[Aptorian]

Watched a bunch of films over the weekend.

Real Steal - Surprisingly good film. Didn't realise Steven Spielberg was involved which shows. It's a real feel good kind of film. Sort of a Rocky movie with Robots so there's no blood and you can let the kids watch it. Manged to get me all misty-eyed towards the end.

Super 8 - Not as good or creepy as I expected. This film reminds me of Steven King books. A bit too much emphasise on the kids and their movie making and not enough on the mystery of the monster.

Source Code - I really liked this one. I wasn't expecting it to be very good but it handled the concept really well. I guess it doesn't hurt that I for some reason really like Gyllenhal as an actor. I wouldn't be surprised if they find some convoluted reason for a sequel.

Men in Black 3 - This was a surprisingly good film to me, but perhaps it helped that I was expecting a complete disaster which is usually what happens when time travel is introduced into a story. The bad guy was not as scary or imposing as I was expecting, he felt more like an excuse to make the film, than an actual focus point but I liked the story none the less.

Prometheus - Left the theatre feeling slightly underwhelmed. I think the promotional material got my hopes too high. If you watch this film, don't go in expecting something as classical as the first film or as elegant as the promotional material and you wont be disappointed. It's basically just another sci-fi action horror movie.

This post has been edited by Aptorius: 03 June 2012 - 04:07 PM

[polishgenius]

Aptorius, on 03 June 2012 - 04:07 PM, said:

Source Code - I really liked this one. I wasn't expecting it to be very good but it handled the concept really well. I guess it doesn't hurt that I for some reason really like Gyllenhal as an actor. I wouldn't be surprised if they find some convoluted reason for a sequel.

Have you seen Moon? I'm assuming not, if you weren't expecting this to be good (that or you just didn't like it for some unfathomable reason...), it's dead good.
Zowie Bowie is going places, that's for sure. Apparently he was in the frame to direct Superman before Zach Snyder got it. Talk about missed opportunity.

[QuickTidal]

Aptorius, on 03 June 2012 - 04:07 PM, said:

Super 8 - Not as good or creepy as I expected. This film reminds me of Steven King books. A bit too much emphasise on the kids and their movie making and not enough on the mystery of the monster.

Um...it IS actually supposed to be about the emphasis on the kids. It's actually not about the monster at all. It was made by JJ Abrams and Spielberg who both wanted to express their love for film when they were kids and the types of films that were made back then. The monster is totally besides the point. I mean, it's even called SUPER 8...which is a reference to the type of film these two guys shot on as kids...were it to be about the monster they'd have named it something else.

[Aptorian]

Perhaps. But I didn't know that going in. If anything I thought there was going to be a lot of focus on the monster. Super 8 was hinted at as being tied in with Cloverfield. The early teaser for the film showed the train crash and the monster bashing out the door on the cart it was locked inside. So I was very much expecting a monster film.

That said, yeah, those were some pretty good child actors they got for this film. Especially the girl. She could probably be a good character actor when she grows older.

[QuickTidal]

I can see how you may have thought that going in.

And yeah, the kid actors are all amazing...and yeah Elle Fanning (that's the girl, Dakota Fanning's younger sister) does a stellar job. She's the best of the lot when it comes to proper acting chops.

[polishgenius]

My main problem with it was that with the kids filming the movie, and the monster itself complete with wider SF plot, and the family dramas, there was just too much going on (and not all of it was good - the family interactions in particular were terrible).

Also, I thought it simply lacked a bit of flair and style, but eh...

[Aptorian]

Super 8 mystery spoiler:

Spoiler

One thing I found odd and was mentioned early in the film but not really answered, was how the hell a pick-up truck derailed a heavy ass train going at full speed. Was the professor using some kind of Alien wizardry? Was that the reason why he survived the colision as well? I never really understood that part.

[polishgenius]

Aptorius, on 03 June 2012 - 06:23 PM, said:

Super 8 mystery spoiler:

Spoiler

One thing I found odd and was mentioned early in the film but not really answered, was how the hell a pick-up truck derailed a heavy ass train going at full speed. Was the professor using some kind of Alien wizardry? Was that the reason why he survived the colision as well? I never really understood that part.

Spoiler

Well, I'd imagine there'd be a fairly large chance that any obstacle of that size would derail a train hitting it head on, but there was definitely a disproportion in the size of the crash and the respective damage between them...
That's an 'Eagles to Mount Doom' type nitpick though. I don't really care because the real answer is 'otherwise there wouldn't be a plot'.

Oh, also, on the acting: the kids were indeed really good, especially Elle Fanning. I guess it runs in the family.

[QuickTidal]

Aptorius, on 03 June 2012 - 06:23 PM, said:

Super 8 mystery spoiler:

Spoiler

One thing I found odd and was mentioned early in the film but not really answered, was how the hell a pick-up truck derailed a heavy ass train going at full speed. Was the professor using some kind of Alien wizardry? Was that the reason why he survived the colision as well? I never really understood that part.

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure his survival was just an "accept it fluke survival"...the pickup truck derailing the train is easy. ...hang on...going to double-check bluray...yep, it's kind of going up a hill at the time, there is a culvert dropping down from each side, the truck actually drives AT the train head on along the tracks and the derailment is caused by the debris of the truck wreck causing the front car to jump a bit over it, which unsettles the train enough to derail it down the culvert. It's not perfect, but is more believable than if the truck were sitting sideways on the track and got hit.

[Aptorian]

Spoiler

I don't know how fragile a trains grasp on the train tracks are, but I am reasonably certain that the train should have simply obliterated that truck and kept going like nothing had happened. Especially if it had a plow on it. With that amount of weight and momentum hitting the truck, depending upon the truck being the Toyota from Top Gear or not, it should either had been ripped to itsy bitsy pieces or simply been violently thrown to the side. The person inside the car should have been ketchup and chunks of human flesh.

Just look at the last part of this video:



EDIT: @QT - Yeah I guess debris could have gone under the train car but I still do not believe the professor could have stood a remote chance.

I was sort of hoping that they would have revealed he had a magical cube on him or something

This post has been edited by Aptorius: 03 June 2012 - 06:44 PM

[QuickTidal]

Spoiler

Indeed, I fully agree the professor should have been chunks of human remains...but then we would not have had a movie...LOL...try to forget the science and enjoy the film I always say.

But on topic...you should all go out and see SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN...it was awesome and I've officially got a new crush on Kristen Stewart and will brook no making fun of her dopey eyed gaze....lol...no but seriously, her in armor? Yummy!

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 03 June 2012 - 06:48 PM

[polishgenius]

Quote

I don't know how fragile a trains grasp on the train tracks are,

Well, according to Unstoppable, the answer is 'not very'. But despite being based on a real incident, I reckon it's entirely possible that Super 8 is more realistic than that film.
Mind you, Unstoppable is ace.

I want to see Snow White, if nothing else it'll obviously look amazing. But I'm living in Poland atm and have no-one to go with really.

[tiam]

Watched Snow White, thought it was ok. Ive only ever seen the first Twilight film as the missus at the time didnt like them (thank the gods) but I thought Kristen Stewart was very plain looking. I also thought she was pretty terrible and while her big speech was not awful on the scale of Kiera Knightley at the end of POTC-AWE it was still pretty poor.

http://us12.memecdn....ht_o_351169.jpg

This post has been edited by Jean-Claude Van tiam: 03 June 2012 - 07:14 PM

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 03 June 2012 - 06:53 PM, said:

I want to see Snow White, if nothing else it'll obviously look amazing. But I'm living in Poland atm and have no-one to go with really.

Go by yourself, I did.

It's a nice, dark, dramatic take on the Snow White mythos with action and really amazing acting (even Stewart who pulls a Keanu Reeves in the Matrix type performance here) up to and including the most amazing selection of thespians playing dwarves ever (Bob Hoskins, Ian McShane, Johnny Harris, Tobey Jones, Eddie Marsan, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost and Brian Gleeson).

I'm already jonesing to see it again and will likely do so this week at some point.

[QuickTidal]

Jean-Claude Van tiam, on 03 June 2012 - 07:08 PM, said:

Watched Snow White, thought it was ok. Ive only ever seen the first Twilight film as the missus at the time didnt like them (thank the gods) but I thought Kristen Stewart is very plain looking. I also thought she was pretty terrible and while her big speech was not awful on the scale of Kiera Knightley at the end of POTC-AWE it was still pretty poor.

http://us12.memecdn....ht_o_351169.jpg

A. I think she looked HOT throughout and I used to not find her attractive and used to join in mocking her...and now I'm crushing. Your picture does not compute cause even covered in mud with stringy hair she's hotter than Charlize Therone's aging queenie.

B. I liked her acting and thought she did an admirable job...and her speech was great, it actually got me a bit misty eyed I ain't gonna lie.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 03 June 2012 - 07:15 PM

[polishgenius]

I've always thought Kristen Stewart is a bit of alright. I've managed to completely avoid Twilight so I have no taint from that, the only thing I've seen her in is Adventureland which is pretty good and she is pretty good (and pretty pretty) in.

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 03 June 2012 - 07:35 PM, said:

I've always thought Kristen Stewart is a bit of alright. I've managed to completely avoid Twilight so I have no taint from that, the only thing I've seen her in is Adventureland which is pretty good and she is pretty good (and pretty pretty) in.

Indeed. And I would like to endorse your use of the phrase "a bit of alright" and add my "yummy" to it.

[QuickTidal]

SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN review here:

http://icebergink.bl...e-huntsman.html

Pretty much spoiler-free.

[tiam]

In a non K-Stew (yes I said it) bit of news...

Just watched the Fighter. Absolutely brilliant, Bale is brilliantly eerie as the addicted brother and the whole film was very well acted. Apparently Warrior is just as good so Ill have to get that next.

[worry]

I watched Being Elmo, the doc on muppeteer Kevin Clash. It was a little bit of a hagiography, but still quite lovely overall. It focuses on his puppetry passion and not necessarily other details of his life, and is perhaps better off for it (just because we don't really need yet another tabloidy vivisection doc; the movie doesn't wholly ignore that some problems did exist). And Jim Henson is always right there around the edges, which kind of doubles the appeal right there (as is Kermit Love, btw). I'd consider it worth watching if you just like the Muppets in general, even if you don't care much for Elmo in particular. The amount of archival footage available on these folks is kind of astounding, but they seem to have always had the long view in mind. The only thing the film is missing, for me, was information on his time on Dinosaurs.