The Films You Watched Thread VI: The Undiscovered Movie

[QualityChimp]

Bee Movie
So many big names in this from Sting to Ray Liotta!
It moves quite fast, but there are loads of laughs. A bit of a curiosity.

Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus
Same BB formula but applied to Santa's workshop.
Yeah. S'alright.

[kryss]

Is it a movie? I guess... We just watched Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special and really enjoyed it.

It was funny and gave me feels and Christmas sentiment. Recommend if you like GOTG

Enjoyed that too.

[Neon Ignition]

So with the new Indiana Jones film coming next year and all the movies sitting on Prime, I decided I should finally revisit Crystal Skull after all these years. I had only seen it once, back when it first came out. I remember being bitterly disappointed with it but I always wanted to go back to see if that was just an unfair assessment. Like when I revisited Doom3 and saw how good it was on its own merits rather than the initial disappointment I had based on certain expectations.

So I did it last night. I watched Crystal Skull.

And the first thing that hit me was that those CG gophers weren’t as bad as I remember. Have they touched those up over the years? Maybe. Maybe not.

But wow, it is a terrible looking movie. Most of it looks shot on green screen even when it is clearly not. It’s something in the cinematography that makes everything look fake and badly composited. And there is a horrible bloom lighting effect everywhere. It looks awful from start to finish. Not in any way cinematic or impressive. It’s bizarre to think a movie that looks this bad comes from Spielberg, a master in cinema. I don’t get it.

And it’s a bad, bad film. It’s not even the individual moments. Yes, the fridge thing is utterly stupid - the entire opening is. Yes, the monkey swing part is cringy as all hell. The film is full of terrible moments. But it’s more than that. It’s that the action sequences seem so sterile, just going through the motions. The John Williams score (which is too much in places and goes all Elfman - calm down, Elfman) tells me things are supposed to be exciting and yet I’m feeling nothing. It is a movie where nothing felt like it mattered. And maybe the look plays a part, placing a mental and emotional barrier between me and the story because it all looks so fake. I don’t know. It seems like it is without soul. It’s a movie that is just going from one sequence to the next.

The ending is horrible. I don’t mind the subject matter at all. I actually have no issue with any story choices really. Indy was always outlandish and wide open for more. But it’s all so poorly executed.

It is a bad movie.

I don't know how much validity there is to this but apparently Spielberg didn't want to do all of the logistics of international travel for Indy 4 which is where such a heavy emphasis on sets and green screen came in. I think one of the better sequences is the library chase and much of that is because it's US based they actually went outside and filmed it whereas most of the other sequences are very clearly green screened or filmed indoors. I don't think the premise of Crystal Skull is that bad, maybe a script revision or two away from being decent.

I think with Spielberg, he's not a sequel guy. He's only made four in his entire career and three of them are Indiana Jones films. You look at Temple of Doom next to Raiders and whilst it's a good film it's clearly a step down. Likewise Lost World has a distinct reek of how much less effort he's putting into it than he did Jurassic Park. He's so close to Lucas and Ford that I think for Last Crusade he felt somewhat obligated to return and it's been knocked about before that they saw that film as a bit of an apology for Doom, it also plays more heavily into the themes Spielberg finds appealing like the father/son dynamic etc. With that successfully delivered I think he hoped to never make another Indy. Ford is incredibly keen on the character and Lucas is too so I can imagine they pushed until Skull came together and he felt obligated again but with nothing but that driving him into it. Plus, by that time you have a more modern era Spielberg. I certainly don't want to suggest that he isn't good anymore but films like Ready Player One and War of the Worlds, his more modern mass audience stuff, shows that he isn't the same kind of filmmaker he once was and what we end up with is a dispassioned entry made by a director chasing modern tech techniques rather than putting first what will be harder to do but better for the film.

I think that critical blowback for the film is why he chose not to make Destiny. He may have felt like doing a redemption entry to end it if he hadn't have already gone through that with Crusade but he has nothing to prove and a fifth turn striking a hit and done under Disney's eye as well, it's easy to see why he stepped aside. There are effects that need work in the trailer for Destiny but it's very clearly a better directed entry even at first glance.

The visual appearance of Crystal Skull has always been wrong, even in stills it doesn't look right. The Area 51 warehouse scene is okay, the library too, the jungle chase is... mixed and the nuclear test site sequence... it feels like it's over trimmed. Something isn't right about the pacing of the fight scene, I do like the moment of him stumbling into the nuke town and it dawning on him what's about to happen. The fridge is... bad but you just have to ride out that it is theoretically possible.

I think where Crystal Skull lies is that in a world of Raiders/Doom/Crusade it's a massive disappointment and not a great film. Flip side is that in a world of Uncharted, Tomb Raider, Sahara etc it's still preferable.




Spirited
This isn't a great film but it just about holds together enough to warrant sticking with as Ferrell's character becomes fixated with trying to redeem the soul of Reynolds business man at Xmas.

[Dogg Thang]

The fridge is... bad but you just have to ride out that it is theoretically possible.

Was this tackled in Mythbusters or something? It seems... unlikely. I mean even if by some miracle you survive the explosion, the impact of hitting the ground after been blown miles by a nuclear blast seems like it would be insta-death. But I'm no nuclear fridge expert.

[fuse]

Watched eXistenZ, which I'm glad I did it in proximity to a Videodrome rewatch as there's definitely some sharing going on between the two. I was relieved that the game theme was abstracted from reality, and avoided any obvious judge-y pitfalls, but the layering up of realities isn't quite as neat or compelling as it needs to be. Not brilliant, and certainly no Videodrome, but worth a watch.

Also went to the Prince Charles for a sing-along screening of The Muppet Christmas Carol, which was definitely for the benefit of my niece and nephew and I was definitely not really excited for. Who am I kidding, I love this. My favourite Christmas movie by a league.

[Neon Ignition]

Also went to the Prince Charles for a sing-along screening of The Muppet Christmas Carol, which was definitely for the benefit of my niece and nephew and I was definitely not really excited for. Who am I kidding, I love this. My favourite Christmas movie by a league.

So glad they've finally restored the full film and no longer need to suffer the cut version

Was this tackled in Mythbusters or something? It seems... unlikely. I mean even if by some miracle you survive the explosion, the impact of hitting the ground after been blown miles by a nuclear blast seems like it would be insta-death. But I'm no nuclear fridge expert.

Indiana Jones Actually Could Have Survived A Nuke In A Fridge | Cinemablend (badassdigest.com)

I think there are several that have looked into it with the radiation post-blast being the biggest red flag. Apparently myth busters confirmed it wouldn't matter in real life though as the raft jump in Doom would have KIA'd him years prior

[QualityChimp]

It's always interesting to see what breaks the suspension of reality when watching a film.

I've mentioned before in the the Ghostbusters commentary they say how they slowly ramped up the supernatural elements from the library witch to StayPuft, so by the time they got to the finale, viewers complained that Venkman's tiny broach of marshmallow was unrealistic, rather than them battling a skyscraper-sized gooey spirit avatar.

It's funny that most people who saw Crystal Skull thought the nuclear fridge was a step too far, rather than the aliens and whatnot.

[Dogg Thang]

It's always interesting to see what breaks the suspension of reality when watching a film.

I've mentioned before in the the Ghostbusters commentary they say how they slowly ramped up the supernatural elements from the library witch to StayPuft, so by the time they got to the finale, viewers complained that Venkman's tiny broach of marshmallow was unrealistic, rather than them battling a skyscraper-sized gooey spirit avatar.

It's funny that most people who saw Crystal Skull thought the nuclear fridge was a step too far, rather than the aliens and whatnot.

I think this is really important for storytellers to dissect and understand. There are reasons why people stop buying in to certain elements even in the context of a story that features the ridiculous.

[randombs]

Come And See

I’d often noticre this film being mentioned by people on Reddit, and then I saw it pop up in one of those “scariest films” lists and decided to check it out.

It’s about the Nazi invasion of Belarus and the main character is a 14yo boy who joins the Soviets.
In a nutshell, it’s harrowing. There are nice, occasionally funny moments dotted around the place but it’s an emotional rollercoaster. I’m not usually into artsy films (is it artsy?) but I couldn’t tear myself from the screen. To give you an idea of just how relentless it is:

“The filming of Come and See utilized real bullets instead of blanks, leading to a genuine expression of fear from the actors when they were nearly shot in the head.

Aleksey Kravchenko, who plays Florya, struggles the most as he was required to conform to strict diets to ensure a starving appearance. Additionally, he underwent autogenic training(hypnosis) to avoid insanity as he needed to perform the traumatizing scenes”.

It was his acting debut!

[wakka]

Classic festive viewing @randombs. Personally I'm saving that one for Xmas day afternoon with the family.

[randombs]

Classic festive viewing @randombs. Personally I'm saving that one for Xmas day afternoon with the family.

LOL, it’s fun for the whole family!

Sneak it in between Home Alone and Home Alone 2 for maximum enjoyment!

Seriously, I watched this in October but left the post hanging in cyberspace until now.

[fallenangle]

When flicking through the channels late night I accidentally started watching Paper Towns on Film 4+1 yesterday and found myself sticking with it all the way through. Co-starring Cara Delevingne and a cast of virtual unknowns it is a film I'd never heard of before, likewise the book on which it is based.

The usual places hard review the film and it is no great work that is for sure but it has something that kept me interested throughout.

Essentially it's a very late entry (2015) into that US teen coming-of-age/high-school/road trip gently comedic drama genre of the '80s and '90s like Risky Business, Clueless, The Breakfast Club etc sent up so well in "Not Another Teen Movie". Paper Towns certainly ticks most of the same boxes but where it rises above the cliches is in the atmosphere it generates whilst telling its story.

It has a 'blue remembered hills' wistfulness, almost eschewing the comedy. It becomes a heartfelt lament for the end of that time of life when every experience is new and exciting and the impossible desire to keep that feeling going as the pressures of adult life start to bite. But its not just the story that is elegiac, so is its referencing back to those earlier films and the very different, less cynical era in which they were made.

It left this viewer at the end with a rather effective melancholic afterglow that took some time to forget.

I wonder if that downbeat feel is what put off the, likely mostly US, reviewers.

[Lebowski]

Watched a few christmas Bits with the kids we started with

Falling For Christmas

Netflix, this is the 80s classic Overboard without the troubling con job plot bits, pallet swapped into a Christmas themed movie, Rich bitch super ski resort aire bangs head gets amnesia when skiing, is rescued and taken in by a local do-gooder who runs a ski resort that is more traditional and going out of business. Theirs much hilarity as Lindsey Lohan learns how to make a bed, clean a toilet and screech at raccoons. She slowly learns how to not be a horrendous person it also features the creepiest Santa in a crimbo film I've seen he keep popping up winking and smiling at people and looking like hes about to steal some kids. if you like **** Christmas films you will love this as its atrociously bad.


Spirited

Apple TV's big budget modern day riff on a Christmas Carol. Ryan Reynolds a horrible ceo and con man is chosen to be this years soul to be redeemed. The film is a musical buddy comedy focusing on the Ghosts of Christmas Past Will Feral who is up for retirement and wants one last big score by redeeming someone classed as an unredeemable before he retires. Reynolds and Feral are great together and its got some great songs "Good afternoon" being the highlight here. Seeing Reynolds run rings around Feral and the spirits and deconstruct their haunting is a nice take and breaths a bit of fresh life into a story that's been done again and again on film.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

why is the sound so bad, i don't remember it being this religious, it was like watching an old vhs of it but on a modern streaming platform.

Guardians of the galaxy christmas special

Disney Plus Big budget live action Christmas special that's surprisingly funny [ my only real issue with it is groot looks like a guy in a suit and is super fat for some reason. It mainly focuses on Drax and mantis and i really didnt mind it just being these two as they make a great odd couple for some great comedic payoffs.

->Open Spoiler<-

Drax attacking the guy dressed as a Go-bot saying his kind killed his cousin had me in stitches, them getting pissed and kidnapping Kevin Bacon is great too

[Atticus]

Watched Barbarian on Disney+ last night. It's a horror full of 'noooooo, don't to that for goodness sake!' moments but it's a fun ride. A young woman arrives at her airbnb rental in Detroit on a stormy night and there's already a guy staying there, double-booked. And it goes from there ...

[fuse]

Ooh nice, Barbarian's one from this year I've wanted to see and I just spotted it on Disney+ myself last night... unfortunately after I'd already picked and watched something else. I also noted that they've also recently added Amsterdam, which is another recent one I'm keen for that's better suited for something to watch with people who aren't so keen on high-tension horror.

So yeah, Faults. It's a brief and fairly stripped back thing about cults and the people who fall victim to them, centred around a down on his luck 'deprogrammer' and a young woman whose parents are worried about the company she keeps. There's these weird attempts at dark humour before it settles in to the serious stuff, and then the tone goes off in other directions later on too, all of which adds up to a pretty disengaging watch. The leads (Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Leland Orser) are good but they're not given a lot to work with.