[Slow Ben]

Where is My Mind is a damn good one too.

[worry]

Slow Ben, on 25 April 2022 - 02:54 PM, said:

The Batman. Still not sure how I feel about it. I think Worry hit it pretty well upthread. No real highs, no teal lows. It just is. I did enjoy the twist on the recluse emo Batman as opposed to the billionaire playboy Bat.


Still, I mostly enjoyed it. But the soundtrack was phenomenal. Something in the Way by Nirvana might be the best use of a pop song in a movie ever. At least off the top of my head.

Did anyone call it The Donnie Darko Knight yet?

[worry]

Speaking of, Donnie Darko has lotsa good music drops, but the best is Head Over Heels near the start, that first school montage. School hallway scenes can be pretty samey, but that one knocks it out of the park.

[Malankazooie]

Anyone see Ambulance yet? Michael Bay movies are shallow action fests and not much more, but I guess Ambulance is supposed to be pretty good based on reviews I've read.

[Malankazooie]

Best use of a song in a movie? Only one needs to be considered. Addams Groove by MC Hammer in the Addams Family movie.

https://www.youtube....h?v=r4-YdSvVykk

[Malankazooie]

Supposed to be incoming - An Avatar trailer. You guys pumped?

[Aptorian]

Not at all. Those avatar films have been under way for ever. I remember enjoying the visual spectacle of the first Avatar but it was basically just Dances with Wolves in space.

It's James Cameron so they're bound to be special but it's insane that they're producing and releasing X number of Avatar films this long after the first came out and the 3D craze came and went.

[worry]

I'm curious. Not pumped, not even necessarily cautiously optimistic, but curious.

[Tsundoku]

Aptorian, on 28 April 2022 - 03:09 AM, said:

Not at all. Those avatar films have been under way for ever. I remember enjoying the visual spectacle of the first Avatar but it was basically just Dances with Wolves in space.

It's James Cameron so they're bound to be special but it's insane that they're producing and releasing X number of Avatar films this long after the first came out and the 3D craze came and went.

Agreed, but I think of it more as Dances with Smurfs.

[QuickTidal]

DEATH ON THE NILE.

Woof.

I liked MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, and Brannagh is a damned good Poirot....but this movie was not it. Aside from being overlong (no murders even occur for a full hour) and dragging in many spots, the casting was all over the place.

Hammer is atrocious.
Letitia Wright was also atrocious.
Gal Gadot is super weak.
Russell Brand is nearly non existent (probably a good thing)
French and Saunders were solid, but I kept expecting them to be funny...and I fail to see why they were cast together if they were going to turn in standard dramatic roles?
Emma Mackey was probably the only one other than Brannagh who actually emoted, and played her role well.
Sophie Okonedo was good, but her role didn't let her do too much.

Just a weak movie with a weak denouement that was overlong and poorly cast and acted.

Oh, and the funniest thing. They were GOING to shoot in Morocco to stand in for Egypt...but they didn't and ended up shooting the ENTIRE film against green screens in England....and the green screens are so beyond obvious. Like you know how sometimes you'll watch a movie and the green screens are fine, but there's always one scene where you can REALLY tell and see the edges and the lighting differences? Yeah, this WHOLE movie is like that.

[Tiste Simeon]

Yes I definitely didn't enjoy Nile as much as Orient Express.

[amphibian]

QuickTidal, on 28 April 2022 - 12:28 PM, said:

DEATH ON THE NILE.

Woof.

I liked MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, and Brannagh is a damned good Poirot....but this movie was not it. Aside from being overlong (no murders even occur for a full hour) and dragging in many spots, the casting was all over the place.

Hammer is atrocious.
Letitia Wright was also atrocious.
Gal Gadot is super weak.
Russell Brand is nearly non existent (probably a good thing)
French and Saunders were solid, but I kept expecting them to be funny...and I fail to see why they were cast together if they were going to turn in standard dramatic roles?
Emma Mackey was probably the only one other than Brannagh who actually emoted, and played her role well.
Sophie Okonedo was good, but her role didn't let her do too much.

Just a weak movie with a weak denouement that was overlong and poorly cast and acted.

Oh, and the funniest thing. They were GOING to shoot in Morocco to stand in for Egypt...but they didn't and ended up shooting the ENTIRE film against green screens in England....and the green screens are so beyond obvious. Like you know how sometimes you'll watch a movie and the green screens are fine, but there's always one scene where you can REALLY tell and see the edges and the lighting differences? Yeah, this WHOLE movie is like that.

I'm thoroughly convinced that Branagh can't flex his directorial style from his wheelhouse. He's clearly able to make something like Belfast, but Artemis Fowl sucked, this sucked, Thor sucked. As soon as green screen comes in, he's adrift like flotsam in the Pacific Gyre.

[Malankazooie]

Is the original Murder on the Orient Express worth checking out? I think it came out in the 1970s sometime. I saw the 2017 version and it was just alright. I wasn't blown away by it or nuthin'. I was surfing around and saw the original was playing, I didn't stop to watch it but was wondering if it is any good , as it will air a few more times.

[QuickTidal]

amphibian, on 28 April 2022 - 05:17 PM, said:

I'm thoroughly convinced that Branagh can't flex his directorial style from his wheelhouse. He's clearly able to make something like Belfast, but Artemis Fowl sucked, this sucked, Thor sucked. As soon as green screen comes in, he's adrift like flotsam in the Pacific Gyre.

I don't hate THOR, but your point still stands, and I think I agree.

[worry]

I like the 70s Orient Express a lot. Tons of charm in an all star cast. The 70s Death on the Nile is on Criterion right now too so I’m wondering about that.


And I definitely agree about KB as a director.

[QuickTidal]

worry, on 28 April 2022 - 07:21 PM, said:

I like the 70s Orient Express a lot. Tons of charm in an all star cast. The 70s Death on the Nile is on Criterion right now too so I’m wondering about that.

If you watch 70's NILE let us know how it is please! I think the story is solid, just the adaptation was trash.

[Tsundoku]

70s Orient Express with ... Albert Finny (?) as Poirot is great.

Was it Peter Ustinov in the 70s/80s Nile and Evil Under the Sun? I remember enjoying those.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 28 April 2022 - 08:08 PM

[worry]

Yup, it's Ustinov. He's good! I watched Nile this afternoon, and it was pretty entertaining. Orient definitely beats it handily, but Nile has a lot going for it. Namely really vampy performances from Angela Lansbury and Mia Farrow, some really great cinematography of Egypt in the first hour, Maggie Smith and Bette Davis sniping at each other, George Kennedy and Jack Warden getting meatier roles than at least what I usually see them in and both excelling. The movie is 2 hrs 20 minutes long and sags in the middle, and once they're on the boat the cinematography really shrinks down to TV detective show level, but the mystery is still good and it fairly deftly walks the tightrope between earnest and sardonic melodrama.

[Aptorian]

Watched Spider-Man No Way Home.

I thought the plot needed polish. The manuscript makes both Peter Parker and Dr. Strange seem like selfish idiots, who's irresponsible behaviour results in at least one on screen death, if not dozens of off screen deaths, not to mention billions of dollars of destruction. All if this because of the "heroes" actions. Not the villains.

What ever, the story was over-all fun and there's a ton of great call backs to prior Spider-Man films. I like the reset/consequences at the end. It sets up a much more classic premise for Peter Parker's life. I wouldn't mind another trilogy set during Spider-Man's college years.

[worry]

Finally watched Old. I tend not to subscribe to "so bad it's good" on most occasions, but this one has to be seen to be believed. Absolutely bonkers script.