movies

Chat about non-baseball topics. No political discussions!
User avatar
JoeMcKim
Perennial All-Star
Posts: 9077
Joined: September 8 09, 10:56 pm
Location: South County, St. Louis

Re: movies

Post by JoeMcKim »

Freed Roger wrote:"Yesterday " is an enjoyable flick. I suspect it will be popular as heck with the lack of feel-good type movies with broad appeal.

Also, first time to the Hi Pointe, -it is looking good.
When I had MoviePass I went to Hi Pointe a handful of times, a really charming old school style theater. Also went to Hi Pointe Backlot next door to the main Hi Pointe. It's a lot different since its a lot smaller with it being a room of just 50 or so seats.

User avatar
33anda3rd
Replies Authoritatively
Posts: 8418
Joined: April 7 13, 9:45 am
Location: Chicago, IL

Re: movies

Post by 33anda3rd »

Booksmart was very good. Not as funny as a lot of teen sex romps, but really well made and I think there's one super important thing in it: it democratizes teen sex. Teen lesbianism is seen as normal, not abstract or hot. The non-traditionally gorgeous female nerd is the protagonist, and we're made to question her ability with the boys based on her single-mindedness not her appearance. It's not a hot ingenue who takes her glasses off and it's like oh wow she's been hot the whole time. Oh yeah, Linday Lohan is also super nerdy and smart. Nothing like that. The jocks who pound beers are seen as being kind of the same in the their wants and needs as the gay theater kids. It's nice to see a teen sex romp where it's not about some shlubby guy getting to [expletive] a hot 26 year old playing an 18 year old.

User avatar
CardsofSTL
All Hail the GDT Master
Posts: 47815
Joined: April 26 11, 6:06 am
Location: Columbus, OH

Re: movies

Post by CardsofSTL »

Spiderman Far From Home. Saw it. Enjoyed it. Tom Holland is surpassing Tobey Maguire as my preferred Spiderman.

User avatar
The Third Man
It rubs the lotion on its skin.
Posts: 8933
Joined: July 17 06, 1:00 pm

Re: movies

Post by The Third Man »

MIDSOMMAR
Midsommar does something very unusual for an ostensible horror film, which is that it telegraphs or plainly tells you along the way what is going to happen to these characters (very, very bad things, naturally). if you're familiar with Aster's influences (Rosemary's Baby being a huge one), or Hereditary (a film which features both the machinations of a cult and a high school class literally discussing tragic fate), and you have even a skeletal idea of what Midsommar is about - a group of classmates visiting a pagan Swedish village - you should have little doubt in your mind how this is all going to play out.

what's unusual isn't that it's predictable - plenty of films, certainly plenty of horror films, are that - but rather that it embraces its own predictability and weaponizes it, such that you're left hoping against hope that things will turn out alright while the film keeps repeating to you that, no, these people are [expletive]. one of Hereditary's shocks was the extent to which things end up completely bad; here, Aster is trying to downplay that shock and face the inevitable horrors head-on, wringing tension from our (and the characters') denial and unwillingness to accept reality or read between the lines of their increasingly nightmarish situation. of course, horrifying [expletive] happens, and every time it does, Aster's own POV seems utterly aligned with the Swedish paganists, in defiant opposition of his own protagonists. when one of the village matriarchs rebukes her guests for freaking out after one grisly ritual, it sounds like Aster himself talking to the audience, saying, yeah, of course this was going to happen - why are you scandalized?

that's reflected in the central characters, Dani and Christian, a couple who were on the ropes before an incredible tragedy struck, and whose relationship has been limping along ever since, with neither of them willing to own up to the fact that the love has utterly gone out for them. although frankly, it's Dani that winds up with the short end of the stick, as you can see how thoroughly she's been trained by her [expletive] boyfriend to deflate any potential conflict no matter how righteous her anger or how valid her emotional needs for the fear that he'll simply wash his hands of it (or her). she's a hostage to his immaturity and dishonesty.

so when they're suddenly thrust into this mind-bending situation where utterly horrific [expletive] begins to happen, they (and we) are finally forced to confront a horrific reality, something they're each totally unwilling to do with their own relationship.

what's equally unusual is how often Aster approaches this with a fish-out-of-water comic sensibility. the actor who plays Christian even bears enough of a resemblance to Seth Rogen in his bearded schlubby everyman-ness that it's like watching a Frat Pack film - but with a lot more crushed skulls, vivisected corpses, and ritual sacrifices. the humor - and there are seriously a ton of laughs in this film - compounds the distancing effect of knowing bad [expletive] is gonna happen and still hoping it won't. as does the sunlight-and-pastels production design and cinematography, as well as the fact that many of the characters spend most of their trip, well, tripping, on shrooms or otherwise, which puts things at just enough of a psychic remove - is this weird [expletive] really happening? - that they by the time they realize the severity of their circumstances, it's far too late. among its other merits, this film really nails the feeling of being just a bit too high to completely handle like few others I've ever seen.

despite all that - would you believe me if I said this film had a happy ending?

User avatar
stlouie_lipp
Hallelujah Brother
Posts: 13409
Joined: April 17 06, 7:36 pm

Re: movies

Post by stlouie_lipp »

"Crawl" looks like some mindless summer fun at the movies. I'll probably check it out.


User avatar
JoeMcKim
Perennial All-Star
Posts: 9077
Joined: September 8 09, 10:56 pm
Location: South County, St. Louis

Re: movies

Post by JoeMcKim »

I might go see Crawl just because I like to go to at least 1 movie every week and Lion King comes out this week but that's not really my cup of tea.

User avatar
InvincibleCakeEater
GRB's obsessive compulsive baseball poster
Posts: 28034
Joined: October 12 07, 12:28 pm
Location: Raptured

Re: movies

Post by InvincibleCakeEater »

You guys are making terribly bad choices. It says "From A Producer Of..."

User avatar
stlouie_lipp
Hallelujah Brother
Posts: 13409
Joined: April 17 06, 7:36 pm

Re: movies

Post by stlouie_lipp »



Looks a little Force Awakensish in that it could be a rehash of the original. I'm in either way.

tlombard
tl;dr
Posts: 5053
Joined: May 21 09, 12:41 pm

Re: movies

Post by tlombard »

stlouie_lipp wrote:


Looks a little Force Awakensish in that it could be a rehash of the original. I'm in either way.
I'm only in if they don't go more than five seconds without referencing wanting somebody else's ass. Ever since I saw the Honest Trailer for Top Gun, I just can't take the movie seriously anymore even though I loved it growing up. My goal was always to be a fighter pilot... and then I had to get glasses my sophomore year of HS and that dream was over. I think you might be able to fly a fighter with corrective surgery these days but it wasn't an option then. I'm not even sure if it is now.

User avatar
BottenFieldofDreams
Perennial All-Star
Posts: 4502
Joined: June 4 17, 10:04 pm

Re: movies

Post by BottenFieldofDreams »

A Star is Born was good. Would have been better if Shallow isn't a stupid song that sucks. Really, that song is terry-terry-erry-terrible.

Post Reply