.

Suffice e to say you couldn't make that film but from the opposite perspective and have it be lauded and getting all these rave reviews.

Apart from all that it's built in weirdness just didn't really work. Hammered home far too much. Possibly in the name of satire. That's maybe what I was missing. It made heavy work of its premise when it should have either been much more subtle or really gone at it full tilt instead of suggesting for so long then going over the top with the conclusion.

It's uncomfortable viewing and that's the point but it's not making the point it's trying to.

[epilogue]

I didn't like what I was thinking after seeing Get Out. Or how it made me feel.

I'm hearing it's meant to have an element of satire. That passed me by totally.

Suffice e to say you couldn't make that film but from the opposite perspective and have it be lauded and getting all these rave reviews.

Apart from all that it's built in weirdness just didn't really work. Hammered home far too much. Possibly in the name of satire. That's maybe what I was missing. It made heavy work of its premise when it should have either been much more subtle or really gone at it full tilt instead of suggesting for so long then going over the top with the conclusion.

It's uncomfortable viewing and that's the point but it's not making the point it's trying to.

Wow. We saw totally different films.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

just saw that most of get out was filmed in alabama...interesting

[epilogue]

BTTF is fine but Cast Away is the true Zemeckis masterpiece.

Castaway is fine if like over the top directing and a one of kind performance. Tom Hanks makes that movie. Everything else about it is stupid. There's literally a 20 minute montage of a camera ON A FEDEX PACKAGE. Zemeckis is insane.

1. Please define "over the top" directing.
2. There literally is not a 20 minute montage of a camera on a FedEx package.

These are fair. And I'll leave the hyperbole at the door, too.

1. Zemeckis has this weird tendency (I first noticed it during Contact) for really unnecessarily complicated shots that actually enhance the movie. In Contact it's that reverse mirror shot. That one actually does kind of work and is sort of impressive. I think he liked that shot so much that he started wondering how he could do crazy camera things in all this movies. In What Lies Beneath he does that whole dropping through the floor nonsense, thing and I hate it. Castaway is a decent movie that features a brilliant performance. It reminds me of There Will Be Blood in that way. But the bookends on Castaway really drag it down. As does that really gratuitous shot where the camera shoots the FedEx package's POV. It's so silly and rips me out of the movie. There are other examples throughout but that and all of the stuff with Helen Hunt in the third act is just awful. The movie probably should have started en media res with the plane crashing. And then should have ended with him delivering the package. And Zemeckis should absolutely never have an overhead shot of anyone, Tom Hanks or anyone, standing, literally, at a fork in the road. Blech.

2. I addressed this above. It obviously isn't 20 minutes. But it's just as stupid. Like I said, I was being overly dramatic. I like Castaway. It's a decent but massively flawed film, but Tom Hanks is beyond outstanding. I shudder to think of what that movie would have been like with... say... Michael J. Fox or Harrison Ford in the starring role. I bet we'd all like it at least a little bit less.

[epilogue]

just saw that most of get out was filmed in alabama...interesting

I noticed that too. In the credits. When it says filmed on location in Alabama. I too, thought it was interesting.

[LoathedVermin72]

BTTF is fine but Cast Away is the true Zemeckis masterpiece.

Castaway is fine if like over the top directing and a one of kind performance. Tom Hanks makes that movie. Everything else about it is stupid. There's literally a 20 minute montage of a camera ON A FEDEX PACKAGE. Zemeckis is insane.

1. Please define "over the top" directing.
2. There literally is not a 20 minute montage of a camera on a FedEx package.

These are fair. And I'll leave the hyperbole at the door, too.

1. Zemeckis has this weird tendency (I first noticed it during Contact) for really unnecessarily complicated shots that actually enhance the movie. In Contact it's that reverse mirror shot. That one actually does kind of work and is sort of impressive. I think he liked that shot so much that he started wondering how he could do crazy camera things in all this movies. In What Lies Beneath he does that whole dropping through the floor nonsense, thing and I hate it. Castaway is a decent movie that features a brilliant performance. It reminds me of There Will Be Blood in that way. But the bookends on Castaway really drag it down. As does that really gratuitous shot where the camera shoots the FedEx package's POV. It's so silly and rips me out of the movie. There are other examples throughout but that and all of the stuff with Helen Hunt in the third act is just awful. The movie probably should have started en media res with the plane crashing. And then should have ended with him delivering the package. And Zemeckis should absolutely never have an overhead shot of anyone, Tom Hanks or anyone, standing, literally, at a fork in the road. Blech.

2. I addressed this above. It obviously isn't 20 minutes. But it's just as stupid. Like I said, I was being overly dramatic. I like Castaway. It's a decent but massively flawed film, but Tom Hanks is beyond outstanding. I shudder to think of what that movie would have been like with... say... Michael J. Fox or Harrison Ford in the starring role. I bet we'd all like it at least a little bit less.

I appreciate this response.

Okay, I think getting hung up on the package shot is kind of a weird takeaway. It really isn't that long, and essentially functions as a cold open. I guess I can sort of see why it would bug you, especially if you're predisposed to hate Zemeckis, but I have no problem with it at all. But I like what you seem to think is "over the top" directing. I love Spielberg. I think Zemeckis's direction is far and away the best quality of What Lies Beneath. But it's no surprise to either of us that we disagree on this kind of visual stuff, so I'll leave it at that.

Now, about the other stuff. If Cast Away began during the crash and ended with the package delivery, it would be stripped of so much of its meaning. You need context for Hanks's character before the island to establish the significance of what this kind of interruption does to change who he is. And I think the Hunt stuff is perfect, and the movie would be much lesser without it. I love how complicated and messy it is. There are no easy answers in that situation, and the movie explores it in a bittersweet and intelligent way that feels grounded in the complexities of reality.

[epilogue]

Now, about the other stuff. If Cast Away began during the crash and ended with the package delivery, it would be stripped of so much of its meaning. You need context for Hanks's character before the island to establish the significance of what this kind of interruption does to change who he is. And I think the Hunt stuff is perfect, and the movie would be much lesser without it. I love how complicated and messy it is. There are no easy answers in that situation, and the movie explores it in a bittersweet and intelligent way that feels grounded in the complexities of reality.

This makes sense to me. And if that's your take, I totally get where you're coming from. It's the opposite for me. Again, no surprise. I think how is previous life is explored quietly and subtly while he's on the island is far more powerful and more than enough. Tom does a brilliant job with all of this. So much so that we don't need to see it. It actually because flaccid and redundant for me.

And for me the ending didn't feel messy enough to me. It all felt too packaged and perfect. It felt too much like a movie trying to accomplish something specific. It had no finesse or depth. Again, outside of Hanks' performance. But that's just how it worked on me. It obviously worked differently on you and that's why you like it more. I get that. Totally makes sense to me.

[epilogue]

Okay, I think getting hung up on the package shot is kind of a weird takeaway. It really isn't that long, and essentially functions as a cold open. I guess I can sort of see why it would bug you, especially if you're predisposed to hate Zemeckis, but I have no problem with it at all. But I like what you seem to think is "over the top" directing. I love Spielberg. I think Zemeckis's direction is far and away the best quality of What Lies Beneath. But it's no surprise to either of us that we disagree on this kind of visual stuff, so I'll leave it at that.

It probably is dumb to get hung up on it. Like I said, it started with Contact and kinda became a game of spot the unnecessary trick shot! But you're right. That's more on me than him probably. And I don't hate Zemeckis. Again, I was being dramatic. He has a handful of films that I really enjoy. Cast Away isn't a bad movie. I just don't think it's as good as it should have been. But I do actually like the movie despite its flaws. And I like Contact, like A LOT. Way more than most people. Just felt like I had to clarify. Zemeckis can be really good, I just think he has a tendency to (what I would call) over-direct his films.

[LoathedVermin72]

Well, please keep in mind that I love:

[epilogue]

That's true. But I don't know if I'd call him an over-director. He has a big style but it tends to fit the stories he's telling. And yeah he has an enthusiasm for explosions. But it's not like he put 15 of them in Cast Away.

[LoathedVermin72]

yes but i wish he did

[epilogue]

I would have been a really different movie. And that package POV would probably have made a lot more sense and bothered me way less.

[dimejinky99]

I didn't like what I was thinking after seeing Get Out. Or how it made me feel.

I'm hearing it's meant to have an element of satire. That passed me by totally.

Suffice e to say you couldn't make that film but from the opposite perspective and have it be lauded and getting all these rave reviews.

Apart from all that it's built in weirdness just didn't really work. Hammered home far too much. Possibly in the name of satire. That's maybe what I was missing. It made heavy work of its premise when it should have either been much more subtle or really gone at it full tilt instead of suggesting for so long then going over the top with the conclusion.

It's uncomfortable viewing and that's the point but it's not making the point it's trying to.

Wow. We saw totally different films.

It plays on a load of bad cultural stereotypes on all fronts.

Then in the last scene a bad stereotype saves the day. was this a commentary?

Cos I don't think it was. I just think the whole thing was suggesting something else completely.