General Movie Thread

[masterofsparks]

Saw Up In The Air a few weeks ago -- it was, as our Dear Leader might say, a pile of garbage. Jason Reitman might seems to have a way with actors and that is the only thing that makes his movies watchable because all three of them have had AWFUL scripts. This one is so disingenuous it made my head spin.

I liked Up in the Air. I didn't have a problem with the script and I wouldn't use "disingenuous" to describe it. Sure, it was obvious about 10 minutes in where everything would land, but I didn't mind. The movie felt more like a character study, or an examination of loneliness, than a plot-oriented piece, so I didn't mind seeing everything fall into place exactly like I knew it would. And, as you allude to, the performances are strong across the board.

I haven't seen either of Reitman's other two movies, so I can't comment on them.

[buffcoat]

Thanks, everyone - I think I'll watch a little of it just to get the feel, but if I start getting bored, and it sounds like I will, I will feel fine in deleting.

Ain't it weird, how your DVR/Tivo queue seems to own you? Like, why should I feel guilty about deleting things if I haven't watched them?

I figure it's smarter than I am.

[SJK]

Hello everyone. This question goes out to, in no particular order...Sarah, Martin, Chris L, Yesno, Auntie C, Buffcoat and anyone else who wants to weigh in. Avatar? I need to know what to think about that film. Perhaps those who love film will dismiss it. Thoughts, comments, concerns. Thank you in advance for any insight.
Sincerely, Steve.

[Christina]

Well, have yet to see Avatar, but I just finally saw the Hangover on the DVD, and I just realized that this was the movie that ZG was doing he was imitating Jeffrey Tambor going "Has anyone seen my Kindle?"

[Chris L]

Hello everyone. This question goes out to, in no particular order...Sarah, Martin, Chris L, Yesno, Auntie C, Buffcoat and anyone else who wants to weigh in. Avatar? I need to know what to think about that film. Perhaps those who love film will dismiss it. Thoughts, comments, concerns. Thank you in advance for any insight.
Sincerely, Steve.

Haven't seen Avatar yet.  Mainly because I haven't had time, but also because it's not playing in "true" IMAX near me.  The Smithsonian runs the IMAX theaters here and they suspiciously claim they tried to book it but were turned down by the studio.  Personally, I think after Watchmen they were afraid EVERY movie with blue-skinned characters would feature frontal nudity now.  Instead they're STILL running Star Trek and (you guessed it) Night at the Museum 2 with no end in sight.  I've got extremely low expectations for the content of this thing so I wanted to at least see it in the biggest-ass format possible.  

[yesno]

Hey, I've been called out, but with Avatar we have a situation where (1) Every critic says it's great, (2) Everyone I know who's seen it hates it, and (3) I am simultaneously predisposed to hate overhyped crap but also to come out in favor of pop culture heavyweights (e.g. I support Speilberg, Hanks, Cruise).  So I'm so torn on this one, and in the same situation as SJK.  I was really expecting it to be a flop based on the video game-looking trailer, but it looks I was wrong on that.

[Christina]

Hey, I've been called out, but with Avatar we have a situation where (1) Every critic says it's great, (2) Everyone I know who's seen it hates it, and (3) I am simultaneously predisposed to hate overhyped crap but also to come out in favor of pop culture heavyweights (e.g. I support Speilberg, Hanks, Cruise).  So I'm so torn on this one, and in the same situation as SJK.  I was really expecting it to be a flop based on the video game-looking trailer, but it looks I was wrong on that.

I"m struggling on this one for the exact same reasons YN.

[yesno]

I guess I just have to see it. Cameron wins.

[cutout]

I guess I just have to see it. Cameron wins.

If Cameron wins it's because the American public sets the bar so low. Avatar is a pile of hackneyed BS.

[Martin]

Hello everyone. This question goes out to, in no particular order...Sarah, Martin, Chris L, Yesno, Auntie C, Buffcoat and anyone else who wants to weigh in. Avatar? I need to know what to think about that film. Perhaps those who love film will dismiss it. Thoughts, comments, concerns. Thank you in advance for any insight.
Sincerely, Steve.

Haven't seen it yet either. I'm not super excited about it, but since I'll watch it eventually, I might aswell watch it in 3D - probably sometime this week. I wasn't convinced of the 10 minute (3D) preview, and most of what I've heard about it sounds like crap. I have friends who worked on it, but they're all on the FX side of things, and I fully expect not having to lie to them about it looking well-made or whatever.

[Sarah]

I can be of no help:  I haven't seen it and won't till it comes to cable, if then.  

On another note, I watched Revolutionary Road last night and was unimpressed.

[buffcoat]

SJK - I don't go see a lot of movies, and I see even fewer 2 hour and 40 minute movies in the theater.

After I saw the trench/semi scene in Terminator 2, I announced myself "done with the need to be impressed by visual spectacle."

Mostly, though, I won't see any long mainstream movies in the theater anymore. 



On the other hand, I watched my brother play WII sports island and the whole flying the plane over the island thing did manage to hold my attention for 15 minutes.

[Pat K]

The Smithsonian runs the IMAX theaters here and they suspiciously claim they tried to book it but were turned down by the studio.  

WTF? That's hilarious.  What, are they worried about the movie getting overexposed or something? It's not like they're rolling it out city by city to build word of mouth.

Also, nobody asked me, but I have zero interest in seeing Avatar.  The special effects look fake, and the story sounds like some low-rent L Ron Hubbard stuff.  When I see clips from it on TV and the net, I half expect Sigourney Weaver and Giovanni Ribisi to start talking about "leverage" and "man-animals". 

Also, I'm not convinced by anything being touted as "the next wave/reinvention of science fiction" that still includes the concept of "space marines". People have been writing cheesy SF stories about "space marines" for like 70 years now - enough already.

And anyway, if I want space marines, I'll watch Starship Troopers so that I can also enjoy gratuitous blood and nudity. (Human nudity, that is.)

[Christina]

And anyway, if I want space marines, I'll watch Starship Troopers so that I can also enjoy gratuitous blood and nudity. (Human nudity, that is.)

Ah, that takes me back to a simpler time on the internet when you fought on usenet instead of bulletin boards.

This movie made people so mad! it was awesome.

[Chris L]

The Smithsonian runs the IMAX theaters here and they suspiciously claim they tried to book it but were turned down by the studio.  

WTF? That's hilarious.  What, are they worried about the movie getting overexposed or something? It's not like they're rolling it out city by city to build word of mouth.

Pure speculation, but the only thing I can figure is they're trying to cut the Smithsonian out and maximize profit at the smaller, AMC "fake imax" theaters instead.  You know, since that's just as good.