Re: What movies are you watching?
Posted: Wed April 23, 2025 11:34 am
It has a commanding 98% on Rotten Tomatoes
None as memorable as VinylGuy's post, I guessJorge wrote:Of course I knew
I said "wtf" because Anders said VG's post was the first negative thing he's read about it
WHEN I HAVE MADE MULTIPLE NEGATIVE POSTS ABOUT IT
Jorge wrote:Wow Sinners was AWFUL haha.
Jorge wrote:Yeah, there are some good ideas but Coogler fumbles the execution imo. There's no real sense of tension, no foreboding feeling, it all just feels very bland and kinda corny. And the moment it starts to pick up some steam it's interrupted by a long, torturous scene of dialogue. There's neither fun nor horror to any of it.
Jorge wrote:It's clear that a lot of passion went into this, it's not lazy or hacky. You can really tell that, and it's no small thing. But all throughout I kept thinking "wow, it sure would be nice if there was any tension to this whatsoever." Just a complete slog from the moment it started, and every horrific thing that happens feels weightless and inconsequential. There's no real atmosphere, no escalating tension, no sense of dread.
The big exuberant scene everybody will point to as being great is certainly interesting but it starts feeling oddly out of place the moment you stop and think about its thematic relevance, or what it means within the context of the story.
Jorge wrote:Part of it is that I really don't like Ryan Coogler's last several films, he's taken a very Hollywood-slick, kind of anonymous turn in his framing, blocking, lighting and color grading, the Marvel house style has rubbed off on him. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is legitimately one of the worst movies I have ever seen, and I think this sucks in similar ways.
There are also some choices that detract from the experience and leave me wanting for more of that foreboding sense, that GRAVITY that I wanted from this. Like the constant score with some or the corniest music you've ever heard (I'm not talking about the musical numbers, which are kind of fun, but the synth, dobro and fiddle score you hear throughout that sounds like a bad blues pastiche). The weird decision to insert audio cues while a character's telling an anecdote, which feels like a weird radio play and takes away from the actor's performance. And the over explaining. My god. So much yapping in this movie. One of my least favorite movie conventions is when characters just stand around and explain the mechanics of the plot or their emotions to each other and this movie has like 3 long scenes like that, including one really terrible and overlong one near the end when the (spoilers) are trying to get into the (spoiler). That one's the worst because the movie is finally picking up some steam and it just grinds to a halt for some of the worst dialogue ever spoken
Jorge wrote:Also the climax is so deflating... it's just
- Spoiler: show
That's a surprise. Mostly heard good things so far.Jorge wrote:I will compile them for you
Jorge wrote:Wow Sinners was AWFUL haha.Jorge wrote:Yeah, there are some good ideas but Coogler fumbles the execution imo. There's no real sense of tension, no foreboding feeling, it all just feels very bland and kinda corny. And the moment it starts to pick up some steam it's interrupted by a long, torturous scene of dialogue. There's neither fun nor horror to any of it.Jorge wrote:It's clear that a lot of passion went into this, it's not lazy or hacky. You can really tell that, and it's no small thing. But all throughout I kept thinking "wow, it sure would be nice if there was any tension to this whatsoever." Just a complete slog from the moment it started, and every horrific thing that happens feels weightless and inconsequential. There's no real atmosphere, no escalating tension, no sense of dread.
The big exuberant scene everybody will point to as being great is certainly interesting but it starts feeling oddly out of place the moment you stop and think about its thematic relevance, or what it means within the context of the story.Jorge wrote:Part of it is that I really don't like Ryan Coogler's last several films, he's taken a very Hollywood-slick, kind of anonymous turn in his framing, blocking, lighting and color grading, the Marvel house style has rubbed off on him. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is legitimately one of the worst movies I have ever seen, and I think this sucks in similar ways.
There are also some choices that detract from the experience and leave me wanting for more of that foreboding sense, that GRAVITY that I wanted from this. Like the constant score with some or the corniest music you've ever heard (I'm not talking about the musical numbers, which are kind of fun, but the synth, dobro and fiddle score you hear throughout that sounds like a bad blues pastiche). The weird decision to insert audio cues while a character's telling an anecdote, which feels like a weird radio play and takes away from the actor's performance. And the over explaining. My god. So much yapping in this movie. One of my least favorite movie conventions is when characters just stand around and explain the mechanics of the plot or their emotions to each other and this movie has like 3 long scenes like that, including one really terrible and overlong one near the end when the (spoilers) are trying to get into the (spoiler). That one's the worst because the movie is finally picking up some steam and it just grinds to a halt for some of the worst dialogue ever spokenJorge wrote:Also the climax is so deflating... it's just
- Spoiler: show
The Substance was fucking awful.Jorge wrote:Every year there seems to be one big movie that is widely beloved that inspires in me a visceral and intense dislike. Recent examples have been The Substance, Poor Things, Everything Everywhere All At Once... this year it seems to be Sinners
Despite VG's dislike (and apparently yours but I wasn't aware of it until now) I was still optimistic that I'd like it. But I also found all the movies on that list to be somewhere between a bummer and a disaster, so now I'm less optimisticJorge wrote:Every year there seems to be one big movie that is widely beloved that inspires in me a visceral and intense dislike. Recent examples have been The Substance, Poor Things, Everything Everywhere All At Once... this year it seems to be Sinners
Boring! Tedious, pointless. Entirely unmemorableJorge wrote:How did you feel about Black Panther: Wakanda Forever? I really think it's the closest film to it in terms of filmmaking (naturally; same director and cinematographer) and weird approach to story/tone
Interesting with different opinions. A movie guy I follow on social media, has it as one of the top movies in the 2020s, and praised it to no end when it came out.Higgs wrote:The Substance was fucking awful.Jorge wrote:Every year there seems to be one big movie that is widely beloved that inspires in me a visceral and intense dislike. Recent examples have been The Substance, Poor Things, Everything Everywhere All At Once... this year it seems to be Sinners
Strong disagreeHiggs wrote:The Substance was fucking awful.Jorge wrote:Every year there seems to be one big movie that is widely beloved that inspires in me a visceral and intense dislike. Recent examples have been The Substance, Poor Things, Everything Everywhere All At Once... this year it seems to be Sinners
Anders wrote:Interesting with different opinions. A movie guy I follow on social media, has it as one of the top movies in the 2020s, and praised it to no end when it came out.Higgs wrote:The Substance was fucking awful.Jorge wrote:Every year there seems to be one big movie that is widely beloved that inspires in me a visceral and intense dislike. Recent examples have been The Substance, Poor Things, Everything Everywhere All At Once... this year it seems to be Sinners
I enjoyed it until the third act, then it kinda collapses (Not unlike Sinners director Coogler's Black Panther)Anders wrote:Interesting with different opinions. A movie guy I follow on social media, has it as one of the top movies in the 2020s, and praised it to no end when it came out.Higgs wrote:The Substance was fucking awful.Jorge wrote:Every year there seems to be one big movie that is widely beloved that inspires in me a visceral and intense dislike. Recent examples have been The Substance, Poor Things, Everything Everywhere All At Once... this year it seems to be Sinners