The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Mahatma]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

I'm a little here. Lost Highway was too weird, but you love Eraserhead? I guess we Lynch fans are as odd as He is.

lol.I was thinking about it before I answered,but yes I stand by that.Also there is the age difference.I saw Eraserhead in my impressionable youth,but Lost highway I gave a chance after the comfortable forties,so it may lie there good sir

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Mahatma

lol.I was thinking about it before I answered,but yes I stand by that.Also there is the age difference.I saw Eraserhead in my impressionable youth,but Lost highway I gave a chance after the comfortable forties,so it may lie there good sir

I see what you mean. I still feel it's a superb mood piece.

[Al_The_Strange]

Regarding Foggy's IM3 review, since this thing won't quote it for some reason...

Darn it all, I can't see these movies before the US releases anymore!

Good job though, I'm glad it's still enjoyable. I was getting just slightly worried that IM3 would suffer the same issues as Spidey 3 or X-Men 3, especially after switching directors. Sounds like that's not the case.

Can't wait to check it out soon.

[Al_The_Strange]

Pain and Gain

You know what you get with a Michael Bay film. For the past couple of decades, the man has delivered some of the biggest and most explosive action pictures of all time. Style may often trump the substance, but dang, the style is really something. All of his films have a hot, flashy, fast-paced appeal, usually with generous helpings of stupid comedy and gratuitous fan service.

Now off the hook from all the (arguably shallow) Transformers films, Bay turns to Pain and Gain, a personal side project. And for once...

there...

are...

no...



...explosions! What's the world coming to?!

For once, Michael Bay has made a film totally stripped of fights, chases, or battles. There are just a few major action scenes, but they're kept short and to-the-point. That ultimately leaves the style and humor to drive the film, and if you're familiar with Bay's other films, you'll either find this really awesome or really awful. The most critical of audiences will find this tiresome after a while, but for established fans and audiences who can stand the crass, obnoxious directorial style, then the film is pure gold.

This film is based on a true story...in the same sense that Pearl Harbor is based on a true story. I understand that the actual events behind Pain and Gain is a strange case, it's probably best to take it with a grain of salt, given the stylistic excesses and sheer stupidity of the characters on screen. Basically, this is a crime movie showcasing a bunch of hyped-up bodybuilders kidnapping a guy and forcing him to give up everything he owns. The grim and violent torture scenes (which really aren't as bloody or brutal as most other films I've seen) are often offset with the comedy, and it can be a pretty odd mix. It's also a bit of a stretch to really root for these guys, given that they're essentially bullies with all brawn and no brain. There is a certain charm to the thing, in the same respect that there's a charm to the kidnappers in Fargo, but by the end, there's a certain "crime doesn't pay" theme that ensures that these fools got what they deserved. It ultimately supports an even larger theme concerning the American dream: the film gently harps on the notion that you must work hard to get to where you're at.

As a film, you can definitely expect an overdose of style: lots of crazy camera angles, fast cuts, some shakey cam for the action scenes, some visual asides, slow-motion...it's got the whole works here. Acting and writing are often amusing and exaggerated, for entertaining effect. This film features some really slick-looking sets, props, and costumes. Music is all kinds of awesome too.

This film pretty much delivered everything I expected: even though I find the story and the themes of the American dream pretty interesting, it's the style and silly comedy that keeps it running fast and fun. Regular Michael Bay haters will easily dismiss this, but fans will embrace it. If you aren't sure, just watch the trailer, and you'll see how it is.

4/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Good | Film: Good)

Recommendation: For the film slobs, not the film snobs.

[Abdrewes]

^^^
Am I a film snob or a film slob (nice one)? I like Antonioni and Tony Scott; Godard and Neveldine-Taylor; DW Griffith and Russ Meyer....

Anywhoo, I'll be seeing this during the week. I promised myself that I would check out Trnsfrmrs3 and revisit The Island, hopefully I can fit it in before Tuesday or Thursday.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Just a heads up for anyone who might care. This is very unlikely to get a theatrical release in the States, so.....

A Blu-ray will be available in August.

The Garden of Words

By Makoto Shinkai

Nice! Hopefully, Mamoru Hosoda's Wolf Children gets a release too. I've been waiting to see that one.

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

So I take it you didnt like The Raid: Redemption?

I see the point you are trying to make, but The Raid had a great climax. I don't think it was drowned out at all.

Originally Posted by legendarymatt92

It's not befitting Nolan to have what could have been -- and should have been -- one of the best endings to the best trilogies in cinematic history riddled with plot holes.

So painful to read but so true.

Look at the conversation Thalia and Bruce have before he dances with Anne Hathaway: from within the span of an edit, Bales line of sight will shift over 60 degrees.

I am not usually one to care for or even take notice of such specific technical goofs, but I remember TDK was full of them. I was surprised when it won the Oscar for best sound editing even though the words wouldn't match up with their mouths in a couple scenes. And when Batman jumps onto the car in the parking garage scene, he lands perpendicular to the direction he jumped in. Those are just the ones off the top of my head.

[Lepidopterous]

Also, it's been a while since I've seen it but there was something that bugged me about the Two-Face scene. I think he didn't make a sound when he fell, or the sound may have been pure LFE. Either way, that's bad sound editing.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Good job though, I'm glad it's still enjoyable. I was getting just slightly worried that IM3 would suffer the same issues as Spidey 3 or X-Men 3, especially after switching directors. Sounds like that's not the case.

Yea, Foggy's review was a relief. I am expecting to see Shane Black bring out the best in RDJ. Especially considering he basically directed Tony Stark in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Now Thor: The Dark World I'm really hoping it is better than the first, which was quite good but a tad uninspired.

[jvince]

Adventures of Christopher Bosh in the Multiverse! - YouTube

Adventures of Christopher Bosh in the Multiverse (2013)
dir. Bleeding Palm

The Good: High. As. F*ck. Bosh's very own theme song (by Limp Bizkit's guitarist of all people, of course). Quotes galore: "I love you, Christopher Bosh." "Whatever, dude." "Eric, I'm trippin' balls here..." "Macaca!!!!!" "Ah-wooooo...."

The Bad: I think this shit broke my brain. I don't know anymore... I don't know...

The Bottom Line: WTF did I just watch??? If you dig absurd shit, go ahead and press play.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

^^^
Am I a film snob or a film slob (nice one)? I like Antonioni and Tony Scott; Godard and Neveldine-Taylor; DW Griffith and Russ Meyer....

Anywhoo, I'll be seeing this during the week. I promised myself that I would check out Trnsfrmrs3 and revisit The Island, hopefully I can fit it in before Tuesday or Thursday.

It occurred to me afterward that Pain & Gain would fall in perfectly with the "vulgar auturist" thing you were describing earlier. Artistic merit if the film is probably highly debatable, but I don't expect many people to recognize it, especially since Bay has garnered a passionate group of haters.

You might like it.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

Also, it's been a while since I've seen it but there was something that bugged me about the Two-Face scene. I think he didn't make a sound when he fell, or the sound may have been pure LFE. Either way, that's bad sound editing.

As I recall, I figured that the camera, and the characters, were too high up to really hear the sound of Two-Face hitting the dirt. Plus, I seem to remember the music was reaching a crescendo or something. Never bothered me much.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by jvince

Adventures of Christopher Bosh in the Multiverse! - YouTube

Adventures of Christopher Bosh in the Multiverse (2013)
dir. Bleeding Palm

The Good: High. As. F*ck. Bosh's very own theme song (by Limp Bizkit's guitarist of all people, of course). Quotes galore: "I love you, Christopher Bosh." "Whatever, dude." "Eric, I'm trippin' balls here..." "Macaca!!!!!" "Ah-wooooo...."

The Bad: I think this shit broke my brain. I don't know anymore... I don't know...

The Bottom Line: WTF did I just watch??? If you dig absurd shit, go ahead and press play.

Oh, I understood that perfectly, don't know what your issue is.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

It occurred to me afterward that Pain & Gain would fall in perfectly with the "vulgar auturist" thing you were describing earlier. Artistic merit if the film is probably highly debatable, but I don't expect many people to recognize it, especially since Bay has garnered a passionate group of haters.

You might like it.

Im Actually looking forward to it. I'm afraid my fellow film snobs are unable to read images in new ways. Bay is an auteur, you could never mistake a Michael Bay shot: low camera setups, wide angle lenses, furious camera movement, and expressionistic editing.

Sure, the jingoism, sexism & humor in his films is not my thing, but who am I to tell an artist to conform to my sensibilities?

[Abdrewes]

In the spirit of all things Bay, I highly recommend this solid blog entry I found about Armageddon:
http://criterioncollection.blogspot....rmageddon.html

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

In the spirit of all things Bay, I highly recommend this solid blog entry I found about Armageddon:
http://criterioncollection.blogspot....rmageddon.html

I agree with this, especially this part:

But as fantasy, it's great; it's the world advertising has always promised us. (And, of course, it is advertising: BMW paid a good deal of money to have A.J. drive such an unlikely car).

The point is, that shot succeeds brilliantly at "enabling various fantasies that allow the moviegoer to pretend he's somebody else and that life is somehow bigger and more coherent and more compelling and attractive and in general just way more entertaining." So does the rest of the movie. Seen from those terms, all the laughably absurd plot points and continuity errors in the world don't really matter.

This is pretty much why I watch movies to begin with: for the fantasy, and all things fantastic, not reality.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

This is pretty much why I watch movies to begin with: for the fantasy, and all things fantastic, not reality.

I'd argue against this, but oh boy is it ever a complex issue. In short, I accept both films that comment on reality and those completely divorced from reality.

I'm in my seat right now for Pain & Gain

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

I'd argue against this, but oh boy is it ever a complex issue. In short, I accept both films that comment on reality and those completely divorced from reality.

I'm in my seat right now for Pain & Gain

Well, what I mean is, I love the unrealistic spectacle as long as the illusion of it is solid and has some level of creditability. It's hard to get over the stupidity of something like GI Joe: Retaliation, with

[Show spoiler]all the world's nations launching every single nuke in the world all at once, then auto-destructing them, so that Cobra can pull some kind of Zeus cannon out of his butt and destroy London

, but for something like Armageddon, nothing really stuck out as being all that stupid to me. In contrast, I do like some realistic films, like Zero Dark Thirty, but they'd have to stand out really REALLY well for me to care. Most of these types of films come off as dry to me.

Have fun with Pain & Gain.

[legendarymatt92]

"Personal philosophy? Clothing optional."

The Good Points: Incredibly quotable dialogue. Extremely funny interplay between Will Ferrell and Jon Heder. Hilarious plot, with incredibly knowing self-referencing humour. Also contains a charm and warmth not found in enough comedies.

The Bad Points: Formulaic and often contrived. Plot and characters can get annoying by the end finally rolls around. Often meandering.

Something of an oddity, Blades of Glory sets up an engaging and humorous partnership between Ferrell and Heder but the unexceptional material and forced love sub-plot destroy some hopes of it becoming an all-out comedy classic. That said, it's entertaining and often-times hilarious, and the weak storyline won't put off most comedy fans who'll just enjoy it for the weird and fantastical ride.

7.5/10

[Abdrewes]

Okay guys, I really though Pain&Gain was a stinging satire. I've scribbled a bunch of notes to be glued together later. In short, I highly reccomend this film, especially to those of you who liked the type of satire in Gamer.

I feel like doing a double review of his two most recent Non Transformers films ('Pain' and The Island). So I hope to have those in sometime this weekend.

[Abdrewes]

Pain & Gain

Michael Bay, perpetual purveyor of the chaotic, returns with his first film outside the Transformers franchise in nearly eight years, the last being 2005's The Island, which similarly is about "Big Ideas" (cloning). However, where that film only aimed to duplicate 70's sci-fi, Pain and Gain delivers a morally complex satire which only Michael Bay could deliver.

The film this most resembles in form is Neveldine & Taylor's Gamer. Both are extremely unsubtle socially relevant satires (well, Gamer is a bit less overt) that rely on garish frenzied imagery (sometimes hanheld) for effect. In the case of Gamer it was about the grotesquerie of our online identities and the ruthlessness of Reality Television and cable news. Pain and Gain is simply about The American Dream and how the subsequent desire for material wealth ("getting buff") corrodes our moral compass. To paraphrase Mark Wahlberg's opening narration, America got to be number one by getting more ripped than other nations. The levels to this film are so intricate: although it's built on top of a well treaded crime-narrative, it establishes a grimly fascinating portrait of The Pursuit of Happiness.

The story is no different than Rocky, Scarface or The Godfather, whom are all role models for the mentally unequipped Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg),the key difference are the additional generations of decay. Paul Doyle (Dwayne Johnson) and Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie) are lead by the Daniel Lugo, whom is striving for the American Dream only seen in gangster film and TV ads (Ken Jeung's supporting role as a Get-Rich-Quick-Guru is as juicy as they come).

Even more fascinating, if a bit tiresome, is what Bay's trademark bulldozer style accomplishes here. Buffoonery has been dimensionally trans-mutated into profundity, what was once blatant fetishization is now stinging social commentary. Michael Bay's gonzo abstract style finally purely marries form and function into what is his most aesthetically purposed film. His widescreen canvas casts a net on the constituents of materialization: nearly every frame highlights a logo whether Nike, Adidas or Windex. Bimbos, air-headed body builders and soulless businessmen populate the grimy, sleazy concrete jungle of Miami. His giant overbearing kinetic style paints a world just as heightened, fractured and repulsive as the one in Daniel Lugo's head. The half submerged shot of him in a pool, rendering his proportions mis-matched is telling. These aren't the heroes of Armageddon, The Rock, or Transformers; not do they exude any trace of altruism like Ewan McGregor's character in The Island. They are selfish, reckless and utterly detestable.

The timid satire of Spring Breakers is one upped in nearly every way. Compare Paul Doyle (Deayne Johnson) to Selena Gomez' Faith. He's larger than life buffoon, almost Bush Era pseudo-fascist: he totes along a Bible, wears an "I'm on Team Jesus" t-shirt, yet has no problem wielding a gun, or (later) snorting cocaine off of a curious object (a great nod to Paul Verhoeven's Robocob, also a satire, that I will not spoil here). Faith, in Spring Breakers,
however is painted in a much more fetishistic way (like the Michael Bay models of yore) with only the contrapuntal narration meshing with the satirical backdrop.

Michael Bay cynics, believe me I used to be one of them, will call this business as usual, but for those willing to dive into new images and pan for gold, you will find it. I hope he continues making films that have a socially reflective spirit, because who can better paint the warped American id than Michael "checks-and-balances" Bay. "That's the American Dream."

4/5