Movies

[Stuart Galbraith]

6 hours ago, Yama said:

Continuing on theme of 1990's movies, for me '90s/early 2000s is an era of Hollywood movies which often have not aged well. It's probably a personal experience for me, I am sure every film aficionado has gone through same when movies they grew up with don't always look so great years afterwards when their taste evolves.

But for me many of the Technicolor era masterpieces still look gorgeous, but 90s blockbusters often feel just very plastic, and too much focus on possibilities of early digital cinema and big gasoline explosions. Mixture of serious and humour is often off, they try to steer away from too much seriousness of the 70s/80s, but the result lacks the 'flow' of the Whedon era writing, and end product is too cartoony.

This is problem with Brosnan starred Bond movies, for example - all Bonds are products of their era, and Brosnan movies nowadays feel dated (despite my general appreciation for Brosnan as Bond). Same with '90s Batman movies, they REALLY feel quite awful nowadays. Then I have to mention one of my former favourites: Braveheart, which nowadays feels quite cringy. Never mind that it is about as historically accurate as War of the Worlds, but Gibson really should have put somebody else in the lead.

But some movies have maintained their charm - for example just recently I watched Fifth Element for first time in like 15 years, and holy crap it still kicked ass. Gimme my Multi-Pass!

It depends what they are. I think pretty much all the Bond films from the 1990's were uniformly bad, I quite agree (they didnt find their feet again since Casino Royale, and its been hit and miss since then imho). But European films were good, le Femme Nikita, Fifth Element etc. Even the bourne identity (alright its 2002 but it seems earlier) is very much more European than Hollywood in tone. Batman, ive not seen a good one since the first one. I dont know why they keep trying because none of them seem to get the character.

That isnt to say Hollywood didnt do anything good in the 1990's. Ive no idea why but the Schwarzenegger films have kept their charm, particularly Total Recall.

[Ivanhoe]

16 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

Can't say I've watched this one much, but it's got a huge selection of 50s film noir. I know Ivanhoe will love the Gloria Grahame selection.

https://m.youtube.com/@fullmoonmatinee1698

Chock full of noir!

There's a free channel I get on Roku, "Classic Movies" or something like that. Has some noir, but their Roku app is a bit clunky to navigate. I did find "Them" on it The above YT channel obviously way easier to use.

A good noir film on that YT channel is D.O.A. starring Edmond O'Brien. There's a remake, but I think the original holds up well. IIRC I was in my 20s when I watched the original, I was really surprised at the creativity of the premise.

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

Thanks, Ill certainly look that one up.

 

[bojan]

12 hours ago, Yama said:

...Same with '90s Batman movies, they REALLY feel quite awful nowadays...

1st two are OK, second (Returns, with Catwoman and Penguin) being better than first, but the rest are horrid, one with Schwarzenegger being probably top cringe. OTOH, I hated new "realistic" Batman even more, despite some really good performances by some of the actors. "Realistic"? He is a guy that walks around in the rubber suit, unless it is some fetish parade what kind of "realism" is that?

OTOH, you can take your Batman and Bond, I will keep Usual Suspects.

[Stuart Galbraith]

And then there was...

 

[Yama]

1 hour ago, bojan said:

1st two are OK, second (Returns, with Catwoman and Penguin) being better than first, but the rest are horrid, one with Schwarzenegger being probably top cringe.

Yep the first two are decent, though they are more like dark children's movies rather than something supposed to be taken seriously (like modern superhero genre). Batman Forever takes itself bit more seriously but really it has not aged well: and the fourth one is one of the most stupid movies ever made. I advice everyone who hasn't seen it to check it out, because it really makes you appreciate other movies more. All other movies

[Ssnake]

1990s films that don't suck,

- Shawshank Redemption

- Heat

- Unforgiven

- The Big Lebowski

- The Usual Suspects (mentioned)

- Terminator 2

- La Vita e Bella

- Pulp Fiction

- GoodFellas

- Fight Club

- The Silence of the Lambs

- Leon / The Professional

- Saving Private Ryan

- Schindler's List

 

Honorable mention: Forrest Gump, Jurassic Park, The Green Mile, Reservoir Dogs, Good Will Hunting

[bojan]

Things to Do in Denver When You Are Dead

Fargo

Chasing Amy (good luck making anything similar today...)

and many, many more.

2 hours ago, Yama said:

Yep the first two are decent, though they are more like dark children's movies rather than something supposed to be taken seriously (like modern superhero genre)...

IMO that is a biggest problem with modern superhero genre. How am I supposed to take seriously guy that wears spandex shorts over the latex leggings?

Which is why first Deadpool was such refreshment, superhero movie that does not take itself too seriously.

[Yama]

Just as seriously as say, a bearded wizard dressed in robes talking to bunch of guys with pointy ears. And oh, anthropomorphic ducks, they could possibly not be taken seriously, and nobody did, until Carl Barks came along

I agree that DP1 was breath of fresh air. I wonder if they're going to do Gwenpool movie at some point too.

[Ivanhoe]

They've remade The Amateur, this time with Rami Malek. The trailer looks good.

 

[urbanoid]

On 11/12/2024 at 4:27 PM, Ssnake said:

1990s films that don't suck,

- Shawshank Redemption

- Heat

- Unforgiven

- The Big Lebowski

- The Usual Suspects (mentioned)

- Terminator 2

- La Vita e Bella

- Pulp Fiction

- GoodFellas

- Fight Club

- The Silence of the Lambs

- Leon / The Professional

- Saving Private Ryan

- Schindler's List

 

Honorable mention: Forrest Gump, Jurassic Park, The Green Mile, Reservoir Dogs, Good Will Hunting

I had a sudden urge to rewatch that one today.

[Ivanhoe]

 

[Mr King]

This is a good 90's comedy

 

 

This is 1980's but is one of my favorite comedies

 

 

Edited November 20, 2024 by Mr King

[seahawk]

You can bet that later films will age worse, because they are even more political correct.

[Stargrunt6]

On 11/12/2024 at 7:20 AM, Ivanhoe said:

Chock full of noir!

There's a free channel I get on Roku, "Classic Movies" or something like that. Has some noir, but their Roku app is a bit clunky to navigate. I did find "Them" on it The above YT channel obviously way easier to use.

A good noir film on that YT channel is D.O.A. starring Edmond O'Brien. There's a remake, but I think the original holds up well. IIRC I was in my 20s when I watched the original, I was really surprised at the creativity of the premise.

 

Roku used to have a ton kf great old movie apps and channels.

[Yama]

Gladiator II was bad. Most pretenses of historical accuracy G1 had were thrown away, but in addition, characters were boring and flat and their motivations unclear, dialogue was cringe level, plot made sense only on couple of occassions. Worst of all, however, was that directing was completely uninspired, with no focus on anything, but just rushing from scene to scene like in a TV movie.

I guess I liked that the name-dropping at least was mostly historically inspired, and Vergilius scene was nice. Plot at least made an attempt to tie in to the first movie. And I suppose character of Macrinus was at least slightly interesting. But that is all. Of course, I thought that the original Gladiator is quite overrated, so if you're a massive fanboy/girl of the original, you may like some things in this. But I was not, and did not.

[Stargrunt6]

I saw it as well.

It had fun moments and some nice shots, but the wooden acting and rehashed plot killed it for me.

Plus the soundtrack was made-for-tv bland.

[RETAC21]

On 11/12/2024 at 4:27 PM, Ssnake said:

 

- Saving Private Ryan

 

On SPR:

 

[Stefan Fredriksson]

GLADIIATOR. Went in with low expectations. Yes, basically same story as 1. But I was entertained. 2,5 hours, but I never felt bored. Historically accurate with sharks in the Colosseum? Who cares. 😀

[Stuart Galbraith]

Well... I cant speak for the Sharks, but they did regularly flood it so they could fight sea battles in it. So who knows?

The first film had the official historian quit and have her name took off the titles when she figured out Ridley Scott wasnt taking any notice of her. But then why should he? Cecil B Demille wasnt exactly big on historical accuracy either.

Of course that attitude only works until you start doing your hatchet work on a national hero like Napoleon...

[TonyE]

19 minutes ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

Well... I cant speak for the Sharks, but they did regularly flood it so they could fight sea battles in it. So who knows?

 

It was flooded maybe a couple of times that we know of, but it was very early after inauguration and before the tunnels & chambers below were built, so around 100+ years before the movie is set. Needless to say flooding it after the tunnels were built would have been impossible. There were specially made bassins on the western bank of the Tiber and connected to it that were used for such naval shows on occasions.

Then there is the city battle in Numidia which had been a roman province for almost 300 years at that point in time.....

[Stuart Galbraith]

1 hour ago, TonyE said:

It was flooded maybe a couple of times that we know of, but it was very early after inauguration and before the tunnels & chambers below were built, so around 100+ years before the movie is set. Needless to say flooding it after the tunnels were built would have been impossible. There were specially made bassins on the western bank of the Tiber and connected to it that were used for such naval shows on occasions.

Then there is the city battle in Numidia which had been a roman province for almost 300 years at that point in time.....

 There was a documentary I must have watched some 20 years ago by the British Open University, and according to them, some evidence of the drains to evacuate the water still exists in situ. Whether that was just  leftovers from when it was modded, or they could still use it,  even after the catacombs were built... I dont know. I could certainly think of ways you could waterproof it temporarily (and these water events were always temporary), and lets face it, it was hardly beyond them to throw lots of manpower at a problem, even if it was carrying lots of buckets....

Yeah well, that kind of thing is harder to accept. But hey, its Ridley Scott. Im sure its entertaining enough, as long as you dont expect a documentary.

 

[bojan]

G2's problem is not historical accuracy, G2's problem is that it sucks hard vacuum.

 

[Yama]

11 hours ago, TonyE said:

Then there is the city battle in Numidia which had been a roman province for almost 300 years at that point in time.....

I first thought they were like rebelling against the twin Emperors (which would have made sense), but they were actually portrayed as independent state. At the time movie took place, every inch of Mediterranean coastline would had been under Roman rule for around 200 years.

Anyway, G3 is apparently in the works...

[Yama]

10 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

 There was a documentary I must have watched some 20 years ago by the British Open University, and according to them, some evidence of the drains to evacuate the water still exists in situ. Whether that was just  leftovers from when it was modded, or they could still use it,  even after the catacombs were built... I dont know. I could certainly think of ways you could waterproof it temporarily (and these water events were always temporary), and lets face it, it was hardly beyond them to throw lots of manpower at a problem, even if it was carrying lots of buckets....

Yeah well, that kind of thing is harder to accept. But hey, its Ridley Scott. Im sure its entertaining enough, as long as you dont expect a documentary.

Sharks would have needed salt water, and Rome is not a coastal city...(unless they were bull sharks, which are not found on Mediterranean). Also, keeping a large shark alive in captivity and transport is very challenging even with todays technology. Crocodiles would have made more sense, but maybe they were not exotic enough for Scott.

Any way, the ship battle, like almost all battles and fight scenes in the movie, was disappointing. It was very uninspired, it had no particular story, and seemed to be over almost immediately.