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The Movies Thread!

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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby fantasia » May 02, 2017 8:17 pm

Beauty and the Beast :) I did see it, but just found it to be just ok. To me the broadway version is perfection so I found most of the movie changes to be odd or unnecessary. :P ;)) But everybody else seems to love it so I find myself in the minority once again (as always :)) ).

My husband and I watched Doctor Strange last night. As Marvel flicks go, I really liked it. There were several parts where I was laughing quite a bit. Definitely higher on the Marvel movie list than most others. (Again, I tend to be very much in the minority on how I rate Marvel movies :P ) Thumbs up to Tilda Swinton. :D
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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby stargazer » May 02, 2017 10:36 pm

I recently watched Shadowlands with friends - the 1993 version with Anthony Hopkins playing CS Lewis. I'd seen it before and it's been discussed on here as well, but one thing I really noticed on this viewing is how much it jumps around, with lots of short scenes of a minute or two (for example, Jack talking to his students or to Douglas Gresham).
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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby Sonny » May 05, 2017 4:42 am

My partner and I saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 last night in IMAX 3D.... oh wow!!!!!!! So amazingly good! Funny, touching, sweet... and a great story to boot! So worth the extra $$ to see it in IMAX 3D. I'd like to see it on the big screen at least once more, but in 2D. I love 3D, but I feel that sometimes it gets a little cluttery that way.
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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby ValiantArcher » May 17, 2017 5:52 pm

I got to see Moana and Finding Dory over the weekend for the first time.

I really liked the cultural elements/setting of Moana and the animation was lovely. Overall, though, I think a combination of things made it just okay - I think it was overhyped to me, enough elements were floating around (spoilers, gifs, references, song lyrics, etc.) that my brain put together a bit of a different picture of things, such as Maui I couldn't figure out why on earth Maui was a hero when he kept trying to sneak out of deals and toss Moana out and such - it wasn't until after the movie ended that I remembered he was a trickster; it's mentioned when he's introduced, but the movie was portraying him as a hero and everything I'd heard about him out-of-the-movie portrayed him as one too, so it completely flew past me, and then it broke the fourth wall/was too self-aware a couple of times which I found jarring the princess/not-princess discussion, the "bioluminescent" explanation, and another thing or two I'm forgetting.

On the other hand, I liked Finding Dory a lot. ;)) It was nice to see the old characters again and the new characters were great (Bailey and Destiny especially cracked me up ;))), and the flashbacks to Dory's childhood were all sweet (and usually sad, so touching). I guess the overarching story and arc about Dory resonated with me, especially Dory's parents telling her that she had found her way home, in her own way, and then the acknowledgment on several sides that she was never going to "fit in" but that didn't make her any less of a...fish, I guess. ;)) And that her way of looking at life and acting, although out of the ordinary, didn't mean she was wrong. I know people like that, and it was just...really good to see that perspective.
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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby fantasia » May 19, 2017 10:41 am

I watched Moana last night as well. I definitely enjoyed it more than you did Valia. ;)) I've decided that my opinion of movies is inversely affected by how hyped a movie is before I watch it. :P With the exception of the climactic scene in Frozen (because it's so poignant) I liked Moana a lot more. Actually, one of the biggest things I loved about Moana was that it had no romance, THANK YOU!!!! And I also really liked the twist at the end with the big fire goddess being the corrupted life goddess.
The two things I didn't care for were the crab which drove me crazy and the obligatory "you have offended me so I'm going to leave, but it's ok, I'll be back later to save the day" that Disney ALWAYS sticks into their film. :P
My daughter liked it a lot too so I'll probably get it at some point. :P ;)
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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby The Rose-Tree Dryad » May 19, 2017 4:00 pm

I saw Moana around Easter and I liked it. I actually thought it was a better version of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader than Walden's VDT was. :P Which unfortunately isn't saying much, but it definitely did a better job capturing that longing to discover what's out there.

I liked it better than Frozen, but not as well as Tangled. Most of the music was good (I really liked "I Am Moana") and the visuals at the end were pretty spectacular. I hadn't seen much of the movie aside from the clip of Moana's first song, so I went into it pretty blind as well, fk. I also really liked the twist at the end! Didn't see that coming. I do agree with Valia that Maui's image as a hero and someone who just wants the appreciation of humans didn't really seem to jive with his repeated attempts to ditch Moana. It did occur to me that maybe he just wanted to go and get his hook, then come back and free her from the cave. He may have not been really comfortable hanging around humans without the magical device that made him special/useful, but I don't think I should have to be inferring so much. :P It's definitely a place where the story is lacking a bit. In general, I find Maui to be a little more forgettable than he should be... but then again, the movie's called Moana, not Maui. ;)
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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby ValiantArcher » May 19, 2017 9:21 pm

re: Moana - so, fk and Rose, the movie wasn't hyped for you beforehand? I typically enjoy it more if it isn't hyped as well... The big thing you all liked, the earth goddess being the lava monster as well, was one of the things I knew beforehand, so it had no impact on me and I actually didn't realize it was really supposed to be a big twist... XD Ditto the things you disliked, fk. ;))
I understand why people like the music, but it didn't really catch me. Well...except "You're Welcome" has been popping up in my head ALL week, but I didn't even like it that much. :P (Though, the scene in the movie reminded me of Hercules for some reason, so there's that. ;)))

Summer, my mom, and I watched the first 45 minutes of Doctor Strange tonight. We're not at all impressed so far. I've heard good things about it (including from you, fk ;))), but it has three huge strikes so far: Benedict Cumberbatch's American accent is terrible (I can't figure out what he's saying half the time and my brain just can't connect), I have no sympathy for Stephen Strange, and they have gone way overboard with the lights and angles and swooping bits. :P Plus, the Eastern mysticism always looked dubious to me and so far it hasn't done anything to correct that impression. To be fair, we've only made it through the first intro, but the lights and angles and camera jerking has kicked up into high gear in it... Also, the hands. *shudders*
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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby Meltintalle » May 21, 2017 3:20 pm

I don't recall having problems with Cumberbatch's enunciation, but then I wasn't expecting any particular accent from him so that may have helped?

Thinking back after several months, the things I remember about Dr. Strange are the visual effects, the visual effects, and Mads Mikkleson's character's sparkly eyeshadow. :p I spent an enormous chunk of the movie going, "Why is his face so familiar? Have I seen him in something else?" and then when the credits rolled I realized it was the guy whose face I'd seen all over the internet. :p (And then Rogue One happened and I didn't recognize him until he was clean shaven...) A lot of it was like watching a kaleidoscope, which I thought was really cool, but maybe ended up overwhelming the story? I do remember hoping that Stephen Strange would have some sort of epiphany but it was more like the one trailer for Doogal | The Magic Roundabout where he was like, "The mighty hero couldn't make it today so I came instead." The side characters were far more interesting - the nurse, the sidekick who turned away from the 'true path'... and, of course, the librarian who had some of the best humorous moments.

Speaking of movies where the protagonist goes out of their way to be obnoxious, I watched King Arthur: Legend of the Sword the other day. I haven't run across any positive reviews, which wouldn't have surprised me after the trailer I saw, but I ended up enjoying it.
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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby ValiantArcher » May 21, 2017 6:05 pm

Mel, I may've been moderately expecting an English accent, but I've seen enough things with him to have been fine with a number of different accents. But the American accent he tried here? It was awful; I may be partially keyed to it having heard a number of bad fake American accents - I guess it does have not being as shrill as some others in its favor.
I do agree the visual effects stood out - which completely failed for me. The spinning, anti-gravity, and kaleidoscope effects all made my head spin and the technicolor reminded me of slightly muted 1970s Doctor Who episodes right after they first discovered technicolor. :P ;)) And I think it did overshadow the story, especially in the first scene where Stephen was sent on the journey out of his body and then to a lesser degree in some of the fight scenes.

We finished Doctor Strange last night. Our impression of the first half pretty much played out for the second half. The introduction of some of the side characters helped a tiny bit, but not enough. I've also seen enough sci-fi that the climax being a time loop (not to mention Mordo's going rogue and against everything he had worked for???) didn't really feel new or even that interesting, though I suppose the solution being the time loop, as opposed to them looking for a solution from the time loop, was a newer variant. Neither did I have sympathy for or interest in the Ancient One - she seemed very much like a stock questionable authority figure, complete with lack of explanation, a lot taken on trust with someone completely devoted to her, and her doing the same things she taught against, not to mention dying. Also, I took the final message as being "sometimes you have to do bad things for good reasons", which didn't fly with me - am I missing something? I also didn't buy the climax trying to look like character growth for Stephen - for someone with a fear of failing, a time loop means infinite chances to get it "right" without any consequences or lasting record of getting it "wrong". Also, the Ancient One told him, right before she died, that he had thought everything was all about him and that he still thought that; I never really saw that changed? Other than possibly what looked like a possible decision for him to NOT use the dark powers to fix his hands because there actually wasn't a way to do it?

So, yeah. I don't really think it was worth the time watching it for me... That said, I'd be curious to hear thoughts from others (thanks, Mel!), especially fk, who loved it. ;))
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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby Meltintalle » May 21, 2017 8:43 pm

Valia wrote:Also, I took the final message as being "sometimes you have to do bad things for good reasons" which didn't fly with me - am I missing something? I also didn't buy the climax trying to look like character growth for Stephen - for someone with a fear of failing, a time loop means infinite chances to get it "right" without any consequences or lasting record of getting it "wrong".


I retained very little of the nuances of the ending, so this is probably going to be kind of sloppy... The final message came across as "you have to know/understand the rules before you can break them"; based on Strange's comment about reading the entire entry before doing the end the world thing or whatever... That's probably even less appealing than your version, come to think of it.
That's a really interesting take on the time loop. I'd looked at it as Strange voluntarily entering infinite deaths, sort of like the myth about the guy who had his liver pecked out every day, thus shouldering not-ending the world at an awful cost to himself. (I can't really recall how he got out of it, only that he did, so... :ymblushing: ) But if he already knew he could win with enough restores to the last saved point, then it's not nearly as much of a sacrifice.
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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby Ryadian » May 22, 2017 11:23 am

The Rose-Tree Dryad wrote:
SHOW SPOILER "Moana"
I do agree with Valia that Maui's image as a hero and someone who just wants the appreciation of humans didn't really seem to jive with his repeated attempts to ditch Moana. It did occur to me that maybe he just wanted to go and get his hook, then come back and free her from the cave.


Well, the way I see it is that
SHOW SPOILER "Moana"
for one thing, Maui seemed to like to get the approval of humans in general, not any specific human - he doesn't once speak of a specific human friend he has. In addition to that, he just spent the last 1,000 years trapped on an island, alone. I can see how he might simply be done with being any kind of hero, at least long enough to steal her boat and get away. I also think Maui sees himself as a hero because he thinks of himself in the classic, mythological sense of "hero" - someone who's accomplishments you'd tell stories about for how amazing they are. He's conveniently ignoring that ideal heroes would also put others before himself.


I greatly enjoyed Moana, though I still haven't decided how I rank it compared to Tangled (definitely better than Frozen, IMHO ;)) ). I thought they mixed adventure movie with Disney Princess movie almost seamlessly, I didn't think either was compromised. I, like fantasia, really enjoyed the lack of romance (there would have been utterly no room for it and the story worked very well without), and I admit I didn't see the Te Ka/Te Fiti twist coming either. I liked most of the music (especially "How Far I'll Go" and "I Am Moana", though I'm still mixed on "You're Welcome", and... I have no idea how I feel about "Shiny" :P ). My main complaint is that the beginning of the movie kind of drags and is pretty predictable. Once we get into the 2nd act or so, though, it really picks up. :)

Another movie I saw recently was Kubo and the Two Strings. I really enjoyed that one, as well. The animation was often so beautiful I couldn't believe it was all stop-motion, and I was very immersed in the world and characters. I know some people didn't like the ending, but I personally didn't have a problem with it except for one thing. I did think that lying to the Moon King to convince him he was a happy mortal was... morally ambiguous, at best, but it wasn't enough for me to entirely dislike the ending. I know the twist that some people didn't like was the reveal that Beetle and Monkey were Kubo's parents, but I saw the Beetle one coming well before it was revealed and I kind of saw the developing hints of the family dynamics all along. It was a twist where I really didn't mind seeing it coming because I don't think it compromised the story - in fact, the fact that I saw the hints of it so early on, I think it complemented the story. If I'm making any sense at all. :P
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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby ValiantArcher » May 22, 2017 6:25 pm

Mel, I can see your take on the final message, though I agree it doesn't necessarily make anything better. ;)) Despite common thought, rules and laws exist for a very good reason, and heroes shouldn't just break them. Though sometimes it works out well in recipes. ;))
I think your take about Strange voluntarily going through death again and again is probably the one that's supposed to be shown. As is the take of Strange handing the scalpel off to Dr. West before the Ancient One's surgery being that he is showing humility and recognizing his inability to perform the surgery. But based on his earlier comment about having a perfect record at surgery and the Ancient One's proclamation (though her infallibility is also called into question) just moments later that he still thinks everything is about him also gives the interpretation that he realized that a) he can't do the surgery and/or b) it may not work and thus he doesn't want to try in case the surgery fails. But I guess the question is also raised, if he considers something a failure if his first attempt doesn't work or just if the end result doesn't work?


Rya, I think your thoughts on Maui are pretty spot on. ;))
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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby The Rose-Tree Dryad » May 24, 2017 9:25 am

Ooh, your thoughts on Moana are very good, Rya! I'll keep it in mind when I get around to re-watching. I'm not sure how I feel about "Shiny" either, only that the chorus gets stuck in my head sometimes and I wish it wouldn't. :P

And good to see that you liked Kubo and the Two Strings! I haven't seen it yet, but I ran across a video featuring Regina Spektor's cover of The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from the soundtrack... I clicked on it just because I was curious about her cover, but the movie looks really cool and I've wanted to see it since! (And I had no idea I was looking at stop-motion animation... wow. :-o)
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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby ValiantArcher » May 30, 2017 6:33 pm

Rya, we just watched Kubo and the Two Strings this past weekend too. It wasn't at all what I expected, but I also didn't have any solid expectations. ;)) We really enjoyed it as well! I don't know how I feel about the ending with the Moon King being convinced he was a good man, either, but it was a mostly happy ending, so that was nice. ;)) I knew Beetle was really a full man and noticed that he was getting more human each time they found a piece of the weaponry/armor. BUT, when the reveal about Monkey being his mom and the later reveal about Beetle being his father happened, they made sense. ;)) And I think I understand what you meant about it complementing the movie. ;))

We also watched The Good Dinosaur this weekend; we enjoyed it pretty well, though again I didn't really know what to expect. ;)) I definitely didn't know that it was a Western movie until about five minutes in, but once I did, I knew immediately that a parent was going to die. ;)) I liked most of the side characters they ran into, but the first dinosaur with all the animal sidekicks was rather weird... Overall, though, it was funny and sweet. Has anyone else seen it? :)
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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby daughter of the King » May 30, 2017 6:57 pm

Saw Kubo and the Two Strings awhile back. I don't remember everything that happened, but I do remember liking it a lot. I was pretty sure the Beetle and Monkey were his parents before the reveal, but knowing beforehand didn't really take anything away from it. The story was about their relationship; it didn't depend on the twist to make it interesting. And the stop-motion animation is a work of art. I found the ending pretty satisfying. Much more so than The Tale of Princess Kaguya, which is one of the saddest animated fairy tales I have ever seen.

Oooh, The Good Dinosaur! I thought it was pretty good, although predictable. Just another boy and his dog story. Or dinosaur and his boy in this case. ;)) The animation though! If I didn't know better I would swear that water was real. And the leaves on the trees. :ymdaydream: I could probably stare at the backgrounds all day.
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Re: The Movies Thread!

Postby fantasia » May 31, 2017 3:38 pm

Going to try to answer as best as I can. ;))

Doctor Strange - Things I liked about it. I did like Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One. I fully admit that the character was a bit weak, but I still liked the way Tilda played her. I found her amusing in a very dry sort of way.
I REALLY liked Rachel McAdams. Even though she was a minor character, I liked her, and even though the surgery fight scene was stupid and cheesy, I found that character hilarious. I giggled through the whole thing, especially the broom falling over in the closet.
But on a serious note, two things I liked about the end of the movie and the character of Doctor Strange himself, my sister and I like that he beat the final guy using brains rather than brawn. But most importantly, I liked that he chose to fight for the world rather than healing his hands, which is what he wanted the most.

Sorry you didn't enjoy it Valia, and I apologize if I played it up too much. I totally agree with you on the special effects by the way. ;) I did like it quite a bit, especially within the Marvel universe movie world, but it's not one where I'd go "OH MY GOODNESS YOU MUST GO SEE THIS MOVIE NOW!!!!!" ;))

Moana - No, it wasn't hyped at all for me. I barely even noticed it coming out. ;)) I'm very much in the minority on this, but for me, it definitely goes Moana, to Frozen, to Tangled. I need to go watch Tangled again because it didn't do much for me at all. But then, I felt the same way about Frozen, but it grew on me when I was forced to watch it (repeatedly) by my kiddos. :P Maybe I'd like Tangled better if I gave it another viewing.

Kubo and the Two Strings - Great movie! The animation is stellar. If you watch the credits, you can see the HUGE skeleton they use in the movie. It's quite impressive.
Actually, my favorite thing about this movie was the music. I hadn't liked a score that much since How to Train Your Dragon.

The Good Dinosaur - ;)) Did not like this one at all... EXCEPT for the animation. I was ready to head to Colorado and Wyoming and Montana all over again.

The Secret Life of Pets - Soooo... ;)) the other day I wanted to show my son Moana because he didn't get to watch it with us when we first watched it. I could NOT find it anywhere. After a while I gave up and pulled up Pets on Netflix. Good heavens, what a waste of two hours of my life. :)) Am I in the minority on this one too? I usually am. I think a lot of people loved it but it drove me crazy.
For the record, Evan loved it. :))
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