[Spoilsport Stonny]

Despicable Me 2 with the kids. Very good.

[QuickTidal]

So I got my TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) Ticket Selection Window.

…A little background info before I bitch.

Basically the way TIFF makes things “fair” when it comes to getting tickets to films at the Fest is by having a lottery system. It used to be that you would fill out a form with film choices from the master film list for the amount of films for the package you bought (I usually get a 10-film pack, this year I got 16) and you would also make 10 alternates (in case you didn’t get all of your first round choices). That form would go in an envelope with your name on it, and the envelope would go into a box with other envelopes from other people. By the end they’d have something like 50 boxes full of envelopes. Those boxes are numbered. They lottery select a number in a random draw, and then that box would be first to get their choices. So out of 50 boxes, if Number 17 is first, then they’d go to 18, 19 and so forth until they came back around to 16. So basically if you were in Box 16, you were 100% royally fucked for picks.

Well, then a few years back they digitized the process and it’s now done in a similar way, just with hour long Ticket Selection Window’s online. They do this over 4 days. Aug 27-30. And this year I got the equivalent of box 16. I got Aug 30th at 3:30 PM (Ticket Selection closes at 7PM FFS!).

Now I get how it’s “fair”, I do. But it’s hard not to be royally pissed off about getting so entirely screwed over, for something I paid just under $300 for. And I will most likely not get to see even HALF the films I’ve already seta aside to want to see. It’s like paying for a steak dinner, and then sitting down to find out everyone else got steak, and since there was none left you got chicken…even though everyone sat down and ordered at the same time.

Erg. I’m just fucking annoyed. It literally could only have gotten slightly worse...like two hours worse. Now I wouldn’t be this pissed if I had never been in this situation before, but I’ve been attending the Fest now for about 15 years, and I’ve been in that late box a BUNCH of times. The only thing that used to be worse about it when it was a paper and envelope box system was that if you didn’t get your first picks, and then even didn’t get some of your second picks, you’d just get blank tickets you had to go and find something to fill with to see. With the digital system it tells you right off what is “off-sale’ (sold out) so at least you can immediately fill that gap with something else.

But this basically means I won’t get to see MANDELA, or THE WIND RISES, or some of the other buzzier films at the fest.

Sigh. I’m fucking GRUMPY.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 20 August 2013 - 12:55 PM, said:

So I got my TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) Ticket Selection Window.
...But this basically means I won't get to see MANDELA, or THE WIND RISES, or some of the other buzzier films at the fest.

Sigh. I'm fucking GRUMPY.

I don't get that. The Montreal Int'l Filmfest (last i knew) just outright sells tickets. They go on sale, you buy them. First come, first buy.
Wtf is TIFF invoking base-8 calculus to sell movie tickets?

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 20 August 2013 - 01:47 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 20 August 2013 - 12:55 PM, said:

So I got my TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) Ticket Selection Window.
...But this basically means I won't get to see MANDELA, or THE WIND RISES, or some of the other buzzier films at the fest.

Sigh. I'm fucking GRUMPY.

I don't get that. The Montreal Int'l Filmfest (last i knew) just outright sells tickets. They go on sale, you buy them. First come, first buy.
Wtf is TIFF invoking base-8 calculus to sell movie tickets?

Yeah, it's fucking irritating. It's been done this way for a number of years (I think the box system began in the 90's) because people would get really annoyed that if they couldn't go line up to select tickets all day then they wouldn't get good movies....so TIFF decided a lottery was better. I personally don't think it's better. I was on the ball to buy my ten pack, and I was organized to select my films. Why should joblo random who didn't get on the ball get to see shit I don't.

All my film friends are like "Scott, it's the luck of the draw, nothing to lose sleep over, we've all been in the bottom boxes before"....and I keep thinking, this is a broken system.

I agree Abyss, why don't they just put all tix on sale at the same time, and let everyone get online and buy what they want...and if you are fast enough and organized enough, you're golden.

Instead I'm diligent, organized, and paid my money and I get fooked.

SIGH.

[Illuyankas]

Elysium! Pretty sweet! That one South African guy is a good villain, but not as good as the colossal collated catastrophes of CAPITALISM (even if Jodie Foster and Space President as Republicans and Democrats respectively is a little obvious)

[Morgoth]

Pandorum was pretty fun as far as pulpy sci fi horror goes.

[McLovin]

Took the kids to see PLANES. I can see why this was initialy intended to be a straight-to-DVD release. TURBO minus the soul. The kids basically forgot it the instant they left the theater, while on the other hand, they can still recite long sections of DESPICABLE ME 2 from memory.

[Tiste Simeon]

Illuyankas, on 22 August 2013 - 02:26 PM, said:

Elysium! Pretty sweet! That one South African guy is a good villain, but not as good as the colossal collated catastrophes of CAPITALISM (even if Jodie Foster and Space President as Republicans and Democrats respectively is a little obvious)

My only disappointment with the film was that he never used the word "Prawns"...

[Illuyankas]

That's probably in his contract that no-one makes him say it again.

Also I double checked something about Pacific Rim and one of the most important Kaiju in the entire movie has the codename 'Slattern'. Subtle!

[Spoilsport Stonny]

The Conjuring was very good. At one point i hear my wife scream, and i was all "whussup?" And she said "you just squeezed my leg real hard during that scary part!" I didnt even realize it. Good jumpy parts, great special effects, great characters and a pretty good story. And the frights were quality, not cheap.

[worry]

Watched a couple new things this weekend:
The World's End, which was fantastic. Maybe the least laugh out loud funny of the trilogy, but that only means it was hilarious most of the time. And one of the best endings in recent memory.

And then You're Next, which was also fantastic. Brutal, wry (much funnier than I expected), and delightfully twisted. The feel-good murder spree movie of the summer for sure.

[tiam]

Cinema day yesterday.

The millers - predictable enough throughout in terms of characters and plot but still funny in stretches. Solid but the best bit was th the outtakes at the end.

Elysium - meh. Not as good as district 9 which i only watched for the first time recently. Sharlto copley is good but other than that too much of a mixed dystopian social commentary and a bit preachy. I09 review got it right.

Kick ass 2- it was ok but brilliantly the gf thought it was a kids film. I enjoyed it but thought jim carry was under utilised.

[QuickTidal]

worry, on 26 August 2013 - 09:11 AM, said:

The World's End[/i], which was fantastic. Maybe the least laugh out loud funny of the trilogy, but that only means it was hilarious most of the time. And one of the best endings in recent memory.

Agreed in all respects. Fantastic film! Defo the least of the chuckle-funny in the series, but it MORE than makes up for it with solid story, amazing acting, and a lot of heart.

And yeah, the epilogue section of the film is easily one of the best sequences.

I actually thought it was a really good mashup of the ideals from the first two films: from SHAUN OF THE DEAD (invasion by supernatural plague), and from HOT FUZZ (sleepy, boring town with really messed up secrets). To cap the trilogy off that way, was really awesome and Edgar Wright should be applauded for it.

[tiam]

I watched it a while ago and was very underwhelmed by it. Maybe because I expected a solid comedy which isnt what it is. I sort of enjoyed it, found the ending a bit cringe worthy actually with the 'humans are free spirits' thing. Weakest of the three by far for me.

[worry]

Well I don't want to get into spoiler territory, but I wouldn't say it was "free spirits" so much as "delightfully dysfunctional" but to each their own. I thought its riffs on close quarters martial arts battles and big full room bar fights were hilarious and well-choreographed, and I agree with QT that this movie had a lot of heart...the first two had broader goals in their satire, this one had those broad goals, but was also a bit more pointed on the growing up stuff, what you gain and what you leave behind. I dunno, I suppose it's prosaic and it's definitely been done plenty of times already, but I think the "you can't go home again" theme is one of the more powerful truisms in storytelling, particularly when it's challenged with at least one "Why not?"

This post has been edited by worry: 26 August 2013 - 08:33 PM

[Darkwatch]

Abyss, on 20 August 2013 - 01:47 PM, said:

I don't get that. The Montreal Int'l Filmfest (last i knew) just outright sells tickets. They go on sale, you buy them. First come, first buy.
Wtf is TIFF invoking base-8 calculus to sell movie tickets?

Because it's Toronto.

Moving on.

So I just watched all the Bourne movies. They are good, but maybe everyone I know was over selling them. I know I wouldn't have been mad to pay to see them but I'm happy that I didn't.

[tiam]

worry, on 26 August 2013 - 08:32 PM, said:

Well I don't want to get into spoiler territory, but I wouldn't say it was "free spirits" so much as "delightfully dysfunctional" but to each their own. I thought its riffs on close quarters martial arts battles and big full room bar fights were hilarious and well-choreographed, and I agree with QT that this movie had a lot of heart...the first two had broader goals in their satire, this one had those broad goals, but was also a bit more pointed on the growing up stuff, what you gain and what you leave behind. I dunno, I suppose it's prosaic and it's definitely been done plenty of times already, but I think the "you can't go home again" theme is one of the more powerful truisms in storytelling, particularly when it's challenged with at least one "Why not?"

I thought it was full of good British talent (Eddie Marsan a good inclusion) and on paper it looked good. I just did not enjoy it despite it getting,as far as i know, universal positive reviews. The action was ok but I think your right about goals. SOTD was a British zombie film that was very british in the same way that Hot Fuzz was a British spin on the buddy cop film. This one was a alien invasion one with alot more sociological factors/issues etc that hampered it in my opinion. Im sure you and others (and probably official reviewers who praised it) thought it complemented the plot but it just didnt grab me like the others.

Darkwatch, on 26 August 2013 - 08:55 PM, said:

Abyss, on 20 August 2013 - 01:47 PM, said:

I don't get that. The Montreal Int'l Filmfest (last i knew) just outright sells tickets. They go on sale, you buy them. First come, first buy.
Wtf is TIFF invoking base-8 calculus to sell movie tickets?

Because it's Toronto.

Moving on.

So I just watched all the Bourne movies. They are good, but maybe everyone I know was over selling them. I know I wouldn't have been mad to pay to see them but I'm happy that I didn't.

I was very underwhelmed by them all aswell and found the best thing to come out of Greengras's take on the spy genre was the influence it had on rebooting the Bond franchise. Did you watch the new one with Jeremy Renner? I like Renner and Rachel Weisz but that film was incredibly dull.

[McLovin]

Saw LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER. Good film, great acting, a lock for multiple Oscar nominations.

[Mezla PigDog]

Jean-Claude Van tiam, on 27 August 2013 - 06:22 PM, said:

worry, on 26 August 2013 - 08:32 PM, said:

Well I don't want to get into spoiler territory, but I wouldn't say it was "free spirits" so much as "delightfully dysfunctional" but to each their own. I thought its riffs on close quarters martial arts battles and big full room bar fights were hilarious and well-choreographed, and I agree with QT that this movie had a lot of heart...the first two had broader goals in their satire, this one had those broad goals, but was also a bit more pointed on the growing up stuff, what you gain and what you leave behind. I dunno, I suppose it's prosaic and it's definitely been done plenty of times already, but I think the "you can't go home again" theme is one of the more powerful truisms in storytelling, particularly when it's challenged with at least one "Why not?"

I thought it was full of good British talent (Eddie Marsan a good inclusion) and on paper it looked good. I just did not enjoy it despite it getting,as far as i know, universal positive reviews. The action was ok but I think your right about goals. SOTD was a British zombie film that was very british in the same way that Hot Fuzz was a British spin on the buddy cop film. This one was a alien invasion one with alot more sociological factors/issues etc that hampered it in my opinion. Im sure you and others (and probably official reviewers who praised it) thought it complemented the plot but it just didnt grab me like the others.

It might depend on your age Tiam. When I saw it I was sat behind a few lads who looked in their early 20's and they barely laughed at all. The thirty-somethings (me included) laughed like drains because so much of it felt relevant. I also loved the pre-ending where Simon Pegg and Nick Frosts characters were drunk and belligerent - it was exactly like the end of most British pub crawls I've ever been on (minus the aliens of course) and almost every night out I've ever had with Cougar

[Spoilsport Stonny]

Jean-Claude Van tiam, on 26 August 2013 - 12:36 PM, said:

Elysium - meh. Not as good as district 9 which i only watched for the first time recently. Sharlto copley is good but other than that too much of a mixed dystopian social commentary and a bit preachy. I09 review got it right.

Just saw it last night. It looked fantastic. Visually its up there with the best of them. But other than that you are spot-on. Plus, some of the stuff just didn't add up. Somewhat sloppy on connecting the dots. And the world they created doesn't seem like it should exist within the confines of the movie's rules. I dunno. I wasn't drawn in or convinced. And all the hydraulic noises and shakey-cam fight scenes had me a little annoyed. The five minute intro exposition wasnt enough either.