Cathbad
Level 30 Geek Master
I saw no dog. 
What was the last movie you saw?
- Thread starter Tabitha
- Start date
IT (2017)
The good:
The less good:
That's enough. On the whole, I suspect viewers who haven't read the book or read it long enough ago that the details have fogged over will probably like this more than I did. Of course, when the second chapter comes out, I'll probably go see it anyway. Maybe by then it'll be -- or IT'll be -- hazy enough in memory I'll like it more.
Randy M.
The good:
- The kids are awright! The young actors in this are quite good, especially Jaeden Lieberher (Bill), Sophia Lillis (Beverly) and Finn Wolfhard (Richie).
- Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise is also quite good. It can't be easy to try to be menacing throughout a movie, but he does a good job and takes advantage of the make-up used on him. I liked that he's more front-and-center than in the book.
- Moving the earlier action from 1958 (as in the novel) to 1989 works well enough and the director does a nice job of making the movie look like an '80s movie along the lines of Stand by Me, The Goonies, Lost Boys or even E.T. and that adds something to the visual experience maybe especially in the overhead shots and shots of the town, making Derry seem like a real place. (And there's a scene that echoes a still earlier movie, Carrie.)
- The underground scenes are well-staged.
The less good:
- Others on-line say its scary, I can't say I felt scared or even jumped at anything.
- Having finished the book just a month ago I was perhaps too aware of what they abbreviated, cut out or changed, and some of what was changed doesn't really make sense to me.
- Stan and Eddie are nicely played, but short-changed by the script. In King's novel each character brings some quality to the group that the others lack. That's not apparent in the movie except, vaguely, for the three mentioned above.
- Mike is a major character in the novel but deeply short-changed in the movie. As the only Black member of the The Losers Club he added a dimension to the novel that's sorely missed in the movie. Further, his relationship to his dad was in contrast to the more dysfunctional parent/child relationships in the novel and the actor who played Mike, Chosen Jacobs, seemed more than able to carry the load.
- In the novel perhaps the strongest unifying force for the group is the boys' concern and puppy-love for Bev. To a degree that's shown here, but frankly at the end in a rather conventional way. I wouldn't suggest filming how King dealt with it, but I felt like a too convenient short-cut was taken.
That's enough. On the whole, I suspect viewers who haven't read the book or read it long enough ago that the details have fogged over will probably like this more than I did. Of course, when the second chapter comes out, I'll probably go see it anyway. Maybe by then it'll be -- or IT'll be -- hazy enough in memory I'll like it more.
Randy M.
J Riff
The Ants are my friends..
Oceans Rising 2017 -= plot diminishing, intelligence lowering, restart the core, only black holes can save us. ahh, I remember The Core. What a fine piece of work that was. * )
HanaBi
Nexus 9.1 For Sale. One Careful Owner
The Thing (2011)
Curiosity got the better of me, and I had to take a peek at this "prequel" to the 1982 Carpenter classic.
Oh dear, what a big mistake that was: shame I can't cleanse my mind or turn back time because this really is an appalling reboot, reminiscent of the Prometheus shipwreck of a film a few years back. Absolutely no suspense/tension at all in order to keep your attention; instead it goes for the jugular - literally, and relies on good old splatter to keep you hooked - or not, as the case may be.
I guess this may have some credit if you haven't seen either Carpenter's or Howard Hawk's 1951 original. Otherwise it really is an appallingly lazy effort that discredits its predecessors.
1/5
Curiosity got the better of me, and I had to take a peek at this "prequel" to the 1982 Carpenter classic.
Oh dear, what a big mistake that was: shame I can't cleanse my mind or turn back time because this really is an appalling reboot, reminiscent of the Prometheus shipwreck of a film a few years back. Absolutely no suspense/tension at all in order to keep your attention; instead it goes for the jugular - literally, and relies on good old splatter to keep you hooked - or not, as the case may be.
I guess this may have some credit if you haven't seen either Carpenter's or Howard Hawk's 1951 original. Otherwise it really is an appallingly lazy effort that discredits its predecessors.
1/5
Wind River
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
Some stuff we viewed at home while I had some time off:
Four random episodes of the old, old TV series Captain Video (1949-1955). Pretty much just guys talking on cheap sets, interrupted by images of what are supposedly other "video rangers" on assignment, but which are nothing more than scenes from old Westerns and other such stuff. Amazingly primitive.
To Be Young, Gifted & Black (1972) -- Made for Public Television adaptation of a play based on the writings of Lorraine Hansberry, best known for her play A Raisin in the Sun. Paints an impressionistic portrait of Hansberry through readings, reenactments, and scenes from her plays.
The 10th Victim (1965) -- Adaptation of the Robert Sheckley story "The Seventh Victim" about a future where it's legal for people to hunt and kill other people as long as they alternate being the hunted. We saw the Italian original with English subtitles. Quite enjoyable, with lots of satiric touches and that wonderful 1960's vision of the future.
Two entries in the American Film Theatre series:
The Homecoming (1973) -- Harold Pinter's adaptation of his own play. A simple plot -- a man brings his wife home to meet his father, uncle, and two brothers after several years -- with the usual elliptical, repetitive Pinter dialogue full of meaningful pauses. Starts off more-or-less realistic, if disturbing, and slowly becomes less realistic and more disturbing.
Galileo (1975) -- Adaptation of the English translation, by Charles Laughton no less, of Bertolt Brecht's play. Depicts the great scientist over many years. As you'd expect, an examination of the nature of truth and faith. Probably the best aging makeup I've ever seen, as Topol portrays Galileo from a very young man to a very old man convincingly.
Four random episodes of the old, old TV series Captain Video (1949-1955). Pretty much just guys talking on cheap sets, interrupted by images of what are supposedly other "video rangers" on assignment, but which are nothing more than scenes from old Westerns and other such stuff. Amazingly primitive.
To Be Young, Gifted & Black (1972) -- Made for Public Television adaptation of a play based on the writings of Lorraine Hansberry, best known for her play A Raisin in the Sun. Paints an impressionistic portrait of Hansberry through readings, reenactments, and scenes from her plays.
The 10th Victim (1965) -- Adaptation of the Robert Sheckley story "The Seventh Victim" about a future where it's legal for people to hunt and kill other people as long as they alternate being the hunted. We saw the Italian original with English subtitles. Quite enjoyable, with lots of satiric touches and that wonderful 1960's vision of the future.
Two entries in the American Film Theatre series:
The Homecoming (1973) -- Harold Pinter's adaptation of his own play. A simple plot -- a man brings his wife home to meet his father, uncle, and two brothers after several years -- with the usual elliptical, repetitive Pinter dialogue full of meaningful pauses. Starts off more-or-less realistic, if disturbing, and slowly becomes less realistic and more disturbing.
Galileo (1975) -- Adaptation of the English translation, by Charles Laughton no less, of Bertolt Brecht's play. Depicts the great scientist over many years. As you'd expect, an examination of the nature of truth and faith. Probably the best aging makeup I've ever seen, as Topol portrays Galileo from a very young man to a very old man convincingly.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
Carry On Jack (1963)
Spoof of seafaring films. Extremely silly. (The hero is named Albert Poop-Decker.) More slapstick than other Carry On films and fewer puns and risque humor. Fine production values. You have to believe that nobody would notice that Juliet Mills, disguised as a midshipman, isn't a boy. Genial enough to be amusing.
Spoof of seafaring films. Extremely silly. (The hero is named Albert Poop-Decker.) More slapstick than other Carry On films and fewer puns and risque humor. Fine production values. You have to believe that nobody would notice that Juliet Mills, disguised as a midshipman, isn't a boy. Genial enough to be amusing.
J Riff
The Ants are my friends..
Fast n Furious 7. If you like flying cars, this one delivers. There's some acting and drama but no need, the cars steal the show.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
The Naked Witch (1961/1964)
You might not believe that a feature film could be less than an hour long and be so badly padded. First we have eight minutes of narration by none other than Gary Owens. Pretty much just nonsense about witches. Then a couple of minutes of credits. Then our hero (credited only as "the Student") tells us how he went to a German-settled town in the middle of Texas. Well, long and dull setup short, he hears the story of how a young widow was condemned as a witch by the married man with whom she was fooling around. She gets staked and buried. The Student goes to her grave, digs her up (she seems to be only a few inches under the ground) and lifts up the stake. (I might have said "pulled out," but it's just sitting on top of a fake skeleton wearing a rubber mask.) She comes back to life, starts killing the descendants of the guy who condemned her (there are only three), the Student saves the pretty young descendant, the end. Extending the running time are long scenes of the Naked Witch skinny-dipping (truth in advertising; she's Naked enough to make this an Adults Only film of the early 1960's) and doing some (not Naked, but scantily clad) exotic dancing for the Student. Weirdly, many of the scenes where she's walking around naked are blotted out by big black smears on the film, but not the skinny-dipping scene.
You might not believe that a feature film could be less than an hour long and be so badly padded. First we have eight minutes of narration by none other than Gary Owens. Pretty much just nonsense about witches. Then a couple of minutes of credits. Then our hero (credited only as "the Student") tells us how he went to a German-settled town in the middle of Texas. Well, long and dull setup short, he hears the story of how a young widow was condemned as a witch by the married man with whom she was fooling around. She gets staked and buried. The Student goes to her grave, digs her up (she seems to be only a few inches under the ground) and lifts up the stake. (I might have said "pulled out," but it's just sitting on top of a fake skeleton wearing a rubber mask.) She comes back to life, starts killing the descendants of the guy who condemned her (there are only three), the Student saves the pretty young descendant, the end. Extending the running time are long scenes of the Naked Witch skinny-dipping (truth in advertising; she's Naked enough to make this an Adults Only film of the early 1960's) and doing some (not Naked, but scantily clad) exotic dancing for the Student. Weirdly, many of the scenes where she's walking around naked are blotted out by big black smears on the film, but not the skinny-dipping scene.
J Riff
The Ants are my friends..
I read as far as Gary Owens then off to find this naked witch. Owens was from Laugh In, but he also did a comedy album or two, pretty wacky stuff.
HanaBi, I gave The Thing 2/5, simply because it actually made sense as a prequel, the facts actually lined up with the 1st flim, and it sets up the no-doubt equally bloody sequel where the Thing gets loose and very many flamethrowers will be needed to stop it taking over the world.
At The Earth's Core features telepathic reptililians running things until the surface dwellers get down there and roust them, then the cast tunnels back up topside in a corkscrewy ship; it was fun 60s ERB fare.
HanaBi, I gave The Thing 2/5, simply because it actually made sense as a prequel, the facts actually lined up with the 1st flim, and it sets up the no-doubt equally bloody sequel where the Thing gets loose and very many flamethrowers will be needed to stop it taking over the world.
At The Earth's Core features telepathic reptililians running things until the surface dwellers get down there and roust them, then the cast tunnels back up topside in a corkscrewy ship; it was fun 60s ERB fare.
Cathbad
Level 30 Geek Master
Perfect Stranger (2007)
Halle Berry and Bruce Willis, in a Suspense/Mystery that is no true Mystery.
A good performance by Willis, an exceptional performance Giovanni Ribisi save Halle's lack-luster and unbelievable performance as the lead.
Ribisi's performance alone is reason to see this movie! He plays a computer geek helping Halle's character hunt down the killer of her best friend. He's also (more or less) a stalker, infatuated with Halle's character.
But here's the problems:
I mostly enjoyed the movie, but the ending made the entire movie unbelievable. Even if it had happened just as revealed, there simply was no reason for Ribisi to either discover it, or (especially) to reveal it!
Halle Berry and Bruce Willis, in a Suspense/Mystery that is no true Mystery.
A good performance by Willis, an exceptional performance Giovanni Ribisi save Halle's lack-luster and unbelievable performance as the lead.
Ribisi's performance alone is reason to see this movie! He plays a computer geek helping Halle's character hunt down the killer of her best friend. He's also (more or less) a stalker, infatuated with Halle's character.
But here's the problems:
I say it's no "true mystery" because it breaks the rules: There is no way someone could have put this all together and figured out who the real killer was - even though Ribisi's character does just that, no viewer would have.
Willis' character is the suspect, whom Halle and Ribisi seem convinced is the guilty party. Halle is a reporter, who goes after Willis full guns.
But why would she go after him? Seeing she is identified (by Ribisi's reveal) to be the killer of her own "best friend" (which the two had supposedly fooled everyone for decades to be true), and since the police had absolutely no suspects, why go after Willis' character at all?
Willis' character is the suspect, whom Halle and Ribisi seem convinced is the guilty party. Halle is a reporter, who goes after Willis full guns.
But why would she go after him? Seeing she is identified (by Ribisi's reveal) to be the killer of her own "best friend" (which the two had supposedly fooled everyone for decades to be true), and since the police had absolutely no suspects, why go after Willis' character at all?
I mostly enjoyed the movie, but the ending made the entire movie unbelievable. Even if it had happened just as revealed, there simply was no reason for Ribisi to either discover it, or (especially) to reveal it!
And that she (Halle) somehow was able to surprise and kill Ribisi's character was just so ridiculous. Up to that point, he had been highly intelligent, even if obsessed. He became stupid at the very end - and she gets away with it.
HanaBi
Nexus 9.1 For Sale. One Careful Owner
High Plains Drifter (1973)
This is the start of a Clint Eastwood "Dirty Dozen" of films I'll be watching over the next couple of weeks starting with this.
When i first saw this on the BBC way back in the late 70s I thought it was a terrific western - plenty of action, violence, sex and little or no story to worry about. But then again I was a bit of an Eastwood-fanboy/teen, and very few of his films I felt were true duds (Paint Your Wagon, springs to mind)
However, 40 years on and this film really hasn't stood the test of time. Eastwood's direction is rather mechanical, as is his acting. Only the screenplay really saves the film from just being utterly mindless. The violence is still quite harsh, and the forced rape near the beginning of the film is so typically Eastwood.
Thankfully his latter films do improve with age, but this one just drifts aimlessly
2/5
This is the start of a Clint Eastwood "Dirty Dozen" of films I'll be watching over the next couple of weeks starting with this.
When i first saw this on the BBC way back in the late 70s I thought it was a terrific western - plenty of action, violence, sex and little or no story to worry about. But then again I was a bit of an Eastwood-fanboy/teen, and very few of his films I felt were true duds (Paint Your Wagon, springs to mind)
However, 40 years on and this film really hasn't stood the test of time. Eastwood's direction is rather mechanical, as is his acting. Only the screenplay really saves the film from just being utterly mindless. The violence is still quite harsh, and the forced rape near the beginning of the film is so typically Eastwood.
Thankfully his latter films do improve with age, but this one just drifts aimlessly
2/5
Cathbad
Level 30 Geek Master
Zodiac (2007)
This movie started out very good. Then it slowed quickly to a crawl - just like the investigation of the real Zodiac Killer did.
Robert Downey, Jr. gives a very low-key performance. Never saw him so quiet or inactive! All the acting was fine, but it all suffered from a slow script. Based on the true story, though, there was little where else to go.
Sometimes, real life doesn't provide the basis of a good movie.
A snoozer that really shouldn't have been made.
This movie started out very good. Then it slowed quickly to a crawl - just like the investigation of the real Zodiac Killer did.
Robert Downey, Jr. gives a very low-key performance. Never saw him so quiet or inactive! All the acting was fine, but it all suffered from a slow script. Based on the true story, though, there was little where else to go.
Sometimes, real life doesn't provide the basis of a good movie.
A snoozer that really shouldn't have been made.
HanaBi
Nexus 9.1 For Sale. One Careful Owner
"A Fistful of Dollars" (1964)
Clint Eastwood makes his Hollywood breakthrough to the big screen, albeit through director Sergio Leone's independent studios in Italy/Spain.
A remake of the Kurosawa Japanese classic "Yojimbo" (1960) starring the rather excellent Toshiro Mifune, this stands up well to the original and Eastwood does a good job playing the leading role as the "man with no name". That said he still can't add much depth to this rather one-dimensional character, which is one of Eastwood's problems throughout his Dollar and Dirty Harry franchises; but things do improve ever-so-slightly by the time we get to the 3rd and best of the Dollar Trilogy - "The Good The Bad and the Ugly" (1968)
3/5
Clint Eastwood makes his Hollywood breakthrough to the big screen, albeit through director Sergio Leone's independent studios in Italy/Spain.
A remake of the Kurosawa Japanese classic "Yojimbo" (1960) starring the rather excellent Toshiro Mifune, this stands up well to the original and Eastwood does a good job playing the leading role as the "man with no name". That said he still can't add much depth to this rather one-dimensional character, which is one of Eastwood's problems throughout his Dollar and Dirty Harry franchises; but things do improve ever-so-slightly by the time we get to the 3rd and best of the Dollar Trilogy - "The Good The Bad and the Ugly" (1968)
3/5
Overread
Searching for a flower
Honestly I always felt that characters like that didn't need a huge amount of depth to them. They were films that were more adventure in style; a simpler story where you're not changing the whole world. IF anything I kind of miss those films and feel we've entered a time where every film has to be world shattering in story scope. We've lost that sense of adventure stories
Starbeast
Benevolent Galaxy Being
The Strangers (2008) - a horror movie, inspired by a true story about sadistic home invaders. Disturbing and chilling. A friend wanted me to see it, otherwise, I would not have bothered with it.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) - Awesome sequel to the original movie. Wonderful, fun and touching. Best comedy/action film I've seen in a while.
Zootopia (2016) - Tremendously great animated film. I didn't know what to expect (no trailer watching as usual) , but, I was happily entranced by the movie.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) - Awesome sequel to the original movie. Wonderful, fun and touching. Best comedy/action film I've seen in a while.
Zootopia (2016) - Tremendously great animated film. I didn't know what to expect (no trailer watching as usual) , but, I was happily entranced by the movie.
Overread
Searching for a flower
Gallow Walkers - if it had more advertising/popularity this is the kind of film that could easily become its own cult-style following. As it is I think it managed to appear to the world so quietly that nobody noticed. It's got clear Spaghetti western influences in a good way and a quirky twisty story.
It's not hugely complex, but its one of those stories that doesn't fully make sense until the end. An enjoyable dark fantasy action western in my view.
It's not hugely complex, but its one of those stories that doesn't fully make sense until the end. An enjoyable dark fantasy action western in my view.
HanaBi
Nexus 9.1 For Sale. One Careful Owner
"For a Few Dollars More" (1965)
The second of the Dollar trilogy, and is certainly better polished & rounded compared to "Fistful". Eastwood feels a little more comfortable in his role as the Man with No Name, possibly because of the addition of two very able supporting leads in Lee Van Cleef & Gian Maria Volonte (who was also in "Fistful").
The arrival of Van Cleef certainly adds a little more depth and interest to proceedings, coupled with a little more pathos to the story. The tense standoff at the end was also very well done.
4/5
The second of the Dollar trilogy, and is certainly better polished & rounded compared to "Fistful". Eastwood feels a little more comfortable in his role as the Man with No Name, possibly because of the addition of two very able supporting leads in Lee Van Cleef & Gian Maria Volonte (who was also in "Fistful").
The arrival of Van Cleef certainly adds a little more depth and interest to proceedings, coupled with a little more pathos to the story. The tense standoff at the end was also very well done.
4/5
Amelia Faulkner
Well-Known Member
Logan Lucky
I popped out to see this on Saturday (I know, I left my hermitage!) and genuinely enjoyed it. It had a nice, gentle pace for a heist movie, and had some great shots of some of my favourite parts of the USA. The humour was soft, not raucous, and I very much appreciated that one character's ableism fell utterly flat in front of his audience whenever he tried it.
4/5.
I popped out to see this on Saturday (I know, I left my hermitage!) and genuinely enjoyed it. It had a nice, gentle pace for a heist movie, and had some great shots of some of my favourite parts of the USA. The humour was soft, not raucous, and I very much appreciated that one character's ableism fell utterly flat in front of his audience whenever he tried it.
4/5.
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