Movies

[TrustMe]

Okay, finished watching Tenet. I got the basic plot but not all the understanding temporal stuff. Still good fight scenes and certainly a unique film, I rate it 4/5.

Edited June 15 by TrustMe

[sunday]

Key to Tenet is that the movie presents the plot from beginning to end, and from end to beginning, at the same time.

[Ssnake]

21 hours ago, TrustMe said:

I'll give it another hour then.

Tenet is a bit of a mindfuck, but the story is actually quite logical if you buy the premise, it's brilliantly carried out, and I found the film eminently re-watchable even after you understand the final plot twist. In all my rewatchings, I haven't found a plot hole. Maybe that says more about my ability to spot them than it says about the film, but I really wanted to poke a hole in the construct and couldn't.

The premise is of course ludricrous, and the in-film "explanation" is a complete tautology as the flow of time is defined in physics by the second law of thermodynamics, rather than treating the direction towards entropy as a merely optional property. But don't let that spoil your enjoyment of one of the greatest Science-fiction thrillers of all time (sic).

That after the first viewing you end up confused and say that there's got to be an error (or mathematical sleigh of hand like a division by zero, depending on your POV), is normal. When I realized that there isn't, it further increased my respect for the whole thing.

Watched it in the cinema right after the Pandemic restrictions were lifted enough to make that possible - mostly because I just wanted to see how a car chase going forward and reverse at the same time would look like, and I got so much more.

[TrustMe]

2 hours ago, Ssnake said:

Tenet is a bit of a mindfuck, but the story is actually quite logical if you buy the premise, it's brilliantly carried out, and I found the film eminently re-watchable even after you understand the final plot twist. In all my rewatchings, I haven't found a plot hole. Maybe that says more about my ability to spot them than it says about the film, but I really wanted to poke a hole in the construct and couldn't.

The premise is of course ludricrous, and the in-film "explanation" is a complete tautology as the flow of time is defined in physics by the second law of thermodynamics, rather than treating the direction towards entropy as a merely optional property. But don't let that spoil your enjoyment of one of the greatest Science-fiction thrillers of all time (sic).

That after the first viewing you end up confused and say that there's got to be an error (or mathematical sleigh of hand like a division by zero, depending on your POV), is normal. When I realized that there isn't, it further increased my respect for the whole thing.

Watched it in the cinema right after the Pandemic restrictions were lifted enough to make that possible - mostly because I just wanted to see how a car chase going forward and reverse at the same time would look like, and I got so much more.

I just wish that there had been a director's commentary track that could explain the thinking behind each scene.

[sunday]

5 hours ago, TrustMe said:

I just wish that there had been a director's commentary track that could explain the thinking behind each scene.

+1

[Ivanhoe]

[Skywalkre]

Seen this on reddit a few times in recent days - Godzilla Minus One was created with half the budget of what went into every episode of Disney+'s Acolyte series.

I only made it halfway through that film, but they deserve a lot of praise for what they managed to accomplish with that budget (which then begs the question, where the hell is all that money going in Acolyte?!).

[Stuart Galbraith]

2 hours ago, Skywalkre said:

Seen this on reddit a few times in recent days - Godzilla Minus One was created with half the budget of what went into every episode of Disney+'s Acolyte series.

I only made it halfway through that film, but they deserve a lot of praise for what they managed to accomplish with that budget (which then begs the question, where the hell is all that money going in Acolyte?!).

 

[bojan]

6 hours ago, Skywalkre said:

...where the hell is all that money going in Acolyte?!).

Salaries for "divergence consultants"  

[Yama]

On 6/15/2024 at 4:41 PM, TrustMe said:

Okay, finished watching Tenet. I got the basic plot but not all the understanding temporal stuff. Still good fight scenes and certainly a unique film, I rate it 4/5.

Big climatic fight scene was a huge mess though: I really could not see what was happening, until they actually stopped fighting. Maybe I will rewatch it sometimes, maybe it will make more sense then, but that sequence took it down a notch for me from 'awesome'.

But I think it actually made more sense plot-wise than 'Inception'.

Edited June 18 by Yama

[Stuart Galbraith]

I dont think Inception didnt say anything that Dreamscape didnt do better nearly 30 years earlier.

[rmgill]

On 3/13/2024 at 4:49 PM, Ssnake said:

The biggest fault, I think, lies in not explaining that you can't use force shields on the ground because it attracts sandworms, and that you can't shoot force shields with rayguns because, thermonuclear explosion. If you aren't aware of those premises, you keep scratching your head about seemingly uneven use of them in the various battle scenes.

I always thought the use of Ornithopters themselves was a dispensation of the Holtzman field generator derived suspensor lift tech. 

And yes. Not knowing the dangerous interaction between lasers and the Holtzman Shields is a point of confusion for tactics minded folks. But then a swarm of Shield equipped Ornithopters over the desert would also attract worms. So lots of liberties taken to make strong powerful scenes. 

[rmgill]

7 hours ago, Skywalkre said:

I only made it halfway through that film, but they deserve a lot of praise for what they managed to accomplish with that budget (which then begs the question, where the hell is all that money going in Acolyte?!).

Shoring up Girl Power. 

[Ivanhoe]

7 hours ago, Skywalkre said:

I only made it halfway through that film, but they deserve a lot of praise for what they managed to accomplish with that budget (which then begs the question, where the hell is all that money going in Acolyte?!).

Given the way Hollywood works, bribing news/entertainment outlets.

I've no doubt that there are quite a few Disney execs using "production" money to build themselves golden parachutes. There's nothing quite as crooked as entertainment industry accounting in CA.

[TrustMe]

2 hours ago, Yama said:

Big climatic fight scene was a huge mess though: I really could not see what was happening, until they actually stopped fighting. Maybe I will rewatch it sometimes, maybe it will make more sense then, but that sequence took it down a notch for me from 'awesome'.

But I think it actually made more sense plot-wise than 'Inception'.

I've never seen Inception so I can't comment.

[Ivanhoe]

2 hours ago, TrustMe said:

I've never seen Inception so I can't comment.

Its a good movie, quite a bit better than the usual brainless swill pumped out by Hollywood.

 

[Soren Ras]

Say what you will about Christopher Nolan. At least he generally tries and succeeds in making original movies (the Batman trilogy notwithstanding), with some novel concepts and ideas, and not just tired retreads or sequels or remakes. You can argue the extent to which he succeeds in each particular endeavour, but I always respect his attempts. 

 

Soren

[Ssnake]

Also, Interstellar, Inception, Tenet, and arguably even Memento and Dunkirk are all about the perception of time.

[Stuart Galbraith]

I thought Dunkirk was really damn well done. It was the first time I got an inkling of what it must have been like for my grandfather on that beach. The timing could easily have been confusing. Strangely it seem to make the whole thing come alive.

[Yama]

3 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

I thought Dunkirk was really damn well done. It was the first time I got an inkling of what it must have been like for my grandfather on that beach. The timing could easily have been confusing. Strangely it seem to make the whole thing come alive.

I have to say that Dunkirk was a mild disappointment. Its three-pronged structure was interesting and workable, but actual depiction of the battle was too 'small' and clean. Also the endlessly gliding Spitfire in the end was stupid.

I actually think Prestige is his best movie. Bit hard to follow with its jumping timelines however. Dark Knight Rises is an obvious misfire.

 

On 6/18/2024 at 6:38 PM, Ivanhoe said:

Its a good movie, quite a bit better than the usual brainless swill pumped out by Hollywood.

I love it, but its internal logic is very muddled, especially towards the end. The cast is more interesting than in Tenet, though.

 

[futon]

Of the very few movies I see in theater, Dunkirk was one of them, and I thought it was good.

I think it's aim was a close up feeling that can be personally touch.

For example, any scenes showing big air battles would take away scene time of being in the cockpit, hearing the rattling, the breathing, the feeling of the goggles, little things like scribbling notes for fuel time keeping. From this perspective of immersion, the air battles were really well done. 

[Soren Ras]

7 hours ago, Yama said:

I actually think Prestige is his best movie. Bit hard to follow with its jumping timelines however. Dark Knight Rises is an obvious misfire.

 

I would not say Prestige is his best movie, but it is highly enjoyable and certainly more rewatchable than some of the bigger Nolan productions. I remember some friends discussing it and one of the group did not know what movie they were talking about, so someone said "it is the one where David Bowie helps Wolverine fight the Batman" which is both a funny and semi-accurate summary.

 

Soren

[Yama]

8 hours ago, futon said:

For example, any scenes showing big air battles would take away scene time of being in the cockpit, hearing the rattling, the breathing, the feeling of the goggles, little things like scribbling notes for fuel time keeping. From this perspective of immersion, the air battles were really well done. 

Yes aerial portions of the film were really good (except the aforementioned ending), especially when compared to usual cartoony junk a'la Pearl Harbor. Also liked how actor kept the mask on almost all the time, and not dramatically take it off "to catch his breath" (?!) as we just have to see the face of the Big Star, lest we forget who it was.

 

1 hour ago, Soren Ras said:

I would not say Prestige is his best movie, but it is highly enjoyable and certainly more rewatchable than some of the bigger Nolan productions. I remember some friends discussing it and one of the group did not know what movie they were talking about, so someone said "it is the one where David Bowie helps Wolverine fight the Batman" which is both a funny and semi-accurate summary.

 I did not actually recognize David Bowie (he was not followed much here, and I had only seen him in decades old pics and films). I was just wondering "Wow! Who is this crazy charismatic dude they got to play Tesla?" Also the movie presented him as a huge show-off, which he was.

[Stuart Galbraith]

9 hours ago, futon said:

Of the very few movies I see in theater, Dunkirk was one of them, and I thought it was good.

I think it's aim was a close up feeling that can be personally touch.

For example, any scenes showing big air battles would take away scene time of being in the cockpit, hearing the rattling, the breathing, the feeling of the goggles, little things like scribbling notes for fuel time keeping. From this perspective of immersion, the air battles were really well done. 

I think it was based upon Roger Bushell, whom later went on to be one of the great escapers.

That sequence got a lot of criticism, not least because how much ammunition his spitfire had (In real life its was 8 seconds IIRC). I figured out though, that if the director had show how many missions that had been flown that day, he would ahve been flying home, watching his kite get rearmed, drink tea, take off, splash a hung, go home, have a piss, drink tea, rearm, takeoff, and so on and so on. Which would have ruined the continuity, even if it would have been accurate.

Yes, for me I think it was very well done. Though as Yama said, perhaps the gliding Spitfire sequence was just a bit over done. Good point also Yama about keeping the mask on. Shades of Terry Gilliams Brazil, where he hires Robert De Niro, and keeps his face hidden in most of the film behind a Balaclava.

 

Edited June 20 by Stuart Galbraith

[Ivanhoe]

Bond films, ranked;

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/best-james-bond-films-ranked-151500405.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

I disagree with many of the assessments, but I am pleased that The Living Daylights and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service got some recognition.

Skyfall would easily be in my top 10, and I would put GoldenEye well ahead of Quantum of Solace.