Movies Thread

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1moretimeagain said:
I didn’t really care for it. I liked the characters and personal storyline fine, but if a movie is called Civil War, I need to know why we’re fighting. How did Texas and California end up on the same side fighting against the US.
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This is 100 percent of what the director did not want to do. It raises questions of whether war journalism is any kind of cure for political tribalism, a mindset that war is the endpoint of, and how motivations of telling the truth can be lost to adrenaline thrills of being in the mix. Those states as allies reflect the utterly unpredictable chaos fascism taking hold might have, and how total power in the Oval Office might foster the strangest of all bedfellows, but to go into that is never any point the film is after. I thought it was one of the most unusual war films ever made, and one of the best of 2024. The ending of the film does not imply something good will follow--at all. All I felt at the end was the horror of human tribalism and its endpoints in the modern world.

Currently, I think we could be heading for something like the film depicts, but it's just one of multiple bad scenarios.
 
Weapons is... something. Just wow. One of the most bizarre story contraptions I have ever seen to tell a horror story. Starts as a mystery and slow burns into character studies and, boom, freakish horror. Fine acting performances, and a giant story subtext metaphor for a major problem in American society. Major Tarantino type ending, but this is better than his stuff.

One of only three films where I have ever really liked the tactic of going back in time repeatedly to show the tale from different viewpoints, the others being masterpieces Rashomon and The Killing.
 
1moretimeagain said:
I didn’t really care for it. I liked the characters and personal storyline fine, but if a movie is called Civil War, I need to know why we’re fighting. How did Texas and California end up on the same side fighting against the US.
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Agreed, it wasn't what I was expecting and really needed more direction and development.
 
UNCatTech said:
Agreed, it wasn't what I was expecting and really needed more direction and development.
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I really enjoyed (not sure that’s the right word) the film and thought is was pretty damn good. Definitely thought-provoking and depressing given our current political climate.
 
an0maly said:
This is 100 percent of what the director did not want to do. It raises questions of whether war journalism is any kind of cure for political tribalism, a mindset that war is the endpoint of, and how motivations of telling the truth can be lost to adrenaline thrills of being in the mix. Those states as allies reflect the utterly unpredictable chaos fascism taking hold might have, and how total power in the Oval Office might foster the strangest of all bedfellows, but to go into that is never any point the film is after. I thought it was one of the most unusual war films ever made, and one of the best of 2024. The ending of the film does not imply something good will follow--at all. All I felt at the end was the horror of human tribalism and its endpoints in the modern world.

Currently, I think we could be heading for something like the film depicts, but it's just one of multiple bad scenarios.
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It's been awhile since I watched it, so maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but I didn't glean a lot of understanding of how they got there and the state of the country other than simply being at war. I was fine with the perspective of war reporters and wasn't looking for a "war" movie or blood and guts.
 
an0maly said:
Weapons is... something. Just wow. One of the most bizarre story contraptions I have ever seen to tell a horror story. Starts as a mystery and slow burns into character studies and, boom, freakish horror. Fine acting performances, and a giant story subtext metaphor for a major problem in American society. Major Tarantino type ending, but this is better than his stuff.

One of only three films where I have ever really liked the tactic of going back in time repeatedly to show the tale from different viewpoints, the others being masterpieces Rashomon and The Killing.
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Might watch this coming weekend.

It's this our Nobody 2, it's up to the kids.
 
an0maly said:
This is 100 percent of what the director did not want to do. It raises questions of whether war journalism is any kind of cure for political tribalism, a mindset that war is the endpoint of, and how motivations of telling the truth can be lost to adrenaline thrills of being in the mix. Those states as allies reflect the utterly unpredictable chaos fascism taking hold might have, and how total power in the Oval Office might foster the strangest of all bedfellows, but to go into that is never any point the film is after. I thought it was one of the most unusual war films ever made, and one of the best of 2024. The ending of the film does not imply something good will follow--at all. All I felt at the end was the horror of human tribalism and its endpoints in the modern world.

Currently, I think we could be heading for something like the film depicts, but it's just one of multiple bad scenarios.
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Yes. Getting caught up in the backstory details of how they arrived at that situation is not what the movie was aiming for. It would’ve been too easy for viewers to choose who their good guys were and who their bad guys were, depending on political persuasion.

The point was to be dropped into the middle of it and use ambiguity and blurred lines to unite the viewers in witnessing the ugliness of tribalism. In fact, it was brilliant to have CA and TX join forces, not only because that would be a formidable force… but because it immediately undermines the current good guy vs. bad guy constructs we have in mind, no matter which side you’re on. Once I saw that, it was my cue to toss those constructs out the window and settle in.

But I can see people losing patience with it if they were trying to watch it from a linear perspective and felt like puzzle pieces were missing. That’s just not at all what it was aiming for.
 
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an0maly said:
Just as a courtesy if needed, this film has violence and body horror that younger kids should almost certainly not see.
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Thank you for that information. Fortunately my youngest is 20. She really loves horror movies and wants to see this. I've only watched one trailer and an not sure i understand the concept fully. I'll have to read a little more.
 
an0maly said:
Weapons is... something. Just wow. One of the most bizarre story contraptions I have ever seen to tell a horror story. Starts as a mystery and slow burns into character studies and, boom, freakish horror. Fine acting performances, and a giant story subtext metaphor for a major problem in American society. Major Tarantino type ending, but this is better than his stuff.

One of only three films where I have ever really liked the tactic of going back in time repeatedly to show the tale from different viewpoints, the others being masterpieces Rashomon and The Killing.
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What is the giant problem in society that you're referring to?
 
BlooVooDoo said:
No spoilers
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No, there's enough in my post for now, and I think UNCatTech should not read anything on the film before seeing it. Just sit down in the theater seat and buckle your mental seatbelt for quite a ride. The metaphor I mention is not prominent, and gets lost until you ponder it later on.
 
an0maly said:
No, there's enough in my post for now, and I think UNCatTech should not read anything on the film before seeing it. Just sit down in the theater seat and buckle your mental seatbelt for quite a ride. The metaphor I mention is not prominent, and gets lost until you ponder it later on.
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The metaphor is obvious
 
Watched Steven Soderbergh’s “Presence” last night and really liked it. Small budget, art house, slow burn psychological thriller / ghost story that I appreciated for the setup and not cheating in its storytelling.

Not a horror movie if you think of horror movies as pulse pounding and jump scares, but disquieting portrait of a family in the brink and how hard raising teenagers can be.

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I watched inherent Vice when it came out, I liked it but I don't recall being gobsmacked by it. Watched it again over the weekend and problem (or something) solved. I'm sufficiently smacked. Writing-wise, I never gloamed onto Pynchon, despite the assurances of greatness by some close literary compadres in whose literary opinions I set great store. Kinda figured I'd leave something for my golden years, at least to try. Well, I guess them golden years are here...

As far as the book (upon which, the movie) my studies have lead me to believe that this is considered minor Pynchon, which is probably all that could be captured on celluloid anyway. Be that as it may, I think this movie will provide years of rewarding rewatching. One interesting thing (purely filmic) I think is that I've decerned (or perhaps imagined, but I'm not sure if that's a difference without a distinction) the use of digital audio and visual palimpsests throughout the movie. Apropos, too, as it (I thought) captures (or releases) a certain aspect of "the drug experience" that is such an overt part of the movie, and, from what I surmise so far, Pynchon's writing in general. Based on that alone, you'd think I woulda delved into Pynchon way earlier than this, but for some reason I never did. Glad to have something to look forward to. This should take a good decade or so to get really familiar with. Hope I make it...
 
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hedge said:
I watched inherent Vice when it came out, I liked it but I don't recall being gobsmacked by it. Watched it again over the weekend and problem (or something) solved. I'm sufficiently smacked. Writing-wise, I never gloamed onto Pynchon, despite the assurances of greatness by some close literary compadres in whose literary opinions I set great store. Kinda figured I'd leave something for my golden years, at least to try. Well, I guess them golden years are here...

As far as the book (upon which, the movie) my studies have lead me to believe that this is considered minor Pynchon, which is probably all that could be captured on celluloid anyway. Be that as it may, I think this movie will provide years of rewarding rewatching. One interesting thing (purely filmic) I think is that I've decerned (or perhaps imagined, but I'm not sure if that's a difference without a distinction) is the use of digital audio and visual palimpsests throughout the movie. Apropos, too, as it (I thought) captures (or releases) a certain aspect of "the drug experience" that is such an overt part of the movie, and, from what I surmise so far, Pynchon's writing in general. Based on that alone, you'd think I woulda delved into Pynchon way earlier than this, but for some reason I never did. Glad to have something to look forward to. This should take a good decade or so to get really familiar with. Hope I make it...
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I loved the book and really liked the movie. For me it was a somewhat lesser version of loving Fear and Loathing as a book and movie, pretty much equally. Capturing the hazy zany drugginess of it all probably has a lot to do with it, as that type of writing lends itself to visual representation and highlights the associated “time capsule” type qualities. Especially in the hands of directors like Terry Gilliam and PTA.

I guess an example of the movie being clearly elevated over the book in a similar genre would be Elmore Leonard’s Rum Punch being adapted into QT’s Jackie Brown.

Anyway it’s the only Pynchon I’ve read, but I also understood it to be “Pynchon-lite.” Helluva good time.
 
Finally brought myself to watch Warfare. No fluff and no frills in that movie. It’s a slice of life war movie, something you don’t see too often.

Very little artistic license taken, meant to represent the incident just as it happened. It’s a LOT but it’s a movie everyone should see, for an understanding of exactly what troops go through in an environment like that.
 
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