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But that's what makes it so epic. You would hope that they're knowingly taking the mick out of themselves rather than trying to be serious.

 

SV - I like all the Star Trek films, but I think if you're new to them or don't like the old ones you might well like the last one. Plot holes you can drive a starship through, but an enjoyable romp that doesn't take itself seriously and blows lots up. Less story, more explosions but that's Hollywood nowadays.

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But that's what makes it so epic. You would hope that they're knowingly taking the mick out of themselves rather than trying to be serious.

 

M'lud, allow me to present Exhibit A.

https://youtu.be/ufXQEmeXOCw

Now, for some bits of the film, yes, it's very knowing and tongue in cheek (Chuck Norris' appearance, for instance). Unfortunately, this stuff is not. It's just humiliating.

 

A new scifi film, Oblivion, with Tom Cruise? Gives the film's twist away in the trailer, so I can skip that.

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Just one of these days I want to see Tom Cruise get clipped with one of those millions of stray shots and get shot down in the first ten minutes of the film. Then he can be replaced by someone else for the rest of the movie.

 

And yes, Morgan Freeman does look silly.

 

Still going to watch Star Trek Into Darkness (I almost typed STID instead but it sounds too close to something else!) as I loved the first one :P

 

FA - can you sum up how the hell they're making The Hobbit into 3 movies? Extended, painful dialogue? Is the other Mr Freeman as annoying as I think he's going to be?

 

M'lud, allow me to present Exhibit A.

 

I love how Jason Statham doesn't seem to be putting any feeling into the words - he actually makes it look like he's miming it to begin with - but what makes a cheesy film cheesier is when they have no idea it's cheesy and painful to watch ;)

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Just one of these days I want to see Tom Cruise get clipped with one of those millions of stray shots and get shot down in the first ten minutes of the film. Then he can be replaced by someone else for the rest of the movie.

 

I understand his tiny little legs allow him to run under most lines of fire.

 

FA - can you sum up how the hell they're making The Hobbit into 3 movies? Extended, painful dialogue? Is the other Mr Freeman as annoying as I think he's going to be?

 

They're taking a lot of material from appendices and suchlike (Quest of Erebor, The Book of Lost Tales, The Unfinished Tales etc but not The Silmarillion, though, they haven't got those rights) and using it as background info. This was actually some of the best stuff in The Hobbit, the fall of Erebor etc (which could have been given even greater import and context were it explained why the Dwarves moved there in the first place; the fall of Khazad-dum/Moria) but there is still a lot of padding, some of which has been spun up out of fresh air. Some scenes are long action set pieces or excuses to show off CGI, which are very much there for children. I've got no problem with them as such, The Hobbit is a children's tale, but it sits uncomfortably with battles featuring violence with bladed weapons.

 

A big problem is the scope of The Hobbit is far smaller than that of LOTR, but this is coming out after the LOTR films. There's no way they would see sense and scale anything down, and the film has several hallmarks of a production pumped up on too much money (excessive CGI where practical effects would be better, bloated length, elaborate action scenes that appear to be based on rollercoasters, etc). You can expect to see the Hobbit films try to out-do anything in LOTR in terms of size/volume (e.g. the Battle of Five Armies will be bigger than anything in the LOTR films) while at the same time taking a lot from the LOTR films in terms of music, themes, cinematic style etc (some of this is natural enough, because they're technically part of the same work, from the same writer, adapted by some of the same people). It's watered down, and the mixture is only going to get thinner. Two films, I could see. Three is only because LOTR was three films, and anything else would be "not maximising profits". I'm guessing the second will end with the death of Smaug, and the third with the Battle of Five Armies? There are several story developments that will not go down well with modern scriptwriters, can't wait to see how they are dealt with.

 

There aren't a lot of long dialogue scenes (I can't actually think of any) but there is some very sickly sentimental stuff. Martin Freeman is actually very good. The shit in the role is exactly that, he does very well given such limitations. Serkis' Gollum is good, but this is only because CGI is better than Serkis' face. People reprising their LOTR roles are generally good. Cate Blanchett as Galadriel is still perfectly cast, though she's not in The Hobbit, she's so good here I forgave the inclusion.

 

On the flipside, the main cast is an unwieldy size. Bilbo, Gandalf...and thirteen dwarves. They really haven't helped themselves with massive fake noses being popular, with some dwarves (e.g. Thorin) being basically fully anthropomorphised and men in everything but lip service and others being goblin-ish caricatures. Far more could have been done to differentiate them, and obviously imaginations were not up to it.

 

Hence things like this:

https://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h109/FullAuto_2006/flowchart_zpsa63f1bc7.png

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  • 2 weeks later...

Biutiful. Javier Bardem once again acts his socks off. Far from perfect (much like Inarritu's previous films, none of which I particularly rate), this is still excellent, which might stray every now and again (occasionally a little too hipsterish) and yet still feels like a look into a life. The painful granularity of detail, the drunken chaos of an avalanche of factors, and perhaps no such thing as free will but merely people reacting to a series of situations they are pushed in to, hopelessly compromised and yet still seeking to, at least, not become even more compromised, if not achieve their goal.

 

Hit and Run. Bloke in Witness Protection gives his girlfriend a lift to her new job, which is hwere he used to commit crimes. A genuinely funny comedy, with some good cinematography for the sharp car chases (almost all of which is done practically, I'm glad to say). Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard bring some of their real-life chemistry to their roles, and it was also co-directed, co-edited and wrote by Shepard. He's got a bit of a funny face, as well, yet somehow has not only pulled Bell but also makes decent films and does a fair job of acting. I hate him.

 

Sound of My Voice. A couple investigates a cult started by a woman who claims she is from the future. One of those films that suffers due to its addiction to ambiguity. It seems like certainty is one thing the film was sifted free of, for whatever reason, and it makes the film weaker. It ends up feeling forced, although it's an interesting watch.

 

John Dies At The End. Probably the best they could do on such a tiny budget. Still quite funny, as most of the humour is reliant upon good writing and timing, but the effects are quite basic and the acting quality is uneven. Has the spirit of the (great) book though. Worth watching just for how unusual it is.

 

Finding myself slightly attracted to Universal's anniversary edition steelbook blu-rays (https://www.play.com/DVD/Blu-ray/4-/28764515/The-Thing-Universal-100th-Anniversary-Edition-Play-com-Exclusive-Steelbook/Product.html?searchstring=&searchtype=allproducts&searchsource=2&searchfilters=ae212). While certainly justifiable when I don't own the film in question, it's slightly less so if I own it on DVD (Hot Fuzz). Technically speaking it's not defensible if I already own it on BR (The Thing), and it's downright stupid when I already own a steelbook BR of it (Scott Pilgrim).

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On The Hobbit

 

I agree with everything written. A lot of awful sentimental stuff. AWFUL. And the vast majority of it is a change from the book, not the stuff that would already be there. The sickly dialogues and incredibly over-heroic (read: stupid) actions when they escape the Misty Mountains...

Speaking of MM, the soft-spoken intellectual Goblin king, telling jokes as his guts are spilt over the floor... GAH.

 

 

IMO the movie is burdened by huge duality; it strives to be epic deep, yet is full of dwarven (among other) humour. The story is long enough for both - and originally contains both, but not mixed at the same time. The movie continuously tries to stuff both into same scenes, on a second to second basis.

 

I am not at all decided what to think about the looks of dwarves. Some look recognisably dwarven, others look like regular humans in excessive fur, others yet look like something completely different. "Recognizably dwarven" is cliché, so all in all I'm glad they are not all alike.

 

While I (think I) see a lot of things that should be different, not seeing the movie would be a monstrous crime against my everlasting childhood. I'm much more glad it was made than appalled by the negative side.

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IMO the movie is burdened by huge duality; it strives to be epic deep, yet is full of dwarven (among other) humour. The story is long enough for both - and originally contains both, but not mixed at the same time. The movie continuously tries to stuff both into same scenes, on a second to second basis.

 

It was bad enough in LOTR where you had a burial scene, then a minute later, Gimli pratfalling. I know it's for younger viewers, but the tone is all over the place.

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