Recently Viewed Movies Episode 2: The Vampire Bites Back

[Rucks]

The Wizard of Lies is a pretty good biopic about Bernie Madoff.  Robert De Niro is still brilliant when he actually gives a shit about the role he's taken.  Highly recommended to anyone with even a passing interest in fraudsters (or sociopaths for that matter).

[Lard]

Star Wars.

Utter fucking garbage.

So much pointless, wasted plot in that movie.

[Hathen]

I liked the main plot thread with the Force users well enough. It had some neat subversions but one in particular I'm still not sure of.

(Ultra Mega Spoilers below, read at your own risk)

Spoiler: show

Snoke being out of the game so early in the plot is somewhat shocking (Though they made it a bit too predictable 5 seconds prior with Rey's lightsaber rotating- I get that it was to preserve continuity in the scene but I feel it kinda ruined what was meant to be a big plot twist. If they didn't have that shot it wouldn't be that hard to figure out what happened. Or, hell, a more subtle lightsaber rotating in a wide shot of Snoke instead of that close-up would've worked too) but it seems like something of a mistake. I really liked Kylo Ren as the enforcer villain and I found him compelling, but I don't feel he'll work as the main villain at all. Part of the reason he worked for me was precisely that he was not the main villain, because Snoke filling the role of being the real menace freed up Kylo Ren to be a more pitiful character.

I guess I'll see what they do with it though.

Didn't really like the Finn/Rose side plot.

Spoiler: show

I kinda get what they were trying to do with how it ended up, but I thought it really dragged the movie down. It somewhat ended up like a "had to give them something to do" plot. Wouldn't be a problem if it was interesting on its own, but I didn't find the casino planet interesting at all. I also didn't really get a good feel of Rose's character. Personality-wise she felt kinda bland, I don't feel her presence helped develop Finn, and her actions at the end of the movie just made her seem really short-sighted and dumb.

The romance angle felt really tacked-on too. I didn't really feel like they bonded during the scenes on the planet at all, Rose just dumped some backstory on Finn.

Also I really, really, dislike the Disney-Marvel style of comic relief here. Some of it did work okay when it felt like it was something the character might otherwise say, but other times it just deflated all the drama. Comic relief was in all the films too, but in the good ones they felt like they flowed naturally from the dialogue and the characters instead of obvious jokes that completely ruin the tone.

Can't do worse than Jar Jar Binks I suppose, though the mid-section of the movie did have the headscratching inclusion of some CGI abominations that were oddly reminiscent of some special edition changes/the prequels.

[Lard]

I went back and watched the Phantom Menace to get the taste of Episode 8 out of my mouth.

Won't be watching Episode 9.

[Hathen]

If there's one thing that lets me know not to take someone's opinion on the movie seriously, it's if they claim the prequels were in any way better. They completely dwarf the sequel trilogy in terms of annoying flaws and just plain failure at basic storytelling and character conception.

[MeshGearFox]

I'm not a star wars aficionado by any means so maybe I'm not the best person to be commenting on this but like

Spoiler: show

1. I don't really like what they did with Poe. He went from static-but-likable character to this... really mansplainy jerk that, when you get down to it, was basically responsible for getting most of the resistance killed because he was dumb?

2. Why didn't Purple-haired Admiral just tell everyone she was trying to fly everyone to a secret base up front and avoid the entire (pointless) sideplot with breaking into the ship to turn off the tracking device?

3. What was with all the really close up face shots? And super-claustrophobic camera angles in general?

I liked the force awakens a lot but I really don't know how I feel about this one :I

[Rucks]

I went back and watched the Phantom Menace to get the taste of Episode 8 out of my mouth.

Won't be watching Episode 9.

lol, what?

that's like drinking paint thinner to get the taste of asphalt out of your mouth...

[Aeolus]

If there's one thing that lets me know not to take someone's opinion on the movie seriously, it's if they claim the prequels were in any way better. They completely dwarf the sequel trilogy in terms of annoying flaws and just plain failure at basic storytelling and character conception.

^This. There's nothing more impotent than Episode 1's hour and a half adventure just to meet up with a prepubescent kid and turn him into a Jedi. The start of Episode 2 should've been the start of Episode 1 where its Obi-wan and Anakin, roaming Croissant, busting crime before they get sucked into the Clone Wars. The only things that Episode 1 gave us were Jedis Liam Neison and Samuel Jackson, Darth Maul, and that weird as fuck ending sequence that Squeenix basically lifted wholesale for an early game FFXII cutscene (which was itself lifted from Episode IV's ending sequence in spirit).

The rest of the Prequel Trilogy biggest failings were overly long sequences (hi Episode 3 Obi-wan versus Anakin duel), bad acting (caused largely by turning Episode Two into one long greenscreen sequence), the fact that they basically skipped the Clone Wars almost altogether (to eventually turn it into a TV series), and the fact that they had to be shoehorned into two movies with Episode 1's awful plot arcs leading the way.

[Dincrest]

With the Star Wars prequels, I blame the directing more than the acting since Natalie Portman, Ewan MacGregor, and company are all skilled actors.  Hayden Christiansen too.  He was very good in Shattered Glass and in the Star Wars prequels, he was at his best when he wasn't talking.  When he was acting purely through facial expressions and not saying a word of insipid dialogue, he was chilling in Ep. 3. 

I will be seeing Last Jedi next week.

[Hathen]

In concept, I actually think all the prequels had some good ideas on the table. But I'd also say that about Star Trek V. Or Batman v Superman.

[Arvis]

Hot Take: Lard has his posts pre-written and ready to post before he saw the movie.  What do you guys think?

[Dincrest]

Watching tons of holiday movies with the students this week at work. 

Everyone loves the movie Elf with Will Ferrell, and I seem to be the only one who finds the film gratingly annoying.  Maybe it's because I find Will Ferrell irritating, but whatever. 

In another class, we're watching that Arnold Schwarzenegger film Jingle All the Way.  That film is pretty stupid too, but it has some moments that made me chuckle.

My all time favorite Xmas movie is hands down The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Sadly, none of the teachers I work with this year are showing it. 

[Frostillicus]

^ Watched "Elf" for the first time in years this past weekend. It was my son's first time seeing it, and he enjoyed it. I like it myself, although it does try a little too hard to be 'sweet' at times.

Also watched "The Santa Clause" a few weeks back. Also my son's first time, and he absolutely loved it. Still talks about it to this day. I think it's a pretty good holiday movie. Tim Allen doesn't have much range (something he admits), but he can be enjoyable when he's in his zone (like this movie, and Galaxy Quest).

"NL's Christmas Vacation" and the OG version of "It's a Wonderful Life" are coming via Netflix's DVD service this weekend. My son will definitely not be seeing the former.

[Rucks]

re: The Santa Clause.

Judge Rheinhold and his weenie whistle ftw.

Tim Allen is awful

[Frostillicus]

^ I don't know.. For whatever reason, I don't mind him so much as other not-good actors.

*I actually would have thrown Big Trouble in the list of movies I like with him in it, but the music in the film is so bad, it ruins the whole thing for me.

EDIT: Also, he IS Buzz Lightyear. That role was originally intended for Billy Crystal, and honestly, that would have been a strange voice for that character. Although I admit I probably only feel that way because it's in retrospect.