Welcome to FlixChatter’s primary blog series! As is customary for this monthly feature, I get to post five random news item/observation/poster, etc. and then turn it over to you to share your take on that given topic. You can see the previous five-for-the-fifth posts here.
1. I’ve been excited about Christopher Nolan’s DUNKIRK for some time and the teaser couldn’t have arrived at a better time… that is as I’m prepping my FFTF post 🙂
I think most of you already knows what this is about. Now, I’m not always into war movies, mostly because it tends to be way too violent. But man, this looks so darn epic and with Nolan at the helm filming this on 70mm, I’m SO THERE!
Behold its epicness…
The cast is pretty amazing, some of which have been in Nolan’s previous movies… Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh… AND my new Welsh crush Aneurin Barnard!! One thing I wish Nolan hadn’t done is hire that kid from One Direction as I guarantee there’s gonna be a bunch of teenybopers swarming this just to get a glimpse of him. I mean I can’t even google this movie without seeing his face! In any case, we still have a year to wait for this as Dunkirk isn’t released until July 2017!
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Now, this one apparently has been released for some time but I had just seen it for the first time thanks to my daily lunch-hour reading of BBC news, I found it in the culture section. It’s the world’s first feature-length painted animation!
Per its official site, Loving Vincent features over one hundred and twenty of Vincent Van Gogh’s greatest paintings. The plot, drawn from the 800 letters written by the painter himself, lead us to the significant people and events in the time leading up to his unexpected death. Every frame in the Loving Vincent movie is an oil painting on canvas, using the very same technique in which Vincent himself painted. Check out the amazing trailer, I sure hope it’ll get a decent release worldwide.
Thoughts on either one of these projects?
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2. This week we also got a first look at romance war drama ALLIED. I didn’t even know is in the works but hey, anything with miss Cottilard gets my attention!
The synopsis per IMDb:
Allied takes place in 1942. Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) and Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard) are undercover allies who begin to fall for each other. Max is a British intelligence officer sent to Casablanca to plan an assassination attempt. He works with Marianne, a French Resistance fighter who goes undercover as his wife.
I kind of like the pairing of Cotillard and Pitt, and Pitt actually looks decent without all the weird facial hair he’s been supporting for a while. This film seems so under the radar despite the cast though, I mean I haven’t heard a peep and no trailer yet even though the release date is November of this year.
The rest of the cast include Matthew Goode (yay!), Lizzy Caplan, and Jared Harris. The director is Robert Zemeckis whose last two features, Flight and The Walk, I haven’t seen yet.
Are you excited for this one?
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3. Speaking of trailers… ahhh what we’d do for our movie crushes [sigh] I followed this twitter account for trailer updates and it says there’s supposed to be a trailer for Ben Wheatley’s FREE FIRE attached to Star Trek Beyond. So naturally I was super excited and while initially I was fine waiting a week or two to see it, I immediately booked Friday night showing. As you know, my dahling Sam Riley is in Free Fire, though he’s probably only gonna be in the trailer for all but 5 seconds. But no matter, that’s enough to persuade me to actually see a movie on the big screen. Alas, the trailer was NOT shown at STB 😦 There were more than a half dozen trailers in front of it but none of it was Free Fire! Suffice to say I’m no longer following that trailer account. Heh, I wish I lived in London!!!
Thrilled to announce European premiere of @mr_wheatley‘s Film4-backed Free Fire will close @BFI London Film Festival pic.twitter.com/x7vylRkV2P
— Film4 (@Film4) August 1, 2016
I’m curious, have you ever been compelled to see a movie on the big screen because a certain trailer is attached to it?
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4. Ok this question is inspired by this weekend’s release of Suicide Squad. I’ll be writing the review this weekend but for now I can say that I enjoyed it, definitely not as bad as what the critics made it out to be.
It’s no surprise DC fans are up in arms about the negative reviews. Heh, every day there’s always news about people getting angry about the most trivial things. This time the subject of DC fans’ wrath is the Rotten Tomatoes site:
The #SuicideSquad petition to take down Rotten Tomatoes has over 16,000 signatures https://t.co/LgBo3OCcBk
— IndieWire (@IndieWire) August 4, 2016
Actually, last time I checked the petition‘s got 18,495 supporters. The guy who started the Change.org petition wrote: “We need this site to be shut down because critics always give The DC Extended Universe movies unjust, bad reviews. And that affects people’s opinion even if it’s a really great movie,”
Now, I don’t really trust these critics aggregator sites anyway, because their algorithm is just baffling to me. Sometimes I’d click a rotten review that actually gives a movie 3/5, now I wouldn’t exactly categorize that as rotten. I’d think 3/5 is average and even 2.5/5 is below average, so not exactly in the horrible category. But to think that they’re biased against a certain film company is just absurd. Ok so I was left scratching my head that Age of Ultron got 75% fresh rating. I think that bloated movie is a big fat meh, not to mention the cringe-inducing Hulk/Black Widow *romance.* But I think it was still better than Batman V Superman, which got 27%, the exact RT score of Suicide Squad right now. If that’s the final score I think people are gonna think it’s a giant conspiracy, ahah.
What do you think about this supposed Marvel vs. DC *bias* and/or your thoughts about film critics site in general?
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5. This month Five for the Fifth’s guest is Ian from Ian the Cool Blog! He actually left a comment on my review of The Secret Life of Pets and it’s a great question that I asked him if it’s ok that I included it here. Here it is in his own words:
You confirm a lot of what I’m hearing, that [the movie] is really unoriginal and we’ve seen it all before. I guess the question is, does that matter for a kids movie? Kids won’t know its being unoriginal, because they don’t have the same film background we do. They will care about having funny characters they care about. Then again, should family movies have the bar set lower? When there are movies like Inside Out raising that bar, is the family argument an excuse anymore?
Well, what do you think? Should kids movies have the bar set lower compared to movies for adults?
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Well, that’s it for the AUGUST edition of Five for the Fifth, folks. Take part by picking a question out of the five above or better yet, do ‘em all!
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FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
1. Dunkirk looks great while Loving Vincent looks very interesting.
2. Brad Pitt & Marion Cotillard in a movie for me is…. $$$$$$$$$$
3. Yes, depending on the film. Who is directing it and who is starring in it.
4. I don’t think Rotten Tomatoes are biased. I read that there were some problems with Suicide Squad where Warner Brothers didn’t like the rough cut and wanted re-shoots and some said the earlier cut of the film is better than the theatrical version. Well, there goes another film I had interest in seeing.
5. As it pertains to children, it’s tough to show them a good movie whether it’s original or not. As long that kid is happy, what is there to complain.
Hi Steven! Dunkirk looks epic, boy Nolan sure knows how to cut a trailer and his films are usually good even if Interstellar didn’t wow me.
Ahah, I got the feeling you’d like the Pitt/Cotillard pairing 🙂
Yeah I think the reshoots might’ve hurt the movie. Now I barely remember what was on the trailer as it’s been a while since I saw it, but seems that some footage weren’t in the final movie. That said, I don’t think Suicide Squad was as horrible as the critics made it.
Ah interesting point, though I feel bad for the parents who have to sit through those kids flicks!
I hadn’t seen the Dunkirk footage but I’m primed to give anything Nolan a chance. I’m way over Pitt but Cotillard alone is enough to draw me in. I’m addicted.
And I can’t believe that anyone cares enough about these dumb movies to even cook up a conspiracy, Puh-lease.
Nice post again, Ruth. Hope summer is treating you well.
Yeah, I’m always excited for a Nolan movie! This just might be the first war movie I’d be inclined to see on IMAX!
Oh I’m never into Pitt, I just thought he looked decent in that pic. For me the main draw for ALLIED is Cotillard.
Yeah I think those fanboys just get overboard w/ their fanaticism!
Thanks Jay, can’t believe Summer is nearing the end but it sure has been a busy one!
1. New Nolan’s picture, of course I’m excited. Although, I’m a little bummed that the zoo IMAX theater is no longer shown films in 70mm. Oh well, I’ll still go see it there and hope he records the film in Dolby Atmos too! I’m hoping it won’t be a PG-13 war film, I want see something similar to The Thin Red Line or Saving Private Ryan.
2. Didn’t know about this movie either and not sure how I feel about Pitt playing a British character, he played an Irish character in The Devil’s Own and his accent was awful!
3. Which theater did you go see Star Trek: Beyond at Ruth? Most theaters only shows big movie trailers in front of big movies. Also, they’ll likely show the trailer if it’s produced by the same studio and I don’t believe Free Fire is produced by Paramount Pictures. I assume it’s produced by an independent studio so you’ll likely see the trailer if you go see a smaller indie film.
To answer your question, no I’ve never went to see a movie if it’s a trailer of a film I want to see is attached to it. We live in the the digital world now so I can wait to see it online. But I remember people did that for Tim Burton’s Batman and Star Wars Ep. 1.
4. I had a good laugh about this, apparently the idiot who started that petition probably didn’t know that Warner Bros. OWNS Rottentomatoes.com! Ha ha! If there’s any conspiracy, that site should be in favor of both Batman vs. Superman and Suicide Squad. Also, he apparently doesn’t how that site works, they just grabbed all of the reviews from every sites and shows people what critics thinks of a film. No wonder Trump is so popular, too many idiots are out there with a keyboard. Lol.
5. I tend to stay away from kids movies so I don’t really have opinion about this topic.
Hi Ted! What?? I didn’t know the zoo IMAX is no longer showing 70mm! Dang I was hoping I’d see it there. Was the Thin Red Line rated R? That’s my fave war film as I didn’t think it was gory. I can’t watch SPR as I heard it’s super brutal. I hope that Nolan won’t make it too gory.
Yeah Brad Pitt’s not very good w/ accents. They should just make his character American, heh. But in any case, it’s Marion who’s the main draw for me.
I saw STB at ICON, which I thought would show the same trailers as AMC theaters. Well, the trailer twitter site seemed to get confirmation from one of the studios they were gonna show it and some people did see it in front of STB. Yeah normally I won’t bother seeing a trailer on the big screen but that’s how much I LOVE Sam Riley 😛
Mwahahaha! Yeah the guy is from Alexandria, Egypt so it’s very possible he doesn’t know which studio owns what. I do think RT has a flawed algorithm though, that’s why I don’t always trust these sites. If I’m intrigued by something I’ll go see it no matter what critics say. Oh don’t get me started about the Drumpf!!
Yeah the Zoo IMAX theater switched to digital projectors a couple of years ago. Since most studios aren’t producing films for their movies anymore, they couldn’t show a lot of movies there. Now that they’ve switched to digital, they get to show big movies every weekend. Maybe they’ll bring back their 70mm projector for Dunkirk, they did that for the showing of Interstellar.
Icon tends to show big movie trailers if you see a big movie there. If I’m not mistaken they have contract with studios to only show tent pole films. I’m sure you’ll get to see Free Fire soon for press screening, I’m assume the studio would want to enter it for Oscars contention.
Oh I didn’t know the idiot who started the petition is from a different country, so I guess he doesn’t know that Warner owns Rottentomatoes.com. I only pay attention to the reviews on that site if I’m hesitant about seeing certain films, otherwise I don’t care about the ratings on that site. Just out of curiosity, I’ll check out Suicide Squad during a cheap ticket night. It can’t be worst than Batman vs. Superman right? Lol.
Yeah, The Thin Red Line was R rated and I loved it more than Saving Private Ryan. The two films tells a different perspective of the war, Spielberg wanted to show the horror of the war and that’s why he shot it with so much gore. While Malick focused on the horrors that the soldiers when through mentally and physically for his film. I don’t expect Nolan to get all bloody and full of gore but it’s a war picture so I think he should show some the gore stuff that happened in real life.
Oh yeah I think the filmmaker should still show the brutality of war, but I’d think you could do without the extreme gore. I think focusing on the mental aspect could make just as big an impact. In any case for sure it’ll be amazingly-shot, and boy he sure knows how to cut a teaser trailer to get all of us drooling!
1. Dunkirk sounds interesting, but I’m generally not a war movie fan. I’ll have to decide when it comes here, if it does. The Loving Vincent is a maybe…
2. I’m a Brad Pitt fan and I like Marion Cotillard so most likely will see it.
3. Much as I love trailers, and I do LOVE trailers, I wouldn’t go and see a movie just to see the trailer of another movie!
4. Don’t know much about the bias. Personally, I enjoy the Marvel universe films more generally.
5. Roger Ebert made this great comment about so called kids movies (It’s long…sorry…)
Kids are not stupid. They are among the sharpest, cleverest, most eagle-eyed creatures on God’s Earth, and very little escapes their notice. You may not have observed that your neighbor is still using his snow tires in mid-July, but every four-year-old on the block has, and kids pay the same attention to detail when they go to the movies. They don’t miss a thing, and they have an instinctive contempt for shoddy and shabby work. I make this observation because nine out of ten children’s movies are stupid, witless, and display contempt for their audiences, and that’s why kids hate them. Is that all parents want from kids’ movies? That they not have anything bad in them? Shouldn’t they have something good in them — some life, imagination, fantasy, inventiveness, something to tickle the imagination? If a movie isn’t going to do your kids any good, why let them watch it? Just to kill a Saturday afternoon? That shows a subtle kind of contempt for a child’s mind, I think. (From his review of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, 1971)
It was either Siskel or Ebert who basically commented that if you allow children to watch bad, undemanding movies, they will never develop good taste in movies. I don’t have children, but I do have nieces and nephews and I would never take them to see a family movie just because it was theoretically okay for children to watch. There has to be something else there for me to take them/make them watch the film.
Hello Stella!
I’m generally not a war movie fan either but I make exceptions from certain filmmakers and Nolan is one of those. I LOVE the cast too, esp Aneurin Barnard, the young Welshman I wish would get his big break soon.
Yeah I really like the sound of ALLIED, more for Cotillard than Pitt though.
Ahah, that’s cool! I’m the same way, though some trailers I find irritating, but I do enjoy seeing new trailers on the big screen.
Marvel movies seem to be more well thought-out and more cohesive as one universe. But some of the individual films are way overrated.
WOW that is a very good insight about kids as a film watcher and how that affects them as adults!! That’s why I do think the bar for kids movies should be the same as movies for grown-ups. I don’t have kids either, but yeah I certainly wouldn’t want my little nieces go watch stupid movies just because I think they won’t notice. And clearly it’s a flawed argument to think that kids don’t notice, I think they are more observant than you think.
Thanks for posting the Ebert quote. He’s spot on, as usual.
🙂
Superb questions this month Ruth! Here are a few thoughts:
1. Absolutely, 100%, uncontrollable enthusiasm for Dunkirk. The obvious first attraction is Nolan. I love that it is written, co-produced, and directed by him. The cast looks fantastic and I’m really excited to see Hoyte van Hoytema shooting the film. Add to it the incredible true story it is based on. I love historical military pictures. I’m all in.
As for Loving Vincent, I’m all in on that one too. As someone who loves classic paintings this trailer looked magical. I’m not the biggest fan of Van Gogh’s work but I still find him a magnetic artist. The trailer looks fantastic.
2. I could get on board with this one despite my growing apathy towards Brad Pitt. But Marion Cotillard is the selling point for me. ANYTHING she is in is a must-watch for me. I firmly believe she is one of the three best (if not THE best) working actresses today.
3. Saw the trailer for Free Fire and I honestly didn’t know what to make of it. As for trailers, I don’t think I have ever went to see a movie solely based on an attached trailer. Especially in this age of the internet where trailers are so quickly available online.
4. Boy this is an interesting one. I don’t want to be the conspiracy theory guy because I honestly don’t believe there is a big conspiracy. That said I truly believe critics approach DC movies with a much more critical and cynical eye. Obviously I’m in the minority in really liking BvS, but many critics tipped their hands early by showing their snarky, haughty attitudes well before the film was released. And I do think Marvel films generally get a pass. Movies like the paper-thin Ant-Man (81% on RT) and as you mentioned Age of Ultron are good examples.
But as for the petition to shut down Rotten Tomatoes, that’s just loony. People who petition something like that can’t be taken seriously.
5. Another interesting question. To be honest I have no problem with movies catering to a child audience if it is well made and it gets an earnest positive reaction from the kids who see it. I would definitely have trouble reviewing it simply because I have a hard time not seeing things through my adult eyes. Maybe that’s why the filmmakers who are able to capture both audiences with one film are so respected.
Hi Keith!! Ahah, ‘uncontrollable enthusiasm’ I love that!! Yes Nolan is the main draw, I mean he seems to always invest a ton of passion and research into every one of his project. But the cast, man I’m giddy just thinking about it (apart from that One Direction dude). Ooooh the same guy who shot HER is filming this?? Yay!
I’m the same way about Van Gogh. I’m more intrigued by him as an artist than his actual work, though I did go to his museum in Holland and was in awe by some of his paintings. I can’t wait to see this film, I bet it’d look mesmerizing on the big screen.
Hey I never liked Pitt as others do, I think he’s just fine, not spectacular. But miss Marion, well she’s is something else. Like Binoche there’s something of a mystery about her.
Y’know, to be honest I think my enthusiasm for Free Fire is due to Sam Riley’s involvement. So does it look very violent? Man I wish they’d just release that darn thing online already.
I agree Keith, I feel that some critics already have a preconceived sentiment about certain movies that affect how they feel about it. I do think that Marvel as a studio does a better job in creating a cohesive ‘universe’ compared to DC but the individual movies don’t always measure up. I really think Age of Ultron is waaay overrated, and Thor 3 is average at best.
I think filmmakers who can cater to both adults and kids are extremely talented. On ly a tiny percentage of them could do it, i.e. Spielberg. But I think the measure for making a good movie should be the same whoever the target audience is.
Free Fire looked really, really violent. I think I even saw where Martin Scorsese in co-producing it. Don’t remember if you mentioned that or not.
Yes I knew Martin Scorsese is producing it, and he does make very violent films, oy! I might have to see if that’s something I could handle on the big screen. Thanks for the info Keith!
Ruth, I think I mentioned already but director Ben Wheatley LOVES to shoot super violent scenes in his films and since Free Fire deals with violence, I assume he’s going all out for this one. But who knows, maybe the studio will force him to trim out the more violent scenes if they’re going to release to wider audiences. I think Wheatley is being groom to take on big movie soon, heck I won’t be surprised if his name is on the short list of directors to direct the next Bond film.
Hey Ted, yeah you have warned me about Wheatley as Kill List is very violent. I still haven’t got around to seeing High Rise for that same reason. Well, I think Free Fire is still considered an indie so I think he still gets to call the shots, which means it will be extremely brutal. I might wait until there’s some reviews coming in, to gauge if I could handle seeing it on the big screen. Oh yeah, I think they just might hire another UK filmmaker for the next Bond film. I’m still holding out hope they’d consider Sam Riley, esp. the fact that his upcoming BBC project is by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade who’ve written a bunch of Bond movies.
Damn…Brad Pitt looking mighty dapper in that new movie.
I’m glad you liked Suicide Squad. Really glad. It wasn’t a perfect movie; it was heavily flawed, but it had some great performances, and it was a fun ride! Age of Ultron was a “good movie”…but fuck was it boring. I’d watch Suicide Squad again any day over that one!
He looks pretty good in that suit, it makes him look younger without the beard.
I didn’t love it but I did enjoy it for the most part. It’s definitely flawed, there are more things that bothered me the more I think about it, but for sure it wasn’t boring.
1. YES
2. YES
3. Trailers pique my interest for sure! However, half the trailers I watch are better than the film as a whole.
Nice concise answer there Cindy! Westworld does look intriguing, though it’ll be a while before I see it as I don’t have cable. Glad to see Ed Harris in a major TV role.
Recently, Westworld seems provocative and interesting. I loved the 1973 original. I’m a fan of Evan Rachel Wood and I think Ed Harris will do fine reprising Yul Brenner’s role.
Yeah, I am also excited for Dunkirk. It seems like WW2 films are making a comeback.
Have I ever been compelled to go to a movie to see a trailer? I used to, back in the star wars prequel days, but no more. You can just see them online now.
As far as the Suicide Squad petition I think its ridiculous. These fans obviously don’t understand much of the nature or purpose of criticism. Critics don’t dictate what movies we can see, they only give recommendations. And they are not one united body that all have the same biases.
As far as my question, well, I asked it so I suppose I dont have a clear answer. In fact, the Ebert quote posted above was a great response. I try to judge films on the merit of how they work for me, and I suppose I keep that same idea when it comes to kids films.
Hello Ian! Glad to hear you’re excited for Dunkirk! Well I think WWII films are always in fashion, I’m seeing ‘Anthropoid’ next week.
Yep, exactly! I think some fans are delusional thinking there’s a big conspiracy about something so trivial as a movie! Plus why put so much stock into them anyway, I always would rather see things for myself if it’s a movie that interests me.
That is a great question! Well after seeing Pete’s Dragon, I certainly think that a good movie knows no age.
I can’t wait to see more of Dunkirk, you’re right about the epicness.
Oh boy, a petition? If they want to support the movie, why not go out and watch it multiple times opening weekend and bring friends and family? Or start a movie blog? Review the movies, but watch it first before deciding it’s a good or not so good movie.
Hi Eddie! The agonizing thing about Nolan’s movies is how long we have to wait for them!
Ahah, LOVE your answer! So true! I certainly trust my fellow bloggers more than most critics, as I often disagree w/ them.
1. DEFINITELY excited for “Dunkirk” — anything Nolan wants to do peaks my interest, and I’m really curious to see how he takes on the war film genre. I’m ESPECIALLY curious if the aesthetic of the trailer — holding on wide vistas, more contemplative editing rhythms — is carried over into the film; if so, feels like it could be something of a change of pace for Nolan, focusing in more on the power of the individual image (which is something he’s talked about being increasingly interested in starting with “Dark Knight Rises”).
2. Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard and Robert Zemeckis? Sign me up! (Haven’t seen “The Walk” either, but I liked “Flight” — it’s nice to have Zemeckis back directing “real” movies. Although I *did* enjoy “Polar Express” back in ’04.)
3. I’ll admit I went to see “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” in a theater in large part because the trailer for “Dark Knight Rises” was supposed to be attached…not at MY theater, unfortunately. 😦
4. This whole controversy about “Marvel bias” is ludicrous, especially when you consider that there are PLENTY of well known film critics who aren’t all that enthusiastic about the Marvel offerings, either. “Age of Ultron” has a decent RT score, yeah, but plenty of those reviews are kind of in the “meh…it’s fine” camp. It’s not like the majority of critics are recommending Marvel films get Oscar nominations. (I also think that if there’s a “bias”, it’s probably to do with the fact that the DC Cinematic Universe films have been *spotty*, to say the least. And this is coming from somebody who’s also not that wild about most of the Marvel films.)
Rotten Tomatoes — and ALL review aggregate sites — are only useful up to a point, in terms of getting a general idea of a movie’s reception; is it generally getting positive reviews? Is it generally getting negative ones? And as you pointed out, there are plenty of cases where movies get scored fresh or rotten in seemingly arbitrary ways.
The petition to try to shut down RT is utterly childish and stupid. And ludicrous, seeing as Time Warner, the company that produced “Suicide Squad”, OWNS ROTTEN TOMATOES.
5. I guess I feel split on this? I do think that children’s movies shouldn’t get a pass because they’re “just for kids” — there’s plenty of GREAT family/kid’s movies that rank up with the best work of cinema (Miyazaki’s films, the best of the Disney and Pixar movies, “The Wizard of Oz” jump to mind). At the same time…well, frankly, kids like a lot of stuff that isn’t very good. Hell, when I was a kid, *I* liked a lot of stuff that wasn’t very good. Part of the process of growing up is realizing that a lot of the movies and television you thought was aces at 8 is actually kind of terrible. (Of course you can also have the opposite — and much more positive — experience, where you revisit something you loved as a kid and realize it actually holds up.)
I guess my feeling is that kids are predisposed to like junk food, and the appeal’s obvious. But we as a culture/parents/what have you don’t have to ENCOURAGE them to just consume junk food. Show your kids GOOD movies every once in a while, and encourage them to actually THINK about the movies they’re watching. Don’t raise sponges.
Hello CB! Always LOVE your insightful answers on FFTF, man.
You made an interesting point about the aesthetics of the trailer ‘holding on wide vistas, more contemplative editing rhythms’ It certainly has the style of David Lean with the wide shots. I remember the Dunkirk scene in ‘Atonement’ that Joe Wright did with a long tracking shot. I feel that the scenery of Northern France beach is so vast that it requires a certain way of filming it.
I actually didn’t care for the *dead eyes* in Polar Express, but curious to see ‘Flight.’ So you recommend that one then? As for The Walk, I think I’m more interested in seeing the documentary Man on Wire.
Yeah I think TDKR trailer did get me to the theater but I can’t remember which film it was. Oy, so you were disappointed that you didn’t see it, just like me w/ Free Fire!
Well that’s the thing about RT’s algorithm. Some reviews might be ‘meh,’ not good but not bad, but I have no idea whether RT would put it in fresh or rotten. Now that would affect the overall score which isn’t exactly accurate. But yeah, to say that they are biased against DC is just plain silly. Ahah yeah, it’s not possible they’d be biased against WB productions LOL. Btw, the guy who started the petition actually tweeted me a link to clarify about why he started the petition: https://dccomicsfandom.wordpress.com/2016/08/05/why-i-created-a-petition-to-shutdown-rotten-tomatoes/ I haven’t read it yet but I will later today.
I love your answer on #5 and totally agree with your POV that bad movies are like junk food. I don’t have kids but I’d think I’d want them to consume good films as well as good food. Now of course there are some movies that are sillier than others, and I wouldn’t be against them watching those if they’re kind of harmless. But even me as an adult refuse to watch movies that I think is detriment to my mental health, so to speak, even if it’s free, one’s time is precious!
Always happy to comment! 🙂
“Polar Express” still suffers from that “uncanny valley” effect, but I enjoyed enough of the rest of the story to get onboard with the movie as a whole. “Beowulf” and “A Christmas Carol”, though, don’t have much to offer, IMO. Like I said, I’m glad Zemeckis is back to directing “real movies”, even if those real movies have lots of special effects! And yeah, I’d recommend “Flight” — not a life changing movie, by any means, by very well acted, especially by Denzel Washington.
What you put into your mind IS important, just as important as what you put into your body. Like I said, kids are predisposed to be interested in junk food, and that’s fine, but it’s probably not a bad idea for people to encourage them to eat better stuff, too. 🙂
Hi CB! I think I’d have enjoyed it more if it weren’t for the style of the film. Haven’t seen “Beowulf” and “A Christmas Carol” I remember having just seen a gritty version of Beowulf called ‘Beowulf and Grendel’ that was shot entirely in Iceland w/ barely any SFX, so I refuse to see the Hollywoodized version. I’ll check out FLIGHT at some point.
Yes indeed, it’s actually more important what we put into our minds. That’s why I refuse to see absolutely vulgar and gross films that have no artistic merit whatsoever. I was listening to Mark Kermode’s podcast on his worst films of the year so far, and Dirty Grandpa made #1. I’m so glad I skipped that one, won’t even rent it even if someone paid me!
1. Yep, DUNKIRK for sure, but that Vincent one does sound intriguing.
2. First I’ve heard of this, but the story, cast, and the director make it appealing.
3. Oh, yes, and it was this one:
4. It all seems to come down to expectations; whether a film the critics or the viewers had in their mind before seeing the final product. The success of Marvel no doubt sets some of that.
5. We’ve had a continual lowering of the bar in popular movies for too long already, family variety and others. Time for the pendulum to swing the other way.
Hello Michael, always thrilled to see you take part in FFTF!
Glad to be the one to introduce ALLIED to you 🙂 I actually just heard about it last week, same w/ that Vincent one which looks incredible!
Whoa! That ALIEN trailer sure is worth seeing on the big screen. So which movie that had that trailer attached to it?
Yeah I’m sure a predisposed opinion about the movie plays a part but I don’t think that’s fair. I didn’t really care for Suicide Squad right from the time it was announced, but I saw it w/ neutral expectations and every time I go see something I always hope I would like it.
As for your answer to #5, amen to that! People ought to strive to make good films no matter the age of the audience.
Can’t recall what movie had that ‘Alien’ trailer in front of it. Probably wasn’t something memorable as the trailer is the thing I most remember. 😉
Ahah too funny! Well glad it was at least worth it for the trailer alone, Michael.
1. Dunkirk has Hardy so I’m there 😀
2. Ooh Goode is n this? Also I hear Angie is furious because Brad is into Marion or something
3. I fear the best part of SSquad was that Wonder Woman trailer – at that moment she stops the bullets with the shield I legit had tears in my eyes
4. On one hand that petition is so stupid but yes there is Marvel bias. But it’s not unjust – Marvel manages to make good movies whereas WB goes in and sabotages theirs. They should be getting smacked on the ass for this and get hit with critical reception that is poor and disappointing Box Office. I feel what they did to Leto and me and his other fans is absolutely criminal – the man spent 6 months shooting the movie, was led to believe his scenes are in, they cut his scenes yet featured glimpses of them in the trailers and got him to promote the movie. He was lied to, we were lied to. It’s disgusting. I have so much respect for Jared for being the only one involved in the movie who speaks out against the studio tight now. He is livid and disappointed and we his fans are too. I really hope this week we will see major repercussions and people responsible will get fired. That said the critics are way too hard on this – they absolutely embarrassed themselves this year with being too afraid to say Ghostbusters is mediocre and jumping on bandwagon of Marvel rules and DC sucks. This movie was funny, the actors delivered and it was a fine summer blockbuster. The horrific reviews are ludicrous
5. Yeah I think if kids movies make kids laugh and kids like them that is the only thing that matters
Yes, Hardy in the lead role too, woo hoo!
I’m glad Goode is in this, though he still isn’t getting the lead role. Ahah well I’m not surprised Pitt is into Marion, really what guy wouldn’t?? Once a cheater always a cheater I say, so Angie has reasons to be worried.
I’m going to read your Suicide Squad review now. But yeah, I’ve been excited for Wonder Woman since Gadot was cast!
I think the perceived *bias* might come from the critics themselves who I think have predisposed sentiment even before they see the damn movie. Yeah, it’s a travesty what the studio did to Leto! He spent SIX months filming?? That’s crazy! You’d think from the screen time he only worked for a mere six hours!! That said, the movie certainly wasn’t an abominable. It certainly was more enjoyable than BVS and yes the actors look like they had fun, unlike Ben and Henry who seemed miserable throughout the movie AND during all the press interviews!
Nolan’s seeming change of direction looks to be potentially great judging by the teaser. We’ll know more as the months go by, but this looks better than the entire 2016 summer blockbuster season!
Ahah, very true Mark. That’s why I always mix things up w/ smaller things like Anthropoid. I just finished my review for next week, I recommend that one if you like WWII movies.
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